Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 3 - Chapter 28

Monster no Goshujin-sama: Volume 3 Chapter 28: The Strategy and Its Circumstances

Translator: Ai-sama
Editor: iwCJ

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Summary of previous chapter:

【Good News】The protagonist avoided riding in tandem with Kudou.

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――Right after Kudou offered his help.

When I heard Kudou’s words, “You can move by riding Berta,” I thought of returning to where Rose and the others were for a moment.

Originally, I had planned to chase Takaya Jun on my own feet.
If I could ride Berta, who was faster and stronger than me, the travel time would be greatly reduced.

On top of that, there were also the monsters that Kudou had sent ahead as pursuers.

Iino said that Takaya wasn’t all that strong within the Expedition Force, so they should be able to at the very least hold him off.

As expected, it would take too much time to go to the place where Silane and the rest are waiting and then come all the way back; though there’s a risk that the path will be cut off if there’s too much of a distance, we had enough leeway to return to where we left Rose and the others.

I decided to temporarily turn back the way we came.

……Of course, I was prepared for the dispute I was going to have with her.

***

Sure enough, when I appeared, riding Berta, Iino was furious.

“What’s this mean!?”

Iino drew near with her injured leg, her movements with an unrecognizable dullness.

But, I didn’t dare to run away from the girl who was scraping closer on her knees.

She grabbed me by the collar and pulled me to my knees.
It was pretty hard to breathe. As expected of a combat oriented cheat holder. Her arm strength was completely incomparable to mine.

“Master-……”

I signalled to Rose, who was sitting on Katou-san’s lap in a hug, with my eyes as she reached for her axe with her upper body-only figure, showing her wariness.
Asarina jumped out from the back of my left hand and tried to bite Iino’s ear, but I held her back as well.

Once again, I turned to face Iino.

“Listen to me, Iino”
“Hee. What’re you planning on explaining”

A pair of severe eyes look back at me.

“As expected, you were colluding with Kudou, weren’t you?”
“……”

Well, it was a situation where having a misunderstanding couldn’t be helped.

Incidentally, I didn’t bring Kudou along here.
It was as plain as day what would happen if he and Iino met face to face.

After borrowing Berta, Caesar, and a few of Anton’s offshoots, I parted with him at that place.

Though, Iino seemed to have heard about the two-headed wolf that attacked Fort Tilia from Margrave McLaughlin’s subordinate, Lewis, and seemed to have realized in a single glance that Berta was one of Kudou’s kin.

However, I didn’t intend to hide it in the first place, so this was also an expected development.
In a way, it was a quick story. I decided to think positively and proceeded with my story.

“Just listen. It’s not unreasonable for you to think that, but don’t jump to hasty conclusions. Kudou is lending a hand to save Lily”
“There’s no way that I’d believe that would I!?”
“Thought so. However, it’s the truth. That’s why I came back here”
“……What? What do you mean?”

I wonder if she sensed something suspicious in me when I didn’t show any agitation even as she pressed me.
I spoke to Iino, who had a slightly doubtful and wary looking face.

“I’ll be frank. Iino. I’d also like to ask for your cooperation”
“Haa!?”

Iino raised a disarrayed sounding voice.
She was probably really surprised. Her wide eyes gradually narrowed.

“Nee. Wait a sec. Are you sane?”

Iino’s expression and voice were half-seriously doubting my head.
Of course, I hadn’t come back to this place just for show or on a whim.

“Aah. I’m serious”
“I asked if you were sane. But, I see. If you’re seriously saying that, then you might be insane after all huh”1
“That’s a terrible thing to say. Why do you think that?”
“‘Why’ you ask, isn’t it obvious? You think I’ll help you?”
“As if”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“Of course, I didn’t think that. I got help from Kudou, but you’re different from him. You don’t have any obligations to lend me a hand. I understand that much”

While talking, I grabbed Iino’s wrists, which were grabbing me by the collar, back.
Iino’s shoulders bounced with a jolt.

“The one who doesn’t understand, is you, Iino. It’s not like I’m begging for your help in tears or anything”
“……I don’t get it. What’re you trying to say?”

Iino, who showed an ever so slightly frightened look, creased her eyebrows in defeat immediately after that.

