Chapter 32: Epic Monika
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Agonizing minutes passed.
"So it turns out you're not going to die just yet…" I said to butler Reim. I took away my numbed fingers and stepped back.
"GRAMPS!" the little girl threw herself at him and cried tears of relief. "Are you well now, Grampy Reim?! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! It's my fault!"
"Huh now, dear child…" the old butler began stroking her back. "No one blames you. Let's all just be thankful we survived."
"That's right!" one of the guards shouted. He knelt down and slapped his palms on the ground, bowing completely. "That was an amazing feat of healing, good sir! You saved our lives! Amazing in both fighting and after fighting – it's a miracle we met you today! If… if you didn't come along…!"
All the remaining guards also bowed. All three of them. "We thank you for our lives and saving our young Lady!"
I let out a heavy breath and dropped back, sitting on my butt on the ground. Even with so much magic power, that really didn't do anything for the whole stress of combat and then the mental pressure of performing emergency care.
I shifted my position to be able to lean on my knees and breathed heavily. My joints were like rusted hinges. I could hear them creak.
Killing was so much easier than saving lives.
And yet…
And yet, this felt good. Much greater than the rush of battle. A greater sense of accomplishment than just being a hero. No, a hero must be someone who saves lives…! A mere monster-slayer was nothing more than random murderhobo.
"Thank you – thank you so much!" the little girl said fervently.
"Indeed, good sir, how we can we ever begin to repay you? You... are adventurers, are you not?" Reim said weakly.
I nodded. "Don't thank me yet. You're not actually healed. You're just stabilized. That won't last. And yes, we are adventurers – we had a delivery to make to the capital, it's just pure dumb luck we were on the road at near the same time."
"We're just sorry we couldn't do more…" said Linze.
Linze looked a little hollow-eyed. Oops. I had just sent her out to check dead bodies to find out who could still be saved. Maybe she even watched someone breathe his last.
Lizardmen were taller and stronger than humans. Their spear stabs were invariably fatal. And having looked at their arrows, they had narrow x-shaped heads to maximize tearing while still being able to decently go through padded armor.
Elze and Yae sat nearby, but keeping a watch out just in case.
"You saved our lives!" Maldon insisted. "All of us would have died, and who know what they'd have done to Young Lady Ortlinde! You've already healed us up, please rest, we'll handle the remains."
The… remains. The dead bodies of those that were their comrades. Suchie shivered and clung to her old caretaker's side as the guards dragged away the corpses. But she refused to look away. She burned the sight into her mind even as the guards began to dig and one by one laid the corpses into the grave.
One by one all the people dead because she was a noble's daughter.
She looked up towards Reim, one more person that could have die due to her own foolishness. Just because she was a noble's daughter was no excuse to think that she knew better.
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"Apologies for the belated introduction," the old man said slowly. "We do not even know the names of our saviors, so please allow me to introduce ourselves first as dictated by courtesy. I am Reim, a servant to the noble Ortlinde household. The young miss is the duke's daughter, Sushie Ernea Ortlinde."
The little girl stood up and curtsied. "I really am Sushie Ernea Ortlinde! It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance! You may call me Sue!"
"Thank you, sir!" Sue faced towards me and expressed her gratitude again, standing with her feet apart, her fingers opened wide, and a beaming smile on her face. "Thank you, everyone!" She began spinning around. "T-thank you too, mysterious voice!"
/"Wa… wa… what is this… utterly adorable creature?!"/ Monika gasped out. /"I'm taking her home with meeeee!"/
She lunged towards Sue to hug her, but of course her virtual persona just passed through.
/"Dang."/
I twitched and strongly clamped on my right hand with my left. The urge to pet her head was strong.
And behind the girl, her butler nodded sagely. Young mistress was truly formidable, yes. Her grandparents stood no chance.
"I guess then it's our turn. I am Zah Playa Von Chara, and these here are my friends – Elze and Linze Silhoueska, and Yae Kokonoe from Eashen, and… " I turned around to gesture at them, and then saw that they were stiffly kneeling down on one knee. "… what are you doing?"
"… didn't you hear?!" Elze whispered harshly. "She's a duke's daughter! A duke!"
"… and? Sorry, I'm not getting it. Is the rank of duke here different from what I know?"
"… D-duke is… it is the highest social rank that can be bestowed," Linze hurriedly informed me, while keeping her head pointed down. "Unlike the- the other titles, Duke is usually only given to members on the royal family..."
"Ah. I see." I turned to Sue. "So… you?"
"Yes indeed! My father is Duke Alfred Ernea Ortlinde, younger brother of His Majesty the King!"
"I see," I hummed. "That… explains things. This ambush is a pretty serious thing."
