Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou (LN) - Volume 7 - Chapter 1

Chapter I: Haulias Assemble! 

Shizuku Yaegashi watched the thick clouds roll by below her. She occasionally caught glimpses of plains, forest, and villages through gaps in the clouds, but they flashed past too quickly to make out details. 
Despite the speed they were going at, the breeze was quite mild. Her ponytail fluttered in the pleasantly cool air as she took in the scenery. After a while, she looked up and saw the sun dazzling brilliantly above her. 
It looked close enough that she felt she’d be able to reach it just by stretching her hand out. 
She brought a hand up to shield her eyes and leaned back against the guardrail. Expression pensive, she muttered something in a tired voice. 
“I can’t believe he built an entire airship too. When it comes to him, I don’t think anything could surprise me anymore.” Indeed, Shizuku was currently standing on the aft deck of Hajime’s personal airship, Fernir. He had crafted it primarily out of gravityrock and spirit stone, and it served as his newest mode of transportation. It possessed a multitude of features, and was about 120 meters in length. From above, it vaguely resembled a manta ray. The ship’s bridge sat near the front of the craft, while the center served as a massive living room of sorts. There was also a residential quarter, and each of the rooms came furnished with its own kitchen and bathroom. 
It was easily the largest and fastest vehicle in existence, at least as far as Tortus was concerned. 
“It’s like I’m dreaming...” She was soaring above the clouds. The world’s greatest view was all around her. 
She breathed another long sigh. Despite the magnificence around her, Shizuku didn’t seem too impressed. 
Hajime had declared that he wouldn’t lift a finger for the people of this world, so Kouki had begged him to help them conquer a labyrinth so he could gain the strength to do it in Hajime’s stead. As a result, he and Shizuku had decided to join Hajime on his quest, though each for different reasons. 
All that aside, the airship was just too amazing. There was so much to take in that Shizuku had gone from wonder to a strange sort of resigned acceptance. Normally, the trek to Haltina would take a party three months on foot. Hajime’s airship could get them there in two and a half days. 
The Hoelscher Empire, which sat between Haltina and Heiligh, was a little over a day’s travel. 
Liliana, Heiligh’s princess, had almost fainted in shock when she’d seen the airship and heard how fast it could travel. It had been quite unbecoming of someone of her stature. She was heading to Hoelscher to discuss what countermeasures the humans should take against the demons. 
On an unrelated note, Hajime had actually wanted to make an airship ever since he’d cleared Miledi’s labyrinth. However, he hadn’t been skilled enough to do so until just recently. 
Enchanting ore with gravity magic was a difficult process, and the larger the object you wanted to enchant the more skill it required. At first, the biggest things Hajime had been able to enchant with gravity magic were his Cross Bits. 
Not only did enchanting larger objects require more skill, it also made remotely controlling that object with spirit stone more difficult. 
The larger the object made of gravityrock was, the more it took out of you to operate. 
An otaku like Hajime had dreamed of making an airship ever since he’d discovered it was possible, he just hadn’t possessed enough skill to do so. 
But of course, he was a Synergist at heart. He refused to compromise by making his craft any smaller or less complex. Instead, he’d continued training at every opportunity, until finally his transmuting skill had reached the point where he was able to craft it to perfection. 
Once it was complete, he’d unveiled his creation to the others the day they’d left the capital. 
“You always get air travel in the final act of an RPG, right?” He’d tried to sound as nonchalant as possible, but he hadn’t been able to hide the grin on his face. 
Yue and the others had taken it in stride as they were used to Hajime’s antics by now, but the other students were surprised to see such a childish side of Hajime. 
Their surprise grew when they discovered how much mana it took just to make the ship float. Making it go at the speeds Hajime did took so much that the students couldn’t even wrap their head around the idea. Operating it for any length of time would require an unbelievably large mana pool and a ridiculous rate of mana regeneration. Only a scant few people could even make it move. 
“I never knew the sky was so blue...” Shizuku muttered absentmindedly, trying not to think of the logistics that were making this flight possible. Her thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice. 
“So this is where you were, Shizuku.” 
“Kouki...” Shizuku looked back down at the deck. Kouki was in the process of clambering out of the top hatch. 
Once he was out, he walked over to Shizuku and placed both hands on the guardrail. 
For a few moments, he just silently watched the clouds fly by. 
“This is... amazing.” 
“Yeah. I’m actually getting tired of getting shocked every time.” 
Kouki was of course referring to Fernir. Though he was praising the airship, he seemed more terrified and frustrated than impressed. 
Shizuku could guess the source of his dissatisfaction, but she didn’t want to talk about it, so she changed the topic. 
“Did you come up here alone? What’s everyone else doing?” Kouki, Shizuku, and Liliana weren’t the only ones who’d joined Hajime on the ship. Liliana had brought her personal maid and ten royal guards with her, while the rest of Kouki’s party had followed him on. 
Aiko had stayed behind, as she hadn’t wanted to leave the other students unsupervised. The members of Nagayama’s and Yuka’s parties had remained behind to protect the rest of the class and the capital. They hadn’t wanted to leave the people there completely defenseless. 
Still, there was a possibility Freid might return with another army, so Kouki had convinced Hajime to leave behind a long-range teleportation artifact in the capital so that they could return at a moment’s notice if necessary. 
“Ryutarou and the royal guards are eating the dinner Shea-san made for them. Suzu and Lily are talking in their room. Nagumo’s... flirting with everyone. He’s just lazing about on the bridge...” 
Shizuku examined her friend’s face. Kouki’s lips were twisted in a strange grimace, a plethora of emotions showing on his face. 
Shizuku smiled playfully at him. 
“What, mad that Nagumo-kun’s more popular than you now?” 
“As if...” Kouki frowned at Shizuku’s ribbing and replied in a curt tone. Finally, he spat out what was really eating at him. 
“He can make all these amazing things... and he’s so strong... yet he acts like it’s all nothing to him. And how can he just abandon the people of this world like that?” 
“......” Kouki still wasn’t able to come to terms with Hajime’s decision to ignore the gods and go back home. 
He’s got all this power, so why doesn’t he use it to help these people and kill the gods? Shizuku could read his thoughts like an open book. 
“I think... that’s because he’s made his choice.” 
“What choice?” Kouki looked Shizuku in the eyes. She kept her expression neutral and picked her words carefully. 
“I don’t think... he has it as easy as he makes it look. I’m sure he’s just trying to make it seem like nothing’s bothering him, while in reality he’s quite desperate. Desperate to protect the ones he loves, and make it out of this ordeal alive.” 
“......” 
“Remember what he said? You don’t do something because you’re strong enough to do it, you get stronger to accomplish what you want to do... Well, something like that, anyway.” 
Deep furrows formed in Kouki’s brow as he frowned. He averted his gaze, unable to meet Shizuku’s yes. 
After all, he’d been thinking differently. If I was that strong, I would definitely save the world. It seemed similar to Hajime’s way of thinking at first glance, but was fundamentally different. 
“Kouki, I know you’re feeling frustrated at the gap in your strength and his. But remember, he didn’t start out that strong. He earned that strength by crawling out of hell despite being the weakest one of us. Everything he has now is a result of his unbreakable determination. And what he’s determined to do isn’t kill the gods or save the world. It’s something a lot simpler. He’s fighting for the sake of those close to him.” Shizuku observed Kouki’s profile, gauging his reaction. Normally he’d meet her gaze, but he didn’t now. He continued looking anywhere but at her. 
However, Shizuku continued talking, hoping that her words might lead her friend to make better choices. 
“He’s different from us, who decided to help because we could. So you can’t expect him to agree to save the world just because it’s something he can do. That’s not what he worked so hard for, and he knows that if he uses his power for something he doesn’t care about, he might lose the things he does.” 
“I don’t get it...” Kouki’s expression grew more complicated. This was the first time he’d had to deal with a set of values so completely different from his own, and it was confusing him. 
However, he didn’t ignore Shizuku’s words, and did his best to make sense of them. 
Shizuku could tell how hard he was trying, and her expression softened a little. 
“Hmm... It’s not exactly the same, but think of it this way. You spent your whole life training to be the world’s best boxer, but then someone comes along and says ‘If you’re that strong, how come you’re not patrolling the streets beating up thugs and gangsters!?’ You probably wouldn’t like that, right?” 
“Now that you mention it... I guess you’re right... B-But lives are at stake here!” Kouki was arguing more out of stubbornness than anything at this point. And so, Shizuku narrowed her eyebrows and responded. 
“I mean it’s a good thing that you can’t ignore anyone in need, but... that’s how you think Kouki, not how Nagumo-kun does. You can’t force your values onto him.” 
“So you’re taking his side now?” 
Shizuku sighed at Kouki’s pouting. 
“You sound like a five-year-old. I’m just trying to explain how everyone’s different. And in case you’ve forgotten, Nagumo-kun’s saved plenty of people already. Not just us, either. He saved the town of Ur, and according to Kaori he saved everyone in Ankaji too. Plus, he destroyed an underground slavery ring in Fuhren and took that dagon girl, Myu, back to her mother. If you ask me, I think he’s saved more of the world than we have.” 
“That’s... true, but...” 
“I’m sure... he only did it for the sake of Yue and the others close to him, but... Fufu. At this rate, he might just end up saving the world and killing the gods while on his quest to get back home.” 
“I kind of feel bad for the gods now...” Shizuku snickered. As ridiculous as it sounded, it seemed like something that Hajime might really do. 
Though he didn’t want to admit it, he couldn’t really deny it either, so he settled for making a lame joke. 
The two stood there in silence. Shizuku knew Kouki was trying to wrestle with his own feelings, so she didn’t say anything. 
It felt like hours passed. 
At some point, Shizuku could feel Fernir change direction. That’s odd. There shouldn’t be anything blocking our path this high up. They should have been flying in a straight line to the empire, so if they’d changed directions, something must have happened. Kouki and Shizuku exchanged a look. 
“What do you think happened?” 
“Let’s go back inside for now.” 
The two of them nodded to each other and hurried back inside.

