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

Chapter II: Rabbit Reformation 

“Now then, I’m thinking I need to teach you guys how to fight.” After leaving Verbergen, Hajime and the others had set up a temporary base near the outskirts of the Grand Tree. Though perhaps “base” was giving them too much credit. All Hajime had done was steal... No, take some verdren crystals from the path and scatter them around their base. Most of the rabbitmen stared blankly at Hajime. They were sitting down on stumps and boulders, taking a short break. 
“U-Umm, Hajime-san. By teaching us how to fight, do you mean...” Shea asked hesitantly, voicing the question her entire tribe had. 
“I mean exactly that. We’re stuck here for the next ten days anyway, right? Might as well do something useful in that time, don’t you think? It’s high time you spineless, gutless, cowardly rabbits learned how to hold your own in a fight.” 
“Wh-Why do we have to...” Shea’s question had been a natural reaction to the sudden nature of Hajime’s declaration. Everyone’s rabbit ears trembled as Hajime glared at them menacingly. 
“Why? Why’d you think to even ask such a stupid question, you worthless rabbit?” 
“Aww you’re still not calling me by my name...” 
Hajime ignored Shea’s dejected mutterings and continued talking. 
“Listen up, I promised to protect you until you finished guiding me to the Grand Tree. But have you guys given any thought to what’ll happen once that’s done?” 
The Haulia all exchanged glances and shook their heads hesitantly. Cam even had a worried expression on his face. Though they had this nagging worry at the back of their minds, the sequence of insane events they’d been thrown into one after another had forced that worry away. Or maybe they just hadn’t considered it at all, who really knew. 
“Just as I thought, you haven’t thought about it at all. Though even if you had, it’s not like you’d have an answer for me. You guys are weak. First sign of danger and your only thought is to run. And now you don’t even have the sanctuary of Verbergen to protect you. So basically, you guys are screwed as soon as I’m gone.” 
“......” 
Glum expressions settled on the Haulia’s faces when they realized Hajime’s words hit the mark. They’d been rocked by his stunning statement. 
“You have nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide, and soon you’ll have no one to protect you. But monsters and humans won’t stop attacking you out of pity, you know? At this rate you’re all doomed to die eventually. Are you all really okay with that? Being killed off just because you’re weak, I mean. You guys were lucky to survive this long and now you’re going to throw those lives away? Well?” 
No one said a word as a grim atmosphere fell over the clearing. Finally, someone muttered quietly. 
“Of course we’re not okay with it.” Those words broke the rest of them out of their stupor and everyone looked up at Hajime. Even Shea’s gaze was filled with determination. Hajime nodded approvingly, and memories of his old powerless self flashed through his mind as he spoke. 
“That’s right. You’re not okay with it. But what can you do? The answer’s simple. Get stronger. Tear down anything that gets in your way, and fight for your right to survive.” 
“...But we’re rabbitmen. We’re not like tigermen or bearmen who have strong bodies, or like the winged races or dwarves that have special traits they can use to escape trouble. We’re just...” 
The fact that rabbitmen were weak only made them despair even more at Hajime’s words. They were weak, so how could they possibly ever hope to fight? No matter how much they struggled, they’d never become strong like Hajime. But Hajime just scoffed at them. 
“You know, in the past my comrades called me worthless too.” 
“Huh?” 
“Worthless. Weak. Useless. Both my stats and my skills were painfully mediocre. I was the weakest person in my group. Nothing more than dead weight. That’s why my comrades all looked down on me. And it was all true, too.” 
Everyone’s jaw dropped open in shock at Hajime’s confession. They couldn’t believe that Hajime, the boy who’d beaten a bearman elder like it was nothing and taken down scores of ferocious monsters in the Reisen Gorge, had ever been called worthless or weak. 
“But when I fell into the depths of hell, I did everything in my power to get stronger. It wasn’t about whether I could or couldn’t do it. If I didn’t, I’d die. I fought like my life depended on it, because it did. And then, before I knew it, I was like this.” He spoke casually, but the unbelievable contents of his tale sent a shiver down the Haulia’s spines. 
If he’d had average stats for a human, then he had to have been even weaker than the rabbitmen. But despite that, he’d fought against monsters far stronger than the enemies they’d been overwhelmed by in Reisen Gorge. Still, it wasn’t his strength or the fact that he’d survived that awed them the most. It was his strength of mind that had let him face such monstrous foes without flinching. When they’d been driven to a corner, the Haulia had meekly accepted their demise. Just as they’d meekly accepted the elders’ decision. 
“You guys are like how I was in the past. But don’t worry. So long as I’m bound by this promise, I’ll do what I can to save you from despair. If you tell me there’s no way you can do it, then that’s fine too. You’ll just die when your time’s up. I won’t come save you once our contract is finished. You can spend the rest of your short lives bemoaning your weakness for all I care.” 
So what’ll it be? Hajime’s eyes seemed to say that. The Haulia didn’t answer immediately. Or rather, they weren’t able to. 
They’d realized their only path to survival was to get stronger. And that Hajime wasn’t protecting them out of some noble sense of justice. He’d leave them without a second thought once their end of the bargain was complete. However, the very idea of fighting was foreign to the peace-loving, gentle rabbitmen. Accepting Hajime’s suggestion would mean stepping into uncharted territory. It would probably take an event as radical as what happened to Hajime to fundamentally change their nature. 
And so, they simply all looked at each other silently. However, Shea alone stood up resolutely. It seemed she’d made her decision long ago. 
“I’ll do it. Please, teach me how to fight! I’m tired of being weak!” She shouted so loudly that her voice echoed throughout the entire forest. Everyone present could see that she was filled with determination. Of course, even Shea hated fighting. It was scary, it hurt, but more than anything she hated hurting others. 
Still, it was undeniably her fault that her family was in this mess, and she hated the thought of causing her family’s deaths even more. On top of that, there was one other reason Shea wanted so desperately to fight against her nature and grow stronger. 
Shea gazed unwaveringly at Hajime. Cam and the others watched her in amazement, but after a while, their awe gave way to determination, and they too began standing up. Not just the men either. The women and children too. When Cam saw that everyone was standing up, he stepped forward as his tribe’s representative and addressed Hajime. 
“Hajime-dono... please teach us all you can.” A concise request. But each word was backed by an ironclad will. The will to resist the unfairness of this world. 
“Alright. You guys better prepare yourselves. How strong you’ll become is all up to you. I’m just here to enable you guys. If you want to give up halfway, then I won’t try and coddle you to keep you here. We’ve only got ten days, so I’m going to be working you to the bone. Whether you live or die will depend on how strong you get.” Everyone nodded grimly. No one was going to back down now. 
Before their training began, Hajime first pulled out equipment he’d made to practice his transmutation from his Treasure Trove and passed it out to them. In addition to the knives he’d passed out earlier, everyone got their own curved shortsword, similar to a Japanese kodachi. Those swords were all spares Hajime had made to practice his precision transmuting, which meant their edges were all wickedly sharp. And because they were made of taur stone, they were also quite sturdy. Despite how slender the blade was, it wouldn’t break easily. 
Once everyone had been armed, Hajime began teaching them the fundamentals of combat. Of course, Hajime was no martial artist. What little he knew of swordfighting came from games and manga, and it certainly wasn’t nearly enough to teach anyone else. So what he taught them were not techniques, but the movements he’d learned in the depths of hell that helped him counter monsters. He passed down all the knowledge he’d picked up, and found suitable monsters for them to use as live practice. The Haulia excelled in stealth and scouting. In order to capitalize on that, Hajime taught them how to use surprise attacks and pack tactics. 
Yue had taken a special liking to Shea, and was teaching her more about how to use magic. Though she was a beastman, Shea had mana and could control it directly, so with the right knowledge she’d be able to use magic. She wouldn’t need to chant thanks to her ability, but she’d still need a magic circle, since she didn’t innately possess the skills for it. Occasional screams could be heard from beyond the fog, meaning Shea’s training was going well. 
However, around two days after they’d began their training, Hajime was angrily watching the Haulia’s training. As they’d promised, they were trying to fight their pacifistic nature and learn how to fight properly. They’d even managed to beat some monsters, though they’d sustained injuries. But... Snnnrk. There was a wet noise as one of Hajime’s special short swords sunk into a monster’s flank. 
“Aaah, please forgive such a sinful act.” The rabbitman who’d killed it gently embraced the dead monster. In fact, he looked like a father who’d been forced to kill his son. 
Thud! Another monster fell to the ground. 
“I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry! I had no choice!” A Haulia girl trembled uncontrollably as she cut the head off her quarry. It looked like she’d just accidentally killed her lover. 
Snap! On the verge of death, one of the remaining monsters used the last of its strength to fire a projectile at Cam. It flung him backward, but instead of cursing he just lay on the ground and muttered his last will. 
“Heh, so this is my punishment for baring my fangs at someone. It’s no more than I deserve...” Tears welled up in the other Haulia’s eyes, and they all looked at him pitifully. 
“Chief, please don’t say that! We all share the same sin!” 
“Exactly! Even if we have to be judged for our crimes one day, that day isn’t now! Get back up, Chief!” 
“We can no longer turn back, so let’s at least see how far this road can take us, Chief.” 
“Y-You guys... You’re right. We can’t stop here. We must overcome the death of this tiny rat monster and continue onward!” 
“Chief!” They were having a rather heartwarming moment. Unable to take it any longer, Hajime finally butt in. 
“Gaaah! You guys are so annoying! Quit getting so emotional after every monster you kill! Seriously, what the hell!? Are you guys just pulling my leg!? This looks like it came out of a crappy soap opera! You don’t have to make a scene every goddamn time, just kill it silently! And quickly, too! Also, stop humanizing the things you kill, it’s fucking creepy!” 
Hajime knew they were trying their best, but he hated how they had to make such a big deal out of every monster they killed. This had happened multiple times over the past two days, and Hajime had calmly tried to point it out every time. However, they showed no sign of fixing their habits, so Hajime finally snapped. 
They all flinched in the face of Hajime’s wrath, but they still mumbled excuses like “Easy for you to say...” or “But even if it is a monster, I still feel bad for it...” over and over again. 
Veins bulged on Hajime’s forehead. One of the Haulia boys stepped forward to try and calm Hajime down. He was the one Hajime had saved from being eaten back in Reisen Gorge, and he’d taken quite a liking to Hajime. However, just as he was about to take another step forward, he suddenly jumped back. Confused, Hajime asked him a question. 
“Huh? What happened?” 
The boy gently patted down the soles of his feet before replying. 
“Oh, you see... I was about to step on that flower there... Phew, good thing I noticed in time. Might’ve crushed it if I didn’t. It’s so pretty. Man, it’d have been such a waste to kill it.” Hajime’s expression stiffened. 
“A-A flower?” 
“Yep! You know, I love flowers. And there’s so many around here that it was pretty hard to not step on any while we were training.” He grinned happily at Hajime. The other Haulia all gazed proudly at him, too. Slowly, Hajime lowered his head. His white hair covered his face. 
“...Are you telling me the reason you all jumped around randomly sometimes... was just because you were worried about the flowers?” He asked softly, his voice barely a whisper. As Hajime had mentioned, the Haulia had oftentimes jumped in strange directions at odd intervals during their training. It had been bothering him for a while, but he’d thought it was just something they did to make their next action smoother, to better finish off their enemies. 
“Oh no, of course not. We would never.” 
“Haha, yeah, who would do that?” Hajime said, clearly relieved. 
Cam smiled awkwardly, and Hajime’s expression finally began to relax a little. However... 
“Naturally we wouldn’t only be wary of flowers. We have to be careful not to crush the bugs either. They’re the ones that come out of nowhere, so they’re much harder to watch out for. Though we’ve managed to avoid stepping on them so far.” 
Hajime’s jaw dropped at that. He began swaying back and forth, like a ghost. Worried that they might have said something wrong, the Haulia all glanced uneasily at each other. Still swaying slightly, Hajime walked up to the boy, then burst out into a beaming smile. The boy smiled back. 
Then, still smiling... he crushed the flower underfoot. He didn’t just step on it, he ground his heels deep into it. 
The boy watched on blankly. Finally, he took his foot off. All that remained of what had once been a pretty flower was a few scattered petals, and a stem that’d been stamped into the ground. 
“Th-The flower!” The boy’s despairing wail echoed throughout the sea of trees. Shocked, the Haulia all gazed at Hajime. He turned to face them, both the beaming smile and popping vein still present on his face. 
“Alright, I get it. I finally get just how soft you all are. This is my fault. I misjudged your race. Haha, I can’t believe you’d actually worry about flowers and bugs when you’re in a life and death struggle... Your problem is far more fundamental than a lack of combat ability or practice fighting actual enemies. I should have realized this sooner. I can’t believe I was so naive... Hahaha.” 
“Hajime-dono?” 
Hajime’s smile had taken on a ghastly appearance, and Cam and the others slowly began backing away. Instead of a reply... Bang! He fired Donner. Cam was flung a short distance through the air before he crashed to the ground with a resounding thud. The rubber bullet that had slammed into his forehead fell off him seconds later with a soft plop. Only the wind stirred in the silence that followed. Hajime slowly walked up to Cam, who had been knocked unconscious, and fired another bullet at his stomach. 
“Hauugh!” He let out something that was a cross between a cough and a scream as he woke up, and blinked back tears as he looked at Hajime. There was something absurdly surreal about an old man with rabbit ears sitting up in a pose Hajime had often seen girls do in anime, but he put that aside for the moment. 
“Alright you worthless little shits. If you don’t want your heads blown off, you better start fighting these monsters like your life depends on it! Don’t you dare worry about the flowers or the bugs or any of that crap! I’ll make you regret it if you do! Now hurry up and get to killing, you fucking maggots!” The Haulia all stiffened in fear at his exceptionally abusive language. But as exasperated as he was, he didn’t even wait for their reply before firing Donner again. 
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! They scattered like the four winds, tripping over themselves to escape Hajime’s wrath. All except for the little boy, who clung desperately to Hajime’s leg. 
“Hajime nii-chan! Why are you doing this!? What happened to you!?” A dangerous light glinted in his eyes as he glared down at the boy. Hajime looked around, trying to spot all of the nearby flowers. Silently, he began shooting at all of them. One after another they died. The boy screamed. 
“Why!? Why are you doing this!? Stop it, Hajime nii-chan!” 
“Shut it, brat. Get it yet? The longer you sit here crying, the more flowers die. Your tender love and care won’t save them. They’ll all be killed, and you’ll just be sitting here with tears in your eyes. If you don’t like it, then get out there and kill some monsters!” 
To emphasize his point, Hajime shot a few more flowers. Still crying, the boy ran off into the fog. 
For a while after, screams intermingled with the howls of monsters as the Haulia endeavored to avoid Hajime’s wrath. He had to be this hard on them, or else he’d never change the rabbitmen’s overly pacifistic nature. Right now it was more important for them to learn the right mindset than actual combat techniques. Though his spartan techniques were starting to resemble Sgt. Hartman from Full Metal Jacket... And thus, ten days passed under Hajime’s near-brainwashing as he rewired their brains for combat. As their training continued into the final day, somewhere beyond the fog, there was one other member of the Haulia who was finishing up as well. 
Boom! Bang! Snap! Crackle! Pop! Bam! Thunderous sounds echoed throughout the trees. The area looked like a war zone. Massive trees with thick trunks lay strewn about like reed stalks, some charred, others frozen, others just twisted horrifically, and huge craters dotted the ground as if a meteor shower had struck the earth. 
Two girls had been responsible for all of this destruction. And said destruction was still continuing. 
“Teyaaaaaah!” There was a spirited yell, and suddenly a tree at least one meter in diameter flew through the air. It soared toward its target at tremendous speed, fast enough that a casual observer might miss that it was bent at the middle. Velocity and mass granted a deadly amount of force to the tree, and it obliterated any obstacles in its path forward. 
“Crimson Javelin.” This nigh unstoppable force was met with a flaming spear that burned all it touched to ash. Despite the significant mass it possessed, the tree was burned to ash almost instantly. For a moment it was converted into a blazing fireball, before the last of the wood finally burned away and the flames vanished. 
