16. Crossroads

It really wasn’t funny.

Haruhiro and the others had narrowly managed to flee back to Lonesome Field Outpost with their lives, and they bought cheap tents from the merchant selling them in the back streets.

It went without saying that they’d bought separate tents for the guys and the girls. Ranta had spouted some nonsense about how they should buy a single big tent and all sleep together in one happy pile, but nobody had agreed.

After that, they’d gotten something to eat and the girls had headed off to the bathhouse. The guys were put off by the higher-than-expected cost of entry, and they made the logical decision to wait and see if they stank the next day, and if so, bathe then. Then they went to lie down early in their tent next to the outpost.

As might have been expected, three guys were a tight fit in one tent. For starters, while Haruhiro and Ranta were compact, by guy standards, Kuzaku was too tall. To engage in a bit of hyperbole, he took up the space of two people. Three guys who hadn’t bathed, packed into a tight space together until morning. This was no laughing matter.

Maybe it wasn’t too late to go bathe now. That, or buy a different tent. But, would that greedy tent merchant let them return this one?

Why didn’t I buy a bigger one to begin with? Haruhiro wondered. I had the money, but being poor’s made me naturally frugal. I can’t help but cheap out.

Ranta’s already snoring, but is it okay to sleep? Aren’t there things we should be doing? Like reflecting on today?

Technically, they had talked during dinner about how they couldn’t go on like this, but everyone had been exhausted, and it hadn’t been an atmosphere where they could really debate anything. Haruhiro, to be honest, was thoroughly exhausted, like he’d done enough for today, and he wanted to leave it until tomorrow.

But it’s not okay, he thought. Not okay at all.

“...Kuzaku, you awake?” he asked.

“Yeah. Sorta.”

“How was it?” Haruhiro asked.

“How was what?”

“Now that you’ve tried it,” Haruhiro said.

“...It was tough,” Kuzaku said.

“Do you know why it was tough?” Haruhiro asked.

“Oh. Hmm. It just sort of was.”

“That’s no good...” Haruhiro mumbled.

Kuzaku wasn’t the only one who was no good. Haruhiro was, too. He wanted to put all the blame on Kuzaku and Ranta, even though it wasn’t their fault. There weren’t just one or two problems—there were a whole host of them. Those problems interacted in complex ways, leading things in a worse direction.

“I’m no good, I know.” Kuzaku tried to roll over, but stopped, probably because it was too tight in the tent. “But, in a way, weird as it is to say this, it was fun, I guess.”

“Huh?” Haruhiro asked.

“I may not seem it, but I’m taking this seriously, you know,” Kuzaku said. “I probably wasn’t before. I dunno. It makes it feel worth it? Maybe that’s it.”

“...I see,” Haruhiro said.

“Here’s hoping I won’t die,” said Kuzaku. “That none of us will, ever again.”

“Yeah,” Haruhiro agreed.

“It’s kind of on me to prevent it, huh?” Kuzaku asked.

“That’s what makes it so tough,” Haruhiro said. “Being the tank, I mean.”

“Being the leader, too, I’ll bet.”

Haruhiro didn’t respond.

Kuzaku’s probably not a bad guy. I don’t really know yet, though, he thought. He’s been blessed with a good physique, and he has a decent amount of physical strength. But he’s not able to maneuver well. He doesn’t have Moguzo’s finesse, or his attention to detail. He doesn’t seem that tenacious, either. He lacks a strong core, you could say. He’s shaky and unreliable.

—This is no good. It’s really no good. I can’t help but compare him to Moguzo. Kuzaku’s not Moguzo.

“You should do this,” or “You should do that”—like, “You’re opening yourself too wide,” or maybe “You need to lower your hips more”—there were plenty of things like that Haruhiro could have told him. But how applicable would the things be that Haruhiro, a thief, mentioned? Kuzaku must have been thinking things through himself, and it was best to leave the fine details to him to figure out. If someone started lecturing him on how to move as a thief, Haruhiro would probably think, What the hell do you know, anyway? He hadn’t known Kuzaku long, so he couldn’t predict his reactions. He didn’t know what it was okay to say and what would just make things worse. He was still getting a feel for that.

What a pain. I’m starting to feel sleepy, he thought, and soon his consciousness had sunk into the darkness.

When he awoke, maybe not mentally, but physically, he felt better. It looked like everyone just left their tents out, so Haruhiro and company did the same. So long as they didn’t leave their belongings behind, too, nobody was going to bother stealing a cheap tent. They got breakfast in the back streets of the outpost, and now it was time for another fine day in the Wonder Hole.

With a little research the day before, he’d found out that the pseudo-chickens were creatures called melruks. The clubmen were duergar. The hairy monkeys were bogies. The gem kids were spriggans.

These three races that inhabited the area just inside the Wonder Hole were known as the three demi-humans. The three demi-humans were all mutually hostile, and they would kill each other on sight, but their greatest enemy was humans.

However, they wouldn’t touch humans that looked strong. In other words, the three demi-humans had judged Haruhiro’s group to be weak.

Of the three demi-humans, spriggans, or rather their gem-like eyes, sold for a good price. Sometimes, they were hunted to near extinction for them. That said, very few volunteer soldiers could be bothered to focus on the three demi-humans.

The demi-humans hunted melruks in groups, or captured other demi-humans and ate their meat, somehow managing to survive on that. They were, without a doubt, the weakest creatures in the Wonder Hole. If they were able to keep the party from advancing, this whole endeavor was going to be a nonstarter.

Put another way, the area inhabited by the three demi-humans was like the first barrier to any volunteer soldier looking to make their fortune in the Wonder Hole.

“But...!” Haruhiro added aloud.

While Swatting Duergar A’s club, Haruhiro checked what his comrades were doing. Kuzaku was focused on blocking Duergar B’s club with his shield, while Ranta was running circles around Duergar C. Yume was trading blows with Duergar D using her machete, and even Merry was fighting a Duergar E. It was a fight they could just barely handle. Like the day before, the three demi-humans had taken Haruhiro and his group for weaklings again today, and they’d gotten into a situation like this in no time. Breaking past the first barrier wouldn’t be easy.

