Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 5 - Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Leaving Fort Tilia Behind

I came to the top of the outer ramparts with Lily. The walls were still deeply scarred by the other day’s attack. The area around Fort Tilia, the fortress enshrined in the northern region of the Woodlands, had been cleared out to provide an unobstructed view in case monsters approached. Looking down from the walls, the boundary between cleared ground and green forest clearly demonstrated the existence of this human domain.

That boundary now looked like something was encroaching on it. It wasn’t just my imagination. Trees were already growing from what was supposed to be infertile ground. Even though I was just a visitor from another world, I could tell this growth was unnatural. This was the Woodlands, a special forest rich with mana. The trees here grew quickly. This applied even more so to territory that was no longer human.

Now that the fortress was lost, the Woodlands were already creeping in on it. The other day, Kei had told us it was like the forest knew of the defeat and impending retreat of the humans, so it sped up the growth of its trees to take back the ground. Seeing it right before my eyes made the Woodlands feel like a monster of its own. It sent a chill down my spine.

“So this is where you’ve been, Takahiro.”

Lily and I turned toward the voice that had called out to me. Standing there was a tall knight with a firm build, the woman who led the Third Company of the Alliance Knights. Next to her was Mikihiko.

“I’ll be going ahead. Please take care of the rear,” the commander said.

“Understood,” I responded.

The commander left with those quick words. Her wide back bore the weight of hundreds of lives. It felt like every step she took carried that burden.

“The commander’s looking a little worn out. Is she all right?” I asked.

Mikihiko frowned. “Some people have been saying we should wait for those guys who went into the Depths for that rescue operation to return... Especially Iino Yuna. It ended up wasting a bunch of her time to convince them otherwise. She’s already super busy to begin with, dammit.”

The Skanda Iino Yuna had led some Imperial Knights into the Depths to rescue any survivors back at the Colony and in those huts protected by barrier runestones. It had been ten days since they’d departed.

Shiran had already led a force of Alliance Knights to round up the survivors in the relatively nearby huts, so Iino was checking the ones that were further away. She had suggested they visit a large number of huts in one go and stop by the site of the Colony, so what had initially been a twenty-day trip had turned into something that would likely take over a month.

I felt sorry for Iino and the Imperial Knights, but the fortress didn’t have the leisure to wait that long. Fortunately, they were with the Skanda, whose combat abilities stood out even within the exploration team. Their safety was pretty much guaranteed. The knights had been carrying valuable magic tools that looked like regular bags but had a far larger capacity than their appearance suggested. They also preserved their contents, so provisions weren’t a problem either.

The commander’s decision to abandon the fortress was the appropriate choice. However, even if it was, it didn’t mean everyone would easily accept it. Iino was a visitor from afar; she was viewed as a savior of this world. It was natural that some would want to wait for her return, so the commander had had a rough time trying to convince everyone.

“Besides, thinking of what’s to come...” Mikihiko added, ruffling his hair. “When a major incident occurs, someone’s gotta take responsibility. But the ones in charge of Fort Tilia were slaughtered down to the last man...”

“You mean the responsibility is being pinned on the commander?”

“The knights’ only job was to suppress the monsters in the Woodlands, not defend the fortress. In fact, the commander couldn’t even talk about how the fortress was managed. With nobody else left, though, it’s possible the responsibility will get forced on her. I’ve been here longer than you guys, so I know how weak the Alliance Knights’ position is here.”

Mikihiko let out a weary sigh, took a deep breath, and clenched his fist.

“I need to try harder so that doesn’t happen,” he continued. “So I need to get going too. Oh yeah, I’ll drop by at night, so let Rose and, um, Katou know as well.”

I had discussed imitation runestones with Mikihiko already. He’d only briefly listened to what Rose had to say so far, but he seemed to have a few ideas already. She was going to talk with him some more once there was the time. Katou was also going to sit in on the conversation. This was something she had requested, as a form of rehabilitation for her androphobia while she helped with the runestones. In any case, Katou hadn’t collapsed this morning when Mikihiko had been in the room talking to Rose. At this rate, I felt like she would get better in time.

“Sorry for making you put up with us even though you’re so busy.”

