Grimgal of Ashes and Illusion - Volume 12 - Chapter 12

12. The Men Who Have It

Thinking about it calmly, there was no real winner, and ending things acting like both of them were winners seemed kind of off, but the tuwanra was just a ritual to drive the gewguw away.

The only thing that was important was whether the runarukas thought, Okay, the gewguw won’t come now, we’re fine, or not.

In that sense, everyone had a great time. In practical terms, Mwadan had lost, but that was only because the human he’d faced was incredibly strong.

And that strong man had praised their hero.

It had been a close fight. Either could have won. Therefore, it was not only the human who had won, but Mwadan as well, or so the runarukas felt the human champion had shown them.

For Kuzaku’s part, he just felt a sense of accomplishment and release, going with what he felt like at the moment, but if the runarukas could accept it more that way, that made it the best choice anyway.

Thus, the tuwanra was accomplished.

Kuzaku and Mwadan had their wounds healed immediately by Merry’s Sacrament.

When Mwadan awoke from being unconscious, the runarukas brought alcohol and started throwing a party.

The runarukas’ alcohol came from fermenting the sap of the rati tree, producing a thick, white liquid with a sweet and sour taste and a good mouthfeel. Maybe it had low alcoholic content, because the runarukas drank it like water. Even the runaruka children were using stalks of grass like straws to slurp it up.

One had to wonder if it might not be better for them to wait until they were adults, but no one stopped them. It didn’t seem there was a drinking age.

Kuzaku and Mwadan were both bare-chested, arms around each other’s shoulders, competing to see who could drink more.

The runarukas now respected Kuzaku just as much as Mwadan and wanted to get closer to him. It was like they were racing to see who could pour his next drink the fastest. Seeing that, Mwadan let out a laugh of sincere joy, slapping Kuzaku on the back repeatedly. It looked like the hero of the Kamushika tribe was a magnanimous sort.

Yume, Shihoru, Merry, and Setora were caught by the runaruka women. Well, that said, the runarukas decided whether to become male or female when they reached adulthood, and Haruhiro wasn’t sure how to tell one sex from the other by appearance. Still, somehow the runarukas around Yume and the girls all seemed female.

But, wait, could the runarukas really choose what sex they became? It was a mystery.

Haruhiro relied on Tsiha’s interpretation skills to speak with Papa Dutt. Papa Dutt repeatedly pushed alcohol on Haruhiro, and it looked like he’d get upset if he refused, so Haruhiro did his best to drink as he asked about this and that.

Now that the gewguw was driven off, it apparently wouldn’t return to this area for some time, so Papa Dutt wasn’t even afraid to tell him about the frightening things anymore.

It seemed it wasn’t just the Kamushika tribe who felt that way; the dragons were like gods to all of the runaruka.

That didn’t mean there were no foolish runarukas who attempted to see those gods, though. Not many runarukas were foolish enough to enter the dragons’ nest, but there were indeed some. These insolent runarukas were, on most occasions, killed by the dragons and never returned. However, there were also runarukas who did return.

One runaruka known as Yadikya of the Tatsuami tribe had brought a dragonet back to his village in an attempt to raise it. His goal must have been to raise the dragon, giving him power equal to a god. But instead he incurred the gods’ wrath, and was given a clear show of their power.

The dragons had attacked the village of the Tatsuami tribe to take back the dragonet. Yadikya had been killed first, then eaten.

The Tatsuami had quivered in fear and released the dragonet, but the dragon gods would not forgive them. The village was destroyed, and the Tatsuami vanished from the face of this world.

Before that, “Yadikya” had been a common name, but it was now seen as a cursed name that might bring the gewguw. Now, except for after a tuwanra, it was forbidden to say that name.

The Yadikya incident had been a major trauma for the runarukas. Listening to Papa Dutt, it seemed the reason runarukas maintained strict taboos against getting close to the dragons or walking towards their nest was because of Yadikya’s stunt.

To take it a step further, the Yadikya incident may have been what led to them worshiping the dragons as gods.

