In a certain location there existed a dark cave where the rays of the sun never reached.
The inside of the cave was so silent that one could not even hear the rustling of insects.
There was no sign that human hands had ever shaped the rock, and the walls, floors,
and ceiling all appeared naturally formed. Still, despite the exceedingly natural
semblance of the cavern, it had not a single entrance or exit. One unnatural aspect of
this otherwise nature-shaped cave.
It was, of course, possible that an air pocket had given way to this enclosed space in
the ground. However, there was just one other irregularity sitting in the cave's center
that made it quite obvious that this cavern was man-made. A complex and detailed
circular geometric pattern carved into the ground. In other words, a magic circle. Were
anyone of this era to lay eyes on such a sophisticated circle, their jaws would surely
drop. Some of the more faint-hearted might even collapse on the spot. That was just
how impressive a circle it was.
Had it ever been discovered, then it would have been enshrined as a rare national
treasure, but as it was it sat languishing under centuries of dirt in the dark cavern. It
clearly hadn't been activated in ages. The magic circle sat there quietly, waiting for its
destined master to appear, just like the sacred sword Excalibur.
Then, for the first time in god knows how long, it began to glow. Tendrils of scarlet
mana began tracing their way around the circle's inscriptions. The light was faint at
first, no more than a pinprick, but it continued growing in intensity until the entire
room was set ablaze with scarlet light.
Finally, there was a blinding flash. The brilliant red light drove away the last vestiges
of darkness huddling in the corners of the cavern. It was a truly awe-inspiring sight.
Anyone present would have been convinced that whatever was coming from the other
side of the circle couldn't possibly have been human.
However, the light eventually began to fade, and two figures that at least appeared
human materialized in the center of the circle.
"What in tarnation?" One of the figures spoke, his ridiculous outburst destroying the
aura of solemnity.
As the light faded and darkness reigned once more in the cavern, the boy who had
spoken looked around in disappointment. He was, of course, none other than the
earthling who had been consigned to the depths of hell by one of his classmates during
an excursion in the Great Orcus Labyrinth— Hajime Nagumo.
Hajime had delved a further hundred floors past the hundredth floor that was thought
to be the end of the labyrinth, and had discovered Tortus' secret from the creator of
the labyrinth. In the house of the man the gods had labeled a maverick, Hajime had
discovered a magic circle that would take him back to the surface.
The mere thought of being able to return to the surface had left him elated after having
spent months in the harsh environs of the labyrinth, where he had to risk life and limb
every day just to survive. He had unconditionally believed that what awaited him on
the other side of the magic circle was warm sunshine and a gentle breeze. Instead, all
he found when he opened his eyes were the same rock walls he'd been gazing at for
the past few months. But yelling about it in a strange accent wasn't going to achieve
anything either.
As Hajime was wallowing in his despair, he felt someone tug on his sleeve. He turned
to look down at the girl standing next to him, a quizzical expression on his face. The
girl was so short that she barely came up to his chest.
She had wavy golden-blonde hair, and crimson eyes reminiscent of the red moon. Her
lips were a light pink, and her skin was as white as porcelain. At the moment her
eyelids were drooping sleepily. But despite that, she still looked like an exquisitely
crafted bisque doll. She was, of course, Yue— the girl Hajime had rescued from
imprisonment deep in the pits of hell, and the girl with whom he had first begun to
climb the stairs of adulthood.
In order to comfort him, Yue gently started explaining the situation.
"It's a secret passage… so he probably had to hide it."
"…Oh yeah. You've got a point there. This leads straight to one of the Liberators'
hideouts, so it makes sense that he'd need to keep it hidden."
Hajime scratched his head awkwardly. Can't believe I got so excited that I didn't even
realize something that simple.
Then he poured a little mana into his Treasure Trove, an artifact that opened a gate to
an interdimensional room where he could store and withdraw things, and pulled out
a green glowstone flashlight. Both Hajime and Yue could respectively use their innate
abilities or magic to deal with the darkness, but doing something routine like this
helped calm Hajime down.
Yue chuckled, realizing exactly why he was doing this. Not because she was making
fun of him, but because she thought it was kind of cute. For the sake of his own pride,
Hajime pretended not to hear her and instead swept his flashlight across the cave.
"Hm? What's that?" He stopped his pale green flashlight at a part of the wall that
looked distinctly different. There was a perfectly straight vertical line running up the
wall, and it stopped at a palm-sized heptagon carved into the wall. A different symbol
adorned each of the vertices, and one of them was something the pair had seen quite
often over the past few weeks. It was Oscar Orcus' personal crest.
Hajime pulled the proof of them having conquered the labyrinth, Orcus' ring, out of
the Treasure Trove and held it up to the heptagon. With a grandiose boom, the stone
wall parted, revealing a secret passage.
Hajime and Yue nodded to each other and stepped forward into the passage. They
didn't find any forks in the road, so they just kept going. There were a few more sealed
doors and traps along the way, but Orcus' ring opened or disabled them all
automatically. Both of them were on their guard, but that proved unnecessary as they
continued without incident… until finally they spotted a faint light in the distance.
It was the light of the outside world. Sunlight. The light Hajime had spent the last few
months, and Yue had spent the last few centuries, craving.
When they realized they were but a few steps from basking in it again, they came to a
halt and looked at each other. Unable to contain their joy, they grinned and started
running toward the light at the same time.
The light grew bigger as they got closer. Soon, they could feel wind blowing in from
outside. It was nothing like the stagnant air they'd been forced to breath for ages. It
was fresh and full of life. For the first time ever, Hajime realized what people meant
when they said the air tasted delicious. Both of them burst out into the light at the
same time. Onto the sweet, sweet surface.
More specifically, the part of the surface that was known to most as an execution
ground. It was nigh impossible to use magic beneath these odd cliffs, and deadly
monsters inhabited the bottom of the gorge. The gorge ran anywhere from one
kilometer deep at its more shallow ends, to two kilometers deep in places. It could
span anywhere from nine hundred meters wide to eight kilometers wide, depending
on the area, and it ran all the way from the Gruen Desert in the west to the Haltina
Woods in the east. People called it a great gash in the earth dividing the north and the
south.
Its formal name was the Reisen Gorge. And the cave Hajime and Yue had just exited
was located at the bottom of it. But even if they were deep in the bottom of a ravine,
they could still at least see the sun shining high overhead, and the wind rushing
through carried with it the familiar scent of soil and life. No matter how harsh a place
they had found themselves in, it was at least still the surface.
Hajime and Yue's smiles slowly grew wider as they gazed up at the sun with awe. And,
despite how expressionless she usually was, Yue's smile was if anything even wider
than Hajime's.
"We… really made it back…" Hajime lowly muttered, his voice thick with emotion.
"…Yeah." Yue's response was just as expressive. The reality of their escape finally
washed over them, and they tore their gazes away from the sun to look back at each
other. They stood that way for a second before hugging each other tight and screaming
at the top of their lungs.
"Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!! We did iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!"
"Yeah!"
Hajime lifted Yue up and started twirling her around. Their smiles were completely
out of place in the location that had been dubbed hell by the rest of the world. At some
point Hajime tripped on a rock, sending them tumbling to the ground. But they found
even that funny and started laughing hysterically while lying spread-eagle on the floor.
By the time their laughter had finally run out… they were surrounded by monsters.
Hajime stood up amidst the howls of monsters surrounding him on all sides and
grumbled to himself.
"Sheesh, how rude can you get? You could have let us enjoy ourselves a bit longer." He
pulled out Donner and Schlag before pausing for a second and tilting his head.
"Wait, I think I remember reading something about magic not working down here."
Back when he had just been summoned he had been paying close attention to his
classes during training and remembered the inability to use magic being one of its
main features.
"…It'll get dispersed. But that shouldn't be a problem," Yue replied. The reason people
couldn't use magic in Reisen Gorge was because the mana that went into the formation
of a spell was dispersed before the spell could activate. Yue's magic was no exception,
either.
However, Yue was still an ancient vampire princess that had once been feared as one
of the strongest creatures in the world. She possessed a massive amount of mana, and
now she had the magic stone accessory series at her disposal. All she had to do was
cast a spell so large and powerful that the gorge wouldn't be able to disperse all the
mana in time. Hajime smiled wryly when he heard how confident she sounded.
"How much more does it take?"
"Hmmm… About ten times as much."
So I'll need enough mana for an advanced class spell just for something simple, huh? That
would affect his range greatly.
"Ah, in that case I'll handle these guys. Yue, you just focus on keeping yourself safe."
