A lone figure stood in a large room that was dimly lit by green glowstone. A massive
pair of double doors opened behind him. There were two rows of pillars in the room,
spaced apart at even intervals.
The wide space was reminiscent of a temple. But its solemn majesty was marred by
how badly damaged the room was.
The figure silently stared at the room's far wall, envisioning the object that had once
rested there.
A hesitant voice called out to him from behind, interrupting his reverie by saying,
"Hajime-kun."
Hajime looked over his shoulder and replied, "Kaori. How's it looking?"
"Everything's going smoothly. In fact, I even managed to get more materials than you
asked for. Thanks to the compass, I can instantly tell where the best ore deposits are
located. And none of the monsters here are a threat."
"Well, you do have the body of an apostle, so that's no surprise."
A day had passed since they'd left the Demon Lord's castle.
Hajime had shoved all the demons in a special prison he'd found in the castle that cut
off all magic, then locked them in there with a week or so worth of food. After that, he
returned to the Schnee Snow Fields to dig up the artifacts he'd hidden earlier. And
once that was done, he'd immediately teleported to Heiligh, where he'd downed all
the mana potions available, as well as had the nation's best doctors provide him with
their mana.
Meanwhile, Liliana had explained the situation to her subjects and gotten everyone
ready to evacuate.
He'd also taken everything of value from the capital's warehouses to craft the artifacts
people needed right away, including the high-speed travel ones he gave to the
emissaries who needed to visit other nations.
Once he finished all that, he'd returned to the Reisen Gorge and used Oscar's ring to
open up the shortcut leading to his house at the bottom of the labyrinth. He'd left Myu
and Remia there, then gone resource collecting with Kaori.
He'd already restored his Demon Eye and prosthetic arm with the materials he'd found
in Oscar's workshop. And so, he'd chosen to use his extensive knowledge of the
labyrinth combined with his Synergist skills to find good spots to excavate while Kaori
made use of the Compass of Eternal Paths. They gathered materials at a breakneck
pace, and in just a day they'd already amassed several dozen tons of ore.
"It's a shame I couldn't find any Divinity Stones large enough to produce Ambrosia…
The ones outside Oscar's house were marble-sized at best."
"Well, it is a legendary treasure, you know? If anything, I lucked out by finding the one
I did so early on in the abyss. The fact that you even found small fragments of them is
good enough. Nice work."
"I'm glad I could help," Kaori said with a smile. Then, she handed her Treasure Trove
over to Hajime, stood beside him, and examined the mound of rubble piled up by the
far wall.
"This is where you first met Yue, isn't it?"
The half-melted pile of metal was all that remained of the cube that had trapped Yue
for centuries.
Hajime nodded, his eyes vibrant and clear. Gone were the dark emotions that had
eventually sublimated into a nihilistic rejection of everything. Instead, his eyes were
full of hope as he recollected fond memories.
"When I first saw her, I thought I'd stepped into a horror movie or something. It was
pitch black, and the only thing I could see was her crimson eyes staring at me. And
then, when I got closer, I saw her hair was long and wispy, like a ghost's. You know,
when Yue first cried out for help, I almost just shut the door on her and moved on. I
thought that nothing good could've come from getting involved with a dangerous girl
like her."
"Hehehe… I guess it must've been pretty weird to find a girl down here in the middle
of the abyss."
"I know, right? Besides, back then the only thing I cared about was surviving. Thinking
back on it now, I'm surprised I even bothered to help her at all."
Kaori chuckled again and stated, "And now she's so important to you that you'd
destroy the world to get her back. Life sure works in mysterious ways, huh?"
"Tell me about it."
Hajime and Kaori closed their eyes as the conversation came to a close. They both
thought about Yue in that moment. She was the girl he loved most, while she thought
of her as a dear friend.
The two of them eventually opened their eyes at the same time, their pupils burning
with fierce resolve.
"We'll get her back," Kaori whispered.
"Yeah, no matter what," Hajime replied.
They quietly tapped their fists together after hardening their resolve.
"Oh yeah, uh… I've been giving this some thought and…" Hajime suddenly mumbled
those words awkwardly.
"Hm? What're you talking about?" Kaori asked with a puzzled look.
"Kaori, I think you should stay back here when we head to the Sanctuary."
"Huh? Why…? Oh. You're worried Ehit might deactivate me again?"
For a moment, Kaori was so hurt that tears sprung to her eyes, but then she caught on
to Hajime's reasoning.
"Yeah. I have come up with some artifacts to resist his power, but I'm not sure how
effective they'll be. He's the one who made that body of yours, so it's honestly hard to
tell."
"You… have a point."
Kaori understood where Hajime was coming from, and his concerns were valid. Plus,
if she returned to her original body, she wouldn't be strong enough to survive within
the Sanctuary. That being said, it still hurt being told that she shouldn't accompany
him to the final battle. Kaori's desire to get Yue back was just as strong as his, after all.
Hajime saw her pouting and added, "Please don't make that face. Look, even if we get
Yue back, it won't mean anything if the students down here die, right? I mean, I might
not care, but I'm sure you'd be sad. Besides, I need someone to protect Myu and Remia.
I plan to leave them here, in Orcus' house, but there's no guarantee even this place is
safe."
"Ughhh," Kaori groaned. But she couldn't argue. Aside from Hajime, Shea, and Tio, she
was the only one capable of fighting apostles on equal footing. Besides, since Hajime
had spread propaganda that claimed the attacking army was composed of "fake"
apostles led by a fake Ehit, it would help morale for Kaori to stand on the frontlines as
a "real" apostle.
Most important of all, Kaori's main strengths lay in healing. Hajime could give the
armies of Tortus the firepower they needed to fight on equal footing with Ehit's forces,
but he couldn't replicate Kaori's magical abilities. If she stayed back, she'd be able to
keep casualties to a minimum. The more she thought about it, the more she realized
Hajime was right.
"Haaah, I guess I have to. It doesn't sit right with me, but I don't want to burden you
guys. Plus, there are a lot of people I want to keep safe here, too… Fine, I'll protect
everyone until you guys return. And I won't let anyone lay a finger on Myu-chan or
Remia-san, I swear!"
"Thanks. It's reassuring to know you'll be here to protect everyone."
"Yep, you can count on me," Kaori said with a somewhat forced smile. But a second
later, she realized something and her smile became genuine.
"Mhm, you can definitely count on me! I'll protect Ai-chan-sensei and Lily too!"
"Why're you bringing those two up?"
"Oh, and I'll keep Yuka-chan safe as well, of course!"
"What does Sonobe have to do with any of this?"
"Don't you think it's time you stopped playing dumb?"
"...…"
Kaori gave Hajime a Yue-tier glare and muttered loud enough for him to hear, "There's
a bunch of other girls who look like they're infatuated with you now… I can't believe
you're such a womanizer, Hajime-kun. I haven't even become someone special to you
yet, but you're already adding more girls to your harem. I'm gonna tell Yue when she
gets back."
Kaori gave Hajime a petulant look, and he raised an eyebrow. He wasn't annoyed by
her attitude or anything. Honestly, he was more surprised at himself for wanting to
deny what she'd just said.
Hajime squatted down and reached for the mound of crumbled sealstone that had
once been Yue's prison.
"You know, I really felt that punch back then. Pretty sure that was what snapped me
out of it."
"Huh? Oh, you mean when you went all edgy? Uh, sorry about that. It must have hurt,
right?"
It took Kaori a second to figure out what Hajime was referring to, but once she did, she
looked down apologetically.
Vivid crimson sparks skittered across the floor. Hajime had used his transmutation on
the pile of sealstone. Back then, destroying the prison had taken every ounce of
strength he possessed, but now the sealstone's mana-resistant properties didn't seem
to affect him at all.
As he turned the rubble into stacks of palm-sized cubes, he shrugged his shoulders
and said, "That punch shook me to my core. And so did the words you said."
"Uh, umm, I might have gotten a bit carried away…" Kaori mumbled and fidgeted about
as she prepared for a scolding. However, Hajime's next words caught her by surprise.
"I'm pretty sure no one else could have moved my heart like you did."
"Huh?"
"Well, I guess Shea and Tio might have been able to, but that's about it. If anyone else
had done the same thing, it wouldn't have worked."
"You mean…"
"I guess you're more special to me than I realized."
"Hajime-kun…"
Hajime finished processing the sealstone and rose to his feet. Sure, he'd come here to
reminisce, but his main objective had been to secure a large supply of sealstone.
Kaori looked up at him, and his kind expression reminded her of the old Hajime she'd
known before he'd fallen into the abyss. That made her heart start to beat faster.
"Thanks, Kaori. Thanks for always thinking of me. I figured I should say that before I
go off to kill a god."
