vol 10 PT 2

ARIFURETA SHOKUGYOU DE SEKAI SAIKYOU (WN)

V10 C3

Inferiority Complex

"Cough, cough, ugh."

"Huff huff, are you okay, Kaori?"

"Y-Yeah, somehow… Everyone is…"

In front of Kaori, who was coughing from drinking a large amount of seawater, were Hajime, whose hand was coiled on her waist, and a pure-white sand beach. There was nothing else beside those around her, but she could densely see packed mangrove-like trees in the distance, and the surface of the waving sea high in the sky. The seawater was like a barrier, preventing any intruder. It was a vast space.

"Looks like we are getting separated… Well, I gave everyone a smaller version of "Treasure Box," so they should be able to do something by themselves."

"… Nn."

Hajime lightly said after letting go of Kaori, and fixed his hair. However, Kaori's mind seems to be somewhere else.

While watching Hajime stand up and began to change his clothing, Kaori recalled what happened a while ago.

Hajime's party attempted a strategic retreat from the huge Clione.

The place they fell into was a gigantic, spherical space with tens of tunnels, where there were spouting seawater with tremendous force. Or maybe it could be said that they were flowing from there; a place with storm-like and messy current.

Swept by the swift current, Hajime's party somehow managed to stick close together, but next the current mercilessly separated the party. Yue tried to control the current with magic, but it didn't work well because the current was too random. Shia controlled the weight of Doryukken in cooperation with Tio; a fine play.

Hajime had actually wanted to take out the submarine and ride it, but it was impossible inside the swift current. Clenching his teeth, Hajime took out ultra-heavy, compression ore, and tried to use the weight to overcome the current just like Shia.

At that time, by luck, he saw Yue getting swept towards him, and Yue would meet up with Hajime thanks to the current. Shia and Tio had already disappeared into a tunnel somewhere, and their figures could no longer be seen inside the space.

Hajime tried to reach out to Yue so she wouldn't get separated from him, but Kaori's figure was being swept to the lower side had entered his view. The pained gaze of Kaori's met Hajime's. He previously reached out to Yue before him, but his and Kaori's gaze had indeed met.

There were two choices.

If he catches Yue, Kaori would be swept alone into a tunnel. The same thing would happen to Yue if he was to catch Kaori. The current Hajime could only choose one of them. Within that moment, it felt like eternity. Hajime exchanged gazes with Yue, and he made a decision.

Using the weight from the ultra heavy compressed ore he took out from "Treasure Box," Hajime rushed below, and then he caught Kaori. Kaori's eyes were wide in surprise, but the two were immediately exposed to an even stronger swift current. Together, the two were thrown into a tunnel.

While being swept away, Hajime activated "Vajra" to protect Kaori in his arms, enduring it even when he was thrown at a rock wall. Then, he was able to see light coming from above once the current weakened and went up.

And there was the pure white sandy beach spreaded across the coastline.

"… Nee, Hajime-kun. Why… why did you save me?"

"Hah?"

Kaori questioned Hajime whose back was turned towards her. Hajime only tilted his head, thinking "what kind of question was that?"

"Why did you save me and not Yue?"

"Well, Kaori seemed to be dying and Yue can do something by herself. Yue's eyes also told me to save Kaori."

"… You really trust her, eh."

"Isn't that natural? We are partners, you know?"

"…"

The already depressed Kaori was even more depressed after hearing the answer. Suddenly, a shadow stretched over the downcast Kaori.

Puzzled, Kaori looked up and there was Hajime's face very close to her own. His eyes and nose were right before her. A distance that would conclude in a kiss if he move even a little closer. Kaori felt as if she was sucked by Hajime's eyes, and suddenly, her cheeks were pulled.

"Ift huwt! Waft au uing!" Kaori protested with teary eyes.

However, Hajime ignored Kaori's protest and played with her soft cheeks without reserve for a while. After finally being released, Kaori looked up with a reproachful gaze while rubbing her red cheeks, but Hajime only snorted with "Hmph".

"If you have time to be depressed, then it's better to use and move. We're inside a Great Dungeon, you know? Just until when will you stay wet like this? Or, are you trying to gain my sympathy?"

Hajime's sharp words made Kaori's face instantly reddened. It was of shame. She noticed what he unexpressed said, isn't this the wrong place for that?

"Th-There's no such a thing! I was just daydreaming. I-I will change my clothes soon. Sorry."

"…"

Kaori hurriedly stood up and began to take off her clothes after taking out substitute clothes from mini-"Treasure Box" (around the size of a house's storage) that was given to her before the party left Elisen. Hajime nonchalantly turned his back towards her. The normal Kaori would do an approach by saying, "It's okay to watch," though embarrassed, but the current Kaori hurriedly finished changing her clothes without saying anything.

"I-I am done… So, what should we do?"

"Let's see… Even if we go to seabed again, we still don't know where the others are… but there's nothing we can do other than keep searching. Those girls would probably do so as well."

After looking at the jungle nearby, Hajime turned around. Kaori nodded at him while smiling; a smile hiding her depressed heart. Hajime slightly narrowed his eyes at Kaori's smile, but he didn't say anything in the end and started to walk.

Advancing along the pure-white sandy beach, creating sounds as they walked, the two entered the jungle. The dense trees and bushes were cut by Hajime. Kaori was only following him from behind.

Then, Hajime suddenly halted and turned towards Kaori, put his hand on the back of Kaori's head as if to embrace her.

"Fue? Ah, umm, Hajime-kun? Wh-What's with this sudden…"

Kaori blushed, but Hajime immediately separated and she instantly paled when she saw the thing on Hajime's hand.

It was a spider. With size almost as big as a palm, it was moving its twelve legs with violet liquid dripping from it. Some of the legs grew like a normal spider while some grew from its back; a structure expressing it was capable of moving using both sides! It looked disgusting.

"Don't let your guard down, okay? A Great Dungeon is vastly different compared to the surface of Orcus. Don't think of it as the same or else you'll experience pain."

"U-Un. Sorry. I will be careful."

"…"

The spider Hajime caught didn't have magic stone, a normal poisonous spider. The fact that she was almost killed by creature other than a demonic beast, and how Hajime helped her, made Kaori even more depressed.

When she was still in Kouki's party, she was an all-rounder, however, in Hajime's party, she isn't at all useful. It made Kaori panic more and more inwardly.

As such, Kaori put even more attention towards the surroundings which caused the conversation between the two to lessen, and they got out of the jungle with a subtle atmosphere between them.

Ahead of them was…

"This… isn't this the so-called ship's graveyard?"

"Amazing… those are sailing ships, but the size…"

In the rocky area ahead of the jungle were several partly rotted sailing ships lodged. The sailing ships were around a hundred meters in length at the lowest, and in the far distant was an even bigger one with at least three hundred meters in length.

The bizarre spectacle made Hajime and Kaori unconsciously halted their advance. However, it didn't take a long time for Hajime and Kaori to regain their senses and entered the ship's graveyard.

They advanced by passing through the gaps between rocks, sometimes passing over them, while at other times, they walked on the ships.

"Even so… there are only battleships here."

