A Humanoid Monster? (1)

MSG – Volume 1 – Chapter 11

Without looking back, the Radish King asked his visitor, "What's happened now, General Cedric?"

"Greetings, your Majesty," came the deep voice in reply. "I come bearing an update about the developments in Furlong Forest."

"…Mm," the King, who continued to paint, signaled for his subject to go on as he was listening.

"Sire, it seems that the situation may warrant more concern than we thought," said the visitor. "The monsters are not going on a rampage or fleeing from something… they seem to be building a civilization."

For the first time since the conversation started, the King's fluid movements faltered as he paused mid-stroke.

"…Expatiate," he ordered, still remaining unmoving from his painting posture.

"Sire… it's like this…" The General of the Radish Kingdom's Fourth Army spilled the beans on what had happened.

--- --- ---

About two weeks ago.

Maple was the leader of one of the three most powerful Slayer Groups in Wilder City, the True Destiny Sisters.

They were a clique of 4 women with ages ranging from 20 to 22 who had their own unique charms and endless droves of admirers.

Their individual power levels all fell within the range of the 'Crowned Magus' rank; the lowest being Elizabeth who specialized in Water Magic and was a level 36 existence.

Above her was a tie of two ladies at level 38.

One was called Manella and she specialized in the Sand branch of Earth Magic. And the other was called Scarlet and she specialized in the Mist branch of Water Magic.

As for Maple, she was level 40, a shoe-in for the next rank.

On this faithful day, she had moved out with her group after taking a quest from the Slayers' Guild to hunt a Manticore of the Crown Magus Stage that was spotted by the guild's scouts and had its parts requested by a certain Formation Master.

Felicity, the receptionist that had processed their acceptance of the quest, received a troubling report from the group once they returned with the butchered corpse of the target.

"Are you sure of what you are saying?" asked the receptionist.

"Hey, Felicity. Do you really think that we are that jobless as to make up a story about some potential threat?" the one who spoke in a slightly irritated tone was the one with red eyes, light skin, and purple hair that had red ends; her name was Scarlet.

Hearing her analogy, Felicity sighed and said, "A stampede… again."

Placing her hand on her cheek as she vocalized her thoughts, she added, "I suppose I have to take this up with the higher-ups so they can send some scouts to confirm the situation."

"So, are we getting paid or what?" Scarlet felt a bit impatient as she watched the receptionist stare off into space.

"Right." The receptionist snapped out of her trance, some sweat already formed on her forehead as she imagined the stress that was to come if there was indeed a stampede, and looked down at the items on display.

She had a calculative expression on her face as she went over the list of the parts of the two Manticores the Slayers Party had slain, and their states.

Looking up at them, she said, "Everything adds up to 2 Ambers and 257 Quartz," she said.

The blonde receptionist wrote an amount on a special slip of paper, filled in the name of their party, and signed it while infusing some mana, before handing it over to the green-haired member of their party;

"Here's the cheque," she said. "You know the drill."

"Mm, thank you, Felly." Maple flashed Felicity a smile before turning around to head over to the section where they could cash out the cheque.

Felicity merely replied with a 'no problem' as she stamped some paperwork before temporarily closing down her desk and heading upstairs to meet the Assistant Master of the Guild's Branch.

"He hasn't come in today." The Assistant Guild Master's closest subordinate (sort of a secretary) informed the receptionist. "If it is not urgent, I can keep the information and directly send it to him once he exits the dungeon."

"Oh, that won't be necessary. Thanks for your time, Henry." She said, turning to leave.

"No problem." Henry also turned back to the paperwork on his desk.

He was actually attending to a member of one of the other two strongest Slayer parties based in the city.

Stepping out of the Assistant Master's office, she turned to look at the end of the hallway of the second floor of the guild building.

With a huff, she strode to the Master's office with a slightly hurried pace.

After knocking, she was let in.

Entering the office, she was greeted by the sight of a blue-haired man that appeared to be in his 50s, his red hair mixed with some gray strands, and to top it off a glaringly perfect physique that could not be completely concealed by his casual gray-colored baggy outfit.

"Master Titan." She greeted him.

"Felicity?" the man raised a brow slightly as he welcomed one of his receptionists in. "Take a seat."

"Thank you, Master Titan." She accepted his offer, pulled back one of the seats and planted her butt in it.

"Calm down a bit. Here." He offered her a cup of slightly cold water-which he had conjured himself with his experience as an Aqua Mage. "Did something come up? Why do you seem so anxious and tense?"

The receptionist did not stand on ceremony and accepted the cup.

Once she was done, she sighed and spilled the tea on the information she had just received.

Hearing her words, his expression turned from its carefree nature to a slightly serious one.

""You can go ahead to draft up the quest to get Slayers to scout out the forest;" he said.

"Leave it to me, Master Titan."

"Good. Again, thank you for passing this information along, Felicia." he said. "If there is nothing else to report, you may go."

"It is my duty." She said as she got up, bowed and then left the room. "Goodbye, Master Titan."

As he watched her leave, Titan's green eyes locked onto her swaying hips.

It was the sound of the door being shut behind her that snapped him out of it.

As he regained his bearings, he pursed his lips before opening one of the drawers of his

 desk and whipping out some papers, a quill, and a vial of ink.

With a sigh, he started to write something with great seriousness on his face and in his movements.

"Sigh. Knowing those girls, they would not make such a report if they were not reasonably sure." He muttered. "Better start preparing since things might soon get a bit wild for Wilder City."

--- --- ---

"…And that's what happened, Sire." Reported the Commander. "As soon as I received the master of that Slayers' Guild branch's letter—"

"You informed me," the King completed his subordinate's words, standing up straight and carefully dropping his painting tools aside.

Turning around to face his commander, he continued; "And I told you to keep an eye on the situation."

"It is as the King says." The Commander came in with an ad-lib.

"Then, what's new? What did you discover?" the King asked. "How can monsters form a civilization? How could they get around their differences since for every one pair of monster species, there would undoubtedly be one that preys on the other or is at least a threat."

"…That's the problem, your Majesty." The Commander sighed, clearly unwilling to spill the words that he was about to but knew that he had no choice.

"…It seems that there is indeed a leader amongst them. A female monster that has managed to evolve and take on humanoid form."

A/N:

--- Slayers = Adventurers.

--- The currency was as follows:

Quartz Coin: The most common unit.

Amber Coins: Worth 1,000 QC

Emerald Coins: Worth 1,000 AC

Sapphire Coins: Worth 1,000 EC

Diamond Coins: Worth 1,000 SC

I probably do not need to say it, but you should expect the side stories (deviations from focusing on the main character: Solon) to be of some significant, if not great, relevance to the overall picture of the story.