"Woohoo! Hell yeah!" Steiff and Brise thundered westward, the Reisen Gorge falling off steeply to their left, while the vast green plains rolled by to their right. Though Brise was driving steadily down the highway, Steiff's driver was clearly enjoying herself as she veered wildly from the rocky cliffside to the grassy plains.
"Shea's sure in a good mood. She sounds like one of those bikers you see in movies."
"Hmm... I kind of want to try driving it too."
Hajime watched Shea drive with an amused expression on his face. He was driving Brise with one hand, his other arm hanging out the window. Shea was the only person not sitting inside Brise with him. At her insistence, he'd let her drive Steiff instead.
She'd been more taken with the motorcycle, as it allowed her to feel the wind on her face as she drove, but with how much their party had grown, Hajime had ended up using Brise for transport more often than not.
She could have stuck her head out of Brise's window as they'd drove, but it wouldn't really have been the same. And because Yue always took the seat next to him, she couldn't stick to Hajime like before either. After much insistence, Hajime had finally caved and agreed to teach Shea how to drive Steiff.
Since it was operated via mana manipulation, it wasn't actually that hard to master. Shea didn't even have to move the handlebars manually if she didn't want to, as it could all be done magically. Since Shea could control her mana directly too, learning how to drive had been a piece of cake. And once she'd mastered driving, she'd fallen in love with the motorbike.
Even now she was driving all over the place, drifting, popping wheelies, jackknifing, and generally doing crazy stunts that would have put a pro stuntman to shame.
Since both acceleration and braking were controlled magically, it was a lot easier to pull stunts with Steiff than a normal motorcycle. That being said, Shea's driving skill had far surpassed Hajime's at this point.
He didn't particularly mind that she'd become a better driver than him. What he did mind was that now that her skills had improved she took every opportunity to show off and rub it in his face. It seemed Shea was one of those people whose personalities did a complete 180 when they started driving.
Yue also watched Shea drive around, a hint of longing in her expression. Hajime didn't think his heart could take it if Yue turned into a 90s gangster too, so he swore in his heart that he'd never let Yue drive.
Heedless of the inner turmoil within Hajime's heart, Myu clambered up onto Yue's knees and stared at him, eyes glittering with excitement. She pointed at Shea, who was currently doing a handstand on the handlebars.
"Daddy, Daddy! I wanna do that too!"
"Not happening."
"But I wanna!" Myu started thrashing about in Yue's lap.
Yue got a firm grip on Myu so she wouldn't fall down and scolded her gently. Myu started pouting, and Hajime finally relented.
"Myu. I'll let you ride it with me later, so be good okay?"
"You will?"
"Yeah. There's no way in hell I'm letting you get on with Shea, but if it's with me, then I guess it's alright."
"I can't go with Shea-oneechan?"
"Absolutely not. Just look at her. She's posing on top of the handlebars. It's kind of scary how good she is... But there's no way I'm letting you ride with someone who drives like that."
Shea was standing atop Steiff's handlebars, covering her face with her right hand while raising up her left shoulder. It looked just like Jojo's trademark pose.
Hajime stared as she laughed maniacally, vowing to himself that he'd never let Myu ride with Shea as long as he lived. He then glared at Myu, impressing on her that she better not ask Shea to drive her around in secret either.
"Two-wheelers are pretty dangerous though, so I don't really want to let you ride in one as it is... Maybe I should make a children's seat for Steiff? I could probably use... Hmm..."
"Yue-oneechan. Daddy's talking to himself again. He's weird."
"He's just worried about you... I didn't think he'd be so overprotective."
"Fufu, Master's a surprisingly doting father. I must say, the discrepancy between how he normally is and how he's acting now is quite... Haaah... Haaah..."
"Yue-oneechan. Tio-oneechan's making weird noises again."
"That's just how she is, don't worry about it." Yue absentmindedly patted Myu's head as she talked with her.
It had only been a short time since Myu'd started traveling with them, but Hajime had already given up on being called anything other than daddy. At first, he'd tried everything he could think of to get Myu to change her mind, but he'd be defeated at every turn by her teary-eyed face. He'd grown strong enough to kill the monsters that inhabited the abyss, but he didn't think he'd ever match up to this little girl. And so, daddy had stuck.