“Ranta, just kill that one already!” Haruhiro shouted. “Someone needs to protect Shihoru!”

“Shove off!” Ranta hollered. “I know that! You don’t have to tell me, pal! Here it comes! My super move! Invincible Exploding Slashhhhhh...!”

When Ranta stopped and started swinging away at Duergar C, the duergar quickly leapt backward to put some distance between them.

That duergar’s much calmer than Ranta, Haruhiro thought. Actually, it’s just that Ranta’s way too stupid.

Kuzaku was focused entirely on defense, so he wouldn’t be throwing Duergar B off balance any time soon.

Even if he can’t beat them, it’d be easier if he could do like Moguzo and take on not just one, but two or more by himself sometimes, Haruhiro thought regretfully. How did Moguzo do that, again...?

Merry and Duergar E were evenly matched. Yume was struggling a little against Duergar D.

Is it just me, or is Duergar D kind of bigger than the other duergar? Haruhiro wondered.

He wasn’t imagining it. That one was clearly a full size larger than the rest. It was that much stronger as a result. If he had noticed from the beginning, he could have had Kuzaku or Ranta handle Duergar D. This had been a mistake on Haruhiro’s part.

It looks like Shihoru’s looking for an opening to use her magic, but, right now, if enemy reinforcements, or bogies or spriggans, turn up, we’re in serious trouble, Haruhiro thought. It’s up to me. I have to do it.

Moguzo, the one they had been fully reliant on for both offense and defense, was gone now. Ranta sometimes showed bursts of strength, but he wasn’t stable. They couldn’t rely on him. Shihoru was trying to acquire some firepower, but she wasn’t used to it yet, and it was only once a mage’s safety was secured that they could dominate enemies with their powerful magic.

Just being a leader wasn’t enough. Haruhiro had to become a genuine asset in combat, too.

Haruhiro used Swat on Duergar A’s club, then immediately stepped in and stomped on the duergar’s knee. Shatter.

“Gugyah!” the duergar howled.

For an instant, Duergar A stopped, and in that time Haruhiro slipped past him. With a backhand grip on the dagger in his right hand, he jabbed it into Duergar A’s neck, following that up with a whack to the back of the head with his sap.

Haruhiro rushed over to Shihoru. “Shihoru! I’ll protect you, so cast a spell!”

“Right!” Shihoru responded eagerly, immediately beginning to chant a spell. “Ohm, rel, ect, nemun, darsh...!”

A shadow elemental flew forth. It attached itself to the ground right behind Duergar D.

“Diagonal Cross!” Yume attacked, causing Duergar D to take a step back. Its right foot landed on the shadow elemental. Shihoru’s targeting for stuff like this was exquisite. Duergar D couldn’t move.

Knowing it was now or never, Yume pressed the attack, but Duergar D fended her off with his club. He was a stubborn one.

“Jess, yeen, sark, fram, dart...!” That’s when Shihoru slammed a Lightning spell into him.

Shihoru had some trouble with the accuracy of her Falz Magic at the moment, but she didn’t miss a stationary opponent. Duergar D took a clean hit from the lightning, his entire body jolting and convulsing. If his right foot hadn’t been glued to the shadow elemental, the shock might have sent him flying. It didn’t look like it had killed him, but he’d probably lost consciousness.

“Ooh-hah! Take that!” Yume cut Duergar D up with her machete.

Duergar D’s done, Haruhiro thought. Now there are three left.

“—is something I’m not thinking, okay?!” he added aloud.

That was what he had to tell himself, because here they were. They were coming. The hairy monkeys known as bogies. Out of a nearby tunnel.

A thought occurred to Haruhiro. It’s the same order as yesterday. That means the spriggans’ll be next, huh? At least, we should be prepared for them. We can sell spriggan eyes. They’re good money.

Using that thought to motivate himself, first he would have to deal with the remaining three duergar and three—no, four bogies.

Uwah, Haruhiro thought in dismay. That’s seven people in total. That’s more than we’ve got. Maybe we ought to run...?

“Ha! Anger! How do you like that, huh?!” Ranta ran Duergar C through and killed him.

“Jess, yeen, sark, kart, fram, dart...!” Shihoru chanted.

Shihoru’s magic burst forth. Not Lightning, but the higher-grade version of it, Thunderstorm. Her target was the bogies.

There was a pretty incredible thunderclap, and two of the bogies were blown away. It looked like it was close to a direct hit, so those two probably wouldn’t be getting up. Kuzaku was taking Duergar B and Merry was taking Duergar E, while the new enemies were Bogie A and Bogie B. If it was four in total, they could take them out.

No, that wasn’t the issue. Could they finish them off quickly? That was the key thing.

“Yume! Switch with Merry!” Haruhiro shouted.

“Meeeow!” Yume cried.

“Ranta, we’re taking out the bogies!” Haruhiro shouted.

“Gwahahaha! I can do that myself, man!”

“Yeah, I wish!” Haruhiro shot back. “Merry, watch Shihoru! Shihoru, meditate if you can!”

“Okay!” Merry called.

“R-Roger...!” Shihoru added.

Yume quickly swapped out with Merry, while Merry put herself in a position to guard Shihoru. Ranta charged headlong towards Bogie A. Haruhiro’s opponent was Bogie B.

He had his uncertainties. He was so scared, he couldn’t help himself. He couldn’t dwell on it, he knew that, but the thought always came to mind, If only Moguzo were here.

But, when Manato had been there at first, when Merry had joined, and when Moguzo had been with them, the things that Haruhiro and the others had built during those times hadn’t all been reduced to nothing. The teamwork between Haruhiro, Ranta, Yume, Shihoru, Merry, while it may not have been complete, had reached a level where they could communicate everything they needed to with eye contact and maybe a few words. Their individual strength had also risen considerably.

If they got overconfident, they would fail, but they needed to have self-confidence. To believe in themselves. Just enough not to be timid. That would be difficult, but they had to do it.

