Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 3 - Chapter 5

Chapter 5: The Elf’s Circumstances

Shiran dropped by our room a short while after we got there ourselves.

“I’m sorry to keep you waiting, Takahiro, Miho,” she said as she clicked her heels together and lowered her head.

Lily, who got the door much like she had when Mikihiko visited, ushered her in.

“Don’t be. Thank you for going out of your way to come here despite it being your day off,” I told her.

“There’s no need for your concern, sir. Even on a day of rest, there’s naught to do but train out here in the Woodlands. Besides, being of use to an esteemed savior like this is a great honor.”

“...Well, no use in standing around as we talk. Please, come in.”

Shiran’s speech was as formal as always. It made it somewhat difficult to speak with her, but what could I do about that?

“Pardon me.”

“P-P-Pardon the intrusion.”

A girl followed Shiran into the room. She had blonde hair and blue eyes just like Shiran. Pointy ears peeked out from her hair. She looked to be a few years younger than me. Her face was fraught with tension, but otherwise, it was quite similar to Shiran’s. Maybe they were sisters. In all likelihood, she would grow up to be a beauty like Shiran, but right now her youth was far more prominent. She wore a stiff-looking military uniform which didn’t suit her age, and she held a small basket in front of her.

“This girl is Kei. She is the one responsible for waiting on my needs. Kei, please introduce yourself.”

“Y-Yes, Shiran.” Kei bowed her head in what looked like a nervous breakdown as her white cheeks flushed red. “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, sir.”

“Yeah, best regards. Also...it’d be easier for me if you didn’t act so nervous.”

There was furniture in the room, but unfortunately there were only two chairs. I sat down on the bed next to Lily while gesturing our guests toward the chairs.

“Please take a seat.”

“There’s no need. We will remain as we are.”

Shiran stood at attention a good distance from us. The girl called Kei was also standing perfectly upright in a tense manner right behind her.

“Um... Lieutenant Shiran,” I said, reflexively putting my palm to my forehead in exasperation. This really had to be said before we got anywhere.

“What is it, sir?”

“Could you relax a bit?” Unfortunately, I didn’t have the disposition to speak calmly with someone who was standing at attention like that. To put it bluntly, it was a pain. I felt like I was being harassed in some roundabout manner. “Please, take a seat. Also, could you not speak to me in such an exaggerated manner? We’re not all that different in age. So please just act as you normally would.”

“I cannot comply with such a request, sir,” she answered. I didn’t expect that reply. “If anything, please do not feel obliged to treat one such as I with such careful consideration.” On the contrary, Shiran had things to say about my behavior. “Please refer to me as Shiran. There is no need for the ‘Lieutenant.’”

“Mikihiko called the commander by her title, though.”

“The commander is a fair bit older than the rest of us. According to Mikihiko, your world places value on respecting one’s elders. It sounds wonderful.”

It sounded Mikihiko was telling the commander whatever he wanted to get his way. It was pretty typical of him, but it left me in a difficult spot. Unlike Mikihiko, I wasn’t very slick with my words. How was I supposed to convince her otherwise? I couldn’t come up with an answer on the spot.

I exchanged looks with Lily, but she only smiled bitterly back at me. It seemed we were in the same boat.

Just as I was about to give up, I noticed a crease forming between Shiran’s pretty brows. Her blue eyes were staring right at me as her pale lips began to move.

“Does this truly displease you, sir?”

“...Is it that obvious?” I was surprised she pointed it out. I didn’t think I’d let it show on my face.

“We elves are sensitive to the subtleties of emotion,” Shiran answered with a strained smile.

Behind her, Kei was in a fluster. It would seem she also could sense my displeasure. It looked like it really was easy for them to tell.

“There were those among the saviors who made similar requests of me. However, none among them truly felt displeasure from it like you do.”

Shiran’s tone didn’t hide her bewilderment. From her perspective, it was natural to treat the saviors with reverence. She likely never expected one to refuse such treatment.

I knew I was being overly sensitive on the matter. I didn’t like their reverent behavior because I felt psychological disgust in being treated like a hero. If not for that, even if I found it troublesome, I probably wouldn’t have felt like I did.

Mikihiko presumably felt the same way regarding Shiran’s behavior, but he was better at dealing with these things than me. He didn’t let his displeasure show. That was why he was able to so eloquently persuade the commander.