By the time Shizuku and Kouki arrived at the bridge, everyone else was already there. They were crowding around a large crystal placed in the center of the room. It looked like everything was starting to heat up... 
“What happened?” 
“Oh, hi Shizuku-chan. We spotted some people being chased by imperial soldiers,” Kaori explained. 
She pointed to the cube-shaped crystal, which showed a pair of rabbitmen being chased through a ravine by a group of imperial soldiers. 
The cube crystal was another one of Hajime’s artifacts. 
He’d crafted it out of sightstone, ore enchanted with Farsight, and transferstone, ore enchanted with magic that let it display things seen by other objects linked to it. 
Hajime had equipped Fernir with a number of external camera-type crystals, and then linked them to the crystal in the bridge. That way, he could see everything going on outside from here. He’d dubbed this artifact SCD, or Solid Crystal Display. 
Shizuku leaned closer to the crystal and nodded in understanding when she saw what was displayed. Two rabbitmen girls were running for dear life through a dry ravine. 
But they were clearly exhausted, and the imperial soldiers were on horseback. It was only a matter of time before they were caught. 
Behind the horseman was another imperial squadron carting along a few large wagons. According to Liliana, they were the kind used to transport slaves within the empire. 
From the looks of it, the two rabbit girls were escaped slaves. That, or the imperials had run into them by coincidence while transporting the slaves they’d already caught back. 
“I see. So that’s why you changed course...” Shizuku muttered to herself. 
Normally Hajime would just ignore something like this, but there was a possibility they might be someone Shea knew. He couldn’t afford to ignore their plight if that was the case, so he’d decided to at least get a closer look. 
Kouki paled and shouted, “They look like they’re in trouble! We have to go save them!” He looked ready to jump down at a moment’s notice, nevermind that they were thousands of meters in the air. 
However, Hajime ignored Kouki’s outburst and frowned suspiciously at the crystal. 
“Hey, Nagumo! You’re not planning on just leaving them like that are you!? If you’re not gonna save them, I will! Let me off this thing!” 
“Wait up... Hey Shea, aren’t those two...” 
“Hm? Wait... I recognize those two!” 
Hajime held Kouki back as he talked to Shea. 
He zoomed the image in to get a better look and Shea’s bunny ears twitched as she recognized them. 
“How can you guys act so unconcerned!? Aren’t those your comrades down there, Shea-san!? Shouldn’t you be worried!?” 
“Sorry, but could you shut up for a bit, please?” 
Shea’s bluntness stunned Kouki into silence. 
By the way, the reason Kouki used -san with her was because she had insisted. When they’d first met Kouki had introduced himself with a smile and attempted to act as familiar as possible, but Shea had smiled and demanded he use honorifics. It was the first time Kouki had ever been terrified of someone’s smile. 
“Hajime-san, I’m sure of it. That’s Lana-san and Mina-san!” 
“Thought so. They changed so much during training it’d be hard to forget them. Going by their expressions, and those movements... I see.” 
Hajime folded his arms and mused to himself. 
He watched as the two rabbit girls, Lana and Mina, stumbled to a halt, seemingly exhausted. They’d stopped in the center of the ravine, at its widest point. 
Kouki returned to his senses and stalked to the bridge’s exit. If no one else was going to help, he would. Though they were quite far up, he was sure he’d at least be able to distract the imperial soldiers with his magic. 
“Wait up, Amanogawa. It’ll be fine.” 
“Wh-What are you saying!? Those two frail girls are about to be captured!” 
Hajime just grinned in response. 
Still staring at the crystal, he said in an amused tone, “Frail? Hardly. Those two are... Haulias.” What the heck is he talking about? Kouki thought to himself, puzzled. “Ah!” someone gasped in surprise. 
Kouki hurried back to the crystal and saw something he could hardly believe. Imperial corpses littered the ravine; most of the soldiers had either been beheaded or shot in the back of the head by arrows. 
“Huh?” Kouki wasn’t the only one surprised, everyone’s jaws had dropped open. 
The students especially, as this was their first time seeing such a brutal slaughter. 
Liliana and her guards were surprised too, but that was because they’d seen something that defied the logic of this world. 
They watched in silence as events continued to unfold down below. Seeing as the pursuit party hadn’t returned, the commander of the transport unit ordered a few scouts to reconnoiter. 
It didn’t take long for the scouts to stumble across the corpses of their allies. The two bunny girls were trembling in what appeared to be fear at the center of the bloodbath. 
The scouts’ expressions grew grim, and they began yelling at the bunny girls. Though the crystal didn’t transmit sound, it was obvious they were interrogating the two bunny girls. 
Normally they would have been more cautious, but not only had they just seen the corpses of their dead comrades, they didn’t expect a pair of weak rabbit girls to pose a threat. Shaken as they were, they didn’t realize that the bunny girls were luring them into a trap. 
They paid for their carelessness with their lives. 
Just as one of the scouts tried to grab Lana’s ears, an arrow flew out of nowhere, catching the man behind him in the back of the head. 
The man spasmed once and slumped to the ground with a thud. The first scout turned around, wondering what happened. 
The moment he took his eyes off Lana she leaped at him, pulling a knife seemingly out of nowhere. With one clean stroke, she parted the scout’s head from his shoulders. 
The other girl, Mina, ducked low underneath the headless corpse and rushed at the final scouts. The confused scout didn’t even have a chance to react as Mina beheaded him as well. 
Kouki paled and covered his mouth as he watched the scout’s head bounce across the ground. Suzu fainted, and Ryutarou had to catch her before she fell to the ground. 
Unable to comprehend how a few rabbit girls had managed to kill the empire’s soldiers, Liliana and her guards turned to Shea. You’re not the only one that’s super strong!? Their gazes seemed to say. 
“Don’t worry, I’m the only one who’s this strong. There’s no way there’d be a bunch of people like me out there. Lana-san and the others just trained a lot. Hajime-san’s training regimen from hell can turn anyone into that.” 
“......” Everyone turned to Hajime. You again!? Their reproachful gazes seemed to say. Hajime awkwardly turned away. 
While that was going on, the battle between the empire and the Haulia drew to a close. The soldiers who’d remained behind originally had also discovered the slaughter now. 
They came to a halt as they saw their dead comrades scattered across the ravine. 
Obviously they couldn’t just trample over their comrades bodies, but even if they could have they were too shaken to take action. 
And the Haulia lost no time in taking advantage of the empire’s hesitation. Or rather, they’d planned things to create such an opening in the first place. 
There were thirteen soldiers left. A mere three Haulia burst out of hiding to charge them. Together with Lana, Mina, and the rabbitman sniper who’d killed the scout, that made six people in total. In other words, they were outnumbered two to one. 
However, by the time the soldiers had drawn their weapons, four of them had already lost their heads, while a fifth had been shot through the forehead. 
The Haulia were relentless. They moved with fluid grace and impeccable coordination, chipping away at the soldiers’ formation. 
When one of the soldiers moved to block a sword thrust from one rabbitman, another popped up from the side and sliced his head off. 
A second later, a hail of arrows came flying at the soldiers. Focused as they were on deflecting the deadly barrage, they didn’t notice when another Haulia got into their blind spot and took out another one of their number. 
The rabbitman then kicked his adversary’s decapitated head toward another soldier, fouling his sword arm. Distracted by the enemy in front of him, the soldier didn’t even notice when another rabbitman got behind him and chopped his head off. 
If they focused to the enemy on their right, the soldiers would get assassinated from the left. If they tried to take on the arrows to their front, they’d be stabbed from behind. 
It wasn’t long before all of the soldiers were lying dead on the ground. 
“A-Are those really rabbitmen...” 
“You’ve gotta be kidding me...” 
“Rabbitmen are scary...” 
Ominous muttering filled the bridge. 
“Oh, looks like they’ve gotten a lot more skilled. I see they kept up their training. Though, they let their guard down a little at the end.” Hajime ignored Kouki, who looked like he might throw up, and the girls who were hugging each other in terror, and pulled out Schlagen. 
He walked over to the windshield, retracted the glass, and took aim outside. 
They were still a good five kilometers away from the scene of the battle. Yue and the others watched calmly as he put his eye to the scope and adjusted his shot. Then he silently pulled the trigger. 
There was a loud bang, and a streak of red light shot out of the barrel. 
It struck the last remaining soldier who’d stayed behind inside one of the wagons and was just about to finish casting a high-level spell at the rabbitmen. 
His head was blown clean off, as if there had never been anything attached to his neck in the first place. Extreme heat cauterized the wound, and no blood spilled out of his neck. The corpse looked like a doll who’s head had been detached. 
Hajime breathed a satisfied sigh and shouldered his rifle. 
“H-How could you tell he was there?” 
“Are you psychic or something, Nagumo-kun?” 
Suzu, who’d regained consciousness, and Ryutarou exclaimed in surprise. 
“If it had been a physical attack I probably wouldn’t have been able to tell... but since he was casting magic, I could sense it.” Hajime pointed to his eyepatch. His Demon Eye possessed the powers of Farsight and the ability to detect mana, which was how he’d sensed the ambush. 
“Oh, so it wasn’t just to look cool! I thought you might be one of those, you know...” 
“Yeah, I thought it was like a fashion statement or something... Sorry, man! I should have known you wouldn’t just wear an eyepatch cause you thought it looked cool—” 
Two gunshots echoed through the bridge. The first hit Ryutarou squarely in the forehead, while the other ricocheted off the wall and hit Suzu in the butt. They were rubber bullets so they didn’t leave any lasting injuries, but they still hurt. 
Ryutarou and Suzu both let out squeals of pain and leaped backward. Suzu covered her butt and hopped around in pain while Ryutarou cradled his forehead and staggered about. 
“Don’t you dare call me a chuuni. I’ll shoot you.” You already shot them. No one dared to say that aloud though. 
Hajime turned back to the crystal display. The Haulia were all staring at the headless soldier in shock. They then looked up, following the trajectory of the bullet back to its origin and saw Fernir. 
Normally someone would be wary when they saw a strange flying object shooting bullets at people, but the Haulia all broke out in smiles. 
The sniper, a rabbit boy with a crossbow shouldered his weapon and brought his hand up in a rough salute. 
They all could tell who was inside that strange flying contraption. In a way, it made sense. After all, those streaks of red light were their boss’ trademark. The others all followed the boy’s example and gave Hajime respectful salutes. 
Back in the airship, everyone once again stared at Hajime. This time in a mixture of exasperation and amazement. 
Liliana couldn’t fathom how Hajime had turned the gentle, peace-loving rabbitmen into such a crack team of killers. 
“Hajime-san, Hajime-san! We need to go down there. If they’re attacking people outside the sea of trees... there’s no telling what kind of recklessness they’ve gotten up to...” Shea urged Hajime to go down. 
It was obvious from what they’d seen that the Haulia had lured the imperial soldiers into that trap on purpose. 
Shea was worried that her family had gotten so addicted to violence that they’d started rampaging outside of the Haltina Woods. 
“From the looks of it, I don’t think you need to be that worried.” Though he said that, Hajime, too, was curious as to why the rabbitmen were killing people out here. Moreover, he didn’t want to leave Shea worrying, so he changed course and began rapidly descending. 
When they stepped out of the airship, Hajime was greeted by six Haulia standing at attention, with a group of terrified beastmen cowering behind them. 
There must have been over a hundred, all of various races. Rabbitmen, Foxmen, Dogmen, Catmen, and even Elves huddled together. The majority of them were women and children, and they were all collared and shackled. As Liliana had expected, it had been an imperial slave caravan that they’d targeted. 
“H-Hey Kaorin, Shizushizu, is it just me, or do those beastmen look like they just saw a bunch of aliens come out of a spaceship? 
“Hm? Suzu-chan, are you calling us aliens?” 
“Well they’re definitely face to face with the unidentified right now.” 
Kaori blinked in confusion, while Shizuku thought to herself Kaori’s the one who looks most like an alien here probably. 
Yue had an unearthly beauty to her as well, but Kaori’s silver hair made her seem even more alien. If it wasn’t for the fact that Shea was with them, all of the beastmen would probably have focused their attention on Kaori. 
Hajime ignored the beastmen, most of whom were stunned speechless, with the rest eyeing him warily, and turned to the rabbit boy with the crossbow. The rabbit boy sauntered over, straightened his back, and saluted again. 
“It’s an honor to see you again, Boss! I’ve been waiting eagerly for your return! I never expected you would come riding an unknown craft, but... allow me, Baltfeld the Executioner, to express my admiration for your dramatic entrance! Allow me to also thank you for your earlier assistance.” 
“Yo, it’s been a while. I’m thinking with how skilled you guys’ve gotten you would have been fine even if I didn’t interfere. From the looks of it, even if he’d gotten his spell off you could have handled it. Gotta say, you’ve improved a lot.” 
Hajime grinned at the boy who called himself Baltfeld the Executioner. His real name was Par, and he was only ten years old. Lana, Mina, and the three other rabbitmen all rushed over and saluted as well, their eyes welling up with emotion. 
They clacked their heels together and said in unison, “We are honored to receive such praise, Sir!” Their voices resonated throughout the ravine. 
Though tears pooled in their eyes, they refused to let them fall in front of their beloved boss. 
After all, they had to be strong like him. 
The rabbitmen looked up at the sky, willing their tears back into their eyes. In fact they put so much effort into it their eyes became a little bloodshot. 
Though Hajime, Yue, and Shea were used to this by now, Tio, Kaori, Kouki, and Liliana all shrank back in disgust. 
“Umm, it’s been a while guys! I’m glad you’re all still doing well. By the way, where’s my father? Are you guys the only ones here, Par-kun? Also, why are you fighting the empire all the way out here?” 
“Calm down, Elder Sister Shea. It’s a long story. It’s only the six of us here, but it’ll take time to explain the rest. Let’s go somewhere we can discuss this at length. Also, Elder Sister. My name isn’t Par-kun anymore, it’s Baltfeld the Executioner. Do try not to get that mixed up.” 
“What? I’m not even sure what to say to that. I can’t believe you’re still using that ridiculous name... Lana-san, Mina-san, could you say something to him for me too?” 
Shea rubbed her temples and lamented the fact that Par was still acting edgy. 
Still, Par was right that this wasn’t the place to discuss things in length. So Shea turned to Lana and Mina, two girls who had been like older sisters to her, and asked them to help out. 
Sadly, reality never works out the way people want it to. 
“Shea, my name isn’t Lana anymore... I am now Lanainferina the Swift Gale.” 
“Lana-san!? What are you...” 
Lana had always been the level-headed one of the tribe. This was the last thing Shea had expected to hear out of her mouth. 
Worse, the other Haulia all chimed in with their new names as well. Coordination was their strong suit, and now they brought it to bear against Shea. 
“I am Minasteria the Skybreaker!” 
“Huh!?” 
“I am Yaozelius the Phantom!” 
“Huh!?” 
“I am Yorgandr the Silent Blade!” 
“Huh!?” 
“Hmph, and I’m Riquidbriek the Squall!” 
“Huh!?” 
All six of them struck Jojo-esque poses as they introduced themselves. 
Despair filled Shea’s heart. She groaned softly, unable to formulate a response. 
It appeared chuuni names were in fashion among the Haulia right now. If the six of them were like this, the rest of the tribe had probably adopted new names as well. 
Par aside, they had all taken the first half of their real name and used it as a base for their new chuuni names. 
Poor Shea watched on in horror as her family grinned and struck the most embarrassing poses she had ever seen. 
For Shea’s sake and his own, Hajime decided he needed to put a stop to this nonsense. He sighed and took a deep breath, but before he could say anything, Par, that is Baltfeld the Executioner, delivered the coup de grâce on Hajime. 
“By the way boss, which do you prefer? Rondo of Red Death, or White Fang Hurricane?” 
“...What?” 
“For your nickname. The whole clan spent ten days in heated debate about what to call you, and eventually we settled on these two options. But we still couldn’t decide which one was better, so, we had a mock battle and the winner’s side would determine the name. But that ended in a tie, so... we decided to leave the decision to you when you finally returned. Personally, I think Red Rondo of Death sounds much cooler.” 
Par said that with fervor that didn’t befit a ten-year-old. 
“Wait, why do I need to have a nickname at all?” 
“Boss, I personally believe White Fang Hurricane suits you much better.” 
Lana countered, her tone strangely obsessed. 
“Wait, listen to me. I don’t really...” 
“How could you say that, Lanainferina the Swift Gale. Red Rondo of Death is clearly a superior name!” Mina exclaimed, with bloodshot eyes. 
“Hey seriously, cut it...” “Indeed! Those crimson sparks that dance through the air every time boss fires one of his magnificent weapons are his trademark! It’s only natural that he be named after them!” Yor added, making a fist and raising it high. 
“Please stop, you’re embarrassing—” 
“Come now, Yorgandr the Silent Blade. If we’re talking about trademarks, it would have to be that stark white hair of his and the way his weapons lash out about like the fangs of a ferocious beast. His attacks strike with the force of a hurricane, so of course White Fang Hurricane is the only name that fits. How can you not understand that no other words perfectly encapsulate boss’ splendor? Have you lost your mind!?” 
“You said it. This is why the Rondo faction disgusts me.” Yao and Riqui shrugged their shoulders and sighed in an exaggerated fashion. 
“Gah...” Hajime groaned in despair and slumped to the ground next to Shea. 
Even the monster of the abyss couldn’t handle such an embarrassing display. Hajime and Shea lay kneeling on the ground, strange white ghost-versions of themselves leaking out of their mouths. 
Behind them, Shizuku couldn’t contain herself and started chuckling.   

