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Haruhiro raised his face, and looked the general directly in the eye once more.
“Why don’t you be a little more direct? So we can understand.”
“I would ask that you put your trust in me.” The general smiled.
Unbelievably, it seemed full of benevolence, like the sort of smile a father might direct at his children.
“You’ll not be mistreated. I’m thinking of all of you when I say this. It would run against my wishes to see flowers nipped in the bud.”
15. Breaking
Once the group returned to their room in Tenboro Tower, Haruhiro just sat down, too overwhelmed to think. Even when his comrades tried to talk to him, all he could do was nod along half-heartedly. He couldn’t be like this. He knew that, but what could he even do about it?
“Haru, here.” Merry brought him something.
“Yeah...” Haruhiro responded, and then, after a while, realized Merry was still holding whatever it was. He hadn’t accepted it from her, so of course she was.
“Thanks,” Haruhiro took the thing and put it on the ground. Is it late at night now? he wondered. This room had no windows.
“Haru,” someone called his name.
He looked and saw that Merry hadn’t moved from where she was before.
“Yeah. ...What’s up?”
“Get changed.”
“Ohh... Right.”
Apparently what Merry had brought him was clothes. There was something wrong with him if he didn’t notice that.
“I look pretty awful, don’t I? ...Yeah. I guess I should get changed, huh?”
Haruhiro stood up. He started stripping out of his torn and filthy clothes.
“...Haru?” Merry called his name again.
“Yeah. ...Oh!”
He had been about to get completely naked. He didn’t need to take off his underwear, too.
“H-Hurry up and get dressed...”
At Merry’s urging, Haruhiro put on a pair of pants and a shirt. There was still more to wear. Did he have to put all of it on? He wasn’t feeling up to it.
Haruhiro sat down, and hugged his knees. Merry sat next to him.
Kuzaku was wrapped in a blanket, apparently sleeping.
Setora was awake. She was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, maybe thinking about something. Kiichi was at her feet. It looked like he was asleep.
“Haru.”
How many times had it been now? That Merry had called his name.
It was getting annoying.
That wasn’t Merry’s fault, though, obviously.
“Yeah.”
“Are you okay?” Merry asked. How should he answer? There was no way he was okay. But it felt wrong to come out and say that. Whining wasn’t going to fix things. He didn’t want to lash out at her, either. This wasn’t her fault.
There was no way he could answer.
But he couldn’t just stay silent forever, either.
“...Yeah,” he mumbled with a nod, and Merry seemed to understand.
“I’m sorry, I...”
Her expression said, I messed up. She bit her lip, ducking her head apologetically. When he saw her like that, Haruhiro felt absolutely pitiful.
“No... I’m the one who ought to...”
Ought to what? Say sorry? Is apologizing going to help? Is that going to resolve the problem? Will it help us go forward?
Haruhiro slapped his own cheeks.
Merry looked surprised. Go figure. Of course she’d be surprised.
Honestly, Haruhiro was shocked, too. What was he doing, out of nowhere? But he couldn’t wake himself up otherwise. The thought had come to him on the spur of the moment. He wanted to wake up.
“I’m okay,” Haruhiro stated clearly one more time, and put on a smile. It had to look weird. More of a funny face than an actual smile. But Merry smiled back at him.
“Yeah.”
She apparently didn’t realize it herself, but Merry’s smile was pretty powerful. It had a certain gravity to it, you might say. Feeling his eyes being sucked in, Haruhiro quickly averted them.
“Uhh... Where did the clothes come from?”
“Neal brought them.”
“Huh? When?”
“It was a while ago.”
“...That’s not good. I didn’t notice at all.”
“It happens.”
Why was it that when Merry was kind to him he felt something squeeze tight in his chest?
“They’re from the general. According to Neal. You might not want to wear them, but it doesn’t look like there’s anything strange that’s been done to them, or anything like that.”
“Oh, yeah? ...Yeah. It’s fine. Now isn’t the time to go on about not wanting to owe him anything.”
