Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 2 - Chapter Ep

Epilogue: Contact with the Locals

I walked through the bushes while making as much noise as possible. This was to serve as a cover for Rose and Katou, who were still getting away from here, while also making sure they knew we were coming toward them.

“Please lower your swords! We’re not monsters!”

I made sure to call out to them before coming into sight. It wouldn’t be funny to be attacked over a misunderstanding... Although, I did need them to misunderstand that Lily was a human and not a monster.

As such, I figured it would be best to strike up a conversation right off the bat. Monsters didn’t possess a clear will, so they couldn’t use human language. But I knew we could converse with them based on our observation of the group beforehand. My appeal should’ve gotten through to them.

Having said that, I was just guessing. It was possible I overlooked something. Or perhaps there was something going on we simply didn’t know about. I couldn’t deny the possibility of magic flying at us at any second. It felt like I was walking on a cliff’s edge. Both my heart and stomach felt extremely tight. If not for the sound of Lily’s footsteps right next to me, I was liable to cease functioning from dizziness.

Fortunately, the circle of humans didn’t show any signs of attacking and were simply lying in wait. After we came out of the bushes, murmurs spread throughout the small clearing in the forest.

“It can’t be... Humans...?” one of them muttered.

“Yeah.” I took the opportunity to immediately go along with them. “We’re humans. We’re not your enemies. Could you lower your swords?”

The blades pointed at us began to waver. With this, I managed to clear the first stage. It seemed there was room for discussion, for now.

“I’d like to talk to your leader. Who is it?”

It was meaningless to act strangely hesitant and invite unneeded suspicion. I took on a bold attitude. Lily’s presence gave me the courage to do so.

The murmurs grew louder. All the students looked toward one person.

“That would be me.”

Just as I thought, the white armored soldier who had spotted us was the one to step forward. He stowed his sword and walked toward us. Upon closer inspection, the soldier had a fairly small build. The ghouls we met all had large, muscular bodies, but this one looked shorter than me. Perhaps taking our caution into consideration, he came to a stop about two meters away from us.

“...Hm?”

I felt like I saw a light floating over his shoulder and I squinted. There was in fact a yellow glowing sphere just bobbing up and down in the air. It was just a bit smaller than a clenched fist and somewhat resembled a poorly made clay toy. It had little limbs coming from its spherical body and two shining dots which appeared to be its eyes. It looked like it was wearing fluttery garments and had a long tail which swayed about behind it.

Was it a creature of this world? It somewhat looked like a monster, but it didn’t seem dangerous in the least. All it was doing was rotating on the spot while floating about in a carefree manner. I took a look at the other soldiers, but none of them had anything similar floating around them. Meaning this wasn’t something everyone just carried around in this world. What exactly was it? I was quite curious... but now wasn’t the time. It was still potentially dangerous, so I made sure to keep it in mind as I returned my focus to the soldier in white.

“Thank you for responding to my request. Also, please accept my apologies for spying on you from the shadows.”

“There’s no need. It’s perfectly normal to be on guard, spotting an armed group like ours.”

“Thank you for your understanding.”

Upon speaking with the soldier, I suddenly realized my misunderstanding. This soldier in white was a woman, and a fairly young one at that. Her voice when she’d called us out had been deep and somewhat muffled by her helmet, so I thought she was a man at first. But speaking like this, there was a softness to her voice which was clearly that of a girl. She sounded young enough to be the same age as me.

“Sorry for the late introductions. My name is Majima Takahiro. This is Mizushima Miho.”

“The same goes for me. Pardon me for not showing my face.”

She placed both hands on her white helmet and took it off. Her smooth golden hair spilled down in a ponytail, and she looked at us with strong-willed blue eyes. She wasn’t glamorous, but she had quite the attractive face. It was like she had the moderate sweetness of a wildflower along with the steady honesty of a soldier. But what stood out the most was something that was impossible in our world: large pointed ears.

“...An elf?”

“All of you have the same reaction upon seeing my face,” she said with a chuckle before saluting. “A pleasure to make your acquaintance, sir. My name is Shiran. I serve as the lieutenant for this company of knights.”

Her manner was as if she was scrupulously controlling her nerves right to the very tips of her fingers. A model soldier, or in her terms, a model knight. She had a gentle smile, perhaps made to help us relax. That smile, filled with the sincerity of a knight and the consideration of a girl, was capable of charming anyone.

That was how our first conversation with the people of this world began—how we first met the elven girl Shiran.