Chapter 17: The Chapter Where Everything Is Serious
<Later that evening>
Due to the distance between the Treasure Cave and Iliasport, Kevin and Alice had to stop and camp again at the halfway point. As usual, the former was cooking their dinner in over the improvised campfire, while the latter was leaning back against her coils and trying her best not to openly drool at the smells that were wafting over.
Normally, they would just sit in silence until the food was done, due to neither of them having any particular reason to talk. Tonight, though, Alice had a few topics that she wanted to broach to her traveling companion that had been bouncing around in her head since they'd left the cave.
"Hey, Kevin?" she called out, snapping him out of the trance he usually slipped into while cooking.
"Yeah?"
"What do you think about monsters and humans coexisting?"
In the Eevee's opinion, that certainly came out of left field. "What?"
The lamia's expression didn't change. "For as long as monsters and humans have existed, there has been a constant back-and-forth between the two sides, constantly struggling against each other. Monsters capture and sometimes consume human men in order to survive and reproduce, while humans receive blessings from Ilias which give them the power to fight back against and kill monsters.
"The majority of each side believes that coexistence is impossible, and that either subjugation or elimination of the other side is the only way to achieve true peace."
Kevin stared at her for a solid five seconds. "Wow…you gonna give me some graham crackers and chocolate to go with those harshmallows you just dumped on me?" he asked, surprisingly with less sarcasm tainting his voice than usual.
The Monster Lord's eye twitched. "I'm trying to be serious right now, you idiotic fox," she growled.
"I know," Kevin nodded in acknowledgement. "But being serious after a long day of walking and fighting sucks. Can you think of anything lighter to talk about?"
"As. I. Was. Saying," she ground out, her eye twitching even more. "You seem to fall in the middle of the Monster and Human divide. You have the features and magical powers characteristic of a monster, even multiple races considering the forms you can take, yet you lack the enhanced sex drive, or any sex drive at all from what I've seen so far.
"On the other end of the spectrum, you act like a human in almost every way, from your mannerisms to the way you speak. You even dress more like a human than any monster I know. However, you don't hate monsters, and only go so far as to harm them if they try to attack you first. You got along quite well with the kitsunes, as much as I hate that fact, and have utilized the sealing powers granted by Angel Halo without any complaints."
'This exposition is going somewhere; I just know it'" the Eevee thought. For all that Alice could get straight to the point without caring about who she was offending ninety percent of the time, the other ten percent she would precede her point with what could count as a monologue.
"Taking all of these facts into consideration, you have a unique point of view. An outsider's perspective, while simultaneously being part of both sides," she concluded, her gaze intensifying. "This brings us back to the question: what do you think about coexistence between humans and monsters? Is it impossible, or possible?"
Kevin sank remained quiet for a minute, digesting everything Alice had said. He did seem to be the only person in this world whose common sense was wired differently. Take Happiness Village, for example. Just being told the reason for the harpies kidnapping their husbands and sons was enough to have them forgive the feathered monsters for slowly draining their livelihood away for months. Not to mention the men who acted like their new 'wives' did nothing wrong by keeping them in the Harpy Village and not telling them about the slow death of their old home.
Then, there was the fact that all of the monsters he encountered seemed honestly shocked that he would be so violent with them, despite them forcefully trying to violate him. Sure, the majority of them were wild, and Alice had explained to him that monsters born and raised in the wild are about as civilized and knowledgeable as any other feral animal; but the dark elf in the woods resorted to threatening him despite him only attempting to negotiate for clothes.
The point is, this world was backwards in so many ways compared to the modern world he came from, so he wasn't surprised that the difference in his actions from the average person were noticed by Alice. Now, she wanted to know his opinion on unity between the races? He wasn't even sure about the ability for people of different races to get along back home!
So, he decided to wing it. "I really can't say whether or not coexistence is possible right now," he admitted, stirring the pot of soup over the fire. "That kinda requires both sides to reach out for one reason or another, and from what I've seen? The only situations I've seen where it was happening were in Happiness village at the end, and with the bandits getting jobs in town –"
"What about Amira?" Alice interjected, one eyebrow raised.
