Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 5 - Chapter 15

Chapter 15: A Small Thorn in the Journey

After parting ways with Mikihiko and the knights, we went south down the road in the opposite direction from Serrata. Our journey proceeded smoothly without incident. When we were going north, our speed had been influenced by the large group we were moving with, which had also made it easier for monsters to find us. That wasn’t the case this time around. We didn’t stop by any villages on the way other than to resupply, so it was taking only about two-thirds the time it would normally take to cover the same distance.

Shiran had initially been shocked at the potential disbandment of her company, but she managed to regain her usual composure by the end of the day. She was actually inspired now, seeing it as her duty to bring me to Aker. The one time we spotted monsters in the distance, she charged forth and defeated them in an instant. She wasn’t quite back to normal, but at the very least, it was a relief to see her like this rather than an empty husk.

We arrived at a relatively large travelers’ stop, not quite the size of the one in the suburbs of Serrata—where roads leading in all cardinal directions met. We filled up on supplies and then took the route to the west. To the southwest of Lorenz County was Cedrus, one of the Five Northern Kingdoms. Our destination was situated west of there.

The border between Lorenz County and Cedrus wasn’t close to the precipitous parts of the Kitrus Mountains, but we still had to cross a few mountainous roads. They were old ones, once the site of the battle between the Empire and the Alliance centuries ago, but now they were rarely used.

The risk of encountering monsters in regions near the Woodlands was high. No merchants would go out of their way to cross a steep mountainside just to get to a small remote country. And since nobody used these mountain roads, monsters here were pretty much left at large. As a result, the Kitrus Mountains were a danger zone where many monsters lived. Having said that, as a monster tamer, this land was rather relaxing to me. Being a danger zone meant there would be much less human attention to worry about.

I sat on the driver’s seat as always, slowly steering the manamobile through the Kitrus Mountains. The road was narrow, almost as if it were forced to weave its way through the trees. The vehicle’s noisy shaking emphasized how poor the road conditions were. In contrast to our ride from Fort Tilia, where all the roads were maintained for military use, these paths to far-off reclamation villages had been created for transporting goods. It made sense they’d be unfavorable by comparison.

I listened to the clattering wheels as a thought naturally drifted into my mind. I recalled the image of my friend’s face when we parted ways ten days ago. If he had managed to reunite with the commander, they were likely in the middle of moving from Serrata to the imperial capital. Considering Mikihiko’s personality, it was even possible he had enlisted the help of Miyoshi Taichi and the other students in the suburbs to help out.

“Oh, Master. Isn’t that it?” Lily said, sitting by my side.

We found ourselves at a confusing fork in the road. According to what we’d heard in another village, we could follow one of these branches to the village closest to the mountain road we were aiming for. After that, there would be no more human settlements, meaning this was our last supply point until we reached Aker. Crossing a mountain range was sure to take some time, so I wanted to secure as many provisions as possible.

“Hopefully they’ll sell to us. That last village wouldn’t sell us anything regardless of our money...” I grumbled.

“Well, they’ve got their own circumstances to deal with,” Lily commented. “There’s no point in feeling down if they don’t. If worse comes to worst, I can just go hunting.”

“I’d rather not go back to a firefang diet, though...”

Lily, Kei, and I went on foot to gather supplies, while the others waited in the manamobile. The only ones who could show themselves in front of humans and possessed considerable combat strength were Shiran and Lily. One of them went with us, while the other stayed behind so that we didn’t have to worry about being seen even if there was a monster attack.

The reason Kei was with me was because she and Shiran were the only ones who could use translation runestones. She walked behind us with the hood of her mantle pulled down over her head.

“Huh? Master, someone’s running this way.”

It had been some time since we split from the girls in the manamobile, leaving them in the forest off the road. When we came out onto the narrow path leading into the village, a man ran our way, looking desperate.

“O-Oh! Are you travelers? What bad timing to come here!”

The man claimed he was a resident of the nearby reclamation village. He had gone out with his companions to cut down trees, but they’d encountered monsters. After that, he had run all the way here for dear life. Unlike the Woodlands, the forests around here didn’t possess much mana. Having said that, the Fringes were only an hour away by foot, so it wasn’t strange for monsters to be in the area.

After we persuaded the man, who kept telling us to run away, we hurried over to the reclamation village. There we found a giant over three meters tall—a wild ogre. It had short legs and long arms like a gorilla, but its muscular body was mostly hairless. Its exposed skin was green, and it wore a fur pelt wreathed around its waist. Its bald head, which was relatively small compared to its build, looked similar to a human’s, but its ears were pointed and two large fangs stuck up from its enormous lower jaw.

