Monster no Goshujin-sama

31

Join the Roses, two days later.

I was contacted from inside the dragon abyss by those of us who spent time in Diospiro.

The chief of the house gave us permission to visit.

"That's faster than I thought. Thought it might take a little longer."

"It's a closed house. Opinion would have been broken. But if the chief decides so, I can't disagree."

This is how I interacted with Sadias.

In other words, not all of the people inside were in favor of our visit.

"Additionally, the Tracking Unit of Hakurakura consisted of a sympathetic face for her. Cass, the leader, is sweet... depending on who sees him, there are things that seem sweet. Care had been taken within her discretion. But if we were to invite humans inside, the story would change again."

"For the sake of one dragon, the one who doesn't want to loosen the code to protect the inside comes out?

"That's what I'm talking about"

Sadias laughed a little lonely.

"I don't want you to get me wrong, but they just want to protect the inside. At least, the everyday life of the hiding place has been stable for the last few hundred years. In those environments, change becomes something that brings fear, no matter what kind it is"

That was an understandable story, so I just nodded.

This has to take some time to get your mind together.

Yes, I snapped inside, and Sadias opened his mouth.

"It's just that this is the mood of those inside. In my own opinion, a little different"

"Hmm? How is that different?

When he asked me, Sadias turned his gaze straight.

"I wonder if your presence is also some kind of hope."

He had a calm eye.

"Takahiro. You gave yourself to Robbia. That's a huge thing for us. I want you to remember that."

After we joined the Gerberas, we were to join the guide.

"Hey. Another king."

Before that, Berta talked to me.

"I will not accompany you from here forward. You know why, don't you?

It was a sudden story, but I immediately thought of a reason.

Inside the dragon abyss, it's a hiding place. The access of outsiders shall be minimal.

In fact, Shenzu remained in town for the same reason.

Not to mention Berta is under Kudo Lu.

She fully understood her position and the danger it posed.

"I will not go into the dragon abyss. So I don't even know where it is. Everything means it's not where my king senses it."

If you don't even know Berta, there's no way Kudo Lu can do something about it based on that information.

When it comes to whether this is an act of treachery against the Lord of absolute obedience, is it something like a gibberish?

Because Berta is only an escort who has been on the move and is not ordered to gather information.

"If you believe my word that I will not follow you..."

"Beyond this period, you wouldn't do that"

I denied the sarcastic Berta dialogue.

Simply, there were decisions that I trusted Berta's personality, which I could have known by sharing time, and that it was not of a nature to lie to face to face.

Berta snorted.

Maybe it was a way to hide the light.

"... well, don't worry. In the first place, I can't possibly do anything to buy your unhappiness. My king will not forgive me."

My tail shook loosely.

"Just the right opportunity. I will return to the king once. I haven't heard from the other side yet, but I'm going to see if I can get in touch with you."

Berta dropped the tone of her voice just a little.

"Depending on the king's intentions, he won't be back here"

"... right"

It wasn't so dull that I didn't know what that meant.

If Kudo Lu makes any kind of case, depending on what happens, the next time we see each other, we're enemies.

Nevertheless, as for Berta herself, she was simply escorting me.

I had no problem thanking you here.

"Thank you for your help."

"Well, it didn't make much sense for me to be here."

It was a sniffling Berta, but I shook my head quietly beside her.

"That's not true. At least it was a harvest to find out that guys like you were under Kudo"

"What does that mean?"

"Don't you get it?

Asked back here, Berta strayed from her gaze.

Ahead, there was a quit.

Knock, knock, knock, knock.

Berta didn't reject it.

So I didn't hesitate to cut the story out.

"Hey, Berta."

"What?"

"If you ever go back this way, I don't know what Kudo is doing... to the extent that it's not inconvenient for him. Can you tell me?

Berta turned this way.

"You want me to spy on you?

"It's not. Whatever, I don't mind you telling him this, too. I want you to be a pipe, not a spy."

I had a while to think about it.

"... you know what I mean? It's an act of putting ourselves in danger to each other. As for this, there is a risk of leakage of information from you, and you, being connected to my king, will not work against you."

"Still. I must not leave Kudo alone."

This was a possible offer because Berta just found out she could be trusted.

Berta is instrumental.