"Aww… But—"
"This is like the worst possible place for a mage like you. You're at a huge disadvantage
here, so just leave it to me."
"Okay… If you say so." Yue reluctantly backed off. She was having a hard time accepting
being left out of their first battle on the surface. It probably hurt her pride a little too.
She was clearly pouting, after all.
Though it hurt him to say it, Hajime nonetheless put Yue out of his mind for the
moment and fired Donner. He hadn't even looked as he smoothly brought Donner up
and took perfect aim at his target. His movements were so fluid that the monsters
didn't even realize they were under attack. By the time they finally did, one of their
comrades had already had its head blown clean off. The rest of them all froze stiff,
unable to grasp what had just happened. Only the gunshot's echoes broke the silence.
As long as he used ten times as much mana, Hajime could still activate Lightning Field,
the spell essential to using his railguns. He smiled fearlessly as he surveyed his
opponents.
"Well, I wonder if you're any tougher than the enemies I faced down below… Let's find
out, shall we?" He brought his right foot back and slowly lowered his waist while
crossing his guns in front of his chest. His artificial left arm was thrust slightly forward,
and Schlag was held just a little lower than Donner. With his two guns he would now
be able to cover his back and front simultaneously. Hajime placed his prosthetic limb
a bit further out than the rest of his body in order to deal with any unexpected
situations. This stance was the fundamental aspect of the gun fu he'd pounded into his
body after long hours spent training in the abyss.
There was a murderous gleam in Hajime's eyes once he finished settling into his
stance. His pupils were cold, emotionless pools, hardened by the harsh conditions he
had lived through.
That chilling gaze alone was enough to cause all the monsters present to take an
involuntary step back. They could all feel it instinctively. The person they'd picked a
fight with was a ruthless "beast." The pressure was so great that a normal person
would have fainted from the intensity of his glare alone. Eventually one of the
monsters was unable to stand it and let out a wild roar before leaping forward.
"Graaaaaaaah!" However, not even a second later there was another loud bang and the
second monster had its head blown off without even a chance to react. The headless
monster slid to a halt, crumpling lifelessly on the ground where it stopped. A faint wisp
of smoke rose from Donner's muzzle. Hajime didn't even spare the pitiful husk on the
ground a single glance. His swirling torrent of bloodlust was already directed at the
remaining herd. What followed was more of a massacre than a battle.
Hajime didn't let a single one of them escape. Yes, each and every one of them cleanly
had their heads blown off. As the gunshots echoed louder and louder, the monster's
desperate cries grew fainter and fainter. In a mere five minutes, the ground was
littered with corpses of monsters.
He spun Donner and Schlag's cylinders, reloading them both before returning them to
the holsters strapped to his legs. After that, he tilted his head slightly as he surveyed
the mountain of bodies.
Yue trotted briskly up to him.
"…What's wrong?"
"Nothing, just feels like that was too easy… I'd heard the monsters in Reisen Gorge
were ferocious and brutal, so maybe we came out somewhere else?"
"…You're just too much of a monster, Hajime."
"That's a pretty harsh way of putting it. Well, I guess that just means the monsters in
the abyss were way stronger."
Hajime shrugged his shoulders indifferently and shifted his gaze from the monsters to
the canyon walls.
"Now then, we could probably scale these walls easily enough, but… what do you
think? They say one of the seven great labyrinths is in Reisen Gorge. Since we're
already here, wanna look around a bit while we head to the forest?"
"…Why the forest?"
"I mean, who wants to go to a desert after all that time surrounded by rock? Besides, I
bet there's more towns on the forest side."
"…Okay. You have a point there." Yue nodded in approval. Judging by how weak the
monsters were, it was clear the gorge wasn't the labyrinth itself. Which meant there
must have been a proper entrance somewhere. Hajime's Aerodynamic and Yue's wind
magic would be more than sufficient for scaling the walls, but they'd have to search
the gorge eventually, so there was no reason not to do it now.
Hajime poured a trickle of mana into the Treasure Trove that he was wearing on his
middle finger and pulled out Steiff. It was a large, American-style vehicle with a black
body. Unlike motorcycles back on earth, it didn't use gasoline to run as fuel: it was
powered purely by mana. Thanks to that it ran quieter than an electric car.
He had actually been hoping for a louder engine, since to him that was way cooler, but
he only knew how to make simple engines, so he wasn't able to make a more
complicated combustion one. He could control Steiff's speed by adjusting his mana
output. Due to Reisen Gorge's mana-scattering properties, he wouldn't be able to keep
it running for long.
Hajime stylishly mounted his motorcycle. Yue hopped on behind him, sitting
sidesaddle. She wrapped her arms tightly around Hajime's waist. Once she was
situated, she patted his stomach lightly with her arms and he quickly started pouring
mana into Steiff.
Reisen Gorge ran from east to west with almost no north-south variation. There were
almost no side routes either, so it was quite difficult to get lost.
As there was no worry of losing their way, Hajime drove Steiff forward at a leisurely
pace as they looked for anything resembling a labyrinth entrance. He had transmuted
a machine to the bottom of the motorcycle that smoothed out any ground before the
wheels hit it. Normally, an American-style bike would have a hard time dealing with
such rough terrain, but thanks to his transmutation they were able to drive through
the valley floor smoothly.
"Feels nice to ride like this, right, Yue?"
"…Yeah. It really does."
They were riding through the wind, basking in the light of the sun, and inhaling the
smells of the surface world. For them, that was more than plenty to make their drive
pleasant. Yue happily leaned her head against Hajime's back. Throughout their
leisurely drive, Hajime's hands alone kept moving. He didn't miss a single shot as he
continually dispatched the groups of monsters that came to attack them.
After a while, he heard a ferocious roar off in the distance. It was more intimidating
than the others. At the very least, it was stronger than the monsters they'd faced in the
gorge so far. With their current pace, they'd run into it in about thirty seconds.
Hajime poured more mana into Steiff, rounded a large curve, and found a massive
monster waiting for him at the end of the bend. It looked similar to the dinosaurs
Hajime had faced in the labyrinth, but this one had two heads. It was a two-headed T.
rex. But what was even more surprising was the rabbit-eared girl hopping to and fro
beneath it, desperately trying to escape its clutches.
Startled, Hajime stopped Steiff and gazed at the girl curiously.
"What on earth is that?"
"…A bunny girl?"
"I get that, but why is she here? Are bunny people the type that live in gorges?"
"…Not as far as I know."
"Then, is she one of those criminals that get thrown down here as punishment? I read
that Reisen Gorge is a famous execution grounds."
"…Hmm. Maybe she's an evil rabbit?"
Hajime and Yue had a casual conversation while they watched the bunny girl run for
her life. Neither of them seemed interested in saving her. It wasn't because they were
seriously worried that she might be some kind of dangerous criminal that was thrown
down here. Hajime simply didn't have any interest in strangers. He just thought saving
her would have been more trouble than it was worth.
Truly, this was a far cry from the old Hajime. Even if he hadn't been the least bit
capable, the old Hajime would have still tried to save her.
The situation was different from when he'd saved Yue. He didn't sympathize with this
bunny girl's plight one bit, and since he could see no benefits to saving her, he felt no
desire to. If he helped everyone that begged for it, he'd be old and wrinkled before he
could focus on his own goals. Besides, this world was nothing more than a prison to
Hajime. With a few exceptions, he had no interest in helping any inhabitants of this
world.
However, it was then that the bunny girl spotted Yue and Hajime. She got blown back
by the two-headed T. rex and crashed into a nearby boulder, but she recovered quickly
and scuttled behind it, staring at Hajime all the while.
The T. rex brought its claws down again, this time blowing the entire boulder away
along with her. She tumbled backward, using that momentum to run as fast as
possible… Right toward Hajime and Yue.
There was quite a bit of distance between them still, but the amplified echo of the
gorge let the bunny girl's words reach him.
"Finally! I finally found youuuuuuuu! Pleashe shabe meee! Eek, it's gonna kill me! I'm
gonna die! Shabe me, pleashe! I'm begging you!" Tears streamed down her face as she
ran with all her might. The two-headed T. rex chased after her, intent on devouring its
prey. At the rate things were going, she was destined to be dinosaur food before she
ever got to Hajime and Yue.
After being pleaded with so earnestly, Hajime…
"…She 'finally' found us? That's an odd choice of words. Also, she's got a train of
monsters chasing after her. Seems best not to get involved."
"…Yeah. Seems like a pain."
