Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest Vol. 5

by Ryo Shirakome

  His body moved faster than he could think. He activated Air Dance and Supersonic Step, then shot into the sky.

  The force of his jump destroyed the wooden dock, making the soldiers scream as they fell into the sea, but Hajime didn’t even notice.

  He used Aerodynamic again in the air to propel himself further upward and activated Riftwalk. He caught Myu in slow-motion and expertly controlled the speed of his descent to kill the impact of her fall.

  With Myu safely in his arms, he zipped back to the ground. His whole body was covered in cold sweat.

  “Daddy!” Unaware of how panicked she’d made Hajime, Myu happily nuzzled his chest. Tio had probably told Myu she’d spotted Hajime.

  Then, either by accident, or perhaps on purpose, Myu had fallen toward him. Judging by her smiling face, she’d had no doubt that Hajime would catch her.

  Still, it took a ridiculous amount of courage to jump off a dragon’s back in the middle of the sky. What kind of four-year-old does that!? Hajime frowned, then began scolding Myu for being reckless.

  “Hic... Hic...” Myu stood next to the destroyed dock, crying. The area was filled with onlookers and soldiers, but none of them said a word.

  The girl who’d been kidnapped had fallen from the sky, and a young boy had caught her in midair with superhuman abilities. Not only that, there was a dragon flying overhead. But what surprised everyone the most was that the boy was scolding Myu. That, and the fact that Myu called him her father.

  “Hic... I’m sorry, Daddy...”

  “Do you promise not to do anything that dangerous again?”

  “I promise...”

  “Then it’s fine. Now, give me a hug.”

  “Daddy!”

  Hajime kneeled down and Myu launched herself into his chest. The whole exchange had looked exactly like a father scolding his daughter. In many ways, Hajime really had become Myu’s father.

  Everyone watched with dumbfounded amazement. They would never have expected a dagon girl to start calling a human boy her father, especially since she’d been kidnapped. They were all thinking the same thing.

  What the hell is going on?

  Hajime lifted Myu into his arms and gently patted her back. As if that was some unsaid signal, the onlookers all started talking at once.

  Hajime ignored the commotion and started walking back when he felt someone hug him from behind. He turned around and saw Kaori resting her head on his shoulder. She was trembling.

  “Thank goodness... I’m so glad you’re okay...” Now it was Kaori’s turn to start crying. Though she’d acted strong, she’d been worried sick. She’d believed Hajime was still alive, of course, but that hadn’t stopped her from worrying. Especially since he’d disappeared shortly after she’d finally reunited with him. She’d been through a lot.

  “Sorry I made you worry. But as you can see, we’re all fine. So... please don’t cry. If a certain someone found out I made you cry... Well, she’d probably kill me.”

  “Waaah... Hic... Th-Then, let me stay here like this for a while longer...”

  Hajime looked away awkwardly, but he used his free hand to gently pat Kaori on the head. Her tears didn’t stop though, and she buried her face into Hajime’s shoulder. She hugged him with all her might.

  “Hey, you. What on earth is going on? I demand an explan— Bwah!?”

  “Hm? Oh, my apologies.”

  The captain had dragged himself out of the water and stalked up to Hajime, dripping wet. Before he could start yelling at Hajime he was knocked back into the water by Tio. She’d turned back into human form upon landing and had accidentally bumped into the captain in her haste to get to Hajime.

  Tio didn’t seem sorry at all, and she grabbed Hajime’s head and pulled him into her bosom.

  “Whoa!? Hey, Tio!”

  “I believed in you. I believed... you would return... Still, you made me wait quite some time, Master.”

  Hajime extricated himself from Tio’s massive melons and looked up at her face. Tears dripped from her eyes. She hugged Hajime tight, as if he would vanish if she let go. He’d put Tio through a lot, so he let her do as she wished for a little while.

  Myu joined in as well, hugging Hajime around the neck. Yue and Shea didn’t feel like being left out, so they crowded around Hajime and joined in on the fun.

  Hajime was buried underneath a pile of girls of all ages and sizes.

