Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest Vol. 2

by Ryo Shirakome

  “...Don’t you think it’s rather selfish for an enemy to throw down their sword and beg for their life only after they know they’re outmatched?”

  “B-But...”

  “Besides, he’s the one who protected you, so don’t you think you’re scared of the wrong person?”

  “......”

  Though her tone was quiet, she was clearly angry. She couldn’t forgive that they were afraid of him when he’d been the one who protected them. Put that way, it did seem terribly ungrateful, and the Haulia all awkwardly looked away.

  “Hmm, I apologize for my rudeness, Hajime-dono. We never meant to criticize your actions. However, we are not used to such brutal conflict... Your methods simply shocked a few of us.”

  “I’m sorry too, Hajime-san.” Shea and Cam apologized on behalf of their tribe, but Hajime waved their apology off, indicating that he hadn’t been offended in the slightest.

  He sauntered over to the untouched horses and carriages and beckoned the others over. It would take them half a day to make it to the sea of trees on foot, but there was no real reason not to use the perfectly good set of carriages they’d found.

  He pulled Steiff out of his Treasure Trove, then hitched it up to the carriage. He split them up between a horse-riding group and a carriage-riding group before leading them toward the sea of trees.

  Before they left, Yue used her wind magic to hurl the imperial soldiers’ corpses into the ravine. All that remained of the carnage that had ensued were a few pools of blood.

  The Haltina Woods could be seen in the distance. Deep within its recesses was the beastmen country of Verbergen, and somewhere within there was one of the Seven Great Labyrinths. They rode forward at a good pace, and the woods quickly grew larger in the horizon.

  As usual, Yue was sitting snugly in Hajime’s lap as he drove Steiff, with Shea clinging on to him from behind. Hajime had tried to convince Shea to ride in the carriages, but she had insisted on riding Steiff with him. Yue had tried to kick her off over and over, but she would just rise back up like a zombie, so Yue eventually gave up.

  The reason she was so persistent was because Shea wanted to get to know the two comrades she’d finally found better. Hence why she looked so happy clinging to Hajime. It seemed Shea had taken a liking to Steiff’s backseat; or rather, she just enjoyed being behind Hajime in general... Mentally, Yue made a note to tie her down if things started getting out of hand.

  Sandwiched between a somewhat annoyed Yue and an overjoyed Shea, Hajime continued driving Steiff on muscle memory as he gazed off into the distance, slightly spaced out.

  Suddenly, Yue spoke up.

  “...Hajime, why did you fight them alone?”

  “Hm?”

  She was, of course, referring to the earlier fight with those imperial troops. Back then, Hajime had held Yue back and taken care of them all on his own. Whether she had helped or not, the soldiers would have been annihilated instantly regardless. However, after the fight Hajime had seemed lost in thought, which was what had piqued Yue’s interest.

  “Hmm. Well, there was something I wanted to confirm, so...”

  “...What did you want to confirm?” Yue asked. Shea peeked out from behind Hajime’s shoulder, also very interested in hearing the answer.

  “Well, you see...” His explanation ran on for quite a long time, but the gist of it was more or less as follows.

  The first reason he’d held Yue back was because he wanted to conduct a little experiment. He’d aimed at everyone’s head just in case, but he’d also fired a few experimental shots into their armor. The reason he wanted to make sure his normal bullets could pierce armor was because his railgun would be overkill against most human opponents, and in enclosed spaces like towns he might accidentally incur casualties.

  While he had no compunction about slaughtering anyone who opposed him, even he balked at the thought of accidentally killing a perfectly innocent bystander, or accidentally shooting through someone’s house and killing a family. Just because he no longer had any reservations about killing didn’t mean that he had any desire to kill people indiscriminately. And so, he had wanted to test how much blastrock was needed to kill armored soldiers. Fortunately for him, he’d gotten a lot of good data. Thanks to the results, he had a decent idea of how much he’d need to regulate the firepower.

