Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest Vol. 8

by Ryo Shirakome

Yuka looked around the room, searching for a place to sit. As servants would bring them their food once they’d settled in, they were free to sit anywhere. As she was looking, Yuka spotted a few of her classmates sitting in a corner.

  “Hey there. Eating dinner with the rest of your party today?”

  Jugo Nagayama, Kentarou Nomura, Ayako Tsuji, and Mao Yoshino appeared to be in the middle of an early dinner. Jugo turned around and waved a greeting at Yuka.

  “Hey, Sonobe. Good work out there. You too, Sensei. Did you guys come here for dinner too?”

  “Pretty much. I’m starving, and I happened to run into Ai-chan-sensei on the way,” Yuka said, then raised an eyebrow and continued, “Anyway, what’s up with all the serious expressions, guys? Did something happen?”

  “Well...” Jugo fell silent, trying to decide how best to word his concern.

  After a bit, Yuka turned back to Aiko with a smile and gave her a thumbs-up.

  “We did it, Ai-chan-sensei! Now there are more lost lambs who need your sage advice! Aren’t you glad!?”

  “Umm, Sonobe-san? Could you please forget all about that conversation? I’m not that desperate to find someone else to help...” Aiko’s smile stiffened.

  “Really?” Yuka replied dubiously, then turned her gaze back to Jugo.

  “By the way, where’s Endou? He’s part of your party too, isn’t he...? I don’t see him anywhere, though.”

  For some reason, Jugo looked up at the sky with a forlorn expression, while Kentarou covered his face. Ayako and Mao both smiled sadly.

  Upon seeing all that, Aiko’s expression grew serious, as did her words.

  “Come to think of it, I didn’t see him at breakfast either. He’s been looking pretty down recently...”

  “Yeah, ever since that day...” Kentarou muttered glumly.

  “Yeah Ever since Nakamura... well, you know... Actually, ever since he found out about Meld-san’s death...”

  “Meld-san...”

  Aiko and Yuka’s faces fell. He’d been their mentor, someone they’d all looked up to like an older brother. Among the people of this world, the knight commander was the one they’d trusted the most.

  “He was probably the last person to talk to Meld-san before he died...”

  “Wait, really!?”

  “That’s what he said, anyway. Apparently, he ran into him on his way back from the bathroom the night he died. Meld-san had looked really scared back then, according to him. He hadn’t thought too much of it at the time, but now he blames himself for not noticing...”

  It was only afterward that he realized that was the last time anyone had seen Meld alive. In other words, he most likely had been the last person to talk to Meld before he died.

  After a while, Jugo sighed and continued.

  “Back when we were ambushed by demons in the Great Orcus Labyrinth, we all told him to escape alone. Since he was the only one capable of making it back to the captain safely.”

  “I heard about that. Didn’t all the knights except Meld-san die during that fight?”

  “Yep... All to let Kousuke escape to the surface.”

  Everyone closed their eyes in respect for the departed knights. Then, Ayako and Mao smiled faintly and added their peace.

  “After that incident, Endou-kun grew really attached to Meld-san.”

  “He was really glad the captain survived the Orcus assault.”

  Which was exactly why he was having such a hard time accepting his death now. The man he’d looked up to, the man who’d survived countless other death traps, had finally died. Worse, Kousuke had even noticed there was something off about Meld when he’d last seen him. He blamed himself for not paying attention, for not sticking with the captain when he should have.

  Looking at it rationally, it was obvious that none of that was his fault. But he couldn’t help but be tortured by the thought that he might have been able to save Meld.

  “Is it really that bad?” Yuka frowned slightly as she said that.

  Kentarou shook his head as he started speaking.

  “Worse. The fact that you two noticed he’s gone shows just how bad it is.”

  Yuka and Aiko tilted their heads quizzically. In response, Jugo and Kentarou said some rather harsh things about their longtime friend.

  “Listen up, Sonobe. Kousuke’s so good at blending in with the crowd that no one even remembers he exists. I’m not talking about just his job here either, he was like this even back on earth.”

  “I mean, you’re not wrong, but...”

  “We’re talking completely unnoticeable here. Even automatic doors didn’t open for him.”

