Grimgal of Ashes and Illusion - Volume 15 - Chapter 14

14. The Road to an Old Cat

When he heard Barbara’s urgent report, Commander Dylan Stone gave the order at once.

“We’re heading out, you pieces of shit!”

The raid team hurriedly left the dread knights’ guild.

Second-in-Command Anthony, with his familiarity with the area, was ordered to lead the way, and his subordinates, Haruhiro’s group, and Commander Dylan’s black-cloaked soldiers followed him.

Barbara was running alongside Haruhiro. “I didn’t expect Viceroy Bogg to come out of Tenboro Tower for us! This is a one-in-a-million chance!”

Right after they left the dread knights’ guild, a goblin found them. The goblin ran away hollering something.

“Do we chase it?!” Anthony asked loudly.

“You fool!” Dylan bellowed from behind him. “Let that insignificant little shit go, and keep moving, you piece of shit!”

To Commander Dylan, allies and enemies were both shit. Kuzaku muttered something like, “You’re the biggest piece of shit here,” and, honestly, Haruhiro agreed.

Regardless, the raid team ignored the goblin and pressed forward.

According to Barbara, not long after the main force began their attack, four or five of the Hundred came out of Tenboro Tower and led a few dozen goblins toward the south gate. After that, a goblin that looked like a messenger rushed into Tenboro Tower. When it did, Viceroy Bogg appeared, leading about ten of the Hundred.

The Hundred took off in all directions, while Viceroy Bogg remained alone in the plaza.

Barbara’s read on the situation was that Viceroy Bogg was gathering the elite fighters before heading to the south gate personally.

Tenboro Tower was a reasonably tall building, but only the first and second floor, which had the entrance hall and reception hall, were particularly wide. Everything above there was spiral staircases, hallways, and small rooms. It was designed to be defensible if it came to it.

The plan had called for the raid team to break into Tenboro Tower and slay Viceroy Bogg, but if they could catch him outside, nothing was better than that. However, being outside came with its own dangers. The goblins had an overwhelming numerical advantage. Despite that, inside a building or another tight space, they wouldn’t end up in an extreme situation, like twenty people vs. a thousand of these animals. But outside, in the worst-case scenario, goblins might press in on them from all directions.

When they left West Town and entered the southern district, there was a meager force of ten goblins blocking their way.

“We’re charging in!” Anthony shouted. “Warriors of the frontier, show them your pride...!”

Anthony and his five warriors tore into the goblin line without hesitation.

Was it an exaggeration to say they swept them away?

When Anthony and his men clashed with the goblins and swung their swords once, four or five of the goblins were cut down or sent flying.

The goblins that were not slain and only lost their balance fled in the blink of an eye.

“Hey, those guys’re strong!” Kuzaku said cheerfully.

“The enemy is just weak,” Barbara chuckled. “Old Cat, I’m going to circle around, check the situation, and come back.”

“Yes, Sensei!”

“Good response.”

Barbara blew him a kiss as she left the raid team. They pushed farther and farther forward, heading for the plaza in front of Tenboro Tower.

“Anthony-san!” Haruhiro raised his voice.

“What?!” Anthony didn’t turn back.

“Slow down a little! You’re going too fast! We’re already winded!”

“...Right! Got it!”

“Don’t tell him things you don’t need to, you piece of shit!” Dylan shouted at him, but he didn’t say anything more than that, so Haruhiro didn’t care.

Am I calm now? I don’t think I’m panicking. I can see what’s going on around me pretty well. Though I may just be imagining that.

No, it wasn’t that he could see it, it was that he was looking. Barbara had said he had a wide field of vision, but Haruhiro was turning his head without realizing it himself, always surveying the surrounding area. It was a habit he’d developed. Maybe thanks to that, the first to spot the squad of goblins that were closing in on the raid team was Haruhiro.

There were only fifteen or so, but they all carried round shields and spears. It wasn’t just their equipment that was unified, though. They moved in an organized fashion.

Behind us! Haruhiro tried to yell.

There was a goblin on the roof of a two-floor building that faced onto the street, too, and he had just pulled a reddish sword.

One of the Hundred, huh?

He made a snap decision.

“Shihoru...!” Haruhiro pointed to the Hundred on the roof.

Shihoru immediately stopped and turned both of her palms towards the Hundred.

“...Dark!”

He appeared, as if pushing open an invisible door, the black threads intertwining, weaving themselves into a humanoid form. Dark let out a bizarre nshooooooo sound, and flew towards the Hundred. The goblin cried out in shock and tried to cut Dark with its sword. But Dark slipped around the blade and got behind his target.

