Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 3 - Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Story Told in the Mausoleum

I was a little perplexed by Shiran’s request that I participate in the deceased knights’ memorial service. But after hearing about the circumstances, I decided to accept.

“Then please excuse us.”

Shiran took Kei along to handle the required procedures for the service. She recommended we have a meal in the meantime. The preparations weren’t going to take all that long, so we decided to do just that, have a little rest, and then find an appropriate time to visit Shiran.

She arranged for our meal to be brought to our room. After finishing our food, I went over the situation with Lily as I kept an eye on Asarina and Ayame as they relaxed in the now-empty room. Lily sat in the chair Shiran had used while I sat in the other chair facing her.

“Our plan from here is to keep your ability hidden and obtain a translation runestone,” Lily started. “We can learn how to use it after leaving the fortress. Then we need to find a village or town where they don’t know you’re a visitor from afar, secure provisions and a supply route, and find somewhere safe for Katou. Is that all?”

Lily counted everything we had to do on her fingers and looked at me with upturned eyes.

“Yeah. After that, we either seclude ourselves somewhere remote, or at worst, return to the Woodlands.”

“Hmm. That sounds kinda hard,” Lily said with a groan as she scrunched up her face. I was of the same opinion. “Just to check,” she added as she held out her slender hand, “there’s one simple way of resolving this troublesome situation, but I assume you’re not going to use it, right?” Lily’s hand turned transparent and lost its contour. “If we can find the corpse of a local, we can get an interpreter right away.”

Her slimy feeler swayed around in front of my eyes, but I shook my head.

“No eating people to learn their language.”

“Thought so. Mm. I just thought I’d mention it.”

I would’ve asked Lily to eat the dead ghouls if that choice was an option. I also could have asked her to eat all the corpses of the exploration and home team members we found along the way, starting with Kaga. But I chose not to do so.

This thought had crossed my mind back when we killed Kaga, but Lily’s predation and mimicry bore some amount of risk. Her abilities were amazing. She could imitate everything about her prey. It wasn’t just their outward appearance; she reproduced their looks, abilities, and even their thoughts. However, it looked to me like Lily was influenced to some extent by Mizushima Miho after eating her.

Eating monsters who possessed no egos was one thing, but eating humans came with the risk of being influenced by them. Learning a language by doing so was great and all, but I didn’t want to lose the Lily I knew in the process. I could say the same of all my servants. No matter what happened, I had no intention of losing a single one of them, tangibly or otherwise. I didn’t just want to survive. I wanted to live in this world together with them.

“You’re my main worry, but there are other problems. For example, we might earn their ire by eating one of their kin, even if it was a corpse... Well, it might be a little late for that one, though.”

I was already a giant target for their animosity just by being a monster tamer. They couldn’t hold back the Woodlands without the saviors from other worlds, but making enemies of them wasn’t a low-level risk.

Considering they were the ones protecting humanity, even if they didn’t have the power to do it themselves, they were still much larger than our small group. If we were to openly oppose them, we’d be forced into a hopeless battle.

I also had to consider the possibility of my identity being revealed. I couldn’t spoil any potential negotiations we might have. Eating humans was far too risky in that sense.

“Even if we can clear all our objectives, the problem is the amount of time it’ll probably take,” I said.

“Mrr. Right. I’m worried about what Gerbera will do if we stay here too long. If she loses control and gets too close, and Shiran’s spirit finds her...”

“Stop. I feel like it’ll actually happen if you say it aloud.”

We were all thinking the same thing. Even Ayame was yipping. I wondered how they were doing. Were they keeping quiet? I was especially worried about Gerbera.

“Well, it’s not like we need to do something about it right away,” I said as I shook my head and changed gears. “We were planning on spending a few days gathering information anyway. Let’s go with that for now.”

“Mm. Got it,” Lily replied with a nod.

“Still, this whole situation is difficult,” I said with a bitter smile. “The two of us will have to figure out a way to overcome all of this together.”

