“Only death will let them escape the gods,” Yori said, letting out an exhalation too loud to call a sigh. “To save them, we have to kill them. If they were your comrades in arms, Haruhiro, then they must have been great-grandma’s as well. Isn’t that right?”
“When Ruon...” Haruhiro looked down, then tremulously nodded his head. “When your grandfather was born, everyone celebrated. All of us, from the bottom of our hearts... I remember that day so vividly.”
“Great-grandma was at Daybreak Village at the time, correct?”
“Yeah. That’s where Ruon was born.”
“Something happened at Daybreak Village which forced great-grandma to flee with grandpa. But she never said what it was. She always told Yori everything, except for what happened between her escape from Daybreak Village and the moment when she left Grimgar on a ship. She didn’t even want to remember that time.”
“Some of our comrades stayed in the village to protect Yume and her child... They were all women, but among them...there were believers of Lumiaris and followers of Skullhell.”
“Did they kill each other?”
“Probably. It’s a miracle that Yume and Ruon didn’t get caught up in the fighting, but I suspect that their survival was more than just a matter of luck. Someone must have put everything on the line in order to get them out of there. As a new life born in Daybreak Village, Ruon was our hope.”
“And that was also why great-grandma had to do whatever it took to survive and protect grandpa.”
“January 1st, 720 A.C.,” Riyo said as if reading something that had been written down. “The clan and the company start their joint venture south of the Tenryu Mountains. March seventh of the same year, the company successfully makes contact with remnants of the Kingdom of Arabakia and the venture goes into full swing. At the time, the seventeen beast god tribes were firmly entrenched under the leadership of King Obdoo of the lion god tribe. Our grandfather Ruon challenged him to a duel on September 9th, 722, and lost. He was severely wounded, and his injuries never fully healed. His life came to an end as great-grandma watched over him on February 23rd, 724.”
Riyo’s tone remained completely dispassionate.
“When our grandfather passed away, they say great-grandma didn’t shed a single tear. He had lived as he wanted to. He had done everything he believed he ought to and passed without even the slightest regret. That was why great-grandma said she wasn’t sad at all.”
However, Riyo’s slightly downcast eyes were glistening with moisture.
“Why did our grandfather try to settle things with Obdoo, a four-meter-tall monster of a man, in single combat? Even when I was a child, that struck me as reckless, and I asked great-grandma why he did it. Her answer was that it was obviously the fastest and least bloody way to end the fighting. He didn’t even need to kill Obdoo. He just needed to beat him fair and square and take his position as the head of the seventeen beast god tribes, as their king, and then he would’ve been able to stop the war. Our grandfather bet on that possibility. He wanted to pacify the lands south of the Tenryus as quickly as he could and go to Grimgar. To the land of his birth. But more than anything, he wanted to take great-grandma there. However...”
Riyo’s voice wavered. But only for a moment. After taking a quick breath, she returned to a flat tone.
“Ruon lost his bet and his wish never came true. Obdoo was finally defeated fifteen years later, on March 17th, 739. No one but our grandfather ever challenged him to single combat. In the end, Obdoo was surrounded by hundreds of elite fighters and pummeled to death. Great-grandma told me it was brutal. Twenty-three years later, Yori and I finally made it to Grimgar. Honesty, I wanted to bring great-grandma with us. And if it were possible, our grandfather too.”
“Riyo, what are you talking about?” Yori asked with a hint of exasperation.
Riyo lowered her head. “I’m sorry.”
“I...”—Haru raised his right hand and opened it, then slowly curled it into a fist—“...hate the gods. I want to save everyone. But it just isn’t possible. I can’t...end their lives with my own hands.”
“It is possible,” Yori said with a smile. But her eyes weren’t smiling. She was glaring at the wreckage surrounding Damuro. “Yori and Riyo are here. It’s not impossible at all. We’ll smash the farms, free the goblins, and help the people who celebrated grandpa’s birth leave this world not as slaves of the gods, but as people.”
“Haru!” Manato thrust his fist out toward Haru. “I’ll help! Up until now, you’ve been helping me an awful lot, but pretty soon, I’m gonna get to the point where I can help you in return!”
“No,” Haru replied, giving Manato a fist bump. “You’ve already helped me. I feel like when I met you, time started to flow for me again after having been stopped for so long.”
“Howih!”
Tata imitated Manato and thrust out his fist too. Haru gave him a fist bump as well.
“That’s right, Tata. You’re one of us. I had comrades in the past too. I haven’t forgotten them. But because I can never forget, I was trying not to think about them. I was running around, trying to avoid what I really needed to do.”
Freeing the goblins from the farms. And freeing Haru’s old comrades in arms, the converts and the thralls, from the gods’ control. Having new goals filled Manato with energy. He didn’t know if they could do these things, but if he had a path to follow, then he was going to follow it. He might not have been able to feel this way if he had been alone, but Haru was here, and so were Yori and Riyo, and Tata too.