The Hundred turned around, looking for Dark. At that point, Dark was already inside it.

“Commander Dylan!” Haruhiro shouted. “The enemy is coming from behind us!”

“The little shits!” Commander Dylan spat. “I’ll kill them all!”

“Ngh...!” One of Anthony’s men went down.

It was an arrow — no, a bolt. There were another five or six goblins with crossbows on a different roof than the Hundred. They had fired a volley, and one or two of the bolts had struck Anthony’s subordinate.

“I’ll treat him!” Merry shouted, rushing over.

It looked like Commander Dylan could handle the ones behind them.

The Hundred was flailing around with its red sword as Dark toyed with it, but the creature must have realized it wasn’t getting anywhere, because it threw itself down from the roof.

“Anthony! Kuzaku!” Haruhiro shouted, accidentally addressing Anthony without an honorific.

When the Hundred that had dropped onto the road brandished its red sword and hollered, goblins rushed out of alleyways here and there.

Anthony and his men let out a war cry and charged.

Kuzaku launched a fierce assault on the Hundred.

Merry was trying to get Anthony’s injured man back up.

“Setora, protect Merry!”

“Right!”

“Shihoru, behind me!”

“...Okay!”

The goblin crossbow team were reloading. Before Haruhiro could even give the order, Shihoru had sent Dark after them.

A goblin that got past Anthony and his men was coming. It had a spear. Shihoru was behind Haruhiro. He couldn’t back away.

The spear’s tip was aiming for Haruhiro’s solar plexus. At the last possible moment, he turned sideways, putting his left side forward. If he had only dodged, the spear would have threatened Shihoru instead. That’s why Haruhiro pushed the spear’s shaft to the outside using his hand. The goblin was wearing a helmet. It completely covered its head and the visor only had the thinnest of openings. It didn’t look like it provided good visibility or hearing, but it was a solid helmet. It also had chainmail armor and even a breast plate.

Haruhiro got up close to the goblin.

When the goblin faltered, he stomped hard on its right foot. Even though it had a helmet and armor, the goblin was still barefoot. On its lower half, it was only wearing some kind of leather pants, too. Haruhiro buried his dagger in the goblin’s right thigh, just above the knee. It shrieked and threw its head back in pain.

He grabbed the goblin by the jaw with his left hand and twisted as he pushed it to the ground. He got on top of it, and using the weight of both knees, he pushed down on the goblin’s jaw even harder.

As the goblin cried, “Agahh!” and desperately resisted, he quickly flipped up the visor on its helm.

He could see the goblin’s face through the opening.

Haruhiro took his dagger, holding it in his right hand with a backhand grip, and plunged it into its left eye.

He gave it a deep, deep thrust and a twist.

The goblin let out a “Gagoh...!” then fell limp.

Before he could think, That finished it, he’d already jumped away from the goblin.

“Keep going!” Commander Dylan shouted.

“But...!” Haruhiro yelled back. “They know we’re here! The Hundred are coming to stop us!”

“You think we can call off the attack now, you piece of shit?! We’re going to carry out the mission, even if everyone dies in the process!”

Haruhiro couldn’t help but think, You say that, but I bet you’re planning to survive on your own. You’re the real piece of shit here.

“I’m not saying to call it off! But if we just charge in with no plan—”

“Zahhhhhhhhh...!” Kuzaku slashed the Hundred.

“...The losses we’ll take will—” Haruhiro was speechless.

The goblins were panicking.

“Don’t let the little shits stop you!” Commander Dylan spurred them on. “We only need to take that one piece of shit’s head! Onward, you pieces of shit, onward!”

“Which piece of shit, you piece of shit?!” Anthony shouted back reflexively. He swung his sword and kept on going. “We’re going, raid team! After me!”

Anthony’s man who Merry had been healing got up and followed him, too.

Everything was happening so fast, Haruhiro couldn’t keep up. Okay, no, that wasn’t true. Even without telling himself to change gears, he was already going with the flow. There was something to what Commander Dylan was saying, crude though he might be. For the raid team, speed was of the utmost importance.

“Shihoru! Setora! Merry! Kuzaku! Kiichi!” Haruhiro thought for a moment, but, coming up blank, he simply shouted, “Let’s go!”

“’Kay!”

“Right!”

“Yes!”

“Nyaa!”

“...Okay!”

They didn’t have time to think about pacing themselves now. Faster. Faster. They had to go as fast as they could, without leaving people behind. If they didn’t, they might get surrounded. And yet, even if they did, goblins would still come at them. Commander Dylan said to ignore them, but there were times when if they didn’t shove them aside, or scatter them, there was no way forward.

