by Ao Jyumonji
Ranta looked to Haruhiro and the others like a beaten dog. “...Should we get out of here?”
Haruhiro figured the look on his own face must have been at least as pathetic as Ranta’s. “...Yeah.”
2. Lost and Confused
They had left the office of the Red Moon Volunteer Soldier Corps, but where would they go now? There had been talk of gathering information, but Haruhiro and company knew absolutely nothing about this town called Alterna. None of them knew anyone here, so they had no connections to rely on, and Renji, Kikkawa, Manato, and even Kuzuoka and Moguzo didn’t seem to be around anymore, either. It looked like they had already taken off elsewhere.
No one knew what to do.
Haruhiro and Ranta, Yume, and Shihoru stood in front of the office a while, in a daze.
“...What should we do?” Shihoru was first to speak.
Why are you asking me? I ought to be asking you, Haruhiro wanted to say, but then he thought, She’s a girl. I can’t say it like that.
“What... should we do?” he tried asking her.
“What... should we do, indeed?” Shihoru answered, three seconds later.
“You people...” Ranta said, with an exaggerated sigh. “Can’t you come up with something a little better? Show a little more, I dunno, independence? Something like that. It’s really not the time to be saying, ‘What do we do?’ now is it?”
“Well, since you’re saying that, what do you suggest...?”
“I’m thinking about it, okay? About what to do next.”
Yume chuckled to herself. “That sounds ’bout the same to Yume.”
“Yeah, kinda,” Ranta said, rubbing the underside of his nose like a mischievous child. “You could say that.”
Honestly, this is pretty bad, Haruhiro couldn’t help but think. Kuzuoka called us the leftovers, and he may have been absolutely right. The indecisive four of us were left behind, and we aren’t trying to come together to do something, we’re just sort of here. Could this be the worst possible result...?
“Moguzo’s got it good...” said Ranta, giving voice to a thought Haruhiro couldn’t say he didn’t share. “Even if that Kuzuoka did seem scummy. He’s got experience, you know? If you get into a party with a guy who seems like he knows stuff, you can relax a bit. It could be pretty breezy from there. And why Moguzo, anyway? He shoulda chosen me. I’m clearly way more useful. Seriously... Seriously...”
“You sure?” Yume asked in a soft voice.
Haruhiro concurred. “I have a hard time seeing it.”
“You people...” Ranta said, pointing at Haruhiro and Yume. “You can only say that because you haven’t seen what I can do! Let me tell you, I’m real capable! From the time I was a baby suckling at my mother’s teat, I’ve been secretly famous as a man who would do great things!”
“If you were famous, it would hardly be a secret,” rebutted Haruhiro.
“Don’t sweat the details that much. You’ll just tire yourself out, y’know?”
“Having to deal with you has already left me a little tired...”
“You’ve got no stamina. Haruhiro, you’re so useless. You’re no good. No good at all.”
“I don’t want to hear this from the guy whose only redeeming quality is his curly hair.”
“Don’t call it curly!”
“Hey, I said it was a redeeming quality. Your curly hair is the only thing you’ve got going for you. Curly hair is all you’ve got.”
“R-Really? You think curly hair’s good? I’m not so convinced, you know...?”
“Yume’s hair is all straight, y’know,” Yume piped in. “When Yume sees another girl with her hair up in curls, she gets jealous. Yume thinks you’ve got it good, Ranta.”
“R-Really? My curly hair’s that great? For real?”
“Yeah. When your hair’s all curly like that, it makes it look like the inside of your head’s all fluffy, too. It’s kind of cute, y’know.”
“What? Cute? Nah, are you sure? As a guy, having a girl call me cute, well, it doesn’t feel bad, but— Hey, wait! The inside of my head’s all fluffy? Are you saying I look like an idiot?!”
They heard someone inhale sharply. When they looked, Shihoru’s shoulders were trembling, and she had her face in her hands.
Ranta’s eyes popped out. “Whaa...?!”
Yume looked at Shihoru and blinked a few times.
Haruhiro was, of course, surprised as well.
Sh-She’s crying...?
