GrM - vol7

1.    The Blurry Ridge

Gremlins chanted all around them.

“Nafushuperah, toburoh, furagurashurah, purapurapuryoh.” “Anabushoh, fakanakanah, barauarafurenyoh, kurakoshoh.” “Kachabyuryohoh, kyabashah, chapah, ryubaryaburyah, hokoshoh.”

Blue light leaked out from hole upon hole upon hole. How many gremlins lived here in these flats? Hundreds? Thousands? Tens of thousands, maybe?

Those creatures that looked like a bat combined with a goblin were fundamentally harmless. Even knowing that, though, they were a little scary. If something went wrong and they attacked, the party wouldn’t stand a chance.

After they made it through the Gremlin Flats, they came to the Egg Storage.

The layout of this place was simple. There was a single path along which there was a series of oblong rooms where the gremlins laid their eggs. The party had no interest in the eggs, so they just kept going down the path and ignoring the rooms.

We can just keep going, right? Haruhiro thought.

Haruhiro looked to Ranta, Kuzaku, Yume, Shihoru, and Merry again and again, making sure they were still there, as he asked himself if they should go on or turn back. Ask as he might, he never came to an answer. He had no clue what he ought to do.

The dominatrix, Lala, and her servant, Nono, were up ahead, moving at a careful but confident pace. Nono carried a lantern, its light illuminating Lala’s bold and extreme appearance.

Honestly, she didn’t have to accentuate her womanly parts and expose herself as much as she did; just barely hiding the bits she absolutely couldn’t

show in public. It wasn’t like Haruhiro wanted to see those bits. But... he couldn’t help but look. Did she just like to show off? Maybe she was aiming for every reaction she could possibly get from showing off like that.

Nono, who was white-haired and wore a black mask that covered the bottom of his face, was silent. In fact, Haruhiro had yet to hear him speak. Whenever they took a break, he served as Lala’s chair. That was, well...

They were an odd couple, to put it lightly.

They were capable. Terrifyingly so. Reliable, too. But, was it okay to rely on them? That was somewhat iffy. It felt like if the party trusted them too much, they would be taken for suckers and suffer for it.

Eventually the group came to the end of the Egg Storage. From there on, it really was a single straight path. The path gently curved to the right before suddenly taking a sharp turn in that direction.

It came to a T junction.

Haruhiro felt a sense of déjà vu. It was nearly identical to the entrance to the Egg Storage in the Wonder Hole. The T junctions there had met up again whether you went left or right, and the Wonder Hole had been on the other side.

Can we make it back through here, maybe?

For a moment, he thought that. But naturally, that wasn’t the case.

Lala and Nono went right at the T junction. Another curve. As expected, the path split. They turned right, then went a long way. The tight, twisted path with its low ceiling seemed to go on forever.

The two paths were similar, but this wasn’t like the entrance in the Wonder Hole. Where exactly would they come out? Could Haruhiro and the others go back home?

“We’re near the exit,” Lala told them in a whisper.

Now that she mentioned it, the air was flowing slightly. The temperature had dropped a little. When Nono covered the lantern, it was suddenly pitch black. No sign of light up ahead.

“Is it night...?” Ranta whispered, gulping.

There was the sound of someone sighing. Footsteps. The rustling of clothes. The clinking of armor. Breathing.

The cover on the lantern was not lifted. There was a small amount of light leaking out from the gaps in the cover.

Lala stopped, making some gesture to Nono. Haruhiro and the party

stopped, too. It seemed Lala intended to have Nono go investigate the situation by himself.

Nono knew how to use Sneaking. As a thief himself, Haruhiro could recognize it. Nono used it at a fairly high level, too.

Nono left the lantern with Lala, then melted into the darkness, making not so much as a single sound, and soon vanished from sight. It was probably around five minutes later that Nono returned.

Nono moved in close to Lala, perhaps to whisper something in her ear, but Haruhiro couldn’t pick up his voice. Either way, Lala nodded once, then gave the lantern back to Nono and began walking. Haruhiro and the others had no choice but to follow.

The lantern was still covered, and it was still completely dark like before, but they were clearly approaching the outside.

Just a little longer, Haruhiro told himself. We’re almost there.

“Mrrowr...” Yume let out a strange sound.

The outside was damp, locked in a cold darkness. There were noises, but from what?

Ou, ou, ou...

That sound steadily repeated—was it the cry of some animal? There was a continuous high-pitched sound, too. Was that one the beating of some insect’s wings?

There was another one that sounded like the rapid clicking of someone’s tongue. It was creepy, and it made him uncomfortable.

“Where is this place...?” Kuzaku whispered weakly. Someone was sobbing. It had to be Shihoru.

“It’s okay,” Merry said, trying to encourage her, but her voice was shaking.

“Night...” Haruhiro had a sudden thought. “Could this be that place? The Night Realm?”

Lala and Nono were the ones who had discovered that the Gremlin Flats that were accessible from the Wonder Hole were connected to another world in addition to the Dusk Realm. No morning or night ever came to the Dusk Realm, but in this other world, it was only night; the day never came. That was why it was called the Night Realm.

“Wait, if that’s true...” Ranta did a little dance. “...we can get back, don’tcha think?!”

“Possibly,” Lala snorted. “Possibly not. That place is dangerous in its own ways. We’ve barely explored it ourselves. Too dangerous.”

Haruhiro rubbed his belly. His stomach hurt. Intensely. Even the jubilant Ranta fell silent.

Even at this very moment, some unknown creature might appear from the darkness to attack them.

“So, on that note, we’ll be going,” Lala said briskly.

Then Lala and Nono moved away from them. It took Haruhiro a moment to understand what her words and that action meant.

“...Huh?! That’s—whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on?!” he yelped. “What?” Lala asked.

“No, you’re going—Huh? What does that mean... Huh? Huh...? Just the two of you... By yourselves?” he stuttered.

“We have no clue what’s up ahead, after all,” she told him. “No, w-we have no idea either, obviously, but... But, still...”

“When in an unfamiliar place, experience tells me the two of us are best to move on our own. That’s how we’ve always worked, and I intend to keep it that way.”

“No, b-but...”

“Don’t...!” Ranta got down and performed a kowtow. “Don’t leave meeeee! Please, please! Seriously, seriously! I’m begging you! Don’t leave me here!”

Even Haruhiro, who thought he was well aware of what kind of human, or piece of trash, Ranta was, was appalled by this display. He couldn’t possibly not be.

How is he not embarrassed with himself? He’s just too shameless. And hold on, what’s this “me” stuff? Seriously, he only ever thinks about himself. I knew that, but he’s still horrible and the worst...

“Bye.” Lala might have waved to them, or maybe she didn’t. Either way, they couldn’t see her anymore.

The dominatrix and her servant were gone. “Wh-What... now?” Kuzaku asked in a whisper.

Oh, crap. This is bad, thought Haruhiro. I can’t believe how dark it is. I can’t see anything. It’s solid darkness.

Haruhiro had been trapped inside some dark mass. He couldn’t move, couldn’t escape. This was the end.

—No, that wasn’t true. It was all an illusion.

“R-Right, first thing’s first, we need light...” Haruhiro rummaged through his bag and pulled out a lantern. Once it was lit, he felt a little calmer.

Yume had pulled out her own lantern, and was trying to light it, too.

Haruhiro stopped her. “We only need the one. Just mine, for now. I want to conserve oil.”

“Ohhh. Yeah, that makes sense, huh...”

“Damn that woman.” Ranta punched the ground and ground his teeth. “I’ll never forgive her.”

“Don’t cry, man...” Haruhiro said.

“I-I’m not crying! You’re stupid, stupid, stupid Haruhiro! Urgh...”

Merry was hugging Shihoru tight. If she hadn’t been, Shihoru looked like she would have collapsed at any moment.

Haruhiro took a deep breath, forcing himself to relax. I need to keep it together. I’m the leader, after all. I need to support everyone. Need to pull them along. I won’t let anyone die. We’re going to survive. We’ll all get through this alive.

“Let’s move,” he said. “Take it a bit at a time. Things will work out. I’ll make them work out. I’m... Or rather, well, all of us are here. Just be careful not to make too much noise. If you sense anything coming, let me know right away. Then, we’ll take things cautiously and... Yeah. Okay. Let’s go.”

I’m just rambling. Even I know that. What am I thinking? What should I be thinking about? I don’t know. But, staying here is bad—right? Or maybe I just don’t want to stay here? It might be that I’m just scared to stay put. But, I mean, Lala and Nono took off immediately. Yeah. We shouldn’t stay here.

Haruhiro and the others had their backs to a rock wall. The hole that led to the Egg Storage opened up out of that rock wall.

Lala and Nono had vanished off to the left. There was a gradual downwards slope in front of them.

The ground was uneven. Rocky. Right, forwards, or straight?

He didn’t hesitate long. Haruhiro decided to go after Lala and Nono. They probably couldn’t catch up, but those two had gone left. It would be somewhat safer than going right... maybe?

While checking his footing, they proceeded carefully along the rock wall to their left. They walked as if they were crossing a narrow bridge.

Is this too slow? Should we hurry? What good will rushing do? It would

help if it would just get brighter. Does morning come in this world?

Shihoru was sobbing convulsively.

“Oh, cut it out, would you?” Ranta clicked his tongue. “—Ow!” “Shut up, you dummy!” It sounded like Yume had hit Ranta.

If I open my mouth, I feel like I’ll start whining, Haruhiro thought. Time. How much time has passed? I can’t even imagine. How long do we need to walk? Should we rest? Are my comrades tired? Should I ask? Are they hungry? Thirsty? We need water. Food, too. What do we do? How can we secure those? Is everyone going to survive? Is that a realistic goal, in this situation?

At some point, Shihoru had stopped crying. The rock wall had been at almost a 90-degree angle before, but it was much less steep now. It felt like he could probably climb it, but he didn’t feel like climbing.

Off to the right there was darkness, darkness, endless darkness. Even holding the lantern up in that direction, he couldn’t see a thing.

The animal cries, the batting of wings, the clicking... He heard what sounded like animal noises coming from here and there periodically.

Suddenly, the wind blew against them.

“Hold on.” Haruhiro raised one hand for his comrades to come to stop.

He inched forward. The ground in front of him soon disappeared. It was a cliff. There was a cliff here.

How high was it? Crouching down, he lowered the lantern as far as he could. He couldn’t see. The bottom was too far.

He listened closely. Was that... the sound of water? Was there a river down there?

Water. If there was a river, there would be water. Though, that said, they couldn’t make it down the cliff. They couldn’t jump off, either.

He picked up a stone and threw it off. Soon there was a splashing sound.

It didn’t seem like it was dozens of meters; it had to be around ten. “There’s water down there,” Haruhiro said.

But he got no reaction. Not even from Ranta. Everyone must have been exhausted, both in body and soul.

“We’ll continue along the edge of the cliff here and look for a way down,” Haruhiro said. “If we can just get water...”

“...Yeah,” Kuzaku responded briefly.

“Shihoru, you okay?” Haruhiro asked, to which Shihoru silently nodded.

She didn’t seem okay. That concerned him, but if they could find drinking water, even Shihoru would start to feel a little safer. But, was the river water potable? Not as it was, probably. But, if they boiled it—Right, by kindling a fire...

They’d have to be careful not to fall off the cliff, too. He didn’t think anyone was that stupid, but just in case.

There was a strong, damp wind along the cliff that was unpleasantly cold.

If they didn’t warm themselves eventually, they weren’t just going to feel cold, they’d start shivering.

Eventually, a fog came out, too. The ground was no longer rocky. It felt like there was something like grass growing on top of the dirt. The grass-like stuff wasn’t green, it was white. Was it really grass?

“Whoa!” Ranta suddenly jumped. “Wha, wha, wha...!” “What?” Haruhiro asked.

“I-I just stepped on something! Nothing alive, I think, but—Ahh!” Ranta picked something up. It was a white object. “Look at this! Bones!”

Shihoru shrieked.

“What’re you pickin’ ’em up for?” Yume asked. “You’re unbelievable...” Merry muttered.

With that concentrated attack from the girls, Ranta got defensive and started waving the white object around. “What’re you scared of some stupid bones for? You stupid women! What’s there to be afraid of? I’m totally fine. Because I’m me!”

“What kind of bones are they?” Haruhiro asked, squinting at them.

A hand, huh. It looked like a skeletal hand. If it hadn’t fallen apart after the blasphemous treatment Ranta had been giving it, there had to be dried flesh or something holding it together.

“Hmm?” Ranta brought his face up close and inspected it. “Size-wise, it could be human... but the fingers are too long. Yeah, too long. Wait, there’re too many of them. Like, eight? Hmm?”

Kuzaku crouched down next to Ranta. The rest of the bones were apparently there, hidden by the long, white grass-like stuff.

“...Yeah, doesn’t look human,” Kuzaku agreed. “Some other creature, I guess.”

Yume, Shihoru, and Merry backed away. Haruhiro moved over to where Ranta and Kuzaku were and crouched down.

It’s a skeleton, I guess, or a dead body. It’s wearing what looks like some sort of metal armor. Two arms, two legs. A tail, too, so it’s probably not human. No head anywhere to be seen. Maybe it never had one to begin with? Or maybe some animal took off with it? Looks like it’s lying face down. The long, thin object looks like a sword. The round one, that’s—a shield, maybe? The white, grass-like stuff is wrapped around it.

Kuzaku grabbed the edge of the shield and pulled. The white, grass-like stuff snapped as he did. “Think I could use it?”

“A paladin without a shield’s about as useful as a maggot, after all,” Ranta agreed. “Take it.” Ranta chucked the skeletal hand aside and picked up the sword. “This one’s no good. It’s rusted like crazy.”

Haruhiro gave a frowning glance after the hand Ranta had thrown away, then looked down at the man’s body. Well, the body could very well have been a woman, not a man, but Haruhiro was going to assume he had been male for convenience’s sake.

The man was armed, so that probably meant he’d been a sentient being from this world. How much time had passed since he died? It seemed unlikely that it had only been a few days. A few months? A year? A few years? Or decades, maybe?

“Ranta, turn him face up,” Haruhiro ordered.

“Hell. No. Why should I have to do what you tell me to? Go die.” “I’ll do it.” Kuzaku lifted the man up and turned him over. “There we

go...”

Haruhiro closely examined the man now that he was facing upwards. The head had definitely been cut off or something. Haruhiro could see what looked like the neck bones.

There were box-shaped containers fixed to the man’s belt. Haruhiro opened one and took out the contents. It was dark, hard, and round... Was this a coin? There were also a number of what looked to be seeds and a rusty dagger. Was that a key, maybe? Some sort of tool. It was hanging from a chain around the man’s neck.

That’s a pretty chain, thought Haruhiro. It looks like it might be gold. It couldn’t possibly be pure gold, though.

When he brushed the dirt off of the front of the armor, he realized there was writing or a pattern of some sort carved there. Writing, probably. The same sort of characters were on the coin-like black object, too.

Incidentally, back in Grimgar, he had heard the orcs had their own unique language, while the undead used one that closely resembled the language used by elves, dwarves, and humans. It was probably best to assume this race was intelligent, probably on the same level as Haruhiro and the others, or close at least.

“Haru-kun.” Yume pulled on Haruhiro’s cloak. “...Y’know, Yume’s thinkin’ she might be hearin’ a rustlin’ noise.”

Ranta reacted with a start and looked around the area. Merry and Shihoru huddled close together, holding their breath. Kuzaku held the man’s shield at the ready, crouching on one knee with a hand on the hilt of his longsword.

Haruhiro quickly threw all of the man’s possessions into his bag. He listened closely.

...Rustle. Rustle. Rustle. Rustle. Rustle...

He definitely heard something. From the opposite direction of the cliff.

Watch for it? Flee? Haruhiro decided instantly. It was a compromise between the two. They’d retreat while staying on watch.

“Let’s stay on guard as we move forward,” he ordered. “Ranta, Kuzaku

—” He waved his hands to get people in formation.

Haruhiro took point, Merry, Yume, and Shihoru formed one column behind him, while Ranta and Kuzaku were beside them on the side opposite the cliff. Was carrying a light here like saying “Please, come after us?” But if they put out the lantern, then they would be in total darkness. There was the risk they’d fall off the cliff, too.

Haruhiro and the others began to move.

Rustle... rustle... rustle...

He could still hear that sound. Was it coming after them? It didn’t seem that far off. It was pretty close. Within ten meters? No, probably less. It was closer than that.

He felt compelled to see whatever it really was with his own eyes.

Wouldn’t that be a good idea? No. He couldn’t decide.

While remaining careful of the cliff, he kept listening closely to the sound for any sign of change...

This is driving me crazy. I don’t want to do it anymore, he thought over and over again. Once every few minutes. When it was at its worst, he thought it every few seconds.

He wanted to throw everything away and run. Run? Where to...?

The lantern’s fire’s getting weak. The moment he thought that, it was gone.

“Whaaaaa?! Parupiro, come on! I can’t see, you moron! You scum!” Ranta screamed.

“The oil just ran out, okay? Uh, well, next we’ll use Yume’s lantern to—” “Hold on,” Merry said in a stifled voice. “The sky...”

Haruhiro looked off into the distance, beyond the cliff. She was right.

There was something about the sky.

“Is it... morning?” Haruhiro asked slowly.

There was a ridge in the distance burning faintly. It was red, or orange rather. It was strange. Normally, when the sun rose in the morning, the darkness gradually faded from the edge of the sky. It would turn blue or purple, then grow redder. It never looked the way this did, like the sky had suddenly caught fire.

He knew there were worlds like the Dusk Realm. If this world’s sky changed in strange ways, that wasn’t going to be enough to surprise him at this point.

But, at the very least, this doesn’t seem to be Grimgar or the Dusk Realm.

The realization hit him pretty hard. “Huh...?”

Haruhiro craned his neck. He didn’t hear the rustling sound anymore. Had it gone away? Or was it just laying low? Either way, he figured it would be a good idea to get away from this spot while they had the chance. Haruhiro signaled for them to set off.

That was when it happened.

“Mrrow!” Yume made a strange noise and collapsed. No. She hadn’t collapsed. She’d been knocked down. There was something on top of Yume. “Something”—that was the only way he could describe it. He couldn’t see.

“Ohhhhhh?!” Ranta was trying to pull that something off of Yume. “Damn, it’s too dark!” Kuzaku shouted.

“Yume! Yume! Yume...!” Haruhiro shouted his comrade’s name as he rushed towards the thing. Because he was flustered, he nearly lost his footing and fell off the cliff, which made him majorly panic.

He could hear the sounds of punching, hitting. Yume was crying and screaming.

“It took off!” Ranta shouted.

There was a light. From a candle. A portable candlestick, huh. It was Shihoru.

Shihoru sat down next to Yume with the candlestick. “Yume! Hang in there!”

“The enemy! That bastard! Where is he?! Dammit!” Ranta was swinging his sword around.

“What was that?!” Kuzaku had his shield at the ready, his shoulders heaving with heavy breaths.

Yume had fallen over, clutching at her throat. Blood. The blood. Her neck. It’d gotten her neck. Blood. So much blood.

Kuh. Fuh. Fuh. Hah. Kuh. Fuh. Hah. Yume’s breathing was strained, shallow, and ragged.

Haruhiro was stunned. No way. Don’t do this to me. You’re kidding. What the hell? Tell me it’s a lie, somebody. Please, tell me it’s a lie. No. This is wrong. It’s a lie. It can’t be real. Right? I mean, it makes no sense. This makes no sense.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” Haruhiro screamed.

His level head. His sense of duty. His responsibility. His self-control. His reason. His ability to think. All of those were blasted away.

Haruhiro didn’t even cling to Yume. He just stood there and screamed. He knew one thing, and that was that he couldn’t take anymore. He had totally snapped.

It’s over. Just let it end. No, I can’t let it end, but what can I do? I mean, there’s nothing I can do, is there? It’s hopeless, isn’t it? Yume’s gonna die, isn’t she?

“O light...!” Merry touched her five fingers to her forehead, making a pentagram, then touched her middle finger to her brow to complete the hexagram. Then, rushing over, she brought her palm to her Yume’s throat. “May Lumiaris’s divine protection be upon you! Sacrament!”

—What? Haruhiro thought numbly. What are you doing? Have you gone nuts? It’s hopeless. I mean, light magic doesn’t work in the Dusk Realm!

Sure, this isn’t the Dusk Realm, but it’s not Grimgar, so Lumiaris’s power shouldn’t reach here, and—

No doubt Merry knew all of that. Was she unable to give up, even knowing that? Had she decided to bet on that one thin thread of hope?

“...Ahh... Hah...” Yume blinked repeatedly. “Huh...?”

Her body was wreathed in a dim light.

Merry gritted her teeth. Her shoulders, her arms, her hands, her whole body was shuddering.

This can’t be real, right? Haruhiro thought, stunned. Really? No lie?

“...Your wounds!” Shihoru’s eyes went wide. “Yume! Your wounds are closing!”

Ranta stopped swinging his sword and stood there staring blankly at Yume.

“Haha!” Kuzaku laughed like a crazy man. “Ahaha! Hahahahaha!

Wahahaha!”

Haruhiro wanted to laugh along. How could he not want to? What could he do but laugh? But, for some reason, he cried instead.

Yume still hadn’t gotten up. Merry’s healing still wasn’t done. It was taking a surprisingly long time for Sacrament.

Haruhiro got down on all fours next to Yume. Merry finally pulled her hand back and fell on her backside. Her breathing was rough. She looked pretty spent.

Yume looked at her, then smiled softly. “Thank you, Merry-chan. Huh?

Haru-kun, what’re you cryin’—”

“Yume!” Haruhiro hugged Yume without really meaning to. “Thank goodness! Thank goodness, Yume! Thank...! Sorry! I thought you were a goner, so...!”

“Ohhh,” said Yume. “If you squeeze tight like that, Haru-kun, you’ll get blood on you, y’know?”

“Who cares?!” he screamed.

“Okay then. But, still, when you’re squeezin’ her tight like this, Yume, she’s happy, but it hurts a little, y’know?”

“S-S-S-S-Sorry!” When Haruhiro hurriedly tried to let go and jump back, someone whacked him hard in the back of the head. “—Ow?! Huh?! R- Ranta?! What was that for, all of a sudden?!”

“For nothing, you damn idiot!” Ranta glared at him and tried to intimidate him.

Seriously, what was that about? Was he a moron? Was he total scum? “Sorry to interrupt, but...” Kuzaku said hesitantly. “...don’t you think it’d

be a good idea to get away from here? I mean, we did let the thing from earlier get away...”

“Ah!” Haruhiro wiped his face with both hands. Oh, right. He’s right. I completely lost myself there. I need to do some serious reflecting on that, but it can wait. For now, I should do what Kuzaku suggested.

“Y-Yume, can you stand?!” Haruhiro exclaimed. “Merry, how about you?

Oh, right, someone, get a lantern out! Okay, now then, let’s go!”

Before they set out, he looked once more to the ridge that was burning orange.

Was the sun coming up?

He couldn’t imagine that was the case.

2.    Please

It seemed highly likely that their unknown assailant had scaled the cliff to attack Yume. Haruhiro and the party kept a cautious distance from the cliff as they pressed onward.

They knew from the fact that light magic had worked that the power of the god of light Lumiaris extended to this world. However, from what Merry told them, when she had cast Sacrament, it had been many times more draining than usual. It had also taken an awful long time for Yume’s wounds to heal. Haruhiro found those both strange. Normally, Sacrament was a spell that instantly healed all wounds.

They tried having Ranta summon his demon to see what would happen, and it came out like it was supposed to. It looked like a person with a purple sheet over its head, with two hole-like eyes, and beneath them a gash-like mouth. It carried a knife-like blade in its right hand, and a club-like weapon in its left. It had legs, even though it was just sort of floating there. This was Ranta’s demon, Zodiac-kun... but it was a third of its usual size.

So the power of the dark god Skullhell reached this world, too. However, due to the issue of distance, perhaps, or some other cause, Lumiaris and Skullhell could only provide about a third of their usual protection.

Well, whether it was a third or a quarter, it was still a step up from nothing. Thanks to that, Yume had survived. Praise be to Lumiaris.

While they were somehow able to use light magic now, they still couldn’t afford to relax. Haruhiro was watching carefully for any presences. Naturally, this was exhausting. Whenever it became so hard on him that he thought he might break, his mind flashed back to Yume on the brink of death. He never wanted to experience that again. What was a little struggle now compared to that? He just had to tough it out. If he could tough it out, that meant he wasn’t

at his limit yet.

No matter how much time passed, the sky grew no lighter. The sun in this world was incredibly shy, it seemed. In the end, the sun never rose, and the flame-like light he’d glimpsed coming from beyond the distant ridge burned out. When night came, it became pitch dark, making him realize it had still been relatively bright in the middle of the day.

Everyone was silent. Occasionally Ranta would say something stupid, as if he had just remembered that was a thing he did, but it never developed into anything fit to be called a conversation. Whenever someone stopped walking, they would take a break.

The morning that he couldn’t think of as morning came, and then the night that was deeper than night came. His hopes had been misplaced when he’d been waiting for morning to come. Still, whenever the flames on the ridge burned out, he felt his chest tighten with a feeling of helplessness.

They were all volunteer soldiers, even if not very good ones, so they had all been carrying emergency rations and water with them. Their supplies quickly ran out.

Ranta would occasionally summon Zodiac-kun and chat with the demon.

He might have been trying to distract himself. Haruhiro began to doubt his own sanity. Even if he saw lights ahead of them, he thought they were a dream or illusion. He was seeing things that couldn’t be real. They had to be illusions.

There were lights like bonfires that flickered in and out of being here and there. It didn’t seem like a natural phenomenon. If it was no illusion, they were probably being lit by some intelligent life forms. Was there some connection between those intelligent life forms and the ambusher that had nearly killed Yume? He couldn’t possibly know.

The ground was on a gentle downward slope. How far was it to the light?

A kilometer or so?

As they got closer, he gradually figured out the situation. The lights were no illusion. He could see a number of buildings clearly. He was able to confirm a watchtower-like building, too. The lights seemed to be from bonfires and lamps. There were fires lit hanging from the eaves of buildings and up in the watchtower. There were maybe twenty of them.

It wasn’t large enough to be called a town. A small village, maybe.

The issue was the residents. He called them residents, but obviously, they

weren’t people.

“What... should we do?” Haruhiro asked hesitantly.

“Man, what do you mean, ‘what’?” Ranta sighed. “...What are we gonna do?”

“Keehe... Don’t ask, you runny piece of crap, Ranta... Worry and agonize over it... until you die... Ehehehe.”

“Don’t talk like that, even as a joke, Zodiac-kun,” Ranta said. “Not now.

It’s kind of depressing. It’s just too much...” “Don’t worry... Kehe... Kehehe...”

“Well, I’m not, you know?” Ranta said defensively. “I understand that it’s just your dark sense of humor, okay?”

“Ehehehe... Ehe... That a misunderstanding... Zodiac-kun always serious...

Ehe...”

“No way, seriously?! For real?! And wait, why did you say that like you have a heavy accent?!”

“Ranta-kun sure is energetic, huh,” Kuzaku muttered.

Who was it that said, “If you have energy, you can do anything”?

Haruhiro didn’t think you could do everything if you had energy. But without energy, there were probably a lot of things you couldn’t do. So it shouldn’t have been a bad thing that Ranta was getting his energy back, but he was noisy and annoying.

