33 Chapter 30 "A Date Gone wrong? But what did we expect... oh and we met someone."

Shea: "Hmhmhm... Hmhmhm! The weather's great... It's a perfect day for a date!" Shea was happily skipping down the main street of Fuhren.

She was wearing a white one-piece dress today, instead of her usual adventuring outfit. It was a wonder the thin shoulder straps managed to hold up her massive bust as she walked. She was wearing a small black belt around her waist, which further accentuated her figure, the loosely tied belt emphasised her perfect waistline, and her bare legs drew about as many stares from the surrounding men as her massive knockers did.

However, most charming of all was her radiant smile. Her cheeks were flushed and joy was overflowing from her every pore. The fact that she was a beastman, and that she was wearing a slave collar, albeit a very pretty one, didn't matter at all to the onlookers. They were all utterly entranced by Shea.

Hajime was walking behind her, his demeanour more at ease than it normally was.

Shea kept excitedly bounding ahead a few steps and then turning around to wait for him with a smile. Honestly, even Hajime couldn't help but smile when he saw how happy she was.

"You don't need to run that fast, Shea. What if you trip?"

"Fufufu, as if I would do that~ I've been trained by Yue-san, there's no way I'd—"

Her foot caught on something and she tipped backward before she could finish her sentence. Hajime rushed forward and caught her before she fell. He doubted falling would actually hurt her with her strengthened body, but he wanted to be safe since she was wearing a dress. He wasn't going to let any of the onlookers "accidentally" cop a feel as they pretended to fall on top of her.

Shea: "Sh-Shorry."

Hajime: "Hey, I know you're excited, but don't run off ahead."

Shea shrank back in embarrassment. She timidly grabbed his sleeve and matched his pace with small, quick steps. Quite a few of the onlookers fainted at the sight of her blushing cutely as she walked with Hajime. Most of the knockouts were caused by their lovers punching their lights out, though.

They made their way to the tourists' district, attracting attention along the way.

~Cute~

Around the same time, Regulus, Myuu, Yue and Tio were walking around the commercial district doing their shopping. Hajime had stockpiled large quantities of resources in his Treasure Trove already, so they were mostly just topping up on supplies a little bit. Thanks to that, they didn't have to scramble to buy up as much food as possible, and they could take their time window shopping as they walked down the business district.

"I never thought shopping would actually be this relaxing."

"Hmm? Have you shopped before Regulus?."

"Obviously I have but I would always go get what I would desire at the time and leave, I never really was one for sightseeing."

"Speaking on sight seeing how do you think the date between Shea and Hajime-san is going?"

"Well Hajime-kun may be an infringement upon people's right's sometimes but I think they have a great time, just because a person can fight well doesn't mean they rant good on the romantic side, well at least that's something I read somewhere, but this is a very good apportunity for the Bunny-girl and timing couldn't be better."

"Hmm, I understand why it's a good opportunity but what did you mean by timing master?"

"Ohh it's just that I have a hunch that we will meet someone who also desires Hajime, wait no that came out wrong way, ehh what I meant was-"

"Papa! Look candy!"

"Ahh yes why don't we get some hmm?"

"Very well-"

"Guh!"

"Pugyaaa!"

A nearby wall was blown to pieces, and two men came hurtling out of the hole. The two of them screamed as they skid across the ground. They came to a stop a few meters from the wall. Neither of them were even twitching. They looked like corpses... In fact, they were corpses now.

The window of the same building shattered, and a few more men came whizzing out of it like pinballs. Sounds of destruction could be heard coming from inside the building. Every few seconds it would shake, and more cracks would appear on the walls.

A couple dozen more men were flung out of the building, their limbs splayed out at unnatural angles as they landed. Some of them were in too hideous a state to accurately describe. Finally, the building could take no more, and it collapsed with a loud boom.

Screaming, the onlookers fled as fast as their feet would take them. The group of 2 beauties a cute child and the Archbishop recognised a familiar presence and looked over at the rubble with a Sigh, Built up euphoria, an annoyed face and a scared emotion.

Yue: "Ah, so it was you two after all..."

Shea and Hajime emerged from the ruins of what had until recently been a building. The two of them were still dressed the same way they'd been when they'd left for the date, their weapons sitting comfortably in their hands. It was quite a surreal sight, a bunny girl in a cute one piece dress holding a warhammer over her shoulder.

Regulus: "A couple of hours, just a couple of hours is it too much to ask for you not to go a stir up chaos everywhere you go without supervision? you see I am not a greedy person but having a couple of hours a peace never hurts anyone, so how is it that you always-"

"Alright Alright I am sorry but this is partly your' fault actually."

"Huh? You interrupt me and now claim that you destroying this building and interrupting my comfort time is my fault how is that even possible?"

"Hmm let's see remember when you and Yue went to this city a couple of days ago well remember how you told me that you saved Myuu from a slave organisation well guess what the organisation is still here and when seeing our Shea over here you can guess what happened."

