Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 5 - Chapter 17

Chapter 17: The Wind Blowing from Serrata ~Iino Yuna’s POV~

One week after I left Fort Tilia at the head of the Imperial Knights’ elite, I arrived at the Colony. I was shocked by the complete change that had occurred to our temporary settlement, but I still spent the next week retrieving survivors who had taken refuge in the nearby huts. Twenty or so days passed as we protected them on our way back.

“No way...”

A total of forty days had passed since we left for the Depths. Returning from my rescue operation, I was greeted by the unexpected sight of Fort Tilia in ruins. I was fully thrown by the inexplicable situation. Where did the defenders go? Where were my fellow students? The answers were clear just by looking at the destroyed fortress, but I couldn’t accept it right away. The shock nearly brought me to my knees. I couldn’t show such weakness in front of the fellow students in my care, of course. That single thought supported me, barely holding together my composure.

After taking a good look at the fortress, we managed to figure a few things out. For one, the traces of destruction pointed to a large-scale monster attack. This was evidenced by the rotting pieces of dead monsters left on the walls and floors. What kind of monster could have attacked a fortress? One section of the sturdy inner walls had even collapsed as if it had been struck by some wide-area magic. There couldn’t possibly be anyone who could do such a thing aside from the cheaters of the exploration team... I couldn’t suppress a shudder at the thought.

As the Skanda, I specialized in speed, so it was difficult for me to wreak destruction on this scale. Juumonji and Watanabe, on the other hand, were both perfectly capable of this. In other words, they should’ve been able to deal with the “enemies” who attacked the fortress.

There was still hope. I couldn’t give up. Even as impatience dominated my heart, I headed north to get out of the Woodlands. We had over twenty new students under our care. Getting them to safety was our number one priority.

We managed to gather a scant amount of information from the nearby reclamation village. Fort Tilia really had been attacked by an enormous force of monsters. Most of its garrison had been lost, and the survivors had been forced to abandon the fortress. The knights accompanying me declared this impossible, though. There was no way so many monsters would attack at once. The villagers had to be mistaken.

But there was no doubting the truth. No matter how much they denied it, they couldn’t overturn the past. The one silver lining in all this darkness was that not all the fortress’s people had been mercilessly killed. It seemed there were survivors who had decided the fortress could no longer be defended, so they had abandoned it and made it all the way to this reclamation village. After clearing the vicinity of monsters, they had continued north.

There was also news that some visitors had been among them. I had to meet back up with them no matter what. After verifying the safety of my fellow students, I had to figure out exactly what had happened at the fortress. The survivors were apparently headed for Serrata. I had passed through that city once before when I was on my way to Fort Tilia from Fort Ebenus.

After I exited the Woodlands, I judged that it was safe and left my fellow students in the care of the Imperial Knights. With a translation runestone clasped in my hand, I set off for Serrata on my own. Even as I suppressed my speed, I was faster than a chain of trained horses that alternated as each got tired. I reached Serrata in two days and requested a meeting with its feudal lord, Count Lorenz. Fortunately, the lieutenant of the Imperial Knights that I had gone into the Woodlands with was the count’s relative. Thanks to their letter of recommendation, I was let through to see Count Lorenz right away.

The interior of Fort Serrata was much more ostentatious than Tilia or Ebenus. I was shown into a luxurious room where two people awaited me. The first was a man wearing a military uniform. His muscular body showed no signs of excess fat, indicating how strictly he disciplined himself. He had evenly cut short blond hair, and his expression looked rather high strung and serious.

The other was a quirky man with brown hair. He was the thinner of the two, but he was also visibly muscular. He wore decorated armor, but his easy-going expression gave him the elegance of a minstrel rather than that of a knight.

“Who are you two?” I asked with a puzzled look.

According to the lieutenant, the head of House Lorenz was a man whose abundance radiated from his body. In other words, he was probably stout and fat. Neither of the men before me matched this description.

