Grimgal of Ashes and Illusion - Volume 14.2 - Chapter 3.02

2. Trigon of Dreams

“Haruhiro-kun. Merry-san. Both of you, thank you.”

As he walked through the craftsmen’s town carrying the sword of the infamous Death Spots, Moguzo was the picture of happiness. It was rare to see him look so pleased.

“Oh, no, it’s no big deal...” Haruhiro gave a vague response, then laughed.

“Don’t worry about it.”

What was Merry thinking when she gave that simple but curt response? How did she feel? There was nothing to it. Merry was normal. Though, normal was very different from how Merry had been before, and she was beginning to get used to the party. But even so, there was some distance there, you could say. To give an example, you could feel an extra degree of distance between her and her female comrades, Yume and Shihoru. But slowly, gradually, she was trying to narrow it. That was probably why she had come along today. That was all. She didn’t mean anything special by it.

“...Yeah. That’s gotta be it. That’s it.”

“Haru? Did you say something?”

“Huh? M-Me? D-Did I...?”

“I’m the one who asked.”

“Y-You were, weren’t you?! That’s right. Yeah. Um, not really... I-I was just talking to myself, you could say. There was no real meaning to it. Sometimes, I just mumble...”

“Ohhh.” Merry gave the barest hint of a smile, then took a breath. “I guess that’s a thing we do sometimes. I do it, too.”

“It is, right?! Yeah. It’s a thing we do. Why, though? I wonder...”

“I—” Merry started to say something, then, “No, never mind.” She shook her head.

“Huh? Wh-What? Just say it.”

“It’s just...”

“Just what?”

“I’m by myself a lot of the time. So I thought that might be why.”

Urgh... Haruhiro felt something tighten in his chest.

Honestly, it made him want to shout.

Merryyyyyyy...! Hold ooooon! Merryyyyy...?!

Don’t say that...!

Yes, the one who told her to “Just say it,” and made her tell him something sad like she talked to herself because she was always alone was Haruhiro himself, but still!

I didn’t want to make you say that... you know.

Well—as the party’s leader? Maybe...? Yeah. Strictly as the party leader. In my role as leader, I should worry about that sort of stuff, watch it, I guess? It may be her personal, private issue, but, like, we’re comrades and all? Yeah, comrades! Even if I weren’t the leader, it’s normal to worry about her as a fellow human being, right? Right?

“Ahh, erm... I-In times like that...”

“Times like that?” Merry asked, blinking. Like she was giving him a blank look. That expression. What did it mean? Merry was kinda, you know? She could be pretty cold. She had acted sort of prickly when they first met, yeah? There had been none of that lately, but she wasn’t exactly the emotionally expressive type. From what Hayashi had told him, she had been really cheerful, once upon a time, but the thing that happened must still have been casting a shadow over her. The pain of loss must’ve changed Merry. She was forced to change. There was no need to force her to go back to her old self. But someday, he wanted her to be able to smile from the bottom of her heart.

That, basically, was why that blank look—it caught him by surprise. He felt like it was the first time he’d seen it.

It seemed innocent, untainted, pure... What should he call it?

In a word, cute?

Cute, huh?

That didn’t seem right, but not all that far off. No, maybe it was too right? Dead on? He’d hit it out of the park?

“...T-Times like that... Uh, yeah, times like that... Like that? Huh...?”

What was it again?

What kind of times were those times? What had he even been talking about? He didn’t know. He couldn’t recall. What now? Should he ask? Merry? When he was the one who started talking, that seemed weird. Then what, think about it? He was. He was trying to recall. He just couldn’t.

“I-It happens, right? There are times like that!”

He’d have to push through this. Haruhiro made a strong declaration.

Merry furrowed her brow a bit, seeming a little dubious, but in the end, “Sure,” she agreed with him. That had to be out of kindness. She was being considerate. Merry had shown him kindness.

