Grimgal of Ashes and Illusion - Volume 8 - Chapter 14

14. With These Hands

In the end, their reading of the situation might have been too optimistic. 

In the midst of the fog, four men moved forward carrying a palanquin. 

Though it was called a palanquin, it was a simple one. Just a rectangular board with two long poles beneath it. A woman dressed in a crude, unbleached cloth robe was sitting on top of the board. Or rather, she was being forced to sit there. Her hands were bound behind her back, and the ropes around her neck, chest, hips, and thighs were tied tightly to the poles. 

The way she was tied, she couldn’t move. If she moved carelessly, she’d likely strangle herself. 

The woman was sitting with her back straight, but her face was looking downwards. Her hair was short. They hadn’t just cut it to shoulder length; they had gone all the way to just below her ears. 

Haruhiro, who was hiding on a hill in the shadows of the trees to watch events unfold, assumed all of this had to be hitting her pretty hard. He didn’t know how much, but he assumed it had to be shocking. After all, even for Haruhiro, who didn’t know the situation that well, his first impression upon seeing her had been, They took off a lot more than I thought they would. 

And even if that was fine because her hair would grow back, she was still being banished and expelled from her village. 

The palanquin headed westward, further westward. 

According to the information Setora had gathered using her nyaas, that was where Forgan had made camp. The men carrying the palanquin surely knew that. 

Incidentally, at the point when the palanquin left the village without so much as a sendoff, the village readied themselves for battle. They weren’t setting out to attack. They were hardening their defenses. It was a stance that said, If you’re going to come, come.  While cautious of an attack by Forgan, they were also trying to communicate, We have no intention of starting anything ourselves. 

The other day, a group attacked Forgan, and it included people from this village, but that was by no means a representation of the will of the village, and it in fact had nothing to do with us.  That was what the village was trying to say. 

Arara was no longer Nigi Arara. Now that she had been disowned by the House of Nigi, she was simply Arara. The present head of the house’s younger sister had two daughters, and it seemed the eldest of those two had now become heir to the House of Nigi. 

When he’d heard that, Haruhiro had been taken aback. Is it just that simple? 

Being the eldest daughter of the House of Nigi, foremost of the four samurai houses, he’d been sure they wouldn’t just say she was no good and switch her for someone else. Besides, Arara was the daughter of the head of the house by blood. Haruhiro had expected, somewhat arbitrarily, that her mother would cover for her, and she would get off with a slap on the wrist. 

He had been very wrong. 

The village was throwing Arara out on her own, with none of her possessions. That was almost a death sentence. 

Haruhiro and the others had planned to regroup once Arara was released, then try to take out Arnold and rescue Merry. However, now that this was happening to Arara, their plans were disrupted. 

How far was the palanquin carrying Arara going to go? They wouldn’t turn her over to Forgan, would they? 

The people of the village seemed prideful, so they wouldn’t try to appease Forgan like that. Or so Haruhiro hoped, but he couldn’t say anything for certain. 

Whatever the case, when someone was in a position of leadership in the village like the head of the House of Nigi, they would cut even their own daughter loose if she was deemed a detriment to the village. It was easy to condemn that as cruel, cold blooded, and inhumane. But if the head of the house showed mercy out of affection for her daughter, and that in turn led the village to be put in danger, she would face more than just condemnation. 

Whatever her true feelings, she might have been forced to do this in her position as head of the house. 

“This is bad.” Haruhiro couldn’t see the palanquin from his position. 

“They’re getting pretty close to Forgan...” 

There were two broad directions he could see things going from here. 

The first was that the men would lay down the palanquin before they came into contact with Forgan. In that case, it would just be a matter of collecting Arara right away. 

However, in the second possibility, the one where they made contact with Forgan, essentially, that was going to become difficult. It seemed unlikely, but if the village had contacted Forgan somehow, and there was an agreement to turn Arara over, that would be worse. 

Haruhiro walked quickly along the top of the hill, going further and further to the west. 

This hill was to the north of the course the palanquin had taken. Forgan was camped west-northwest of here at a spot where the ground was comparatively level, and the palanquin really did seem to be heading that way. The palanquin was going fairly slowly, so he could circle around ahead of them without too much rush. 

Despite himself, he ended up thinking about Merry. Ranta, too. 

Damn you, Ranta! 

Not now. He banished the thoughts from his head. 

The fog had gotten deeper. He didn’t actually see it, but he thought he noticed something moving to his left. A nyaa, maybe? Was he imagining it? 

Haruhiro nearly came to a stop, but he thought better of it and sped up instead. 

Faintly, he could hear wolves howling. He had an incredibly bad feeling about this. 

Why does nothing ever work out?  It made him want to gripe a little. Not that he had anyone to listen to him, or anyone he would actually say that to. 

He was done with this hill. The palanquin was still out of sight. Haruhiro descended the slope. 

He really did sense some sort of presence. Had he been found by a nyaa that was tailing him? Should he verify that? No, he had to hurry on ahead right now. Westward. It was okay if his footsteps made some noise. 

Westward. 

The ground of Thousand Valley had patches of damp soil and slippery rocks here and there, and almost none of it was flat. In some places, there were moss-covered fallen trees lying atop one another, and there were deep, gash-like holes everywhere. It was strangely difficult to walk here, but he’d gotten used to it. 

Westward. 

He saw it. The palanquin. 

It seemed, at some point, he’d passed it. The palanquin was now heading towards Haruhiro. 

The fog still showed no sign of clearing. He could probably see fewer than a hundred meters around him, but the sky was slightly blue. He could tell where the sun was, too. It was maybe ten o’clock in the morning. 

According to the rough map that he had memorized in advance, there was a land formation that was like a little ravine about a kilometer past here. If they passed through that valley, they’d come to Forgan’s camp. Was the palanquin going to stop before the ravine or not? 

Hoping it would, Haruhiro continued westward while remaining careful not to be spotted by the palanquin bearers. 

Oh, but—No, this wasn’t his imagination. He was probably being monitored by nyaas. 

When he suddenly heard the small, sharp cry of some animal, his heart jumped in shock. What? Was it a nyaa? 

Moving forward with nervous steps, he found a black nyaa holding a striped nyaa down and biting at its throat. The striped nyaa was thrashing and resisting, but it was weak. The black nyaa glanced at him. The two were roughly the same size, but the black nyaa had the clear advantage. 

It wasn’t long before the striped nyaa went limp, at which point the black nyaa wagged its tail while opening its mouth as if to meow, but no sound came forth. This was called a silent meow, and it was apparently a way of signaling, I’m a friend. 

Was it one of Setora’s nyaas? He’d heard some nyaas might use a silent meow to trick humans, so he couldn’t be sure. He’s also heard that a nyaa handler could see through an insincere silent meow, but that was beyond Haruhiro. 

The black nyaa disappeared into the fog. For now, Haruhiro would have to assume it was on his side. 

The palanquin was still moving forward. Weren’t they going to stop? No. 

They showed no sign of it. 

“Haruhiro,” a voice called out from behind him. 

He wished people wouldn’t surprise him like that. 

Looking back, it was Kuro. He was crouched down and beckoning. 

When Haruhiro approached, Kuro whispered in his ear. “Good news, or bad news. Which do you want to hear first?” 

“...Okay, start with the good news.” 

“There is...” Kuro smiled maliciously. “...no good news.” 

“Then don’t act like there is. What’s the bad news?” 

“Forgan seems to have noticed their delivery from the village. They’re on the move.” 

“Yeah, I had a feeling that’d be the case,” Haruhiro said grimly. 

“The plan’s to lay in waiting at the entrance to the ravine,” Kuro said. 

“Once we’ve snagged the package, you guys can go steal the treasure.” 

“Sorry for the trouble... and thank you.” 

Kuro slapped Haruhiro on the shoulder lightly, then gave him the go sign. 

Haruhiro nodded. 

It was starting. 

Because of Arara’s harsher-than-expected punishment, they hadn’t had the leeway to make adequate preparations. Haruhiro was feeling uncertain, but they’d have to go for it. 

He followed Kuro. He’d started to feel a fluttering in his chest. He had to make sure he didn’t get too stiff. Even if there wasn’t much time, he couldn’t act haphazardly. He had to think as much as he could, then choose the best option. 

The flow of time suddenly seemed to quicken. They reached the ravine in no time. 

The ravine was a valley, maybe around twenty meters wide, between steep slopes to the north and south. The north side and south side were both thick with trees, offering plenty of places to hide. 

Rock, Moyugi, Kajita, Tsuga, and Sakanami were already on the north side, while Yume, Shihoru, Kuzaku, and Katsuharu were in position on the south side. Setora and Enba were elsewhere, giving orders to the nyaas. Kuro naturally went to join the Rocks, and Haruhiro headed towards where Yume and the others were. 

Yume was the first to spot Haruhiro, and she waved to him. Shihoru, Kuzaku, and Katsuharu seemed to have noticed him, too. Haruhiro crouched down next to his comrades. 

“I think we’ll probably end up rescuing Arara-san around here.” 

“Meow.” Yume nodded, biting her lower lip. 

“’Kay.” Kuzaku was sitting still, doing his best not to let his armor make noise. He was already wearing his helmet. His shield was in hand, too. 

“For our part...” Shihoru said in a whisper. “Once we’ve rescued Arara-san, Merry’s next?” 

“Yeah,” said Haruhiro. “The Rocks and Arara-san will start a fight with Forgan. We support them while looking for Merry.” 

“It will depend on the situation, but... it may be better for the rest of us to act as decoys while you to go in alone, Haruhiro-kun,” Shihoru said timidly. 

“True. If that’s what we do, Shihoru, I’ll be counting on you.” 

Shihoru nodded, without even asking him what for. “Got it.” 

Of course, if she asked for an explanation, he’d give her one. But it was highly reassuring that she didn’t need it. He didn’t want to rely on Shihoru too much, and he had no intention of relying on her completely, but it would make a lot of difference to have a second pillar that could support the party. 

The wolves howled. They weren’t far from here. 

He could just barely make out the palanquin. 

It stopped. 

There were still nearly another hundred meters to the ravine. 

“Indeed...” Katsuharu wiped his goggles with a finger. 

The palanquin began moving forward again. If the men just laid down the palanquin there, it would make this a lot easier, but there was no way things would be that convenient. 

At this point, both the Rocks and Haruhiro’s party were unwelcome guests in the village. They would likely never be able to enter again. Even so, as much as possible, they wanted to avoid any acts of open hostility against the village. If the village sent pursuers after them, the villagers knew Thousand Valley like the backs of their hands, so that would make them more than just a pain to deal with. That was why, frustrating as it was, they couldn’t assault the palanquin to save Arara. They had to wait. 

Until the situation changed, just wait. 

“They’re here,” Yume whispered. 

Beasts. They were racing through the valley in this direction. Wolves? It was a pack of black wolves. 

