Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou (LN) - Volume 2 - Chapter 1

Chapter I: Boy Meets... Worthless Rabbit? 

In a certain location there existed a dark cave where the rays of the sun never reached. The inside of the cave was so silent that one could not even hear the rustling of insects. There was no sign that human hands had ever shaped the rock, and the walls, floors, and ceiling all appeared naturally formed. Still, despite the exceedingly natural semblance of the cavern, it had not a single entrance or exit. One unnatural aspect of this otherwise nature-shaped cave. 
It was, of course, possible that an air pocket had given way to this enclosed space in the ground. However, there was just one other irregularity sitting in the cave’s center that made it quite obvious that this cavern was man-made. A complex and detailed circular geometric pattern carved into the ground. In other words, a magic circle. Were anyone of this era to lay eyes on such a sophisticated circle, their jaws would surely drop. Some of the more faint-hearted might even collapse on the spot. That was just how impressive a circle it was. 
Had it ever been discovered, then it would have been enshrined as a rare national treasure, but as it was it sat languishing under centuries of dirt in the dark cavern. It clearly hadn’t been activated in ages. The magic circle sat there quietly, waiting for its destined master to appear, just like the sacred sword Excalibur. 
Then, for the first time in god knows how long, it began to glow. Tendrils of scarlet mana began tracing their way around the circle’s inscriptions. The light was faint at first, no more than a pinprick, but it continued growing in intensity until the entire room was set ablaze with scarlet light. 
Finally, there was a blinding flash. The brilliant red light drove away the last vestiges of darkness huddling in the corners of the cavern. It was a truly awe-inspiring sight. Anyone present would have been convinced that whatever was coming from the other side of the circle couldn’t possibly have been human. 
However, the light eventually began to fade, and two figures that at least appeared human materialized in the center of the circle. 
“What in tarnation?” One of the figures spoke, his ridiculous outburst destroying the aura of solemnity. 
As the light faded and darkness reigned once more in the cavern, the boy who had spoken looked around in disappointment. He was, of course, none other than the earthling who had been consigned to the depths of hell by one of his classmates during an excursion in the Great Orcus Labyrinth— Hajime Nagumo. 
Hajime had delved a further hundred floors past the hundredth floor that was thought to be the end of the labyrinth, and had discovered Tortus’ secret from the creator of the labyrinth. In the house of the man the gods had labeled a maverick, Hajime had discovered a magic circle that would take him back to the surface. 
The mere thought of being able to return to the surface had left him elated after having spent months in the harsh environs of the labyrinth, where he had to risk life and limb every day just to survive. He had unconditionally believed that what awaited him on the other side of the magic circle was warm sunshine and a gentle breeze. Instead, all he found when he opened his eyes were the same rock walls he’d been gazing at for the past few months. But yelling about it in a strange accent wasn’t going to achieve anything either. 
As Hajime was wallowing in his despair, he felt someone tug on his sleeve. He turned to look down at the girl standing next to him, a quizzical expression on his face. The girl was so short that she barely came up to his chest. 
She had wavy golden-blonde hair, and crimson eyes reminiscent of the red moon. Her lips were a light pink, and her skin was as white as porcelain. At the moment her eyelids were drooping sleepily. But despite that, she still looked like an exquisitely crafted bisque doll. She was, of course, Yue— the girl Hajime had rescued from imprisonment deep in the pits of hell, and the girl with whom he had first begun to climb the stairs of adulthood. 
In order to comfort him, Yue gently started explaining the situation. 
“It’s a secret passage... so he probably had to hide it.” 
“...Oh yeah. You’ve got a point there. This leads straight to one of the Liberators’ hideouts, so it makes sense that he’d need to keep it hidden.” 
Hajime scratched his head awkwardly. Can’t believe I got so excited that I didn’t even realize something that simple. 
Then he poured a little mana into his Treasure Trove, an artifact that opened a gate to an interdimensional room where he could store and withdraw things, and pulled out a green glowstone flashlight. Both Hajime and Yue could respectively use their innate abilities or magic to deal with the darkness, but doing something routine like this helped calm Hajime down. 
Yue chuckled, realizing exactly why he was doing this. Not because she was making fun of him, but because she thought it was kind of cute. For the sake of his own pride, Hajime pretended not to hear her and instead swept his flashlight across the cave. 
“Hm? What’s that?” He stopped his pale green flashlight at a part of the wall that looked distinctly different. There was a perfectly straight vertical line running up the wall, and it stopped at a palm-sized heptagon carved into the wall. A different symbol adorned each of the vertices, and one of them was something the pair had seen quite often over the past few weeks. It was Oscar Orcus’ personal crest. 
Hajime pulled the proof of them having conquered the labyrinth, Orcus’ ring, out of the Treasure Trove and held it up to the heptagon. With a grandiose boom, the stone wall parted, revealing a secret passage. 
Hajime and Yue nodded to each other and stepped forward into the passage. They didn’t find any forks in the road, so they just kept going. There were a few more sealed doors and traps along the way, but Orcus’ ring opened or disabled them all automatically. Both of them were on their guard, but that proved unnecessary as they continued without incident... until finally they spotted a faint light in the distance. 
It was the light of the outside world. Sunlight. The light Hajime had spent the last few months, and Yue had spent the last few centuries, craving. 
When they realized they were but a few steps from basking in it again, they came to a halt and looked at each other. Unable to contain their joy, they grinned and started running toward the light at the same time. 
The light grew bigger as they got closer. Soon, they could feel wind blowing in from outside. It was nothing like the stagnant air they’d been forced to breath for ages. It was fresh and full of life. For the first time ever, Hajime realized what people meant when they said the air tasted delicious. Both of them burst out into the light at the same time. Onto the sweet, sweet surface. 
More specifically, the part of the surface that was known to most as an execution ground. It was nigh impossible to use magic beneath these odd cliffs, and deadly monsters inhabited the bottom of the gorge. The gorge ran anywhere from one kilometer deep at its more shallow ends, to two kilometers deep in places. It could span anywhere from nine hundred meters wide to eight kilometers wide, depending on the area, and it ran all the way from the Gruen Desert in the west to the Haltina Woods in the east. People called it a great gash in the earth dividing the north and the south. 
Its formal name was the Reisen Gorge. And the cave Hajime and Yue had just exited was located at the bottom of it. But even if they were deep in the bottom of a ravine, they could still at least see the sun shining high overhead, and the wind rushing through carried with it the familiar scent of soil and life. No matter how harsh a place they had found themselves in, it was at least still the surface. 
Hajime and Yue’s smiles slowly grew wider as they gazed up at the sun with awe. And, despite how expressionless she usually was, Yue’s smile was if anything even wider than Hajime’s. 
“We... really made it back...” Hajime lowly muttered, his voice thick with emotion. 
“...Yeah.” Yue’s response was just as expressive. The reality of their escape finally washed over them, and they tore their gazes away from the sun to look back at each other. They stood that way for a second before hugging each other tight and screaming at the top of their lungs. 
“Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!! We did iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!” 
“Yeah!” 
Hajime lifted Yue up and started twirling her around. Their smiles were completely out of place in the location that had been dubbed hell by the rest of the world. At some point Hajime tripped on a rock, sending them tumbling to the ground. But they found even that funny and started laughing hysterically while lying spread-eagle on the floor. 
By the time their laughter had finally run out... they were surrounded by monsters. 
Hajime stood up amidst the howls of monsters surrounding him on all sides and grumbled to himself. 
“Sheesh, how rude can you get? You could have let us enjoy ourselves a bit longer.” He pulled out Donner and Schlag before pausing for a second and tilting his head. 
“Wait, I think I remember reading something about magic not working down here.” Back when he had just been summoned he had been paying close attention to his classes during training and remembered the inability to use magic being one of its main features. 
“...It’ll get dispersed. But that shouldn’t be a problem,” Yue replied. The reason people couldn’t use magic in Reisen Gorge was because the mana that went into the formation of a spell was dispersed before the spell could activate. Yue’s magic was no exception, either. 
However, Yue was still an ancient vampire princess that had once been feared as one of the strongest creatures in the world. She possessed a massive amount of mana, and now she had the magic stone accessory series at her disposal. All she had to do was cast a spell so large and powerful that the gorge wouldn’t be able to disperse all the mana in time. Hajime smiled wryly when he heard how confident she sounded. 
“How much more does it take?” 
“Hmmm... About ten times as much.” 
So I’ll need enough mana for an advanced class spell just for something simple, huh? That would affect his range greatly. 
“Ah, in that case I’ll handle these guys. Yue, you just focus on keeping yourself safe.” 
“Aww... But—” 
“This is like the worst possible place for a mage like you. You’re at a huge disadvantage here, so just leave it to me.” 
“Okay... If you say so.” Yue reluctantly backed off. She was having a hard time accepting being left out of their first battle on the surface. It probably hurt her pride a little too. She was clearly pouting, after all. 
Though it hurt him to say it, Hajime nonetheless put Yue out of his mind for the moment and fired Donner. He hadn’t even looked as he smoothly brought Donner up and took perfect aim at his target. His movements were so fluid that the monsters didn’t even realize they were under attack. By the time they finally did, one of their comrades had already had its head blown clean off. The rest of them all froze stiff, unable to grasp what had just happened. Only the gunshot’s echoes broke the silence. 
As long as he used ten times as much mana, Hajime could still activate Lightning Field, the spell essential to using his railguns. He smiled fearlessly as he surveyed his opponents. 
“Well, I wonder if you’re any tougher than the enemies I faced down below... Let’s find out, shall we?” He brought his right foot back and slowly lowered his waist while crossing his guns in front of his chest. His artificial left arm was thrust slightly forward, and Schlag was held just a little lower than Donner. With his two guns he would now be able to cover his back and front simultaneously. Hajime placed his prosthetic limb a bit further out than the rest of his body in order to deal with any unexpected situations. This stance was the fundamental aspect of the gun fu he’d pounded into his body after long hours spent training in the abyss. 
There was a murderous gleam in Hajime’s eyes once he finished settling into his stance. His pupils were cold, emotionless pools, hardened by the harsh conditions he had lived through. 
That chilling gaze alone was enough to cause all the monsters present to take an involuntary step back. They could all feel it instinctively. The person they’d picked a fight with was a ruthless “beast.” The pressure was so great that a normal person would have fainted from the intensity of his glare alone. Eventually one of the monsters was unable to stand it and let out a wild roar before leaping forward. 
“Graaaaaaaah!” However, not even a second later there was another loud bang and the second monster had its head blown off without even a chance to react. The headless monster slid to a halt, crumpling lifelessly on the ground where it stopped. A faint wisp of smoke rose from Donner’s muzzle. Hajime didn’t even spare the pitiful husk on the ground a single glance. His swirling torrent of bloodlust was already directed at the remaining herd. What followed was more of a massacre than a battle. 
Hajime didn’t let a single one of them escape. Yes, each and every one of them cleanly had their heads blown off. As the gunshots echoed louder and louder, the monster’s desperate cries grew fainter and fainter. In a mere five minutes, the ground was littered with corpses of monsters. 
He spun Donner and Schlag’s cylinders, reloading them both before returning them to the holsters strapped to his legs. After that, he tilted his head slightly as he surveyed the mountain of bodies. 
Yue trotted briskly up to him. 
“...What’s wrong?” 
“Nothing, just feels like that was too easy... I’d heard the monsters in Reisen Gorge were ferocious and brutal, so maybe we came out somewhere else?” 
“...You’re just too much of a monster, Hajime.” 
“That’s a pretty harsh way of putting it. Well, I guess that just means the monsters in the abyss were way stronger.” 
Hajime shrugged his shoulders indifferently and shifted his gaze from the monsters to the canyon walls. 
“Now then, we could probably scale these walls easily enough, but... what do you think? They say one of the seven great labyrinths is in Reisen Gorge. Since we’re already here, wanna look around a bit while we head to the forest?” 
“...Why the forest?” 
“I mean, who wants to go to a desert after all that time surrounded by rock? Besides, I bet there’s more towns on the forest side.” 
“...Okay. You have a point there.” Yue nodded in approval. Judging by how weak the monsters were, it was clear the gorge wasn’t the labyrinth itself. Which meant there must have been a proper entrance somewhere. Hajime’s Aerodynamic and Yue’s wind magic would be more than sufficient for scaling the walls, but they’d have to search the gorge eventually, so there was no reason not to do it now. 
Hajime poured a trickle of mana into the Treasure Trove that he was wearing on his middle finger and pulled out Steiff. It was a large, American-style vehicle with a black body. Unlike motorcycles back on earth, it didn’t use gasoline to run as fuel: it was powered purely by mana. Thanks to that it ran quieter than an electric car. 
He had actually been hoping for a louder engine, since to him that was way cooler, but he only knew how to make simple engines, so he wasn’t able to make a more complicated combustion one. He could control Steiff’s speed by adjusting his mana output. Due to Reisen Gorge’s mana-scattering properties, he wouldn’t be able to keep it running for long. 
Hajime stylishly mounted his motorcycle. Yue hopped on behind him, sitting sidesaddle. She wrapped her arms tightly around Hajime’s waist. Once she was situated, she patted his stomach lightly with her arms and he quickly started pouring mana into Steiff. 
Reisen Gorge ran from east to west with almost no north-south variation. There were almost no side routes either, so it was quite difficult to get lost. 
As there was no worry of losing their way, Hajime drove Steiff forward at a leisurely pace as they looked for anything resembling a labyrinth entrance. He had transmuted a machine to the bottom of the motorcycle that smoothed out any ground before the wheels hit it. Normally, an American-style bike would have a hard time dealing with such rough terrain, but thanks to his transmutation they were able to drive through the valley floor smoothly. 
“Feels nice to ride like this, right, Yue?” 
“...Yeah. It really does.” 
They were riding through the wind, basking in the light of the sun, and inhaling the smells of the surface world. For them, that was more than plenty to make their drive pleasant. Yue happily leaned her head against Hajime’s back. Throughout their leisurely drive, Hajime’s hands alone kept moving. He didn’t miss a single shot as he continually dispatched the groups of monsters that came to attack them. 
After a while, he heard a ferocious roar off in the distance. It was more intimidating than the others. At the very least, it was stronger than the monsters they’d faced in the gorge so far. With their current pace, they’d run into it in about thirty seconds. 
Hajime poured more mana into Steiff, rounded a large curve, and found a massive monster waiting for him at the end of the bend. It looked similar to the dinosaurs Hajime had faced in the labyrinth, but this one had two heads. It was a two-headed T. rex. But what was even more surprising was the rabbit-eared girl hopping to and fro beneath it, desperately trying to escape its clutches. 
Startled, Hajime stopped Steiff and gazed at the girl curiously. 
“What on earth is that?” 
“...A bunny girl?” 
“I get that, but why is she here? Are bunny people the type that live in gorges?” 
“...Not as far as I know.” 
“Then, is she one of those criminals that get thrown down here as punishment? I read that Reisen Gorge is a famous execution grounds.” 
“...Hmm. Maybe she’s an evil rabbit?” 
Hajime and Yue had a casual conversation while they watched the bunny girl run for her life. Neither of them seemed interested in saving her. It wasn’t because they were seriously worried that she might be some kind of dangerous criminal that was thrown down here. Hajime simply didn’t have any interest in strangers. He just thought saving her would have been more trouble than it was worth. 
Truly, this was a far cry from the old Hajime. Even if he hadn’t been the least bit capable, the old Hajime would have still tried to save her. 
The situation was different from when he’d saved Yue. He didn’t sympathize with this bunny girl’s plight one bit, and since he could see no benefits to saving her, he felt no desire to. If he helped everyone that begged for it, he’d be old and wrinkled before he could focus on his own goals. Besides, this world was nothing more than a prison to Hajime. With a few exceptions, he had no interest in helping any inhabitants of this world. 
However, it was then that the bunny girl spotted Yue and Hajime. She got blown back by the two-headed T. rex and crashed into a nearby boulder, but she recovered quickly and scuttled behind it, staring at Hajime all the while. 
The T. rex brought its claws down again, this time blowing the entire boulder away along with her. She tumbled backward, using that momentum to run as fast as possible... Right toward Hajime and Yue. 
There was quite a bit of distance between them still, but the amplified echo of the gorge let the bunny girl’s words reach him. 
“Finally! I finally found youuuuuuuu! Pleashe shabe meee! Eek, it’s gonna kill me! I’m gonna die! Shabe me, pleashe! I’m begging you!” Tears streamed down her face as she ran with all her might. The two-headed T. rex chased after her, intent on devouring its prey. At the rate things were going, she was destined to be dinosaur food before she ever got to Hajime and Yue. 
After being pleaded with so earnestly, Hajime... 
“...She ‘finally’ found us? That’s an odd choice of words. Also, she’s got a train of monsters chasing after her. Seems best not to get involved.” 
“...Yeah. Seems like a pain.” 
...still had no intention of helping her. Even her heartfelt cries couldn’t reach him. In fact, they just made things worse. 
When she saw them turn away from her, the bunny girl realized they had no intention of helping, so even more tears started rolling down her cheeks. It was amazing how her eyes never seemed to run out of liquid to pour. 
