"Here's a question for you. Why were we able to help you at just the right moment?"
Come to think of it, why was that?
So much had happened that I hadn't really thought about it.
『Maybe because you were chasing after the elves?』
They did seem pretty hostile toward them.
"Bzzt. Wrong."
『Then were you watching how the war unfolded?』
She did seem to know quite a lot about the Word of God Religion as well.
"Bzzt. Wrong again."
『Sorry. I don't know.』
I couldn't think of any other reason.
If it wasn't because of the elves they apparently opposed, and they weren't monitoring the war's progress, then I couldn't come up with a reason for Ariel to have been at that place.
The self-proclaimed Demon King just happening to be sightseeing there was far too convenient, no matter how you looked at it.
"The correct answer is — we were there to save you!"
She announced the answer while making a fanfare sound with her mouth.
I tilted my head at the content.
To save me? For what purpose?
『Is it because I'm a Reincarnator?』
I asked while tensing up slightly.
I didn't know why the elves or the Word of God Religion were targeting me, but being a Reincarnator was apparently reason enough to be targeted.
If that was the case, then maybe this person had some reason for wanting to keep me close?
Having my life spared was certainly better than being compared to elves, but if she was trying to use me, I wouldn't be able to fully trust her.
"Hmm. You could say that, and you could also say that wasn't it."
The answer I got back was anything but decisive.
『What do you mean?』
"Well, Shiro said she wanted to help you, so we helped."
『Huh?』
Huh? What did she mean?
"Because she's like that, people tend to misunderstand, but Shiro is honestly a big softie at heart. If she sees someone in trouble or someone asking for help, she can't help but reach out. The type who can't walk past a abandoned kitten without picking it up. I was just helping Shiro on the side — the one who actually moved to save you was Shiro."
Huh?
『B-But she didn't act like that at all!?』
"Ah, well. Shiro has that difficult personality where she likes to come across as mean. Even when she does something good, she'll come up with all sorts of reasons to badmouth her own actions. A contrarian in the worst sense, I suppose. She acts out of pure goodwill but then forcibly tacks on a price to it — 'The reason I did this was for this, so it's not a good deed!' — and she tsunderes about it like that."
『What even is that...』
"In your case, she seems to have been worried about you for quite a while now. The reason she built her nest near that town where you were was probably to keep an eye on you, wasn't it? She'd seen through the fact that you're a vampire, after all. She was probably thinking that sooner or later that would come out and cause trouble, so she planned for the worst-case scenario and made sure she'd be able to rush to your aid at any moment."
"That's... no, wait, but that's..."
"During that time, Shiro was being chased by some troublesome pursuers. In truth, staying in one place was a dangerous situation for her. If you think about it logically, there was no reason for her to build a nest in such a conspicuous place while ignoring that. So why did she?"
『Pursuers? Could it be — from the Word of God Religion, the ones she was fighting when she disappeared?』
"That's the one. Well, it had nothing to do with the Word of God Religion, though. It was just convenient for them, so they bragged about it being their doing — that's all it was."
『Is that so?』
"It really is. The Word of God Religion is pretty good at spreading false information, you know? After all, they've got the largest information network in the world. Spreading self-serving lies is a morning routine for them. That information at the time was the trigger for the war, right? The Word of God Religion wanted to start a war with the Goddess Religion, so the report that a monster worshipped as a divine beast by the Goddess Religion had been slain by someone was exactly what they needed. Claiming they were the ones who did it would be useful for stoking tensions with the Goddess Religion."
『So we were completely taken in by that false information?』
"That's right. Well, the Goddess Religion would have been forced into a war eventually regardless — sooner or later, as they say. Just as Shiro said, she was truly just used as a pawn and had absolutely nothing to do with the Word of God Religion."
Is that so? Then the war happening in the first place was a mistake?
But from what Ariel was saying, it seemed like a war would have broken out either way. Shiro had simply gotten caught up in it.
Wait — hold on.
『However, I've heard that she later appeared on the battlefield and slaughtered friend and foe alike without discrimination.』
"Ah, that. I wasn't there myself so I don't know the details, but from my own independent research, it seems Shiro was initially only attacking the Word of God Religion. After that, for some reason, she apparently turned indiscriminate. But well, knowing Shiro's personality, she probably got attacked by the Goddess Religion's side and fought back. Once she labels someone an enemy, she shows no mercy."
『Why would the Goddess Religion, which is supposed to be on our side, attack a divine beast!? That makes no sense!』
"It's not so clear-cut as that. From our perspective, the Human race is incredibly weak — both in body and in mind. When a powerful being that mercilessly slaughters enemies on the battlefield appears, and that being is something that, at least in name, they worship as a divine beast but is in fact a Monster — a being they can't communicate with, can't understand the actions of — if such a being were rampaging in front of their eyes, it's entirely possible that in a moment of panic they'd lash out. Besides, Shiro supposedly had some kind of Intimidation Skill. Soldiers driven mad by fear going berserk might actually be the more natural response."
Then what? If that was true, was I supposed to accept that the current state of the Sariera Kingdom was their own fault? That they'd betrayed their own divine beast and attacked it, and that the retaliation had destroyed half their own forces?
I couldn't accept that.
"Well, I'm sure it's hard to swallow. This is all speculation on my part too, so I can't say anything definitive. But there's one thing I want you to remember. Shiro was unable to move for quite a while during this period, but the moment she could, she rushed over in a panic to save you. She'd probably deny it if you asked her directly, but she seemed genuinely worried about you."
But... but even so, even if I was told that, I couldn't shift my feelings right away.
"Well, why don't you just gradually grow closer as you travel together?"
I was about to nod at Ariel's words when I suddenly stopped.
Something was bursting out of the white cocoon.
It was... a leg.
A long, white spider's leg.
It was pushing aside the cocoon's threads as it emerged.
What revealed itself was Shiro — her lower half that of a spider.
She stepped out of the cocoon and stretched.
The spider legs extended outward.
Then, in the next instant, they vanished into her long robe as if being sucked in.
However that mechanism worked, her appearance now was no different from an ordinary human.
But that form just now — that was literally a monster!
Could I really get along with something like that?
Was I even capable of that?