“In the first place, what are you trying to get me to do by cooperating?”
“‘What am I trying to get you to do’……is kind of giving it a bad name you know. I just came here to give you a proposal”
“Proposal……?”

I nodded to Iino, who made a puzzled face.

“Aah. I want Iino to fight alongside me”

Iino’s eyes widened.

“This shouldn’t be a terribly bad deal for you. ‘Just for the sake of getting something like a monster back, you’re going to kill somebody else?’ is what you said yeah? You don’t want us to kill each other right? If so, then it’d be fine for you to do something about it yourself. Am I wrong?”
“Wai, wait a minute, Majima!”

Iino raised a panicked voice.

“You want me to stop you guys from killing each other?”
“I mean, wouldn’t it be great if you could stop Takaya, who’s currently running amok, with your own hands?”
“T-, true, I’d like it if I could do that, but the me right now……”

Iino once again looked down at her legs.
There was a bandage wrapped around her left thigh, and her right ankle was fixed.

I nodded to Iino, who returned her line of sight to me.

“Right. You’ve lost your prided legs. That’s why you’re just smoldering here in a way unlike you”
“Y, yeah”
“But you see, Iino. The situation is different now”

I threw my gaze at the two-headed wolf that had accompanied me thus far.

“If you ride Berta, even the you right now could fight, right?”
“On that guy……?”

Iino also turned her gaze towards Berta.
After a few seconds, the girl who gasped in surprise turned back to me.

“You’re telling me to ride on the back of the monster that attacked Fort Tilia!?”
“Don’t like it? If so, then you can just stay here crouched, unable to do anything”
“U……Th-, that’s”

I pressed the mumbling Iino for an answer.

“If you fight, then it may end with no one dying. If you don’t fight, someone will surely die. Think it over; decide what you want to do”

Iino let out a voiceless groan.

“That’s……That’s, unfair”

Her voice of protest was somewhat feeble.

“This is, taking your own life……uun. I can’t believe that you’d do something like [taking even your enemy’s life hostage]”
“How you interpret it, is up to you”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“However, though I also said it earlier, this shouldn’t be a bad deal for you”
“That’s true, but……”

I wasn’t particularly taking advantage of Iino’s weakness to force her to do things she didn’t want to do or anything.
If anything, saying that I was hinting to her what she wanted to do was closer to the actual situation.

Iino too seemed to know this.
Even so, she probably wasn’t giving a favorable answer because…… unfortunately, it was me who suggested it.

They say that life is up to fate, and in that sense, our meeting was much too poor.

Iino bit her lip, glaring at me tensely.

“……I’ll say it in advance, but if you try to kill Takaya-kun, then I’ll immediately return to being your enemy you know?”
“‘I won’t adhere to it if you betray’ is it? If so, then you can rest assured. For me, as long as Lily comes back, I don’t care about what happens to Takaya after that”
“You agreed easily huh. Are you really saying that you don’t care about that girl at all?”

It was a tone that conveyed a clear distrust.
For Iino, my words and actions are probably suspicious since she can’t read my intentions.

However, there’s a big misunderstanding at the root of all this though.

I narrowed my eyes and replied to her.

“Who said something like that I don’t care at all? That’s not true”
“……Eh?”

Iino showed a taken-aback look.

“What are you surprised about? I’m human after all. If I get angry, I’ll hold grudges too. Isn’t that natural? You might’ve forgotten, but I’ll tell you now that I’m still holding a nice grudge about that time that you hit me you know?”
“U-……B-, but, if so, then why……?”
“It’s simple”

I shook my head.

“Because getting Lily back is a hundred times more important to me”

Even with our current combat strength, if it’s a battle where our opponent is just a Warrior, it’ll be smooth sailing depending on how we put our tactics together.
If done well, we might even defeat him.

However, this matter is related to Lily’s rescue.
Since I don’t know just what will happen, I’d like to get [Idaten]’s cooperation.

The weak me doesn’t have the leeway to just dismiss the root of our problems.

And, it was because I’m that kind of person, that I thought ‘isn’t there something I can say to Iino?,’ and that I was here right now.

“I don’t intend to lose sight of what’s important to me. ……How about you, Iino?”

I dropped my question onto Iino, who looked up towards me.

“Eh? M, me……?”

She didn’t seem to have thought that she’d be asked that here.
Looking down to the puzzled Iino, I nodded.