On very rare occasions, the runarukas would find a dragon scale in the forest. Those gleaming green dragon scales, especially if they were unscratched, were highly valuable, and the runarukas who found them were greatly blessed. However, they were not allowed to keep them.

The runarukas didn’t have much of a concept of personal property to begin with, and they lived sharing most things among themselves, but the dragon scales didn’t become communal property; the runarukas performed a ritual called sinatta and returned them to the sea. By doing that, the dragon gods would be pleased, and everyone in the tribe would be made happy.

In fact, runarukas who lived in Roronea like Tsiha had a job they were given. In exchange for being allowed to live outside the village, they had to keep watch on the pirates. If the pirates picked up a dragon scale, runarukas like Tsiha were to steal it somehow, and bring it back to the forest. If anyone tried to enter the forest excessively, or a runaruka heard someone was planning to harm the dragons, they had to notify the village.

Tsiha had become a pirate because of its longing for the world outside. However, it was a proud runaruka, and it loved its people. So it tried to carry out that duty.

After explaining that, Tsiha defended itself, saying it had never thought Haruhiro and his comrades were bad people, but just investigating the dragons was enough to upset the runarukas. If Tsiha had treated those humans as guests and invited them to the village, Papa Dutt and the other runarukas would surely have been angry. That was why, though it involved tricking the party, Tsiha had them captured temporarily. Tsiha had then intended to negotiate with Papa Dutt and get his cooperation somehow.

Was that really true? It felt pretty suspicious, but Tsiha was the one who had persuaded the runarukas to hold the tuwanra, and Kuzaku’s performance had turned the Kamushika tribe friendly. That was a fact, so, well, though there were things Tsiha could stand to reflect on, all was well that ended well.

“So, we want to know why the dragons are angry,” Haruhiro said. “I think someone—not one of you runarukas, but a pirate, or a resident of Roronea, or someone else from outside—definitely did something to anger the dragons. Do you have any ideas?”

When Tsiha translated Haruhiro’s question, Papa Dutt stroked his fluffy chin and nodded.

“Papa, yes, saying,” said Tsiha, interpreting for Papa Dutt. “Humans, dragon nest, try to enter. Three people. One, other runaruka, not Kamushika, killed. Two people, run.”

“What happened to them after they ran?”

“Do not know,” said Tsiha. “Tsiha did not know. About this. Not come back to village. Heard now. Papa—”

When Tsiha asked something, Papa Dutt explained, including a hand gestures as he did.

“One month before, about. Two ran. After that, runarukas see no one. Probably them, pirates.”

“Three pirates went through the forest and tried to enter the dragons’ nest, but the runarukas found them,” Haruhiro pondered. “They lost one of their comrades, so do you think they gave up?”

“Not go through forest,” said Tsiha. “Not whole way. Just a little going through forest. Dragon nest, going with road. Is one.”

“Another route? Going by pirate ship, maybe?” Haruhiro asked.

“Yes. Runaruka, not often, go out sea.”

“But this is an island. I’d have thought you’d go fishing.”

“Yadikya. Tatsuami. Many fish caught. Tatsuami die. After that, number of runarukas catch fish drop.”

“Oh, so that’s it... The dragon’s wrath even changed your lifestyle.”

“Kamushika, change, not like.”

“You mean that, whatever anyone may have done, you don’t want to get caught in the crossfire, right?”

“But dragon make angry. Not good.”

“You want the dragons’ rage to subside.”

“Yes.”

“We’ll make sure there’s no trouble for the runarukas. We have no intention of making you do anything that would upset them. I’d like you to be assured of that.”

“Kamushika, you people trust. Tsiha. Tsiha’s brother Mwadan. Tsiha’s brother Tanba. Help you.”

Tanba had to be that well-built runaruka that looked a little like Tsiha.

“Thanks,” Haruhiro said gratefully. “That really helps.”

“Dragon’s nest, pirates approached. Ishakk, runaruka, killed one.”

