Arifureta/ From Commonplace to World’s Strongest Vol. 11 Ch. 4

Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest Volume 11.

Chapter 4: Preparing for the Decisive Battle.

A lone figure stood in a large room that was dimly lit by green glowstone. A massive pair of double doors opened behind him. There were two rows of pillars in the room, spaced apart at even intervals.

The wide space was reminiscent of a temple. But its solemn majesty was marred by how badly damaged the room was.

The figure silently stared at the room’s far wall, envisioning the object that had once rested there.

A hesitant voice called out to him from behind, interrupting his reverie by saying, “Hajime-kun.”

Hajime looked over his shoulder and replied, “Kaori. How’s it looking?”

“Everything’s going smoothly. In fact, I even managed to get more materials than you asked for. Thanks to the compass, I can instantly tell where the best ore deposits are located. And none of the monsters here are a threat.”

“Well, you do have the body of an apostle, so that’s no surprise.”

A day had passed since they’d left the Demon Lord’s castle.

Hajime had shoved all the demons in a special prison he’d found in the castle that cut off all magic, then locked them in there with a week or so worth of food. After that, he returned to the Schnee Snow Fields to dig up the artifacts he’d hidden earlier. And once that was done, he’d immediately teleported to Heiligh, where he’d downed all the mana potions available, as well as had the nation’s best doctors provide him with their mana.

Meanwhile, Liliana had explained the situation to her subjects and gotten everyone ready to evacuate.

He’d also taken everything of value from the capital’s warehouses to craft the artifacts people needed right away, including the high-speed travel ones he gave to the emissaries who needed to visit other nations.

Once he finished all that, he’d returned to the Reisen Gorge and used Oscar’s ring to open up the shortcut leading to his house at the bottom of the labyrinth. He’d left Myu and Remia there, then gone resource collecting with Kaori.

He’d already restored his Demon Eye and prosthetic arm with the materials he’d found in Oscar’s workshop. And so, he’d chosen to use his extensive knowledge of the labyrinth combined with his Synergist skills to find good spots to excavate while Kaori made use of the Compass of Eternal Paths. They gathered materials at a breakneck pace, and in just a day they’d already amassed several dozen tons of ore.

“It’s a shame I couldn’t find any Divinity Stones large enough to produce Ambrosia… The ones outside Oscar’s house were marble-sized at best.”

“Well, it is a legendary treasure, you know? If anything, I lucked out by finding the one I did so early on in the abyss. The fact that you even found small fragments of them is good enough. Nice work.”

“I’m glad I could help,” Kaori said with a smile. Then, she handed her Treasure Trove over to Hajime, stood beside him, and examined the mound of rubble piled up by the far wall.

“This is where you first met Yue, isn’t it?”

The half-melted pile of metal was all that remained of the cube that had trapped Yue for centuries.

Hajime nodded, his eyes vibrant and clear. Gone were the dark emotions that had eventually sublimated into a nihilistic rejection of everything. Instead, his eyes were full of hope as he recollected fond memories.

“When I first saw her, I thought I’d stepped into a horror movie or something. It was pitch black, and the only thing I could see was her crimson eyes staring at me. And then, when I got closer, I saw her hair was long and wispy, like a ghost’s. You know, when Yue first cried out for help, I almost just shut the door on her and moved on. I thought that nothing good could’ve come from getting involved with a dangerous girl like her.”

“Hehehe… I guess it must’ve been pretty weird to find a girl down here in the middle of the abyss.”

“I know, right? Besides, back then the only thing I cared about was surviving. Thinking back on it now, I’m surprised I even bothered to help her at all.”

Kaori chuckled again and stated, “And now she’s so important to you that you’d destroy the world to get her back. Life sure works in mysterious ways, huh?”

“Tell me about it.”

Hajime and Kaori closed their eyes as the conversation came to a close. They both thought about Yue in that moment. She was the girl he loved most, while she thought of her as a dear friend.

The two of them eventually opened their eyes at the same time, their pupils burning with fierce resolve.

“We’ll get her back,” Kaori whispered.

“Yeah, no matter what,” Hajime replied.

They quietly tapped their fists together after hardening their resolve.

“Oh yeah, uh… I’ve been giving this some thought and…” Hajime suddenly mumbled those words awkwardly.

“Hm? What’re you talking about?” Kaori asked with a puzzled look.

“Kaori, I think you should stay back here when we head to the Sanctuary.”

“Huh? Why…? Oh. You’re worried Ehit might deactivate me again?”

For a moment, Kaori was so hurt that tears sprung to her eyes, but then she caught on to Hajime’s reasoning.

“Yeah. I have come up with some artifacts to resist his power, but I’m not sure how effective they’ll be. He’s the one who made that body of yours, so it’s honestly hard to tell.”

“You… have a point.”

Kaori understood where Hajime was coming from, and his concerns were valid. Plus, if she returned to her original body, she wouldn’t be strong enough to survive within the Sanctuary. That being said, it still hurt being told that she shouldn’t accompany him to the final battle. Kaori’s desire to get Yue back was just as strong as his, after all.

Hajime saw her pouting and added, “Please don’t make that face. Look, even if we get Yue back, it won’t mean anything if the students down here die, right? I mean, I might not care, but I’m sure you’d be sad. Besides, I need someone to protect Myu and Remia. I plan to leave them here, in Orcus’ house, but there’s no guarantee even this place is safe.”

“Ughhh,” Kaori groaned. But she couldn’t argue. Aside from Hajime, Shea, and Tio, she was the only one capable of fighting apostles on equal footing. Besides, since Hajime had spread propaganda that claimed the attacking army was composed of “fake” apostles led by a fake Ehit, it would help morale for Kaori to stand on the frontlines as a “real” apostle.

Most important of all, Kaori’s main strengths lay in healing. Hajime could give the armies of Tortus the firepower they needed to fight on equal footing with Ehit’s forces, but he couldn’t replicate Kaori’s magical abilities. If she stayed back, she’d be able to keep casualties to a minimum. The more she thought about it, the more she realized Hajime was right.

“Haaah, I guess I have to. It doesn’t sit right with me, but I don’t want to burden you guys. Plus, there are a lot of people I want to keep safe here, too… Fine, I’ll protect everyone until you guys return. And I won’t let anyone lay a finger on Myu-chan or Remia-san, I swear!”

“Thanks. It’s reassuring to know you’ll be here to protect everyone.”

“Yep, you can count on me,” Kaori said with a somewhat forced smile. But a second later, she realized something and her smile became genuine.

“Mhm, you can definitely count on me! I’ll protect Ai-chan-sensei and Lily too!”

“Why’re you bringing those two up?”

“Oh, and I’ll keep Yuka-chan safe as well, of course!”

“What does Sonobe have to do with any of this?”

“Don’t you think it’s time you stopped playing dumb?”

“……”

Kaori gave Hajime a Yue-tier glare and muttered loud enough for him to hear, “There’s a bunch of other girls who look like they’re infatuated with you now… I can’t believe you’re such a womanizer, Hajime-kun. I haven’t even become someone special to you yet, but you’re already adding more girls to your harem. I’m gonna tell Yue when she gets back.”

Kaori gave Hajime a petulant look, and he raised an eyebrow. He wasn’t annoyed by her attitude or anything. Honestly, he was more surprised at himself for wanting to deny what she’d just said.

Hajime squatted down and reached for the mound of crumbled sealstone that had once been Yue’s prison.

“You know, I really felt that punch back then. Pretty sure that was what snapped me out of it.”

“Huh? Oh, you mean when you went all edgy? Uh, sorry about that. It must have hurt, right?”

It took Kaori a second to figure out what Hajime was referring to, but once she did, she looked down apologetically.

Vivid crimson sparks skittered across the floor. Hajime had used his transmutation on the pile of sealstone. Back then, destroying the prison had taken every ounce of strength he possessed, but now the sealstone’s mana-resistant properties didn’t seem to affect him at all.

As he turned the rubble into stacks of palm-sized cubes, he shrugged his shoulders and said, “That punch shook me to my core. And so did the words you said.”

“Uh, umm, I might have gotten a bit carried away…” Kaori mumbled and fidgeted about as she prepared for a scolding. However, Hajime’s next words caught her by surprise.

“I’m pretty sure no one else could have moved my heart like you did.”

“Huh?”

“Well, I guess Shea and Tio might have been able to, but that’s about it. If anyone else had done the same thing, it wouldn’t have worked.”

“You mean…”

“I guess you’re more special to me than I realized.”

“Hajime-kun…”

Hajime finished processing the sealstone and rose to his feet. Sure, he’d come here to reminisce, but his main objective had been to secure a large supply of sealstone.

Kaori looked up at him, and his kind expression reminded her of the old Hajime she’d known before he’d fallen into the abyss. That made her heart start to beat faster.

“Thanks, Kaori. Thanks for always thinking of me. I figured I should say that before I go off to kill a god.”

“Don’t say that. You make it sound like you’re never coming back.”

“Haha, I guess that did sound a little ominous. Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you worry.”

Kaori shook her head and replied, “It’s fine. I should be thanking you, too. Your words made me really happy.”

Kaori knew it was too soon to celebrate. But still, she was happy that her feelings had finally gotten through to him, and that she’d become a source of strength for him. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she told herself she wouldn’t cry before the decisive battle and lightly joked, “Hehehe, I’ll have to brag to Yue when she gets back. I wonder what she’ll say when I tell her I finally reached the same level as Shea?”

“She’s just gonna bully you again, you know that, right? I dunno why, but she really likes messing with you.”

“Ugh, it’s probably because she likes seeing my reactions. Just thinking about what she’ll do is making me mad. I need to find a way to get back at her before she returns.”

“I can already tell she’s gonna turn the tables on you and make you go crying back to Yaegashi.”

“Jeez, why do you look so happy about that, Hajime-kun!?” Kaori yelled and puffed her cheeks out. Hajime simply chuckled and shrugged his shoulders in response.

The conversation died there, but the silence was far from uncomfortable. The two of them stood side by side, reminiscing about Yue.

After a few minutes, Kaori suddenly muttered, “Oh yeah… There’s something I’ve been wondering about. Hajime-kun, is it just me, or have you been transmuting this whole time without any magic circles?”

It hadn’t been important enough for Kaori to bring up earlier, but she had seen Ehit destroy all the magic circles in Hajime’s shoes and clothes.

Wait, doesn’t that mean he made his existence-erasing chains without any magic circles?

“Oh, right. I forgot to tell you that I can do the same thing as Yue now. All I have to do is imagine the magic circle in my mind to cast my Synergist spells.”

“Wait, when did you learn a skill like that?”

Hajime tossed Kaori his Status Plate. He’d gotten a new one at the royal palace to replace the one he’d lost. Kaori caught it, and her jaw dropped open when she saw what it said.

“It’s one of the Synergist job’s derivative skills. It’s called Image Composition. It lets me use imaginary magic circles to cast spells. Apparently, that’s the final derivative skill of my job.”

Hajime had pushed himself to the limit in order to resist Ehit’s Divine Edict, and in doing so had reached the peak of Synergy through willpower alone. However, that wasn’t the only new ability he had obtained.

“Umm, Hajime-kun? What about this skill here? Transcendence, I mean. It seems to be one of Limit Break’s derivative skills.”

“Oh. Put simply, that skill raises the limit of my talent.”

It didn’t increase any of Hajime’s stats, nor did it grant him any special abilities. However, it vastly increased the cap on all of those things by upgrading his latent talent. His new theoretical maximum was far higher than any human was capable of. Given time, his strength could surpass the power of the gods.

It was a skill only true masters of their craft could acquire. Hence why its name was Transcendence. It boosted the natural talents someone was born with to an immense degree and granted the wielder an average person’s talent in fields of magic they had no affinity for.

However, it was such a difficult skill to use that it was unlikely anyone would be able to activate it more than once in their life, even if they acquired it.

“There’s one thing I’m sure of now that I have that skill. My Synergist abilities have finally surpassed Oscar Orcus’.”

That was why Hajime had been so confident that he’d be able to make enough weapons for everyone within three days, as well as create an inferior version of the Crystal Key all by himself. If he combined his strengthened abilities with evolution magic, he would be able to surpass the greatest Synergist in history, Oscar Orcus.

“Before, I had a hard time transmuting sealstone. Because it dampens magic, I couldn’t even keep much of it in my Treasure Trove. Though, I guess I wouldn’t have kept it even if I could’ve, since it seemed to bring back bad memories for Yue. Anyway, the point is, I can easily mold it however I want now.”

“I-I see… Hehehe, I guess Ehit really messed up by not killing you when he had the chance.”

“Yep. By the way, I’m planning on making a unique artifact for you too, Kaori.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

While they talked, Hajime finished storing all the sealstone inside his Treasure Trove. And with that, he finally had enough raw materials to begin the real work.

It was time to start mass-producing weapons. But just as he turned around to leave, Hajime spotted something out of the corner of his eye.

“Hm? What’s this?”

There was a small crest engraved onto the floor where the sealstone had been.

“What did you find, Hajime-kun? Is that… a crest? It looks just like the one we saw in the Frost Caverns. Vandre Schnee’s…”

Kaori cocked her head to one side. Hajime nodded and took out the teardrop-shaped pendant they’d received for clearing the Frost Caverns. The moment it left his Treasure Trove, they noticed a change.

“Are they… resonating with each other?”

A high-pitched whining noise filled the room. And a second later, the pendant and the crest on the floor both began to vibrate.

Hajime felt a tug in his palm and looked down to see the pendant slowly inching toward the crest. Upon closer inspection, he noticed a small hole in the crest just large enough for Vandre’s pendant.

“Kaori, just in case, get back.”

“O-Okay. Be careful.”

Kaori took a step backward, and Hajime placed the pendant into the depression. A moment later, the crest began to glow… and a metallic grinding noise resounded as a section of the floor rose. It formed a stone pillar about thirty centimeters in diameter and stopped rising once it was about waist-height. A section of the pillar slid back to reveal a small opening.

“I never knew there was something like this here. I guess you wouldn’t be able to open whatever this is without first beating the Frost Caverns…”

“It seems that way. Since it was right underneath Yue’s prison, I get the feeling this is something related to her.”

Sitting inside the pillar was a colorless, transparent jewel the size of a pinball. It looked like a miniature version of the crystal balls seers used. Hajime picked it up and examined it from all sides. And after a few seconds, he figured out what it was.

“This is that same projection artifact Oscar and the others used to play the messages they recorded to the people who cleared their labyrinths.”

“I see… There’s only one person who would leave something like that here.”

“Let’s see what the message says.”

Hajime channeled a little mana into the crystal. Dark golden light filled the dim room, blotting out the illumination of the green glowstones.

Hajime and Kaori squinted, and a familiar figure emerged from the whirlpool of light. The message he delivered was filled with resolve, repentance, and overflowing love. And at the end, he made one deeply moving, heartfelt wish before disappearing.

The light began to fade, leaving Hajime and Kaori alone with their thoughts. Kaori’s face was streaked with tears. It was difficult to describe what exactly they were feeling, but the message had left a deep impression on them.

“We have to show this to Yue…” Kaori muttered.

“Yeah, definitely. Kaori, you keep this. I don’t want to risk this getting broken when we invade the Sanctuary.”

“Sure. I promise to keep it safe.”

Hajime handed the crystal to Kaori and she held it close to her chest.

“Now then, we don’t have much time. Let’s head back so I can start mass-producing artifacts.”

“It’s weird to hear that when normally, nations would go to war over just one artifact.”

Hajime shrugged his shoulders and took one last look around the room where he’d first met Yue. When his gaze reached the spot where she’d been sealed, he closed his eyes for a brief moment. He then turned around and left the room without looking back.

Kaori gracefully followed after him. She closed the doors behind them, plunging the room into darkness once more. However, the darkness that filled the room was warm and inviting, not cold and desolate.

Hajime and Kaori returned to Oscar’s house, which was hidden in the deepest section of the labyrinth.

Oscar had carved an alcove out of the slate-gray rock for his house and the surrounding garden, and the moment Hajime and Kaori stepped into that alcove, Myu poked her head out of one of the house’s third-floor windows and smiled at him.

“Daddy, Kaori-onee-chan! Welcome back!” Myu exclaimed as she ran down the stairs, out of the house, and jumped into Hajime’s arms.

“I’m back, Myu.”

“We’re back, Myu-chan.”

Hajime and Kaori had spent the whole day gathering ore, so Myu had felt lonely. Though neither Hajime nor Kaori had gotten any rest since leaving the Demon Lord’s castle, Myu’s dopey smile was enough to blow their exhaustion away.

As they walked into the house, the sound of slippers slapping against the floor echoed across the walls. A moment later, Remia walked into the foyer. She was wearing an apron over her dress and had a ladle in one arm.

“Welcome home, Dear. And you as well, Kaori-san. I’m glad to see you’re both safe.”

“Th-Thanks,” Hajime stammered.

“Excuse me? ‘Dear’? You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you, Remia-san?”

“Would you like dinner, a bath, or your wife and daughter?”

“Okay, you’re definitely doing this on purpose! Stop using those cliched lines! Also, don’t just casually include your daughter in that!”

“Oh my, Kaori-san. I was simply asking if he wanted to spend some quality family time with us. Ufufu, what in the world were you imagining?”

“I-I wasn’t imagining anything weird! Really, I mean it!”

“In that case, Dear, would you prefer having Kaori-san instead?”

“What!? M-Me!? Quit teasing me, Remia-san!” Kaori yelped that and glared at Remia, who just chuckled. It seemed her true goal had been to fluster Kaori, not Hajime. Older women like Yue and Remia loved bullying Kaori.

