“Huh?” Shizuku stared at her suspiciously. She definitely didn’t recognize this girl.
“You’re not gonna sound very convincing if you say it like that...” Hajime muttered, but then trailed off when she glared venomously at him.
The two of them seemed too close to be enemies. And though this girl looked and sounded nothing like Kaori, her mannerisms and the way she addressed Shizuku were exactly the same.
Shizuku slowly took her hand off her sword and stared dumbly at Kaori.
“Kao...ri? Is that... really you?” Glad that her best friend still recognized her, Kaori’s face lit up with a dazzling smile.
“Yep, it’s me, Kaori! Kaori Shirasaki, your best friend. I know I look pretty different now, but... I’m alive!”
“Kaori... Aaaaaah Kaori!”
After a few seconds of silence, the realization that her best friend lived sunk in. Shizuku burst into tears and hugged Kaori. She had no idea what had happened to turn Kaori into this, but it was clear that even if she was in a different body now, she was really, truly alive.
Kaori hugged Shizuku back and whispered softly, “I’m sorry for making you worry. But everything’s okay now.”
“Sniffle... Sob... Thank goodness you’re alive!”
The two of them clung to each other, burying their faces in the other’s chest.
All the others present watched on in silence as the two cried their hearts out under the noonday sun.
“So what exactly did you do?” Eyes still red from crying and blushing slightly in embarrassment, Shizuku rounded on Hajime and demanded an explanation.
They had gone from the courtyard to the feasting hall that Kouki and the others usually ate in.
All Hajime had managed to explain to Shizuku was that Kaori’s soul had been transferred to Noint’s body before Liliana had suggested they go somewhere more suitable to talk.
Only the students, Aiko, and Liliana were present to hear this conversation.
“Well... put simply, we used magic to preserve Kaori’s soul and transferred it to Noint’s healed...remains? Corpse? Whatever it’d be classified as.”
“I see. That makes absolutely no sense.”
Shizuku glared at Hajime.
Her gaze seemed to say “Are you really trying to explain this properly?”
Kaori sighed, and seeing that Hajime had no intention of expounding, took it upon herself to explain.
“Umm, so Shizuku-chan. You know how all the magic we use is a degraded version of the magic they had in the age of the gods, right?”
“Yes. I studied up a little on this world. Ancient magic is the stuff that comes up in all the old histories, right? They were able to control the core elements that govern the laws of this world, while the elements we have are all derivatives... Wait. Is that how Nagumo-kun did it? He’s capable of using ancient magic that... can control people’s souls? And that’s how he kept your soul intact even though you’d died? And then after that he transferred it to a new body?”
“Yep! You’re so smart, Shizuku-chan!” Kaori puffed her chest out proudly. Shizuku really was quick on the uptake. Hajime had known that too, but it was still impressive to see how quickly she connected the dots.
“But then why are you in that body? Was yours damaged beyond repair? I’m sure even regular healing magic should have been able to heal those wounds...”
“Oh, actually we managed to preserve Kaori’s body, and at first we actually put her soul back into it.”
Of the magic they’d obtained so far, Spirit Magic was likely the most broken. With it, one could theoretically attain immortality by transferring their soul every time their body grew old.
Whenever a person died, their soul lingered for a few minutes before dispersing. What Tio had done was use Binding magic to tether Kaori’s soul to this realm and keep it from deteriorating until they’d been able to find a suitable host for it. Had they been any later, Kaori may really have been beyond saving, so it was fortunate that Tio had arrived when she did.
After that, they had used Adhesion magic to tie her soul to her body. Technically, Adhesion magic could tie a soul to anything, whether it be organic or inorganic.
If one tried to attach a soul to an injured or aged body, the subject would just die again, but if the soul was put into a healthy host they would be revived. One could also attach a soul to an inorganic object like Miledi had, and thus avoid the issue of aging entirely.
Naturally, this magic wasn’t so easy to use that one could pull off a perfect transfer on their first try.
