Grimgal of Ashes and Illusion - Volume 7 - Chapter 13

13. Revelation

Before setting out, Haruhiro and the others heeded Mr. Unjo’s advice, or rather his instructions, and made thorough preparations.

The town of Herbesit was to the west of Well Village, and a three-day trip on foot. Along the way, they would have to camp out in the woods. There were few of the yegyorns he had mentioned in the forest to the west, but there was a colony of gaugais (inuzarus) in that area. There were also a number of different vicious carnivores and omnivores, as well as the durzoi—which apparently meant “old ones,” or something like that—a human-like race that had four arms.

According to Mr. Unjo, the durzoi were proud hunters, primarily working on their own to target large carnivorous beasts called vaguls. If a party stole their prey, they would become vengeful and dangerous enemies, but as long as their interests weren’t being harmed, they stayed largely benign. Still, the party would need to watch out for those vaguls, as well as other beasts including siddas, wepongs, and gaugais. Those beasts each used different tactics, and would be clever about exploiting any openings.

There was one method that would let them avoid most beasts, and that was a bell like the one on the charcoal burner’s wagon.

They were able to buy a beast-repelling bell at the blacksmith’s. It didn’t come cheaply. It cost a full 20 ruma, but it was apparently a necessity for getting through the forest, so it was probably worth that much.

In the western forest, they basically needed to keep ringing the beast-repelling bell at all times. Mr. Unjo naturally had a bell of his own, but he told them that it would be hard to make it through the forest alone. Having comrades would make the journey easier. When he had to lie down to rest, others could take turns ringing the bell.

Also, while they weren’t as much of a threat as yegyorns, the forest was also home to venomous insects and snakes, so it was best not to leave any skin exposed while sleeping.

Haruhiro and the others bought some thick fabric from the clothing and bag shop to make tents. They also made new undergarments out of fabric that was easy on the skin. They procured preserved food and candles at the grocery store. They also bought oil made from some plant.

Haruhiro and the others had been treating Oubu the sage’s lab as a general store, but it turned out the real general store of Well Village was the giant crab’s grocery store.

With all of that done, the party followed Mr. Unjo and departed from Well Village.

First they followed the road with the wagon tracks to the charcoal burner’s place. The path didn’t end there. Haruhiro and the others had thought about that once before. If they continued past there, where would they arrive? According to Mr. Unjo, the road eventually came to a three-fork intersection.

Mr. Unjo led the way, with his beast-repelling bell hanging from his backpack, so for now, all Haruhiro and the others had to do was follow him. As long as they had Mr. Unjo’s bell, maybe they didn’t need to have a bell themselves. That thought crossed their minds, but that would be relying too heavily on a stranger.

The charcoal burner, who looked identical to the blacksmith of Well Village, was doing some sort of work at his charcoal kiln. Mr. Unjo was apparently acquainted with the charcoal burner, too, because they had a pleasant conversation before he ordered Haruhiro and the others to rest here.

“There is no safer place in these woods,” Mr. Unjo told them. “There is no man more friendly than him past this point. Once you understand that, rest to your heart’s content.”

From the way Mr. Unjo spoke, the people of Herbesit might not necessarily be friendly.

Haruhiro was 99% filled with unease, but it was that last 1% of hope that kept him from backing down. Haruhiro and the others had to know. And not just from hearing it, they had to know firsthand. Seeing was believing. There were things they wouldn’t be able to understand until they saw and felt them for themselves. It would be wrong to act on information they had only heard from others. If it was a decision that was going to affect their futures, all the more so.

Once they had taken a short nap, Mr. Unjo pushed for them to depart. Everything beyond the charcoal burner’s shack was a new and unknown world to Haruhiro and the others. They were tense, but Mr. Unjo was walking quickly, and nothing happened. It looked like the beast-repelling bell was doing great work.

While they were in the forest, they couldn’t see the distant ridge. The sky still brightened a little, though, so they could tell night from day.

The party arrived at the three-fork intersection that same day. Mr. Unjo chose the path leading to the southwest. He said if they went northwest, they would reach steep mountains. They could see the outline of the mountains off in the distance.