"Un. But only the biggest one there seems to be a passenger boat. It has luxurious decorations on it…"

The ships in this graveyard didn't have cannons located at the starboard side like those battleship (sail-type) on earth. Even so, Hajime was able to conclude they were battleships because there were marks of fierce battle on all of the ships. From the appearance of the ships, they seemed to have received magic attacks. Some have their masts cleanly cut, burnt, carbonized decks, and petrified ropes and nets.

They didn't have any cannon, so they used long-ranged magic to defeat the enemies which was a battle method imaginable from the marks remained.

Then, Hajime's guess was proven to be a fact when he and Kaori were halfway through the ship's graveyard.

— UoOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

— WAaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

"-!? What the!?"

"Hajime-kun! The surroundings are—!"

When they felt they heard shout of many men all of a sudden, the surroundings scenery began to distort. Hajime and Kaori stopped walking from the surprise and they observed the surroundings to observe what was happening. The surrounding distortion became even more intense and before they were aware of it, Hajime and Kaori were already on a ship's deck, above the vast ocean.

Following that, they looked at their surroundings, it was not the ship's graveyard, but hundreds of sailing ships divided into two groups, confronting each other. Above the ships were people raising their weapons while shouting.

"Th-The heck is this…" "Ha-Ha-Hajime-kun? Am I currently inside a dream? Hajime-kun, you are here, right? Right?"

Both Hajime and Kaori were taken aback, but they somehow managed to get out of their confusion, however, they weren't able to look at their surroundings.

While they did so, a big spark rose into the sky, generating firework-like loud voices followed by the hundreds of ships moving out simultaneously. The fleet on the side of the ship Hajime and Kaori rode on also moved out after the firework rose.

And when the ships approached a certain distance, they used the momentum to ram the other ships used its bodies, while magic were also fired.

GOoOOOOOOOO!! DOoGAaAAAN!! DOBAaAAAA!!!

"Owh!?"

"Kyaa!"

Flame bullets fired accompanied by roaring sounds and created holes in the ships' bodies. Huge tornadoes advanced aiming at the masts. The sea's surface froze, stopping the ships. And bullets of gray-colored sphere instantly petrified everything.

Even the deck Hajime and Kaori were on was hit by the flame bullets and began to blaze up grandly. The ship's crews immediately activated magic to draw up the sea water and extinguished the fire.

It was literally a battlefield where innumerable people and ships fought on. The fired magic clad in killing intent grazed their skins.

Hajime and Kaori absentmindedly watching these spectacle, and once again fire bullets fired from behind them. The bullets' courses were aimed straight towards Hajime and Kaori.

Hajime buried his question of why did they suddenly were involved in this war in his head, and he pulled out Donner because it was OK to kill everyone because they attacked first. Thus, he intercepted the fire bullets using the railgun.

The bullet fired was accompanied by explosive sound and a flash, but unexpectedly it didn't even hit the flame bullets much more intercepting them. The bullet flew into the sky, and it disappeared.

"What!?"

Raising surprised voice for the nth times, Hajime embraced Kaori by his side and began to evade.

"Wait, I will obstruct them! "Light Severance"!"

With Kaori's chant, the beginner-level defense magic of light attribute appeared.

Hajime tried to evade because the unknown magic kept going even after their cores were hit, but Kaori had activated her magic and couldn't move away from there. Reluctantly, he activated "Vajra" and waited for the flame bullets.

However, Hajime's worry proved to be groundless because Kaori's barrier completely blocked the flame bullets. With dubious expression, Hajime thought whether he just misfired while tilting his head, and he once again fired at the incoming flame bullets. Even this time, Hajime's Magic Eye indeed saw the cores being hit, but the bullet just passed through the flame bullets and flew towards the day after tomorrow..

"… Is that it?"

Seeing that, Hajime was guessing why his attack wasn't effective and decided to try another method of attacking. Kaori tried to put up another barrier to block the incoming flame bullets, but Hajime stopped her and activated "Wind Claw" in Donner. Following that, he evaded, and at the same time, he slashed the flame bullets using "Wind Claw." This time, the flame bullets didn't pass through and slashed in two.

"Umm, Hajime-kun?"

"It doesn't seem to be an illusion nor was it a real thing. The physical attack didn't effective, but attacks that contained magic power are effective. Good grief, what's with this situation."

Hajime spat a sigh from this troublesome situation and "Gwaa," an agonized voice rang right from behind him. While wondering what it was, he turned around and there was a young man crouching while suppressing his abdomen, while his other hand was holding a cutlass. Looking carefully, there was a pool of blood below him and blood covered icicle rolling nearby. He must have been shot with the icicle.

"Are you okay!?," Kaori immediately raised her voice while approaching him, and then she used her healing magic. A pure-white light released from her and wrapped the man. He should be healed in a blink of an eye because Kaori was a "Healer"… or so she thought, but the result was unexpected. The moment the young man received Kaori's healing magic, he turned into light particles and disappeared.

"Eh? Eh? W-Why…" After a little pondering, Hajime told the confused Kaori what he thought had happened.

"Wasn't it because the effect and attribute of the magic didn't matter as long as it carried magic power?"

"… Then, I-I just… killed that person…"

"Kaori, this is not reality. Just think of it as "an illusion where we can move freely." Besides, you can't call something that disappeared by being healed a human."

"Hajime-kun… un, you are right. I am sorry that I was confused a little there. But I am okay now."

Though slight, Hajime said words of concern to Kaori. However, Kaori didn't feel happy like the usual her, only drooping her shoulders apologizing. Then, she smiled to smooth things over. Seeing her reaction made Hajime inadvertently muttered the thing he had thought since earlier.

"… You keep apologizing, eh."

"Eh? Did you say something?"

"No, nothing." Hajime moved his gaze from Kaori.

It was not because of the subtle atmosphere drifting around Kaori, but because he felt ominous presences. When he looked around, the soldiers were shouting and attacking the nearby ships, and before they were aware of it, several men with dark gazes were looking at Hajime and Kaori.

Kaori noticed Hajime's gaze and looked at the direction he was watching, and the men immediately came to attack Hajime and Kaori.

"For the God!"

"Long live! Eht-samaa!"

"Pagans! Die for our God!"

They were in frenzy. With bloodshot eyes, they declared while scattering saliva around. Completely abnormal.

He was able to guess it was a war between countries from how the fleets looked like, and he finally understood the reason for it. It was a religious war. If he strained his ears, he could hear the other soldiers in the other fleets were shouting similar things. However, they were shouting different God's name.

Kaori could only stand in blank surprise inside the frenzied atmosphere.

Embracing Kaori from behind, Hajime thrust out and fired Donner over his shoulder. Only, the fired thing was not a bullet but mass of pure magic power. Using "Magic Power Compression" and "Magic Power Emission" derived from "Magic Power Manipulation," he was able to blow off magic power without affecting the target physically. In a sense, it was a flawless technique to disarm the target because human and even demonic beast wouldn't be able to move if their magic power was exhausted. This move had always been kept inside of him because he would not use such a lukewarm method on his enemy.

However, this lukewarm method was the most useful in this situation. The bright red bullet fired by Donner momentarily cut through the space and pierced the forehead of one of the frenzied, cutlass swinging soldier. Without stopping, the bullet hit the soldier behind the previous one, too, and their bodies instantly dispersed.