“The two of us, huh? Mm. Right.”

For some reason, Lily cast her eyes to the floor.

“Lily?”

Her reaction was strange. I cocked my head wondering what was wrong with her.

“You know what, Master?” she said in a hesitant manner.

“What? Did you think of something?”

“No, never mind. It’s nothing.” Lily shook her head and then flashed a grand smile. “Quite a bit of time has passed, so it should be fine to go see Shiran now.”

Now that she mentioned it, we’d spent a fair amount of time talking here. We would end up keeping Shiran waiting at this rate.

“Yeah, you’re right. Let’s get going.”

I rose to my feet and grabbed the bandage I had left on my bed. I tied it around my left arm to hide Asarina as I turned to Lily.

“By the way, let me know if you think of anything. You’re the only one I can count on right now.”

“Okay already,” Lily said with a smile as she hid Ayame under her clothes. “Come on, let’s go, Master.”

◆ ◆ ◆

I went down the corridors using the path Shiran had informed me of beforehand. After arriving at the correct room, I knocked on the door and entered. I had been told this was one of the rooms used by the Alliance Knights. There was a line of plain wooden tables with mountains of paper on top of them.

Shiran spotted us and came running over. Kei was also behind her.

“Pardon me, Takahiro, Miho. The formalities for the memorial service are done, but we have yet to acquire the commander’s approval,” she said with a sad look.

“Is there a problem?”

“The commander isn’t currently present. Normally, she would return here right after the general assembly, but that’s been over for a while now.”

Just as we were talking, one of the male members of the knights entered the room and walked up to us.

“Lieutenant. If you’re looking for the commander, I saw her at the training ground.”

“Is that so, Marcus? Which one?”

“Number seven. She is training our esteemed saviors. I suppose the Empire invited her after the general assembly. The commander can’t really refuse, considering her position. Good grief, she’s already so busy as it is. It’s rather troublesome.” He apparently had a friendly relationship with Shiran. Everything after that was grumbling. “The main topic of the general assembly was to fill in the Imperial Knights’ shortages on the rescue operation, wasn’t it? We’ve already got it tough dealing with our own vacancies...”

“Understood. Thank you, Marcus.” Shiran cut off the man’s endless complaints with an air of familiarity and then turned back to me. “Excuse me, Takahiro, Miho. I must go obtain the commander’s approval. Could I ask you to wait back in your... No, it shouldn’t take that long. Perhaps you can...”

“How about we just come with you?” I suggested.

“Would you?”

“Going back and forth will just be a waste of time.”

Shiran gave it some thought and then nodded. “Very well. Then please come with me.”

We ended up following Shiran to the training ground. I tried to ignore the soldier’s gazes as we passed and instead focused on memorizing the layout of the fortress.

“...?”

On the way, it felt like Kei was strangely conscious of me for some reason. Did she need something? Even though she was looking at me, her pointy ears were bright red and she kept her head low. It was probably better not to call her out. It would be problematic if she fainted in the middle of the hallway. It would be even worse if I somehow managed to prompt her to prostrate herself before me again with all these eyes around us.

After going down a few sets of stairs, we arrived at a sand-covered training ground. It was a different room from the one we watched the imperial soldiers train in this morning. There were twenty or so people moving around the training ground, including the home team students and the soldiers facing off against them.

“Commander,” Shiran called out, facing the group standing a small distance away from the training.

“Hm? Shiran?”

The tall silver-haired woman turned toward us. This was the commander of the Alliance Knights I had met at yesterday’s party. Her sharp, blue eyes glanced my way for a moment but immediately turned back to Shiran as the two of them began a business-like exchange.

Mikihiko, who was also nearby, waved to me upon spotting us. He had apparently accompanied the commander here but wasn’t participating in the training, just as he had said in the morning. I waved back and then looked to the center of the room. Ten weak boys, armed with wooden poles wrapped with cloth, worked one-on-one with the soldiers.

