Monster no Goshujin-sama

16. Beginning Memories

Sixteen.

Sensing by the magic "Misty Inn," I decided to grasp the existence of Koji Hibiya.

Communicating that information, the expedition members participating in the tracking unit looked shocked.

Try them, one of the guys who was missing from the collapse of the colony... it's also got two names that were in the executive class.

I would never have dreamed that one of the people I was chasing was.

Most importantly, the shock was prevented from turning into agitation.

"Take it, catch it, you'll hear the story."

Because Nakatsuki, a leader who is nothing else, flushed it lightly like nothing else.

Seeing that attitude, which did not seem to have moved at all, rather than the statement itself, the Expedition members seemed to have regained their calm.

Thanks to this, although I still encounter the 'guardian giant' occasionally, they were calm and able to deal with it, and it was not enough to say that I felt at all in danger.

He's also gotten used to dealing with it, and often I don't even have to issue warnings when I grasp the neighborhood in "The Misty Inn".

I'm glad we're in the middle of a line, we're just moving early.

Personally, I was wondering if Hibiya's presence would be a threat, but that was also worrying because of his defeat by Kudo's Demon Army.

There was no joint front stretched between the entire Shrine Temple row and Kudo, so that point could also be said to be the material to stroke down the chest.

It was also a positive material that Berta had said so beforehand that it was possible to proceed without wasting time with unnecessary measures.

Most importantly, the Berta had a sinking atmosphere.

I guess you care about the Lord.

The intense fighting between Kudo and Hibiya seemed largely due to the two causes.

I also had to disable the vigilance and traps around us as a detached road guide, so I could only hear the interaction between the two in fragments, but apparently 'Dark Beast' Bomb Miya was dead during the colony collapse, and that was by Hibiya's hands.

Berta was also able to hear stories to back it up.

This was information that bothered me.

Because the colony didn't just collapse. It's possible.

On that day, I was just running away, and Kato and Kanahiko were similar, and even if there was just "something" that led to the collapse, there was no way to know.

Hibiya may be holding the key.

That's not what Nakatsuki said, but if I caught him, I might have been able to find out the truth about that day.

At the same time, however, this was information that had to be handled with caution.

If you try to be a member of the expedition, it means there was a killing between executives during the collapse of the colony, because it can be an upsetting result.

Most importantly, since the information in the collapse of the colony is not directly related to this cross-border offensive operation, it is not necessary to dare convey it here.

If you get a chance, you can talk to Nakatsuki and leave the rest to him.

"Anyway, that was helpful about the information"

When I thanked her, Berta laughed small.

"What, this is what I'm doing for the king."

To the Shinto Shrine and the Kudo Demon Army, the Expedition, the Church forces.

The current situation, in which each is moving with thoughts, is very complicated.

Expeditions and church forces are moving to capture the Shinto shrines who plan to destroy the 'cornerstone of the world'.

Kudo is apparently hostile to the Shrines, so in the sense that he is consequently interrupting the 'cornerstone of the world' destruction, you can say that the interests are in agreement.

But Kudo, on the other hand, unlike the expedition, wouldn't consider it sweet to "stop," let alone take advantage of Hibiya as his opponent.

The possibility arises of hostility in this respect with the expedition, which emotionally has companionship with the Shrine Superintendents and Hibiya Valley.

The aspect of interest and the aspect of emotion are intricately intertwined, and the current situation does not allow for prediction.

In the unlikely event that you think about it, you need to understand the situation so that you can deal with it no matter what.

That's what Berta told me.

Just one thing, I was listening, and there was an inexplicable part.

"Hey, Berta. Can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"... how did you know 'about Boom Miya's death'?

I don't doubt Berta's story, but I thought it was strange.

If her death is at the core for Kudo, she shouldn't bother to talk to her subordinates, who are only pawns.

I might have expected that I would question that.

"It's a simple story"

I received a response with a calm voice.

"I was on the spot. That's why I know."

"... were you there?

One beat, I needed time to understand.

Breathtaking by accident.

Knowing because you were there is a simple idea.

But because there was one serious fact suggested there.

"Suppose... Berta was Kudo's first subordinate? Kudo, awakened as the Demon King in the death of the bomb, was able to obey him on the spot?

Think again, it wasn't an impossible story.

It should have been before and after the collapse of the colony that Kudo awakened his abilities as Demon King.

It's no surprise that Berta knew what happened between Kudo and Boom, if that's when he was handed over.

Tsujitsu fits.

However, when I did, there was one thing I didn't know.

"But didn't you mean Berta... was given a second name?

Fornetic code.