"Kaori! We are going to jump! Don't bite your tongue!"

"Eh? —Kyaaaaa!!"

It would be troublesome if they were surrounded on the deck, so Hajime jumped using "Aerodynamic" while embracing Kaori. Kaori screamed from the powerful momentum.

Kicking the soldier on the crow's nest, Hajime landed in one of four crow's nest on the masts.

Below them, the frenzied soldiers were looking up at Hajime and Kaori with bloodshot eyes.

Even though there were the enemies from other countries, too, somehow some of the men were targeting Hajime and Kaori. Moreover, the ones targeting them didn't have any distinction between allies and enemies. Their numbers keeps increasing one after another just like a bad case of contagious virus.

Before even a moment passed and in front of their own enemies, the soldiers suddenly stopped moving and twisted their heads, staring at Hajime and Kaori. They immediately came crowding towards the two like a horror movie. The frenzied air even made Kaori pale.

"Now then, what shall we do to get out of this disgusting space?"

"… Maybe there's something like… an exit?"

"We are in the middle of the sea, you know?"

"Maybe there's an exit in one of these ships? … see, something like wherever door."

Kaori recalled and compared it to the convenient tool of the blue cat robot. Looking at the surroundings, Hajime frowned and objected her idea because the ships were too numerous.

"… From what I can see, there's at least six hundred ships here… it's impossible to search one by one. Don't you think we'll be able to find the exit faster if the war ended?"

"Umm~, indeed, there are also the sunken ship… Then, shall we…end the war?"

"End it… I see, time to kill everyone, huh? Kaori also can say something extreme, eh."

"Eh? Umm, I don't mean that…"

"Yup, that must be it. No other thing comes to my mind, and I like it better this way."

Firing bullets of magic power and shooting through the several soldiers climbing using the ropes on the mast, Hajime thought it would be better if he had make a magic gun. He thought so while he continued firing the bright red bullets along with "Remote Control" derived from "Magic Power Manipulation," making them intercepted the incoming flame bullets.

"Kaori, I know you aren't proficient in offensive magic, but even healing magic becomes offensive magic here. And even if we don't know how to escape from here, it is the truth that we are being attacked, so let's knock them all down."

"O-Okay!"

Hearing Hajime's words, Kaori began her chant with resolute expression while trembling. The frenzied battlefield seemed to shave off at Kaori's mind, but she absolutely didn't want to show a disgraceful behavior to the important one beside her.

Hajime was glaring at the surroundings as if protecting her.

Looking down, allies and foes were mixed as they boarded the ship, killing each other. Unlike what happened when Hajime and Kaori attacked, the killing in this illusion was full of bloodshed.

On the deck were someone's entrails, cut limbs, and splattered heads. Everyone was repeatedly shouting "For the God," "Pagan," and "Divine Punishment," with frenzied eyes as they spread killing intent.

Within the fresh blood of the soldiers scattered just like a storm of cherry blossom, the crow's nest where Hajime and Kaori, no, it was more like the soldiers were obstinately targeting Hajime and Kaori.

Time to time, bright red bullets flew about in all directions, shooting through the enemies. Furthermore, they flew around Hajime and Kaori to protect them, positioned as both offense and defense at the same time.

However, the frenzied soldiers weren't even worried, repeatedly attempted suicide attacks. Tens of the soldiers used flight magic while there were those who approached by going from one mast to another. It could be seen that the fight was concentrated on the ship where Hajime and Kaori rode. Hajime's Magic Eye also caught the fluctuation of magic power of highest-ranked magic from the hand of the magicians aiming at them.

At the time, Hajime thought of sniping them, but Kaori's chant ended and she activated highest-ranked magic of her.

"— — people, held out your arms as this is the place where Holy Mother smiling at, "Scripture"!"

Then, ripple of light spread into the battlefield with Kaori as its center.

The ripple throbbed as it expanded for so so many times, reaching one kilometer in radius. The enemy who touched by the ripple was wrapped by light.

Highest-ranked healing magic of light attribute, "Scripture."

It was a super wide-ranged healing magic with effect of healing everyone inside its area. The range itself was depended on the amount of user's magic power and proficiency, but at its worst, its effective range was 500 meters in radius. Moreover, if the user gave out the "sign" beforehand, it would be able to heal specific object. And normally this magic was used with tens of magician, and took a lot of time to chant along with its stupidly gigantic magic array. To be able to activate it in only one, two minutes alone was impossible unless one was a cheat-like character.

At the same time the light of "Scripture" activated by Kaori wrapped the battlefield, all soldiers inside the effective area had their bodies dispersed without distinction of ally or foe. When the magic ended, Kaori's body tilted from magic power exhaustion, and was thus promptly supported by Hajime.

"Ohh, a mass reproduction of the Mary Celeste, huh. You did great, Kaori. No, should I say as expected of you?"

"Ah, uh, th-there's no such a thing. Hajime-kun and the others are far more amazing…"

Honest praise from Hajime made Kaori's cheeks blush from embarrassed. She made a self-ridiculing smile as she thought Yue would be able to use more powerful magic quickly. Then, she muttered ""Replenish,"" to replenish the lost magic power from the pendant given by Hajime. Hajime had improved the pendant with magic array and the ability of taking out the stocked magic power by chanting because Kaori was incapable of directly manipulating magic power.

Hajime slightly knitted his eyebrows and wanted to say something when he saw Kaori's expression, but he put it aside for now because he had to deal with the new incoming enemies. The battle had restarted.

With the ineffectiveness of physical attack, it was a situation where the large amount of soldiers didn't falter against any kind of attack as they battled on the ship. Normally, it might be a hard situation, but there were cheat-like monsters present.

Big fleets of two countries were afterwards annihilated by the two humans in a span of one hour.

* * *

"… Uuh, cough, kafh, sorr-…"

"It's alright. Just endure it."

Immediately after the last soldiers were annihilated, their surroundings were once again distorted. They noticed that they had returned to ship's graveyard from before.

Wondering if the annihilation was indeed the correct answer, Kaori immediately sighed in relief, ran to the nearby rock, and vomited. However, she vomited nothing since the dinner she ate had already been digested, and thus she felt a pain from trying to vomit.

With tears accumulated in the corner of her eyes, Kaori used one hand to tell Hajime "Don't come," to stop him.

However, Hajime still approached her and rubbed her back. Kaori didn't want to show such a pitiful sight to him, but she felt comforted from the gentle and warm feelings transmitted to her back. Her nausea and spirit gradually recovered.

Hajime took out apple juice-like drink from "Treasure Box" and presented it to her. Kaori obediently drink it heartily and her energy returned. The sweet and fresh taste, flushed the sour taste of gastric juice.

"Sorry…"

Kaori who knitted her eyebrows and apologized for the trouble made Hajime narrowed his eyes.

"Well, I think it is inevitable. Even I feel disgusted by it. I never thought humans would be so frenzied because of their blind belief. …Anyway, let's rest for now. Even I want to recover my considerably used magic power."

"… Un. Say, Hajime-kun. What was that illusion? Is it related to these ship wreckages."

Kaori stood up then sat on the nearby rock, and then she asked him. Hajime took a little time to think before told her his conjecture.