“Waiiiit! Pleashe don’t abandon meeeee! I’m begging youuuuu!” she yelled, even louder this time. If Hajime did nothing, she really would get eaten. Or she would have, if it weren’t for the fact that it bared its fangs at Hajime too. Once the T. rex noticed Hajime’s existence, it rested its hungry gaze on him and roared angrily. 
“Graaaaaaaaaaah!” Hajime wasn’t about to let that one go. 
“What was that?” The monster had threatened his life. It wanted to eat him. Hajime’s body instinctively reacted to its bloodlust. This enemy bars your path! And enemies that get in your way are to be killed! Those were the only words his mind screamed at him. 
As it continued chasing down the bunny girl, the T. rex opened one of its jaws wide. Despair filled her eyes as she turned and saw countless rows of teeth bearing down on her. 
“Ah, so this is where it all ends...” 
But an instant before she became dinosaur chow— Bang! A sound completely alien to her reverberated throughout the gorge. A red streak passed right between her two twitching bunny ears. The speeding bullet flew right into the T. rex’s open maw and mercilessly pulverized its skull as it passed out the other end of one of its heads. 
The destroyed skull sank to the floor, sliding a little before coming to a stop. Unable to maintain its balance, the T. rex fell to the ground with a resounding thud. 
The shockwave of the impact sent the bunny girl flying again... Directly toward Hajime. 
“Kyaaaaaaaa! H-Help meeee!” She reached her arms out to Hajime as she hurtled toward him. Her face was a mess of tears, and her lady bits were shamelessly exposed for all to see. But even then, any normal guy wouldn’t have hesitated to save her. 
“Hell no, get away from me!” However, our esteemed hero simply wheeled Steiff back a bit to avoid colliding with the bunny girl. 
“Eeeeeeh!?” Still screaming in surprise, she fell to the ground a few inches in front of Hajime with a sickening thud. She lay spread-eagle on the ground, her body occasionally twitching. It appeared she was still conscious, but couldn’t move due to the pain. 
“...What a pathetic rabbit.” Yue said such harsh words nonchalantly, her head peeking out from behind Hajime’s shoulder to watch. Meanwhile, the two-headed T. rex had successfully ripped its deceased head off, leaving just a normal T. rex with an extra neck sticking out at an odd angle. 
With its balance thus restored, the one-headed T. rex roared ferociously. That roar was enough to shock the bunny girl to her feet. She was unexpectedly tough. Her face still a mask of tears, she moved surprisingly swiftly and hid behind Hajime. 
It seemed she was determined to rely on him until the end. While it did make sense, since she’d die for sure on her own and Hajime had clearly dealt with its other head even if she didn’t know how... her ironclad faith in him still felt a little unnatural. 
Not only was this their first meeting, Hajime was a human, a member of a race that despised her people. Normally someone in her situation would have just used Hajime as bait and ran off. The reason she wasn’t was because she seemed to have some unknown reason to trust him. Hajime suddenly remembered the words she’d said when she first saw him. That she’d “found” him. He had definitely found that odd. But the way she kept clinging to him had started annoying him, so instead of questions, what came out of his mouth were insults. 
“Hey, you. You walking joke of a bunny girl. I never said you could use me as a shield. Come on, don’t you have the courage to at least try a suicide rush before forcing your problems onto other people?” Hajime said, clearly annoyed by the bunny girl clinging on to his coat for dear life. He really didn’t mince his words anymore. Behind him, Yue’s hands were pressed up against the bunny girl’s cheeks as she tried to push the girl off him. 
“I-I don’t have that kind of courage. And besides, if I let go you’ll just try to abandon me again, won’t you?” 
“Obviously. I have no reason to save some annoying bunny girl I don’t even know.” 
“A-An instant rejection!? How can you say that...? Isn’t there a shred of goodness left in your heart? You wouldn’t really leave an innocent beauty like me to die, would you?” 
“I left my humanity behind in hell. And what kind of person has the gall to call themselves a beauty?” 
“Th-Then if you save me... I-I’ll do a-a-any one thing you ask!” She blushed as she said that. The whole thing was very, very cleverly played. Had the image not been ruined by the tears and snot running down her face, it would have actually been perfect. She hadn’t been lying when she called herself a beauty either. Beneath all the grime and tears, one could tell she really was quite pretty. Any normal guy would have fallen for it even if they knew it was a trick. Unfortunately for her, Hajime was no normal guy. 
“No thanks, I’m good. And get your filthy face away from me; you’re getting my shirt dirty.” His savagery knew no bounds. It was enough to make one doubt he had any human compassion left at all. 
“F-Filthy... You didn’t have to put it like that... I can’t believe you! I am not—” 
“Graagaaaaaah!” 
“Eek. P-Pleashe sha—” 
Angry at being ignored, the T. rex let out a bestial roar, interrupting the bunny girl’s protests. It then bent low, preparing to charge. 
The bunny girl screamed hysterically and tried to wedge herself between Hajime and Yue. Thoroughly annoyed by that point, Yue tried to kick the bunny girl off of Steiff, but even after her face was covered in shoe prints she refused to let go. Her tenacity was truly commendable. 
The T. rex grew steadily more enraged as they continued to ignore it, until finally, unable to stand it any longer, it charged forward. 
Hajime reflexively brought his arm up and took aim at the T. rex’s forehead. A gunshot followed not even a second later, and a red streak of light flashed by as the bullet pierced the T. rex’s skull. 
Its charge was abruptly cut short, and it fell on its side with a thunderous crash. 
“Eh?” The bunny girl unconsciously let out a confused gasp. She peeked out from behind Hajime’s back to make sure the T. rex was dead. 
“I-It’s really dead... You killed that Dihedwa in a single shot...” Her eyes were as round as dinner plates. Apparently that two-headed T. rex was called a Dihedwa. 
Even as she looked down at the Dihedwa’s corpse in shock, Yue relentlessly continued to try and kick her off. However, her firm grip on Hajime wouldn’t budge. Tired of having her ears whack his eyes every few seconds, Hajime brought his elbow down on the back of her head. 
“Hawugh!?” She screamed incoherently and started writhing on the ground while moaning, “My head. My heaaaad.” Hajime gave her one last cold look before nonchalantly pouring mana into Steiff. 
She must have sensed the flow of mana because the bunny girl instantly hopped back up and ran to Hajime before he could leave. 
“You’re not getting away from me!” For a bunny girl, she was surprisingly hardy. 
“Thank you very much for saving me earlier! My name is Shea. I’m a member of the rabbitmen tribe, Haulia! I know this is presumptuous of me, but could you please save my family as well!? Please, I’m begging you!” And quite pushy as well. 
Hajime gave the desperate bunny girl a sidelong glance, then sighed heavily. Of course the first thing he’d run into after escaping hell would be this nuisance. 
Seeing his exasperated expression, the bunny girl, Shea, fretfully repeated her plea even louder. 
“Please, you have to! I’m begging you, you have to save my family!” By the end she was practically shouting. It seemed her family was in dire straits as well. Hajime finally realized why she was so persistent. Her plea was so heartfelt that even Yue stopped trying to kick her off for a moment. 
When he saw just how desperate she was, Hajime reluctantly shrugged his shoulders. Thinking he’d finally agreed, Shea breathed a sigh of relief. In reality... Hajime simply activated his Lightning Field. 
“Ababababababababaa!?” He had controlled the voltage so it wouldn’t kill her, but it would at least leave her paralyzed for a while. The shock made her rabbit ears and fur all stand on end, like a cartoon character. After he released the spell, Shea fell to the ground, twitching all the while. 
“You never know. Give it your all, and maybe you’ll be able to save them yourself. Good luck, I guess. Alright, Yue, let’s go.” 
“Okay...” He left behind some generic words of encouragement, if they could even be called that, and began pouring mana into Steiff once more. However... 
“I-I’ll never let you get away!” Like a zombie, Shea dragged herself to Hajime’s foot and clung to it for dear life. Surprised, Hajime accidentally stopped sending mana to Steiff. 
“What are you, some kind of zombie? I made that shock pretty strong... so how are you still able to move? You’re seriously starting to creep me out.” 
“...Yeah. She’s creepy.” 
“Hic... why do you two have to be so mean... First you elbow me, then you kick me, and now you shocked me! Don’t you think you’re being a little cruel!? I’m against violence! If you want my forgiveness, then please save my family!” Even in her anger she didn’t forget to throw in her request once more. It actually was a little scary how she seemed completely unharmed. The word “hardy” no longer did her abnormally sturdy body justice. That wasn’t the only thing weird about her, either: she also kept muttering odd things like “If I mess up here, the future’ll change,” to herself. 
Hajime had considered just starting Steiff up and shaking her off, but her absurdly strong body and those prophetic mutterings of hers had finally sparked his curiosity a little. Besides, he had a sinking feeling that even if he tried to shake her off, she’d somehow cling on anyway... and even he wasn’t so heartless that he’d drag her around until she was a horrific bloody mess. 
So he finally, reluctantly, decided to hear her out. 
“Fine, fine, what is it? I’ll at least hear you out, so let me go. And quit wiping your face with my coat.” Shea broke out into a beaming smile the moment those words left his mouth, and she started surreptitiously wiping her face with his coat. She really had no restraint. Hajime elbowed again to get her to stop, eliciting another strange squeal from her. 
“Hagyuun! Y-You hit me again... Even my father never hit me. I can’t believe you’d keep hitting such a beautiful girl over and over... Don’t tell me you prefer men? Is that why my feminine wiles didn’t work on you earlier? That has—” Hajime brought his boot down on Shea’s head before she could slander him any further. A vein stood out on his forehead. 
“Who the hell are you calling gay, you damn rabbit! And how do you all know these words!? You and Yue both, who taught you these things? Anyway, I can’t tell if your feminine wiles were supposed to be an actual attempt at seduction or a joke, but the only reason they don’t work is because I’ve already got a girl far prettier than you by my side. I honestly don’t get what gave you the idea you could beat her in the first place.” Hajime turned back to look at Yue as he said all that to the bunny girl. She was blushing bright red, her hands cupping her cheeks as she squirmed shyly. 
Her golden-blonde hair sparkled dazzlingly in the sunlight, and her slightly flushed porcelain skin was flawless enough to charm any man that saw it. 
She was no longer emaciated and weak from her long imprisonment either, as she had been when he first met her. On top of that, her clothes were far more fitting as well. She had on a frilly white dress shirt and a black mini-skirt, also with frills. Covering it all was a white coat with blue lining. Adorning her feet was a short pair of boots and knee-high socks. Each article of clothing was one Yue had sewn using the old clothes they’d found in Oscar’s room combined with materials harvested from monsters. They were enchanted to grant her heightened stamina, and functioned very well as defensive gear. 
By the way, Hajime was decked out in a black coat with crimson lining, and the rest of his outfit was also a combination of red and black. His left sleeve was joined to the shoulder by a kind of special adhesive he’d crafted from monster parts, and could be easily detached. He usually stowed it away in the Treasure Trove during fights to leave his prosthetic arm completely unencumbered. That sleeve was Yue’s masterpiece. 
Shea faltered slightly after looking up at Yue. 
They were both admittedly extremely beautiful women, but which one was more beautiful was a subjective decision that came down more to one’s preferences more than anything. Objectively speaking, they were both about equal. 
Shea had long blue-white hair, and azure eyes that sparkled like sapphires. Her eyebrows and eyelashes were both blue-white as well. They complemented her pale skin quite nicely, and as long as she stayed quiet most people would find her quite alluring. Her limbs were slender, and her glossy rabbit ears and round tail only added to her charm. Any fan of bunny girls would break down in tears of joy at the mere sight of her. 
Most conspicuous was... the one thing Yue lacked. Namely, boobs. Shea’s in particular were huge. The torn-off scraps of cloth barely covering them did more to emphasize their presence than hide them. Without anything to hold them in place, they jiggled suggestively every time she moved. Veeery suggestively. Just to remind everyone they were there. 
Basically, she had every right to call herself beautiful. Hajime was the weird one for being so put off by her. The old Hajime would have done a Lupin Dive straight into those soft valleys of hers, while screaming “Rabbit ears!” However... Well, anyway, his current indifference had definitely hurt Shea’s pride a little. And thus, she said the one thing that was absolutely taboo... 
“Y-Yeah well... I beat her in boobs at least! That girl’s as flat as a board!” 
—Flat as a board. 
—Flat as a board. 
—Flat as a board. 
Her accusatory shout echoed over and over throughout the gorge. Yue suddenly went silent, her earlier blush vanishing in an instant. Her bangs hid her expression as she slowly dismounted Steiff. 
Hajime simply looked up at the sky and brought his hands together, offering a small prayer for the poor bunny. May your rabbit ears rest in peace... In all fairness, Yue wasn’t quite that flat, but her boobs certainly were on the small side. They weren’t like the sheer cliffs that currently surrounded the party. 
Shea cowered before Yue like a mouse in front of a cat. Yue’s next words were barely whispers, but everyone heard them surprisingly clearly. 
“Any last words?” 
“If I apologize, will you forgive me?” 
“......” 
“I’m sorry, I don’t want to die! I really don’t want to die!” 
“Storm Gust.” 
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!” 
Shea was swept up in a whirlwind and flung high up into the sky. Precisely ten seconds after her screams faded away, she fell to the ground with a wet plop. 
Her head was buried in the ground, and her limbs flailed wildly as she struggled to free herself. She resembled a certain cartoon character, looking like that. It really was a shame that a beauty like her carried herself so pathetically. Her tattered clothes had been ripped up even further, and they could barely be called clothes at that point. Upside down as she was, her private bits were exposed for all to see. Even a hundred-year-long love would fade if someone saw their loved one in such a state. 
Yue wiped an imaginary bead of sweat off her brow, as if to congratulate herself on a job well done, before trotting back to Steiff and remounting it. 
“...Do you like big boobs?”   

Now that was a loaded question if Hajime ever heard one. He was about to answer yes, but thought better of it when he saw the bunny girl still doing her best impression of a dog with its head stuck in the ground. He didn’t want to end up like that. 
“...Yue, the size isn’t what’s important. It’s about whose boobs they are.” 
“......” 
He decided to dodge the question entirely, so he gave an answer that was neither yes nor no. What a coward. Yue closed her eyes and pondered that for a minute, before apparently accepting his answer and situating herself in the back seat. 
Hajime could feel cold sweat running down his back. He cast about for a topic to break the awkward silence, but nothing came to mind. Even MasterCard couldn’t buy what he needed here. 
As he was looking around, trying to find something to talk about, he noticed Shea had finally got her hands on the ground and was now earnestly trying to get her head unstuck. Fortunately, that made for a great topic. 
“She’s still going... That girl has to be some kind of zombie. No matter how strong your body is, no normal person would be fine taking that attack...” 
“......Yeah.” 
Though it did take her longer than usual to reply, she still at least gave him one. Hajime breathed a sigh of relief as Shea popped out of the ground, her face and hair matted with dirt. 
“Ugh, that was terrible. This scene wasn’t in my predictions, either...” Shea tearfully patted down her tattered clothes before crawling back to where Hajime and Yue were waiting. She still looked unhurt. 
“What the hell is wrong with you? Being unhurt after all that isn’t normal... Just what are you?” Seeing that they were finally ready to listen, Shea settled herself down comfortably under Hajime’s puzzled gaze. Her expression grew serious once she’d sat herself in front of Steiff. Though it was a bit too late for anyone to take her seriously... 
“Allow me to reintroduce myself. I’m Shea Haulia, the daughter of the Haulia tribe chieftain. The truth is...” 
In essence, this was what Shea’s story boiled down to. Shea’s tribe, the Haulia, were a member of the rabbitmen subspecies of beastmen. There were a few hundred of them, and they lived in a village hidden deep within the Haltina Woods. 
Though they possessed excellent hearing and were skilled at hiding themselves, their stats were a lot lower than most other beastmen. Plus, they had no other special traits to speak of. Because of that, they were considered weak by many others of their kind. In general they were a kind, peace-loving race that treated the whole of their village like family and cared deeply for each other. Most of them were also very good looking, but unlike elves which were renowned for their beauty, the rabbitmen were more known for their cuteness. Many collectors in the Hoelscher Empire coveted them for that very trait, so they were a popular target for slave traders. 
Among those rabbitmen, one of the tribes, the Haulia, had given birth to a strange girl. Rabbitmen generally had dark blue hair, but this girl was born with very light blue hair. Furthermore, she was an anomaly among beastmen, as she had mana running through her body. What was even more shocking was that she could directly manipulate that mana, and even use a certain special magic like most monsters. 
This, of course, caused a huge uproar within the village. This was unheard of in the entire history of rabbitmen—no, in beastmen history as a whole. Under normal circumstances, anyone with the same power as monsters would have been persecuted and ostracized. But this girl had been born to the one race that valued family above all else. The one race that treated an entire village of hundreds as one big family. Which was why the thought of abandoning her never even crossed any of the Haulia’s minds. 
However, the forest was home to its own country, Verbergen, which was located deep within the sea of trees. If any of their ruling class learned of the girl’s existence, she would surely be executed. Such harshness was indicative of just how badly the beastmen hated monsters. 
And so, the Haulia decided to raise the girl in secret. Sixteen years passed. However, a few days ago, someone from the outside learned of the girl’s existence. In order to escape Verbergen’s retribution, the entire village decided to flee the forest. 
