Grimgal of Ashes and Illusion - Volume 10 - Chapter 4

4. Saying Hello

Not long after that, the apparent residents of those houses came out.

Judging from the shape of the buildings, Haruhiro had more or less anticipated this, so it wasn’t a surprise, but the residents were bipedal, like humans. Their overall builds varied. None were exceptionally large, and none were overly small, either. From a distance, they didn’t seem markedly different from humans.

The residents went down the roads, scattered off into the fields, walking around and crouching down and moving their hands, apparently doing farm work.

There were four-legged beasts that were apparently livestock walking in a line. Were those cows? Or ganaroes? Or maybe, judging by their size, they were sheep. They looked like a different animal than any of those, though.

It’s a peaceful morning on the farm. Those were the words that popped into Haruhiro’s mind.

The village looked peaceful. In fact, it was probably Haruhiro, who was surreptitiously watching them, whose presence was suspicious and disquieting. To take it further, he looked like the bad guy.

In point of fact, whatever their race, if those people were just farmers, and that was a simple farming village, Haruhiro and his group were the bad guys, nothing more than villains. They were planning to procure supplies from that village, and he was scouting it out for that reason, after all.

The thing was, they were hungry. He wanted food. Potable water he could gulp down, too. He’d settle for milk, though. The more the better.

If they could beg for it, he’d gladly bow his head, and do whatever else that took. But what if they refused? From the perspective of those villagers, Haruhiro and his group were strangers, and human to boot. They wouldn’t feel any obligation to help them. Well, what then? Should they just give up? Or should they steal what they want? Rob them?

If possible, Haruhiro didn’t want to resort to force. If they could talk things over peacefully and acquire food and drinks that way, nothing would make him happier, but he didn’t even know that they could understand one another.

Haruhiro had his comrades stand by, and he descended the mountain alone. First, he wanted to find out what he could about the residents. However, naturally, no matter how he used his stealth skill, the closer he got, the higher the risk of discovery became.

How far could he go? Was it okay for him to go? Was it not? While seeing that for himself, he pressed forward, little by little.

He didn’t hate this sort of work. It was odd to say this himself, and it wasn’t really the sort of thing he needed to disclose at all, but he thought he was pretty good at it. Even setting aside the question of whether or not he had talent, he thought it really suited him, and he was secretly proud of that.

“I dunno,” he murmured. “Did I get carried away? Maybe just a little...”

Haruhiro was in a field where a grass-like plant grew densely. Grass-like. For the moment, he could tell it wasn’t a paddy field. This was a dry field, so maybe it was wheat. He couldn’t be sure. Honestly, he didn’t really know. He was no expert on plants. He was just an ordinary thief. But it was kind of wheat-like, right?

That wheat-like plant came up to just above Haruhiro’s waist, and its ears had lots of little grains on them. Those grains looked edible. If they were going out of their way to cultivate these plants, they had to be edible. He plucked one grain, and put it in his mouth.

“...Yeah.”

It was hard. He couldn’t tell if it had flavor or not. It was apparently not suited to being eaten raw. If they fried it, or boiled it, or ground it and added water then rolled it into balls, and boiled it or baked it, it might taste good. Probably.

Haruhiro moved like a lizard of some sort, half crawling as he cautiously moved forward, but really, he found himself thinking, Am I getting a bit ahead of myself? My body’s fully hidden, so maybe I’m fine? Or maybe I ought to turn back, after all?

Raising his head slightly, he looked around. Even the closest of the farm workers had to be more than fifty meters away from him. It wasn’t a distance where he had to worry about being noticed. He was still okay. He was fine for now, but if he got closer, he’d have to be even more cautious.

The residents were crouching down and doing something. Were they weeding? With their low posture, and the fact they were wearing hoods on top of that, he couldn’t see their faces at all. Even so, they were a lot like humans.

Or that was how it felt to Haruhiro, but were they really? It was the way they carried themselves, you could say. They gave off a pretty human vibe.

Just a little further. If he could just get a glimpse of their faces...

In times like this, it was best not to move more than necessary. If he stayed put where he was, he wouldn’t be found. So he waited patiently. Eventually, a chance would come his way... well, that was something he had no guarantee of, but if it didn’t work out, that was that, and he could think of his next move then.

He didn’t think he’d made a mistake. If you pressed him on it, maybe entering their fields in the first place had been a bad move. But, without doing that, he couldn’t have surveyed the residents, so he’d had no choice.

