Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 8 - Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Linking Back Up and Reporting

Using the time we had while the dragons went to get permission for us to visit Draconia, we returned to Diospyro. We had to get the others if we were going to head to the settlement, so we went straight to the inn to pick them up.

“It is good to see you safe and sound, Master,” Rose said in greeting.

It’d been a few days since we’d parted. Even though a slight puppetlike awkwardness remained in her expression, her smile was a lot more natural than before. Her gaze wandered over my entire body as if she was checking for injuries, then she made a gesture as if letting out a relieved sigh. Beside her, Katou was doing something similar. The two of them already had very similar facial features, so it really made them look like sisters.

“Allow me to help,” Rose said as she cheerfully walked up to me.

“Oh, thanks.”

She started helping me get out of my traveling gear. Lily was usually the one to take care of me in all sorts of ways, but right now, it looked like she’d decided to leave that role to her little sister because Rose hadn’t seen me for a short while. Instead, Lily was taking care of someone else.

“By the way, Senpai, who’s this child?” Katou asked, looking at the red-haired girl Lily was fussing over.

The girl was wearing the shirt Gerbera had made me kind of like it was a yukata. She had bandages wrapped tightly around her arms and legs, and she carried a large knapsack on her back. Katou stared at her in interest.

“I’m also curious,” Rose said, cocking her head as she took off my mantle. “From the looks of it, she seems to be your new servant.”

“Huh?” Katou uttered just as the girl took off her knapsack.

In the next instant, torn membranous wings spread out, leaving the knapsack empty. We’d used it to stow away her wings. She chucked away the mantle in her hand, then took off the bandages that’d been hiding her skin, revealing the scales that still remained here and there on her limbs.

“Haah. That was really uncomfortable,” the girl said in irritation.

“A dragon boy...?” Katou muttered. “No, a girl?”

“That’s right. Also, I ain’t no servant or nothing,” the girl said, directing her unyielding eyes at Rose. “Hey, Takahiro, is this another one of your servants?”

“T-Takahiro...?” Rose repeated, so bewildered at the girl’s crude tone that she momentarily stopped moving. “Master, what is she exactly?”

There was a dubious tone in Rose’s voice. To her, it was impossible to even think a servant would face me with such a blunt attitude.

“Right. She’s the stray dragon,” I explained.

“The name’s Lobivia,” the red-haired girl said, spreading out her wings and puffing out her chest. “I got it from Takahiro. A cool and thorny name, don’tcha think?”

“Thorny?”

Rose sounded baffled, but it made sense that she didn’t understand. A lobivia was a type of cactus known as a lily cactus. It was one of the flower names Mikihiko had taught me when I told him that I’d been naming my servants after flowers.

I was a little curious why Mikihiko was familiar with the likes of a lily cactus. I assumed he probably saw it in a game or something. He’d drawn me a picture of one too. It looked like a round cactus with a large flower growing from it. It was actually kind of cute.

In that sense, Lobivia was misunderstanding the meaning, but either way, she liked the name. Seeing her in such a good mood, Thaddeus gave me an ambiguous smile. He’d told me that she already had a name in the settlement, but that was only after Lobivia had begged me to give her one.

She extremely disliked being called by her old name, so even Thaddeus called her Lobivia now. The gulf between her and the other dragons of the settlement was still very deep. On the other hand, Lobivia didn’t put up much of a wall with Thaddeus. At the very least, so long as he called her Lobivia, she could keep up a conversation with him, even if she was always rather curt.

Thaddeus usually wandered around outside Draconia, so maybe Lobivia didn’t recognize him as one of the settlement’s dragons. It would be nice if she could interact with all the other dragons like that.

“This is Rose,” I said. “Just like Lily and Gerbera, she’s one of my servants. And this is Katou and Kei. The two of them are my cherished travel companions.”

“Hmmm?” Lobivia gave everyone a look as I introduced them, then turned back to me. “Takahiro, even though you’re a weakling, you’ve got a whole lotta strong servants like Lily and Gerbera, huh?”

She cocked her head innocently and tugged at my clothes. There wasn’t really any intention behind the gesture, though. Perhaps it was just a show of her childishness.

“It’s kinda weird,” she added, a curious light in her eyes.

