Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 7 - Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Now! Weird!

“An...inn?”

I was lost for words at the unexpected sight. This was the precipitous Kitrus Mountains, off an abandoned road. Traffic was essentially nonexistent. It was also close to the Woodlands, meaning many monsters inhabited the region. Finding an inn here was just so—

“—fortunate, isn’t it?”

I started, coming back to my senses, and turned around. Shiran was speaking with Gerbera, her expression somewhat gentler than usual.

“Since we can’t move,” she continued, “I thought we would have to spend a few days sleeping outdoors. It really is terrific luck to find an inn here.”

“Right? Right?” Gerbera replied excitedly. “With this, you can rest your body in peace, right, My Lord?”

“Y-Yeah... I guess?”

I nodded along as she suddenly turned the conversation toward me. The two of them were making perfect sense. Absolutely perfect sense... An inn was far better for resting both body and mind compared to sleeping outdoors or in a cave. That was obvious. We were fortunate to find one. So fortunate that I’d lost my voice... It felt like something was slipping through my palms, but I seemed to be the only one feeling this mysterious sensation.

“I didn’t notice there was an inn at all when we passed through here,” Katou said.

“Neither did I. What a blunder,” Rose replied.

Now standing on her own two feet, Katou smiled and chatted happily with Rose. Shiran and Kei were also smiling because of our good luck. Gerbera, who had guided us here, grinned cheerfully.

“There’s no need to stand around here. Lily and the others are waiting for us. Shall we?”

Gerbera urged everyone on and walked forth. This startled me greatly. She was going for the inn’s door. The white arachne, Gerbera, was entering an inn as if it were perfectly natural.

“H-Hey! Hang on, Gerbera!”

Gerbera was reaching for the door, but she halted and turned to me curiously.

“Hm? Is something the matter, My Lord?”

“You don’t need me to tell you, right?” I replied in astonishment. I couldn’t believe her careless and unguarded reaction. “If you enter an inn, the people inside will...”

“Will...what?”

“H-Huh...?”

Seeing Gerbera stare back at me blankly, I lost what I had to say. What was it? It felt terribly important, but I couldn’t remember...

“My Lord?” Gerbera said, jogging over to me. Just like when she’d reunited with us, the gentle pitter patter of her footsteps accompanied her. “Is there something wrong with me?”

She came to a stop in front of me. As I’d confirmed before, she was no different from usual. Her face was beautiful, even as she looked at me with concern. She had bloodred eyes. Her voluptuous curves were only just covered by the white clothing draped over her form. Her breasts were astonishing, her exposed arms were nearly transparent, her waist was ever so slender, and beneath that... Beneath that, she had two long and slender legs. If she went into an inn like that...then...what? There wasn’t a problem at all.

“Sorry... I must’ve been thinking of something else,” I mumbled.

“My Lord, you truly do seem exhausted,” she said with a worried expression, gripping my hand. “In any case, you should get some rest right away. Okay?”

Before I knew it, everyone was looking at me anxiously. My vision suddenly shook. I pinched my brow to try and focus myself.

“Yeah... You’re right... I’ll do that.”

That was all I could say anymore.

◆ ◆ ◆

I had to confess, I was genuinely in a bad state. I needed to get some rest right away, just as was recommended to me. I stepped inside the inn, leaning against Gerbera. The bell affixed to the door chimed above me. The inside of the building looked old, yet it was clean and tidy.

“Oh dear. Welcome back,” a voice said from behind the reception desk.

It was a young woman. She was short, though not quite as short as Katou, and had a gentle air about her. She covered the womanly curves of her body with loose clothing. Her long golden-brown hair was tied up, hanging down over her shoulder and draping over her shapely breasts. She looked at me with kind and slightly downturned eyes.

“Is this the master you spoke of?” she asked Gerbera.

“Indeed. He’s finally returned.”

“Hee hee. A long-awaited arrival for you, isn’t it?”

After their friendly exchange, Gerbera turned to me.

“My Lord, this is the inn’s proprietress. She manages it all on her own.”

“Good day to you. Welcome to my inn.”