It made sense that not everyone was participating, but the majority of the students were here. Among them were the class peacemaker Sayoshi Taichi, the bullied kid Kudou Riku, and even the blond delinquent Sakagami Gouta. I assumed the latter wouldn’t give a rat’s ass about training and would abstain, so this was a little unexpected.

Upon closer inspection, Sakagami wasn’t very enthusiastic. He looked a little dissatisfied. He kept stealing glances at Juumonji, who was standing there with his arms crossed, overseeing his training. It seemed he was only here because of the unwanted attention of the exploration team.

The only one from the exploration team who wasn’t present was Iino Yuna. Just as she’d said this morning, she was making preparations to lead a group of imperial knights into the Depths to rescue any surviving students.

Judging from the way the students looked at the exploration team yesterday, with admiration and reverence, the only ones not participating were those unable to because of their health. It was good for them to be motivated. I even felt envious about it.

The exploration team was fully intent on living here as heroes, motivating the students who admired them to strive to be like them. Perhaps by looking at the brilliant and heroic futures that awaited them, they could forget reality, forget that they could never return to their own world. Or perhaps this was a result of the solidarity they had built which was characteristic of emergency situations. In any case, they were now walking the path to becoming the saviors of this world.

On the other hand, the locals naïvely believed we were going to fight by their side to protect humanity. With so many factors at play, it was natural for the students to choose to fight as saviors. Such adoration and expectation had a strong influence over the mind. One could even call it the work of mass psychology. If not for that, there should’ve been those who didn’t like the idea of fighting. Considering how Sakagami was participating despite being such a pain about it earlier, one couldn’t make light of the influence of mass psychology.

In a situation where everyone was doing the same thing, actions that differed from the norm attracted a certain amount of attention. It invited suspicion and distrust. To someone who was hiding something, this would be fatal. Since I planned to get out of this fortress the moment I got a translation runestone, it was difficult for me to take action. That’s why I envied their eagerness.

“Thank you for waiting,” Shiran said as I watched the ongoing training. She had managed to get the approval she needed. “Well then, come this way please.”

“Got it.”

I gave Mikihiko a wave and left the training ground behind.

◆ ◆ ◆

Shiran brought us to a staircase which led underground. After a brief exchange with the guard, we descended the stairs. A long and narrow corridor shrouded in darkness stretched out at the bottom. Shiran touched a lighting runestone at the entrance, filling the corridor with light.

“...This is the mausoleum for those lost in battle. Fort Tilia was constructed 250 years ago. Those who have died since then are all enshrined here together as martyrs alongside the great saviors.”

I listened to Shiran’s solemn voice as I gulped. The stone walls of the long corridor had tens of thousands of rings embedded in them. Blue gems faced outward on every single one. They were the same as the rings I handed over to Shiran, but there was one definitive difference. The color of the gems was different. All of the ones here were blue. The ones I handed to Shiran were yellow.

These rings were distributed to knights and soldiers alike as identification tags. The inlaid gem was a runestone. Upon confirming the owner’s death, the ring was retrieved and enshrined in this mausoleum. As for the bodies, they were cremated and entombed in another part of the fortress. Depending on the circumstances, the ashes could also be returned to the deceased’s hometown along with their belongings.

The mausoleum also held swords, shields, armor, and other such articles that belonged to saviors of the past enshrined within. To the people of this world, being commemorated alongside the saviors was the greatest of honors. However, our business was elsewhere.

“Let’s go.”

Shiran guided us down a narrow path to the side. There were no rings embedded on the walls here. The ceiling was low. It felt claustrophobic. At the end of the path, we found ourselves in a small room with three-meter walls on every side. In the center was an altar made of blackened stone with several large plates on top of it. Mountains of rings were piled on the plates. The gems in these rings were the same color as those in the mausoleum.

“Then, let us begin.”

Shiran walked up to the altar and took out the rings I had given her, placing them atop the mountain of rings with blue gems.