"Do YOU want to give Amira enough consideration to count her as anything more than a pest?" Kevin shot back, mirroring her expression back at her.
"…nevermind."
"Back on topic, both of those were brought about by our interference. You see where I'm going with this?"
The lamia nodded. "I do see. Neither side will seek out peace with the other without a catalyst bringing them together."
"Exactly," the teenager continued. "Back where I came from, there was a time when humans were enslaving other humans just because the color of their skin was darker, and it took years of struggle, a war, and several brave people the side of the oppressed speaking up for them to gain equal rights. However, that's just humans dealing with humans.
"Here, there are not only numerous races of monsters with different mannerisms and needs, but there are also feral and civilized variants, while humans are all civilized. I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of humans here couldn't recognize the difference and just put them all into the same category: dangerous." Kevin shook his head. "And on the opposite side of the fence, the humans are actually backed by a goddess who not only affirms their beliefs that monsters are to be killed on sight, but also gives them the means to do it via the baptisms.
"With the ferals dragging down the monsters, and the religious zealots dragging down the humans, I can only think of two things that could actually bring everyone together."
With how pessimistic the boy was sounding; Alice was surprised by this statement. "And what would they be?" She asked with honest curiosity.
"The first is a global event that forces both monsters and humans to work together to survive, which would likely build comradery and trust in the event that they all survive."
"And the second?"
Kevin sighed. "The second is for someone with enough power and motivation to so knocking enough people off their high-horses to force everyone down to the same level, and MAKING everyone get along. However, it can't be someone from either side of the conflict. It has to be an outsider who can see both perspectives, and call out the idiocy of both sides."
The reason he sighed was that he knew exactly what this admission would do. He could already see the cogs turning in Alice's head as she connected the dots, and started looking at him slightly differently. It was as if she had discovered his purpose for being here in the first place, and the puzzle that was his existence was slowly being solved within her mind.
"No," he said flatly, breaking her train of thought.
"What do you mean, 'no'?" Alice asked, narrowing her eyes at him. "You literally just described yourself."
He looked her dead in the eye. "I know what I said, but I refuse to be that guy. I refuse to allow my aimless adventuring to be ruined by a quest to fix the world."
The Monster Lord would have called him out on that, citing the two 'quests' they'd gone on so far, but neither of them were by his choice. He'd chosen to track down the four bandits because Amira likely would've kept bothering them if he didn't, and he only went to Happiness Village because she wanted more Happiness Honey. Hell, the journey to the Treasure Cave was solely for him to get the power-up granted by the bell. Not a single thing he'd done so far had been out of any kind of heroic desire.
Her lack of reply was all Kevin needed to know she understood. He wasn't a hero, nor was he a villain. If anything, he was in the very center of the morality spectrum, just waiting for someone to come along and either save him, or corrupt him.
The conversation died after that when the food was ready to be served. Neither spoke for the rest of the night, both lost in their own thoughts after the enlightening conversation. Alice pondered over what kind of life Kevin could've lead to make him hate the idea of saving the world so much. Kevin, funnily enough, was thinking about the same thing, but he had all the context he needed.
Maybe he'd tell Alice about it someday.
***
<Within Kevin's Dreams that night>
Ilias had no idea why she even considered reaching out to the monster boy through his dreams again. After the last encounter, from which she still had a scar on her arm in the shape of teeth marks that stood out on her otherwise-flawless skin, she had decided that it was wise to just watch the blasphemous brat from a distance and save herself the trouble.
Maybe her curiosity toward the anomalous boy had become too strong, leading her to go out on a limb and contact him again? Or it could possible be her desire to make such a powerful creature a pawn for her an nobody else? Could it be that she was lonely and would pick literally anybody other than the angels that would blindly compliment her and do whatever she said?
Regardless of the reason, she was now in the dreamscape of the teenage boy she'd been watching for the last two weeks. Oddly enough, it was nothing like the scene she had found herself in last time she'd tried to make contact. She'd expected the same fluffy clouds and heavenly lights that accompanied her every time she entered a mortal's dream.