“Wh-What’s... wrong?” Haruhiro went to put a supporting hand on her back, but stopped himself. Touching her’s probably a bad idea. She is a girl, after all.
“It... It’s nothing...” Shihoru was obviously sobbing heavily. “Nothing... at all. I’m just... feeling a little worried...”
“Oh...” That made sense to Haruhiro, once he thought about it. In their situation, perhaps Haruhiro and the others who were bantering about trivial nonsense were the crazy ones. Shihoru might be the only normal one.
“There, there,” Yume said, rubbing Shihoru’s back to soothe her. “There, there. It’ll be fine. Even if Yume isn’t sure what exactly’ll be fine, y’know.”
Ranta grimaced. “You’re not sounding reassuring there...”
“Well, still...” Haruhiro said, scratching his neck. “We’ve got to do something, or we’re in trouble, don’t you think? Just standing here in silence is awkward. I dunno. Like, there’ve got to be other volunteer soldiers like that Kuzuoka guy. We could find one of them and ask questions... or something?”
“Okay, counting on you for that!” Ranta said, slapping Haruhiro on the shoulder. “Find one quick, and ask them questions or whatever! Yep, Haruhiro! You’re our man for this!”
“...It’s almost refreshing how eager you are to make someone else do all the work.”
“It’s like a breath of fresh air, isn’t it?”
“It really pisses me off.”
“I’ll come right out and say it: you getting pissed off won’t bother me in the least!”
“You’re the worst!”
“Oh, shove it. You suggested it, so you get to do it. That’s how these things work, pretty much. But okay, fine, let’s split up the workload. Haruhiro, you’re in charge of finding a volunteer soldier and getting some answers. Shihoru’s in charge of being depressed. Yume’s in charge of consoling her. As for me, we’ll say I’m in charge of waiting here for you to get back!”
“Ranta, man, are you really that eager to do nothing...?”
“If you’re gonna insist, I can do something, but if it’s not fun, I don’t wanna.”
“Don’t we have... bigger things to worry about than whether you have fun or not?”
“Nah, that’s the most important thing. I’m the kind of guy who wants to enjoy life. If I can’t enjoy it, it ain’t part of my life. What about you, Haruhiro? Are you the type that can’t enjoy life? I’ll bet you are, with those sleepy eyes of yours.”
“I was born with these eyes!” Haruhiro shot back at Ranta, then sighed deeply. “Fine, I’ve had enough. I’ll be right back. I’ll go find us a volunteer soldier.”
“Finally ready to do it, huh? Well, next time just do it to begin with. You’re such a pain,” said Ranta.
Maybe I should punch him, thought Haruhiro, but he decided against it. If I punch a guy like this, I’d just get my fist, and my soul, dirty. He’s not even worth hitting.
With an “I’ll be right back, so stay here,” to Shihoru and Yume, he walked away from the front of the office. Though he still honestly had no clue where to go.
The sun should be to the East, so that way’s North, that way’s South, and that way’s West.
To the north rose a tall building that looked like a tower or castle. I can probably use that as a landmark, so I guess I’ll look around a bit. He decided to go north based on that idea, but Haruhiro wasn’t here as a tourist. Is this going to be okay? I’m sure Renji’s group is doing fine. Manato’s probably getting by somehow, too. As for the overly exuberant Kikkaw
a, he’s probably chatting up every person he comes across. I hope Moguzo isn’t being tricked by Kuzuoka. If he’s not being lied to, he may well have had the best start here of all of us.
“...I’ll have to ask someone, I guess.”
Anyone will do. I’ll start with the couple over there— but what do I ask about? Volunteer soldiers? Right. I’ll have them tell me about volunteer soldiers. About where the volunteer soldiers are.
Having found his resolve, he started people-watching. He wasn’t concerned about age or gender. He just wanted someone who seemed friendly and approachable.
Most of the people who went by made eye contact with Haruhiro. They were all looking at him. Was he an unusual sight for them? He must be. The way he dressed was blatantly out of place.
None of them seem well-disposed towards me. They look at me like I don’t belong here, you could say. Am I just imagining it? Maybe I’m reading too much into it.
“...Still, maybe I’m setting my expectations too high. Or is it that I’m being too much of a chicken...?”