"Don't say that. You make it sound like you're never coming back."
"Haha, I guess that did sound a little ominous. Sorry, I didn't mean to make you worry."
Kaori shook her head and replied, "It's fine. I should be thanking you, too. Your words
made me really happy."
Kaori knew it was too soon to celebrate. But still, she was happy that her feelings had
finally gotten through to him, and that she'd become a source of strength for him. Tears
welled up in her eyes, but she told herself she wouldn't cry before the decisive battle
and lightly joked, "Hehehe, I'll have to brag to Yue when she gets back. I wonder what
she'll say when I tell her I finally reached the same level as Shea?"
"She's just gonna bully you again, you know that, right? I dunno why, but she really
likes messing with you."
"Ugh, it's probably because she likes seeing my reactions. Just thinking about what
she'll do is making me mad. I need to find a way to get back at her before she returns."
"I can already tell she's gonna turn the tables on you and make you go crying back to
Yaegashi."
"Jeez, why do you look so happy about that, Hajime-kun!?" Kaori yelled and puffed her
cheeks out. Hajime simply chuckled and shrugged his shoulders in response.
The conversation died there, but the silence was far from uncomfortable. The two of
them stood side by side, reminiscing about Yue.
After a few minutes, Kaori suddenly muttered, "Oh yeah… There's something I've been
wondering about. Hajime-kun, is it just me, or have you been transmuting this whole
time without any magic circles?"
It hadn't been important enough for Kaori to bring up earlier, but she had seen Ehit
destroy all the magic circles in Hajime's shoes and clothes.
Wait, doesn't that mean he made his existence-erasing chains without any magic circles?
"Oh, right. I forgot to tell you that I can do the same thing as Yue now. All I have to do
is imagine the magic circle in my mind to cast my Synergist spells."
"Wait, when did you learn a skill like that?"
Hajime tossed Kaori his Status Plate. He'd gotten a new one at the royal palace to
replace the one he'd lost. Kaori caught it, and her jaw dropped open when she saw
what it said.
"It's one of the Synergist job's derivative skills. It's called Image Composition. It lets
me use imaginary magic circles to cast spells. Apparently, that's the final derivative
skill of my job."
Hajime had pushed himself to the limit in order to resist Ehit's Divine Edict, and in
doing so had reached the peak of Synergy through willpower alone. However, that
wasn't the only new ability he had obtained.
"Umm, Hajime-kun? What about this skill here? Transcendence, I mean. It seems to be
one of Limit Break's derivative skills."
"Oh. Put simply, that skill raises the limit of my talent."
It didn't increase any of Hajime's stats, nor did it grant him any special abilities.
However, it vastly increased the cap on all of those things by upgrading his latent
talent. His new theoretical maximum was far higher than any human was capable of.
Given time, his strength could surpass the power of the gods.
It was a skill only true masters of their craft could acquire. Hence why its name was
Transcendence. It boosted the natural talents someone was born with to an immense
degree and granted the wielder an average person's talent in fields of magic they had
no affinity for.
However, it was such a difficult skill to use that it was unlikely anyone would be able
to activate it more than once in their life, even if they acquired it.
"There's one thing I'm sure of now that I have that skill. My Synergist abilities have
finally surpassed Oscar Orcus'."
That was why Hajime had been so confident that he'd be able to make enough weapons
for everyone within three days, as well as create an inferior version of the Crystal Key
all by himself. If he combined his strengthened abilities with evolution magic, he
would be able to surpass the greatest Synergist in history, Oscar Orcus.
"Before, I had a hard time transmuting sealstone. Because it dampens magic, I couldn't
even keep much of it in my Treasure Trove. Though, I guess I wouldn't have kept it
even if I could've, since it seemed to bring back bad memories for Yue. Anyway, the
point is, I can easily mold it however I want now."
"I-I see… Hehehe, I guess Ehit really messed up by not killing you when he had the
chance."
"Yep. By the way, I'm planning on making a unique artifact for you too, Kaori."
"I'm looking forward to it."
While they talked, Hajime finished storing all the sealstone inside his Treasure Trove.
And with that, he finally had enough raw materials to begin the real work.
It was time to start mass-producing weapons. But just as he turned around to leave,
Hajime spotted something out of the corner of his eye.
"Hm? What's this?"
There was a small crest engraved onto the floor where the sealstone had been.
"What did you find, Hajime-kun? Is that… a crest? It looks just like the one we saw in
the Frost Caverns. Vandre Schnee's…"
Kaori cocked her head to one side. Hajime nodded and took out the teardrop-shaped
pendant they'd received for clearing the Frost Caverns. The moment it left his
Treasure Trove, they noticed a change.
"Are they… resonating with each other?"
A high-pitched whining noise filled the room. And a second later, the pendant and the
crest on the floor both began to vibrate.
Hajime felt a tug in his palm and looked down to see the pendant slowly inching
toward the crest. Upon closer inspection, he noticed a small hole in the crest just large
enough for Vandre's pendant.
"Kaori, just in case, get back."
"O-Okay. Be careful."
Kaori took a step backward, and Hajime placed the pendant into the depression. A
moment later, the crest began to glow… and a metallic grinding noise resounded as a
section of the floor rose. It formed a stone pillar about thirty centimeters in diameter
and stopped rising once it was about waist-height. A section of the pillar slid back to
reveal a small opening.
"I never knew there was something like this here. I guess you wouldn't be able to open
whatever this is without first beating the Frost Caverns…"
"It seems that way. Since it was right underneath Yue's prison, I get the feeling this is
something related to her."
Sitting inside the pillar was a colorless, transparent jewel the size of a pinball. It looked
like a miniature version of the crystal balls seers used. Hajime picked it up and
examined it from all sides. And after a few seconds, he figured out what it was.
"This is that same projection artifact Oscar and the others used to play the messages
they recorded to the people who cleared their labyrinths."
"I see… There's only one person who would leave something like that here."
"Let's see what the message says."
Hajime channeled a little mana into the crystal. Dark golden light filled the dim room,
blotting out the illumination of the green glowstones.
Hajime and Kaori squinted, and a familiar figure emerged from the whirlpool of light.
The message he delivered was filled with resolve, repentance, and overflowing love.
And at the end, he made one deeply moving, heartfelt wish before disappearing.
The light began to fade, leaving Hajime and Kaori alone with their thoughts. Kaori's
face was streaked with tears. It was difficult to describe what exactly they were feeling,
but the message had left a deep impression on them.
"We have to show this to Yue…" Kaori muttered.
"Yeah, definitely. Kaori, you keep this. I don't want to risk this getting broken when we
invade the Sanctuary."
"Sure. I promise to keep it safe."
Hajime handed the crystal to Kaori and she held it close to her chest.
"Now then, we don't have much time. Let's head back so I can start mass-producing
artifacts."
"It's weird to hear that when normally, nations would go to war over just one artifact."
Hajime shrugged his shoulders and took one last look around the room where he'd
first met Yue. When his gaze reached the spot where she'd been sealed, he closed his
eyes for a brief moment. He then turned around and left the room without looking
back.
Kaori gracefully followed after him. She closed the doors behind them, plunging the
room into darkness once more. However, the darkness that filled the room was warm
and inviting, not cold and desolate.
Hajime and Kaori returned to Oscar's house, which was hidden in the deepest section
of the labyrinth.
Oscar had carved an alcove out of the slate-gray rock for his house and the
surrounding garden, and the moment Hajime and Kaori stepped into that alcove, Myu
poked her head out of one of the house's third-floor windows and smiled at him.
"Daddy, Kaori-onee-chan! Welcome back!" Myu exclaimed as she ran down the stairs,
out of the house, and jumped into Hajime's arms.
"I'm back, Myu."
"We're back, Myu-chan."
Hajime and Kaori had spent the whole day gathering ore, so Myu had felt lonely.
Though neither Hajime nor Kaori had gotten any rest since leaving the Demon Lord's
castle, Myu's dopey smile was enough to blow their exhaustion away.
As they walked into the house, the sound of slippers slapping against the floor echoed
across the walls. A moment later, Remia walked into the foyer. She was wearing an
apron over her dress and had a ladle in one arm.
"Welcome home, Dear. And you as well, Kaori-san. I'm glad to see you're both safe."
"Th-Thanks," Hajime stammered.
"Excuse me? 'Dear'? You're doing this on purpose, aren't you, Remia-san?"
"Would you like dinner, a bath, or your wife and daughter?"
"Okay, you're definitely doing this on purpose! Stop using those cliched lines! Also,
don't just casually include your daughter in that!"
"Oh my, Kaori-san. I was simply asking if he wanted to spend some quality family time
with us. Ufufu, what in the world were you imagining?"
"I-I wasn't imagining anything weird! Really, I mean it!"
