Grimgal of Ashes and Illusion - Volume 7 - Chapter 19

19. Over the Rainbow

The orcs all had decorative cloth tied over a shoulder and wore red and black body paint. The men and the women, the young and the old.

There were orcs beating on drums. There were orcs playing stringed instruments. There were orcs blowing on flutes. The orcs, children included, clapped their hands, stamped their feet, and sang in unison.

The orcs carrying sticks with dragon designs on them weren’t singing, they were saying something in loud voices instead. The way they spoke in time with the rhythm, working in hand and body gestures, made it look like they were giving a speech, or directing the instrument players and singers.

They were wonderfully lively, and though it felt like it could all fall apart at any moment, they were unified. They may have been wild, but they were by no means crude. If anything, it was highly refined. Beautiful, even. It was overwhelming to listen to.

No, Haruhiro thought, shaking his head in the shadow of a giant caterpillar enclosure’s fence. Don’t listen to them. Sure, they’re incredible. I know it’s worth hearing, too. It feels like something I have to listen to, but I can’t. This isn’t the time to be falling in love with a song.

Haruhiro poked his head out from behind the fence to get another look at the orcs celebrating in the central plaza of their village. It was actually still noon, but the adult orcs already had the alcohol flowing, and the children were worked up, too. Besides, he was more than twenty meters from the plaza here. Even during the day, they wouldn’t be able to see him this far away. There was no way they would spot him.

Haruhiro waved his hand, motioning to Ranta and the others in the rear. Then he gave the signal for Lala and Nono. There was a bit of an incident where Yume whacked Ranta, who had been staring off into the distance, in the head, and then when he tried to complain, Merry clubbed him with the pole of her hammer staff. But everyone kept low and came this way.

In Kuzaku’s case, his armor clinked pretty loudly as he moved. But the noise of the festival covered it up, which made this a good arrangement.

Haruhiro nodded, then moved on to the next point. He confirmed it was safe, then called over his comrades plus Lala and Nono. It was boring and repetitive work, so he was a little surprised that not just his comrades, other than Ranta (that piece of trash), but Lala and Nono also did as he instructed without saying a word. There was no telling when they would turn on him, though.

Lala had a pocket watch, so they could tell time with relative precision. This raucous festival had begun three hours after the flameset. Haruhiro and the others had entered the village area one hour later, then spent an hour and a half on making their way to Waluandin.

Incidentally, according to Lala-sama, the time from sunrise, or flamerise rather, to sunset, or flameset, was roughly ten to fifteen hours, and the time from flameset to flamerise was also roughly ten to fifteen hours. There was variation in the length of the day and night, but if you added them together, they were around twenty-five hours, so that meant a day in Darunggar was one hour longer than a day in Grimgar.

Regardless, in another hour and a half, they would be out of the village area... or so he was thinking when another incident occurred.

Oh, crap, thought Haruhiro, It’s a dragon.

The dragon was coming this way from Waluandin!

To be more precise, the dragon was—a model... huh...

It was over three meters high, and more than ten meters long. It was pretty huge. It was painted red and black like the orcs’ bodies, and its two eye sockets were filled with sparkling yellow gems, or something similar. Its neck, jaw, body, tail, and four limbs were all movable, and more than thirty orcs covered in black costumes were carrying it, as well as manipulating it with sticks.

When the portable dragon came, the village orcs got super excited. That was probably another part of the Fire Dragon Festival. There was singing and playing of instruments, the speaking of the ones holding the dragon sticks grew louder, and the orc children ran away in fear. The portable dragon chased them around, and some of the children were crying and wailing. The women who were presumably the mother orcs laughed as they soothed their children.

Ranta was clearly itching to join the festivities, but obviously that was out of the question. Haruhiro moved on towards Waluandin. If things were this lively, there was no way they’d be discovered. That was their aim, and the reason they had waited for the Fire Dragon Festival to start.

The village area was noisy pretty much wherever they went, but the noise was also concentrated in certain places. All the farmer orcs from throughout the villages were gathered in a number of plaza areas with their families. They sang, played instruments, enjoyed the portable dragon when it was brought to them, and got totally heated up. Everywhere else was deserted, and there wasn’t a person or orc in sight. Even so, Haruhiro didn’t relax. He made sure not to rush, always taking the proper steps before moving forward, and was so thorough about doing so that even he got exasperated with himself.

Waluandin was boiling over with festive spirit. However, it seemed to be a holiday, so there was no sign of waluos in the workshop district or the mine. The blacksmiths’ workshops had warehouses here and there, too. He found one that was not too big and not too small, used Picking on the lock, and decided to use it as a spot to lay low temporarily.

Ranta, Shihoru, Yume, Merry, Kuzaku, and Lala went on standby. When Haruhiro and Nono split up to do some scouting, they found the situation in Waluandin was roughly the same as in the village area. The waluos were concentrated on the main streets, singing, performing, dancing, and making a ruckus. Every waluo wore decorative cloth and body paint, and one in every twenty to thirty carried one of those dragon sticks and was in full festive attire. There was food and drink laid out everywhere, and the waluos seemed free to take any of it.

Haruhiro headed back to where his comrades were hiding, masking his footsteps and walking down the back alleyways of the residential district. There were no people, no orcs, no anyone to be seen. Every house was empty. That said, there could still be waluos who were at home for some reason. He couldn’t let his guard down. Haruhiro made sure he was on task as he entered the alley.

He gulped.

There was a waluo who was clearly very young and still thin crouching there. The waluo was holding his head with both hands. He wore body paint, but he had taken off his cloth, and it was in a tangled mess at his feet.

What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? Haruhiro asked himself that question more than ten times in the span of a second. He found his answer. Haruhiro decided to turn back quietly. That was the precise moment the orc looked in his direction.

The waluo inhaled sharply, and tried to scream. Haruhiro’s body moved on its own, and he jumped on the orc. He pushed him to the ground and strangled him.

If he did it while standing, it was possible that he might have dangerously struck his head or some other part of his body on the wall or ground as the waluo struggled and thrashed around. If he pinned him first, well, he was more or less sure to be safe. Haruhiro’s right arm was tightly wrapped around the waluo’s neck. He was bracing that right arm with his left, so it wasn’t going to be easy to break free.

The waluo tried to scratch at Haruhiro’s face with both hands, but he managed to defend himself somehow.

I can do this, Haruhiro told himself. It looks like this will work. Okay. ...He’s out.

The waluo had passed out with his fangs bared. The strength had fully drained from his body. There was no mistaking it. This wasn’t an act; he was really out cold.

Haruhiro rolled him over and then got up. He was about to leave, but then...

No, no, no... Haruhiro shook his head. Isn’t this bad? I mean, sure, he’s unconscious. He’ll probably be out for a while. But I can’t just leave him like this, right? I have to do something. Something? Make it so he can’t move? Tie him up? Or... make it so he never wakes back up? Like, snuff him?

“...Damn it.” Haruhiro pressed his palm to his forehead.

I don’t know what to do. I’m torn. I’m hesitating. This young waluo was all alone. Even though it’s the middle of the Fire Dragon Festival. Why was he all alone in a place like this? Was he bad with groups? A loner? Maybe he was being bullied? That could be why. None of it matters. He saw me. It’d be dangerous to let him live. I’ll kill him. Just a quick stab. Time to do it.

With that done, Haruhiro left the alley and hurried back towards their hiding place.