The Rocks still hadn’t moved. Katsuharu put his hand on the hilt of his sword. 

It was hard to breathe. It felt like something was pressing down on his chest. 

The black wolves howled, one after another. The leader of the pack was already two, three meters from the palanquin. 

The men finally dropped the palanquin. With their weapons at the ready, they began to back away. 

“It should be fine now!” Katsuharu raced out. 

Though it felt a little too soon, Katsuharu had been holding himself back up until now, even though he had to have been worried sick about his niece. 

It was hard to blame him. 

Now that one of them had moved, the rest had to follow. When Haruhiro waved his hand and gave the signal, Kuzaku jumped out and Yume followed. 

Haruhiro would stay in the rear, protecting Shihoru for now. 

The Rocks acted in response to Haruhiro and the others. Kajita was the one leading the charge. 

“Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” Kajita let out a great War Cry. 

The black wolf pack flinched, coming to a stop, and then all looked up to the north slope in unison. By that point, the rest of the Rocks had already split up and were nowhere to be seen. 

Katsuharu headed straight for the palanquin, shouting “You people...!” the men, who still hadn’t turned around. “Forgan is coming! Pull back!” 

“You vagrant!” one of the men shouted back as he turned. “The next time I see your face, you’ll become rust on my blade!” 

One after another, the other three also ran away. 

“No, I’ve not fallen so far that I could be cut down by the likes of you!” 

Katsuharu rushed to the palanquin, cutting the ropes that bound Arara to it with his katana. “Arara, are you all right?” 

“Yes, uncle! I’m so sorry you had to do this for me!” 

“Indeed! I had to help my darling niece!” Katsuharu got Arara to her feet, then handed a second katana he was carrying to her, sheath and all. “If we were to fail in your goal now, there would be nothing left but regrets. Take your vengeance for Tatsuru, Arara. If that satisfies you, you can find another love or two after that.” 

“I will not...” Arara shook the sheath off of her katana. “...find a new love! 

I will slay Tatsuru’s killer with my own hands, and remain loyal to him! That is my only wish!” 

Rock had said he didn’t want anything in return, so maybe it was fine, but when Haruhiro heard Arara declaring that so clearly, he felt a little sorry for the guy, even if it was none of his concern. 

The black wolves were racing up the slope to attack Kajita. Were there more? 

There were. Incoming. Orcs. Undead. More and more of them, coming from beyond the valley. 

“Show yourself, Arnold!” Arara shouted and readied her katana, but she seemed to have trouble moving. 

It had to be the robe. When they’d first met her, she had worn a coat and riding pants, much like Katsuharu, but now she was wearing a kimono that went all the way down to her ankles, tied tightly with an obi. 

It was apparently as constraining as it looked, because Arara suddenly shouted, “Argh!” and cut a vertical slit in the hem. “This will do!” 

True, it was no doubt easier to move in now, but she didn’t seem to be wearing pants underneath, so Haruhiro didn’t know whether to think she was too exposed, or what, but it didn’t really matter. 

Without going all the way down the slope, Haruhiro and his party pressed to the west. The wind blew. The fog suddenly thickened. In no time, visibility was reduced to less than ten meters. 

Yume nocked an arrow to her bow. 

There was something up ahead. An orc? 

“O light, O Lumiaris.” Kuzaku held up his black blade, making the sign of the hexagram on the center of the sword’s guard. “Bestow the light of protection on my blade.” 

Instantly, the black blade began to shine. It was the paladin’s light magic spell, Saber. The light of Lumiaris sharpened the cutting edge of a paladin’s sword engraved with the hexagram. That light would dazzle anyone who looked directly at it up close, and it had one other important effect: when the sword was shining like that, it really stood out. 

“Wohhhhh!” When Kuzaku held up his sword and charged forward, the enemies gathered. Like moths to the flame. 

Don’t take on more than you can handle!  Haruhiro wanted to shout out to 

him. But he held it in. That was Kuzaku’s role. Kuzaku with his heavy armor was the only one who could handle multiple enemies at the same time. 

Haruhiro and the rest had other work to do. Obviously, cheering Kuzaku on wasn’t it. 

Anyway, there were three orcs. Three whole orcs beating on Kuzaku. 

Kuzaku deflected an orc’s katana with Block. “Kwah!” He used Bash to drive them back. Swinging his sword around earnestly, he tried to make the orcs back down. 

The orcs were as tall or taller than Kuzaku, and far thicker than he was, too. They were trying to gang up on Kuzaku and beat the stuffing out of him. 

It seemed like he should be crushed in no time, but Kuzaku held in there. 

What was more, he was far from being pushed to the edge. 

Kuzaku was predicting their attacks’ strengths and angles in an instant, nailing the call on whether to block with his shield, dodge, or take the blow. 

In a three-on-one fight, Kuzaku had basically no chance to counterattack, but looking at that from another angle, it also meant he could focus fully on defending. If all he had to do was protect himself, Kuzaku knew a lot about how to do that. When an opponent that was confidently defending himself, breaking him down was hard even for the most experienced of warriors. 

“Dark.” Shihoru stopped to summon Dark the elemental. 

Haruhiro moved up to the left of Kuzaku, while Yume went to his right. 

He didn’t want to leave Shihoru alone, but there was no helping it when they only had four people. It was fine, though. Kuzaku would hold the enemy back, no matter what. 

Yume loosed an arrow at close range. The fog meant she couldn’t see, let alone hit, distant targets, but if she got up close like that, she wouldn’t be able to miss that easily. 

It looked like she’d hit one of the orcs. Where, exactly, wasn’t clear. 

Haruhiro, for his part, was using Stealth to get around behind the orcs. 

Kuzaku was drawing their attention, and Yume was in their line of sight, too. 

Thanks to that, they hadn’t noticed Haruhiro. 

Any more enemies? No sign of them yet. 

Haruhiro got behind the orcs. The copper armor they were wearing seemed thin and light, but it guarded them securely all the way up to their necks. It was probably good quality. They were wearing protectors like elbow guards, knee guards, shin guards, and gauntlets, too, and though their helmets were the type that left the face exposed, their heads were securely protected. 

They were more than twenty centimeters taller than Haruhiro. Their bodies were the picture of health. It was easy to see how strong they were. 

Think. Think. Think. Think fast, and come to a conclusion. 

It didn’t look like he could finish them with Backstab. Spider was very likely to end in failure. Which meant... 

Haruhiro landed a jumping kick on the back of Orc A, the orc that was on the right-hand side from his perspective, and the left-hand side from Kuzaku’s. 

When Orc A nearly pitched forward, unable to keep his balance, Kuzaku shouted “Rah!” and used Bash. 

The orc in the middle, Orc B, tried to cover for his comrade. Kuzaku didn’t pursue too far. While Orc A regained his balance, he turned to look for Haruhiro. 

By that time, Haruhiro had already set his sights on Orc C, the one on the left from his perspective, and the right from Kuzaku’s. 

Yume’s arrow was lodged in Orc C’s left arm. Despite that, he was holding his katana in both hands, and was about to take a swing at Yume. 

This didn’t need to kill him. Backstab. 

Haruhiro’s stiletto couldn’t penetrate Orc C’s armor, but he never intended for it to. Unable to ignore Haruhiro, Orc C turned this way. 

Using that gap, Yume fired at point blank range. “Meow!” 

Contact Shot. No, this wasn’t just one shot. She followed up immediately with another. Rapid Fire. 

She was using a combination of the skills Rapid Fire and Contact Shot. 

One arrow missed, and one bounced off his armor. Still, it was enough to intimidate Orc C. Seeing her opponent was shrinking back, brave Yume wasn’t about to back away. 

An arrow. Yume didn’t knock it to her bow, she stepped up with the arrow in hand, stabbing it into Orc C’s right thigh. 

Narrow Spear. This was apparently a skill for use in emergencies, but it was just like Yume to use it when attacking a retreating enemy. 

Haruhiro wasn’t going to let the groaning Orc run away, or strike Yume with his katana. He used Arrest on Orc C’s arm. He locked the orc’s left elbow joint, and swept his leg. 

Orc C braced himself, trying not to fall, but because he’d taken an arrow 

in the thigh, he couldn’t quite manage it. When Orc C fell to one knee, bending backwards, Haruhiro shifted his stiletto to a backhanded grip and slammed it into the orc’s left eye. 

Yume drew Wan-chan and knocked the katana from Orc C’s right hand. 

Haruhiro twisted the stiletto, pulled it out a bit, then screwed it back in. 

He pulled it out and stabbed it back in, but Orc C was still alive. 

While shouting, “Yume, go support Kuzaku!” Haruhiro finished off Orc C. 

There were still no enemy reinforcements, but they couldn’t afford to let their guards down. 

While using Block on Orc B’s katana, Kuzaku shouted “Zwah!” and used Thrust on Orc A. Orc A turned this aside with his katana. 

Next, Kuzaku used Punishment on Orc B. At the same time, he used Bash to knock back a thrust from Orc A. 

When that made Orc A back away slightly, Yume attacked. It was a somersault followed by a powerful strike. Raging Tiger. 

With what was probably a reflexive reaction, Orc A jumped sideways to evade it. 

“Go!” Shihoru launched Dark. 

Orc A tried to twist out of the way. But Dark turned. He hit. Dark slipped inside Orc A’s body, like he was being sucked in. 

Convulsions. Orc A frothed at the mouth. His legs gave out. 

Haruhiro couldn’t be like Moyugi and say, Just as planned,  or, Just like I thought.  They hadn’t signaled each other, and his hope that Shihoru might do it had been only a hope. It had been incredibly close to being a haphazard decision. 

While admonishing himself, I’ve got a long way to go still,  he grappled Orc A from behind. Spider. 

Shihoru’s Dark was doing his thing, so Orc A’s reactions were dulled. 

Haruhiro quickly jabbed his stiletto through the orc’s right eyeball and into his brain. 

That wasn’t all. He used all the strength in his body to twist Orc A’s neck while falling to the ground with him. No matter how tough an enemy’s body was, they became surprisingly fragile when hit in a vital spot by a surprise attack. 

Orc A went limp. He’d nearly expired. Haruhiro leapt away from Orc A. 

“Nuwahh!” Kuzaku was continuing to defend himself against Orc B’s katana with his shield while occasionally using his sword, but he wasn’t going in to finish him. 

Now that Orcs A and C were down, it wouldn’t be that strange for him to want to go on the attack, but Kuzaku continued enduring. Being almost stupidly committed to his role was one of Kuzaku’s strengths. It was also a mark of his faith in Haruhiro and his other comrades. 

Shihoru was keeping her distance. Any new enemies? No. Haruhiro signaled to Yume with his eyes. 

It would have been possible for Kuzaku, Haruhiro, and Yume to attack from three directions, but they’d do something else here instead. 

Haruhiro rushed over behind Yume. 

