Monster no Goshujin-sama

11. Puppet Embrace

Eleven.

I am sinking deep.

I sink deep, I can't breathe, but I can't float.

That's how I get poked over and over again.

I don't want to see it, I don't want to hear it, I don't want to sniff it, I don't want to touch it.

Many times.

Yes, many times.

I can't get help crying or screaming.

Because there's nobody else here.

I'm alone.

It sinks in on its own.

…… ……

It was then.

Something, I heard.

Is this... far away, someone screaming?

If I listened, I found out that that seemed to be the call.

Calling......

... About whom?

…… ...... ahh!

The darkness around me trembles.

The call continues.

Each time, my presence is shaken.

My consciousness shakes... my body shakes.

I finally realized that I was the one being called upon to do so.

"Dear Sir!"

I was swimming in the mud with my consciousness alone, and I recognize that I am now in my dreams.

Getting that far, surfacing from the bottom of the dark wasn't that difficult.

"Your husband!

but I woke up.

"Ha, ha, ha..."

My breathing is rough.

I have a fever that I don't like to exhale.

Blink as you catch dizziness, and the burning lights will appear in your eyes.

Apparently I was asleep.

There's definitely one thing about Kaga...

Right after that, we went back to the cave.

I was just going to rest my body a little until it was time to eat, but apparently I accidentally fell asleep.

"Huh."

While coughing from time to time, I took one last big, deep breath, concentrating on getting my disturbed breath ready for a while.

I had a terrible, bad dream... like, I feel.

I didn't remember the contents.

I didn't even want to remember.

"Are you okay, sir? It was a pleasure."

From the edge of his vision, he was given a towel.

Apparently, you've been waiting for me to calm down.

"Ah, oh.... Sorry."

I received the towel I had been offered and pressed my face with both hands.

I've been sweating my sleep for a long time.

Heavy head.

I had the illusion that I had left some of my brain miso in my nightmare because I was woken up in the middle of sleep.

Nightmare.

Dreams of swimming at the bottom of the dark.

My whole body trembled when I blurted.

Is it because of the cold, or is this because of another factor?

"You've been scratching sweat for a long time. You won't feel well as it is, and for once, why don't they wipe your body"

He interpreted my trembling trick as because my body was cold, and there was a carefree suggestion from the side.

"Please take off all your clothes. I'll do the laundry."

"Oh. Let's do that."

As if I were a child, I nodded honestly.

Is it because I had nightmares?

It seemed awful comforting to me that someone was there to worry about me.

That's what makes me laugh when I'm like a child.

It also means that there's just enough room back for laughter.

So... so.

"Hmm?"

Finally, I felt uncomfortable in the towel fabric.

That was, 'Who the hell am I talking to from now on', a question that is now too much.

"What is it, your husband?

It was an unfamiliar voice.

It was an unfamiliar polite tone.

Lily would be more Frank, and Kato wouldn't call you husband about me.

Lily is out for interrupted food procurement in the first place, and Kato, who is not originally physically fit, is often in the cave trying to figure out if she gets tired the day she goes out.

That's why I'm not supposed to have anyone to talk to.

No, there's another one of mine in this cave.

But she shouldn't be able to talk.

It's supposed to be.

I bet you do...

I gave him the face that was sinking in the towel.

"What is it, my lord?

Rose was talking.

"Rose......?

"Yes, I am Rose. Your husband named you that."

It took roughly ten seconds to embrace reality.

Because can this stay unsettled?

"Rose, are you really talking?"

"Yes. I finally got to talk to your husband. I'm honored."

Apparently, it's not some kind of mistake.

For a moment, I seriously suspected it might be like ventriloquism.

But no matter how you look at it, this is not a joke in that hand, and because of Rose's character in the first place, I don't think he's going to help me with those acts.

"I didn't know you'd really be able to talk."

Even if we finally accept reality, it's hard to believe.

I do remember telling that story before.