Don’t let it shake me up. Stealth, Stealth. Concentrate. If it happened once, it can happen again. I might encounter another waluo. It’s fine. I handled that appropriately. It’s fine. No problem. Good grief. Things like that can happen. Man, he surprised me. I’ve gotta be more careful. Of course. I’ll be careful, okay? I’m gonna be real damn careful. Obviously. That goes without saying. Geez...

Haruhiro turned and looked back. Nono was there. Standing like a corpse. No, corpses don’t stand. Haruhiro was often told he had sleepy eyes, but Nono had the eyes of a dead man. Was he looking at Haruhiro, or wasn’t he? There was no way to tell.

Haruhiro bowed to him, and raised one hand a little. “...Hey there.”

Nono’s head twisted to the right, and then slowly back to the left. His expression didn’t change. Or rather, because of the mask, Haruhiro couldn’t read it at all.

Um, you’re kinda scary...?

“Erm... You wanna go... back?” When Haruhiro hesitantly pointed to the hiding place, Nono nodded. He knew the man didn’t talk, but Haruhiro couldn’t help but think, Say something! Maybe the harness-like mask prevented him from speaking, though.

It was strangely tense returning with Nono. When had Nono gotten behind him? Had Haruhiro turned because he’d noticed Nono’s presence then? Or was it just because he’d vaguely felt like it? He couldn’t be sure.

They finally reached their warehouse hideout. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. When they entered the warehouse, Ranta, who was sitting in the corner, jumped up and said, “Hey!”

That was when it happened.

Nono suddenly grabbed him by the neck.

It was a surprise, and he hadn’t seen it coming, so he couldn’t dodge. Even if he had been ready for it, he wasn’t sure he could have avoided it.

Nono pressed his masked mouth up close to Haruhiro’s ear. His voice was muffled, of course. It was like a groan. It was really hard to make out what he was saying, but for some reason Haruhiro knew very clearly what he meant.

When Haruhiro responded, “...Got it,” Nono let him go.

Nono walked over to Lala and immediately got down on all fours. He’d just gotten back, but he was already a chair again now. Lala gave him no words of gratitude. Instead she mercilessly sat on Nono’s back, as if that were a perfectly normal thing to do, and crossed her legs. She seemed satisfied.

Haruhiro walked over to Ranta and the others, dragging his feet like a corpse.

“Wh-What was that... about?” Shihoru asked worriedly.

“...Nah.” Haruhiro shook his head. “It’s nothing, really.”

“He say something to you?” Ranta indicated Nono with a glance. “...Hold on, can that guy even talk? Well... I guess he must be able to.”

“Don’t call him ‘that guy,’” Haruhiro corrected the piece of trash without much strength. “It’s Nono-san, okay?”

“S-Sure,” Ranta said. “Hold on, pal, are you okay? You’re acting weird, you know? Did something happen?”

“Ha ha... If even you’re worried about me, I’m probably done for...”

“You’re one rude guy, you know that?” Ranta snapped. “I may not look it, but I’m full of love, okay? I’m the Dread Knight of Love, got it?”

“You love Haruhiro?” Merry asked, sounding annoyed.

“Y-Y-You moron, of course not! That’s not what I’m saying!”

“It’s not just any love, it’s romantic love, huh?” Yume snickered.

“I don’t love him, romantically or otherwise, damn it! That’s obvious, you moron! Damn it!”

Kuzaku let out a short laugh. “When you’re so desperate to deny it, that actually makes me more suspicious.”

“I’ll make mincemeat out of you, Kuzacky! Seriously, seriously! Don’t make light of a dread knight!”

“Hey,” Lala-sama spoke up. “You, the monkey over there. You’re annoying. Be quiet.”

Ranta immediately stood up ramrod straight and saluted her. His mouth moved, but no voice came out. Sir, yes, sir! It looked like, at some point, he’d been fully trained by Lala.

Terrifying.

Honestly, she was terrifying. Haruhiro shuddered. It wasn’t just Lala-sama. Nono was, too. What he’d done a moment ago, that was crazy scary. This was what Nono had said to Haruhiro:

“If Lala-sama gets so much as a scratch because of you people, I’ll kill every last one of you.”

That was it.

It probably wasn’t an idle threat. Nono had been serious. Besides, the guy didn’t look normal. And he was hyper competent. If Nono decided to kill them all, he could probably do it without them managing to move so much as an eyebrow to defend themselves.

The question was, why had Nono chosen that precise moment to tell Haruhiro? It wasn’t like no ideas came to mind, but he didn’t want to think about it. It wasn’t a thing Haruhiro could do anything by thinking about anyway. He decided to forget the matter for now. There were other things that needed thinking about. Lots and lots of them.

Haruhiro and the others left the warehouse. They came out of the workshop district, and passed through the residential area beyond it. Haruhiro led the way, checking that everything was safe before calling everyone over, the same as before. They were avoiding the festival areas, so there were few people—no, few waluos—passing by, but he had to be careful of stray ones. Even if he thought there were none, nothing was absolute. Though, that said, if he was too timid, they couldn’t move at all. If they were found, or if they found a waluo, they just had to deal with it immediately. He had to accept it. Nothing was perfect.

—Right?

His stomach hurt. He was sweating like crazy. His throat was dry. The road coming up next was kind of a big one. But when he’d scouted it earlier, it’d seemed like they could cross it.

He poked his head out just a little. No waluos. He gave the signal, then crossed the road first. His comrades, along with Lala and Nono, followed Haruhiro.

They were still in the residential area, but the slope suddenly got steeper here. It was a pretty steep uphill climb. It was hard to see up from the bottom, but there was a good view from above. He had to skillfully hide himself as he advanced.

His stomach really hurt. He was aging a year for every second that went by. He couldn’t help but feel that way.

Instead of heading straight toward Fire Dragon Mountain, he chose side streets as much as possible. No matter what kind of road it was, he made sure to check it thoroughly before entering. Even that wasn’t perfect. He had to be sure that, no matter what happened, he didn’t lose his head.

He was straining himself too much. Pushing his whole body.

Don’t force it, he told himself. Stay calm, stay calm.

No, he couldn’t do it. His heart felt like it was ready to break into a thousand pieces. He was just barely holding himself together. With guts, or stubbornness, or something like that, probably. That was the condition he was in, but Haruhiro probably had sleepy eyes and looked like he was just disinterestedly doing his job. He didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Either way, he wasn’t at his limit yet.

I can manage somehow.

Since that last time, he hadn’t even seen a waluo. Maybe they were going to be able to make it through Waluandin just like this? Whenever he thought it would be easy, something bad happened. Well, his harsher predictions tended to come true, too, so maybe it would all be the same no matter which way he leaned.

“The sound of the drums... Isn’t it kind of close?” Ranta commented.

Even before Ranta said it, Haruhiro had noticed. If even Ranta had noticed it, Lala and Nono had to be aware well ahead of him, too. Yet they’d said nothing.

Once again, Haruhiro was reminded that he couldn’t trust them. He didn’t know if they were evil or not, but Lala and Nono only ever thought about themselves. They were only accompanying Haruhiro and the others because, at the moment, they had decided it was worth using them. If that changed, they would probably abandon the party without hesitation. Using them as sacrificial pawns, if need be. They wouldn’t even feel guilty about doing it.

That said, Haruhiro and his comrades were working with them because it was beneficial to them, too. So, in that sense, they were even. Well, as for whether or not he could abandon Lala and Nono if he had to, that was another matter, or rather he’d probably have a hard time bringing himself to do it. Was he being... naïve, maybe? He might be.

