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The Tenboro Tower raid team had Dylan Stone, a close associate of General Mogis, as their commanding officer, and Anthony Justeen as their second-in-command. Together with five warriors from the Frontier Army Warrior Regiment who were Anthony’s subordinates, eight soldiers from the Expeditionary Force, and Haruhiro’s group of five, plus Kiichi, they had a total of twenty people and one nyaa.
Commander Dylan was a gloomy forty-something with a big nose and bushy beard. As you could tell from the black fur cloak he wore — the same as the general’s — he was from the Black Hounds, too.
He was always calling people and things pieces of shit. He told them to “go die” a lot, too.
Incidentally, all of the soldiers from the Expeditionary Force were also wearing black fur cloaks. The general had filled the Tenboro Tower raid team with people he trusted. It seemed safe to assume that from this selection.
The raid team set out as soon as the sun went down, entered Alterna through a secret tunnel in the middle of the night, and joined up with Neal the scout in the dread knights’ guild. Barbara-sensei, who he had been watching all this time, was supposed to be staking out Tenboro Tower around now.
The dread knight’s guild was also where twenty members of the suicide squad were standing by. When the main body of the Expeditionary Force led by General Mogis attacked, the suicide squad would have to to immediately charge towards Alterna’s south gate.
Commander Dylan of the raid team offered the suicide squad some words of encouragement.
“If you think of it like you’re going to die anyway, then dying’s no big deal. In the unlikely event you survive, you got lucky. We only die once, and everyone’s got to eventually. So go die, you pieces of shit.”
Commander Dylan knew who every one of the members of the suicide squad was, so in his own way, he was probably trying to motivate them. It was hard to imagine any of them felt encouraged by his words, though. If anything, they looked like they had less life in them than before.
Commander Dylan was a man of few words, but when he did speak, it always demotivated those around him. Even when he didn’t, he had this air about him that was exhausting on its own, so nobody wanted to be too close to him.
Haruhiro and Neal went aboveground to check on the situation. When the main body of the Expeditionary Force attacked the south gate, they had to inform the suicide squad. It was quiet, with nobody, or rather, no goblin in sight in pre-dawn Alterna. The two of them left West Town, then climbed up the walls of what used to be the volunteer soldier lodging house onto the roof. Haruhiro had apparently lived in that lodging house once upon a time, but he didn’t remember it at all.
“This is a disaster,” Neal whispered to Haruhiro with a low laugh. “That bastard Dylan is the reaper himself. Lots of people get killed in any squad he leads. He’s the only one guaranteed to survive.”
“Won’t you be part of the raid, too?”
“As if. I’m a scout. I have to watch your exploits from afar, then report back to the general.”
“Oh, is that right...?”
“Let me tell you something. Dylan Stone is an inhuman monster who’s good at using others as his shields. He doesn’t care if the rest of you survive or not. The general likes guys like him.”
“It looks like the general trusts you, too, though.”
“Trusts me?”
Neal tried to put an overly friendly arm around Haruhiro’s shoulder.
When Haruhiro dodged, Neal gave him an exaggerated frown.
“The general doesn’t trust anybody. He’s only looking to see who’s willing to wag their tail and do as he says. I won’t betray the general. I follow orders. Because it works to my benefit.”
To turn that around, if it wasn’t to Neal’s benefit, he wouldn’t follow orders, and wouldn’t hesitate to betray him.
The leader was bad, and so were his followers. But the group had to risk their lives on a big mission with these people. Worse, they’d been integrated into the larger group. They were all in the same boat now. He hated it, but he had no choice.
It was still a while before sunrise, but the eastern sky was brightening.
“It’ll be any moment now,” Neal said with a sniff. “This is the day when we meet our destiny.”
It was an ostentatious expression, but might not have been an exaggeration.
They heard muddled cries from the south.
Clang, clang, clang, the sound of gongs followed.
“Go.” Neal slapped Haruhiro on the back. “And don’t you dare die.” He hadn’t expected him to say that. Haruhiro was a little surprised, but when he looked, Neal was smirking. None of General Mogis’s subordinates were good people.
“You too, Neal,” Haruhiro said, though he didn’t mean it, then hurried down from the roof of the lodging house.
