Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash: Volume 1

by Ao Jyumonji

  Geography

  Grimgar

  The word that refers to this “world.” Nobody knows whether it refers to an entire continent, an entire island, part of one of those, or if it encompasses everything. Basically, when those who live in this “world” refer to the “world,” they use this name. Generally, it refers to the area south of the Tenryu Mountains (the homeland) and north of them (the frontier) in a single word.

  Arabakia Kingdom

  (Almost) The only human kingdom (city states and micronations do exist). Though they once held territory in what is now called the frontier and were highly prosperous, they were defeated by the Undying Empire and retreated south of the Tenryu Mountains, maintaining their power. Since that time, they have come to call the areas south of the Tenryus the “homeland,” and the area north of them the “frontier.”

  The Fortress City Alterna

  The Arabakia Kingdom’s sole fortified stronghold north of the Tenryu Mountains. The town of the beginning. The fortress of humanity. With lodgings, taverns, weapon shops, guilds, and more, it has all of the necessary facilities in place. The margrave of Alterna, Garlan Vedoy, rules the city. It shelters the Alterna Frontier Army led by General Rasentra. By forming alliances with the elves of the Shadow Forest, the dwarves of the Black Gold Mountain Range, and the centaurs of Quickwind Plains, they have somehow managed to sustain their power. They have hostile relations with all other races.

  About Grimgar

  Monsters

  Goblin

  Ugly diminutive humanoids. Height tends to be 140cm at most. Many individuals are around 120cm. They have greenish skin and pointed ears. Though they can vary, they tend to be clever and won’t engage in battles when they are at a disadvantage. Prefer to act in groups. Have formed a kingdom ruled by a royal bloodline. They give birth in litters, they have a short gestation period of around three months, and they mature quickly, so their species has an extraordinarily large number of individuals. One trait they have is that they carry a small bag called a goblin pouch slung over one of their shoulders in which they keep items of value. High-ranked goblins decorate their pouches, and these decorated pouches themselves can sell for a high amount. They seem to have a liking for fashion, as they often wear expensive items on themselves. Something to target.

  Hobgoblin

  A subrace of goblins which are less common compared to the standard goblin. They resemble goblins but are built larger, being roughly human size. They are more fierce than goblins but less intelligent, sometimes being tamed by goblins and turned into slave warriors. They are generally bullied for being taller than the other goblins. Some intelligent hobgoblins have formed a tribal society and regard goblins as enemies. Occasionally there is a submissive hobgoblin that has been tamed by goblins, armed as a bodyguard, and will fight fiercely on their behalf. Most important goblins have such a hobgoblin protecting them.

  Pit Rat

  Rats that are roughly the size of cats. They are speedy and have exceptionally hard hair. Similar to porcupines. They have the trait of curling into a ball and rolling away at high speed. Many subspecies exist. They are omnivorous but like meat, and there are pit rats that will target larger animals (including humans) as prey. Their meat is not very tasty. Their pelts are of little use. They are vermin.

  Undead

  One faction of the undead. A new race created by No-Life King. Skeletons, zombies, and ghosts are not technically undead (though humans often view them as undead). Undead are creatures that have died but are not dead and do not rot. They have powerful regenerative abilities, and even when their brains are destroyed or they are burned, it does not destroy them. It is said that dead bodies given No-Life King’s black blood became the undead, but even now with No-Life King gone, the priests and bishops of the undead perform the “ritual of undeath” to undeathen corpses. Those who are undeathened lose most of the memories that they had in life, pledging allegiance to No-Life King. This remains unchanged even now that No-Life King is no more.

  Zombie

  Due to “No-Life King’s curse,” those who die in Grimgar, unless proper measures are taken, become “servants of No-Life King.” Zombies are the servants “with meat,” while those that have fully rotted become skeletons. Severing the head or destroying the brain will stop them from moving, but left alone, they will become either partial skeleton parts or ghosts.

  Class Listing

  Warrior

  Mage

  Thief

  Priest

  Hunter

  Paladin

  Dread Knight

  *There are also other specialized classes such as Samurai.

  Acquisition of Skills and Magic

  When a skill or magic is first learned through training, what is learned is only the basics: enough to execute it, but not to execute it with sufficient power and effect. Through practice or use in battle (use in battle is said to be ten times as effective) your degree of skill builds, and gradually you become able to execute it with the power and effect it was meant to have. It takes considerable time and effort to master it fully.

  Clans

  A team or group formed by volunteer soldiers, primarily those working toward the same goal. Members are all comrades. When assaulting a fortress or labyrinth that is too large for a single party, a number of parties must band together. It is thought that these sorts of circumstances are what lead to the formation of clans. In the Volunteer Soldier Corps, there are no fixed regulations for them, but it is recommended to report it to the office when forming a clan.