There was a rustling in the grass behind him, and his heart jumped so hard it hurt.

No, wait. Was he imagining it? It was weird. When looking around before, he’d looked behind himself, too. Was there something there now? There shouldn’t be. He’d checked. But, just now, he’d definitely heard something.

He had to calm down. The worst thing he could do was panic. He had to keep a level head.

The sounds. He could hear them. He could still hear them. That meant there was something moving behind Haruhiro.

What was he going to do?

What now?

In order to spot it, he’d have to raise his head. Would that be bad?

Behind him. Nearly straight behind. What was the noise doing? Was it getting closer? Moving away? He couldn’t say with any certainty, but he felt like it was getting closer. Like there was someone parting the wheat-like plants and walking through them. Coming this way.

If so, he’d be found if he stayed here.

He couldn’t go forward. The residents were there.

Left, or right, huh. Trying not to shake the wheat-like plants... yeah, that’s not possible...

Suddenly, there was a sound like someone whistling. No, not like. It was someone whistling. The sort of whistle someone did to call dogs that were a little ways away. That was the kind of sound it was.

Haruhiro got up, and spun around. There he was. There was a hood covering his eyes, and he was wearing a long green coat, but Haruhiro could make out his build. It wasn’t an orc. An undead, then? Or an elf? Or even a human?

Haruhiro raced diagonally to the right.

What was with that guy? He was watching Haruhiro from a distance of about twenty meters.

Or at least, I think he’s watching me...

His hood was covering his face, so there was no way to know what direction he was looking, but that was probably it. He was probably looking at Haruhiro, but he just stood there. What were the farmers doing? Haruhiro didn’t have the leeway to check.

I have to run. Run as fast as I can. Run. But it’s weird. Why isn’t he chasing me? Could he be letting me go?

He only had a moment to wonder that. Then the guy moved.

He was coming. For Haruhiro, of course.

Oh, he’s coming after all? Of course he would. Yeah. I knew it. It’s not like I seriously expected him to let me go.

For now, he’d get out of the field, and head into the mountains. He was almost at the field’s edge. The guy was running towards Haruhiro, but he wasn’t that fast. That said, he wasn’t exactly slow, either.

They were about ten meters apart. While that gap wasn’t closing, it wasn’t opening any, either. His steps were quick, and he seemed to have energy to spare. Why wasn’t he closing in? It was strange. Haruhiro couldn’t help but be bothered by it.

Haruhiro turned back without stopping. The residents had stopped their farm work and fled in all directions. They might be nothing more than the simple farmers they’d appeared to be. This guy was the only one pursuing him. It was risky to jump to conclusions, but for now at least, that was how it seemed.

“In that case...!”

He’d rush out of the field, jump the fence, and then it wouldn’t be far to the forest. The forest wasn’t flat, though. There was a slope. It was pretty steep.

Climb. Race up it. Damn it.

He was breathing heavily. This was awfully tough. Was it because he was hungry?

No, he was actually exhausted. But he couldn’t afford to say that. Haruhiro checked his pursuer’s location. It was the same as before, not getting closer or further away.

This was bad. If it was just one person, Haruhiro wanted to handle him by himself. If it was possible, that was.

Could he do it?

If he tried to settle things here, and he lost because he wasn’t strong enough, in the worst-case scenario, only Haruhiro would die. They wouldn’t find his comrades’ position. In that case—

I can’t help but think stuff like that. It really is a bad habit. Shihoru’s going to tell me off again.

Haruhiro weaved through the trees as he climbed the slope. The guy was still pursuing him.

It took some courage, but Haruhiro deliberately pretended to struggle to make progress. Even so, the distance didn’t change. Well, that was expected.

It meant the guy had no intention of catching up with Haruhiro. For now, at least. He was deliberately letting Haruhiro run. What for?

It wouldn’t hurt to look at it from the other guy’s perspective. He was probably one of the residents of this village, and his job was probably something like guard duty. One day, during his regular patrol, he’d come across a clearly suspicious individual. A person snooping around in the fields. An intruder. The guy had whistled to intimidate him, and the intruder had panicked and taken off running.

The intruder seemed to be alone. But was he really? What if he was actually part of a group, and this intruder was just their advance scout? Wasn’t he running back to his friends?

This guy might be chasing Haruhiro in the hopes he would lead him to where his comrades were. If so, maybe it was best not to go back to where they were waiting, after all.