“We shouldn’t approach carelessly...” Shihoru said hesitantly.

“She’s right.” Merry agreed. “We don’t know what’s lying in wait, after all.”

“But it makes you wanna find out what’s goin’ on in there.” Yume’s stomach groaned loudly. “...Uh. Oof. Yume, she’s gettin’ hungry...”

Yeah... Of course she is, Haruhiro thought.

Honestly, their hunger and thirst were reaching dangerous levels. They needed to procure more water and provisions soon, or they were going to be finished.

“I’ll go scout it out,” Haruhiro said. “You all stay here.”

“We’re counting on you, thief.” Ranta slapped Haruhiro on the shoulder.

That irritated him, but Haruhiro held himself back, leaning in close to whisper in Ranta’s ear. “If anything happens, I’m counting on you to handle the rest.”

“S-Sure.... Well, if it comes to that. C-Come back, okay, you moron? In

one piece.”

“It’s creepy when you act like that,” Haruhiro muttered.

Haruhiro instantly shifted into a fresh frame of mind. First, he eliminated his presence—Hide. Second, he moved with his presence eliminated—Swing. Third, he utilized all of his senses to detect the presences of others—Sense.

In other words, he used Stealth.

He imagined himself slipping underground without a sound, becoming a mole and moving through the earth. At the same time, he would stick his eyes and ears up from the surface, looking and listening. Sensing.

He heard a sound.

Clang, clang! It was the sound of something hard being beaten.

The closest light was the bonfire on top of the watchtower. There was a moat around 25 meters from the watchtower. It looked to be about two meters across or somewhere thereabouts. Its depth was unknown. It probably wasn’t shallow, though.

There was a humanoid creature sitting up in the watchtower. Its torso was strangely large, while its head was small. That small head was wrapped in something like cloth. Was that a bow and quiver of arrows slung over its back? That creature was a lookout, no doubt about that. The residents of the small village were protecting themselves against intrusion with the moat, and they even had a lookout posted. It wasn’t going to be possible to go in there, after all.

No, it was too soon to make that call. Haruhiro turned left, advancing towards where the river seemed to be. He soon ran into a cliff.

He called it a cliff, but it was only two, three meters to the bottom. It wouldn’t be impossible to make his way down. There was a riverbed down there. The river was flowing just past there. It looked like they were drawing water from the river into their moat.

When he looked from near the river over to the moat, there was another watchtower. There was a bonfire lit atop it, and a lookout there, too. But this lookout was much smaller than the first one had been. It had a roly-poly body, only about as large as a human child. Still, its head was wrapped with cloth, just like the first. In terms of armaments, it also seemingly used a bow and arrow.

Haruhiro decided to designate this as Watchtower B, and the first as Watchtower A. He turned back to where Watchtower A was, proceeding

along in the opposite direction.

The moat eventually began to curve. He could see a number of the buildings clearly. They were all one floor, and there were no more than ten or so of them. Eventually he came to another watchtower. Watchtower C. Watchtower C was big and sturdy. A gate. Watchtower C was built as part of a gate. There was a bridge extending out from that open gate. Made of wood, huh. It was solidly built. The bridge over the moat looked strong enough to bear the weight of a carriage.

There was a lookout on Watchtower C, too. This one wasn’t sitting. It was standing. Unlike the lookouts of Watchtower A or B, this one had a strangely long and lanky physique.

There was something weird about those arms. Too many joints? It looked like it had two, maybe three elbows? Like the other lookouts, this one’s head was wrapped with cloth, but it was protruding out from it at the very ends.

Besides that, there was the tail. The lookout on Watchtower C had a tail.

At the very least, he could say the lookouts at Watchtower A and B and the one at Watchtower C belonged to different races. If Haruhiro used his common sense, it was the only possible conclusion.

Was the lookout at Watchtower C from the same race as the skeletal remains Ranta had found? It did have a tail. The corpse had had eight fingers, too. What about the lookout? That remained to be seen. Haruhiro couldn’t tell how many fingers it had.

The lookout of Watchtower C suddenly looked his way.

Have I been noticed? Haruhiro held his breath and remained still. If he panicked and tried to flee, that would make things worse.

The lookout took the bow that had been slung over its back, nocking an arrow. It drew back on the bowstring.

Oh, crap, he thought. I want to run away. I have to run away. No... Hold on. It’s not certain yet that I’ve been found. Besides, it’s fine. If it fires an arrow, it won’t be too late to run the moment it does. Probably.

The lookout loosed up on the bowstring. It spun the unnocked arrow around. Then, as if to say, Must have been my imagination, it tilted its head to the side.

Yeah, that’s right. It was just your imagination... okay? Haruhiro took a small breath, then he began moving.

That lookout was bad news. It was sharp. Had he made a noise? Haruhiro

didn’t think so. Besides, there was a constant clanging with a regular beat, so he should have been fine making a little noise. Still, the lookout of Watchtower C had detected something. He decided it was best to be careful.

He continued scouting. Passing by the bridge, he followed the curve of the moat. After confirming a Watchtower D and Watchtower E, he came upon a cliff. The riverbed was below.

In other words, this village was in a warped circle, surrounded by the moat and river.

In order to enter the village, they either had to cross the bridge, get over the moat, or swim through the river to reach the riverbed on the village’s side.

It would be dangerous to swim through the river in the darkness. They could very well drown. They could probably manage to swim across the moat, but scaling the wall on the other side would prove troublesome.

That meant that, fundamentally, crossing the bridge was the only option. Of course, if he tried to walk across openly, he’d probably be sniped by the lookout. Could they remove the lookout with Yume’s bow or Shihoru’s magic? Then what? Force their way in? The six of them? There were at least four other lookouts armed with bows, and there was no guarantee that there wasn’t more.

Could they win? Or rather, was this a win-or-lose situation? It didn’t feel like it. Haruhiro and the party’s goal was to obtain water and food, that was all. If the party could demonstrate that they weren’t hostile somehow, might the residents let them inside? Then, could Haruhiro and his party trade their possessions or money, whatever it took, for food and potable water? Was that impossible? Was it no good...?

Haruhiro took the same path back the way he had come, observing the village across the moat as he went.

He spotted a number of the residents. He was surprised. They weren’t just people. No... there were some that weren’t humanoid. That was the better way to put it.

The most intensely different had six insect-like arms, with furball-like lower bodies. Those ones had had their heads wrapped in something, too. Weren’t the residents here a little too diverse...?

When he returned to his comrades and gave them the short version of what he’d seen, Ranta thumped his chest, snorting excitedly. “Leave it to me.

I’ve got an idea.”

“Kehe... I have a good feeling about this... Kehehehe... It feels Ranta’s heading for the eternal slumber...”

“Hey, that doesn’t sound like a good feeling to me at all, you know?” Ranta shot back. “Also, I’ve said this before, but if I get sent off to my eternal rest, you’re gonna disappear too, got it, Zodiac-kun?”

“O dread knight... Ehe... Let us be embraced by Lord Skullhell together...

Ehehe...”

“I-I’m thinking it’s a bit early for that, yeah? Listen, um, I’ve got lots I still want to do... like playing with some boobies, and—Wait, what are you making me say?!”

“Nobody’s making you say anything...” Haruhiro massaged his brow with his fingers.

“You just wanted to say ‘boobies,’” Yume said, and Haruhiro thought she was probably right.

“You’re the worst.” Merry practically spat the words at him.

Shihoru said something awfully harsh under her breath. “I hope Zodiac- kun’s right... about that prediction...”

“Hmph!” Ranta was undeterred. “Don’t think you mediocre people can hurt me with that level of petty slander. Well, just you watch. Soon enough, you’ll be getting down on your knees and begging me for forgiveness, I’m sure. I’ll play with your tits then. No complaints allowed. Oh, just the girls, I mean, of course.”

“...You’ve got one hell of a tough heart, Ranta-kun,” Kuzaku said. “Damn straight I do, Kuzacky. My heart’s made out of diamond, okay?

Now, all of you, follow me. I’ll teach you the one true way to handle this.”

It wasn’t like Haruhiro had an alternate idea. If it was a bust, they were just back to where they started. He decided to let Ranta handle it. So they all moved up close to the bridge.

Ranta put on his helmet, lowered his visor, and then told Haruhiro and the others, “You people wait here,” with a self-important tone.

“What’re you planning to do?” Naturally, Haruhiro was the one to ask that.

“It’s fine, so just shut up. If I’m right about this—”

“Kehe... This is you, Ranta... You must be wrong... Kehe... Kehehe...” “We’ll find out soon, okay?” Ranta said, and then started walking.

No way, thought Haruhiro. Just to be on the safe side, he had the rest of their comrades get ready to flee. You’re going? You’re seriously going there? That’s crazy, you know that? Are you that desperate?

But Ranta was walking with an awful lot of confidence. He even started humming to himself as he went. Had he finally snapped?

Haruhiro and the others could only hold their breaths and watch over him in silence. Ranta had already gotten pretty close to the bridge. The lookout of Watchtower C noticed Ranta, drew its bow, and nocked an arrow. Even that moron Ranta would have to get the chills when he saw that.

He cringed—but he didn’t stop. He kept walking.

Seriously? thought Haruhiro. No, man, it’s coming for you. The arrow.

It’s gonna come flying.

“Okay, okay.” It wasn’t clear what he was thinking, but Ranta said that as he waved his hand.

He would be crossing the bridge soon. He finally stepped on to it. The lookout lowered its bow.

“...No way,” Haruhiro said, his mouth hanging open. “Welcome, welcome.” Ranta crossed the bridge laughing.

What good is you saying “welcome” going to do, man? Haruhiro thought indignantly. Like, why are you okay? I don’t get it.

When Ranta had crossed over to the bridge without incident, he looked up to the lookout of Watchtower C.

“Ohh. Me. My. Friend. Friends? Comrades. Together. I bring them. Here.

Now. You? Okay?”

The lookout tilted its head to the side. It didn’t seem like it understood.

Well, of course it wouldn’t.

“Good.” Despite that, Ranta gave the thumbs up. “Okay. My. Comrades.

Together. Now. Okay, okay.”

Then, leaving the clearly flummoxed lookout behind, Ranta came back to Haruhiro and the others in high spirits.

“There! How’d you like that?! I was right, huh! Bow down before me!

Worship me! Also, you women, let me touch your boobs!”

“I’m never letting you touch them...” Shihoru said, covering herself with both arms.

“Ranta, you’d probably end up hurtin’ them if you did.” Maybe she just didn’t understand, but Yume occasionally said things that were slightly

weird. Haruhiro wished she would be more aware of these things, but it was hard to caution her about it.

“But...” Merry tilted her head to the side. “Why? They seem to be pretty blatantly wary of outsiders.”

“It’s a mystery, for sure.” Kuzaku couldn’t seem to accept it, either. “Could it be—” Just as Haruhiro was about to say it, Ranta cut him off. “You moron! It’s my job to give the answer here! I had flash of

inspiration! Don’t steal my thunder, Parupirorin!”

“Ehe... Your face... You hid your face... That’s why they let you in...

Ehehe...”

“Zodiac-kun?! You’re gonna tell them that?! Hey?! I wanted to be the one to say it, you know?!” Ranta shouted.

In addition to the five lookouts, the residents Haruhiro had seen had all hidden their faces with cloth or something similar. Haruhiro had thought that strange, too, and it had caught his attention.

From there he came to the theory, “Covering your face is the condition for entering the village.” That was fine, but risking life and limb to test the idea... That was reckless.

Was it okay to let it slide because it had all turned out fine in the end? He worried over that a bit as leader. What should he do? He had an idea.

“Ranta.” Haruhiro rounded on him with a serious attitude. “It worked out, so it’s fine. But, still. What would you have done if it hadn’t? What would have happened? Did you think about that, even a little?”

“Huh? I don’t have time to think about that stuff, moron. Besides, I’ll have you know, Ranta-sama is never wrong.”

“You could have been in serious trouble. That’s what I’m trying to say here.”

“H-Hey, it’s my life, I can do what I want with it, okay? I’m a free man, you know...”

“Don’t say that in front of our comrades,” said Haruhiro. “If anything were to happen to you, everyone—even me—we wouldn’t be fine with that.”

“Shut uuuuuup! S-S-S-S-S-S-Stop that, you’re embarrassing me! I-I get it, okay?!”

“Then, from here on, promise you’ll be more careful.”

“F-Fine, I just have to do it, right? I-I’ll promise! There, that ought to be good enough!”

“You won’t do it again, right?” Haruhiro asked. “I-I won’t!”

“Good.” Haruhiro quickly turned his back to Ranta.

Don’t laugh, he told himself now. I can’t crack up now. I just pulled off the “Passionate Leader” role. But, still, Ranta’s surprisingly weak to this stuff. It’s hilarious. No, no, that’s no good. If I think about how hilarious it is, I’m gonna end up laughing.

Haruhiro cleared his throat, then directed his comrades to cover their faces with something. Yume was staring off into space, while Merry and Kuzaku looked at him dubiously, and Shihoru looked down at the ground, probably suppressing a laugh. It looked like Shihoru could see through his act.

Kuzaku, like Ranta, covered his face with his helmet. Haruhiro covered his head with his cloak. It was worn and full of holes, so if he positioned it right, he could see. Yume, Shihoru, and Merry worked with towels and the like to fashion some masks. As for Zodiac-kun, depending on how you looked at it, the demon’s face might seem like it already was hidden. But it was questionable whether they’d see it that way. There was no way to be certain, so they had the demon vanish for the time being.

Now their odd-looking group was good to go. Was this really going to be okay? Haruhiro wasn’t confident, but the lookout on Watchtower C let him and the party through without even readying its bow. It seemed like they really would let them into the village if they covered their faces.

There were fourteen buildings inside the moat. They were of varying sizes, but they were all single-floor buildings. There was a plaza in the center of the village, with something that resembled a well there. The massive humanoid creature sitting next to the well had to be a guard. It held a stupidly big hammer, with a bow and arrows slung over its back. Its face wasn’t visible through its helmet.

They identified the source of the clanging noise. There were five buildings facing on to the central plaza. One of them had a large overhang on one side of its roof that was supported by pillars. Beneath that roof there were coals, or something burning red, and a large oven-like thing.

It was a furnace, apparently. There was an anvil, too. There was a humanoid creature there with a naked upper torso that was frighteningly swollen, a crooked back, a butt that stuck out, and short legs. It had fixed a bar of iron to the anvil, and it was banging on it. That was the source of the

clanging.

“They have a blacksmith...” Haruhiro murmured.

The many weapons and armor that must have been forged or repaired by that bizarre smith either hung from the wall of the building or were leaning against it.

The smith had something like bandages wrapped around its face. But the crimson eyes that made it look like it was crying blood, and the mouth where hard-looking, mortar-like teeth were lined up without any gaps, were both exposed.

On closer inspection, it wasn’t just the smithy. The other four buildings facing on to the plaza had no small selection of goods on display, either under their eaves or inside the building.

The building next to the smithy carried what looked like clothing and bags. The completed ones were displayed on shelves or stacked on the table. Sitting on a chair next to the table, there was a thing shaped like a flattened egg. It had two arms (?) sticking out of it, and it wore a hat, so maybe it was a living creature. That might be the owner of the clothing and bag shop.

Across the plaza from the smithy was another building, or a shed rather.

That shed had either had the wall facing the plaza removed, or there had never been one there in the first place. Either way, the inside was clearly visible.

The wall of the shed was completely covered with bags with holes in them, along with more elaborate masks and veils, as well what looked like helmets. In the center of the shed sat a humanoid creature that was thin and emaciated like a dried up, dead tree. The owner of the mask shop had six arms, and its more than thirty fingers were interwoven in complicated patterns in front of its chest. The face covering that he or she was wearing, as befitted the owner of such a shop, was a cool, shining golden helmet that was like an art piece.

Next to the mask shop, the building across from the clothing and bag shop was constructed similarly. However, it was about twice the size. It was clear at a glance what this one was. It was a grocery store. The meat of four-legged beasts and birds stripped of their skin hung from the ceiling, while bundles of some sort of plant were left on a shelf, along with what looked like berries.

The already-cooked dumplings and fried skewers caught Haruhiro’s attention.

In front of the store there was a creature best described as a man-sized crab. It was stirring the contents of a pot that was being heated over a stove with a ladle. The giant crab that ran the grocery store was wearing a mask, too, but its two eye stalks were sticking out of it completely, so it was questionable whether its face was actually hidden.

The building next to the grocer’s had miscellaneous goods scattered around randomly, all on display in a variety of different ways. It might have been a general store. Haruhiro didn’t see a creature running the place anywhere. It must have been inside.

“What do you think?” Ranta snorted, puffing up his chest with pride. “Quite the village, huh?”

“...What are you acting proud for?” Shihoru showered Ranta with a look of seething hatred. Even with her face hidden, it was easy to imagine the expression she was wearing right now.

“It’s gotta be ’cause he’s an idiot,” Yume said, sighing with exasperation. Merry was looking around restlessly. “We’re being ignored...?”

“Um...” Kuzaku waved to the well guard. “H-Hey there.”

The giant guard adjusted its grip on its giant hammer. Kuzaku gulped and took a half step backward, but that was the only real reaction the guard gave him. Not only did it give him no response, it didn’t even look in Kuzaku’s direction.

Ignored.

There were actually some residents taking a leisurely stroll nearby, but they didn’t even give Haruhiro and the others a second glance. They were being completely ignored.

Haruhiro crossed his arms, “Hmm...” he groaned. What to do?

“Don’t just groan in thought.” Ranta kicked the ground with his heel. “Do something, leader. Don’t forget, it’s for times like this that I let a loser like you be the leader.”

“You think you can get away with talking to me like that, Ranta?” “If you don’t like it, then do something brilliant to shut me up.”

Hm, Backstab or Spider? If I were to going to snuff Ranta and shut him up for good, which skill would be better?

For a moment, Haruhiro seriously considered the question, but he had more important things to do than dispose of that smelly piece of trash. There was water and food right there. They had to get their hands on some, no

matter what.

Haruhiro cleared his throat, then tried approaching the well. The well’s guard didn’t move. But, still, it was huge. Even seated, its head was higher than Kuzaku’s, and he was 190 centimeters tall. That was no joke. It was scary.

Even so, Haruhiro worked up his courage and walked forward. The well was five meters away. Four meters. Three meters. Any further and he’d be within the guard’s reach. If the guard felt like it, it could probably kill Haruhiro in a single blow as it rose.

It was hard to breathe. He felt like his stomach might jump up out of his mouth. Well, not that it did. He’d be shocked if that happened.

When he shook off his fear and hesitation and took a step forward, the guard suddenly half rose from its seat.

“Eek!”

“Meowha?!” “...!”

There were screams, but not from Haruhiro, from the girls. Haruhiro was scared so stiff, he couldn’t even utter a sound.

Oh... Oh... O-O-O-O-Oh, crap! A-Am I... gonna... get killed...?

“I-I-I’ll give you a decent burial... Maybe?” Ranta whispered. “Come on, let’s at least do that much for him...” Kuzaku retorted.

Wait, wait, wait? Before you bury me, isn’t there something you should do first...?

“P-Please.” Haruhiro suddenly put his hands up. His body, it moved. His voice, it came out.

Come on, “Please,” really? I’m not Ranta.

Even as he was on the verge of tears, Haruhiro kept his left hand in the air while using his right to point back and forth between the well and his own throat. “W-Water. I want drink. Water. Throat, dry. Um, we are travelers.

Water, want... You... understand? Water, water! Could you... let us drink some? Water. Well water!”

The guard remained half-risen, not budging.

It was a bucket well. There were two posts on either side of the well, and there was a beam that went between them. There was a pulley on the beam, and a pail hanging from a rope that went over it.

The firelight from a torch attached to one of the posts illuminated the

monster-like guard. “Like”? No, no matter how you looked at it, the guard was a monster. Those arms, they were definitely thicker than a person. It was way too big. It was crazy. Way too crazy.

“Let us... have... a drink...” Haruhiro gritted his teeth and shook his head.

Don’t give in. You can’t. Lives are at stake here, seriously. “Water! Water please! Please, water! Give us water! Come on, we need water, okay?!

Doesn’t everyone?! Water...!”

The guard moved its left hand. In that instant, Haruhiro braced himself for death. But it wasn’t its right hand which held the hammer that it had moved. It extended its left hand to Haruhiro. It was like it was asking for something.

“Mo—!” Ranta shouted. “Money, Haruhiro! Money! Pay up! Hurry!”

Oh, shut up, stupid Ranta, I can figure that out without you telling me. Haruhiro hurriedly pulled out a number of silver coins. He was so terrified that he thought his heart might give out, but he moved up closer to the guard, laying the silver coins in its hand. The guard brought its left hand up to its face, scrutinizing the silver coins in the palm of its hand. Then, immediately

—it dropped them right there.

Haruhiro nearly fainted.

This time, I’m finished for sure, he thought. I goofed. I done goofed. I goofed bad.

“The black one...!” Shihoru shouted, and Haruhiro was a little proud of himself for immediately understanding what she meant. Though Shihoru was the greatest just for coming up with the idea.

“H-H-H-Here!” Haruhiro pulled out the black coin that the corpse with the tail had carried and showed it to the guard. “There, will that do?! Well?! Is this good?!”

The guard extended its left hand again. With quivering hands, Haruhiro placed the black coin there.

When the guard gripped the black coin, it gestured at him with his chin, saying something that sounded like, “Ua, goh.”

What does that mean? Ua, goh? Uagoh...? Upper jaw?

Is that wrong? It’s wrong—I think...?

“Yahoo!” Ranta rushed over to the well and lowered the pail. “Water, water!”

“No, buddy...” Haruhiro felt the blood drain from his face as he looked to

the guard.

He’s... not mad? It’s cool? We can use the well, then...? Apparently, yes.

The moment Haruhiro thought that, relief and joy burst forth from inside him, and the next thing he knew, he was gulping down water directly from the bucket.

“Water is gooooooooooooooooooood...” he groaned.

No doubt about it. This was the best water he’d ever had. To think that water could taste this great. What bliss. It made him glad he was born. Glad to be alive.

They each took turns drinking from the pail, and they had each taken three or four turns by now, but no one had said they’d had enough. They could drink as much as they wanted.

Well, there might be an actual limit, so first Shihoru, then Merry, Haruhiro, Kuzaku, Yume, and Ranta stopped drinking in that order.

Ranta collapsed to the ground, rolling onto his back. “I-It hurts. I drank too much...”

“Ohh,” Yume crouched down, rubbing her belly. “Yume’s never been full of water before. Her belly’s all bloaty...”

“You got full. On water.” Kuzaku held a hand to his mouth.

Come to think of it, Ranta and Kuzaku had both raised their visors. Their faces were visible. Was that okay? The guard wasn’t saying anything, so it apparently wasn’t a problem, but it made Haruhiro uneasy.

“Maybe, if we have that money...” Shihoru glanced towards the grocery store.

“You mean that’s the currency in this place?” Merry was rubbing Yume’s back.

Haruhiro looked from the smithy to the clothing and bag store to the mask store to the grocery store to the general store. If that was true, and they could just figure out how to get more of those coins, they could survive for the time being, at least.

3.    The Forbidden Bath

When the six of them pooled all the money they had on them, they had 1 gold, 87 silver, and 64 copper. When it came to other possessions, all they had were their personal effects.

They went around showing these to the proprietors of the clothing and bag store, the mask store, and the grocery store, but those people showed no interest and ignored them.

The blacksmith was in the middle of a job, so they didn’t want to disturb it, or more like they were afraid it’d kill them if they did.

They thought the proprietor of the general store was probably inside, so they knocked on the door. They knocked three times and got no response, so they gave up.

It seemed like it would be difficult to acquire more of the black coins inside the settlement. That would be making it too easy. The stomachs they had tricked into thinking they were full with water were already back to grumbling, and they felt a sense of crisis. Even if it was just one or two, they would have to find more of the black coins outside.

Haruhiro clutched his empty stomach as they left the village. Their objective, it went without saying, was to find black coins. They discussed their plan.

It was dangerous, or rather they didn’t know whether it was dangerous or not, so they wouldn’t go too far afield. While making a mental map of the area with the village at its center, they expanded their range of operations little by little.

First they crossed the bridge and tried going straight. They ran into a forest after going about one hundred meters. They found it was dense with tall, whitish, twisted plants that were probably trees. Making their way

through it didn’t seem like it was going to be easy. They couldn’t keep going. They turned back, traveling around the moat and descending the low cliff.

The riverbed was mostly sand. It was strangely warm.

Haruhiro and the others went up to the riverside. The river looked deep, and its current swift.

Haruhiro hesitantly dipped his hand into the pure black water. He opened his eyes wide with surprise. “...It’s lukewarm. This river.”

“Seriously?” Ranta took off his shoes and socks, stepping into the river barefoot. “Whoa! You were serious! It’s not warm, but it’s lukewarm! We could use this in place of a bath!”

“A bath...” Shihoru mumbled absently. “I want to take... a bath...” “That’s right...” Merry looked up into the sky and sighed. “A bath...” Yume let out a silly laugh. “Bathin’ would probably feel real good, huh.” “Yeah...” Kuzaku nodded. “Everyone smells pretty awful. Myself

included, I’m sure.”

“Let’s go in!” Ranta gave them a thumbs up. “Everyone together! I mean, where’s the harm, just this one time? Nothing like getting naked together to build camaraderie, they say! I mean, it’s super dark! No one’s gonna see much! Gehehehehehehehe!”

“That’s never gonna fly, and you know it.” Haruhiro felt a strong urge to clobber Ranta, but he didn’t want to needlessly waste stamina. “Sorry, but let’s save it for later. We need to find some black coins and get something to eat. The bath can come after that. We’ll check that it’s safe, and the guys and girls will take turns bathing separately.”

“Screw you, Haruhiro! I’m against it! Against, against, against!

Agaiiiiinst!” Ranta made a whole lot of noise, but the rest of their comrades agreed with Haruhiro.

“—Whuh?” Yume, who had still been splashing in the water along the riverbank, reluctant to leave, picked something up. “Oh? What’s this? It was buried in the... sand? It’s round and—”

Haruhiro took it from Yume. “...It’s a black coin.”

“There could be more, right?!” Ranta got down on all fours and started to search for black coins with such vigor that it looked like he might take off swimming. “Get searching! All of you! Let me say, though, what’s yours is mine, and what’s mine is, of course, mine, too!”

“Save the sleep talk for when you’re asleep, man.” Even as he grumbled,

Haruhiro began feeling around for black coins.

Everyone was pretty—no, very—serious about it.

Eventually the flame-like light from the distant ridge vanished completely, and the area was locked in perfect darkness. They weren’t far from the village, and they had heard the banging of the blacksmith’s hammer not that long ago, but now that had completely died out.

It was night. How long had they been searching for black coins? Haruhiro wasn’t entirely sure, but regardless, it was night now.

“That was it! We never found another one!” Ranta punched the water.

“I guess it’s just not that easy...” Kuzaku was sitting down in the riverbed. “A-Anyway...” Shihoru squeezed the water out of the hem of her soaked

robe. “We could head back, see if we can buy food with that one coin...” “That’s true.” Yume sounded like she might be crying a bit. “Yume’s

gettin’ mighty hungry, and it’s been makin’ her sad...”

