Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers, Vol. 3

by Ishio Yamagata

  It was clear that Tgurneu did not care to let them live. Dozzu knew that once Tgurneu was done with them, it would kill Nashetania. She had predicted everything beforehand. Dozzu and Nashetania had lured the Braves of the Six Flowers into their trap, and also just as Nashetania had anticipated, Goldof came to the lava zone to save her.

  The problem was what happened next. If Chamo died, Tgurneu would kill Nashetania. It would be about another hour and a half until then. Nashetania couldn’t escape on her own, and Dozzu couldn’t rescue her, either. The only way for her to survive was for Goldof to save her. What’s more, if Adlet discovered Nashetania first, he would be sure to dispose of her. Her chances of survival were incredibly low. Would Goldof be able to fulfill his role?

  Dozzu knew how Tgurneu kept Nashetania hidden, but it couldn’t tell Goldof. If it did, Tgurneu would immediately end her life.

  Tgurneu had cultivated a specialist with formidable abilities. Dozzu doubted the boy would be able to figure out its powers—though, granted, his chances weren’t zero. Still, Dozzu had no choice but to trust him. All it could do was pray that Goldof would save Nashetania.

  Would Tgurneu’s scheme succeed or would Nashetania’s? Everything depended on Goldof.

  The knight returned to the outer fringes of the gem’s area of effect. Hunkering down in the shadow of a rock hill, he quietly poked out his head to check on the situation.

  Clouds of dust billowed over the lava zone. From far away, he could hear the sound of explosions and see stone hills falling one after another. He didn’t know what was going on, so he ventured toward the explosions.

  Within the haze of debris, Rolonia and Fremy were examining the ground, hunting for something. They appeared to be searching underground. Goldof figured they had to be looking for Nashetania. They must not have realized that the one they had been chasing was a fake. To them, she’d suddenly disappeared. They thought she was underground.

  “Where…did it hide her?” Goldof muttered, concealing himself in the shadow of a rock hill. She was within a kilometer of Chamo’s location—Mora had told him as much with her mountain echo. Goldof was positive that was true. And Nashetania herself had told him she was inside a fiend’s stomach.

  Then where was it? The area had a radius of just one kilometer. There was no way it could stay hidden without using some special ability.

  So what was that ability? That was where Goldof’s train of thought ran into a brick wall. He couldn’t even guess as to what kind of powers it was using to hide her. He wasn’t educated about fiends like Adlet and Fremy were, and he didn’t even know where his target was, either. He was stuck.

  Don’t give up, he told himself. But self-encouragement would not compensate for his lack of knowledge. As Goldof listened to Fremy blast the earth, he kept pondering.

  “Hmm. Shallow thinking, Fremy.”

  Meanwhile, Tgurneu was flying far above. This time it occupied the body of what was now just a crow-fiend head. After the Braves had attacked it and driven it away, the commander had been observing the situation in the lava zone from the air. With the crow-fiend’s sight, it could discern quite clearly what Adlet and the others were up to.

  Fremy and Rolonia were blowing up the terrain to search underground. The very idea made Tgurneu laugh in derision. It would never hide Nashetania via such simplistic methods. Adlet was barking up the wrong tree, too. Tgurneu had tricked him into believing in a hieroform that didn’t exist.

  I’ve won this one. How long would it take for them to realize their mistake? By then it would be too late. “…Hmm.” Then Tgurneu found Goldof outside the gem’s area of effect. He was hunched low, searching for something. So he still hasn’t given up, it noted with surprise.

  Goldof’s presence was convenient indeed. The boy had lured the Braves into the trap, and his foolish behavior had confused the others, too, distracting them from what was really going on. Even now Goldof was trying to save Nashetania all by himself, withholding his valuable information from Adlet. There was no way in hell Goldof would manage to save her. The other Braves would soon kill him.

  Just in case, Tgurneu had instructed its pawns to finish him off, but that would probably not even be necessary. Reassured, it continued surveying the scene below, eagerly anticipating the look on Goldof’s face when all his hopes were dashed.

  Still hidden behind the rock hill, Goldof kept thinking. There was only one fiend power for hiding he knew about, and that was Nashetania’s stealth power. But Fremy had said that even that ability could only be used to hide a person for ten seconds at most. There was no way a fiend could hide for hours on end.