This guy clearly had confidence in his skills. If not, he wouldn’t be so bold about pursuing Haruhiro. If Haruhiro were him, and he’d come up with the same sort of idea, he’d have followed him quietly. Then, once he confirmed the number and location of the enemy, he’d plan out how to respond.

Haruhiro likely couldn’t defeat that guy alone. No, he couldn’t be sure of that, you know? Until he tried it, he couldn’t say anything for sure. But he might win, and he might lose. “Might” wasn’t good enough. Still, if he had everyone’s help, they could manage. He was highly skeptical of his own abilities, but when it came to his comrades, he believed in them, and could rely on them.

What was the signal?

There was no such thing.

The terrain up ahead was a little unusual. There were massive boulders jutting out of the slope, and countless vines hung from them, making it kind of eerie. Maybe this area ought to be called the Eerie Rocks.

When he looked up to the top of the Eerie Rocks, Shihoru happened to have just poked her head out. Riding on top of her shoulder was the person-shaped, or more like starfish-shaped, elemental: Dark.

“Go, Dark!”

Shuvyuun! was the sound Dark made as he flew.

While turning right, Haruhiro turned back to look at the guy. He’d come to a stop. Was he dumbfounded by the ambush? If so, that was a surprise. Was he the easygoing guard of a peace-addled town, someone who’d chased after Haruhiro without much thought?

That couldn’t be right.

The guy drew something in midair with his right index finger, and spoke. “Marc em Parc.”

That’s...

Haruhiro hadn’t seen it in a long time, but he remembered it. That spell. Those elemental sigils.

It was light. A bead of light appeared in front of the guy’s face.

No doubt about it. That was Magic Missile. The first spell mages learned. The most basic of basics.

But, that....

It’s big.

The size of his head—no, probably larger.

With a silent exclamation, Shihoru waved her staff.

It looked like Dark tried to swerve around the bead of light and attack the guy. He didn’t fly straight. Shihoru could control Dark, to a degree, and she was doing so. But he got caught.

The bead of light moved slowly, and captured Dark.

The moment Dark made contact, there was a whirlwind.

Haruhiro, who was about ten meters away, was fine, obviously, but the guy’s coat flapped about vigorously, and his hood blew back.

“You...” Haruhiro was speechless, his eyes wide.

The light grew stronger for just a moment, then contracted as if being neutralized by Dark, and ultimately vanished.

Darkness and the bead of light alike.

With just one Magic Missile, he had erased Shihoru’s Dark.

Was he a mage? If he was, that might not be surprising—maybe. After all, he...

“Uwahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...!”

From up and to the side of the Eerie Rocks, Kuzaku was running down towards them with his shield and large katana. The stupidly loud shout was intentional. He was trying to draw attention.

The guy turned to look at Kuzaku. It happened right after that.

It was Yume. Yume pounced out of the bushes. She was close. Not more than five meters away from him. To think she’d been hiding there. Haruhiro hadn’t noticed at all. This was a shot to his pride as a thief.

Nice one, he thought.

Yume rushed at the guy silently.

The guy wasn’t looking her way. His eyes were on Kuzaku.

Haruhiro thought it was strange. When the guy’s coat had been blown open before, he’d seen it. The guy had a sword or something hanging at his waist. Despite that, he didn’t draw it. The guy seemed to be a mage, so maybe that weapon was just for show.

Apparently not.

Yume took a swing at him. Just before that, he drew his sword.

“Chuwah!” Yume swung down diagonally, but he blocked with his sword.

Easily, without looking.

Without missing a beat, he kicked Yume in the belly and pushed her away.

“Gwah...?!”

“Sowahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” Kuzaku charged at the guy.

He had momentum, and his body was protected by his helmet, armor, and even his shield, so there was no stopping him. Kuzaku clearly intended to ram into the guy, send him flying or knock him down, then run him through with his large katana. It was rough and unsophisticated, but when Kuzaku, who was blessed with a large stature, did things that way, he was really strong. Even if the guy tried to avoid him, Kuzaku would use his long arms to swing his large katana or shield. His intensity was amazing, and while it might seem avoidable, it tended not to be.

“Nnngahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” Kuzaku’s shield slammed into the guy. They definitely collided.

Had the guy been blown away? But something was strange. He flew to the rear, or backwards diagonally and up. What was more, it looked like he did a midair flip.

“Wha...?!” Kuzaku stumbled a few steps forward, unable to stop, and looked up.

The guy had already landed behind him. He ended up passing under the guy.

