Monster no Goshujin-sama

4. Guardians of the World

Four.

I remember the day I broke my dreams.

"This is the truth about the world."

To Harrison, who became head of the Knights of the Diocese, Gert-Kügeler, who was already in the position of high priest at the time, revealed all the facts that had been hidden.

It was the end of a dream for Harrison, who had continued to drill to 'defend everything instead of the brave', and the beginning of a soul-cutting life in the face of brutal reality.

On the face of it, the history of the Cathedral Church supports the brave.

But history on the back regarded the brave man who was supposed to be absolute as part of the world's system.

Not good or bad.

This, as an exchanger, was an essential perspective.

For example, what would you do if the brave man who showed up were a bad man?

What if it's corrupt?

What am I supposed to do if I work tyranny?

The presence of brave men has too much effect on the world.

There is no doubt that the world will be in turmoil - on the contrary, if the result is to undermine the 'worldview' at the same time, it could even cause a 'great ruin' that will ruin the world itself.

The diocesan Church is obliged to rightly guide the transferee as a brave man so that he does not.

… in some cases it is also necessary to process the metastasizer in secret.

It's a bad job.

But if someone doesn't do it, the world can easily become unstable.

Speaking of which, conditions were too bad in this era.

The transferees, who emerged on an unprecedented scale, had already crossed the threshold within which the Cathedral Church was safe and controllable.

In the meantime, and more importantly, the appearance in the furthest reaches of the border from the imperial capital made it impossible to even respond immediately.

By the time Harrison himself reached Fort Ebenus at the speed he could achieve, half of the transporters who showed up had already popped up in the world.

We must avoid this as much as possible in order to avoid things that should not be in various ways: brave men causing trouble in an unfamiliar world.

That's more than sixty people unleashed by the world.

Harrison held his head, but this was not the end of the worsening.

As we tried to get our hands on a desperate pursuit, reports jumped in that humanity's greatest critical Fort Chile had been dropped by a runoff of transferees hoping to return to the original world.

In addition, it turns out that two dangerous molecules have emerged for the world: the use of monsters.

Even during the dawn of information manipulation and the aftermath, the transferees committed failures everywhere, which expanded into pseudo-brave disturbances.

Continuing to be followed by responses regarding the various problems caused by the transferees, in a situation where they are not able to move properly, the measures that can be launched are such that they are hassle-free and have immediate effect… If we changed our view, we had to be short-circuited.

Alternatively, if the transporter who appeared was Takahiro Mashima alone, more moderate means could have been taken as well.

But reality didn't give Harrison that kind of room.

"I'm sorry."

Only once, Gert had told Harrison.

Gert is more than Harrison. He can be called "Guardian of the World" and "Administrator of the World".

There is no temperature in the eyes that determines the balance of the easily transportable world.

If it's to protect the world, literally, do anything.

But it never meant the character was ruthless.

"I guess your nature isn't right for these kinds of jobs. But this world is too shaky. There's no one else who can do this job but you."

Gert had an accurate grasp that Harrison's mind felt evil about his actions and remembered his suffering.

Harrison does not believe that what is necessary to protect the world is wrong.

However, even if I wasn't mistaken, I felt the act was evil.

If I tell you, it's necessary evil.

The right answer for the world can be evil for individuals.

A knight for justice.

For Harrison, who was called the knight among the knights, this contradiction was a flourish.

But I didn't throw it out.

I kept doing what I had to do.

Because if we didn't, we wouldn't have been able to protect the world.

This world is brittle and unstable.

Someone had to protect it.

Harrison will continue to do what he has to do.

Many people live hard in this world, even if they have a lot of problems at the root.

We think of each other, we hold hands, we stand up to harsh realities.

There must be no such thing as them dying in the collapse of the world.

I absolutely had to defend myself.

Harrison, returning from a different realm using the 'cornerstone of the world', poked his knee as soon as possible.

"I didn't expect to be cornered so far..."

The injuries engraved on his body were serious due to Kato's "ugly monster".

That's all I mean, her thoughts were strong.

"It's a big deal."

Another value criterion from whether or not she is an enemy, Harrison respects the way she has cornered herself so far.

At the same time, the dark thoughts that arose in his chest were covered with a sense of duty.

"Do what you have to do, if you don't..."

Protect the world.

I don't need 'Harrison-Addington' to do that.

It is the head of the Knights of the Diocese who is here.

A protector of the world.

"Mr. Harrison!

It was the boy who appeared on this occasion from another realm as well who raised his voice.

Kawazu Asahi. He is a former Expedition boy who leans himself into the Cathedral Church.

When we ejected foreign objects from different worlds, we were supposed to force everyone out because we couldn't distinguish them, but only Kawazu Asahi had succeeded in making them stay in different worlds successfully.

