Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 9 - Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Shiran’s Hometown

The following day, I got up early in the morning and trained with Gerbera. During our journey with the elves, Gerbera had snuck off in the middle of the night every now and then, but I still felt bad for keeping her cramped up in the manamobile all the time. However, now that Leah and Helena knew our secret, there was no need to avoid them. Gerbera looked tremendously pleased with this and enjoyed herself thoroughly.

As for me, I was getting accustomed to what I’d acquired during my mock battles with the elves in the reclamation village. Even if it was only little by little, it felt encouraging to be steadily mastering it.

Nonetheless, I still couldn’t hold a candle to Gerbera. Even disregarding the possibility I might one day surpass her, would I ever be able to fight with her shoulder to shoulder? With that thought in mind, I desperately held out until our first training session in a good while came to an end.

◆ ◆ ◆

After my training was done, Lily came over to wipe off my sweat and generally assist me when she suddenly noticed something.

“What’s wrong, Master? You look deep in thought.”

Gerbera, who looked utterly refreshed, without a single bead of sweat on her brow—unlike me—gave me a curious look as well.

“My Lord? Is something troubling you?” she asked, her slender brows knitting together anxiously. “Is something still on your mind? Regarding that Leah woman perhaps?”

“No. I’m not worried about that anymore,” I answered with a shake of my head. “We talked it out more than enough already.”

We’d discussed many things regarding our plans for the future yesterday. Now that Leah knew our secret, her husband, the village chief, should also be informed. For that reason, we would visit Rapha at a later date to explain things. Furthermore, even if we kept the particulars from the other villagers, we planned to at least tell them that things were complicated and that their chief, Melvin, accepted us while knowing the full details. This was Leah’s suggestion.

At present, despite the elves’ solidarity, revealing my servants and all of the details was far too risky, especially considering how information could disperse. We didn’t have to worry about that with Leah’s proposal, and it would also prepare them for when we chose to reveal our secrets. On the off chance that an accident did occur and expose our identities to the villagers, just knowing that their chief had already accepted us would make a big difference in how they’d react.

“I’m grateful to have the opinion of someone who’s in charge of a village. It was fortunate that Leah accepted us. Helena too.”

I recalled yesterday’s conversation between Leah and Helena after we’d reached an understanding.

“Your words really opened my eyes, Helena. To think I would lose myself so badly. Maybe I need to consider retiring.”

“Don’t be silly. Unlike you, I was already braced for the worst. That’s all.”

Helena had witnessed the incident the other evening at the storehouse, so she’d already known that something was going on with Shiran and had been readying herself for anything.

“If I’d heard about everything back then, I wouldn’t be as calm as I am now. In that sense, I’m not all that different from you, granny.”

“Is that so? Even if I were in your position, I don’t think I’d be able to remain as calm as you are.”

In hindsight, maybe it was a good thing that Helena had seen what she had the other night. Our present situation, in which a person of influence from the village had accepted us after hearing the truth, was perhaps the best possible outcome. Even when we encountered other elven reclamation villages, we not only had their princess’s referral and Shiran and Kei as our travel companions, but also the support of a reclamation village’s chief family. These facts were very likely to work in our favor.

I’d always acted in a way to gain their trust, but it seemed the elves’ compassion for each other played a bigger role than I’d expected. I had to make sure this opportunity didn’t go to waste.

Gerbera interrupted my thoughts with a hum and curiously asked, “If it’s not about Leah, then what is it about?”

“Is it maybe about Shiran?” Lily asked curiously.

“Well, you could say that,” I said, the slightest hint of bitterness in my voice. “You could also say I was thinking about myself. I didn’t notice what Shiran was hiding. I wondered why that was and then realized the answer. I was probably doing the exact same thing Shiran had done before.”

“What do you mean?” Lily asked.

“Remember? Back when we first met her, Shiran apologized for projecting an illusion of a savior on top of me, right?”

A finger to her lip, Lily thought it over for a bit, then nodded. “Oh yeah... Now that you mention it.”