"Ahaha, I didn't think our date would go like this either, but... Well, one thing led to another and we ended up destroying an underground slavery ring."

"How did things lead to you fighting a slavery ring?"

Yue sighed again. Shea smiled weakly. Regulus made a "Tsk" sound. Myuu grabbed Regulus tighter as she was reminded of her not so distant scary past and Tio looked over at Hajime, silently demanding an explanation.

Hajime holstered Donner and started flinging the unconscious men on top of the rubble heap. He didn't want them blocking the streets. He didn't even look at them as he threw them, and began explaining what had happened in more detail.

— Time Skip —

Cuz the Author got lazy.

"Woohoo! Hell yeah!"

Steiff and Brise [The Motorcycle & Jeep] 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.

Hajime: "Shea's sure in a good mood. She sounds like one of those bikers you see in movies."

Regulus: "Hmm... I kind of want to try driving it too."

Hajime: "Your going to need a wardrobe change for that"

Hajime & Regulus watched Shea drive with an amused expression on their face's. Hajime was driving Brise with one hand, his other arm hanging out the window. Shea was the only person not sitting inside Brise. 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 Regulus and 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.

Regulus seemed to be interested in trying to drive Steiff too but realised that he'd have to change his outfit which he didn't really want to do, while contemplating about that Myu had clambered up onto Yue's knees and stared at Regulus, eyes glittering with excitement. She pointed at Shea, who was currently doing a handstand on the handlebars.

Myu:"Daddy, Daddy! I wanna do that too!"

Regulus: "Not happening! That would infringe upon your right's of safety would it not?."

"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. How about we ask Hajime to drive with you latter on Hmm?"

Myu: "Will you?"

Myu turned her head to ask Hajime while making the Classic but Cute Puppy eye's and staring into the depth's of Hajime's eye's.

Hajime: "Yeah. Beside's there's no way in hell Regulus's letting you get on that with Shea, but if it's with me, then I guess it's alright. Right?"

Hajime Confirmed and asked Regulus while giving him a glance to which he nodded.

Myu: "Yay I'll get to go with Hajime-Onii-san!"

Myu: "But why I can't go with Shea-onee-chan?"

Regulus: "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.

Regulus: "Two-wheelers are pretty dangerous though, so I don't really want to let you ride in one as it is even with Hajime... Maybe we should make a children's seat for Steiff ?...Hmm..."

Myu: "Yue-oneechan. Daddy's talking to himself again. He's weird."

Yue: "He's just worried about you... I didn't think he'd be so overprotective."

Tio: "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..."

Myu: "Yue-onee-chan. Tio-onee-chan's making weird noises again."

Yue: "Yes I know she's just sick with something called masochism don't worry about it." Yue absentmindedly patted Myu's head as she talked with her.

[AN: I always laugh at this scene]

As time had passed, Regulus had begun doting on Myu more and more, as a matter of fact she besides Yue was the only one who could interrupt, and demand almost anything from him and he would do it, maybe he would 'discuss it' but in the end he would give in into any request of hers. Shea was hopeless, and Tio was a pervert, So it fell on Hajime to take on the roll of 'Big Brother" Or so he thought, anyway. At present it fell to more to Yue, the level-headed member of the party, to accurately parent the young Myu.

Yue was a little disappointed that Myu was cutting into her alone time with Regulus, 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.

The party continued driving down the highway like that. After a few hours, they arrived at Horaud.

Originally, they had planned on passing the town by, but Ilwa had asked them to deliver something, so they'd taken a small detour. It was more or less on their way to the Grand Gruen Volcano [The Third Labyrinth], so they wasn't going that far out of the main way or the how Regulus proclaimed to be their 'Content Journey' anyway.

~Cute~

[AN: A little bit of Regulus's thought's]

Regulus had seen the anime and read the light novels of Arifureta, so when looking around it almost felt nostalgically as he walked down the main street of Horaud.

'Hmm I wonder ho along has it been... it feels like I only entered this world a couple of days ago, time sure flys by when you spend it with the people you care about, heh care about I've known them for what a couple of weeks? Well at least the real one's or well this world one's but it feel's like they are the closest people I've ever know, I wonder how long will this last'

Myu noticed the slight shift in Regulus's attitude and lightly patted his forehead from her perch atop his shoulders.

Myu: "What's wrong, Daddy?"

Regulus: "Hm? Oh, it's just I've been to this place before...techneckly at least heh... not so long ago but feels like years have passed honestly"

Yue: "Are you really okay, Regulus?" Yue laid her hand on Regulus's arm and looked up at him worriedly. He simply shrugged his shoulders. A second later, he was back to his normal satisfied self.

Regulus: "Yeah, I'm fine. Just got lost in thought for a little bit. It's not like the most satisfied existence in the world wouldn't be okay right?"

"..."

