'There's no way that's actually the case though, right?' Matthias thought as the memories of the old game, Monster Girl Quest, resurfaced in his mind.
Everything he had seen so far matched with the elements present in that game, except for a few story details brought upon by his arrival and his actions in this place. Even the angel in front of him heavily resembled a certain character from the aforementioned game, both in physical appearance and fashion style.
Her long and luscious hair, her blue piercing eyes, her white silky clothes, her jeweled bracelets, her golden belt that seemed to float around her waist, and the golden circlet that stood in a similar fashion but around her forehead, like a halo she supposedly should have as the angel that she was…
…She looked almost exactly like Ilias, the Goddess that lorded the world within the game through religion, power, and fear; acting as the ultimate main antagonist through the story.
Except… Well, to begin with, she was not a mere character anymore.
She was now a person of flesh and bones just like him, a three-dimensional being, and she was also considerably much more beautiful than the art showcased in the game.
But as for everything else, there was no doubt that they looked like the same person.
However… that couldn't possibly be it.
Monster Girl Quest was just a visual novel for computers made by some Japanese person in 2011, nothing more and nothing less.
Granted, it became quite popular among Monster Girl fans on the internet due to its interesting story and characters, enough to get its own animated hentai…
…But that. Was. It.
It was just a game, a game made for the purpose of fun, making money, and satisfying people's peculiar fetishes.
In no way there should be a world created after a product of some random guy's perverted imagination, because why would there be one?
Yet, as much as Matthias wanted to delve further into such thoughts, he knew he didn't have the time to do that, considering that he was now standing in the presence of an actual supernatural being.
So, not wanting to keep her waiting, he did the first thing that came naturally for him to do and…
"Umm… Hello."
…politely greeted her.
While suppressing the accumulated anger and stress he built up within the last minutes, Matthias saluted the angel standing in front of him with an awkward wave. In hindsight, however, that was a quite stupid decision as Matthias thought about it.
As mentioned over and over again, there was a language barrier separating him from the rest of the people, which was a fair thing for there to be considering he was so far away from home that "ridiculous" didn't even begin to describe his situation.
So, if it didn't work back when he was trying to communicate with that detestable brat, why was he acting as if it would go—
"—What's your name?"
…Any different now…?
Wait, what?
Matthias blinked in surprise when he listened to the impatient voice of the angel in front of him, composing words that were perfectly understandable to his ears.
"Ah… I'm… I'm Matthias, nice to meet you." Caught off guard for a moment, the young man let his name slip out just as he was told to do and extended a hand toward the angel for a handshake.
These actions all came to him naturally, being the human being that he was.
However, unfortunately for him, that was the wrong course of action to take under these specific circumstances.
*Slap!* The angel roughly shoved away the extended hand with the back of her own, much to Matthias' consternation, and narrowed her eyes even further.
"You dare treat a Goddess such as myself as a mere peer of yours?" She rebuked with a deep tone filled with anger, further throwing Matthias into a state of confusion.
Her? A Goddess?
'Don't tell me…' Matthias' eyes widened in surprise as the previous association he made up in his mind between this angel and Ilias appeared again, this time resonating more strongly than before.
But before he could meditate on the subject any further, the self-proclaimed Goddess harrumphed and continued to speak: "What insolence! I should just turn you into a pile of ashes right in this instant for this!"
"Huh? What are you—" Hearing those words, Matthias couldn't help but dumbly blurt out incomprehensible noises before his mind caught on the meaning of what she just said. It didn't help that flashes of lightning were running across her hand and reaching for her palm.
Did she just say she would turn him into ashes?!
"—Wow, wow, wow! Wait!" Panic immediately surged through his body as he quickly backed up by a few steps, building some distance from the angel while keeping his eyes wide open.
However, that didn't seem to faze the angel at all as she let more electricity accumulate in her hand before she lifted it in a way that resembled a throwing stance. It was as if she wasn't even listening to him.
"Hey! Wait! I'm sorry!" Matthias screamed in reaction — his voice cracking in a funny way as he did. But, despite his pleas, the angel didn't loosen her stance or remotely looked like she was listening at all.
In fact, she started pulling back her arm, ready to throw the lightning onto him.
It was then that Matthias realized that any attempt to calm her down would be futile, and with such thoughts running in his mind, he crossed his arms in a last-ditch effort to protect himself and closed his eyes out of fear.
Holy shit, he was actually about to die!
