“Gahahah! A man’s food is his castle!” Ranta said something incomprehensible, then boldly tossed those bugs into his mouth and chewed. “—Guwaaeh?! Eughhhh?!”

They were apparently bitter. Ranta spat the bugs out. It was only to be expected, really. They looked pretty disgusting. It was probably best not to eat them. But... It wasn’t enough. Honestly, this was far from enough to fill them up.

Haruhiro looked to the giant crab. When he did, the giant crab offered him some sort of fried meat skewer. Faith began to take root in Haruhiro’s heart. His god was a giant crab that ran a grocery store.

Even as Haruhiro choked back tears, he took the meat skewer with gratitude, so much gratitude. He chomped into it before even thinking, Is this meat safe? It was cold, hard, and it seemed to be smoked rather than fried, but it wasn’t bad. It was dry and hard to swallow, but it released more and more flavor as he chewed it. This seemed like it would keep him feeling full for a while.

The giant crab gave each of the others one of the smoked meat skewers, too. That meant a black coin was worth at least six bowls of bug soup and six skewers of smoked mystery meat.

With their hunger satisfied, now they wanted water. However, they would likely need another black coin to use the well again. They would have to do without for now, and boil the river water later. While Haruhiro was worrying about it, that idiot Ranta skipped right over to the well, lowered the bucket, pulled up a pail of water, and drank it greedily. The well’s guard didn’t move.

—Huh? That’s okay?

When Ranta was done, Haruhiro hesitantly drank some of the water himself. The well guard really wasn’t going to do anything to him. Because they’d paid the day before? If one black coin was good for six bowls of bug stew and six skewers of smoked meat, maybe one black coin for water for six people had been overpaying. So, that was why it was letting them drink again today... maybe?

Whatever the case, once they all rehydrated themselves, they finally started to feel like themselves again. No, not yet.

“Um, Haruhiro-kun...” Shihoru raised her hand. “I’d like to take a bath now...”

He couldn’t bring himself to say We have bigger concerns.

Well, Haruhiro reasoned, we can probably think about how to get more black coins while we’re getting ready to bathe and while we’re bathing. I’m sure we can. Once we’re feeling properly refreshed, something might come to mind, after all. Yeah. A bath. Let’s take a bath.

Haruhiro and the party left the village and took an express trip to the riverbed. Maybe they didn’t need to be in such a rush, but they couldn’t help themselves.

First, they dug a hole near the river. Then, they connected the hole to the river with a channel. Once the hole filled with river water, they closed off the channel. It was decided that the girls would go first, then the guys. While the girls were in the bath, the guys waited somewhere at a distance.

The hole they were using as a tub was a meter and a half across, with a depth of about one meter. The river water only about body temperature, but that was way better than it being cold. They held up a lantern to it, and it wasn’t cloudy, and didn’t smell. Their work went as planned, without interruption, and the lukewarm open-air bath was complete.

“Well, we’ll be off over there,” Haruhiro said to the girls.

Haruhiro, Ranta, and Kuzaku left Yume, Shihoru, and Merry behind as they went about twenty meters away from the open-air bath. Right next to the cliff. Even when the sun rose, or rather the flames rose, this world was still dark. There was no way they could see the girls from here, so this was probably far enough.

Still, it was strange. Ranta was being oddly quiet.

No. He had been being quiet.

“Well, time to begin the operation, am I right?” Ranta asked.

“I thought so...” Haruhiro sighed. How was he going to stop this utter sleazeball?

Fortunately, Haruhiro didn’t have to do a thing. That was because Kuzaku suddenly held him down.

“Not gonna let you do that.”

“Ow! Ow, ow! Wait, dammit, Kuzacky! What’re you doing?! Not the joints, man, seriously, go easy on the joints! That hurts, dammit! Let go of me, you big idiot!”

“Nah, you’re pretty strong yourself, Ranta-kun. If I don’t go this far, you’ll get away.”

“You’re breaking my arm! My shoulder! You’ll burst my organs! What’re you gonna do if I die, huh?! You moron!”

“You won’t die that easily, Ranta-kun. This’s fine.”

“It’s not fine, it’s not fine, it’s not fine. It hurts, it hurts, it hurts. I’m dying, I’m dying, I’m dying. Let go, let go, let go.”

“I can tell you’re making it sound worse than it is, y’know.”

“...Dammit, you’re too damn uppity, Kuzacky! Can’t you show your seniors the proper respect?!”

“I do. I actually have a fair bit of respect for you, as a matter of fact.”

“Then let go! Nuuuude! I’m gonna see the girls nude! Boobs! I have a disease that’ll kill me if I don’t see some naked boobs! Seriously, man, I’m not lying here!”

“...Well, there goes some of that respect,” Kuzaku told him. “That was a little much.”

Ranta isn’t a person deserving of any respect, so I think that’s just fine, thought Haruhiro. Still, Kuzaku sure was quick to act. Is it that? His thing with Merry? Gotta be. He doesn’t want her to be seen. She’s his... what? Girlfriend? Lover? Same difference. He doesn’t want to let other men see a person he’s in that sort of relationship with naked. That’s how it is. Probably. It’s natural to feel that way.

Even Haruhiro could understand that much.

I’m still a virgin, though, y’know? What about Kuzaku? Do you think they’re already—already doing it...? Like, you know?

Haruhiro sat down on the ground and covered his face with his hands. What was he even thinking about? It was stupid. What did it even matter? He didn’t have time for this.

That’s right. He really didn’t have time for it.

Black coins. How could they find them? From corpses, and from the riverbed. Methods that relied on chance like that weren’t good. Was there a more certain way? If they had to earn money, could they work? Like, by doing some sort of labor for the residents of that village? Would that be doable? Even without speaking their language? It didn’t seem like it.

Money. Money, huh. The black coins were money. Were they the currency of that village? If they were, there was a cash economy—but, could a system where cash was exchanged for goods be practical for just one tiny village like that? There were maybe fifty of them there at most. Every one of the stores had had a fairly wide selection of goods. Wasn’t that a little too much for a village of fifty? Did they have other customers? Others like Haruhiro and the party...?

“Eek!” They heard someone’s voice.

Not just a voice. A scream.

“Hey!” Ranta knocked Kuzaku off of him.

Kuzaku quickly jumped to his feet. “Merry... san?!”

Haruhiro started running as soon as he was on his feet. “Merry?! Yume?! Shihoru?!”

“Nu-chah...!”

That was Yume’s battle cry. She was fighting back? Against what? An enemy?

There was a violent splashing.

“Wah...!”

Was that Shihoru’s voice? Like, she tried to get away, then fell in the river, or something?

“Hah!”

That was Merry. Merry’s voice. It sounds like she’s fighting.

“W-We’ll do our best not to see anything!” Haruhiro drew his dagger and sap. But, yeah, he did kind of think this wasn’t the time to worry about what they might or might not see.

He raced over as fast as he could. He could make out vague outlines. It looked like Yume and Merry were moving around with their weapons, like he had thought. They were out of the bath. Where was Shihoru? The river? Was that the enemy?

At first, Haruhiro thought it was a lizard or something. Its posture was low, like it was crawling. It was fast. It quickly jumped left and right, dodging Yume and Merry’s attacks. It was about the size of a person.

Before he could think anything, Haruhiro moved. He grappled his enemy from behind. Spider.

It wasn’t a lizard. This thing was all hairy. Whatever. He went to bury his dagger in the side of its neck, but the enemy struggled wildly.

It leapt. Boing, upwards on a diagonal. Up high.

“Whoa...!” Haruhiro cried, instinctively clinging to the enemy.

Oh, crap. The enemy bent backwards in midair. The way things were now, it was going to land on its back. Haruhiro was clinging to that back, which meant—Haruhiro was going to get smashed into the ground, wasn’t he?

When he tried to get away, the enemy wrapped itself around him. There was an unpleasant noise. The impact hit almost his entire body. He couldn’t breathe. His head was spinning.

The enemy leapt away from Haruhiro. Then it immediately attacked. Haruhiro got both of his arms up trying to protect his neck and face. He had to at least avoid dying, somehow.

“Gahhh!” Kuzaku jumped out, trying to hit the enemy with his longsword.

The enemy leapt straight backwards, then ran.

“There you are!” Ranta ran over, slashing the enemy.

Nice teamwork, thought Haruhiro, but it was questionable if he could really afford to be taking it easy and mentally praising his comrades.

He tried to get up. No good. Even just turning on his side hurt. All over.

I feel like I’m gonna puke. Pathetic. I was careless. I lost my head. Why couldn’t I stay calm? It’s frustrating. How embarrassing. What am I, a newbie? That was a rookie mistake. No excuse for it. It hurts...

Kuzaku and Ranta were chasing the enemy around. Merry and Yume were rushing over to him.

“Haru?!” Merry shouted.

“Haru-kun!” Yume cried.

No, that’s great, but it’s really not. I mean, you two are naked, aren’t you? It was too dark to see any details, but he still felt bad about it. Haruhiro closed his eyes, figuring it was the least he could do.

“Where’s... Shihoru...?” he rasped out.

“Meow?! That’s right! Shihoru! Where are you, Shihoru?! You okay?!”

“I-I-I’m j-j-just fine...” Shihoru responded, which was enough for Haruhiro to feel deeply relieved.

But it was still too early to relax, wasn’t it? Like, this wasn’t a situation where they could.

“Haru! I’ll use my magic now!” Merry cried.

“No, you can’t do that... I mean, light magic... gives off light... Before you do that... put some clothes on...”

“Is this really the time to be saying that?!” Merry got mad at him.

I’m sorry. I’m really, really sorry.

“Merry-san, here, clothes!” Kuzaku came back, throwing Merry’s clothes at her.

“I don’t really care!” Merry yelled, but she still threw on what she could quickly. Then she started treating Haruhiro.

“Dammiiiiit!” Ranta shouted. “It got away from us, you idiot!”

“Stupid Ranta, don’t come over here!” Yume hollered.

“Oh, shut up! Like I’d go out of my way to see your tiny tits!”

“Shihoru’s here, too, y’know!”

“Of course I wanna see hers! I’d love to stare at them, by all means! Gwehehehehe!”

“Jess, yeen, sark, kart, fram...”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold it, hold it, Shihoru! No magic! That’s the Thunderstorm spell, isn’t it?! If I eat one of those, I’ll be toast!”

Haruhiro kept his eyes squeezed tight.

If I open them, I might see all sorts of stuff, y’know. I mean, Merry’s close. She’s close enough that I can feel part of her body touching me. I won’t look, though. I swear I won’t, okay? I feel so ashamed of myself for everything, I want to cry.

Still, can’t we even take a bath in peace? Man, this is tough...

“H-Haru-kun?!” Yume looked hurriedly to Haruhiro.

No, don’t ask me was a thing he couldn’t say. Haruhiro was the leader, after all.

Right. I’m the leader. But, leader or not, there are things I can’t do, and things I don’t know, you know? Still, if I don’t do something, it’s blatantly obvious that things are going to get bad, yeah?

“L-Let’s get out of the water!” Haruhiro called. “That’s the first thing! I-It’d be kind of awkward trying to deal with them here!”

Yume and Shihoru took off running. Ranta and Merry followed suit, one waving his arm and the other her staff around as they did. Haruhiro pulled Kuzaku by the arm as he ran.

While they were going, Ranta screamed out. It sounded like he’d been bitten somewhere.

“Y-You okay, Ranta?!” Haruhiro shouted.

“You moron! There’s no way I’m okay! Go die! Dammit, it hurts!”

He’s screaming, and he’s still moving, so he looks pretty okay, thought Haruhiro.

In a spot of good luck, once they got out of Corpse Swamp, the snake-like things naturally backed off. They were only relieved for a moment, though, because Ranta collapsed and started convulsing.

“Gweh... guhguhguhguhguhguhguhguhguh, oughhhhhhhh, gurbbbbbbbb...”

“Ranta?!” Yume pulled Ranta’s helmet off. “Yikes?!”

Even at a glance, it was clearly bad. Ranta was foaming at the mouth. Poison. The snake-like things must have been poisonous.

Merry immediately cast Purify to eliminate the poison, but Ranta was still lying there limply.

“Urgh... I can’t believe myself. I nearly got killed there. Damn it all...”

“Ehehe... Why didn’t you... just get embraced by Skullhell... Ehe... Ehehe...”

“C’mon, Zodiac-kun, if you bully him at a time like this, then bam! You’re gonna get a smackin’!” Yume was being unusually nice to Ranta.

Actually, Haruhiro wasn’t sure when or how it happened, but Yume was letting him rest his head in her lap. That was so incredibly unusual, he doubted his eyes.

“Hold on... Is the poison even gone? I feel like I’m gonna die... Sorry, Yume... Let me rest like this a little longer...” Ranta moaned.

“Huh? Well, sure, Yume doesn’t mind.”

“For another hour...”

“Isn’t that a little long?”

“Fine, just thirty minutes then...”

“Meow...”