The wild ogre roamed around the village as if keeping an eye out for an opening in its defenses. Once in a while, it charged at the walls. Each time it did, the people manning the defenses poured down concentrated magic from the ramparts. They were only using grade 2 magic, so there wasn’t much force behind the attacks. Focused together, however, it was enough to cause the wild ogre to flinch. Combined with the arrows they loosed in tandem, they slowly chiseled away at the monster.

That wasn’t enough to deal a decisive blow, however. Wild ogres were more powerful than even bull wrigglers. They were said to be one of the stronger monsters of the Fringes. It would be fine if it simply gave up on its attack and left, but if the wild ogre started rampaging because of its minor wounds and made its way into the village, it would certainly cause a number of casualties.

Even if it didn’t make its way into the village, it could damage the walls by throwing an uprooted tree with its massive arms. These walls were the very lifeline of the village, and damage to them could also result in severe injuries for anyone in the vicinity. I had nothing to do with this village, but I couldn’t just leave them be.

“Lily, it’s a little far away, but can you get it?”

I implicitly told her not to charge in. She probably wouldn’t get hurt by the rain of magic and arrows, but she would stand out a little too much.

“Yup. I’ll give it a go,” she answered, understanding what I meant as she twirled her spear around with a nod.

“Wh-What are you doing...?” the man who had guided us asked as he curiously watched Lily hold her black spear in a reverse grip. “A-Anyway, we should run a—”

“It’s okay. You don’t need to worry,” Lily told him.

A glyph appeared in her right hand. It was grade 2 wind magic. She refrained from using grade 3 magic because it was the highest grade the people of this world could utilize. We didn’t want to attract unnecessary attention while in public. It would be a different matter if we were in an emergency situation, though. Conversely, this meant that Lily had judged grade 2 magic would be enough to handle this situation. She took two steps forward to line herself up, then stepped in once more at full force.

“Yaaaah!”

She threw her spear. The weapon already had plenty of force behind it, but it rode the wind she’d unleashed, propelling it faster and guiding it toward its target. The wind also repelled nearby arrows as the weapon plunged directly into the wild ogre’s face.

An ear-splitting scream pierced the air. The sharp spearpoint tore through its eyeball, and the turbulent winds coiling around the grip ripped its face apart. Blue blood spurted out like a fountain. Having lost its vision, the wild ogre staggered. Its massive body had suffered some serious damage.

The villagers were dumbfounded by the sudden attack, but they quickly realized this was a terrific opportunity. Armed men charged out of the village with a battle cry. The villager with us watched from beginning to end, sinking to his knees from the sheer shock of the moment. He looked up at Lily as she flashed me a smile and threw him a peace sign.

◆ ◆ ◆

The villagers were very friendly to us after we helped with the monster that was attacking them. As a result, we safely managed to procure supplies. We ended up buying potatoes and dried meat. I was grateful we could replenish our provisions, even if only a little.

“We truly cannot thank you enough,” an old man said to me, seeing us off to the village gates.

“Don’t worry about it. You’ve done a lot for us as well.”

“But to think such a sweet little lady could deliver such an intense strike.”

The village chief, who had more wrinkles than his age would suggest, smiled pleasantly as he continued to praise Lily’s skills. He was the friendliest among the villagers. His long-windedness was probably because he considered talking with guests to be a form of entertainment. Because of that, we ended up staying longer than expected. We did manage to acquire everything we needed in proportion to the time spent here, at least—both in terms of supplies and information.

From what he told us, the village chief had used the mountain road we were headed toward when he was young. He taught us of the landmarks we could use on the way. This was decades-old information, so it wasn’t guaranteed the landmarks would still be there, but it was better than knowing nothing.

Also, there was supposedly a special mist that covered the mountain road once in a while. The village chief had never seen it for himself, but his predecessor had warned him about it. In short, he had been told to be careful of the mountain path when a dense fog rolled though.

Well, that much made perfect sense. Going down a mountain road with limited visibility due to fog was reckless and dangerous. Still, it was good to know of such things in advance. Sating his curiosity in exchange for such valuable information was well worth it.

“Excuse me, but are you perhaps from the north? From the region around the imperial capital?” he asked us in an exaggerated low voice. It was like this was meant to be a secret.

“Well... Something like that,” I replied.

“Oooh, I thought that’d be the case,” the chief continued with a deep nod. “So you two really are of blessed blood?”

