Grimgal of Ashes and Illusion - Volume 14 - Chapter 11

11. Embrace Me Gently [never_let_me_down]

Setora was trying her best not to think, What in the world is going on?

Or rather, at some point, she had stopped thinking that. That was most likely because it had become ingrained in her, the belief that thinking about it wasn’t going to do any good.

She had given up on looking back at the road they’d taken and trying to commit it to memory, too. They just went straight, and would come to bottomless swamps with white bubbles, and cliffs that were like bolts of lightning.

If they turned 180 degrees and went back the way they came, naturally they should have seen familiar places, but for some reason that wasn’t always the case. No, it might be fairer to say it was hardly ever the case.

Impossible! Something is wrong! Maybe it was a rejection of the lack of consistency, or a more primal fear and uncertainty, or confusion, but whatever it was, it was hard to suppress the feeling.

Still, confronting the reality in front of her while harboring those feelings would have been even more difficult. In order to adapt to the unrealistic reality she was in, she had to accept it all.

First, she abandoned any preconceptions of what reality should be like. She accepted the reality she had, but then what?

It made her sleepy, so when the sweet wind blew, she’d cover her mouth with cloth. Drinking water made her intensely sad, so she didn’t drink. The lack of food and water wouldn’t cause her to waste away, so she didn’t eat or drink at all.

“But this is...”

When she climbed to the top of a hill that seemed to spin around, no, that actually was spinning, a town spread out beneath her.

Was it a town? There were rows of buildings large and small with roofs tiled with slate, or something similar, and roads in between them. She could spot gardens and walls, too. There was a thin haze, so she couldn’t see clearly, but might the things moving up and down the streets be humans?

“They still seem awfully normal, or sane. Oh, I guess they’re the same thing, huh?” her fellow traveler said with a laugh.

This woman was acting awfully strange, too, but it was questionable if that was to simply be accepted alongside the other events. She wasn’t sure what to do about that.

Just looking at the woman, she was no different from before. Not like Kiichi, who had transformed massively and now carried his master on his back.

Yes, Kiichi had changed. Looking at Kiichi with her on his back, only one in ten thousand people might still think he was a nyaa.

Nyaas were creatures that were sometimes also called monkey-cats, or cat-monkeys, and when measured from the top of the head to the bottom of the body, tail excluded, even the largest was less than half as long as a grown person. They would walk on all-fours when moving, but they could stand on their hind legs, and with training, they could use their front legs dexterously like hands. But what about now?

Right now Kiichi was approximately more than twice his master’s size, his four legs were all frighteningly thick, and he had the face of a vicious carnivore. There wasn’t a shred of charm to be found.

She couldn’t deny his excessive viciousness was cute in a way, but still, he had left the range of what she would call a nyaa and had burst into an entirely different dimension.

While he defended his master, diligently biting the monsters that tried to attack them to death, Kiichi gradually grew bigger, and stronger. Were all of the monsters in this world highly nutritious?

No... even if he were to eat nutritional supplements in large quantities, as an adult nyaa, Kiichi wouldn’t have grown this large.

She couldn’t understand it, but she had to accept it. However he might look now, Kiichi was Kiichi. He was loyal to his master even without harsh discipline, had a rare personality that included tenacity in addition to his strong curiosity, and was exceptionally intelligent, adaptable, and athletic. Among all the nyaas she had seen, he had demonstrated the highest potential.

It was best for her to optimistically assume that it was because of Kiichi’s nature that, even after becoming like this, he still served his master the same as ever.

In this world, everything changed. Everything was changing. Was it really all right to conclude her fellow traveler was no exception to that?

Guarrrr... Perhaps sensing the disturbance in his master’s heart, Kiichi let out a low growl.

While stroking Kiichi’s neck, she turned to see what her fellow traveler, who was standing next to her and looking down at the town, was looking at. It might be best to put the question to her.

Who are you? No, maybe she needed to be more direct. You’re not her, are you? Not the woman called Merry. You’re someone else. I’m right, aren’t I?

“Hm?” The woman with Merry’s face looked her way and smiled.

It was a fake smile, one she could only imagine the woman had gotten used to after making it millions of times. It wasn’t like she had known the woman that well, but had she been the type to wear a smile like that?