“Geh heh... You fell for it... Ranta tricked you... Geh heh heh...”

“Huh? Did he?”

“I-I did not!” Ranta shouted. “What’re you talking about, Zodiac-kun? I-I’m seriously, seriously feeling awful! L-Like, I’ve got nausea, a headache, and a stomachache, okay? I’m not making this stuff up!”

“That’s soundin’ super fake! You’re actin’ pretty energetic, too!” Yume cried.

Of course, Ranta was forcefully evicted from Yume’s lap. That didn’t matter, but still, they were in a bind now. Their reliable, guaranteed method for acquiring black coins in the Corpse Swamp came with not just the threat of the four-eyed beast, but a second threat now: those snake-like things, the poisonous swamp snakes. It could hardly be called a reliable method anymore.

“So? What’re you gonna do now, Parupiro?”

When Ranta asked him that in a grumpy tone, Haruhiro nearly snapped.

What do you mean, “What am I gonna do?” You’re pushing this off on me? At least ask, “What are we gonna do?” We’ve got to start by talking it over first, obviously!

While Haruhiro was thoroughly chewing Ranta out in his head, it helped calm him down. Even if he snapped at that (scummy) (crappy) (stupid) piece of trash and made it clear he was wrong, the guy was trash, so it wasn’t like he was going to have a change of heart. If Haruhiro snapped at him, it would only tire him out. It was a waste of perfectly good anger.

“Maybe we could try going into the forest...” Haruhiro began.

When he proposed the idea, the rest of them accepted it with surprising ease.

Is that okay? he wondered. Isn’t everyone else not thinking enough about all this? He couldn’t help but feel that way, but maybe it was just that they couldn’t find the energy to. The truth was, Haruhiro felt the same way sometimes. It was a bad trend. That said, he couldn’t just do nothing. If they didn’t do something, anything, they couldn’t keep living.

For now, they decided to go into the forest somewhere close to Well Village’s bridge. It was harder than they expected. The twisted, whitish trees grew so densely that even finding a gap big enough for a single person to pass through was hard. Were they going to have to cut them down as they went?

Kuzaku said something hopeful. “If it’s like this, there’re probably no large beasts, or anything like that.”

Shihoru pointed out something unpleasant. “There could be snakes or something like them, though...”

“Shihoru—” Haruhiro started to say, then shook his head.

“Huh? What is it?”

“N-No, nothing. You’re right... There could be snakes, huh... Poisonous ones...”

“H-How about we turn back?” Ranta was scared.

Serves you right, thought Haruhiro. But he wasn’t any more keen about dealing with snakes himself. He wouldn’t want to get bitten like Ranta had.

“Be careful,” Merry cautioned them. “I can only cast Purify as many times as I can cast Heal.”

Yume said, “Hey, hey,” pointing off to the west. “Waaaaay over there, y’see, it’s far off, but there’s somethin’ shinin’ over there, maybe?”

“Shining...” Haruhiro squinted his eyes and looked in that direction. “Hey, you’re right.”

What it was, he couldn’t say for certain, but there was definitely something like a light beyond the trees. Or at least it looked like it.

“Think we can get there?” Kuzaku asked in a whisper. “Make it all that way, before night comes?”

“Hard to tell how far it is, after all...” Ranta was being uncharacteristically timid.

Incidentally, Zodiac-kun hadn’t even come into the woods with them. It seemed like the demon might get caught on branches and stuff, so maybe it had declined for that reason. If he didn’t have Zodiac-kun with him, Ranta was just a piece of trash, worth less than crap.

Shihoru hesitantly suggested, “Should we go back?”

Haruhiro looked to Kuzaku, Yume, and Merry. Not only did none of them say anything, they didn’t do anything that would express an opinion.

“Yeah...” Ranta said, being the only one to agree with Shihoru.

This wasn’t good. This atmosphere was no good at all. He wanted to change it, but how? Haruhiro had no idea.

For now, at least, he wanted time to think... maybe? But even if he did think about it, would he find an answer? He wanted time... No, that wasn’t it, he just wanted to run away from this situation for now, didn’t he? It might not just have been Haruhiro; maybe they all felt that way.

Yeah, this is no good, huh, Haruhiro thought. It’s not gonna work out like this. It’s not. No two ways about it, this is no good... but still.

“How about we go back, for now?” Haruhiro proposed.

He’d gone ahead and said it. Even though, as leader, he needed to straighten them out. It was a time when he needed to chastise his comrades, or encourage them, and he knew that more than well enough, but he couldn’t do it. He was beyond hopeless. His strength had left him.

Are we gonna be able to go on like this, from here on out...?

“The city of the dead ones. Ruins. You are volunteer soldiers.” Mr. Unjo turned his back on Haruhiro and the others. “It is a good fit. For you people...”

Haruhiro wanted to chase after the departing Mr. Unjo and ask him two or three more things. However, he couldn’t. Mr. Unjo’s back was clearly rejecting Haruhiro and the others.

Leave me be. That was what it looked like it was saying, and Haruhiro felt that that was what they should do.

This meeting had probably had as much of an impact on Mr. Unjo as it had on them. No, considering how long he had lived alone, he must have been even more shocked. If so, he might have been incredibly confused.

Mr. Unjo entered the building made of piled stones. There was light leaking from the window, as always, so the residents had to be inside. Mr. Unjo might be acquainted with them.

“The town! Of the dead ones!” Ranta was suddenly upbeat, letting out a corny, malicious laugh. “No one expected this! No! It’s just as I anticipated! Our path has been revealed! Yahoooo! I’m so awesome!”

“How’s that make sense?!” Yume elbowed Ranta. “It had nothin’ to do with you, Ranta! It was all Kampyo-san!”

“You mean Unjo-san,” Haruhiro corrected her, sighing. “The city of the dead ones, huh...”

“...It sounds scary.” Shihoru ducked her head, hugging herself, her staff included.

“The dead ones, huh...” Kuzaku was looking at the stone building.

“‘They’re not dead,’ he said.” Merry tilted her head to the side in confusion. “What did he mean? Since he calls them dead ones, I would expect corpses that still move for some reason, or ghosts of some sort.”

When Ranta had been in favor of doing it, it had made Haruhiro want to refuse outright, but... Mr. Unjo had called them volunteer soldiers. Mr. Unjo’s past remained a mystery, but perhaps he really had been a volunteer soldier at some point. Mr. Unjo might have been looking after Haruhiro and the others as his juniors. He’d said it was a good fit for them.

It was a place that was a good fit for volunteer soldiers.

The city of the dead ones.

It did make Haruhiro think, I dunno about this. But, for some reason, his heart was dancing. Not because he thought it’d be fun. He wasn’t Ranta. Just, he was a little excited. He couldn’t deny that.

Even having come to this nonsensical world, with no way to get home, and not knowing what will become of us the next day, we’re still volunteer soldiers? thought Haruhiro. Has it become second nature to us now? No, I don’t like it. Give me a break. Still, even as Haruhiro thought that, he made the decision immediately.

“Let’s go check it out.”

Haruhiro wasn’t alone. Ranta wanted to go, too, of course, but so did Yume, Shihoru, Merry, and Kuzaku. It seemed, in the end, the volunteer soldier’s way of life had seeped into their very bones.

Some of them were proactive, others passive. They each had their own different attitudes and tendencies, but they had all come to roughly the same conclusion. In fact, not one of them raised an objection.

Digging through the mud had never been the best job for them as volunteer soldiers. The city of the dead ones. Why not go check it out?

Haruhiro and the others got breakfast, then left Well Village. The place was downstream along the Lukewarm River, but they decided to follow the river without going down into the riverbed. There was a vicious beast living down there that would probably sneak up on them without a sound and attack them. They didn’t know what else might be there, or where it might come at them from.

At first, the light burning on the distant ridge had been too faint, offering little reassurance. When the fire that was not the sun rose, it stopped being completely dark, but didn’t become so bright that it felt like day. The darkness only abated slightly, but at some point, they had grown used to that. Their sense for the depth of darkness seemed to be growing keener. It wasn’t bright, but it didn’t feel dark to them, either. The midday darkness was a little easier on Haruhiro than it had been before.

He felt like his hearing had gotten better, too. He had a clear sense for shifts in the air and smells. Even without looking, he could determine his comrades’ positions, their footsteps, and get a vague sense of how exhausted they were.

Eventually a mist drifted in from the Lukewarm River, covering the entire area.

“Kehe... Kehehe... Kehehehehehehe... Kehe...” Zodiac-kun, who hadn’t said a thing since Ranta had summoned the demon back at Well Village, suddenly burst out laughing.

“Wh-What was that about, out of nowhere? Zodiac-kun?” Ranta was clearly spooked.

“Ehe... Nothing... Ehehe... Really... Nothing... Ehehehe...”

“Now you’ve got me really worried!”

“Kehe... Don’t worry... Ranta... It’s nothing... Kehehe... You have nothing to worry about...”

“No, that’s why, you see? I worry about it because you say things in a way that makes me worry. It’s kind of scary, so could you stop it? Okay? Hey, Zodiac-kun? Huh? Why’re you so quiet? Answer me. Well? Zodiac-kun...?”

“You shut up for a bit, too, Ranta.” Haruhiro was trying to sense any presences in the mist-filled darkness ahead of them. “Zodiac-kun is trying to tell us something. Take a hint.”

“Yeah, and I was trying to get that out of him, wasn’t I?” Ranta demanded.

“Kehehe... As if I’d tell you... Kehehehe...”

“Listen, Zodiac-kun!” Ranta yelled. “Have you forgotten which of us is in charge here?! I, the dread knight, am the master, and you are my demon servant, okay?!”

“Nuh-uh...” said Shihoru.

“That’s backwards,” added Merry.

Yume earnestly piped in, “Maybe if you were one-five-hundredth as cute as Zodiac-kun.”

“A cute Ranta-kun, huh...” Kuzaku mused to himself, then let out a little sigh.

“Heyyyyyyyyyy!” Ranta howled. “Don’t just say whatever you want about me, guys! If you don’t cut it out, I’m seriously gonna give you a thrashing! I’m seriously serious! I’m gonna show you how scary it is when I get seriously serious, and then—”

When Haruhiro stopped and raised one hand, Ranta immediately closed his mouth.

Everyone stopped and held their breaths.

Now what to do? Haruhiro wasn’t sure about that. Because of the mist, he didn’t know what it was, but there was something up ahead. He felt like it might be a building.

Should they all go and check it out together? Or should Haruhiro go alone? As a thief, it was easier acting alone in a lot of ways. It was easier, yes, but also scary.

“...I’ll be right back,” Haruhiro said, his fear making him speak in a politer tone than usual.

“Be careful,” Merry told him. “Don’t do anything reckless.”

Thank you, he thought. Somehow, that gives me the strength to try. Also, sorry, Kuzaku.

Well, it’s nothing to apologize for, I’m sure. Merry’s just concerned for me as a comrade. That’s a given. Even if that’s what it’s gotta be, it gives me encouragement. Where’s the harm in that? Right...?

Haruhiro moved away from his comrades, using Sneaking to advance towards the apparent building.

Is anything but me moving? No—I think. Not right now, at least.

The direction of the mist, the air, and the wind had changed. There was some obstacle blocking the wind and causing it to change direction.

Haruhiro approached. It came into view. The building.

It was a building made of pilled stones. But it was collapsing. It might have been shaped like a box at one time, but only two-thirds or so of it were left now.

He didn’t see a roof. Had it caved in? It was a ruined building.

This wasn’t the only ruined building here. There was another. No, even more than that. Here, there, and everywhere. There were lots of them.

Mr. Unjo had mentioned ruins. This was the place, huh. The city of the dead ones. This was their destination, huh. Which meant...

...they were here, he had to assume. At the place with the beings that remained unknown to them, the dead ones who were not dead.

Haruhiro pressed his palm to the first ruined building’s outer wall. He tried pushing. It didn’t budge. Having tested it, he put his back to the wall. He took a breath.

First, I’ll try doing one circuit of this ruined building. If it looks like I can go in... do I try it? Is that okay? Either way, I’ll do a circuit around it.

He looked around, listened closely, and when he had made a half-circuit around the building, scanning for the dead ones, he hit an opening.

An entrance? Was there a door here? Not anymore.

He poked his head in just halfway. It was too dark to see, but there was some sort of wreckage scattered around. There was no place to step. It looked dangerous to enter.

Now, as for the dead ones, they’re not here—I think. They aren’t, right?

Next. On to the next ruined building. Haruhiro decided to search the next closest building. It was a little bigger than the last one. It had half of its roof left, too. There was no door in the opening that looked like a door.

He had a bad feeling. No, not just a feeling. There were sounds. He could hear them.

What were those sounds?

Squelch. Smack. Chomp. Smack. Hahh. Nnngh. Slurp. Crunch. Crunch. Gulp. Smack. Huff.

He had some ideas what those sounds might be. He wouldn’t be happy to be proven right, but he still had to check.

