“Because Beelzé is... Beelzé is the Lord of the Flies.”
“The Lord of the Flies?! That old man?!”
“‘The Lord of the Flies’—that means that he commands all the devil flies, right?!”
“The level A monster otherwise known as the Demon King of the South?!” I asked. I hadn’t been aware of him until my conversation with the King, but I understood that his existence was common knowledge. Even among the well-known threats of this world, the Lord of the Flies was regarded with particular dread, especially by those of the continent’s southern region.
“But...I served his food for two years and I didn’t see anything monsterlike at all,” Tigaro said.
“That’s how Vlad was too,” Oltea said.
“He was a nasty man, but I never suspected him of being a monster,” Frieze agreed.
“A powerful enough monster with high enough intelligence behaves just like a human,” I said. “You can’t tell the difference unless they slip up and show their true colors.”
“I-If that’s true, then... Monstro, how did you see through Beelzé’s disguise?” Tigaro asked.
“I... I didn’t see through anything. I’ve always known,” Monstro said. He went on to explain that it had been thirty years since his first encounter with Beelzé. In order to save money with the eventual goal of opening a restaurant, he had accompanied a group of adventurers as their cook. It had happened one night when the band was making camp in the woods.
For having the audacity to be out of meat, Monstro had been coerced into venturing deep into the forest to hunt down an animal for use in that night’s dish. Unable to do so, Monstro had turned back to the campsite only to find that everyone present had seemingly been massacred while he was away. Devil flies, so numerous as to be uncountable, had blotted out the sky. Sitting among the corpses was Beelzé. It was then that Monstro had realized he was seeing the man who commanded the swarm: the Lord of the Flies.
Then, as Monstro was begging for his life, Beelzé’s interest had instead fallen on the man’s cooking. Intrigued by Monstro’s food, the monster had proposed a deal.
“Beelzé... Beelzé just wanted a peaceful life enjoying delicious food. If I could make that a reality for him, he promised to grant my wish in return, and...”
“What did you ask for?”
Monstro cast his eyes downward with regret.
“Even though I was saving money to open a restaurant, I was fed up with spending all my time sucking up to other people. If I could just become distinguished or important, I wouldn’t have to spend my energy currying favor or flattering people, so...I thought about it and I asked him to help me make a performance out of driving away the stampede,” Monstro said.
And as a result, Monstro had become the hero who saved the town and, accordingly, its appointed mayor. Up to that point, his wishes had been granted, but then every day for thirty years afterward, he had been forced to continue waiting on Beelzé’s every whim.
It was an ironic story, but it had a twisted logic: without becoming rich, Monstro wouldn’t have been able to provide the quiet gourmet life that Beelzé had demanded.
Had Monstro declined Beelzé’s offer, he would have been killed, so it wasn’t as though he could be blamed for his predicament.
“I see. So that’s why you got so angry when that wine bottle you’d chosen to pair with the meal got knocked over. Because if Beelzé were displeased, then he’d destroy the entire town...” Tigaro said.
“Ahh, right... I feel genuinely awful about raising my hand to Chestnut, but...I had to be very careful to restrain myself so that I wouldn’t do it again.”
Even if nothing like that had gone wrong, Monstro had been living in fear of Beelzé’s ire for thirty years. It would be hard on anyone’s mental health to live in constant fear of being killed. Under those circumstances, with stress mounting endlessly, it was little wonder that he would end up taking it out on the maids.
Knowing that he was liable to hurt his staff at some point, he must have decided to only hire hybrids. If Monstro were to strike a human employee, it would become an incident and could result in the loss of both his mayorship and personal fortune. If that were to happen, he would be unable to get Beelzé his daily meal.
“I think I understand the situation, but why haven’t you just tried to run away?” I asked. Surely Monstro, as just one person, would have been able to make it quite far had he attempted to flee. Breaking his promise would mean the certain destruction of the town, but at least he would be free from the terror personally inflicted on him at Beelzé’s hands...
“It’s impossible. There’s nowhere to go. My own hometown has already been ravaged by the stampede. My father, my store, my friends... All erased so thoroughly it was like they’d never existed in the first place. I don’t want anyone else to ever have to feel like this...” he said, though he looked to me for salvation.
“I-I’m at my absolute limit. I can’t bear a single day more of this cursed life. I don’t care if you look down on me or think me pathetic. I’ll even publicly announce that I had a part in the stampede, I’ll accept losing my seat as mayor—I don’t care. Even if I end up penniless...I just want to enjoy cooking like I used to. If I could just do that, it would be enough...”
