Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 8 - Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Looking toward the Future

“I’ve been thinking about what we should do from here on out.”

Malvina saw possibilities in us. Ever since she told me that, I’d been thinking of what specifically those possibilities could be.

“I always thought I’d be fine if I could just live a quiet life in this world, but after hearing Malvina’s story, I don’t think that’s enough. Or at least, I don’t think it should be my objective.”

All I had to do was think of the tragedy that had befallen the savior and the carapace wyrm. They’d already realized the life I’d been aiming for, but even then, an irreversible calamity had occurred. An unfortunate coincidence and crossing of paths had led to their losing something irreplaceable, and all those left behind had been driven into an isolated world. Now that we knew their story, we could use that knowledge and search for another outcome.

“We need to somehow create a place that will accept us so that some unexpected and unfortunate incident doesn’t end in disaster, like it did for Malvina. That should be our first goal.”

“But Senpai, that’s...”

“I know.”

I stopped Katou by lightly squeezing on her hands. She gulped as I continued.

“It goes without saying that this will be difficult to accomplish. Who knows whether it can actually be done. That’s to say nothing of how irresponsible of me it would be if I said I’d absolutely manage to do it.”

“Senpai...”

“But I don’t think it’s impossible.”

There were people like Shiran and the commander who’d already accepted us. If not for them, we wouldn’t have made it this far. I could never forget that fact.

“It’s worth trying to achieve this. Besides, by doing so...” I paused and let go of Katou’s hand, then looked at Lobivia. “Malvina and the other dragons won’t need to stay here anymore, right?”

“Oh...” Lobivia’s chestnut eyes went wide with understanding. “If that happens, I can meet everyone from the settlement whenever...?”

“Yeah,” I replied, nodding to the hopeful little dragon. I gave everyone else in the room a glance. “There is a risk to doing this, though. By trying to find out what possibilities we have, something will happen, for better or worse. We need to prepare for any and all worst-case scenarios and proceed with caution, but without being too pessimistic... Even then, something unavoidable might still pop up.”

I stopped there for a moment and shook my head.

“However, the same goes for doing nothing. At the end of the day, we can’t nullify the risk. If we do nothing, and something happens, nobody will be there to come to our defense. We’ll be repeating Malvina’s tragedy...”

I clenched my fist, then continued.

“We need to take appropriate action so that that doesn’t happen. If doing so comes with risk, then we just need the strength to overcome it.”

We needed the power to rebel against any circumstance so that we could attain happiness.

“To that end, I won’t hesitate to better understand my ability.”

◆ ◆ ◆

Yes, I had no intention of hesitating, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t worried.

“Anyway, why in here...?”

I walked through the cave on my own, my footsteps echoing through the darkness. It was vast. I’d lived in a cave before, but I’d only ever seen one this large on TV back in my world. This was the cave they’d used to lock Lobivia away when she was just a dragon with no sense of reason, so it had to be big. I’d been told that it was abandoned now.

Apparently, they were planning on destroying it soon, along with all the bad memories associated with it, but the cave’s foundation was sturdy enough that not even a dragon could easily cause a cave-in, so they left it abandoned for now.

The reason I was walking through this cave was because Gerbera had called me here. She had some important business with me and said she would be waiting for me here. Still, why in this cave? I asked myself that question repeatedly. In all likelihood, she wanted to speak with me in private.

It looked like Gerbera was already here. Cocoons hung from the ceiling, each housing a red flame inside, illuminating a path. Gerbera had left right after dinner, so she must have been preparing this.

“Gerbera...?”

I obediently followed the lights. After walking about fifty meters, I reached the end of the cave and came out into an open space about the size of a small sports ground.

“Ooh. My Lord. This way,” she called from the other side of a jutting rock. “Could you come over here?”

“Sure.”

Still wondering what she needed from me, I walked toward her. Nothing came to mind, but whatever. This was a good opportunity. Gerbera hadn’t been with the others, so I decided I would tell her about what was happening to me and what our plans for the future were.

At that thought, I felt a familiar sense of anxiety. I’d felt the same thing when I spoke with the others earlier. I hadn’t lied in front of everyone, of course. I wouldn’t hesitate to use my ability to secure a peaceful future, one where I could live with all my precious companions—even if I were to lose something in the process. Nonetheless, as far as how much loss I could actually withstand... I wasn’t all that confident. Like Katou said, my memories of that world were also precious to me. Naturally, I was afraid of losing them.

The fact that I didn’t feel a real sense of loss with them gone gave me chills. There were sure to be many other things I’d already lost aside from the memory Mizushima had mentioned. It made me want to scream.

Be that as it may, if there was something to gain in the process, I had no choice but to fight this fear. Still, I was just a tiny and weak human. I was neither a hero nor a monster. I knew that. Would I really be able to withstand the shock of loss?

I held these anxieties in as I came around the rock. There I found...a spider caught in her own spiderwebs.

“You’ve done well in making it here, My Lord!” she called out like some evil boss welcoming the hero. “I was getting tired of waiting!”

Her voluptuous breasts sprang up as she brazenly laughed. Her entire body was restrained with her sturdy threads.

“Huh?”

I was dumbstruck. All thoughts flew cleanly out of my head. That was how shocking this scene was. Gerbera’s spider half was stuck in a web built using a cavity in the sturdy rock face. Each and every joint on all eight of her legs was tied up with pointless meticulousness. Her human half was also wrapped up, both her arms unusable.

“What?”

I couldn’t really understand what I was seeing. I wanted someone to come and explain it to me. Why was Gerbera restrained? And by her own threads, of all things? And why did she look so proud? Where had that relatively serious atmosphere vanished to?