"Keh, hurry up... we need to rest!

Having been brought to Empire City to receive generous care, the spiritually recovered Kawatsu Morning Sun owes a great deal to the diocesan Church.

He still seemed to be purely worried about Harrison individual.

"Please calm down, Kazu-sama"

I appreciate the care, but I can't let it get sweet.

The operation failed and the damage is enormous.

Harrison himself, who was badly injured, was in a position where he could not just rest, even if he needed treatment.

"Bring it on, you can't stay..."

Harrison puts life into his whole body complaining of severe pain.

Let's start by giving instructions to our men.

……

- It was just after that that I noticed something strange.

Harrison's presence was an important classified compartment, continuing from a different realm built in "The Foundations of the World".

There are several entrances and exits leading from different worlds to the outside, but even to those who know the existence of different worlds, this entrance and exit is secret.

Because there is a 'reason' why you have to.

Naturally, a subordinate who knew the circumstances behind it, always packed it as security.

But I don't see the knight.

That's how it shouldn't be weird to see Harrison scratched like this, eating bubbles and rushing over like Kazu Morning Sun.

No sign of people.

ominously.

Space is dying.

Harrison just felt the blood draw away from his pale face, losing blood.

"... what happened?

The question leaked out of his mouth was vain, resounding in a space where no one was present and disappeared.

That was before Harrison lost his battle with Takahiro Mashima and returned from the other world in "The Foundations of the World".

There was a shadow running down the corridor in the classified section.

He was a suspicious man in a hood from his head.

In one hand, he held a bloody sword.

Between now and coming to this place, the man had already encountered the knight of the guard several times.

It was all about killing knights and breaking through forcefully.

Usually, the breakthrough could have taken more time.

However, the situation was now different.

This is a classified area, with limited security personnel.

Most of them were now paying for plans to attack Takahiro Mashima.

I never thought this would be the right time for an intruder to show up in a place that hasn't been raided for hundreds of years.

Of course, somewhat less handy, security was laying everything down.

If you were a concurrent person, you wouldn't have been able to dive deep like this.

It was undoubtedly the highest knights in the world that were hitting security.

Even the former 'best knight in the northern realm of the Tree Sea' Silane surpasses - if we pull out the Spirit, we're talking about it - but it was just the owner of power.

On the contrary, they were even deployed enough users to interchange with the "Best Knight of the North of the Tree Sea", which is an aid of the Spirit.

"Wait!"

Facing the running suspicious was a big man whose knight armor looked cramped.

He was growing a beard that drooped down to his chest and had a unique tattoo on his cheek.

"My name is Saxon! It's" The Prairie Bull Knight "!

Magic stood up from a man who waved a big axe in both hands and gave him a name in high spirits.

It is an unusually powerful magic power as a person in this world.

Very rarely on a global scale can such protruding warriors be born, even from the general public at all.

With a firm belief in his chest, he must have built up an unlaxed drill and crossed a number of dead lines.

A dignified knight looks to the suspicious...

"For the sake of the clan, I am here..."

"Ugh."

Words like throwing up cut off a man's voice.

At the next moment, an awesome clash sounded in the aisle.

A suspicious man, suddenly gaining speed, penetrated the knight with momentum.

"Gu......!?

Sometimes he's been struck by surprise, and the big knight can barely take a blow with an axe.

The knight, blindfolded by what had happened, was witnessing things popping out of the backs of hostile men.

It's the wings of a dragon.

Horrible is the amount of magic to the immense that makes even the world's salvation possible.

"Ko, is this power......!?

What was unhappy for the knight was that he realized his opponent's identity.

"Dear brave......!?

The fact that it was attacked by a brave man, an absolute being in this world, was a great shock to the heart of a knight of faith.

The mercilessly suspicious pierced the deadly gap thus born.

A flipped cut tip diagonally cuts up the body of the knight wrapped in armor, causing deep wounds.

The blow, which was then waved down, dropped one arm of the knight.

"Gu, gu...!

Still, it should be noted that the knight fought by waving a great axe with one arm.

But he gets slashed and thrown away where the triplets meet.

The great knight fell behind without a voice, and the suspicious slid through its sides without looking any further.

Further ahead.

Step down the bloody road.

Once again the sword will be waved relentlessly if those who disturb it appear.

A man rushes through a dim corridor at full speed.

"Ah!?

- I screamed and blew it the opposite way.

The head, which was leaning forward, glanced behind his back like a ping-pong ball.

It was a sight as if he was walking at full force and stuck into a transparent wall.

Fluffy disfigured, poking a buttcake in the back.

"hey......"

It was momentum enough that it wasn't strange to be breaking a neck bone, but the man stood up quickly.

