by Ao Jyumonji
There were two enemies, so they were in a good position from the very beginning. While Haruhiro was eyeing the goblins’ backs, he occasionally glanced over at Merry.
I thought so. The staff isn’t just for show. She’s learned the proper self-defense skills. She doesn’t want to move up front, but she still protected Shihoru.
What’s more, when a goblin latched on to Moguzo, headbutting him in the chin, Merry watched everything that happened closely. Right after that, she turned away. As if she were thinking, He’s fine. No need to heal him.
Merry’s just standing there? She has no motivation? That’s not it at all. Merry was watching the situation from the rear, making judgment calls every time a comrade was injured. She would even use her staff if she had to.
With the battle over, Shihoru went and talked to Merry. “Um, thank you for earlier.”
Merry looked away from her. “What are you talking about?”
She doesn’t have to say it like that. If she would just say, “You’re welcome” or smile, then everyone, guys and girls, would like Merry. It shouldn’t be difficult. I’m sure doing it would make life easier for Merry, too. So why doesn’t she do it?
After they went back to Alterna and sold their loot, he called out to her. He noticed she was about to leave without telling them. “Ah, Merry, hold on a second!”
Merry scratched at her hair, turning around like it was a bother. “Did you still have some business with me?”
Like I said, you get scary over every little thing. I’m starting to think you want to be hated. Still, we’re members of the same party, aren’t we? It’s got to be better to be liked than to be hated. I wish I had the guts to say that to her, but I can’t. If I try to get too involved with her, Merry will probably run off. I get the feeling she’d say, “That’s enough! Goodbye!” and drop out of the party.
“I wouldn’t call it business, but would you like to come grab a meal with us? We can hit the tavern or something after that.”
“No, thank you.”
“...Why so polite?”
Merry looked down and away, furrowing her brow ever so slightly. Was she angry? She seemed embarrassed somehow. “...There’s no real meaning behind it.”
“Oh, I see. Sorry to poke at you over a little thing like that.”
“I don’t really...” Merry began to purse her lips but stopped, looking down and shaking her head left to right. Then she said, “See you—”
Probably, the next word she had been about to utter was tomorrow. For Merry, who always left without a word, this was unusual. Or it would have been unusual but, ultimately, it never happened. Stopping with only those two words, Merry turned her back on Haruhiro and the others.
Merry’s a fast walker, but the way she was walking was strange. Like she was getting flustered.
Ranta scoffed. “Yeesh, what an unlikable woman. Seriously.”
“Really...?” Moguzo stroked his chin. It was slight, but he had a beard growing.
Your beard sure grows in thick, Moguzo.
“I feel like, today, she was a little different.”
Yume nodded along. “Yeah, yeah, she was different today, huh? Today’s Merry-chan was just a teensy bit cute. That’s just a vaaaague feeling Yume had though, y’know.”
Ranta gave Yume the side-eye. “Don’t just call anything and everything cute, cute, cute. Your ‘cute’ applies to such a broad range, I don’t even know what it means anymore.”
“I don’t need someone like you to understand, Ranta. I don’t want you to understand me.”
“That is so not cute.”
Once they managed to calm Yume and Ranta down, they went looking for a helmet for Moguzo. There was a shop out in the marketplace selling used iron helmets, and one type called a barbut was cheap.
Barbuts were forged from a single sheet of iron, so they were as low-priced as they were simple. They were shaped like the big toe of a person’s foot, and when you wore it, your eyes, nose, and mouth were exposed through the T-shaped opening.
At first glance, it looks like it would fall off easily, but there’s leather wrapped around on the inside, so I guess not, Haruhiro thought.
Ranta stubbornly haggled the price down, and they got a barbut that was a perfect fit for Moguzo, even if it was scratched and dented all over, for 18 silver when the original price had been 42 silver. Of that, Haruhiro paid three silver, Yume and Shihoru three silver each, and Moguzo paid eight silver.