Not only against a king who vows absolute loyalty, but also against me who has made friends, I will no longer be able to disobey you.

In some cases, Berta may find herself in a terribly difficult position, but I was convinced she would take this offer.

"... let's just talk"

In the end, Berta responded with a low voice.

In the course of that day, she left us.

The rendezvous guide was a woman formerly known as Cass, who led the Hakurakura tracking unit.

This time, I will keep the empty journey with the dragon, especially since it is not a quick journey.

In a leisurely moving car, we moved around Akel's country.

The direction we headed was north.

"Takahiro will also know that on the border separating Akel from the Empire's Earl of Long to the north, a tributary of the Great River Alalia runs and a coma forest spreads"

Evening.

As he surrounded the burning fire, Sadias opened his mouth.

"Our inside is there. I might have guessed."

"Sort of."

Previously, Salvia asked me to visit the coma forest in northern Akel and meet the 'Historical Knower'.

There he is, also the name of the Lord of the Woods, which he had heard before.

"The monster of the Lord of the Coma Forest in northern Akel should have been called in the name of 'The Wrath of the Earth'. Suppose…"

"Oh. Right." The wrath of the earth "is our chief's common name in the human world."

Thadias affirmed my word.

"Regardless, the name of the chief itself, though not otherwise,"

"I never heard of a hiding place. Most of all, mortals can't step in more than they are in the coma forest, so it's not a bad place to make a hiding place..."

And I frowned.

You thought the same thing, Lily opened her mouth.

"But what about that? At least they know there are more powerful monsters out there than they are in the coma forest, right? To put it another way, it's also a human offense... and all of a sudden, the army will be pointing at you?

"You have a good point. [M] But for two reasons, it won't be a matter of fire."

"What do you mean?

"Basically, a coma forest is impossible to attack without a brave man. And this is Akel. Not an empire."

Lily showed herself perfectly.

"You mean a matter of priority?

"That's the thing. There are still plenty of unconscious forests left in the southern part of the empire, and even the safest northern ones still remain unconscious to varying degrees. Also, the unconscious forest north of Akel is known for not having much monster damage... well, this is because we are mistaken for the monsters around the forest, but anyway, the priority is unnecessarily low"

"Is that why you created a hideout north of Akel?

"Half of them are."

Sadias laughed meaningfully at Lily, who tilted her neck.

"It also involves a second reason around it... well, I'll know tomorrow. You should look forward to it."

The next day, when we finally reached the coma forest, we were to understand the words of Sadias the day before.

"... the fog came out?

"The unconscious forest of northern Akel is famous all year round for its deep fog. This area is still surrounding, but there seems to be some fog."

"I have a bad vision, so I need to be careful not to get lost. What is it? They say locals don't put their feet on the area."

Siran and Kay from Akel apparently knew about this fog, although they were not from the area around here.

He told me what he knew.

But there was something they wouldn't even know.

This wasn't just fog.

"What do you mean? There's a sign of this fog, The Misty Vault."

"Huh?"

A companion other than me raised a voice of surprise.

"Really? Your husband?

"Oh. This is a magical fog."

Lily, who sat next to your table, asked, and I nodded.

"That's strange, Lord."

said Gabella, who looked out of the car.

"Even concubines can't feel this was created by magic. Are you sure it's magic?

If that Gabella says this to me, I'm losing confidence, too.

"Sure, this is supposed to be a magical fog..."

"No. It's Takahiro's word."

It was Cass the Conductor who uttered the words to me in a cloudy manner.

Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Sadias in the lead, she looks back over her shoulder as she walks stiffly.

"This is not normal fog. It's not technically magic, so you can't compare it, but if you use it as an object, it would be equivalent to the illusion magic of the fifth staircase."

"Fifth...!?

I lost my word.

It's the greatest magic in the world.

"Could be more up there"

But Cass added more like this.

"As Takahiro has guessed, this is at the hands of" Misty Temporary Inn ". We call it" The Fog's Boundary. "

That was a proud voice somewhere.

And by hearing this dialogue of hers, I realized.

"Maybe this is the foggy otherworlds of 'Misty Vault'?

"That's the contractor for" Misty Vault ". As you can guess. This place is half alienated. 'The Fog Boundary' leads the intruder astray. I don't want any of you to get out of this fog. The only exception is us, the dragons."