The road with the wagon tracks hadn’t been left by the charcoal burner; it was apparently something that had existed for a very long time. It was the same for the charcoal burning kiln, and there had been another charcoal burner before the current one.

According to the clay and stone tablets, even after Lumiaris and Skullhell had left, the war had raged on in Darunggar for a long time between the forces of the Light Goddess and the forces of the Dark God. In other words, between the forces of light and darkness. With Darunggar firmly divided into two camps, they had been unable to come back together even after their leaders had left.

That tragic conflict was, incredibly, still dragging on unto this day. For instance, the dead ones were descendants of Skullhell’s worshipers, and they killed and devoured one another, praying for the eventual destruction of everything. The people gathered in Well Village were descendants of those who had followed Lumiaris, and they handed down tales of the day Lumiaris would return, bringing light to the dark Darunggar. On the other hand, they thought it was merely as a legend, as was the prediction that the world would end in darkness. Their worship of the Kinuko doll and otherworldly objects might have been a manifestation of those warped feelings.

According to Mr. Unjo, having deciphered the tablets, it seemed that certain races had built kingdoms, and elements of the darkness and light factions had reconciled to form shared living spaces in the past. However, any group larger than a village or city was guaranteed to collapse under internal or external pressures. Whenever a king who’d used his leadership to build a country died, or was killed, the land quickly devolved into civil war, and everything went to ruin.

Darunggar apparently meant something like “the land of despair.” This world hadn’t always been known by that name, though. Originally, it had been Fanangar (paradise) ruled by Enos (one god). When Enos had split into the conflicting Lumiaris and Skullhell, it had become Jidgar (field of battle). When the world had been abandoned by both gods, the heavens and earth had become enveloped by despair.

They kept following the wagon tracks through the deep forest. There was still no sign of any beasts. They were grateful to the beast-repelling bells for that. At nightfall, Haruhiro sensed someone looking at him. When he informed Mr. Unjo, he was told it was the durzoi.

“In these woods, it happens all the time,” Mr. Unjo told them. “Don’t try to search for them. You will never find them. If they become hostile, you will be targeted. No good will come of it.”

Haruhiro could probably have just done as Mr. Unjo said and not let it bother him. But, honestly, he wondered.

It had gotten late at night, so they pitched tents and slept in shifts while keeping the beast-repelling bells ringing. He didn’t feel it when he was inside the tent, but when it was his shift outside as a bell-ringer, he sometimes felt strangely restless.

The monsters made noises sometimes, too. That had to be deliberate. The durzoi hunters were choosing to make noise to see what he’d do. If Haruhiro acted in a hostile manner, an arrow might come flying his way immediately. The durzoi might be closer than he imagined. He might turn to find them right there, only to have his life snuffed out in the very next moment. He couldn’t deny it was a possibility.

Or perhaps they were having fun by intimidating the party and putting them on-guard...

Haruhiro didn’t get much in the way of proper sleep, but when morning came, he no longer sensed the durzoi’s presence.

They’re gone, huh, he thought. No, there’s no way to be sure of that. I can’t let my guard down. Or am I overthinking this, maybe?

“You keep worrying like that, and it’ll make you go bald one of these days, man.” Ranta laughed scornfully.

It pissed Haruhiro off, but giving Ranta the time of day would only make things worse, so he just said, “Yeah, yeah...” and let it slide. But then that piece of trash Ranta leaned in close to Haruhiro’s ear and whispered, “B-A-L-D, okay?”

If only Ranta could have disappeared instead of the durzoi. Actually, I wish I could trade out Ranta for a durzoi in the party.

While he was thinking that, he found his fear and unease towards the durzoi lightened. Even trash could be useful for something once in a while.

There was an incident later that day, when the sky began to darken. There was something blocking the path up ahead of them. Worse yet, whatever that thing was, it was moving. No, perhaps “writhing” would be the better word to describe it.

They were long thin creatures. There were a large number of them. An incredible number.

