Grimgal of Ashes and Illusion - Volume 14.1 - Chapter 4.10

10. Myself

Leaya brought Ranta his confiscated katana and mask. Wezel’s luggage and his other things were too heavy for her to lug out of storage, she said.

Ranta put on the mask, and hung the katana diagonally over his back. Then, with Leaya leading the way, he went outside.

As he’d kind of suspected, the jail had been carved out of an oversized tree and built inside.

“This is Arnotu, huh?” Ranta murmured. “What a city...”

To describe it simply, it was a treetop city. There were giant trees with a diameter of over ten meters growing here and there, and platforms had been built out of logs in their boughs, with planks to create floors, and houses and whatnot built on top. It seemed there were bigger buildings that used the tree trunks as supporting pillars, too.

There were what looked like elevators set up here and there. No, they didn’t just look like elevators; they were. They went up and down between Arnotu and the surface.

There were bridges from one giant tree to the next, allowing travel from one to another.

The majority of the bridges weren’t straight. Was there some engineering reason for that? Or was it out of concern for how they looked? They formed awfully beautiful arches.

There were baskets filled with luminous mushrooms hanging from the buildings and bridges, and they swayed in the wind. It seemed every basket had a bell attached. When the basket swayed, there was a clear ring. The sound of ringing bells overlapped and echoed. It was like music.

There were many colored flowers used in a variety of decorations, too. They were fragrant if he brought his nose close to them, but the most intense smell in this city right now was the smell of something burning.

There was a dim smoke throughout the treetop city. Was there a fire somewhere? He couldn’t spot the flames.

The smoke was likely drifting in from outside Arnotu.

“They’re attacking with fire, huh?” Ranta muttered. “Do they plan to burn the whole Shadow Forest to the ground?”

Armed elves busily ran across the bridges. Ten or so elves were riding an elevator down to the ground. Arnotu was preparing for battle. No, there were signs the battle had already begun.

Leaya and Ranta eventually reached a deserted corner. The bridge here was old, and the giant tree they crossed over to had cracks in it. The boards that made up the floor were slanted, or in some places rotted through, and they creaked no matter where he stepped. It seemed like it could collapse at any moment.

This was a dangerous area that should have been off limits, but Leaya’s mother, the shaman Alorya, was waiting for them. So was Wezel.

“Hmph,” Ranta snorted when he reached them. “Nice of you to use me as a decoy, Wezel.”

“I will not make excuses,” the gray elf shrugged. “From the beginning... I intended to use you. If I had not, I doubt I could have entered Arnotu.”

“Well, it’s fine,” Ranta said. “I’m out of jail now.”

He patted Leaya on the head again despite himself.

His hand was immediately swatted away.

“Don’t touch me.”

“Whoops. Uh, sorry. You’re just too darn cute.”

“I am not cute,” Leaya snapped. “I’m contrary and unsociable. Everyone hates me. I know that much. My father’s not even a forest elf.”

Wezel turned his eyes downward. It wasn’t like him, but he looked disheartened.

Alorya, who was standing close to Wezel, was hanging her head, perhaps unable to look at her daughter.

“When you two split up, she was pregnant with Leaya?” Ranta assumed.

“...Yes,” Wezel said in a groaning voice. “I... was not aware. That Alorya... was with child.”

“If you’d known, would things have been different?”

“I don’t know. I am not a man who is cut out to be a father. I am a killer... to the core. For as far back as I remember, I have been using drugs.”

“That job of yours, where you euthanize people who are already dying, is it a family thing?” Ranta asked.

“You... could call it that. It is one school of shamanism which has been handed down in my family. My younger brother Weldrund refused to inherit it, and ran away. I left the Broken Valley after that, so I cannot speak ill of my brother for it, though.”

“Wel...” Ranta cocked his head to the side. “I feel like... I’ve heard that name somewhere... Weldrund? Oh, yeah, that was the name of the shaman who was in Forgan, wasn’t it?”

“Forgan.” Wezel’s eyes went wide. “My brother... in Forgan?”

“You know Forgan?” Ranta asked.

“The Black Eagle Band, Forgan... led by the great Jumbo. I have heard of them, yes. They are at the center of the allied force currently attacking the Shadow Forest.”

“Whuh...” For an instant, Ranta’s mind went blank. “No.”

