Grimgal of Ashes and Illusion - Volume 12 - Chapter 17

17. Weigh Anchor

Since then, Roronea hadn’t been attacked.

Momohina, Kuzaku and the rest of the party returned four days later. His comrades had been praying for Haruhiro’s safety, no doubt, but they must have feared the worst. They were all overjoyed and mobbed him. There were a whole lot of tears. Haruhiro’s eyes got a little misty, too.

The restoration of Roronea was proceeding at an incredible pace. The last of the piers and wharves had actually been wiped out while the party were going to the dragons’ nest, but by the time Kuzaku and the others returned, there were two temporary piers in a somewhat usable state.

Transportation using ships with barges had been restarted before then, and little by little, supplies had begun to enter Roronea. The dead were mourned, and buildings were rebuilt here and there.

The day after they were reunited, the party went to the temporary No. 1 Pier and boarded the Mantis-go, captained by Ginzy.

There were a number of other ships trying to leave port, but the loading of cargo and crew had already been completed for the most part. Despite that, not just the temporary No. 1 Pier but the No. 2 Pier beside it were packed with people, people, and more people.

“Hero of Roronea!”

“Dragon Rider!”

“Hey, rich man!”

“Spend some of it before you go, ya cheapskate!”

“Ya did well! I’m mildly impressed!”

“Haruhirooo! I’ll never forget you guys! Don’t you ever come back!”

“Come back some time and play, you damn hero!”

“You don’t need to come back, damn it! Thanks, Dragon Rider!”

Young and old, men and women of every race shouted whatever they wanted, thrusting fists into the air and jumping up and down. Looking at them from the side of the ship, it was hard to think they were talking about him.

Kuzaku poked him in the shoulder. “Why don’t you wave?”

Even as he thought, What’re you grinning for? Haruhiro waved to the people half out of desperation.

The crowd roared when he did, but what was he supposed to think about this, really? It felt like it was happening to someone else, and he couldn’t even feel embarrassed by it.

“Well, the fact of the matter is, you saved the lot of them. I would say that merits being called a hero, wouldn’t you?” Setora had an unpleasantly serious look on her face.

Nyaoh, Kiichi meowed from down at Setora’s feet.

A hero, huh. Haruhiro scratched his head at the thought of it.

Setora murmured, “Dragon Rider,” and then burst out laughing.

“You’re laughing,” Haruhiro muttered.

“I mean, it’s not as if you actually rode the dragon.”

That was true. Haruhiro had never ridden a dragon. He clung to the dragon like some piece of trash it had gotten tangled on it, and managed to fly from the dragon’s nest to Roronea.

There were some people still staying in Roronea’s marketplace because it was dangerous no matter where they went, and they had coincidentally witnessed Haruhiro returning the egg to the dragon. Yet it was unlikely anyone had witnessed exactly how the dragon had carried Haruhiro there. That being the case, the story was quickly embellished, warped, and expanded, to the point that he had come riding in on the dragon’s back, earning him the nickname Dragon Rider. He found it a bit embarrassing.

“From a Goblin Slayer to a Dragon Rider...” Shihoru was giggling.

“Hey, not you, too, Shihoru,” he protested.

“Sorry. But I don’t think you can avoid being the talk of the town...”

“He’s a hero, after all, right?” Setora looked ready to burst out in a fit of laughter at any moment.

How am I supposed to be a hero? Give me a break.

“Well, we made a solid profit, though.” Kuzaku slapped the oddly impressive bag he had slung over his shoulder. “That’s thanks to you, Haruhiro. You’re our hero, too.”

The bag was full of platinum coins. Each one was worth ten gold coins. Gold coins were one thing, but unless someone was a merchant with a lot of turnover or a wealthy individual with considerable assets, a person would almost never see platinum coins.

Even if the story about the dragon’s egg being worth five thousand gold was nonsense, the work they’d be doing had to be worth at least a thousand.

Before going to return the egg, he’d tried that line on Giancarlo, who had blown him off with a, Don’t be stupid! But after negotiating, they’d settled on the amount of five hundred gold coins.

That was five hundred gold. It was still a dizzying amount of wealth.

Incidentally, the bag Kuzaku was carrying had one hundred platinum coins which each weighed thirty grams. In other words, a thousand gold.

Giancarlo was looking vacantly up at the Mantis-go from the temporary No. 1 Pier. It must have been the continuous days of intense work. He looked pretty sleepy.

When the people of Roronea spoke of Haruhiro’s great deed, the story of how the K&K Pirate Company had rewarded him a thousand gold for his work always came with it. That was a rumor that Giancarlo and Jimmy, who was now standing next to him with one hand raised, had actively worked to spread.

There were some who were impressed by the K&K Pirate Company’s largesse, while others snapped saying, If they have all that money, they should be giving it to me. Either way, an unimpressive adventurer, or volunteer soldier, actually, but a total unknown either way, had made a fortune in no time flat. It was what might be called the Roronean Dream.