The woman had never smiled much to begin with. Whenever she had smiled, it had been hesitant, like she was afraid her smiling would hurt someone else. That was the impression she had given off.

“Is something the matter, Setora?” the woman asked.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“I see. Well, all right then.”

“If there’s something wrong with one of us, it’s with you, isn’t it?” Setora asked.

It wasn’t as if she had mumbled that. She’d said it plain and clear, but the woman didn’t react, as if she didn’t even hear it.

If she was going to ignore Setora, there were better ways of going about it. She had to be pretty bold to be doing it like that.

“It seems to be a town,” Setora said. “Looks like people are living there.”

“I guess so.”

“This time you’re responding, are you?”

“It might be better to say they’re person-like things, though. Just because they look like people, that doesn’t mean they are.”

“...Well, I suppose not.”

“This place’s got its own rules. They’re a little different from the rules we know. No, not just a little, I guess. They’re really different. We’ve learned that here.”

“You’re rather different yourself,” Setora said. “That’s not how you talked before.”

“What do you want to do? Try heading down there?”

“You’re intending to ignore me completely, then. Very well. In that case, I have some ideas of my own.”

“Hey, Setora.” The woman put on that fake smile again.

Setora had a strong urge to tear that mask off, but if she actually did so, what would be the true face that emerged?

“Can we set this aside for now? We’re kind of facing a crisis. Of course, who knows how long it’ll go on for.”

“I just want to know what’s going on with you, that’s all. There’s too much I don’t understand going on as-is.”

“You aren’t going to accept it, and move on?” the woman asked.

“When did I ever say that? I don’t think I ever said it out loud.”

“That was the look on your face.”

“If Haru met you now, I wonder how he’d feel.”

“...Haruhiro, huh?”

“Unlike me, Haru is fond of you,” Setora said. “He feels attached to you, I imagine.”

“I may need to consider the possibility, but is he even still alive? I can’t imagine a volunteer soldier of his level would be able to survive in this—”

The woman closed her mouth, and got a serious expression on her face. No, not a serious expression; it might be more appropriate to call it a lack of expression. But it was for just a moment. The woman quickly plastered that suspicious smile back on her pretty face.

“For now, let’s assume he’s survived. That seems safest.”

“How odd...”

“‘That expression’s not bad.’ I can understand why you’d want to say that, but... I’m not so sure. Until we get out of our current difficulties, why don’t we cooperate like before? If we can just turn a blind eye to a minor problem, the two of us can get along. You ought to feel the same. That’s why you didn’t say anything before now, right?”

“You don’t care to put on appearance anymore, huh?” Setora asked.

“Because you’re a reasonable sort. The truth is, dealing with stupid brats is a lot of trouble. Not you, though.”

This woman’s identity was still an unknown, but regardless, Setora could sense intuitively that she was a wicked being. Perhaps driven by necessity, that being was revealing her cards. The truth of it wasn’t entirely clear, though.

It was true, at present, that it would be mutually beneficial for them to work together. But if things changed and she became more of a harm than she was worth, this woman might dispose of Setora to silence her.

Naturally, Setora had no intention of going down easily, and she had to make use of the moves she had available to her.

“In that case, keep up the act, at least,” Setora said. “You never know when we might run into the others. I have no interest in what’s inside you, but the rest will feel differently.”

“Well, yes, I suppose you’re right.”

“Please don’t make Haru worry, or be sad. He’s the first man I ever loved. It’s not as if I’m completely over him yet.”

“I’ll take that to heart,” the woman said.

“Please do.”

Setora was trying to put on the expression and tone of a woman who couldn’t let go of her romantic feelings, doing her best for the man they were for, but she wasn’t sure how well it was working. It wasn’t as if she had none of those feelings, so it shouldn’t have come across as completely insincere.

“Now, then... shall we go?” Setora asked. “To that town?”

Setora riding Kiichi and the woman who was impersonating Merry descended the hill covered in bumps and rifts and headed for the town.

The haze neither thickened nor cleared. The area around the town was just slightly misty. It was bizarre, but not so aberrant she couldn’t accept it. Things must just have been like this sometimes here.

While jumping over rifts, and diverting around bumps that were sharp like swords, they somehow managed to make it down the hill.

The town seemed to be surrounded by a twisted latticework fence. As they approached, they found it ranged from as tall as a person to three times that, and it was covered all over in a thick ivy with thorns.

