Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash: Volume 2

by Ao Jyumonji

  “I’ve got Zodiac-kun picking on me, too...” he muttered.

  “Die... Die, die.... Go to Lord Skullhell’s embrace... Be embraced...”

  “Don’t say scary stuff like that!”

  “Wimpy... Wimpy, wimpy... Wimpy, wooly caterpillar... Ehehehehehe... Caterpillar, caterpillar, caterpillar, caterpillar, caterpillar...”

  “...In the end, I’m a caterpillar, huh?”

  Ranta wasn’t alone. He had Zodiac-kun with him, and for some reason this pigworm was taking to him, as well. Still, he was isolated and without support.

  “This guy stinks, too...” he muttered.

  It was indescribable... well, no, it was pretty describable, if he was blunt. The pigworm smelled of urine and feces. The environment in the pigworm pen was the worst, but if he left it, the elders on patrol might find him. Even up against an elder, he could probably still manage it one-on-one.

  I could win. With how strong I am. Still, I’m a little tired. I don’t want to push myself. If I use my true power, an elder or two’ll be easy, but I kind of want to rest for a bit. Even the bold and resolute dread knight needs his rest.

  Once I’ve rested good and proper, I’ll move into action.

  “I’ve gotta get out on my own,” he muttered.

  Moguzo. Yume. Shihoru. Merry.

  And Haruhiro.

  One after another, their faces drifted across his mind.

  —This is no good.

  They’re not reliable.

  Or rather, I can’t rely on them.

  Ranta laughed derisively. “...Yeah, I know, you guys all hate my guts.”

  Why? I don’t remember things that happened a long time ago, so I don’t know the reason.

  Anyhow, Ranta couldn’t pretend to be good. Acting nice to people, being considerate, just the thought of it made him want to puke. If he didn’t think something, there was nothing that could make him say it. Even when he did think something, there was a huge pile of things he still couldn’t say.

  “If I act like this, they’re gonna get pissed.” It’s not like I never think that. Sometimes I do. It’s not that I don’t. But, even so, I can’t keep myself in check. Isn’t it kind of wrong doing that? I mean, I’m me. Do I want to lie and pretend I’m a good person so that others will like me? Yeah, no. I’m not doing that.

  I don’t want to strain myself to be liked. If they don’t like me, it’s no skin off my back. If they want to hate me, let ’em.

  Those who get it, get it. That’s what I think. There’ve gotta be people out there who get it. Get what? My value? Something like that. There’re probably people who can judge me fairly, and will recognize me for it, too. So, it’s fine. If people don’t get it, they don’t have to.

  I say that, but comrades are comrades.

  Ranta was a member of the party. He had been contributing to the party in his own way, and he planned to keep on doing so.

  They’ll understand soon enough, he had thought. They would realize how lucky they were that Ranta-sama was with them. Once everyone recognized how important Ranta was, their attitudes would change.

  Ranta was well aware they hadn’t gotten that far yet, though.

  It was too soon. I went and did that without thinking.

  —Leave this to me, you guys go on ahead...!

  “Well, yeah...” Of course he had.

  If they’d seen the opportunity, any man would have. He’d have to. Any man who didn’t wouldn’t be a man.

  Even if it were a woman, yeah, a woman might do it, too. If Ranta were a woman, he’d probably do it.

  So, he had no regrets. Ranta had done what he’d had to do. There’d been no other choice.

  Still, I do wish the chance could have come along later.

  Once his comrades had been forced to realize his greatness and he’d become an indispensable member of the party, if the chance had come for him to do it, the impact would’ve been intense.

  Stupid Haruhiro would have cried like a baby. Moguzo would have wailed. As for the girls, they would’ve fallen for Ranta, for sure. Then, they’d have been all like, “We can’t abandon our Ranta-sama! Let’s go look for him, everyone! Yeah!” That’s absolutely what would have happened.

  It was too soon. The time came too soon.

  “I guess it just means the times can’t keep up with me, huh,” Ranta muttered.

  Maybe not, Ranta mumbled, then let out a deep sigh. I probably can’t count on my comrades. Nobody’ll be coming to help me. Gonna have to get out of this one on my own.

