There couldn't have been more than eight to nine thousand left. The army had been well and truly decimated.
And yet, the monsters continued charging mindlessly. Or rather, a portion of the monsters were still mindlessly commanding the remnants to charge. Most of the monsters had completely lost the will to fight, but they still dutifully followed their leaders' orders to charge. It had taken their numbers to be thinned this much for Hajime to notice.
In her initial explanation, Tio had speculated that the robed boy had only brainwashed the leaders of each monster race's respective tribes, and had them control their clans. From the looks of it, her hypothesis had been correct. That was a very efficient way of gathering troops.
Even someone with overpowered skills like Yukitoshi, who had been able to brainwash a dragonman like Tio, wouldn't have been able to gather so many monsters in such a short time. That meant the fastest way to bring this to an end was to simply cut down all of the leaders, whose movements had already been dulled by the fact that they were brainwashed. With their commanders gone, the monsters would return to following their instincts and flee in the face of Hajime's devastating might.
Hajime looked down at his two Metzeleis. Both of them were smoking from the barrel. It was clear the cooling system was starting to fail. If he pushed them any harder, they'd overheat. They were more or less at their limit.
Of course he could always repair them later, but as complex as their machinery was, it would take time. It wasn't exactly something he could do on the spot. It seemed smarter to just change tactics and weapons.
"Yue, how much mana do you have left?"
"...Mmm, about two rings worth. Gravity magic takes more than I thought. I need more practice."
"You already took down 20 thousand on your own, I'd say you're doing pretty well. I'm gonna try and pinpoint specific targets from now on, so just back me up."
"Okay." Yue managed to grasp the entire situation from Hajime's brief explanation and nodded. They really were perfectly in sync. Satisfied, Hajime turned to Shea.
"Shea, can you tell them apart?"
"Yep. There's the controlled ones that feel like Tio did, and then the scaredy-cat ones, right?"
"Scaredy... Yeah, pretty much that. The controlled ones are probably the leaders of each unit. If we can just get those, the rest of the monsters'll flee."
"Oh, good. I was starting to run out of bullets, so I wouldn't be able to keep this up much longer anyway!"
"Y-Yeah... Is it just me, or have you gotten a lot more fierce recently?"
"Of course I have. Who do you think I've been hanging around all this time?" Shea grinned at Hajime, who smiled somewhat kindly back. But there was no time for sentimentality on the battlefield. Hajime quickly put his Metzeleis back into his Treasure Trove and pulled out Donner and Schlag. At the same time, Shea threw down her Orkan and unslung Drucken.
There were about a hundred leaders left. Their manipulator was probably worried about losing control of the few remaining monsters he had left, so he'd kept them near the back.
With Tio down for the count, and both Hajime and Shea's heavy weaponry no longer in play, the monsters finally saw their chance. They charged forth with renewed vigor.
In order to open a path for the duo, Yue cast another one of her spells.
"Draconic Thunder." Dark clouds appeared in what had been a clear sky seconds before, crackling with electricity. Seconds later, a dragon composed of lightning descended from the heavens with a thunderous roar. It swept across the monster army vanguard, its gaping maw vaporizing anything unfortunate enough to be caught in its path. The monsters faltered, their charge broken.
"Let's go, Shea!"
"Aye aye, sir!"
Hajime and Shea dashed through the gap. Hajime sped forward with Supersonic Step, firing Donner and Schlag nonstop. His bullets weaved through waves of monsters, finding the smallest gaps until they arrived at their intended targets, the monsters' leaders. Each bullet accurately struck a vital point, killing the monsters instantly.
The monsters in the vanguard couldn't understand why their leaders were dying one after another, so they started to panic. Around the same time, a shadow suddenly appeared above one of the monsters. It looked up, and saw a girl with rabbit ears hurtling toward it, a massive warhammer in her hands.
She used its head as a launchpad, and jumped further into the horde of monsters. Shea repeated that action a few times, skipping from monster to monster, until finally she jumped off the last one with enough force to crush it, and used gravity magic to lighten her body. When she reached the peak of her leap, she multiplied her weight exponentially and dove toward the ground. She was heading straight for where a clump of monster leaders were huddling together. Using the recoil from Drucken's shotgun blasts to accelerate herself even further, Shea hit the ground at breakneck speed. She transferred all of that kinetic energy into her hammer and swung down.
"Uryaaaaaaaaaa!" Drucken slammed into the ground with the force of a meteorite. The ground trembled, as if an earthquake had just occurred, and massive shockwaves spread out from the point of impact.
The Bulltaur that had been struck directly by the hammer was crushed to a pulp, chunks of its flesh flying in every direction. After a long flight, they fell to the ground. All that awaited them now was a slow decomposition and a return to the earth from which they came. The monsters that had been nearby suffered a similar fate. Nearby rocks and boulders had been sent flying from the force of Drucken's impact, and they blew through the nearby monsters, shredding them.
Shea hefted Drucken out of the ground and dashed for another group of leaders. Naturally, the monsters weren't just going to stay idle and let Shea have her way with them. They crowded around her, hoping to overwhelm her with numbers.
"You're going to need more than that!" Shea pressed a lever, extending Drucken's handle by a good meter, and then used Drucken's shotgun recoil to start spinning like a top. The massive hammer, backed by centrifugal force, sent the monsters flying.
No Bulltaur was spared her wrath. A single dainty-looking girl was knocking monsters around like ping pong balls with a hammer several times her size. It was completely surreal.
Shea completed one full rotation, reset her stance, and started heading to the next group of leaders once more. But before she got very far, her sensitive ears picked up the sound of something rapidly approaching from her right. She calmly swung Drucken around, turning with her swing.
"Grrrrrrrr!"
"Wha—!?"
However, the four-eyed black wolf that had come charging at Shea had predicted her attack and stopped just in time to avoid getting blasted away by Drucken.
Normally, monsters would charge the moment they saw an opening. Shea had expected this wolf to be no different, and so focused her body strengthening on her leg, aiming a kick at the wolf's head. However, it acted contrary to expectations.
"Huh? Wawawah!" Instead of charging at Shea, the wolf leaped at Drucken, wrapped its powerful jaws around it, and tried to pin it to the ground. Though of course, with how much she'd strengthened her body, a mere wolf's strength was nothing to Shea. That being said, its movements had been so unexpected that it still succeeded in confusing Shea for a moment, which was all the time it needed. With perfect timing, another wolf leaped at Shea from behind, jaws open wide. Shea quickly undid the body strengthening around her leg, then applied it around her entire body. This way, she'd be ready for the coming attack.
A second before it reached her however, something blocked its path.
A strange metal cross suddenly appeared, with a sixty centimeter by forty centimeter round shield attached to its center. The round shield blocked the wolf's path, preventing it from biting down on Shea.
"Fweh!? Wh-What the heck is this thing?" The wolf angrily tried to bite and claw its way past the shield, but the light crimson object didn't even budge. A second later, there was a deafening boom, and wolf's jaw was blown off.
"Graaaaaaah!" As the wolf writhed in pain, the cross suddenly floated above its head and with a second boom, blew its head off.
There was another series of booms, and Drucken suddenly felt a little lighter. Shea turned around to see two more floating crosses. They had shot the wolf through the head and stomach.
"Don't let your guard down, Shea. A few of these monsters are clearly on a different level than the others. They don't seem to be either brainwashed or following any other monsters' orders. I'll lend you three of my cross bits. Get the group of leaders over there. Yue said she can only hold the frontline for another five minutes." Hajime sent her a telepathic message to explain the situation. Shea quickly snapped out of her stupor and regained her focus. She touched the choker on her neck, which she refused to call a collar, and telepathically replied.
"Roger! Thanks for the save. You really helped me out back there!"
"Yeah, just be careful."
"...Fufu. You've started acting a lot nicer to me recently, Hajime-san. Just a little more and you'll be head over heels for me!"
Shea cut off the telepathic link before saying that last bit aloud. She smiled softly to herself as she looked at the mechanical protectors Hajime had sent her way. Her motivation renewed, she charged toward the remaining leaders, keeping an eye out for any more of those wolf monsters.
"Sheesh, that girl's always getting herself into trouble..." Hajime muttered to himself as he mowed down another wave of monsters. There were four crosses floating next to him as well.