“It might buy more than we think, after all.” Merry tried to console them, which was a little unusual for her.

“Yeah, you’re right...” Ranta hung his head. He didn’t have much energy, and it was hard to blame him for that.

“Let’s do that... I guess...” Haruhiro said languidly, then told himself, No, no, that’s not good enough. A leader couldn’t afford to let his spirits get down like that. “L-Let’s go, guys! It’s chow time!”

However, even climbing the two-meter cliff on their way back proved a difficult task. They made it back to the bridge on unsteady feet, and were shocked by what they found.

Watchtower C, on the other side of the bridge, was for all practical purposes a gate. If they couldn’t pass through that gate, they wouldn’t be able to enter the village. The gate that had been open just a little while earlier was now closed, for some reason.

“Wh... Why?” Haruhiro pressed a fist against his forehead. “Because it’s night?”

“Who cares!” Ranta lowered his visor and started to run across the bridge. “H-Hey!” Haruhiro didn’t even have to stop him.

The lookout on Watchtower C nocked an arrow to its bow. When it drew a bead on him, Ranta did more than just come to a sudden stop. He launched into an incredible jumping kowtow.

“Sorry! Don’t shoot, don’t shoot! I’m begging you, please, don’t shoot

me!”

It worked in his favor, maybe. While the lookout didn’t lower its bow, it also didn’t fire. Ranta backed away with his head still bowed, eventually making it to where Haruhiro and the others were.

“You piece of crap! You balding idiot! I nearly died there, dammit!” “Hey, don’t snap at me...” Haruhiro felt dizzy. He felt so weak from

hunger that it was hard to talk at all. “We’ll have to wait for the gate to open... I guess. Or, since it feels silly to just wait, do you want to go look for black coins? No, that’s not happening... None of us are up for that...”

They didn’t have the willpower left to move. Or the stamina. Haruhiro and the others sat or lay down where they were. Even as they were collapsed there, the feeling of starvation relentlessly assaulted them. However, they could do nothing but sit there and take it. Even if they started nodding off, the intense hunger would wake them back up.

It made them want to lash out at someone. While they were fighting off that urge, their consciousness would grow faint again. That shallow slumber would then be easily broken by aching hunger.

The three girls stuck together, sleeping and then getting back up. Yume rubbed Shihoru’s head. “So hungry...” she mumbled. “Hey,

Shihoru, she’ll only take a little, so can Yume eat you?” “If you don’t mind me eating you, too...”

“Ohhhhh,” Yume moaned. “If it means she can have some Shihoru, maybe Yume doesn’t mind bein’ eaten...”

“You want to try eating each other...?” Shihoru mumbled. “That sounds good... Shihoru, you’re lookin’ tasty, after all...” “Um, do you mind if I eat, too...?” Merry ventured.

“If you do, then let us eat you, too, Merry,” Yume said.

“Sure... Eat me... If it lets me eat, I’ll do anything at this point...” “—Hah.” Ranta rolled into a ball like some sort of dead maggot. “What’re

you damn women talking about? Dammit... I’m jealous... Seriously, seriously...”

Kuzaku was lying on his back with his arms and legs spread out, chanting something. “She shells sea shells by the she shore... Peter Piper picked a pick of pippled peppers... How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck wood chuck wood...”

“Well, I guess we’re not at our limit yet...” Haruhiro smiled weakly.

“We’re not at our limit, or what’s a limit, a limit... libit... ribbit... heheh...”

In this world of endless darkness, it was hard to believe the morning would come again, but eventually it did.

Even before the light peeked out from behind the ridge, there came an ominous bellowing, and the lookout of Watchtower C opened the gate from the inside. Immediately afterwards, the distant ridge lit up.

Haruhiro and the others all leapt to their feet, rushing to be the first across the bridge. The blacksmith hadn’t gone to work yet, but the pot in the grocery store was already steaming. Haruhiro offered the black coin to the giant crab proprietor that was stirring the pot with a ladle. The giant crab looked back and forth from the coin to Haruhiro and the others with the eyes that stuck out from behind its mask.

“Give us something to eat!” Haruhiro immediately began pleading. “We’re starving to death! We’ll take anything, seriously, anything, so long as it’s edible!”

The giant crab took out six bowls made of wood or something, and scooped the contents of the pot, stew, or something like it, into them.

Haruhiro and the others all said their thanks and then took their bowls. It would have been nice to have some spoons, but they didn’t need them.

Haruhiro took a sip of the thick, hot, blackish stew. He didn’t quite understand the taste. But, it was so good he could die. When he looked around, everyone else was hungrily wolfing down their stew.

We’re so happy, Haruhiro thought from the bottom of his heart. We’re happy. We’re happy, too happy. It’s mind-numbing, like there’s essence of glee leaking out through every pore of our bodies. We’re damn happy.

He had slurped the thick broth down in no time flat. However, he still wasn’t done. There were still the solid ingredients. Haruhiro poked the ingredients at the bottom of his bowl.

“Ick?!” he cried out in surprise.

After all, those ingredients, they clearly looked like centipedes. These are... bugs... aren’t they?

“Gahahah! A man’s food is his castle!” Ranta said something incomprehensible, then boldly tossed those bugs into his mouth and chewed. “—Guwaaeh?! Eughhhh?!”

They were apparently bitter. Ranta spat the bugs out. It was only to be expected, really. They looked pretty disgusting. It was probably best not to eat them. But... It wasn’t enough. Honestly, this was far from enough to fill them up.

Haruhiro looked to the giant crab. When he did, the giant crab offered him some sort of fried meat skewer. Faith began to take root in Haruhiro’s heart.

His god was a giant crab that ran a grocery store.

Even as Haruhiro choked back tears, he took the meat skewer with gratitude, so much gratitude. He chomped into it before even thinking, Is this meat safe? It was cold, hard, and it seemed to be smoked rather than fried, but it wasn’t bad. It was dry and hard to swallow, but it released more and more flavor as he chewed it. This seemed like it would keep him feeling full for a while.

The giant crab gave each of the others one of the smoked meat skewers, too. That meant a black coin was worth at least six bowls of bug soup and six skewers of smoked mystery meat.

With their hunger satisfied, now they wanted water. However, they would likely need another black coin to use the well again. They would have to do without for now, and boil the river water later. While Haruhiro was worrying about it, that idiot Ranta skipped right over to the well, lowered the bucket, pulled up a pail of water, and drank it greedily. The well’s guard didn’t move.

—Huh? That’s okay?

When Ranta was done, Haruhiro hesitantly drank some of the water himself. The well guard really wasn’t going to do anything to him. Because they’d paid the day before? If one black coin was good for six bowls of bug stew and six skewers of smoked meat, maybe one black coin for water for six people had been overpaying. So, that was why it was letting them drink again today... maybe?

Whatever the case, once they all rehydrated themselves, they finally started to feel like themselves again. No, not yet.

“Um, Haruhiro-kun...” Shihoru raised her hand. “I’d like to take a bath now...”

He couldn’t bring himself to say We have bigger concerns.

Well, Haruhiro reasoned, we can probably think about how to get more black coins while we’re getting ready to bathe and while we’re bathing. I’m sure we can. Once we’re feeling properly refreshed, something might come to mind, after all. Yeah. A bath. Let’s take a bath.

Haruhiro and the party left the village and took an express trip to the riverbed. Maybe they didn’t need to be in such a rush, but they couldn’t help themselves.

First, they dug a hole near the river. Then, they connected the hole to the river with a channel. Once the hole filled with river water, they closed off the channel. It was decided that the girls would go first, then the guys. While the girls were in the bath, the guys waited somewhere at a distance.

The hole they were using as a tub was a meter and a half across, with a depth of about one meter. The river water only about body temperature, but that was way better than it being cold. They held up a lantern to it, and it wasn’t cloudy, and didn’t smell. Their work went as planned, without interruption, and the lukewarm open-air bath was complete.

“Well, we’ll be off over there,” Haruhiro said to the girls.

Haruhiro, Ranta, and Kuzaku left Yume, Shihoru, and Merry behind as they went about twenty meters away from the open-air bath. Right next to the cliff. Even when the sun rose, or rather the flames rose, this world was still dark. There was no way they could see the girls from here, so this was probably far enough.

Still, it was strange. Ranta was being oddly quiet. No. He had been being quiet.

“Well, time to begin the operation, am I right?” Ranta asked.

“I thought so...” Haruhiro sighed. How was he going to stop this utter sleazeball?

Fortunately, Haruhiro didn’t have to do a thing. That was because Kuzaku suddenly held him down.

“Not gonna let you do that.”

“Ow! Ow, ow! Wait, dammit, Kuzacky! What’re you doing?! Not the joints, man, seriously, go easy on the joints! That hurts, dammit! Let go of me, you big idiot!”

“Nah, you’re pretty strong yourself, Ranta-kun. If I don’t go this far, you’ll get away.”

“You’re breaking my arm! My shoulder! You’ll burst my organs! What’re

you gonna do if I die, huh?! You moron!”

“You won’t die that easily, Ranta-kun. This’s fine.”

“It’s not fine, it’s not fine, it’s not fine. It hurts, it hurts, it hurts. I’m dying, I’m dying, I’m dying. Let go, let go, let go.”

“I can tell you’re making it sound worse than it is, y’know.” “...Dammit, you’re too damn uppity, Kuzacky! Can’t you show your

seniors the proper respect?!”

“I do. I actually have a fair bit of respect for you, as a matter of fact.” “Then let go! Nuuuude! I’m gonna see the girls nude! Boobs! I have a

disease that’ll kill me if I don’t see some naked boobs! Seriously, man, I’m not lying here!”

“...Well, there goes some of that respect,” Kuzaku told him. “That was a little much.”

Ranta isn’t a person deserving of any respect, so I think that’s just fine, thought Haruhiro. Still, Kuzaku sure was quick to act. Is it that? His thing with Merry? Gotta be. He doesn’t want her to be seen. She’s his... what?

Girlfriend? Lover? Same difference. He doesn’t want to let other men see a person he’s in that sort of relationship with naked. That’s how it is. Probably. It’s natural to feel that way.

Even Haruhiro could understand that much.

I’m still a virgin, though, y’know? What about Kuzaku? Do you think they’re already—already doing it...? Like, you know?

Haruhiro sat down on the ground and covered his face with his hands.

What was he even thinking about? It was stupid. What did it even matter? He didn’t have time for this.

That’s right. He really didn’t have time for it.

Black coins. How could they find them? From corpses, and from the riverbed. Methods that relied on chance like that weren’t good. Was there a more certain way? If they had to earn money, could they work? Like, by doing some sort of labor for the residents of that village? Would that be doable? Even without speaking their language? It didn’t seem like it.

Money. Money, huh. The black coins were money. Were they the currency of that village? If they were, there was a cash economy—but, could a system where cash was exchanged for goods be practical for just one tiny village like that? There were maybe fifty of them there at most. Every one of the stores had had a fairly wide selection of goods. Wasn’t that a little too

much for a village of fifty? Did they have other customers? Others like Haruhiro and the party...?

“Eek!” They heard someone’s voice. Not just a voice. A scream.

“Hey!” Ranta knocked Kuzaku off of him.

Kuzaku quickly jumped to his feet. “Merry... san?!”

Haruhiro started running as soon as he was on his feet. “Merry?! Yume?!

Shihoru?!”

“Nu-chah...!”

That was Yume’s battle cry. She was fighting back? Against what? An enemy?

There was a violent splashing. “Wah...!”

Was that Shihoru’s voice? Like, she tried to get away, then fell in the river, or something?

“Hah!”

That was Merry. Merry’s voice. It sounds like she’s fighting.

“W-We’ll do our best not to see anything!” Haruhiro drew his dagger and sap. But, yeah, he did kind of think this wasn’t the time to worry about what they might or might not see.

He raced over as fast as he could. He could make out vague outlines. It looked like Yume and Merry were moving around with their weapons, like he had thought. They were out of the bath. Where was Shihoru? The river? Was that the enemy?

At first, Haruhiro thought it was a lizard or something. Its posture was low, like it was crawling. It was fast. It quickly jumped left and right, dodging Yume and Merry’s attacks. It was about the size of a person.

Before he could think anything, Haruhiro moved. He grappled his enemy from behind. Spider.

It wasn’t a lizard. This thing was all hairy. Whatever. He went to bury his dagger in the side of its neck, but the enemy struggled wildly.

It leapt. Boing, upwards on a diagonal. Up high.

“Whoa...!” Haruhiro cried, instinctively clinging to the enemy.

Oh, crap. The enemy bent backwards in midair. The way things were now, it was going to land on its back. Haruhiro was clinging to that back, which meant—Haruhiro was going to get smashed into the ground, wasn’t

he?

When he tried to get away, the enemy wrapped itself around him. There was an unpleasant noise. The impact hit almost his entire body. He couldn’t breathe. His head was spinning.

The enemy leapt away from Haruhiro. Then it immediately attacked.

Haruhiro got both of his arms up trying to protect his neck and face. He had to at least avoid dying, somehow.

“Gahhh!” Kuzaku jumped out, trying to hit the enemy with his longsword. The enemy leapt straight backwards, then ran.

“There you are!” Ranta ran over, slashing the enemy.

Nice teamwork, thought Haruhiro, but it was questionable if he could really afford to be taking it easy and mentally praising his comrades.

He tried to get up. No good. Even just turning on his side hurt. All over.

I feel like I’m gonna puke. Pathetic. I was careless. I lost my head. Why couldn’t I stay calm? It’s frustrating. How embarrassing. What am I, a newbie? That was a rookie mistake. No excuse for it. It hurts...

Kuzaku and Ranta were chasing the enemy around. Merry and Yume were rushing over to him.

“Haru?!” Merry shouted. “Haru-kun!” Yume cried.

No, that’s great, but it’s really not. I mean, you two are naked, aren’t you? It was too dark to see any details, but he still felt bad about it. Haruhiro closed his eyes, figuring it was the least he could do.

“Where’s... Shihoru...?” he rasped out.

“Meow?! That’s right! Shihoru! Where are you, Shihoru?! You okay?!” “I-I-I’m j-j-just fine...” Shihoru responded, which was enough for

Haruhiro to feel deeply relieved.

But it was still too early to relax, wasn’t it? Like, this wasn’t a situation where they could.

“Haru! I’ll use my magic now!” Merry cried.

“No, you can’t do that... I mean, light magic... gives off light... Before you do that... put some clothes on...”

“Is this really the time to be saying that?!” Merry got mad at him.

I’m sorry. I’m really, really sorry.

“Merry-san, here, clothes!” Kuzaku came back, throwing Merry’s clothes at her.

“I don’t really care!” Merry yelled, but she still threw on what she could quickly. Then she started treating Haruhiro.

“Dammiiiiit!” Ranta shouted. “It got away from us, you idiot!” “Stupid Ranta, don’t come over here!” Yume hollered.

“Oh, shut up! Like I’d go out of my way to see your tiny tits!” “Shihoru’s here, too, y’know!”

“Of course I wanna see hers! I’d love to stare at them, by all means!

Gwehehehehe!”

“Jess, yeen, sark, kart, fram...”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold it, hold it, Shihoru! No magic! That’s the Thunderstorm spell, isn’t it?! If I eat one of those, I’ll be toast!”

Haruhiro kept his eyes squeezed tight.

If I open them, I might see all sorts of stuff, y’know. I mean, Merry’s close. She’s close enough that I can feel part of her body touching me. I won’t look, though. I swear I won’t, okay? I feel so ashamed of myself for everything, I want to cry.

Still, can’t we even take a bath in peace? Man, this is tough...

4.    U Naa

Light magic and dark magic were both usable. However, their effects and duration had been reduced to about one third of what they usually were, and not only did it take more than double the usual magical power to cast them, it seemed that doing so was incredibly exhausting to both the mind and body.

Thanks to that, Protection was so inefficient that it was practically unusable. Even with the healing-type spells, seven castings of Cure, four of Heal, or even one of Sacrament were enough to drain Merry’s magical power completely.

They decided to have Ranta use Demon Call to summon Zodiac-kun as often as possible. Ranta was a terrible dread knight who couldn’t make effective use of his dark magic anyway. Besides, Zodiac-kun was somewhat useful just by being around.

Haruhiro and the party named the village where the well was Well Village and the river with the lukewarm water Lukewarm River. The cardinal directions were unclear, but going on the theory that the Lukewarm River ran north to south, they decided that upstream would be north and downstream would be south. In the daytime, the fire would rise, and the eastern sky where the burning ridge was would grow a little brighter. It didn’t seem like they could cross the Lukewarm River, so for the time being, they would have to search to the west of it.

There was a forest that spread out to the west of Well Village. What about to the south? It seemed there were aggressive enemies in the riverbed, so they decided to climb the cliff and try going south from there.

“We’re... how far do you figure from Well Town?” Kuzaku turned back and looked.

“Like one kilometer?” Yume let out a strange mnngh sound as she thought

about it. “Maybe around that?”

“Tch.” Ranta clicked his tongue and stamped his feet a few times. “Damn, it’s hard to walk like this. It’s so squishy! What the hell is with this stuff?! Is it trying to harass me?!”

“Ehehe... Ranta... Your very existence is a form of harassment... Ehe...

Eehehehe...”

“Hey, Zodiac-kun, what was that supposed to mean, huh?!”

“B-But, this might be kind of exhausting...” Shihoru was using her staff to support herself as she walked.

“You okay?” Merry asked. “Shihoru, if you need to, you can hold onto me for support.”

“Thanks, Merry... But then if I tripped, I’d take you down with me...”

“If it happens, it happens.” Merry looked like she was smiling, just a little. Haruhiro smiled slightly, too.

No, a worthless leader who’s just screwed up has no right to smile. Still, it looks like Merry, Shihoru, and Yume are getting along great now. I couldn’t be happier for them.

Merry was a bit contrary when we first met, but I hear she was a cheerful person with a likable personality before. Blessed with good looks, takes her work as a priest seriously, has a good personality—what kind of perfect superwoman is she? As a comrade, and as a friend, I couldn’t ask for more. She’s pretty much ideal. As a leader, I’m happy. Though, having a girlfriend like that, I’m sure Kuzaku must be even happier...

“The area south of Well Village is a swamp, huh.” Haruhiro stifled a sigh that nearly escaped, squinting. “Looks like it goes on like this for a while...”

“It’s tough to walk in, sure, but it’s not all bad, y’know?” Yume said. “The surface here, it makes sounds. It goes squick, squick. So, if somethin’s comin’, you’ll know right away, huh?”

“Dammit, Yume,” Ranta complained. “Even with those tiny tits of yours, there you go, saying something that sounds useful!”

“Stop callin’ them tiny all the time!” Yume screamed.

There is something to what Yume said, thought Haruhiro. It’s true, it’s easy to stay alert here. For now, I want to expand our range, so let’s try going a bit further.

With that decided, they went another three hundred meters or so, but at that point the ground wasn’t just muddy, there were puddles and it felt like

their feet were going to get stuck. The water was maybe about five centimeters deep at most, but there were soft spots and hard spots in the bottom, which made it worse. Actually...

“Hey, isn’t there something buried here?” Haruhiro asked.

“Treasure, huh!” Ranta immediately crouched down and thrust his hands into the mud. “...Oh? There is. There’s something. This is—”

“Should we shine a light on it?” Yume asked, to which Haruhiro nodded. “Oof.” Yume pulled out a lantern and lit it.

“Here.” Ranta brought what he had pulled out up to Yume’s lantern. It was a whitish, rod-shaped object.

Haruhiro immediately clued in. It was pretty clear what it was. “A bone...?”

“There’re a whole bunch of them,” Ranta said. “Do you think the whole place could be littered with corpses?”

Zodiac-kun cackled. “Uhe... Ranta... You’ll turn to bones here, too...

Uhehe... Uhehehehe...”

“Don’t say ominous stuff like that! Dammit, Zodiac-kun!”

“Let’s look.” Haruhiro made up his mind and nodded. “Well, I’m not that keen on it, but it might not just be bones—we might find their stuff, too.

There could be black coins. Right now, we need those badly.”

There were no objections. Unlike with the water in the Lukewarm River, the water in the puddles here was chilly. When they were crouching in it, it could be downright cold. It wasn’t easy work, but compared to starvation and dehydration, it was nothing.

Eventually...

“Ah...!” Shihoru gulped as she lifted something up. “A black coin!” “Oh, ho!” Ranta slapped Shihoru on the back. “Nice! Well done,

Shihoru!”

“...Don’t take advantage of the situation to touch me.”

“No way?! You’re snapping at me now?! Seriously?! It’s not the time for that, is it?! Aren’t you happy?!”

“Kehehe... Ranta... Your existence ruins everything... Kehehehehe...”

“If my very existence is the problem, there’s no room for fixing that, you know?! Just saying!” Ranta yelled.

The discoveries continued after that. There was more than just black coins. They found two short, unrusted swords, one longsword, one metallic,

mask-like thing, as well as four black coins.

“Hmm...” Ranta scrutinized the longsword before handing it to Kuzaku. “You hold onto this one, Kuzacky. It looks pretty good, and we can probably use it with some sharpening, but it’s too plain for me. A bit too long, too.

Besides, my Lightning Sword Dolphin’s numbing effect hasn’t run out yet.” “...Thanks.”

“The two short swords go to Haruhiro,” Ranta went on.

“Kehe... Ranta’s acting all important... Die, you blowhard... Kehehe...” “Hey, Zodiac-kun?! Could you stop dissing me all the time, like it’s the

natural thing to do?!”

“Hmm,” Haruhiro said, examining the short swords. “Nah, I think one’s enough for me. How about you take the other one, Yume? The slightly bigger one is about the size of your machete.”

“Meow. Now that you mention it, it is, huh? Well then, maybe Yume’ll take it.”

“How about the mask?” Merry tried putting it on. “—Oh. A perfect fit.”

It was made to look like some sort of creature. Not a human. It didn’t look like any creature Haruhiro knew, but if he was pushed to name one... an ape, maybe? It looked kind of silly, with a funny-looking shape to it.

“I-It suits you... really,” Shihoru said, struggling to keep her voice level. “Bwah!” Ranta burst out laughing and pointed at Merry. “It does, it does!

It’s the best! A masterpiece! That one goes to Merry! Decided!”

“I-I don’t want it!” Merry took the mask off, trying to hand it to someone else, but everyone cruelly refused to take it from her. “I really don’t want it, okay?! I was just trying it on!”

Haruhiro, for some reason, he wasn’t sure why, looked to Kuzaku.

No, the why is obvious. It’s like, Kuzaku, man, aren’t you going to help her? How can I not think that? When something like this is happening, really. After all, the two of them were, well... You know?

Kuzaku was the first to break eye contact, looking down. It looked like he felt awkward.

Why? Ohh. I see. They haven’t told the rest of their comrades about their relationship. Because they’re hiding it? That’s why, even at times like this, it makes it hard for him to be obvious about standing up for her.

It’s fine. No need to hide it. Why not just open up about it already? This is kind of a pain. If you’d just do that, I’d feel a lot better about it, too.

But then, now’s not really the time to announce it. If they suddenly went, “Hey, guys, guess what,” no one would know how to react.

Even as Haruhiro thought about that, Yume offered to take the mask from Merry.

“In that case, maybe Yume’ll take it? It’d be easier havin’ a mask when we go back to Well Village. This one’s not cute, but maybe when she gets used to it, she’ll start thinkin’ it’s cute.”

“Um... about these black coins...” Shihoru picked up one of the four black coins resting in the palm of her hand and showed it to the rest of the group. “There’s a slight difference in their sizes. This one is big, but the other three are much smaller. The stuff written on them? It looks like the letters are slightly different...”

“Whoo.” Yume held the lantern up closer. “You’re right. It’s that much bigger, huh.”

Haruhiro compared the one Shihoru was holding up to the three on her palm. “You think the valuation is different? Like how silver and copper are? But the material’s the same here. What were the first two we found like?

Hmm, I don’t remember...”

“Come on, you should at least remember that much.” Ranta snorted. “Well, not like I do, though!”

“Kehehe... Because your head’s empty... Kehe... Kehehe... You’ll be embraced by Skullhell soon...” Zodiac-kun suddenly lowered its voice. “It won’t be long now... Kehehehehe...”

“Hey, Haruhiro.” Ranta gestured with his chin.

“...Yeah.” Haruhiro bent his knee, lowering his center of gravity. “I know.”

Were all dread knights’ demons like this? Haruhiro, being a thief, didn’t really know, but Zodiac-kun was really capricious. So they couldn’t really rely on the thing. It was only useful because, when danger was approaching, it would warn them subtly—sometimes.

Haruhiro didn’t have to give the orders—his comrades were already on alert. He hesitated for a moment. Should he have Yume put out the lantern? No, if she put it out now, they’d barely be able to see anything until their eyes adjusted to the darkness. That would be bad.

He listened carefully. He heard it. A noise. It was a splashing sound. From the west. Splash. Splash. It was getting louder. Something was walking

through the water.

It was closing in.

Haruhiro looked to Kuzaku, pointing to the west. Kuzaku nodded, then lowered the visor of his helm, turning to face towards the west.

It happened immediately after that.

The thing started running. Yume turned the lantern in its direction. They saw it. A black beast. Huge. Shining, yellow eyes—four of them.

Was it a dog? A wolf? No, it was nothing like that. It was big enough to be a tiger or lion. Maybe bigger.

It came charging towards them. Kuzaku tried to stop its charge with his shield, but it was no use. He was sent flying.

“Gwah...!”

“Isn’t this kind of bad?!” Ranta took a swing with his Lightning Sword Dolphin. The beast didn’t dodge. Incredibly, it deflected it with its forehead.

For that instant, at least, it did seem to get zapped, but it more or less shrugged it off.

Ranta leapt backwards. “Damn it’s hard! How hardheaded is that thing?!” “Ohm, rel, ect, del, brem, darsh.” Shihoru wrapped herself in an Armor

Shadow. It would nullify all attacks, or failing that, blunt them at least a little. It was the sort of cool-headed decision they had come to expect from Shihoru.

“Kuzaku?!” Merry screamed, but there was an immediate “’Kay!” followed by the sound of someone getting up in a pool of water. It looked like Kuzaku was all right.

The beast moved its head around languidly, looking at each of the members of the party. Its shoulders were one to two meters off the ground. Its torso was maybe three meters long. It was ridiculously huge, and more than a little intimidating, but it wasn’t ten times their size or anything like that. That said, if it chomped down on one of them, it looked like it could bite through an arm, a leg, or even a neck like it was nothing. Kuzaku was lucky to be all right after being tackled by that thing.

Yume was crouched low and breathing heavily. She had her machete drawn and in her left hand, but she didn’t have her bow at the ready. Her bow and arrows weren’t going to do anything useful against an enemy like this.

They were already in close quarters combat anyway. Honestly, they were too close to it. If they turned to run, the beast would immediately pounce on

them, no doubt. That would be the end of it. It would kill them in an instant.

The beast had yet to let out a cry of any sort. Every time he heard the sound of its tail slapping the water lightly, Haruhiro’s heart jumped. If it let out a roar or howl, he’d probably die of shock.

Scary...

Besides, what was it anyway? Was this the beast’s territory, and it was trying to drive Haruhiro and the others off for invading it? But, in that case, it would have tried to intimidate them first, right? Then were they its prey? Was the beast trying to hunt them? To satisfy its appetite? Was that it...?