  “Die... Ehehehehehe... Die, caterpillar... Die... Ehehehehehe... Caterpillar, caterpillar, caterpillar...”

  Zodiac-kun’s abuse hit him hard.

  However, his master in the dread knights’ guild had told him something. That a demon is like a mirror held up to its summoner. A demon is the reflection of its dread knight.

  What, this jerk is? was what Ranta had wanted to think, but his master, Kidney Aguro, was super scary. His master wasn’t here right now, but the man was so terrifying that he was still convinced he’d be killed if he doubted him.

  “In other words, I’ve still got the power left to heap abuse on someone.” Ranta smirked.

  I’m good. I’ve got this, he thought. Just you watch, Haruhiro. I’ll get out of this by myself if I have to. You better be shocked later. That, and bow down to me while you’re at it.

  12. When It’s Important

  When the party had made it up to the third level and finally thought they could relax a little, an elder foreman and two followers discovered them, immediately leading to a melee.

  “Urkh! Oh! Uwah...!”

  Haruhiro deflected Follower A’s sword with his dagger, deflected it, and kept deflecting it.

  His Swat skill was only good for buying time. If he got into a serious fight, this was how it went. Now he had to focus on his opponent’s weapon and movement, which made it very hard to check the situation around him.

  What’s going on? Is everyone okay? I’m worried. But I don’t have time for worrying. Time. Buy time. Even a little of it. By doing this. Taking on one of the enemies.

  Moguzo can handle a foreman one-on-one now. Yume’s never timid. She should be confidently trading blows with Follower B right now. Then we have Shihoru. Merry, too.

  If Haruhiro could just stop Follower A, they ought to be able to manage this.

  Though, that was only if he could stop it.

  “Woof...!”

  Follower A suddenly turned its back on him. When his eyes stopped on its swishing tail, Haruhiro thought, Oh, no.

  Follower A spun back around, making a big swing at him with its sword. He probably couldn’t deflect it, but his body acted reflexively. He had been using Swat too much, and had developed a habit of using it whenever he was attacked.

  “Whoa...!”

  It went about as well as he’d expected. Haruhiro’s dagger was pushed back by Follower A’s sword, and when Haruhiro lost his balance, Follower A pressed the attack.

  “Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof...!”

  “Ah! Ah! Woah! Urkh...!” Haruhiro shouted.

  He didn’t have time to use Swat. Haruhiro dodged Follower A’s sword, not using the minimum amount of movement possible; he couldn’t show off like that. He twisted his body as hard as he could, throwing himself out of the way.

  He wouldn’t last like this. He knew that himself. He wanted to keep his cool, but he just couldn’t. He always ended up panicking despite himself.

  “—Ack...!” he shouted.

  It cut me. On my left arm. Just a bit above the elbow.

  It’s shallow. I’m fine, he told himself quickly. Wait, no, it’s bleeding. Pretty badly, too. It hurts. What the hell? Oh, come on, please. Who’m I saying “please” to? I don’t really know. If I had to guess, Follower A? I’m saying “don’t pick on me like this,” maybe? Of course, even if I asked it to, it’s not going to listen.

  “Woof...!” Follower A turned its back to him again.

  It’s
the same trick as before. I just have to dodge when it comes, thought Haruhiro. It’s so obvious. When I know what it’s doing, that technique isn’t scary at all.

  Haruhiro did exactly that. He dodged.

  Jump back. Good, Follower A’s attack won’t reach me here—

  Or it shouldn’t have, but Follower A suddenly did a somersault and leapt at him, which astonished Haruhiro.

  “Wha—”

  That wasn’t its sword. It kicked me. Right in the chest.

  Haruhiro was sent flying and landed flat on his butt.

  Follower A came after him, trying to get in an attack while he was down.

  Oh, crap. He’s gonna get me.

  “Blame...!”

  A light.

  It’s Merry’s magic.

  The blinding light struck Follower A. Follower A reeled backwards, staggering.

  While Haruhiro was getting back to his feet, Merry closed in on Follower A.

  “Smash...!”

  With a big swing of her priest’s staff, she landed a punishing blow on the side of Follower A’s face.

  It was a combo chaining Blame with Smash.

  Magnificent, Haruhiro thought, awed. —Wait, now’s not the time to be impressed...!