Yume closed in from behind Orc B. 

Orc B quickly noticed her and jumped backwards on an angle, trying to get it so that both Yume and Kuzaku were in front of him. 

Haruhiro lowered himself and leapt out from Yume’s shadow. 

Outwards. Outwards. 

Kuzaku and Yume closed in on Orc B. Orc B backed away. He had no choice but to do so. He’d completely lost sight of Haruhiro. 

When he got into a position to look straight at Orc B’s back, Haruhiro took a short breath. His target hadn’t noticed him. Haruhiro was staring right at his back. In an instant, it felt like he had understood his opponent. Of course, that was merely an illusion, but Haruhiro wanted to present the theory that, while people believed that the eyes said more than the mouth, they ought to instead believe that the back said more than the mouth. At the very least, what he ought to do next was apparent at a glance. 

Orc B put his weight on his right foot which had stepped back, sticking his right elbow out so that his katana was to the right side of his face. 

When Haruhiro slammed his stiletto into that right arm, Orc B first reacted with shock. Who’re you? What’re you doing there?  That was the kind of look it was. 

While the fingers of his right hand weren’t completely severed, he wasn’t going to be getting much use out of anything but his thumb. Orc B gripped the katana’s hilt with his left hand. That was all Orc B could do. 

“Gaarah!” Kuzaku tackled Orc B with his shield, pushing him down. He pressed his shield against the fallen orc’s left arm, locking down his katana. 

Without missing a beat, he used his black blade to cut up Orc B’s face, and there was nothing the orc could do to stop it. It looked like Kuzaku could handle the rest, but this was no time to feel relieved. 

“Haruhiro-kun!” Shihoru shouted. 

They’re here, huh,  Haruhiro thought. Reinforcements. 

Was that it? 

There was something big charging in from beyond the fog. 

“...A giant?” Haruhiro was reminded of the white giants from the Dusk Realm. It looked that big. 

No, it wasn’t that big in actuality. But it felt nothing if not dangerous. 

Kuro had told him, Once we’ve snagged the package, you guys can go steal the treasure. 

Haruhiro’s party’s goal wasn’t to fight Forgan. That big guy was coming their way, but, if at all possible, they didn’t want to run into him. 

“Come on,” Haruhiro said in a low voice, walking off to the southwest. 

His comrades followed in silence. 

While climbing the southern slope of the ravine on a diagonal, he watched the big one’s movements. 

We’re good!  Haruhiro wanted to cry out in glee, but he obviously refrained. The big guy hadn’t changed course. He didn’t seem to have a fix on their location. Even so, once he found the orcs’ corpses, he might start looking for the culprits. They needed to get away quickly. 

The fog made it impossible to know how the battle was going, but there were definitely clashes going on here and there between friend and foe. Were they winning or losing? If the Rocks, Arara, and Katsuharu were killed or retreated, Haruhiro and the others would be left behind. That would be incredibly bad. 

There was also the issue of whether they could find Merry. Even if they did find her, could they rescue her? Looking back, having misread how serious Arara’s punishment would be had hurt. It had hurt them badly. 

The slope was getting steeper. It would be hard to go any higher. 

“Can hardly see a thing...” Kuzaku muttered to himself. 

Haruhiro was about to say something, then shut his mouth. There was a sound above, and some gravel rolled down the slope. 

Haruhiro looked up and immediately shouted, “Above!” But, to be honest, he had no idea what to do. 

It wasn’t the big guy from before, but this enemy looked plenty dangerous, too. It was that one. The giant wolf. Nimbly loping down the slope. On the giant wolf’s back was a goblin. Onsa the goblin beastmaster. 

“Get away!” Kuzaku spread his arms wide, pushing Shihoru and Yume away. 

No, that’s not going to work! 

Haruhiro tried to stop him. It was too late. 

The giant wolf plowed into Kuzaku with a growl. Kuzaku wasn’t sent flying. Had he grabbed on and clung to it? He’d done more than just that. He tried to brace himself, but when it became apparent that wouldn’t work, he twisted his body. 

“Rahhhhhh!” Kuzaku screamed. 

The giant wolf toppled over sideways with Kuzaku. The two of them slid down the slope together. Onsa grabbed the back of the giant wolf’s neck like it was a set of reins. He must have been trying to get the wolf to stand up. 

But Kuzaku didn’t let him. He rolled. 

The giant wolf and Kuzaku wrestled with one another as they rolled down the southern slope. 

It wasn’t long before Onsa was thrown off. He quickly got up, chasing after the giant wolf and Kuzaku. 

“Kuzaaaaku!” Haruhiro chased after Onsa like he was jumping down a flight of stairs two to three steps at a time. “Yume, watch Shihoru!” 

Kuzaku! Kuzaku! Kuzaku! Damn it!  Haruhiro cried out in his mind. 

He hadn’t been able to move. Hadn’t been able to do anything. Kuzaku had saved him. 

“Hou, hou, hou, hou, hou, hou, hou, hou, hou!” Onsa was making a strange noise. 

What was that supposed to be? Haruhiro had a bad feeling about it. Was he calling something? 

Kuzaku and the giant wolf finally came to a stop. The giant wolf shook his head. 

What about Kuzaku? Haruhiro couldn’t see him. Where was he? Was he underneath? He started crawling out from under the giant wolf. 

Kuzaku. 

He’s moving! He’s alive!  Haruhiro wanted to shout out. 

But not yet. It was too early to celebrate. 

The giant wolf got on top of Kuzaku. 

Kuzaku shouted, “Screw you!” as he struggled. 

Onsa would soon reach the giant wolf and Kuzaku. He’d get to them. 

“Funahhh!” 

That was Yume. Yume’s voice. An arrow. An arrow was flying. 

It grazed Onsa’s shoulder. Onsa ran into the shadow of a nearby tree without looking back. 

All right,  thought Haruhiro. Good! Now’s our chance! 

Haruhiro not so much ran as jumped. Every time he kicked off the ground, he went two to three meters, jumping, jumping, jumping. It was dangerous, and super scary, but this was far faster than running. Finally, he passed Onsa. 

He kept going and leapt onto the giant wolf. 

“Get off of Kuzaku!” Haruhiro screamed. 

He clung to the giant wolf’s back, stabbing his stiletto into its neck. He pulled it out and stabbed it in again repeatedly. The giant wolf writhed in agony, thrashed around, and tried to throw Haruhiro off, but to no avail. 

I’m not letting you go! 

Maybe the giant wolf had decided that doing something about Haruhiro was its priority, because it stood up and started to run. 

What? What? What? Huh? Why are you running towards that tree?! Have you gone crazy? We’re going to collide! 

“Ngah?!” Haruhiro shouted. 

Haruhiro released the giant wolf at the last possible moment, and ended up rolling around on the ground. The wolf ended up striking his back on the tree, but it seemed fine. By the time Haruhiro leapt to his feet, the giant wolf was baring its fangs and facing him. It hadn’t felt like his stiletto was doing much, either. Probably the wounds weren’t that deep, thanks to its hard fur and the fat beneath its skin. 

Kuzaku had risen to all-fours, but he wasn’t standing. Was he hurt? He couldn’t be completely unharmed. 

How bad was it? 

Where was Onsa? 

No. Now wasn’t the time to worry about him. 

The giant wolf lunged. 

It was impossible to think. The next thing Haruhiro knew, his body was moving on its own. 

The giant wolf sailed above him. 

Why was Haruhiro lying on his back? He didn’t know, but it seemed he’d ended up in that posture by sliding to the ground. Thanks to that, he’d dodged somehow. 

However, the giant wolf turned immediately, and was about to come at him again. Haruhiro scrambled to his feet, but—

Isn’t this kind of impossible? 

He couldn’t dodge the next one. It’d get him. 

It wasn’t that he’d given up, though. 

His throat. He’d protect that. If it sunk its fangs into his throat, that’d be the end. Rather than make a poor attempt to run away, he’d be better off standing ready and trying to avoid taking a fatal wound. Not dying was the key. He wouldn’t die instantly. No matter what, he could guarantee that. 

The giant wolf was coming. 

Coming. 

Closing in. 

When an arrow sank into its right eye he thought, Yume? 

The giant wolf’s head shrank back. It winced, shaking its head and whining. 

“It’s not like I care about my juniors,” Kuro said coldly. 

Kuro, huh?  thought Haruhiro. 

The warrior who was a former hunter was surprisingly close by. He’d appeared from the shadow of a rock not five meters from Haruhiro. 

Kuro unleashed two arrows. “Don’t misunderstand that, junior.” 

The giant wolf suddenly changed the way its head was facing. Because of that, the arrows struck its shoulder. Haruhiro didn’t know how serious the damage was, but the arrow was firmly lodged in there. What a powerful bow. 

There was the sound of a whistle, and the giant wolf turned. It was Onsa whistling. Would they run? 

“Kuzaku?!” Haruhiro glanced over to Kuzaku. 

“I’m okay.” Kuzaku had risen to his knees. He turned his head to look at Haruhiro. “Somehow.” 

“I want that guy dead.” Kuro went to take a shot at Onsa. 

Onsa jumped to the side, dodging it, then jumped onto the giant wolf’s back. Kuro loosed another arrow, but Onsa lowered his head and avoided it. 

“Hou, hou, hou, hou, hou, hou, hou, hou!” 

There was that weird vocalization again. 

What is that supposed to be?  Haruhiro wondered. 

Haruhiro rushed over to Kuzaku. Kuzaku rose under his own strength, then looked up the southern slope. Haruhiro turned his gaze in that direction, too. Yume and Shihoru were coming down. 

“Damn that uppity little goblin.” Kuro nocked an arrow to his bow. He drew back the string. Halfway, he stopped and looked up to the sky. 

“...Huh?” 

There was a beating of wings. Was it birds? They were close. Getting closer. Large bugs? Birds? Or bats, maybe? There were a lot of them. 

Haruhiro ducked down, screaming, “Whoaaaaa?!” as he swung his arms around. 

The birds, or bats, or whatever they were... those things were running into him. Into his arms, back, chest, head, and face. They hit him hard. 

He saw them, though not that clearly. They weren’t birds. They weren’t bugs, either. They were close to bats, but different. 

Lizards? Like winged lizards. 

The size of his two hands put together and spread out. Dragons? They were like little model dragons, but it was clear these were no models. They moved, and flew. They were attacking Haruhiro and the others. However, if they could fly around so nimbly, they had to be fairly light. Even when they hit him, it only hurt a little, so it wasn’t a big deal. They were just a huge nuisance. 

“What the hell?!” Haruhiro used his stiletto to lop a wing off of one of the mini wyverns. The mini wyvern let out a screech and fell to the ground. 

When he saw that, it was time to—well, no, even if he hadn’t seen that, it would have been time to run. 

