by Ao Jyumonji
Hitting them when they were down was a specialty of Ranta’s. There was no need to use a skill on an already-weakened goblin that had already fallen, but that sort of reasoning had no place in Ranta’s mind. Ranta tried to bisect the goblin with his longsword— and failed. The longsword struck the side of the goblin’s head and bounced off its skull with a wet thud. That made Ranta lose it.
“Dammit! You’re just a stupid goblin! Take this! And this! And this...!”
While Ranta tormented the dying goblin, Haruhiro went to take care of the remaining one that Moguzo was facing.
No, it looked like Haruhiro wouldn’t need to do anything. The goblin swung its rusty sword with a cry, but Moguzo blocked it with his bastard sword. Their blades locked. Moguzo had the advantage now. He was strong and had learned a skill that let him shift from locking blades to attacking.
“Hungh...!” Moguzo wound his bastard sword around the rusty blade, slashing the goblin in the face with the tip. This was his skill, Wind. Moguzo wasn’t fast, but he was pretty skillful. The goblin faltered and stepped back.
Haruhiro cried out, “Go!” and Moguzo went. He got in close, slashing diagonally with all his strength.
“Thanks...!”
Rage Blow was the most basic of basic skills taught to a warrior in beginner’s training. It looked like something anyone could copy after seeing it, but it was probably difficult to find the right timing to actually land a hit with it. Whenever Moguzo used Rage Blow, he shouted, “Thanks!” so within the party they called it the Thanks Slash. It was a cute name that belied a rather powerful strike.
Moguzo’s sword entered through the goblin’s shoulder and made it halfway through its chest. With a grunt, he swung his sword, and the goblin was sent flying.
“Yahoo!” Ranta rushed over to the goblin, impaling it with his longsword.
Haruhiro had to agree with Yume: Ranta really was savage. He acted like a total barbarian, slashing off the goblin’s ear with a knife and shouting.
“Gwahaha! That’s three vices in a row! That makes eleven vices total! My demon’s powered up! Whenever it feels like it, it’ll whisper in the enemy’s ear to distract it! That’s awesome!”
“Whenever it feels like it...?” Haruhiro said with a sigh. “Your demon sure is useless, huh.”
“Hey! I won’t let that pass, Haruhiro! Don’t you go dissing Zodiac-kun, or I’ll curse you!”
Zodiac-kun was the name Ranta had given his demon. Well, no, Zodiack was its proper name. Zodiac-kun was more of a nickname. Either way, it was never any help.
“I mean, you can only call it out at night, anyway.”
“Moron, when I reach eleven vices, its rank goes up, so I’ll be able to call it at dusk and just before the sun rises!”
“Generally, we head back to Alterna by dusk, and you’re asleep when the sun comes up.”
“Hmm. Well, yeah, but...” Yume had her cheeks puffed up angrily, with her eyes shining. It was such a complex expression. “Unlike its owner Ranta, Zodiac-kun is just a little bit cute, you know?”
“I’m not his owner! You can’t ‘own’ a demon like some sort of pet. If anything, Zodiac-kun is possessing me. He’s a demon, after all!”
“...Which means,” Shihoru looked at the ground, laughing sinisterly, “before he could curse Haruhiro, Ranta’s already been cursed...”
“W-Well, yeah, I suppose I am. I-I am?! Seriously? Zodiac-kun, are you cursing me? No way, right? Zodiac-kun? What’s your take on this? Wait, no, it’s daytime, I can’t ask him...”
“Good work, everyone,” Manato looked to each of them with a smile. “I’ll heal your wounds, so— Actually, it looks like no one’s injured. Still, if you’re feeling any pain, just tell me. But if everyone thinks they’re fine, let’s check the goblin pouches.”
“Me, me, me! I’ll do it! Me! Let me do it!” shouted Ranta.
In the three goblin pouches, they found seven silver coins, two stones that looked like they might be worth something, three fangs or bones they didn’t know whether they could sell or not, as well as some assorted junk they figured was worthless. Depending on what price the stones went for, they had over ten silver if they were lucky, but at least eight even if they weren’t.
They had left Alterna at 7:00 in the morning to arrive in the Old City of Damuro at 8:00. Judging by the angle of the sun, it was now past noon. Haruhiro and the others gave the goblins a simple burial, or rather just cleared them away, then took an afternoon break at a spot not far away. Each of them had brought bread, dried meat, or other foodstuffs in their backpacks. It was time to enjoy a nice lunch.
