Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 7 - Chapter 7

Chapter 7: An Unexpected Encounter

It took us three days of passing through villages to reach our destination. Diospyro was a town with a population of around two thousand, so it wasn’t all that large in the grand scheme of things. Nonetheless, it was a vital commerce center in Aker, so its defenses were relatively heavy, and its walls were made of stone.

The Royal Army had a permanent defensive force stationed here, so I saw many soldiers wearing matching gear. Whenever there was any trouble in the neighboring villages, they would be dispatched to send aid.

The road we’d used to get here continued through the town as its main thoroughfare. Most of the buildings lining each side of the street were two stories. The trade city Serrata, which we’d visited in the Empire, had originally been a fortress, but it had grown as people flocked to it for safety. Diospyro, on the other hand, had started as a travelers’ rest stop along the road and had grown into a settlement. This road dividing the town in two stretched beyond its walls all the way to Evernasia, Aker’s capital. The reclamation village Shiran called home was also in that direction.

In any case, our goal here was to acquire the runestone we needed to make a manamobile move. I wanted to get this done as quickly as possible and return to the others.

“First, we should find the inn,” Shiran said.

Gazes from all over gathered on her. I couldn’t even count how many times I’d admired how popular the Alliance Knights were in Aker. If we were to dawdle and let people approach us, we would end up getting stuck here. Instead, Shiran walked briskly and led us through the streets. We quickly found the signboard for the inn that one of the villages we’d passed through had referred us to.

“Looks like this is it.”

We followed Shiran through the doors. There was a reception desk to the front and a restaurant to the left, where several customers were having a meal. A plump middle-aged man, who appeared to be the innkeeper, sat at the reception desk. A boy stood across the desk from him. He was tall with black hair and eyes.

“Hrm?”

Hearing the door open, the boy casually turned around, but when he saw us, he raised his voice in suspicion. He glared at us harshly.

This was the very definition of a bolt from the blue. My feet came to a complete stop. I didn’t freeze up in fear from his glare or anything. Though he was wearing clothing from this world, this boy definitely didn’t look like a local.

The unexpected encounter made every muscle in my body stiffen. Still, I couldn’t be sure yet. I endured the urge to let my agitation show. Considering how I was here pretending to be of blessed blood despite being a genuine visitor, it was possible someone of blessed blood could also look like a visitor.

“The hell’s a visitor aside from me doing all the goddamn way out here?”

Well, the boy’s curt muttering brought an end to it. He really was a visitor. We also had the exact same question in mind. Why would there be a visitor here aside from us?

There was a strong glint in the boy’s eyes. It wasn’t friendly by any standard. Seeing this, Shiran stood ready for battle, though she didn’t draw her weapon. Behind us, Rose entered with Katou, and after she confirmed the situation over my shoulder, she also stood on guard. Our stare down went on for several seconds.

“Sir...?” the innkeeper said in bewilderment.

The boy quickly averted his eyes. “It’s nothin’. Extend my stay. Pay in advance, yeah?”

He picked out some coins from a leather satchel and dropped them on the reception desk. Then he pretended he didn’t see us and headed for the staircase.

“It’s got nothin’ to do with me.”

I heard him mumbling as he climbed the stairs. We hadn’t even had time to say anything to him, and we had no reason to call after him either. I looked up at the staircase, feeling like it had just rained on us.

After confirming that the boy was gone, Rose whispered in a tense voice, “Master, was that really...?”

With that, I finally let out the breath I’d been holding.

“Yeah. Looks like it.”

He was a visitor. Judging by the heavy presence of mana that had oozed out of him for just a single instant, he was probably a cheater. We had to be careful around him.

“Not that he seemed to have any interest in us.”

He’d had a sour look, but I hadn’t gotten the impression that he was being actively hostile. It was more like that was just his normal behavior. Also, from the way he’d acted, I could tell that he wanted to stay out of anything troublesome. If so, he wasn’t all that different from me in that respect.

“What shall we do, Takahiro?” Shiran asked.

“Hmmm...”

Iino had told me that the exploration team back in Fort Ebenus were heading to the imperial capital. So why was there a cheater aside from me in Aker? I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t curious. Yet digging too deep into his circumstances would be much like prodding a snake in a bush.

“If we both decide to keep out of each other’s business, then it’ll be fine to ignore him,” I concluded.

I also didn’t want to get involved with any visitors if I could help it. So long as he didn’t mean us any harm, there was no need for us to act.

“Very well,” Shiran agreed. “In that case, shall we go ahead and arrange for our lodgings here?”

“Yeah, let’s.”

I addressed the innkeeper, who seemed quite curious about our group. As usual, he misunderstood my relationship with Katou, but we got our rooms sorted out smoothly. While we were doing so, the boy came back down the staircase, gave us one short glance, and then left the inn. It really did look like he wanted nothing to do with us.

We did try asking the innkeeper, just to be sure, and found out that the boy was also lying about being of blessed blood. He was staying with someone else too, but his travel companion wasn’t of blessed blood—meaning they weren’t a visitor.

If he was an exploration team member, he wouldn’t need to hide his identity. According to Iino, a few people had withdrawn from the group, so it was possible he was one of them. If that was the case, then it was a little odd he’d reached Aker before us. Unfortunately, it didn’t look like we would find out any more about him. I stopped thinking about the situation and got to doing what needed to be done.