Courage, come to me, please, Haruhiro prayed silently as he walked through the unfamiliar town. After all, I figure once I get going, I can stop people with, “Excuse me?” I just hope I can get into that mindset quickly, since it looks like I didn’t arrive with it.
On the other side of a plaza completely free of any litter, that tall building rose into the sky. It looked like it was stonework. The buildings around it all had either one or two floors, three at most, so that made it stand out. But really, it would have stood out anyway, because it really was tall. It looked solid, with windows and gates that were decorated in fine detail. It made a very impressive sight.
Positioned around the plaza and in front of the gates, there were men who looked like guards, dressed in armor and helmets, armed with spears and shields. The place seemed to be under tight guard, so maybe someone important lived there. Like the mayor, maybe.
As he stood in the middle of the plaza staring up at the building, one of the guards came over, his metal armor and equipment clanking.
“What are you doing there? Have you some business at Tenboro Tower?” the guard demanded.
“Huh? Tenboro? Uh, no, not really...”
“Then begone. Do you wish to be arrested for disturbing His Excellency, the Margrave?”
“G-Get arrested...? I’d rather not. That’s for sure. Yeah. Sorry.” Haruhiro left the plaza as quickly as he could.
I don’t really get it, but His Excellency, the Margrave must be the name... no, the title... of whoever lives in that tower, Tenboro or whatever it was called.
It was the first piece of information he’d gotten. Though, considering how the place stood out, it was probably something every person in town knew.
“Alterna. Margrave. His Excellency. Tenboro Tower. Frontier... The Frontier Army. Volunteer Soldier Corps. Volunteer soldiers, huh...”
Mumbling the words he had learned to himself, he proceeded north and found a strangely lively area up ahead of him.
What could this be? Shops?
Both sides of the street were packed tightly with food carts and street stalls. It looked as if some were still setting up, but more than half seemed to be open for business. The stores had a wide variety of foods, clothing, sundries, and even more on display out front. Energetic voices from all directions called out to get the people passing by, shouting at them to try each shop.
“Something like a market, maybe...?” As if being lured, Haruhiro walked in.
The hustle and bustle was incredible. The goods had tags saying things like 1C, or 3C, or 12C, and though he could read them, he wasn’t sure what any of it meant.
“C’mere and buy something, Mister!” and “Come on in, Mister!” people called out to him, and he hated the cowardice which caused him to ignore or run away from them every time. Still, it didn’t take long for the wonderful scents to drift his way and get him excited.
“Meat...” He started to salivate.
There was meat. In one cart, they were cooking meat on skewers. The cart over there was cooking soup or something in a pot, and yet another cart had mountains of bread piled up. There was a shop selling some kind of sandwiches, as well. In the shop across the way, they had something like steamed buns on display.
The steam. The smoke. The scents. It was all irresistible.
Haruhiro clutched his belly. His stomach was crying out for attention. Why had he not noticed it before? He was really hungry.
“But... Shihoru and Yume are waiting. I don’t care about Ranta, but it feels wrong somehow to eat by myself... Still, they say you can’t fight on an empty stomach... In fact, I don’t think I can take another step without eating, or at least I don’t want to... Sorry, girls!” Unable to resist, Haruhiro dashed for the stall selling meat skewers.
With hurried fingers, he clumsily withdrew a single silver coin from his leather pouch. Could he buy one with this? Would it be enough? Well, if it wasn’t enough, he’d worry about it then.
“C-Can I buy one with this?!”
“What?!” The paunchy man cooking the skewers stared at him with wide eyes. “A-A silver coin? You don’t need that much! My skewers are four copper apiece. Look, it’s written right here. I don’t give discounts, but we never take more than the price, here at Dory’s Skewers!”
“Four copper...” Haruhiro looked at the silver coin. “...Wait, um... Does that mean I can’t buy one using this?”
“Listen, a silver coin is one silver, yeah? One silver is a hundred copper, so that’d be twenty-five skewers. You can’t eat that much, I’m sure, and since it’s before noon, I only have about fifty copper on hand. I can’t make change.”
“Ah, so the copper you’re talking about...”