  Follower A was unsteady on its feet. Haruhiro slipped around behind Follower A, grappling it and jamming his dagger in under its jaw.

  Spider.

  Immediately backing away, for an instant, his eyes met Merry’s. “Nice save!” he said, looking around the area.

  Moguzo’s got the upper hand with the foreman. Yume’s struggling against Follower B. Looks like she’s been hurt. Better lend her a hand.

  After that, Shihoru used the Shadow Bond spell to stall the foreman, Moguzo took it out with a completely one-sided onslaught, and after that they just had to gang up on Follower B and finish it. Haruhiro and the others quickly collected just the talismans from the kobold corpses and had Merry heal their wounds, able to breathe the sigh of relief they had been denied until now.

  “Even without Ranta, we managed to work things out, huh,” Yume said, smiling little. However, it was a smile tinged with exhaustion. Besides, like Haruhiro, Yume had been wounded in the last battle, too. It might have been more accurate to say that it wasn’t so much that they’d managed to work things out as that somehow things had managed to work out.

  “...Still, that was a close call... I think,” Shihoru said, hanging her head. “I really think that Yume and Haruhiro-kun aren’t meant to be on the front line... Ah, I don’t mean to put either of you down by that...”

  “I know,” Haruhiro smiled to Shihoru. It was a forced smile, though. “It’s just like you’re saying. Yume and I aren’t the type that can take on an enemy and just do our best. Well... Especially me. I dunno how to put it, but, you know—When things go bad, the enemy ends up making me run around, and even when they go well, I end up making the enemy run around while I try to hang in there. When that happens, I’m sure it must be a little hard for Merry and Shihoru. The battlefield turns into a mess. I think it gets hard to keep a handle on the situation, you know.”

  “Ranta moves around a lot, too, though,” Merry said.

  She might have been trying to cover for him, but Haruhiro had to shake his head. “Yeah, sure. But in Ranta’s case, he’s trying to lure enemies in to fight him one-on-one. If I try to get involved, he gets pissed. He’s a moron, but if we leave him to it, he always keeps one of them busy. I think that’s a big deal. Also, he...”

  I don’t want to acknowledge it. It’s just not fair. It’s the truth, though, so I will.

  Haruhiro sighed. “—He’s definitely getting stronger. Faster than anyone else. I dunno if it’s because of the way he uses his skills like crazy, but he’s able to fire them off one after another really fast. He’s become a real asset in battle. There’s no doubt about it.”

  Maybe more of one than useless me. He came close to saying that, but Haruhiro managed to stop himself. No need to be self-deprecating. No good can come from it.

  “W-We should go save...” Moguzo started to say, but stopped short.

  “Now, listen.” Yume looked at Haruhiro with upturned eyes. One of her cheeks was puffed up. “Listen, about Yume, you probably all know this already, but she hates Ranta. When Ranta calls her boobs tiny, Yume, she feels really hurt. Even when she asks him to stop, Ranta won’t stop. When a person’s actin’ like that, it’s hard to like them, even if someone asks you to.”

  “Yeah,” Haruhiro nodded, telling her to go on.

  “So, you know...” Yume looked down, puffing up both of her cheeks this time. “So, Yume still hates Ranta, but just havin’ him gone, we’re already havin’ a pretty hard time of it. But for Ranta, it’s Haru-kun, Moguzo, Shihoru and Merry-chan and Yume, that’s five people. Just think how hard it would be for any of us if the other five went missin’ all at once...”

  “Yume...” Shihoru put an arm around Yume’s shoulder.

  “When Yume thinks about it...” Yume was tearing up. “If it were Yume, and she were in a place like this, and five people, eeeeeveryone, just went missin’, she’d feel real lonely, wouldn’t she? Yume’s sure she wouldn’t be able to take a single step after that. When she wonders what Ranta’s doin’...”

  “First of all...” Haruhiro began to say, then closed his mouth tight, breathing through his nose.

  Having to think about things seriously like this is pretty rough, I think. Even if it feels like it’s driving me crazy, I need to come to a calm decision somehow.