As time had passed, Hajime had begun doting on Myu more and more. At this point he was just like those idiotic fathers he'd seen on TV. Shea was hopeless, and Tio was a pervert, so it fell to Hajime to raise Myu into an upstanding young woman. Or so he thought, anyway. At present it fell to Yue, the level-headed member of the party, to rein Hajime in when he was clearly being too overprotective.
Yue was a little disappointed that Myu was cutting into her alone time with Hajime, but at the same time she was enjoying acting out the motherly role.
She covered Myu's ears so she wouldn't be corrupted by Tio's perversion, then shut the dragon up with her magic.
Hajime absentmindedly watched Shea, who wasn't even riding Steiff at this point, but rather clinging to its rear as she sent it careening up and down the cliffside, while he considered what materials would make for the best car seat.
The party continued driving down the highway like that. After a few hours, they arrived at Horaud.
Originally, Hajime had planned on passing the town by, but Ilwa had asked him to deliver something, so he'd taken a small detour. It was more or less on their way to the Grand Gruen Volcano, so he wasn't going that far out of his way anyway.
Hajime looked around nostalgically as he walked down the main street of Horaud. Myu noticed the slight shift in Hajime's attitude and lightly patted his forehead from her perch atop his shoulders.
"What's wrong, Daddy?"
"Hm? Oh, it's just I've been to this place before... It was only four months ago that I was here, but it feels like years have passed..."
"Are you really okay, Hajime?" Yue laid her hand on Hajime's arm and looked up at him worriedly. He simply shrugged his shoulders. A second later, he was back to his normal self.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just got lost in thought for a little bit. It's not like me to get sentimental, but this is where it all began, isn't it...? I spent a night here nervous and afraid, then the next day we went into the labyrinth... And then I fell."
"..."
As Hajime reminisced about that fateful day, Yue, Shea, and Tio looked up at him, their expressions unreadable. Yue seemed content to stay silent, but Tio couldn't restrain her curiosity.
"Hmm... Do you never wish you could do things over, Master? I have only heard some of what transpired back then, but... you do not hate all of your previous comrades, correct? Are there not some you were particularly close to? Do you never wish you could still be with them?" Since Tio hadn't known Hajime for as long as the others, she wasn't as familiar with his past. And because she was straightforward by nature, she had no compunctions about asking whatever came to her mind.
Perhaps the way she went about it was a bit insensitive, it was just herway of showing she cared about her comrades. Her constant perverted antics always gave Hajime headaches, but he actually liked this blunt side of her.
He wasn't offended by her question at all, and organized his thoughts as he considered the best way to answer her question. As he sifted through his memories, he suddenly remembered the conversation he'd had the night before his fall. Kaori had to come to his room, wearing nothing but a white negligee. They'd talked under the moonlight, drinking his sorry excuse for tea. She'd sworn she would protect him no matter what. And even when he'd fallen, he remembered her tortured expression as she tried to jump down after him. It was only her comrades holding her back that had stopped her.
Yue squeezed his arm, snapping him out of his reverie. When he looked down, he saw her staring intently at him. He returned her gaze, and his expression softened.
"You're right, I was pretty close with some of my old classmates. Still, even if I could turn back time and return to that day, I'd do everything the same way."
"Oh, and why is that?"
The reason why was obvious from Hajime's expression, but Tio still asked anyway. He covered Yue's hand with his own, and replied without ever taking his eyes off her. A faint smile formed on the edge of her lips. Her cheeks were slightly flushed too.
"Obviously... so I could meet Yue again."
"Hajime..."
For an outpost town, Horaud was surprisingly lively. Mercenaries, soldiers, and adventurers alike flocked to the Great Orcus Labyrinth both to gain experience and raise their levels, and hopefully to make a fortune harvesting mana crystals. Merchants followed in their wake, hoping to relieve said adventurers of some of that fortune. Because the strength of monsters was strictly regulated by floor, it was one of the most popular, safest training spots in the kingdom. As such, it stood to reason that the town's main street would be the busiest section.
Yue and Hajime were standing in the middle of that bustling street, staring at each other.
They were so lost in each other that they took no notice of the hundreds of people walking around them. They received a lot of curious looks and jealous stares, but as always, the two ignored them. They only had eyes for each other now.
