Grimgal of Ashes and Illusion - Volume 15 - Chapter Pr

“Awaken.”

He opened his eyes, feeling like he’d heard someone’s voice.

It was dark. Nighttime, maybe? But not pitch black. There were lights.

Looking up, there were small candles affixed to the wall. Not just one, but many, spaced evenly, continuing as far as he could see.

Where could this place be?

It was kind of hard to breathe. He tried touching the wall, and it was hard and rocky. Little wonder his back was sore. This was no wall. It was just bare rock.

Maybe he was in a cave... A cave? Why would he be in a cave...?

He didn’t know. He had absolutely no idea.

Those candles were pretty high up. He might just barely be able to reach one if he stood; that was how high they were. Moreover, they didn’t even give off enough light for him to see his hands and feet well.

He perked up his ears. What was this he was hearing? It was faint. People breathing, maybe?

“Is anyone there?”

“Uh... yeah.”

There was a response.

“...Yes.”

“Where is this place?”

“Nyaa...”

More than just one.

“Erm, I... I’m here.”

“Wh-Wh-What, wha.... What’s going on here? Someone help me...”

“I’ve gotta be hung over or somethin’. I feel like shit...”

“Would you stay away from me? You stink.”

How many were there in total? Not just two or three. There were more. Men, and women.

“Hold on...” He decided to take his chances and ask, “Where... is this? Does... anybody know?”

The big guy who was nearby said, “Nah...” shaking his head.

Had his eyes adapted to the darkness? He could see a lot better now.

“I... dunno. I mean... Um, I’m... Uhh... What was it again...?”

“Huh... What?”

“I’m probably... Kuzaku.”

“Ohh. Your name?”

“Yeah, but... I don’t remember. I can’t recall.”

“Recall what? Ah...!”

He clutched at his chest, as if trying to claw something off of it. He couldn’t remember.

He couldn’t recall.

Was this what the big guy was talking about?

“...I’m the same,” he said at last. “Haruhiro... That’s my name, but that’s all I know.”

How long had he been here? What was he doing in this place? It was himself he was thinking about. There was no reason he shouldn’t have known. He thought about it, trying to recall.

Something began to tug at the back of his mind.

Suddenly, whatever it was vanished.

There was no way he shouldn’t remember.

Despite that, he was at a complete loss.

“What is this...?”

“Whoa, hold up.” A woman spoke. “You don’t remember?” She sounded highly dubious. “How far? How far back do you not remember?”

“How far back? What do you mean...?”

Haruhiro groaned as he thought about it. His head felt heavy. There was a dull throbbing deep inside it. It was a weird pain.

Were there even pain receptors in the brain?

There weren’t, were there? In that case, did that mean this pain was fake?

As he sat there, unable to answer the woman’s question, “No, I already told you,” the big guy said, “I don’t know anything but my name.”

“No way...” The woman was speechless.

“Yeah, weird, isn’t it? I think so, too...” The big guy sniffled, then cocked his head to the side as he groaned in thought.

“The point is, we can’t recall.”

“You too, Haru? Not just Kuzaku?”

When the woman called him Haru, and he reflexively replied, “Yeah,” it didn’t immediately seem weird to him.

The sense that something was off came after a little delay.

It was almost as if she knew who he was. That was the way she was talking, at least.

“Um, would you happen... to know me? Maybe?”

“Know you? It’s more than that, I—”

“Eek!” That scream wasn’t from her. It was another woman.

His eyes shot over to her. That woman was looking down, and wrapping her arms around her own body.

Haruhiro hurriedly looked away. The woman wasn’t wearing any clothes. She was bare naked for some reason.

“Whoa, awesome...!”

Kuzaku was staring intently at the woman, but then, “Nah, I shouldn’t be looking,” he covered his eyes and looked away. It seemed Kuzaku hadn’t been ogling her deliberately, but had ended up doing so because it was inevitable. “S-Sorry! I’m seriously sorry!” He gave her a full apology.