“It’s not over yet!” The impact of the Crimson Javelin and the huge tree created shockwaves large enough to blow away the fog for a few seconds. In that brief window of time, a faint silhouette could be seen dashing through the woods. An instant later, another log hurtled down from the heavens like a meteor. However, its intended target backstepped in time to avoid the thunderous impact while preparing another flaming spear. 
But before she could unleash it, the silhouette ran up to the tree trunk impaled into the ground and gave it an earth-shattering kick. The force of it blew the tree apart, and splinters of wood shot toward the girl with unimaginable speed. 
“Ah! Blazing Barrier.” The barrage of splinters was cut short by a flaming wall that suddenly appeared in midair. Not a single sliver of wood made it through to her. However... 
“Now I’ve got you!” 
“Ah!” 

The time it had taken her to cast that spell had been enough for the shadow to get behind her. The girl who’d kicked the tree had hidden her presence right after, and then she had used the fog to slip behind her quarry. She held in her hands a massive hammer that must have weighed more than the girl herself, but she swung it down with the ease one would swing a flyswatter. 
“Wind Wall.” The hammer hit the ground with tremendous force. Stone pellets flew in every direction as the rock below was pulverized. However, this barrage of stone was deflected by the barrier of wind the other girl had erected. Additionally, she used the swirling eddies to whisk herself to safe distance as well. The girl with the hammer stiffened momentarily, the consequence of using such a huge skill, and her opponent took advantage of that opening. 
“Crystal Coffin.” 
“Fweh!? W-Wait—” Realizing her folly, she quickly tried to call for a ceasefire, but naturally her opponent wasn’t going to listen. Thinking quickly, she dropped her hammer and tried to jump back, but the ice magic had already frozen her feet and was crawling up her legs... Before long, everything but her head was encased in a tomb of ice. 
“I-It’s so cold! Please let me out... Yue-saaan.” 
“...I win.” 
Of course, the two girls that had been fighting so ferociously were Yue and Shea. After their ten harsh days of training, Shea’s final challenge had been to fight a mock battle against Yue. Her conditions for passing had been to land even a single scratch on Yue. The end result being... 
“Waaah... I didn’t— Wait, right there! There on your cheek! There’s a scratch, Yue-san! My attack hit you! Ahaha, I really did it! I won!” 
There was indeed a small scratch on Yue’s cheek. One of the pieces of gravel must have gotten past Yue’s defenses and grazed her. It was barely even noticeable, but a win was a win. Shea had cleared her trial. 
She smiled triumphantly as she pointed at Yue’s cheek. Snot was dribbling out of her nose from how cold she felt, but her smug smile stayed plastered to her face. Her rabbit ears were twitching happily too. It was only natural. Not only did this signify her graduation from training, but a very important promise she’d made with Yue had been riding on her victory. 
Though Yue was not very keen on seeing it fulfilled. Thus— 
“...I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Thanks to the fact that her automatic regeneration healed it almost instantly, Yue was able to play dumb. Pouting, Yue turned away as she said that. 
“Wha—!? You cheater! I saw it... I mean, it’s gone now, but still! I know it was there! Quit playing dumb, you meanie! And hurry up and get me out of this! It keeps getting colder and colder... Huh, I’m starting to feel a little sleepy too...” Shea’s head started drooping and more snot dribbled out of her nose. She might’ve died from the cold if that kept up. Reluctantly, with a big sigh, Yue dispelled the magic she had cast. 
“Achoo! Achoo! Waah, that was cold. Think I nearly crossed over to the other side there.” Shea sneezed cutely a few times before blowing her nose on some nearby leaves. Once she was done, she looked back at Yue with a serious expression. Noticing her gaze, Yue’s own expression turned steadily more sour. Enough that her poker face actually crumbled, in fact. 
“Yue-san, I won.” 
“...Yeah.” 
“You promised, remember?” 
“...Yeah.” 
“That if I hit you even once in these ten days... you’d let me join you guys on your journey. That was the promise, right?” 
“......Yeah.” 
“Or at the very least that you’d try and help me convince Hajime-san.” 
“......I wonder what’s for dinner today.” 
“Hey! Don’t try and change the subject! And if you’re going to do it, you could at least be a little less obvious about it! Besides, you only ever drink Hajime-san’s blood for food, don’t you!? Why do you suddenly care about dinner!? You better help me, okay!? Because if you say we should do something, Hajime-san almost always says yes!” 
Yue was starting to get annoyed by Shea’s incessant badgering. But as Shea had said, Yue made a promise. If Shea managed to land a single blow on her, no matter how glancing it was, it would count. And Yue would allow Shea to accompany them on their travels. On top of that, she’d help try and convince Hajime together with Shea to get him to consent. 
Currently, Shea’s greatest wish was to travel together with those two. Half of it was because she didn’t want to burden her family any longer, but the other half was just because she wanted to spend more time with Hajime and Yue. 
However, she knew no matter how she asked she’d just be coldly turned down. That much was clear from their attitude. That was why she’d come up with the idea of having Yue make that promise. 
Shea had realized how soft Hajime was on Yue, and had decided to weasel past his defenses using her as a weapon. More than anything, Shea was also a girl. She knew exactly how Yue felt about Hajime. After all, she felt the exact same way. Naturally, that meant the reverse had to be true too. Yue must have realized how Shea felt about Hajime, and chances were she probably wasn’t happy about it. Hence why Shea needed Yue to accept her first, before anything else 
She had no intention of stealing Hajime away from Yue. The thought hadn’t even crossed her mind, honestly. Even leaving Hajime’s feelings aside, Shea really did respect Yue, and wanted to get closer to her. Her feelings were most likely influenced by the fact that Yue and Hajime were the only “comrades” she had ever found. Put simply, Shea just wanted to be friends with them. That way she could be close to the man she loved, and the girl who also loved the man she loved. That was the future she dreamed of. 
The real question was why Yue consented to making such a promise. There was nothing in it for her. Something like 20% of it was just because she felt some sympathy for Shea. When she had first heard Shea’s story at the bottom of Reisen Gorge, she had initially thought that Shea had been far more blessed than she had been. But even then, she couldn’t help but feel like Shea really was a “comrade.” And that faint feeling of camaraderie had led Yue to spoil Shea just a bit. 
The remaining 80% was... simply because she was stubborn. Shea had taken advantage of that to lure Yue into making the promise. She had framed it like this: “If you really think I’m just in the way, then force me out. If you can’t, then that just proves I deserve to be with Hajime-san.” Shea had hoped to goad Yue into agreeing by using her feelings for Hajime. Had it been any girl other than Shea, Yue wouldn’t have cared. But, however slightly, Yue had still accepted Shea as a comrade. And when she’d seen how zealous Shea had been in her training, showing just how strong her feelings were, Yue couldn’t back down. As a result, the promise had been made, and Shea won. 
“...Haaah. Fine. I’ll keep my promise.” 
“Really!? No taking it back now! You’re going to have to help me!” 
“......Okay.” 
“You still don’t sound all that convincing, but... you’ll really help me, right?” 
“...So annoying.” Grudgingly, ever so grudgingly, Yue conceded the win to Shea. Shea was still a little worried about Yue’s reply, but from the looks of it, Yue was just like Hajime in that she would never go back on her word. 
It was nearly time for Hajime to finish training the other Haulia as well. Shea, who was smiling happily, and Yue, who was frowning unhappily, both made their way over to where Hajime was. 
They found Hajime leaning against a nearby tree, his arms folded and his eyes closed. When he sensed their presence, he opened his eyes and turned to look at them. He found it curious that they were wearing completely opposite expressions, and he raised a hand to them in greeting. 
“Yo. How’d it go? Did you two finish your duel or whatever?” Hajime knew they had some kind of bet riding on a match of some sort. It would be odd if he didn’t, as he was the one who had crafted Shea’s hammer. He still remembered the night Shea had come up to him, begging him to make her a weapon that could help her defeat Yue. Yue herself had no objections to it, and all they would tell Hajime when he asked was that there was a bet of some kind they’d made. He’d figured even with a strong weapon Yue would have no problem winning, so he’d made the hammer for Shea. 
After all, 9 times out of 10 Yue would’ve won. Hajime had seen just how strong Yue was back down in the abyss. Even if she had the same ability to manipulate her mana freely, Shea had lived a peaceful life thus far. 
However, judging from their expressions, it seemed to Hajime that his guess had been off the mark. He internally marveled at the fact that Shea had been able to win. Still beaming, Shea started talking to Hajime. 
“Hajime-san, Hajime-san! Listen to this! I finally beat Yue-san! It was amazing! Man, I wish I could have shown you how cool I was! When Yue-san found out she’d lost, she— Guooh!?” With sweeping gestures, she started excitedly recounting the details of her fight. Annoyed by how Shea was getting carried away, Yue jumped up and delivered a slap so powerful that it sent Shea flying through the air. She fell to the ground with a thud and lay there twitching awkwardly. Yue harrumphed unhappily and turned her back to Shea, while Hajime grinned knowingly before turning back to Yue. 
“So? How’d it go?” He was more interested in the contents of the match than their outcome. Frankly speaking, he found it hard to believe Shea could ever have beaten Yue. That was why he wanted to hear Yue’s appraisal of her. Yue’s expression clearly implied that she didn’t want to talk about it, but she answered reluctantly nonetheless. 
“...Her aptitude for magic is the same as yours.” 
“Now that’s a surprise. What a waste, considering her abilities... So? That can’t be all, can it? After all, she’s able to use that massive hammer.” 
“Yeah. She’s really good at body strengthening. Insanely good, even. She’s a monster in her own right.” 
“...Wow. How strong compared to us?” 
Hajime narrowed his eyes in curiosity. Yue’s assessment of Shea was a lot higher than he’d expected. And her sour expression answered Hajime’s question far better than any words could have. After a moment of thinking about it, Yue met Hajime’s gaze and gave him a more concrete answer. 
“Maybe close to 60% of your strength, Hajime... When you’re not using Limit Break, anyway.” 
“Seriously? Is that the strongest she can make herself?” 
“Yeah... For now, anyway. She could get stronger with more training.” 
“Wow. That is pretty crazy.” 
Though he didn’t show it, Hajime was shocked at how monstrous Shea’s strength was. He looked down at the monster in question. 
60% of his strength without Limit Break still meant that all of Shea’s stats could easily clear 6000. That was more than 1.5 times the stats of an average hero using Limit Break. Calling her strength monstrous was no understatement. No wonder she’d been able to land a hit on Yue. You’d never be able to guess it with how she looks now, though. Hajime thought, as he watched tears well up in Shea’s eyes as she cradled her cheek. 
Half-dumbfounded, half-amazed, he watched as she finally noticed his gaze, stood up, and walked over while struggling to keep her emotions in check. 
A few feet away from him, she straightened her back and squared her shoulders. Her blue-white hair was fluttering in the wind and her rabbit ears were standing straight up. This was going to be the most important request of her life. Or perhaps... confession would be the better word for it. Trembling, her expression stiff, she nevertheless took a few more determined steps forward. Finally, she looked him straight in the eyes, and Hajime saw the resolve burning within them. 
“Hajime-san. Please let me accompany you on your journey. Please!” 
“No.” 
“Just like that!?” 
Considering the atmosphere, Shea had expected him to at least ponder her request a bit before replying. She opened her eyes wide in surprise at his sudden response. Hajime just looked down at her with an expression that all but screamed “where the hell did that come from?” 
Shock gave way to anger. You could at least take my request a little more seriously! 
“Y-You’re so cruel, Hajime-san. I was being so serious, and you said no just like that...” 
“Didn’t look all that serious to me. Besides, what are you going to do about Cam and the others? You can’t expect me to take them all with me.” 
“N-No, that’s not it! I meant just me! I asked you before too, remember? Back then you said me not wanting to burden my family wasn’t a good enough reason to take me, but now...” 
“But now what?” 
Shea fidgeted awkwardly. Her fingers trembled and a faint blush crept up her cheeks. How sly. She truly was a master of her craft. Unfortunately for her, Hajime just looked at her suspiciously. Next to him, Yue was glaring angrily at her. 
“But now... I’m asking to go with you because I want to, so...” 
“Huh? Why do you want to come with us? You won’t even be a burden to your family anymore with how strong you’ve gotten. Hell, you could probably take on any kind of enemy that shows up on the surface.” 
“I-I know, but...” 
“......” She fidgeted silently for a few minutes before Hajime finally grew impatient and drew Donner. Realizing she had to say something soon, Shea quickly gathered her courage and opened her mouth, deciding to let her feelings do the talking for her. 
“I want to stay with you, Hajime-san! Becaushe I like you!” 
“You what?” 
Crap, I bit my tongue! Flustered, Shea tried to compose herself, while Hajime just looked on in complete shock. It was almost as if he couldn’t believe what he’d just heard. Eventually, the gears in his brain started turning again and he parsed her words. 
“Wait, wait... Wait. This doesn’t make any sense. Where’d I even trigger any of your flags? I mean, even I know I’ve been pretty mean to you this whole time... Hold on, don’t tell me you’re into that?” Though he thought his conjecture couldn’t possibly be true, he still took a step back just in case. Naturally, Shea denied his accusations. 
“How dare you call me a pervert! I’m nothing like that! And if even you’ve realized you’re being mean, don’t you think you could stand to be a little nicer to me?” 
“I don’t see why I have to be nice to you in the first place... Do you even really like me? Are you sure it’s not just some heat of the moment thing?” 
Hajime still couldn’t believe she really liked him, hence his assumption that the suspension bridge effect had come into play. And considering how he’d treated her until now, it was hardly surprising. However, it looked like Shea was pretty unhappy that he was doubting her feelings. 
“I can’t say I was completely unaffected by the situation. After all, you saved us from so many terrible predicaments, and you’re an outcast just like me... and I was definitely happy when you told the elders you’d protect your promise no matter what... But whether it was because of all that or not, the fact that I like you now hasn’t changed. Even I think it’s kind of strange. Why you, of all people? You don’t even call me by my name, any time you get mad you instantly start shooting people, you’re mean, you don’t care about other people’s feelings, you just throw people into hordes of monsters, you have no mercy, you’re mean, you never do anything nice, you’re only kind to Yue-san, you’re mean... Huh? Really, why do I like you? Huh?” 
Partway through her tirade, Shea began questioning her own feelings. She tilted her head in confusion, and while Hajime desperately wanted to whip out Donner, he held himself back. Nothing she’d said had been wrong, after all. 
“Either way, no matter what your feelings are, I don’t plan on taking you with us.” 
“No way! Look, all that was just a joke, okay? I really like you, so please take me with you!” 
“Look here, even if... Even if your feelings are real, I already have Yue. Actually, I’m surprised you confessed all that when she’s standing here in front of you... Come to think of it, the really scary thing about you isn’t that body strengthening ability, but how shamelessly bold you are. Is your heart made of azantium or something?” 
“Excuse me, my heart isn’t that hard! Aww, I knew this would happen... but that’s okay. I already knew I couldn’t deal with you through normal means, Hajime-san.” Shea snickered triumphantly, which made Hajime look at her suspiciously. 
“I already planned for all this! That’s why I put my life on the line! Now, Yue-sensei, if you would be so kind!” 
“Huh? Yue?” Hajime blinked at this sudden turn in the conversation. Annoyed, Yue nevertheless faithfully turned to look at Hajime. Her expression made it look like she’d just swallowed a hundred cockroaches, and she very reluctantly she opened her mouth. 
“......Hajime, let’s take her with us.” 
“Wait, uh... What? What’s going on here? You obviously don’t like the idea, but... Wait, is this what the bet was about?” 
“...I was careless.” 
Yue shrugged her shoulders despondently, and Hajime, who’d finally guessed what happened between them, couldn’t help but be amazed. 
Shea must have known asking him directly would only get her a prompt refusal, so she’d done everything in her power to get her request across to him. She’d even understood Hajime well enough to realize that he would listen to Yue, even if he didn’t listen to her. 