"Did you hear that, Tio-san? He didn't say 'us.' Just Yue-san. And now they're flirting in the middle of the street again. They don't even care where they are anymore, do they? And what about us, are we just supposed to sit there and watch? When are we going to have those kinds of special moments with Hajime-san? I've been ready for him to come on to me for ages now, but I keep getting treated like some kind of comic relief character... I mean, I get it. I know Yue-san's special to him. One of the reasons I joined them was because I wanted that kind of relationship the two of them have. So it's fine if Yue-san gets special treatment. In fact, if Hajime-san started ignoring Yue-san, I don't think I'd even like him anymore. If he ever did anything to make her sad, I'd be the first one lining up to kill him. But... But you know? I thought I was making progress with him too. I thought I was finally getting somewhere, but nothing's happened. Even if Yue-san's special to him, he could at least look at me every once in a while, right? I'm offering myself up on a silver platter here, but he still won't take me. What kind of guy ignores a girl when she's trying so hard to seduce him!? Someone needs to teach him a lesson. I wanna flirt with Hajime-san too! I wanna do all those things with him in bed too! I wanna do all those things he did with Yue-san too! What's so wrong about that!? You're the pervert here, Tio-san, so tell me what the problem is!"
"Sh-Shea. I understand your resentment very well, but you need to calm down. You cannot go around shouting things like that in public. Look, you're attracting more attention than they are now. And wait, did you just insult me there at the end? I cannot believe you would call me a pervert in the middle of the street... Haaah... Haaah... I can feel people staring coldly at me... Haaah... Haaah... Mmm..."
Now the flirting couple had been joined by a bunny girl who'd screamed how she wanted to fuck a guy at the top of her lungs, and a beautiful older woman who was panting heavily after being called a pervert. A lot of the people who'd stopped out of mere curiosity hurriedly left.
"Daddy, Shea-oneechan and Tio-oneechan are..."
"Myu, don't look at them. Pretend you don't know them."
"Shea... Maybe I should tie Hajime up and leave him with you for a night..."
Shea's shouting had brought Hajime and Yue back to the real world, and they quickly began pretending Shea and Tio had nothing to do with them. At the same time, Hajime decided to pointedly ignore Yue's last statement. He didn't want to have to suspect she was luring him into a trap every time they were alone. Though, he didn't want to actually get caught in said trap, either. Well, Yue wouldn't really do something like that... right? She'd tried something similar before, but surely it would be fine to trust her now. At least, that was what Hajime kept telling himself.
The party had caused such a scene in the middle of the street that the guards had come out to see what all the commotion was about. Sighing, Hajime grabbed Shea and Tio by the collar and dragged them somewhere less crowded.
Hajime was used to receiving jealous glares every time he walked into a populated area, but for the first time he felt like people were looking at him in pity more than anything else.
After extricating themselves from the crowd, Hajime and the others finally arrived at Horaud's adventurer's guild.
Hajime pushed open the guild's doors with Myu still sitting on his shoulders. Unlike the other guild branches that he'd visited, this one's front doors were made of metal. There was a massive groaning noise as the double doors creaked open.
Last time Hajime had been in Horaud he'd had no need to visit the guild, so this would be his first time inside. The inside of Horaud's guild was exactly how he'd imagined a guild hall should look like.
The walls were peeling and holes in the floor had been hastily covered up with wooden planks. Dust and grime gathered unchecked in the less-used corners of the room. The building's layout itself was no different from the other guild branches he'd visited. There was a huge counter dead ahead, and a restaurant to the left. However, it seemed this one also served alcohol. A few grizzled old men were already well into their cups, despite the fact that it was barely past noon.
Some of the adventurers sitting on the second floor walked over to the railing to see who the newcomers were. As far as Hajime could tell, all of the adventurers on the second floor were pretty strong, relatively speaking. It seemed there might have been some kind of unspoken rule that only the higher-ranked adventurers used the upper floor.
The adventurers all had a different air around them compared to the ones Hajime had seen in other cities as well. There was an edge to them that had been missing from the laid-back adventurers Hajime had met in Brooke.
I guess they're all so tough-looking because they're used to fighting monsters in the labyrinth. You'd have to be decently strong to want to come here.
Though, even if one took all that into account, the atmosphere in the guild room was strangely strained. Something serious enough to put these hardened adventurers on edge must have happened.
Everyone's eyes focused on Hajime and his group.
Myu let out a terrified squeal and tried to hide behind Hajime's head.
Jealous glares settled on Hajime, as was usual whenever he walked into a crowded area accompanied by Yue, Shea, and Tio.