These were the omni-directional, gravity-controlled weapons he'd created, cross bits. They functioned on the same principle as his Ornises, but these were designed for offense. They were each equipped with a rifle and shotgun, and he controlled them with the seven spirit stones embedded into a bracelet he was wearing. He had enchanted their outer coating with Diamond Skin, and with a command from his spirit stone, they could be transformed into powerful shields on a moment's notice.
His gun-fu, combined with the barrage from his cross bits, made him an unapproachable storm of death. He'd already downed forty leaders, and because his Intimidation was on full blast, many of the monsters had begun to flee.
"Hm? Isn't that..." At the edge of his vision, Hajime saw someone yelling wildly at the fleeing monsters. It looked suspiciously like a person's head, so Hajime used Farsight to get a clearer image of what it was. It was unmistakably a human head, covered by a black robe.
Shimizu was yelling at his retreating army like a child throwing a temper tantrum. Seeing as it was having no effect, he raised up his artifact, a staff, and began chanting. Hajime naturally had no reason to let him finish, so he blew the staff out of Shimizu's hands with a well-placed shot from Donner. The force of the shot sent Shimizu reeling back into his hole.
Hajime wasn't sure if it was Shimizu's doing or not, but a number of black wolves chose that moment to leap out from the crowd and try to take him down. Their strength and coordination was far greater than that of the regular monsters. They reminded Hajime of the Twin-Tailed Wolves he'd fought in the abyss. He guessed their strength was about on the same level too. They didn't have the ability to manipulate lightning like the Twin-Tailed Wolves did, but judging by how they sometimes managed to dodge Hajime's attacks with impeccable timing, he surmised their special magic had to be Foresight. And their coordination was superb... In other words, they matched up to the strength of the weakest monsters in the abyss. Even that was an impressive feat, though.
Could they be from further out than the second mountain range? But even if that's the case... is Shimizu really working alone here? Hajime put those thoughts in the back of his mind. Right now, he needed to focus on the enemy in front of him. And so, he switched his attention from the monster leaders to the twelve black wolves leaping at him.
He spun in a circle, firing Donner and Schlag in all directions to try and shoot down the coordinated pack surrounding him. Sine he knew they'd dodge his initial barrage with Foresight, he used Foresight himself to aim for where he expected them to be after dodging.
Some of them managed to dodge even that though, which surprised him. It seemed that like the Twin-Tailed Wolves, they had a crude form of telepathy that allowed them to exchange information during battle.
In the split second it took Hajime to reload, one of the remaining wolves leaped at him from behind. However, one of his cross bit's slammed into it from above like a guillotine. Another one tried to use its downed comrade as a stepping stone to leap at Hajime, but he blew it apart with a shotgun blast from his artificial elbow.
The rest tried to surround to Hajime, but with a concentrated burst of fire from the remaining two cross bits, they were forced to abandon the idea. Hajime used Supersonic Step to slide through the opening his cross bits created, firing his twin revolvers behind him as he slipped out of the encirclement.
Two of the wolves tried to chase after him and set up a pincer attack, but Hajime's cross bits shot them down, so Donner and Schlag claimed the lives of two more.
"Graaaaaah!" Another one of the wolves was hit by one of the monsters that had been blown back, and hurtled toward Hajime. Hajime dodged to the side, killed the monster coming his way, and blew the head off the wolf that was tangled up with it. He then rolled to his feet, only to find a wolf inches from his face, maw open wide. It had picked the perfect time and place to attack. Almost as if it had known where he would be. Anyone watching would have been certain Hajime had been bitten. However, Hajime swayed a little, and the wolf's teeth clamped down on empty air. He had somehow moved a step back in the span of an instant. He then pressed Schlag into the wolf's stomach and fired.
The remaining wolves all leaped at him, but for some reason every time they closed in, Hajime would suddenly be in a different spot. And every time, Hajime would shoot them down from point-blank range.
It looked almost as if the wolves were mistiming their own attacks, which in actuality they were. Hajime was using the derivative skill Illusion Waltz to confuse their senses. It was a derivative skill of Hide Presence, which left a decoy presence in the spot Hajime had been standing in for a few seconds while hiding his real presence. Because it looked like he was still there, the wolves couldn't figure out that he was hiding his presence. Of course, if they had stopped to observe him, they would have seen through the trick. However, it was very difficult to focus on observation while in the middle of a life and death struggle. And because these wolves relied more on their senses than most monsters, his deception was doubly effective.
Plus, he was augmenting his Illusion Waltz with Riftwalk, and using his cross bits at the same time, so wolves, even as strong as the ones in the abyss, would never have a chance to even touch him. And so, in less than a minute, Shimizu's trump cards had been annihilated without so much as putting a scratch on Hajime.
With the wolves out of the way, Hajime sent his cross bits out to finish off the remaining monster leaders. From the images his other cross bits were sending him, Shea would be done with her side shortly as well. Meanwhile, Yue's Draconic Thunder was keeping the remaining monsters at bay.
In another two minutes, they had successfully eliminated all of the brainwashed monsters they could find. After he was sure there was no one else left, Hajime sucked in a huge breath and let out a mana-laced roar of epic proportions.
"Hyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" His voice resounded throughout the battlefield. The sheer pressure of it intimidated the monsters, striking fear into their hearts. The entire army froze for a second. Then, they realized there was no longer anyone ordering them forward, so they slowly began backing away. When no one gave chase, they turned on their heels and fled back to the mountains, all of them making sure to give Hajime a wide berth.
He was like a rock in the middle of a flowing stream, diverting the flow of their retreat around himself. As he watched the retreat, Hajime saw Shimizu try and make a break for it in the chaos. He was riding what was probably the last of the four-eyed wolves.
"What a shame. It's already too late. If you'd ordered all of your forces to cover your retreat earlier, you might have had a chance." Hajime got on his knees, took careful aim with Donner, and fired two shots in quick succession.
His aim was perfect. Sensing danger, the wolf quickly leaped to the side and dodged the first shot, causing the second to strike it directly in the femur. Without a leg to stand on, the wolf collapsed to the ground, throwing Shimizu off. With how high his stats were, the fall didn't cause any real damage to Shimizu, so he instantly got back up. He ran over to the wolf and started yelling something. When it didn't respond, he kicked it in the head.
He was probably trying to get it back on its feet so he could escape. From the looks of it, he was already in the grips of hysteria. Realizing it wasn't responded, he placed his hand on its head and started chanting something, most likely a spell to forcibly make it stand.
But Hajime didn't give him the chance. He fired another bullet at its head, putting the wolf out of its misery. Shimizu was sent sprawling from the force of the bullet. He got up again, and began running on his own two feet, mixing in with the horde of monsters fleeing north.
Hajime pulled out Steiff, then raced after Shimizu. The boy turned around when he heard an unfamiliar sound, and did a double take when he saw a motorcycle, something that shouldn't belong in this world, barreling toward him. He started running even faster, trying in vain to outstrip the bike.
"What the hell! What the hell is going on! This can't be happening! I'm supposed to be the hero— Gweh!?" He started spewing a stream of curses, but one whack from Hajime's prosthetic arm shut him up. Shimizu faceplanted into the ground and slid a few meters before coming to an unceremonious stop.
"Now then, I wonder what Sensei'll do with you? And depending on how things go... with me." Hajime mumbled to himself as he tied Shimizu up with wire from his artificial arm and started driving him back to the city. Clouds of dust still hung over the devastated plains, which were covered in a sea of blood and flesh. Hajime drove Steiff through the carnage while dragging Shimizu along. He was well and truly defeated now.
For Yukitoshi Shimizu, being spirited away to another world had always been his dream. He knew it wasn't possible in reality, so he'd spent his free time reading light novels about being summoned to another world and daydreaming about his own adventures. He'd had countless fantasies about saving the world and winning himself a harem of girls.
Every inch of Shimizu's room was covered with posters of cute anime girls, and he had a display rack for all of his figures, many of which were in suggestive poses. His bookshelf was packed with manga, light novels, art books, and visual novels of all kinds. Those that didn't fit in his bookshelf were stacked up in corners of his room.
