Chapter 18

Episode 18

“…Saintess, the monsters seem to be greeting us?”

Witnessing the bizarre sight of monsters acting friendly towards humans, it felt like all the common sense I had built up from dealing with monsters was shattered into pieces.

“…Saintess?”

But the Saintess’s expression was serious. It wasn’t a look of wonder, but rather one of deep discomfort.

“Meow! It’s been so long since I’ve seen humans! I came to the village because I wanted to see humans, but no one comes near me!”

“…The monster wanted to see humans?”

What the heck? Is this some kind of freakishly unique monster?

“Ugh, what a bad taste.”

“Yes, what are you suddenly talking about?”

“Stay here.”

“Huh?”

The Saintess said that and then boldly walked up to the Cheshire Cat. What the heck is she doing, that’s dangerous!

“…Huh?”

But surprisingly, the Cheshire Cat didn’t stop her as she approached right next to it.

Why isn’t the monster attacking the human?

“Meow! Did you come to talk to me?”

“Wait a moment. We’ll talk plenty later.”

“Okay, meow!”

“Let me touch you for a bit.”

The Saintess fearlessly placed her hand on the Cheshire Cat’s body. She then pushed her hand into its thick fur and began feeling around.

“Meow meow! That tickles, meow!”

“…What are you doing?”

I couldn’t understand what the Saintess was doing. But her expression was so serious that even though I didn’t get it, I decided to wait and see.

“…Found it.”

“Meow? What are you talking about, meow?”

The Saintess kept her hand there and began muttering something. I couldn’t quite hear it… Was it some kind of prayer?

“What’s this?”

Suddenly, the Saintess’s black hair began to flutter. Even though there was no wind.

“…Huh?”

The black hair that was fluttering wildly gradually turned red. Not just red, but glowing like the sun.

“…Goddess Solaria?”

I think Oz said something, but I couldn’t quite hear it. Something about a goddess?

Soon, when the Saintess’s black hair had completely turned red, a powerful Holy Power radiated light.

“Ugh!”

The intense light forced me to close my eyes. What the heck is this, a flashbang?

When I opened my eyes again, the Saintess’s hair, which had been fluttering wildly, had settled down. The red hair had also turned back to black.

“…Saintess?”

What the heck just happened?

“Meow? What did you do?…Blech!”

Suddenly, it’s throwing up!? The Cheshire Cat started gagging and retching several times.

“Saintess!”

Something seemed wrong, so I ran to the Saintess. But unlike me, she was looking at the Cheshire Cat with an incredibly peaceful expression.

“…Hero, why did you come?”

“Why? The monster is acting weird right now!”

“Ah, it’s fine. It’s part of the healing process.”

“Healing? Is it giving birth or something?”

“Not that kind of ‘giving birth,’ but healing. Can’t you even tell the difference, Hero~? Dummy♡”

Healing?

“Did the monster get hurt or something? Why are you even healing a monster in the first place…”

“You’ll understand when you see it.”

After retching a few more times, the Cheshire Cat spat something out. What came out of its mouth was a red stone.

“…What’s that?”

“I’ll explain it to you in a bit.”

After spitting out the red stone, the Cheshire Cat staggered and then collapsed with a thud.

…What, is it dead?

“Get ready to take care of it.”

“Huh? What?”

The Saintess pointed at the Cheshire Cat. Following her finger, I watched the monster for a moment, and something amazing happened.

“Saintess, what is this…”

The Cheshire Cat’s body was gradually shrinking.

#

Abel was confused. The Cheshire Cat’s body kept shrinking until it eventually transformed into the shape of a human.

The Cheshire Cat had completely disappeared, leaving only a purple-haired girl. Estelle, who had been staring blankly to grasp the situation, untied Abel’s cloak and draped it over the girl’s body.

“…What the heck just happened?”

“Don’t panic~. You look silly♡ I’ll explain it to you when we get back to your house, so just carry this girl for now.”

“…Okay.”

“Tell the villagers that we defeated the monster. Got it?”

Abel nodded stiffly. Estelle looked at him and said,

“Among the monsters you’ve slain, there hasn’t been a case like this, so don’t worry too much.”

“…Ah.”

Only then did Abel’s tense body relax. Seeing him like that, Estelle chuckled lightly.

“You’re not some wooden puppet, why are you so stiff~♡ You look like a dummy♡”

“…Ahem.”

“Let’s go~.”

Abel picked up the girl and followed Estelle back to the village.

On the way back, Estelle asked Oz not to reveal what had happened, and Oz nodded with a bewildered expression.

“Oz, please tell the village chief that we defeated the monster. We’ll head home first.”

“…Understood, Saintess.”

His attitude had become extremely respectful. Anyone in this world who had seen what Estelle just did would naturally act that way.

Earlier, Estelle had used the power of the Solaria Goddess’s proxy. Anyone who witnessed that would feel a deep sense of awe.

Bringing the girl into Abel’s house, Estelle looked around the place.

