15. Because He Has a Reason

Alluja had once been a massive city. There were even theories that said it had been prosperous before the conflict between Lumiaris and Skullhell began.

It took a whole day to cross the ruins of Great Alluja. During that time, they took a number of breaks, and those who could manage to nap did so, but even if they could set aside their fear of logoks, they’d be afraid of nivles.

It turned out that nivles mainly fed on logoks, but humans were much more appetizing to them. If they saw, heard, or otherwise detected a human, they really would chase them to the ends of the world. Not only that, they didn’t just blindly attack; they were also nasty about finding good openings to do so.

Mr. Unjo said they were four meters long, but that varied by individual specimen, and they ranged anywhere from three meters long to close to five meters for the largest. The males were crested, while the females weren’t. The larger and more showy their crest, the more violent a male was, but those ones would attack them head-on with confidence, making them easier to handle. Surprisingly, it was the females that were more subdued in their appearance that were dangerous. The females were calculating, and fast, too. They made fearsome opponents.

Haruhiro and the others took down seven nivles as they crossed the ruined city. Four male, three female. Every fight had been to the death. They were just fortunate that nivles didn’t hunt in groups. If they’d had to face more than one of those things at the same time, they wouldn’t have stood a chance.

Nivle hides apparently sold for a good price, but they were also bulky, so it didn’t feel worth lugging them along. They tried cooking and eating their meat, and it wasn’t disgusting or anything.

When they came to the end of the ruins, there was a downhill slope. The incline wasn’t particularly steep, but it went down a long way. It was like it was going all the way into the depths of the earth. It went down so far that, even during the day, it got so dark that they couldn’t see what was in front of them.

If they hadn’t had Mr. Unjo there to guide them, they would never have gone down. It was kind of scary, after all.

“Um, what’s past here...?” Haruhiro worked up the courage to ask.

“Orcs,” Mr. Unjo answered, as indifferent as he always was.

“Walk?” Yume repeated.

No, Yume, thought Haruhiro, that’s not it. What are you walking for? Well, we are walking, though.

“Wait...” Merry checked with him, “By orcs, do you mean...?”

“They’re similar to them, at least,” Mr. Unjo said as he descended the slope one step at a time. “Besides, they’re called orcs here in Darunggar, too.”

“Whoa!” Ranta shuddered. “Well, damn. Now I’ve got goosebumps. It’s like, you know. In our world, orcs are the enemy, but here, I almost feel an affinity with them... Well, no, not quite, but still...”

Mr. Unjo snorted. “They’re the enemy here, too.”

“Those orcs,” Shihoru said in a voice as quiet as the buzzing of a mosquito, “could they have come from Grimgar...?”

“The entrance to the exit...” Kuzaku whispered to himself.

Mr. Unjo simply said, “Who knows?” Then, after a long silence, as if he were recalling it for the first time in a long time, he said, “This might have been their homeland.”

The hill was rocky, but it was covered in fine pebbles that were like sand. Because of that, they had to be careful or their feet would slip.

The slope was apparently nivle-free. That was probably because the logoks they mainly preyed upon lived in Alluja.

Here and there, there were holes of about a meter in diameter. Mr. Unjo avoided them. When asked why, he said, “Because there are gujis.”

From what he told them, a guji was a creature somewhere between a monkey and a bear, and they would fight to the death to defend their dens. If you poked at their den even a little, sometimes more than ten gujis would come out, and it would turn into a huge problem. If you could catch them, gujis were edible, but they were muscly and their meat was unusually tough, even cooked. If you stewed it until it softened, the broth was supposed to be good. Not that they were going to catch one, or stew it.

Eventually, they started to see red lights here and there. The temperature was rising, too. It was a little hot. There was steam rising all over. The word “crater” flashed through Haruhiro’s mind. Could the lights be lava... maybe?

They passed by one of them soon enough. It was bubbling and steaming. No joke, it looked like it really was lava. If they slipped and fell in, they’d get worse than just burned.