…still had no intention of helping her. Even her heartfelt cries couldn't reach him. In
fact, they just made things worse.
When she saw them turn away from her, the bunny girl realized they had no intention
of helping, so even more tears started rolling down her cheeks. It was amazing how
her eyes never seemed to run out of liquid to pour.
"Waiiiit! Pleashe don't abandon meeeee! I'm begging youuuuu!" she yelled, even
louder this time. If Hajime did nothing, she really would get eaten. Or she would have,
if it weren't for the fact that it bared its fangs at Hajime too. Once the T. rex noticed
Hajime's existence, it rested its hungry gaze on him and roared angrily.
"Graaaaaaaaaaah!" Hajime wasn't about to let that one go.
"What was that?" The monster had threatened his life. It wanted to eat him. Hajime's
body instinctively reacted to its bloodlust. This enemy bars your path! And enemies that
get in your way are to be killed! Those were the only words his mind screamed at him.
As it continued chasing down the bunny girl, the T. rex opened one of its jaws wide.
Despair filled her eyes as she turned and saw countless rows of teeth bearing down
on her.
"Ah, so this is where it all ends…"
But an instant before she became dinosaur chow— Bang! A sound completely alien to
her reverberated throughout the gorge. A red streak passed right between her two
twitching bunny ears. The speeding bullet flew right into the T. rex's open maw and
mercilessly pulverized its skull as it passed out the other end of one of its heads.
The destroyed skull sank to the floor, sliding a little before coming to a stop. Unable to
maintain its balance, the T. rex fell to the ground with a resounding thud.
The shockwave of the impact sent the bunny girl flying again… Directly toward Hajime.
"Kyaaaaaaaa! H-Help meeee!" She reached her arms out to Hajime as she hurtled
toward him. Her face was a mess of tears, and her lady bits were shamelessly exposed
for all to see. But even then, any normal guy wouldn't have hesitated to save her.
"Hell no, get away from me!" However, our esteemed hero simply wheeled Steiff back
a bit to avoid colliding with the bunny girl.
"Eeeeeeh!?" Still screaming in surprise, she fell to the ground a few inches in front of
Hajime with a sickening thud. She lay spread-eagle on the ground, her body
occasionally twitching. It appeared she was still conscious, but couldn't move due to
the pain.
"…What a pathetic rabbit." Yue said such harsh words nonchalantly, her head peeking
out from behind Hajime's shoulder to watch. Meanwhile, the two-headed T. rex had
successfully ripped its deceased head off, leaving just a normal T. rex with an extra
neck sticking out at an odd angle.
With its balance thus restored, the one-headed T. rex roared ferociously. That roar was
enough to shock the bunny girl to her feet. She was unexpectedly tough. Her face still
a mask of tears, she moved surprisingly swiftly and hid behind Hajime.
It seemed she was determined to rely on him until the end. While it did make sense,
since she'd die for sure on her own and Hajime had clearly dealt with its other head
even if she didn't know how… her ironclad faith in him still felt a little unnatural.
Not only was this their first meeting, Hajime was a human, a member of a race that
despised her people. Normally someone in her situation would have just used Hajime
as bait and ran off. The reason she wasn't was because she seemed to have some
unknown reason to trust him. Hajime suddenly remembered the words she'd said
when she first saw him. That she'd "found" him. He had definitely found that odd. But
the way she kept clinging to him had started annoying him, so instead of questions,
what came out of his mouth were insults.
"Hey, you. You walking joke of a bunny girl. I never said you could use me as a shield.
Come on, don't you have the courage to at least try a suicide rush before forcing your
problems onto other people?" Hajime said, clearly annoyed by the bunny girl clinging
on to his coat for dear life. He really didn't mince his words anymore. Behind him, Yue's
hands were pressed up against the bunny girl's cheeks as she tried to push the girl off
him.
"I-I don't have that kind of courage. And besides, if I let go you'll just try to abandon
me again, won't you?"
"Obviously. I have no reason to save some annoying bunny girl I don't even know."
"A-An instant rejection!? How can you say that…? Isn't there a shred of goodness left
in your heart? You wouldn't really leave an innocent beauty like me to die, would you?"
"I left my humanity behind in hell. And what kind of person has the gall to call
themselves a beauty?"
"Th-Then if you save me… I-I'll do a-a-any one thing you ask!" She blushed as she said
that. The whole thing was very, very cleverly played. Had the image not been ruined
by the tears and snot running down her face, it would have actually been perfect. She
hadn't been lying when she called herself a beauty either. Beneath all the grime and
tears, one could tell she really was quite pretty. Any normal guy would have fallen for
it even if they knew it was a trick. Unfortunately for her, Hajime was no normal guy.
"No thanks, I'm good. And get your filthy face away from me; you're getting my shirt
dirty." His savagery knew no bounds. It was enough to make one doubt he had any
human compassion left at all.
"F-Filthy… You didn't have to put it like that… I can't believe you! I am not—"
"Graagaaaaaah!"
"Eek. P-Pleashe sha—"
Angry at being ignored, the T. rex let out a bestial roar, interrupting the bunny girl's
protests. It then bent low, preparing to charge.
The bunny girl screamed hysterically and tried to wedge herself between Hajime and
Yue. Thoroughly annoyed by that point, Yue tried to kick the bunny girl off of Steiff,
but even after her face was covered in shoe prints she refused to let go. Her tenacity
was truly commendable.
The T. rex grew steadily more enraged as they continued to ignore it, until finally,
unable to stand it any longer, it charged forward.
Hajime reflexively brought his arm up and took aim at the T. rex's forehead. A gunshot
followed not even a second later, and a red streak of light flashed by as the bullet
pierced the T. rex's skull.
Its charge was abruptly cut short, and it fell on its side with a thunderous crash.
"Eh?" The bunny girl unconsciously let out a confused gasp. She peeked out from
behind Hajime's back to make sure the T. rex was dead.
"I-It's really dead… You killed that Dihedwa in a single shot…" Her eyes were as round
as dinner plates. Apparently that two-headed T. rex was called a Dihedwa.
Even as she looked down at the Dihedwa's corpse in shock, Yue relentlessly continued
to try and kick her off. However, her firm grip on Hajime wouldn't budge. Tired of
having her ears whack his eyes every few seconds, Hajime brought his elbow down on
the back of her head.
"Hawugh!?" She screamed incoherently and started writhing on the ground while
moaning, "My head. My heaaaad." Hajime gave her one last cold look before
nonchalantly pouring mana into Steiff.
She must have sensed the flow of mana because the bunny girl instantly hopped back
up and ran to Hajime before he could leave.
"You're not getting away from me!" For a bunny girl, she was surprisingly hardy.
"Thank you very much for saving me earlier! My name is Shea. I'm a member of the
rabbitmen tribe, Haulia! I know this is presumptuous of me, but could you please save
my family as well!? Please, I'm begging you!" And quite pushy as well.
Hajime gave the desperate bunny girl a sidelong glance, then sighed heavily. Of course
the first thing he'd run into after escaping hell would be this nuisance.
Seeing his exasperated expression, the bunny girl, Shea, fretfully repeated her plea
even louder.
"Please, you have to! I'm begging you, you have to save my family!" By the end she was
practically shouting. It seemed her family was in dire straits as well. Hajime finally
realized why she was so persistent. Her plea was so heartfelt that even Yue stopped
trying to kick her off for a moment.
When he saw just how desperate she was, Hajime reluctantly shrugged his shoulders.
Thinking he'd finally agreed, Shea breathed a sigh of relief. In reality… Hajime simply
activated his Lightning Field.
"Ababababababababaa!?" He had controlled the voltage so it wouldn't kill her, but it
would at least leave her paralyzed for a while. The shock made her rabbit ears and fur
all stand on end, like a cartoon character. After he released the spell, Shea fell to the
ground, twitching all the while.
"You never know. Give it your all, and maybe you'll be able to save them yourself. Good
luck, I guess. Alright, Yue, let's go."
"Okay…" He left behind some generic words of encouragement, if they could even be
called that, and began pouring mana into Steiff once more. However…
"I-I'll never let you get away!" Like a zombie, Shea dragged herself to Hajime's foot and
clung to it for dear life. Surprised, Hajime accidentally stopped sending mana to Steiff.
"What are you, some kind of zombie? I made that shock pretty strong… so how are you
still able to move? You're seriously starting to creep me out."
"…Yeah. She's creepy."
"Hic… why do you two have to be so mean… First you elbow me, then you kick me, and
now you shocked me! Don't you think you're being a little cruel!? I'm against violence!