The guy planted a kick on Kuzaku’s back. Kuzaku let out a “Whoa,” and lost his balance.

If Enba hadn’t jumped out from the Eerie Rocks and sprang at the guy, Kuzaku might have been subject to a follow-up attack.

Enba’s club-like arms swung violently towards the guy. But missed.

The guy fell back. To the right, to the left, he retreated with small, quick steps, using trees as cover to escape from Enba’s arms.

What was with that guy? The party were serious, and had a numerical advantage, but he seemed almost to be playing with them. Was the gap in power too great?

No, Haruhiro and the group still hadn’t taken full advantage of their numerical advantage. Shihoru and Merry were still up in the Eerie Rocks. Setora, too. Haruhiro, Yume, Kuzaku, and Enba were down below. He didn’t want Shihoru and the others to get into close-quarters combat, so assuming that wasn’t possible, it was four-on-one. Despite that, for the moment, they had only managed to have one-on-one exchanges with the guy. That was, well, because the guy was skilled, but if they surrounded him, that had to work. Even if four-on-one or three-on-one were too difficult, if they could just make it two-on-one...

“...It’s me,” Haruhiro muttered.

This was exactly what thieves were for, wasn’t it? Yume and Kuzaku were already chasing the guy. But that was no good. He was dealing with Enba’s attacks while moving to spots where Yume and Kuzaku couldn’t reach him.

The guy had blond hair that was neither long nor short, as if he only cut it whenever it started to get in the way. He might only shave occasionally, too. White skin. Blue eyes. He was much older than Haruhiro and the rest. He was tall, but not as noticeably tall as Kuzaku.

No matter how you looked at him, the guy was human.

If he could use magic, did that mean he was a former volunteer soldier?

There were humans in Forgan, the group lead by Jumbo the orc, so maybe it was nothing to be so surprised about. Or rather, now wasn’t the time to be surprised or suspicious. No matter who the man was, no matter what his situation, no matter how he’d come to be here, none of it mattered.

Haruhiro glanced up to the Eerie Rocks. His eyes met with Shihoru, Merry, and Setora’s. Shihoru nodded, then called Dark.

Shihoru, at least, knew what Haruhiro wanted to do. Merry, if anything happened, she’d take care of Shihoru. Setora would handle herself well, too.

He took a single breath.

Relaxing all the joints in his body, he let his mind sink into a deep place. He erased himself.

Stealth.

His thoughts and feelings grew distant, and thinned out.

Even so, Haruhiro was still here. Here?

Where was here?

It didn’t matter.

Wherever he was.

If he became a ghost, it might feel like this. Setting aside the issue of whether ghosts existed or not.

He didn’t try to avoid making noise as he walked; it was more like, when he walked, he didn’t make noise for some reason. He was in the world, but it felt like he existed a little apart from it.

Was he breathing?

He was.

Rather slowly.

His heart was beating.

Awfully sluggishly.

Kuzaku was completely unable to keep up with that man. The guy seemed to move with ease, and he was rather quick. Enba was able to keep up because he was a golem and never tired, but even Yume was having trouble, and just chasing after the guy was all she could manage. The way things were, getting behind him and catching him in a pincer attack with Enba was going to be extremely difficult.

There was a gray nyaa in the tree ahead of the guy and to the left. Kiichi didn’t seem to have detected Haruhiro.

Haruhiro hid in the trees as he moved forward. It was like his nerves extended outside his body, to the wider area around him.

The ground.

Grass.

Bark.

Wind.

He could feel it all.

This might be the first time he’d immersed himself so fully. When aiming for a Backstab, there were times when he’d seen a vague line of light. Was this the Stealth equivalent of that?

I’m really into this.

I can kind of see things. It’s not like that line. It’s like, I should do this. Or rather, I have to do this, maybe?

It’s like I have a choice, but I really don’t. In any given moment, there’s really only one option. I’m not making the choice, or being made to. In a word, it’s fate? I don’t decide it. It’s already decided.

It had long since been decided that this was where Haruhiro would get behind the guy. While that guy jumped backwards to avoid Enba’s blows, his attention was focused ahead of him to his left. On Shihoru.

Shihoru was descending from the Eerie Rocks with Merry and Setora. She was trying to let Dark loose.

“Go!” she shouted.

Dark flew off.

The man didn’t fall back; he did an about-face and took off running. He was fast. While putting distance between him and Enba, he shifted his sword to his left hand, and probably planned to draw elemental sigils with his right.

Yume and Kuzaku couldn’t catch him. Enba, either.

