Grimgal of Ashes and Illusion - Volume 14.2 - Chapter 4.05

5. Heartbreak

The Bachrose-go made it back to port in Roronea without a hitch. By that time, Momohina had stopped running and hiding from Kisaragi, and instead followed him around to the point he said, “You’re being too clingy, stay away from me.” Though despite that, Kisaragi didn’t push her away, so Momohina never left him alone as much as he would have liked. It got to the point where she was going to sleep wrapped tightly around him at night, too.

Momo-san sure loves Gicchon, huh?

Yume liked Kisaragi, too. If she had met him before meeting Haruhiro and the others, she probably would have gone with him instead. But the more her affection for Kisaragi grew, the more she realized just how important Haruhiro and the others were to her.

Yume tried to calm down and think about it. With all that had happened, there was no guarantee she would be able to reunite with Haruhiro and the rest. She might be able to, and she might not, but Yume wasn’t scared anymore.

When she thought about never seeing her comrades again, it felt like something had torn her heart apart, twisted her neck, and ripped her body to pieces. It was really painful, but she had no intention to avert her eyes from it and spend her days idly thinking about how she’d really like to see everyone again. She just held on to hope that she could. She would prepare for the worst outcome, but never give up, set a goal, and work towards it. She couldn’t afford to be scared.

The major players of the K&K Pirate Company, with the exception of the undead section head Jimmy, were all out. They had been busily taking ships here and there, partially to search for Momohina. The officers of K&K were managing director Giancarlo, HPW (a title that apparently meant Healing Partner Woman) Ichika, EDB (Elf with Disappointing Boobs. Was that a job title?) Mirilieu, and DNW (Dwarven Night-crawling Woman. Hard to see this one as an appropriate job title.) Heinemarie. The incorrigible sahuagin Ginzy was still around as the captain of the Neo Mantis-go, too. He, of course, didn’t know Momohina was all right. He was going to be pretty happy when he found out.

Once they loaded up on supplies, surrounded by the cheers of the pirates and residents of Roronea, the Bachrose-go hurriedly left port. Kisaragi didn’t say, “You’ve gotta be in a hurry, right?” to Yume. But that had to be what it was about.

She was awfully late. Hurrying now wasn’t going to help, but she still wanted to get ashore in Grimgar as soon as she possibly could. If she could, she would have transformed into a bird and flown to Alterna.

The Bachrose-go wasn’t heading to the Free City of Vele, and obviously not to Igor, but to a different port altogether.

That port had a difficult name, Nugwidu, and was situated far to the south of Vele. There was an unusual group of people called the Zwiba who had lived in the area around Nugwidu since long ago, and it was said that they had formed a small country. The Zwiba had their own language, customs, and culture, and did not interact with the other races in any way. If the Zwiba saw anyone who was not a Zwiba, they ganged up on them, captured them, and then, of all things, they ate them.

Yume had known that they were weird and super dangerous for a long time, and wanted to avoid them.

But why did Kisaragi know the Zwiba? He said it was because he had actually been captured, and then nearly eaten, by them before.

“I mean, you know how my arm is, right? They looked at me and were like, ‘That’s weird. Is it really okay to eat this guy?’ Then, while they were busy being confused, stuff happened, and we ended up becoming friends.”

Just what had to happen to make someone become friends with the people who had tried to eat them? Yume couldn’t imagine. Whatever it was, the Bachrose-go was heading to port in Nugwidu.

The Zwiba were extremely xenophobic, so they lacked the technology to build large ships or ports. According to Kisaragi, any Zwiba ship other than a fishing boat that came out of Nugwidu never returned. It might be that the Zwiba had come from across the sea, and were trying to return to their homeland. According to Kisaragi, rather than go to Vele, it would be faster to return to Alterna via Nugwidu. She could head west from Nugwidu into the Quickwind Plains, and then if she just kept heading towards the Tenryu Mountains in the south, there was no worry that she’d get lost.

As far as Yume was concerned, Kisaragi was guaranteeing that was the case, and she had no reason to doubt him. She didn’t feel worried at all. She was really looking forward to meeting these Zwiba people.

Momohina stayed on the Bachrose-go. She was going to work with Yume until they reached Nugwidu, and put the finishing touches on her training.

They ran and jumped around on top of the swaying ship, practicing. After a fulfilling first day of the trip, on the morning of the second day, Yume awoke in a hammock in the cabin.

Maybe because she’d spent so long living in near nudity on the island, it felt like such a bother to wear clothes. No matter what she was wearing, she stripped out of it while sleeping. She woke up naked again today. It would be kind of bad if she stayed like this, so she put on a short top that was just enough to hide her chest, and a super short pair of pants, then splashed some water on her face and rinsed her mouth a little.

When she went up on deck, the sun had just come up, but there was nothing to block it on the sea, so it was already bright out. Yume liked the sea when it was a little earlier than this, with the sun just about to rise. The sea as the sun was setting was nice, too, but it made her feel lonely sometimes.