Many of the saviors’ descendants apparently lived in the northern Empire around the imperial capital. It was great that he’d misunderstood without us having to bring it up ourselves. From their perspective, saviors going around on a journey in a small group was pretty much out of the question. It would be a different story if news of the current generation of saviors had gotten this far, but it seemed it hadn’t reached such a remote area yet.

“But to come all the way out here... Why exactly would you—” the chief started, but he suddenly suspected something and swallowed his words. “No, never mind. I’ll pray for your journey to go safely.”

“Thank you.”

I forced a smile. There were quite a few of blessed blood who held noble titles. The saviors themselves had no such peerage, but they had many opportunities to mingle with those of high social status. The imperial nobles also proactively added savior blood into their families, so the ratio of saviors’ descendants who were nobles was rather high.

There were of course many to whom this didn’t apply. Still, meeting someone of blessed blood in such a remote region was rare. It wasn’t strange for the village chief to assume we were nobles.

He probably thought we were people of high standing disguising ourselves as travelers. Nobles, who could receive advanced training at a young age, and the guards tasked with protecting such nobles obviously possessed the skills to defeat a wild ogre. I was thankful he had convinced himself of such; I hadn’t needed to make up any lies.

“Now then, it’s about time for us to get going,” I said, seeing this as an opportunity to end our conversation. If I kept the others waiting too long, Gerbera was liable to make a fuss. I didn’t mind listening to her complain, but it would be troublesome if she started sulking over it.

“Okay, are you two ready to... Hm?”

I started addressing Lily and Kei, but I came to a stop. Kei wasn’t reacting to me. I couldn’t see her face because she was wearing a hood and looking the other way, but she seemed to be staring at something in a daze. I looked in the same direction, where the wild ogre’s corpse lay.

The villagers had buried only half of the wild ogre, and they’d placed a pile of hay next to it. Evil had to be burned and purified, hence this ritual. The minute details differed from village to village, but it was a common custom throughout this world. This wasn’t necessarily the case for monsters that had useful fur or meat, but the wild ogre had no such use. This sight shouldn’t have been unusual.

“Kei?” I called out to her once more.

“Oh. Yes?” She finally noticed me and turned my way. “S-Sorry. I zoned out.”

She looked a little flustered, perhaps because she thought she had made some kind of mistake. She smiled as if to gloss it over. In the next instant, her childish features were colored with surprise. A little boy was suddenly running our way. He looked around five or six years old. His parents were probably too busy dealing with the wild ogre’s disposal. He looked up at Lily and me with sparkling eyes. His footsteps were careless and unreliable. Just as I thought that...

“Oh.”

I didn’t even have time to shout a warning. The boy’s foot got caught on something and he tripped.

“A-Are you okay?”

Kei was the closest among us and ran over to the boy. She knelt down and stood him back up. I figured he would cry, but he didn’t. This was a fundamental difference between the five-year-olds I knew and the ones raised in such villages. Having said that, children were still children.

“Thanks, lady.”

He looked up at Kei’s hooded face. His smile was soothing to any who saw it...

“Huh?”

But his eyes suddenly turned to saucers as he raised his voice curiously. He stared blankly at Kei, then turned around and looked at the wild ogre’s corpse.

“Hm?”

He raised his voice again, then turned back to Kei. At this distance, he could see under her hood.

“Hey lady, your ears are weird. They’re like that monster’s.”

His innocent words froze Kei’s smile completely.

◆ ◆ ◆

We left the village and immediately continued our journey. We couldn’t reach the mountain road within the day, so we got ready to camp out for the night before it got dark.

“Excuse me, Takahiro. Could I borrow some of your time?” Shiran asked in the middle of our preparations. Her expression looked grim.

Shiran took me a small distance away from the others. Lily gave me a glance, but I waved her off, telling her there was nothing to worry about. After we got far enough so that the others couldn’t hear us, she cut to the chase.

“Kei has been acting rather strange as of late. Did something happen at the village?”

“Oh... Yeah, just a little something.”

I glanced over at Kei, who was carrying a pot over to the fire. Her expression clearly lacked its usual luster. Ever since we left the village, it was clear as day that she was feeling depressed. It was natural for her guardian to be worried. I briefly explained what had passed to Shiran.

“I see... So that’s what happened...” Shiran muttered with a sigh of understanding.

“I’m pretty sure the kid didn’t have any ill intent.”

The boy from the village had thanked us and returned to his parents. That was why he had run out to see us. He was a good kid at heart. He had merely said exactly what was on his mind when he saw Kei’s ears. It was a little cruel to criticize him for a lack of consideration. If pushed to say it, I’d describe it as the wrong person had greeted him at the wrong time.