Previously, when I got lost in "The Misty Vault," even Gabella was taken in.

Moreover, the effect of disillusionment in the "Misty Vault" remained only auxiliary, whereas this one is a defensive mechanism set up to get you lost.

Neither its potency nor its strength would be comparable.

I could only feel the anomaly in this place because it is connected to the 'Misty Temporary Inn' that created this world.

"But how the hell... the magic of 'Misty Inn' is a tremendous magic that creates one world, but its potency should only be about a few days at best"

"That's what I was about to say last night."

Sadias has turned his grin.

"The fact that no hiding place is found by 'The Fog Boundary'. That's the second reason why you don't have to fear human invasion, even if you live in a hiding place in a coma forest. Cutting through the woods is itself close to impossible because of the fog, and as I said yesterday, the benefits are few. Even if we cut through, there's as much time to escape because this fog gets in the way and it takes so long."

Sadias looked around at the thin mist around him.

"And this fog also has to do with why it had to be here to create a hiding place. Because" The Fog Boundary "is maintained by the magic tools given to us by" The Fog Inn. "

"Magic tools?

"It's a magical tool called The Foundations of the World. This has the power, albeit limited, to fix the world of 'Misty Inn'"

"It's... again, you have amazing magic tools"

I see. Earlier, Cass said it wasn't technically magic.

This fog is a magic tool junction.

"Oh, The Foundations of the World, a treasure in the Dragon Abyss, has tremendous power. However, on the other hand, the problem is that there are very limited places available. Let's hide what, this is one of them."

"So you built a hiding place here..."

Magic tools that can only be used in limited locations.

It was a story I heard somewhere.

Thinking for a few seconds, what I remembered was The Demon Stone of the Connection, which was protecting the mountain hut deep in the tree sea.

That, too, should have been something that could only be used deep in the tree sea.

In the same vein, it was a somewhat intriguing story that The Foundations of the World could also only be used in the same magical coma forest as the Tree Sea.

Perhaps the magic of the land is affecting it.

Though, as far as I can tell, the 'cornerstone of the world' seems to have more stringent conditions.

With that in mind, I looked back at this one and Cass cautioned me.

"It's time for the fog to thicken. Be careful. The Coma Forest is located about hours from here. Let's go that far today."

Soon afterwards, the sight stained bright white with fog like dripping milk.

At the same time, he entered a serious wetland zone.

Is it because the sunlight is blocked by this fog? The trees are sparse, too.

"Dear Takahiro. It might be time to get out of your car. Around here..."

"Whoa."

"... it seemed too late"

The ground was loose and the wheels buried.

I could pull it up, but from here on out, there seemed to be little where I could drive decently.

If humans rarely set foot around here anymore, and their sight is almost unfavourable, there is also little need to use cars to hide what the Gerberas look like.

We turned our journey into walks, sweetened by Cass's words that we would come inside later.

"For our family of dragons, this fog is the one that tells us the direction inside. You have a bad vision, so be careful not to fall off. Soon, though, we'll be in the coma forest range. Remember, you may encounter monsters once in a while, so just remember how you feel about unforeseen things."

When we heard the words, we all turned our gazes to each other.

Among the landscapes smeared with visibility that seemed to render even the human figure next door invisible, the journey continued.

As he walked silently, the trees began to be seen again.

And the trees grew denser, and we went into the woods.

――

I got goosebumps on purpose.

I remember this feeling.

"Senior"

"Oh. You're just like the tree sea."

Kato seemed to feel the same thing.

A few months ago, I felt the same way when I came out of the tree sea.

I must have gone into the coma forest.

Even though the sun's rays are still weak, it would be a sign that this is not the usual forest that trees are stretching their trunks without such a stiffness.

Even though, in such a fog, it's hard to travel decently.

That is where the terrain of the forest, even the powerful hallucinogenic effect, comes with it, so the land was no longer equal to the fortress of intransigence.

"That's a lot more discreet."

"Yeah, that's why we can live in peace."

In a soft voice I've never heard before, Cass said.

"This is a small world where we, the monsters, can gain peace. We owe so much to the Misty Inn that we can't give it back."

We advance through forests that have become aliens.

I arrived in the dragon abyss the next day.