18 6

He didn’t remember.
Whatever happened, they were still holding one another. They’d been doing so all this time, so he’d gotten pretty used to it. They were both getting good at hugging each other in a way that minimized the space between them.
“I love you,” Merry said. It felt like he was dreaming. But Haruhiro knew that this was no dream. “Haru. I love you. Don’t let go of me.”

9. Wild Nature
Once dawn broke, the Frontier Army’s delegation pushed on toward the Iroto.
“So?” The masked man elbowed Haruhiro lightly in the ribs before whispering, “Did you two do it last night?”
“Huh?” Haruhiro rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand.
There was a sparkle behind the mask’s eye holes—I think.
Obviously, nothing actually flashed. It was his imagination.
“No...way. Parupi—you...!”
“What’s a Parupi?”
“You bastard! I figured you were so spineless you wouldn’t do anything, but I was wrong, huh? You went and did it, you little snot? Seriously? Seriously? Are you serious? For real? You gotta be kidding me. Don’t you try and pull a fast one on me, bud. You’re just Parupiiirooo, so you’ve gotta be faking it, right? I mean, you could be. You could. You totally could. Yeah, that’s it. It’s seriously the only thing I can think.”
The masked man kept rambling on in a whisper. He threw his arm around Haruhiro’s shoulders and pulled him close. “Did you put it in? Your tongue, I mean. Did you slip her the tongue? You did, right? You must’ve given her some sloppy kisses, right? Damn it, you did?! How far did you two go? I’m asking how far you went, you bastard!”
Haruhiro kept silent. He wasn’t going to disclose anything. He was heading into a battle of wills against the tenacious man in the mask, and it wasn’t one he had an advantage in. Even so, Haruhiro had reason to fight. Not only to fight, but to win. If he revealed anything, the masked man would only push harder, and pump him for every last detail.
Ultimately, Haruhiro proved victorious. He ignored all the masked man’s tricks, and finally got him to back off.
Still, he couldn’t rest easy. He knew who he was dealing with. The masked man would look for a chance to press the attack again later. This battle would continue. Perhaps it would never end. He might give in at some point, reveal some of what had happened.
Talking about it would be easier. Haruhiro had a certain vague desire to be open about it too, though he couldn’t figure out why.
Do I tell him?
Ranta, of all people?
No. Not a chance. If he talked, he was finished. That was the sense he got. But if he found himself alone with Ranta, and the chance to tell him came up, his tongue might slip. Did Haruhiro want to talk about it? No, he didn’t. He shouldn’t have, at least.
After crossing a number of small hills, a sparkling river came into view up ahead. It wasn’t noon yet. The surface of the water was shining brilliantly in the morning sun. The Iroto was like a massive snake wreathed in light.
The delegation stopped there for a time.
“If we follow the Iroto upstream, it will take us to the Kurogane Mountain Range. There’s no way for us to get lost now,” Itsukushima said as he patted Poochie the wolf-dog on the head. “But we shouldn’t get any closer to the river than this, except when we need to refill our water.”
The Iroto was the longest and largest river in the frontier. Fertile land extended throughout its basin. And yet, despite that, no one had settled there—not the humans, nor the orcs, nor the elves. They couldn’t have, even if they’d wanted to.
According to Itsukushima, the Iroto was home to the small but vicious river shark, and the black-and-white spotted river snake, which had a powerful neurotoxin.
The smell of blood drove river sharks into a frenzy, and they would swarm their prey, tearing whatever it was to pieces. As for the blackand-white spotted river snake, its bite rapidly paralyzed the victim, killing them via asphyxiation. The snakes were even able to come out onto the riverbanks. And regardless of how shallow the water was, the slightest cut—say, from a rock—would instantly draw a shiver of sharks. Something as simple as trying to draw water from the river became a fairly risky task with them around.
Furthermore, in the area around the river there were long-toothed river otters, which could grow to three meters in length; the Iroto crocodile, a species with males that grew up to five meters long; and the long-tusked hippopotamus, which formed pods with dozens of members. These creatures were all carnivores or omnivores, and they preyed on each other. Evolution had made them all vicious.