“Ha ha. No need to say things like that. Besides, I’m enjoying myself.”

“Oh yeah, you like making things too, huh?”

Mikihiko was a guy of many hobbies. He had often worked part time jobs without telling the school so he could save money to buy plastic models, among other things. Rose’s crafting abilities apparently tugged on his heartstrings. He had looked fully engrossed and had even trembled in excitement when he spoke with her.

“Well, that’s true. But that’s not all,” Mikihiko said, waving his hand about with a grin. “I was just thinking of what a smooth operator you’ve become in the time I haven’t seen you.”

“Is this about Lily...? Or maybe Gerbera?”

I brought up the name of the other girl who was affectionate with me, but Mikihiko shook his head.

“Nope. Well, there’s that one too, but I’m more referring to Katou. I mean, she’s so sweet, ain’t she? She’s somehow managing with me nearby ’cause I’m your friend, right? Her motivation to try and not hold you back shows how strong her feelings are and all.”

“Well...it’s true that she puts her faith in me.”

Mikihiko’s words reminded me of how Katou had asked if she could join us during Rose’s consultation with Mikihiko. When I’d asked if she would be fine, she’d replied, “If you’ll be there with me, Senpai,” with flushed cheeks. Mikihiko’s description of her being sweet was entirely correct.

“But it’s not like that for her or anything,” I added.

Katou was different from Gerbera. Without knowing the circumstances, it would be easy to misunderstand her. However, as she was now, she didn’t have the leisure to be head over heels. She was fighting against a severe case of androphobia. She wouldn’t be able to see any man in such a way.

Mikihiko didn’t know the full details, so it was normal for him to misunderstand. Having said that, this was a difficult time for her, so I didn’t want him to poke fun at her about it... That was what I’d been trying to tell him indirectly, but Mikihiko made an exquisitely doubtful expression and turned to Lily.

“Lily, I’ve got some serious questions here. How’d you bring down this dolt?”

“Going with the flow was part of it... But let’s see... He responds to a wholehearted and earnest approach, you know?”

“Hmm? Hmmmmm? Ahh... Got it. In short, you pushed him down and took him?” Mikihiko said with a snap of his fingers.

“What kind of interpretation is that?” I quipped with a raised brow.

It had, in fact...gone something like that... Actually, it had gone exactly like that. Thinking back on it now, I had never gone on the offensive of my own accord, had I? On the contrary, it was like I was always being pushed back...? I stood there in shock, having just realized the state of my manliness.

“They’re all good girls, so treat them well, yeah? Well, I guess you don’t need me telling you that,” Mikihiko said.

“Yeah, of course.”

I nodded back to him, and Mikihiko gave me an enormous smile.

“I see. Okay then, I gotta get going... Aah! Goddammit! I want the commander’s warmth!” Mikihiko screamed out.

“Mikihiko!” a scream answered from afar. “What kind of nonsense are you yelling out so loudly?!”

“Shit! She heard me?! Sorry Commander! I was screwing around, but I’m serious!”

She had yelled at him, but he still ran off toward the commander while blurting out more nonsense.

“Hang in there, Mikihiko,” I muttered as I watched my friend run off.

Mikihiko had been at Fort Tilia longer than us and was well-known throughout the fortress. His situation wasn’t delicate like mine, so he could use his position as a savior to support the commander.

The commander had ended up in a leadership position among the survivors of Fort Tilia by circumstance. She was, at most, the commander of the Third Company of the Alliance Knights. To the imperials who made up the large majority of the survivors, she was nothing more than a foreigner. Having Mikihiko by her side made an enormous difference in how easy it was for her to take action. He was doing the best he could. I felt like I didn’t want to lose to him, perhaps because we were friends.

We looked down from the walls as lines of soldiers began marching across the temporary bridge in front of the main gate. They were walking in columns with a space in the middle for the manamobiles to travel under guard.

The Alliance Knights, in their dull gray armor, were leading the march. Half of their numbers were present in this vanguard. Among them was Shiran’s white armor. Even though she’d lost her ability to detect enemies, she was still the strongest knight in the northern Woodlands.