If you want my forgiveness, then please save my family!" Even in her anger she didn't
forget to throw in her request once more. It actually was a little scary how she seemed
completely unharmed. The word "hardy" no longer did her abnormally sturdy body
justice. That wasn't the only thing weird about her, either: she also kept muttering odd
things like "If I mess up here, the future'll change," to herself.
Hajime had considered just starting Steiff up and shaking her off, but her absurdly
strong body and those prophetic mutterings of hers had finally sparked his curiosity
a little. Besides, he had a sinking feeling that even if he tried to shake her off, she'd
somehow cling on anyway… and even he wasn't so heartless that he'd drag her around
until she was a horrific bloody mess.
So he finally, reluctantly, decided to hear her out.
"Fine, fine, what is it? I'll at least hear you out, so let me go. And quit wiping your face
with my coat." Shea broke out into a beaming smile the moment those words left his
mouth, and she started surreptitiously wiping her face with his coat. She really had no
restraint. Hajime elbowed again to get her to stop, eliciting another strange squeal
from her.
"Hagyuun! Y-You hit me again… Even my father never hit me. I can't believe you'd keep
hitting such a beautiful girl over and over… Don't tell me you prefer men? Is that why
my feminine wiles didn't work on you earlier? That has—" Hajime brought his boot
down on Shea's head before she could slander him any further. A vein stood out on his
forehead.
"Who the hell are you calling gay, you damn rabbit! And how do you all know these
words!? You and Yue both, who taught you these things? Anyway, I can't tell if your
feminine wiles were supposed to be an actual attempt at seduction or a joke, but the
only reason they don't work is because I've already got a girl far prettier than you by
my side. I honestly don't get what gave you the idea you could beat her in the first
place." Hajime turned back to look at Yue as he said all that to the bunny girl. She was
blushing bright red, her hands cupping her cheeks as she squirmed shyly.
Her golden-blonde hair sparkled dazzlingly in the sunlight, and her slightly flushed
porcelain skin was flawless enough to charm any man that saw it.
She was no longer emaciated and weak from her long imprisonment either, as she had
been when he first met her. On top of that, her clothes were far more fitting as well.
She had on a frilly white dress shirt and a black mini-skirt, also with frills. Covering it
all was a white coat with blue lining. Adorning her feet was a short pair of boots and
knee-high socks. Each article of clothing was one Yue had sewn using the old clothes
they'd found in Oscar's room combined with materials harvested from monsters. They
were enchanted to grant her heightened stamina, and functioned very well as
defensive gear.
By the way, Hajime was decked out in a black coat with crimson lining, and the rest of
his outfit was also a combination of red and black. His left sleeve was joined to the
shoulder by a kind of special adhesive he'd crafted from monster parts, and could be
easily detached. He usually stowed it away in the Treasure Trove during fights to leave
his prosthetic arm completely unencumbered. That sleeve was Yue's masterpiece.
Shea faltered slightly after looking up at Yue.
They were both admittedly extremely beautiful women, but which one was more
beautiful was a subjective decision that came down more to one's preferences more
than anything. Objectively speaking, they were both about equal.
Shea had long blue-white hair, and azure eyes that sparkled like sapphires. Her
eyebrows and eyelashes were both blue-white as well. They complemented her pale
skin quite nicely, and as long as she stayed quiet most people would find her quite
alluring. Her limbs were slender, and her glossy rabbit ears and round tail only added
to her charm. Any fan of bunny girls would break down in tears of joy at the mere sight
of her.
Most conspicuous was… the one thing Yue lacked. Namely, boobs. Shea's in particular
were huge. The torn-off scraps of cloth barely covering them did more to emphasize
their presence than hide them. Without anything to hold them in place, they jiggled
suggestively every time she moved. Veeery suggestively. Just to remind everyone they
were there.
Basically, she had every right to call herself beautiful. Hajime was the weird one for
being so put off by her. The old Hajime would have done a Lupin Dive straight into
those soft valleys of hers, while screaming "Rabbit ears!" However… Well, anyway, his
current indifference had definitely hurt Shea's pride a little. And thus, she said the one
thing that was absolutely taboo…
"Y-Yeah well… I beat her in boobs at least! That girl's as flat as a board!"
—Flat as a board.
—Flat as a board.
—Flat as a board.
Her accusatory shout echoed over and over throughout the gorge. Yue suddenly went
silent, her earlier blush vanishing in an instant. Her bangs hid her expression as she
slowly dismounted Steiff.
Hajime simply looked up at the sky and brought his hands together, offering a small
prayer for the poor bunny. May your rabbit ears rest in peace… In all fairness, Yue
wasn't quite that flat, but her boobs certainly were on the small side. They weren't like
the sheer cliffs that currently surrounded the party.
Shea cowered before Yue like a mouse in front of a cat. Yue's next words were barely
whispers, but everyone heard them surprisingly clearly.
"Any last words?"
"If I apologize, will you forgive me?"
"...…"
"I'm sorry, I don't want to die! I really don't want to die!"
"Storm Gust."
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!"
Shea was swept up in a whirlwind and flung high up into the sky. Precisely ten seconds
after her screams faded away, she fell to the ground with a wet plop.
Her head was buried in the ground, and her limbs flailed wildly as she struggled to
free herself. She resembled a certain cartoon character, looking like that. It really was
a shame that a beauty like her carried herself so pathetically. Her tattered clothes had
been ripped up even further, and they could barely be called clothes at that point.
Upside down as she was, her private bits were exposed for all to see. Even a hundredyear-long love would fade if someone saw their loved one in such a state.
Yue wiped an imaginary bead of sweat off her brow, as if to congratulate herself on a
job well done, before trotting back to Steiff and remounting it.
"…Do you like big boobs?"
Now that was a loaded question if Hajime ever heard one. He was about to answer yes,
but thought better of it when he saw the bunny girl still doing her best impression of
a dog with its head stuck in the ground. He didn't want to end up like that.
"…Yue, the size isn't what's important. It's about whose boobs they are."
"...…"
He decided to dodge the question entirely, so he gave an answer that was neither yes
nor no. What a coward. Yue closed her eyes and pondered that for a minute, before
apparently accepting his answer and situating herself in the back seat.
Hajime could feel cold sweat running down his back. He cast about for a topic to break
the awkward silence, but nothing came to mind. Even MasterCard couldn't buy what
he needed here.
As he was looking around, trying to find something to talk about, he noticed Shea had
finally got her hands on the ground and was now earnestly trying to get her head
unstuck. Fortunately, that made for a great topic.
"She's still going… That girl has to be some kind of zombie. No matter how strong your
body is, no normal person would be fine taking that attack…"
"...…Yeah."
Though it did take her longer than usual to reply, she still at least gave him one. Hajime
breathed a sigh of relief as Shea popped out of the ground, her face and hair matted
with dirt.
"Ugh, that was terrible. This scene wasn't in my predictions, either…" Shea tearfully
patted down her tattered clothes before crawling back to where Hajime and Yue were
waiting. She still looked unhurt.
"What the hell is wrong with you? Being unhurt after all that isn't normal… Just what
are you?" Seeing that they were finally ready to listen, Shea settled herself down
comfortably under Hajime's puzzled gaze. Her expression grew serious once she'd sat
herself in front of Steiff. Though it was a bit too late for anyone to take her seriously…
"Allow me to reintroduce myself. I'm Shea Haulia, the daughter of the Haulia tribe
chieftain. The truth is…"
In essence, this was what Shea's story boiled down to. Shea's tribe, the Haulia, were a
member of the rabbitmen subspecies of beastmen. There were a few hundred of them,
and they lived in a village hidden deep within the Haltina Woods.
Though they possessed excellent hearing and were skilled at hiding themselves, their
stats were a lot lower than most other beastmen. Plus, they had no other special traits
to speak of. Because of that, they were considered weak by many others of their kind.
In general they were a kind, peace-loving race that treated the whole of their village
like family and cared deeply for each other. Most of them were also very good looking,
but unlike elves which were renowned for their beauty, the rabbitmen were more
known for their cuteness. Many collectors in the Hoelscher Empire coveted them for
that very trait, so they were a popular target for slave traders.
Among those rabbitmen, one of the tribes, the Haulia, had given birth to a strange girl.
Rabbitmen generally had dark blue hair, but this girl was born with very light blue
hair. Furthermore, she was an anomaly among beastmen, as she had mana running
through her body. What was even more shocking was that she could directly
manipulate that mana, and even use a certain special magic like most monsters.