The swarm of mini wyverns dispersed as he ran. Haruhiro couldn’t see the giant wolf anymore. Had Onsa used that weird vocalization of his to call the mini wyverns as a distraction? 

The mini wyvern Haruhiro had sliced a wing off of was waddling away. 

He thought of giving it a good kick, but refrained. 

“That surprised me...” Kuzaku raised the visor on his helmet and sighed. 

“Lost him, huh.” Kuro gave a hearty guffaw and clicked his tongue. “Oh, there’s Kajita.” 

True enough, they could hear a whole lot of manly battle cries in a husky voice. But who did the other voice belong to? It was deep and low, like the rumbling of the earth. It didn’t sound human. So it was an enemy, then. 

Somewhere nearby, Kajita was going at it with an enemy. A powerful one, most likely. 

“Kuzaku-kun!” Shihoru ran over to Kuzaku. She was carrying his shield. 

Had he dropped it in the middle of the battle? 

Yume was beside Shihoru with her bow ready, looking around restlessly. 

“Maybe you guys had better stick near us, after all. For now, at least,” 

Kuro said and disappeared into the fog. 

Haruhiro wanted time to sort his thoughts out. He knew, though, he’d get no such thing. 

Something was coming from the west. Enemies, no doubt. From the east, too. 

Here. This place was probably going to see heavy fighting soon. 

“Stick together!” Haruhiro raced over to where Kuzaku was. “For now, let’s support the Rocks here!” 

That figure he could faintly make out in the fog, was that Kajita? 

“Zweh!” Kajita swung his massive mushroom sword, and the ridiculously big guy they saw earlier, probably an orc, bellowed “Fuuuuuungh!” as he blocked it with his katana. 

Kajita was pretty tall himself, but that orc was still a good head or two taller—no, even more than that. Three meters tall seemed like a bit too much, but he had to be at least two and a half. And because of that—

“Goahhhh!” The giant katana that the giant orc had raised overhead on the diagonal must have had an incredible amount of power behind it. It was clearly a blow to be avoided at all costs, but Kajita tried to catch it with his massive mushroom sword. 

“Doehh!” Kajita shouted. 

There was no way he could stop it. Kajita’s body soared through the air. 

Hey, wait,  Haruhiro realized. He’s flying towards me. 

What now? Should I catch him? No, I can’t do it. But, that said, I don’t know if it’s okay to dodge him, either. 

For better or for worse, Kajita slammed into the ground with a loud thud, right in front of Haruhiro. He was completely spread-eagled. His sunglasses were starting to fall off. 

“Ka... Kajita-san...?” Haruhiro timidly called out to him. 

The giant orc was trudging towards him. 

“Ha-Haruhiro-kun, run!” Shihoru shouted. 

The giant orc raised his giant katana overhead. 

No way! He was already in range? Could he reach from there? He could? 

It felt like he could, too. Because the giant orc was so big, it might have been throwing off Haruhiro’s sense of distance. 

No other choice,  thought Haruhiro. I’ll have to run. 

“Heh!” Kajita rose with a frightening display of leg, abdominal, and back muscle strength that seemed unnatural. His massive mushroom sword turned sideways, he blocked the giant orc’s giant katana. This time, it stopped. Not just that, Kajita pushed back and made the giant orc bend backward. He stepped in, then swung down diagonally. 

The giant orc didn’t block with his giant katana. With a “Gwah!” sound, he just turned it aside. He was surprisingly dexterous. 

Kajita spun his massive mushroom sword around, locking blades with the giant orc. “Nghhhh! Nuhhhh!” 

“Guhhhh! Ohhhhhhhgh!” 

“Zwehhh! Humph! Zeahahh!” 

Kajita used brute force to push back the giant orc, then, quickly taking a moment to adjust his sunglasses, he held his massive mushroom sword in a low stance. 

“Hmph... What’s your name? ” Kajita said in a language that was foreign to Haruhiro. 

“Gai, Godo Agaja! Danjinba?” 

“My name is Kajita. ” 

“Den, dogaran...” 

“Ha ha ha! Me, too. ” 

What is with these people?  Haruhiro wondered. They both clearly speak different languages, but they’re managing a conversation? 

I shouldn’t get involved. Leave them to it. Well, it’s not like I could get involved, and the two of them seem to be having fun, so let them have at it for as long as they like. Looks like I’ve got things of my own to do. 

More and more orcs and undead were coming in from the west. They were going to the east—was that Arara? Katsuharu was there, too. And Rock. 

Gettsu the mirumi was running right behind Rock. They were three people and one critter, pushing westward through the valley. Not far behind was 

Tsuga with his buzz cut. Then Moyugi. Sakanami the thief was nowhere to be seen. 

Tsuga and Moyugi seemed to be being chased by orcs and undead. No, since this was Moyugi, maybe he was deliberately not turning to fight, and pulling the enemy along with him that way. 

It looked like enemies were coming for Haruhiro and the others, who still weren’t fully down the southern slope yet, too. 

Two orcs, and two undead. Four on four, huh. Tough, but they couldn’t run away now. They’d have to prepare themselves for the worst. They’d have to fight. 

“Kuzaku, you handle the front! Shihoru, Yume!” Haruhiro shouted. 

“’Kay!” 

“Okay! Dark!” 

“Meow!” 

Yume loosed an arrow. Dark flew forward. Kuzaku acted as a shield. 

Haruhiro looked for openings, going in for a single decisive blow when he could. If he could, that was. It turned into a chaotic melee in no time. 

Your mind feels like it might turn into a frantic mess, but don’t lose yourself. Look around. 

He couldn’t see through the fog. That wasn’t just true for Haruhiro; it was true for the enemy, too. It wasn’t a one-sided disadvantage. That meant they were on equal terms. His range of vision was extremely limited. 

Cool your head. 

Kuzaku was keeping the enemies in front under control. That didn’t mean he could relax, but he had to believe in him. 

It wasn’t just Haruhiro—Shihoru was also looking around. Yume would occasionally do something considerate, too. 

Don’t try to do everything alone. 

He couldn’t do it all, anyway. He’d do his best, of course. He, his comrades, and everyone else would do everything they could. 

We don’t need to overextend ourselves to kill enemies. Surviving is the key. First, defend. Hang in there. Then, be tenacious. Harass the enemy. 

Don’t stay in one place, either. Move. 

There was no reason they had to fight the enemy straight out. They could attack enemy groups that Arara, Katsuharu, and the Rocks were already fighting from the side or behind. Once they had poked at them a bit, they’d immediately withdraw and target other enemies. 

Read the flow. If the Rocks, Arara, and Katsuharu start to push back the enemy and advance, follow immediately. If the flow stagnates, do not, by any means, move up to the front. 

Fundamentally, they would stay ready to pull out, and act to disrupt the enemy. They didn’t need to think about delivering a direct, crushing blow. In fact, they shouldn’t think about that at all. 

There were a number of times in which they struggled with an enemy, and it was all they could do just to protect Shihoru. No matter how scared they got, they didn’t panic. 

The Rocks had Kuro, who loved to take down enemies with a surprise attack, and he was very good at it. Sakanami was the same way. Haruhiro wasn’t completely counting on those two to save them, but he didn’t think they’d miss the perfect chance when it presented itself. 

Everyone was at their most exposed when they went in to press the attack. 

Even if they knew not to let their guard down, at times like that openings tended to form naturally. If the enemy showed the slightest opening, Kuro would bring them down with a well-placed shot from that powerful bow of his, or Sakanami would murder them with an ambushing strike so frantic that it would seem to be filled with some sort of grudge. 

Haruhiro had started to get a handle on it. The Rocks didn’t do anything that could be called coordination. They were all acting on an individual basis. 

Rock and Kajita fought on their own, and even Moyugi was wandering around. Tsuga, being the priest, kept an eye on things, going here and there, but Kuro and Sakanami disappeared most of the time so that they could ambush enemies. 

In Haruhiro’s party, everyone acted as one unit. If even one of them was missing, their combat potential fell drastically. They might become completely dysfunctional. 

Meanwhile, the Rocks were different. They were each a unit unto themselves. For Moyugi, as their commander, if he included himself and his demon Moira, he had up to seven units he could move around and plan strategies with. 

If Haruhiro’s party could increase the number of units they had, too, it would give them more options. It would broaden their range. 

Could they do that? 

First, there was Merry. Merry was indispensable. No matter what, they would definitely get her back. 

Also... Ranta. 

If they had Ranta... 

No, Ranta had betrayed them. How it had happened wasn’t clear, but he’d probably ended up in a situation in which he was about to be killed, then gotten down and performed a kowtow or something to get Forgan to let him join. 

Ranta was an enemy. They hadn’t encountered him yet, but he might appear before them as an enemy at any moment. The Rocks might have already killed him. If they had, well, that was that. 

But had he really betrayed them? 

The guy had been with them since they’d first arrived in Grimgar, so maybe Haruhiro just didn’t want to think it was true, but there was still something bothering him about it. What was it? 

This was no time to be thinking about Ranta. Although it did show that Haruhiro had a lot of leeway for his thoughts to be drifting like this. 

Rock stood as the vanguard and was making steady progress. The enemy’s resistance was weak. Haruhiro and his party were moving up while hardly even engaging the enemy. 

Even though the fog hadn’t thinned, it felt awfully bright. Brilliant, even. 

They came to an open area. They were finally through the valley. 

“Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!” Rock let out an excessively cheerful laugh. 

When he laughed like that, Haruhiro was no match for him. Rock made it feel like nothing was impossible. If they just stuck with him, everything would work out somehow. 

He didn’t just provide a push from behind; he dragged everyone along with him. The propelling force that was created by Rock’s very presence was crazy. It had to be some sort of charisma. It felt dangerous, but they had no choice but to press onward. 

Haruhiro looked back as he ran. They settled on a system where Haruhiro took point when they moved, and when they encountered enemies, he quickly changed places with Kuzaku. Kuzaku and Yume were both walking with strangely light steps. Only Shihoru, who was sandwiched between the two of them, was looking left and right busily, questioning whether this was all right, and whether there were any problems. 

“Merry should be up ahead!” Haruhiro called out to his comrades. “Keep on your toes, and let’s go as far as we can!” 

“Meow!” 

“’Kay!” 

“Right!” 

Rock. Arara. Katsuharu. Those three were ahead and to the left of Haruhiro’s group. 

Was Kajita still fighting with Godo Agaja somewhere? Tsuga was behind Rock and the rest. Moyugi was nowhere to be seen. Were Kuro and Sakanami hiding in the mist? 

It wasn’t just Haruhiro and his group; none of them were trading blows with the enemy. Even though there were still enemies. He could see silhouettes that looked like orcs and undead here and there. 

Wait, are we being lured in...? 

There was a resounding and unsettling howl that likely came from the giant wolf. 

There was a hill up ahead. On top of that hill, there were people there. 

Three people, and one large animal. There was a person on top of the animal, too, so make that four people. 