He wanted to run away. But the footing here is bad, it’s dark, the creature looks fast, and it’d be pretty hard to run away without taking any casualties. We have to fight it... don’t we?

If it was looking to eat them, they probably only had to hurt it a little. If they made it think, These guys are tough, it would back down.

That’s the sense I get. I want to think it’s true.

“We’re doing this!” Haruhiro tensed himself, declaring that as powerfully as he could. “Don’t bunch together! Surround it while trying not to end up right in front of it!”

When Haruhiro and the party went to move, so did the beast. It was large- bodied, but incredibly light on its feet.

Ranta. The beast pounced at Ranta. “Whoa!”

It looked like Ranta hadn’t let his guard down. Had he tried to dodge it while beguiling the beast with his bizarre footwork? It was probably his dread knight fighting skill, Missing.

On more solid ground, he might have succeeded. Unfortunately, he didn’t quite pull it off. While Ranta got out of the way of the beast, he tripped and plowed into a pool of water.

“Gwah?!”

“Keep trying, Ranta... Kehe... Fwehehe...”

“Ranta-kun!” Kuzaku tried to hit the beast with Punishment. The paladin’s Punishment was similar to a warrior’s Rage Blow, but they tightened their defense with their shield while swinging down with their sword. That difference saved Kuzaku. The beast dodged incredibly quickly, then swung out with its front leg.

A beast punch. It was a hook. Kuzaku blocked it with his shield somehow,

but he wasn’t able to take the impact and was knocked over.

“Jess, yeen, sark, kart, fram, dart!” Shihoru slammed a Thunderstorm spell into the beast. Several thin streaks of lightning caught the beast. The beast let out a groan, its entire body shaking, but it didn’t fall. It shook its head, turning its body towards Shihoru.

“Chuwang!” Yume let out a weird cry as she charged headlong towards the beast.

Merry was trying to thrust at it with her short staff, too.

The beast roared, spinning in place to successfully knock both Yume and Merry away. The two of them landed in the water.

“Dammit, don’t take me lightly! O Darkness, O Lord of Vice!” Ranta was on one knee with the tip of his sword pointed towards the beast. “Blood Venom!”

No good ever came of Ranta using dark magic. Even when something with a bizarre and terrifying aura fired out of Ranta’s body and actually enveloped the beast like it was supposed to, Haruhiro still had nothing but a bad feeling about whatever was happening. For starters, the effectiveness of dark magic was already reduced. Why would anyone go out of their way to use it?

However, for a moment, the beast stumbled. It recovered quickly, but something was clearly wrong with it.

Blood Venom. It was a spell that used Skullhell’s miasma to weaken the target’s body, or that was what Haruhiro remembered it being. Certainly, the beast looked like it was suddenly feeling ill, or something like that.

Thanks to that, he had an opening. He could save praising Ranta for later. Or rather, if he could get away without praising Ranta, he would. Ranta being Ranta, he was guaranteed to act all conceited about it, after all.

If he said he wasn’t scared, it would be a lie. But Haruhiro was confident he would succeed. No matter how fierce it was, their enemy was a four- legged beast.

He leapt at it from behind, clinging onto its back. He stabbed his dagger into its neck. He stabbed with all his might. He stabbed the hell out of it.

Naturally, the beast thrashed around. It twisted around, flailing its front and rear paws about violently as it tried to throw him off. But because of its body structure, neither its front or rear paws could reach its back. Or so Haruhiro thought, but then one of its rear claws sank deep into Haruhiro’s

right thigh and tore it apart. “Gwah?!”

It hurt so much that Haruhiro easily let himself be thrown off. Worse yet, he let go of his dagger which was still stabbed into the beast. On top of that, he fell face first into a pool of water, leaving him unable to see anything. He couldn’t breathe properly, either.

This is kind of bad, isn’t it? Like, maybe I’m gonna die...?

“Jess, yeen, sark, fram, dart!”

If Shihoru hadn’t cast her Lightning spell, Haruhiro might have been the first to fall victim to the beast.

“Nngahh!” That one had definitely hurt the beast. That was what that cry sounded like, and its massive body fell over sideways, kicking up a large amount of muddy water. Haruhiro didn’t see it for himself, but he could hear it perfectly.

The dagger. It was the dagger, huh.

Haruhiro’s dagger had still been jammed into the beast’s neck. That was what Shihoru had aimed her Lightning at.

“Ehe... Now... Ehehehe...” Zodiac-kun spurred them on. “You don’t need to tell us!” Ranta screamed.

“Yeah!” Kuzaku shouted.

Sensing this was their time to strike, Ranta and Kuzaku assaulted the beast. As Haruhiro wiped his face and got up, he thought, We can do this.

The beast was running away. It took off.

That was fast.

Well, the world was harsh for everyone. If it’d stuck around any longer, it would have been too late. It had to be able to make instant decisions, or it would never survive. The beast had completely vanished in no time.

“Anyone injured?” Haruhiro asked, raising his hand. “Other than me.” “As for me,” Kuzaku said, “my back hurts a bit, and that’s about it.” “Yume’s doin’ great.”

“I am, too,” said Shihoru. “Thanks to all of you...” “I’m totally invincible, after all!” Ranta bragged.

“Don’t worry... Kehe... It’ll be sometime tomorrow... You’ll die instantly... Kehehe...”

“Now, listen, Zodiac-kun! It bugs me, so could you not say that like it’s a prophecy?!”

“Haru, let me see.” Merry rushed over and crouched next to him, laying Haruhiro’s left leg over her knee. “This is pretty bad. Don’t be too reckless.”

“...Um, no, I wasn’t planning to be reckless at all. I wasn’t even expecting to get hurt. I just was too optimistic, you could say. Seriously, I’m sorry about this.”

“Were you trying to make up for before?” Merry asked him in a whisper.

That was... honestly, it might have been part of it. When they’d been ambushed in the river bed, Haruhiro had been the only one to be hurt, and he’d had to have Merry heal him. That had been a blunder. This time, he wanted to do something impressive and show off his good side.

Could he say definitively that he hadn’t been trying to do that? Probably he’d had that sort of ulterior motive somewhere in the corner of his mind.

Still, he was the leader. He was a cheap thief, after all. He wasn’t the type that dragged his team along by showing off how capable he was, or the type who displayed a whole lot of leadership, but... once in a while, you know? If he didn’t make them think, Hey, he’s better at this than we thought every once in a while, he’d find it hard to go on.

If Ranta started looking down on him, it’d cause all sorts of trouble, after all. That, and it’d piss him off.

It wasn’t limited to Ranta, though; it went for all of them. He would rather have them respect him than look down on him.

Haruhiro looked away, answering, “Maybe a little” in a quiet voice.

“I respect you, Haru, and I’m grateful to you,” Merry said in a voice even quieter than Haruhiro’s. “Everyone does. Know that much.”

“I know that... I think.”

“Well, that’s fine, then. Let me heal you.” “Right...” Haruhiro closed his eyes.

I don’t want to see Merry up close like this, he thought. I don’t want her being so kind to me. I like it, yeah. But it’s painful, I guess you could say. No, I really am grateful for it, though.

Haruhiro had gotten wounded, he’d had Merry heal him, and he’d lost his favorite dagger. The short sword they’d found while scooping through the mud at the bottom of the pool of water wasn’t going to be usable as it was. It wasn’t like he couldn’t sharpen it himself, but he didn’t have a whetstone. If possible, he wanted a proper smith to do the job.

He decided to call the area with the pools of water where a large number

of remains lay sleeping Corpse Swamp.

It felt like they could still get more black coins and items in Corpse Swamp, but there were dangerous animals like that four-eyed beast living around here. They’d have to be very careful as they went about their work. If they let their guard down, they’d be gobbled right up. They had to think that way.

Regardless, since they had gotten ahold of one large black coin and three small ones, they decided to return to Well Village. Not only was Corpse Swamp already cold, they were all soaked too, so they felt cold all the way down to their bones. They wanted to warm themselves by a campfire or something. They wanted to eat and drink, too.

Haruhiro and the party each hid their faces and they crossed the bridge. Once they were inside Well Village, they felt deeply relieved. Even as they felt that relief, the gloomy atmosphere of the village and the bizarreness of its residents whose language they didn’t speak threatened to overwhelm them.

There were just too many obstacles. Were they going to be able to secure their basic necessities from here on? Could they live here? Could they have any reasonable standard of living? It wasn’t like they wanted to live in this world. They wanted to go home. To Grimgar. Was there a way back? If there wasn’t...

What if we can never go home? What then? What should we do?

“Hey...” Ranta pointed at the blacksmith. “Look. There’s... someone there, yeah?”

The blacksmith with the massive upper body and the blood-like eyes was banging away with its hammer.

There was someone in front of it.

“Someone, yeah, but...” Kuzaku shook his head. “...Well, yeah, it’s someone.”

Was it a customer, perhaps? It could be one of the residents of Well Village, but Haruhiro didn’t recognize it. If he’d seen them even once before, he’d remember.

It was tall. Easily twice Haruhiro’s height. It looked like, well, like a scarecrow. It resembled a scarecrow. If it hadn’t moved with swaying steps, occasionally crouching down, inspecting the blacksmith’s wares—in other words, if it had stayed perfectly still—he might have thought, Oh, what’s a scarecrow doing over there?

Naturally, scarecrows didn’t move, so it wasn’t actually a scarecrow. Besides, it had those long, thin arms. There were hands on the end of its arms, with what looked like ten or more wire-like fingers. It was wearing something like a raincoat over its head. There was something that looked like a mask on its face, too.

“Y’think it’s a customer?” Yume asked quietly.

“A customer...” Shihoru repeated, shuddering. “Is it dragging something behind it?”

“A corpse...?” Merry covered her mouth with her hands.

Haruhiro let out a deep breath. Let’s calm down. All right. Calm down, man. Keep a clear head. It’s okay.

Well Village was a safe zone—or it was supposed to be, right? He thought so. Even if they met a dangerous-looking creature here, if they just acted like, Oh, hello there, or just ignored it, nothing would happen... probably? Or was Haruhiro just assuming that to be true? Could he be completely wrong? For starters, what basis did he have to think that? It felt like there might be none...

The corpse. Like Merry said, it was probably a corpse. Scarecrow-san (a temporary name) was dragging what could only the corpse of a humanoid creature behind it. Also, looking closer, wasn’t that the cadaver of a beast slung over its right shoulder, too?

Scarecrow-san abruptly picked up a massive sword and turned to face the blacksmith, saying, “U naa?”

No, had it really said “u naa”? It was a throaty voice, difficult to hear properly, so he wasn’t confident, but that was what it sounded like to Haruhiro.

The blacksmith stopped pounding, held up three fingers on its left hand, then held up eight. “Son zaa.”

Yes. The blacksmith didn’t have five fingers on each hand, it had eight. “Ouun daa,” Scarecrow-san said, shaking its head.

“Bowna dee,” the blacksmith responded.

“Giha,” Scarecrow-san put the massive sword back where it had gotten it from.

“Zeh naa.”

The blacksmith looked dissatisfied, waving its left hand, then returned to swinging its hammer. Scarecrow-san had tried to buy that sword, but they hadn’t been able to come to an agreement on price or something. Scarecrow-

san left the blacksmith, now heading to grocery store.

“U naa?” Yume said, tilting her head to the side questioningly. She was currently wearing the ape-like mask. “Does that mean ‘How much’ or somethin’ like that?”

“Hey, don’t say what I was gonna say, not when you have such tiny tits!” Ranta yelled.

“Don’t call them tiny, stupid Ranta!”

“If it does mean that...” Shihoru nodded slightly, “...it could make shopping easier...”

“U naa.” Merry repeated it to herself a few times. “It’s worth trying, I think.”

“That sounds good,” Kuzaku said.

Haruhiro silently agreed. It was good. Merry’s “U naa.” It was kind of cute. Yeah. But, I mean, so what? Or rather, I want to stop being so weirdly conscious of everything Merry does. I can’t let it continue. It’s not good for me to be thinking like this.

It looked like Scarecrow-san had bought itself a bowl of bug stew. It brought its mouth to the bowl, gulping it down. It polished it all off in one go, crunching the bugs with gusto.

“Did it start when we lost that person?” Haruhiro said aloud. “Was that when I became afraid to try all sorts of things?”

5.    Difficulties Everywhere

“U naa?” = “How much?”

“Faa noo” = “Hello” / “Zee naa” = “Goodbye.”

A=1 Muu=2 Son=3 Jo=4 Do=5 Kua=6 Shi=7 Zaa=8 Zama=9 Zamu=10 Zan=11 Zaji=12

Yume and Ranta had tried saying various things to the blacksmith and the giant crab grocer, and they were relatively certain about all of those things.

The numbers were a bit complicated. Haruhiro and the others were used to base-10 math, probably because, as humans, they had ten fingers. The residents of Well Village, however, had varying numbers of fingers. So those with eight fingers used base-8, and those who had a total of twelve fingers between their two hands used base-12. That was how it seemed to work. If they pointed at their fingers and asked “U naa?” the shopkeeper would hold up a number of fingers to show them the price. However, if they didn’t know how many fingers the shopkeeper had, it could lead to misunderstandings.

There were three sizes of black coin. The ones Haruhiro and the others had thought were bigger were the medium-sized ones, and the small ones were just slightly smaller than them. The grocer had been kind enough to let them see one the big coins. It was noticeably bigger than the medium-sized coins, thick, and had silver-colored lines running through it.

The big coins were called rou, medium-sized coins were called ruma, and the small coins were called wen. It seemed that rou were fairly valuable, so most trading was done in ruma and wen. So, how many wen were there to a ruma? This was also troublesome, as there didn’t seem to be any set value.

Now, as for how that worked, with the blacksmith and grocer, 8 wen was equal to 1 ruma. However, at the clothing and bag shop, 12 wen was equal to

1 ruma, and at the mask shop, 5 wen was equal to 1 ruma. It varied from store to store, or rather person to person.

That being the case, when the blacksmith said, “Son zaa,” which was three followed by eight, held up three fingers, then held up eight fingers, that meant three times eight, which was 24 wen, or 3 ruma.

If the clothing and bag seller said “Jo zaji,” which was four followed by twelve, held up four fingers, then all twelve of its fingers on both hands, that meant four times twelve, which was 48 wen or 4 ruma.

It was a bizarre situation where the difference between 3 ruma at once place and 4 ruma at the other was almost double the amount in wen. But, this was apparently a completely normal state of affairs in Well Village.

The coin they had found on the body and the one they had found in the riverbed were both medium-sized coins. The giant crab grocer was rather loose about prices, and if they paid it 1 ruma, it would let the six of them eat until they were full. As for well water, after the 1 ruma they’d paid the first time, they hadn’t been asked to pay again. It was probably not a per-use fee, but a one-time payment for the right to have access to the well.

Uh huh, yeah, that’s not plausible at all. There are humans who use base- 27 on Earth right now. There have been humans who’ve used base 60 in history, and a whole lot of others. It’s far more plausible that they will have decided on a common mathematical base for the sake of communication, and it won’t have been based necessarily on fingers.

They worked up their courage to ask the blacksmith what it would cost to have a short sword sharpened. It indicated a price of 3 wen. Ranta did everything he could to try to haggle that price down, but it was no good.

Having no other choice, they ignored Ranta’s vehement protesting and paid 3 wen to get it done.

At this point, the sum total of the party’s fortune was 1 ruma. It was just enough to get everyone fed. They negotiated with the crab grocer, asking for as much of anything but insect stew that they could get, and then ate until they were full.

The blacksmith finished sharpening the short sword in the meantime. It was excellent work, but night had come and the gate was now closed. With the gate shut, they weren’t getting back outside short of breaking it down.

They didn’t feel like just finding a random place to lie down and sleep, so they decided to take a walk around Well Village. Incidentally, Scarecrow-san

hadn’t left the village yet and was lying down near Watchtower A.

In addition to the blacksmith, clothing and bag shop, mask shop, grocery store, and general store that faced onto the central plaza, the village had another nine buildings. They could see the largest of them on the other side of the plaza. It was made of piled stones, and incredibly it had glass windows, even if they were a little cloudy. There was light leaking out through the windows, so it seemed like someone lived there, but they didn’t feel like trying to drop in for a visit.

As for the rest, to the left of the plaza, the north, there were four buildings. And to the opposite side of it, the south, there were also four buildings. These were all shacks made of wood or mud, with straw thatched or wooden shingle roofs. If they had the materials, the party could probably imitate them and build a simple shack like one of these.

They passed a number of residents. Some were humanoids and some were non-humanoids, but all of them hid their faces. The party tried greeting them with a “Faa noo,” to see what would happen, but they were ignored.

There was a wharf set up on the riverbed inside the moat. However, it was badly aged, and rotting in places. There was no sign of any boats.

Maybe they could bathe safely if they used the riverbed inside Well Village. It was an idea that came to mind, but they weren’t sure they’d be allowed to just start digging. Haruhiro and the others were newcomers and outsiders, after all. They didn’t want to do anything stupid and offend the residents. If they were going to try it, they agreed it should be after they had a better sense of the situation.

They decided to camp out in an empty lot where there were no buildings so as not to disturb any of the residents. It was cold, but if they wrapped themselves in their cloaks, they could still manage to get to sleep.

The girls huddled close together to share warmth. Honestly, the guys were jealous, but there was no way they were going to snuggle like that. It was better to tough it out. For as long as they were able to keep thinking that way, they’d somehow manage to do it.

It wasn’t long before Ranta started snoring loudly. The girls were whispering among themselves, too. Looking at the way Kuzaku was tossing and turning, he couldn’t sleep either. Well, of course he couldn’t. Ranta was the weird one here.

Haruhiro came close to striking up a conversation with Kuzaku several

times, but every time, he stopped short. Eventually the girls grew quiet, and Kuzaku stopped tossing and turning.

I should sleep, I’m gonna sleep, come on, sleep. Haruhiro tried to will himself to sleep, but the more he did, the less sleepy he felt. He could only think about all sorts of meaningless nonsense, and lie there discouraged by the utter hopelessness of their situation.

This is no good, he thought. I need to make choices. There are things I can think about, and things I can’t. Review what we did today. Take note of what I’ve learned. Then, tomorrow. Just think about what we’ll do tomorrow. Until tomorrow comes. It’s better to just forget everything beyond then. I mean, even if I think about it, I have no idea what’s gonna happen. No, I guess I do know some of it. We’re all going to die some day. That’s the one certainty. Yep, we sure are gonna die. No matter what. Well, doesn’t that make it all kind of meaningless? Sooner or later, I’ll die. My comrades will die. I wonder how. Will it hurt? Will it be scary?

Manato. Moguzo. What was it like when you guys died? Did you think, “No, I don’t want to die,” or something like that, maybe? Will I be able to die at least reasonably satisfied? If I were to die right now, I know I’d have regrets. I don’t want to die yet. I don’t want to see any more dead faces. It’s best not to think about this stuff. It’s too horrifying. What did we do yesterday and today? What will we be doing tomorrow? If I focus on just that, eventually the time will go by, and...

“Boweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh!”

“Whuh...?!” Haruhiro jumped to his feet and looked around. It looked like his comrades had woken up, too.

Yume rubbed her eyes. “That’s gonna give someone a heart attack,” she said.

“Was it a rooster... you think?” Shihoru was holding her chest. “That surprised me...” Merry whispered.

“Nngh...!” Ranta stretched. “Well, that’s a refreshing sound to wake up to!”

“How?” Kuzaku grumbled.

You can say that again, thought Haruhiro.

Looking around, they saw that up on top of the bar that the well bucket hung from, there was a brown-ish chicken-like creature—but it probably wasn’t a chicken. It was awfully big for that, after all.

“Boweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh!”

The ominous bellowing was apparently coming from that creature. What a terrible way to wake up.

“My whole body aches...” Kuzaku rolled his shoulders and hit himself on his lower back.

“Well, let’s give it our all again today.” Haruhiro tried to encourage them out of a sense of duty, but his voice sounded incredibly weak.

“We’re still going without breakfast, though!” Ranta said, then let out a cackling laugh.

“That’s fine,” Yume said, puffing her cheeks up under her mask. “Just think of it as goin’ on a diet.”

“If you lose any more of the boobflesh of those tiny tits of yours, what’re you gonna do?” Ranta asked.

“Yume’s boobs haven’t changed that much!” “Well, let me touch ’em then! I’ll check for you!”

“Being a little too direct there, aren’t you?” Kuzaku looked creeped out. “With your demands, and your desires...”

“I’m starving here!” Ranta yelled at Kuzaku. “I’ll take tiny tits, or whatever I can get! I just wanna squeeze something! With all the danger we’re in, my sex drive is running high! Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I wanna procreate!”

“You’re way too dangerous, man...” Haruhiro was getting worried about Ranta.

“If only he’d die...” Shihoru said. She was probably at least half-serious. “Because it’s morning...?” Merry’s response was a mystery. She might

have been half-asleep still.

“Ranta.” Yume backed away while still sitting. “You’re super

unpleasant.”

The way she said it was so serious that even a (crappy) piece of trash like Ranta might have felt a little hurt.

Ranta mimed putting something off to the side in mid-air. “Okay, putting that joke out of the way, let’s move on.”

“You think you can play it off like that?” Shihoru wasn’t having it. “Yeah, I think I can! Do me a favor, and let me!”

“Why should we do you any favors?” Haruhiro sighed. “Anyway, going without breakfast is gonna be tough. We’ll need to earn at least 3 ruma today

so that this doesn’t happen again.”

“Okay, Parupiro, give us a detailed explanation of how we’re gonna earn enough to avoid a repeat of this. I’ll hear you out. You’d better be grateful.”

It wasn’t like Haruhiro had some incredible plan. “Search Corpse Swamp for black coins and other things of value. Remain alert for the four-eyed beast and other such creatures.” That was it.

Ranta cried out, “Booooring!” and was vehemently against it, but the rest of the party was in favor. They left Well Village and headed for Corpse Swamp.

It was good to try and stay on guard, but what, practically, could they do if a four-eyed beast showed up? There could be other, still unknown threats, too. Could they deal with them? There was plenty of reason for concern, but this was the most reliable way they had to earn money at the moment. They had to do it.

That day they found 1 ruma, 5 wen, a rusted sword, and a spear tip.

Fortunately, the four-eyed beast never showed up.

When they returned to Well Village, they brought the blacksmith the sword, the spear tip, and their loot from the day before, Yume’s short sword and Kuzaku’s sword. The blacksmith raised four fingers. That apparently meant it would pay 4 wen for all of them together. Most likely, it was going to use them as scrap metal, so it was probably valuing them at 1 wen apiece, for a total of 4 wen.

They agonized over it for a bit, but the blacksmith wasn’t the type to let them negotiate, and carrying around weapons they weren’t going to use was just extra weight. They sold them off, and with the 4 wen that got them their cash on hand came to a total of 1 ruma and 9 wen. They could feed everyone at the grocery store for 8 wen or 1 ruma, so they had more than enough for two meals. They could eat before going to sleep, then again when they woke up in the morning!

It felt good going out to work on a full stomach. Hunger always put them on edge.

Let’s make more today than we did yesterday, Haruhiro thought. Our target’s 3 ruma.

The four-eyed beast was scary, but he didn’t sense it anywhere nearby.

Yume, Merry, and Haruhiro found 1 medium sized coin, 2 small coins, and two swords in quick succession. Things were going smoothly.

“Hm?” Ranta pulled some long thing up out of the pool of water. “What’s this?”

“Myeeeek!” Yume jumped backwards. “It’s slitherin’ around!”

“Ohh?! Y-You’re right! It’s moving, huh?!” Ranta went to throw it away. However, the thing wrapped itself around Ranta’s right arm and wouldn’t let go. “Wh-Wh-Wh-What?! I-I-I-Is it a snake?!”

“Ah...” Kuzaku looked down. “Th-There’s one on my leg, too...” When they looked over, there was indeed a long thing coiling around

Kuzaku’s left leg.

A snake? Was that what it was? Was it dangerous? Poisonous? How would they know?

“D-Don’t move, Kuzaku,” Haruhiro stammered. “No, maybe you should move...?”

“Which is it?”

“Gwahhhhhhhhhhhh!” Ranta desperately tried to shake the snake-like thing off of him, but he couldn’t manage it. “What the hell, what the hell, what the hell is this thing?! It’s scary, scary, scary!”

“Ah...!” Shihoru froze solid. “Th-Th-There... could be l-l-l-l-lots of them... right beneath us...”

“Huh...?” Merry lifted up her short staff as if it was heavy. Why would she do that?

There was one of the snake-like things wrapped around it, too.

“C-C-C-C-Calm down.” Haruhiro took a deep breath. “I-I-It’s not like they’re attacking us. It doesn’t look like they’re gonna, either. It’s fine. I’m sure. Just saying. P-Probably.”

“Kehe...” Zodiac-kun had been right next to Ranta only moment ago, but was now far away from them for some reason. “To believe without proof... is folly... Kehehe...”

“Zodiac-kun’s trying to bail on me?! That’s a seriously bad sign!” Ranta tried to pull the snake-like thing off of him using his left hand. However, there was no sign he was going to get it off. “Nnnngh! H-H-Help me!

Someone, help me! Save me, you idiots!”

“Noooooooooo!” Merry was swinging her short staff around wildly. Even with all that, the snake-like thing was still holding on tight.

“Uwahhhhhhhhhhhh.” Kuzaku was stumbling.

What, what, what? It wasn’t just his left leg? There was a snake-like thing on his right leg, too? No, there were two, three more of them, crawling up Kuzaku’s legs and trying to ensnare him?

“O-Ohm, rel, ect, del, brem, darsh...” Shihoru cast Armor Shadow to wrap a shadow elemental around herself. It might have been the calm and rational thing to do. However, to be honest, Haruhiro wasn’t entirely okay with her doing it.

“H-Haru-kun?!” Yume looked hurriedly to Haruhiro.

No, don’t ask me was a thing he couldn’t say. Haruhiro was the leader, after all.

Right. I’m the leader. But, leader or not, there are things I can’t do, and things I don’t know, you know? Still, if I don’t do something, it’s blatantly obvious that things are going to get bad, yeah?

“L-Let’s get out of the water!” Haruhiro called. “That’s the first thing! I- It’d be kind of awkward trying to deal with them here!”

Yume and Shihoru took off running. Ranta and Merry followed suit, one waving his arm and the other her staff around as they did. Haruhiro pulled Kuzaku by the arm as he ran.

While they were going, Ranta screamed out. It sounded like he’d been bitten somewhere.

“Y-You okay, Ranta?!” Haruhiro shouted.

“You moron! There’s no way I’m okay! Go die! Dammit, it hurts!”

He’s screaming, and he’s still moving, so he looks pretty okay, thought Haruhiro.

In a spot of good luck, once they got out of Corpse Swamp, the snake-like things naturally backed off. They were only relieved for a moment, though, because Ranta collapsed and started convulsing.

“Gweh... guhguhguhguhguhguhguhguhguh, oughhhhhhhh, gurbbbbbbbb...”

“Ranta?!” Yume pulled Ranta’s helmet off. “Yikes?!”

Even at a glance, it was clearly bad. Ranta was foaming at the mouth.

Poison. The snake-like things must have been poisonous.