"In that case, Dear, would you prefer having Kaori-san instead?"
"What!? M-Me!? Quit teasing me, Remia-san!" Kaori yelped that and glared at Remia,
who just chuckled. It seemed her true goal had been to fluster Kaori, not Hajime. Older
women like Yue and Remia loved bullying Kaori.
Hajime gave Kaori a sympathetic pat on the shoulder and said, "Look, let's just leave it
at that, Remia. We don't have much time, so I'm afraid I'll have to head straight to the
workshop. Please bring my food there."
"I see… You haven't slept at all, but I guess I can't really ask you to rest. If you don't
push yourself here, we won't survive what's coming."
She'd tried joking around with Hajime and Kaori in an attempt to get them to relax,
but unfortunately, it hadn't worked. Though she was worried about their wellbeing,
Remia knew there wasn't any time to rest.
"Very well, I shall bring you your food once it's ready. Oh, the princess left a message
for you as well. She said things are progressing smoothly."
Remia had been handling all correspondence while Hajime was out gathering
materials. Shizuku had already succeeded in convincing Gahard to join the alliance.
And with the queen's help, Liliana had convinced the capital's residents of the danger
they faced, then started evacuating them to the empire while the empire's troops
teleported in.
Construction of the fortress was ahead of schedule as well.
I guess focusing on getting Nomura and the other builders' artifacts done first was the
right call.
Hajime had, much to Liliana and the nobles' chagrin, raided the royal treasury and
transmuted all the artifacts within it into artifacts suited to Kentarou and the other
earth magic specialists.
Remia had also received a message from Verbergen. It appeared Suzu and Ryutarou
had managed to convince Ulfric and the other elders to join the fight. As for the
Haulia… Well, they hadn't even taken any convincing. Once their preparations were
complete, the beastmen would travel through the portal to Heiligh.
"I see… Looks like everything's going better than planned."
"Aiko-san's speeches apparently helped a lot. The people love the Fertility Goddess.
She even used the portals to travel to the empire and Verbergen to give speeches there
as well. Plus, it helped that the new pope sanctified this as a proper holy crusade."
"The new pope's some old dude the princess specifically brought over from the middle
of nowhere, right? Well, he's the leader of the church now, so I guess it makes sense
that people would listen to him. If he's backing Sensei, it makes sense that no one
would doubt her."
Liliana had a surprisingly good eye when it came to judging people's character. Not
only that, but she was a skilled leader as well. Hajime had to admit she was far more
competent than he'd given her credit for. She was resolved to save her country, and
though she lacked experience, the queen and her advisors were there to assist her.
There was no one better suited to lead humanity during this crisis than her.
"What about the people I sent to the other nations?"
"There has been no word from them, I'm afraid. Nothing from Tio-san, either."
"Well, I didn't expect much. Even with artifacts, you can only travel so fast."
There were a few students, as well as several knights, working directly for Simon, the
new pope, who had traveled to various regions as official Heiligh ambassadors. They
all used Skyboards, a new artifact that Hajime had developed. As the name suggested,
they were surfboards that let the user surf through the sky. They wrapped the user in
a spatial magic barrier to cut down air resistance and used gravity magic to emulate
flight. Their average cruising speed was around 200km/h, though those with larger
mana pools could accelerate them to 300km/h. However, they took a lot of mana to
operate, and average people needed frequent breaks when using them. Still, Hajime
surmised that everyone should have reached their respective destinations around
now. Once they did, they could easily open a portal back to Heiligh and return instantly.
"Thanks for the update. And sorry for making you take over communications. I know
you're not used to this kinda stuff."
"You have nothing to apologize for… If anything, I'm happy I can help in some way. I
owe you so much… And I am your wife."
"You're definitely not my wife."
"Now now, don't sweat the details."
"This is a pretty damn big detail."
"Ufufu…"
"Uh, umm, anyway…" Hajime backed down, realizing that he had no means to break
through that smile of Remia's. He also didn't want to argue in front of Myu. And
honestly, Remia seemed to be enjoying the act, so he saw no reason to force her to
drop it.
Well, as long as Myu's a part of my life, we're basically family… Hajime justified his
decision to himself, then passed Myu over to Remia. He gave her head one last pat
before heading over to Oscar's workshop.
The workshop was large enough to fit a football field. It also had a bunch of tools that
facilitated efficient transmutation, making it the perfect space for a Synergist.
Once inside, Hajime pulled a veritable mountain of raw materials out of his Treasure
Trove and said, "Now then, let's see how much we can accelerate things. Kaori, I'll need
your help."
"Sure thing! Leave everything to me!"
Hajime transmuted a giant crystal pillar in the center of the workshop. Kaori circled
to the other side of it and the two of them looked at each other through the transparent
pillar.
Hajime wanted to at least partially alleviate the time crunch he was under, which was
why he'd asked Kaori to accompany him. She was the most proficient user of restoration
magic, which controlled time.
"Ready? Let's do this— Transmute!"
"Chrono Rupture!"
Crimson sparks and pale violet light intersected at the center of the pillar.
Chrono Rupture was a restoration magic spell that stretched out time. Because of how
entwined it was with the true nature of restoration magic, it was one of the hardest
spells to master. In fact, it was impossible for normal humans to ever acquire it.
In the same way that Hajime had overcome his limits and unlocked Transcendence,
Kaori had reached new heights with her restoration magic. What they were
attempting was only possible because they were both masters of their respective
fields.
Hajime's crimson sparks ran down the length of the pillar, binding Kaori's violet mana
to the crystal. After a little while, her hair started whipping around her head slower
than usual. Everything in the workshop seemed to lose its color.
"Ngh… Hajime-kun."
"That's enough, Kaori. Good job."
Kaori doubled over and rested her hands on her knees, panting. Though they'd only
been casting for a few seconds, they'd used up a lot of mana.
"Haaah… Haaah… D-Did it work?"
"Yep. From the looks of things, I can stretch time to about… a factor of ten. If I was by
myself, I would have been lucky to even make time move twice as slow. Thanks. This'll
make things a lot easier."
"Haaah… Thank goodness."
Hajime smiled tiredly. The transparent pillar now exuded a faint crimson light. Kaori
blushed at the praise and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Now that we made it, we should probably give it a name… Hyperbolic Time Chamber
sounds good, right?"
"You shouldn't steal names like that. Why don't we just call it Hour Crystal?"
"But that doesn't sound as cool…"
"Jeez, who cares about how cool it sounds? Come on, get to work! I'll go get more ore
for you!"
"Fine…"
Despite feeling unhappy with Kaori's naming sense, Hajime nevertheless nodded and
activated the Hour Crystal. Like before, everything in the workshop became slightly
less colorful. So long as the crystal was active, time within the workshop moved ten
times slower than the outside world. One hour inside it equaled only six minutes
outside.
Myu and Remia suddenly walked into the workshop at that exact moment.
"Daddy, we brought you food!"
"Oh my, it feels rather strange in here."
Remia was carrying a tray piled high with sandwiches. She'd made food that was easy
to eat with one hand so as not to disturb their work. Hajime motioned to Remia to wait
a moment, and she retreated to the workshop's entrance together with Kaori and Myu.
"Well, Oscar Orcus, it's time to prove that I've surpassed you," he declared with a
confident smile.
In many ways, Oscar was Hajime's mentor. Not only had he granted Hajime creation
magic, but he'd also left behind an enormous amount of research notes and artifacts.
Though they were separated by millennia, Hajime considered Oscar his master. And
like any good student, he wished to surpass his master. After all, if Hajime wished to
achieve what Oscar and the Liberators couldn't, he had no choice but to do that.
"Transmute!"
Crimson sparks filled the entire room. They made it look as though the workshop was
studded with bright red rubies. The magic circles Oscar had drawn all began to glow
as they activated, and Hajime engraved new ones into specific locations to add to the
design. Magic circles dotted the ceiling, the walls, and the floor. Once he had finished
them, he crafted one massive three-dimensional magic circle to encompass all of them.
A second later, the mountain of ore began to undulate.
Hajime had used Ore Desynthesis to refine the various metals he'd gathered, then
activated creation magic to imbue each one with the appropriate magic. He'd also
made use of Accelerated Transmutation to continually speed the process up.
Refined ingots enchanted with ancient magic appeared one after another. And the
moment each one finished, it vanished because another one of the magic circles was
teleporting each ingot to its designated location.
Hajime then personally took those refined ingots and started transmuting them into
all sorts of equipment. In seconds he'd made a sword, a shield, a spear, a helmet, a suit
of armor, some bullets, and a few other weapons. He swiftly appraised each one to
make sure there were no defects, then sent each type of equipment to a different magic
circle.