Haruhiro ran, looked, listened, and made decisions, giving orders to Kuzaku and Setora, issuing warnings to Anthony, and kicking goblins to the ground. His lungs ached. His throat, too. Shihoru looked like she was having a hard time. She was doing everything she could to keep up.

“To the plaza!” Anthony shouted.

The road was curved, and opened up ahead of them.

What about Barbara-sensei? Haruhiro thought all of a sudden. What’s taking her? She said she’d go on ahead and take a look.

No, that wasn’t it.

She wasn’t just going to take a look, she was going to check the situation and come back.

The raid team finally entered the plaza.

This had been a wide open space, with nothing but cobblestone before. Not now. There were these huge, ominous things made with wood and stone, leather and cloth, metal parts, bone or something, and this weird blackish paint he couldn’t identify. Were they towers? Huts? Or maybe platforms? Whatever they were, they had been built all over. But towards the center, near Tenboro Tower, the space had been deliberately left open. That area was still being used as a plaza, or maybe a road.

Even from a distance, he could spot a group of goblins on that road. They were apparently heading toward Tenboro Tower.

They numbered... Hmm, it was hard to tell with all the massive objects in the way. It wasn’t more than a 100, but there were still 30 to 40. The 40 of them were marching with their spears together, so it was easy to recognize them from a distance and to eyeball their number.

It looked like there was something on the tips of their spears.

“Is that it?!” Anthony shouted, knocking down a goblin that lunged at him from the shadow of one of the objects.

“You pieces of shit! Here is where you die!” Commander Dylan bellowed. What he probably wanted to say was that that was probably Viceroy Bogg’s unit, and the raid team needed to eliminate them no matter what it took.

These were goblins, but it was possible there were multiple Hundreds included in the group. Viceroy Bogg was clearly going to be a veteran, too. On top of that, they were outnumbered. It wasn’t going to be easy. In fact, it was going to be incredibly difficult. They had to launch an ambush, then take Viceroy Bogg’s head in the chaos, and do it as quickly as possible. Nothing else would work.

Anthony didn’t head straight for Viceroy Bogg, he was instead following a course that brought them close to Tenboro Tower. One of Anthony’s subordinates ran into one of the massive objects and fell over, but no one helped him up. Haruhiro ignored him and kept running, too. He’d catch up on his own at some point, surely.

They’d gotten pretty close to Viceroy Bogg’s spear team.

What was on those spears? Why did it interest him so much?

He couldn’t see them clearly, so he couldn’t say for certain, but from the very beginning he thought it might be a certain something. Despite that, he didn’t think too deeply about it.

It wasn’t that he tried not to think about it as much as that he didn’t have the time to think about anything.

More than that, he didn’t want to think.

Still, now that they were so close, he couldn’t avert his eyes from the fact that on the tips of those bloodstained spears were the severed torso and limbs of an animal. It wasn’t every spear. Out of the 30 to 40 spears it was less than half. Maybe ten at most.

Would the goblins go out of their way to hunt wild animals just to hoist them on their spears at a time like this? Not likely. Then were those parts from their own kind? It wasn’t unimaginable that the viceroy might have ordered that any goblin that disobeyed orders be executed, but, well, that probably wasn’t it.

Those were human, weren’t they?

In other words, from the beginning, Haruhiro had suspected that the goblins were hoisting the dismembered body of a human being on their spears.

But there were no humans in Alterna.

There should have been hardly any, but it wasn’t like there were absolutely none. Haruhiro and the raid team were heading for Viceroy Bogg at this very moment, after all.

Though, if it wasn’t someone on the raid team, the remaining options were severely limited.

Barbara had said, “I’m going to check the situation, and come back.”

She still wasn’t back yet.

Viceroy Bogg’s spear team came to a stop. Had they noticed the raid team?

The road on the other side of the massive object in front of Anthony. That was where Viceroy Bogg’s spear team was.

The raid team raced around the object and into the road.

Haruhiro jumped out, too, going into a crouch. Anthony and his men were already fighting the spear team. The goblins didn’t thrust with their spears, they swung them downwards, trying to clobber Anthony and his men with them. The men were blocking them with swords and helmets, and trying to push forward.

One of the pieces impaled on a spear came loose and went flying.

It was a human arm. A right arm. There was a left arm, too. Legs, too. Right. And left. The torso was cut into multiple pieces, the innards spilling out of it. And the head landed at Haruhiro’s feet, rolling.