It goes without saying, or maybe it doesn’t, that the long-toothed river otter didn’t exclusively eat the Iroto crocodile, and the Iroto crocodile didn’t have a preference for the long-tusked hippopotamus. They would eat whatever filled their bellies. To their eyes, humans looked like weak, easy prey.
“They eat anything that comes to drink from the Iroto. You’d best assume there’s no way to fight them near the waterside.”
“Yume wouldn’t mind seein’ them, though,” Yume said, puffing up her cheeks.
“We’ll have to refill our water eventually,” Itsukushima replied with a shrug. “When we do, the two of us will definitely have to be on the team. I’m hoping we won’t encounter any animals at all, but I wouldn’t count on us being that lucky. Long-tusked hippos are huge, and they move in pods, so I suspect you’ll have an opportunity to catch a glimpse of some.”
Two days of traveling up the Iroto later, that opportunity appeared.
Itsukushima, Poochie, Yume, Haruhiro, and Ranta left Chief Delegate Bikki Sans, Scout Neal, Kuzaku, Setora, Merry, and the horses behind as they embarked on an operation to replenish the delegation’s water supplies. While everyone still had a little drinking water left, they wanted to replenish their stock before the situation became dire.
“Make sure to be careful out there,” Bikki Sans said with genuine concern. You could tell from his tone of voice and his unibrow.
“I wish I could go too...” Kuzaku said, sounding dissatisfied.
The masked man kicked him in the butt. “Shut up! You’re too big! You’d just be in the way!”
“Man. That didn’t hurt. I didn’t even feel it.”
“What was that, you ass?!”
“Stop fightin’, you two,” Yume said, putting herself between them. “Enough’s enough. You’re gonna get me hoppin’ mad!”
Neal burst out laughing for some reason. He turned his ruddy face to look the other way.
Kuzaku’s expression had melted into a goofy grin. “Yume-san... That was cute, just now.”
Yume tilted her head to the side and blinked. “Fwuh?”
“I can see why you’d think that,” Setora agreed with a nod. “She doesn’t even realize she’s doing it. I’d like to keep her as a pet.”
“Not sure what you mean, but maybe bein’ your pet’d be nice,
Setoran. You’d take real good care of Yume, wouldn’t you?” Haruhiro could understand Merry smiling at Yume. He could even understand the warm look Bikki Sans was giving her, given the kind of guy he was. But Neal? Looking at her sideways and clutching his chest? That was unexpected, and he wondered what the scout could be thinking.
“Take care,” Merry said, subtly grabbing Haruhiro by the left wrist. If they’d been alone, he wouldn’t have been able to leave. He might have embraced her. It made him kinda uncomfortable, that his thoughts were running off like this, but he also figured it was inevitable that they would. Haruhiro loved Merry, after all. More yesterday than the day before. And more today than yesterday. He couldn’t help himself.
And so, the team left to draw water.
“So?” Suddenly, the masked man went on the attack again. “Did you do something again last night? How far did you go?”
“Man, you’re annoying...”
“Same as a moment ago, you two were clinging to each other like it was natural. What are you, a married couple? You think you’re married already? Are you drunk on love? You are, aren’t you? Well? Huh?”
Haruhiro looked at Itsukushima, who was taking point with Poochie, and Yume, who was at the rear. Um, this guy’s being a pain, you know? He keeps on whispering at me, he thought. He wanted them to tell Ranta off, but they had more important things to focus on. They were already in dangerous territory.
“This is what I hate about you. You can’t just be clear about things. If you did her, say you did her. I did this. I did that. I went this far. Why not? Tell me, you moron. Let’s share intel here. We’re comrades, aren’t we? We’ve been together a long time. Right?”
Ranta was whispering a lot, but his volume control was perfect. He stayed really quiet. And yet, at the same time, Haruhiro could hear him perfectly. Being a thief, Haruhiro had good ears. Ranta had factored that in when deciding what volume to use. The guy was shrewd.
“What about you...?”
There was nothing else for it. Haruhiro whispered back at Ranta, launching a counteroffensive.
“Huh? Me? What about me?”
“How are things with Yume? Any progress?”
“Progress? What do you mean? Ohhh. That, huh? Progress, huh? Like forward movement, right? Hmm...”
“What’re you dodging the question for? Did you tell her? Or are you not gonna?”