Haruhiro had the other seven wait while he clambered up on top of a nearby building. When he got a look from the rooftop, he could see columns of lights that he assumed were torches moving around Waluandin. One column was less than a hundred meters away. That was pretty close, all things considered.

What do we do?

Haruhiro came down off the roof. How should he explain it? His head wasn’t working right.

When he just stood there, Ranta rounded on him. “What’re you staring off into space for?! What’s up, man?! What’s going on?! Haruhiro! I’m asking you a question, so say something, you balding idiot!”

“...We may be in trouble.”

“In trouble how?!”

“They may be searching... for us.”

“Searching for—us... Wait, whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?!”

“Ranta’s been talkin’ real loud for a while now, after all,” Yume said.

“Shut it, Tiny Tits! Just shut up! We’re having an important conversation here!”

“Why would they be looking for us?” Shihoru asked.

It was a perfectly reasonable question. From his comrades’ perspective, it must have been a mystery. However, it wasn’t any mystery to Haruhiro. It wasn’t. In fact, he had it more or less figured out. He didn’t want it to be true, but he had to assume it probably was.

“First, we need to run,” Merry said as if trying to convince herself, then looked at her comrades. “Whatever the cause or the reason is, it can wait.”

“Sounds about right.” Kuzaku nodded. “We should run before we’re found.”

“Where’re we gonna run to?!” Ranta shouted. “We’re pretty deep inside Waluandin, you know?! You think there’s anywhere for us to run here?!”

“No need to run.” Lala licked her red lips, then pointed to Fire Dragon Mountain. “For the orcs of Waluandin, Fire Dragon Mountain is probably sacred land. They wouldn’t chase us there, would they?”

Nono fixed a contemptuous look on Haruhiro.

...S-Scary, Haruhiro thought. That look, he’s totally pissed. They’re on to me, damn it.

At the very least, Nono knew. Knew who it was who’d brought about this state of affairs.

Yes. That was right. It was Haruhiro’s fault. Probably. Well, almost certainly. Haruhiro would have given eight to nine out of ten odds that he was to blame.

He hadn’t killed the orc. He hadn’t been able to do it. Not that young waluo. He’d bound him hand and foot, gagged him, and then left him there.

Do I have to tell them? Haruhiro wondered. But they were short on time, right? Maybe not now? Still, why didn’t Nono condemn him for it? No matter how Haruhiro looked at it, this was a crisis. Lala was in danger, too. So why? Because Nono didn’t want to talk? He’d rather kill him first and lay blame later? He was looking for the opportunity? Whatever it was, they needed to hurry.

Merry was right. When it came to the cause or the reason for it, that could wait.

“Let’s go! To Fire Dragon Mountain!” Haruhiro directed.

The waluos beat their drums, swung their torches, and shouted as they searched for Haruhiro and the others. Even at a rough count, there were a lot of torches. Easily into the triple digits. What was more, they weren’t all necessarily carrying torches. It could be one in every few, every ten, or even less than that.

It would be best to assume there were roughly ten times as many in the search party as there were torches. It was over a thousand, and there were possibly multiple thousands of waluos out there hunting for Haruhiro and the others.

Haruhiro did what he could to try to lead the group, but Nono went on ahead of him. He’d have to follow. He couldn’t say, Leave this to me. If Haruhiro said that, Nono would probably have killed him. Besides, he felt like he’d probably mess up again.

It was best to put what happened with the young waluo out of his mind for now. He knew that, but he couldn’t just forget it. Honestly, Haruhiro couldn’t have any confidence in his decision-making ability right now. Right now? Only now? What about in future? Was he ever going to be able to say, Okay, I’m good now? He couldn’t see it happening.

Nono advanced smoothly, sometimes going straight without hesitation, sometimes turning, and sometimes heading down alleyways. How could he keep on going without hesitation like that? Every once in a while, Lala would call out to him from the rear, saying, Right, or Left, or Straight. Was it thanks to Lala? If he was going to do the wrong thing, Lala would correct him. Was it because even if he messed up, Lala was there to cover for him? Was it the trust between them? Because he wasn’t alone? Because they were a pair? What about Haruhiro? Did he believe in his comrades? It wasn’t that he didn’t believe in them, it was just... that—

“Stop!” Lala shouted, and he realized a band of waluos had appeared in front of them.

The waluos were over two meters tall and wearing body paint, so they were frightening even to look at. Haruhiro’s heart jumped up and down, causing a sharp and intense pain to run through his chest.

Nono attacked the lead waluo. Kuzaku readied his shield and charged in. Ranta followed.

Nono used his right hand knife to cut open the first waluo’s neck in the blink of an eye, then sprang at another waluo. Kuzaku smashed into one with his shield, probably meaning to knock him down, but the enemy was bigger than he was and managed to hold firm. Ranta slashed at the waluo carrying the torch, but though he’d managed to drive him back, he hadn’t dealt a serious wound.

Haruhiro grabbed the hilt of his stiletto, adjusted his grip, and then held it tight.

Oh, crap. Oh, crap. This was not good. No. He was standing bolt upright, his legs like sticks.

What was he doing? Nothing. Haruhiro was doing nothing.

He looked around. Looked, and thought. He pretended to be thinking. The truth was, he wasn’t thinking a thing.

“This way!” Lala shouted.

The moment he heard Lala shout that, he was incredibly relieved. She was pointing to an alley a little way back the way they had come.

He sent Yume, Shihoru, and Merry on ahead, then waited for Ranta, who had turned and run, and Kuzaku, who was slowly pulling back while using his shield to block a waluo’s kicks. Nono wasn’t just fast, he used martial arts techniques of varying speed along with his knife to great effect, and he was stalling the waluos. He wasn’t that big, and all he had was a short knife, but he was running circles around the big waluos. How could he pull a trick like that off?

Now wasn’t the time to stare in admiration.

Ranta went into the alley. Kuzaku wasn’t there yet. There was a waluo harassing him.

I’ve got to do something about him, thought Haruhiro. That’s right. I’ve got to. I need to do at least that much. Do it.

Haruhiro raced past Kuzaku and the waluo, then made a sudden turn and slammed a Backstab into him. He’d been aiming to hit the kidney by going through his back, but it didn’t reach the organ.

The waluo turned.

Kuzaku hit it in the jaw with Bash, then followed up with a Thrust using his black blade. There was no need for either of them to say, Let’s go. They headed for the alley together. Nono followed them, too.

To the alley.

To the alley.

It was a narrow alley, maybe only about a meter across, and Lala was there, elegantly pointing to the right. Why hadn’t Lala abandoned Haruhiro and the party yet? What was Nono thinking?

No. That didn’t matter. Not for now. He’d shut up and do as Lala said. It was his only choice. That was the best thing to do. After all, Haruhiro couldn’t handle it himself. He had no plan for getting out of this. He could only run around blindly.

Lala was different. She showed no signs of panicking. Nono was the same way. They were calm. Like always.

I’ve gotta be like that, thought Haruhiro. He wanted to be like them, but could he? Well, that was questionable. Probably not. There was no way. He could work his whole life, and he’d never be able to be like Lala and Nono.

When they came out onto a large cobblestone road, they had a good view of Waluandin in its entirety. They were at a pretty high elevation. This was already the far edge of Waluandin. The waluos pressed in on them from the far end of the road.

“Aha!” Lala laughed. “Slowpokes! We’ve won!”