I heard before that Berta is the second name.

That it is the first subordination.

That I was given a second name.

They seemed to be contradictory facts, but Berta's answer was different.

"It's not that hard either. The king basically doesn't name his subordinates. You know the terms of naming, don't you?

That's what they asked me, and I noticed.

"... to have as much power as it deserves to be named"

"Exactly"

"Well, Berta..."

"That's right. I had no hope at the time."

So I couldn't give you a name.

The treatment of Kudo's subordinates is completely different from that of me and my family.

Rather, in the case of Kudo, it is natural to distinguish between the first subordination and the one that gave the first name.

The tricky thing was that the first distribution, which was not given a name, was later given a name.

"I, the first subordinate, was not given a name on the spot. It was only after a while that I gained strength. By then, there was already Anton. So it was the name of the second Berta that gave me."

The voice tone of the talk dropped a step of tone.

"... I could not be Anton. For me the name Berta is like a testament to my powerlessness and impudence."

The words were full of remorse.

It was easily inferred that you were not simply saying about the fact that you were not given a name at the outset.

I guess the remorse put in there is the problem involved in her backbone, boneless and simple.

Without stopping his running legs, Berta opened her mouth.

"Takahiro Mashima. You asked me earlier if I was" the king's first subordinate "and" a monster who could have followed me on the spot when I woke up as the demon king ". Half right."

"Half?"

"The first half is right. But you're wrong in the second half."

For a moment, I was confused.

Because the two seemed the same thing.

But Berta's statement was not, and it was outside my imagination.

"I followed the king not when he became king of demons. Before that."

"... what?

That's a big mistake.

"It wasn't when I decided to live as a demon king that I gained more power. Before that."

Berta says.

"Without giving up, that one lived up in the tree sea. Then I was under the king's command."

……

I was silent for a few seconds.

I can't swallow a well said fact.

I've heard it before because it's too different from what I've heard.

But Berta was showing only a serious attitude, and this one's confusion just got bigger and bigger.

"... no. But that would be strange. It's not what Kudo told me in the first place."

During that raid on Fort Chile, Kudo speaks of his own origins.

Kudo should have gained the power to follow monsters as demon kings by despairing of human weakness and ugliness and by his desire to destroy the world.

It's odd that Berta has been handed out before that.

What does it mean?

Berta returned a dark voice to the gaze of my doubt.

"That is because I was powerless"

helplessness and impudence.

There was the same sense of self-blame when I told him my name was a testament to it.

"At that time I was asked of that one who was alone. Apparently, meeting Boom Miya changed that one at the time. Still weak and small, but I used to eat my teeth trying to change myself like that. I remember the dignity and joy I had in this breast when I felt its presence. And I hastened unto him, with uncertain connections."

The tone of memory telling turned into something terribly bittersweet there.

"But we didn't make it. Just before that, that one had encountered the same metastasizers. And when I rushed, I was hurting myself."

At the edge of my vision, I could see Lily looking this way.

I guess she sounded like a good ear.

He looked surprised.

I felt the same way myself.

- I was hurt, and I asked for salvation.

- There was a presence that would respond.

The story of my encounter with Lily and the beginning of Berta's conversation with Kudo was very similar.

But only its upside was so different as to be cruel.

Lily saved me.

But Berta couldn't save Kudo.

Their beginnings were because the situation was too bad.

"I have stripped my fangs to protect that one. But I couldn't fulfill it. He was struck down by a blow."

It was a natural result.

The opponent is Warrior.

Guess from the fact that she wasn't given a name, Berta was not so different from the monsters everywhere, far from what could now be described as mighty.

There was no way we could have fought.

"I was weak, and could not help that one. … I have made him king of demons."

Unwiped regrets.

This was the wound of the beginning that Berta kept holding.

The situation would have been different if, at least, the encounter had preceded the encounters with the transferees.

Sensing approaching by the wolf's sharp sense of smell and doing it without finding it, because it shouldn't have been impossible.

That way...... maybe after a while, they also had a future to lean in with one person and survive this harsh world.

When I thought about it, it seemed natural that Berta was the only one in Kudo's division who had the sensibility to come near us.

Because Kudo, before he became the Demon King, should not have wanted pawns or anything else to destroy the world.

It was the presence that changed me and walked with me that was necessary for the future.

But there was no future to be had.

I was trampled down and I couldn't help but distort myself.

So Berta regrets it.

If I had enough power to give myself the name of the first Anton, I would have been able to protect what was important.