“Sh-Shizushizu, don’t laugh at them, it’s rude— Puhaha!” 
“B-But you’re laughing at them too, Suzu... Haha... I guess chunnibyou’s contagious... Hahahaha.” 
By the time Hajime came back to his senses, the two of them were trying their best to hold in their laughter. It wasn’t working. 
At least Yue and Kaori aren’t laughing at me. The two of them were just smiling uncomfortably instead. 
Tio didn’t understand what was happening at all, so she just looked at them blankly. 
What hurt Hajime’s pride the most though, was Kouki and Ryutarou’s pitying looks. 
Hajime’s embarrassment reached its peak, and then boiled over into anger. He hit Par and the others with a barrage of gum bullets to get them into line, and gave Shizuku and Suzu a venomous glare. 
“Just so you know Yaegashi, I’m going to put you into twintails later and record how you look.” 
“Huh!?” 
“Taniguchi, I’m going to squish you down a few centimeters so you’re even shorter.” 
“What!?” 
The laughter stopped instantly. Shizuku and Suzu shivered in fear. Even if it wasn’t fair, they knew they wouldn’t be able to get out of their punishment if they made Hajime mad. 
And Hajime was definitely mad. 
Suzu turned to Kouki and Ryutarou, her gaze clearly saying “Why only us!?” The two boys were staring pointedly at the sky. They had a few embarrassing stories buried in their own past, so they could understand. For once, they sympathized with him. 
A gentle voice interrupted Hajime. 
“Umm... Excuse me.” One of the beastmen picked their way across the Haulia rolling around in pain on the floor and walked up to Hajime, preventing him from exacting his revenge. 
He turned to see a slender, beautiful girl with wavy, long blonde hair and striking jade-green eyes. She had long ears that tapered to a point; she was an elf. 
Her face reminded Hajime of the elven elder he’d met in Verbergen, Ulfric. He nodded to her, indicating that she could go on. 
“You are Hajime Nagumo-dono, correct?” 
“Hm? Yeah, that’s me...” 
Hajime answered hesitantly. Why does she know my name? The girl breathed a sigh of relief and put a hand to her chest. 
The shackles on her wrists clanged loudly as she did so. 
They looked rather painful. Her ankles were chafed bloody from the restraints that had been put on them. Every time she walked she winced as they rubbed against her wounds. 
“Then would I be right in assuming you won’t be making us into slaves? My grandfather told me that for better or worse, you see all races as equal. And that you weren’t one to torment beastmen for simple pleasure...” 
“Your grandfather? Wait, is your grandfather Ulfric?” 
“Yes. My apologies for not introducing myself sooner. I am the granddaughter of Elder Ulfric of Verbergen, Altina Heipyst.” 
“If the empire managed to kidnap an elder’s granddaughter... things must be pretty bad over there.” 
If she was Ulfric’s granddaughter, that effectively made her the princess of all elves. Which would mean she’d be much better guarded than almost anyone else. On top of that, she would have known of all of the secret escape routes. 
The fact that she’d been captured despite all of that meant that the situation in Haltina was grave indeed. 
What if they did something to the Grand Tree? Worried, Hajime realized it was of utmost importance that he hear Par’s story. 
He turned to the boy, who had since recovered from Hajime’s rubber bullets and said, “Hey, get everyone together. I’ll take you all back to the sea of trees.” 
“Yes, sir! Oh yeah, boss. I need to get in touch with the others near the imperial capital. Would it be alright if I split off from your group halfway?” 
Hajime and the others were still a good deal west of the capital. The fact that there was a slave transport here meant that it hadn’t come back from a trip to the sea of trees. These people had left the capital for some other destination and had run into Par and the others here. 
Which meant that originally Par’s squad had been scouting the capital for some reason or another, and had come chasing this caravan when they’d learned of its departure. 
After putting all the pieces together, Hajime gave his consent. 
“Yeah, that’s fine with me. There’s a few people I needed to drop off at the capital anyway. I can drop you off close to there too.” 
“Thank you very much, sir! Come on, you louts! Boss said he’ll take you to the sea of trees! You better be damn grateful he’s willing to spend his precious time on you! Follow me if you wanna get home!” 
Even grown men flinched at the vehemence in Par’s voice. 
Still, he was promising to get that home, and that gave them hope. Despite their fear and unease, the beastmen all dutifully followed Par’s instructions. Seeing that he had everything under control, Hajime and the others began heading back to Fernir. 
Just then, Hajime heard a cute scream behind him. Altina had tripped on her shackles. 
She fell forward, her arms flailing wildly. She tried to angle herself to fall into Hajime’s back, but he stepped to the side without even looking back. 
She crashed into the ground with a painful thud and let out a very unladylike squeal of surprise. 
The other beastmen watched on in surprise. Some of them thought of going over to help, but they were too intimidated by Hajime to attempt it. 
“Hm?” Finally, Hajime turned around. He saw a young girl trembling on the ground, though whether it was in pain or in embarrassment he couldn’t tell. 
It appeared he hadn’t actually dodged Altina on purpose. He’d unconsciously stepped aside because he’d sensed something heading his way. 
Had Hajime been a true hero and gentleman, he would have hurried to help her up. But this was Hajime. 
“If you don’t hurry, Par’ll leave you behind.” He said curtly. 
Hajime truly was a monster of the abyss. For better or worse, he treated everyone he didn’t know equally. And that didn’t include just race, but gender as well. The only exception he made was for children. 
Of course, that didn’t mean he was nice to everyone equally. Rather, that he was equally cold to them. 
“You know, Hajime-kun. While I’m glad you’re not automatically nice to every girl you meet, you could still...” Kaori said hesitantly. 
“Hajime-san. Surely you could be a little nicer to people.” Shea said with a bitter smile. 
“Whoa. He’s so blunt to everyone who’s not Yue-oneesama or the others... What a heartless guy.” 
“Nagumo-kun...” 
Suzu and Shizuku looked at Hajime in disgust. 
“Nagumo. You’re a guy, you can’t just do that.” 
“I won’t blame ya for dodging, but you could have at least asked her if she was alright.” 
Kouki and Ryutarou berated him as well. 
Even Liliana, who was from a country that discriminated against beastmen, looked a little sorry for Altina. 
“Yue, do you think this is my fault too?” When in doubt, Hajime always turned to Yue. His eye twitched a little when he asked that. 
In response, Yue said, “Hm? I don’t think so really. You were like this to Shea in the beginning too.” 
“Now that you mention it, that’s right! If Hajime-san’s nice to Altina-san now, I’ll feel like I got the short end of the stick!” Shea’s bunny ears flopped back and forth as she said that. Everyone looked sympathetically at her. 
There was one other person who chimed in her support of Hajime’s actions. 
“You did nothing wrong, Master! This is in fact how you should always act! By the way, do you think you could...” Tio sidled up to him and threw herself at his feet. 
She spared Altina, who was still lying on the ground, a quick glance before looking up at Hajime. 
“S-Step on me, please?” Altina twitched in disgust as she watched Tio blush to the tips of her ears. 
When everyone is watching it’s even more exciting than usual! 
“......” Hajime shivered. 
Two beautiful girls were prostrating themselves before him. Just going off circumstantial evidence, it made him look like a massive sadist. 
Annoyed, Hajime completely ignored Tio and went to help Altina to her feet. 
“U-Umm...” After being hauled unceremoniously to her feet, Altina tried to stammer her thanks. Before she could get the words out though, the other beastmen interrupted her. 
“I-Impossible! Boss gave someone a hand!? He’s never even helped us before!” 
“Curse you, Altina!” The Haulia cried out in rage, causing Altina to flinch. 
“I only helped ’cause I was tired of people getting mad at me, but that just caused another problem... Maybe I should just blow everyone away...” Though his voice was barely a whisper, it carried across the entire ravine. 
Everyone present paled instantly. 
A few of them looked warily up at the sky. They didn’t doubt that Hajime would bring that pillar of light down on them if they made him too mad. 
Sighing, Hajime knelt in front of Altina. 
“N-Nagumo-dono?” 
“Don’t move.” 
Flustered, Altina was unsure how to respond. And Hajime’s next actions only served to confuse her further. He reached a hand out to her feet, or to be more exact her ankle cuffs. Altina stood stock still, her gaze darting about. 
This was the first time in her life a human had knelt in front of her. Moreover, Altina had grown up a very sheltered girl. Outside of her family, no man had ever touched her before. Her confusion was understandable. 
Worried, she watched as crimson sparks shot out of Hajime’s hands. A second later, her worry turned to surprise as her shackles soundlessly came off. 
“I guess since beastmen can’t use magic, they just used regular metal for their restraints. There’s nothing here inhibiting the flow of mana. The metal’s pretty tough, so I don’t think you’d be able to break free with brute force... but it’s not so sturdy that I’d want to use it for my transmutation...” Hajime muttered to himself as he got to his feet. This time, he took Altina by the hands. 
Altina knew what to expect now, so she was able to calm down. 
“It’s so pretty...” she muttered, looking down at the flurry of crimson sparks connecting her hands to Hajime’s. 
As a result of his constant training, Hajime’s mana had become more vibrant than before. 
Once her handcuffs were off, Hajime moved to the collar around her neck. It was a slave collar. 
Altina blushed as Hajime’s serious gaze met hers, and his fingers brushed against the nape of her neck. 
“Here, no complaints now, right? Anyone who’s got a problem can take it up with Donner.” After getting Altina’s collar off, Hajime swept his gaze over Liliana, Suzu, Kouki, Kaori, and all of the beastmen. 
They all looked away awkwardly. 
With a sigh, Hajime turned back to Altina’s removed shackles and began transmuting. He turned the lumps of metal into a set of keys. 
Once he was done, he chucked them over to Par. 
“There’s no way all of those shackles have unique locks. These keys should work for all of them I think. I don’t want anyone thinking something stupid like I’m a slave trader transporting goods or anything. Get everyone out of those things.” 
“Yes, sir! Thank you for your generosity!” 
Par gave Hajime a crisp salute, and he nodded in return. Hajime then turned around and headed back to the ship. 
Yue, Kaori, Shea, and Tio smiled to themselves as they followed after him. Shizuku and Liliana seemed somewhat stunned, while Kouki didn’t know what to make of this. 
He is quite the interesting character. Altina thought to herself as she watched Hajime’s back recede in the distance. 
Once all of the beastmen were freed and had boarded Fernir, Hajime started up the airship. 
Most of the adult beastmen were so shocked that they were traveling in a flying vessel that they passed the trip in a semi-catatonic state. The children however loved the Fernir. No matter their race, kids everywhere were the same. They ran around the deck, excited to see the world from such a high vantage point. 
They were all smiles as they played around; the dark expressions they’d had when they’d been prisoners of the empire were long gone. It was as if they were back in Verbergen. 
Altina was watching the children play when her attendant, another elf girl, came up to her and asked, “Altina-sama. Do you think he’ll really return us home?” Her voice trembled with a mixture of fear and hope. 
Altina kept her eyes on the children as she responded. 
“He’s exactly the man my grandfather described him to be. For better or worse, he has no preconceptions about what kind of people beastmen are—no, perhaps it would be more accurate to say he has no interest in what kind of people beastmen are. If it suits his convenience, he won’t hesitate to save us, nor does he have any qualms about letting us ride on such an amazing and valuable artifact. In fact, he gave us free reign of the entire vessel.” 
“I understand, but... he’s human. On top of that, he was the one who crippled Jin-sama, the former bearman elder, wasn’t he? What if...” Altina shook her head, cutting her suspicious attendant off. 
“Regardless of his intentions, there is nothing we can do except trust in him. If it comes down to it, I will offer him my body to protect my people...” 
“Altina-sama...” 
Indeed, they had no other choice but to trust in Hajime. After all, he was powerful enough to create an artifact of this magnitude. They couldn’t oppose him no matter how hard they tried. It was both tragic and admirable how Altina was willing to sacrifice herself for her people. At least it seemed so until she opened her mouth again. 
“B-By the way, do all men enjoy... s-stepping on women?” 
“Come again?” 
“I have never been stepped on by someone before, so I am unsure of how to make myself a good stepping subject. Would you happen to have any experience in the matter?” 
“Absolutely not.” 
Altina’s attendant replied in a curt tone, having lost all respect for her master. 
Altina blushed bright red and said, “If possible, I would prefer my first time to be gentle...” 
“The only person who would be stepping on women would be an uncultured brute! Why would they ever be gentle!? Return to your senses, Altina-sama! Why are you assuming you’ll be stepped on at all!?” 
“I just don’t know what to do. Perhaps I should ask that beautiful black-haired lady to teach me how it’s done...” 
“Come back to us, Altina-sama! You can’t let yourself be sucked into that realm! And stop blushing like that! Oh, Ulfric-sama, your poor granddaughter has been corrupted!” A single wail cut through the joyous laughter of children playing.

Around the same time as that discussion, Hajime was in the bridge, listening to Par’s report of what had happened to Haltina. 
“Alright, so what were you doing that far out of the forest? If Ulfric’s granddaughter was kidnapped, does that mean Verbergen’s been taken over by the empire?” 
“You would be correct, Boss.” 
Par stood ramrod straight as he replied. 
Apparently the Haulia with him were all part of his unit, the Baltfeld Squad. Par had been chosen as the squad leader because of his overall leadership skills and his impressive sniping ability. It was hard to believe he was still just a ten-year-old boy. 
“Are you... certain? How did the empire navigate through the fog?” Liliana asked hesitantly. 
She was curious as to how they’d done it of course, but if even the empire had developed some new weapon or magic and not told Heiligh, that spelled trouble for the kingdom. Her youthful features scrunched up in worry. 
Par glanced over at Liliana before shooting Hajime a questioning look. 
Liliana’s guards bristled at his insolence. 
Par ignored their glares and kept his attention focused solely on Hajime. 
“Princess, let me handle the questions. Things will just get more complicated if you stick your head in.” 
“Ugh. I suppose you’re right... I shouldn’t have run my mouth. I’ll leave this to you, Nagumo-san.” 
Liliana hung her head and took a few steps back. 
For most of her life, Liliana had been a devout follower of the Holy Church. Until recently, she’d believed that beastmen really were an inferior race. But now that she’d learned the truth about Ehit, her disdain for the beastmen had all but vanished. 
It pained Liliana both that Par had ignored her, and that trying to get closer to the beastmen and perhaps bridge the gap between their races would be a bad move for her politically. 
Though Par hadn’t ignored her because she was a human. He was just a disciplined soldier who wouldn’t report to anyone other than his superior without express permission. In other words, this was all Hajime’s fault too. There was still some time until Liliana discovered that though. 
“Par, tell me everything that happened. Start from the beginning.” 
“Boss. I would like to respectfully remind you that my name is Baltfeld.” 
Some things Par wouldn’t budge on, even for his beloved boss. 
“Fine, Baltfeld. Give me your report.” 
“Yes, sir. First, you need to know that it was the demons, not the empire, that started this.” Par stopped there and took a few moments to organize his thoughts. After sorting through everything he’d seen personally, the reports he’d heard from Verbergen survivors, and the information he’d tortured out of prisoners, Par began his story.

An ominous gloom had hung over the sea of trees the morning of the attack. 
Most of the beastmen instinctively felt that something was wrong, though they couldn’t quite explain what was making them so uneasy. 
The rabbitmen however, could tell. They were the weakest of the beastmen races, and didn’t possess sturdy bodies, or powerful claws or talons, or overwhelming physical might like the other beastmen. They feared fighting more than anything, and were known by all to be a kind and peaceful race. 
Which was precisely why they were the best at sensing danger and hiding themselves. 
The Haulia—the abnormal rabbitman tribe that had honed their combat skills along with their stealth and perception abilities—had been even better equipped to pick up on the threat ahead of time. 
“My ears throb...” A young Haulia boy, Par, perched atop a thick branch and listened intently, his bunny ears twitching. 
Originally, he’d been a cute child who all the older girls of the clan had fawned over. Right now though, he looked like a grizzled war veteran. 
“There’s a chill in the air... It reminds me of the day we fought against those imperial scum.” Nea Haulia replied in a smooth voice. She brushed a strand of navy-blue hair out of her eyes. Her gaze was as sharp as Par’s. 
Like Par, Nea was also only ten years old. She was one of his good friends. 
Most of the Haulia clan were patrolling the forest on Cam, the chief of the Haulia’s, orders. 
They weren’t doing this for the other beastmen. None of the Haulia had any love for them, but they had no intention of abandoning their fellow rabbitmen. 
Which was why they constantly patrolled the area around Verbergen and the other sizable settlements. 
“Yeah. But things are different now. We won’t let them take any of our family away from us.” 
“Exactly. This time, we’ll chop their heads off. But you know, I didn’t think they’d just barge into our sanctuary like this.” 
For a ten-year-old girl, she sure said some violent things. 
A second later, the two of them turned toward the same direction. 
“Did you feel that?” 
“Barely. But that doesn’t seem like...” The fur on their rabbit ears stood on end. Neither of them had sensed a presence like this before. 
They nodded to each other and dashed off toward it. 
They barely disturbed the thick fog as they leaped from branch to branch. 
“I hear screams!” 
“It sounds like there’s fighting up ahead. But... what’s that other noise?” A strange noise pierced their eardrums. It sounded like the flapping of an insect’s wings, but more high-pitched and headache-inducing. 
Par and Nea masked their presence as they neared the site of the battle. 
When they arrived, they found a bearman and wolfman lying on the ground in pools of their own blood. 
There was so much of it, the floor was a sea of red. 
“This is... terrible.” 
“Some of them were cut clean in half. How sharp does your sword have to be to do that?” 
Par and Nea grimaced as they examined the two corpses. From the looks of it, the bearman and wolfman had been patrol guards for Verbergen. 
A second later, their bunny ears shot up. 
“Ah!? Get down!” 
“Roger!” The two of them leaped in opposite directions. 
Something shot past the spot they’d been standing in seconds ago. Neither of them could tell what it was. It flew by so fast all they could make out was a blur. 
As they landed, the tree behind them slid diagonally downward, then crashed to the ground with a resounding thud. 
“Baltfeld!” 
“Tch!” 
A two-meter tall creature rushed at Par from behind. This one wasn’t moving as fast as the last, and Par could make out the details. However, he didn’t have time to do anything more before he had to dodge out of the way. 
He was up against a massive insect with spikes running down its carapace. It looked like some kind of deformed rhinoceros beetle. The creature spurted jets of mana from underneath its wing cases, which was what allowed it to propel itself so fast. At top speed, it was able to reach one hundred kilometers an hour. 
The insect slammed into the tree behind Par and blew it apart like it was made of jelly. 
At the same time, another creature hurtled toward Nea. The moment she heard it, her months of training took over, and she threw herself to the ground faster than she could think. It flew inches above her head, narrowly missing her. 
“Are you alright, Neaschtatrum!?” 
“Negative! That bastard shaved the tips of my rabbit ears off! I’ll kill the fucker!” 
Nea’s cute face transformed into that of a demon as she watched a few of her hairs fall to the ground. 
Neaschtatrum was the nickname she’d chosen for herself, by the way. Her full title was Neaschtratum the Butcher. Not the name one would expect of a ten-year-old girl. 
Her bloodthirsty scowl vanished when she saw just how many monsters they were up against though. 
“Baltfeld.” Par had seen them too. Expression grim, he gave out orders. 
“We can’t win. Our biggest priority is getting this information back. Retreat. I’ll back you up.” 
“Yes, sir.” Nea replied curtly. As veteran soldiers, they knew a protracted conversation would just waste time. 
Bloodlust welled up within Par, and he manipulated it to make himself seem more threatening than he was. 
At the same time, Nea faded away into the mist. 
One of the monsters shot after her, determined not to let her escape. But as it began closing on Nea— “Gyaaah!?” It let out a bloodcurling scream and veered headfirst into a tree. 
Now that it wasn’t moving, Par could tell the super-fast monster was a giant bee with six pairs of thin wings. 
Par’s bolt had struck true, and the bee’s abdomen had an arrow sticking out of it. 
“It doesn’t matter how fast you are if your movements are predictable!” Par shouldered his crossbow and smiled triumphantly. 
He had guessed that the bee would go for Nea, and so had used his superhuman hearing to ascertain when the bee started moving and then fire his arrow at where he predicted it would be. The boy who had once loved flowers had become the Haulia’s greatest sniper. 
Nea was nowhere to be seen. She’d masked her presence so well not even Par could tell where she was, and had likely already distanced herself from the battlefield. 
Three of the beetle monsters charged Par from different angles. 
“Whoa, looks like I should get out of here too. What are these things, anyway?” Par tied a rope to the end of a crossbow bolt and loaded it. He fired it above him and pressed a button in the crossbow’s side. It started winding up the rope, taking Par with it. He shot up into the air, and the three beetles below him all rammed into each other with a sickening thud. 
As he alighted on the branch above, Par heard a swarm of insects flying toward him. On top of that, other monsters were following behind them this time. Beads of cold sweat dripped down his forehead. 
“If I don’t get outta here fast, there’s gonna be trouble.” Any normal rabbitman would have just given up on survival at this point. In fact, any beastman would have given up. They’d be praying for mercy right about now. 
Par, however, set up a few impromptu booby traps and began his retreat. It was like a game of tag, except the penalty for being caught was death. Despite that, he was grinning fearlessly. 
In that moment, he looked just like his beloved boss, the monster of the abyss. 
Using his considerable stealth skills to their utmost, Par was able to escape from the army of unknown monsters. While they could learn other things, rabbitmen were still the best at hiding. 
Once he was clear, he changed directions and headed back toward his village. But before he arrived, a deep rumbling echoed through the entire forest, stopping him in his tracks. 
“Isn’t that... Verbergen’s alarm trumpet?” It was supposed to sound just once a year, when they tested to make sure it still worked. It was only blown when there was a major threat to the city, or to the entire forest. 
It appeared this unknown assault was of a large enough magnitude that the capital was in danger. 
“Either way, I’ve gotta report to the chief first.” Par dashed off even faster than before, and was home before long. He walked past the boundary of verdren crystals keeping the fog at bay and into the village proper. 
Cam was at the central square, listening to reports from a dozen or so people. Nea was there as well. 
“Baltfeld!” 
“Yo!” 
Nea raised a hand in greeting. The Haulia smiled when they saw Par had returned safe and sound. 
“I’m glad you’re safe, Baltfeld.” 
“Thank you, chief. I have a report to make on a number of new monster species that I spotted.” 
“Let’s hear it.” 
Cam folded his arms and closed his eyes. He looked like the very picture of a dignified leader. 
Par reported everything he’d seen after splitting up with Nea. 
Apparently there were quite a few new species in this monster army that had appeared out of nowhere. Naturally there were the bees that shot forward in a straight line, bisecting anything in their path, and the giant beetles who used mana propulsion to charge forward with their sturdy horns. But Par had also spotted butterflies that could shoot heat rays from their wings and another flying creature that could create a strange bell-like noise to control the monsters that originally inhabited the forest. 
These new monsters should have been disoriented by the fog, but it seemed that the fog didn’t affect them at all. After all, they’d been able to keep track of Par’s location until he got much further away. In fact, if he hadn’t been part of the rabbitmen race, who were notorious for being able to manipulate their presence freely, he might not have gotten away. 
“So they’re all new species. The other squads reported running into monsters that could blend perfectly into the background. Or monsters that lurked in the trees and then attacked with their long limbs. Some of them were poisonous too.” 
“I see. And they’re all attacking Verbergen right now.” 
“Technically it’s the demons who control those monsters who are behind the assault.” 
“Wait, demons!? They’re invading the sea of trees!?” 
“It’s a possibility. According to Iorniks’ report, the fog still affects the demons themselves. However, it appears they’ve gotten their hands on an army of monsters who are immune.” The Haulias’ expression grew grim. 
As they were brooding over the implications of this, another Haulia girl burst into the square. 
“Lanainferina and Minasteria, reporting!” Lana and Mina had been sent to scout out the area around Verbergen and see how they were faring. Everyone’s bunny ears perked up; they were eager to hear the news. 
“Verbergen has closed its gates, and is currently fighting to keep the monster army out of its walls. But the city was taken by surprise, and their garrisoned army has already suffered major casualties. The units that had been patrolling to the south have all been wiped out, and morale is low. Considering how powerful these new monsters are, it’s only a matter of time before the city is breached.” 
Though everyone had expected that to be the verdict, they still broke out in a buzz of conversation. Sure, the Haulia were banished from Verbergen. But this was a crisis that might lead to the end of the only beastman nation. 
“Don’t panic!” Cam’s voice drowned out the commotion. 
The Haulia instantly stood at attention. 
Cam glared at them all like a hawk. 
“So what if Verbergen is on the brink of collapse? That doesn’t change what we have to do. Those bastards are our enemies, and we kill our enemies. That’s all there is to it. Am I wrong?” Feral grins lit up the faces of the Haulia clansmen. 
“Verbergen’s being kind enough to buy us some time. We should make the most of it and complete our preparations. Listen up, Haulias!” None of the rabbitmen seemed perturbed that Cam was treating Verbergen as a disposable distraction. 
“Our foe will make their way here eventually. Only fools twiddle their thumbs and wait for death to take them! Let’s show these upstart demons that the Haltina Woods are not to be taken lightly! Gulfstream unit, see to our defenses! Make sure all of our traps are still functioning!” 
“Sir, yes, sir!” 
“Aidelheid unit, scout out the demon’s numbers!” 
“Sir, yes sir!” 
“Invisible unit, find out what special characteristics these new monsters have! I want a full report on their attack patterns and the special magic they can wield!” 
“Sir, yes, sir!” 
“Baltfeld unit, head to Verbergen and provide them with backup! However, keep your actions covert, and focus on buying time! The longer the city holds out, the better it is for us! Retreat once the situation grows too dire, and report back to me!” 
“Sir, yes, sir!” 
“All remaining units, head to our brethren’s villages and evacuate them to safety! If required, guide them here to our village!” 
“Sir, yes, sir!” 
“Now, gentlemen. These demons have traveled far from the south just to entertain us. I say they deserve a warm welcome!” 
“Yahoooooooooooo!” 
This would be the Haulia’s first large-scale war. This time they’d protect their home, their family, and their comrades. This world was unfair and unreasonable, but they’d trained and trained and finally obtained the strength to fight back against it. 
They’d been forever ridiculed as the weakest race, but the time to show their true mettle had finally come.