Why, hello there, Mr. Dead One, he silently greeted a thing in his mind, trying to sound as cheerful as possible as he looked around the building through the opening.

There it was. He’d found one. Not far away. It was a humanoid creature with a tail, crouched over and eating something.

Was that one of the dead ones? It looked surprisingly normal. Now, what exactly was Mr. Tailed Dead One doing?

Haruhiro was interested. But maybe it was best to pull back for now? Haruhiro tried to put his natural caution to good use, but for some reason Mr. Tailed Dead One turned towards him, groaning...

Had he been spotted?

At a time like this, screaming and running would be a bad plan. First, he should see how it reacted. Haruhiro made sure he was prepared mentally and physically so that he could react quickly if it attacked him. Hey, it wasn’t a given that it was his enemy, you know? It might even be friendly, after all? Yeah, not likely, huh?

The tailed dead one picked up a weapon-like object of some sort and stood up. Weapon-like? No, it was a weapon. With a thick, curved blade in hand, the tailed dead started walking.

It was coming. This way. With slow steps. The tailed dead one wore something like chain mail, with a shoulder guard only on its right shoulder, along with gauntlets and greaves. It wore a helmet, but its face wasn’t hidden.

The eyes... what were those eyes? White. They didn’t seem to shine, but its two eyes were very white. Its big mouth was wet with some viscous, slimy liquid.

Haruhiro glanced over at the thing that was lying where the tailed dead one had been crouching before. He was unsurprised. It didn’t shake him that badly. He’d been right. That was all.

That thing seemed to be another creature. It was probably humanoid in shape, but he’d lay eight to nine out of ten odds that it was no longer alive. Haruhiro didn’t look for long, and he wouldn’t have been able to see well in the darkness, but he didn’t particularly want to see it, so maybe that was okay with him.

Oh, my, Mr. Tailed Dead One, were you eating? Did I disturb you? thought Haruhiro. If it would let him off with an apology, he wouldn’t have been unwilling to take it up on that, but the tailed dead was already picking up speed. This was no time for apologies.

Haruhiro hurriedly pulled his head back out, running to hide in the shadow of the neighboring building. Even if he was fleeing, he had to do it quietly, ever so quietly.

“Shaah!” The tailed dead one shrieked.

“Where’d he go?!” Was that what it meant?

Haruhiro could hear the tailed dead one’s footsteps. He moved in time with those steps.

Maybe I ought to drag it back? Lure it to the others? Worth a shot?

This was the city of the dead ones. If that thing was one of the dead ones, it wasn’t necessarily alone. There could be others. But that was the only thing whose presence he felt. For now, he didn’t sense any more.

Haruhiro had been found already, and, as a volunteer soldier, Haruhiro and his group hadn’t come here for sightseeing and a good time. They had a goal here, yes: to hunt. They had come to hunt the dead ones, as volunteer soldiers ought to.

The tailed dead one.

It might make for a good test of their skills.

Haruhiro came to a stop. The tailed dead one was closing in. It appeared from around the corner.

When those white eyes caught sight of Haruhiro, it opened its mouth wide. “Kaah!”

It was racing towards him.

Good, Haruhiro thought. Come.

He ran. As for finding the place where everyone was waiting—It was fine. He remembered the direction and the rough distance. He wouldn’t screw this up. He turned in that direction, and ran. The enemy was pretty fast, but if Haruhiro ran at his top speed, it would never catch him.

“Haru-kun?!” He heard Yume’s voice.

“There’s an enemy!” Haruhiro shouted. “I’m bringing it with me!” Then he added, “Just one!”

“Leave it to us!” Kuzaku responded.

There. He could see him. Kuzaku was coming out with his shield at the ready.

“I’m counting on you!” Haruhiro ran towards Kuzaku.

Immediately after they passed one another, Kuzaku used Block against the tailed dead one’s curved sword, then struck out with a Thrust. The tailed dead pushed on, unconcerned. Kuzaku didn’t back down, either. They collided.

“Leap Out!” Ranta quickly jumped beside where the tailed dead one was and swung his longsword in a figure-eight motion. “Followed by Slice!”

Lightning Sword Dolphin’s effect had run out and they’d sold it to the blacksmith, so Ranta was using his old standard, Betrayer Mk. II. The tailed dead one dodged like it was throwing itself to the ground, but Ranta’s sword still hit it somewhere.

He couldn’t cut through. It was wearing chain mail.

When the tailed dead one tumbled and then got up, Kuzaku closed in on it. “There!” He slammed his longsword into it. Kuzaku had picked up this longsword in Corpse Swamp and had it repaired by the blacksmith.

The tailed dead one took a hard hit to the helmet and groaned, “Nguoh!” but it didn’t falter. Without missing a beat, it lifted its curved sword up high and went on the counterattack.

Now, Kuzaku was the one forced back. “Aww, damn it! I’m so weak!”

“Don’t panic!” Haruhiro shouted to Kuzaku, looking at the tailed dead one’s back.

Yume and Merry were on standby, defending Shihoru. It was only one enemy, so that formation made sense. There could be reinforcements, after all.

If that happened, Haruhiro wanted Yume and Shihoru to respond immediately. Merry had protecting Shihoru as her top priority, after all. Everyone knew what they should be doing.

“Ehe...” Zodiac-kun was just floating around. “Ranta... You’re not as good as you brag to be... Ehehe... Finish it already... Ehehehehe...”

“I don’t need you to tell me that!” Ranta launched a violent onslaught on the tailed dead one. It was Hatred, followed by a two-strike combo. Then diagonal slashes from the top left and top right.

The moment Betrayer Mk. II crossed with the tailed dead one’s curved sword, he used Reject. The dread knight was at his most valuable when he didn’t face his enemies straight out. Where a warrior would lock blades with the enemy, a dread knight wouldn’t. He would push them away in an instant, or turn the blow aside.

This time, Ranta skillfully pushed it back. Then, at the same time, he fell straight back. Though he was falling back, he did it at an incredible speed.

“Exhaust!”

The tailed dead one stumbled a little, but managed to brace itself. Ranta kicked off the ground.

This time, he was moving forward. Again, at an incredible speed.

“Take this! Leap Out!”

Ranta charged straight into the tailed dead one. With that timing, it couldn’t hope to dodge.

Betrayer Mk. II slammed into the tailed dead one’s solar plexus. It pierced through—or maybe not. Ranta was in a position to push the tailed dead down. But instead, he immediately jumped back.

“Dammit!”

“Hashaah!” The tailed dead one leaped to its feet, swinging around its curved sword. It seemed more energetic than before.

Kuzaku deflected the curved sword with a loud clang, then tackled the tailed dead one with a shout. The tailed dead was flipped over, but it still rose.

“Shih! Hyahhh!”

“Geez, what is that thing?!” Yume shouted.

Honestly, what was it?

“How’s this thing supposed to be a dead one?!” Ranta clicked his tongue. “Looks pretty damn lively to me!”

Their attacks weren’t working—maybe? The tailed dead one had a black stain on its stomach. Ranta’s Betrayer Mk. II had pierced its chain mail, injuring the tailed dead one. It had taken a blow to the head from Kuzaku’s longsword, and he’d tackled it, too. But it was still fine.

Wasn’t it in pain? Did it not feel pain? Because it was in an excited state? Or was it just dense? Whatever the case, it was probably best to assume that thing had no sense of pain.

First, they had to break its stance. Then they had to pummel it until it stopped moving.

Long ago, Haruhiro and the others had made regular trips to the Old City of Damuro, hunting goblins that seemed weaker than them. That strategy of ganging up on an enemy and pulverizing them had earned them their nickname, the Goblin Slayers. They just had to do that here.

Haruhiro conveniently happened to be behind it. It was so distracted by Kuzaku and Ranta, it had probably forgotten Haruhiro existed.

That wasn’t a coincidence. Haruhiro had been moving sneakily to make sure it would forget him.

Backstab? Spider? No. Haruhiro chose another move. He ran in, keeping his footsteps as silent as possible. It hadn’t noticed him yet. It didn’t turn.

Then, as if he was thinking, Good, Haruhiro stepped in hard. He performed a jumping kick. He kicked the tailed dead one in the back with both feet.

“Fungoh!” The tailed dead one pitched forward.

“Now!” Haruhiro shouted, but Ranta was already on the move by then. Kuzaku wasn’t far behind him. Haruhiro joined in, too.

Don’t let it stand up. Knock its weapon from its hands. Shut down all resistance. Don’t think about slashing, or stabbing, or anything advanced like that. Ignore the fact we’re using swords, and pummel it.

Of the three of them, Ranta was the most used to this. He used the tip of his sword to peel off the thing’s helmet.

Crush it. Its head. Make a bloody, pulpy mess out of it. Don’t you move. Stop struggling. You’re doing that again? You’re gonna do that again? Well, no helping it, then. We’ll have to go all the way.

Kuzaku pressed his shield down on it. “Ahhhhh!”

“Rarrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!” Ranta stabbed Betrayer Mk. II into its neck. Then, after his twisting and cutting it off with brute force, it finally stopped moving.

Inhaling sharply, Haruhiro backed away, looking around the area. He spotted Yume, Shihoru, and Merry. Merry made the sign of the hexagram, closed her eyes for a moment, then nodded. That apparently meant everything was okay.

“Yeahhhhhhhhh!” Ranta lifted Betrayer Mk. II up high, letting out a victory cry. Then, in an instant, he jumped on the tailed dead one’s corpse. “Treasure, treasure! Mine, mine, miiiine! If you ain’t got nothing, I’ll make you pay for it, you worthless dead one! I’ll seriously kill you!”

“...Come on, man.” Haruhiro wanted to say something, but he realized he didn’t really have the right to.

Still, the technique Ranta used to strip off the thing’s chain mail was beyond impressive. Haruhiro could even have called it brilliant, but he didn’t want to compliment him.

“Hm?” Ranta picked up something between his fingers. “Hey, hey, hey, hey, heyyyyy?!”

Kuzaku raised his visor, letting out a sigh. “What? Did you find something good?”

“Ta-dah!” Ranta proudly displayed it. “Not just something!”

Honestly, Haruhiro’s heart skipped a beat.

This might be love, he thought. Yeah, no.

There was more than one of the things Ranta had clenched in his hand. There were multiple of them. Black, and round...

“Wow...” Yume’s mouth hung open.

“...Huh?” Shihoru was still half-doubting what she saw.

“What is it?” Merry tilted her head to the side.

“They’re black coins, you silly! Oh, and...!” Right now, Ranta was beaming more than he ever had in his life. “Four! Count ’em! Four of them! Thanks!”

Haruhiro nearly smiled, but he stopped himself. Before they relaxed and celebrated, there were things to do first. If he didn’t force himself to think that way, he was going to lose all his tension.

Still, four black coins, huh? he thought. Looking at them, they’re medium-sized coins. That’s 4 ruma.

Haruhiro had to check himself lest he start counting his chickens before they hatched.

Steady. Take it slow and steady, he told himself. Use methods that provide certainty.

He didn’t want to celebrate for no reason. He didn’t want to get his hopes up, then have them dashed. He would have to get along with that frail side of himself, and keep on going.

“No, no, you totally are, aren’t you? I mean, you look super unhappy.”

“That’s not it... Ngahh.” Kuzaku started banging himself on the head with both his hands. “Guhh. How do I even explain it? It’s not like that, seriously. I’m not mad. Besides, what about Merry and meeee? What are you trying to sayyyy? Aghhhh.”

“Wh-Whoa, Kuzaku, calm down, man.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down,” Kuzaku snapped.

“I can tell. You’re clearly not calm. You look like you’re losing your mind. Huh? Wh-Why? I mean, you and Merry are going o—”

“I get it! I’ll tell you the whole story, okay?” Kuzaku broke in, using large gestures as he spoke. “Look, a lot of stuff happened between Merry... -san and me. No, nothing really. I thought she’s pretty great. Honestly, you know how it goes. I had a thing for her.”

“...Yeah.”

“I mean, she’s not just beautiful, she’s funny, too. I dunno, she’s serious, but there’s something kind of unreliable about her. Unreliable? No, that’s not it. What is it? She’s cute.”

“...Oh, yeah... I guess.”

“I think so,” Kuzaku said. “So, well, that’s why I fell for her. I had the chance to talk to her alone sometimes, so I was sort of dropping hints about that.”

“...Like when we were at the Lonesome Field Outpost?”

“Huh? You knew about it? You noticed?”

“...Yeah, kinda.”

“Well, I dunno what to say,” Kuzaku said. “She’s probably the type that gives in if you push a little, you know. Insecure, I guess you could say. So, when I said I wanted her advice on stuff that was worrying me, she was willing to hear me out, you know. Also, me and Merry... -san, we both joined the group after everyone else. We had that in common, so there was that, too.”

“...I see.”

“It felt like things were going well. Like, ‘Maybe she’s got a soft spot for me. Things are looking good, huh?’ That’s what I thought.”

“...That’s what you thought.”

“Right! That’s what I thought. So, of course, I had to go for it.”