That was why she’d tried to enlist Yue to help her cause. In a very real sense, she had risked her life to obtain such a powerful ally. Half-baked feelings would never have gotten through to Yue, after all. Hajime had barely seen her these past ten days, but he was certain she must have trained like her life depended on it in order to beat Yue. And that meant her feelings were undeniably real. 
Hajime scratched his head awkwardly. Even if Yue had approved of her, albeit unwillingly, there still wasn’t any good reason to take Shea along with them. So, in the end, it still boiled down to Hajime’s feelings. 
Though Yue had agreed to help only reluctantly, it looked like she’d already given up. She’d seen her up close these past ten days, and knew just how hard Shea had trained to get past the obstacles Yue had thrown her way. That was why she was willing to take her along. Besides, leaving aside Shea’s feelings for Hajime, Yue had very little reason to hate her. 
Shea had smiled triumphantly when she’d asked Yue for help, but now worry lined her face once more, and she gazed uneasily at Hajime. She’d done everything she could, and now all that was left was to wait for his decision. 
Finally, Hajime took a deep breath and locked eyes with Shea. Each of his words were picked very carefully. At each turn, Shea replied with conviction. 
“Even if I let you come, that doesn’t mean I’ll respond to your feelings, you know?” 
“Don’t you know? The future’s not set in stone.” 
Since she was someone who could see the future, she knew that for sure. Depending on one’s actions, the future could be changed. 
“It’ll be nothing but danger.” 
“Good thing I’m a monster, then. I won’t get in your way during fights.” 
The elders had scorned her with that name once before, but now she wore it with pride. And it was all because she’d learned there were some things that couldn’t be done unless you were a monster. 
“My goal is to return to my own world. You might never see your family again if you come with me.” 
“I’ve already talked to them about that, but I still want to go. Dad understands too.” Shea felt nothing but gratitude for the family that had protected her for so long. She’d probably never be able to describe what she’d felt when the family she’d lived with all her life had sent her off with a smile after she’d told them her intentions. 
“You might not have it easy living in my world.” 
“I’ll say it as many times as I have to... I still want to go.” 
Shea’s mind was made up. Mere words wouldn’t deter her anymore... No, they couldn’t deter her. That was just how strong her feelings were. 
“......” 
“Fufu, is that all you have to say? Does that mean I win?” 
“What is there to even ‘win’ here...?” 
“There is something. It means my feelings won you over... Hajime-san.” 
“...The hell does that mean?” 
She decided to reiterate her, Shea Haulia’s, intentions. 
“Please take me with you.” 
Hajime and Shea stared at each other for a while. Reflected in Shea’s sapphire eyes were Hajime’s own pupils. Finally... 
“...Fine, do whatever you want. Damned weirdo.” 
  

Whatever he’d seen in her eyes must have been enough to convince him, as Hajime finally gave in with a sigh. 
A single shout of joy, followed by the unceremonious noise of someone blowing their nose echoed throughout the forest. Hajime could only smile wryly as he lamented the future that awaited him. 
Shea cupped her cheeks and let out a strange series of laughs that sounded like “Ehehe! Uheheheh! Kufufu!” as she happily jumped with joy. Her serious expression from earlier had vanished without a trace. 
“...Disgusting.” Yue muttered, unable to watch on any longer. Shea’s sensitive rabbit ears didn’t miss the whispered insult, though. 
“Hey, just what’s disgusting here, huh? I can’t believe you... I’m just so happy that I can’t help it, okay? This is like the first time Hajime’s been nice to me. Did you see him? How he looked at the end there? I felt my heart skip a beat when I saw that. At this rate, I’ll be head over heels for him pretty soon.” 
Shea was over the moon. In fact, she was probably over the stars even. Tired of her excited gaggling, both Yue and Hajime simultaneously opened their mouths. 
“...Stupid rabbit.” 
“Wha!? What was that!? Why can’t you just say my name already! Pleaaase, we’re even traveling companions now. Don’t tell me you’re going to keep using those terrible nicknames forever. You won’t, right?” 
“......” 
“Wh-Why are you suddenly going quiet... Wait, please don’t avert your eyes like that. Come on, it’s not a hard name to say. Shea. She-ah. Repeat after me. She-ah.” 
They ignored Shea, who kept trying to get them to say her name, and began discussing their future plans. At which point Shea started clinging to them crying, “Please don’t ignore meeee... I’m one of you guys now toooo!” Just because they’d become companions didn’t meant they’d treat her any better. 
And so, the noisy trio, mostly due to Shea, made their way through the fog to where the rest of the Haulia were waiting. They had cleared Hajime’s harsh trials, the proof of which was resting in their hands. Upon closer inspection, it was apparent that Cam was with them. 
Shea smiled happily as she saw her family for the first time in a while. The last time she’d spoken with them was before the training had begun, when she’d told them her intentions. It had only been ten days, but with how harsh their training had been, that time felt like an eternity. To Shea, it felt like it had been months since she’d last seen them. 
She made a beeline for her father the moment she spotted him. There was a mountain of things she wanted to tell him. But as she drew closer, her mouth reflexively snapped shut. Cam and the others had a strange aura surrounding them. 
He gave Shea only a quick smile before turning back to look at Hajime. Then.... 
“Boss. We slaughtered the monsters you requested.” 
“B-Boss? D-Dad? What’s with that way of talking... and why do you look so...” 
Cam ignored his daughter’s confusion, then presented the fangs and claws of some of the forest’s more powerful monsters to Hajime. 
“I thought I told you one was enough...” 
Hajime’s final task for his students had been to take down one of the stronger inhabitants of the sea of trees as a team. But judging from the quantity of monster parts the rabbits had harvested, they’d easily killed more than ten. Cam grinned wolfishly as he replied. 
“That you did, Boss. But as we were hunting our target, the damned thing’s friends showed up... Those bastards dared to bare their fangs at us, so we simply did what was natural. Isn’t that right guys?” 
“That’s right, Boss. Those damned monsters need to learn their place.” 
“We made sure none of them escaped. They all got what they deserved.” 
“They were a bit of a pain to deal with, but... hearing their screams was all worth it. Fufu...” 
“Maybe we should have hung them from the trees as an example to the others...” 
“Well, we chopped them up into pieces, so that’s probably good enough.” 
Each of their words were very unsettling. Their usual gentle expressions were nowhere to be seen. With a dangerous glint in their eyes, they reported the results of their mission to Hajime. Shea watched them all in amazement. 
“...Who are you guys?” Suddenly, she returned to her senses and rounded on Hajime, as he was most likely responsible for the radical change in her family. 
“Wh-What on earth is this!? Hajime-san, what did you do to them!?” 
“C-Calm down... I didn’t do anything... This is just a result of their training...” 
“No way! What kind of training would turn them into this!? They’re all totally different people! Hey, don’t you avert your gaze! Look at me!” 
“...They haven’t changed that much.” 
“Is that eye of yours just for show!? Look at them! They’re all staring at their knives with murder in their eyes! Look, one of them even named theirs Julia! They’re totally in love with their weapons! This is not normal!” Shea’s hysterical screams rang out through the sea of trees. Cam watched their exchange with a puzzled expression on his face. While Shea was yelling at Hajime, even more of the Haulia returned to the clearing. Each and every one of them had a somewhat... wild look to them. Even the women and children and elderly. 
Hajime awkwardly averted his eyes from Shea’s glowering glare and tried to make excuses to explain away the situation. Realizing she wouldn’t get anywhere questioning Hajime, Shea turned to Cam instead. 
“Dad! Guys! What happened to you all!? It’s like you’ve become completely different people! Even the way you guys talk has gotten scary... Come back to your senses, everyone!” Shea desperately pleaded with her father, and the dangerous glint in his eyes slowly faded away as his normal gentle expression returned. She let out a sigh of relief. However... 
“What are you talking about, Shea? We’re perfectly sane. We’ve just come to learn something about the truth of this world. Thanks to our boss here.” 
“Th-The truth of this world? What does that even mean?” Shea suddenly had a bad premonition, and Cam proudly puffed out his chest. 
“90% of the world’s problems can be solved through violence.” 
“You really are insane after all! My kind, gentle dad is gone for good! Waaaaaaah!” Unable to bear the shock of what she’d come back to, Shea ran crying into the sea of trees. But before she could vanish into the fog, she ran into a small silhouette. She let out a cry of surprise and fell on her butt. The figure she’d bumped into managed to retain their balance, and they held out a hand to Shea. 
“S-Sorry. Thanks.” 
“Don’t worry about it, Lady Shea. It’s only natural for a guy to help a girl.” 
“L-Lady Shea?” 
From the depths of the fog emerged the Haulia boy who had once loved flowers. Slung across his shoulders was a massive crossbow, and two knives and a slingshot dangled from a belt strapped to his waist. His smile was surprisingly nihilistic. Never in her life had Shea ever been addressed so formally. It was doubly shocking because she distinctly remembered the boy calling her “Shea onee-chan” in the past. He walked past Shea and gave Hajime a crisp, respectful salute. 
“Boss! I apologize for returning empty-handed! However, I have a report to make! Permission to speak?” 
“G-Go ahead. What is it?” When he saw the boy acting like a seasoned veteran, Hajime did have to admit that he might have taken his spartan training techniques a little too far. The boy nonchalantly continued his report. 
“Sir! As I was pursuing the target, I discovered a battalion of armed bearmen. I located them on the route to the Grand Tree. I suspect they foolishly believe they can ambush us!” 
“Ah, so they really came. I figured they’d try and track us down right away, but... I see. So, they actually have the gall to try and stop us right before our destination, huh? They’ve got guts... And?” 
“With your permission, sir, we Haulia shall take care of them!” 
“Hmm... What do you think, Cam? You heard the kid.” 
Cam grinned that same wolfish grin, then nodded his head in agreement. 
“With your permission, we’ll gladly destroy them. This is a good opportunity... to see how well we fare against opponents of their caliber. Don’t worry, we won’t bring shame to your name.” At Cam’s words, the other Haulia all began sporting bloodthirsty grins. Suddenly, it felt like even more of the rabbitmen were giving names to their weapons. Shea watched on in utter despair. 
“...Are you sure you can do it?” 
“We are, sir!” 
The one who’d replied was the boy who delivered the initial report. Hajime closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them again. 
“Listen up, men of the Haulia! Proud and courageous warriors! Today is the day you finally graduate from being worthless maggots! You used to be pieces of trash that were worth less than the spit on my boot! But that’s true no longer! With force you crush the irrationality of this world, and with cunning you run circles around any who would dare oppose you! You have been reborn as great warriors of the Haulia tribe! Now go, and teach those bear bastards that can’t think of anything but their misguided revenge who’s boss! They’re nothing but stepping stones in your path! Worthless bastards that don’t even deserve consideration! Build a mountain with their corpses, and plant your flag atop its summit! That flag is proof that you’re alive! That the Haulia are meek little rabbits no longer! Let all of Haltina Woods know of your existence!” 
“Sir, yes sir!” 
“Tell me, men! You are the most powerful warriors in all of Haltina! What is your wish!?” 
“Slaughter! Slaughter! Slaughter!” 
“What is your specialty!?” 
“Slaughter! Slaughter! Slaughter!” 
“And what do you do to your enemies!?” 
“Slaughter! Slaughter! Slaughter!” 
“That’s right, slaughter them! That is what you achieved strength for! Fight for your right to live!” 
“Aye aye, sir!” 
“That’s the spirit! Proud members of the Haulia tribe, here are my orders! Search and destroy! Now go!” 
“Yahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!” 
“Waaaaaah, my family’s all goooone. They’re all deaaaad.” 
At Hajime’s command, the Haulia all turned as one and ventured forth into the fog. 
There was no trace of the old peace-loving race they used to be. Shea crumpled to her knees and wailed wordlessly. Her cries echoed throughout the forest. Even Yue couldn’t help but be moved by such a display of emotion, and she comfortingly patted Shea’s head. 
Aiming to join his companions, the little boy ran out from behind Shea, but she called out to him to hold him back. 
“Par-kun! Please wait! L-Look, there’s a pretty little flower right here! You don’t have to go with them...You can just wait here with me. What do you say? Don’t you want to stay?” If nothing else, she wanted to at least save this one little boy from going down the wrong path. She was desperately trying to entice him back with the promise of flowers. Why flowers? That was because he was none other than the same boy who had been so enamored with them before. 
At Shea’s words, the young boy, Par, stopped. He breathed out an exasperated sigh and shrugged his shoulders. It was a bit of an exaggerated reaction considering the question. 
“Lady Shea, please don’t dig up bad memories. I’ve already thrown away my past. That weak, flower-loving boy’s no more.” 
For reference, Par was still ten years old. 
“B-Bad memories? Thrown away your past? Umm, I don’t really get it, but does that mean you don’t like flowers anymore?” 
“That’s right, I threw that love away along with my past.” 
“But you used to love them so much...” 
“Hmph, that was nothing more than the folly of youth.” 
To reiterate, Par was only ten years old. 
“Anyway, Lady Shea.” 
“Wh-What?” Seeing how drastically the boy that had used to run around going “Shea onee-chan, Shea onee-chan” had changed left Shea nearly speechless. It had taken every ounce of her remaining consciousness to just reply to him. But those words she’d worked so hard to squeeze out only made things worse. 
“Along with my past, I’ve thrown away that old, weak name of mine. I’m called Baltfeld now. Baltfeld the Executioner. Please use my new name from now on.” 
“What!? Where’d a name like Baltfeld come from!? And what the heck is ‘the Executioner’ even supposed to mean!?” 
“Whoops, sorry. My comrades are waiting, so I gotta go. See ya!” 
“Hey, wait! Get back here! I’m not done— Holy crap, you’re fast! Wait! I said waiiiiiit!” Shea helplessly stretched her hand out to the fog, looking like she’d just been abandoned by her lover. But there was no reply; her machoified family had all marched off to war. And so, she simply hung her head and resumed her sobbing. The family she had known was gone. One couldn’t help but pity her plight. 
Unsure of what to say to cheer her up, Yue could only smile awkwardly. Even Hajime uncomfortably averted his gaze. His wandering eyes caught sight of Yue, and she quietly muttered. 
“...You’re amazing, Hajime. You keep doing things normal humans could never even dream of like it’s nothing.” 
“Not really, it’s not like...” 
“You brainwashed all of them without using dark magic... Unbelievable.” 
“To be honest, even I think I went a bit too far. But I don’t regret it.” 
For some time after that the only thing that could be heard in that part of the forest were the sounds of Shea’s sobbing. Meanwhile...

Regin Vanton was next in line to be the chief of the Vanton clan, the strongest among the bearmen. Rumor had it that he was one of the strongest bearmen in Haltina. He was the right hand man of the chief, Jin Vanton, who he practically idolized. 
It wasn’t just Regin either. All the members of the Vanton clan, especially the younger ones, adored him. Jin’s broadmindedness and zealous patriotism, combined with his considerable strength, were the main reasons for his overwhelming popularity. 
When they’d first learned of Jin’s fate, most of his clan had laughed it off as a bad joke. There was no way a mere human could have defeated Jin so easily, or hurt him so badly that he’d never be able to fight again. But when the proof was thrust before their eyes, they could no longer ignore reality. Jin’s weakened body lying in a hospital bed was irrefutable evidence of those claims. 
Regin’s stunned disbelief upon first seeing Jin’s emaciated frame had quickly given way to seething rage. Swept away by his anger, he had stormed off to the Elders’ Hall and pressed them for details on the incident. Once he’d learned the truth, Regin ignored the elder’s warnings and told the rest of his tribe what he’d heard, urging them to follow him in getting revenge. 
Thanks to the elder’s words, some of the bearmen chose to stay behind, but all of the hot blooded youths of the Vanton clan, along with a few others who’d been especially close to Jin, swore to join Regin’s revenge party. All told, about fifty people chose to follow Regin. As they knew the hateful human’s destination was the Sacred Tree, Uralt, they decided to lay in wait along the path leading there. Their reasoning being that getting cut down right in front of his goal would be that much more painful. 