That word slipped from his lips, and then he burst into laughter.

“...No, no, no. No way. That can’t be right. I mean, it’s Forgan. You may not know this, but old man Takasagi’s in Forgan. There’re humans in the group. Birth, race, they don’t care about that. They’re a freewheeling bunch that’ve gathered around Jumbo. That’s the kind of group they are.”

“You speak almost... as if you know them, directly.”

“I don’t know them.” Ranta deliberately strengthened his tone. “I don’t know them... but why would Forgan do this? It makes no sense.”

“I do not know the details, either,” Wezel said. “But the rumors say... the orcish king Dif Gorgun took hostages, and forced Forgan to serve under him.”

“Jumbo’s supposed to be an orphan,” Ranta said slowly. “But I guess Forgan does have a lot of orcs in it.”

“This is how that king operates. I, too... was a tool of the king.”

“Yeah, and?” Leaya glared at Wezel. Her thin shoulders were tense, and her little hands were clenched tight. “The orcish king manipulated you, made you kill people. You’re a bad man. A horrible villain. My mother’s an utter moron who made the mistake of falling for you while she was traveling. It would have been better for her if she’d never met you, but her timing was bad. Worse yet, you’re heartless, irresponsible, and selfish, so you threw her away. Thanks to that, my mother had to drag herself back to Arnotu because she was pregnant. To give birth to me. She must have known she was pregnant, but my mother didn’t tell you. Because it’s rare to find someone as incredibly shitty as you. Because my mother’s a hopeless fool. She was born the eldest daughter of the House of Landurowal of the Six Spells, but she was a coward and ran away, unable to bear the pressure. Despite that, she came back to Arnotu, and gave birth to me alone, as everyone looked on in derision. With a mother like that, and with the blood of a gray elf, I am always, always, always bullied. I have no friends. No adults protect me. No one helps. I have the worst, most terrible life ever. That’s what it’s been so far, and what it will be from now on! Nothing good ever happens! I...!”

“Just go.” Ranta came close to patting Leaya on the head again, then caught himself and grabbed her by the shoulder instead. “Leaya. You have a mother. Maybe he’s a bum, but you’ve got a father, too. The three of you should go together. For now, yeah, you should flee to somewhere safe, and then you can live there, or you can set out on a journey once things settle down. You’ll have any number of friends in the future. I mean, seriously, you’re adorable. You’ll find yourself a lover, too, eventually. This city’s full of nothing but shitheads who bully you, right? Well, then there’s not one good reason for you to cling to the place. You’re alive, and you’re free. Now, quit moping. Go on, go!”

Ranta pushed Leaya towards the elevator.

“Wezel! And, uh, was it Alorya? You, too!”

The four of them got on the elevator together. It was an old type, not like the ones in use now, and the chain for raising and lowering it was red with rust.

Is this thing going to work properly? Ranta was worried, but when he pulled that chain, it did move. He worked with Wezel to lower the elevator.

The smoke on the ground was thinner than in Arnotu. When he looked upwards, he couldn’t see the sky, but he could make out the light shining through the branches. It was daytime.

The elevator had a number of luminous mushroom baskets on it, and there were towers in every direction, too. It wasn’t bright, but it wasn’t that dark, either. He couldn’t hear their voices or the sounds of battle, but he could see elven figures off in the distance. Nearly all of the elevators were moving, and elves were coming down one after another.

“Wezel, any idea where you’ll go?” Ranta asked.

“...Some.”

“Okay, then.”

“What will you do?”

“I’m...” Ranta started to say, then held up his left hand lightly.

He grasped the hilt of his katana with his right.

Leaya tried to say something, but when Ranta brought the index finger of his left hand to the mouth of his mask, Leaya shut her mouth. Alorya held her daughter close.

Where is it? he wondered. This presence—it’s probably eyes.

We’re being watched.

From where?

The area directly below Arnotu must have been being maintained by the elves or something, because there wasn’t the slightest bit of foliage, so it would be hard to hide something even the size of a dog. In which case...

How many of these giant trees were there supporting the treetop city of Arnotu? More than ten or twenty. Taking a rough guess, maybe a hundred.

The closest giant tree to the one Ranta and the others had descended from, in the old elevator, was easily more than twenty meters away. That giant tree had no elevator.

