More than anything, it made her happy that despite how much it looked as if he’d changed, his old self was still alive somewhere underneath.
But she felt a sharp twinge in her chest when she thought of how it was Yue and Shea that had kept the old him alive. Aiko tilted her head in confusion. It vanished as quickly as it came though, and she decided it must just have been her imagination.
Come to think of it, I never thanked Shea-san for protecting me. I owe her my life... I need to make sure I thank her properly when I see her again. ...I suppose I owe Nagumo-kun my life as well. Their faces popped into Aiko’s head. Then she blushed crimson as she remembered just how exactly Hajime had saved her life.
Th-That was just CPR! He just did it to save my life, there was no deeper meaning behind it! Th-There was nothing enjoyable about being kissed so roughly! I definitely did NOT enjoy that! She started slapping the table wildly, mentally denying accusations no one had said.
In case anyone had forgotten, Aiko was 25 years old. An adult. She had gone on dates before too. That being said, her actual experience when it came to love was very little.
The reason being, the only people who would willingly date a woman who looked like a little girl were “gentlemen.” Also known as lolicons. There were a great deal of people who found Aiko’s particular body type attractive. Some doubly so when they discovered she was legal. However they were all afraid of being labeled the l-word, so their relationship with Aiko usually stopped at friends.
In Tortus it wasn’t strange for a girl in her early teens to be married already, so most people weren’t bothered by her child-like appearance. Which was why David’s infatuation with her was considered normal in this world. However Aiko had convinced herself at this point that no one could possibly be attracted to a short woman like her. So she failed to notice his roundabout professions of love.
Hence why the CPR Hajime had performed had been so stimulating. And now that she’d remembered, the image just wouldn’t leave her mind.
Besides, he already has two lovers... though I guess if he already has two, what’s a third— Wait, what am I thinking!? I’m a teacher, he’s my student! Wait, that’s not even the problem here! I’m not even in love with him! In fact, he’s already two-timing as it is! That kind of immoral relationship isn’t something a teacher should condone! It’s dishonest! Love is supposed to be sincere! Sleeping with two girls at once is...immodest! I cannot let such an impure relationship be! I won’t allow it! Her hands curled up into fists. Instead of slapping the table, she was banging on it now.
But it seems like he treats Yue-san as someone particularly special. And her height and figure aren’t too different from mine...D-Don’t tell me he’s into smaller girls!? Girls like m-me? Wait, wait, wait, what am I saying!? What does it matter what his type is? He’s eight years younger than me...! Though Yue-san’s a vampire, so there’s probably an even bigger age gap between them. So does that mean he likes small girls who are older than him? Wait, why do I even care!? Get a grip, Aiko Hatayama! You’re a teacher, he’s your student! You can’t get all worked up over just one little kiss! She stopped banging the table and buried her head in her hands. A few seconds later, she started banging the table again, only to repeat the cycle. Finally, she screamed “I’m his teacheeeer!” and banged her forehead against the table.
The others were all taken aback by her strange behavior. Foss, on the other hand, simply said “I see you’ve found your energy again,” with the same calm smile on his face. What a formidable old man.
Eventually Aiko came to the conclusion that her heightened emotions at the time were to blame and that she had no feelings for Hajime whatsoever. However, that didn’t change the fact that he was still her student. And in order to protect him, she needed to return to the capital. Reports of what he’d done would have reached the capital by now. She needed to be there to make sure the king and the church didn’t brand him a heretic.
Little did she realize,
That her feelings for Hajime were more than just that of a teacher for her student.
Even though she mentally referred to all of her students as children, in her mind she’d started thinking of Hajime as a man. Feelings of love had slowly but surely begun to bloom.
She wouldn’t realize that until much later, of course.
During a pitched aerial battle 8000 meters in the sky.
Epilogue I
The shadows in a dimly lit corridor suddenly began to writhe and squirm. A humanoid figure emerged from the wriggling mass, as if oozing out of the darkness. Like a developing film, her features slowly came into focus. Young, red hair, dark skin, and pointed ears. The wriggling mass of darkness didn’t dissipate. Upon closer inspection, it was revealed that said mass was actually a living creature. It was like a chimera from hell, a mishmash of ferocious beasts all fused together into one black thing.
The woman looked down the dim passageway. Kouki’s party lay in that direction, though they were too far to see with the naked eye. She deftly hid her presence and waited. The party passed by her hiding spot, never realizing she was there.
“Hmm, so that’s the fabled hero. Looks like nothing but a spoiled brat to me. Do we really need someone like him? A shame my orders are absolute. Well, I’ve assessed his abilities. I should hurry up and finish this job so I can move onto conquering the labyrinth.”
She touched the creature at her side. The wriggling darkness absorbed her, and she slowly faded from sight. A second later, it was as if there had never been anyone there.
Kouki and the others were still unaware. Unaware that countless enemies lay in wait mere feet from where they were.