Their foes were nothing more than a ragtag group of rabbitmen led by a human. And even if that human had beat Jin, it must have been by way of some kind of underhanded sneak attack. In this deep fog he’d be even more handicapped with his senses in disarray, and those weak rabbitmen weren’t even worth counting as a fighting force. 
Regin was a very skilled bearman. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have underestimated his enemies so. But his rage had blinded him from such prudence. 
However, even if he was willing to admit his anger had made him act in haste... 
“This is still too much!” Regin screamed, his voice filled with despair. The reason for his anguish stemmed from the fact that the rabbitmen, one of the weakest beastmen tribes in existence, had completely destroyed his army of bearmen, one of the strongest beastmen tribes in existence. 
“Come on! That all you got!? Pathetic!” 
“Ahahahaha! That’s right, scream like the worthless pigs you are!” 
“You guys are fucking trash! Hyahahaha!” 
The Haulia’s raucous laughter echoed through the clearing, and countless knives glinted in the dim sunlight. Their original gentle, peaceful expressions were nowhere to be found. The bearmen were clearly shaken at the unexpected ferocity the rabbitmen displayed. 
“Dammit! The hell’s going on!? What kind of monsters are these guys!?” 
“There’s no way these guys are rabbitmen!” 
“Uwaaaaah! Get away from me! Get away from meeeee!” 
The ambushers had suddenly found themselves on the receiving end of an ambush. Worse, the supposedly weak rabbitmen had displayed a strength beyond what anyone had thought possible of them. Arrows and rocks rained down on the bearmen, who had no way to retaliate. Not only did the rabbitmen skillfully hide their presence in the fog, their coordination was perfect. But worst of all were those bloodthirsty howls of laughter. All of those factors combined were what led the bearmen, who possessed superior stats, to be pushed back. 
Had the bearmen actually fought the rabbitmen one by one, they would have won easily. However, thanks to the beyond hellish training they had received, the Haulia had the advantage when it came to combat experience and group tactics. 
Normally, the rabbitmen were far weaker than the other beastmen races. But because of that innate weakness, they had perfected their ability to sense danger and hide themselves. Those were the tools they had polished to survive. 
Used as a weapon, those same skills were perfect for ambushing foes. One could even say that they were the race most suited for assassination. But because of their pacifist nature, those skills had never been used as such. 
Until Hajime had stripped away their aversion to fighting during their training that is. He’d driven them into a corner, pushing them so hard that they had needed to overcome their distaste for fighting just to survive. As a result of his spartan training, their hearts had been reforged into something hard and unforgiving in just ten days. Hajime might have overdone it just a little bit, however... After all, not only did they not have any hesitation to fight, they eagerly sought out conflict. And their bonds had already been strong to begin with, so they had no problem coordinating their attacks perfectly, which multiplied their strength. Combine that with their ability to swiftly analyze a foe’s strengths and weaknesses and they became a force to be reckoned with. 
Of course, one of the big reasons they’d grown so powerful so fast was also because of the specialized weapons Hajime had crafted for them. 
Each of them had two shortswords, crafted by Hajime to be ultra-thin, ultra-light, and ultra-sharp. And because they were made of taur, they were ultra-durable as well. They also had a brace of throwing knives made in the same fashion. 
Long ranged weapons were part of their arsenal too. Using thread he’d harvested from a spider-like monster down in the abyss, Hajime had crafted them slingshots and crossbows stronger than anything one could find on the surface. Many of the Haulia children weren’t suited to close combat at all, but thanks to their excellent senses they made great snipers even in the thick fog. 
Par... or rather, Baltfeld the Executioner, along with the other children, had taken to the crossbows instantly. 
“One shot one kill! I’ll blow all these bastards’ heads off! I swear it on my title of Executioner!” 
Par... or rather, Baltfeld the Executioner, had gotten pretty foulmouthed over the past few days. By the way, his “title” was something self-proclaimed. Originally he’d been fond of saying “Bang!” every time he shot down an enemy, but Hajime had put a stop to that. Mostly because it creeped him out. Regardless, it was thanks to the hellish training that the bearmen were being pushed back by the Haulia. Unable to mount any resistance, they’d already lost half of their forces. 
“Regin-dono! We won’t last much longer!” 
“Please order a retreat!” 
“Allow me to take up the rear gua— Guaah!?” 
“Tonto!?” 
Though his men all urged him to retreat, Regin hesitated. Logic warred with rage, as not only had Jin been crippled, but now Regin had lost his precious subordinates as well. But that hesitation only led him to lose more men. The bearman who had volunteered to take up the rearguard now had an arrow sprouting through his forehead. 
Shaken by the rabbitmen’s unerring accuracy, the bearmen’s formation was thrown into disarray. Sensing their opportunity, Cam and the others decided to finish it in one final push. 
Arrows and rocks struck with pinpoint accuracy at the ankles, wrists, and other vital areas of the bearmen. While their attention was occupied by the rain of projectiles, the other Haulia snuck up on the beastmen, slicing and thrusting with their wickedly sharp swords. 
Finally, when the bearmen had their hands full fending off attacks from various directions, a Haulia would sneak behind each one and deal the finishing blow. Using the advantage of numbers, the Haulia ran circles around the bearmen. Soon enough, Regin and the others were trembling in fear. Are those guys seriously the same stupid, gutless rabbitmen we saw before!? 
Though they held out for an impressive amount of time, before long even Regin was covered from head to toe in wounds, and he had to use his axe as a crutch just to keep himself standing. The Haulia had switched off attacking in waves, leaving the bearmen no time to rest. Currently, Regin and the others were all panting heavily, with their backs to a large tree as the rabbitmen surrounded them. 
“Come on, you worthless bastards! This can’t be all you’ve got! Or are you all just a bunch of spineless losers!?” 
“You’re bringing shame to your name as the strongest race, you know that, you fuckups!? Where’d your balls go, you cowards!?” 
“Come on, pick up your weapons! You bunch of pussies!” 
Their insults were so crude that no one expected any race, least of all the rabbitmen, to be hurling them. Something crazy must have happened to these guys to make them like this! The bearmen had all lost the will to fight. Burly, macho bearmen were all crying as they begged for mercy... It was an odd sight, to be sure. 
“Kukuku, any last words? Mr. ‘I’m part of the strongest race’?” Sarcasm dripped from Cam’s voice. Now that he’d awoken to his battle instincts, it seemed he wanted to get back at being looked down on all his life. The old Cam would never have been so cruel. 
“Ngh...” Regin only grunted in frustration. After they’d regrouped from their initial confusion, Regin had finally returned to his senses. Witnessing the overwhelming might of the Haulia had been like having a bucket of cold water splashed onto his face. The flames of resentment at what had happened to Jin still smoldered within Regin’s breast, but he knew that his current responsibility was to save as many of his men’s lives as he could. He was well aware that it was his fault so many of his comrades were caught in this predicament. 
“I don’t care what you do with me. Torture me, kill me, do whatever you want. But everyone else is only here because I forced them to come. So please, let them go.” 
“Wha— Regin-dono!?” 
“Regin-dono! You can’t...” 
His subordinates all started talking at once. They couldn’t stand the fact that he was trying to sacrifice himself for their sake. But he simply silenced them all with a booming voice. 
“Shut up! I’m the one who got blinded by anger and led you guys into a death trap! The rabbitmen’s... I mean the Haulia’s chief. I understand I’m asking a lot of you. But please, spare their lives! I’m begging you!” 
Regin tossed aside his weapon and knelt before Cam. His men all knew just how much pride he took in his abilities, so they also knew just how much it took out of him to prostrate himself before the enemy. When they saw how deep his resolve ran they couldn’t bring themselves to fight back. 
Cam, too, saw the determination in Regin’s eyes. Thus, his reply was... 
“I refuse.” He threw one of his knives as he said that. 
“Uwooh!?” Regin just barely managed to twist out of the way. But Cam’s knife was nothing more than a signal. Seconds later, a storm of rocks and arrows rained down on the helpless bearmen. The Haulia roared with laughter as they watched Regin and the others desperately defend themselves with their broadaxes. 
“Why!?” Regin barely managed to groan that one word out. 
“Why? Isn’t it obvious? You guys are our enemies. What other reason do we need?” 
The logic in Cam’s answer was simple. 
“Guh, but—!” 
“And besides... it’s fun seeing you arrogant bastards brought low, and crawling along the dirt like the scum you are! Hahaha!” 
“What!? You monsters! How could you!?” 
The glee in Cam’s voice was unmistakable. His tribe were all firing their slingshots and crossbows from a safe distance as they tormented the bearmen. They were all exhibiting the telltale signs of people who’ve gone mad due to their first taste of power. The rush of victory against one of the strongest subspecies of their race had caused them to take leave of their senses. They were completely out of control. 
The ferocity of their attacks increased until Regin and the others were all huddled together in a pitiful heap, barely holding on. But even that wouldn’t last for much longer. Though none of them had been fatally injured yet, they were all covered in wounds both minor and major. The next barrage would finish them. 
Cam grinned cruelly and raised an arm into the air. Gleefully, the rest of the Haulia nocked their crossbows and loaded their slingshots. Realizing nothing he could do would prevent this from being his grave, Regin dropped his weapon in surrender. Inwardly, he apologized to his men for foolishly leading them to their deaths. 
Cam’s arm swung down like the scythe of the grim reaper itself as he gave the signal to fire. Everyone loosed at once. Regin stared defiantly at the barrage that was to be his death, determined to at least not give them the satisfaction of looking away. But then... 
“Cut it ouuuuuuuut!” A white silhouette darted in front of the bearmen and blew away the projectiles with a massive metal hammer. 
“Huh?” Regin’s jaw dropped open in surprise. It was only natural. Right as he was about to die, a pale-haired bunny girl had dropped from the sky along with a massive hammer. And the shockwave as it had hit the ground had blown away all the arrows and rocks heading toward him and his comrades. His shocked face was almost comical to look at. The other bearmen all had similar expressions. 
The enraged bunny girl was, of course, none other than Shea. Thanks to Hajime’s compression transmutation, the hammer was unimaginably dense. Still, Shea swung the ridiculously heavy hammer up like it was nothing, then pointed it at Cam. Even a simple motion like that caused a powerful gale. 
“I can’t believe you guys! Dad, and the rest of you too, come back to your senses already!” They were taken aback by Shea’s sudden entrance, but they quickly composed themselves and glared angrily at her. 
“Shea, I don’t know what you’re playing at, but get out of our way. We can’t kill them if you don’t.” 
“Oh no, I’m not moving. You’re the ones who need to stop!” 
Cam’s eyes narrowed angrily. 
“Stop? Don’t tell me you plan on siding with the enemy, Shea. Depending on your answer, I may have to...” 
“No, I don’t really care if these guys die or not.” 
“You don’t!?” The bearmen had all been convinced that she’d come here to stop her tribe’s murderous rampage, so they were positively stunned by her reply. 
“Of course not. I wouldn’t have survived Yue-san’s training if I was still soft enough to go easy on people trying to kill me. Even I know that’s just going to get you killed.” 
“Hmph, then why exactly are you stopping us?” Even though he was talking to his daughter, Cam’s tone was rough. The rest of his tribe all glared suspiciously at her as well. 
“Isn’t it obvious!? Because if I don’t stop you guys, you’ll break! You’ll sink into depravity!” 
“Break? Sink into depravity?” It was obvious he hadn’t understood a single word Shea had said. 
“That’s right! Don’t you see!? Hajime-san might not show any mercy to his enemies, or listen to their pleas, or ever have pity, but he never enjoys killing! He taught you how to kill your enemies, not how to torment them!” 
“W-We weren’t...” 
“Do you even know what kind of expression you were making just now, Dad?” 
“Expression? I mean, I can’t look at my own face...” At Shea’s words, the Haulia all turned to look at each other. Shea paused to take a deep breath and then quietly, but firmly, continued. 
“...You guys looked just like the imperial soldiers that attacked us.” 
“Wha—!?” 
That was a shock. A big enough one to blow away the veil of bloodlust that had clouded their thoughts thus far. They were no better than the monsters who had laughed mockingly at them while enslaving most of their tribe... It was precisely because the Haulia had seen such ugliness up close that they knew how disgusting it was. Worse than the scum who had taken their families... That was a bitter truth to swallow. 
“Sh-Shea... I...” 
“Hmph, looks like you’ve finally calmed down a little. Good. I was worried I’d have to kick all your asses first before you came to your senses.” 
Shea casually swung her hammer around a few times. Her stern expression relaxed a little as she saw the bloodthirsty smiles fade from her family’s faces. 
“Well, this was your first battle, so it’s all good as long as you realized your mistake in time. Besides, this is all really Hajime-san’s fault. I know he needed to toughen you up mentally too, but he went too far! He turned you into berserkers, not warriors!” This time her anger was directed at Hajime. She quietly added, “How on earth did I fall for a guy like that anyway?” to her monologue. 
Suddenly, a gunshot rang out throughout the clearing. One of the bearmen behind Shea let out a strangled groan and crumpled to the ground. Realizing they’d completely ignored their opponents for the past few minutes, Shea and Cam scrambled to see what they were up to. When they looked back, they saw Regin cradling his forehead and moaning in pain. 
“Don’t you even think about trying to escape while they’re not looking. You better sit quietly until their conversation’s over.” Hajime and Yue materialized from within the fog. Apparently, Regin and the others had tried to sneak off while Shea and Cam had been arguing. For some reason, Hajime had decided to use one of his non-lethal rubber bullets. 
Despite Hajime’s words the bearmen were still carefully observing their surroundings, looking for any chance to escape. Hajime activated his Intimidation in order to keep them docile. With the pressure of his magic keeping them shivering in place, Hajime was free to walk leisurely over to Shea and the others. Hajime looked around awkwardly for a few seconds before steeling his resolve and staring apologetically at Cam. 
“Uh, well, you know, my bad. I was fine with it, but I forgot about what the shock of killing a person can do to someone. Really, I’m sorry.” 
Cam and Shea’s were stunned. No one had ever expected Hajime, of all people, to ever apologize. 
“B-Boss!? Are you alright!? Did you hit your head somewhere!?” 
“Medic! Medic! We need urgent assistance!” 
“Boss, keep it together!” 
Hence the overblown reaction. There was a familiar vein bulging on Hajime’s forehead. 
Hajime had honestly thought he was at fault, and he was sincerely apologizing. Because he’d been fine with killing people, he’d failed to take into account what the shock of it might have done to someone else. Strong as he was, Hajime had no experience teaching others. And that inexperience had nearly caused him to break the Haulia’s minds. That was why he’d given a heartfelt apology. But rather than accepting it, those stupid bunnies had questioned his sanity. Though, in a way, he wasn’t sure if he should get angry, or reflect on the way he’d been acting. He decided to shelve the issue for later, and instead walked up to Regin. Then, he slowly pressed Donner against the bearman’s head. 
“Now then, would you prefer to die a manly death or live on in disgrace?” It was the Haulia who were even more surprised by his ultimatum than the bearmen. It was unthinkable that Hajime would actually offer to spare an enemy’s life. This was the same person who had mercilessly slaughtered anyone that had bared their fangs at him for as long as they’d known him. 
“He really did hit his head somewhere, didn’t he...” Cam muttered softly. Another vein joined the first, but if he let everything the rabbitmen said get to him, they’d have gotten nowhere. 
Regin looked up at Hajime in confusion. As he was undoubtedly the one who’d turned the Haulia into bloodthirsty monsters, Regin had not expected him to show any mercy. 
“What do you mean? You’re willing to let us live?” 
“Yeah, if that’s what you want. But I have a condition.” 
“A condition?” The other bearmen all began clamoring noisily at the prospect of salvation. 
“If I hit him again, maybe it’ll fix it...” Shea muttered surprisingly seriously as she looked from the back of Hajime’s head down to her hammer and back again. Cam and the others all nodded vigorously. 
I think they’ll need some very strict discipline when we get back. But for now, he ignored them. 
“Yep, a condition. When you get back to Verbergen, I want you to deliver a message to the elders.” 