Shiran pondered over it for a while before nodding. “Very well. I have no intention of causing you offense. I shall gratefully accept your offer.”

With that, Shiran bowed once, walked through the room, and took a seat. Kei followed behind her while keeping a timid eye on us. Her cheeks were bright red. It felt like she would faint from the tension at any moment. It was possible Shiran complied with my request partially out of consideration for her.

Shiran sat with perfect posture and waited for Kei to take her seat before continuing our conversation. “I shall act in accordance with your will as much as possible, Takahiro. So in exchange, though it may be presumptuous of me, you may refer to me as Shiran.”

“Got it. Please go ahead and talk to me like you normally would, Shiran.”

“My apologies, but this is how I normally speak.”

So she said, but Shiran’s courteous tone no longer had a sense of pointless exaggeration to it. It was a bit careless of me to let my inner thoughts show so easily, but the result turned out fine.

Now that it was easier for us to talk, I moved on to the reason I invited her here.

“Okay then, I’d like to get right to my questions, if that’s okay.”

“Of course. What would you like to start with?”

“Let’s see... First, can you tell me what exactly the saviors of this world are? I’d also like to hear the legends of previous saviors.”

“The legends of saviors, is it? Very well.”

Quite frankly, I didn’t really need to hear the legends. It wasn’t that I had no interest; it just happened to be a good segue into what I actually wanted to ask about.

“Then let us begin. The first time a savior descended upon this world...”

Shiran’s story was largely the same as Mikihiko’s. About once a century, saviors descended upon this monster-ridden world. Sometimes they would come within fifty years, sometimes it would take over a hundred years, but saviors continued to appear throughout history.

Even discounting us, the many generations of saviors were recorded to have fought the monsters. This was also the history of the conflict between the Woodlands and humanity.

“The forest we refer to as the Woodlands is densely filled with mana. Monsters within the Woodlands largely find their origins in animals. When the first savior arrived, it’s said the Woodlands expanded well beyond here and covered the lands we now inhabit.”

The Woodlands encroached on human territory. When humanity was completely driven into a corner, the first savior descended upon them. According to the legend, the savior led humanity and pushed back the tide of the Woodlands little by little. A village was founded within this new territory which eventually became the foundation of a country.

“There are many splintered fragments of the Woodlands across the world, but the term is mostly used to identify the largest expanse which stretches from the continent’s center to its southern edge. This is the forest we currently find ourselves in.”

Shiran took a break from the legends to tell us more about the Woodlands.

“It’s said that the deeper into the Woodlands one goes, the denser mana overflows, so even more powerful monsters call it home. As a result, it is tremendously dangerous for humanity to set foot within the Woodlands beyond its very extremities. As such, names have been given to regions to quantify how far humans should consider exploring. In short: the Fringes, the Depths, and the Abyss.”

There were several fortresses within the Fringes. Fort Tilia and Fort Ebenus were two such fortresses. Many monsters ran rampant within these lands, but they were just barely within human territory. In contrast, the Depths had no such fortresses. The monsters in that region were so powerful they couldn’t even dispatch workers to construct one. The Depths were so dangerous that even the most elite of knights would find it difficult to venture within and return alive. They were barely able to dot the region with listening posts and install the barrier runestones, but many lives were sacrificed in the process.

And then there was the Abyss. It comprised over half of the Woodland’s total territory. Humans pretty much never went there. There were no listening posts, and they barely knew of the kind of monsters that inhabited the region.

Thinking back on it, when we began our journey north in search of humanity, the types of monsters we encountered changed the further we went. It also felt like our battles got easier and easier. I thought it was because the girls were getting better at working together, but the monsters growing weaker as we got away from the Depths must have been a larger factor.

Incidentally, the Colony was built in the Depths, just a little south of the northern Fringes. When he heard of this, apparently Mikihiko had screamed, “What kind of shitty game is this?!” To put it in gaming terms, it was like being thrown right next to the last dungeon right off the bat, so I understood where he was coming from. It was better than being sent right to the Abyss, though. Even with three hundred cheaters, there was no telling what could’ve happened there.

There were several tales among the legends of brave saviors who challenged the Abyss to protect humanity. And though they accomplished great feats, they did so in exchange for heroic deaths.

