GrM - Vol4 p.1

It looked like the orc attendants had all been killed. Shihoru was crying tears of relief and Yume was hugging her, saying, “There, there. You did great. Just great,” as she patted her on the head.

“Can you get up?” Merry asked.

Yeah, no, I can’t. Haruhiro was about to tell that lie, because it seemed like Merry would treat him gently if he did. But he didn’t.

“I can manage, yeah,” Haruhiro said, getting up. “Though, really, before you help me...”

Why’s he just standing there? Haruhiro wondered.

Everyone was dancing, chatting, having their priest treat them, or doing something, but Moguzo was just standing there.

There’s something weird about it, Haruhiro thought.

Moguzo wasn’t holding his sword. His arms were slumped at his sides.

It’s incredible that he’s standing at all, though, Haruhiro thought. I’m amazed he can stand. That he managed to stay on his feet. Especially in that state. Like, his helmet, it’s not just crushed, it’s not even fully on. There’s blood dripping off him here and there, too.

Suddenly, Moguzo slowly fell over. Like when something big and heavy suddenly loses its support and collapses. That was the sort of fall it was.

Merry gulped.

“...Moguzo?” When Haruhiro called his name, Moguzo slowly got to his feet. “Wh-What was that for?”

Haruhiro calmed himself, letting out a sigh. That surprised me. For a moment there, I was really panicking. I thought something happened that we can never let happen. There’s no way it would have, though.

“Don’t scare me like that, Moguzo,” he said.

“Sorry, sorry.” Moguzo let out an embarrassed laugh and scratched the back of his head.

Still, he sure is bleeding a lot, Haruhiro thought. With all that blood, it’s impossible to tell what kind of face he’s making. But, well, it looks like he’s fine somehow.

“Thank goodness...” Haruhiro murmured, closing his eyes. He covered his face with his hands. I think I’m gonna cry. “Really, thank goodness...”

Seriously, I don’t know what I would have done. If that ever happened, we’d be screwed. So screwed.

It’ll never happen, though.

Like, no way. It couldn’t. Not a chance.

“Thank goodness...”

I think I’m gonna cry. Wait, no, I already am. My hands are wet. The hands covering my face. That’s just how relieved I am. Seriously, what a relief. Thank goodness. Just thank goodness. Honestly—Honestly, I thought he was a goner. I think I vaguely remember having a dream like that.

Though, I don’t know when I’d have had time for a dream like that. I wonder. Was it something like a prophetic dream? Like, maybe I had a dream like that last night? A dream where he wasn’t okay? That’s so weird. Having a dream like that. It’s weird. Anyway, thank goodness. Moguzo’s covered in blood, but, still, thank goodness. If nothing else, I’m glad he’s all right.

“Thank goodness...”

Haruhiro heard a voice. His own voice. He moved his hands.

Dark. It’s pitch dark. A room. It’s our room in the volunteer soldier lodging house. Was I sleeping? I was asleep. That means...

He didn’t want to think it. But... he wanted to check, had to check, so he sat up.

There were two bunk beds in this room. Ranta used the upper bunk of the other bed.

Ranta’s there. He’s snoring. And on the lower bunk—He’s not there. No one is. It’s empty.

He’s not there. Moguzo’s not there.

He isn’t anywhere anymore.

1.    The Unbearable Heaviness of Reality

It’s terrible when a person dies.

In the end, Haruhiro had probably never imagined that he would be forced to experience that again.

Of course, he had thought it was a possibility. He had probably thought about it more seriously than any of his comrades, and he had feared it from the bottom of his heart.

But the death, the loss, that Haruhiro had expected wasn’t like the reality.

This was very different from what happened with Manato. That time, it had come without them really understanding what was happening, and by the time they had noticed, all that was left was pain.

They had carried the body back to Alterna, had the body burned at the crematorium, then buried his ashes on the hill where the tower with no entrance stood. Those memories hadn’t blurred in the least, but it all went by strangely quickly. That was probably because Renji and the others had helped them out, so things had moved along without any hitches.

However, from there on, it was terrible.

Haruhiro’s comrade, his friend, was dead. They had burned him, reducing him to ash and bone, and now he rested eternally on that hill where no one would disturb him. Moguzo was lost to Haruhiro and his friends now.

Though Moguzo was gone, there were still traces left behind that showed he had once existed.

His equipment, for instance.

There was his heavily dented plate armor and his crushed helmet, along with The Chopper, that sword they had taken off Death Spots. They couldn’t burn those things with him. Even if they had wanted to, they were made of metal, so it was physically impossible.

Even so, they couldn’t just throw them out, either. But if they were going to keep them, they didn’t have the space.

“...For now, we could put them on deposit... maybe,” Shihoru said.

No one objected to Shihoru’s proposal. However, when they went to the Yorozu Deposit Company, they discovered a serious problem.

“Yes, it is possible for you to deposit items other than money with our company,” said the fourth Yorozu, a young girl wearing a gaudy red and white outfit accented with gold along with a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. She tapped her gold pipe on the counter. “When you deposit money, the deposit fee is 1/100th of the amount deposited. When you deposit an item, it is 1/50th of the appraised value. But even without an appraisal, I can tell you that that helmet and armor are worthless.”

“Huh...? Why?” Haruhiro asked.

“Do you need it explained to you, insolent one?”

Ever since the first day they’d met, Yorozu had kept calling Haruhiro “insolent one.” It was awful.

“That helmet and armor are useless,” she said. “Even if you were to spend the money to repair them, I question whether they could ever be useful again. Anyway, I suggest you go to a blacksmith and have them take that scrap metal off your hands.”

“Hey, you! Watch your tongue...!” Ranta screamed.

Haruhiro did at least hold Ranta back from jumping over the counter, but he felt the same as Ranta did.

Scrap metal! What’re you calling scrap metal? That’s my comrade’s armor, I’ll have you know! It’s a memento. You can’t call it scrap metal. You don’t know a damn thing, so don’t give me that crap!

However, that wasn’t quite true.

Yorozu narrowed her eyes, then shrugged her delicate shoulders. “They are mementos of your comrade, correct? Information of all sorts tends to find its way to the Yorozu, you see. I am aware of your situation, but at this company there are some rules that even the fourth Yorozu cannot bend. No matter what the reason, we cannot give you special treatment. You cannot deposit items that are of no value with our company. Our warehouse space is finite, after all. If those items are so precious that you cannot bear to dispose of them, then you should take care of them yourselves.”

There was nothing Haruhiro could say back to that. If the items were so

important to them, they could take care of them themselves. No, not just could—should. Yorozu was absolutely right, and it would have been wrong to fault her for it.

“...Well, how about the sword...?” asked Shihoru.

Yorozu nodded. “That, you can deposit with us, of course. However, it once belonged to the Death Spots, did it not? It will not be cheap.”

When they had one of the specialist clerks appraise it, it actually did come out to an incredible price. It was 25 gold. The deposit fee would be 1/50th of that, so 50 silver. While it wasn’t beyond their means, it was enough to give them pause.

“Yume’s thinkin’ maybe we don’t need to decide right now...” said Yume.

Haruhiro agreed. Practically speaking, putting it off still left them with the problem of what to do with the items. It felt like, in the end, they were going to have no choice but to deposit it anyway. Still, they didn’t need to decide immediately. They could do it tomorrow, the day after, or even later. They had other things that they would need to do.

Yorozu said, “While you’re here, out of concern, let me ask you, what do you wish to do with the deceased’s assets?”

“Assets?” Haruhiro asked.

“The deceased had money on deposit with our company. Only he himself would normally be able to withdraw it, but in the event of death, it is possible for someone else to do so by going through the proper procedures.”

“Huh... Really?” Haruhiro asked.

“Specifically, you would have to go through the Volunteer Soldier Corps office to acquire a death certificate and a certificate granting you power of attorney, both issued by the margrave,” she said. “On confirmation of those documents, our company will return the deceased’s assets to his legal representative.”

“The office... Certificates...”

“For your information, at present, we are unable to disclose any further details regarding the deceased’s assets,” Yorozu informed them.

How much did Moguzo have saved up? Haruhiro wondered. He bought armor whenever he had the money to, and his meals cost a lot, so he can’t have had much in savings. Still, I feel like it’d be sloppy to just leave it. When we lost Manato, we didn’t know left from right, so we couldn’t handle it properly. This time, I want to do things right. I have to.

Was Haruhiro the only one thinking that?

The day after they went to the Yorozu Deposit Company, Haruhiro visited the Volunteer Soldier Corps office on his own. Ranta wouldn’t get out of bed, and Haruhiro couldn’t get a clear response when he tried to call Yume and Shihoru. As for Merry, she wasn’t even in the same building. Haruhiro had had no choice but to come alone.

When he went to talk to Britney, a.k.a. Bri-chan, about the paperwork, Britney called out to him first.

“Oh, it’s you! Fabulous timing. Let’s talk bounty money. Huh, what’s that, you say? You never went to the meeting to decide how it would be divided, you say? I hear that caused some trouble for them. Renji and Kajiko, that is. Well, I’m sure you were too busy worrying about other things to attend. Still, it’s times like that when you need to get in there and stake your claim, otherwise you’ll lose out, you know?”

“...Bounty money,” Haruhiro muttered. “—Wait. Huh...?”

They had already received the payment for the order when they had returned to Alterna after the operation was complete. The rest of the balance they were owed came to 80 silver each, paid in the form of military scrip: thin copper chits issued by the Frontier Army.

“Ah,” Haruhiro realized. “Do you mean for the keeper, Zoran Zesh, and the sorcerer, Abael...?”

“Yes, for them.” Bri-chan licked his black lips and closed one eye.

Oh, please, stop, thought Haruhiro. Don’t screw around with me now.

“Zoran Zesh was 100 gold, Abael was 50. That’s 150 gold total,” Bri-chan said. “The way I heard it, you and your party took out Abael almost entirely on your own.”

“Ah... Well, yeah... I guess. Now that you mention it, maybe we kind of did.”

“That said, in cases like that, things are generally split evenly,” said Bri- chan. “There’d be squabbling otherwise.”

“Well... you could be right about that. I wouldn’t know.” “What’s the matter with you?” Bri-chan demanded. “You really

distinguished yourselves there. Aren’t you happy?”

“Happy...?” Haruhiro almost burst out laughing. Not because he thought it was funny, of course. No, that wasn’t it. How would he put it...

All he could do was laugh? No, that wasn’t it, either. Like, “Don’t you get

it? Are you stupid?” Like, “I’m gonna send you flying.”

Haruhiro looked downwards, clenching his hands into fists. “...No, I don’t think I’m happy.”

“I can see that.” Bri-chan sighed.

Haruhiro was still looking down, so he couldn’t see the expression on Bri- chan’s face. He didn’t really want to see it, either.

“Regardless, you have a right to a share of the reward money, and I’m holding onto your share. According to Kajiko, Renji basically steamrolled her, but you get 60 gold.”

“Sixty?!” Haruhiro gasped.

He couldn’t help but be shocked by that number. He felt like he’d suddenly woken up from a dream.

Oh, if only it had all been a nightmare. How glad he would have been. “Sixty gold—you mean, like, 60 gold coins...?” he stumbled.

“That’s right,” said Bri-chan. “Or, if we convert it to silver coins, 6,000.

Divide it by six—no, five—and you each get 12 gold.” “Twelve...” Haruhiro murmured.

It touched a nerve the way Bri-chan had corrected himself from six to five, but it was such a large amount of money that it still hadn’t sunk in that it was real just yet.

But I’m not happy, Haruhiro thought. Not happy at all.

“...We’ll take what we can get, but...” “But?” Bri-chan demanded.

“No... We’ll take it. Gratefully. It’s better to have money than not to, after all. Having it’s not going to hurt us. Ah, but before that—”

“A death certificate and power of attorney, right?” asked Bri-chan. “Yeah.”

“It’ll take a while.”

“It will?” Haruhiro asked.

“It has to go through the bureaucrats, after all. Be prepared for it to take ten days. I’d guess around seven, maybe. They almost never issue them within six days. What? You look like you just want to get this over and done with.”

“...Honestly, I may feel that way a bit, yeah,” said Haruhiro.

“It’s not going to be that simple. If you were blood relatives, you could go to Tenboro Tower and sign the papers yourself. But volunteer soldiers aren’t

family. If he’d been married, it would be a different matter.” “Married...”

That was another word that just didn’t feel real, and Haruhiro couldn’t help but think about how Moguzo would never be able to get married.

He never can. Because he died. It feels like a lie. I lifted Moguzo’s motionless body with my own hands, carried him all the way to the crematorium, and even saw the bones and ashes that were left afterwards, and I still can’t believe it. I don’t want to believe.

“He wasn’t yet, right?” Bri-chan asked. “Married, that is.” “...Yeah, he wasn’t.”

“For a volunteer soldier who’s single, they’re without any relatives, so the Volunteer Soldier Corps office is the one that confirms their identity. I’ll need signatures from all of you.”

“Huh? Not just from me?” Haruhiro asked.

“Yes. The whole party,” said Bri-chan. “And I’ll need you all to sign it in front of me. That’s the law.”

“So, then...” Haruhiro began. “Come back later.”

As he walked away from the office dejectedly, Haruhiro was at a loss for what to do. Ranta, Yume, and Shihoru would be fine. But what about Merry?

Now that I think about it, up until now, we’ve never really talked about plans, thought Haruhiro. We just gathered at the north gate every morning, as if that was the natural thing to do. After Moguzo died, did we talk at all about what to do the next day? Wait, no, that’s just it. The day it happened, we had to take care of the burial and stuff, so Merry stayed in Yume and Shihoru’s room that night. I think it was around noon, the next day. When I saw her at the lodge, we got talking about what to do with Moguzo’s things, then we went to the Yorozu Deposit Company... and when we split up in the evening, I don’t feel like the topic of what to do the next day came up.

I wonder what Merry’s doing, he thought. Yume and Shihoru might know where Merry’s renting a room. Guess I’ll have to try asking. Actually, it might be better to have Yume and Shihoru go instead of me. At times like this, it might be better if they were all girls. Either way, I need to find a way to get in touch and meet up with her.

Haruhiro was holding onto a chit for 60 gold. He needed to split it between five people.

—Five, huh. Five people. One short. Split it five ways...? I can’t split a chit. I’ve got to exchange it for money first. If I recall, I should be able to trade it in at the Yorozu Deposit Company. I wish we’d gone to the office before we went to Yorozu’s. Still, we only found out about the procedure we need to go through from Yorozu, so I guess it wouldn’t have worked.

“Ahhh...”

As Haruhiro dragged his feet down the road back to the lodging house, he started to feel sick of everything.

“What a pain...”

I want to stop and stand still. I want to crouch down and clutch my head. I want to curl into a ball and stay like that forever.

Suddenly, he remembered Choco. He’d totally forgotten. Haruhiro was appalled with himself.

I’m seriously terrible. So terrible, all I can really do is laugh. Choco died, didn’t she? Choco’s party, too. They were probably wiped out. I wonder what happened to Choco. Did someone give her a proper burial? The plan was driven by the Frontier Army to begin with. I doubt they’d leave bodies lying around after the battle.

Burial. Burial, huh.

We burn them, reduce them to bones and ash, then bury them up on that hill, but what good does it do? Nothing really comes of it. It’s just that, if we don’t cremate them, No-Life King’s curse will turn them into zombies. It wouldn’t sit right with me to let Choco come back as a zombie. I don’t want that. Absolutely not.

For those who’ve died, they aren’t able to do anything about the bodies they leave behind. It falls to the living to do something about it for them.

Did we manage to handle things right? Are we handling things right?

What do you think, Moguzo? Isn’t there more we could be doing? Like, some way you’d wanted us to do things? Or were there things you wouldn’t have wanted us to do? We’re not doing anything wrong, are we?

I can ask, but he won’t answer. Moguzo’s gone. Choco’s gone, too.

They’re dead.

It doesn’t feel real, but they’re dead. That’s no lie.

It’s the truth.

“We never should have gone...” he murmured.

The order. We never should have accepted it. Neither should Choco and her party. It was too much for us.

“Who was it who brought up the idea...?” he asked himself.

It was Ranta. Damn him.

“...But I was the one who made the decision.”

If Haruhiro hadn’t voted in favor, they might not have accepted the order.

No, there was no “might” about it. They probably wouldn’t have.

If he hadn’t talked with Choco about how her party was going to accept the order, Haruhiro probably wouldn’t have convinced himself to do so. Back then, he should have done whatever it took to stop Choco. He should have told her that it was dangerous. It was reckless. That she couldn’t go.

If her party hadn’t been willing to change their minds, she could have left them. He should have persuaded her to. Haruhiro should have voted against. No matter how much of a fuss Ranta would have kicked up about it. They couldn’t handle what they couldn’t handle. It was too dangerous. The risk was too great.

But, at the time, Haruhiro had thought the risk wasn’t that high, so he’d voted in favor.

I know, he thought bitterly. Hindsight is always 20/20. Once something like this happens, it’s natural to think that everything I did was a mistake. I want to blame someone, even if it’s myself. Even though that’s pointless.

No matter what I do, Moguzo’s not coming back.

Haruhiro looked up to the sky.

What time is it now? Around three o’clock in the afternoon. It’s awfully sunny. I dunno what to say. It’s a sunny day, Moguzo.

“I just have to keep looking forward, don’t I?” he asked himself. “There’s nothing else I can do...”

The sky’s so beautiful, it almost seems like a joke.

Haruhiro covered half his face with his right hand. It stung his eyes.

2.    Feelin’ Funya-funya

Yume was feeling real funya-funya. What was funya-funya?

Yume didn’t really know that herself, but she was feeling funya-funya, so funya-funya was all she could call it.

Because she was feeling funya-funya, she didn’t even want to get up. That was why Yume was lyin’ face down in the bottom bunk of the bed in her room at the volunteer soldier lodging house.

Once in a while, she’d roll over. But because she was feeling funya-funya, even turnin’ over was a chore.

In fact, for a long while now, she’d needed to pee and had been holding it in. She knew she should go to the bathroom. Actually, she had to. That was something she knew for sure, but because she was feeling funya-funya, she couldn’t motivate herself to go.

“Yume,” Shihoru called out to her.

Yume wanted to respond. But she was feeling funya-funya, so even raisin’ her voice took a lot of effort.

In the end, she just went, “...Mmm?” “...Are you hungry?” Shihoru asked. “Nnnn...”

Yume wonders about that, she thought. Yume doesn’t think it’s that she’s not hungry at all. If Yume was gonna eat, she could probably eat a whole lot, y’know? She just doesn’t really want to eat. Well, if Yume doesn’t eat, Yume’s fine with not eatin’, I guess.

“...Nnnn,” she said.

“You have to eat,” Shihoru protested. “Not eating’s bad for your health, I think...”

“Nnnn...” “Yume?”

“Mmm?”

“Are you listening?” “Mmm...”

This’s no good, Yume though to herself while feeling funya-funya. Yume needs to give her a proper response. Yume knows that, but she just can’t do it.

Yume’s not doin’ this to mess with her. Yume just doesn’t have the energy.

It’s not just her body, y’know. Yume’s feelings are all funya-funya, too.

“...Give me a break,” Shihoru muttered, in a real tiny voice. It was a real tiny voice, so it was hard to be sure if she’d meant for Yume to hear it or not.

Either way, Shihoru was definitely irritated. She sounded angry, the way she said it. It was the first time Shihoru had spoken like that. At least, Yume had never heard her do it before.

Yume rolled over to look at Shihoru, who was sitting on the bed next to her. Shihoru was looking downwards, hanging her head.

“...Sorry,” Yume said.

Hearing the apology, Shihoru shook her head back and forth. “...No... I should apologize.”

“But you’ve got nothin’ to apologize for, Shihoru,” Yume said. “But    ”

“Shihoru, you’ve done nothin’ wrong.” “That’s not..................... true.”

“You haven’t.”

“I can’t say... I agree.”

“Oh, yeah?” Yume asked.

Shihoru hesitated. “...From here on.. what are we supposed to do?”

“Hmm.. ”

Yume tried thinking. But she couldn’t think straight. Her thoughts would just suddenly stop.

Still, she kept thinking. Yume was thinking desperately, at least by Yume’s standards. She tried to find the words.

“Hey, Shihoru.” “Yeah?”

“Yume, she’s not good at handlin’ this sort of stuff,” said Yume. “What

do you call it...? Hard stuff, painful stuff, she really hates it. Everyone does.” “...Yeah.”

“Well, listen, this is just an example, but imagine it rained really hard.” “Okay,” Shihoru said slowly.

“So, it’s rainin’ real hard, and you can’t walk around outside, so you’ve gotta stay indoors, y’know. Well, the thing about rain is, even if you ask it to stop, it’s not gonna.”

“Yeah,” said Shihoru.

“It’s like, who would you even ask?” asked Yume. “So, at times like this, there’s really no helpin’ it, y’know?”

“There’s no helping it...” Shihoru murmured. “You think so?”

“Hmm, well, you could say we couldn’t help things turnin’ out like this, and now that they have, there’s no helpin’ it. That’s what Yume meant. It all feels like it’s gotta be a lie, though. Yume never thought things’d turn out like this, y’know.”

“Yeah... same here,” Shihoru said sorrowfully.

“Why didn’t Yume think of it?” Yume asked. “It’s not weird at all that it happened, y’know. Yume should’ve known that.”

This wasn’t the first time it’d happened. It was the second.

But, still, she hadn’t even imagined it, that they could lose a comrade. That Moguzo would die.

“Yume’s so stupid.” Yume lay on her front. Her whole body felt funya- funya, and awfully heavy. “...Yume, she’s too stupid, y’know. Because Yume’s too stupid, that’s probably how things ended up like this.”

Shihoru didn’t say anything.

Yume was gettin’ kind of tired. But she was sure she wouldn’t be able to fall asleep. Yume tried lyin’ on her back. Her body felt even more funya- funya than before, and heavy.

She didn’t want to move. She didn’t think she’d be able to move for a while.

3.    Unlimited

“Hey, Pops! Add another order of soruzo!” Ranta shouted, spraying noodles and broth from his mouth as he did. He raised the index finger on his left hand, too.

In the village of stalls next to the craftsmen’s town in the southern district, there was a stall that was the only place in Alterna where he could get a noodle dish called soruzo.

Soruzo was a dish of meat thrown into a salty broth with yellow noodles that were made by kneading wheat flower and then cutting it thinly. If someone were to ask him if it was delicious, he’d’ve had a hard time saying definitively that it was. It was the sort of dish that tastes would probably be divided on. Especially for that first mouthful.

However, every time he ate it, it became more and more delicious to him. Once some time passed, he’d begin to crave it again. After all the times he’d eaten it, he was completely entranced with the stuff. Once every ten days— no, every five—no, no, if possible, every three days—he wanted to eat it.

There was a pile of large bowls stacked up in front of Ranta. Seven, in total.

Ranta was about to polish off his eighth bowl of soruzo. The ninth bowl that he had just ordered would be coming out soon.

Freshly-made soruzo was hot. Damn hot, in fact. But Ranta didn’t want to waste time blowing on it, so he dug right in.

He’d burned the inside of his mouth. Honestly, he couldn’t even tell what it tasted like anymore. His belly was hurting, too. He was starting to look like a pregnant woman.