"I didn't know it would be so easy to talk to you..."

It would be quite difficult.

... No, isn't it?

Think about it, even Lily's taking the human cage made it possible to have an instant conversation.

I'm connected by Rose and Pass, and I know she has the right intelligence. In addition, I know that she understands the language I use because I follow my instructions properly.

In other words, the only reason my family members can't talk is because they don't have the intelligence to just talk, not simply because they don't have the ability to speak.

It was always possible to have a conversation with me if I could use my abilities as a monster to vibrate the air.

And Rose's ability doesn't have to be checked now, it's nothing more than the creation of magic tools.

Plus, I've seen her make her own arms before.

If you knew that much, the answer was to answer every step of the way.

"You've changed your body."

"You're wise."

I did think you were building something recently.

I was wondering if they were producing even spare parts for the hands and feet exactly, but they were developing vocal organs.

Even the most vocal organ would be something completely different from that of a human being. Rose's face is only the same top-notch, egg-shaped sphere, with no organ that fits his mouth.

If you look closely, I feel like Rose's throat is thickening a turn. I guess there's an embedded voice-over there.

"I really didn't think I'd be able to talk. Somehow, I'm sorry for the lack of art admiration... wow"

"It's no big deal"

Did you match the name Rose I gave her, her voice was feminine.

Slightly lower voices as a woman are perfect for Rose's image.

I calm down listening.

"Even though I've changed my body, it's nothing compared to my sister Lily's naive. Instead, as long as you're ashamed."

"I don't think so."

My words are from the heart, but Rose waved this way.

Apparently, she has low self-esteem.

And then I discovered that subtle Rose admired Lily with her sister.

It's true that Lily became a member of the family first, so it's not a mistake.

I feel uncomfortable.

Well, you'll get used to it one of these days.

"Your husband."

Rose called me when she thought I didn't have a benefit.

"What?"

"Please change your meal. How about they cleanse your body at last? Ask Sister Lily to prepare water."

"Oh. You did"

With the impact that Rose had been talking to me, I had completely forgotten.

When I was prompted, I took off my wet clothes by sucking my sleeping sweat.

"We also have a change of clothes."

"As always, you're ready."

"I'm afraid so."

"It's fresh to have a response here"

Tarai, filled with water, was homemade by Rose using chopped wood and bamboo.

Rose really takes care of me. There's nothing I can give back, as painful as it really is.

When I dampened the towel with water, I wiped the mess and my body to remove the dirt, and I wore the leftover water from my head little by little and washed my hair.

Pretty neat.

Unfortunately, I don't want to feel as refreshed as I did when I took a bath before I came to this world.

Occasionally I miss soap and shampoo.

I don't know how to make it, so I'm afraid I can't ask Rose to make it.

It would be impossible to make a boulder rose without knowing the raw materials or the manufacturing method.

... Impossible, huh?

I'm afraid Rose will be able to do it.

Next time, why don't we ask for it?

With that in mind, I wiped my body with another large towel that had been given to me and put my sleeves through the jersey that was provided.

Almost at the same time, Rose finished washing the student clothes I was wearing.

She goes to sprinkle her washed clothes on the dry stuff she keeps near the entrance.

Rose knelt next to her as she burned her slightly cooler body.

Signs like you care about this one.

I leaked a bitter laugh.

"Sounds like you have something to say."

Turning the water from here, Rose awed with her hands on her chest.

"Yes, sir."

"What, say it"

"Is there something troubling you?

"You're frank."

My floating bitterness deepens.

Rose bowed her head again.

"I'm sorry"

"No. Not that it was unpleasant"

It was more like her with an honest personality, as much as I even felt a smile.

"Ask just in case, why would you think that?

"As far as I know, this will be the first time your husband has had a nightmare. That's when it happened with your old alumni, so it's natural to question the causality."

"So is that."

Outside, I'm simple, too.

This doesn't make me laugh about Kaga.