It was long-haired. Female. Haruhiro looked at her. Trying to check her face. He couldn’t help himself.

“Haruhiro?!” Kuzaku pushed him to the ground.

Why did he do that? Haruhiro didn’t think about it. On the cobblestones, right in front of where Haruhiro had landed, she was there.

Her right eye closed, and her left slightly open. Her lips slightly parted. Her right cheek was pressed to the cobbles. Because of that, her whole face sagged to the right side. Her face bore several cuts. It was filthy with blood, too.

This was nothing like the person who had said, “Good response,” and blown him a kiss.

In a way, it was.

This thing wasn’t her.

It had long since ceased functioning as a living being, so even if it was once a part of Barbara, it was Barbara no longer.

Still, Haruhiro was intensely shaken by a feeling that he couldn’t just leave it like this. But, on the other hand, he was well aware he didn’t have time to worry about that.

If Barbara were still alive, “Hey, what are you doing, Old Cat?” She would’ve scolded him.

But Haruhiro’s teacher would never scold him again.

If he hadn’t lost his memories, he would have felt an even stronger connection with her. If he had more memories with his teacher, this would have been even harder to take, and he might not have been able to stand it.

Haruhiro jumped to his feet. He tried not to look at Barbara.

“Zahhhhhhhhhhhhh...!” With a flash of Kuzaku’s large katana, he took down five or six of the spear team in an instant.

There was a goblin with a red spear, a Hundred, in the spear team. Setora dodged its downwards swing, stepped on the shaft, and snatched it away, then bludgeoned the Hundred with its butt. Once the spear team’s formation deteriorated, Anthony broke through them.

“Dark...!”

Shihoru sent Dark careening into the spear team. Dark let out a shooooooooooo as he raced between the goblins, throwing them into disarray. Merry was sticking close to Shihoru. Haruhiro was about to charge the spear team, too. But why were they the only ones here?

Barbara was Haruhiro’s teacher. There was no way she’d let her guard down. They must have detected her while she was checking the situation, then caught and killed her. That was just how good the goblins they faced were.

Had they been underestimating them?

Goblins were smaller than humans. From a human perspective, they were ugly, too. There was no way those creatures could be superior to humans. They weren’t even equal. They had to be inferior. Could he say he hadn’t thought that?

Haruhiro turned around and was shocked.

Behind the black-cloaked soldiers led by Commander Dylan, diagonally to their rear on either side, there were a great number of goblins pouring out of the shadows of the massive objects and swarming toward them right now. Several of them carried red weapons. Commander Dylan and his men hadn’t noticed at all, and were just pushing forward. Commander Dylan, no, the whole raid team was about to be taken by surprise. They’d been caught. In a trap.

The spear team had been a decoy. Bait to lure out the raid team.

“Commander—”

Haruhiro didn’t have time to get the man’s name out. Before he could, a red-armored goblin lunged at Commander Dylan from behind, and grabbed him by the hair with its left hand. In its right, it was holding something that was more of a knife than a dagger.

Commander Dylan didn’t even resist. He had no time to. The red-armored goblin rapidly parted his head from his body. It was a fluid, wave-like motion that seemed well-practiced. That goblin surely had several heads like that. Perhaps dozens. It might even have been the goblin that killed Barbara.

The red armored goblin stomped on the stump of Commander Dylan’s neck, and swung the severed head around.

“Ahh! Gyahh! Hahhhhhhhh...!”

Commander Dylan was the reaper himself. That’s what Neal the scout had called him.

No matter how many of his men he let die, he always survived. He was a horrible man, but from his soldiers’ perspective there was this warped sense of trust, even relief that, “No matter what happens, the Commander will be alright.”

No one could remain standing after seeing their one support erased like that.

There wasn’t a single black-cloaked soldier who was still putting up a proper resistance. Three, maybe four of them were still breathing, but the goblins were whaling on them.

Haruhiro felt enervated, too. His eyes blurred, losing focus.

No, I can’t give up before it’s over, he tried to tell himself, but this wasn’t a situation that could be overcome by appeals to willpower anymore. If you threw someone from a height of 100 meters, and told them to survive somehow, it was just impossible. You can’t do what you can’t do.

There are times when there’s nothing you can do. You just have to accept it.

If Haruhiro were alone, he could have. The problem was, he had comrades. Even if he could write off his own death as inevitable, he didn’t want to see his comrades end up like Barbara. Wasn’t there anything he could do?

