Chapter 21

Summary of the previous chapter

Kichi kichi kichi kichi, the patient child.

Kichi kichi kichi kichi kichi... kichi... kichi.

3

The forest is filled with danger.

Especially so if it's a place you've never been.

Even just moving around requires a lot of caution. You mustn't forget that this isn't a human domain.

...I should have known that, but humans are prone to mistakes.

"Whoa!?"

My foot slipped as I took a step forward.

My vision blurred from fatigue, and the overgrown grass caused my feet to lose their grip.

Suddenly, I lost my balance.

I frantically reached out for a branch, but it was just out of reach, and I was about to fall—almost fall, I should say.

"Dangerous, you must be careful, Master."

"...Sorry."

Garbeau, who had immediately circled around, caught me as I was about to tumble.

She seemed to be on guard while also watching over me. Her quick response was impressive.

As a result, the back of my head was half-buried in her ample chest, but Garbeau didn't seem to mind. Her neatly arranged face, now upside down, looked at me with concern.

"Are you okay?"

"Caused you trouble."

"It's fine, it's no big deal."

With that, Garbeau confirmed that my feet were firmly on the ground.

"..."

Then, she hugged my head tightly to her chest once, before letting me go.

"..."

"What, something wrong?"

When I turned around and gave her a sidelong glance, Garbeau said in a high-pitched voice.

Her spider legs were making a kichi kichi sound. It seemed to be a habit of hers.

"I'm not thinking of taking advantage of the situation."

"There's a saying, 'falling into the trap of words.' Do you understand what it means?"

"Sort of."

"...Well, never mind."

Since there was no point in blaming her too much, I decided to leave it at that and resume our exploration. Garbeau, looking relieved, also started moving through the forest.

While walking through the forest this time, being more careful, I muttered to myself.

"...This is a problem."

It was embarrassing to think about, but Garbeau seemed to have a clear affection for me.

I wasn't so insensitive that I didn't notice her feelings, which were so obvious.

Even if, under normal circumstances, I might have doubted her affection as mere self-flattery...

I'm not the type of man who is particularly popular with the opposite sex.

I'm not ugly, but I'm not particularly handsome either. If anything, I give off a serious impression, and I'm just an ordinary-looking person.

I'm aware that I'm not particularly interesting or fun to be around.

A man like me shouldn't be receiving affection from an attractive woman.

If it weren't for Garbeau, I might have thought that way.

However, her straightforward attitude didn't allow for such an escape.

I was genuinely happy about the affection she showed me.

...I don't know how a normal man would feel about receiving affection from a woman whose lower half is a spider.

Would he be happy?

Would he even find it disgusting?

To such a person, I would just be a freak.

But what does that matter?

I no longer care what others think.

I like her as a companion.

Psychologically, I didn't have much resistance to taking our relationship to the next level.

However, I have already accepted Lily's affection.

As a man raised in Japan, I have the common sense that a man should love one woman.

As a man, I can't reciprocate Garbeau's affection.

In my values, it would be an act of dishonesty and betrayal.

I think so... At least, if the person were a human woman, I would have stopped thinking there.

But at the same time, I couldn't help but realize that this is not modern Japan, but a different world.

I am the master of these beastkin.

To them, I am special, just as they are special to me.

I learned this well on that night when we overcame life and death together.

The relationship between me and them is of a kind that doesn't exist in the original world.

Of course, I shouldn't bring the values of that time into this, and it's clear that doing so would be counterproductive.

I need to rethink everything from scratch.

About my relationship with them.

...Thinking about the relationship between Garbeau and Rose, there are many things to consider, and my head is starting to hurt.

But this is about the important people in my life. I need to think seriously, and more than anything, I want to.

I should be happy that I have the luxury to worry about such things.

"What's the problem?"

Garbeau, who was walking ahead, turned around, having heard my muttering.

I couldn't honestly tell her that I was worrying about our future relationship, so I put on an ambiguous smile.

"I was just thinking that it's hard to find monsters that can become beastkin."

It was a lie to cover up, but it was also a real problem.

We had been exploring for three days.

During these three days, we continued our exploration with enthusiasm, but we haven't found any new beastkin.

It's not that we didn't have any results.

Garbeau's spider abdomen, which is plump, contains the monster known as the Iron Vine in the colony. This monster looks like a vine-like plant that wraps around trees and fires seeds like buckshot from a lily-like flower.

