Ambiguities of a Meaning

"Grimgar...?" Yousuke arched his eyebrows. "Is that the name of... this world?"

"Correct," Hiyo winked.

Did she think that such a gesture was appealing? I don't think that'll work out. At least, my fellow amnesiac comrades weren't buying it, especially Kikyou, for whatever reason. Her whole expression said as much. She'd be more fit to act the role of Hiyo than the person herself, honestly.

"Now, now, let's get to the matter at hand, shall we? Follow after Hiyo!"

I felt Suzune's stare out of the corner of my eye. I had no idea what she wanted, but I wasn't going to reciprocate her gaze. No particular reason why.

Hiyo walked through a hardened ground marked by humans leading to the town, somewhat forcing the group to follow along. Her twin-tailed hair was swayed by her funny, deliberate walk. How long has it lasted since she carried the role of "Hiyo"? I'm curious.

"I've always wanted to ask this but—" Kanji eyeing the hillside's white stones uncomfortably. "—are they graveyards?"

Hiyo issued an unsettling laugh. "Oh, don't you worry about it. You don't need to woooryy about it yet. It's too soon for you. Hehehe."

Kikyou clucked her tongue silently. 'Where did her hate come from?'

"—uh?" I glance over to Kei. Her gaze went to the sky, wide-eyed. "Was the moon red?"

I followed after her. I hadn't seen it at first because it was covered by clouds, but now I can spot a red crescent moon hanging in the sky. What's wrong with the color?

"Oh, you're right," Yousuke slightly surprised as well. "That was... weird."

Suzune scowled. "That does look unnerving."

Chiaki appeared to be recalling something. But seemingly unable to do that, she gave up on it at once.

Kanji was quipping "That's cool!" while Ken was unresponsive. The latter seems to be in a daze.

"What is actually happening here...?" Kikyou lowered her head. As expected, she is the most affected by our circumstances. I agreed with her silently, nevertheless. Though it was in a different way.

***

The streets within the town were crudely built. It wasn't necessarily a problem. The cobblestone streets were pleasant on the feet and didn't appear out of sync with the buildings of the same material sandwiched around them. I simply thought that they could be improved further. 

The drainage on both sides of the street was clean— the same with the residents. A good number of them had gone out for their morning activities, some were naturally passing us as they went about with their things. However, despite being all human, the group and the residents stare at each other as if others were a strange sight.

"Their outfits..." Kei trailed off. It seems she was having a hard time coming up with more explanation.

"They look old-fashioned," Chiaki picked up after Kei. "Is that it?"

"...Yeah."

It might be due to the materials and the design of our clothes. They were the most noticeable difference.

Suzune and I were wearing outfits that were flat in design. But the remaining girls had showy ones. Ken and Kanji were more eccentric, while Yousuke was somewhere between high and low end. That being said, the materials— or perhaps their handling— compared to Alterna's residents were distinctly different. 

'Cultural difference?' I wondered.

Hiyo stopped in front of a building. "Here! We! Are! Volunteer Soldier Corps of the Alterna Frontier Army. Now get inside, people...!"

I took a quick glance at the sign in front. There were partially peeled words on it. The one Hiyo spoke seemed to be the complete piece.

Hiyo leads us into a room with a counter at the back. Tables and chairs fill most of the room. Factoring in what Hiyo mentioned about this place's name, it was likely a spot where the volunteer soldiers of Alterna used to gather. It was empty at the moment.

A man stood behind the counter. A peculiar man. Yet another weird encounter.

"You know what to do, Bri-chan!" 

"Why of course."

"Reassuring as ever, eh? I'm off, then."

The man waved. Hiyo saluted before heading out of the building.

After Hiyo closed the door, this Bri-chan let out a "Hmm" while not bothering to hide the fact he was scrutinizing every single one of us. In a weird way.

Well, for some reason, he wore over-the-top makeup much like Hiyo. The way he swayed his waist, hands, and pretty much every part of his body was very feminine— even though he was a man. He had green hair, a cleft chin, and fairly slender body proportions. He was supposed to be a prominent figure of the Volunteer Soldier Corps, considering Hiyo's attitude to him. He might have relied more on dexterity than strength with that physique, then. Who can say for sure?