  “Okay?”

  “Even the two of us thought he might be a spirit or something for a while. We even went to look for proof.”

  “Uh, Nakamura, Nagayama, you guys are his best friends, right?”

  Both of them ignored Yuka’s question.

  “But there’s one time when he becomes more noticeable.”

  Though with how easy he was to miss normally, his version of becoming more noticeable just meant people remembered he existed more often. He didn’t start standing out or anything.

  “Umm, is that when he gets depressed?” Judging from the way the conversation was headed, Yuka guessed that was probably the case.

  “Yeah, but only when he gets so depressed his heart breaks. I think the last time it happened was...”

  “Middle school, wasn’t it? He’d finally worked up the courage to confess to the girl he’d sat next to all year, and she’d just said ‘Uh, what class are you from again?’ He stayed shut up in his room for a while after that.”

  “Whoa, no way.”

  Jugo’s story was enough to move Ayako and Mao, who hadn’t even known him at the time, to tears. They shook their heads sadly.

  “But you know, it’s kind of weird. Even though we’re in the same party as him, we always forget he’s there. It’s only when he’s gone that we remember him.”

  “Yeah. To be honest, it’s kind of strange to hear anyone ever go ‘Wait, where’s Endou-kun?’”

  Yuka almost responded with “It’s almost like Kousuke Endou’s some kind of alien,” but she knew what was and wasn’t okay to say, so she held her tongue.

  Yuka and Aiko joined Nagayama’s party for dinner, and they spent their time trying to find ways to cheer Kousuke up. Along the way, the conversation got derailed with tales about how he’d been left behind on family trips, and even on school field trips. By the time dessert rolled around, it was hard to tell if they were still thinking of ways to cheer him up, or just swapping stories about his past.

  Suddenly, a hole appeared in the wall closest to their table.

  “Wait, isn’t that the portal Nagumo left here when—” Before Yuka could finish, Liliana tumbled out of the gate.

  “At least treat me like a womaaaaaan!” She screamed as she fell. She landed cleanly on the table and slid easily down its polished surface. Everyone hurriedly picked up their plates, keeping their dessert safely away from Liliana’s face. She came to a screeching halt right in front of Yuka. The way she held her hands out in front of her in the classic falling pose was a work of art.

  For a few seconds, everyone was stunned silent. Finally—

  “Nagumo-sama, I can get—” Helina screeched as she came through the portal after Liliana. “Home by myself,” was probably the end of the sentence she’d wanted to say. She also slid across the table and came to a stop right next to Liliana. Unfortunately, they were the only two with graceful landings.

  “Your Highness, please get out of the waaaaaay!”

  “God damn iiiiiiiiiiiit!”

  Liliana’s imperial guards were chucked through the portal one after another. It appeared the perpetrator of this incident had been gentler with Liliana and Helina than he had with the others. The imperial guards flew through the air with far more force.

  “Liliana-sama, please get out of the— Bwah!”

  “Wait, I— Gah!”

/>   They rolled into Liliana and Helina with the force of a bowling ball and carried them straight off the table. Liliana found herself pinned to the floor under her own guards. Considering all the armor they were wearing, it must have been pretty heavy. The princess groaned in pain.

  At the same time, the portal that had opened from the painting on the wall vanished.

  “Liliana-san, are you alright!?” Aiko said, then rushed over to Liliana’s side. The imperial guards all apologized, pale-faced.

  “We’re sorry, Your Highness, but surely that eyepatch demon is to blame for this!”

  Ever since they’d seen his antics in the empire, the imperial guards had taken to calling Hajime “eyepatch demon.”

  “D-Don’t worry, I understand. And my body’s fine. It’s my heart that’s broken...”

  “How could he just throw a princess out like that...” Liliana muttered with dead eyes.

  Yuka could more or less guess what had happened, and gave Liliana a sympathetic look.

  “Nagumo’s one hell of a dude...” Kentarou muttered.

  “He’s probably the only person in the world with the balls to throw a princess out like that,” Jugo added, half-impressed, half-angry.

  “Umm, welcome back, Lily?”