The remaining Alliance Knights were defending the center of the group. This was the force the commander was leading. Moving around five hundred people down a road naturally led to an extended line. The road itself cut through the forest and was surrounded by fiendish monsters. The commander’s force was overseeing the entire group while protecting the center of the column. Mikihiko was right there next to her, wearing leather armor over his school uniform.

“Looks like we’ll be able to depart without any delays,” I observed.

I watched over the whole departure from above, but at the very least, there were no signs of any monsters. It seemed everyone’s enthusiasm would remain high instead of being cut short right after setting out.

“Okay, let’s get going too.”

We had taken on the job of the rearguard. Fewer eyes would be on us in that position if worse came to worst and my servants had to take action. In addition, the vehicles the non-combatants were riding in were gathered at the end of the line. Their position relied on our forces, proving that the commander trusted us. This was the plan she had taken great pains to assemble to guarantee as many survivors as possible.

We passed through a building from the top of the wall and headed toward the front gate. All of the manamobiles were pretty much gone by then. Only one of them wasn’t moving. I jumped up on this last vehicle into the driver’s seat. I caught Lily in my arm as she hopped up after me, then turned around and flipped open the cloth that was in place so that nobody could see inside. The rest of my group and Kei were having a friendly chat within.

“We’re going to set off soon,” I said to them as Lily and I took our seats side by side in the driver’s position.

Manamobiles were fundamentally the same as carriages, except they used mana as an energy source instead of horses. The front seats were wide enough for three average-sized men to sit comfortably together and were fitted with a slanted footrest to help stabilize the body. A curved mudguard was installed on the front that went up to the driver’s chest, and it was furnished with a gray runestone about the size of a fist, just within reach. There was a carving of a horse head attached to the top of the mudguard, facing outward like the figurehead of a boat.

I touched the runestone affixed near its neck. Operating the manamobile was pretty simple. All I had to do was touch the runestone and channel my mana into it. This functioned as an ignition switch. It used the mana it stored from the environment as a power source, so there was no need to constantly supply it with mine. I had asked what decided forward or backward motion, but the main runestone could only drive the car straight forward.

A magical force pulled on the frame but didn’t directly affect anything loaded on board. The start was a bit slippery. The wheels creaked and started moving, clattering against the ground as the manamobile shook about. I couldn’t say it was comfortable, but considering the condition of the road, this was pretty much inevitable. It seemed like it would be difficult for someone with car sickness.

“Takahiro, how is my sister doing?”

Just as we got moving, chasing the manamobile in front of us, Kei popped out from the back between myself and Lily. Anyone who saw her acting like a friendly puppy would smile at this. She had short hair, the same beautiful blonde as Shiran’s, that was tied up in short braids today. This was likely Katou’s handiwork. She did have a habit of changing Rose’s hairstyle all the time.

“Shiran’s doing a splendid job leading the group. What were you all chatting about back there?”

“About my hometown. Gerbera said she wanted to hear about it.”

“Indeed. I have yet to hear such stories, after all.”

The girl in white popped out next, grabbing both my shoulders from behind and placing her head next to mine. She looked at me from the side. I was used to it now, but her captivating beauty was even closer to me than the innocent little Kei. It seemed like a small shake of the vehicle would knock our cheeks together. Her silky white hair, which resembled spider threads, brushed against my neck and tickled me.

“Be careful, Gerbera,” I said, shooting a glance at her cheery red eyes. “Your lower body stands out. It’ll be bad if someone spots you by accident. Come on, look, Ayame is even imitating you.”

The little blowfox had jumped out and landed on my lap when Gerbera had peeked out. Ayame plopped herself down comfortably. Her nose was twitching about, perhaps because of the constantly changing scent in the air as the vehicle moved.

“I know. With only my upper body sticking out like this, I am no different from a human. Ayame can’t be seen when sitting atop your lap either.”

She had at least given it some thought, apparently. I was fine with it so long as she understood, but Gerbera was a careless girl. It was better to hammer the nail in all the way.

“Sorry, but when we reach the village, keep yourself hidden. You’re already very eye-catching as it is. Attracting unnecessary attention would be dangerous when we’re keeping secrets.”

“Gerbera is super pretty, after all. Isn’t she, Takahiro?” Kei added.