He jumped into an alley and ran. The noise was nothing like before, when Haruhiro and his group were chased off after approaching Alterna. There were gongs and bells ringing everywhere, and goblins were hollering wildly. The goblins that had been sleeping inside the buildings must have jumped up, and been rushing outside. No, the street was already full of them.
Haruhiro nearly ran into goblins a number of times, but maybe because he had Barbara’s map committed to memory, he managed to use the back streets to reach the dread knights’ guild. When he heard Haruhiro’s report, Commander Dylan ordered everyone up into the ruined house that was the aboveground portion of the guild. Within the house, there were narrow corridors and also a number of rooms, but all of them were small.
“Okay, it’s a good day to die. So go die, you pieces of shit.”
Commander Dylan practically chased the suicide squad out of the building, then entered a room that could hold five people at most, and sat down on a poorly-made chair that looked like a footstool. “...What about us?” Haruhiro asked from outside the small room.
“Stand by,” Commander Dylan ordered, crossing his arms and closing his eyes.
Haruhiro gathered his comrades in another room, near the exit to the ruined house, next to the room where Anthony and his men were. But this room was cramped, too.
“Ahh...” When Kuzaku stretched, his hand nearly touched Setora. “Hey,” Setora glared at him. Kiichi hissed a warning, too.
Kuzaku chuckled and said, “Sorry. I’m feeling tense,” then yawned.
“...What is with this guy?” Setora asked in exasperation.
“It seems when he gets tense, he starts feeling sleepy, or yawns,” Merry tried to explain.
“Yeah, that’s it,” Kuzaku said, acting a bit cocky. “That’s so it. That has to be what it is.”
Shihoru looked up, taking large breaths, in and out, repeatedly.
“You okay?” Haruhiro asked.
Shihoru turned to Haruhiro and gave him a slightly sheepish smile.
“...Because everyone’s here.”
“Yeah,” was all he could respond with. It made Haruhiro ask himself, Couldn’t you say more than that?
Do I respond with “yeah” a bit too often? Wouldn’t “Yeah, that’s right,” be better? I guess they’re the same, huh? Yeah, they’re the same.
He felt a little fuzzy. He wasn’t like Kuzaku, but he might have been feeling tense.
No, of course he was tense. If he thought he was calm, that was nothing but an illusion.
“Um... Merry,” Shihoru said.
Merry seemed caught by surprise, and her eyes widened.
“...Huh?”
The two of them looked at each other.
That’s when it hit Haruhiro, that he really was feeling tense. Or rather, it hit him what this weird feeling of tension was. Like he was in a powder keg?
Shihoru bowed her head.
“...Please.”
Merry couldn’t seem to figure out what her intentions were, and was unable to say whatever it was she started to, because her mouth bobbed open and shut.
Shihoru raised her head, then tried to put on a smile. That effort was visible, but she still ended up with a face that looked like she was about to cry.
Merry burst out laughing, covered her mouth, burst out laughing again, then looked down.
“...Sorry.”
Shihoru shook her head.
“...No, I’m the one who should be sorry...”
There seemed to be a peaceful vibe between Merry and Shihoru, but what was even going on here? Haruhiro looked to Setora, hoping she’d save him.
Setora hugged Kiichi, and committed herself to acting like she didn’t know what was up.
“Right on!” Kuzaku said to Haruhiro with a beaming smile, and gave him a thumbs up.
What’s supposed to be “right on”?
If there hadn’t been a sound like someone was trying to open the door to the ruined house just then, Haruhiro might have asked him. “There’s been movement at Tenboro Tower! Viceroy Bogg’s...!”
It was Barbara’s voice. Haruhiro was about to rush out of the room.
“Wait!” Merry stopped him. She pressed her fingers to her forehead and made the sign of the hexagram. “O Light, may Lumiaris’s divine protection be upon you... Protection.”
A shining hexagram appeared on the group’s left wrists.
Merry continued chanting another prayer.
“Assist.”
Two more hexagrams of different colors lit up on their wrists.
Kuzaku bounced up and laughed. “I feel so light.”
Protection was a light magic spell that boosted their athletic abilities and natural healing, even if it wasn’t massively. Assist boosted all of their resistances.
“Thanks,” Haruhiro said to Merry.
Merry shook her head.
“If the effect runs out, I’ll recast it. I’ll do my best to notice ahead of time, but if the hexagram disappears, tell me.”
