by Ao Jyumonji
As Ranta incorrigibly continued his provocations, Zoran howled and executed a combo. A forward somersault, then a spinning slash.
Ranta escaped with Exhaust yet again.
Just as the spinning slash was ending, Renji came at Zoran from his right side. His attack was quiet, swift, sharp, and fierce. He seemed to creep in, yet he closed the distance rapidly, then swung his blade.
Zoran reacted with a spin to the left, of course. Using the sword in his left hand, his back hand, you could say, he swung to the outside to deflect Renji’s sword. It was so close.
Making it by a hair’s breadth, Zoran’s sword blocked Renji’s.
But it was different from before. While Renji’s blade may not have reached Zoran’s body, it pushed Zoran’s sword aside.
Though, that said, Zoran was a dual-wielder. Zoran quickly swept Renji’s torso with his right-hand sword. Renji had probably put everything he had into that one strike. He’d abandoned his defense.
He couldn’t dodge.
“Guh...!” Renji gasped.
It must have been thanks to his armor. He didn’t get cut in two. Still, it was a direct hit. Renji was mowed down.
It’s a failure, Haruhiro thought. It didn’t work.
Haruhiro slowed down and was about to stop running. Moguzo, however, didn’t.
“Thanks...!”
But Moguzo was being reckless. It was his Thanks Slash, or Rage Blow. He dug his feet in, swinging down diagonally and slashing with all his might.
It wasn’t a surprise attack. Zoran was ready for it. He waited for the opportune moment, not even bothering to use his swords to catch the blow. Zoran’s blade was faster than Moguzo’s.
He first struck Moguzo’s right shoulder. Then his upper right arm, left forearm, and right hip. Then, he went for the head. The left side, then the top of it.
Plated armor and helmets are that sturdy, huh? Haruhiro thought with relief. He can’t cut through them. But even if he can’t cut through, there’s no way Moguzo’s fine after that. There are huge dents all over his armor.
Still, even though there’s no way he’s fine, Moguzo’s not going down. He won’t even take a knee. He’s standing there like he’s dug his feet in hard. Oh, I see.
Steel Guard.
The heavy armor skill that uses armor and defensive items to their fullest, and then some, by bouncing back enemy attacks.
However, no matter how I look at it, those attacks aren’t being bounced back. He’s taking a one-sided clobbering. Can he withstand that? No matter how tough Moguzo is, he can’t take that for long. In that case...
There was only one thing for Haruhiro to do.
His body was already moving on its own.
Haruhiro was a thief. He was a coward who was always watching his opponents’ backs, always thinking about how to get behind them, and now was no different.
Zoran was focusing on Moguzo. He must have been wondering why this human just wouldn’t go down. It was strange. Wrong. Just maybe, he was feeling a creepiness from it. He may even have been being driven by irritation and impatience.
Haruhiro charged in towards Zoran’s back.
The line? I can’t see that thing, he thought. It doesn’t matter. However, I do have a vague sense of where to strike. Zoran’s wearing some high-quality red armor and a helmet, but there’s a slight gap between the two. Maybe I can get in through here?
Zoran was tall, so Haruhiro held his dagger with a backhanded grip, then swung down. He aimed for the seam between his head and back.
He stabbed.
In that moment, Zoran’s body stiffened.
Haruhiro pulled his dagger free, getting ready to stab again, when Zoran’s left arm came at him and he was knocked away.
“Thanks...!” Moguzo bellowed.
As Haruhiro was rolling across the floor, Moguzo unleashed his Thanks Slash and landed a hit on the tip of Zoran’s shoulder. Zoran kicked Moguzo away and might have been trying to make a temporary retreat.
I won’t let you. Haruhiro clung to Zoran’s right leg.
Zoran immediately stomped on Haruhiro’s head with the heel of his right foot, knocking him senseless for a moment.
When he came to, Kajiko was showering blows on Zoran. Ron was nearby, too. Adachi unleashed Kanon magic on Zoran. Chibi-chan bludgeoned Zoran with her staff.
Ranta slashed him. Shihoru used Shadow Beat. Yume hit Zoran with her machete. Even Merry was there using her priest’s staff to clobber Zoran.
Because of the blow to his head, Haruhiro was feeling a little out of it.
Huh, that’s a little weird, he thought. Everyone is wailing on Zoran as if they were possessed. Well, I can’t blame them. We’ve had a terrifying experience. A lot of people have died. Seriously, that guy was so terrifying it’s not funny. Now Zoran’s cowering on the ground, not resisting.
Is he still alive? I wonder. What about his attendants? It looks like some of them tried to save Zoran, but they got taken out. You know, there aren’t a lot of attendants. No, that’s not it—there are a lot more of us.
The rest of the Wild Angels and some volunteer soldiers who had been hiding came out. They surrounded Zoran’s attendants one by one and beat them to death.
Haruhiro touched the back of his head. He wasn’t bleeding. But his face was all wet. It looked like his head, nose, or jaw had hit the floor when Zoran had stomped his head, and he was bleeding from that. It was hard to breathe, so maybe his nose was broken.