“Wh-What’m I supposed to tell her...?”
“That you love her.”
“D-D-D-Did you say it?! I know you. I bet it was vague, like you kind of did, and kind of didn’t...”
“I told Merry.”
“Wha—”
“I came out and said it, like I should.”
“You...did? You mean, you confessed your feelings?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“That’s a lie. A dirty lie. You’re lying. You’ve gotta be. I don’t believe you. I mean, you’re Parupirurun!”
“Honestly, it was just a matter of telling her how I felt. Even I could manage that much.”
“Even though you’re Parupororon?”
“Even I managed it, so...”
“And then you kissed her, huh?!”
“No comment. I don’t think it’s worth coming out and saying.”
“Quit trying to act all mature!”
“Maybe I’m just not as much of a kid as you.”
“Urgh!”
He didn’t think, That was payback. Serves you right. Instead, he felt something akin to pity. Ranta was so forward with most people that it was really over the top, but when it came to Yume he was too timid. Maybe love was making him go soft.
“Hey.”
“What, you twisted pile of poop?!”
“I think you should put it into words for her.”
“Shut up, you antique snotball!”
“You never know what might happen, or when. I think, even without me telling you this, you already sense that, and you’re prepared for it.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Ranta said, “Of course I am.”
“This may be the only chance you get, you know?”
“You sound so full of yourself...”
Ranta jabbed Haruhiro in the ribs. Haruhiro had expected a pretty hard punch, but he didn’t try to avoid it. Unsurprisingly, it hurt. He kept his cool, a calm expression on his face. Ranta muttered, “But, well...you could be right...” At that moment, Itsukushima came to a stop.
“Nyuh?” Yume looked at Itsukushima and cocked her head to the side.
“Just so you’re aware...” Itsukushima said, petting Poochie on the head. “Even if I’m no match for this little guy, I have good ears for a human.”
Haruhiro hesitantly asked, “Why bring this up now?” Itsukushima awkwardly cleared his throat.
“I heard more or less everything. I suppose you thought you were talking in secret, but...”
“About what?” Yume asked, looking from her master to Haruhiro and the masked man. “What were Haru-kun and Ranta talkin’ about? Yume knew they were whisperin’ ’bout somethin’, but couldn’t tell what.”
“N-Nothing!” Ranta shouted back at her, making Yume purse her lips. However, it’s just human nature to get more curious when someone says it’s nothing. Yume was going to interrogate Ranta. The moment he saw her coming, he decided to act first to cut things off. “Later! II’ll tell you later, okay?! J-Just not now. We’ve got, uh, stuff to deal with. So, I-I’ll talk to you about it later...”
“Nngh...” Yume nodded reluctantly. “Well, okay. That’s fine, then.”
Itsukushima gave Yume a caring look. But he quickly lowered his eyes, nodding as if to convince himself of something, then faced back toward the front.
He must have mixed feelings about this, Haruhiro thought, perhaps somewhat presumptuously. Itsukushima loved Yume like a daughter. Eventually the chick would leave the nest and find a mate. But did her partner have to be the masked man, of all people?
Haruhiro would have struggled if he were in Itsukushima’s position.
Ranta was human, so he did have some good traits. They’d been through their ups and downs, but he trusted the masked man as his comrade. Still, there were some things about Ranta that were just plain bad, or even downright awful.
Setting that aside, the team sent to fetch water kept moving ahead. It was maybe a hundred meters or so to the Iroto now. There were few tall trees, but quite a few plants with jagged leaves—maybe ferns of some sort. The ground was mostly moss-covered rocks. The air felt moist, but was not so much refreshing as unpleasantly cold.
Itsukushima raised his right hand, motioning for the team to stop. He pointed toward the south, and Haruhiro looked where he’d directed.
Something’s there.
Ranta let out a very tiny “Whoa...” from behind his mask.
It was quite far away, but he could still make out its general shape, so it had to be a pretty big animal. It wasn’t just one, though. There were several of them. Four-legged beasts with tusks. Not just on their heads either. They had these protrusions coming out of their backs too.
It’s a pod of long-tusked hippos. Are they heading toward the Iroto?