When Shiran had to battle monsters in the Woodlands, she’d had to face the many lives she’d been unable to save. Over the course of those losses, she’d started to wish for the advent of a great savior. As a result, when she met us, she’d overlaid this illusion of a legendary savior on top of us. As we got to know each other, however, she’d ended up realizing this.

“Please forgive me for projecting such a selfish illusion on you.”

That was what Shiran had told me with a bow of her head.

“So what were you doing that’s the same?” Lily asked.

“Projecting. I saw Shiran as an unwavering knight.”

This projection had likely formed on the day of Fort Tilia’s attack. When monsters overran the fortress, the Alliance Knights we bumped into had turned their swords on us. As a monster tamer, that had been the worst outcome I could possibly think of. At that rate, I would’ve had no choice but to run away without clearing the false charges against me.

In that moment, believing in my innocence, Shiran had convinced the commander to stand down. I’d been overjoyed. Her knightly nobility had shone so bright in my eyes. She’d been so radiant that I’d projected an illusion over her.

In other words, Shiran had been my knight in shining armor, and I’d been the princess she rescued from a dilemma, causing me to greatly admire her. That was a somewhat backward comparison, though. To put it another way, that event was a precious memory to me, which was why it had become the cause of my failures now.

“I failed to realize,” I said, sighing.

“But you realize it now, right?” Lily said, holding her hands out to the side. “In that case, you simply have to be careful moving forward.”

“Lily...”

Her slender arms wrapped around me in a gentle embrace, consoling and encouraging me.

“Now that Shiran is no longer a knight, she’s just another girl,” Lily said. “You need to treat her like one. You mean to do that, right?”

“Yeah.”

Turning into an undead monster and then living like a normal girl was strange, but it was a valid plan. After all, the thing that had first triggered Shiran’s mental imbalance was losing her knightly status. If she could find a purpose in life, not as a knight, but as a girl, it could stabilize her emotions, which should improve her condition as a demilich.

“I’ll help out too, of course,” Lily said with a grin as she peeked up at me.

“Thanks. There are limits to what I can do as a guy and all. I’ll leave that stuff to you.”

“Roger that.” Lily giggled, then gave me a slightly mean-spirited smile. “Well, I’ve already been helping out, in a sense.”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“You’ll find out soon.”

I wondered what she was referring to. Whatever it was, she looked like she was having fun. That was something to be happy about, and her impish expression was very attractive, but it still bothered me that I had no idea what she was getting at.

Lily returned my dubious stare with a cheerful smile, then turned to the side. “Speak of the devil, huh.”

“What are you talking about?” Shiran asked as she walked toward us.

“Nothing much. Just some private stuff,” Lily said, fanning her hand and waving off the topic.

Shiran cocked her head, then turned to me with a gentle smile that spread across her features.

“Oh, Takahiro. I’ve brought everything you need to wash off.”

Judging that it was about time for my training to end, Shiran had brought the stuff over for me. I was thankful, but I didn’t voice my gratitude. My mind was stuck on something else entirely.

Gerbera seemed to be thinking the same thing, because after several seconds, she said, “Ooh. This is a surprise.”

“Huh?” Shiran asked.

“Those clothes. They’re Lily’s...no, Miho’s, right?”

She was wearing a blazer and a vivid pleated skirt. Yes, Shiran showed up wearing Mizushima’s school uniform. I was so shocked that I was speechless, which, in my opinion, was a pretty reasonable response.

“Umm...” Shiran frowned and turned to Lily. “Did you not explain this to them already?”

“I thought it’d be nicer as a surprise,” Lily replied.

“It looks like I’m the one who set it all up...even though I’m just as surprised.”

“Mm-hm. It was a surprise both for you and my master. Two birds with one stone.”

Lily threw Shiran a thumbs-up, looking satisfied.

“Hey, Lily...and Shiran? What’s all this about?” I asked, cutting into their conversation. Lily’s surprise was apparently a success, but I still had no idea what was going on. “Why are you wearing our uniform?”