  The second reason was because he wanted to see if he would hesitate when his opponents were fellow humans. No matter how much he’d changed, that had still been his first time fighting an actual person. So he wanted to make sure he could mentally handle killing someone, both in the act itself, and after the deed was done.

  In the end, he concluded that “I didn’t really feel much over it.” At that point, his philosophy of killing anything that opposed him had firmly sunk in.

  “The reason I was spacing out was because I was thinking about how much I must have changed to not even bat an eye after killing someone...”

  “I see... Is that okay with you?”

  “Yeah, I don’t really mind. This is who I am now, and this mindset will definitely help in the battles to come.”

  Shea was surprised to hear this had been his first time killing someone considering how mercilessly he’d slaughtered them. At the same time, she was amazed that Yue’s sharp senses, at least when it came to Hajime anyway, had noticed this slight change he was going through. Underlying all of that was a faint sense of loneliness at not knowing anything about Hajime or Yue.

  “Umm! Hajime-san, Yue-san, could you two please tell me more about yourselves?”

  “Hm? I thought I already told you about myself.”

  “No, I don’t mean like your abilities and stuff. I mean, how did you end up in that abyss or whatever, or why you guys are on a journey, or what you have been doing until now. I want to know more about you both.”

  “...Why?”

  “There’s no real reason, I just want to know... Because of the way I am, I’ve caused a lot of trouble for my family. I always hated myself for that... Of course, everyone always told me I wasn’t a burden, and I’m sure they all mean it, but... I always felt like I didn’t belong in this world. That’s why I was happy when I first met you two. For the first time ever, I’d finally found people like me. For the first time ever, I didn’t feel like the odd one out... I know it’s presumptuous of me, but I was finally glad to have found people that felt like c-comrades... That’s why I want to know more about you two... I’m not exactly sure how to put it, but...”

  The more she talked, the more embarrassed she got, and by the end she was just whispering into Hajime’s back. Hajime and Yue didn’t know what to say to that. Thinking back on it, Shea had been surprisingly happy to meet them.

  At the time, they’d been busy rescuing the Haulia tribe, so Yue hadn’t had time to sort through her vague feelings. As a result, all she’d told Shea was simple things like why she could use magic. Shea must have been wondering about her two new companions this whole time.

  It was a fact that in this world, people with a physical disposition similar to that of monsters weren’t very accepted, so it was only natural that Shea would feel a sense of camaraderie. That being said, Hajime and Yue couldn’t see her as a comrade quite so easily.

  However, there was still some time until they reached the sea of trees. Since they had no real reason to hide it, Hajime and Yue decided to talk about their past in order to kill some time. By the time they finished their tale...

  “Uweeeeh...Hic...That’s terrible. You poor things. Hajime-san, and you too, Yue-san... compared to what you suffered, I’ve practically been blessed... Uweeeh, I can’t believe I was so pathetic.” Shea was a mess of tears. She kept muttering things like “I can’t believe I was so spoiled,” and “I’ll never complain again,” in between sobs. At the same time, she surreptitiously wiped her face with the hem of Hajime’s coat. After having learned just how much the two of them had suffered, Shea felt pathetic for thinking her own situation had been harsh.


  She continued crying for a while, but then she suddenly made a fist and looked up resolutely.

  “Hajime-san! Yue-san! I’ve decided! Allow me to accompany you on your journey! I’ll be the shining ray of light that illuminates the darkness in your lives! There’s no need to be shy, the three of us are all comrades linked by a shared bond. Let’s overcome the trials ahead together, and achieve your dream!” Both Yue and Hajime gave her a cold look as Shea worked herself up on her own delusions.

  “And what gives you the right to say that, you weakling of a rabbit? Need I remind you that we’re still protecting you right now? You’d just get in the way.”

  “...And we’ve already gone from people that ‘felt like comrades’ to actual comrades... What a shameless bunny.”

  “Y-You don’t have to look at me so coldly... You’re going to break my heart... Also, could you please call me by my name already?” She was a bit shaken at how coldly they’d refused her heartfelt proposal. However, they weren’t done yet.