Once that was done, the refined ingots started getting teleported to those magic
circles, which then used the model swords, shields, etc. to create duplicates using the
newly arrived materials. Moreover, the completed duplicates were sent to another
circle that opened up a portal in the ground to transport them to the kingdom.
"H-Hajime-kun… Did you just…?" Kaori muttered absentmindedly, staring at the
workshop in awe.
"Yeah, I turned the entire workshop into a huge artifact. It's an automated weapons
factory now."
Indeed, the whole process wasn't too different from factories back on earth. So long as
there were enough materials, the original weapons that served as blueprints remained
in place, and Hajime kept supplying the factory with mana, it would continue refining,
crafting, and teleporting equipment indefinitely.
No wonder Hajime-kun seemed so confident when he said he could make enough
weapons for everyone.
The concept of mass production probably hadn't existed in Oscar Orcus' time. This
was a style of Transmutation only someone from a post-industrial society like Hajime
could've created. And best of all, time moved ten times slower within this workshop,
so dozens of artifacts popped through the kingdom's portal every minute. Hajime had
no doubt Liliana was staring at the growing pile of legendary-tier artifacts with awe.
"I can leave this alone and it'll keep chugging, so I guess I can afford to take a short
break. Remia, Myu, sorry for the wait. Let's eat now."
"O-Okay!"
"Oh my, I'm not sure the proper words to express my amazement even exist."
Remia's reaction was hardly surprising. A second ago, Hajime had been surrounded
by magic circles glowing in geometric patterns, waving his hands like a conductor
leading an orchestra. He'd seemed like a magician from a fairy tale, creating wonders
one after another with just a snap of his fingers. But now, he looked like a normal boy
again as he reached for a sandwich and muttered, "Man, I'm starving."
Hajime spent an hour recharging, though he continued transmuting simple things
while he ate. Once he'd consumed enough food to last him a day he said, "Okay, now I
need to start making Sensei and everyone else's special artifacts. I've also gotta make
some of the bigger weapons that shoot down huge groups. Kaori, can you get me some
more ore?"
"Of course! But Hajime-kun, make sure you rest properly once you're done. We've got
tons of time now, thanks to the Hour Crystal."
"Yeah, I know. Myu, Remia, I want you guys to stay in contact with the others. Time
moves slower in here, so I might miss important developments. Let me know if
anything happens. I'll be too focused on work to notice on my own."
"Okay!"
"Very well. When should I next bring you food?"
"Two hours from now should be good."
"That'll be almost an entire day for you. Are you planning to work the whole time?"
Remia gave Hajime a worried look, while Kaori smiled threateningly at him.
He awkwardly averted his gaze and retorted, "Look, it's going to take everyone time to
get used to their new artifacts. If I don't send them over as soon as possible, they might
not be able to use them to their fullest."
He had a point. The faster Hajime got everyone their specialized artifacts, the more
proficient they'd be with them.
Kaori and Remia nodded reluctantly, though they still looked worried. But before they
could say anything else, Hajime started transmuting.
"There's no guarantee this house is entirely safe. It's possible Ehit or someone else
might take control of people we know and send them here to attack us."
However, the chances of that seemed exceedingly slim. Ehit had called this his final
game. He didn't see the destruction of Tortus as a war. In his eyes, it was just a way to
stave off boredom. Due to that, Hajime doubted he would go through all the trouble of
pinpointing his location and sending assassins after him.
That being said, it was still better to be safe than sorry. And so, he decided to create
the prototype for a new weapon he'd designed. That way, Remia and Myu would have
some protection.
Hajime visualized the structure in his mind, then projected a hologram of that
visualization into the center of the workshop. As the hologram solidified, he waved his
hands like a conductor again, and crimson sparks jumped around the mountain of ore.
The mountain wriggled like an egg that was just about to hatch. Beams of red light
shot out from the center, and a pair of arms reached out of it. They pushed away the
mountain of unrefined ore, revealing a three-meter tall metallic creature with eight
legs. Its upper body resembled an asura, with six arms and a demonic face.
Deadly weapons jutted out of its back and torso, while its eyes gleamed crimson, as
did the large jewel encrusted in its chest.
"Y-You just keep making crazy things one after another, huh?"
"Woooooow, it's so cool!"
"Huh? Y-You think this looks cool, Myu? Your mother's a bit scared of it…"
Kaori and Remia looked a bit creeped out, but Myu's eyes sparkled with excitement.
Hajime grinned at Myu, handed her a small ring, and said, "This golem's made mostly
of ore, but it uses a few monster parts and is powered by a mana crystal, so it's halfmonster. Normally, you control it with spirit stone, but you can give it verbal commands
too, if you want. It's been programmed to listen to anyone wearing that ring."
The golem was a living weapon that was a mixture of monster and machine. However,
it had no will of its own, and wouldn't move without orders. Hajime had created it by
combining creation magic with metamorphosis magic.
He'd gotten the idea for it from the scorpion monster he and Yue had fought when they
first met. That thing had been powered up by ore in its carapace, but since Hajime was
a Synergist, he'd done the opposite and created a machine which he'd upgraded with
monster parts.
"You're giving it to me?"
"Yep. This is your personal golem, Myu. No one else can use it."
"Mine… and mine alone… Whoaaaaaa…"
Myu really took after Hajime. The idea of a special weapon only she could use got her
blood boiling.
The ring absorbed mana from the surroundings, much like the equipment Hajime had
made for the Haulia. It was also enchanted with spirit magic to ensure that once a user
was registered, no one else could use it. Hajime had meant it when he'd said this golem
belonged solely to Myu.
Remia seemed to want to tell Myu to put the golem back where it came from, but she
couldn't find the heart to.
"Well, Myu, I'm counting on you to keep watch now!"
"Aye, aye, sir!" Myu said that and gave Hajime a crisp salute, which made Remia and
Kaori burst out laughing.
He then turned to them with a smile and said, "I'm counting on you two as well. I'm
gonna need to concentrate, so unless it's an emergency, don't come back until two
hours are up."
They nodded to him and strode out of the workshop. Myu followed behind them,
sitting on the shoulder of her new pet golem.
Once they were gone, Hajime's smile vanished, and he looked up at the ceiling.
Loneliness and anger marred his expression.
After a few seconds, he took out the small shards of Divinity Stone that Kaori had been
able to find. He also withdrew all the ore he'd collected from his Treasure Trove.
"Yue…" he whispered, his voice full of too many emotions to count.
A second later, a whirlpool of crimson mana erupted from him.
One hour later (in normal time).
"Ahhh," Hajime groaned softly as he soaked in the bath where he'd once climbed the
stairs to adulthood with Yue. He looked like a zombie.
It hadn't been two hours yet, and Hajime hadn't finished making all the artifacts he'd
planned to. And yet, there he was relaxing.
"Daddy!" Myu shouted, tottering over to where Hajime was. He smiled gently at her
and like always, she jumped at him. He hurriedly got to his feet to catch her.
"Hey, that's dangerous, Myu."
"Hehehehe… I'm sorryyy."
It was obvious from her tone that Myu wasn't the least bit sorry. Shaking his head,
Hajime slowly lowered her into the bath to let her get used to the temperature.
She let out a sigh of contentment and closed her eyes. Myu looked absolutely adorable,
and Hajime started combing his fingers through her emerald-green hair.
In response, she smiled and let him have his fun for a few seconds before suddenly
frowning and shouting, "Wait, no! Bad Daddy! I still haven't forgiven you!"
"I said I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to make you guys worry."
"I don't believe your sorries anymore!" Myu shouted as she puffed her cheeks out
indignantly and pointed up at him. The effect was ruined somewhat by the fact that
she was still sitting on Hajime's lap, though.
The reason Hajime was relaxing was because a few minutes ago, Remia had entered
the workshop and found him collapsed on the floor… in a puddle of his own blood.
Naturally, she'd screamed when she'd seen him covered in cuts and bleeding from
every pore, so Myu had rushed in. When she'd seen the state Hajime was in, she'd
started sobbing.
Remia had hurriedly contacted Kaori, who'd rushed back and used restoration magic
on Hajime. His injuries had been almost as bad as they were back at the Demon Lord's
castle, and it had taken all of Kaori's considerable healing prowess to bring him back
from the brink of death. When Hajime had finally opened his eyes again, Kaori had
breathed a sigh of relief. But the first words out of his mouth had been, "Did it work?
Yes! My trump card's finally complete."
Obviously, Kaori, Remia, and Myu had gotten quite angry and gave him a long lecture
about taking better care of himself, but Hajime had just brushed them off, saying, "My
bad. But I'm fine now, don't worry."
Not only that, but he'd also tried to go straight back to work, since Kaori had been kind
enough to share her mana with him.