Once our rooms were booked, I left the inn with Shiran and headed toward the Royal Army’s headquarters in this town. Apparently, one of Shiran’s former fellow knights worked there. Alliance Knights who had to retire from their posts and return home were often invited to be instructors for the army. Their experience fighting in the world’s most dangerous region was invaluable. Also, they recommended promising-looking soldiers for knighthood. One such knight worked in Diospyro, so Shiran had proposed that we start by asking him about acquiring a manamobile.

The facility we arrived at was a solid building made of stone. Buildings like this were used as shelters during emergencies.

“Ooh, Shiran. Long time no see.”

The young man smiled broadly when he saw Shiran, then introduced himself as Adolf. He was fairly short, but his body was still well trained. He was missing his left arm, however. This was the reason he’d had to quit being a knight.

After our introductions were done, he guided us to another room farther inside the building.

“I see, so the company is done for...”

Since he was a former member of the Alliance Knights, Shiran told him what had really happened at Fort Tilia. She kept her transformation into an undead monster and my inherent ability a secret, but she told him everything about the major casualties the company had suffered and about the commander’s arrest at the hands of Margrave Maclaurin. Once she finished, Adolf put his hand to his brow, a grave expression on his face. This concerned the comrades he’d entrusted his life to in battle. All of this, including the commander’s arrest, was sure to grieve his heart.

“Thank you for telling me, Shiran,” he said after a short while. Having pulled himself back together, he gave me a smile out of consideration. “I understand the situation. If it’s for the man who protected the knights of the company...and an esteemed savior at that, I’ll provide any assistance I can.”

“Thank you, Adolf,” Shiran said.

“Think nothing of it. I’m sure you went through a lot. Obviously, I would help,” Adolf replied with a shake of the head. “You’re looking far paler than before. It must’ve been hard.”

“Well...” Shiran muttered, a vague smile crossing her bloodless demilich face.

“Leave the runestone to me. I’ll try going through the army’s connections. With my authority, it’d be a little hard to prepare a military-use manamobile, but if all you need is the runestone, I should be able to work something out.”

“That would be great. It’s a large burden off my mind.”

“Unfortunately, I’m a little busy right now and can’t get things moving right away. Can you wait a few days?”

“Of course... Did something happen?”

“Actually, the neighboring villages have reported several monster sightings. Well, that’s pretty common around here, but one of the reports is a bit worrisome. We’ve decided to send out a scouting party, and I need to pick who’s going on the mission.”

“Worrisome how?” Shiran asked firmly.

Perhaps out of habit from his days working as an Alliance Knight, Adolf answered immediately, though his voice was bitter.

“A dragon.”

“Is this for certain, Adolf...?” Shiran’s expression sharpened considerably.

The first thing I thought of was the monster that had attacked us immediately after we arrived in this world. The image of a student flailing his arms and blowing off the dragon’s head in an instant left quite the impression, but that was because a cheater’s power was so abnormal. It wouldn’t normally go like that.

Dragons were generally very powerful monsters. They could cover great distances with their enormous wings, so on rare occasions, they would leave the Woodlands and wreak havoc on human society.

“If it truly is a dragon, shouldn’t you be requesting reinforcements from the Order of Nation Defense?” Shiran asked.

“Yes, but the dragon was spotted quite far from here by a resident in a remote village. No harm has been done yet, and if there’s a nest, it’ll likely be deep in the forest a good distance away. In that case, it’ll be hard for us to pinpoint its location. The witness sighted it from afar to begin with, so it’s still unknown whether it truly is a dragon.”

“But this information cannot be ignored.”

“Exactly. That’s why we’re sending a scouting party,” Adolf said with a grave nod. “I don’t think I need to mention this, but please be careful when you leave town. I don’t want to lose any more of my comrades.”

◆ ◆ ◆

Adolf promised he would speak with one of the merchants the army dealt with the next day. If he could get us a runestone, it wouldn’t be until at least the day after that. We’d discussed a somewhat-troubling topic at the end, but there wasn’t really anything we could do about it. That meant our schedule for tomorrow was open the whole day.

“Since we have the time, wouldn’t it be best to spend it relaxing and getting some rest?” Shiran suggested once we got back to the inn.

“If it’s fine with you, I was hoping to get some training in,” I replied.

“That is very much like you, Takahiro, but you do need to rest once in a while, you know?”

“She’s right, Senpai,” Katou said, joining in, then she shot a glance over to Rose and clapped her hands. “Oh, how about we all take a look around town tomorrow?”

“M-Mana...?”

Rose sounded a little shaken, but Katou didn’t pay her any mind and continued.

“It’s fine once in a while, right? I mean, we’ve been aiming straight for our destination all this time, so we haven’t really had the chance to take our time and look around.”

“So you want to go sightseeing?” I asked.

“That sounds like a wonderful idea,” Shiran said with a smile. “I need to go see Adolf tomorrow, but the rest of you should take it easy and take a tour of town.”

I thought it over a bit. Honestly, it had never even occurred to me. It wasn’t a bad idea, though. There wasn’t really anything we could do tomorrow, anyway. In that case, maybe it was fine to look around this town in Shiran’s home country for a change of pace.

“Got it. We’ll do just that,” I said.

“Thank you very much,” Katou replied, looking tremendously pleased.