Giving this to Lily will make her stronger.

Additionally, although it might be a small contribution, defeating monsters allows Garbeau to accumulate magic power. This is not meaningless.

The exploration itself is going smoothly.

But it's not the 'result' I'm looking for.

To begin with, why did I want to start exploring right away?

Part of it was that I couldn't stand doing nothing, but more importantly, our situation had changed.

The battle with the white arachne was intense, but by combining our strength, we managed to overcome the crisis and gained a powerful ally.

Our situation has changed significantly since that night.

Compared to before, our future looks much brighter.

Now, the white arachne, who has taken the name Garbeau, is one of the strongest monsters in this forest. There are few monsters that can match her, as proven by the fierce battles of Lily and Rose.

Just the fact that we no longer have to fear the threat of regular monsters greatly increases our freedom of action.

Moreover, rare monsters and above are targets for my cheat ability, so they are not a threat.

If anything, with a high-level monster like Garbeau, there might be some danger in making contact, but it's not something we can easily encounter.

Until now, we had to be cautious for safety, but from now on, we can take bolder actions to gather more beastkin.

For example, exploring the forest with only Garbeau is one such action.

Even if Lily can't move, I can continue exploring.

It's unfortunate that the results haven't followed.

"Maybe we should change our approach a bit."

The lack of results is simply because my method is wrong.

Even with the current exploration method, it's not bad in terms of effective use of time.

It's not bad, but it's not different from before.

To improve efficiency, we need to take a more efficient approach.

First, we need to change the exploration location.

The main reason our exploration hasn't been successful is that we haven't encountered enough monsters.

Eight in three days.

It's not a bad number for such a short period, but it's understandable that there are no monsters that can become beastkin among them.

To increase the number of encounters, we need to venture a bit further.

This area is still affected by the hunting activities of the exploration team. If we go a bit further, we'll likely encounter more monsters.

"Master?"

"..."

I looked at Garbeau, who was looking at me curiously as I fell silent.

To gain Rose's trust, we need to produce results.

"Garbeau, I have something to ask you."

With renewed determination, I looked into her two red eyes and spoke.

"In short, you're asking me to take you on a longer journey, right?"

"More or less, that's the idea. If there's a place nearby with a lot of monsters, that's fine too."

Garbeau furrowed her brow.

"Hmm. If that's the case, I have a place in mind."

"Really? Ideally, it should be a place we can return from in a day."

If it's a place we can't return from in a day, Rose might object.

"Yes. It's one of the springs around here. Many creatures use it as a water source, so encountering monsters shouldn't be difficult."

"Great. That's perfect."

That's the kind of information I needed.

"Alright, let's go there today."

"Understood. Leave it to me."

Garbeau's voice was cheerful, pleased to be of help.

"Then, let's work out the details. Can you help me with that?"

"Me?"

But when I asked for her advice, Garbeau suddenly became hesitant.

"Is it too much trouble?"

"N-no, that's not it!"

She waved her hands in front of her chest, flustered.

"I just thought there might be someone more suitable."

"Well, who?"

I scratched my head.

"There's only Garbeau here, right?"

"Y-yes, but... couldn't we go back once today?"

"Hmm, I don't think so."

"What's the problem?"

"To be honest, I don't want to burden Lily too much."

I want her to focus on her recovery. She seems to have recovered enough to move around, but I don't want to trouble her with other matters.

"I can't talk to Rose. You understand, right?"

"Yes, that's true..."

Garbeau looked a bit down. She knew that talking to Rose would likely result in opposition.

"But even so, am I really not suitable? I've always relied on my strength to solve problems. I'm not good at using my head."

"I don't think so."

Compared to the other beastkin, I don't think Garbeau is particularly unintelligent. She's just a bit immature and clumsy, and her circumstances haven't been favorable, but she's not a fool.

But she doesn't seem to think so.

"There are still others you can consult. For example, that terrifying little girl, Kato."

Kato's reputation in Garbeau's mind had taken a significant hit.

It's a strange situation that the overwhelmingly strong Garbeau is afraid of the physically weakest Kato, but it shows how much the events of that night affected her.

"That girl is remarkable. She's much more suited to such consultations than I am."

Indeed, consulting Kato might provide some useful insights.

She has something that could be helpful.