A little of the light faded from her eyes from my reminder. "T… that's right. This all happened because of me…"
I finally gave in and patted the top of her big round pillow-shaped hat. "It's going to be okay. Don't think it's your fault, it's the fault of those people who want to use you to make your father or the king obey their demands. Just surviving is foiling their plot!"
"… as Playa-dono said, survival is victory in itself, that is so!" Yae murmured. "To be always mindful of these things… it is the mark of someone used to the drastic affairs of those in high station, is it not?"
Elze looked up, and raised an eyebrow at me. "… huh, that really doesn't scare you at all, does it? I guess I should have expected this sort of thing from Playa."
I turned back to the butler. "So, um, should I kneel too? Is that how this works?"
Reim rapidly shook his head. "Oh no, no no no, we wouldn't dare to be so impolite to our saviors."
"Don't do that!" Sue pouted. "Please, everyone just stand up! I should be the one bowing to all of you!"
"Don't! Mister Zah should never kneel again to anyone! Not until…!"
All our eyes turned to Linze. She eeped and looked away. "… Miss Monika said that he… no, this is not the time." Linze shook her head and bowed to hide her face. "She said that to me to remind Mister Zah of where he came from, and not to let anyone take advantage of him when he does things in order to deny his past."
"I surely have no idea what you mean by that," I commented in fully honesty.
/"You had to know there would be consequences for all that rolling. Fufufufu… a man like you only really needs to kneel once in his life. I'll make sure of that."/
"Um… excuse me," Sue ventured softly. "But… Miss Monika? Is she that mysterious voice…?"
/"Yes, I am Monika,"/ Monika responded. Then she coughed and said /"Wait, let me try this again…"/
Privately she began to stack /"[Amplify: Vibration.] [Amplify: Resonance] [Amplify: Surround Sound] [Compile: Open Air Sound System]"/
Then she spoke in a booming, epic voice /"I AM INDEED MONIKA. CHILD OF SALVATION. TAMER OF THE WORLD SERPENT," /
Well that's a fancy way of saying you were created by Dan Salvato and knew how to program in Python.
/"READER OF OMENS. KEEPER OF WORLDS WITHIN WORLDS WITHIN GLASS. EYES OF THE LAST SON OF ZEON!
/I GREET THEE, SUSHIE ERNEA ORTLINDE. BE CUTE AND ADORABLE FOREVER!"/ she finished off with an eager squeal.
… Monika, why do you torpedo yourself? I wondered if she was latching on to a Natsuki surrogate.
Sorry, but I will fight you on this – this totally adorbs little sisteru will not be a tsundere! She would be sweet and candid forever! We don't need gap moe when we have real moe!
Wait, what was that about Zeon?!
"Um! A p-pleasure to meet you too, Lady Monika!" Sue curtsied again.
"Yes! We are ever so grateful that you have deigned to assist us!" Reim added nervously.
Their eyeballs were tracking around nowhere in particular. We really needed to get Monika some sort of physical avatar people could interact with, this secrecy thing had finally played out.
"… yeah. All right. So that's Monika. Don't be too impressed with her either. She's with me, and we're all just regular adventurers in the end."
Elze got up and stretched out. "Are we done? Because if we are, I've got important things to do."
I happily pointed towards her. "See? Look at Elze! Elze doesn't care."
"That is true. If Playa doesn't care about it, then I'm not going to spend any effort whatsoever making a fuss over it," she replied while heading over to our wagon. "Tire me out for no point, hmf! It's lunchtime and I'm getting hungry!"
"… p-please forgive my sister for being a coarse woman," Linze begged Sue. "It's not like she doesn't respect the fallen…"
Sue shook her head. "No, it's fine. I mean… we can't help it. We're all tired. So we really should stop and rest."
"I must disagree, I do."
I turned to Yae. "Why?"
"Staying here for too long risks being caught up in another ambush. Such an ambush should competently be done with at least two people… one to fight, the other to observe and flee to report in case of failure. I have seen this before, this I have."
"That… is true. On the other hand, Monika has supreme awareness of the battlespace within half a mile of us. That's how we learned someone was being attacked well before they were in sight, after all. Monika?"
/"I've extended my range to a full two miles, Player. I'm losing valuable resolution, but I can detect all living things within this range. There are no other humans nearby. I'll be able to detect hostile intent well before they enter range."/
Reim's brows raised. "That is, indeed, a powerful ability! Though… it should be expected from a spirit, I suppose. I'm afraid we must trouble you to protect us for a while longer, we can provide you with more than respectable remuneration once we reach the capital."
"Thank you, Lady Monika!" Sue said again.
/"Happy to help, my dear!"/ Monika replied. /"But there's really more that needs to be done."/
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