We can do it, Haruhiro thought.

These duergar and bogies, lacking any real equipment, were no match for Haruhiro and the others. The one thing they had to watch out for was their numbers. They had to divvy them up well, and swiftly go about reducing them.

We ought to be able to do this, Haruhiro thought.

“It’s a race, Ranta!” he called.

“You’re on!” Ranta shouted.

What they were racing for went without saying: to see who could kill their bogie the fastest.

“Leap Out!” Ranta zoomed off on a diagonal, instantly landing in front of Bogie A. Then he swung his longsword like a scythe. The top half of Bogie A’s head was lopped off. “Mwahaha! I win, Parupiroooo! Be my slave from today on!”

“I never agreed to those terms!” Haruhiro deliberately chose not to attack Bogie B, instead going on the defensive and using Swat on its claws as it attacked.

Ranta circled around behind Bogie B. “Chestooo...!”

His longsword carved into Bogie B, the back of his head this time. Bogie B was mowed down.

“Gwah ha ha!” Ranta laughed. “Damn, I’m stroooong! I’m the strongest! Parupiro’s weak! Peh!”

Haruhiro was pissed off enough he couldn’t restrain himself from clicking his tongue in displeasure. Still, it was just as planned. So long as he took the necessary precautions and used him well, Ranta was an asset.

“Haru...!” Merry cried.

“I know!” he shouted back.

When he looked over, there were spriggans popping out of another tunnel. This was within expectations. The problem was the number of them.

“Five... six, huh?” Haruhiro yelped in alarm. “Shihoru?!”

“I can go once more!” she cried.

“Okay! I’ll leave the timing to you!” he shouted.

“Right!”

“Ranta, don’t run out yet!” Haruhiro added. “You’ll get your turn soon!”

“Sure thing!” Ranta hollered. “After all, I’m the star player on this team!”

Haruhiro peeked over at Kuzaku and Yume. As Yume shouted “Chaaa...!” and cut down Duergar E, Kuzaku was still using the Block skill with his shield to defend against Duergar B’s attacks.

No, I know I said to focus entirely on doing that, but isn’t he still taking way too long...? Haruhiro thought.

“Jess, yeen, sark, kart, fram, dart...!”

Shihoru cast Thunderstorm. The moment that bundle of lightning came down, the spriggans scattered. Even though they did, one of them failed to evade it and was blasted away.

“...Sorry!” Shihoru called.

“Don’t worry about it!” Haruhiro called back,

While consoling Shihoru, Haruhiro thought, Five. Five of them, huh. Damn. If Kuzaku had hurried up and killed Duergar B faster, we’d be able to support this number. Do we run? It’s a hard call. I don’t have time to be indecisive, though. The spriggans are almost on top of us.

“Everyone, defend Shihoru to the death!” Haruhiro called. “I’ll take them down one by one!”

Is it okay? he wondered. Saying something like that? Isn’t this plan kind of bad? I dunno. But I can’t take it back now. I don’t have the time.

“A man looks coolest when he’s defending a woman!” Haruhiro added. “Ranta! Show us how manly you are!”

“Damn straight I’ll do it, you moron! Leave it to me!” Ranta hollered.

Ranta, Merry, and Yume each readied their weapons and surrounded Shihoru.

The spriggans surged towards them. Ranta and the others focused on a defensive fight, not breaking formation even when it turned into a melee. Just one of them, Haruhiro, dashed out from inside the spriggans’ weak encirclement.

Changing direction, he targeted the spriggans from behind. That guy. The one attacking Merry.

Rather than Backstab, Haruhiro chose the more guaranteed kill of Spider. He grappled the spriggan from behind, stabbed it through the kidney, then slit its throat from ear to ear.

When one was dead, the other spriggans swarmed towards Haruhiro.

“—Oh, crap!” Haruhiro shouted.

“Nice decoy work, Piropiroooo!” Ranta took that opportunity to take a slash at one spriggan’s back.

Too shallow. It wasn’t a fatal blow, but now the spriggans couldn’t focus entirely on Haruhiro.

Two spriggans closed in on Haruhiro, A and B, while Spriggan C went for Ranta and Spriggan D went for Yume. Thanks to that, things were slightly easier on Haruhiro, but it was still two-on-one. This was going to be tough.

“I’ve got this!” Merry cried, and with a sharp jab of her short staff, she kept Spriggan B in check. Spriggan B spun to avoid the short staff and turned to face Merry. Merry had successfully pulled Spriggan B away from Haruhiro. Now Haruhiro could focus solely on Spriggan A.

Haruhiro couldn’t carry out his plan of killing them one by one, but there were four one-on-one matches now. It might not be the best outcome, but it was one of the better ones. Shihoru was likely exhausted from using her magic power, but even if they didn’t rely on her spells, each time one of them took down a spriggan, things would swing further in their favor.

While using Swat on Spriggan A’s knife, Haruhiro couldn’t help but think, It really is Kuzaku. I can’t blame him, I guess. He only just joined the party. He hasn’t been a volunteer soldier for that long, either.

Haruhiro and the others had been pretty awful themselves when they’d started out. They might not be anything special now, but they’d been much worse before.

When I think back to how we were back then, I can’t make fun of Kuzaku, Haruhiro thought. No, I wasn’t making fun of him. For now, I’ll just have to have him do the best he can.

But, still, I dunno that it’s okay for him to have been evenly matched with Duergar B for so long. I mean, we’re in a battle with time here.

“—Ah! They’re here, huh!” Haruhiro shouted.

That was a close one.

Haruhiro nearly failed to Swat Spriggan A’s knife. He was panicking. Of course he was.

More spriggans had just come out from yet another tunnel. He wasn’t sure how many. Somewhere between three and five, maybe. Shihoru probably couldn’t use Thunderstorm again.

This is not good, he thought.

“Or rather, it’s impossible!” he shouted.

We have no choice but to run.

“Everyone...!”

“Ohhhhhhhhhh...! Hatred...!” Ranta cut down Spriggan C, then charged at the new spriggans.