HE WAS ABOUT TO DIE!!
WHAT THE F—
*—Crack!*
Just then, the divine lightning on the angel's hand disappeared in a clap of thunder…
…But Matthias was left unharmed.
As soon as the booming noise came out, Matthias jumped in surprise, prepared and yet unwilling to receive the blow that would most likely leave him in a fatal state, if not dead…
…But again, Matthias was left unharmed.
The young man's thoughts lagged for a moment, not comprehending what was going on. Was this how death actually felt? Or did something else happen?
To find that out, he decided to open his eyes once again before he was welcomed with the familiar sight of the angel, who was as yet standing about a few meters away from him.
Her arm was still lifted upwards, although her hand was now clutched into a tight fist that banished all the electricity that once floated there. However, the woman's face scrunched into an angrier expression, replacing the indignation her visage showed beforehand and now bordering into pure rage.
But it was a good thing to note that all the manifested irritation didn't seem to be aimed at Matthias, but rather, at herself.
In fact, the angel was taking further steps to even suppress said rage — taking deep and methodical breaths — until all that anger was replaced by an uncanny serenity that seemingly didn't fit her quite right.
And then, she exhaled a long sigh before opening her blue eyes once again, staring back at Matthias with an eerie calmness.
"Matthias, was it?" She repeated his name, and in reply, Matthias hastily nodded as cold sweat started to fall from his forehead. "Y-Yes?"
"Very well." She said, before proceeding to ask him a very strange question.
"Do you recognize who I am?"
"...?" Matthias blinked in surprise, left confused by her query.
Did he know who this angel was? Of course not! He literally just met her a dozen seconds ago!
But just as he was about to refute her, he couldn't help but trail off as Ilias' image appeared in his mind for the third time. This time it wasn't just a mere association that was shaped in his mind, however, but a genuine match.
'Is she really Ilias?' So ran his thoughts as he began to reconsider her strange question.
She looked and behaved like Matthias would imagine Ilias to be in real life, and coupled with the many details he noticed during the time before he appeared up here in Heaven, that was the only coherent answer he could come up with.
He did know her.
Her name was Ilias, and she was the Goddess of this world.
…Those were the exact words he first thought of ever since he got teleported here.
But now… Could he say the same thing now, too?
Of course not.
If she wasn't Ilias, who else was she supposed to be?
This wasn't just a matter of coincidences anymore; in this short time he spent with her, she already had demonstrated a behavioral pattern that went beyond such a thing as chances and possibilities.
By now, the possibility of her actually being Ilias was several times higher than the one of her being just another person who coincidentally looked and behaved like the said character.
And the way that she looked at him with an expectative gaze barely concealed behind her calmness, the hidden sarcastic tone within her voice in the moment she asked that question…
Matthias may not be an empathetic person in general, but even he could tell that she was expecting him to say her actual name instead of a mere "I don't know", and she wanted to hear it very soon.
Thus, with no other option available and no more time to further meditate on the question, he said what he thought she wanted to hear…
"...Ilias?"
…And his answer was proven to be correct.
The angel—No, the Goddess' eyebrows rose in return, although her general expression didn't change at all. "So you do know my name."
After giving such a dry comment, Ilias began to approach Matthias with relaxed footsteps.
Normally, from such dangerous people, Matthias would understandably try to keep his distance from them just as he did with the purple-haired brat, but he felt like moving from his spot now in any way beyond what the Goddess wanted was a truly bad idea, especially after having his few doubts regarding her identity erased by her last words.
So, he let her get closer and closer until she stood at arm's reach, right in front of him.
They shared a similar height, although Ilias showed herself to be just a bit taller than him even though she was walking on her bare feet, while Matthias still was wearing his high-safety shoes.
She looked down on him with an unreadable expression, while Matthias returned the gaze with one that was filled with suppressed anxiety.
"You recognize me, and yet my all-seeing eyes can't recognize you. So, pray tell…" Ilias spoke with quite the heavy tone in her last words, as if to demonstrate to him the level of politeness and formality he needed to show when speaking to her, before following her sentence with the worst question she could possibly ask under these circumstances.
"...How do you know me?"
Silence…
Matthias' eyes widened as all the anxiety, all the anger, and all the fear he had stashed in his heart until now disappeared at once, while Ilias kept looking at him with an unwavering expression and waiting for his answer.
How did he know her name, she asked.
"Well…"
'...Crap.'
Upon registering the question, Matthias realized that he was royally fucked this time.