This, of course, caused a huge uproar within the village. This was unheard of in the
entire history of rabbitmen—no, in beastmen history as a whole. Under normal
circumstances, anyone with the same power as monsters would have been persecuted
and ostracized. But this girl had been born to the one race that valued family above all
else. The one race that treated an entire village of hundreds as one big family. Which
was why the thought of abandoning her never even crossed any of the Haulia's minds.
However, the forest was home to its own country, Verbergen, which was located deep
within the sea of trees. If any of their ruling class learned of the girl's existence, she
would surely be executed. Such harshness was indicative of just how badly the
beastmen hated monsters.
And so, the Haulia decided to raise the girl in secret. Sixteen years passed. However, a
few days ago, someone from the outside learned of the girl's existence. In order to
escape Verbergen's retribution, the entire village decided to flee the forest.
With no set destination in mind, they decided first to head for the mountains in the
north. Their reasoning being that they would be able to live off the land there. The
mountains were harsh, but it was still better than being sold off as slaves in the
Hoelscher Empire or executed by Verbergen.
However, the very empire they were afraid of destroyed all of their plans. By an
extreme stroke of misfortune, they ran into imperial soldiers right outside the forest.
There was no way to know if they were on patrol, or just on a routine training exercise,
but in the face of a battalion-sized army they had no choice but to flee to the south.
The men stayed behind to give the women and children more time to escape, but the
gentle rabbitmen couldn't hold a candle to the battle-hardened soldiers of the
Hoelscher Empire, and in no time at all over half of them had been captured.
As a last ditch measure, the group ran toward Reisen Gorge in order to avoid complete
annihilation. They hoped that the inability to use magic around it would give the
soldiers pause, and their caution would overrule their desire to capture more slaves.
It was a complete gamble. There was no telling if the soldiers would tire before the
remaining rabbitmen were eaten by stray monsters.
However, contrary to all expectations, the imperial troops continued to give chase. At
the eastern and western ends of the gorge were stairs cut directly into the cliffs,
allowing one to descend safely. Most of the troops went back, but they left a battalion
to guard the stairs. Once the rabbitmen came under attack by monsters, they would
have no choice but to run right back into the waiting soldiers' arms.
As expected, monsters eventually came to attack the rabbitmen. Deciding they would
rather surrender to the Hoelscher Empire than be eaten, the Haulia were ready to run
back even if it meant slavery. However, the monsters would not allow them such a
luxury, and instead chased them deeper into the ravine. And so, the rabbitmen were
trapped within the gorge, forced to constantly run around to survive.
"…Before we knew it, our group of sixty had been whittled down to forty. At this rate
we'll all be killed. Please, please you have to save us! I'm begging you!" The grief on
Shea's face was nothing like the comedic expressions she'd had before when she was
crying.
Once she finished her story, Hajime nodded.
"I see." That simple, short statement was all he said in response. It seemed just like
Yue and Hajime, Shea was another one of the misfits of this world. The reason she was
so resilient was because she was most likely unconsciously strengthening her body
with mana manipulation. Maybe it was a form of atavism like Yue's ability.
Satisfied that the mystery had now been cleared up, Hajime looked squarely at Shea
and, after careful deliberation, gave his reply.
"No." Time itself came to a halt. Or at least, that was what it felt like.
Shea's mouth opened and closed wordlessly, her mind unable to comprehend what
had just come out of Hajime's mouth. It was only when Hajime started getting ready
to power up Steiff again that she finally came back to her senses and started
protesting.
"W-W-Wait a second! Why!? Isn't the normal reaction to smile reassuringly and say
'Oh, you poor thing, don't worry. I'll save your tribe!' or something!? Even I'm starting
to get fed up with this! What kind of heartless monster abandons a beautiful girl alone
in this dangerous gorge!? Hey, quit ignoring me. I won't let you get away no matter
how hard you try!" Hajime ignored Shea's complaints and tried to start Steiff again,
but was stopped when the bunny girl threw herself at him once more. The solemn
rabbit that had been sitting there moments ago vanished, and the worthless one
returned to take its place.
No matter how hard he tried, Hajime couldn't shake her off his leg, so he finally sighed
exasperatedly and glared at the rabbit.
"So what do I get out of saving your family?"
"Y-Y-You want a reward?"
"You've been exiled from your old kingdom, are on the run from the Hoelscher Empire,
and are considered dangerous elements by every other member of your species. So
far, it sounds like all I get for saving you is a heap of trouble. Besides, even if I do get
you out of this gorge, where are you going to go? From the sounds of it, you're all
doomed to get captured anyway. So are you going to ask for my help with that too?
Protect you from the Hoelscher Empire until you make it all the way to the
mountains?"
"Umm, I-I… B-But!"
"We have our own goals too, you know? Carrying someone as troublesome as you
around would make our job harder."
"But… But I saw you protecting us!"
"…You mentioned something like that before too. What do you mean, you saw? Does it
have something to do with your special magic?"
"This isn't the future I saw!" Shea wailed tearfully at how stubborn Hajime was being.
Hajime guessed that her strange utterances had something to do with why she was
acting independently from her tribe.
He wasn't exactly dying to know what it was, but since he'd heard her out thus far, he
figured he might as well ask. Shea was dumbfounded by Hajime's question for a
moment, before realizing this might be her last chance to convince him. Gesturing
wildly, she began explaining.
"Huh? Oh, uh, yes! My special magic is called Future Sight, and it lets me see into
possible futures. As in, if I choose x, y will happen kind of… It also just activates by
itself when I'm in danger. Though, the futures I see aren't absolute… Still, I promise I'll
come in handy! You'll see danger coming thanks to my Future Sight… I used it back
there too! It showed me a vision of you guys saving me! I'm so glad the future I saw of
meeting you two actually came true!"
As she had explained, Shea's Future Sight was a special magic ability that let her see
what future outcomes would result of certain choices. However, it consumed a great
deal of mana, enough to usually leave her exhausted after use. It also activated
automatically whenever Shea was in danger. Whether or not this danger was a direct
threat to her, or something that would indirectly harm her didn't matter. This took up
a great deal of mana too, but not nearly as much as activating it voluntarily did.
Specifically, it only took up a third as much.
From the sound of it, Shea had seen a future where Hajime was protecting her and her
family. Which was why she set out to find him.
"If you've got an ability like that, how did those Verbergen guys find you? Shouldn't
you have been able to avoid them because you can see the future?" The smile Shea
gave Hajime was one he couldn't read. He couldn't tell if it was self-deprecating, sad,
or simply her trying to act tough. It might have even been all three. Even her voice was
inscrutable.
"…The future is something we always have the power to change. At least, that's what I
believe. But there are some things you can't change no matter how hard you try… I
realize that again every time I fail to change something. I couldn't change the one
future I really wanted to. Maybe if I'd just tried a little harder, I could have…"
"You…" Hajime couldn't fathom what it must feel like to know the future. If it was a
future one desired, of course they'd happily be counting down the days until it came.
But what if the future one saw was full of tragedy? Could they really just sit there and
accept it as inevitable? He couldn't tell earlier because of her energetically annoying
personality, but maybe Shea had been lashing out against it all this time. And up until
now, there must have been countless other visions she couldn't prevent either. That
was the burden this bunny girl had to bear.
Even right now, her precious family was being captured and killed before her eyes
because she couldn't do anything about the future she saw. That explained why she
tried so hard to enlist their help, no matter how much they abused her. She was trying
to achieve that "little harder" she couldn't before.
Shea Haulia was literally betting the fate of her entire tribe on being able to enlist
Hajime's help. For the first time, Hajime's expression clouded over. He certainly could
understand the feelings of someone crawling desperately forward for the sake of their
desired future, trying to survive the only way they knew how. However, when he
thought of his own goals, he began to feel a little conflicted. That was how much
Hajime had changed.
Finally, he decided that no matter how hard she begged, he'd just forcibly leave her
behind… But before he could start Steiff, Shea found herself an unexpected ally.
"…Hajime, let's help her."
"Yue?"
"Oh! I knew you were a good person when I first saw you! I'm sorry for calling you flat
earlier!"
Shea's eyes sparkled excitedly, while Hajime's were filled with feelings of
bewilderment, as they both looked at Yue. But before anything else could happen,
Shea's unnecessary comments earned her a slap from Yue. The serious atmosphere
from earlier had all but vanished. It was only natural, though. Despairing one second
and jumping for joy the next was just how Shea was.