While accompanied by us, she went out hunting for nocturnal monsters, enhancing her own strength, but I guess the part greedy for such strength would have been if she remembered her regrets for failing to protect Kudo before becoming Demon King.

"... Kudo, what about that?

"You shouldn't have noticed. When I fell under attack, I was able to move, and for the first time I behaved to the king, after everything had already been done. Boom Miya, by" The Dark Beast, "had produced and served the Raptor, so I would not have been able to notice the King, who had fallen pre and post unconscious, who had jumped in and been hit just before him"

"You didn't tell me from yourself"

"Tell me what to do"

Berta mocked herself.

"When I was finally given my name, it was after the king had already taken his path as demon king. It was already too late."

There is no need for a close presence on Kudo's journey as Demon King.

The only existence that could be irreplaceable was a pawn under the Demon King.

Still, I guess she thinks of the boy.

With regrets for not being able to do anything and the honorable things I felt when I met him in my chest.

"... and this is what happened between me and the king"

Perhaps consciously.

Berta changed her tone to normal so as to make a distinction between the stories.

"I add, I am devouring the body of Boonmya. Because that's what she wanted when she died."

"Boom? Why?"

"I wonder why. She wanted me to lay down my own death because she didn't want to grieve her best friend. Maybe he didn't want to leave the body... No. I wonder. Honestly, I'm not sure. How did you help the king? Including if you were going to help the king in the first place."

I don't even know for sure now.

Boom Miya is dead.

It will no longer be revealed to her that she has left behind words that curse the world in the midst of deceit.

Most of all, one fell to his heart.

"Does your appearance as a Scylla look a lot like Boom Mya's because you ate that body?

"Probably. Nevertheless, it was an unexpected result for me."

How can Berta's appearance as Scylla resemble that of Boomy Miya very much?

The cause of this was the effect of being present at the scene of Ryumiya's death and eating the body.

Berta herself, unlike Lily, does not have a pseudomorphic ability, so it was probably unforeseen that this was the result.

Alternatively, it may be influenced by the bug poison that has gained power and altered the flesh.

"... thanks for talking to me"

Now that we know everything, Berta's situation should not have seemed too unfortunate.

The irresistible unluck even makes me feel like I can have a structure that never pays off.

Without the coincidence of accompanying us with values, we wouldn't have even noticed such an affair...

"... no, wait"

I remember the hook, and I snapped in my mouth.

Berta was among the schematics that would never be rewarded.

But now she is with us, close to the way she should be.

This is a coincidence by becoming.

... I thought so, but fulfill it. Would it really be?

The Berta was sent by Kudo's instructions.

Without a doubt, Berta is the best fighter in Kudo's subordination, and it is definitely the right decision to keep it on hand if you think about it coldly.

I didn't do that because Kudo himself said Berta couldn't do it.

But is that true?

I just heard from Berta, and that's why I got my doubts there.

Boom Miya's death should be big enough for Kudo to create him as the current Demon King, something that involves a delicate part.

You should never want to be touched.

Yet it's too risky to keep Berta away from herself, who has inherited her figure.

In fact, Berta has exposed us.

Originally, Kudo sent her as an escort that she would not be disgusted because she was more sensitive than us, so she could have predicted that her emotions would shift and expose her true figure as she continued her journey.

There will be so much inadvertently.

There, to the point where I actually wonder if there's some hidden intention.

"Takahiro Mashima? What's the matter with you?

……

One thought passed in the back of my brain as I looked down at Berta asking.

What if?

What if Kudo was aware of Berta's situation?

Of course, as Berta herself said, she probably didn't realize it on the spot.

At least, during that raid on Fort Chile, Kudo must have really assumed that his power was only as a demon king.

However, I learned the example of Kudo.

Throughout the case of Fort Chile, you must have noticed that Berta was of an honest nature too unsuitable for the plot, and unlike any other pawn.

If we consider those facts together with the fact that she is the first family member, isn't it impossible to get to the truth?

And if I found out the truth about Berta, the meaning of her presence for Kudo would change dramatically.

Because before anything else decisive happened, Kudo wanted to change himself because of the influence of Boonmya, who had nothing else to do with it.

Given that Berta's presence could not have been without Boom Mya, in a sense, it can also be described as her oblivion.

What would Kudo think of such a berta?

Treat me like I should?

... you won't be able to.

What Berta also said earlier applies to Kudo himself as it is.

That is, it may already be too late for anything.

Kudo was only after he had already taken his path as the Demon King.

I just realized, now I can't go back the way I lost it.

There is no other way to run to the ruin of despair and misery.

... if.

What did Kudo think?

What do you think Berta is here now as a result of choosing what?