These tales were close to myth in this world and grossly overdramatized, so these were likely failed campaigns where the heroes had suffered crushing defeats. As proof of that, the army who used the emblem of the saviors as their banner hadn’t carried out a campaign to completely excise the Woodlands in about five hundred years. The Abyss was basically a land of demons even the saviors had to treat lightly in.

So, didn’t that mean humanity had no way to oppose the Abyss? That obviously wasn’t the case. The mana in the Abyss was proportional to the depth of the forest. In short, by cutting down the trees in the Fringes, the Woodlands itself grew smaller. Therefore, the total size of the Abyss also shrank. Aside from those campaigns into the Abyss, the saviors throughout history fundamentally suppressed monsters in the Fringes, the Depths, and those who leaked out from the Woodlands. By doing so, they helped the people of this world cut down the dangerous forest.

◆ ◆ ◆

Shiran finished recounting the legends of our most recent predecessor, the savior who died fifty years ago.

“Thank you, Shiran. That was very useful.”

We went through things pretty quickly, so there were some details she skipped, but I still managed to learn about this world’s entire history, at least what related to their saviors. As far as determining how highly they regarded us, this was time well spent.

“In any case, you’re very well-informed about the legends, aren’t you?”

She didn’t look like a scholar, but Shiran was decidedly educated on the matter. She answered my request and explained everything about the saviors to me. It wouldn’t have gone this smoothly if she didn’t have some form of education.

“So, are there schools in this world or something?”

“There are, but I have never attended one. There are chapels built by the Holy Church in most every village where they teach children about the legends of the saviors.”

This Holy Church Shiran referred to was a religious organization that revered the saviors as living gods. Meaning they really did see us as targets of religious faith here. My impression of how they treated visitors was basically right.

The Holy Church took on the role of supporting any saviors who descended upon the world. To fulfill that, they formed an independent armed force called the Holy Order. Knights of the Holy Order showed up several times within the legends. Normally, the saviors fought side by side with the Holy Order. This time, however, the exploration team was prioritizing the rescue of survivors in the Woodlands, so they still hadn’t rendezvoused with the knights far off in the imperial capital.

If what Shiran said was true, that pretty much all villages had chapels in them, it meant the religious faith in saviors permeated this entire world. The church’s influence was sure to be enormous.

“That’s quite impressive. Did you also hear these stories in the chapel, Kei?” I asked the girl accompanying Shiran.

Her soft cheeks turned red as an apple. She looked like she could faint at any moment, so I tried to include her to help dispel the tension. It might’ve had the opposite effect, however.

“Fwah?!”

Perhaps because she didn’t think she would be brought into the conversation, Kei nearly jumped right out of her seat. The basket on her lap went flying.

“H-Hwawawawawawawa!”

Kei caught the basket with both hands before it could spill its contents.

“Y-Y-Y-Y-Yes! I also, um... Uh...”

As far as I could tell from her incoherent response, she didn’t even know what she was trying to say herself. She was far too nervous. I could almost hear her heart thumping away.

“Calm yourself, Kei,” Shiran said with a sigh as she put her palm to her forehead. “My apologies, Takahiro. Please forgive Kei’s shameful behavior.”

“It’s fine. I don’t really mind.”

It was probably better not to carelessly talk to her. I was afraid she might have a nervous breakdown if I did. But even though the situation was uncomfortable, I mostly felt sorry for her.

“Now that I think of it, you said you also had an interest in magic technology, correct?” Shiran asked, probably changing the topic to shake off the delicate atmosphere.

Shiran looked pointedly at Kei. The young girl didn’t seem to understand why, but Shiran gestured to what was in her lap.

Kei opened the basket in a fluster. Within were stones of every shape, size, and color laying atop a piece of cloth.

“These are runestones,” Shiran said.

“You brought them all the way here?” I did ask about this before, but I didn’t think she would bring some. “Can I touch one?”

“By all means.”

I picked up a blue stone about the size of my palm. It had a complicated pattern etched into its smooth surface. While I scrutinized the stone further, Shiran began to explain.

“There are many kinds of runestones. All of them work by passing mana through them. The one you’re holding now is etched with water magic. Runestones aren’t only used for manifesting the same effects as magic, though; there are also many tools which make use of them. Kei, show him.”