At first glance, they looked like... like innards. Intestines, maybe? If he were to give a more reasonable comparison, they were like worms. Intestines that were as thick as his wrist. No, worms. There was a great mass of them, and they were blocking the wagon track road.

“...What’re those?” Kuzaku asked in a hoarse voice.

Surprisingly, Mr. Unjo shook his head. “Who knows.”

“Eek...” Shihoru let out a little shriek and back away. It was easy to understand why she’d feel that way.

“I-It’s gonna be fine, okay?” Yume looked to Haruhiro. “...Y’think it’ll be fine, right?”

Don’t ask me, he wanted to say, but he held it in. “...W-Well, I dunno.”

“Parupiro!” Ranta slapped Haruhiro on the back. “Go! Jump over them! You do that, and we’ll know if it’s safe or not. Do it! You’re the leader, man! Come on!”

“No, don’t be like that.” Merry was scary at times like this. “Why don’t you jump instead? We’d all be in trouble if anything happened to Haru.”

“What, and you don’t care what happens to me?! It’ll be too late for regrets once I’m gone! Did you ever think about that before you speak, huh?! Do you properly understand my greatness, how special I am, my contributions, and my future potential?!”

“Oh, yeah, you’re special all right, Ranta-kun,” Kuzaku said.

“Kuzacky! Good, good, good! I thought you’d understand! You’re not just a beanpole after all! You’ve gotta be, like, a level 2 beanpole or something! No, maybe even level 3?!”

“Not much of a compliment...”

“I’m singing your praises here. Can’t you even tell that, you moron? Honestly, are you all height and no brains? That’s why you’re a beanpole, huh? Ahaha! Makes sense!”

“Hey.” Mr. Unjo suddenly grabbed Ranta by the collar and started dragging him.

“—Whuh?! Wh-What?! What’s going on?! Whoa, Unjo-san?! I mean, Unjo-sama?! What, what?! S-Stop it?! Whoa! That’s, wahh—”

Mr. Unjo was strong. He easily dragged Ranta along with one arm, then threw him into the middle of the mass of giant worms or moving intestines.

“Nooooooooooooooo...!” Ranta landed flat on his backside in the middle of the swarm. “Gwahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...”

It happened in an instant. Ranta was engulfed by the giant worms or moving intestines, and the group lost sight of him. If Zodiac-kun were here, what sort of commentary would the demon be giving? No, now wasn’t the time to think about that...

Maybe? I guess...?

“R-Ranta...?” Haruhiro called out hesitantly.

“Bwahhhhhhhhhhhh?!” Ranta leapt out from the center of the giant worms or moving intestines. There were still worms wrapped around his neck, arms, legs, and torso, trying to pull him back in. Ranta struggled. “I’m dying! I’m dying here, save me! I’m gonna die! S-Save meeeeeeeeee!”

“If we have to...” Kuzaku muttered, reaching out with his long arm to rescue Ranta.

It was the manly thing to do. Haruhiro was impressed. But wasn’t it dangerous? Just as Haruhiro had worried, the giant worms or moving intestines attacked Kuzaku as well as Ranta.

“Wah! Oh, crap!” Kuzaku shouted.

“Dark!” Shihoru summoned the elemental named Dark, and had him plunge into the giant worms or moving intestines. That drove off a few, maybe even a few dozens of them, but it was hardly enough.

If it had just been Ranta, Haruhiro could have abandoned him, but Kuzaku was caught up in it now, too, so he had no choice but to save them. In the end, everyone but Mr. Unjo had to help pull the giant worms or moving intestines that had captured Ranta and Kuzaku off of them one by one. They then moved away from that spot for a little while, waiting for the giant worms or moving intestines to finish crossing the wagon track road. By the time morning came, the strange wriggling objects were completely gone.

What were those things, anyway?

Thinking about it wasn’t going to yield any answers, though. Making a mental note that things like that could happen, they walked for a quarter of a day, until the forest suddenly ended.