He took Myu off his shoulders and cradled her in his arms. She buried her face into his chest and shut out everyone's stares.
A few of the adventurers got up from their seat and headed over to the group. It was obvious from their expressions that they wanted to teach this cheeky little kid who'd just barged in here a lesson. They had no real reason to be so hostile toward him, they were just jealous. That, and the strained atmosphere in the guild had gotten them itching for a fight.
They hadn't even considered the possibility that he might be in trouble and had come to the guild to request help... not that something like that would ever happen. The only thing on their mind right now was beating Hajime up to vent their own frustrations.
Normally he wouldn't have paid them any mind, but since he'd become an overprotective father, he was going to make them pay for scaring his daughter. He gently patted Myu's head and shot the adventurers advancing upon him a withering glare.
Then, without warning... he unleashed a wave of Intimidation so powerful that it blew the adventurers back. The pressure was so strong that they could physically feel it.
They cowered before Hajime, their earlier confidence nowhere to be seen. The less experienced adventurers fainted on the spot, while most of the others returned meekly to their seats.
They shivered in fear, cold sweat pouring down their backs. It took everything they had to keep from fainting like the other adventurers had.
Then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the oppressive presence vanished. The adventurers gasped for air, only just realizing they'd been holding their breath the entire time. More than a few of them had wet themselves, and some looked like they were about to hurl. Hajime flashed them all a feral grin.
"Hey, all of you bastards that glared at us."
"Ah!" They all jumped when they heard his voice. Everyone was staring at Hajime like he was some kind of monster, which in a sense, he was. He ignored their fear and laid down a request... No, a command.
"Smile."
"Huh?"
He was met with confused stares.
"Didn't you hear me? I said smile. Like this. You've gotta show that you're not scary. Wave your hands and stuff too. It's because you all look so intimidating that you scared her. What're you gonna do if you traumatize her for life, huh?"
Then don't bring a little girl with you to an adventurer's guild in the first place! The adventurers all thought unanimously, but none of them had the courage to actually say it. Cowed by his Intimidation, the adventurers all forced themselves to smile. A few feebly waved their hands at him too.
It was a truly surreal sight, all these hard-faced adventurers smiling stiffly, trying to pretend they were friendly. Hajime nodded in satisfaction, then whispered something into Myu's ear.
She timidly looked up at him with tears in her eyes. Then, at Hajime's urging, she slowly turned around. She was greeted by the sight of hardened adventurers trying their best to look friendly.
"Hiii!" As expected, their forced smiles did little to assuage her fears, and she buried her face into Hajime's chest once more. And so, Hajime narrowed his eyebrows angrily.
"You call that a smile!?" Hajime roared, a dangerous glint in his eyes.
Don't be ridiculous! The poor adventurers turned to Yue for salvation, tears forming in the corners of their eyes.
Yue breathed a deep sigh, walked up to Myu, and whispered something into her ear as well. Once again, Myu hesitantly turned to face the crowd of adventurers. They once again tried their best to look friendly.
She stared at them for quite a bit longer this time. Finally, her face broke out in a smile and she waved back at them. The adventurers forced smiles suddenly turned into natural ones when they saw how cute she was. Hajime nodded in satisfaction and put Myu back on his shoulders. His business with the adventurers concluded, he walked up to the counter.
Silverware clattered to the floor as he walked past, but he paid no heed to the people around him.
For once, the person manning the reception counter was a cute girl. She was about the same age as Hajime. This was the first time the adventurer's guild stereotype actually fit. Unfortunately, the effect was ruined because she was frozen stiff. Having Hajime that close to her made her unbelievably nervous.
"Is the branch chief here? I'm here to deliver a letter from the Fuhren branch's chief... I was requested to give it to him in person." He handed over his status plate to the receptionist. She accepted it with trembling fingers. Though she was nervous, she still did her job admirably.
"Y-Yes. Let me just confirm your identity. U-Umm, does this mean you're here... on a direct request from Fuhren's branch chief?" The reason she was so surprised was because it was rare for a mere adventurer to undertake requests from someone as high-ranking as a branch chief. However, when she saw the ranking on Hajime's status plate, she understood why he'd been chosen.
"Y-You're gold ranked!?" At most, maybe 10% of all adventurers were gold. And the names of all gold-ranked adventurers were kept on a roster that every guild worker had memorized, including this receptionist, and yet she'd never heard of Hajime before.