“...Go for what?”

“A confession, of course.”

“...You confessed to her?”

“Darn straight I did,” Kuzaku said firmly. “I mean, I couldn’t just leave things vague forever. That wouldn’t feel good. For either of us.”

“...Is that... how it is?”

“It’s different for everyone,” Kuzaku said. “For me, though, if I see a chance and it feels right, I go for it.”

“Did you... take her aside?” Haruhiro asked.

“It was going to be a long talk, after all. That was at the Lonesome Field Outpost.”

“...That one time, before we went back to Alterna?”

“Yeah. Huh? Why do you know about that? Oh, that time, you weren’t in the tent, huh. Were you outside watching, maybe?”

“...A little, yeah.”

“Urgh. You saw that, huh. How embarrassing. Yeah, it was just after that. I went and confessed to Merry... -san. I thought it’d work, too. I got an immediate response.”

“...Immediate?” Haruhiro asked.

“When it comes to that sort of stuff, she’s really cut and dry about it. If I think back, she’d kept firm boundaries, you know. I was just misunderstanding, you could say, or it was all me being overly optimistic. I thought there was a good mood between the two of us.”

“...And?”

“It went like this.” Kuzaku tucked in his chin, shaking his head left and right a little. “‘No.’”

“...Was that supposed to be your imitation of Merry?” Haruhiro asked.

“Yeah. It’s just like her, if I do say so myself. It was a one-word response, after all. Of course, she explained it to me after that. It was like, since we’re comrades, she could be my friend, but nothing more than that. She’s not interested now. She didn’t want the distraction. Merry... -san, she was apologetic, and it made me feel bad for putting her in that position. So, I was like, ‘Sorry for making this awkward. Please, let’s just keep things the way they’ve always been.’ We agreed to do that.”

“...So then...” Haruhiro said slowly. He finished silently: ...the two of them are—not going out? Is that it? Maybe...?

Haruhiro noticed that he was sinking. The water reached his chin. Then his mouth. Then all the way up to his nose. Hey, you’re going to drown, he warned himself.

“Haruhiro...?” Kuzaku asked, concerned.

“Ahh!” Haruhiro hurriedly pushed himself up out of the water, avoiding death by drowning. “So that’s how it was. Oh... I... I see. Man, I thought... I dunno, you two were just keeping quiet about it, or something... I was... wrong, huh?”

“If it’d worked out, I was planning to tell you all,” Kuzaku said. “It’d be awkward keeping something like that quiet. Like, if you had people sneaking around behind your back, wouldn’t that be kind of unpleasant?”

“I might not be happy about it... no,” Haruhiro said. “You’re right.”

“It’s too bad for me that I didn’t get to make my big announcement.”

“...Well, yeah.”

“Oh, are you trying to console me?”

“...Kinda?”

“It’s fine, man. I’m already over it. I mean, sure, I still love her, and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t bother me at all. But we’ve got bigger concerns.”

“Yeah...” Haruhiro murmured.

“I can do without romance. For now, at least. I’ll leave that to Ranta-kun. Though he might be looking for something different.”

“In his case, it’s more primitive, almost childish...”

“He’s just honest with himself,” Kuzaku said. “I like that about him.”

“Me, I don’t like it all that much.”

Kuzaku laughed, rubbing his face a few times with his big hands. He probably wasn’t as over it as he’d said. That was what Haruhiro figured. That said, the guy didn’t need to be comforted. Kuzaku was facing forward.

How was Haruhiro, compared to that?

He thought about it. I don’t really know, but, for now, maybe I’m a little too relieved...? Why do I feel so relieved right now?

“You think? I dunno... I’m trying to keep it from happening. I’m being careful about that, honestly. Like, there are times I get carried away. Because it’s scary.”

“That’s why we’re able to trust you.”

“Are you trying to compliment me to death?” Haruhiro asked. “It feels like it, you know? You’re making me feel ticklish...”

“Sorry.” Shihoru looked to the moat, taking a short breath. “It’s just... I wanted to tell you what I was thinking. I have to convey things as much as I can. I don’t want... to be left with regrets again.”

Haruhiro suddenly found himself unable to speak. He wanted to agree with her, so he nodded.

Side-by-side at the edge of the moat, for a short while, they crouched there together in silence.

It’s kind of mysterious, he thought. This silence isn’t awkward at all. That’s because it’s Shihoru, huh. If I was with Merry, it might not go like this.

That was when it happened.

“Haruhiro-kun... do you like Merry?”

“Huhh...?!” He pitched forward, nearly falling into the moat.

After that, obviously, Haruhiro desperately denied her suspicions. It turned out that Shihoru didn’t have much reason to believe he did, and she seemed to accept it when he told her he didn’t, but Haruhiro was going to have to be careful not to do anything that would invite misunderstandings in the future.

A misunderstanding? he thought. Was it really? I wonder...

“Ha ha... If even you’re worried about me, I’m probably done for...”

“You’re one rude guy, you know that?” Ranta snapped. “I may not look it, but I’m full of love, okay? I’m the Dread Knight of Love, got it?”

“You love Haruhiro?” Merry asked, sounding annoyed.

“Y-Y-You moron, of course not! That’s not what I’m saying!”

“It’s not just any love, it’s romantic love, huh?” Yume snickered.

“I don’t love him, romantically or otherwise, damn it! That’s obvious, you moron! Damn it!”

Kuzaku let out a short laugh. “When you’re so desperate to deny it, that actually makes me more suspicious.”

“I’ll make mincemeat out of you, Kuzacky! Seriously, seriously! Don’t make light of a dread knight!”

“Hey,” Lala-sama spoke up. “You, the monkey over there. You’re annoying. Be quiet.”

Ranta immediately stood up ramrod straight and saluted her. His mouth moved, but no voice came out. Sir, yes, sir! It looked like, at some point, he’d been fully trained by Lala.

Terrifying.

Honestly, she was terrifying. Haruhiro shuddered. It wasn’t just Lala-sama. Nono was, too. What he’d done a moment ago, that was crazy scary. This was what Nono had said to Haruhiro:

“If Lala-sama gets so much as a scratch because of you people, I’ll kill every last one of you.”

That was it.

It probably wasn’t an idle threat. Nono had been serious. Besides, the guy didn’t look normal. And he was hyper competent. If Nono decided to kill them all, he could probably do it without them managing to move so much as an eyebrow to defend themselves.

The question was, why had Nono chosen that precise moment to tell Haruhiro? It wasn’t like no ideas came to mind, but he didn’t want to think about it. It wasn’t a thing Haruhiro could do anything by thinking about anyway. He decided to forget the matter for now. There were other things that needed thinking about. Lots and lots of them.

Haruhiro and the others left the warehouse. They came out of the workshop district, and passed through the residential area beyond it. Haruhiro led the way, checking that everything was safe before calling everyone over, the same as before. They were avoiding the festival areas, so there were few people—no, few waluos—passing by, but he had to be careful of stray ones. Even if he thought there were none, nothing was absolute. Though, that said, if he was too timid, they couldn’t move at all. If they were found, or if they found a waluo, they just had to deal with it immediately. He had to accept it. Nothing was perfect.

—Right?

His stomach hurt. He was sweating like crazy. His throat was dry. The road coming up next was kind of a big one. But when he’d scouted it earlier, it’d seemed like they could cross it.

He poked his head out just a little. No waluos. He gave the signal, then crossed the road first. His comrades, along with Lala and Nono, followed Haruhiro.

They were still in the residential area, but the slope suddenly got steeper here. It was a pretty steep uphill climb. It was hard to see up from the bottom, but there was a good view from above. He had to skillfully hide himself as he advanced.

His stomach really hurt. He was aging a year for every second that went by. He couldn’t help but feel that way.

Instead of heading straight toward Fire Dragon Mountain, he chose side streets as much as possible. No matter what kind of road it was, he made sure to check it thoroughly before entering. Even that wasn’t perfect. He had to be sure that, no matter what happened, he didn’t lose his head.

He was straining himself too much. Pushing his whole body.

Don’t force it, he told himself. Stay calm, stay calm.

No, he couldn’t do it. His heart felt like it was ready to break into a thousand pieces. He was just barely holding himself together. With guts, or stubbornness, or something like that, probably. That was the condition he was in, but Haruhiro probably had sleepy eyes and looked like he was just disinterestedly doing his job. He didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Either way, he wasn’t at his limit yet.

I can manage somehow.

Since that last time, he hadn’t even seen a waluo. Maybe they were going to be able to make it through Waluandin just like this? Whenever he thought it would be easy, something bad happened. Well, his harsher predictions tended to come true, too, so maybe it would all be the same no matter which way he leaned.

“The sound of the drums... Isn’t it kind of close?” Ranta commented.

Even before Ranta said it, Haruhiro had noticed. If even Ranta had noticed it, Lala and Nono had to be aware well ahead of him, too. Yet they’d said nothing.

Once again, Haruhiro was reminded that he couldn’t trust them. He didn’t know if they were evil or not, but Lala and Nono only ever thought about themselves. They were only accompanying Haruhiro and the others because, at the moment, they had decided it was worth using them. If that changed, they would probably abandon the party without hesitation. Using them as sacrificial pawns, if need be. They wouldn’t even feel guilty about doing it.

That said, Haruhiro and his comrades were working with them because it was beneficial to them, too. So, in that sense, they were even. Well, as for whether or not he could abandon Lala and Nono if he had to, that was another matter, or rather he’d probably have a hard time bringing himself to do it. Was he being... naïve, maybe? He might be.

Haruhiro had the other seven wait while he clambered up on top of a nearby building. When he got a look from the rooftop, he could see columns of lights that he assumed were torches moving around Waluandin. One column was less than a hundred meters away. That was pretty close, all things considered.

What do we do?

Haruhiro came down off the roof. How should he explain it? His head wasn’t working right.

When he just stood there, Ranta rounded on him. “What’re you staring off into space for?! What’s up, man?! What’s going on?! Haruhiro! I’m asking you a question, so say something, you balding idiot!”

“...We may be in trouble.”

“In trouble how?!”

“They may be searching... for us.”

“Searching for—us... Wait, whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?!”

“Ranta’s been talkin’ real loud for a while now, after all,” Yume said.

“Shut it, Tiny Tits! Just shut up! We’re having an important conversation here!”

“Why would they be looking for us?” Shihoru asked.

It was a perfectly reasonable question. From his comrades’ perspective, it must have been a mystery. However, it wasn’t any mystery to Haruhiro. It wasn’t. In fact, he had it more or less figured out. He didn’t want it to be true, but he had to assume it probably was.

“First, we need to run,” Merry said as if trying to convince herself, then looked at her comrades. “Whatever the cause or the reason is, it can wait.”

“Sounds about right.” Kuzaku nodded. “We should run before we’re found.”

“Where’re we gonna run to?!” Ranta shouted. “We’re pretty deep inside Waluandin, you know?! You think there’s anywhere for us to run here?!”

“No need to run.” Lala licked her red lips, then pointed to Fire Dragon Mountain. “For the orcs of Waluandin, Fire Dragon Mountain is probably sacred land. They wouldn’t chase us there, would they?”

Nono fixed a contemptuous look on Haruhiro.

...S-Scary, Haruhiro thought. That look, he’s totally pissed. They’re on to me, damn it.

At the very least, Nono knew. Knew who it was who’d brought about this state of affairs.

Yes. That was right. It was Haruhiro’s fault. Probably. Well, almost certainly. Haruhiro would have given eight to nine out of ten odds that he was to blame.

He hadn’t killed the orc. He hadn’t been able to do it. Not that young waluo. He’d bound him hand and foot, gagged him, and then left him there.

Do I have to tell them? Haruhiro wondered. But they were short on time, right? Maybe not now? Still, why didn’t Nono condemn him for it? No matter how Haruhiro looked at it, this was a crisis. Lala was in danger, too. So why? Because Nono didn’t want to talk? He’d rather kill him first and lay blame later? He was looking for the opportunity? Whatever it was, they needed to hurry.

Merry was right. When it came to the cause or the reason for it, that could wait.

“Let’s go! To Fire Dragon Mountain!” Haruhiro directed.

The waluos beat their drums, swung their torches, and shouted as they searched for Haruhiro and the others. Even at a rough count, there were a lot of torches. Easily into the triple digits. What was more, they weren’t all necessarily carrying torches. It could be one in every few, every ten, or even less than that.

It would be best to assume there were roughly ten times as many in the search party as there were torches. It was over a thousand, and there were possibly multiple thousands of waluos out there hunting for Haruhiro and the others.

Haruhiro did what he could to try to lead the group, but Nono went on ahead of him. He’d have to follow. He couldn’t say, Leave this to me. If Haruhiro said that, Nono would probably have killed him. Besides, he felt like he’d probably mess up again.

It was best to put what happened with the young waluo out of his mind for now. He knew that, but he couldn’t just forget it. Honestly, Haruhiro couldn’t have any confidence in his decision-making ability right now. Right now? Only now? What about in future? Was he ever going to be able to say, Okay, I’m good now? He couldn’t see it happening.

