Isekai Mahou wa Okureteru! (LN) - Volume 6 - Chapter SS4

The Most Evil of Indoor Monsters! Its Name Is... 

On a certain day at Suimei’s base in the Empire, an incident occurred around noon. Suimei was examining some raw materials for his magicka in an interior room of the house when Felmenia came running in in an unusual fluster. 

“Suimei-dono! Are you here, Suimei-dono?! A grave situation has occurred!” 

“What is it all of a sudden? You’re pretty worked up...” 

“How could I not be?! Martial law! I officially declare martial law as of this moment!” 

“Wuh?” 

Hearing Felmenia’s odd proclamation, Suimei cocked his head to the side. He couldn’t parse what she’d just said. Martial law was normally instituted to stabilize deteriorating public order and handle uprisings or revolts. And since households were typically governed by majority rule in the first place, there was hardly a situation where something that extreme would ever be necessary. 

Taking a good look at her, Suimei could tell that she had an urgent problem, but no idea how to handle the situation. Her eyes were darting about like she was at a frantic loss as to what to do. To say she’d lost her composure was an understatement. That was probably why she’d said something so bizarre. 

And while Suimei sat there puzzling over Felmenia’s condition, Lefille came running in next. 

“Suimei-kun! Where’s Suimei-kun?!” 

“Oh, Lefi? You know, Menia just came in and told me she was declaring martial law. What’s going on?” 

“Well, I didn’t hear anything about martial law, but I do understand her panic. This is a critical situation, after all.” 

“A critical situation?” 

“That’s right. Of all the crises that have befallen this household since we began living here, this is easily the worst.” 

Suimei was unable to hide his bewilderment. Those words held a certain weight coming from Lefille. He immediately scanned the house for mana presences and used his magicka to take a quick look around, but didn’t spot anything that appeared to be dangerous in the slightest. Next, it was Liliana who came running into the room. 

“Felmenia!” she shouted as soon as she entered. 

“Lily! How did it go?!” 

“I’m afraid... that the target... has escaped... into the kitchen.” 

“Into the kitchen, you say?!” Felmenia yelled in surprise. 

“This is bad... At this rate, all our food will be compromised,” Lefille groaned with a severe expression. 

“Wait, what? Can someone explain what the hell is going already?” Suimei asked. 

“A monster. An extremely evil monster... has appeared,” Liliana replied. 

“Inside the house?” 

“That’s right.” 

“No, no, no, there’s no way... right? There couldn’t be a monster outbreak here.” 

Since Suimei’s house and the area immediately surrounding it were kept under strict surveillance, there should have been no way a monster had appeared without him noticing. But according to what the girls were saying... 

“Strictly speaking... it’s not a traditional monster. However, it is still... extremely evil. In this world, it is known... as an indoor monster.” 

“Y-You don’t say... So, what kind of creature is it?” 

Suimei posed his question with a raised eyebrow, and it was Lefille who answered him. 

“It exudes a dreadful aura comparable to that of the demons. As far as appearance is concerned, you could even call it a winged demon...” 

The other two girls were nodding their heads repeatedly in agreement, but this description only puzzled Suimei further. Felmenia, donning a bitter and solemn expression, took over the dramatic explanation from there. 

“This monster, you see, possesses brown wings. It also takes to hiding in the shadows. From time to time, it will suddenly appear out of nowhere. And it seems to take a sick pleasure in consuming human food.” 

“You don’t say...” 

Putting together everything he’d heard so far, Suimei arrived at a conclusion. 

“So, is this monster extremely nimble, by any chance?” 

“Yes,” answered Liliana. “It very well may be... the fastest creature in all of nature. Even scholars... have suggested as much.” 

“And does it make a terrible skittering sound when it moves around? Would you say it’s the enemy of all women... No, of all housewives?” 

“That sounds exactly right. Could it be that you too know this monster, Suimei-kun?” 

“Yeah, you could say that.” 

Indeed he did, for what the girls were describing sounded an awful lot like a cockroach. However, to think that they were so reviled in this world that they were regarded as monsters... All three girls looked at him with pleading eyes, begging him to do something about the terrible abomination that had infiltrated the house. 

“...Alright. I’ll do something or other about it.” 

They then cheered for joy as though their prayers had been answered. 

“That’s our Suimei-dono!” 