“Huh?! Man, what are you—Urkh...!”

Haruhiro nearly failed his Swat again. He was losing his mind badly enough as it was. He wished Ranta wouldn’t make things worse.

“Ranta?!” he shouted.

“Tough it out, Haruhiro!” Ranta acted like he was going to charge into the new spriggans, but then he used Exhaust to zoom backwards and run away. The spriggans chased after Ranta. “If we back down here, it’ll be the same thing over and over! I’ll buy you time! We’re gonna murder all of these guys!”

“That’s not...!” Haruhiro burst out.

Pride, willpower, guts, all of those things are important, yes, Haruhiro thought, gritting his teeth as he used Swat on Spriggan A’s dagger again and again. But, no matter how we strain ourselves, we’re not going to be able to do things we can’t do.

“Ohm, rel, ect, nemun, darsh...!”

Shihoru’s shadow elemental flew forth, attaching itself to the ground and stopping one of the new spriggans in his tracks. However, it wasn’t nearly enough to make a difference.

Ranta was using Exhaust to its fullest, somehow dragging the spriggans around after him, but he’d run out of steam eventually. Now that it had come to this, it would be hard to retreat without abandoning Ranta. They’d have to accept the situation for what it was and go all-out.

“Wa ha ha!”

Haruhiro heard someone laugh. That voice wasn’t one of his comrades. Who was it...?

He looked and saw a volunteer soldier in tough-looking equipment walking along at a leisurely pace. He might have been fifteen meters from Haruhiro and the others, not far at all. Despite that, why did those people look so calm?

Because they actually are calm, I guess, he thought.

“Ohh. Look at them go at it,” one soldier said pityingly.

“Wa ha ha,” the next laughed. “Good luck.”

“When you’re at the level that those guys’ll attack you, it’s tough,” the first one agreed.

“Well, it’s a stage everyone goes through, you know?” a third one pointed out.

“Nah, when we first came, they never attacked us, remember?” said the first one.

“Yeah, yeah,” the second agreed. “They didn’t.”

“Now that you mention it, you’re right!” the third one cried.

In fact, the spriggans didn’t even turn an eye towards that party.

Four men, and two women. Their composition is two warriors and a paladin, a mage, a priest, and a thief, Haruhiro thought.

Even at a glance, it was plain to see. From the quality of their equipment and their overall demeanor, they were nothing like Haruhiro and his group. Without a doubt, that party was stronger than Haruhiro’s.

If they could get that good, the three demi-human groups wouldn’t try to lay a hand on them. They could walk right through here.

“You could help us out, y’know!” Yume complained loudly.

You can say that again, thought Haruhiro. Haruhiro and his party were fighting a hard battle and were in serious trouble. The other party should have seen that, so it wouldn’t have killed them to help out a little. If Haruhiro had been in their shoes, he’d have at least called out, Are you okay? Should we help? As a fellow human being, he’d want to do at least that much.

I mean, isn’t that what you ought to do? he thought. But, these guys, what’s wrong with them? They’ve wandered off while having a pleasant chat. Are they sane? Are they even human? They didn’t look particularly cruel and evil. Well, maybe they looked relatively normal, but they’re actually a band of inhuman monsters...?

It’s a rough world.

You can only trust your comrades. Don’t count on anyone else. Because you can’t. We’ll have to get out of this by ourselves. In order to survive, our only option is to carve out our own path.

“I’ll do it!” he called.

He needed to cool his head. He understood that, but he couldn’t help but get a little hot under the collar.

Haruhiro hit Spriggan A’s knife with a hard Swat, then flipped a switch. No, there wasn’t an actual switch anywhere to flip, it meant that he consciously changed the mode he was in, like flipping a switch.

“Assault!”

He attacked like crazy with his dagger and sap. However, he stopped after the fourth sequential strike. Spriggan A looked at him with a, Huh...? look on his face.

Now. Haruhiro dashed past Spriggan A, whacking him in the back of the head with his sap as he passed. He then jammed his dagger into the staggering spriggan’s neck.

“Merry!” Haruhiro shouted from his diaphragm, causing Spriggan B, the one Merry was fighting, to look his way.

Merry swiftly swept Spriggan B’s legs out from under him with her short staff. Spriggan B fell. On his back.

Haruhiro leapt on Spriggan B’s back as he tried to rise. He took a cut to his arm, or somewhere near there, but that was no big deal. Haruhiro jammed his dagger under Spriggan B’s jaw. He then slashed his throat wide open. Spider. Spriggan B died.

“Haru! Your injury!” Merry cried.

“It can wait!” he called back. “First...!”

I’m on a roll. I’m scared that I might get carried away, but it would be a shame to cool down and lose the momentum I’ve got going. Maybe I should go as far as I can, to almost the limit, without going over? I feel like I might be able to grasp something. Like I might be able to take the next step up.

“Punishment!” Kuzaku finally got around to slamming his longsword into Duergar B’s brainpan.

Good. Good, good, good! Haruhiro traded glances with Yume. Yume seemed to get what he wanted.

With a grunt, Yume cried, “Comboooo...!”

Yume unleashed a somewhat forced combo using Brush Clearer and Diagonal Cross, causing Spriggan D to back down a bit. However, she hadn’t been taking advantage of an opening, so Yume ended up throwing herself off balance a bit. It was dangerous, but that was fine.

It’s been a while, thought Haruhiro.

He saw that line. That faint line of light.

Rather than him tracing the line, it was more like his body followed it on its own. The dagger didn’t so much stab in as slide into place. Haruhiro landed a Backstab on Spriggan D, snuffing his life out in a single stroke.

We’re in top shape, he thought. We can do this. Things’re going our way.

“Yume, and you, too, Kuzaku! We’re going! We’ll get Ranta—”

Whoa. Haruhiro felt dizzy, the strength draining out of his legs. We can do this? How? How is this being able to do it? Going our way? Oh, something’s heading our way all right. More enemies.

Duergar from the left tunnel. Bogies from the right.

