About Grimgar

Monsters

Goblin

Ugly diminutive humanoids. Height tends to be 140cm at most. Many individuals are around 120cm. They have greenish skin and pointed ears. Though they can vary, they tend to be clever and won’t engage in battles when they are at a disadvantage. Prefer to act in groups. Have formed a kingdom ruled by a royal bloodline. They give birth in litters, they have a short gestation period of around three months, and they mature quickly, so their species has an extraordinarily large number of individuals. One trait they have is that they carry a small bag called a goblin pouch slung over one of their shoulders in which they keep items of value. High-ranked goblins decorate their pouches, and these decorated pouches themselves can sell for a high amount. They seem to have a liking for fashion, as they often wear expensive items on themselves. Something to target.

Hobgoblin

A subrace of goblins which are less common compared to the standard goblin. They resemble goblins but are built larger, being roughly human size. They are more fierce than goblins but less intelligent, sometimes being tamed by goblins and turned into slave warriors. They are generally bullied for being taller than the other goblins. Some intelligent hobgoblins have formed a tribal society and regard goblins as enemies. Occasionally there is a submissive hobgoblin that has been tamed by goblins, armed as a bodyguard, and will fight fiercely on their behalf. Most important goblins have such a hobgoblin protecting them.

Pit Rat

Rats that are roughly the size of cats. They are speedy and have exceptionally hard hair. Similar to porcupines. They have the trait of curling into a ball and rolling away at high speed. Many subspecies exist. They are omnivorous but like meat, and there are pit rats that will target larger animals (including humans) as prey. Their meat is not very tasty. Their pelts are of little use. They are vermin.

Undead

One faction of the undead. A new race created by No-Life King. Skeletons, zombies, and ghosts are not technically undead (though humans often view them as undead). Undead are creatures that have died but are not dead and do not rot. They have powerful regenerative abilities, and even when their brains are destroyed or they are burned, it does not destroy them. It is said that dead bodies given No-Life King’s black blood became the undead, but even now with No-Life King gone, the priests and bishops of the undead perform the “ritual of undeath” to undeathen corpses. Those who are undeathened lose most of the memories that they had in life, pledging allegiance to No-Life King. This remains unchanged even now that No-Life King is no more.

Zombie

Due to “No-Life King’s curse,” those who die in Grimgar, unless proper measures are taken, become “servants of No-Life King.” Zombies are the servants “with meat,” while those that have fully rotted become skeletons. Severing the head or destroying the brain will stop them from moving, but left alone, they will become either partial skeleton parts or ghosts.

Class Listing

• Warrior
• Mage
• Thief
• Priest
• Hunter
• Paladin
• Dread Knight

*There are also other specialized classes such as Samurai.

Acquisition of Skills and Magic

When a skill or magic is first learned through training, what is learned is only the basics: enough to execute it, but not to execute it with sufficient power and effect. Through practice or use in battle (use in battle is said to be ten times as effective) your degree of skill builds, and gradually you become able to execute it with the power and effect it was meant to have. It takes considerable time and effort to master it fully.

Clans

A team or group formed by volunteer soldiers, primarily those working toward the same goal. Members are all comrades. When assaulting a fortress or labyrinth that is too large for a single party, a number of parties must band together. It is thought that these sorts of circumstances are what lead to the formation of clans. In the Volunteer Soldier Corps, there are no fixed regulations for them, but it is recommended to report it to the office when forming a clan.

Guilds

There are a number of guilds in this world. Most are organizations for a designated trade, and a pact between all of the guilds ensures that an individual may only hold membership in one guild. In almost all guilds, there is a code that all members must follow. This is not written down, but passed verbally to the members, and those who break the code are expelled. Expelled members may never return to the guild. Furthermore, whether expulsion is the worst that happens to the offender depends on the guild. In some guilds, pursuers will chase down the expelled, seeking their lives.

“Awaken.”

He opened his eyes, feeling like he’d heard someone’s voice.

It was dark. Nighttime, maybe? But not pitch black. There were lights. Fire. Above him. Some kind of lighting. Candles, it looked like. Small ones affixed to the wall. Not just one, but many, spaced evenly, continuing as far as he could see.

Where was this place?

It was kind of hard to breathe.

When he tried touching the wall, it was hard and rocky. This was no wall. It was just bare rock. Little wonder his back was sore after lying against it. His butt hurt, too.

Maybe he was in a cave... A cave? Why would he be in a cave...?

Those candles were pretty high up. He might be able to reach one if he stood; that was how high they were. Moreover, they didn’t even give off enough light for him to see his hands and feet.

But he sensed the presence of others nearby. When he listened closely, there was a faint noise that sounded like breathing.

Humans? What if they weren’t? He might be in trouble. But they sounded human, somehow.

“Is anyone there?” he asked hesitantly.

“Uh, yeah,” a man’s voice shot back.

“I’m here...” came another response, likely that of a woman.

Another man’s voice gave a short, “Yeah.”

“I figured as much,” another person added.

“How many of us are there?”

“Should we count?”

“And... where are we, anyway?”

“Dunno...”

“What? Doesn’t anyone know where we are?”

“What’s going on?”

“What is this?”

Seriously. What the hell was this? What was he doing in a place like this? And why? How long had he been here?

He clutched at his chest tightly, as if trying to claw something off of it.

He had no clue what was going on. How long had he been here? Why was he here?

When he began to consider his situation, something began to tug at the back of his mind. But it suddenly vanished before he could latch on to it.

He didn’t know. He didn’t know anything. He was at a complete loss.

“Sitting here won’t solve anything,” said one man in a low, husky voice.

There was a sound, like someone stepping on pebbles. It sounded like the man had stood up.

“Going somewhere...?” a woman’s voice asked.

“Following the wall,” the man answered. “Going to try heading towards the light.” The man’s tone was surprisingly calm.

Wasn’t he scared? Why wasn’t he shaken up by this?

The man was now beneath the second candle from him, and he seemed very tall.

He could make out a bit of the man’s head in the candlelight. The man’s hair wasn’t black. Was it... silver?

“I’m going, too,” the woman said.

“Me too, I guess,” a man’s voice said.

“H-Hold on, guys! I’m coming, too, then!” called another man.

“There’s the other direction, too,” said yet another person. The voice sounded slightly high-pitched, but it was probably another male. “We can probably go that way. There’s no candles, though.”

The silver-haired man said, “If you want to go that way, be my guest,” and started walking.

It looked like everyone would be following the silver-haired man. I had better go, too, then, he thought. He stood up hurriedly, not wanting to be left alone.

He nervously stepped forward, keeping a hand on the rock wall. The ground wasn’t smooth. It was uneven, but easy enough to walk on.

There was someone in front of him, and someone behind. He didn’t know who, though.