"It is just a maybe, but I think the illusion might have been reproducing a battle in the past. … well, it seemed there's also some improvement to attack those challenging the dungeon… or it might have been the concept of this dungeon."

"Concept?"

"Yeah. Tio said it when we were in "Guryuu-en Great Volcano". She said 'isn't it possible that each of the dungeon had its own concept prepared by the "Liberators"?' If that's true, then here is…"

"…To know the misery brought by the Mad Gods… maybe?"

"Aah, I think so, too."

Continuing Hajime's words by muttering the answer, Kaori recalled the spectacle from before, her face once again turned pale, and her body trembled as if she was suffering from a cold.

What made Kaori felt sick was the madness from the soldiers. Their behavior and speech were exactly of those so called "Fanatic" while she also couldn't help but feel disgusted from the killing.

The people continued to laugh loudly in a frenzy even when blood were spraying from their bodied. There were even those who died from gouging their own hearts out, raised it towards the sky as an offering to their Gods. There was also an older brother who stabbed through his own younger brother just to attack Hajime and Kaori, while the younger one laughed proudly. War itself was a place filled with madness, but one they just saw was far too ghastly. And it was wage all "For our God," so…

Seeing Kaori covering her mouth because she couldn't endure it, Hajime sat right beside Kaori and grasped Kaori's hand. He couldn't leave Kaori, who sickened by the madness, alone. Kaori was slightly surprised, looked at Hajime, relaxed, and squeezed Hajime's hand back.

"Hajime-kun, thank you…"

"Don't mind it. I understand… the pain from being exposed to the madness. I felt that when I fell into the abyss…"

"… Then, how? … Wait, there's no need for you to answer… It was… Yue-san, right?"

"Yeah, it was because of her. If I hadn't met her inside the abyss… I wonder how I would have ended up."

Hajime looked into the distance in affection and nostalgia. He was surely recalling the time he met Yue. Seeing his expression made Kaori felt her chest squeeze.

"It's mortifying. To defend, to protect Hajime-kun… I wanted to do that. But even if I said that, it's not like I can do anything. Since it's me… who I couldn't even protect a promise. Ah~, Yue is a really powerful enemy~."

Kaori joking laughter made Hajime narrowed his eyes again. Kaori's smile was not the usual warm, positive smile because it might have also included self-torment and self-ridicule.

"… You've been apologizing since we came here, and don't make such a smile."

"Eh? Ummm…"

Hajime's sudden words made Kaori raised "?" above her head. However, her smile immediately collapsed and her expression stiffened from Hajime's next words.

"… Listen, Kaori. Why did you follow us here?"

"… That's… am I just a burden after all?"

The downcast Kaori made Hajime sigh, and he didn't answer her question.

"I remember the talk we had under the moonlight while drinking that disgusting tea that day. That's why, honestly, I don't think it's weird that you have goodwill for the current me."

"Hajime-kun, I…"

"However, I have no intention of denying it. I am sure Kaori had things only you can see, and that's what stirred your heart. Thus, there's no meaning for me to deny the decision you made. I have given you my answer, "even so" I think it's a good thing that you favor me. Even Shia didn't even feel discouraged. Rather, she recently made me seriously worry if she was going to attack me in my sleep."

Hajime recently felt the dread as he thought of the rabbit-eared girl with bugged physical strength. Seeing such a Hajime, Kaori made a wry smile in agreement.

"… Un, I think her aggressiveness and positiveness amazing."

"I treated her harshly at the beginning. I didn't think of anyone as "special" other than Yue… I honestly thought she was going to give up quickly."

"…"

"No matter how harsh I treated her, how I treated Yue as special, and she was always neither angry nor did she cry, but she seemed happy about it. She couldn't compare to Yue in magic usage because she didn't have aptitude in magic, and even if she was defeated in a mock battle against Yue, she didn't stop to move forward. She didn't cower even though she was attacked by her own inferiority complex."

"I-I, thing like inferiority complex…"

Kaori who silently listening to Hajime, couldn't help to object and stood up. However, she was exhausted and immediately sat back.

"Didn't you notice it? You've been apologizing since we came here. Even the way you smiled is completely different than the usual."

"Eh?"

"Listen, Kaori. Don't keep looking down. Raise your face and look into my eyes."

That being said, Kaori finally noticed she had been looking down for a while now. Before, she made sure to look at the other person's eyes when talking… thus, when Kaori met Hajime's gaze she realized.

"Listen here, I will not say it for the second time. I love Yue. Even if I thought of others as "important," it won't change that only Yue is "special." So if you feel pain from it, if you feel you are inferior compared to Yue… Kaori, you should part from me."

"Kh…"

The blunt words made Kaori look down again. Hajime continued talking even though he did see her reaction.

"The reason I allowed Kaori to accompany us at that time is because of the same reason as Shia; I judged it'd be the best for Kaori to be by my side, because I trust Kaori. You understood my feelings, "even so" you moved ahead for your wish. That's why I thought it'd be okay for you by my side if you favor me… but, I don't feel the same way now."

When Hajime ended his words, he separated his hand from the downcast Kaori's. Then, he spun the ending words.

"Please think carefully about it once more. Why did you come along with us, and if should you stay by my side from now on… Kaori is not Shia. Shia likes Yue, too. …Depending on your answer, I will send you back to your best friend (Yaegashi)."

"I-I…"

Kaori wanted to say something as she watched the hand separating from her own, the words wouldn't come out.

Inside the awkward atmosphere, Hajime urged Kaori to move because it was necessary for them to approach the biggest sailing ships enshrined at the distance.

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ARIFURETA SHOKUGYOU DE SEKAI SAIKYOU (WN)

C94

Once Again, I Remember

Hajime and Kaori looked up at the sailing ships. Even on Earth, early sailing ships couldn't match the gigantic scale of this one.

No less than 300 meters in length, and as large as a ten story building, it was only being partly visible from the ground. All along their hull magnificent decorations were mounted. Although rotted, they still gave off a strong impression that made you want to admire them. On their wooden ship, Hajime, who also specialized in manufacturing the same decorations, was grudgingly impressed with the extent they had detailed their ships, and couldn't help but admire the time and effort the artisans put into creating them.

While hugging Kaori, Hajime jumped up using "Void Grip" and landed on the Terrace at the top of the Luxury liner. Then, sure enough, the surrounding space began to distort.

"Again?… Kaori stay alert. Something is bound to happen."

"Un. It looks fine to me."

Hajime felt that Kaori's laidback response wasn't suitable for someone still in the middle of challenging a Great Dungeon. It had become clear for a while now that Kaori's tension had dropped sharply. Even though she was still putting on a smile, Hajime could tell that it was different from all her usual ones. He was sure she wasn't doing it on purpose, but her new distracted attitude wasn't good for their current situation. She should at least hold it in check until the exploration of ?Meljeene Deep Sea Ruins?was done, Hajime thought while sharply scratching his cheek.

Hajime took a quick survey of their altered environment, this time it seems they were on top of a luxury liner sailing out at sea.

Presently it's night time, with the full moon shining in the heavens. The luxury liner is shining with light sparkles, and on the deck there are various arrangements buffet-type style cuisines lined up with many people who were chatting about while having delicious-looking food in one hand. Presently it was night time, with a full moon glowing in the heavens. The luxury liner shone with sparkling lights, and on the deck were various arrangements of buffet-style cuisine lined up with a crowd of people chatting together while holding delicious-looking food in one hand.