“A pleasure to meet you, madam. My name is Louis Bard,” the larger man said with a bow. “I serve the head of House Maclaurin, Lord Glantri Maclaurin, and have been entrusted with a portion of the margraviate’s army. And this is...”

“I have been given charge of the Holy Order’s Fourth Company. The name is Travis Mortimer. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Yuna,” the other man said as he gently bowed.

His refined and pompous gestures reminded me of a Hollywood actor. It was easy to guess that he was popular with women. However, that wasn’t the part I was focused on.

“Louis and Travis, right? Why is the subordinate of one of the southern Empire’s grand houses and an officer of the Holy Order together all the way out here?”

I had heard about Margrave Maclaurin before from the lieutenant. He was a noble of the southern region said to be a bold man who led his regional army in the suppression of monsters despite his high status. Why would the subordinate of such a person be in Lorenz County?

Louis faced my suspicious gaze head-on and gave me his answer. “My lord is one of those entrusted with the stability of the southern Empire. Thus, he’s greatly concerned for the calamity which has befallen Fort Tilia. This has to do with the safety of our hallowed saviors, after all. There are facets of this that cannot be handled by a count. As such, he took action of his own accord, and Lord Lorenz has happily accepted his offer.”

Louis then looked to the knight at his side and continued. “Sir Mortimer was on his way to Fort Tilia to welcome the saviors who have come to our world. On his long journey from the imperial capital through the margraviate, news of Fort Tilia’s fall reached his ears, and he has offered my lord his hand in dealing with these matters.”

He then returned his gaze to me. “As for me, I am staying in Serrata as my lord’s representative and have been entrusted with the care of the soldiers who escaped Fort Tilia.”

“Oh! Does that include my comrades?!”

I couldn’t suppress my excitement. It had already been more than ten days since I’d seen Fort Tilia’s disastrous state. I had been feeling impatient the entire time. I was finally able to get information regarding the safety of the students.

“Do you know the details of the attack on Fort Tilia?!” I asked in a frenzy. “Please tell me! What exactly happened there? Where are the other students?!”

“Please calm down, madam,” Louis said, holding me back with both hands as I drew closer. “I will tell you everything I know. Please give me the time to do so.”

“O-Okay...”

I calmed my soaring spirits and listened.

◆ ◆ ◆

“No way. That can’t be...”

I was speechless. According to Louis, a group of students with evil intentions had brought Fort Tilia to ruin.

“I can’t believe it...”

“I’m very sorry to say that it’s the truth,” Louis replied in a heavy tone. “Fort Tilia suffered an attack at the hands of someone who has the power to manipulate monsters. There are several testimonies backing this, and judging from the situation, there’s no denying it.”

I had seen the traces of destruction at the abandoned fortress for myself. I hadn’t had the time to thoroughly investigate them, but there were many signs that pointed to a horde of monsters. With the exception of things like a school of tripdrills, such a large-scale movement pretty much never happened throughout all of this world’s history. That was why the Imperial Knights who had accompanied me doubted their eyes.

According to them, the last time such a thing had happened was several centuries ago, when a savior led a grand campaign into the Abyss. If such a thing were more common, they wouldn’t have spent so much effort constructing such a large fortress. No matter how sturdy they built the walls, repeated attacks of that scale couldn’t be kept at bay. It wouldn’t be worth it if the fortress fell immediately after completion.

And now, such a rare occurrence had happened while we were at the fortress by utter coincidence? That was out of the question. Even I could see that someone who was in the fortress at the time had done this. This applied doubly so when considering the abilities we possessed. It was definitely possible.

“Unforgivable...”

I gritted my teeth. Louis had told me how many people had died. The two companions I had journeyed with through the Woodlands, Juumonji and Watanabe, had both been killed. The majority of the other students I was meant to protect had also died. Even many of the fortress’s people who had treated us so kindly had lost their lives.