The three types of demi-humans don’t get along. We should make them fight each other. That idea occurred to him, but he couldn’t think of a specific way to do it. No matter how I look at it, running’s the only option here. But , then, what do I do about Ranta? I dunno. Honestly, I can’t decide.

“Merry, Shihoru! Run for it!” he yelled. “Yume, you too! Kuzaku...!”

Haruhiro looked to Kuzaku. Kuzaku was raising the visor on his helmet.

Kuzaku’s shoulders were heaving with each breath, but he met Haruhiro’s gaze and nodded.

Yeah, at times like this, this is how it goes, Haruhiro thought. This is how it always goes, doesn’t it? Not because we want to show off—it just happens this way naturally.

He didn’t hear Yume, Shihoru or Merry’s responses. Haruhiro rushed towards the bogies, and Kuzaku charged at the duergar.

Ohh, Haruhiro wanted to moan. I’m so scared, I want to cry. The numbers, they’re seriously bad news. How many bogies are there? I can’t get a quick count. What the hell? Seriously, what the hell? I’m gonna die. This is it. I am so going to die. If I charge straight in like this, they’ll mince me in an instant. This is no good. I need to buy even a little time. I know.

He was scared, so scared that his every hair was standing on end, but he drew them in, further and further. In another step, probably, the bogies would spring on him.

That was where he made a sudden turn. He couldn’t do a full one-eighty, but he banked about a hundred degrees or so to the left.

Haruhiro ran. With everything he had. The bogies were biting at his heels and raising an ungodly racket. He wasn’t going to be able to lose them. For another second or two, he had to run around—

“Meow...!”

Yume. Why was Yume in front of Haruhiro?

The arrow she fired whizzed past Haruhiro’s face, and may or may not have hit a bogie. He couldn’t check without looking back, and if he looked back he was sure they’d catch up to him, so he couldn’t check.

“Yume, why?!” he shouted.

“Did you think we could run away?!” Yume let off another arrow, then took off running alongside Haruhiro. There were tears streaming down her face. “Runnin’ away and leavin’ you guys behind! There’s no way we coulda done that!”

Well, no, maybe not, Haruhiro thought. But—wait, it’s not just Yume? Yeah. They’re here.

Over by Kuzaku, who was surrounded by duergar and taking a beating, were Merry and Shihoru. Kuzaku was desperately protecting himself with his longsword and shield, still just barely managing to stay on his feet. As for Ranta, who was still being chased around by the spriggans, there was no telling how much longer he’d last.

We’ll be wiped out, Haruhiro thought. We can struggle all we want, but we’ll get wiped out. All of us are going to die here.

Sorry, Moguzo. I know it’s like, what am I apologizing for, right? Just, sorry. We shouldn’t be following after you so soon. Dammit. Dammit! Dammit...!

“No!” Haruhiro screamed.

What good will shouting that do? What will it change?

“I don’t want to die!”

There was nothing he could do. Nothing any of them could do. No one in the group, least of all Haruhiro himself, had the power.

So, whether they wanted to or not, they were going to die here. They would die, leaving nothing behind. If no one was kind enough to burn them, they’d turn into zombies. When their flesh rotted and fell from their bones, they’d become skeletons. This was the worst.

“Augh!” Yume shouted.

One of the bogies had slashed Yume’s leg with its claws. Yume fell behind. She was going down.

This is the place, Haruhiro thought.

He had to flip his switch. He knew it was futile. But dying without doing anything, that would just be awkward. At the very least, he’d give it everything he had. Haruhiro changed to a new mode.

“Assault!”

I don’t care if I die. I mean, I’m gonna, anyway. The bogies. How many are there? Eight? Nine? More than ten? Who gives a damn?

Haruhiro closed in on the bogies that were about to pounce on Yume. He cut them with his dagger. Whacked them with his sap. He cut and whacked and cut and stabbed and whacked and cut and whacked and stabbed any that he could get his hands on.

For a moment, the bogies were intimidated by Haruhiro, but they quickly launched a counterattack. The bogies’ claws dug into Haruhiro. In no time, Haruhiro was a mess of injuries. He didn’t care—Haruhiro attacked with abandon. If he stopped, it was over. He refused to stop before he was dead.

Yume kept firing arrows at point blank range. With each arrow she fired, Yume screamed.

Suddenly, his field of vision was cut in half. It looked like they had gotten one of his eyes. He couldn’t swing his sap anymore. His left arm stopped moving.

It was hard to breathe—actually, he couldn’t breathe properly.

Yume took a knee. She was swinging an arrow around blindly. One bogie circled around behind her.

I’m not letting you take her! Haruhiro tried to take a swing at that bogie. Right after he did, he felt impacts all over his body, and the next thing he knew, he was lying on the ground. Yume was on top of him. Was she trying to cover him?

Stop that, he tried to say. He had no voice. —This is it, huh.

Was this as far as he went? The bogies’ claws tore into Yume’s flesh, and she let out a scream.

Stop it, Haruhiro thought. She’s just a girl, damn it.

But his body wouldn’t move. It broke his heart. He had already resigned himself. But, at the very least...

Haruhiro worked up the last of his strength and hugged Yume close.

Haru-kun, she called his name.

He turned her over, facing her downwards. At least, he tried.

“Ha—”

What? Haruhiro thought numbly. What happened?

The bogies, they’ve stopped attacking.

They couldn’t possibly attack now. That was because...

All at once, there was a splatter of blood from the bogies. All of them, at once. That was impossible. But, in Haruhiro’s eyes, it appeared instantaneous.

The bogies doubled over and collapsed. They fell on Haruhiro and Yume, too. When they fell on top of Haruhiro, of course it hurt. But, more than that, he was utterly amazed.

What is this? he thought. What’s happening? I don’t get it.

Yume mumbled something next to his ear. Yume’s face was right next to Haruhiro’s face. Actually, they were touching.

“Are you okay?” he heard a man’s voice say.

A man? Haruhiro thought. Who? And, wait, does this mean...

“...We’re... saved...?” he croaked.

“Meow...?” Yume asked tentatively.

“Just wait,” the voice said.