Hajime gave Kaori a sympathetic pat on the shoulder and said, “Look, let’s just leave it at that, Remia. We don’t have much time, so I’m afraid I’ll have to head straight to the workshop. Please bring my food there.”

“I see… You haven’t slept at all, but I guess I can’t really ask you to rest. If you don’t push yourself here, we won’t survive what’s coming.”

She’d tried joking around with Hajime and Kaori in an attempt to get them to relax, but unfortunately, it hadn’t worked. Though she was worried about their wellbeing, Remia knew there wasn’t any time to rest.

“Very well, I shall bring you your food once it’s ready. Oh, the princess left a message for you as well. She said things are progressing smoothly.”

Remia had been handling all correspondence while Hajime was out gathering materials. Shizuku had already succeeded in convincing Gahard to join the alliance. And with the queen’s help, Liliana had convinced the capital’s residents of the danger they faced, then started evacuating them to the empire while the empire’s troops teleported in.

Construction of the fortress was ahead of schedule as well.

I guess focusing on getting Nomura and the other builders’ artifacts done first was the right call.

Hajime had, much to Liliana and the nobles’ chagrin, raided the royal treasury and transmuted all the artifacts within it into artifacts suited to Kentarou and the other earth magic specialists.

Remia had also received a message from Verbergen. It appeared Suzu and Ryutarou had managed to convince Ulfric and the other elders to join the fight. As for the Haulia… Well, they hadn’t even taken any convincing. Once their preparations were complete, the beastmen would travel through the portal to Heiligh.

“I see… Looks like everything’s going better than planned.”

“Aiko-san’s speeches apparently helped a lot. The people love the Fertility Goddess. She even used the portals to travel to the empire and Verbergen to give speeches there as well. Plus, it helped that the new pope sanctified this as a proper holy crusade.”

“The new pope’s some old dude the princess specifically brought over from the middle of nowhere, right? Well, he’s the leader of the church now, so I guess it makes sense that people would listen to him. If he’s backing Sensei, it makes sense that no one would doubt her.”

Liliana had a surprisingly good eye when it came to judging people’s character. Not only that, but she was a skilled leader as well. Hajime had to admit she was far more competent than he’d given her credit for. She was resolved to save her country, and though she lacked experience, the queen and her advisors were there to assist her. There was no one better suited to lead humanity during this crisis than her.

“What about the people I sent to the other nations?”

“There has been no word from them, I’m afraid. Nothing from Tio-san, either.”

“Well, I didn’t expect much. Even with artifacts, you can only travel so fast.”

There were a few students, as well as several knights, working directly for Simon, the new pope, who had traveled to various regions as official Heiligh ambassadors. They all used Skyboards, a new artifact that Hajime had developed. As the name suggested, they were surfboards that let the user surf through the sky. They wrapped the user in a spatial magic barrier to cut down air resistance and used gravity magic to emulate flight. Their average cruising speed was around 200km/h, though those with larger mana pools could accelerate them to 300km/h. However, they took a lot of mana to operate, and average people needed frequent breaks when using them. Still, Hajime surmised that everyone should have reached their respective destinations around now. Once they did, they could easily open a portal back to Heiligh and return instantly.

“Thanks for the update. And sorry for making you take over communications. I know you’re not used to this kinda stuff.”

“You have nothing to apologize for… If anything, I’m happy I can help in some way. I owe you so much… And I am your wife.”

“You’re definitely not my wife.”

“Now now, don’t sweat the details.”

“This is a pretty damn big detail.”

“Ufufu…”

“Uh, umm, anyway…” Hajime backed down, realizing that he had no means to break through that smile of Remia’s. He also didn’t want to argue in front of Myu. And honestly, Remia seemed to be enjoying the act, so he saw no reason to force her to drop it.

Well, as long as Myu’s a part of my life, we’re basically family… Hajime justified his decision to himself, then passed Myu over to Remia. He gave her head one last pat before heading over to Oscar’s workshop.

The workshop was large enough to fit a football field. It also had a bunch of tools that facilitated efficient transmutation, making it the perfect space for a Synergist.

Once inside, Hajime pulled a veritable mountain of raw materials out of his Treasure Trove and said, “Now then, let’s see how much we can accelerate things. Kaori, I’ll need your help.”

“Sure thing! Leave everything to me!”

Hajime transmuted a giant crystal pillar in the center of the workshop. Kaori circled to the other side of it and the two of them looked at each other through the transparent pillar.

Hajime wanted to at least partially alleviate the time crunch he was under, which was why he’d asked Kaori to accompany him. She was the most proficient user of restoration magic, which controlled time.

“Ready? Let’s do this— Transmute!”

“Chrono Rupture!”

Crimson sparks and pale violet light intersected at the center of the pillar.

Chrono Rupture was a restoration magic spell that stretched out time. Because of how entwined it was with the true nature of restoration magic, it was one of the hardest spells to master. In fact, it was impossible for normal humans to ever acquire it.

In the same way that Hajime had overcome his limits and unlocked Transcendence, Kaori had reached new heights with her restoration magic. What they were attempting was only possible because they were both masters of their respective fields.

Hajime’s crimson sparks ran down the length of the pillar, binding Kaori’s violet mana to the crystal. After a little while, her hair started whipping around her head slower than usual. Everything in the workshop seemed to lose its color.

“Ngh… Hajime-kun.”

“That’s enough, Kaori. Good job.”

Kaori doubled over and rested her hands on her knees, panting. Though they’d only been casting for a few seconds, they’d used up a lot of mana.

“Haaah… Haaah… D-Did it work?”

“Yep. From the looks of things, I can stretch time to about… a factor of ten. If I was by myself, I would have been lucky to even make time move twice as slow. Thanks. This’ll make things a lot easier.”

“Haaah… Thank goodness.”

Hajime smiled tiredly. The transparent pillar now exuded a faint crimson light. Kaori blushed at the praise and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Now that we made it, we should probably give it a name… Hyperbolic Time Chamber sounds good, right?”

“You shouldn’t steal names like that. Why don’t we just call it Hour Crystal?”

“But that doesn’t sound as cool…”

“Jeez, who cares about how cool it sounds? Come on, get to work! I’ll go get more ore for you!”

“Fine…”

Despite feeling unhappy with Kaori’s naming sense, Hajime nevertheless nodded and activated the Hour Crystal. Like before, everything in the workshop became slightly less colorful. So long as the crystal was active, time within the workshop moved ten times slower than the outside world. One hour inside it equaled only six minutes outside.

Myu and Remia suddenly walked into the workshop at that exact moment.

“Daddy, we brought you food!”

“Oh my, it feels rather strange in here.”

Remia was carrying a tray piled high with sandwiches. She’d made food that was easy to eat with one hand so as not to disturb their work. Hajime motioned to Remia to wait a moment, and she retreated to the workshop’s entrance together with Kaori and Myu.

“Well, Oscar Orcus, it’s time to prove that I’ve surpassed you,” he declared with a confident smile.

In many ways, Oscar was Hajime’s mentor. Not only had he granted Hajime creation magic, but he’d also left behind an enormous amount of research notes and artifacts. Though they were separated by millennia, Hajime considered Oscar his master. And like any good student, he wished to surpass his master. After all, if Hajime wished to achieve what Oscar and the Liberators couldn’t, he had no choice but to do that.

“Transmute!”

Crimson sparks filled the entire room. They made it look as though the workshop was studded with bright red rubies. The magic circles Oscar had drawn all began to glow as they activated, and Hajime engraved new ones into specific locations to add to the design. Magic circles dotted the ceiling, the walls, and the floor. Once he had finished them, he crafted one massive three-dimensional magic circle to encompass all of them.

A second later, the mountain of ore began to undulate.

Hajime had used Ore Desynthesis to refine the various metals he’d gathered, then activated creation magic to imbue each one with the appropriate magic. He’d also made use of Accelerated Transmutation to continually speed the process up.

Refined ingots enchanted with ancient magic appeared one after another. And the moment each one finished, it vanished because another one of the magic circles was teleporting each ingot to its designated location.

Hajime then personally took those refined ingots and started transmuting them into all sorts of equipment. In seconds he’d made a sword, a shield, a spear, a helmet, a suit of armor, some bullets, and a few other weapons. He swiftly appraised each one to make sure there were no defects, then sent each type of equipment to a different magic circle.

Once that was done, the refined ingots started getting teleported to those magic circles, which then used the model swords, shields, etc. to create duplicates using the newly arrived materials. Moreover, the completed duplicates were sent to another circle that opened up a portal in the ground to transport them to the kingdom.

“H-Hajime-kun… Did you just…?” Kaori muttered absentmindedly, staring at the workshop in awe.

“Yeah, I turned the entire workshop into a huge artifact. It’s an automated weapons factory now.”

Indeed, the whole process wasn’t too different from factories back on earth. So long as there were enough materials, the original weapons that served as blueprints remained in place, and Hajime kept supplying the factory with mana, it would continue refining, crafting, and teleporting equipment indefinitely.

No wonder Hajime-kun seemed so confident when he said he could make enough weapons for everyone.

The concept of mass production probably hadn’t existed in Oscar Orcus’ time. This was a style of Transmutation only someone from a post-industrial society like Hajime could’ve created. And best of all, time moved ten times slower within this workshop, so dozens of artifacts popped through the kingdom’s portal every minute. Hajime had no doubt Liliana was staring at the growing pile of legendary-tier artifacts with awe.

“I can leave this alone and it’ll keep chugging, so I guess I can afford to take a short break. Remia, Myu, sorry for the wait. Let’s eat now.”

“O-Okay!”

“Oh my, I’m not sure the proper words to express my amazement even exist.”

Remia’s reaction was hardly surprising. A second ago, Hajime had been surrounded by magic circles glowing in geometric patterns, waving his hands like a conductor leading an orchestra. He’d seemed like a magician from a fairy tale, creating wonders one after another with just a snap of his fingers. But now, he looked like a normal boy again as he reached for a sandwich and muttered, “Man, I’m starving.”

Hajime spent an hour recharging, though he continued transmuting simple things while he ate. Once he’d consumed enough food to last him a day he said, “Okay, now I need to start making Sensei and everyone else’s special artifacts. I’ve also gotta make some of the bigger weapons that shoot down huge groups. Kaori, can you get me some more ore?”

“Of course! But Hajime-kun, make sure you rest properly once you’re done. We’ve got tons of time now, thanks to the Hour Crystal.”

“Yeah, I know. Myu, Remia, I want you guys to stay in contact with the others. Time moves slower in here, so I might miss important developments. Let me know if anything happens. I’ll be too focused on work to notice on my own.”

“Okay!”

“Very well. When should I next bring you food?”

“Two hours from now should be good.”

“That’ll be almost an entire day for you. Are you planning to work the whole time?”

Remia gave Hajime a worried look, while Kaori smiled threateningly at him.

He awkwardly averted his gaze and retorted, “Look, it’s going to take everyone time to get used to their new artifacts. If I don’t send them over as soon as possible, they might not be able to use them to their fullest.”

He had a point. The faster Hajime got everyone their specialized artifacts, the more proficient they’d be with them.

Kaori and Remia nodded reluctantly, though they still looked worried. But before they could say anything else, Hajime started transmuting.

“There’s no guarantee this house is entirely safe. It’s possible Ehit or someone else might take control of people we know and send them here to attack us.”

However, the chances of that seemed exceedingly slim. Ehit had called this his final game. He didn’t see the destruction of Tortus as a war. In his eyes, it was just a way to stave off boredom. Due to that, Hajime doubted he would go through all the trouble of pinpointing his location and sending assassins after him.

That being said, it was still better to be safe than sorry. And so, he decided to create the prototype for a new weapon he’d designed. That way, Remia and Myu would have some protection.

Hajime visualized the structure in his mind, then projected a hologram of that visualization into the center of the workshop. As the hologram solidified, he waved his hands like a conductor again, and crimson sparks jumped around the mountain of ore.

The mountain wriggled like an egg that was just about to hatch. Beams of red light shot out from the center, and a pair of arms reached out of it. They pushed away the mountain of unrefined ore, revealing a three-meter tall metallic creature with eight legs. Its upper body resembled an asura, with six arms and a demonic face.

Deadly weapons jutted out of its back and torso, while its eyes gleamed crimson, as did the large jewel encrusted in its chest.

“Y-You just keep making crazy things one after another, huh?”

“Woooooow, it’s so cool!”

“Huh? Y-You think this looks cool, Myu? Your mother’s a bit scared of it…”

Kaori and Remia looked a bit creeped out, but Myu’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

Hajime grinned at Myu, handed her a small ring, and said, “This golem’s made mostly of ore, but it uses a few monster parts and is powered by a mana crystal, so it’s half-monster. Normally, you control it with spirit stone, but you can give it verbal commands too, if you want. It’s been programmed to listen to anyone wearing that ring.”

The golem was a living weapon that was a mixture of monster and machine. However, it had no will of its own, and wouldn’t move without orders. Hajime had created it by combining creation magic with metamorphosis magic.

He’d gotten the idea for it from the scorpion monster he and Yue had fought when they first met. That thing had been powered up by ore in its carapace, but since Hajime was a Synergist, he’d done the opposite and created a machine which he’d upgraded with monster parts.

“You’re giving it to me?”

“Yep. This is your personal golem, Myu. No one else can use it.”

“Mine… and mine alone…Whoaaaaaa…”

Myu really took after Hajime. The idea of a special weapon only she could use got her blood boiling.

The ring absorbed mana from the surroundings, much like the equipment Hajime had made for the Haulia. It was also enchanted with spirit magic to ensure that once a user was registered, no one else could use it. Hajime had meant it when he’d said this golem belonged solely to Myu.

Remia seemed to want to tell Myu to put the golem back where it came from, but she couldn’t find the heart to.

“Well, Myu, I’m counting on you to keep watch now!”

“Aye, aye, sir!” Myu said that and gave Hajime a crisp salute, which made Remia and Kaori burst out laughing.

He then turned to them with a smile and said, “I’m counting on you two as well. I’m gonna need to concentrate, so unless it’s an emergency, don’t come back until two hours are up.”

They nodded to him and strode out of the workshop. Myu followed behind them, sitting on the shoulder of her new pet golem.

Once they were gone, Hajime’s smile vanished, and he looked up at the ceiling. Loneliness and anger marred his expression.

After a few seconds, he took out the small shards of Divinity Stone that Kaori had been able to find. He also withdrew all the ore he’d collected from his Treasure Trove.

“Yue…” he whispered, his voice full of too many emotions to count.

A second later, a whirlpool of crimson mana erupted from him.

One hour later (in normal time).

“Ahhh,” Hajime groaned softly as he soaked in the bath where he’d once climbed the stairs to adulthood with Yue. He looked like a zombie.

It hadn’t been two hours yet, and Hajime hadn’t finished making all the artifacts he’d planned to. And yet, there he was relaxing.

“Daddy!” Myu shouted, tottering over to where Hajime was. He smiled gently at her and like always, she jumped at him. He hurriedly got to his feet to catch her.

“Hey, that’s dangerous, Myu.”

“Hehehehe… I’m sorryyy.”

It was obvious from her tone that Myu wasn’t the least bit sorry. Shaking his head, Hajime slowly lowered her into the bath to let her get used to the temperature.

She let out a sigh of contentment and closed her eyes. Myu looked absolutely adorable, and Hajime started combing his fingers through her emerald-green hair.

In response, she smiled and let him have his fun for a few seconds before suddenly frowning and shouting, “Wait, no! Bad Daddy! I still haven’t forgiven you!”

“I said I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to make you guys worry.”

“I don’t believe your sorries anymore!” Myu shouted as she puffed her cheeks out indignantly and pointed up at him. The effect was ruined somewhat by the fact that she was still sitting on Hajime’s lap, though.

The reason Hajime was relaxing was because a few minutes ago, Remia had entered the workshop and found him collapsed on the floor… in a puddle of his own blood.

Naturally, she’d screamed when she’d seen him covered in cuts and bleeding from every pore, so Myu had rushed in. When she’d seen the state Hajime was in, she’d started sobbing.

Remia had hurriedly contacted Kaori, who’d rushed back and used restoration magic on Hajime. His injuries had been almost as bad as they were back at the Demon Lord’s castle, and it had taken all of Kaori’s considerable healing prowess to bring him back from the brink of death. When Hajime had finally opened his eyes again, Kaori had breathed a sigh of relief. But the first words out of his mouth had been, “Did it work? Yes! My trump card’s finally complete.”

Obviously, Kaori, Remia, and Myu had gotten quite angry and gave him a long lecture about taking better care of himself, but Hajime had just brushed them off, saying, “My bad. But I’m fine now, don’t worry.”

Not only that, but he’d also tried to go straight back to work, since Kaori had been kind enough to share her mana with him.

That was the last straw. The three girls had lost their patience, dragged Hajime out of the workshop, and forced him to take a bath and rest for a bit. They knew he wouldn’t let himself rest if he stayed in the workshop.

“It’s my job to watch you! No working in the bath!”

“Look, even I wouldn’t do something that inefficient.”

Hajime was telling the truth, but Myu didn’t look convinced. His latest stunt had truly damaged her trust in him.

“I’m going to be watching you in the workshop, too!”

“Seriously?” Hajime murmured as he leaned back and looked up at the ceiling. He didn’t feel like he’d pushed himself too hard. If anything, he’d just done what he needed to do. But as a result, he’d nearly died and needed Kaori to save him, so he couldn’t really argue.

That being said, he had no intention of stopping. If he didn’t do everything in his power to make this rescue plan a success, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself. He was going to pour every ounce of his being into this final battle.

If it was for the sake of getting Yue back, no price was too great. However, he wasn’t sure how he could explain that to Myu in a way she could understand.

