Grimgal of Ashes and Illusion - Volume 10 - Chapter 5

5. You Scratch My Back, I Scratch Yours

What is this place? Merry wondered. What is with these people?

Once they were ordered down the mountain by that Jessie man, a group in green coats just like his rushed over, and Merry and the rest were bound with ropes. They could move their feet freely, but Jessie was at the rear carrying Haruhiro, so they couldn’t run away.

If he said march, they had to march, and if he said crawl, they had to crawl. That was Merry and the others’ current predicament.

Haruhiro might tell them to forget him, but they couldn’t abandon him. It would be unthinkable.

Haruhiro’s face was crushed, and he was unconscious. Merry had, of course, asked to heal him, but Jessie wouldn’t allow it.

“If this is all it is, he’ll be fine,” he said, even putting on a faint smile. “I held back, you know. He won’t die. He’s out cold, too, so he’s probably not suffering much.”

Is that really the problem? Merry was seething inside.

If she could do it, she wanted to club that man in the back of the head repeatedly with a blunt object, knock him out, and then say, “I held back, you know. I don’t think you’ll die immediately. You’re out cold, too, so you’re probably not suffering much, are you?”

On the other hand, she also recognized the need to calm down. Jessie. He had blond hair, blue eyes, and spoke the same language Merry and the rest did. In other words, the human language. He looked like nothing if not a human male. But that man had taken a solid hit from Haruhiro’s Backstab.

Merry, who had once been a priest for hire, had worked with her fair share of thieves. Thieves, by their nature, tried to get behind their enemies in combat, but even with that in mind, it was unusual for a thief to be as devoted to using Backstab as Haruhiro was. It was hard to say whether it was a devotion to his craft, or something else.

Whatever the case, while she didn’t know what Haruhiro thought about it himself, he was by no means second-rate when it came to his use of the Backstab skill. That strike had definitely hit one of Jessie’s vital points. There was no way that man should be fine after having his kidney stabbed from behind.

For humans, there were times when the excruciating pain of that injury could be enough to cause them to die of shock, and even when that didn’t happen, they didn’t last long. However, after making Merry and the rest surrender, Jessie had merely pulled the stiletto out of his back. He hadn’t bothered with first aid.

He was bleeding. It bothered Merry, so she kept looking.

Jessie had definitely shed enough blood to wet his pants and boots. However, Haruhiro’s Backstab should have struck the kidneys, where the flow of blood gathered, and possibly destroyed the liver and a number of arteries, too. For all of that, the volume of blood seemed low. What was more, Jessie wasn’t acting hurt. His expression was unchanging and calm.

Jessie looked just like a human, but he wasn’t one.

Or perhaps he was human, but he had some sort of special power.

What was the appropriate interpretation?

And...

Merry understood about Jessie. No, she didn’t understand, but she had some clues to speculate with. But who were these people who seemed to be following his lead?

Merry and the others were walking in a line down the hardened paths between the fields where wheat or something was growing.

The people in the same green coats as Jessie walked three to the front, and three to each side of the line. Nine of them in total.

Their coats had hoods attached, and some wore the hoods up, while others didn’t. One of the ones right next to Merry was unhooded, revealing her face.

She was clearly not like Jessie. In other words, not human. What would be the best way to describe her skin color? It wasn’t white or yellowish. If Merry called it a creamy color with a hint of green, would that be close?

Her hair wasn’t that different in color from her skin. Her eyes were red. The bridge of her nose was low and short, and her nostrils were like slits. Her forehead jutted out, but was narrow. Her cheeks were sunken, like someone had scooped them out, and her jaw was solid and pointed. From between her gaping lips, solid-looking gritted teeth peered out, and her gums were a vibrant orange.

Her chest stuck out enough that it was apparent even with the coat. That was why Merry assumed she was probably a woman.

Apparently having noticed Merry’s eyes on her, the inhuman woman looked her way. For some reason, Merry couldn’t avert her eyes.

Eventually, the woman snorted, then turned back to the front.

She’s not human.

She wasn’t an orc, either.

She was much taller than Merry. Likely over 180 centimeters. The others were all around the same, or taller than her. They weren’t all women, though. Some seemed to be men.