Haruhiro finally saw the man. You’re kidding me, he thought. He couldn’t believe it.

The man moved aside the bogie corpses, first helping Yume, then Haruhiro up.

It seemed it wasn’t a joke or a dream. Haruhiro couldn’t believe it, but he was going to have to.

The man still looked young and he wore a cool suit of black armor that fit him tightly, but which looked light to wear. There was orange light leaking out from inside it here and there. The asymmetrical skirt-like piece he wore to protect his lower half was cool, too. The long blade he wore over his back was cool, and so was the shorter blade on his hip. His face was cool, too. He wasn’t particularly beautiful, but the way his almond eyes were full of composure, intensity, and sorrow was cool. Anyway, he was cool, or rather, insanely cool. Way too insanely cool.

This man was the strongest volunteer soldier.

The most famous volunteer soldier.

“...Soma-san?” Haruhiro asked, without having meant to. The answer was obvious.

“Hm?” Soma blinked. “Do you know me?”

“...No, of course I know you... but—wait, what about everyone else?!” Haruhiro suddenly cried, looking around hurriedly. It was already over.

The duergar that had been clobbering Kuzaku had been wiped out by a beautiful young elf woman with silver hair, eyes like sapphires, and skin as white as the snow, as well as a man with awfully long arms who wore a mask and strange armor that covered his entire body.

Ranta had seemingly been saved by the swarthy man with his hair in dreadlocks who had sanpaku eyes. The paladin Kemuri.

Kemuri-san! Haruhiro wanted to call out to him. Just once, Kemuri had treated him to a drink in Sherry’s Tavern, ostensibly to celebrate the party’s victory over Death Spots. He wasn’t a talkative man, but he was ridiculously well-built, and while his bad eyes made him look scary, he was definitely a good guy.

If he recalled correctly, the elf was Lilia.

The long-armed man who wore a mask was, from what Haruhiro had heard, not human.

Standing a little distance away from the rest, with the face and physique of a child, was the muddy-eyed necromancer Pingo. Haruhiro didn’t really know what a necromancer was, but they apparently created golems, or something like that. But, what did that mean, creating them? Haruhiro had no clue.

Regardless, Haruhiro’s comrades were safe. From the looks of things, Ranta, Kuzaku, Merry, and Shihoru weren’t hurt as badly as Haruhiro or Yume.

Thank goodness.

“Shima, treat them,” Soma called.

The gorgeous and sexy older girl walked over. “Oh, me. Oh, my. This is pretty bad. It’s a good thing you’re still alive.”

“...Uh, right, sorry...” Haruhiro mumbled.

“What are you apologizing for? You silly thing.”

When Shima giggled, Haruhiro’s mind went blank and he couldn’t think of anything. In the time that he’d been taken out of commission by the abnormal degree of adult sexiness she exuded, she finished healing him. It wasn’t like a priest’s magic. He didn’t really know what kind of magic it was.

Yume got Shima to heal her, too. Apparently Merry had already used her light magic on Ranta and Kuzaku. Merry and Shihoru were lightly injured. Merry quickly healed Shihoru and was in turn quickly healed by Shima.

“Thanks!” Ranta bowed down and performed a kowtow in front of Soma’s group. “Seriously! Seriously! You saved our hides! We got our hides saved! We nearly died there! We nearly got wiped out there! Thanks! Hey! Haruhiro! Yume! Shihoru! Merry! And you, too, Kuzaku! All of you! Bow your heads! Hurry up! Are you all stupid?! You have no common sense at all, huh? You pack of morons! You wanna die?! Huhh?!”

“Don’t sweat it,” Soma said simply, and Ranta jumped back up on his feet at the speed of light.

“I know, right?! Getting kowtowed to for something so minor, it’s just off-putting, right?! Come on, Haruhiro! It’s just like I said, right?! Don’t make me kowtow like that, you dolt!”

“...You did that all on your own.”

“Like I would ever do that! Me! You think I’d kowtow for anyone if you weren’t forcing me to?! Honestly, this guy’s a real piece of work! I apologize, seriously! He’s got those sleepy eyes and he’s a malicious villain! He tries to knock me down every chance he gets!”

“You’re a natural piece of trash, you know that, man,” said Haruhiro. “You never change...”

“What a funny boy,” Shima said with a giggle.

“Swoooon,” Ranta put a hand to his heart and fell to the ground. “...Dammit. That one totally got me... I’m in love...”

“...How embarrassing,” Shihoru said, shrinking into herself.

“If only he’d just disappear.” Yume arched her eyebrows, looking sad if anything.

“Um,” Merry bowed her head. “—Thank you. This all happened because I wasn’t doing my job as healer properly...”

Kuzaku sat on the ground, hugging one knee, an awkward expression on his face.

“No.” Kemuri twisted his thick lips into a slight frown. “There was nothing you could have done there, I’m sure. It wasn’t an issue with your healer.”

“...Uhuhuhuh,” the necromancer Pingo uttered a creepy laugh. “The moment they attacked you, it stopped being worth talking about... Uheheh...”

Beside Pingo, the golem emitted a low groan of agreement.

“I agree.” Lilia’s voice was incredibly cold. “If you’re trying to press onward with a level of skill that lets the three demi-humans look down on you, I’m sure you must not want to live very much.”

The much-too-beautiful elf’s look of contempt, paired with her cutting tone of voice, really hit home.

At this point, honestly, all I can say is that I’m sorry, Haruhiro thought. Or rather, if I could, I wish I could just fade away without saying anything.

“They’re right,” Soma nodded. “You have to value your lives.”

“...Right,” Haruhiro said. “Sorry. We won’t do it again...”

“That’s not good, either.”

“...Huh?”

“If all you do with them is hold them dear, your lives have no value,” said Soma. “Life is something that’s meant to be used.”

“Life is meant to be used,” Haruhiro repeated slowly.

“You yourselves decide how yours are to be used,” Soma continued. “That’s what it means to live.”

“Here he goes again,” Shima said with a bewitching smile. “Try not to take the things Soma says too seriously. He’s sure to forget them by tomorrow, then start saying something else entirely different.”