“Y-Yes.”

Kei, her hands trembling, pulled the runestones out of the basket. Then she set the cloth down on the table and lined up several tools.

“What’s this container?” I asked.

“A self-filling flask. There is a water runestone set within it. When you pour mana into it, the flask fills with water.”

“And this sack? It looks like it has a lot of small runestones all over it.”

“That’s a magic pouch. It has an increased capacity, and it preserves its contents.”

“How about this finger-sized cylinder?”

“That’s a lighter. It creates fire.”

I was honestly surprised by the lineup of useful tools. This world was more technologically advanced than I thought. They even had several tools that were impossible to create with Japan’s modern technology. Considering they had a device capable of real-time translation, it wasn’t possible to say which world was more advanced.

“Are tools like this widespread?” I asked.

“Depending on the tool, even the masses make use of them. However, the majority are scarce and quite expensive. There are established manufacturing lines for simple elemental magic types, but when the effect is more specific, it sometimes requires high-purity stones and a specialized artisan to carve them.”

“Now that you mention it, you did say before that the manufacturing method for barrier runestones was lost.”

“Also, some runestones can only be used after specialist training.”

“Are these you brought usable by anyone?” I asked as I pointed to the runestones on the table.

Shiran nodded. “Illumination and water runestones can be used by anyone who can manipulate mana. In fact, runestones were initially developed for those who can’t use magic.”

“So, the ones that require specialist training would be something like the translation runestone?”

“You know of them? Would you like to see one?”

Shiran put her hand to the back of her neck. She pulled up a thin chain from under her collar, revealing a red runestone about as big as a ring.

“It’s smaller than I expected.”

“Even though it affects everything within a certain range, it requires its carrier to be around at all times. Incidentally, although it is small, just one of these costs a small fortune. This one was loaned out for the rescue mission of the esteemed saviors.”

Meaning it was difficult to acquire one. Not that there was any use in getting one if I couldn’t use it.

“You said it requires training to use, but what about other runestones?”

“Some runestones, much like translation runestones, do not actually manifest magic. Rather, they are used to control a portion of magic as an aid. That’s why using these types of runestones isn’t all that different from learning magic.”

“I see.”

“The saviors are always accompanied by those who support them, so you shouldn’t need to learn how to use them, Takahiro.”

That would normally be the case. But it would be awfully inconvenient for me as someone who wanted to act independently. It was somewhat vexing, but being too obstinate about this could arouse suspicion. If it was known I was thinking of getting out of here, the questions as to why would be a pain to deal with. It was best to step back here.

“Thanks. I was just a little curious.”

Shiran tucked the translation runestone back into her clothes. It felt rude to stare at her while she did so, so I casually averted my gaze. Just then, something yellow entered my vision. I took this opportunity to ask the other thing that had been on my mind.

“Oh yeah, is that thing floating next to you also some form of magic technology?”

I had been curious about it for quite a while. Just like before, a mysterious yellow sphere shone above Shiran’s shoulder. The round, clay doll-looking thing casually bobbed up and down as it always did. It clearly had a hint of magic to it. Was it a product of this world’s magic technology? That was my guess, at least. And seeing that we were at a good stopping point for our previous topic, I decided it was the right time to ask.

“Huh? You can see spirits, sir?” Kei asked in a surprised manner. “...Ah.”

It seemed she didn’t realize she had asked me a question until after she actually said it. Kei had been pretty tense this whole time, but now she was completely frozen. She stared down at her hands clenched atop her lap and hid her face.

Shiran looked at her with a strained smile and then turned back toward me as I stared on in bewilderment.

“Takahiro, can you see this child floating by my side?”

“...What do you mean?”

“This is a being we call a spirit.”

Shiran held out her palm and the bobbing yellow sphere—the spirit—floated over lazily. It touched her fingers with its short arms.

No...they’re not touching... I could see its arms ever so slightly sinking into her fingers. The spirit didn’t have a corporeal body.

“To be more precise, this is a sprite. It is impossible to see them without a special sense we call spirit sight. We elves possess such sight from birth, but only a small fraction of regular humans who excel at magic can see spirits. Are you perhaps able to manipulate mana?”

“That’s...”