The wagon track road continued on, on a gradual downward slope. There was a town spreading out on the other side of it. While it was half-crumbled, there was still a defensive wall around it. At a glance, it was a kilometer wide... no, more than that. It looked like a kilometer and a half on each side.

It was bright. These were the city lights. Without a doubt, there was hundreds, possibly thousands of people living in this town. They could clearly see a number of figures walking up and down the main streets. It looked like there were a lot of stone buildings. The buildings were one-floor, two-floors, three-floors, and even taller. There were a number of towers rising into the sky.

The wind suddenly blew, and the trees in the forest rustled. Shortly after that, they heard the sound of a bell. It was different from the beast-repelling bells that Mr. Unjo and Haruhiro’s party carried. It was a larger, heavier, and somehow sad sound. There was likely a belfry somewhere in town, and its bell was swaying in the wind. One of those towers might be a bell tower.

“This is the town of Herbesit.” Mr. Unjo, who was at the head of the group, removed his braided hat. “Don’t hide your face in Herbesit. But don’t make eye contact with anyone, either. It will be taken as a challenge. If you are provoked, ignore it. The people in that town love to fight. If you don’t want conflict, keep your heads down, and keep quiet. If you want to fight to the death, then that’s different. Do as you please.”

Haruhiro and the others shuddered.

Just how dangerous is this place...?

As it turned out, it was very dangerous. No sooner had they come to the end of the wagon track road and entered the town than a pair of humanoid creatures who were hunched over as far as possible, but still taller than Kuzaku, came over to pick a fight with them.

They couldn’t tell what the pair were saying, but it was clear they were making some sort of false accusations. One jumped back and forth in front of Mr. Unjo, making taunting sounds and clapping his hands. The other kept sticking his face up close to Shihoru’s, making high-pitched, hee-haw, hee-haw sounds.

Shihoru was practically crying. Haruhiro wanted to help, but if he glared at those creatures and said, Hey, cut that out, a fight would have broken out right then and there. Shihoru would need to endure, and the others would have to put up with it.

Eventually, when it seemed the two had left, Yume let out a strange cry. “Yow!” When Haruhiro looked, she was rubbing the back of her head. Someone had thrown a stone at her, and it had hit.

“Yume?! You okay?!” Ranta looked around the area. “Damn it! Who did that?!”

“Stop!” Merry quickly hit Ranta on the shoulder with her head staff. “It’s an obvious provocation. Don’t fall for it so easily.”

“Merry, you sure you’re not trying to provoke me?” Ranta returned. “That hurt pretty bad, just now...”

“Oh, did it?” Merry brushed him off lightly. “Yume. I know it must hurt, but bear with it. I’ll heal you later.”

“Meowwww. Thanks. This li’l thing came flyin’, and then, bam, it was just a surprise. There’s only a little bleedin’. Yume’s gonna be okay.”

“You’re bleeding a little?!” Ranta continued looking downward, clicking his tongue. “Those punks think they can mess with us. I’ll tear ’em limb from limb. Seriously...”

“He never learns...” Kuzaku wore a slight wry smile.

Shihoru laughed coldly. “Of course not. It’s Ranta.”

“So what if it’s me, huh?! Well, Torpedo Tits?! I’ll grope you! No, let me grope you!”

“Man...” Haruhiro started, but decided it would be stupid to engage with him and closed his mouth.

There were frequent provocations by the residents after that, too. They would stalk and insult them, throw things at them, block the road, and that was only the least of it. There were some who would suddenly trip them, and others who would even go as far as tackling them. No matter how they ignored, dodged, and evaded them, these assailants appeared one after another. It was exhausting on both a physical and emotional level.

Had Mr. Unjo not been there, they would have fled town within a minute of entering it, or gotten into a fight.

Were Haruhiro and the others being picked on for being outsiders? It seemed that was not exactly the case. There was one-on-one, one-on-many, and many-on-many violence breaking out here and there around town, and they even heard what sounded like bloodcurdling death screams occasionally. It was hard to believe, or at least they didn’t want to believe it, but people weren’t just getting injured, they were getting killed. What was wrong with this town...?