"Can you give me permission to ask a stepped in question"

"Oh, I'm not gonna hide anything from you guys."

Grant permission to the discipline of Rose, who will take confirmation.

Rose has asked in a terribly serious voice.

"Does your husband regret having your alumni in his hands?

"I don't think so."

I answered Rose's straightforward question in a clear tone.

I have no regrets.

I have Lily and Rose.

Even Kato promised to protect him.

I couldn't have drawn such a vulnerable person inside.

"In the first place, it's over there that I've been trying to kill first. I don't like you enough to miss it."

I am not a saint.

I'm only a seventeen-year-old student everywhere.

You can't do such good deeds, and more importantly, it just seems like foolishness.

Instead, if that man had survived this predicament, the stupidity could have created victims like Miho Mizushima and Mr. Kato.

In that sense, rather, what I did might even be a good deed.

... although self-defense is too much for boulders.

But it was true that there was actually such a side to it.

"So what does your husband worry about?"

Rose supposedly thought I regretted killing Kaga.

"It's not so much a big deal..."

Rose is all the rage.

That's all you think about me seriously, so I'm tickled with the size of her inclined emotions.

"You want to know?

"If your husband is not offended,"

"Then listen to me."

I want her to know that you're so serious about me.

I honestly thought so.

"I don't believe in humans. Whatever opponent that was, I can't believe it. I am aware that my humanity is distorted. I also think that's fine. At least, as long as it is, I will not be deceived. Don't be deceived means you don't have to expose your people to inadvertent danger."

"Your husband is fine."

"I don't know about that. I'm just being cowardly about this."

I am aware of that including.

I was not a strong person who was abusive and still laughable when I could believe someone.

"I obeyed my creed, doubted Kaga, and eliminated the dangers assumed with regard to him. Though it was a concern, Kaga was denied the possibility of being with the cheat capability... this one ended up empty, but he could also gather information about the colony. In addition, we have information about the dangers we had not previously assumed."

"You're talking about a dead body in pieces."

I've already told Rose and the others about the information I was able to find out.

Rose understood what I was trying to say.

"Kaga was a simple man. That guy's behavior was only within his assumptions from what to what. That wasn't just saying, 'Whatever happened, measures were being taken so we could cope'"

"What do they say?

"I was almost certain that he would betray me -"

So for one thing today, everything has just gotten to be from the beginning.

There is no such thing as dangerous.

But... no, that's why.

I have been reminded.

"I did what I had to do. That's why I don't regret it.... but when it comes to feeling nothing, it's not like that."

I hate humans.

- But if a classmate once lined up his desk were alive, I'd be about relieved.

I don't believe in humans.

- But even from someone you don't believe in, there's still a degree of sensibility that would hurt you if you could turn to malice.

I will not hesitate to keep myself and my people safe.

- But that's just that I'm ready to get lost and cut it off.

Once you've decided to be ready, it's probably the ideal way to do it without hesitation and feel nothing.

Even if that was a contraindication to killing people.

I was able to discharge the former's responsibilities.

But it was impossible about the latter.

Even the inferior species they tried to kill me to get a woman couldn't possibly feel nothing for getting a former classmate.

Is it possible to do that, perhaps, being called a 'hero'?

Or do I think that's just the 'monster'?

Perhaps I should be, as Master of Monsters, who leads Lily and Rose.

But I was neither a hero nor a monster.

I was just a seventeen-year-old kid, and I couldn't be that strong.

"... I don't know"

It was words of incomprehension that Rose, who listened to me, snapped pompously.

"Right."

I was not discouraged.

I just didn't think I had a choice.

"Your husband is not wrong"

There was no place in Rose's tone, and there was a huge part of it.

"At least your husband knows you had to."

"Right. I'm not ashamed of myself."

"... Still, can't you?

I shook my head quietly.

Unless you throw away all people's hearts, you can't stop feeling nothing.

This is only a 'if' story, but I can't believe people, it might have been natural for me to lose people's hearts.