With no set destination in mind, they decided first to head for the mountains in the north. Their reasoning being that they would be able to live off the land there. The mountains were harsh, but it was still better than being sold off as slaves in the Hoelscher Empire or executed by Verbergen. 
However, the very empire they were afraid of destroyed all of their plans. By an extreme stroke of misfortune, they ran into imperial soldiers right outside the forest. There was no way to know if they were on patrol, or just on a routine training exercise, but in the face of a battalion-sized army they had no choice but to flee to the south. 
The men stayed behind to give the women and children more time to escape, but the gentle rabbitmen couldn’t hold a candle to the battle-hardened soldiers of the Hoelscher Empire, and in no time at all over half of them had been captured. 
As a last ditch measure, the group ran toward Reisen Gorge in order to avoid complete annihilation. They hoped that the inability to use magic around it would give the soldiers pause, and their caution would overrule their desire to capture more slaves. It was a complete gamble. There was no telling if the soldiers would tire before the remaining rabbitmen were eaten by stray monsters. 
However, contrary to all expectations, the imperial troops continued to give chase. At the eastern and western ends of the gorge were stairs cut directly into the cliffs, allowing one to descend safely. Most of the troops went back, but they left a battalion to guard the stairs. Once the rabbitmen came under attack by monsters, they would have no choice but to run right back into the waiting soldiers’ arms. 
As expected, monsters eventually came to attack the rabbitmen. Deciding they would rather surrender to the Hoelscher Empire than be eaten, the Haulia were ready to run back even if it meant slavery. However, the monsters would not allow them such a luxury, and instead chased them deeper into the ravine. And so, the rabbitmen were trapped within the gorge, forced to constantly run around to survive. 
“...Before we knew it, our group of sixty had been whittled down to forty. At this rate we’ll all be killed. Please, please you have to save us! I’m begging you!” The grief on Shea’s face was nothing like the comedic expressions she’d had before when she was crying. 
Once she finished her story, Hajime nodded. 
“I see.” That simple, short statement was all he said in response. It seemed just like Yue and Hajime, Shea was another one of the misfits of this world. The reason she was so resilient was because she was most likely unconsciously strengthening her body with mana manipulation. Maybe it was a form of atavism like Yue’s ability. 
Satisfied that the mystery had now been cleared up, Hajime looked squarely at Shea and, after careful deliberation, gave his reply. 
“No.” Time itself came to a halt. Or at least, that was what it felt like. 
Shea’s mouth opened and closed wordlessly, her mind unable to comprehend what had just come out of Hajime’s mouth. It was only when Hajime started getting ready to power up Steiff again that she finally came back to her senses and started protesting. 
“W-W-Wait a second! Why!? Isn’t the normal reaction to smile reassuringly and say ‘Oh, you poor thing, don’t worry. I’ll save your tribe!’ or something!? Even I’m starting to get fed up with this! What kind of heartless monster abandons a beautiful girl alone in this dangerous gorge!? Hey, quit ignoring me. I won’t let you get away no matter how hard you try!” Hajime ignored Shea’s complaints and tried to start Steiff again, but was stopped when the bunny girl threw herself at him once more. The solemn rabbit that had been sitting there moments ago vanished, and the worthless one returned to take its place. 
No matter how hard he tried, Hajime couldn’t shake her off his leg, so he finally sighed exasperatedly and glared at the rabbit. 
“So what do I get out of saving your family?” 
“Y-Y-You want a reward?” 
“You’ve been exiled from your old kingdom, are on the run from the Hoelscher Empire, and are considered dangerous elements by every other member of your species. So far, it sounds like all I get for saving you is a heap of trouble. Besides, even if I do get you out of this gorge, where are you going to go? From the sounds of it, you’re all doomed to get captured anyway. So are you going to ask for my help with that too? Protect you from the Hoelscher Empire until you make it all the way to the mountains?” 
“Umm, I-I... B-But!” 
“We have our own goals too, you know? Carrying someone as troublesome as you around would make our job harder.” 
“But... But I saw you protecting us!” 
“...You mentioned something like that before too. What do you mean, you saw? Does it have something to do with your special magic?” 
“This isn’t the future I saw!” Shea wailed tearfully at how stubborn Hajime was being. Hajime guessed that her strange utterances had something to do with why she was acting independently from her tribe. 
He wasn’t exactly dying to know what it was, but since he’d heard her out thus far, he figured he might as well ask. Shea was dumbfounded by Hajime’s question for a moment, before realizing this might be her last chance to convince him. Gesturing wildly, she began explaining. 
“Huh? Oh, uh, yes! My special magic is called Future Sight, and it lets me see into possible futures. As in, if I choose x, y will happen kind of... It also just activates by itself when I’m in danger. Though, the futures I see aren’t absolute... Still, I promise I’ll come in handy! You’ll see danger coming thanks to my Future Sight... I used it back there too! It showed me a vision of you guys saving me! I’m so glad the future I saw of meeting you two actually came true!” 
As she had explained, Shea’s Future Sight was a special magic ability that let her see what future outcomes would result of certain choices. However, it consumed a great deal of mana, enough to usually leave her exhausted after use. It also activated automatically whenever Shea was in danger. Whether or not this danger was a direct threat to her, or something that would indirectly harm her didn’t matter. This took up a great deal of mana too, but not nearly as much as activating it voluntarily did. Specifically, it only took up a third as much. 
From the sound of it, Shea had seen a future where Hajime was protecting her and her family. Which was why she set out to find him. 
“If you’ve got an ability like that, how did those Verbergen guys find you? Shouldn’t you have been able to avoid them because you can see the future?” The smile Shea gave Hajime was one he couldn’t read. He couldn’t tell if it was self-deprecating, sad, or simply her trying to act tough. It might have even been all three. Even her voice was inscrutable. 
“...The future is something we always have the power to change. At least, that’s what I believe. But there are some things you can’t change no matter how hard you try... I realize that again every time I fail to change something. I couldn’t change the one future I really wanted to. Maybe if I’d just tried a little harder, I could have...” 
“You...” Hajime couldn’t fathom what it must feel like to know the future. If it was a future one desired, of course they’d happily be counting down the days until it came. But what if the future one saw was full of tragedy? Could they really just sit there and accept it as inevitable? He couldn’t tell earlier because of her energetically annoying personality, but maybe Shea had been lashing out against it all this time. And up until now, there must have been countless other visions she couldn’t prevent either. That was the burden this bunny girl had to bear. 
Even right now, her precious family was being captured and killed before her eyes because she couldn’t do anything about the future she saw. That explained why she tried so hard to enlist their help, no matter how much they abused her. She was trying to achieve that “little harder” she couldn’t before. 
Shea Haulia was literally betting the fate of her entire tribe on being able to enlist Hajime’s help. For the first time, Hajime’s expression clouded over. He certainly could understand the feelings of someone crawling desperately forward for the sake of their desired future, trying to survive the only way they knew how. However, when he thought of his own goals, he began to feel a little conflicted. That was how much Hajime had changed. 
Finally, he decided that no matter how hard she begged, he’d just forcibly leave her behind... But before he could start Steiff, Shea found herself an unexpected ally. 
“...Hajime, let’s help her.” 
“Yue?” 
“Oh! I knew you were a good person when I first saw you! I’m sorry for calling you flat earlier!” 
Shea’s eyes sparkled excitedly, while Hajime’s were filled with feelings of bewilderment, as they both looked at Yue. But before anything else could happen, Shea’s unnecessary comments earned her a slap from Yue. The serious atmosphere from earlier had all but vanished. It was only natural, though. Despairing one second and jumping for joy the next was just how Shea was. 
Yue turned away from Shea, who was rubbing her stinging cheek, and explained her reasons to Hajime. 
“...She can guide us through the sea of trees.” 
“Aaah, you’ve got a point there.” There was a dense fog that permeated Haltina Woods, and only the beastmen could navigate their way properly through it. Having a bunny girl guide would certainly be a great help. They did have a makeshift plan for navigating the forest themselves, but it was pretty rough and there was no guarantee it’d work. Worst case, they could have captured a beastman and asked them to be their guide, but having someone who would willingly guide them would be easier on their conscience. 
Considering how troublesome Shea’s request was, though, Hajime still hesitated to say yes. But Yue’s next words blew away all of his hesitation. 
“...Don’t worry. Together we’re stronger than anyone.” Those were the same words he’d said back in Orcus’ room. They’d hold nothing back against anything that stood against them, even if it was the whole world. As long as they had each other’s backs, they’d be stronger than anyone. Hajime smiled wryly; he never thought he’d have his own words thrown back at him in such a manner. 
Having the rabbitmen’s help would definitely make navigating the woods a lot easier. Of course, that came with the caveat that they would become embroiled in the Hoelscher Empire and rabbitmen’s little war. Hajime had no intention of purposely sticking his nose into trouble, but avoiding the simplest option because it came with some obstacles went against his personal creed. Enemies that stood in his way were to be killed. 
“You’re right. You’re absolutely right, Yue. We’ll use everything we can. And kill everyone that gets in our way. That’s all there is to it.” 
“Yeah.” Yue replied with her trademark as Hajime gently patted her head. 
“Did they forget I’m still here?” Shea muttered to herself as she watched the two of them flirt. Finally, Hajime turned around to look at Shea. 
“Rejoice, you stupid rabbit. We’re hiring you as our forest guide. In return, we’ll guarantee your family’s safety. You better not have any complaints.” He was agreeing to her request, but the way he phrased it made him sound completely like a mafia boss. Though, perhaps it was fitting as Shea had just gotten the cooperation of the kind of demon that took down hordes of monsters without batting an eye. For her part, she was overjoyed that she’d safely managed to bring about her desired future. 
“O-Of course not! Thank you so much! Hic, really, dank you shoo mush!!” This time she was crying tears of happiness. But for the sake of her comrades, she couldn’t afford to celebrate for too long. She quickly regained her composure and stood up. 
“U-Umm, really, thank you so much for agreeing to help! M-May I ask what your names...” 
“Huh? Oh, I guess we didn’t introduce ourselves yet, did we...? I’m Hajime. Hajime Nagumo.” 
“...Yue.” 
“So Hajime-san and Yue-chan, then.” 
Shea repeated them to herself a few times to make sure she didn’t forget. However, Yue didn’t seem satisfied with the way she was being addressed. 
“...Call me Yue-san, you stupid rabbit.” 
“Fweh?” It was rare for Yue to order anyone around, and Shea clearly hadn’t been expecting it either. It appeared Shea had thought Yue was younger than her, which was why she’d called her Yue-chan. But once Yue explained that she was an ancient vampire princess, Shea got on her knees and started begging for forgiveness. It appeared that Shea had managed to get on Yue’s bad side. Though Hajime couldn’t exactly tell why Yue held such resentment against Shea... Just because she was always staring hatefully at a certain part of Shea’s body didn’t mean that had to be the reason! 
“Hey, get on already, you stupid rabbit.” In the end, Hajime decided to ignore Yue’s complex entirely. Shea looked at Hajime blankly. That was hardly surprising. Motorcycles didn’t exist in this world. All Shea could tell was that this was some kind of vehicle. Timidly, she edged herself onto the bike behind Yue. 
The back seat was made of monster leather, and because of how small Yue was there was more than enough space for Shea too. Shea wrapped her arms around Yue, surprised by how soft the seat beneath her was. As she did so, her two deadly weapons pressed against Yue’s back. 
Yue jumped a little as Shea’s soft mounds made contact with her back, and she suddenly stood up and crawled over Hajime so she was sitting in the front. She was small enough that Hajime had no problem reaching over her to drive. It looked like having Shea’s boobs press up against her made Yue uncomfortable. She sullenly leaned back against Hajime, and all he could do in response was smile awkwardly. 
“Huh? What’s going on?” Shea asked, clearly confused. But then she cheerfully sidled forward and hugged Hajime’s waist instead. Unlike Yue, Hajime didn’t even notice and nonchalantly started up Steiff. He definitely didn’t even notice Shea’s boobs pressing up against him. That was an undeniable fact. 
Unaware of the turmoil in their hearts, Shea inquisitively peeked her head out from behind Hajime’s shoulder and asked a question. 
“U-Umm... I was so caught up in getting you to help that I forgot to ask, but... what is this thing? Is it some kind of carriage? Also, Hajime-san and Yue-san, both of you used magic back there, right? I thought you couldn’t use magic inside the gorge...” 
“I’ll fill you in on the way.” 
That was all Hajime said before gunning Steiff’s accelerator, sending them speeding through the gorge. Shea let out a terrified scream as she watched the bike effortlessly tear its way through the rough terrain. The canyon walls sped by as they raced through the ravine. 
Shea had her eyes firmly shut for the first segment of the ride, but her fear slowly began to give way to excitement as she got used to Steiff’s speed. Every time Hajime rounded a curve or dodged a boulder she’d let out an excited squeal, since she’d finally plucked up the courage to open her eyes and all. 
On the way, Hajime briefly explained what Steiff was, how Yue could use magic inside the gorge, and that his weapons were something akin to artifacts. By the time he’d finished his explanation, Shea’s jaw was hanging wide open in surprise. 
“W-Wait... does that mean you two can also directly control mana and use specialized magic?” 
“Yep, we can.” 
“...Yeah.” 
Shea stared at them in astonishment for a few seconds before suddenly burying her face into Hajime’s shoulder, and then subsequently bursting into tears. 
“...Now what? First you get all excited, then you get depressed, and now you’re crying... You’re just one big bundle of emotions, aren’t you?” Hajime said. 
“...Is it too late to save her?” Yue added. 
“What do you mean too late to save me? Save me from what? I’ll have you know that I’m a perfectly normal girl... I was just so glad to find out... to find out that I’m not alone...” 
“......” 
She must have felt terribly alone thinking she was the only person in the world with the same power as a monster. 
Obviously, her family must have showered her with a lot of love if they were willing to hide her for sixteen years and then even abandoning their home for her sake. However, despite all that, or perhaps precisely because of it, Shea must have always been tormented by the fact that she was different from everyone else, which led to her loneliness. 
Shea’s words must have resonated with Yue, as she suddenly lapsed deep into thought. And while it was slight, her expressionless face grew even paler than usual. Somehow, Hajime could just tell what she was thinking about. Chances were Yue saw a lot of herself in Shea. They both had the ability to use specialized magic and control mana directly, and neither of them had anyone they could have truly called a “comrade” in their own time. 
However, there was one definitive difference in their circumstances. Yue hadn’t even had a family that loved her. She wasn’t exactly jealous of Shea per se, but there still were a lot of complicated feelings swirling about inside her. And besides, Shea had been able to find her comrades far sooner than Yue ever did. From Yue’s perspective, Shea must have been quite blessed. 
Hajime gently patted the top of Yue’s head. For Hajime, who had been born in the peaceful country of Japan and raised with love by both of his parents, it was impossible to truly understand the despair Yue must have felt at not only being the only one of her kind, but also being forced to bear the solitary title of queen. Which was why he didn’t know what to say to her. All he could do for her was remind her that she wasn’t alone anymore. 
He may have been transformed in that labyrinth, but he still had enough of his old self left to remember to be kind to those close to him. And the one who had preserved that humanity of his was none other than Yue. Had he not met Yue when he had, there would certainly have been nothing human about him left. Hence, Yue was currently Hajime’s only remaining pillar of support. As proof, the only reason Hajime planned on keeping his promise with Shea was because of her. He was even ready to fight back against the empire if they started targeting the Haulia clan. 
While Hajime’s attempts at comforting Yue were pretty clumsy, his heartfelt feelings got across to her, and she relaxed the tension she hadn’t realized she’d been holding in and leaned back into Hajime’s lap. She was just like a cat looking to be stroked by her owner. 
“Umm, did you forget about me again? Shouldn’t you be saying something like ‘You must have had it tough, being all alone this whole time. But it’s okay now, because I’m by your side,’ or something? I’m clearly depressed right now, so shouldn’t you be cheering me up? This is like the easiest opportunity to get on a girl’s good side. But no, you just go and ignore this perfect chance and start flirting with someone else. You guys are starting to make me feel lonely! Let me in too! Besides, you two...” 
“Shut up, you worthless rabbit!” 
“...Okay... Hic...” 
Shea suddenly started yelling in Hajime’s ear in a tearful voice, but she was quickly silenced by Yue and Hajime. Though, to be fair, it was pretty cruel of the two of them to keep flirting when there was a crying girl sitting right behind them. Worse, they got mad at her when she was well within her rights to get mad at them. However, Shea’s one redeeming feature was her hardiness. She had already mentally switched over to a new goal. That was how fast she rebounded from failure. Alright, first I’m gonna get them to call me by name. I finally found the comrades I’ve been looking for, so there’s no way I’m letting them get away that easy! 
They continued like that for a while, alternating between Shea growing noisy and Yue and Hajime yelling at her to pipe down, until finally they heard the roars of monsters in the distance. Quite a few of them, too. 
“Ah! Hajime-san, we’re almost to where everyone else is waiting! Those monsters’ howls must mean that... th-they’re close! Father and the others are very close!” 
“Quit yelling in my ears! I can hear you just fine. I’m gonna speed up now, so hold on tight.” 
Hajime poured more of his mana into Steiff, accelerating it even further. The canyon walls merged into a gray blur as they sped by at an incredible pace. 