“Umm, about that,” Shiran started, averting her eyes bashfully. “Just as you know, my usual clothing is that of a knight. But now that I am no longer a knight, I’m not suitable to wear such armor. So...”

“Given the opportunity, I suggested it was a good time to try out some more feminine clothing,” Lily added.

“I see. I get it now,” I said. This related back to what Lily had said earlier about treating Shiran more like a girl.

Now that I understood, I realized something.

“Hang on. Then why our school uniform?”

“It was the most feminine thing we had on hand,” Lily replied cheerfully.

“So she said when she pushed it on me,” Shiran supplemented somewhat bitterly.

In short, it came down to Lily’s tastes. That made sense.

“I did get Miho’s permission, of course. Actually, she was totally on board with it. She said Shiran is great material to work with and was enjoying herself immensely.”

Lily let out a satisfied sigh. Shiran, on the other hand, looked a little troubled, but not discontent. In fact, she looked more pleased than she was letting on.

“So? What do you think, Master? Suits her, doesn’t it?” Lily prodded.

“Huh...? Oh, right, umm...”

I took another look at Shiran. As a high school student, this uniform was deeply connected to my daily life in my own world. There were no foreigners among my classmates, so a blonde girl with a blue eye—and pointed ears and a large eyepatch covering half her face—felt out of place. Simply put, it felt like cosplay. However, my bewilderment was because of my memories of that world, nothing more.

“I think it suits you. It’s...a really fresh look.”

With her delicate and elegant elven features, Shiran had a calm beauty. Her trained body was taut with muscles, yet she had plenty of femininity. Her looks made pretty much any clothing seem stylish on her.

“Th-Thank you,” Shiran said, averting her eyes from me. “But, um...i-it’s embarrassing if you stare like that...”

Her fingers idly picked at the hem of the unfamiliar skirt, but that only drew the eye more. Shiran usually wore her knight’s armor, and even when she didn’t, she tended to favor a shirt and trousers so as not to hinder her movements. But now she had a skirt on. It wasn’t an outrageously short one, but the amount of exposure couldn’t be compared to her usual outfits. The pleated skirt swayed about over her round knees and captivating thighs.

“Oh, sorry.”

I immediately turned to the side...and met Gerbera’s eyes in the process.

“Hmm, a school uniform?” she muttered with a thoughtful expression. “Could I borrow it too? Or perhaps I can just make my own?”

“In that case, Katou might want one too,” Lily suggested.

“Hrm? What do you mean, Lily? Does Katou not have one of her own?”

“No, not for her. I’m talking about one for Rose. Katou must’ve seen Shiran wearing it, so she’s probably considering that this kinda thing can work for Rose too. Hey, Master? Don’t you wanna see everyone in school uniforms?”

“Don’t bring me into this...” I protested.

“Rather, um, Lily? Gerbera? Forgive me, but can you spare me this topic already?” Shiran said in an unusually flustered manner as she suddenly lowered her gaze to the things she’d brought with her. “O-Oh, right. Takahiro, I must hand these to you.”

She was obviously changing the topic, but this was pretty awkward for me too, so I hopped aboard.

“Oh, thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

I accepted everything from her, then asked, “Oh yeah, how’s your body doing?”

“I’m fine,” Shiran answered with a wry smile. “That would be the third time I gave you that answer today.”

“He is a worrywart,” Lily added, smiling.

“No, um, I’m paying for keeping quiet until now, so I can’t really fault Takahiro for bringing it up all the time...”

Shiran was acting awkwardly, but unlike before, it didn’t look like she was pushing herself. Still, even as relief washed over me, I wondered whether asking her about her condition so frequently really did make me a worrywart.

“Ummm, Lily,” Shiran said after letting out a deliberate cough. “You’ll be preparing breakfast after this, correct?”

“Yup, that’s the plan.”

“I’d like to lend a hand this morning. May I?”

“Really?”