They came across a river, too. It wasn’t even knee-deep, and the water was more than just lukewarm—it was kind of hot. Not too hot, though.

“A hot spring?” Merry questioned.

“Mixed bathing!” Ranta exclaimed.

“Not a chance!” Yume whacked Ranta in the back of the head.

“It’s potable, too,” Mr. Unjo said, gesturing to the hot spring river with his chin. “The taste is strange, but it won’t cause indigestion. We’ll rest here.”

The party didn’t go in for mixed bathing, obviously, but they dug a bathing hole in the side of the river, and the guys and girls took turns washing themselves. Mr. Unjo volunteered to act as a lookout, thankfully.

“I dunno what to say...” Kuzaku said once he had sunk in up to his shoulders. “Doesn’t it just make you feel glad to be alive? Is it just me? Like, I could die satisfied right now. Nah, I don’t want to die, though. Feels good...”

“I know how you feel...” Haruhiro scooped up some of the water in his hands, gently washing his face. “This is nice. I mean, damn, this is the best...”

“Whaddaya mean?” Ranta crossed his arms. “I’m disappointed in the two of you! We totally coulda gotten them to get in with us. If you two had just agreed with me, they’d have been like, ‘Well, this time, I guess we’ll have to.’ Are you morons? Just how shitty do you guys have to be?”

“...I’m kind of curious on what grounds you think there was any chance they’d have gone along with it?” Haruhiro asked.

“Huh? It’s all about feelings, man, feelings. They say when you’re traveling, you should leave your sense of shame behind, right? If everyone did that, they’d be down for some mixed bathing, don’t you think? I mean, the girls aren’t stupid.”

“Well, Yume, Shihoru, and Merry aren’t stupid like you, so they wouldn’t think that.”

“Oh, shut up! I wanted to do some mixed bathing! I wanna bathe with some girls! I wannaaaaa!”

“You’re like some kind of mixed bathing fiend, huh?” Kuzaku sighed deeply. “Man, this feels good...”

Maybe because he’d had a good bath, or due to lack of sleep, Haruhiro slept well. Yume had to shake him awake, and he felt sorry about that.

Mr. Unjo told them that he had once survived using this Hot Spring River as his watering hole. That was apparently when he had eaten guji meat, too.

Once they crossed the Hot Spring River and continued onward, the ground leveled out. The moment they noticed, though, a steep cliff rose up in their way. It wasn’t a dead end. There were fissures in the cliff.

The fissures snaked inwards, narrowing and broadening. They couldn’t see even a few meters ahead, which made them feel incredibly uneasy. Had Mr. Unjo found this path and come through on his own?

If Haruhiro had found himself in Mr. Unjo’s position... he couldn’t have done it. He didn’t even need to think about it. It would’ve been impossible for him. He didn’t have the ability, or the attachment to life.

When he was doing something for his comrades, Haruhiro could try pretty hard. But when it came to himself, he was useless. He couldn’t bear the pain, the suffering, or even the lack of hope. For better or for worse, that was just who Haruhiro was as a person.

How about his comrades? Kuzaku, Yume, Shihoru, and Merry were probably all pretty close to Haruhiro in that regard. It might be that the only one who could have held in there for his own sake was Ranta.

This was probably a strength of the party, and also a weakness. They could all get along, with one exception, and they could cooperate, but looking at it more harshly, they were all highly codependent, and fragile when it came down to it. If even one of them died, they’d likely lose the will to put up a proper fight. It wasn’t a situation he wanted to think about, but it was something he had to think about as leader. This was enemy territory, after all.

“Whoaaaaaa...” Ranta breathed.

He sounded like an idiot. But, well, it was an incredible view, you could say.

At the end of the twisted fissure path, a majestic view appeared before them.

They could see hundreds, maybe thousands, of streams of lava rising and falling as they spread out. There were hills. There were mountains. There were boulders. There were buildings, big and small.

Yes.