It might not have been impossible to scale it if they were willing to be a little reckless, but there had to be an entrance and exit somewhere.

They followed the fence, and there was a gate. No door, and no guards. They were apparently free to enter.

Setora went through the gate and entered the town. It was as hazy as ever. There was no one near the gate, but she could see figures here and there down the street.

“It’s quiet,” Not-Merry said in whisper, glancing over at Setora. “It’s quiet,” she repeated.

She was right. If there were no one around, that would be one thing, but there were people walking around, and it was still as quiet as if she were plugging her ears. Did no one in this town make noise, or talk?

Kiichi, who had more sensitive hearing than a human, wasn’t moving his ears at all. That meant he wasn’t hearing anything, either.

“Let’s take a look for now,” Setora said.

She and the others continued straight down the road.

Haze. Figures in the distance. Haze. Figures in the distance. Haze...

Figures in the distance. Haze. Figures in the distance. Haze. Figures in the distance. Haze...

“Hm...” Not-Merry groaned before shrugging her shoulders. “We aren’t passing anyone.”

“It would seem they’re avoiding us.”

“I hadn’t expected to be welcomed... but still.”

“Why don’t you try pretending a little harder?”

“Copy that,” Not-Merry said in a foreign language.

“What did you say?”

“Roger.”

“Are you messing with me?”

“Perish the thought.”

“We’re turning back for now—Kiichi.”

Just from hearing his name, Kiichi predicted her commands and did an about-face.

“Can’t we ride double?” Not-Merry grumbled as she followed along.

“If you were the real one, that might be one thing, but there’s no way I would let someone like you ride on Kiichi.”

“I’m not exactly a fake—but even if I were to explain, I doubt you’d accept it.”

“Explaining means you tell it in a way the other person can understand,” Setora said. “You’re speaking only to hide something, or to dodge the issue. That’s not an explanation.”

“Talking with you is fun,” Not-Merry said. “That’s sincerely how I feel.”

The gate was closed. It wasn’t that a previously nonexistent door had appeared out of nowhere. The thorny ivy had grown thick, intertwining and completely covering the opening of the gate.

“Well, now...” Setora said. “Do you think it doesn’t let people out once they’ve come in?”

“That would be one way that we could interpret it... I think. How’m I doing?”

“Enough. It looks like I’m not going to have time to worry about you.”

Twitch. Twitch. Kiichi’s ears shuddered.

Gurrrr... he growled.

Setora could hear something. Like the wind. But there wasn’t even a slight breeze.

Not-Merry was looking around busily, too.

Setora listened closely.

Wellllll...

...commmme...

Setora cocked her head to the side. “I could be wrong, but... we may be more welcome than we thought.”

Wel...

...come...

...to... our...

...town...

Wel...come...

Hmph. Not-Merry snorted. “In that case, they’re not refusing to let us out, but trying to keep us here.”

Her tone wasn’t far from the original’s. But that was upsetting in and of itself.

If they... follow the rules... everyone can stay... happily... in this town...

Rule... One... Be quiet... Don’t make a fuss...

Rule... Two... Fighting is... bad... Be peaceful... gentle... fun...

Rule... Three... You can’t... leave this... town... ever...

Rule... Four... Imitate... everyone...

If they... Follow the rules... everyone can stay... happily... forever...

Whose voice was this? It could be heard coming from every direction. That, or maybe it was coming from inside their heads.

Not-Merry raised just her left eyebrow. “Looks like leaving is forbidden, after all.”

Rule... One... Be quiet... Don’t make a fuss...

“Keep our mouths shut and don’t talk, is that it?” Setora smirked.

She didn’t know who the speaker was, but they were being awfully pushy. At the very least, Setora could be sure the happy life in this town wasn’t going to suit her very well.

So, what was she going to do about that? She didn’t even have to think about it. She was getting out of town immediately.

Setora gripped Kiichi powerfully with both legs.

That was when it happened.

The ivy wall blocking the gate that she was about to have Kiichi tackle and break through was smashed in from the other side.

“Whuh...?!”

What broke down the ivy wall and came through it was a big disc... no, was that a mirror?

Even here, a massive mirror wasn’t going to be moving around on its own. There was someone carrying it. The corpulent man who was holding it held the mirror aloft, spinning it around, then glared sharply at Setora and Merry.