“Yeah.”

“H-Hmm? Is that so?” Gerbera said, putting her hand to her cheek.

I tore my gaze from her cute reaction and turned back to Kei.

“Anyway, you were talking about your hometown? How much did you get through?”

“Ummm, let’s see...”

◆ ◆ ◆

The largest nation on this continent was officially called the Eryx Empire. It was a feudal nation led by an emperor, and nobles governed its territories. The Empire had also vassalized a group of small nations designated as the Alliance. This name was a relic from the age when they’d joined forces in opposition against the Empire. It had happened centuries ago, around the same time that The Tragedy of the Undead King Carl was said to have taken place.

Despite its vast territories, only a small portion of the Empire bordered the Woodlands. In contrast, the countries of the Alliance all looked out over the dangerous forest. That was the historical background of the land.

Each country of the Alliance obviously had its own name. For example, the Third Company of the Alliance Knights were dispatched from one such country called Aker. The Alliance countries on the southern edge of the Empire, facing the northern region of the Woodlands, were called the Five Northern Kingdoms. These countries were located to the west of Fort Tilia. The Alliance countries at the eastern edge were called the Three Eastern Kingdoms. Incidentally, it was said that the forest ran all the way to the west and south ends of the continent, but nobody had ever confirmed it.

The country the commander had invited us to was Aker, one of the Five Northern Kingdoms. It was composed of only a handful of settlements that were large enough to call cities. The rest of the small nation was made up of villages.

About one-third of Aker’s territory was covered by precipitous mountains, and some parts of its territory also occupied regions where the Woodlands had been cleared out. The nation was poor, but it was brimming with militaristic spirit as a form of national character. The children of reclamation villages, like the one Kei came from, were taught how to fight with a sword at a young age. They probably wouldn’t have been able to survive otherwise.

Seeing how their small territory bordered the Woodlands, the threat from monsters was serious. That was why the parent organization of the Third Company, the Order of National Defense, was led by royalty. The knights ran around from east to west within their borders, busily fighting off monsters.

This sort of situation was supposedly normal within the Five Northern Kingdoms. The image I had of kings was more akin to royalty in games, where an old man sat comfortably in a vast room with a red rug in a big old castle. The royalty of the Alliance countries, on the other hand, were actually closer to the military commanders of the Sengoku period of Japan. That was why a princess like the commander was going out onto battlefields with knights.

The survivors from Fort Tilia, led by the commander, were following the road north that went through the Woodlands. This road led to Lorenz County in the southern Empire. The closest city to Fort Tilia was the trade city Serrata located in the center of this territory. We were starting by going north until we reached this city.

The commander was planning on reporting the events at Fort Tilia to each region from there. Serrata had a means of long-distance communication that was connected to Fort Tilia and Fort Ebenus. However, the device in Fort Tilia had been lost during the monster attack, so they had to use the nearest one available. A fast horse had already been sent to Serrata the day after the attack, but there was no guarantee that the information would get through the Woodlands safely. Plus, it would lend more weight if a person of high standing delivered the report.

After that, she was going to leave the imperial soldiers in the care of the imperial noble Count Lorenz. Then she was going to lead the Alliance Knights back to her home country and report the situation to her father in person. Our plan was to go with her. Aker was located southwest of Serrata, meaning we were taking somewhat of a roundabout route to get there, but we didn’t really have much of a choice.

In any case, the important thing now was getting through the Woodlands safely. We had to keep focused.

◆ ◆ ◆

“Yaaah!”

A single yell, a single strike.

A black spear pierced through the air like a bullet, right into one of the six heads of an enormous snake, a lesser hydra. The monster had attempted an attack on the soldiers protecting the line of cars. A teenage girl—or rather, a monster mimicking one, my servant Lily—pulled the bloodied spearpoint out. She easily dodged another head trying to thrust its poisonous fangs into her, then stomped the lunging head into the ground.

“Taaah!”

She used her foot to pivot and spin around. Her white skirt fluttered as her long leg drew a beautiful arc in the air, delivering a roundhouse kick into one of the lesser hydra’s necks. The impact was far more devastating than her delicate appearance would suggest. The snake’s head flew off into the darkness of the forest with a wet crunch and vanished.