At this point, eating was nothing but suffering, but Ranta didn’t stop. This last sip would finish his eighth bowl.

“—Bwahh... ! I sure ate!” he exclaimed.

At that same moment, the ninth bowl arrived. When the heavy steam from it washed over him, he got dizzy.

The scent from that perfect harmony of chicken bones, pork fat, onions, and carrots should have whet his appetite for more, but it only gave Ranta heartburn now.

“Kid, are you okay?” The old man running the stall peered at Ranta’s face.

Ranta gave him a nod, wiping his face off with one hand. It was a mess of sweat, and snot, and more sweat. He must have looked awful. But, damn it, he didn’t care.

“—Okay!”

Ranta got to work on his ninth bowl. With each noodle he slurped down, he felt a little nauseous. When it felt like it was all going to come back up, he quickly covered his mouth.

—I’m not gonna puke. I swear I won’t puke.

Like I’d let myself do that.

I’ve gotta eat. I’ll eat, and eat, and eat some more. I’ll eat everything. “Someday, let’s do it. Open a restaurant.”

Ranta’s comrade’s—no, his partner’s face came to mind.

That time, Moguzo... he thought. Seriously.. seriously, he had a better

look on his face than I’d ever seen before.

“But, me, I don’t want to open a soruzo place, I want to make ramen. I’ll save up money, study, and when I can make ramen that tastes just right, let’s do it, let’s open that restaurant.”

“.. Sure.”

Ranta could respond all he wanted, but it wouldn’t reach his partner.

All I can do is eat. Right now, I’ve just gotta eat. I’m gonna slurp away like crazy at the soruzo my partner loved. I’ll eat all I can eat. I’ll eat even once I can’t eat. Even if I’m full, even if I don’t want to eat anymore, I’ll just keep eating. Eat. Eat, damn you.

“Urrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!”

Because, man.

Because.

—Because.

“Becaushe shyou can’t eat anymorshe...!” Ranta wailed.

Right, partner? he thought, grief-stricken. No matter how much you want to eat, you can’t eat anymore.

Ranta was going to eat his partner’s share. What was the point in that?

Like he cared. He didn’t know what the point was. It didn’t matter. Ranta just thought it was what he ought to do. He couldn’t help but think it, and so he couldn’t bear not to do it.

“Gwehhh...! Pops! One more bowl!”

“B-But, come on, kid,” the geezer protested.

“It’s fine! Just hurry up and give it to me!” Ranta shouted. “O-Okay.”

“Bowl number nine!” Ranta screamed.

Just a little more, and he’d be done with his ninth bowl. Ranta spurred himself to go faster. He was trying to speed up, but for some reason the amount of noodles just wasn’t going down. His hands stopped. A dark wave of nausea struck. He couldn’t breathe. He felt like he was going to suffocate.

Then, he suddenly realized. There was a lot of noise around him. When he looked, there were craftsmen and volunteer soldiers all around him.

What? They’re all staring at me. What for...?

“Hey, that guy, his next bowl’ll be his tenth, you know?” someone pointed out.

“Whoa... Seriously...?” “No way.”

“Is that normal?” “I couldn’t do it...”

“Awesome...”

“I mean, isn’t that crazy?”

“Still, he’ll start struggling soon.” “You said it.”

“Of course he will. Ten bowls? I don’t think he can do it. I just can’t see it. Not ten bowls. That’s tough.”

“Yeah, that has to be too much.” “Not ten bowls.”

“Hmph...” Ranta snorted. He felt something weird when he did. Was there something caught in his nose? He went fishing for it, and it turned out to be a soruzo noodle. He considered throwing it away, but his partner never

would’ve done that. Ranta threw the chunk of noodle he’d excavated from his nose back into his mouth.

“Hey, take a good look, guys,” he said proudly. “Ten bowls? That’s not even an obstacle to me. It’ll be easy. This is nothing.”

—I’m going for it.

Getting himself back in gear, Ranta rapidly polished off his ninth bowl.

The tenth was coming. He felt dizzy, but that was no big deal.

“Bring it on!” Ranta stood up and brought the bowl to his mouth, pouring the damn hot noodles and broth together into his stomach. The crowd roared. Encouraged, or egged on, by those cheers, Ranta finished that tenth bowl in a little over ten seconds. Not just the noodles and other ingredients—every last drop of the broth, too.

“How do you like that, huh?!” he screamed. “Pops, get me the next one!” “Comin’ up!” the old man called.

“Wooooo!” “He did it!”

“This guy’s incredible!” “That’s ridiculous!” “Keep going!”

“Go as far as you can!” “Go!”

“Do it!”

“Damn straight!” Ranta shouted, giving the thumbs up. “I’m Ranta! All of you, shout my great name!”

“Ranta!”

“Ranta!”

“Keep it up, Ranta!” “Ranta!”

“Ranta...!”

“Pops, hurry it up!” Ranta bellowed.

“Righto! One bowl, ready to serve!” the old man called. “Wahahahahaha! Eleven bowls!” With a laugh, Ranta started on his

eleventh bowl of soruzo. For a moment he wondered why he was doing it, but what did he care at this point.

Eat. I’m gonna eat. Watch me, partner.

Even if this is all I can do.

“Bwuh!” Ranta suddenly choked on something. A noodle shot out of his nose, and the crowd burst out laughing. He nearly snapped at them, but Ranta let out a big laugh instead.

Just how much can I eat? I’ll take this to the limit. I’m eating ’til I drop. Because someday, I’m gonna open up a restaurant. It’ll be a ramen joint,

not soruzo, just like my partner wanted. I’ve already decided on the name. It’ll be Ranta & Moguzo’s Ramen Shop.

No, make that Moguzo & Ranta’s.

4.    The Conditions for Being the Worst

—Don’t you think you’ve had enough?

It felt like someone had said that to her. Who? Probably the man next to her. She had no idea who he was supposed to be. Or what his face looked like.

She squinted her eyes and looked at him. He was too blurry. What was with this guy? Why was he sitting next to her? She didn’t get it.

“...Who are you?” she asked.

“Huh? What do you mean, ‘who’?” he asked. “What are you doing there?” she asked.

“No, don’t ask me what I’m doing here, we came here together, remember? To this place.”

“You and who...?” “Me and you, Merry.” “Why?” she asked.

The man looked exasperated. “Somebody’s had too much to drink...” “Who has?” she asked.

“You, of course.” “Have I...?”

Merry paused for a breath, then lifted her cup. She tried to take a swig, but it was empty.

—“This place”? What kind of place is it? She looked around. Oh, it looks like a place that serves alcohol. It’s small and cramped, and the only seats are at the bar. It’s an unfamiliar place, one I don’t recognize.

When she thrust her cup out towards the man on the other side of the counter, who seemed to be the proprietor, and was about to say Give me another one, the man next to her grabbed her by the wrist.

“I’m telling you, it’s time to stop.” “...Leave me alone,” Merry murmured.

“Like I could,” he shot back. “Do you have any clue how much you’ve drunk?”

“I don’t know,” she mumbled. “So what...?” “No, not ‘so what.’”

The man looked at her like he was fed up. What right did some guy that she didn’t even recognize have to act like she was being a bother to him? It made her mad.

“...Fine, I don’t need it, then.”

Merry stood up. She stumbled a little, and the man caught her, but she brushed his hands away.

“Don’t touch me!” she screamed.

“You looked like you were gonna trip,” the man explained. “So what?” she snapped. “If I trip... what’s wrong with that?” “It’s not good.”

“Don’t try to push things on me like that.” “Like what?” the man asked.

“The way you think... I don’t care what you think about me...”

What am I trying to say? What am I saying? I guess it doesn’t matter. It really doesn’t matter.

Merry left the bar.

The next thing she knew, she was somewhere else. It was dark. She was on the street.

“...Huh?” she mumbled.

My staff isn’t here. Did I forget to take it with me? Where did I leave it? I have no clue.

“Hey, are you okay?!”

Who could that be? Oh, the guy from before. Why is he here? What’s he following me for?

“What do you want?” she demanded.

When she asked, he gave her an indignant “Huhh?!”

He went on, “That’s some way to talk to the guy you’ve made treat you at two places now.”

“Treat me...?” Merry asked unsteadily. “What are you talking about?” “Your drinks. You never paid, you know. I covered it all, Merry.”

“Why do you know my name?” “Because you told me, obviously.” “I did...? I’ll pay...”

She didn’t really get it, but she didn’t want him grumbling at her over it. Merry tried to pull out her money. If she gave him what she had on her, the man would probably be satisfied. Her hands were unsteady, though. Not just her hands, her legs were, too. She couldn’t stand.

When she felt like she was going to collapse, the man caught her in his arms.

“That’s not it, Merry,” the man said. “I’m not telling you to pay me money.”

“...Let go.”

“I don’t want to,” he said. “I said, let go—”

Merry tried to escape from the man’s embrace. She couldn’t push him off her. The man’s arms were wrapped tightly around Merry. He brought his face close to hers. Merry put her hand on his chin and pushed upwards.

“I’m telling you...!”

“Shut up, bitch!” the man shouted. “After we’ve come this far, there’s no way I’m letting you go! I know you were looking for this, too!”

“What?! Looking for what?!”

“You were frustrated, so you thought you’d play around with me, right?! I can figure out that much!” he yelled.

“Play around...?”

What’s this guy talking about? He’s not making any sense. Play? I’m not in the mood. Doesn’t this guy know what happened?

Suddenly, she felt cold inside.

“...What did I tell you?” Merry murmured.

“Huh?! What, you ask? Just your name, and... Well, just small talk...” “Whew.”

That’s a major relief. If I’d opened up to a guy like this, that’d be awful.

Even if I am drunk—Hey, wait.

Merry was drunk, and she was more than just tipsy. She was absolutely, totally, falling down drunk.

I’m in danger, she realized. The state I’m in, and this situation. I’m definitely in danger. I need to run.

Merry headbutted the man as hard as she could. He cried out in pain and flinched, but he didn’t let go.

“Now you’ve gone and done it! No more Mr. Nice Guy!” he screamed. “Ah—” Merry gasped.

He lifted her up. Her feet weren’t touching the ground. Merry thrashed around like her life depended on it. However, the man’s grip didn’t loosen.

What was he planning to do with her? The man seemed to be carrying Merry somewhere. It was dark and she couldn’t see very well, but he was trying to take her down a narrow alley.

When she tried to scream, he covered her mouth. Merry bit his fingers.

The man groaned in pain, throwing Merry to the ground. Merry landed on her butt, then hit her head on something.

“...Ouch... Ow...”

Her eyes were spinning. She needed to get away. She crawled away from him, but he grabbed her by the arm and dragged her into the alleyway, forcing her onto her back. He held her down, covering her mouth again.

Am I going to get raped? she thought. Here? By this guy? No. Don’t be ridiculous.

Merry kneed the man in the groin. “Take this!” “Augh—” he gasped. “...D-Dammit! Why, you...!”

He punched her. In the face, with his fist. For a moment, she lost consciousness.

When she came to, he was trying to strip her out of her priest outfit.

I may not be able to do anything, Merry thought.

Maybe this is karma. I mean, I let him die.

I let a comrade die, again. Even though I’m a priest.

I’m responsible for protecting my comrades’ lives, but I couldn’t.

Merry couldn’t even say she’d done the best she could. She had made a mistake.

Literally, a fatal mistake.

Protection. It was the most basic of basics for a priest who was moving from the beginner level to the intermediate level. This light magic spell boosted the physical abilities and resistances of the target, as well as their natural healing ability. It was vital that Protection not be allowed to wear off

in combat. Little differences like that could mean the difference between life and death.

In a fight, there were any number of things that could happen. That was why, the instant the thirty minute duration expired, it was time to recast Protection. This was something every priest had to know. It was something they had to never forget. And yet—

“Just give up already!” The man laughed perversely, pulling on her uniform. The sound of a seam tearing echoed through the alley. “I doubt this is your first time! This’ll be easier on you if you try to enjoy it...”

“Yeah, no. There’s no way she could enjoy this,” another man’s voice broke in.

The scumbag on top of her turned his head to look at the newcomer. “Huh...?”

“Sorry, but I’m not gonna hold back, okay?” the new man said. “Wait—”

“Hah!”

The scumbag keeled over. He fell on top of Merry, but the other man was quick to pull him off of her.

“...Huh?” Merry asked, dazed.

I have no clue what just happened.

It looks like I’ve been saved, but why? Who is he?

“You okay?” the guy asked. “Can you get up?”

Merry was silent. The man who saved her from the scumbag sighed and scratched the back of his head.

“I dunno what to say... I’m not gonna try anything weird, okay?” he said. “Are your clothes and whatnot all right?”

He’s awfully blunt, Merry thought. But he did save me from a tight spot. That much is certain. If he hadn’t come along, who knows what would have happened to me? Well, I probably would have been raped.

Merry sat up, fixing her clothes. The sleeve of her priest outfit was torn. It was probably dirty too, but fine other than that.

“...I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “Thank you.”

“Sure,” the new man said. “Uh. Well, if you’re fine, I guess that’s all that matters.”

The alley was dark, so she could barely see the man’s face. However, there was something—his voice, maybe? It sounded familiar. That, and the

way he was dressed. The man was rather tall. Did Merry know him? “Er...” the man said, taking half a step back. “I won’t say anything. I’m

not going to tell anyone about this. You’d probably prefer it that way, right?”

This man probably knew Merry, too. It sounded that way from the way he was talking.

“You’re...” she said fuzzily.

“Me? Ah,” the man said. “The name’s Kuzaku. Not that you’d know it...” True, the name Kuzaku wasn’t ringing any bells.

When Merry stood up, Kuzaku took another step back. He seemed to be trying to keep his distance. Maybe he was trying to show he had no intention of doing anything to her.

Merry looked down at the scumbag beside her. Kuzaku must have hit or kicked him hard enough to knock him unconscious. Merry could have kicked him once or twice herself, but she decided against it.

She left the alley. Kuzaku was a little ways away from her. Thanks to the moonlight, she could see his face better now. She finally recognized him.

“At Deadhead, you were in Green Storm Force with us...” she murmured. “Ah. Maybe you do remember me, then?”

“But...”

“I nearly died,” Kuzaku said, looking down. “...But I didn’t. Someone healed me, and when I came to, I was the only one left, you know.”

“...I see.”

“Um,” Kuzaku said uneasily. “What?” Merry asked.

“Sorry,” he said. “I should have stepped in sooner. To tell you the truth, I was watching. When you two left the bar. Something struck me as wrong, so I followed you. Then, well, you know what happened.”

“...I must have been pretty awful,” Merry mumbled. “Nah,” he said. “Not really. I mean, I was drinking, too.”

“Kuzaku-kun.” Merry bowed her head. “Let me apologize one more time.

I’m sorry. And thank you.”

Kuzaku fell silent for some time.

Then, finally, “...Okay,” was all he said in reply. “Goodbye,” Merry said.

She raised her head and quickly walked past Kuzaku.

Of course, I still haven’t sobered up. I’m nauseous. Just how much did I

drink? I don’t remember at all. Too much. This is the first time in my life that I’ve drunk so much that I can’t remember what happened.

That guy should have messed me up while I still didn’t know what was going on. If that’d happened, maybe I’d have been satisfied. Maybe I drank so much because I wanted that to happen. Maybe that’s why I didn’t chase off that scumbag when he came up next to me.

Kuzaku got in the way. He didn’t need to get involved. But, if that scumbag really had raped me... Just the thought of it makes me sick. Disgusting. I can’t stand people touching me. He touched me a lot. He groped me all over. He’s the worst. This is the worst.

“Ugh...” With an unbearable wave of nausea sweeping over her, Merry stopped walking.

She wanted to throw up. But she didn’t. She couldn’t. She crouched down. She felt awful. She wanted to die. She just wanted to lie down and die. After all, others already had died.

Here was an incompetent priest who let her comrades die not once, but twice, and she had the gall to think that she wanted to just lay down and die. How could she think that?

“...I’m the worst,” Merry mumbled.

5.    This Mess

It’s the middle of the night, that much I know, but what time is it now?

Haruhiro thought. That’s not clear to me. All I know is that we’ve been here for quite a while.

They were on Flower Garden Street in the northern district of Alterna. Why was it called Flower Garden? Haruhiro had no idea, but maybe there had been flowerbeds or something similar along it a long time ago.

Stretching out from the market, Flower Garden Street and its side streets had lodging houses running all the way up and down both sides of them. Near the entrance to the street there were a number of buildings that provided temporary accommodation for those passing through. As you got further from the market, the number of large buildings increased. Past those expensive- looking lodging houses with their majestic appearance, there were decent lodging houses, so-so lodging houses, and then finally the squalid outskirts filled with run-down old lodging houses.

Haruhiro and one other person were in front of a kind of decent lodging house not far down one of the side streets.

They had been standing in front of it at first, but now one of them was sitting with his back against the outer wall of the building. That was Haruhiro. The person with him was still standing.

They were both silent.

When had they last talked to one another? It felt like it had been a while. He didn’t remember what they had said then, either. Neither Haruhiro nor the person with him were the talkative type. They were both reserved, you could say, or passive.

Hunching over and hugging one of his knees, Haruhiro thought, That’s why. That’s why we’re not a good match, probably.

Neither Haruhiro nor his partner would take the first step, so nothing happened. The conversation never started.

This is awkward, he thought.

If the other person would say something, anything, to spark a conversation, he’d do his best to keep it going. The person with him likely felt the same way. They were probably both thinking, Why aren’t you saying anything? Say something!

Okay, Haruhiro thought. I get it. Fine, I’ll do it. I’ll totally do it. I’m so going to do it.

“Um... er... Shihoru?” he ventured. “...Huh?” she asked.

“Are you tired?” he asked. “...I’m fine.”

“Oh, you are.”

“Yeah.”

That was the end of it. He had worked up all the willpower he could muster to start that conversation, and it had died in no time.

What the hell? he thought indignantly. That’s not fair. Put a little more effort in. This is communication, you know, communication. It’s important, really.

Besides, why was he alone with Shihoru?

No... the reason, how it had happened, was clear. He had needed to get in touch with Merry regarding the paperwork and her share of the reward.

Unbelievably, Ranta had eaten too much and couldn’t move, while Yume had said she was too “funya-funya” to do it. Whatever that was supposed to mean. That was why he had left with Shihoru, who had been feeling fine and had known where Merry lived.

Merry was supposed to be staying in a women-only lodging house, so Haruhiro couldn’t very well visit her on his own. On that point, he was glad Shihoru had come with him. But only on that point.

It wasn’t that he disliked Shihoru. But she was hard to deal with when it was just the two of them.

They were a poor match for one another. Haruhiro and Shihoru didn’t go together very well. That’s what it was. Basically, they weren’t compatible.

Shihoru may have felt the same way as Haruhiro did. Haruhiro wasn’t thinking that because they weren’t compatible, there was nothing he could

do, and it was okay to let things stay the way they were. He did, however, think that Shihoru could be doing more to try to make things work.

When they had first come to this lodging house, Merry hadn’t been here, so they’d tried going to Sherry’s Tavern, but she hadn’t been there either, so they’d come back here. In all that time, Shihoru had barely spoken. If Haruhiro asked her something, she would say a few words in response. That was all. Haruhiro wasn’t sure how he should feel about that.

Haruhiro unintentionally let out a sigh.

Maybe his question had come off the wrong way. Still, it may have worked to break the ice for them.

“...I,” Shihoru said in a small voice.

Haruhiro looked up at Shihoru. Shihoru was hugging her shoulders and trembling slightly.

“...Listen... I... If I tell you this... you may think I’m a horrible person... but I’m mostly feeling fine.”

“Feeling fine—wait, what do you mean by that?” Haruhiro asked, dumbfounded.

“I’m not... like everyone else,” said Shihoru. “I’m not going through as much shock...”

“You... aren’t?” he asked.

“Isn’t that horrible of me?” she said. “Even I... think it is. If anything... more than being shaken up by Moguzo’s death... I’m not that sad that Moguzo died... and I’m shocked at myself for that, and it depresses me. I realized... I’m really an unpleasant person...”

“That’s not—”

—true, Haruhiro wanted to say, but could he really? Moguzo died, yet she’s not that affected by it? That’s crazy. I mean, he was one of us. We were together, through good times and bad. Moguzo was our precious, all-too- precious comrade, and he was the core of the party. Why isn’t she shocked by it?

Then again, Shihoru seems bewildered by that herself. She ought to feel a heart-rending, mind-numbing sadness and sense of loss, but she doesn’t, and she feels there’s something abnormal about that. She can’t forgive herself for it, and she’s suffering. —Oh, I get it.

It’s Manato.

This was pure speculation, but it was probably because of what had

happened with Manato.

Shihoru was probably in love with Manato. Manato, who she was head over heels in love with, died. That must have been harder on Shihoru than any of us. Of course, with Moguzo dying, Shihoru must have felt some pain, but it was nothing like last time.

People could get used to suffering. Even if they didn’t want to, they naturally got used to it.

Because if they didn’t, they couldn’t go on living.

For as long as they were alive, things like this would happen. Because life was an endless cycle of things like this.

If it knocked them down every time, and they couldn’t get back up, they wouldn’t be able to go on living.

In fact—in fact, Haruhiro wasn’t stunned and in a daze anymore, the way he had been just after they had lost Moguzo. He might not be doing a good job of it, but he was trying to move forward. He was thinking about how he wanted everyone to look towards the future. How, if they didn’t, Moguzo wouldn’t be able to rest in peace. Just like that, he was using his dead comrade to give himself the power to keep living.

Haruhiro was trying to live. Sneakily, greedily, tenaciously, he wanted to live.

Shihoru must have been the same. Manato’s death had made Shihoru stronger. By becoming stronger, Shihoru was trying to live.

“Shihoru, you’re not horrible,” Haruhiro said. “You’re not an unpleasant person. I’m glad you came here with me. That you’re here with me now. I really do think that.”

Shihoru was going to say something, but she closed her mouth and looked away. Her shoulders were still trembling. She might have been holding back tears. After some time, Shihoru sniffled just once.

“...Haruhiro-kun, I’m glad you’re here. I think... that, too.”

“Uh, well... yeah,” Haruhiro said. “That’s better than you not wanting me here...”

Haruhiro covered his face with his hands. He felt incredibly embarrassed. He felt guilty that he was able to be bashful now. Honestly, whenever he ate, whenever he drank, whenever he slept, he wanted to apologize to Moguzo.

Not that apologizing would change anything.

Someday, this prickling pain in his chest would fade, then disappear

entirely. He would get used to this suffering.

He wanted to live, so he would get used to it so that he could live on. “Merry sure is late,” he said to cover his embarrassment. “Where’s she

gone off to?”

“...Really, I don’t know Merry all that well, so... I couldn’t say,” said Shihoru.

“Yeah, I know, right?” Haruhiro said. “But, I mean, I’m a guy. It’s hard for me to be close with her.”

“I don’t think that just being the same gender means we’ll be able to be close...” Shihoru said quietly.

“Is that how it is?” Haruhiro asked.

“You... know what I’m like,” said Shihoru. “If I were bubbly like Yume, maybe it would be a different story...”

“Hmm,” he said. “I don’t think being bubbly will always help though, you know? I mean, Yume’s fine. She seems like she could get along with just about anybody. So long as it isn’t someone like Ranta.”