“Wow. Those’re them, huh?” Yume was delighted. She’d said she wanted to see them. Haruhiro wished he could think Good for you, but, frankly, he was scared of them.
“Are we okay?” Ranta asked quietly.
“At this distance, we’re probably safe,” Itsukushima answered before starting to walk again.
“Oh, great. ‘Probably.’” Ranta sounded less than satisfied. It didn’t do much to alleviate Haruhiro’s fears either, but he had to trust Itsukushima’s decision.
The team kept going, and finally reached the bank of the Iroto. It had a narrow beach. A few steps over wet rocks and sand would take them to clear water.
“There’s a sandbank in the middle of the river,” Haruhiro said, pointing to it, but Itsukushima shook his head.
“No, that’s no sandbank.”
“Huh? But...”
It was hundreds of meters to the opposite bank, possibly even a kilometer, but he could see what looked like a little island in the middle.
“Haru-kun, take a gooood look at it.”
At Yume’s urging, Haruhiro squinted hard at what he had assumed was a part of the terrain. He didn’t get it at first, but gradually he noticed something was off.
“Hmm?”
“Whoa! That thing...” Ranta shifted his mask to his forehead. “Isn’t it moving? Downstream? No, the other way?”
Yeah, Ranta’s right, Haruhiro thought. The island was moving against the current, albeit slowly.
“Its head is about to come up,” Itsukushima said.
It happened not even a moment later. Something actually broke through the surface of the river upstream from the island, which itself seemed to rise a bit at the same time, from what Haruhiro could see. It had to be two, maybe three hundred meters offshore, so he couldn’t make out the details, but that thing sticking out of the water had to be its head. The mass Haruhiro had assumed was a sandbank might, in fact, be the body of whatever that thing was.
“It’s...a creature, then?” Haruhiro asked.
If it is, it’s gotta be over a hundred meters long.
“The Iroto giant tortoise,” Itsukushima explained with disinterest. It was impressive how he could remain so aloof when there was something like that right in front of their eyes—or at least within eyeshot, even if it wasn’t right in front of their eyes.
“Some say they live for centuries,” Itsukushima continued. “Look at the size of it. They have no natural predators, and they’re incredibly docile. I’ve even heard of people riding them safely.”
“Wooooo...” Yume’s eyes widened. “That’s amazin’. Yume wants to try ridin’ one too.”
Itsukushima smiled with wry amusement. “You’d just get gobbled up by the river sharks, black-and-white spotted snakes, or Iroto crocodiles before you could swim over to it.”
“Oh, yeah. Guess so, huh? Yume’s gonna give up on that for today. Until next time.”
Thank goodness she let it go so easily, thought Haruhiro. He hoped she’d get someone else—say, Ranta—to help her realize her dream of riding an Iroto giant tortoise one day.
The team got back to work. They went to the riverside and filled the water skins they’d brought with them one after another. That was all it took. The labor itself was incredibly simple. Iroto crocodiles and long-toothed otters were big, so if any started getting close, then Itsukushima, Yume, or Poochie would notice and raise the alarm. As for the black-and-white spotted river snakes, their colors were easy for humans to distinguish, making them comparatively easy to detect. The problem was the river sharks. They ranged in size from fifteen centimeters to thirty, maybe forty for particularly large specimens, with muddy brown coloration, making them impossible to spot at first glance unless you had incredibly sharp eyes. On top of that, they were speedy, letting them close the distance to their targets in no time.
Itsukushima and Yume crouched by the water’s edge. It might have looked like all they were doing was leisurely filling water skins, but in truth they were constantly monitoring the water. Meanwhile, Poochie was keeping watch on the area around them.
Haruhiro was nervous, and couldn’t help but sigh due to the tense situation.
“Heh, you chicken...” Ranta mocked Haruhiro, but was clearly intimidated himself, to the point that he was stretching his arms as far as they’d go to dip the water skin into the river.
To top it off, Yume walked up beside him and thrust her hand into the water with a splash. Haruhiro wondered what was up until she pulled her hand back out, holding a twenty-centimeter river shark. With its eyes bulging, it snapped its sharp teeth and flailed around violently.
“Eek!” Ranta fell on his backside.