She should’ve woken up sooner. As she walked around on deck, feeling a little disappointed, she found a man near the prow, bare from the waist up, doing what looked like exercises.

Who was he? He was looking the other way, so she couldn’t see his face. She knew all the crew of the Bachrose-go. No. This man wasn’t part of the crew.

He was really well-built. The muscles on his back looked like the face of a terrifying monster. But though he was tall, he wasn’t too big. There was no waste. He’d trained to the extreme, and his body was like a well-sharpened blade.

At some point, Yume found herself staring.

The man did things like slowly spin his arms, stretch his joints, bend over, and stand on one leg. He wasn’t doing anything all that special, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away for a second.

The man was strong.

Incredibly, unbelievably strong.

Her heart raced, and there was a buzz through her entire body. Did she need to pee? No, it was different from that. What was this feeling, like something was squeezing her on the inside?

The man turned around.

At that moment, she realized his short hair was silver.

“Oh, it’s you.”

“Fwuh.”

Yume was going to call his name, but for some reason it wouldn’t come out.

She knew him. He’d come to Grimgar on the same day as her. They weren’t friends, but they were comrades, at least in the broader sense of the word.

They hadn’t met in a while. Though, that didn’t just go for him. She’d been alone with Momohina for so long. She hadn’t seen anyone in a while.

“...You were aboard? Ridin’ this ship...? Huhhhh? Why?”

“I was on the Red Continent for a while. I have dealings with K&K. I was in the Emerald Archipelago, waiting for a ship to Grimgar.”

“Ohhh.... Okay. So you caught a ride on this ship, huh? Okay... Yume, she had no idea. Not until now.”

“I did know, though. I couldn’t help but hear that Kisaragi found the two women that went missing after their ship ran into trouble.”

“Oh. If you were in Roronea, you would have heard, yeah? ...If you knew, why didn’t you say somethin’?”

“I saw you yesterday, but you and Momohina were jumping and bouncing around.”

“Ohhh, trainin’. We were doing that, huh? ...Okay. ...Um, er, uh...”

Why did she get so tense whenever she tried to say his name?

There was something wrong with Yume. What was her problem? She thought about it, but came up blank. Whatever it was, it was inconvenient not being able to utter the name of a person she knew when they were right in front of her. She had to force herself to say it.

“Renji!”

When she shouted it out loud, Renji blinked.

“...What?”

“Hmmm, uh... Yume was wonderin’ if you knew anythin’ about where Haru-kun and the others are? Yume, she was away trainin’, and then there was that thing, with the boat, and the storm... She hasn’t seen them in a long, long time.”

“I’ve been on the Red Continent for about a year, and I hadn’t been back to Alterna for close to a year before that.”

“Oh, yeah? There’s no way you’d know, then, huh?”

“I heard Haruhiro rode a dragon in the Emerald Archipelago. I guess you split with them after that, huh?”

“Yeah... That was a long... long time ago, huh...?”

“Well, he is the Dragon Rider.”

When Renji suddenly smiled, the tension in Yume’s heart melted away.

She’d thought that he never smiled, and that he was a more difficult person than this. Or maybe it was the flow of time that had changed Renji.

“He won’t bite it that easily. Even you managed to survive, after all.”

“...Mm-hm. Yeah. When you’re the one sayin’ it, it sounds convincent.”

“You mean convincing?”

“That’s the one. Yeah. Convincing.”

Suddenly, Yume had a thought. Renji had changed. Yume felt like she was different than before she washed up on the island, too. There probably wasn’t anything that didn’t change. So people changed, too.

Haruhiro and the others were probably totally different from before, too.

“I thought I was a good judge of people.”

Renji’s eyes were focused off somewhere in the distance.

“I was wrong. I thought you guys were trash. It wasn’t a question of if I could use you or not. You’d be dead in no time. There was that Manato guy, right? Man, did he draw the short straw. It got him killed quick. Moguzo. If he’d survived, he would have gotten stronger. Anyone who got involved with you people would die. Every last one. They’d all die. It was instinct. I never doubted it. Not one bit.”

The words which dripped from Renji’s mouth like large raindrops were like transparent, empty containers.

They shattered when they struck the ground. But they weren’t containers, just his voice, just words, so nothing was left there.

“Every last one of you was going to die. It wasn’t that I was underestimating you. That’s just how I thought it was. Like how if you pour water on a fire, it goes out. I’ve never been indecisive. It’s ridiculous. If you have time to stop and think, you should be walking forward. You’ll be that much further ahead. What’s there to be indecisive about? It’s dumb.”

“Renji.”

“Yeah.”

“Did somethin’... happen?”

“Nothing.”

Renji lowered his eyes and pressed his hand against his head, like he was scratching his silver hair. There was a smile on his lips. It was like all he could do was laugh about it.

“Nothing happened. I’m me. No more, no less. Nothing else. I hope you can meet your party.”