Maybe I should have become a monster.

If so, it wouldn't have been that easy.

That didn't happen because, ironically, I could see Lily, the monster.

Because when I met her, I was saved.

If you mean from one side...

I may have lost my heart when Lily saved me.

... What would Rose think of me like this?

As a relative, how would you feel about me as your husband?

I could have been stunned.

I don't think being abandoned is in boulders...... or I don't even want to think about that, but I might have to be willing to take about one of my bitter comments.

And well, I was thinking that way, maybe I was still sweetly looking at something called the devotion of their families.

"I'm sorry, sir"

That was a sudden event.

It was so abrupt, I was so flabby for a moment.

Along with the words of apology, Rose had her hands on the ground, bowing her head.

…… Why would Rose apologize?

I really didn't know why.

This is the occasion where I exposed my pitiful parts.

I apologize to my family for following me as my husband, and Rose is on the side of forgiving it.

Yet, in fact, Rose is bowing her head.

"I don't understand your husband's human emotional subtleties. I can't save your husband's heart like that."

Rose's voice color remained calm, but there was a quiet sense of helplessness there.

"I exist to protect your husband. For that matter, I don't mind this body becoming a piece of wood."

Seriously, what Rose is saying, no matter which way through the pass, came through just listening to that word spinning sincerely.

Family monster.

Being who receives my wish and stays to fulfill it.

Her loyalty is real.

Maybe that's why that loyalty sometimes gives her a sense of helplessness.

"All I can do is protect your husband. In me, I will not abide by your husband's will. Even though such roles belong to Sister Lily, I feel sorry for myself. If it was Sister Lily on this occasion, she would have been able to comfort her husband..."

"Hey, what are you talking about? That's not true! There's no way!

I stood up in a hurry.

Because Rose was making a hell of a mistake.

"It's also a good misunderstanding that Rose hasn't saved my mind!

I was once saved by Lily, and I broke one's heart.

If I had indeed abandoned one's heart, I might not have felt one thing in the betrayal of this Kaga and in the aftermath of it.

I might not have even had a nightmare.

But I've never regretted how I was.

I will never hesitate to make a decision.

Even if they once laughed at each other, once they turned to their enemies, they were ready to fight.

That's exactly why I'm here, because Lily and Rose are doing everything for me.

It's nothing I can't comfort you with words.

She is always there for me in her actions.

That's why.

The misconception Rose has had was something we absolutely need to solve on this occasion.

"Rose."

I shook Rose's hand on the ground.

"Your husband?

Come here, Rose.

Hit my hand a lot.

After a slight reflexive resistance, Rose let herself remain honestly drawn to me.

I held Rose's simple spherical head.

Hold the gentle feel of a hard but warm tree in your arms.

I felt Rose's presence closer than anything else.

"Your husband...?

The confusion that sprang up in her chest poured into me passing.

Then this relief in me would be just as strongly passed on to her.

"Rose's done enough for me."

"But I..."

"You don't have to console me. I just need you to stay by my side."

I want to believe that it is the truth about me that is not false, not to mention that it was conveyed to me.

Because they always think how much they appreciate it if it's not enough.

... In the end, I can't stop laughing at the things that are happening this way.

"Sorry, can you just let me do this for a little while"

As it is, I don't know if I'm doing this to convince you or to want to feel safe.

Even with that in mind, I didn't intend to take my hands off her.

"If you don't like it."

"No way. What do you mean, no? That's never true."

A wooden arm stretched out on my back.

He only reluctantly hugs me back.

"... Rather, I'm too happy to be scared"

"Right."

I closed my eyes so that I could lean against Rose.

After doing so for a while, my consciousness began to blur all the time.

Sleepiness rapidly intertwines my mind with my body.

I feel like a child sleeping safely... but now I can't help but fix it in front of Rose.

I let go of consciousness.

Now I didn't even seem to have nightmares.