Nono advanced smoothly, sometimes going straight without hesitation, sometimes turning, and sometimes heading down alleyways. How could he keep on going without hesitation like that? Every once in a while, Lala would call out to him from the rear, saying, Right, or Left, or Straight. Was it thanks to Lala? If he was going to do the wrong thing, Lala would correct him. Was it because even if he messed up, Lala was there to cover for him? Was it the trust between them? Because he wasn’t alone? Because they were a pair? What about Haruhiro? Did he believe in his comrades? It wasn’t that he didn’t believe in them, it was just... that—

“Stop!” Lala shouted, and he realized a band of waluos had appeared in front of them.

The waluos were over two meters tall and wearing body paint, so they were frightening even to look at. Haruhiro’s heart jumped up and down, causing a sharp and intense pain to run through his chest.

Nono attacked the lead waluo. Kuzaku readied his shield and charged in. Ranta followed.

Nono used his right hand knife to cut open the first waluo’s neck in the blink of an eye, then sprang at another waluo. Kuzaku smashed into one with his shield, probably meaning to knock him down, but the enemy was bigger than he was and managed to hold firm. Ranta slashed at the waluo carrying the torch, but though he’d managed to drive him back, he hadn’t dealt a serious wound.

Haruhiro grabbed the hilt of his stiletto, adjusted his grip, and then held it tight.

Oh, crap. Oh, crap. This was not good. No. He was standing bolt upright, his legs like sticks.

What was he doing? Nothing. Haruhiro was doing nothing.

He looked around. Looked, and thought. He pretended to be thinking. The truth was, he wasn’t thinking a thing.

“This way!” Lala shouted.

The moment he heard Lala shout that, he was incredibly relieved. She was pointing to an alley a little way back the way they had come.

He sent Yume, Shihoru, and Merry on ahead, then waited for Ranta, who had turned and run, and Kuzaku, who was slowly pulling back while using his shield to block a waluo’s kicks. Nono wasn’t just fast, he used martial arts techniques of varying speed along with his knife to great effect, and he was stalling the waluos. He wasn’t that big, and all he had was a short knife, but he was running circles around the big waluos. How could he pull a trick like that off?

Now wasn’t the time to stare in admiration.

Ranta went into the alley. Kuzaku wasn’t there yet. There was a waluo harassing him.

I’ve got to do something about him, thought Haruhiro. That’s right. I’ve got to. I need to do at least that much. Do it.

Haruhiro raced past Kuzaku and the waluo, then made a sudden turn and slammed a Backstab into him. He’d been aiming to hit the kidney by going through his back, but it didn’t reach the organ.

The waluo turned.

Kuzaku hit it in the jaw with Bash, then followed up with a Thrust using his black blade. There was no need for either of them to say, Let’s go. They headed for the alley together. Nono followed them, too.

To the alley.

To the alley.

It was a narrow alley, maybe only about a meter across, and Lala was there, elegantly pointing to the right. Why hadn’t Lala abandoned Haruhiro and the party yet? What was Nono thinking?

No. That didn’t matter. Not for now. He’d shut up and do as Lala said. It was his only choice. That was the best thing to do. After all, Haruhiro couldn’t handle it himself. He had no plan for getting out of this. He could only run around blindly.

Lala was different. She showed no signs of panicking. Nono was the same way. They were calm. Like always.

I’ve gotta be like that, thought Haruhiro. He wanted to be like them, but could he? Well, that was questionable. Probably not. There was no way. He could work his whole life, and he’d never be able to be like Lala and Nono.

When they came out onto a large cobblestone road, they had a good view of Waluandin in its entirety. They were at a pretty high elevation. This was already the far edge of Waluandin. The waluos pressed in on them from the far end of the road.

“Aha!” Lala laughed. “Slowpokes! We’ve won!”

Had they really? Was she lying? Lala took the lead in racing up the big road up the hill.

Ranta shouted, “This is so damn cool!”

The waluos had totally caught Haruhiro and the others now. This big road seemed to stretch from the palace district, meandering a bit as it went all the way to Fire Dragon Mountain. How did he know that? Because he could see it. The torches clearly lit up the path of the road.

Incredible. There was a seriously incredible number of waluos.

If Kikkawa had been here, he might have called it “tally-to some-awe.” Yeah, maybe not.

Man, Haruhiro missed Kikkawa. He was supposedly all right, so would they be able to meet again? There wasn’t much hope of it. He couldn’t help but feel that way.

A muddy stream. With their body paint and decorative cloths that they wore like a sash, the waluos swinging around their dragon sticks and torches seemed to be like a muddy stream surging backwards up the road in an attempt to swallow up Haruhiro and the others. It was honestly a bit hard to tell how many meters there were between Nono at the rear of the group and the front of the line of waluos, but it was less than ten meters. Well, it was a few meters.

Nono could probably shake them if he got serious. But Shihoru and Kuzaku would have had trouble, and Merry didn’t seem like she’d have an easy time doing so, either. There was a sense in the air that it was only a matter of time now.

Weren’t they out of moves? Wasn’t this the end?

It was all Haruhiro’s fault. Haruhiro had ended it.

Sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry, guys. I’m really sorry. It was me. It was my fault. I’m the one to blame. All of it. Me. What can I do to get you to forgive me? Yeah, nothing, I’ll bet. Of course not. I mean, it’s my fault, after all! No one else is to blame. It’s all on me!

Haruhiro ran as fast as he could, crying and screaming despite himself. He didn’t turn back. He only looked ahead. He was just scared. He didn’t want to see anything, or to know anything.

Enough. It was over anyway. Because of Haruhiro, it was all over. They were all gonna die. They’d be beaten to a bloody pulp and brutally killed.

It was strange. No matter how much time passed, it didn’t happen. It should have been any moment now, but Haruhiro was still alive.

He passed between two stone pillars with a dragon motif. He’d finally left the city. The steep cobblestone road continued, but there were no more buildings. The rocky mountain spread out to either side. There wasn’t so much as a single tree growing here. Here and there, lava would spurt up as if from a pulsing vein, and there would be a puff of smoke.

“They’re not comin’ after us!” Yume cried, her voice full of cheer.

I see. That’s right. Haruhiro wiped the sweat, tears, snot, and saliva from his face as he turned back. The waluos were there. They hadn’t turned back. But they had stopped at the stone pillars. It was as if some invisible dam were holding them back.

Sacred land. Fire Dragon Mountain was probably sacred land to the orcs of Waluandin, so maybe they wouldn’t chase them here. That had been Lala’s read on the situation, and she had stated it clearly. In the end, it had been spot on.

Lala had won a calculated victory. Not just Nono, but Ranta, Yume, Shihoru, Merry, and Kuzaku might all have hope now. Haruhiro was the only one who didn’t.

Haruhiro was alone in his utter despair.

He’d panicked so badly that he’d lost the ability to think straight. He was embarrassed. Incredibly. He wanted to just disappear. He didn’t want to live in shame any longer.

The road turned into stone steps. It was so steep that, had they not been on a staircase, it felt like they would tumble down. When they got past that incline, it leveled out to be almost flat, and the road came to an abrupt end.

“Oofwhah..!” Ranta let out an odd exclamation. “There! There they are! Those’re salamanders, right?! Hold on, how are they okay in that molten lava?!”

From there on, there were real ups and downs in the mountain slope, rivers of lava everywhere, and also springs of lava bubbling up. The salamanders would float in the lava, swim in it, and jump around in it.

Actually, if he were to describe them just how they looked, they were like clumps of molten lava in the shape of lizards. When they weren’t moving, they were indistinguishable from the lava. That was why, as a matter of fact, Haruhiro had no idea how many salamanders there were. It was possible that all of that lava was salamanders. Well, that was probably not true, but he couldn’t deny the possibility.

“Let’s take it a little more carefully from here,” Lala said quietly, as if they hadn’t been particularly careful up until this point.

What kind of nerves did she have? Or was she just putting up a strong front? That couldn’t be it. She just had nerves of steel.

Nono stood in the front, checking his footing as he moved forward. Lala was in second place, and behind her the line went Ranta, Kuzaku, Merry, Shihoru, Yume, and finally Haruhiro. They hadn’t discussed it beforehand; it had just ended up this way naturally. Probably because Haruhiro hadn’t done anything or said a word, everyone had assumed he’d meant to bring up the rear.

Haruhiro hadn’t actually been thinking anything, but he had no complaints. If anything, he was grateful. He was happy to be in the back; the back was great. He didn’t have to feel anyone’s eyes on him. He couldn’t take on a leadership role in this state.

“The reason we had our eyes on this place,” Lala began to explain without anyone asking her to, “was because of the presence of orcs. Because they’re in Grimgar, too. When a race exists in two different worlds, as a general rule, you can assume that those worlds are connected. Based on our experience, if that race has put down roots in a specific place, there’s usually a path between them there. Though, in many cases, there’s a reason they can’t go back and forth easily.”

“There’s a fire dragon here...” Shihoru held her hat down as she fearfully jumped across a thin stream of lava.

Immediately after she did, a salamander hopped out, nearly touching Shihoru’s leg.

“...Ohhh!”

“Y’think there really is a fire dragon?” Yume easily jumped over, and of course the salamander jumped again, too. Yume easily cleared both the lava stream and the salamander. “It’s too quiet here, after all.”

Haruhiro ran up and jumped as hard as he could, trying not to look at the stream or the salamander. He had to say something. It was strange for him to stay so quiet. But what would he say? It wasn’t like he didn’t have things he should be saying. If he said it, though, what would happen? He didn’t know. He didn’t want to imagine it.

“Y’think that’s the summit there?” Kuzaku pointed diagonally to the left in front of them.

There was definitely a dark mountainous shape in that direction. How far was it, distance-wise? A few hundred meters ahead? More, maybe?

“Hold on...” Ranta came to a sudden stop. “Haruhiro. You were saying something earlier, weren’t you, pal? Back in Waluandin. Also, man... you were crying. Was I just imagining that?”

Haruhiro just shook his head. He didn’t answer. When he tried to keep going, Ranta pushed aside their other comrades to close in on Haruhiro.

“You were saying something, something about how it was because of you. What’d that mean? Like, you said it was all your fault. You’re acting weird, too, you know? I mean, I know you’re weird most of the time. You’ve got those sleepy eyes and all. But, even so, you’re not acting normal. Man, what’s gotten into you?”

“...Later,” Haruhiro whispered.

“Huhh?”

“I’ll tell you later. I promise I will. For now... it doesn’t matter.”

“It does matter.” Ranta grabbed Haruhiro by the collar. “There’s no way it doesn’t! Don’t give me that shit! Listen, man, there’s nothing I hate more than when things are kept vague like this!”

“That’s why I said I’d tell you later! Think about the situation!”

“What situation? You’re not getting out of this! When I decide to do something, I do it! I’m gonna chase you down and get the truth out of you no matter what it takes!”

“Ranta! Stop!” Yume tried to interpose herself between Haruhiro and Ranta.

That pushed Haruhiro backwards. “Ah...!” He lost his footing, and in the direction he stepped, small or not, there was a pool of lava. His foot didn’t land right in it, but his right heel brushed the lava slightly, and it sizzled and burned. “Urgh...!”

“H-Haru-kun?!” Yume cried.

“...No, I’m... fine...?” Haruhiro crouched down and rubbed his heel. He’d pulled his foot out immediately, so he didn’t think it was anything major. That was what he hoped. He traced the outline of his boot with his fingers. How was it? The heel seemed kind of melted? Was it just the boot? What about the inside? It felt painful, and maybe hot...?

“I-I’m not gonna apologize, okay!” Ranta said arrogantly. “Th-Th-That was Yume’s fault, and your own! I’m not in the wrong here, not one insignificant bit!”

“You’re insignificant...” Shihoru murmured.

“Huh?! What was that, you rotten saggy titty bomber?!”

“R-Rotten... s-saggy...?!”

“Haru! Let me look!” Merry pushed past Shihoru, Yume, and Ranta to crouch next to Haruhiro.

Lala shrugged, looking at them in utter amazement. Nono brought his face close to Lala and whispered something in her ear. He might have been pressing her to make a choice. Like, Isn’t it about time we abandoned them, maybe?

That was no good. No good at all. The party needed them to reconsider, or they’d be in trouble.

“Whoa, wai—” Haruhiro pushed Merry aside as she was trying to heal him, and stood up. The pain shot through his right heel, and he let out a bizarre little shriek of pain.

“Huh?” Kuzaku said something incredibly strange. “The summit moved?”

“Mountains don’t move,” Lala said with a joyous purr in her voice for some reason. “In other words, that’s no mountain, is it?”

“I-If it isn’t...” Ranta turned and looked up at the summit—no, the thing they had thought was the summit. “Wh-What... is that thing...?”

It shook left and right—no, not just that. This sound. It was vibrating. Or rather, the ground was shaking. The thing was approaching.

“Run!” Haruhiro shouted reflexively.