“You’ve gotta be careful, y’know?” Yume said, giving the river shark a toss with an arm that was like a whip. The motion of her shoulders was incredible. The river shark sailed through the air, gnashing and flailing, until it landed in the river with a splash.
“You get bit once, and they’ll be comin’ in droves. Maybe not even Yume’ll be able to help you then, okay?” Haruhiro shoved Ranta’s back.
“Why don’t you thank her? She just saved your hide, after all.”
“Y-You saved me...” Ranta looked down and cleared his throat. “Thanks.”
Yume beamed.
“Think nothin’ of it!”
Ranta glanced up at her before mumbling something inaudible.
Something along the lines of, “You are my sun.”
Haruhiro heard, but pretended he hadn’t. He might have thought, What, you’re a poet now? but he decided to keep his comment to himself.
Love makes poets of us all—or so Haruhiro figured. Irrespective of whether the poems we come up with are any good. It’s all a matter of if you have the sense for it. And Haruhiro, it goes without saying, had none.
“We should quit while we’re ahead,” Itsukushima said as he put a water skin into his backpack. “Let’s call it here.”
 
 

If Itsukushima said it was time to call it quits, he was probably right. Ranta could have been bitten by that shark if Yume hadn’t saved him. That was one crisis averted, but there was no telling when the next might come along.
The team moved away from the Iroto. It was just a matter of going back the way they’d come now. Or so Haruhiro had convinced himself. Itsukushima chose a different route, though.
Haruhiro casually asked, “This isn’t the way we came, is it?”
Itsukushima simply shrugged, declining to explain. He probably wasn’t doing this just because he felt like it, so there must have been a reason, right?
“Nurrrm. Somethin’s up...”
Yume was looking around a lot, and making that weird nurrrm sound, whatever it meant, so, yeah, something probably was up.
They had been walking through the sparse woods for a while when Poochie came to a stop and began growling. He was facing north. Was there something there? Haruhiro squinted, but couldn’t see anything that stood out.
“Master?” Yume asked.
“Hmm...” Itsukushima thought for some time, then patted Poochie and had him keep going.
There was something fishy going on. Haruhiro grew more alert as he followed behind Poochie, Itsukushima, and Yume. The masked man was quiet. It wasn’t that he had no ability to read the mood of the groups he was in, he just occasionally decided to disregard it outright. That was the kind of idiot Ranta was. But maybe they were worried for nothing? Soon, they saw the other group up ahead. With four horses among them, it would have been hard to mistake them for anyone else. Haruhiro didn’t see any of his own party members, but Bikki Sans was there, tending their mounts.
Haruhiro was relieved, and almost relaxed despite himself. Suddenly, he thought, Whoops. It’s always moments like this. I almost did it again. Can’t let my guard down.
Poochie stopped again. His ears were perked up and he looked around restlessly.
Ranta cocked his head to the side. “Huh?”
Haruhiro put a finger to his lips and shushed him. Ranta nodded.
Itsukushima turned to look back and waved at Haruhiro. The thief crept up next to the hunter who whispered, “Come with me.”
Before Haruhiro could even respond, Itsukushima was already making hand signs at Yume. It looked like he wanted her to take Ranta and Poochie and join back up with the others.
Itsukushima started walking. Haruhiro followed. The hunter’s ability to creep would have amazed even the most talented thieves. The man was pretty incredible. His abilities were above average in all respects, and he’d likely have made a first-rate thief or warrior, and probably even a mage or priest. It was unlikely he cared, though. The man loved animals, nature, and the people who were important to him, and he could adapt to any situation he found himself in.
Itsukushima stopped in the shadow of a tree. He was pointing toward the north, apparently at some bushes maybe fifty meters away.
Haruhiro held his breath and watched the bushes. Suddenly, they shook. Something stuck its head out. It had scaly green skin. It was...a crocodile? No, not likely. Its head was too high up for that. A lizard, then?
Itsukushima signaled for Haruhiro to read his lips. “Lizardman,” he said silently.
Haruhiro had heard of those. Lizardmen. Humanoid lizards. They weren’t as intelligent as humans, elves, dwarves, or orcs. But they could make and use crude tools, and they were smart enough to have a society that was more complex than simple packs.
“That’s a scout. Can you kill it without being detected?” Itsukushima mouthed, and Haruhiro nodded. He wasn’t proud of it, but this was his specialty.
