Chapter 15. Monster Lord and Goddess' Weakness
"Now then, since it seems there will be no further book burnings, I shall return to the castle."
"...Bye-bye."
"I need to check what books were released while I was here."
Their long lecture finally finished, the three book guardians were about to return to the Monster Lord's Castle.
"O-Of course. All of you have rendered a great service."
The Monster Lord saw the three monsters off with quivering legs. Sitting in Seiza for so long in her unaccustomed human form had clearly taken a toll, but her upper body at least was able to maintain a firm disposition as she stood there with crossed arms. Lolias, meanwhile, took this opportunity to play a prank on her, poking her legs.
"Also, Hero Luka, I am certain this Monster Lord here will bring you no small share of trouble, but please do continue to look after her on your journey. As you can see, she is a bit lacking in several aspects of common sense."
"Yes, you can leave it to me!"
"Ugh..."
Luka, on the other hand, had begun to get along with them quite well. It seemed there were also a decent number of monsters that wished for coexistence with humans. But, when he accepted their request, it was Ilias' turn to voice her discontent.
Their business finished for the time being, Luka used his skills as a Perfect Maid to clean up the mess they'd left behind to ensure nobody would notice. Afterward, he gave the King of San Ilia his regards and exited the castle, a number of guards hailing him on his way out. He had expected it to take some time to be granted an audience, so he'd already applied for one in advance, but they had been ushered inside unexpectedly quickly and now had some more time to explore the city.
The city as a whole was kept pristine, and along with the beautiful waterways extending throughout it, those two things alone were already enough for most people to consider it a famous tourist extraction. In exchange, however, street stalls were strictly regulated, causing Alice to be unable to find anything to do, which made her look quite bored.
Lolias, on the other hand, looked at the Ilias statues constructed inside the city, saying things like "The modeling here is inadequate." or "My body shape is more beautiful... like this." evaluating the statues one by one. But despite her complaints, she did not appear unhappy as she felt the zeal the craftsmen poured into their work, along with the fact the statues were thoroughly polished every day.
Luka was strolling through the city, picking up on gossip and rumors, when he came upon a crowd of people centered around a large billboard in the middle of a plaza.
"Hmm... what is that over there?"
A considerable number of scraps of paper were tacked onto the board with thumbtacks. People who held Jobs for adventuring and even a few merchantry-inclined individuals were looking through the papers one by one.
"It's a bulletin board to broadcast a variety of requests to a large number of people. It's a must-see for adventurers... is what I'd say, but I don't think I ever actually took any of the requests back on the other side..."
Instead, a lot of requests were posted on the bulletin board inside the Pocket Monster Lord's Castle... but those were requests directly aimed at their leader, Luka. Other requests, even by Kings and Queens, were usually given to him in person, so reading through a public board like this one was actually quite new for him.
"Speaking of which, I have received many prayers and wishes from the common people, but watching them arrayed like this is a first for me as well." As Lolias also seemed rather interested, the trio took a good look.
'Hiring a skilled adventurer as a guard for a period of approximately three months. Generous compensation. Interview required.'
'Looking for a proficient blacksmith, armorers preferred.'
'Willing to purchase a North Sentora Herb for 400 gold.'
'I want a cute puppy.'
"Hmm, doesn't look like there is anything for us in there."
"While I would not mind fulfilling the people's wishes, it would not do to spend too much time on it," Lolias expressed, looking a bit disappointed. It would have been fine to fulfill some requests that could be resolved in short order, but most of the ones present would interfere with their journey.
Alice, on the other hand, seemed impressed after receiving an explanation regarding the delivery pigeons that brought the requests. This sort of thing was entirely novel to her, and she began pondering whether it could also be applied to governance.
"Let's see what the new requests are... 'Investigate ghostly activity in the mansion north of San Ilia...'"
"Hmph, foolish humans. Ghosts are nothing more than a superstition, hallucinations created by fear. A person sincerely asking for it to be investigated would have to stand at the utter apex of idiocy, an idiot among idiots."
"Actually, ghosts do exist."