  “...You just want comrades to travel with, don’t you?”

  “Wha—!?”

  Looks like Hajime was right on the mark, as Shea suddenly jumped.

  “Once you’re done making sure your family’s safe, you were planning on leaving them behind, weren’t you? And since two ‘comrades’ just happened to show up around the same time you decided to leave, you thought you’d travel together with them, right? I doubt such a pretty little rabbit would last long on her own.”

  “...Umm, that’s true, but... I also really want to help you two...” Flustered, Shea tried cover up the fact that Hajime had been right. In truth, Shea had already decided. Through hell or high water, she was going to get Hajime to save her family, after which she was going to leave the tribe. As long as she was with them, they’d always be in danger. In this incident too, she’d lost many of her precious family members. The next time she got them into trouble, they really might all die. And that was the one thing she wanted to avoid at all costs.

  Of course, this went against the express wishes of her clan, and in a sense it could even be called betraying them. However, her mind was made up.

  Worst case, she would have struck out on her own, but she was sure if she did that her family would get worried and chase after her. But if she told them she was going to help the invincible Hajime in his travels as thanks for saving her family, they’d surely let her go. Despite all appearances, Shea was earnest and quite desperate about the things she wanted to do.

  That wasn’t to say she wasn’t also deeply interested in Yue and Hajime, because she was. As Hajime had said, she was happy to have finally found comrades, which was why she felt inexplicably close to them. All things considered, her meeting with Hajime honestly felt like destiny.

  “I’m not trying to blame you or anything. But I recommend throwing away that misguided hopes of yours. Our goal is to conquer the Seven Great Labyrinths. Just like the abyss we crawled out of, it’ll probably be teeming with monsters that are just as strong as us. You’d be killed in an instant. That’s why we can’t take you along.”

  “......”

  Shea fell silent at Hajime’s mercilessly blunt explanation. However, the nonchalant way Yue and Hajime seemed to deliver that reasoning depressed her even further. For a while she fell silent, sinking deep into thought, a complicated expression plastered on her face.

  A few hours later, the group arrived at the entrance to Haltina Woods. From the outside it looked like nothing more than a normal forest, but once anyone stepped inside, they were instantly surrounded by a dense fog.

  “Now then, Hajime-dono, Yue-dono. Please stick very close to us once we’re inside. You’ll be traveling in the center of our group, but it’s still possible you might get separated, so be careful. Also, you just want us to guide you to the center, where the Grand Tree is, right?”

  “Yeah, as far as I can tell that’s probably the labyrinth entrance.”

  Cam reminded Hajime of the dangers while also affirming their destination.

  The Grand Tree Cam had referred to was a massive tree that sat in the deepest reaches of the forest. The beastmen called it the Sacred Tree Uralt, and the area around it was considered holy. Rarely did any of them ever approach it. Hajime had heard all of that from Cam after they’d escaped the gorge.

  At first, Hajime had thought the entirety of Haltina Woods itself was the labyrinth, but on second thought he’d realized that would mean abyss-level monsters would be crawling around the entire forest, making it completely uninhabitable for the beastmen. So just like the Great Orcus Labyrinth, it stood to reason that the entrance to the true labyrinth lay elsewhere. And from what Cam had told him, the Grand Tree seemed like a good place to start. Cam nodded and gave a signal to the rest of his clan, at which they all began crowding around Hajime and Yue.

  “Hajime-dono, could you please erase your presence as much as possible? The Grand Tree is considered holy ground, so people usually don’t approach, but it’s not exactly forbidden land or anything, so it’s possible we might run into people from Verbergen or other outlying settlements there. Since we’re all wanted, we’d rather avoid being found by anyone.”

  “Alright, I understand. Both Yue and I are pretty good at taking covert action, so you can count on us.”

  As he said that, Hajime activated Hide Presence. Yue used her innate talents that she’d cultivated in the abyss to hide.

  “Ah!? This is quite... Hajime-dono, would it be possible for you to hide yourself to Yue-dono’s level?”