“A message?” Regin had been worried he’d ask something outrageous of them, so he was a little relieved to hear they’d just be messengers. However, the contents of that message made his blood run cold. 
“You owe me.” 
“...Ah!? You don’t mean—” 
“Well? What’ll it be? Yes or no?” 
Regin couldn’t suppress his voice when he realized what Hajime intended. Hajime waited patiently for Regin’s answer. 
By delivering that message, it would mean that Verbergen would one day have to repay their debt to him. The elders had lost one of their own, and even overturned a decision of their council to keep Hajime away from their city, but if Regin delivered that message, then they’d be forced to unconditionally accept any request of his. Looking at it objectively, both Regin and Jin had been the ones to attack first, so letting Regin live would mean they’d be honor bound to agree. Ignoring that debt would make them look disgraceful. Besides, if they didn’t accept, Hajime might really attack them. In other words, if Regin chose to live he would be exposing his country to danger. Not only had they ignored the elders’ warning, they’d lost, with half of their men dead. After all that boasting they’d done about being the strongest, too... As Hajime had said, it really would mean living on in disgrace. While Regin despaired at his choices, Hajime delivered the final blow. 
“Oh, and you’d better tell everyone the death of your subordinates was entirely your fault. And that you were defeated at the Haulia’s hands, no less.” 
“Ugh.” There was a reason Hajime was willing to let this opponent go. Mercy didn’t factor into his decision at all. Verbergen had cut him off completely, but it was possible he’d have to return there at some point if his search for the other labyrinths ever pointed in that direction. After all, one of the Liberators had personally left an edict behind for the people of the country. He’d felt like the situation with the elders could have been handled a little more diplomatically, and had regretted being chased out just a little. So now that an unexpected windfall of good luck had dropped in his lap he intended to make the most of it. Regin seemed unsure of what to do, but Hajime didn’t have the patience for him to think it through. 
“You have five seconds. If you don’t answer by then, I’ll start killing your men one by one. Your kind values prompt decisions, right?” Hajime slowly started counting down, and Regin gave his answer in a panic. 
“F-Fine. We choose to live!” 
“I see. Then get out of my sight. And you better relay my message, you hear? If I ever come back and find out you haven’t, well...” Bloodlust so thick it was palpable pressed down onto Regin. He gulped fearfully. 
“Let’s just say Verbergen might not exist anymore.” The way Hajime phrased his threats made him look like a yakuza loan shark, or rather a terrorist. Relieved sighs could be heard behind him. 
“Aah, thank goodness we have the old Hajime back,” “Boss is back to normal,” and the like could be heard from the group of rabbitmen. Hajime pointedly ignored their remarks, however. But they still served to ruin the tense atmosphere he’d built up. Oh yeah, they need some very harsh discipline when we get back 
None of the bearmen disputed his decision to beg for their lives, and Regin dejectedly led what remained of his troop back home. The fact that so many of his soldiers were young had probably played a part in Regin’s despair. He’d never again be able to swagger around Verbergen like he owned the place. In fact, it was likely he’d be ostracized by everyone. He supposed he’d been let off lightly, though, considering he was the one who’d initiated hostilities. Within minutes, the bearmen had all been swallowed up by the fog. 
Once they were out of sight, Hajime rounded on Shea and Cam. His head was downcast, so nobody could see his expression, and there was a strange aura surrounding him. All of the rabbitmen were still getting over their shame at having nearly fallen into madness, so they walked up to him like nothing was wrong. Only Shea broke out in a cold sweat as she realized there was a dangerous aura emanating around him. 
Trembling slightly, he raised his head to look up at them. There was a content smile on his face, but it never reached his eyes. Finally, Cam and the others realized there was something wrong with Hajime too. 
“B-Boss?” Cam questioned timidly. 
“Yeah? You know, I really did feel bad about what I did to you guys. Even if it was to train you as quickly as possible in the short time we had, I should have put a stop to it after a while.” 
“N-No, Boss, it was... all because we were too immature...” 
“Now now, I’m perfectly willing to admit my own mistakes. But... But you know, even though I apologized so sincerely... the way you guys reacted was just too much. I mean, I get it. It’s partly my fault for being so mean every day... I know. I know that, but I still have to do something about all this rage building up inside me... You understand, right?” 
“N-No, sir. I can’t say I do...” Cold sweat started pouring down Cam’s back. Oh crap, he’s pissed. Cam slowly started backing up. Hajime’s attitude brought back memories of their hellish training, and more than a few of the Haulia broke down crying. 
“Now’s my chance!” Shea yelled, then tried to take advantage of Hajime’s momentary hesitation to flee. She even used the other Haulia as meat shields as she ran. However... Bang! Hajime’s bullet flew between a Haulia’s legs, ricocheted off a nearby root, and hit Shea right in the butt. 
“Hakyun!” This was just one of Hajime’s many sniping skills. By ricocheting bullets off of various surfaces, he could attack from any angle. And so, he could accurately aim for Shea’s butt no matter where she hid. It was a completely pointless gun skill that had no wasted movements to it. 
Shea hopped around in pain as she held her butt cheeks. She then tripped over a root, exposing her ass for all to see. A faint tendril of smoke rose from where the bullet had hit her. She showed no signs of getting up, and simply twitched helplessly on the ground. 
Cam and the others all watched on in horror as Shea spasmed on the ground. The man whose legs the bullet had passed between was holding his crotch protectively and sobbing uncontrollably. The shockwave that Hajime’s bullet had left behind had touched his balls slightly. 
Hajime casually holstered Donner and smiled demonically. His loud voice carried to every one of the Haulia. 
“You’re all eating one bullet before I’m through!” 
“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” The Haulia all skittered away like spiders, but Hajime didn’t let even a single one of them escape unscathed. For a long time the terrified screams of bunnies echoed throughout the forest. Until only Shea remained, smoke still rising from her buttocks. 
“...So when can we go to the Grand Tree?” Yue, who’d been quiet this whole time, finally spoke up.

A few hours later, after Hajime had thoroughly vented all of his frustration, Cam and the others led them through the fog to the Sacred Tree, Uralt. 
Cam was in the lead, while the other Haulia, much wiser now thanks to their training, spread out to scout the surrounding area. The idea that carelessness led to death had been thoroughly ingrained into each of their minds, so they all took their job seriously. The lumps rising on various parts of their bodies broke the tension a bit, though... 
“Gaah, it still stings.” Shea complained bitterly as she rubbed her butt. She glared angrily at Hajime. 
“Quit looking at me like that, it’s annoying.” 
“That’s what you have to say for yourself? Unbelievable. I can’t believe you’d shoot a girl in the butt. With such a pointlessly advanced skill, too.” 
“Says the girl that was seriously contemplating whacking me on the head. And you even tried to use the guy next to you as a shield when you ran... I don’t think you have any right to talk.” 
The guy she’d hid behind nodded vigorously. He was walking a few steps back from them. 
“That’s just because of Yue-san’s training.” 
“I raised Shea well.” 
“That wasn’t a compliment.” 
Yue puffed out her chest proudly as she looked at Shea. Hajime made use of the ignore skill that he’d recently had a lot of time to hone. 
Fifteen minutes passed while Yue and Shea bantered cheerfully. The party had finally reached the Grand Tree, and Hajime was the first to speak. 
“The hell is this?” His voice was tinged with both disbelief and amazement. Yue also gazed up in confusion. The two of them had been expecting a super sized version of the trees they’d saw in Verbergen. A kind of majestic, awe-inspiring spectacle. Instead, what they got was... a very withered tree. 
Its size was still what they’d expected. Actually, it was larger than either of them had imagined. It was hard to measure its girth with just a glance, but it must have been at least 50 meters in diameter. Far bigger than any tree they’d seen thus far. And yet, despite the fact that all the trees surrounding it were lush and healthy, the Grand Tree looked as if it was already half-dead. 
“The Grand Tree has supposedly been like this since before Verbergen’s founding. Yet it’s never rotted away. It’s stayed withered like that for as long as we’ve known. Because of the way the fog acts around it, and the fact that it never dies despite being so withered, the people of this forest consider it sacred. Well, I say sacred, but it’s more just like a fancy tourist attraction...” Seeing their confused faces, Cam offered an explanation. Hajime slowly walked up to the tree’s base. Just as Ulfric had said, there was a stone marker with a lithograph carved into it. 
“This is... just like Oscar’s...” 
“...Yeah. It’s the same.” 
Engraved into the stone was a heptagon, with a different crest at each vertex. The same one they’d seen in Oscar’s house, or in the hidden cave the magic circle had teleported them to. 
Just to make sure, Hajime pulled out Orcus’ ring. The crest matched one of the ones on the stone. 
“So this really is one of the labyrinth entrances. But... how are we supposed to get in?” Hajime rapped the trunk with his knuckles, but naturally that did nothing. Cam and the others didn’t know anything more than this either, it seemed. Nothing in the legend Ulfric had told him said anything about how to enter this labyrinth. Though it was always possible Ulfric hadn’t told Hajime everything he knew. Should I call in my favor right away? 
Suddenly, Yue called out to him. 
“Hajime... look at this.” 
“Hm? What’s up?” 
Yue was pointing to the back of the stone tablet. There were seven indents carved into the back, in the same spot the crests were on the front. 
“So then...” 
Hajime fit the ring into the hole corresponding with Orcus’ crest. A few seconds later, the stone tablet began to glow. 
The other Haulia all crowded around it as well, eager to see what was happening. After a while the glow began to fade, and floating letters appeared in the air above the stone. This is what they said:

—Four markers of strength. 
—The power of restoration. 
—A beacon woven from bonds. 
—Only with those three ingredients in hand will the path to a new trial be opened.

“What does that mean?” Hajime questioned. 
“Four markers of strength... probably refers to getting four crests from other labyrinths?” 
“Yeah, that makes sense. Then what about the power of restoration and a beacon woven from bonds?” Hajime tilted his head in confusion as he asked that, but surprisingly, Shea had an answer. 
“Hmmm, well a beacon woven from bonds probably refers to whether or not you can get the beastmen to guide you here, right? Most beastmen never leave the sea of trees, and getting one to guide you here like you did is something that’s never happened before.” 
“I see. Does sound like you could be right.” 
“All that’s left is the power of restoration... Does that mean me?” Yue points to herself, no doubt referring to her automatic regeneration. As an experiment, she cut her own finger and pushed it against the tree’s bark as her magic activated... but nothing happened. 
“Hmm... I guess not.” 
“Well, maybe we have to... restore the tree... and bring at least four crests from other labyrinths...? So not only do we have to clear over half of them, we need to get ancient restoration magic from one of them?” 
Such was Hajime’s conjecture. Yue nodded in agreement. 
“Haaa, damn. So we can’t start on this one just yet... What a pain in the ass. Guess we’ll just have to do the others first...” 
“Yeah...” 
Hajime was frustrated that they’d have to turn back after expending so much effort to get here. Yue didn’t look too happy either. But unless they could find some alternate entrance, there was no point in sitting there complaining about it. Hajime quickly got over his frustration and decided to change his immediate goal to clearing three other labyrinths. 
He stood up and called all the Haulia over. 
“As you saw, we’ll have to clear three other labyrinths before we get back to this one. My promise to protect you guys until you led us here has now been fulfilled. As you are now, even without Verbergen’s protection, you should have no trouble living safely in this forest. And so, this is where we part.” 
He then turned back to Shea. His gaze made it clear that if she had any parting words she wanted to say to them, now was the only time to do it. Even though they were guaranteed to return here eventually, conquering three labyrinths would take quite some time. She wouldn’t be able to see her family for quite a while. Shea nodded resolutely and walked up to Cam and the others. 
“I—” 
“Hey, Boss! There’s something I want to say!” 
“...Wait, Dad? It’s my turn to talk right now...” Cam ignored her and walked up to Hajime. He gave him a crisp salute and stood at attention. 
“Dad? Hey, Dad?” Shea kept pestering him from behind, but like the royal guardsmen of England, he ignored her completely and looked only at Hajime. 
“Yeah, what is it?” Like Cam, Hajime decided this would go faster if he just ignored Shea. Cam took a deep breath before voicing the will of his tribe. 
“Boss, please let us accompany you in your travels!” 
“Huh!? Dad, you wanna go with him too!?” Shea cried out in surprise. When they’d had this discussion ten days ago it had sounded like Shea was going to be the only one leaving, so this caught her completely off guard. 
“We are at once both Haulia, and your subordinates, Boss! Please allow us to journey with you! This is the will of the entire tribe!” 
“Wait, Dad! That’s not the problem here! And wait, if Hajime-san says yes, then what was the point of all my hard work...” 
“Honestly speaking, we’re jealous of Shea!” 
“Wow, you confessed that easily! I can’t believe it! What happened to you guys over these past ten days!?” 
Cam’s loud voice drowned out Shea’s protests. Somewhat confused, Hajime still gave an immediate reply. 
“Not happening.” 
“Why!?” Like Shea had been before, Cam was taken aback by his immediate reply. The other Haulia began pestering him too. 
“Because you’d be dead weight.” 
“But—” 
“Don’t get ahead of yourselves now. You might have improved a little, but it’s 180 days too early for you guys to be anywhere near my level.” 
“What an oddly specific number!” 
Despite Hajime’s curt rejection, Cam refused to give up. He even went as far as to say “Even if you don’t give us permission we’ll just follow you anyway!” in response. Hajime’s spartan training had built an odd sense of camaraderie between him and the rabbitmen, so they all respected him immensely now. He was convinced they really would follow him no matter where he went, so he decided to let them join on a condition. 
“Fine, we’ll do it this way. You guys focus twice as hard on your training. If you’ve grown strong enough by the time I come here again, I might consider letting you join.” 
“...You’re not just lying to get rid of us, are you?” 
“I’m not.” 
“If you are, then we’ll go to every human town we can find and yell out your name like some kind of crazy cult, okay?” 
“Y-You guys just don’t give up, do you?” 
“We’re proud to call ourselves your men, Boss.” 
Hajime cringed a little when he saw how “manly” his so-called subordinates had become. Yue patted his arm comfortingly. He’d really overdid it this time, in more ways than one. 
This was his own fault though, so all he could do was sigh. The next time he came back here he was going to have a huge headache to deal with. 
“Waaa... no one’s paying any attention to me... even though I’m about to set off...” Shea was drawing circles in the ground as she wailed, but that didn’t get her any attention either. 
They parted ways at the edge of the forest. Once the goodbyes were finished, Hajime pulled out Steiff and soon they were racing across the plains. Their riding formation was as before, with Yue in front, Hajime in the middle, and Shea in the back. It seemed to Hajime that Shea was clinging to him even more tightly than before, but he did his best to ignore it. If he reacted to it even slightly, he was sure Yue would notice. Her bunny ears flapped in the wind, and Shea closed her eyes happily as she enjoyed the sensation of riding freely under the open sky. 
“Hajime-san. I forgot to ask this earlier, but where exactly are we headed? The Grand Gruen Volcano?” 
“Oh? I didn’t tell you?” 
“Nope!” 
“...He told me.” Yue puffed out her chest proudly. 
“I-I’m one of you guys now, okay!? Quit keeping secrets from me! Communication is important between allies, isn’t it!?” 
“Sorry, sorry. We’re heading back to the Reisen Gorge.” 
“The Reisen Gorge?” Shea repeated, clearly not following. Aside from the Haltina Woods, the only other known labyrinths were the Grand Gruen Volcano and the Great Orcus Labyrinth. Hajime had already cleared Orcus’ labyrinth, so Shea had naturally assumed their next destination was the volcano. Sensing her confusion, Hajime elaborated on his decision. 
“There’s rumors that Reisen’s one of the Seven Great Labyrinths too. Since it runs from here all the way to the western continent where the desert is, we might as well ride through it and check on our way.” 
“S-So we’re just going to pass through it like a landmark...” Shea’s face stiffened. Not only was it considered the world’s execution grounds, it was also where she’d just recently lost a lot of her family. Even knowing their strength, she was a bit shocked that they could just treat it like a highway. Because of how tightly she was clinging to him, her reaction was conveyed perfectly to Hajime, who let out a sigh. 
