Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest Vol. 3

by Ryo Shirakome

  “Umm, you shouldn’t run into any trouble like that in the first place, I don’t think...”

  Hajime smiled awkwardly.

  “Normally I’d agree, but as you can see, my two companions attract a lot of attention. And it sounds like most of the people that frequent the tourist quarter aren’t exactly the restrained type. I’m worried some of the more forceful merchants might try something a bit... violent. But, well, like I said, only ‘if possible.’ If it’s too difficult a request, then you don’t have to worry about it.”

  Rithy looked over at the two girls sitting next to Hajime, happily chowing down on their food, then nodded.

  “Those two certainly do stand out.” Even now, they were attracting stares. Especially Shea, since she was a bunny girl. Assaulting another person’s slave was a punishable offense, but that wouldn’t stop some of the more zealous merchants, or a determined pervert.

  “Would it not then be wiser to pick an inn with increased security? Since there are a lot more people who value that as a service, I can think of a few inns that provide—”

  “No, that’s fine. People are liable to do some pretty crazy things when they’re running on hormones. Security isn’t always perfect, so it’s easier for me to assume we’ll have to persuade them by force.”

  “P-Persuade them by force... I see. So that’s why you want a guarantee, then.”

  Hajime insisted once more that in the end it was only if possible, but Rithy was a guide through and through. Now that it had been requested of her, she would see it done.

  “Leave it to me,” she said. Then, she asked Yue and Shea if there was anything else they wanted out of their inn. Answering the needs of the customer to the best of her ability was both Rithy’s policy, and her company’s. Hajime had picked a good guide.

  “I just need a bath. Oh, but the bath must have mixed bathing times.”

  “Umm, as long as it has big beds, I’m fine.”

  After giving it some thought, Yue and Shea both told her their preferences. They were trivial requests, but Rithy could clearly see what the two girls were aiming for.

  She just said “Leave it to me,” like before, but this time her cheeks were slightly red. As her gaze shifted back and forth between Yue, Shea, and Hajime, her face grew redder.

  The guys sitting at the surrounding tables were all glaring daggers at Hajime, but he was used to it at this point, so he ignored them.

  Rithy then began explaining the different quarters in more detail. Halfway through her explanation, Hajime felt a strong gaze pointed their way. It was far more impolite than any they had felt so far, including the ones they’d received from some of the perverts that had lusted after Yue and Shea in Brooke. As they had grown accustomed to such attention as well, they only raised their eyebrows slightly at it.

  Hajime turned to see who was staring and saw... a pig.

  There was no other way to describe him. He easily weighed over a hundred kilograms, his face was greasy, he had pig snout for a nose, and his blonde hair was slick with oil. The only thing positive about his appearance was the fancy clothes he was wearing. Said pig was glaring hungrily at Yue and Shea.

  God, what a pain, Hajime thought. At the same time, the fat pig started slowly lumbering over to where they were sitting. Looks like it was too late to make a stealthy escape. Not that Hajime would ever run.

  Rithy must have noticed the change in her customers’ attitudes, or perhaps the fat pig simply stood out that much, but she looked up too. When she saw tub of lard walking over, she forgot her business smile and let out a disgruntled sound.

  He stopped next to their table and leered at Yue and Shea. When he saw Shea’s slave collar he frowned. He looked over at Hajime, as if just noticing him for the first time, and demanded the following in a haughty voice.

  “H-Hey, brat. I-I’ll give you a million Luta, s-so hand over that bunny girl. And you, Blondie. C-Come with me. You’re going to be my concubine.” His stutter didn’t match his arrogant tone. He reached out to take Yue by the arm, thinking she was already his. That instant, a wave of bloodlust unlike any other washed over him. Even people sitting a few tables away balked. Some fell out of their chairs in their haste to get away from Hajime.

  The walking pig, who had taken that bloodlust head on, screamed incoherently and fell on his ass. He wet himself on the spot, unable to muster the presence of mind to even crawl away.

  Had Hajime activated his Intimidation at full power, the pig would have fallen unconscious instantly, so he made sure to hold back.