Five hundred meters or so south of where Verbergen’s defensive line was engaging the demons, another fierce battle was about to break out. 
“We’re almost there! Keep going, we have to get as many people to Verbergen as possible!” Gil, the tigerman captain of one of Verbergen’s patrol squads, called out to his men. He was drenched in blood and sweat. His squad was currently protecting a number of villagers as they made the desperate flight to Verbergen. They were survivors from the carnage that had swept over the south of the forest. When the remnants of the southern patrol squads had staggered in and told Gil what was happening, he’d taken his unit to go evacuate any surviving villagers. 
“Captain, we won’t make it! Their defensive line is too far!” He’d already made it this far with the refugees. 
Gil ground his teeth in frustration. 
“Don’t you dare say you can’t do it! We have no choice but to do it! That’s the job we signed up for!” 
“But sir, most of the refugees are rabbitmen, no one—” 
“Not another word!” 
Most of the survivors had been rabbitmen, as they were the best among the beastmen at fleeing. Right now, they were running for their lives. Most of the other beastmen looked down upon them because of how weak they were. Gil couldn’t blame his subordinates for not wanting lay their lives down for the sake of a few rabbitmen, who wouldn’t even be any help in a fight. 
Though he himself held no such prejudices against rabbitmen. 
“I’ll say it again. We’re going to defend our countrymen to the last. That’s the job we signed up for. At the very least, that’s the oath I swore when I became a warrior of Verbergen. Were yours different?” 
“Err... No sir.” Gil’s subordinates sucked in a deep breath and steeled their resolve. Seeing their determination, Gil nodded in satisfaction. 
A second later— 
“Ah! Move!” 
“Huh!?” 
Gil pushed his subordinate out of the way just as a giant beetle burst through the fog. He raised his sword, attempting to block the beetle’s horns. 
“Gah!?” The beetle rammed into him with such force that he almost blacked out. 
Gil skipped across the ground like a stone in a pond before slamming into one of the trees behind him and coming to a rest. 
“Captain!” He heard his subordinate call out to him, but he was in too much pain to respond. Vision blurry, he looked up to see the beetle still charging at him. Hitting him hadn’t slowed it down at all. 
This is where I die!? Gil ground his teeth in frustration. The beetle was just meters away from him now. 
Just as it started to blot out his vision— 
“I wonder if this’ll work.” He heard a voice from above. 
Right after, the beetle screamed in agony and veered off course, barely missing Gil. There was a loud rumbling and a number of other monsters screeched in the distance. After that, silence. 
“Short swords can’t pierce their shells. But their joints are unguarded so we should target those.” 
“It looks like the beetles are at their weakest when they open their carapaces to charge. That’s the best time to attack them.” 
“Their special magic appears to be jettisoning mana to increase the speed of their charge. The organs on either side of their wings are used to control their speed and direction. By destroying one or the other, you can force them to lose control.” 
“We’ve analyzed this species enough. Let’s move on to other monsters.” 
Grimacing in pain, Gil craned his neck up. A number of figures were perched on the branches above him. 
Upon closer inspection, he realized they all had bunny ears. 
“R-Rabbitmen?” Gil watched in blank amazement as the rabbitmen leaped from branch to branch. One of the rabbitmen turned back and grinned at Gil. 
“This is thanks for protecting our comrades. Keep struggling and try your best to stay alive.” With that, the last of the rabbitmen vanished into the ever-present fog. Though Gil prided himself on his perceptions skills, he couldn’t sense the rabbitmen at all. 
“Captain! Are you alright!? What happened!?” Gil let out a raspy chuckle as his subordinate rushed over to him. 
Panicking, Gil’s subordinate started checking him over before Gil had a chance to tell him he was fine. 
Though Gil’s mind was still on the blue-haired rabbitman who’d saved him to pay attention to his men. After the incident with the cursed child, he had heard a report that had been so outlandish he hadn’t believed it. 
“Leggin-dono... I’m sorry I ever doubted you. If I make it out of this alive, I’ll make sure to give you an apology.” For some reason, he didn’t see any other monsters coming to attack him. 
Those rabbitmen must have handled it somehow. Gil thought to himself as he staggered to his feet. 
“Captain?” 
“Ngh. Don’t worry, I’m fine. Thanks to some unexpected assistance, my head’s still attached to my shoulders. But there’s no telling when more monsters’ll show up. Let’s make a break for Verbergen while we have the chance.” 
“Y-Yes sir!” 
Gil watched his subordinate dash off to relay his orders. 
They were still stuck in a difficult position. Though they’d been saved by the rabbitmen, it would still be a struggle to make it to Verbergen’s defensive line. 
“Goddammit. I haven’t felt so powerless since the time I faced off against that boy.” Gil spat angrily.

