"Chapter 6: The Beginning of the Quest"

After a Year

On the day of Luka's baptism at the temple, I awoke to the soft morning light streaming through the window, a gentle reminder that today would mark the start of this damn plot.

"Finally, the day this messed-up story begins. Last night, I realized we're in the timeline of the original Monster Girl Quest."

In Monster Girl Quest Paradox, Luka has a childhood friend named Sonia, but after a whole year, there hasn't been any girl named Sonia in this village. Luka even claimed he never had a childhood friend.

"Ryuu, good morning! You won't believe what just happened!"

"What, did Ilias speak to you?" I teased.

"Wow, Ryuu, how did you know? Yeah, Goddess Ilias spoke to me, and she said I'm the hero destined to defeat the Monster Lord!"

As Luka excitedly recounted his dream with Ilias, I thought, Did this fool really dream about that annoying goddess? Hmm, I can't recall much beyond the original plot and the main characters. Whatever. After a year of hard training, I've built up some muscle and can perform basic spells like strengthening. If I really push myself, I might even pull off projection. My Noble Phantasm might be Unlimited Blade Works, but I'm not sure yet. In the Type-Moon world, if you have magic, basic spells are fair game. Since I'm a sword lover, I'm going with Unlimited Blade Works.

Lost in thought, Luka grabbed my hand.

"Come on, Ryuu! Let's go to the Temple of Ilias, and after my baptism, we'll start our journey to defeat the Monster Lord. You promised you'd join me last night!"

Luka spoke with such excitement, and I thought, Yeah, it's been a year. Yesterday, I promised I'd tag along. Well, at least I'm stronger than him now. I'll protect him.

Thinking back, there are over 100 timelines in this world. Each timeline where Luka fails to defeat a monster ends in erasure, becoming a lost world connected to the Monster Girl Quest Paradox line. I need to make sure Luka finishes his quest and marries Alice.

I chuckled and said, "Sure, Luka. I'll go with you. Let's call it THE MONSTER GIRL QUEST!"

Luka gave me a confused look. "That's a weird name, Ryuu. Call it whatever you want."

"Anyway, we won't be back to this house for a while."

Indeed, a year had passed. A somber thought crossed my mind as I looked at the house.

"Until we defeat the Monster Lord, we won't return here. Let's clean up so it's nice when we get back."

"You're right, Luka. You clean the kitchen and living room, and I'll handle the rest."

"Okay."

Just as we were about to start cleaning, we heard a shout outside.

"HEEEEELP!"

Luka and I turned toward the voice. It was Hans, the lumberjack.

"A monster! There's a monster in the forest!"

"What? A monster? But how could a monster show up in this peaceful village? We have the Temple of Ilias here—monsters wouldn't come near!" Luka was stunned, standing there like an idiot. Screams filled the air.

"Ahhhhhh!"

"Mommy!"

The village, once peaceful, was quickly thrown into chaos on Luka's baptism day.

"What should we do, Ryuu?"

Luka had never fought a monster, let alone seen one.

"Tsk, get a grip, Luka. If you can't face a monster now, how can you call yourself a hero and marry the—uh, I mean, defeat the Monster Lord?"

Oops, almost gave away the ending.

"You're right, Ryuu. Thanks. Let's go. If I can't face this monster, how can I be a hero?"

So, Luka and I grabbed our swords and rushed outside.

"Ahhh, run away!"

"What should I do?"

The village was in chaos. Villagers running from the fields rushed back to their homes, clashing against the tide of panicked people. Luka and I made our way toward the village entrance, where we heard Betty, the lady next door, shouting.

"Stop, Luka! Ryuu! Leave the monster to the soldiers at the Temple of Ilias!"

Luka paused and said, "It's fine, Betty. Ryuu and I are heroes!"

(Heroes, my ass. You're the hero, Luka, leave me out of this, I thought.)

"Heroes? You haven't even been baptized yet! Come back here!" Betty shouted.

"Ryuu, stop him!" She looked at me for help, but I was already past her.

"Not, you too!" Betty called after me.