“...Ranta-kun might be an exception,” Shihoru agreed.

“That guy’s an idiot. Seriously. What the hell is he doing, overeating like that? I don’t get him.”

“...He was probably eating soruzo, don’t you think?” Shihoru asked. “Huh?”

“This is just a guess, but... maybe he was trying to eat Moguzo’s share, too...”

“Ahh...” Haruhiro tugged at his hair. I see. That was it. I didn’t understand a thing. I wasn’t seeing anything. It was Ranta’s way of paying his respects.

Haruhiro laughed just a little. He felt a pang in his heart.

“Yeah, you’re definitely not an unpleasant person, Shihoru,” he said. “It’s amazing for you to be able to understand another person’s feelings like that.” Shihoru shook her head. Then, she crouched down. “I think... Merry,” she said, forcing the words out, “she has more regrets than any of us. She’s in the

most pain. Because she’s the priest...”

Haruhiro nodded. He felt that he understood that much. After all, it’s her second time.

Merry had lost a comrade, multiple comrades, once before. The weight of that responsibility had changed her and Merry wasn’t the same person she had been before that.

After teaming up with Haruhiro and the party, she had finally started to show a smile every once in a while. But just when she’d started to, she had lost another comrade.

On top of that, Merry was a priest. As the one who had light magic that could heal wounds, she was the party’s lifeline. That was to say, she was in a

position where her comrades’ lives were her responsibility. It would be little wonder if she blamed herself entirely for what happened.

It might have been presumptuous of him, but right now Haruhiro was more worried about Merry than anyone else.

“...I just hope she hasn’t gotten any strange ideas,” he said out loud. Now that he’d said that, he worried about it all the more.

That was why, when he heard footsteps, looked up, and saw a figure in white clothes there, he felt an incredible sense of relief.

“Merry!”

“...Why?” That was all Merry said before turning heel and walking the other direction.

“—Huh?” Haruhiro gasped. “Wait, Merry, you’re running?!” “H-Haruhiro-kun, we have to go after her!” cried Shihoru. “Ah! Right!”

Luckily, Merry wasn’t very fast at running away. Actually, Merry wasn’t steady on her feet at all. She wasn’t so much running as somehow managing to keep going forward despite being ready to fall over.

When Haruhiro caught her, she immediately brushed his hand off, but Merry didn’t try to run any further. Maybe she couldn’t have run even if she’d tried.

Merry turned her back to Haruhiro and Shihoru, collapsing to her knees. “...What? Do you need something?”

“‘Something’—yeah, we kind of do,” said Haruhiro. “But, wait, Merry, have you been drinking?”

“Is it wrong for me to?” she mumbled.

“Well, no, there’s nothing wrong with it,” he hesitated.

“...Leave me alone,” she mumbled. “Don’t concern yourself with me.” “I can’t just leave you alone,” Shihoru said, crouching down next to

Merry. “I can’t do it.”

“...Why not?” Merry demanded.

“Because... it bothers me. Seeing you in this state... I can’t just pretend I don’t know anything.”

“...I didn’t want to be seen,” mumbled Merry. “Not like this. Why are you here?”

“We came here... to see you, Merry,” said Shihoru. “I... don’t want to see you, at all.”

“We don’t feel the same way.”

“I don’t want to see you!” Merry shouted.

She was coherent, but Merry was obviously very drunk. Well, of course she wouldn’t want them to see her like that. That was natural. Haruhiro didn’t want to see Merry like this, either. It might have been better if he hadn’t. But he had. He couldn’t pretend otherwise.

“Merry,” he said.

“...What?” she asked unsteadily.

“Eight o’clock, in front of the north gate,” he said. “Maybe you’re not going to be able to make it. Looking at you now.”

Haruhiro tried waiting. No matter how long he waited, Merry gave no response. She didn’t say a thing. Instead, she stood up and walked away. It looked like she planned to go back to her lodging house.

Shihoru tried to follow Merry. Haruhiro stopped Shihoru, and called after Merry.

“We aren’t done yet. It’s okay to stop and stand still, but we have to move forward.”

Merry went inside without responding.

6.    Even If We Falter

The morning of the next day—actually, the same day, come to think of it

—they waited for the time it took the bell to ring once, or until ten o’clock, but Merry didn’t appear at the north gate.

The next day, they waited for two hours again, but Merry never came.

Ranta proclaimed loudly that they should storm into Merry’s room, but Haruhiro and Shihoru firmly opposed the idea. As for Yume, she was still feeling funya-funya, but she was getting better.

Then, on the third day, Haruhiro and the others arrived at the north gate just before the eight o’clock bell rang.

“Oh...” Ranta said, surprised. Shihoru inhaled sharply.

Yume said, “Meow.”

Haruhiro smiled just a little, covering his mouth with one hand. Every time he smiled, the dull pain returned in his chest.

There was a woman in priestly garb leaning against the short staff she was carrying for support standing in a corner by the north gate. She was looking down, as if she were counting the toes on her feet. She wasn’t especially petite, and yet she looked very small right now.

“Merry!” Haruhiro called.

Merry looked up and turned to face them. She looked back down right away, though maybe she was nodding.

I guess it doesn’t matter which, Haruhiro thought. Yeah. It doesn’t matter which. Merry’s here. We didn’t force her to come. We didn’t beg her to, either. Merry came of her own free will.

Haruhiro and the others ran up to Merry. Shihoru walked up to Merry first, shaking her hand without a word. Merry didn’t reject it.

Yume suddenly gave Merry a flying tackle hug.

“Eek!” Merry screamed, apparently scared out of her wits.

Well, Haruhiro was taken aback, too. Of course she’d be surprised. “Sorry ’bout that, Merry-chan,” Yume said, hugging Merry as tightly as

she could and rubbing her face up against Merry like a cat. “Really, sorry.” “Huh—wh-what for...?” Merry stammered.

“For leavin’ you alone,” said Yume. “Sorry ’bout that. Yume had Shihoru there for her, but, Merry-chan, you didn’t have anyone with you. At an awful time like this, too. Sorry. Yume won’t leave you alone anymore, so she hopes you’ll forgive her. Yume’s gonna be by your side.”

“...I’m...” Merry said, her eyes darting around.

At first, Haruhiro thought she was just confused, But it seemed that wasn’t the case. Merry’s face was hot and flushed. She was red right up to the tips of her ears.

Merry gritted her teeth. She looked like she was enduring and doing the best she could to hold it in.

Maybe she’s about to cry—is that it? Haruhiro thought. “I’m...” she began.

“It’s okay,” Yume declared. “Merry-chan, no matter what you say now, Yume, she’s already made her mind up. She’s not going to leave you alone anymore. Yume, from now on, she’s gonna stay at the same lodgin’ house as you. That’s what Yume’s decided. Shihoru’s gonna be with us, too.”

Haruhiro looked at Shihoru. “...You are?”

“I... think so?” Shihoru said, wearing an awkward expression that was somewhere between a forced smile and utter confusion. “...I might recall... talking about that last night... Vaguely...”

“Vaguely, huh...” said Haruhiro.

“Heh!” Ranta brushed his nose with his thumb. “Well, if that’s how it’s gonna be, then there’s only one choice. I’m gonna rent a room at Merry’s place, too!”

“You can’t,” Merry turned an icy cold look towards Ranta. “As a general rule, the place I’m rooming at is off limits to men.”

“Wh-Whaaat?!” Ranta yelped. “C-Can’t you do something?! Hey, wait, if it’s a general rule, that means there can be exceptions, right?! I was born special, so I must be an exception, obviously!”

“The only exception is for small children,” she said coldly. “That means mothers with children are fine.”

“Alrighty then! Fine, from today forward, Merry, I’m gonna be your son!

It’d be weird to say I’m your real son, though, so we’ll say I’m adopted, yeah, adopted! How’s that! Now, there’s no problems, right?!”

Haruhiro muttered, “There are nothing but problems with that...”

“Shut your face, Parupiro! It’s not for you to decide! Now then, Merry, you’re my momma starting today! Welcome to the family, Momma!”

Merry patted Yume on the back and sighed. “I think I’ll go home...” “Noooo!” Yume cried, squeezing Merry tightly. “Merry-chan, don’t go!

When stupid Ranta opens his mouth, you don’t have to pay attention to a thing he says! You know Ranta’s just a numskull and a nincompoop.”

“Who’re you calling a nincompoop?” Ranta shouted. “Especially when you’ve got tiny tits!”

“Don’t call them tiny!” Yume flared.

“Hey, it’s not my fault you’ve got tiny tits!”

“Well, Ranta, you’re way flatter than Yume, so there!” she shot back. “I’m a man, damn it! I wasn’t competing with you on breast size to begin

with!”

“Well, what are you competin’ over the size of, then?!”

“Huh?! Well, obviously...” Ranta looked down to his crotch, then glanced over at Haruhiro. “...Right?”

“No, don’t look to me for agreement here...” said Haruhiro. “Hrmm?” Yume tilted her head to the side in confusion.

“Um...” Merry said, squirming uncomfortably in the tight grip of Yume’s arms. “...I won’t leave. So, for now, could you let go of me?”

“Whuh?! Was Yume hurtin’ you? Sorry ’bout that.” Yume let go of her. “Yume, she’s pretty strong, y’know. Lately, her arms’ve been gettin’ real beefy, and she’s gonna have a six-pack one of these days, she was tellin’ Shihoru. If that happens, Shihoru was sayin’, maybe if Yume’s chest muscles grow, her boobs might get bigger too.”

“...Y-Yume,” Shihoru stammered. “That’s enough about that...” “Nwuh? Why?”

“It’s not something to talk about in front of the boys...” “It’s not?” Yume asked.

“Ha!” Ranta laughed nasally. You’ve got no delicacy, Yume. That’s your problem!”

“Yume doesn’t have any telepathy, but neither do you, Ranta!” she shot back.

“As if I would! Besides, it’s not telepathy, it’s delicacy! Delicacy!”

Good grief, things sure have gotten lively here, Haruhiro thought, scratching the back of his neck. But, well, thanks to Ranta and Yume, the mood has lightened up.

First, Haruhiro talked to Merry about business. They decided they would all go to the Volunteer Soldier Corps Office after this to fill out the paperwork. Then they’d need to take their 60 gold worth of military scrip to the Yorozu Deposit Company, convert it to gold, and divide up the money. He figured it would probably be a good idea to deposit The Chopper, as well.

“—So, the question is, what we do from here on?” Haruhiro asked, keeping his tone as light as he could manage. The reality they were facing was a harsh one, and they were all feeling like they might be crushed under its oppressive weight. He didn’t want to make things any heavier than they had to be. “I’ve thought things over a bit, you know. For now, why don’t we try going to Damuro?”

“Ooh,” Yume said excitedly. “That means gobbies.”

“Heh!” Ranta frowned and crossed his arms. “For us now, don’t you think they’re a little out of their reach, trying to take us on?”

“...I think you mean ‘out of their league’...” Shihoru murmured. “Hm? Did you say something, Shihoru?” Ranta asked loudly. “Never mind...” she said. “Forget it... I know there’s no cure for

stupidity...”

“Hey, I definitely heard that one, you know?” Ranta complained. “Damuro...” Merry said, casting her eyes downwards.

“They’ve been calling us the Goblin Slayers all this time, after all,” Haruhiro said it jokingly, but Merry’s expression didn’t lighten at all.

It’s too much to expect it right away. It’s going to take time. Take it step by step. Rushing things won’t help.

“We’ve been frequenting the Cyrene Mines lately, so we’ve gotten used to kobolds, but if we go there, we have to go down at least three floors,” he

said. “I think that’s risky. I hear the temporary state of emergency in the Old City of Damuro seems to have been lifted, and we know almost every nook and cranny of the place. If we choose our locations well and don’t overextend ourselves, I don’t think it should be that dangerous.”

“The way you think is as passive as ever, huh, Haruhiro?” Ranta asked, with an exaggerated shrug of his shoulders. “But it’s okay, I guess? I think it’s not a bad idea, for now, at least.”

“Wow, Ranta-kun isn’t complaining for once...” Shihoru murmured. “Who do you take me for, Shihoru?” Ranta shouted. “I’ve always been a

guy who tells it like it is, you know? If it’s good, I say it’s good. If it’s bad, I say it’s bad. If I have something to say, I say it! If I want to do something, I do it! In other words, I’m a real man!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Haruhiro muttered.

“Haruhiroooo! No, Parepiruroooo! Don’t try to just let what I’m saying drift by!”

“If anything, I’d like to throw you in a river and let you drift away,” Haruhiro said.

“Fine by me! Bring it! Just you try! If you can throw me in a river, do it, damn you!”

“Nah, I’ll pass,” said Haruhiro. “It’s too much of a bother.”

“Ba-boing.” Ranta sprung forward in a straight line. He might have been trying to act funny to get a laugh out of them, but obviously no one so much as giggled. Ranta, however, was undaunted and tried it again a few times. “Ba-boing. Ba-boing. Ba-boing!”

The repeated attempts not only didn’t get a laugh, they were only making everyone less and less amused, so it was impressive that he could keep doing it without his heart breaking. Ranta started working funny faces into his ba- boing jump routine.

Yume let out an exasperated sigh and shook her head. Merry was looking at Ranta with pity at this point.

Shihoru shuddered. “...So creepy.”

“Ba-boing!” Ranta shouted. “Ba-boing! Ba-boing, ba-boing, ba-boing!”

Ranta looks happy, Haruhiro thought. He enjoys it when people are creeped out by him. Is he a masochist? Still, Shihoru has been poking fun at Ranta an awful lot today. Maybe she’s thought about it and has some reason for it.

Haruhiro ignored Ranta, looking instead to Yume, Shihoru, and Merry. “Does anyone else have an opinion?”

“Yume thinks she’s okay with it,” Yume declared. “...I think it’s fine, too,” said Shihoru.

“Me, too,” Merry said, bringing a hand to her chest and taking a short breath. “I’m fine with it.”

Things weren’t like they were before. Of course they weren’t. Haruhiro and the party had lost someone they couldn’t afford to lose. There was no one who could replace Moguzo. Not anywhere. It wasn’t possible.

Was there nothing that could to begin to fill the great, all too great, holes that had been gouged into, and between, the members of the party?

Well, if not, what should we do? Haruhiro wondered.

He didn’t know right now. However, he knew that not knowing the answer didn’t make it okay to leave things as they were. If he didn’t know the answer, he had to seek out and find it.

Haruhiro nodded. “Let’s go.”

7.    Unable to Cling to Past Glories

He had to find something.

Something that they could do in their current situation.

He didn’t expect it to go well from the very beginning, of course. It wasn’t going to be that simple. But still, things couldn’t be the way they were before.

“Ranta! I told you not to get too far away!” Haruhiro shouted.

Haruhiro was using Swat to endure Goblin A’s attacks as he tried to get a sense of how the battle was going.

Goblin A was equipped with a leather helmet, chain mail, a short sword, and a small shield, but it wasn’t big like an orc, so its individual attacks didn’t have much weight behind them. Even one-on-one, it wouldn’t be too much of a challenge. The problem was Ranta.

“I haven’t gone that far!” Ranta said, right before shouting “Exhaust...!” and rapidly falling back. Goblin B chased after Ranta as if it was being sucked in. Ranta immediately thrust his longsword out and forward. “Take this! Avoid!”

However, Goblin B, with its somewhat muscular build and heavy equipment, managed to narrowly avoid Ranta’s longsword. Actually, his longsword scraped the goblin’s armor halfway between its neck and shoulder, but that wasn’t going to be enough to deal any real damage. Goblin B undauntedly continued to close in.

Ranta slammed his longsword into Goblin B, shouting, “Reject!”

It was good that he managed to knock it away and make it pull back, but... “Grin! You’re mine! Hatred!” Ranta shouted.

He stepped into it and swung down with all his might, and he did manage to hit Goblin B’s shoulder. However, that wasn’t enough. It was the armor.

Ranta’s longsword only dented its armor, and was unable to cut through. “You’re too aggressive!” Haruhiro called while parrying Goblin A’s

sword.

“Oh, shut up!” Ranta shouted back angrily, showering Goblin B with a flurry of blows. “Take that, and that, and that, and that!”

Goblin B was recoiling, but it was also possible to view that as it successfully defending itself.

This is why just trying to push through with brute force is no good. Do you get that, Ranta?

“You’re not—”

—Moguzo, okay?

Haruhiro almost said it, but he stopped himself just in time. I can’t say that. I mean, Ranta’s doing what he can.

Ranta had charged right into the middle of the enemy, trying to tank for the party. However, Ranta was fundamentally different from Moguzo; he wasn’t the heavy type that stood there and traded blows with the enemy. The dread knight’s fighting style was all about using their mobility to toy with the enemy and mesmerize them. He had no choice but to move around. If he didn’t, Ranta couldn’t use his full power.

Ranta was different. He wasn’t a tank. The party needed to make fundamental changes to their tactics.

And? What are our new tactics going to be...?

“Oh!” Haruhiro tried to use Swat on Goblin A’s sword, but his hand slipped. Goblin A pressed in on him. Oh, sh—

“Hah...!” he heard someone shout.

Merry. Merry had jumped in. She thrust her short staff at Goblin A. The goblin blocked her staff with its shield, jumping back.

“Is now the time to be lost in thought?!” she shouted. “S-Sorry, Merry!” Haruhiro called.

“Focus!”

Right, Haruhiro answered mentally as he attacked Goblin A. Well, he pretended to, to be more precise. If Goblin A counterattacks, I’ll immediately switch back to using Swat. If I can somehow chain Arrest with Swat to neutralize Goblin A, I want to do that, but I don’t think it’s likely. Goblins are a bit too small for that. I’ve never used Arrest on a goblin before. Dammit, what the hell is this? Even now that I’ve lost my orc-killing virginity, I’m still

struggling to take on a goblin one-on-one in a straight-up fight? I’m way too weak. I mean, I knew that. I knew I was weak.

“Ohm, rel, ect, nemun, darsh!”

Shihoru cast a spell. It was Shadow Bond. A shadow element flew out, sticking to a spot on the ground. Goblin C, who was crossing swords with Yume, stepped on it with its right foot.

Nice one, Shihoru, Haruhiro thought.

Goblin C hurriedly stepped down with its left foot, trying to pull its right foot free, but the shadow elemental held it fast and it couldn’t get away.

“Funyaa!” yelled Yume.

Yume leapt at Goblin C, using a combination of Brush Clearer and Diagonal Cross. Goblin C carried a hatchet-like weapon and also wore chain mail, so it wasn’t a lethal blow. Still, Yume clobbered its shoulders, arms, and torso with her machete, so it had to be in a lot of pain. Goblin C flailed around wildly with its hatchet. It was clearly acting out of desperation, but Yume fell back. Yume only wore leather armor, so it would be dangerous for her to take a hit.

“Yume!” Haruhiro shouted.

Just by calling her name, Yume glanced in Haruhiro’s direction and seemed to understand what he wanted to do. Yume was running his way now.

Haruhiro used Swat on Goblin A’s sword, then immediately took off at a run. Goblin A tried to chase Haruhiro, but Yume took over the fight and stopped it.

Goblin C was still caught in the Shadow Bond spell. It noticed Haruhiro and tried to turn to face him, but it was too slow. Actually, with its leg trapped, not only could it not move, it couldn’t change the way it faced, either. With his opponent like that, it went without saying that Haruhiro could easily get behind it.

Haruhiro circled around behind Goblin C and then jumped on it. He pinned its arms behind its back, quickly slitting its throat. When he jumped away, Goblin C fell to its knees. Because its right foot was still stuck to the ground, it couldn’t quite fall over.

“—Yes! Finally, one down!” Haruhiro shouted.

Yume was fighting Goblin A, and Ranta was fighting Goblin B. Haruhiro could try to get a clear shot at either of their backs.

Should it be A or B? he wondered. Goblin B’s wearing what looks like

decent armor, so it’ll probably cause more trouble. Guess I’ll finish off Goblin A first.

When he was about to start running, he felt the dull impact of something striking his left flank. Like maybe he’d been kicked.

“Huh... Wha...?”

When he looked down, there was an arrow sticking out of his left side.

What is this?

“Why— Where did it come from?!”

He was more shocked than hurt. At least, for the moment. Haruhiro looked around the area.

Judging from the direction—over there, he thought. To the left and a little to the rear. There’s a wall that’s about 80% collapsed. It’d be hard for a human to hide behind it, but a goblin could.

“They’ve got backup!” Haruhiro shouted.

“Haru, let me heal that!” Merry tried to rush over to him.

“No!” Haruhiro shook his head, turning towards the wall. “Merry, you watch Shihoru!”

While Merry was healing Haruhiro with light magic, the enemy might snipe Shihoru. Or perhaps it might even take a shot at Merry herself. That would be bad.

“Urkh!” Haruhiro groaned as he ran.

When I run, my side does hurt pretty badly. Still, it’s not enough to keep me from moving. I can take it.

Though, that said, Haruhiro didn’t know what he was going to be able to do there by himself. That was questionable. However, right now, he felt like it wouldn’t be a good idea to have Merry treat him. That was because if Haruhiro were the goblin, he would take advantage of that opening. Goblins might be smaller than humans, but they weren’t stupid.

Haruhiro ran at full speed to get to the other side of the wall. He was shocked by what he saw.

“It’s not here?!”

Then an arrow flew at him from the right. He reacted in time to get down and avoid it, but it was a close call. The fat little Goblin D with its bow was poking out halfway from behind a pile of rubble seven to eight meters away. Goblin D had predicted Haruhiro would come after it, so it had moved from here to there.

Honestly, you’re no idiot, Haruhiro thought. “But I won’t let you get away now!” he shouted.

Goblin D was trying to nock an arrow. However, at this range, it would be easy to tell not only when it would fire, but where it was aiming, too. Even if it got a shot off, he could dodge it. At least, that was how it should have been.

Haruhiro started to feel woozy.

His heart was acting weird. He could hear his pulse, and it sounded like someone violently stamping their feet. It was beating crazily fast.

Goblin D fired. Of course, Haruhiro tried to dodge. But, well, you know.

He couldn’t move quite the way he intended to.

The arrow stabbed into the left side of his chest, just below the shoulder, and Haruhiro fell on his butt.

Whoa, I’ve taken two hits now.

“Poisoned arrows!” Haruhiro shouted as loudly as he could.

Goblin D threw its bow aside, pulling out a short sword and jumping at him.

What now? Use Swat? I can’t. Not a chance.

Goblin D pushed Haruhiro to the ground and mounted him. It was trying to stab him in the face with its short sword. Maybe he had dropped it, he wasn’t sure, but Haruhiro didn’t have his dagger. He could only try to cover his face with his arms.

Goblin D’s short sword sliced into his arms and hands. Haruhiro was desperate.

He shouldn’t have had time for thinking, but he thought, Damn, I messed this up. Maybe I shouldn’t have come here myself. Maybe it would’ve been better to leave it to Yume. But that didn’t occur to me. Maybe I only think that now because I’ve seen the result. The result. This is the result. It was all too quick. When you make a mistake, this is how it goes. Still, to think I’d be taken out by a goblin. No, no, no. That’s not a sure thing just yet. Yeah, that’s right. It’s not. It’s really not.

Goblin D swung its short sword down again. Haruhiro used the bones in his right arm to sweep it aside.