There was so much mana going into Steiff that the entire bike was glowing crimson. It took only thirty seconds to get to the source of the howling. Hajime rounded one final curve, drifted around a boulder, and saw a number of rabbitmen under attack by a group of monsters. 
Screams of terror echoed throughout Reisen Gorge. The rabbit ears were all scurrying to hide behind boulders or squeeze into crevices. A number of rabbit ears could be seen sprouting behind various boulders. From what Hajime could tell, there were around 20 pairs. All told, it seemed like there were around 40 people running around. 
Terrorizing them from above was a group of flying monsters, a breed that had been rare even in the depths of the abyss. They resembled the wyverns common in fantasy games. Their bodies were around three to five meters long, and sharp claws studded their legs like the spikes on a morning star. Their tails too, were spiked. 
“H-Hyverias...” Shea said in a trembling voice. It seemed those wyvern-like raptors were called Hyverias. There were six of them in total. Currently, they were circling high above the rabbitmen, as if appraising their prey. 
Finally, one of them decided to make a move. It dove toward one of the boulders some rabbitmen were hiding behind, did a flip in midair, and sent its tail crashing down onto the boulder with all the force of gravity behind it. With a thunderous impact, the boulder was shattered to pieces, and screams echoed from the exposed individuals as they scurried away as fast as possible. 
Tired of waiting, the Hyveria opened its jaw wide, attempting to eat the slowest of the rabbits. Specifically, two of them. One of the youngest children’s legs had given out on them and one of the men had stayed behind to try and protect him. 
Despair flickered in everyone’s eyes. Everyone thought that the both of them were doomed to be Hyveria fodder in another few seconds. However, someone had arrived who wouldn’t allow that. 
The monster of the abyss had given his word that he would protect them, so protect them he would. Bang! Bang! Two gunshots reverberated throughout the gorge. At the same time, two crimson streaks shot through the sky. The first passed cleanly between the brows of the Hyveria that was trying to eat the pair of rabbitmen. Its head exploded into a thousand flesh chunks, and its body veered to the side of the cowering group as it fell to the ground, raising a dust cloud in its wake as it slid across the canyon. 
There was a terrifying howl behind them at the same time. Without even the time to process what had just happened, the rabbitmen all turned to the source of this new noise to see that another one of the Hyveria’s had gotten a claw blown clean off. It had somehow managed to sneak right behind the cowering pair of rabbitmen. 
It had probably hoped to launch a sneak attack on the pair while their attention was focused on the Hyveria coming at them from the front. The second bullet was what had blown its arm off. With its balance destroyed, the second Hyveria crumbled to the ground, writhing in pain. 
“Wh-What...” The adult rabbitman’s gaze flitted from the dead Hyveria in front to the one screaming in pain behind him, his jaw open wide in absolute amazement. 
A few more gunshots followed right after, and the Hyveria that was writhing on the ground was turned into a pincushion. It gave one last pitiful high pitched scream before it died, its torso more or less blown to bits by that point. There was another resounding thud as it collapsed. 
Enraged at the deaths of their comrades, the remaining Hyverias all attacked at once. The rabbitmen, frozen stiff with fear, suddenly heard a noise completely alien to them. 
Their sensitive rabbit ears picked up on a strange high-pitched keening, like the sound of something letting off steam. As they all turned as one to see what was the source of the sound, they saw a strange black vehicle of some sort rushing toward them at high speed. There seemed to be three people riding atop it. 
One of which was a girl they all recognized. She had disappeared earlier this morning, and the entire clan had been out looking for her. Worried about her family as she had been, there was none of the usual cheer in her expression that morning. She must have felt responsible for her clan’s plight, as her expression had been filled with guilt. Everyone had assumed the reason she’d vanished was because she was worried about them and had headed out to try something rash. Because of that, they had foregone caution in their haste to find her, and had been caught by the Hyverias. They had expected to be wiped out there without ever finding her, but... There she was, standing at the back of the weird black vehicle, waving happily. Her usual innocent smile was plastered on her face again. Everyone stared at her in disbelief. 
“Everyone... I’ve found help!” Her familiar voice brought them all back to reality, and the fact that they really were saved finally hit them. And as it did, they all yelled out her name. 
“Shea!?” Hajime clicked his tongue irritably as he watched Shea happily wave to her family. He, of course, didn’t let Steiff’s speed drop at the distraction. 
It wasn’t her happiness that bothered him, but the fact that she was leaning all her weight against him in order not to fall off, which of course meant that every time she happily jumped up and down, her dreadnought-class boobs whacked into the top of Hajime’s head. In fact, the reason he had missed his second shot earlier was because her boobs had distracted him. 
Annoyed by her continued jumping, Hajime grabbed Shea by what remained of her clothes. She looked down at him questioningly. Because he was still facing forward, she couldn’t tell what kind of expression he had, but for some reason she had a bad feeling about this. She questioned him in a timid tone. 
“U-Umm, Hajime-san? What’s wrong? Why are you grabbing my clothes like that?” 
“If you’re just going to get in my way, I’d rather put your energy to good use in helping me out.” 
“Wh-What do you mean... P-Put it to good use how?” 
“Oh, nothing much, just throw you to the pack of starving monsters.” 
“W-Wait, what...? Ah, please don’t lift me up like that. Please stop looking like you’re about to throw meeee.” Shea struggled helplessly against Hajime’s iron grip, but his strength stat was over nine thousand! She never had a chance. 
Hajime drifted Steiff with just one hand, then used the centrifugal force of his turn to lob Shea at the group of Hyverias flying overhead. 
“Have at them, you worthless rabbit!” 
“Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!” 
Shea flew through the sky with a surprising amount of speed. Her screams could be heard throughout the gorge. Her family all yelled out in alarm, their eyes open wide. In fact, this turn of events was so surprising that even the Hyverias were taken aback. Even when she was right in front of them, they did nothing more than stare at her, their bodies stiff with surprise. 
That moment of hesitation was what Hajime had been waiting for. The still Hyverias made for great target practice. Four gunshots rang out, and four Hyveria heads were blown into oblivion. 
It was all so sudden that they didn’t even have time to cry out in pain before they were dead. And so, four headless corpses fell to the ground. Hyverias were considered even more dangerous than the Dihedwa Shea had encountered earlier, but Hajime dropped the entire flock like it was nothing. Having seen such an overwhelming display of power, the rabbitmen were at a complete loss for words. 
But the screams of a familiar girl brought them back to their senses. 
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Save me pleaseeee! Hajime-saaaaaaan!” They all quickly started running to where Shea was landing, but Hajime easily outstripped them all with Steiff, and drifted to a halt underneath her landing point before suavely plucking her out of the air. He then unceremoniously dropped her onto the ground. 
“Owie! Ugh, you don’t have to be so rough with me, you know? I demand better treatment. I want you to treat me nice like you do with Yue-san.” Teary-eyed, Shea began protesting her rough treatment. It wasn’t like Shea had any particular romantic feelings for Hajime. She had just met him a few hours ago, after all. 
However, the fact that he was the “hope” she had seen in the depths of despair led her to have a great deal of unwarranted trust in him. Regardless of how brusquely he treated her, she seemed certain he wouldn’t break his promise. Besides, Hajime was the same kind of anomaly that Shea was. That alone was enough to make her feel a sort of kinship with him. 
Furthermore, he treated Yue, who was also an anomaly like her, very tenderly. Despite the short time they’d known each other, that much was obvious to Shea. Frankly speaking, Shea was jealous of their intimacy. So it wasn’t love, but just a desire to be pampered. 
Her short stint as a flying bunny girl had left her clothes even more tattered than they already were. She really did look pitiful, sobbing on the ground dressed in nothing but rags. Maybe I did go a little too far... Hajime thought. Reluctantly, he reached into his Treasure Trove and pulled out a spare coat that he then dumped on Shea’s head. He was tired of her bursting into tears at every little thing. 
However, Shea was surprisingly pleased by the gift. She stared at him blankly for a moment before realizing that he’d given her a coat, and beamed happily as she wrapped it around herself. It was a white coat, and looked identical to the one Yue was wearing. Yue had sewed the extra in hopes of getting Hajime to match outfits with her. 
“O-Oh my! Hajime-san, you should be more honest with yourself! Giving me a coat that matches with Yue... Are you trying to make a move on me? Well, unfortunately, I’m not that easy. There’s an order to these things, you know?” Shea fidgeted shyly as she played with the hem of her coat. Feeling his annoyance rise up again, Hajime silently pulled out Donner and fired it at Shea’s forehead. 
“Hakyun!” The bullet he had fired was coated with a rubbery leather farmed from monsters and was packed with far less blastrock. It was meant for non-lethal shots. However, it still hurt, and Shea arched back from the impact of the blow before she collapsed to the ground and rolled around in pain, screaming “My head... My heaaaad!” 
Of course, being as sturdy as she was, Shea quickly recovered and started hotly protesting her treatment once more. Hajime shut her up in the usual fashion, and the rabbitmen all started crowding around Shea before the cycle could continue further. 
“Shea! You were safe!” 
“Father!” 
The first one to reach Shea was a rabbit-eared man in his mid-forties, with cropped navy blue hair. Though as far as Hajime was concerned, there was no value in putting bunny ears on an old dude. He watched as Shea spoke with her father, taking in how strange this looked from an earthling’s perspective. Once they were done reaffirming each other’s safety, they both turned to face Hajime. 
“You would be Hajime-dono, correct? My name is Cam Haulia. I’m Shea’s father, and the chieftain of the Haulia tribe. You have my deepest gratitude for saving both my daughter and the rest of my tribe. And I’ve heard that you’re even going to assist us in our escape... As both a father and a chieftain, I simply cannot thank you enough.” The rabbitman named Cam bowed his head deeply as he finished. Behind him, the rest of his tribe followed suit. 
“Well, thanks are all well and good, but don’t forget, you’re going to be guiding us through the sea of trees after this. Also, I’m surprised you all trust me so easily. I thought humans and beastmen didn’t get along too well...” He had almost forgotten because of how eclectic Shea was, but the beastmen were supposedly being persecuted by the other races. In fact, the reason they were stuck in this gorge in the first place was because of humans. Yet despite that, they were all bowing their head to Hajime, another human, and truly seemed to believe he would save them. While it may have been true that he was their only hope at this point, he still found it suspicious that they seemed to harbor no resentment toward him at all, and that they were so easily willing to accept him. 
Cam smiled awkwardly as he replied. 
“You’re someone Shea trusts. That’s why we’re also putting our faith in you. We’re all one big family, so...” Hajime was half amazed, half completely dumbfounded. No matter how kind a people they might be, trusting a complete stranger simply on the word of one of their own showed an utter lack of wariness. 
“Ehehe, don’t worry, Father. Hajime-san might be cruel towards women, demand compensation for everything he does, and mercilessly use people as bait, but he’d never break a promise or trample on the hopes of someone else! I’m sure he’ll protect us!” 
“Hahaha, I see, I see. So what you’re saying is he’s just shy. In that case, we’re in good hands.” 
At Cam’s words, the surrounding rabbitmen all started murmuring at once. Sentences such as “I see, he’s just shy,” and the like. They all nodded to themselves while gazing kindly down at Hajime. 
Hajime angrily pulled out Donner, but before he could do anything, he got blindsided by a surprise attack. 
“...Yeah, Hajime’s really shy (in bed).” 
“Yue...” 
His face cramped up at that, but he figured if he kept arguing for too long they’d just have more monsters to deal with, so he instead focused on getting everyone ready to leave. Once all forty-two rabbitmen were ready, he started leading them to the gorge exit. 
They ran into many monsters along the way, as a caravan of defenseless rabbitmen made for an easy target, but not a single monster got past Hajime. Any time something that threatened them showed up, Hajime would promptly shoot it down without mercy. 
With every gunshot, another of Reisen Gorge’s ferocious monsters met its end, unable to put up even a modicum of resistance. The rabbitmen were all astonished at how easily he dispatched monsters that others would struggle to even escape from. Before long, they all respected him for his overwhelming strength. The little bunny children all stared at Hajime with glowing eyes, like he was their hero. 
“Fufufu, Hajime-san, look! All the kids are staring at you! Why not give them a little wave at least?” Seeing how uncomfortable Hajime was at being adored by the children, she started poking fun at him. An angry vein pulsed on his forehead, and he wordlessly fired Donner at her. 
Bang! Bang! Bang! 
“Awawawawah!?” The rubber bullets headed straight for her feet, and Shea had to do an impromptu tap dance to avoid them. Having gotten used to this spectacle, Cam only smiled wryly while Yue just looked tired of the ongoing skit. 
“Shea seems to have taken quite a liking to you, Hajime-dono. To the point that one would suspect she might... Well, I suppose she is getting to that age now. As her father, I do feel a little sad about it. But I’d be relieved if it was you I entrusted her to, Hajime-dono...” Cam seemed to be completely unconcerned about the fact that his daughter was still being shot at, and tears pooled in the corners of his eyes as he spoke about her growth. 
“Someone save meee,” Shea screamed, but the other rabbitmen also just watched with warm expressions as she danced around a storm of bullets. 
“There’s something wrong with you guys. You look at this and that’s what goes through your heads? 
“...They’re weird.” 
As Yue had said, there was definitely something odd about these people’s idea of common sense. Or perhaps they were naturally inclined to be airheads. Though there was no way to tell if that was something specific to the Haulia clan in general, or applicable to all rabbitmen. 
Soon enough, the party arrived at the staircase that would lead them out of Reisen Gorge. Hajime used his Far Sight skill to scout out the area, and his first impression of the stairs was that they were quite an impressive feat of engineering. The staircase was actually a series of switchbacks cut directly into the cliff face. Each switchback went about fifty meters before turning. Past the staircase was the sea of trees, of which only a glimpse could be seen from down in the gorge. It would take an average person about half a day to go from the exit of the gorge to the entrance of Haltina Woods. 
Shea realized Hajime must be doing something to magnify his sight, so she timidly asked him, 
“Do you see any imperial soldiers?” 
“Not sure. It’s possible they gave up and went home, but...” 
“U-Umm, if we do run into them... Hajime-san... what will you do?” 
“What do you mean?” He tilted his head in confusion, and Shea took a moment to steel herself before continuing. The other Haulia members all perked up their ears in order to listen in. 
“Our opponents this time wouldn’t be monsters, but soldiers... Other humans like you, I mean. Will you really be able to fight them?” 
“Worthless rabbit, didn’t you say you saw me helping in the future you got a glimpse of?” 
“Yes, I did. I definitely saw you fighting imperial troops, Hajime-san, but...” 
“Then what’s there to be worried about?” 
“I’m not exactly worried; I just wanted to make sure. Protecting us from the empire might make you into humanity’s enemy. I was just wondering how you felt about fighting your own people...” 
All of the Haulia silently gazed at Hajime. The smaller children obviously didn’t fully grasp what was going on, but they could tell the atmosphere was tense and that all the adults were looking at him, so they did too. 
However, Hajime was completely unfazed by the serious atmosphere and answered frankly. 
“I don’t really see a problem with it.” 
“Huh?” 
Despite Shea’s serious tone, Hajime replied casually, without a hint of doubt. 
“I mean, what’s wrong with turning all of humanity into my enemy?” 
“B-But I mean, they’re your people, aren’t they?” 
“Aren’t you guys being chased by ‘your people’ right now, too?” 
“I mean, I guess that’s true, but...” 
“Besides, I think you guys are misunderstanding something.” 
“What do you mean?” This time it was Shea who tilted her head in confusion. The other Haulia were all puzzled as well. 
“Okay, listen up. I’ve hired you guys to help me navigate through the sea of trees, which is why I’m protecting you right now. I can’t exactly let my guides die. I’m not doing this because of some sense of justice or because I sympathize with you guys or anything. Can’t say I plan on babysitting you guys forever, either. You haven’t forgotten that, have you?” 
“Umm, no... I haven’t forgotten...” 
“I’ll protect you as long as it takes to get you guys to guide me through, for my own sake. And it doesn’t matter who they are. Anyone who gets in my way, whether they be monsters or humans, is an enemy. And the only thing that awaits my enemies is death. That’s all.” 
“I-I see...” 
Shea smiled bitterly at how Hajime-esque his reasoning was. Even if she had seen them protecting her tribe from imperial soldiers, the future wasn’t set in stone. While her visions had a high chance of coming to pass, on the off chance that the empire did get their paws on the Haulia, a fate worse than death awaited them. They would be sold off as slaves. Though she never let it show, Shea felt a lot of guilt about getting her family wrapped up in this situation, which was why she needed to be 100% sure that Hajime would save them. 
“Hahaha, I like a man who can keep things simple. Don’t worry. Just leave guiding you through the sea of trees to us.” Cam laughed cheerfully. It was easier to trust a person who was doing this as part of a contract rather than someone who said they just wanted to be a hero of justice or something. His laugh wasn’t one bit forced. That was just what he truly thought. 
The rabbit party slowly approached the foot of the staircase. With Hajime in the lead, they began climbing the multitude of stone steps. Despite the fact that they probably hadn’t had a chance to eat since fleeing into the gorge, the Haulia’s footsteps were full of energy. In return for not having any magical ability, most beastmen were quite sturdy. 
Finally, they cleared the last switchback and escaped from Reisen Gorge. 