That aside, he could see well. This was different from constantly swiveling his head, moving his eyeballs, and looking. It was as if he had left his own body. To say he was looking down from the sky would be an exaggeration, but it was like he was seeing the area from an overhead angle.

He might not have been able to see the moves that the goblins, his team, or Anthony’s men were making, but he could sense them. Each moved around on their own, in a chaotic mess, and he had a vague sense of all of them.

Haruhiro was submerged in the middle of it all.

For whatever reason, now, at this moment, the goblins, and even his comrades, were paying Haruhiro no heed. Haruhiro was unquestionably here, but it was as if he was nowhere at all.

On this bloody, violent, chaotic battlefield, Haruhiro was the one person with a presence as faint as a corpse. Thanks to that, no one could notice him.

Wasn’t Barbara-sensei like this, too? thought Haruhiro.

Maybe it was because they were in the forest at the time, but she had felt like a plant to him. No, because he couldn’t sense Barbara was there, Haruhiro had thought it was strange, and his mind had interpreted her as a plant.

Is this what it’s like, Barbara-sensei?

This is what Sensei was showing me then. I never expected it to be her last gift.

The red-armored goblin was obviously better outfitted than the others, and noticeably bigger, too. That had to be Viceroy Bogg.

Bogg threw Commander Dylan’s head into the air and let out a cry that went something like, “Gugai, gugai, gaigaih!” He sheathed his knife, and drew the sword on his back. Its blade, as you would expect, was red, too.

The black-cloaked soldiers were all dead. The goblins led by Bogg began rushing towards the rest of the raid team who were still fighting the spear goblins.

Even when one or two of the goblins ran right past Haruhiro, he didn’t move. He slumped his shoulders, curved his back a little, and bent his knees slightly.

No one was noticing Haruhiro. The important thing was his goal. He needed to set an appropriate goal.

Bogg ran straight towards him. At this rate, he might run right into him. Even so, Haruhiro stayed put. Kill Bogg. That was the goal.

When Bogg got to within about 50 centimeters of Haruhiro, so close he could have reached out and touched him, he was finally able to register that there was something there.

“...!” Bogg came to a sudden stop, swinging his red sword with both hands.

Haruhiro stepped forward.

The red sword swung diagonally.

Haruhiro leaned to the left as he advanced.

He took a gash from the left side of his forehead to below his right eye, one that was not at all shallow, but he didn’t care.

Haruhiro passed by Bogg.

As he did, the dagger he held in a backhand grip thrust out behind him.

Maybe there was some meaning in showing his face, because Bogg was wearing no helmet. Haruhiro’s dagger did not stab into the back of Bogg’s head.

Bogg had twisted at the last second. Dodged it.

No, though he’d tried to dodge it, he hadn’t been able to get out of the way completely.

Haruhiro felt the blade gouge something hard. His dagger had carved a line in Bogg’s skull. That was all. He hadn’t taken him down.

He’d thought he could do it. But being frustrated wasn’t going to help. Things happened. He had to react accordingly. Haruhiro hadn’t achieved his goal yet. There was more to come.

Haruhiro turned around.

Bogg’s eyes went wide, and he glared at Haruhiro, holding the back of his head with his left hand.

“Nugg, gahhhh...!”

He seemed enraged, but more than that, Bogg was confused. It felt to him like Haruhiro had appeared out of nowhere, right before his eyes, and nearly dealt him a fatal blow. It would be weirder if he wasn’t shocked by that.

The other goblins that had been about to attack the raid team were surprised, too.

But Haruhiro was surrounded by Bogg’s goblins, so if he messed up how he handled this, he was finished. He did feel some frustration and despair at the thought, Why couldn’t I have ended it with that one blow? He was uneasy, and frightened. He had to suppress that, and not lose the initiative.

“Kuzaaaaku! Anthonyyyy! Viceroy Bogg is over here...!”

As Haruhiro shouted, he drew his other dagger and swung at Bogg.

Bogg backed away. As he did, he blocked Haruhiro’s dagger with his sword. Haruhiro was dual wielding, and there wasn’t much distance between them. In his confused state, the best Bogg could do was to block a dagger with the crossguard of his sword. If they kept trading blows at such close range, the other goblins couldn’t intervene.

Haruhiro didn’t think he could push through. Naturally, he wanted to break through Bogg’s defenses, and end it with this one-on-one duel, but a strong wish had a way of making people spin their wheels, get tense, and rush things.

Besides, Bogg was stubborn. His body was tough, and he used his sword with skill. It was going to be hard to suddenly land a fatal blow on him in a fair fight. The goal was to kill Bogg, but Haruhiro would have to take a number of steps to reach it.