While they were eating at a stall, Ranta said, “Well, I effectively put in 24 silver, got it?! You’d better be grateful, guys!” and puffed out his chest proudly, which made Yume and Shihoru furrow their brows.
Haruhiro was appalled, too, but when he thought about it, Ranta may have been right. Probably no one but the shameless Ranta could have haggled that hard. 24 silver might have been an exaggeration, but they had probably saved around ten silver thanks to Ranta.
“Yeah. Thanks, Ranta,” Haruhiro said seriously.
Ranta blinked in surprise and said, “S-Sure,” then looked down. “...A-As long as you get it. It’s my, what, merit? My value? My true worth? Something like that, anyway. Since you guys tend to look down on me. Take this to heart, for future reference. Seriously. I’m begging you to, honestly. Well, no, I won’t beg...”
They had planned to look around at armor after they ate, but it was already late, so they went to the tavern. Merry didn’t seem to be there. Haruhiro had invited her to come, so that might actually have made her decide not to show herself here tonight instead.
“That woman is seriously uncute. She’s even worse than Yume,” Ranta muttered. He seemed to be bitter that Merry hadn’t said a single word of thanks after he’d helped her. “I mean, she can’t even give a proper hello, or thank you, or sorry. She’s hopeless. Looks are all she’s got going for her. Just her looks. Her looks are top-notch, though. Well, she’s got nothing on that elf from Soma’s party, though.”
“B-But...” Moguzo stammered. He was still wearing his barbut. It seemed he was quite fond of it.
It’s not going to be easy to drink in that thing, Haruhiro thought.
“Before, when she healed me, she said sorry. Merry-san did.”
“Huhhh? Don’t you lie, Moguzo. Like she’d ever do that.”
“I-It’s true. It was when I hurt my head. Merry-san’s hand touched the wound, and I groaned in pain, so she said sorry.”
“Yeah, that did happen.” Haruhiro remembered it, too. He hadn’t been able to hear her, but Merry had definitely said something to Moguzo that time. “I see. That was an apology.”
“She protected me, too,” Shihoru nodded. “She’s hard to approach, but I don’t think she’s nasty, or heartless. She’s not that sort of person.”
“Merry-chan’s a real cutie-pie, too, y’know,” added Yume.
“So, I was watching Merry more closely today,” Haruhiro said, “and—”
He described to the others what he had noticed in combat. Merry was working hard to fulfill her role in her own way. It was just, she didn’t tell them what she was thinking, she didn’t speak nicely to them, and she had attitude problems. That was why they misunderstood.
“—Now, this is just probably, but, if we understand Merry’s method, I think we can use her well. Still, I’m not sure if that’s good enough.”
“What’s wrong with it?” Ranta guzzled down some beer, then snorted derisively. “If that woman’s doing her job, like you say, it’s no problem. Though I’m not convinced the woman really is.”
“If you feel that way, Ranta, it’s already a problem.”
“Does how I feel even matter to you guys? You’re always ignoring me, aren’t you?”
“Don’t get sulky.”
“I’m not sulking at all. Just stating the truth. That bitch is an outsider in the party, but I’m not much different on that front, am I?”
Had Ranta been feeling that way? He’d never noticed. It hadn’t just been Merry: Haruhiro hadn’t been looking
at Ranta, either. Was that what this meant?
Now that I think about it, Ranta’s human, too. If they treated him badly, he wouldn’t just be fine with that.
Though, in that case, maybe he should have tried to do something about the way he spoke and acted. It did feel like he was getting exactly what he deserved. Still, even if you told someone to fix their personality, it wasn’t something that could be fixed that easily.
Even as he is now, Ranta has some good points. Well, not absolutely none, at least.
“My bad,” Haruhiro lowered his head. “I’m sorry, Ranta. I’ll be more careful in future.”
“Y-Yeah! Y-You’d better be more careful, moron!”
“...The ‘moron’ was uncalled for.”
“What’s wrong with calling a moron a moron, you moron?”
“Man...” Haruhiro scratched his neck. He couldn’t even get mad at this point.