The woman gave me a quick nod. She was rather young to be owning an inn. From what I could tell, she was at most twenty or so years old. From my perspective, as a visitor from another world, she was like a university student. Having said that, twenty was well into adult territory here. Normally, a woman that age would have one or two children. It was unusual for her to be managing an inn all on her own, but not completely out of the question.

“I believe you had rooms available,” Gerbera said. “We’d like rooms for everyone here for a few days as well. There was some sort of procedure to register, correct?”

“Yes, yes, right away,” the woman replied cheerfully. She pulled out the register and turned a welcoming and warm smile at me. “Now then. Could I ask you to sign here for me, my dear?”

“Sure.”

I signed my name as instructed. I’d learned how to write my name in the local language to avoid problems at times like these. I went on to write everyone else’s names with clumsy pen strokes.

“How many rooms would you like?” the proprietress asked after confirming all of our names. “Excluding Ayame and Berta, four twin rooms should work perfectly. Or would you like a room for yourself?”

“No. Four rooms will be fine,” I answered.

“Certainly. The rooms are right up there on the second floor.”

“Right then, shall we, My Lord? Lily and the others are waiting,” Gerbera said, tugging on my arm. “Those two haven’t seen you in a while. I’m sure they’re impatient to do so.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

I nodded and headed up the staircase with everyone else.

“Please do enjoy this time of dreams,” the proprietress’s voice said from behind us.

◆ ◆ ◆

“It’s simple, but there’s a good atmosphere to this inn, isn’t there?” Shiran commented as we ascended the staircase.

Like Shiran said, it was a frugal inn without any splendorous decorations, but the atmosphere felt awfully relaxing. I was feeling rather off today, so resting in an inn like this seemed like a great idea. In any case, all I had to do for the day was rest. But before that, I wanted to see Lily’s face.

“Oh yeah. How’s Lily doing, Gerbera?”

“Be at ease. You could even say she’s in perfect shape, I suppose?”

“Is that so? That’s good.”

“Do forgive her for not coming out to see you. The moment we heard you had arrived, Ayame bolted off, so someone had to chase her right away. Still, even if this is an inn, we’re in the mountains, where monsters run rampant. We couldn’t leave someone who can’t fight all alone here, so Lily and Berta decided to stay behind.”

“I see.”

That made sense, so I casually nodded along. A few seconds later, I realized something was off about what Gerbera had just said.

“Someone who can’t fight...?” I muttered.

Was there someone like that in our group? Goosebumps ran down my skin. I’d gone down the mountain with Rose, Katou, Asarina, Shiran, and Kei. Gerbera, Lily, Ayame, and Berta had stayed behind. There was nobody who couldn’t fight in the latter group. The numbers didn’t even match in the first place.

We arrived at the top of the stairs, and I watched in a daze as Gerbera stretched her hand toward the door. The discomfort I’d been feeling in small trickles came pouring down all at once.

Yeah...I get it now... Earlier, Gerbera had said, “Those two haven’t seen you in a while. I’m sure they’re impatient to do so.” Yet I’d already reunited with both Ayame and Berta. That meant the only other person in the room was Lily.

What’s more, the proprietress had said that four twin rooms would fit us perfectly, excluding Ayame and Berta. Without the two of them, my group consisted of me, Lily, Rose, Katou, Gerbera, Shiran, and Kei. That made seven. It didn’t make sense to say that four twin rooms would fit us perfectly. There was also no reason to ask if we needed an extra room for myself. Had she counted wrong? That was hard to believe, considering she’d had all the names right in front of her in the register.

Besides, when Gerbera met us outside the inn, she’d said, “Lily is waiting with the others.” Ayame had been in my arms at the time, and Berta had been the one to find us. The way she’d put it only made sense if there was one other person waiting for us in the mountains aside from herself, Lily, Ayame, and Berta.

“What are you doing, My Lord?” Gerbera asked. The door was open before I even realized it. “Don’t just stand there. Come on in.”

“R-Right...”

I did as I was told and entered the room, though my steps were unsteady.

“Oh, Master.”

Lily was sitting on one of two beds. When she saw me, she broke into a beautiful smile. Even with the discomfort I felt, relief filled my heart. However, the moment I spotted the other girl sitting next to Lily, that relief shattered into a million pieces.

It was as if there were a mirror there. She had the same flaxen hair as Lily. From the very top of her head to the tips of her toes, she looked just like her. They were like peas in a pod.