He did actually know the answer to that question, and with the positive response he received with their previous exchange, he had absolutely no doubt over his thoughts this time.
Except… He couldn't just say it.
Matthias recognized her as a member of the main cast of Monster Girl Quest, he couldn't just say that.
She was the main antagonist of a pornographic game he used to play a few years ago, he couldn't just say that.
So… How was he supposed to answer that question?
Should he just… lie?
"..." Ilias' pupils gradually shrunk, seemingly focusing into his eyes even further than before as he was starting to take his time to give her an appropriate answer. Needless to say, she was starting to get impatient with his long pauses.
The idea of lying to her sounded tempting in Matthias' head, but even then, he still didn't know what he was supposed to answer her with, and if she found out that he lied to her… There would be no coming back from it.
For a moment, Matthias couldn't help but curse himself for hastily replying to her as soon as he came up with his previous answer, instead of giving it more thought over how the conversation would move if he did.
He knew that hastiness would bring him ruin, he kept repeating that sentence to himself whenever he did some kind of physical or mental work, like some kind of religious mantra. But, sometimes, he still couldn't help but go through it even though he knew he'd regret it in the end.
But now wasn't the time to vent it out on his dumb and impatient past self, he had to find a way to get out of this hand-made mess and easen up the burden for his future self.
So, what was he supposed to say now?
Should he lie? Should he say the complete truth? Should he feign ignorance? Should he mix his truth with lies? Should he just stay silent?
"..."
Fuck, fuck, fuck! He was wasting too much time! He had to give her an answer now!
"I… I know you because…"
He couldn't risk it by lying and building a false story he wasn't ready to bring up, and any other way to answer such a question would most likely end tragically.
There was no other choice… The safest option for him was to say the truth, and only the truth.
All Matthias could do was hoping that he could still salvage the aftermath somehow, even after saying these following words:
"...There is this ga—"
————————————————————————
—All of a sudden, his words got stuck in the middle of his throat as something happened. But it wasn't because he got an anxiety attack, or Ilias decided to choke him out, or anything as negative as that.
Actually… It was because Ilias suddenly disappeared from his vision!
Yes, that was right! In a blink of an eye, just as he first came up to Heaven, he was now back in the tavern he was standing around before all this happened.
His hands were back on a table, and the chair he once sat on was still behind his legs, pushed out of the way just as he was about to stand up from it. Matthias was holding the exact position and posture he previously had before he and Ilias met face-to-face.
"...W-what?" Bewildered by the sudden turn of events, Matthias could only babble in a confused manner as his eyes shot left and right, trying to make sense of his current situation.
But as soon as he realized that Ilias was truly gone and he was alone once again, he couldn't help but relax his tense body and exhale a long relieved sigh.
That thundercunt actually let him go!
He sat back down, with one hand lifted toward his face as he covered his eyes with it. He took deep breaths, calming down from his panic attack.
"...Oh good Lord. You have some amazing timing, Alice."
As someone who played the entire game and held most of the plot by heart, Matthias could already tell what happened. By taking into consideration the sequence of events that happened until now, he guessed that the present timeline must have reached "that" part of the game's plot.
The part where Ilias was quite literally "punched" out of the game's tutorial.
Further in detail, the game of Monster Girl Quest started with the protagonist — Luka — having a dream related to the Goddess who expressed his potential to become a Hero capable of slaying the Monster Lord, who was the supposed "Big Bad" of this world.
But then, shortly after his awakening, Luka was welcomed by a chaotic village that entered into a state of panic due to the presence of a monster that had been sighted nearby.
One could already see the situation Matthias went through matching with the game's story at this point…
In any case, being the naive Hero-wannabe that he was, the boy rushed out to deal with the monster, alone and with nothing but his trusty sword.
He did eventually find the monster girl, and just before they fought, Ilias appeared once again in some kind of daydream for Luka and started to explain to the player about the gameplay during combat encounters and what every available command did.
But it was in that exact moment, right when she was about to tell Luka something important at the end of the tutorial, that the conversation was cut off abruptly and the fight between the boy and the monster resumed.
The reason for that bizarre turn of events wasn't properly explained until much, much later, when the female lead of the game, Alice, mentioned that she had attacked the Goddess around the time when the first tutorial happened.
Actually, it wasn't specifically mentioned that the tutorial was interrupted because Alice attacked Ilias, but it was easy to guess that the two plot points must be related.
