Hajime made a metallic fist with his hand and thrust it out toward one of the practice targets lying around the workshop. Though it was still a bit rough around the edges, his fist boasted quite a large amount of firepower.
He grinned playfully as he saw how excited Yue was.
“Here, we go! This is every man’s dream! Rocket punch!” With a low bang, his left fist burst out of its socket and flew toward the target. It left a trail of sparks in its wake as it rocketed forward. Then, with a thunderous crash, the fist pulverized its target.
Hajime grinned like a little boy and poured mana into his left arm. As if connected by an invisible thread, his hand zoomed back into place. There was a satisfying robotic clunk as it reattached itself to his arm.
“What do you think?” Hajime asked Yue. He was certain she must have been just as moved as he was. However...
“...That’s it?” All he received was a somewhat puzzled reply. If anything she seemed a little disappointed, even. Her indifference left Hajime nearly speechless.
“Wh-What do you mean, that’s it? Wasn’t that amazing? I just threw out a rocket punch! It’s the kind of awesome move that one-shots your enemy and then comes flying back to you!”
“But... your railgun’s stronger.”
Hajime was left scrambling, trying to explain the appeal of his rocket punch, but he only succeeded in leaving Yue even more confused. Her unintentionally cutting reply left him mentally defeated.
At a loss for words, Hajime could only stare blankly at Yue for a few minutes before going “Wait, there’s still more!” and suddenly smiling.
“It’s true that it doesn’t have much power compared to the railgun, but there’s a huge surprise factor associated with having a fist suddenly come flying at your face.”
“But the railgun’s faster too. Wouldn’t it be an even better surprise attack?”
Another flawless rebuttal. Hajime was swaying unsteadily, but he wasn’t down yet! He refused to abandon his romantic notions of the rocket punch.
“I-It’ll come in handy in case I ever lose my weapon!”
“So losing your hand as well counts as coming in handy?”
“......”
“Besides, even if you did lose your gun, it’d be faster to use Supersonic Step to get in close and hit them directly with your Steel Arms skill or something.”
Hajime detached his left hand and threw it to the ground. He then reached into his Treasure Trove and pulled out a different left hand before smiling dangerously at Yue and brandishing his new hand.
“Fine, Yue. Challenge accepted.”
“...What? I’m sorry Hajime, I have no idea what you’re saying.”
“You might be right, the rocket punch might just be a little too weak a weapon for me, though I’m sure for anyone else it would be perfect... but anyway, let me show you my other new weapon. Feel free to faint in awe at any time.”
“...Umm, I still don’t—”
Yue was only getting more confused by Hajime’s nonsensical declarations. But for the sake of a man’s dream, he couldn’t back down. He started pouring mana into his arm, and his hand started glowing a hot red. His fist was burning bright with the heat of a man’s dreams. This was his second new weapon.
“Heat knuckle!” Hajime’s expression was as dazzling as his blazing fist. However...
“Umm... so what else does it do?” For some reason, Yue was asking for more. She was scratching her cheek awkwardly, and it was clear her soul had not been in the least bit moved by Hajime’s stunning display.
Hajime’s smile stiffened a little.
“...Okay, so see here, Yue. This is a fist that can melt literally anything it touches. Isn’t it cool?”
“...Why melt them when you can just kill them?”
A very apt question. Hajime’s brute strength and skills would be more than enough to annihilate most enemies. There was no need to add insult to injury and melt the opponent too. In fact, his vibration cannon and railgun were already strong enough. That was why most of his previous additions to his arm had been developed with convenience in mind more than anything else.
However, somewhere along the way he had let his boyish dreams get the better of him, and had started adding these useless features. Now he had to stare down Yue and prove their worth. Hajime turned off his heat knuckle and put both hands on Yue’s slender shoulders.
“Think about it, Yue. What if we have to fight something that resists physical attacks really well, like that scorpion from before? If I have this, just touching it will still cause it damage. Or if we somehow get trapped inside a dungeon somewhere, this’ll help us quickly dig our way out.”
“...Okay.”
Yue could feel the passionate fervor in Hajime’s voice. But still, she thought to herself Couldn’t you just use Lightning Field or Transmutation or something to get us out of those situations anyway? She didn’t say it aloud this time though, realizing it must be important to him somehow. And because she loved him, Yue smiled awkwardly and tried to reassure Hajime’s flagging confidence.
“...Y-Yeah it’s pretty cool.”
“......”
Hajime wordlessly took off this hand too, then threw it to the ground. Clearly he wasn’t looking for sympathy. Undaunted, he pulled yet another hand out of his Treasure Trove. He gave Yue a smile that screamed “This one’ll knock your socks off for sure!” and activated it. This hand turned his arm into a drill.
“Behold, Yue, my final form! Everything you saw before was nothing more than the prelude. Be swept away in a torrent of emotion as you regale my final arm!”
His speech was getting more and more cringeworthy by the second, though he wasn’t aware of it himself. He then poured mana into his arm, activating the third of his “real men’s weapons” series—
“This is the power of my transforming drill!”
He looked over at Yue triumphantly while his drill-arm began spinning. This time for sure, she has to be impressed. Or so he thought.