What waited for them as they crested the last set of steps was... 
“Holy shit, you serious? They’re actually still alive! And here I thought the commander was nuts for leaving us here. Well, this’ll make a nice present to send back home.” There were around thirty or so imperial soldiers waiting around the exit. They had created a makeshift camp near the staircase, and there were a few large carriages dotting the campsite. Each of the soldiers was wearing an identical khaki uniform, and most of them had swords or spears or shields slung across their backs. They were clearly surprised to see Hajime and the rabbitmen. But they quickly recovered from their initial shock. Smiles erupted on their faces as they began appraising the stock they would soon sell. 
“Boss, the light-haired girl’s with them too! You were eyeing her before, right?” 
“Oooh, today really is my lucky day. I don’t care what you do with the old farts, but you better not harm a hair on her head, you hear?” 
“There’s plenty of women to go around, so it’s fine if we examine a few of the goods before shipping them off first, right? They made us wait here in the middle of nowhere for three whole days, so it’s only fair, right boss? We definitely deserve a little bonus, don’t you think?” 
“Sheesh. Fine, but you better not do them all. Behave yourselves and keep it to just two or three.” 
“Hell yeah! I knew you were a nice guy, boss!” 
The soldiers clearly didn’t even see the Haulia as a threat, as they weren’t even bothering to get into formation. Their attention was completely focused on the female Haulia, and vulgar smiles were on each of their faces. The rabbitmen were all shivering with fear. 
Finally, the grinning man the others had called “boss” noticed Hajime’s presence. 

“Huh? Who the hell are you? You’re... not a rabbitman, are you?” 
Judging from their tone, it didn’t seem likely they would just let Hajime and the others pass through, so he decided to humor them by answering. 
“Yeah, I’m a human.” 
“Huuuh? And what’s a human like you doing with the likes of them? Coming from Reisen Gorge no less. Wait, are you a slave trader? Did you come here because someone tipped you off about the rabbits? Well, you’re quite the dedicated merchant, you know. Sucks for you, though. Unfortunately, those cuties over there are property of the empire, so I’m gonna have to ask you to leave.” 
The soldiers’ commander made his own assumptions and barked out orders with the clear belief that they would be followed unquestioningly. 
Obviously, Hajime had no intention of obeying. 
“No.” 
“What’d you just say?” 
“I said no. These people are with me. I’m not handing a single one of them over to you. I suggest packing up and going home.” 
Thinking he surely must have misheard, the leader asked again. However, he was just met with an even more arrogant refusal. A vein pulsed on the soldier’s forehead. 
“Kid, you better watch your mouth. Do you not realize who we are, or are you just that damn stupid?” 
“Oh, I know exactly who you are. But you of all people really don’t have the right to be calling anyone stupid.” 
The smile vanished off the commander’s face at that. The rest of the soldiers all started glaring angrily at Hajime too. 
Suddenly, Yue stepped out from behind Hajime, grabbing everyone’s attention. Despite her childlike appearance, there was an aura of maturity surrounding her, captivating all the men present. 
For a moment, the commander was stunned too, but then he noticed how tightly she was clinging to Hajime’s sleeve and realized she must be with him. Suddenly, he was wearing the same vulgar smile from before. 
“Aaah, now I get it. I see how it is now. You’re just a little brat that doesn’t know how the world works. Well, allow me to give you a free lesson about just how harsh it can be. Kuku, that girl over there looks mighty fine. Think I’ll rape her in front of your eyes after I chop all your limbs off. After that, I’ll sell her off to slavers.” Hajime’s eyebrow twitched, and despite her unchanging expression, Yue’s gaze clearly dripped with hatred. She raised her arm regally, as if rejecting that this man even had any right to exist. 
However, Hajime held her back before she could do anything. She glanced at him dubiously, but he cleared up her confusion with his next words. 
“So you’re our enemy, is that it?” 
“Huuuh!? You still don’t get it, kid? You can get down on your knees and beg if you want, but it’s—” Before he could even finish his sentence, he was interrupted by a gunshot. As Hajime had expected, the commander had been too proud to even talk things through, and as a result he was now missing his head. He wouldn’t be badmouthing anyone again. His headless corpse fell limply to the ground a few seconds later. 
The remaining soldiers stared dumbly at the corpse of their dead boss, and before they could even gather their wits, they were hit by a follow-up attack. 
Booom! There was another gunshot, but this one decapitated five soldiers at once. Actually, there had been five gunshots, but Hajime fired so fast that their sounds melded together. 
Panicking now at the sudden death of their comrades, the soldiers scrambled to point their weapons at Hajime. Even if they couldn’t tell how it was happening, it was clear who was responsible. All told, their reaction was pretty quick. They might have had rotten personalities, but they were still professional soldiers. Their training was the real deal. 
“Get him!” 
“Everyone, start chanting!” 
The troop quickly organized themselves into a backline and frontline. However, as if mocking the frailty of their formation, a small object suddenly rolled up to one of the backline members. It was a black cylinder of some sort. The backline members all stared at it, but they didn’t stop chanting. In the next second, that ceased to matter, however, as they were all turned into corpses. 
With a thunderous roar, the cylinder exploded, the shockwave sending lethal shards of metal tearing through every single one of the backline members. 
Said cylinder had, of course, been one of Hajime’s grenades. This one was a frag grenade packed to the brim with metal scraps. It was far more powerful than frag grenades made on Earth. 
The initial explosion alone was enough to instantly kill the ten or so soldiers closest to it, and fatally maim another seven. 
Furthermore, the remaining seven soldiers that made up the front line were blown forward by the force of the blast. Six of them turned to look back and instantly lost their heads as bullets rocketed through their skulls. The resulting spray of blood drenched the lone survivor, who lost all will to fight and slumped to the ground. It was only natural. In only an instant, his entire platoon had been annihilated. It hadn’t been an especially weak one or anything either. In fact, they had been one of the more elite units in the army, which was precisely why his eyes were currently darting about, his mind unable to accept what was happening as reality. 
Meanwhile, the monster who had caused such a tragedy spoke with such casualness that one might think he were commenting on the weather. 
“Yeah, like I thought, I don’t even need Lightning Field against humans. Plain bullets are more than enough.” 
The soldier jumped with a start, and gazed fearfully at Hajime. Hajime tapped Donner’s barrel against his shoulder while he slowly walked up to the soldier. His fluttering black coat and the ease with which he delivered death made him seem like the grim reaper. Or well, at least he did to the sole surviving soldier. 
“Ah... G-Get away from me! N-Nooo! I don’t want to die! S-Someone! Anyone! Save me!” 
The soldier crawled backward on all fours as he begged for his life. His face was twisted in fear, and the dark stain near his crotch indicated he’d wet himself. Hajime looked down at him, ice in his eyes, before suddenly aiming Donner at the soldier’s back and firing multiple times in quick succession. 
“Ack!” The soldier desperately shrunk back, but there was no impact to his body. That was because Hajime had only finished off all the soldiers who had been mortally wounded by his grenade. Terrified, the soldier turned around, only to see his entire platoon well and truly annihilated. 
His entire body stiffened at the sight, and he couldn’t even move as Hajime pressed Donner’s barrel against his head. Trembling in terror, the soldier desperately attempted to plead for his life. 
“P-Please, I’m begging you! Please don’t kill me! I’ll do anything! Anything!” 
“Anything? In that case, tell me what you did with all the other rabbitmen you captured. I’d heard you took quite a few... Have you already shipped them back to the empire?” 
The reason he’d asked was because Hajime was sure it would take a decent amount of time to transport over a hundred people, which meant it was possible they were still nearby. If they were, he didn’t see any problem with saving them on the way to the sea of trees. Though if they’d already been sent to the empire, he wasn’t going to go that far out of his way to mount a rescue. 
“I-If I tell you, will you let me go?” 
“I don’t think you’re in any position to be making demands here. Can’t say it’s information I need that badly, anyway. If you don’t wanna talk, I’ll just kill you now.” 
“W-Wait, please! I’ll talk! I’ll talk, so please don’t kill me! I think they transported them all. After whittling down the numbers a little...” 
By “whittling down the numbers,” he probably meant the soldiers had killed all the elderly and anyone else that wasn’t likely to sell. The Haulia all despaired at the soldier’s words. Hajime spared them a quick glance before returning his attention to the soldier. Murder dwelled in his eyes now that he no longer had a use for him. 
“Wait! Please! I’ll tell you anything else you ask! I’ll spill whatever you want, so please!” 
The soldier began pleading for his life again when he realized Hajime planned to kill him. However, the only reply he got... was a single bullet to the head. 
There was a collective intake of breath as the Haulia all gasped. It appeared they were taken aback by how utterly merciless he was. For once, there was some fear in their eyes. Even Shea was looking at him a little timidly. 
“U-Umm, couldn’t you have just let that last one go...” He gave her a withering glare, and she shrank back fearfully. These are the people who killed and enslaved her comrades, and she still wants to show them mercy? These rabbitmen are way too nice. Or wait, maybe they’re all just pacifists? Hajime was about to open his mouth to protest, but Yue beat him to the punch. 
“...Don’t you think it’s rather selfish for an enemy to throw down their sword and beg for their life only after they know they’re outmatched?” 
“B-But...” 
“Besides, he’s the one who protected you, so don’t you think you’re scared of the wrong person?” 
“......” 
Though her tone was quiet, she was clearly angry. She couldn’t forgive that they were afraid of him when he’d been the one who protected them. Put that way, it did seem terribly ungrateful, and the Haulia all awkwardly looked away. 
“Hmm, I apologize for my rudeness, Hajime-dono. We never meant to criticize your actions. However, we are not used to such brutal conflict... Your methods simply shocked a few of us.” 
“I’m sorry too, Hajime-san.” Shea and Cam apologized on behalf of their tribe, but Hajime waved their apology off, indicating that he hadn’t been offended in the slightest. 
He sauntered over to the untouched horses and carriages and beckoned the others over. It would take them half a day to make it to the sea of trees on foot, but there was no real reason not to use the perfectly good set of carriages they’d found. 
He pulled Steiff out of his Treasure Trove, then hitched it up to the carriage. He split them up between a horse-riding group and a carriage-riding group before leading them toward the sea of trees. 
Before they left, Yue used her wind magic to hurl the imperial soldiers’ corpses into the ravine. All that remained of the carnage that had ensued were a few pools of blood. 
The Haltina Woods could be seen in the distance. Deep within its recesses was the beastmen country of Verbergen, and somewhere within there was one of the Seven Great Labyrinths. They rode forward at a good pace, and the woods quickly grew larger in the horizon. 
As usual, Yue was sitting snugly in Hajime’s lap as he drove Steiff, with Shea clinging on to him from behind. Hajime had tried to convince Shea to ride in the carriages, but she had insisted on riding Steiff with him. Yue had tried to kick her off over and over, but she would just rise back up like a zombie, so Yue eventually gave up. 
The reason she was so persistent was because Shea wanted to get to know the two comrades she’d finally found better. Hence why she looked so happy clinging to Hajime. It seemed Shea had taken a liking to Steiff’s backseat; or rather, she just enjoyed being behind Hajime in general... Mentally, Yue made a note to tie her down if things started getting out of hand. 
Sandwiched between a somewhat annoyed Yue and an overjoyed Shea, Hajime continued driving Steiff on muscle memory as he gazed off into the distance, slightly spaced out. 
Suddenly, Yue spoke up. 
“...Hajime, why did you fight them alone?” 
“Hm?” 
She was, of course, referring to the earlier fight with those imperial troops. Back then, Hajime had held Yue back and taken care of them all on his own. Whether she had helped or not, the soldiers would have been annihilated instantly regardless. However, after the fight Hajime had seemed lost in thought, which was what had piqued Yue’s interest. 
“Hmm. Well, there was something I wanted to confirm, so...” 
“...What did you want to confirm?” Yue asked. Shea peeked out from behind Hajime’s shoulder, also very interested in hearing the answer. 
“Well, you see...” His explanation ran on for quite a long time, but the gist of it was more or less as follows. 
The first reason he’d held Yue back was because he wanted to conduct a little experiment. He’d aimed at everyone’s head just in case, but he’d also fired a few experimental shots into their armor. The reason he wanted to make sure his normal bullets could pierce armor was because his railgun would be overkill against most human opponents, and in enclosed spaces like towns he might accidentally incur casualties. 
While he had no compunction about slaughtering anyone who opposed him, even he balked at the thought of accidentally killing a perfectly innocent bystander, or accidentally shooting through someone’s house and killing a family. Just because he no longer had any reservations about killing didn’t mean that he had any desire to kill people indiscriminately. And so, he had wanted to test how much blastrock was needed to kill armored soldiers. Fortunately for him, he’d gotten a lot of good data. Thanks to the results, he had a decent idea of how much he’d need to regulate the firepower. 
The second reason was because he wanted to see if he would hesitate when his opponents were fellow humans. No matter how much he’d changed, that had still been his first time fighting an actual person. So he wanted to make sure he could mentally handle killing someone, both in the act itself, and after the deed was done. 
In the end, he concluded that “I didn’t really feel much over it.” At that point, his philosophy of killing anything that opposed him had firmly sunk in. 
“The reason I was spacing out was because I was thinking about how much I must have changed to not even bat an eye after killing someone...” 
“I see... Is that okay with you?” 
“Yeah, I don’t really mind. This is who I am now, and this mindset will definitely help in the battles to come.” 
Shea was surprised to hear this had been his first time killing someone considering how mercilessly he’d slaughtered them. At the same time, she was amazed that Yue’s sharp senses, at least when it came to Hajime anyway, had noticed this slight change he was going through. Underlying all of that was a faint sense of loneliness at not knowing anything about Hajime or Yue. 
“Umm! Hajime-san, Yue-san, could you two please tell me more about yourselves?” 
“Hm? I thought I already told you about myself.” 
“No, I don’t mean like your abilities and stuff. I mean, how did you end up in that abyss or whatever, or why you guys are on a journey, or what you have been doing until now. I want to know more about you both.” 
“...Why?” 
“There’s no real reason, I just want to know... Because of the way I am, I’ve caused a lot of trouble for my family. I always hated myself for that... Of course, everyone always told me I wasn’t a burden, and I’m sure they all mean it, but... I always felt like I didn’t belong in this world. That’s why I was happy when I first met you two. For the first time ever, I’d finally found people like me. For the first time ever, I didn’t feel like the odd one out... I know it’s presumptuous of me, but I was finally glad to have found people that felt like c-comrades... That’s why I want to know more about you two... I’m not exactly sure how to put it, but...” 
The more she talked, the more embarrassed she got, and by the end she was just whispering into Hajime’s back. Hajime and Yue didn’t know what to say to that. Thinking back on it, Shea had been surprisingly happy to meet them. 
At the time, they’d been busy rescuing the Haulia tribe, so Yue hadn’t had time to sort through her vague feelings. As a result, all she’d told Shea was simple things like why she could use magic. Shea must have been wondering about her two new companions this whole time. 
It was a fact that in this world, people with a physical disposition similar to that of monsters weren’t very accepted, so it was only natural that Shea would feel a sense of camaraderie. That being said, Hajime and Yue couldn’t see her as a comrade quite so easily. 
However, there was still some time until they reached the sea of trees. Since they had no real reason to hide it, Hajime and Yue decided to talk about their past in order to kill some time. By the time they finished their tale... 
“Uweeeeh...Hic...That’s terrible. You poor things. Hajime-san, and you too, Yue-san... compared to what you suffered, I’ve practically been blessed... Uweeeh, I can’t believe I was so pathetic.” Shea was a mess of tears. She kept muttering things like “I can’t believe I was so spoiled,” and “I’ll never complain again,” in between sobs. At the same time, she surreptitiously wiped her face with the hem of Hajime’s coat. After having learned just how much the two of them had suffered, Shea felt pathetic for thinking her own situation had been harsh. 
She continued crying for a while, but then she suddenly made a fist and looked up resolutely. 
“Hajime-san! Yue-san! I’ve decided! Allow me to accompany you on your journey! I’ll be the shining ray of light that illuminates the darkness in your lives! There’s no need to be shy, the three of us are all comrades linked by a shared bond. Let’s overcome the trials ahead together, and achieve your dream!” Both Yue and Hajime gave her a cold look as Shea worked herself up on her own delusions. 
“And what gives you the right to say that, you weakling of a rabbit? Need I remind you that we’re still protecting you right now? You’d just get in the way.” 
“...And we’ve already gone from people that ‘felt like comrades’ to actual comrades... What a shameless bunny.” 
“Y-You don’t have to look at me so coldly... You’re going to break my heart... Also, could you please call me by my name already?” She was a bit shaken at how coldly they’d refused her heartfelt proposal. However, they weren’t done yet. 
“...You just want comrades to travel with, don’t you?” 
“Wha—!?” 
Looks like Hajime was right on the mark, as Shea suddenly jumped. 
“Once you’re done making sure your family’s safe, you were planning on leaving them behind, weren’t you? And since two ‘comrades’ just happened to show up around the same time you decided to leave, you thought you’d travel together with them, right? I doubt such a pretty little rabbit would last long on her own.” 
