Frankly, she was scared to keep reading. Still, Tio flipped the page.
—O Month. X Day.
We left the sea of trees and headed for the Reisen Gorge. In just half a month, we’ve already obtained a new comrade. It’s the bunny girl sleeping next to me right now. She’s sleeping so peacefully. Honestly, it’s like she doesn’t have a care in the world. She must have suffered a lot to make it this far. How is it she can still make such a happy face? Come to think of it, even when she’d begged us for help, she still looked just fine. She’s always like that. Even in the most desperate situations, she’s always full of energy, serious, and earnest. This girl is strong. Her spirit is unbreakable, even more than mine, really. I think that’s why I let her confess to Hajime, and let her come with us. She’s still inexperienced, but depending on how this labyrinth goes...
“.....” Tio silently turned the page. There were tears in Shea’s eyes.
—O Month X Day.
I hate Miledi.
“What happened to the serious tone from earlier!?”
“I mean, she was really annoying!”
—O Month. X Day.
Shea worked really hard. She’s definitely one of us now. I’m too embarrassed to say this to her face, so I’ll write it down here. She’s like the little sister I wish I always had. And my best friend, too. I’ll protect Shea’s future from here on out. I won’t let anyone take anything important from her.
“Yue...san...”
“What a discovery. Yue is as fond of you as she is of Master.” A waterfall of tears ran down both sides of Shea’s face. They dripped to the floor in a steady rivulet. She’d never realized Yue cared that much about her. Obviously she’d known Yue treasured her, but not to such an extent. She wanted to run out and give Yue a giant hug. Though she was still naked, so she couldn’t do that.
Tio gently patted Shea’s head. After Shea had calmed down, Tio turned the page once more.
—O Month. X Day.
We found a wild deadbeat dragon. I never knew dragons were this pathetic. She’s a hopeless pervert. I can’t believe I looked up to your species once.
“Bwah!?”
“Tio-san!? Get a hold of yourself! It’s not as bad as it sounds!”
Normally Tio enjoyed being insulted, but bringing down the prestige of her entire race just hurt, especially since this came right after Yue wrote all those nice things about Shea. Tio wanted to run out and prostrate herself before Yue to apologize for ruining her image of dragonmen.
—O Month. X Day.
The world knows about Hajime’s strength now. The people from the Holy Church didn’t look happy at all. Our journey’s going to get a lot rougher from here on. It’s possible the Holy Church will declare him a heretic. Oh, and we can’t forget that Hajime kissed his teacher. Teacher-student relationships sound... fascinating. I will become Yue-sensei, the teacher who hunts students after school.
“No, don’t!” “You can’t!” The entries had grown comedic again.
—O Month. X Day.
This dragon’s even more perverted than I thought. She’s beyond saving. Of that, I’m certain. But still, I can tell she’s trying to get to know us. I like that part of her. And the more I talk to her, the more I realize that she’s actually really smart. Though it’s kind of creepy how she sometimes looks at us all like she’s our mom. I don’t think that’s part of her weird fetish. It seems like she’s remembering something really important to her when she looks at us. Like me, she lost her country and her comrades... I’ll need to ask her for that story sometime. What did she feel when she watched her country burn? How is she planning on living from here on out? I’m sure she’d tell me if I ask, but I’ll wait a little bit. I haven’t opened up to her enough to ask that kind of question. She’s been open with us this whole time, so I have to do the same before I go any further. Also, is it just me, or does she actually like being punished by Hajime? I-I am Yue! I may not be able to change pain into pleasure, but nothing anyone does to me can kill me! I can take it, Hajime!
“Please don’t! If he actually beat you until you nearly died, then he’d be a psycho!”
“......” Tio just stared at the pages silently. She scratched her cheek awkwardly, not sure of what to say. She was happy Yue thought so highly of her, but didn’t know how to express her thoughts in words.
“Tio-san, let’s keep reading.” Tio looked up to see Shea staring right at her. She’d read the pages too. But she didn’t say anything else, instead choosing to just gaze gently at Tio.
Now that I think about it, Shea is no different. She’d lost her homeland and most of her family as well, but Tio understood now that Yue had her own reasons for not asking more of either of them.
She was going to wait until she could share with them before delving deeper.
“You’re right, let’s keep going.” Tio had also begun to cry as well.
—O Month. X Day.
I want a kid.
“Seriously!?”
“She even underlined it!”
She probably didn’t like that Myu never called her Mommy. They could see the marks the pen had left on the page. She’d pushed down on it really hard. Her frustration was evident from her handwriting.
—O Month. X Day.
Myu’s so cute. I want a kid. I want a kid. Specifically, Hajime’s kid. I really want one. Like, really want one. I love Hajime, and I want his kid. I want a kid, I want a kid, I want...
“Sh-She spent a whole five pages writing that...”
“Sh-She’s actually insane. Only a madman would write something like this! Yue-san, I never knew you were a yandere!”
Tio’s hands trembled. Cold sweat poured down Shea’s back, and her rabbit ears were pressed firmly against her head.
—O Month. X Day.
A wild Kaori appeared. I thought she was spineless, but she’s surprisingly determined. I like her spirit, so I guess I’ll crush her head on. Also, I still want Hajime’s kid. I am Yue. I won’t hold back against any love rival, no matter how weak.