It was in such a state of chaos that melees broke out on the main streets with considerable frequency, and the onlookers gambled on the results.

Mr. Unjo moved away from the main streets, leading Haruhiro and the others down the back streets. These back streets were a little better. On either side of the street, which was somewhat narrow at roughly two meters across, there were people of various races squatting. They said things in pathetic voices, sticking out their hands. If Haruhiro let his guard down, they would pull at his coat. From what he could see, many of them were injured. They were likely beggars. They were gloomy, depressing, and he soon got fed up with them, but it was better than the main streets where everyone was raring for a fight, and there were constant deaths.

Still, though, could they live like this? There were those who were clearly on the verge of death, or not moving at all, and the smell of something rotting hung in the air. It looked like a number of them hadn’t been able to survive like this, and were no longer among the living.

“Don’t touch anything in this town that you don’t need to. Don’t let anyone touch you, either.” Mr. Unjo avoided the hands of the beggars as he said that. “You wouldn’t want to catch something. I can’t say deadly diseases are uncommon here.”

“Yikes...” Ranta muttered. Even Ranta, who was a plague unto himself, was apparently scared of getting sick.

Naturally, Haruhiro was afraid of disease, too. Merry had learned Purify, a spell for removing poison, and it worked on some diseases, too. Some being the operative word. Ordinary colds, for instance, could not be healed with magic. If they got sick, they would have to rely on what medicine they could procure, and their own stamina and mental fortitude to get them through it. Haruhiro was well aware that his body wasn’t especially robust, and that he wasn’t strong-willed, either. When it came to disease, prevention was the best medicine.

While they were weaving between the beggars of the back streets, they ran straight into a tower that was not particularly tall at around five meters high. Mr. Unjo used the metal knocker on the door. Not long after, the door swung open.

A woman with almost translucent white skin wearing a brown robe came out. Her combed hair was gray. Was she human? No, she wasn’t. She looked close to being human, but her eyes had no whites. It looked like someone had pressed glass balls into her eye sockets. Besides, she had three slits on each cheek, which were opening and closing slightly. They were almost like gills.

“Unjo,” the woman said before looking to Haruhiro and the others with her glassy eyes. “Akuaba?”

“Moa worute.” Mr. Unjo gestured with his chin, as if to say, Let us in. The woman let not just Mr. Unjo, but Haruhiro and the rest, into the tower.

The ceiling was high. Was it open all the way up to the roof? The walls were almost entirely bookshelves. The shelves carried clay and stone tablets, arms and armor, some type of equipment, items that looked out of place, potted plants, and more. There were lamps left out here and there, as well as ladders and stools.

“This is Rubicia,” Mr. Unjo introduced her.

The woman pressed her hands together in front of her chest and bowed to them. That might be how they greeted people here.

“H-Hello.” Haruhiro tried imitating Rubicia. “I’m Haruhiro.”

“I’m Ranta.” Ranta crossed his arms arrogantly. “They call me Ranta-sama!”

“Kuzaku.” Kuzaku bowed his head slightly.

“Yoo-may!” Yume said in a loud voice, clearly enunciating, and then smiled. “Ehehe.”

“...I’m Shihoru.” Shihoru imitated Rubicia like Haruhiro had.

“I’m Merry.” Merry gave a proper bow. “Nice to meet you, Rubicia-san.”

Rubicia nodded slowly, exchanging a few words with Mr. Unjo before descending the stairs by the wall. There was apparently a basement room.

“It’s safe here.” Mr. Unjo laid his pack down on the floor. “If you want to rest, rest. Rubicia will bring water soon. The water is not infected, or contaminated. Don’t worry.”

“Righto!” Ranta sat down immediately. “Come on, if you’ve got yourself a nice safe house like this, say so sooner, Unjo-saaaan, sheesh. By the way, what’s up with Rubicia-san? Is she your y’know? Nah, no way...”

“Yes,” Mr. Unjo responded. “Rubicia is my wife.”

Haruhiro couldn’t help but whisper, “Wow...”