  “Is this good?”

  “Yes, that’s perfect. If you completely erase your presence like you did earlier, we might lose sight of you ourselves. In fact, I’m certain we would. You’re quite something.”

  Though the rabbitmen’s stats were average, their extremely sensitive hearing made it very easy for them to pick up on almost all nearby presences, and they were also skilled at hiding. The fact that they could pick up on even Yue’s presence, despite the skills she’d honed in the abyss, attested to their abilities. They were master trackers.

  However, Hajime’s Hide Presence was of an even greater level than that. Normally the rabbitmen would never lose sight of someone they’d marked, even in this vast sea of trees, but Hajime’s skill was so absolute that even they couldn’t sense him.

  Cam smiled bitterly as he realized this human had surpassed him in the one field that he thought his race couldn’t be beaten in. For some reason, Yue was puffing her chest out proudly. Shea, on the other hand, had an oddly pained expression on her face. She was finally realizing the difference in ability Hajime had hinted at earlier.

  “Very well, let us depart.”

  With their preparations thus complete, the party headed into the forest, with Cam and Shea leading the group. They continued down a winding trail that could hardly be called a path. The dense fog appeared almost instantly, limiting everyone’s visibility. However, Cam walked forward confidently. He knew exactly where they were, and precisely what their bearing was. Hajime didn’t understand the underlying reason behind it, but it seemed that every beastman was born with the innate ability to traverse this dense sea of trees.

  After a while of smooth progress, Cam suddenly came to a halt, warily surveying his surroundings. He’d sensed the presence of monsters. Hajime and Yue had sensed them too. It seemed that they were surrounded by a good number of them.

  The Haulia all pulled out knives Hajime had furnished when they’d entered the forest. Normally, they would have just used their superior stealth skills to escape, but it seemed that wasn’t going to work. Everyone had equally nervous expressions on their face.

  Suddenly, Hajime thrust out his left arm. There was a faint hiss, and the sound of multiple somethings being ejected could be heard. A second later, Thud. Thud. Thud. “Kiiiiiiiiiii!?”

  Three monsters of unknown appearance could be heard falling to the ground, screaming in pain. A moment later, three four-armed monkeys suddenly burst out of the fog,
each of them about sixty centimeters tall.

  Yue brought her hand up against one of them, and whispered her spell’s name.

  “Wind Blade.” A sharp blade of wind flew through the air, cutting one of the monkeys in half. The two halves fell to the ground, the monkey dead before it even had time to scream.

  The remaining two split up and tried to pincer the group. One of them headed for a nearby kid, while the other bared its claws at Shea. Both of them stiffened in fear, making easy targets for the monkeys. The nearby adults tried to cover them both... but their worry was needless.

  Hajime swung his left arm at them both, and with another pneumatic hiss, both monkeys died, their heads punctured by ten centimeter long needles.

  He was using the needle gun he’d installed into his prosthetic arm.

  He’d stolen the idea from the scorpion he’d fought, and he could fire either single bolts or a shotgun-style spray. He ejected them using his Lightning Field, and while it didn’t match the strength of Donner or Schlag, it was still quite powerful in its own right.

  It only had an effective range of ten meters, but it was very quiet, and the needles were coated in poison, making for a very effective assassination tool. He hadn’t used Donner specifically because he didn’t want to attract attention with the gunshots.

  “Th-Thank you very much, Hajime-san.”

  “Thanks, Onii-chan!”

  Shea and the boy he’d saved both thanked him for his timely intervention. He waved his hand casually, indicating that it was nothing. The boy’s eyes were shining as he looked up at Hajime. Shea, however, slumped her shoulders, disappointed at herself for freezing up at the first sign of danger.

  Cam smiled awkwardly, and he started leading them again at Hajime’s urging.

  They were assaulted by monsters a few more times during their trek, but Hajime and Yue quietly repulsed each wave easily. The monsters inhabiting the forest were considered strong by the locals, but they posed no problem at all for Hajime and Yue.