When they heard her exclamation, all of the other adventurers stared at Hajime in shock as well. After a few seconds of silence, the entire room burst into conversation.
The receptionist paled as she realized she'd accidentally blurted out Hajime's personal information for everyone to hear. She bowed as low as she could.
"M-My deepest apologies, sir! I didn't mean to say it so loudly!"
"Ah, I don't really mind. Could you just call the branch chief over for me?"
"O-Of course! Right away!"
Hajime smiled to himself. If I hadn't said anything, I bet she'd spend another hour apologizing. After all the commotion he'd caused in Ur and Fuhren, it was pointless to try and pretend he was just a normal adventurer anymore.
He attracted enough stares as it was by bringing along a kid and a harem of beautiful girls with him everywhere. Adding gold-ranked adventurer to the list of oddities didn't really change much at that point.
However, Myu still wasn't used to getting so much attention. She squirmed uncomfortably as she looked at everyone. The way she moved was reminiscent of how Tio writhed in pleasure whenever Hajime insulted her. Hajime slapped her for teaching Myu such unwholesome things, which caused even more of a stir with the crowd.
Finally, after a few minutes, Hajime heard someone thundering down the corridor.
A black-clad figure burst out from the hallway situated on the side of the counter. He looked around wildly, his eyes passing through the crowd. He was obviously in a great hurry.
Hajime's eyes went wide in shock. This was someone he recognized, and the last person he'd expected to see here.
"Endou?" The black-clad figure was none other than Hajime's classmate, Kousuke Endou.
Endou wheeled around in surprise. He cast another panicked glance around the room, but didn't spot the person he was searching for. Growing impatient, he loudly shouted,
"Nagumo!? Is that really you!? It is, right!? Where are you!? Nagumo! You're alive, aren't you!? Get out here, Hajime Nagumo!" Many of the adventurers clapped their hands over their ears. His voice was really loud. Endou's extreme impatience implied that he wasn't just in a hurry to see an old classmate he'd thought dead. There was something urgent he needed from Hajime.
Yue and the others stared expectantly at Hajime. He awkwardly scratched his cheek. If he was being perfectly honest, he'd rather not have talked to Endou right now. Nevertheless, he dutifully stepped forward and called out to him.
"Uh, Endou? I can hear you, so can you stop yelling so loudly?"
"Nagumo!? Where are you!?" Endou turned toward Hajime, reacting to his voice. The depth of the desperation in his voice shocked Hajime.
His eyes met Hajime's for an instant, but then he looked away again and started looking around the room once more.
"Dammit! I can hear you, but I can't see you! Are you a ghost!? Did you really die after all!? Is that why I can't see you!?"
"I'm right in front of you, moron. Just calm down, man. Weren't you supposed to be the world's most unnoticeable person?"
"There it is again! That's your voice! And just who are you calling the king of invisibility!? I'll have you know that the automatic doors at stores open for me one-third of the time!"
"Wait, so even they don't notice you two-thirds of the time...? You're really something." After that exchange Endou finally realized the white-haired boy with the eyepatch was indeed Hajime. He scrutinized Hajime's face. Hajime turned away awkwardly. He wasn't used to guys staring so intently at him.
"A-Are you... Are you really Nagumo?"
"Yep. In the flesh. I know I look pretty different now, but it's me, Hajime Nagumo."
He looked so different from the boy Endou remembered that he still couldn't completely believe it. He looked Hajime up and down again. Eventually, he was forced to accept it really was Hajime. He had the same general facial structure, and only Hajime would know about how invisible Endou was.
"You're... really alive."
"Obviously. I'm standing in front of you, aren't I?"
"Everything about you has, changed though... like your appearance, and the way you talk..."
"I had to crawl my way out of hell. There's no way I'd stay the same after that."
"R-Really? Well, I guess that makes sense... Still, I can't believe you're really alive... Thank god." He may have turned into a drastically different person, but Endou was still relieved that his classmate yet lived.
Though he'd been jealous of the attention Kaori gave Hajime, much like the other guys, and had turned a blind eye to Hiyama's bullying, he'd never once seriously wanted Hajime dead. Endou had been as shaken as the rest when he'd witnessed Hajime fall. It was only natural that he'd be happy to know his classmate hadn't actually died.
"Wait, so... you're really an adventurer too? Gold-ranked at that..."
"Pretty much."
Endou's expression did a complete 180. From one of relief, to one of panic.