“Enough.” Renji stood up, pushing his way past Kajiko, the members of Team Renji, and Haruhiro’s party.
Ranta yelled something and tried to stop him, but Renji just punched him.
Renji grabbed the Sword of Ish Dogran. No one had time to stop him. He swung down, decapitating Zoran.
“It’s over,” he said.
The room was silent.
“Woooooo!” someone cheered.
The few remaining attendants shouted something before charging the Wild Angels, only to be slaughtered.
“Haru!” Merry rushed over to him. “Are you okay?!”
Haruhiro nodded. He tried to say something, but he couldn’t speak.
“150!” Ranta cried, jumping into the air in joy. “150 gold!”
“Renji struck the killing blow!” Sassa tried to protest, but Kajiko shouted, “It’s an even split!”
I don’t really think I care, Haruhiro thought. Well, no, I do care. I mean, it’s a fortune. We could learn new skills, or we could move out of the lodging house and rent at a place with doors that lock, or we could order new equipment; there are a lot of things we could do with it. Our defensive gear in particular is getting pretty battered. We need to get it fixed or replaced.
Oh, but I’m not thinking straight.
It looked like the orc attendants had all been killed. Shihoru was crying tears of relief and Yume was hugging her, saying, “There, there. You did great. Just great,” as she patted her on the head.
“Can you get up?” Merry asked him.
Yeah, no, I can’t. Haruhiro was about to say that lie, because it seemed like Merry would treat him gently that way. But he didn’t.
“I can manage, yeah,” Haruhiro said, getting up. “Though, really, before you help me...”
Why’s he just standing there? Haruhiro wondered.
Everyone was dancing, chatting, having their priest treat them, or doing something, but Moguzo was just standing there.
There’s something weird about it, Haruhiro thought.
Moguzo wasn’t holding his sword. His arms were slumped at his sides.
It’s incredible that he’s standing at all, though, Haruhiro thought. I’m amazed he can stand. That he managed to stay on his feet. Especially in that state. Like, his helmet, it’s not just crushed, it’s not even on completely. There’s blood dripping off him here and there, too.
Suddenly, Moguzo slowly fell over. Like when something big and heavy suddenly loses its support and collapses. That was the sort of fall it was.
Merry gulped.
Haruhiro called his name. “...Moguzo?”
Afterword
I am, thankfully, able to make a living writing novels.
For some reason, I’ve received a steady stream of offers from different people, which has put me in the privileged environment of being able to support my lifestyle just by writing the manuscripts that I need to work on. It keeps me fairly busy, but if I set my mind to it, I can make as much time for myself as I’d like, so the reason I constantly keep writing is because I enjoy writing.
When I find myself without work to do for a day or two, rather than play through all of the games I’ve bought and set aside, I think of how to make the ideas I’ve been incubating into novels.
There’s basically no distinction between work and play for me. I’ve never had many friends to begin with, so for me play meant playing video games by myself, so writing novels by myself is a kind of play, too.
Of course, the experience of writing novels isn’t always fun. It can be painful, difficult work. However, even with video games, there are times where you just can’t beat them and you struggle. The joy of overcoming those challenges and beating a game, that feeling of release, is incredible.
It’s the same with novels. When you go through hardship to finish writing them, it’s very rewarding.
I am half—no, more than half—making my living by playing around. I often run into difficult situations while writing, but I’ve overcome them many times before, and I take the relatively optimistic view that I’ll continue to overcome them. Even if I make a mistake, it’s not like I’m fighting on the battlefield, so it’s not going to kill me, and I’m sure I’ll have chances to redeem myself. Well, I’ll get by somehow.
I no longer play games the way I once did. This is probably the reason why. For me games were, at least for a time, the only kind of play I knew. But now I play by writing novels. Thanks to that, I don’t have time to play games.
That said, I’m sure there are kinds of excitement and new experiences that I can only find through games. That’s why, to this day, I continue to look for information on games. I buy the ones that interest me, play them for a bit, and then get a little disappointed when they don’t live up to expectations. Still, I can never stop looking forward to my next experience with them. I’m sure I won’t stop until the day I die.
I’ve run out of pages.
To my editor, K, to Eiri Shirai-san, to the designers of KOMEWORKS among others, to everyone involved in production and sales of this book, and finally to all of you people now holding this book, I offer my heartfelt appreciation and all of my love. Now, I lay down my pen for today.
I hope we will meet again.
Ao Jyumonji
Sign up for our mailing list at J-Novel Club to hear about new releases!
Newsletter
And you can read the latest chapters (like Vol. 4 of this series!) by becoming a J-Novel Club Member:
J-Novel Club Membership
Copyright
Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash: Volume 3
by Ao Jyumonji
Translated by Sean McCann
Edited by Emily Sorensen
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2014 Ao Jyumonji
Illustrations Copyright © 2014 Eiri Shirai
Cover illustration by Eiri Shirai
All rights reserved.
Original Japanese edition published in 2014 by OVERLAP
This English edition is published by arrangement with OVERLAP, Inc., Tokyo
English translation © 2017 J-Novel Club LLC
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property.
J-Novel Club LLC
j-novel.club
The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
Ebook edition 1.0: April 2017
