Grimgal of Ashes and Illusion - Volume 4 - Chapter 17

17. Run

Haruhiro had had a certain encounter.

Thinking it a chance he couldn’t afford to miss, he had grasped it without hesitation.

The chance to change had come. It was no longer time to walk. Now was the time to run.

“Ghh! Urkh! Ahh!”

Kuzaku was desperately holding off a muryan’s attack with his shield.

If you were to describe muryans with one word, they were ants. In terms of size, they were larger than humans. They were grape-colored, with bodies that were more solidly built than those of ants, and they had small heads. Depending on the type, some had one pair of arms in addition to their three pairs of legs. There were a lot of differences, yes, but they were similar to ants. Giant ants that had built nests all over the Wonder Hole, where they bred.

“Hah! Hah! Take that!” Ranta hollered.

Ranta was locking blades with another muryan. The one Kuzaku was facing was a type of muryan commonly called a samurai. They were a vicious variety that used their dexterous hands to hold weapons which they used to brutally attack hostile creatures. Meanwhile, Ranta was fighting one that primarily fought to protect against external threats to the nest, a soldier with two blade-like arms.

In addition to that, Haruhiro and Yume were each fighting a muryan soldier, and Merry was in the back, guarding Shihoru.

“Jess, yeen, sark, fram, dart...!” Shihoru cast Lightning. A bolt of lightning fell on Soldier C, the one Yume was fighting with.

It wasn’t clear why, but Falz Magic seemed to work well against muryans. Soldier C leapt away with a jolt, its body shaking before it collapsed. Yume put away her machete, readied her bow, and nocked an arrow. With a shout, she loosed the arrow, keeping a new enemy, Soldier D, in check as it came out of the nest. Haruhiro wasn’t good at handling the non-humanoid muryans. He focused on using Swat to defend himself while keeping track of the battle situation.

“Kuzaku, Ranta! Incoming!” Haruhiro called.

“Just telling us isn’t going to help!” Kuzaku yelled back.

It looked like Kuzaku was at his limit just blocking the samurai’s black katana-like weapons with his shield. That katana wasn’t metal. It looked to be something like porcelain, but it was hard and had destructive power. The samurai had a natural affinity for dual-wielding, so it was hard to blame Kuzaku for struggling against its two-weapon style.

“Zwoosh! Ha! Avoid!” Ranta fell back using Exhaust to draw in Soldier A, then took a stab at it.

Soldier A took a sword through the face, and yet wasn’t dead. All the same, with its face, including its eyes, smashed, that was no minor injury. With heavy grunts and repeated shouts, Ranta went to town on it, slashing it over and over. Soon enough, Soldier A stopped moving.

“Yume, help Kuzaku!” Haruhiro ordered while defending with Swat.

“Aye, sir!” Yume called, and went to support Kuzaku.

Ranta took a swing at the newly arrived Soldier D. Shihoru cast Lightning again. The muryan trying to follow behind Soldier D, Soldier E, was struck by lightning.

Another soldier came, and Merry moved up.

“Haru, switch!” she called.

“I’m counting on you!” he shouted back. He left Soldier B to Merry, moving forward himself.

Yume drew her machete, trying to attack the samurai from the side. Even so, the samurai faced down both Kuzaku and Yume, not willing to give an inch. It really was a formidable opponent, but, in all honesty, Haruhiro wished Kuzaku had taken it down, not just kept it busy.

I want him to show that he’s at least trying, Haruhiro thought. The way things are, he’s not a proper tank. Is he okay with that?

But enough moaning, he added to himself. It can wait.

Haruhiro stopped Soldier F’s advance with a Swat. You’re not going any further.

“Leap Out!” Ranta called, and jumped forward on the diagonal. However, he did more than just slip past Soldier D. As he passed by, he lopped Soldier D’s head off. “—Wahahaha! I’m amazing!”

“Ranta, next!” Haruhiro shouted.

“I know already, okay?!”

Soldier G’s coming in, noted Haruhiro.

Ranta closed in swiftly with Leap Out, bashing his longsword against Soldier G repeatedly.

He’s getting carried away. It’s fine for now, but—the problem’s what comes next. If more of them come out...

Whenever Haruhiro started thinking that, they always did. And sure enough...

Of course they came, he thought in frustration. Here’s Soldier H.

“Jess, yeen, sark, fram, dart...!” Perhaps getting a little impatient, Shihoru let loose Lightning on the samurai. Unlike with a soldier, samurais couldn’t be immobilized with one shot of Lightning. Still, the samurai fell back one step, or a few dozen centimeters.

Kuzaku bellowed a war cry, and Yume shouted, “Meow, meow, meow!” as they both whaled on the samurai.

“You moron!” Ranta shouted.

I know how he feels. It’s Kuzaku, thought Haruhiro.

Yume could see that the samurai hadn’t recovered from the shock, so she was focusing her attacks on the head. Compared to that, Kuzaku was just being sloppy. He was just swinging his longsword wildly, most of his strikes getting deflected by the samurai’s katana.