Most were carved out of boulders, but they were most certainly buildings. They were reinforced and decorated with iron struts, and there was a building that looked like some sort of shrine or temple, too. There were towers. Though they weren’t high-rises, there were some medium-sized buildings here, too.

Sandwiched between two narrow flows of lava, that road—yes, it really was a road—the road, the city streets, stretched from one to the other. There were large buildings facing onto the big streets, and rows of tiny little buildings facing onto the small ones.

The sky was already dark. It was night. But thanks to the lava, this was a town with no night.

A town.

That was a town. Or perhaps a city.

“...No way.” Kuzaku’s voice cracked as he spoke.

“Is—” Haruhiro couldn’t find the words to speak.

“Is that...” Shihoru asked in a vanishingly small voice. “The orcs’ town? All of it...?”

“Whew,” said Yume. “Sure is a big city, huh?”

Yume was taking it easy. Too easy, if anything.

“Is that it?” Merry asked the question Haruhiro had wanted to. “The entrance to the exit?”

“Yes.” For some reason, there was a slight laughter in Mr. Unjo’s voice. “That is the entrance to the exit. I came through that city, Waluandin.”

“They’re our enemies, yeah?” Kuzaku rubbed his lower back. “The orcs...”

“Clearly,” Mr. Unjo declared. “The orcs won’t let anyone but their fellow orcs go. Livestock are a separate matter, however.”

“Y-Y’think we should let them raise us? Might be easier—” Ranta looked to the others, then cleared his throat. “I-I’m kidding, obviously. There’s no way I’d be serious, y-you morons.”

“Might not be a bad move.” Mr. Unjo stroked his beard. “More realistic than running through there, at least.”

“I-I-I-I know, right? Right? Heheheheheheheheheh...”

“He’s being sarcastic...” Haruhiro sighed. “Figure that much out on your own.”

“Shut up! I knew that! I was just playing stupid, you moron!” Ranta hollered.

“So...” Yume puffed up her cheeks and pointed towards the city of Waluandin. “What now? We’re already here, y’know. It’d be nice to try gettin’ closer.”

“Yume-san’s got guts...” Kuzaku looked seriously put off by what she was suggesting.

“Well, only if it’s not dangerous, y’know?” Yume said. “If it’d be dangerous, Yume thinks we’d be better off leavin’, too.”

“It’d obviously be dangerous!” Ranta stomped his feet. “You should know that much!”

“If it’s just a li’l bit dangerous, it might be might be fine!”

“It might not be...” Shihoru looked ready to collapse at any moment.

“Wh-Where...” Haruhiro pressed on his throat. He had to man up. He might be in shock, but he’d been prepared for this to a degree. Though, only to a degree. “Where did you come through? Unjo-san. I mean, like, what area?”

“I don’t remember. I was desperate.” Mr. Unjo slowly laid down his backpack, crouching next to it. “The one thing I do know for certain is that two of my comrades died in Waluandin. Iehata and Akina. They were killed by orcs, and I escaped. Alone.”

From what Mr. Unjo tersely told them after that, his party had encountered difficulties on the border of the former kingdoms of Nananka and Ishmal.

The territory of the former Kingdom of Nananka was overrun with orcs, and the former Kingdom of Ishmal was undead territory. Mr. Unjo and his comrades, back when he was still young and full of vigor, had daringly stormed into the enemy’s main base and fought evenly with powerful undead. However, one day, they’d been caught by a surprise attack, and one of their comrades, the thief Katsumi, died.

While they’d been running around in enemy territory, they’d wandered into a foggy area and gotten lost. They’d passed through a cave and come out into a dark mountainous area with rivers of lava, where they’d thought they were safe. Although, when they’d seen the lizards leisurely swimming in those rivers, they had sensed something was off.

Fortunately, those lizards, which they’d decided should be called salamanders, hadn’t attacked them, but then a terrifying dragon had eaten the salamanders. Mr. Unjo’s party had been chased by that dark red dragon, the fire dragon.

Two of Mr. Unjo’s comrades, the paladin Ukita and the mage Matsuro, had apparently been eaten by that fire dragon. While they were being devoured, the hunter Unjo, the warrior Iehata, and the priest Akina had fled as fast as they could.

