Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 5 - Chapter 7

Chapter 7: The White Spider and the Otaku ~Gerbera’s POV~

“Hrmmm.”

I let out a groan and folded my arms. I was outside the reclamation village, a short distance off the road in the forest. Our lord had brought all of us out of the village together. I couldn’t see them from here, but Lily and Rose were receiving lessons in martial arts from Shiran a little deeper within the forest.

Lily would have been fine, but Rose had to avoid any human eyes. There was nowhere in the village for her to receive lessons, so we had to step outside. On the other hand, I was left racking my brains looking down at a variety of weapons lying on the ground in a line before me.

All of these weapons came from the armory in Fort Tilia. They had thought it a waste to leave them behind in an abandoned fortress, so they had packed as many as they could into the manamobiles. The majority of them belonged to the Alliance Knights, but some also belonged to the Imperial Knights who had been utterly annihilated in the siege.

The reason they were lying on the ground was related to why Shiran had paid me a visit yesterday. Back when they’d talked about teaching Lily and Rose, Shiran had said, “There are all manner of spears and axes, so how about taking a look at an assortment of them at once?” My lord had then commented, “In that case, how about you have Gerbera try out some weapons too?”

Lily and Rose weren’t the only ones who sought more strength. That cheater who came from the same lands as my lord, Juumonji Tatsuya, had been a formidable enemy. It took everything I had just to hold him back. I was the strongest monster among my lord’s servants. Thus, defeat wasn’t an option for me.

I didn’t hesitate to accept his suggestion. Using tools to quickly grow stronger was an idea characteristic to humans. When lacking in power, they devised ways of using tools to overcome their shortcomings. So, if I found myself lacking, it wasn’t a bad idea to follow the same principle. This was all too unfamiliar to me, however. I was honestly troubled by my lack of knowledge in this area.

“Have you found anything you like?” Kei asked, stepping out of the manamobile next to me.

The little elf had a load of weapons in her arms. She was training to become a knight, so she was quite strong despite being a child. She was also familiar with weaponry, so she was helping me out today.

“Unfortunately not...” I told her.

“Hmm. So these are no good. We’ve looked at a bunch already, but nothing seems to click, huh?”

“Indeed.”

I picked up one of the weapons before me. It was a sword much like the one my lord used. I gave it a swing and grimaced. To put it frankly, it didn’t suit me. I couldn’t envision myself getting stronger by wielding it. My instincts from living as a beast for many, many years told me this wouldn’t do. These tools were made for human hands. Perhaps that was why they didn’t suit me.

This didn’t only apply to weapons either. For example, Lily and Rose were trying to learn martial arts, but it didn’t seem like I could get stronger by doing the same. Think of applying the same logic to Ayame or Asarina; neither of them could learn martial arts. In a sense, I was closer to them in this regard. An arachne’s upper body resembled a human’s, but it was actually the lower body that was important in battle.

My lower body was no different from a spider. The way it moved was altogether different from a human body. For me to learn this so-called underlying principle of the sword, Shiran couldn’t simply rearrange things to match my physique. She had to establish an entirely new form of martial arts from its very roots. It could easily take decades to accomplish this. We didn’t have that sort of time.

“You’re already complete as a fighter to begin with, Gerbera,” Kei said, lowering herself to her knees and placing the weapons in her arms on the ground one by one. “For example, it’s like a super first-class knight trying to become a mage without ever taking a single lesson. It’s not remotely efficient. That’s why we’re trying to find a weapon that already suits your fighting style, rather than try and conform your fighting style to a weapon.” Kei paused, then stuck out her tongue shyly. “At least, that’s what my sister said.”

“I’m sorry for making you keep me company with such work.”

“It’s fine. I’m about the only one with the time to spare. Besides, it’s Takahiro’s request,” she replied cheerfully.

“You’re about the only one, you say?” I tilted my head curiously. “Say, Kei, I’ve been meaning to ask for quite some time... Are you not afraid of me?”

The soldiers and knights accompanying us didn’t act openly hostile toward us. The knights were actually treating us nicely because of their commander’s orders. In fact, a few of them were nearby keeping watch so that nobody saw us. They were the ones who had fought side by side with my lord at Fort Tilia.

However, that was, at most, out of respect for my lord. They trusted him. Acting friendly toward his servants was a different matter. Among all of us, only Lily, who couldn’t be distinguished from a human by her appearance, could interact with the people of this world.