"This is a party…isn't it?"

"Haa, it sure is dazzling. Did we misunderstand Meljeene's concept?"

Hajime and Kaori were standing upon a raised terrace, probably an area reserved for the crew, while looking down on the enormous deck and trying to get their heads around the difference between this cheerful party and the ghastly sight they had witnessed last time.

Then, just as they decided to take a brief rest, the door behind them opened and several chatting sailors walked out. Rather than risk losing this chance while they took a rest, they decided to mix in with the sailors and listen to their conversation.

From listening to the sailor's stories they learned that this maritime party was apparently being held in celebration of the end of the war. The war that had continued for so many years, rather than ending through invasion and annihilation, had been resolved by signing a peace treaty. The sailors seemed happy, and if they looked closely they were able to see that not only were there humans on the deck but also devils and demi-humans. Without distinction for race, everyone was freely chatting among themselves.

"There was an age such as this, wasn't there?"

"It certainly was a great achievement for all those people to give so much effort to end the war. Although I'm not sure how many years have passed since the end of the war, surely not all of the ill feelings have faded, yet they are still able to laugh so freely…"

"Surely the people down there must be similar to those who tried their best to end the war. Everyone is different, seeing this doesn't necessarily mean that everyone is able to laugh together so soon."

"That's true…"

Getting caught up in the atmosphere and bright expressions of the people, Hajime and Kaori also naturally loosened up. After a while they saw an elderly man climbing up onto a stage prepared on the deck. There was a sense of respect in the eyes of the people below as they noticed him on stage and abruptly stopped chatting to focus on him.

There was another man who appeared to be an aide standing near the elderly man, but for some reason he was wearing a hood and trying to blend in with the background. Given the occasion, Hajime thought that his appearance was a bit rude… however it didn't look like anyone else was concerned about the hooded man.

Eventually, when all the chatter had subsided, the elderly man began his speech.

"Gentlemen, those who wished for peace, the brave souls who ran through the war risking their lives, are the messengers of peace. Today, at this place, I truly feel that it's a great fortune for all of us to be able to meet here together. It was a war that begun a long time, even for my generation, yet we were able to stand together in peace after bringing an end to the war. To see such a dream come true… my heart still trembles."

Everyone was listening in silence as the old man spoke. As the speech continued, events such as doubt, crossing paths and incidents became stepping stones towards peace. He spoke of those who were often reckless in their attempts to overturn this, and the friends who scattered during the middle… as the speech progressed everyone eyes begun to look far away, yearning for their missed ones and suppressing moisture from the corners of their eyes, enduring the urge to let their tears flow.

It would seem the old man is the king of the Humans. Among the humans, even at the early stages of the war, it seemed as there was a movement behind the scenes for peace. The people now nod to show their respect.

Finally it seemed as though the speech ended. The king still seems quite worked up after his speech, the atmosphere on the deck is also still quite worked up. However Hajime is attacked by a bad premonition. Something feels off, he has seen the expression the king is wearing somewhere before.

"–and thus, one year has passed since the signing of the peace treaty ..... It was all so foolish."

At the words of the King, for a moment the crowd appeared puzzled, Hajime thought he had misheard him. Everyone was looking at each other in confusion. In the meantime the King's heated speech continued.

"Yes, it truly was foolish. To see both the beasts and the heretics talking about the future and exchanging drinks, it was ridiculous. Do you understand, gentlemen? That's right, I am talking about you."

"What on earth are you saying Aleist?! Hell, what's wrong with sayin- gaah!?"

With the sudden change of King Aleist, one of the devils who was agitated stood up before him. Then, as he tried to question King Aleist…. the sudden result was a sword growing from his chest.

The demon tribe man who was stabbed, looked back over his shoulder to see the startled expressions of the human tribe. By looking at their faces you could tell they were all honestly surprised. With a final expression of disbelief, the man of the Demon tribe collapsed.

Screams arose and the entire deck fell into an uproar. "Your Majesty!", cried several men and women as they rushed to the collapsed body of the Demon tribe man.

"Well gentlemen, as I stated originally, I am truly happy to bring everyone together tonight. We will create a country free from the races that were abandoned by god, where all can be equal.

From the Genesis there was only one god, 'Ehito-sama'. Those who turned their backs on him, foolishly worshiping a false god, such pagans mustn't be allowed to leave! It will end today! The only path to peace is through destroying all the heathens! Therefore, this day, as we sweep away the leaders of the non-believers, I cannot help but rejoice! Now, servants of God, pass judgement on these heathens with the hammer of justice! Aah! Ehito-sama, please watch over our work!"

King Aleist's laughter echoed loudly as he fell onto his knees and gazed up towards the heavens. At the same time he signaled soldiers, who had been dressed as sailors, to completely surrounded the party on the deck.

The deck is positioned in the middle of the ship, sandwiched between a gigantic mast and the main structure, 10 floors high running from front to back. If you look, the soldiers are occupying the scaffolding on the terrace and mast, arranged so that they can focus on the targets below them. Out at sea there is nowhere they can escape to, the geographical advantage is entirely on the soldier's side. Hajime would've been aware of this already, but the countries leader's expressions of despair showed they were only just realising it now.

In an instant, all the magic was finally released and bombarded the deck. Although the passengers fought back desperately, they were at a disadvantage… it was a one-sided massacre as those who resisted were slaughtered.

Those who ran fled towards the inside of the ship, however most of them were killed as they ran. The deck had been completely changed into a sea of blood in only an instant.

"Ugh"

"Kaori…"

Kaori covered her mouth with one of her hands to suppress the nausea as she leant on the railing. The sight was so horrific that it was no wonder Hajime reached out and offered Kaori his support.

It appears King Aleist felt like hunting as he soon joined his subordinates in pursuing the remnants who had fled into the ship.

The hooded man followed the king into the ship. Just before he stepped inside he turned and looked back at the deck. In that instant a tuft of silver hair escaped from the fringe of his hood and shone brightly in the reflected moonlight. His hidden eyes met theirs and for a moment Hajime's thought they had been seen.

The surroundings distorted, apparently the dungeon only want to show them that previous scene, Hajime and Kaori were soon back to on top of the derelict luxury liner.

"Kaori, rest for a little bit."

"No, I'm fine. Although it was somewhat intense… but I wonder if that was really the end of that trial… we didn't even do anything."

"I think this ship graveyard is its ending point. Although we could've explored the sea beyond the barrier… if you think about it normally, people who wanted to proceed out into the depths of the sea would need to use the ship. Perhaps witnessing that scene was itself the purpose of the vision. To burn the gruesomeness of the gods work into your memory so you would feel compelled to explore this ship as a result. It's a pretty nasty idea, especially for the people from this world."

The people of this world, though few of them would make it here, are expected to have faith in the gods. To show them such a gruesome result of their faith… it would surely torture a gentle spirit, and this Labyrinth's vital point for exploration is the power of magic which heavily relies on one's mental state. In that sense, it was the reverse of Raisen Great Labyrinth. It was only because Hajime came from another world that the results of this mental pressure was of such a small degree.