“Wh-Which way?!” Ranta shouted back.

“I don’t know which—”

Which way? Where would they run? Back? The way they came? How far? Could they go down the mountain? But they couldn’t flee into Waluandin. That was obvious. What should they do? How should he know? Haruhiro naturally tried to cling to Lala and Nono.

They were gone.

They had been there until just a moment ago. No. He could see their backs. They were moving on. He’d lost sight of them for a moment when the shadow of a boulder up ahead blocked his view. That said, they were already more than fifteen meters away.

“A-After them! Follow those two! Hurry!”

“Damn it! That bitch!” Ranta shouted.

“Shihoru, go on ahead!” Yume cried. “Yume’s gonna be right there behind you!”

“Y-Yeah! Got it!”

“Merry-san, you go, too!”

“Okay! Haru, can you run?!”

“I-I can, yeah! Now hurry! Kuzaku, you too!”

“’Kay!”

The tremors grew larger and more violent. Haruhiro desperately chased after Kuzaku’s back. When his right heel touched down, the pain shot all the way to the top of his head. All he could do was work to avoid his right heel touching the ground, running on the balls of his feet. It wasn’t easy, by any means.

Once the weight of their gear and other possessions factored in, Haruhiro was either the fastest or the second fastest runner in the party. Kuzaku was the slowest. Despite that, this was hopeless. Not only was he not catching up to Kuzaku, he was being left behind.

Kuzaku occasionally looked back, slowed down, and waited for Haruhiro. He was so happy he could cry, but it was no solution. Even if he closed the gap a little, it quickly opened back up, and sometimes got worse.

He suddenly lost sight of Kuzaku. Had he finally given up on him? No, that couldn’t be it. He passed through a narrow gap between two boulders and came out into a more open place.

It wasn’t just Kuzaku. Everyone was there. Even Lala and Nono were there, off in the distance.

Kuzaku turned back, looking at Haruhiro—and then at something further up.

“...!” Kuzaku let out a silent cry that was ominous, to say the least.

It might have been a bit of an exaggeration, but Haruhiro felt like he was being told about the end of the world.

He couldn’t decide. Should he see it for himself, or was it best not to? Before he could make a decision, his eyes were sucked towards it. He didn’t wish he hadn’t seen it, and he wasn’t glad that he had seen it. He was just dumbfounded.

He liked to think he’d encountered his fair share of creatures. Like the giant god in the Dusk Realm. Well, there was probably room for debate on whether that was a living creature or not, but it had been huge.

This thing wasn’t an order of magnitude bigger than them like the giant god had been. But there was something in the shape of its eyes that made him feel a special, deep kind of emotion. They weren’t pretty, or beautiful. It was different from that. If he were to sum it up in one word...

Terrifying. That was probably what they were, but that was certainly not all they were.

Its whole body was covered with reddish scales, or perhaps black scales with a red luster. On that point, it was similar to a reptile. In fact, it might have been fair to call it a giant lizard, but it really was different. It seemed to walk on four legs, but its front legs also seemed like they could grab things. It had hands that looked surprisingly dexterous. Its neck was pretty long, and its head was rather small. Small though it might have been, it was probably still large enough to swallow a person whole. It was a matter of relative size.

It wasn’t fat. It didn’t look slow-witted, and it seemed to move quickly for its large size. If it ran as fast as those powerful rear legs would take it, it was probably really fast. It lifted its long tail, stretching it out.

That’s a dragon.

Most likely, even if they hadn’t known that dragons existed, anyone would have been able to tell at first sight that this creature held a special position. If that person had then been told this was a dragon, they would accept it immediately. Even though they didn’t know what dragons were, they would no doubt think, Oh, I see, so that’s what a dragon is. Dragons had to be engraved in everyone’s instincts.

It was little wonder the orcs of Waluandin worshiped it. It was easy to understand why they wanted to offer it sacrifices, too.

Haruhiro trembled, of course. This fear wasn’t something he could feel normally. However, at the same time, there was something he couldn’t help but feel.

Dragons are awesome.

Honestly, it was cool. Creatures like this actually existed. In a way, it was perfect. Now it may not be clear what way that was, but it was awesome.

Dragon.

The fire dragon opened its maw, twisted its neck, and inhaled. Was it taking a deep breath? He didn’t know what was up, but Haruhiro watched it intently. It might have been more accurate to say he was entranced by it. There were little lights flickering in the back of the fire dragon’s throat.

What are those? he wondered. That was all he thought.

“Uwahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” When he heard Ranta’s scream, he began to suspect that maybe he was lacking the proper sense of crisis here. He looked and saw that his comrades were making a mad dash to get away. They were like herbivores fleeing to get away from a pack of wolves. Of course, Ranta and the others were no herbivores, and there were no wolves to be found on this mountain. There were only salamanders and the fire dragon. It looked like Ranta and the others were trying to get away from that fire dragon.

Well, yeah, of course they’re running.

Why was Haruhiro just standing there? If anything, that was the strange thing.

The fire dragon inhaled, and inhaled, and inhaled, then finally exhaled. No, it wasn’t just breathing out. Or was that just what the fire dragon’s breath was like?

Haruhiro rolled backwards. The hot mass that assaulted him left him unable to stand.

Fire. Flames. The fire dragon had spewed fire. He thought he might have burned, too. It was hot enough he wouldn’t have been surprised if he melted away completely. That’s what it felt like.

How much time had passed? A few seconds? A few minutes? More than that? He didn’t know.

Haruhiro lay on his side like a dried-out caterpillar. He was literally dried out. Steam was rising from all over his body. He was crispy and crunchy. His eyes, his nose, and his mouth were all dry. His skin looked ready to crack at any moment. He was scared to even blink. But if he didn’t blink and work out some tears somehow, something seriously bad was going to happen to his eyes. The same went for his mouth and nose, too. His body needed to use all of its remaining water to moisten them, or he was in serious trouble.

He didn’t seem to be on fire. That flame breath hadn’t burned him. Well, that was probably because he hadn’t taken a direct hit. Haruhiro just got hit by the aftereffects of it. Even that had been enough to leave him like this. If he’d taken it head-on, he would surely have been reduced to ash in an instant.

That meant the fire dragon hadn’t been aiming for Haruhiro with its fire breath. Then where had it aimed? What was its target?

He could hear the tremors, the fire dragon’s footsteps. He felt it. The fire dragon was on the move.

“Ranta and... the others... Merry... Yume... Shihoru... Kuzaku...” he managed.

His comrades were trying to run away. From the fire dragon, probably. Maybe from its fire breath. Was the fire dragon aiming for them? Not for Haruhiro, but his comrades? Had it spat fire at his comrades? That was why Haruhiro had been spared? Because his comrades? What was happening?

“I have... to look for them...”

That was right. What had happened wasn’t the issue. First, he had to find them.

Haruhiro used a rocky outcropping on the mountainside to pull himself to his feet. His right heel hurt so badly, he thought it might crumble. The pain was actually what saved him. He was glad for it. He wished he could faint from the pain. No such luck. He had to search.

When he went in the direction his comrades had fled, he saw the fire dragon’s back. The area where its flames burst had caved in, and there was a quagmire of molten rock at the bottom of the hole. It gave him a plain display of the flames’ power. They’d have done more than turn him to ash. If he’d taken a direct hit, there might not have been anything left of him.

That being the case, maybe he wouldn’t be able to find his comrades.

Don’t think that, he told himself. Don’t think stupid things. You can’t think. Move. Make yourself move. Get your body moving. It all starts with that.

He couldn’t convince himself that he wanted to follow right behind the fire dragon. That was much too dangerous. Haruhiro decided to take the long way around. The fire dragon might be looking for something. Maybe his comrades had gotten away. The fire dragon might still be chasing his comrades. If he circled around in front of it, he might be able to meet up with them.

That was right. There was hope. It wasn’t hopeless.

While always keeping the fire dragon in sight, making sure not to get too close to it, or too far from it, he worked out his course. The terrain was his enemy. It was too rough, and too bumpy, after all. Lava peeked out from the places that were sunken and had looked like they might be paths he could use. There were always salamanders in the lava.

When he lost sight of the fire dragon, he fell into a sudden panic. In his feverish haste, he got burns here and there.

I should jump into the lava and end it all. He often caught himself thinking things like that.

When he caught a glimpse of the fire dragon in the distance, it gave him courage. The fire dragon was there. That relieved him, and he couldn’t help but laugh.

“...They’re alive, right? All of them,” he mumbled to himself.

Don’t doubt it. If you doubt it, you’ve lost. Lost? Lost to what?

To myself, probably.

To the weakness of my own heart.

He didn’t think he was strong, but had he been this frail all along? He didn’t know how much he’d thought he’d grown, but what the hell was with this sad state of affairs? It was beyond awful.

Did I think I’d grown? Did I think I could do it? Did I grow? Did I expect anything from myself? How stupid. In the end, I’m just a small fry. I’m a have-not. I mean, I have no talent. I worked hard because there was nothing else I could do. I feel like I’d done what I could have. Was it not enough? Maybe it isn’t a matter of enough or not enough. It was hopeless either way. No matter how hard I worked, gave it my best, no matter what I did, there were always going to be limits.

What, did I think I would actually be able to do something? Maybe? That’s hilarious. Look at reality. I knew it from the very beginning. I can’t be anyone but me. I can’t be anything more than myself. I’m just myself. I’m endlessly weak, and frail, and I haven’t changed who I am. In the end, it can’t be changed. There’s no way for me to change.

I’m small and miserable, pathetically clinging to something, and while I may still be alive for now, it won’t last long.

This is me.

I’ve had enough, it’s time to end it.

Look, the fire dragon is so far away. Get ahead of it? Like I could. It hurts. Not just my right heel. I hurt all over. I don’t want to walk. I can’t move.

I’ll just stay here.

Sit down, and stay put.

In fact, Haruhiro did sit down and hold his knees for quite a long time.

“Man, I’m mediocre...” he mumbled.

What a laugh. Honestly. If I’ve given up on myself, why don’t I just give up entirely? Can’t I do that? No, of course not. I’m not that graceful. It makes me think that this is just how things are. I’m so mediocre, it makes me hate myself.

I wanted to be someone special. That’s the truth, you know? I hoped I could be. Like, geniuses, I admire them. Soma and Kemuri, or Akira-san and Miho, or even Tokimune and his team, and then there’s Renji. They’re incredible. It makes me think, “If only I could have been like that.” I just try to think about it. Because it’s impossible. What can I do about the gap between us? There’s nothing. Nothing I can do. There’s nothing that can be done about it. I know that and all, but I’m just going to die without ever, even once, becoming someone special. What is there to think about a life like that? It feels lonely, and sad. Well, I’m fine with it, though.

No matter what sort of life you have, it’s the one and only one you’ll get, so it’s special and irreplaceable, right?

There’s no need to compare myself to others. When you’re comparing yourself to others, there’s only one standard. In the end, it’s how you feel about yourself, right?

I can see where this is going, you know, even though I can’t. It feels like it’s all about to end, so, at the very least, I should give my own blessings to this insignificant life of mine.

“...Like you could, idiot,” he muttered.

I wanted to lead a life I could proudly boast about to anyone. I wanted to be someone I could be proud of. I grew timid, thinking I couldn’t do things, and that’s why I ended up like this, but then I used that as an excuse, and acted like I was doing my best, and I tried to be satisfied with that, but in the end, you know what, this is pathetic. I haven’t done everything I could have, and it feels half-assed, and that’s no good at all, but the curtain’s probably going to fall with me still feeling dissatisfied about it.

It wasn’t like he thought, I’ll give it my all, and tried to look forward. It was just too painful to stay the way he was. He simply couldn’t sit still, and he stood up because he had no choice. That was the truth.

He couldn’t say that he’d honed his senses at the time, but he felt a stabbing presence. Without turning, he did a forward roll. Something fell down right behind him.

To avoid using his right heel, he used his left leg as an axis to turn around, drawing his stiletto as he did. His enemy had a long machete-like weapon that he’d swung down at Haruhiro.

It wasn’t that Haruhiro thought he’d get taken out if he tried to dodge, or anything like that. His body reacted on its own. Haruhiro plunged himself head first into his enemy’s lower body.

When he tried to stab the enemy with his stiletto, his enemy jumped back and evaded it. Haruhiro charged in, not stopping to ponder questions like who the enemy was or why this was happening. At some point, he found himself holding not just his stiletto, but his knife with the hilt guard was in his left hand, too.

His right heel hurt. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t feel the pain, but he didn’t let it bother him. He attacked.

The attack.

He was on the attack.

The enemy’s blade was about 1.2 meters long, meaning it had far more reach than Haruhiro’s weapons, and the enemy was larger than he was too, so he wasn’t going to be able to fend him off with Swat for long. Haruhiro didn’t analyze the situation and come to that conclusion; he knew it instinctively. He had to close the gap and attack.

