"A certain wandering scholar of monsters" is the otherwise nameless in-universe author of the Monster Girl Encyclopedia I and other books. He travels the world researching and categorizing monster girls despite considerable personal risk, both from the Order (eager to publicly execute [1] him for blasphemy) and from the monster girls themselves (the threat of permanent pelvic entanglement always looming large over dealings between men and monsters).
A Master Encyclopaedist
Wandering Scholar spoke with the head baphomet of the Sabbath as well as the Mamono Lord herself when working on Monster Girl Encyclopedia I [2]. While trying to escape Order pursuers, he took shelter in Mamono Realm Lescatie and interviewed the lilim Druella for Fallen Maidens [3]. Later he collaborated with Saphirette Spherica on the Monster Girl Encyclopedia World Guide II: Mamono Realm Traveller's Guide [4].
The dangerous mission on which the Wandering Scholar has embarked seems to be born just out of a desire to document the truth about the world and the monsters, and let people make their own conclusions as to whether they are good or evil. Often, this puts him in direct opposition to the Order's teachings, but he is not uncritical of some of the monsters' more outlandish claims, either (like Saphirette's eulogizing of elementals [5] or her blasé attitude towards monsterization [6]).
Although his intention may be the pursuit of knowledge, the monsters with which Wandering Scholar collaborates often have ulterior motives - Druella cursed copies of Fallen Maidens in order to monsterize female readers [7], and Saphirette tried to use the Mamono Realm Traveler's Guide as an extended classified ad for herself to attract a husband. The Scholar coyly remarks that the only reason he personally has avoided becoming a monster's prisoner is thanks to the help of a Leanan Sidhe "traveling companion", who holds off would-be attackers.
The scholar's typical method of writing the profile for a particular race of monster involves finding a married individual and her husband, and conducting an interview, before moving on. These meetings and his observations are normally not particularly long or exhaustive, and thus at times the scholar's conclusions can be exaggerated or too generalized, sometimes relying on hearsay or presumption to fill out gaps. For an example, the Zipangu article in Monster Girl Encyclopedia I is written solely based on the information from mamono, while the updated article in Monster Girl Encyclopedia I is written after the scholar has visited the nation by himself and providing more information, including the mentioned of anti-monster factions. He does not seek to misinform and in general is reliable, but his own biases and tendency toward hyperbole do sometimes affect his writing, making some monsters seem more threatening or deviant than they actually are, or making extreme behavior seem like the norm or equally applicable to the entirety of a particular monster race.
The scholar wrongly speculated in the Monster Girl Encyclopedia I that defeating the Mamono Lord would result in the mamono reverting back to being man-eating monsters, as he's unaware of the role of Fate.[8]
After hiding out in Lescatie, the scholar eventually made his way to Zipangu as he had long wished, allowing him to write many more profiles for monsters native there, as well as more detailed lore regarding the region, which he published in Monster Girl Encyclopedia II. From there he again expressed a desire to go to the Mist Continent, a difficult journey due to the mists that surround it, making navigation difficult.
He also at some point met the baphomet Runya Runya, who gave him a magical item called a projecting mirror to keep in touch with her. The two planned to coauthor Monster Girl Encyclopedia World Guide III, however, she would end up writing it alone when the scholar mysteriously went missing while on a ship attempting to reach the Mist Continent. Runya believes he is still alive, but is perplexed that even with the magic of the projecting mirror she is unable to contact him (believing this rules out him having ended up with sea monsters). She speculates that the abyssal monsters, beings mysterious even to a learned researcher like herself, may have something to do with it all. The truth is still unknown.
He also has an unnamed student, the author of World Guide - Side I and World Guide - Side II. As it's revealed in the afterword of the latter book, the student has a hidden crush on their teacher and became an alp.
Quotes from Wandering Scholar
Well, where should I run to? What do you think of Zipangu, which I've only heard about from stories? I also want to try going to the Mist Continent which lies to the north of Zipangu. Even over there, surely there must be many kinds of monsters I still haven't seen, and I'll probably meet many couples living happily together.
- In the Afterword to MGE-1
Monsters drown humans in supernatural pleasure and tempt them into an existence of a devilish nature just like themselves. The monsters I found living in “Mamono Realm Nation Lescatie” when I dropped by this time were beings that truly fit that description.
- In the Foreword to Fallen Maidens
That was way more than a “little bit long.” Also, if she was going to do an advertisement, she should have explicitly made that clear in the article.
- In the Mamono Realm Traveller's Guide, taking umbrage at Saphirette's rambling asides
References
- ↑ Monster Girl Encyclopedia 1; Afterword
- ↑ Monster Girl Encyclopedia I; The Order of God and the Structure of the World; 2-2: The Truth
- ↑ Fallen Maidens; Foreword
- ↑ Mamono Realm Traveller's Guide; Foreword
- ↑ Mamono Realm Traveller's Guide; Elemental Handbook; 2. Monsterized Elementals
- ↑ Mamono Realm Traveller's Guide; 2. Origin of the Mamono Realms
- ↑ Fallen Maidens; Afterword
- ↑ Kenkou Cross Q&A/Ask.fm#Setting; Question 72