Then, at the bottom of the hill, there was a far greater number of enemies. 

Rock, then Arara, Katsuharu, and Tsuga all stopped one after another. 

Haruhiro and his group were forced to stop, too. 

Moyugi caught up to them walking at a leisurely pace. His thin sword was sheathed. He pressed the middle finger of his right hand against the bridge of his glasses. 

“Things went just as I planned, I see.” 

Was that really true? It felt like a blatant lie, but, even if it was the truth, this was what he had planned for? 

“Dohhhh!” Kajita shouted. 

Something big came flying at them from the rear. Well, hey, if it wasn’t Kajita-san. 

Kajita landed next to Tsuga. Spread-eagled, of course, like before. He didn’t look dead, but he wasn’t moving. 

The giant orc Godo Agaja approached them with his giant katana resting on his shoulder. There were swarms of orc and undead behind him. Black wolves, too. There were a bunch of members of other races Haruhiro didn’t recognize, too. Not many of them, but they were there. 

No matter how he looked at it, the Rocks, Arara, Katsuharu, and Haruhiro’s party were being caught in a pincer attack. What was more, Sakanami and Kuro weren’t here, so they were ten people and one pet. 

The enemy weren’t just a hundred people, which would already be ten times their number. It wasn’t possible to get a clear count with the fog, but there were probably hundreds of them. 

The four people and one animal atop the hill were, starting from the right, the great wolf with Onsa on its back, the one-armed, one-eyed, middle-aged human Takasagi, an orc of small build with a black eagle perched on his shoulder, and a double-armed undead with four arms, Arnold. 

There was a familiar face in the great mass of Forgan members at the base of the hill, too. No, they couldn’t see his face. He was wearing his helmet. 

But there was no way it could be anyone else. 

He crossed his arms, puffing out his chest. More self-important than anyone. It seemed he’d already settled in as a member of Forgan. 

“Rantaaaa!” Kuzaku walked forward, pointing at Ranta. “How dare you show your face in front of us! I knew you were brazen, but I still can’t believe you!” 

Ranta shrugged silently. Wasn’t he going to argue back? 

Haruhiro ground his back teeth. That’s not like you, man, Ranta. 

He was a nasty, arbitrary, nonsensical, stupid, and moronic, but still somehow cunning, strangely confident, ill-mannered, annoying dread knight who was a nuisance just by being there, and whose personality was rotten to the core, so he ought to have hurled a bit of verbal abuse their way there. He was a dread knight, after all. 

“Murrgh!” Yume stomped her feet. She was teary-eyed. “Yume hates you, Ranta!” 

“Yume...” Shihoru reached out and rubbed Yume’s back. 

“And?” Takasagi slowly rotated his head. “What is it you people want to do, picking a fight with us? Do you just want to fight? If so, we’ll face you. 

We don’t mind a little fighting ourselves. If we’re doing this, we’ll go all the way. We’ll crush you all here. Kill every last one of you.” 

“I’m not here to fight you.” Rock laughed and leveled his sword at Arnold. “Arnold! I want a duel with—” 

“No!” Arara jumped forward to stand in front of Rock. “Rock! I am grateful to you for bringing me here, but this, this is one thing I cannot leave to you! Arnold the Bloody Whirlwind! If you are a warrior of honor, face me in a duel!” 

Haruhiro saw Katsuharu look down and shake his head. Kajita still hadn’t risen. 

What about Kuro? Sakanami? He hadn’t sensed a nyaa since the black nyaa had killed the striped one, either. Had Setora suppressed Forgan’s nyaas for them? 

If they were going to fight one-on-one, Haruhiro would be glad to let them have at it. For his part, he wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible. He had to find Merry and save her. 

Hopefully they could get away with the four of them, but that might be difficult. At the very least, even if Haruhiro had to go it alone, was there not some way he could sneak away from here? Forgan were in front of them and behind, but not to the sides. If he timed it right, it might not be impossible? 

Right? 

Timing. The timing was crucial. But even if Haruhiro managed to get away alone, and supposing he somehow was able to rescue Merry, what about their comrades? What would he do about the other three? Was it better to give up on Merry, and to try to get back alive with just the four of them? If he did, he would have to question why they came all this way. But setting aside what they came here for, shouldn’t he use the best method, the best path available to him in his current situation? Haruhiro was the party’s leader, after all. 

How had it come to this? What did that matter? This was just how chance worked. Even without going and looking for trouble themselves, they might still find themselves in a dangerous predicament. Things like that happened all the time. Whining about it would do no good. The question was what to do in the situation they found themselves in. Or, if he could change the situation somehow, to move it in a better direction, even if only slightly. In order to do that, he needed to think, then act. 

“For what reason?” the small orc asked in fluent human speech. 

This caught Haruhiro a bit by surprise. That was Jumbo. Jumbo, the head of Forgan, huh. 

“Woman of the village,” Jumbo said. “For what cause do you seek a duel with my companion Arnold?” 

“There was a man,” Arara said. “I adored him. And he, too, loved me. 

However, the two of us were torn apart. He was looked down upon in the village. By building his fame as a warrior, he hoped to make the village recognize and accept his love for me.” 

“There was indeed one who came alone by night to challenge Arnold,” said Jumbo. 

“Ohh... Tatsuru-sama...” 

“It was over with one swing,” Takasagi said with a snort. “I didn’t see it, just heard about it later, but that man was cut down by Arnold more easily than he might swat an irritating fly.” 

“...He never returned,” Arara said softly. 

“Well, of course not,” Takasagi shot back. “If he’d been skilled, some of our undead might have wanted an arm, or a leg, or two for themselves. 

Nobody has any use for a weakling’s body.” 

“You dare mock him?!” Arara screamed. 

“I’m only telling you the truth. And? You’ve got a misguided grudge against Arnold, and you’re telling me you raised all this hell just to have a duel with him?” 

“My grudge is not misguided! The first one to commit an outrageous act of violence was Arnold! It was for that reason that Tatsuru-sama went to slay Arnold, the sworn enemy of the village!” 

“Oh, yeah, that did happen, huh,” Takasagi mused. “Well, Arnold gets thirsty for blood and does weird stuff sometimes. It’s like a fit. When it happens, even we can’t stop him. He’s doing his best to control himself so he doesn’t attack our people. We’ve just got to leave him to it. He doesn’t mean anything ill by it, so forgive the guy.” 

“Y-You think what he did is forgivable?!” 

“Well, you’ve got a point.” 

That man, Takasagi... it was hard to tell if he was he messing around, or if he was serious. Either way, the fact that Arara was enraged and ready to blow her top made her like a toy for Takasagi. He wasn’t just handling her; he was toying with her. He couldn’t have been treating her more derisively. 

“Enough, Arara,” Rock said quietly. With just one word, the atmosphere changed drastically. 

Rock had his back to Haruhiro, so he couldn’t see, but he most likely was not smiling. Not one bit. Haruhiro’s hair had already begun to prickle, and now it was standing straight up. 

“When a person—” Rock took a step forward. Haruhiro got goosebumps. 

“Whether they’re human, or something else, when a person—” Rock was angry. “She risked her life to demand you face her in a fair fight, and that’s your attitude?” 

With each step forward that Rock took, Haruhiro’s stomach contracted another five millimeters. That was how it felt. 

“You’re lame, Forgan. They say you’ve got orcs, and goblins, and even humans, so I thought you’d be a more interesting group. But I misjudged you. 

You’re a bunch of scum.” 

Most of Forgan probably didn’t understand the human language. Even so, could they still understand they’d been insulted? The members of Forgan were suddenly seething with anger and making a fuss. 

“Shut up!” Rock bellowed. 

With that, he silenced Forgan. 

Rock began walking towards the hill. No one could stop him. Not Arara, not anyone. 

Gettsu stood on his hind legs and watched Rock go. The Forgan members at the base of the hill seemed paralyzed, unable to move. 

“Bring it.” Rock stopped a few meters from the hill, beckoning with one hand. “All of you, come at me. I’ll send every last one of you flying. You get it? I’m mad. Don’t think you’re gonna get off lightly after pissing me off. I’m a gentle guy, but, you know, once you make me snap, I don’t settle down until things are made right. That happens when either I bite it, or all of you are wiped out. I don’t especially like killing, but you guys, I’ll kill. Let me see you get serious. I came here for that, anyway. I’m not planning on going back alive. Can’t live if you’re afraid of dying. If you’re always scared, you can’t enjoy what there is to enjoy. I’ll show you all. The brilliant fire of life that burns inside me, that is. You show me, too. Live, fight, and die here. 

Entertain me. If you put up a boring fight, I won’t let you get away with it. 

Kill me. If you can, that is. I’m gonna kill all of you. I’ll fight, and fight, and kill you. Shall we get started? You ready? Who wants to die? Who’s gonna entertain me? I’ll take any of you. I like guys who entertain me. Friend? Foe? 

Who cares. Well? Why’s no one coming? You don’t mean to tell me you’re scared, are you? You’re all that lame? Show some spirit. Let me see how you live and die!” 

“I wan... duel wi... you... ” 

Was that... a voice? 

Arnold jumped down from the hill. It was fluid in a way that didn’t let you sense his true weight. The grim reaper had descended. That was what it looked like. 

Rock didn’t budge. Arnold was approaching Rock. 

There was less than a meter between them now. When that closed to fifty centimeters—no, thirty centimeters—Arnold finally came to a stop. 

“This’ll be our second time.” There was finally a hint of a laugh in Rock’s tone. “Let’s do it, Arnold. I’m not the same me as I was before, so watch out. 

I’m in top mental and physical shape, you know.” 

“I wi... ki... you... ” 

“Sure. Just try it.” 

There it was again. They were talking different languages. How did they understand one another? 

Takasagi slapped his forehead with his left hand and sighed. “You’re actually doing this?” 

“U-Um...” Arara reached out, her hand hanging in the air. “What about... me...?” 

“I’ll be blunt, Arara,” Rock said, still facing Arnold. “This man is damn strong. You don’t even stand a chance against him alone. Maybe you’re fine with losing and getting yourself killed. I’m not. I’ll avenge Tatsuru for you. 

Leave it to me.” 

Instead of digging her heels in, Arara hung her head. Haruhiro could only infer, but it might have been that Arara had been well aware of the painful difference in ability between herself and Arnold from the beginning. Even if she stood no chance, she might have meant to do as much as she could, then follow after Tatsuru. If that had been her plan, well, it was practically suicide. 

However, perhaps Arara had had a change of heart, and it had shaken her resolve to do this or die trying. If she no longer meant to die, she couldn’t fight Arnold anymore. Even Haruhiro could tell he was just that dangerous of an opponent. 

The black eagle lifted off from Jumbo’s shoulder. 

It looked like they were about to start. It could happen any moment now. 

But wait, this... 

Could this be Haruhiro’s chance? 