“Long time no see, Majima,” the girl said, smiling at me intimately and waving her hand.

“Mizushima...?” I replied hoarsely.

◆ ◆ ◆

After changing out of my traveling clothes, I lay down to get some rest.

“Are you all right, Master?”

Lily sat on the bed and looked down at me with concern. Across from her, an identical face peered down at me.

“Hmm, maybe he has a fever?” Mizushima said, cocking her head.

It was a weird sensation to have identical faces looking down at me from both sides. It was stranger still that I found this weird. After all, we’d been traveling together all this time. They had the same face, the same hair, the same body... Well, one part of their bodies was different, but Mizushima was really self-conscious about it, so we never mentioned it. In any case, it was odd that I wasn’t used to this scene by now.

“Doesn’t look like a fever,” Mizushima said after putting her hand to my forehead.

The warmth and tenderness pressed against my skin made me feel guilty.

“I’m just feeling a little out of it. No need to worry,” I told her.

How had I forgotten about her? She’d been traveling with us this entire time. I couldn’t believe myself.

“I’m going to take a short nap,” I continued. “Sorry, but could you wake me up when it’s time for dinner?”

Lily and Mizushima exchanged glances.

“Mm, sure thing. Take it easy, Master.”

“Come on, Aya, Berry, let’s go.”

The two of them quickly stood up, and Ayame and Berta followed them out of the room wagging their tails. As I watched them leave, I suddenly took notice of Berta. Back when I saw her for an instant through the fog, I had mistaken her for a normal dog. That only stood to reason. For example—and really, this was just an example—say Berta had a body as large as a bear and had two heads or something; I would definitely have seen that silhouette as a monster and known it was her. There was no way I’d mistake such a figure for a dog. However, that wasn’t how it had happened.

“Woof.”

Berta noticed my gaze and barked. She was a large dog whose breed could be seen anywhere back in our world—a wolfish dog, something like a Siberian husky. My head hurts...

“Okay, Master. See you later.”

After everyone left the room, I sighed deeply and stared up at the ceiling.

“What’s this discomfort I’m feeling?” I grumbled to myself.

There was nothing weird going on at all. That was supposed to be the case, but something felt off. The discomfort was certain, but everything else felt vague. It was as if I were still wandering through that mist.

Well, it was probably just my imagination. As proof of that, none of my companions seemed to find the current situation in any way unusual. They were probably all relaxing in their own rooms by now. I was the only one troubled by this mysterious sensation.

“Aah, dammit.”

It didn’t seem like I could get any sleep, so I sat up.

“Am I the only one feeling like this...?”

My voice sounded frailer than I expected, bringing a bitter smile to my face.

“I’m really mentally exhausted...”

I shook my head. Grumbling wouldn’t do anything about it. I didn’t think I could fall asleep, but I decided to force myself to try. By doing so, I could assuage this exhaustion and get rid of this discomfort.

Just as I convinced myself of this, my left hand throbbed.

“Masss—ssss—ter.”

A creaking voice called out to me. Asarina stretched out of the back of my hand and slithered into sight.

“What’s up, Asarina?”

“Ssster...”

Asarina shook her Venus flytrap-like head. It was like she was trying to bring my attention to something. I was more closely connected to her than any of my other servants. Still, I couldn’t understand what she was trying to say. Asarina knew this as well, better than anyone. That was precisely why—

“Masss—sss—ter! Right! You! Right!”

—she used words to convey it to me.

“Now! Weird! Everyyy—one! Weird!”

“Asarina...”

“Masss—ter!”

I listened in a daze as Asarina cried out. It wasn’t just me... I’m not the only one who feels weird about this situation! Apparently, this had been bothering me quite a bit. I could feel joy welling up within me. However, I couldn’t express it right now.

“Sssster?” Asarina purred, twisting her snakelike body around. “Masss—ter? What? Wrong?”

“Sorry... Give me a little time.”

I listened to Asarina’s strange husky voice, fell back in bed, and groaned. I now knew I wasn’t the only one who felt something was out of place here. I knew because Asarina had told me so. I felt relieved, but also uneasy to an unprecedented level. I tossed and turned over it for a while longer.