“Oh, gotta pray.” Yume shaved off a thin slice of the dried meat with her knife, leaving it on the ground as she put her hands together and closed her eyes in prayer. “White God Elhit-chan, thank you for everythin’. Yume’ll share some of her food with you, so keep lookin’ out for her, okay?”
“So, about what you’re doing there,” Haruhiro said, tearing off a piece of bread. It came from Tattan’s Bakery just outside of West Town. It was rock-hard, but it was cheap and tasted decent enough. “That’s a ritual that’s laid out in the rules of the hunters guild, isn’t it? You have to offer a little of your food to your god, right?”
“Sure do,” Yume’s eyes were wide with enthusiasm and she turned to face him. “The White God Elhit-chan is this reeeeally big wolf, y’see. And there’s this reeeeally big Black God called Rigel who’s a wolf, too. Elhit and Rigel are on super-bad terms with each other. Because Elhit-chan watches over us hunters, we can get through our daily huntin’ without any accidents.”
“So, basically, it’s an act of worship. Hunters worship the White God Elhit. But you’re calling your god Elhit-chan and offering to share some of your food. Is that okay?”
“Nah, it’s fine,” Yume chuckled. “Elhit-chan is forgiving, so Yume doesn’t think Elhit-chan’d get mad at her over something like that, y’know. Actually, Elhit-chan’s never gotten mad at Yume.”
“...Your feelings,” Shihoru said, while carefully holding something that looked like a doughnut. “I think your feelings are what gets through to your god. Though, that’s just what I think...”
Manato took a sip from a leather waterskin, then said, “Yeah,” with a nod. “The words you say are important, but the feeling you put into saying them is even more important. The prayers we priests use in our light magic won’t work if we say the words wrong, but I don’t think your prayers to Elhit are the same.”
“Yume puts a lot, a loooot, of feelin’ into it.” Yume spread her arms wide to show them. “Yume goes to sleep at night, yeah? Well, when she does, Elhit-chan shows up in her dreams pretty often. Yume asked, ‘Can I ride on your back, Elhit-chan?’ and when she did, Elhit-chan said, ‘Sure,’ y’see. Yume went for a ride on Elhit-chan and we ran around like whoosh. Elhit-chan is crazy-fast. Yume said, ‘This is amazing.’”
“...This story,” Ranta chewed his dried meat loudly while putting on a sour face. “It’s got an actual point at the end, right? I’ve held my tongue and listened for a long time, so if you don’t have a good point, I’m gonna snap. Like, seriously.”
“A point?” Yume cocked her head to the side and blinked at him repeatedly. “No. There isn’t one.”
“Trip!” Ranta shouted and did an incredible face fault. “Are you stupid?! Don’t tell long stories with no point! What’ll you do if I drown to death, unable to escape from the spiral of broken expectations?!”
“Go ahead...” Shihoru muttered under her breath. “I wish you’d drown to death...”
“Ah!” Ranta pointed at Shihoru. “Ah! Ahhhh! I heard that! I heard you, Shihoru! Just now, you just told me to go die, didn’t you, huh?!”
“...I only said that I wished you’d drown.”
“You’re even making requests about the cause of death! You’re horrible! That’s the lowest thing you can do as a person! You’re the most rotten, horrible girl in all of history, that’s what you are!”
“D
on’t mind him, Shihoru.” Yume held Shihoru tight, patting her on the head. “The guy sayin’ it is the lowest of the low, after all. You’ve done noooothin’ wrong, Shihoru. It’s Mr. Terrible here who’s to blame. He’s so low, he may not even be human.”
“I’m human, okay?!”
“Even if you have curly hair,” Haruhiro said.
“Yes! Even with my curly hair...” Ranta began to agree. Then he turned to glare at Haruhiro, pulling at his hair as he did. “Curly hair has nothing to do with it! Heck, I’d even consider making it a requirement for being human! Those without curly hair are not human! How’s that?!”
“...If that’s how it’s going to be,” Moguzo said, swallowing a hard, fist-sized bun whole, “maybe I don’t want to be human.”
“Yume, too.”
“...Me, too.”
“Same.”
“Hold on.” An oddly serious look fell over Manato’s face. “Let’s think this over calmly, okay? Let’s think over whether curly hair really is the problem here. I think not. Curly hair has done us no wrong. Curly hair is not to blame here. In fact, I’d say curly hair may be the victim in all this.”