Had they really? Was she lying? Lala took the lead in racing up the big road up the hill.

Ranta shouted, “This is so damn cool!”

The waluos had totally caught Haruhiro and the others now. This big road seemed to stretch from the palace district, meandering a bit as it went all the way to Fire Dragon Mountain. How did he know that? Because he could see it. The torches clearly lit up the path of the road.

Incredible. There was a seriously incredible number of waluos.

If Kikkawa had been here, he might have called it “tally-to some-awe.” Yeah, maybe not.

Man, Haruhiro missed Kikkawa. He was supposedly all right, so would they be able to meet again? There wasn’t much hope of it. He couldn’t help but feel that way.

A muddy stream. With their body paint and decorative cloths that they wore like a sash, the waluos swinging around their dragon sticks and torches seemed to be like a muddy stream surging backwards up the road in an attempt to swallow up Haruhiro and the others. It was honestly a bit hard to tell how many meters there were between Nono at the rear of the group and the front of the line of waluos, but it was less than ten meters. Well, it was a few meters.

Nono could probably shake them if he got serious. But Shihoru and Kuzaku would have had trouble, and Merry didn’t seem like she’d have an easy time doing so, either. There was a sense in the air that it was only a matter of time now.

Weren’t they out of moves? Wasn’t this the end?

It was all Haruhiro’s fault. Haruhiro had ended it.

Sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry, guys. I’m really sorry. It was me. It was my fault. I’m the one to blame. All of it. Me. What can I do to get you to forgive me? Yeah, nothing, I’ll bet. Of course not. I mean, it’s my fault, after all! No one else is to blame. It’s all on me!

Haruhiro ran as fast as he could, crying and screaming despite himself. He didn’t turn back. He only looked ahead. He was just scared. He didn’t want to see anything, or to know anything.

Enough. It was over anyway. Because of Haruhiro, it was all over. They were all gonna die. They’d be beaten to a bloody pulp and brutally killed.

It was strange. No matter how much time passed, it didn’t happen. It should have been any moment now, but Haruhiro was still alive.

He passed between two stone pillars with a dragon motif. He’d finally left the city. The steep cobblestone road continued, but there were no more buildings. The rocky mountain spread out to either side. There wasn’t so much as a single tree growing here. Here and there, lava would spurt up as if from a pulsing vein, and there would be a puff of smoke.

“They’re not comin’ after us!” Yume cried, her voice full of cheer.

I see. That’s right. Haruhiro wiped the sweat, tears, snot, and saliva from his face as he turned back. The waluos were there. They hadn’t turned back. But they had stopped at the stone pillars. It was as if some invisible dam were holding them back.

Sacred land. Fire Dragon Mountain was probably sacred land to the orcs of Waluandin, so maybe they wouldn’t chase them here. That had been Lala’s read on the situation, and she had stated it clearly. In the end, it had been spot on.

Lala had won a calculated victory. Not just Nono, but Ranta, Yume, Shihoru, Merry, and Kuzaku might all have hope now. Haruhiro was the only one who didn’t.

Haruhiro was alone in his utter despair.

He’d panicked so badly that he’d lost the ability to think straight. He was embarrassed. Incredibly. He wanted to just disappear. He didn’t want to live in shame any longer.

The road turned into stone steps. It was so steep that, had they not been on a staircase, it felt like they would tumble down. When they got past that incline, it leveled out to be almost flat, and the road came to an abrupt end.

“Oofwhah..!” Ranta let out an odd exclamation. “There! There they are! Those’re salamanders, right?! Hold on, how are they okay in that molten lava?!”

From there on, there were real ups and downs in the mountain slope, rivers of lava everywhere, and also springs of lava bubbling up. The salamanders would float in the lava, swim in it, and jump around in it.

Actually, if he were to describe them just how they looked, they were like clumps of molten lava in the shape of lizards. When they weren’t moving, they were indistinguishable from the lava. That was why, as a matter of fact, Haruhiro had no idea how many salamanders there were. It was possible that all of that lava was salamanders. Well, that was probably not true, but he couldn’t deny the possibility.

“Let’s take it a little more carefully from here,” Lala said quietly, as if they hadn’t been particularly careful up until this point.

What kind of nerves did she have? Or was she just putting up a strong front? That couldn’t be it. She just had nerves of steel.

Nono stood in the front, checking his footing as he moved forward. Lala was in second place, and behind her the line went Ranta, Kuzaku, Merry, Shihoru, Yume, and finally Haruhiro. They hadn’t discussed it beforehand; it had just ended up this way naturally. Probably because Haruhiro hadn’t done anything or said a word, everyone had assumed he’d meant to bring up the rear.

Haruhiro hadn’t actually been thinking anything, but he had no complaints. If anything, he was grateful. He was happy to be in the back; the back was great. He didn’t have to feel anyone’s eyes on him. He couldn’t take on a leadership role in this state.

“The reason we had our eyes on this place,” Lala began to explain without anyone asking her to, “was because of the presence of orcs. Because they’re in Grimgar, too. When a race exists in two different worlds, as a general rule, you can assume that those worlds are connected. Based on our experience, if that race has put down roots in a specific place, there’s usually a path between them there. Though, in many cases, there’s a reason they can’t go back and forth easily.”

“There’s a fire dragon here...” Shihoru held her hat down as she fearfully jumped across a thin stream of lava.

Immediately after she did, a salamander hopped out, nearly touching Shihoru’s leg.

“...Ohhh!”

“Y’think there really is a fire dragon?” Yume easily jumped over, and of course the salamander jumped again, too. Yume easily cleared both the lava stream and the salamander. “It’s too quiet here, after all.”

Haruhiro ran up and jumped as hard as he could, trying not to look at the stream or the salamander. He had to say something. It was strange for him to stay so quiet. But what would he say? It wasn’t like he didn’t have things he should be saying. If he said it, though, what would happen? He didn’t know. He didn’t want to imagine it.

“Y’think that’s the summit there?” Kuzaku pointed diagonally to the left in front of them.

There was definitely a dark mountainous shape in that direction. How far was it, distance-wise? A few hundred meters ahead? More, maybe?

“Hold on...” Ranta came to a sudden stop. “Haruhiro. You were saying something earlier, weren’t you, pal? Back in Waluandin. Also, man... you were crying. Was I just imagining that?”

Haruhiro just shook his head. He didn’t answer. When he tried to keep going, Ranta pushed aside their other comrades to close in on Haruhiro.

“You were saying something, something about how it was because of you. What’d that mean? Like, you said it was all your fault. You’re acting weird, too, you know? I mean, I know you’re weird most of the time. You’ve got those sleepy eyes and all. But, even so, you’re not acting normal. Man, what’s gotten into you?”

“...Later,” Haruhiro whispered.

“Huhh?”

“I’ll tell you later. I promise I will. For now... it doesn’t matter.”

“It does matter.” Ranta grabbed Haruhiro by the collar. “There’s no way it doesn’t! Don’t give me that shit! Listen, man, there’s nothing I hate more than when things are kept vague like this!”

“That’s why I said I’d tell you later! Think about the situation!”

“What situation? You’re not getting out of this! When I decide to do something, I do it! I’m gonna chase you down and get the truth out of you no matter what it takes!”

“Ranta! Stop!” Yume tried to interpose herself between Haruhiro and Ranta.