Epilogue II
“Mama...” A young girl huddled in the corner of a cell. Iron bars and cold flagstones surrounded her. She couldn’t have been more than four or five years old. Weakly, she cried out for her mother over and over. But there was no reply.
After a few minutes, she heard the sound of footsteps. She started trembling. She hugged her knees and shrunk back. A boorish looking man passed by her. Following behind him was the young boy who had been in the cell next to hers.
This was all information she inferred from what she heard. She didn’t dare raise her head up to look. She was too afraid. That boy was the fifth. The fifth one she’d heard led out of here. The other four had never come back. This boy too, would probably never come back.
Young as she was, the girl still understood that they hadn’t been released. Now and again, men would come into the room and examine the kids locked up here. Even if she didn’t fully understand their haggling over prices, the girl knew that being taken from here wasn’t a good thing.
“Mama...” Her faint voice trailed off, heard by no one. Swallowed up by the dark underbelly of the city...for now.
The monster of the abyss drew closer.
With him was a seductive vampire princess, an airheaded, worthless rabbit, and the newest addition to their party: a hopeless pervert of a dragon.
They drew closer to the intersection of fate, where a new meeting and a miraculous reunion awaited them.
Extra Chapter: A Very Dramatic Before and After
The whole world was dyed red.
The fading sunset illuminated a grisly sight. Flames burned throughout the city. Blood splattered the walls and clogged the gutters. A massive magic circle hung in the sky, eclipsing the tragedy below.
“This... This can’t...” A young girl’s voice echoed through the silence.
She had beautiful black hair and piercing golden eyes. And she couldn’t have been more than ten. Reflected in her eyes was her hometown, embroiled in a swathe of flames. She stood atop a small observation platform, her long hair and kimono swaying in the warm breeze.
She gripped the wooden guardrails so hard her knuckles went white. They creaked ominously under the force of her grip.
That wasn’t the strength a little girl should possess. But then, she wasn’t any ordinary girl. She was a member of
the dragonman clan. And through her veins flowed royal blood.
She had watched as the world’s most beautiful capital, her hometown, was invaded and razed to the ground. The city of verdant trees and crystal waters had been unable to withstand such an overwhelming onslaught. Why did this have to happen? Until recently, the different races had lived together in peace. There had been no discrimination, no persecution.
She gazed, dumbfounded, as the flames raged through the city.
“Princess...it’s not safe here. You must escape.” The girl’s attendant urged her to flee. However, the young girl shook her head without taking her eyes off the city.
“Princess...”
“Venri. I am the princess of Klarus. My father, and my countrymen are still fighting down there. Yet you would have me flee? If there is a place I should be... it is down there.”
She pointed to the battle still raging below. Her attendant, Venri, ran up to her.
“You mustn’t, Princess!”
“I know. Even if I were to go, I would only be a hindrance. Never have I cursed my youth and inexperience so.”
A thin trail of blood ran down her mouth. She’d bit her lip so hard it bled. It took every ounce of her willpower not to rush down and aid the army below.
Her country had been razed and her people slaughtered. Now, her family was on the verge of being killed. And she was powerless to stop it. She hated her own weakness more than she despised her enemies.
It was then that the person whose safety she feared for the most appeared.
“Tio, I told you to head inside the barrier!”
“Father!”
The girl’s, Tio’s father was a giant of a man. Massive scaled wings sprouted from either side of his back. This was the man Tio respected more than anyone, the king of the dragonmen, Kharga Klarus.
Kharga was in bad shape. His combat kimono, which was made out of monster hide and sturdier than most armor, was tattered and filled with burn holes. His body was crisscrossed with cuts and burns. The massive gash across his stomach was still bleeding.
Kharga was the sturdiest black dragon in existence. On top of that, he was one of the few skilled enough to be able to only partially transform himself. Even attacks capable of pierce his kimono would still be stopped by his impenetrable scales.
His penchant for charging headfirst into the enemy lines while stopping everything they threw at him had earned him the nickname “Mobile Fortress.”
And so Tio was shocked speechless when she saw how wounded he was. Kharga smiled bitterly and knelt down in front of his daughter.
“Tio. As you can see, we have lost. Though we tried everything we could, we were unable to fight against the changing times. I am sorry I could not at least leave you behind a home to live in.”
“That, that cannot be. How could you say that, Father! For the dragonmen to perish at the hands of something so insignificant... It cannot be! Tell me it can’t!”
“We have become the enemies of the entire world... Tio, do you remember what I told you? The one thing you can never do is avert your eyes from reality.”
“Father.”
That one word was filled with unimaginable pain and sorrow. Tio hugged her father, heedless of the grime and blood that smeared onto her kimono.
It just couldn’t be. Dragonmen were supposed to be the guardians of this world. They had built a place where people of any nationality, any race were accepted. A place where people helped each other and worked together. A place of peace. Every country, every species, had been indebted to the dragonmen in some way.
And yet, in just a few years it had all fallen apart. In the span of a few seasons, everything changed.