Yue turned away from Shea, who was rubbing her stinging cheek, and explained her
reasons to Hajime.
"…She can guide us through the sea of trees."
"Aaah, you've got a point there." There was a dense fog that permeated Haltina Woods,
and only the beastmen could navigate their way properly through it. Having a bunny
girl guide would certainly be a great help. They did have a makeshift plan for
navigating the forest themselves, but it was pretty rough and there was no guarantee
it'd work. Worst case, they could have captured a beastman and asked them to be their
guide, but having someone who would willingly guide them would be easier on their
conscience.
Considering how troublesome Shea's request was, though, Hajime still hesitated to say
yes. But Yue's next words blew away all of his hesitation.
"…Don't worry. Together we're stronger than anyone." Those were the same words
he'd said back in Orcus' room. They'd hold nothing back against anything that stood
against them, even if it was the whole world. As long as they had each other's backs,
they'd be stronger than anyone. Hajime smiled wryly; he never thought he'd have his
own words thrown back at him in such a manner.
Having the rabbitmen's help would definitely make navigating the woods a lot easier.
Of course, that came with the caveat that they would become embroiled in the
Hoelscher Empire and rabbitmen's little war. Hajime had no intention of purposely
sticking his nose into trouble, but avoiding the simplest option because it came with
some obstacles went against his personal creed. Enemies that stood in his way were
to be killed.
"You're right. You're absolutely right, Yue. We'll use everything we can. And kill
everyone that gets in our way. That's all there is to it."
"Yeah." Yue replied with her trademark as Hajime gently patted her head.
"Did they forget I'm still here?" Shea muttered to herself as she watched the two of
them flirt. Finally, Hajime turned around to look at Shea.
"Rejoice, you stupid rabbit. We're hiring you as our forest guide. In return, we'll
guarantee your family's safety. You better not have any complaints." He was agreeing
to her request, but the way he phrased it made him sound completely like a mafia boss.
Though, perhaps it was fitting as Shea had just gotten the cooperation of the kind of
demon that took down hordes of monsters without batting an eye. For her part, she
was overjoyed that she'd safely managed to bring about her desired future.
"O-Of course not! Thank you so much! Hic, really, dank you shoo mush!!" This time she
was crying tears of happiness. But for the sake of her comrades, she couldn't afford to
celebrate for too long. She quickly regained her composure and stood up.
"U-Umm, really, thank you so much for agreeing to help! M-May I ask what your
names…"
"Huh? Oh, I guess we didn't introduce ourselves yet, did we…? I'm Hajime. Hajime
Nagumo."
"…Yue."
"So Hajime-san and Yue-chan, then."
Shea repeated them to herself a few times to make sure she didn't forget. However,
Yue didn't seem satisfied with the way she was being addressed.
"…Call me Yue-san, you stupid rabbit."
"Fweh?" It was rare for Yue to order anyone around, and Shea clearly hadn't been
expecting it either. It appeared Shea had thought Yue was younger than her, which was
why she'd called her Yue-chan. But once Yue explained that she was an ancient
vampire princess, Shea got on her knees and started begging for forgiveness. It
appeared that Shea had managed to get on Yue's bad side. Though Hajime couldn't
exactly tell why Yue held such resentment against Shea… Just because she was always
staring hatefully at a certain part of Shea's body didn't mean that had to be the reason!
"Hey, get on already, you stupid rabbit." In the end, Hajime decided to ignore Yue's
complex entirely. Shea looked at Hajime blankly. That was hardly surprising.
Motorcycles didn't exist in this world. All Shea could tell was that this was some kind
of vehicle. Timidly, she edged herself onto the bike behind Yue.
The back seat was made of monster leather, and because of how small Yue was there
was more than enough space for Shea too. Shea wrapped her arms around Yue,
surprised by how soft the seat beneath her was. As she did so, her two deadly weapons
pressed against Yue's back.
Yue jumped a little as Shea's soft mounds made contact with her back, and she
suddenly stood up and crawled over Hajime so she was sitting in the front. She was
small enough that Hajime had no problem reaching over her to drive. It looked like
having Shea's boobs press up against her made Yue uncomfortable. She sullenly
leaned back against Hajime, and all he could do in response was smile awkwardly.
"Huh? What's going on?" Shea asked, clearly confused. But then she cheerfully sidled
forward and hugged Hajime's waist instead. Unlike Yue, Hajime didn't even notice and
nonchalantly started up Steiff. He definitely didn't even notice Shea's boobs pressing
up against him. That was an undeniable fact.
Unaware of the turmoil in their hearts, Shea inquisitively peeked her head out from
behind Hajime's shoulder and asked a question.
"U-Umm… I was so caught up in getting you to help that I forgot to ask, but… what is
this thing? Is it some kind of carriage? Also, Hajime-san and Yue-san, both of you used
magic back there, right? I thought you couldn't use magic inside the gorge…"
"I'll fill you in on the way."
That was all Hajime said before gunning Steiff's accelerator, sending them speeding
through the gorge. Shea let out a terrified scream as she watched the bike effortlessly
tear its way through the rough terrain. The canyon walls sped by as they raced through
the ravine.
Shea had her eyes firmly shut for the first segment of the ride, but her fear slowly
began to give way to excitement as she got used to Steiff's speed. Every time Hajime
rounded a curve or dodged a boulder she'd let out an excited squeal, since she'd finally
plucked up the courage to open her eyes and all.
On the way, Hajime briefly explained what Steiff was, how Yue could use magic inside
the gorge, and that his weapons were something akin to artifacts. By the time he'd
finished his explanation, Shea's jaw was hanging wide open in surprise.
"W-Wait… does that mean you two can also directly control mana and use specialized
magic?"
"Yep, we can."
"…Yeah."
Shea stared at them in astonishment for a few seconds before suddenly burying her
face into Hajime's shoulder, and then subsequently bursting into tears.
"…Now what? First you get all excited, then you get depressed, and now you're crying…
You're just one big bundle of emotions, aren't you?" Hajime said.
"…Is it too late to save her?" Yue added.
"What do you mean too late to save me? Save me from what? I'll have you know that
I'm a perfectly normal girl… I was just so glad to find out… to find out that I'm not
alone…"
"...…"
She must have felt terribly alone thinking she was the only person in the world with
the same power as a monster.
Obviously, her family must have showered her with a lot of love if they were willing to
hide her for sixteen years and then even abandoning their home for her sake. However,
despite all that, or perhaps precisely because of it, Shea must have always been
tormented by the fact that she was different from everyone else, which led to her
loneliness.
Shea's words must have resonated with Yue, as she suddenly lapsed deep into thought.
And while it was slight, her expressionless face grew even paler than usual. Somehow,
Hajime could just tell what she was thinking about. Chances were Yue saw a lot of
herself in Shea. They both had the ability to use specialized magic and control mana
directly, and neither of them had anyone they could have truly called a "comrade" in
their own time.
However, there was one definitive difference in their circumstances. Yue hadn't even
had a family that loved her. She wasn't exactly jealous of Shea per se, but there still
were a lot of complicated feelings swirling about inside her. And besides, Shea had
been able to find her comrades far sooner than Yue ever did. From Yue's perspective,
Shea must have been quite blessed.
Hajime gently patted the top of Yue's head. For Hajime, who had been born in the
peaceful country of Japan and raised with love by both of his parents, it was impossible
to truly understand the despair Yue must have felt at not only being the only one of
her kind, but also being forced to bear the solitary title of queen. Which was why he
didn't know what to say to her. All he could do for her was remind her that she wasn't
alone anymore.
He may have been transformed in that labyrinth, but he still had enough of his old self
left to remember to be kind to those close to him. And the one who had preserved that
humanity of his was none other than Yue. Had he not met Yue when he had, there
would certainly have been nothing human about him left. Hence, Yue was currently
Hajime's only remaining pillar of support. As proof, the only reason Hajime planned
on keeping his promise with Shea was because of her. He was even ready to fight back
against the empire if they started targeting the Haulia clan.
While Hajime's attempts at comforting Yue were pretty clumsy, his heartfelt feelings
got across to her, and she relaxed the tension she hadn't realized she'd been holding
in and leaned back into Hajime's lap. She was just like a cat looking to be stroked by
her owner.
"Umm, did you forget about me again? Shouldn't you be saying something like 'You
must have had it tough, being all alone this whole time. But it's okay now, because I'm
by your side,' or something? I'm clearly depressed right now, so shouldn't you be
cheering me up? This is like the easiest opportunity to get on a girl's good side. But no,
you just go and ignore this perfect chance and start flirting with someone else. You
guys are starting to make me feel lonely! Let me in too! Besides, you two…"
"Shut up, you worthless rabbit!"