“...Umm, that’s true, but... I also really want to help you two...” Flustered, Shea tried cover up the fact that Hajime had been right. In truth, Shea had already decided. Through hell or high water, she was going to get Hajime to save her family, after which she was going to leave the tribe. As long as she was with them, they’d always be in danger. In this incident too, she’d lost many of her precious family members. The next time she got them into trouble, they really might all die. And that was the one thing she wanted to avoid at all costs. 
Of course, this went against the express wishes of her clan, and in a sense it could even be called betraying them. However, her mind was made up. 
Worst case, she would have struck out on her own, but she was sure if she did that her family would get worried and chase after her. But if she told them she was going to help the invincible Hajime in his travels as thanks for saving her family, they’d surely let her go. Despite all appearances, Shea was earnest and quite desperate about the things she wanted to do. 
That wasn’t to say she wasn’t also deeply interested in Yue and Hajime, because she was. As Hajime had said, she was happy to have finally found comrades, which was why she felt inexplicably close to them. All things considered, her meeting with Hajime honestly felt like destiny. 
“I’m not trying to blame you or anything. But I recommend throwing away that misguided hopes of yours. Our goal is to conquer the Seven Great Labyrinths. Just like the abyss we crawled out of, it’ll probably be teeming with monsters that are just as strong as us. You’d be killed in an instant. That’s why we can’t take you along.” 
“......” 
Shea fell silent at Hajime’s mercilessly blunt explanation. However, the nonchalant way Yue and Hajime seemed to deliver that reasoning depressed her even further. For a while she fell silent, sinking deep into thought, a complicated expression plastered on her face. 
A few hours later, the group arrived at the entrance to Haltina Woods. From the outside it looked like nothing more than a normal forest, but once anyone stepped inside, they were instantly surrounded by a dense fog. 
“Now then, Hajime-dono, Yue-dono. Please stick very close to us once we’re inside. You’ll be traveling in the center of our group, but it’s still possible you might get separated, so be careful. Also, you just want us to guide you to the center, where the Grand Tree is, right?” 
“Yeah, as far as I can tell that’s probably the labyrinth entrance.” 
Cam reminded Hajime of the dangers while also affirming their destination. 
The Grand Tree Cam had referred to was a massive tree that sat in the deepest reaches of the forest. The beastmen called it the Sacred Tree Uralt, and the area around it was considered holy. Rarely did any of them ever approach it. Hajime had heard all of that from Cam after they’d escaped the gorge. 
At first, Hajime had thought the entirety of Haltina Woods itself was the labyrinth, but on second thought he’d realized that would mean abyss-level monsters would be crawling around the entire forest, making it completely uninhabitable for the beastmen. So just like the Great Orcus Labyrinth, it stood to reason that the entrance to the true labyrinth lay elsewhere. And from what Cam had told him, the Grand Tree seemed like a good place to start. Cam nodded and gave a signal to the rest of his clan, at which they all began crowding around Hajime and Yue. 
“Hajime-dono, could you please erase your presence as much as possible? The Grand Tree is considered holy ground, so people usually don’t approach, but it’s not exactly forbidden land or anything, so it’s possible we might run into people from Verbergen or other outlying settlements there. Since we’re all wanted, we’d rather avoid being found by anyone.” 
“Alright, I understand. Both Yue and I are pretty good at taking covert action, so you can count on us.” 
As he said that, Hajime activated Hide Presence. Yue used her innate talents that she’d cultivated in the abyss to hide. 
“Ah!? This is quite... Hajime-dono, would it be possible for you to hide yourself to Yue-dono’s level?” 
“Is this good?” 
“Yes, that’s perfect. If you completely erase your presence like you did earlier, we might lose sight of you ourselves. In fact, I’m certain we would. You’re quite something.” 
Though the rabbitmen’s stats were average, their extremely sensitive hearing made it very easy for them to pick up on almost all nearby presences, and they were also skilled at hiding. The fact that they could pick up on even Yue’s presence, despite the skills she’d honed in the abyss, attested to their abilities. They were master trackers. 
However, Hajime’s Hide Presence was of an even greater level than that. Normally the rabbitmen would never lose sight of someone they’d marked, even in this vast sea of trees, but Hajime’s skill was so absolute that even they couldn’t sense him. 
Cam smiled bitterly as he realized this human had surpassed him in the one field that he thought his race couldn’t be beaten in. For some reason, Yue was puffing her chest out proudly. Shea, on the other hand, had an oddly pained expression on her face. She was finally realizing the difference in ability Hajime had hinted at earlier. 
“Very well, let us depart.” 
With their preparations thus complete, the party headed into the forest, with Cam and Shea leading the group. They continued down a winding trail that could hardly be called a path. The dense fog appeared almost instantly, limiting everyone’s visibility. However, Cam walked forward confidently. He knew exactly where they were, and precisely what their bearing was. Hajime didn’t understand the underlying reason behind it, but it seemed that every beastman was born with the innate ability to traverse this dense sea of trees. 
After a while of smooth progress, Cam suddenly came to a halt, warily surveying his surroundings. He’d sensed the presence of monsters. Hajime and Yue had sensed them too. It seemed that they were surrounded by a good number of them. 
The Haulia all pulled out knives Hajime had furnished when they’d entered the forest. Normally, they would have just used their superior stealth skills to escape, but it seemed that wasn’t going to work. Everyone had equally nervous expressions on their face. 
Suddenly, Hajime thrust out his left arm. There was a faint hiss, and the sound of multiple somethings being ejected could be heard. A second later, Thud. Thud. Thud. “Kiiiiiiiiiii!?” 
Three monsters of unknown appearance could be heard falling to the ground, screaming in pain. A moment later, three four-armed monkeys suddenly burst out of the fog, each of them about sixty centimeters tall. 
Yue brought her hand up against one of them, and whispered her spell’s name. 
“Wind Blade.” A sharp blade of wind flew through the air, cutting one of the monkeys in half. The two halves fell to the ground, the monkey dead before it even had time to scream. 
The remaining two split up and tried to pincer the group. One of them headed for a nearby kid, while the other bared its claws at Shea. Both of them stiffened in fear, making easy targets for the monkeys. The nearby adults tried to cover them both... but their worry was needless. 
Hajime swung his left arm at them both, and with another pneumatic hiss, both monkeys died, their heads punctured by ten centimeter long needles. 
He was using the needle gun he’d installed into his prosthetic arm. 
He’d stolen the idea from the scorpion he’d fought, and he could fire either single bolts or a shotgun-style spray. He ejected them using his Lightning Field, and while it didn’t match the strength of Donner or Schlag, it was still quite powerful in its own right. 
It only had an effective range of ten meters, but it was very quiet, and the needles were coated in poison, making for a very effective assassination tool. He hadn’t used Donner specifically because he didn’t want to attract attention with the gunshots. 
“Th-Thank you very much, Hajime-san.” 
“Thanks, Onii-chan!” 
Shea and the boy he’d saved both thanked him for his timely intervention. He waved his hand casually, indicating that it was nothing. The boy’s eyes were shining as he looked up at Hajime. Shea, however, slumped her shoulders, disappointed at herself for freezing up at the first sign of danger. 
Cam smiled awkwardly, and he started leading them again at Hajime’s urging. 
They were assaulted by monsters a few more times during their trek, but Hajime and Yue quietly repulsed each wave easily. The monsters inhabiting the forest were considered strong by the locals, but they posed no problem at all for Hajime and Yue. 
However, a few hours after they’d entered the forest, they found themselves so thoroughly surrounded that they had to stop. Their numbers, bloodlust, and even coordination was levels above any of the monsters they’d faced so far. 
The rabbitmen’s ears all twitched nervously as they tried to figure out how many there were. When they discovered the identity of their opponents, the rabbitmen all grimaced. Shea took it a step further, and her face was completely pale. As Hajime and Yue realized who surrounded them, they too frowned in annoyance. After all, the ones surrounding them were none other than... 
“You there... Why are there humans in your midst! State your race and clan!” 
A burly beastman with a striped tail and a pair of tiger ears barred their path. 
It was definitely not normal to see beastmen and humans together in the sea of trees. The tiger beastman was looking incredulously at Cam, as if he were some kind of race traitor. There was a dangerous looking two-handed sword in his hands. The couple dozen beastmen surrounding them were all glaring at the rabbitmen, clear outraged. 
“U-Umm, we’re...” Cold sweat poured down Cam’s forehead as he tried to think up some kind of excuse. However, the tigerman caught sight of Shea before he could get very far. 
“A white haired... rabbit girl? You must be the Haulia tribe in the reports. You’re a disgrace to all beastmen. You tricked your fellow beastmen for years, hiding that despicable demon girl, and now you’re even bringing humans into our midst!? Traitors! I won’t listen to any of your excuses! You’re all going to be executed here! Everyone, cha—” 
Bang! Just before he could finish giving the order to charge, Hajime’s gun went off. A red streak scraped past the tigerman’s cheek, carving a hole right through the tree behind him, vanishing deep into the sea of trees. 
A trail of blood ran down the tigerman’s cheek as he stood frozen in place. Had his ears been on the side of his head like a human’s, one of them would have been blown off completely. Everyone stiffened suddenly at this new attack that had come so fast that no one even had time to react. 
Despite his casual tone, Hajime’s words carried a surprising amount of weight. That was due to the Intimidation skill that he was using, which made his opponents feel a physical pressure from his words. 
“I can fire off attacks like that multiple times a second. I know exactly where each and every one of you are. And hell, if I wanted to, I could kill you all in under a minute.” 
“Wh-Wha— There wasn’t even a chant.” 
The tigerman faltered. Not only was this human capable of firing off an unknown attack of immense power, he could apparently fire it off multiple times a second without even chanting. Plus, to top it off, he even supposedly knew where they all were. As if to prove his point, Hajime unsheathed Schlag and pointed it into the distance. Right where the tigerman’s right-hand man was waiting in ambush. Hajime could tell he was trembling behind the fog. 
“If you order your men to attack, I won’t show any mercy. Until our contract is complete, these guys’ lives are under my protection... Don’t think even a single one of your men will go home alive if you try and hurt them.” 
Hajime poured bloodlust into his words on top of his Intimidation. The threatening aura oozing from his every pore caused the tigerman to break out in a cold sweat. He desperately fought down the instinctive urge to howl in fear. 
You’ve gotta be kidding me! N-No human can do something like this! That guy’s some kinda monster! In order to avoid being engulfed by the fear, the tigerman tried to psyche himself up, but Hajime leveled both Donner and Schlag at him before continuing. 
“But if you’re willing to leave quietly, I won’t chase you. If you’re not my enemy, then I don’t need to kill you. Now make your choice. Are you going to quietly go home, or die for the sake of your foolish pride?” 
The tigerman was certain. If he gave the order to attack, that skill from earlier would wipe out his entire troop. There wasn’t even the slightest chance any of them would make it out alive. 
He was the captain of Verbergen’s second guard squad. It was his job to patrol Verbergen and its outlying settlements, and to keep them safe from monsters or invaders. He was gladly willing to die in the line of duty, which was why he couldn’t back down so easily, even knowing it might invite the death of his entire squad. 
“...Can I ask you something first?” The tigerman hoarsely managed to croak out those words. Hajime flicked his head, indicating that it was okay for him to continue. 
“...What are you after?” A simple question. However, whether or not he ordered his men to rush to their deaths depended entirely on the answer. His glare showed that if Hajime intended to bring harm to the citizens of Verbergen, he wouldn’t back down no matter how hopeless the fight. 
“We just want to visit the Sacred Tree, Uralt.” 
“You want to go to the Grand Tree... But why? What for?” 
The tigerman had been certain this human had come to enslave the beastmen or the like, so he hadn’t expected that response. While they did hold the area as sacred, it wasn’t of much practical importance, which was why he was so confused. It was actually more of a tourist attraction than an idol of worship. 
“Because the true entrance to one of the labyrinths might be there. We’re on a journey to conquer all of the Seven Great Labyrinths. And we’ve employed the Haulia tribe to guide us there.” 
“True entrance? What do you mean? This forest itself is considered one of the Seven Great Labyrinths. A natural labyrinth where anyone other than a beastman will get lost forever once they step foot inside.” 
“Yeah, but there’s a problem with that logic.” 
“What?” 
The tigerman asked suspiciously, unsure of where Hajime’s confidence came from. 
“The monsters here are way too weak for this to be the true labyrinth.” 
“...Way too weak?” 
“Yeah. The monsters I encountered in the last labyrinth were all on a whole different level. At least, the ones in the depths of the Great Orcus Labyrinth were all like that. And besides...” 
“Besides?” 
“The labyrinths are trials that the Liberators left behind. If any old beastman can make it all the way through the forest, then it doesn’t really make for much of a trial. That’s why I don’t think the forest itself is the labyrinth.” 
“......” The tigerman was utterly bewildered by Hajime’s explanation because what he was saying made absolutely no sense to him. Whether it was that the monsters were too weak, or the talk about the depths of the Great Orcus Labyrinth, or the Liberators, or trials and whatnot... none of it was something he’d ever heard of. 
Under normal circumstances he would have dismissed it all as nonsense. However, there was no reason for Hajime to lie. He was the one with all the advantages, so there was no need for him to make up any excuses. 
Besides, they somehow just didn’t sound like a lie. And if his goal really didn’t lie with Verbergen, then it made a lot more sense to just let him go to the Grand Tree and finish his business so he’d bother them no longer. He wouldn’t have to waste his subordinates lives that way either. 
The tigerman reached that conclusion in an instant. However, because of how overwhelmingly powerful Hajime was, he couldn’t just let him go like that. Though he was also aware that someone of Hajime’s abilities was completely beyond his power to handle. And so, he offered a compromise. 
“If you don’t mean any harm to my country or its people, then I don’t mind letting you visit the Grand Tree. I have no interest in wasting my men’s lives, either.” The others surrounding Hajime all seemed shaken. It was completely unprecedented to allow an interloping human even further into their territory. 
“However, a mere captain of the guard like me doesn’t have the authority to allow that. Allow me contact my superiors. It’s possible our elders might have some information on that true entrance you seek. If you really mean no harm to those that aren’t your enemy, then surely you’ll be willing to wait here while we send a messenger.” 
Despite the cold sweat pouring in waves down his back, his eyes were resolute. At his proposal, Hajime lapsed into thought. 
Chances were this was the biggest compromise the tigerman could make. Hajime had heard intruders in the sea of trees were usually executed without question. He was sure deep down the tigerman still wanted them eliminated, too. However, if he gave the order to attack, his men would all die. And so, he had come up with a compromise that kept his men alive, and hopefully reined in the dangerous element that was Hajime. 
He was actually rather impressed with the tigerman for coming up with such a rational solution. So he weighed the benefits of just killing them all and pushing his way through versus the benefits of letting Verbergen monitor his movements but still at least getting their permission to pass... and decided the latter would be less of a hassle. 
In the off chance the Grand Tree wasn’t the labyrinth entrance, he’d need to do some more scouting anyway. Having Verbergen’s official approval was certainly for the better. Of course, it was entirely possible he’d just make an enemy out of an entire nation instead, but if things could be resolved peacefully, then that was best. It was less a decision made out of compassion than a simple cost-benefit analysis. 
“Alright. But make sure you relay my message properly, you hear?” 
“Of course. Zam, you heard us! Head to the elders as fast as you can!” 
“Roger!” One of the presences surrounding them vanished. Hajime holstered both of his guns and stopped using his Intimidation skill. 
The tension relaxed a little. While he was relieved, the tigerman was still a little suspicious at how easily Hajime had lowered his guard. A few of his men were even ready to launch a surprise attack on him. But Hajime, who had guessed their intentions already, simply smiled fearlessly. 
“Which do you think is faster, your charge or my quick draw...? Can’t say I mind testing it, if you wanna push your luck.” 
“...No, I’d rather not. However, please don’t do anything rash. If you do, we’ll be forced to attack.” 
“Fine by me.” 
Though they were still surrounded, Cam and the others breathed a sigh of relief upon learning that there wasn’t about to be an immediate bloodbath, and everyone settled down a little. That being said, the glares the tigermen directed at the rabbitmen were anything but pleasant, so it couldn’t really be called a peaceful situation. 
After a while, Yue got tired of the pointless staring contest, and heedless of the heavy atmosphere, started teasing Hajime to pass the time. Tired of the oppressive air, or perhaps just hoping to lighten the mood, Shea joined in as well. Hajime begrudgingly put up with her too, and the tension relaxed a little. The rabbitmen were all dumbfounded when Hajime started “flirting” in the middle of enemy territory. 
Around an hour later. Shea had gotten a bit too cheeky, and Yue now had her in an arm lock. The bunny girl was desperately screaming “Uncle! Uncle!” while the rest of her family looked on in disbelief. Finally, they sensed a number of figures rapidly approaching them. 
The tense atmosphere returned in an instant, though Shea was still screaming in pain. 
From the fog appeared a retinue of unfamiliar beastmen. The elderly man in their center stood out among them. He had long, flowing blond hair, and a pair of striking blue eyes that spoke of long accumulated wisdom. His body was so frail that it seemed a strong gust would blow him away. Though his majestic face was creased with wrinkles, they only served to highlight his noble appearance. The most distinctive part of his appearance, however, was his long, tapered ears. He was one of the fey folk of the forest, an elf. 
Hajime guessed that he must be one of the elders. And his hunch turned out to be correct. 