Judging by their voices, nobody here was all that old. I don’t know any of these people... at least, I don’t think so, he thought.

Who were the people he knew? Acquaintances. Friends. But just exactly who were they?

Strange. He couldn’t think of anyone. No, it was more like whenever he tried to work backwards from the faces that did come to mind, they would suddenly vanish.

He didn’t know.

It didn’t just happen with just friends. Family, too. It wasn’t that he didn’t know them at all. It was more that he ought to have known them, but he was forgetting.

“Maybe it’s best not to think about it,” he said out loud.

“Did you...” asked a voice from behind. Definitely a young girl’s voice. “Did you say something?”

“No, it was nothing—”

He stopped.

Nothing important? Really? Nothing important? How was it not important?

He shook his head to clear it.

At some point, he seemed to have stopped walking. I should continue on, he thought.

He needed to keep walking. It was better not to think about it. The more he tried to remember, the less he felt like he knew.

The row of candles continued. There was no end in sight.

How long had he been walking? Had he walked a long way, or not? He couldn’t say which. His sense of time and space had become dulled.

“There’s something here,” said someone up ahead. “It’s bright. There are... lamps?”

The silver-haired man said, “It’s an iron grate.”

“D-Do you think it’s the exit?!” exclaimed a different man, his voice shrill and excited.

The sound of the heavy footfalls lightened. Even in the dark, he could tell that everyone was hurrying ahead.

He could see the light sources now. They were much brighter than the candles had been. Those were definitely lamps. Were they hanging on the wall? The lamps were illuminating what looked like an iron grate.

The silver-haired man grabbed the iron grate. Not only was his hair silver, the man was dressed like a gangster. He shook the iron grate violently, like a gangster would, and it began to move.

“I’m opening it,” the gangster called, pulling the grate inwards. With a creaking noise, the iron grate door opened.

“Oh...!” several people cried out at the same time.

“Can we get out?!” exclaimed a woman dressed in flashy clothes who was standing behind the gangster.

The gangster headed through the door. “There are stairs. We can go up.”

Through the door was a cramped, moldy corridor. Beyond that, there were stone steps. There were no lights, but light was shining down from above.

The group ascended the stairs in single file, one step at a time.

There was another iron grate at the top of the stairs. This one looked like it wouldn’t open.

The gangster bashed the grate with his fist over and over again. “Is nobody there?! Open the door!” the gangster roared, like a beast.

The flashy woman joined in, shouting, “Hey, someone, anyone, open up!”

From behind them, a guy with curly hair shouted, “Hey! Open the door! Hey!”

They didn’t have to wait long. The gangster took his hand off the grate and stepped back. Apparently someone had come.

The flashy woman and guy with curly hair went quiet, and there was the sound of a lock turning. The iron grate opened, and a man’s voice said, “Get out.” He assumed the voice belonged to the man who had unlocked and opened the door.

They ascended the stairs, and there was a stone room. It was windowless, but brightly lit thanks to the lamps. In addition to the stairs they had come up, there was another set of stairs going up to a higher level.

The whole place feels too old, like it doesn’t belong in the modern world. The man who opened the gate is dressed weirdly, too. I mean, those aren’t clothes he’s wearing. That metal stuff he’s wearing is... armor? I’d call that headgear he has on an armored helmet, too. And that object hanging from his waist, it doesn’t look like a nightstick. Was it a sword... or something similar? Armor, a helmet, and a sword? What era did this guy come from? Then again, I guess that’s not the problem here.

The man in armor pulled a blackish switch on the wall.

The wall and floor shook slightly, and a heavy sound echoed through the room. The wall moved.

It opened. Part of the wall slowly opened.

It sunk down, leaving a hole. An oblong, rectangular hole.

The man in armor simply said, “Get out” again, gesturing towards the hole with his chin.

The gangster went outside first, and the flashy woman followed. Everyone followed after them, going through the hole one after another as if being pulled along.

Outside.

This time, they were really outside.

It was either predawn or twilight. The dimly lit sky spread out as far as the eye could see.

This was the top of a small hill.

When they turned around, a large tower rose in front of them. They had been inside that tower... or perhaps it would be more accurate to say, beneath it.

Counting everyone in the group, there were eight males including Gangster, Curly, and himself, and four females including Flashy. Twelve in total.

It was dark, so he couldn’t see that much detail. Still, he could make out their figures, roughly what they were wearing, hairstyles, and general facial features. As he had thought, he didn’t recognize anyone.

“You think that’s a city?” asked a slender man with silky hair. He was pointing to the other side of the hill.

Looking in that direction, he could see buildings crowded together.

A town. It certainly looked like one. It had to be a town. Except that the town was surrounded by a high fence— No, not a fence. It was surrounded by high, solid walls.

“Rather than a town,” said a thin man wearing black-rimmed glasses, “it’s almost like a castle.”

“A castle...” he whispered, but for some reason his own voice sounded like someone else’s.

“Um...” a petite girl behind him timidly asked, “where is this, do you think?”

“Look, asking me isn’t going to help.”

“...Right, of course. Um, d-does anyone... know? Where is this place?”

No one said anything. Unless they were deliberately trying to trouble the girl, or were concealing the information for some other reason, that meant none of them had any idea.

Curly scratched at his curly hair and said, “Seriously?”

“I’ve got it!” said a man who looked like a playboy, clapping his hands together. He wore a bordered cut-and-sew outfit. “Why don’t we just ask that dude?! Y’know, the one who was in, like, armor or whatever!”

Everyone turned to look at the tower.

And then it happened.

The entrance began to shrink. The wall rose up again, filling in the hole.

“Whoa, whoa, wai—”

Playboy made a panicked run for it. He was too late.

The entrance vanished, leaving the spot where it had once been indistinguishable from the surrounding wall. Playboy tried touching and hitting the wall in all sorts of places while crying out things like, “Oh, come on, you can’t be doing this! Wait, wait, stop it! Please, man...” But nothing happened.

After a while, Playboy sat down, dejected.

“Well, this is a problem,” said a girl with her long hair in two braids. She said the word “problem” with a funny accent.

“You said it,” replied Curly Hair, crouching down and hanging his head.

“Seriously...? Seriously?”

“And, now, with that perfect tiiiiiiiming!” a high-pitched woman’s voice rang out—

Wait, who...?

There were four girls in their group: Flashy, the one with braids, the petite and timid one, and an even tinier girl who had to be shorter than 150 cm. That high-pitched voice didn’t sound like it belonged to Flashy, Braids, or Timid. It probably wasn’t Tiny’s voice, either.

“I appear, you know. I take the stage, you know. Where am I? I’m right heeeere!”

“Right where?!” cried Playboy, standing up and shouting.