Ranta suddenly jumped with Leap Out. He closed in on the giant tree that was his target in no time, and they came out.

They came out of the shadow of the giant tree.

The guy was dressed in black. He was wearing what looked like a balaclava, so Ranta couldn’t see his face. Judging by his build, though, this wasn’t an orc.

He was human or undead, then? His arms were strangely long, so he had to be undead. There were short swords in both of his hands.

“Personal Skill...” Ranta drew his katana.

He came to a sudden stop right in front of the undead’s nose—or that was what he made it look like. It should create an illusion like he was moving to the left. The undead eyes did, in fact, follow him in that direction. However, no one was there.

The undead guessed Ranta had gone the other way and looked right, but he wasn’t there, either, and he wasn’t in front of him, either. Ranta was nowhere to be found.

Had he vanished? The undead got confused. There was no way he could have vanished.

That was right. He hadn’t.

“Mirage Slash!” Ranta was right in front of the undead. However, if the undead didn’t look downwards, he wouldn’t be able to see him.

From a stance so low his left knee touched the ground, Ranta swung his katana upward diagonally with all his might.

It was perfect. He was at killing range, and his timing was excellent, but the undead crossed his short swords, and blocked Ranta’s katana with a clang.

This undead wasn’t your ordinary opponent.

Good. Fine by me. Now you’ve got me fired up. Ranta instantly pulled back his katana.

“Personal Skill, Rantah...!”

He actually wanted to say Random Flurry, but he tripped over his tongue. Well, not like the name mattered.

He struck, and struck, and struck. From the top, from the right, from the top right, from the top left, from the top again, right, right, left, right, top, right, left, left, he swung his katana.

Daaaamn. The undead could fend off a combo this long? With those short swords? He hadn’t looked like much. He didn’t make much of an impression. If anything, he’d seemed like cannon fodder, but this undead was seriously strong.

Sure, Ranta was on the offensive. If he wasn’t, he’d be in trouble. He had to keep attacking, or he felt like the tables would be turned on him in an instant. In that case, he’d just have to attack, attack, attack.

“Personal Skill, Horizontal Rain!”

Ranta switched to thrusts. He thrust madly, like he was trying to create a line of spears all by himself. It was no exaggeration to call it a furious assault.

But the undead easily deflected everything with his short swords, making the thrusts go astray. He was neutralizing Ranta’s attacks with minimal effort.

Was he some kind of master? There were always guys out there like this.

Still, Ranta wasn’t attacking without purpose. He had a plan. He’d get his opponent used to thrusts, then change. This was preparation. He’d thrust, and thrust, and thrust, and—

“Wha...?!”

Suddenly, the undead jumped back, right into the giant tree.

What? Why? What happened? Still not understanding, Ranta tried to close in on the undead. He felt like he was being lured in, but his body moved on its own. It shouldn’t have.

The undead kicked the ground, sending a mixture of moss and dirt flying towards him.

“Huh?!” Ranta came close to shutting his eyes despite himself, but he resisted. The dirt only distracted him for a brief instant.

In that time, the undead hid himself.

“What is he, a ninja?!” Ranta instinctively looked up.

Bingo. The undead had thrust his sword into the giant tree, and was clinging on to it.

“...Heh. Hah! I’mma niiiinja!” The undead thrust his two swords in to the giant tree in turn, higher and higher each time, climbing upwards.

“Whoa, whoa... Seriously?” Ranta said. “Even I’m not gonna be able to chase after that. Hold on, intruders...”

That undead wasn’t necessarily the first to arrive. The enemy had already entered Arnotu. He had to assume that.

“Wezel!” Ranta yelled.

If that was the case, they were best off getting out of the Shadow Forest as soon as possible. Wezel and the others were standing still in front of the old elevator.

Ranta was going to shout, Go! at them, but the loud howling got in his way.

Not of dogs. He immediately knew those were the howls of wolves.

Wezel hugged Alorya and Leaya. If he’d been alone, he’d have fled long before Ranta told him to. He’d crossed many a dangerous bridge before, and he was still alive because he knew how to get himself out of a crisis. But now he had two people in need of protection with him. One of them was just a child, and his daughter at that.

“How awkward for you, gray elf,” Ranta called. “You’re so lame, it’s awesome. I don’t mind guys like you.”