Figuring a thousand gold would be twice as impactful as five hundred, Giancarlo and Jimmy had gone all-out on the reward. In fact, Roronea was in a fever now.

For the present at least, this fever would give an extra push to the reconstruction of Roronea. Haruhiro felt inconvenienced as the one who had to carry the burden of a manufactured legend, but a thousand gold was a lot. Converted to the silver they actually used in their daily lives, it was a hundred thousand coins. In copper, it was ten million. Unbelievable.

“Still, I’m glad.” Merry narrowed her eyes, looking off into the distance somewhere.

Looking at Merry’s smile, Haruhiro was able to honestly admit, Well, I guess I’m glad, too. A lot had happened, but now they could move on.

Ginzy pretentiously ordered, “Hoist the sails!” and the Mantis-go’s sails were hoisted.

Then he signaled for them to “Weigh anchor!” and the crew went about weighing anchor.

The people crowded on the pier whirled their coats or handkerchiefs above their heads, going, Yo ho, yo ho! and making a scene.

“Huh?” Haruhiro looked around the area.

“Huh? What’s up?” Kuzaku asked him, but he just gave a vague nod as he looked here and there.

What’s this, what’s this?

“Ah...” Shihoru gulped.

“Wait!” Merry leaned out over the said of the ship.

“Hm?” Setora put her hand on the gunwale. “Oh...”

Kiichi jumped onto the gunwale meowing, Nyaoh.

The Mantis-go was already moving.

“Yume?!” Haruhiro pushed in between Merry and Setora, looking intently at the temporary No. 1 Pier.

Giancarlo was there, Jimmy was there. Then there was Momohina, with a false mustache, a stern look on her face, and her arms crossed. Finally, beside her was Yume, waving a cloth scrap around and shouting, “Yo ho, yo ho!”

“No, not ‘yo ho’—Huh? Why?! Yume?! Since when...”

“She was here just a moment ago... wasn’t she?” Merry said, seeming less than confident.

“Hey, what are you playing at?!” Setora shouted.

Yume burst into a full-faced grin. “Ahh! Hey, listen! Yume, she’s havin’ Momohina train her, ’cause she’s decided to be a real kung-fulier!”

“Why?!” Shihoru asked, her voice going shrill.

Yeah. Why? This was coming out of nowhere. It made no sense.

Maybe because it was so surprising, Shihoru sounded ready to cry.

“Well, you know! Yume just couldn’t bring herself to say it!” Yume was tearing up.

There was a clutching in Haruhiro’s chest, and he came back to his senses.

Yume had kind of never made much sense to being with. If he were to describe her with one word, it’d be “ditzy.” She wasn’t a boring, ordinary person like Haruhiro who tended to ingratiate himself to people, read social cues, compromise, and pick his words so the other party could understand him.

Yume had her own thoughts and feeling, and a unique way of expressing them. That was why, honestly, Haruhiro never sufficiently understood exactly what Yume was feeling or thinking.

He’d thought that was just how she was. That he didn’t really need to understand. It’d probably be fine.

They’d gotten by like this all along. Everyone loved Yume, and they wanted her to stay that same Yume forever. Even if they didn’t say a word, Yume would be Yume, and she’d stay with them as if that were a given. He’d believed that without a shred of doubt. The truth was that Yume probably had worries of her own, and hopes for something, and might even have her own secret ambitions, but he’d never thought about that.

“Sorry, everyone! Yume wants to get stronger! She’s been thinkin’ she wants to get way, way stronger! If she’s with Momohina-chan, it fells like she can make Yume stronger! We’ll meet back up in Alterna, half a year from now! By that time, Yume, she’s gonna get realllll strong!”

Now that she mentioned it, on their first day in Roronea, Yume had been asking Momohina if she could get stronger. He had the feeling Momohina had answered that Yume might be on the right track already, and if she trained her for three, four months, she’d be an honest to goodness kung-fulier or something like that. But, really, she wanted to get stronger? Haruhiro couldn’t say that was stupid, or that she didn’t have to get stronger. This was what Yume had wished for, what she had chosen. It might be coming out of nowhere, but that was a very Yume thing to do.

“Half a year...!” Haruhiro sniffled. He forced a smile. He took a deep breath. “We’ll be waiting! Half a year from now, in Alterna!”

“Yep!” Momohina slapped Yume on the back as hard as she could. “Leave her to meeee! I’ll raise Yumeyume to be a real honest to goodness kung-fulieeeer! Indeeeed!”

“Seriously...?” Kuzaku collapsed to the deck and hung his head.

Shihoru had no words, just waving her hand.

Setora and Kiichi were dumbfounded.

Merry put an arm around Shihoru’s shoulder.

The Mantis-go picked up speed.

Thus was a legend born, and for months and years to come, it would continue to be handed down.