Because why else would the prideful and egocentric Goddess interrupt herself when she was talking about important stuff?
And thus, following that train of thought in this other scenario, why would she just let Matthias go when she was questioning him on important subjects?
Of course, the answer was that "this" precise moment was also the time when Alice struck her…
Wiping the sweat off his forehead, Matthias couldn't help but see Alice in a new light. One more second and he would have revealed a lot of dangerous information to the person who least deserved it across this entire world.
He really owed this one to her…
…
'...So, this is the world of Monster Girl Quest, huh?' After a few seconds spent in complete silence and relaxation, Matthias brought up the other subject he couldn't possibly ignore by now.
There was no doubt that he was transported to the world depicted in that particular game, and according to the events that presented themselves in front of him, he must have been sent right at the beginning of its storyline: in the village of Iliasville, where Luka was born and everything started.
…If he had to be honest, this sounded like the start of some weird isekai fanfiction, although it wasn't exactly going at his advantage with how things were standing right now.
Even so, to think Matthias would now experience the same kind of adventure he used to read about… If he had to be honest, he was kind of relieved that this was the case, because now he had a very large advantage that he didn't possess beforehand: knowledge.
Knowledge derived from both the visual novel this game began with, and the RPG sequel that — albeit incomplete by this time — still expanded further into the elements already present in the first game.
However, that immediately brought up one important question.
Was he in the original world of Monster Girl Quest? Or was he in one of the parallel worlds depicted in Monster Girl Quest: Paradox?
Depending on the answer to that question, his next actions would inevitably change drastically.
Sure, he still would like nothing more than to return home, but regardless of how much work he needed to accomplish that, he would have to stay in this world for a significant amount of time.
Even if the game had shown the possibility to actually travel between worlds, whether he ended up in the first or the second game, it wasn't something that could be accomplished within one day… Unless he had the assistance of certain kinds of people?
"...White Rabbit, are you there?" Matthias tentatively asked, hoping that his calls would be heard. "Reaper? Any administrator who's out there, can you hear me? I need your help."
…Nothing.
'Nevermind.' He gave up with the matter, knowing that he had no way to enforce such an encounter. Whether they ignored him, didn't hear him, or simply weren't here to begin with, it was clear that he couldn't take the easy way out of here.
It seemed like he had to do things alone… Well, it was worth a shot.
Matthias relaxed back on the table, putting his arms over it and laying his head on his own hands, before exhaling a depressed sigh.
If he wanted to proceed, he had to see what options were available for him, only then would he be able to make up a living plan to go through until he found a permanent solution to his problems and return to Earth.
But as for how to do that… That was going to be a tall order.
To begin with, there was that annoying language barrier between Matthias and almost everyone else in this world, stopping him from any attempt at gathering clues.
Well, there was one exception to that, but for very obvious reasons, he'd rather not see Ilias ever again.
Unfortunately…
'...That bitch will come back for me, in the end.' Matthias mused in his head as the image of Ilias almost killing him sparked out of his recent memory. However, regardless of his feelings on the subject, her mere existence brought up yet another issue he would have to eventually face:
Her return.
According to what Matthias knew of her personality in the game, she was the kind of person who wanted to keep everything under her control, to the point where her imagined ideal world was a dystopia built on absolute and unquestionable faith in her as the omnipotent Goddess she wanted to be.
Having unknowns like him definitely didn't go hand-to-hand with her ideals. She would undoubtedly bring him back to Heaven like she just did and resume their interrupted interrogation.
Under normal circumstances, Matthias wouldn't mind going along with her orders that much. He wasn't the kind of person to treasure his own freedom over his life; in fact, freedom was one of the last things he truly cared about right now. If it gave him one less thing to worry about, he would even go against his pride as a man and act as her chair if she asked for it.
However, the real issue wasn't whether he was forced into talking or not, but it was all about "what" she wanted him to talk about.
He couldn't afford to let her learn about even the smallest bit of information regarding the truth of this world and its future, because if she knew… a catastrophe would befall upon this world, a catastrophe of unimaginable sizes that would involve every living being across the planet.
And he would be the sole responsible for it, being the impetus who derailed the world's future from a happy one to one filled with tragedy.
Unfortunately, simply not revealing anything at all wasn't an option for him, and he didn't have much time to work with either.
If it was indeed Alice who interrupted their conversation, according to the first game, it would take her a certain period to recover from the damage obtained from the woman's ambush.