Myu stared at him for a few seconds, then smiled and said, “Daddy, when Yue-onee-chan comes back, let’s all take a bath together! I want you to make a bunch of bath toys!”

She splashed around in the water to emphasize her excitement.

“I can’t do anything to help, but I can think of all the fun things we’ll do later! So let’s play lots when Yue-onee-chan’s back!”

“Myu…”

Hajime was perceptive enough to understand why Myu had suddenly brought that up. He’d been wondering how he could explain himself to her, but she’d seen right through him all along.

Even though she was powerless to help, she was still doing her best to find some way to ease her beloved father’s worries. And in order to cheer others up, she first had to act cheerful herself.

Myu was a strong girl. She had absolute faith that if she told Hajime about her hopes for the future, he’d make them all come true. And that meant he couldn’t afford to kick the bucket here.

Upon seeing her cheerful smile, Hajime scratched his head, smiled right back at her, and said, “Yeah. We’ll do all sorts of fun things once Yue returns, so make sure to think of some good games. I’ll come up with a lot of interesting toys, too.”

“Okay…” Myu replied, emulating Yue’s speech quirks. She sounded so cute that Hajime started unconsciously patting her head.

The loneliness he’d been holding in this whole time lessened just a little, and Hajime was able to truly relax for the first time since Yue’s abduction. But just then, Remia and Kaori walked into the bathroom.

“My, it seems like you two are enjoying yourselves. Mind if we join you?”

“H-Hajime-kun, I-I hope this is okay.”

“I figured this was gonna happen when Myu came in.”

They had both wrapped towels around themselves, but those towels weren’t covering much. Unsurprisingly, they were blushing with embarrassment.

Technically, this wasn’t Kaori’s real body, but she was still embarrassed about being seen naked. Normal apostles were so artificially perfect that they looked terrifying, but she somehow looked beautiful.

However, she wasn’t exuding sex appeal the way Remia was. Remia even let out a quiet moan as she dipped her toes into the water, accentuating her charm. Any guy other than Hajime wouldn’t have been able to control themselves. Of course, Remia would never take a bath with a guy like that in the first place.

“Should I get out?” Hajime asked pointedly. Though, it hadn’t even been five minutes since he’d started his bath.

A hint of worry crossed Remia’s expression and she hurriedly replied, “If we’re bothering you, we’ll leave. But I feel like you shouldn’t be alone right now. If you’re by yourself, you’ll end up thinking depressing thoughts, won’t you? I just thought it would be easier for you to relax if we were all here by your side. You can’t overcome sorrow through willpower alone.”

“……”

Hajime had no room to argue, seeing as Myu had just been trying to cheer him up. Besides, when he’d been left to his own devices, he’d pushed himself so hard he’d nearly died again.

“You need to be with people who care about you when you’re feeling down. When I thought you died, it was Shizuku-chan who helped me pull through. I know I can’t replace Yue, but I still want to be there for you. If I don’t do at least this much, then Yue will mock me forever.”

Smiling, Kaori walked over to Hajime’s side. Without Shizuku, she definitely would have given into despair when Hajime fell into the abyss. And so, she knew that Hajime needed someone better than anyone else.

Hajime couldn’t bring himself to refuse the girls’ kindness, and he smiled tiredly at them.

“Thanks. Honestly, if I don’t pull myself together, Yue’ll be mocking me forever, not you.”

“I can’t imagine her ever making fun of you.”

“Ufufu. Yue-san loves you too much for that, Hajime-san.”

The three of them chuckled as they reminisced about Yue.

“Mrr…” Myu murmured.

“Hm? Looks like Myu’s getting sleepy.”

Her eyes were half-closed and she was resting against Hajime’s chest. She hadn’t slept a wink since they’d left the Demon Lord’s castle, so it was amazing she’d lasted this long.

“Guess I should clean her up and put her to bed before she conks out.”

Hajime hadn’t spent too long in the bath, but he felt refreshed all the same. He was still planning on taking a short nap in the workshop to regain his strength, but his mental exhaustion had disappeared entirely.

Smiling, Remia noticed Kaori was glancing nervously from Hajime to the shower area. After a few seconds, it suddenly hit her.

“Very well, then. In that case, Hajime-san, why don’t you let me wash your front for you while you wash Myu?”

“I can wash my back my— Wait, did you just say front?” Hajime said that in an icy tone and glared at Remia, but she just smiled warmly at him.

“Yes, I imagine Kaori-san would like to wash your back. Isn’t that right, Kaori-san?”

“What!? Remia-san, what’re you saying!? Y-You can’t wash h-his front!”

“My, would you prefer to do it instead?”

“M-Me!? W-Wash Hajime-kun’s f-front…?” Kaori mumbled those words as her gaze slid down to a particular body part of Hajime’s. Shortly after that, her face went beet red.

“Morons. No way I’m letting you guys wash me.”

“But Hajime-san, think of how much Kaori-san has done for you. She’s working so hard to get you more materials, too… Don’t you think she deserves a reward?”

“Remia-san… Thank you…”

“You’ve got a point, but I’m not Tio. Only perverts would let someone else wash their dick.”

“I’m sure Kaori-san would consider it an honor, though…” Remia said that as she turned to Kaori, who averted her gaze. Judging by Kaori’s expression, she agreed with that sentiment.

“Kaori… I misjudged you.”

“Please don’t give me that pitying look!” Kaori said that, then squatted down and hid her face underwater.

Sighing, Hajime got up and took Myu over to the shower area. As he left, he heard Remia say, “Kaori-san, I heard from Myu that ‘Kaori-onee-chan is an assertive woman.’”

“Myu-chan said that!?”

“Now is the time to be assertive, is it not?”

“W-Well… Wait, why does it have to be now!?”

“Very well, I shall compromise here. The three of us can wash Hajime-san’s front together.”

“I guess it’d be less nerve-wracking if we all… Wait, what!? Did you just say the three of us!? What on earth do you plan on making Myu-chan do, Remia-san!?”

“Oh my… Ufufu…”

“You can’t just laugh this one off!”

Poor Kaori. Everyone likes messing with her.

The scary thing was that despite her complaints, Kaori seemed to enjoy being teased. Even when Yue pulled pranks on her, it looked like she was having fun.

I guess Yue’s conditioned her to enjoy being toyed with.

Of course, Hajime would never say that to her face. Still, he was glad Remia was helping Kaori cope with her loneliness the same way she’d helped him.

“When Yue gets back, Kaori’s life is going to be hell, huh?”

“Mrr?” Myu groaned and groggily looked up at Hajime while he washed her hair.

Your mom and Yue have a lot in common, it seems.

About a day later, Shea arrived.

“Hajime-san, I’m back!” she shouted as she burst through the door of Hajime’s workshop.

Judging by how excitedly she was hopping up and down, Hajime guessed her mission to enlist Miledi Reisen’s assistance had been a success.

Her eyes sparkled with joy when she saw that Hajime had managed to remake his prosthetic arm and eye.

Smiling, Hajime turned to her.

“Welcome back, Shea. I take it you were able to find Miledi?”

“Yep! Apparently, some apostles went to attack her before I got there, but…”

“Seriously? Did she come out okay?”

“Yeah, she wiped the floor with all of them. Her private room and golems were all fine. It turns out she’s really scary when she’s fighting for real.”

“I guess it makes sense, since she’s a Liberator and all.”

“Exactly. Unfortunately, Miledi-san said she can’t leave her labyrinth without careful preparation, so I wasn’t able to bring her back. But she said she’d be there for the final battle, along with her golem army.”

Shea had a wistful look in her eyes as she said that.

I can’t believe someone as unbelievably annoying as Miledi actually sat down to have a serious conversation with Shea.

Noticing the incredulous look on Hajime’s face, Shea smiled sadly and said, “I know what you’re thinking, but she might finally be able to achieve her ultimate dream. When I told her we were planning on bringing down Ehit she looked… happy isn’t really the right word. Sorry, I can’t think of a good way to describe it.”

“I see… It’s probably not something that can be put into words.”

Miledi Reisen was the leader of the Liberators. Even after her comrades had died, she’d transferred her soul into a golem and continued waiting deep in that ravine for thousands of years. No matter how things ended up, she’d spent her entire life working up to this decisive battle. Hajime doubted anyone living in this era would be able to understand her feelings.

“Oh, but she started acting super annoying again pretty fast. She was only quiet for a minute, then she started saying crap like, ‘I see, I see, so you came here to beg for my help. Well, I guess I am the world’s prettiest and smartest mage. It sure is tough, having people ask me for help even after all these millennia. But don’t worry, I’ll save you guys! You better be grateful! Go on, get down on your knees and prostrate yourself before me!’ So I brought her down with a heel kick and reminded her of her place. By the time I left, she was the one prostrating before me!”

“I-I see.”

“Anyway, she said she needs to preserve her strength before the final battle so since I couldn’t bring her over I nabbed all the stuff that looked useful from her labyrinth.”

Shea grinned mischievously as she patted the bulging sack slung over her shoulder. Hajime had no doubt she’d basically robbed Miledi the same way he had when they’d first cleared her labyrinth. He could just imagine Miledi crying in a corner while Shea looted the place.

“How about you, Hajime-san? How are things on your end? I heard from Remia that time moves slower in your workshop and you’ve already spent ten days in here.”

Shea looked around the workshop, her ears twitching excitedly as she watched the automated production line create countless weapons and teleport them away.

“I’ve been making sure to eat and sleep, so I’m in perfect condition now. As you can see, artifact production is going smoothly. More importantly, what’d you bring back from Miledi’s place?”

“For starters, this thing,” Shea said as she sat down on a nearby chair and put a small white marble on the table. “This is the anti Divine Edict artifact.”

“Err, what are you talking about?”

Is that supposed to be its name? Even the names she gives things are annoying. Maybe she just does this to tick Ehit off.

Fortunately, the artifact itself had been made by Oscar, and like all things Oscar had made, it was high-quality.

Still a little put off by the name, Hajime picked up the marble and started analyzing it.

“Wow, this is impressive. It’s basically an interference device.”

Shea cocked her head inquisitively.

“That Divine Edict of his is just a really powerful spirit magic spell. It imprints the caster’s will onto the soul of the target, forcing them to obey all commands. The reason Ehit prefaces each of his commands with his name is because it provides a locus for the spell and forces the target’s attention onto him.”

“I see… Is that also why the spell gets stronger when he uses that longer name?”

“Yeah, I’m guessing that’s his true name. Which is why this… this… Fuck it, I’m not using that stupid name Miledi gave it!”

“Why don’t we come up with a new name for it?”

It was impressive how Miledi managed to annoy Hajime even when she wasn’t there.

“Hmm, let’s call it Soul Shell for now. It surrounds the user’s soul with their own will, dispersing the force of Ehit’s commands.”

“Oh, so that’s why you called it an interference device.”

“Yeah. Oscar even thought up a contingency in case the artifact gets stolen from you too. With this, we’re one step closer to beating Ehit. Good work, Shea.”

“Hehehe, I’m glad I could help.”

Hajime smiled at Shea, and her ears flopped back and forth happily. Really, he should have been thanking Miledi for handing this over, but Hajime refused to thank her for anything. Shea probably felt the same way.

“Oh, I got this too.”

“A dagger? It feels pretty powerful. What’s it—? Holy shit.”

The next thing Shea brought out of her sack was a small dagger with a black sheath. Hajime gasped in surprise as he unsheathed the dagger and stared at its sky-blue blade. It looked as though the blade had been molded out of sapphire.

He could tell from a glance that this wasn’t one of the few holy swords passed down through Tortus’ history. No, the oppressive aura emanating from the blade was something only concept magic could produce.

“It’s called the Godslayer Dagger. The concept magic it’s imbued with is the ability to kill gods.”

“I guess this is one of the three concept magic artifacts Lyutillis said the Liberators were able to make. Tch, I can’t believe Miledi was hanging onto it this whole time. If she had something like this, she should have given it to us from the start.”

“I told her that too, but she just said ‘Huh? Didn’t you say you weren’t gonna bother killing god? Why would I give a god killing weapon to someone who’s not interested in fighting god? Now, if you want this, you better lick my boots and apologize for blowing up my room last time! Maybe then I’ll think about giving it to you, mwahahaha!’”

“I see…”

“Yep. But don’t worry, I hit her with that lariat move you taught me and blew up her room again to remind her of her place. She upgraded her defenses since the last time we saw her, but it wasn’t enough to escape my iron fist! Hehehe, making her bow down before me felt so good!”

“I-I see…”

Man, Shea’s become vicious. I probably shouldn’t let her get close to Miledi again, huh?

Hajime didn’t want to see Shea turn into a merciless tyrant who beat up anyone who annoyed her. Naturally, he didn’t realize the irony in that wish.

“By the way, the third artifact they made was called the Arrow of Boundaries… and it was what they used to open a path to the Sanctuary, but it was lost when they were defeated.”

The Liberators had made a few inferior copies of it though, and Shea had brought one of those back. Of course, the inferior version wasn’t capable of forcing open a path to the Sanctuary, but combined with Hajime’s inferior version of the Crystal Key, it might just be enough.

“Oh yeah, Miledi-san warned me that the Liberators were chased into hiding by the people of the world before they got a chance to fight Ehit, so she’s not sure how effective the Godslayer Dagger will be. But she said that it absolutely won’t harm Yue-san’s soul, so we should be able to make use of it.”

“That’s reassuring. I designed a trump card of my own, but the more options we have the better. If this dagger won’t hurt Yue, then it’s definitely worth keeping around.”

As Hajime slipped the dagger back into its sheath, Shea frowned unhappily and said, “Though I wouldn’t trust it too much. Apparently, the Liberators made this while wasted. They were mad that they weren’t able to use their god killing concept magic on Ehit, so they started drinking and began competing to see who could come up with the best insult for Ehit. Eventually, they passed out… and when they woke up the next morning, this dagger was sitting on the table.”

“Are you telling me they made this by mistake?”

“They weren’t thinking straight by the time they crafted this, so the only emotions packed into it are ‘Die, Ehit, you fucking bastard.’ That’s why it won’t harm anything except him.”

“Now that I can believe. I feel like I know how those guys must have felt. This is gonna help a lot in getting Yue back safely. Miledi may be an annoying bitch, but I guess I should thank her after all this is over.”

“I know, right? Though I feel like I’ll end up beating her up again once I’m done thanking her.”

Hajime and Shea sighed as they envisioned Miledi’s irritating smile.

Seeing that that was the last of Shea’s presents, Hajime dumped the artifacts into one Treasure Trove, then brought out another.

“Here, I made a new Treasure Trove for you. I put all the new artifacts I made for you in it, including a new hammer.”

“Hell yeah! I’ve been waiting for this!”

Shea’s ears perked up and she immediately summoned her new weapon, Villedrucken.

“Hauuuuuuuuu. I missed the feel of cold, hard metal in my hands. Nothing beats flattening enemies with a giant hammer.”

“You’re starting to scare me.”

Shea rubbed her cheek against the warhammer, an ecstatic expression on her face.

“Oh, you’re back, Shea-onee-chan! Welcome back!” Myu said with a smile as she poked her head into the workshop.

Smiling, Shea turned around and said, “Myu-chan! I’m ho…me?”

Her smile stiffened when she saw the many-legged golem Myu was riding.

“Umm, Myu-chan, where did you get that creepy-looking golem?”

“Daddy made it for me! This one’s called Bell-chan. That one’s Sa-chan, the one over there is A-chan, the one next to it is Lu-chan, that one’s Ma-chan, and those two are Lebi-chan and Baru-chan!”

“How many do you have!?”

A shiver ran down Shea’s spine as more golems filed in behind Myu. There was something inherently creepy about them that repulsed her.

“I made one to guard Myu and Remia, but these guys are more versatile than I thought, so I ended up making a few more. Honestly, even I don’t understand how they’re so strong, and I made them.”

“Isn’t that a bad thing!?”

Their full names were Belphegor, Satan, Asmodeus, Lucifer, Mammon, Leviathan, and Beelzebub. Myu had come up with all of them, as well as their nicknames. Hajime wanted to believe it was just coincidence that a girl only four years old had come up with the names of the great biblical demons, but with Myu, you could never be sure.

“Myu, remind me again where you came up with those names?”

“Mrr? You’re so weird, Daddy. Bell-chan just looks like a Bell-chan, Sa-chan looks like a Sa-chan, and everyone else looks like their names too. That’s all.”

“Uh, yeah…”

“These things are definitely bad news, Hajime-san!”

Hajime was beginning to seriously worry that some ancient horror had possessed his daughter.

“Guys, say hi to Shea-onee-chan!”

“Eeek!”

Shea shrieked as the golems all struck a pose and shot out rainbow-colored smoke from their backs. They were like a power rangers unit made up of the seven deadly sins.

“Hajime-san, why are they posing like that? It doesn’t look like Myu-chan’s ordering them to. Did you design them to do that?”

“This isn’t my doing. Also, Myu isn’t skilled enough at controlling them to make all seven do different poses like that.”

“I don’t trust those golems, Hajime-san!” Shea exclaimed as she pointed ominously at the golems, her hair standing on end.

“Look, I get where you’re coming from. Honestly, I’m starting to worry I added too many monster parts to them and they’ve become autonomous now. But I mean, just look…” Hajime said with a helpless shrug.

“They’re all really cool, right!?” Myu said with a beaming smile, and the golems visibly blushed. They were Myu’s loyal pet dogs.

“Myu’s in love with them, and they’re not malfunctioning in any way. In fact, they’re stronger than I expected them to be. I feel like it’d be wrong to scrap them.”

“What if some of Ehit’s goons are possessing them?”