Tio, who was an expert with hundreds of years of practice under her belt, had needed assistance from the magic genius Yue to even have a chance at making it work.
And though they had ultimately succeeded, it had taken five days of nonstop casting to get it right.
Fortunately, both Yue and Shea had been able to acquire Spirit magic without any difficulties. Neither of them had ever believed in Ehit, so clearing that condition hadn’t been an issue.
They hadn’t proven that they’d destroyed any servants of the church though, so they’d been forced to go through the actual trial of the labyrinth, which consisted of various attempts to brainwash them into serving Ehit, alter their subconscious, lead them astray with visions, and all manner of misdirection and persuasion. Once they cleared that, they had to fight against illusions of past warriors from the church. Neither of those trials posed much of a problem for either Shea or Yue.
“Then why are you... What happened to your original body? Was there something wrong with it after all?”
“Calm down, Shizuku-chan. I’ll explain everything, don’t worry.”
Kaori pushed Shizuku back into her seat and continued her explanation.
At first, Hajime had fixed Kaori’s body with Restoration magic and they had attempted to revive her in her original form.
However, it was Kaori herself who had objected to that.
With Spirit magic, it was possible to converse with people who were just souls using Soul Link, a magic similar to Telepathy.
Kaori, still in her spirit form, had asked Hajime to put her soul into a golem like Miledi had. She was confident he would be able to make one far more powerful than her original body.
Though Kaori had come to terms with her own weakness in the Sunken Ruins of Melusine, that didn’t mean she wanted to remain weak.
She had no intention of leaving Hajime’s side.
But because of how weak she was, she’d been killed trying to fight alongside him.
It had been humiliating, frustrating, and pathetic. Which was why she’d wanted strength at any cost, even if it meant throwing away her human body.
And once she made her decision, there was no changing her mind. Hajime knew full well just how stubborn she could be. Hajime and the others did try and persuade her not to, but she refused to listen. In the end, Hajime had to give in.
Just as he was about to get to work crafting the strongest golem he could, a flash of inspiration came to him. Maybe we can use her instead?
By her, Hajime had of course meant Noint.
Her body wasn’t too different from a regular human’s, but her strength and abilities were far superior.
It seemed just as likely to work as putting Kaori’s soul in a golem was, and it would save Hajime the time of crafting one from scratch.
Hajime had brought Noint’s remains back and asked Yue to restore them.
They had then attempted to attach Kaori’s soul to Noint’s inhuman, Apostle, body. Surprisingly enough, the procedure succeeded.
Unfortunately, the magic crystal that served as Noint’s heart no longer supplied her body with an infinite source of mana. Kaori was still able to use the special magic, Disintegration, that Noint had possessed. On top of that, she could wield Noint’s twin great swords and use the power of her wings freely.
At the moment, Kaori couldn’t even fly properly in Noint’s body, but once she got used to using it she’d be every bit as p
owerful as the original God’s Apostle had been. All the experience and skills Noint had accumulated over the centuries were all stored in her body’s muscle memory; Kaori just needed to learn how to tap into it.
She could also control mana directly in her new body, so she was every bit as broken as the rest of Hajime’s comrades now.
Her reaction upon examining her new body had been quite a sight to behold. Not in the least because of how strange it had been to watch Noint’s body frolic around joyfully. Having someone who’d tried to kill you a few days before smile and hug you was a surreal experience, even for Hajime. Even if it wasn’t actually the same person in Noint’s body.
In fact, he’d almost ended up punching Kaori on reflex. It was only because Shea had grabbed his wrists that he hadn’t.
Yue had then frozen Kaori’s original body to preserve it. It was currently resting inside Hajime’s Treasure Trove.
She looked like Sleeping Beauty, if Sleeping Beauty had been encased in a block of ice. Yue was confident she could restore Kaori’s ruptured cells using restoration magic, so if Kaori ever wanted her original body back, Hajime was relatively certain it could be managed.