Lily’s eyes were as wide as saucers, but her astonishment only stood to reason. Shiran hadn’t helped much with preparing our meals during our journey. Lily was in charge of food, and those who wanted to help out generally did, so there were enough hands to go around. Shiran didn’t have any need to join in, seeing as she spent her spare time guiding me, and since she had no need to eat, nobody coerced her into helping.

“I’ll welcome any help...but are you okay?” Lily asked. “You can still rest some more, you know?”

“That won’t do,” Shiran said.

“How serious...”

Even if Shiran was no longer a knight, her temperament remained the same.

Lily remained upbeat, though her smile was a bit forced.

“Well, this is also part of living like a girl. Mm. Sounds good.”

“Thank you very much.”

“It’s a little weird to thank me for it...” Lily mumbled, then suddenly realized something. “Oh, one more thing.”

“What is it?” Shiran asked curiously.

Lily glanced at me and turned back to Shiran. “What about your meal?”

“My meal? I don’t need any...”

A beat later, she understood what Lily meant. Shiran looked my way, then quickly averted her gaze.

“Ummm... I just had some yesterday.”

“There’s no need to act so reserved,” I said, half as a warning. “Losing a lot of blood at once will give me anemia, so it’d actually be helpful if you took small doses more frequently. If you’d like, you can even have some now.”

“But...” Shiran was being indecisive. She shot a fleeting glance at Lily and Gerbera. “I’m...”

She mumbled incoherently and hung her head. Her brows knit, and her expression turned bashful while she idly fiddled with the hem of her skirt again. I’d never seen Shiran like this before. Her behavior was a bit bewildering.

“Umm... Shiran?” I asked.

“I-It’s nothing. I’ll pass after all,” Shiran said, shaking her head so hard that I thought I could hear it. “I’m not hungry, so...th-that’s how it is. Lily. I’ll get started ahead of you.”

With that, she turned on her heels and left in a hurry.

After Shiran had left, Gerbera cocked her head, confused. “What was that, I wonder?”

“Hmm. I guess I messed up a little,” Lily said with a bitter smile, being the only person here who knew what was going on.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Hm? I mean... Well, she’s embarrassed. About getting blood from you, that is.”

“It’s embarrassing to get blood from me...? Ooh.”

I suddenly understood. Drinking my blood meant she’d have to press her lips against my skin. She normally wouldn’t do that with someone she wasn’t intimate with, let alone someone of the opposite sex. And now that I was conscious of it, I felt awkward too. I could understand why she’d be reluctant.

“Well, I screwed up pretty bad, huh?” I said. “I felt cornered yesterday, so I didn’t really pay any attention to that.”

“Mhm. I was a bit careless too,” Lily said, scratching her cheek. “She needs it to maintain her own health, so if she were the same as usual, I don’t think it would’ve shaken her. Now, though... Maybe that was the original Shiran. In any case, she seems a little too shaken. Hmm. Maybe she’s always lived like a knight, so she doesn’t have much experience as a girl...”

Lily continued muttering, deep in thought, as I tried to make sense of the situation myself.

“In that case, it’ll be tough,” I said bitterly.

“Huh?”

“Drinking blood from me might be emotionally taxing on her?”

I was just asking to hear her opinion, but Lily’s eyes widened in astonishment.

“Nope. I don’t think so,” she answered.

“Hm? But just now...”

“She was probably conscious of me and Gerbera watching.”

“Oh, was that it?”

“Yup. I don’t think Shiran’s reluctant to drink your blood,” Lily declared with conviction.

“I see...”

I nodded along, but I didn’t really get it. I’d just told Lily that I would leave the stuff I couldn’t understand as a guy to her, so I decided to believe her.

◆ ◆ ◆

After we finished breakfast, we started traveling again down the narrow road through the forest. We spent the entire day on the move, taking small breaks every now and then.

“The sun should be setting soon...” I remarked.

Given how long it would take to get things ready, it was about time to consider camping out for the night. However, we were apparently going to reach the village before the end of the day, so we pushed on.