It was then that Hajime noticed Endou was surprisingly ragged. What on earth happened to him?
"So not only were you able to make it back from the depths of the labyrinth alive, you've become strong enough to reach the highest rank in the adventurer's guild? No way..."
"More or less, yeah." Upon hearing that, Endou broke down and clung desperately to Hajime's shoulders. His face was a mixture of desperation and regret.
"Then I'm begging you, come back to the labyrinth with me! If we don't hurry, everyone'll die! We need all the help we can get! Kentarou and Jugo could die any minute now! I'm begging you Nagumo, you've gotta help us!"
"W-Wait a second. What the heck are you talking about!? What's going on? What do you mean they could die any minute now? You guys have Amanogawa, don't you? Shouldn't you be fine no matter what happens? Captain Meld and the others are there too, right? Even if you face a Behemoth now, you guys should be fine..." Hajime had never seen the normally composed Endou so distraught. Endou's face fell and he sunk to his knees at the mention of Captain Meld. He managed to squeeze out a few words through his despair.
"...died."
"Huh? I can't hear you. What'd you say?"
"I said he died! Captain Meld, Alan-san, and all the other knights! They're all dead! They died so I could escape! It's my fault! It's all my fault! And now they're all gone!"
"I see." Hajime replied solemnly.
As Hajime hadn't possessed a combat class, he hadn't been that close to Captain Meld. That being said, he'd always thought of the captain as a nice man. And the day he'd fallen, Meld had been the only one who'd believed in him despite the fact that he was labeled incompetent by everyone.
Had he been the callous person he'd turned into right after escaping the abyss, he might not have cared at all about Captain Meld's death, but at present he felt a twinge of sadness. Enough that he prayed Captain Meld would find happiness in the afterlife.
"So what exactly happened?"
"Well..." Endou numbly began recounting the events that had led to his escape. However, before he could start in earnest, a voice stopped him.
"Shall we continue this conversation inside one of our private rooms? It seems that boy over there has something for me as well." A grizzled old man well into his sixties stepped out of the hallway. There was a large scar running down his left eye.
Judging from the fact that the receptionist was with him, Hajime guessed that he must be this guild's branch chief. He recalled the strained atmosphere that had filled the room when he'd first entered and looked back down at Endou. He was practically sobbing now. Yeah, maybe it's best we don't talk about this here.
Endou had probably broken down once here already, and spilled that something bad had happened to the hero party and their escorts. That was probably why everyone was on edge.
The branch chief took Endou by the arm, pulled him to his feet, and marched him back inside the hallway. All the strength had drained out of Endou after that outburst, and he meekly let himself be dragged along.
Hajime reluctantly followed along. Whatever story he was about to be told, he had the feeling he really didn't want to hear it.
"Demons, huh...?" Hajime's voice echoed through the quiet room.
Across from him sat Horaud's branch chief, Loa Bawavis and Endou. Yue, Shea, and Tio all sat next to him. Myu was resting on his lap.
Endou had just finished recounting the story of what had happened in the labyrinth. Both Loa and Endou had dark expressions on their faces, and the air was heavy. No one had imagined the hero party would get done in so easily.
Myu was seemingly unaffected by the gloomy atmosphere, as she was happily stuffing her face with the snacks Loa had laid out for them. She'd actually looked a little worried at first, which was why Hajime had started feeding her snacks to pacify her. Though their conversation was too difficult for Myu to follow, she had at least been able to tell that it was nothing good.
"Anyway, what the heck is with that girl!? Why's she just sitting there eating snacks!? Don't you guys get how serious this is!? Everyone might die!"
"Hiii!? Daddy!"
Unable to stand it any longer, Endou angrily pointed a finger at Myu. She let out a terrified squeal and clung to Hajime.
Naturally, Hajime wasn't going to let that slide. He wouldn't forgive anyone that hurt his daughter.
"You bastard... how dare you take it out on Myu? You wanna die, huh!?"
"Hiii!?" Endou shrank back and shrieked in a high-pitched voice not unlike Myu's.
Next to him, the girls all sighed.
"He's totally become a father now."
"He called Myu 'his daughter' earlier too~"
"I wonder if Master will be able to give her up when we reach Erisen."
Hajime ignored their comments. The only thing in his mind right now was how to calm Myu down.
Loa sighed as he watched Hajime soothe Myu down and decided to move the conversation forward.