“Are we all just wild animals to Yue-san?”
“I’m more worried about her obsession with having Master’s child. How badly does she want one? We’re in the middle of conquering all the labyrinths... Now’s not the time for her to be getting pregnant! I hope Yue understands that as well... but the more I read of this diary the more scared I get that I’ll read an entry that says ‘I got pregnant.’”
“I-I get what you mean. Yue-san does do it an awful lot with Hajime-san.”
“Resisting her is futile.”
Even the monster of the abyss had no chance of beating her. Yue the vampire princess was at her most dangerous when she was seducing someone. Nothing could stand against her when she was on the prowl.
Trembling in fear, Shea and Tio continued reading through the diary.
“Shea. Tio.”
“Ah!?”
Suddenly, they heard a voice behind them, which made them stiffen in terror. They turned around, their heads creaking like a badly-oiled door.
“Y-Y-Y-Y-Yue-san!? How long have you been there!?”
“Th-This isn’t what it looks like, Yue! We didn’t mean for this to happen!”
Yue’s merciless gaze bore into the two of them.
“Did you read it?” They couldn’t answer her. All they could do was sit there, trembling in fear.
Yue silently held out her hand. It seemed she wanted her diary back. Tio held it out to her reverently, as if it were some holy artifact. Yue took it and put it in her pocket. Then, both Shea and Tio prostrated themselves at Yue’s feet.
“We’re so sorry!” They simultaneously exclaimed.
She made them raise their heads and shrugged.
“It’s partly my fault for leaving it here. Don’t worry about it.” They hadn’t expected her to forgive them, so they felt even more guilty. They tried to apologize again, but Yue interrupted them.
“Anyway, did you two finish taking your shower?
”
“Huh? O-Oh, not yet.”
“W-We... were about to go in when we spotted this...”
For some reason, Yue’s question scared them. They had an ominous premonition about what was to come. “I see...” Yue replied, and her golden hair began to flutter.
“I am Yue. I won’t hold back, even against my best friend or the woman I look up to.”
The two of them bolted. Shea tackled the bathroom wall, grabbing a bath towel to wrap around herself along the way. Tio hurriedly deployed a barrier behind her, then restored Remia’s wall with her newly acquired magic. The two were in perfect sync.
They knew they’d need to run until Yue’s wrath finally subsided. Unfortunately, before they could even go a few paces, dark clouds rolled in, and thunder dragons filled the sky.
Shea and Tio’s screams were loud enough that all Erisen could hear them.
Yue opened her notebook and pulled out a miniature pen from her pocket. —O Month. X Day.
Today’s weather, sunny with a chance of thunderstorms. All in all, a good day.
She snapped her notebook shut, nodded in satisfaction, and went out to retrieve the companions she’d burnt to a crisp.
Afterword
Thank you so much for purchasing Arifureta volume 5.
It’s everyone’s favorite chuuni lover, Ryo Shirakome here.
A lot happened in this volume. Hajime cleared two labyrinths, Tio made some big decisions, Kaori found her resolve again, and they parted ways with Myu.
It’s nice that the cast keeps growing, but I’m beginning to worry that I’m not giving each of the characters enough time and development. I hope I was able to properly give voice to everyone’s feelings this volume... Oh, by the way, there’s actually a certain someone I modeled Remia after. Can you tell who? I imagine most of you might have figured it out from the way she speaks.
As you may have guessed, she’s based off my favorite character from Aria.
If you’re still wondering who that is, I recommend googling “Araara ufufu” to find out. She’ll surely bring warmth and comfort to your life too.
Kind of funny that I ended up using Arifureta’s afterword to plug a different series entirely, huh? Personally though, I’d just be glad if more people experienced the things I love... Well, I’ll get back to plugging Arifureta now.
The first volume of the Arifureta manga, illustrated by RoGa-sensei, came out at the same time as this volume. It’s being published by an imprint of Overlap too, and I’ve gotta say it looks amazing. Like, seriously, it’s so good!
You all should check it out! Now then, I’m running out of space, but I’d like to give everyone my thanks.
First and foremost, I’d like to thank Takayaki-sensei for his wonderful illustrations. I’d also like to thank my editor for listening to me ramble every day. Also my proofreader, for catching my numerous and egregious typos, and the rest of the publishing staff who made this volume possible. Lastly, I’d like to thank the illustrator for the manga, RoGa-sensei. You’re amazing.
Lastly, I’d like to thank all of my readers. The ones from Narou, too. It’s only because of you that all of this is possible.
Let’s meet again in the next afterword.
Ryo Shirakome
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Copyright
Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest Vol. 5
by Ryo Shirakome
Translated by Ningen
Edited by DxS
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2016 Ryo Shirakome
Illustrations by Takaya-ki
Cover illustration by Takaya-ki
All rights reserved.
Original Japanese edition published in 2016 by OVERLAP, Inc.
This English edition is published by arrangement with OVERLAP, Inc., Tokyo
English translation © 2018 J-Novel Club LLC
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property.
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The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
Ebook edition 1.0: March 2018
Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest Vol. 5 Page 26