What is Ranta, a child? Yeah, he definitely was. Maybe it was better not to pay attention to every little provocation, and just let it go instead. Manato handled him that way, come to think of it.
While he sighed and looked around the tavern, an Orion cape caught Haruhiro’s eye. It was Shinohara. He was climbing the stairs up to the second level.
“Ah. I’m going to go say hi to Shinohara-san,” Haruhiro said.
“Whaaaat? Let me guess, Haruhiro, you’re trying to get into Orion without the rest of us, aren’t you?!” Ranta demanded. “I won’t let you do it! I’m going, too!”
“...Well, no, I have zero intention of doing that, but sure, you can come along.”
“Th-Then, me too.”
“If you’re all goin’, maybe Yume’ll go too.”
“Huh... W-Well then, me too... It would be a little awkward to be the only one left behind...”
Haruhiro had his doubts that they should be doing it this way, but the five of them went up the stairs together. Shinohara noticed them before Haruhiro could call out to him, and he rose from his seat.
“Hey, Haruhiro-kun. It’s been a while. Are these your comrades with you?”
Whoa. I only met this guy once, and he remembers me. That’s kind of incredible. And, hold on, almost everyone sitting around Shinohara is part of Orion. There’s got to be more than twenty... no, thirty of them. Most are guys, but maybe a third or so are women, and they’re all wearing Orion’s cape.
“Y-Yeah... N-Nice to see you, uh...”
“Come along, right this way. —Hayashi, could you get some seats for them?”
“Okay, Shinohara-san.” The short-haired, slim-eyed man he had called Hayashi brought some tables and chairs from nearby.
“Join me here,” Shinohara said. He sat down at one of the chairs surrounding the table Hayashi brought over, and Haruhiro and the others did the same.
The members of Orion didn’t gawk; they just continued quietly talking amongst themselves.
They’re too well-mannered, too pleasant, Haruhiro thought.
Even though they hadn’t ordered yet, drinks came for them. Forget Moguzo, Yume, and Shihoru—even Ranta was being as quiet and meek as a lamb.
Orion’s amazing, Haruhiro thought.
“Well, how is it, Haruhiro-kun? You don’t seem to have bought your badge yet, but are you starting to get used to the lifestyle?”
“Huh? How do you know I haven’t bought my badge yet?”
“I’m always interested in what the rookies are up to. You’re frequenting the Old City of Damuro, right? It seems some people have started calling you guys the Goblin Slayers behind your backs.”
“Ahh... We’ve been targeting nothing but goblins all this time, so that’s fair enough.”
Shinohara paused for a moment, then adjusted his posture. “What happened to your comrade was regrettable.”
“...Yeah.” Haruhiro lowered his eyes to the table, clenching his hands together. He even knows about that, huh. Then again, maybe that’s just how it is.
Alterna had felt huge to him at first, but in reality it was a fixed space with everything packed tightly into it. The world volunteer soldiers occupied was an even smaller portion of that. If they didn’t go to great lengths to hide it, news of pretty much anything would get around in no time. I should probably keep that in mind.
“...I mean, I was really disappointed about it, too,” Haruhiro said. “He was a great guy.”
“It may be conceited of me to say this, but I know what it’s like losing a comrade,” Shinohara told him. “I’ve experienced it, too.”
“I... see. That’s...”
“Please, never forget that pain,” Shinohara said, looking at Haruhiro and the others. His eyes were peaceful but filled with a deep sorrow. “Even as you carry that pain, you can still move forward. I want you to carve that deep into your hearts. Also, I want you to treasure the comrades you have now. Treasure the time you spend with them. Because once it’s passed, it will never come back. You’ll no doubt have regrets, but, please, work hard to leave as few regrets as you can.”
As he was listening to Shinohara speak, Haruhiro unconsciously brought a hand to his chest. Treasure the comrades I have now.
If only he had done more to treasure Manato while he was alive. If only he had done more to understand Manato. However, that was no longer possible. That was all the more reason that he needed to value the time he had with the comrades he had now. So as not to leave himself with regrets.