“Really?” Soma asked Shima with a serious look on his face.

“Yes,” Shima said flat out. “That’s the kind of man you’ve always been.”

Soma lowered his eyes, sighing slightly. “I see...”

Soma is looking kind of depressed? Haruhiro traded glances with Ranta and the rest. Somehow, this Soma... he’s kind of different from what we expected... don’t you think?

He glanced to the bogie corpses. Most of the bogies had died from a single stroke. With just one stroke, they had been slashed to death. Soma had made a clean sweep of around ten bogies in an instant, all by himself. He was the most powerful volunteer soldier, someone who could do the impossible like that with ease. He was strong, just incredibly strong, and probably wise, too, and cool, a person so far out of Haruhiro and the others’ reach that he might as well have been above the clouds, and there was no way to get closer to him. That was the image they’d had... but not anymore.

“If you’re so inexperienced that the three demi-humans would pick a fight with you,” Lilia said, pointing deeper into the Wonder Hole, “you can just race past this section. If you go four hundred meters, and enter the nest of the muryans, the three demi-humans won’t chase you any further. If you’re foolish enough to explore the Wonder Hole without knowing even that much, I advise you to turn back now and live out the rest of your days in quiet self-reflection.”

Every word the elf spoke hurt. However, she wasn’t just criticizing Haruhiro and the party, she was also giving them advice.

I don’t know whether to think she’s scary, or kind, Haruhiro thought.

“Hey, wait, you guys.” Kemuri took a quick look at Haruhiro and company’s faces. “You’re them, right? The ones who took down Death Spots.”

“Yeah, yeah! That’s right!” Ranta looked ready to do a happy dance. “You remembered, huh! It’s an honor! Seriously, seriously! I’m the man who took down Death Spots!”

“All of you did, you mean,” Kemuri corrected.

At the correction, Ranta got down and prostrated himself. “—Y-Yes! That’s very true! It wasn’t me, it was all of us! Sorry!”

“One of you’s missing,” said Kemuri. “Monroe, was it? What happened to him?”

“His name was Moguzo,” Haruhiro said in a strong tone, then looked downwards. “...He died. We let him die, you could say. At Deadhead Watching Keep...”

“In Blue Snake Force, huh,” Kemuri said, slapping his forehead. “Well, for a tank, it’s better to die than to let your comrades die.”

“Is it?” Shima asked.

Kemuri shrugged his shoulders a little. “I’d think so.”

“Hmm,” Shima said. “That’s pretty cool.”

“...They’re a bunch of idiots,” Pingo muttered. “Tanks are nothing but idiots... Uheheh...”

Soma furrowed his brow. “Are tanks idiots? I’m a tank. That would make me one, too.”

“I can’t disagree,” Lilia said, coldly as ever.

“It happens often,” Shima said with a sad smile. “And you can’t cry each and every time it does. But, deep in your heart as you may try to bury them, those lukewarm tears will seep out. Always and forever.”

Haruhiro wasn’t confident that he understood Shima’s poetic words. However, he would surely never forget them. Not Manato, or Moguzo. Merry probably couldn’t forget her comrades, either, and it must have been the same for Kuzaku.

Why, when it meant having feelings like these, did they continue being volunteer soldiers? To make a living? That was part of it. Stubborn pride? That was probably part of it, too. An addiction to the thrill of risking their lives? He couldn’t entirely deny it, but that was definitely not all there was to it.

It was to never forget.

Manato, and Moguzo, they had lived as volunteer soldiers, had used their lives for that, used them up, and died.

He didn’t want to reject the lives his comrades, his friends, had lived. He didn’t want to think they were worthless. He wanted to carve them into his memory.

Truthfully, he wanted to see what lay at the end of this path, the one Manato and Moguzo should have trodden.

“...I’m not sure we need to bury them,” Haruhiro said.

Shima nodded slightly, gesturing for him to continue.

Haruhiro wasn’t entirely sure what he wanted to say, what he was trying to say. Still, he couldn’t remain silent.

“This may seem like clinging to the past, but rather than bury them, wouldn’t it be fine for us to hold them tight?” he asked.

“You know what...” Soma suddenly crouched down in front of Haruhiro. They were staring into one another’s eyes, and it made him feel a little restless.

“Will you come join my place?” Soma asked.

“...Come again?”

Join? His place? What does he mean, his place? Haruhiro thought. His house? Go to Soma’s house? That’s not it, huh. That’s probably not it.

“Erm... By your place, you mean...”

“The Day Breakers.”

“Ohh,” Haruhiro said. “I get it now. Of course that’s it. Hahaha... Wait, whaaaaaaaaaaaaa?!”

Ranta and the others probably shouted out loud or jumped up in reaction to that bombshell, too. But Haruhiro was so floored that he didn’t hear or see any of his comrades’ reactions.

“Wha—Huh...?! Wh... B-but... It’s so sudden... No—I don’t know what to say, huh...? A-Are you pulling my leg...?”

“Pulling your leg?” Soma didn’t bat an eye—he looked down at Haruhiro’s leg. “That’s an awfully sudden thing to ask.”

No, you’re the one who’s sudden! Haruhiro thought.

While Haruhiro was in a daze and couldn’t deliver that witty retort, Lilia shook her head and sighed. “...Soma. What are you saying all of a sudden?”

“Did I word it poorly?” Soma asked. “I’m trying to invite them to join the Day Breakers.”

“I understood that much,” said Lilia. “Are you mocking me?”

“Why would I mock you, Lilia? I respect you.”

“Th-That’s...” Lilia’s cheeks, normally white as the fresh fallen snow, turned slightly pink. “...I can feel that. Or rather, that’s not what I was trying to say.”

“Can’t I?” Soma looked to Lilia, Shima, Kemuri, Pingo, and the golem in turn. Then, he hung his head and lowered his eyes. “I can’t, huh...?”

He’s depressed... right? Completely, Haruhiro thought. No matter how I look at him.