And then they’d reached Waluandin. What had awaited them there was thousands, tens of thousands of orcs.

Haruhiro tried sorting out his thoughts.

There were currently two ways out of Darunggar.

The first option was to take the route they’d come through. They would return to Well Village, then travel through the good old nest of gremlins to reach the Dusk Realm. However, the northern forest was infested with the mist moths called yegyorns. Well, they had been fine on the way here, so they could probably make it back... but that wasn’t something Haruhiro was optimistic enough to think. It was a miracle that they had made it to Well Village without encountering any yegyorns. He couldn’t expect the miracle to happen twice.

If they were going to count on a miracle to get them to the Dusk Realm, that was a huge gamble. Even if it worked out, was there any hope for them in the Dusk Realm? He couldn’t say there was none, but they would have to hunt for that seed of hope while being chased around by the cultists, the white giants, and the hydras. That didn’t sound easy. It sounded really, incredibly difficult.

The second option was to somehow get through the Fire Dragon Mountain that was on the other side of Waluandin, then somehow reach the foggy place. That was in dangerous enemy territory, but even setting that aside for the moment, Waluandin was going to be a problem. Was there no way to reach Fire Dragon Mountain without passing through Waluandin, which was packed full of orcs? Even if there was some good way of doing it, there was still the fire dragon there.

—Yeah, no.

He couldn’t see any potential there. Zero. Those were the odds, or very close to them.

What then?

It might be time to accept things as they were. They would forget Grimgar for now, and live here. Here in Darunggar. If nothing special came up, they might live out the rest of their lives in this place.

What did they have to do to manage that? They had to share their knowledge, work together, and build a stable basis for their lifestyles. Step by step. They could move forward at their own pace, without rushing things.

Could they live in such a different world without any issues? They had Mr. Unjo as a living testament to the fact it was possible. Mr. Unjo was awfully pale, probably due to a lack of sun, but he seemed healthy enough. They could live for a decade or two.

With the reality shoved in Haruhiro’s face, it finally began to set in.

Hey, it could work, right? This place is fine in its own way. I mean, Grimgar wasn’t our homeland to begin with—I’m pretty sure. When we came to, we were in Grimgar. We were forced to live there. That’s all.

This world was dark. Too dark, honestly, and it left him feeling gloomy. He didn’t know the language well, either. Besides, there were basically no humans. It was full of danger. He had a lot of concerns about the place, but they could probably be overcome. They’d get used to it eventually.

Besides, unlike Mr. Unjo, Haruhiro still had his comrades. He wasn’t alone. His circumstances weren’t as bad as Mr. Unjo’s.

Even as he realized it wasn’t like him to do this, he dared to think cheerfully and optimistically about the future.

Grimgar had been the first chapter in their story. Now, the second chapter had begun in Darunggar. There would probably be a third and fourth chapter to come. He hoped it would continue on, at least.

The next stage might be here in Darunggar, or maybe elsewhere. He’d never been able to predict where it was going before. This was the same. It was all a big unknown. Things might not always be good, but they shouldn’t always be bad, either. If there were troubles, there had to be joys to be found, too. Even in gloomy Darunggar, it wasn’t all darkness. There was light, too.

“Well.” Mr. Unjo stood up and shouldered his pack. “I think you get it now. That there’s no returning to Grimgar. You see now the reasons why. I’m going back to Herbesit. You do as you please.”

Haruhiro closed his eyes and nodded. He couldn’t stand for them to be left behind here. They would turn back, too. It wouldn’t be right to impose upon Mr. Unjo’s kindness too much, but he wanted to maintain a good relationship with the man. After all, they were fellow humans, and volunteer soldiers—no, former volunteer soldiers. Mr. Unjo was their senior in that respect. Haruhiro wanted to be able to count on his advice and tutelage going forward.

For now, thought Haruhiro, let’s follow Mr. Unjo, doing our best not to be too much of a burden, and not to annoy him. Let’s do that.