“Don’t paaaanic! Don’t be alaaaarmed! But, still, don’t relaaaax. Don’t pull out your hair, eiiiither!”

Singing something like “Charararararahn, charararararahnrarahn.” a woman poked her head out from the side of the tower, where she had apparently been hiding.

Is her hairstyle what they call “twintails”? he wondered.

“Heeeey. Is everyone feeling fiiiine? Welcome to Grimgar. I’m your guide, Hiyomuuuu. Nice to meet youuuu. Let’s get along? Kyapii!”

A man with a buzz-cut ground his teeth loudly. “What an annoying speech style,” he muttered.

“Eek!” Hiyomu ducked her head back into the tower, but soon stuck it out again. “You’re so scary. So dangerous. Don’t get so maaaad. Okay? Okay? Okay? Okay?”

Buzz-Cut clicked his tongue in distaste. “Then don’t piss me off.”

“Yes, sirreeee!” Hiyomu hopped out next to the tower, raising her hand in a salute. “I’ll be careful from now on, sir! I’ll be reeeeal careful, sir? Is this okay? It’s okay, right? Teehee.”

“You’re doing that on purpose, aren’t you?”

“Aw, you could teeeell? Ah, ah! Don’t get mad! Don’t punch me, don’t kick me! I don’t like being hurt! Generally, I want you to be niiiice to me! Anyway, is it okay if I move things along now? Can I do my job now?”

“Hurry it up,” said Gangster in a low voice. Unlike Buzz-Cut, he didn’t look openly agitated. Still, his tone was intimidating.

“All righty, then,” Hiyomu began with a grin. “I’m gonna do my job now, okay?”

The sky was getting brighter by the moment. It was much brighter now than it had been earlier, which meant it must be morning, not dusk. The dawn was breaking.

“For now, just follow after meeee. Don’t get left behiiiind!” Hiyomu started to walk, her twintails swaying behind her.

Looking around, they saw a path from the tower leading down the hill. Grass fields spread out on both sides of a dark path of exposed earth that had been hardened with use, and there were large white stones scattered around the grass that covered the hill. A whole lot of them. Too many. It looked almost like they were in orderly rows.

It was as if someone had lined them up.

“Hey, are those...” Curly asked, pointing at the white stones. “Could they be... graves?”

He shuddered.

Speaking of which, he noticed some sort of writing carved into them. Flowers had been placed in front of some, as well. A graveyard. Could this hill be a graveyard?

At the head of the group, Hiyomu giggled without turning around. “I wondeeeer. Well, don’t you worry about that now. Don’t woooorry. It’s too soon for any of you. I hope it’s too soon for any of youuuu. Hee hee hee...”

Buzz-Cut clicked his tongue in distaste again, kicking the dirt. He seemed pretty ticked off, but it looked like he still planned to follow Hiyomu for now.

Gangster had already started walking. Glasses, Flashy, and Tiny followed him.

Playboy shouted, “Whoa! Me too, me too! Me too!” and began chasing after them, then tripped.

It looked like there was no choice but to go along. But where was Hiyomu planning to take them? Where was this place?

He sighed, looking up to the sky. “Ah...”

What was that? It was pretty low in the sky. It couldn’t be the sun. It was too big to be a star, though. It wasn’t even a full circle, anyway. Its shape was somewhere between a half and a crescent moon. Did that mean it was the moon, then? That’d be a weird moon, though.

“It’s red,” he said out loud. He blinked, taking another look at it. No matter how many times he looked, it was still ruby red.

Behind him, Timid gulped audibly. He turned around to see she was gazing at the moon, as well.

“Ahh,” said Braids as she seemed to notice it, too. She blinked repeatedly, then chuckled. “Mr. Moon is red. That’s super pretty.”

The man with silky hair looked up to the red moon hanging in the dawn sky, standing still with an absent look on his face.

Curly said, “Whoa...” with a wide-eyed stare.

An excessively large, but seemingly quiet, man let out a low groan.

He didn’t know where this was. Where had he come from? How had he gotten here? He didn’t know those things, either. He couldn’t recall. But... there was just one thing he was certain of.

The moon in that other place wasn’t red.

A red moon was just weird.

“Oh, my,” Bri-chan looked at the man. “If it isn’t Kuzuoka. What’s going on? Did you need me for something?”

“No, that’s not why I came,” Kuzuoka said with a glance to Haruhiro and the others. “I heard we had some newbies, so I came for a peek.”

“News sure makes it to you fast. But we had twelve this time, and only five of them are still here.”

“Oh. These are the leftovers, then, huh.”

Ranta’s face stiffened. “Well, so-rry for being left over.”

“You ought to be sorry, you know?” Kuzuoka said with a glare at Ranta, then gave Haruhiro and the others the once-over to evaluate them. “Hmm... Well, it’s the front-liners we’re short on, anyway. Hey, big guy, you’ll do.”

Moguzo pointed at himself. “Me?”

“That’s right. I mean you. When I say ‘big guy,’ you’re the only one here I could mean. I’ll let you join our party. I’ll show you the ropes. I can even lend you a little money. It’s a pretty sweet deal, don’t you think? Now if you understand me, come along.”

“Uh, okay...”

“Moguzo, you’re going?!” Ranta grabbed Moguzo by the left arm. “Don’t do it! This guy is clearly dodgy!”

“Ah, okay...”

“Just come already!” Kuzuoka pulled his right arm. “As a trainee, you should be grateful just to be let into a party! Also, I am not dodgy!”

“Uh, uh, okay...”

“Moguzo, don’t let him trick you! A guy who’s dodgy is never going to tell you he’s dodgy!”

“Ah, ah, uh... Ow, ouch, that... hurts, you know...”

“Oh!” Ranta let go of his arm.

“Sorry, sorry, ah...” Moguzo apologized meekly.

“Okay, let’s go now!” Kuzuoka said, savagely dragging Moguzo away.

Shihoru’s shoulders slumped. “They left...”

“Now there’re...” Yume counted one, two, three on her fingers as she pointed to Haruhiro, Ranta, Shihoru and finally herself. “...four of us, huh?”

“Darlings,” Bri-chan said, stifling a yawn. “Just how long do you plan on standing there? I’m busy with work of my own. If you’re just going to loiter around, I’ll toss you out, you know?”

Ranta looked to Haruhiro and the others like a beaten dog. “...Should we get out of here?”

Haruhiro figured the look on his own face must have been at least as pathetic as Ranta’s. “...Yeah.”

“I don’t even remember. I was getting yelled at so often that I started to think that maybe I was born just to be yelled at.”