There was nobody else like Kei trying to proactively be friends with me. I’d only just realized this recently, but it was actually rather astounding. That was why I asked her such a question.

“I mean, you’re Takahiro’s servant,” Kei replied with ease, picking up the weapons I had just been looking at and standing up with a cute grunt. “When Shiran turned into a ghoul, Takahiro told me to leave it to him. He wasn’t lying. He really, really saved my sister. So...”

“I see. So you believe in my lord.”

“Yes. That’s why I summoned the courage and tried talking to Rose, and she was a good person...or, good monster? Anyway, you looked easy to get along with too... Oh.” Kei was talking with a huge grin when she suddenly noticed someone. “Takahiro!”

Her happiness was evident. I could tell he was coming by his presence and turned his way as well.

My lord came through the trees, lending Mikihiko his shoulder. Both of them were supposed to have been exchanging blows with training swords and shields, but in contrast to Mikihiko, who was breathing raggedly, my lord looked to have a surplus of composure.

“Mikihiko is down for the count. Sorry Kei, can you look after him?” he said.

“Understood. Can you sit him down over there?”

Kei returned to the manamobile, the weapons in her arm clanking about with each step. My lord set Mikihiko down at the base of a tree, then turned my way.

“How’s it going, Gerbera? Think you’ll find a weapon that suits you?” he asked me.

“Unfortunately not. There are so many types it’s making me dizzy...”

“Keep at it. Once you find something you like, we can have Rose make you one.”

Just then, Kei returned with a canteen.

My lord got back up to his feet. “Okay then, I’ll leave the rest to you,” he said. “I’m going to go check on Lily and Rose.”

“Y-You’re going already, Takahiro?” Mikihiko asked, utterly exhausted.

“Shiran promised to see to my training, after all,” my lord answered with a shrug.

“Hang on... I’ll go too,” Mikihiko said.

“You can’t do anything in your state. Come after you recover.”

My lord gave Mikihiko a forced smile and left him behind. He looked a little lonely, but there was no choice, seeing how my lord had things he had to accomplish. So, I decided to do what I had to as well. I spent some time picking up and looking at weapons when Mikihiko sat himself back up.

I’d had multiple opportunities to interact with my lord’s friend. Whenever he had the time, he would come to our vehicle and discuss all manner of things with Rose. The strange tools she had been making lately were likely due to his influence. Given the chance, I also spoke to him once in a while.

“That guy sure is energetic...” Mikihiko muttered, a tinge of emotion in his voice.

The two of them had known each other before coming to this world. It was clear there were many things racing through his mind when he saw my lord now.

“He is better at using mana than you, after all,” I said, placing the ax I had in my hand back on the ground and turning to Mikihiko. “Still, from what I’ve seen, you seem to have more talent for fighting.”

I’d had a look at their training earlier. With sword and shield in hand, Mikihiko had fought in an irregular manner with two floating swords using his inherent power. With that, he had pushed in on my lord despite being one or two steps behind in strengthening his body with mana. My lord had ended up pushing him back because of this gap in strength.

“I’m sorry to say this about my own lord, but there is simply a difference in natural talent.”

“Ha ha. So the legendary Great White Spider says I’ve got talent. Maybe I’m not just trash.”

“Right now, my lord possesses more skill with a sword, but if you become as capable as him in manipulating your mana to strengthen your body, I’m sure you’ll be able to catch up quickly.”

“Hmm, really? That’d be nice. I see. If I can match his strengthening, huh...? Isn’t that a pretty big hurdle?”

“Well, that’s true.”

The strength my lord had obtained was due to his experiences surviving in the Woodlands. It wouldn’t be so easy for Mikihiko to match my lord’s progress.

“Seems I won’t be catching up to him for a while... Well, I guess that’s kinda obvious,” Mikihiko said with a small sigh. “Honestly, when I heard about the training he’s been up to till now, I got a little freaked out... I guess he can’t protect what’s important to him if he doesn’t at least go that far, huh...”

Mikihiko was earnest. The eyes beneath his glasses showed honest respect for his friend.

“I heard cheats are the heartfelt wishes of visitors given form,” he continued. “I can really see it now. Your existences are miracles he wished for. Of course he’d be desperate to protect all of you. I can see why he pushes himself regardless of how others might view him. To have something so grand in his heart... Man... I’m kinda jealous.”

I found something about this rather strange. “So you say, Mikihiko, but has your own power not manifested as well? Would that not make you the same?”