“Hmm, so you’re the human that’s been causing a ruckus in our forest. What’s your name?” 
“Hajime. Hajime Nagumo. Who’re you, old man?” 
The surrounding beastmen were shocked by his arrogant attitude. However, the old elf held out a hand to calm them before their anger boiled over. 
“I am Ulfric Heipyst. I have the honor of representing Verbergen as one of its elders. Now then, I have been informed of your request, but before I give my reply, I would like to ask you something. Where did you come to learn of the Liberators?” 
“Oh, we just heard about it from the man himself in Oscar’s house at the bottom of the abyss.” 
Hajime was surprised Ulfric was more interested in the Liberators than their objective in the forest. And while Ulfric didn’t let it show on his face, he was astonished Hajime knew of the Liberators. The reason being that only people very close to the Liberators had known their true name, or that Oscar Orcus had been one of them. 
“I see. So you claim to have discovered it at the bottom of the abyss. I can’t say I’ve ever heard of such a place, though... Can you prove your claim?” Ulfric was worried there might be someone among the beastmen leadership that had leaked classified information, which was why he asked. 
Hajime’s expression clouded over. The only thing he could think of would be to display his strength, but that still wouldn’t prove it. As he was puzzling over the issue, Yue came up with a suggestion. 
“...Hajime, how about the mana crystals, or some of Oscar’s things?” 
“Oh yeah, good point. Let me just find them...” 
Hajime clapped his hands together before opening up the Treasure Trove and pulling out mana crystals so large that no monster on the surface could have produced them. He handed one over to Ulfric for inspection. 
“I-I don’t believe it... I’ve never seen a mana crystal of such purity...” The tigerman’s jaw dropped open in shock. Likewise, Ulfric raised his eyebrows in mild astonishment. 
“Oh, there’s this too. Apparently it’s the ring Oscar wore or something.” Hajime also pulled out the ring with the Orcus crest on it. This time Ulfric was unable to contain his shock and opened his eyes wide in surprise when he gazed upon the crest. He started taking slow, deep breaths in order to calm himself down. 
“I see... So you youngsters really did reach Oscar Orcus’ resting place. There are still some things I’m very curious to learn, but... very well. I shall grant you passage through Verbergen. By my right as elder, you are free to travel as you please. Of course, the Haulia are welcome as well.” 
The beastmen around him weren’t the only ones surprised. After all, Cam and the others were shocked as well. All at once, the tigermen started hotly protesting the elder’s decision. It was only natural. Not once had humans ever been allowed passage through Verbergen. 
“We must treat them as honored guests. They’ve earned that right. This is one of the ancient laws only those who sit on the elder’s council are told of.” Ulfric’s stern tone left no room for disagreement, so the beastmen quieted down. However, surprisingly, Hajime was the one who raised an objection. 
“Wait. Don’t go deciding our plans for us. The only place I have business with is the Grand Tree; I’m not planning on going to Verbergen or anything. If we’re free to go, then we’ll be heading straight to the Grand Tree, thank you very much.” 
“I’m afraid you can’t.” 
“What?” 
So they really are going to try and get in our way, then? Hajime instantly put up his guard, but Ulfric simply replied bemusedly. 
“The fog around the Grand Tree is so thick that even beastmen lose their bearings near it. It waxes and wanes in cycles, and only when the fog is thinnest can we safely approach. I’m afraid the next cycle isn’t for ten days... I had thought all of the beastmen were aware of that fact, but...” Ulfric gave Hajime a puzzled stare before turning to look at Cam. After a moment spent absorbing this new piece of information, Hajime too turned to look at Cam. Faced with two expectant stares, Cam replied with... 
“Ah,” as if he’d only just now remembered it. A vein pulsed on Hajime’s forehead. 
“Cam?” 
“Oh, uh, I’m not quite sure what to say... Well, there was an awful lot going on, so it’s only natural that I’d forget... Yeah, I’ve only been there once myself when I was a small child, and I didn’t really pay attention to the cycles or anything back then...” He kept trying to make excuses, but Hajime and Yue’s relentless gazes wouldn’t let him escape. Finally, he snapped and turned on his brethren. 
“Hey, Shea! The rest of you too! Why didn’t you say something! You all knew about the fog cycles too, didn’t you!?” 
“What!? Why’re you blaming us all of a sudden, Dad? You looked so confident that I was sure you knew that this was the right time in the cycle... This is all your fault!” 
“Exactly! We all thought it was a little strange too, but you were so confident about getting us there that we thought maybe we were the ones who’d gotten the dates wrong...” 
“Yeah, you sounded so sure, Chief...” 
Cam’s misguided anger made Shea lash back at him in turn, and his tribe started averting their eyes, shifting all the blame onto him. 
“Y-You guys! I thought we were family! Doesn’t that mean we share both the good times and the bad!? Hajime-dono, if you must punish me, please punish us collectively!” 
“Coward! Dad, I can’t believe you’d try and pull something like that! Just because you’re scared of getting punished doesn’t mean you should drag us down with you!” 
“Leave us out of this, Chief!” 
“Fools! Didn’t you see how merciless Hajime-dono was to his enemies? I’ll die if I have to face that punishment alone!” 
“I can’t believe you still have the gall to call yourself our chief!” 
Those were the people that were renowned for being the kindest among the beastmen, but at that moment they were busy trying to shift the blame onto each other. Where’d all that supposed kindness go...? Well, I guess they are Shea’s family. The whole lot of them were worthless rabbits. 
Hajime muttered just a single word. 
“Yue.” 
“Okay.” Yue stepped forward, then raised one of her hands. The Haulias’ expressions all stiffened simultaneously. 
“P-Please wait, Yue-san! If you have to punish someone, punish Dad!” 
“Hahaha, we’ll be together forever!” 
“Get the hell away from me!” 
“Yue-dono, please leave us out of this and just discipline the chief!” 
“I didn’t do it! I didn’t do it! The chief’s the one who’s at fault!” 
Yue only smiled thinly in response, then muttered a single phrase. 
“Storm Gust.” 
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!” The sky suddenly started raining bunny ears. Their screams could be heard throughout the entire forest. Though it was their own people who were being tortured, Ulfric and the others didn’t seem the slightest bit angry. In fact, they were looking up at the sky in awe. Judging by their expressions, they too knew how pathetic the Haulia were. 
The forest floor looked like the remnants of a battlefield. Scattered among the leaves were heaps of twitching bunny ears. Hajime mercilessly followed up with a barrage of rubber bullets, prompting the Haulia to their feet, tears streaming down their eyes. 
Still somewhat nonplussed, Ulfric signaled to one of the tigermen, Gil. Gil sighed tiredly, then started guiding the group through the fog. 
They walked in formation, with Hajime, Yue, Ulfric and the Haulias in the center and the tigermen surrounding them in a defensive perimeter. An hour later they still hadn’t arrived at the city, and Hajime realized for the first time that Zam must have sent quite a fast runner for the elder to have arrived so quickly. 
After another hour or so of walking, the fog started to grow thin. But only in a line directly in front of them, like a tunnel. The rest of their surroundings remained shrouded in dense mist. Upon closer inspection, Hajime realized that both sides of the path were marked by luminous blue crystals that had been embedded in the ground. It was almost as if those crystals were warding off the fog. 
Ulfric noticed Hajime was eyeing the crystals, so he volunteered an explanation. 
“Those are called verdren crystals. For some reason, they drive away both the fog and monsters. Both Verbergen and the surrounding villages are protected by these crystals. They work perfectly for the fog, but they’re only somewhat effective at driving off monsters.” 
“I see. Makes sense. I mean, you’d probably all go crazy having to live in the fog all the time. Even if you know where you’re going, you probably don’t want to stay there.” 
While the forest may have been covered in fog, it seemed the villages within at least were spared such a fate. Considering they’d be spending the next ten days here, that was good news. Yue’s eyes lit up happily too. She clearly hadn’t been thrilled by the idea of spending ten days in the fog either. 
Finally, the group found themselves standing before a massive gate. Thick trunks interlocked together to form an arch, and the double doors enshrined within were also made of wood. In place of walls was a towering barrier of living trees, each one at least thirty meters tall. A very fitting marker for the border of the beastmen’s country. 
Gil gave a signal to the gate guard, and the massive doors slowly creaked open. A great number of people were staring down at Hajime’s party from atop the branches of the trees. Everyone had been terrified to hear that a human would be allowed into their land. Had Ulfric not been there, a fight probably would have broken out. Perhaps the reason he’d come in person was precisely because he’d expected that kind of reaction. 
Past the wall of trees, a new world spread out before Hajime. 
Numerous massive trees dotted the landscape, a dwelling carved into each one. Warm lamplight poured out of the windows that had been cut into the trunks. Thick branches, wide enough for dozens of people to walk across abreast, linked the treetops together into one big aerial highway. Vines served as pulleys, allowing for huge elevators big enough to pull up carts. There were even wooden aqueducts, carrying water from tree to tree. And each of the trees was at least as tall as a twenty story building, too. 
Hajime and Yue stared in awe, their mouths hanging open at the fantastical scenery. After a few seconds, Ulfric cleared his throat to grab their attention. It seemed they had been so enraptured by the city that they’d forgotten to keep walking. 
“Hoho, it seems our fair city of Verbergen is to your liking.” Ulfric smiled warmly. All of the surrounding beastmen, even the Haulia, were all puffing their chests out proudly. Seeing how happy they were, Hajime gave his honest impression of the city. 
“Yeah, this is the first time I’ve ever seen such an amazing city. Even the air smells wonderful. It really feels like you guys are one with nature.” 
“Yeah... it’s really pretty.” 
The beastmen were all surprised at such honest praise. Happy and embarrassed at the same time, they averted their gaze, their ears and tails wagging happily. Hajime and Yue were unperturbed by the gazes of curiosity, fear, confusion, and hatred the residents sent their way, and continued enjoying the scenery as they walked through the city, led onward by Ulfric. 
“...I see. So the reward for clearing the trials is ancient magic, and the gods have actually been deceiving us all along...” 
Once they’d arrived at the hall Ulfric had prepared for them, Hajime and Yue had explained what they’d learned. He had gone over the speech Oscar Orcus had made about the Liberators, the magic he’d inherited from the Age of the Gods, the fact that he was a human from another world, and that he was looking to conquer the labyrinths in the hopes of finding a spell that could take him home. 
Ulfric hadn’t seemed terribly surprised when he’d heard about the gods’ true intentions. When Hajime had asked him why he seemed so calm, he had replied with “This world isn’t very kind to us beastmen, so what reason would we have to believe the gods are benevolent?” Whether the gods were raving lunatics or benign overlords didn’t matter to the beastmen. After all, they’d be oppressed either way. As the Holy Church had no influence here, most beastmen weren’t very religious either. If anything, they worshiped nature. 
Once Hajime had finished his tale, Ulfric told him about the ancient law that had been passed down among the elders of Verbergen. 
It was a very vague law that simply stated if anyone bearing a crest belonging to one of the Seven Great Labyrinths were to appear in the sea of trees, the beastmen were not to oppose that person regardless of who they were, and to guide them wherever they wished to go if they seemed nice. 
The creator of the Haltina Woods labyrinth, Lyutilis Haltina, had told the first elder she’d found that she was a Liberator, though she hadn’t explained what the Liberators were, and what her comrades’ names were. This had been long before Verbergen came into existence, and so the knowledge was passed down through the ages. The reason she’d probably stressed not to oppose them was because she must have known the beastmen would be no match for anyone strong enough to clear a labyrinth. And the reason Ulfric had seemed so surprised when he’d seen Orcus’ crest was because there was a stone tablet near the Grand Tree that had the seven Liberators’ crests carved into it. 
“So that’s why you let me in...” After Ulfric’s explanation, Hajime finally understood why he’d been invited to Verbergen. However, not all beastmen were privy to the knowledge Ulfric had, so there would probably be a need to explain his presence later. 
Sometime during Hajime and Ulfric’s conversation, a commotion began on the floors below. The two of them were on the highest floor of this particular tree, while Shea and the other Haulia were waiting down below. From the sounds of it, they’d gotten into an argument with someone. Hajime and Ulfric exchanged glances before standing up at the same time. 
Downstairs, a bearman, tigerman, foxman, some kind of winged beastman, and some small dwarfish fur-covered beastman were all glaring angrily at the Haulia tribe. The Haulia were all huddled in a corner, with Cam desperately trying to protect Shea. Both of their cheeks were red and swollen, meaning they’d already been hit at least once. 
As Hajime and Yue descended the last few steps, everyone turned to glare at them. The bearman was the first to speak. 
“Damn you, Ulfric... What were you thinking, bringing a human here!? And these damn rabbits too! You even allowed the cursed girl to step foot in our land... Depending your answer, I might have to call for you to get executed at our next elders’ meeting.” He was just barely restraining himself from rushing at them. Both his hands were balled into fists, and his arms were shivering with barely suppressed rage. So most beastmen really do see humans as mortal enemies, then. The situation was only exacerbated by the fact that Ulfric had invited the detested Haulia tribe as well. All of the other beastmen were glaring angrily at Ulfric, not just the bearman. However, Ulfric seemed completely unfazed by their display of anger. 
“I simply abided by our ancient traditions. You all are elders of your various clans, so surely you must realize my reasons.” 
“What ancient traditions!? All that’s nothing but bull! We’ve never once had any use for that ancient law since Verbergen’s founding!” 
“Then that’ll make this a first. Calm yourselves. You all are elders here, you know you must abide by the laws. If we don’t set an example as leaders of our people, then what use are any of our rules or traditions?” 
“Are you trying to say that little brat really did get through a labyrinth!? That he’s too strong for us to fight!?” 
“That is correct.” Ulfric spoke nonchalantly the entire time, as if he was simply commenting on the weather. The bearman’s incredulous gaze shifted from Ulfric to Hajime. 
Within Verbergen, all of the prominent powerful races elected one of their own to be their elder, and that individual represented the entire race in the elder council. The elder council met regularly to discuss the affairs of state, and laws and taxes were decided by a vote among them. They were, in effect, the rulers of the country. They also acted as the country’s judges. Apparently the members gathered here were all of the country’s elders. However, not all of them were in agreement about the ancient laws. 
Though Ulfric may have held the tradition in high regard, the other elders seemingly did not. Elves like Ulfric were known to live longer than most beastmen. From what Hajime remembered of the books he’d read, they usually lived to be around 200 on average. That would mean that Ulfric and the other elders’ views were probably different because of the huge age gap between them. Most other beastmen only lived to be around 100. 
All of the other elders couldn’t stand the thought of a human and a pack of wandering criminals being allowed into their sanctuary. 
“...Fine, why don’t we test if he’s really qualified, here and now!” 
The bearman finally snapped and charged at Hajime. It was so sudden that no one else had any time to react. Even Ulfric hadn’t expected him to charge, so his eyes went wide in surprise. 
In an instant the massive 2.5 meter lump of fat and muscle was bearing down on Hajime, one arm heading straight for his face. 
The bearmen were known for their impressive stamina and overwhelming arm strength. And this particular bearman was the head of his clan. One swing of his arm was enough to fell a tree. Everyone but Yue and the Haulia thought Hajime was a goner for sure. 
However, they all froze stiff in fear as they saw what happened next. Hajime lazily caught the bearman’s paw with his prosthetic left arm. 
“Pathetic. You call that a punch? But well, you still came at me with the intent to kill. I hope you’re prepared for what that means.” Hajime strengthened his grip. There was a sharp cracking noise from the bearman’s arm. Panic quickly overcame his shock, and the bearman desperately tried to free himself from Hajime’s grasp. 
“Gaaah! Let go!” He pulled with all his might, but Hajime, who barely came up to his chest, didn’t budge an inch. In truth, Hajime had simply transmuted the metallic plates he’d put in his boots into spikes to keep him rooted, but the bearman didn’t know that. To him, Hajime was as immovable as a boulder. 
Hajime poured more mana into his left arm, strengthening his grip further. 
“Ah!?” With another sharp crack, the bearman’s arm snapped. However, he didn’t cry out. He still had his pride as an elder to preserve. That didn’t stop him from stiffening up in pain and surprise, though. Taking advantage of his immobility, Hajime drew his hand back. While the bearman was still off balance, Hajime ducked into his guard and threw a punch. 
“Out of my sight.” He activated his Steel Arms skill as he did so, and for good measure burned a blastrock cartridge embedded in his elbow to further add force to his blow. His fists were deadly as is, but at that point they were backed by the force of a gunpowder explosion. 
His doubly empowered fist sunk mercilessly into the bearman’s abdomen, sending him flying backward. He wasn’t even given enough time to scream as he crashed right through the tree wall and fell to the ground. Only when he hit the ground did the screaming finally start. 
What Hajime had actually activated was the shotgun installed on his arm. However, the shotgun shells actually fired behind him. The reasoning was that he could use the recoil to empower his punches, and if he was fighting with Donner and Schlag, he could fire at enemies behind him without having to turn around. He’d used it for the punch empowering effect this time. Combined with Steel Arms, it made for quite a formidable weapon. 
Everyone was at a complete loss for words. There was a clicking noise as Hajime expended the used cartridge. By default there didn’t have to be one, but he’d added it in as a fun gimmick. After that, he swept his murderous gaze over the rest of the elders. 