‘So this is the Hero’s house. It’s simple and cute, just like him~♥’

“Saintess, what should we do with this person?”

“Let’s lay her on the bed for now.”

Abel laid the girl on the bed. Then he asked Estelle,

“…How did the monster turn into a human?”

“To be precise, it was a human who had turned into a monster. You had a vague idea, right?”

“…Is that even possible?”

Estelle pointed to a chair for Abel.

“Take a seat. I should properly explain monsters to the clueless Hero while we’re at it.”

“Okay.”

Abel obediently listened. He’s so well-behaved, what a cute Hero~.

“Sir.”

“First, Hero, do you know how monsters appear?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Wow, you really don’t know anything♡ Let me explain. Monsters are born from an entity called ‘Mother,’ created directly by the Demon King. The place where Mother settles and gives birth to monsters is called a ‘nest.'”

“I see.”

“Monsters born from Mother can reproduce among themselves. That’s how the number of monsters keeps increasing. That’s why monsters appear near human settlements. This is the general process of monster birth.”

Abel perked up at the word “general.”

“Is there an unconventional method too?”

“Ooh, you’re starting to think~♡ As you said, there are monsters born through unconventional methods.”

Estelle pointed to the girl lying on the bed and showed the red stone she had vomited.

“This is a Transformational Stone. If implanted in a non-monster life form, it transforms that life into a monster.”

“I see…”

“Usually, it’s implanted in wild animals, but sometimes, like in this case, it’s implanted in humans. Since monsters don’t attack humans, I thought it might be worth checking out. Good thing I came.”

“…None of the monsters I’ve defeated were like this, right?”

“No, they weren’t. They were all natural monsters~.”

Estelle joked, and Abel chuckled.

“That’s a relief. So, what happens to this girl now?”

“Don’t worry. She’s been fully purified and can live as a human from now on.”

“…That’s good.”

The girl still looked young. She seemed younger than Estelle or Abel, with a youthful appearance. How did a Transformational Stone end up in her?

Monsters usually implant Transformational Stones in wild animals. Humans are more intelligent, making it tricky to implant the stone. To implant it, the stone must be swallowed, but no sane person would eat a red rock.

Moreover, humans are so intelligent that even if transformed into monsters, they don’t fully adopt monster instincts. For example, they don’t attack humans. Like the Cheshire Cat the girl had turned into, which didn’t attack anyone.

So, for monsters, implanting a Transformational Stone in a human is just a hassle with no real benefit.

‘Usually, in cases like this…’

It’s more likely that another human did it.

#

“Ugh…”

Huh? She’s awake.

The girl who had turned into a monster opened her eyes groggily. As she sat up, her purple hair cascaded down her shoulders, and the blanket covering her slid off.

“…Ahem.”

I quickly turned my head and gestured for the Saint to come over. She was in the kitchen making stew, planning to eat together once the girl woke up.

“What’s wrong?”

“She’s awake. But it’s a bit awkward for me to look…”

“…Ah, watch the pot for a moment.”

“Sure.”

The Saint approached the girl and asked gently, “Are you feeling okay?”

“…What happened? My body is back to normal…”

“You’re fine now. You won’t turn into a monster again.”

“…What?”

Even without looking, I could imagine how the girl felt. Confused, surprised…

“…Really?”

But the biggest emotion was probably relief at being back.

“Yes, we removed the Transformational Stone from your body. So, you won’t turn into a monster again.”

The girl was silent for a moment. I was curious about the situation, but it felt awkward to turn around.

If I looked now, the Saint would probably glare at me. Better just focus on stirring the stew…

Then, I heard sobbing from behind.

“Ah… It’s not a dream…”

“No, it’s reality.”

“…Sniff, thank you so much, sob!”

“I just did what I had to do.”

The Saint patted the girl’s back to comfort her, and her sobbing filled the room.

“…What a relief.”

Knock knock!

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Wondering what it was, I glanced at the Saint, then quickly turned away when I saw the girl.

“…Should I check it out?”

“Yes.”

Who’s knocking on the door in the middle of the night…

“Abel! It’s so noisy I can’t sleep!”

Opening the door, I found an old lady complaining.

…Who are you?

“Who’s crying so much?”

“…Huh?”

Could the crying be heard outside?

“It sounded like a girl crying. Is it you…?”

The old lady’s expression turned suspicious.

“I don’t know what you’re imagining, but it’s not that.”

“…Right, you wouldn’t do that. Then what’s all the noise about?”

What should I say? I already said I defeated the monster, so I can’t explain why the girl is here. Saying I just brought her home would make things weird.

After thinking, I finally came up with an excuse.

“…The Saint was crying.”

“Huh?”

“The only woman in my house is the Saint.”

“…Ah, right. But why was she crying?”

“Please don’t ask. I’ll keep it quiet.”

“Oh… okay.”

The old lady nodded and left. After closing the door, I turned to the Saint.

“Sob sob, you made me cry~♡ You tried to take advantage of me~♡”

…Crazy woman.

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