“I don’t know that you can’t.” Lilia bit her lip. “...It’s not so much that you can’t. That’s not it, I was just trying to say...”

“We don’t have many receivers left, you know,” Shima said looking slightly exasperated as she gave Lilia a little help. “You do understand that, right?”

Soma furrowed his brow slightly, tilting his head to the side. “What’s wrong with that?”

“What, you ask?” Shima answered.

“If we run out, we just have to find more,” said Soma. “Don’t get so hung up on them.”

“...That’s—Well, yes, you’re right,” she admitted.

“You’re an idiot.” Pingo leaned back against the golem, looking up into the sky. “You’re an idiot. An idiot beyond all saving. But I knew that. Uheheheh...”

Kemuri gave a short “Ha,” then slapped Soma on the shoulder. “What you’re saying isn’t wrong. You’re able to do it. Do what you like, Soma.”

Soma placed his hand on top of Kemuri’s. “Thanks, Kemuri.”

“...No.” Kemuri looked a little shy. “You don’t need to thank me...”

“Now, then,” Soma said, turning back once more and looking straight into Haruhiro’s eyes with his perfectly clear ones. “Our goal is to invade Undead DC in the former Kingdom of Ishmal. We’re currently in the process of searching for the route, but I don’t expect to be able to accomplish that goal right away. It will take time. We’ll need power, too. The power of even one more person helps. I don’t mind if you’re inexperienced. Everyone starts that way. You just need to build up more power. If you will fear not death, face death, and seek life when faced with death, I welcome you.”

This is a fork in the road, Haruhiro thought. It’s a turning point in our lives.

Still, could this be any more sudden? I want time to think it over. I want to decide once I’ve had sufficient time to discuss it with my comrades. But, probably, I don’t have that kind of time. We met Soma here. It was a miracle that Soma saved us. I shouldn’t assume I’ll ever have a chance like this again.

Whether they made use of this opportunity or let it go to waste, that was up to Haruhiro and his comrades. No, not quite.

It was up to Haruhiro.

Is that okay? Won’t they hold it against me later? I mean, this is more than we deserve. Won’t I regret it later? This is no time to be indecisive.

Haruhiro stood up.

“Please, let us in. Let us join the Day Breakers.”

Merry, or Shihoru, or Yume, or perhaps all three of them, gasped. Ranta shouted “Hi-yah!” and started pumping his arm, while Kuzaku let out a “Huh...?”

—I went and did it. I arbitrarily made the decision on my own.

“I’ll be glad to have you,” Soma said, rising with a slight smile, then waved to Pingo. “Give me a receiver.”

Pingo pulled a black, flat stone-like object from somewhere and passed it to Soma. Soma, in turn, passed it to Haruhiro.

“That is a relic called a receiver,” Soma said. “You know what relics are, yeah?”

“...No,” Haruhiro admitted. “I don’t know.”

“Well, you see, here’s what relics are.” Shima began to explain. “It’s an overarching name for anything that can’t be made with modern technology, and was clearly made in the past. They’re usually weapons or armor, or handy items. What you have there is of the handy items variety. Hold it up to your ear.”

“Oh, okay.”

When Haruhiro pressed the receiver to his ear, Soma held a different stone—it was shaped the same as the receiver, but the color was different, it was pure white instead—up to his mouth.

“This is Soma.” “This is Soma.”

“Whuh? It kinda vibrated... I heard you twice—Huh?! What is this...?”

“The one Soma is holding is a sender.” Shima held a different receiver up to her own ear. “The receiver is a relic that his voice can reach no matter how far apart you are. Well, there are channels, and a bunch of other stuff involved, too, though. When the receiver receives a voice from the sender, it vibrates while emitting sound and, also, light.”

Shima pointed to the lower end of her receiver. When Soma pressed on the sender with his thumb, the section Shima was pointing to flashed green.

“We’ve made some new comrades.” “We’ve made some new comrades.” “I’ll introduce them.”

When Soma finished speaking, he pointed the sender towards Haruhiro. Say something, was that it?

“Uh... um... er...” Haruhiro cleared his throat. “—I am Haruhiro... the one being introduced. Nice to meet you. Is that good enough?”

“Yeah.” Soma brought the sender back to his mouth. “Six people, including Haruhiro, have joined us. That is all. May we meet again.”

“Take good care of it... Uheheheh...” Pingo laid a shockingly dark glare on Haruhiro. “There’s only one receiver left. Also... If you think you might die, destroy the receiver. Before you die... be absolutely certain you do. You also never know when Soma may contact you for the most trivial of things... like just now. Keep it on you at all times. Don’t miss what he says, you trash.”

“Y-Yes, sir!” Haruhiro stammered.

“Well, for now, just survive,” Kemuri said, as if it was tiresome.

“Yes.” When Shima crossed her arms, it accentuating her voluptuous bosom, which was kind of dangerous. “That would be for the best.”

“I’m not expecting anything,” Lilia said, cold to the end. “Do try your best not to completely waste that receiver. As things stand, you six are worth far less than a single receiver.”

“If you go through the domain of the three demi-humans into the muryans’ nest, there are ustrels lurking there.” Soma gestured in that direction with his chin. “Once you’re able to defeat an ustrel, the area you can operate in should expand considerably.”

“...An ustrel,” Haruhiro said.

“May we meet again.”

Soma left them with just those words, then was gone like the wind. Kemuri, Shima, Lilia, Pingo, the golem, all they did was wave, without so much as a word of parting, and the next thing he knew they were out of sight.

Was it all a dream...? A daydream? No, it wasn’t. That wasn’t what happened. Haruhiro was holding the receiver firmly in his hand.

At a glance, it was just a flat, black stone that fit in the palm of his hand, but it had ridges and slits on it, and it didn’t feel quite like stone or metal. Anyway, it was a mysterious item, whatever it was.

Haruhiro looked at his comrades. All of them, even Ranta, were dazed.

“Ha ha...”

For the moment, Haruhiro decided to play it off with a laugh. Not that he could.

Haruhiro scratched his head. “Looks like we joined the Day Breakers.”