The only thing the enemy did was run around. He had a weapon, but he was half naked. From the look of him, he seemed to be an orc. He was slender compared to the orcs of Waluandin. But he probably wasn’t just thin. His body was reminiscent of a bowstring pulled to its limits. His skin lacked greenness and was not smooth. It was raised in some places, twisted in others.

Maybe those were burn scars. It wasn’t just part of him. It was his whole body. Those eyes. Could he see with them? Both of his eyeballs were muddy and white.

Whether he could see or not, even when he backed away, he never went near the lava. His movements were elegant. Like some sort of master martial artist. It was true, Haruhiro was pressing the attack and the orc was on the defensive. However, that didn’t mean he had him on the ropes. He had leeway to work with. Plenty of it, probably.

Haruhiro might be being forced to attack. If he didn’t attack, he’d be attacked himself. If he was attacked, it was highly likely that he wouldn’t be able to defend himself. If not for the wound on his right heel, he might have taken the risk and tried to flee, but there was no chance of it working when he couldn’t even run properly. He wished he could talk his way out of it, but that wasn’t possible, either. Even if he didn’t feel he could win, he had to do it.

There was only one result. It was kill or be killed.

It was no time to calculate odds, but even without him considering it, countless thoughts raced through his head at high speed.

His enemy’s footwork was unique. He was standing on his tiptoes. They seemed to be sinking into the ground.

His body was awfully flexible. He controlled his machete with just his right hand. His left hand wasn’t even on it.

That machete. It didn’t look like it was metal. Stone? It looked like it had been carved out of stone. That long machete made of stone might have been handmade.

Did he live here? How did he eat and drink? Was this a livable environment? He’d be attacking soon.

See, here it comes.

The orc twisted his body and pulled it diagonally. The long stone machete thrust forward.

Haruhiro didn’t fall back. He couldn’t avoid it. He put all his strength into a Swat with his knife with the hilt guard. He couldn’t handle a combo, but if it was just one strike...

It was heavy.

The orc’s strength was immense—but Haruhiro pulled it off. He deflected it and immediately went in to attack, but the orc slipped back and away from him, scrunching up his face.

Was that a smile? Fine. Smile away. Haruhiro wouldn’t smile. He’d attack.

He got in close, striking out with his stiletto. He was always taking aim with his knife. He knew. He didn’t need to think about it, he knew. The orc was enjoying this. He might have been crazy even by orc standards. He was enjoying the fight, and trying to savor it.

The orc probably intended to force Haruhiro to give everything he had, and then once he was satisfied with what he’d seen, he’d kill him. That being the case, Haruhiro had just one small chance for victory.

Besides, he was already giving his all. He couldn’t move any faster, or swing his stiletto any harder. This was his limit, so just keeping it up was tiring, and he’d only degrade from here. He couldn’t turn this into a drawn-out battle. The more time that passed, the fewer chances he would have to attack. The orc probably knew that, too. If they fought, and fought, and fought until they were through, then luck, the situation, and a variety of other diverse factors would gradually drop off until, in the end, the strongest was guaranteed to win.

And, in this case, that wasn’t Haruhiro. It was the orc.

That was why, before it came to that ultimate stage, Haruhiro had to throw everything he had into one desperate gambit. Of course, the orc knew that, too. He was trying to egg him into it.

Bring it on, he seemed to say.

Come on, bring it, he was saying.

That line was nowhere to be seen. Haruhiro saw an invisible, narrow bridge laid out in front of him, and he had no choice but to cross it. What was more, this guy was on the other side of the bridge. He knew Haruhiro was coming, and the orc was eagerly awaiting his chance to demolish him. His odds of pulling it off might not be zero, but they were close to it. Even so, Haruhiro would cross the bridge.

Because he had no choice? Because he had to?

No.

That’s not it.

It’s because I want to live. I don’t want to die. I can’t let myself die. I’ll kill him, and live. Live. Live. Live for all I’m worth. I’ll beat him. I’m gonna win this. Now, cross the bridge.

Assault.

He had thought he was giving his all before, but maybe he was wrong. Haruhiro surprised himself. He hadn’t known he could move this fast.

Thanks to that, in a turn of good fortune, it looked like he was able to overshoot the orc’s expectations for him, too. Haruhiro easily got in too close for him to reach. From there, all he had to do was stab like crazy with his stiletto, and slash away with his knife.

The orc quickly brought his knee up in an attempt to defend himself. Haruhiro stabbed the hell out of it, slashed it up, and pushed in.

The orc reached out with his left hand. He tried to hug Haruhiro and seal his attacks.

Haruhiro didn’t worry about it, instead poking his stiletto through the orc’s belly and gouging him. His knife slammed in to the orc’s right armpit. He was in a position to push the orc down.

The orc wrapped both of his legs around Haruhiro and squeezed him, grabbing Haruhiro’s hair with his left hand. Then he slammed the hilt of his long stone machete into Haruhiro’s head.

Even so, Haruhiro continued twisting his stiletto around inside the orc’s guts. Moving his knife around vigorously, he tried to cut the orc’s right arm off at the shoulder. He bit the orc’s neck. He tore into his skin, meat, and blood vessels. The blood overflowed. It wasn’t just warm, it was hot.

Haruhiro bit into that open wound even more. The orc screamed. Haruhiro didn’t let out so much as a grunt.

Destroy, destroy, I’ll destroy you, destroy you, destroy you until you can’t move. Live, live, I’ll live, I’m gonna live. Win, I’ll win and live, I’ll survive. It’s kill or be killed, live or die, I’m not the one who’s gonna die, it’s you.

Oh, wait, maybe I can stop now...?

No, not yet. He needed to do more. Haruhiro didn’t stop until the blood coming out of the orc went cool. When he was completely, absolutely certain that the orc was dead, all the strength drained from his body, and he burst into tears. He felt like he was blubbering pretty badly.

He’d won. Haruhiro had won.

His opponent had been strong. In terms of pure strength, probably stronger than Haruhiro. Far stronger, maybe.

Why had Haruhiro been able to win?

He didn’t think his opponent had been arrogant. The orc had never let his guard down. However, if his enemy’s strength had been a ten, he’d probably assumed Haruhiro’s was a five, or maybe a four. That was about how Haruhiro had felt, too. But at the last moment, he’d been able to add just a little extra to that five. That was all that had decided the battle. Indeed, Haruhiro had truly been gambling. It had gone just as planned. In that sense, it had been a perfect victory. The weak had overcome the strong, all by himself, with only his own strength, his own ability, and seized this victory.

Haruhiro looked down at the remains of the defeated. He wanted to learn what he could about his foe.

The orc was maybe two meters and twenty centimeters tall. There was no way to weigh him, but he had to be easily over a hundred kilograms. He could be two, maybe even three hundred kilos. That was huge. He’d looked slender, but he was still massive.

There were burn marks covering his entire body. The scars went down all the way to the tips of his toes. This had to be deliberate. He must have burned himself. There was some intricate design carved into his exposed fangs. A dragon, apparently.

Haruhiro went through all the orc’s possessions. He had a belt around his waist, and there were pockets for items and a sheath on it. He had something that looked like a golden ring, four blackish scale-like objects, and a small knife. Haruhiro opted to take it all.

The orc’s eyes were open, so he closed them, and put his hands together because that seemed like the right thing to do. It was a strange thing to think, and he realized that himself, but Haruhiro felt this orc had shared his life with him, and it was thanks to him that Haruhiro was alive now. That was how he felt.

Still, Haruhiro was bruised all over, and he was in such bad shape that it would be harder to find a part of him that didn’t ache right now. The life that the orc had given him might burn out eventually. Even so, he was living on somehow. Since he was alive, there were things he ought to do, or rather there were things he really wanted to do, and things that he had no choice but to do.

He wanted to see his comrades.

He didn’t think for a second, I’m sure they’re all fine, or, I’m sure we’ll meet again, and he had no high hopes of it happening, but he wanted it to. So he decided to search. Until his life ran out, he would keep on looking.

Leaving the orc behind, Haruhiro walked off. When he turned back after going a short distance, salamanders were swarming over the orc’s corpse. Without a hint of irony or sarcasm, Haruhiro thought it was the second most fitting end that he could have received. The most fitting probably would have been for him to challenge the fire dragon and be incinerated by its fire breath or to be devoured. He hadn’t been able to have that.

Haruhiro had no leads. Not even a direction to go in.

Whenever he occasionally saw the fire dragon off in the distance, he found it strangely encouraging, and he would naturally break into a smile.

When the pain and exhaustion made it too hard for him to walk, he accepted it and sat down to rest. He lay down sometimes, too. If he couldn’t get up again, that would be that. He could just accept it. However, that wasn’t likely to happen. If he lost consciousness, obviously there would be no helping that. However, until his time came, he was sure his wish would not fade.

I want to see my comrades.

After all I’ve been through, I’m not going to think that’s pathetic.

Really, I don’t want to be left all by myself. It’s lonely.

There were a number of times when he not so much fell asleep as passed out. When he came to his senses, he was happy.

He was still alive. He could search again.

You know, like this, it feels like I’ve gone everywhere. When was the last time I thought about that?

I was riding a bicycle—Bicycle...?

I dunno what that is, but I thought I could go anywhere on it.

I felt like I could go everywhere. What was it that got me out there? Oh, right. One of those things that you see all the time. The rainbow. It was after the rain. I saw a rainbow. Where did the rainbow start, and where did it end? I thought I’d go and see. I swore I’d find it.

I gave up along the way that time. Now, I wouldn’t give up. I’d go all the way I could, and even if the rainbow vanished, I could just wait for it to appear again.

When I close my eyes, ah... I can see it clearly.

The rainbow.

The bow of seven colors beyond the sky.

I’ll head towards the rainbow. I’ll head for the rainbow, and never stop going.

He sensed a tremor and opened his eyes to find the fire dragon relatively close by. It was close enough that he could look up at it. He went to shake its hand, then stopped.

He decided to stay put. It felt like he might get stomped. If it happened, it happened, and there was nothing he could do about it.

He closed his eyes, and watched the rainbow.

At some point, the fire dragon left.

He was alive. Still alive. But his body really did feel heavy. Heavy, or rather sluggish.

I guess I can rest. Yeah. I’ll take a rest.

He’d found a good place. There was a depression. For some reason, it was a little cool. A little? No, it was really cool. It was a wonder to him how the ground could be cool. It was hot everywhere here.

He slowly came to the realization that he was crawling. It was really hard walking, after all. It wasn’t easy crawling, either, but it was better than walking.

How far did this depression go? It seemed to go on for quite a ways. But maybe here was good, he thought. Here was good.

Suddenly, he was engulfed by total darkness.

On the verge of it, he had a vague memory of thinking, Maybe I’m done for. And yet, his eyes snapped open.

It looked like he was alive. Stubborn, huh.

To live was to not die, after all.

He couldn’t move so much as a finger. He was having a hard enough time just breathing. He went on in that state for a long time, and he had no real hope of recovering, but suddenly, it occurred to him that he could get up, and you never know until you try, so he did, and he could.

If this kept up, dying might take him a while. Did he have to keep living until then? Well, in that case, live on he would.

Even so, when he sat with his back against the rock wall like this, all the muscles in his body relaxed themselves as if some vital core had slipped free from it.

I can’t see the rainbow.

It sure is dark, huh. This place is dark.

Wait, where is this place...?

A depression.

A cool depression?

He turned to face it.

That’s—a hole, isn’t it?

“...Seriously?” he whispered.

It was dark and his vision was hazy, so he couldn’t see very well, but it was probably a hole. In the bottom of the depression, there was a hole that was about two meters across. It wasn’t vertical; it was on a diagonal slant. He couldn’t imagine it was just any old cave. Not with this coolness.

It was abnormal. This was a mountaintop covered with lava, after all. Haruhiro was right in front of the hole.

It had to be the tunnel.

That hole led through to Grimgar.

“This... can’t be happening...” he whispered.

He could go back.

To Grimgar.

“This is... the rainbow’s...”

A moan escaped from the deep in his throat.

—How?

How is this the beginning of the rainbow? It’s the end of the rainbow. There is no rainbow. There never was. It’s an illusion.

It was always going to be impossible. I mean, at this point, I really can’t move anymore. Besides, what am I going to do if I make it back alone? That’s no good. I need my comrades with me.

Even if I search on my own, and I happen across the destination we were looking for, it’s meaningless, isn’t it?

Is this the conclusion that’s been waiting for me?

Is this how it ends?

How worthless.

But, and this is just a probably, if even a little of my strength were to return, and I was able to move forward, I’m sure I’d search for them. My comrades. Then, at the end of it all, I’d die alone. Even if it’s pointless, painful, and unpleasant, I’ll live for something until I die. I’ll keep living on.

I still don’t know if I’ll be able to wake up again or not. I can’t bring myself to think that I hope I wake up, but if I do, I’m sure I’ll keep struggling on in vain.

For now, I’ll sleep.

I wish I had someone to sing me a lullaby.

I don’t like being alone.

Someone, be with me.

Someone.

...Please.

All I need is for you to be here.