  Or maybe Fremy was the seventh, and some stealth-fiends actually could hide for long periods of time. But Goldof was forced to reject that possibility, too. Adlet had said it was impossible to maintain that hypnosis for hours on end. If Fremy was the seventh, that meant Adlet was a real Brave, so if both of them said something was true, Goldof had to believe it was.

  So then, what other way could there be?

  Maybe there was a fiend that could put Nashetania in its stomach and then shrink itself. If so, then it would make sense that Adlet and Fremy couldn’t find Nashetania no matter how much they searched for her. Or maybe some fiend could expand the blade gem’s area of effect, meaning she was even further away. Various ideas popped up in his mind, but without any clues to go on, he couldn’t sort any of his ideas out. He realized that he was just wasting his time with wild speculations. He had no evidence, and no clues to guide him.

  “…”

  Once more, Goldof looked over toward Fremy and Rolonia as they kept blasting every section of earth. Maybe they were right and Nashetania was hiding underground. A burrowing fiend—that was a simple sort of ability, and certainly plausible. Some of Chamo’s slave-fiends had similar skills. He could just keep waiting for Fremy and Rolonia to find Nashetania. The moment they did, he’d attack them and take her to safety. That was the only idea he could come up with.

  But would that be enough? Was the fiend that had swallowed Nashetania actually underground?

  “…”

  No. Goldof was sure that if it were, Tgurneu would have done something to stop Fremy. Since it would want to avoid Nashetania’s discovery, it would have been forced to act.

  So she wasn’t be buried anywhere. At the very least, they weren’t going to find her using Fremy’s methods. There was some other kind of power keeping her hidden, and he had to find out what it was.

  The wheels in his mind kept turning.

  In the lava zone was a fiend. Looking up at the sky, gazing at the sun, it wondered, How much longer now until Chamo Rosso is dead? No matter how long this dragged on, at this point Chamo couldn’t last longer than an hour and a half. If the fiend could stay hidden until then, its mission would be complete. It would have helped to kill Chamo, the strongest of the Braves of the Six Flowers. It was eagerly awaiting that glorious moment. The death of a Brave was a fiend’s greatest joy.

  The creature was a large lizard-fiend with stone skin. It stood stock-still, about eight hundred meters from Chamo’s location. It had been there for two hours with Nashetania inside its stomach. Its tongue was wrapped around her throat to keep her still, and Tgurneu had instructed it to immediately strangle her and crush her windpipe if she tried to say anything. Right now it seemed she was unconscious.

  The fiend had no name. If it had to give one, it might say “specialist number twenty-six.” It was one of the fiends with unique abilities that Tgurneu had cultivated. About a century ago, its superior officer had ordered it to refine its talent for concealment, and it had spent the past century remaking its own body. This had made it fragile and markedly decreased its capacity for combat, but its stealth abilities had been honed until they were peerless.

  About four hours earlier, the fiend had tucked Nashetania into its stomach. Then, when Nashetania had called out to Goldof for help, it had crushed her throat so she couldn’t talk anymore.

  About tw
o hours earlier, the Braves of the Six Flowers had arrived in the lava zone. As ordered by Tgurneu’s fake Nashetania, the lizard-fiend had fought with the Six Braves. Anticipating when Chamo would attack, it had then sent a signal to Nashetania, inside its stomach, to activate the blade gem. If she had refused to obey, the plan was to kill her immediately.

  After the girl complied, the lizard-fiend fled the Braves and came to its current hiding place. Checking that there were no enemies around, it had activated its ability to conceal itself. After that, it had remained in place the whole time.

  The Braves of the Six Flowers had passed right by its nose. The fiend had caught sight of Goldof, too. It had even stood beside him, only a few meters away. But not one of them had picked up on its presence. No one, be they human or fiend, would ever be able to find it unless they understood its powers.

  Half an hour ago, a messenger had come from Tgurneu with new instructions: to do whatever it took to prevent Goldof from saving Nashetania. And if it couldn’t, it was allowed to kill her.

  But the fiend wasn’t concerned about a thing. Nobody would be able to find it.