It would be best if there were something she could wear, but as Haruhiro debated whether he should take off some of his clothes and offer them to her, someone threw the woman a dark-colored cloak.

“There ya go, wear that.”

“Th-Thank you...”

Once the woman put the cloak on, she seemed to regain some measure of composure.

Why had she been nude? From the way she was acting, she hadn’t gotten naked of her own volition. Though it had been an unfortunate accident, this place wasn’t bright enough for him to have been able to see everything. He considered telling her that, but it was questionable whether that fact would be any consolation, so he decided against it.

“For now... why don’t we try and sort out what we know?”

How many people were there here? How many of them only knew their own names, and how many of them had memories? They couldn’t even get started until they figured that much out. Or maybe they could, he didn’t know, but it might give them some clue. Hopefully. If possible, he wanted it to.

“I’m Haruhiro. I know I’m repeating myself, but I only know my own name.”

“Ohhh. I’m Kuzaku. I’m the same as Haruhiro, I guess.”

“...Shihoru. Me, too... I only know my name. Why was I naked...?”

“Setora. That’s all I can recall as well.”

“I’m Io, and other than that... Yeah, I don’t know, either.”

“Gomi. That’s all I know. I’ve got a name that literally means trash? Aw, come on...”

“Tasukete... It’s scary that that’s all I remember. Is that even a name? Tasukete. Or am I just crying out for help...?”

“IIIII’m Hiyo. That’s all I can say for now, I guess?”

“Nyaa.”

There was an animal that clearly wasn’t human — it looked similar to a cat, but it wasn’t — mixed in with them. The creature seemed used to humans. Or it was attached to Setora, at least.

“The little guy’s all over you.”

Like Kuzaku said, the creature wouldn’t move away from Setora.

“I wouldn’t say I find that particularly disagreeable...”

Setora had her head cocked to the side. She didn’t seem to know why. But she was petting the animal like a pro.

Setting aside the animal, which no doubt did not understand human speech, there were eight of them who only knew their own names: Haruhiro, Kuzaku, Shihoru, Setora, Io, Gomi, Tasukete, and Hiyo.

There was just one exception.

“I am... Merry.”

She was the only one who remembered more than her name.

It was eight-to-one, so people who only knew their own name were in the overwhelming majority here.

Maybe that was just how things were. Merry was the exception, and people generally went through life not knowing anything but their own name.

No, obviously not.

This was clearly an abnormal situation. Even without his memories, Haruhiro could tell that much.

Merry pointed to Haruhiro, Kuzaku, Shihoru, and Setora in turn.

“I know you. We were comrades.”

In addition, she explained that the animal was what was called a nyaa, and that Setora had been the one keeping him, as might have been expected. His name was apparently Kiichi.

“What about me?” Io asked.

“You,” Merry answered, “were pretty well known, so I’d heard rumors.”

“I was well known. Famous enough people had heard of me...”

Io covered her mouth with both hands. Was she surprised? She looked like she was trying to stifle a smile, too. Was she pleased? Did that fact make her happy?

“Whaddaya know about me?”

“A-A-And me?”

According to Merry, Gomi and Tasukete were Io’s comrades. However, she didn’t know them, and had just heard their names.

“...My comrades?” Io shook her head repeatedly in disbelief. “These two, of all people...?”

“I’m sorry...” Tasukete said, his voice becoming very small. He might well have been crying.

“Real nice way of saying it...” Gomi muttered to himself, but he seemed less like he was angry, and more like he felt crushed.

Incidentally, Io and her group weren’t completely unrelated to Haruhiro and the others. There were these large groups called “clans,” apparently, and both of their groups belonged to the same clan. But because they’d never met directly, they had very little sense of camaraderie or fellowship.

According to Merry, she had been working together with Haruhiro, Kuzaku, Shihoru, Setora, and Kiichi as comrades. They had wandered into an unfamiliar place, gotten into a lot of danger, and were unfortunately separated.