“Bestow the flames of purification upon the pitiful deceased,” she said in a solemn tone as she swiped her finger along the altar’s edge.

The altar itself was some manner of magic tool. The top of it burst into a green flame. Engulfed by the fire, the yellow gems turned blue.

“...”

Shiran offered a silent prayer and Kei joined in behind her with closed eyes.

It was an austere ceremony, but the ritual itself was quite plain. It was rather lonely that there were only four participants including myself and Lily. Normally, a memorial service for the deceased would involve a few more formalities, but they weren’t performed this time. That’s because the owners of these rings had turned into ghouls.

“These rings were originally handed out to everyone who fights in the Woodlands as a means to identify those who turn into ghouls.”

I watched Shiran’s back as I recalled what she told me. With stifled emotions, she explained why she had asked me to participate in this memorial service.

“It’s known that the mana flowing within monsters is characteristic for every type of monster. Humans who turn into ghouls are no exception to that. The runestone in the ring is etched to show its effect when it detects the mana characteristic of a ghoul.”

In this world, death wasn’t always the end. It was rare, but people did turn into ghouls. In the Woodlands, however, the outbreak of ghouls was abnormally high because of the density of mana in these lands. Battle led to an even greater outbreak of ghouls. When many corpses fell in one place, that density would temporarily increase.

Just as we’d found out in the Colony, mana was contained within the soul. When one defeated a monster, they could secure some of their mana. That was why the exploration team over-hunted the monsters in the area. It was also one of the reasons I had proactively looked to encounter more monsters.

However, the mana gained in defeat was just a small portion of the monster’s mana. The large majority of it dispersed into the area. That was why corpses temporarily increased the density of mana within a region. This caused many ghouls to rise on battlefields, which was why the knights were equipped with a means of identifying them as such.

“Those whose rings turn from blue to yellow have changed from human to monster. They are no longer treated as warriors. In the old days, they were not even given a memorial service.”

Even if they were once humans, ghouls were still monsters. And monsters were the archenemies of humanity. As such, becoming a ghoul in death was the greatest of dishonors. They couldn’t be enshrined alongside the great saviors within the mausoleum. The meaning behind this ritual leaned far more toward purification than comfort or repose for the souls of the dead.

The yellow runestone placed upon the altar returned to blue. By doing so, the deceased returned to being humans. Having said that, it just took a negative and zeroed it out. It didn’t restore the honor of the dead. Nobody bothered to participate in a memorial service for those who had turned into ghouls. On the contrary, it was an unspoken agreement that all refrain from attending while the dead were quietly interred. But that didn’t mean those who personally knew the deceased felt no pain from their deaths.

“Uhh... Hic...”

Quiet sobbing resounded through the room. Kei was in tatters. Shiran turned around and hugged her. She was acting resolute, but her eyes were also red.

“Geez. Look at you. Your face is a mess. That’s enough, go wash your face,” Shiran told the sobbing girl.

“Sh-Shorry...”

Shiran’s normally strict voice was gentle now. She wasn’t acting as a knight here. She was acting as an older sister for this little girl. Kei kept her face hidden as she turned back toward the path and left.

“I must thank you for participating in the memorial service for my subordinates, Takahiro, Miho.”

Shiran bowed deeply to us. She grieved over the dead, much like Kei. The reason she had asked us to participate in this memorial service was because there was significance in having saviors in attendance. It was the smallest of parting gifts she could offer to these knights who had lost their honor. I understood this, which was why I decided to participate in the ritual. I believed this to be my responsibility as the one who brought their rings here.

“...Were you close to them?” Lily asked.

“Yes,” Shiran replied with a nod. “They treated Kei particularly well. Please forgive her for showing such unsightly behavior.”

“It’s nothing you need to apologize for,” Lily responded with a shake of her head. “She’s a good girl. Besides, it looks like she adores you quite dearly. Is she your little sister?”