He used Stealth, sinking his mind into the ground. He was able to enter it without trouble. In this state, he didn’t need to think about much. It was like he was looking down on himself at an angle. Obviously, he wasn’t actually looking down at himself. It only felt that way.
Itsukushima was here. The bushes where the lizardman was hiding were over there. And so, Haruhiro crept toward them. Were there any other lizardmen? In the trees? The other bushes? No. It was only the one.
The lizardman poked its head halfway out of the bushes, looking toward the south. The broad gap between its eyes suggested it had a wider field of vision than humans did. It would be unlikely for Haruhiro to get spotted at this point, barring unforeseen circumstances, but he decided to sneak around behind it just to be safe. He drew his dagger with his right hand, holding it with a backhanded grip. Closing in as if he were floating, he wrapped his left arm under the lizardman’s chin. At the same time, he stabbed with the dagger, slashing its windpipe and veins, then immediately plunged his blade through its right eye and into its brain. How deep did he need to bury the dagger? How much damage did he need to do to kill this creature as fast as possible? It would be too late to act once he’d thought it through. He let his body move on its own.
Haruhiro laid the now motionless lizardman down in the bushes and headed back to Itsukushima.
“You’re good,” Itsukushima said in a low voice, sounding a little shocked.
Haruhiro shook his head. “There’s more of them, right?”
“Well,” Itsukushima said with a scowl, “the lizardmen normally live farther to the north. This is strange... Oh, I see. I should’ve known...”
“What?”
“It’s the Southern Expedition, or whatever they call it. They’re widely deployed across the southern side of the Kurogane Mountain Range.”
“Which is where the lizardmen were living?”
“Yeah. That must’ve pushed them out, so they’ve migrated south.” Itsukushima sighed, twisting his neck to one side, and then the other. He took a deep breath. “Not much choice,” he finally said. “We’re changing course. We’ll move away from the Iroto for now and head north. I’m not keen on the idea, but it looks like we’ll have to go through the Gray Marsh.”
“Is it dangerous?”
“Everywhere is dangerous,” Itsukushima said, one cheek tensing. “But the Gray Marsh is cold this time of year. And full of leeches to boot. It’ll be especially rough on the horses. And the leeches can jump, just come flying out of the swamp at you, so we humans can’t let our guards down either.”
“Sounds...” Awful, Haruhiro was about to say, but swallowed the word when Itsukushima slapped him on the shoulder.
Itsukushima was already dashing away. Haruhiro ran after him. He didn’t ask what was up, or why Itsukushima was going so fast. There was some sort of emergency. That was the only explanation.
He must have given some orders to Yume when he’d sent her to join up with the others. They’d already loaded up the horses and were getting ready to set out.
“Good, you’re ready to go! We have to get out of here fast!” Itsukushima shouted, then raced off to the west with Poochie.
“Follow me! And don’t dawdle! They’re going to surround us!”
Ranta shouted, “Who’re ‘they’?!”
“The lizardmen!”
Haruhiro turned to look back the way they’d come, where he could hear the sounds of rustling leaves and voices. He couldn’t see anything, but the lizardmen were coming after them. Definitely. And in no small number.
Bikki Sans jumped onto his horse. “Neal, Yume-kun, Setora-kun! Mount up! Let’s go!”
Neal needed no encouragement. He was already halfway into his saddle. Yume meowed in response, while Setora was silent, and both of them got up on their horses.
“Hurry!” Haruhiro shouted at Kuzaku and Merry. Bikki Sans was leading the mounted group away.
“Parupiron and I are the rear guard?! Heh!” Ranta slid his katana out of its sheath. “My partner may not be up to the task, but oh well!”
“You think it’s me who isn’t up to the task?!” Haruhiro countered, jumping to one side. Two or three slim projectiles had shot out of the trees. Arrows? After dodging them, he looked at the shafts sticking out of the ground. They were unfletched. The heads weren’t iron, or any other metal. They were stone. They were primitive, but arrows nonetheless.
A handful more flew in. Ranta swatted them away with his katana, not bothering to dodge.
“Hah! Got yourself some projectiles, do you? Real fancy!”

Chapter end