"...Eh?" Hearing the Goddess' blunt interjection caused Alice's facade to crack slightly.
"When a person dies, their soul separates from their body and returns to the cycle of reincarnation, but should they have powerful regrets, it will instead linger. That is what ghosts are."
"..."
'Right, neither of those two could handle ghosts,' Luka remembered as he looked at the Monster Lord's pale face.
"...W-Well, in the end, it is simply a rumor. There is no particular need to look into it, right Luka?"
"Indeed, we should ignore such baseless gossip and proceed onward."
As could be expected, the two wanted to pass up the haunted mansion at all costs. But judging from the rumors, Chrome had made it her lair in this world, too, so Luka wasn't able to simply ignore it.
"Um... Sorry, but I was already planning to go."
The two simultaneously adopted an expression of shock and dismay. No matter how many times they showed, their similarities never stopped being a source of amusement to Luka.
"It's fine; there weren't actually any ghosts there. Just a necromancer raising zombies, and a few ghost girls." Although, it was a bit odd there hadn't been any ghosts in a place overflowing with zombies.
"R-Really!? That is the truth, right!?"
"Should you lie, you shall be punished, you know!?"
'How frantic...'
Though he had begun to feel a bit uneasy, Luka couldn't just overlook Chrome. A necromancer's experiments would inevitably escalate, so he had to deal with it quickly. Additionally, as long as she was studying undead and ghosts, her family's banishment would never be lifted during the reign of Alipheese the Sixteenth.
"Alright, let's set off then... wait, huh?" When Luka was ready to depart, he realized his two companions had scampered off at some point. However, looking around, it did not take long to see them buying holy water at the item store.
"...How surreal." But since the holy water might help purify the mansion after he was done with the monsters inside, he decided to simply watch the two waste their pocket money.
...
After walking toward their destination for a time, it gradually became night. Just as the group was thinking of setting up camp, the mansion came into sight. With more than a little reluctance, Luka's companions followed toward it.
"It... would seem there is a graveyard here."
"I-It appears the mansion has not been taken care of in a long time either."
The two looked around restlessly, their fear causing them to find further sources of fright. But their pride did not allow them to back down, even as they trembled side by side.
"Ah."
Luka also let his gaze wander over the exterior of the mansion, only to match eyes with a known face. It was unmistakably Chrome, the clumsy mad scientist.
"W-Was something there just now!?"
"There was, wasn't there!?"
Reacting to Luka's exclamation, the two unconsciously hid behind him. Along with a wry smile, a sense of mischief welled inside him, though he managed to suppress that impulse.
"There was, but it was a necromancer, not a ghost."
"T-That won't do, hurry and mete divine punishment against her, Luka!"
"I-Indeed, it would be best to get rid of the culprit as quickly as possible!"
The duo vigorously began pushing Luka from behind. Not seeing any reason to resist, he entered the mansion with them, finding it to be just as dilapidated as it appeared from the outside.
"I-I-I-It seems there are no ghosts here after all!"
"T-T-T-That's right! Let's do as Luka said and get this over quickly!"
Finally ready to let go of their fear, the two of them began to separate from Luka's back—
"Boo!"
""EEEP!""
—only to stick right back onto it.
Ghost Girl appeared!
"Wait, it's just a monster!? How vexing; get purified already!"
Snapping out of it, Lolias blasted a Thunder of Judgment against the monster with all her strength. Along with her level-ups, her angel abilities appeared to have powered up considerably as the Ghost Girl was purified in an instant, leaving behind only a death throe of "C-Curse you..."
"Sheesh... Well, if this sort of monster is the only thing awaiting us here, there will hardly be any problem. Come on, Luka, let's purify the rest of this mansion."
"Alright... wait, where did Alice go?"
"She got separated? Well, she will be back as soon as her stomach calls anyway. Let's check the second floor next."
"I guess that's true. Okay, let's go." It might have been an awfully mean way to phrase it, but Luka couldn't deny she was right.
There were a number of dolls and paintings furnishing the second floor. Luka was about to warn Ilias that those may be monsters as well, but one of the dolls moved first.