Yukitoshi Shimizu was an otaku through and through. However, none of his classmates knew that. He did a perfect job of hiding his hobbies. The reason was obvious. He'd seen how his class had treated Hajime. He wasn't brave enough to be open about his hobbies when he knew it would get him bullied.
In his own words, he was just some minor NPC in his own class. He had no close friends, so he simply spent most of his time in school reading quietly at his desk. He'd reply briefly if spoken to, but never initiated conversations on his own. Because of how much he'd been bullied in middle school, he'd grown into a shy and withdrawn young man. It had gotten so bad that he'd stopped coming to school, choosing to shut himself up at home. From there, it was inevitable that he would drown himself in books, games, and anime.
His parents had, of course, been worried about him, but as he slipped deeper and deeper down the otaku hole, his brothers started treating him like a nuisance. Soon enough, Shimizu felt unwanted even in his own house.
Though he never let it show, the constant bullying warped his personality. He began to harbor a desire to lord over other people. That desire manifested itself in the games he played, as well as the fantasies he had.
That was why when Shimizu had finally been summoned to another world for real, he'd been overjoyed. Even when Aiko had been yelling at Ishtar to send them back, or when Kouki had been rousing the students to fight for the people, Shimizu had been lost in his own thoughts, thinking of how he would finally get to the become the hero he'd always dreamed of. Though he was elated at first, he soon began to grow discontent with his new otherworldly life. He came to realize that reality was very different from the fantasies he'd always had. First of all, while Shimizu did have overpowered cheat abilities, so did his other classmates. And the supposed hero wasn't even him, but Kouki. Because of that, he was still no more than a minor NPC in the eyes of his classmates, and the girls all flocked to Kouki.
It was no different from how it had been in Japan. Even though his biggest wish had been granted, Shimizu only grew more spiteful and dissatisfied with his life.
How come he wasn't the hero? How come Kouki was the only one getting all the girls? How come Kouki was the only one getting special treatment? He was certain that if he were the hero, he could do a better job. He knew that he'd be nicer to everyone if they came to him... He blamed others for all of his problems, and the egotistic conviction that only he was special began to eat away at his psyche.
It was then that the first expedition to the Great Orcus Labyrinth happened. Shimizu saw this expedition as his chance. No one ever noticed him. No one cared if he was there or not. But if he could show how awesome he was in a fight, his classmates would have to take notice of him. He didn't even realize how unrealistic his hopes were... but the events in the labyrinth later forced him to realize the truth.
He wasn't anyone special, the universe wasn't going to bend over backwards to make him seem special, and if he let his guard down for even a second, he'd die. All his fantasies were shattered when he found himself surrounded by an army of Traum Soldiers, with a raging Behemoth at his back.
And when he saw one of his own classmates fall to his "death," his poor heart shattered.
He'd kept himself going by making excuses and secretly despising everyone around him, so he was by no means strong-willed. Defeated, he reverted to being a shut-in when they returned to the palace, but he could no longer turn to anime and video games to find solace. So instead, he lost himself in books about dark magic, as his profession was Dark Mage.
Dark magic generally influenced the target's thoughts and perception. In combat, its main purpose was to debuff enemies. He took to it like a fish to water, and he quickly grew proficient at creating illusions to disorient foes, interfering with their ability to cast magic, and even making them hurt themselves in confusion.
In his depressed state of mind, Shimizu came to realize something about the magic he was practicing. If he mastered dark magic completely, could he not control another person's mind? The thought brought him great excitement. If he was correct, he could manipulate anyone to do anything he wanted. Anything. That twisted thought took root in his mind. From that day, he devoted himself utterly to the study of dark magic.
However, things didn't go as well as he'd hoped. He learned that creatures with high intelligence, like humans, couldn't be brainwashed unless he spent a day or more continually casting magic on them. This also required them to not resist at all.
Of course, most people would react if someone tried to cast a spell on them. This meant he'd need to find a way to put his target to sleep for long periods of time if he wanted to control them. Trying to hide for hours at a time to cast a spell on someone was physically and temporally impractical. Furthermore, the risk of being discovered was far too great, so he'd been forced to give up on brainwashing people.
As he'd been despairing, he'd suddenly remembered the reason they'd been summoned in the first place was because demons had started taking control of monsters. Monsters were far more instinctual than humans, who had a much stronger sense of self, which meant brainwashing them wouldn't be as hard.
In order to confirm his theory, he'd snuck out of the capital every night to experiment on the weak monsters found in the nearby plains. He'd found that brainwashing them was far easier than brainwashing a person. Though it was only easy to him because of how much natural talent he'd already possessed. According to Ishtar, normal humans would have to spend their whole life to take control of one or two monsters.
Once he was certain of his abilities, Shimizu started craving stronger monsters to place under his control. However, he would feel embarrassed if he asked to join Kouki's party now after all this time. As he was worrying about what to do, he heard about how some of the students were going to form an escort party to guard Aiko. He figured if he went with them, he'd be able to find some pretty strong monsters during his travels.
That was why when Aiko and the others had come to Ur, he'd disappeared and headed to the mountains to make more monster puppets. When he next returned, it would be at the head of a great monster army, and everyone would finally give him the respect he deserved.
Originally, even with his outstanding affinity for dark magic, and even if he'd focused only on the leaders of each tribe, he wouldn't have been able to control more than a thousand or so. And he wouldn't have been able to control monsters any stronger than a Bulltaur.
However, thanks to the assistance of a certain individual, along with the stroke of fortune that had let him control Tio, he'd been able to command monsters from as far away as the fourth mountain range. He forged a contract with said individual, who then started sending him more reinforcements every day. All that power finally corrupted him.
Convinced that he actually was special, he waited for an opportunity to unleash his might on Ur. However... he was handily defeated by Hajime, and brought to Aiko in chains... or well, ropes.
His all-powerful army had been mercilessly slaughtered. Hajime dumped the unconscious Shimizu in front of the students. His head bounced a few times on the ground before coming to a rest. Aiko and the others all gasped.
When she'd seen Hajime dragging Shimizu back, she'd waited for him outside the town walls. The only people present at the moment were Hajime, Tio, Shea, Yue, Will, the students, Aiko, David and his guards, and a few of the town's most important people.
If they'd brought the culprit into town, Hajime had no doubt it would have caused an uproar, so he'd met them all here. The mayor and many of the other town's prominent figures were busy dealing with the battle's aftermath.
Aiko hesitantly walked up to Shimizu, who was still unconscious. The fact that he was wearing a black robe, and that Hajime had taken him directly from the battlefield, proved his guilt. She hadn't wanted to believe it, but now she had no choice. Aiko looked down sadly at Shimizu and shook him to wake him up.
"Aiko, he could still be dangerous." David tried to stop her, but Aiko simply shook her head. She asked he be untied as well. She said she wouldn't be able to have a proper conversation with him otherwise. Aiko still intended to have a teacher to student talk with him.
"Shimizu-kun, Shimizu-kun! Please wake up, Shimizu-kun!"
"Ngh..." Finally, Shimizu regained consciousness. He gazed around with unfocused eyes. A second later, he realized where he was, and came to himself with a start.
He tried to stand up, but the concussion still hadn't worn off, so he fell back to the ground. Terrified, he tried to crawl backward. His eyes darted from one person to another, his expression a mixture of wariness and fear.
"Please calm down, Shimizu-kun. No one's going to hurt you. I just want to talk to you. Why did you do something like this...? That's all I want to know. I just want to understand your feelings." Aiko kneeled down until she was at eye level, then gazed patiently at Shimizu. His eyes stopped darting about. He guiltily averted his gaze and that started explaining... or rather insulting everyone.
"Why? You can't even tell why? That's why you're all a bunch of incompetent losers. You all always look down on me... and go on about hero this, hero that. Even though I'm way better than that prick Kouki... none of you ever noticed. You always just pretended like I wasn't even there... You're all a bunch of retards! That's why I wanted to prove my worth to all of you..."
"You little... Do you realize what you did!? You nearly killed everyone in the town!"
"And you called us losers!?"
"Do you even know how worried Ai-chan-sensei was about you?"
