34 Chapter 31 "Lead the way Homeless looking boy."

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,

Endou: "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 and it was quite infringing. Although 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.

Regulus's 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.

Hajime: "Uh, Endou? I can hear you, so can you stop yelling so loudly?"

Endou: "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.

Endou: "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!?"

Regulus: "Hajime you either shut him up or I will take action, because from my point of view his is disturbing our right's."

Hajime: "I'm right in front of you, moron. Now stop being blind or a literal talking disaster might appear. Weren't you supposed to be the world's most unnoticeable person?"

Endou: "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!"

Hajime: "Wait, so even they don't notice you two-thirds of the time...? You're really something."

After that exchange Endou finally realised the white- haired boy with the eyepatch was indeed Hajime. He scrutinised Hajime's face. Hajime turned away awkwardly. He wasn't used to guys staring so intently at him.

Endou"A-Are you... Are you really Nagumo?"

Hajime: "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.

Endou: "You're... really alive."

Hajime: "Obviously. I'm standing in front of you, aren't I?"

Endou: "Everything about you has, changed though... like your appearance, and the way you talk..."

Hajime: "I had to crawl my way out of hell. There's no way I'd stay the same after that."

Endou: "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.

Endou: "Wait, so... you're really an adventurer too? Gold-ranked at that..."

Hajime: "Pretty much."

Regulus: "Ok you moron's time-up my patience has expired! Now tell me what on my right's name is going on? And who the hell is this homeless looking kid?"

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.

Hajime's Thought's: What on Regulus's right's happened to him?.. Wait why the hell did I just say it that way...

Endou: "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..."

Hajime: "Ehh, yeah."

Upon hearing that, Endou broke down and clung desperately to Hajime's shoulders. His face was a mixture of desperation and regret.

Endou: "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!"

Hajime: "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.

Endou: "...died."

Hajime: "Huh? I can't hear you. What'd you say?"

Endou: "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.

Regulus: "Hello!?"

Regulus: "I come here I stand here and you just going to ignore me? Just what on earth are you thinking! Now Explain your self right this moment! homeless looking boy and it better be a good a believable explanation."

Hajime: "Ehh"

"Homeless...Huh? I don't look homele-"

Guild-Master: "Shall we continue this conversation inside one of our private rooms? It seems that the homeless 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.

Regulus: "Finally someone with common sense."

Regulus: 'Finally the good old isekai guild master, who actually has good etiquette.'

With those words and thought's Regulus, Hajime and the rest of the group reluctantly followed along. Whatever story Endou was about to tell, Hajime had the feeling he really didn't want to hear it, While Regulus could hardly contain him self for the to be meeting.

— Cute'—

"Demons, huh...?" Hajime's voice echoed through the quiet room.

[Regulus's POV]

As the group finally seated them selfs in the Guild Chief's office who Regulus had learned the name of Loa Bawavis, next to the Chief sat Hajime's homeless looking classmate Endou. While He, Hajime, Yue, Shea, and Tio all sat next to him on the couch on the opposite side of the table. Myu was resting on his lap.

Why would the Chief have such a big couch? Well that can only be explained by a thing Regulus named the "Protection of Regulus's Satisfaction In another World"

Anyway After about 20 minutes of Endou talking he finally 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.

However Regulus & Myu were seemingly unaffected by the gloomy atmosphere, as Regulus was head patting her while 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 Regulus had started Head patting her. Though their conversation was too difficult for Myu to follow, she had at least been able to tell that it was nothing good, and Regulus, Well as long as it didn't intervene with his you know what it didn't matter to him.

Endou: "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!"

Myu: "Hiii!? Papa!"

Unable to stand it any longer, Endou angrily pointed a finger at Myu. She let out a terrified squeal and clung to Regulus.

Naturally, Regulus was thrown out of his world of satisfaction and Everybody knew that he wasn't going to let that slide. He wouldn't forgive anyone that hurt his daughter or his satisfied time with her.

Regulus: "You bastard... how dare you take it out on Myu? You wanna die you disrespectful homeless idiot!?"

"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 Regulus down.

Loa sighed as he watched Hajime try and soothe Regulus while the latter soothed Myu down, He decided to move the conversation forward.

Loa: "At any rate, Thanks to Ilwa's letter, I understand the gist of your situation. I see you've been busy 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 all to prove your claims by taking on a certain request on behalf of the Horaud adventurer's guild."

Hajime: "You want us to go rescue the hero party?"

Regulus: "You want us to go save that Hero Complex's party!?"

-They Both said that in unison.-

Endou suddenly snapped back to reality when he heard the word "rescue." He leaned forward and started begging Hajime once more.

Endou: "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 Then turned to Regulus.

Endou had thought Hajime would jump at the chance to rescue his comrades, so he was confused when Hajime didn't reply instantly but instead looked at the man in white.