“Yeah, I thought of that too, so I tried insulting Ehit a bunch in front of them, but they didn’t react. I even showed them recordings of Ehit’s descent in the Demon Lord’s castle and made them smash the recording devices.”

The golems had been more than happy to step all over the videos of Alva and Ehit. Their enthusiasm had honestly surprised Hajime. He guessed they had a deep-set hatred of Alva and Ehit now, since the videos had shown the two of them hurting Myu.

Of course, Ehit had been possessing Yue at the time, so it meant Hajime had been forced to watch the golems happily stomp all over pictures of her.

“Well, I guess that proves they’re not Ehit’s pawns at least.”

“Yeah, no one who follows that guy would dare step on pictures of him. My guess is the monster parts of the golem are developing personalities of their own.”

The real reason Hajime had made more was because he’d been confused as to why his first had started becoming more autonomous. But every subsequent one he’d made ended up doing the same thing, and before he knew it he’d made seven without coming any closer to understanding what he was doing wrong. The golems from the eighth onward had all functioned as intended too, like mindless drones.

“Oh, right! Daddy, I came here to tell you that Kaori-onee-chan and the others came back!”

“Ah, thanks for letting me know.”

“Mhm! Oh, but Suzu-onee-chan was acting kind of weird.”

Suzu and Ryutarou had completed their mission in Verbergen about half a day back and had been here in Oscar’s labyrinth since. Right now, they were taming the monsters of the abyss, with Kaori guarding them while she collected ore.

Are they having trouble turning the monsters into familiars or something?

Hajime explained to Shea what Kaori and the others were up to and headed for the front entrance with her.

“Shea, you’re back! I take it everything went well?”

“Yep! Nice to see you too, Kaori-san!”

Smiling, Kaori ran over and hugged Shea. However, Suzu and Ryutarou remained standing by the gate that divided Oscar’s house from the dangerous labyrinth. They seemed reluctant to step past it.

“It’s nice to see you safe and sound, Suzu-san. Were you able to convince my dad— I mean, the Haulia clan and Verbergen’s elders to join the fight?”

Seeing as they weren’t moving, Hajime and the others walked over to Suzu and Ryutarou. As they got closer, Hajime could see Suzu was looking anywhere but at him, and he heard Ryutarou quietly mutter, “Let’s just get this over with.”

“Umm, things went well, Sheashea. The people of Verbergen never believed in Ehit to begin with, so when we told them the fate of the world depended on this battle they believed us right away.”

“Yeah. Some of them were worried they wouldn’t stand a chance against Ehit’s armies, but when we told them they’d have your artifacts, Nagumo, they changed their tune. The Haulia… are with us too, I think?”

“What do you mean, you think?” Shea asked with a suspicious look.

Ryutarou flinched visibly… and after a few seconds of waffling, he finally made up his mind and said, “Okay, so they’re down to fight, but, umm… when I told them we needed their help, they broke down in tears.”

“My dad did?”

“Not just him, Sheashea. The whole clan did. Then, they started chanting ‘Kill them! Kill them! Kill them!’ which was what really scared us. Apparently, they’re extremely moved because they get to finally fight by their boss’ side. Their chanting was so loud they pushed back the mist a little bit, even.”

“……”

“I never realized this is what happens when you train people Sgt. Hartman style. Their eyes were bloodshot… and they looked so happy at the prospect of killing people. All the animals in the vicinity passed out because of how strong their bloodlust was. Some of them even had heart attacks.”

“I’m sorry my family’s so crazy.”

The color drained from Suzu and Ryutarou’s faces and they started shivering as they recounted their encounter with the Haulia. The rabbitmen had managed to strike terror into their hearts.

Honestly, the Haulia had reminded Suzu of the religious fanatics that believed wholeheartedly in Ehit. Except the cute rabbitmen all put their faith in Hajime instead.

Sometimes, I wonder whether or not Nagumo-kun’s worse than Ehit, she thought to herself.

For the Haulia, there was no greater honor than fighting alongside Hajime. The fact that Hajime was personally asking for their help was enough to bring many of them to rapture.

“Those guys are probably excited as hell. I just hope they don’t cause trouble for the other nations in the alliance…”

“I can’t imagine how many ulcers Ulfric is going to have by the end of this.”

“Oh yeah, Sheashea, Nagumo-kun. Ulfric-san’s already taking a bunch of stomach medicine.”

“……”

Shea’s ears drooped, while Hajime awkwardly averted his gaze. They had no doubt at least part of Ulfric’s worries stemmed from the fact that his daughter had become a pervert. Moreover, since Shea refused to give her the time of day, she’d taken to sneaking into the Haulia’s village so that Cam would “punish” her.

Hajime and Shea knew they were directly responsible for this, so after exchanging a quick glance, the two of them unilaterally decided to change the subject.

“Anyway, Taniguchi, have you been able to tame any strong monsters!?”

“Myu-chan said you were acting weird… Is everything okay!?”

“Urk…”

Now it was Suzu who awkwardly averted her gaze. And so, Hajime turned to Ryutarou instead.

“I didn’t get a single one! Turns out I’m not really good at the whole taming thing,” Ryutarou replied with a self-deprecating smile.

Hajime fired a rubber bullet at him and gave him a cold glare as he clutched his forehead and writhed around on the ground. Before he could dish out any more punishment, however, Kaori grabbed his arm and shouted, “W-Wait, wait, wait! It’s not like they didn’t make any progress at all! Suzu-chan was able to tame a few familiars and Ryutarou-kun learned of a new way to use his metamorphosis magic!”

“Oh? If you guys are getting somewhere, why didn’t you say so?”

Hajime turned back to Suzu, who gave a little start and broke out in a cold sweat.

“W-Well, I do feel like I’ve gotten a lot of strong monsters, but…”

“What’s the problem?”

“Umm, so one of the monsters I tamed is a giant centipede that shoots out acid.”

“Oh, that guy. There’s a similar monster in early floors, but this one’s a lot stronger. Instead of using its body parts as projectiles, it can just straight up shoot acid from its torso. I got pretty freaked out the first time I saw one.”

“S-Same. I also tamed this large bee that can fire explosive needles.”

“I remember those too. The things they shoot out are more like mini missiles than needles. I nearly got engulfed in flames the first time I fought one.”

“Another monster I tamed is an ant that can burrow underground.”

“Those guys are really good at surprise attacks.”

“Also, I tamed a praying mantis that shoots wind blades from its legs.”

“What else?”

“A spider and a moth.”

“Why all the bug-type monsters?” Hajime asked with a curious look.

Suzu covered her face with her hands and started sobbing.

“I don’t know! For some reason, the only monsters my metamorphosis magic works on are bugs! There’s something wrong with this labyrinth! In the forest, I managed to make so many cute furry friends!”

It appeared she wasn’t doing it on purpose. Suzu had only made all the bug monsters her familiars because she’d had no other choice. Hajime couldn’t help but feel pity for her.

All the monsters she’d tamed looked utterly disgusting. But the monsters there were far stronger than anything living on the surface. While they might not be able to handle fighting apostles, they’d at least be an even match for Freid’s monsters and Eri’s undead warriors.

“Err, on the bright side, maybe your enemies will be creeped out by them too and show an opening?”

It was rare to see Hajime console anyone, much less someone not part of his harem. However, his sympathy only hurt Suzu more, making her crouch down and begin doodling in the dirt.

“Are you saying I should show these to Eri? I want to talk to her, not scare her away. Hic… Everyone’s going to think I’m disgusting now…”

“Th-That’s not true, Suzu-chan! Besides, you were able to get one furry familiar, right!?”

In Kaori’s desperate attempt to cheer Suzu up, she accidentally blurted out something she shouldn’t have.

Panicking, Suzu got to her feet and shouted, “You were supposed to keep that secret, Kaorin!”

She shot a surreptitious glance at Hajime, something that didn’t escape his notice.

“Huh? What do you mean, secret? What’s going on here, Taniguchi?”

“Eeek!”

Hajime glared coldly at Suzu, and she hurriedly backpedaled away from the gate. She then turned around and huddled protectively over something.

Hajime narrowed his eyes, his expression making it clear that Suzu was in for a world of hurt if she didn’t talk. Suzu did her best to avoid meeting Hajime’s gaze, while Kaori smiled awkwardly.

Before Hajime could ask again, Myu suddenly said, “Hm? What’s that, Bell-chan? Huh? There’s a strong monster past the gate?”

It appeared Myu was capable of communicating with her golems now.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me…” Hajime muttered. He cleared his throat loudly and turned to Myu.

“Umm, Myu. I don’t think Bell-chan can talk…”

“What do you mean? Everyone can talk. They can move on their own, too. Come on, Daddy, you should know this.”

“I should? H-Hey, Shea, Kaori, Taniguchi, Sakagami, am I just tired? Are those golems actually talking?”

Everyone shook their heads in response.

Hajime rubbed his temples and asked hesitantly, “By the way, what exactly did the golems say?”

“Umm, Sa-chan said, ‘That bastard’s got a nice fighting spirit.’ A-chan said, ‘Yeah, he’s got guts. It looks like he’ll take on anyone that looks strong, no matter who. But he really needs to learn his place. A punk like him should be bowing down before the princess.’”

“They talk in full sentences?”

“Oh, and Lu-chan says to you, ‘Don’t sweat the small stuff, Master. Love and peace is all that matters.’”

“Seriously!?”

Hajime was growing more afraid of his creations with each passing minute.

Did I infuse these guys with spirit magic by accident? Or did some wandering spirits go inside them when they were created? I feel like I didn’t make any mistakes, but…

The scariest thing of all was that Myu seemed to consider the golems’ actions natural. Though, the fact that a girl as sensitive to malice as her wasn’t afraid of them probably meant that the souls inhabiting these automatons were benign.

They all call her “Princess,” too… I can probably trust them to watch after Myu, but…

“Daddy, there’s a bunny here!” Myu shouted as she peeked over the gate to see what Suzu was trying to hide. She put her hands on her head and did a bunny ear imitation.

“Hm? Yeah, of course there’s a bunny here,” Hajime said, turning to Shea. She waved her ears back and forth, emphasizing her bunny-ness.

“No, I mean a fluffy white bunny!”

“Yeah, I know. Taniguchi isn’t really doing a good job of hiding it.”

Sighing, Hajime turned to Suzu. She could tell from the look in his eyes that the jig was up. But she refused to give up the creature in her arms. In an attempt to smooth things over, Kaori said, “U-Umm, Hajime-kun. H-He’s not a bad bunny, really. In fact, he’s special. He really admires you and…”

“Huh? He… admires me?”

Realizing this might be her one chance to save her furry friend’s life, Suzu shouted, “Yes, he does! Besides, what happened isn’t his fault, so please don’t shoot him when you see him! He’s the only cute thing that my metamorphosis magic worked on! Please!”

“Now I’m just confused,” Hajime muttered.

Smiling wanly, Ryutarou signaled for Hajime to follow after him.

Hajime stepped past the gate and took a look at Suzu’s bunny. It had long ears and dark crimson eyes. Red veins crisscrossed the rabbit’s white fur. But they didn’t pulsate like those of other monsters, and instead glowed softly.

The most striking feature of all though was the bunny’s abnormally large legs. Though it looked slightly different from the ones Hajime remembered because Suzu had tamed it, the major features were the same.

“Kyu!”

The bunny’s cry was no different from what he remembered either. This rabbit was undoubtedly the same species as the one that had damaged Hajime’s left arm and nearly killed him before the bear appeared. Of course, it wasn’t the exact same rabbit, since Hajime had gotten his revenge on that one.

The reason Suzu had tried to hide it from Hajime was because she was worried he’d slaughter it on sight.

“It’s not like I’m gonna kill your familiar just because it’s from the same species that attacked me.”

“R-Really? Do you mean it, Nagumo-kun? I can keep him?”

“He’s not a dog, and I’m not your dad. Though, don’t these guys live on the earliest floors? Don’t tell me you went all the way up looking for a cute monster you could tame… Actually, I guess you wouldn’t have had enough time for that.”

But then, how’d she run into that guy? Hajime shot Suzu a questioning glance as he thought that, but before she could answer the rabbit leaped out from behind her and hopped over to him. It had been watching him warily and keeping its distance, so Hajime was surprised by the sudden change in attitude. He grabbed the rabbit by the ears and lifted it up to eye level.

“Kyuu! Mokyuu! Ukyuu!”

It wasn’t trying to attack Hajime, but he couldn’t exactly tell what it was trying to do.

He gave it a puzzled look, and Suzu stepped forward to interpret.

Metamorphosis magic allowed the user to understand a little of what their familiars were thinking and feeling. The degree to which they could depended on the strength of the familiar and how long the person had been with it. Unless they’d spent years with a familiar, they could only get a vague understanding of its thoughts.

Under normal circumstances, anyway.

“Umm, he’s saying, ‘My king, it is an honor to finally meetcha! When I realized I could become even stronger by pledging myself to your comrade, I willingly became her familiar. I can’t wait to fight with ya. A-Also, would ya be so kind as to grant me a name, my king?’ Don’t give me that incredulous look, that’s really what he’s saying!”

“Okay, even if it is, why’re you adding the weird accent?”

“Because that’s how he sounds to me!” Suzu protested, her face bright red.

Everyone turned back to the rabbit. It certainly seemed possible that was what it was saying, judging by the look in its eyes. They seemed to be pleading with Hajime.

“Okay, well, we’re wasting time out here. Let’s get back into the workshop first.”

Why are all these crazy things happening right before the final battle? I guess they’re mostly good things, but still…

Hajime returned to his workshop, a worried expression on his face.

Once everyone was inside, Hajime activated the Hour Crystal and sat down at the main table.

Remia brought everyone tea, then went back to the kitchen with Myu to make dinner. Suzu took a sip of her tea before she began explaining how she’d met this rabbit.

At first, Suzu had been depressed that the only monsters she could tame were insects, and was losing her motivation to keep going. She managed to tame a flock of pretty butterflies at the very end, which brightened her mood somewhat, and began the journey back to Oscar’s house. As she was going back, she spotted a strange rabbit. It was warily hopping from shadow to shadow, doing its best to stay out of sight. That in and of itself wasn’t strange, but the way it did so felt oddly human.

Not only were its mannerisms strange, but it was also a known fact that monsters never left their home floor. However, this rabbit hopped down the stairs to the next floor without hesitation. That put Kaori on edge and she got ready to eliminate it, but then something unexpected happened. The rabbit spotted Kaori and the others, but instead of attacking, it seemed happy to see them.

Its ears started flopping back and forth, and it even broke out in a cheery jig. It looked relieved too, as if it had finally found safety.

It cautiously made its way over to the party, making sure not to make any sudden movements. The way it had hesitantly looked at Kaori and the others, as if asking whether or not it was okay to get any closer, had been so cute that Suzu was instantly smitten.

After taming all these insects, she’d finally found an adorable rabbit… One that wasn’t hostile, even.

Kaori had still been on guard, but Suzu ignored all warnings and ran over to the bunny. She held a hand out to it and declared, “I’ve made up my mind! Please be my familiar!”

Incidentally, her first impression of the rabbit had been that it was a creepy creature she didn’t want to get near.

Regardless, the rabbit had been taken off guard by Suzu’s sudden confession, and it cocked its head in a very human way.

Seizing her chance, Suzu had started gushing about all the reasons why the rabbit should become her familiar. The way she’d talked, she’d sounded like a creepy stalker who’d cornered her favorite idol.

“I’ll feed you three, no, four times a day and make sure you have a nice place to sleep. I’ll give you weekends off and even give you a salary! If you need more time off, we can negotiate! Not only that, I’ll use my metamorphosis magic to upgrade all of your stats! You’ll become way stronger! You won’t find an opportunity like this anywhere else! This is your one chance to find a wonderful home, comrades you can trust, and a once-in-a-lifetime powerup!”

Kaori and Ryutarou had both been flabbergasted. For starters, they doubted this rabbit could even understand Suzu. Indeed, it could not, and Suzu turned back to Kaori and begged her to use spirit magic to let them converse.

Reluctantly, Kaori had activated Soul Contact, not expecting it to really work. But to her surprise, not only did this rabbit have a will of its own, it was highly intelligent as well. Most monsters acted primarily on instinct, but not this one. In fact, it had been audibly excited when Suzu explained she’d be able to make it stronger.

Lured in by the promise of power, the rabbit entered into a contract with Suzu and became her familiar. And once the contract was sealed, Suzu was able to understand it better and asked it what it was up to. Apparently, this rabbit was indeed one of the Kickmaster Rabbits that inhabited the first floor of the abyss, but it had desired strength and set off on a journey to train itself. When Suzu had met it, it was already strong enough to take on the monsters on the 80th floor of the abyss. And it was all thanks to Hajime that it had become this strong. More specifically, it was thanks to the Ambrosia Hajime had left behind.

This Kickmaster Rabbit had drunk the small puddle of Ambrosia remaining in the small cave Hajime had used as his base of operations on the first floor.

The Ambrosia had granted the rabbit a massively increased mana pool and the ability to think for itself.

Now that it had gotten a taste of heaven, it was hooked. After it drank all the Ambrosia in Hajime’s former base, it began wandering the corridors, searching for more. It beat down any monsters that got in its way until finally, it ran into the Claw Bear.

This rabbit had, in fact, witnessed Hajime’s fight with the Claw Bear, so it had assumed it had nothing to fear. Little did it know that monsters in this labyrinth regenerated after a set period of time.

It fought valiantly against the Claw Bear, determined to continue its quest. Normally, a Kickmaster Rabbit would have instinctively tried to flee from something as powerful as a Claw Bear, resulting in it getting chased down and killed. But the Ambrosia had given this rabbit the power of thought, and it realized the only way for it to survive was to fight and win. And as a result, it made it out of the encounter alive.