Once Rock and Arnold’s one-on-one duel began, friend and foe alike would be focused on them. During that time, he would quietly sneak away from here. It might be doable. No, he could do it. He would. 

That just left the timing. When should he make his move? Would he consult his comrades? Would they all go? Or just him? Would he go without a word? 

Jumbo lowered himself down, sitting on the ground with one knee raised. 

The great black eagle rose as they watched, disappearing into the fog. 

Everyone held their breath and waited for the moment to come. 

Which would make the first move? Either way, weren’t they too close to one another? 

Haruhiro couldn’t decide what to do. Was it safe to move now? Was it too soon? 

He looked at Ranta. He was still wearing his helmet, but the visor was up. 

He seemed to be looking at Rock and Arnold. 

If Ranta had completely betrayed them, he might be subtly watching Haruhiro. If he noticed anything, he might report it to Jumbo, or someone else. That would be bad. 

And... they started. 

It was Arnold. That undead had four arms. While moving backwards, he used two of those arms, one on each side, to unsheathe katanas. 

Rock didn’t take a single step back. He knocked them with a clang back using his sword. 

He charged. 

Arnold drew another two katanas, stopping and standing still. Four katanas and one sword collided as if intertwining with each other. 

Neither Rock or Arnold moved, as if both were rooted to their respective spots. They just kept trading blows. 

What? How could they do that? Especially Rock? His opponent was a quad wielder, so how could he deflect them all with one sword? 

So fast. 

The four katanas and one sword were picking up the pace. 

Scary. 

This absolutely had to break down sometime, somewhere. If either of them was even a little slow to act, even the slightest bit off, this balance would collapse. And if one of them was going to be too slow, it would be Rock. 

Thinking about it normally, there was no way he could keep fending off unceasing attacks from four different directions indefinitely. 

But look. 

That prediction had been completely off the mark. One of Arnold’s katanas broke and went flying. 

The moment he went down to three katanas, Arnold moved smoothly to the left. Rock returned his sword to its sheath and drew another. 

He closed in, and attacked. 

Arnold blocked Rock’s series of attacks with his three katanas. While defending, he moved further and further to the left, as if trying to divert Rock’s momentum. 

Suddenly, Rock stood bolt upright and switched swords again. “Looks like my movement is nice and snappy today. How about you, Arnold? Hurry up and get serious.” 

Haruhiro snapped back to his senses. He’d been watching intently despite himself. 

This was unexpected. Wasn’t Rock just too damn amazing? Honestly, Haruhiro had thought it’d be a tie at best, or Arnold would have the upper hand. Rock had said he was in top shape, though, so maybe that was it. 

Could he win? Was Rock going to win? Maybe he would make this surprisingly quick and easy? 

If he did—what then? 

If he said, Okay, we won, now give us Merry, who you have captive, would he be able to get them to accept that? That would probably be expecting a little too much. If the rest acted like Rock, challenged them to a duel, and asked for them to return her if they won, in this atmosphere, it felt like they might let that pass. But who would fight? Haruhiro? With whom? 

Ranta had been saying, That woman belongs to me,  or something like that. 

So, with Ranta, then? 

“KYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!” 

Arnold hollered. 

Haruhiro’s thinking was forcefully interrupted. That dreadful sound. 

Arnold had his arms spread wide and his back arched backwards. It was coming, coming, coming, here...! 

Arnold did a spinning jump. It was like he’d turned into a whirlwind. 

That was probably Arnold taking this seriously. No way. There was no defending against that. Rock needed to run, no two ways about it. 

But, of course, Rock didn’t pull back. More than that, he stepped in. There was an incredible cacophony, and Arnold was pushed back. 

How had Rock taken Arnold’s whirlwind attack? Had he deflected it? 

Haruhiro couldn’t see well enough, so he didn’t know. Regardless, he was completely surprised. The chain of surprises continued. 

Even once he was pushed away, Arnold kept spinning! 

Just like that, he closed in on Rock again. 

“Ha ha!” Rock finally laughed. 

It shattered. 

One katana shattered. 

Rock had pushed Arnold back again, and that wasn’t all, he’d smashed another katana. 

“I’m coming,” Rock said. 

He switched swords again, closing in on Arnold. He’d been using his sword with just his right hand up until now, but this time he held it in both hands. 

“Oorah, oorah, oorah, oorah, oorah, oorah, oorah, oorah, oorah, oorah, oorah, oorah, oorah, oorah!” he yelled. 

It was a combo too fast for the eye to follow. What was more, each and every blow had an awful lot of power. 

He was pushing Arnold back. It might even have been more correct to say he was locking him down. Yes, that made sense. 

The katanas. Rock’s swords were targeting Arnold’s katanas. When Arnold began to swing his katana, Rock would slam his sword into it. Arnold couldn’t even spin. He had far bigger problems. 

Rock had two swords, but he only ever used one at the same time. 

However, the length and thickness of the two was considerably different. By switching to whichever of the two was more appropriate, he made it difficult for his opponent to respond. That part was a little unorthodox, but for the rest, it was a frontal attack. 

Rock didn’t have some especially refined technique. His attacks and his defense were actually both clearly defined. How was he that strong? 

He had a small physique, but a high degree of physical ability. If that was correct, it was probably his eyes. Rock had good eyes. His kinetic vision was outstanding. 

He wasn’t just in good condition. Rock had fought Arnold once before. 

That time, he’d seen Arnold’s movements. 

Rock had seen through Arnold. 

That was probably why he was in such good shape. Rock had known that if they fought a second time, he was confident he could win. More than that, he might have intended from the beginning to cross blades with Arnold lightly the first time, then settle things definitively on the second. 

The third katana broke. 

One more. 

For a moment, Arnold stopped moving. Had he sensed his defeat and become overcome with surprise? Or was it a trap? 

Whatever the case, Rock didn’t rush things and go in for the kill. With his sword raised aloft in both hands, he let all the muscles in his body relax. In the middle of this intense battle, it wasn’t normal that he could let the tension out like that. It showed he had mastery over his own mind and body. 

Arnold swung his katana at him. Rock immediately hit it back. 

The next moment, Haruhiro doubted his eyes. 

Arnold was holding the katana in one of his two right hands. He took a swing at Rock with his two empty left hands. If he did that... 

Of course, the inevitable happened. Rock slashed both of Arnold’s left arms with his sword. It wasn’t hard enough to make them go flying. 

One of the arms. 

Rock’s sword cut off one of Arnold’s left arms, and bit deeply into the other. He couldn’t sever it. 

Arnold might have been sacrificing his left arm in an attempt to rob Rock of his sword. In fact, Arnold’s empty right hand reached out for Rock. But before his sword could be stolen, Rock let go of it himself and drew the other. 

“If you want it, it’s yours.” 

Rock’s sword sent Arnold’s katana flying. He dealt a shallow cut to Arnold’s shoulder. One of his right arms was cut up pretty badly. 

Arnold staggered backwards. For every bit Arnold backed away, Rock moved up. 

“Zooah, zooah, zooah, zooah, zooah, zooah, zooah, zooah, zooah, zooah, zooah, zooah, zooah, zooah!” Rock yelled. 

It was one-sided. 

Arnold ran, desperately trying to escape. He didn’t turn his back on Rock, but not out of choice; it was because he couldn’t. 

“Hey,” someone whispered in Haruhiro’s ear. 

Haruhiro nearly had a heart attack. He wanted to praise himself for not screaming and jumping into the air. No, maybe it wasn’t that praiseworthy. 

There was someone behind him. They weren’t touching him, but they were so close they might as well have been. 

To think he wouldn’t notice until they got this close. He’d been just that fixated on Rock and Arnold’s duel. This when Haruhiro had important things to be doing. He was such a fool. 

From the voice, he had an idea who it was. 

While still facing forward, Haruhiro said, “...Sakanami-san?” 

“I am your substitute,” said Sakanami. “Let not the light of youth be clouded, for it is a high-density curse. It mustn’t be muddied with blood. If you have time to repent, embrace ambition. Your heart will break anyway.” 

“You’re not making any sense, man...” 

But Haruhiro did understand what he meant. Sakanami was saying, Go search for Merry.  He was going to act as Haruhiro’s substitute. 

My substitute? 

“...No,” Haruhiro whispered. “We don’t look particularly alike, Sakanami-san, so if we trade places, it’ll be immediately obvious I’m not here.” 

“We share the same blood.” 

“We do not. There’s no way we’re blood relatives.” 

“Is your mentor Barbara? Does that woman tie you up and make you faint?” 

“Oh, because we’re both thieves? That’s a bit simplistic, don’t you think?” 

“Can you tell orcs or undead apart?” Sakanami asked. 

“Well, not that well, no,” Haruhiro confessed. 

Haruhiro understood. He had to do it. Rock was chasing Arnold down. He had no confidence in his success, he could make no predictions, but it was still now or never. 

What was Ranta doing? He wasn’t looking this way. He seemed to be following the fight between Rock and Arnold. Kuzaku, Shihoru, and Yume were the same. 

The great black eagle was nowhere to be seen. Maybe it was overthinking things to assume that eagle might be monitoring Haruhiro and the others from above. 

Haruhiro nodded slightly. “I’ll go.” 

“We change places on the count of five, eight.” 

“...Why not one, two?” 

“Five, eight.” 

Holding back his urge to say, Listen when people talk to you,  Haruhiro turned around and traded places with Sakanami. When he turned, he was surprised by what he saw of Sakanami’s back. His posture, the position of his center of gravity, the way he stood... it was all Haruhiro. Was he imitating him? What kind of special talent was that? It was creepy. 

Shihoru put her right hand behind her back and made a fist. That was Shihoru for you. She was the only one to notice. She was quietly sending Haruhiro off, saying, Do your best,  to cheer him on. 

Haruhiro nodded. 

Stealth. The fog. This fog which hangs over Thousand Valley. Become one with the fog. 

First, he went south. There was no one there. 

He did his best to pay as little attention to the duel between Rock and Arnold as he could. It would distract him, no matter how he tried not to let it. 

Don’t rush it. 

Float away. 

Don’t be hasty. 

Don’t, under any circumstances, let your breathing be disrupted. 

My heartbeat is under control. 

I can do this. 

That was the last thing he thought before panicking. 

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” 

Arnold turned into a whirlwind again. This time, he was low. Folding his body, lowering himself as far as he could, he spun like a top. 

“Oh?!” Rock flipped over. 

Had Arnold tripped him? Wasn’t that kind of bad? 

Arnold quickly picked up his katana and went after Rock. Rock jumped up and went to fight back. 

Rock’s sword and Arnold’s katana both broke. 

It had turned into a brawl. If they ended up grappling, which of them had the advantage? Haruhiro didn’t really know. However, the one thing that was clear was that it was going to be more complicated than a fight with swords and katanas that could easily deal a lethal blow. It was sure to be a real mess. 