"…Okay… Hic…"
Shea suddenly started yelling in Hajime's ear in a tearful voice, but she was quickly
silenced by Yue and Hajime. Though, to be fair, it was pretty cruel of the two of them
to keep flirting when there was a crying girl sitting right behind them. Worse, they got
mad at her when she was well within her rights to get mad at them. However, Shea's
one redeeming feature was her hardiness. She had already mentally switched over to
a new goal. That was how fast she rebounded from failure. Alright, first I'm gonna get
them to call me by name. I finally found the comrades I've been looking for, so there's no
way I'm letting them get away that easy!
They continued like that for a while, alternating between Shea growing noisy and Yue
and Hajime yelling at her to pipe down, until finally they heard the roars of monsters
in the distance. Quite a few of them, too.
"Ah! Hajime-san, we're almost to where everyone else is waiting! Those monsters'
howls must mean that… th-they're close! Father and the others are very close!"
"Quit yelling in my ears! I can hear you just fine. I'm gonna speed up now, so hold on
tight."
Hajime poured more of his mana into Steiff, accelerating it even further. The canyon
walls merged into a gray blur as they sped by at an incredible pace.
There was so much mana going into Steiff that the entire bike was glowing crimson. It
took only thirty seconds to get to the source of the howling. Hajime rounded one final
curve, drifted around a boulder, and saw a number of rabbitmen under attack by a
group of monsters.
Screams of terror echoed throughout Reisen Gorge. The rabbit ears were all scurrying
to hide behind boulders or squeeze into crevices. A number of rabbit ears could be
seen sprouting behind various boulders. From what Hajime could tell, there were
around 20 pairs. All told, it seemed like there were around 40 people running around.
Terrorizing them from above was a group of flying monsters, a breed that had been
rare even in the depths of the abyss. They resembled the wyverns common in fantasy
games. Their bodies were around three to five meters long, and sharp claws studded
their legs like the spikes on a morning star. Their tails too, were spiked.
"H-Hyverias…" Shea said in a trembling voice. It seemed those wyvern-like raptors
were called Hyverias. There were six of them in total. Currently, they were circling high
above the rabbitmen, as if appraising their prey.
Finally, one of them decided to make a move. It dove toward one of the boulders some
rabbitmen were hiding behind, did a flip in midair, and sent its tail crashing down onto
the boulder with all the force of gravity behind it. With a thunderous impact, the
boulder was shattered to pieces, and screams echoed from the exposed individuals as
they scurried away as fast as possible.
Tired of waiting, the Hyveria opened its jaw wide, attempting to eat the slowest of the
rabbits. Specifically, two of them. One of the youngest children's legs had given out on
them and one of the men had stayed behind to try and protect him.
Despair flickered in everyone's eyes. Everyone thought that the both of them were
doomed to be Hyveria fodder in another few seconds. However, someone had arrived
who wouldn't allow that.
The monster of the abyss had given his word that he would protect them, so protect
them he would. Bang! Bang! Two gunshots reverberated throughout the gorge. At the
same time, two crimson streaks shot through the sky. The first passed cleanly between
the brows of the Hyveria that was trying to eat the pair of rabbitmen. Its head
exploded into a thousand flesh chunks, and its body veered to the side of the cowering
group as it fell to the ground, raising a dust cloud in its wake as it slid across the
canyon.
There was a terrifying howl behind them at the same time. Without even the time to
process what had just happened, the rabbitmen all turned to the source of this new
noise to see that another one of the Hyveria's had gotten a claw blown clean off. It had
somehow managed to sneak right behind the cowering pair of rabbitmen.
It had probably hoped to launch a sneak attack on the pair while their attention was
focused on the Hyveria coming at them from the front. The second bullet was what
had blown its arm off. With its balance destroyed, the second Hyveria crumbled to the
ground, writhing in pain.
"Wh-What…" The adult rabbitman's gaze flitted from the dead Hyveria in front to the
one screaming in pain behind him, his jaw open wide in absolute amazement.
A few more gunshots followed right after, and the Hyveria that was writhing on the
ground was turned into a pincushion. It gave one last pitiful high pitched scream
before it died, its torso more or less blown to bits by that point. There was another
resounding thud as it collapsed.
Enraged at the deaths of their comrades, the remaining Hyverias all attacked at once.
The rabbitmen, frozen stiff with fear, suddenly heard a noise completely alien to them.
Their sensitive rabbit ears picked up on a strange high-pitched keening, like the sound
of something letting off steam. As they all turned as one to see what was the source of
the sound, they saw a strange black vehicle of some sort rushing toward them at high
speed. There seemed to be three people riding atop it.
One of which was a girl they all recognized. She had disappeared earlier this morning,
and the entire clan had been out looking for her. Worried about her family as she had
been, there was none of the usual cheer in her expression that morning. She must have
felt responsible for her clan's plight, as her expression had been filled with guilt.
Everyone had assumed the reason she'd vanished was because she was worried about
them and had headed out to try something rash. Because of that, they had foregone
caution in their haste to find her, and had been caught by the Hyverias. They had
expected to be wiped out there without ever finding her, but… There she was, standing
at the back of the weird black vehicle, waving happily. Her usual innocent smile was
plastered on her face again. Everyone stared at her in disbelief.
"Everyone… I've found help!" Her familiar voice brought them all back to reality, and
the fact that they really were saved finally hit them. And as it did, they all yelled out
her name.
"Shea!?" Hajime clicked his tongue irritably as he watched Shea happily wave to her
family. He, of course, didn't let Steiff's speed drop at the distraction.
It wasn't her happiness that bothered him, but the fact that she was leaning all her
weight against him in order not to fall off, which of course meant that every time she
happily jumped up and down, her dreadnought-class boobs whacked into the top of
Hajime's head. In fact, the reason he had missed his second shot earlier was because
her boobs had distracted him.
Annoyed by her continued jumping, Hajime grabbed Shea by what remained of her
clothes. She looked down at him questioningly. Because he was still facing forward,
she couldn't tell what kind of expression he had, but for some reason she had a bad
feeling about this. She questioned him in a timid tone.
"U-Umm, Hajime-san? What's wrong? Why are you grabbing my clothes like that?"
"If you're just going to get in my way, I'd rather put your energy to good use in helping
me out."
"Wh-What do you mean… P-Put it to good use how?"
"Oh, nothing much, just throw you to the pack of starving monsters."
"W-Wait, what…? Ah, please don't lift me up like that. Please stop looking like you're
about to throw meeee." Shea struggled helplessly against Hajime's iron grip, but his
strength stat was over nine thousand! She never had a chance.
Hajime drifted Steiff with just one hand, then used the centrifugal force of his turn to
lob Shea at the group of Hyverias flying overhead.
"Have at them, you worthless rabbit!"
"Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"
Shea flew through the sky with a surprising amount of speed. Her screams could be
heard throughout the gorge. Her family all yelled out in alarm, their eyes open wide.
In fact, this turn of events was so surprising that even the Hyverias were taken aback.
Even when she was right in front of them, they did nothing more than stare at her,
their bodies stiff with surprise.
That moment of hesitation was what Hajime had been waiting for. The still Hyverias
made for great target practice. Four gunshots rang out, and four Hyveria heads were
blown into oblivion.
It was all so sudden that they didn't even have time to cry out in pain before they were
dead. And so, four headless corpses fell to the ground. Hyverias were considered even
more dangerous than the Dihedwa Shea had encountered earlier, but Hajime dropped
the entire flock like it was nothing. Having seen such an overwhelming display of
power, the rabbitmen were at a complete loss for words.
But the screams of a familiar girl brought them back to their senses.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Save me pleaseeee! Hajime-saaaaaaan!" They all quickly
started running to where Shea was landing, but Hajime easily outstripped them all
with Steiff, and drifted to a halt underneath her landing point before suavely plucking
her out of the air. He then unceremoniously dropped her onto the ground.
"Owie! Ugh, you don't have to be so rough with me, you know? I demand better
treatment. I want you to treat me nice like you do with Yue-san." Teary-eyed, Shea
began protesting her rough treatment. It wasn't like Shea had any particular romantic
feelings for Hajime. She had just met him a few hours ago, after all.
However, the fact that he was the "hope" she had seen in the depths of despair led her
to have a great deal of unwarranted trust in him. Regardless of how brusquely he
treated her, she seemed certain he wouldn't break his promise. Besides, Hajime was
the same kind of anomaly that Shea was. That alone was enough to make her feel a
sort of kinship with him.