Crap. It was already too late. I didn’t know most humans couldn’t see them. I was being careless.

“I can... Um, just a little.”

I was going to immediately deny it, but I reconsidered based on this information. Manipulating mana was apparently the minimum requirement for spirit-sight. Denying it now would cause problems later on. Besides, my ability to use mana wasn’t considerable. Admitting it here wouldn’t be a problem. On the contrary, if I poorly hid it by lying, I would eventually slip up. Then others would realize I’d been hiding my abilities. That would be bad.

“I learned it back in the Colony. Everything else is self-taught.”

“I see. That makes sense. This must also be how you managed to survive in the Woodlands.”

Shiran came to her own conclusion, so I remained silent. It was convenient for me, so I didn’t bother to object.

“Having said that, I can’t do much. I can’t use any magic. All I can do is strengthen myself a little.”

After explaining that my abilities were severely limited, I returned my gaze to the lazily floating spirit.

“So, even spirits exist here,” I said.

“It is said that spirits are mana taken form. A contract with a spirit is a special magic only we elves are capable of. By contracting with a specific spirit, we can borrow their power. Those who wield such techniques are called spiritualists. Incidentally, this child was the one who told me you were hiding nearby when we were taking a rest.”

“Oh. So you didn’t realize it yourself?”

“Elves possess sharper senses than regular humans, but there was still no way I could have spotted you hidden within such a dense forest. You were too far away to sense by presence, too. It might have been a different story for the esteemed members of the exploration team, however.” Shiran’s lips spread into a bittersweet smile. “Back then, this child told me, ‘Someone is watching us.’”

Thinking back on it, Shiran had looked up at the spirit floating above her right before the bull wriggler attack in front of the fortress. Meaning this spirit had given her a warning back then, too.

“Spirits do not perceive the world through regular eyes,” Shiran continued as she drew her hand back. “One theory hypothesizes they see the world through mana. That’s why this child could see you hidden in such a dense forest. Sometimes monsters will launch ambushes within the Woodlands, so I asked the sprite to inform me if anything looked like it was watching us from a hidden position. You just happened to match those conditions.”

“I see. That’s amazing.”

“Having said that, they are only able to give a warning exactly as requested. You still must use caution. We spiritualists can’t freely communicate with spirits like we can with other humans. It makes dealing with them somewhat difficult. This has nothing to do with the spirits themselves, though. It’s a problem with us spiritualists. But we recognize that spirits are terrific neighbors.”

I nodded along as Shiran happily spoke of spirits. My cheeks started to cramp from the fake smile I had plastered on my face. I was toeing a very dangerous line here. According to Shiran, spirits didn’t perceive the world through regular eyes. Meaning, when I first met Shiran, this sprite probably saw Rose and the others too.

No, not only that, it probably saw Asarina, hidden under the bandage on my left arm, as well as Ayame, who was hiding in Lily’s body. It simply wasn’t telling Shiran about them because she didn’t ask.

“...”

The spirit lazily spun around in the air as always. Its face had nothing resembling an expression on it, so I couldn’t determine if my suspicions were right.

“Spirits and spiritualists, huh?”

It was a little frightening, but excessively worrying over it wouldn’t do anything. I forced my mind to change gears. Besides, this was a good time to ask Shiran about something else.

“Oh yeah, Shiran. There’s something else that’s been on my mind.”

“What would that be?” Shiran asked as she cocked her head.

“There are spiritualists who can command spirits, so are there also people who can command monsters?”

This was something I absolutely had to find out. My cheat allowed me to tame monsters. If nobody else in this world could do something similar, I would be attacked on the spot if I entered a town with monsters in tow.

Conversely, if such people did exist in this world, I would no longer have a reason to hide my ability. I don’t know if I would reveal Lily’s identity, but Rose and Gerbera could come closer to the fortress, and depending on the circumstances, even come inside.

Unfortunately, Shiran’s legends didn’t mention anyone accompanied by monsters. Neither the saviors themselves nor any of those who fought with them were described as such. It was still possible, but it was rather unlikely.

“In our world, though it’s restricted to fiction, there are stories where humans can tame monsters,” I continued, pretending it was out of mere curiosity. “So, if there’s a technique to make use of spirits, then is there maybe a similar technique for—”

“They’re different!”

