Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers, Vol. 3

by Ishio Yamagata

  Goldof didn’t tell anyone that he had hidden Nashetania from them or that he had spoken with her. In a way, he’d already betrayed the group. As they made their way through the Howling Vilelands, he wondered nonstop. What was this objective of Nashetania’s?

  If what she wanted was to see everyone in the land smile, then she could just rule as a good queen. She would have been able to do that. Was her ambition to have the whole world under her control? If so, that should have been within her reach, too. With the power of the nation of Piena, Goldof, and herself in battle, along with Nashetania’s fame, it would have been doable. Why did she need to betray humanity, join forces with a fiend, and fight the Braves of the Six Flowers?

  And who was Dozzu? Fremy had said that Dozzu was the traitor to fiends, that it fought against Tgurneu and Cargikk. When and why had Nashetania met the traitor fiend?

  And who was Nashetania herself? Was the woman he’d loved nothing more than a fabrication? No matter how much he pored over these questions, he found no answers.

  Goldof continued to agonize. What should he do now? Nashetania was bound to come after the Braves of the Six Flowers again. Would he fight her then, too? Would he be able to? He couldn’t. She was everything to him. He couldn’t exist without her.

  Then would he fight the other Braves to protect Nashetania? No, he couldn’t do that, either. What would happen to the world if all the Braves of the Six Flowers fell? There was no way that Nashetania could actually create a world in which humanity and fiendkind lived together. Goldof couldn’t even consider destroying his race with his own hands.

  He was suffering. Who was Goldof? Was he a knight who defended Nashetania, or a Brave who safeguarded the world? If he were forced to choose between the two, then which should he pick? He had to protect the world—but the world he wanted to fight for was one that had Nashetania in it. Without her, it was worthless to him. Nashetania had told him to do what he thought was right, but Goldof didn’t know what that meant anymore.

  As Goldof brooded over this, the others were moving on with their discussion. It sounded like they still couldn’t find a way to cross Cargikk’s Canyon.

  “Anyway, standing around talking won’t get us anywhere,” Adlet was saying. “We’ll split into three groups to look for a way across. Find us something we can work with, no matter how trivial. Hans and Mora, you go north. Me, Rolonia, and Goldof will go south. Chamo and Fremy, you stay here and guard our backs.”

  “This is shaping up to be a more troublesome obstacle than I expected,” said Mora.

  Goldof couldn’t tell the others about his troubles. They wouldn’t understand, anyway—no one besides him could.

  Tormenting himself over this was exhausting. The mental back-and-forth had whittled away at him. He’d never been a bastion of emotional fortitude.

  Right now he wanted only one thing: to see Nashetania one more time. He longed to see her and talk with her. That was the only answer he’d gleaned from this directionless agonizing. But now Goldof couldn’t even make that tiny little wish come true.

  “Let’s go, Goldof,” said Adlet. Apparently, the three of them were going to look for a means to cross the ravine.

  Gazing out over the ravine, Goldof wondered, Will she be there, on the other side of that gorge? Will I get the chance to see her safely one more time?

  Not long before, the traitor herself had been in the volcanic zone to the southeast, sitting on a boulder and watching the distant sky. Dozzu was on her lap, and Nashetania was holding him, her arm loose around its neck. There were more than fifty fiends around her—a lizard-fiend with rock skin, a long and lithe monkey-fiend, a silver-pelted wolf-fiend. They silently awaited her orders.

  “I wonder what Goldof is thinking right now,” Dozzu muttered softly, for Nashetania’s ears only.

  “Oh, I’m sure he’s worrying over things—whether to join us or stick with the Six Braves. And most of all right now, he wants to see me. That’s probably all.”

  “I’m sure you’re right.”

  “This is Goldof we’re talking about. Of course I know what he’s thinking,” she said with a smile.

  “You’ve grown up to be so cruel. I actually feel sorry for the boy, being used like this.”

  “What are you talking about? This is precisely what he’s always craved, I’m sure—for me to use him.” Nashetania fiddled with Dozzu’s ear, grinning wickedly. “And besides, you’re the one who made me this way, aren’t you?”