  The confusion gradually faded from the onlookers’ faces, replaced by a gentle warmth. Even the dagons who’d attacked Hajime before lowered their weapons. Though a few other guys picked up weapons of their own. As always, there were some that were jealous of Hajime’s harem.

  “You bastard... Not once, but twice now! Interfering with a royal soldier’s duty is a criminal offense!”

  The captain dragged himself out of the water again and stalked toward Hajime. He held his weapon at the ready.

  Considering Myu’s attitude toward Hajime, it was unlikely he was the kidnapper, but there was still a lot about this situation that didn’t make sense to him. He still wanted to interrogate Hajime.

  Since escorting Myu back to Erisen had been an official request from Fuhren branch chief Ilwa, Hajime hadn’t worried about being arrested. His explanation would have cleared things up. The only problem was that he hadn’t had any proof of the request. Fortunately, now he did.

  Tio gave Hajime his Treasure Trove and he pulled out his Status Plate and the letter Ilwa had given him.

  “What? Just showing me your identity now won’t— Wait, you’re a gold rank adventurer!? And you have a personal introduction from Fuhren’s branch chief!?”

  Hajime also pulled out the letter detailing his request and handed it to the captain. The letter was originally addressed to the mayor and the captain of the guard anyway, so Hajime would have given it to him eventually even if this hadn’t happened.

  The captain scrutinized the letters. Once he was done reading, he sighed. After a moment’s hesitation he shrugged his shoulders and saluted.

  “I verify that you have indeed completed the assigned task, Hajime Nagumo-dono.”

  “Glad to know I’ve been cleared of suspicion. I’m sure there’s a lot you want to know, but we’re kinda busy here. Could you hold off on your questions for a bit? I want to bring Myu to her mother first. Is that alright?”

  “I suppose so. However that dragon, those unbelievable abilities of yours, and this strange boat are all things I cannot overlook.”

  The captain was no longer talking down to Hajime. In fact, he was being almost respectful. But still, he had to do his job, and his job required investigating all of these things.

  “It’s fine if we talk about all of that later, right? We’re planning on staying in Erisen for a while, so it’s not like we’re going anywhere. Besides, there’s no point in sending a report to the capital. They already know all of this.”

  “Hmm, I see. In that case, as long as we can talk, I’ll be satisfied. You said you want to take her to her mother, but... do you know what kind of state her mother is in?”

  “No, but it shouldn’t be a problem. We’ve got some of the best medicine in the world and a top-class healer here.”

  “I see... Very well, then. In that case, I shall return once things have settled down.”

  The captain gave Hajime his name, which was Salze, and got to work dispersing the onlookers. He seemed very dedicated to his job.

  All of the people who knew Myu came up to talk to her, but Hajime silenced them with a look. He appreciated their enthusiasm, but if they got started now they’d never make it to Myu’s mom.

  “Daddy, Daddy. I wanna go home. Mommy’s waiting! I wanna see Mommy!”

  “Yeah. Let’s go see her.”

  Myu excitedly took Hajime’s hand and dragged him toward her house. It had been nearly two months since she’d last seen her mother. Her excitement was only natural. She’d laughed and smiled around Hajime and the others, but at night she’d cried for her mom.

&nb
sp; As they made their way to Myu’s house, Kaori worriedly walked up to Hajime and asked something.

  “Hajime-kun. About what that soldier said earlier...”

  “Well, it seems her life isn’t in danger at least... Her wounds are pretty bad though, and it must have been a shock to lose her daughter. Seeing Myu again will probably help with the latter. I’ll be counting on you for the former.”

  “Don’t worry. Just leave it to me.”

  Their conversation was interrupted by a commotion coming from further down the street. One of the voices was female, while the others were male.

  “Remia, calm down! You can’t go anywhere on that leg!”

  “He’s right, Remia-chan. We’ll bring Myu-chan to you!”

  “No! She’s my daughter! I have to be there to greet her! I have to!”

  The men were trying to hold the woman back. It seemed someone had told Myu’s mother about her return.

  When she heard her mother’s voice, Myu’s face lit up. She called out to the twenty-something woman collapsed at the entrance of her house and dashed off toward her.