“Honestly, I didn’t think Kei would get such a shock from it,” I added.

It showed how worried about it she was. Perhaps the cheerful girl was actually in a daze because she was focused on the wild ogre’s ears herself.

“There are many monsters in this world who bear a resemblance to humans,” Shiran said listlessly. “A large majority of them have ears much like we elves do.” She touched her tapered ears. This was the defining trait of her race that separated her from the rest of humanity. “There are those who slander us because of such facts.”

“Oh, I get it now. So that’s why Kei’s reaction was overly sensitive.”

“Yes. From the perspective of such people, we elves are no more than strange monsters who can speak the human language.” Shiran paused before her single eye suddenly widened. “That was a slip of the tongue. Please forgive me.”

That was a very precise description of my servants. Shiran apologetically lowered her head as I waved it off.

“Don’t worry about it. I know that’s not what you meant. Those aren’t your words to begin with, right? In any case, it’s awfully unreasonable.”

Racism summed it up pretty handily. There were also monsters who resembled humans and had rounded ears. Gerbera, who was playing with Ayame right now, was one such case. She was an extreme exception among arachnes, but there were other monsters with such bodily features, few as they were. The humans who disparaged elves like this turned a blind eye to whatever was inconvenient to their claims. Actually, it didn’t really matter to them. They thought those who differed from the majority were eerie.

This didn’t only apply to elves. For example, there were also the cattlemen we had seen wandering around southern Lorenz County. I’d heard that people looked down on them as if they were beneath everyone else. At its root, revulsion toward others who differed from oneself was a very physiological thing. Such people were being irrational. From their perspective, it didn’t matter so long as they could find fault one way or another.

As a result, Kei was overly sensitive about her distinctive ears. The essence of the problem didn’t have anything to do with the boy innocently pointing it out. Coming to that understanding, I scowled at how deeply rooted the problem was.

Shiran, on the other hand, treated it rather lightly. “If that’s all it was, there’s no need to worry about her.”

“Are you sure? Kei looks pretty depressed to me.”

I found this rather unexpected of her. Shiran was strict, but she appeared to be very soft on Kei. I thought she would be more worried with Kei feeling down like this, but Shiran shook her head.

“For any born as an elf, getting depressed over something so simple would make it impossible to earn a living outside their home.”

There was a feeling of reality to her words, causing me to hesitate for a moment.

“So...you really did overcome such a thing yourself?”

“My case was a little special,” Shiran answered with a bitter smile. “When I was about her age, I enlisted as a knight and lost my older brother. I didn’t have time to worry about how others saw me. All I could focus on was catching up to him. Thinking back on it now, I’m sure I caused the commander a fair amount of anxiety...”

Shiran’s older brother was Kei’s father. I’d heard that he had died in the middle of a mission. I could read from Shiran’s behavior that he had an enormous effect on the development of her personality.

“In any case, it would be one thing if she were to spend her whole life in the village, but if she wishes to be a knight, this is a trial she must overcome.”

“Isn’t it okay to at least talk to her about it?”

I wasn’t being persistent because I thought Shiran was wrong or anything. She had a good point. There was no mistaking her logic. Still, it was difficult to be right sometimes. I knew how hard it was for the average person to stay strong all by themselves. I was rather weak myself, after all.

It was precisely because of Lily and the other girls that I clung to life and kept a stout heart. This might not have applied to Shiran, but at the very least, I believed the still young Kei needed the support of others. Her aunt was the most suitable person to fulfill this role. Shiran was of a different opinion, however.

“I cannot be there by her side forever.”

Her voice was like the northern winds. There was a coldness behind it, but it wasn’t directed at Kei. It was directed at herself. Before I could say anything, though, Shiran’s expression changed completely as she flashed me a smile.

“Although...I suppose there’s nothing to worry about.”

Her smile was filled with warmth and happiness. I didn’t know what had her so pleased.

“To begin with,” she continued, “this matter was only a shock to her because of its suddenness and because you were there to witness it, Takahiro.”

“Me? Why?”

“Because she places much of her faith and favor in you. I am sure she would’ve preferred you not to witness such an unpleasant scene.”

Is that how it works? I wondered. I didn’t really get it. To my eyes, Kei looked far more emotionally attached to Katou, and Gerbera was much more of a friend to her. I remained unconvinced.

Shiran’s smile broadened even further. “Besides, it doesn’t seem like I need to do anything.”

“What do you mean?”

“It appears you are not the only one paying close attention to her needs,” Shiran replied, shifting her gaze over to Kei. She was gathered with everyone as they cooked over the pot together.