“Runarukas from the Ishakk tribe killed one of the pirates?”

“Yes. Two pirates ran. Tanba look into. Tanba, Ishakk, get along.”

“Taba will ask the Ishakk about things for us, you mean? But why do you think those pirates tried to go to the dragon’s nest? No, they probably failed the first time, then tried again, taking a route along the coast... Would there happen to be a lot of dragon scales at the dragon’s nest?”

“Dragon’s nest, do not know. Runaruka do not go.”

“That figures. But I feel they should be in the nest. They get scraped off, I’ll bet. I’m sure a dragon’s scales would sell for a high price. No, but would just gathering scales be enough to anger the dragons...?”

The Kamushika tribe’s party went on until the sky began to brighten. The party was all made to drink a lot, until one and then another keeled over, and when they woke, it was close to noon.

Maybe it was an effect of the rati tree, but no one was badly hung over, so they returned to Roronea with Tsiha’s guidance.

When they left, a large group of runarukas saw them off. Mwadan hugged Kuzaku repeatedly, to the point that some of the party members tilted their heads to the side and wondered if the two of them hadn’t gotten closer in a kind of different way.

When they reached Roronea, the sun was beginning to set again, and three dragons were flying in the sky. Haruhiro and the party met up with Jimmy at the emergency marketplace.

“Find anything?” Jimmy asked.

“A bit,” said Haruhiro. “How about on your end, Section Chief?”

“There was something I heard that caught my attention. There’s this man called Benjamin, and—”

Roronea had once been controlled by the Skull Pirate Gang under Dead Skull, with terrible oppression. Later, the volunteer soldier trainee Kisaragi had defeated Dead, and peace had returned to the lives of the Emerald Archipelago’s pirates.

The Skull Pirates had been dismantled, with more than half of Dead’s underlings departing from Roronea. However, some had remained there.

There was no shortage of pirates who hadn’t been a part of the Skull Pirate Gang by choice, but who had followed Dead’s orders out of fear for their lives. Kisaragi didn’t expel people just for having once been Dead’s underlings.

In the world of pirates, heads of groups changing and groups coming together or breaking apart wasn’t unusual in the least. There were any number of pirates who kept traveling from one gang to the next. In fact, some said that pirates who had only been in a single gang were in the minority.

So, Benjamin Fry was a Skull Pirate Gang remnant who had joined the Torokko Pirate Gang, soon quit, then changed his allegiance to the Dia Pirate Gang.

The Torokko and Dia pirate gangs were both small groups with only one medium-sized ship. Both of those gangs were now under the umbrella of the K&K Pirate Company.

To Section Chief Jimmy, Benjamin was a low rank employee of a subcontracting company, but this Benjamin guy had been quite close to Dead Skull once upon a time. He might not have been the man’s right or left hand, but he had been one of the man’s close confidantes.

At some point, after screwing up or doing something else to displease Dead, he had been demoted and become a common pirate. From that point on, he had never really stood out, so when the Skull Pirate Gang was brought to ruin, he had easily moved on to a new gang.

He still held a grudge against the old man, so he often said stuff like, How pathetic, and, Glad he’s gone, apparently.

His nickname was Red-Eyed Ben.

Of all things, when he was younger, he’d taken a wound to his left eye that was left untreated, so the whites of his eye were now yellow, his pupil a reddish brown.

Pirates often tried to stand out with injuries, bizarre tattoos, or accessories. Benjamin was like that, too.

His age was uncertain, but he looked to be in his forties. He was bearded, and his chin was somewhat upturned. He had a straight body figure, with short legs, and oddly long arms.

Red-Eyed Ben, or Benjamin Fry, had up and vanished over a month ago, without a word to the captain of the Dia Pirate Gang. Not just Ben, either. Another young pirate called Step, and another called Honey Den, had left at the same time as Ben.

Step was a lanky man of around twenty, and liked gambling but lost a lot. Honey Den, who had a weakness for sweets, had come from the Skull Pirate Gang like Ben. He was a lazy man and blamed it on the pain of his cavities, and no one had so much as a single good thing to say about him.