The damage was far too excessive. There was no recovering from it. The thought of those people dying in fear and regret pained my heart. I felt a hair-raising discomfort toward the culprit along with an irrepressible sense of anger.

“I definitely, definitely won’t let them get away!”

I would catch them and make them realize exactly what it was that they had done. That was the least I could do for the victims.

“Yes. It was an unforgivable act,” Louis said, nodding in agreement. “Many lives were lost to the villainous power of manipulating monsters. We cannot leave such an evil at large.”

He put his strength into his fingers, interlacing them over his knees. That gesture showed an unbearable sense of righteous indignation, as if his bones and muscles were audibly creaking.

“Evil must be destroyed. Justice must be enforced. Even if I am to die miserably on the battlefield, there are evils which simply cannot be neglected. I have no intention of forgiving those who manipulate monsters or those who conspire with them.”

The pressure I felt from this man, who was supposed to be physically weaker than me, compelled me to hold my breath. Every single word from his mouth was filled with a terrifyingly heavy emotion. Still, I could sympathize with him in this regard. I was overawed, but not displeased.

“Madam, I would like to ask you to lend us your strength so that we may rid the world of this evil.”

“With pleasure,” I answered with a reassuring nod.

I then had Louis tell me everything he knew. Having said that, there wasn’t all that much to tell. The information was a mess. Pretty much nobody knew all the details, so wild rumors were spreading about irresponsibly.

“Of all things, there are those saying your fellow exploration team member Juumonji is one of the culprits who attacked Fort Tilia.”

“That can’t be!”

“I do not believe in such drivel, of course. They are nothing but groundless rumors.”

It was a relief to hear that, but it did prove how severely distorted the information at hand had become.

“Our society, which requires us to take up arms in a continuous struggle against monsters, is very fragile. The smallest event is likely to sunder our hearts long before breaking our blades. The effect is even greater when it is related to the hallowed saviors who serve as our moral pillars. We cannot allow such thoughtless information to flow. My lord has ordered me to shelter the surviving soldiers from Fort Tilia while also keeping unwanted information from spreading.”

The loss of an important base in Fort Tilia. The death of several visitors from afar. The fact that a group of visitors were behind the attack. Each piece of news was too sensational and would have too large an effect on the populace. Furthermore, there were groundless rumors that couldn’t reach the light of day. Margrave Maclaurin’s orders to Louis were appropriate.

The margrave himself had already left Serrata. The only people who supposedly knew all the details of the events were members of the Alliance Knights. They had left together with the margrave. Louis had been leading the margraviate’s army to Serrata, while his lord had gone ahead of him with the cavalry. By the time he caught up, the margrave had given his orders and had immediately left, so Louis didn’t even get the chance to meet the Alliance Knights.

“Very well. So if I go see Margrave Maclaurin, I should be able to learn more... Oh, but will I be able to meet him even if I catch up?”

He was a noble. I had the referral of Count Lorenz’s relative, the lieutenant of the Imperial Knights that I had gone into the Woodlands with, so I had been able to meet with Count Lorenz. But it wasn’t definite that I could meet a margrave without any connections.

“It should be fine. My lord is sure to meet any savior who visits him,” Louis said.

I cocked my head at this. “What kind of person is he?”

“Let’s see...” Louis sank into thought for a short while before answering. “To sum him up briefly, he’s a man with a strong sense of justice. He has dedicated much of his life to fighting the evil known as monsters. His decisiveness in taking action has made him many political enemies and the target of groundless slander from those who do not understand him. Nevertheless, he does not allow his conviction to falter.”

I could hear the respect that Louis had for this man through the gravity of his voice.

“He is also a man of deep compassion. In truth, I come from a village that suffered devastating damage from a monster attack.”

“Huh? Is that so...?” I didn’t know what to say to his sudden confession.

Louis smiled ever so slightly at my vague response. “If Lord Maclaurin had arrived only a moment later with his army, I wouldn’t be alive. Not only that, he granted an orphan like me, who had nowhere to go, a job dealing with his army’s miscellaneous affairs.”