I’m the one, though! The one who needs to be kind! As the leader! As her comrade! I know Merry’s having all kinds of trouble. What am I doing, making her be kind to me instead? I fail as a leader. No, it’s no exaggeration to say I fail as a human being. Okay, maybe that’s too far. I’m being hyperbolic. Whatever, I got out of it, so it’s all good.

“Oh! Over there.”

Moguzo suddenly came to a stop, pointing to a narrow road on their left. When Haruhiro looked, there was a T-junction at the end of the short road, and a bare stone building there. There was a sign out front.

Workshop Masukaze, it read.

“It’s kind of out of the way, huh?”

“Y-Yeah.” Moguzo sounded somewhat tense. His face was a little stiff. “I hear it’s run by a talented smith. He’s an odd one, though. I mean, I heard he only accepts unusual jobs, or something like that...”

Haruhiro looked at Death Spots’ sword, which Moguzo was carrying on his shoulder.

“Oh, yeah? Well, what you’ve got there may count, huh?”

“Maybe. That’s what I thought, too.”

“Why don’t we just go see?”

At Merry’s urging, the three of them walked down the narrow road. The door to Workshop Masukaze was made of steel. There were patterns carved into the whole surface of it, and they were inlaid with a blackish metal. This was delicate work. Even an amateur could tell. On closer inspection, Workshop Masukaze’s sign was made of iron, too, and was similarly inlaid.

When they opened the door and looked inside, “Wah!” Moguzo’s head shot back. And it wasn’t just him. Haruhiro and Merry had the same reaction.

There were weapons lining the walls and stands. That was fine. The issue wasn’t the weapons, it was the thing occupying the center of the room, glaring at them—a metal... horse? Was that what it was? No. That was no horse.

If it were a horse, there would be two front legs, and two back legs. But that thing had wheels in place of legs. Two in front, one in back. Three in total.

If you were to call it something, it would be a wheeled horse...?

The expression on it, or the shape of the head attached to the neck, was somewhat horse-like, but different. “Then what was it?” you might ask, but Haruhiro had no answer. Maybe the dragons he had heard rumors of had faces like this. Then this was a wheeled dragon-horse?

“Oh! Welcome!”

A man came out from the back. It seemed that was where the smithy was.

The man had long hair, and wore a craftsman’s apron. He wasn’t that large, but he was sturdy, and looked light. It was hard to guess his age. He had to be a lot older than Haruhiro, but this man felt like he had probably been this way ten years ago, and would be unchanged ten years from now. That was the aloof impression he gave.

From the way he smiled, raising one hand and approaching with light steps, he seemed like he was good with people. But though the man looked at them, his eyes seemed to be focused somewhere else.

“Hello, they call me Riyosuke. I’m a blacksmith.” The man patted the wheeled dragon-horse as he spoke. “What business brings you to this workshop?”

“R-Right!”

Moguzo lowered the sword from his shoulder. Before he could, there was an unnatural sparkle in Riyosuke the blacksmith’s eyes.

He was looking. He was so looking. Riyosuke was totally looking at it. At Death Spots’ sword. If someone looked at Haruhiro with eyes like that, he probably wouldn’t last ten seconds. Not even five.

“Uwahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.”

Riyosuke flew towards Moguzo and snatched Death Spots’ sword away from him. Holding the massive sword in both hands, he wasn’t so much looking at it as licking it up and down with his eyes. Moguzo backed away, and Haruhiro stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Merry—no, he had no choice, you know? Merry got closer to him; Haruhiro didn’t move himself, okay? It didn’t seem like Merry had intended to get closer to Haruhiro, either, so it just worked out that way. That was all there was to it.

But, more importantly, Riyosuke was looking at Death Spots’ sword. From every angle, varying his distance as he did, turning it over and tilting it, too, as he checked it obsessively.

How long does he plan to look at it?

Forever, maybe?

For all eternity...?