There was a proverb, “Let your flesh be cut in order to break an opponent’s bones,” but he had used his own bones to defend himself instead.

“Ohm, rel, ect, vel, darsh!”

Huh? Magic? Shihoru? It’s Shihoru.

Shihoru stuck her staff practically in Goblin D’s face, unleashing her Shadow Beat spell at point blank range. Haruhiro heard its characteristic vwong sound, and immediately Goblin D’s head was thrown backwards. The shadow elemental, which looked like a black ball of seaweed, had struck the side of Goblin D’s face.

Shihoru wasn’t the only one who’d come to save Haruhiro. “Ha!” Merry bludgeoned Goblin D with her short staff.

Goblin D was knocked flying, but it soon got back up. It ran. It even managing to pick up its bow as it did. Shihoru pointed her staff at Goblin D’s back.

“Ohm, rel, ect, vel, darsh!”

Another Shadow Beat. Goblin D, however, suddenly jumped behind cover and avoided the shadow elemental. It depended on where you were, but the ruins of buildings and walls were all over the place in Damuro’s Old City.

There were a lot of them in this area.

Why did we choose this place as our hunting grounds? Haruhiro wondered. Had we failed from the moment we made that decision?

“Whew... Huff... Whew... Whew...”

That’s some terrible breathing. Whose is it? Oh, mine, huh.

It was Haruhiro himself. Haruhiro lay on his back. He could see the sky.

That and Merry’s face. She pulled the arrow out.

Ow... That hurts.

“I’ll dispel the poison first!” Merry said. Haruhiro nodded.

Is she going to make it in time? he wondered vaguely, as if it were someone else’s problem. Hopefully I won’t die.

“O Light, may Lumiaris’s divine protection be upon you... Purify.”

“Dispel the poison,” he thought. That means she’s erasing the poison now. Has it disappeared with that spell now? The poison. I don’t really know. I wonder if Ranta and Yume are okay. And what about the goblin that ran off?

“Haru! Keep a firm hold of your senses! O Light, may Lumiaris’s divine protection be upon you... Cure!”

Senses. My senses. I have to keep ahold of them. Firmly. Yeah. I get it. I get it, Merry. That’s right. This is pitiful. I look ridiculously lame. But I can’t let myself die. I can’t die. If I die, it’s all over. Not just for me. For my

comrades, too. All of us.

I’m gradually starting to feel better, he realized. Magic’s amazing.

“How about over there?!” Ranta called out from somewhere. “No sign of it!” Yume responded from far away.

What’re those two doing?

Shihoru was next to Merry as she treated him. Their eyes met. “...Shihoru, what happened to the enemies?” Haruhiro managed. “There’s just the one that ran off...” she answered.

“I see.”

They mopped up the rest of them, then, he thought. Ranta, Yume, and Shihoru did their best without me.

Haruhiro closed his eyes, then laughed. “What am I even doing?”

Once the words left his mouth, he realized he shouldn’t have said them.

Neither Shihoru or Merry had any response, which only made it more embarrassing.

It looked like his healing was done, so Haruhiro opened his eyes and sat up. He was about to thank Merry when Ranta came running over.

“You damn idiot! What’re you nearly getting yourself killed for?! Don’t you dare get killed by some measly goblin! Just how much of a moron are you?! You’re more worthless than a ball of snot!”

“...I don’t really have a comeback for that,” said Haruhiro.

But you don’t need to lay into me quite so hard. No, I know, I deserve it this time, so I can’t complain if you want to insult me.

I messed up. That’s what it feels like.

Not only that, but I had to do it here, on today of all days.

This was supposed to be the day the party set out anew. It was an important day. They absolutely couldn’t afford to fail. That’s why they had chosen this place. Damuro’s Old City. The place where they once earned their nickname, the “Goblin Slayers.”

It may have been half teasing, or, rather, nine parts mocking and one part astonishment, but Haruhiro and the party had frequented Damuro’s Old City long enough that people had started to call them that. Maybe this had happened because Haruhiro and the others had killed too many goblins. They had shifted their hunting grounds to the Cyrene Mines because the goblins had wound up on high alert, but they knew this place like the back of their hands. Even without Moguzo, a pillar—no, the central pillar—of the party,

they should have been able to handle it somehow.

Had they gotten careless? They might have. They might not have.

Honestly, Haruhiro didn’t know. He couldn’t look at it with a clear head. “What do you wanna do about the gobbie that got away?!” Yume shouted

off in the distance, to which Ranta angrily replied, “Just leave it! It’s run off somewhere! I’m sure it won’t be back!”

“Don’t you think that’s taking things too easy?” Shihoru asked. “Huh?! Did you say something, Shihoru?!” Ranta shouted.

“I said, I think that’s taking things too easy... Did you not hear me?” “What’s that supposed to mean?” Ranta demanded. “You trying to say

I’m being too shortsighted or something?”

“...If you want to sum it up, that might be it,” Shihoru said.

“You’re being awfully confrontational,” Ranta snapped. “If you want to pick a fight with me, I hope you’re ready for the consequences, right?”

“Don’t talk like you’re trying to threaten me,” Shihoru said.

“I’m not threatening you. You were getting saucy with me, so I’m just a little pissed.”

“...I don’t think that’s any excuse.”

“Why should I have to make excuses?” Ranta demanded. “Don’t give me that. I may be a tolerant guy, but even I have limits. If you don’t cut it out—”

“Heeeeey!” Yume rushed over and bonked Ranta on the head. “Ow! Dammit, Yume! Whaddaya think you’re doing?!” he shouted. “What’s a woddaya?! Don’t go talkin’ nonsense!” Yume shot back.

“You’re the one who’s nonsensical! There’s no way I make less sense than you!” Ranta hollered.

“Oh, be quiet, you dolt!” Yume shouted, hugging Shihoru tight. “You were bullyin’ Shihoru just now! Where do you get off doin’ that, huh, Ranta?! Yume’ll murderize you, you idiot!”

“I’m not bullying her! We were just having an exchange of opinions, clearly!” Ranta shouted.

“...How?” Shihoru muttered.

Ranta glared at Shihoru, then clicked his tongue. “If you’ve got something to complain about, come out and say it to me straight! It pisses me off when you act like that!”

Merry looked like she was about to say something, but then she looked down, glancing at her left wrist. There was a shining hexagram there. It

showed that her Protection spell was still in effect.

Come to think of it, Merry’s been checking that shining hexagram every chance she gets. And, wait, her weapon’s a short staff now. What happened to the priest’s staff with the rings that she had before? Haruhiro wondered. — No, no. Do I have time to be thinking about this? Wait, what am I supposed to be doing, again? My head’s all fuzzy. Even though I can’t imagine there’s any poison left, and Merry healed my wounds, too.

“...Uh,” Haruhiro shook his head and blinked. “What was I going to say? Anyway... I’m sorry for messing up. For now, let’s just... Right. I know. That goblin from before. Now, I’m not saying this just because it got me, but I don’t think it’s a normal one. We’ve probably never encountered one that moves like it did. What am I trying to say is—ah... I know, yeah, that’s right, it’s dangerous to stay here. It might try sniping us with its bow and arrow again. It might bring some friends here, too. I could see that happening.”

Ranta had a sour look on his face as he nodded towards Haruhiro. “Then get on your feet already.”

“Are you okay?” Merry asked, offering him a hand. “...Yeah.”

Haruhiro stood up. It wasn’t like he couldn’t stay on his feet, but he still felt weird somehow. He felt weak and incredibly sluggish.

“Hmm...?” Yume crouched down, and when she took a peek at Haruhiro’s face her eyes went wide. “Whuh?! Haru-kun, you’re lookin’ awfully pale!”

Shihoru looked at Haruhiro too and furrowed her brow. “She’s right.” “It’s because he lost a lot of blood,” Merry said, supporting Haruhiro.

“I’ve closed his wounds with magic, but that doesn’t bring back the blood he lost. For today, we should...”

“Hey, hey, hey, hey, heeeey,” Ranta shouted, looking up from checking the dead goblins’ bodies. A vein throbbed on his temple, and his face distorted with anger. “You’re not going to say we should go back to Alterna, are you? We haven’t earned anything yet, you know? If we go back like this, we’ll be in the red! The red, you hear me?!”

“We’ve got lots of money, y’know!” Yume shot back.

“Shut up, Yume! No matter how much money I get, it disappears in no time!”

“...Because you waste it, right?” muttered Shihoru.

“Shihoruuuu. I don’t want to hear that from someone who’s wasting her

big boobs. I’ll grope you, dammit!”

Shihoru inhaled sharply, then held her breasts with both of her arms, as if hiding them. “...You’re the worst.”

“Ha ha ha ha,” Ranta laughed. “I’m not even offended!” “Ranta, man...” Haruhiro sighed.

My head hurts. I don’t want to do anything, and I’d like nothing more than to just head back, but is that okay? Yeah, no—it’s not.

“...Sorry,” Haruhiro said. “Let me rest for now. Somewhere away from here... If I can take a break, I think I’ll get at least a little better. Can we decide what to do after that?”

“I guess that’s fine,” said Ranta. “We can do that. But, still.” Ranta pointed to him. “Let me say this, Haruhiro. This is all your fault. You’d better realize that. Because, for all your faults, you’re still our leader.”

8.    In an Unchanging World

In the end, after that, they killed four goblins, stripped them of all their worldly possessions, then headed back to Alterna early because Haruhiro wasn’t looking so good.

Well, we needed to go to the office to fill out the paperwork anyway, is what Yume and Shihoru said to try and comfort him, but Haruhiro was still frustrated. He couldn’t help but blame himself.

Even so, beating himself up over it wasn’t going to help. He couldn’t erase his failure, but luckily he’d survived, so it gave him material to reflect on, and he could improve how he handled things in future. In fact, he had to improve.

So, with their business taken care of, everyone headed off to Sherry’s Tavern, but when they started to review how things had gone that day, things got off to a stormy start.

Ranta was the instigator.

“—I told you from the beginning, didn’t I? I’ll do things my way,” he snapped. “I’m not geared towards being a tank anyway, so I’ll have to be my own special kind of tank, right? Tanks are the ones who stand up front, so I won’t see what’s going on behind me. I’ll have no clue what any of you guys are doing. So, it only makes sense that you should try to work with what I’m doing, right? Have I said anything wrong so far? Huh? I haven’t, have I?

Basically, it’s weird for stupid Haruhiro to yammer on at me telling me to do this, or do that. Don’t order me around. Have everyone else work around me, dammit.”

“...I get what you’re saying,” said Haruhiro.

“If you get what I’m saying, then do it! That’s all! We’re done here, right?” Ranta snapped.

“Nuh-uh, there’s no way that’s gonna be the end of it.” Yume stood up halfway and slammed her hands on the table. “Make everyone else work around you? Are you stupid?! There’s no way we can do that!”

“If you can’t handle it, then quit! Just quit!” Ranta shouted. “That’s not somethin’ you get to decide, Ranta!” she shot back.

“If you say you can’t go along with the party’s tactics, you can’t blame me if I tell you you’re useless!” Ranta bellowed.

“Yume’s not leavin’! You leave, Ranta!”

“If I leave, you’re the ones who’ll be in trouble! Because I’m the core of this party now!” Ranta shouted.

“...I think that your basic assumption there is flawed,” said Shihoru. “Oh? You want to bring it, Shihoruuuu?” Ranta sneered. “You pretend to

be quiet, but, really, all this time you’ve a been demonic beast hiding sharp fangs behind those secretly huge boobs of yours.”

“I’m not hiding any fangs... and they aren’t huge, I’m just fat...” Shihoru murmured.

“Then let’s see ’em,” Ranta smirked. “I’ll give them a thorough appraisal.”

“There’s no way I’m showing you anything,” she said coolly.

“Tch. Holding out on me, huh. You’re so boring, you know that. Ugh, what a bore.”

“I have no intention of trying to amuse you, Ranta-kun,” she said coldly. “Yeah, I know,” he snapped. “I can figure out that much. Did you think

those words would hurt me? My heart’s made out of steel, okay? That won’t even scratch it. Anyway, from here out, I am our tactics. I’m the center of everything. It all begins and ends with me. You get that? Well, you better. All of you have to study me. Become more familiar with me and change yourselves to suit me. If you do that, everything’ll work out.”

“I can’t see how it would,” Shihoru said.

“Yume agrees with Shihoru!” Yume exclaimed. “How about you, Merry- chan?”

“Huh—ah, I’m...” Merry seemed at a loss for words.

“Merry-chan, you don’t wanna go along with Ranta, right?” Yume insisted. “After all, this is Ranta we’re talkin’ about.”

“That’s...”

“Hmph.” Ranta put his elbows on the table, resting his head on his palms

and looking off to the side peevishly. “You can say whatever you want. But, remember. I’m saying all this after having thought about what’s best for the party, too. It’s not that I just want to do whatever I feel like, or anything like that, got it? If you all disagree with me, that’s fine. But, if you’re going to, then present an alternate plan. An alternative. If you’ve got something, let’s hear it. Well, Haruhiro?”

“An alternate plan.” Haruhiro mumbled the words like an idiot, holding his porcelain mug in both of his hands. He had barely touched the mead inside it. “...Well, let’s see. An alternate plan—actually... If we make Ranta be the tank, it’s a fact that we’re going to have to accommodate him somewhat. Of course, Ranta would need to think about how he can be more tank-y and that sort of stuff. If we leave things as they are, I think we’re going to have a pretty hard time...”

“You’re being pretty wishy-washy there, man!” Ranta said as he started to pick his nose. “It’s a bad joke if you think you can be leader like that. I mean, you did pretty terrible this afternoon, too.”

“Yeah, that was my fault,” Haruhiro said. “I already apologized, didn’t I?” “Oho!” Ranta cried. “Are you getting angry at me? You’re getting angry

at me when I should be angry at you, is that it? If you’re angry at me after what happened, you clearly haven’t learned your lesson, man.”

“...Yes, I have.”

“I dunno,” said Ranta. “I don’t see it. Not with that attitude.”

“Cut it out!” Yume shouted, puffing up her cheeks in anger. “You can’t go pumpin’ the blood to your belly! You’ve gotta think about how other people feel!”

“You moron! If you’re going to say something there, it should be ‘don’t rub salt in people’s wounds,’ obviously!” Ranta bellowed.

“Huh...?”

“Come on, how would I pump blood to my belly? That’s not even possible!” he shouted.

“M-Maybe it’s possible! If you try real hard!” Yume cried.

“Fine, do it! Do it right now! Do it right here! If you manage it, I’ll do a kowtow! I’ll do a naked dance and then kowtow for you! Hurry up and do it!” Ranta bellowed.

“Hnnngh...” Yume’s face turned bright red and it looked like steam might come out her ears.

An alternate plan... Haruhiro lifted his cup to his lips and was about to take a sip of his mead, then he stopped. An alternate plan. That’s right. I need to think of one. An alternate plan. I mean, I don’t really want to have Ranta calling the shots. But, in order to prevent that, I need to put forward a decent idea. I need to come up with fixed roles for each of my comrades. Like, at such-and-such a time, they do this, if such-and-such happens, they do that. I need to have that decided to some degree.

When Moguzo had been with them, Haruhiro hadn’t needed to focus on the details so much. Haruhiro and the others had lost Manato, gained Merry, and then slowly built up their tactics through actual combat. They had all known what they needed to do. They’d remembered it with their bodies, not their heads. It had seeped into them.

Now, most of what they had learned was of no use.

Moguzo hadn’t just been a tank. Moguzo had drawn enemy attention, defended himself against their attacks, then pounded himself between them like a wedge, dealing the decisive blow. Moguzo had been the ultimate shield, but at the same time he had also been the ultimate spear. He had been pivotal to both their offense and defense.

When it came to defensive or offensive power, Moguzo had clearly been number one. No one in the party was a match for him.

In other words, Moguzo had been carrying the rest of them. Moguzo had handled so many jobs. It had been a heavy responsibility for him.

Moguzo had taken all of that on without ever whining or complaining.

And so, he had grown.

“Moguzo was...” When Haruhiro spoke his name, the rest of his comrades fell silent. “He was really amazing. But, still. Moguzo was amazing to begin with, so I don’t think he got stronger the regular way. No, I mean, of course I think he had an aptitude for what he did, but I don’t think that was all there was to it. There’s no way he wasn’t scared, but he was always the closest to the front, fighting insane enemies. And yet, Moguzo never ran away. I think he probably did it for us. As he kept doing that, Moguzo got stronger. I relied on Moguzo too much.”

I should have noticed, Haruhiro thought. Much sooner. I absolutely needed to notice it.

It’s like Ranta said. It’s a bad joke to think I can be leader like this.

“I needed to lower the burden on Moguzo,” Haruhiro said sadly. “There

must have been things I could have done. It’s too late now, though. From here on, we need to take the huge burden that Moguzo was carrying and divide it between all of us. Each of us will need the ability to do more things. I don’t think our current strength is going to be enough.”

“I...” Shihoru said, biting her lip once before nodding. “I think I need to learn at least one powerful spell...”

“Hmm.” Yume leaned forward, resting her chin on the table. “Yume, well, it’s gonna be hard, but she’s gotta work on her attack power. She wants a wolf dog, too, though...”

Ranta spat out a contemptuous “Ha!” and crossed his arms. “You can say that all you want, but listen. People can’t do what they can’t do. They’ve gotta stick to what they can. A lot of dread knight skills are movement skills or attack skills meant to be used after moving, so if I stay put, I can’t show my true value. It’s not like I can change jobs from dread knight to warrior, either. Now that I’ve sworn myself to Skullhell, I have to stay a dread knight until the day I die.”

“Changing jobs, huh...” Haruhiro brought a finger to his lips, glancing over to Yume.

“Meow? Is there something Yume can do?” she asked. “No...” he murmured.

Yume’s surprisingly strong, he thought. If she tried arm wrestling, she could probably put up a good fight even against men. She has guts, too. Even though she’s a hunter, she swings her machete around and crosses blades with our enemies far more often than she uses a bow and arrow. If I could just have her leave the hunters’ guild and become a warrior—No, I guess I can’t. Yume’s attached to being a hunter, and she has her goal of getting a wolf dog, too. I think it would be wrong to force her to change just because it’s convenient for the party. Besides, having seen how Moguzo fought, I’d feel kind of bad making a girl go through that. No, not kind of bad—very bad.

She’d be scared, wouldn’t she?

It’s no good. I can’t do that. I mean, if one of us were going to become a warrior and be the tank... Shihoru is obviously not warrior material, Merry we need to have as our priest, and Ranta can’t change classes, which leaves...

“...Me?” Haruhiro said in a whisper, trying to imagine it, just in case. He imagined himself decked out in heavy armor with a helmet, swinging around

The Chopper.

Wow, that looks weak, he thought.

Haruhiro himself would never want to rely on that lanky, weak-willed wussy to be the party tank.

—Weak-willed wussy, he thought. That’s right, Choco died, didn’t she?

No, forget about that. I don’t have time now to dwell on it. I need to focus on us.

It all came down to the tank. Without a proper tank, they didn’t stand a chance. The two roles every party needed were a tank and a healer. Taking that argument to an extreme conclusion, so long as the tank and healer were solid, the rest could do whatever they wanted.

As things stood, if someone was going to be the tank, it would have to be Ranta, who had always been the most heavily equipped after Moguzo. It was hard to imagine it now, but if he grew into the role with experience, that would be fine.

But, what are the chances of that? Haruhiro thought. Could it work...?

When they had lost Manato, they had brought a new healer into the party.

Merry.

Was that the only option?

Haruhiro had, of course, considered the possibility. It had been in the back of his mind. But he hadn’t wanted to think about it.

Haruhiro looked at Ranta, Yume, Shihoru, and finally Merry’s faces. Each of the four wore a different expression, and each of them seemed to be deep in thought. They had probably all more or less considered the idea. But they didn’t bring it up. None of them did.

“Um, hey,” Merry said, raising her right hand a little. “Can I talk? There’s something I want to tell all of you. It’s something I think I need to talk about.”

Haruhiro glanced to Ranta, Yume, and Shihoru. What could it be?

He felt a pain in his chest. He had a bad feeling about this. Merry was the priest, and she seemed to feel responsible for Moguzo’s death. Maybe she was going to leave the party.

“S-Sure,” he said, his voice trembling. “Of course. What is it?”

“I’ve done something I can never fix.” Merry’s beautiful face was frozen solid. Only her lips moved, stringing the words together in a low voice. “Back there, I let the effect of Protection wear off. I needed to recast it, but I

completely forgot. In an intense battle like that, it’s little things like that which mean the difference between life and death. If I had kept Protection in effect, Moguzo might not have died. No. I’m sure he wouldn’t have. It’s my fault that Moguzo’s dead. I let him die.”

“But that’s wrong!” Ranta punched the table. “You’re dead wrong! Don’t try to say it’s all your fault. Actually, it’s not just your fault! It’s mine, too.

He was my partner, but I couldn’t fight shoulder to shoulder with him. I was weak!”

“I’m not wrong,” Merry said, shaking her head slightly. “No matter how I look at it, letting Protection expire was a basic and inexcusably clumsy mistake, and Moguzo died because of it. I’ve let three of my comrades die before this. I never wanted to let one die again. Now, I have. I have no right to be a priest. How could I think anything else?”

“Merry-chan...” Yume said with tears in her eyes. “You can’t... You can’t go sayin’ that! It’s not about havin’ the right, or whatever! Yume doesn’t see it like that...”

“I can understand,” Shihoru said, crossing her arms tightly and resting them on the table. “I get how you feel, Merry... It may be presumptuous for me to say that, but... I’m always feeling the same way. Wondering whether it’s okay for me to be here. Wondering if I’m any use to the rest of you... wondering if I have the right to be here...”

“You don’t,” Ranta said with a smirk. “There’s no way you would. You have no right. We were a group of misfits to begin with. From the beginning, none of us had any right to do anything. So what? Like we care. It’s not our problem. We’ll do it whether we have the right to or not. Isn’t that how we’ve made it this far?”

“Ranta’s right,” Haruhiro said, looking at Merry.

Merry dropped her gaze to the table, seeming unwilling to meet his eyes.

She’s so distant, Haruhiro thought. Merry’s right here, but she’s so far away.

“You have no right to be a priest, and you don’t need one,” said Haruhiro. “You’re our comrade. That’s good enough for us.”

“Thank you.” Merry’s lips loosened a little. It was too slight to call it a smile. Even so, Merry had tried to smile for them. “—But I’d like some time. I realized something when we went to Damuro. The way I am now, I can’t move forward with all of you. I’m scared. Too scared. I have no confidence.

It doesn’t have to be long. Ten days—even seven would be fine, but give me some time.”

“Sounds fine to me,” Ranta said, shrugging, his elbows on the table. “I wanted to learn new skills anyway. Well, if I’ve got ten days, I bet I can power up a lot. Though, once the ultimate Ranta’s been born, there may not be anything left for the rest of you to do. Heh heh heh.”

“Yume ’s thinkin’ maybe she’ll learn some skills from her master, too,” Yume agreed. “She’s got the money and all.”

“I think I’ll challenge myself to learn one of the other magics, something other than Darsh Magic’s shadow magic...” Shihoru murmured.

“Okay.” Haruhiro closed his eyes. Time.

It was time. More than anything, what they needed was time. Haruhiro and the others had never been strong enough to rush forward without stopping.