Haruhiro had gotten scolded pretty often by Barbara-sensei, and it had left him feeling down. Not because it had destroyed his self-confidence, though. He had never had the chance to build any of that. Had Manato gone through the same thing? Maybe it was the same for anyone when they first entered a guild. If so, Haruhiro didn’t need to let it get to him. Maybe he didn’t need to be so pessimistic about things.

I feel a bit better now. It’s thanks to Manato. Manato got us the information on the guilds, and he consulted with us all on which each of us should join. Where would we be without Manato? I don’t even want to think about it.

“Guess it’s time to come clean, huh?” Ranta said with a sigh. “The thing is, I’ve got something I need to tell you all. It’s a big announcement.”

“Huh...?” Haruhiro raised his eyebrows. “What?”

Yume said “What could it be?” blinking repeatedly, and Shihoru looked at Ranta hesitantly.

Manato was eyeing Ranta’s body... or rather, checking out his equipment. Was there something strange about it? Ranta had an old longsword on his hip, and he was clad in hard leather armor. Well, it was kind of a warrior-y look.

“Huh?” Manato said, narrowing his eyebrows and looking down. “Warrior armor is supposed to be—”

“Here’s the announcement!” Ranta said, puffing his chest out so far his head was tilted back. “I said I was going to become a warrior, but I didn’t! The whole warrior thing just wasn’t me. I felt that I was brimming with a talent that’d blossom in a different dimension, an alternate dimension, so I didn’t join the warriors’ guild!”

“Wha...?” Manato seemed like he was about to say something, but then lost his voice. He’d gone quite pale. And who could blame him, really?

After all, according to the info Manato had gathered, the warrior and priest were the center of any party. The warrior stood on the front line, putting up a furious battle against all enemies, while the priest was a healer who treated his allies’ wounds. Every party needed at least one of each. So, when Manato had chosen to be the priest and they had determined that either Haruhiro or Ranta would be the warrior, Ranta had volunteered for the position on the basis that it sounded cool. Because Ranta had wanted to do it, and had said as much, Haruhiro had decided to join the thieves’ guild.

“Hm?” Ranta was unabashed. He looked at them as if wondering what was with the strange looks he was getting. “What’s wrong? Be more shocked, would you? This is one super surprise.”

“...We’re more than surprised,” Haruhiro rubbed his pulsing temple. “We’re exasperated. What did you join a different guild for?”

“Like I said, it was a feeling. It was instinct, man. Instinct. A hunch. My sixth sense at work. I heard a whispering from the god within me, see. ‘Don’t become a warrior,’ he said. ‘That’s not you. You’re a bigger man than that.’”

“And?” It looked like Manato had regained some of his composure, though he was still grimacing a bit. “What guild did you join, Ranta?”

“Check this out!” Ranta pulled out a skull-like... well, actually, it was just a skull... necklace and thrust it towards them. Then he pointed to the breast of his armor. There was a skull emblem burned into it, too. “Glory be to the master of death, the dark god, Lord Skullhell! I went and became a dread knight!”

“A trendy light?” Shihoru asked.

“No!” Ranta shouted, spittle flying everywhere. “A dread knight! A knight of darkness! Even the name is cool! Sounds way more awesome than ‘warrior,’ doesn’t it?!”

“...Could it be,” Shihoru said hesitantly, “you only became a dread knight because it sounds cool, and for no other reason...?”

“‘Only’? Listen...” Ranta said with a sigh. “Is there anything more important than coolness? Yeah, I didn’t think so. I mean, how could there be? Think about it.”

This guy could use a good punching, thought Haruhiro. He didn’t do it, though. Punching him wouldn’t help. It was too late for that.

“...So, once you become a dread knight, you can’t quit, right? They’ll send people to hunt you down if you try to leave the guild, or something.”

“Yeah, kinda. There’s this rule, ‘Thou shalt not betray us until Skullhell takes you.’ You get what that means? ‘Until Skullhell takes you’ means until you die.”

“So, what can a dread knight do?”

“Summon a demon!” Ranta clenched his hand into a fist, and... lowered it. “Can’t do it now, though. I can’t do it during the day when the god of light, Lumiaris’s, power is strong yet.”

“So, it’s just at night...”

“Only for now! As I accumulate vice, the demon’s power goes up.”

“So, what can that demon do?”

“It whispers to me! Telling me there’s enemies nearby. Oh, and sometimes it’ll let loose a demon joke!”

“Huh...”

“Don’t ‘huh’ at me! I’m a knight of darkness! A dread knight! It’s a perfect fit for me!”

“Sure enough,” Manato nodded with a half-grin. “It’s a perfect match for you, Ranta.”

“I know, right?” Ranta said proudly. Apparently sarcasm was lost on him.

What a blissful idiot. He might have been fine with his choice, but it was absolutely not okay with anyone else there. Had Haruhiro and the others been stupid to rely on Ranta? Maybe.

Haruhiro’s shoulders slumped. “...No, I don’t know...”

Shihoru was leaning against a tree as if trying to hide behind it. Her misfire with the Magic Missile must have been bothering her.

Yume was the only one still looking cheerful, her eyes darting around restlessly, and she burst into a big grin when her eyes met with Haruhiro’s. Haruhiro smiled back without really intending to, but this was hardly the time for smiling at each other, he felt. Maybe it is, though. Who knows?

“...He’s right, all we did manage was to drive them off,” Haruhiro sighed. “Maybe the woods are too dangerous? Like, it could be too soon for us...?”

“Yes! I live again...!” His healing apparently finished, Ranta jumped up and swung his arm around in circles. “Okay, okay, let’s get going already, people!”

“...G-Go?” Moguzo blinked. “Wh-Where?”

“Are you stupid? To find some mud gobs or ghouls, obviously! You’ve got to be kidding me if you think we’re going to just go home with nothing to show for it after getting scratched up by those pit-whatever-you-call-’ems! We can’t back down now!”

“I suppose not...” Manato thought for a moment, then nodded. “I think Ranta’s right. There’s some risk involved. Those pit rats are carnivores, right?”

“Pit rats, yeah,” Yume answered. “They might be omnivores. But, when they hunt in packs like you saw earlier, I’ve heard sometimes they’ll attack humans.”

“Well, they did actually attack us...” Haruhiro said.

“So they’re omnivores,” Manato looked downwards, stroking his chin. “Anyway, if predators like them live in these woods, there must be prey, too, don’t you think?”

“Well, duh,” Ranta snorted derisively, “Did you just figure that out now, Manato? I’ve been thinking it for ages now. That if predators like them live in these woods, there must be prey, too.”

Haruhiro gave Ranta the side-eye. “...Man, you’re just repeating what Manato said word-for-word.”

“Shove it, Sleepy-Eyes! Why don’t you go take a nap?”

“I already told you, I was born with these eyes and they don’t mean I’m sleepy! Didn’t I tell you that?!”