An empathic interjection cut me off and left me staring in shock. The one who screamed at me was Kei, who had up until now remained entirely stiff. She vigorously shot up from her chair, slammed her hands against the table, and sent several runestones tumbling to the floor. She showed no signs of even noticing her behavior as she continued yelling.

“Spirits are different from monsters! They’re different! So please don’t mislabel them like that!”

She had been extremely quiet earlier, but now she was unbelievably menacing. I was completely taken aback. I didn’t understand what had her so frantic. Kei’s face was red with an emotion other than nervousness. It wasn’t anger. Rather, her expression was like that of a child on the verge of crying.

“Please understand, sir! We... We’re not traitors!”

“Kei!” Shiran yelled in a strong tone, a tone I could feel on my very skin.

“...Ah.” That brought Kei back to her senses. Her red complexion turned white as a sheet. She realized she was yelling at me—at one of the saviors.

“My...” Kei dropped to her knees with extreme force. “My deepest apologies!”

“...”

She lowered her head all the way to the ground. I didn’t know her exact age, but she didn’t look that much older than ten. And here she was prostrating herself before me. Was this some kind of punishment? I was getting a headache.

“I’m not angry, so please raise your head,” I told her.

Kei remained with her head pressed against the floor. Her small shoulders trembled violently. It was painful to look at. Nobody with any amount of empathy would be able to take this.

“Shiran, you say something too,” I said, trying to get her to help.

“...Takahiro is saying he is not angry, Kei. Take your seat. You mustn’t trouble him like this.”

Kei timidly raised her head. “Understood,” she said hesitantly, and then she sluggishly returned to her seat. She looked like a criminal who had just been given the death sentence.

Shiran deeply bowed her head, her face pale as well. “My deepest apologies for her behavior.”

You too...? I guess this is normal in this world. That’s exactly what it means to be a savior... It was honestly rather depressing.

“I shall accept any punishment you deem fit. So, please show mercy for Kei’s impolite behavior.”

“Sh-Shiran?!” Kei yelped.

“I’m telling you I don’t care,” I said, sighing. I was getting fed up.

I was trying to get a grasp on this kind of behavior based on yesterday’s events, but I was utterly sick of the exaggerated treatment we were getting here. Couldn’t I at least have a proper conversation without any of this?

“I’m begging you, please raise your head. Also, could you explain what’s going on here in a way even I can understand?”

Shiran finally raised her head. “Very well.”

Feeling relieved, I moved things along.

“So, what’s going on here? I don’t get it at all.”

“That’s, um...”

Shiran was being uncharacteristically inarticulate. It was apparently something she didn’t want to talk about. But I had to cut to the chase here. Things spun out of control just from asking about commanding monsters. I couldn’t possibly leave empty-handed. I wasn’t going to get anywhere by waiting.

“Kei said, ‘we’re not traitors,’ didn’t she? Does that mean you two have been treated like traitors before?”

“It’s not really us...” Shiran replied in Kei’s stead, seeing as the younger girl looked dead inside, but she was avoiding the point.

“You also said, ‘spirits are different from monsters,’ right?” Lily said, joining the conversation. “Are there people who believe spirits and monsters are the same? And treat you as traitors because of it? So, basically, spiritualists are traitors, and so is the entire race of elves they come from?”

Shiran didn’t answer. She just averted her gaze in silence.

“Why would it end up like that...?” I muttered.

“...Takahiro. It may not strike a chord with you, seeing that you come from a world where monsters do not exist. But in our world, the threat posed by monsters is greater than anything else.” Shiran turned back to look at me, giving in. “This is a story from long ago. In truth, there is nothing out there that disputes it. Kei said spirits and monsters are different, but we can’t say what is different about them. The only thing we know is that spirits mean us no harm...”

Monsters were creatures who possessed mana. Spirits were mana taken form. The two didn’t seem all that different based on that. In fact, it was possible they were the same. From my view, that was where the discussion ended. But that wasn’t the case for the people of this world.

“People who consort with monsters. Traitors to humanity. Enemies from within who have snuck in to destroy us... There are none who say such things publicly anymore. However, it’s a historical fact that we elves were once persecuted for such a reason. Unfortunately, we’re still held in low regard to this very day.”