  Figuring he should go somewhere else—he had to look for clues—Goldof began creeping away so as not to be noticed by Fremy and Rolonia. But when he stood up, he sensed danger and flattened himself again. A bullet zipped right above his head.

  “He was there!” he heard Rolonia yell. Unawares, Goldof had been noticed. He stood up and sprinted away.

  This time was different from the last time he’d fought them. Their attacks were merciless attempts to kill him instantly. If he fought them now, he’d have no chance.

  Fremy was aiming for the gaps in his armor. If he ran in a straight line, he’d be shot. Goldof darted in a zigzag pattern, using the complex terrain to shield himself from the bullets.

  “We can catch him, Rolonia!”

  “Yeah!”

  He could hear the pair’s voices behind him. Rolonia’s footsteps were coming closer. His body aching, Goldof kept up the pace.

  Fremy launched a bomb at him. The blast struck him in the back, making him stagger. An instant later, Rolonia was in range, screeching. “FuckingdietraitorIwon’twon’twon’tletyoukillChamoshowmeyourguts!”

  His armor couldn’t block it all. He slapped aside Rolonia’s whip strikes with his spear. Her weapon was whirling in from all directions, and he was blocking on instinct alone. But he couldn’t afford to stop and exchange blows, either. Fremy was right behind her and getting closer. If she scored a hit with her bombs or bullets, it was over.

  Blocking the whip with his spear, Goldof charged straight at Rolonia, taking advantage of a split-second opening to kick her in the chest. His powerful leg struck out hard enough to knock her back ten meters, armor and all.

  “Rolonia!” Fremy fired a shot at his face. His helmet stopped the bullet from entering his forehead, but it flung him back violently, and for a moment he was close to blacking out.

  Goldof turned away from the two of them and sprinted off again. Rolonia’s whip was thirty meters long. He absolutely could not let her within range. Desperately, he dodged.

  “ReleaseChamoifyoudon’tI’llkillyouI’llkillyouI’llkillyouI’llkillyouGoldof!” He could hear her screaming.

  I only wish I could, thought Goldof. But Tgurneu had Nashetania captive and was forcing her to kill Chamo. If she refused, Tgurneu would simply murder her. As Goldof escaped, he thought, maybe it would be better to tell someone the truth, everything he had learned. There was no way he could find Nashetania all on his own. Tgurneu had said that if Goldof talked, the seventh would let it know. So maybe Goldof could tell someone trustworthy, in secret, so the seventh wouldn’t find out.

  “…Ngh.” Running, Goldof glanced back. He couldn’t tell the two behind him the truth. There was no guarantee either of them weren’t the seventh. The others who were most likely real Braves were Mora and Chamo. But Hans was with them, and Goldof couldn’t say for sure that he was trustworthy. Then what about Adlet? Goldof considered.

  “Hurry up, Rolonia!”

  “Rottenbrutejustwon’tgiveupI’llsuckoutyourbloodandspititout!”

  But that was a no-go, too. Goldof still couldn’t say for sure that Adlet was a real Brave. He just couldn’t be certain Adlet wasn’t the seventh. The others trusted him because Nashetania had nearly killed him. But Goldof knew that the other seventh wasn’t on the same side as Nashetania, so Adlet still could be the seventh.

  When it came down to it, he couldn’t tell anyone the truth. He was on his own, and there was no avoiding that.

  “Rolonia! Don’t chase him too far!” Fremy yelled after some minutes of running. Rolonia stopped, and Goldof escaped. “Adlet is all on his own! Tgurneu or Nashetania might go after him!”

  “Y-you’re right! Let’s head back now!”

  I’m saved, Goldof thought, leaning back on a boulder as he panted. He had to look for clues to save Nashetania, but he couldn’t even get near her.

  As he gazed up at the sky, his mind turned to Adlet. Back in the Phantasmal Barrier, he had been all on his own, too, and he’d solved all the mysteries and won. But Goldof couldn’t fight like him. Adlet had smarts, along with the mysterious ability to win people’s trust. Goldof had neither of those. Now that he was in the same situation Adlet had been in, he understood just how amazing the other boy was.