  Guilds

  There are a number of guilds in this world. Most are organizations for a designated trade, and a pact between all of the guilds ensures that an individual may only hold membership in one guild. In almost all guilds, there is a code that all members must follow. This is not written down, but passed verbally to the members, and those who break the code are expelled. Expelled members may never return to the guild. Furthermore, whether expulsion is the worst that happens to the offender depends on the guild. In some guilds, pursuers will chase down the expelled, seeking their lives.

  “Awaken.”

  He opened his eyes, feeling like he’d heard someone’s voice.

  It was dark. Nighttime, maybe? But not pitch black. There were lights. Fire. Above him. Some kind of lighting. Candles, it looked like. Small ones affixed to the wall. Not just one, but many, spaced evenly, continuing as far as he could see.

  Where was this place?

  It was kind of hard to breathe.

  When he tried touching the wall, it was hard and rocky. This was no wall. It was just bare rock. Little wonder his back was sore after lying against it. His butt hurt, too.

  Maybe he was in a cave... A cave? Why would he be in a cave...?

  Those candles were pretty high up. He might be able to reach one if he stood; that was how high they were. Moreover, they didn’t even give off enough light for him to see his hands and feet.

  But he sensed the presence of others nearby. When he listened closely, there was a faint noise that sounded like breathing.

  Humans? What if they weren’t? He might be in trouble. But they sounded human, somehow.

  “Is anyone there?” he asked hesitantly.

  “Uh, yeah,” a man’s voice shot back.

  “I’m here...” came another response, likely that of a woman.

  Another man’s voice gave a short, “Yeah.”

  “I figured as much,” another person added.

  “How many of us are there?”

  “Should we count?”

  “And... where are we, anyway?”

  “Dunno...”

  “What? Doesn’t anyone know wher
e we are?”

  “What’s going on?”

  “What is this?”

  Seriously. What the hell was this? What was he doing in a place like this? And why? How long had he been here?

  He clutched at his chest tightly, as if trying to claw something off of it.

  He had no clue what was going on. How long had he been here? Why was he here?

  When he began to consider his situation, something began to tug at the back of his mind. But it suddenly vanished before he could latch on to it.

  He didn’t know. He didn’t know anything. He was at a complete loss.

  “Sitting here won’t solve anything,” said one man in a low, husky voice.

  There was a sound, like someone stepping on pebbles. It sounded like the man had stood up.

  “Going somewhere...?” a woman’s voice asked.

  “Following the wall,” the man answered. “Going to try heading towards the light.” The man’s tone was surprisingly calm.

  Wasn’t he scared? Why wasn’t he shaken up by this?

  The man was now beneath the second candle from him, and he seemed very tall.

  He could make out a bit of the man’s head in the candlelight. The man’s hair wasn’t black. Was it... silver?

  “I’m going, too,” the woman said.

  “Me too, I guess,” a man’s voice said.

  “H-Hold on, guys! I’m coming, too, then!” called another man.

  “There’s the other direction, too,” said yet another person. The voice sounded slightly high-pitched, but it was probably another male. “We can probably go that way. There’s no candles, though.”

  The silver-haired man said, “If you want to go that way, be my guest,” and started walking.

  It looked like everyone would be following the silver-haired man. I had better go, too, then, he thought. He stood up hurriedly, not wanting to be left alone.

  He nervously stepped forward, keeping a hand on the rock wall. The ground wasn’t smooth. It was uneven, but easy enough to walk on.

  There was someone in front of him, and someone behind. He didn’t know who, though.

  Judging by their voices, nobody here was all that old. I don’t know any of these people... at least, I don’t think so, he thought.

  Who were the people he knew? Acquaintances. Friends. But just exactly who were they?

  Strange. He couldn’t think of anyone. No, it was more like whenever he tried to work backwards from the faces that did come to mind, they would suddenly vanish.

  He didn’t know.

  It didn’t just happen with just friends. Family, too. It wasn’t that he didn’t know them at all. It was more that he ought to have known them, but he was forgetting.

  “Maybe it’s best not to think about it,” he said out loud.

  “Did you...” asked a voice from behind. Definitely a young girl’s voice. “Did you say something?”

  “No, it was nothing—”

  He stopped.

  Nothing important? Really? Nothing important? How was it not important?

  He shook his head to clear it.

  At some point, he seemed to have stopped walking. I should continue on, he thought.

  He needed to keep walking. It was better not to think about it. The more he tried to remember, the less he felt like he knew.

  The row of candles continued. There was no end in sight.

  How long had he been walking? Had he walked a long way, or not? He couldn’t say which. His sense of time and space had become dulled.

  “There’s something here,” said someone up ahead. “It’s bright. There are... lamps?”

  The silver-haired man said, “It’s an iron grate.”

  “D-Do you think it’s the exit?!” exclaimed a different man, his voice shrill and excited.

  The sound of the heavy footfalls lightened. Even in the dark, he could tell that everyone was hurrying ahead.

  He could see the light sources now. They were much brighter than the candles had been. Those were definitely lamps. Were they hanging on the wall? The lamps were illuminating what looked like an iron grate.