“I mean the copper coins, obviously,” the paunchy man said, showing him a copper coin that looked like his Trainee Badge, but one half to one quarter the size. “One of these. You can’t possibly not know this, can you? Although... you are dressed kinda funny. Ah! Could it be you’re a volunteer soldier?”
“Huh? Yeah, I’m a volunteer soldier... No, a trainee, actually...”
“Oh, I see. So that’s it. All you volunteer soldier types are a little weird, after all. So, what? You don’t have any copper coins? Even though you’ve got a silver one?”
“Yeah... I don’t. One silver is a hundred copper...”
Which meant the ten silver coins Haruhiro had were worth a thousand copper. Enough for 250 meat skewers. The skewers were big enough that they could probably serve as a full meal. Which meant he could afford 250 meals. At three meals a day, he had enough for more than 80 days, so he could keep himself fed for quite a while.
“...I’m glad I became one. A volunteer soldier trainee.”
“If you don’t know about copper coins,” the paunchy man said, twisting his mouth and exhaling through his nose, “of course you won’t know about the Yorozu Deposit Company, either. Why not try going there? They’ll convert your money there, and though they do charge a service fee, they’ll hold your money for you.”
“Yorozu Deposit Company...”
“To find it, go south from the market here, past Tenboro Tower, then take the first, second, and third left, and you’ll be right there. There’s a sign for it out front. I’m sure you’ll find it well enough.”
3. Yorozu-chan
Yorozu Deposit Company. That was definitely what the sign out front of the warehouse-like building said. The way it was in gold relief was extravagant to the point that it seemed slightly tasteless.
Haruhiro had made it there without getting lost, so that put him in a bit better of a mood. The problem was, he was still famished. If he didn’t get his money changed here, rush back to the skewer seller, and chow down on some nice meat skewers, he was going to die.
Entering through the front door, he reached an open hall with a counter at the end of some stone steps. A short line had formed at the counter. He got in line, waited, and soon enough someone called,
“Next!” and it was Haruhiro’s turn.
Across the counter from him was a massive leather chair, and, in complete contrast to its size, there was a girl of about ten plopped down on it, sitting there boldly. Wearing a gaudy red and white outfit accented with gold, she had gold-rimmed glasses, a golden pipe on top of that, and an attitude to match.
“Hmm,” the girl held the pipe in her mouth, taking a puff as she scrutinized Haruhiro. “You’re a new face. Is this your first time here?”
“Yes...” he replied, feeling somewhat pitiful. To think he’d have to be so polite to a little girl. Haruhiro cleared his throat. “It’s my first time here, so...”
“From the look of you, I’d say you’re a volunteer soldier trainee. I see. A newbie, huh.” The girl slapped her raised thigh. “I am the Yorozu. The fourth Yorozu. As has been customary for the Yorozu, I know my clients’ names, faces, balances, and transaction histories by heart. There is nothing the Yorozu cannot remember. Still, I do keep a ledger, because others are not blessed with the Yorozu’s good memory. Allow me to enter you into the ledger at once. You, what is your name?”
“Ah... I’m Haruhiro.”
“I see.” The Yorozu leaned forward, opened the ledger book on the counter, and wrote something in it with a feather pen. “—There. Now, you may make deals with the Yorozu Deposit Company.” When he took a peek at the ledger, Haruhiro saw his own name written in a beautiful flowing script across a nearly blank page. Raising his eyes, he saw the Yorozu’s face up close. She was short, but she couldn’t actually be ten years old. Maybe she was a little older than that. When he looked closer, disregarding her bizarre apparel, she had a well-defined nose, blue eyes that reminded him of fine glasswork, and plump red lips. She was quite the young beauty.
“What?” She made a sour face and turned to the side. “The Yorozu’s face is not something to be gawked at, insolent one.”
“Ah, sorry.”
“I will say this for your benefit,” the Yorozu said, pointing her pipe at Haruhiro’s face. “The fourth Yorozu is young, but flawless as a Yorozu. Should you show me disrespect, you will pay for it dearly. You would do well to remember that. Also, Haruhiro, I shall remember you henceforth as the insolent one.”