That was the last straw. The three girls had lost their patience, dragged Hajime out of
the workshop, and forced him to take a bath and rest for a bit. They knew he wouldn't
let himself rest if he stayed in the workshop.
"It's my job to watch you! No working in the bath!"
"Look, even I wouldn't do something that inefficient."
Hajime was telling the truth, but Myu didn't look convinced. His latest stunt had truly
damaged her trust in him.
"I'm going to be watching you in the workshop, too!"
"Seriously?" Hajime murmured as he leaned back and looked up at the ceiling. He
didn't feel like he'd pushed himself too hard. If anything, he'd just done what he
needed to do. But as a result, he'd nearly died and needed Kaori to save him, so he
couldn't really argue.
That being said, he had no intention of stopping. If he didn't do everything in his power
to make this rescue plan a success, he wouldn't be able to live with himself. He was
going to pour every ounce of his being into this final battle.
If it was for the sake of getting Yue back, no price was too great. However, he wasn't
sure how he could explain that to Myu in a way she could understand.
Myu stared at him for a few seconds, then smiled and said, "Daddy, when Yue-oneechan comes back, let's all take a bath together! I want you to make a bunch of bath
toys!"
She splashed around in the water to emphasize her excitement.
"I can't do anything to help, but I can think of all the fun things we'll do later! So let's
play lots when Yue-onee-chan's back!"
"Myu…"
Hajime was perceptive enough to understand why Myu had suddenly brought that up.
He'd been wondering how he could explain himself to her, but she'd seen right through
him all along.
Even though she was powerless to help, she was still doing her best to find some way
to ease her beloved father's worries. And in order to cheer others up, she first had to
act cheerful herself.
Myu was a strong girl. She had absolute faith that if she told Hajime about her hopes
for the future, he'd make them all come true. And that meant he couldn't afford to kick
the bucket here.
Upon seeing her cheerful smile, Hajime scratched his head, smiled right back at her,
and said, "Yeah. We'll do all sorts of fun things once Yue returns, so make sure to think
of some good games. I'll come up with a lot of interesting toys, too."
"Okay…" Myu replied, emulating Yue's speech quirks. She sounded so cute that Hajime
started unconsciously patting her head.
The loneliness he'd been holding in this whole time lessened just a little, and Hajime
was able to truly relax for the first time since Yue's abduction. But just then, Remia
and Kaori walked into the bathroom.
"My, it seems like you two are enjoying yourselves. Mind if we join you?"
"H-Hajime-kun, I-I hope this is okay."
"I figured this was gonna happen when Myu came in."
They had both wrapped towels around themselves, but those towels weren't covering
much. Unsurprisingly, they were blushing with embarrassment.
Technically, this wasn't Kaori's real body, but she was still embarrassed about being
seen naked. Normal apostles were so artificially perfect that they looked terrifying,
but she somehow looked beautiful.
However, she wasn't exuding sex appeal the way Remia was. Remia even let out a quiet
moan as she dipped her toes into the water, accentuating her charm. Any guy other
than Hajime wouldn't have been able to control themselves. Of course, Remia would
never take a bath with a guy like that in the first place.
"Should I get out?" Hajime asked pointedly. Though, it hadn't even been five minutes
since he'd started his bath.
A hint of worry crossed Remia's expression and she hurriedly replied, "If we're
bothering you, we'll leave. But I feel like you shouldn't be alone right now. If you're by
yourself, you'll end up thinking depressing thoughts, won't you? I just thought it would
be easier for you to relax if we were all here by your side. You can't overcome sorrow
through willpower alone."
"...…"
Hajime had no room to argue, seeing as Myu had just been trying to cheer him up.
Besides, when he'd been left to his own devices, he'd pushed himself so hard he'd
nearly died again.
"You need to be with people who care about you when you're feeling down. When I
thought you died, it was Shizuku-chan who helped me pull through. I know I can't
replace Yue, but I still want to be there for you. If I don't do at least this much, then Yue
will mock me forever."
Smiling, Kaori walked over to Hajime's side. Without Shizuku, she definitely would
have given into despair when Hajime fell into the abyss. And so, she knew that Hajime
needed someone better than anyone else.
Hajime couldn't bring himself to refuse the girls' kindness, and he smiled tiredly at
them.
"Thanks. Honestly, if I don't pull myself together, Yue'll be mocking me forever, not
you."
"I can't imagine her ever making fun of you."
"Ufufu. Yue-san loves you too much for that, Hajime-san."
The three of them chuckled as they reminisced about Yue.
"Mrr…" Myu murmured.
"Hm? Looks like Myu's getting sleepy."
Her eyes were half-closed and she was resting against Hajime's chest. She hadn't slept
a wink since they'd left the Demon Lord's castle, so it was amazing she'd lasted this
long.
"Guess I should clean her up and put her to bed before she conks out."
Hajime hadn't spent too long in the bath, but he felt refreshed all the same. He was still
planning on taking a short nap in the workshop to regain his strength, but his mental
exhaustion had disappeared entirely.
Smiling, Remia noticed Kaori was glancing nervously from Hajime to the shower area.
After a few seconds, it suddenly hit her.
"Very well, then. In that case, Hajime-san, why don't you let me wash your front for
you while you wash Myu?"
"I can wash my back my— Wait, did you just say front?" Hajime said that in an icy tone
and glared at Remia, but she just smiled warmly at him.
"Yes, I imagine Kaori-san would like to wash your back. Isn't that right, Kaori-san?"
"What!? Remia-san, what're you saying!? Y-You can't wash h-his front!"
"My, would you prefer to do it instead?"
"M-Me!? W-Wash Hajime-kun's f-front…?" Kaori mumbled those words as her gaze slid
down to a particular body part of Hajime's. Shortly after that, her face went beet red.
"Morons. No way I'm letting you guys wash me."
"But Hajime-san, think of how much Kaori-san has done for you. She's working so hard
to get you more materials, too… Don't you think she deserves a reward?"
"Remia-san… Thank you…"
"You've got a point, but I'm not Tio. Only perverts would let someone else wash their
dick."
"I'm sure Kaori-san would consider it an honor, though…" Remia said that as she
turned to Kaori, who averted her gaze. Judging by Kaori's expression, she agreed with
that sentiment.
"Kaori… I misjudged you."
"Please don't give me that pitying look!" Kaori said that, then squatted down and hid
her face underwater.
Sighing, Hajime got up and took Myu over to the shower area. As he left, he heard
Remia say, "Kaori-san, I heard from Myu that 'Kaori-onee-chan is an assertive woman.'"
"Myu-chan said that!?"
"Now is the time to be assertive, is it not?"
"W-Well… Wait, why does it have to be now!?"
"Very well, I shall compromise here. The three of us can wash Hajime-san's front
together."
"I guess it'd be less nerve-wracking if we all… Wait, what!? Did you just say the three
of us!? What on earth do you plan on making Myu-chan do, Remia-san!?"
"Oh my… Ufufu…"
"You can't just laugh this one off!"
Poor Kaori. Everyone likes messing with her.
The scary thing was that despite her complaints, Kaori seemed to enjoy being teased.
Even when Yue pulled pranks on her, it looked like she was having fun.
I guess Yue's conditioned her to enjoy being toyed with.
Of course, Hajime would never say that to her face. Still, he was glad Remia was helping
Kaori cope with her loneliness the same way she'd helped him.
"When Yue gets back, Kaori's life is going to be hell, huh?"
"Mrr?" Myu groaned and groggily looked up at Hajime while he washed her hair.
Your mom and Yue have a lot in common, it seems.
About a day later, Shea arrived.
"Hajime-san, I'm back!" she shouted as she burst through the door of Hajime's
workshop.
Judging by how excitedly she was hopping up and down, Hajime guessed her mission
to enlist Miledi Reisen's assistance had been a success.
Her eyes sparkled with joy when she saw that Hajime had managed to remake his
prosthetic arm and eye.
Smiling, Hajime turned to her.
"Welcome back, Shea. I take it you were able to find Miledi?"
"Yep! Apparently, some apostles went to attack her before I got there, but…"
"Seriously? Did she come out okay?"
"Yeah, she wiped the floor with all of them. Her private room and golems were all fine.
It turns out she's really scary when she's fighting for real."
"I guess it makes sense, since she's a Liberator and all."
"Exactly. Unfortunately, Miledi-san said she can't leave her labyrinth without careful
preparation, so I wasn't able to bring her back. But she said she'd be there for the final
battle, along with her golem army."
Shea had a wistful look in her eyes as she said that.
I can't believe someone as unbelievably annoying as Miledi actually sat down to have a
serious conversation with Shea.
Noticing the incredulous look on Hajime's face, Shea smiled sadly and said, "I know
what you're thinking, but she might finally be able to achieve her ultimate dream.