That pushed Haruhiro backwards. “Ah...!” He lost his footing, and in the direction he stepped, small or not, there was a pool of lava. His foot didn’t land right in it, but his right heel brushed the lava slightly, and it sizzled and burned. “Urgh...!”

“H-Haru-kun?!” Yume cried.

“...No, I’m... fine...?” Haruhiro crouched down and rubbed his heel. He’d pulled his foot out immediately, so he didn’t think it was anything major. That was what he hoped. He traced the outline of his boot with his fingers. How was it? The heel seemed kind of melted? Was it just the boot? What about the inside? It felt painful, and maybe hot...?

“I-I’m not gonna apologize, okay!” Ranta said arrogantly. “Th-Th-That was Yume’s fault, and your own! I’m not in the wrong here, not one insignificant bit!”

“You’re insignificant...” Shihoru murmured.

“Huh?! What was that, you rotten saggy titty bomber?!”

“R-Rotten... s-saggy...?!”

“Haru! Let me look!” Merry pushed past Shihoru, Yume, and Ranta to crouch next to Haruhiro.

Lala shrugged, looking at them in utter amazement. Nono brought his face close to Lala and whispered something in her ear. He might have been pressing her to make a choice. Like, Isn’t it about time we abandoned them, maybe?

That was no good. No good at all. The party needed them to reconsider, or they’d be in trouble.

“Whoa, wai—” Haruhiro pushed Merry aside as she was trying to heal him, and stood up. The pain shot through his right heel, and he let out a bizarre little shriek of pain.

“Huh?” Kuzaku said something incredibly strange. “The summit moved?”

“Mountains don’t move,” Lala said with a joyous purr in her voice for some reason. “In other words, that’s no mountain, is it?”

“I-If it isn’t...” Ranta turned and looked up at the summit—no, the thing they had thought was the summit. “Wh-What... is that thing...?”

It shook left and right—no, not just that. This sound. It was vibrating. Or rather, the ground was shaking. The thing was approaching.

“Run!” Haruhiro shouted reflexively.

“Wh-Which way?!” Ranta shouted back.

“I don’t know which—”

Which way? Where would they run? Back? The way they came? How far? Could they go down the mountain? But they couldn’t flee into Waluandin. That was obvious. What should they do? How should he know? Haruhiro naturally tried to cling to Lala and Nono.

They were gone.

They had been there until just a moment ago. No. He could see their backs. They were moving on. He’d lost sight of them for a moment when the shadow of a boulder up ahead blocked his view. That said, they were already more than fifteen meters away.

“A-After them! Follow those two! Hurry!”

“Damn it! That bitch!” Ranta shouted.

“Shihoru, go on ahead!” Yume cried. “Yume’s gonna be right there behind you!”

“Y-Yeah! Got it!”

“Merry-san, you go, too!”

“Okay! Haru, can you run?!”

“I-I can, yeah! Now hurry! Kuzaku, you too!”

“’Kay!”

The tremors grew larger and more violent. Haruhiro desperately chased after Kuzaku’s back. When his right heel touched down, the pain shot all the way to the top of his head. All he could do was work to avoid his right heel touching the ground, running on the balls of his feet. It wasn’t easy, by any means.

Once the weight of their gear and other possessions factored in, Haruhiro was either the fastest or the second fastest runner in the party. Kuzaku was the slowest. Despite that, this was hopeless. Not only was he not catching up to Kuzaku, he was being left behind.

Kuzaku occasionally looked back, slowed down, and waited for Haruhiro. He was so happy he could cry, but it was no solution. Even if he closed the gap a little, it quickly opened back up, and sometimes got worse.

He suddenly lost sight of Kuzaku. Had he finally given up on him? No, that couldn’t be it. He passed through a narrow gap between two boulders and came out into a more open place.

It wasn’t just Kuzaku. Everyone was there. Even Lala and Nono were there, off in the distance.

Kuzaku turned back, looking at Haruhiro—and then at something further up.

“...!” Kuzaku let out a silent cry that was ominous, to say the least.

It might have been a bit of an exaggeration, but Haruhiro felt like he was being told about the end of the world.

He couldn’t decide. Should he see it for himself, or was it best not to? Before he could make a decision, his eyes were sucked towards it. He didn’t wish he hadn’t seen it, and he wasn’t glad that he had seen it. He was just dumbfounded.

He liked to think he’d encountered his fair share of creatures. Like the giant god in the Dusk Realm. Well, there was probably room for debate on whether that was a living creature or not, but it had been huge.

This thing wasn’t an order of magnitude bigger than them like the giant god had been. But there was something in the shape of its eyes that made him feel a special, deep kind of emotion. They weren’t pretty, or beautiful. It was different from that. If he were to sum it up in one word...

Terrifying. That was probably what they were, but that was certainly not all they were.

Its whole body was covered with reddish scales, or perhaps black scales with a red luster. On that point, it was similar to a reptile. In fact, it might have been fair to call it a giant lizard, but it really was different. It seemed to walk on four legs, but its front legs also seemed like they could grab things. It had hands that looked surprisingly dexterous. Its neck was pretty long, and its head was rather small. Small though it might have been, it was probably still large enough to swallow a person whole. It was a matter of relative size.

It wasn’t fat. It didn’t look slow-witted, and it seemed to move quickly for its large size. If it ran as fast as those powerful rear legs would take it, it was probably really fast. It lifted its long tail, stretching it out.

That’s a dragon.

Most likely, even if they hadn’t known that dragons existed, anyone would have been able to tell at first sight that this creature held a special position. If that person had then been told this was a dragon, they would accept it immediately. Even though they didn’t know what dragons were, they would no doubt think, Oh, I see, so that’s what a dragon is. Dragons had to be engraved in everyone’s instincts.

It was little wonder the orcs of Waluandin worshiped it. It was easy to understand why they wanted to offer it sacrifices, too.

Haruhiro trembled, of course. This fear wasn’t something he could feel normally. However, at the same time, there was something he couldn’t help but feel.

Dragons are awesome.

Honestly, it was cool. Creatures like this actually existed. In a way, it was perfect. Now it may not be clear what way that was, but it was awesome.

Dragon.

The fire dragon opened its maw, twisted its neck, and inhaled. Was it taking a deep breath? He didn’t know what was up, but Haruhiro watched it intently. It might have been more accurate to say he was entranced by it. There were little lights flickering in the back of the fire dragon’s throat.

What are those? he wondered. That was all he thought.

“Uwahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” When he heard Ranta’s scream, he began to suspect that maybe he was lacking the proper sense of crisis here. He looked and saw that his comrades were making a mad dash to get away. They were like herbivores fleeing to get away from a pack of wolves. Of course, Ranta and the others were no herbivores, and there were no wolves to be found on this mountain. There were only salamanders and the fire dragon. It looked like Ranta and the others were trying to get away from that fire dragon.

Well, yeah, of course they’re running.

Why was Haruhiro just standing there? If anything, that was the strange thing.

The fire dragon inhaled, and inhaled, and inhaled, then finally exhaled. No, it wasn’t just breathing out. Or was that just what the fire dragon’s breath was like?

Haruhiro rolled backwards. The hot mass that assaulted him left him unable to stand.

Fire. Flames. The fire dragon had spewed fire. He thought he might have burned, too. It was hot enough he wouldn’t have been surprised if he melted away completely. That’s what it felt like.

How much time had passed? A few seconds? A few minutes? More than that? He didn’t know.