Furthermore, he treated Yue, who was also an anomaly like her, very tenderly. Despite
the short time they'd known each other, that much was obvious to Shea. Frankly
speaking, Shea was jealous of their intimacy. So it wasn't love, but just a desire to be
pampered.
Her short stint as a flying bunny girl had left her clothes even more tattered than they
already were. She really did look pitiful, sobbing on the ground dressed in nothing but
rags. Maybe I did go a little too far… Hajime thought. Reluctantly, he reached into his
Treasure Trove and pulled out a spare coat that he then dumped on Shea's head. He
was tired of her bursting into tears at every little thing.
However, Shea was surprisingly pleased by the gift. She stared at him blankly for a
moment before realizing that he'd given her a coat, and beamed happily as she
wrapped it around herself. It was a white coat, and looked identical to the one Yue was
wearing. Yue had sewed the extra in hopes of getting Hajime to match outfits with her.
"O-Oh my! Hajime-san, you should be more honest with yourself! Giving me a coat that
matches with Yue… Are you trying to make a move on me? Well, unfortunately, I'm not
that easy. There's an order to these things, you know?" Shea fidgeted shyly as she
played with the hem of her coat. Feeling his annoyance rise up again, Hajime silently
pulled out Donner and fired it at Shea's forehead.
"Hakyun!" The bullet he had fired was coated with a rubbery leather farmed from
monsters and was packed with far less blastrock. It was meant for non-lethal shots.
However, it still hurt, and Shea arched back from the impact of the blow before she
collapsed to the ground and rolled around in pain, screaming "My head… My heaaaad!"
Of course, being as sturdy as she was, Shea quickly recovered and started hotly
protesting her treatment once more. Hajime shut her up in the usual fashion, and the
rabbitmen all started crowding around Shea before the cycle could continue further.
"Shea! You were safe!"
"Father!"
The first one to reach Shea was a rabbit-eared man in his mid-forties, with cropped
navy blue hair. Though as far as Hajime was concerned, there was no value in putting
bunny ears on an old dude. He watched as Shea spoke with her father, taking in how
strange this looked from an earthling's perspective. Once they were done reaffirming
each other's safety, they both turned to face Hajime.
"You would be Hajime-dono, correct? My name is Cam Haulia. I'm Shea's father, and
the chieftain of the Haulia tribe. You have my deepest gratitude for saving both my
daughter and the rest of my tribe. And I've heard that you're even going to assist us in
our escape… As both a father and a chieftain, I simply cannot thank you enough." The
rabbitman named Cam bowed his head deeply as he finished. Behind him, the rest of
his tribe followed suit.
"Well, thanks are all well and good, but don't forget, you're going to be guiding us
through the sea of trees after this. Also, I'm surprised you all trust me so easily. I
thought humans and beastmen didn't get along too well…" He had almost forgotten
because of how eclectic Shea was, but the beastmen were supposedly being
persecuted by the other races. In fact, the reason they were stuck in this gorge in the
first place was because of humans. Yet despite that, they were all bowing their head to
Hajime, another human, and truly seemed to believe he would save them. While it may
have been true that he was their only hope at this point, he still found it suspicious
that they seemed to harbor no resentment toward him at all, and that they were so
easily willing to accept him.
Cam smiled awkwardly as he replied.
"You're someone Shea trusts. That's why we're also putting our faith in you. We're all
one big family, so…" Hajime was half amazed, half completely dumbfounded. No
matter how kind a people they might be, trusting a complete stranger simply on the
word of one of their own showed an utter lack of wariness.
"Ehehe, don't worry, Father. Hajime-san might be cruel towards women, demand
compensation for everything he does, and mercilessly use people as bait, but he'd
never break a promise or trample on the hopes of someone else! I'm sure he'll protect
us!"
"Hahaha, I see, I see. So what you're saying is he's just shy. In that case, we're in good
hands."
At Cam's words, the surrounding rabbitmen all started murmuring at once. Sentences
such as "I see, he's just shy," and the like. They all nodded to themselves while gazing
kindly down at Hajime.
Hajime angrily pulled out Donner, but before he could do anything, he got blindsided
by a surprise attack.
"…Yeah, Hajime's really shy (in bed)."
"Yue…"
His face cramped up at that, but he figured if he kept arguing for too long they'd just
have more monsters to deal with, so he instead focused on getting everyone ready to
leave. Once all forty-two rabbitmen were ready, he started leading them to the gorge
exit.
They ran into many monsters along the way, as a caravan of defenseless rabbitmen
made for an easy target, but not a single monster got past Hajime. Any time something
that threatened them showed up, Hajime would promptly shoot it down without
mercy.
With every gunshot, another of Reisen Gorge's ferocious monsters met its end, unable
to put up even a modicum of resistance. The rabbitmen were all astonished at how
easily he dispatched monsters that others would struggle to even escape from. Before
long, they all respected him for his overwhelming strength. The little bunny children
all stared at Hajime with glowing eyes, like he was their hero.
"Fufufu, Hajime-san, look! All the kids are staring at you! Why not give them a little
wave at least?" Seeing how uncomfortable Hajime was at being adored by the children,
she started poking fun at him. An angry vein pulsed on his forehead, and he wordlessly
fired Donner at her.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Awawawawah!?" The rubber bullets headed straight for her feet, and Shea had to do
an impromptu tap dance to avoid them. Having gotten used to this spectacle, Cam only
smiled wryly while Yue just looked tired of the ongoing skit.
"Shea seems to have taken quite a liking to you, Hajime-dono. To the point that one
would suspect she might… Well, I suppose she is getting to that age now. As her father,
I do feel a little sad about it. But I'd be relieved if it was you I entrusted her to, Hajimedono…" Cam seemed to be completely unconcerned about the fact that his daughter
was still being shot at, and tears pooled in the corners of his eyes as he spoke about
her growth.
"Someone save meee," Shea screamed, but the other rabbitmen also just watched with
warm expressions as she danced around a storm of bullets.
"There's something wrong with you guys. You look at this and that's what goes through
your heads?
"…They're weird."
As Yue had said, there was definitely something odd about these people's idea of
common sense. Or perhaps they were naturally inclined to be airheads. Though there
was no way to tell if that was something specific to the Haulia clan in general, or
applicable to all rabbitmen.
Soon enough, the party arrived at the staircase that would lead them out of Reisen
Gorge. Hajime used his Far Sight skill to scout out the area, and his first impression of
the stairs was that they were quite an impressive feat of engineering. The staircase
was actually a series of switchbacks cut directly into the cliff face. Each switchback
went about fifty meters before turning. Past the staircase was the sea of trees, of which
only a glimpse could be seen from down in the gorge. It would take an average person
about half a day to go from the exit of the gorge to the entrance of Haltina Woods.
Shea realized Hajime must be doing something to magnify his sight, so she timidly
asked him,
"Do you see any imperial soldiers?"
"Not sure. It's possible they gave up and went home, but…"
"U-Umm, if we do run into them… Hajime-san… what will you do?"
"What do you mean?" He tilted his head in confusion, and Shea took a moment to steel
herself before continuing. The other Haulia members all perked up their ears in order
to listen in.
"Our opponents this time wouldn't be monsters, but soldiers… Other humans like you,
I mean. Will you really be able to fight them?"
"Worthless rabbit, didn't you say you saw me helping in the future you got a glimpse
of?"
"Yes, I did. I definitely saw you fighting imperial troops, Hajime-san, but…"
"Then what's there to be worried about?"
"I'm not exactly worried; I just wanted to make sure. Protecting us from the empire
might make you into humanity's enemy. I was just wondering how you felt about
fighting your own people…"
All of the Haulia silently gazed at Hajime. The smaller children obviously didn't fully
grasp what was going on, but they could tell the atmosphere was tense and that all the
adults were looking at him, so they did too.
However, Hajime was completely unfazed by the serious atmosphere and answered
frankly.
"I don't really see a problem with it."
"Huh?"
Despite Shea's serious tone, Hajime replied casually, without a hint of doubt.
"I mean, what's wrong with turning all of humanity into my enemy?"
"B-But I mean, they're your people, aren't they?"
"Aren't you guys being chased by 'your people' right now, too?"
"I mean, I guess that's true, but…"
"Besides, I think you guys are misunderstanding something."
"What do you mean?" This time it was Shea who tilted her head in confusion. The other
Haulia were all puzzled as well.