"Big brother... big sister... won't you play with me?..."
Cursed Doll Girl appeared!
"Ahhh!... wait, it's just a monster again!"
Snapping out of it, Lolias... and so on and so forth.
'The voltage was even higher this time; that's not just my imagination, right?' Luka wondered.
Leaving behind what was now a regular doll with frizzed hair, the two continued looking through the second floor, eventually finding Alice huddled in a corner.
"Um, Alice, did something happen?"
"Hah, huddling in a place like that, what a pathetic Monster Lord!"
'Ilias, pointing fingers and making fun of people is fine and all, but you aren't really convincing anyone while still hiding behind my back.' Luka kept himself from voicing any such comment that might get him punished later and was about to approach Alice when an eerie moan resounded from down the corridor.
Alice sprung up, flailing about as she tried to get away, only to trip over herself. Lolias was also terrified, clinging tightly to Luka's back.
Knocking several things down to the floor in her panic, Alice eventually managed to point at a specific painting.
"T-That girl! It's that girl!"
"That girl?... Ah."
When Luka took a look, he saw one of his prior companions, except entirely different. It was Frederica, a zombie who could be said to be Chrome's partner, but the portrait was made before she passed away.
"I see, so that's what she looked like when she was alive..."
But while he may have been deep in thought at seeing the former appearance of one of his companions, Alice was still panicking and tried to escape from the room... crashing into the figure that appeared from the doorway.
Zombie Girl appeared!
"Hyaaa!?"
"Eeek!?"
"OooHhh..."
""Wait, it's just a zombie!?""
In their anger, Alice and Lolias smashed into the zombie with a combination punch.
"Argh! There's even more of them coming!"
"Then the entire lot of them shall be purified!"
Seeing the group of zombies deeper inside, the duo proceeded in a wrathful charge. It made things easy for Luka, but...
"This is an old mansion, you two! If you go too wild then—"
"Eh?... Ah, UWAAAH!?"
"...Too late, huh."
The floor gave out in the face of their rampage, causing them to drop.
"...Oh well. They'll be fine." Despite their faults, they were still the Monster Lord and Goddess, after all.
Remembering how Chrome's laboratory was at the very top of the mansion, Luka continued on alone. There were still a good number of zombies remaining, but they were cleaned up easily with the help of some holy techniques. Having had prior experience with high-ranking angel races, Luka found this manner of purification quite simple.
"Ah, my experiments!"
"Oh, it's you."
"...Eep!"
Purifying his way through the mansion, Luka noticed a familiar face watching him, which promptly ran away like a startled bunny when it realized it had been seen. Calm and unhurried, Luka followed out of the room and down the stairs... where Chrome was waiting for him with Frederica in tow.
"Who are you!? And why are you messing up my lab!?"
"I am Hero Luka. As a Hero, I am here to offer salvation to the lost souls unable to find their way to heaven."
He gave an ostensibly sensible reason to start with. She would have probably been confused had Luka just suddenly told her he was here to stop her.
"W-What!? If you do that, my research will stagnate! And after I finally found the perfect place, too!"
Certainly, a location as convenient for the purposes of a necromancer as a former execution ground with an added graveyard and a mansion built on top of it all wasn't so easily found.
"I would prefer that you stop any research that involves treating dead bodies like toys. That would probably be for the best for your sake, too."
"Ah, who cares! As if I would stop my research just because some ignoramus tells me to! This research is my... no, the Artiste family's hope! And I will show no mercy if you get in the way! Frederica, go!"
"Understood... Mistress..."
But, of course, mere words could not stop her. And so, Luka was attacked by Frederica, someone who had been his companion in his former world. Though her body might be that of a zombie, her soul was human. As Luka hesitated, debating whether it was fine to strike her with a sword as fearsome as Angel Halo, Frederica's powerful arms descended on him.
"Whoa!?"
The attack cut through the air and smashed into the floor as Luka dodged, followed by an unintentional counter punch, which sent Frederica flying. At the same time, a cracking sound came from the ground, which then quickly crumbled beneath them.