Just as before, Leah and Helena were walking in front of the manamobile. My servants didn’t need to hide from them anymore, so I was fine with Leah and Helena riding with us, but they’d only just found out yesterday. Even if our carriage was on the larger side, being in a narrow space with monsters like Gerbera and Ayame was too high a hurdle for them.

As for Shiran, she was sitting by my side in the driver’s seat, and I was treating our interaction like a post-op checkup. For example, if she were to collapse or something, I could deal with it right away by being near her. Also, due to some kind of change after yesterday’s events, I could now sense Shiran’s mana through the mental path. In a sense, she’d ingested a portion of me, so perhaps that had had some kind of effect.

From what I could sense, Shiran didn’t have much mana at all right now. Her body ran on mana, so she needed more of it, but giving it to her was rather meaningless at the moment.

As Shiran was now, it was like she had a small stomach. That was why she’d said she wasn’t hungry this morning. Forcing water into a small stomach would just make it flow back out, and it risked rupturing the stomach. In other words, she had a low capacity for mana and couldn’t consume it efficiently. Fortunately, she was at least stable, so all I could do was keep an eye on her.

“Oh, yeah, that was quite the surprise this morning,” I said to strike up a conversation. “Your cooking was delicious. I never knew.”

“It was just normal.”

Shiran was no longer wearing our school uniform. She’d said it would be problematic if she dirtied borrowed clothing while we traveled, but in truth, her embarrassment from wearing unfamiliar feminine clothing played a bigger role.

“Besides, I didn’t do anything you can really call cooking,” she said.

“There’s no need to be humble. I don’t know much about cooking, but it was tasty for a simple soup. Lily was impressed too.”

“I just used some herbs. As I told Lily before, the flavor changes based on minute changes to the quantity, the mixture, and the timing with which the herbs are added.”

“That’s a matter of skill, though, right?”

“No. It’s simple familiarity. Lily will be able to do the same in no time.”

We continued our frivolous conversation while the carriage shook us about. It was somehow refreshing. Before this, our conversations had always revolved around swordsmanship and magic, or they were focused on the customs and organizations of this world. Lily said the two of us were overly serious, but we’d largely talked about things I needed to learn.

These conversations were interesting, and I enjoyed them in their own way, but I couldn’t deny that they’d all been about practicality. Maybe this was more evidence that I’d only ever seen her as a knight. Therefore, I figured I should spend more time with her like this.

“You’re pretty accustomed to it, huh?” I said.

“I learned from my late mother. Just so you know, even when I was a knight, I cooked for myself every now and then. When I did, the others in the company would show up out of nowhere and ask for a share, so it was quite the ordeal.”

“Hmm.”

“That was fine, but there were even some fools who said, ‘If I beat you in a mock battle, make my meals for the rest of my days.’ It became quite troublesome.”

“I’m pretty sure they meant something else by that...”

Even I could tell, but it hadn’t gotten across to the person in question. It seemed the ever-considerate Shiran was dense in some matters.

I chuckled, and Shiran turned a curious look my way.

“What is it?” she asked.

“No, nothing. It’s just...right. It’s a little unfortunate.”

“What is?”

“Today’s breakfast was great, so I thought I’d like some more of your cooking given the chance, but I’d rather not get beaten black and blue in a mock battle.”

Shiran giggled at my joke. “I won’t beat you black and blue, Takahiro.” I figured she would come back at me with a joke of her own, but I was wrong. “I’d like it if you had more of my cooking.”

She’d casually let her true intent slip. It was neither lip service nor a joke. It was simply her desire, and she spoke it so plainly, almost unconsciously. She was far too defenseless sometimes.

“Ah,” Shiran uttered, as if she’d just realized what had come out of her mouth. That was probably exactly the case, actually. She turned my way, confusion written on her features.

“Aah... Huh? What did I just...?”

Meaningless words spilled from her lips. Her bewildered and embarrassed behavior made her appear much younger than she was.

“Um, that just now, I mean...” She waved her hands in a panic, her eye swimming about looking for the right words to say. “I-I didn’t mean it like that, or...”

“Uhh, right. In either case, I...”