“Could you put them on properly?”
Her tone was a little chiding, but it wasn’t that Merry was mad.
“...Right. I’ll get dressed.”
Haruhiro did as Merry told him to and fixed his clothes. They were all leather. The materials and production quality were good. The stitching was solid, too. It was somewhere between leather armor and leather clothes. There was a cloak included, too. A black leather cloak. It was hooded, and very light.
“It looks pretty good on you,” Merry said jokingly.
“Does it?”
Haruhiro tried moving around a little. The stains didn’t stand out, but someone must have worn these before. The leather had softened a lot, and there were wrinkles in it. That made how well it fit him kind of creepy.
“These don’t just look good, they seem practical, too.”
“Have you calmed down now?”
“A lot, yeah.”
Haruhiro sat next to Merry. He hunched his back, and breathed gently.
“...The general doesn’t trust us. And obviously we don’t trust him, either. But he’s still trying to get us on his side.”
“Yes. No matter what he has to do to accomplish it.”
“Shihoru is alive,” Haruhiro said, then closely observed his own emotions.
Shihoru was alive. Did he just want to think that? Or did he have some logical basis that led him to believe it?
“The general would have to be a real idiot to kill her. Because if he did, we’d never be swayed by him. It’s not impossible to keep on lying to us and telling us she’s alive. But there’s a risk we’d find out.”
“The general... will keep Shihoru alive, and use her. In order to keep us as his pawns.”
“But there could be an accident... It’s possible something might go wrong, and the hostage... Shihoru might be hurt or killed.”
“...That’s true. We can’t rule it out.”
“In that case, the general might take the risk and lie. Because there’s no way we’d accept it if he said he didn’t mean to kill her.”
“If he was going to have to lie... wouldn’t he make sure he could keep the lie up?”
“I agree. In that case, he’d eliminate all traces. Leave nothing behind. ...If he cremated the body, and scattered the ashes, there would be no way to prove whether she was dead or alive. Even if the general came out and told us she was gone, we’d have no way to know if he was telling the truth.”
“But if that is the case... We don’t have to think about it. It won’t do any good to consider it.” Looking forward, Merry said, “Shihoru is alive. We have to operate under that premise.”
“Yeah. I think that’s good.”
“Do you think the general will return Shihoru at some point? On his own, without prompting?”
“If... we were to swear loyalty to the general, he’d probably think it was all right to give her back. He’d believe that even if he returned her to us, we wouldn’t betray him. ...I dunno. It seems like a stretch. I can’t see it happening that way.”
“Yeah. If you think about it, it’s not likely that our relationship with the general would change that much.”
“...And he’s not an idiot, so he has to know that. Unless something happens that upends everything, we’re not ever going to be his loyal followers.”
“We only do what he says because he’s threatening us. The general has few pawns at his disposal, so he has to use us. What if... that changes?”
“Since we can’t be trusted, it’s... unlikely he’d keep using us. The general probably doesn’t genuinely believe he can win us over. Once he doesn’t need us, we’ll be cut loose. I think we’re just a stopgap.”
It was probably safe to assume that Neal and the Black Cloaks were one and the same as Jin Mogis. They shared some sort of special bond which transcended love, friendship, loyalty, responsibility, or anything like that.
This was only speculation, but the battles against the barbarian tribes in the south of the kingdom must have been incredibly harsh. The general had saved them, and they gave him everything in return. They had survived together. After an experience like that, perhaps they had a sense of solidarity that transcended reason.
Here in the frontier, the general would struggle to find subordinates who could act as his hands and feet. However, there had to be those who would work with him if their interests aligned.
“I don’t know why, but Hiyo... the master of the Forbidden Tower is siding with the general. I wonder what happened with Io and her group. We haven’t seen them since they went with Hiyo...”
“Io is a priest,” Merry said quietly. “One of the best in the Volunteer Soldier Corps. Her personality takes some adjusting to, but she’s highly capable.”