“...Yeah. It’s cool. It’s okay, you can stop now.”
“.....” There was an almost cruel kindness in Yue’s eyes as she gently told Hajime it was okay.
As far as Yue was concerned, all of his new items seemed pointless. That being said, there was no telling what the future had in store for them, so maybe even useless looking things might have some value later down the road. Surely their time to shine would come eventually. Deep inside her heart, Yue hoped it would, for Hajime’s sake if nothing else.
However, Yue’s pity only served to put cracks in Hajime’s pure heart. Don’t tell me I’m actually becoming some kind of delusional idiot?
No matter what the truth was, a bullet, once fired, could never be taken back. Half desperate, he started taking out all the other arms he’d developed. Among them were a dragon-shaped hand, one that fired water blasts from its fingers, and even one that transformed his left arm into Squall’s gunblade. But the only reaction any of those ever elicited from Yue was a pitying smile.
Finally, Hajime crumbled into a sobbing heap, and Yue simply sat there patting his head, saying, “It’s okay, It’s okay.” She comforted him until he finally regained his senses.
Just what exactly she had meant by “It’s okay” was something he didn’t want to think too deeply about.
It was late at night. There was a single figure working in the darkness, inside a hidden room whose entrance was covered by a shelf.
“It’s finally done.” Hajime muttered softly. Sitting before him was a silver-haired girl. One could tell with just a glance that she wasn’t human. Where her ears would have been were instead metal rectangles that kind of resembled antennas.
Her hard, metallic eyes bore no signs of sentience either. That was only natural though, as she was a cleaning golem Oscar had made long ago.
However, her features were still quite human. She had on a navy blue one-piece dress and a pure white apron. There was a headdress adorning her hair as well. In a word, she
was a maid.
“Oscar. It was because you dreamed of making her real that you strayed so far from reality. That was your mistake. However, I have the knowledge granted to me by the 2D world. By making her somewhat unrealistic, she grows closer to the ideal... This is the answer you sought after for so long!”
Hajime whispered to himself triumphantly. Anyone who had seen him at that moment would have been pretty creeped out by him. However, his passion for this maid golem was real. When he had first discovered Oscar’s notebook and this golem, he had decided to inherit Oscar’s pure spirit of inquiry and complete what Oscar had begun. He had worked on her late into every night, making sure Yue didn’t find out. He surely deserved a few moments to admire his own craftsmanship after all the hardships he went through to complete her.
However, as he was basking in his own handiwork—
“...Found you, Hajime.”
Light filled the room as he heard a familiar voice call his name. He jumped with a start, then stiffly turned to look back at Yue.
“Y-Yue... what are you doing here? I could have sworn I felt your presence in the bedroom still.”
“I was wondering where you were going every night. Not only did you sneak away using Hide Presence, you even left behind an artifact that faked your presence too. I didn’t think there’d be a secret room here... but fortunately this artifact helped me find you.”
“So you used my own artifact against me.”
Hajime ground his teeth, angry at his own carelessness. In the meantime, Yue gazed silently at the maid golem. Hajime gulped guiltily. He felt like a husband caught cheating on his wife.
“Hajime, if you liked maid uniforms you just had to tell me.” There was a little jealousy in her tone. It seemed she really was jealous of this inanimate golem. However, it wasn’t what she was thinking. In order to clear up the misunderstanding, Hajime began explaining himself.
“Yue, allow me to explain. I don’t actually have a thing for maid uniforms. This is about art.”
“...Art?”
“Correct. A maid that’s also a golem. In other words a golem maid is every man’s dream. Those two factors combined are what make it art. Just a maid or just a golem are nothing on their own. While they may have a certain appeal, only when put together as a golem maid do they become a true object of worship for men worldwide.”
As he spoke, Hajime grew more and more heated with his words. Yue listened to it all seriously and nodded knowingly once he’d finished. “I understand,” was all she said. Hajime let out a relieved smile, but then an instant later a blazing fireball flew past his cheek.
There was a thunderous explosion, and Hajime quickly turned around to see his precious golem maid burned to ashes.
“H-How could you...”
Hajime crumbled to his knees as he gazed upon the charred husk of what had once been a golem maid. Then he turned to Yue, who had started casually walking away, and asked in a voice full of sadness,
“Yue, why? Why would you do that? What did that poor golem ever do to you?”
“You’ve been acting weird recently, Hajime. You needed a little traini— Ahem, I mean lesson.”
It was true that Hajime’s obsessions with things that were “every man’s dream” was starting to get a bit excessive. It might have been brought on in part due to the dead end he’d hit in regards to his transmutation, but if he didn’t drag himself back to reality, he’d be stuck in a fantasy land forever. The fact that he was actually sad at the destruction of an inanimate golem was proof enough that he was already almost too far gone.
Having the girl he loved tell him “you’ve been acting weird” to his face brought him back to his senses, though. Meanwhile, Yue picked up one of the maid uniforms lying around and brought it up to see if it would fit. She did a little twirl and licked her lips seductively as she looked at Hajime. Her sex drive was in full throttle.
Her next words blew away whatever might have survived of Hajime’s reason.