We pushed forward through the village and eventually reached the forest's edge. We stepped off the main path and paused, scanning our surroundings.

"Where are you, monster?" Luka called.

Well, what did he expect? The naive protagonist rushing in without any knowledge. But I think it's just a slime.

As we scanned the area, I heard a noise behind us. Suddenly, a monster appeared.

[Slime Girl appears.]

"Haha, two delicious-looking boys just showed up!"

The slime giggled, and Luka stumbled back, startled. Meanwhile, I just stood there, shivering. Guess my trauma from last year was still fresh.

"So, this is a monster?" Luka asked, his body frozen in place. This was his first monster encounter.

"So, Luka, what do you think of this slime? Cute, right?"

"Well, she's powerful and weird... but yeah, surprisingly cute."

The slime's body jiggled with every movement. It was nothing like a human's, and up close, it was oddly fascinating.

While I observed the slime, Luka stood silent. Had he really frozen up? Before I could snap him out of it, the slime spoke.

"Ararara? Am I the first monster you've seen?"

Well, since he was silent, I guess he kind of admitted it to the slime.

"Listen, there's a village here, and you're scaring everyone. Can you just leave? We don't need to fight."

Luka tried to reason with her, but he was clearly scared. The slime responded with a laugh.

"Haha, a pacifist, huh? But I'm hungry, and I won't leave unless you give me semen."

Tsk. In this world, many monsters feed on men's semen. Hearing this familiar line made me step back in fear.

"Ararara, your friend's scared now too."

"What do we do, Ryuu? We can't give her semen. Ilias forbids humans from having intercourse with monsters. It's one of her Five Forbidden Teachings."

"Well, looks like we fight. We came here to deal with her, didn't we?" I said to the slime girl.

"I'll just have to force it out of you both."

"Luka, grab your sword. We'll fight," I ordered, noticing Luka was still in a daze, holding his sword.

"Oi, Luka, what's wrong with you?"

I yelled at him while dodging a slime ball.

"I missed," the slime girl said.

"Oh well, looks like I'll handle this alone for a while."

I charged at the slime, my sword slashing at her head. I stepped back, and after a year of training, my body felt light and strong. I thought the fight was over, but the slime began regenerating, and her head reformed.

"Is that all, human? If so, just lay down and I'll give you pleasure beyond your wildest dreams."

"Nah, I'm good. If you were a white-haired yandere, I'd say yes, but nope."

As I bantered with the slime, Luka finally snapped out of his stupor and shouted at me.

"Stay back, Ryuu! I just had a vision from Ilias and now know how to fight. I'm not scared anymore. Watch as I defeat this slime!"

"Okay," I sheathed my sword and moved back to watch his battle.

Luka and the slime both stared at me like I was some weirdo.

"What? He told me to step back, so I did. Why are you looking at me like I'm the problem?"

Luka quickly focused on the slime again, gripping his sword tighter. But before he could make a move, the slime's gooey puddle sucked him in.

"Doesn't it feel nice to be wrapped in my slime? Hehehe, just relax and I'll take you to heaven."

"Let go of me!" Luka struggled and broke free.

"Aw, I was about to make you feel good. Don't you want to reach heaven? Let me wrap my slime around your... Penis."

The slime started laughing.

Then Luka shouted so loudly it almost shattered my eardrums.

"LUKA ATTTTTTTTTAAAAAACK!"

But the slime dodged.

"Eh?"

"You dumbass! That attack was so slow even my grandmother could dodge it. And yelling like that? Even a blind person would see it coming."

I shouted, frustrated.

"Eh?"

"Haha, what a slow attack. No way that's hitting anyone," the slime girl mocked.

"So, if I attack faster, I can hit her, Ryuu?" Luka asked, turning to me.

"Yes, you idiot! And quit yelling so loudly next time!"

Then, slimy tentacles gently brushed against Luka's groin.

"Agghhh!"

"Idiot, step back! Don't stand still in a fight unless you want to be violated by that slime!" I yelled, annoyed by the absurdity of it all.