  “Yue, Shea, let’s go. I don’t feel like staying here.” As he didn’t want his meal to be tainted by the smell of piss, Hajime opted to leave. Hajime had honestly wanted to kill the bastard, but as he hadn’t done anything more than talk to them yet, he wouldn’t really be able to justify it to the authorities. And no city would let a murderer roam free. Unless he could reasonably say it was in self-defense, Hajime wanted to avoid killing people as long as he was in a city.

  The three of them stood up, with Rithy looking on in confusion. The only reason Rithy hadn’t been affected was because Hajime had specifically excluded her from his list of targets when he’d activated Intimidation. Basically, it was the opposite of when he’d focused his Intimidation on More alone. This was the fruit of his training.

  From Rithy’s perspective, the pig had just started talking all high and mighty before suddenly falling on his ass and pissing himself, so her confusion was understandable.

  Hajime had let the effects of his Intimidation leak out to the nearby tables on purpose. Quite a few of the guys sitting around him had been glaring longingly at the girls, so he’d decided to teach them a lesson too. “Don’t even think about it,” basically.

  Judging by how pale they looked, it seemed they got the message.

  Still, the moment Hajime left the guild and released his Intimidation, a huge man blocked his path. He too looked to weigh over one hundred kilograms, but for a completely different reason. His entire body was corded muscle, and a long sword that looked like it had seen its fair share of battles was strapped to his waist.

  Suddenly, Hajime heard the fat pig’s stuttering voice again.

  “H-He’s the one, Reganid! Kill that brat! H-He tried to kill me! Tear his limbs off!”

  “Young Master, I cannot just kill someone in broad daylight. I’ll leave him barely alive.”

  “Get him! I-I don’t care if you don’t kill him, just get him! B-But don’t hurt the girls. They’re mine!”

  “Very well, but I expect to be well compensated.”

  “I-I’ll give you as much as you want. Just get him!”

  It appeared that this Reganid fellow was one of the pig’s hired guards. He kept his eyes on Hajime the entire time he was talking, then smiled in satisfaction when the matter of money was settled. It was rare for someone to take no notice of Yue or Shea. He was more interested in the money than the two beauties standing before him.

  “Sorry about this, kid. But I’m being paid to beat you up. Don’t worry, I won’t kill you at least. And well... sorry, but you probably won’t get to see your two friends ever again.” Reganid cracked his knuckles. They were in the middle of the street, so naturally he couldn’t use his sword. Many of the spectators started murmuring amongst themselves when they heard the name Reganid.

  “B-By Reganid, does he mean Reganid the Black?”

  “R-Reganid the Gale!? Why’s a guy like that working as a guard...”

  “Isn’t it for the money? They say Reganid’ll do anything for gold.”

  Judging from the surrounding people’s conversations, Hajime more or less figured out what kind of person Reganid was. He didn’t know if Reganid had a combat class or not, but if, as his name suggested, he’d risen to the third-highest adventurer rank, black, he must be quite the experienced adventurer.

  Reganid settled into a battle stance. Reasoning that he could justifiable beat to him to within an inch of his life in the name of self-defens
e, Hajime made to pull out Donner, but was stopped unexpectedly.

  “Wait, Hajime.”

  “Yue? What’s wrong?” Instead of answering his question, Yue dragged Shea with her in front of Hajime. With her back to Hajime, she answered his question by addressing Reganid.

  “Fight us first.”

  “Huh? I’m fighting too, Yue-san?” Yue ignored Shea. Before Hajime could say anything, Reganid burst out in laughter.

  “Gahahaha, fight you two little girls? Now that’s hilarious. I mean I wouldn’t mind fighting you in bed, but—”

  “Shut up, trash.”

  Reganid’s inappropriate comment was cut short by a blade of wind slicing past his cheek. Blood spurted out of the wound in large gouts. It must have been a pretty deep cut.

  Reganid obediently shut up. Yue’s magic had been so fast that he hadn’t even seen it coming.

  When did she chant the spell? How come I didn’t even see a magic circle? Reganid’s brain worked on overdrive, trying to figure out what had just happened.