“I’m sure that, setting their weird names aside, Gomi and Tasukete are no slouches, either.”
“I agree.”
“Hiyo is... I wonder. She seems pressured. She’s acting awfully serious, and even exposing herself to danger. Maybe her position isn’t so stable, either.”
“If she doesn’t give everything she has to their operations, she’ll be displaced by Io’s party...?”
“I think she might feel threatened, maybe. This is just an example, but what if the master of the Forbidden Tower were to order Io, Gomi, and Tasukete to assist the general, too...”
“Then our relative usefulness would go down,” Setora, who had been quiet up until now, suddenly interjected with a cynical snort. “In other words, our position is not so stable, either.”
Kiichi roused himself and stretched, shaking his head. He sat and looked up at Setora.
Setora looked down at Kiichi. The moment she did, her expression relaxed.
“Ngh...” Kuzaku groaned. He rubbed his face and neck with his hand. Had he woken up? No, apparently not. Kuzaku went right back to snoring.
“This man...” Setora looked at Kuzaku with exasperation. The difference from when she’d been looking at Kiichi was incredible.
Should they shake Kuzaku awake, and take action immediately? Emotionally, that was what Haruhiro wanted to do. But was there anything they could do?
“Rescuing Shihoru.” Haruhiro jabbed his right index finger against the ground. “That’s our first priority.”
“In terms of our options... if negotiation isn’t possible, I think there are, broadly speaking, two things we can do.” Merry gently placed the tip of her own index finger on the ground, too. “The first is to find out where Shihoru is, and save her.”
“And the other?” Setora picked Kiichi up. Kiichi seemed to be enjoying it as she patted his neck and back.
“We do to them what they did to us. Take the general hostage, and demand Shihoru be released in exchange for him. I wouldn’t call either option peaceful, but we’re left with no other choices. They were the ones who started this.”
They couldn’t afford to fail. First, they had to choose which method had the higher certainty of success. If they were going to do it, they had to succeed. Haruhiro tapped his finger on the ground as he racked his brain.
“...Even if we manage to take the general hostage, there’s no guarantee we’ll be able to get Shihoru back. I can’t even get a read on if the man values his own life or not. Lately, we’re only called when he needs us for something, so there are also not that many chances to approach him.”
“The Expeditionary Force will be turning the hi’irogane over to the goblins in the near future.” Setora began walking around while still holding Kiichi. “That woman... Hiyo will be present for it, I’m sure. What about the general?”
“The general won’t show himself until the time comes for him to meet Mogado Gwagajin personally, don’t you think?” Merry suggested. “They’ll arrange a place in the Old City for the meeting. If we can find Shihoru before then, we’ll have a chance.” Setora nodded.
“When the general and Mogado Gwagajin meet face to face, security here will be stretched thin. Not just in Tenboro Tower, but Alterna as a whole.”
Haruhiro was starting to see what they needed to do.
First, hunt for Shihoru. Search inside Tenboro Tower, as well as Alterna, while taking care not to arouse the general’s suspicion. He’d go to the thieves’ guild in West Town, and if Mentor Eliza was there, he could seek her assistance.
There was no need to outright discard the option of taking the general hostage. If he kept tabs on when it was possible to make contact with him, they would be able to act when the time came.
For now, though, Haruhiro decided to sleep until morning.
Exploring the New City had been really taxing. On top of that, despite accomplishing his task, he hadn’t gotten the result he wanted. He was disappointed, to say the least. Haruhiro wasn’t blessed with an especially strong psyche. He was ordinary. But it would also be weird for him to become totally depressed over his failure. Though Merry had healed his wounds with magic, that didn’t restore the blood he’d lost, so he was exhausted. If he didn’t recover, body and soul, he couldn’t save Shihoru.



16. They Appeared Like the Wind
He managed to meet with Eliza. Not that she showed her face, though. Regardless, once he told her the situation, she agreed to help search for Shihoru.