“That’s as far as I remember. I’m sure a lot happened after that, though.”

And the next thing she knew, here she was.

“I see,” Haruhiro mumbled to himself, then immediately questioned it. What, exactly, did he see?

None of this made any sense.

With no memories, he had nothing he could use to make sense of it, so there was no way he could be satisfied with the explanation.

Despite that, Kuzaku seemed to buy it completely.

“Comrades, huh? Comrades. We’re comrades.” Kuzaku repeatedly nodded to himself. “Now that you say it, I get the feeling we are. It feels right to me, you know?”

It does? Really? Uhh, how?

Haruhiro would have liked to interrogate him on that point, but it was also a fact that he himself hadn’t felt all that surprised when Merry revealed they were comrades. Though it might just have been that he couldn’t be surprised. He wasn’t simply going to accept it and think, Oh, okay. We were comrades, huh? I guess that means we’re comrades now.

“So, what about Hiyo?” Hiyo asked.

“You’re...” Merry started to say something, then shook her head.

“I don’t know. Not me.”

“Awww. Hiyo’s the only one you don’t knooow? Isn’t that kiiiinda unfair?”

“I don’t know that it’s a matter of it being fair or not...” Haruhiro interjected despite himself.

“But, buuuut. It’s no faaaair. No fair at all. Hiyo’s the only one who doesn’t know anything. But, hold on, is just sitting here forever gonna do us any good? Hmmm?”

“That’s, uh...”

If you were to ask Haruhiro, “Do you want to stay here forever?” he would have had to say, “No, not really.”

This seemed to be a tunnel-like cave. He had no reason to think this, but he felt like if they followed the candles, they’d find something.

“Well, let’s go, then.”

As he tried to get going, Io stopped him.

“Hold it. Why are you acting like you’re in charge? Are you trying to make me do as you say?”

“I wasn’t trying anything. Why don’t you decide, then?”

“Oh, if I must.” Io let out a deliberate-sounding sigh. “If you insist, I’ll make the decision.”

He didn’t really insist, but if he pointed that out, they’d probably end up squabbling over it.

“So, what are we going to do?”

“Let’s go.”

So we’re going, after all.

Haruhiro only thought that. He didn’t say it. Io seemed like a pain in the butt to deal with, and he wanted as little conflict as possible.

That’s why he stayed sitting, trying to give off an air of, Okay, would you please go now? But what was this? Io showed no sign of moving.

After all of that, Io pestered Haruhiro.

“What are you doing?”

“What do you mean, what?” Haruhiro was dazed for a moment. “...Huh?”

“Hurry up and go,” Io said, gesturing in the direction of the candles with her chin.

It took another moment for that to register with Haruhiro.

“...Me?”

“Yes, you,” Io continued. “It could be dangerous, right? Someone has to take the risk, but it’s not going to be me. You agree, don’t you?”

Io was grinning. If he looked closely, no, even without looking that closely, everyone would have agreed she was beautiful and had a charming smile, but he could sense her intent to weaponize those two facts. Or was that too far-fetched?

But Haruhiro had been trying to take the lead to begin with. He could just look at this as things having gone all the way around back around to where they started.

Besides, it felt natural, somehow, for him to be taking point. It was just a vague sense he had, but it was strange, considering he also got the feeling that he wasn’t an outgoing, social, or proactive kind of person.

“Honestly, none of this makes sense...”

When Haruhiro started walking, Kuzaku chased after him. Merry, Shihoru, Setora, and Kiichi followed, while Io, Gomi, Tasukete, and Hiyo trailed behind them.

There was no telling how far the line of candles went.

It was a bizarre situation. And yet, Haruhiro wasn’t that fazed by it.

Had he lost his sense of reality? Or was he just unflappable to begin with?

Though on that note, the rest of them didn’t particularly complain, or seem that uneasy, either. Even when they saw what looked like an iron grate up ahead, everyone remained calm, and no one panicked.