Bogg deflected Haruhiro’s dagger with the guard of his sword for more than the tenth time.

It was his left hand dagger, the flame one.

In that moment, Haruhiro brought out the dagger in his right hand.

Bogg was holding his sword in both hands. Haruhiro’s dagger gouged his left, severing fingers. Two of them, his little finger and ring finger, were gone completely.

Bogg cried, “Datts—!” or something close to that, and let go of his sword with his damaged limb.

Now he was holding it in one hand. Bogg’s power was guaranteed to be lower. Haruhiro was a step closer to his goal. He didn’t intend to push there all in one spurt. Was that a good thing, or a bad one? He didn’t know, but either way, Haruhiro couldn’t predict what Bogg was going to do.

Bogg used his left hand, the one that had lost two fingers, to draw a knife, and throw it.

“...!”

Haruhiro twisted unconsciously. If he hadn’t, Bogg’s knife would surely have hit him right in the face. So he’d had no choice, but still, the goblin had gotten him. The moment Bogg had thrown his knife, he turned heel.

“Ngyagah...!”

...And gave the order to retreat?

Bogg was running. It took him no time. He ran behind one of the objects and was out of sight.

Haruhiro ran after Bogg, not even wasting time to say, You think you can escape? Realizing his field of view had narrowed, he shook his head and moved his eyes around. The goblins retreated without delay. He couldn’t find Anthony and his men, but he could hear a battle cry from Kuzaku. He was pretty close. Bogg was still nowhere to be seen. But Haruhiro had an idea where he was going. It more or less had to be Tenboro Tower.

Haruhiro immediately spotted Bogg from behind. It was like he’d thought. Bogg was heading for Tenboro Tower. He apparently didn’t plan on making any detours first. He wouldn’t take a roundabout route, either. Well, obviously not. This was the plaza in front of Tenboro Tower. Bogg came out onto the road. The tower was already right in front of his nose.

The barricade they had erected in front of the main gate had an abatis — was that what those things were called? There was a line of sharpened pieces of lumber and metal pointing outwards, and they were bound together with string and wire, then reinforced with shields, iron plates, hides, and more. It looked like a confusing mess, but if it was manned and used properly, it would provide a considerable defensive advantage.

Bogg was about 15 meters from the barricade, and Haruhiro was maybe 18. This roughly three-meter gap felt both large but small, and small but large.

Bogg glanced behind him, at Haruhiro, basically. He didn’t seem surprised by how close Haruhiro was. It was like he was just verifying it, and also plotting something at the same time.

Haruhiro’s goal was to kill Bogg. What was Bogg’s? Was his goal to flee into Tenboro Tower? It was something else, wasn’t it?

“Haruhiro!” Kuzaku shouted from behind him.

Even without turning around, Haruhiro could tell that it wasn’t just Kuzaku; a number of his comrades had come after Haruhiro.

Bogg shouted, “Higyahhah!” Was that an order of some sort?

Multiple goblins stuck their faces out from the abatis. They’d been hiding. With something in their hands.

Right in front of the abatis, Bogg lowered his posture, as if sliding across the cobblestones.

What the goblins on the abatis had in their hands were crossbows. There were more than ten of them.

“Get down!” Haruhiro said as he got down himself.

The goblins on the abatis fired their bolts. Haruhiro stayed down, with his head facing to the rear. Kuzaku was here. Taking point. Setora, and Kiichi, and Merry, and Shihoru, too. As well as Anthony and his men. They already knew the bolts were coming. Setora was crouching. Merry and Shihoru stood there, eyes wide. “Ohh!” said Anthony. It wasn’t clear what Kuzaku was thinking, but he spread his arms wide. His large katana still gripped in his right hand, his feet spread about as wide as his shoulders, and his chest puffed out. It looked almost like he was trying to block the way — no, that was exactly what he was doing. Kuzaku must have been trying not to let a single bolt pass. Because Kuzaku’s comrades were behind him. No matter how many bolts came flying, he was trying to block them all with his own body, and protect his comrades. I’m huge, you know? My body’s just way too big, and that gets in the way sometimes, but it can also be useful at times like this, huh? seemed like something Kuzaku might say with a laugh.

Man, that’s the thing about you... Haruhiro thought. The bolts pierced Kuzaku’s chest and belly one after another. It seemed almost excessive. Five or six bolts, no, even more than that easily penetrated Kuzaku’s armor. You’re too damn cool sometimes.

Anthony took a bolt in the right side of his chest. “Gah!” he groaned, and nearly doubled over before falling to one knee.