  Yue turned back to Shea and Hajime to explain what she was doing.

  “It’ll be faster if we show everyone else that we’re not weak little girls that need protecting.”

  “Oh, I see. We’re showing off that we’re just as strong too.”

  “Yeah. We might as well do this too.” Yue raised a hand toward Reganid and glared sharply at him.

  “Ah, I get it now. Well, it would be nice to show everyone the princesses they’re trying to claim are actually ferocious tigers. Plus, we’ve got plenty of witnesses here... Yeah that’s a pretty good plan.”

  “You didn’t have to add the ferocious part.”

  Hajime nodded in understanding, then stepped back.

  Yue then nodded to Shea, signaling that it was her turn. Shea grabbed Drucken off her back, then swung it casually through the air as if it weighed nothing.

  “Hold up, are you serious, bunny girl? You know, my employer wants you two unharmed, so I’d prefer if you’d just quietly came along.” Reganid kept his eyes on Yue the whole time he was talking to Shea. Shea replied to Reganid’s warning with one of her own.

  “Don’t you think you should draw that sword of yours? I’ll be holding back, but I don’t want to break too many of your bones.”

  “Hah, big words for a rabbitman. Sorry, but I’m gonna have to rough these two up a little bit.”

  Reganid’s focus was still almost wholly concentrated on Yue. With how fast she’d cast her spell, he didn’t think he’d be able to take her unharmed.

  However, Reganid should have paid more attention to Shea. Warning bells should have gone off the moment he’d seen a rabbitman, a race known for being weak, waving around a war hammer. Furthermore, Yue and Hajime had both decided to let her deal the first real blow of this fight.

  Shea didn’t say anything. Instead, she just pulled Drucken back close to her hip and leaped forward. She was in front of Reganid before he even had time to blink.

  “Hm!?”

  “Yaah!” Shea’s hammer headed for Reganid’s chest with blinding speed. Though she looked cute, her attacks were anything but. Surprised, Reganid still managed to barely get his arms up in time to block. I can’t stop it!? Realizing he would be blown back, he quickly tried to cushion the blow by backstepping. However, the hammer was faster than his reaction time.

  There was a sickening crack, and Reganid was blown back into the wall of the adventurer’s guild. The air burst from his lungs and he let out a strangled cough. He saw Shea looked down at him in disappointment through his hazy vision. It seemed she’d expected a little more from him.

  It was laughable that a black-ranked adventurer like him was not only beaten by a little bunny girl, but she’d even held back on him. Plus, it looked like she’d been disappointed with his performance. He smiled self-deprecatingly, then winced at the pain it caused him. He made one last effort to get to his feet, but the pain was too great and he collapsed. He turned his head and saw that his arm had been completely crushed.

  Luckily, it looked like only one of his arms had been shattered, so he tried to lift himself with his other good arm. His vision was blurring at the edges now, but he somehow managed to get to his feet. Though it hadn’t done much, had he not attempted that backstep at all back there, then he probably would have been sprawled on the ground unconscious already.

  Though falling unconscious might have saved him from the pain to come.

  Reganid was standing on willpower alone, so when he saw Yue coldly thrust out her hand at him, he despaired internally.

  Man, this isn’t worth what you’re paying me... A second later, Reganid had the very unique and terrifying experience of literally dancing through the air.

  “Petals of wind, dance and scatter— Flurry Waltz!” This was another one of Yue’s original spells, made by combining gravity magic with the wind spell, Air Cannon. As its name suggested, Air Cannon created balls of wind to bombard the enemy. Gravity magic allowed Yue to manipulate those balls freely. Additionally, the gravitational field surrounding them meant anyone struck would be continually spun around the ball until the spell vanished. Then, once they were crucified in the air, the helpless opponent was made an easy target for other skills. Like before, the chant she’d spoken was nonsense.

  After Reganid was flung around in the air like a rag doll, he fell to the ground with a wet thud and lay there unmoving.

  He had, in fact, lost consciousness after the first few wind balls had hit him, but whether Yue had realized that or not, she had mercilessly bombarded him with the full spell, hitting his balls more often than not. The nearby spectators had all winced and covered their own balls. It had looked painful enough that even Hajime had winced a little.