Merry immediately cast Purify to eliminate the poison, but Ranta was still lying there limply.

“Urgh... I can’t believe myself. I nearly got killed there. Damn it all...” “Ehehe... Why didn’t you... just get embraced by Skullhell... Ehe...

Ehehe...”

“C’mon, Zodiac-kun, if you bully him at a time like this, then bam!

You’re gonna get a smackin’!” Yume was being unusually nice to Ranta.

Actually, Haruhiro wasn’t sure when or how it happened, but Yume was letting him rest his head in her lap. That was so incredibly unusual, he doubted his eyes.

“Hold on... Is the poison even gone? I feel like I’m gonna die... Sorry,

Yume... Let me rest like this a little longer...” Ranta moaned. “Huh? Well, sure, Yume doesn’t mind.”

“For another hour...” “Isn’t that a little long?”

“Fine, just thirty minutes then...” “Meow...”

“Geh heh... You fell for it... Ranta tricked you... Geh heh heh...” “Huh? Did he?”

“I-I did not!” Ranta shouted. “What’re you talking about, Zodiac-kun? I- I’m seriously, seriously feeling awful! L-Like, I’ve got nausea, a headache, and a stomachache, okay? I’m not making this stuff up!”

“That’s soundin’ super fake! You’re actin’ pretty energetic, too!” Yume cried.

Of course, Ranta was forcefully evicted from Yume’s lap. That didn’t matter, but still, they were in a bind now. Their reliable, guaranteed method for acquiring black coins in the Corpse Swamp came with not just the threat of the four-eyed beast, but a second threat now: those snake-like things, the poisonous swamp snakes. It could hardly be called a reliable method anymore.

“So? What’re you gonna do now, Parupiro?”

When Ranta asked him that in a grumpy tone, Haruhiro nearly snapped.

What do you mean, “What am I gonna do?” You’re pushing this off on me? At least ask, “What are we gonna do?” We’ve got to start by talking it over first, obviously!

While Haruhiro was thoroughly chewing Ranta out in his head, it helped calm him down. Even if he snapped at that (scummy) (crappy) (stupid) piece of trash and made it clear he was wrong, the guy was trash, so it wasn’t like he was going to have a change of heart. If Haruhiro snapped at him, it would only tire him out. It was a waste of perfectly good anger.

“Maybe we could try going into the forest...” Haruhiro began.

When he proposed the idea, the rest of them accepted it with surprising ease.

Is that okay? he wondered. Isn’t everyone else not thinking enough about all this? He couldn’t help but feel that way, but maybe it was just that they couldn’t find the energy to. The truth was, Haruhiro felt the same way sometimes. It was a bad trend. That said, he couldn’t just do nothing. If they

didn’t do something, anything, they couldn’t keep living.

For now, they decided to go into the forest somewhere close to Well Village’s bridge. It was harder than they expected. The twisted, whitish trees grew so densely that even finding a gap big enough for a single person to pass through was hard. Were they going to have to cut them down as they went?

Kuzaku said something hopeful. “If it’s like this, there’re probably no large beasts, or anything like that.”

Shihoru pointed out something unpleasant. “There could be snakes or something like them, though...”

“Shihoru—” Haruhiro started to say, then shook his head. “Huh? What is it?”

“N-No, nothing. You’re right... There could be snakes, huh... Poisonous ones...”

“H-How about we turn back?” Ranta was scared.

Serves you right, thought Haruhiro. But he wasn’t any more keen about dealing with snakes himself. He wouldn’t want to get bitten like Ranta had.

“Be careful,” Merry cautioned them. “I can only cast Purify as many times as I can cast Heal.”

Yume said, “Hey, hey,” pointing off to the west. “Waaaaay over there, y’see, it’s far off, but there’s somethin’ shinin’ over there, maybe?”

“Shining...” Haruhiro squinted his eyes and looked in that direction. “Hey, you’re right.”

What it was, he couldn’t say for certain, but there was definitely something like a light beyond the trees. Or at least it looked like it.

“Think we can get there?” Kuzaku asked in a whisper. “Make it all that way, before night comes?”

“Hard to tell how far it is, after all...” Ranta was being uncharacteristically timid.

Incidentally, Zodiac-kun hadn’t even come into the woods with them. It seemed like the demon might get caught on branches and stuff, so maybe it had declined for that reason. If he didn’t have Zodiac-kun with him, Ranta was just a piece of trash, worth less than crap.

Shihoru hesitantly suggested, “Should we go back?”

Haruhiro looked to Kuzaku, Yume, and Merry. Not only did none of them say anything, they didn’t do anything that would express an opinion.

“Yeah...” Ranta said, being the only one to agree with Shihoru.

This wasn’t good. This atmosphere was no good at all. He wanted to change it, but how? Haruhiro had no idea.

For now, at least, he wanted time to think... maybe? But even if he did think about it, would he find an answer? He wanted time... No, that wasn’t it, he just wanted to run away from this situation for now, didn’t he? It might not just have been Haruhiro; maybe they all felt that way.

Yeah, this is no good, huh, Haruhiro thought. It’s not gonna work out like this. It’s not. No two ways about it, this is no good... but still.

“How about we go back, for now?” Haruhiro proposed.

He’d gone ahead and said it. Even though, as leader, he needed to straighten them out. It was a time when he needed to chastise his comrades, or encourage them, and he knew that more than well enough, but he couldn’t do it. He was beyond hopeless. His strength had left him.

Are we gonna be able to go on like this, from here on out...?

6.    What is Living?

Whether they could go on or not, they had no choice but to try.

In addition to the 1 wen they already had, they had 1 ruma and 2 wen they’d found in Corpse Swamp, plus 2 wen that they’d gotten by selling the two swords to the blacksmith as scrap metal, for a total of 1 ruma and 5 wen. They were a bit short of the 2 ruma they would need for two meals, but if they negotiated with the giant crab who ran the grocery store to give them what it could, it would probably work something out with them. Sure, the grocer looked like a crab, but he (she?) was a good guy. Probably.

Haruhiro didn’t know what time it was, so he could only look at the ridge in the distance and judge if the strength of the flames was dying down, or if it was still fine, to determine if night was coming. Other than that, he could only rely on his stomach and his intuition. How did the people of Well Village keep track of time? They might tell him if he asked, but it wasn’t a question he could express with only gestures and an extremely limited vocabulary.

Though they had eaten, it felt like there was still time before night. If they were just going to sit on the ground in silence, that was pretty difficult in its own way. Shihoru was keeping awfully quiet, and he wanted to do something about that, but he didn’t know how.

“Bingoooo!” Yume suddenly let out a strange shout and jumped up. “Listen, Yume, she had an idea. How about startin’ a campfire?”

This was Yume’s plan. The forest was keeping them out, and it wouldn’t be easy to get inside, but they could at least find dry wood there. They would gather it, and make a campfire right outside Well Village. It’d warm them up. When night got close, they could rush inside the village. It probably wasn’t that dangerous next to the village, so they could sleep around the fire.

It was unanimously agreed, Let’s do it.

They left the village, gathering fallen branches at the edge of the forest. Yume identified the ones that were properly dry, putting the half-dried ones off to the side.

They set things up a little ways from the bridge. They put thick branches on the bottom, then piled the thinner ones on top. If they did that, the thick ones on the bottom would burn like charcoal.

Yume was good at starting fires. That was to be expected from a hunter. Once Yume had a brilliant fire going, she kept an eye on it, throwing more branches on the fire and blowing into it to make it stronger. If they left the half-dried branches near the fire, eventually they would dry out, and they’d be able to use them.

“That’s warm...” Ranta sat with his knees up against his chest, sticking his hands out towards the fire. “Seriously, seriously warm... It’s damn soothing... Fire’s the best... Greatest thing in all of history... Oh, the conveniences of civilization...”

“Um, Ranta.” Kuzaku was sitting cross-legged. “Are you crying?” “I am not. It’s not tears, it’s snot...”

“Snot comes out of your eyes, huh...” Shihoru was sitting too close to the fire. “Gross...”

“Shove off! When a guy’s enjoying himself, don’t go dissing him and ruining it, you moron!”

Merry crouched down, putting her palms towards the fire, and closed her eyes. Her lips loosened a little, and she looked comfortable.

“If only we could catch some fish...” Yume was sitting between Shihoru and Merry with her legs in a w-shape, looking into the fire she started. “Then we could cook ’em, and eat ’em.”

“Fishing, huh...” Haruhiro was, of course, sitting in front of the fire like everyone else. “You think there’s fish in the Lukewarm River? I mean, it’s lukewarm...”

“Well, it wouldn’t be weird if there were,” Ranta said, snorting. “Like, there could be man-eating fish. Don’t you think?”

“If we started a fire in the riverbed,” Merry started to say, “it might keep enemies away, and then we could bathe in peace, maybe?”

“No, we’d be able to see then.” Kuzaku looked down for some reason. “That’s bad, isn’t it?”

“Oh.” Merry hung her head. “...That’s right.”

“I wouldn’t mind.” Ranta flared his nostrils. “Even if you can see. I’m generally okay with nudity. Actually, is it anything to worry about? Like, whether you’re seen, or not. It doesn’t matter. If it means you can take a bath, be ready to make some sacrifices. It’s a trade-off. In fact, go ahead and show off. I don’t care if you see me. So, all of you guys let me see you. It’s fair.

There’s no problem. That’s that neatly resolved, huh? Okay. Let’s go do it right now.”

“Why don’t you go by yourself?” Shihoru said coldly.

But I do want to take a bath, thought Haruhiro. Like Kuzaku was saying, a campfire would light things up, so that’s no good, but isn’t there some way we could make it safe? Maybe we should seriously consider digging out a hole to use as a tub at the riverside inside Well Village. I mean, it’s not like the residents are guaranteed to get angry. They might be willing to overlook it. They might not even care. Maybe I’ll try asking the crab grocer, the blacksmith, or the well guard. Though I feel like I’d have trouble explaining what bathing is...

Haruhiro didn’t have the will to fight off the sleepiness that snuck up on him. He lay down and went to sleep. What if a wild beast attacked them?

He’d deal with that when it came to it. It was a bad, haphazard way of thinking, but he was tired, and it was warm.

Please. Just for today. Just for today, don’— “...ro-kun... ruhiro-kun... Hey... Haruhiro-kun...” Someone was shaking him awake.

Shihoru. It was Shihoru.

“Huh...? What’s up?” Haruhiro sat up, looking towards the ridge in the distance. “Huh? Is the night not over yet?”

“Look.” Shihoru pointed towards the bridge.

“...Um, oh.” To say Haruhiro was shocked would be an understatement. “—Whaa?!”

There. It was right there. Something, in front of the bridge.

A horse? Was that it? Wasn’t it awfully hairy, and big for that? That horse-like creature was pulling a cart. Was it a cart? A wagon. It was awfully big. Just what was loaded in it? It was covered, so he couldn’t tell.

There was a humanoid-creature crouching next to the wagon. That creature, it reminds me of someone, thought Haruhiro. It had a terrifyingly

muscular upper body, but extremely short legs.

Oh. The blacksmith. It had the exact same body structure as Well Village’s blacksmith. Maybe this guy who owned the wagon and the blacksmith were the same race?

This guy wore a hood low over his eyes, and had something like a pipe in his mouth that was giving off smoke. He was smoking tobacco, apparently.

Everyone but Haruhiro and Shihoru were still asleep. The campfire had gone out. The wagon had lantern-like lights hanging from it, so it was a little bright.

“...How long has he been there?” Haruhiro asked Shihoru in a whisper. “Um... er...” Shihoru leaned in closer to Haruhiro. She must have been

scared. “I woke to the sound of the cart approaching... It looked like it came out of the forest...”

“Out of the forest? A big cart like that was able to get through?”

“Off in the distance...” Shihoru gestured towards the northwest with her chin. “There’s a road or something there, it seems. The cart came from there, after all...”

“Hmm... A road, huh. —So? How long ago was that?”

“I couldn’t say... I thought I was having a strange dream at first...” “Ohhh................ Yeah, that makes sense. I understand. You wouldn’t expect

something like that to come out of nowhere.”

“So, the cart stopped there. That person.. got out. Then, after a little bit, I

woke you.”

“Who do you think they are?”

Eventually, the giant chicken of Well Town cried, Boweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh, and the rest of their comrades woke. There was a confused uproar about the wagon, but that made the wagon’s owner look in their direction, and they all shut their mouths and tensed themselves.

“Y-Y-You wanna fight, bud?” Ranta said in an incredibly tiny voice.

Maybe the guy heard him. When the wagon owner stood up, Ranta performed a kowtow.

If it comes down to it, let’s offer Ranta up as a sacrifice, thought Haruhiro. Yeah, let’s do that.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t necessary. When the lookout of Watchtower C opened the gate, the wagon’s owner got back into the wagon. The hairy horse shook its head, then began pulling the wagon. The wagon moved forward.

Could it cross that bridge? It made it, just barely. It wasn’t just a matter of width. The bridge seemed just strong enough to support it, and every time the wagon’s wheels turned the planks of the bridge screamed. The bridge wasn’t going to break, was it...?

When the wagon made it across the bridge safely, it made Haruhiro want to burst into applause. Not that he was going to, though.

Haruhiro and the others all hid their faces and followed the wagon into Well Village. The wagon stopped in front of the blacksmith. Like they might have expected, the wagon’s owner and the blacksmith were chatting like close friends.

“Those two dudes, they’ve gotta be brothers, right?” Ranta started to panic all on his own, frantically explaining himself to Haruhiro and the others. “Wh-When I said ‘those dudes,’ it just came out that way! I-I totally didn’t mean to be disrespectful! Let me tell you, I respect them! Seriously!”

“Like I care...” Haruhiro sighed. “But, they do look like brothers, or relatives at least, huh. Do you think the cargo has something to do with the blacksmith?”

“Looks like they’ve started unloading,” Kuzaku said.

It wasn’t just the wagon’s owner; the blacksmith helped, too. They removed the cover on the wagon. The owner got into the back of the wagon, passing the cargo to the blacksmith. The blacksmith carried it beneath the smithy’s overhanging roof, laying it all on the ground.

“Hey, guys.” Ranta raised his thumb and pointed to the blacksmith’s shop with it. “How’s about giving them a hand? It might get us better prices in future, you know?”

“With a blatant ulterior motive...” Yume sounded exasperated, but it wasn’t a bad idea, for something coming from Ranta.

“Okay.” Haruhiro nodded. “Let’s help. Just us three guys, for now. If we’re not careful, they might get mad and beat us to death, so Yume, Shihoru, and Merry, you all stay here.”

Haruhiro’s fears were almost realized. The blacksmith raised up his hammer, trying to intimidate them and chase them off, but when Ranta performed a kowtow and desperately tried to explain, the blacksmith seemed to understand. Though the blacksmith looked at them doubtfully, he let them help with the unloading.

The cargo was charcoal. Haruhiro had heard back in Alterna that a

blacksmith’s work required coke or charcoal. From what he had been told, coke had to be processed with coal, but charcoal could be used as is to produce high temperatures. It could also be used for things like purifying water.

It seemed that the wagon’s owner hadn’t just carried it here, but he’d also made the charcoal. There were a number of sturdy-looking axes in the wagon that Haruhiro figured could only have been meant for felling trees, so the wagon’s owner was likely a woodcutter, too. He was a charcoal burner.

When the unloading was complete, the charcoal burner started helping the blacksmith. The charcoal burner really seemed to enjoy it, but the blacksmith complained about every little thing he did. From the way they were acting, was the blacksmith the older brother, and the charcoal burner the younger brother? Maybe the younger brother had aspired to become a blacksmith like his big brother, but he hadn’t had the talent, so he’d become a charcoal burner to help his brother. Well, this was just Haruhiro’s imaginings, so it was all just a wild idea.

Perhaps as a way of paying them for their help, the blacksmith demanded to see Haruhiro and the party’s weapons, then he and his little brother worked on them together. The party was really grateful for that.

Then the blacksmith pulled out a sword. It was a beautiful greatsword that shone blue, it had complicated designs carved into the blade, and there were fine details on the hilt and pommel, too. The blacksmith had Kuzaku hold it.

The moment he did...

“Oh...!” Kuzaku cried out in surprise.

It was really light. He took a fighting stance, swung once, and then Kuzaku shuddered with excitement.

“This thing’s crazy. It’s absolutely crazy. It’s no joke. Even a guy like me can tell that. This is an incredible sword...”

The blacksmith took the sword back from Kuzaku, showed them a large coin, then raised five fingers, followed by eight fingers. Forty large coins... in other words the blacksmith wanted to tell them this sword would cost 40 rou. Haruhiro couldn’t imagine how much that was, but if he put it in Grimgar’s standards, would it be like 40 gold? The large coins seemed really valuable, so it might have been more than that. In any event, he knew it was expensive enough to make his eyes pop out of his head. It might have been the blacksmith’s most expensive item, or something close to it.

Later, while Haruhiro and the others were eating their meager meal at the grocery store, the charcoal burner’s wagon started to move. The wagon went at the same speed as a person walking. Haruhiro and the others tried going along with it. They intended to back off if the charcoal burner looked upset, but it looked like he didn’t mind.

When the wagon crossed the bridge, it went north for a while, then turned west. Shihoru had been right. A road. There was a road through the forest.

The trees had been cleared from it, and there were wagon tracks on the ground. The wagon’s wheels fit those tracks perfectly.

The wagon was going at a good pace. The road meandered a little, but it was mostly straight.

They heard birds, or some other animal. Along the way, Yume noticed the wagon was emitting a strange noise. There were bell-like objects hanging from the coachman’s seat where the charcoal burner was sitting. They were making a low, heavy ringing sound. Was there some meaning to it? Like warding off beasts?

They came out into an open area. There was a little shack like a mountain hut. Next to it was a kiln with a roof and a charcoal shed. There was a stable, too. There was a great amount of firewood piled up. It looked like this was where the charcoal was burned.

The charcoal burner parked his wagon and went into the hut.

Haruhiro and the others took a walk around the site, then tried going into the forest. In this area many of the trees had been cut down and it was sparser, making it fairly easy to walk through.

In addition to the road to Well Village, there was another road leading off in a different direction. The wagon tracks were worn deep in this one, too.

Where did this road lead? Were there villages other than Well Village?

When they returned to the coal burning site, the coal burner was sitting in front of his hut smoking. It looked like he was relaxing. He didn’t even look at Haruhiro and the others.

The hairy horse had been let loose, and it was eating grass. If that thing kicked them, they’d die instantly. Even being swiped by its tail would probably do some damage. It was probably best not to approach it carelessly.

“It feels like our world just expanded a bit... maybe?” said Shihoru. “Yeah.” Kuzaku nodded in agreement.

“Not that it’ll make us any money.” Ranta crouched down, pulled out

some of the grass, and twirled it around his fingers. “Oh, yeah, forgot to summon Zodiac-kun. Oh, well...”

“There’s more to life than money, isn’t there?” Yume hung her head. “...Yume is hungry, though.”

“Want to head back?” Merry hesitantly suggested.

Haruhiro was grateful for it. They had come out here on the spur of the moment, but it was hard to say they’d gained much for it. He didn’t want to say they’d gained nothing, but the truth was something close to that. He didn’t want to go home empty-handed. But what else could they do?

“Let’s go back!” Haruhiro tried to make it a strong declaration, but everyone looked at him funny, so he added a “...maybe?” and tried to muddy the waters.

How lame... he thought.

Yeah, he really was lame. He had always been uncool, but he felt like he’d been especially bad lately. Manato would have led them better, and more smartly. Tokimune would have pulled everyone along with his easygoing cheer.

What about Haruhiro? He could only do things his own way. What was his own way, though? Ultimately, what was it? What should he do?

Now that they’d been thrown into a ridiculous situation like this, his flaws were becoming all the more apparent. He was so flawed that, honestly, Haruhiro himself was depressed, and he was at a total loss for what to do.

He wanted someone to rely on. Desperately. He couldn’t cast his duty aside. He knew that, but he honestly wanted to abandon it. To throw it all away, and flee.

Haruhiro and the party were following the road through the forest back to Well Town. What should he be doing now? What should he notice, and what did he have to do about it? Haruhiro needed to think about that. He did, but... his thoughts were dominated by his dissatisfaction, his discontent, his displeasure, as well as his unease, his fear, and his despair.

Maybe he should just be open with them and say it? What if he said, Right now, this is how things are, you know, and I’m the leader, yeah, but I’m not acting like much of one, sorry, and apologize like that? If he did, he might feel better.

Haruhiro was the only one who would feel better. What would his comrades think? Ranta would snap at him for sure.

Like he cared about Ranta.

Would the girls sympathize with him? He could use some sympathy. He wanted them to spoil him a little. He wanted to be freed from this tension, this pressure.

The road was plenty wide, and it was easy to walk along, but they were in near total darkness, so Yume was carrying a lantern. Haruhiro looked back and saw Yume’s face, then he saw Shihoru who was walking beside her, and his eyes were drawn to a certain part of her anatomy. He immediately turned back around.

Oh, crap. He had been thinking something really weird there. No, it hadn’t been a thought. It was an impulse. Haruhiro was flustered now. He was disgusted with himself.

He had felt a sudden lust, and for some reason it had been for Shihoru. Maybe because Shihoru’s breasts caught his eye, and that had caused the sudden rise in his libido? No, the cause and effect relation between the two didn’t matter. What mattered was he had felt it. On top of that, his lower half was now in a state he found hard to describe.

Oh, no, oh, no, oh, no, oh, no, oh, no, oh, no...

The thing was, Haruhiro, like anyone, had a sex drive. However, he felt like his wasn’t that strong, and he preferred to keep things in moderation. He felt that he did, for the most part. I’m a young, healthy man, so I can’t help it was something he didn’t want to think. He didn’t want to think it.

I’m a young, healthy man, so I can’t help it...

Now, he had to use the line he had never wanted to use to console himself.

Not that it consoled me at all, okay? What’s wrong with you, Haruhiro? You’re going crazy, Haruhiro. You’re tired, Haruhiro. Don’t tell me you’re turning into a sex-crazed animal? Here? At a time like this? Stooooooop...

While he was doing his best to hold off the urge to clutch his head and scream...

“—Meow?” Yume made a strange sound. “Just maybe, you know, there might be something out there?”

“Something? What do you mean?” Ranta gulped. “What is it?”

“S-S-Stop.” Haruhiro quickly raised his hand, but everyone had already come to a halt. “Yume, where is it?”

“That way, maybe?” Yume pointed behind them to the right. “There’s a sound. A presence, maybe?”

Kuzaku let out a deep breath, drew his sword, and readied his shield. “Should I fall back?”

“Um—er—” Haruhiro shook his head to clear it. “Well... Let’s see. Kuzaku, you go in the direction Yume indicated. Ranta, you’ll be... on Kuzaku’s left. I’ll be on his right. Merry, protect Shihoru. Yume, cover the rear.”

His comrades fell into formation in no time. He was the only one a little slow. Haruhiro couldn’t help but feel that way. His decisions, and his actions, they were slow.

I’m not hard anymore, right? He was exasperated with himself for suddenly thinking that. Am I stupid? This isn’t the time, is it?

For a while, he held his breath and stayed still. Nothing happened. He didn’t hear anything, either.

“You sure you didn’t imagine it?” Ranta asked quietly. “Maaaaybe?” Yume didn’t deny the possibility.

“We’ll stay on guard for now,” Haruhiro looked around the area. Nothing here, he thought, and was about to do an about face. “Back to Well Village...”

There was a series of kohh sounds, and something that seemed to flash here and there. They were closing in on them.

Creatures? Not that big, though. More than one or two. Five of them, maybe six? More?

Kohh. Kohh. Kohh.

Was that the sound of them barking? Howling?

“Incoming!” Haruhiro yelled, saying what they all already knew.

Immediately, Kuzaku used Bash and sent something flying with his shield.

“Monkeys?!” Ranta swung his Lightning Sword Dolphin around. He didn’t hit.

Monkeys. They really were like monkeys. Their bodies were covered in black or brown fur, and they had tails. They kicked off the ground with their front and rear legs to leap at them, but they didn’t run like four-legged beasts. They grabbed trees with their front legs, and brushed branches out of their way with them. But their faces were less monkeyish and more doglike. They could be called inuzarus, dog-monkeys, maybe.

Haruhiro knocked an inuzaru away with the sap in his right hand, then

tried to kick another one, but it dodged. Though he did knock the first one away, it was a weak hit. The inuzaru leapt at him again. He lowered himself and took aim with his short sword, but it dodged it.

“They’re quick little buggers! Leap Out!” Ranta launched himself forward, drawing a sharp figure-8 with his Lightning Sword Dolphin. “Followed by Slice!”

The inuzaru that was sliced up let out a dying Kohhhh... and collapsed.

Ranta lifted his Lightning Sword Dolphin aloft. “How’s that?! I’m awesome!”

Yes, yes, yes, yes, we get it, now stop wasting time and keep fighting, okay? was what Haruhiro wanted to say, but before he could, the inuzarus howled kohh, kohh, kohh, and began retreating.

“You think you can run away, huh?!” Ranta was about to go after them, but immediately stopped. “Well, we’ll just say they were properly terrified of me. I’m the ultimate dread knight, Ranta, after all! By the way, the ultimate there is about how I’m the ultimate dread, not how I’m ultimately powerful. Though, I’m that, too! Gahahahaha!”

“...I-Is everyone okay?” Haruhiro looked to each of his comrades. “You all are, right?”

“Yep.” Kuzaku lowered his sword.

“Meow.” Yume’s response was as incomprehensible as ever, but he could probably take it to mean she was fine.

“That surprised me...” Shihoru let out a deep sigh.

“There aren’t any more coming?” Merry still had her short staff at the ready.

For now, it didn’t look like anyone was hurt.

Ranta walked up to the inuzaru’s corpse. No, it wasn’t dead yet. It had cuts all over and was trembling. Still, it was clearly about to breathe its last. Without a moment’s hesitation, Ranta stomped on the back of the inuzaru’s neck and crushed it, killing the creature.

Haruhiro thought, Hey, is that really okay? But compared to dragging out its final suffering, it might have been kinder to finish it quickly.

Ranta crouched down, looking the inuzaru over before he turned to Haruhiro. “So, this guy, y’think he’d be edible if we cook him?”

Ranta didn’t call himself the ultimate dread for nothing, apparently. It was a self-proclaimed title. Still, the things he thought of were dreadful.

Naturally, the rest of their comrades did not give him a favorable response. Killing living creatures and eating them. It might seem cruel at times, but it was nothing if not natural. Still, even if they killed goblins, they would never consider eating one. The inuzarus were monkey-like, so they felt the same aversion to it, the same sense that it was taboo. However, they were also hungry, and they had no money with which to buy food.

“Think you can butcher it, maybe?” Haruhiro asked, a certain kind of determination hidden in his heart.

“Unngh...” Yume looked incredibly unhappy about the idea. “It’s not impossible, no. Yume, she doesn’t really wanna do it, but she can...”

“Skin it, and take out the organs, huh?” Ranta put an arm around Yume’s shoulder, acting way too chummy. “Should be a cinch, huh. Yume, I know you can do it! Go for it!”

“Hands off, dummy!” Yume brushed Ranta’s arm away. “Yume doesn’t wanna do it after all!”

“I’m not really up for eating it...” Shihoru gagged, then bent over. “Yeah...” Merry covered her mouth with her hands.