"Aaahhh!? F-Fredericaaa!?"
"...Ah, w-well, she'll be fine. She's sturdy, after all." Luka sweatdropped as he smoothly landed a floor lower. As he surveyed his surroundings, two quite familiar screams resounded, quickly approaching.
"Hahaha~"
"Wait for us~"
A green and a purple ghost were happily chasing after Alice and Ilias, respectively.
"..."
Seeing the Monster Lord and Goddess fearfully running away from ghosts somehow made Luka's head hurt. And behind them all, he could see Chrome loudly laughing. "Hahaha! I will make you pay!"
She pointed at Luka, encouraged by the shameful sight. "You there, Hero! Your companions will be of no use to you! As for you, I will deal with you myself!"
"..."
'Alright. First things first, beat her up,' Luka firmly decided, making a cross in front of his chest.
"What's wrong? Even if you pray to the Goddess now, it's too l—"
"Sacred light, purge the darkness!"
"—aaate!?"
"Kyaa!?"
"Eek!?"
Chrome was blown away by the torrent of holy light, and the two ghosts fled. With a smile, Luka approached her while calling out to his companions.
"It's over, you two! I caught the ringleader!"
Chrome was defeated!
"...What?"
"...The... Ringleader?"
Regaining their senses at Luka's words, their faces began to show one of the greatest levels of rage he had ever seen in his journey. Together, they stormed up to Chrome, ganging up on her.
"So all of this happened because of you!"
"Wicked necromancer, I will beat you right down into hell!"
"Ack! Oof! Sto... Ouch! S-stop... I'm sorry..."
She was repeatedly struck by tail, open palms, and the Goddess' footsies. When she started to cry, Luka eventually couldn't bear to watch anymore.
"I... think it's about time to stop. Calm down, both of you. Calm down!"
Soothing the heavily breathing pair, Luka turned to Chrome, who was watching with teary, frightened eyes. Her will was already completely broken.
"So she is the cause of the activity at the haunted mansion, is she?"
"Yup. Something like that. Well, the ghosts are more of a natural occurrence in this place, though."
The location being what it was, there was no shortage of factors that could cause undead-type monsters to crop up.
"Now, what will it be, Luka? Sell her, kill her, violate her, or eat her. Whatever it may be, you are free to do to her as you please."
"Iris, why are you making the same proposal Alice did!? I won't do any of that!"
"O-On the same level as her..."
"T-the same level as the Monster Lord..."
"...Eh? M-Monster Lord?"
"Right. This lamia here is the current Monster Lord, Alipheese the Sixteenth."
Chrome's eyes went wide, and she began to break out in a cold sweat as Luka revealed the horrible truth to her.
"M-Monster Lord... was, uh... Chrome's Happy Undead and Ghost Show to your liking?"
"...Stop messing around, you damn idiot!" You are hereby banned from the Monster Lord's Castle for five hundred years!"
"Eeep!"
She had been desperately polishing her use of the three great magical arts but never expected one of them to be what the Monster Lord hated above all else.
"Uuuh... No way... The restoration of the Artiste family is even further away now..." Chrome collapsed onto her hands and knees, tears spilling onto the ground. It seemed like family was just as important to her as in Luka's previous world, making him take pity on her. But just as he was about to intervene, Alice let out a sigh as if she had just remembered something.
"The Artiste family... I see. You must be the younger sister, then. If I recall correctly, the incident your elder sister caused led your entire family to be banished indefinitely..."
"...My... My sister was..."
"Um, what exactly was it that Chrome's sister did?" Luka asked curiously, realizing he had never asked back in the day. Chrome flinched hearing his question, making him wonder just how bad it must have been.
"Mhm... Let me tell you of the things Shirome Artiste has done..."
And so Alice spoke of the wrongs committed by Shirome. Luka couldn't help but gape in surprise at the sheer magnitude of her misdeeds. 'Eh? She really did something that outrageous!?'
"I kind of wondered how she managed to gather so many powerful Queen-class monsters... assassination, huh?... But even with chemical weapons, just how did she manage to get Roza and her entire crew..."