Endou: "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.

Endou: "Y-Yeah. They're your comrades, so we've gotta go save—"

Hajime: "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."

Endou: "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 or how Regulus named it the Hero Complex's party. As he'd said, 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 realised 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..."

Hajime: "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 Regulus.

Hajime: "I Don't want to infringe on anyone or well but 'someone specificly' so what's you opinion."

Regulus: "Hmm, I guess I kind-of always wanted to meet them so why not, I official declare this to be on our Satisfaction-Plan."

After getting the green light from Regulus Hajime looked at the rest of the party.

Yue: "I go wherever Regulus goes so if he is coming then why not."

Shea: "M-Me too! I'll follow you to the ends of the earth, Hajime-san!"

Tio: "Heh. Naturally, I have to follow Master and if he is coming then so am I."

Myu:"Umm, umm, Myu will too!"

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, plus he could always send forth the Overly Overpowered but talkative companion of his, so if anything he wouldn't even break a sweat.

Endou: "U-Umm, does that mean you're going to help?"

Hajime: "Yeah. Chief Loa. If possible, I'd like you to still make this a formal request from the guild."

Chief: "You don't want the guild's managers thinking they can ask you to do things for free?"

Hajime: "Pretty much. Oh yeah, one more thing. Do you have a room we can leave Myu in?"

Chief: "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 Saw that Regulus being him probably won't leave Myu so he had to convince him to leave Myu for her own safety, and the perverted Tio in the guild's care while they went to rescue everyone. Strong as they were, he didn't want to risk taking her somewhere that dangerous. Thankfully Regulus didn't see a problem with that, and so they left Tio to be her babysitter. Finally, they prepared to depart, with Endou leading the way.

- Cute'-

Hajime: "Hey, hurry up and lead us there, Endou."

Endou: "Hey, don't kick me! And how come you're personality's so different from what it was before!"

Regulus: "Quit asking dumb questions you homeless looking boy. Hurry up, I want to reach them in a day... No, half a day. I'm not satisfied 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."

Endou: "Stop calling me homeless!"

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...

[I didn't want to re-write the whole battle scene of the Hero party's 'fight' with the demon girl so I'll just skip it.]

Suzu knew they were all going to die here.

And so, the least she could do was use the last of her magic to make sure her best friends didn't die alone. This, of course, meant her barriers protecting the rest of the party weakened. Suzu mentally apologized to the rest of her friends, but even if she'd done her best to fight, they were doomed.

A few attacks managed to get through and graze Kaori, but she was able to reach Shizuku more or less intact. She lifted Shizuku's limp body and held her close.

"K-Kaori... what are you doing... Hurry up and go back to the others. It's too dangerous for you to be out here."

"No. It's dangerous no matter where I go. If this is where it ends, I at least want to be by your side, Shizuku-chan."

"Sorry. I couldn't beat her."

"I'm sorry I can't do more either. I don't have any mana left."

Kaori smiled at Shizuku and cast a small spell to dull Shizuku's pain. It was such a basic spell that it cost practically no mana. Shizuku gripped Kaori's hand with her remaining good hand and smiled back.

A huge shadow covered the two of them. Ahatod had arrived. It stared down at the two girls with bloodshot eyes. With a ferocious roar, it raised all four of its fists.

Suzu's barrier was still protecting the two of them, but it may as well have been tissue paper in the face of Ahatod's immense strength. One blow would have been all that it would take to smash Suzu's walls to pieces, and the shockwaves would be enough to kill Kaori and Shizuku.

As she stared death in the face, memories of her life flashed through Kaori's mind.

So this is what they mean when they said your life flashes before your eyes when you're about to die. For some reason, Kaori felt extremely calm. The last thing to pass through her mind was that moonlit night she'd vowed to protect Hajime. She remembered every word they'd exchanged. The terrible taste of the tea he'd made. The way he'd smiled awkwardly when he'd suggested she protect him. It was only after he'd fell that she realized she loved him. She'd come this far because she'd believed he was still alive, but all of that was coming to an end.

"In the end, I couldn't keep this promise either." Tears spilled from Kaori's eyes. She'd hoped if they ever met again that they could start calling each other by their first names.

If this was going to be the end, she at least wanted the memory of having said his name at least once.

"Hajime-kun..."

And so, she resigned herself to her fate, but...

There was a thunderous crash, and the ceiling above Ahatod's head crumbled. A white blur that resembling a person fell and splashed the monster that had caused Kouki and the others so much trouble with ease.

The Monster had it's body squished like it had been put under immeasurable weight. The fearsome monster was barely recognisable.

Everyone present was stunned into silence. Kaori, Shizuku, Kouki, and even the demon stared blankly at the Man in White.

---