He opened his eyes.

The scenery before him hadn’t changed in the slightest, to the point that it was cruel.

In this unchanging world, Haruhiro and the others would need to change themselves, little by little.

“Let’s meet in front of the north gate, ten days from now at eight o’clock,” he said.

9.    The Coming of the Angels

Sometimes people say they feel “out of their element.” That was exactly how Shihoru felt right now.

Close to Flower Garden Street, there was a restaurant called Maraika’s. It wasn’t like there was a sign out front, but the place was run by Maraika-san, so that was what people called it.

Maraika’s customers were about nine-tenths or, actually, more often than not, 100% women. It wasn’t that men were unwelcome, it was just that the mostly-female clientele made it harder for men to approach.

On the other hand, that made it easier for women to come in, and it was a relaxing environment for them. There weren’t many places like this, or rather, Shihoru didn’t know of any others, and the food was good, so when they were going out to eat with just the girls, Maraika’s was always their first option.

It went without saying that women who ate out frequently—mostly volunteer soldiers or those in the service industry—tended to eat at Maraika’s, so it was always packed.

Today they had avoided the busier hours, coming a little early, so there were open seats. Even so, Shihoru and Yume were forced into the corner of a large table, sitting next to one another. The food they ordered was brought out, and by the time they had half-finished eating, the restaurant was already packed.

“So, how’s it goin’ for you, Shihoru?” Yume asked. “You learnin’?” “...Yeah,” Shihoru said hesitantly. “It took me four days to learn one

spell... It’s really going to be hard to get used to... I think. I’ve only ever used Darsh magic before this, after all...”

“Darsh magic, huh,” Yume said.

“In magic, there’s what’s called mastery, you see...” Shihoru began. “Hmm? Mustardy?”

“...Uh, no. Mas-ter-y.”

“Ohh,” Yume said. “You meant mastery, huh. Mastery, right. What’s that?”

“For a mage, their magical power is drawn from elementals,” Shihoru said. “They’re a sort of magical creature, just so you know, and there are four types...” Shihoru counted them on her fingers. “Arve, Kanon, Falz, and Darsh.”

“Amp, and Maroon, and Fax, and Dash? Mm-hmm,” Yume said. “That’s hard to remember.”

“...Anyway, there are four types of elementals. The knowledge about each of them... the techniques to properly control them... and the experience you gain from doing so, all of that goes into what we call mastery. Each type of elementals has its own quirks. There are some similarities, but other things are completely different...”

“So, then, are there four masteries, or somethin’ like that?” Yume asked. “That’s right,” said Shihoru. “For instance... the mastery for Arve and

Darsh are separate. For me... I’ve been using Darsh all this time, so I have some mastery built up. But it doesn’t carry over to other magics, so it’s like starting from scratch...”

“Ohhh,” Yume said. “Sounds tough. Yume, she’s a hunter, so there’re only so many options for her. There’s her bow, her machete, and then, what, huntin’ skills? That’s all. Huh? Wow, that’s three whole things. But Yume, she’s not got any huntin’ skills, y’know.”

“...Does keeping a wolf dog fall under hunting skills?” Shihoru asked. “Yep. But, y’know, Yume’s thinkin’ she may have to give up on it.

Yume’s got the money, but if she wants to raise one, it has to be from when it’s a puppy. She’d want to take proper care of it, y’know? It’s possible to leave it with someone else, but Yume doesn’t really want to have to do that.”

“In our current situation, it might be hard for you to give a puppy all the attention it needs...” Shihoru agreed.

“Yeah, Yume was thinkin’ that, too. Even if Yume were able to raise it, she’d feel bad for the poor thing.”

“It’s not easy taking care of an animal...”

“That’s right,” Yume said. “It takes... determination, maybe? So, anyway,

if you train a wolf dog well, it’ll never betray its master. It’ll defend its master to the death.”

“...I wish I had someone like that,” said Shihoru.

“Hoh? Shihoru, you’d rather have a pet person than a pet dog?” “Huh...? Oh, no, I didn’t mean it like that...”

Shihoru used her fork to push around what little food was left on her plate.

Yume was kind of dense when it came to this stuff, or just completely uninterested, so sometimes she didn’t quite get what Shihoru was talking about.

When she looked at Yume, Shihoru sometimes worried that she herself was abnormal. She couldn’t help but divide people of the other gender into two groups: those she could fall in love with, and those she couldn’t. Shihoru felt a little disgusted by that part of herself. She wished she could be more ignorant of it, like Yume.

When I do decide I like a boy, it only brings me suffering, she thought sadly. I’m better off never falling in love.

“Hey, you two,” someone said.

Shihoru hadn’t expected anyone to call out to them, so she was really surprised. She turned to look towards the voice. She knew—no, that was a bit too strong of a word for it—she recognized the speaker’s face, or rather, the way she was dressed. She was a muscular woman with a white feathered stole wrapped around her neck and her hair tied back with a bandana that, naturally, was also decorated with white feathers.

“The name’s Kikuno, but I guess you wouldn’t know that,” the woman said. “We’ve never really been introduced before. Still, I know about you two. We fought together at Deadhead, yeah?”

“Ahh!” Yume pointed at Kikuno. “You’re one of those Wily Angels, aren’t you?”

“...It’s the Wild Angels,” Kikuno said. “And don’t point at people. It’s rude.”

“Yikes. S-Sorry. Yume’ll be more careful about that from here on.” “You do that,” said Kikuno. “I’m pretty forgiving, but a lot of people are

more temperamental. Well, not that that matters. —Kajiko!”

Kikuno turned around and started waving. Was she trying to call someone over? No, not just someone.

“Whoa-ho!” Yume let out a weird cry.

Shihoru’s entire body froze up, and she could only stare at the tall woman walking towards them with huge strides.

“Sorry, would you mind giving us your seats?” Kikuno asked, chasing off three of the female customers who were sitting across from Shihoru and Yume.

Kikuno and the tall, frightening beauty sat down in their now-vacant seats.

The frightening beauty. Truly, Kajiko was frightening. Frighteningly beautiful, and just plain frightening. Just being seated across from her like this was intimidating. Honestly, Shihoru wanted to run away. But she couldn’t. If she took off running, she was sure she’d be cut down. Even Yume, always so carefree, was quiet as a mouse.

“I’d say ‘long time no see,’ but it hasn’t actually been that long.” When Kajiko smiled, Shihoru felt like a cold blade was being pressed up against her heart. “I’m Kajiko, head of the Wild Angels. It’s Shihoru and Yume, right?”

Shihoru nodded silently and mechanically, like a puppet.

“...Huh?” Yume cocked her head to the side. “Why do you know Yume and Shihoru’s names?”

“I look into any girl who catches my interest.” Kajiko off-handedly said something very frightening. “That warrior of yours, he had guts, for a man. My condolences for your loss.”

Shihoru bit her lip. Why? It was strange. Though she hadn’t been sad about it like her comrades, and couldn’t even cry for him, now, when she heard Kajiko praising Moguzo, her heart was suddenly swept with emotions. Happiness, pride, and loneliness.

At last, it finally hit her that she had lost a wonderful and irreplaceable comrade.

“...Moguzo sure was strong, wasn’t he?” Yume mumbled, looking down. “I thought he was,” Kajiko said, looking off into the distance for a

moment. “You’re still inexperienced. You’re practically rookies. You have a lot of room for growth. If that warrior had been allowed to keep growing steadily, he might have made a name for himself. At the very least, I’m sure he’d have grown enough to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with that show-off who joined up at the same time as you.”

“...With Renji-kun...” Shihoru ground her teeth. Kajiko probably wasn’t one for flattering others. She could tell that much. This was the honest appraisal of the person running a major clan like the Wild Angels. She could

trust it.

Moguzo had been strong. He could have gotten stronger. Much stronger. “Well, it happens all the time,” Kajiko said with a shrug. “It’s not unusual

for someone with budding talent to die before it can bloom. Actually, the more talent a person has, the more likely they are to die early. Those who are weak and timid don’t try to bear the brunt of things in a fight. That’s how they survive. I was the same way.”

Kikuno looked at her and rolled her eyes. “...No you weren’t, Kajiko.” “Nah,” Kajiko said. “You girls have too high an opinion of me. True, I’m

not average. I’m no match for Soma or Kemuri, but I doubt I’d lose to ‘Red Devil’ Ducky, ‘One-on-One’ Max, or Shinohara. But it’s not like it was always that way. I was pretty pitiful back when I first got my start as a volunteer soldier. It was just that, thanks to my looks, there was no shortage of stupid men who would try to protect me. I used them to survive. Honestly, it makes me sick to my stomach. But the facts are the facts. I used those stupid, vulgar, scummy men as stepping stones to get stronger, little by little. Of course, I’m not going to claim I didn’t have raw potential. I must have.

It’s just, everyone has that. At something. What’s important is not dying. You need to live, no matter what it takes, feed on anything you can, and build your own abilities. Shihoru. Yume.”

“...Y-Yes?” Shihoru stuttered. “Meow?” Yume asked.

“You’ve lost that warrior,” Kajiko said. “He must have been the central pillar of your party. Even at a moderate estimate, your party’s lost at least half of its strength. You can’t survive like this.”

Shihoru tried to gulp, but her mouth was dry, without so much as a drop of spit for her to swallow. When she turned to look at Yume next to her, Yume’s eyes were open wide and her lips were pursed.

“You two have a lot going for you,” Kajiko said, softening her expression a little. “Zoran Zesh was a powerful enemy. The orcs are a powerful race, but, to be frank, not many individual orcs get that strong. About the only people who could have taken him one-on-one were Soma and Kemuri, I’d say. Looking at your history before that, it wouldn’t have been surprising if you had all died. And yet, you’re still here. That’s impressive. However, unfortunately, your party is finished. You can’t fight without that warrior. It won’t take long before another of you dies. Once one of you dies, it’ll be a

second, then a third. That’s usually how these things go. If that warrior had survived, your party would’ve been one to watch, I’m sure. Considering the other well-known party that joined up at the same time as you, people might have started talking about you all as a golden generation. But that possibility is gone now. If you cling to that party forever, Shihoru, Yume, the only thing waiting for you will be a miserable death.”

“...You’re saying... we should drop out... then?” Shihoru asked, her voice trembling, to which Kajiko immediately responded, “I am,” with a nod.

“Join the Wild Angels,” Kajiko continued. “I won’t insist you decide right this second, but you’re welcome to. I have a party that could take in a mage and a hunter as soon as tomorrow.”

“We’re an all-female clan,” Kikuno added with a strangely friendly smile. “There’s not one filthy guy allowed. Nobody will use you. We’ve banded together to improve ourselves, to survive, and to enjoy life. Men are banned, but not having them around has never caused us any problems. Actually, you know what? We’re better off without any stupid men around. No matter how hard they try to keep up appearances, when it comes down to it, they’re all the same. They only see us as an outlet for their filthy lust.”

“Kikuno, you’re getting a little too fired up,” Kajiko said. “Ah, sorry, Kajiko. I got carried away...”

“It’s true that men are banned, but that’s only from joining the clan,” Kajiko said. “What you do on your own time is none of my business.

However, if anyone hurts one of my comrades, I’ll never forgive them. They can run and hide, but I will find them and make them pay. It would take a real idiot to not realize that, so nobody makes a move on one of our girls half- heartedly. If there’s a man who’s still willing to approach you despite that, you can be sure he’s serious. I won’t beat a man like that half to death, so you don’t have to worry.”

“I dunno...” Kikuno said.

“If you’ve got something to say, Kikuno, look me in the eye and say it,” Kajiko said sharply.

“N-Never mind.”

Death, Shihoru thought. A miserable death. At this rate, we’re going to die.

Shihoru looked down and closed her eyes. —Manato-kun. Moguzo-kun.

She remembered the looks on their faces as they’d died. Were Shihoru

and the others going to end up like that...? No, not necessarily. Kajiko was inviting them to join the Wild Angels. Was she exaggerating the situation in order to get them to? That had to be it.

But, the fact was, the party’s strength had been cut in half. Even if Shihoru learned new magic and Yume picked up new skills, they couldn’t fill in the hole left by Moguzo. Without Moguzo, would they be able to make it through difficult battles like the one at Deadhead Watching Keep?

Shihoru was always at the rear of the party, watching over them. She could answer that question with certainty. They could not. When she imagined not seeing Moguzo’s large back in front of her, the scene looked so hopelessly empty.

As a mage, she didn’t wear anything fit to be called armor, so she felt naked standing on a battlefield without Moguzo. She felt uncertain, frightened, and wanted to run away. Everyone knew their situation was hopeless, and they were desperately trying to do something about it. They were trying to walk a thorny path.

If they joined the Wild Angels, Shihoru and Yume wouldn’t have to walk that path anymore.

Shihoru opened her eyes, looking to see Yume’s expression.

Yume would probably decline right here. “Sorry, it’s kind of you to invite us, though,” she’d say. When she did, Shihoru would probably come to the same conclusion. That was what she thought. However, Yume...

Yume furrowed her brow and stuck her lips out like an octopus.

She was thinking. She didn’t seem to know what to do. Even Yume was at a loss for what to do.

“Um...” Shihoru bowed her head. She didn’t even know who it was she was trying to be apologetic to. “...Give us some time to think about it.”

10.    Those Who Remain and Those Who Are Left Behind

“Oh, man...” Haruhiro groaned, rolling over in bed. Just changing his position was enough to cause unbearable pain all over his body. “I’m gonna die...”

After mumbling those words, No, no, no! he rejected them. I shouldn’t use that expression so lightly. But, still, it really hurts.

“...You’re a real ogre, Barbara-sensei,” he moaned. “Not that I didn’t already know that...”

There was a skill called Assault. It was one of the thief fighting skills. The name made it sound strong, but as for the kind of skill it was, well, it was a desperate attack.

You accepted being hit by any counterattack in return for landing a combo on the enemy. You didn’t even consider defense or evasion. You just attacked, attacked, and attacked some more.

It wasn’t just a matter of swinging wildly, though. You used weapons efficiently, creating as little of a gap between attacks as possible. Instead of taking defensive or evasive actions, you reduced the risk of a counterattack by keeping up a relentless assault.

If there was a counterattack, there was nothing left that you could do.

You’d have to graciously accept death. You had to kill before being killed. It was a manly skill.

Haruhiro was resting his exhausted and hurt body in the top bunk of his bed back in a dimly lit room at the volunteer soldier lodging house. The new equipment he had bought, a new, good quality dagger and a bludgeoning weapon called a sap, were lying at his side.

The sap was a short club made of a flexible material, about 30 centimeters

long, with the end of it being heavier. The whole thing was wrapped in leather cord, the end of which would wrap around the user’s hand.

Haruhiro had prepared the new dagger and sap to use while learning Assault. In other words, to power himself up, Haruhiro had chosen to learn Assault and adopt a dual wielding style.

Haruhiro was, of course, not ambidextrous. He was right-handed. It wasn’t simple to use a weapon in his left hand. When you factored in that he would be using a weapon in both hands, it became even more difficult.

Barbara-sensei had told him to just get used to it. It should be natural for you to hold your weapons the entire time you’re awake, and I want you holding them while you’re asleep, too, she had said.

Haruhiro held his dagger and sap. Holding his weapons around the clock was too much, but he tried to touch them like this whenever he had time.

The six days he had spent learning Assault had been as punishing as they always were. For the first two days, he had just spent a lot of time experiencing Barbara-sensei’s Assault first hand. For the two days after that, he had practiced the patterns for Assault basically without sleep or rest. For the last two days, he had sparred with Barbara-sensei—ultimately, Haruhiro had never successfully hit Barbara-sensei with Assault, but she’d hit him with her wooden swords more times than he could count. He had fainted several times and had to be healed by a priest that Barbara-sensei called in.

So, technically, I’m unharmed, Haruhiro thought. Or, rather, I’ve healed. My body still hurts all over, though. That, and it feels heavy. This goes way beyond just feeling sluggish.

“Ranta’s not back...” he murmured.

Shihoru and Yume aren’t at the lodging house, either. They had both left to learn new magic and skills. Is that what Ranta’s doing, too?

Haruhiro suspected Ranta was off goofing around, but apparently he wasn’t.

Haruhiro had plans to go to the thieves’ guild again tomorrow to learn another skill, but with his body in this state, was he going to be able to do it?

I’m not convinced, he started to think...

“...but that’s not something I can afford to be saying, huh,” he finished aloud.

My body feels horribly sluggish, but I’m hungry. I should eat something before I go to sleep.

Haruhiro willed himself to get up, sheathing his dagger and fastening his sap to his belt.

As soon as he got down from the bed, he quickly drew his dagger and sap and fell into a combat stance.

“...Too slow,” he said.

This isn’t good enough, he thought. He put away his dagger and sap once more, then drew them. He tried it several times, but it just wasn’t feeling right.

“Aww... Well, I guess it’s fine. No use rushing it...”

You don’t have enough spirit, Barbara-sensei had scolded him many times.

Vigor. Spirit. Backbone.

I know that, though, Haruhiro thought. Even if I want to change, even if I try to change, it’s not that easy. I want to, though. To be more... positive?

Always bright and energetic. The kind of guy who can drag everyone along with him. But to still be cautious, and be able to get going when the going gets tough, that’s the kind of leader I want to be.

“...But I’m just an Old Cat, after all.”

Choco’s trade name was Cheeky Cat.

When Haruhiro suddenly recalled that, he felt like he had to sit down.

What good is sitting down going to do? he wondered bitterly. Choco’s gone. We might have been able to become close, but any hope of that is completely cut off now. Dwelling on it won’t do me any good, but I can’t help but think about it occasionally.

“I need to stop...” Haruhiro put away his dagger and sap.

Food. It’s time for food. I should eat. If he got something good to eat, he was sure that would cheer him up.

The moment before he stepped out of the room, he sensed a presence. There was something out in the corridor.

Ranta? No, if it was Ranta, he’d come in. Shihoru or Yume? If it was them, they’d at least call out. Merry would do the same, so who is it, then? This is creepy. There’s no such thing as being too careful. It could be a thief. Not likely, though.

He used Sneaking to kill his footsteps as he approached the door. Now what?

He decided in an instant. He drew his dagger in his right hand and opened

the door with his left. The guy was standing right on the other side of the door. He was pretty tall. Haruhiro jabbed his elbow into the guy’s solar plexus.

“Gah...!”

Without missing a beat, Haruhiro circled around behind him, and was about to stab the man in the neck, when—Wait, I know this guy.

“...Huh? You’re alive?” Haruhiro asked.

“Ow...” The man was holding his belly with one hand and grimacing, but there was no doubt about who it was.

It’s Mr. Tall, Haruhiro thought. From Choco’s party. A ghost...?

No, that’s not it. It can’t be. I thought he died at Deadhead Watching Keep. I was sure Choco’s entire party were wiped out. Was I wrong?

“...Well, sorry for being alive,” the tall guy muttered.

“No—it’s nothing to apologize for... but... uhh, what about the others...?” “There’s no one but me left,” Mr. Tall said, taking a deep breath. “And I

was sure I was going to get killed just now.”

“W-Well, that’s what happens when you just stand there like that,” Haruhiro said. “You can’t blame me for thinking you were suspicious.”

“Is that how it works?” the guy asked. “That’s how it works.”

“I’ll be more careful from now on.”

“That’d be a good idea,” Haruhiro said. “Well, anyway, I’ve gotta get going.”

“Ah.”

“Huh?” Haruhiro responded. “...Wait, I wanted to talk.” “To me?” Haruhiro asked.

“Well, like, you and I are the only ones here, pal.”

“Well, yeah, but—huh? What? What’d you want to talk to me about?” “Well... I wonder,” Mr. Tall scratched his head. “Uh... can I ask for

advice?”

“Huh?”

“Can’t I?” the guy asked. “Well, I mean—”

Sure, I’m his senior and all, but we’ve never really talked before,

Haruhiro thought. I don’t feel like starting now, either. I mean, I do feel sorry

for the guy, but still.

Choco’s party had had six people in it. Mr. Tall had lost five comrades all at once, and he’d been left all alone. What had happened to him after that?

Haruhiro didn’t know, but if the guy was coming to him for help, he probably wasn’t having a grand old time with a new group of comrades.

“...We can talk a bit while we eat, if that’s fine,” said Haruhiro. “That’ll do.”

“Okay,” Haruhiro said. “It’ll be my treat.”

I have to question why I’m trying to play the good senior here, but a little sympathy for the guy probably won’t hurt me, he thought. I mean, I know what he must be going through.

The food stall village near the craftsmen’s town was close to the lodging house, so they decided to look for something there. For the moment, soruzo was off the menu for Haruhiro. He might never eat it again.

They went to a stall with every variety of fried meat and vegetable skewer imaginable and ate a bunch of them. Mr. Tall just ate the hot skewers Haruhiro offered him, not trying to say anything.

“Well, that’s fine,” Haruhiro said. “Wait, no, it’s not. Didn’t you have something to ask me about?”

“Ohhh,” the tall guy said. “Yeah, I guess.”

Haruhiro might not be one to talk, but he thought Mr. Tall was awfully brusque. He seemed intensely indifferent and cynical. He stood over 170 centimeters tall, but his posture was awful.

“But, you know, I’ve got something to ask,” the tall guy said awkwardly. “Sure.”

“A favor, you could say.”

Haruhiro was startled. “From me? A favor? Huh? What...?” “It’s really hard to say this,” the tall guy said uncomfortably. “Dragging it out won’t help...”

“Guess not.”

“It may be rude to say it,” Haruhiro said, “but you’re kind of a pain, you know that?”

“Kuzaku,” the guy said.

“Your name?” Haruhiro asked.

“Yeah. My name. You’re Haruhiro-kun, yeah?” “Well... yeah, I am,” Haruhiro said.

He’s talking to me casually now? Well, it’s fine. I really don’t care.

Haruhiro was definitely Mr. Tall, or Kuzaku’s, senior, but it wasn’t like he’d had a year or two more experience than him as a volunteer soldier, and of the two of them, Haruhiro probably looked younger. Besides, he didn’t like being overly formal.

“You can drop the -kun,” said Haruhiro. “So, what’s this request?” “It’s about the party,” said Kuzaku.

“Okay. Whose?”

“Yours, Haruhiro-kun... no, Haruhiro.” “Mine?” Haruhiro asked.

“I mean, I’m alone now.” “I see.”

“I’ve been thinking I need to join up with some group,” explained Kuzaku. “Gotta keep myself fed and all.”

“You’re not going to get anywhere without an income, yeah,” agreed Haruhiro.

“But, I dunno... Somehow, it feels wrong.” “What does?” Haruhiro asked.

“Isn’t it a little tough?” the guy asked. “I just lost five comrades and was left all alone. It’s like, can I get along with people who’ve never experienced that?”

“You think they wouldn’t understand how you feel?” Haruhiro asked. “Hmm... Yeah. Ahh. Not quite. But, it’s the same, I guess. Ah...” Kuzaku

held his jaw and let his tongue hang out of his mouth. “My jaw’s exhausted. Haven’t talked this long in a while.”

Like that’s my problem, Haruhiro thought. This isn’t going to work. I can’t see myself getting along with Kuzaku. Why? Something’s bugging me. — That’s it.