An oppressive atmosphere hung over the elders’ meeting hall in the center of Verbergen. Ulfric looked grimmer than he ever had in his life, and he’d lived longer than most. 
The crisis this time was that grave. The very existence of Verbergen was threatened. All of the elders sat in a circle, exchanging uneasy glances. 
Zel, the tigerman elder slammed his fist down onto the ground and roared, “Fuck, what the hell is going on!? How come those strange monsters aren’t affected by the forest’s fog!?” 
“We still don’t have enough information to answer that question. Our priority shouldn’t be on figuring out why this situation occurred, but on how to deal with it.” The youngest of the elders, the foxman Lua, narrowed his slit-like eyes as he spoke. 
“Calm down, Zel. Lua’s got the right of it.” 
“But the monsters these demons have brought are far stronger than any we’ve faced. There’s no telling how long our army will hold against them.” Guze the dwarf said cautiously. Mao, the birdman elder, shook his head in despair. 
“We know that! Ulfric, you’re the oldest among us, do you have any ideas!?” Grasping at straws, Zel turned to Ulfric. 
Ulfric slowly opened his eyes and muttered, “Perhaps they are led by another who has met the qualifications.” Everyone present shivered. They thought back to the white-haired boy with an eyepatch who’d so easily dispatched the strongest of their number. 
“Impossible. We’d never seen anyone who’d fulfilled the requirements and now you’re saying two of them have shown up at almost the same time!?” 
“Is that really so surprising? We already know one exists, who’s to say there can’t be more? This time, however, it seems it’s a demon who’s acquired the power of the labyrinths. And unlike Hajime Nagumo, I doubt they’ll be willing to sheathe their weapons if we tell them we have no quarrel with their kind...” After a few moments of deliberation, Ulfric made his decision. 
“We may have to consider drastic options, such as abandoning Verbergen.” 
“What!?” 
Zel opened his mouth to object, but then shut it again. The other elders were all speechless as well. 
“We can rebuild a nation, but we can’t bring back a life. If we abandon Verbergen we can always rebuild in the depths of the forest, or in the mountains to the north, or in the uninhabited areas of the southern continent. If it comes down to it, we could even cross the western ocean and seek shelter with our comrades across the sea. I know none of these options are appealing, but they’re preferable to fighting to the death.” 
“But we can’t just abandon Verbergen! It’s our home, our sacred birthplace!” 
“What meaning is there in protecting if we all die in the process? Even without a nation, so long as we have our lives we’ll manage somehow.” 
The elders didn’t voice any further complaints. Still, it was not a decision they could agree to lightly. Silence filled the hall as they weighed their options. Their musings were interrupted by a messenger bearing dire news. 
The young wolfman courier burst through the hall’s double doors and said in a tearful voice, “Commander Gouto has been slain!” 
“!?” 
Gouto, the leader of the wolfmen tribe, had been the supreme commander of Verbergen’s forces. The elders and the common people alike had trusted him, and he’d been the symbol of Verbergen’s armed forces. Losing him would have an incalculable effect on morale. The elders could no longer afford to take their time deliberating. 
“The Vice-Commander has taken up command, but our forces are being overwhelmed. We’ve already been pushed back to the final defensive line. The Vice-Commander also bade me to pass on a message. He said they’ll fight to the death, and that the elders should use this time to flee the city. That concludes my report.” 
“So we’re out of time...” Ulfric muttered sadly. He thought of his granddaughter, Altina, and began mentally drafting an evacuation plan. They wouldn’t be able to save everyone, so they would have to choose a few beastmen from each race to serve as the seeds of the future. 
Before he could tell the others of his plan, another messenger burst into the room. This time it was a foxman, and he looked completely out of breath. 
“Chief Lua, Elders. I have an urgent report. The enemy appears to be searching for the ‘true labyrinth.’” 
“Are you certain?” 
Lua asked, eyes opening wide. 
“Yes, sir. They’ve been torturing beastmen they capture and asking them that question. No one understands what that means though... so they haven’t been able to answer...” The messenger himself wasn’t sure what this “true labyrinth” referred to either. But he knew it was related to the uproar that had occurred a while back when a human had first visited Verbergen. He stared questioningly at the elders. 
Lua turned to Ulfric for guidance. 
“We have no other choice. If telling them is what it takes to get them to retreat, it’s a small price to pay. I shall go personally. Hopefully that will be enough to convince them.” 
He urged Zel and the other elders to prepare to evacuate in case negotiations broke down and hurried out of the room. 
“Ulfric-sama, it’s too dangerous! Let us go in your stead!” Many of the aides and secretaries, including those from other beastmen races, implored Ulfric to reconsider as he made his way out of the building. “There’s no time to argue about this. My decision is final,” he told them all. But he did compromise and agree to take his bow with him. Once that had been settled, he dashed out of the building with a speed that belied his age. 
The final defensive line was at the outer gates of the city. Traps and defensive bulwarks had been set up all around it. There were bunches of tree trunks that could be set loose with the snap of a rope, and archery platforms for defenders to rain arrows down from built into the upper branches of the larger trees. 
Ulfric bounded up the trees far faster than his weight or age should have allowed. Once he’d reached the uppermost platform, he squinted his eyes and surveyed the battle below. 
“They’re fighting admirably.” Indeed, Verbergen’s soldiers were holding out well. Bruised and battered though they were, they continued fighting valiantly against monsters they’d never seen before. 
But still, it was clear they’d be overrun before long. 
With his superior eyesight, Ulfric was able to spot the enemy commander far to the rear of the demon ranks. 
He sucked in a deep breath and bellowed in a booming voice, “Hear me, demons! My name is Ulfric Heipyst! I am one of the elders of Verbergen! You seek the true labyrinth, do you not!” Ulfric’s voice carried across the tumultuous battlefield, and all of Verbergen’s soldiers stopped and turned to see what was happening. 
A second later, the monsters stopped as well. 
Davros, the demon captain, strode forward in the lull that followed. 
“Well, well. So you’re this rabble’s leader. You know where the entrance to the true labyrinth is?” 
“I do indeed. It is a secret known only to the elders of Verbergen. If you wish, I can tell you. But in return, I want you to cease hostilities immediately. We have no intention of interfering with your attempts to clear the labyrinth.” 
“Hmph, so you’re looking to negotiate? Information in exchange for sparing your lives?” 
Davros stroked his chin thoughtfully. 
Verbergen’s soldiers gulped in anticipation. 
However, Davros’ reply was one no one was expecting. 
“Do you know why it is we demons are waiting at the rear?” 
“What are you talking about?” 
“It’s to preserve our strength. We don’t want to be too exhausted before challenging the true labyrinth. Besides, wasting our abilities on the likes of you inferior beastmen is more than you deserve.” 
The beastmen bristled at that. 
Unconcerned, Davros kept his gaze locked on Ulfric. 
When Ulfric saw the madness in Davros’ eyes, he shivered. At the same time, he understood. This wasn’t like his meeting with Hajime Nagumo. These monsters had never planned on negotiating from the start. 
“Let me explain something to you, since you don’t seem to understand. Negotiations can only occur when both sides are on equal footing. Do you understand what equal means!? No grubby beastmen will ever be equal to us, the chosen race! All you filthy animals deserve is death!” 
Davros raised an arm and began chanting with practiced speed. 
Ulfric reacted with superhuman speed and fired an arrow at him. His aim was perfect, and the arrow went straight for Davros’ heart. Considering the distance, it was an almost unbelievable shot. 
Unfortunately, his arrow was knocked down by a wall of wind. One of the demons had seen the attack coming and cast the spell ahead of time. 
“Ware, men!” Ulfric called out a hasty warning. 
“Lava Burst.” A second later, Davros’ spell went off. 
Clods of earth rose up from the ground and coalesced into boulders. The boulders were then engulfed in superheated flames and burst apart into chunks of lava that rained down over the battlefield. Lava Burst was an advanced-level composite spell that combined earth and fire magic. Though it fell under advanced level, its force was as great as some ultimate class spells. 
Lumps of burning lava pelted Verbergen’s gates. 
There was a thunderous roar, followed by a massive shockwave that knocked Verbergen’s soldiers flat. 
The massive, thirty meter gate was blown off its hinges, taking the nearby trees with it. The parts of the wall surrounding the gate were charred black, and just barely held their shape. 
The demons had wiped out Verbergen’s last line of defense in a single attack. 
“Such power...” Ulfric trembled as he looked at the remnants of the gate. 
The soldiers who’d been standing beside it were all on the ground, surrounding by burning embers of lava. He couldn’t tell if they were dead or just barely breathing, but none of them moved. 
“See the difference between us?” Davros voice was a curious mixture of contemptuous hatred and madness. 
“You’re nothing more than rejects who were abandoned by our glorious god. The fact that beasts like you tried to form a country is an affront. We are the chosen people, and it is we demons who will usher in a new era of prosperity and splendor. It baffles me that you lesser creatures can’t even understand such a simple concept.” Davros glared with bloodshot eyes as the beastmen started crawling back to their feet. 
“I am truly grateful that crushing your puny nation is part of my mission. Consider this an honor, you brutes. We won’t turn you scum into slaves... We’ll hunt down every last one of you instead.” Two creatures leaped out of the shadows and headed straight for Ulfric. 
Ulfric doubted they’d kill him before at least torturing the location of the true labyrinth out of him. Which meant they were hoping to capture him now so that he wouldn’t accidentally be killed in the battle that would follow. 
“Tch.” He pulled three arrows out of his quiver, and fell backwards off the archery platform. His instinct, honed from years of experience, had led him to make the right decision. 
No matter how fast an adversary was, once you started falling they had no choice but to change course and attack you from above. And in order to change direction, they first had to decelerate. 
Ulfric let his two arrows fly, striking down the pair of bee monsters that had come after him. Meanwhile, his third arrow trailed an arc threw the sky and fell straight toward Davros. 
Ulfric then twisted in midair, and fired another volley of arrows through the newly opened hole in Verbergen’s wall. These shots seemingly weaved through the press of beastmen and monsters. They, too, headed straight for Davros. 
Ulfric’s marksmanship was legendary. 
Even Davros couldn’t help but be amazed. But he still leaped to the side quickly enough to avoid the deadly barrage. 
“Damn you!” Davros hated that a measly beastman had forced him to dodge. 
He unleashed a barrage of fireballs, casting practically without chanting. Though fireball was a beginner-level spell, it still packed quite a punch. The earth shook as the storm of fire crashed into the ground around Ulfric. 
“Gaaah!?” He cried out in pain as the shockwave sent him flying backwards. 
Seeing their elder in trouble, the beastmen rallied once more and charged. However, the demons joined their monster servants in the counterattack, and the beastmen’s battle cries soon turned to gurgled screams of pain and terror. 
Everyone in the city knew that the gates had fallen. Messengers had already delivered reports of the demons’ response to the elders, who were now organizing an evacuation. They had all of the civilians split up and flee in different directions, but there was no telling if they’d be able to escape safely still. 
It came down to how much time the remaining soldiers could buy. The elders despaired. There didn’t seem to be even a glimmer of hope left. 
Verbergen would perish today. The enemy this time was too strong. 
“No, wait... we’ve still got a chance.” A bearman panted as he took a beetle’s charge head-on. The stunt cost him a few ribs, but it put the monster in range of his halberd, which he swung down mercilessly. 
His name was Regin. He was a powerful warrior who was next in line to be the bearmen chief. He was also the soldier who’d ignored the elders’ decision and gone after the Haulia clan after Hajime had crippled Jin. He had of course been utterly crushed, and returned home in disgrace. 
As penance for defying Verbergen’s orders, he’d been demoted down to a lowly foot soldier and lost any chance at becoming the next elder. 
“If... If they come here to help we still have a chance. I have to find them.” A monster resembling a butterfly fluttered in front of him. It unleashed a beam of heat from its eyes which punched through Regin’s flank. Right after, another beetle charged at him. 
“Gaaah!?” Regin screamed out in pain as he was sent flying past the fogless barrier created by the verdren crystals. 
“Sorry, guys! Just hold out a little longer!” 
Though he was bleeding from head to toe, Regin still got back to his feet. He squeezed out every last ounce of his strength and ran off into the distance. 
When he arrived at the Haulia village, he found it completely fortified, with armed guards ready at the gates. 
As he burst through the fog, he was greeted by a squadron of rabbitmen glaring at him with the predatory eyes of monsters. The sight terrified him so much he let out an involuntary scream. 
“Never thought I’d see our bearman friend here.” Cam stepped forward. His glare was so feral that Regin averted his gaze. But then he gathered his courage and took a step forward toward the Haulia chief. Regin threw himself at Cam’s feet and pressed his forehead into the ground. 
“I understand full well that I have no right to ask you for anything! But please, lend us your help! I’ll even give you my life if that’s what it takes!” He kept his plea short as he knew how shameless it was to beg like this. 
The strongest active member of the strongest beastmen race was bowing his head to a rabbitman, the race everyone ridiculed as the weakest. 
Had any other rabbitman seen this, they would have doubted their eyes and pinched their fluffy ears to make sure they weren’t dreaming. 
Cam’s response was unexpectedly cold. 
“You’re an eyesore. Shut your mouth,” he said resolutely. 
“Wha—” 
Regin ground his teeth. Why!? The beastmen’s sacred home, the sea of trees was being invaded. Sure Verbergen and the Haulia had had their disagreements, but Regin was sure they would have helped in the face of such a crisis. 
Shocked, Regin opened his mouth to argue. 
Before he could say anything though, Cam overrode him. 
“You’ve all heard the reports, right men? Their target is the true labyrinth. The labyrinth we’ve been charged to protect until our boss returns one day.” 
“......” 
Goosebumps rose on Regin’s arms. Though they were silent, the Haulia clan was exerting some unseen pressure. 
“Those bastards are trying to lay their grubby paws on boss’ prize.” There were a number of loud screeches, and all of the monsters in the vicinity fled as fast they could, the undergrowth rustling as they ran past. None of them wanted to be anywhere near the Haulia right now. 
Even Regin felt like running. But he couldn’t move. 
“If... If they do anything to the Grand Tree that makes it impossible for boss to reach the true labyrinth...” Cam’s rabbit ears stood on end as he ground his teeth ominously. 
“Listen up, men. We are all comrades-in-arms, all family. Can we really sit back and watch as our boss’ dreams... are crushed before our very eyes!?” 
“Sir, no sir!” 
The Haulia yelled at the top of their lungs. The volume of their voices pushed back the fog a few centimeters. 
“Would we be able to face him if we let these bastards do as they please!?” 
“Sir, no sir!” 
“Would we have any right to call him our boss!?” 
“Sir, no sir!” 
“That’s right. If we fail here, we’re trash. Trash that isn’t even worthy of licking boss’ boots! Are we trash, gentlemen!?” 
“Sir, no, sir!” 
“Now that’s what I wanna hear! We are Haulia! Boss’ personal army! The strongest army in the world! And we’re going to prove it by teaching those demons a lesson they won’t forget! Let’s remind them who truly owns these woods!” 
“Aye, aye, sir!” 
Silence filled the forest once more. The Haulia began to calm down. 
No wait. They’re still pumped up... They’re just preparing to kill... 
Though they were standing right in front of him, Regin was having a hard time keeping his eyes on them. It was as if they were melting into the background. 
Regin realized that this was what the Haulia were like when they were truly serious. All that noise from before had just been for show. 
Now they’d gone utterly silent, nearly disappearing from view, with bloodlust oozing from their pores. 
This was who the Haulia were. This was the true strength of the rabbitmen everyone had once called the weakest in Haltina. 
The rabbitmen smiled, unable to hide their mounting glee. 
Their feral grins resembled the crescent moon. 
One after another, the Haulia faded from sight. Where were they headed? The only place soldiers the world over ever headed. The battlefield.

Regin was later noted to have said, “The Haulia terrified me back then. Even though they weren’t yelling and screaming like before, their quiet smiles were... ghastly. Ever since that day, I haven’t been able to sleep. Whenever I close my eyes I get nightmares of grinning rabbits coming for... Haaah... Haaah... Sorry. Just thinking about it makes it hard to breathe. I need my meds...”

The first to notice something strange was Vice-Commander Celeka. 
“Hm? Wait, why are they coming back?” Celeka tilted his head as he watched a bee-shaped monster—the demons called them Squiers—return to his position. 
Because of their speed, the monsters made for good messenger birds. In fact, Celeka had sent this one off with a message for his flanks just a few moments ago. However, he could tell the Squier still had the orders he’d written tied to its leg. 
Which mean that it had somehow lost track of where his flanking unit was. 
He untied the message just in case, but as he expected it was the same one he’d written. 
“Don’t tell me the fog’s started affecting them suddenly.” Celeka shook his head. “Nah, there’s no way,” he said, discarding the possibility. 
Up ahead, Ulfric and the beastmen’s best elites were holding their own against Davros’ charge. 
Honestly, Celeka wanted to be a part of the beastmen extermination battle, but he knew someone had to stay behind to keep an eye on the overall situation and maintain control of the monsters. 
Besides, the demons had already fought their way into Verbergen, and were slaughtering soldiers and civilians alike. The beastmen might still be holding out, but it was only a matter of time before they were routed. 
Shrugging his shoulders, Celeka retied the message and was about to order the Squier back out when another one flew in. 
“What, you too?” This one, too, still had his message attached to its leg. In order to prevent any beastmen from escaping the purge, he’d split his unit into three and had them surround Verbergen. And now, he’d now lost contact with two of those three units. 
“Perhaps I should send in reinforcements, just in case...” Celeka doubted his men were so hard-pressed they hadn’t had time to reply. 
It was more likely they were just so caught up in the slaughter that they hadn’t noticed he’d sent the Squiers. 
If only I could communicate telepathically with the monsters. Celeka mused to himself. With a wry smile, he blew the whistle around his neck. Its noise was too high-pitched for demon ears to perceive, but all of the monsters he kept in reserve would gather at the sound. 
He’d deployed his reserve forces at various points around the city, and it shouldn’t have taken them long to assemble. 
“......” The monsters did show up, but only a third as many as he’d deployed. 
Celeka blew his whistle once more. But no more appeared. 
A wave of dread washed over him. 
“What’s happening? Why aren’t the monsters coming back!? Did we lose control of them? Impossible, Freid-sama made them specifically for us. There’s no way they’d stop listening to commands.” Celeka ordered one of his men to go scope out the situation. 
“Fidra, the monsters aren’t responding to my commands! I want you to—” He stopped mid-sentence. 
“Fidra? Hey, where are you!? Fidra!” Fidra was meant to have been engaging the beastmen holding the remnants of Verbergen’s gate. But he wasn’t there. Upon looking around, Celeka realized how drastically the situation had changed in the past few minutes. 
“The barrier’s... shrunk?” Normally, there perimeter of verdren crystals extended a good distance out of Verbergen. Right now, though, its range had shrunk considerably. 
He strained his eyes, and spotted a shadow at the edge of the fog. 
“Fidra! Is that you!? Answer me!” There was no reply. 
“Get out there and support Fidra!” Celeka ordered his monsters. 
He couldn’t imagine anything had happened to his best soldier. After all, their side was winning. Once they wiped out the last remaining soldiers and Davros handled the elders and commanders, all that’d be left was slaughtering the remaining beastmen. Ten of his monsters charged into the fog, toward the shadow Celeka had spotted. 
That should have solved everything. Celeka tried to ignore the cold sweat pouring down his forehead. 
But just then, he felt something coming at him from behind. 
“Tch— Wind Blades!” His instantaneous reaction and almost nonexistent chant was a mark of how skilled he was. 
However, his wind blades passed harmlessly through the fog, touching nothing. 
“What the? What’s going...” Celeka was finally starting to panic. Before he could make another move, something fell in front of his feet with a heavy thud. Curious, he looked down. 
What he saw unnerved him. 
“Ah!” He leaped back with a yell. Sitting at his feet was Fidra’s head.

“Captain, we’re under attack by an unknown number of hostiles!” Davros stopped what he was doing and turned to face his flustered messenger. 
He had been just about to spear Ulfric with a Crimson Javelin and put an end to the fight. Ulfric, Zel, the other elders, and all of the beastmen captains lay defeated on the ground. 
As Davros still needed to get the location of the true labyrinth out of them he’d avoided hitting any of their vitals, but they were still on death’s doorstep. 
“Under attack? What do you mean?” He frowned in confusion. 
“There’s something in the fog! Fidra’s already been slain! Moreover we’ve lost contact with two of our units! The monsters I sent to reinforce them have all been wiped out!” 
“What!? Call back all of the monsters we sent into the capital! Who leads the last unit!?” 
“Balen, sir!” 
“Recall him this instant!” 
Davros hadn’t been expecting this. Eyes bloodshot, he turned to glare at Ulfric. He finished his incantation, and a flaming javelin appeared in his hand. He pointed it at Ulfric and said, “What’s the meaning of this? You sure are crafty, bringing out your trump card at the very last moment.” Davros had lost a number of his men, and a great deal of monsters his beloved commander had entrusted to him. 
His voice trembled from barely suppressed rage. 
In truth, however, even Ulfric didn’t know what was going on. If he really had a trump card up his sleeve, he would have used it before the gate had been destroyed. He was just as confused as Davros. 
He opened his mouth to say as much, but stopped when he caught sight of who was standing atop the remnants of Verbergen’s walls. 
Eyes wide, he was too stunned to answer Davros’ question. Seeing his surprise, Davros turned and followed his gaze. 
Standing atop the shattered gate was a rabbitman. 
But there was something clearly strange about him. 
The demons had studied up on the traits of each of the beastman races before their invasion. So they knew that rabbitmen were a cowardly race who eschewed battle. And in fact, all of the rabbitmen they’d met until now had fled at the first sight of conflict. 
However, the rabbitman in front of Davros was calmly standing in the middle of a battlefield. His ears were covered in blood, and he was glaring at Davros with unbridled hatred. In one hand he held a short sword. In the other, a demon’s head. 
“You bastard.” That demon was the leader of one of the squads they’d lost contact with. 
“Cam... Haulia...” Ulfric muttered in awe. The leader of the clan they’d banished had returned. 
The other elders and soldiers were just as stunned. Everyone was staring at Cam in blank amazement. 
Cam casually tossed aside the demon head, as if it was nothing more than trash. 
He then looked down at Davros and sneered. 
“Heh.” It was obvious to everyone present that he had nothing but contempt for Davros. 
Without another word, Cam vanished into the mist. 
The fog parted to show a path heading in the direction he’d disappeared. He must have left verdren crystals in his wake. 
It was obviously a challenge. 
“Vice-Captain Celeka. Gather all of our forces. It’s time to hunt some rabbits.” Davros’ voice was completely flat, and his face devoid of emotion. 
When Davros’ anger reached past a certain point, he no longer expressed it on his face. 
“At once, sir!” Celeka, on the other hand, was trembling with rage. 
Davros strode down the path Cam had left for him, without so much as a single glance at any of the elders. It appeared he thought Verbergen’s forces were too exhausted to pose a threat even if he left them alone. He’d let Cam’s taunts get to him and was no longer thinking clearly. With the demons gone from Verbergen, Ulfric breathed a sigh of relief. 
“I never imagined he would be the one to save us...” He muttered. 
The other elders nodded absentmindedly.