In short, their race was once discriminated against. But if it were only a matter of the past, Kei’s extreme reaction was strange. They were probably still discriminated against, be it in tangible or intangible ways. Now that I knew the circumstances, an example of this exact discrimination came to mind. Even after hearing the legends of all the previous saviors throughout history, I hadn’t known that spiritualists existed until just a moment ago. No spiritualist elf showed up in any of the heroic tales.

“...I understand,” I said.

Kei jolted and trembled at my words. Shiran’s eyes were also colored by a stifling fear. Seeing them like this, that fed-up feeling within me grew even heavier.

These two won’t understand me unless I put it clear as day.

“I’ll tell you once more,” I said as I gazed straight into Shiran’s eyes, “I’m not angry. So there’s no need to apologize.”

“Takahiro...”

Shiran returned my gaze. Her blue eyes probed deep into mine. Before long, she gradually relaxed. Then her beautiful face was colored with bashfulness, probably because she felt bad for doubting me. Shiran had mentioned earlier that elves were sensitive to the feelings of others. She observed my behavior and was now convinced I was speaking from the heart. That’s what finally brought her some relief. I was glad for it.

“I understand why you reacted like that, Kei. With such circumstances, anyone would get frantic. I’m sorry for asking you something so insensitive.”

Kei, who looked as if she had shrunk, shook her head so vigorously I could practically hear her hair swishing about.

“Th-That’s not necessary, sir. It’s true I said something extremely rude...”

“Don’t worry about it. If you want to worry about something, then cut out the ‘sir’ stuff. That bothers me far more.”

Kei looked quite troubled. Elves were sensitive to the feelings of others. If so, she could definitely tell I really didn’t like it.

“So, how do I address you?”

“You can just use my name.”

“I couldn’t possibly... Um, T-Takahiro? I-Is that fine?”

“Yeah. That’s fine.”

I nodded back to her. Kei finally smiled without any of that awkward air about her. This was the first time I saw her smile since we met. I returned a smile of my own. With this, things between us would probably be fine, for now at least.

The problem now is me. I was honestly at a loss. There were no other monster tamers in this world, it seemed. Elves were discriminated against because spirits were treated as monsters. Meaning someone like me, who consorted with actual monsters, would be wholly rejected. Now I knew I absolutely couldn’t let anyone know of my cheat. I might be treated differently by the elves, considering my status as a savior, but I couldn’t act under the pretext of wishful thinking.

“Majima.”

Lily’s voice brought me back from my pondering.

“Hm? Oh, sorry. I zoned out a bit there.”

“If you are tired, then we can take our leave here,” Shiran said out of consideration. “Is there anything else you would like to ask me about?”

“No, I’m not really tired or anything. Let’s see, what else...”

I felt like I asked everything I wanted to already. Was there anything else?

“Come on, how about those rings? Isn’t this a good chance to hand them over?” Lily said, throwing me a lifeline.

“Oh, those. Right. Let’s do that now.”

I stood up from the bed, went to my backpack laying in the corner, and took out a bunch of rings tied together by a string. They were the rings we had retrieved from the ghouls who attacked us. I had completely forgotten about them.

I had already seen that Shiran was wearing a similar ring, although hers was a different color. The gems inlaid in the corpses’ rings were yellow. In contrast, Shiran’s ring had a blue gem. From what I could recall, the ghouls were wearing the same armor and equipment as the knights Shiran commanded. A difference in the color could simply indicate a difference in units or something. In any case, she would know what to do with these.

As I handed the rings over to her, Shiran’s eyes shot wide open in shock.

“I do believe these belong to members of our Third Company. Where did you find them?” she asked.

“We saw some corpses while wandering around the Woodlands. I couldn’t really bring the bodies with me, so I thought I’d at least carry these as a memento for the fallen.”

“...Is that so? Thank you very much,” Shiran said, frowning. Her expression was pained. “Those likely belong to the detached force we sent ahead as outriders on our rescue mission. They were clearing the way ahead of us to make our passage as safe as possible. I heard they came across a pack of monsters and fell. There were those among them whose corpses we were unable to retrieve, but...”

Shiran gazed at the rings with a downcast expression.

“Takahiro. Though it may be ill-mannered of me, I have a request for you,” she said, pausing for a few seconds before raising her head. “Could you participate in their memorial service with us?”