“How one-sided... It’s just a monster from the Fringes, but still,” I muttered to myself.

“Isn’t she great?”

I sat on the driver’s seat of the halted manamobile. Gerbera was holding up the cloth behind me, bending forward in amusement as she shook my shoulders.

Lily’s movements were a level beyond what they used to be. Not only had she gained a lot of mana by eating the mountain of monster corpses in Fort Tilia, but a portion of her sensory organs were now enhanced through mimicry, much like her sense of smell after eating that first firefang. As a result, she not only had a handle on the situation around us, but she even knew all the minute details of her own body, giving her far better control than before.

That wasn’t all either. A red glyph took shape in Lily’s left hand. It was grade 2 fire magic. The fireball shot out and exploded, burning one of the enormous snake’s faces. It screamed and bent backward as a spear plunged into its throat.

Lily could now use new magic after eating monsters like fire elementals. She could cast grade 2 fire and earth magic. They were weaker than the water and wind magic she could already use, but it definitely expanded her tactical arsenal. She was proactively using her newly acquired magic so that she could get accustomed to it.

The lesser hydra hit the dirt in no time at all. With so many eyes around, though, she really couldn’t go eating it. The reason Lily fought on her own was because we felt it would be less stimulating to the soldiers accompanying us, seeing how she looked human. If she were to act like a monster, it would defeat our intentions.

Lily had already eaten a lesser hydra during the cleanup in Fort Tilia anyway, so there wasn’t really any reason to eat this one. It was fine to leave it. She walked back our way while basking in the strangely passionate gazes from the soldiers she’d saved. I asked Gerbera, who hid herself back in the vehicle, to relay the situation to the others.

“I’m baaack!”

“Good job out there.”

Lily sat down next to me at the front of the manamobile. I wiped the snake blood off her cheek with a cloth, and Lily smiled bashfully in great spirits. I didn’t even know how many times it was now that I had tended to her like this.

It was the sixth day since we’d left Fort Tilia. We had encountered monsters many times over since then. From what Mikihiko had said when we last talked, we were bumping into more monsters than expected. It was pretty much a given, seeing that the knights hadn’t been able to clear the vicinity of monsters ever since the siege.

Shiran’s detection abilities were currently unavailable, so we were the only ones who could take preemptive action against monsters using Lily and Ayame’s sense of smell. Since Lily looked no different from a human and her combat strength was excellent, she ended up leaping from our vehicle multiple times a day.

She could only cover the back end of the line, however. I didn’t get to witness it myself, but Shiran was evidently doing the work of a hundred people at the front. There was still a limit to how much the two of them could cover, though. The Alliance Knights and the soldiers repelled the remaining monsters. Whenever monsters appeared, the soldiers formed columns on either side of the vehicles and readied their shields.

They basically took on a defensive policy. Their only job was protecting the manamobiles carrying the wounded. Directly taking part in battle was the job of the more experienced Alliance Knights. They would charge in with their large shields at the ready, protecting the comrades to their rear as they looked for openings and thrust out their weapons.

Once they had pinned down a monster with this approach, the soldiers would continuously bombard them with arrows and magic. The Imperial Army wasn’t weak. Even if they didn’t have the strength to directly clash with monsters, their ability to whittle down and kill them from a distance was one advantage they had over the Alliance Knights. Their nature was to work in large formations like this, which was difficult to do in the Woodlands. This contrasted with the knights, who favored individual combat strength.

Soldiers preferred to fire arrows and magic from afar whenever they could. If they had to engage in close combat, they formed a spear wall to take the monsters down. Their combat style was based on the assumption that they’d be fighting defensive battles inside a fortress or in open fields. They practiced the trustworthy tactic of violence through numbers. That was simply how they were trained.

A large army of monsters, like the one Kudou had sent, was the Imperial Army’s worst enemy. Unlike when they had fought the initial wave of the siege and failed, the soldiers had been able to put up meaningful resistance within the fortress’s corridors, where they could outnumber their foes.