  The onlookers had just witnessed two impossible events one after the other. Silence reigned on the street. No one dared to so much as twitch. Some of the guild staff that had come out to stop the fight were frozen in place, their hands outstretched. Even the veteran adventurers were too shocked to say anything.

  Finally, the silence was broken. Hajime’s footsteps echoed across the cobblestones as he walked forward. Everyone’s eyes followed him. He stopped right in front of the pig.

  “Hiii! S-Stay back! Wh-Who do you think I am!? I’m Poom Min! You think you’ll be able to get away after harming a member of the Min family!?”

  “Apologize to all the pig mascot fans in the world, you damn hog.” Hajime grimaced as he thought about how the Poom’s name resembled a certain famous mascot character back on earth, as he stepped angrily on Poom’s face.

  “Oink!?” He even let out a pig-like squeal when he screamed. Hajime bore down harder, until he could hear Poom’s skull cracking.

  The more Poom screamed, the harder Hajime pushed. His face was a mess now, his nose broken and his eyes pushed into his skull. Poom finally quieted down when he realized his screaming was only making it worse. Or maybe he’d just exhausted himself.

  “Hey, pig. Don’t ever show your face to me again. You ever try to do anything to me again, directly or not... and I’ll kill you.” Poom desperately tried to nod, his face still stuck underneath Hajime’s foot. He didn’t even try to act tough. His pride had been completely shattered.

  However, Hajime wasn’t satisfied with just that. Letting this pig live happily once this incident was past was just too lenient for his taste. Since Hajime couldn’t just kill him, he’d just have to carve terror so deeply into his soul that the pig would never recover.

  And so, he raised his foot a little, transmuting his soles into spikes. Then, he drove his foot into Poom’s face once more.

  “Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!” The spikes drilled countless holes into Poom’s face. Poom let out a single high-pitched squeal before losing consciousness. After Hajime moved his foot, Poom’s ugly face was exposed for all to see... Well, his face had already been ugly, but now it was covered in blood too.

  Finally satisfied, Hajime walked back to Yue and Shea. They were waiting for h
im with a smile, seemingly unaffected by the carnage all around them. Hajime smiled at his tour guide, Rithy, as well.

  “Now then, shall we head somewhere else?”

  “Hiii! U-Umm, I, well...” Terrified, Rithy tried to compose herself. It was obvious from her expression that she wanted nothing to do with them any longer. That was how intimidating Hajime and the others’ display of force had been.

  Hajime understood that he’d probably scarred their current tour guide, but he didn’t really feel like searching for a new one after all the commotion that had happened. Realizing Hajime didn’t want to let this guide escape, Yue and Shea causally walked to either side of her and took her by the arms.

  Rithy let out another terrified scream. But then her savior, the guild attendant, finally showed up.

  “Umm, excuse me, but would you be willing to answer a few questions for us?” Three other guild attendants warily surrounded Hajime. None of them looked eager to get close. The crowd had begun to grow, as more people came to look at what had happened to Poom and Reganid.

  “Well, that pig over there tried to kidnap my companions. When I tried to stop him he went crazy and ordered his guard to attack me, so I fought back. That’s all there is to it. This tour guide and all those spectators are witnesses. Especially those guys sitting at the tables over there, they seem to enjoy eavesdropping.” Hajime glared at the men that had been listening in earlier, and they all nodded vigorously, fearing Hajime might tear their heads off.

  “I understand, but as this happened on guild property, we need to go through the proper procedure. Both sides need to present their case so justice can be dispensed... Those are the rules, so if you would just be so kind as to...”

  “Both sides, huh?” Hajime glanced over to where Poom and Reganid were lying. It didn’t look like either of them would regain consciousness anytime soon. The guild had sent some medics over to treat them, but he doubted they’d wake up for another few days at least.

  “You want us to wait in the guild until they wake up? Even though we were the victims...? You’ve gotta be kidding me. Maybe I should just drag them out of the city and kill them there.” Hajime glared angrily at the guild attendant. He looked just like an American ready to sue someone.