“What do you want to do? It’s fine to give me your answer after properly thinking about it”

I wasn’t going to repeat my words any further.
As I said earlier, I came here to make a proposal.

After I’ve used up all my words, in the end, the decision is up to Iino.

What is it that’s important to herself.
The rest, was something that she had to decide herself.

“I……”

Iino let go of her hands, which were gripping at my collar.
Her eyes were downcast, as if searching inside her chest.

The time that she spent thinking like that, was very short.

“……I, don’t want Takaya-kun to die, and I don’t want him to kill”

While murmuring so, as if to make sure of it, Iino raised her face.
It was an unyielding face. Her eyes were strong-willed.

It sounds strange, but at that moment, for the first time, I felt like my eyes met Iino’s.

“I won’t let anyone kill. I’m the same as you you know, I won’t yield”

Firmly clutching her hand in front of her chest, Iino spoke with a resolute voice.

“I get it, Majima. Let’s join hands”

***

“It’s settled, huh”

Me, for the sake of saving Lily.
Iino, for the sake of stopping Takaya.

Our goals were different, and we hadn’t become friends in the least either, but if we were walking through the same path, then we could work hand in hand.

A common front had been formed.

“Well then, let’s discuss our plans”
“Un”

I began to talk without delay.
Iino also seemed to have no objections, quietly nodding.

“Ah……Nee. Majima”

However, a question unexpectedly stayed on her face.

“Before that, just one thing. That okay?”

Now that we had built a cooperative relationship, there wasn’t much point in chatting here.
Although, I wonder if it would be unsettling to take on Takaya with a lingering unease.

“If you have something you want to say, saying it is fine. But, it’d be great if you could keep it short”
“Un. Got it”

Iino accepted, and opened her mouth.

“Anosa, you came here because you thought that I’d agree to your proposal, right?”
“I didn’t come back here [just for that] but……Well, I was pretty sure you were going to accept the proposal though”
“How could you have that much confidence?”

Unlike before, her tone was genuinely curious, without hostility nor doubt.

That might’ve been why that question took me by surprise.

“Ahー……That’s”
“That’s?”

I scratched my head in front of Iino, who had tilted her head.

To tell you the truth, I didn’t really want to say it.
But, the one who gave her the approval to ‘say it if you have something to say,’ was me.

It would be insincere if I didn’t answer here.

After letting out a heavy sigh, I answered.

“You’re feelings of not wanting anybody to die, are absolutely correct”
“……”
“You wouldn’t betray those feelings. I just thought that”

In the end, Iino Yuna is a person with good intentions, the embodiment of a person’s sense of justice.
She was a good-natured person that would rush to such a hard-to-get-to place without any reward.

Her personality is of a benevolent nature, that alone is unquestionable.

That’s the reason why I proposed making a joint front to her.

“You might be lacking in all sorts of areas, but you’re a just person. That’s why, I……what’s up?”

I unintentionally furrowed my brow.

“Eh? No-, I mean”

Iino sandwiched her faintly dyed cheeks between her hands.
My face became more and more bitter, but Iino didn’t notice.

“Wh, when you said that so suddenly, I got a bit embarrassed. Didn’t you hate me?”
“I do hate you though”
“……He?”
“Just so you know, I’m not complimenting you or anything like that”

Iino’s face went blank.

“As I said, ‘you’re lacking in all sorts of areas.’ This is a perfect opportunity, so I’ll also just say what I have to say: think a bit more before you act. You idiot”
“Id-, did you just call me an idiot!?”
“You wouldn’t have gotten it unless I told you. Even under normal circumstances, there’s no one who can keep up with your speed. Stop every now and then, and think carefully. Idiot”
“He even said it twice!?”

Iino looked very confounded, but I, on the other hand, felt a little refreshed thanks to having said what I wanted to say.

As expected, it seems that it’s best to not leave any unease before an important moment.

While nodding inwardly, with Iino’s various words of protest going in from the right and out the left, a voice called out to me from the side.

“Ano……Excuse me, senpai”
“Nn. What’s up, Katou-san?”

Katou-san, who was sitting while supporting the upper half of Rose’s body, gave a single glance to Iino, and then met her eyes with mine.