When I told her we were planning on bringing down Ehit she looked… happy isn't
really the right word. Sorry, I can't think of a good way to describe it."
"I see… It's probably not something that can be put into words."
Miledi Reisen was the leader of the Liberators. Even after her comrades had died, she'd
transferred her soul into a golem and continued waiting deep in that ravine for
thousands of years. No matter how things ended up, she'd spent her entire life
working up to this decisive battle. Hajime doubted anyone living in this era would be
able to understand her feelings.
"Oh, but she started acting super annoying again pretty fast. She was only quiet for a
minute, then she started saying crap like, 'I see, I see, so you came here to beg for my
help. Well, I guess I am the world's prettiest and smartest mage. It sure is tough, having
people ask me for help even after all these millennia. But don't worry, I'll save you
guys! You better be grateful! Go on, get down on your knees and prostrate yourself
before me!' So I brought her down with a heel kick and reminded her of her place. By
the time I left, she was the one prostrating before me!"
"I-I see."
"Anyway, she said she needs to preserve her strength before the final battle so since I
couldn't bring her over I nabbed all the stuff that looked useful from her labyrinth."
Shea grinned mischievously as she patted the bulging sack slung over her shoulder.
Hajime had no doubt she'd basically robbed Miledi the same way he had when they'd
first cleared her labyrinth. He could just imagine Miledi crying in a corner while Shea
looted the place.
"How about you, Hajime-san? How are things on your end? I heard from Remia that
time moves slower in your workshop and you've already spent ten days in here."
Shea looked around the workshop, her ears twitching excitedly as she watched the
automated production line create countless weapons and teleport them away.
"I've been making sure to eat and sleep, so I'm in perfect condition now. As you can
see, artifact production is going smoothly. More importantly, what'd you bring back
from Miledi's place?"
"For starters, this thing," Shea said as she sat down on a nearby chair and put a small
white marble on the table. "This is the anti Divine Edict artifact."
"Err, what are you talking about?"
Is that supposed to be its name? Even the names she gives things are annoying. Maybe
she just does this to tick Ehit off.
Fortunately, the artifact itself had been made by Oscar, and like all things Oscar had
made, it was high-quality.
Still a little put off by the name, Hajime picked up the marble and started analyzing it.
"Wow, this is impressive. It's basically an interference device."
Shea cocked her head inquisitively.
"That Divine Edict of his is just a really powerful spirit magic spell. It imprints the
caster's will onto the soul of the target, forcing them to obey all commands. The reason
Ehit prefaces each of his commands with his name is because it provides a locus for
the spell and forces the target's attention onto him."
"I see… Is that also why the spell gets stronger when he uses that longer name?"
"Yeah, I'm guessing that's his true name. Which is why this… this… Fuck it, I'm not
using that stupid name Miledi gave it!"
"Why don't we come up with a new name for it?"
It was impressive how Miledi managed to annoy Hajime even when she wasn't there.
"Hmm, let's call it Soul Shell for now. It surrounds the user's soul with their own will,
dispersing the force of Ehit's commands."
"Oh, so that's why you called it an interference device."
"Yeah. Oscar even thought up a contingency in case the artifact gets stolen from you
too. With this, we're one step closer to beating Ehit. Good work, Shea."
"Hehehe, I'm glad I could help."
Hajime smiled at Shea, and her ears flopped back and forth happily. Really, he should
have been thanking Miledi for handing this over, but Hajime refused to thank her for
anything. Shea probably felt the same way.
"Oh, I got this too."
"A dagger? It feels pretty powerful. What's it—? Holy shit."
The next thing Shea brought out of her sack was a small dagger with a black sheath.
Hajime gasped in surprise as he unsheathed the dagger and stared at its sky-blue
blade. It looked as though the blade had been molded out of sapphire.
He could tell from a glance that this wasn't one of the few holy swords passed down
through Tortus' history. No, the oppressive aura emanating from the blade was
something only concept magic could produce.
"It's called the Godslayer Dagger. The concept magic it's imbued with is the ability to
kill gods."
"I guess this is one of the three concept magic artifacts Lyutillis said the Liberators
were able to make. Tch, I can't believe Miledi was hanging onto it this whole time. If
she had something like this, she should have given it to us from the start."
"I told her that too, but she just said 'Huh? Didn't you say you weren't gonna bother
killing god? Why would I give a god killing weapon to someone who's not interested
in fighting god? Now, if you want this, you better lick my boots and apologize for
blowing up my room last time! Maybe then I'll think about giving it to you, mwahahaha!'"
"I see…"
"Yep. But don't worry, I hit her with that lariat move you taught me and blew up her
room again to remind her of her place. She upgraded her defenses since the last time
we saw her, but it wasn't enough to escape my iron fist! Hehehe, making her bow down
before me felt so good!"
"I-I see…"
Man, Shea's become vicious. I probably shouldn't let her get close to Miledi again, huh?
Hajime didn't want to see Shea turn into a merciless tyrant who beat up anyone who
annoyed her. Naturally, he didn't realize the irony in that wish.
"By the way, the third artifact they made was called the Arrow of Boundaries… and it
was what they used to open a path to the Sanctuary, but it was lost when they were
defeated."
The Liberators had made a few inferior copies of it though, and Shea had brought one
of those back. Of course, the inferior version wasn't capable of forcing open a path to
the Sanctuary, but combined with Hajime's inferior version of the Crystal Key, it might
just be enough.
"Oh yeah, Miledi-san warned me that the Liberators were chased into hiding by the
people of the world before they got a chance to fight Ehit, so she's not sure how
effective the Godslayer Dagger will be. But she said that it absolutely won't harm Yuesan's soul, so we should be able to make use of it."
"That's reassuring. I designed a trump card of my own, but the more options we have
the better. If this dagger won't hurt Yue, then it's definitely worth keeping around."
As Hajime slipped the dagger back into its sheath, Shea frowned unhappily and said,
"Though I wouldn't trust it too much. Apparently, the Liberators made this while
wasted. They were mad that they weren't able to use their god killing concept magic
on Ehit, so they started drinking and began competing to see who could come up with
the best insult for Ehit. Eventually, they passed out… and when they woke up the next
morning, this dagger was sitting on the table."
"Are you telling me they made this by mistake?"
"They weren't thinking straight by the time they crafted this, so the only emotions
packed into it are 'Die, Ehit, you fucking bastard.' That's why it won't harm anything
except him."
"Now that I can believe. I feel like I know how those guys must have felt. This is gonna
help a lot in getting Yue back safely. Miledi may be an annoying bitch, but I guess I
should thank her after all this is over."
"I know, right? Though I feel like I'll end up beating her up again once I'm done
thanking her."
Hajime and Shea sighed as they envisioned Miledi's irritating smile.
Seeing that that was the last of Shea's presents, Hajime dumped the artifacts into one
Treasure Trove, then brought out another.
"Here, I made a new Treasure Trove for you. I put all the new artifacts I made for you
in it, including a new hammer."
"Hell yeah! I've been waiting for this!"
Shea's ears perked up and she immediately summoned her new weapon, Villedrucken.
"Hauuuuuuuuu. I missed the feel of cold, hard metal in my hands. Nothing beats
flattening enemies with a giant hammer."
"You're starting to scare me."
Shea rubbed her cheek against the warhammer, an ecstatic expression on her face.
"Oh, you're back, Shea-onee-chan! Welcome back!" Myu said with a smile as she poked
her head into the workshop.
Smiling, Shea turned around and said, "Myu-chan! I'm ho… me?"
Her smile stiffened when she saw the many-legged golem Myu was riding.
"Umm, Myu-chan, where did you get that creepy-looking golem?"
"Daddy made it for me! This one's called Bell-chan. That one's Sa-chan, the one over
there is A-chan, the one next to it is Lu-chan, that one's Ma-chan, and those two are
Lebi-chan and Baru-chan!"
"How many do you have!?"
A shiver ran down Shea's spine as more golems filed in behind Myu. There was
something inherently creepy about them that repulsed her.
"I made one to guard Myu and Remia, but these guys are more versatile than I thought,
so I ended up making a few more. Honestly, even I don't understand how they're so
strong, and I made them."
"Isn't that a bad thing!?"
Their full names were Belphegor, Satan, Asmodeus, Lucifer, Mammon, Leviathan, and
Beelzebub. Myu had come up with all of them, as well as their nicknames. Hajime
wanted to believe it was just coincidence that a girl only four years old had come up
with the names of the great biblical demons, but with Myu, you could never be sure.
"Myu, remind me again where you came up with those names?"
"Mrr? You're so weird, Daddy. Bell-chan just looks like a Bell-chan, Sa-chan looks like
a Sa-chan, and everyone else looks like their names too. That's all."