During the fight, it spent every second thinking, analyzing, and planning. Even when the Claw Bear had it on the ropes, it didn’t give up, and eventually, its fierce determination had allowed it to unlock a derivative skill for its special magic, which helped it clinch victory. And as it looked down at the corpse of this floor’s ruler, the rabbit realized something. Creatures grew stronger by surpassing trials like these.

The next day, the rabbit embarked on its journey to become strong. Its ultimate goal was to find Hajime, its king, and the one who’d granted it power. It wanted both to thank him and to show him how strong it had become.

After that, it would travel across the world and fight against the strongest creatures it could find to sharpen its own skills.

Back then, Hajime hadn’t possessed convenient tools like his Treasure Trove, so he’d been forced to leave behind whatever excess Ambrosia spilled from the Divinity Stone that he couldn’t store and carry with him. The Kickmaster Rabbit continued finding the places where he’d stayed, and by drinking what little Hajime left behind, it grew stronger and smarter. Eventually, it grew powerful enough to go toe to toe with the monsters on the 80th floor and had the intelligence of an average person.

“What the hell is this, the plot of a light novel?”

“Kyuu!”

Hajime honestly felt like he’d just read a light novel series starring this rabbit as the protagonist.

“Hahaha, he really is amazing. I let him fight a little to test his skills earlier, and thanks to my metamorphosis magic, he’s strong enough to fight the monsters on the 90th floor one on one.”

“He’s so fast I can’t keep up with him. Also, the way he moves is kinda like Shizuku. I bet he can use No Tempo and shit too. He can even send out shockwaves with his kicks.”

“I see…”

Hajime was too exhausted to point out the absurdity of all this.

Smiling shyly, Suzu asked in a timid voice, “Umm, so that’s why he wants you to give him a name, Nagumo-kun. It has to be you not me, so please?”

“Well, if nothing else, it’s a good thing you’ve got a strong familiar to help you out. But man, this is even more tiring than when I was fighting Ehit… and he wants me to pick a name too…”

Hajime looked down at the rabbit, which had hopped up onto the table. It looked expectantly back up at him.

“How about Miffy?”

“Rejected,” Kaori replied immediately. She wouldn’t allow Hajime to steal names from mascot characters from back on earth. Especially not cute ones like Miffy. No way Miffy would kick bears to death.

Sighing, Hajime offered a few more suggestions.

“Fine, Peter Rabbi—”

“No way.”

“Udonge.”

“I don’t know where that’s from, but I just know you’re ripping something off again. Take this seriously!”

I am taking this seriously, though…

Exasperated, Hajime threw his hands into the air and said, “Oh, whatever. Let’s just call him Inaba, then. He looks mostly like a rabbit.”

“Isn’t that too cliched? That’s like calling a dog Spot. Can’t you think of a cuter name?”

“All my other familiars are disgusting insects, so I’d prefer a cuter name for the bunny…”

“Wait, what does Inaba have to do with rabbits?”

Kaori and Suzu weren’t happy with the name while Ryutarou, who was ignorant of most old Japanese myths, didn’t get the connection at all.

However the rabbit in question… “Kyuu, kyuu!” seemed rather taken with the name Inaba. It hopped around the table, its crimson eyes sparkling with excitement.

“He seems happy with it at least.”

“Well… if he likes the name, then I guess it’s fine…”

“Aww. Inaba-chan, huh…? I guess it’s a cuter name than I first thought?”

“Hey, guys, can someone explain what Inaba has to do with rabbits? Please?”

Reluctantly, Kaori and Suzu accepted the name Hajime had chosen. Meanwhile, Ryutarou tugged on Suzu’s sleeve and begged for an explanation, but Suzu ignored him. She didn’t have the patience to teach a musclehead like Ryutarou.

Shea turned to Inaba and smiled at him. She probably felt an affinity to the bunny as a fellow lagomorph-adjacent race. Since Hajime had already confirmed he didn’t have a problem with the rabbit, she reached out to pet him.

“Good for you, Inaba-chan. Since we’re both bunnies, let’s be—”

“Kyu!”

There was a sharp crack as Inaba kicked Shea’s hand away. Everyone stared at the rabbit in shock.

As Shea stiffened in surprise, Inaba looked up at her ears, then smirked dismissively. Her surprise quickly turned to anger, and she turned to Suzu with a menacing smile.

“Eeek, c-calm down, Sheashea!”

“I am calm. Now, tell me what that cheeky little brat said.”

“U-Umm, well…”

“Suzu-san?”

“Eeek! H-He said, ‘Ya think yer droopy little bunny ears are enough to satisfy my king? Psh, yer getting a little too big for yer britches!’ Wait, don’t get mad at me, he’s the one who said it!”

I’m the only bunny my king needs! was the sentiment conveyed by Inaba’s haughty expression. Shea’s chair clattered to the ground as she rose to her feet, folded her arms, and glared intimidatingly down at Inaba.

“You’ve got balls, challenging me. Looks like I’m going to have to teach you a lesson. The only bunny worthy of Hajime-san is me!”

“Kyu!”

Shea’s magically strengthened fist whizzed past Hajime’s nose. She struck so fast that her fist’s friction with the air created a burning smell that lingered for a few seconds.

Inaba deftly jumped out of the way, then used his Aerodynamic skill to change trajectory in mid-air and launch an axe kick at Shea. She crossed her arms in front of her to block the blow. The shockwave created by the impact was powerful enough to knock Suzu out of her chair and spill Ryutarou’s tea all over him.

Inaba landed on Hajime’s head with a backflip, and Shea launched a kick at him. Hajime got a good view of Shea’s panties while Inaba countered with a kick of his own. Another powerful shockwave surged out from just above Hajime’s head, ruffling his hair.

Shea and Inaba took their fight outside the workshop to avoid breaking anything and started clashing even more fiercely.

“Calm down, you two! No one—”

“I need to teach this rabbit its place! Hajime-san’s personal bunny is me… and no one else!”

“Kyu, kyu!”

“This isn’t a contest, you know!? Stop acting like dogs fighting over who’s the alpha!”

Kaori chased after them, trying to break the fight up.

Meanwhile, Remia just smiled and said, “Oh my, they sure seem to be getting along.”

Myu exclaimed, “Bunnies are so cool! Huh? You want to fight them too, Sa-chan? But you need my permission? Sure, you can do it!”

One of Hajime’s golems joined the fight, and the sounds of explosions were added to the din.

Hajime ignored the commotion and turned to Suzu.

“Hey, Taniguchi, take these. They’re artifacts for your familiars. You’ll be able to summon them instantly with these, without having to open a portal for them to come through. By the way, Sakagami, you said you discovered a new use for your metamorphosis magic, but what exactly did you learn?”

He spread several artifacts out on the table. One was a specialized Treasure Trove designed for holding and transporting monsters, which he’d called the Monster Orb. (Though, in his head, he just referred to it as a Pokéball.) He also brought out a belt to hold the Monster Orb and a regular Treasure Trove, as well as upgraded versions of Suzu’s fans and Ryutarou’s gauntlets.

The two of them poked their heads out from the table they’d been hiding under.

“H-How can he be so nonchalant about this…?”

“He’d probably lose his mind if he didn’t learn to just ignore this stuff. I know your pain, man.”

Suzu looked at him in awe while Ryutarou smiled sympathetically. The two of them took their seats again and began equipping the artifacts Hajime gave them.

Ryutarou explained what his new way of using metamorphosis magic was, which left Hajime utterly flabbergasted. While he couldn’t believe such a barbaric application of metamorphosis magic was effective, he nevertheless sighed and started making new artifacts to match Ryutarou’s new style.

It was one hour before the clock would strike midnight, signaling the start of the day of Ehit’s invasion.

Shea, Kaori, Suzu, and Ryutarou had spent the entire time in the workshop with the Hour Crystal, training with their new artifacts.

Kaori, Suzu, and Ryutarou had just left for the surface, while Hajime and Shea were going over their final preparations.

“Tomorrow’s the day…”

“Yeah. Though, Ehit never specified the exact time he’d start.”

If Ehit had meant exactly three days from the moment of his declaration, then there were still about twelve hours left.

Of course, it was possible that he’d attack as soon as the day started or just before it ended too.

“Hajime-san.”

“Yeah?”

“‘Even if something does happen to me, I’m sure you and Hajime will save me, so there’s nothing to worry about.’”

“Is that something Yue said?”

“Yep, back when we were in the Frost Caverns. I told her that we obviously would.”

Shea slipped a ring, her new Treasure Trove, onto her finger and added, “These three days… I know we needed them to prepare, but they were also the only three days Yue had to fight back.”

“Yeah, you’re right…”

Ehit had claimed he needed three days to gain full control of his vessel. Meaning in three days, he would be able to force Yue into a position where she couldn’t resist.

No one had mentioned it aloud, but they’d all been wondering what state Yue’s soul would be in when they found her. They knew they had to be prepared for the worst, just in case.

“But you know, I still believe. I believe that Yue-san’s safe. I’m sure she believes we’ll come for her too.”

“Definitely. This is Yue we’re talking about. Besides, you just beat her back into shape the other day. There’s no way her soul would lose to some self-proclaimed god. Even if he makes it impossible for her to fight back, I guarantee you she’ll be watching like a hawk, waiting for an opening.”

“Hehehe, you’re right. But the enemy we’re up against this time is really strong. We’ll need to be prepared for death if we want to have any hope of beating him.”

“What’re you trying to say?”

Shea turned around and met Hajime’s gaze. Her eyes were burning with anger at having her best friend stolen from her, determination to bring her back, and an unwavering fighting spirit.

In a resolute voice, Shea declared, “I’m going to get Yue-san back, no matter what. It doesn’t matter how hard I have to push myself or how reckless I have to be. If I can’t save Yue-san, then I’m better off dying and taking down as many people as I can with me. That’s how much she means to me.”

“I see… And?”

“Please don’t stop me from doing anything crazy. I want you fighting by my side Hajime-san, not worrying for my safety.”

Depending on how you looked at it, it could be said that Shea was asking Hajime to die with her. She couldn’t stand a future where she was alive, but Yue wasn’t. And she was asking Hajime to die with her in the case that they couldn’t get Yue back.

It was the kind of thing a story’s main heroine should never say, but Hajime wasn’t the least bit put off by her request.

“Isn’t it a bit late to be asking me that? We already decided we’d share the same fate ages ago. Either we all make it out together, or we all die together. Don’t worry Shea, I have no intention of sacrificing myself just to let you escape, so you better not chicken out and take those words back later.”

Hajime grinned provocatively at her. Despite how harsh his words might have sounded to an objective bystander, they were exactly what Shea wanted to hear. Her bunny ears flopped back and forth, and a huge grin spread across her face.

“Of course! I just wanted to let you know. If you suddenly shouted something stupid like, ‘Survive Shea, even if it’s just you!’ at the last second, that would really ruin the moment.”

“Well, according to the guys in my class, I’m more of a Demon Lord than the actual Demon Lord. And you know what they say, no one runs from the Demon Lord.”

While Hajime had been holed up in his workshop, the story of how he was more evil than the Demon Lord had spread across Tortus.

Originally, the term Demon Lord referred to the ruler of the demon race, but in Hajime’s case, people were calling him that because he was a demon (a horrifying avatar of death and destruction) and a lord (someone who used his might to force people to do his bidding.)

Hajime’s classmates had already popularized the nickname, and now people all over Tortus referred to Hajime as a Demon Lord.

“Anyway, none of us are going out in a blaze of glory. We’re gonna get everything we want and beat the shit out of anything that stands in our way.”

“Hahaha, I knew you’d say that, Hajime-san. But you know, those are exactly the kinds of lines a Demon Lord says. I think it’s a fitting nickname.”

Smiling, Shea swung Villedrucken in a wide arc, then hefted the hammer onto her shoulder.

“Let’s hurry up and get Yue back so we can finally have our threesome!”

“That just killed the mood, you horny rabbit.”

Shea strolled out of the workshop, humming happily to herself. Sighing, Hajime shrugged his shoulders and followed after her. But despite his exasperated expression, it was clear from the look in his eyes that he truly loved and trusted Shea.

Remia and Myu were waiting for Hajime by the foyer.

Hajime had instructed the two of them to remain here until the fate of the world was decided.

However, Myu’s golems would be coming with him.

A while back, Remia and Myu had asked Hajime to at least let them go to the fortress so they could support the soldiers on the frontlines. Neither of them had wanted to sit back and do nothing during the fight to get Yue back.

Hajime hadn’t allowed it, though. He knew he was being selfish, asking them to remain safe while everyone else fought, but he didn’t care. However, Myu had thrown a huge tantrum and even Remia had looked uncharacteristically depressed, so he’d compromised a little.

Since the golems he’d created could share what they saw and heard with their master, as well as be controlled remotely, he’d told them to help the war effort by operating his golems from here.

Of course, that meant this would be the last time he saw them in person until the battle was over.

“Daddy…” Myu mumbled as she ran over to Hajime and looked worriedly up at him.

He squatted down until he was eye-level with her and looked quietly at her. The two stared into each others’ eyes for a few minutes, after which Hajime said, “Well, I’m off.”

“Okay!”

Nothing else needed to be said between the two of them.

“Hajime-san, Shea-san, please be careful. I’ll be waiting here for your safe return.”

“Aye aye. You know, Remia-san, you’re really good at pulling off the whole ‘housewife seeing her husband off to war’ act. You even got my heart beating a little faster.”

“Shea, do you just get horny for everyone now?”

“My, thank you for the compliment. Do come back so I can welcome you home as well.”

“You got it,” Hajime replied casually.

“Of course!” Shea said confidently.

The four of them came together for a hug.

With that final farewell, Hajime and Shea left the Great Orcus Labyrinth behind.

The moment Hajime and Shea stepped out of the portal, Shizuku ran over to them.

“You’re finally here. The leaders of all the countries are waiting for you. Follow me.”

That was the only greeting she gave before turning on her heel and stalking off. She appeared to be in a bad mood. Hajime and Shea exchanged confused looks as they followed after her.

It was nearly midnight, but it looked like it was mid-afternoon. Lights too bright and too big to be stars twinkled in the night sky, illuminating the surroundings. They were artifacts Hajime had sent up to allow construction to progress through the night, and to give the defenders an edge if the battle dragged on into the night. The plains outside Heiligh’s capital looked like a football stadium with all the bright illumination.

The capital and the Divine Mountain were giving off no light of their own and were cast in deep shadow. It was strange to see the city that was normally so bright like that.

“Where’s Kaori?”

“She’s with our classmates. Suzu and Ryutarou are with her, too. You sent a second Hour Crystal with her, right? Everyone’s been using it to get as much training time with their artifacts as possible.”

The plain was bustling with activity. Soldiers and knights ran from place to place, while smiths, merchants, engineers, and all sorts of support staff worked furiously behind the scenes.

Layers of trenches, bulwarks, and small pillboxes equipped with massive anti-aircraft guns protected the main fortress, which towered above everything else at the center of the plains. It was made of a material that looked like red brick, but was actually extremely dense and hard ore from the abyss. Though it appeared crude, its sheer size gave it an intimidating presence. Frankly, it was hard to believe it had been built in just a few days.

“Oh? Nagumo! You’re finally here!” Kentarou called out as he came out of the fortress’ main gates. He ran over to Hajime, with Ayako following closely behind him.

“Nuwoooooooooooooooh, if it isn’t Master Nagumo!” another voice called out to Hajime. It was also familiar. There was an explosive roar, and the surrounding soldiers drew their swords in alarm. The sound was loud enough that it made Ayako faint, and Kentarou hurriedly grabbed her before she fell to the ground.

“Your name was Volpen or something, right? If I recall correctly, you’re the kingdom’s finest Synergist…”

“Ooooooh, you remember me!? You really are a good master.”

“I don’t remember ever becoming your—”

His words were drowned out by the sea of Synergists yelling, “Master! Master!”

The world was on the brink of ending, but they hadn’t changed a bit. Back when Hajime had visited the capital, they’d chased him so doggedly that he hadn’t managed to escape no matter what he tried. Moreover, the new artifacts Hajime had sent over had made them worship him more than ever before. You could tell from the ecstatic look in their eyes that they saw him as their god.

Hajime zapped them all with Lightning Field and extricated himself from their encirclement, then turned to Kentarou and Ayako.

“Nomura, good work. The fortress looks perfect.”

“Th-Thanks. All I did was cast my magic where the architects told me to. Though, I’ve gotten way better at using earth magic now.”

“I’m amazed, too. All I did was focus on healing Nomura as much as possible, but now my healing magic is as good as Kaori-chan’s was in the beginning.”

Smiling bashfully, the two of them held up the wand-shaped artifacts Hajime had given them as if to say their growth was all thanks to him.

“I take it… you had no problems on your end?” Kentarou asked hesitantly, looking at the golems by Hajime’s side. They struck a fancy pose, which almost made Ayako faint again.

Looking around, Hajime realized they’d become the center of attention. Volpen’s outburst and the existence of his golems had caught the eyes of all the nearby soldiers. Everyone was looking at Hajime with awe and respect.

Just then, Shizuku chimed in, saying, “Nomura-kun, Ayako, you guys can talk later. Lily and the others are waiting for Nagumo-kun to start their war council.”

“O-Oh yeah, sorry for holding you up.”

“Y-Yes, sorry… You’ve gotten bold, Shizuku…”

Shizuku grabbed Hajime’s arm and smiled faintly at Kentarou and Ayako. She made sure to press up against him, so that his arm was squished between her boobs.

Kentarou awkwardly averted his gaze and Ayako blushed visibly. Still smiling, Shizuku dragged Hajime away.