“You people, are you Yomu?”

“Yomu?” Setora looked over at Not-Merry despite herself.

It seemed Not-Merry had no more idea what he was talking about than her, and she cocked her head to the side. “I don’t... think so?”

“You don’t look like Yomu, so what are you?!” the man cried. “From the looks of it, you’re not half-monsters, or dream monsters. You don’t look like tricksters, either. Does that mean what I think it does?! What are you people?! Do we get to take you out?!”

“What’re ya doin’, Tonbe?! Yer a such worth sack o’ lard!” Another man appeared from the hole in the wall of ivy.

“That’s one hell of an accent,” Not-Merry muttered.

It was true, he had a distinctive intonation that was hard to pick up, but his appearance was quite unique, too. Were there really people with chins that long?

This man had his mouth covered with cloth, but it couldn’t fully contain his overlong chin. It was jutting out.

Could eyebrows grow in such perfect equilateral triangles like that? His pupils were awfully small. Those sanpaku eyes had been seen as a mark of ill fortune long ago, a cause for shunning.

Also, what was with that man’s forehead? Or rather, was there anything to it? It was narrow, bordering on nonexistent. It was hard to even call it a forehead when it was that narrow. Did the man not have a forehead, then? What did it mean to have no forehead?

The sentence “He packs some crazy punch” passed through Setora’s head. Those words weren’t a part of her usual vocabulary. It sounded like something Kuzaku might say. Still, it was true, the man’s appearance packed some crazy punch.

The man put his hand on the hilt of the greatsword strapped across his back, glaring at Setora and Not-Merry. “Huh...? The hell’re you people?”

Setting Mirror Man aside, this guy seemed fairly capable—though, because his looks packed too much punch, Setora couldn’t help but laugh at him.

“I could ask you the same.”

Earnestly suppressing her laughter, Setora had to work hard to maintain a serious expression. If she laughed, Too Much Punch Man would attack Setora immediately.

She wasn’t sure she could even block the first swing. Depending on how it went, it might be over with that first swing. The evil, vicious aura that Too Much Punch Man gave off was enough to inspire that sense of urgency in her.

Mirror Man readied his giant mirror. His plump body was mostly hidden by the massive mirror. The giant mirror looked like a hand mirror blown up to that size, but how was he even carrying it? She didn’t really know.

With his lips lowered, and his left arm hanging slack, Too Much Punch Man inched closer, gripping and releasing the hilt of his greatsword with his right hand.

Even for Kiichi, who had his hackles raised and was ready to fight, handling Too Much Punch Man was probably going to be difficult. They probably couldn’t underestimate Mirror Man, either. Who knew how much of a fight Not-Merry would even put up? Whatever the case, Setora needed to be ready for an all-out battle.

Setora jumped down from Kiichi’s back, gripping the pseudo-soul vessel hidden in her pocket tightly. “Enba!”

The pseudo-soul which was made with the power of a relic and the pseudo-soul vessel that contained it were the golem Enba’s true body. That said, Enba’s cadaver, which had been made of dead bodies and metal, was broken and lost. The cadaver couldn’t function without a pseudo-soul vessel, and was no more than a mere puppet, but the pseudo-soul vessel was also no more than a hard gem without a cadaver.

Those who came before her said that it was possible to read the pseudo-soul’s will from the blue light that flickered through a number of holes. Setora thought that was a hallucination. If she didn’t remake his cadaver, Enba would not move.

If Setora were to make a cadaver anywhere but her hometown, the village, she would have to gather all the tools and materials from scratch, so it was, to put it extremely lightly, going to be a massive undertaking. It would be incredibly difficult to prepare a new cadaver for Enba.

Enba was essentially dead at this point.

For whatever reason, she had been born into the House of Shuro, and the first flesh golem she’d created as a necromancer was Enba. She couldn’t get used to the House of Shuro’s method of making and destroying new golems one after another, seeking to make a cutting-edge golem.

She had created life with her own hands. Now that she had made it, she couldn’t destroy it. She’d decided Enba would be her last golem.

The unspeaking Enba had served her in silence. He had always been at her side. Like a friend.

That had caused Enba’s death.

It was as if Setora had killed Enba herself.

She felt no guilt. Enba was a golem. He was ready to give his life for the necromancer who was his master at any time. Enba only did the obvious. Enba, obviously, would not blame Setora. No one could blame her for anything.