  Can I do that? Is that something I’m capable of? Honestly, I won’t know until I try. Even once I do try, I still may not know. Whether I really am calm or not. How am I to judge? Who do I ask? Hey, do I seem calm now? Am I supposed to just ask like that?

  Yeah, I can’t do that.

  Everyone focused their attention on Haruhiro, waiting for his next words.

  They were relying on Haruhiro.

  I’ll just have to do it.

  “I can’t say for sure whether Ranta is safe or not. However, I want to act on the assumption that he is. If we don’t do that, whatever actions we take will lose all meaning. So, Ranta’s still alive. If he’s alive, I want to save him.”

  Considering the situation, Haruhiro couldn’t push the job off onto anyone else. He couldn’t throw his hands up and run away from the whole thing, either.

  “First, we go down to the fourth level,” he said. “If we can make it, we’ll go down as far as the fifth. However, we don’t take any risks. Ranta stayed down there so we could get away. Setting aside whether he should have or not, if we get ourselves wiped out for his sake, the risk he took will have been all in vain.”

  I’m terrible, thought Haruhiro. I can’t say this out loud, but if this had been any one of our comrades other than Ranta, I might have struggled longer before I found an answer.

  Ranta.

  It’s probably because it’s you that I’m able to stay somewhat calm.

  “Definitely don’t do anything reckless,” he added. “We’ll prioritize our own safety, and if it gets bad, we turn back. For now, we’ll go outside. We’ll think about what we’ll do after that once we get there. Any objections?”

  He didn’t think for a moment that anyone would raise their hand.

  Indeed, nobody did.

  Haruhiro had made the decision, and everyone else had just agreed with it. Haruhiro worried that the incredible weight of responsibility, of uncertainty, or of terror, would paralyze him.

  But that wasn’t how it was. Actually, if anything, he felt relieved. The decision had already been made. Now, he’d have no choice but to get serious about doing it. He might even be in the right mindset already.

  “Okay, let’s go,” he said. “Ranta’s waiting for us.”

  13. Duo

  I can’t just stay in this pigworm pen forever. These guys are getting too friendly, and it’s kind of gross.

  “Still, I’ll miss you,” Ranta said his farewell to the pigw
orm that was rubbing up to him. “...Yeah, no, I won’t miss you at all. Don’t you dare try to follow me. If you do, I’m frying you whole and then eating you, you got that?”

  His words fell on deaf ears, however, as the pigworm continued to oink and nuzzle up to him.

  “Stupid, clingy pigworm. This is goodbye!” Ranta shook off the pigworm as it chased him, and leapt over the fence. The only trusty follower he needed was his demon, Zodiac-kun.

  “Wimpy, wooly caterpillar... Ehehehehe... Caterpillar, caterpillar... Keehehehehehe... Caterpillar, caterpillar, caterpillar, caterpillar...”

  “...You shut up for a bit.”

  “No, you shut up... Keehehehehehehe... Forever...”

  “What, are you telling me to die?!”

  “Ehehehehehehehe...”

  “Get lost, Zodiac-kun...”

  No, instead of doing that, Zodiac-kun brought its gash-like mouth close to Ranta’s ear.

  “It’s here... Here... Ehehehehe... One of the ones trying to kill you...”

  “What?!” Panicked, Ranta looked around.

  There it was. An elder. The type that carried a metal whip and steel wire. Fortunately, it wasn’t looking his way, but it was coming closer.

  After hesitating a moment, Ranta jumped into a different pigworm pen from the one he’d been in before. If he dove in with the pigworms, the elder wouldn’t spot him at first glance.

  There were pigrat pens in the vicinity as well, but after having seen them greedily devour a kobold cadaver, Ranta decided he’d rather not go in there. I wouldn’t want to get eaten, after all.

  And so, after frolicking with the pigworms—No, no, not frolicking with them, they were just nuzzling up to him, all right?—One, no, two of them became attached to him this time, licking his face relentlessly. The pigworms’ tongues were rough, so it hurt. It hurt so bad that he was worried they’d draw blood.

  Oh, crap.

  “...Damn, I’m popular.”

  “Popular... Popular... Keehehehehe... Popular... Ehehehehe... Popular...”

  “Zodiac-kun, you...”

  One of these days, I’m gonna give you such a pounding, Ranta silently vowed to himself.