“You know, you should have a little more faith in your own strength. As you are now, the monsters at the bottom of the gorge are barely any more of a threat than the monsters you fought in the forest. The reason everyone fears Reisen so much is because mana disperses quickly right after it’s emitted from the body, but that won’t even affect you since you use body strengthening. In fact, down there you’re way stronger than everyone else.” 
“...As your master, I’m ashamed you didn’t realize something so simple.” 
“Uuu... I’m sorry.” Tears welled up in Shea’s eyes at Yue’s rebuke. Awkwardly, she tried to change the subject. 
“S-So then, are we going to camp in the valley? Or are we going to find a town to rest at?” 
“I think a town. I want to stock up on food and convert some of the stuff I have lying around into cash. If the map I saw earlier is accurate, there should be a town around here somewhere.” 
Hajime was more than ready to have a proper meal for once. Neither Hajime nor Yue had ever learned to cook, so all the food they’d made in the abyss had tasted bland. Then, in the sea of trees they’d been too focused on training the rabbitmen to worry about cooking, so they’d just eaten whatever preserved food they had left. He was craving something that was cooked by someone with actual skill. And if he was going to be spending nights at inns and buying supplies, he’d need money. He had more rare monster materials than he could shake a stick at, so he wanted to convert some of it into cash. He also just wanted to relax a bit before they went back down into the gorge and started fighting again. 
“Haaah... I see... Thank goodness.” Shea sighed with relief. Hajime gave her a puzzled look and asked why. 
“Oh, I was just worried you’d head straight to Reisen Gorge and say something like ‘I can just live off monster meat.’ And Yue’s fine with your blood, so... I was worried I’d have to convince you to buy food. Thank god you still have some common sense. I didn’t know you still ate normal food, Hajime-san!” 
“Of course I do... No way I’d eat monster meat if I had a choice. And what kind of monster do you see me as, anyway?” 
“Some kind of new super carnivorous one?” 
“Sounds to me like you want me to tie you to the back of the motorcycle and drag you to town.” 
“Hey, wait, stop! Where’d you get that collar from!? Please don’t... I don’t want to die! Yue-san, help meeeeee!” 
“You reap what you sow.” The merry trio’s banter was all that could be heard for miles along this vast empty plain. 
They caught sight of the town a few hours later, around the time the sun was starting to set. A smile split Hajime’s face. Just like when he’d first seen the sun, the sight of that town really drove home the fact that he was finally free of the abyss. Yue was bouncing up and down in his lap too. Like him, she was excited to see civilization again. They exchanged glances and their smiles grew even wider. 
“Um, sorry to disturb you two, but could you please take this collar off me now? I can’t seem to take it off on my own... Um, are you listening? Hajime-san? Yue-san? Please don’t ignore meee! You’re going to make me cry, okay? Do you really want to see me cry that bad!?” Both of their smiles only grew wider. When they were like that, no one could interrupt them. Not even the loud wailing of the poor little rabbit sitting behind them. 
A few more minutes of driving brought them closer to the town, and the two finally returned to reality. Now that they were much closer they could see that it was a small village surrounded only by a makeshift fence and moat. There was a wooden gate where the village met the road, with tiny huts lining either side of it. That was probably where the gate guards were stationed. At least that meant it was at least big enough to warrant a guard, which signaled that Hajime would definitely be able to stock up on supplies. He smiled happily. 
“If you’re in a good mood, could you please take this collar off me?” Shea grumbled unhappily as Hajime surveyed the town. There was a small inconspicuous jewel set inside the black collar attached to Shea’s neck. Though it had been her punishment for mouthing off to Hajime, it was actually a very stylish piece. But for some reason she couldn’t take it off, which was why she kept asking Hajime to do it for her. 
They were close enough that the guardsmen would be able to spot them soon, so Hajime put away Steiff and they kept going on foot. There would’ve been a huge commotion if he rode into a town on a jet-black motorcycle, after all. 
Shea complained during the entire trek, but Hajime and Yue simply ignored her all they while, as they swiftly journeyed towards their next destination. 
Eventually, when they reached the town, two armored men came out of the huts on either side of the gate. They were covered in simple leather breastplates, and the longswords strapped to their waist were the only arms they carried. Rather than soldiers, they looked more like adventurers. They called for Hajime to stop. 
“Halt. Show us your status plates, and tell us what you’re here for.” Standard procedure. The guards knew it too, and didn’t seem all that alert. Hajime dutifully took out his status plate and offered it to one of the guards. 
“I’m mostly here to stock up on supplies. We’re on a journey.” The soldier-adventurer hmm’d disinterestedly and took a look at Hajime’s status plate. His eyes went wide. He quickly held it up to the light, then rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn’t just seeing things. Realizing what must have happened, Hajime knew he must have forgotten to disguise his stats. 
There actually was a skill that let one alter the numbers on one’s status plate. Adventurers and soldiers made use of it extensively as having their information get out to the wrong people could be fatal. A dozen different lies flashed through the back of Hajime’s mind, so he just picked one at random. 
“I was attacked by monsters a while back. It’s been broken ever since.” 
“B-Broken? But...” One of the gate guards sputtered. It was only natural. Not only was level listed as unknown, but his stats and skills were utterly ridiculous. Status plates could break, but usually only in the physical sense, never something like this where it looked like it was glitching out. Normally, the guard would have laughed at him for telling an obvious lie, but with Hajime’s numbers being so stupidly high meant he wasn’t sure what to believe anymore. Hajime just shrugged his shoulders helplessly, then followed up on his previous statement. 
“How else do you explain those numbers? If it was real, then I’d be some kind of monster. Do I look like the kind of person who could blow this whole town away just by lifting my finger?” He spread his arms wide like he was joking, and the guard smiled with him. If the status plate really was telling the truth, then Hajime was a monster far more powerful than any hero or demon lord. Even if it was unheard of, it still made more sense for his plate to be broken. 
If the soldier-adventurer had known the truth, he would have fainted on the spot. Yue and Shea watched on in amazement as Hajime spun his lies without batting an eyelid. 
“Haha, yeah, you certainly don’t look anything like a monster. I’ve never heard of a status plate breaking like this, but I guess there’s a first time for everything... Anyway, moving on to you two...” The guard switched his gaze to the two girls standing behind Hajime. They’d been partially hidden by Hajime’s frame before, so he hadn’t gotten a good look at them earlier, but he froze when he saw who Hajime was traveling with. 
A crimson blush slowly spread up his face as he stared at Yue and Shea. Yue was, of course, a stunning beauty who resembled a masterfully crafted bisque doll. And Shea was just as alluring, as long as she kept her mouth shut. Basically, the two gate guards were completely smitten. 
Hajime cleared his throat loudly. Returning to their senses, the two quickly looked back at Hajime. 
“These two lost their plates when we were attacked by the monsters I was telling you about earlier. And this bunny girl here is, well... you understand, right?” The two of them nodded knowingly and returned Hajime’s status plate to him. 
“But man, you sure got your hands on a cutie. I hear light-haired rabbitmen are pretty rare. You must be pretty rich, huh?” 
The two of them kept stealing glances at the girls as the man spoke, his voice clearly filled with envy. Hajime merely shrugged his shoulders in reply, saying nothing. 
“Well, whatever. You’re free to pass.” 
“Thanks. Oh, yeah. Is there anywhere I can sell some of the materials I harvested?” 
“Hm? There’s an adventurer’s guild down the central road. They’d be the people to ask about that. They’ve got maps of the town there too, if you need one.” 
“Cool, thanks for the heads up.” Information in hand, Hajime and the others headed into town. 
According to the sign hanging from the main gate, the town’s name was Brooke. The town was bustling with activity. Horaud, the town Hajime had been to when they’d first gone to train in the Orcus Labyrinth, had been bigger, but a number of stalls could still be seen lining the main road, with merchants hawking their wares and customers heatedly haggling. 
For some reason, seeing all this activity around him made Hajime giddy with excitement. Yue, too, was grinning happily. Only Shea was trembling uncontrollably, glaring at Hajime with teary eyes. She didn’t yell, but simply glared angrily at him. Unable to ignore her any longer, Hajime let out a tired sigh. Grumbling to himself, he turned to face Shea. 
“What is it? I finally get to enjoy being around other people again, so what are you glaring at me for? You look like some kind of terrible gorilla monster that I have to keep myself from dropping a boulder on.” 
“Excuse me, I don’t look like a gorilla! And what’s with that description! I’m starting to feel bad for this poor gorilla you probably killed!” 
“...But didn’t you get all teary-eyed like that after smelling your armpit?” 
“Not you too!? How mean, I did not!” 
Shea was as boisterous as always. She frantically flapped her arms, protesting his words hotly. As an aside, that gorilla monster Hajime was referring to was the one he’d ended up using as a test subject for his Compression Synthesis. It had been purely for research, not enjoyment. Though it had tried to sniff Yue. Hajime’s Steel Arms skill had come from it, actually. 
“Do something about this collar! Everyone thinks I’m your slave...Hajime-san, you put this on me on purpose, didn’t you? How cruel. I thought we were comrades!” Even when she was angry, Shea didn’t really sound like it. Though she’d still found it quite a shock that her supposed companions were trying to make her look like a slave. Of course, the collar Hajime had put on her wasn’t an actual slave collar, nor did it really have any ability to bind her. Shea knew that as well. Still, it was a shock. 
Seeing her in honest distress, Hajime scratched his head awkwardly. 
“Look, do you really think a beastman could walk around town in the open if they weren’t someone’s slave? Especially a little bunny girl like you, since you’re so popular. Plus, you have white hair and a nice figure. I can guarantee you that if you weren’t wearing that collar, someone would try and capture you the moment we entered town. And then it’d all become one huge mess of kidnappers. And that would be a pain... Wait, what are you blushing like that for?” Over the course of his explanation, Shea’s angry glare had been replaced by a shy blush. By the end, she was cupping her cheeks in her hands and squirming in embarrassment. Yue just glared at her coldly. 
“O-Oh you, Hajime-san. I can’t believe you’d be so bold out in public. Saying things like I’ve got a nice figure, or a great personality, or that I’m the cutest, sexiest girl in the world. My, how embarra— Bugaah!?” Yue’s fist interrupted Shea’s exaggerated delusions. Her subsequent scream had not an iota of cuteness to it. Also, since she hadn’t defended herself with body strengthening, her cheek had a big red welt on it. 
“...Don’t get ahead of yourself.” 
“I’b shorry, Yue-san.” 
Shea trembled at the coldness in Yue’s voice. Tired of their little skit, Hajime cut them off by continuing his explanation. 
“Anyway, pretending you’re a slave when we’re in human territory is for your sake. I’d rather not end up having to save you from trouble every time we go to a town.” 
“I... get that, but...” She understood logically why Hajime was doing it. But she still found it hard to swallow. She’d placed great importance on the idea that they were comrades, and she was loathe to throw it away, even if it was just a pretense. This time, it was Yue who tried to convince her. 
“...It doesn’t matter what everyone else thinks you are.” 
“Yue-san?” 
“All that matters is that the people important to you know the truth... Right?” 
“...Yeah, you’re right. You’re absolutely right.” 
“...Good. Though it kind of irks me. You’re someone I’ve recognized Shea... so stop getting worked up over every little thing.” 
“Yue-san... Ehehe... Thanks.” 
In the past, Yue had wielded her power for the sake of her people. Though she spoke little, the answers she’d found after her dramatic betrayal carried a great deal of weight. Hence why they resounded within Shea’s heart. Hajime, Yue, and the other Haulia all knew she was their comrade, which was all that mattered. There was no need to shout it to the rest of the world if that would bring unnecessary trouble. Of course, that still wouldn’t stop her from wishing she could... Shea smiled shyly at Yue before turning to look back at Hajime. There was a hopeful look in her eyes. Guess I’ve gotta say something too. Hajime shrugged his shoulders. 
“Well, if word gets out and slavers come after you, we won’t abandon you at least.” 
“Even if you have to turn everyone in town into your enemy?” 
“You know I’ve already killed a bunch of imperial troops, right?” 
“So you’d help me even if it meant making the entire kingdom your enemy? Fufu...” 
“Don’t be ridiculous. Even if I have to go up against the entire world, or the gods themselves, if they make themselves my enemy, I’ll fight them.” 
“Fufufu, Yue-san, did you hear that? Hajime-san sure says some pretty embarrassing things. He must really care about us!” 
“...The only one he cares about is me.” 
“Hey, come on, read the mood! You were just supposed to say ’...Yeah.’ like you always do there.” Though she was complaining, Shea still had a smile on her face. Hearing Hajime say that he’d fight the entire world for her sake had made her feel extremely happy. Especially since she’d fallen in love with him. 
Hajime ignored their antics and continued explaining his decision to put a collar on her. 
“Also, that collar has a telepathy stone and a sight stone packed into it, so you can use them in an emergency. Just pour some mana into it and they’ll activate.” 
“A telepathy stone and a... sight stone?” 
As its name suggested, the telepathy stone allowed its wielder to telepathically communicate with others. Hajime had created it using the creation magic he’d learned in the labyrinth. The distance one could reach another with it was dependent on the amount of mana put into the stone. However, any transmissions made with the telepathy stone would be broadcast to anyone in range who also possessed one, so they weren’t suited for secret conversations. 
The sight stone was also something he’d crafted with creation magic. He had added Sense Presence [+Precision Sensing] into a regular stone. This skill allowed a previously marked target to be pinpointed among a group of other presences. Thus, the collar also served as a kind of beacon for Hajime to find Shea at any time. The strength of that beacon, much like the range of the telepathy stone’s transmissions, was dependent on how much mana Shea poured into it. 
The longer she listened to the explanation, the more grateful she grew to Hajime. 
“Oh also, you can remove it by putting a set amount of mana into it, okay?” 
“I see. So in other words... you gave this to me so you could hear my voice whenever you wanted, and so that you’d always know where I am, right? Are you really that obsessed with me? That’s a little weird, but, well, it’s not like I hate it or anyth— Bragahgwa!?” 
“Don’t get ahead of yourself.” 
“Ugh... I’m sorry.” 
Yue’s hand carved a perfect arc before connecting squarely with the back of Shea’s head and sending her sprawling to the ground. Her voice was as cold as ice. Hajime was beginning to wonder if Yue really was as bad at close combat as she claimed. And just because Yue had allowed Shea to accompany them, that didn’t mean she appreciated her making passes at Hajime. Though it was in doubt whether or not Shea’s actions could even be considered “making a pass.” 
After a few more minutes of walking, the merry troupe found themselves staring at a building with a big longsword drawn onto its signboard. It was the same sign Hajime had seen in Horaud, the mark of the adventurer’s guild. Though this building seemed to be only roughly half the size of the one in Horaud. 
Hajime pushed open the heavy wood doors and stepped inside. Since the words adventurer’s guild brought to mind images of rough and tumble types, Hajime had expected the inside to be dingy, but it was surprisingly clean. There was a counter directly ahead, while the entire left-hand side seemed to be a restaurant. A number of adventurers were sitting around chatting or eating meals. Judging by the fact that not a single one of them was drinking alcohol, Hajime assumed the establishment didn’t serve any. Guess they don’t want drunks messing up the place. 
The moment Hajime stepped through the door, everyone’s attention shifted to him. Normally, an unknown group of three wouldn’t attract attention for too long, but their curiosity was piqued once people’s gazes shifted from Hajime to the two girls standing behind him. There was more than one appreciative murmur, and a few of the adventurers were smacked by their female companions. That there were more punches than slaps seemed fitting for a group of adventurers. 
Judging by how things went in fantasy novels, Hajime anticipated a few catcalls too, but contrary to expectations, most people remained silent. It was a bit anticlimactic, but Hajime was still glad no one decided to get in his way. 
As he walked up to the counter, he found himself face to face with a charmingly smiling... middle-aged woman. A very well built one at that. Her torso was twice as wide as Yue’s. The stereotype that all guild receptionists were beautiful woman seemed to be a false one. Just like how in reality most of the maids were actually older women. No matter which world one was in, truth was harsher than fiction. 