"At any rate, Nagumo. Thanks to Ilwa's letter, I understand the gist of your situation. I see you've been busy."
"Yeah, though most of it just sort of happened." Hajime spoke of his unbelievable feats as if they were no different than going on a walk for him. He shrugged his shoulders, and Loa smiled in amusement.
"According to this letter, Ilwa wants me to endorse your promotion to gold rank, and to assist you in any way I can. I more or less understand what's going on, so that shouldn't be a problem. I've heard that you not only single-handedly annihilated an army of sixty thousand monsters, but that you completely destroyed Fuhren's underground crime ring in half a day. Frankly, I find it hard to believe you're actually capable of all of these things, but I can't imagine someone like Ilwa lying. If he told me you were the demon lord himself, I'd still believe him."
Endou's eyes flew open in surprise. He'd assumed Hajime must have gotten a little stronger since he'd managed to escape the Great Orcus Labyrinth on his own, but he'd thought Hajime was still nowhere near his level.
After all, Hajime's job was Synergist, and he'd been labeled incompetent by the rest of his class. Sure, he might have become a gold adventurer, but the people of this world were all fundamentally weaker than the summoned heroes. He'd expected the most Hajime could do was repair the broken teleportation circle and maybe support them from the rear.
The reason Endou had come to the adventurer's guild in the first place was to recruit high-ranked adventurers to go rescue Kouki with him. Obviously they wouldn't have lasted a second on the lower floors, but they could at least have guarded the circle on the 70th floor.
There were a few of Meld's knights that had been stationed outside the labyrinth, but he'd tasked them with relaying everything to the capital. At best, they'd maybe been able to protect the circle on the 30th floor. Only adventurers silver rank or above would be strong enough to survive on the 70th floor.
He'd gone up to the second floor to try and convince adventurers to join in his cause, but all of them had turned him down. Not only did he want them to guard the 70th floor, a place no one had ever been to, he wanted them to fight against creatures that had decimated the hero party, the hope of all humanity. On top of that, all of the kingdom's elite knights had been slaughtered. As it was, the adventurers were all fearing for the future of the human race.
When he'd heard the commotion, Loa had grabbed Endou and dragged him to the back to get the full story. It was then that the receptionist had shown up with Hajime's status plate.
It finally dawned on Endou that he might have been severely underestimating Hajime's strength. It was possible he was actually way stronger than him, and maybe even Kouki.
While Endou was still frozen in shock, Loa and Hajime continued their conversation.
"Don't be ridiculous. The demon lord wouldn't even be a threat to me."
"Not even a threat, is it? You certainly have some confidence in yourself. In that case, I'd like you to prove your claims by taking on a certain request on behalf of the Horaud adventurer's guild."
"You want me to go rescue the hero party?"
Endou suddenly snapped back to reality when he heard the word "rescue." He leaned forward and started begging Hajime once more.
"Th-That's right! Nagumo, we need to go save them! If you're really that strong, then you can do it, right!?"
"..."
Endou's eyes lit up with hope, but Hajime's reaction was not what he was expecting. Hajime stared off into the distance, weighing his options. Endou had thought Hajime would jump at the chance to rescue his comrades, so he was confused when Hajime didn't reply instantly.
"What's wrong!? They could be dying while we waste time here! What's there to think about!? They're your comrades!"
"My comrades?" Hajime turned his gaze back to Endou, his eyes cold as ice. Endou faltered in the face of his intense glare. Fear warred with his stubborn desire to save his friends. Eventually, stubbornness won out, and he held his ground against Hajime.
"Y-Yeah. They're your comrades, so we've gotta go save—"
"Don't just go make them my comrades for your own convenience. I'll say this now, but all I've ever thought of you guys as is classmates. That's all. Not really all that different from strangers, really."
"What!? But... how can you..."
Hajime ignored Endou's stuttering and went back to considering the merits and demerits of going to save Kouki's party. As he'd said before, he considered the rest of his classmates mere acquaintances at best. He wasn't terribly interested in getting revenge on the person who'd dropped him into the abyss, but neither did he think too fondly of his former classmates.
However, he also wasn't going to just abandon them outright. Even now, Aiko's words had a profound effect on his way of thinking. If he let them die for no good reason, it would be betraying everything he'd promised his teacher back in Ur.