“Haruhiro.” Manato had a smile on his face. “Generally, you’re best off just ignoring whatever Ranta says.”

“Heyyyyy!” Ranta jabbed a finger in Manato’s direction. “Don’t go off-handedly saying horrible things like that! I’ll bet you play the good guy, but you’re really a black-hearted schemer-type, aren’t you?!”

Manato replied with a “Who can really say?” Then, after dodging the question, he took a deep breath. “Anyway, if there are no objections, let’s keep doing the best we can here in these woods.”

No one objected. Haruhiro and the others searched deeper in the woods, keeping an eye out for pit rats.

They prowled the forest until the sun started going down, but they only saw one deer. Yume took aim at it, but it ran off before she could hit it.

They saw birds a number of times. They were attacked by another pack of pit rats, but they fended them off. That was it. If it got dark out, they’d be in serious trouble, so Haruhiro and the others left the woods on weary legs.

“...What now?” Ranta asked in a dull voice. It was little surprise he was out of energy.

“There’s not much we can do,” Haruhiro said, desperately suppressing a sigh. If he sighed now, he was sure something inside him would snap. “...We’ve got to head back. To Alterna.”

“Boys in pain, all in vain, huh...” muttered Yume.

Haruhiro said, “Who’re the boys in pain?” in order to correct her usage of the saying, but then realized they did have four boys in pain here, and couldn’t suppress a sigh.

“S-Still!” Shihoru started to say something, but then hung her head, as if she’d run out of steam. “...A-Actually, it’s nothing.”

Someone’s stomach rumbled. It was Moguzo.

“...I’m hungry.”

“Once we get back,” Manato looked to each of them. “Let’s hit the market and get dinner somewhere first. I know a cheap place where we can stay the night. It’s a lodging house for volunteer soldiers in the west of town. You can stay free if you have your badge, but they charge money to trainees. Still, it’s cut-rate. If we rent just one room for the guys, and one for the girls, twenty copper will cover all of us.”

Ranta scoffed. “Maybe we oughta camp out. Since we didn’t bring in a single copper coin.”

“No, we should save that as a last resort,” Manato said firmly. “They may be shared, but the lodging house has baths and toilets. I think the difference between having those things and not having them is pretty big. Especially for the girls.”

Shihoru clutched her staff tight, nodding repeatedly without a word. Yume agreed, saying, “He’s right.”

“You won’t die from not having a washroom or bath,” Ranta muttered, but he was the one most likely to get annoyed and start complaining if they had to do without.

“I’m with Manato on this.” Haruhiro raised his hand, and Shihoru, Yume, and then Moguzo followed suit. Ranta clicked his tongue disapprovingly, but didn’t oppose them any further.

And so, their first real day as volunteer soldier trainees quietly came to a fruitless end.

Manato took a deep breath, then spat it out. In that moment, Manato’s eyes took on a glassy look.

Shihoru brought her hand to Manato’s chest. “H-His heart’s not beating!”

“G-Give him CPR!” Ranta shouted.

It was an amazing flash of inspiration, Haruhiro thought. It felt like they had solved everything, telling each other what to do as they tried to resuscitate him. For minutes, then tens of minutes, they pumped on Manato’s chest after pulling out the knife, and gave him mouth-to-mouth. They must have kept going for over an hour.

“...I-Isn’t it time we stopped?” Moguzo said, sobbing. “I-I feel bad for Manato-kun... you know.”

“Fine!” Haruhiro nearly lashed out at Moguzo, but stopped himself. “...Fine, what do we do, then? Are you telling me we should just leave him? Are we just gonna abandon Manato?”

“Magic,” Shihoru said, lifting her face. Her eyes were swollen and bright red from inflammation. “Maybe we can do something with magic. I mean, there’s magic that heals wounds, after all.”

“Yeah,” Yume nodded repeatedly. “Yeah, there must be somethin’ we can do. There has to be. Lessee, where was it? The priests guild’s, um, what was it...? Temple!”

“The Temple of Lumiaris, huh?” Ranta wiped his tears with the back of his hand. “That’s enemy turf for a servant of Lord Skullhell like me, but now isn’t the time to worry about that.”

Moguzo picked up Manato. “I’ll carry him.”

Haruhiro nodded. “Okay, let’s go.”

Any time Ranta or Haruhiro offered to take over carrying Manato, or to help, Moguzo said, “I’m fine,” and refused. Until they made it all the way back to Alterna, and to the Temple of Lumiaris in the northern district, Moguzo really did carry Manato all by himself.

When they entered the temple, men wearing priest robes with the same blue-lines-on-white-fabric design as Manato’s stopped them. One of them seemed to know Manato, and told another man to go and find Master Honen.

This Master Honen, whoever he was, came at once. He was a man built like a rock and looked like he’d make a better warrior than a priest. When he opened his mouth to exclaim, “Oh, how terrible,” his voice was abnormally loud, too.

Come to think of it, Manato had said his master had a big voice and his ears always hurt because of it, hadn’t he?

As Haruhiro remembered that, unable to bear it anymore, he prostrated himself before Master Honen. “Please, save Manato! I’ll do anything, so please! I’m begging you...!”

“You fool!” Master Honen roared. “Even the shining God of Light, Lumiaris, cannot save the dead! Manato, how could you be such a fool?! I recognized you as a youth of rare promise, that is why I attended to your education with such love and care! How could you throw your young life away like this?!”

“Why, you...!” Ranta went to grab Master Honen, but Yume said, “Stop that!”

Ranta gave up easily. Likely because he saw the flood of tears coming from Master Honen’s eyes.

Shihoru fell to the ground, sitting on the cold temple floor. Moguzo stood there unmoving, with Manato still in his arms.

“Now that this has happened,” Master Honen’s voice didn’t waver, but his tears never stopped, “you must at least give him a proper burial. The curse of the No-Life King turns those who go unburied in the frontier into his servants. You have five days at most. Some have turned into zombies by the third day.”

Haruhiro felt like laughing for some reason. It wasn’t the time for laughter, and he knew that, but still. “...You mean you want us to cremate Manato?”

“Indeed. There is a crematorium outside Alterna. Once you have purified the remains with fire so they will not rise again, bury his ashes up on the hill.”

“Can I ask something?”

“What?”

“I assume that costs money, too.”

“If you cannot afford it, I will pay.”

“No,” Haruhiro sighed. It was a deep, deep sigh. He was angry. But getting mad just seemed ridiculous. “...No, thanks. It’s not like we don’t have any money. If we don’t have enough, we’ll figure something out. Manato was my—our comrade.”

But, sadly, Haruhiro and the others’ situation left them with no choice but to recruit her.