“Awaken.”

A dream. It must have been a dream.

That voice. He’d heard it before.

It was a man’s voice. Who was that? But he didn’t hear it just now. That was why he must have been dreaming.

His eyes were shut tight with eye mucus or something. He struggled to get them open. What did he think about that? I’m still alive, maybe? It was a wonder that he was. But was he truly alive? This wasn’t the world after death, was it? It was hard not to be a little doubtful.

He heard something. If it wasn’t an auditory illusion, those were footsteps. He was still a thief, even if he wasn’t much of one, so he could tell that much.

The footsteps were approaching. Multiple sources. It was probably five people.

“Ah...”

He heard a voice. He couldn’t help but force himself to raise his head and turn his eyes towards the direction the voice came from.

I’m alive.

“Haru...!” Merry came running. She hugged him, and touched his face all over.

Merry. She sure is beautiful, huh. I’m realizing that all over again. Yeah. I dunno. What can I say? I have no words.

Haruhiro tried to smile. He wasn’t sure if he managed it. He wasn’t confident.

“Haru-kun, Haru-kun!” Yume cried.

“Haruhiro-kun...!” It was Shihoru.

“Haruhiro!” Merry shouted.

“No way, damn it! Seriously, you piece of shit...”

Don’t call me a piece of shit, man, Haruhiro thought. Whatever, it’s fine.

Well, no, it isn’t fine.

Not really.

“I’ll heal you right away! Haru! Can you hear me?! Hang in there! It’s going to be okay! Everyone’s here!”

Haruhiro nodded, then closed his eyes.

He could see the rainbow.

Afterword

I’m not great with action games. The reason for that is that I can’t handle doing the same thing over and over.

While I’m playing, I start to see, Oh, this is what I should be doing here. I can play through once or twice like that, but I have trouble doing any more. I start feeling mischievous, and do something differently.

No, you may be thinking, that’s just a lack of practice, and I could do it right if I just kept playing again and again. That might be true, but the truth is, I’m not great at folding my laundry either, and for some reason I can never fold it all the same way. Unless I really focus on getting them all folded the same and pour all of my attention into it... Huh, that’s weird, I have ten similar-looking T-shirts all folded in completely different ways. That’s what happens.

With T-shirts, if they’re not all folded the same way, it’s inconvenient when I go to put them in my dresser. It’s the same for socks and underwear. My dresser is always a chaotic mess as a result.

Now, I think this is a matter of personality, or the way my brain is structured. My brain was just made that way for some reason. I like action RPGs, but I’m terrible at them. It’s sad.

Now, there’s still a bit of time between November 24th when I’m writing this afterword and when the anime Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash begins broadcasting, but it’s just around the corner. The other day, I was able to sit in on a dubbing session. It’s shaping up to be a wonderful anime, and I’m looking forward to it. It’s been an educational experience, too.

The manga version of Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash that Ms. Mutsumi Okubashi has been serializing in Gangan Joker also follows the same fundamental outline as the novel, but the details and flavor are slightly different, making it stimulating for me.

I have to work harder as a novelist. Grimgar is just getting started, after all.

Haruhiro and the others can never move forward more than a step at a time, if that. The way things are going, I’m not entirely confident where they will be able to go, and whether they’ll be able to arrive wherever that is, but if they keep on moving forward, the road will surely go on.

I will say, I do have some idea in my head of where I want things to end up. It’s all up to them, though, so it’s possible they may arrive somewhere else entirely, but if that happens, it happens. For the people who haven’t had the chance to show up much yet, I plan for them to make appearances little by little, so look forward to that.

I’ve run out of pages.

To my editor, K, to Eiri Shirai, to the designers of KOMEWORKS among others, to everyone involved in production and sales of this book, and finally to all of you people now holding this book, I offer my heartfelt appreciation and all of my love. Now, I lay down my pen for today.

I hope we will meet again.

Ao Jyumonji

Bonus Short Stories

The Making of a Mage

I’m called Shihoru. Shihoru is a name. Uh... my name. You might know that without me having to say so, but... just in case.

I’m a mage, even if I’m not much of one. As a mage, I can use magic. I learned in the mages’ guild. At the guild, the mages who’ve become instructors teach us all sorts of things. About elementals. I’m not kidding, it’s true, but... In our first class, elemental, elemental, elemental, they made us repeat the word eight hundred times. They immersed us in elementals, you could say.

When you’ve been immersed in elementals, you start to see elementals that are invisible to the eye.

Huh...? I’m just imagining them? Could be... you start to think. In fact, elementals can’t normally be seen... but you learn to sense them. The elementals, that is. When that happens, that’s how we mages become mages.

The Principles of a Paladin

Oh, hey there. Huh? My name? It’s Kuzaku. I’m a paladin.

If you want to ask why I became a paladin, I dunno what to tell you, but, well, maybe it’s ’cause I thought they seemed cool. Oh, also, I’m tall, and a dude, so I figured I should stand up front, y’know. Wouldn’t want anyone thinking I was scared. I was kinda scared at first, though.

Well, anyway, paladins have a number of rules. One of them is, Thou shalt not sully the name of Lumiaris, and that means I can’t just run away on my own. Basically, it’s saying, Don’t be a coward.

I dunno if I can follow that, but I think it’d be nice if I could. I mean, I couldn’t before, and I regret it. I don’t want to go through that again. But I’d like to avoid dying, too. It’s tough on everyone when a comrade dies. I want to survive, and to protect them. That’s the sort of paladin I want to be.

A Lesson With Sensei

When she ordered him to “Die,” Old Cat blinked his sleepy-looking eyes and said, “...Come again?” like an idiot.

When she watched this dull-witted youth looking confused, there was a little throbbing in her heart. She tried again, in as cold a tone as she could manage. “Become a corpse.”

“...Uh, even if you ask me to, I can’t... you know?”

“Oh, yes, you can, Old Cat. If you insist otherwise, I’ll be happy to make you into a corpse personally. It’ll only take a second.”

“...O-Okay.” The youth reluctantly got down on his belly. It was pretty bad. Sure, he had relaxed his entire body, but there was a strong sense that he was just lying there, and he didn’t seem like a corpse at all. Besides, why face down? His face was pressed right against the floor. It was blatantly strange.

She nearly burst out laughing, but she somehow managed to hold it in. “Are you stupid? How are you supposed to be a corpse?”

The youth didn’t respond. He seemed to be staying in character as a corpse. Oh, wow, this was hilarious. No, hold it in. Hold it in. She was his advisor, after all.

“Corpses are like this!” She sat on his back, adjusting the way his arms, legs, and neck were twisted. She deliberately did it in a way that caused intense pain, and the youth twitched each time, but he didn’t let out a groan. Very good, very good. But still hilarious. She couldn’t help but let out a chuckle. “That’s what a corpse is like! Did you understand, Old Cat?”

The youth was still playing dead. That started a fire in her mischievous little heart. She slapped the youth in the back of the head. “I’m asking if you understood!”

The youth nodded. In her mind she let out a huge laugh, then smacked the youth in the head again. “Dummy! What kind of corpse responds to questions?! They don’t! If you find one, I’d want to see it! You’re a corpse! Get it?! Do you get it?!”

The youth seemed torn on whether to respond or not. He was still playing the role of a dead body, but his indecision was readily apparent. Even though he wasn’t moving a muscle. Hilarious. But she wanted to reward his hard work. She stood up and—No, actually, she sat right back down. She stuck her hands in both the youth’s armpits and started tickling him. “You’re a corpse? A corpse, right? Isn’t that right, corpse?”

The youth was accepting her tickle attack. He was making a desperate attempt to resist. Too desperate. It was seriously hilarious. Making a desperate attempt to go limp might have seemed like a contradiction in terms, but it was possible. The youth was doing it. When he did stuff like this, well, it wasn’t enough to make her say he had potential, but he wasn’t completely lacking in it.

Eventually, the youth got used to her tickling. Now that he’d gotten this far, the youth probably wasn’t feeling anything. That was boring for her. Time to take it up to the next level. She leaned over him and whispered softly in his ear, “What’s it like to be dead? Tell me, would you...?”

The youth gave no response, as if he really was dead. The little devil. These sorts of moves had been the most effective way to get to him originally. Well, how about this, then? “Hey, how about it? What’s it feel like being dead?” she whispered, then nibbled lightly on his earlobe. “Hey...?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, Barbara-sensei, not there!”

“You idiot!” She throttled him with glee. “You’re supposed to be dead!”

“Gwahhhhhhhhhh! Y-Y-Y-You’re killing me! I’m dying, seriously!”

“Corpses are already dead, so you can’t die!”

“Aughhhhh, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’ll die properly...”

“You’re so cute!”

“Huh?! D-Did you just say something?!”

“I didn’t say anything, and even if I did, corpses can’t hear!”

“O-Oh... th-that’s... right... urgh...” The youth passed out.

She patted his unconscious head, planted a kiss on his forehead, then stood up. Now then, how best to wake him up?

She licked her lips. “Honestly, you’re so cute, my inept little apprentice.”

Recollections of a Certain Nameless Volunteer Soldier

I was but a lowly volunteer soldier. I had no name... Well, I did have one, but I hardly ever used it myself. That was because I preferred to work alone. When I worked alone, I had no need for a name to distinguish myself from others, or to serve as an identifier. Even so, I obviously couldn’t live without interacting with other people to some degree, so I was occasionally asked for a name. When that happened, I had one answer I always gave.

“Well, Anonymous,” the woman said, using my pseudonym in a mocking tone, “Do tell, how are you planning to pay us back for this?”

“Ngh...” I would have loved to give her my response, but it was difficult in my current state. “Mmph, mmph, mmph!”

I did have a gag in my mouth, after all. Incidentally, my arms were also tied behind my back, my legs were bound at the ankles, and I was on my belly. What was more, this was on the street in Alterna. It was at night, though, so there was nobody passing by.

The woman looking down at me was illuminated by the moonlight. The woman was sitting on a masked man’s back with her legs crossed. She was using him like a chair. Lala and Nono. It was a bizarre scene that gave a glimpse into their warped relationship, but this was normal for them.

“Nngh, mmmmph!” Anyway, could you at least remove this gag? I desperately tried to ask them. “Mmph, nghngh...!”

“I can’t hear you. I can’t hear the voice of a man who sold us half-baked information, no, not at all. Not only did we waste our time thanks to you, we ended up in danger, too. Yet you didn’t even try to offer a sincere apology. What’s the matter with you?”

“Ngh...!” But how was I supposed to apologize like this?

In my defense, yes, I had sold a certain piece of information to Lala and Nono. It had been about a caravan led by Ainrand Lesley of the undead. Lesley had a massive fortune, and it was suspected that they would be carrying it. If somebody could steal even a fraction of it, they would be able to make a small fortune.

I had been pursuing this opportunity for many years, and just the other day, I had found a lead. Several of them, in fact. I had acquired three different pieces of information from three different sources.

I had passed one of the three on to Lala and Nono. I had, of course, kept quiet about it being a one-in-three chance.

There were three leads on the location of the Lesley Camp, the place where the caravan was stationed. I figured only one of my leads could be right. However, I couldn’t follow up on all three of them myself. That was why I sold one to Lala and Nono, and one to another party.

Naturally, I’d planned to head out and investigate the one that seemed the most likely by myself, and in fact had done so. The result was that I’d been attacked by some orcs that may or may not have been working for Lesley, and I’d almost died.

“Nnngh, nnngh...” It was the same for me, I wanted to say.

The information had all been fake. It was bait laid out for anyone searching for the Lesley Camp. This was a common occurrence, I might add. It was something anyone searching for the Lesley Camp experienced once or twice. If they were going to get mad over something small like this, they’d never be able to find the Lesley Camp. Furthermore, it was immature of them to get mad so easily. It was their own fault for being deceived. They’d been asking for it, you could say.

“Anonymous, when I look you in the eye, I can tell you’re not going to give us an honest apology,” said the woman. “You weren’t that respectable to begin with.”

“Mmph!” Please, give me a chance. At least let me speak. I’m sure if we talk, you’ll understand. Yeah, I mean, I was tricked, too. I’m one of the victims here. We can come to an understanding. We’re the same.

“It’s time to teach you a lesson, Anonymous.” Lala rose from her personal chair, Nono. “We’ll have to give you a punishment befitting your misdeeds. I won’t be satisfied otherwise.”

Nono stood up, too. He approached me without a word.

No. Stop. Please. I won’t ask you to forgive me, you don’t have to, but stop it, please.

You can’t do that.

Oh, no... This is wrong! Stop!

I passed out, and when I awoke due to the bright light, I was surrounded by a crowd of people. I figured I was somewhere near the Yorozu Deposit Company in the northern district. The crowd were gawking at me, whispering amongst themselves, and laughing.

I was still bound and gagged, and now, to add insult to injury, my clothes had been stripped off, too.

In other words, I was buck naked.

If there was one saving grace in this situation, it was that I was lying face down. It was little comfort, but at least it was a little better than being on my back.