  “Mommy!”

  “Ah!? Myu!? Myu!”

  Myu tottered up to her mother and leaped into her arms.

  Mother and daughter embraced tightly, and the onlookers watched with smiles on their faces. A few of them even teared up.

  Remia apologized to Myu over and over. Hajime couldn’t tell whether she was apologizing for taking her eyes off Myu, or for not coming to get her. It might have been both.

  Tears streamed down Remia’s cheeks. She was both relieved to have her daughter back, and angry at herself for being unable to protect her. Myu patted her mom’s head reassuringly.

  “It’s okay, Mommy. I’m here. It’s okay.”

  “Myu...” Remia stared at her daughter. She hadn’t expected to be consoled by her.

  Myu stared back at her mother, worry etched over her face. Before she’d been kidnapped, Myu had been a spoiled child who was quick to throw a tantrum. Despite that, even though she must have suffered far more than her mother, she was the one worrying about others.

  Myu smiled, and Remia hugged her daughter tight. She’d spent many sleepless nights agonizing over what kind of horrors her daughter might be facing, but while Remia had been fretting, Myu had grown stronger over the course of her journey.

  Remia smiled, admiring her daughter’s growth. Her tears dried up and the tension drained from her shoulders.

  The pair hugged each other again, but then Myu suddenly shrieked.

  “Mommy, what happened to your legs!? Do they hurt!?” Myu had finally noticed the wounds on Remia’s legs. They’d been bound with bandages, and looked pretty bad.

  Hajime remembered what Salze and the dagons who’d attacked him had said. Not only had the slavers kidnapped Myu, they’d hurt Remia so badly that she couldn’t even walk.

  No one had actually seen what had happened when Myu had gone missing, so at first they couldn’t be sure she had actually been kidnapped.

  However, their suspicions turned to certainty after Remia had run into them.

  She’d gone searching for her missing daughter, and ran into a group of shifty-looking men trying to cover their tracks at the beach. She hadn’t wanted to approach them, but she needed all the information she could get, so she’d gone up to ask if they’d seen her daughter, and they’d attacked her.

  Realizing they must have been the group who’d taken Myu, she’d evaded the men’s attacks and tried to get her daughter back, but Remia had no combat skills to speak of. She could only dodge for so long, and eventually one of the mages’ fireballs had hit her legs. The attack had sent her flying back into the ocean, and left her unconscious.

  The other dagons had grown worried when she didn’t come back and sent out a search party. They’d found her floating in the sea and brought her back.

  They’d managed to save her life, but the injuries had been grave, and she would likely never be able to walk or swim properly again. Naturally, Remia had tried to continue searching for her daughter anyway, but with her legs the way they were, she’d been left with no choice but to leave the search to the other dagons and the kingdom.

  Even now, Remia could barely stand.

  She didn’t want to worry her daughter anymore, so she smiled reassuringly and just muttered that she was fine.

  Still, now Myu had Hajime on her side, and he could do anything, so she turned to him for help.

  “Daddy! You have to help Mommy! Her legs are hurt!”

  “Wha!? M-Myu? Did you just say...”

  “Daddy, hurry!”

  “Huh? Daddy? Myu, who’s Daddy?” Remia stared at her daughter in confusion.

  The other dagons all started whispering to each other, too.

  “Did Remia...remarry? No way.” “Remia-chan’s finally found a new husband! How wonderful!” “No way. Someone tell me this isn’t real... My Remia-san...” “Daddy!? She didn’t mean me, right!?” “It’s probably just a nickname or something. I’m sure everyone calls him that.” “Guys, we need to hold an emergency meeting! Gather all of the members of the Remia and Myu protection committee!”

  It seemed the two of them were quite popular within Erisen. Remia was still young, being only in her mid-twenties. And though she’d grown gaunt in the months since her daughter’s absence, one could tell she’d originally been quite pretty. Once she regained her health, she’d likely be turning heads in the street again.

  Hajime grimaced. I really don’t want to deal with those guys.