“So? Are you all still my enemy?” 
No one nodded. Hajime’s actions had prevented the situation from becoming a bloodbath, and Ulfric managed to calm things down after that. The bearman had taken serious damage to his internal organs and fractured almost every bone in his body, but was still miraculously alive. They had to use copious amounts of rare and expensive healing medicine to keep him from succumbing to his wounds, though. And while he was going to recover, his fighting days were over. Once his condition was stabilized, the tigerman elder Zel, the winged beastman elder Mao, the foxman elder Lua, the moleman, or dwarven, elder Guze, and lastly the elf elder Ulfric all sat down together with Hajime. Yue, Shea, and Cam were all sitting next to him with the rest of the Haulia tribe cowering behind his back. 
Aside from Ulfric, the elders were all clearly nervous. The bearman, Jin, had been one of their strongest fighters, but Hajime had dealt with him in an instant. 
“So? What do you guys want with me? I just want to go to the Grand Tree. If you don’t plan on getting in my way, I have no reason to fight you, but... if the beastmen aren’t unified in their decision, I won’t know who to kill and who to spare if it comes down to it. And that’s just bad for you guys. I’m not so softhearted that I’ll care about who I’m killing if someone comes at me.” 
The elders stiffened at Hajime’s casual tone. They realized he was willing to go to war against the entire beastman race if he had to. 
“You nearly kill one of our comrades, take that tone with us... and expect us to call you a friend?” Guze half-whispered, half-shouted those few words, his expression twisted in anguish. 
“Hey now, that bear guy was the one who attacked first. I was just defending myself. If he can’t fight anymore because of it, that’s hardly my fault.” 
“Y-You bastard! Jin... Jin was only thinking of what was best for his country!” 
“And that makes it okay to try and kill a guy you just met?” 
“Th-That’s— But—” 
“If anything, I’m the victim here. That bear dude started it. Aren’t you elders supposed to be judges too? Don’t you think you should be a bit more impartial?” 
Guze was probably a good friend of Jin’s, which was why even if Hajime was correct, Guze still couldn’t accept it. However, Hajime had no interest in the feelings of strangers. 
“Guze, I understand how you feel, but just leave it at that. He is right, you know.” Ulfric’s rebuke hit Guze hard, and he sat back down, his face twisted with conflicting emotions. He sat there in sullen silence, still simmering with anger. 
“It’s certainly true the boy has one of the seven crests, and the strength needed to clear a labyrinth. I’m willing to believe he fulfills the conditions.” 
The one who spoke was the foxman, Lua. His slit-like eyes regarded Hajime for a moment before he swept his gaze over to the other elders. Mao and Zel both voiced their agreement, though it was clear they each had their reservations. Representing all the elders, Ulfric handed down the final decision. 
“Hajime Nagumo. We elders of Verbergen have decreed that you do indeed possess the qualifications spoken of in the ancient covenant. We will not oppose you... and we will implore everyone within our domain not to as well. However...” 
“No guarantees?” 
“Indeed. As you are aware, most beastmen do not think too kindly of humans. If I may be frank, most of us hate you. I cannot guarantee that some of the more hot-blooded ones among us won’t ignore our decision. Especially those belonging to Jin’s clan. I highly doubt the bearmen will be willing to let go of their anger. Jin was a very popular leader, after all...” 
“And?” Hajime’s expression didn’t change at all throughout Ulfric’s explanation. It was clear from his gaze that he only did what he thought was necessary, and would continue doing so moving forward. While Ulfric understood all of this, he too had a responsibility as the beastmen’s elder, and an unwavering will to match it. 
“I would like to request that you do not kill those who attack you.” 
“...You want me to hold back against someone who’s trying to kill me?” 
“Precisely. With your strength, it should be an easy task, no?” 
“If that bear guy was your strongest fighter, I’d say it’s definitely possible. But honestly, I have no intention of holding back if my opponent’s determined to turn it into a death match. I understand your feelings on the matter, but they have nothing to do with me. If you don’t want your countrymen to die, I suggest you make sure they understand not to mess with me.” 
The fact that all enemies needed to be thoroughly eliminated was a value that the abyss had instilled upon him quite effectively. After all, there was no telling what consequences letting up on your opponent might have. A cornered rat will bare its fangs. There was always the possibility that holding back could get Hajime killed eventually. That was why he was unwilling to agree to Ulfric’s request. 
However, the tigerman, Zel, wasn’t going to let Hajime refuse. 
“Then I’m afraid we won’t be able to guide you to the Grand Tree. Even the tradition says we have no obligation to help you if we don’t like you.” Hajime looked at him dubiously. From the start he had been planning on letting the Haulia guide him. He didn’t need to borrow help from Verbergen. Surely the elders realized that as well. However, Zel’s next words revealed his true intentions. 
“Don’t think the Haulia will be able to help you. They’re wanted criminals. They’ll be judged according to the laws of Verbergen. I don’t know what your agreement with them was, but you’ll be parting ways with them here. That cursed demon child and the criminals who protected her have put all of Verbergen in danger. The council has already decided to execute them.” 
At Zel’s words, Shea started trembling, tears welling up in her eyes. Cam and the others already looked like they were resigned to their fate. The fact that none of them were blaming her even now showed just how kindhearted they really were. 
“Esteemed elders! I beg of you, please show mercy to my family at least! Please!” 
“Shea, don’t! We’ve already made our decision. None of this is your fault. We’re not so heartless that we’d throw away our family to live. Every single one of us talked this over, and we’re all prepared. There’s no need for you to feel guilty about this.” 
“But...!” 
Shea prostrated herself before the elders in her plea for mercy, but it seemed Zel had none to spare. 
“The judgment has already been passed down. The Haulia will all be executed. Had you not deceived Verbergen, we would have settled for simply banishing the demon child, but it’s too late now.” 
Tears were streaming down Shea’s face. Cam and the others tried to comfort her. So their execution really was already set in stone. None of the other elders spoke. It seemed they cared more about the threat Shea had posed to Verbergen than Shea’s fate itself, which was why their sentence was so grave. In other words, the Haulia’s kindness had only exacerbated the situation. How ironic. 
“So there you have it. Your only other means of reaching the Grand Tree are gone. What do you plan on doing now? Test your luck and see if you can make it on your own?” 
“If you don’t like it, then you better listen to our demands,” or so the unsaid implication went. The other elders were all in agreement. However, Hajime didn’t seem terribly perturbed by their ultimatum. 
“Are you all stupid or what?” 
“Wh-What did you just say!?” Zel’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets at Hajime’s casual insult. Even Shea looked up at him in surprise. Yue already knew what he was thinking, so her expression didn’t change. 
“I already told you I don’t give a damn about your circumstances. Trying to take these guys away from me is the same as getting in my way.” Hajime glared down at the elders while placing a protective hand on Shea’s head. Her body trembled at his touch, and she looked up at him with a tear-stained face. 
“And I believe I’ve already shown you... what happens to people who get in my way.” 
“Hajime-san...” 
Hajime was just trying to get a return on his investment, and eliminate anything that got in the way of that. That was all, really. However, the fact that he was willing to declare war against all beastmen in the heart of Verbergen resonated with Shea, who was in the depths of despair. 
“Are you truly serious?” Ulfric’s sharp glare and stern expression made it clear that a lie would be met with harsh consequences. 
“Of course.” Still, Hajime didn’t waver. His will was unshakeable. In this world, anyone who meant him harm or intended to get in his way would be slaughtered without mercy. That was what he had sworn back in the depths of the abyss. 
“Even if we were to offer you guidance in their stead?” The decision to execute the Haulia was something that had been decided by the council of elders, which meant that if they caved into Hajime’s threats and repealed it, it would ruin their reputation as a nation. Even if they’d lose the bargaining chip they’d been hoping to use to entice a promise of clemency for those who attacked Hajime, they couldn’t afford to lose face by taking back their decision. That was why Ulfric had offered that compromise. However, Hajime made it clear that there was no room for negotiation. 
“Don’t make me repeat myself. The Haulia will be my guides.” 
“Why are you so insistent on having them do it? Anyone could take you to the Grand Tree.” Annoyed at Ulfric, Hajime glanced back at Shea. He’d noticed her gaze a while back, so when he turned around their eyes met. Shea could feel her heartbeat quicken. She averted her gaze instantly, but the pounding of her heart didn’t slow. 
“Because I made a promise. I promised to protect them in return for guiding me.” 
“A promise? In that case, couldn’t you consider it already fulfilled? You protected them not only from the monsters in the gorge, but also the imperial soldiers, correct? All that remains is to receive your reward, no? What difference does it make if we provide that reward or them?” 
“There’s a difference. I promised I’d guarantee their safety until they took me where I wanted to go. Just because a better looking deal showed up halfway doesn’t mean I can just throw that promise away...” Hajime stopped halfway and looked over at Yue. She too was gazing at him, and smiled slightly when their eyes met. He returned her smile and shrugged his shoulders before turning back to Ulfric and continuing coolly. 
“It just wouldn’t be cool to break my promise, you know?” Surprise attacks, bluffs, traps, cowardly tricks, the whole gamut. Hajime had no problem using any of them in battle. He was willing to use any means at his disposal in order to survive. 
However, outside of a fight to the death, he still had principles he wanted to stick to. If he threw away even those, he’d have no humanity left. And he was still a man. He didn’t want to cross that line in front of the very girl who’d saved him from falling that far in the first place. He wanted to stay someone she could be proud of. In short, he wanted to look cool in front of the girl he loved. 
Seeing that he had no intention of backing down, Ulfric breathed a long sigh. The other elders all looked at each other, hoping someone might have a solution. Silence filled the room for a few moments before Ulfric brought out one last suggestion with an exhausted look on his face. 
“Then let’s just say they’re your slaves. According to the laws of Verbergen, any who leave the sea of trees and do not return, or those who are captured as slaves, are considered dead. While we may stand a chance against humans in this fog-enshrouded forest, outside of it their magic would tear us apart. Hence why those who get captured are considered dead, and chasing after them is prohibited to prevent there from being more victims... If they’re already dead, we can hardly execute them.” 
“Ulfric! You can’t!” Sophism was all it was, nothing more. The other elders, of course, weren’t happy about that proposal. Zel had even gone so far as to protest. 
“Zel. Surely you see that this boy isn’t willing to back down, nor do we have the strength to force him to. If we try to execute the Haulia, he will fight us. As an elder... I cannot risk the sacrifices that decision would bring.” 
“But then how are we meant to set an example for the rest of our people!? If people discovered we caved to force and let this monster of a girl run free along with her demonic companions, what will they think of us? Our dignity will forever be stained!” 
“But...” 
Zel and Ulfric’s argument continued, and the other elders began voicing their opinions as well. Before long it had turned into a shouting match. As expected, letting a potential threat run free and ignoring a verdict that had already been decided was not something they could easily swallow. It would set a dangerous precedent, and forever taint the name of the council. Growing tired of their bickering, Hajime decided to butt in despite knowing he might make things worse. 
“Umm, sorry to interrupt such a lively conversation, but don’t you think worrying about this worthless rabbit now after all this time is kind of pointless?” Everyone fell silent at once. The elders all looked at Hajime in confusion. He rolled up his right sleeve, then started directly controlling his mana. Crimson veins rose to the surface of his exposed arm. He then activated Lightning Field to further illustrate his point, and sparks started running down his arm. 
The elders all gazed in astonishment. When they saw him use magic without a circle or incantation, their jaws all dropped. They had thought Hajime’s left arm had been some sort of artifact, and that was how he had defeated Jin. 
“Just like her, I can control my mana directly, and use specialized magic only monsters are supposed to have. Oh, Yue can too, by the way. We’re all basically monsters here. If having the same abilities as actual monsters is grounds for execution, then shouldn’t you be trying to execute us as well? But wait, didn’t your law say not to oppose anyone who possessed the right qualifications, no matter who they were? No matter what you do, you’re going to have to break one of your laws. So being so hung up over her seems kind of pointless to me.” It took a few moments for the elders to recover from their shock, but when they finally did they started whispering furiously to each other. Eventually they reached a decision, and Ulfric, their representative, delivered it with an increasingly tired sigh. 
“Haaah, by the rule of the council the cursed child Shea Haulia will be considered a relative of the cursed child Hajime Nagumo. As Hajime has shown he possesses the qualifications spoken of in our ancient laws, we shall not oppose his passage. However, he will be barred from Verbergen and its surrounding settlements. Henceforth, anyone who takes any action against Hajime or his kin does so at their own risk, without the blessing or protection of Verbergen... That is all. Is this good enough?” 
“Yeah, that’s fine. Like I said, all I care about is getting to the Grand Tree and having these guys guide me, so no problems here.” 
“...I see. Very well, could I kindly ask you to leave, then? It’s a shame we cannot give a more proper welcome to the first person to ever fulfill the ancient pact, but...” 
“Don’t worry about it. I’m aware I’ve caused you guys a great deal of trouble because of my own selfishness. I’m just glad you didn’t choose do to anything stupid, honestly.” 
Ulfric smiled bitterly. The other elders all looked equally unhappy and exhausted. It wasn’t so much that they bore a grudge, or even hated Hajime, they just wanted him gone and out of their hair. He shrugged his shoulders helplessly and signaled Yue and the others to get up. 
Yue slowly rose to her feet. He couldn’t tell if she hadn’t had any interest in their conversation from the beginning, or if she simply hadn’t felt like voicing her opinion. However, Shea and the rest of the Haulia were still seated. It seemed the shock of what had happened had been so great that they still hadn’t registered the fact that’d been saved. They had come ready to die, and now they’d just been exiled. Most of them still weren’t really sure it was okay for them to just leave. 
“Hey, how long are you going to sit there daydreaming? Get up, we’re going.” The rabbitmen all hurriedly got to their feet and tottered after Hajime at those words. Ulfric and the others tagged along as well, saying they would escort him to the gate. 
As they were walking back, Shea timidly walked up to Hajime and asked him a question. 
“U-Umm, are we... really not going to be executed?” 
“Did you not listen to a word we said?” 
“N-No, I was listening, but... we got out of it so easily that it still doesn’t feel real... I feel like I’m going to wake up at any minute now and find out this was all just a dream...” The other Haulia all had the same bewildered expression on their faces. Hajime supposed that was just how absolute the elder’s judgment usually was for the beastmen. Yue suddenly chimed in, seeing that Shea still didn’t know what to do with her feelings. 
“...Just be happy.” 
“Yue-san?” 
“Hajime saved you guys. That’s the simple truth. Why not just be happy about it?” 
“......” Mulling over Yue’s words, Shea glanced up at Hajime. He just shrugged his shoulders without turning back. 
“I mean, that was part of the promise.” 
“Ah...” 
Shea’s shoulders trembled. In return for guiding him through the sea of trees, Hajime promised to protect her and her family. She had grinded herself to the bone, almost literally, in order to wring that promise out of him. 
Though she had seen a future where he was protecting them, there was no guarantee that future would come to pass. Shea’s choices constantly affected the futures she saw. That was why she had been so desperate to get his cooperation. Even though she had nothing to offer in return, and her potential savior was a human, a member of the race that discriminated against beastmen. All she had to negotiate with was her body and her special magic. When he had ignored both of those things, she had really wanted to cry, but she still desperately tried to squeeze a promise out of him. And so, on their way to save her family she realized that he wasn’t the kind of person that would go back on his word. Part of her conviction came from the fact that he never discriminated against her, a rabbit girl. 
However, all of that had been based on her feelings; she had never had a concrete reason to believe Hajime would stick to his promise. That was why she had still been a little worried deep inside. It was why she tried to say things like “He’s not a guy who’ll go back on his word!” with confidence, and extract promises that he’d be willing to fight against fellow humans. Despite her initial fear, she had actually been relieved when he’d killed those imperial soldiers without hesitation. 
Still, when they’d been negotiating with the elders, Shea’s fears that he would abandon them had returned. The circumstances were completely different. What he had done was the same as threatening war to the Emperor of Hoelscher’s face. And yet, he had kept his promise without backing at all. Regardless of whether he’d done it for his own sake or not, Yue was right. He’d saved her and her family. 
Just thinking about it made her heartbeat quicken once more. She could feel her face flush, and an indescribable feeling welled up within her. She wasn’t sure if it was happiness because her family had been saved, or... Thinking about it any harder would have made her brain overheat, so she decided to stop worrying about it and just be happy like Yue told her to. Her newfound emotions were clamoring to be expressed, so Shea did so the only way she knew how. By hugging Hajime as hard as she could, of course. 
“Hajime-saaan! Thank you so muuuuuch!” 
“Oof. Where’d that come from?” 
“Grr...” 
With tears in her eyes again, Shea buried her face into Hajime’s shoulder, clinging to him with inhuman strength. There was a beaming smile on her face, and her cheeks were a bright red. 
Yue growled unhappily, but then she thought better of kicking Shea off. Instead, she simply took Hajime’s hand in hers. 
As they watched Shea explode with joy, the reality that they’d been saved finally hit the other Haulia, and they all began embracing each other, reveling in everyone’s delight. The elders watched on awkwardly, unsure how to feel. There were plenty of hateful and angry gazes that watched them go, though. 
Hajime smiled bitterly as he realized his troubles in the Haltina Woods were just beginning.