Meaning Louis owed this man his life. I could understand why I’d heard such respect in his voice now.

“During a widespread devastation of crops about ten years ago, he took many steps and used his own personal funds to prevent starvation. I still didn’t possess much of a rank at the time, but I pride myself greatly for working as part of the army in his name back then.”

I let out a sigh of relief. Even though this was coming from his subordinate, it seemed like this Margrave Maclaurin was a good man.

“Given his nature, if a savior who wishes to strike down evil were to seek an audience with him, then I am sure he would accept. However...” Louis paused as he knit his brows. “My lord left the city ten days ago. It would take time to catch up with him. Moreover, by the time I arrived, he was already leaving. While I do know he is headed for the imperial capital, I do not know what route he is using.”

I groaned. If he left ten days ago, I could catch up in two or three days, but without knowing the route he was using, I had to check all of them. It wasn’t entirely impossible, but it would take some time.

“What would you like to do? If need be, I could address a letter to Lord Maclaurin for you.”

“No... It’s fine.”

I waved my hand and turned down his offer. It was important to hear more about the attack on Fort Tilia from the margrave, but I had to chase after the culprit behind the attack right away. The longer I waited to track the fleeing suspect, the harder it would get. I couldn’t waste any time.

“Very well. In that case, please come visit me again when you return to Serrata. If I come across any new information, I shall pass it on to you.”

“Thank you very much.”

Reassured by the existence of an ally who thought like I did, I left Serrata behind. I’d obtained the information I needed already, and I was now acquainted with someone who could help me. It had been a worthwhile meeting.

There was just one tiny thorn pricking at my heart. It concerned the officer of the Holy Order, Travis. The entire time I was speaking with Louis, he had kept silent and watched us with a smile. His expression was awfully smug for a man of gentle manners. However, I felt like there was more to it...

Let’s not... There’s no point in worrying about that. Even if Travis had been secretly making fun of the immature sense of justice Louis and I possessed, it didn’t change what had to be done. I had to crush evil and save the weak. That was all.

I left Serrata and ran all the way to Fort Ebenus. No matter what I did, first I had to relay all necessary information to the exploration team’s leader, Nakajima Kojirou. Louis had been entrusted with sheltering Fort Tilia’s surviving soldiers while also preventing the spread of irresponsible information. Fearing anything would leak out, Louis refused to use the long-range communication device in Fort Serrata to convey information to Fort Ebenus. If I spoke directly with our leader, however, there was no need to worry about this.

After meeting with Nakajima, I went right back to Serrata, then headed south. There were many uncertain details, but we knew for sure that a cheater who manipulated monsters had attacked Fort Tilia.

There were two confirmed reports regarding this crucial point. The first was Kudou Riku. I honestly didn’t remember his face, but I did recall there was a first-year student among the home team members at Fort Tilia. The other was Majima Takahiro, a second-year student just like me.

There were no clues regarding Kudou’s current whereabouts. He was thought to be hiding in the Woodlands, but it was possible he had snuck his way into human society as well. In contrast, it was known that Majima Takahiro had been staying in a suburb near Serrata just recently.

He had audaciously left Fort Tilia with the survivors. After that, Majima Takahiro went into hiding. According to Louis, it was highly likely he was headed to Aker, one of the Five Northern Kingdoms. Escaping from the Empire, which prided itself on military strength, and taking refuge in a small country to wait for things to cool down was truly an understandable choice.

Louis had already made preparations to cover the safe route through Longue County to the west. As such, I left that to him and headed south from Serrata to investigate the old mountain path through the Kitrus Mountains.

It was apparently a long-forgotten road that wasn’t normally used, but with the cheats of a visitor, it wasn’t all that difficult to force one’s way through. It was of course possible he wasn’t going this way, but that was the nature of dividing work. As the Skanda, I was pretty much the only one who could catch up to someone after such a late start like this. Considering the danger of the path itself, nobody else was suitable for the job. If I was to be a little greedy, I would’ve liked the ability to trace footprints...