  “Quite right. You’ve grown to be so wonderfully ruthless.” On her lap, Dozzu smiled, too.

  “It won’t be long until our preparations are complete. Let’s trust in Goldof. I’m positive he’ll do a fine job for us.”

  Searing-hot steam hissed up from the bottom of the ravine. Goldof leaned forward, feeling the scalding vapor on his cheeks as he peered down. No matter how carefully he examined the area, he couldn’t find anywhere that looked viable. In a similar fashion, Adlet and Rolonia were surveying the area. When Goldof happened to glance up at the sky, he caught sight of a moth-fiend flying southeast.

  “…Hey, Addy,” called Rolonia.

  “Did you find something?”

  Adlet and Rolonia were discussing something. They seemed to be concerned about the moth-fiend, but Goldof wasn’t bothered. He vacantly returned his gaze to the depths of the chasm.

  Then it happened. Suddenly, without warning, it began.

  The ring of a bell reached his ears. He lifted his head and looked around. There was nothing nearby that would make that sound. Adlet and Rolonia didn’t seem to have heard anything. Deep in conversation, they were focused on the sky. No one else could hear the ringing.

  That was when Goldof realized it was coming from the Helm of Allegiance. This was the first time it had activated since he’d first received it two years ago. This would happen only when the wearer’s master had been captured. Someone had taken Nashetania.

  The noise inside the helmet was piercing, like someone flailing a bell around in a panic. Goldof recalled what Nashetania had told him—it rang like this when the wearer’s master was in grave danger.

  “Your Highness? Your Highness? What happened?” His hands jumped to his helmet, and he called out to her.

  “…dof…if you’re still…my…” He could hear Nashetania’s voice coming from the helmet. It sounded broken, like she was struggling to breathe.

  The moment Goldof heard her voice, a jolt of dread shot through him. It felt like something was coiling around his heart and squeezing. “Your Highness? Who’s captured you? Where are you?” he called out to her quietly. He’d completely forgotten that she was his enemy.

  “Tgurneu’s captured me…south of the Cut-Finger Forest…the lava zone…in a fiend’s stoma—”

  Then came a noise like something collapsing under pressure, and after that, pained rasping and a retching sound. Instantly, he realized that her throat had been crushed.

  Goldof’s rational mind was telling him, You don’t have to go save her. She’s the Braves’ enemy; she’s a traitor; she’s abandoned you; she’s sided against the human race. But his emotions descended upon him with a vengeance, urging him to rescue her. Someone was killing her. He’d lived to protect her. Abandoning her would mean the death of his soul.

  His heart was wreathed in black flames. It felt just like when he’d charged into that noble’s mansion alone, six years ago, to save Nashetania. When this fire was burning, reason, fear, presence of mind—everything turned to ash, and Goldof could think of nothing but battle. He stood and began marching south. He had to.

  “What’s wrong, Goldof?” Rolonia called as he set out.

  But he didn’t stop. Starting slow and gradually accelerating, he headed southeast.

  “Hey, don’t just run off. We’re not doing anything over that way right now.” Adlet grabbed his shoulder.

  Don’t get in my way, thought Goldof. Everyone who hindered him should drown into a sea of blood. He grabbed Adlet’s wrist reflexively and h
urled him to the ground.

  “Addy!” Rolonia cried out. But Goldof couldn’t hear her anymore.

  “What the hell are you doing, Goldof?” Adlet stood in his path.

  Don’t get in my way. That one thought occupied his whole mind. “…Her Highness…is in danger…” His fists nearly knocked Adlet down of their own accord. He held himself back with what little reason he had left.

  “What happened?” asked Adlet. “Did something happen to the princess? Did something happen to Nashetania?”

  Goldof wasn’t thinking about the Braves of the Six Flowers, the Evil God, or even about himself. The only thing that occupied his mind was saving the princess.

  “Wait, Goldof. Explain to me! What’s going on with Nashetania?”

  “Her Highness is in danger…I’m going…to save her…”

  “What are you thinking? Nashetania is the enemy!”