Ranta flew all the way to Wezel and his family’s side.

“O Darkness, O Lord of Vice! Demon Call!”

When he called Zodie the demon, Leaya’s eyes bugged out like she had just run into the reaper himself. “What is that?!”

“Ehe... Just a hot guy... passing by... Ehehehehe....” Zodie said.

“Drop the stupid nonsense,” Ranta snorted. “We’re doing this, Zodie.”

The wolves were still at a distance, so they looked like a horde of pitch black rats, but they were unquestionably black wolves.

Yeah, there were pitch black wolves charging in from the forest.

“There are no black wolves in Arnotu,” Alorya whispered to herself in a daze.

It was hard to imagine black wolves had wandered into the Shadow Forest, which was not their territory, of their own accord. It was practically impossible. Someone had deliberately brought the black wolves all the way here.

Ranta knew only one man who could pull off that feat.

“Onsa, huh?” he muttered. That was Forgan’s goblin beastmaster.

It wasn’t just black wolves. Ranta could see humanoid figures on the other side.

“Is everyone here?” Ranta adjusted his grip on his katana. His hand was quivering slightly.

“Ehe...” Zodie cackled. “Are you scared, Ranta? You insignificant chicken... Ehehehehe...”

“Shove off. You think someone as awesome as me is afraid?”

He could see the flickering of torches or some other flame in the distance. There were a fair number of them.

The black wolves weren’t attacking—they were just barking and trying to intimidate as they surrounded them.

Following behind the black wolves, was that an orc? Judging by his build, it could be a human.

Ranta pointed behind to the rear, diagonally to the left. “That way! There’re no enemies yet. When I give the signal, go.”

“Ranta...” Wezel began.

“Protect your family, Wezel.”

Oh, yeah, Ranta grinned. I nailed it.

As he was backing in secret glee, suddenly Leaya tackled him, and Ranta nearly let out a groan of surprise.

Huh? What? What was that? No, no, don’t panic. As an adult man, I need to show my composure here.

“What is it?” he demanded.

“Am I...”

Leaya pressed her face against Ranta’s chest, hugging him tight around the waist, and squeezed hard.

It actually hurt pretty bad, but Ranta was a man, so he sucked it up and pretended everything was fine.

Eventually, Leaya looked up. Her eyes were moist. Her cheeks, red.

“...seriously cute?” she finished.

“Yup.” Ranta gave her a cool smile.

He hated to admit it, but she’d made his heart skip a beat. His face might’ve looked a bit goofy as a result. It was a good thing he had his mask on. She was just a kid, after all. He was an adult, and a man.

“You’re seriously, seriously, super seriously cute,” Ranta told her.

“I’ll choose to believe you.”

“See ya, Leaya.”

“I don’t think we’ll ever meet again,” she said.

“Guess you’re right, huh?”

“Probably.”

Leaya pushed Ranta away as they parted.

The black wolves were howling loudly.

“You’re too noisy. Shut up!” It was the sound of a human voice—a man shouting, echoed.

Ranta knew that voice.

The man advancing in between the black wolves had just one eye, and one arm.

It was old man Takasagi.

He’s gotten older, Ranta thought. But he’s looking better than I’d’ve expected.

Ranta put his hand on the hilt of his katana. “Now.”

When he gave the signal in a quiet voice, Wezel took off running, taking Alorya, and Leaya with him.

Takasagi went to go after them, but that wasn’t going to happen.

“Zodie, kill ’em all!” Ranta yelled.

These weren’t enemies he could take if he didn’t go into this prepared to do that much.

Ranta jumped in with Leap Out. Takasagi’s right eye went wide. Maybe he realized. When he’d seen this katana, he should have.

You gave it to me, after all, Ranta thought.

“You bastard...!” he yelled.

Takasagi drew his katana. Damn the old man. He was smiling. Now that they’d met, it was time to settle things, was that it?

Ranta drew and swung. When their two katanas collided, there was a high-pitched clang, and sparks went flying.

Takasagi pushed with his katana. Their hilts locked.

Takasagi was old and experienced. It was obvious he should disengage right away, but he couldn’t help but want to test his strength.

Under the mask, Ranta smiled.

Am I being true to my own heart?

Of course.

Until the day that Skullhell takes me, I will never betray it.