Many of the empire’s soldiers groaned in dismay, but Shizuku paid them no mind. She was blushing too at the boldness of her own actions, but she looked particularly pleased with herself.

“Yaegashi, did something happen?”

“Is this Shizuku-san’s sexual awakening!?” Shea exclaimed.

It was extremely unusual for the usually demure Shizuku to act so assertive, at least when it came to romance.

“Call me Shizuku. I don’t want you using my last name anymore. I’ll call you Hajime, too.”

“Huh?”

Shizuku sighed tiredly and added, “Look, the emperor was being really pushy. He kept trying to find excuses to spend more time with me, and those excuses were all really good, so I couldn’t just brush him off.”

From the looks of it, Shizuku was in a foul mood because of how persistent Gahard had been.

“I told you if he was being a pest, you could just use my name.”

“I did. I told him the m-man I l-love is you, Hajime.”

“Damn, you just said it straight, huh? So, what, did he keep trying? I told you to call me if that happened.”

Shizuku’s expression went from annoyed to troubled as she replied, “I didn’t want to bother you over something so trivial, H-Hajime. You’re the key to winning this war, so I figured it was better not to distract you from your work.”

“You don’t have to worry about me. Besides, it’d only take a few seconds to open up a portal and give him a taste of my rubber bullets.”

“Hehehe, I didn’t call you because I knew that was what you’d do. Even if you did use non-lethal bullets, it would be a diplomatic issue if you attacked one of the most powerful nation’s leaders. But in return, you better let me flirt with you now that you’re here. I plan to show off how close we are to the emperor.”

“I see. That’s why you hugged my arm like that in front of all the imperial soldiers, huh?”

“Yes. Anyway, those are my reasons, so please let me monopolize Hajime for a bit, Shea.”

“I guess I can’t really refuse. Hehehe, I’ll just have to settle for Hajime-san’s prosthetic arm, then!” Shea exclaimed as she hugged Hajime’s prosthetic arm and squished her boobs against it as well. To the soldiers, he looked like some impertinent brat showing off his harem to everyone else, but even the ones who didn’t know who he was were too intimidated by his golems to say anything.

Kentarou and Ayako exchanged glances as they watched the three of them saunter away, unconcerned by the soldiers’ jealousy.

“He’s a Demon Lord alright.”

“Definitely.”

The two of them nodded in agreement.

The moment Hajime entered the council room, everyone started talking.

He stopped by the entrance and surveyed the room. The first thing he noticed was the large circular table in the center. A three-dimensional map sat atop it, showing the relative positions of the Divine Mountain and humanity’s fortress. There were several markers placed around the fort, depicting the locations of supply lines and key strongholds.

Sitting around the table were the leaders of the world’s various nations, along with their closest aides.

The person sitting closest to the entrance was Aiko Hatayama, the Fertility Goddess. Next to her was Yuka Sonobe. Then came Heiligh’s princess, Liliana S. B. Heiligh, her new Knight Commander, Kuzeli Reil, the newly appointed pope, Simon L. G. Levellair, his deacon, Sibyl L. G. Levellair, and the commander of the Templar Knights, David Zahler. Moving clockwise from the princess’ retinue, there was Ankaji’s duke, Lanzwi F. Zengen, Hoelscher’s emperor, Gahard D. Hoelscher, Verbergen’s chief elder, Ulfric Heipyst, the Haulia clan’s leader, Cam Haulia, Cam’s aide, Altina Heipyst, the Adventurer Guild’s leader, Barus Laputa, his secretary Catherine Walker, the gold-ranked adventurer representative, Crystabel, Fuhren’s representative, Greil Cudeta, his aide Will Cudeta, and the head of the Fuhren branch of the Adventurer’s Guild, Ilwa Chang. There were also a few other leaders of major nations as well as their generals and advisors.

They all turned expectantly toward Hajime, but their expressions stiffened when they saw Shizuku dangling from one arm and Shea from the other. Though he hadn’t arrived late, it still irked them that he’d showed up after the world’s most important people… and with a girl on each arm to boot.

Aiko, Liliana, and Yuka were used to his behavior, but they were irked for a totally different reason.

“Nagumo-kun, it’s not… proper to walk around with a girl in each arm like that! As your teacher, I cannot condone such lewd behavior!”

“Wh-What she said! Are you trying to show off your girlfriends to us!? Even though every time I try to approach you, you just ignore me!?”

“You suck, Nagumo!”

“Oh, is this the boy you told us so much about, Aiko-dono, Yuka? I must say, I’m rather jealous. To think he has sole dominion over so many lovely ladies’ boob— Gwah!?”

“Grandpa, please act more like a pope! You’re embarrassing me!”

Before Simon finished his sentence, his granddaughter smacked him upside the head, and he collapsed onto the table. Blushing, Yuka circled over and smacked Simon as well.

“You really piss me off, Hajime Nagumo! You’re showing off how close you are to Shizuku just to anger me, aren’t you!? Well!?”

“That’s our boss for you! Even after his beloved’s been kidnapped, he’s got plenty of women to spare! Is this your way of getting us pumped up for the big climax, Bo— Bwah!?”

Hajime silenced Cam with a rubber bullet before he said anything stupid.

Why the hell is Cam even here? Did rumors of his deeds spread so far that all the world powers respect him and the Haulia now? I know they beat down the empire and got rid of the beastmen slavery system, but still… Maybe they invited him because they’re scared of letting him out of their sight?

While Hajime pondered over Cam’s presence, Shizuku blushed and gracefully disentangled herself from him. However, she continued clutching his sleeve with the tips of her fingers. Her actions only served to anger Gahard more, and he looked ready to leap at Hajime’s throat.

On the other hand, Shea had already let go of Hajime and buried her face in her hands. She was embarrassed by her father’s unceremonious antics. Also, it hadn’t escaped her notice that Altina had come as Cam’s aide, not Ulfric’s.

The moment Altina spotted Shea, she started panting heavily, staggered over, and said, “W-We’re finally reunited, best friend!”

That terrified Shea enough to flee the room.

“Aaah, where are you going, Shea!? Wait for meeeeee!” Altina roared as she suddenly sped up and chased after Shea.

As he watched Cam and Altina, Ulfric took a few pills out of his pocket and swallowed them. Hajime had no doubt it was stomach medicine for his ulcers.

Hajime and Shizuku headed for their seats, which were situated next to Aiko. Once they were seated, Hajime pointed to Gahard and said, “The reason Shizuku’s acting like this is all your fault. You’re to blame here, Gahard.”

“Y-You little… Brazen as always, I see.”

“I heard you kept trying to flirt with Shizuku while I was gone. Either give up now, or I’ll rip your balls off.”

“Oh my, are you planning on giving me new friends to play with, Hajime? What a nice present! You really do love me!” Crystabel exclaimed, their muscles rippling underneath their frilly dress. Hajime ignored Crystabel entirely, while Shizuku tenderly stroked Hajime’s back.

Cowed by the threat of castration, Gahard slinked back to his seat and silently looked down at the table. He did his best not to look at Crystabel. Gahard was known for being an open-minded emperor, but he sure didn’t look like one now.

Crystabel’s existence awoke some primal fear within him, the same way it did to Hajime.

“Actually, wait. Why’s this crazy clothing store owner here, anyway?”

Hajime had a feeling this meeting would be more exhausting than the fight for the fate of the world.

Most of the world leaders just shook their heads in defeat, so Barus smiled wanly and said, “Crystabel is retired now, but they were originally a gold-ranked adventurer. Despite being retired, they’re still the strongest adventurer the guild has ever seen.”

Upon hearing that, Hajime turned to Catherine. She looked like an unassuming, plump old lady, but Hajime knew the truth. In the past, she’d been one of the guild’s greatest teachers, and had taught Ilwa and many other guild officials everything they knew. She was undoubtedly present because they needed her sharp insight.

“Hahaha, it’s no lie. Crystabel is indeed the guild’s strongest adventurer. They retired when I did, and we moved to Brooke together. Their dream was always to open a clothing store, so they’d been looking for a chance to leave the guild for a while.”

“No matter how strong I am, though, my heart is still that of a fragile maiden’s, Hajime-kyun!” Crystabel proclaimed as they winked at Hajime, which caused him a great deal of mental damage.

Hajime fixed his gaze firmly forward and refused to respond to Crystabel.

“Ai-chan-sensei! Hajime’s started hyperventilating! You have to save him with your spirit magic!”

“O-Oh no! Bring light to the souls who have lost their spark! End this nightmare with your radiance— Soul’s Repose!”

Aiko’s chant was even longer than the time she’d dispelled Ehit’s curse, which fortunately made her spell strong enough to bring Hajime back.

“Uhhh, can we get this meeting started now?” Lanzwi asked with a stiff expression.

That finally brought an end to the fooling around. The main purpose of this meeting was to get all the world leaders acquainted. Hajime wouldn’t even be part of the fight on Tortus, so there was no need to discuss strategy or the like.

Fortunately, since demons had been the humans’ common enemy for centuries, most countries had treaties in place to work together in times of emergencies. Of course, nations still squabbled amongst themselves occasionally, but they all banded together when things got serious.

The same was true for the Adventurer’s Guild and the church, and there was already an existing protocol for how to coordinate everyone’s armies.

Of course, now the beastmen were joining in as well, but Liliana and the others had already hashed out how the beastmen and human armies would work together. It would be impossible to get the two armies coordinated, since beastmen had been discriminated against for centuries, and Verbergen had no contact with other nations. For that reason, consolidating the beastmen’s chain of command into the greater structure of the human army wouldn’t work.

Instead, it had been decided that the beastmen would function as an independent strike force under the command of Verbergen’s elders.

Yuka and the other students would also be an independent strike force. Aiko would work with them, using her spirit magic to assist the troops at the fronts. Though she was a symbolic leader, she had absolutely no experience commanding soldiers, so it didn’t make sense to make her a general.

The soldiers had plenty of practice with the guns and cannons Hajime had sent over as well, so they were more than ready for combat. If anything, they were having more trouble using the swords and armor he’d sent over than his cannons.

It was hardly surprising. Guns and the like were designed to be easy to use, and they functioned uniformly regardless of who used them. Practice was necessary to get things like efficient reloading and good aim down, but as long as you taught someone the basics, they’d at least be able to use such weapons. Plus, Hajime had even sent over artifacts containing video recordings of how to use all of his weapons, making it possible to teach large groups of soldiers how to use them all at once. He could hear people practicing shooting cannons in the distance, and it sounded like most people had the basics down.

In other words, there was nothing really for Hajime to do. This meeting had mainly been called so that the leaders of the world could talk to the man who held the world’s fate in his hands before the decisive battle.

Unperturbed by the attention he was receiving, Hajime turned to Liliana and looked her over.

“Still… I’m surprised everyone decided you should be the supreme commander, Princess.”

When Lanzwi had first told him that, Hajime’s jaw had dropped open. It made no sense to appoint a novice like Liliana the supreme commander when there were so many skilled generals like Gahard present.

“Err, well… honestly, I thought Gahard would get the job too. Also, call me Lily, not princess.”

“I mean, I’d do it if I was the only man qualified for the job. But you’ve got what it takes to lead too, Princess. This is a once in a lifetime fight, so I wanna be out there fighting for it. I’m the emperor of a military nation, remember?”

“Military nation or not, no emperor should be out in the trenches. Though, I guess the princess is probably the best choice if you wanna raise everyone’s morale…”

“See, you get it.”

“I told you to call me Lily, not princess…” Liliana muttered in a small voice, but Hajime ignored her.

He could see where Gahard was coming from. In a battle like this, tactics and maneuvers would only have an impact at the very beginning. It wouldn’t be long before things devolved into a melee. The apostles were all individually quite powerful, and they didn’t seem to adhere to formations or the like. In which case, it made sense to prop up the most popular person as the supreme commander.

Liliana knew better than anyone that she lacked the experience for the role. However, she had at least learned military theory as part of her studies. She’d have a retinue of skilled officers to support her on the tactical front, and she had the unbreakable will needed to rouse a massive army. In that respect, she was the best suited for the task. No one else was as charismatic or as determined as her.

When the kingdom had been in danger of collapsing once before, she’d fled the capital alone and traveled a long distance to seek Hajime’s help. Not only that, but she’d then unveiled the conspiracy of the fake god to the people. Of course, that had been part of Hajime’s script, but the people still believed her. She’d also traveled the world with the Fertility Goddess to warn the people of the impending danger. And all that at the tender age of 14, no less.

She’d told her people to run, while she herself had declared that she would remain behind to fight. She’d asked her knights and soldiers to join her, but had made it clear that she would fight even if she was alone.

On top of that, she’d prioritized Lundel’s life over her own and told him to seek safety. She’d entrusted the future of the kingdom to her beloved younger brother, as well as her mother, who she’d also asked to evacuate.

Liliana had been a popular princess even before all that, but when the people had seen her sacrificing herself for them, they’d been moved to tears. The kingdom’s soldiers’ morale had jumped through the roof. They were all willing to lay down their lives for their dear princess.

“Mass psychology is a scary thing, but I think what was even scarier was watching Liliana-san chuckle to herself about how she had the people dancing in the palm of her hand when she thought no one was looking,” Aiko mumbled with a distant expression. She’d been traumatized by how easily people were manipulated by those with ulterior motives. Kuzeli was aware of Liliana’s true personality as well, which made them nod sadly in agreement.

“Excuse me? You were manipulating people just as much as I was, Aiko-san! My words only hold sway over the kingdom’s subjects. You’re the one who whipped all of Verbergen’s and the empire’s soldiers into a frenzy, so you don’t have any right to talk!”

“I-I’m not like you! I just followed the handbook Hajime sent me!”

Cam gave Hajime a thumbs-up at that. At the same time, Ulfric and Gahard glared at him in annoyance.

“Of course he was behind it…” Ulfric muttered.

Incidentally, Aiko had gone above and beyond with her speeches. Even though he hadn’t instructed her to, she’d used spirit magic to increase the persuasiveness of her words. And as a result, people’s faith in her had grown exponentially. They’d developed a burning hatred for the “fake” Ehit.

Hajime had a sneaking suspicion that once Ehit was gone, the people would worship Aiko as their new god.

Aiko and Liliana were both terrifying. Aiko because she was willing to use spirit magic to manipulate people, and Liliana because she could manipulate people even without spirit magic.

While Aiko and Liliana argued over who was a worse person, Gahard and Ulfric looked wearily at each other.

“Both that princess and that goddess are terrifying. In all my time as emperor, I haven’t met anyone as scary as them.”

“Tell me about it. I guess we were right to fear humans…”

Despite the years of oppression that separated the two leaders, Gahard and Ulfric seemed to be bonding.

What was truly impressive about what Liliana and Aiko had accomplished, was that it wasn’t brainwashing. And that meant the soldiers wouldn’t suddenly come to their senses and flee if things started looking grim.

The princess, the Fertility Goddess, and the Pope had all confirmed that this was a holy war, which gave everyone a sense of camaraderie and purpose despite being from separate nations. These soldiers weren’t fighting because they’d simply been ordered to, but because they truly believed it was the right thing to do. Future historians would probably be in awe at how such a cohesive alliance had come to be.

Knowing that everyone was united gave Hajime hope that the war on Tortus wouldn’t be a one-sided rout, and he nodded in satisfaction. He then turned to Liliana and Aiko, who were still fighting. Despite how childish their motivations were, he nevertheless owed them his thanks.

“Hey, Sensei, Princess. Give it a rest al—”

“Don’t call me ‘sensei,’ call me Aiko.”

“It’s not princess, it’s Lily.”

“I see you two are in perfect sync.”

The knowledge that they might die tomorrow was making Aiko and Liliana more assertive than usual.

“I guess the people who usually bottle their feelings up really go to extremes once they cut loose,” Shizuku mused with a rueful smile.

Like you’re one to talk… Hajime thought with a sidelong glare, and Shizuku suddenly blushed as she realized what she’d said. She wrapped her ponytail around her face to hide her expression, and Simon the pope suddenly butted in on the conversation.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I believe we should end the appraisal of our savior here. What say you?”

“We didn’t ask for this meeting because we wanted to ‘appraise’ him, Your Eminence,” Lanzwi said with a shake of his head.

“All I wanted was to see what kind of person the man who’d saved my dukedom had become. That’s all. I had no doubt our hero would become the world’s hero eventually.”

Lanzwi planned to personally lead his troops into battle. He’d left his son Bize behind in Ankaji so that he could take over in case he died.

Wearing the armor Hajime had fashioned for him, he said in a gentle voice, “Nagumo-dono, the warriors of the dukedom aren’t here because we wish to save the world.”

“What do you mean?”

“We heard that your goal is to crush this evil god and put an end to his ambitions. In which case, our reason for fighting is the same. You can count on us, Nagumo-dono. We won’t let that accursed god trample over us. We’ll fight, survive, and lord our victory over him… It’s the least we can do to repay your kindness.”

“Hahaha, that’s one hell of a reason to fight.”

Hajime was taken aback by Lanzwi’s declaration, but he couldn’t deny it made him a little happy.

Catherine rested her cheeks in her hands and added, “From the moment you walked into my office, I always thought you’d do something big… but I never imagined you’d end up deciding the fate of the world. I consider it an honor that I was the one to handle your guild registration.”

“You really helped me out a lot back then. Thanks to that letter you wrote, we managed to pass through Fuhren easily.”

Ilwa sighed and muttered, “When you showed up in Fuhren, I had a feeling you were hiding some big, world-changing secret. Did you know some people thought you guys were my personal assassins…? It’s embarrassing to think about now, considering how much stronger you guys are than me.”