◆ ◆ ◆

Everyone else naturally noticed that the youngest member of our group, discounting Ayame and Asarina, was feeling down. As they made preparations for dinner, Lily continuously conversed with her.

Lily was rather skilled at household activities. Camping outdoors was kind of an entirely different skill set, but she properly managed on this front as well. She also seemed to enjoy this manner of work, so even though we had enough hands to go around now, she was very proactive in making our meals.

After politely driving me off, Lily and Katou cooked dinner while engaging Kei. A short distance away, I had a mock battle with Rose. Back when we were looking at different kinds of weapons, Rose had decided to change her equipment. She wasn’t wielding a one-handed battleaxe anymore.

Rose held a single enormous ax with both hands. It was a poleaxe called a bardiche. A large blade curved over about a third of the grip. She had tied a cloth over the edge for our battle. This was a precaution against accidents, seeing as there wasn’t as large a gap between myself and Rose as there was with Gerbera. Also, she wasn’t used to her new weapon yet.

“Well then, prepare yourself,” Rose declared.

Our training session began. I barely warded off her hearty blow with my shield and thrust out with my sword. She narrowly dodged this in turn. At a glance, it looked like I was contending with her, but Rose was reviewing each and every movement she’d been taught, so she was restraining her swings. I was somewhat able to fight now, but I still had a long way to go.

Shiran, her arms folded, watched over our exchange of offense and defense. Rose also wanted guidance in the basics of martial arts, so I hadn’t crossed blades with Shiran lately. Instead, she watched over us like this and pointed out anything she noticed. Having said that, she appeared a little restless today. I knew the reason for this, so I didn’t blame her for it. Despite what she had said, Shiran wasn’t as strict as she let on.

Incidentally, I was still keeping up my practical training with Gerbera in addition to this more traditional sparring, but that took place early in the mornings. Gerbera spent most evenings at this time playing with Ayame.

As a small digression, Gerbera couldn’t cook. Aside from anything related to clothing, she wasn’t very handy. She could eat all of her prey raw, so she didn’t actually understand the necessity for cooking. This led to a complete lack of interest. As for Rose, she had a lot of other work on her plate, but even without any of that, she also couldn’t cook. Lily was actually the weird one for being able to cook despite being a monster.

I finished up my training just around the time dinner was ready. After everyone gathered together for a meal, it was time for studying. I had Shiran give me a lecture regarding magic. Katou also participated in this class.

A short time later, a shrill cheer broke out a small distance away. It seemed Rose had taken out one of her trial-and-error works in front of the group. They were all gathered around a simple telescope.

“So it’s possible to make a telescope from scratch, huh?” I muttered, watching Lily gaze at the moon through it.

“Looks like it. It doesn’t appear to have much magnification, though,” Katou replied from my side.

“We picked up the lens she’s using while buying dyes,” Shiran added. “It doesn’t quite match the quality of what is available in your world, so I was worried it wouldn’t work. I’m relieved to see she succeeded.”

“Are there telescopes here too?” I asked.

“There are. Those that work well are used as military equipment. They’re fairly useless in the Woodlands with all the trees blocking the view, so they weren’t available in Fort Tilia. I’ve never held one for myself.”

“In that case, how about you go join them?”

As usual, Gerbera was the most excited. Kei was also enjoying herself immensely. I glanced over at them as Shiran watched on with the eye of a guardian.

“I don’t really mind if we skip one day of lectures,” I suggested.

“That’s true. I don’t mind either,” Katou added.

Shiran shook her head. “No. I’ll refrain for now. Spending time with your servants like this is sure to encourage Kei. I believe it would be better if I didn’t join.”

“I see...”

I more or less understood where Shiran was coming from. To the young Kei, spending time with beings far more inhuman than she was could help overturn her complex. On the other hand, spending time with a young girl like Kei was also good for my servants.

It was better if both Shiran and I were not there. It was a little lonely, but this was what it meant to watch over their growth. As I thought that, something else suddenly attracted my attention.

Katou was staring fixedly at Shiran as the two of us watched over the others.

“Is something the matter, Mana?” Shiran asked.

“No... It’s nothing.” Katou shook her head and averted her gaze. “It’s probably just my own misunderstanding...”

◆ ◆ ◆

The following day, we set out on the mountain road around noon. We had come this far without incident, so there was no need to worry about pursuit from the Empire. If they did send anyone out from Serrata, they would’ve caught up with us already. The probability of it happening now was pretty slim. Such judgment was perfectly sound...at least when considering imperial pursuers.