Hearing all this, Haruhiro murmured, “One month ago, three pirates...”

It matched what they had heard from Papa Dutt.

Jimmy continued. “I hear Benjamin suddenly came back to Roronea thirteen days ago. Honey Den was with him.”

“And Step?”

“It was just the two of them.”

Out of the group of three pirates who had tried to enter the dragon’s nest, one had been killed by the Ishakk tribe. This matched, too.

The captain of the Dia Pirate Gang had demanded answers from Ben and Honey Den, but they had kept mum abut the reason for their disappearance, refusing to talk about anything to do with it. They both claimed neither knew what had happened to Step.

The captain, of course, had informed them they were fired, and told the other captains not to let the two of them on their ships.

In the world of pirates, it was apparently common to do this to a crew member who acted dishonorably towards you. It wasn’t guaranteed it would be enforced, but neither Ben nor Honey Den were the likable sort to begin with. That, and they were former Skull Pirate Gang members, too. The pirate gangs of the Emerald Archipelago would likely have nothing to do with them.

However, they now seemed unconcerned by this, drinking, buying women, and gambling. It wasn’t that they were partying so hard as to draw attention, but Ben happened to win big once while gambling.

At one time recently, he had said something like, “Yeah, men who’ve got it are different,” and the pirates who there in the gambling den with him had thought it was a little strange.

“Men who’ve got it.” What did he have? Generally, well, he’d probably mean luck.

He only won by chance, what’s this old man running his mouth for? the other pirates had probably thought. The pirates of the Emerald Archipelago won’t bother with him anymore, but here he is, getting in a tizzy over one lucky win? Man, he’s hopeless. I hope I never fall this far...

It wasn’t clear what had happened to him since the dragons began flying over Roronea, but when the first attack came, the two of them had been riding on the Ukobaku Pirate Gang’s ship the Great Tiger-go.

The Ukobaku Pirate Gang possessed three pirate ships, and were not under the umbrella of the K&K Pirate Company. However, those two hadn’t been aboard as crew, but as passengers. They’d made an agreement that they would be let off in the Coral Archipelago, and paid the captain of the Great Tiger-go a fair chunk of money for that.

On that day, two ships had been moored at the No. 2 Pier. One of them was the Great Tiger-go.

The Great Tiger-go was now destroyed beyond all recognition, and her remains still hadn’t been removed.

The captain and five of her crew had shared the fate of their ship. Red-Eyed Ben had apparently gotten away. Honey Den was hurt badly, but he was holding on to his life, and like the other wounded, he had been treated by a gray elf shaman. But then he’d taken off without paying for the treatment.

“Wow, they sound like total scum...” Kuzaku said, a look of disgust on his face.

“So, where are Red-Eyed Ben and Honey Den now?” Haruhiro asked.

Jimmy gestured as if to say, Follow me.

The emergency market in the north was bustling, and they had to push past the people eating at chairs in front of pop-up stalls and other people walking by in order to get anywhere.

Looking up, the sight of the dragons flying over Roronea caught the eye, and it was quite the surreal situation.

Jimmy suddenly came to a stop, indicated something ahead of them with his chin. There was a stall there, and pirates drinking. No chairs. The pirates were all drinking standing, or sitting on the ground as they tilted back their drinks.

Leaning against one of the stall’s poles, a pirate who held his cheek with one hand as he drank caught their eye.

“That person, he has bad cavities,” Merry whispered.

It was true; when his teeth peeked out as the pirate curled his lips back to take a sip from his mug, every one of them was brown. They weren’t just discolored because they were dirty; they had gotten smaller, as if eaten away by germs.

Shihoru frowned, while Yume went, “Funyo?” and cocked her head to the side.

“Oh...” Kuzaku looked to Haruhiro.

Setora held Kiichi, stroking his throat.

Haruhiro nodded. “Honey Den, huh.”