However, as a mentor in the thieves’ guild, Eliza had a job to do, too. She was attached to the Volunteer Soldier Corps. Her work required her to travel back and forth between Alterna and Riverside Iron Fortress, which they were currently occupying. Therefore, there was a limit to how much she could do inside Alterna.
“The Volunteer Soldier Corps doesn’t know that Jin Mogis is trying to join hands with the goblins yet, so I have to go tell them first. I expect that will cause some discord. Maybe a lot.”
How would the Volunteer Soldier Corps react if the Expeditionary Force and the goblin race formed an alliance? Not even Eliza could predict that. However, the Volunteer Soldier Corps couldn’t afford to be completely isolated, either. Even if Mogis was working with the goblins, they might still find themselves forced to coordinate with him. Naturally, Mogis knew this, and was moving forward with that outcome in mind.
Furthermore, in regards to what Shinohara of Orion had said about
Mount Grief, it seemed that the remnants of the Southern
Expedition were, in fact, gathering there. Though they were
“remnants,” there were roughly three thousand kobolds from
Riverside Iron Fortress and around five hundred orcs from Deadhead Watching Keep, along with a considerable number of undead that had already been at the mountain. It was a formidable force.
“Mount Grief may be the key now,” Eliza said.
For Mogis and the Volunteer Soldier Corps, the forces at Mount Grief were clearly the enemy. Normally, the goblins would have been on the other side, too, but their alliance with Mogis was essentially a withdrawal from the Alliance of Kings.
It seemed unlikely that the goblins would fight against the forces at Mount Grief. However, it was entirely possible they would remain neutral.
The Volunteer Soldier Corps wanted to eliminate the enemies at Mount Grief due to their proximity to Riverside Iron Fortress. If Mogis lent them a hand, it would strengthen the ties between them.
Haruhiro and Kiichi evaded the watchful eyes of Neal and the Black Cloaks to begin the search inside Tenboro Tower. They searched every nook and cranny of the first floor, which contained the entrance hall, storage area, and the room that had been assigned to them, plus the second floor where the great hall, reception room, dining hall, kitchen, and fireplace room were. Everything from the third floor up was a literal tower. The security around Jin Mogis’s bedroom on the third floor was too tight for them to even approach it, but they searched the rest. It looked like the other rooms were all unoccupied and unused.
They split up to search throughout Alterna, but had no more success there.
Alterna could be divided into the northern district and the southern district, with Tenboro Tower in roughly the center. The high ground in the east was called East Town, and the lower western block was called West Town.
Soldiers of the Expeditionary Force were currently staying in the former headquarters of the Frontier Army, the lodgings in Flower Garden Street, the pleasure quarter in Celestial Alley, and the craftsmen’s town in the southern district. Apparently Mogis had given orders to that effect.
There were soldiers positioned on the walls, but inside the city there was only the occasional Black Cloak on patrol. Sometimes soldiers who were slacking off from their jobs clearing debris or repairing buildings might wander by, too. Not many of them, though. Hardly any soldiers ventured outside the living area Mogis had designated for them.
If there were no soldiers around certain places, contrary to what one might expect, it might have been easier to hold Shihoru there. That was one way of looking at it. However, Mogis and his Expeditionary Force weren’t at all familiar with the city. Could they really find a well-thought-out place to lock Shihoru up in?
Haruhiro tried investigating the angle that Anthony Justeen, formerly of the Kingdom of Arabakia’s Frontier Army, might have helped the abductors. But when he crossed paths with the man inside Tenboro Tower, before Haruhiro could even bring up the subject, Anthony was already suspicious about Shihoru’s disappearance, and was worried for her. It was possible he could have been acting, but Haruhiro found it hard to imagine Anthony was secretly aiding the general.
Maybe Shihoru wasn’t in the northern or southern districts after all.
The looting and destruction had hit the cozy mansions of East Town extremely hard, and there was no chance of the area being repaired any time soon. After a cursory search, Haruhiro found nothing moving there beyond bugs and mice.