However, the hood I was wearing out of my head was off due to the current shock.

It wasn't the face that showed up, it was the mask that covered the eye area.

The innumerable feather decorations sewn cover the back of the head.

He was a masked Phantom.

But because of earlier inexplicable clashes, there were countless cracks in the mask.

The Phantom held down the mask.

There was a man walking out in the front of it.

He was a skinny old man with a tight spine.

A masked Phantom opened his eyes under a hole in sight.

"... Grand Cleric Gert-Kügeler"

"Unfortunately, we can't let you through here"

In a quiet voice, Gert told.

"Can you pick it up?" Dragon Man, "Shichiya Jingu."

……

To the words, the perfectly masked Phantom made a move.

Oddly enough, that's where the mask collapses at its limits.

It was the cold, frozen boy's eyes that emerged from under it.

"Please don't, Master Jingu"

Gert sighed heavily.

It was such a sad way to remember the consciousness of sin even if you didn't work evil.

"Didn't I have a good relationship with you? How did you get into such an outrage?

The Cathedral Church and the 'Dragon Man' were secretly in a cooperative relationship.

Instead of lending a hand to the Cathedral Church, they exchanged promises that they would be given a chance to return to the original world.

Only one case in the dragon abyss.

Lending a hand in this match against Takahiro Mashima was also part of it.

And yet now he's even imitating slashing the cathedral knight that caught his eye.

It just seemed like a rampage.

"I don't know what happened, but please calm down"

Gert almost sued.

It was exactly the serene and devoted tone that the priest deserved,

"There must be no reason to dispute with us."

"... don't say anything white."

But I didn't get that appeal.

Gert frowned white in response to Shichiya Jingu's response.

"A good relationship? It would be a convenient relationship mistake, wouldn't it?

The boy's voice, which was supposed to be casual, made him feel terribly rough.

"Providing the means to return to the original world was a reward for cooperation. But you never really meant to get paid, did you? A crazy kid who got cornered and started believing in convenient dreams. Just right for use. I should have thought about that."

"... you are"

Gert shut his mouth, roughly because Shi Chiya Jingu's statement was the right one.

There is no means for the metastasizers to return to their original world.

That is the common sense of this world.

Even the Cathedral Church, which knows the circumstances behind the world, remains the same in that respect.

Shichiya Jingu is possessed by the paranoia of returning to the original world with all the surviving metastasizers.

It is no longer only harmful to the world.

Then I can use it well and help in the assassination of Takahiro Mashima.

It was ruthlessly thorough and planned that way.

"I hate you. I have a purpose."

But with a mocking look that seemed to have foreseen all of it, Shijiya Jingu tried to lift the edge of his mouth.

"Let me go. You got 'The Foundations of the World' ahead of you, don't you?

"... be!?

Gert's eyes opened wide.

Because that was an unlikely question in many ways.

"Why did you...?

Shichiya Jingu was right to point it out.

The 'cornerstone of the world' used by Harrison is one of several, otherwise it is kept tightly elsewhere.

The storage area is at the end of this corridor.

Locally, it hits the basement of the cathedral of the Cathedral Church.

The entrance and exit are only in the different realms.

In the meantime, very few of those who know the existence of different worlds know the very existence of this room.

So Gert had determined that Shi Chiya Jingu had appeared on this occasion as' in a precarious mental state he ran wild for some reason and accidentally arrived at this place '.

But it wasn't.

The boy grinned badly when he saw the old cleric distorting his wrinkled face in amazement.

"From that reaction, you're really here. I was wondering if it was true, but that bastard was right."

It was a grin reminiscent of the dragon species stripping their fangs.

"In the first place, you let me attack inside the dragon abyss to take back the 'cornerstone of the world', didn't you?" I want you to recover the magic tools that are generating the fog junction, "what were you saying? Well, the operation failed..."

With that said, Shichiya Jingu took something out of his nostalgia.

It was the treasure ball - one of the "cornerstones of the world" that was generating "The Fog's Boundary" - that was shown to me.

"Oh, no, you're not." I've decided to fail. "

"... were you collecting"

Gert suppressed the surprise.

Apparently, Shi Chiya Jingu had information from someone about the "cornerstone of the world".

At least, I knew where to store it.

Around doubting the authenticity of the information, he didn't have a very good relationship with the informant... but he seemed to have obtained confirmation from his current reaction.

Gert thought it was a detour and immediately reconsidered.

Even with my suspicions, Shijiya Jingu would have checked directly anyway, because nothing would have changed where I found out it was true here.

It was not there that mattered, but the very purpose of Jingushi Chiya.

"You said you came to this place for the 'cornerstone of the world'...?

There were a number of puzzling points.

First of all, what is Shi Chiya Jingu's "cornerstone of the world"... whether he recognizes it as a magical tool to maintain and manage the world?