According to Kikkawa, volunteer soldiers who couldn’t find a party weren’t common to begin with, and priests were especially uncommon. There were even fights over who would get a talented priest sometimes, so they must have been in short supply. On top of that, Haruhiro and the others were still trainees, and it seemed they had fallen behind Team Renji and Kikkawa, the others who arrived at the same time as them. In other words, they were the lowest-ranked group within Red Moon, and they were still crawling around at the bottom. They were in no position to get picky. Whether it was Merry or anyone else, so long as they had a priest to join their party, they were good. If they didn’t have someone, they would need to either give up or one of them would need to change jobs to become a priest.

Merry brushed her hair up, then looked at Haruhiro.

“Is this everyone?”

“Yeah...” Haruhiro hurriedly looked down. He had been staring at Merry despite himself. She was easy on the eyes, at least. Merry wore the blue-lines-on-white outfit of a priest. It wasn’t particularly stylish, and it didn’t accentuate the lines of her body, but she still looked great. It just wasn’t fair.

“Uh, yeah. This is everyone. With you included, there’s six of us.”

“I see,” Merry gave a little, laughing snort. “Well, that’s fine. As long as I get my share, I don’t care. Where are we heading? Damuro?”

“Y-Yeah...” Haruhiro looked to the rest of his comrades.

The mood here is not good. It’s terrible, actually. Is this gonna work out okay?

“...I guess?”

“You guess? Be clear.”

“D-Damuro. The Old City. Hunting goblins... As for the rest, I don’t know.”

“Fine, whatever. Well, how about you get going? I’ll follow you.”

“...Hey, you know?” Ranta looked up to Merry. “C-Couldn’t you, uh, do something about the way you talk, your attitude...?

Merry’s ice-cold eyes shot through Ranta. “Huh?”

“...No, s-sorry... Really, sorry. It’s nothing...”

You’re scary, Merry. Way too scary. You’re bad news, seriously. You live up to your reputation.

According to Kikkawa, Merry has a number of nicknames. One is Ill-tempered Merry. Another is Scary Mary. Merry’s primarily a free agent. She’s invited to parties that have no priests or not enough priests. Merry never refuses. However, she never stays with a party for long. Merry doesn’t think of people as people, apparently. The quality of her work as a priest is iffy, too. Not one of the rumors I heard was good. In any case, she was top-class when it came to looks, but her personality made little room for cooperation. Way too little. Incidentally, while she never refuses an invitation to a party, she’ll shoot down invitations for a date at the speed of light. Kikkawa got shot down rather spectacularly, himself, I hear. I’m amazed he had the balls to ask her out. You’re incredible, Kikkawa.

There was absolutely no conversation during the one-hour walk to Damuro.

This is tough. Way too tough. Ranta and Moguzo are terrified of Merry, and Yume and Shihoru view her with suspicion, doubt, and uncertainty. Why is that? Haruhiro didn’t understand. I’m not sure, but Yume and Shihoru seem bewildered, and maybe a little angry. Maybe they’re upset I’m bringing in a new priest right after Manato died. Is that it? Especially considering what she’s like. Is that it...?

Honestly, Haruhiro couldn’t say he didn’t feel the same way.

Couldn’t we have at least waited a little longer? We never consulted Yume and Shihoru, either. It’s not like we had to decide there, on the spot, that day. I should have thought it over more. If Manato were around, he would never have just gone with the flow and let things turn out like this.

Besides, it’s too soon for us to come back here.

To the Old City of Damuro.

To the place where Manato died.

“...What if we run into them again?” Haruhiro mumbled. “If we do,” Ranta said, forcing the words out darkly, “We’ve got to kill them. I won’t be satisfied until I’ve cut their ears off and offered them on Lord Skullhell’s altar.”

“But...” Shihoru said coldly. “We can’t win. Not as we are now.”

Ranta scoffed. “We’ll fight even if we can’t win.”

“If we get ourselves killed doin’ that,” Yume’s voice quivered. “...If we die like that, it’ll all be for nothin’.”

Moguzo nodded vigorously. “Dying is no good. I don’t want anyone else to die.”

“Is someone...” Merry started to say, then bit her lip. “...going to go out? Or not? I don’t care which, but make it quick.”

Ranta looked away from her, clicking his tongue in disapproval. “Let’s get on with it, Haruhiro.”

“Yeah...” said Haruhiro, then a thought crossed his mind. Who was the leader of this party? Before, there was no question it had been Manato. But now? Ranta wasn’t cut out to lead. Moguzo wasn’t the type who could pull everyone along with him, and neither were Yume or Shihoru? Then, was it him? No, he didn’t have the ability to lead people either. He was too indecisive. Manato had told him as much.

At the end, Manato had looked to Haruhiro and said he was counting on him.

Did that mean he wanted me to take care of the others for him? But, Manato, that’s impossible. I can’t do it. I can’t be like you.

Haruhiro tried saying, “Let’s go,” to the others, but it came out with a stutter. That made him feel pretty pathetic.

Following the map they were still making, they walked carefully through the areas goblins often appeared in.

Since Manato was gone, taking on a group of three would be tough. But, on today of all days, though they came across groups of three or four, they just couldn’t seem to find a group of two or less. By the time they took their afternoon break, they were all filled with impatience, frustration, exhaustion, and weariness, and Haruhiro’s stomach began to hurt. At this rate, there were so many ways they just weren’t going to last. Haruhiro came to a silent decision. If they found a group of three or less, they’d attack. They had a priest, he was sure they could manage somehow.

The chance for that soon came. There were traces of a campfire in an area surrounded by crumbling walls. There, they found three goblins. One was clad in chain mail and carried a short spear, but the other two wore clothing made of cloth, one with an ax in its hands, the other wearing a short sword. The well-built spear gob seemed to be in charge, with the ax gob and short sword gob following its orders.

We can handle these guys somehow.

“First, Yume, and Shihoru launch a preemptive strike on the spear gob. Me, Ranta, Yume and Merry will keep the ax gob and short sword gob busy, so Moguzo and Shihoru take out the spear gob. If it’s hard for the two of you, either Ranta or I will step in to help. Once the spear gob is taken out, this will be easy.”

“Hold on,” Merry’s voice was sharp. “Why am I fighting goblins?”

“Huh...” Haruhiro looked daunted. “W-Was that not okay? Huh? Why not...?”

“I don’t go up front. I’m a priest, the reason should be obvious.”

“Hey...” Ranta was about to snap, but composed himself. “...pal.”

Merry’s pointed glance stabbed into Ranta. “‘Pal’?”

“...Y-You? No, it’s weird for me to address you like that... M-Merry!”

“Where’s my -san?”

“M-Merry...-san,” a vein was pulsing on Ranta’s temple. “N-Now listen, you priests carry that thing with you. That, uh, what’s it called? A priest’s staff? You’ve got one, right? That thing’s for whacking stuff with, right? Or is it just for show?”