Yet the men weren’t like her. Their body shapes, skin color, hair color, eye color, and facial characteristics were all different. If there was something they had in common, it was that they had two arms, two legs, and were bipedal like humans. That, and the green coats. That was all.

To add one more thing, out of the residents who were doing farm work, those who had stopped working the fields to watch the group, and those who had come out into the road only to be shouted at by Jessie and driven off, there weren’t many who looked alike. There were some, but there was too much diversity, and it was hard to tell who was similar to whom, and who wasn’t.

“Jessie Land,” the man had called it. Jessie must be the leader or administrator of this town.

But Jessie was clearly nothing like the residents. If you looked only at appearances, Jessie and their party should have been on one side, and the residents on the other side.

Then again, Jessie might only look human. Merry and the others, however, were human.

Was he an enemy?

Or a friend?

That’s a stupid question.

If he were a friend, Haruhiro wouldn’t have ended up like he had.

Then again, Jessie had said, I don’t want to kill you.

It wouldn’t have been strange for him to have killed them, but Merry and the rest were only bound at the wrists, and they were being left alive. Haruhiro was still breathing, too.

For now.

“Hey.” Merry didn’t stop walking, but she turned back to Jessie who was at the tail end of the procession.

Haruhiro, who was slung over his shoulder like nothing more than a piece of luggage, did not move.

Jessie met Merry’s eyes, but said nothing. It felt like his cold blue eyes showed nothing resembling emotion.

Merry trembled, and her teeth chattered. Her eyes blurred.

No, she told herself. The angrier I get, the more that Jessie guy has the advantage over us. We’re in an overwhelmingly disadvantageous position to begin with. When it comes to my feelings, at least, I don’t want to lose to him. I can’t afford to. Hold it in. Don’t let my voice shake.

“You don’t plan to let him die, right?” Merry asked. “Then let me heal him.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“You’re a priest of Lumiaris, right? If I recall, there was a light magic spell that’s like Parupunte or Hocus Pocus. If you used it, I have no idea what might happen, and it’d be a bit troublesome. Here in Jessie Land, we have a shaman. I’ll have her heal him.”

“I haven’t acquired that spell,” Merry protested.

“You think I can trust you on that?”

“That’s...”

“Merry.” Shihoru called her name.

When she turned to look, Shihoru shook her head. Her face was tense. She was pale.

Shihoru was concerned for Haruhiro, too. If they could heal him, she wanted to. But still, Now isn’t the time to take a firm stance, she was trying to tell Merry.

If that was Shihoru’s judgment, Merry had to trust it. Shihoru was cautious, and thoughtful. Haruhiro was the party leader, but in times when he couldn’t make a decision, like now, Shihoru was the one most suited to lead.

Merry turned to look forward. Haruhiro.

Haruhiro.

Please, don’t die.

Jessie probably won’t let Haruhiro die, she told herself. He’s said as much himself, and that’s Shihoru’s reading, too. I have to trust Shihoru. Haruhiro’s fine. He’ll definitely be fine. He’s stood at the brink of life and death time and again, so even if it looks like he might go to the other side, he’s guaranteed to come back. He’s always making us sweat. I wish he’d cut it out. If I’d healed him with magic again this time, I’m sure he’d have smiled, a little embarrassed, and then apologized. It’s not something you can settle by apologizing, though. Why don’t you get that?

We can’t afford to lose you.

Merry had a sudden realization.

How did Setora feel? It seemed she really did love Haruhiro. She was probably overcome with worry. Merry hadn’t had the presence of mind to be concerned for her.

Merry realized she wasn’t the only one suffering. Shihoru, Yume, and Kuzaku had to be beside themselves with worry, too. And Setora, who’d decided she was his lover, probably felt like she was going to die.

I mean, if... Merry thought hesitantly. If Haruhiro were my lover, and he got into this situation...

No, that was something she didn’t even want to think about.

Even for her, who was just his comrade, it was already hard enough. Honestly, rather than stand still or sit, Merry wanted to walk now. If she stopped, she felt like her legs might give out beneath her.

If she could cry, she’d have wanted to, but the tears probably wouldn’t come out. Even if she screamed, her voice wouldn’t come out that loud.

Haruhiro. Without you, my world would be locked in darkness.

Merry didn’t have the courage to look and see how Setora was holding up. She didn’t want to see her face. When she thought about how much more that woman must be suffering, she was overcome with pity.