“There’s no need for any public proclamation. Even if you did have a part in the stampede, the fact is that you’ve been protecting this town for thirty years now,” I said.
It was true that Monstro’s current status was the work of Beelzé, but the wealth afforded by that position was crucial to maintaining the tranquil life of continual feasting that his captor demanded. Without context, the idea of someone giving safe harbor to a monster sounded bad, but in this case, betraying the monster would have directly resulted in the commencement of the stampede. Even were we to consult with the guild, we would probably hear that there was no guarantee it was even possible to exterminate Beelzé. For that reason, the best thing for Monstro to do was keep cooking the man’s food.
Still, we couldn’t just leave and consign him to his fate. There was, after all, still something I needed to ask him. Even after all his explanations up to this point, it remained unclear why he had felt the need to kill Tigaro.
“Why did you try to kill Tigaro?”
“Well, I...” Monstro began, glancing at her. He continued, his face betraying the difficulty of mustering the next words, “The night of the next full moon... At the Moonlight Feast, I... I had been ordered to serve Tigaro’s flesh.”
“M-My...flesh...” Tigaro mumbled.
“Y-Yes... He said that I needed to change my cooking for the better, that he hadn’t eaten human meat in thirty years, and...he demanded that I use the meat of the server girl who had been bringing his food until recently. Demanded that Tigaro serve as the meat. That was his order,” Monstro said.
After she’d heard Monstro’s explanation, Tigaro’s face went pale. “Th-That’s why you invited me back to the mansion? To...kill me and use me as food?”
“That was my plan, but...I couldn’t do it.”
After a pause, Tigaro asked, “And you’re not just saying all this to catch me off guard so you can do it tomorrow, are you?”
Indeed, there was still time before the night of the full moon. Technically, Monstro’s chance to kill Tigaro had not yet passed.
“Not at all,” said Monstro.
“And...why should I believe you?”
“If he was going to kill you, he wouldn’t be going out of his way to get you to drop your guard in some roundabout way—he would have just done it earlier when he had the chance, right?” I said. “Additionally, Monstro has protected this town from Beelzé all on his own for thirty years now. I don’t think a person like that would be capable of murder.”
“I feel the same way. If he wanted to, he could have put poison in Beelzé’s food by now,” Oltea said. “The fact that he hasn’t is proof that he’s conflicted, thinking, ‘I have to kill this person, but I don’t want to,’ right?”
“Attacking Tiga is unforgivable, but...fortunately, she didn’t get hurt, at least,” Frieze said. “At this point, I don’t think it’s Monstro who deserves our hatred, but Beelzé.”
“Well...if you all say so, I suppose I’ll take him at his word,” said Tigaro.
“Th-Thank you, Tigaro... I’m so sorry that I scared you,” Monstro said.
“You don’t need to apologize anymore. Right now, it’s more important that we figure out what to do about Beelzé,” she replied. “We could try to sneak Monstro out of town, but if word got out that the mayor had disappeared, there would be a panic. Beelzé would find out right away...”
“I’ll take him out,” I said.
“I know how strong you are, Kaito. I’ve heard all about it: how you kill rank B monsters like it’s nothing and make it back home before dark, how you defeated Vlad and protected the royal capital... But you’re talking about facing down the Demon King of the South! There’s no guarantee of victory in that battle. And beyond that, if you did lose, Beelzé might unleash the stampede just out of anger,” Monstro said.
“That’s true... He does want a quiet life, after all. He’s also not likely to let anyone who catches on to his true identity live. He’ll destroy the entire city either way.”
“Well then, what are we supposed to do?” Oltea asked.
“I know we don’t want to send Kaito up against the danger alone, but nobody other than him stands a chance against a level A monster.”
“I understand, but,” Tigaro said, her voice shaking, “even if Kaito goes, the odds are a thousand to one, right? With those chances...I think there’s a safer option we have to take.”
“A safer option...?”
All of a sudden, the meaning of her words hit me.
“You don’t mean that you’re thinking of sacrificing yourself, do you?”
“Y-Yes... That’s what I’m saying. Beelzé wants to eat me, right? If I let him eat me, then everyone can keep on living peacefully, just like they have up until now, right? If that’s how it is, then—”
“I won’t let you do that!” I shouted. I’ll never let my friend become a victim like that! Even if it meant we could avoid all the danger we’re up against, earning safety that way wouldn’t make me happy!