Hajime and Kaori both looked over the deck with an expression indicating their reluctant remembrance of the ghastly massacre that had occurred here. However in Hajime's case, his face looked more like he was remembering a bad sports foul.

Having made their resolve, the two of them jump down onto the deck and set foot near the door that King Aleist once entered who knows how long ago.

The inside of the ship was completely enclosed in darkness. Since the outside was bright, it wouldn't have been strange for light to shine in through crevices in the rotted wood, but for some reason there was no light at all. In order to push forward into the darkness Hajime took a light out from his 'Treasure box'.

"That sight earlier… Even though the war was already over… I wonder, did king really betray them…?"

"That's what it looked like… However, wasn't it a little bit strange? When he stood up on stage those people looked at him with eyes full of love and respect… If deep down you truly hated Demons and Demi-humans, would you really be able to earn such deep respect?"

"That's true… Based on the way those people were speaking to him, it seems like there must've been a sudden change sometime during the one year after the end of the war… What could have happened to cause such a change of heart?"

"Well, without a doubt they were fighting for their god, they were shouting it loudly enough. They gave off an almost deranged feeling."

"Yeah, they looked like Ishtar-san, abusing their religion to look down on others. It's pathetic isn't it?"

Apparently, from the high school girls perspective, the Pope of the Sacred Church was a pathetic person. However, Hajime only had the smallest feeling of sympathy for him upon hearing it. The two of them continued forwards, still thinking about the earlier scene, until they spotted something ahead shining in response to Hajime's light.

Hajime and Kaori stop their feet and watched as the light slowly approached them. When it got closer they could see that it was a girl in a fluttering white dress. She stopped in the hallway in front of them and stood there, swaying slightly with her head looking downwards.

Kaori and Hajime felt something unpleasant and shuddered violently. Kaori's expression became particularly stiff while Hajime, deciding that an ordinary girl wouldn't be in a place like this, pointed Donner at the girl with the intention of killing her.

Instantly, the girl collapsed into the hallway with a soft thump. Then, at an angle impossible for a normal human's joints, raised herself up onto her hands and feet like a spider and launched herself straight at them!

Ketaketaketaketaketaketaketaa! (TN: Spider girl's laugh?)

Her bizarre laughter echoed throughout the hallway. Shining eyes, just like those from urban legends, glared at them from between her bangs, as Hajime shot at the approaching figure.

(TN: Actually genderless, but whatever. Editor wanted to add "her". Meh)

(EN: We've already described it as a girl, seemed appropriate).

(TN: Meh. Whatever. I am tired.)

"NOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

"Wah!? Calm down Kaori! Don't grab my arm!"

Just like the template for this situation called for, Kaori clung onto Hajime and let out a scream. The girl approaching them laughed at her mockingly. Hajime, who was trying to shoot the girl with Donner, had his aim shifted due to Kaori clinging onto him.

"Kegya!!"

In a moment the girl was at Hajime's feet. Then, with her bizarre cry, she lept straight at Hajime's face.

Hajime reluctantly gave up on trying to shoot her, and instead delivered a sure-kill yakuza-style kick straight into her still laughing stomach . As a precaution, he had clad himself and magic and used 'Grand Legs' to deliver the blow. (TN: "Grand Legs". New spell or what? Don't remember it at all…. It's in the character introduction chapter, but what the hell?"

The moment Hajime's kick hit her stomach the girl was blown away into the wall, before bouncing several times and coming to a stop at the end of the hallway. Her limbs were now in an even more unnatural position she slowly vanished, as though melting into the darkness.

Hajime let out a sigh and then gave the still shaking Kaori clinging onto him a bonk on the head with his fist. With a start Kaori looked up at Hajime, an expression of fear still on her face. Tears clung to her eyes as her mouth let out a small squeak, anyone could see she was still terrified.

"Hey Kaori, are you bad with these ghoulish type of things?"

"Is there such a person who is good with them?!"

"Wouldn't you be fine if you just thought of them as apparitions?"

"…. Gusuu, I'll try my best."

As Kaori promised, she separated herself from Hajime, however she didn't let her hand go of Hajime's clothes.

Until earlier she had been worried about what to say to Hajime, she had seemed more reserved than usual, but now a strong will dwelt in her eyes. She would absolutely not allow herself to be separated from him! It was a type of desperation, while simultaneously being an expression of her love for him.

Just as Kaori had finished gathering her resolve the door ahead of them in the hallway flew open with a bang. On the other side of the door there were countless bloodstains on the floor, and when they looked up they saw the head of a woman with long, dripping wet, hair hung up on the ceiling looking down at them. At the same time they heard a noise and turned around to see a headless man dragging an axe along the floor behind him.

Hajime delivered another one of his yakuza-like kick to the headless man and readied his gun to follow up, but there was no need. The headless man was already dead from the kick.

"No more… I want to go back now… I want to see Shizuku-chan~"

As the proceeded further into the ship the strange phenomena became more and more violent, which caused Kaori to regress back into a child, clinging onto Hajime's back and refusing to come out.

Ever since Kaori was small she had looked up to Shizuku as her knight & protector whenever she entered haunted houses or had to deal with Kouki and the boys. However, those feelings never crossed the boundary into being yuri.

Meljeene, the founder of ?Meljeene Deep Sea Ruins?, seemed to be trying to back them into an emotional corner. Hajime, having survived The Abyss, already had experience dealing with being surrounded by darkness and didn't really find it very difficult to cope with, though he could understand how it would be difficult for someone with a more normal psyche to handle. However, he couldn't imagine Tio or Yue sobbing from such surprises.

That was until a while ago when Kaori, while still half crying – half flirting, had stepped out and begun to repel the horrors using her healing magic. Seeing her sudden change in attitude had made Hajime want to tsukkomi "where did the scared and lost little girl like atmosphere from earlier go?" as he watched her. As they advanced Kaori began to get more unsteady again, but together they eventually arrived at the ship's hold.

They stepped through the opened heavy doors. They proceeded towards the back of the ship's hold, moving in between the sparsely spread out cargo. However, before they had progressed far the doors behind them shut themselves with a loud 'boom!'

"Pii!?"

Kaori let out a strange voice at this surprising sound and Hajime began to worry whether or not she was keeping in mind their important talk about what she should do after finishing the labyrinth. It wasn't the first time this thought had crossed his mind.

However Hajime just let out a sigh and began to calmly stroking Kaori's shoulders. However the effectiveness of this tactic was disrupted when a thick fog began to slowly block their field of view.

"Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha-Hajime-kun!?"

"You're beginning to laugh just like a cheerful foreigner. Don't worry, just handle it like always. You'll be fine if you just crush them with your magic."

The moment Hajime replied they heard the ring of something as it tore through the wind, flying towards them. Hajime moved like a bolt of lightning and blocked the attack aimed at his neck with his left arm. When he lowered his left arm they could see an extremely thin thread stuck into it. They didn't have time to stare, soon there was the continuous ring of the wind being cut as arrows flew at them from all sides.

"To come so far just for a trap? It's so disgusting! That's just typical of those damn liberators!"

"Come forth, Guardian of Light. Absolute Light!"