Though her many creations ended up as reliable companions in his world, Luka couldn't help but wonder, rather than just banishment, how was she not executed on the spot?... Perhaps it was because monsters abided by the law of the jungle that her deeds were mostly overlooked.
"Did you already know about those zombies as well?"
"Yeah, I was saved by them. I fought them, too. As you might expect, fighting six empowered Queen-class enemies at the same time was really rough, though."
"And yet you won. As expected of my Luka." Lolias was pleased to hear her servant had achieved a great victory. Chrome, on the other hand, underwent some rapid changes in expression at those words.
"H-hold on a moment! Are you saying you met my sister!?"
Hearing that the Hero in front of her had seen her sister she hadn't seen in years, she frantically pressed closer to Luka. Picking up on her desperation, he solemnly decided not to say anything insensitive.
"It may be a bit of an outlandish story, but..."
He told the stories of two Shiromes, one who had fought for a parallel world until the end and one who had fallen into despair. He also spoke of the words entrusted to the other Chrome. 'Your sister has likely lost her way... and you are the only one who can still save her.'
"...Versions of my sister from other worlds..."
"So she regained her sanity in the face of the end of the world. I suppose I ought to compliment her for saving you."
"Conversely, without it, she would have remained entrapped in madness."
Chrome was downcast, and a brief silence settled over the four.
"I... believe it is my fault my sister became like that."
It was a mistake born from a pure lack of caution in the midst of engaging in science— A regret that has remained clogged in Chrome's heart all this time.
"If my sister hopes to be saved... then I will have to stop her no matter what! As a practitioner of the magic arts, stopping those who have strayed from their path is my duty!" Chrome declared with unwavering determination on her face.
"Then do so... And once it is done, the banishment of the Artiste family shall be revoked."
"Understood, Monster Lord!"
"...Well, normally, I would have you punished at once. However, as an exception, I shall grant you leniency until your sister is dealt with," Lolias reluctantly conceded. Well, since the world recreation plan was no longer feasible, leaving a necromancer to their own designs would be nothing but trouble, so she was likely hoping Chrome would take care of it.
"That squirt over there sure is acting high and mighty. Who is she, anyway?"
"Who are you calling a squirt!? And you, of all people, aren't one to talk!"
Considering Lolias was hiding her wings, she looked like a regular little girl.
As that commotion was happening, Luka suddenly felt multiple presences arise. It was the ghosts bound into the zombies, who, one by one, came up to him to give their thanks.
"So many of them were trapped... I just hope the ones in the haunted mansion over there also found their way back to heaven."
"Hmm... Who would have thought zombies had such a side-effect?... another new discovery, I suppose."
Luka felt a sense of reassurance he had done the right thing as a Hero, whereas Chrome was doing a little bit of introspection. As for the others...
"Looks like everything turned out well, right, Iris?... wait, huh?"
She had collapsed along with Alice, their eyes rolled back into their heads.
"...These two sure are bad with ghosts."
"Wait... Could this... be my chance to become the new Monster Lord!?"
"Even if you manage to defeat Alice, the Heavenly Knights will be the ones to beat you up next."
Feeling that the ending was somewhat anticlimactic, Luka left the mansion with Alice on his back while Chrome carried Lolias.
The next day.
"Ah, good old San Ilia... My soul has finally found its place to rest."
"It looks like everyone's souls gathered here. My hometown is on the southern continent, but... this really is a nice city."
The holy city was entirely filled with ghosts!
"Didn't you say there would be no ghosts!? The whole city is overflowing with them!"
"How dare you plot against me!"
"Ow!? Ouch! Stop it, you two! I had no idea this would happen either!"
Luka was battered by the duo, who had hurriedly fled the city. He learned the hard way not to rely too much on his knowledge of the other world.
Furthermore...
"...It seems to me those two, at least, can be rendered powerless by utilizing ghosts."
"...So it appears. Perhaps I will give it a try one of these days."
Two figures may or may not have been quietly watching.