Haruhiro nodded, then looked at his comrades.
“Let’s go.”

 
14. The Road to an Old Cat

When he heard Barbara’s urgent report, Commander Dylan Stone gave the order at once.
“We’re heading out, you pieces of shit!”
The raid team hurriedly left the dread knights’ guild.
Second-in-Command Anthony, with his familiarity with the area, was ordered to lead the way, and his subordinates, Haruhiro’s group, and Commander Dylan’s black-cloaked soldiers followed him.
Barbara was running alongside Haruhiro. “I didn’t expect Viceroy Bogg to come out of Tenboro Tower for us! This is a one-in-a-million chance!”
Right after they left the dread knights’ guild, a goblin found them. The goblin ran away hollering something.
“Do we chase it?!” Anthony asked loudly.
“You fool!” Dylan bellowed from behind him. “Let that insignificant little shit go, and keep moving, you piece of shit!”
To Commander Dylan, allies and enemies were both shit. Kuzaku muttered something like, “You’re the biggest piece of shit here,” and, honestly, Haruhiro agreed.
Regardless, the raid team ignored the goblin and pressed forward.
According to Barbara, not long after the main force began their attack, four or five of the Hundred came out of Tenboro Tower and led a few dozen goblins toward the south gate. After that, a goblin that looked like a messenger rushed into Tenboro Tower. When it did, Viceroy Bogg appeared, leading about ten of the Hundred.
The Hundred took off in all directions, while Viceroy Bogg remained alone in the plaza.
Barbara’s read on the situation was that Viceroy Bogg was gathering the elite fighters before heading to the south gate personally.
Tenboro Tower was a reasonably tall building, but only the first and second floor, which had the entrance hall and reception hall, were particularly wide. Everything above there was spiral staircases, hallways, and small rooms. It was designed to be defensible if it came to it.
The plan had called for the raid team to break into Tenboro Tower and slay Viceroy Bogg, but if they could catch him outside, nothing was better than that. However, being outside came with its own dangers. The goblins had an overwhelming numerical advantage. Despite that, inside a building or another tight space, they wouldn’t end up in an extreme situation, like twenty people vs. a thousand of these animals. But outside, in the worst-case scenario, goblins might press in on them from all directions.
When they left West Town and entered the southern district, there was a meager force of ten goblins blocking their way.
“We’re charging in!” Anthony shouted. “Warriors of the frontier, show them your pride...!”
Anthony and his five warriors tore into the goblin line without hesitation.
Was it an exaggeration to say they swept them away?
When Anthony and his men clashed with the goblins and swung their swords once, four or five of the goblins were cut down or sent flying.
The goblins that were not slain and only lost their balance fled in the blink of an eye.
“Hey, those guys’re strong!” Kuzaku said cheerfully.
“The enemy is just weak,” Barbara chuckled. “Old Cat, I’m going to circle around, check the situation, and come back.”
“Yes, Sensei!”
“Good response.”
Barbara blew him a kiss as she left the raid team. They pushed farther and farther forward, heading for the plaza in front of Tenboro Tower.
“Anthony-san!” Haruhiro raised his voice.
“What?!” Anthony didn’t turn back.
“Slow down a little! You’re going too fast! We’re already winded!”
“...Right! Got it!”
“Don’t tell him things you don’t need to, you piece of shit!” Dylan shouted at him, but he didn’t say anything more than that, so Haruhiro didn’t care.
Am I calm now? I don’t think I’m panicking. I can see what’s going on around me pretty well. Though I may just be imagining that.
No, it wasn’t that he could see it, it was that he was looking. Barbara had said he had a wide field of vision, but Haruhiro was turning his head without realizing it himself, always surveying the surrounding area. It was a habit he’d developed. Maybe thanks to that, the first to spot the squad of goblins that were closing in on the raid team was Haruhiro.
There were only fifteen or so, but they all carried round shields and spears. It wasn’t just their equipment that was unified, though. They moved in an organized fashion.
Behind us! Haruhiro tried to yell.
There was a goblin on the roof of a two-floor building that faced onto the street, too, and he had just pulled a reddish sword.
One of the Hundred, huh?
He made a snap decision.
“Shihoru...!” Haruhiro pointed to the Hundred on the roof.