Kuzaku was still standing, but not fully upright, and unmoving. He coughed up blood, once, then twice, and blinked. Not wanting to spew any more blood, he shut his lips tight, but each time he coughed, blood gushed out of his nose.

What now? thought Haruhiro. What should I prioritize? I know I need to aim for the goal, but is that really important?

“Kuzaku...!” and “Kuzaku-kun...!” Setora and Shihoru shouted the name of their comrade. Merry was rushing to his side.

Haruhiro jumped to his feet and turned back.

No. Kuzaku. Ahhh. No. No, that’s not okay. It’s not. I’m sorry, Barbara-sensei, I can’t do this anymore. Kuzaku. Kuzaku can’t stand much longer. Those aren’t wounds you can stand with. It’s impossible. It’s crazy.

Kuzaku fell backwards. Merry caught him, but he was heavy. It looked like she was going to fall over. Haruhiro had to make it there, and support Kuzaku with Merry.

“Again...!” came a sharp warning from Setora.

Haruhiro looked at the abatis. The goblins there were looking out.

Bogg was on the other side. He’d climbed onto some sort of platform and was taking command.

The goblins on the abatis took aim with their crossbows. Had they already reloaded? Or maybe they’d had extra crossbows loaded in advance.

“Merry!” Haruhiro called out to her as he hurriedly carried Kuzaku to the side of the street. In the middle of the flying bolts, Haruhiro and Merry dragged Kuzaku into the shadow of one of the massive objects.

“...Haruhiro,” Kuzaku gasped.

Kuzaku was limp. He’d dropped his large katana at some point, because he wasn’t holding it now. There were three bolts in Kuzaku’s chest, another in his right shoulder, one more in his left arm, and two more buried deep in his stomach. He opened and closed his eyes, perhaps desperately trying to hold onto his fading consciousness. In a weak voice, “...Haruhiro,” he repeated.

“Wh-What? What is it, Kuzaku...?” Haruhiro brought his face closer to Kuzaku. Huh? What’s this? he thought.

I feel like I remember.

Kuzaku gripped Haruhiro’s left arm in his right hand with surprising strength.

“I’m... so-... rry...”

“Huh? What? S-Sorry? Why? What...?”

I feel like this has happened before.

Kuzaku’s pallor was awful. Drained of blood; not white, or blue, but ashen.

Not with Kuzaku.

Someone else.

“...Manato,” Haruhiro whispered.

That’s right.

Kuzaku’s going to die like Manato. That can’t happen.

“You can’t, Kuzaku!”

“I’m... so-...”

Is that why Kuzaku’s apologizing? “Looks like I’m going to die, sorry for dying,” is that it?

“Don’t be stupid!”

“Move!” Merry pulled Haruhiro away from Kuzaku.

Merry pressed her right hand to Kuzaku. Then, using her left hand to check the bolts sticking out of his body, “He can still make it!” she decided. “Pull those bolts out! As fast as you can! All of them! There’s no point healing him with magic while they’re still there! Haru! Setora! Shihoru, you help, too!”

Up until that point, Haruhiro hadn’t noticed that Setora, Shihoru, and Kiichi were right beside them. What were Anthony and his men doing? That crossed his mind for a second, but Kuzaku came first. Merry said he was going to make it. Magic. That was right. Merry could heal him with magic. But the wounds couldn’t close with bolts inside them. There was going to be massive bleeding when they pulled them out, and that was dangerous, but they’d do it. Pull all the bolts out at once, then, without missing a beat, Merry would use her magic. They had to do it. There were seven of them. He wanted Merry to prepare her magic. Haruhiro would do two, Setora would do two, Shihoru would do two, and Kiichi would do the last one. They’d need Kiichi to help, too. Kuzaku was already unresponsive, his closed eyes twitching. It wasn’t clear how much longer he’d last, and there wasn’t time. There was no other way. But could the nyaa do it?

“It’s okay!” Setora was on the job.

Merry pressed her fingers to her forehead, and the rest of the group gripped their respective bolts.

“O Light, may Lumiaris’s divine protection be upon you,” Merry began chanting a prayer.

“Ready, go!” Haruhiro shouted.

Haruhiro, Setora, Shihoru, and Kiichi all pulled the bolts out of Kuzaku in unison.

Merry turned both hands towards Kuzaku.

“Sacrament...!”

Because he looked at that intense light, Haruhiro was temporarily blinded.

“Aw, yeah!” he heard Kuzaku say.

This is not an, “Aw, yeah!” situation, thought Haruhiro.