“My wish...probably wasn’t as splendid as his was...” Mikihiko said, ruffling his hair and smiling bitterly. “I’ve got a pretty irresponsible nature and all. Rather than a wish from my heart, it was more like...”

“More like what?”

“No... Forget it.” Mikihiko shook his head and stood up. “Okay. That’s enough rest. I should get going. Thanks, Kei.” He handed the water canteen back to her, then suddenly turned my way once more. “Oh yeah, Gerbera. About that thing you asked me for, I’m done, so you can have it now.”

“Really?!”

I braced myself as Mikihiko nodded with a grin. “Yup. Here you go.”

He pulled a white piece of paper from his pocket. Seeing the many thin parallel lines running across it, Kei came over with interest.

“Does that come from your world, sir?” she asked.

“Yup. It’s loose-leaf paper. I don’t have all that much left, so it’s kinda valuable. I ended up splurging since this is Gerbera’s request.”

“A request...? Oh, there’s a drawing on it... Wow! That’s amazing!” Kei’s eyes shot wide open as she looked at the paper.

Mikihiko scratched his nose proudly. “Well, yeah. I put my soul into that drawing. I’m super proud of it. I spent all night on it, so frankly, I’m kinda spent today.”

“Is that perhaps the reason you were unable to put up a fight against Takahiro...?” Kei innocently asked.

“Ta ha ha ha! See ya! Gerbera, let me know if you need anything else.”

Mikihiko laughed off Kei’s comment and ran off.

“My thanks, Mikihiko! This will be a great reference!” I yelled.

I returned my gaze to the paper. There was a picture of a girl with long braided hair on it.

“It really is well drawn,” Kei said. “I didn’t know Mikihiko was a painter.”

“He mentioned he was aiming to be an ‘illustrator,’” I said, correcting Kei as I kept my gaze fixed on the drawing. “He also said, ‘I still have a long way to go. There’s plenty of otaku out there who can draw like this with just a little skill.’”

“Hmm. I don’t really get it, but being able to draw so well despite not being a painter really shows how rich the culture of Takahiro and Mikihiko’s home is,” Kei said in admiration. Then she cocked her head. “So...what is this? Mikihiko mentioned you requested this. Were you discussing art?”

“No, not at all. In truth, I’ve been asked to make clothes for Rose. I’ve had trouble deciding what manner of clothing to make.”

Rose had made the request before we reunited with our lord, right before we got caught up in the large army of monsters rushing at Fort Tilia.

“I forgot about it in all the commotion, but I recently recalled her request. We’re taking a fairly relaxing journey, so I thought it was about time for me to start working on it.”

“And you asked Mikihiko for advice?”

“Indeed. I didn’t know what manner of clothes would be appropriate.”

“Ummm. Rose was the one to ask, right? Didn’t she have any particular requests?”

“I completely forgot to ask her. There was a whole lot going on at the time.”

A whole, whole lot...

 “Gaaaaaaah!”

“Wh-What’s the matter Gerbera?! You’re bright red!”

I’d resurrected a memory I didn’t want to recall. I cradled my head. Incidentally, the reason I still couldn’t ask Rose about it now was because I didn’t want to recall the case of that cocoon or egg or whatever it was, just as I did now.

“Nothing. It’s nothing. For mercy’s sake, please don’t pry any further.”

“O-Okay...”

I waved my hands at Kei as she sat there blinking in a daze, then quickly changed the subject.

“In any case, I chose Mikihiko for advice because he is my lord’s friend. He surely knows the kind of clothing my lord prefers. As such, Rose shouldn’t have any complaints.”

“And that’s what this is... Hmm. It’s cute, isn’t it? Does that mean Takahiro likes clothes like these?”

“Mm. It’s supposedly clothing that all men in Mikihiko’s world favor. What did he call it again...?” The words I was trying to bring up suddenly got stuck in my throat. “Hm?”

I raised my gaze from the paper. I heard footsteps. They didn’t come from the direction the others were training in. Several presences drew nearer from the road the knights were supposed to be keeping watch on. I thought they were maybe the knights themselves, but the footsteps were too light. Were they villagers from the reclamation village? No, if so, the knights would’ve stopped them. I ruminated over the possibilities and turned toward the oncoming presences as an excited voice struck my ear.

“Oh! There’s really a monster here!”

There were three pairs of eyes staring at me rudely.