Even though I’m a priest, Merry thought. Even though I can heal him.

“Hey,” Yume called out to Jessie.

“Hm?” Jessie responded more easily than expected. “What is it?”

“Chessie, you’re human?”

That was Yume for you. Straightforward beyond all reason. Also, it wasn’t Chessie, it was Jessie...

“You mean Jessie,” he corrected her with a light laugh. “And, yeah, I’m human.”

“You are?”

“You sound doubtful.”

“I mean, you got stabbed good. Normally, a stabbin’ like that’s real painful, and you stop movin’.”

“Well, it did hurt,” said Jessie. “That was some impressive Stealth. His Backstab was perfect, too. This kid’s a good thief.”

“He sure is. Yume, she’s allus thinkin’ that.”

I think so, too, Merry thought. But, Yume, the word isn’t allus...

“Always, huh.” Jessie laughed. “No, was it allus you said?”

“Huh? Allrus?”

“You, you’re funny.”

“Yume is? Yume doesn’t think she’s funny at all. Yume’s gucho serious.”

“Gucho, huh,” Jessie said with amusement. “Is that even a word in Japanese?”

“Japaneeese? Fwuh...?”

“No. Just talking to myself.”

Jessie was talking to Yume in an easy tone, so the sense of tension felt like it might be loosening a bit.

It quickly tightened again.

“That’s enough idle banter. I’ll ask the questions. You people can just answer what I ask. If you try anything stupid, this kid won’t live long.”

Jessie’s tone didn’t change. It wasn’t cold; if anything, it was friendly. That actually made it even scarier.

Yume shut up, and no one else went out of their way to open their mouth.

They were almost at the village. The buildings were of wood, while the walls and some other parts were made of earth, and the roofs were thatch. It couldn’t be called impressive, even if one was trying to be flattering, but there were raised-floor style buildings, too. Were those warehouses?

There was a plaza in what was probably the center of the village, and there was a well there.

Jessie laid Haruhiro down on the ground in that plaza and beckoned Merry.

“Come here, priest. You can heal him. You want to do it yourself, right?”

Merry shot off running to Haruhiro, and then kneeled. Jessie was saying something. It was about her hands, or something like that. Merry barely listened, her eyes wide as she stared at Haruhiro.

Ohhh. It’s a lie. A lie. No... It’s no lie. This is reality. I have to face it. But, oh, this is awful. His face is smashed. It’s bloodied and swollen. At least his eyeballs haven’t burst. How is it even a good thing that I can think that? His teeth are smashed inwards. Several of them. They haven’t fallen out, though. He’s breathing. He’s actually alive. He’s alive, but dammit—How dare he? How dare he do this? Jessie! I want to beat him to death. But before that... Right. I have to heal him. With my own hands. Haruhiro. I’ll heal you.

Merry’s hands were both bound tightly. Because of that, it was difficult.

Oh, right, she realized. This was what Jessie had been saying. Do you need me to untie you?

She recalled him asking that.

No, she thought. It can wait.

Bringing the fingers of her right hand to her forehead, she made the sign of the hexagram.

“O Light, may Lumiaris’s divine protection be upon you... Sacrament!”

She wouldn’t miss it. Wouldn’t look away for a moment.

The light engulfed Haruhiro, and his bones, his flesh, his blood vessels, his skin, every cell was regenerated by the literal miracle.

Merry thought, from the bottom of her heart, I’m glad I became a priest.

If it was fate that had given her the opportunity to serve Lumiaris, she was grateful. She would offer up anything to Lumiaris. Even her own life. She would gladly give anything, except for Haruhiro, whose wounds were rapidly healing at this very moment.

Even when his injuries fully vanished, and he was back to his former self, Haruhiro showed no sign of waking. Well, of course he wouldn’t. He’d passed out from all those heavy wounds. He wasn’t going to wake for a while.

Merry reached out with both her hands, trying to touch Haruhiro’s face.

Snapping back to her senses, she pulled back her hands.

Looking up to the heavens, she squinted her eyes.

I can’t.

Merry was nothing more than his comrade, and Haruhiro’s lover was Setora, even if they were only in that relationship way because of a temporary contract. Setora was right next to them. It must have felt like her heart was being crushed, so, somehow, Merry felt like she shouldn’t do it.