“Is it?” I asked.

“I mean, Draconia’s elder is the strongest dragon.”

“Humans are different in that regard.”

“Hmmm. I don’t really get humans. Well, I don’t really get your servants either.”

“You can come to understand us little by little,” Lily said, plopping her hand on Lobivia’s tiny shoulder. “We’ll be together for a while. You’ll figure us out naturally over time.”

“That so?”

“Yup.” Lily nodded, then grimaced slightly. “More importantly...Lobivia? Don’t throw your clothes around. Put them away properly.”

“Huh? Why the hell shou—”

“Lobivia?” Lily repeated, gently but firmly.

“Fine...” Lobivia said with a frown.

“Very good.”

Lobivia started obediently gathering the bandages she’d tossed about. After that, she picked up her mantle and folded it up nicely. Having been a dragon without an ego just the other day, there was no way she would’ve known how to do this before. Lily had taught her on the way here.

After neatly putting the bandages and mantle away with her knapsack, Lobivia turned back around. Lily gave her a smile. The small red-haired girl’s mouth twitched, and she averted her gaze. There was no mistaking that she was actually pleased.

“Okay, then. Lily, take care of the rest,” I said.

“Huh? Takahiro? Where you going?” Lobivia asked, jolting upright and turning toward me, her eyes wide. “I’m going too!”

“I’m not going anywhere. I just need to explain things to the rest of the group in the next room. It’s a little cramped in here.”

This room was a little small for our entire group to be in at once. It was better if we went elsewhere to settle down and talk about the situation. If I took Lobivia with me, Thaddeus would have to come too, so it wouldn’t change the head count much. Furthermore, there was also Katou to consider. She hadn’t collapsed lately, but it was still difficult for her to be in the same room as men like Thaddeus and Fukatsu.

“I’ll be right back,” I said, giving her head a pat.

Lobivia swatted my hand away and pursed her lips when Lily suddenly hugged her from behind.

“No need to pout. I’ll stay with you.”

“Ah?! Hey! Lily?!”

This had become a familiar scene lately. Lobivia objected, but Lily waved me off without paying Lobivia any mind. I waved back, leaving the flailing Lobivia to her, then took Rose, Katou, and Kei out of the room.

◆ ◆ ◆

“Takahiro, is Shiran watching the manamobile this time?” Kei asked as we walked into the hallway.

“Yeah, that’s right.” Just as she said, I’d left Shiran to stay with the others who couldn’t enter town. “I didn’t plan on bringing Lobivia with me at first, but she wouldn’t listen. Lily’s been pretty passionate about taking care of her, so it was better to keep the two of them together. That’s what Shiran said, anyway. Sorry about that, Kei.”

“Don’t be. It’s nothing you need to apologize for. I’m old enough to be fine without my sister around.”

“Right.”

The way she clenched her fists was ever so charming.

We continued chatting until we reached the other room. Once inside, Kei suddenly recalled something.

“Anyway, that girl...Lobivia? She seems to be rather moody.”

“She is. All she ever does is curse at me,” I said, smiling wryly. I couldn’t deny that Lobivia was a moody girl.

“Master,” Rose said.

“What is it?”

“About this Lobivia...”

Rose trailed off. She was being a little inarticulate. She wanted to say something, but she couldn’t bring herself to speak. I had an idea why she was acting like this, based on how she’d reacted when Lobivia talked earlier.

“Takahiro, even though you’re a weakling, you’ve got a whole lotta strong servants like Lily and Gerbera, huh?”

Her words had been innocent, and there’d been no derision behind them. Rose probably knew this, but she was definitely stuck on the fact that Lobivia had called me a weakling.

“Do you dislike her?” I asked.

“No, nothing of the sort,” Rose answered, shaking her head. “But to make such a statement as if looking down on you...”

“Hmm...”

There was, in fact, a problem with Lobivia’s language and behavior. However, given her circumstances, there wasn’t much we could do about it. There were things we needed to warn her about, but at the very least, I thought she was fine as she was.

“You don’t need to worry about Lobivia’s remarks,” I said.

“But Master...”

“Despite acting like that, she’s fairly attached to me.”

“Is that so...?”