Don’t hesitate,  he scolded himself. Go. 

Move forward. 

Turn your heart to ice. Don’t feel anything now. 

If you see anything that looks humanoid, just avoid it. While making sure you’re not spotted, move to the south. Then to the west. 

If he searched blindly, he’d never find Merry. From the rough map in his head, he knew the scale of Forgan’s encampment, even if only vaguely. First, he’d try focusing his attention on the center. 

It was like grasping at a cloud. He might be doing something reckless. 

This might be frivolous of him. Was this really okay? He wasn’t making a mistake? 

He cast aside all hesitation. Depending on how things went, it might be no use. 

Merry. 

Merry. 

I want to see you. 

I want to hear your voice. I want to see your face. I want you to call me Haru. I want to know you’re safe as soon as possible. Am I acting out on my feelings here? Yeah, I am. They’re my feelings. I can’t get rid of them. 

It’s no good. My heart’s getting so heated, it feels like it’s going to boil over. 

Cool it. Even if I took my feelings out of the equation, I couldn’t abandon a comrade. First of all, Merry’s our priest, the center of the party. How massively does the absence of a healer limit the party? We learned that in the other world where we couldn’t use light magic. Now, when we finally get back to Grimgar, this happens. Not having Merry is more than just an inconvenience. 

I’m going. 

To the center of Forgan’s encampment. 

“Nyaa.” 

Inhaling sharply, Haruhiro readied his stiletto and the knife with a hand guard despite himself. 

He’d heard the meowing of a nyaa. Where? Not far. It was close. 

There. 

Ahead on the right. There was a gray nyaa sticking its head out from the bushes. 

The gray nyaa showed Haruhiro a silent meow. I’m a friend,  it was saying. 

Could he trust it? It was hard to decided. 

When the gray nyaa emerged from the bushes, it walked off on all four legs. It went a little way, then turned back to look. It did another silent meow. 

Haruhiro bit the corner of his lips. “...You want me to follow you?” 

The gray nyaa turned to face forward, then took off at a half run. 

I’ve got to go,  Haruhiro decided. 

Intuition, that was all it could be called. But there was, at least, some reasoning behind it. 

Forgan’s nyaas were being suppressed by Setora’s nyaas. That meant it was probably one of Setora’s. Setora knew Haruhiro’s objective. That nyaa must have found where she was. It was trying to lead Haruhiro there. 

That said, he’d pieced all of this together while following the gray nyaa. 

He thought it was logical, but he’d only come up with this reasoning after the fact. Intuition had come first. 

In the end, it was a good thing he’d gone with his gut. Because the gray nyaa was leading the way, he only had to pay the bare minimum of caution, and could focus on moving forward as they crossed two small valleys. 

Beyond them there was a place like a basin that was small, but wide and deep, probably over a hundred meters. 

In the corner of it, she was there. 

It was Merry. 

She was facing downward, sitting on the ground. Was she chained or bound somehow? 

Not far from her, was that a human? It was from a race that looked similar to a human, a child...? Was it? There was a creature like that lying down with his head resting on its elbows. Was he guarding Merry? If so, he couldn’t be sleeping. Did he have nothing to do, so he was lazing about? 

Haruhiro and the gray nyaa were poking their heads up from behind a swell in the ground to see what the situation was, so they were still some distance away. Merry’s guard hadn’t noticed them yet. From the look of it, there was nothing else moving. 

The gray nyaa was looking at Haruhiro. When Haruhiro nodded, the gray nyaa did another silent meow and ran off. 

It still didn’t feel real. He felt like his feet weren’t touching the ground. 

Merry was there. Alive. It should have been fine for him to be happy, but he felt no emotions. 

Strange. Was he calm? Was that it? He had to help her. Right. It didn’t matter how; he just had to help Merry fast. 

Merry was facing towards the north. The childlike guard was to Merry’s southeast, maybe two meters away, with his body was facing northwest. 

From behind. He’d creep up on the guard from behind. He couldn’t let him get away. He didn’t want him making a racket, either. Knock him out? 

No, that was no good. Had he forgotten the mistake he’d made in Waluandin? 

The guard had to die. He’d do it in one blow. 

That’s... not a kid, right?  Haruhiro wondered. He’s a guard, so he can’t be. He probably just comes from a race that’s like that. Besides, even if it were a human child, that wouldn’t change what I ought to do. I’ll kill him. 

I can do it. 

Haruhiro carefully crept up to the guard with Stealth. That he might make a noise was a thought that never crossed his mind. What he had to worry about was that the guard would happen to look in his direction. Or that Merry would happen to see him, and that would clue the guard in to his presence. 

There was no way to avoid accidents like that. If that happened, he’d finish it quickly. He was prepared. But he was glad it didn’t come to that. 

Haruhiro had almost reached the childlike guard. The guard was short and fat, had pointy ears, and was humming a happy tune. Haruhiro didn’t need to work himself up with a One, two, go. 

He leaned over the guard, and used Spider. He covered the guard’s mouth with is left hand, turned him over, stabbed his dagger into the guard’s throat with his right hand, then slashed it. The guard struggled, but it was too late. 

While Haruhiro was using all his strength to hold the guard down, Merry raised her face. When she looked over in his direction, her eyes went wide. 

“...Haru,” she whispered. 

Haruhiro didn’t know how to respond. For a start, he smiled. That had to be a horribly awkward smile. The guard was still alive, after all. Desperately struggling. But naturally, it was all in vain. Finally, the guard stopped moving. 

Haruhiro was about to move away from the dead guard, but he thought better of it. Merry was wearing handcuffs. The key. The guard probably had the key. 

He hurriedly searched the guard’s body. This guy really wasn’t a human child. The bridge of his nose was thick, but awfully low, and the shape of his head with the broad, pronounced forehead was a distinctive feature, too. His coarse body hair was like an animal’s. 

There was a cord around his neck. It was there. The key was hanging from the cord. 

Haruhiro rushed to Merry and removed her handcuffs. Neither of them said a word. They had no time for pleasantries. Haruhiro offered Merry his hand, and helped her to her feet. 

They couldn’t return to the village, of course. They’d decided on a meetup point in advance. That exit. From here, it was to the northeast. It should have been around eight kilometers. He wanted to run, but Merry was exhausted. It was best not to overexert themselves. They left immediately. 

“I had an awful time,” Merry said in a low voice, then laughed a little. 

Perhaps she meant to reassure Haruhiro by joking around. But he wanted to be the one reassuring her. 

“An awful time.” Just how awful had it been? What had they done to her? 

It bothered him. But what reason did he have to ask? What good could come of it? At the very least, now wasn’t the time. 

“You’re okay now,” Haruhiro said. 

“Yeah.” 

“I wish I could have come faster, though.” 

“You were plenty fast. Where are the others?” 

“Uh, yeah...” 

Honestly, he couldn’t say there were no problems, or that she didn’t have to worry, because that wasn’t necessarily the case. What had happened during Rock and Arnold’s showdown? How had it developed from there? How were Shihoru, Yume, and Kuzaku doing? There were too many unknowns, or rather there was nothing but unknowns. But what of it? 

Merry was all right. The rest would work out somehow. They could surely overcome it. They would overcome. In order to do that, he needed to keep his head working. To not relax. Because he didn’t let his guard down, he’d be able to detect it. 

Haruhiro stopped and raised a hand. Merry immediately stopped, too. 

Nearby, there was a hole that was probably not even a meter deep. The two got down inside it and sat there. 

He’d heard it. 

It was faint, but it was the voice of a nyaa. Were Forgan’s nyaas still left? 

No, probably not. It was Setora’s nyaa. Was that a signal? Was it trying to tell Haruhiro something? What? 

“Hey!” a voice called. 

That, huh. The nyaa was probably trying to tell Haruhiro that the owner of that voice was approaching. 

“I know you’re there, Haruhiro! Get out here, you piece of shit!” 

Merry huddled close to him. She was trembling. Her breathing was suddenly ragged. 

Haruhiro stuck his head up out of the hole. Was that it? It was coming from the east. He could see silhouettes. Not far off. They were obscured by the fog, but they weren’t more than fifty meters away. 

They weren’t alone. Four... no, five people. 

Not good. If they were going to run, they had to do it fast. Those guys were getting closer and closer. For every bit closer they got, the odds of escape went down that much. 

He’d made the wrong call. What good would hiding do? They should have run immediately. He’d failed. 

Should he play decoy so that Merry could get away on her own? Merry didn’t know the area, so the overwhelming likelihood was that she would get lost. They’d catch her eventually. They had to run away together. 

Why was Haruhiro hesitating like this? He knew. Because he thought if it came to this, they probably couldn’t escape. At the very least, taking the most obvious approach wouldn’t work. Unless something happened, or he made something happen, they wouldn’t be able to get away. 

For Haruhiro’s part, that meant he had to make something happen. He had no idea what, but he’d do something. 

“Merry, when I give the signal, run,” he said urgently. “With me.” 

Merry took a short breath. “...Got it.” 

Even if he told her, Go by yourself,  there was no way Merry would agree. 

Either way, they were sticking together. He wouldn’t leave Merry alone anymore. Not a chance. 

“Get the hell out here, Haruhiro!” 

“Stop shouting.” Haruhiro didn’t just stick his head up, he got out of the hole. 

This is the worst,  he thought, his heart sinking. 

In with the other members of the group that included Ranta was the one-armed, one-eyed, middle-aged man called Takasagi. In addition, there were two orcs, and the thin man with a poor complexion and long ears who seemed to be an elf. 

Ranta,  Haruhiro thought. Damn it, Ranta. 

The orcs and the elf might be fine, but why, of all people, had he had to bring Takasagi? That old man was clearly trouble. 

Takasagi held his pipe in his mouth and scratched the back of his neck with his left hand. Between him and Haruhiro, which had the sleepier eyes? 

When Takasagi came to a stop and pointed to the left and the right with his chin, the two orcs went right, and the elf went to the left. 

“Hey, Parupirorin.” Ranta jaunted right up to him. “Where’s Merry?” 

“Dunno.” 

“I’ll bet she’s here somewhere. Hiding.” 

Haruhiro didn’t answer, gripping the hilt of his stiletto. Do I do it? Can I fight with him? 

“I see right through you.” Ranta lowered his visor and drew RIPer. “Every thought you have.” 

“...Like?” 

“From the beginning, you were planning to sneak out and save Merry, weren’t you? I waited and waited, but you didn’t, so I thought you’d gotten scared.” 

“Like I’d—” 

Damn it. 

His hands felt weak. It wasn’t just his hands. It was everywhere. 

Is this okay? 

Ranta. 

Is this really okay with you...? 

“Takasagi.” Ranta leaned forward a little, readying RIPer. “Let me be the one to kill him. I’ve got to prove my loyalty. You’re fine with that, right?” 