What she saw was…different. In place of the infinite expanse of the heavens, was a single small room. It was slightly bigger than the average villager's room, yet most of the space was taken up by foreign objects. A rectangle made of metal and glass that reminded the goddess of one of her subordinates' inventions rested atop dresser, blurred images appearing and disappearing on it. Coming out of it were multiple wires hooked up to a few similar metal boxes. A single bed took up a corner, covered in what could've been dirty or clean clothes, with a bedside lamp that didn't seem to require a candle resting beside it on a nightstand.
The rest of the room was surprisingly bare, with no knickknacks or items of interest to be found. Nothing decorate the walls, the door was completely blank, and the closet was empty. It was expected of a lower-class family in her world, but Ilias couldn't help but think that there were so many things missing from the room.
"You again?" a voice snapped her out of her inspection. She turned to see the owner of the dream walking through the door and closing it behind him, nothing but a dark abyss able to be seen from the other side. Looking at her up and down, he sighed. "If you were gonna be here again, you could've at least brought the clouds with you too."
She didn't say a word as Kevin walked over to his bed, sat down, and removed his shoes before throwing them to a corner of the room. She expected a lot more hostility from him, considering the bad impressions they'd left on each other last time, but he'd only given her a glance before practically ignoring her existence.
"Can you do something about that glow?" he asked, once again drawing her out of her thoughts. " It's too bright, and the light from the TV is good enough."
It took her a second to realize that he meant the natural Light Energy that she radiated. She nodded, still a little off-put by…everything she was seeing, and suppressed her power just enough to stop glowing. The room darkened a little, but even she could see the appeal in not having the entire area lit up.
Kevin patted the bed next to him. "If you wanna talk, you might as well sit down. If I'm right, this dream just started, and we've got all night."
Okay…now she was getting suspicious. "I thought you would be a lot more hostile after our last encounter," she stated, slowly sitting down a few feet away from him. "And how petty you were toward my church when you took the Hero discount at the Sutherland Inn."
"Let me ask you this," Kevin began, his expression deadpan. "How would you feel if, after a stressful day full of ups, downs, and revelations that you had no idea what to do with, your one chance at a peaceful reprieve was interrupted by yet ANOTHER person trying to complicate things even further?"
When he put it like that, it did look bad on her end. She'd been spying on every conversation he'd had with the current generation's Monster Lord since the monster had woken up after the goddess had knocked her out of the sky. She knew that he didn't know where he was, why he was there, or anything about the world as they knew it, and the experiences of almost being raped by two monsters were the icing on the cake. Her interrupting his peaceful dreams to give him a noble quest must've been the straw that broke the camel's back.
Ilias may have been incredibly prideful, and somewhat arrogant, but even she could tell that it was her own impatience that ruined her first meeting with the monster boy. She'd done worse when anyone other than her most powerful and trusted angels had bothered her at the end of a particularly bad day, after all.
Seeing the sheepish look on the goddess's face, Kevin nodded. "I see you get my point. Although, while it's been long enough that I have nothing against you in particular, I'm still not sorry about the Inn charging the church millions of gold."
Ilias raised an eyebrow. "And why is that?"
"Ever since my grandmother tried to exorcise me when I was twelve when she thought I was 'possessed by demons,' I've had a strong disdain for anybody who leans so far into their religion that they think with it instead of their brains," the boy shrugged. (FUN FACT: This actually happened to me with my religious screwball of a grandmother, and it's why I hate both her and overzealous Christians!)
Having seen what some misguided humans will do to each other when falsely thinking the other was under the control of some obscure monster, Ilias could somewhat understand and forgive the Eevee's view on the matter.
"Besides, if they have enough money to do the same for the other worthless 'heroes' in Iliasburg, then I see no reason for them not to do it for the ones who actually saved the city," he concluded, leaning back until he rested against the wall. "I'll assume that you weren't in the best state of mind during our last meeting, either?"
The goddess blushed a bit. "Between having to fend off the current generation's Monster Lord on my own birthday and no heroes showing up at all to be baptized…I may have vented some of my frustrations on you when you rejected me."