“If you tell me to eat it, I will though...” Kuzaku said hesitantly.

Kuzaku, you’re a good man.

Yeah, that was right. It wasn’t like it was human meat. It was just from a monkey-like animal, that was all. Even if it tasted bad, it was better than starving. If they could eat, they had to eat.

“Yume, I’ll help, too.” Haruhiro looked Yume straight in the eye. “Do you think you can at least try for me? If you really can’t, just tell me how to do it, and I’ll do it.”

In the end, Yume didn’t refuse.

Haruhiro carried the inuzaru’s corpse off, preparing a campfire next to Well Village’s bridge. When the fire was ready, they began the work of butchering it. Once she decided to do something, Yume was reliable.

Haruhiro was only able to lift it up, turn it over, and hold it still for her. Yume did all of the important work. Yume offered part of the kill to the White God Elhit, then started cooking the meat she had neatly put onto skewers over the fire.

When the meat was cooked, everyone dug in at once.

When they had chewed and swallowed, Ranta turned his head from side to side.

“Well, tastes pretty normal, huh. Not that bad, not that good. Be better with a little salt, maybe...”

“Murrgh...” Yume frowned. “Maybe it’s not that tasty...”

7.    The Future Project

Nasty or not, it was edible, at least.

Yume had learned the hunting skill Pit Trap. There were other trap skills like Foothold Trap and Snare Trap, but Yume didn’t know either of those.

Besides, Foothold Trap required specialized equipment. Still, her master had shown her Snare Trap once, and she’d figured it might be possible for her to build one herself, so she’d decided to try it. If they set up a number of traps near the road to the charcoal burning site, they might be able to snag an inuzaru.

The poisonous swamp snakes were scary. The four-eyed beast merited caution, too. But, for now, Corpse Swamp was the only place they could count on making an income.

If there were snakes, they would immediately move elsewhere, and if they heard the footsteps of the four-eyed beast, they would immediately flee. With those agreements in place, Haruhiro and the others decided to continue searching for black coins in the Corpse Swamp.

Haruhiro couldn’t afford to be dispirited and mope around, even though there were many, countless things that could make him feel that way, and he was never far from falling into self-loathing.

There was no helping that. It was always like this, so he had gotten somewhat used to it. Haruhiro had found some tricks for recovering from it, too. If he gave up and decided this was just the way things were, he could accept it.

It had always been a given that Haruhiro had no aptitude as a leader. He had no desire to be one. But he had to do it, and he had no choice but to do it, and so he was one. That was why, naturally, it was hard for him, and the stress was building up.

Haruhiro was no saint, and was in fact an ordinary, mediocre person, so it was only to be expected that he might go a little crazy and lust after his comrades.

It wasn’t like he wasn’t trying to improve himself. For his comrades, and for himself, he wanted to become a better leader. If only he could. But it wasn’t so simple. Progress wasn’t steady. It was one step forward, two steps back, another step forward, another step back. That was fine. If he didn’t tell himself that, he couldn’t go on.

One day, when they went to Corpse Swamp, there were multiple four- eyed beasts lurking around, and they had no choice but to turn back.

Another day, they changed spots several times, but they kept running into the poisonous swamp snakes. In the end, Kuzaku and Yume were both bitten, giving them a terrible time.

Even when the inuzarus fell into their traps, they would usually break free and escape. Still, maybe Yume was getting better at trap-making, because sometimes they did manage to catch them now. They were figuring out how to cook them, too. If they bled them quickly, seasoned the meat with strong herbs, and flavored it with salt, they could be pretty tasty.

The grocery store sold salt, but a tiny bag cost one whole ruma. It was pricey, so they were stingy with how they used it.

In Well Village, though not quite every day, they would see visitors here and there. They were of many races, but all of them covered their faces, so they seemed to be aware of the rule for entering the village. Perhaps it wasn’t only Well Village that did this; perhaps it was a rule that held true all across this world, or all across this region.

Visitors primarily came for trade. Some came to sell, some came to buy, and some to do both. The ingredients at the grocery store were gathered by a number of people from Well Village, or brought in by hunters like Scarecrow-san.

The residents of the stone building still hadn’t shown themselves.

Haruhiro and his party more or less recognized all the others.

The lookouts on the five watch towers and the guard at the well worked in shifts, and there were nine of them in total, as far as Haruhiro could tell. They were apparently allowed to eat at the grocery store without paying.

Outside of those nine, the blacksmith and everyone else had to pay to eat. Furthermore, the residents of Well Village only ate once, maybe twice a day

at most.

Well, due to budgetary considerations, Haruhiro and the party were doing the same.

They couldn’t hold anything resembling a proper conversation with the residents. Thanks to that, they hadn’t been able to get permission in advance, and it had taken some courage to go ahead and try it, but they had managed to bathe safely at the riverside in Well Village. When they’d gotten carried away and tried to pitch a campfire there, too, the well guard had come over and put it out without letting them say anything, so apparently doing that was against the rules.

It was cold and unpleasant sleeping without a fire. That made sleeping outside preferable.

Thus, by the time they were spending their nineteenth night in this world, their money on hand had reached more than 4 ruma, and they had developed patterns in their lifestyle.

4 ruma was worth only four meals, two days’ worth of food. It was no great amount of money, but even having just a little bit saved up gave them some degree of comfort. For the moment, Haruhiro was holding all of the black coins as the shared property of the entire party, but when they saved up more, he intended to give everyone their own share. Then he could buy a little of this, a little of that. Little dreams would open up to him.

“But, man,” Ranta said, rolling over in bed, “we can’t go on like this forever. I mean, I’m tired of digging through the mud.”

“It doesn’t matter if you’re tired of it...” Shihoru was huddling by the fire with Yume and Merry.

The three of them had bathed before Well Village’s gate had shut for the day, so, somehow... they seemed strangely radiant, and Haruhiro couldn’t stand to look at them directly. Funnily enough, when he looked too long, he got kind of aroused. But curbing his baser desires was Haruhiro’s specialty.

Yeah. Maybe not? Maybe not...

How were Ranta and Kuzaku handling it? Was Kuzaku occasionally sneaking off and doing you-know-what with Merry? Though, if that was going on, even Haruhiro would have to notice. Yeah, it didn’t seem like they were. Were they holding themselves back? They didn’t have to. There was already little enough to enjoy here. A little fun would do them good. It was necessary, in fact.

But clapping Kuzaku on the shoulder with a smile, telling him they could go at it all they want, and that it was A-okay... that seemed wrong, somehow. Or rather, Haruhiro could never do it...

Lying on his back, Kuzaku sniffled a little. He apparently had a cold. “...Feels like our efficiency is dropping. Well, that’s just the sense I get. We haven’t cleaned the place out yet—but it’s looking like we’ll need to go into the poisonous snake-infested areas or the ones where the four-eyed beasts always show up eventually...”

“How’s about goin’ a little further out next time?” Yume had her cheek up against Shihoru’s chest, and she was hugging Merry at the same time.

Damn, Haruhiro was jealous... No, no, no, no, no.

“There was a road past the charcoal burner’s place.” Merry seemed a little tired. She looked drowsy.

“I’ve been curious about that, too, actually.” Haruhiro stared into the fire.

O flames, bring me to my senses. Please, he prayed. “Like, is there another village out that way, or something? Or maybe a bigger town? Though, even if there is, I’m not sure it matters to us.”

“Anyway, that’s our number one candidate,” Ranta declared with a click of his tongue. “Other than that, we could cross the Corpse Swamp and head south. Heading downstream along the Lukewarm River’s an option, too.

There was something in the riverbed, but if we put our minds to it, we can deal with whatever it is.”

Haruhiro kept staring into the fire, never looking away. “But it’s not like we have anything to go on.”

“Are you stupid, Parupiro?” Ranta said scornfully. “It’s a brand new world, damn it. There’s no way we’d have anything to go on.”

“Well, yeah, but you don’t think things through enough.”

“Call me bold and fearless,” Ranta declared. “Well, you know how it is.

Figuring all of that out is the task at hand. But we’ve got another task to accomplish, don’t we? An important one.”

“I don’t want to hear it.” Shihoru plugged her ears. “It can’t be anything good.”

Haruhiro looked over towards Shihoru despite himself, then instantly regretted it. Yume had her face practically buried in Shihoru’s chest, while Merry was leaned against Yume, her eyes half closed. He wanted to punish himself for carelessly thinking, Hey, share some of that warmth with me.

“I’m saying, we could end up living here forever.” Ranta took on a serious tone, completely out of character for him. “We’ve gotta be ready for that... you know?”

“Hey, now...” Haruhiro struggled to find a response. “What are you saying? This is so sudden.”

“It’s a fact, and you know it,” Ranta replied. “I’m not wrong, am I?” “Hope is—”

“—not lost yet, is that it? Oh, come on, Parupirorin. Don’t you start talking like some hotblooded hero. You’ve never been that positive and optimistic. Face facts. We may never make it back home. If so, we’ve gotta live here until we drop dead.”

Merry took a deep breath, held it, and then gently exhaled. She was gazing absently into the fire.

Shihoru started to open her mouth, but she said nothing. Yume let out a weird groan.

“You say we may never make it back home.” Kuzaku sat up. “But where is home? Grimgar?”

“Huh?” Ranta cocked an eyebrow and glared at Kuzaku. “What’s that supposed to mean, Kuzacky?”

“Nah, was just thinking about it. It seems like we weren’t always in Grimgar, after all.”

“Sure, but we don’t remember anything from before,” Ranta said. “Well, yeah...”

“Don’t talk about stupid stuff,” Ranta shot back. “Besides, the issue I’m bringing up now has nothing to do with that. Get a clue. You damn moron...”

“You didn’t have to go that far, though.”

“Huh?! You looking for a fight, pal?! I’ll take you on!” “Quit it.” Merry stopped them.

Normally that would have been Haruhiro’s job, but his mind was elsewhere.

“We’re looking for a way back to our original world,” Shima had whispered to him.

Back, Haruhiro thought. Back to our original world. What did that mean, anyway?

Haruhiro touched the receiver hanging from his neck through his clothes. With all that had happened, it wouldn’t be strange for Soma to contact them.

Secretly, he was hoping he would. But the receiver had shown no signs of vibrating. Did it not work across worlds, maybe?

Haruhiro shook his head. No use dwelling on it. He and the others were here. Here, and nowhere else. They were in another world, not Grimgar, nor the Dusk Realm.

They might be spending their whole lives here. The possibility had, of course, crossed his mind before.

“Ranta,” Haruhiro said, “I knew without you having to tell me. It’s... entirely possible that could happen. I know that much. But so what? Even if we prepare ourselves to accept that, nothing will change, you know. What we’ll have to do won’t change. It’s all the same.”

“Moron. Are you stupid? There’s no way it’s the same.” Ranta got up, punching his right fist into his left palm. “We’ve gotta propagate, damn it! In other words, baby-making! Ba-by-ma-king!”

“Whaaaaaaaaaaa...” Shihoru held Yume tight. “You—” Haruhiro was at a loss for words.

Merry shook her head as if to say, Unbelievable.

Yume looked simply dumbfounded.

“The thing about Ranta-kun is,” Kuzaku muttered, “no matter what happens, he’s always Ranta-kun.”

“So, with that decided!” Ranta hopped up, looking around at all of them. “Let’s decide on couples! We conveniently have three guys and three girls! With three pairs, if you each pump out about ten brats, we’ll have a population of thirty-six people in no time! How’s that?! As for me—Well, this is just, you know, part of the project to leave behind descendants, so I won’t be picky, but, yeah, if I had to choose, I want... Hm...”

“I refuse.” Shihoru raised her hand.

Without missing a beat, Merry did likewise. “Absolutely.” Yume stuck out her tongue. “Yume says no waaaay!”

“Heeey, come on, come on.” Ranta stuck his left hand on his hip, waggling his right index finger and tut-tutting them. “There’s no refusing or saying no here. This is a project with our future in mind. Don’t be selfish.

Guys and girls can’t make babies without one another, so you’re gonna cooperate whether you want to or not. It’s your duty, damn it.”

“Don’t just try to push this project forward on your own, man...” Haruhiro muttered.

“Shut up, Parupyuronosuke. I’m doing this because you’re hopeless. Oh, I get it, I get it! It’s not like I think anyone here loves me, okay? There’s no helping that. I’ll put up with the leftovers. Okay, first up, Kuzacky.”

“...Huh? Me? What?”

“You have any preferences? Which of the three do you want?” “Whaa—” Kuzaku put his big hand on the back of his head, looking

down. “Uh...”

There was no need for him to answer. But, honestly, Haruhiro was kind of interested in what he’d say. He knew how Kuzaku felt, but how would he express it in front of the others? Maybe he wouldn’t. Would he try to joke his way out of it?

“What’s wrong? Hurry the hell up!” Ranta shouted, spittle flying everywhere. “Fast! Make it fast! Hurry up! Hurry up! Huuuuryyyyy up!”

“Hmm...” Kuzaku crossed his arms and closed his eyes.

Wasn’t he taking too long? Haruhiro glanced at Merry to gauge her response.

Huh? That’s not what I expected, thought Haruhiro.

He had thought she would be acting awkwardly, or anxiously waiting for Kuzaku. But she wasn’t. Instead she was holding her knees tight with both hands, with an expression like she might apologize at any second. What was with that? Was it a, Sorry to put you on the spot, Kuzaku, or something like that?

Well, maybe it was, but it felt off somehow. It wasn’t like Merry. “Like Merry”? Did Haruhiro know Merry well enough to say what was and wasn’t like her? It wasn’t like he didn’t know her at all...

“You’re so indecisive!” Ranta stomped his feet. “Make it snappy! For tits, go Shihoru! For the face, go Merry! If you’re into freaky shit, go Yume!

That’s all it boils down to, right?!”

“...Can we bury this guy?” Shihoru asked in a tone so dark it would make you shudder. “All of us together.”

“I vote yes.” Merry stood up, wiping all expression from her face. “Gotta get ’im ready for an easy buryin’ first.” Yume smiled broadly,

drawing her machete.

“Wait, what?!” Ranta fell on his rump and backed away. “Stop talking about burying me, and discussing how to do it, okay?! Okay?! Let’s stop this! Please?! I get it, I’ll stop! Okay?! I’ll be more careful in future! I mean, it was

all a joke, okay?! You don’t have to take it so seriously, do you?! I wasn’t serious, so forgive me, I’m begging you! Seriously, seriously...!”

With Ranta’s kowtow, the conversation instantly died, and everyone went to sleep on their own. Haruhiro had a hard time getting to sleep. There was a lot floating around in his head.

What about Kuzaku and Merry? he wondered. Are things going well between them? I mean, in this situation, they really don’t have time for it, huh? But if it has to happen anyway, I want them to be happy together...

He tried to pretend to be a good guy, but it just made his chest hurt.

Besides, what’s happiness anyway? I don’t even know...

They slept, and woke to the cry of the giant chicken that heralded the coming of morning. A new day had begun.

For now, they crossed the bridge into Well Town and drank from the well. Once they had washed their faces at the riverbed, it was time for an enjoyable breakfast.

That was the plan, but there was someone at the grocer’s already. Of course, it wasn’t strange that there would be a customer, but this one caught their attention.

“...That guy.” Ranta pointed at the customer. “Isn’t he a little too human?”

The customer who had just accepted a bowl of bug soup from the giant crab grocer had two arms, two legs, only one head, and no tail. He stood maybe 180 centimeters tall. Taller than Haruhiro, shorter than Kuzaku. He wore a wide-brimmed hat, or rather, a braided hat made of dry grass woven into a shallow cone, as well as a scarf covering the lower half of his face, and an overcoat that went down to his knees. In addition to the ax-like weapon at his hip, he had a large backpack filled with swords, a crossbow, and more tied to it. He was like a walking arsenal.

The customer shifted his scarf aside and brought the bowl to his mouth, turning his face up a little as he sipped at the bug soup. When the broth was all gone, he picked up the solid ingredients—which was to say, the bugs— with his fingers, tossing them into his mouth and chewing them with gusto before swallowing.

There’s no way he’s human, Haruhiro thought for a second, but it wasn’t that strange that a human might like the taste of bugs.

The customer said “Ruo keh,” and returned his bowl to the giant crab grocer before turning towards the group.

“Oh?!” Ranta jumped backwards, taking a posture that let him perform a kowtow immediately if need be. That piece of trash (and slime) should have stopped calling himself a dread knight and started calling himself a kowtow knight.

Still, it was true that the customer’s stance was intimidating. Even with all the heavy gear he was carrying, he stood there as if it wasn’t heavy at all. The way he was standing, his center of gravity was stable. He could move quickly in any direction he pleased. There was no needless tension anywhere in his body. He had no openings, you could say.

It felt like, This guy is good, maybe...?

Kuzaku brought his hand to the hilt of his sword, then slowly let go of it, exhaling as he did.

“Is...” Shihoru said.

Is what? Haruhiro wanted to ask, but he couldn’t. The atmosphere was awfully heavy.

Yume groaned, and Merry tried to say something. That was when it happened.

“You people.” The customer spoke. “Could it be, you’re human?”

8.    Their Senior at Life

“My name is Unjo,” the man said in the same language that Haruhiro and the others used.

To their surprise, this man, Mr. Unjo, had explained that “night has come thousands of times” since he’d strayed into this world.

Were the days here the same length as those in the other world, or were they different? That was uncertain, but if they worked on the hypothesis that they were the same, even two thousand days would be five and a half years, and if it was three thousand, then Mr. Unjo had been in this world for over eight years. He had survived all that time.

“It is hard to believe,” Unjo said in a hoarse voice which seemed to have a wry, laughing tone to it. “That I’m seeing... humans. It’s been so long. So very, very long since last these eyes saw a living human. Never did I think they would. Yet, now, they do.”

Haruhiro understood the words Unjo spoke. However, his accent was weird, and his word ordering could be bizarre. Perhaps he hadn’t spoken the human language in a long time.

Once he discovered that Mr. Unjo was a human, like them, Ranta pelted him with endless questions. “Senior, Senior, Senior, please, teach us! Were you from Alterna, too, Senior?! Were you a volunteer soldier?! Like, how’d you get to this world?! Honestly, what’s up with this world?!”

“Alterna...” Mr. Unjo whispered to himself, then fell silent for a long time.

While Ranta was going, “Yeah, yeah, Alnerta, that’s right, Analta! No, Atarna! No, Alterna! Man, I wanna get back to Alterna! For me, Alterna’s the home where my heart is, but how about you, Senior?! Like, if you could go back, would you?! Is there a way back?! If there was, you would have used it

by now, yeah?! No, but, you know, if you have a hint or anything, could you maybe tell us, okay?! How about it?!”

Ranta just kept rambling on.

Seriously, cut that out, you moron, thought Haruhiro, and he tried to stop him, but, as per usual, Ranta snapped at him when he did.

“Huhh?! I’m not talking to you, pal! I’m asking our senior here! Shut your mouth and go to sleep, dumbass! You’ve got sleepy eyes, so go sleep forever, you idiot! Also, I hope you go bald and explode, too!”

“Um.” Haruhiro ignored the piece of crap and bowed his head apologetically to Mr. Unjo. “I’m sorry. Our worthless piece of trash must be bothering you.”

“You’re trash! Haruhiroooo! I hope you go spinning into hell!” Ranta screamed.

“He’s talkative.” Mr. Unjo suddenly reached out and grabbed Ranta by the head.

“Nwah?!” Ranta froze stiff.

Worthless Ranta was wearing his helmet to hide his face, but Mr. Unjo had grabbed hold of his head, helmet and all. He wasn’t as tall as Kuzaku, but his hands were much bigger.

“Alterna...” Mr. Unjo whispered the word once more, pushing down with so much force that it was like he was trying to crush Ranta. “I had forgotten Alterna. Yes. Because I can never return.”

“Ow, ow, owww... P-P-Please, forgive me, Senior...”

“Le—!” Yume took one step forward, gulping. “Let him go! Ranta didn’t mean to offend—Okay, maybe he did, but still, he’s Yume and everyone’s comrade...”

“Comrade...” Mr. Unjo cleared his throat painfully, then released Ranta. “Comrades, huh. Those, I have none of. Not a one.”

“Whaaaa!” Ranta spun around and put some distance between himself and Mr. Unjo. “I-I-I-I-I’m, I-I’m saved... right?! I—I’m not dead, right?!”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Merry said without emotion.

“Did you come all this way,” Shihoru asked in a shaky voice, clutching her staff tight, “b-by yourself...?”

Mr. Unjo didn’t answer, pulling up his scarf to cover the lower half of his face. “I cannot return. Nor can you. This is a grave. Mine. And yours.”

“Seriously?” Kuzaku exhaled slightly,

Haruhiro felt like hanging his head, but he forced himself to keep looking up. If he looked down now, he would never recover. He was overcome by that feeling. He had to say something. Less to Mr. Unjo, and more to the group as a whole.

“But, Unjo-san, you’re still alive, aren’t you?”

Mr. Unjo turned to Haruhiro, lifting his braided hat a little. He saw Mr.

Unjo’s eyes.

He’s human, Haruhiro thought once again. This was a bona fide human. He was probably much older, literally their senior, but he was human, just like them. He had lived alone in this world, surviving all by himself. How hard must that have been?

It must have been hard. It must have been lonely. But, still, Mr. Unjo was alive.

Mr. Unjo might not feel this way, but he was living proof of something. This place was not a grave.

It might become one someday, but everyone had to die someday. The moment a person died, that place became the site of their death. But that moment had not come yet. It was up to Haruhiro and the others, but if they did things right, they could survive here.

“It’s an honor to meet you,” Haruhiro said. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to see you again, and learn all sorts of things from you.”

“Teaching. From me.” Mr. Unjo’s shoulders shook up and down just once. “To all of you.”

“We don’t know anything, after all,” Haruhiro told him. “Downstream.” Mr. Unjo pointed in the direction the Lukewarm River

flowed. “They are there. The dead ones. It’s a town. A ruin. They are not dead. Yet, they are dead ones.”

“...What’s there?” Haruhiro asked.

“The city of the dead ones. Ruins. You are volunteer soldiers.” Mr. Unjo turned his back on Haruhiro and the others. “It is a good fit. For you people...”

Haruhiro wanted to chase after the departing Mr. Unjo and ask him two or three more things. However, he couldn’t. Mr. Unjo’s back was clearly rejecting Haruhiro and the others.

Leave me be. That was what it looked like it was saying, and Haruhiro felt that that was what they should do.

This meeting had probably had as much of an impact on Mr. Unjo as it had on them. No, considering how long he had lived alone, he must have been even more shocked. If so, he might have been incredibly confused.

Mr. Unjo entered the building made of piled stones. There was light leaking from the window, as always, so the residents had to be inside. Mr. Unjo might be acquainted with them.

“The town! Of the dead ones!” Ranta was suddenly upbeat, letting out a corny, malicious laugh. “No one expected this! No! It’s just as I anticipated! Our path has been revealed! Yahoooo! I’m so awesome!”

“How’s that make sense?!” Yume elbowed Ranta. “It had nothin’ to do with you, Ranta! It was all Kampyo-san!”

“You mean Unjo-san,” Haruhiro corrected her, sighing. “The city of the dead ones, huh...”

“...It sounds scary.” Shihoru ducked her head, hugging herself, her staff included.

“The dead ones, huh...” Kuzaku was looking at the stone building. “‘They’re not dead,’ he said.” Merry tilted her head to the side in

confusion. “What did he mean? Since he calls them dead ones, I would expect corpses that still move for some reason, or ghosts of some sort.”

When Ranta had been in favor of doing it, it had made Haruhiro want to refuse outright, but... Mr. Unjo had called them volunteer soldiers. Mr.

Unjo’s past remained a mystery, but perhaps he really had been a volunteer soldier at some point. Mr. Unjo might have been looking after Haruhiro and the others as his juniors. He’d said it was a good fit for them.

It was a place that was a good fit for volunteer soldiers. The city of the dead ones.

It did make Haruhiro think, I dunno about this. But, for some reason, his heart was dancing. Not because he thought it’d be fun. He wasn’t Ranta. Just,

he was a little excited. He couldn’t deny that.

Even having come to this nonsensical world, with no way to get home, and not knowing what will become of us the next day, we’re still volunteer soldiers? thought Haruhiro. Has it become second nature to us now? No, I don’t like it. Give me a break. Still, even as Haruhiro thought that, he made the decision immediately.

“Let’s go check it out.”

Haruhiro wasn’t alone. Ranta wanted to go, too, of course, but so did Yume, Shihoru, Merry, and Kuzaku. It seemed, in the end, the volunteer soldier’s way of life had seeped into their very bones.

Some of them were proactive, others passive. They each had their own different attitudes and tendencies, but they had all come to roughly the same conclusion. In fact, not one of them raised an objection.

Digging through the mud had never been the best job for them as volunteer soldiers. The city of the dead ones. Why not go check it out?

Haruhiro and the others got breakfast, then left Well Village. The place was downstream along the Lukewarm River, but they decided to follow the river without going down into the riverbed. There was a vicious beast living down there that would probably sneak up on them without a sound and attack them. They didn’t know what else might be there, or where it might come at them from.

At first, the light burning on the distant ridge had been too faint, offering little reassurance. When the fire that was not the sun rose, it stopped being completely dark, but didn’t become so bright that it felt like day. The darkness only abated slightly, but at some point, they had grown used to that. Their sense for the depth of darkness seemed to be growing keener. It wasn’t bright, but it didn’t feel dark to them, either. The midday darkness was a little easier on Haruhiro than it had been before.

He felt like his hearing had gotten better, too. He had a clear sense for shifts in the air and smells. Even without looking, he could determine his comrades’ positions, their footsteps, and get a vague sense of how exhausted they were.

Eventually a mist drifted in from the Lukewarm River, covering the entire area.

“Kehe... Kehehe... Kehehehehehehe... Kehe...” Zodiac-kun, who hadn’t said a thing since Ranta had summoned the demon back at Well Village,

suddenly burst out laughing.

“Wh-What was that about, out of nowhere? Zodiac-kun?” Ranta was clearly spooked.

“Ehe... Nothing... Ehehe... Really... Nothing... Ehehehe...” “Now you’ve got me really worried!”

“Kehe... Don’t worry... Ranta... It’s nothing... Kehehe... You have nothing to worry about...”

“No, that’s why, you see? I worry about it because you say things in a way that makes me worry. It’s kind of scary, so could you stop it? Okay? Hey, Zodiac-kun? Huh? Why’re you so quiet? Answer me. Well? Zodiac- kun...?”

“You shut up for a bit, too, Ranta.” Haruhiro was trying to sense any presences in the mist-filled darkness ahead of them. “Zodiac-kun is trying to tell us something. Take a hint.”

“Yeah, and I was trying to get that out of him, wasn’t I?” Ranta demanded.

“Kehehe... As if I’d tell you... Kehehehe...”

“Listen, Zodiac-kun!” Ranta yelled. “Have you forgotten which of us is in charge here?! I, the dread knight, am the master, and you are my demon servant, okay?!”

“Nuh-uh...” said Shihoru.

“That’s backwards,” added Merry.

Yume earnestly piped in, “Maybe if you were one-five-hundredth as cute as Zodiac-kun.”

“A cute Ranta-kun, huh...” Kuzaku mused to himself, then let out a little sigh.