“Yes,” Merry said, puffing her chest up and looking down her nose at Ranta. “This is just for show.”

“Why you little...”

“Little?”

“M-Merry...-san, you, couldn’t you be a little more, you know, more... uh, I don’t know. Forget it. Just do whatever you want...”

“I’d do what I want without you telling me to, you realize?”

“Of course you would! Hahahaha! I figured as much! Dammit, what’s this bitch’s problem...?”

“Could you refrain from using such filthy words? They soil my ears.”

“I’m so sorry! My bad! If you really don’t like it, why not try some earplugs?”

“Why should I have to trouble myself like that?”

“A-Anyway...” Haruhiro said, scratching his neck. “I understand what you’re saying. Merry will stand by in the rear until she’s needed. Um, maybe near Shihoru would be best. Shihoru’s a mage, so she doesn’t go up front. That should be fine... right?”

Merry gave Haruhiro a look that made it seem as if she was ready to give up on him as useless. “Sounds reasonable, I guess?”

“W-Well, we’ll go with that, then...” Haruhiro felt reassured, but also upset. Why did he have to defer to her like this? She had only just joined the party today. Yes, she had more experience than Haruhiro and the others, but weren’t they all comrades here? Though, that said, he didn’t have the nerve to say that to Merry. She was scary. Even when they got in a circle and did their usual fighto ippatsu ritual, it didn’t really feel like they could do this. “...Yume, Shihoru, please.” Haruhiro pleaded.

Yume and Shihoru nodded silently.

Are they too upset to even speak? They both have looks of extreme displeasure on their faces. I wish they wouldn’t do that. I’m no happier about this than they are, but what choice do we have? They could at least try to understand that much.

If he said anything, he knew it wouldn’t stop there. Haruhiro decided to bottle it all away deep in his chest.

Haruhiro took point with Yume and Shihoru following behind him. They would be in magic range soon. When Haruhiro gave the signal with his hands, Shihoru began drawing elemental sigils with her staff and chanting in a low voice. Yume nocked an arrow and pulled back on the bowstring. An elemental launched forth from the tip of Shihoru’s staff.

Go. Yes. It hit.

The spear gob took a hit right in the chest from the elemental and the full-body convulsions made it drop its short spear. Yume’s arrow missed, flying off into the distance. From behind they heard a “...That was just awful,” from Merry, and Yume’s knuckles went white as she gripped her bow.

“Don’t worry about it!” Haruhiro called out to Yume as he pulled out his dagger. Moguzo and Ranta were already about to charge the gobs.

I need to hurry out there, too. We’ll defeat these enemies. We’ll win this. If we lose, we might die. Winning is our only option.

Moguzo grunted, the ax gob and short sword gob were in his way. The spear gob was trying to use that time to get back on its feet. Ranta slashed at the ax gob with a battle cry, and managed to get it away from Moguzo, but the short sword gob was more stubborn. Moguzo just couldn’t throw the short sword gob out of his way. That’s my job then, thought Haruhiro.

“Backstab...!” Haruhiro got behind the short sword gob, immediately stabbing at it with his dagger. The short sword gob shrieked, trying to turn around. The dagger grazed the sword gob’s side. The short sword gob drew its short sword.

“Shigyahh! Shigyahh! Shigyahh!”

“Urkh, whoa...!” Haruhiro leapt backwards, hopped to the right, then backed off quickly. It was a quick little gob. Little wonder Moguzo had been having trouble with it. But, with that, the last obstacle in front of Moguzo had been removed. The spear gob thrust at Moguzo. Moguzo struck down the spear gob’s short spear with his bastard sword. There were three one-on-one battles now. No, it looked like Yume would come help Haruhiro. She swung her machete, slashing at the short sword gob.

“—Diagonal Cross...!”

“...!” The short sword gob lowered its hips, jumping backwards almost two meters to run away.

Wow, it’s agile. You see gobs like it sometimes. Small, with no offensive power to speak of, but with a ridiculous ability to dodge. They’re always a pain to take down. It’s a lightweight-class gob. They’re trouble.

“Ohm, rel, ect, vel, darsh...!” Shihoru cast Shadow Beat. A shadow elemental flew towards the spear gob. It dodged. Moguzo followed up immediately with a swing of his bastard sword, but it was a little too far. He caught only air. The spear gob stabbed at Moguzo once, and again. With it stabbing at him so much, Moguzo had no choice but to put some distance between them. It was a short spear, yes, but it was still longer than the spear gob was tall. Moguzo couldn’t get in striking distance of the spear gob. On closer consideration, this might have been the first time they’d had a proper fight with an enemy that used a spear. It seemed likely that Moguzo’s difficulties were stemming from that. It was a lack of experience.

“—Ow...!” Ranta let out a little cry and jumped backwards. He’d taken a cut to his left thigh and it was bleeding. The ax gob was swinging its ax wildly from its low stature, aiming for the lower half of the body. It looked like it was going to be another troublesome type to deal with.

“Yume, I’ll take care of this one, you take the ax gob! Merry, heal Ranta!”

Merry responded “No,” without missing a beat.

“No?! Huh? Why not?!”

“It’s not a wound that requires immediate treatment. Suck it up.”

“...Why you...!” Ranta wailed on the ax gob. “Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit! Don’t get all conceited just because you’re a little, okay, very, attractive! This is bullshit! Bullshiiiiit...!”

Haruhiro and Yume were chasing around the lightweight-class short sword gob, but they just couldn’t catch it.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in pain, Ranta?”

“I am in pain! Hatred...!” Ranta slashed downwards diagonally at the ax gob, but it nimbly evaded him. “I’m gushing blood here, you know?! Of course it hurts! It hurts, goddammit...!”

With a cry of surprise, Yume landed on her rump. The short sword gob had tripped her.

Oh, crap. That’s bad. Yume’s in trouble.

“Why you...!” Haruhiro threw himself between the short sword gob and Yume with reckless abandon, and—Hey, wait, you’re just running away?! The short sword gob hopped away, putting distance between them. It was over in no time. Haruhiro’s dagger wouldn’t reach it anymore.

“You’re all worn out,” Merry muttered.

And whose fault is that, Haruhiro thought. If it were Manato instead of you, these enemies would have been easy. Manato was able to tank like Moguzo, was a healer, a strategist, and our leader. If Manato were there, it might have been an exaggeration to say he was a good as 100 others, but it sure felt that way. Manato wasn’t like you, a priest who only heals, and doesn’t even do a good job of that. The gap is so wide, it’s not even worth comparing the two of you.

But Manato isn’t here anymore. He isn’t anywhere. We’ve lost Manato.

