Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash vol. 1

7. Slow Start

South of Alterna rose the Tenryu Mountain Range, a line of incredibly high and inaccessible mountains. This land called Grimgar was bisected by the mountain range. The far side, to the south, was called the homeland, while here on the north side was called the frontier.

Well, the frontier was just what humans called it. To be more specific, the Kingdom of Arabakia, which ruled over the homeland, Alterna, and the area around them, was treating the area north of the mountains as the frontier.

Incidentally, the frontier hadn't been a frontier around 150 years ago. Which is to say, there had been many human countries at that time. There were non-human races, too, but humans were the most powerful. But, with the coming of a being with terrifying magical powers called the No-Life King, everything had changed.

The No-Life King had created a new race, the undead, and with him as their leader, they had done more than just expand their power. In addition to martial and magical prowess, he had likely been a capable politician as well, because he had allowed the foremost members of each race to name themselves kings, and with them, he had formed an Alliance of Kings.

They had declared war on the human race. The humans had been easily defeated, either being wiped out or forced south of the Tenryu Mountains. After that, at the recommendation of his fellow kings, the No-Life King had become Emperor and founded the Undying Empire. Humans couldn't set foot north of the Tenryu Mountains.

And then the No-Life King, the Undying Emperor, had contradicted his name and somehow died 100 years ago. Having lost the emperor who held it together, the Undying Empire had splintered. The Kingdom of Arabakia had taken that opportunity to establish the fortress city Alterna, and the rest was history.

Incidentally, this was all stuff they had heard from Manato.

The area between Alterna and the Tenryu Mountains to the south was dotted with farms and villages, while the area to the north was mostly fields and forests.

"So, like Yume was sayin'," the hunter, Yume, was explaining as she patted the grass, "there's deer, and there's fox, yeah? Since it's spring, you'll get a bear comin' out every once in a while, too. Oh, and there're chimos. They're round and fluffy with beady little eyes and long, thin tails. They've got little ears and paws, and they bounce everywhere they go, see? They make for pretty good prey. Oh, and there're pit rats. They're big as cats, they've got hard fur, and they're darn ferocious, I hear."

"Oh, yeah?" Ranta shaded his eyes with his hands, making a show of looking around. "From the look of it, there ain't nothing around here, though."

Yume let out a little groan and frowned. "When my master from the guild took me outside for lessons, I saw them here and there. Master would nock an arrow and, whoosh, take one down."

"Maybe over there," Manato gestured towards the woods that were up ahead and to the right. "It feels more likely there will be things hiding where there are trees, don't you think?"

"Yeah," Haruhiro nodded. "Maybe. If I were an animal, I'd be scared to stay out in the field where there wasn't tall grass or trees to hide me."

Ranta laughed. "They're all terrified of me, aren't they...?"

"Fine, it's your fault we have no prey then, Ranta."

"Shut up, Haruhiro! Say it's thanks to me! Say, with dignity, that it's thanks to me!"

"Shut up, would you? If you shout like that, you'll scare off any animals that are still around."

"It's thanks to me!"

"I am so sick of this... He doesn't hear a thing anyone says..."

"Um..." Shihoru, who had been keeping quiet the whole time, opened her mouth for the first time in a while.