“Heyyyyyyyyyy!” Ranta howled. “Don’t just say whatever you want about me, guys! If you don’t cut it out, I’m seriously gonna give you a thrashing! I’m seriously serious! I’m gonna show you how scary it is when I get seriously serious, and then—”

When Haruhiro stopped and raised one hand, Ranta immediately closed his mouth.

Everyone stopped and held their breaths.

Now what to do? Haruhiro wasn’t sure about that. Because of the mist, he didn’t know what it was, but there was something up ahead. He felt like it might be a building.

Should they all go and check it out together? Or should Haruhiro go alone? As a thief, it was easier acting alone in a lot of ways. It was easier, yes, but also scary.

“...I’ll be right back,” Haruhiro said, his fear making him speak in a politer tone than usual.

“Be careful,” Merry told him. “Don’t do anything reckless.”

Thank you, he thought. Somehow, that gives me the strength to try. Also, sorry, Kuzaku.

Well, it’s nothing to apologize for, I’m sure. Merry’s just concerned for me as a comrade. That’s a given. Even if that’s what it’s gotta be, it gives me encouragement. Where’s the harm in that? Right...?

Haruhiro moved away from his comrades, using Sneaking to advance towards the apparent building.

Is anything but me moving? No—I think. Not right now, at least.

The direction of the mist, the air, and the wind had changed. There was some obstacle blocking the wind and causing it to change direction.

Haruhiro approached. It came into view. The building.

It was a building made of pilled stones. But it was collapsing. It might have been shaped like a box at one time, but only two-thirds or so of it were left now.

He didn’t see a roof. Had it caved in? It was a ruined building.

This wasn’t the only ruined building here. There was another. No, even more than that. Here, there, and everywhere. There were lots of them.

Mr. Unjo had mentioned ruins. This was the place, huh. The city of the dead ones. This was their destination, huh. Which meant...

...they were here, he had to assume. At the place with the beings that remained unknown to them, the dead ones who were not dead.

Haruhiro pressed his palm to the first ruined building’s outer wall. He tried pushing. It didn’t budge. Having tested it, he put his back to the wall. He took a breath.

First, I’ll try doing one circuit of this ruined building. If it looks like I can go in... do I try it? Is that okay? Either way, I’ll do a circuit around it.

He looked around, listened closely, and when he had made a half-circuit around the building, scanning for the dead ones, he hit an opening.

An entrance? Was there a door here? Not anymore.

He poked his head in just halfway. It was too dark to see, but there was

some sort of wreckage scattered around. There was no place to step. It looked dangerous to enter.

Now, as for the dead ones, they’re not here—I think. They aren’t, right?

Next. On to the next ruined building. Haruhiro decided to search the next closest building. It was a little bigger than the last one. It had half of its roof left, too. There was no door in the opening that looked like a door.

He had a bad feeling. No, not just a feeling. There were sounds. He could hear them.

What were those sounds?

Squelch. Smack. Chomp. Smack. Hahh. Nnngh. Slurp. Crunch. Crunch.

Gulp. Smack. Huff.

He had some ideas what those sounds might be. He wouldn’t be happy to be proven right, but he still had to check.

Why, hello there, Mr. Dead One, he silently greeted a thing in his mind, trying to sound as cheerful as possible as he looked around the building through the opening.

There it was. He’d found one. Not far away. It was a humanoid creature with a tail, crouched over and eating something.

Was that one of the dead ones? It looked surprisingly normal. Now, what exactly was Mr. Tailed Dead One doing?

Haruhiro was interested. But maybe it was best to pull back for now?

Haruhiro tried to put his natural caution to good use, but for some reason Mr. Tailed Dead One turned towards him, groaning...

Had he been spotted?

At a time like this, screaming and running would be a bad plan. First, he should see how it reacted. Haruhiro made sure he was prepared mentally and physically so that he could react quickly if it attacked him. Hey, it wasn’t a given that it was his enemy, you know? It might even be friendly, after all?

Yeah, not likely, huh?

The tailed dead one picked up a weapon-like object of some sort and stood up. Weapon-like? No, it was a weapon. With a thick, curved blade in hand, the tailed dead started walking.

It was coming. This way. With slow steps. The tailed dead one wore something like chain mail, with a shoulder guard only on its right shoulder, along with gauntlets and greaves. It wore a helmet, but its face wasn’t hidden.

The eyes... what were those eyes? White. They didn’t seem to shine, but

its two eyes were very white. Its big mouth was wet with some viscous, slimy liquid.

Haruhiro glanced over at the thing that was lying where the tailed dead one had been crouching before. He was unsurprised. It didn’t shake him that badly. He’d been right. That was all.

That thing seemed to be another creature. It was probably humanoid in shape, but he’d lay eight to nine out of ten odds that it was no longer alive. Haruhiro didn’t look for long, and he wouldn’t have been able to see well in the darkness, but he didn’t particularly want to see it, so maybe that was okay with him.

Oh, my, Mr. Tailed Dead One, were you eating? Did I disturb you? thought Haruhiro. If it would let him off with an apology, he wouldn’t have been unwilling to take it up on that, but the tailed dead was already picking up speed. This was no time for apologies.

Haruhiro hurriedly pulled his head back out, running to hide in the shadow of the neighboring building. Even if he was fleeing, he had to do it quietly, ever so quietly.

“Shaah!” The tailed dead one shrieked.

“Where’d he go?!” Was that what it meant?

Haruhiro could hear the tailed dead one’s footsteps. He moved in time with those steps.

Maybe I ought to drag it back? Lure it to the others? Worth a shot?

This was the city of the dead ones. If that thing was one of the dead ones, it wasn’t necessarily alone. There could be others. But that was the only thing whose presence he felt. For now, he didn’t sense any more.

Haruhiro had been found already, and, as a volunteer soldier, Haruhiro and his group hadn’t come here for sightseeing and a good time. They had a goal here, yes: to hunt. They had come to hunt the dead ones, as volunteer soldiers ought to.

The tailed dead one.

It might make for a good test of their skills.

Haruhiro came to a stop. The tailed dead one was closing in. It appeared from around the corner.

When those white eyes caught sight of Haruhiro, it opened its mouth wide. “Kaah!”

It was racing towards him.

Good, Haruhiro thought. Come.

He ran. As for finding the place where everyone was waiting—It was fine. He remembered the direction and the rough distance. He wouldn’t screw this up. He turned in that direction, and ran. The enemy was pretty fast, but if Haruhiro ran at his top speed, it would never catch him.

“Haru-kun?!” He heard Yume’s voice.

“There’s an enemy!” Haruhiro shouted. “I’m bringing it with me!” Then he added, “Just one!”

“Leave it to us!” Kuzaku responded.

There. He could see him. Kuzaku was coming out with his shield at the ready.

“I’m counting on you!” Haruhiro ran towards Kuzaku.

Immediately after they passed one another, Kuzaku used Block against the tailed dead one’s curved sword, then struck out with a Thrust. The tailed dead pushed on, unconcerned. Kuzaku didn’t back down, either. They collided.

“Leap Out!” Ranta quickly jumped beside where the tailed dead one was and swung his longsword in a figure-eight motion. “Followed by Slice!”

Lightning Sword Dolphin’s effect had run out and they’d sold it to the blacksmith, so Ranta was using his old standard, Betrayer Mk. II. The tailed dead one dodged like it was throwing itself to the ground, but Ranta’s sword still hit it somewhere.

He couldn’t cut through. It was wearing chain mail.

When the tailed dead one tumbled and then got up, Kuzaku closed in on it. “There!” He slammed his longsword into it. Kuzaku had picked up this longsword in Corpse Swamp and had it repaired by the blacksmith.

The tailed dead one took a hard hit to the helmet and groaned, “Nguoh!” but it didn’t falter. Without missing a beat, it lifted its curved sword up high and went on the counterattack.

Now, Kuzaku was the one forced back. “Aww, damn it! I’m so weak!” “Don’t panic!” Haruhiro shouted to Kuzaku, looking at the tailed dead

one’s back.

Yume and Merry were on standby, defending Shihoru. It was only one enemy, so that formation made sense. There could be reinforcements, after all.

If that happened, Haruhiro wanted Yume and Shihoru to respond immediately. Merry had protecting Shihoru as her top priority, after all.

Everyone knew what they should be doing.

“Ehe...” Zodiac-kun was just floating around. “Ranta... You’re not as good as you brag to be... Ehehe... Finish it already... Ehehehehe...”

“I don’t need you to tell me that!” Ranta launched a violent onslaught on the tailed dead one. It was Hatred, followed by a two-strike combo. Then diagonal slashes from the top left and top right.

The moment Betrayer Mk. II crossed with the tailed dead one’s curved sword, he used Reject. The dread knight was at his most valuable when he didn’t face his enemies straight out. Where a warrior would lock blades with the enemy, a dread knight wouldn’t. He would push them away in an instant, or turn the blow aside.

This time, Ranta skillfully pushed it back. Then, at the same time, he fell straight back. Though he was falling back, he did it at an incredible speed.

“Exhaust!”

The tailed dead one stumbled a little, but managed to brace itself. Ranta kicked off the ground.

This time, he was moving forward. Again, at an incredible speed. “Take this! Leap Out!”

Ranta charged straight into the tailed dead one. With that timing, it couldn’t hope to dodge.

Betrayer Mk. II slammed into the tailed dead one’s solar plexus. It pierced through—or maybe not. Ranta was in a position to push the tailed dead down. But instead, he immediately jumped back.

“Dammit!”

“Hashaah!” The tailed dead one leaped to its feet, swinging around its curved sword. It seemed more energetic than before.

Kuzaku deflected the curved sword with a loud clang, then tackled the tailed dead one with a shout. The tailed dead was flipped over, but it still rose.

“Shih! Hyahhh!”

“Geez, what is that thing?!” Yume shouted. Honestly, what was it?

“How’s this thing supposed to be a dead one?!” Ranta clicked his tongue. “Looks pretty damn lively to me!”

Their attacks weren’t working—maybe? The tailed dead one had a black stain on its stomach. Ranta’s Betrayer Mk. II had pierced its chain mail,

injuring the tailed dead one. It had taken a blow to the head from Kuzaku’s longsword, and he’d tackled it, too. But it was still fine.

Wasn’t it in pain? Did it not feel pain? Because it was in an excited state? Or was it just dense? Whatever the case, it was probably best to assume that thing had no sense of pain.

First, they had to break its stance. Then they had to pummel it until it stopped moving.

Long ago, Haruhiro and the others had made regular trips to the Old City of Damuro, hunting goblins that seemed weaker than them. That strategy of ganging up on an enemy and pulverizing them had earned them their nickname, the Goblin Slayers. They just had to do that here.

Haruhiro conveniently happened to be behind it. It was so distracted by Kuzaku and Ranta, it had probably forgotten Haruhiro existed.

That wasn’t a coincidence. Haruhiro had been moving sneakily to make sure it would forget him.

Backstab? Spider? No. Haruhiro chose another move. He ran in, keeping his footsteps as silent as possible. It hadn’t noticed him yet. It didn’t turn.

Then, as if he was thinking, Good, Haruhiro stepped in hard. He performed a jumping kick. He kicked the tailed dead one in the back with both feet.

“Fungoh!” The tailed dead one pitched forward.

“Now!” Haruhiro shouted, but Ranta was already on the move by then.

Kuzaku wasn’t far behind him. Haruhiro joined in, too.

Don’t let it stand up. Knock its weapon from its hands. Shut down all resistance. Don’t think about slashing, or stabbing, or anything advanced like that. Ignore the fact we’re using swords, and pummel it.

Of the three of them, Ranta was the most used to this. He used the tip of his sword to peel off the thing’s helmet.

Crush it. Its head. Make a bloody, pulpy mess out of it. Don’t you move.

Stop struggling. You’re doing that again? You’re gonna do that again? Well, no helping it, then. We’ll have to go all the way.

Kuzaku pressed his shield down on it. “Ahhhhh!”

“Rarrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!” Ranta stabbed Betrayer Mk. II into its neck. Then, after his twisting and cutting it off with brute force, it finally stopped moving.

Inhaling sharply, Haruhiro backed away, looking around the area. He spotted Yume, Shihoru, and Merry. Merry made the sign of the hexagram,

closed her eyes for a moment, then nodded. That apparently meant everything was okay.

“Yeahhhhhhhhh!” Ranta lifted Betrayer Mk. II up high, letting out a victory cry. Then, in an instant, he jumped on the tailed dead one’s corpse. “Treasure, treasure! Mine, mine, miiiine! If you ain’t got nothing, I’ll make you pay for it, you worthless dead one! I’ll seriously kill you!”

“...Come on, man.” Haruhiro wanted to say something, but he realized he didn’t really have the right to.

Still, the technique Ranta used to strip off the thing’s chain mail was beyond impressive. Haruhiro could even have called it brilliant, but he didn’t want to compliment him.

“Hm?” Ranta picked up something between his fingers. “Hey, hey, hey, hey, heyyyyy?!”

Kuzaku raised his visor, letting out a sigh. “What? Did you find something good?”

“Ta-dah!” Ranta proudly displayed it. “Not just something!” Honestly, Haruhiro’s heart skipped a beat.

This might be love, he thought. Yeah, no.

There was more than one of the things Ranta had clenched in his hand.

There were multiple of them. Black, and round... “Wow...” Yume’s mouth hung open.

“...Huh?” Shihoru was still half-doubting what she saw. “What is it?” Merry tilted her head to the side.

“They’re black coins, you silly! Oh, and...!” Right now, Ranta was beaming more than he ever had in his life. “Four! Count ’em! Four of them! Thanks!”

Haruhiro nearly smiled, but he stopped himself. Before they relaxed and celebrated, there were things to do first. If he didn’t force himself to think that way, he was going to lose all his tension.

Still, four black coins, huh? he thought. Looking at them, they’re medium- sized coins. That’s 4 ruma.

Haruhiro had to check himself lest he start counting his chickens before they hatched.

Steady. Take it slow and steady, he told himself. Use methods that provide certainty.

He didn’t want to celebrate for no reason. He didn’t want to get his hopes

up, then have them dashed. He would have to get along with that frail side of himself, and keep on going.

9.    Confession Etiquette

Though they were all called dead ones, they came in a multitude of different forms.

Kuzaku struck a dead one in the face using Bash. The dead one’s head shot back, but its four arms still reached out trying to grab Kuzaku.

Ranta came in from the right, and Yume from the left, both charging into a dead one. Betrayer Mk. II and Yume’s machete stabbed into its flanks.

With the dead one coughing and sputtering, and a sharp glint in its two white eyes as it spewed a brown mucus from its gash-like mouth, Haruhiro grappled it from behind, stabbing his short sword through its neck.

Slashing one up like this wasn’t enough to kill a dead one. Or to stop it, rather. The dead ones didn’t stop until they were completely dead.

Shouting with exertion, Haruhiro moved his sword around as he twisted the dead one’s neck. Back and forth, left and right, violently. It snapped. Or rather, it came off. The strength suddenly drained away from the dead one’s body. It collapsed. Backwards.

Haruhiro hurriedly got away from it, losing his balance and landing on his rump. He was about to throw away the dead one’s severed head, but he thought better of it, instead placing it on the ground.

“Aww, yeah! It’s looting time!” Ranta boldly assaulted the dead one’s remains.

Haruhiro always found himself thinking this, but couldn’t he be a little less crass about it?

“Haruhiro-kun!” Shihoru pointed into the mist with her staff. Merry was quickly beside her, short staff at the ready.

Kuzaku, through labored breaths, hefted his shield once more, spinning his right arm, which held his long sword, around once for exercise.

Another one, huh, thought Haruhiro, rising to his feet with a sigh. “Ranta, how was it?”

“Hold on, damn it!” Ranta let out a vulgar little laugh. “Okay, we’ve got two medium-sized coins and one small one! That’s 2 ruma and 1 wen! Not half bad, if I do say so myself!”

“If you’re done there, try gettin’ ready to help!” Yume nudged Ranta in the back with her knee.

“Hey, don’t kick me, Tiny Tits!”

“Kehe...” Zodiac-kun put in. “Whatever, just hurry... You lowlife...

Kehehe...”

“Zodiac-kun! Where do you get off calling me, your summoner and master, a lowlife?!” Ranta screamed.

“It suits you...” Haruhiro squinted his eyes.

It was coming. White eyes. It was a dead one. Running towards them. This dead one was crablike, somehow. It reminded him of the giant crab grocer. That’d make the thing hard to fight, but he couldn’t afford to say that.

“It looks tough, so be careful!” Haruhiro called.

The dead ones came in a multitude of forms. But there were things they all had in common. In terms of appearance, it was their eyes. Dead ones had white eyes. It wasn’t that they didn’t have an iris, or anything like that, but it was almost like their eye sockets had been filled in with some white liquid. When they died, their eyes returned to normal, so it was apparently some part of the process that had changed them into dead ones.

Also, it seemed that the dead ones really didn’t feel pain. Thanks to that, short of killing them by destroying their heart or brain, or chopping their heads off, they would keep on going.

The other thing all of them had in common was that they were cannibals. Dead ones didn’t move in groups. It seemed dead ones saw other dead ones as their enemies, or rather their prey.

It had been seven days since Haruhiro and the others had started commuting to and from the City of the Dead Ones. In that time, they had witnessed the dead ones feeding on a number of occasions. Each time, it had been a dead one eating another dead one.

The dead ones attacked one another, and the victor would feed on the defeated dead one’s flesh and innards, stealing any usable equipment. Then they took the defeated dead one’s black coins for themselves. This was

typical dead one behavior. Or rather, they had yet to encounter a single dead one that acted differently.

If all of the dead ones were like this, then the City of the Dead Ones was a particularly nice target for Haruhiro and the others, who had found themselves forced to continue on as volunteer soldiers, even now that they had come to this gloomy and dangerous new world.

There were many different types of dead ones. That meant there was a wide variance in each one’s combat abilities. There might be dead ones that were so incredibly strong that Haruhiro and the others couldn’t possibly hope to defeat them, and they could very well run into one like that tomorrow... no, today.

So there were risks, of course. However, generally, they wouldn’t need to plan for a battle against multiple dead ones. That was because not only did the dead ones not form groups, they were actively targeting one another.

Surprisingly, when a dead one had the choice of attacking Haruhiro and the party or another dead one, it would choose the other dead one. When two dead ones were fighting, that was an excellent opportunity to take advantage. Sure, it was a horrible thing to do, but being a volunteer soldier had always been a dirty job, one where ethical considerations didn’t factor into things.

This wasn’t a trade Haruhiro could recommend to anyone who was a good person, or who liked to think of themselves as a good person.

In any case, both dead ones would ignore Haruhiro and the others, fully focused on defeating the other dead one and devouring it. That being the case, Haruhiro and the others could swarm the two dead ones who had eyes only for each other and kill them both.

Even if they didn’t say it out loud, most volunteer soldiers would think this afterwards: Thanks for the free meal.

Incidentally, those like Haruhiro who were not so insensitive to what they were doing, though they might have been cowardly about it, made excuses for themselves. It wasn’t that they felt what they were doing was okay and they had no doubts about it. I have to do this to survive, they told themselves to assuage their consciences, until eventually they got used to it. Even if they returned to their senses and became sickened with themselves occasionally, they probably would forget it again by the time the next day came.

With their seventh day of hunting in the City of the Dead Ones finished, their party returned to Well Village.

Today they had collected 9 ruma and 11 wen. The dead ones’ equipment was in incredibly bad shape, and any given piece was usually only worth 1 wen, so they didn’t bother bringing it back unless it looked particularly good.

Their shared assets had exceeded 20 ruma, and they should have each accrued several ruma in personal assets since they’d started splitting the money between them three days ago. Food still cost 1 ruma for the six of them, so with two meals a day for 2 ruma, they had a fair bit of leeway in their spending now.

Today, while the girls were bathing, Ranta started drinking at the grocery store.

That’s right. The grocery store had alcohol.

There were a number of varieties of alcohol that came in jugs, and the cheap ones were 1 wen. Haruhiro didn’t think much of the flavor, but Ranta was a real fan of it, and he’d been drinking a lot recently. It was a real possibility that the vast majority of Ranta’s money was being spent on alcohol.

That being the case, Haruhiro and Kuzaku decided to ditch the totally- sloshed Ranta and take a bath by themselves when the girls were finished.

The hole in the riverbed they were using as a bath had been dug in a spot where the residents of Well Village were unlikely to look. It had made their hearts race when they had bathed at first, but now they just got naked, and they uncovered their faces, too. They kept their helmets or whatever else close at hand, just to be safe; if anyone came near, they could just cover themselves quickly. It hadn’t caused any problems yet, so it was probably fine.

The guys didn’t care that much about being naked together anymore. Even with their eyes adjusted to the darkness, it was still dark. So long as they didn’t try too hard to see anything, they wouldn’t be able to see anything.

First they washed their hands and faces in the Lukewarm River. For some reason the grocery store sold soap, so that was convenient. They washed the rest of their bodies quickly, too. Then, finally, they sank into the bath.

The water of the Lukewarm River was lower than body temperature; it was, just as the name they’d given it said, lukewarm. They would have loved to take a hot bath, but if they started demanding luxuries like that, there would be no end to it.

“Whew...” Haruhiro slowly turned his head from side to side. He massaged his own shoulders. If he sat with his butt touching the bottom of the bath, the water was deep enough to come up to Haruhiro’s shoulders. He could stretch out his legs, too. However, it was a bit cramped for Kuzaku with his bigger body. Being tall wasn’t always so great. Haruhiro was still just a tiny bit jealous, though.

“Maaaan.” Kuzaku rubbed his face with both hands. “Y’know, today was kinda... I dunno. Well... Yeah. Today was pretty exhausting, huh...”

“Sure was,” Haruhiro agreed. “You did good work. You must be tired.” “Oh, no, it must have been way more tiring for you. Compared to me, at

least.”

“You’re the one out there putting your neck on the line, Kuzaku. I’m just, y’know, hanging out in the back.”

“You’re using your head,” Kuzaku contradicted. “That’s hard work, isn’t it? In a way. Me, I just do whatever you tell me to. As long as I do that, it all works out somehow. Like, you must be setting things up so that can happen, right?”

“It’s because you’re doing a good job in your role as a tank.” “You serious? I’m doing a good job?”

“You are, man.”

“Nah, I’ve got a long way to go. I’m not that great.”

“I’m pretty serious about my compliments, you know,” Haruhiro said. “You’re pretty picky with yourself.”

“A little, yeah...” Kuzaku suddenly went quiet. There was an odd pause before he spoke again. “...Umm, I don’t get the chance to do this often— talking to you alone like this, I mean. Do you mind if I ask something?”

“Huh? Oh, sure,” Haruhiro said. “...Wh-What?” “It’s about Moguzo.”

“...Moguzo?”

Oh, that’s what it’s about, Haruhiro thought, but then also thought, If not that, what would he ask about?

Anyway, the question had caught him off guard. He hadn’t expected to hear Moguzo’s name from Kuzaku.

“Sure, I don’t mind. Of course not. But, Kuzaku, um... You never, well, you didn’t have anything to do with Moguzo, not directly at least, right?”

“Well, no. I know who the guy was, though.”

“...Does it bother you?” Haruhiro asked.

“Like, you guys never talk about it. Like, you never compare me to Moguzo, right? At the very least, you never tell me when you do.”

“I wouldn’t... no.”

“But, y’know, I think about that stuff. Like, there’s no way you aren’t comparing me to him. I wonder things like, ‘Am I doing as well as Moguzo?’ Or ‘Am I managing to fill the hole he left?’ Sorry.”

“No... No need to apologize out of nowhere.”

“No, I was just thinking, it’s not right to talk about me filling the hole.

That’s not a thing I can fill. It’s not a thing that can be filled. That’s how it is with comrades, isn’t it? Me, after the time I’ve been with you guys, I can feel it. Irreplaceable, that’s the word I’m looking for. That’s what comrades are, yeah. This isn’t the best way to say it, but just because one guy dies, you can’t let another guy in to replace him. It’s not that simple. Even if you’re forced to do it, it feels wrong, you could say. I can’t really word it right. Like, I can’t ever be Moguzo’s replacement. But, on the other hand, I want to find a way to protect you all, in a different way than Moguzo did. I’m a paladin, even if I’m not a great one, so, like, I feel like I’ve gotta protect you all.”

“...Man...”

Oh, this is no good, Haruhiro thought. He splashed water on his face.

What the hell, man? Cut that out. You’re blindsiding me here. I don’t know what to say. I’m not good at this stuff.

It wasn’t that Kuzaku had just gradually been getting used to his role and growing as a tank naturally. While sensing a high wall called Moguzo that he couldn’t see, he had been facing the enemy and himself, and fighting with everything he had. He had a firm sense of purpose, shedding blood for his comrades as he improved himself step by step with painstaking effort.

Had Haruhiro been able to see that?

Had Haruhiro been able to understand the struggles that Kuzaku was going through?

There was no way he could say he had. His mind had been too busy elsewhere. Basically, he had a hard enough time taking care of himself. Enough excuses, though. The fact of the matter was, Haruhiro hadn’t been giving Kuzaku all of the credit he was due.

Sorry for being so hopeless as a leader, and for coming up short in so many ways, Haruhiro thought dispiritedly.

It would be easy to bow his head. But what good could come from apologizing to Kuzaku? Haruhiro might feel better if he did, but that was probably all it would accomplish. It was pure self-satisfaction.

“Moguzo was...” Haruhiro pinched his nose and breathed through his mouth.

Oh, damn. I think I’m gonna cry. No, I’m fine. I can hold it in.

“He was an important comrade. Yeah. I don’t think he can be replaced.

We can’t forget him, and we won’t. But still... He died. He’s gone. Moguzo’s gone now. I don’t want to say that’s why, but now—Kuzaku, you’re our party’s tank, and I think you’re the only one who can be.”

“...Whoa.” “Huh?”

“Ha ha...” Kuzaku covered his face with his big hands. “I’m tearing up here. What a laugh...”

“I won’t laugh at you, though...”

“Honestly, it’d be better if you would,” Kuzaku said. “Man, this is embarrassing.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Could you do me a favor and not tell anyone about this? Especially Ranta-kun.”

“...You think I would?”

“Nah, I don’t. Just saying it to be safe.”

“I won’t talk about it.” For no real reason, Haruhiro used his finger to flick some water in Kuzaku’s direction.

“Hey!” Kuzaku splashed him back. “What was that for? You’re like a kid!”

“No, you are.” “You started it.”

“I won’t do it again, okay?” “You swear?”

“I swear, I swear,” Haruhiro said, then immediately scooped up some water and dumped it on Kuzaku’s head.

“I knew you’d do that!” Kuzaku immediately retaliated.

What the heck are we doing...? Haruhiro started to feel silly, and decided to stop the splash fight, but it still took a while before that happened.

Honestly, what were they doing?

But it was fun. It was so stupid, he couldn’t help but laugh. Right now, he felt like he could talk about it.

I should ask him about it directly, Haruhiro thought. He needed to make things clear. Weird as it sounded, he honestly wanted Kuzaku to find happiness.