Haruhiro lay on his side like a dried-out caterpillar. He was literally dried out. Steam was rising from all over his body. He was crispy and crunchy. His eyes, his nose, and his mouth were all dry. His skin looked ready to crack at any moment. He was scared to even blink. But if he didn’t blink and work out some tears somehow, something seriously bad was going to happen to his eyes. The same went for his mouth and nose, too. His body needed to use all of its remaining water to moisten them, or he was in serious trouble.

He didn’t seem to be on fire. That flame breath hadn’t burned him. Well, that was probably because he hadn’t taken a direct hit. Haruhiro just got hit by the aftereffects of it. Even that had been enough to leave him like this. If he’d taken it head-on, he would surely have been reduced to ash in an instant.

That meant the fire dragon hadn’t been aiming for Haruhiro with its fire breath. Then where had it aimed? What was its target?

He could hear the tremors, the fire dragon’s footsteps. He felt it. The fire dragon was on the move.

“Ranta and... the others... Merry... Yume... Shihoru... Kuzaku...” he managed.

His comrades were trying to run away. From the fire dragon, probably. Maybe from its fire breath. Was the fire dragon aiming for them? Not for Haruhiro, but his comrades? Had it spat fire at his comrades? That was why Haruhiro had been spared? Because his comrades? What was happening?

“I have... to look for them...”

That was right. What had happened wasn’t the issue. First, he had to find them.

Haruhiro used a rocky outcropping on the mountainside to pull himself to his feet. His right heel hurt so badly, he thought it might crumble. The pain was actually what saved him. He was glad for it. He wished he could faint from the pain. No such luck. He had to search.

When he went in the direction his comrades had fled, he saw the fire dragon’s back. The area where its flames burst had caved in, and there was a quagmire of molten rock at the bottom of the hole. It gave him a plain display of the flames’ power. They’d have done more than turn him to ash. If he’d taken a direct hit, there might not have been anything left of him.

That being the case, maybe he wouldn’t be able to find his comrades.

Don’t think that, he told himself. Don’t think stupid things. You can’t think. Move. Make yourself move. Get your body moving. It all starts with that.

He couldn’t convince himself that he wanted to follow right behind the fire dragon. That was much too dangerous. Haruhiro decided to take the long way around. The fire dragon might be looking for something. Maybe his comrades had gotten away. The fire dragon might still be chasing his comrades. If he circled around in front of it, he might be able to meet up with them.

That was right. There was hope. It wasn’t hopeless.

While always keeping the fire dragon in sight, making sure not to get too close to it, or too far from it, he worked out his course. The terrain was his enemy. It was too rough, and too bumpy, after all. Lava peeked out from the places that were sunken and had looked like they might be paths he could use. There were always salamanders in the lava.

When he lost sight of the fire dragon, he fell into a sudden panic. In his feverish haste, he got burns here and there.

I should jump into the lava and end it all. He often caught himself thinking things like that.

When he caught a glimpse of the fire dragon in the distance, it gave him courage. The fire dragon was there. That relieved him, and he couldn’t help but laugh.

“...They’re alive, right? All of them,” he mumbled to himself.

Don’t doubt it. If you doubt it, you’ve lost. Lost? Lost to what?

To myself, probably.

To the weakness of my own heart.

He didn’t think he was strong, but had he been this frail all along? He didn’t know how much he’d thought he’d grown, but what the hell was with this sad state of affairs? It was beyond awful.

Did I think I’d grown? Did I think I could do it? Did I grow? Did I expect anything from myself? How stupid. In the end, I’m just a small fry. I’m a have-not. I mean, I have no talent. I worked hard because there was nothing else I could do. I feel like I’d done what I could have. Was it not enough? Maybe it isn’t a matter of enough or not enough. It was hopeless either way. No matter how hard I worked, gave it my best, no matter what I did, there were always going to be limits.

What, did I think I would actually be able to do something? Maybe? That’s hilarious. Look at reality. I knew it from the very beginning. I can’t be anyone but me. I can’t be anything more than myself. I’m just myself. I’m endlessly weak, and frail, and I haven’t changed who I am. In the end, it can’t be changed. There’s no way for me to change.

I’m small and miserable, pathetically clinging to something, and while I may still be alive for now, it won’t last long.

This is me.

I’ve had enough, it’s time to end it.

Look, the fire dragon is so far away. Get ahead of it? Like I could. It hurts. Not just my right heel. I hurt all over. I don’t want to walk. I can’t move.

I’ll just stay here.

Sit down, and stay put.

In fact, Haruhiro did sit down and hold his knees for quite a long time.

“Man, I’m mediocre...” he mumbled.

What a laugh. Honestly. If I’ve given up on myself, why don’t I just give up entirely? Can’t I do that? No, of course not. I’m not that graceful. It makes me think that this is just how things are. I’m so mediocre, it makes me hate myself.

I wanted to be someone special. That’s the truth, you know? I hoped I could be. Like, geniuses, I admire them. Soma and Kemuri, or Akira-san and Miho, or even Tokimune and his team, and then there’s Renji. They’re incredible. It makes me think, “If only I could have been like that.” I just try to think about it. Because it’s impossible. What can I do about the gap between us? There’s nothing. Nothing I can do. There’s nothing that can be done about it. I know that and all, but I’m just going to die without ever, even once, becoming someone special. What is there to think about a life like that? It feels lonely, and sad. Well, I’m fine with it, though.

No matter what sort of life you have, it’s the one and only one you’ll get, so it’s special and irreplaceable, right?

There’s no need to compare myself to others. When you’re comparing yourself to others, there’s only one standard. In the end, it’s how you feel about yourself, right?

I can see where this is going, you know, even though I can’t. It feels like it’s all about to end, so, at the very least, I should give my own blessings to this insignificant life of mine.

“...Like you could, idiot,” he muttered.

I wanted to lead a life I could proudly boast about to anyone. I wanted to be someone I could be proud of. I grew timid, thinking I couldn’t do things, and that’s why I ended up like this, but then I used that as an excuse, and acted like I was doing my best, and I tried to be satisfied with that, but in the end, you know what, this is pathetic. I haven’t done everything I could have, and it feels half-assed, and that’s no good at all, but the curtain’s probably going to fall with me still feeling dissatisfied about it.

It wasn’t like he thought, I’ll give it my all, and tried to look forward. It was just too painful to stay the way he was. He simply couldn’t sit still, and he stood up because he had no choice. That was the truth.

He couldn’t say that he’d honed his senses at the time, but he felt a stabbing presence. Without turning, he did a forward roll. Something fell down right behind him.

To avoid using his right heel, he used his left leg as an axis to turn around, drawing his stiletto as he did. His enemy had a long machete-like weapon that he’d swung down at Haruhiro.

It wasn’t that Haruhiro thought he’d get taken out if he tried to dodge, or anything like that. His body reacted on its own. Haruhiro plunged himself head first into his enemy’s lower body.

When he tried to stab the enemy with his stiletto, his enemy jumped back and evaded it. Haruhiro charged in, not stopping to ponder questions like who the enemy was or why this was happening. At some point, he found himself holding not just his stiletto, but his knife with the hilt guard was in his left hand, too.

His right heel hurt. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t feel the pain, but he didn’t let it bother him. He attacked.

The attack.

He was on the attack.

The enemy’s blade was about 1.2 meters long, meaning it had far more reach than Haruhiro’s weapons, and the enemy was larger than he was too, so he wasn’t going to be able to fend him off with Swat for long. Haruhiro didn’t analyze the situation and come to that conclusion; he knew it instinctively. He had to close the gap and attack.