Shihoru immediately stopped and turned both of her palms towards the Hundred.
“...Dark!”
He appeared, as if pushing open an invisible door, the black threads intertwining, weaving themselves into a humanoid form. Dark let out a bizarre nshooooooo sound, and flew towards the Hundred. The goblin cried out in shock and tried to cut Dark with its sword. But Dark slipped around the blade and got behind his target.
The Hundred turned around, looking for Dark. At that point, Dark was already inside it.
“Commander Dylan!” Haruhiro shouted. “The enemy is coming from behind us!”
“The little shits!” Commander Dylan spat. “I’ll kill them all!” “Ngh...!” One of Anthony’s men went down.
It was an arrow — no, a bolt. There were another five or six goblins with crossbows on a different roof than the Hundred. They had fired a volley, and one or two of the bolts had struck Anthony’s subordinate.
“I’ll treat him!” Merry shouted, rushing over.
It looked like Commander Dylan could handle the ones behind them.
The Hundred was flailing around with its red sword as Dark toyed with it, but the creature must have realized it wasn’t getting anywhere, because it threw itself down from the roof.
“Anthony! Kuzaku!” Haruhiro shouted, accidentally addressing Anthony without an honorific.
When the Hundred that had dropped onto the road brandished its red sword and hollered, goblins rushed out of alleyways here and there.
Anthony and his men let out a war cry and charged.
Kuzaku launched a fierce assault on the Hundred.
Merry was trying to get Anthony’s injured man back up.
“Setora, protect Merry!”
“Right!”
“Shihoru, behind me!”
“...Okay!”
The goblin crossbow team were reloading. Before Haruhiro could even give the order, Shihoru had sent Dark after them.
A goblin that got past Anthony and his men was coming. It had a spear. Shihoru was behind Haruhiro. He couldn’t back away.
The spear’s tip was aiming for Haruhiro’s solar plexus. At the last possible moment, he turned sideways, putting his left side forward. If he had only dodged, the spear would have threatened Shihoru instead. That’s why Haruhiro pushed the spear’s shaft to the outside using his hand. The goblin was wearing a helmet. It completely covered its head and the visor only had the thinnest of openings. It didn’t look like it provided good visibility or hearing, but it was a solid helmet. It also had chainmail armor and even a breast plate.
Haruhiro got up close to the goblin.
When the goblin faltered, he stomped hard on its right foot. Even though it had a helmet and armor, the goblin was still barefoot. On its lower half, it was only wearing some kind of leather pants, too.
Haruhiro buried his dagger in the goblin’s right thigh, just above the knee. It shrieked and threw its head back in pain.
He grabbed the goblin by the jaw with his left hand and twisted as he pushed it to the ground. He got on top of it, and using the weight of both knees, he pushed down on the goblin’s jaw even harder.
As the goblin cried, “Agahh!” and desperately resisted, he quickly flipped up the visor on its helm.
He could see the goblin’s face through the opening.
Haruhiro took his dagger, holding it in his right hand with a backhand grip, and plunged it into its left eye.
He gave it a deep, deep thrust and a twist.
The goblin let out a “Gagoh...!” then fell limp.
Before he could think, That finished it, he’d already jumped away from the goblin.
“Keep going!” Commander Dylan shouted.
“But...!” Haruhiro yelled back. “They know we’re here! The Hundred are coming to stop us!”
“You think we can call off the attack now, you piece of shit?! We’re going to carry out the mission, even if everyone dies in the process!”
Haruhiro couldn’t help but think, You say that, but I bet you’re planning to survive on your own. You’re the real piece of shit here. “I’m not saying to call it off! But if we just charge in with no plan—” “Zahhhhhhhhh...!” Kuzaku slashed the Hundred.
“...The losses we’ll take will—” Haruhiro was speechless.
The goblins were panicking.
“Don’t let the little shits stop you!” Commander Dylan spurred them on. “We only need to take that one piece of shit’s head! Onward, you pieces of shit, onward!”
“Which piece of shit, you piece of shit?!” Anthony shouted back reflexively. He swung his sword and kept on going. “We’re going, raid team! After me!”
Anthony’s man who Merry had been healing got up and followed him, too.