“It’s hard to tell.”

Either way, Lobivia never tried to leave my side. She probably wasn’t aware of it herself, but she was anxious about being abandoned. She was still at an age where she wanted to be pampered, but she’d never experienced it in her life, so she had no idea how to react. She likely didn’t even know that she desired that. She was grumpy and foul-mouthed because she had no idea what she wanted or what to do.

This was precisely why Lily practically forced a lot of physical contact with her. Her approach was a little overbearing, but it was clear that Lobivia didn’t hate it. She resisted just for appearance’s sake, yet she never really tried to seriously shake Lily off. In that sense, Lily understood her well. It was a bit of a discovery for me to see that Lily had such a motherly nature.

“Besides, this may sound weird, but...she feels kind of like a little brother to me. Her frankness is actually rather pleasant.”

“A little brother? Not a sister?” Katou asked curiously. “Oh, right. You have a little brother, don’t you?”

“Yeah. He isn’t quite as impetuous as Lobivia, though.”

I wondered how he was doing now. It was hard to imagine that he hadn’t changed in the time I’d been gone. How was my family doing without me? So long as there was no way to return, I didn’t want to think about this kind of thing too much, and I tried to stop myself from doing so as much as I could. Still, it was impossible not to think about it every now and then. I hoped they were doing well. The time I spent with Lobivia reminded me of that nostalgic and precious sensation that I thought I’d never experience again.

“Anyways...that’s how it is. You don’t need to worry about Lobivia’s attitude.”

“If you say so, Master.”

Rose agreed for now because of my mediation. Well, it was unlikely she’d get along with Lobivia right away. Roses were also thorny flowers, but it turned out that Lobivia didn’t have much affinity with her. Not that I was particularly worried about it. Rose and Gerbera had had far less affinity with each other, and now they got along very well. For that to happen this time, I had to start by explaining Lobivia’s personal history.

“All right. Let me tell you what happened while I was away.”

◆ ◆ ◆

“And that’s the gist of it.”

It didn’t take me all that long to finish explaining everything.

“I see... So Lobivia has been locked away all this time,” Kei muttered gloomily, moved by my story.

“No need to look so down,” Katou said, gently placing her hand on Kei’s shoulder. “That’s how it was before, but now is different, right?”

“You’re right,” Kei replied with a smile. “I’d like to get along with her.”

“Yeah, please do,” I said. “She can be kind of blunt, but she doesn’t have any ill intent. She just doesn’t know how to interact with people. I’m not telling you to force yourself, but try to be her friend.”

“Understood, I’ll do my best.”

Kei clenched her fists. She was a good girl. She and Lobivia were similar in appearance and age, so perhaps she could be Lobivia’s first friend.

“Anyways, about what’s to come,” I continued, “I’ll be present for the discussions about whether Lobivia can leave the settlement. Once we get the elder’s permission, we’ll be going to Draconia. Sorry for deciding this without you.”

“It’s fine. We don’t mind. Wherever you go, we’ll follow, Master,” Rose said with a shake of her head. “So? What are we to do, specifically?”

“We’ll leave town tomorrow and link up with the others. After that, we’ll be on standby until the settlement contacts us.”

“Very well. I’ll have our things ready to go by the end of the day. What will you be doing, Master?”

“I’m thinking of taking Lobivia for a walk around town.”

“Around town?” Rose repeated, somewhat surprised by my idea.

“Yeah. I don’t know how things will turn out, but depending on the circumstances, she might end up living among humans. I think it’s best for her to get used to it in these early stages, even if just a little. Do all of you want to join us?”

“Oh, Senpai, I’ll refrain,” Katou said, raising her hand. She looked reluctant. “If we’re leaving town tomorrow, I need to conserve my energy.”

“Okay.”

In Katou’s case, walking through the streets was both a physical and mental burden. That was why she decided not to go out.

“As for me,” Rose said, nodding, “just as I mentioned, I need to get our things ready to go, so I will also refrain. In truth, I’ve made many things while staying here, so I need to sort them all out.”

Kei looked at the two of them and hesitated a little. “Ummm, in that case, I’ll also—”

“Kei, please go ahead,” Katou said, cutting her off. “There’s no need to mind us. The last time I took a look around town, I ended up bedridden and couldn’t go out to play, anyway.”