“However, it was thanks to your sharp insight that my son survived, Ilwa. Had you not offered that quest to Nagumo-dono, he would almost certainly have died,” Greil Cudeta said, then bowed to Hajime.

“Nagumo-dono. When you accepted the quest, you asked for access to all my connections as a reward, did you not? Well, I used them to bring all of Fuhren here to fight for you. I promise to provide you my full support. Though, I suspect at this stage, it won’t amount to much.”

“Nah, I’m counting on you guys too. It really means a lot to me that you and your warriors are willing to help support the war effort on the ground.”

Normally, a noble from the kingdom like Greil wouldn’t have been Fuhren’s representative. But his family had served as diplomats for generations, and he’d offered financial and logistical support to it during times of war. That, combined with the fact that he knew Hajime, had been enough to convince Fuhren’s rulers to send him as their representative.

He’d brought as many funds and resources as he could to help Hajime in his invasion of the Sanctuary, but he’d learned during the meeting that Hajime didn’t need any material help.

Will stepped forward from behind Greil and said, “It’s been a long time, Hajime-dono.”

“Long time no see, Will. You sure you should be here? Shouldn’t you stay somewhere safe in case the worst happens, and you need to inherit the family name?”

“Don’t worry, I’m the youngest son of the Cudeta family. Besides, I wanted to come. I want to do what I can for the people who are fighting for our future.”

“I see you’re still kind to a fault.”

Hajime shrugged his shoulders dismissively, but Will shook his head and replied, “That’s not quite true. Remember how you told me back then that I would eventually realize there was meaning in me surviving? I think the reason I survived was so that I could be here for this day.”

Oh yeah, I did say that… Hajime thought back to the time he’d first found Will huddled in the back of a small cave. Will had cried about how he hated himself for being happy that he’d survived when all of his comrades had died.

“If you feel bad for your dead comrades… then live on. Even if you have to crawl on the ground dredging for scraps, survive. As long as you keep struggling… eventually, the day will come when you realize there was meaning in you surviving this day.”

Surprised, everyone turned to Hajime.

“That was what you told me, wasn’t it, Hajime-dono?”

“Yeah… You better survive this fight so you can keep searching for that answer in the future, Will.”

“Of course! I can’t die and leave my mom behind!”

“I didn’t know you were such a momma’s boy.”

“As his father, I’m ashamed to say I couldn’t help him grow out of it. Though, I suppose it is partially Zaria’s fault for being such a doting mother.”

“Like father like son, I guess,” Hajime said, and everyone laughed. As the laughter died down, Gahard, Ulfric, Lanzwi, Barus, Simon, and Cam offered a few words of support.

“You better not fuck this up, Hajime Nagumo. We’ll take care of the enemies on the ground, so you better slaughter that shitty god for us.”

“We entrust our fate to you, Hajime Nagumo.”

“Leave the evil god’s army to us. We won’t let things go his way.”

“Don’t forget, you too are a gold-ranked adventurer. Do the guild proud, Hajime Nagumo.”

“I shall be praying for your success, child of liberation. May your victory pave the way to reform the teachings of our church.”

“Hey, Boss, this battle’s gonna go down in history, right? It’ll be an honor to fight with you, even if we’ll be on different battlefields. I hope you’re ready to see us go all-out!”

Moved by their leaders’ confidence, the knights and soldiers present at the meeting all cheered.

Hajime got to his feet and silenced them all with a solemn wave of his hand. He didn’t look intimidating exactly, but he was emanating a heavy pressure that couldn’t be ignored.

“That bastard pissed me off, and now I’m gonna kill him. That’s all there is to this fight. But because of that, Tortus will live to see another day.”

Though his voice was quiet, it carried weight. A dangerous gleam entered his eyes as he added, “An evil god with a divine army? Don’t be ridiculous. That fucker’s just some loser who thinks he’s all-powerful. There’s no reason to be scared of him.”

Hajime’s words stirred everyone’s hearts, fanning the flames of their fighting spirit.

“Humans and beastmen are way stronger than he thinks.”

Every mortal race remaining on Tortus had combined their strength for this crusade. It would be the greatest battle in history. And it would also undoubtedly be the most grueling one.

“That bastard won’t be able to crush us.”

Hajime was certain that humanity would emerge victorious. And his unwavering confidence helped instill that belief into everyone else.

“Show that arrogant asshole just how tough we mortals can be! We’re gonna crush his ambitions and make him regret ever underestimating us! Isn’t that right?”

A playful smile spread across his face as Hajime ended his speech with that question. Everyone silently exchanged glances, and a few seconds later, similar smiles appeared on their faces as well.

The leaders of the world’s greatest nations felt as though a great weight had been lifted from their shoulders, and their spirits soared. Just then—

“U-Urgent report!” a young messenger exclaimed, bursting into the room as they did so. Everyone drew their weapons, thinking Ehit had begun his assault, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.

“A bunch of dragons have appeared from the central teleportation circle! The dragonmen have come to our aid!”

The messenger’s expression was a mixture of hope and awe.

“Hajime,” Shizuku whispered.

“Yeah, looks like she made it.”

Smiling, Hajime headed out to greet his favorite masochistic dragon.

As he exited the fortress, Hajime looked up at the sky. The dragons were backlit by his artificial lights, so he could only make out their silhouettes.

He and the other members of the war council headed out to the open plains and found Shea, Kaori, and his classmates were already there. It appeared they’d completed their training and had headed out to greet Tio as well.

A large crowd of soldiers had formed around the dragons, and Hajime and the others were having a hard time making their way to them.

Normally, people got out of the way when they saw Kaori, but they were so excited by the spectacle in front of them that they didn’t even notice she was here. No one was afraid of the dragons either, since Simon had told everyone ahead of time that the dragonmen hadn’t died, and that they’d been fighting against the evil Ehit in secret for centuries.

Gahard stepped forward and bellowed for the soldiers to make way. As expected, that was enough to get people to open up a path for them.

Hajime strode forward and spotted several grizzled dragonman warriors resting in the center of the clearing. A familiar black dragon stood in their midst.

“Master! Your devoted servant has finally returned to you! Praise me for my accomplishments!”

The moment she spotted Hajime, Tio returned to her human form and leaped at him with a look of longing in her eyes.

Naturally, he drew Donner and shot her in the forehead with a rubber bullet. She sailed through the air, somersaulting thrice before crashing into the ground.

“Thank you very much,” she moaned softly as her head slammed against the dirt.

The ensuing silence was so absolute that even the crickets stopped chirping. Everyone watched, at a loss for words, as Tio writhed in pleasure, an ecstatic expression on her face. It was an unbelievable sight.

“Haaah… Haaah, it’s been three long days since I last experienced such wonderful pain. I have been longing for this… Fwaaah…”

“Welcome back, Tio. It’s nice to see you managed to bring everyone in time. I didn’t think you’d all teleport in your dragon forms, though… That was quite an entrance.”

The dragonmen had been scrubbed from history by Ehit. For five hundred years, they’d hid in the shadows, waiting for the day someone would appear to challenge god so they could fight together with them.

Now Hajime was here, and they’d left their hidden northern island to return to the continent.

Panting, Tio sprung back to her feet and elegantly brushed her bangs out of her face. It was amazing how she could go from being creepy one second to refined the next.

“Ufufu, indeed. It seemed fitting to make a grand entrance to help raise morale.”

Tio snapped her fingers, and the dragons in the air roared one after another. The earth shook from the force of their howls.

Meanwhile, the six dragons that had been surrounding Tio began to glow, and they transformed back into humans. They were all large, muscular men, and they wore similar kimonos to Tio’s.

What set each of them apart was their hair color. One had flame-red hair, another indigo blue, yet another deep amber, the fourth purple, the fifth white, and the last one jade green.

Each man looked quite handsome, and it was obvious from their demeanor that they were all hardened warriors. The surrounding human soldiers burst out into cheers, relieved to know that the ancient dragonman race had arrived to fight with them.

“Splendid. If only my late mother and father could be here to see this grand spectacle.”

“What’re you talking about? If you wanna show them something, you should show them the sight of our victory.”

“Oho, I suppose so.”

Hajime gently patted Tio’s shoulder as tears welled up in her eyes. It was honestly hard to believe she’d been panting like a pervert a few seconds ago.

Sighing, Shea stepped forward before the two of them could start flirting and confuse the onlookers even more.

“Welcome back, Tio-san. Listen, please try to restrain yourself for now. We’re used to the relationship you two have, but everyone else is looking at you guys like you’re weirdos! First you start getting horny when he shoots you, and now you two are flirting!”

“Now that I think about it, Hajime-kun’s really bold, isn’t he?”

“He’s settled into the role of Tio’s master. I’m kind of scared by how natural their interactions have gotten, and how used to them I am now.”

Kaori and Shizuku chipped in with their two cents as well, but they realized trying to explain common sense to Hajime and Tio was pointless when they gave Shea and the others puzzled looks.

Before they could ask Shea what she meant, the handsome middle-aged dragonman warrior with red hair stepped forward. He looked so majestic that even Gahard and Ulfric felt the urge to kneel to him. They straightened their backs and fixed their collars, suddenly feeling nervous.

Everyone could tell at a glance that this man had the bearing of a king. Hajime alone appeared unaffected, however. He nonchalantly met the man’s gaze, and the red-haired dragonman narrowed his eyes. He didn’t seem displeased, though. If anything, he was impressed with Hajime’s mettle.

The two briefly looked into each other’s eyes, then the man turned to the leaders of the various nations and said, “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, rulers of Tortus. I am the chief of the dragonman tribe, Adul Klarus. We have come here to aid you in your struggle against god. I look forward to fighting alongside all of you.”

His voice wasn’t exceptionally loud. In fact, it was quite soft, but even the soldiers at the very back of the crowd were able to hear him. His cordial tone brought everyone an overwhelming sense of relief, as if they were safe now that he was here.

A simple greeting from Adul had been enough to boost everyone’s morale.

Holy shit… Gahard thought, looking up at the dragonman chief in awe.

“I see. So this is what a real dragonman is like…”

“Excuse me, Master. What are you implying here?”

Even though Adul was strong enough that he’d once ruled over all of Tortus, he shook hands with Liliana and the others as equals. He was humble, wise, and kind. He was exactly what Yue had envisioned the dragonmen to be like.

Meanwhile, the one Hajime and the others knew was an utter disgrace. They all looked pitifully over at Tio, then shook their heads sadly.

“Tio-san, he’s implying exactly what you think.”

“But why!? What could possibly be wrong with me!?”

“I’m sorry, Tio.”

“Why are you apologizing!?”

“I… can’t really defend you either. Sorry.”

“Please, Shizuku! Say something, anything! When you look away like that, it hurts more than any insults ever could!”

“There you have it, Tio-san.”

“The saddest part is that you’re really cool when you go into Super Tio mode, too.”

“Suzu, Ryutarou… I see you’ve grown cheeky in my absence…”

Unable to watch everyone tease Tio, the blue-haired dragonman stormed up to Hajime and the others. He glared at everyone in turn, stopping when he reached Hajime.

“You bastard. What the hell did you do to the princess?” he asked in a low growl.

Confused, Hajime glanced back towards Liliana. Everyone, himself included, associated the title of “princess” with her. He couldn’t even begin to imagine why the isolationist dragonmen would care about anything he may or may not have done to Liliana. Gahard and the others looked to her as well. However, Liliana couldn’t think of anything Hajime might have done either, and she shook her head.

“What are you looking at!? I’m obviously referring to our princess, Tio-sama!”

At that, Hajime and the others stiffened. And after a few seconds, they all turned to Tio.

Tio blushed and looked away. She was acting like a kid who’d just been embarrassed by her parents in front of her friends.

Still in shock, Hajime muttered, “Y-You’re a princess?”

Shea added, “N-No way…”

Kaori whispered, “I see… Tio’s a princess, huh…?”

Shizuku muttered, “Wait, so she’s just like Lily?”

After an extended silence, the four of them gave Tio a pitying smile and said, “It’s okay, Tio.”

“Don’t worry, Tio-san.”

“Everything’ll be fine, Tio!”

“Yeah, don’t worry, Tio!”

The pity in their eyes was unbearably painful.

“What do you mean everything will be fine!? Besides, I told you before that I was royalty!”

“Oh yeah… Sorry, Princess Tio, I totally forgot.”

“Yeah, sorry, Princess Tio. Don’t worry, I’ll call you Princess Tio from now on so I don’t forget again.”

“Yeah, it must have just slipped my mind because of how perverted you are. But it’s okay, Princess Tio, I’ll remember for sure this time!”

“Y-You’re a really cute princess, Princess Tio! The world’s a big place, so of course it makes sense that there’d be princesses like you out there!”

Tio’s face was beet-red, and tears were streaking down her cheeks.

“Stooop! Do you have any idea how embarrassing this is!? Please, I beg of you, continue addressing me the way you used to! This shame isn’t even arousing!”

First you get mad that we don’t respect you as a dragonman… and now you’re begging us to stop calling you princess? Make up your mind! Hajime thought with a grin.

“What’s the big deal, Princess Tio? It’s a cute nickname. I think Princess Tio sounds wonderful. If anything, I should’ve started calling you Princess Tio earlier. I’ll make up for it by saying Princess Tio a bunch now.”

“Please stoooooop!” Tio yelled as she squatted down and covered her face with her hands. She was blushing to the tips of her ears.

Hajime crouched down next to her and continued whispering “Princess Tio” incessantly into her ear. Hanging around her had fully transformed him into a total sadist. This was yet more proof that he was the only one fit to be Tio’s master.

The blue-haired dragonman glared daggers at Hajime and the others.

“You bastards, how dare you humiliate the princess like this! I knew it, you’ve been torturing her to force her into being your obedient slave. That’s why she ended up like this!”

The dragonman’s accusations reminded Hajime of how a certain hero always jumped to conclusions and misunderstood things as a result.

Tio smiled wanly and said, “Cease, Ristas. These are my precious comrades. We may be close, but that does not mean you can disparage them like this.”

“P-Princess!? Have you lost your mind!? Please, come to your senses!”

“Hmph, what gives you the impression that I have lost my sanity?”

She gave Ristas a patronizing look, which made the young man snap. The anger he’d been doing his best to hold in check spilled out in a torrent.

“Our princess wasn’t such a pervert before!”

“Good point,” everyone said simultaneously, as if they hadn’t considered that. Indeed, Ristas had a point.

“Before she left the village, she was a wise, kind, and noble princess. Everyone loved and respected her! She wasn’t the kind of person who’d get aroused from being slapped, or derive joy from being insulted! It’s obvious that all of you… no, that boy over there she refers to as Master did something horrible to her!”

“Good point,” everyone repeated, nodding in agreement. There was no argument to be made here.

Judging by what Ristas had said, Tio had been a model princess back when she’d been living in the dragonman village. But when she’d returned, the graceful, regal princess everyone had known had turned into a pervert. It was hardly surprising that Ristas was so upset. In fact, everyone except Hajime sympathized with him.

The other dragonmen were doing a better job of controlling their emotions than Ristas, but it was obvious from the way they were glaring at Hajime that they all shared his line of thought.

Before Ristas could yell at Hajime any further, Adul spoke in a commanding voice, saying “That’s enough.”

“B-But Chief!”

Ristas couldn’t just back down here. The other dragonmen looked like they sympathized with him over Adul, too.

“Tio’s transformation indeed came as quite a shock to all of us, but…”

“If you think so too, then why are you stopping me!?”

“I may be old, but I’m not so senile that I can’t understand my granddaughter’s feelings. Tio values her bonds with these people, and it’s clear that she truly loves this young man here. Do you doubt my judgment?”

Ristas hung his head, unable to argue with that. Adul then turned back to Tio and said, “I always knew that you were tired of the boring life in our village, Tio. I also knew that it was only your sense of responsibility to us that prevented you from following your desires and exacting your vengeance on the god who had wronged us so.”

“Grandfather…”

“The real reason you left for the continent was not because it was your duty to investigate. You were hoping to find something out there that would change this stalemate we were forced into. And it seems you did indeed find what you were looking for.”

Adul smiled kindly at his granddaughter and Tio nodded bashfully.

“In which case, we have no right to be angry at your new comrades. If anything, we should be grateful. It’s clear from how proudly you spoke of them that you treasure them dearly. I have never seen you look so happy as you did when you told us all about them.”

Hajime and the others turned to Tio. Embarrassed, she hid her face with her sleeves. The gesture was so cute that even Shea’s heart skipped a beat.

Ristas still appeared to want to argue, so Adul turned back to him and said in a stern voice, “Besides, Ristas, it’s not very mature of you to yell at others because you’re jealous.”

“I-I’m not—”

“Why do you look so surprised? Everyone in the village knows you trained so hard because Tio said she would only marry someone stronger than her. Even a fool could see you were smitten with her. Especially since you only challenged her fiance candidates to duels.”

Hajime turned to Tio, who was smiling awkwardly. It appeared she had been aware of his true feelings as well.

Noticing Hajime’s gaze, Tio turned to him and shrugged. She quietly let him know that the other men standing around Adul were the others who wanted to be her fiance.

Seeing how closely Tio was sticking to Hajime, Ristas and the other fiance candidates narrowed their eyes dangerously.

“Wow… I didn’t know you were so popular back home.”

“Oh? Feeling jealous?”

“Nah, I’m just amazed these guys didn’t give up on you after learning you’re a huge pervert.”

“Ngh! Ristas and the others can’t casually insult me the way you do, Master!”

Shea and the others gave Tio exasperated looks, while Adul excused himself from Liliana and the other leaders so he could walk over to Hajime.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Hajime Nagumo-kun. I have heard much about you from Tio. She also showed me your battle at the Demon Lord’s castle. I never imagined there would be those out there strong enough to slay gods. Even the might of every dragonman combined would not be enough to achieve such a feat.”