Shimizu didn't show the least bit of remorse. Atsushi, Nana, and Noboru couldn't take it anymore and started yelling at him. Intimidated, Shimizu hung his head and went silent. Aiko couldn't bear to see Shimizu like that, so she stopped Atsushi and the others from going any further. Then, in as gentle a voice as she could muster, she responded to his words.
"I see. So that's what you were dissatisfied about, then... But you know, Shimizu-kun. I don't understand, why would you try and get back at your classmates because of that? Why'd you try and attack the city? If you'd succeeded... and killed all the people of this town... even if you had an army of monsters at your command, that wouldn't have proven your worth." He looked up at Aiko, dark eyes peering through dirty bangs. He smiled thinly and gave a most shocking answer.
"It would have... to the demons."
"Wha—!?" Everyone except Hajime and his party let out a gasp of surprise. His smile turned into a triumphant grin, which only made his voice grow stronger.
"I went alone to the northern mountain range to brainwash monsters. But while I was over there, I met a demon. I was wary at first, but... the demon just wanted to talk to me. And they were the first one who understood. Who understood my true worth. That was why... I made a contract with them."
"A contract... you say? What kind of contract?" Aiko was shaken at the fact that one of her own students had made a deal with the enemy. But more than that, she was furious. She was convinced it was the demon that had led her student astray.
However, Shimizu simply grinned maniacally and gave the most disheartening answer she could've possible heard.
"A contract... to kill you, Hatayama-sensei."
"...Eh?" For a second, Aiko couldn't even comprehend what Shimizu had just said. The others were the same, but they recovered from their shock faster than Aiko. They glared at Shimizu with eyes full of rage. He shrunk back in the face of their unbridled hate, then desperately continued talking in an attempt to shake off their glares.
"What's with that dumb look? Did you really think the demons were just ignoring you guys? There's no way they could have ignored you, you're even more of a threat than the hero. The demon told me that if I killed you... if I killed the fertility goddess along with the rest of the town, that I'd be recognized as a hero. That was the deal." The corner of Shimizu's mouth twitched, and he continued in an increasingly louder voice.
"They told me. They told me my power was the strongest. That it was a waste for me to languish beneath the hero. They actually understood. They gave me all these super strong monsters, and the strength to make a huge army... so I thought that... that I'd be able to kill you for sure! So why!? How!? How did you beat my army!? Where did you get those kinds of weapons in a fantasy world!? Just... Just what the hell are you!?" At first he'd been sneering, looking down on the students and Aiko, but as he continued his tirade Shimizu's expression grew more and more angry, and by the end of it he was yelling at Hajime and not Aiko.
A hint of irritation, hatred, and jealousy slipped into his expression, along with the weariness, the fear, and the odd sense of superiority. However, what eclipsed it all was the insanity in his voice.
It would seem that Shimizu hadn't even realized the white-haired boy was his classmate, Hajime Nagumo. Though seeing as he'd never said a single word to him, perhaps it wasn't all that surprising. He glared at Hajime with hatred so fierce that it wouldn't have surprised Hajime if he'd leaped at him then and there. Despite his tirade, Hajime didn't react at all until Shimizu said "You damn chuuni!" Those words had touched a sensitive spot. He gazed off in the distance, his heart shattered by Shimizu's callous words. Thinking he was being ignored, Shimizu got even more worked up.
Realizing what must have hurt Hajime so, Yue gently patted him on the back. Her kindness nearly moved him to tears. Hajime and Yue ignored the serious atmosphere and started flirting in their own little world. Possibly
thanks to their blatant unwillingness to read the mood, the silence stretched on long enough for Aiko to finally absorb everything Shimizu had said and recover from her shock. She took a deep breath and grabbed Shimizu's hand. Though he talked big, it seemed he lacked the courage to do anything more, so he didn't move.
"Shimizu-kun. Just calm down."
"Wh-What the fuck!? Get away from me!" He tried to shake Aiko off, but she strengthened her grip, making it clear that she wasn't going to let go.
"Shimizu-kun... I understand how you feel. You want to be special. There's nothing wrong with that. Everyone wants to feel like they're special. And I'm sure you can even become someone special. Even if your methods were mistaken, you were able to do so much... Still, you mustn't side with the demons. They only wish to use you. As a teacher, I cannot allow you to entrust yourself to such selfish people!" Unable to bear the weight of Aiko's serious gaze, Shimizu gradually calmed down. He hung his head once more, his bangs hiding his face. Aiko continued appealing to his rationality.
"Shimizu-kun. It's not too late to start over. If you say you're willing to try again, I promise I'll help you. Someone as strong as you can surely fight together with Amanogawa-kun. Don't you want to help everyone find a way home and go back to Japan with us?" Shimizu quietly listened to Aiko, but his shoulders were trembling. Everyone thought he'd been so moved by Aiko's speech that he was crying. In fact, Yuka, who was the most stoic person among their classmates, was already weeping. That was how heart-wrenching Aiko's speech was.
Sadly, reality was cruel to them on that day. Aiko moved closer to pat his head, when suddenly Shimizu tightened his grip on Aiko and pulled her forward. He then wrapped his arm around her neck and started squeezing. He pinned her arms behind her back, and pulled out a short, ten centimeter needle from somewhere and pointed it at her neck.
"Nobody move! Move and I stab her!" He tried to sound threatening, but he came across as hysteric. His mouth was twitching, and he glared at Hajime with eyes full of madness. The reason his shoulders had been trembling before was because he'd been trying to hold in his laughter.
Aiko desperately tried to peel Shimizu's arm off her neck, but to no avail. Everyone froze, unwilling to risk Aiko's life on a rescue attempt. Shimizu was crazy enough at this point that they believed he'd do it. Everyone started talking at once, screaming at Shimizu, or worriedly calling out Aiko's name.
It was then that Hajime and Yue finally came back to reality. He'd been fretting about his over the top appearance this whole time, and was surprised to come back to see Aiko being threatened.
"Huh? When did all this happen..."
"This is a poisoned needle I took off one of the monsters in the mountains! One prick and she's dead! So, if you don't want your precious teacher writhing on the ground, drop your weapons now! All of you!" Everyone's faces went pale. Shimizu grinned, then turned to look at Hajime.
"Hey, you damn chuuni bastard! You, no not the person behind you, you! Are you making fun of me, you fucker!? Keep this up and I'll stab her! Hurry up and give me your gun! Your other weapons too!"
Still trying to escape from reality, Hajime turned around, as if Shimizu was talking about someone other than himself. However it didn't work, so Hajime turned back around with a frown. Despite the tense atmosphere, Hajime seemed unruffled. His nonchalant attitude irked Shimizu to no end. Thinking he was being looked down upon, Shimizu completely lost it. Still hysterical, he demanded Hajime hand over his gun.
Hajime looked at Shimizu with eyes cold as ice.
"Um, you say that, but... if you don't kill Sensei the demons won't accept you, so you'll have to kill her eventually anyway, right? In that case, what point is there in me handing my weapons over?"
"Shut up! Shut the fuck up! Shut up and give me everything you have! Retards like you should just listen to what I say! O-Oh yeah, hehe, why don't you hand me that slave while you're at it. Bring her to me!" Shimizu's screams were nearly incoherent. He'd been driven so far into a corner that he could no longer make rational decisions. Shea shivered when he looked at her, looking back at him with eyes full of disgust.
"You can tell me to shut up all you want, but you're still a loser... Hey Shea, don't hide behind me just because he creeps you out. You're just gonna make him more mad."
"But he's so disgusting... Just looking at him makes me sick... See, look at all these goosebumps! I didn't even know people could be this gross."
"Well, I suppose I can't blame you. He said he wanted to be a hero, but he acts more like a two-bit villain that dies in the first chapter." Whether because they didn't care, or because they couldn't keep their voices down in the face of such creepiness, their discussion was loud enough for all to hear. Shimizu's face went from beet red, to sickly green, to pale white. It would seem he'd literally become so angry that he'd gone insane.
With empty eyes, Shimizu mumbled "I'm a hero. I'm special. Everyone else is just a moron. It's all their fault. But that's okay, because everything'll work out. Because I'm a hero. Because I'm special." Then suddenly, he started laughing deliriously.
"Sh-Shimizu-kun... please... we can... talk... this out..." Despite the situation she was in, Aiko still tried to reason with her student. Aiko's words cut his maniacal laughter, and he started squeezing down on her neck even harder.