However, depending on her mood and curiosity, that time period might range between a few minutes from now up to this very night, which was when Ilias went into Luka's dreams for a second time.
Even if she wanted to keep a reputation when showing herself in front of people, Matthias didn't think she was the kind of person who would rather die than to keep her dignity. If push came to shove, she would definitely come back immediately, regardless of whether she looked pleasing to the eye or not.
Either way, he still had to prepare himself for their eventual second meeting, and he doubted that Ilias would accept a "Please give me a few days to think about it" as an answer to her question.
Sweat started to build up on his forehead again, although it was unknown if it was because of the mere thought of encountering that dangerous woman again, or because of his heavy clothes that were completely inappropriate for the room temperature
Even so, he decided to remove his winter jacket and the hoodie within, leaving himself with lighter clothes that were more suitable for the current climate. He needed all the comfort and peace he could afford to get if he wanted to make up a proper plan to tackle this problem.
Thus, the question arose: how could he possibly avoid ending up in a pile of ashes in his second meeting with the Goddess Ilias?
To begin with, it would be a good idea to get into her graces. At the very least, that way, he would avoid getting killed over some minor misdemeanor and maybe even have some leeway with what he could answer her questions with.
As much as he disliked the idea, he'd have to show her proper respect fitting a Goddess of her level, demonstrate that he was on her side and nobody else's, and definitely not break any of her five commandments: whether it was mating with a monster girl or showing any hint of disrespect toward her and her name.
On the other hand, however, if he helped her dear Hero, Luka, he could also rack up quite a few "nice guy worth keeping alive" points with Ilias considering how important he was for her and her plans.
And speaking of Luka…
If that blonde angel he just met was the Goddess Ilias, then the reckless purple-haired brat of before must be Luka.
With the detestable child appearing in mind for a second time, Matthias once again wondered where he was.
According to the game's story, he should be outside to fend off the invading monster girl; but was that truly the case under these different circumstances, too? Or was Luka still hidden somewhere in this building, hiding from him?
To find that out, Matthias got back to his feet with sluggish movements, feeling his body ache again as it was still trying to recover from the tumble down the stairs, and then brought his legs back to the hallway filled with rooms.
If Luka was still inside his house, then these rooms were the only places he could possibly hide in.
Curiously, he approached their doors one by one and peeked inside, revealing rooms filled with only the bare necessity for a few nights' stay: double beds, small tables, a few chairs, and wardrobes that were big enough for a couple to share.
However, there was no trace of the kid or anybody else in any of the aforementioned rooms.
Seeing that the kid was nowhere to be found in the entire tavern, Matthias guessed that he must be outside, most likely fighting the monster girl by now considering that Ilias was first interrupted during the tutorial that was brought up "at the start" of their battle.
…What if he was still in the village, though?
Matthias began to doubt his previous notion of Luka following the original storyline despite his presence, but those doubts died as quickly as they first rose when he looked outside a nearby window and took notice of how the soldiers wandering around were keeping the few citizens in sight inside their houses.
He almost forgot about it, but Iliasville should be on high alert now. The entire village's panic should have reached levels that couldn't be compared with anything else in the last decade, all due to the sudden presence of a monster girl in the outskirts.
It was only reasonable for the village guards to respond accordingly and lock everyone in their respective homes for their sake.
If Luka was still within the village, he should be carried back here according to protocol. He wasn't an official hero yet, so he doubted anybody would grant him any sort of privilege during this period of emergency.
Matthias didn't even bother thinking of the idea of the boy reporting him to the guards either, because if the brat actually did it, the soldiers that were walking meters away from him would be marching in his direction by this time, and not guarding the streets.
'If he really left to seek the monster girl…'
*Sigh!* A disappointed sigh left his mouth as he tried to guess what went through Luka's head a short moment ago.
Going so far as to jump down the stairs just to catch him, and then rushing outside to deal with the monster girl while completely shrugging off everything that happened seconds before that. Why did he even risk his life with that stunt if he wasn't going to follow up with his actions anyway?
"...Just forget about it." In the end, knowing that he would get nowhere trying to guess Luka's train of thoughts, Matthias simply decided to categorize Luka's reckless attempt at both their lives as one of the many moronic moments that were bound to happen through the boy's lifetime.
The game itself set the brat up to make him appear like an absolute idiot, after all…
Pushing aside Luka's in-character stupidity, Matthias' thoughts returned to the more important subject: helping Luka for the sake of appearing good in front of Ilias.