Plus, there was at least one person who was more than just an acquaintance. There was a girl who'd promised she'd protect him, despite the fact that everyone else had called him incompetent. Just as she'd feared, her dream had turned into reality and Hajime had been cast into the abyss. He'd asked her to protect him that night to try and assuage her fears, but in the end she hadn't been able to fulfill her promise.
Ever since he'd returned to this town, he'd been thinking about her more and more. Her tortured expression as she'd watched him fall into the darkness was still fresh in his memory.
"Shirasaki... Is she still alive?" Hajime muttered quietly. Endou looked up in surprise. He quickly realized he needed say something or Hajime would likely refuse to help him.
"Y-Yeah. Shirasaki-san's alive. In fact, if it wasn't for her, the rest of us would probably be dead right now. I honestly thought Jugo and Yaegashi-san were done for during that first attack... Shirasaki-san's amazing. Her healing magic is something else... Ever since that day you fell, it felt like she changed, you know? Like, she started training so hard we were worried about her... And she kind of became more mature? Or well, that's what it feels like, anyway. It's like she's always got something on her mind now. She's not as scatterbrained as she used to be..."
"I see."
Endou talked about everything that came to mind, even though all Hajime had asked was if she was alive. There was a brief moment of silence.
Hajime sighed loudly, scratched his head, and looked down at Yue.
"I'll follow you no matter what your decision is. Do what you want."
"Yue..." She took his hand in hers, and he gently squeezed back. He was eternally grateful to Yue for being so understanding.
"M-Me too! I'll follow you to the ends of the earth, Hajime-san!"
"Heh. Naturally, I too will always be by your side, Master."
"Umm, umm, Myu will too!"
The others quickly spoke up before Hajime and Yue could start flirting again. Myu didn't fully grasp what was going on, but she didn't want to be left out of the fun.
"What's with this harem development..." Endou muttered in disbelief. Hajime ignored him, then turned to face his reliable comrades.
"Thanks, guys. To be honest, I really don't want to deal with god's chosen hero... but there's someone I owe a debt to, so I'm gonna go save her. Though knowing them, they might have fought their way out already."
In all honesty, Hajime couldn't have cared less about Kouki and most of the other students. In fact, he would've preferred not to get close to them, since they were effectively being manipulated by this world's corrupt gods.
Still, he'd always felt bad about not letting Kaori know that he was still alive. He had no doubt the reason she'd pushed herself so far was because of him. She was one person he'd rush to save if she was ever in trouble. She'd been the only one who'd tried to protect him. And though he didn't know it, even now she was soldiering on because she believed he was alive.
Besides, the danger to him would likely be negligible. From Endou's description, he guessed the four-eyed wolves they'd encountered were the same ones Hajime had fought in Ur. And the chimeras and cats seemed no stronger than the monsters he'd fought in the first couple of floors of the labyrinth. He wouldn't even break a sweat.
"U-Umm, does that mean you're going to help?"
"Yeah. Chief Loa. If possible, I'd like you to still make this a formal request from the guild."
"You don't want the guild's managers thinking they can ask you to do things for free?"
"Pretty much. Oh yeah, one more thing. Do you have a room I can leave Myu in?"
"Of course, that won't be any problem at all."
Endou breathed a huge sigh of relief when he heard Hajime was coming, but Hajime ignored him and continued talking to Loa.
He was hoping to leave Myu in the guild's care while he went to rescue everyone. Strong as he was, he didn't want to risk taking her somewhere that dangerous. Like before, Myu was not at all happy about being left behind. However, this time everyone managed to convince her together, and they left Tio to be her babysitter. Finally, they prepared to depart, with Endou leading the way.
"Hey, hurry up and lead us there, Endou."
"Hey, don't kick me! And how come your personality's so different from what it was before!"
"Quit asking dumb questions. Hurry up, I want to reach them in a day... No, half a day. I'm not happy about having to leave Myu behind, so we're gonna get this done as fast as possible. I'm worried about leaving her alone in the hands of that pervert."
"Man, you've like, really become a dad, haven't you? And you've got a harem of beautiful girls with you.... What the heck happened for that meek Nagumo to end up like this..." Endou grumbled to himself as they ran through the labyrinth floors. He'd regained some of his former composure now that he'd recruited Hajime's help.
Endou had been pretty confident in his agility, but that pride had been ripped to shreds as Hajime and his friends easily outstripped his speed. He pushed on as fast as he could, praying that his friends were still safe...