“Hm?” Ranta pulled at his hair. “...The victim? This guy? So, what, then the villain is... meeeee?! Are you saying it’s all my fault that curly hair turned evil?!”
“I was kidding, Ranta.”
“Manato! You’re always grinning, so it’s hard to tell when you’re joking and when you’re serious! You’re a black-bellied bastard wearing a smile as a mask!”
“H-He is not!” Shihoru stood up and shouted. Her face was bright red, and she looked like steam might start rising out of her ears any second. “H-He is not black-bellied! N-Not Manato-kun! He isn’t black-bellied or a bastard! Y-You take that back! R-Right now! Do it!”
“...Uh, sure,” Ranta was taken aback. “But, do I have to, really? It’s not like I actually think it, you know? If I have to take abuse, isn’t it fair that I get to dish some out, too?”
“T-Take it back!”
“F-Fine, fine. I’ll do it. I’ll correct myself. Manato’s belly isn’t black. Manato’s belly is white. I see him in the bath every day, so I’d know. It’s white, you know, Manato’s belly. Seriously. He’s pale. For a guy. Actually, even by girl standards, he’d be pale.”
“Wh-White...” Shihoru looked a little dizzy. “...Manato-kun’s white belly... The bath...”
“Am I pale, really?” Manato compared his skin’s color against his priest robes. “I don’t think I’m that pale. Haruhiro, am I pale?”
“Yeah, sorta...” Haruhiro looked from Shihoru to Manato, comparing.
Manato is pale, but Shihoru’s even paler. But that’s not really the point right now. I thought it might be the case, but this pretty much confirms it. Shihoru has a thing for Manato. Does he not notice it? I don’t think he’s dense like that, so that isn’t it. Is he pretending not to notice, then? If he is, maybe Manato doesn’t feel the same way about her. Poor Shihoru. Though I’m not sure it’s my place to be feeling sorry for her.
“You could say you’re pale. Yup. You’re pale. Your skin’s smooth, too.”
“Skin... smooth...” Shihoru looked like she might collapse. “Smooth... skin...”
“Shihoru, you okay?” Yume supported her. “If you fantasize too much, it’ll only cause problems. You should try to keep it under control. Shihoru? Shihoru?”
“Nyahhhh...” Shihoru’s eyes were swirling, and she clung on to Yume tightly.
Shoot, thought Haruhiro. Maybe I went too far there. She was acting kind of cute there, or funny at least, so I couldn’t help myself.
Ranta scoffed at them, then started eating his bread. He seemed unamused by this turn of events.
I wonder why. Maybe Ranta has a thing for Shihoru? It looks like Shihoru is into Manato, so maybe he’s upset about that? If so, it’s time for Ranta to take a good, long look at himself. For starters, buddy, you’ve done nothing that would make the girls love you, and everything that would make them loathe you.
“We’ve become a good party,” Manato said quietly to himself.
“Huh?”
“We can take on up to three goblins at a time now. No one even got hurt, so I think it’s safe to assume we could handle more. Yume’s much better with a machete than she is with a bow. She has a lot of strength. If we think about our methods some more, we might be able to handle four.”
“Oh, about that...” Haruhiro imagined it. Moguzo and Manato would both handle one, Haruhiro, Ranta, and Yume would handle the other two. If Shihoru caught one with Shadow Beat so they could finish it off quickly, he felt like they could pull it off. “Yeah, four sounds doable.”
“I knew we’d be able to rely on Moguzo. After all, he’s got such a big body. Just by being there, he intimidates the enemy. And with his precise swordsmanship, he can get what needs doing done.”
“Ah, I’d been thinking that, too. Moguzo’s talented.”
Moguzo swallowed a bun. “...R-Really? You think? I don’t know why, b-but, I like doing detailed work.”
“It doesn’t suit you!” Ranta yelled, taking out his frustration on him. Moguzo just shrugged.
“Y-Yeah, I think so, too...”
“Hey, it’s a good thing,” Haruhiro said, glaring at Ranta slightly. “Moguzo isn’t sloppy, unlike a certain someone.”
“Oh? What, you saying that to me? Me, the guy they call the Gale-speed Machine of Precision?”
Yume glared coldly at Ranta while patting Shihoru reassuringly on the head. “Nobody’s ever called you that, Ranta.”