  “Oh, Yuka-san. And everyone else as well. As you can see, I’ve returned home.”

  Liliana got to her feet and curtsied. She didn’t even try smooth over what had just happened.

  “Liliana-sama. I’ll go tell your mother, Luluaria-sama, that you’ve returned. It will take some time to gather all the ministers for an emergency meeting, so why don’t you get something to eat in the meantime?”

  It was only going to take time because the kingdom’s ministers would be too shocked by Helina’s report to think for a while at least. She suggested Liliana stay here, so that the princess could tell Aiko and the others personally what had happened. Liliana gratefully accepted Helina’s proposal and sat down next to Aiko.

  Meanwhile, Helina ran off to report to the queen, while the imperial guards returned to their stations to make their own reports. Once fresh guards had come to replenish Liliana’s honor guard, she explained what had happened during her journey.

  “Holy shit, Nagumo’s insane.”

  “No wonder those guards are calling him eyepatch demon now.”

  “W-Will Amanogawa-kun and the others be alright going with him? And did he seriously make them all wear masks?”

  “Is Shizuku’s stomach doing okay? She must be getting ulcers from all that worrying.”

  Kentarou, Jugo, Ayako, and Mao all looked pityingly to the east.

  And to ease the tension, Aiko smiled wanly and provided some comforting words.

  “But isn’t that great for you, Liliana-san? I don’t like speaking ill of the dead, but at least you won’t have to marry that horrid prince.”

  “By the way, Lily. How come you never told us about your engagement plan when you left? I mean I guess it has nothing to do with us, but... if you don’t tell your friends these things, how are we supposed to help you?” Yuka pouted a little.

  Liliana blushed a little in embarrassment and responded.

  “Aiko-san, Yuka-san, thank you so much for worrying about me. At any rate, the kingdom’s going to be busy repealing the discrimination laws it has against beastmen. We can’t have it turning into a hotbed for illegal slavery. Things are going to get busier than ever here.”

  “We never had anything against the beastmen to begin with, so we’re glad you guys are going to stop discriminating against them too. I’m sure the more devout followers of Ehit will have a hard time coming to terms with the decree, but Simon-san’ll be able to help with that.”

  “I see... So Simon-sama agreed to become our new pope, then.” Liliana breathed a sigh of relief. She’d left before Simon had announced his decision to take the post.

  Yuka and the others then explained what had happened in the empire during her absence.

  “I see. There’s still plenty of issues to deal with, but at least they’re all within expectations. And now that we have a new pope, we should be able to rebuild the church. Once that happens, the citizens will rally themselves too. Thank goodness Nagumo-san came up with that story.”

  “It feels kind of bad to be lying to everyone like this though.”

  “I agree, but the main culprit behind that incident is me, the Fertility Goddess everyone trusts so much. If they knew, their faith would be shaken,” Aiko said glumly. Everyone awkwardly averted their gaze.

  “Honestly, I can’t believe he’s able to come up with such nasty lies on the spot. Lily, make sure you don’t let Nagumo brainwash you or anything.” Yuka said it somewhat jokingly, but for some reason, Liliana blushed at that.

  “I-I’m not brainwashed at all... Besides, we’re not even close enough yet that he...”

  “Not close enough yet?”

  Yuka’s expression stiffened. Aiko, too, glared at Liliana.

  “Oh, uh, it’s nothing.”

  Liliana couldn’t meet their eyes. She wasn’t able to maintain a poker face, despite training for years to remain calm in all situations. Aiko’s lips twitched, and she asked a question in an ice-cold tone.

  “Say, Liliana-san. Did anything happen between you and Nagumo-kun?”

  “Wh-What could you possibly mean by ‘anything?’”

  “Lily, you just bit your tongue, didn’t you?”

  “Ugh,” Liliana groaned. However, she wasn’t a princess for nothing. She quickly regained her calm and cleared her throat.

  “Please don’t misunderstand. There’s nothing between me and Nagumo-san. In the first place, he doesn’t even treat me like a woman. You saw how he just threw me back here, didn’t you?”

  “Uh, yeah I guess.”

  “How could I possibly have any feelings for such a savage person? I’m not Tio-san.”