“We’re—” Haruhiro began to say, but then his eyes went wide. “...Seriously?”

He stuck his hand down his shirt and pulled that thing out.

At a time like this? I mean, seriously?

It was a black, flat, stone-like object. But it was no rock. It vibrated, and the lower end was glowing green.

“The receiver...” Shihoru whispered.

“What’s that?” Mr. Unjo pushed up the brim of his braided hat, his eyes shining. “Is it an otherworldly item?”

“Haruhiro,” came the voice from the receiver.

“...Soma-san.” Haruhiro’s hands, and his voice, trembling and shaking even harder than the receiver.

His comrades gathered around, desperate to hear what he’d say.

“Are you listening?” Soma’s voice said. “Haruhiro. How many times have I called you now? We’re in Grimgar. Akira and Tokimune and their groups are all right, too.”

“Oh, man...” Ranta was half tearing up. “Yeah, of course... Of course they would be. Damn straight they’re all right. Man, I just... I’m so glad. Yeah. We’re in a bad spot, but I’m glad...”

“Haruhiro. Ranta. Yume. Shihoru. Merry. Kuzaku,” Soma’s voice said. “I know you’re all out there somewhere, listening to this. I believe in you.”

“...Damn.” Kuzaku held his head. “Soma-san called me by name...”

“How many times—” Merry hung her head.

How many times has he called? was probably what she meant to ask.

“We’re looking forward to seeing you all again,” Soma said. “It’s not just me. Everyone’s saying that.”

“Whew...” Yume fell flat on her butt.

“Kemuri,” Soma’s voice added.

“Hmm,” said Kemuri’s voice. “How’s it going?”

“Shima.”

“Yeah,” said Shima’s voice. “...Haruhiro. Do you remember what I said? Let’s talk about it next time.”

“Hm? What’s this about?” asked Soma.

“Oh, my. Does it interest you, Soma?”

“Yeah. It does. Well, I guess it’s fine. Here, Lilia.”

“I have nothing to say to a bunch of immature kids,” said Lilia. “Just... try to be careful. Believe in yourself, and your comrades. You must always look and listen to what’s important, and turn your heart to the light, not the darkness. If you never stop walking, eventually you’ll find a path. Now, listen here. If you give up, I will never forgive you. Th-That’s all!”

“For having nothing to say, she’s sure talking a lot, huh?!” Ranta sniffled. “Ohhh, Lilia-san’s so cuuuute! I wanna see her again...”

“Pingo?” said Soma.

“Drop dead. Uheheheh... I kid. Hey, Soma... You can try to make Zenmai talk, but it won’t work. You moron... Uheheheh...”

“Oh, I see,” said Soma. “Well, it’s not just us. Akira-san, Miho-san, Gogh-san, Kayo-san, Branken, and Taro, too, they’re all worried about you. Then there’s Rock, Kajita, Moyugi, Kuro, Sakanami, Tsuga, Io, Katazu, Tasukete, Jam, Tonbe, and Gomi. You haven’t met them yet, I guess. I told them all about you guys. Everyone’s interested in you.”

“The Rocks and Io-sama’s Squad!” Ranta squirmed a little. “And wait, what kind of names are Tasukete and Gomi? That’s like being called Help Me and Trash! Well, whatever, I hear Io-sama is a total hottie. Damn, I wanna see her...”

“He never lets up...” Shihoru said coldly. “But—”

“Haruhiro.” Soma called each of their names once more, as if carving them out. “Ranta. Yume. Shihoru. Merry. Kuzaku. We’ll be waiting. See you.”

The receiver stopped vibrating, and the light on the lower end vanished.

Haruhiro was still holding the receiver, unable to even breathe properly.

“Akira, he said?” Mr. Unjo suddenly let out a low laugh. “And Gogh? Preposterous. It’s impossible. No way...”

“...You know them?” Kuzaku hesitantly asked.