“Do as you please.” Takasagi shrugged. “Let me say, though, I don’t particularly doubt you.” 

“Liar. Well, whatever. I’ll make you believe in me soon enough.” 

...Ohh,  Haruhiro thought. I see. 

So that’s it. 

Haruhiro drew not just his stiletto, but his knife with the hand guard, too. 

Ranta flew at him. Leap Out. 

Then, from outside his range—

“Hatred!” 

Haruhiro stepped forward and diagonally to the right, dodging it by a hair. 

Dodging it with room to spare was beyond him. It was a terrifyingly sharp slashing attack, filled with vigor. If he’d never seen it before, he might have been hit. But he had. 

More than that, he’d seen Ranta’s Hatred with his own eyes, hundreds of times, probably over a thousand by now. He’d been watching it all this time. 

But now that it’s turned on me, it’s this bad? 

It hurt. He felt like his nerves were raw and exposed. 

Ranta used another Leap Out, trying to get to Haruhiro’s side. His specialty was to chain that with a Slice. 

I won’t let you,  thought Haruhiro. You won’t take me down. 

Haruhiro kept on moving to keep Ranta directly in front of him. Move as he might, Ranta was always bouncing around with Leap Out. He was swinging RIPer. He was stabbing at him. Haruhiro couldn’t catch his breath. 

He was fast. Or rather, he was blinding. This was tough. 

Haruhiro knew all the cards in Ranta’s hand, so he could still deal with it somehow. If he hadn’t known Ranta, he’d already have long since taken a wound or two. Until he saw through him, it would be a tough fight. He might be beaten, unable to hold out long enough. 

He had to get serious, or he’d be in trouble. No, he was serious, and he was using everything he had to dodge. That wasn’t it. 

If he didn’t seriously intend to defeat Ranta, he might be cut down. He had to take a “kill before you’re killed” approach. He couldn’t stay passive like this. If he was going to go on the offensive, the sooner the better. While he was still unharmed. 

“Nuwah!” Ranta used Leap Out to try to get to Haruhiro’s left side. 

Haruhiro stepped forward diagonally to the left. 

He passed Ranta, and turned. 

He got there. 

Behind him. 

He’d quickly get him with Backstab or Spider, and—

“Missing!” Ranta shimmered and vanished. 

No, he was using a particular moving style, one that made his opponent, that was to say Haruhiro, hallucinate. 

Left. From the left. 

He came. 

Immediately, Haruhiro caught Ranta’s RIPer with his stiletto. He was sure he’d be pushed back with Reject. Before that, Haruhiro jumped back to put distance between them. 

Without missing a beat, Ranta closed in. As expected. If he avoided it any longer, Haruhiro was going to run out of breath first. He’d use Swat. 

Swat. Swat. Swat. Swat. Swat. Swat. Swat. Swat. Swat. 

Damn it! 

Ranta. 

Each of his attacks are heavier than I thought. 

“Weak! Weak! Weak! Weak, weak! What’s wrong?! Why’re you so feeble, huh?!” 

Ugh. Shut up. You’re annoying. You’re just Ranta. Damn it, stupid Ranta. 

It was compatibility. He knew his personality didn’t match Ranta’s, but he was an equally bad match for someone to fight. Ranta was the type that fought with agility, variation, and the number of moves he had available. Just like Haruhiro knew Ranta, Ranta knew Haruhiro, too, so it was close to impossible to get behind him in a one-on-one fight. If he couldn’t surprise him, couldn’t twist his joints backwards, and couldn’t move faster than him, how exactly was he supposed to win? 

Maybe I can’t win...? 

Lose, to Ranta? 

Haruhiro was a thief. Thieves, unlike dread knights, were not combat specialists. They were ill-suited for straight-up fights to begin with. Even their equipment was light and thin. That was why it was going this way. 

Haruhiro was in no way inferior to Ranta. No, it didn’t matter who was better or worse. However, before worrying that he’d hate to lose to Ranta, or how he didn’t want to lose, there was the more practical problem that if he lost, it was over. 

He had to win. He’d have to risk it all. Like he had when he’d defeated the orc at Fire Dragon Mountain. He had to accept that. If Ranta’s power was a ten, Haruhiro was a seven, maybe an eight at best. It wasn’t as bad as with the orc at Fire Dragon Mountain, but Ranta was stronger than Haruhiro. Even so, there were things he could do. He might end up battered and blue himself, too, but—

This is okay, right?  Haruhiro thought. Ranta, you’re okay with this? You know, right? I can’t hold back, okay? 

How Haruhiro had beaten down the orc at Fire Dragon Mountain was something Ranta hadn’t seen. That meant he hadn’t seen Haruhiro giving it absolutely everything he had. Ranta wouldn’t be able to deal with that. 

Swat. 

Swat. 

Swat. 

Swat. 

With each time he used Swat, his senses sharpened. 

Ranta took a big swing with RIPer. It was deliberate. 

Haruhiro wouldn’t go for that bait. Not yet. It wasn’t time yet. Haruhiro just used Swat. 

“Heh!” Ranta laughed and used a light Exhaust. He jumped straight backwards to put distance between them. “Man, what are you trying to do? 

Fine. Bring it. It won’t work on me. I’m gonna prove right here that, in the end, you can’t beat me!” 

“Whatever. Just come at me, Ranta.” 

“You don’t have to tell me!” 

Ranta lunged towards him with Leap Out. That stance was for Anger. 

He’d chain from that stab into a combo. Haruhiro wouldn’t let him. 

Assault. 

Surpassing his limits, Haruhiro moved up with a speed that betrayed Ranta’s expectations. 

RIPer’s sword point grazed Haruhiro’s left cheek. Using his knife with the hand guard, Haruhiro used Slap on Ranta’s left hand. 

He slammed the pommel of his stiletto into Ranta’s helmeted forehead, sweeping his left leg out from under him with a trip. 

Ranta fell on his backside. By that point, Haruhiro was already behind Ranta. He wasn’t thinking with his head. Even if he didn’t think, his body would move on its own. 

He stabbed his stiletto into Ranta’s right shoulder. 

“Agh!” Ranta groaned and dropped RIPer. 

While pulling his stiletto free, Haruhiro wrapped his left arm around Ranta’s neck. Even with the visor down, the helmet had holes for him to see through. If he put the stiletto through there—

If he put the stiletto through there—

If he did that—

“Haru!” a voice cried. 

Haruhiro pulled back his stiletto. 

“No...!” 

Merry. She was standing up, and shouting. 

“Haruhiro!” Ranta shook free from Haruhiro’s left arm. “You—” 

“Ur...” One of the orcs crumpled, holding his face. 

It was an arrow. 

The orc’s face had taken an arrow, probably in the eye. 

“Huh?!” Takasagi drew his katana, knocking something out of the air. 

That something was an arrow. Someone was firing arrows from somewhere. 

Haruhiro dashed. Whoever it was, whatever their objective, it didn’t matter. For now, something had happened. Thanks to that, a one-in-a-thousand chance had come his way. 

Merry was already running, too. 

Haruhiro soon caught up with her. 

“Dammiiiiit! Haruhiroooo! Merryyyyy!” Ranta’s shouts grew more distant by the second. 

What about the others? Were they giving chase? Even if they did, Haruhiro would shake them off. 

Haruhiro ran, only continuing to sense the presence of Merry beside him. 

His body felt heavy due to the feeling of lethargy that was a side effect of Assault. What was a little heaviness? It wouldn’t kill him. 

The next thing he knew, the fog had gotten thicker. Even though he couldn’t see the sun, and he’d lost all sense of direction, Haruhiro didn’t stop. 

North. He knew he should be heading roughly north. 

They probably didn’t have any pursuers. At least, he didn’t think any were nearby. 

“You owe me, junior.” Shockingly, there was a voice. Haruhiro hadn’t been able to count on his own detection abilities. Although part of that was he’d been up against a tough opponent. 

Haruhiro stopped and looked around the area. “...Kuro-san?” 

A tree to the left shook, and there was a rustling of leaves. When he looked up, Kuro was sitting on a branch. 

“Moyugi told me to do it, see. He said to go help you out. Feel free to be grateful, okay?” 

“Well, of course I’m grateful,” Haruhiro said. “Earlier, that was you, Kuro-san?” 

“...Who?” Merry squared off against him while her shoulders heaved with each breath. 

“Ohh—He’s in the Day Breakers... Basically, that makes him our ally, or our comrade, you could say.” 

“I’m the guy who saved your life, yeah? If you want to make it simple.” 

“I... suppose you are,” Haruhiro sighed, shaking his head right away. 

This was no good. He felt like he was going to relax. It was too soon to let the tension out now. 

“...How are Rock and the others?” 

“Dunno. Well, I’m sure they’re doing fine. It all went according to Moyugi’s plan, like always.” Kuro put a hand on the branch, hung down from it, and dropped to the ground with an, “Oof.” Then he yawned and stretched. 

“All right. Well, later then, junior.” 

“...Huh? Where are you going?” 

“I’ve worked a little too much today. I’m gonna go get some sleep somewhere. I’m tired, after all. Oh, yeah. You guys were planning to meet up at that cave, right?” Kuro pointed ahead and to the right. “It’s thataway. 

Maybe six kilometers from here. Well, there you have it, bye.” 

“...Okay.” 

Kuro waved to them, then disappeared into the fog. They might have been able to stop him and ask for directions, but Haruhiro didn’t feel like it. He didn’t just not feel like it; he didn’t feel like much of anything. 

His hands trembled a little. His feet wouldn’t move. 

What was he standing around in a daze for? Well, no, he wasn’t in a daze. 

So what? 

“Haru, are you okay?” 

He felt Merry’s hand on his back. 

Haruhiro nodded. Giving her that nod was the best he could manage. 

Would Haruhiro have killed Ranta if Merry hadn’t stopped him? In the end, he might not have been able to. Or he might have done it. 

Had Ranta meant to kill Haruhiro? 

It felt like it, but he might have been planning to show mercy at the very end. 

Either way, Haruhiro had wounded Ranta with his stiletto. That hadn’t been a scratch. It had been a fairly deep wound. If not treated properly, it was entirely possible it would develop into something really bad. It was a serious wound. That wasn’t something you gave to a comrade. 

Haruhiro wanted to squat down. If he lowered himself down, surely Merry would cheer him up. She’d comfort him. She might even embrace him. 

Haruhiro wanted those things. To be honest, he wanted them badly. But he couldn’t do it. 

He didn’t want to indulge in Merry’s kindness. It wasn’t appropriate for Haruhiro to do that. He didn’t have the right. 

Obviously, he couldn’t forgive Ranta. No matter what happened to Ranta, he deserved it. Even so, at least for the moment, he wasn’t ready to forgive what he had done with his own hands, and wasn’t willing to forgive himself. 

He didn’t want to accept it. That Ranta was no longer their comrade.