  I can’t compare to Adlet—but that doesn’t mean I can give up, he thought, but his mind just kept spinning around in circles.

  Meanwhile, Nashetania was inside the fiend’s stomach, waiting for salvation. The remains of her left arm hurt. It was so suffocating inside her prison, she couldn’t think straight. She felt on the verge of passing out. But she bit her lip and clung to consciousness.

  She had fused with multiple fiends in order to make their powers her own. Now she desperately tried to use those fiends’ powers to heal her crushed throat. She had to tell Goldof where she was. But with her throat in such a condition, she’d only be able to say a few words to him.

  “…Your Highness…are you safe? Where…are you?”

  Occasionally, she could hear him speak in her head. He was still searching, still trying to save her. Hope was not yet dead.

  What she knew was that she was inside a fiend’s stomach, and it was holding her somewhere within the gem’s radius. She knew it was staying perfectly still and not moving at all. That was it. Nashetania didn’t know how it was staying hidden.

  In the darkness, she heard sounds. Fiends’ footsteps as they thudded along in a pack. Adlet, Fremy, and the rest fighting the fiends. She heard bomb after bomb detonating all around her. From these noises, Nashetania could guess that she was aboveground, not underground, and that Braves had passed right by her multiple times. As for why none of them could find the fiend that had swallowed her—it was so baffling she could hardly take it.

  “…”

  Nashetania tried to keep every muscle still, pretending she was unconscious so as to make the fiend that had swallowed her lower its guard. She also listened intently for anything that could help her understand what was going on outside and where she was so that she could tell Goldof. She wondered what she could tell him that would be helpful. What would lead him to her?

  She remembered what Goldof had said to her six years before. He had told her his wish was to save her one more time. She had yet to grant that request.

  Hiding outside the circle, Goldof continued pondering. He contemplated everything that had happened since he’d first heard Nashetania’s cry for help—what she had said, what Dozzu had said, what Tgurneu had said, and what Adlet and Mora had said—wondering if maybe a clue lay somewhere in all of that.

  But nothing came to mind. Mora had only told him the situation with Chamo. Adlet hadn’t found any clues. Tgurneu had chosen its words carefully to ensure Goldof wouldn’t find Nashetania. And Dozzu was under surveillance, so it couldn’t tell him anything.

  One more time, Goldof reviewed everything from the beginning. O
ne by one he diligently scrutinized each thing he had seen and heard in all the fights so far. Nashetania had told him that she was south of the forest, inside a fiend’s stomach, in the lava zone. As asked, he’d come.

  That was when a question floated up in Goldof’s mind. One of the most fundamental elements of this situation didn’t make sense to him: Why the lava zone? If the goal was to lure out the Braves of the Six Flowers in order to activate Chamo’s blade gem, it shouldn’t matter if they were in the forest or anywhere else. But Tgurneu had clearly chosen the magma hotspot as their battlefield.

  There had to be a reason—a reason the scheme had to be set here.

  “!”

  Staring into empty space atop the hill, deep in thought, Goldof had been distracted by his questions and ignored his surroundings. Adlet was two hundred meters away, and Goldof was within his field of view. Panicking, the knight slowly lowered himself down and out of sight.

  “…”

  If Adlet had spotted him, he would have called for Fremy and Rolonia, and they’d have come to surround Goldof and kill him. Should he move out from this spot and defeat Adlet before he called for help? But he couldn’t manage that, either. Don’t notice me, Goldof prayed, waiting for the redhead to pass him.

  After some time, Goldof poked his head out. Adlet was moving farther away. Goldof immediately ducked down and left the vicinity.

  It appeared Adlet was searching for something, and his eyes were emitting a strange light. He didn’t seem to be wandering aimlessly. Had he found some kind of clue? What was he looking for? What had he noticed?

  “I don’t…have time,” Goldof muttered, and he continued his analysis.

  Inside the fiend’s stomach, Nashetania had her ears open. She could hear explosions going off nonstop all around her. That was probably Fremy. Nashetania couldn’t see anything, so she didn’t know what was happening outside.

  It wasn’t just Goldof who was looking for her—the others would be on the hunt, too. If Fremy found Nashetania first, she would kill her. Stifling her terror, Nashetania focused on the sounds outside.