“Shall I teach you just how much better a real maid is than a mechanical one, Master?”
“......” Cold sweat ran down his forehead.
For hours later, Hajime’s screams could be heard echoing throughout the bottom of hell. Thanks to the loving embrace of Yue, Hajime was able to return from the depths of his delusions.
The Holy Goddess’ Descent unto Paradise
The abundance of goods lining every shelf and bookcase made the interior of the store feel rather cramped, despite the rather large amount of floor space. In the background, a popular anime song was playing, loud enough to be heard but not enough to be obtrusive. This store was famous nationwide for its selection of anime, manga, and other such products.
Naturally, the inside of the store was filled with pilgrims making the trek to this holy land. Most of them could be classified either as “warriors” or as “gentlemen.” A few of them had brought their friends along as well, and the store was filled to the brim with heated arguments about who was best girl or what the anime of the season was.
Within that eternal battlefield there existed a single haven of peace and quiet. At the very back of the store was a special section roped off behind a pair of curtains. A big “No minors” allowed sign was printed on each curtain. As one may have guessed, it was the adult section of the store.
No matter how hardened a veteran one was, their voices naturally grew hushed as they entered, and they instantly began worrying about the gazes of others around them. Even the anime song playing in the background seemed stifled in such hallowed ground.
However, today, that tranquil atmosphere was abruptly shattered.
“W-Wait, Kaori. You can’t just go in there!”
“B-But Shizuku-chan...”
Two girls’ voices interrupted the silence. Their clear, high-pitched tone sounded just like the ringing of a bell. The warriors within all dropped what they were doing and timidly peeked out from behind their shelves. There was a single slender, feminine finger poking in from behind the curtains.
The men present all simultaneously thought Wait, don’t tell me she’s coming in here!? Damn, that means there’s no way out!
“No buts. The all-ages version is sold out, so just give it a rest already.”
“But... Nagumo-kun’s father’s company made this game. What if Nagumo-kun also played the... e-eighteen plus version of the game?”
“L-Look here. You wanted to get this game so you’d have something to talk about with Nagumo-kun, right? Are you planning on talking about the s-sex scenes with him in class or something? I think he’s more likely to run in the opposite direction if you try. Though maybe not for the reasons you think.”
In order to have something to talk about with her crush, Hajime Nagumo, Kaori had come here today to buy the game Hajime’s father had produced. However, because of its overwhelming popularity, the all-ages version was already sold out everywhere, and there were only a few copies of the 18+ version left. And even that was only because a few of the stores had accidentally ordered more stock than they had intended.
Considering her age, Kaori wouldn’t be able to buy the 18+ version anyway, but straightforward and fearless as she was, she was still determined to try.
“I-I know. But still... don’t try and stop me, Shizuku-chan! Sometimes a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do!”
“Yes, but this isn’t that time. Hey, no, wait, stop!”
There was a collective intake of breath as the warriors witnessed a girl burst through the curtains. For a moment everyone was at a loss for words, but then the muttered whispering began.
“Holy shit, she’s hot...” and the like.
The first sight that greeted Kaori as she barged into the 18+ section was a full size poster of a scantily-clad girl. She blushed to the tips of her ears, and then hurriedly looked down when she saw the dumbfounded gaze of every man in the section focused on her. Shizuku, who was standing behind her, grabbed her arm and tried to pull her out. However, Kaori wouldn
’t be deterred, and with her misguided resolution she said “I-I won’t lose here!” before taking another step into the forbidden sanctuary.
Shizuku kept desperately trying to pull Kaori back, but she was too embarrassed to be able to utilize much of her strength. And so, she was unwillingly dragged along behind Kaori, like a little girl lost in another world.
“Ah. S-Shizuku-chan, I found it!”
“W-What? Can you please stop dragging me further in?”
Heedless of her pleas, Kaori continued dragging Shizuku, who had tears in her eyes, deeper into the holy land until she reached the game she sought. As she picked it up and looked at the cover, Shizuku suddenly let out an embarrassed squeal. The reason, of course, being that there were a lot of girls in suggestive poses plastered on the front.
Shizuku quickly averted her gaze, but Kaori nonchalantly flipped the box over to see what was on the backside. As she examined the illustrations, she said something terribly tactless without much thought.
“H-Huh? Shizuku-chan, don’t you think this girl looks a lot like you?”
“What!? D-Don’t be ridiculous! I would never get on all fours with my butt sticking out like that!”
Shizuku, diligent as always, made sure to actually look before retorting, even though it made her blush bright red. However, her voice had been slightly louder than intended, and there was suddenly a spray of red as someone collapsed behind a shelf. That was soon followed by a shrill scream of “Don’t die on me, man! Damn, the bleeding just won’t stop!” It appeared someone had a bit too overactive an imagination.
“B-Besides, don’t you think this girl looks a lot like you, Kaori?”
“No way! I-I’d never do something so embarrassing as get on top of a man looking like that!”
There was another fountain of red as a second man collapsed from behind a different shelf. A second later someone screamed out, “Medic! I need a medic!”
Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest Vol. 1 (Premium) Page 33