“Suimei-kun is brave indeed. It’s said that even men fear this monster.” 

“Suimei... How cool.” 

Suimei never thought the day would come where he was treated like a hero for something like dealing with a cockroach. It left him with mixed feelings. 

“...” 

But just then, a certain doubt stirred in him. This was a different world, after all. There were plenty of mysterious creatures living here that defied all natural reason. He couldn’t deny the possibility that this wasn’t just any cockroach. Perhaps there was a good reason the girls were so terrified of it. 

“Is something the matter, Suimei-dono?” Felmenia asked, concerned over his silence. 

“No...” 

All three of the girls, even together, had been unable to handle the threat. It was better to approach this situation cautiously. Holding on to that thought, Suimei anxiously stepped into the kitchen. 

“Suimei-kun, it’s there! Right over there!” 

“Suimei-dono, please defeat it quickly before it gets to the food!” 

“It won’t be that big of a deal, right? I mean, it’s not like it’ll ruin it...” 

“What sort of ridiculousness is coming out of your mouth?! If that thing so much as touches our food, we’ll have to throw it all out immediately! There will be no eating it! You couldn’t even wash it clean after that!” 

“Nuh-uh-uh. Hang on here. Hold the phone. You’ve gotta be exaggerating...” 

It’s not like he didn’t understand the feeling, but he really did think it was going a bit far. But as he stood there astonished at the girls’ continued nonsense, the cockroach on the floor began creeping towards them. 

“I-I-It’s coming this way!” 

“S-Stay back! Stop making that disgusting sound with your disgusting little legs! Uwaaaaaaaah!” 

“R-Retreat! Fall back!” 

While raising hell, the three girls scrambled behind Suimei. After giving them a sidelong glance over his shoulder, Suimei turned to the cockroach with a somewhat tired expression on his face. Seeing it in person like this, everything became clear. He was quite literally stunned into silence. Meanwhile, all three girls were still shrieking and squealing. It was just a testament as to how much they feared this monster, but... 

“It’s so small...” 

The cockroach in the kitchen was unexpectedly small. It was no bigger than an adult’s thumb. In other words, it wasn’t even fully grown. Suimei honestly didn’t see the reason for all the fuss, and couldn’t help thinking the girls had gone a little overboard. 

“Hup!” 

With a snap of his fingers, he used his strike magicka to exterminate the threat. And as the cockroach was crushed by the explosion of air, the girls raised celebratory cries of relief. 

“You defeated it!” 

“Thank goodness...” 

“Evil must be vanquished... without exception.” 

Liliana thrust out her index finger at the squashed bug as if to make an example out of it. And so the squall had passed. As that settled in on everyone, Lefille began nodding in impressed approval. 

“Suimei-kun really is amazing. Even before such a big one, you didn’t falter at all.” 

“...A big one? That thing?” 

“Huh?” 

“Huh?” 

It was clear they somehow weren’t on the same page. They stared at each other, heads cocked to the side. Eventually, it was Suimei who broke the silence. 

“You’ve gotta be kidding, right? That little sucker’s just a baby.” 

“Certainly not. It has been a long time since I’ve seen one so large.” 

Hearing Felmenia say that, Suimei was dumbfounded. This had gone past the point of ridiculous. He simply didn’t even know what to say. 

“Wh-Why are you going silent now?” 

“I have... a bad feeling about this... A very bad feeling...” 

“So, um, Suimei-dono, in your world...” 

“Yeah, there are bigger ones.” 

“...H-How much bigger, exactly?” Lefille asked reluctantly. 

Suimei held up his two index fingers side by side to approximate the size for her. 

“I’d say a normal one’s about this size.” 

“Impossible...” 

“That’s gargantuan! Normal humans would never be able to defend against those! This cannot be! You’re lying!” 

“I’m as serious as a heart attack.” 

Abject fear was visible on Lefille’s face, Felmenia was shouting denial in all four directions, and Liliana’s shoulders languidly drooped in defeated silence. They all fell into their own despair upon learning the terrible truth. 

“Do all the denizens of your world battle against such monsters, Suimei-dono?” 

“You could say it’s an ongoing battle...” 

Chances were that someone somewhere in the world was currently fighting a cockroach at this very moment. Pondering the nature of humanity’s war with insects, Suimei began disposing of the felled cockroach. 

“What the hell is even going on here...?”