Volume 4 Chapter 77: I Still Think It’s Crap【Final Volume: Balor and Nanashi Arc】

Inside the carriage.

Lately, it feels like I’ve been riding in carriages non‐stop.

I’d much rather be holed up in an estate in Apophis territory, so why must I be so active?

The world is just so absurd.

Moreover, the place I’m headed to is the lair of the legendary monster Gorgon.

This is strange.

Isn’t this a kind of spectacular suicide…?

And it isn’t only that destination that has me feeling gloomy…

“Balor-dono! These sweets are delicious! Wanna eat?”

“Eh—Master is more into the one that Myah is holding than that other one, right? This one’s sweeter, nya.”

“…You lot—having someone serve as the coachman, are you so envious that you’re inconveniencing Balor-sama? Stop it!”

“Munch munch munch munch”

Inside the carriage, the maids are spouting off as they please.

Izun is forcefully shoving sweets into my mouth.

Too close. Right on target. Annoying.

Artemis, teasingly, is doing the same thing as Izun.

Too close. Right on target. In the way.

Ashvin, who tames and commands a bizarre, horse-like creature as she pleases, and Nanashi, who, without so much as glancing over here, relentlessly shoves sweets into my stomach.

…What the heck are these guys.

They’re too loud. They’re way too obnoxious.

How did it come to this…?

“Your boobs, nya—they’re unnecessarily huge, which is why they get all noisy.”

“Hah. Where is there any need to be so obsessed with breast size? The poor are poor in heart, aren’t they?”

“Alright, you picked a fight. Since you started it first, you won’t complain if I end up slicing your throat, will you?”

“Balor-dono! This drink is delicious! Wanna drink?”

Ashvin and Artemis start fighting.

Completely ignoring them, Izun continues to shove even more sweets into my mouth.

Is this a zoo!?

You all are way too noisy!

And Izun! I already said I don’t need it!

I feel like a sacrificial offering being delivered to a monster—who in their right mind would be eating sweets?!

“So nostalgic.”

“Was it like this even in the future in which you were present?”

Since Konoha murmured that, I couldn’t help but ask.

In every world line, are these guys always like this?

I really feel sorry for myself, spread out across all these worlds…

“Yeah. Although back then—since Balor-chan wasn’t around—it wasn’t so friendly; it was a tense, murderously charged atmosphere.”

Come to think of it, in the future where Konoha was, I hadn’t even taken part in the Gorgon extermination.

A carriage filled with murderous intent, huh.

That alone is unpleasant, though…

Well, as long as it’s being handled somewhere else, I really don’t mind.

“I mean, why did you bring a non-combatant like me along, Master?”

Nanashi asks.

Her cheeks are puffed up with sweets, making her look like a squirrel.

How underhanded…

The reason you brought me?

There’s only one reason.

To serve as a decoy.

‘Which is better—a meat shield or you…?’

They’re pretty much the same, aren’t they…?

“However, Yoldak didn’t lend any other soldiers, did he?”

“It seems so.”

At Ashvin’s words, I mentally spew curses.

That’s true.

That damn tanuki—always full of excuses.

What is this “if I act, then the other four great nobles are forced to act, so I can’t move” nonsense?

Move already! Aren’t you all supposed to work together in this extermination?

After all, it’s only us taking part in the Gorgon extermination.

Who in their right mind would go kill a legendary monster with just a handful of maids?

What a joke…

“That one’s a conservative, you know. He probably doesn’t like nobles who suddenly get strong like Master does, right? If he dies here, it’s a total win. Even if he succeeds, it would greatly sap their power… or so it seems?”

Artemis’s words convince me.

And my grudge against Yoldak intensifies.

You’re such a pain in the ass—I’ll turn you into tanuki stew!

…Though I won’t eat it.

“Balor-dono, what shall we do? Kill, or what?”

Izun taps my arm as she asks.

She says it cutely, but that means…

Kill—how many people are we talking about?

“No, anyway, for now it’s the Gorgon. First, we must defeat that monster with all our might.”

That’s right.

First, the Gorgon.

After dealing with her, I’ll take my revenge on Yoldak.

“I’ve prepared properly. I will change fate…!”

Konoha’s resolute words.

…The fate that assumes I must die—I still think it’s crap.

◆

The Gorgon is truly a legendary monster—her existence can be found even in documents dating back several hundred years.

She has harmed humanity over a very long time.

Of course, there have been countless attempts to defeat her, and numerous warriors have stood up to her.

However, they have never been able to kill the Gorgon—they could only weaken her enough to drive her away.

Then time passed, and her old wounds healed.

The Gorgon eventually reappeared in the world.

Her modus operandi is to harm humanity.

It’s a simple principle.

So she attacks and devours people along nearby roads.

Human screams are simply delightful.

They satisfy a desire beyond mere hunger.

Perhaps the Gorgon was created in that very manner.

Whether by the gods, the world, or something else entirely, she seems to have been imbued with an instinct to behave this way.

Thus, even today, the Gorgon acts according to that instinct.

But lately, it hasn’t been working.

Perhaps because she has attacked so often, the number of people passing by has significantly dwindled.

Lately, I can’t even recall when she last feasted.

This won’t do. She must bring more harm upon humanity.

It might soon be time to move.

If they don’t come near, then she’ll approach them.

If humanity continues to bear such intolerable malice and smiles savagely…

“Gah!?”

With a resounding thud, a spear—flying from afar—pierced the Gorgon’s forehead.

“I haven’t really used a spear like this before, but it worked surprisingly well. Please lavish me with praise later, Balor-sama.”

“Yeah, yeah… yeah?”