Davros marched through the fog, his army of monsters at his back. 
He’d linked up with his remaining unit along the way, but as he’d feared, the two they’d lost contact with had been completely annihilated. 
Including Davros and Celeka, only six demons remained. They’d lost over fifty percent of their fighting force. 
What was even more humiliating though, was that they hadn’t even noticed this new enemy until most of them were dead. 
Those blasted rabbitmen had chipped away at their forces while they were busy pillaging Verbergen. The fact that the rabbitmen had planned it that way, and that the demons had actually fallen for it aggravated the demons to no end. Davros was seething. 
He hadn’t expected rabbitmen, the race known to be the most sympathetic of all beastmen, to use their own nation as bait. 
It was a miscalculation he couldn’t have foreseen. 
After all, he had no way of knowing that the Haulia had been exiled from Verbergen, and thought nothing of the lives of other beastmen, unless they were rabbitmen. 
“I have never suffered such a humiliating defeat in my life. Unless we annihilate every last one of them we’ll be returning home in disgrace.” 
“You said it, captain. I know there’s no honor in war, but sacrificing your own brethren is still a despicable ploy! We won’t let these cowardly vermin live!” 
The other four demons nodded in agreement to Celeka’s words. 
Just then, a shadow flitted past at the edge of their vision. 
A few of Celeka’s Squiers shot forward, faster than lightning. He’d ordered them beforehand to target anything than moved. 
A second later, they were all sliced neatly in two. 
“What!?” 
“Impossible, where did that attack come from!?” 
Davros opened his eyes wide in surprise. Celeka cast his gaze about in a panic. Another shadow dashed past. As Celeka hadn’t rescinded his order, another unit of Squiers shot forward. These, too, were cut in half before reaching their target. 
“It’s not an attack, vice-captain! Look closely! They’ve stretched wires between the trees! It’s a trap! Don’t send any more Squiers out!” 
Celeka switched tactics and sent out his armored beetles, the Drygers, instead. 
“Hmph, nothing more than petty tricks. I’ll run you all down!” The Drygers toppled the trees holding up the wires, and... fell to the ground. 
“What now!?” Toppling the trees had caused the wires to stretch, activating the second part of the rabbitmen’s trap. The wires had pulled crossbow triggers which had rained arrows down on the Drygers’ propulsion organs. 
Their remaining momentum carried the Drygers straight into the pitfalls the Haulia had prepared beforehand. The heated coals at the bottom of the pit ignited the Drygers, incinerating their flammable bodies. 
With that, another chunk of Davros’ monsters were defeated. 
“Everyone, get in a circle formation! Start casting wide-area magic in all directions! Have the Cyuverias fire blind too!” The butterflies that fired heat rays, Cyuverias, started launching their attacks in all directions. Meanwhile, Davros and the others began chanting wide-area magic spells. Demons were already more skilled in magic than humans, and six of them in tandem were strong enough to blow apart everything around them. 
However, they’d made a mistake in ordering their Cyuverias to buy time by firing into the mist at random. 
As their rays melted the nearby trees, a there were a number of loud snapping noises in quick succession. 
It was followed by a loud whoosh, and a giant tree pendulum came swinging down at the demons. 
It punched through a number of monsters and slammed squarely into one demon, sending him flying. 
“Gah!?” He cried out in pain as he vanished into the fog. A few seconds later, he screamed again before going silent. 
“Kramer! Gah!?” One of Kramer’s close friends interrupted his chanting and called out to him. A second later, he followed his buddy into the afterlife as an arrow penetrated the back of his skull. He slipped off the Dryger he was riding, dead before he even hit the ground. 
In the span of a few seconds, the demons had lost another third of their remaining number. 
However, these four made sure to finish chanting their spells to completion. Together, they summoned a howling storm that blew away everything in the vicinity. 
“Infinite Storm Edge!” Infinite Storm Edge was the strongest wind spell in existence. A massive storm whipped up around the demon. Countless blades of winds rode the storm, making mincemeat of everything inside it. 
All of the nearby trees were cut into pieces, and even the surrounding fog was blown away. Davros’ thinking in that they needed something to alter the flow of the battle had indeed been correct. But he should have been more wary of the traps the Haulia had set up beforehand. 
They were fighting in the heart of Haulia territory. Cam and the others had already factored in the likelihood that the demons would lose their temper at being whittled down by unseen traps and try to blow everything away. And so they had prepared a safe path of retreat. 
Namely, they’d dug trenches. They’d fortified the walls of their trenches with bedrock that they’d dug up, and covered the tops with shock-resistant material. The only reason they’d been able to box themselves in like that was because their Azantium-coated short swords were capable of cutting through anything. 
Had they opted for a more suitable spell, like Lava Burst, the demons may have been able to inflict some damage on the Haulia, but they’d let their anger get the better of them. 
“Hmph, this should make it easier to spot—” 
“Captain!” 
Davros turned to Celeka, who had an arrow sprouting from his shoulder. A second later, a hail of arrows rained down on the demons. 
“Vice-captain! Shit, they must have burrowed underground!” Bolts came at them from all angles, occasionally accompanied by stones and sacks filled to the brim with some unknown powder. Davros and the remaining demons were forced to put up barriers around them. 
Because they weren’t given any time to think, they didn’t realize the powder wasn’t poison, but simple ground flour. 
The Haulia were only doing this to buy time until the mist returned. 
Finally the arrows and stones came to a halt. Enough powder was in the air that it would function as mist for a little while. Annoyed, the demons once more started chanting wind magic. 
“Send all the monsters out! Eliminate those pests!” Even though the fog was beginning to return, the monsters were capable of navigating within it. 
However, the monsters just looked about in confusion, and made no move to charge. 
“Huh? How come they’re not chasing the rabbitmen?” It was then that Celeka realized. Originally, he had ordered the monsters to attack any rabbitman they located. 
Unlike the demons, they didn’t need to confirm the rabbitmen’s presence by sight, they had perception skills for that. 
And yet, they’d only attacked the two times shadows had flitted close enough for even the demons to see. In other words, the rabbitmen had some way of hiding their presence entirely. 
“Crap. Here they come, get ready, men!” Davros called out a warning as he spotted a number of figures crawling across the ground. 
“Sorry, but you’re too late.” Davros couldn’t tell where that voice came from. 
But a second later, all of his monsters started getting assassinated. Davros and the other three demons were safe because of his barrier, but the monsters hadn’t been within it. 
The Haulia weaved between monsters with unparalleled grace, striking at each monster’s vitals as they passed it. 
Their hit and run was executed so perfectly even Davros had to admire their skill. 
Before the demons could respond, the rabbitmen melted away into the mist again. Most of the few remaining monsters chased after them, as per their orders. Which of course meant they split up in all directions. 
“Captain! We can’t fight them in their territory! Let’s retreat to Verbergen for now! I know it’s shameful, but if not even our monsters can keep track of their whereabouts, we won’t stand a chance! We’re at a disadvantage here!” 
“I can’t believe we’ve been pushed this far by a bunch of stinking beastmen!” Davros clenched his fist so hard he started bleeding, but he knew Celeka was right. They needed to retreat and regroup. 
“Everyone, we’re forcing our way out of this death trap!” Davros mounted one of the last Drygers and led their retreat. 
Unfortunately, retreating meant they once again had to navigate their way through a maze of trees. 
“Aaaaaaaaah!?” 
“Heather!” 
The demon known as Heather suddenly had a rope slung about her neck and was wrenched upwards. 
A deluge of blood spilled from above. No one could tell what exactly had happened, as her head was draped in fog. 
Davros’ Cyuverias started firing randomly into the fog, but were shot down by a barrage of accurately aimed arrows. Whatever land-based monsters were left ended up falling into more pitfalls, or were trapped by puddles of viscous sap. Those that got trapped were left behind, and summarily executed by the Haulia. 
Occasionally, another shadow would flit past the demons, taunting them. 
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, you scuuuuuum!” Spurred on by panic and rage, one of the demons leaped off the path and charged at the shadow. He fired off a barrage of spells, some of which hit the shadow and sent it flying. 
“Haha, take that you little—” 
“Balen, don’t break formation!” 
Davros’ warning came too late. 
The force of Balen’s spells temporarily cleared away the mist, only to show that he’d hit a wooden dummy, and not actually a person. 
He barely had time to go “Huh?” before a rabbitman girl leaped down and gently cut his head from his shoulders. 
Davros and Celeka began chanting, aiming to hit the bunny girl the moment she landed. But before they could finish, their Drygers came to a sudden halt throwing their riders off and cutting off their incantation. 
“Goddammit, how many traps did you put down!?” The Drygers had been caught in a pair of makeshift bear traps. The Haulia had used a special ore, one that shattered into jagged pieces like obsidian, to line the trap’s jaws. 
“C-Captain...” Davros turned around to see Celeka crawling on the ground, his back riddled with spikes. When he’d been thrown off his Dryger, he’d landed in a field of caltrops. It was only dumb luck that had saved Davros from a similar fate. Unfortunately for him, his luck had run out. 
Looking around, he saw the last of his monsters succumbing to various traps. His giant cricket-shaped monsters, Linvals, all died as they stepped on paper bags that held a poisonous gas. His Drygers were wiped out by punji traps that had been cleverly camouflaged. His flying leaf-insect-like creatures, Ozmuses, were caught in nets made from vines that resembled barbed wire and were shredded to bits. His Squiers were lured in by the glimpses of rabbitmen the Haulia allowed them to see and sliced in half by more wire traps. Even the monsters who’d left earlier to chase the retreating Haulia found themselves falling prey to traps. 
And it wasn’t just traps anymore. All of these booby traps had just been one way to even out the difference in numbers and strength between the Haulia and their foe. 
Now that they could attack with relative safety, Par started sniping Davros’ Cyuverias as well. He made sure to mask his presence to the utmost, and change locations after every shot to keep enemies off his trail. His crossbow was the best-suited weapon to the task as well. 
Any monster that wasn’t instantly killed by a trap was finished off by a Haulia’s short sword while it was still immobilized. 
“Are all the vermin living in this forest as crafty as you fiends!?” Davros roared in frustration. 
Had any of Verbergen’s soldiers heard his outburst they would have vehemently denied his accusation. The Haulia were the only clan with such a huge fondness for booby traps. No other race or clan used them. And no other clan or race wanted to be associated with them. 
None of the demons could have guessed that the monster of the abyss’ influence reached even here. But it was his Spartan boot camp that had turned these rabbitmen into shrewd killers. First he’d shattered Freid’s plans at the capital, now his trained soldiers were ruining Davros’ ambitions in the Haltina Woods. 
“If I could just make it back to Verbergen, I could take one of those elders hostage and...” 
“That won’t do you any good.” 
A voice boomed out in response to Davros’ mutterings. Because of the rabbitmen’s confusing movements, and their excellent stealth skills, Davros wasn’t able to pinpoint the source of the voice. 
“It won’t?” 
“Indeed. If you want to kill the elders, go ahead. It’s no skin off our back.” 
“Aren’t they your leaders?” 
“There is only one man worthy of being called our leader. But as you are about to die, you have no need to know who he is.” 
“You think a pack of stinking beastmen can kill me? I’ll prove to you my life won’t come cheap, you bastards!” 
“Shouldn’t you be more worried about that young man next to you?” 
“What!?” 
Come to think of it, Celeka’s been awfully quiet. Sure, he’d been stabbed by a field of caltrops, but his injuries shouldn’t have been fatal. 
“Gah C-Captain... R-Run... away...” 
“Vice-Captain Celeka!? What—wait your face, those spines were poisoned!” 
The Haulia were masters of murder. If they’d invited their enemy into a killing field, it was only natural that they’d make all of their traps fatal. One of the rabbitmen walked out of the mist. 
“I don’t believe it. You really are rabbitmen. Weren’t you supposed to be the weakest race?” 
“We are. It’s all just a matter of perspective, you see. What we lacked was resolve. True, until now all we ever did was run away and hide whenever a fight was about to break out. In that respect, we certainly are the weakest. But looking at that from another angle, it means we were able to survive in this sea of trees without ever fighting. In other words, that’s how much potential we had.” Cam’s lips curled up into a fearless grin. “No one else is as suited to fighting within these woods as we are. Which means so long as we possess the will to fight, us rabbitmen are the strongest race in Haltina.” 
“You’ve got some nerve, calling yourselves the strongest race,” Davros sneered. 
Cam shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. 
“The only one who truly deserves to be called the strongest everywhere is our boss, but... well, there’s no point in discussing this with you. By the way, I hope you know all of your monsters have already been wiped out. No one’s coming to help you. Your precious subordinate’ll be dead soon, so he’s no use to you either. So—what do you think of settling things with a duel? You versus me.” 
Davros’ eyes shot open in shock. That cocky fool thinks he’s already won. He thought to himself as he saw Cam’s fearless smile. If I take him hostage, will those other rabbitmen stand down? I’ve already failed in my mission and shamed my homeland, but I need to get this information back to the others somehow. Davros got to his feet and dropped into a combat stance. He’d made his decision. 
“Looks like you’re not all spineless wimps. If a duel’s what you want, a duel’s what you’ll get! I don’t back down from a challenge!” 
“Hmm, very well. Then let us begin.” 
Cam drew his short sword and crouched low to the ground. He looked ready to charge at any moment. 
I’ll stick to low-level spells. Speed’s more important than power here. I’ll destroy his footing using spells I only need to chant the name of! With his plan of action decided, Davros warily observed his foe. The moment Cam stepped forward, he would cast. The two of them stared each other down, like gunmen in a wild west movie. 
Finally, Davros saw Cam tense his legs. Now! 
“Wind Blast!” A sphere of wind headed straight for Cam’s legs. 
“Wha—” And missed. 
Davros had expected Cam to leap forward, but he’d actually jumped back into the mist. Bloodlust had been dripping off him, and was continuing to drip off him even now, so Davros had been justified in expecting an attack. Even a veteran such as himself couldn’t help but be momentarily taken aback. And naturally, the Haulia’s sniper team wasn’t going to let that opening slip past them. 
“Gaaah!?” A barrage of arrows pierced his legs, sending him to his knees. The Haulia had done to him what he’d been planning on doing to Cam. Once he was immobilized, another one of the Haulia fired a small bag at him with a slingshot. 
It was filled ground pepper seeds that grew in a certain corner of Haltina. They made for great seasoning, and also as ingredients for a makeshift tear gas bomb. The bag burst, filling Davros’ lungs with burning hot powder. 
A mage who couldn’t talk, couldn’t cast. Coughing profusely, Davros just barely noticed someone coming at him from behind. 
“Ah!” 
He turned around, dodging in the nick of time. But that attack had been a trap. A blade suddenly sprouted from his chest. Another rabbitman had stabbed him from the back. 
“Y-You bastard. You said this would be a duel,” Davros spat, his breathing labored. 
Cam twisted the blade and tilted his head. 
“I simply asked what you thought of settling things with a duel.” 
In other words, he’d implied that he was interested in seeing if Davros wanted to settle things with one, but he had no intention of a duel from the start. 
“You, craven cur.” 
“Can’t say I care about being praised by anyone other than Boss.” 
With that, Cam unsheathed his second short sword and decapitated Davros. As his consciousness began to fade, his final thoughts were, Your Majesty, Freid-sama, beware the demons that lurk in the sea of trees. 