He clapped his hands once. "Alright, come on, gather yourselves. Don't be shy to come close. I won't bite, y'know?"

Suzune was startled. "Ah, y-yes, of course."

That's when I realized. Bri-chan's look and his act of obvious scrutiny made all the group members other than me too afraid to even open their mouths. I suppose I must admit that Bri-chan has one hell of an aura.

The group nervously approached the counter. Just a second as we had done so, Yousuke spoke up. "Um, can we ask why we're here to start with?"

I was curious about that myself. Actually, all the group members were. We'll have to thank him for taking the initiative to ask.

"Unfortunately, it's not my place to say." Bri-chan shrugged. Before anyone could ask further, he went on to say something else. "I'll state my name first. I am Britney, the chief of the Volunteer Soldier Corps. You can call me Bri-chan, as well, of course. With lots of love will be more acceptable."

"Yeah, he's a certified gay," Kanji mumbled under his breath before letting out a silly shriek in the face of Britney's sharp gaze. "F-Forgive me!" Kanji quickly bent his head in an impressive inverted L-shape.

Britney didn't seem to mind it too much, though. He returned to his customary smile right away. "You bunch have two choices. Become a volunteer soldier or not become one."

No one responded.

"...Before that," I decided to ask some things first. "Who and for what reason do they fight?"

If there is a frontier, then there are mainlands on each side. 

Britney shot me a glance. "Monsters. Goblins, kobolds, orcs, undead, and many others. Many races are hostile to humans, see. The frontier soldiers are already having trouble maintaining their foothold, hence the need for volunteer soldiers."

"Goblins...? Orcs?" Kanji tilted his head. "I felt like I knew them. Can't remember what, though."

I ignore him. 'The enemies were another race, huh? To rely on a group with no memories like us... They must be very short on helping hands.' 

"Then what's the reason?" I went to the second question.

Britney wore a dry smile. "It's a long one, sadly. I'm no historian, and I don't have much time to spare. I'll pass on that." He suddenly let out a laugh. "That said, you're pretty mesmerizing. Your group is balanced, as well. A party usually consists of at most six members, taking into account the abilities of priests and all. But two priests would cover it anyway. Lovely boy, let me tell you, what you want to know isn't exactly confidential, really."

'That's still pretty ambiguous in my view...'

Still, I had no intention of being pushy about it. Not with the situation I was in.

"What's the catch?" Ken crossed his arms, grimacing. "I can't imagine you calling up a group of people with nothing to remember but their names, providing them with obvious choices of which one is better, and letting them just let loose on the pick."

He had a point.

"You don't look like the thinking type. That's a surprise." Britney 'seems' a little taken aback. "Well, as for your question, that'll depend."

"Can you just cut to the chase?" Kikyou didn't sound happy.

Britney chuckled, not bothered in the least. "You can absolutely walk out at this moment without any interruptions. You can try it right away. But if you accept this offer to become a volunteer soldier—" Britney brought out a total of eight small leather pouches along with badges onto the counter. "—you will be given a total of ten silver coins. That's enough to last you for a while. The badge signifies your rank as a volunteer soldier trainee. You can buy the full-fledged volunteer soldier badges for twice that price, and they come with their decent perks, y'know?"

"What if we opt out of this...?" Kei posed that question.

"That's none of my business." Britney's act is visibly provocative. "Whatever choice you make won't affect us very much, frankly. And, I know what one of you might be thinking. So long as you choose to be a volunteer soldier trainee, you're not allowed to quit the job. The money given will be taken away, and if you can't, don't get mad if you're made into a slave in return. Well, I'm sure that most of the volunteer soldiers didn't even think about that after having experienced the kind of work they'd done as soldiers."

Chiaki narrowed her eyes. "So there are others besides us, who might have the same predicament as us."

Britney gave her no answer. "Well? What are your choices?"