“No. She is my niece. She is the orphan left behind by my deceased brother.”

“Oh, I see. She looks so much like you I thought she was your sister.”

“We were raised just like sisters. She lost her mother at a young age, and my brother spent much of his time away from the village working as a knight. Her grandmother—my mother—took care of her and raised her together with me.”

“What kind of place is your village?” I asked.

Shiran narrowed her eyes nostalgically. I had yet to meet any of the people of this world beyond this fortress. I was quite interested in how humanity lived here.

“It’s a small village near the Fringes. It’s one of the reclamation villages we elves inhabit. Even though the people are poor, we live together in solidarity.”

“Reclamation village...?”

“They’re villages that exist to clear the Woodlands which gradually spread if left unchecked. Even today, there are countless reclamation villages bordering the Woodlands. Of course, many such villages suffer devastating attacks from monsters coming out of the forest. As such, our village is always on guard against such attacks.”

The phrase “drawing the short straw” came to mind. However, such a thing was a necessity in this harsh world. If they didn’t live near the forest and cut down the trees, the Woodlands would engulf the entire world. Even if the saviors could defeat monsters and thin their numbers, they couldn’t cultivate new lands across this enormous world all on their own.

A portion of those fulfilling such a role included the elves, which was likely a reflection of the circumstances their race was burdened with. Even on our way to the mausoleum, the gazes pointed at Shiran and Kei weren’t all favorable. Disdain. Scorn. Jeering. Thinking back on it now, those gazes might’ve been what Kei was concerned about on our way here. Judging from the way they grieved for the dead, there were those in their country who looked upon them favorably. But those who didn’t were in the majority.

“You can’t call it a good location by any standards. Nevertheless, that village is my hometown. Looking back now, I miss it. It’s already been five years since I left,” Shiran muttered in a heartrending voice.

Images of her hometown were surely flashing across her mind. I shook my head ever so slightly as images of a world I could never return to, one that I tried not to think about as much as I could, came to mine.

“Five years, huh? That’s quite the long time. Do you ever think of going back?” I asked.

“I couldn’t possibly think otherwise. I cannot return, however. This is also for the village’s sake,” Shiran replied with a bittersweet smile. “The knights stationed at the fortresses, including Fort Tilia, suppress the monsters in the Fringes. This reduces the number of monsters that come out of the Woodlands, which indirectly helps the defenses of the nearby reclamation villages. Regardless, monsters still trample several villages into oblivion every year. Even the wreckage gets swallowed by the forest.”

She then opened her hand and looked down at her palm.

“My brother fought from this fortress and died without ever returning to the village. I will likely never return to my village alive either.”

Her gaze was strong. Her voice told me of her conviction. She clenched her fist tightly.

“However, even if I am never to see it with my own eyes again, I want to protect my hometown. I want to protect the villages that share their circumstances. I want to protect the comrades who fight by my side. That’s why I trained this body and honed my skills.”

Her words were filled with passion. I involuntarily held my breath at the weight of her resolve.

“...Ah.” Seeing my reaction, Shiran unclenched her fist. She smiled awkwardly and fiddled with the tip of her pointy ear as if trying to gloss things over. “My apologies. I didn’t mean to bore you with such matters.”

I shook my head. “It wasn’t boring. I can...kind of understand that sort of thing.”

She pushed herself to get stronger for the sake of those she wanted to protect. I could strongly sympathize with these feelings; after all, I trained with Gerbera every day until I was in tatters. In my case, I didn’t want to hold back the others while they protected me. That outweighed my desire to protect them, but my feelings of wanting to push myself for their sake was the same. Even if I was knocked senseless, vomiting up everything I had in my stomach, it was nothing compared to the pain of being unable to do a single thing.

I unconsciously took hold of Lily’s hand as she stood next to me.

“I believe those feelings of yours are more important than anything else,” I told Shiran.

“...Thank you very much.”

Shiran looked at our clasped hands as her lips broke into a small smile.