What should we do now, Manato?

Michiki wasn’t going to make it with those wounds. I wanted to at least grant the last wish of the friend who was risking his life so that we could get away.

I’m amazed that we made it back from the fifth level to the surface alive. We almost died many times on the way, and it took a day and a half.

But... we had lost them. Our precious comrades, our friends... three of them at once.

Merry was in a terrible state. She was the priest, a healer in charge of saving her comrades, and she had let three of them die, then had her own life saved by a comrade.

Since then, I have never once seen her smile. Maybe she thinks she doesn’t have the right to anymore.

After that, we were picked up by Shinohara and joined Orion, but Merry dropped out right away. I think, probably, the comfortable atmosphere of Orion actually made it more painful for her.

Since then, Merry has joined any party that asks her to. However, she never sticks with any of them for long.

Everything I’d heard about her was completely different for the Merry I had known, so I got worried and went to talk to her. She only kept telling me she was fine, and I couldn’t help but feel a wall between us.

Seeing me was painful for her; that was what her eyes told me.

For her, I must be a symbol of the past she lost.

What she needs now is a future. That can’t be me.

Michiki, Mutsumi, and Ogu are dead, and I might as well be a ghost to her. We’re just her past.

She needs to find a future for herself. Otherwise, someday, she’ll sink into the swamp of depression, stop being able to move, and eventually, she’ll stop breathing.

With those words to the friend who would never return, Haruhiro looked towards Alterna. A bell was ringing. Probably telling them it was 6:00 in the afternoon.

A red half-moon floated near the horizon. Now that he thought of it, why was the moon here red?

—Here?

Haruhiro glanced at the tower that looked down on them from the hilltop.

A tower. That tower. Strange. I feel like I’m forgetting something. Haruhiro and the others had come here, and after that, they had become volunteer soldiers.

What about before that? Where was I? What was I doing? I don’t know. I don’t remember.

It wasn’t just Haruhiro. It was the same for all of them.

Regardless, when Haruhiro and the others had woken up, here was where they were.

Here.

Which is where again? If I recall, it was dark— Dark? I don’t know. Where exactly was that place? A tower. The tower. That tower is involved somehow. But how is it involved? I don’t know. The more I think, the less I understand. If I reach out and touch it, it disappears.

Hey, Manato.

Why are we here doing all this stuff...? Even that doubt is starting to feel hazy, as if it might melt away at any moment.

Afterword

Dragon Quest, Wizardry, Final Fantasy, Megami Tensei, Metal Max, Romancing Saga, Breath of Fire, Live A Live, Chrono Trigger, Arc The Lad, Tactics Ogre, Suikoden, Tales of Phantasia, Wild Arms, Final Fantasy Tactics, Star Ocean, Atelier Marie, Saga Frontier, Xenogears, and many more console RPGs, or games that included RPG elements, saved me.

Even I, who couldn’t get into shooters, sports games, fighting games, and other action games because I was bad at them, could focus on RPGs and immerse myself in their worlds.

That I was able to enjoy them on my own, at my own pace, was important to me. Throughout my life, I haven’t been the kind of person with many friends. It might be fair to say I had very few.

Of course, it’s not that I had absolutely no friends, but I’m incapable of enjoying playing as a group or having a good time talking about something. Honestly, I want to do those things, but I can’t seem to do them well.

When I was a child, when the new Dragon Quest or Final Fantasy went on sale, everyone would start playing it. They would talk about how far they had gotten and what level they were now every day at school. I couldn’t get involved in those conversations.

All I could do was cut into my sleeping hours to play the game, get farther than everyone, then when I heard someone boasting, “I got this far!” I could quietly think, “Oh, only to there? That’s nothing special. I’m further than you,” and smile to myself.

Basically, I was a gloomy kid. But even I could become the protagonist, go on incredible adventures, become stronger, and save the world. It was always RPGs that saved me.

Then, something brought about a change for that gloomy, solitary gamer. Diablo... Ultima Online... EverQuest... Dark Age of Camelot... These are all American games, but domestically there were games like Dark Eyes and Lifestorm, too.

It was online RPGs.

Using the internet, you could play an RPG with someone else. If we’re talking about playing RPGs with other people, there are tabletop RPGs, as well. However, for someone not so good at dealing with other people, like I am, that was too high a hurdle to get over. In online RPGs, I didn’t have to be face-to-face with anyone.

If I knew some small amount of English, I could play with people overseas. I went crazy for it. This was an era when the internet wasn’t as widely deployed as it is now. I connected to the internet not over fiber or ADSL, but over the phone lines, so the telephone was unavailable while I was playing games.

Using a service called Tele-hodai, which charged a fixed monthly rate for unlimited calls to select numbers late at night and early in the morning, I used every single one of those minutes for playing games. There were times I accidentally went outside that time period, well outside it, causing my phone bill to cost an incredible amount.

At that time, for me, online RPGs were reality, and everything else was just time to sleep, eat, lay about, or think about games. Every night, I dove into the thrilling world of online RPGs, and when morning came, I returned to the mundane world. I lived in games. Games kept me alive.

Occasionally people ask what led me to start writing. As you would expect, games were a major influence. If I hadn’t encountered RPGs, I’m sure I never would have written novels.

In particular, had I not spent that time immersed in online RPGs, my debut novel Bara no Maria (Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko) would never have been born, nor would this book either.

Furthermore, had I not read books based on RPGs, such as Ryo Mizuno’s Lodoss-tou Senki (Record of Lodoss War) or Benny Matsuyama’s Tonariawase no Hai to Seishun, even if I had become a novelist, I don’t believe I would have written this sort of book. Even the Japanese title of this book, Hai to Gensou no Grimgar, was inspired by Tonariawase no Hai to Seishun, and the title for the novel that eventually became Bara no Maria was Bara no Maria Senki.

Online RPGs, and RPGs in general, stirred up my creativity, or perhaps my delusions, and led me to novels deeply involved with RPGs. That’s how I got here. Because I played so many RPGs for such a long period of time, I can no longer play games with the same feeling I did during “that time.”

Even so, I fervently hope for games that will bring “that time” back to life for me. While ruminating on my feelings from “that time,” I wrote this novel. I believe, beyond doing that, a world I have yet to see surely awaits. If I have further opportunities, I think I will write more “that time” novels.

At this time, I offer my heartfelt appreciation and all of my love to: my editor, K, who gave me this opportunity; to Eiri Shirai, the illustrator who drew such transparent, atmospheric, modern, cute, cool and lovely illustrations; to the designer and others who compiled this novel into such a fine book; to everyone involved in production and sales of this book; and finally, to all of you people now holding this book. Now, as I hope we will meet again, I lay down my pen for today.

Ao Jyumonji