The only thing the enemy did was run around. He had a weapon, but he was half naked. From the look of him, he seemed to be an orc. He was slender compared to the orcs of Waluandin. But he probably wasn’t just thin. His body was reminiscent of a bowstring pulled to its limits. His skin lacked greenness and was not smooth. It was raised in some places, twisted in others.

Maybe those were burn scars. It wasn’t just part of him. It was his whole body. Those eyes. Could he see with them? Both of his eyeballs were muddy and white.

Whether he could see or not, even when he backed away, he never went near the lava. His movements were elegant. Like some sort of master martial artist. It was true, Haruhiro was pressing the attack and the orc was on the defensive. However, that didn’t mean he had him on the ropes. He had leeway to work with. Plenty of it, probably.

Haruhiro might be being forced to attack. If he didn’t attack, he’d be attacked himself. If he was attacked, it was highly likely that he wouldn’t be able to defend himself. If not for the wound on his right heel, he might have taken the risk and tried to flee, but there was no chance of it working when he couldn’t even run properly. He wished he could talk his way out of it, but that wasn’t possible, either. Even if he didn’t feel he could win, he had to do it.

There was only one result. It was kill or be killed.

It was no time to calculate odds, but even without him considering it, countless thoughts raced through his head at high speed.

His enemy’s footwork was unique. He was standing on his tiptoes. They seemed to be sinking into the ground.

His body was awfully flexible. He controlled his machete with just his right hand. His left hand wasn’t even on it.

That machete. It didn’t look like it was metal. Stone? It looked like it had been carved out of stone. That long machete made of stone might have been handmade.

Did he live here? How did he eat and drink? Was this a livable environment? He’d be attacking soon.

See, here it comes.

The orc twisted his body and pulled it diagonally. The long stone machete thrust forward.

Haruhiro didn’t fall back. He couldn’t avoid it. He put all his strength into a Swat with his knife with the hilt guard. He couldn’t handle a combo, but if it was just one strike...

It was heavy.

The orc’s strength was immense—but Haruhiro pulled it off. He deflected it and immediately went in to attack, but the orc slipped back and away from him, scrunching up his face.

Was that a smile? Fine. Smile away. Haruhiro wouldn’t smile. He’d attack.

He got in close, striking out with his stiletto. He was always taking aim with his knife. He knew. He didn’t need to think about it, he knew. The orc was enjoying this. He might have been crazy even by orc standards. He was enjoying the fight, and trying to savor it.

The orc probably intended to force Haruhiro to give everything he had, and then once he was satisfied with what he’d seen, he’d kill him. That being the case, Haruhiro had just one small chance for victory.

Besides, he was already giving his all. He couldn’t move any faster, or swing his stiletto any harder. This was his limit, so just keeping it up was tiring, and he’d only degrade from here. He couldn’t turn this into a drawn-out battle. The more time that passed, the fewer chances he would have to attack. The orc probably knew that, too. If they fought, and fought, and fought until they were through, then luck, the situation, and a variety of other diverse factors would gradually drop off until, in the end, the strongest was guaranteed to win.

And, in this case, that wasn’t Haruhiro. It was the orc.

That was why, before it came to that ultimate stage, Haruhiro had to throw everything he had into one desperate gambit. Of course, the orc knew that, too. He was trying to egg him into it.

Bring it on, he seemed to say.

Come on, bring it, he was saying.

That line was nowhere to be seen. Haruhiro saw an invisible, narrow bridge laid out in front of him, and he had no choice but to cross it. What was more, this guy was on the other side of the bridge. He knew Haruhiro was coming, and the orc was eagerly awaiting his chance to demolish him. His odds of pulling it off might not be zero, but they were close to it. Even so, Haruhiro would cross the bridge.

Because he had no choice? Because he had to?

No.

That’s not it.

It’s because I want to live. I don’t want to die. I can’t let myself die. I’ll kill him, and live. Live. Live. Live for all I’m worth. I’ll beat him. I’m gonna win this. Now, cross the bridge.

Assault.

He had thought he was giving his all before, but maybe he was wrong. Haruhiro surprised himself. He hadn’t known he could move this fast.

Thanks to that, in a turn of good fortune, it looked like he was able to overshoot the orc’s expectations for him, too. Haruhiro easily got in too close for him to reach. From there, all he had to do was stab like crazy with his stiletto, and slash away with his knife.

The orc quickly brought his knee up in an attempt to defend himself. Haruhiro stabbed the hell out of it, slashed it up, and pushed in.

The orc reached out with his left hand. He tried to hug Haruhiro and seal his attacks.

Haruhiro didn’t worry about it, instead poking his stiletto through the orc’s belly and gouging him. His knife slammed in to the orc’s right armpit. He was in a position to push the orc down.

The orc wrapped both of his legs around Haruhiro and squeezed him, grabbing Haruhiro’s hair with his left hand. Then he slammed the hilt of his long stone machete into Haruhiro’s head.

Even so, Haruhiro continued twisting his stiletto around inside the orc’s guts. Moving his knife around vigorously, he tried to cut the orc’s right arm off at the shoulder. He bit the orc’s neck. He tore into his skin, meat, and blood vessels. The blood overflowed. It wasn’t just warm, it was hot.

Haruhiro bit into that open wound even more. The orc screamed. Haruhiro didn’t let out so much as a grunt.

Destroy, destroy, I’ll destroy you, destroy you, destroy you until you can’t move. Live, live, I’ll live, I’m gonna live. Win, I’ll win and live, I’ll survive. It’s kill or be killed, live or die, I’m not the one who’s gonna die, it’s you.

Oh, wait, maybe I can stop now...?

No, not yet. He needed to do more. Haruhiro didn’t stop until the blood coming out of the orc went cool. When he was completely, absolutely certain that the orc was dead, all the strength drained from his body, and he burst into tears. He felt like he was blubbering pretty badly.

He’d won. Haruhiro had won.

His opponent had been strong. In terms of pure strength, probably stronger than Haruhiro. Far stronger, maybe.

Why had Haruhiro been able to win?

He didn’t think his opponent had been arrogant. The orc had never let his guard down. However, if his enemy’s strength had been a ten, he’d probably assumed Haruhiro’s was a five, or maybe a four. That was about how Haruhiro had felt, too. But at the last moment, he’d been able to add just a little extra to that five. That was all that had decided the battle. Indeed, Haruhiro had truly been gambling. It had gone just as planned. In that sense, it had been a perfect victory. The weak had overcome the strong, all by himself, with only his own strength, his own ability, and seized this victory.

Haruhiro looked down at the remains of the defeated. He wanted to learn what he could about his foe.

The orc was maybe two meters and twenty centimeters tall. There was no way to weigh him, but he had to be easily over a hundred kilograms. He could be two, maybe even three hundred kilos. That was huge. He’d looked slender, but he was still massive.

There were burn marks covering his entire body. The scars went down all the way to the tips of his toes. This had to be deliberate. He must have burned himself. There was some intricate design carved into his exposed fangs. A dragon, apparently.

Haruhiro went through all the orc’s possessions. He had a belt around his waist, and there were pockets for items and a sheath on it. He had something that looked like a golden ring, four blackish scale-like objects, and a small knife. Haruhiro opted to take it all.

The orc’s eyes were open, so he closed them, and put his hands together because that seemed like the right thing to do. It was a strange thing to think, and he realized that himself, but Haruhiro felt this orc had shared his life with him, and it was thanks to him that Haruhiro was alive now. That was how he felt.