“But...”

“Don’t you want to be Lobivia’s friend? Now’s a good chance.”

That was a good way of putting it. Kei’s eyes suddenly shot open, and she nodded in affirmation. Katou smiled with satisfaction, then turned my way.

“So, Senpai, where do you plan on going today?”

“I haven’t decided yet. The goal is for Lobivia to get used to the people in town, so just walking around aimlessly should be enough... Hm?”

As I wondered about what I should do, I suddenly turned toward the window. It was still light out, so the window was open. We could hear a ruckus outside.

“What’s going on?”

I walked over to the window and looked down at the alleyway where Shiran and Fukatsu had once quarreled. There was a group of little boys there. It looked like they’d been eating bread while walking, and one of them had dropped his meal, leading to a bit of an uproar among them. Kei popped her head up right next to mine and looked down at the scene sadly.

“Aww... He dropped his sweets.”

“Huh? Sweets?”

Katou peeked through the window on my other side, her voice a pitch higher than usual. I gave her a surprised look, and she covered her mouth with an “Excuse me.” It was an unexpected reaction.

“What? Do you have a sweet tooth, Katou?” I asked.

“Every girl likes sweets.”

That was enough to convince me.

“What about you, Senpai? Do you like sweets?” Katou asked.

“Me? Well, I don’t hate them.”

I didn’t particularly like them either.

“Women apparently tend to like sweets by instinct because of their hormones or some such,” Katou explained. “As for men, they instinctively avoid scrambling against women for carbohydrates or something.”

“Is that so?”

“Not really. I wonder about that. There are some theories that say so, but it’s a bit questionable. Mizushima-senpai often said stuff like that while chomping down on sweets from the convenience store... She was the type who didn’t get fat no matter how much she ate.”

Katou’s voice turned bitter as she remembered that last part.

“They’re probably sweets the church handed out,” Kei said, looking down at the children.

“The Holy Church?”

“Yes. Back in my village, they did so maybe once a year, but around here, it’d be a little more frequent. The church bakes sweets and hands them out. Sweets are really valuable in villages, so everyone looks forward to it every year. Incidentally, my sister loves them, despite how she seems.”

“Hmm,” I muttered in interest. It’d probably be a little rude to say it was unexpected. Shiran was a girl too. “Sweets, huh?”

I’d heard the sweets in this world were made by mixing honey or finely crushed fruits into dough and then baking that into bread. It was maybe a bit lacking for someone used to food filled with sugar, but we hadn’t had any sweets since coming to this world. Thinking about it made me slightly long for some.

“Okay. In that case, I’ll go buy some today.”

“Huh?! Really?!” Kei exclaimed, jumping up and tugging on the hem of my clothes. Her blue eyes sparkled with expectation.

“Yeah. I was planning on going out today, anyway. It works out perfectly. Katou, I’ll buy some for you too, of course.”

“Thank you very much.”

Katou didn’t act as excited as Kei, but her tone of voice gave her away. It was worth buying them just to see her so delighted.

“I don’t really know what’s out there. Do you have any recommendations, Kei?” I asked.

“Sweets made from nasis are very tasty. It’s a fruit that grows in the Woodlands, so my village sometimes cultivates them to sell here in town. Shiran also loves them. We don’t get many chances to have any, though.”

“In that case, I’ll buy some for her too. She’s always looking out for me, so it’d be nice to pay her back somehow.”

“Really? I’m sure she’ll be delighted,” Kei said cheerfully, but then her face suddenly drooped. “Oh, but they’re expensive. Just the tiniest bit will send three meals’ worth of money flying away...”

“That’s nothing to worry about. Kids shouldn’t think about that kind of thing.”

During our journeys, meat in our stew was considered a luxury. We’d been living quite frugally. Once we were done with our business in Draconia, the only thing left for us was to reach Shiran’s reclamation village. It wasn’t that far from Diospyro, and we still had a surplus of the money the commander had given us. Some modestly extravagant spending was fine. If we thought about it as recompense for our long journey, then it was a necessary expenditure.

“Okay then, let’s head out.”

With that, I left Rose and Katou behind in the room.