Back then, Kuzaku had been fighting an orc, his back to the wall as he’d tried to protect Choco. But he hadn’t been able to protect her. Kuzaku had been taken down by the orc, and then Choco had been killed.

Haruhiro sympathized with Kuzaku’s situation. But, buddy, you failed to protect Choco, you know? And despite that, you’re still alive while Choco’s dead. What’s with that?

It wasn’t that Haruhiro thought that in any clear way. Still, there was something that rubbed him the wrong way. That was probably it. Choco was

dead, but Kuzaku was alive.

Kuzaku may well have done his best. Kuzaku might have been more miserable than any of them about what happened. There might not have been anything Kuzaku could have done, but Haruhiro couldn’t deny that he felt some antipathy towards him.

“What have you been doing?” Haruhiro asked. “Since then.”

“Learning skills, that sort of thing,” said the tall man. “I had some money.

My inheritance, you could say.” Kuzaku pulled on his earlobe, a slight, forced smile on his face. “Other than that, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking,”

“And so, you want to join my party?” Haruhiro asked. “Yeah. Basically.”

“Are you a warrior?” Haruhiro asked. “No, a paladin.”

“My party’s lost Moguzo, our tank, so you’re thinking you’ll take his place?” Haruhiro asked.

“I’m not thinking that.” Kuzaku looked offended. “I don’t think I could, either. You guys are my seniors. You’re on a different level. In terms of experience, and stuff.”

“We do want a tank, though,” Haruhiro admitted. “Honestly—”  When he’d been at the thieves’ guild being put through the wringer by

Barbara-sensei, that was the one thing he’d kept thinking during his rare breaks. That, really, they were going to need a tank, after all. That there might be no choice but to find a warrior or paladin to join the party.

Haruhiro shook his head and sighed. “But... This is just my thoughts on the matter, but it’s too soon. We haven’t come to terms with it yet. Besides, it’s not something I can decide on my own. I can’t give you the response you want. Sorry.”

“I see.” Kuzaku bowed his head a little. “I’m sorry, too.”

It’s not that it doesn’t pain me to do this, Haruhiro thought. But, honestly, I never want to see Kuzaku again.

Moguzo’s gone.

What a serious, serious blow that is.

11.    Egoist

“Gwahahaha!” Ranta guffawed loudly.

It felt like the first time in a long time that he’d seen the light of day.

Actually, it had been a long time. The dread knights’ guild was underground in the sprawling slums of Alterna’s West Town. Ranta had stayed there for a while to learn two skills. For nine days, he hadn’t set foot outside of that dank, jail-like guild. No, it wasn’t just jail-like. He couldn’t have left if he’d wanted to. If he’d insisted on leaving, he would have left as a corpse. On that point, at least, it was a jail.

The sun should have warmed Ranta’s body, but instead he shivered. “...Damn, I know I say this every time, but the lords were scary...”

Within the dread knights’ guild, there were a number of dread knights with the position of lord. He didn’t know the precise number, but Ranta had probably met seven of them.

Why “probably”? Because the lords hid their faces, and they never gave their names. He could only distinguish them by their voices and height. That meant there were seven that Ranta could tell apart.

Every last one of them was damn scary. They didn’t show even a hint of kindness, and they were way too merciless. To be blunt, Ranta couldn’t see the lords as fellow humans. If people mastered the way of the dread knight, did they turn out like that?

“They’re damn cool, though,” Ranta said. “I wanna be like that. Lord Ranta, huh. Heh heh...”

Ranta held his throat, coughing to clear it, then tried imitating their voices. “‘Call me Lord. You are Lord Skullhell’s slave, and I am Lord Skullhell’s

slave who will show you the way. There is no need for names for either of us.’ ...Oh-ho! That was cool! Was that cool or what, just now? It was so

damn cool! Ow!”

Ranta was whacked in the back of the head, but when he turned to look, there was no one there.

What? Did I imagine it? I couldn’t have, right...? He rubbed the spot where he’d been hit, turned back to face forward, and there was a black-clad lord looking like a hazy shadow as they walked away.

“Urkh... W-Was I overheard?!” Ranta yelped.

“Foolish slave.” The lord stopped, turning the face covered in a reddish black mask to face him. “Will you be embraced by Lord Skullhell?”

“N-No!” Ranta gasped. “I’m good, thanks!”

“What do you mean, you’re good?” the lord demanded.

“Erm, well, I’m good for now, like, I still want to serve Lord Skullhell and, like, I can serve him, like, I’m gonna serve him real good!” Ranta blathered. “I think I can be way, way more useful than I am now, so, uh, l-l- let me go for now! I-I’m begging you!”

Ranta jumped into the air and threw himself on the ground. He ground his forehead against the floor. It was a magnificent kowtow.

“I-I screwed up! I-I was wrong! I’m gonna work myself like a horse, to the bone, with total sincerity, to do the will of Lord Skullhell, so, please!

Please, please, please, this once! S-Spare my life, at least!” “You scum.” The lord left, leaving only those words behind.

Ranta stood up, and—“Whew!”—wiped the cold sweat off his face. “...Th-That was close. S-Still, you know, wasn’t that the first time I’ve

met a lord outside? So the lords go outside like regular people, huh? Well, yeah, of course. They can’t stay underground all the time. Hell, if she took off that mask, I wouldn’t even know who she was. I could meet her at the bar and never realize it. That lord must’ve been a woman. I mean, she had tits. I only know the one female lord, so that must have been her, yeah? Maybe she’s actually hot when she takes off that mask. A total femme fatale, huh. I could go for that... Geh heh heh...”

As he wandered through the twisted streets of West Town, Ranta fantasized about the days of love and lust that would unfold between the two of them once he was finally a lord. The dread knights’ guild forced him into a life of abstinence, so when he got out, he was always pent up.

“I’m a healthy young man, after all,” Ranta said. “You can’t blame me.

Yeah.”

Ranta stood in front of Celestial Alley, looking up into the sky. The sun had seemed so bright and warm when he’d first come out, but now it was already evening. The sun was low on the horizon.

“—I’m gonna live your share as well, partner,” he said. “I mean, I’d rather you were here to live it with me. But I’m fine without you. That’s ’cause my legend as the strongest is just getting started. You just sit back and watch me, you idiot...”

Ranta rubbed his eyes and sniffed his nose. He put his hands on his hips, puffing out his chest and laughing loudly. He felt invincible when he did that. No, he didn’t just feel it—he was invincible.

Ranta took a leisurely detour down Celestial Alley. He wasn’t going to silly old Sherry’s Tavern tonight. No, he’d decided on a place with lots of pretty girls to pour his drinks for him. If things went well, he’d take one or two of them home with him, then take things all the way to the finish.

“Yeah, the way I am now... I can do it!” Ranta thrust his hips in the air, then looked around for a place.

The good places were reserved for the regular forces of the Frontier Army, with no volunteer soldiers allowed, so he had to be careful in his choice. Ranta wanted a place that looked like it’d have lots of young, busty girls with an hourglass figure who were kind and considerate, but who’d become bold once they were alone with him and take the lead.

Ranta walked up and down Celestial Alley a few times before stopping outside one establishment.

The cabaret club, Runrun Paradise.

The exterior looked a bit out of place, but there were girls on the second floor balcony dressed in outfits which left nothing to the imagination. They were shooting intense looks at the passing men and waving to them to come in. Of course, Ranta was being invited, too.

No, Ranta was specifically being invited.

“Heh heh heh... I’m pumped to the max!” he hollered.

Doing everything he could to keep his boiling blood under control, Ranta went to dash through the door to Runrun Paradise.

Then someone grabbed him by the shoulder. “Hey, Curly.”

“Huh...?!” Ranta yelped.

This was what it felt like to have a bucket of cold water poured on you.

Ranta turned around, ready to visit three thousand punches and seven thousand kicks on the audacious bastard who’d dared touch his shoulder, but when he saw that face, he had an immediate change of heart, throwing himself to the ground and performing a kowtow. It was his second jumping kowtow that day, but considering who he was dealing with, he couldn’t afford to be embarrassed about that.

“I-I-I-I’m sorry...! Wait, did I even do anything?! I must’ve, huh, ’cause we wouldn’t be doing this if I hadn’t! Anyway, I’m seriously, seriously sorry!”

“...What are you apologizing for?” Renji asked.

“Well, I don’t really know why I’m apologizing!” Ranta cried. “...Huh? Is that not it? I don’t need to apologize...? Wait, what’re you doing here, Renji? No, not Renji, Renji-san! Maybe you’re going to Runrun Paradise, too? No, not just going there, but you’re a regular...?”

“Runrun Paradise?” When Renji looked up to the second floor balcony, the girls squealed and shrieked.

That wasn’t all—Ranta saw it. He witnessed it. One of the girls pulled back the already-revealing chest portion of her dress, giving him a peek of her killer boobs. Her makeup was a bit heavy, but she was a pretty girl, and the way Renji didn’t bat an eye at it, just calmly denying it with a “No,” was seriously manly.

“I’ve never been in this place,” Renji said.

“...Y-Yeah, I guess you wouldn’t have been,” said Ranta. “Huh? Then, why did you...?”

“I happened to see you, so I called out to you,” Renji said.

“Huh?! N-No, I mean, why would you be talking to me?” Ranta asked. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you.”

“T-To me...?!” Ranta asked.

“Yeah.” Renji patted down his ash gray hair, sighing. “I’m not that interested anymore, though.”

“...Because of Runrun Paradise?” “No. Because of how you act.”

“Oh, of course.” Ranta stood up with an awkward laugh, quickly giving himself the sniff test to make sure he didn’t stink.

No, wait. He’s not a girl. He’s a dude. Like, the dude to end all dudes. I don’t need to do this. Or rather, he makes me a million times more nervous than any girl.

“Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uhmm... Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-What did you want to talk about?” Ranta stuttered.

“Come with me.” Renji pointed the way with his chin, then started to walk.

Ranta cried, “Yes, sir!” and took off after him.

Renji took Ranta to a small, cramped bar on the edge of Celestial Alley. It was truly cramped, but the interior was neat, with a good stock of bottles and casks of wine behind the bar. There were no other customers. It was probably too early for that. Later in the night, people would gather here to enjoy a quiet drink. That was the kind of place this had to be. In other words, it was no place for Ranta.

“Th-This is a good place,” said Ranta. “Ha ha ha, ha...”

“Brandy, any kind, for two,” Renji ordered without asking Ranta. Their drinks were ready quickly. There was a brown-ish liquid in a short glass.

Ranta said, “Don’t mind if I do!” and took a swig. He nearly choked on the stuff, but he somehow managed to endure. “Th-This stuff is strong...”

Renji gave a low snort, then downed his glass in one shot.

—Whoa. Damn, he’s cool...

“How’s it going?” Renji asked.

“Huh? Oh... Well, so-so... you could say. You know what happened to us.”

“Moguzo, huh,” said Renji. “Well, that’s how it is...”

“I misjudged him,” Renji said. “He was a big deal.”

Renji’s meaning wasn’t clear. Moguzo had been big? What did he mean by that? That he’d been stronger than he’d thought? Or that it was a big deal

that Moguzo had died, or something like that? Either way, Renji was acknowledging Moguzo.

—Man, you’ve got Renji acknowledging you now, partner, Ranta thought proudly. Not that being recognized after your death does you much good, though.

“But, well, he’s gone now,” Ranta said. “It’s not going to do us any good to moan and complain about it. We’ve got to get by on our own now. That’s how we’re taking it...”

“What about Haruhiro?” asked Renji.

“What about him? There’s not much to say,” Ranta said. “Well, he’s trying hard in his own way. Not that he’s much of a leader.”

“True enough.”

“He can’t be like you, Renji-san,” Ranta added. “Cut it out with the -san.”

“Righto. Renji it is.” Ranta took a little sip of his brandy. “This is good stuff, if you take it a bit at a time. Still, it’s strange to be here, talking to you like this. You alone?”

“Work is work,” said Renji.

“And you wanna keep it separate from your time off?” “Yeah, kinda,” said Renji.

“If you’re with people all the time, they get annoying,” Ranta agreed. “You wanna be alone once in a while.”

“Even you feel like that?” Renji asked archly.

“I’m fine all by myself, y’know?” Ranta said. “I don’t really get lonely. In this business, you can’t go it alone, though, so I need comrades. A group.”

“Want to join mine?” Renji asked.

Ranta nearly nodded, and then—Hold on, wait, he thought. What?

What did Renji just say? “Want to join mine?” No. That can’t be it, right? “Want a jumbo lime?” No, that’s not it.

“Want to join mine?” That was what Renji had said. “...Huh?” Ranta asked, dumbfounded.

“Right now, we’ve got five,” said Renji. “There’s room for one more.” “Oh—because Protection works on up to six, right?” Ranta asked. “Thieves won’t work on another thief’s turf,” said Renji. “It’s part of their

code of honor. I don’t need a hunter who can’t use a bow or a mage with no firepower, either. Your priest is worthless, too. She let Moguzo die.”

“That’s not...!” He felt the blood rushing to his head. But... why should Ranta have to stick up for Merry? Because she was his comrade? Even if she was, he had to call a spade a spade. That was Ranta’s stance. He didn’t want to play at being friends.

“...Well, yeah,” said Ranta. “Her skills aren’t bad, but Merry screwed up.

She screwed up royally.”

“Our Chibi may not look it, but she’s useful,” said Renji.

“That seriously, seriously shocked me,” said Ranta. “I dunno... she just didn’t look like she’d have it in her. But if she’s supporting your party, she must be amazing.”

“Ranta.” That was probably a first. Renji hadn’t called him Curly, he’d called him by name. “You’re going to become useful. When I saw you at Deadhead, that’s what I thought. But Haruhiro can’t use you properly.”

Renji had been watching?

Ranta had seen Renji and his group. Renji was the one in it who was really, really incredible. Still, that was just because Renji was a crazy man who’d jump into danger like it was nothing and mow down enemies. Ron and the others were plenty amazing themselves. They had been with Renji all this time, and lived. That was special in and of itself. It was hard to believe that they hadn’t been volunteer soldiers for any longer than Ranta and the others.

Him, in that party.

If that were to happen—he was sure he could fight much, much harder. Without having to worry about his comrades, he’d be able to use his skills left and right to keep the enemies at his mercy. That was how a dread knight was meant to fight. Not how he was now. He had to worry about all sorts of stuff. There were too many limitations. If only they still had Moguzo.

If his partner were there, he could have focused on fighting like a dread knight. Of course, that wasn’t possible anymore. If he considered the party, Ranta had no choice but to become the tank. He wasn’t suited for it, but he could do it. Ranta meant to come up with his own ways of doing it, too. Even if that meant having to kill who he really was, he had no choice.

Is there really no other choice...? he wondered.

“I’m a selfish guy,” Renji said, downing his second glass of brandy in one gulp. “I take care of those who can be useful to me. I don’t care about anyone else. In the end, I think most people are the same. If you live for others, it just means you die for them, too.”

“Yeah, I get that a lot,” Ranta said. “They say I’m selfish and egotistical.” “Let them.”

“You think I can get strong?” Ranta asked. “If I’m the one using you,” said Renji. “You want me to be your pawn, is that it?” “Bingo.”

Renji wasn’t lying. At the very least, he thought Ranta had potential. He was trying to poach him. For Team Renji.

Seriously? Ranta thought. I’m going to crack up laughing. This is amazing. Is luck finally on my side? So, what do I do? With an offer like this, I don’t even need to ask that, do I? The answer is obvious. Right?

12.    Today More than Yesterday, Tomorrow More than Today

“Man...” Haruhiro muttered.

How long had it been since the eight o’clock bell chimed? Five minutes?

Ten? Haruhiro didn’t have anything expensive like a pocket watch, so he didn’t know.

“They just aren’t showing up, huh...” he went on.

“They aren’t...” For a while now, Merry had been standing next to Haruhiro, restlessly poking at the ground with her short staff.

Haruhiro had probably arrived at the north gate at around half past seven. It looked like Ranta had come back to the lodging house late last night. When he’d tried to drag him out of bed, Ranta had said to go ahead without him. He hadn’t gone to call Shihoru and Yume. He hadn’t thought it was necessary.

He had woken up fairly early in the morning and, with nothing better to do, Haruhiro had decided to leave the lodging house early.

Merry had shown up at the north gate around ten minutes after Haruhiro.

Of course, he had been relieved to see her.

Thank goodness, he’d thought, from the bottom of his heart.

Merry had learned Sacrament. It was a top-class light magic spell that healed serious wounds in an instant, and it could have been considered mandatory for any priest of mid-tier or higher.

Merry could still only use it around twice per day, but Sacrament was sure to be a great boon to the party. If it came to it, they could return from the brink of death. Having that sort of trump card would no doubt let Merry approach her battles with composure.

Haruhiro had learned another skill from Barbara-sensei in addition to Assault: Shatter. This was a skill that was chained after Swat to strike the

enemy’s knee. With two options that he could use following a Swat, Arrest and Shatter, it would give his attack patterns more variety. Instead of just using Swat to hold out, he could look for opportunities to go on the attack, then go in for the kill with Assault. That was the strategy Haruhiro had in mind.

Well, I doubt it will be that easy, but we each need to expand what we can do, and take it as far as we can, he thought. If we do that, probably—no, definitely—we’ll find a way forward.

Haruhiro was optimistic. Or, at the very least, he was trying to be.

He wasn’t a good one, but he was this party’s leader nonetheless. A leader needed to hold his head high, moving forward one step, or even one half-step, at a time, or no one would follow him. In fact, if the leader wasn’t moving forward, there was no way for anyone to follow.

It wasn’t a question of whether he could do it or not. He had to start by just doing it. Nothing would start until he took that first step. If nothing ever started, there could be no results. Once there were some results, he would accept them, use them as nourishment, and move forward a little more.

—However.

“They’re so late...” Haruhiro murmured. “Yes... but...” Merry said.

“Yeah...”

“Maybe they slept in...” she suggested. “...I’ll bet.”

“They could be tired from learning skills and whatnot...” “Ohh,” Haruhiro said. “Yeah, that could be it.”

“I hope that’s all...”

“Well, I think it probably is...?” Haruhiro said. “Normally... well, I am too... y’know? If you were to ask me whether I’m fully rested, I’m really not... Barbara-sensei’s real strict... Ha ha ha...” Haruhiro’s laughter sounded so stupid and incredibly vacuous that he felt awkward.

Damn, this isn’t good, he thought. What’s with this atmosphere? This atmosphere, it’s—Why? Why aren’t they showing up? How can they be late on such an important day? Like, there’s no way they should be, right? It’s weird, seriously. They can’t be late for this. That’s obvious. Get your act together, okay? Or, what—could it be something else?

Like, maybe, they’re not late?

“Nah... Ha ha ha...” Haruhiro laughed again, trying to chase off the uncertainty welling up inside him. It didn’t help in the slightest; it just made him want to run away.

He didn’t, though. He’d seem like a weirdo if he did. “They just aren’t showing up, huh...” Haruhiro repeated. “They aren’t...” Merry agreed.

What do I do now? Haruhiro thought. Merry’s looking pretty worried, too. What’s with this? Seriously, what’s up? Ranta, I get. He didn’t even try to get out of bed this morning. I mean, he’s Ranta. But Shihoru and Yume, too, seriously? Yume may not be that punctual, but Shihoru takes things seriously. She’s never been late to a meetup before. Not once. This is the first time. In that case, something must be up, and that’s why they aren’t here yet. That’s the logical conclusion. After what happened to us, and with all of us like this, now this happens.

“Ah...“ Merry mumbled.

When he looked at her, Merry was looking across the street. Haruhiro cast his gaze in that direction, too. Shihoru or Yume or Ranta must have come.

What, they’re finally here? Haruhiro thought. He was wrong.

There was a man who was quite tall but had poor posture walking towards them. He wore a breast plate, gauntlets, and a few other pieces of plate mail, but all of it looked secondhand. The breast plate had Lumiaris’s hexagram engraved on it.

“Hey.” The man stopped in front of Haruhiro, giving him a nod.

Though Haruhiro wasn’t one to judge, he thought the guy looked awfully gloomy. He seemed out of place on such a fine morning.

“...Kuzaku,” he said.

“Why are you...?” Merry looked down, fidgeting awkwardly—

Wait, her face is red? Why? Haruhiro thought. What? What happened?

“Ohh.” Kuzaku brought his big hand to his forehead, scratching his right temple with his little finger. “Err. Yeah, let’s say that never happened.”

“Then don’t say anything to begin with!” Merry exploded. “Ah. Yeah, I guess I shouldn’t’ve, huh,” Kuzaku agreed.

“Huh? Huh...?!” Haruhiro butted in, unable to keep quiet. “Wh-What?!

Hey, what’s up, did something... happen...?” “Nothing!” Merry was completely losing it.

“Nah, nothing,” Kuzaku wore a vague expression, and it was impossible to get a grasp on what it all might mean.

—Yeah, something happened, Haruhiro thought. Something definitely happened.

But what is that something? How do these two even know each other? Are they acquaintances somehow? Kuzaku’s our junior, so that’s hard to imagine. Still, I can’t be sure they aren’t. Merry goes out drinking alone at night, so could they have met one of those times? And then, something happened? If something happened, it would have to be—that...?

Merry’s looking down and gripping her staff. Kuzaku, on the other hand, he’s acting like he feels awkward, but not really. Like, “It wasn’t really a big deal.” Like, “It happens all the time?” Like, “It was a one-time adventure”... Adventure...?! What’s that?! Did they do it?!

Haruhiro slapped and rubbed his own chest, blinking repeatedly in confusion.

Yeah. Well, y’know? Whatever Merry does, that’s her business, right? I have no right to stop her, or even to pry, yeah? Kuzaku’s a tall guy, and for as gloomy as he looks, his face itself isn’t bad. If you look at him the right way, he’s pretty cool. Maybe. Not that I’d know! I don’t know if a dude’s face is hot or not! I can’t make that call! I don’t even want to! Like I care!

Okay. I’ve calmed down now. I’m fine now.

He was calm. Haruhiro’s mind was as cool as ice, and as silent as standing atop a frozen lake.

“—So? What? Were you just passing by? That’s not it, is it?” Haruhiro asked.

“Yeah, no. It’s not.”

“Well, what is it then?” Haruhiro demanded. “...You’re kind of scary today, huh?”

“Am I?” Haruhiro asked. “I don’t think so. Well? Are you going to answer my question?”

“I’m here to ask a favor again, I guess you could say,” Kuzaku said. “Huh...?”

“The party. I’m asking you to let me join.” “Wha—” Haruhiro said.

“You were saying,” Kuzaku said. “Saying something about not being able to decide alone. That if the others were around, you could ask their opinions, or something like that. You guys seemed like you’d be gathering somewhere.”

—He’s annoyingly persistent, Haruhiro thought. I turned him down, right?

Like, I gave him a pretty clear no, didn’t I? He said “I see” in response,

right? That was supposed to mean, “Okay, I get it, I’ll give up,” wasn’t it?

Haruhiro felt something like irritation and hostility swirling inside him, but he let it sit for a moment. He couldn’t just unleash it on the guy as it was. It wouldn’t be good. He was the leader. Maybe it was because he was the leader that he couldn’t do that. He wasn’t sure, but a voice inside Haruhiro was ordering him to smooth things over and keep up appearances.

“...I said that, yeah,” Haruhiro said. “I did. I said that, but that’s got nothing to do with this.”