"Shut up! You keep pretending to be a good person, but you're just a hypocrite! I don't care about what you have to say. Just shut up and be a good hostage." Shimizu's gaze returned to Hajime. His earlier hysteria was gone. Now, his eyes were filled with nothing but hatred. He shot a quick glance at the revolvers strapped to Hajime's thighs. Even without words, his intentions were clear. If Hajime hesitated for even a moment, he'd kill Aiko without a second thought. He no longer cared anything for his own safety.
Hajime sighed. Thinking he could just shoot a wire and shock them both with Lightning Field when he went to hand over his guns, he slowly reached for Donner and Schlag.
With how small Aiko was, and how fast he could draw and fire, Hajime could easily shoot Shimizu before he had a chance to do anything, but he decided Aiko needed to be taught a lesson too.
However, before he could hand his guns over, something happened.
"Huh!? Oh no! Get out of the way!" Shea yelled out as she leaped toward Aiko faster than anyone could blink.
Panicking, Shimizu tried to stab Aiko with the needle. Shea pulled Aiko free and dived out of the way. A second later, a torrent of water slammed into Shimizu's chest, directly where Aiko's head had been not even a second ago.
Hajime, who'd also been in the line of fire, diverted the stream with a shot from Donner. Someone must have cast Rupture.
Shea hit the ground shoulder-first, and sliding a few meters before coming to a stop. A cloud of dust rose up behind her, and she groaned painfully.
"Shea!" Yue frantically called out Shea's name and rushed over to her. She took a protective stance in front of the two of them.
Inwardly thanking Yue for knowing what to do without him having to say anything, Hajime steadied Donner with both hands and used Farsight to find the source of the spell. He spotted a dark-skinned man in dark clothing with pointed ears and swept back hair riding atop a giant bird-like monster.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! After a second's hesitation, he fired a volley of shots at the monster and the figure riding it. The man had predicted Hajime's attack, so he made his mount do a barrel roll, barely avoiding the volley of shots. However, one had still grazed past its mount's foot, blowing it clean off. Another had hit his arm, doing the same. Still, he didn't falter for even a second, and fled as fast as he could. He was clearly well practiced at making his getaways after assassination attempts.
Hajime guessed that was the demon Shimizu had made a deal with. He fled into the town and flew low, using the city's buildings as a shield.
Hajime grimaced as he realized this demon had a pretty good grasp of Hajime's offensive capabilities and was most likely planning on reporting that to his people. If he managed to escape into the woods that surrounded Urdea Lake, Hajime would have had a hard time tracking him down even with his Ornises, but there was something that took priority over all of that.
"Hajime!" For the first time in Hajime's memory, Yue's voice was tinged with panic.
Hajime holstered Donner and ran toward Shea, ignoring Shimizu entirely. She was resting in Yue's lap, her face scrunched up in pain. Next to her was Aiko, still cradled in Yue's arms. She too looked to be in considerable pain.
"H-Hajime-san... Ngh... I'm... fine... Please... l-look after your teacher... the needle grazed her skin..." There was a gaping hole in Shea's stomach. She'd managed to use her body strengthening to halt the bleeding, but it was obvious from her expression that she was in a lot of pain. Despite that, she still smiled faintly and put Aiko's safety above her own.
Hajime looked over and saw that Aiko was even paler than Shea, and her limbs were convulsing. Aiko's eyes locked with Hajime's. She weakly shook her head and pointed to Shea. It seemed she'd heard their conversation, but the poison had already left her unable to talk. If Shimizu had really been telling the truth she would only last for a couple more minutes, but judging from her condition, she didn't have more than a minute left in her. And the longer it took to heal her, the greater the chance that the poison would cause permanent damage.
Hajime looked over at Shea, nodded, and pulled out a vial from his Treasure Trove. It was around that time that the other students and guards finally caught up, and the area around Hajime turned into a cacophony of screams.
"Aiko, Aiko!"
"No... Sensei! What do we do? What do we do, Nagumo? Sensei's going to die!"
"S-Shea-san looks like she's in bad shape too! Goddammit! It's going to happen again..."
Yuka and David were particularly shaken. The person they loved was on the brink of death, so it was only natural. It was even worse for Yuka since seeing Aiko on the verge of death triggered flashbacks to when she'd seen Hajime fall. She didn't want to see someone she knew die again. The students and guards all crowded around Hajime, some of them were worried about Aiko's safety, others tried to shove past him, and yet others tried to cast ineffective healing magic. With a single scream Hajime silenced the entire crowd, and they took a hesitant step back.
Hajime was honestly a little surprised. He was angrier about Shea getting hurt than he thought he'd be. Without him even noticing it, she'd become someone dear to him. And that was why he was so furious with himself for failing to consider the possibility that the demon Shimizu had made a deal with was waiting somewhere nearby.
He'd assumed that if anyone wanted to harm Aiko or the students, they would have done it while he was away fighting on the front line. So when no one had come for them during the battle, he'd mistakenly felt that they were safe from further threats, despite having no basis for that conclusion.
In reality, the demon had been hoping to assassinate Aiko in the confusion of the battle, but Hajime and his party's strength had been so overwhelming that all he could do was watch. And so, he had waited for another opportunity while Shimizu and Aiko had been talking. He had actually planned on letting Shimizu finish Aiko off and just watch from the shadows, but midway through their conversation he realized with how powerful Hajime was, it was likely he could rescue Aiko before Shimizu had a chance, so instead, he'd tried to kill them both with his magic.
However, the nimble demon had made a single mistake. He'd included Hajime and the others as a target, in an attempt to eliminate all dangerous threats at once. Unfortunately for him, that had caused Shea's special magic to activate.
Namely, Future Sight. Because Hajime, and Shea who had been standing behind him, had been in the path of the demon's rupture, Shea had been able to see it seconds before it actually happened. Thanks to that, she'd been able to save Aiko's life. At the risk of her own, she'd changed the future. Hajime wasn't sure why she'd risked herself for Aiko when she hadn't even known her all that well, but he wasn't about to let her sacrifice go to waste. And so, he didn't hesitate to use one of his Ambrosia vials on Aiko. There wasn't enough time to try anything else.
Hajime took Aiko from Yue's arms and gently poured drops of Ambrosia into her mouth. Aiko glared at Hajime, angry that he'd helped her before helping Shea, but he ignored her. Right now, Aiko's, and even Hajime's desires weren't important. Shea's feelings took precedence over all of that.
That was why Hajime kept treating Aiko despite her protests. However, Aiko's entire body had started spasming, and she was having trouble swallowing the liquid that could save her life. Worse, she ended up getting it down her airway and coughed a lot of it back out.
"Tch, this doesn't look good... Looks like I don't have a choice." Seeing that Aiko no longer had the strength left to swallow on her own, Hajime poured the remnants of the vial down his own mouth and covered Aiko's lips with his own, forcing the liquid down her throat.
"Wha—!?" Aiko's eyes opened wide. The people around Hajime all yelled in surprise. He ignored them and plunged his tongue deeper into Aiko's mouth to ensure all of the Ambrosia went down her throat. There was no embarrassment or guilt in his expression. He was simply doing what he needed to save her life.
Finally, the last drops of Ambrosia slid down Aiko's throat. The pain began to recede from her body, the exhaustion and chills fading as the liquid worked its magic. Aiko felt as if someone had lit a fire inside her. In fact, it was almost as if someone had taken her frozen body and dipped it into a hot springs. Her entire body started trembling.
The Ambrosia had been effective, as always. Compared to repairing a body destroyed from the inside by monster meat, poison was nothing. The effects were instantaneous.
After a second that felt like an eternity, Hajime pulled his lips away. There was a single silver strand connecting their mouths. Hajime continued watching Aiko for a few seconds more, just to make sure the Ambrosia had healed her through the worst of the poison.
Meanwhile, Aiko was staring at Hajime with a blank look on her face.
"Sensei."
"..."
"Sensei?"
"..."
"Snap out of it, Sensei!" "Fweh!?" Hajime called out to his teacher multiple times, but she didn't respond. Annoyed, Hajime slapped her cheek, making Aiko let out a startled cry.