Just maybe, if the fortress’s entire garrison had faced off directly against Juumonji, they might have been able to take him down. That would have come with heavy casualties, though, and Juumonji would never have taken on such a fight. The soldiers wouldn’t have been able to draw their arrows against a savior, anyway.

In any case, the armed forces of this world were more powerful than I’d thought they were. With this, we could keep casualties to a minimum and cross the Woodlands. Once the soldiers who had been injured during the battle against the lesser hydra were treated, the halted line of manamobiles began moving again.

We had to wait for all the other vehicles to get going since we were last in line. Seeing that I had nothing to do, Asarina poked her head out. I kept her company as she appealed to me as if saying, “Play with me! Play with me!” Not long after, I heard a groan from my side.

“What’s up, Lily?”

“I was just thinking of how it’s not going as well as I’d hoped.”

Lily was looking down at her right hand in her lap with a serious expression. I had no idea what she was talking about. Just then, a sudden change occurred at her fingertips.

“Huh...?”

Her slender fingers grew larger, and bristles covered the skin. It was a bear’s paw. I could tell this was the hand of a rough rabbit, a monster from the Depths.

“Ugh,” Lily groaned. Her bear hand began wriggling about as if something inside of it was going wild. Lily lightly bit her lip and knit her brows, seemingly unable to control it. “Ah?!”

In the next instant, Lily’s hand burst back into slime form.

“A-Are you okay?!”

“Mm. I’m fine, I’m fine.”

I grabbed her wrist in a panic. A slimy mass swelled up but returned to the shape of a girl’s hand after a little bit of time. I held her hand with both of mine and let out a sigh of relief.

“What was that?” I asked.

“An...experiment? Oh, Master, the manamobile in front of us is moving.” Lily waited for me to get the vehicle moving, then began explaining. “It seems my mimicry has a limit.”

“A limit?”

“Mhm. I can only mimic one type of monster at a time.”

“Haven’t you gone half-slime, half-human before?”

“Master. The slime is my actual body, not mimicry.”

Lily raised her hand and changed her fingers into slimy feelers.

Now that she mentioned it, I had never seen Lily change a portion of her body into anything other than a slime while mimicking a human girl. That wasn’t an act of mimicry; she was merely undoing a portion of it. That was what made it possible. I watched her wiggle her feelers around as I convinced myself of this.

“I have, of course, been using the abilities of other monsters while in this form. That’s where the firefang’s sense of smell comes from, and I’ve also been using the physical strength of a rough rabbit. Even the fire and earth magic I can use now is done like that. But no matter what I do, the abilities deteriorate because of this.”

“They deteriorate?”

“Yup. I can bring out eighty percent or so of a monster’s ability when using their form. If I do it in some other form, that could be up to sixty percent, but it’ll typically be somewhere around forty percent, I guess? There’s also specialized abilities I can’t bring out at all in this form.”

Lily’s mimicry couldn’t perfectly replicate the abilities of the monsters she copied. I knew this beforehand.

“Mimicry isn’t the real thing. There’s a gulf between fake and real that can’t be crossed,” Lily said in a hushed voice. “But I can’t give up just because of that, right? If I can’t cross that boundary, I simply need to figure out a way to make it work without having to.”

“And that’s what that partial mimicry was about?”

It made sense now. I didn’t ask why she was suddenly thinking of such things. Rose wasn’t the only one who’d felt danger after having witnessed the power of cheaters. Lily was also pondering ways to improve. Rose had suggested learning martial arts, whereas Lily was thinking of leveraging her specialty as a monster. I couldn’t be negligent while my servants were trying so hard. I had to put in multiple times the effort as their master.

“Hey, Master?” Lily muttered, almost as if she was talking to herself. “Going by that logic... Why can’t I use cheats?”

“Huh?”

“I really am just a...” In the middle of speaking, Lily noticed something and suddenly began blinking. “Master. Over there.”

Lily pointed at the abrupt change in scenery. Unending lines of trees had surrounded us all this time, but we now came upon a sturdy wall made of stone. A deep moat and an embankment encircled it. It wasn’t quite the size of Fort Tilia, but this fort-like appearance wasn’t what I was expecting. We had finally arrived at the nearest reclamation village to Fort Tilia.