Monster no Goshujin-sama

21. Connectors

Twenty-one.

"I..." Connector "?

The matters told were difficult to swallow.

But the tone of the first brave man was like telling the obvious.

"It won't be that surprising. Earlier, Kojiro Nakatsuki interfered with the defense mechanism of another world, but you should be able to do the same. [M] interference in the world. Even if they differ in size, their essence remains the same. That's the power of Connectors."

"But that's not my ability."

"With the power to create different worlds, that's your girlfriend's power?

I returned my consent.

Only, the power to intervene in the otherworlds belongs to the 'Misty Temporary Inn' Salvia.

It's not my own. But...

"You're not. It's a mistake, another 'connector'"

- The youth denied that understanding.

"Just because you're her contractor over there, you can't even interfere with the world. Even if I could, it would be very time consuming. Just like if you used" The Founding Stone of the World ""

When I was told, I remembered when Harrison was using 'the cornerstone of the world'.

Even those men were empowered to intervene in other worlds.

But I wasn't.

"Did you ever feel it when you used the magic of fog? 'We're compatible,' he said. Of course, you have the same abilities. You have the power to interfere in this world."

Sure, it went well with me and Salvia.

Thanks to this, I was quick to master the magic 'Misty Inn'.

Even though the other magic is a tease - that's all unusual.

There was a reason there.

"Regardless, the existence of the 'Misty Vault' must have become an auxiliary wheel. But it's your own power."

……

It certainly seemed plausible for that statement.

Nevertheless, there were still doubts about accepting it.

"If you're right... how can I have that power? My powers are supposed to be" connecting minds with others. "

"That's the real question."

Let me show you understanding once, then the youth answered.

"Thus shall I answer: That's because you're capable of connecting minds with others."

……

It was like a zen question.

But the youth were not making jokes or trying to roll into smoke.

"Let's talk in order. There are two different kinds of Connectors."

That's what I say, I'll make you stand up two fingers.

"One is the one with the 'ability to make the world what it wants'. However, normally this can only be what you call Warrior. Because with such unfocused forces, even if they were of considerable qualities, they could only apply efficacy to themselves at best. In order to be a 'connector' in this direction, we must combine rare qualities with aspirations beyond the realm of man, immense egos…"

The young man sighed.

"That's not possible. It shouldn't have been possible. But he showed up."

"That's Kojiro Nakatsuki?

"Yes. 'The King of Disasters'. An unexpected irregular, manifested by an unprecedented shift in scale. Given that, on average, transferees appear in this world only to the extent of two, even if many estimates are made in a hundred years at most, a thousand transferees also equal to 50,000 years of repeated trials. Nevertheless, it is unlikely that a homogeneous presence will emerge in the next 50,000 years. That's about it."

I see.

This is exactly the kind of disaster that people can't assume.

"But 'Connector' has another one. It's rooted in how this world works."

The youth continued.

"As you know, this world is founded by the unconscious perception of all who live in this world. By making the common unconscious perception that 'it's natural to have this world' a reality. unconscious common to all mankind. That is the sea of unconsciousness."

"An unconscious sea...?

Earlier that was the word I had just heard.

It is also a melting away of me, so to speak.

An unconscious realm common to all mankind.

Did you say collective unconsciousness in the language of our world?

"An unconscious sea is establishing this world?... No, wait. That means"

I was about to be dissolved in an unconscious sea.

I didn't even fix it, and that also means I was' in contact 'with an unconscious sea.

The young man nodded at me, breathtaking at the suggested facts.

"That's right. The ability to connect minds with others naturally makes it possible to connect and interfere with the dimension in which a person's mind is located. Slow down, even in the unconscious waters beneath it. Therefore, you can also change the world by going through the unconscious sea"

It should be called this world-specific phenomenon.

Because a person's perception is creating a world, the power involved in that perception can interfere with the world itself.

I knew the real example.

It's about Salvia standing beside me now.

Deceiving the world by the magic of the highest degree of illusion - if you borrow the words of the first brave man, even the perception of the unconscious sea is delusional, creating the otherworlds is the "Misty Vault".

Likewise, I can come into contact with an unconscious sea.

It's not strange to be able to transform the world......

I frowned when I thought about it.

"But I can't rewrite the world, can I?

"Right. You won't be able to."

The first brave man, he admitted softly.