  Yuka nodded. Liliana had a point. Thank goodness. I was worried for nothing, Both her and Aiko thought simultaneously. Unfortunately, their original guess had been on the mark.

  “Honestly, it’s unbelievable how mean he is to me. Even though he knows it’ll cause me problems, he makes a scene wherever he goes, and he doesn’t even tell me what he’s up to!”

  “Umm, I get that you’re angry at Nagumo, Lily, so just calm down and—”

  Liliana slammed the table a few times, which made Yuka hurriedly try to calm her down.

  “Oh, I’m more than just angry! I mean, I’m grateful he saved me from Baius of course. But he didn’t even seem the least bit interested in me even after seeing me in my half-ripped underwear!”

  “Wait, what? What exactly happened between you two?”

  Liliana ignored Yuka’s question.

  “Well, I guess it made me a little happy when he said my dress looked nice. And when he danced with me it was the most fun I had ever had at a ball.”

  “Liliana-san, I really think you should explain what—”

  “Can you believe it, though!? He said the only reason he saved me was because he didn’t want to make Kaori sad! Couldn’t he have just said he did it for my sake!? I suppose it was nice hearing he wouldn’t let anything terrible happen to me, but still...”

  “.....”

  Yuka and Aiko fell silent. They gave Liliana the same flat stare that Yue had a while back.

  Jugo and the others turned to each other with knowing smiles. And finally, Liliana realized that she’d said something weird and looked from one face to the other.

  “Umm, everyone? Is something the matter?”

  Yuka pursed her lips and muttered, “Nagumo, you absolute moron,” under her breath. Aiko looked angrier than anyone had ever seen her. Her cheeks were puffed out to almost comical levels. It was then that Jugo and the others all thought to themselves, Not again, Nagumo!

  Later, at the emergency meeting Liliana called for she once again went on a rant about Hajime, and so the queen and other ministers all learned about her not-so-hidden crush as well.


  “My my, you’re finally growing up, Lily!” Luluaria was overjoyed that her daughter had finally found her first crush, but it seemed she was the only one.

  “Th-That insolent commoner! Not only has he taken Kaori from me, but he’s stolen my sister’s heart as well!? I’ll get you for this, you bastaaaaaaaaard!”

  The future king’s pained screams echoed throughout the castle.

  Chapter II: Haltina’s Labyrinth

  Hajime’s party walked swiftly through the thick fog, never once losing their way. Their destination was the entrance to the true labyrinth, the base of Sacred Tree Uralt. Normally, the fog around the tree was so dense that even beastmen couldn’t find their way around it. However, the fog thinned enough for the path to be navigable every ten days.

  Three days had passed since Hajime had first arrived in Verbergen, and the path had finally opened. Thanks to Ulfric’s hospitality, the three days Hajime and the others had spent in the city had been rather pleasant.

  Shea and Altina had constantly been competing for Hajime’s affection, while Hajime had been busy further training the Haulia. Meanwhile, Ryutarou had found himself fitting in quite nicely with Verbergen’s warriors. Kouki, on the other hand, had been hounded by all the former beastmen slave girls he’d helped free. Similarly, Kaori had been hounded by her cult members, and Tio had tried to hang around Hajime but had been constantly kicked away. Suzu, however, had found herself extremely popular with the beastmen children. And amidst it all, Yue had somehow found time to spirit Hajime away and have her way with him every night. At any rate, they’d been a fun three days. For everyone other than Shizuku, at least.

  “Amanogawa, on your right.”

  “Ah—”

  A pack of monsters burst through the mist. However, Hajime, Yue, Shea, Tio, and the Haulia didn’t bother fighting back. They left it all to Kouki and the others. Hajime wanted to get them warmed up for the kinds of dangers they’d face once they were in the real depths of the labyrinth. Because the fog clouded their senses, Kouki and the others couldn’t use the same tactics they had in the Great Orcus Labyrinth either. Though this was meant to be a mere warm-up, Kouki and the others found themselves pressed surprisingly hard. In fact, it was only thanks to Hajime’s timely warnings that they were able to fend off their enemies at all.