"Uh, yeah…"
"These things are definitely bad news, Hajime-san!"
Hajime was beginning to seriously worry that some ancient horror had possessed his
daughter.
"Guys, say hi to Shea-onee-chan!"
"Eeek!"
Shea shrieked as the golems all struck a pose and shot out rainbow-colored smoke
from their backs. They were like a power rangers unit made up of the seven deadly
sins.
"Hajime-san, why are they posing like that? It doesn't look like Myu-chan's ordering
them to. Did you design them to do that?"
"This isn't my doing. Also, Myu isn't skilled enough at controlling them to make all
seven do different poses like that."
"I don't trust those golems, Hajime-san!" Shea exclaimed as she pointed ominously at
the golems, her hair standing on end.
"Look, I get where you're coming from. Honestly, I'm starting to worry I added too
many monster parts to them and they've become autonomous now. But I mean, just
look…" Hajime said with a helpless shrug.
"They're all really cool, right!?" Myu said with a beaming smile, and the golems visibly
blushed. They were Myu's loyal pet dogs.
"Myu's in love with them, and they're not malfunctioning in any way. In fact, they're
stronger than I expected them to be. I feel like it'd be wrong to scrap them."
"What if some of Ehit's goons are possessing them?"
"Yeah, I thought of that too, so I tried insulting Ehit a bunch in front of them, but they
didn't react. I even showed them recordings of Ehit's descent in the Demon Lord's
castle and made them smash the recording devices."
The golems had been more than happy to step all over the videos of Alva and Ehit.
Their enthusiasm had honestly surprised Hajime. He guessed they had a deep-set
hatred of Alva and Ehit now, since the videos had shown the two of them hurting Myu.
Of course, Ehit had been possessing Yue at the time, so it meant Hajime had been
forced to watch the golems happily stomp all over pictures of her.
"Well, I guess that proves they're not Ehit's pawns at least."
"Yeah, no one who follows that guy would dare step on pictures of him. My guess is the
monster parts of the golem are developing personalities of their own."
The real reason Hajime had made more was because he'd been confused as to why his
first had started becoming more autonomous. But every subsequent one he'd made
ended up doing the same thing, and before he knew it he'd made seven without
coming any closer to understanding what he was doing wrong. The golems from the
eighth onward had all functioned as intended too, like mindless drones.
"Oh, right! Daddy, I came here to tell you that Kaori-onee-chan and the others came
back!"
"Ah, thanks for letting me know."
"Mhm! Oh, but Suzu-onee-chan was acting kind of weird."
Suzu and Ryutarou had completed their mission in Verbergen about half a day back
and had been here in Oscar's labyrinth since. Right now, they were taming the
monsters of the abyss, with Kaori guarding them while she collected ore.
Are they having trouble turning the monsters into familiars or something?
Hajime explained to Shea what Kaori and the others were up to and headed for the
front entrance with her.
"Shea, you're back! I take it everything went well?"
"Yep! Nice to see you too, Kaori-san!"
Smiling, Kaori ran over and hugged Shea. However, Suzu and Ryutarou remained
standing by the gate that divided Oscar's house from the dangerous labyrinth. They
seemed reluctant to step past it.
"It's nice to see you safe and sound, Suzu-san. Were you able to convince my dad— I
mean, the Haulia clan and Verbergen's elders to join the fight?"
Seeing as they weren't moving, Hajime and the others walked over to Suzu and
Ryutarou. As they got closer, Hajime could see Suzu was looking anywhere but at him,
and he heard Ryutarou quietly mutter, "Let's just get this over with."
"Umm, things went well, Sheashea. The people of Verbergen never believed in Ehit to
begin with, so when we told them the fate of the world depended on this battle they
believed us right away."
"Yeah. Some of them were worried they wouldn't stand a chance against Ehit's armies,
but when we told them they'd have your artifacts, Nagumo, they changed their tune.
The Haulia… are with us too, I think?"
"What do you mean, you think?" Shea asked with a suspicious look.
Ryutarou flinched visibly… and after a few seconds of waffling, he finally made up his
mind and said, "Okay, so they're down to fight, but, umm… when I told them we needed
their help, they broke down in tears."
"My dad did?"
"Not just him, Sheashea. The whole clan did. Then, they started chanting 'Kill them!
Kill them! Kill them!' which was what really scared us. Apparently, they're extremely
moved because they get to finally fight by their boss' side. Their chanting was so loud
they pushed back the mist a little bit, even."
"...…"
"I never realized this is what happens when you train people Sgt. Hartman style. Their
eyes were bloodshot… and they looked so happy at the prospect of killing people. All
the animals in the vicinity passed out because of how strong their bloodlust was. Some
of them even had heart attacks."
"I'm sorry my family's so crazy."
The color drained from Suzu and Ryutarou's faces and they started shivering as they
recounted their encounter with the Haulia. The rabbitmen had managed to strike
terror into their hearts.
Honestly, the Haulia had reminded Suzu of the religious fanatics that believed
wholeheartedly in Ehit. Except the cute rabbitmen all put their faith in Hajime instead.
Sometimes, I wonder whether or not Nagumo-kun's worse than Ehit, she thought to
herself.
For the Haulia, there was no greater honor than fighting alongside Hajime. The fact
that Hajime was personally asking for their help was enough to bring many of them to
rapture.
"Those guys are probably excited as hell. I just hope they don't cause trouble for the
other nations in the alliance…"
"I can't imagine how many ulcers Ulfric is going to have by the end of this."
"Oh yeah, Sheashea, Nagumo-kun. Ulfric-san's already taking a bunch of stomach
medicine."
"...…"
Shea's ears drooped, while Hajime awkwardly averted his gaze. They had no doubt at
least part of Ulfric's worries stemmed from the fact that his daughter had become a
pervert. Moreover, since Shea refused to give her the time of day, she'd taken to
sneaking into the Haulia's village so that Cam would "punish" her.
Hajime and Shea knew they were directly responsible for this, so after exchanging a
quick glance, the two of them unilaterally decided to change the subject.
"Anyway, Taniguchi, have you been able to tame any strong monsters!?"
"Myu-chan said you were acting weird… Is everything okay!?"
"Urk…"
Now it was Suzu who awkwardly averted her gaze. And so, Hajime turned to Ryutarou
instead.
"I didn't get a single one! Turns out I'm not really good at the whole taming thing,"
Ryutarou replied with a self-deprecating smile.
Hajime fired a rubber bullet at him and gave him a cold glare as he clutched his
forehead and writhed around on the ground. Before he could dish out any more
punishment, however, Kaori grabbed his arm and shouted, "W-Wait, wait, wait! It's not
like they didn't make any progress at all! Suzu-chan was able to tame a few familiars
and Ryutarou-kun learned of a new way to use his metamorphosis magic!"
"Oh? If you guys are getting somewhere, why didn't you say so?"
Hajime turned back to Suzu, who gave a little start and broke out in a cold sweat.
"W-Well, I do feel like I've gotten a lot of strong monsters, but…"
"What's the problem?"
"Umm, so one of the monsters I tamed is a giant centipede that shoots out acid."
"Oh, that guy. There's a similar monster in early floors, but this one's a lot stronger.
Instead of using its body parts as projectiles, it can just straight up shoot acid from its
torso. I got pretty freaked out the first time I saw one."
"S-Same. I also tamed this large bee that can fire explosive needles."
"I remember those too. The things they shoot out are more like mini missiles than
needles. I nearly got engulfed in flames the first time I fought one."
"Another monster I tamed is an ant that can burrow underground."
"Those guys are really good at surprise attacks."
"Also, I tamed a praying mantis that shoots wind blades from its legs."
"What else?"
"A spider and a moth."
"Why all the bug-type monsters?" Hajime asked with a curious look.
Suzu covered her face with her hands and started sobbing.
"I don't know! For some reason, the only monsters my metamorphosis magic works
on are bugs! There's something wrong with this labyrinth! In the forest, I managed to
make so many cute furry friends!"
It appeared she wasn't doing it on purpose. Suzu had only made all the bug monsters
her familiars because she'd had no other choice. Hajime couldn't help but feel pity for
her.
All the monsters she'd tamed looked utterly disgusting. But the monsters there were
far stronger than anything living on the surface. While they might not be able to handle
fighting apostles, they'd at least be an even match for Freid's monsters and Eri's
undead warriors.
"Err, on the bright side, maybe your enemies will be creeped out by them too and show
an opening?"
It was rare to see Hajime console anyone, much less someone not part of his harem.
However, his sympathy only hurt Suzu more, making her crouch down and begin
doodling in the dirt.
"Are you saying I should show these to Eri? I want to talk to her, not scare her away.
Hic… Everyone's going to think I'm disgusting now…"
"Th-That's not true, Suzu-chan! Besides, you were able to get one furry familiar,
right!?"