"Getting there is terribly difficult. After thirty years of my own, I was eventually taken in. You apparently specialize in 'connecting minds' rather than fighting, but can you still reach them? Maybe it's impossible for people."

"Well then... you can't"

If it's impossible, of course, it's the same thing even if it takes thirty years.

You can't have Kojiro Nakatsuki waiting for you for 30 years.

"What we need is the power we can use here right now."

"That's a good point. I'm not asking you to be free to interfere in the world. All we need right now is to obstruct the King of Disasters."

"You think I have a plan?

The young man smiled and nodded.

"It's a simple story. You can use the" cornerstone of the world "that I have left behind. It will enhance your ability to interfere with the world."

"... I see"

I am not enough.

Even the power left by the first brave men in the 'cornerstone of the world' is not enough.

So let's put the two together.

"There is no other way than this. So it was a really dangerous place. Well done. You made it this far. Thought you might make it."

Speaking of which, were you saying that earlier?

- Hey.

- Finally connected. Looks like you made it somehow.

That was probably the word that came out because my reaching this realm was the only way to resist the 'King of Disasters'.

In retrospect, there were signs.

It's still new to my memory that when I break into this otherworldly world, I'm surprised to notice that my interference with the otherworlds is getting stronger.

That was a sign of growth as a 'connector'.

And I can understand why you've grown.

I wondered at that time, 'Speaking of new events that have happened to me, how could my interference with the other world have intensified when it was just that I connected Kato to the path'.

But if your power as a 'connector' depends on your 'ability to connect minds', it's rather convincing that Kato and - connecting people to paths - were the factors of growth.

If I were you right now, I wouldn't even be able to intervene freely, but I can interfere.

"People's unconsciousness does not do good to perish, nor do they live the laws that I have struck into the world. Everything will be on your side. So - temporarily, but barely resisting the interference of The King of Disasters."

"Even then, it's 'temporary' and 'barely'."

It was a tough sight.

I guess that means that someone named Kojiro Nakatsuki - "The King of Disasters" is a little more serious.

Nevertheless, it's not unlikely.

Says the first brave man.

"Whether it's temporary or barely, we can resist. We need to get out of here somehow and set things straight."

Because it was an unintentional blow in the middle of a pursuit operation, I don't have a decent fighting power right now.

Not even my family.

The enemy is very powerful, and I don't know if we can win where we've gathered our allies, but at least, it's impossible to fight and win here and now.

The words of the first brave men are not wrong.

But...

- Wait.

So Salvia broke in with a hard voice.

"Whatever the obstruction, it won't change your husband's connection to the unconscious sea, the 'nucleus of the world'"

When she grabbed my clothes around her arm, she stepped forward to take refuge.

He had a look full of animosity and anger like he'd seen for the first time.

"If I did that, what would happen to my husband!

At the tip of the glance was a man once taken in by an unconscious sea.

"But even now my husband is the limit."

"Whatever, it's dangerous. Very much so."

The youth acknowledged the danger without uttering a word.

In time, I ran out.

"But there's no other way. He's the only one who can do it. 'The King of Disasters' was first and foremost an unlikely being, but it is also rare enough to have the qualities to connect to an unconscious sea. Even in this massive metastasis, there were only three possible"

That said, the first brave man turned his gaze here.

"One of the other two, it's like there's no prospect. That doesn't have the strength to just approach the unconscious ocean. Though I should say I'm glad I didn't."

"Good?

"'A voice from heaven,' 'because you are the one who is calling. He is also a collaborator of The King of Disasters."

"Oh......"

If you ask me, if the so-called psycholeptic person qualifies as a 'connector', does' voice from heaven 'also fall under the condition?

Then I just can't rely on it.

I guess Salvia figured that out, too, he looked bitter.

"And one more?

Still, she inquired.

There, it sounded like a snort.

My fingertips grabbed the hem of my clothes strong.

He seemed so desperate that he hadn't even noticed himself like that.

He's worried about me.

As my sister thinks of my brother.

Or that's what......

……

The young man tried to answer the query after staring at her with such a strange face.

But before that, Asalina brought her head to a tingle.

"Sama?"

I just wondered what was wrong, and I noticed it too.

In the middle of the school yard, signs were about to arise.

"What...?

I was wary, but the first brave men were flat.

Perhaps he knew what was happening to him.

It was an unexpected person who showed up.

"No way...... Kudo?