“...Yeah. Thanks.”

Renji held up his hand a little as he left. That was all she saw of him for the day, but it stayed on her mind the whole time.

The next day, Yume walked around the ship, searching for Renji. The Bachrose-go was a really big ship. Still, it wasn’t as wide as a castle, or as complex as a maze. On the stairs inside the ship, she didn’t find Renji, but she did find another man with a buzz-cut that she recognized.

“Hohhhh! Um, erm, what was your name again...?”

“It’s Ron.”

Ron, the man with the buzz-cut, stared at Yume’s face, tucked his chin in, and lowered his eyes. Then he let out a sigh.

“I’m amazed you can walk around in that... shameless outfit when you’re on a ship with a bunch of guys starving for a woman.”

“Huh? Blameless? Outfit?”

“No, not blameless. Shameless. It’s shameless. I mean, you know? It’s, uh... erotic, I guess...?”

“Erotic, huh? Hmm. Sexy?”

“...Yeah, sort of. No, that’s exactly it.”

“Mwohhh. Yume’s never been called sexy before.”

“Well, I think taste is part of it. I just happen to find girls like you sexy.”

“Ronron’s the kinda guy who finds Yume sexy, huh?”

“Yes, that’s right, but don’t just say that. It’s embarrassing. No, I know I said it myself first. Shit! Now it sounds like I’m confessing my feelings for you!”

“Ronron’s convertin’ to Yume?”

“Not converting. What would I even convert? It’s confessing! And, no, I’m not! As if! And who said you could call me Ronron? That’s, uh, y’know, for people who are closer... l-like a guy and a girl who are g-going out? It’s a way of conumicating their feelings...”

“Listen, Yume’s been corrected on this one before, but it’s not conumication, it’s, uh, cobracuist...?”

“Huh? Cobra twist...?”

“Crabwist? Was that it?”

“Whatever you’re trying to say, it’s wrong.”

“Yume was thinkin’ that, too.”

“...Talking to you is exhausting. What kind of magical realm exists around you? It’s like I’m in a different dimension, but there’s a part of me that kinda likes it...”

“Oh, yeah? Yume’s havin’ fun talkin’ to you, so she kinda likes it too, huh?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Is this a reverse confession? Seriously? I mean, I’m free right now. No, I mean, I basically always am. Not that I’m not popular or anything, obviously. I’m just always on the move. I haven’t been able to do anything that lasts...”

“Oh!”

“Wh-What?! You want to go out already?!”

“Mmm, see, Yume, she was doin’ somethin’. She just remembered. Yesterday mornin’, she was talkin’ to Renji.”

“Oh, in the end, it’s all about Renji, huh?! It always is! For women and men! Renji, Renji, Renji, Renji, Renji! Shiiiiiiit!”

Ron suddenly slammed his head against the wall. He was bashing it so hard, Yume was dumbfounded. It took a while, but by the time it occurred to her that she should stop him, Ron had already ceased the repeated headbutts.

“...You know what? I get it. I mean, I’m into Renji, too, in my own way, okay? It’s a guy crush. So, I understand the feeling, yeah. I know it so bad it hurts...”

Ron pressed his forehead against the wall, balling his hands into fists. What had him so frustrated? He was grinding his teeth so hard you could hear it.

Yume grabbed Ron by the shoulder and the jaw. “Heave-ho!” She pulled him closer, and made him face her. From what she could see, Ron’s forehead had turned red, but he wasn’t bleeding.

“Okay. Looks like you’re alright.”

“...S-Stop!”

Ron brushed Yume’s hands off him, and looked away from her.

“I-I’ll fall for you...”

“Hm? Fall where?”

“In my heart.”

“Nngh. Is that really possible? To fall like that? Like, whoosh, plop.”

“...I’m falling right now. Falling hard, okay? What’s gonna happen if I can’t forget you anymore...?”

“Yume’d be happier if you remembered her, not forgot her.”

“That’s what I’m talking about, the way you’re like that...”

Yume wasn’t quite sure what Ron was talking about. When she cocked her head to the side, Ron cleared his throat, as if trying to smooth things over and get back to normal.

“Listen... About Renji.”

“Yeah. Where do you think he is?”

“Could you leave him alone for now?”

Ron’s tone changed completely, becoming somber.

Yume stared at Ron’s face. She thought he might be crying. He wasn’t. But it was an odd look on his face. His eyes were empty, but he was twitching here and there like he was in the middle of a smile. Wrinkles formed on his brow, and he looked angry, too.

“I’m sure you haven’t heard. He wouldn’t tell you himself. That’s the kind of guy Renji is.”

“Tell me...? Um, about what?”

“Do you remember Sassa?”

“The girl, right? The one in your party.”

“You didn’t remember my name, but you remember Sassa? ...Well, whatever. You see, Sassa, she...”

“She... what?”

Before Ron could say the words, Yume got a feeling about what had happened.

It was exactly what she expected.