Everything was happening so fast, Haruhiro couldn’t keep up. Okay, no, that wasn’t true. Even without telling himself to change gears, he was already going with the flow. There was something to what Commander Dylan was saying, crude though he might be. For the raid team, speed was of the utmost importance.
“Shihoru! Setora! Merry! Kuzaku! Kiichi!” Haruhiro thought for a moment, but, coming up blank, he simply shouted, “Let’s go!”
“’Kay!”
“Right!”
“Yes!”
“Nyaa!”
“...Okay!”
They didn’t have time to think about pacing themselves now. Faster. Faster. They had to go as fast as they could, without leaving people behind. If they didn’t, they might get surrounded. And yet, even if they did, goblins would still come at them. Commander Dylan said to ignore them, but there were times when if they didn’t shove them aside, or scatter them, there was no way forward.
Haruhiro ran, looked, listened, and made decisions, giving orders to Kuzaku and Setora, issuing warnings to Anthony, and kicking goblins to the ground. His lungs ached. His throat, too. Shihoru looked like she was having a hard time. She was doing everything she could to keep up.
“To the plaza!” Anthony shouted.
The road was curved, and opened up ahead of them.
What about Barbara-sensei? Haruhiro thought all of a sudden. What’s taking her? She said she’d go on ahead and take a look.
No, that wasn’t it.
She wasn’t just going to take a look, she was going to check the situation and come back.
The raid team finally entered the plaza.
This had been a wide open space, with nothing but cobblestone before. Not now. There were these huge, ominous things made with wood and stone, leather and cloth, metal parts, bone or something, and this weird blackish paint he couldn’t identify. Were they towers? Huts? Or maybe platforms? Whatever they were, they had been built all over. But towards the center, near Tenboro Tower, the space had been deliberately left open. That area was still being used as a plaza, or maybe a road.
Even from a distance, he could spot a group of goblins on that road. They were apparently heading toward Tenboro Tower.
They numbered... Hmm, it was hard to tell with all the massive objects in the way. It wasn’t more than a 100, but there were still 30 to 40. The 40 of them were marching with their spears together, so it was easy to recognize them from a distance and to eyeball their number.
It looked like there was something on the tips of their spears.
“Is that it?!” Anthony shouted, knocking down a goblin that lunged at him from the shadow of one of the objects.
“You pieces of shit! Here is where you die!” Commander Dylan bellowed. What he probably wanted to say was that that was probably Viceroy Bogg’s unit, and the raid team needed to eliminate them no matter what it took.
These were goblins, but it was possible there were multiple
Hundreds included in the group. Viceroy Bogg was clearly going to be a veteran, too. On top of that, they were outnumbered. It wasn’t going to be easy. In fact, it was going to be incredibly difficult. They had to launch an ambush, then take Viceroy Bogg’s head in the chaos, and do it as quickly as possible. Nothing else would work.
Anthony didn’t head straight for Viceroy Bogg, he was instead following a course that brought them close to Tenboro Tower. One of Anthony’s subordinates ran into one of the massive objects and fell over, but no one helped him up. Haruhiro ignored him and kept running, too. He’d catch up on his own at some point, surely.
They’d gotten pretty close to Viceroy Bogg’s spear team.
What was on those spears? Why did it interest him so much?
He couldn’t see them clearly, so he couldn’t say for certain, but from the very beginning he thought it might be a certain something. Despite that, he didn’t think too deeply about it.
It wasn’t that he tried not to think about it as much as that he didn’t have the time to think about anything.
More than that, he didn’t want to think.
Still, now that they were so close, he couldn’t avert his eyes from the fact that on the tips of those bloodstained spears were the severed torso and limbs of an animal. It wasn’t every spear. Out of the 30 to 40 spears it was less than half. Maybe ten at most.
Would the goblins go out of their way to hunt wild animals just to hoist them on their spears at a time like this? Not likely. Then were those parts from their own kind? It wasn’t unimaginable that the viceroy might have ordered that any goblin that disobeyed orders be executed, but, well, that probably wasn’t it.
Those were human, weren’t they?
In other words, from the beginning, Haruhiro had suspected that the goblins were hoisting the dismembered body of a human being on their spears.
But there were no humans in Alterna.
There should have been hardly any, but it wasn’t like there were absolutely none. Haruhiro and the raid team were heading for Viceroy Bogg at this very moment, after all.
Though, if it wasn’t someone on the raid team, the remaining options were severely limited.