Hajime was caught by surprise for a moment, however, since they were only a primitive weapons Kaori was able to block them with her defensive magic. Soon though, the fog ahead of them began to swirl violently and a fierce storm struck Hajime and Kaori.

"Kya!?"

Kaori was blown away in the storm, her screaming figure disappearing into the fog. Hajime, made a sour face as he tried to find her using his perception ability. Unfortunately, it seems the fog had a function that inhabited skills of the sensing system, similar to inside the?Haltina Sea of Trees?, thus he quickly lost track of her.

"Che. Kaori, don't move!"

With a sour face Hajime called out to Kaori, but instead of Kaori a knight wielding a longsword came tearing out of the fog ahead of him. Using an unusual technique, he lunged fiercely and swung the sword at Hajime.

Parrying the attack calmly with Donner, he struck the his large opponent in the chest with Schlag then fired a magic bullet into his stomach with Donner. A hole opened in the knight's stomach and he silently vanished into the mist.

However, immediately after a line of swordsmen and knights with abnormal strength emerged from the fog. These warriors held a variety of different weapons, and used the fog to launch attacks at Hajime one after another, fading back into the mist after each strike.

"Damn, so troublesome…"

While spitting out curses, Hajime expanded red magic bullets around his body like a satellite, also activating "Lightspeed"(??) swiftly tidied up his surroundings. It was a concern to him that he could not hear Kaori's voice.

Hajime was concerned that he couldn't hear Kaori's reply. While spitting out curses Hajime launched bullets of red magic and made them orbit his body like satellites. At the same time he activated 'Lightspeed' and swiftly tidied up his surroundings.

Shifting to Kaori, with Hajime gone from her sight she was finding it hard to keep up a brave front. Kaori was really bad with horror, it would be very difficult to overcome her current predicament even under normal circumstances, but now her body wanted to freeze up just from the fear of being alone. Add in her strong inferiority complex, though she wouldn't admit it to herself, and the bottom line was that all she wanted to do was curl herself up and cry.

Kaori scolded herself, she mustn't let herself be found cowering like this, and forced her body to stand back up. As soon as she was upright again she felt a hand on her shoulder. Hajime would often encourage her by patting her on the shoulder. Overcome by happiness, Kaori found herself turning around in delight.

"Hajime-ku-"

However, as she turned around Kaori noticed that something felt off about the hand on her shoulder. To be more accurate, it felt too thin and too cold. Kaori felt chills run down her spine as her intuition warned her that what was behind her was not Hajime.

If it wasn't Hajime, then who on earth was it? Continuing to turn, now like a rusty machine, Kaori saw it. Eyes, nose, mouth… and then even more holes. It was the face of a woman dyed in a darkness as black as the abyss.

"Fuwah~"

Kaori's spirit was over in an instant, and her defensive instincts rendered her unconscious.

In the 2 minutes it took Kaori to get up and faint, Hajime had already destroyed 50 ghostly warriors. This was only his rough estimate based on killing one of the ghostly veterans every 2-3 seconds.

Just as he was beginning to think he had wiped them all out, a large man wielding a greatsword tore out from the fog, charged straight at him and swung a blow that boasted of enormous hidden strength.

Hajime dodged the attack with the smallest movement of his body. However it wasn't over yet. The warrior bounced the greatsword back into the air using the recoil from the blow to the ground and moved to attack again.

Hajime responded by activating 'Vajra', stopping the blow with his mechanical arm and jumping up onto the greatsword with his knees, forcing it from his opponents hands and trapping it against the ground. Then, with a swift motion he raised his gun and fired a magic bullet straight into the large man's head.

At the same time the large man's head was blown off the surrounding fog begins to fade away.

"Kaori! Where are you?"

Hajime focused all of his senses on finding Kaori's presence. However, even without doing that Kaori was easily found.

"I'm over here, Hajime-kun."

"Kaori, are you alright?"

Hajime divulged a sigh of relief upon seeing Kaori walking towards him with a smile. Once Kaori reached his side she snuggled up against against him with a beautiful smile.

"It was… very scary…"

"Is that so?…"

"Un. That's why I want to be comforted"

As she said this Kaori threw her arms around Hajime's neck and hugged him. At a distance so close they were practically nose-to-nose, Kaori locates Hajime's mouth with her eyes and began to draw herself closer…

Gotsu (TN: Sound effect. *thunk*)

With a Gotsu~tsu sound (TN: *thunk*) Donner's muzzle met Kaori's temple.

"Wh-what…?"

Kaori appeared to be confused as Hajime narrowed his brutal-looking eyes and directed murderous intent towards her.

"What? Of course I'll kill enemies, no matter how they look like" and without a beat of hesitation he pulled the trigger.

Karankara (*Clang-clang*)

There was the sound of a knife hitting the ground, it had fallen out of the hand of Kaori when she was shot. She had intended to stab him in the back as she was hugging him. With steady footsteps Hajime approached the collapsed Kaori.

Getting back up, Kaori begins talking to Hajime in a frightened and trembling voice.

"Hajime-kun, why would you do such a thing!?"

However Hajime response was to fire another magic bullet at Kaori.

"Don't you dare speak with Kaori's voice! Do not degrade her body by moving it! Did you think I couldn't see the truth? You are nothing but a piece of trash possessing her body."

Hajime's 'Magic Stone Eye' had already revealed to him that there was a ghostly woman possessing Kaori.

With the truth clearly exposed Kaori, who until just a moment ago had been cowering on the ground, instantly changed her expression and burst into mocking laughter.

"Nyahahaha, even if you know the truth it is of no matter. You can't do anything…this girl's body is already mine!

As she said this the possessed Kaori raised herself off the ground and pushed Hajime down onto the ground into the mounted position.

"Wait, what are you doing? This is your woman! Do you plan to hurt her!?"

"Shut up! You're giving me a headache. Didn't I tell you not to move? I'm not going to hurt Kaori, the magic bullets will pass right through her body, the only one who will suffer is you."

"If I disappear this woman's soul will shatter! Is that really alright with you!?"

At those words Hajime inclined his head slightly in thought. Although there was a good chance it wasn't a bluff, there was no way to verify if it was true.

Most people would probably become trapped by indecision in this situation, was the possessed Kaori hoping for this? She was giving her cat-like laugh again while motioning for him to step aside. Seeing this Hajime gave her his reply.

Zupan~! Zupan!

It was a pair of magic bullets. The possessed Kaori's expression was too shocked to reveal as to whether she had felt any pain. Soon her expression shifted into one of frustration as she shouted at Hajime in an angry voice.

"Are you insane!? Do you not care what happens to this woman!?"

"Shut up you pile of trash! If I don't attack then Kaori's body would remain possessed. However, as long as you aren't killed her soul won't break, right? Until you feel like leaving her body everything will be fine if I just torment you without killing you."

The ghostly woman was left speechless at his words. When she looked into Hajime's eyes she was being stabbed by his murderous intent that dwelt there.

"I'll make you regret thinking you could touch what's 'important' to me. Even though you're an enemy I won't kill you, I won't let you experience the relief of death. I'll make it so you can't escape Kaori's body even if you want to. I'll force you to suffer until you go mad from the pain."