What should I do with Soldier H? Haruhiro thought. Have Kuzaku or Yume take it? But I probably shouldn’t leave Yume alone against the samurai. Should I have Kuzaku buy time while Yume heads and deals with Soldier H? Agh, what do I do? I have to do something. I believe that we can. No, I can’t just believe. I have to think, make decisions, then execute them.

Today, again, they had raced past the domains of the three demi-humans and walked around the area known as the muryan nest. They had killed countless muryans. The muryans didn’t attack indiscriminately like the three demi-humans would, but the samurai were highly aggressive. If a samurai initiated combat, soldiers would gather around, and even individual soldiers would attack if they got too close. Soldiers would try to call in other nearby soldiers.

If they brought back the samurai’s black katana-like weapons, they were worth good money. Haruhiro didn’t know the details, but apparently by melting them together with other metals, they could be used to create a high-quality alloy. With some individual soldiers, parts of their exoskeletons were a greenish-gold color, and those parts could be sold. There were apparently queens, which laid eggs, and stallions, which bred with the queens, further in, but they had never encountered any. The countless small workers that built the nest were both harmless and worthless, so they could be ignored outright.

Their party wasn’t quite making money hand over fist, but they never came back in the red. If they were going to try to build their strength slowly but surely with experience, the muryan nest wasn’t a bad place to hunt. There was no shortage of prey, and while the samurai were formidable, there weren’t that many of them. If they remained cautious, they were infinitely easier to handle than the seemingly endless hordes of demi-humans.

Also, just as the demi-humans made no attempt to enter the muryan nest, the muryans seemed to be avoiding the demi-humans’ territory. If things went badly, Haruhiro and his party could pull back into demi-human territory, and the muryans would generally back off. The space between demi-human territory and the muryan nest could be used as a sort of safe zone.

“I mean, come on,” Ranta snarled. “Do something about it! You know what I’m talking about, right?! Well?!”

After the sun had gone down and they’d returned to the back streets of the Lonesome Field Outpost to get dinner and drinks at one of the food stalls, Ranta snapped.

“Why’re you sitting there with that dumb look on your face like this has nothing to do with you?!” he bellowed. “Are you stupid?! I’m talking to you, pal! Y! O! U!”

“...Huh?” Kuzaku, who had been looking the other direction and taking little sips from his drink, slowly turned to look at Ranta. “Y’mean me?”

“Yeah, you!” Ranta bellowed. “Who else could I possibly mean, you moron? Yeah, I thought so, nobody! Well?!”

“Y’think?” Kuzaku asked.

“I do think! It’s you! You’re the problem!”

“Not so loud,” Merry told them in a hushed voice.

“That’s right,” Yume said, rubbing her own shoulders. “Ranta’s voice, it’s annoyin’. It gets on your nerves, y’know. Havin’ to hear it, that’s a bother for everyone around us.”

“Not just everyone around us,” Shihoru said with a sigh. “It’s a bother for me, too.”

“Shihoruuuuu. Rurururuuuuu,” Ranta called. “I’m gonna grope you!”

“...Jess, yeen, sark...”

“Whoa, hold up, wh-what are you drawing elemental sigils and chanting for?!”

“For self-defense,” said Shihoru. “I think it’s justified. Jess, yeen, sark, fram...”

“Whoa, wait, I get it, I get it already, okay? I’ll keep my voice down. It’s not like I’m doing it because I want to pick a fight with the guy, you know?”

Haruhiro scratched his head. “Then talk like a normal person to begin with.”

“Heh.” Ranta flicked his nose with his thumb. “Like I was saying. You need to do something about this, Kuzaku. Yes, it goes without saying, I’m talking to you.”

Kuzaku was looking off in the opposite direction again. “Something about what?”

“No, before that, I don’t like your attitude,” Ranta said angrily. “What’re you acting all sulky for?”

“I’m not really sulking, man.”

“No, you absolutely, totally are,” Ranta said. “Do you think you’ve got the right to sulk or something? Huh?”

“I know I’m not doing a great job,” Kuzaku said.

“Yeah, and what good does just knowing that do?” Ranta demanded. “Are you sulking because you can’t do your job right?”

“I may not look it...” Kuzaku hung his head, holding his chin. “...but it’s really got me down.”

“Yeah, well, you don’t have any right to feel down about it, pal,” Ranta snapped. “Are you a moron? You must be a moron.”

“Quit calling me a moron,” Kuzaku said.

“Ohh? Is that backtalk I’m hearing?” Ranta sang. “Some uppity backtalk? Are you sane? Are you a stupid moron? You must be a stupid moron, huh? I knew it. I so knew you were.”

“Listen, buddy...” Kuzaku said angrily.

“Whoa there,” said Ranta. “You just glared at me? This uppity guy went and glared, at me? Listen, pal, save that for when you’ve done what you’re supposed to, okay? You’re supposed to be a tank, damn it. You’re our tank, but you’re a crappy tank that can’t even fill the role, you scrub.”

“I already said!” Kuzaku shouted. “I know I’m not doing my job!”