“Is that an exit?”

The iron grate looked like it could be opened and closed, like a door. No, not like a door, it was a door.

Once the door was open, a narrow corridor that reeked of mold stretched past it. It was unlit.

Haruhiro and the others continued down the corridor single file.

He knew this wasn’t a dead end. There were stairs at the end of the hall, and light was shining down from above.

Huh? Haruhiro thought, and he almost stopped walking.

He didn’t stop, though. Suddenly, he got the sense he had been here before. But it was just a vague sense, and not like his memories were returning.

When he climbed the stairs, there was another iron bar door there. Beyond it was a room made of stone.

Haruhiro put his hand on the door, which was slightly ajar. He pushed it lightly, and it opened further with a creak.

There were stairs leading upwards in that room. He didn’t see a table, or chairs, or any other kind of furniture, but there were shelves lining the walls, and two lit lamps.

Speaking of the wall, what was that blackish handle-like thing sticking out of it? Was it for hanging tools of some sort on? It might be a lever for operating something, too.

Haruhiro investigated it closely, being careful not to touch the handle. No one told him to do it; he found himself doing so without even intending to.

When he looked over, Tasukete was checking the shelves and tapping on the wall.

His eyes met with Tasukete’s.

There was an eerie light that shone in the eyes he glimpsed through Tasukete’s awfully long bangs.

It felt kind of awkward. Haruhiro looked away.

“Tasukete-san’s a thief, too?” Merry suddenly said.

“Ohh.” Kuzaku clapped his hands, then cocked his head to the side. “...Thief? Like a burglar? And, ‘too’...? So Haruhiro’s a thief, too? Huh? Is he a robber?”

“No, that’s not it...”

According to Merry, Haruhiro and the rest were volunteer soldiers for some country called Arabakia. But there were different kinds of volunteer soldiers. Since they were called volunteer soldiers, was that like there being different types of troops or something?

Thieves were one type. They did reconnaissance, opened locked doors, and searched for dangerous traps. They weren’t actually burglars, but they made use of a similar skill set and served a support role in combat.

“So I was a thief. Volunteer soldiers...”

It was hard to believe he had been a volunteer soldier, or any kind of soldier at all.

But when he thought about it, Haruhiro had two short, knife-like blades hanging at his waist. Kuzaku and Gomi had much larger swords, and they wore what looked like armor, too, so from an objective perspective Haruhiro and the others made for a dangerous looking group.

Kuzaku was what they called a paladin, while Shihoru was a mage, and Merry was a priest. Io was apparently a priest, too.

Setora was not a volunteer soldier at all, but a comrade who had joined them along the way.

She didn’t know what Gomi and Tasukete were. In Merry’s estimation, Gomi was a warrior, or perhaps a dread knight.

Tasukete was probably a thief like Haruhiro.

Haruhiro got the sense that being a thief suited him better than being a warrior or a mage.

Tasukete wasn’t super tall like Kuzaku, or like Gomi with his strangely grim face and stocky build. If anything, he was closer to Haruhiro.

Io glanced at Hiyo.

“And her?”

“Hmm!” Hiyo pointed to herself. “You mean Hiyo?”

Merry gave Hiyo a sideways glance.

“As for her—”

It seemed like there might be some hidden meaning in the way she looked at her.

“...As for her,” Merry began to say again, “Whether she’s a volunteer soldier or not is... hard for me to say.”

Hiyo chuckled.

“Hiyo’s not so sure about that, eiiiither.”

Was she just joking around? Or perhaps, judging by the way Merry was acting like something was up, she was trying to dodge the issue.

If he thought about it again, wasn’t her hairstyle, with her hair tied off to both sides, and her impractically over-decorated outfit kind of out of place?

“By the way,” Hiyo said, pointing to the stairs that led up. “It looks like we can go up there. Now, what are we going to doooo?”