And as you are able to recognize, what are you trying to make contact for?

Also, who the hell taught you where to store the 'cornerstones of the world' that you can't possibly know except the limited ones?

If the one who knew slipped his mouth, it's still okay.

But if not... very bad.

That's because it suggests a 'certain possibility' that only Gert knows.

If so, measures needed to be put in place as soon as possible.

To that end, we must first of all withdraw from the current threat.

"... do you think I'll let you go"

An angry voice echoed in the aisle, like freezing the spine of the listener.

From Gert's expression, all emotions disappeared.

There appears a guardian side of the world that is not a priest who leads people to salvation, but that does not even outrage them if necessary.

At the next moment, strong magic erupted from a dead tree-like body that seemed to have no connection with the battle.

Confronting Shijiya Shimiya faintly opened her eyes.

"Is this... 'The Wall'?

Barely invisible 'walls' appeared to block the way they went.

Earlier, it was this "wall" that bounced off Jingu Shi Chiya, who was walking with all his strength.

On the other side of it, Gert opened his mouth.

"'Devotional Connections'. Even if it's a brave attack, it won't penetrate."

"... were you a gracious blood family, too? I thought you were a non-combatant."

Saying, Jingu Shi Chiya accidentally pulled out his sword and struck.

It's a battle-capable, all-out blow.

A sneaky clash echoed through the aisle.

"... Shit"

But the transparent walls didn't scratch a scratch, not a scratch.

Forced to hang himself, the sword bent more heavily, and Shijiya Jingu struck his tongue.

"I told you I couldn't penetrate it"

said Gert in a calm tone.

"You are right, I am not a combatant. All I can do is just build walls like this. And that's enough."

A man named Gert-Kügeler holds the important position of high priest of the Cathedral Church.

But he himself recognized that his essence lay elsewhere.

A living defense mechanism, to protect no one from touching the roots of the world.

The intrinsic ability, the 'devotional kingdom' - the man who manipulates it, is for that reason.

The Gert clan, who was so happy to lose it from the first brave, has always defended the world that way, and he also defined himself as such.

If it is to protect the world, it is not necessary to resort to ruthless means that are also taken for humanitarian purposes.

If necessary, draw one knight on this side full of ideals and hopes.

I'm sure I shouldn't be in a place where there are brave men after death.

In the position of high priest, the high priest, and while undoubtedly one of the most devout followers in this world, Gert thought so and prescribed.

If he changed his view, his life could have been closer to some kind of slavery.

Still, he had decided, of his own free will, to defend the world.

So I tell you resolutely.

"I won't let you through here."

I don't know what Shi Chiya Jingu is thinking about and trying to come into contact with the 'cornerstone of the world'.

But whatever you do, it doesn't change what you're supposed to do.

Protect this place.

By using magic tools, Gert confirms that although Harrison used "the cornerstone of the world" to attack Takahiro Mashima, he is stuck under unexpected resistance.

I had decided that immediate reinforcements could not be expected.

So I was prepared to indulge until Shi Chiya Jingu gave up and retreated.

The old man, who did not step back from stepping on the ground, was just the embodiment of his will to defend the world.

What did the boy think when he saw him?

"... I see"

A deep sigh shook the air in the aisle.

"Surely this guy's not going to fall out of 'this me'."

Look at the junction that blocks the way you go and the old man who stands in the way and say words that acknowledge your point.

Does that mean I gave up?

... No. That couldn't have happened.

"Then I have no choice. Let me go this one for real."

When he threw a broken sword, Shijiya Jingu said softly.

Only if you have time to feel something ominous about that tone.

A terribly powerful magic was unleashed from the boy's body.

"I destroy the 'cornerstone of the world'. That's how we get back to our original world."

"... be!?

Hearing an incredible word, Gert peeled off his eyes.

Destroy the 'cornerstone of the world' that sustains this world.

That is a barbarity incomparable with Takahiro Mashima's aim to "override the worldview".

The world will surely collapse.

It doesn't make sense again that the reason for doing such an unscrupulous thing is to 'go back to the original world'.

But Shichiya Jingu was serious.

"I don't have time for this. I can't come together."

Dragon feathers formed by magic spread on his back.

The blow of the sword ahead, for example, is just like hand play.

It was the inherent ability that dwelt in him that was all he was meant to be.

"Don't be sorry."

"Wait......!?

I noticed Gert screaming but slow about what the boy was trying to do.

A dragon's exhalation - a runoff of magic - brought about destruction was thrown out of the mouth of the wide open Shichiya Jingu.

When the magic runoff first clashed into the 'devotional kingdom', it destroyed and pushed through the walls of the underground passage with immense power, as the boy strolled his neck.