Good News and Bad News

“Roman, can you help me?” Goro called from outside the tavern.

“I’m coming, Uncle.” Roman ran out of the tavern, followed by Shinra. He helped bring in the things his uncle brought.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t know there was a guest.”

“It’s okay, Uncle.”

“If I’m not mistaken, you’re King Shinra, right?”

“Just call me Shinra.”

“By the way, why did you come all the way here?” Goro asked.

“I and Torou-sensei found Satyr’s aircraft. We want to find out if it’s usable or not. I’ll follow him to Satyr’s castle.”

Julia cut him off. “Eat first before you go,” she said, preparing food for him.

“Thank you, Julia. Okay, I’ll eat.” Shinra entered the tavern, waiting for the food.

“Sis, I want to eat, too!”

Inside Satyr’s castle...

“Weird. I have checked many times, but I cannot find any means of communication with Zhargun. So, how did Satyr do it all this time?” Torou checked every room in the castle. Not wanting to miss anything, he double-checked it.

A few hours later...

Shinra and Roman arrived.

“Shinra, do you think monsters will attack the Earth?”

“I think that’s just an assumption. I wish there were no more battles between humans and monsters.”

“But can the monsters understand? The Torto said that Zhargun’s elite soldiers are strong. What if they come here and attack the Earth?”

“If that happens, there’s only one way out, right? We have to fight again!”

“Yes, sure. However, I haven’t finished reading the books written by my mother yet. Hopefully, they will come after I finish the books.”

“Good luck, Roman.”

The two of them checked several rooms in the castle. They also could not find any means of communication between Satyr and Zhargun.

“Shinra, what do you think Satyr used to communicate with his planet? Or could it be that he himself went to Zhargun using that aircraft? But he was never seen by humans, right? Even the monsters rarely saw him.”

“Wait! I think I know how he boarded that aircraft without being seen!” Shinra immediately ran to find a way to the dungeon.

They found a dungeon behind the castle. Shinra and Roman meet Torou there.

They walked through an underground passage for several hours. Finally, they arrived at a room. Above it was an exit. They checked every nook and cranny.

“Looks like Satyr came this way if he wanted to board the aircraft,” Roman said.

“You are right. I found this.” Torou showed a strange object shaped like an arrowhead.

“What is that, Mr. Rat?” Roman asked.

“This is most likely the aircraft’s key. Let us give it a try,” Torou said.

They came out through that door. It turned out that the three of them were already outside the border barrier. They could see the aircraft from there.

“Wow, that’s the aircraft? Awesome! I want to fly in it.” Roman approached the aircraft and hugged it.

Whoosh...

The door opened after Torou put the key on it. The three of them looked into the aircraft and looked for what might be a means of communication with Zhargun.

“There are so many buttons. Should we try them one by one?” Roman asked.

“Do not! Let me look at them.” Torou checked the aircraft.

“It looks like this only has one destination. It’s written there.” Shinra pointed to the ceiling.

“Earth-Zhargun,” Roman said.

“It’s very likely this uses auto pilot mode. Anyone can use this,” Shinra said.

“It seems so. Okay. Since it is getting late, we should head back to the town first. We had better rest for now,” Torou suggested.

After they left the aircraft, there was a voice.

“Hey, Satyr, your voice is not clear. Can you repeat? What do you want to talk about?” Tormentor asked.

“Weird! I heard some voices there. Who was Satyr talking to on the aircraft? Something smells fishy!” He had overheard Shinra, Torou, and Roman talking.

The aircraft was only used by Satyr. The monsters on Earth were not aware of its existence.

A few hours later, the three of them arrived at Goro’s tavern.

“Where have you been? I followed you into Satyr’s castle, but I didn’t see you there!” Julia said.

“Actually, we found an underground passage. Behind the castle, there’s a room leading to it. If we follow it, we can enter Satyr’s aircraft. We’ve found the aircraft’s key, but we haven’t found a way to communicate with the Zhargun,” Roman said.

“The key is with me now,” Torou said, showing it to Julia.

“Looks like tonight we’re going to trouble you and Roman,” Shinra said.

“What do you want to do?” Roman asked, confused.

“I mean, can Torou-sensei and I stay here for the night?”

“There are only two rooms here. The first room is my uncle’s and the second room is mine. Roman sleeps in the shop.”

“Yes, that’s right. Come sleep in the shop with me. I usually sleep alone with no one to accompany me.”

“It’s okay, I can sleep with him. Thanks, Julia.”

“No problem.”

The next morning...

“Hey, Shinra, are you going to that aircraft again today?” Roman asked.

“Yeah, Torou-sensei and I will go there to check one more time.”

“I want to come, too,” Roman said.

“Roman! You take care of the tavern. I’m going to go grocery shopping,” Julia said.

“Ah, all right.”

“Then, we’ll get going. Thank you, Uncle Goro!” Shinra said.

“Thank you for your hospitality and generosity,” Torou said.

“My pleasure. You can come back whenever you want.”

“Julia, after going to Satyr’s castle, I’ll go back to my castle right away. Thanks,” Shinra said.

“Sure. It’s my job to serve guests. Take care,” Julia answered with flushed cheeks.

Shinra and Torou returned to the aircraft. They saw a Rhino nearby.

“What are you doing there?” Shinra asked.

“Hey, Shinra, I heard someone calling out Satyr’s name from inside,” the Rhino replied.

“Is that true?” Torou approached it and opened the door.

“Hey, Satyr, answer me, you bastard!! I’ve called you hundreds of times!! If you don’t answer, I’ll come to Earth to crush your head!” Tormentor snapped.

“Shh… It turns out that this aircraft is Satyr’s communication tool with Zhargun,” Shinra said.

“I have an idea. Rhino, you do the talking. Just pretend. Ask them what they would like to say to Satyr. Just say that he told you to answer the call,” Torou said.

“Is it okay?” the Rhino asked doubtfully.

“Just give it a shot. It’ll become a problem if I answer it,” Shinra said.

“Ahem, I’m Rhino. Sorry, who am I speaking to?”

“Finally someone answered my call! Hey, Rhino! Why is it you instead of him? Where’s that Satyr bastard?!” Tormentor snapped.

“Um, he said he’s tired of hearing your ramblings, so he told me to answer the call. He said “If you want to say something, just tell the Rhino”. I’ll tell him later.”

“Damn it! Tell him: the monster leader election has been brought forward by one year. Tell him not to be late!!”

“Okay.”

After hearing that, the three of them got out of the aircraft and thought about what they would do.

“I wonder when the election will be held.” Shinra said.

“The election is held every 500 years. Wait a second. If I do the math, it means that it’ll take place in less than three years from now,” Rhino said.

“If it has been pushed forward by one year, it is less than two years away! If Satyr does not come, they will come to Earth!” Torou said.

“Then, we still have about two years left!” Shinra said.

The Rhino immediately shared the news to the surviving monsters to prepare for an attack from Zhargun.

Shinra and Torou immediately left to tell everyone to prepare for what was to come.

“We have an advantage because we know when they’re coming!” Shinra said.