Barbara had said, “I’m going to check the situation, and come back.”
She still wasn’t back yet.
Viceroy Bogg’s spear team came to a stop. Had they noticed the raid team?
The road on the other side of the massive object in front of Anthony. That was where Viceroy Bogg’s spear team was.
The raid team raced around the object and into the road.
Haruhiro jumped out, too, going into a crouch. Anthony and his men were already fighting the spear team. The goblins didn’t thrust with their spears, they swung them downwards, trying to clobber Anthony and his men with them. The men were blocking them with swords and helmets, and trying to push forward.
One of the pieces impaled on a spear came loose and went flying.
It was a human arm. A right arm. There was a left arm, too. Legs, too. Right. And left. The torso was cut into multiple pieces, the innards spilling out of it. And the head landed at Haruhiro’s feet, rolling.
It was long-haired. Female. Haruhiro looked at her. Trying to check her face. He couldn’t help himself.
“Haruhiro?!” Kuzaku pushed him to the ground.
Why did he do that? Haruhiro didn’t think about it. On the cobblestones, right in front of where Haruhiro had landed, she was there.
Her right eye closed, and her left slightly open. Her lips slightly parted. Her right cheek was pressed to the cobbles. Because of that, her whole face sagged to the right side. Her face bore several cuts. It was filthy with blood, too.
This was nothing like the person who had said, “Good response,” and blown him a kiss.
In a way, it was.
This thing wasn’t her.
It had long since ceased functioning as a living being, so even if it was once a part of Barbara, it was Barbara no longer.
Still, Haruhiro was intensely shaken by a feeling that he couldn’t just leave it like this. But, on the other hand, he was well aware he didn’t have time to worry about that.
If Barbara were still alive, “Hey, what are you doing, Old Cat?” She would’ve scolded him.
But Haruhiro’s teacher would never scold him again.
If he hadn’t lost his memories, he would have felt an even stronger connection with her. If he had more memories with his teacher, this would have been even harder to take, and he might not have been able to stand it.
Haruhiro jumped to his feet. He tried not to look at Barbara.
“Zahhhhhhhhhhhhh...!” With a flash of Kuzaku’s large katana, he took down five or six of the spear team in an instant.
There was a goblin with a red spear, a Hundred, in the spear team. Setora dodged its downwards swing, stepped on the shaft, and snatched it away, then bludgeoned the Hundred with its butt. Once the spear team’s formation deteriorated, Anthony broke through them.
“Dark...!”
Shihoru sent Dark careening into the spear team. Dark let out a shooooooooooo as he raced between the goblins, throwing them into disarray. Merry was sticking close to Shihoru. Haruhiro was about to charge the spear team, too. But why were they the only ones here?
Barbara was Haruhiro’s teacher. There was no way she’d let her guard down. They must have detected her while she was checking the situation, then caught and killed her. That was just how good the goblins they faced were.
Had they been underestimating them?
Goblins were smaller than humans. From a human perspective, they were ugly, too. There was no way those creatures could be superior to humans. They weren’t even equal. They had to be inferior. Could he say he hadn’t thought that?
Haruhiro turned around and was shocked.
Behind the black-cloaked soldiers led by Commander Dylan, diagonally to their rear on either side, there were a great number of goblins pouring out of the shadows of the massive objects and swarming toward them right now. Several of them carried red weapons. Commander Dylan and his men hadn’t noticed at all, and were just pushing forward. Commander Dylan, no, the whole raid team was about to be taken by surprise. They’d been caught. In a trap.
The spear team had been a decoy. Bait to lure out the raid team.
“Commander—”
Haruhiro didn’t have time to get the man’s name out. Before he could, a red-armored goblin lunged at Commander Dylan from behind, and grabbed him by the hair with its left hand. In its right, it was holding something that was more of a knife than a dagger.
Commander Dylan didn’t even resist. He had no time to. The redarmored goblin rapidly parted his head from his body. It was a fluid, wave-like motion that seemed well-practiced. That goblin surely had several heads like that. Perhaps dozens. It might even have been the goblin that killed Barbara.
The red armored goblin stomped on the stump of Commander Dylan’s neck, and swung the severed head around.
“Ahh! Gyahh! Hahhhhhhhh...!”

Chapter end