“Chamo, our original purpose was never to cause you harm. It was something we were forced to do to survive,” said Dozzu, and behind the fiend, Nashetania bowed her head as well.
“Well, Chamo doesn’t know what to do with an apology,” she mused, scratching her head.
“We should kill them, no? They’re our enemies,” said Mora.
Dozzu lifted its head. Seeing that, Fremy took aim at the fiend. Goldof, still holding Nashetania, put his hand on his spear and rose slightly. Hans lifted his blades to dissuade Goldof.
“Wait, please. It’s true, we are your enemies. But it’s not our intention to fight right now,” said Dozzu.
Adlet gestured for his allies to sit. He’d expected as much. If Dozzu had wanted a fight, it wouldn’t have gone to all this trouble to tell them the truth.
“Please, Dozzu, could you explain what you mean?” said Rolonia. Adlet wondered why she was being so polite to a fiend.
“If we killed three of the Six Braves,” Dozzu explained, “Tgurneu and Cargikk would surrender to us. That was ultimately the only reason we arranged that battle in the Phantasmal Barrier. Killing the Braves in and of itself is not our goal.”
“…So?”
“With our current forces, we can’t kill three of you. Perhaps it could be done if we sacrificed ourselves, but that wouldn’t help us realize our ambition.” Dozzu surveyed the entire group and said, “We would like to defeat Tgurneu and Cargikk. They are the greatest obstacles to the fulfillment of our objective. We would like to join forces with you in the name of that goal.”
Face stiff, Mora objected. “That’s far too great a demand. Your actions nearly brought about Chamo’s death.”
“And we do apologize most sincerely for that. However, that was not our original purpose,” Dozzu countered. “We wanted to meet with you earlier to make this proposal, but we were unable to do so. By the time we arrived at the Bud of Eternity, you had already left. We immediately set off after you, but you were running hither and yon in the Cut-Finger Forest trying to avoid Tgurneu, and it was impossible to pin down your location.”
“So if we’d stayed a little longer at the Bud of Eternity…” Adlet trailed off.
“That’s right, Adlet. In that case, this battle never would have happened at all, since we would have had no reason to deceive you or fight with you.”
This was an absurd tale indeed. That meant this whole day of fighting had been completely unnecessary.
“Please, I beg that you agree to this alliance. I believe this proposal will be of benefit to both parties,” Dozzu said, and it bowed its head one more time.
All eyes gathered on Adlet—the final judgment was his responsibility.
Chamo, beside him, offered her opinion. “Chamo is way not convinced about this. Adlet, can you just tell us to kill ’em?”
“But, Addy,” said Rolonia from his other side, “we’d have more allies. That’s a good thing.”
Adlet sat sandwiched between Chamo and Rolonia and their conflicting opinions.
“But would they truly be our allies, Rolonia?” said Mora.
Dozzu spoke. “I won’t pretend that this is a noble act. Let me be frank: We’re your enemies. We would be cooperating solely to defeat Tgurneu and Cargikk. After their fall, I’m sure we will end up fighting one another.”
“S-so then…”
“Nevertheless, I would still hope you accept this offer of alliance,” said Dozzu.
Adlet asked, “What’s in it for us?”
“I am a considerable asset in combat, and Nashetania as well, once she’s recovered. We can also offer your group much information about the Howling Vilelands, fiends, and the Evil God.”
“Would that information be useful?” asked Adlet.
“I believe so. You haven’t even managed to find a way to cross Cargikk’s Canyon, and beyond the ravine, many more obstacles await you. Without our cooperation, you’ll never arrive at the Weeping Hearth,” said Dozzu.
Adlet couldn’t counter any of that. It could’ve been all true.
“And we have still more intelligence to offer. While we don’t know the identity of the seventh among you, we have a clue—information I can say with certainty will lead you to discover their identity. We can also tell you about the origin of the fake crest.”
Adlet fell silent. Like him, the others all had their eyes on Dozzu. This wasn’t even something that needed consideration—he wanted that knowledge so badly he could taste it. Adlet scanned his allies’ faces. Judging from their expressions, none of them opposed this alliance. Even Chamo and the deeply doubtful Fremy didn’t seem to object.
“Goldof,” said Adlet.
Still holding Nashetania, Goldof shifted his eyes to Adlet.