“I am sorry to interrupt while you’re in the middle of your conversation but”
“No problem. We’ve already said what we wanted to say to each other after all”
“I still have stuff I wanna say to you though……”

I brushed aside Iino’s voice of protest.
I prompted Katou-san to go on.

“So, what is it?”
“It’s about Lily-san’s rescue but, etto……”
“Aah. We have to put together a plan huh”

I nodded to Katou-san, who spoke up slightly reservedly.

“Could I consult you, Katou-san?”

When I asked, Katou-san looked just a tiny bit surprised.
However, she happily smiled right away.

“! Yes! Of course”
“Thanks, that’s a great help”
“Eh? Wait a sec Majima. You’re gonna consult this girl?”

The one who raised her voice in doubt, was Iino.
I gave her a quick glance.

“As you heard, that’s what I intend, but……I told you that I came back here ‘not just to propose to make a joint front with you.’ right? With just the people here, it would be, as you’d expect, difficult to get Lily back and to capture Takaya. Katou-san’s help is needed”
“You have a lot of faith in her huh. ……It couldn’t be that this girl is a monster too, right?”
“I know what you mean, but no. Katou-san is undoubtedly a human. It is true that I rely on her as much as I do Lily and the others though”
“Senpai……”

Katou-san made a small gasp.
Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes, which were turned to me, were heated and slightly moist.

It was a bit of an exaggeration, but she seemed to be happy.
Feeling glad at her reaction, I spoke to Iino.

“I can also guarantee her ability. Though, Iino must already know this firsthand, right?”
“……Well, yeah”

Iino rubbed her injured leg.

“That’s why I’m a bit worried though……”

She had a slightly reluctant face.
Looking at Iino with a sideways glance, Katou-san vacantly murmured.

“Since only Iino-san can block Takaya-kun’s earth magic head-on, you could thrust her forward as a shield, yes?”
“What do you plan for me to do!?”
“That was a joke”

Katou-san said flatly, shaking her head.

“Well, I don’t believe that the idea itself is bad, but it would be a waste huh. Iino-san’s ability to take Takaya-kun down is a card that should be, as you would expect, played at the critical moment after all”
“What do you mean it’s a good idea. ……Nee, Majima. Will this really be okay?”

I silently shrugged my shoulders.
If Katou-san said that it was necessary, I wouldn’t hesitate in carrying out the “Idaten Shield” strategy, but it’s probably kinder to not talk and keep that to myself.

***

After that, everyone shared information.

Confirming the current combat strength of my injured kin.
Grasping the abilities of Kudou’s kin, who were my reinforcements.
And, investigating my opponent, Takaya Jun.

Based on those, we could quickly put together a plan.

Me and Katou-san discussed the general plan.
In the end, Iino was probably relieved that we didn’t end up having to use the “Idaten Shield.”

After that, we all quickly chased after Takaya Jun.
Fortunately, we were able to catch up to him before he left the Kittles Mountain Range.

However, we couldn’t take him on right away.

We had to wait until Gerbera and Anton’s offshoots were in place.
Keeping enough of a distance from Takaya, who was taking a break, so that he wouldn’t notice me, I impatiently bided my time.

“……The troops of my King that were sent ahead of us, seemed to have failed in their attack”

While I was waiting, Berta gave me a brief report.

“It’s unfortunate, but Takaya is unharmed”
“You can grasp that? You can’t see Takaya from here”
“……It’s due to being downwind”

It seems that the real wolf’s sense of smell, which was probably more keen than that acquired by Lily through mimicry, was able to sniff him out.

Kudou sent about thirty monsters ahead of us.
If what Kudou said was correct, then they were a force that had the strength to kill Takaya Jun if they succeeded in making a surprise attack.

If you were to look at the result though, you would see that they couldn’t even hurt him…… .

Had the attack failed in the worst way possible?
Or, maybe Kudou’s expectations of the Warrior’s strength were too low.

“……It reeks of thick blood”

Berta muttered.

“There appears to be no survivors among the kin my King had sent ahead”
“Berta……”
“Don’t mind it, other King. We had no feelings of camaraderie”

One of Berta’s two heads turned to me.
It was true that I couldn’t sense any deep emotions towards the death of his companions from his matter-of-fact speaking manner.

“They were pawns without a will. We couldn’t have something like feelings of camaraderie. And……regardless of me having a will, I too am still equally a piece for our King”

His tail swayed loosely.