Not that Hajime had been hoping the receptionist would be a beauty. Nope, not one bit. That was why he was hoping Shea and Yue would stop glaring at him soon. It was starting to get uncomfortable. Whether she guessed what was going through Hajime’s head or not, the receptionist simply continued smiling at him. 
“You’ve got two gorgeous girls with you already and you’re still not satisfied? Well, unfortunately for you, this receptionist’s no beauty.” 
...Can this lady use mind-reading magic or something? Hajime’s expression stiffened and he tried to casually reply. 
“Oh, I wasn’t thinking anything like that at all.” 
“Ahaha, don’t underestimate a woman’s intuition, boy. We can read you men like an open book. Your two friends over there won’t like it if you keep looking to ogle every girl you meet, you know?” 
“...I’ll keep that in mind.” 
When she heard his despondent reply, though, she apologized immediately. 
“Oh, look at what age does to you. I’m sorry for lecturing you when we’ve only just met.” 
It was hard to hate someone like her. When Hajime glanced back at the other adventurers, he saw they were all giving him looks of pity, as if to say “poor kid, so she got you too, huh?” It appeared the reason the adventurers here were all so mature was because of her. 
“Anyway, welcome to the Brooke branch of the adventurer’s guild. What business do you have with us?” 
“Oh, yeah, right... I’m looking to sell some materials.” 
“I see. May I ask to see your status plate?” 
“Huh? I need to show you my status plate just to sell things?” 
The old lady gave Hajime a puzzled look. 
“Are you not an adventurer? You don’t need your status plate just to sell things, but if you’re a registered adventurer you get a 10% bonus to your sales.” 
“I didn’t know that.” 
According to the lady’s explanation, there were a lot of other benefits to being a registered adventurer. As they were the ones who went out to gather the mana crystals and medicinal plants most towns needed, they were treated well. Since the areas outside of cities were always crawling with monsters, regular people would have a hard time harvesting anything. It was only natural for those that took up the more dangerous jobs to have special privileges. 
“A lot of inns and shops that do business with the guild will give adventurers 10-20% off for their services, and if your rank is high enough you can charter carriages for free. What do you think? Would you like to register with us? The registry fee is only a thousand Luta.” Luta was the standard currency used throughout the northern part of Tortus. By combining zagalta ore with various metals, one could create alloys of varying colors. Luta was made from those alloys, and marked with a special seal. The denominations came in blue, red, yellow, purple, green, white, black, silver, and gold. They were worth 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, 1000, 5000, and 10000 Luta respectively. Interestingly enough, it was the same values Japanese bills and coins came in. 
“Hmm, I see. In that case, I guess I might as well register. Unfortunately, I don’t have any money on me right now. Could you just deduct it from the value of all the stuff I’m selling? I don’t mind taking the base rate for however much I need to register.” 
“What are you doing, walking around penniless with two cute girls like that? I’ll give you the bonus for everything, so just make sure you treat them right, okay?” This old lady’s actually kind of cool. Hajime graciously accepted her offer, then handed over his status plate. 
He’d remembered to properly conceal his stats, so only his name, age, gender, and job should’ve been listed. She asked if Yue and Shea wanted to register too, but they refused. They didn’t even have status plates, so they’d have to get some from the old lady. But then she’d see all of their ridiculous stats and skills before they had a chance to hide them. 
Hajime was curious to see what their stats were like, but it would’ve caused a huge uproar. Dealing with that would’ve been a pain, so he decided to keep laying low instead. 
When she returned his plate to him, there was something new written on it. Next to the job column was an occupation column, which currently read “Adventurer.” There was a little blue mark next to it. 
That mark denoted his rank. As it rose it would change to red, then yellow, then purple, then green, then white, then black, then silver, and finally gold... Ah, I get it. The adventurer ranks were the same as the Luta coin colors. In other words, a blue rank adventurer was basically as worthless as a penny. How depressing. The first guild master who had designed this system must have had a pretty twisted personality. 
Also, it seemed that anyone without a combat job couldn’t rise above black rank. Though it was just barely, even non-combat jobs could at least rise up to the four digits. Those who made it that far were even more admired than combat focused adventurers who made it to gold, so one could see just how much importance they placed on these colors. 
“If you’re a man you better aim for black, you hear? You don’t want to look uncool in front of your lady friends, right?” 
“Yeah, I’ll work hard. Alright, so I can sell my stuff now, right?” 
“Feel free. I’m a qualified appraiser, so I can take care of it for you.” So not only was she a receptionist, but she was also an appraiser. What a talented woman. 
Hajime had put some of the materials in his Treasure Trove into his bag beforehand, which he now pulled out. It was an odd assortment of monster pelts, claws, fangs, and mana crystals. He put them all in the little container on the counter designed for this purpose, and the old lady stared at them in awe. 
“Th-These are—!” She timidly picked up each item, examining them thoroughly. After a nerve-wracking examination, the old lady sighed and looked up at Hajime. 
“You’ve brought me some crazy things here, boy. These... are from monsters found in the sea of trees, right?” 
“Yep, that’s right.” This too, deviated from Hajime’s expectations. Hajime had purposely avoided trying to sell anything he’d harvested in the abyss, since he’d assumed such monsters didn’t roam the surface. If he brought out those, there would’ve been a huge commotion. He had expected materials from monsters in the forest to still be somewhat rare, but he hadn’t had anything else on hand to sell. And based off the old lady’s reaction, they were indeed rare. 
Of course, Hajime totally hadn’t been hoping the guild receptionist would have panicked at the sight of what he’d brought, call over the branch head, and instantly have him upgraded to the max rank for adventurers. Nor had he been hoping she’d instantly fall for him after seeing how amazing he was... Nope, not one bit. So could you two please stop looking at me like that? You’re starting to scare me. 
“You just don’t learn, do you?” The old lady glared at Hajime. 
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” The abyss could shave away every other part of his personality, but the heart of an otaku was not so easily wiped away... Not that it was something to be proud of. Hajime averted his gaze and tried playing dumb. 
“Most things from the sea of trees are pretty high quality, so I’d be happy to take these off your hands.” She continued nonchalantly. Looks like she knows how to take a hint too. What a nice old lady. Hajime doubted there was any old woman out there more amazing than her. 
“So they are rare?” 
“Well you see, humans get lost easy in the sea of trees, and a lot of people who wander inside never come out again. That’s why most people avoid it like the plague. There’s a few with beastmen slaves who go in there hoping to strike it rich, but if they don’t treat them right it’s not hard for the slaves to lead their masters astray. And the few lucky enough to come back with anything usually go closer to the capital to sell the things they picked up. They’ll be able to get a higher price there, and their fame will rise quicker.” 
The old lady glanced at Shea. She probably thinks we got her to guide us through. Thanks to Shea’s presence, it didn’t seem odd for Hajime to have materials from the sea of trees. Instead, she had a worried look on her face, and mumbled something like, “Doing something so dangerous even though you’re so young...” I wonder what she’d think... if I told her I went all the way to Verbergen, and transformed an entire tribe of rabbitmen into bloodthirsty monsters? Though considering how she’s been acting so far, she might not even be all that surprised. Hajime smiled wryly to himself. 
After appraising all of the goods, the old woman offered a price of 487,000 Luta for the entire stash. Quite a large sum. 
“Are you really alright with that? You could get more near the capital.” 
“Nah, that’s fine. This is enough.” 
Hajime gratefully received his 51 Luta coins. Perhaps it had something to do with the ore they were made of, but the coins were extremely light. They were also thin enough that even 51 of them could be carried around easily. Though even if they had been bulky, Hajime could have just stored them in his Treasure Trove. 
“By the way, the gate guard mentioned something about you guys having maps of the town...” 
“Oh, yes, we do. Excuse me for just a moment... Here, found it. The inns and shops I recommend are all marked on it.” The map she’d handed over was minutely detailed, and all of the most important information was easy to find. It resembled tourist pamphlets Hajime was used to. He couldn’t believe the guild gave away something this nice for free. 
“Hey, is it really okay to just take this for free? This is a really good map. Hell, I’d totally be willing to pay for something like this...” 
“I don’t mind. I just draw them for fun in my spare time. Actually, my job is Scribe, so something like this is easy for me.” 
Is this lady Wonder Woman or something? What’s someone so skilled doing in a backwater town like this? Hajime was certain the story of how she ended up here would make for an interesting tale. 
“You sure? Well, thanks then.” 
“It’s fine. Anyway, since you’ve got a decent amount of money now, I’d recommend staying somewhere nice. This town’s pretty safe, but I’m sure there’s at least a few guys that’ll try and do something stupid since you have those two by your side.” 
Helpful until the very end. Hajime smiled appreciatively, thanked her, and headed for the door. Yue and Shea bowed to her too before following after him. The adventurers were all whispering furiously to each other as they watched the girls leave the building. 
“Heh, what an interesting bunch...” The old lady muttered to herself.

Hajime and the others looked over their map, which was more of a guidebook really, and decided to spend the night at the “Masaka Inn.” According to the blurb on the map, it had very good food, was in a safe neighborhood, and most importantly, it had a bath. That last one was what decided it for Hajime. It was a bit on the pricey side, but since they were rich, that wasn’t a problem. He was a little bothered by the name, but... The entire first floor of the inn was its restaurant, and when they arrived they found a few people eating dinner there. And just like with the adventurer’s guild, everyone’s attention was drawn to Yue and Shea. They ignored the stares and walked up to the counter, where a lively girl of maybe fifteen came out to greet them. 
“Welcome to the Masaka Inn! Are you here for a room or for a meal?” 
“I’d like to rent a room. We came here following this guidebook, is the price still the same as what’s on here?” Hajime showed her the map, and the girl nodded in understanding. 
“Oh, you came here on Catherine’s recommendation. Yep, our prices are still the same. How many nights will you be staying?” She continued briskly. However, Hajime’s mind was elsewhere. It had come as quite a shock to him that the old lady’s name was Catherine. 
“Umm, excuse me, sir?” The girl’s words brought Hajime back to his senses. 
“O-Oh, sorry. Just one night. Also, we’d like dinner and a bath too.” 
“Okay. It costs 100 Luta for every 15 minutes in the bath. Right now, we have these time slots free.” She held up a little board with time slots written on it. Hajime wanted to take his time in the bath, and they’d have to split up the guys and girls, so he’d need 2 hours at least. The girl cried out in surprise when he mentioned as much, but as a born-and-bred Japanese, Hajime would settle for no less. 
“A-Also, umm, how many rooms would you like? We have both two-person and three-person rooms available, so...” There was a hint of curiosity in her eyes as she asked that. She was around that age where she was interested in things like romance. Though Hajime wished the other guests would stop trying to eavesdrop on the conversation too. He’d known Yue and Shea were both very good-looking, but this exceeded even his expectations. Considering how they’d met, it wasn’t that surprising that Hajime was a little ignorant of how others would see them. 
“A three-person room should be fine.” There wasn’t even a hint of hesitation in his voice. The surroundings guests all stared in awe. The girl too, blushed slightly. However, there was someone who objected to Hajime’s choice. 
“No. Two two-person rooms.” Yue. The other guests, especially the men, all grinned smugly. They were, of course, thinking Yue wanted to split the guys and girls. However, Yue’s next words shattered their hopes. 
“...One for me and Hajime. You can have the other, Shea.” 
“Hey, why!? I don’t want to be all on my own! Come on, let’s just all share a room!” Shea protested hotly. 
“...Because you’ll get in the way.” 
“Get in the way of what... Wait, what are you planning on doing in there?” 
“...Isn’t it obvious? Sex.” 
“Bwah!? H-How can you just say that with so many people around!? Don’t you have any class!?” 
Yue’s words thrust all the men present into the depths of despair. Eyes burning with jealousy, they glared at Hajime. The innkeeper had gone red as a tomato as she glanced between Yue and Hajime. Hajime tried to step in before the two girls could embarrass him any further, but he was a hair too late. 
“F-Fine, then you go in the other room, Yue-san! I’m the one who’ll share a room with Hajime-san!” 
“...Oh, and why is that?” Yue’s gaze was as cold as a winter blizzard. That cold gaze brought back traumatic memories of her training, so Shea started trembling in fear, but she steeled her resolve and glared right back. 
“S-So that I can give Hajime-san my virginity!” 
Silence descended upon the room. No one said a word, or even made a sound. Everyone’s attention was firmly fixed on Hajime and the others. Even the girl’s parents had come out from inside the kitchen and were watching their exchange with a “must be nice to be young” kind of expression on their faces. At this point Yue could have frozen hell over with her glare alone. 
“...Any last words?” 
“Ugh. I-I won’t lose to you! Today’s the day I beat you and take over the role of main heroine!” 
“Allow me to teach you that there is no disciple who’s stronger than their master.” 
“Well, it’s time for this disciple to surpass her master!” 
An intimidating aura began wrapping itself around Yue, and Shea drew the hammer strapped to her back with trembling fingers. Everyone gulped nervously, too scared to make a move. It was in this tense atmosphere that... Clang! Clang! 
“Hii!?” 
“Hakyuu!?” 
A metal fist came down on both of the girls. They both crouched on the ground, tears streaming from their eyes. The one who had struck them was Hajime. 
“Sheesh, stop bothering the other guests. And more importantly, stop embarrassing me.” 
“Uuu, your love hurts, Hajime...” 
“Y-You could have held back at least a little... I was even using body strengthening and it still hurts...” 
“That’s your own fault, moron.” 
Hajime gave them both a stern glare before turning back to the girl at the counter. She straightened up with a start. 
“Sorry for the commotion. A three-person room will be fine.” 
“...I-If you’re getting a three-person room... d-does that mean you’re going to do them both at once? A-Amazing... Wait, is that why you wanted two hours in the bath? Are you going to be washing each other’s backs and stuff!? And then... do something a little more... How scandalous!” 
The poor girl had lost it. Unable to keep watching any longer, her mom, who was presumably the owner, dragged her away from the counter. Her father took her place and finished completing the paperwork. 
“Sorry about my daughter,” he said apologetically as he handed over the room key. But just like the other guys, his eyes were full of jealousy too. He’s definitely the kind of guy that’ll be all sarcastic and go “Well, did you enjoy yourself last night?” in the morning. 
Anything Hajime said would just make the misunderstanding worse, so he just silently took his key, picked up Yue and Shea, put them on his shoulders, and escaped to his room on the third floor. It took a long time before noises could be heard from downstairs again. The whole ordeal had tired Hajime out, so he just tried not to think about it. 
Finally, Hajime went into his room. Ignoring their protests, he threw Shea and Yue onto their respective beds before diving into his own and letting sleep overcome him. 
A few hours later, Yue woke him up to tell him it was time for dinner. Refreshed, Hajime headed downstairs together with Shea and Yue. For whatever reason, all of the people that had been sitting when he’d come to check in were still there. Not a single one of them had left. 
Hajime’s face stiffened a little, but he feigned composure and took a seat. The same girl from earlier came to take his order, blushing furiously. 
“I’m sorry about what happened earlier,” she apologized. But there was more curiosity than remorse in her eyes. 
The food they’d ordered was indeed delicious, but Hajime had a hard time enjoying his first decent meal in ages because of all the curious and jealous gazes directed his way. He sighed as he finished his food, wishing he could have eaten under less draining circumstances. 
And even though he’d gotten separate times for the guys and girls, both Yue and Shea had come to intrude on his bath time. Before another scene of carnage could begin he’d had to calm them down with his fist and force them to make up with tears still streaming down their eyes. Of course, the girl had come to peek on them too, and when her mom discovered her it turned into another big affair with the girl getting spanked... 
Then, when he’d tried to sleep, Yue had sneaked into his bed to sleep with him. Naturally, Shea had to follow suit, so Hajime had ended up with Yue clinging to his right arm and Shea crying softly as she clung to his cold, metallic left one. However, the artificial nerves in his arm still let him feel things like it were a normal one, so Hajime was acutely aware of Shea’s twin torpedoes pressing up against it. And that, of course, led Yue to then glare angrily at him, making it difficult for him to get any rest at all... The next morning, Hajime made an oath. Next time, he’d just share a room with Yue. Shea’s sulking was nothing compared to her wrath. That cold glare of hers had probably shaved a few years off his life. 