The idea of assisting Luka in his journey was basically a staple plot device in most Monster Girl Quest fanfictions, but now… that felt like one big challenging task from every angle imaginable.
Direct communication was impossible, any tip he might be able to give Luka during his battles would undoubtedly fall on deaf ears; he wouldn't be able to help the boy get stronger either, since Matthias was just as much of a newbie in combat as the kid himself.
He couldn't possibly help him with words, and he couldn't help him with his body. Even if he fought alongside him, without any way to communicate, he would just look like a stalking weirdo.
And that was to not mention what happened between the two of them...
Matthias did think about helping Luka for his own benefits as if it was an option, but that same kid tackled him down a staircase, filled him with bruises because of it, and broke his phone's screen in the aftermath.
Help him? If it wasn't for the fact that he recognized that damnable brat as Luka now, he might even go on to chase after the kid just so that he could end him with his own hands!
The mere idea of helping Luka felt repulsive to him, that detestable brat didn't deserve any help out of him.
And there was no doubt that the kid also held a negative opinion of Matthias, since he appeared in his house like some kind of intruder and falling on his sleeping form.
The only reason why Matthias was even considering such a thing was because, regardless of how hard it may appear at first, it was admittedly the quickest way to get in Ilias' graces.
But even if he pushed aside his hatred of the kid, there was barely anything he could possibly do in that regard. All he could do was hold on the sword that was on his hands and—
*Whoosh!*
—Swing it like a complete beginner with no real aim or… strength behind it…
…?
Wait a second.
A feeling of incongruence suddenly surfaced from Matthias' heart, a feeling that forced him to look down at the sword he was holding in his right hand.
'...Isn't this Luka's sword?'
Yes, this was indeed Luka's sword, the same sword that the boy recently threatened him with and dropped when he fell down the stairs with him.
But now, Luka was outside, fending off the monster girl who was approaching the village… without his sword?
'Fucking hell, he actually forgot to bring his sword with him!' Matthias thought with genuine surprise, although it was for less than positive reasons.
Hopefully, he was on his way back here to get it back; it would suck horribly if he actually encountered said monster girl without even carrying a weapon for self-defense, especially for someone of his stature who had little strength to compensate for his lack of equipment.
"...I don't think he's coming back, though." Matthias muttered under his breath as he tried to imagine Luka's current situation.
Knowing his character, Matthias could tell that he would fight his foes even if he were to head out barehanded. That's the kind of person he was written to be like, after all.
Either he realized he lacked the sword early on and returned here to get it back, or he would keep going either way. And with the guards out there, there was no way Luka would risk getting caught by them and shut back in his house.
So, it would ironically be considered a miracle if Luka was cowardly enough to actually turn back to the village without fighting the monster girl…
…Except that he wasn't here yet, even though several minutes had gone by since he left…
…And if the timing of Alice's ambush was to be taken into consideration, he must have already met the monster girl at this point if he still proceeded forth—
"—Oh fuck." Suddenly, Matthias' voice dropped by several tones as he came to the realization that Luka was most likely done for by now…
"OH FUCK!"
…Followed by a much louder exclamation filled with panic as the thought of the consequences beyond the brat's loss passed through his mind.
What an idiot! What an absolute moron he was!
*Slam!* The doors of the tavern slammed open with great force as Matthias pushed through in panic, with both his umbrella and the kid's sword in his hands.
Needless to say, for taking such hasty and forceful actions, his bruises were pulsating in great pain as the irritated muscles within were stretched and compressed, but Matthias gritted his teeth through it all and suppressed all the discomfort within himself.
There were way more pressing and urgent issues at hand, there was no time to bitch over it!
If he didn't save that accursed brat from the monster girl he was trying to fend off, the whole world would end up in danger!
Matthias immediately started looking around to find some semblance of a road that might bring him toward Luka's direction, but he barely had a few moments of freedom before unintelligible shouts snapped him out of his thoughts.
Those shouts came from the soldiers of the village who were tasked to keep it safe, and right now, they were rushing in his direction after taking notice of him.
…Wait, that's right. He could just tell them about the problem!
"HEeeyyy…" However, Matthias' shout quickly muffled itself as he realized that he didn't even know what to say.
'Fuck, we can't understand each other!' Out of panic, he almost forgot that they didn't speak the same language, so he had no way to warn them about Luka being in danger — at least not verbally.