I thought it was some mistake, but it wasn't.

Sure, it was a face-to-face boy there.

It was an unexpected reunion with the boy I was chasing.

"Shh, seniors...?

Looks like they noticed this way too.

However, it was obvious that Kudo was in strange shape.

He had vain eyes and looked terribly painful.

"Ugh..."

Thin body shakes and pokes her knee.

"Kudo!"

I immediately approached him and tried to support him on his shoulder, and I breathed.

Because the hand I offered slipped through Kudo's body.

"This is..."

"Unfortunately, he's not here."

To my surprise, the first brave men spoke.

"It's just projecting. I guess it's because you're in a similar hierarchy and you're connected via me. I've kept contact with a possible human being."

"What..."

"That's why he's the third one with the qualities."

――

I was hardened by what I was told.

"Kudo?

It was surprising.

Because it did not seem compatible with the power of the demon king to treat his subordination as a pawn and the power to act on his heart.

But I remembered something shortly after.

I'm talking about Berta.

- That's not when I decided to live as a demon king. Before that.

- Without giving up, he lived more in the sea of trees, when I was under the king's command.

Kudo's abilities are those he had before he became the Demon King.

His power as the Demon King rejects the connection of his heart, but not before.

In terms of qualities alone, there was no wonder there was.

Nevertheless, that has already been lost without flowering.

Possibility that there might have been.

It was a wreckage of a future that had never been visited by being trampled upon.

"That's senior. I can't believe I'm flat out here."

Kudo was in terrible pain.

I guess the first brave man just reached out and drew, and if he were, he wouldn't be able to come here.

"I just heard you talking earlier, but you're not going to be able to help."

I laugh at myself, and Kudo, who poked me in the knee, looks up at me.

"Excuse me."

"Never mind. It's enough that you're spinning Berta."

"Really?... Is she doing well"

Is it because of his weakness, Kudo was only a little more defenseless than usual.

Unlike the emotionally invisible grin that was always floating, my mouth slackened like a corn.

What seemed to dwell in his eyes like a certain determination.

Seeing him like that, unspeakable anxiety was past his chest.

"Kudo..."

We came after the other world, and we finally met.

There was so much I wanted to talk about.

I want to ask you something.

Here in the other world, I heard from Berta about Kudo that I had never known before.

So, I had my doubts.

Berta said she was lying down in Kudo, saying she was a family member before she became the Demon King.

But she's a bad liar.

It has a park nature that cannot be deluded.

So I thought.

- Do you really not know anything about Kudo?

- Why did you send Berta over here?

- What do you think and what do you wish for...?

If only we had time, we wanted to exchange words.

But I didn't have time for that.

Before I could speak, I was called from behind.

"I guess it's time. It's the only way to make time."

It was out of time.

As soon as I got there, Kudo scratched out.

The first brave men were unable to retain themselves in this hierarchy.

The interference on my world was also beginning to dust.

I stood up and looked back.

The first brave men were quietly tattered.

"I wonder if you're ready. You must now escape the hand of the King of Disasters."

"... don't make it easy for me"

It was a terrible story.

The opponent is the Explorer's hero, The Sword of Light.

No, he reveals his nature as the 'King of Disasters'.

I tell him to take away the 'cornerstone of the world', even though it's just hard to escape.

... Honestly, even where I risked my life, the chances of success would be close to zero.

All I'm saying is that this is not unlikely.

Still, if we don't do it, we all die.

I just had to do it.

"Just one last thing. I've been wondering."

"I don't know."

"How did Kojiro Nakazaki do this?

I asked because I didn't fall for it.

"If he's a 'connector', you won't have to bother chasing 'Dragon Man' and attacking another world with me."

Because he should be able to do what I can against the other world.

"Neither do I."

The first brave man also shook his head to the side.

"Maybe it just doesn't matter if you need it or not."

"... what?

"It means you might not understand it with a straight mind. Keep it in mind. You're going to be hostile because it's an anomaly that threatens the world in a true way."

……

To the advice, my spine popped.

What was remembered in the back of his brain was the glorious figure of a heroic young man among heroes.

He seemed to be wholeheartedly supportive, mindful of everyone in his fellow expedition.

We favored ourselves, everywhere.

If that wasn't what it looked like, I'd rather not...

"I asked for the world."

- Still, we have to fight it.

Last but not least of the words of the first brave men, I surfaced my own world.