Once they’d eaten breakfast, Hajime paid for the food, then asked the two girls to get the supplies they’d need. Checkout wasn’t until noon, so he could still use their room for a while longer. There was something he wanted to finish up while Yue and Shea were out buying supplies. 
“What is it you need to finish?” Shea asked, curious. Hajime’s reply was snide. 
“There’s something I want to try making. I have the basic idea down, so it should only take a couple hours. I was actually going to make it last night, but... well, I was really tired for some reason.” He glared pointedly at them as he said that. 
“I-I see. Yue-san, I want to go look at some clothes, is that alright?” 
“Yeah, that’s fine. I want to see the stalls too.” 
“Oh, that sounds like fun! We only got to look at them yesterday, so it’ll be nice to get something to eat and spend more time shopping around.” 
They both turned away and began talking about shopping. Both of them knew it was their fault, but neither of them wanted to admit it, so they had simultaneously decided to change the topic. 
“You two really do get along pretty well.” Hajime’s comment was conveniently ignored as well.

The two girls fled into town, hurrying to escape Hajime’s admonishing gaze. Though they had a few hours until noon, they’d still have to plan their trip out if they wanted to get everything in time. The main things on the list were food, new clothes for Shea, and medicine. 
Shea was still wearing the same tattered clothes she had been in the sea of trees. The revealing outfit that looked more like a swimsuit than anything was the rabbitmen’s traditional outfit, and all she had to put over it was the white and blue coat Hajime had given her in the gorge. But that outfit still left her stomach and legs dangerously exposed. More importantly though, such clothing wouldn’t be fit for the kind of rough conditions they were bound to encounter during their journey. That was why Shea wanted sturdier, less exposing clothing. Thanks to Hajime, they didn’t need to restock on weapons or equipment. 
Even though it was morning, the town was already bustling. Merchants were already trying to lure in customers, and housewives and adventurers alike haggled fiercely. Though breakfast had just passed, the food stalls were crowded with people, and the smell of grilled meat and sweet sauces wafted through the street. 
The item and food stores were all packed, so the two decided to get Shea’s clothes first. Their map had neatly marked which stores were good for casual clothing, which were good for formal wear, and which were good for adventurers and travelers looking for something more durable. The old woman... Catherine, really was something else. She was thorough to the extreme. 
The two girls headed straight for the store dealing in adventurer’s clothing. The fact that it also sold casual wear was what convinced them to try it first. Both the variety and quality of the clothes in the store was impressive, showing the true depths of Catherine’s knowledge. Not only that, but all of the outfits were very practical and very fashionable. It did not disappoint. However... 
“Oh my, welcome. What a pair of cuties we have today. Onee-san’s so glad you came! I’ll get you two fitted up juuust right.” The store was run by a monster. More specifically, a two-meter tall muscled hulk that could barely be called human. Its face was so chiseled that it looked like it came out of a comic strip, and though the top of its head was bald, the long hair growing from its sides was tied up in a complex weave. It rose up past its bald head like a dragon ascending to the heavens, and at the coif’s summit was a cute pink ribbon. 
Its muscles rippled with every movement, which destroyed the effect he was trying to go for by cupping its cheeks bashfully. Its clothes were... No, some things are better left unmentioned. Needless to say, its arms, legs, and stomach were all exposed for the world to see. 
Yue and Shea both stared in shock. Shea had already fainted where she stood, while Yue looked as if she was preparing to face down a monster worse than any she’d faced in the abyss. 
“Oh my? What’s wrong, my two little cuties? Such grim expressions don’t suit your lovely faces! Come on, smile!” 
You’re the reason we can’t smile right now, both Yue and Shea thought, but refrained from saying aloud. Those two were among the strongest people on Tortus, and even they didn’t think they stood a chance against this monster. 
As it continued to approach them with the same beaming smile on its face, Yue finally snapped and muttered something. 
“...Are you human?” That single question sent the monster into a fit of rage. 
“And just who are you calling a terrifying demon that even legendary monsters flee from!? A creature so horrifying it turns anyone who sees it insaaaaaane!?” 
“I-I’m sorry...” Yue took a trembling step back, tears in her eyes. Shea just slumped to the ground... an odd chill spreading through the lower half of her body. The moment Yue apologized the monster’s smile, if it could even be called that, returned. After that, it once again began treating them like customers. The instant transformation was frightful. 
“Apology accepted. So, what kind of clothes are you girls looking for todaaay?” Shea was still out of commission, so Yue steeled herself and explained what they were looking for. Shea tugged on Yue’s sleeve and shook her head, her eyes pleading with Yue to leave, but before she could reply the monster said “Just leave it to meee!” and carried Shea over to the back of the store. She looked like a lamb that knew it was about to be slaughtered. 
In the end, the two discovered the monstrous shopkeeper, Crystabel, had a wonderful fashion sense. And that she was far gentler than she looked. She’d only carried Shea to the back because of how shoddy her clothes were. 
Once they finished buying Shea’s clothes, the two thanked Crystabel and left her shop. They’d even come to see her — though they weren’t 100% sure she was actually a girl — smile as one of her charms. 
“Man, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen to me, but it turns out she’s a surprisingly nice person.” 
“Yeah... I guess you can’t judge a book by its cover.” 
“Yep!” 
They made their way over to the item shop as they chatted. Unfortunately, the two stood out a great deal. Before they’d gotten very far, they found themselves surrounded by dozens of men. Most of them were adventurers, but a few of them were sporting aprons and were clearly store clerks. 
One of them even stepped forward. Though Yue didn’t recognize him, he was one of the guys that had been in the adventurer’s guild when they’d visited the night before. 
“You two were called Yue-chan and Shea-chan, right?” 
“Hm...? Yeah. That’s right.” Yue narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Shea was surprised anyone else was acting so friendly since she was a beastman. 
The man turned back and nodded to his companions. Then, with a determined expression, he turned back to Yue. Many others also stepped forward as well. And then... 
“Yue-chan, please go out with me!” 
“Shea-chan, please become my slave!” 
Well, this was hardly unexpected. The reason everyone’s confession toward Shea sounded so different was because she was still a beastman. Technically, a slave could only be transferred to another owner with their master’s permission, but the guys at the inn had seen yesterday that Shea and Hajime were extremely close. That was why they were certain that if they could get Shea’s approval, they’d be able to persuade Hajime somehow... Or something along those lines. 
As an aside, the conversation last night had been so shocking that it had slipped their minds that a slave normally would never have been able to go against the orders of her master. Had they been paying more attention, they would have realized Shea couldn’t possibly have been a slave. It was possible to give a slave less restrictions in their contract, but no one ever did. Upon hearing their heartfelt confessions, Yue and Shea... 
“...Shea, the item shop’s this way.” 
“Oh, okay. It’d be nice if we could get everything in one place.” 
...ignored them completely and continued walking. 
“P-Please wait! Won’t you at least give us a reply!? Please, at least just—” 
“No.” 
“Nope.” 
“Guh... Shot down... so fast.” Some of the men crumbled to their knees after being nonchalantly discarded by the girls. Others were unwilling to give up so easily. Frankly speaking, Yue and Shea were unmatched when it came to looks. It was understandable why some of the guys might want to resort to violence. 
“Fine, then I’ll just make you mine by force!” At his spirited yell, a glimmer of hope began to glow in the eyes of those that had given up. Everyone began surrounding the two girls. 
When the encirclement was complete, the man who had yelled earlier charged at Yue. Had any Japanese person been present, they would have commented on how his lunge looked just like the Lupin Dive. Yue, however, merely gazed coldly up at him and muttered two words. 
“Crystal Coffin.” An instant later, the man was buried up to his neck in ice. This added weight sent him careening to the ground. He let out a very unmanly grunt as he crashed into the floor. 
The others all looked on in amazement. Yue had cast one of the highest level water spells, Crystal Coffin, without a chant. They began whispering furiously to each other. “She must have chanted it ahead of time,” or “I bet she’s hiding a magic circle under her clothes” could be heard among the many voices. 
Yue walked briskly up to the frozen man. Though they were awed by her power, the men all prepared to charge anyway, ready to become the next Lupin for a shot at becoming her lover. In order to save herself time, Yue decided to make an example of the first man. 
She waved her hand, and the ice covering him slowly started to melt. Thinking she was freeing him, the man smiled in relief. Assuming this meant he still had a chance, he gazed passionately at Yue. 
“Y-Yue-chan. I’m sorry for running at you so suddenly! Look, I just want you to know that I’m serious—” Still mostly covered in ice, the man suddenly stopped mid-confession. Because he’d realized Yue was only melting the ice around one part of his body. Namely... 
“U-Umm, Yue-chan? Why are you only melting... the ice down there?” Indeed, Yue was only melting the ice that surrounded his crotch. The rest of him was still firmly stuck in place. A terrible premonition ran through his mind, and he gazed fearfully at Yue. No way, she wouldn’t. She wouldn’t, right? 
Yue simply grinned. 
“Shoot him down.” Balls of wind started slamming into the man’s balls, one after another. 
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!! Please stop! Mommyyyyyyy!” The man’s screams echoed throughout the streets. Each sphere that slammed into him made a noise similar to the one heard when Mario collects a coin. No, honestly, the real sound was nothing like that, but because it was too gruesome to describe, it was just better to pretend it was something so soothing. His testicles jostled around like a punching bag being hammered by a boxer. 
All of the men in the area, even the curious onlookers and the stall owners who had nothing to do with the situation, instinctively clutched their balls. 
The continuous barrage finally came to an end around the same time the man lost consciousness. She had purposely made each individual wind sphere weak enough that he wouldn’t lose consciousness right away, but still strong enough to hurt. It was truly a godlike feat. Yue blew on the top of her finger like it was a gun barrel and hammered the final nail in the coffin. 
“...You might as well be a girl now.” That day, one man died, and a second Crystabel, or rather Mariabel, was born. In fact, he would go on to train under Crystabel, and open up a branch store in her (his?) name. It actually became quite popular... but that was a tale for another time. 
From that day on, rumors began to spread about “The Ball Crusher.” The rumors eventually reached as far as the capital, and Yue’s new alias became a symbol of fear for male adventurers worldwide, but that too was best left for another time. 
Yue and Shea ignored the fearful gazes of the other men and walked off to the item shop. A couple of women who had been watching the exchange muttered “Yue onee-sama...” as she walked past, but she ignored them too. 
They completed the rest of their shopping, and when they returned they found Hajime just about done with his work. He was about to welcome them back, but the words died on his lips when he saw how Shea looked. 
“Ehehe. What do you think, Hajime-san? Do I look more like an adventurer now?” Shea did a little twirl as she said that. Her short skirt fluttered up to a dangerous height, and her boobs jiggled wildly underneath a shirt, if one could even call it that, which emphasized her cleavage. Like before, her midriff was completely exposed. 

Honestly speaking, her new clothes were about as revealing as her old outfit. The only real difference was that her threadbare sandals had been replaced with sturdy boots. That being said, they laced up only to her ankles, so nothing much had changed even there. 
“...What did you guys even go to buy? Looks to me like this worthless rabbit’s still wearing the same revealing outfit as before...” 
“Come now, what are you saying, Hajime-san? Look closely. Even if my skirt gets flipped up, these hot pants will keep anyone from seeing my panties. See?” Somewhat bashfully, Shea lifted up her skirt to show Hajime. Indeed, there was a pair of white hot pants underneath, which looked surprisingly durable. Apparently the upper part of her outfit, which resembled a swimsuit more than anything, was also a kind of bikini armor, so it actually protected her vitals effectively. But even so, how’s this supposed to protect her stomach, or her thighs, or any other part of her body? Hajime gazed questioningly at Shea. 
“...It’s fine. Shea said all the other clothes were too tight and made it hard to move.” Yue answered for her. It seemed Shea emphasized flexibility of motion over any amount of protection clothes might offer. Thus, the bunny girl was outfitted in a new ensemble that was practically no different from her old one, with the exception that it was a bit more stylish, and offered marginally more protection. The getup was topped off with one of Yue’s handmade coats. Well, whatever. If she’s fine with it, then I guess it’s fine. 
“Anyway, as long as we got everything done, that’s all that matters. Thanks for doing the shopping. Oh yeah, it was pretty noisy outside a while ago. Did something happen?” Hajime ignored Shea, who was still twirling about in her new clothes, and changed the topic. Even he’d noticed the earlier commotion. Shea deflated a little when she saw Hajime ignoring her attempts to show off her charm, while Yue answered his question. 
“...Sort of. It wasn’t a big deal.” 
“Ah, I see. That’s good, then.” 
The monstrous shopkeeper and the man Yue had nearly sent to heaven were all waved off as “no big deal.” Hajime gazed suspiciously at the two of them for a few seconds before shrugging his shoulders. 
“Do we have everything we need?” 
“Yeah. We got it all.” 
“Yep. We got a ton of food too, so we won’t go hungry anytime soon. That Treasure Trove of yours sure is useful!” 
Hajime had let them borrow his Treasure Trove while they were out shopping. Shea stared enviously at the ring, to which Hajime only smiled awkwardly. At his current level of skill, he wasn’t able to create something like the Treasure Trove. But because of how convenient it was, he wanted to be able to make some for Yue and Shea too. 
“Now then, Shea. This is for you.” Hajime held out a cylindrical, mechanical object that was about fifty centimeters long and forty centimeters in diameter. The whole thing was a glossy silver, and there was a little grip-like thing attached to the side. 
Shea reflexively took it in her hands, and the unexpected weight of it caused her to stumble backward. Hurriedly, she used her body strengthening to steady herself and lift it up. 
“Wh-What is this thing? It’s super heavy...” 
“It’s the new warhammer I made for you. Heavier’s better, right?” 
“Huh? This is... a hammer?” Shea’s question was to be expected. The cylindrical handle part did kind of resemble a hammer, but the grip was too short to swing properly. It was far too unbalanced. 
“Yep. That’s what it looks like when it’s in standby, or in bombardment mode. Now, go on, try pouring some mana into it.” 
“Umm, like this? Ah!?” 
When she poured her mana into it, the oddly shaped hammer made a bunch of mechanical clinks as the grip extended backward, so it was in the perfect place to hold a hammer. 
This was a battle artifact Hajime had created, that he’d named Drucken. He’d added a lot of extra features to it that a normal hammer didn’t have. In its base bombardment mode, the grip was kept close to the end because it was used as a trigger to fire massive shells at enemies. Pouring mana into a certain section of it made it transform into the more familiar hammer shape Shea was used to. Shooting bullets wasn’t the only gimmick this hammer had, either. 
This was what Hajime had wanted to stay behind and complete. He’d spent the morning perfecting it while Yue and Shea had gone shopping. 
“This is the best I can do for now, but once I polish my skills some more I plan to improve it. There’s no telling what we’ll run into where we’re going. I know Yue trained you, but it was still only for ten days. It’s dangerous for you to come with us, so I made this weapon to bring out the most of your power. Make sure you get used to it, alright? You’re our comrade now. You better not die, or I’ll kill you myself.” 
“Hajime-san...Fufu, that doesn’t even make any sense... Well, don’t worry. I’ll get even stronger, so I can follow you no matter where you go!” 
Shea happily held Drucken close to her chest. Even when she was happy it was pointlessly over-exaggerated. Yue just shrugged her shoulders helplessly, while Hajime smiled wryly. I know I’m the one who made it, but it’s weird seeing a girl get so happy over receiving a warhammer. 
They went to go check out of the inn, with Shea following ecstatically behind them. The innkeeper’s daughter still blushed when she saw Hajime, but he decided to ignore that. 
It was high noon when they stepped outside, and the sun’s warm rays blazed down on them. Hajime raised a hand to cover his eyes and took a deep breath. When he turned around, he saw Yue and Shea smiling at him. 
He nodded to both of them, then started walking forward. They followed. 
And thus, their journey resumed.