But what else was he supposed to do? He couldn't just… couldn't just…
…?
…Couldn't he just go there himself and deal with the problem?
The monster that was supposedly terrorizing the village out of its wits was a mere Slime Girl, one of the weakest monsters in the game.
The villagers of Iliasville were just too afraid of monsters in general, thus they exaggerated the issue to such extreme levels. But in the end, the invader was just an innocent and horny Slime Girl that couldn't harm even a fly…
Even Matthias could probably deal with her on his own, considering that the earliest and weakest iteration of Luka — out of all people — managed to scare her off.
Although, he still had to find her across the entire forest that extended itself beyond his vision, to begin with…
「おい, 外は危険だ! 中に戻れ!」
…However, he had to start moving NOW!
Before the guards could get closer any further, Matthias sprang into action as quickly as he could possibly go and dashed for the woods right outside the village.
Of course, his seemingly careless decision to go out of Iliasville alone caused the surrounding soldiers to enter in a state of alarm and begin chasing him in worry and duty, shouting as loudly as possible to pull his attention back at them while running after him upon noticing he wasn't answering their call.
They wanted to keep him inside the village for his own safety while they prepared themselves to deal with the invading monster and save the village, but there was no way for them to know that they couldn't even communicate with each other, and that there was no time to be wasted because a certain "someone" from within the village was already outside.
Meanwhile, as Matthias approached the forest bordering this particular side of the village, he took a random direction and snuck through the first gap between trees that he found, officially leaving Iliasville's territory and entering the wilderness.
However, much to his chagrin, some soldiers split off among the rest, leaving the majority to keep guard on the surroundings while these few ones continued chasing after him.
A glance behind him revealed two fully armored knights running at full capacity, surprisingly reaching similar speeds to his even though he was barely carrying any weight in comparison.
Further irritation flashed in Matthias' eyes as he gazed forward once again, dodging trees left and right and jumping past any protruding root on the way.
Since when were the guards in this village actually capable of their job? The game showed them being practically a bunch of cowards cosplaying as knights that probably never saw a monster in their entire lives, so why were they acting like a genuine military force now when he needed it the least?!
Why couldn't they chase after Luka with the same ferocity they hadhad with him?!
"Huff… Huff…" Knowing that he'd have to run for some time to get rid of these soldiers, Matthias began to take deep breaths as he ran forward, although that merely served to make him a more embarrassing sight rather than regulate his stamina as intended.
Maybe he didn't mention it before, or maybe he did, but Matthias was not the most fit human in the world.
Only his mental and physical tenacity were worth something, but otherwise, he was the symbol of averageness: neither excelling in any particular field nor reduced to the same levels as the lazy bums back in his world.
In fact, if it wasn't for the armor and equipment the guards were carrying, they would have quickly caught up and captured him already. Even so, it wasn't like he was in peak conditions either, as his body still ached a bit from his bruises and his biological clock was still stuck a few hours before this village's current time and thus being more sleepy than usual.
And that was to not mention the items he was holding on both hands and the satchel wrapped around his shoulder, making it more awkward to take dexterous movements.
In the meantime, the clanking of armor was gradually getting louder behind him with each passing second, a sign that Matthias took as the soldiers coming much closer than he wished for.
It looked like in the end, regardless of weight load and physical conditions, he would eventually get caught either way.
Even with the fields evened out between them, all he got in return was a bit more time than he normally would have if things weren't as fair as they were now
But Matthias couldn't let himself get seized by them, he couldn't afford to.
If that happened, he would be brought back into the village and be kept under surveillance, and with no way to communicate with them, Luka would be left alone with the sexually-frustrated Slime Girl and get a Game Over.
And letting Luka reach a Game Over in this world… The consequences would be way too dire for Matthias' liking, regardless if this were to be the original world of Monster Girl Quest or, even worse, one of the many parallel worlds within Paradox.
Somehow, he had to throw those people off their loop before they could catch him.
But how?
How was he supposed to gain an advantage over trained soldiers who moved quicker than him?
He couldn't possibly go any faster than this, and he was already feeling the burden in his chest brought upon by the fatigue of running as fast as he could for the whole time.
Maybe, if he could manage to distract the guards in some way, he might be able to build further distance between them.
But to do that, he needed something that would actually bring them to a stop; pointing in random directions and shouting unintelligible bullshit would in no way work under these conditions…
What he truly needed was something bigger than that, like a real monster sight, or…
*BOOM!!*
…That.