  The silver-haired man grabbed the iron grate. Not only was his hair silver, the man was dressed like a gangster. He shook the iron grate violently, like a gangster would, and it began to move.

  “I’m opening it,” the gangster called, pulling the grate inwards. With a creaking noise, the iron grate door opened.

  “Oh...!” several people cried out at the same time.

  “Can we get out?!” exclaimed a woman dressed in flashy clothes who was standing behind the gangster.

  The gangster headed through the door. “There are stairs. We can go up.”

  Through the door was a cramped, moldy corridor. Beyond that, there were stone steps. There were no lights, but light was shining down from above.

  The group ascended the stairs in single file, one step at a time.

  There was another iron grate at the top of the stairs. This one looked like it wouldn’t open.

  The gangster bashed the grate with his fist over and over again. “Is nobody there?! Open the door!” the gangster roared, like a beast.

  The flashy woman joined in, shouting, “Hey, someone, anyone, open up!”

  From behind them, a guy with curly hair shouted, “Hey! Open the door! Hey!”

  They didn’t have to wait long. The gangster took his hand off the grate and stepped back. Apparently someone had come.

  The flashy woman and guy with curly hair went quiet, and there was the sound of a lock turning. The iron grate opened, and a man’s voice said, “Get out.” He assumed the voice belonged to the man who had unlocked and opened the door.

  They ascended the stairs, and there was a stone room. It was windowless, but brightly lit thanks to the lamps. In addition to the stairs they had come up, there was another set of stairs going up to a higher level.

  The whole place feels too old, like it doesn’t belong in the modern world. The man who opened the gate is dressed weirdly, too. I mean, those aren’t clothes he’s wearing. That metal stuff he’s wearing is... armor? I’d call that headgear he has on an armored helmet, too. And that object hanging from his waist, it doesn’t look like a nightstick. Was it a sword... or something similar? Armor, a helmet, and a sword? What era did this guy come from? Then again, I guess that’s not the problem here.

  The man in armor pulled a blackish switch on the wall.

  The wall and floor shook slightly, and a heavy sound echoed through the room. The wall moved.

  It opened. Part of the wall slowly opened.

  It sunk down, leaving a hole. An oblong, rectangular hole.

  The man in armor simply said, “Get out” again, gesturing towards the hole with his chin.

  The gangster went outside first, and the flashy woman followed. Everyone followed after them, going through the hole one after another as if being pulled along.

  Outside.

  This time, they were really outside.

  It was either predawn or twilight. The dimly lit sky spread out as far as the eye could see.

  This was the top of a small hill.

  When they turned around, a large tower rose in front of them. They had been inside that tower... or perhaps it would be more accurate to say, beneath it.

  Counting everyone in the group, there were eight males including Gangster, Curly, and himself, and four females including Flashy. Twelve in total.

  It was dark, so he couldn’t see that much detail. Still, he could make out their figures, roughly what they were wearing, hairstyles, and general facial features. As he had thought, he didn’t recognize anyone.

  “You think that’s a city?” asked a slender man with silky hair. He was pointing to the other side of the hill.

  said a girl with her long hair in two braids. Looking in that direction, he could see buildings crowded together.

  A town. It certainly looked like one. It had to be a town. Except that the town was surrounded by a high fence— No,
not a fence. It was surrounded by high, solid walls.

  “Rather than a town,” said a thin man wearing black-rimmed glasses, “it’s almost like a castle.”

  “A castle...” he whispered, but for some reason his own voice sounded like someone else’s.

  “Um...” a petite girl behind him timidly asked, “where is this, do you think?”

  “Look, asking me isn’t going to help.”

  “...Right, of course. Um, d-does anyone... know? Where is this place?”

  No one said anything. Unless they were deliberately trying to trouble the girl, or were concealing the information for some other reason, that meant none of them had any idea.

  Curly scratched at his curly hair and said, “Seriously?”

  “I’ve got it!” said a man who looked like a playboy, clapping his hands together. He wore a bordered cut-and-sew outfit. “Why don’t we just ask that dude?! Y’know, the one who was in, like, armor or whatever!”

  Everyone turned to look at the tower.

  And then it happened.

  The entrance began to shrink. The wall rose up again, filling in the hole.

  “Whoa, whoa, wai—”

  Playboy made a panicked run for it. He was too late.

  The entrance vanished, leaving the spot where it had once been indistinguishable from the surrounding wall. Playboy tried touching and hitting the wall in all sorts of places while crying out things like, “Oh, come on, you can’t be doing this! Wait, wait, stop it! Please, man...” But nothing happened.

  After a while, Playboy sat down, dejected.

  “Well, this is a problem,”said a girl with her long hair in two braids. She said the word “problem” with a funny accent.

  “You said it,” replied Curly Hair, crouching down and hanging his head.

  “Seriously...? Seriously?”

  “And, now, with that perfect tiiiiiiiming!” a high-pitched woman’s voice rang out—