  He was sure if he’d explained Myu had just started calling him that because she didn’t have a real father and that he wasn’t interested in marrying Remia the other guys would understand, but rumors often spread quickly.

  Still, this was a stroke of good fortune. Hajime could leave Myu with her mother and continue his journey without worry. Once they’d cleared the Sunken Ruins of Melusine, he’d have to say his farewells. She’d initially clung so tightly to Hajime and the others because there was no one else she could trust so far from home, but now that she was back with her mother, she’d soon start forgetting about them. She’d probably cry at first, but she’d get used to it in time. Especially since it seemed the other townspeople cared a great deal for her.

  “Daddy, hurry! You have to save Mommy!” Myu looked over at Hajime, and everyone’s gazes turned to him. Many of them only just noticed his presence. Hajime resigned himself to dealing with this misunderstanding and walked over to her.

  “Daddy, Mommy’s...”

  “It’s alright, Myu. We’ll heal her, so don’t cry.”

  “Okay...”

  Hajime patted Myu’s head and turned to Remia. She stared blankly back at him.

  The surrounding guys’ whispers grew even more heated. For now, Hajime figured he should focus on healing Remia. That’d be easier to do inside her house.

  “Sorry about this.”

  “Huh? Wha!?”

  Hajime effortlessly hoisted Remia into his arms and followed Myu into her house. He could hear some of the guys screaming behind him, but he ignored them. Remia was too flustered to say anything at all.

  As they entered the living room Hajime spotted a sofa, so he put Remia down on it. Then, he sat himself down next to her and called Kaori over.

  “Kaori, how’s it look?”

  “Let me examine her. Remia-san, I’m going to need to touch your legs. If it hurts, please say something.”

  “O-Okay? Umm, what’s going on?”

  Not only was there some guy Myu was suddenly calling daddy, he was surrounded by a bunch of beautiful girls. Remia’s confusion was certainly understandable.

  Kaori finished her examination and told Hajime that while the injuries were serious, they were within her capabilities to heal.

  “But it’ll take some time. A lot of fragile nerve endings were damaged, so I’ll need a few days to heal her completely. It might be a little inconvenient, Remia-san, but please bear with it. I promis
e I can cure you.”

  “Oh my... I didn’t think I would ever walk again... I don’t know how to thank you...”

  “Hehe, it’s fine. We can’t leave Myu-chan’s mom like this.”

  “Oh, about that... What kind of relationship do you have with my daughter... Also, umm... why is Myu calling you daddy?”

  Hajime explained everything that had happened since Fuhren as Kaori began healing Remia. Including the events at the slave auction that had led to Myu calling him daddy.

  When he finished, Remia bowed her head and thanked Hajime over and over again, tears in her eyes.

  “I don’t know how to thank you... It’s all thanks to you that I was able to see my daughter again. I swear I will repay the favor, even if it takes me my whole life. If there’s anything I can do for you, anything at all...” Hajime and the others told her not to worry about it, but Remia insisted. She couldn’t accept not doing anything for the people who’d saved her daughter’s life.

  Eventually, Kaori’s treatment reached a point where she could stop safely for the day. Hajime and the others began discussing where they would stay for the night, and Remia interjected that they were free to use her house.

  “Please, at least let me do this for you. Fortunately, my house has plenty of space. There’s enough rooms for all of you. At least for as long as you’re in Erisen, think of my home as yours. Besides, I’m sure Myu would be happier that way, too. Isn’t that right, Myu? You want them to stay with us too, don’t you?”

  “Huh? Are you going somewhere, Daddy?” Myu, who’d been dozing in Remia’s lap, groggily got up and looked at Hajime in confusion. It appeared to her that the fact that Hajime would stay here had already been a guarantee. In fact, she couldn’t even understand why her mother had bothered to ask.

  “I was thinking it might be better to spend some time away now that she’s back with you...”

  “Oh my... Don’t you know a father should never leave his daughter?”

  “Well, I mean, I told you before, we’re...”

  “I know you’ll be leaving on your journey eventually, but that’s precisely why I’d like for you to act as her father for as long as you’re here. Don’t you think parting with her after spending time apart would be even more sad?”