“How so?” Kuzaku asked.

“Huh? Well, you know... that’s that and this is this.” “What is ‘this’?” Kuzaku asked.

“Th-This is...”

Oh, crap, Haruhiro thought. I’m not thinking straight. I’m not keeping up appearances at all. What’s going on here? Am I losing my cool? Like, totally? I can’t deny that...

“Haruhiro, man.” Kuzaku glanced over to Merry. “Did you talk to your comrades about me? If you did, some of them might be in favor of it, right? I wouldn’t know, though.”

“...No, I didn’t,” Haruhiro said.

“I...!” Merry sounded shrill, but she coughed to clear her throat. “...I-I might not... be in favor of it, really...”

Haruhiro grinned. “See!”

“What do you mean, see?” a rude voice broke in.

“Huh?! What do I mean—” Haruhiro jumped back in surprise. “Whoa!

Ranta?!”

“No need to act so surprised,” Ranta said. “Is there something wrong with you, man?”

Ranta, Haruhiro thought. When did Ranta get so close to me? He’s right beside me. No, it’s not just Ranta. Shihoru and Yume are here, too. They look surprised. I’m the one who ought to be surprised here.

“Whaaaat?” Ranta said, digging the earwax out of his ears and narrowing his eyes. “Who’re you, pal? No, I know that face. Hm...? One of our juniors, yeah? Huh? Man, didn’t you die at Deadhead? Are you a zombie?”

“I’m still breathing. Pretty sure I’m alive.”

“Whoa there,” Ranta said. “You’re acting pretty uppity for one of my juniors. You wanna go? I’ll take you one-on-one.”

“Nah. I’ll pass. No reason for it,” Kuzaku said.

“Ho ho,” Ranta laughed. “So that’s how you’re gonna be. That’s how you’re gonna be, huh. You may be a liiiittle taller than me, but you’d better not look down on me, got it?”

“A little, huh,” Kuzaku said.

“It’s more like a lot,” Yume said, comparing Ranta and Kuzaku’s heights. “He’s got twenty centimeters on you, don’t you think?”

“You idiot, it can’t be that much!” Ranta blustered. “Where’re you even looking, you moron?!”

“I think I’m probably 191 or 192 centimeters,” Kuzaku said.

Shihoru snickered. “Ranta-kun can’t be as tall as 171 centimeters. Maybe you’ve got more than 20 centimeters on him...”

“I am, too!” Ranta shouted. “I’m easily over 170 centimeters! Of course I am! I’m over 180! And what’s this big oaf doing here, anyway?!”

“No, before we get to that—” Haruhiro looked to Ranta, Shihoru and Yume in turn. They all seemed unwilling to look him in the eye, as if they felt guilty about something. That was how it felt to him. “Why... Why are you so late? Didn’t we agree to meet up by the north gate at eight o’clock? I don’t expect Ranta to respect that, but you two...”

“Yeah, about that,” Ranta nonchalantly revealed something Haruhiro couldn’t believe he was hearing. “Thing is, I’ve got an invite from Renji. He was asking if I’d join Team Renji.”

“Oh...” Haruhiro nearly fell over. “Huh...?”

“Yume and Shihoru got one, too, y’know,” said Yume. “Too...?”

“They were sayin’ we could join the Wild Angels. Kajiko-chan tried to recruit us.”

“—Ka...”

Oh, crap. Oh, crap. Oh, crap. Haruhiro felt weak in the knees and ankles.

I’m gonna fall over. Seriously. No, not over. Down. Into the depths of hell.

“H-Haru...!” Merry moved in to support him, so he managed to stay on his feet, but he felt like he might not be able to go on like this. No, not might— he couldn’t.

What was it for? he wondered. What have all our struggles up until now been for? What have we worked so hard for? Don’t they care? Does all our hard work mean nothing? No matter how hard we strive, we can’t make something work if it’s not going to work, is that it? I mean, we were a group of rejects, after all.

No—someone had decided they needed Ranta, Shihoru and Yume. Ranta. That Ranta. And it was Renji, of all people. This meant Haruhiro was worse than Ranta. It meant that Haruhiro was the real reject.

Merry, too. But Merry was a priest. If she just kept her mouth shut, someone would call her to join them. There was an overwhelming difference in the level of demand for a thief and for a priest.

Haruhiro’s future looked bleak. There was nothing but utter darkness. He was in the darkness.

“Whoa...” Kuzaku looked at them, furrowing his brow. “Looks like you’ve got other problems before deciding whether to let me in.”

He’s right, Haruhiro thought. He’s so damn right. I don’t have time for him.

“...Sorry. Thanks, Merry.” Haruhiro moved away from Merry, taking a deep, deep breath.

Now, then, he thought. What am I going to do? From here on out. I need to think about what I’m going to do with myself. I know. I was never volunteer soldier material to begin with, so maybe I’ll take up a trade. Find someone willing to take me on as an apprentice. It sounds like hard work, and I doubt I can handle doing business. But, if I work at it diligently, maybe it’ll work out. It’s not like I’ll die if I mess up, so it’s easier. Easier than this.

“Huh? You want to join up?” Ranta looked Kuzaku up and down, from the top of his head to the tips of his toes. “A paladin, huh. I see.”

“Ohh.” For some reason, Yume slapped Kuzaku on the arms and shoulders, as if testing how hard they were. “What’s a pallydin do?”

“...Well, fight with a sword, and stuff?” Kuzaku was taken aback. “Also, we can use light magic, so we can do some healing. We can’t heal ourselves, though. Other than that, we can defend with a shield.”

“They can do all sortsa stuff, huh,” Yume said.

“Sortsa...? Well... I dunno about that,” said Kuzaku. “I don’t think so.” “...Basically, you’re a tank... right?” Shihoru asked hesitantly.

Kuzaku gave a vague nod. “Yeah, something like that.”

“You’re not very clear on that!” Ranta said, scoffing. “If you wanna join our party, you need to be clear on this stuff. How else are we supposed to decide?”

“Huh...?” Merry blinked repeatedly, her eyes darting around from person to person.

Haruhiro’s head was still all fuzzy, so he thought something was strange, but he wasn’t really sure what.

“Hm?” Ranta cast a suspicious glance over towards Haruhiro. “What?

You’re acting way too weird. You’re creeping me out, man.”

“...No, I dunno what it is, but... I don’t want you, of all people, calling me creepy,” said Haruhiro.

“I’m only saying you’re acting creepy because you are,” said Ranta. “If you don’t want to be called creepy, then don’t be creepy.”

“What’s creepy is all a matter of perspective. That’s just your—No, that’s not it!” Haruhiro burst out.

“What?” Ranta asked.

“Huh?! No, I mean, Renji... he invited you to join him, right? And Kajiko did the same with Shihoru and Yume. If you were all late because of that, that must mean...”

“Sorry ’bout that,” Yume said.

I knew it, Haruhiro couldn’t help but think. What else was there to think?

See.

See. Look at that. That’s how it is, in the end. I was ready for it, so I’m   fine, though. Only there’s no way I was ready for it, and I’m totally not fine! “Yume, to tell you the truth, when Kajiko-chan invited her, she really

didn’t know what to do,” Yume said.

“I’ll bet,” Haruhiro said with a forced smile. “I mean, it’s Kajiko. She’s famous.”

“...She was being very kind,” Shihoru said, shrinking into herself. “...She was considerate, and she told us about all sorts of things. The conditions were good, too...”

“For me, Renji told me I was gonna be useful, you know? He didn’t even call me Curly, he called me by name! ‘Ranta’...” Ranta said, lowering his voice. He may have been trying to imitate Renji, but it just looked like he was making a funny face. “‘You’re going to become useful,’ he said!

Gahahahahahahahah! People who get it, really get it! My shining talent, that

is!”

“I’ll bet,” Haruhiro narrowed his eyes. “I’ll bet. Yep. I never could use you properly. Yeah. I’ll bet that’s it...”

“Yeah,” Ranta agreed. “Renji was saying that, too. He said you wouldn’t be able to use me right.”

“...I see.” Haruhiro ground his teeth. If Renji, the guy who had quickly rounded up people he could use, formed Team Renji, and run straight down the path to stardom, was the one saying it, Haruhiro couldn’t argue back.

Haruhiro had no aptitude for leadership. He knew that so badly that it hurt. It was obvious.

“So, that being the case, I had to really wrack my brains over what I was gonna do, y’know,” Ranta said, poking Haruhiro lightly, no, really hard, in the shoulder. “You better be grateful, Parupiroooo!”

“Ow—wait, huh? Grateful? For what?”

“Huhhh? For me! Ranta-sama! I decided to stay with the party, man!” Ranta shouted. “You ought to be so damn grateful that you cry, like, three liters’ worth of tears!”

“—Huh?” Haruhiro said, stunned.

“Yume and Shihoru, too,” Yume said, rubbing her cheeks. “We thought reeeeal hard about it, y’know. Talkin’ it over together. Yume, honestly, she wasn’t so confident about goin’ on like this. She was worried she might end up causin’ trouble for everyone else. Yume was scared. Until this mornin’, she wasn’t sure what she was gonna do.”

“As for me, I couldn’t decide anything by myself...” Shihoru pulled her mage’s hat down. “I thought that was pathetic of me. There might be no place for me... people might be better off without me... That’s what I started to think. I asked myself if I could support everyone... If I was going to carry on with this party, I knew I had to be prepared to do at least that much... And if I joined a stronger group, life might be easier...”

“It might be, yeah, but Yume and Shihoru made a decision,” Yume said, clenching her hands into fists. “To stay in this party where Manato was, where Moguzo was, and where Haru-kun and everyone else still are. Yume and Shihoru wanted to run away. It’s been painful, y’know. But, if Yume ran away, she knew she’d regret it later, and, really—Yume doesn’t want to leave everyone else.”

“Wh-What’s with you?” Ranta was blushing slightly. “Despite how you

normally act, you feel that strongly, huh? About me...”

“Of course, Ranta, you’re just somethin’ extra that comes with all that,” Yume added.

“Who’re you calling an extra, you dolt?! I’ll grab your ass and squeeze it, you moron!”

“You perv!” Yume shot back. “You’re worth less than an unwanted extra!

You’re worse than garbage!”

Yume and Ranta were back to their usual bantering.

Haruhiro looked to Merry. Merry still looked dazed, as if she couldn’t believe it. Haruhiro probably looked the same.

“Um...” Shihoru bowed her head vigorously, leaning so far forward that it looked like she was hunched over, and her hat fell to the ground. Shihoru quickly picked it up and put it back on, then bowed again. “...Sorry. For being indecisive. But... I didn’t want to lie. If I hadn’t been clear about things, some day it would definitely have created a rift, you could say... or something bad would have come of it, I thought. If I hadn’t come out and tell you about everything... including my weakness, I didn’t think I could move forward...”

“Hmph.” Ranta snorted and crossed his arms, looking away from her. “If you’ve got a chance to take the next step up dangling in front of you, it’s only natural to want to take it. What’re you apologizing for?”

Haruhiro cocked his head to the side. “...Well, then why did you pass up that chance? If you’d felt like it, you could have gotten into Renji’s party.”

“I did it to take the next step up. Isn’t that obvious?” “I don’t really get it...” Haruhiro said.

“What, you don’t? That’s why you’re a moron,” Ranta said. “Now, listen. If someone offers to pull me up, and I go along with them because they order me to, it’s meaningless. For me, that’s not making progress or anything close to it. Crawling up towards the top using my own strength, that’s what makes things interesting. That’s what I call taking a step up. It’s the one true way to do it. You get it?”

“...Vaguely?” Haruhiro said.

“Don’t just understand it vaguely, understand it completely! Besides, I don’t care if it’s Renji, or Kenji, or Gejigeji, but it’s presumptuous as hell for him to think he can lift me up. If anyone’d be doing the lifting, it’d be me.

So, basically, I’m saying I’ll lift you people up a level or two! Try not to do

anything that’d embarrass me while I’m at it! That’s your duty! Let’s hear your response! Yes or yes?!”

“Yes or yes...?” Yume asked, puffing up her cheeks and pouting. “If you say it like that, they’re both the same, aren’t they?”

“Yeah, that’s kinda the point!”

“...Erm,” Kuzaku pointed to himself. “What about me?”

“Who cares!” Ranta made a gesture like he was flipping over a garbage pail. “I don’t give a damn about what happens to a big oaf like you!”

“A pallydin, huh,” Yume knitted her eyebrows. “Hrm...”

“...It’s kind of sudden...” Shihoru said, trying not to look at Kuzaku.

Ranta may have been holding a misplaced grudge against him over the height difference thing. Yume and Shihoru didn’t know how to react when it had been brought up so suddenly. Merry didn’t seem that keen on the idea because of something that had happened between them, and Haruhiro didn’t want to complicate matters when they had just managed to sort things out.

“Kuzaku,” Haruhiro said. “I’m sorry, but I really can’t—”

“Please.” Kuzaku bowed very, very deeply. When he put his hands on his knees, leaning forward more than 90 degrees, it carried great intensity.

“—Please. I’m not asking this with half-hearted feelings. I’m serious. In my own way.”

“Well, yeah, I’ll bet you are,” Ranta snorted. “We’ve all got to make a living somehow. But you can’t do it alone. We’re missing a tank right now, and we’re the lowest of the low. If anyone’s going to take you, it’d be us, is that it?”

“...That’s not it,” Kuzaku said.

“Yeah, then what is it?” Ranta demanded.

“I want to join you people,” Kuzaku raised just his face, looking at Haruhiro with upturned eyes. “I was watching you all at Deadhead. Honestly, I didn’t think you were strong at all. If anything, you seemed unreliable. And yet, you helped us, and by the end, you were fighting on the front lines. Me, I almost died, so my memories are hazy, but I could hear things. Your voices, for one. I thought you were amazing. It would’ve been easier to understand if you looked strong, but even though you didn’t, you were still able to put up a good fight. I thought that was cool. I thought I was going to die there. So, I was thinking, I wish I could’ve been like you. Why was I so irresponsible and halfhearted? I wish I’d taken things more seriously. That was what I was

thinking. All while I was listening to your voices. I should have died. But when I came to, I was alive. All my comrades were dead, but I was the only one still alive.”

Haruhiro couldn’t look away from him.

Damn it, he thought. This guy’s serious.

He was laying his honest feelings out for Haruhiro and the others.

Haruhiro couldn’t just brush that off. If he was going to reject him, he would need a suitable, justified reason that he felt strongly about.

Did he have one? A reason that was good enough to send Kuzaku away. If he said he just didn’t like him, or that it was too soon after they’d lost

Moguzo, would Kuzaku be satisfied with that? Could Haruhiro convince himself that it was okay to have done that?

“I’m cool, huh?” Ranta brushed a hand through his curly hair, then grinned. He didn’t mind the praise—or rather, he seemed to be feeling pretty good about it. “Kinda, I guess? Though, being told the plain truth like that doesn’t make me feel all that happy, you know? But, if you can recognize my coolness, you’ve got some serious potential.”

“No. I didn’t mean just you, I meant everyone,” said Kuzaku. “Don’t contradict me there! You’re supposed to agree! It’s blatantly

obvious that’s better for both of us!”

“A proper tank,” Shihoru spoke hesitantly, “is something we need, I think.”

“Yeah.” Yume crossed her arms and nodded repeatedly. “If Ranta’s the tank, it’ll be a real mess. Gotta do somethin’ about that.”

Haruhiro looked to Merry to gauge her reaction. “...Merry?”

Merry furrowed her brow and bit the corner of her mouth a little. “—If the party needs it. I don’t really care.”

“Buuuut!” Ranta leveled a finger at Kuzaku. “It’s only temporary for now! Temporary! During the probationary period, if you’re not up to our level, or you can’t keep up with the rest of us, or you can’t understand my sophisticated gags, or you don’t worship me, or you don’t pay me tribute, or if any problem comes up that can’t be resolved, you’re fired! Fired! Got it?”

“Don’t just decide things on your own...” Haruhiro muttered.

“Shove off, Haruhiro!” Ranta shouted. “I’m making the decision because you don’t have it together enough to! You need to be decisive from here on, or I’m not going to be shy about taking command! You’d better get ready for that!”

“That’s no good!” Yume clung to Haruhiro. “Haru-kun, get your act together! If Ranta gets to do whatever he wants, it’ll be totally awful! Yume, she won’t be able to stand that!”

Shihoru raised her hand. “...Same here.” Merry was nodding, too.

“What’s wrong with all of you?!” Ranta shouted, spittle flying everywhere. “I’m doing this to get this indecisive, wishy-washy, good-for-

nothing to step up to the plate!”

“I know,” Haruhiro said, stroking his chin. “I get that, man.” “...Y-You do?” Ranta stammered. “If you get it, well then—” “There are way too many problems with the way you’re saying it,

though,” Haruhiro said. “Though, in your case, you’ve got a difficult personality to begin with, so I guess there’s no point in complaining.”

“Oh, shut up!” Ranta shouted. “Just be quiet! Seriously! Seriously!” “Kuzaku,” Haruhiro said.

When Haruhiro ignored the far-too-noisy Ranta and called his name, Kuzaku was still bent over and looking up at him.

Maybe he’s a surprisingly decent guy, Haruhiro thought. I can’t say anything for sure. Though I guess it only makes sense that I wouldn’t know. I can find out from here on. If we’re working together, I’m sure I’ll start to see that with time. —That goes for whatever happened with Merry, too. No, I don’t care about that. I need to think about work and their private lives separately.

“I’m not going to put you on probation like Ranta said, but I don’t expect you to really fit in at first,” said Haruhiro. “You’re a paladin, and we’ll be making you act as the tank, so you’ll be carrying a lot of the burden. It’s going to be hard, I’m sure. You may find you’re not up to it. Are you still okay with that?”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” said Kuzaku. “It’s good enough.” “Okay. Well, welcome to the group, then.”

When Haruhiro offered him his right hand, Kuzaku finally stood up straight again and shook his hand.

For as big and bony as he is, his hand is soft, Haruhiro thought. His grip’s not that firm, so he seems kind of unreliable. He’s not very tank-y, you could say. Is this going to be okay?

On top of that, even though Haruhiro had loosened his grip already, for some reason Kuzaku wasn’t letting go of his hand.

“...Um,” Haruhiro said. “Could you let go now?” “Oh,” Kuzaku said. “My bad.”

“Nah, it’s nothing to feel bad about...”

“Okay!” Ranta pointed northward. “Now that that’s settled, we’re setting out! Come to think of it, we never did decide where we’d go, did we?! I have an idea! New hunting grounds, perfect for getting into a new mindset as we

set out anew today! It’s the next generation, new spirit hunting world!” Yume tilted her head to the side. “Newspirimahuntinword...?”

“...Y-Yume...” Shihoru tugged on Yume’s arm. “Hoh? Shihoru, what’s up?”

“...I-It’s not that anything’s up, it’s just...” “Where’s that?”

When Kuzaku asked that, sounding tired, Ranta laughed and said, “Listen, and try not to be amazed! It’s the Wonder Hole!”

13.    Don’t Stop Walking

It might have been true that Haruhiro and the party had needed to venture out into new and unfamiliar places.

Haruhiro and his group had been like insects clinging to the frontier of Grimgar. They’d had no wings, and so they could fly nowhere else.

Fortunately, however, they did have legs. They could walk forward.

As they progressed, sights they had yet to see would unfold before them.

Beneath the boundless skies, the land seemed to go on forever. It felt like they could go anywhere.

Honestly, when he thought of going back to the Old City of Damuro again, or to the Cyrene Mines, it weighed him down. Still, Haruhiro had thought there was no other option. He’d figured that if they were going to take it slow and steady, making adjustments as they went, really, the first three levels of the Cyrene Mines seemed like the most appropriate place.

He had been taking too narrow of a view; he realized that now. He felt like he had come to a dead end, but he’d neglected to gather information.

It all made Haruhiro keenly aware of how mediocre he was. As a thief and as a volunteer soldier he was average, and as an individual, he was plain and lacking in imagination. He could only look at things from an all-too-common viewpoint, unable to make the logical leaps he would need to to see things another way. Calling that having a grounded outlook might make it sound good, but not only could he not make those leaps, he didn’t even think to try.

That was why Ranta’s flights of fancy were so valuable. It was a terrible idea to let Ranta run wild and free. But Haruhiro ought to integrate some of the idea Ranta had come up with, the one that he would never have thought up himself.

“Okay! The Quickwind Plains! Yee-hawwww!” Ranta bellowed.

Obviously, no matter what happened, he would never imitate the idiotic   way Ranta was shouting like a moron and running full-tilt towards the plains. “Yahoooo-hoy! Helloooo! Quickwind Plains! Wahahahahahahaha! Hot

damn, I’m excited, wow! Gwahahahaha!”

“Can I ask something?” Kuzaku asked Haruhiro, pointing to the screaming moron. “Is that normal for Ranta-kun?”

“Yeah, sorta...” Haruhiro said. “Wow...”

“Huh?” Ranta said, turning just the upper half of his body around to look at them. “What? Did I just hear you dissing me?”

“No one’s dissing you,” Kuzaku said plainly. “It was more of a ‘Huh, Ranta-kun sure is different.’ That’s all.”

“Gwahahahahaha! That sounds like a compliment! Hurray for being rare!” Ranta shouted.

Even though everyone else was fed up with him, Ranta himself seemed happy about it. Seriously, what a blissful idiot.

But, well, when they were out in a wide open space like this, it felt incredibly liberating.

Yume, Shihoru and Merry seemed so taken with the magnificent scenery that they were at a loss for words.

When they headed six kilometers north of Alterna to Deadhead Watching Keep, then a little over an hour north through sparse woods, there were plains that could only be described as boundlessly vast. Perhaps due to the openness, the winds there were strong. That was probably where the name “Quickwind Plains” came from.

The plains were wide and vast, but not empty like a ruined wasteland.

They felt like a perfectly natural prairie.

At first glance, it looked like it was all flat grasslands, but there were trees, too, and it wasn’t as if there were no rises and falls in the terrain. It was just, with the vastness of it all, the trees looked like no more than slightly tall grass, and the slight hills here and there were a rounding error at best.

Just how far did these plains go on for? Did they even have an end? “Hm...” Ranta shaded his eyes with his hand, looking around. He tilted his

head to the side. “Y’know, I don’t see anything out there. Like, there’re no animals. You’d think there would be.”

“Now that you mention it...” Haruhiro squinted and looked off into the

distance. Not only were there no signs of people, there were no signs of any living creatures whatsoever. That was pretty strange, come to think of it. “Do you think they’re hiding? No... There’s not really anywhere to hide out there...”

“Ah!” cried Yume, pointing out into the distance. “There’s somethin’ out there!”

“Huh?” Haruhiro looked in the direction Yume was pointing. “...Where?” “...Maybe,” Shihoru mumbled.

“You mean that?” Merry asked, seeming to have found it, too.

“Ahhh,” Kuzaku said, his face twitching a little. “Me, my eyes aren’t so good, you know.”

“What?! Where?!” Ranta was as annoyingly loud as ever. “Where, where is it?! I don’t see it! Are you sure you’re not imagining things?! You guys’ve gotta be hallucinating, right?! If I can’t see it, that’s gotta be—Wait, whoaaaaaaaa...?! Is that it?!”