Garbeau's suggestion wasn't entirely bad.

But I had to shake my head.

"Consulting Kato... it's just not right."

"What's not right about it?"

"What do you mean...?"

I was taken aback by her question.

Until now, Lily and Rose would have understood with just this much.

"Kato is not a beastkin. She's human."

"Is that a problem because she's human?"

Garbeau looked even more puzzled.

She seemed to be struggling to understand.

"Because she's human, she's not part of the group. But on that night when I made a mistake, Kato helped you along with Lily and Rose, didn't she?"

"That's... true."

I tried to argue against Garbeau's point but couldn't find the words to continue. She was right.

Kato is human, but she fought for me.

She didn't have a weapon, but she put her body on the line for me. She risked her life to save me.

So... no, wait. The conversation is going in the wrong direction.

This feels wrong. I don't know why, but this conversation is inconvenient for me.

Garbeau, unaware of my discomfort, continued.

"I thought she was one of your companions. But if that's the case, what is Kato to you?"

Hearing Garbeau's question, I suddenly remembered Kato's reserved smile.

—It's good that you're safe, senpai.

—Being trusted, trusted, and loved by you, my master... that must be very happy, right?

—Great. It's settled.

"..."

There was one thing about Kato that had been bothering me.

Ever since that night, her impression seemed different to me.

When talking to her, I no longer felt the unease I used to—does that make sense?

I thought it might be because she was recovering mentally, but that didn't quite fit.

Indeed, she talks more now, and as a result, she smiles more often.

This is a change, but it's not a dramatic one.

Kato's base expression is still not particularly bright. She still has a somewhat blank, dark impression. Her eyes are dull, and when she smiles, it's a slight upturn of the lips, with a hint of sadness.

She hasn't changed much.

But something seems different to me.

...No, wait.

Is it not like that?

Thinking this far, I suddenly realized my mistake.

Kato herself hasn't changed. But I see her differently.

In that case, it's more natural to think that my perception has changed, isn't it?

That night, Kato risked her life to save me from the white arachne.

I was saved by her.

So my view of her has changed. That must be it.

Reflecting on it, I've always been suspicious of Kato since we first met.

I looked at her with the assumption that she would betray me.

Through a distorted lens, any scene would naturally appear distorted.

Now, for the first time, I can see her without any bias.

This must be it.

Now that I realize this, what should I do?

Earlier, Garbeau asked what Kato is to me.

She is a person under my protection.

Nothing more, nothing less.

That's how I've always seen our relationship.

But...

Maybe I'm just now at the starting point of building a relationship with her.

If that's the case...

Shouldn't I at least return her trust, since she risked her life to save me?

"..."

In the former colony, I was almost killed by a classmate I knew.

Humans are dirty.

You never know when they'll betray you. This is a value I still hold.

But when it comes to Kato, the likelihood of her betraying me is low.

It's hard to imagine someone risking their life to help me if they were planning to betray me.

Logically, it doesn't make sense.

It's unreasonable for me to doubt her.

Most of all, my intuition tells me I can trust her.

So maybe I can trust her, just this once.

It might be too late.

But this time, I should trust her...

Yes, trust her...

"Ugh..."

Suddenly, a wave of nausea hit me, and I quickly moved away from the spot.

"Master!?"

I heard Garbeau's panicked voice from behind, but I couldn't pay attention to it.

I leaned against a nearby tree and vomited everything in my stomach at its roots.

In my mind—eyes, eyes, eyes!

The pain, the suffering, the sorrow, the shattered heart. Why me? Why you? The sole of a shoe on my forehead, kicked, a strange sound from my ribs. It hurts. It hurts. I'm scared. And then, our eyes meet. Lifeless eyes. Dead eyes. A familiar face, already killed. Killed by a familiar face. I don't want to die. I don't want to believe it.

Looking up, I see a twisted smile.

A smile. A smile. A smile.

"Ah, gag... ugh"

"Are you okay, Master!?"

Garbeau, who had been right behind me, placed her hand on my shoulder and quickly pulled it away as if it had touched something hot.

At that moment, through the bond, I felt her concern for me. Her worry, her confusion about what to do, and her sorrow.

All the feelings of 'her as a beastkin' towards 'me as her master.'

"..."

Only then did I realize that this was not the collapsing colony.

I realized who I am now, and this awareness became a lifeline connecting my mental world