“I see. Haaah... You’ve done a lot of crazy things over your lifetime, Kaori, but this really takes the cake.” Shizuku buried her forehead in her hands as Hajime finished his explanation.
She could feel a killer headache coming on. This was even worse than when Kaori had run into the 18+ section of the game store to get one of the eroge Hajime said he’d liked. Back then, when the man at the register had told her she had to be at least 18 to purchase the game, she’d blurted out “I’m getting it for my dad!” That episode had become legendary within that store. It had been so embarrassing Shizuku had practically died then and there.
“Ehehe, I’m sorry I made you worry, Shizuku-chan.”
“It’s fine... All that matters is that you’re still alive...”
Shizuku smiled at Kaori, who still looked a little apologetic. She then turned to Hajime with a serious face and bowed her head.
“Nagumo-kun, Yue-san, Shea-san, Tio-san. Thank you so much for saving my best friend’s life. You’ve done so much for me, and I honestly can’t think of any way to repay you, but... at least know that I’ll never forget this debt. If there’s anything, anything at all that I can do for you, don’t hesitate to ask. I’ll do it in a heartbeat.”
“Uptight as always. Don’t worry about it too much. We just saved one of our own.”
Shizuku smiled wryly at Hajime’s casual reply. He had saved not just Kaori’s life, but that of all the other students. This made for the second time he’d saved their lives.
Shizuku knew that he’d probably only done it because helping them had aligned with his goals at the time, and that he really didn’t think anything of it, but his cavalier attitude still irked her. Shizuku pursed her lips and glared at Hajime.
“So you say, but didn’t you also console me and give Kouki that rare medicine of yours?”
“Dealing with Kaori would have been a pain if you’d broken down, Yaegashi, so...”
“Th-That’s a horrible way of putting it, Hajime-kun.”
Hajime met Shizuku’s gaze and continued, “But more importantly... a certain teacher told me that I shouldn’t live my life in such a lonely way. I’m not sure I can always follow that advice, but I figure I can at least try...”
“Nagumo-kun...”
Aiko had been listening quietly to Hajime and Shizuku’s conversation thus far, but at that she turned to him, teary-eyed.
Most of the students were impressed that her words had reached even Hajime, who seemed like he didn’t listen to anyone anymore. They suspected that was what had moved Aiko, but Yue, Shea, Tio, Kaori, the members of Aiko’s personal guard, and Shizuku could tell that there was a slightly different emotion packed within that gaze.
Unable to believe it, Kaori turned to Yue who nodded sharply, confirming her suspicions. She then looked over to Shizuku, who averted her gaze and looked up at the ceiling. Atsushi ground his teeth while Yuka smiled drily and refused to meet anyone’s gaze.
Realizing the atmosphere was starting to grow awkward, Shizuku quickly changed the subject. There was still a mountain of things she wanted to ask, so it wasn’t hard to think of a new topic.
“By the way, Sensei. What was it you wanted to tell us the day you were kidnapped? Is it related to why Nagumo-kun is going around acquiring ancient magic?” Hajime silently turned to Aiko.
“Go on,” his gaze seemed to say. Aiko cleared her throat and began explaining how the gods were crazy, why Hajime was traveling the world looking for ancient magic, and the details of her kidnapping and the subsequent destruction of the Holy Church’s main temple.
The first to speak after she finished her story was Kouki.
“What the hell? So we’ve just been dancing to their god’s tune this whole time? Why didn’t you tell us sooner, then!? You could have said something when you saved us back in Orcus!” Kouki glared at Hajime, who just silently watched the outburst.
Infuriated by Hajime’s attitude, Kouki leaped out of his chair and stalked over to him.
“Say something! Why didn’t you tell us!?”
“Calm down, Kouki!”
Kouki was too angry to listen to Shizuku. Hajime furrowed his brow and heaved a weary sigh. Annoyed, he finally turned to Kouki and said, “If I’d told you, would you have believed me?”
“What?”