Dragonmen were monsters. Dragonmen were oppressing the different races. Dragonmen were prone to going berserk. Dragonmen had turned against the gods. Dragonmen were... heretics. How did it come to this? Tio thought.
Dragonmen’s ability to transform certainly was fearsome. It was magic no other creature, sentient or monster, possessed. But that was precisely why Dragonmen had strove to be nobler than anyone else. To turn that fear into awe, and then into respect.
They had disciplined themselves rigorously. At all times they were ready to help others, a paragon of bravery, and both the sword and the shield of all people.
As a result, they had managed to create a mortal paradise. Though it had taken centuries, they had created a kingdom where all races were accepted. Not only that, but they had created a global alliance, so that all people, everywhere, would help each other in times of need.
—Guardians of the world. —Protectors of peace. —Kings among kings. That was how the people had seen dragonmen.
But now those same people were killing her countrymen, spewing vile insults at them as they destroyed her home.
It felt unreal, like a nightmare. Over the course of a few years, everyone had come to despise and fear dragonmen. And now an alliance composed of every other race was burning her city. She still couldn’t believe it. This couldn’t be real, it had to be a dream. All she wanted was to wake up from this nightmare.
Wake up and go back to a world where her friends and family were still alive. Where the lush trees and sparkling rivers of her hometown were still there. Where people still lived happily together, regardless of race or nationality.
“Tio! Get a hold of yourself! The future of the Klarus dynasty rests with you!”
“Father...”
Her father’s stern voice brought her back to reality. She wiped away her tears and looked up at her father. She couldn’t just cry forever, and wallowing in pleasant daydreams would achieve nothing.
Kharga gazed down at her, his eyes full of love. Without a word, he swept Tio up into a hug. He held her tight, savoring her warmth. As if this was the last time he would ever get to hold his daughter. Tio coughed and tried to loosen his grip. It was tight enough that she couldn’t breathe.
But then she stopped. Over her father’s shoulders, she had caught sight of Venri’s expression. And she could tell from the strength of her father’s hug that something was wrong. Suspicion welled up within her. Why had father left the battlefield to come to her?
“As you can see, we have lost.” She recalled her father’s words. Though she was still young, Tio was wise beyond her years. She put together all the puzzle pieces, then came to a bone-chilling realization. She realized what her father meant to do, and stared at him in shock.
“Father... this cannot be true. Please, tell me it’s not.”
“Heh. You really are sharp. I guess you inherited both Orna’s looks and brains.”
His wry smile confirmed Tio’s suspicions. It appeared this was, in fact, the last time she would ever talk to him.
She didn’t know how to put her thoughts into words, but she knew she had to say something. But before she could, there was a thunderous roar and a massive shockwave spread out from the capital’s center. It was strong enough to shake even the faraway observation platform Tio stood on. She unconsciously covered her face and shrank back.
Silence followed in its wake. Tio and Kharga both looked grimly at the city.
“H-How could they...”
“......”
Tio sounded almost hysterical.
There was nothing left at the site of the explosion. It was just an empty crater. But that was not what Tio was referring to. One after another, pillars of wood started rising up from the ashes. On each of them was a crucified dragonman.
One in particular caught her attention. No matter how far away she was, she’d never be able to mistake that figure.
It was Orna, her mother. Her pale green hair and golden eyes made her recognizable from even a mile away. Normally she was a gentle person, full of smiles. But when she went into battle she turned into a gale. She tore through enemy ranks faster than the wind, leaving trails of destruction in her wake. Tio loved her more than anyone.
And now she was staring at her crucified corpse. With how badly wounded her body
was, it was clear that she’d struggled until the very end. But now she was strung up as an example of what happened to those who resist.
A cold, dark fire burned in Tio’s eyes. Her jet-black mana usually looked more majestic than fearsome, but right now the ripples of black that emanated from her body resembled the very depths of hell. Anger and hatred welled up within her, and she began transforming.
“Tio.”
“Fa...ther.”
Her body was covered in a raging whirlpool of mana, and she could barely speak through her anger. Before she could give in to her rage, her father knelt down and hugged her again.
Tio’s golden eyes glowed with fury. Why aren’t you trying to avenge her? Why aren’t you trying to kill these bastards who slaughtered her people? Why are you so calm even though Mother was just killed? Her accusatory glare bore into Kharga.
Still hugging his daughter, Kharga spoke in a quiet but firm voice.
“We know not our purpose for being.” Kharga silently urged his daughter to continue the mantra. Her anger still burning, Tio repeated the words she was taught since birth.
“Is this body beast, or human? If there is meaning to everything in this world, then where does our meaning lie?”
Kharga hugged Tio tighter and joined in the chant.
“For no matter how long we search, we can find no answer. And so whether we are beast or human, we bare our souls and thus swear.”
This was the vow with the world the dragonmen clan had made ages ago.
“Our eyes exist to pierce through falsehoods and see the truth.”
Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest Vol. 3 Page 26