"How are you feeling? Does it still hurt anywhere?"
"Eh? Ah, umm, no, I-I-I'm fine. In fact, I feel better than fine... Wait, that's not the problem here! I-I didn't mean to imply that what just happened was what felt good, I mean the medicine!"
"Alright, good." Hajime dismissed the flustered Aiko with a curt nod and released her. Then, he looked back at Shea in concern. Though she was surprised by the sudden kiss, Aiko quickly composed herself, realizing now was neither the time nor place to worry about such things.
Hajime splashed half of another vial of Ambrosia onto Shea's wound, and then brought the remainder up to her lips. There was a faint hissing noise as the hole in her stomach started closing up. However, Shea refused to drink the rest of the Ambrosia and shook her head.
"H-Hajime-san..."
"Shea, why—"
"I want you... to feed it to me... ngh... mouth to mouth too~"
"A-Are you kidding me..." Even though she was drenched in sweat from the agonizing pain, the maddening rabbit still prioritized seducing Hajime over everything. Even Hajime couldn't help but admire such staunch opportunism. Still, he had no reason to kiss her in public, so he ignored Yue's silent entreaty and forcibly shoved the vial into her mouth.
"Mmph...!? Mmmgh... Pwah... Hajime-san, you meanie. I'm jealous of your teacher now."
"Hajime... Hmph."
"Huh!? S-Shea-san, that was different. He only did that to save my life! It's completely different from what you're thinking! I'm his teacher, I could never do that with a student!" Flustered, Aiko started explaining what everyone present already understood. Hajime sighed, a mixture of exhaustion and relief on his face as he turned away from Shea's pouting stare and Yue's disapproving gaze.
Then, before the peanut gallery could start up again, Hajime brought everyone's attention back to the person they'd forgotten. Well, everyone except Aiko, anyway. After all, he was one of her important students. However, while she hadn't forgotten, she also hadn't processed everything that had happened. Hajime called out to the guard standing next to Shimizu.
"...Hey you, is Shimizu still alive?" There was a collective sense of realization as everyone's attention returned to Shimizu, who was still collapsed on the floor. Only Aiko looked around with a confused expression for a second before remembering what it was that Shea had protected her from. Her face paled, and she quickly ran over to where Shimizu was laying and grabbed his hand.
"Shimizu-kun! Aaah how... awful." He had a hole in his chest as large as the one Shea had had in her stomach. It was still spurting blood, despite the massive pool of it that he was already lying in. If he wasn't dead already, he wouldn't last more than a few minutes more.
"I-I don't want to die... S-Someone please save me... It wasn't supposed to... This... can't be happening..." Whether he was talking to Aiko or just to himself, no one was sure. Aiko desperately cast her glance around her, but the people around her awkwardly averted their gaze. He was already beyond help. And it was clear from their expressions that even if he wasn't, they didn't want to save him anyway. Only the students were different. True, they couldn't forgive Shimizu's atrocities, but they still didn't want him to die. They haltingly looked over at Hajime. Aiko, too, turned to Hajime and shouted desperately.
"Nagumo-kun! If we use that medicine of yours we can still save him! Please!"
"Figures..." Hajime sighed and walked over to Shimizu. He'd expected this, but even knowing what her answer would be, he still asked to make sure.
"Do you really want to save him, Sensei? He tried to kill you. Even if you're his teacher, you don't have to go this far for him."
I wonder how many teachers out there would be this desperate to save their student even after they tried to kill them. Especially for a reason as flimsy as "because he's my student." That was far above and beyond what was required of any teacher.
Aiko realized what Hajime was really trying to ask with his question. For a second her gaze wavered, but then she set her jaw and answered resolutely,
"You may have a point. In fact, you're probably right. However, this is the kind of teacher I want to be. When I became a teacher, I swore an oath that I would always be there for my students. Nagumo-kun... please... save him..."
Hajime scratched his head and sighed unhappily.
"I guess that's just how you are," he said, defeated. He looked up at the sky and lapsed into thought for a few seconds. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Finally, he came to a decision. He opened his eyes and knelt next to Shimizu.
"Shimizu. Can you hear me? I can save your life."
"Huh!?"
"But before I do, I need to ask you something."
"..." At Hajime's words, Shimizu stopped his mumblings and looked at Hajime, eyes bulging in surprise. Whether those mutterings had been begging for salvation or cursing the world around him, it seemed Hajime had his attention now. After a brief pause, Hajime continued.
"Are you...my enemy?" Shimizu shook his head without hesitation. He smiled weakly and started talking.
"I-I'm not... I-I don't know what came over me. I promise... I won't do it again. If you save me, I-I'll do anything you ask. I'll make you... an army... I'll even brainwash any girl you want... I-I swear... I'll be loyal to you forever. Please... I'm begging you... save me..." Hajime's face went blank. He stared hard into Shimizu's eyes, as if trying to discern the veracity of his words.
Feeling as if his every secret was being laid bare, Shimizu hurriedly averted his gaze. However, Hajime had seen all that he needed to. Shimizu had sunk even further into insanity. Hatred, anger, jealousy, desire, and a hodgepodge of other negative emotions were all that he had left to him. He had sunk so deep into the darkness that the light could no longer reach him.
Hajime was certain. No matter what Aiko said, she could no longer sway Shimizu's heart. And if he saved him now, Shimizu would definitely come back as an enemy someday. Of course, there was only one fate that awaited enemies...
Hajime looked over briefly at Aiko. Their eyes met. In that instant, Aiko realized what Hajime was about to do. The blood drained from her face, and she tried to stop him.
"Don't!" However, Hajime was faster. Two gunshots resounded throughout the town.
"Huh!?" Someone let out a gasp of surprise.
One shot to the head, another to the heart. Shimizu was granted a certain and swift death at Hajime's hands.
No one said a word in the seconds that followed, and the only thing that moved was a thin plume of white smoke rising from Hajime's revolver. Finally, a tiny voice broke through the oppressive silence.
"Why?" Aiko. She stared dumbfounded at the empty shell that was Shimizu's corpse. His soul had already begun the journey to the afterlife.
Hajime turned to look at Aiko. She quietly met his gaze. In her eyes was a mixture of anger and sadness, doubt and fear. Each of her emotions vied for supremacy, appearing and disappearing at regular intervals.
"Because he was my enemy." His answer was short and to the point.
"No! Shimizu-kun was..."
"Did you honestly believe you could reform him? Sorry, but I'm not trusting enough to believe that. And more importantly, I have faith in my ability to judge people." At the end, Shimizu's eyes had betrayed just how far he had fallen.
Hajime had hoped that Aiko's compassion would have shown him the error of his ways, as he was on the brink of death. He had hoped she could save Shimizu the way Yue had once saved him...
That was why he'd asked what he did. If there was any hope for him at all, Hajime would have been willing to hand Shimizu over to Aiko and give him a second chance, though he would have kept an eye on him. However, even as he lay dying, there was not an iota of remorse in him.
Aiko must have also realized it, but because she believed in her principles as a teacher, she couldn't abandon him. Not without abandoning who she was.
"That doesn't mean you had to kill him! If we'd just locked him up in the palace, maybe when we'd finally made it back to Japan he'd... There was still a chance!"
"I know no matter what I say, you won't be able to accept what I did, Sensei. I killed one of your precious students. I'll let you decide what you want to do with me."
"But that's..."
"You said that my way of life was 'lonely.' Those words really made me rethink a lot of things. Even so, I don't think I can change my mindset so easily... not in this world where life is cheaper than dirt. And honestly, I don't want to. Rather, I don't have the luxury to."
"Nagumo-kun..."
"I may do the same thing again. If I think it's necessary... I'll pull the trigger as many times as it takes. If you think I'm wrong... then do what you think you must, Sensei. Just remember, whether it's you, or any of my other classmates, I'll kill anyone that becomes my enemy without hesitation." Aiko bit her lip and hung her head. She was the one who had told Hajime that she wouldn't hold it against him if he chose not to help after listening to what she said. Now she didn't know what else to say.
Hajime silently turned on his heel and headed back to Yue and Shea. There was nothing more for him to do here. Seeing his piercing gaze, Will reluctantly followed behind Hajime, though he frequently glanced back to see how Aiko and the town was faring.