No matter how happy she was, and no matter how important Haruhiro was to her, that was only as a comrade, and there was no more meaning to it. Even if her affection came out unintentionally, and even if that was all it was—she felt like it was wrong.

There was the risk of being misunderstood, after all.

If she were in Setora’s position, she wouldn’t like it, either.

Merry didn’t really understand relationships between men and women, but that was probably how it worked.

She opened her eyes, took a deep breath.

Standing up, she turned to face Jessie.

His expression wasn’t just calm; it could even be called soft, but Jessie’s blue eyes were, like always, like two still pools of water, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

Merry bent at the hips, bowing to him. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Jessie laughed. “Wait, it feels a bit off for me to say that.”

“...Whew.” Kuzaku fell to his knees, as if collapsing.

Yume meowed like a cat, then rubbed her eyes with her bound hands. She was tearing up.

When Shihoru’s eyes met with Merry’s, she smiled a little and nodded. Merry wanted to cling to her.

When had Shihoru become so dependable? Shihoru was supporting Haruhiro. It was Merry who needed to help Shihoru.

Setora was looking at Haruhiro, but her mind seemed to be elsewhere. Had the great relief made her lose her senses?

Suddenly, it occurred to Merry that she didn’t hate Setora.

Setora seemed warped, but she was open about her feelings. She seemed to prefer to do her own thing, unrestrained by others, but never left her golem behind. She loved nyaas, and would nuzzle up to people she took a liking to. Unlike herself, Merry thought Setora had a certain charm, and was lovable.

Merry liked people like Setora. Despite that, she’d been pushing back against her.

It was because Setora was trying to hog Haruhiro.

Haruhiro was everyone’s leader, and you could say... Yeah, Haruhiro belonged to everyone. It might be strange to say that, like he was an object, but it would trouble everyone else if someone hogged him. Besides, Setora wasn’t even a member of the party.

That said, Setora had braved death alongside them. They were something like war buddies now.

It’s going to be okay now, she wanted to say to Setora. Your lover, he’s not going to die from something like this. I won’t let it happen.

Enba was right behind Setora, and the gray nyaa was perched on his shoulders.

For now, everyone was all right. There was no telling what would come after this, but they’d overcome it, whatever it took. Believing in that, and pressing forward, was the one thing they could do at the moment.

“Now, then.” Jessie looked around at Merry and the others before giving directions to the green coat gang. His words were in a different language than the one Merry and the rest spoke. It felt similar to the language the orcs spoke, but it probably wasn’t the same.

The coat gang had Merry fall back, then turned Haruhiro on his side.

“About those questions,” Shihoru said, stepping forward. “I’ll be the one to answer them.”

Jessie drew his sword, pointed the tip at Haruhiro’s throat, then turned his blue eyes on Shihoru. “Who are you people?”

“Just what we look like. Volunteer soldiers from Alterna.”

“I see a necromancer from the hidden village, too. What’s more, you’ve brought a nyaa with you.”

“She’s... a nyaa lover.”

“From my understanding, nyaa tamers generally command a number of nyaas.”

Shihoru glanced over to Setora. Setora was still out of it, and didn’t seem to even be listening to their exchange.

“Right now, it’s just the one,” said Shihoru. “Things happened, and we were split up.”

“Things happened, huh. I see.” Jessie shrugged. “It seems like you people were on the run from something. If it was orcs or undead, we may have a little problem.”

Shihoru furrowed her brow, biting her lower lip a little. She was thinking. Merry found it suspicious.

This was in between the mountains of the Kuaron Mountain Range, to the northeast of the Nargia Highlands. She didn’t know specifically, but this land was probably in the former domain of either the Kingdom of Arabakia or Kingdom of Ishmal. Whatever the case, this ought to be enemy territory for humans, and the domain of orcs, undead, and the like. Why would it be bad if the party was being chased by orcs or undead?

Jessie didn’t look like an orc or undead, but he wasn’t on the party’s side. He had to be in cahoots with the other side, right?

Merry had been looking at it in simple terms like that, but was she wrong?

“It wasn’t orcs, and it wasn’t undead, either,” Shihoru answered. It wasn’t the complete truth, but it wasn’t a lie. The last group to chase Merry and the others around certainly hadn’t been orcs or undead. “We were running from beasts.”