West Town, where the dread knights’ and thieves’ guilds were, was a slum, made up of complicated and interweaving streets. Even if you were just taking an ordinary walk, it was easy to get lost there. Haruhiro had Eliza help with searching that part of town, but he didn’t have much hope of turning anything up.
Four days after Haruhiro managed to infiltrate Ahsvasin, the handover of the hi’irogane equipment took place.
Here’s how it went. The Expeditionary Force carried the hi’irogane equipment to the wall that divided the Old City of Damuro from the New City. Then they pulled back. The goblins came out of the New City and checked the items.
It seemed the goblins knew precisely what hi’irogane items there were, and how many of each. If even one was missing, there was going to be trouble. Fortunately, all of the hi’irogane equipment was returned, and the exchange was completed without incident.
The goblins set up a meeting place in the Old City, and the Expeditionary Force investigated it. By the day that the items were handed over, they had already completed a building that looked like half a mud dumpling. Weird by human standards of architecture.
Haruhiro and his group were sent out to go over the building with a fine-toothed comb, but they found nowhere that the goblins might be hiding ambushers inside. There were no other strange tricks, either. Though the building had a skylight, the only other opening was the door, so there wasn’t any risk of snipers targeting the participants with ranged weapons from outside.
The next day, Jin Mogis would reorganize the Expeditionary Force into the Frontier Army, and take the title Commander of the Frontier Army.
Then, he would meet with Mogado Gwagajin in the Old City of Damuro at noon, and the Frontier Army would forge a formal alliance with the goblins.
Was he planning to celebrate the night before? Mogis called all of the soldiers, except for those on wall duty, to the plaza outside Tenboro Tower, set a large bonfire, and served generous amounts of alcohol.
He slaughtered a number of ganaroes, those large beasts of burden, and fried them whole, while boiling the rice they had brought from the mainland in pots with a variety of ingredients. The barrels of booze that seemed to invite everyone to drink to their hearts’ content contained watered-down spirits that had been pumped full of spice. They tasted and smelled awful, but the soldiers were somehow convinced that the brew was healthy for them.
The soldiers were given plates, bowls, and mugs made of wood or crude pottery. Haruhiro and his group ended up sitting with the soldiers, and had to wait to be served with them. Neal the scout and his subordinates were watching them, so unfortunately they had no choice but to participate in this off-color celebration.
There were a good number of empty barrels and boxes scattered around the plaza. Apparently they were expected to use them as tables.
Haruhiro sat around an empty barrel with Kuzaku, Merry, Setora and Kiichi, eating bowls of some kind of gruel. It didn’t taste bad, as much as he hated to admit it, and the skewer of meat Kuzaku was chowing down on looked tasty, too. He might not be able to convince himself to try the booze, but the food had done him no wrong. He’d be fine so long as he didn’t stuff himself to the point it impaired his ability to move around.
Maybe a chance would come their way.
Mogis gave a speech, and they expected he would leave after that, but instead he sat at a table in front of Tenboro Tower’s front gate and watched the soldiers. Though there were drinks prepared, he had barely touched them so far. He had four Black Cloaks guarding him. There were likely a number more inside Tenboro Tower.
Haruhiro and Kiichi had almost run out of places to search in there.
But only almost. Not completely.
They hadn’t ever been able to enter Mogis’s room on the third floor.
Anthony Justeen tried to talk to them, but they brushed him off, and he left, looking lonely.
“Enjoying yourselves?” Neal came over carrying a wooden mug. “What? You’re not drinking? We’re celebrating before we all set out again tomorrow. Why don’t you let loose a little?”
“You’re sober, too, aren’t you?” Kuzaku said, making no attempt to hide his distaste for the man.
Neal brought the mug to his lips, and made a show of drinking from it.
“No matter how much I drink, it never shows on my face. I’m like a sieve.”
“Is that really even alcohol...?”
“You want to test it?”
Neal brought the mug to Kuzaku’s nose, smirking.