Adlet had come to realize that the knight was probably a real Brave. Would it even be possible for him to work for Tgurneu without Nashetania and Dozzu noticing at all? The very idea that a master and retainer with such a strong connection could each be communicating with different enemies was just so improbable. And in the end, Goldof had saved Chamo and thwarted Tgurneu’s scheme. Goldof opposed Tgurneu and therefore couldn’t be the seventh.
“…What is it…Adlet?” asked Goldof.
“Are you in favor of this alliance?”
After a silence, Goldof spoke. “I want to protect Her Highness. If it will help me accomplish that…I’m in favor.”
When Adlet heard that, he thought, He’s already left our side. “Goldof, after we’ve killed Tgurneu and Cargikk, will you fight with us?”
“…I will…protect Her Highness. That’s the most important thing. The Braves’ victory…is second most.” Goldof didn’t explicitly say he would fight them, but he had essentially declared that he would be apart from the Braves of the Six Flowers. Something that should not be, something that they all had thought impossible, had just happened.
One of the Braves had betrayed them.
There were eight humans here. Nashetania sided with Dozzu, and the seventh worked for Tgurneu. Now Goldof had joined Dozzu’s side, too. It was enough to make Adlet dizzy. Three of the eight humans here were enemies. How should they fight in a situation like this?
“So, Adlet. Will it be possible for you to accept this alliance?” Dozzu pressed him.
Adlet wanted to do everything he could to avoid fighting Tgurneu and Cargikk. Their goal was, ultimately, the overthrow of the Evil God. But he wanted the information that Dozzu had, by all possible means. He concluded that they would join forces for now, and then eventually cut them loose. In proposing this, Dozzu had most likely anticipated Adlet’s choice.
“I’d like to accept, but first I want to ask something,” said Adlet.
“Then I’ll answer. Go ahead,” Dozzu replied.
“You said before that you want to create a world where humans and fiends can live together. How do you plan to accomplish that?”
“I simply cannot answer that question. If I do, then our victory will slide even further from our grasp.”
“Your ambition just sounds like a crazy delusion to me. I don’t want to join forces with lunatics. Just tell me part of it, whatever you can.”
Dozzu glanced at Nashetania, and she gave a tiny nod. “Understood. If we’re going to cooperate, then it can’t be helped.” Adlet’s whole group gave Dozzu their full attention. Goldof, too, leaned forward to listen.
“Our goal is to replace the Evil God.”
“What?” Adlet didn’t understand what Dozzu was saying. The Evil God was the Evil God. You couldn’t just replace it like a king or a temple elder.
“We will destroy the current Evil God…that ugly, mad monster, and birth a new deity. It will have a righteous heart, love fiends, love humanity, and love peace. There wouldn’t be any point in replacing the Evil God otherwise. Under the rule of a new god, all fiends will be reborn, transformed from creatures that loathe humans into creatures that can live together with them.”
“No way,” breathed Adlet. “That’s just�
��unbelievable, though…”
Dozzu ignored him and continued. “And then, with our new god, we will storm the human realms, destroy the rotten kings, the nobles that drown themselves in decadence, and unify the world. That is our ultimate goal. And that’s all we can tell you at present.”
It was all so extravagant, Adlet’s brain just couldn’t parse it.
“What do you know, Dozzu? Answer me—what on earth is the Evil God?” Fremy pressed, her tone agitated.
Dozzu’s expression was still calm as it looked at the group and said, “The Evil God, the fiends, the Saint of the Single Flower, the Crest of the Six Flowers, the conflict between Tgurneu, Cargikk, and me, and the two fake crests might all seem like independent elements, but in truth, it’s all one single complex matter.”
The group said nothing. They just waited for Dozzu to continue.
“I’ll start from the beginning. Three hundred years ago, I encountered a Saint. Together we took on the mysteries of the world. Her name was Hayuha Pressio, Saint of Time.”
All the Braves’ eyes widened. Everyone who lived on the continent knew that name. Hayuha, the Saint of Time, had defeated the Evil God three hundred years ago. She had been one of the Braves of the Six Flowers.
“The first fake crest, the one that Nashetania has now, originally belonged to her, and she gave it to me three hundred years ago.”
It’s been a long time, everyone. This is Yamagata.
I finally submitted Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers volume three without incident.