“It is my King’s order. Do not refrain from using us until we break”
“……Nee, Majima. I kinda can’t bear to listen to this though”

Iino, who was riding Berta’s back, frowned.
She was the only one who had an injured leg, so she stayed on Berta’s back while we were waiting like this.

“I feel like I’m watching a pet dog that’s been abused but is still wagging its tail at its owner”2
“Do you like dogs?”
“Well, I guess. My friend’s house had a lot of them, so I used to go there a lot to play~. If that girl saw Berta, she might snap”
“……Oi, woman”

Berta turned his face to her, and looked towards Iino.

“What is this thing called a ‘pet’?”

Surprisingly, he seemed to be interested in our conversation.

While Iino was answering Berta’s question, I had another talk with Katou-san and Rose, who were nearby, about what to do in case of an emergency.

Incidentally, both of them came here riding together with us on Berta, but weren’t planned to participate in the battle.

The main reason why I brought them this far was because it was dangerous to leave them there without fighting skills, just in the one in ten-thousand chance something happens.

In the meantime, time passed.
When one of Anton’s offshoots returned, it announced that the preparations were complete.

“Master. I wish you good fortune”

Seeing off Rose’s words, I mounted Berta and began to move.

My heart was burning with a strong desire to save Lily no matter what――.

***

――And, now.

Our trump card, had defeated Takaya Jun.

“Sorry, Takaya-kun. But, no one will be dying here”

What Iino said, were the words of a vow.

She won’t let Takaya Jun die. She won’t let him kill me.
‘That’s why I came here,’ she declared.

Iino loosely lowered the tip of the thin sword she had raised.

The movement was very slow, and it also looked as if she couldn’t bear the weight of the red life attached to the tip of her sword.

If it were monsters, then Iino must have killed dozens of them, but this was probably her first experience with a human opponent.

While punching and kicking are mere extensions of a brawl, to shed another’s blood with a blade, was different in the rawness accompanying the act.

The psychological resistance is strong, even more so for types like Iino.

But, it would take more than a punch to stop the current Takaya.

While supporting Iino’s body from behind, I gazed at Takaya Jun’s figure, kneeling on the ground.

The laceration on his right chest was deep.
There was a large pool of blood on the ground.
It wasn’t a fatal wound, but it was impossible to continue fighting.

In the first place, if he was a normal Warrior, it would have been strange for it to be over when his right arm was crushed by Gerbera’s attack.

It was only his persistence that worked to get him through it.

If I hadn’t gotten Iino’s cooperation, then by now, I might just have been a slaughtered lump of flesh.

It was really a close fight.

I took my hands from Iino, who I was supporting.
I left Iino sitting, and stood up.

“Lily……”

Normally, the impact on her would’ve been no big deal, but it seems that the [Binding Chain of Sins] wrapped around her body lowered her physical abilities.

I had to quickly release her.

As if pushed by my impatient feelings, I took a step forward.

“……op”

That was when it happened.
Lily spoke as if squeezing out her voice.

“……St, op”
“Eh?”

My body stiffened in the state of having taken a step forward.

It wasn’t that I was able to understand what she had said.
It was just that my body was bound by an ominous premonition.

Lily’s desperate voice hit my ears.

“It’s not……yet, over-……!”

……It’s not over?
What is?

I thought; then a chill ran down my spine.

“Gu, gigeh”

It was an eerie voice.
A series of sounds that made no sense.

“Gi, gigi, gigu……”

The source of that, was Takaya, who was no longer in any condition to fight.
With his face turned down, he was trembling as if he was suffering from a fever.

“Ga, gi, gi, gi……”

As if hiding the thick veins bulging out from his temples, he grabbed his head with his left hand.
The tip of his toe gouged through his skin. Takaya didn’t even seem to feel the pain.

“Gu, gigu, guguh, GUoOoOOOOOO……!”

Takaya shouted at the ground in a voice that didn’t seem like that of a person’s.

Was that reason-less scream, an awakening call?
A huge amount of magic power surged out from his body.

The magic power turned into a black, blood-colored light that covered the boy’s heavily tattered body.

The sight was as if Takaya Jun had been devoured by the light.

Right after that, I realized that in a way, my feeling had hit the target.

In just a second or so, the light disappeared.
Takaya Jun’s figure had also disappeared.