“In short, that was how we annihilated the demons. Unfortunately, Verbergen still suffered great casualties in the—Hm? What’s wrong, Boss? You look like you swallowed a thousand cockroaches. Like your favorite pet grew way faster than you ever expected and now you don’t know what to do with it.” 
“You’re not doing this on purpose, right?” 
Hajime glared at Par. Par tilted his head in confusion; it seemed he really wasn’t doing it intentionally. Lana and the others seemed just as lost. “What’s the matter, boss?” their gazes seemed to say. 
At the start of Par’s tale, most of the people listening had sympathized with the beastmen. But as he’d continued, they’d started feeling more sorry for the demons than anything. 
I never thought the day would come that I’d pray for the souls of my mortal enemies. Liliana thought, her expression grave. 
Meanwhile, Kouki and the other students were glaring at Hajime. Of course your disciples are going to be like this with the way you are! You killed that demon in Orcus without even listening to her final words, and you told Freid that you don’t give a damn about your classmates or the citizens! Though their gazes were reproachful, they didn’t dare say any of that aloud. 
However, it was Shea who’d been hit the hardest. She scowled at Hajime and said something. 
“Hajime-san, do something! My family’s evolved too far. In the wrong direction, too This is all because you got them fired up with that speech before you left Haltina!” 
“You do realize you’re not that different from them, right?” Hajime replied casually, while Shea pounded on him with her fists. 
“Please don’t lump me together with the likes of them!” Shea wailed. She could say some surprisingly cruel things about her own family. 
Hajime ignored Shea’s blows and turned back to Par. 
“At any rate, you guys did good. You understood that you couldn’t win in a pure battle of strength, so you focused on gathering information and utilized your race’s special traits to their utmost. That was the perfect combination of ambushes, traps, sneak attacks, and diversions. You didn’t hesitate to use methods others would call cowardly, and as a result you’re a far cry from the clan that used to run away at the first sign of trouble. You’ve really exceeded my expectations.” 
“B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-Boss praised us!” 
Tears spilled from Par’s eyes. His rabbit ears stood on end. 
“What an honor!” 
“All that hellish training was worth it!” 
“Boss! I can die a happy woman now!” 
“Don’t be ridiculous, Lanainferina! We can’t die yet, we’re just getting started! This is what we worked so hard for! Sniffle” 
“Heh, Minasteria. This the first time I’ve ever seen you get so this emotional. Man, you’re making me cry too.” 
All twenty rabbitmen wept tears of joy. It was quite a sight, seeing them all trembling with happiness, their bunny ears flapping back and forth. 
“Hajime. Be careful about praising them.” 
“Yeah...” 
Yue watched the rabbitmen with a tired look on her face. Shea’s rabbit ears drooped as she bowed apologetically to everyone else. “I’m sorry my family’s such a pain to deal with!” 
Next to her, Tio muttered, “They have been trained splendidly...” She looked enviously over at Hajime, and Kaori took a few steps away from her. 
Hajime cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention again and asked Par to continue. 
“So what happened after that? You gave us all of the background information, but you still haven’t explained how that connects to the current situation.” 
Par instantly stopped crying and stood at attention. The change was so sudden Liliana, Kouki, and the others took an involuntary step backwards. 
“Correct. In order to defeat the demons and their monsters, we had to use up almost all of our booby traps and consumable weapons. In order to shore up our defenses, and avoid dealing with the chaos in Verbergen, we retreated back to our village.” 
With Verbergen’s forces depleted, the elders had had a hard time treating the wounded, recalling all of the beastmen that had evacuated the city, and repairing the shattered main gate. It was in the middle of their hectic recovery period, just three days after the demon attack, that they’d been hit again. 
“We just couldn’t catch a break. This time it was the empire that invaded. Unlike the demons they had no way of navigating through the fog so they just sent a massive army to push their way in by force.” 
“What do you mean, by force?” Hajime asked dubiously. 
Liliana was curious as well, and she leaned in closer. 
“Well, Boss. Those bastards decided if they couldn’t find their way to Verbergen normally, then they just had to burn the forest until they had a clear path to the city.” 
“They set the whole forest on fire!?” Liliana exclaimed in surprise. 
Par turned to Liliana and nodded. 
“Until now, they’d forced slaves to be their guides through the forest so no one was expecting them to switch to such drastic measures.” 
Forcing slaves to guide soldiers through the forest wasn’t something that was done often. The imperial soldiers knew that the beastmen they’d enslaved would turn on them given the opportunity. After all, no one wanted to lead their captors to their countrymen. It was natural the beastmen wouldn’t make for the most willing or trustworthy guides. 
And no one had been expecting another large-scale attack right after the demon invasion. 
“They weren’t here to invade though. They only wanted to capture slaves.” 
“That’s all? They went to such lengths just to capture slaves like always?” 
“Correct. Unfortunately, we noticed their assault too late, and by the time we’d arrived at Verbergen there was nothing to be done... Well, with their army in tatters, it’s no surprise they buckled quickly.” 
“Something must have happened within the empire...” 
Par nodded in affirmation. 
“We captured a number of the empire’s rear guard as they left and interrogated them. It appeared the empire had suffered an assault by an army of powerful, never-before-seen monsters as well. They’d suffered serious casualties, and had come to Haltina to ‘replenish their supply of hard labor’ as those scum put it.” 
Everyone gasped. Liliana looked particularly shaken. She had been planning on appealing the empire for assistance, but now it turned out they’d been hit just as hard as the kingdom, to the point where they were resorting to massive slave drives to recruit labor. 
Now that he’d grasped the overall situation, Hajime sighed. 
“I see now... They probably claim it’s to rebuild the country, but it’s obvious what trash like them are really after. If you guys are striking back against them, that means they must have captured rabbitmen too, even though they’re useless when it comes to hard labor.” 
“Yeah. It’s disgusting.” 
Rabbitmen were usually bought as sex slaves within the empire, so it was obvious what they were really being captured for. Though the Haulia cared nothing for the fate of Verbergen, they couldn’t stand idly by as their weaker comrades had their futures stolen from them. 
In order to rescue them, Cam had left for the imperial capital along with his best elites. The rest of his family had stayed behind to watch over Haltina. However, no one had heard anything from him since he’d infiltrated the city. No messengers had come to deliver reports, which had started worrying the other rabbitmen. 
Unable to stay put any longer, they’d assembled another unit to sneak into the capital and find out what had happened to their comrades. Par’s Baltfeld squad had been chosen to partake in the operation as well. 
“We didn’t want a repeat of whatever might have happened to Cam’s squad, so we focused on gathering information first. We put scouts at every one of the capital’s gates and gathered as much information about the empire’s current forces and the state of the city as we could. It was then that we saw a transport packed with slaves leaving the capital, so we decided to ambush it and free the slaves while also gathering what information we could from the slavers.” 
And that was when Hajime, who’d been headed to the empire himself, had run into them. The following slaughter he’d witnessed firsthand, so he didn’t need to ask about it. 
“I’ve gotta say though, those demons sure are keeping themselves busy. The assault on the kingdom was probably their main goal, but... god, they’re annoying.” 
Hajime shook his head wearily. He was getting tired of running into demons everywhere he went. Liliana and Kouki groaned as well. One attack had nearly destroyed them, they couldn’t imagine having to deal with a continuous stream of them. 
Par’s bunny ears perked up at Hajime’s words. 
“Judging from your tone, it sounds like you’ve been fighting demons yourself, Boss.” 
“Yeah, they’ve been running around everywhere trying to sabotage the kingdom. Unfortunately for them, I always happened to be wherever they showed up, so all their plans fell apart.” 
To Hajime, the demons were nothing more than pests who kept interfering with his quest. It wasn’t like he hated them or anything, but they always seemed to get in the way of whatever he was doing at the time. More often than not, he’d kill them just because they were a hindrance. 
And though he hadn’t directly interfered with the Haltina Woods affair, it was his influence that had led to their defeat there as well. Par had mentioned Verbergen was in pretty dire straits, but Hajime was willing to bet the demons were in even worse shape. 
“Well anyway, I more or less understand what’s going on. For now, I take it you guys are going to keep looking for information on Cam’s location?” 
“Yes, sir. Also, I hate to impose on you boss, but...” 
“Yeah, don’t worry. I was heading there anyway. I’ll drop off all the beastmen in the sea of trees.” 
“Thank you very much, sir!” 
Par and the others bowed to Hajime. 
Shea fidgeted with her bunny ears, looking like she wanted to say something. In the end though, she kept her mouth shut. 
Hajime noticed the gesture though, and guessed what it was she wanted to say, too. But he stayed silent, figuring it was better to wait for Shea to say it herself. 
The rest of their trip passed uneventfully, and Hajime dropped Liliana, her guards, and Par’s squad down near the outskirts of the imperial capital. He agreed to deliver Par’s message to the Haulia still in the Haltina Woods, and sped off towards the forest.

As they drew close to the sea of trees, Shea gasped. With the help of Farsight, she was able to see just how badly the forest had been burned. It appeared the empire had taken the straightest route they could toward the center of the woods. The scars they’d left in their wake were still fresh, and there was a single line of burned trees from the edge of the forest to Verbergen. 
“This is horrible...” 
“I cannot say I approve of such wholesale desecration of nature.” 
Kaori and Tio covered their mouths in horror. Burned, blackened trunks littered the ground. The Hoelscher Empire had burned a swathe about one hundred meters wide straight through the forest. At the very least, they hadn’t let the fire run unchecked through the whole forest, but every living creature within the burn zone had been charred to a crisp. 
Shea looked the most devastated out of everyone. Her bunny ears drooped as she looked at the destruction. Her memories of Haltina weren’t all pleasant, but it was still her home. Yue gently squeezed Shea’s hand. 
“Looks like Verbergen’s still a little protected. The trees might be gone, but the fog’s still here.” Hajime pointed to the white fog on his crystal monitor. 
Altina, who’d come to the bridge a few minutes ago when Hajime had told everyone they’d reached the sea of trees, replied. 
“We may have been exhausted with our battle against the demons, but we still had a somewhat sizable fighting force left. When we sent soldiers to engage the empire, they stopped burning the forest. I think they wanted to avoid burning us all to death by accident. The empire was looking for slaves, not corpses after all.” 
“Makes sense. But Par said they made it all the way to Verbergen? I have no idea how far away from the city you guys stopped them, but I’m amazed they didn’t get lost.” 
“Signs of our battle with the demons were still littered around the city, so they were able to keep their bearings by following the carnage. In fact, they realized halfway to the city just how badly we’d been weakened.” 
“You guys just can’t catch a break, huh.” 
So the area around Verbergen hasn’t been burned down, at least. Which explained why Hajime couldn’t pinpoint Verbergen’s location from where he was. He didn’t want to frighten any beastmen left in the area either, so he did the sensible thing and landed Fernir on a blackened patch of ground just before the fog started. 
He walked down the ramp, the freed beastmen following timidly in his wake. 
They were glad to be back home, but the devastation their homeland had suffered weighed heavily on them. 
Kouki, Ryutarou, Suzu, and Shizuku all spat curses at the empire. But despite their anger, there was nothing they could do. However, there was someone else who could. And she was just as angry about what had happened. 
“Hey, Hajime-kun. Can I talk to you for a second?” 
“Hm? What’s up, Kaori?” 
Kaori’s divinely beautiful face was flush with excitement, and she was breathing hard. Behind her, Shizuku muttered “Uh oh, she’s at it again...” Sadly, she said it too softly for Hajime to hear. If he had, he might have been able to stop her. 
“I was thinking of using restoration magic on the forest. I have enough mana to do it, and in this body I think I can handle an area this big no problem too!” 
“You want to use restoration magic on all the burned trees? I guess in Noint’s body you probably do have enough magical skill and mana to do it, but...” 
“Yep. It’ll only take me a minute, so just wait right there.” 
“Huh? Wait, you’re going to do it right now? Wait up, you moron!” 
But it was too late. Kaori really was a priest through and through. The moment she saw anyone or anything that was injured, she got right to work. 
“Tetragrammaton!” 
Tetragrammaton was restoration magic that could restore anyone or anything back to its original state. 
Ripples of mana spread out from her body. Her normally lavender-colored mana had tinges of silver in it now. Her mana melted into the forest, bathing it in light. It was truly a sight to behold, seeing an entire forest shimmering with divine light. 
The earth went from black to green, and the toppled trees righted themselves, their burned trunks springing back into life. 
Everyone watched in slack-jawed awe as the forest knit itself back together. Once she was finished, Kaori proudly wiped a bead of sweat off her brow. 