Was that an exaggeration? No, he didn’t think so. For the time being, Haruhiro and the others were going to be stuck living here. What if that lasted for a year, two years, five years, a decade, or even more than that? They couldn’t go on as volunteer soldiers forever, doing nothing but hunting, eating, and sleeping. They needed to have some kind of life outside of that, too. They could get permission from the residents of Well Village to build a house for themselves inside the village, for instance. Or, with an eye to the future, they could find jobs other than hunting.

If both sides wanted it, they could pair off into couples. If there were children born as a result, they could all protect and nurture them together, and that might work to motivate them all.

The way things stood, that was all a dream, a wispy figment of his imagination, but it could happen. It wouldn’t be strange for anything to happen.

“Listen, Kuzaku,” Haruhiro said. “You mind if I ask something, too... maybe?”

“Sure. What?”

“It’s kind of personal, though.”

“Don’t hold back. You and me are pals, man. —No, maybe I got carried away there. Acting in such an embarrassing way again...”

“Now it’s really hard for me to say it...”

“I know, right?” Kuzaku said. “Sorry. Oh, but seriously, you can ask me anything. I don’t think I’m hiding anything.”

“W-Well, then.” Haruhiro cleared his throat.

What is this? A ringing in my ears? Something like that? Or is it something else? I’m ridiculously tense. How do I bring it up? I’m not good at talking about this stuff. But then, do I have anything I’m good at? Not really, huh. Yeah, I’ve got nothing. Oh, well. It’s fine being normal. I’ll ask him straight. That’s the only way.

“H-How are things? With M-M-M... M-Merry?”

He stuttered. Stuttered like crazy. He’d wanted to do it subtly, like it was

no big deal. He couldn’t. In the end, it was impossible. This was the best Haruhiro could manage.

“Uhh...” Kuzaku bit his upper lip with his lower teeth. It was a kind of dexterous display, as far as lip biting went. “What do you mean, how are things?”

“Huh?” Haruhiro faltered. “But. You know, um... What? Huh? I mean, you know? Kuzaku, you and Merry are... Well, you’re, um...”

“What’s this about Merry... -san and me?” “H-Huh? Y-You’re... mad?” Haruhiro asked. “No, I’m not mad.”

“No, but, somehow, you seem sorta upset...” “No, man, I’m not upset, okay?”

“No, no, you totally are, aren’t you? I mean, you look super unhappy.” “That’s not it... Ngahh.” Kuzaku started banging himself on the head with

both his hands. “Guhh. How do I even explain it? It’s not like that, seriously. I’m not mad. Besides, what about Merry and meeee? What are you trying to sayyyy? Aghhhh.”

“Wh-Whoa, Kuzaku, calm down, man.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down,” Kuzaku snapped.

“I can tell. You’re clearly not calm. You look like you’re losing your mind. Huh? Wh-Why? I mean, you and Merry are going o—”

“I get it! I’ll tell you the whole story, okay?” Kuzaku broke in, using large gestures as he spoke. “Look, a lot of stuff happened between Merry... -san and me. No, nothing really. I thought she’s pretty great. Honestly, you know how it goes. I had a thing for her.”

“...Yeah.”

“I mean, she’s not just beautiful, she’s funny, too. I dunno, she’s serious, but there’s something kind of unreliable about her. Unreliable? No, that’s not it. What is it? She’s cute.”

“...Oh, yeah... I guess.”

“I think so,” Kuzaku said. “So, well, that’s why I fell for her. I had the chance to talk to her alone sometimes, so I was sort of dropping hints about that.”

“...Like when we were at the Lonesome Field Outpost?” “Huh? You knew about it? You noticed?”

“...Yeah, kinda.”

“Well, I dunno what to say,” Kuzaku said. “She’s probably the type that gives in if you push a little, you know. Insecure, I guess you could say. So, when I said I wanted her advice on stuff that was worrying me, she was willing to hear me out, you know. Also, me and Merry... -san, we both joined the group after everyone else. We had that in common, so there was that, too.”

“...I see.”

“It felt like things were going well. Like, ‘Maybe she’s got a soft spot for me. Things are looking good, huh?’ That’s what I thought.”

“...That’s what you thought.”

“Right! That’s what I thought. So, of course, I had to go for it.” “...Go for what?”

“A confession, of course.” “...You confessed to her?”

“Darn straight I did,” Kuzaku said firmly. “I mean, I couldn’t just leave things vague forever. That wouldn’t feel good. For either of us.”

“...Is that... how it is?”

“It’s different for everyone,” Kuzaku said. “For me, though, if I see a chance and it feels right, I go for it.”

“Did you... take her aside?” Haruhiro asked.

“It was going to be a long talk, after all. That was at the Lonesome Field Outpost.”

“...That one time, before we went back to Alterna?”

“Yeah. Huh? Why do you know about that? Oh, that time, you weren’t in the tent, huh. Were you outside watching, maybe?”

“...A little, yeah.”

“Urgh. You saw that, huh. How embarrassing. Yeah, it was just after that.

I went and confessed to Merry... -san. I thought it’d work, too. I got an immediate response.”

“...Immediate?” Haruhiro asked.

“When it comes to that sort of stuff, she’s really cut and dry about it. If I think back, she’d kept firm boundaries, you know. I was just misunderstanding, you could say, or it was all me being overly optimistic. I thought there was a good mood between the two of us.”

“...And?”

“It went like this.” Kuzaku tucked in his chin, shaking his head left and right a little. “‘No.’”

“...Was that supposed to be your imitation of Merry?” Haruhiro asked. “Yeah. It’s just like her, if I do say so myself. It was a one-word response,

after all. Of course, she explained it to me after that. It was like, since we’re comrades, she could be my friend, but nothing more than that. She’s not interested now. She didn’t want the distraction. Merry... -san, she was apologetic, and it made me feel bad for putting her in that position. So, I was like, ‘Sorry for making this awkward. Please, let’s just keep things the way they’ve always been.’ We agreed to do that.”

“...So then...” Haruhiro said slowly. He finished silently: ...the two of them are—not going out? Is that it? Maybe...?

Haruhiro noticed that he was sinking. The water reached his chin. Then

his mouth. Then all the way up to his nose. Hey, you’re going to drown, he warned himself.

“Haruhiro...?” Kuzaku asked, concerned.

“Ahh!” Haruhiro hurriedly pushed himself up out of the water, avoiding death by drowning. “So that’s how it was. Oh... I... I see. Man, I thought... I dunno, you two were just keeping quiet about it, or something... I was... wrong, huh?”

“If it’d worked out, I was planning to tell you all,” Kuzaku said. “It’d be awkward keeping something like that quiet. Like, if you had people sneaking around behind your back, wouldn’t that be kind of unpleasant?”

“I might not be happy about it... no,” Haruhiro said. “You’re right.” “It’s too bad for me that I didn’t get to make my big announcement.” “...Well, yeah.”

“Oh, are you trying to console me?” “...Kinda?”

“It’s fine, man. I’m already over it. I mean, sure, I still love her, and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t bother me at all. But we’ve got bigger concerns.”

“Yeah...” Haruhiro murmured.

“I can do without romance. For now, at least. I’ll leave that to Ranta-kun.

Though he might be looking for something different.” “In his case, it’s more primitive, almost childish...”

“He’s just honest with himself,” Kuzaku said. “I like that about him.” “Me, I don’t like it all that much.”

Kuzaku laughed, rubbing his face a few times with his big hands. He probably wasn’t as over it as he’d said. That was what Haruhiro figured. That said, the guy didn’t need to be comforted. Kuzaku was facing forward.

How was Haruhiro, compared to that?

He thought about it. I don’t really know, but, for now, maybe I’m a little too relieved...? Why do I feel so relieved right now?

10.    Plus and Minus

Not only was the City of the Dead Ones larger than Well Village, it was probably larger than Alterna, too. It must have been a pretty big city before it was reduced to ruins. Naturally, that meant many people had once lived here. It had been more than a few thousand. Perhaps an order of magnitude more than that—tens of thousands of people—had lived here.

There was a large, castle-like structure in the center of the city. Haruhiro thought of it as castle-like, but, well, it was probably a castle. From the looks of it, the castle was composed of a main tower surrounded by eight other towers, but three of those towers had collapsed completely, and two of them were halfway gone. The main tower was hardly broken at all, but opening its rusted metal doors and setting foot inside would take a lot of courage.

Besides, how would they open those doors when they wouldn’t budge in the slightest from a little pushing or pulling?

When they circled around the castle, they found two back entrances, but they still couldn’t convince themselves to try going inside. It was just plain too scary.

There were three cobblestone roads leading out from the castle heading north, south, and west. Each of them had a plaza along the way. These main roads and plazas were bizarrely empty, and they rarely spotted dead ones near them. To put it the opposite way, the main roads and the plazas were relatively safe.

On the north side of the city, there were many buildings that were either half destroyed or almost completely destroyed. Furthermore, the closer to the Lukewarm River they were, the heavier the damage to the buildings was.

To the south of the castle, the streets were largely intact. In the Southwest Quarter in particular, the place looked like it would be pretty livable if only

the dead ones weren’t around. Though, realistically speaking, there was no chance of the party living there. If they came across a relatively solid building, it was safe to assume there was a dead one inside. It seemed that they needed rest, too, and the party occasionally spotted dead ones sleeping in the back alleyways or behind the rubble. However, dead ones would wake at the slightest disturbance, so it was difficult to attack them in their sleep.

What did the dead ones do inside those building? They didn’t actually know, but even if they were asleep, the slightest noise would rouse them. Then they would viciously attack the intruders. If the party didn’t want any nasty surprises, it was best to stay out of the buildings in the City of the Dead Ones.

The fog from the Lukewarm River hung thick over the eastern half of the city, making visibility incredibly poor. That was why Haruhiro and the others lurked around the western half of the city, searching for dead ones.

In particular, the remains of the marketplace in the Northwest Quarter, or the Warehouse District, where there were the remains of a row of large buildings that looked like warehouses, made good targets.

It seemed there was a class system, or rather some sort of ranks, among the dead ones, too. The Northeast Quarter had nothing but weak dead ones, with the Northwest Quarter being the next step up from that, followed by the Southeast Quarter, and finally the Southwest Quarter. Their numbers followed the opposite trend, with dead ones being most plentiful in the Southwest Quarter, with decreasing numbers in the Southeast Quarter, Northwest Quarter, and finally Northeast Quarter.

For cannibals like the dead ones, the more densely populated areas made finding prey easier. That meant there was a lot of competition over them. It was survival of the fittest, so that might mean only the strong dead ones survived.

The weak had their own ways of fighting, though. If they knew their limits and went searching for prey they could defeat, the lowest level of dead ones would arrive in the Northeast Quarter. There they would only find weaklings like themselves. As they ate and devoured the weak, they would grow in confidence. Dissatisfied with the lack of prey, they would head towards the Northwest Quarter. If they survived there, they would move on to the Southeast Quarter. Ultimately, they would go to the Southwest Quarter where the experienced dead ones gathered, fought, and fed.

Haruhiro and the others did their best to avoid the Southwest Quarter. It was swarming with dead ones to the point it was ridiculous, and the way they fought was fierce, or rather, extreme. Those dead ones would use anything that came to hand as a throwing weapon, and they had a fondness for sneak attacks. They’d try to take you out with a single blow, then flee if that failed. The powerful dead ones of the Southwest Quarter were crafty as a general rule.

Of course, there were powerful dead ones so fierce that they stood out from the pack, too.

One time, they saw a powerful dead one feeding from afar. It was totally crazy. It looked like a lion on its hind legs, standing about three to three and a half meters tall. It punched a bearlike powerful dead one that was bigger than it, knocking it down with a series of two kicks, then easily lifting its massive body up.

In the next moment, Haruhiro doubted his own eyes. The lion powerful dead one easily tore the bear powerful dead one in two. Just how strong was it?

While bathing in a shower of blood, it trembled with unmistakable delight as it laughed loudly. It was more than just terrifying. If they approached it, they would be killed in an instant. It was pretty likely it would kill them even if they didn’t.

That being the case, the Southwest Quarter of the town was too dangerous. The dead ones of the Southeast Quarter were, too. They would sneak up on you in the dense mist, making them pretty nasty to deal with. And there were just too few of the dead ones in the Northeast Quarter.

Therefore, it had been decided that the Northwest Quarter was just right.

Honestly, the Northwest Quarter of the City of the Dead Ones couldn’t have been more perfect for Haruhiro and the group. It would have been fair to call it the ideal hunting ground.

First, he eliminated his presence with Hide. Second, he moved with his presence eliminated with Swing. Third, he utilized all of his senses to detect the presences of others with Sense.

Using the secret art of thieves, Stealth, to its fullest, Haruhiro moved forward like a shadow.

While he was using Stealth, Haruhiro’s knees and elbows were never stiff.

They were always bending smoothly. He lowered his hips, arched his back,

and didn’t let his neck stiffen. He was ready to respond to any kind of shock at any time. He maintained a posture that allowed him to breathe as his feet plodded onward without hesitation.

Instead of focusing his attention on one point, Haruhiro looked at the whole picture. It felt like his eyes had pulled into the back of his skull. He was actually using eye motions and slight turns of his head to expand his field of vision. If this was done properly, he could even see behind him where he wasn’t supposed to be able to.

He didn’t listen with his ears alone. He felt sound with his entire body. He turned his whole body into a sensor, and with it he picked up not just sound, but every stimulus, every single kind of change.

He spotted a dead one poking its head out of the remains of a building in the Warehouse District and looking left and right.

Should we all attack it together? Haruhiro wondered.

It was common for a dead one in the Northwest Quarter to run away as soon as it sensed it was at a disadvantage, though. Especially a dead one like this, which was close to Ranta’s size. It wore a helmet and light-looking armor and carried a short halberd-like weapon, but there was something that seemed frightened and hesitant about it. It didn’t look that strong.

That didn’t guarantee it was weak, but it looked like it might flee, so Haruhiro decided he was going to circle around behind it. If he was able to finish it off, good. If he didn’t seem like he’d be able to, he could chase it to where his comrades lay waiting.

Ranta was the only one who had been against this plan. That meant they were going through with it.

So, right now, Haruhiro was closing in on the dead one’s back.

It was less than ten meters away. Eight meters. No, even as he was thinking all this, Haruhiro was still on the move, so it was already around seven meters away. Six meters.

If he said he didn’t feel tense in the slightest, that would have been a lie.

But when he had his target’s back in sight, it was strangely calming. That might have been part of his nature as a thief. Or perhaps it was just Haruhiro. He often read the backs of living creatures. Even in more tense situations when he couldn’t afford to calmly observe them, their backs provided Haruhiro with a lot of information.

The easiest thing to understand was whether they were a liar or nor.

Whether they were honest or crooked might have been another way to put it. Were they guileless or a schemer? Were they trustworthy or not?

This dead one was a liar and dishonest, the untrustworthy sort that tried to lure its opponents into traps. Haruhiro could sense that from the way it leaned, the warped way it held itself. But the dead one was also shallow. It told obvious lies. It relied on its nose to sniff out stupid prey that would still fall for its ruse. If it didn’t think it could win, it wouldn’t hesitate for a moment before fleeing.

Sorry, Haruhiro thought, but I’m not going to let you do that.

He silently drew his short sword. Its sheath was well oiled and maintained.

It was another three, two, one step away. He couldn’t let himself think any of those steps were special. If he placed undue special importance on them, his target would notice him.

Here’s the trick, Barbara-sensei had once told him. When it comes to hiding, or stealing, or killing, you do them all the same way. In this world, and in any world, nothing is special. You can’t think that things are interesting, or that they’re boring. You do them all the same way, without any particular attachments.

I can’t do that, Barbara-sensei, he had complained, but the mysterious thing was, when it all went well, he sometimes was able to do those things like they were all the same.

Haruhiro approached the dead one from behind like he was hanging over it, then he wrapped his left arm around its head. With a backhanded grip, he stabbed his short sword into its neck, then gouged it, twisting its whole body to break its neck.

If he let out a sigh of relief here, Barbara-sensei would scold him. No, she wouldn’t just shout at him, she’d trip him, put his joints in a lock, and then make him faint in agony. “Do them all the same way! How many times do I have to tell you this before you get it, Old Cat?!”

This path was precarious. It was the sort of steep hill where, if he let his guard down, he wouldn’t just come to a stop, he’d roll right back down it. He didn’t know that he would ever see Barbara-sensei again, but his master’s teachings were still alive inside of him.

Probably. No, definitely. He was still persevering along this steep and narrow road, wasn’t he?

Yes, the way of the thief!

“Heyyyy. I’m doooone,” Haruhiro called.

While he was calling his comrades over, Haruhiro thought he was maybe acting a little off. Am I getting carried away, maybe? Like, things are going really well with the dead ones of the Northwest Quarter. This hunting ground is way too lucrative. I can work hard as the party leader, while still pushing forward along the way of the thief, even though I’m just doing it all the same way. I can look at it that way, too. In fact, I am doing it all the same way. But, somehow... Yeah. It scares me. It’s all been going too smoothly. This isn’t what life is like, right?

“Hey, Parupirorinnosuke!” Ranta jumped in and went to work on the fallen dead one. “Taking one down on your own is too much for an insignificant flea like you!”

“Kehe...” Zodiac-kun put in. “Talking like a human is too much for you, Ranta... Kehe...”

“No, Zodiac-kun, I’m an honest-to-goodness human, okay?! I mean, I’m a respectable human man, all right?!”

Following quickly on Ranta and Zodiac-kun’s heels, Yume, Shihoru, Merry, and Kuzaku arrived. They all came to a halt, then backed away from him.

“Huh?” Ranta looked to Yume and the others. “What, guys? What’s wrong? Does my way-too-respectable, special and mature aura intimidate you?”

“...Mature?” Shihoru scoffed as if the idea was ridiculous. “...How?” “Respectable?” Yume furrowed her brow, stuck out her bottom lip, and

made a show of shrugging her shoulders. “How?”

Merry shook her head. “If you call him childish, I’d feel bad for actual children.”

“You’re all in sync, huh?! Perfectly, too! You’re a trio! What kind of threesome are you, huh?!” Ranta shouted at them as he rummaged through the dead one’s possessions. “Well, fine by me! Say whatever you like! I’ve got my soul mate, Zodiac-kun, after all! Huh...?”

“Just now.” Kuzaku pointed above Ranta’s head. “It vanished, man.”

Haruhiro was surprised by that. “...Wow, Zodiac-kun. You learned a trick like that just so you could harass Ranta.”

“N-No!” Ranta jumped to his feet and rounded on Haruhiro. “N-None of

you get it, okay?! Zodiac-kun’s not doing it to harass me, or anything like that! He does that as a way of showing his love!”

“What do you mean, ‘he’?” Haruhiro asked. “Honestly, you two seem kind of distant.”

“W-W-We do not! There’s no distance between us. Me and Zodiac-kun are tight. We’ll always be in loooove. You dummy, dummy, dummy!”

“I get it, I get it. I get it already, so go on, keep looting, okay? You like that, don’t you?”

“I do not! I hate, hate, hate it! You do it, you stupid moron!” “Oh, yeah? Well, I’ll do it, then.”

“Moron! I’m obviously gonna do it! Like I’d ever let you handle it, Parupiro! I’ll do it all! Me! Don’t you forget it, Paruparu!”

“What’s a Paruparu...?”

“Paaaruparuparuparuparuuuu,” Ranta cackled. “Ehehehehe!”

There were times Haruhiro legitimately wanted to murder this piece of crap (and trash). He wouldn’t do it, though.

Ranta got back to work, finding two medium-sized coins and three small ones. There was a ring on the dead one’s left hand, too. They thought they might be able to sell it, so they decided to take it, as well. Eventually another dead one would come along and clean up the body for them—well, eat it, actually, to be blunt, but they could just leave it here.

“On to the next one,” Haruhiro said. When their job was done, it was best to move on.

His comrades knew that, too, so even Ranta did what Haruhiro said without any fuss. They quickly departed, going off to find their next target. They had to return to Well Village before the flame set, so they couldn’t afford to waste time.

We’re hardly wasting any time, thought Haruhiro. When things are going our way, honestly, everything seems to go well. Although the good times can’t last forever.

Don’t get carried away, Haruhiro had to remind himself multiple times each day. Stay on your guard. There’ve got to be pitfalls waiting for us everywhere. This is just a coincidence. It won’t last. We don’t know what tomorrow will be like. No, even today, right now, misfortune could be coming our way. Someone, maybe even me, could make a horrible mistake.

His eyes met Merry’s.

For some reason, Merry smiled at him.

Everything’s going well, huh? Haruhiro thought. No, no, no? What am I even thinking? No, no, no. I’m not thinking at all. No, it’s not that I’m not thinking, just that I’m not thinking this, or that, or anything in particular about Merry. I don’t intend to be thinking anything.

But I can’t help but be conscious of her. It’s Kuzaku’s fault. Of course, Kuzaku didn’t do anything wrong. That’s not it. It’s just Kuzaku opening up to me is what’s triggered it, that’s all.

Haruhiro was, of course, the party leader, so it was wrong for him to have unique, or special, feelings of that sort for a single party member like Merry. It probably wasn’t a good thing.

—Or that’s how it feels. Right? That’s gotta be right, right?

But Akira-san and Miho were married, he reminded himself. That was an inter-party romance. There were Gogh and Kayo, too. Those two even had an adopted son.

When he thought about it a bit, Haruhiro started to feel like, after going through so much danger together, it was perfectly natural that those sorts of feelings would sprout between them, and that they would form a strong bond. Besides, when he thought about a relationship with someone outside the party, it didn’t really feel realistic. In fact, it didn’t feel realistic at all. Well, there were people like Mimorin, but he didn’t have romantic feelings for her, and they might never meet again anyway.

In that case—No, no, no, what am I thinking? In that case, nothing! I’m getting a little too giddy, maybe? I need to seriously, diligently, earnestly focus on my job as leader. Because I’m awkward.

Honestly, I’m not good at this stuff. Doing this and doing that at the same time—it’s all beyond me. If I don’t focus on just one thing, my head gets all jumbled up.

Haruhiro came to a stop on a narrow road in the Warehouse District. Haruhiro the thief took point. Kuzaku was ready to step in if needed.

Behind them was Yume. Merry was somewhere she could protect Shihoru, and Ranta brought up the rear. This was their basic formation for exploring the City of the Dead Ones.

“...Haruhiro?” Kuzaku already had his longsword and his shield at the ready.

“Meow?” Yume let out a weird noise, looking around the area.

“Huhhhh? Whaaaat?” Ranta turned to look behind him. Shihoru inhaled sharply and shrank into herself.

Merry immediately got into a position to protect Shihoru, lowering her posture. Merry was awfully gallant at times like this. It was a hard fact to deny, but he didn’t have time to stare admiringly at her.

The blood instantly drained from Haruhiro’s face. He wasn’t even sure himself how he had managed to react. Anyway, he threw himself forward. Before he could do a roll, he heard some massive object impacting the ground right behind him, and he felt a shockwave.

“Run for it!” Haruhiro shouted without checking to see what it was.

Where had it come down from? The sky? Well, the buildings around here were relatively intact. It must have been lurking on some nearby roof, aiming for Haruhiro and the others.

Haruhiro and the others, or just Haruhiro? It was coming. Charging at him. Scary!

Haruhiro ran. He dashed at top speed, turning around a corner. The only thing he knew about his enemy was that it was a dead one, and it was pretty big, but he figured with its large size, maybe it couldn’t make tight turns?

That was the hope.

Just like he’d thought, it couldn’t turn suddenly, and it made a wider turn. That put some distance between them, so Haruhiro was able to take a look at his pursuer, even if it wasn’t a very good one.

Aw, man, he thought. It sure looks like a lion. I had a feeling it would, but it looks lion-y. Like a lion standing on its hind legs. That’s what it looks like.

But it’s a little, no, a lot smaller than the lion we saw that one time, isn’t it? Maybe it only looks that way because I want to think that? No, for real, it’s small, right?

If that had been the powerful dead one that looked like a lion, Haruhiro would be long dead by now. It was certainly scary. He thought his stomach was going to jump out of his throat, because it was ridiculously scary, but he wouldn’t be getting off this lightly if the one behind him was the real deal. If it had been, Haruhiro would probably cower, unable to move until it gobbled him up. That was just how crazy the lion powerful dead one had been. This one wasn’t that bad.

Haruhiro went into an alley and jumped inside a building through a collapsing wall. What were his comrades doing? Had they gotten away all

right? Haruhiro didn’t think they were heartless enough to abandon him.

They wouldn’t run away, I think. They probably wouldn’t run away. They wouldn’t run away on me, I’m sure of it.

It—the probably-not-so-powerful lion dead one—was diligently chasing after Haruhiro.

Haruhiro left the building through the entrance. The lion dead one bounded after him. He couldn’t outrun it. That thing had to be faster than him.

“Haruhiroooo...!” He heard Ranta’s voice.

Still, I’m amazed I managed to dodge it the first time that thing jumped at me, Haruhiro thought as he rolled inside another large building.

It had two floors. There were stairs. He raced up them. They were wooden. Weak stairs. They gave in, and his foot almost got trapped. He didn’t care. He took the stairs two at a time and kept going up.

The lion dead one destroyed the stairs as it tried to go up, then let out a roar.

Haruhiro made it to the second floor. There was a window. He could see outside through it. Ranta was there. Kuzaku was there. Yume, Shihoru, and Merry, too. They were running this way. None of them had noticed Haruhiro on the second floor yet.

Haruhiro leaned out the window. “Run away! Come on, run away!” “Whaa...?!” Ranta looked up at Haruhiro, then immediately waved to him.

“Man, get down here already! It’s inside, too, right?!”

Haruhiro couldn’t argue back. The lion dead one was still trying to get up to the second floor. Even if the stairs had completely collapsed, it would eventually get up here. Ranta was right. For once.

Haruhiro—did not jump out the window. He didn’t have that kind of guts.

He straddled the window frame, got a firm grip on it with his hands, then hung down. From that position, he let go. He didn’t feel much of an impact when he touched down; his legs just felt a little numb.

“Come on, let’s get outta here, you bunch of bozos!” Ranta had already started running.

“Who’re you callin’ a booboo!” Yume shouted after him as she ran.

“I didn’t say that, you tiny-tittied monster! Hey, girls, if you stay next to that monster, your tits’ll shrivel up and they’ll turn into miserable tiny tits like hers!”

“...You’re the worst, you vile monster man,” Shihoru muttered as she caught up to Yume.

“If I’m the worst, that makes me number one, huh! Hurrah! Hurrah!

Gahahaha!”

“I respect that...” Kuzaku ran with his armor clanking.

“No, go all the way and worship me! I’m offering a serious boon! You can become a thousand times more erotic! Gwahehehehehe!”

“That’s not a boon, that’s a negative you’ll never recover from...” Haruhiro forced his slightly numb legs to keep going and caught up to his comrades.

“Haru!” Merry shouted at him. “Yes?!”

“For that, just now!” “J-Just now?”

Merry held for a dramatic pause. No, maybe not a dramatic pause, but she didn’t say the next bit for a while.

While they were bantering, the lion dead one stuck its head out the second floor window and roared.

Haruhiro forced himself to speed up, catching up to Merry and turning the corner. At almost exactly that moment, she slapped him hard on the shoulder, startling him.

“You get one demerit!” “Whaa...?!”

What did that mean? It felt like he understood, but also like he didn’t.

Merry wouldn’t look him in the eye. Was she mad? Or was she embarrassed?

It might have been both.