The mayor and Aiko's guards reached out to stop Hajime, but gave up when he unleashed his Intimidation. Though they were interested in his artifacts, and in himself as a person, the memory of what he'd done to the monster army was still fresh in their minds, so their outstretched hands limply fell to their sides.
"Nagumo..." Yuka muttered. She didn't want to stop him. She wasn't even sure why she'd called out to him. The whirlwind of events that had just occurred had left her too confused to know what she was feeling anymore. Atsushi and the others looked like they wanted to say something too, but their emotions were too jumbled up for them to get the words out.
"Nagumo-kun! I... I..." Though she still didn't know what to say, Aiko's pride as a teacher refused to let Hajime go just like that. Hajime stopped and said something without looking back.
"Sensei, your ideals are already dead, but despite all that, I'm glad that even in this world, you continue to be our teacher no matter what. I hope you can continue to stay strong." He started walking again and didn't stop until he was outside the ring of villagers. Then, he pulled out Brise and rode off into the distance, leaving behind a solemn group of students and a town full of people still happy to be alive.
Hajime drove south down the highway, with Brise kicking up clouds of dust that obscured the mountains to the north. It was more a trail that had been pounded down by thousands of feet over hundreds of years than a proper road, but it was still infinitely better than the rough path they'd taken to the mountain. Brise was equipped proper suspension, so the drive was far smoother than their last trip.
Shea seemed to prefer Steiff over Brise however, as she'd opened her window and stuck her head outside to enjoy the outside air. Her rabbit ears flapped wildly in the breeze. She much preferred a style of travel where she could feel the wind whistling past her ears and could wrap her arms around Hajime.
As always, Hajime was in the driver's seat. Next to him was, of course, Yue. Next to her was Shea, while Will sat in the back. Will leaned forward and asked Hajime something in a hesitant voice.
"Umm, was it really okay to just leave like that? Shouldn't you have talked things through a bit more... especially with Aiko-dono?" Hajime responded casually without turning around.
"Hm? Nah, not really. If I'd stayed any longer, then things would have just became more of a pain... Plus, I think it's better for Sensei if I'm not near her for a while."
"I suppose you have a point..."
"You're... really soft, you know that? Like... you're always worrying more about others than yourself."
Will smiled awkwardly at that. Not only had he mourned over the deaths of adventurers he couldn't have known for more than a few days, he stayed behind to help townspeople that had nothing to do with him, and even forgave Tio. And now, despite the fact that Hajime had practically kidnapped him, Will was still worried about Hajime's relationship with Aiko. Hajime had figured any noble willing to throw their life away to become an adventurer would have to be an oddball, but this was even more than that. Will was kind to a fault, to the point where even Hajime worried about him a little.
"...You're a nice person."
"Yeah, you really are~"
"Indeed, you are a kind man."
Will was momentarily flummoxed. He knew they were praising him, but it felt weird as a guy to be called nice by girls.
"Wh-Who cares about me... I just wanted to say you should have explained your reasons properly."
"My reasons?" Hajime raised his eyebrows in confusion. Will scratched his cheek awkwardly before continuing.
"Yes. Your reasons for killing that boy... even though you knew it would cause Aiko-dono pain."
"I did, didn't I? He was an enemy, so..."
"Even if that was a good enough reason not to save him, that wasn't a good enough reason to kill him, right? After all, he'd already been fatally wounded. You could have just left him there to die, but you killed him instead. We both know there was a reason for that."
"...You're a pretty sharp kid." Will was absolutely right. Hajime had assumed the impact of killing Shimizu while Aiko was begging him to save him had been enough to hide his true intentions, but while his other classmates had been shocked, it seemed Will had seen right through him.
Are all nobles this good at observing people, or just him? Hajime was honestly impressed.
"Come to think of it, that was bugging me too," Shea said, as she pulled her head back in to better hear their conversation. Hajime hesitated for a moment, unsure of how to answer. But before he could say anything, Yue answered for him.
"Hajime's a tsundere."
"....."
"Tsundere?" Hajime kept a perfect poker face, hiding his true thoughts from plain sight. The others all repeated the unfamiliar word, confused.
"Were you trying to repay her kindness? Or was that just your way of looking out for her?"
"I just did it because the opportunity was there." Hajime sulkily turned away. Realizing Yue must have figured it out, Shea and Will huddled in closer for an explanation.
Since it didn't look like Hajime would elaborate, it fell to Yue to explain. The gist of it was that Hajime hadn't wanted Aiko to feel responsible for Shimizu's death.
Shimizu had said it himself. The demon he'd made a contract with had wanted to kill Aiko. It was obvious he'd used Shimizu for that very purpose. That last attack of his had clearly been aimed at Aiko. Shimizu had just been collateral damage.
Naturally, his death was in no way Aiko's fault. He'd sold his soul to a demon of his own free will because of his greed. He'd reaped what he'd sown. And even if you decided he wasn't to blame for his own actions, it was clearly the demon who had dealt the fatal blow, and thus his fault.
However, would Aiko have been able to accept that? It was obvious to everyone present that the last attack had been aimed at her. Furthermore, Aiko had a strong sense of justice, especially when it came to her students. It was highly likely that she would have thought it was her fault for getting Shimizu involved in that attack. She would have believed it was her fault that he had died. Would she have been able to bear that guilt? Hajime at least hadn't thought so.
From the start, Aiko had been the most uneasy and afraid of the world they'd been summoned to. Despite that, she'd never once stopped, complained, or given in to her fear. No matter the situation, she had always done everything in her power to help her students. After all, that was what it meant to be a teacher in her mind.
It was easy to imagine what would happen if she started to believe she was responsible for killing one of the students she had sworn to protect. The pain would be far greater than when she'd heard Hajime had died, far greater even than when he'd told her one of her precious students had been the one that had betrayed him. Enough to break her, basically.
Hajime obviously hadn't wanted Aiko to break so that he could keep her as a future ally, but he had also been genuinely worried about her. He had always felt Aiko had been a bit too idealistic. That had been the reason she was so full of contradictions.
But even so, he'd believed the words she'd given him would lead Yue and Shea to a better, happier life. That was why, even though they were in a different world, even though Hajime was a completely different person, he'd still been grateful for the lecture she'd given him as his teacher.
That was why Hajime had killed Shimizu himself. He had wanted to impress as strongly as possible that Shimizu had been his enemy. And that it was Hajime who bore the responsibility of his death. He had felt that had been the least he could do to keep Aiko from breaking, to make sure she could always be the teacher she dreamed of being.
"Fufu, you really are a tsundere, Hajime-san."
"So that's what it was..."
"I see. So Master has a cute side to him as well, then."
Everyone looked playfully at Hajime after Yue finished explaining his motives. Hajime pointedly continued not looking at anyone.
"But I think Aiko will find out."
"..." Hajime looked silently over to Yue. She gazed back at him, eyes full of kindness.
"Aiko is your teacher. Someone whose words are powerful enough to move you. She'll discover the truth eventually."
"Yue..."
"Don't worry. She's strong. Things won't end up the way you fear."
"..."
Yue held a lot of respect for Aiko. She was the only one who'd managed to get Hajime to think back on the humanity he'd thrown away, something even Yue hadn't been able to do.
Hajime saw an unwavering strength and kindness in Yue's eyes, which softened his own gaze. Yue's words had cleared away the dark thoughts he'd been brooding over. He no longer felt as worried about Aiko and what would happen to her in the future.
"Haah, there they go, off in their own little world again. When will I get to be like that with him?"
"Th-This is... really sweet, isn't it?"
"Hmm, while I personally prefer being insulted and debased... that looks somewhat enticing as well."
The other three watched Hajime and Yue with a mixture of awkwardness and jealousy. Shea had puffed her cheeks out and was pouting loudly.
Sensing her displeasure, Yue looked over at Shea, and then back to Hajime. The silent entreaty in her gaze was clear. "Shea deserves a reward too." Shea had risked her life to save Aiko. If it hadn't been for her Future Sight and timely intervention, Aiko would have died. Hajime definitely owed Shea for saving his teacher's life. He understood that full well, so though he grumbled a little he dutifully turned to Shea.