“Oh...” Haruhiro had found what everyone else had probably meant. It was rather far off in the distance, on the other side of some bushes. There was something there. Some thing that was something. That was too vague to be any use, but, well, it was a long way off, so he couldn’t say anything definitive about it.

“That’s...” Haruhiro began.

“...something living, maybe?” Ranta finished for him. He was squinting so hard, his eyes were like slits. “Yeahhhh. It feels like it’s moving to me, so it’s gotta be alive, I guess?”

“It’s movin’, yeah.” Yume was technically—no, not just technically, she actually was a hunter—and she had been trained in archery, so she could see further than the rest of them. “...It’s movin’. That’s probably what you’d call it. It’s walkin’, maybe?”

“...Walking?” Shihoru was practically clutching her staff. “Then, is it bipedal?”

“It’s long and thin...” Merry murmured.

Even to Haruhiro’s eyes, the silhouette looked long and thin, or rather tall and thin. At the very least, it didn’t seem to be a four-legged beast.

“But, y’know...” Haruhiro said. Those bushes.

The bushes in front of the thing in question... were they really bushes?

After all, those bushes were pretty far away from here. Maybe those weren’t bushes, and they were actually a copse of fairly tall trees?

On top of that, the ground that copse of trees was on was slightly elevated.

In other words, that would mean it was walking on the other side of a copse of trees on a little hill.

Haruhiro’s eyes went wide. “I-It’s kinda huge, isn’t it?! That thing?!” “Nuwah?!” Ranta jumped back in exaggerated surprise. “S-Seriously!

Now that I think about it, that thing’s gotta be gigantic!”

“Human...” Yume said suddenly. “That thing. To Yume, it’s lookin’ like it’s human-shaped, y’know...”

“Nah...” Kuzaku said with a wry laugh. “That can’t be right.”

“A giant,” Merry said in a low voice. “I’ve heard of them before. There are giants living on the Quickwind Plains.”

“Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!” Ranta suddenly cupped both his hands around his mouth like a horn, then shouted.

The hell are you doing, man? Haruhiro thought.

Before Haruhiro could come up with a witty comedic jab, Merry whacked Ranta in the back of the head with her short staff.

“Gwah! What’re you doing, Merry, you bitch!” Ranta yelled. “Are you an idiot?!” she shot back.

“Huhh?! Who’re you calling an idiot?! You know what, there’s an ancient rule that says it takes one to know one!”

“What are you going to do if the giant comes this way?!” Merry retorted. “If it happens, it happens! I’ll figure it out then! It’s no big deal! You’ve

got me here! If it wants to pick a fight, I’ve just got to cut it down to size!” “Hoh...” Yume backed away. “...Y-Y’know, the giant, it just stopped...

maybe?”

“Run for it!” Ranta had taken off at a dash before the words were even out of his mouth.

Kuzaku watched, looking dumbfounded. “He changed his mind awful quickly.”

“That’s just what he’s like...” Shihoru sighed.

“L-Let’s run!” Haruhiro shouted, waving an arm and gesturing for everyone to move.

Ranta was already looking pretty small off in the distance. He was fast when it came to running away.

Haruhiro let Yume and Shihoru, Kuzaku, and Merry go on ahead of him, serving as the rearguard. He turned to look behind him, never stopping his legs. Was the giant getting closer? Was it not moving at all? Haruhiro couldn’t tell with his mediocre vision. But it didn’t feel like it was getting any further away, so he figured they had better keep running for now.

To the west. To the west. Far to the west.

The Frontier Army’s Lonesome Field Outpost was around 35 kilometers to the west of here. Lonesome Field Outpost served as the operating base for Blue Snake Force, the unit that handled the attack on Riverside Iron Fortress in Operation Two-Headed Snake. It was called an outpost, but there were far more people living there than just Frontier Army personnel. It was practically a town in its own right. The entrance to the Wonder Hole was supposedly somewhere near Lonesome Field Outpost.

As he was running, Haruhiro’s eyes met with Merry’s as she turned around. They couldn’t say for certain if the giant was chasing them. They weren’t running as fast as they could, so they could afford to talk.

“Come to think of it, Merry,” Haruhiro said as he ran. “Your staff.” “Huh?” she asked, not slacking her pace.

“What happened to it? That’s not the one you had before, is it?”

“Ah! This is—” Merry glanced up ahead. Unless Haruhiro was mistaken, she was probably looking at Kuzaku. “Um, I sort of lost it...”

“I... see,” Haruhiro said.

“It was time to buy a new one, anyway,” she said. “My old one wasn’t very practical in combat.”

“Ahh,” he said. “Do you think the new one’s easier to smack stuff with?” “Yes,” she said. “That’s it. This one’s simpler than my last one! It’s better

as a weapon.”

“Well, it’s a good thing you changed, then,” he said. “It is a good thing.”

“I see. Good, good. Ha ha...”

I feel like she’s trying to pull the wool over my eyes about something. Still, what happened between her and Kuzaku? I can more or less imagine, but I don’t want to imagine it.

They probably spent twenty to twenty-five minutes running. Yume said

she could still see the giant in the distance, but Haruhiro and the others no longer could. Figuring they were probably safe now, they switched to walking.

From that point on, they walked across the fields of grass.

At first glance, it looked flat, but there were bumps here and there, and the ground was softer or harder, so sometimes it was easy to walk and sometimes it wasn’t. It was surprisingly tiring.

Technically, there were roads that went to Lonesome Field Outpost.

Haruhiro and the others just couldn’t find them. They ought to have been heading in the right direction, so that was somewhat disconcerting.

Eventually, they started to see groups of animals here and there. It must have been because of the giant that they hadn’t seen any earlier. Most of them seemed to be herbivores, but they knew there had to be carnivores which preyed on them, so it was a little bit scary. However, being a hunter, Yume had studied the different animals to some degree, so she was knowledgeable about them. While there were definitely some that were dangerous, she said they didn’t have to be too worried.

If the route there was thirty-five kilometers, traveling at four kilometers per hour, they could make the trek in a little under nine hours. It seemed possible that they would arrive today, but they’d left prepared to camp out. Partly due to that, they hadn’t been able to leave Alterna until after lunch, so they weren’t going to be able to make it there today, after all.

As it gradually grew darker, they made the decision to camp out. Though, that said, all that meant was eating preserved food, wrapping themselves in blankets, and then going to sleep. They talked about maybe setting a campfire, but it seemed like too much trouble to gather things they could burn, so they gave up.

The curtain of night descended over the Quickwind Plains in no time.

Though, with the red moon out, it wasn’t totally dark. It may not have been pitch black darkness, but it was dark enough to feel oppressive.

The wind had grown weaker starting in the evening. Now it was more of a gentle breeze.

Somewhere out there, there were animals making their various sounds. After they heard a howling off in the distance, Shihoru called out to Yume, asking, “Um... What was that?”

“Hm... A horned maned dog, maybe?” Yume asked. “They’re like wolves,

and they go huntin’ in packs at night. That’s what Master said.” “...Will they hunt for us?” Shihoru asked.

“Not sure about that,” Yume answered. “Master said they don’t attack humans that often, though.”

“...Not that often...”

“There’s nothin’ absolute in nature, so be careful,” Yume explained. “That’s what Master was sayin’.”

“...Nothing is absolute...” Shihoru murmured.

“Listen, you...” Ranta said, sounding sleepy. “Don’t say things that are going to stir up anxiety. Because Shihoru’s a wimp. Right, Wimpy? I’m right, aren’t I?”

“...I wish the dogs could come and drag off just Ranta.” “Huh? Did you say something, Wimpette?”

“...I didn’t say anything,” Shihoru said. “I can’t sleep with you being noisy, so would you please be quiet?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Fiiiiiine. I’m tired, too.” He yawned loudly. “Fwahhhh...”

After that loud yawn, Ranta was snoring in no time. At times like this, one had to envy his audacity.

Merry was silent. Kuzaku, too. Were they sleeping, or not? Shihoru kept turning over. It seemed like she couldn’t get to sleep. Yume was breathing shallowly as she slept.

The later in the night it got, the more awake Haruhiro felt. He could hear the horned maned dogs howling every once in a while, and could sense something moving not far away. It wasn’t going to be easy sleeping like this.

Even so, with his comrades sleeping, he couldn’t make a fuss about it and wake them. All he could do was sit still, thinking, Wh-Whoa, that’s scary. It’s seriously scary.

Then an event occurred that forced him to act. It wasn’t the horned maned dogs howling. He heard a low roaring sound.

No, not a sound, a voice. From a carnivore.

He wasn’t sure, but he had the vague sense that it was probably from one of the big cats. It felt like it was relatively close. As he was trembling, there it was again—Roar.

“...!”

Oh crap, Haruhiro thought frantically. Not good, not good, not good, not

good, not good, not good. It’s coming, it’s coming, it’s coming. That one was closer than the last. Seriously, seriously, seriously. Is it coming to eat us?

Time for a nice meal? We’re gonna get eaten? Is this one of those things? Like, how I should wake everyone up? It’s pretty clear I’ve got to at this point. But, you know, if I move, it feels like it’ll attack? Like, that’ll be what triggers it to pounce? Now’s a bad time? I should wait and see what happens? I dunno. Which is it? What’s the right answer? And, hold on, I can’t move. I’m too scared. No, no, no. While I’m wasting time, I could get killed.

Haruhiro tried to draw his dagger and sap.

Should I get up first? But, you know, I really do think moving too much could be dangerous. If I’m going to get up, it needs to be one quick movement. First, I should check the area around me. I’ll move my head just a little, along with my eyes, to look around the area. I don’t know. It’s dark.

It’s dark, okay? Damn, it’s dark. It’s too dark. It’s not there... or at least I don’t think it is. I can’t see in the darkness, so I can’t say for sure. I’ll listen closely. For the next one. I’ll judge based on its next roar.

Aughhhhhhhhhhhh, dammit, Ranta’s snoring is too loud. Pipe down, would you? Please. Its roar. Is it not doing it yet? Is it still not doing it yet? There.

Haruhiro heard it. A tiny roar.

It was tiny. Has it moved away? Seems like it. But it’s too soon to relax... I think. Probably.

He tried waiting a while longer, but wait as he might, he didn’t hear it. It was probably safe at this point. Haruhiro sat up, and a moment later, Merry groggily sat up, too.

“Now...” she murmured. “Just now, there was something here, right?

Whatever it was...”

“Y-Yeah,” Haruhiro said. “There was. Did you hear them? Those roars.” “I-I did,” she said. “It was scary...”

“I know, right?” Haruhiro agreed. “I-I did, too... Hold on, everyone else, they’re totally asleep...”

“I haven’t slept a wink,” Merry said. “Yeah, me either...”

It was dark, so they couldn’t see each other’s faces, but it all started to seem a bit funny, so they both laughed a little. Then the horned maned dogs howled again, making them both jump a little.

“...Haru, do you think it’s safe now?” Merry asked. I dunno... he almost said, but he stopped himself. “—Yeah. It’ll be fine.”

“Okay,” Merry said.

“Why don’t you get some sleep?” Haruhiro asked. “I’ll be up until I get tired. Ah... we probably should have taken shifts standing watch, huh? When we’re out like this.”

“You’re right,” she said.

“Well, when I can’t fight off the tiredness any longer, I’ll wake Ranta, or someone,” said Haruhiro.

“Or you could wake me,” Merry said. “Yeah. I might do that.”

“Well, good night.”

“Sleep tight,” Haruhiro said. “—Ah, Merry.” “What?”

“Listen...” Haruhiro shook his head and sighed. “...Sorry. I forget what I was going to say.”

“Okay.... Good night.”

“Yeah.” Merry lay down.

Haruhiro stayed sitting. As he looked up to the red moon, it reminded him of Moguzo for some reason. He would never see Moguzo again, but that didn’t make him feel sad or lonely, it just felt strange.

That can’t be right, can it. ? he thought. But that was reality.

Around the time that the eastern sky began to brighten just a little, Kuzaku woke up.

“Huh?” Kuzaku asked. “What’re you up for?”

“I couldn’t get to sleep,” Haruhiro said. “Well, that, and I’m keeping watch, too.”

“Wouldn’t you be better off sleeping?” asked Kuzaku. “If you need someone to be on watch, I can do it.”

Haruhiro took Kuzaku up on the offer and lay down to sleep. His eyelids immediately began to feel heavy, and he managed to get some sleep.

When he awoke, Haruhiro and the others had a simple meal, then set off early in the morning. Along the way, he told them about the carnivore that had approached during the night, but they made a joke out of it. Merry didn’t seem happy about that.

In the afternoon, they encountered a vast, slightly elevated plateau. Once they climbed up it, there was a basin past there.

It was clear at first glance that this pot-like depression in the land was Lonesome Field. When they looked around, they saw there were little towers around what would be the rim of the pot. Watchtowers, most likely.

There were a number of springs in the bottom of the pot, as well as a town surrounded by a moat and a fence.

Yes, a town.

It’s a town, Haruhiro thought.

It was nothing too impressive, but there were more than ten to twenty buildings, along with the roads between them. They could also see people roaming around. This could only be called a town.

“Heh...” Ranta brushed his nose with his thumb. “Here at last, finally, we’ve finally made it. Lonesome Field Outpost.”

He might have been trying to sound cool, but he wasn’t cool in the slightest. Still, if they said anything, he’d just start a fight over it. Haruhiro and the others ignored Ranta, making no hurry as they descended the slope into the bottom of the pot. No matter how much of a fuss Ranta made, no one paid him any attention.

The moat around the outpost was thicker than it had looked from a distance, and it was deep, too. It was filled with water that had probably been drawn from the nearby springs. The sturdy-looking fence was built on top of a two-meter-high platform of compacted dirt, so it wouldn’t be easy to climb. There only seemed to be one entrance, with a bridge over the moat at that point. There was a narrow gap in the dirt wall with a gate there.

Just in front of the bridge, next to the moat, there were a number of tents dotted around. They might be tents, but some of them were quite large and impressive. This might have been where the volunteer soldiers lived.

There were soldiers from the Frontier Army standing in front of the gate.

There were two of them beside the gate, but the towers on either side of it held more than ten, some of whom had their crossbows leveled at Haruhiro and his comrades. They seemed to be on edge, but when the group showed them their Volunteer Soldier Corps badges, they did at least let them through.

Inside the base, the road leading from the gate was lined with large buildings that served as stables and barracks. Once they got past that section, they reached a plaza. On the far side of a plaza was something like a keep. It

looked pretty secure, and was probably a command center of some sort. There were a number of buildings crowded around that command center that were probably of a military nature, too.

They could hear men shouting at regular intervals. They must have been training somewhere.

The soldiers of the Frontier Army that they saw standing here and there, or patrolling the area, either paid no heed to Haruhiro and the rest of the party, or occasionally shot them looks of scorn but did nothing else.

However, when they cut between two barracks and went into the back streets, the atmosphere changed. There were a number of gaudy buildings that wouldn’t have looked out of place next to the bars of Celestial Alley.

There were women walking the streets languidly. There were blacksmiths.

There were rows of stalls. There were street vendors. There were even a number of lodging houses that looked better than the barracks.

There were men and women that they could immediately tell were volunteer soldiers, too. They were seated at the different food stalls, eating and drinking, or were making deals with the various merchants.

It was a market, a place for entertainment, and a residential district all at once. From a cursory glance at the stalls, there was a reasonably wide variety of weapons and armor on offer. It might even have had Alterna beat for selection. There weren’t many daily necessities or foodstuffs available, but that was probably due to a lack of demand.

One thing that set it apart was that there were merchants selling caged animals that they had never seen before. When they asked about it, they were told there were also horses, horse-dragons, deer-horses, and other large animals for riding and carrying cargo tied up outside the base. The merchant also rented horses, so they were encouraged to consider using them if they were going somewhere far. The owner of one shop that dealt in all sorts of tents recognized that they were new to the outpost, and gave them an aggressive sales pitch for his wares.

With all of this looking around, they were starting to get hungry, so they stopped at a certain food stall to get lunch. The skewers of fried meat had a certain rustic charm to them, and the water flavored with sour fruit juice wasn’t bad, either.

“I could live here,” was Ranta’s take on the place, and Haruhiro couldn’t help but agree.

“Y’know,” Yume said, with a relaxed and cheerful look on her face, “Yume, she heard earlier, there’re bathhouses here, too.”

“That is important,” Merry nodded emphatically.

“...Yeah,” Shihoru said with an incredibly serious look on her face. “If I have to go even one day without a bath... honestly, it feels gross...”

“Well, yeah, if you’re a girl...” Kuzaku said idly.

“Ha! Women are such a pain!” Ranta cackled. “Me, I could go ten days, maybe a month, and not even care, you know?! Not bathing never killed anyone!”

“You say that, but if you start stinkin’, you’re not gonna like that much, now are you?” Yume shot back.

“What, Yume?” Ranta asked. “If you go without bathing, do you stink that much? C’mere! Let me sniff you!”

“Yume’s not lettin’ you sniff anythin’, you idiot!” she shot back. “Hmm?” Ranta asked. “Well, I bet you must smell pretty rank by now,

then, huh?”

“Do not! Yume doesn’t stink yet at all!”

“Well, let me check, and I’ll give you an official judgment from a third party,” said Ranta. “Besides, it’s not like it’s something you’d notice by yourself. You can’t smell your own stink.”

Merry suddenly leaned in close to Yume’s neck, sniffing. “She doesn’t stink,” she reported.

“Hyaoh?!” It must have tickled Yume or something, because she let out a weird cry.

“Oh...“ Merry moved away from Yume. “...I’m sorry.”

“Mm, nuh-uh, it’s nothin’ to apologize for.” Yume sounded slightly embarrassed for some reason. “Yume was just a little startled, that’s all. But, Yume, she’s glad to know she doesn’t smell.”

“What do you think you’re doing, leaving me out of the fun?!” Ranta shouted, waving his arms around indignantly. “Let me join in, too! No, actively include me! Let me in on the action!”

Once their bellies were full, they decided it was finally time to go to the Wonder Hole. However, embarrassingly, Haruhiro and the others only knew that the entrance to the Wonder Hole was at Lonesome Field Outpost. Ranta chased down a few volunteer soldiers and tried asking, but he was brusquely turned away.

If you didn’t know them and weren’t paying for their drinks that night, most volunteer soldiers weren’t that friendly. Haruhiro should have expected it to be like this.

“It’d be nice if there was someone I knew around here,” Haruhiro said as he looked around. “...Ah.”

There is, he realized.

“Oh!” It seemed Ranta had noticed, too, and he started to wave. “Heyyy!

Shinohara-saaaan! What’s up, man! How’ve you been?!”

There was a group all wearing white capes walking in their direction. The man with the gentle-looking face who was at the head of the group cast a broad smile in their direction.

Shinohara was the leader of a well-known clan called Orion, but he was a mild-mannered fellow with a great personality. Because they were a group led by Shinohara, all of the members of Orion were friendly and well- organized. That said, Ranta’s audacious behavior still made a few of them furrow their brows in consternation. Shinohara himself, however, didn’t seem upset.

“Hey,” the man said. “If you’re here, does that mean you’re finally tackling the Wonder Hole, too?”

“Yes! Siree! Bob!” Ranta shouted, making a weird salute-like gesture for no well-explained reason as he did. He was totally letting his excitement get the better of him. It was so stupid that it was embarrassing to watch. “So, Shinohara-san, you’re going to the Wonder Hole, just like us?! Man, talk about a coincidence!”

“No,” said Shinohara. “We’re going somewhere else. We have some business to take care of at Mount Grief.”

“Mount Grief...” Haruhiro murmured the words. It wasn’t a familiar name, but it had an eerie ring to it. What kind of place could it be? Would Haruhiro and the others go there, too, someday?

“Oh.” Shinohara looked at Kuzaku. “I don’t believe I’ve seen you before.

I’m Shinohara of Orion. Nice to meet you.”

“Ohh.” Kuzaku gave a slight bow of his head. “Hey. I’m Kuzaku.”

“I see.” Shinohara paused for a moment, closing his eyes and taking a short breath. “If I recall, you all took part in Operation Two-Headed Snake as members of Blue Snake Force, right? While there were few losses in the Frontier Army portion of Blue Snake Force, with only six dead, I’ve heard

that twenty-three volunteer soldiers lost their lives there.”

“I wasn’t good enough,” Merry looked Shinohara straight in the eye and told him. “I made a mistake no priest must ever make. Because of that, I let him die.”

“Merry...” A man with short hair and narrow eyes started to come forward, then stopped himself. Hayashi. The man who had once been Merry’s comrade.

“And yet, you’re still here.” Shinohara put a hand on Merry’s shoulder. “Rather than stop, you faced forward and continued to walk. You’ve found good comrades for yourself, Merry.”

“...Yes.” Merry looked down at the ground. Her back was quivering slightly.

I want to give her a hug, Haruhiro thought, and then got flustered for having thought it. No, I don’t. No way. I can’t give her a hug. That’s so not me.

He didn’t think that was his role. After all, there was nothing between Haruhiro and Merry.

“Er, you, too, Shinohara-san.” Haruhiro cleared his throat. “Good work with the attack on Riverside Iron Fortress. I don’t know any of the details, but you guys won, yeah?”

“Thanks to the work you guys did, we had a perfect victory,” Shinohara said.

For a moment, it looked like a cynical smile crossed Shinohara’s face.

However, it only lasted an instant. It wasn’t a look that was typical for Shinohara, so Haruhiro might have imagined it.

“Things went the opposite way for Red Snake Force,” he continued. “The Frontier Army was dealt a painful blow, but there were very few volunteer soldiers lost. Soma’s Day Breakers really carried the day. Thanks to them, we in Orion had an easy time of it.”

“Man! Soma, huh!” Ranta stomped his feet and pulled at his curly hair. “Damn, that Soma’s awesome! The Day Breakers, huh! Ohhh...!”

Shinohara covered his mouth and smiled. Even though it was Ranta talking, Shinohara had a look on his face like he would when watching an innocent child.

“I hear that Soma’s been operating out of this town lately,” the man said. “You might just run into him somewhere.”

“Ohhhh?! Seriously?! Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” Ranta shouted. “Would you shut up already, man? Seriously...” Haruhiro sighed, then

turned back to Shinohara. “—Oh, that’s right. Shinohara-san, actually, there was something I wanted to ask you.”

“What is it? Hopefully, I’ll have an answer for you.”

“Erm...” Haruhiro rubbed his cheek with one hand, looking around to each of the members of Orion. Men and women alike, they all looked back at him with calm eyes. No matter how young or old they were, they all felt like reliable older brothers and sisters.

Meanwhile, his own group—well, Ranta might be dragging down the dignity of the group all on his own, but Haruhiro, Shihoru, Yume, their junior Kuzaku, and even Merry, were all younger than the people in Orion. They gave off a feeling of being so overwhelmingly inexperienced, it was almost refreshing.

No, it wasn’t refreshing at all. Actually, it was painful.

Even having come to Lonesome Field to head for the Wonder Hole was something they’d done mostly on the spur of the moment. And now that they were here, they didn’t even know the most basic information, so he was about to ask Shinohara about it.

Is this really okay? Haruhiro wondered. But, they do say that “asking is a moment of shame, but not asking is a lifetime of shame,” and I’d rather not waste time.

“...So, about the Wonder Hole, I was wondering where it is.”