Still, Haruhiro was bruised all over, and he was in such bad shape that it would be harder to find a part of him that didn’t ache right now. The life that the orc had given him might burn out eventually. Even so, he was living on somehow. Since he was alive, there were things he ought to do, or rather there were things he really wanted to do, and things that he had no choice but to do.

He wanted to see his comrades.

He didn’t think for a second, I’m sure they’re all fine, or, I’m sure we’ll meet again, and he had no high hopes of it happening, but he wanted it to. So he decided to search. Until his life ran out, he would keep on looking.

Leaving the orc behind, Haruhiro walked off. When he turned back after going a short distance, salamanders were swarming over the orc’s corpse. Without a hint of irony or sarcasm, Haruhiro thought it was the second most fitting end that he could have received. The most fitting probably would have been for him to challenge the fire dragon and be incinerated by its fire breath or to be devoured. He hadn’t been able to have that.

Haruhiro had no leads. Not even a direction to go in.

Whenever he occasionally saw the fire dragon off in the distance, he found it strangely encouraging, and he would naturally break into a smile.

When the pain and exhaustion made it too hard for him to walk, he accepted it and sat down to rest. He lay down sometimes, too. If he couldn’t get up again, that would be that. He could just accept it. However, that wasn’t likely to happen. If he lost consciousness, obviously there would be no helping that. However, until his time came, he was sure his wish would not fade.

I want to see my comrades.

After all I’ve been through, I’m not going to think that’s pathetic.

Really, I don’t want to be left all by myself. It’s lonely.

There were a number of times when he not so much fell asleep as passed out. When he came to his senses, he was happy.

He was still alive. He could search again.

You know, like this, it feels like I’ve gone everywhere. When was the last time I thought about that?

I was riding a bicycle—Bicycle...?

I dunno what that is, but I thought I could go anywhere on it.

I felt like I could go everywhere. What was it that got me out there? Oh, right. One of those things that you see all the time. The rainbow. It was after the rain. I saw a rainbow. Where did the rainbow start, and where did it end? I thought I’d go and see. I swore I’d find it.

I gave up along the way that time. Now, I wouldn’t give up. I’d go all the way I could, and even if the rainbow vanished, I could just wait for it to appear again.

When I close my eyes, ah... I can see it clearly.

The rainbow.

The bow of seven colors beyond the sky.

I’ll head towards the rainbow. I’ll head for the rainbow, and never stop going.

He sensed a tremor and opened his eyes to find the fire dragon relatively close by. It was close enough that he could look up at it. He went to shake its hand, then stopped.

He decided to stay put. It felt like he might get stomped. If it happened, it happened, and there was nothing he could do about it.

He closed his eyes, and watched the rainbow.

At some point, the fire dragon left.

He was alive. Still alive. But his body really did feel heavy. Heavy, or rather sluggish.

I guess I can rest. Yeah. I’ll take a rest.

He’d found a good place. There was a depression. For some reason, it was a little cool. A little? No, it was really cool. It was a wonder to him how the ground could be cool. It was hot everywhere here.

He slowly came to the realization that he was crawling. It was really hard walking, after all. It wasn’t easy crawling, either, but it was better than walking.

How far did this depression go? It seemed to go on for quite a ways. But maybe here was good, he thought. Here was good.

Suddenly, he was engulfed by total darkness.

On the verge of it, he had a vague memory of thinking, Maybe I’m done for. And yet, his eyes snapped open.

It looked like he was alive. Stubborn, huh.

To live was to not die, after all.

He couldn’t move so much as a finger. He was having a hard enough time just breathing. He went on in that state for a long time, and he had no real hope of recovering, but suddenly, it occurred to him that he could get up, and you never know until you try, so he did, and he could.

If this kept up, dying might take him a while. Did he have to keep living until then? Well, in that case, live on he would.

Even so, when he sat with his back against the rock wall like this, all the muscles in his body relaxed themselves as if some vital core had slipped free from it.

I can’t see the rainbow.

It sure is dark, huh. This place is dark.

Wait, where is this place...?

A depression.

A cool depression?

He turned to face it.

That’s—a hole, isn’t it?

“...Seriously?” he whispered.

It was dark and his vision was hazy, so he couldn’t see very well, but it was probably a hole. In the bottom of the depression, there was a hole that was about two meters across. It wasn’t vertical; it was on a diagonal slant. He couldn’t imagine it was just any old cave. Not with this coolness.

It was abnormal. This was a mountaintop covered with lava, after all. Haruhiro was right in front of the hole.

It had to be the tunnel.

That hole led through to Grimgar.

“This... can’t be happening...” he whispered.

He could go back.

To Grimgar.

“This is... the rainbow’s...”

A moan escaped from the deep in his throat.

—How?

How is this the beginning of the rainbow? It’s the end of the rainbow. There is no rainbow. There never was. It’s an illusion.

It was always going to be impossible. I mean, at this point, I really can’t move anymore. Besides, what am I going to do if I make it back alone? That’s no good. I need my comrades with me.

Even if I search on my own, and I happen across the destination we were looking for, it’s meaningless, isn’t it?

Is this the conclusion that’s been waiting for me?

Is this how it ends?

How worthless.

But, and this is just a probably, if even a little of my strength were to return, and I was able to move forward, I’m sure I’d search for them. My comrades. Then, at the end of it all, I’d die alone. Even if it’s pointless, painful, and unpleasant, I’ll live for something until I die. I’ll keep living on.

I still don’t know if I’ll be able to wake up again or not. I can’t bring myself to think that I hope I wake up, but if I do, I’m sure I’ll keep struggling on in vain.

For now, I’ll sleep.

I wish I had someone to sing me a lullaby.

I don’t like being alone.

Someone, be with me.

Someone.

...Please.

All I need is for you to be here.

“Awaken.”

A dream. It must have been a dream.

That voice. He’d heard it before.

It was a man’s voice. Who was that? But he didn’t hear it just now. That was why he must have been dreaming.

His eyes were shut tight with eye mucus or something. He struggled to get them open. What did he think about that? I’m still alive, maybe? It was a wonder that he was. But was he truly alive? This wasn’t the world after death, was it? It was hard not to be a little doubtful.

He heard something. If it wasn’t an auditory illusion, those were footsteps. He was still a thief, even if he wasn’t much of one, so he could tell that much.

The footsteps were approaching. Multiple sources. It was probably five people.

“Ah...”

He heard a voice. He couldn’t help but force himself to raise his head and turn his eyes towards the direction the voice came from.

I’m alive.

“Haru...!” Merry came running. She hugged him, and touched his face all over.

Merry. She sure is beautiful, huh. I’m realizing that all over again. Yeah. I dunno. What can I say? I have no words.

Haruhiro tried to smile. He wasn’t sure if he managed it. He wasn’t confident.

“Haru-kun, Haru-kun!” Yume cried.

“Haruhiro-kun...!” It was Shihoru.

“Haruhiro!” Merry shouted.

“No way, damn it! Seriously, you piece of shit...”

Don’t call me a piece of shit, man, Haruhiro thought. Whatever, it’s fine.

Well, no, it isn’t fine.

Not really.

“I’ll heal you right away! Haru! Can you hear me?! Hang in there! It’s going to be okay! Everyone’s here!”

Haruhiro nodded, then closed his eyes.

He could see the rainbow.