After looking at it long enough to make Haruhiro wonder those things, “Interesting...” Riyosuke whispered. “Interesting, that’s what this is. Truly interesting. It’s different. In its ideals. Its history. This is an incredibly old piece. Well now. —I see. This goes like this... Hmm. I see. I see. That’s why... Ah. Hmm. So that’s what they did? Why yes they did. I didn’t expect them to do that. Ah, but if they didn’t, then what? This would happen, so... I see.”

Riyosuke glanced at Moguzo.

“Can I have this?”

“Wha—” Moguzo was speechless. Well, of course he was. Why would he bring it all this way here just to give the thing away?

“No!” Haruhiro interjected, “Y-You can’t have it! You can’t, okay? That’s crazy! Um, but that’s not the issue, we want you to fix it so it can be used.”

“I’m joking,” Riyosuke said with a smile, then, looking down, he clicked his tongue.

“...You just clicked your tongue.”

When Merry gently pointed that out, Riyosuke smiled again.

“That was a joke, too.”

“Was it really...?”

Haruhiro said what he was thinking despite himself.

“Why, of course it was, geez,” Riyosuke said, looking to the wheeled dragon-horse as he did for some reason. “By the way, what do you think of this work? It’s quite something, isn’t it?”

Moguzo seemed overwhelmed as he said, “Oh, yes,” with a nod. “I-It’s cool... yeah. D-Did you make that, too, Riyosuke-san?”

“Yes. That’s right. I made it. It’s cool? I see. Thank you. I’m honored.”

“What is that?”

When Merry asked him, “Let me turn that around,” Riyosuke said. “What do you think it is?”

“...A horse?”

“Yes. One of the motifs is indeed a horse.”

“The head is... a dragon, maybe?” Haruhiro suggested.

“It is,” Riyosuke said with a nod, “My image for the head was, in fact, a dragon. I ran into one back when I was a volunteer soldier. Just one, though.”

“Oh, you were a volunteer soldier, huh?”

“I’ve changed my line of work. Quite a long time ago, too.”

“A horse and a dragon...” Haruhiro looked at the wheels. “Why are the legs wheels?”

“Ah, these.” The expression suddenly vanished from Riyosuke’s face. “I saw them in a dream. I think they must be from some vehicle. This “Trigon” was made with a horse, a dragon, and that vehicle as its motifs.”

“Trigon...”

Moguzo looked at the Trigon with a serious expression, then sighed.

For Haruhiro’s part, he couldn’t help but think, And?

What is this thing? It doesn’t look like a weapon. Is it a vehicle? Maybe you could ride on the horse’s back, but it’s too heavy to be drawn like a carriage. Is it just a stationary art piece?

“Well, it’s a dreamlike thing that came out of my dream,” Riyosuke said with a personable smile, “I’m sorry to talk about such an odd thing. Thank you for playing along. Oh, but it was fun talking. Now, I still have work to do, so let’s leave it at that.”

“Oh, thank you...” Moguzo bowed his head, but—No, no, no.

“H-Hold on!” Haruhiro called after Riyosuke.

“The sword! Why are you subtly trying to run off with Death Spots’ sword?!”

“You caught me, huh?” Riyosuke, who had been trying to walk into the back with the sword still in his arms, turned around. He was smiling, of course. “It’s a joke.”

“You were absolutely serious...”

“Only enough to think, ‘Maybe I’ll get lucky.’ Ha ha ha.”

“Is this okay?” Merry frowned, lowering her voice—though, not so low Riyosuke wouldn’t be able to hear her—and asking Moguzo and Haruhiro, “Are you sure we want to ask someone like this?”

“Um, er...” Moguzo mumbled, clearly uneasy. Haruhiro didn’t know whether to trust the blacksmith either.

“Leave it to me, I insist.”

That the only one who seemed confident about it was Riyosuke himself made it all the more suspicious.

“I believe I can guarantee you’ll be satisfied. Ah, yes. Let me take some measurements now, and I’ll do up an estimate for you. If you’re satisfied with the price, I don’t mind being paid once the work is done, so I’ll ask you to leave it with me for four days. That’ll work. You’ve come to the right place.”