“If you know that, what’re you sulking for?!” Ranta yelled back. “What?! Is this it?! I’m just a wittle toddler, and I can’t do what you need me to, but I’m twying weeeeally hard, so be weeeeally nice to me for it, huh?!”

“I never said that,” Kuzaku sulked.

“Yeah, you didn’t say it! You implied it with your attitude!”

“You ass!” Kuzaku tried to grab Ranta.

Well, “tried” being the operative word there, because Ranta struck the underside of Kuzaku’s chin with his palm as he did. Kuzaku reeled backwards and fell over. Just before he fell, he managed to get his hands on the ground, so he ended up on all fours.

“...Dammit... You ass...”

“Is that the only insult you’ve got, you pissant?” Ranta sneered.

“Hey, Ranta...” Haruhiro began.

“You stay quiet, Haruhiro! I’m gonna tell this fool what he needs to hear, because you’re too damn weak to do it!” Ranta crouched down next to Kuzaku, jabbing his index finger against Kuzaku’s forehead. “Listen up, you crappy tank! We don’t give a damn if you’re trying hard or not! Results are what matters! Fruitless effort is always worth crap! A stinking pile of crap! How many days do you think we’ve been fighting the muryans for now, you dolt?! Six days! Six! That’s six whole days! It makes no difference to us whether a tank who starts whining when he has to handle one muryan comes or not! Actually, if anything, we’re better off without a guy like that! If you’re supposed to be our tank, man up and at least take two of them! Do it like you’re ready to die! If you can’t, then just die! You got all that, you crappy tank?!”

Kuzaku looked downwards, making no attempt to push away Ranta’s finger.

If he had wanted to, Haruhiro could have been able to stop Ranta. He could have interrupted, not letting him finish.

Not just Haruhiro. Yume and Shihoru, who were always critical of Ranta, or even Merry, could have said something.

They didn’t.

Telling him that they were better off without him, that he should go die, that he was a crappy tank... Haruhiro wouldn’t have gone that far. Still, I am dissatisfied with Kuzaku. Even setting aside the issue of ability, despite being blessed with above average height, Kuzaku is surprisingly small as a tank.

It’s not that he’s goofing off, or that he’s holding back. I think Kuzaku’s been trying his best. But that’s all he’s doing.

I mean, fair enough, I told him to focus on using Block, but if he has been doing that seriously, shouldn’t he be able to do a little more? Kuzaku only plays the role he’s been given, just defending himself against the attacks of the enemies I assign him. It might be that that’s all he could manage, but he barely looks around at all. Not at the enemy, or at his comrades. He’s just there. Like a somewhat well-made obstacle. Honestly, it doesn’t really feel like he’s fighting with us.

Even so, Kuzaku had joined the party after Haruhiro and the others. He was at a different level of experience. There had to be difficulties that only he was experiencing.

That’s why I thought I had to overlook it. I figured if I was patient with him, eventually he’d improve, Haruhiro thought. I haven’t known Kuzaku that long, so I held back. It must have been the same for Yume and the others.

Regardless of all that, Haruhiro hadn’t said what he should have. He’d let Ranta do it.

That night, Kuzaku said, “I’m going to go cool my head” or something like that, and left the cramped tent right away. Not long after that, Ranta was snoring away.

Haruhiro couldn’t sleep, so he stepped outside.

While walking through the tent encampment along the outside of the moat, he noticed figures in the middle of a grove of trees. Haruhiro hid behind one of the tents. There might have been no need for him to, but it was force of habit.

The red moon hung in the sky.

Kuzaku was seated, leaning with his back against a tree. Merry stood beside him.

It’s an awkward distance between them, thought Haruhiro. She was beside him, yes, but there was enough space for a person to fit between them. When he saw that, Haruhiro found himself relieved.

Maybe I’m jealous, he thought. But, really, do I have any reason to be jealous? Merry is one of my comrades, no more, no less. She’s beautiful, and if I had to say whether I like her or dislike her, I like her, and, well, this’d never happen, but if Merry asked me to go out with her, I’m sure I’d happily say yes. No, maybe not. I’m not so sure romance between party members is a great idea, so I might struggle with the question. But, really, I don’t think I could refuse. Not that it’s even possible that would ever happen. Yeah, it really is impossible, isn’t it?

Thinking about that started to feel so empty and pointless.

The two of them hadn’t noticed Haruhiro. I should get out of here now, not eavesdrop on them like a creep, he thought. Besides, their voices were too quiet for him to make out what they were saying.

What happened between Kuzaku and Merry? he wondered. What’s their relationship? Have they been secretly meeting like this all along? Right now, it just looks like they’re talking with a kind of awkward distance between them. But something could start between them. What do I mean by “something”? Well, that, I guess. Yeah. That’d be it.

Not that it’d be a bad thing, you know, he told himself. He hadn’t meant to make Kuzaku feel like an outsider, but Kuzaku might have been feeling that way. If he became closer with Merry, it might alleviate that somewhat.

Still, though, what’re they talking about? he thought. I wonder. Not that wondering does me any good, huh.

Haruhiro let out a short sigh, then turned around and went back.

Am I going to be able to sleep tonight...?