Haruhiro didn’t have to move, because he already was.

The man cast a spell. “Marc em Parc.”

A bead of light. It was another Magic Missile.

The man drew Dark in as close as he could, then hit him with another bead of light.

There was another whirlwind. He made his move at the same time.

Haruhiro thrust his stiletto into the man’s back. He’d already confirmed the man wasn’t wearing heavy armor, thanks to the coat blowing open.

The blade of his stiletto was tough but thin, and could slip between the guy’s ribs. However, if Haruhiro thrust it in a closer to the hips, on a slightly upward angle, where he wouldn’t strike the ribs, he’d hit the internal organs, so that was simpler. He could aim for the kidneys on each side. Then there was the liver, too.

For any organ Haruhiro hit, it would cause massive internal bleeding, and eventually be a fatal wound, but the kidneys would really hurt. No matter how tough he was, the pain would be unbearable, and the guy would scream. If he wasn’t healed with light magic, he wouldn’t make it. It would have to be quickly, too. This was the same whether you were a human, an orc, or probably even an elf or a dwarf.

“Nngh...”

The man, however, did not scream. He merely groaned, twitched, and turned back to look, Haruhiro reflected in his blue eyes. He raised his left eyebrow, and let a slight breath out through his lips. He was so surprised, he was impressed. That was what the expression said.

“Not bad,” the man said. Then, unwilling to admit defeat, he smiled. “But sorry.”

“...Huh?”

Haruhiro had messed up. It was a painful mistake. He’d been naive. Why had he thought this would take the guy down? How foolish could he be?

It was inexperience. He’d gotten full of himself, thinking he’d built up some experience. Why had he thought this man was an ordinary human? Even if he looked that way, he might not be. It wouldn’t be strange at all if there was a monster that looked human.

Many thoughts and feelings raced through Haruhiro’s head, confusing him. It was already too late. The man wrapped his arm around Haruhiro’s neck, pulling him in close and twisting his hips.

It’s like a judo technique, thought Haruhiro. Judo...?

He was thrown and spun threw the air. The next thing he knew, the man had mounted him and was looking down at Haruhiro.

“I’m not a big fan of punching people. It’s barbaric, you know?” What he said and what he was doing didn’t line up. The man pressed his palm hard against Haruhiro’s chin.

Oh, but—

This isn’t really a punch, huh. It was a strange blow that made his brain, and his vision shake, causing the strength to drain away from his whole body.

Then, while drawing elemental sigils with his right hand, “Marc em Parc,” the man chanted.

...Whoa. What are you doing? Stop it.

Magic Missile.

The bead of light came down.

I’m not getting out of this unharmed. No way.

Maybe because his mind was fuzzy, it felt like it was happening to someone else, but the bead of light was closing in on Haruhiro’s eyes.

It was so bright.

Haruhiro heard the crunching of bones. That was probably his nose. Or maybe his cheek. Well, it was some part of his face.

It wasn’t dark, but he couldn’t see anything.

Not a thing.

Blugh... A breath escaped his mouth. His nose seemed to be blocked. His throat felt constricted, too, and his mouth wouldn’t move. He was stunned—maybe?

He didn’t really know.

His comrades were all calling Haruhiro’s name.

“Don’t move,” the man said.

Haruhiro couldn’t have moved even if he wanted to.

Sorry, everyone. I’m really sorry.

“Move, and this kid gets it,” the guy said. “I don’t particularly want to kill him, either. So, all of you, stay put. Understood? Okay. Good. Now, let’s have you drop your weapons. Oh, you there—you’re from the hidden village, aren’t you? Trying to hide won’t work. Also, you have a nyaa following you, I see. The gray nyaa. You’d better not have him try anything funny, either. If it’s just the one, he must mean a lot to you. Okay. That’s good...

“Now, what to do? There are six of us including the golem, one nyaa, and then this kid. I’ll carry him, but I’m going to need the rest of you to walk on your own feet. I could kill you here, but like I was saying, I don’t want to. I’m not a fan of the needless taking of life. You get that? It’s Buddhism. Maybe not. Well, if the need arises, I won’t shy away from it, but it’s rare for humans to come out here. I’ll get a better idea about you before I decide anything.”

I can kill you anytime, after all, Haruhiro heard the man saying from far off.

Was it no good?

He wanted to hold on. To be here.

He had to do something.

Despite that...

...his consciousness was fading.

“Welcome to Jessie Land,” the guy said.