“You people are volunteer soldiers, aren’t you?” Jessie raised his left eyebrow. “If it was just one of you, I could see it, but you’ve got a whole group. If it’s just beasts, drive them off. How pathetic.”

“It was a troop of guorellas,” Setora said in what was almost a whisper. “We killed several, but they never ran away.”

“Ohh.” Jessie’s eyes went a little wide. “That’s some rotten luck. If you’re telling the truth, that is.”

“It’s a fact,” Shihoru said in what was, for her, an awfully strong tone. “We finally shook them off, barely holding on to our lives, and finally found this village. But we didn’t know what kind of people lived here, so Haruhiro went out alone to scout things out.”

“So you could steal or pillage some food, was that it?” Jessie asked.

“If there was something we could offer in exchange, we would have preferred to trade,” Shihoru said. “But we... we didn’t know if you were people we could negotiate with, and we needed to see that for ourselves.”

“I suppose that’s a reasonable explanation.” Jessie retracted his sword.

Suddenly, Merry was breathing a lot easier, as if she hadn’t been breathing at all up until now.

If she could, she wanted to trade places with Haruhiro. No matter what, they couldn’t afford to lose him. No matter the cost, she had to protect Haruhiro. She didn’t want him hurt anymore.

Knowing Haruhiro, he was always trying to be considerate about this or that, attempting to take everything on himself, and not resting properly. Merry wanted to feed him some good food, and let him rest well.

“Something!” Unable to endure it any longer, Merry shouted out. She immediately thought, What am I doing? and deeply regretted it, feeling an intense sense of shame.

Her face was hot. So hot it hurt. She wanted to dig a bottomless hole under her feet and jump down it.

Of course, she couldn’t do that.

Obviously.

“Something!” Merry added in a more normal tone. “Isn’t there something I can do? “I’ll do anything.”

Jessie shouted, “Wow!” raising one hand, with a surprised look on his face. “That’s not something a girl should be saying.”

“I... I didn’t mean it like that...”

“No, if you’re going to say you’ll do anything, isn’t that stuff kind of included?”

“I-If you demand it...”

“M-Merry, no! You can’t!” Shihoru said in a panic.

“Y-Yeah!” Kuzaku agreed in a shrill voice. “Th-That’s no good, at all! I mean, I’ll do anything, okay?! If it’s me, I’ll honestly do anything! It’s no big deal for me, okay?!”

“Yume’ll do anything, too!” Yume cried. “Like, she can do an impression of the White God Elhit!”

“Oh?” Jessie stroked his chin. “Let’s see you do it. Show me your Elhit.”

“Sure thing!” Yume hunched her back like a wolf, and howled. “Awooooo! Awoooooo! Woof, woof, woof. Awooooooooooooo!”

“Hmph. So, is that what Elhit’s like?”

“It is! Yume, she sees Elhit in her dreams sometimes, and Elhit howls like this! Awoooooo! Elhit-chan’s super cute, y’know. Real fluffy, and gentle!”

“Ohh,” Jessie said. “All right, then. You’re a hunter, after all. I was one, too.”

“Fwuh?! Then do you know Yume’s master, maybe?! Um, lessee, his name was Itsukushima.”

“Yeah, I know him. You’re Itsukushima’s pupil, huh?”

“Yep! Yume hasn’t seen her master in a real long time, though. It’d be nice to see him...”

“I hope you can.” Jessie smiled broadly, but though it didn’t seem fake, it seemed hollow somehow.

It was important not to forget that this man should have taken a fatal blow from Haruhiro’s Backstab, but he was just fine. He seemed human, and was apparently a former volunteer soldier. He’d said he was a hunter like Yume. Even so, he was clearly not a normal human.

“Like I’ve said before, it’s not like I have some burning urge to kill you people,” Jessie said. “I’ll do it if I have to, and it won’t keep me up at night, but... yeah. How things go from here is up to you.”

“What does that mean?” Shihoru asked, bracing herself.

“It’s simple.” Jessie sheathed his sword. If they took that act as a sign of reconciliation, they’d probably be dead wrong. “It’s give and take. You get me?”

Just what did Merry and the rest have to give Jessie?

At the same time, Merry thought about it.

What could she do to repay all that Haruhiro had done for them up till now?