In his place, there was a single beast.

It was about two meters tall.
His entire body was covered with bristly hair, and the color of his fur was a fiery red.

Its face that was ferociousness incarnate was similar to that of an ape.
Its protruding eyes were a murky yellow.
From its mouth, unevenly sized fangs jutted out in a messy up-and-down motion, dripping sticky drool.

The ugly beastman turned its well-developed pectoral muscles, and roared without a shred of reason.

I felt my skin twitch.
The pressure that was crushing my organs was something I had never experienced before, not even in the Sea of Trees.

“Takaya……kun?”

The thing that brought me back from my daze, was the moaning voice Iino spilled out.

“Are you Takaya-kun?”

If you looked closely, you could see that the beastman was wearing the ragged uniform that Takaya had worn.

It was hard to tell because its fur was red, but it had a deep wound on its right chest and arm, which were still spilling blood.

It seemed that there was no mistake that it was Takaya Jun.
However, why?

No, even the phenomenon itself is something that should be impossible, isn’t it?

Before, while in the Colony, there was one among the title holders of the Expedition Force that had the ability to change his appearance.

His name is Jinguuji Tomoya, the [Ryujin]. (TN: Dragon + man. Ryujin sounds cooler!)
He awakened a unique cheat that let him transform into a dragon.

I heard that he was able to transform himself into a giant, divine dragon.

Looking at his figure, should Takaya Jun’s ability be called [Mad Beastification]?

Seeing that he hadn’t even shown any signs of activating his ability up to this point, it might be a type of ability that can’t be controlled by his own will.

In other words, if I’m the always-on type, then he’s the emergency activation type.

When faced with an inevitable danger, he gains strength at the loss of intelligence.
……Thinking it over, the reason why Takaya’s clothes were ripped to what were the same as tatters was probably because of the enlargement of his body due to his [Mad Beastification].

If he was holding onto a hidden card like this, it was no wonder that the more than thirty monsters that Kudou had sent ahead were annihilated.

I should have taken Kudou’s words, “If the attack goes well, we may not even need to catch up,” more seriously.
This was my mistake, as I had heard those words directly from him.

The reason why Kudou’s forces, which he had sent out well-prepared, weren’t able to leave a single wound on Takaya, was not because he had misjudged the situation, nor because he had played a poor hand in the attack.

If I had to choose, I would say that he played a good hand that might’ve even been overkill.
The result, was that Takaya Jun drew the beast out from him, and annihilated them.

And we, too, had fallen into the same trap.

……But, it’s strange.
Takaya Jun isn’t a title holder; he should just be an ordinary Warrior.

At least, that was how everyone had perceived it.
Which meant, that he must have been acting as a Warrior in the roughly one month’s time that he spent in the Colony.

It’s possible that he was hiding his abilities, but…… from a practical standpoint, there doesn’t seem to be any reason for Takaya Jun to do such a thing when Mizushima Miho was still alive.

Then, it would be more natural to assume that he got this ability after the Colony’s collapse.

I, and Kudou as well, both gained the ability to lead monsters a short time after the transfer.

It wasn’t strange that even those who had already gained power as a Warrior could later gain unique abilities.

Of course, this is only possible if you have the right trigger however.
Considering the fact that the number of people with unique abilities is few, this was probably a rather rare case.

A “trigger” on the same level as mine and Kudou’s.
In Takaya’s case, it was probably learning about the death of his childhood friend, Mizushima Miho.

And if that were the case, then it makes sense.

The power that we transferees gain, will reflect the deepest wish of our souls.

If that’s the case, then this was what Takaya Jun wished for.

This ugly beast’s form.
He lost his intelligence, and became a beast.

Her childhood friend, who he tried to protect with his life, was slaughtered.

He just wished for power.
And all the same, he wished that he wouldn’t understand anything at all.

If so, then this was the embodiment of Takaya Jun’s despair.

“GUOoOoOOO!”

In the next instant, a thick arm was swung at me by the beast without intelligence, and I was mercilessly blown away.

_____________________________________________________________________

Serious: “本気” (Honki), sane: “正気” (Shouki). It might be a joke, though it might also just be MC ignoring what Iino said.
If anyone wanted to know, Iino refers to dogs as “わんちゃん” (wan-chan, aka “woof”-chan).