Red magic flowed out from Hajime's body, his white hair was caught in the eddies and slowly began to sway in the energy. There was no rage, bloodthirst or insanity in his eyes, they were like frozen chips of ice.

Hajime was furious, more so than ever before. He wouldn't be satisfied with just kill his enemy this time, they must experience cruelty akin to the depths of hell.

The ghost possessing Kaori had been too dense to realise she had picked a fight with something that should never be disturbed. Only now, as she felt her gaze trapped in Hajime eyes, did she finally realise what she had awakened; a monster, one you would normally pray to never meet.

With Donner's muzzle again pressed against her forehead, the ghostly woman earnestly begged for release. Even if all it bought her was permission to disappear a single second faster, when she imagined what this monster would probably do to her even one second seemed like a blessing.

She was just an ordinary ghost. Although it did seem that her lingering essence was greater than than any of the other apparitions they had encountered, in the face of this atmosphere it all amounted to nothing. The frozen wrath Hajime was giving off was just that terrifying.

"Iwanttodisappear!Iwanttodisappear!Iwanttodisappear!Iwanttodisappear!Iwanttodisappear!Iwanttodisappear!"

The ghost's sobs echoed louder as Hajime's finger moved to pull the trigger, when suddenly the Kaori's body began to shine. It was the sparkle of the restore-all-abnormal-status recovery magic 'Ten Thousand Heavens', which Kaori had prepared as a precaution ahead of time using the ability of 'Delayed Invocation'.

While left dumbfounded by the feeling of unbelievable relief the ghost heard a voice from inside her.

"–It's okay, I'll send you off properly."

Alongside these words the shining, pure white, light intensified. The ghost felt afraid as the light wrapped around her, dragging her gently along with it towards the heavens. However, as she gradually passed on to the next world and her consciousness began to fade she was overcome with a feeling of peace and relief.

With one clap, Kaori sent her off and slowly began to open her trembling eyelids. Hajime, still lying underneath Kaori in the mounted position, looked directly up into Kaori's eyes. Ever since Kaori began to shine, the fading presence of the ghost's existence had been reflected in Hajime's Magic Stone Eye. For the moment he released his killing intent and focused on confirming whether the ghost had truly left Kaori.

Their faces were so close, and with Hajime's lying underneath her, his gaze filled with a mixture of relief and worry as he focused his eyes intently on her pupils, it would've been enough to make anyone feel moved.

Gently lowering her head Kaori pressed her lips on Hajime's. It was only the barest meeting of their lips, but for Kaori it was still her precious first kiss.

Hajime whole body went stiffened in surprise for a moment. In order to be certain that Kaori had been released Hajime had used almost all his concentration to examine her. With his mind so distracted, naturally it wasn't possible for him to avoid a kiss.

After a while Kaori gently released his lips.

"What are you…?"

"Perhaps it's my answer?"

"Your answer?"

"Un. Why did I follow you? Why do I want to keep on following you?…. This is my answer to Hajime's questions."

When she said this Kaori smiled at Hajime. It was smile he had always seen her wearing, warm like a ray of light from the sun. Ever since coming here it had become clouded and covered up by a false laugh, but now it shone once again.

In fact Kaori had still retained her consciousness while possessed, though it felt like watching the world outside while trapped inside a glass room. She had still been able to see Hajime in never seen before state of fury, saying things like Kaori was 'important' to him. It had flowed right through the ghost and reached her heart.

At the sight of this Hajime unbearable sadness had risen up in her chest, but at the same time she felt the nervous passion she had when she first confessed to him.

If she wanted to explain it, it was a feeling of selfish, of always wanting to be indulged, always make them vividly aware of your presence. Mixed in amongst the circle of girls Yue allowed to surround Hajime, Kaori found it intolerable that she wasn't allowed to hoard him all to herself, yet at the same time she didn't even want to imagine a future where she wasn't by Hajime's side.

She wanted to make them recognise that even if her capabilities were nowhere near Yue and the others, her feelings weren't any less.

"I like you Hajime-kun, no, I love you. That's why from here on I want our futures to be entwined."

"Won't it only leave you feeling bitter? Just like it is with Shia, even if Yue weren't there, it doesn't necessarily mean that I will love you back."

"That's true, it'll probably be painful at times…. I want to be monopolised, I want you to only look at me. I feel so jealous of Yue sometimes, and so inferior when I compare myself to her"

"If that's the case…"

"But I'll only regret it if I allow myself to be separated from you here, I'm sure of it. For me, just being near Hajime is wonderful….and that's how I've always felt. In time I want to close the gap between us even more, but for right now this is enough."

Pinching Hajime's cheeks between both her hands, Kaori smiled softly.

The expression on Hajime's face was a complex mix of troubled and amazed, but Kaori had decided on her own, and if she believes that it's the best decision for herself, Hajime wouldn't say another word. Each person had their own idea of happiness, deciding Kaori's happiness for her is something he couldn't do, nor did he want to.

"…. I see. If Kaori is fine with this then I won't say any more."

"Un. Although I'll probably cause a lot of trouble, please don't hate me, alright?"

"What are you saying at such a late hour? From our time at school, up to our time here, you have always been an terrible troublemaker."

"That's not true!"

"Really? Back at school you never read the situation and would casually come over and talk to me, completely unaware of the word bombs you were dropping everywhere, and never noticing that every time the guys around us would seethe with anger. And then let's not forget when a negligee-clad lady decided to visit a man's room in the middle of the night…"

"Uu, I remember, all I wanted to do was talk to you…. Un, it was really embarrassing when I realized later that I had come to your room dressed like that."

While Kaori was covering her blushing face with her hands, Hajime got up and offered Kaori a hand up. Then, with a grin, patted Kaori on the shoulder gently, and turned to start walking towards the magic circle that had begun to shine further inside the storeroom once the fog had lifted.

However, he was stopped by Kaori tightly grabbing onto his sleeve. If he looked carefully he could see that she was still a little unsteady. Apparently the possession had dulled her body's senses a little. Now that the body had been released it hopefully wouldn't take long for it to return back to it's normal state.

"Let's rest for a little bit."

Hajime had suggested this, but it seems Kaori had an idea of her own and with a smile she hopped up onto Hajime's back.

"….What are you doing?"

"Isn't it better if we progress quickly? I don't know when my magic power will return and if we hang around here the fog will surely come back, right?"

There was definitely some truth to her words,so Hajime replied with a "It can't be helped" while scratching his head, and walked towards the magic circle while carrying Kaori.

Kaori wrapped her arms around Hajime's neck and clung on tightly to his back. Although he didn't say anything, Hajime was trying his best to ignore the soft feeling that pressing up against his back.

Kaori moved close enough that he could feel her hot breath in his ear. Her lips, close enough that they were almost touching his earlobe, opened gently and a sweet sound reverberated inside his ears.

"Hajime-kun… I want to asking you something about what happened earlier."

"Earlier?"

"Yes. Why was it that you got so angry during that fight?"

"Saa, why was I angry? I don't know." (TN: "Don't make a move on what's 'important' to me." …..Was he really an otaku before?)

"Mouu, please tell me~."

Refusing to answer her questions or get caught up in her flirtatious atmosphere, Hajime continued to carry Kaori while moving forward at a brisk pace and without hesitation stepped into the magic circle.

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