“Kaori, you idiot.” Yue kicked Kaori in the shin. Her pointed boots made it hurt quite a bit. 
“Owww! What was that for, Yue!?” 
“Look around, dumbo.” 
“What do you mean—” 
Kaori trailed off as she examined her surroundings, and realized the fog had returned. She could barely see a few meters in any direction. 
“......” 
“I figured we could just follow the damage all the way to Verbergen, but... I guess not. Looks like you’ll have to guide us again, Shea.” 
“Leave it to me~” 
Kaori buried her face in her hands and squatted down in shame. A few beastmen children ran up to her and tried to comfort her. Hajime couldn’t tell if it was because they trusted her now that she’d restored their home, or if they just felt sorry for her. 
“Y-You were amazing, Onee-san!” 
“Don’t be so sad! We’ll be here so you won’t get lost!” 
“Everything’ll be alright, Onee-chan!” 
Unfortunately, their attempts at cheering her up just made her more embarrassed. 
“Cheer up, Kaori. You did a good thing.” 
Shizuku knelt down and patted Kaori’s head. 
“Let me guess, you were probably thinking something like ‘Now that I have this new body, I won’t let Yue hog all the glory! Look at me, Hajime-kun, I can be useful too!’ I get how you feel, but next time think before you act.” 
“I will...” 
Kaori nodded meekly. 
Grimacing, Ryutarou turned to Shizuku and said, “Are you a psychic or something? Ever since coming to this world it’s like you’ve been able to read Kaori’s mind or something, Shizuku. You’re starting to freak me out a little.” 
“You know, Ryutarou-kun. Sometimes, it feels like I’m being totally left out from their little world...” 
Suzu was looking down at the ground, desolate, when she felt a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. Turning around, she saw the last person she’d expect smiling at her and giving her a thumps-up. 
“I understand, Suzu. I too, often feel left out when Yue and Shea start ignoring me. But fear, not. Eventually, your loneliness shall transform into pleas—” 
“Tio-san. Please stop corrupting our party members.” 
Hajime sighed as he watched the chaos unfold. 
“Kaori, come on let’s go. You might have messed up a little, but that was still seriously impressive so cheer up.” 
Kaori instantly perked up at those words. 
Hajime then turned to Tio and said, “Listen up you hopeless pervert of a dragon. The forest’s fog doesn’t affect you either right? You’re in charge of guiding Amanogawa and the others. In fact, why don’t you just join their party forever?” 
“Are you trying to pawn me off, master!? Have you no manners!?” 
Hajime ignored Tio and started walking forward. Of course, being ignored only made Tio more excited. 
“W-Wait, Nagumo! You can’t seriously be leaving us with her!” 
It was rare to see Kouki talk ill of anyone that wasn’t Hajime. 
“My apologies, Kouki. But I feel nothing even when you insult me. In fact, it rather irritates me. Find someone else to belittle.” 
Tio gave Kouki a pitying look, nodded, and walked off into the mist as if nothing had happened. 
“Why does it feel like I just got dumped, even though I didn’t confess?” 
“You’re better off not thinking about it. Come on, let’s go.” 
Ryutarou smiled sympathetically and gave Kouki a pat on the back. 
And thus, the group advanced through the fog toward Verbergen. Two months had passed since the last time Hajime and Yue had visited the city. They’d grown a lot stronger since, and they’d acquired plenty more ancient magic as well, including the one they needed for this labyrinth. And yet, they weren’t able to escape the effects of the forest’s disorienting fog. 
The two of them shared a knowing smile and nodded to each other. This place is still super dreary. Hajime thought. 
Having discovered that Hajime and his party held no prejudice against them, and meant them no harm, the beastmen became quite trusting of him. They surrounded Hajime and the others as they guided them through the mist to make sure that no one got separated. 
They seemed to have a particular fondness for Kaori. The children especially crowded around her, and blushed every time she smiled at them. A few of the beastmen girls were already clinging to her clothes and arms. 
Shea and Altina meanwhile, were leading the group from the head of the column. Altina kept trying to sneak glances back at Hajime, but was met by Yue’s cold glare every time, so she stopped. 
After about an hour of walking, Shea’s drooping rabbit ears suddenly perked up. She strained her ears and peered through the fog. 
“Hajime-san, there’s an armed group headed our way.” 
Surprised, the other beastmen turned to Shea. None of the others, not even any of the other captured rabbitmen had been able to sense anything. It appeared her perception abilities were on another level. A few seconds later, a squad of armed tigermen appeared from the fog, proving the truth of Shea’s words. 
They had their weapons bared and looked ready to attack at a moment’s notice. The only reason they didn’t charge right away was because they saw how many beastmen were in the group. Their leader surveyed the group, his eyes opening wide when he spotted Hajime. 
“You’re that boy from back then...” 
Hajime, too, remembered this tigerman. He was Gil, the leader of the of the squad that had run into Hajime during his first trip to Haltina. He’d managed to survive through both raids. 
“What are you here for this time... Wait, is that you, Altina-sama!? Are you alright!?” Gil cried out in surprise as he spotted Altina. 
“Yes, I’m fine. These people and the Haulia clan saved me.” 
Once he’d confirmed her safety, Gil heaved a heavy sigh of relief. 
“Thank goodness. Ulfric-sama was worried sick about you. You should hurry back to the city and let him know you’re safe... Boy. Is it a policy of yours to rescue our countrymen every time you visit Haltina? I must say, it’s a rather strange hobby for someone as arrogant as you, but... well, thanks.” 
“As if I’d have a policy like that. It’s just coincidence.” 
Kouki and the others looked curiously at Hajime. They hadn’t expected him to have other friends among the beastmen. Shea gave them a brief explanation of what had happened last time, including how Hajime had saved her family’s lives. Kouki and the others nodded, finally understanding why she’d fallen in love with him. 
“Anyway, are there any Haulia in Verbergen? If not, is there anyone who can tell me where their new village is?” 
“Hm? There’s a few Haulia in Verbergen right now. You’ve probably already heard, but we were attacked. After the empire retreated, a few them decided to stay in the city permanently.” 
“Perfect, that’ll save me some time. In that case, that’s where we’ll go too. We won’t have to wait outside until an elder shows up to let us in this time, will we?” 
Hajime strode forward without waiting for a reply. I see he hasn’t changed a bit. Gil thought to himself as he signaled his men to sheathe their weapons. A little exasperated, he took it upon himself to guide them the rest of the way. 
Even though they’d just been raided by humans, none of the beastmen seemed wary of Hajime or his comrades. He wasn’t sure if that was because the Haulia he’d trained had been the ones to save Verbergen, or if the elders had told everyone else not to oppose him, but regardless of the reason, he was glad he didn’t have to fight anyone this time. 
When they arrived at Verbergen, Hajime found it radically changed from his last visit. The grand, imposing gate that he’d passed through before lay on the ground in splintered pieces. It appeared the beastmen hadn’t found time to clear the wreckage away yet. Craters pockmarked the city’s streets, and large boulders lay strewn about. The winding walkways and sweeping aqueducts crafted directly out of the trees’ branches had been smashed here and there, making them unusable. The beautiful city that had once captivated Hajime was now a smoldering wreck. 
“This is horrible...” Someone muttered. Hajime couldn’t help but agree. A gloom hung over the city, and the wind that blew through had a distinctive chill to it. 
One of the people walking down Verbergen’s main street stopped when he spotted Hajime’s party and stared at Altina in disbelief. A second later, he beamed and started running forward. His expression stiffened a little when he spotted unfamiliar humans next to her, but when she told him they were the ones who’d saved her his smile returned and he hugged her tight. 
Many of the beastmen gave Hajime their thanks and rushed back to their homes as fast as they could. The reason became clear as soon, Hajime was surrounded by a huge crowd of Verbergen’s residents. After a never-ending stream of thank yous the crowd finally began to disperse. The only person that remained was one Verbergen’s elders, Ulfric Heipyst. 
“Grandfather!” 
“Oh Altina, I’m so glad you’re safe...” 
Tears pooling in her eyes, Altina buried herself in her grandfather’s arms. Hajime idly recalled what Ulfric had told him on his last visit. That any beastman who was taken captive and brought outside of the sea of trees was considered dead. Because going after captured slaves would only lead to more casualties. 
He must have thought he’d never get to see her again. A few of the onlookers teared up as well as they watched the touching reunion. Finally, Ulfric broke away, gave his granddaughter one last pat on the head and, turned to Hajime, a wry smile on his face. 
“I must say, I wasn’t expecting us to reunite like this, Hajime Nagumo. Nor did I think you would be the one to save my granddaughter. Fate works in mysterious ways, I suppose. At any rate, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.” 
“I just dropped her off here. If you want to thank someone, thank the Haulia. I’m only here because I need to deliver a message to them actually...” 
“You’re the one who molded them into what they are. So in the end, it was your actions that saved my granddaughter, and my people. You can’t deny that. I owe you a greater debt than I can ever hope to repay, so at least accept my thanks.” 
Hajime scratched his cheek awkwardly and shrugged his shoulders. Yue, Tio, Kaori, and Shea all watched over him with smiles on their faces. On the other hand, it irked Kouki that Hajime had done more to help the people of this world than he had, even though Kouki was the one who’d been training all this time to save everyone while Hajime had just been trying to find a way home. 
Ulfric looked over Kouki and the others while continuing his conversation with Hajime. 
“Unfortunately, the Haulia you’re looking for just left the city to go on patrol. They should be back soon, but...” 
“In that case, is it alright if we wait here until they do? It looks like you guys need some help, and our healer’s been itching to get to work ever since we got here. What do you say? You’ll get quite a bit out of it too.” 
“Hm? I’m not quite sure I understand what you’re getting at, but you are of course welcome to stay. Of course, I won’t ask for anything in return either. In fact, why don’t you come to my house? I’ll tell the guards to inform us when the Haulia return.” 
Ulfric then started walking over to his house. Altina surreptitiously tried to grab Hajime’s hand under the pretense of guiding him, but was stopped short by Shea. Hajime ignored the silent staring contest that broke out between the princess of the elves and the overpowered bunny girl and turned to Kaori. Kaori smiled, realizing Hajime had already figured out what she was about to ask. Unable to hold back her happiness, she tried to hug him but was stopped short by Yue. The ultimate vampire princess and unstoppable girl in the body of one of god’s apostles started their own staring contest. 
“See what I mean, Suzu? Once you grow accustomed to it, this feeling of alienation isn’t that bad.” 
“Umm, Tio-san. Please stop treating me like we’re the same. I’m not a pervert like you...” 
“If you ask me, I would say you have all the qualities needed to become a good one though...” Tio muttered softly as she watched Suzu cower behind Shizuku. Hajime shook his head in exasperation and followed behind Ulfric. Once inside, Altina brewed Hajime and the others some tea while they waited for the Haulia to return. Ulfric wasn’t sure what to think of how his granddaughter clearly seemed to be fawning over Hajime. For his part, Hajime pretended like he didn’t notice. Instead, he focused his attention playing with Shea’s bunny ears. It was his way of reassuring her that he had no intention of making a move on Altina. 
Around the time that they’d finished drinking their tea and exchanging information, Kaori flew in from Ulfric’s window. His house was nestled in the trunks of a massive tree, and sat a good ten meters above the ground. 
“Taking a break?” 
Kaori shook her head at Hajime’s question. 
“Not quite. I finished healing everyone who was injured. I also restored the gate and the central areas of the city. And, well, I was thinking it’d be good practice if I could go out and restore the nearby villages too...” Kaori trailed off. Hajime could hear beastmen chanting her name in the distance. He and Ulfric stood up and stuck their heads outside of the window. Practically all of Verbergen was standing outside, cheering. 
“Wait, I recognize some of those guys. Aren’t they the other elders?” 
“Indeed, that would be Zel and Guze. What has gotten into them?” 
Unlike the other beastmen, they were making a beeline for Ulfric’s house. It appeared they were terrified of the other beastmen’s fanatic zeal and the speed with which Kaori had converted them. 
Ulfric massaged his temples, fighting back a headache. Hajime started helping Kaori inside, then stopped when he heard a rush of footsteps. 
Everyone turned toward the entrance, just in time to see the doors flung open. They were thrown backward with such force that the frames creaked. 
“Boss! It’s been ages since we last saw you!” 
“We’ve been waiting for your return, Boss!” 
“I-It is an honor to see you again, Sir!” 
“Oi, newbie, go tell everyone else the boss’ back! You’ve got thirty seconds!” 
“R-Roger!” 
The Haulia spilled into Ulfric’s living room. Kouki and the others spit out their tea in surprise. Having already seen Par and the other’s reactions they’d been somewhat prepared for the Haulia’s enthusiasm, but they hadn’t expected it to be so vehement. Once the initial outburst died down, they filed into ranks and saluted. Hajime noticed there were a few new faces among their number. Judging from their earlier words, Hajime guessed that they’d been recruiting and training rabbitmen from other clans in order to bolster their army. 
“Uhh, yeah, it’s been a while guys. Anyway, you’re creeping out my comrades so can you stop with the salutes?” 
“Sir, yes, sir!” Their cries were loud enough that the whole forest probably heard them. Even the rabbitmen who weren’t Haulia were swept away by the atmosphere and matched the volume of the hardened veterans who were overjoyed to see Hajime. It appeared they’d kept up his Spartan training regime even in Hajime’s absence. 
“I ran into Par on the way here so I more or less understand the situation. From the sound of it, you guys did pretty well. I know it couldn’t have been easy, driving those demons out.” 
“W-We are undeserving of such praise, sir!” As Hajime had expected, the Haulia burst into tears. He gave them a moment to collect themselves then passed on the message Par had given him. Namely that they were planning on invading the imperial capital and were requesting reinforcements. 
“I see. Thank you very much for taking the time to pass on Baltfeld the Executioner’s words, Boss.” 
“Hey, uh... don’t tell me you guys all have nicknames too.” 
“Us...? Heh, of course we do. I am Iorniks the Thunderclap! He who strikes with unpredictability and speed of lightning!” 
“...I see.” 
It’s too late for them. They’ve gone too deep. The pandemic started by “Baltfeld the Executioner” had infected every one of the Haulia. They were beyond salvation now. 
Hajime sighed and changed the subject. 
“Looks like you guys have been training recruits from outside the Haulia too. How many men do you have now?” 
“Let me think... We accepted many promising youths from the clans close to us, and the remnants of the Banton clan came to us as well after they were defeated, so... at present we have 122 men in fighting shape.” 
Hajime, Shea, and Yue all looked up in surprise. That was far more than they’d been expecting. Hajime nodded to himself and looked up at Iorniks, who still seemed confused at the question. 
“In that case, I can take you all at once. Ior...niks. Gather everyone you were planning on sending to the capital. I’ll take you there.” 
“Huh?” Iorniks looked blankly at Hajime for a few seconds before realizing what he meant. “Ah! Roger! I’ll gather everyone at once!” With a crisp salute, Iorniks—his real name was Io—ran back out of the house and started gathering his men. 
Io couldn’t believe that Hajime would assist them in assaulting the capital. Especially since it would mean putting the real reason he’d come here, conquering Haltina’s labyrinth, on hold. 
Shea was even more surprised than Io was. Her eyes opened wide and her bunny ears stood on end as she stared at Hajime. 
“H-Hajime-san? What about the labyrinth...” 
“You’re worried about Cam and the others, aren’t you?” 
“Um... well... I am... but...” Shea faltered. 
She knew Hajime had come here for the labyrinth, and that looking for Cam would have required going out of their way back to the capital he’d wanted to avoid. Which was why she hadn’t said anything. Moreover, Cam and the others hadn’t been kidnapped, they’d infiltrated the capital of their own volition. They had been prepared for the danger when they’d gone in. 
Shea had made her decision when she’d asked to go along with Hajime back when they’d first met. She would go down her own path, and her family would go down theirs. 
Of course, knowing that her father had gone missing still made her worried, but she knew she couldn’t just ask Hajime to turn back for him. But though she’d tried to hide her apprehension, the tension on her face and the slight droop to her rabbit ears had not gone unnoticed by Hajime or Yue. Even if she could hide it from the others, they’d known her for too long. Hajime walked up to Shea, who was still at a loss for words, and gently pinched her cheeks. 
“Hweh?” She looked up at him, unable to comprehend the meaning behind his actions. Hajime returned her gaze, smiled awkwardly, and said resolutely, “You don’t have to force yourself to smile like that... I could tell your rabbit ears were drooping you know. If you’re worried about Cam, you just had to say so.” 
“B-But...” 
“No buts. What are you trying to hold back for after all this time? Just say what’s on your mind like you always do. Where’d all that boldness you had when I first met you go? If you’re not smiling, then... we can’t keep acting like normal either.” 
“Hajime-san...” 
Though his words were a little blunt, it was clear Hajime cared about Shea. Which was why he’d said what he had. Shea knew that as well, and she covered his hands with her own. Her eyes were brimming with joy. 
“I know it might be hard to believe, but... well, look, I care about you. So if there’s something bothering you... I’ll do everything in my power to fix it.” 
“Hajime-san, I...” 
“So go ahead and say what you want to say. I’m listening.” 
Shea basked in the warm sensation of Hajime’s hands on her cheeks and mustered her courage. She looked Hajime in the eyes and said, “I’m worried about my dad. Even if I don’t get to see him, I at least want to make sure he’s okay.” 
“You should have just said so from the start. You were acting so reserved I thought something might be wrong with you.” 
“Y-You’re making it sound like I normally don’t hold back at all! I can’t believe you, Hajime-san!” 
Shea puffed out her cheeks at Hajime, though it was obvious she wasn’t really mad. Her eyes were sparkling and her cheeks were flushed. That was the face of a girl gazing at the boy she loved. Hajime’s words had filled her with such joy that she could barely contain it. 
Shea hadn’t even realized she’d been trying to reign in her selfishness around Hajime. In truth, she’d just unconsciously been trying to show off her good side so that she wouldn’t lose to new contenders for Hajime’s affections. But after hearing those words, Shea no longer felt any need to hold back. 
“Mmm... I missed that cheerful smile.” Yue watched over Shea like a protective older sister. 
“Hmm, perhaps there are times when kind words truly are better than insults.” For once, Tio said something halfway normal. Maybe I can finally cure her of her perverseness once and for all. Hajime mused. 
“Aww, I’m so jealous.” 
“I guess anyone’d be happy hearing something like that from the guy they love.” 
“Y-You’re surprisingly blunt now... Nagumo-kun. That part of you has definitely changed the most. I’m kinda surprised actually.” 
“Shea-san... I’m so envious...” 
Kaori, Shizuku, Suzu, and Altina all voiced their respective opinions. 
Their comments reminded Shea she was still in public, and she bashfully buried her face in her hands. But her bunny ears and tail were still twitching happily. 
Kouki glared at Hajime and muttered, “So you’ll still fight if it’s for your comrades...” His voice was subdued, but there was a hint of irritation in it. Seeing his best friend’s reaction, Ryutarou scratched his head, at a loss for what to say. 
Just then, Io returned to the house. He’d finished rounding up the other Haulia. Honestly, he’d finished way faster than Hajime had expected. 
Hajime said his goodbyes to Ulfric and the others, led everyone back to his airship, and took off toward the empire once more.