Enba was no more. He would likely never come back. Setora just had to accept that fact. There was nothing else she could do. That was how it was supposed to be.

Too Much Punch Man jumped and lunged towards her. He was going faster than Setora’s kinetic vision could hope to follow.

Setora or Kiichi, possibly both, would have been neatly bisected by Too Much Punch Man’s greatsword if Enba hadn’t suddenly appeared to stand in Too Much Punch Man’s way.

Enba’s long, metal-bound left arm deflected Too Much Punch Man’s greatsword. Without missing a beat, his right arm roared.

Too Much Punch Man retreated with a strange move that made him disappear, only to reappear in another place, dodging Enba’s right arm.

“The hell...?!” he shouted.

“Mwuhuh...?!” Mirror Man knocked back a sudden attack by Kiichi with his massive mirror.

Kiichi jumped back, fell into a fighting position, then growled.

That massive mirror had quite a bit of defensive power. Mirror Man had a warhammer on his back, but he surely couldn’t use it at the same time as the mirror.

Too Much Punch Man and Mirror Man were a team, one handling attack, the other handling defense, were they?

Not-Merry tapped the pommel of her head staff twice on the ground, watching on in silence. It looked like she had no intention of getting involved at all. It was impossible to know what she’d do if things went bad, but for now, Setora would need Kiichi and Enba to do their best.

Why was Enba, who should have lost his cadaver, here? More than that, when Setora had held his pseudo-soul vessel and willed him to come, he’d appeared. How did this phenomenon work? Setora had no idea, but Enba was here.

He had defended Setora a number of times in this bizarre world, eliminating her enemies, and had done a good job of deflecting Too Much Punch Man’s greatsword just now. He was no illusion.

Enba’s skin wasn’t exposed at all. The elastic corpse wrappings that Setora had made for his cadaver with her own hands were wrapped around his entire body, covering it up properly. The one who had armored his arms where they needed it was Setora, too.

No matter how you looked at him, Enba could only be Enba. However, it was hard to say he was completely unchanged. In fact, it was impossible to.

Enba had been the height of a grown man, maybe a little shorter. When she had started making Enba, Setora had been nine years old, so he had felt large at the time, but not so much anymore.

He hadn’t been large before.

Enba had grown.

Had he?

No, of course not. That couldn’t be right.

Flesh golems didn’t shrink or get thin, and they didn’t grow taller or get fatter, either. It shouldn’t have been possible, but Too Much Punch Man was probably above average height, yet also shorter than Enba. Yes, he was definitely shorter.

Enba had clearly gotten bigger.

“Go, Enba, Kiichi!” Setora called.

What did it matter when Kiichi had turned into what he had? Enba had just gotten bigger. It was no big deal.

Enba attacked Too Much Punch Man, while Kiichi charged at Mirror Man. Too Much Punch Man moved flexibly to the left and right, evading the fierce attacks from Enba’s left and right arms.

He dodged.

He dodged.

When it looked like he was going to just evade, he thrust out his greatsword like a spear for a counterattack. Enba bent over backwards to avoid it, falling backwards as he did.

Before he could regain his footing, Too Much Punch Man roared and sprang at him. “Gyahhhhhh...!”

Could Enba handle it?

Please, handle it somehow, Setora silently pleaded.

His opponent wasn’t even serious yet. They were at the stage where the enemy had seen through all of the moves available to them.

Kiichi’s cat punches using both front legs, and the kick he performed after a forward somersault, had both been blocked by Mirror Man, so he was struggling to attack.

If Too Much Punch Man determined he could overwhelm Enba, they would likely go on the offensive. She wanted to do something before then, but Setora had no cards to play.

Looking over at Not-Merry, the woman was sitting down and hugging her legs. What was she doing?

Unable to put up with this any longer, Setora finally snapped and started to yell at Not-Merry. “You—”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Someone stumbled through the hole in the wall of ivy and into town.

That person was tall, and possibly as a countermeasure against the sweet wind, the person had a cloth over their mouth.

It was...

“Stop, stop, stop! Tonbe-san! Gomi-san! They’re not enemies! They’re my comrades! There’s no need to fight!”

“Huh?!”

“Say whaaaat?!”