“Nice to meet you, Adul-dono. I’m sorry I awoke such a strange fetish in your granddaughter. I realize this is the night before the final battle and probably not the time for this, but you may punch me once if you wish.”

Hajime’s classmates started muttering to each other, saying, “Someone use healing magic on Nagumo!” “The Demon Lord’s confused!” “Oh no, if he’s lost it, then humanity’s done for!”

It was a surprise that Hajime would willingly let anyone hit him, but it was even more surprising that he was speaking to Adul with respect. Little wonder his classmates were so shocked.

Violet light rained down on Hajime. Kaori had just cast healing magic on him. Shea had also drawn Villedrucken and it looked like she was about to try to literally knock some sense back into Hajime. Meanwhile, Shizuku covered her face with her hands, unable to bear watching any longer.

Even Tio was stunned. Hajime’s face twitched and he suppressed the urge to hit his friends.

“Hm… You’re quite different from what I was led to believe… but judging by your comrades’ reactions, this is unusual for you.”

“You’re the last family member Tio has left. If you were just the chief of the dragonman tribe, I wouldn’t bother using honorifics with you, but you’re her grandfather.”

“Oho, so you respect me because I am Tio’s grandfather, not because of my position. Hahaha, how interesting.”

A broad smile spread across Adul’s face. His dignified majesty vanished and he suddenly looked like a jolly old man. He seemed rather pleased with Hajime’s statement.

Tio smiled as well, now that she understood the reason for Hajime’s strange behavior.

“In that case, I think I shall call you Hajime-kun. Hajime-kun, I have no intention of punching you. As I said before, all I want is for Tio to be happy. As long as she’s smiling from the bottom of her heart, I have no reason to hurt you. In fact, I’m glad that you were able to win over my stubborn granddaughter’s heart. It’s a feat no one else has managed these last five hundred years.”

“I… see?”

Hajime hadn’t been expecting such a broad-minded response. He thought Adul would have wanted to hit him for sure.

“Mmm. If she’s happy, it matters not what her fetishes are. More importantly, there’s something I need to ask you about the vampire princess.”

“About Yue?”

“Yes. It came as quite a surprise to learn that she was still alive. I must say, it’s a rather strange twist of fate that my granddaughter ended up falling in love with the same man as the vampire princess. She is the one you love more than anyone, correct?”

“Yes, she is.”

Adul nodded, unperturbed by Hajime’s immediate response. The other dragonmen were pretty pissed, though. Ristas especially looked ready to launch into another tirade. He clearly thought Hajime was a monster for claiming to love another woman when he had Tio.

“Well, I’m rather fond of my granddaughter. When her parents fell during the great battle five hundred years ago, I swore to myself that I would protect her no matter, which is why there’s one thing I need to ask you before you leave for such a deadly battlefield.”

Adul stared at Hajime, his dragon eyes poised to see through any potential falsehoods.

Hajime adjusted his collar and straightened his back, determined to answer as sincerely as possible.

“How do you feel about Tio? Even if she loves you, if you do not reciprocate those feelings, then I’m afraid I cannot allow her to go with you. As her grandfather, I am only willing to entrust her to someone who cares for her as much as I do or more.”

“I understand.”

Hajime could feel the weight in Adul’s words. This could have been the last time he ever saw his granddaughter. It was entirely possible he would die during the battle, so he wanted to make sure he was doing the right thing by leaving Tio in Hajime’s care.

Hajime’s gaze swept over the other dragonmen, Shea and his comrades, and Adul before finally coming to rest on Tio.

Overwhelmed by the force of his stare, Tio involuntarily tried to take a step backward. But before she could, Hajime wrapped his arm around her waist and drew her close… as if to make it clear to everyone that she was his woman.

Tio’s face grew even redder, and she looked so dainty that it was hard to believe she was a raging masochist.

Hajime looked back up at Adul, and said in a firm, unyielding voice, “Recently, people have been saying that I’m more evil than the Demon Lord.”

“Oho?”

“I don’t know if they’re right, but it’s true that I always get what I want, no matter what it takes, and that I kill anyone who gets in my way.”

The surrounding soldiers and Hajime’s classmates started muttering furiously to each other again, but Adul listened quietly.

“I want Tio.”

Tio twitched in Hajime’s arms. She looked up expectantly at him with her beautiful golden eyes.

“I want to show her my home, and I want to keep her by my side. It doesn’t matter how she feels. I won’t let her run away from me now. I won’t deny that Yue is the person I love most, but I love Tio too. I know it’s selfish of me to say this, but still…”

“Go on,” Adul said in a rumbling voice. He looked so intimidating that the people nearby began backing up.

Hajime glanced at Ristas and the other dragonmen before turning back to Adul and showing him his trademark fearless smile.

“Tio belongs to me now. If you don’t like that, then you’ll have to steal her back from me. I’ll accept your challenge anywhere, anytime.”

The other dragonmen stared at Hajime in shock. Even the human soldiers were stunned. Shea, Kaori, and Shizuku had expected a response like this, so they just looked exasperated. But of course, they couldn’t imagine not having Tio by their side, either, so they were glad Hajime was fighting to keep her.

Adul looked from Hajime to Shea and the others, then said, “You certainly are like the Demon Lords spoken of in fairy tales… unbelievably strong and unbelievably inconsiderate. Heh, so my granddaughter was seduced by a Demon Lord, eh? The same Demon Lord who is now going to save the world. Gahahaha!”

Adul stopped pressuring Hajime with his gaze and burst out laughing. And once his laughter died down, he looked over at Tio and nodded to himself.

“What a wonderful expression. You never made a face like that back in our village. I see you are not only loved by many, but love many in turn.”

“Indeed, Grandfather. I love not just Master, but Yue and the others as well. And I can say with certainty that they all love me. They have blessed me with so much that I feel as though I could slay Ehit on my own if need be.”

Adul’s smile widened, and he straightened his collar the same way Hajime had earlier before bowing to him.

“Very well. Demon Lord, I entrust my granddaughter to you. Take as good care of her as you would your beloved.”

“I’ll stay with her until I die. I swear it.”

Adul nodded, a relieved look on his face. He then turned on his heel and went back to where Gahard and the others were waiting. It looked like they couldn’t believe what had just happened.

“If I called my mother over and asked her to grill Nagumo-san, would I have a chance with him as well?”

“Liliana-san, I think that would only earn you the wrath of your mother… Though, I understand how you feel.”

Liliana and Aiko gazed at Hajime, longing in their eyes, hoping he would say something about how he loved them as well. Kuzeli and Catherine dragged the two lovestruck girls back into the fortress with everyone else, but they kept shooting surreptitious glances at him until they were out of sight. Naturally, Hajime ignored them completely and did his best not to meet their gazes.

“Holy shit. Nagumo really is a Demon Lord.”

“I can’t believe one of my classmates ended up with a harem.”

“I suddenly feel like I can’t die until I sock Nagumo in the face. No way I’ll let those apostles get the better of me.”

Atsushi, Yoshiki, and the other guys started burning with jealousy.

“It looks like he’s going to be adding a few more girls to his harem, too!”

“He can’t keep getting away with it!”

The girls were excitedly discussing Hajime’s latest stunt, but their leader, Yuuka, appeared rather sullen.

Many of the soldiers who’d watched the exchange were chattering about it as well.

Sighing, Hajime grabbed Tio’s hand and tried to escape the circle of onlookers. As they pushed through the crowd, Tio’s dopey grin suddenly vanished, and she whispered into Hajime’s ear, saying, “Master, I’m very, very happy to hear that you love me, but there is something I must know. You didn’t choose to tell me now because you’re afraid we may not survive this battle, did you?”

Had that been the reason, Tio planned to lecture him thoroughly. It was cute how she could be such a masochist while also playing the part of the mother who took care of the party.

Hajime looked resolutely into Tio’s eyes and replied, “The only people who’ll be dying tomorrow are Ehit and his lackeys. There’s no way in hell this is where our story ends. I just didn’t want to give your grandpa a half-assed response, that’s all.”

“Ufufufu, I see. Then all is well. I suppose this means we need to hold an orgy once we get Yue back.”

“Why do you and Shea always have to kill the mood like that?”

Kaori, Shizuku, and several of Hajime’s classmates shot Shea scathing looks. She simply averted her gaze and whistled innocently in response.

After they escaped the crowd, Hajime and his comrades headed to the fortress’ rooftop.

Once he got there, he transmuted a pool chair for himself and kicked back while he waited for Ehit’s armies to arrive.

Meanwhile, Tio, Kaori, Suzu, Aiko, Yuka, and all of Hajime’s classmates continued training with their new artifacts. They used the Hour Crystal to squeeze out as much time as they could.

There were still a few hours before dawn, but everyone was too nervous to sleep. Fortunately, Hajime’s lax attitude helped prevent people from getting so stressed that they tired themselves out. Simply watching him lean back in his chair and close his eyes was enough to calm everyone’s nerves. Thanks to the atmosphere he created, there were a lot more people who felt comfortable approaching Hajime.

The first person to talk to him was an old merchant dressed in expensive clothes. His dark brown hair was tied up in a ponytail, and he’d brought a beautiful girl around Hajime’s age with him.

“More, what are you doing here?” Hajime asked when he spotted him.

“Business, what else? Though, at the moment, I’m offering all of my wares to the soldiers for free.”

“So you’re trying to win favors with all the nation’s bigwigs, huh? Guess you’re more interested in profiting after the war than during it.”

Some of Hajime’s classmates turned to eavesdrop on his conversation. Shea and Kaori had both met More, so they explained Hajime’s relationship with him to the others.

More raised an eyebrow, impressed by Hajime’s insight.

“I suspected so when I first met you, but it seems you really were one of the heroes summoned by the kingdom. I believe it was fate that first brought us together, so I hope you’re willing to work with me in the future.”

“Is that all you came here to say?”

“Every action you take drastically affects the future. Once this war ends, what do you say to using your otherworldly knowledge to open up a business here? Naturally, my trading company will offer you its full support.”

“You never give up, do you?” Hajime asked with an exasperated look on his face. Still, the fact that More was thinking about the future meant he was certain Hajime would succeed, so his visit had pleasant undertones.

“Oh yes, I brought my granddaughter with me this time. Allow me to introduce you.”

The beautiful young girl gracefully stepped forward and curtsied to Hajime.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Hajime-sama. I am Samia Nos, the official secretary of the Nos trading company. If you ever wish to open up a business, I am willing to assist you.”

“Okay, time’s up, get out of here!”

“Thanks for coming, but Hajime-kun’s a busy guy! The exit’s that way, so please use it and leave!”

Realizing what More and Samia were after, Shea and Kaori hurriedly stepped in to stop another girl from entering Hajime’s harem.

“Dammit, that girl’s so cute!” Yoshiki grumbled.

In response, Shinji said, “It’s all about fame. If we can rack up some achievements during this battle, we’ll get chances like that!”

While the two of them talked about such trivial matters, new visitors appeared.

“Are you in the middle of something?”

“I can’t believe you guys are so relaxed right before the final battle.”

A familiar tigerman walked up to the rooftop, followed by a young harpy woman and a middle-aged bearman.

Shea’s bunny ears perked up as she saw them and said, “Oh? It’s elder Mao, the captain of Verbergen’s guards and… the bearman my family—”

“Eeek, a Haulia!”

The burly bearman warrior, Regin, crouched down and covered his head.

Everyone silently turned to Shea.

“I-It’s not my fault! Dad’s the one who traumatized him!” she stammered.

Hajime looked up at the sky and muttered, “Your name was… Gil, right?”

“I’m amazed you remember me. I’m nothing more than the captain of Verbergen’s guards,” Gil responded as he smiled bashfully. He was the first beastman Hajime had seen both times he’d visited Verbergen.

“Actually, Gil is now one of our generals, Nagumo. His rank is second only to the supreme commander of the army, and there are only five generals including him.”

“Huh, you’ve sure come far.”

“It’s all thanks to you. The truth is, I begged Mao to allow me to accompany him because I wanted to speak to you.”

“What did I do?”

Mao explained that after the demon army had attacked Verbergen, they had needed to select a new general to replace the one who’d died. The reason Gil had been chosen for the position was because he’d been able to calmly handle the situation with Hajime the first time they’d met.

The only reason Verbergen still existed was thanks to Hajime’s training of the Haulia. Because of that, the elders decided that Gil, the man who’d done a good job of handling Verbergen’s first encounter with Hajime, was best-suited to be the new general. He was already strong enough, and his calm decision-making proved he had what it took to lead.

“Once this battle is over, the relationship between beastmen and humans is going to change drastically. I don’t know how things will end up, but I hope you’ll be willing to help us again if the need arises. I’ll be praying for your success.”

After saying his piece, Gil stepped back and allowed Mao to talk. As always, he was forthright with his words. Mao smiled awkwardly and said, “This battle will go down in history. I realize this is a tall order, but please allow me to interview you once it’s over, Mister Nagumo.”

Mao was the head of Verbergen’s newspaper, as well as one of the council’s elders.

Smiling, Hajime replied, “Not happening.”

“Why not!?”

Because you always fudge the truth in your articles, duh!

Hajime had witnessed firsthand how Mao fabricated and embellished stories to make his paper sell.

“I’ve already started advertising that the next issue will have an interview with you! It’s going to be titled, ‘Victory Special! A Bright Future Awaits Nagumo’s Mistresses! Follow These Easy Steps, and You Can Join His Harem as Well!’ What do you think? Doesn’t that pique your curiosity!?”

“It piques my desire to kill you.”

To Hajime’s surprise, most of his female classmates perked up when they heard Mao’s words. It seemed her newest article would be in high demand. Just then, another visitor appeared.

“Shizuku-oneesamaaaaaa!”

“Ahhh, how did you find me!?”

“I got here by following your scent.”

The female knight who jumped into Shizuku’s arms was one of Liliana’s former bodyguards. Because of all the scandals she’d caused, she’d been continually demoted and now her rank was the same as a common foot soldier’s.

She adored Shizuku to the point where she’d been willing to cast dark magic on Gahard to keep him away from her precious older sister. Naturally, she was a member of the secret society of crazy Shizuku stalkers, Soul Sisters.

“Sniff, sniff… Aaaah, it’s been so long since I last smelled your fresh scent! Haaah… Haaah!”

“Hajime! Save me, Hajime!”

“Hm? You’re calling him Hajime now? Not Nagumo-kun, but Hajime? Nagumo, you bastard!”

The knight removed her face from Shizuku’s bosom and glared at Hajime. Yuka and the others screamed and backed away. The knight’s expression was so terrifying that they felt goosebumps rising on their arms.

Sighing, Hajime snapped his fingers. A second later, a few Haulias emerged from the shadows. Cam reverently bowed to Hajime and asked, “Your orders, Boss?”

“No one will miss a single knight. Dispose of that eyesore. Oh, and get rid of the phony journalist while you’re at it, too.”

“Yes, sir!”

“What did I do!? Wait, Cam-dono, please don’t! Nooo!”

“So this is the violent rabbitmen clan that everyone’s been talking about. Fine by me. I’ll show you that our Soul Sisters are more than a match for your squad of personal assassins, Nagumo!”

Mao immediately fled, while the young knight tried to cast a dark magic spell on Cam.

More Haulias gathered on the rooftop, surrounding their prey. They started chanting, “Cut off their heads!” while Shizuku desperately tried to stop them from doing anything too extreme.

However, even after Mao and the knight were dealt with, the visitors kept on coming. David and the other knights came to ask Hajime about his relationship with Aiko, Crystabel and their disciples tried to flirt with Hajime, and so on. In truth, most of the people who had become Crystabel’s disciples were former men whose balls Hajime and Yue had crushed. When Hajime learned he’d contributed to the creation of more Crystabels, his soul almost left his body.

After the mass of crossdressers left, several dragonmen came to challenge Hajime. Tio’s wet nurse, Venri, also appeared to have a private talk with her. Judging by her expression, Tio’s sudden change had caused her quite a shock.

At some point, Hajime’s classmates had stopped training and started watching him deal with the plethora of visitors.

“Despite the cold front he puts up, he’s still surrounded by people…” Yuka muttered, a faint smile gracing her face.

Come to think of it, he was like that back in Japan.

Before they’d been summoned, Hajime had still been popular, in both a good and a bad way. Kaori and Shizuku had always talked to him, while Hiyama’s group had always bullied him.

“He’s always been that kind of guy. We just never noticed,” Ryutarou replied casually.

“You think Nagumocchi can win?” Nana asked hesitantly while turning her gaze toward Yuka. Everyone else shortly followed suit.

She looked each of her comrades in the eye and said, “Of course.”

A confident smile spread across her face, and the other students simply smiled back at her.

Eventually, dawn arrived. The sun’s rays crested the horizon, causing everyone to cast long shadows. Warm light suffused the air, and right when the sun became fully visible, Hajime opened his eyes.

“They’re here.”

A second later, dark crimson mana filled the air, blotting out the orange sunrise. Something inherently repulsive mingled with the light, and it magnified the fear and unease everyone felt. Monsters’ eyes had the exact same light, which probably explained why it felt so creepy.

The sun was nothing more than a small dot in the sky now, its light completely eradicated by the torrent of dark crimson. The air creaked and the earth shook.

Everyone’s gazes were drawn to the top of the Divine Mountain.

“The sky… is cracking…” someone muttered. There was a deafening boom, and the sky above the divine temple fractured like a pane of glass.

The time had come at last. Ehit was here to end the world, while the mortal races were determined to put an end to his tyranny. No matter how it ended, this would be the final battle.

Diamond. diamond. diamond.