He rubbed his eyes. Kuzaku was already standing up.

“I live again! Thanks, everyone!”

“...You live again?” Merry sounded exasperated. “You never even died.”

“Let’s not sweat the small stuff!” Kuzaku said with a smile.

Haruhiro rubbed his eyes again.

“Man, you are such a...”

“Huh, Haruhiro, are you crying...?” Kuzaku said something he really shouldn’t have.

“I am not!” Haruhiro said back, sticking his face out from behind the massive object and looking towards the abatis. Bogg was up on his platform, waving his red sword around and screeching wildly. The goblins on the abatis seemed to be working on something. Probably loading crossbows.

Anthony was taking shelter behind the massive object directly across the street from them. Just Anthony. Two of Anthony’s men were collapsed in the street. Anthony himself had a bolt in his right breast, and probably couldn’t move properly. Having Merry heal Anthony with magic was sadly going to have to wait.

“Kuzaku, charge straight in! Everyone, back him up!”

“On it!” Kuzaku said, energetically licking his lips. “When you know that anything that doesn’t kill you instantly can be fixed, it’s crazy how brave you can be!”

“You idiot!” Setora whacked Kuzaku on the back of the head. “I won’t tolerate you getting yourself half-killed again!”

“It’s not good for my heart!” Shihoru said in a rare accusatory tone.

“Heh,” Kuzaku bashfully bowed his head. “...Sorry.”

“I won’t let you cross that final line!” Merry said firmly.

Then, she looked to Haruhiro.

That dignified smile, he remembered it.

There were times when Merry was just too beautiful, crossing into otherworldly.

“We’re counting on you!” was all Haruhiro said before rushing out.

He didn’t need to look. Kuzaku would jump out into the road, pick up his large katana, and charge the abatis. His comrades would follow Kuzaku. Shihoru would launch Dark. Merry would protect Shihoru, and Setora and Kiichi would support Kuzaku.

Haruhiro ran off on his own, threading between the massive objects, and headed towards Tenboro Tower.

“Oorahhhh! Bring it!” Kuzaku was in the street, provoking the enemy.

It seemed the goblins on the abatis hadn’t finished reloading their crossbows yet. If they had, they’d long since have fired them.

Kuzaku and the others would play their part well. They’d draw the enemy’s attention.

Haruhiro approached the abatis in front of Tenboro Tower from the side.

Submerge.

Submerge it. My own presence. My very existence.

No, don’t submerge.

Sink.

Just sink in smoothly.

Bogg kicked another goblin off the platform. He insulted and rushed his troops, like he was saying, “Hurry up, you slow idiots!”

The goblins on the abatis gave up on reloading their crossbows, and cast them aside, picking up long spears instead. They thrust the spears through the abatis, likely trying to keep Kuzaku in check. As if to show them it was futile, “Zeahhh! Hah!” Kuzaku swung his large katana and cut a number of the spears apart.

Bogg must have given up on the goblins manning the abatis, because he jumped down from the platform and moved to rush inside Tenboro Tower through the doorless main gate. Bogg never even suspected it.

That Haruhiro had crept up right behind him.

Haruhiro silently climbed over the abatis and grappled Bogg from behind. That was the first moment that Bogg registered his existence. Haruhiro slit Bogg’s throat with his dagger. When he was this close, he couldn’t possibly screw it up. Bogg may have wanted to hurl some hateful invective at him as he died, but his windpipe was torn open. The goblin wasn’t going to be saying anything.

Haruhiro pushed Bogg to the ground, seizing the goblin’s head with his left hand. Haruhiro then used the dagger in his right hand to quickly sever everything but the goblin’s spine, which he twisted and broke with brute force.

If he said he wasn’t emotional, he’d be lying, but he did his best to keep it under control. The truth was, he wanted to carve Bogg’s corpse up right now, kick it around, and reduce it to mincemeat, but Barbara would probably have laughed at him, saying, “Now, listen. What good is that going to do, Old Cat? That’s not what you should be doing, right?”

Haruhiro didn’t get disturbed easily. Barbara-sensei had told him he wasn’t the type that could do things if he tried, he was the type that tried until he could do them. If that was true, and he had no doubt it was, as her humble student, that was how he wanted to be.

If he could become a thief who never missed a trick, always living on his own terms, like an old cat, then maybe that would let him repay her in some small way.

Haruhiro stood up, Bogg’s severed head in his left hand.

We’ve won, he thought, but he didn’t say it out loud. For someone like him, with the sleepy eyes of an old cat, those words didn’t seem right.