“If only Todo were here.”

I recalled my best friend who I had always teamed up with until I left with the expeditionary force. She had stayed behind in the Colony, and I wasn’t able to reunite with her during my rescue activities. She was about as strong as I was, though, so she was probably fine so long as she didn’t encounter something excessively bad out there. If she were with me, she’d be able to put her abilities on full display.

I couldn’t do anything about someone who wasn’t here, however. So I hurried with my chase and continued gathering information from the villages on the way. Fortunately, I managed to find someone who had spotted a man who looked like Majima Takahiro. All I had to do now was catch up. I was well aware of the emotion burning hotter and hotter within my heart.

Majima Takahiro.

I had spoken with him at Fort Tilia. He honestly didn’t leave much of an impression. He was a boy who seemed serious and sincere. That was about all I thought of him. However, paired with the girl Mizushima Miho, the two of them left quite an impression.

I knew Mizushima Miho before coming to this world. I was only aware of her after arriving at Fort Ebenus, though. A boy had made it through the Woodlands all on his own to bring us news of the Colony’s destruction. He was Mizushima Miho’s childhood friend who was one year younger than us, Takaya Jun.

Due to his long forced march, Takaya’s sturdy warrior body and heart had been in tatters. Nevertheless, he had managed to reach Fort Ebenus to plead with us to save his precious childhood friend. At the time, I had clasped his hand, told him to leave it to me, and headed for Fort Tilia. That was why I had felt both relief and a little anger when I saw Mizushima Miho with Majima Takahiro.

What’s with that? Seriously? What about Takaya? I had thought to myself. But I did realize that their love triangle was none of my business. I already knew that Mizushima Miho thought of Takaya as nothing more than her childhood friend. That was why I had stopped at telling them that Takaya was alive.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel a little mean in doing so. However, right away, I knew it didn’t matter. The two of them had suited each other so well. I was sure they had overcome a great ordeal hand in hand. There had been an air about them as if it were perfectly natural for the other to be there. Nothing I could do would cause that to crumble.

As a girl, I had found this quite wonderful...and I couldn’t forgive myself now for thinking so. It was all a lie. The one next to Majima Takahiro wasn’t Mizushima Miho. It was a villainous monster who only imitated her outer appearance.

A mimic slime. It was said to be a special monster who could mimic everything about whatever it ate. The fact that such a monster took Mizushima Miho’s shape meant that Majima Takahiro had killed her, and then...

I had to be sure of it. I had to be sure whether such an inhuman act had happened. If Majima Takahiro was in fact a cruel murderer, I had to catch him even if it meant beating him down. That was why I possessed power as the Skanda, after all.

With that thought in my heart, I ran through the mountain road...and spotted him.

“I finally caught up to you.”

He was on a thin mountain path. I used my prided leg strength to run across a practically vertical cliff face and cut him off.

“Iino...Yuna...” Majima Takahiro muttered as his eyes shot open.

Mizushima Miho—the monster mimicking her form—stepped forward as if to protect him. The girl behind him wearing a mask appeared to be a puppet-type monster, judging by her limbs. There was also a beautiful arachne with the lower body of a spider, and a puffed-up baby blowfox riding on her head. A creeper-type monster stretched out of the back of Majima Takahiro’s left hand like a snake.

He was also accompanied by a schoolgirl I didn’t know and two elves who appeared to be locals. None of them mattered to me right now. They were completely ignorable. The important thing here was that Majima Takahiro’s ability to manipulate monsters was in fact real. Having said that, it didn’t mean he was necessarily evil.

“I’ll ask just one thing,” I said. I had to confirm this for the last time. “Majima. Did you feed Mizushima to the monster you’re manipulating?”

Majima Takahiro’s face stiffened. In that instant, I decided he was definitely my enemy.