“I won’t let you tell me you can’t drink my booze.”
“Well, that’s exactly what I’m gonna say.” Kuzaku enunciated every syllable as he said, “I can’t drink your booze.”
Neal laughed and withdrew the mug, instead giving Kuzaku a friendly slap on the shoulder.
“Hey, let’s play nice.”
“I don’t wanna!”
Kuzaku twisted, and brushed Neal’s hand away. Neal not only wasn’t offended, he apparently found it hilarious.
“Don’t hate me so much, Brother. We’re all in this together. Right?”
“Yeah,” Haruhiro replied instantly. “That’s right.”
The words may have sounded hollow, but he didn’t care. Neal wasn’t sincere, either.
“Enjoy yourselves,” Neal said and then left.
The party was being monitored by Neal and his subordinates, a total of four men. Haruhiro had a clear memory of each of their faces. But the scouts were busy, too. Many of them were posted to Damuro now. Only Neal and one of the others was in the plaza now. When Neal wasn’t looking their way, the other man was watching what Haruhiro and the others did.
While they’d been dealing with Neal, Mogis had left his seat. Had he gone back to Tenboro Tower? No, that wasn’t it. He was walking around the plaza. The Black Cloaks were with him.
Jin Mogis wasn’t the kind of commander who could strike up a friendly conversation with his men. Most of them actually avoided him. Some even fled when Mogis approached.
There had once been a large number of soldiers who were blatantly underestimating what Mogis was capable of. However, once he took Alterna, they must have reevaluated their opinions of him. There was still no shortage of men who couldn’t abide by military protocol, but even the most slothful of them feared him. Talking back to their commanders was one thing, but defying Mogis himself was another. He was the kind of man who would lop their heads off without hesitation.
There were even signs of affirmative, even passionate, support for Mogis from a number of the troops.
“Here’s to General Jin Mogis!”
“It’s not General, it’s Commander now!”
“That’s right! We’re not the Expeditionary Force anymore! We’re the Frontier Army!”
“To Commander Jin Mogis!”
“Hail the Commander!”
“Take the throne, Commander!”
“Be our king!”
“Take Vele! Go for it, Commander!”
“The frontier is our homeland now!”
Did Mogis enjoy being surrounded by the boisterous young soldiers lifting up their drinks in his honor? His expression was the same as ever. But he didn’t raise a hand to stop them from cheering. Nor did he show any sign of disliking it. From Mogis’s perspective, things were going as planned, and he could breathe a sigh of relief for now.
“Sigh...” Kuzaku scowled as he bit into his meat skewer, and chewed it loudly. “This’s making the meat taste bad.”
“Just how much do you plan to eat?” Setora said, setting her bowl down on the empty barrel they were using in place of a table. Kuzaku cocked his head to the side.
“Well, I figured I’d eat all I could, you know? Something like that. Maybe I’ll go get another two or three. Anyone else want one? I’ll get some for everybody while I’m there.”
“I’ll pass,” Merry replied politely, but Setora just shook her head. Kiichi, meanwhile, looked up at Kuzaku expectantly.
“Oh, you want one, Kiichi? I see. I see. You, Haruhiro?”
“I...” Don’t want one, Haruhiro was about to reply, but felt a sensation like all of the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end.
“Heya.”
Haruhiro was shocked to realize he hadn’t even noticed the man’s presence until he spoke.
He turned to see a man wearing a black cloak that covered his whole body, with the hood pulled low over his eyes. That wasn’t all. His face was covered with some sort of mask, too.
“Erm...”
Before he could ask, Who are you? Merry gulped.
Haruhiro hid his confusion, and looked around, trying to act like nothing was out of the ordinary. Neal was fifteen meters away, and the other scout was with Mogis. They were both looking this way.
But did it matter? Wasn’t the masked man in a blind spot for both of them? They likely hadn’t spotted him.
Was that coincidence? Or had he deliberately made contact while avoiding their watchers?

Chapter end