Did you enjoy the book?
I have five whole pages for my afterword this time, so I’ve been thinking I have to add more lines somehow.
This is an advertisement: The manga adaptation of Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers, which is currently being serialized in SD & GO! (Super Dash Bunko’s bimonthly manga magazine), has been published in volume format. The artist for this series is Mr. Kei Toru. His art is beautiful and powerful. He’s drawn such wonderful work. Mr. Kei Toru, thank you very much, and I’m very happy you’ll be working on this series.
I think his work has a certain appeal that’s just a touch different from the novels, so I’ll be glad if you pick it up.
Now, I suppose I’ll report on my current state of affairs.
My poor quality of sleep has always been a source of anxiety for me. Just about every night, immediately after falling asleep, I’ll have a nightmare and jump off my futon.
Typical nightmares include strange women strangling me, hands growing from the floor to drag me underground, something really heavy and creepy sitting on my stomach, or something holding my legs to keep me from moving when I really have to go to the bathroom. Less common dreams include a character from an eroge I played before bed cutting off my legs and taking them away, and a dream of a plump, fortysomething male I’ve never met before coming into my apartment to take a dump.
I get these kinds of nightmares at least once a night, and at worst, two or three times a night. Every time, they wake me up.
I’ve been dealing with these nightmares for more than ten years now, and I’ve tried many times to fix the problem—like by taking a long bath before bed, or listening to relaxing music before bed. The psychological approach has had some effect, but ultimately, wasn’t enough to resolve the problem. I’ve tried various other schemes, like exhausting myself with exercise before bed, or just staying up so late that I couldn’t keep my eyes open, but that just made it worse.
I’ve also tried more spiritual methods, such as leaving salt in my room for luck, or visiting the temple, or reading sutras before bed, or meditating before bed, but none of these worked, either. It seems my problem is not within the jurisdiction of the gods and buddhas.
If I drink to my heart’s content, the nightmares stop, but that just causes other, health-related problems, so it’s not something I can do often.
I was utterly at my wit’s end. What should I do? I wondered. But I found an unexpected solution: a body pillow.
When I fell asleep holding a body pillow, the frequency of nightmares decreased dramatically to once every three days. It seems that the body pillow is most effective when I wrap both my arms and legs around it, holding it firmly while I sleep curled up on my side. I experimented with sleeping without the body pillow again, and I had nightmares, just like before. So I can understand just what an immense effect the body pillow has.
Before, going to bed has always been accompanied by fear and pain, but thanks to the body pillow, I’m now able to sleep normally. I never could have anticipated that this cheap thing I bought casually for just two thousand yen would be so effective. It actually makes me frustrated that I didn’t realize the possibilities of the body pillow earlier. If anyone else has a similar issue, I would very much recommend trying a body pillow.
But there is just one thing about this body pillow that rather gets on my nerves. That is, whenever I tell people about it, they always snicker a little at me. Some people will ask, “So which character?” or they’ll say, “If you want a pillow case for it, I’ll give you one.” It seems that society has a very strange view of body pillows. So I’ll take this opportunity to be very clear: The one I use does not have a pretty girl on it. It’s a plain, normal body pillow. Furthermore, I don’t use it to satisfy my sexual desires. I use it because it’s a necessary household item for me. I do feel slightly disgruntled that people don’t seem to be able to understand this.
It does cause some other problems, as well. For example, I foresee this will cause me trouble when I go traveling, and it’s also really embarrassing when people see me sleeping. The travel issue in particular is a difficult one. Obviously, I can’t go traveling with my body pillow. Not that I ever go traveling much at all, though.
Well, anyway, body pillows are the best. I believe I will continue to make use of it.
And finally, the acknowledgments:
To my illustrator, Miyagi-san: Thank you very much for your work on this volume, as well. It really helps me out when you point out the inconsistencies in my work, so I’ll take this opportunity to offer my most sincere gratitude.
To my editor, T-san: I’m sorry for all the stress I keep causing you. And thank you as well to everyone in the editorial department, the proofreading staff, and the cover designer.
And to all my readers: Thank you very much for your support. It’s thanks to you that I can continue the Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers series.
I’ll see you again, after the next book.
Best,
ISHIO YAMAGATA
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Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers, Vol. 3 Page 21