In Kaori's desperate attempt to cheer Suzu up, she accidentally blurted out something
she shouldn't have.
Panicking, Suzu got to her feet and shouted, "You were supposed to keep that secret,
Kaorin!"
She shot a surreptitious glance at Hajime, something that didn't escape his notice.
"Huh? What do you mean, secret? What's going on here, Taniguchi?"
"Eeek!"
Hajime glared coldly at Suzu, and she hurriedly backpedaled away from the gate. She
then turned around and huddled protectively over something.
Hajime narrowed his eyes, his expression making it clear that Suzu was in for a world
of hurt if she didn't talk. Suzu did her best to avoid meeting Hajime's gaze, while Kaori
smiled awkwardly.
Before Hajime could ask again, Myu suddenly said, "Hm? What's that, Bell-chan? Huh?
There's a strong monster past the gate?"
It appeared Myu was capable of communicating with her golems now.
"You've gotta be kidding me…" Hajime muttered. He cleared his throat loudly and
turned to Myu.
"Umm, Myu. I don't think Bell-chan can talk…"
"What do you mean? Everyone can talk. They can move on their own, too. Come on,
Daddy, you should know this."
"I should? H-Hey, Shea, Kaori, Taniguchi, Sakagami, am I just tired? Are those golems
actually talking?"
Everyone shook their heads in response.
Hajime rubbed his temples and asked hesitantly, "By the way, what exactly did the
golems say?"
"Umm, Sa-chan said, 'That bastard's got a nice fighting spirit.' A-chan said, 'Yeah, he's
got guts. It looks like he'll take on anyone that looks strong, no matter who. But he
really needs to learn his place. A punk like him should be bowing down before the
princess.'"
"They talk in full sentences?"
"Oh, and Lu-chan says to you, 'Don't sweat the small stuff, Master. Love and peace is all
that matters.'"
"Seriously!?"
Hajime was growing more afraid of his creations with each passing minute.
Did I infuse these guys with spirit magic by accident? Or did some wandering spirits go
inside them when they were created? I feel like I didn't make any mistakes, but…
The scariest thing of all was that Myu seemed to consider the golems' actions natural.
Though, the fact that a girl as sensitive to malice as her wasn't afraid of them probably
meant that the souls inhabiting these automatons were benign.
They all call her "Princess," too… I can probably trust them to watch after Myu, but…
"Daddy, there's a bunny here!" Myu shouted as she peeked over the gate to see what
Suzu was trying to hide. She put her hands on her head and did a bunny ear imitation.
"Hm? Yeah, of course there's a bunny here," Hajime said, turning to Shea. She waved
her ears back and forth, emphasizing her bunny-ness.
"No, I mean a fluffy white bunny!"
"Yeah, I know. Taniguchi isn't really doing a good job of hiding it."
Sighing, Hajime turned to Suzu. She could tell from the look in his eyes that the jig was
up. But she refused to give up the creature in her arms. In an attempt to smooth things
over, Kaori said, "U-Umm, Hajime-kun. H-He's not a bad bunny, really. In fact, he's
special. He really admires you and…"
"Huh? He… admires me?"
Realizing this might be her one chance to save her furry friend's life, Suzu shouted,
"Yes, he does! Besides, what happened isn't his fault, so please don't shoot him when
you see him! He's the only cute thing that my metamorphosis magic worked on!
Please!"
"Now I'm just confused," Hajime muttered.
Smiling wanly, Ryutarou signaled for Hajime to follow after him.
Hajime stepped past the gate and took a look at Suzu's bunny. It had long ears and
dark crimson eyes. Red veins crisscrossed the rabbit's white fur. But they didn't
pulsate like those of other monsters, and instead glowed softly.
The most striking feature of all though was the bunny's abnormally large legs. Though
it looked slightly different from the ones Hajime remembered because Suzu had tamed
it, the major features were the same.
"Kyu!"
The bunny's cry was no different from what he remembered either. This rabbit was
undoubtedly the same species as the one that had damaged Hajime's left arm and
nearly killed him before the bear appeared. Of course, it wasn't the exact same rabbit,
since Hajime had gotten his revenge on that one.
The reason Suzu had tried to hide it from Hajime was because she was worried he'd
slaughter it on sight.
"It's not like I'm gonna kill your familiar just because it's from the same species that
attacked me."
"R-Really? Do you mean it, Nagumo-kun? I can keep him?"
"He's not a dog, and I'm not your dad. Though, don't these guys live on the earliest
floors? Don't tell me you went all the way up looking for a cute monster you could
tame… Actually, I guess you wouldn't have had enough time for that."
But then, how'd she run into that guy? Hajime shot Suzu a questioning glance as he
thought that, but before she could answer the rabbit leaped out from behind her and
hopped over to him. It had been watching him warily and keeping its distance, so
Hajime was surprised by the sudden change in attitude. He grabbed the rabbit by the
ears and lifted it up to eye level.
"Kyuu! Mokyuu! Ukyuu!"
It wasn't trying to attack Hajime, but he couldn't exactly tell what it was trying to do.
He gave it a puzzled look, and Suzu stepped forward to interpret.
Metamorphosis magic allowed the user to understand a little of what their familiars
were thinking and feeling. The degree to which they could depended on the strength
of the familiar and how long the person had been with it. Unless they'd spent years
with a familiar, they could only get a vague understanding of its thoughts.
Under normal circumstances, anyway.
"Umm, he's saying, 'My king, it is an honor to finally meetcha! When I realized I could
become even stronger by pledging myself to your comrade, I willingly became her
familiar. I can't wait to fight with ya. A-Also, would ya be so kind as to grant me a name,
my king?' Don't give me that incredulous look, that's really what he's saying!"
"Okay, even if it is, why're you adding the weird accent?"
"Because that's how he sounds to me!" Suzu protested, her face bright red.
Everyone turned back to the rabbit. It certainly seemed possible that was what it was
saying, judging by the look in its eyes. They seemed to be pleading with Hajime.
"Okay, well, we're wasting time out here. Let's get back into the workshop first."
Why are all these crazy things happening right before the final battle? I guess they're
mostly good things, but still…
Hajime returned to his workshop, a worried expression on his face.
Once everyone was inside, Hajime activated the Hour Crystal and sat down at the main
table.
Remia brought everyone tea, then went back to the kitchen with Myu to make dinner.
Suzu took a sip of her tea before she began explaining how she'd met this rabbit.
At first, Suzu had been depressed that the only monsters she could tame were insects,
and was losing her motivation to keep going. She managed to tame a flock of pretty
butterflies at the very end, which brightened her mood somewhat, and began the
journey back to Oscar's house. As she was going back, she spotted a strange rabbit. It
was warily hopping from shadow to shadow, doing its best to stay out of sight. That in
and of itself wasn't strange, but the way it did so felt oddly human.
Not only were its mannerisms strange, but it was also a known fact that monsters
never left their home floor. However, this rabbit hopped down the stairs to the next
floor without hesitation. That put Kaori on edge and she got ready to eliminate it, but
then something unexpected happened. The rabbit spotted Kaori and the others, but
instead of attacking, it seemed happy to see them.
Its ears started flopping back and forth, and it even broke out in a cheery jig. It looked
relieved too, as if it had finally found safety.
It cautiously made its way over to the party, making sure not to make any sudden
movements. The way it had hesitantly looked at Kaori and the others, as if asking
whether or not it was okay to get any closer, had been so cute that Suzu was instantly
smitten.
After taming all these insects, she'd finally found an adorable rabbit… One that wasn't
hostile, even.
Kaori had still been on guard, but Suzu ignored all warnings and ran over to the bunny.
She held a hand out to it and declared, "I've made up my mind! Please be my familiar!"
Incidentally, her first impression of the rabbit had been that it was a creepy creature
she didn't want to get near.
Regardless, the rabbit had been taken off guard by Suzu's sudden confession, and it
cocked its head in a very human way.
Seizing her chance, Suzu had started gushing about all the reasons why the rabbit
should become her familiar. The way she'd talked, she'd sounded like a creepy stalker
who'd cornered her favorite idol.
"I'll feed you three, no, four times a day and make sure you have a nice place to sleep.
I'll give you weekends off and even give you a salary! If you need more time off, we can
negotiate! Not only that, I'll use my metamorphosis magic to upgrade all of your stats!
You'll become way stronger! You won't find an opportunity like this anywhere else!
This is your one chance to find a wonderful home, comrades you can trust, and a oncein-a-lifetime powerup!"
Kaori and Ryutarou had both been flabbergasted. For starters, they doubted this
rabbit could even understand Suzu. Indeed, it could not, and Suzu turned back to Kaori
and begged her to use spirit magic to let them converse.