  The moment Adlet said that, Goldof reached a conclusion. So he’s my enemy, then. Instantly, his sense of reasoning vanished. He drove his fist into Adlet’s stomach, and the winded boy dropped to his knees. Rolonia screamed and ran up to them.

  “Adlet…Rolonia…I’m…going…to save…her.”

  “W-why now, all of a sudden?!” Rolonia implored.

  Goldof explained himself plainly. “Listen…up. Just…listen. Don’t…get in my way. I’m going to…save…her.” He had no misgivings in his decision to go save Nashetania alone. Adlet and the others were her enemies. If he stayed with them, they’d be sure to try to stop him. Just leave me alone, he thought. They have their fight, and I have mine. “I’m…going…alone. Don’t…follow me.” He turned from the two of them and began striding away.

  “Wait, please, Goldof!” Rolonia called after him. “What happened?!”

  “The situation…has changed. If you get in my way…I can’t let you live.”

  “C-can’t let us…live?” Her face stiffened in fear.

  Goldof was serious. The flames raging in his heart were now beyond anyone’s control. In his current state, he would probably kill anyone who hurt Nashetania. But he didn’t want to fight his allies, and so he wished for them to let him be. He left Adlet and Rolonia and their confusion behind him, breaking into a run. That was when he realized he was crying. “…Your Highness…I’m going…to save you now…”

  Some vestige of discretion remained in his head. His reason was whispering to him, This could be a trap. Nashetania could be trying to trick him and kill him, or maybe she wanted to use him to eliminate the others. But even knowing that, Goldof had to do this.

  I’m sorry, he silently apologized as his feet thudded against the earth.

  Goldof maintained his rapid pace out of the valley and into the plains. Three fiends appeared from beyond a hill to rush toward him. Immediately, he knew what to do with his spear to kill them all. He attacked, handling his weapon as his instincts commanded. Mere seconds later, the fiends had all been impaled, spewing blood from their mouths as they fell.

  His senses felt sharper. His eyes and ears were keener than any moment in memory, and he understood everything around himself so clearly. In that moment, he was probably stronger than he’d ever been.

  Suddenly, he remembered what Nashetania had said. In a fiend’s stomach, she’d told him. Goldof dissected each fiend’s belly in a single incision with the point of his spear. No one was inside. He ran off again.

  “Can you speak, Your Highness? Where are you? What kind of enemies are around you?” Goldof put a hand to his helmet and called out to Nashetania. He could just faintly hear suffocated rasping, but no words. Her throat must have been destroyed, after all. She wouldn’t be able to communicate through the Helm of Allegiance if she couldn’t talk. Nashetania had said that it was Tgurneu who had captured her. Dozzu had betrayed the fiends, so the Six Braves would not be the only ones after their lives.

  Thirty minutes later, Goldof was past the plains and heading into the forest. Every fiend in his way fell to his spear in less than ten seconds before he sliced its stomach open in search of Nashetania.

  When he reached the lava zone, Tgurneu would be there. Three days ago, the Braves had failed to take down the fiend commander, even four-on-one. But Goldof wasn’t afraid at all. When he was fighting for Nashetania, any traces of trepidation vanished from his mind. The Helm of Allegiance clamored incessantly in his head. Nashetania was still alive, and she was still in danger.

  As he raced on, he began having doubts—why had Tgurneu captured Nashetania? Now that it had her, what did it plan to do with her? But there was no point in considering those things now.

  Another creature appeared before Goldof, and the sight of it left him stunned. He understood immediately that it was a fiend—the horn on its forehead was proof. It was small enough to be cradled in his arms, with an odd form like something between a dog and a squirrel. But it also looked familiar to him. Aside from that horn, it was the spitting image of a pet of Nashetania’s. She had been particularly fond of that strange dog called Porta. “…It couldn’t be…” Goldof pointed his spear at the fiend. It was wounded with cuts, burns, and bruises all over its body.

  “It’s been a long time since I’ve last had the pleasure of seeing you, Goldof.” The fiend folded its hind legs and sat to bow politely to him.