“Ranta’s amazing, too.” Judging from the subdued expression on Manato’s face, he wasn’t joking. “Especially the way he’s always ready to attack. He’s not afraid of failure, so I think he’s improved at using his skills faster than any of us. The rest of us, myself included, are more cautious, you could say. Without Ranta around, we might not be willing to take that next step forward.”
“Yeah, I guess?” Ranta said, looking about worriedly. Had that flustered him? “Well, you know what they call me. The Whirlwind Machine of Forward Momentum, yeah?”
Haruhiro teased, “What happened to the Gale-speed Machine of Precision?”
“As for Shihoru...” Manato paused for a breath.
He has noticed Shihoru’s feelings for him, after all, Haruhiro surmised.
“...Shihoru is always aware of her surroundings. Darsh Magic has a lot of spells that can confuse or bind the target, if I recall. That lets her help us when needed. You wanted to learn Darsh Magic so you could help us, didn’t you, Shihoru?”
Shihoru stared blankly for a second, but then nodded without a word.
I thought she’d passed up the easy-to-understand choices like fire, ice, or electricity, and chose a more niche option instead because that’s just what Shihoru’s like. Was I wrong? It wasn’t just a matter of her tastes. Shihoru put some genuine consideration into it. I’m so stupid. I don’t know a thing about her.
Manato looked to Yume. “I think Yume may well be the bravest of us all. She isn’t afraid of anything. As the healer, I wish she’d be more careful, but I’m also glad that Yume might be there to help if anything happens.”
“Yume is?” Yume said, pointing to herself, her face melting with glee. “You sure? Is Yume really that brave? Yume doesn’t think she’s ever been told that before. Though, maybe she doesn’t think many things are scary. Yume hopes you’ll give her a pass for being a hunter who can’t use a bow.”
“Everyone has weaknesses and things they can’t do,” Manato said, as if trying to convince himself of it as well. “When you’re alone, those failings can be fatal, but we’re a party. We can make up for each other’s shortcomings.”
“Oh, yeah.” Yume nodded repeatedly. “That’s right. Yume may cause trouble for all of you goin’ forward, but she’ll do her breastest.”
Ranta snorted derisively. “You mean ‘bestest,’ like ‘best,’ not ‘breastest.’ Breastest sounds like, you kn
ow, you’d need some special kind of breasts.”
“Breastest...” Yume touched her own breasts. “Yume wonders what kinda breasts are the breastest breasts. How distantly related are they to Yume’s tiny breasts?”
It would be awkward to just leave that hanging, so Haruhiro offered, “...Maybe they’re in the same family?”
Yume looked at Haruhiro with a totally serious expression on her face. “Do you think they’re in the same family, Haru-kun?”
“I-I dunno. I wonder.”
“Yume wonders, too. The breastest breasts. It does sound a little cute, you know.”
“The br—” Moguzo started to say, but when everyone turned to look at him, sweat beaded on his forehead and he waved his hands and shook his head. “I-I-I-I-It was nothing. R-R-Really, nothing.”
“...Now I’m curious.” said Shihoru.
With Shihoru staring at him, Moguzo cast his eyes downward, then apologized with a “S-Sorry,” so no one pushed him about it any further, but what had Moguzo started to say? Haruhiro was pretty curious, if not to the same degree as Shihoru.
After that, they continued to make small talk over lunch until the time came to start their afternoon work. As they were leaving, something occurred to Haruhiro.
Manato praised all of the others, but did he say a single thing about me? Maybe he just forgot. Or was it that there was nothing praiseworthy about Haruhiro? Does Manato have a low opinion of me, maybe? We talk a lot, though, I think. Maybe I’m only useful as someone to talk to?
It worried him, but it was a little late to ask, “Hey, Manato, what about me...?” That would have been far too embarrassing.
Ah, well.
He’d probably just forgotten, or the conversation moved on before he could get to Haruhiro, that was all. It still made Haruhiro a little anxious, but that was how he decided to take it.
Focus, man. You need to focus.
“...Found some.”
Haruhiro raised a hand, signaling the group to stop. They would all hide in the shadows until things were scouted out. Of course, Haruhiro would go alone to do that. There were rare occasions when Ranta wanted to come along, but, honestly, Haruhiro felt it was easier for him to go alone. He only needed to worry about himself that way.