“I know of them—” Mr. Unjo stopped and let out a sigh. “They’re not necessarily the same people. They’re different people with the same names. Most likely...”

Akira and Gogh were the same age, and had both been volunteer soldiers for twenty years. Haruhiro didn’t know their exact ages, but he figured they were probably in their forties. Mr. Unjo had to be around there, too. It wouldn’t be strange if he did know them.

Haruhiro took a deep breath. His mind was still numbed to the core. “I think they must be Akira-san and Gogh-san.”

“Soman was sayin’ he called a buncha times,” Yume said in a fluffy, half-dreaming voice. “So why’d we never hear it before now?”

“Hold on, Soman—” Haruhiro started to correct her, but decided against it.

The nickname’s fine, I guess, he thought. No, maybe it isn’t? I wonder. I don’t really know anymore.

“Maybe...” Merry looked beyond Waluandin. “...it’s because we’re close?”

“That’s it!” Ranta pointed at Merry. “Merry, girl, you’re smart! Well, I’d figured that out, too, and was just about to say it, though!”

“Girl? Huh? What?” asked Merry. “I take it you never want to get healed again?”

“...Ah! Sorry, I-I got a little too chummy there. I need to be more polite, milady. My bad. No, seriously, seriously. It won’t happen again. So, forgive me! Pwease!”

“That pwease was infuriating...” Shihoru muttered.

Haruhiro agreed.

But setting that aside for now...

“We’re close, huh?” Haruhiro looked down at the receiver. “I see. So we’re close. We’re close to Grimgar.”

Yume held her hand tightly against the center of her chest. “Yume, she wants to go home. Yume wants to see Master, too. If she couldn’t ever see him again, well, Yume wouldn’t like that.”

“Yeah...” Kuzaku looked up to the dark sky. “I’ve gotta agree.”

Stop it, Haruhiro thought. Please, just stop. Don’t tell me the truth like that.

Because even if that’s how you really feel, it’s just not possible. If you were to ask if I want to go home or not, yeah, I wanna go home. I mean, I wouldn’t even joke about wanting to stay here forever. What choice do we have, though? If we try to go back, we’re guaranteed to be risking our lives. If we do risk them, there’s no guarantee it’ll pay off, and I can’t imagine it would.

I can’t be adventurous like that. I can’t let you be, either. I don’t want to lose anyone. I don’t want to let you die. We’re gonna live. All of us. That’s the best option.

“If you give up, I will never forgive you,” Lilia had said. What was that supposed to mean? That they should not give up, and they should struggle, and survive? Or...

“We’ll be waiting,” Soma had said, too.

“See you,” he’d said.

“We can’t take risks,” Haruhiro said clearly. “Not risks that are that big, no way. But what we can do is secure our safety, while taking our time to look for a way.”

“Huh?” Ranta crossed his arms and cocked his head to the side. “What’s that mean, basically?”

“...Huh?” Kuzaku asked. “Are you stupid?”

“Kuzacky! You’re mocking your super senior! I’ll throw shit at you, you jerk!”

“That’s filthy! Geez!” Yume scowled. “Basically, it means that. It means that, right? So... it’s that, right? Right...?”

“You don’t get it either!” Ranta shouted.

“We’ll do our best not to put ourselves in danger, and we’ll stay careful,” Shihoru said emphatically. “We continuously move forward with our investigation, and if someday, we reach our goal—”

“—we can go back,” Merry finished for her. She bit her lip. “To Grimgar.”

“That’s what it means, right?” Ranta said, puffing up his chest arrogantly. “I know that, you moron.”

With his pack on his back again, Mr. Unjo turned to go. “Do as you please.”

Even if he could return, Mr. Unjo wouldn’t. It might not be for a simple reason like, I have Rubicia, but he would still choose to stay in Darunggar. That was what it felt like.

Well, different strokes for different folks.

Haruhiro bowed his head deeply. “Umm... thank you so much, Unjo-san. For everything. Really!”

Mr. Unjo stopped. He didn’t turn back. “...Don’t die, my juniors.”