  “It can’t be. You’re…”

  “Yes, indeed.” Anticipating what Goldof was about to say, the fiend continued. “I am Dozzu, one of the three commanders of the fiends, and Nashetania’s comrade. For a time I was also her pet.” Goldof recalled that this fiend had been with Nashetania even before he had met her. She had told him that she’d happened to see him in the forest, and she’d adopted him because of his funny appearance.

  “So you…lured her…to your side?” Goldof said.

  “No.” Dozzu shook its head. “Nashetania endorses my ideas. She became my ally, and she fights together with me for the sake of our ambitions. I did not in the least lure her.”

  It’s the same thing, thought Goldof. If this fiend had never showed up, then she’d… He clenched his spear. He aimed the spear at its heart, ready to end its life in one stab.

  “Goldof, though it shames me, I must ask something of you. Please, save my partner Nashetania.”

  “?!” Goldof’s spear stopped.

  “Tgurneu has captured her. She should still be alive, but she could be killed at any moment. I cannot hope to face Tgurneu’s entire force alone. Please, Goldof.” Dozzu groveled, pressing its cute face to the ground.

  Goldof watched the fiend, lowering his spearpoint. Then he approached Dozzu. “Later…we’ll talk,” he said, snatching Dozzu by the scruff of the neck. Lifting the tiny creature, he ran off with the fiend dangling from his grip.

  “Wh-what are you—” Dozzu was bewildered.

  But Goldof paid him no heed. Nashetania had said that Dozzu was her one and only comrade, that she would not betray it, and neither would it betray her. It would be hard to rescue Nashetania by himself. He’d need an ally. “I will…save…her. You don’t…have to…tell me.”

  “Goldof…are you serious?”

  “If I weren’t…I wouldn’t have come alone.”

  Dozzu’s eyes widened. “You came here by yourself? Unbelievable. I worried over how I should request this of you. I didn’t imagine you would simply come yourself.”

  “Where…is she?” Goldof asked.

  “We were in the lava region when she was captured. It’s around an hour’s run from here. I believe she’ll be around there.”

  That meant Goldof had been heading in the right direction. He glared at the suspended fiend and said, “You’re going to…talk. About what was…going on with you two.”

  “Yes, I understand. Fortunately, it seems we have enough time for a chat,” Dozzu agreed, and the fiend quietly divulged its story. “I have an objective: to end the conflict between humankind and fiendkind. To build a world where both can live together. Two hundred years ago, with this ambition in my heart, I left the Howl
ing Vilelands and ensconced myself in the human realms.”

  “It…just sounds like…a fantasy to me.”

  “Anyone would think so, the first time they heard it. But I’m certain it’s an achievable goal, and so is Nashetania.”

  “…Her, too…huh…”

  “I cannot tell you as of yet how we will realize this goal. This is a strict secret from those who aren’t our comrades. Please understand.”

  “…Keep talking.”

  Dozzu continued. “I needed allies in order to realize my goal. There were very few fiends that would fight with me, and I was the only one with real combat abilities. I had to make a human my comrade—and not just any human, but a gifted warrior who would be chosen as a Brave of the Six Flowers. In order to find such a partner, I established a secret society and nurtured its growth slowly over the course of two hundred years.”

  What had the fiend done to create that society, and by what means had it cultivated it? Dozzu didn’t say. There were other questions that Goldof would rather ask, anyway.

  “My society’s influence extended almost to the core of the Kingdom of Piena. Nashetania’s late mother, Latortania, and her elder brother, Chrizetoma, who passed away young, were my allies. They brought Nashetania to me, and she became our accomplice as well.”

  “…”

  “I had comrades among nobles, merchants, neighboring nations, and even your Black Horns knights.”

  Goldof recalled the King of Piena, Nalphtoma, who was currently semi-confined. Six years ago, his claims about a world-destroying cult running rampant through the land had sparked a civil war. So that had been no delusion at all.

  “I’d believed Nalphtoma to be a simple fool, but his instincts were sharper than I’d expected. That civil war he caused six years ago was a disaster for us.”

  This was enough to make Goldof shudder. The homeland to which he had sworn loyalty was already long under the control of a fiend. “…Why are you…fighting us? If world peace is your goal…then you should just do that.”