Too Much Punch Man and Mirror Man jumped back in unison.

“W-Wait!” Setora cried.

When Setora gave the order, Enba and Kiichi stood down.

The man took the cloth covering his mouth off. “Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Merry-san! Setora-san! This is insane!”

What was supposed to be “insane”? What was with that face? She felt embarrassed just looking at him.

How could anyone smile with their face all messed up like that? His eyes were filled with tears, too. It was understandable that he was happy, but wasn’t it strange to cry? It had to be.

Despite that, Setora felt an irritation deep in her nose, and the area around her eyes got hot.

No way. She felt like she was going to cry—or did she?

Meanwhile, Not-Merry had gotten up in no time, and was waving to him with a smile. “It’s been a while, Kuzaku.”

That was to be expected, perhaps. It didn’t make Setora feel strongly one way or the other, but couldn’t she put a little more in to her act?

It seemed Kuzaku was so moved that his judgment was clouded, and he was just going, Yeah, yeah, while trying to wipe away the tears, so it was probably fine for now.

“...Hold on. Huh?” Kuzaku looked at Kiichi, turned to look at Enba, then screamed. “Whaaaaaaa?! H-Huhhh?! Whaaaaaaa?! Wh-Wh-What?! Whaaaaaaaaaaaaa...?!”

“You’re being too loud, Bossari!” a female voice shouted.

There was still another one?

Who now?

Setora could tell it was a woman from the voice. She was presumably traveling with Kuzaku, but she wasn’t Shihoru.

There weren’t just monsters in this world. Mirror Man and Too Much Punch Man both were human. Most likely they were volunteer soldiers, like Haruhiro and the party. In that case, was that woman one of them, too?

The woman stood on the other side of the hole in the wall of ivy, crossing her arms. She made no attempt to enter the town.

Like Too Much Punch Man and Kuzaku, her mouth was covered with cloth, and she wore a white outfit with blue highlights. It was what they called a priest’s uniform.

“What are you?” Setora demanded.

“No, you. What are you?”

“I am Shuro Setora. Who are you?”

“I’m Io. I wouldn’t mind permitting you to call me Io-sama.”

“I don’t need permission.”

“Why?!”

“Because there is no reason I would ever address you with -sama.”

“You don’t know why you should call me Io-sama out of respect?” the woman sneered. “Oh, my. Are you soft in the head, perhaps?”

“Doesn’t that better describe you?” Setora asked coolly. “By the way, Kuzaku.”

“Muh?”

Kuzaku pointed at himself with a moronic look on his face. She already knew he wasn’t a particularly bright man, so it didn’t annoy her. This was, in its own way, a praiseworthy aspect of him.

“What are you people doing here?” Setora asked. “What did you come to this town for?”

“Ohh. The thing about that is—”

Rule... One... Be quiet... Don’t make a fuss...

Rule... Two... Fighting is... bad... Be peaceful... gentle... fun...

Rule... Three... You can’t... leave this... town... ever...

Rule... Four... Imitate... everyone...

Not following... rules... bad... Get out...

They heard that voice. Or maybe, because of all the ruckus they made, they hadn’t been noticing it. It was possible they’d been hearing it the whole time.

You not get out... Kill...

Setora turned around. She’d been careless. Because of everything that had been going on, she hadn’t noticed before now.

On the roads, on top of the roofs, in the gaps between the buildings, they were there. Their outlines were indistinct through the haze, but while some were human-like, some were similar but different, and others were completely inhuman. They may have gathered from all around town. There were swarms of them.

“...Uh, we came here to earn id?” Kuzaku asked falteringly.

He approached Setora, drawing his large katana. But this man, he had been tall to begin with, but was he this big?

“If I say that, do you understand?” he asked.

“No, not even a bit... but prepare yourselves, Enba, Kiichi.”

Enba and Kiichi defended Setora’s flanks. Not-Merry reluctantly readied her head staff, too. Mirror Man and Too Much Punch Man moved up, as well.

The residents of the town appeared not to be moving at first glance. However, they hadn’t been there before. They were definitely moving forward. They closed in little by little, and then would fall on them like a dam had just broken.

“Massacre them,” Io said.

It was like Io had given them the order. They were coming. The residents of the town were pressing in.

For a moment, a thought occurred to Setora. We won’t be massacring them. Won’t they massacre us instead?