Kevin chuckled. "You know what they say: 'the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.' Or something like that. Anyway, I'm Kevin. Nice to meet you under less hostile conditions."
"I am Ilias, the Goddess of Light and creator of the world," Ilias introduced herself, though with less bravado than she normally would've. For some reason, the laid back feeling of both the room and the boy sitting a few feet away from her made her feel more relaxed than she had in…centuries. It was as if she didn't need to be the all-powerful, all-knowing goddess who leads mankind to their ultimate future through their worship of her.
She felt…normal.
"Nice to meet you," Kevin stated, all tension gone from his body as he idly stared at the ceiling. "I'm guessing that you're not here just to shoot the breeze with me?"
"To be honest, I'd prefer that more right now than my original reason for being here,"Ilias admitted. She tentatively leaned back against the wall like the teenager, and relaxed when she wasn't scolded for doing so. "I came here hoping to sway you to my side and make you my champion in the ongoing fight against the monsters. Humanity could definitely use someone with your power, after all."
The boy shook his head. "If you did, I would've said no. I may have shown up on the Ilias Continent with some kind of purpose in the grand scheme of things, but I refuse to actively involve myself in the conflict between you and Alice."
"You know…I should feel offended…but I don't, for some reason," Ilias pondered out loud.
"It's most likely this room," Kevin suggested, vaguely gesturing to the space around them. "Back home, this was my bedroom. It was the only place where I could feel safe, relax, and just be myself. Maybe those concepts persisted into the dream version, and that's what affecting you?"
'Relaxing and Just being myself?' Ilias thought. 'How long has it been since I actually knew what it was like to relax? How many centuries has it been since I've distanced myself from the schemes, wars, and plans for the future? When was the last time I actually felt…happy?'
The answers to those questions turned out to be: too long, too many, and so long ago that she couldn't properly remember.
Hours passed in the dream with both of them laying back and just doing nothing. Being an entity composed entirely of light, Ilias had never had a need for sleep, so her entire existence was spent being active. The sensation of just laying back and letting the world pass by was entirely novel to her, and she had to say that she felt herself…enjoying it.
She knew that when Kevin woke up and she was booted out of his head, she would be back to the same old administration of her angels, with the same stress constantly piling up as her plans slowly came to fruition, and she'd be lucky to have even a moment to think of her own mental health. But maybe…just maybe…
"Hey…Kevin?"
"Yeah?"
"Can we…do this again sometime in the future?"
Kevin smirked. "Sure. You seem like you need the time off, anyway."
In the end, no progress was made toward either securing the male monster as an asset or eliminating him as a threat. But Ilias didn't really care. For once in her long life, she'd found somewhere where she could just let all of her responsibilities go, and she was even welcome back any time. That was good enough for her.
For now.
***
<The Next Day – Iliasport>
Kevin and Alice reached the port again at around noon. They thankfully hadn't been stopped by any monsters, making their trip just as steady as it had been on the way to the cave. Unsurprisingly, the town was in the exact same state it was in when they left.
The teenager hadn't told his companion about Ilias invading his dreams again. If the goddess decided to be forceful like the last time, he definitely would've told the Monster Lord everything and solidified both of their hatred for the leader of the angels. Since she had just calmly admitted to wanting to recruit him before chilling for a few hours, he determined it best to keep the experience to himself.
Getting a ship was a bit difficult at first, with every captain and sailor refusing to cast off in fear of the monster waiting to sink them with a hellish storm; but Alice had the perfect solution: hypnotizing the entire crew of one of the bigger ships to take them to the Sentora Continent despite the danger they would face on the way.
Was it wrong to do? Probably.
Were either of them sorry for it? Absolutely not.
By sundown, they were already weighing anchor and casting off into the wide open ocean.
***
Author's note: I know that this is another short chapter, and it's not what anyone expected, but I felt that it needed to happen for some reason. Ilias might be clinically insane, but there's a good reason for it, so she needs love too.
On another note, one of the reasons why it's taken me so long to write this chapter is because I've started playing Elden Ring. I'm actually planning on writing another Isekai Fanfiction upon finishing the game and doing as much research on the story as well. Is that something you schmucks would be interested in?
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