Hajime: "Hmm you and I think the same thing's some time's, I honestly do not know how to feel about that fact"

That seemed to switch something in Regulus as he looked guide when speaking his next words.

Regulus: "Hmm... Do you ever wish you could do things over, Hajime? From the details you told me, do you truly not hate all of your previous comrades? There were some you were particularly close to? Do you never wish you could still be with them?"

Hajime: "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."

Regulus: "Oh, and why is that?" Asked Regulus while also knowing approximately how the answer will probably sound.

The reason why was obvious from Hajime's expression, but Regulus still asked anyway.

Hajime: "Obviously... so I could meet You, I honestly can't remember the last time I had genuine trust-worthy friends, and add the fact that you kinda saved me in that dungeon and made me who I am, partly at-least."

Regulus: "Umu...Well that is your satisfaction and I can't blame you for making the decisions you make as that is you'r right."

And with that Regulus was back to his satisfied self.

~Cute~

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. As such the group was attracting quite the attention blouse of how it's member looked.

The leader's of said group also know as Regulus&Hajime were used to receiving jealous glares every time they walked into a populated area.

So after extricating themselves from the crowd, They finally arrived at Horaud's adventurer's guild.

Unlike the other guild branches that they'd visited, this one's front doors were made of metal. There was a massive groaning noise as the double doors creaked open.

[AN: A little bit of Hajime's POV]

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.

[End of Hajime's POV]

Myu let out a terrified squeal and tried to hide behind Regulus's head. Jealous glares settled on The two White Haired Males of the group, as was usual whenever they walked into a crowded area accompanied by Yue, Shea, and Tio.

Regulus 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's who'd just barged in here a lesson. They had no real reason to be so hostile toward them, 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 Regulus up to vent their own frustrations.

Normally Regulus wouldn't have paid them any mind, or well he would go on a rant and then leave but since he'd become an overprotective father, he was going to make them pay for violationg his daughter's right's of not being scared. He gently patted Myu's head and shot the adventurers advancing upon him a withering glare.

Then, without warning... he unleashed a [Gravity Suppression] on them using [Authority of Melancholy] enough that it blew the adventurers back but not to ruin the Guild building.

They cowered before Regulus, 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.

Then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the oppressive presence vanished. The adventurers gasped for air, only just realising 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. Regulus flashed them all a Satisfiedly-Smug-ish grin.

"Hey, all of you bastards who just infringed upon the right's of mine."

"Ah!" They all jumped when they heard his voice. Everyone was staring at Regulus like he was some kind of monster, which in a sense, he was. He ignored their fear and laid down a request... No, an Authoritative command.

Regulus: "Smile For my Satisfaction."

[AN: That phrasing felt... weirdly... satisfying?]

"Huh?"

He was met with confused stares.

Regulus: "Don't you understand? Whose permission do you think you have to be doing these things? Do you have any idea at all why I'm here? Think about it in any way you can possibly conceive, and it's obvious I'm here on business. Not with you, with the one in-charge. You getting in my and her's way here means you're obstructing us from doing what I ought to do. It's infringing, my rights. Now smile! You've gotta show that you're not scary. Wave your hands too. It's because you all look so intimidating and right infringing that you scared her. What're you gonna do if you traumatise her for life?"

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 Authority, 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. Regulus nodded in satisfaction, then whispered something into Myu's ear.

She timidly looked up at him with tears in her eyes. Then, at Regulus'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 suppress her fears, and she buried her face into Regulus's chest once more.

And so, Hajime decided to step in as the Big Brother that he aspired to be. Narrowing 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. Regulus nodded in satisfaction gave Hajime a thumbs up and put Myu back on his shoulders. His business with the adventurers concluded and ended in a satisfactorily result, They walked up to the counter.

Silverware clattered to the floor as they walked past, but they 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 Regulus and Hajime that close to her made her unbelievably nervous.

Hajime decided to take the native as his suddenly feared that Regulus might just take a bit too long in the explanation.

Hajime: "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.

Receptionist: "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 memorised, 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 realised she'd accidentally blurted out Hajime's personal information for everyone to hear. She bowed as low as she could.

Receptionist: "M-My deepest apologies, sir! I didn't mean to say it so loudly!"

Hajime: "Ah, I don't really mind. Could you just call the branch chief over for me?"

Receptionist: "O-Of course! Right away!"

Hajime smiled to himself. If I hadn't said anything, I bet Regulus would start saying something and we would send another hour here. After all the commotion the'd caused in Ur and Fuhren, it was pointless to try and pretend they was just normal adventurer's anymore.

They attracted enough stares as it was by bringing along a kid and a harem of beautiful girls with them 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 she was insulted by Hajime or Regulus.

Looking behind him Hajime saw Regulus slapp 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 and someone's' else's eyes went wide in shock. This was someone he recognised, and the last person he'd expected to see here.

Hajime & Regulus: "Endou?"

The black-clad figure was none other than Hajime's old classmate,

Kousuke Endou.

-