"Shea. Umm, you were a real lifesaver. It's a bit late, I know, but... thank you."
"...Who are you?"
He'd worked up his courage to finally convey his gratitude, and all he got in return was a surprised stare and those words. A vein throbbed in Hajime's forehead, but he knew he deserved it, so he held his anger in.
"Well, I guess it's my fault your reaction's like that... but honestly, I really am grateful, you know?" This time Hajime properly met Shea's gaze and showed his gratitude once more. Shea felt a jolt of electricity run through her body, then she started fidgeting abashedly. Her cheeks were bright red, and she was looking anywhere but at Hajime. Her rabbit ears danced from side to side as well.
"U-Umm... It wasn't anything special, so you really don't need to thank me or anything... J-Jeez... What's with you all of a sudden! That's really embarrassing, you know... Ehehe."
Hajime smiled faintly and asked something that had been bugging him for a while.
"Shea. I was wondering... why'd you jump in to save Sensei? It's not like you knew her that well or anything. Not enough to risk your life for her, at least..."
"Because she's someone important to you, Hajime-san."
"That's it?"
"Huh? Well, yeah, that's the only reason."
"I see..." Hajime's expression was hard to read. Aiko certainly was an important existence to him. Unlike most of his classmates, he would've actually cared if she died, so he was glad she'd survived.
Though he couldn't remember ever saying or doing anything that had shown he cared about Aiko more than other people... it looked like both Yue and Shea could read him like an open book regardless. I guess it shows that's how much they're always thinking of me. I know it's a bit late to be realizing it now, but I really have some great companions.
Even without Yue urging him on, Hajime knew Shea deserved some kind of reward.
"Shea. Is there anything you want me to do for you?"
"Eh? Anything I want you... to do for me?"
"Yeah. Think of it as like... a reward for your hard work. Just keep it reasonable, okay?"
Shea was taken aback. She'd just done what anyone would have for their comrades, so she felt like Hajime was exaggerating her achievements a little. She groaned to herself and looked to Yue for help, but Yue just looked back kindly and nodded. "This is Hajime's way of saying thanks, you should just take it," her gaze seemed to say. Shea thought about it for a few seconds more, then broke out into a wide grin. She nodded back to Yue and turned to Hajime.
"Okay, then I want you to take my first—"
"Denied." Hajime instantly shot her down. Shea glared sulkily at him.
"But why? That was clearly supposed to be your dere moment! Right? Right? Come on, can't you read the mood a little!?"
"I told you to keep it reasonable."
"That's totally reasonable! You do it with Yue-san all the time! Don't think I don't see you two sneak off every now and then! How do you think I feel, watching you two go off to have sex all the time!? I bet you two are going to send me off on some errand when we get to Fuhren so you can fuck like rabbits all day again! Hic... I'm... I'm going to be sent off alone again. And then I'll have to pretend I don't notice Yue-san's disheveled hair when I get back... Poor me..."
"Come on, don't cry... Yue's the one I'm in love with, I can't change that now. And you, well, I do care about you, but that's not really the same thing as love... so you know..."
"Waaa... Hajime, you limp-dick bastard!"
"Hey..."
"Dickless wimp! Homo! Good-for-nothing loser! Pervert!" In the span of a few seconds, Shea's excitement had transformed into indignation. She let out all of her pent-up frustration at once, pelting Hajime with insults. Behind her, Will and Tio let out a chuckle.
"Hahaha... She really called the guy who wiped out an army of sixty thousand monsters... a limp-dick bastard... Hahaha."
"Master is surprisingly pure at heart. To think he hasn't even lain with her yet... I suppose that means even I'm ahead of her, as he violated my anus..."
They made no effort to hide their voices. Hajime seriously considered throwing them out of the car for a second, but Yue's reproachful glare kept him in check.
Hajime awkwardly turned back to Shea. He promised to himself he'd strangle Will later. As for Tio... she'd only enjoy it, so he decided to ignore her.
"Shea. Can't you lower the bar a bit? Anything else, I'll..."
"...Hajime, is it really impossible?" For some reason, Yue was taking Shea's side. Shea hugged Yue and started sobbing in her arms.
It was obvious Yue had no problem with Hajime sleeping with Shea. Yue had really started taking a liking to Shea. At first their relationship had been more like friends, but it had grown into something more akin to an older sister looking after her excitable younger sibling. And said older sister seemed to have a huge sister complex.
It wasn't everyday someone's lover asked them to have sex with another girl. Hajime buried his face in his hands, despairing. But no matter what anyone said, he had his own principles.
"The only person my heart desires is you, Yue. I don't have anything against Shea, and I do care about her, but... I can't treat her the same as you." Yue let out a strange sound in response. Shea's rabbit ears perked up and she looked suspiciously at Hajime, suddenly wary.
"I want to be faithful to you Yue. And no matter what the reason is, I don't think I could accept you having another man, either. Call me selfish or petty all you want, but... I was hoping you'd feel the same way about me, Yue. So whether it's Shea, or any other girl, could you please stop telling me to have sex with them?"
"...Hajime." With Shea still in her arms, Yue stared into Hajime's eyes, a faint blush spreading across her cheeks. Hajime gently stroked her cheek. The two were lost in their own world again. It almost seemed as if the air around them turned visibly more pink. Shea slowly nudged her way closer and closer to their faces.
"They've totally forgotten about me again, haven't they? Even though this was supposed to be about my reward..." Shea glared daggers at the two of them. However, they were too busy flirting to notice. Finally, they came back to reality and slowly broke away from each other. Yue shyly twirled a stray strand of hair with her fingers.
She hadn't been ready for such a passionate confession, so there was still a faint smile on her usually expressionless face. Other people might have found Hajime's words a bit too possessive, but Yue couldn't have been happier to hear them. That was why she'd forgotten about everything but him for a few minutes.
"I see. So that's how your relationship is, then... It must be hard for you, Shea-dono."
"Hmm... Master's bond with Yue certainly is strong. Squeezing your way inside it won't be easy... but well, I'm satisfied just being insulted, so it's of no matter to me."
Will quietly watched their sickeningly sweet displays of affection. Next to him, Tio was panting heavily, but he pretended not to hear her.
"...I'm sorry, Hajime. But I really think... Shea deserves to be rewarded too... Can't you at least spend one day... with just her?"
"Yue-saaaaaaan." Despite everything, Yue still insisted on including Shea. She gently patted Shea's head, who dug her face even deeper into Yue's chest. Hajime smiled, clearly defeated, and replied to her.
"If that's all, you don't even need to ask. But Shea, are you really okay with me just saying yes because Yue asked me? If there's anything else you want to ask, I won't say no."
"Hajime-san... it's fine, really. I don't care how I get you to like me, as long as it happens somehow!"
"You really don't give up, huh...?"
"Well, I guess that's too much to ask for right now, so I'll settle with a date for now. I'll just have to work my way up. When we get back to Fuhren, you're taking me around the tourists' district, alright?"
"Yeah, sounds good." Hajime had tried to emphasize once more that it was only Yue that he gave special treatment to, but despite picking up on his hint, Shea refused to give up. In a way, he had to respect her tenacity. Well, I guess it's okay to do what she wants every now and then, Hajime thought to himself as he agreed to the date.
Hajime still held Shea dear, and she had saved Aiko's life, so this time he was willing to take Shea on a date for her own sake, not because Yue had asked him. Shea let out a whoop of joy, and Yue gently stroked her twitching rabbit ears.
"I feel rather out of place here. It's like I'm intruding on a happy family gathering."
"I-Indeed. This is completely different from being deliberately ignored... Rather than stimulating, it just feels lonely... Honestly, I do wish someone would say something to me. I am here, you know? You can let me into your conversations, you know?"
Will watched the trio's flirting with an awkward expression. Though no one had invited her to join, Tio had stowed away in Brise's truck bed. At some point she'd stuck her head in through the window and joined in the conversation of her own accord.
She'd asked Hajime to be allowed to travel together with him before the battle, but once it had ended he'd more or less forgotten she'd even existed and left without her. Tio had hurriedly chased after him and managed to leap into Brise's trunk before Hajime took off. Her excessive panting had creeped everyone out, however, so they'd ignored her even when she stuck her head through the window.