“We’re talking about you here. The guy who only believes evidence that fits his worldview. If I’d told you the god everyone else believed in was crazy, and that what you were doing was completely pointless, you definitely wouldn’t have believed me. Hell, you’d probably get mad at me instead.”
“B-But if you’d explained it enough times, maybe...”
“Moron. Why do I have to go out of my way to make you listen? Just because we’re classmates it doesn’t mean I have to bend over backwards to help you... If you keep spouting crap like that, you’ll end up like Hiyama.” The other students averted their gaze, unable to meet Hajime’s cold eyes. Only Kouki continued glaring at Hajime. That explanation wasn’t good enough for him.
Yue looked disparagingly down at Kouki, but he was too angry to take any notice.
“But if we’re going to be fighting the gods together from here on out, then...”
“Wait, wait, wait. When did I ever say I was going to fight the gods? Don’t just jump to conclusions, hero (lol). If they come after me, yeah I’ll probably kill them. But I have no intention of going looking for them on my own. Once I’ve cleared all the labyrinths, I’m going home to Japan.” Kouki’s jaw dropped open.
“Wha, you mean you don’t care what happens to the people of this world!? If we don’t do something, they’ll be toyed around with by the gods forever! How can you just abandon them like that!?”
“I’m not so strong that I can just save everyone by snapping my fingers, dude...”
“Why... Why won’t you help!? You’re way stronger than I am! You could pull it off somehow, if you really wanted to! If you have power, shouldn’t you use it for the sake of justice!?” Kouki screamed. As always, his single-minded adherence to justice reared its head.
But when those words were uttered by someone as indecisive as Kouki, they weren’t persuasive in the slightest. At least not to Hajime. He gave Kouki a withering look.
“If I have power, I should use it for justice? It’s because you think like that that you always end up messing up when it really matters. Personally, I think power should be wielded with a clear intent. You don’t do something because you have the power to. It’s because you want to do something that you obtain the power necessary to achieve it. If you really think you’re obligated to do things just because you have the strength to, then for you, strength is nothing more than a curse. You lack resolve, Kouki. Anyway, I’m not going to argue with you about the path I’ve chosen. If you keep pissing me off I’ll send you flying o
ut of here like I did with Hiyama.” Once he’d said his piece, Hajime lost all interest in Kouki.
It was then that Kouki finally realized Hajime didn’t hate his classmates or this world, he really just didn’t have any interest in it whatsoever.
Furthermore, having his biggest weakness thrust before him like that had left him too shaken to argue. He wanted to say that Hajime was wrong, that he had more than enough resolve, but for some reason he couldn’t get the words out.
The rest of Hajime’s classmates had more or less realized that it was too much to hope that Hajime had come back to help them. Naturally the other frontliners and Aiko’s guards already knew that he wasn’t going to rejoin their party. In fact, they were a little terrified of Hajime since they knew they’d really end up like Hiyama if they crossed him.
After all, he hadn’t hesitated to kill Meld, Kondou, and all of the other knights. Sure, they might have already been undead zombies, but normally you’d still have a few reservations about killing people you knew.
Moreover, most of the students who’d chosen to stay in the castle after Hajime’s fall had bullied him at one point or another, so they couldn’t even meet his gaze.
“Is there nothing I can do to convince you to stay? If not permanently, at least until the capital’s defenses are in working order again?” Liliana asked in a pleading voice.
The capital was still reeling from the battle, and though Liliana had made sure all of the teleportation magic circles near the capital had been destroyed, there was no telling when and where the demons would attack from next. Hajime was the only trump card she might have against them. Their general had only retreated five days ago because of Hajime and his comrades’ actions. Their mere presence was enough to deter another invasion.
“Now that we’ve killed one of God’s Apostles, we need to hurry. It took five days just to bring Kaori back. I was planning on leaving tomorrow.”
Liliana’s shoulders slumped. But she couldn’t afford to give up. There was no telling when Freid might next attack. If Hajime wasn’t there to help, humanity would almost certainly lose.
Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest Vol. 6 Page 18