There’s no telling when I might die myself.
It was the same for Moguzo, for Ranta, for Yume, for Shihoru, and even for Merry. He didn’t want to be left thinking about how he should have done this or that differently if someone died again. I don’t want any of us thinking that.
“Shinohara-san, I have something to ask your advice on.”
“What might that be? I hope I’ll be able to help you.”
“It’s about Merry. Yesterday, you went up and talked to her, yeah? You know Merry’s in our party now, too, right?”
“Yes. What about her?”
“We want you to tell us. About Merry. Anything you happen to know. I may be coming to the wrong person, but I don’t think she’d tell us herself even if we tried to force her to.”
Shinohara tapped the table just once with his index finger. “—Rather than me, Hayashi’s the guy to talk to about that. He was in a party with her at one point.”
“Huh...?” Haruhiro glanced over to the next table, where Hayashi was currently knocking back a goblet. Hayashi noticed Haruhiro’s glance and gave a silent bow.
18. Her Circumstances
Hayashi spoke, and this was the story he told:
Merry and I were comrades from the time we were trainees.
Michiki and I were warriors. Mutsumi was the mage, Ogu was the thief, and Merry was the priest. I think our party was doing fairly well for itself.
We targeted goblins in the Old City of Damuro, just like you guys, and ten days later we bought our badges.
We got our equipment together, learned skills, and even after we started hunting kobolds in the Cyrene Mine about eight kilometers northwest of Alterna, we hardly ever ran into a dangerous situation. At the time, I thought that was just how things were. I didn’t notice it at all.
The one giving us a sense of stability in battle was Merry. Even though she had such perfect looks, she wasn’t full of herself because of it. She was always cheerful and energetic, and she smiled all the time, to the point where there was never room for a dark moment in our party.
What was more, she learned self-defense skills in addition to light magic, and she fought shoulder-to-shoulder with Michiki and me.
Of course, she never neglected her job as a healer, either. If we got even the slightest scratch, she healed it right away.
In our party the front-liners were me, Michiki, and Merry. That meant Merry could heal us right away when we got hurt. If Mutsumi or Ogu got in trouble, Merry would hurry back to help them right away. Basically, Merry was doing the work of three people.
Despite that, we fought assuming that we had five. So of course it was easy. We were effectively a group of seven.
It happened to be that there were a lot of volunteer soldiers who arrived in the same period as us, and some of them were even more extraordinary, so we didn’t draw much attention. Still, the more we fought, the more our confidence grew. We weren’t afraid of anything back then. We hadn’t run into much that could scare us, so of course we weren’t.
However, I now know that it was different for Merry.
Every time we got hurt, she must have been on-edge. That was why she was so quick to heal us. Once one little thing goes awry, the rest can come tumbling down in an instant, so she may have been desperate to prevent that.
She probably knew. She probably knew that, honestly, the difference between victory and defeat was paper-thin for us.
The rest of us didn’t realize that. We had gotten arrogant.
There were other parties aiming to clear the Cyrene Mines, and we didn’t want to lose to them. We thought we wouldn’t lose. So we went deeper. Ever deeper. And, finally, on that fifth layer of the mine which I will never forget, it happened.
You may already know, but kobolds are a furry race with dog-like faces. They’re built just a little smaller than humans. However, in the lower mines, there are lots of big kobolds around 170 cm tall, and those ones are relatively tough.
While they’re not as smart as humans, they’ve built a society with a rigid class structure. They have skilled smiths, and their magic is developing, as well. They’re good at working in groups, and at least some of them are fearless warriors.
We had gotten used to cutting down those kobolds, heading down to the fifth level over the course of a full day. To be honest, we thought we were stronger than the kobolds, that we were superior.
Still, we never let our guards down.
But even without us letting our guards down, it was stronger than us.
Its hair had black and white spots and, because of the fact that several volunteer soldiers had fallen at its hands, those were known as the spots of death. The kobold itself was called Death Spots.