Crap, now I’m feeling weird about this too.

“I-If the opportunity arises,” Shiran mumbled, “I don’t mind. During your stay in our village... Umm, just as I said, if you’d like...”

“I-Is that so? Thanks...”

I nodded back to her. It felt like the temperature had shot up and my lungs were choking. Mysteriously enough, it wasn’t a bad sensation. Silence fell over us. That didn’t last for long, though. Unable to bear the strange atmosphere, Shiran changed the topic.

“W-We should be arriving at the village soon.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I can more or less remember this path,” Shiran answered, taking a look around. “We’re coming up a slight incline, right? Once we get over it, we should be looking down on the village.” She calmed down as she spoke. “It’s been five years since I last came this way, but it remains unexpectedly fresh in my mind.”

To me, it looked like a never-ending forest, but it was different for Shiran. There was nostalgia in her voice. She’d once told me that she wasn’t likely to ever return to her hometown, much like her older brother. Having continued to fight with such tragic resolve in her heart, coming back here after five years must have been very emotional for her.

As we talked, the incline began leveling out. Leah and Helena slowed their pace ahead of us and walked back our way.

“Takahiro, we will be arriving in Kehdo shortly,” Leah said.

“I know. I just heard from Shiran.”

The road had leveled out completely by the time I answered her. I grew tense at the thought of arriving. Kehdo’s chief was Shiran’s uncle, and my current objective was to build a friendly enough rapport with him so that I could apply to live there.

I couldn’t relax yet. At the same time, I was looking forward to it. This was Shiran and Kei’s home, after all. I’d heard there was nothing here and knew it wasn’t all that different from the other reclamation villages I’d already seen, but I was still excited to see it.

The driver’s seat of the manamobile sat a little high, so Shiran and I were the first to see the village.

We were the first to see the flames billowing from the houses.

We were the first to see the villagers fleeing for their lives.

“What...the...?”

My voice cracked in my quivering throat. I stared at the scene in shock. I couldn’t understand. My brain rejected the reality before my eyes, and I blanked out entirely.

That was careless of me. If monsters were attacking the village, I had to immediately take action, be it jumping to their aid or deciding it was too late and abandoning them. Perhaps that kind of readiness was a necessity for those who lived in this world, yet I remained frozen in place.

But what else could I do? I mean, this was no monster attack. Armored figures pointed their blades at the defenseless villagers. Each time they ruthlessly swung their swords, people tumbled to the ground so easily it was like some kind of bad joke. The fallen villagers didn’t return to their feet either. The sight of so many people going down was akin to some poorly made diorama. It didn’t seem real.

What the hell was going on? Who were those armed marauders? Why were the villagers under attack?

I immediately tried to grasp the situation. I could gather my thoughts again thanks to my experiences up until now, having struggled my way through multiple scenes of carnage, but I was still panicking at the unexpected situation. That was why I’d forgotten about another problem I had to deal with first.

“A-Aaah...”

Feeling someone stand up next to me, I snapped back to my senses. Salvia’s warning rang in my head.

“As an undead monster, there’s a risk that Shiran can go into a berserk ghoul-like state based on her mental stability.”

In that case, this situation was...

“A-Aaaah...”

A chilling groan licked at my ear. I quickly turned to look and spotted a ghoul in front of me.

“Aaah... A-Aaaah...”

Right now, Shiran was more of a demighoul than a demilich. Her very being, balanced between a highly intelligent lich and a senseless ghoul, was extremely unstable. The scales always swayed about unreliably, but now it was as if someone had slammed their fist on the ghoul side.

“Aaaaaaargh!”

The scales tipped over with an almost cruel violence. In that instant, Shiran let out a senseless shriek and flew off like a bullet.

At the end of their long journey, they arrive at a remote elven village. The curtains rise on the battle to protect what is dear to them. What unfolds is the story of a boy who isn’t a savior, and a girl who is no longer a knight. This is the story of a savior and a knight’s battle, a record of how they would become deeply tied together, of their struggles, their wishes, and their love.