Luka shouted again,

"Luka small ATTTACK!"

With a quick swing, Luka cut off the slime's right hand. He grinned and smiled, but I reminded him,

"She can regenerates, idiot."

"What?"

As I said this, the slime's hand grew back.

"Eh?"

"Hehehe, I'm a slime, you moron. Sword attacks can't hurt me."

"N... No way!"

Luka looked like the world was ending. He tried again, but the same thing happened.

"This isn't fair! What should I do? Ilias, help!"

"Hehe, just give up. Let me wrap you up and squeeze the last drop from you. I'll make you feel like you've reached heaven."

The slime girl cackled.

"Idiot, Luka, try attacking faster and more frequently!" I urged.

Inspired, Luka started swinging his sword wildly.

"Owowowowow!"

The slime tried to reform, but Luka's quicker strikes kept her at bay.

"ORA! Flail wildly!" Luka shouted, his sword dancing.

"Stop it, you meanie!" the slime girl yelled, retreating.

"Haaaa, haaa, I did it!" Luka said, exhausted.

"If the fight had lasted more than 30 seconds, I would've lost."

"Tsk, that's because your endurance is pathetic," I replied, helping him to his feet.

"Ryuu, you bastard! Why didn't you help?" Luka glared at me.

"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow, amused by his frustration.

"I don't know who said, 'My friend, step back, I just received a vision from Ilias and now know how to fight,' huh?"

Luka flushed with embarrassment as I repeated his words.

"Forget it. I'm just happy I scared her off without killing her."

"Hmmm, so you don't want to kill monsters, Luka?" I asked, knowing his answer.

"Yeah, I believe in coexistence between humans and monsters. So, I don't want to kill them. Can you promise not to either, Ryuu?"

"Hmmm, as long as the monster isn't trying to kill me, I won't kill them," I replied.

"But," Luka hesitated,

"What?" I asked.

"All monsters want to rape us, squeeze us, and kill us."

"Oh, you mean death by snu-snu?"

"Huh? What's that?"

"Eh, never mind. Okay, I promise I won't kill any monster unless there's no other option."

"Yay, thank you, Ryuu! You're stronger than me now, so you would've ended that fight in seconds, right?"

"Nah, I just trained mindlessly. I learned the basics of thrusting and slashing. That's it. Luka, when you wield a sword, it's either to protect your loved ones or to kill."

"Anyway, let's get going. It's your big day. We can't miss it."

"Yeah, you're right. Let's head back to the village."

With Luka energized after his victory, we headed back.

On the way, Luka asked,

"Ryuu, do you think I can defeat the Monster Lord?"

"Don't worry, silly. You can, and I'm sure you'll make coexistence happen. I'll be there to help you."

"Thanks, Ryuu. That means a lot to me," Luka said. Well, he did it in the original, so I'll just keep watching over him.

Now that I think about it, Luka shared stories with me about how the human-monster relationship wasn't always this bad. Thirty years ago, though, there was a huge massacre in Remina, a town near the Monster Lord's castle. A monster assault left the town in ruins, and since then, monsters and humans have been at war. Monsters pushed humans from their towns, and wild monsters began attacking people. The Monster Lord declared war on humanity, and the hatred spread. There are a few places where humans and monsters coexist, but for the most part, humans despise monsters. Luka wants to end this war. Well, that's a story for another time. I know the attack 30 years ago was Ilias's fault, but let him figure it out on his own.

"Okay, stop getting all emotional. Let's hurry."

"Yeah, let's go," Luka agreed. As we made our way forward, a loud explosion echoed through the air.

BOOOOOOOOOM!

"Damn, that was loud!"

The impact shook the ground.

"Oi, Ryuu, that sounded close. What was that?"

"Let's go check it out."

Luka and I sprinted toward the source of the explosion, pushing through the trees. We eventually found a beautiful woman on the ground. She had white hair, a flower in it, pale blue skin, and big breasts. Her lower half was a snake's tail. A monster—Alice, Luka's future wife—if he ever reaches the original ending without any paradoxes.