As if to answer all of my doubts, the Great White Spider, the one sung about in legends, loudly declared, “Come, My Lord! It’s time to make babies!”

I couldn’t follow... Regardless, Gerbera continued without paying any attention to my bewilderment.

“According to Malvina, we can have children too. We can’t remain idle. We must conduct trials immediately. However, the simple act of sharing an embrace with you is too much for me to handle. What’s more, I can’t make myself sit still and do nothing. That just won’t do. Fortunately, I came to a sudden realization!”

Gerbera spoke eloquently as she turned her face upward and huffed in pride.

“Do you remember what Lobivia said this afternoon? ‘Why don’t you just tie yourself up?’ Remember? When I heard that, it dawned upon me! If I tie myself up, then I can’t possibly crush you!”

Gerbera’s entire body radiated the question, “Isn’t this a wonderful idea?!” Her smile was absolutely beaming.

“This is my plan so that we can flirt all we want!”

“Oh. I get it now. That’s what’s going on.”

I could finally see the full picture. I understood...but my head started hurting.

“So you understand, My Lord! What do you think?! Is it not wonderful?!”

“Uh. Sure. Mm. Well, there’s a whole lot I’d like to say, but...” I replied, lightly rubbing my temple to hold back my headache. “What do you plan on doing after the fact?”

“Hrm?”

“You tied yourself up so that you can’t escape. Adding me to the mix won’t help you get out of that,” I said, pointing at the spiderwebs rendering her immobile. “So how do you plan on getting out?”

“Oh...”

Gerbera averted her gaze. She apparently hadn’t thought of that.

“That’s, um, you know... If I call Lily over, she should be able to undo this, right?”

“Are you telling me to go call her after everything is done? That’d be way too awkward...”

Lily was clever. She would definitely realize what was going on. Not only that, this situation was really odd, no matter how you looked at it. What kind of masochistic game was it supposed to be? How would Mizushima, who was always watching from inside Lily, take this? All of this really made my head pound.

“Gerbera. You really are just so...”

Even if she never thought of the consequences, there had to be a limit. I sighed, and my shoulders suddenly shook from the emotions building up within me.

“Heh. Heh heh...”

“My Lord?”

I could only laugh. Everything I’d been thinking of until now had vanished from my mind entirely. All of my depressing feelings had been pushed aside without a trace of their existence. It was so strange, and also so fortunate.

What was the point in being pessimistic about the future? What was I steeling myself for to begin with? It was all for a happy and peaceful future, so it would be useless to drown myself in dark thoughts and get depressed.

The truth I’d discovered in Draconia taught me of the obstacles I would no doubt face in the days to come. However, that wasn’t the only thing I’d learned from it. I’d also learned of a shining possibility.

I had to see the future in a bright light, just as Gerbera did. The way she faced straight forward and continued marching nonstop toward her destination was a type of salvation to me.

“Wh-What’s wrong, My Lord?” Gerbera asked, looking perplexed.

“I was just thinking,” I said with a smile, “that you really are adorable.”

Gerbera stiffened, her eyes wide as saucers. “Wh-Wh-Wh-What are you saying all of a sudden?!”

Blood instantly rushed to her porcelain cheeks. She was bright red from her neck all the way to the tips of her ears, so much so that she could be called the Great Red Spider now.

“I mean, it’s not all that sudden. I’ve been thinking it all this time... I guess I haven’t ever really told you directly, huh?” I said, walking toward her. “Well, the situation being what it is, important things like this should be said aloud.”

“W-Wait a moment, My Lord!” Hearing the sound of my footsteps across the gravel, Gerbera immediately began panicking. “Please wait a moment! This is extremely embarrassing somehow!”

“You’re the one who set this all up...”

I was astonished, but I didn’t stop walking. Gerbera’s panic continued to escalate exponentially.

“M-M-M-M-My heart isn’t... Ooooh?! My legs are tied up! I can’t escape?! Why?!”

“Calm down.”

I stood before Gerbera as she writhed about. She was a silly girl who’d managed to dangle herself from the ceiling with her own threads. To say I was completely charmed would be an understatement.

Because both her arms were bound, her already risqué clothing was stretched tight, accentuating the alluring curves of her body. Her shoulder strap slipped down, revealing pink underwear beneath it. She’d probably made this recently since we last talked about it. A cute bra clung to her womanly breasts.

Gerbera bent backward to try and escape, but it only made her large breasts even more prominent. I doubted she realized this. Honestly, my sense of reason was on the brink. How could it not be? Both my body and heart had long since been a captive of her threads.

One of her legs came into view. I suddenly remembered the feeling of her white hairs and touched her leg. Gerbera let out a strange and surprised “Nyahyah?!” Her legs squirmed about, causing the threads to creak and hum. I’d tried to calm her down with that action, but apparently I’d failed. Maybe it would’ve been better to awkwardly do nothing. I pulled my hand back. In truth, I was pretty much at my limit.

“Hey, Gerbera?”

“Wh-What is it, My Lord?”

“Do you remember our promise?”

I took another step closer. There was now no space between us.

“P-Promise? Wh-What promise...?”

“That we’d kiss. Didn’t you ask for one?”

The day she’d asked that was when her white threads had captured my body and my heart.

“Th-Then when that happens, s-smooch! I want to try that!”

“A kiss?”

I remembered our exchange. The affection I’d felt at the time remained in my heart even now, still as strong as ever. I wrapped my arms around Gerbera’s beautiful body. Hardships were sure to come swooping down on us in the days to come. Many trials would stand in the way of our goal. Still, I couldn’t possibly lose. I had to overcome everything without giving up or exhausting my strength to its limits. That was how I’d reach my happy and peaceful future.

With those thoughts in mind, I pressed my lips against hers.