Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest Vol. 6 Read online

  Prologue

  In the dead of night, a shadow crept up the face of a small hill. It stayed low to the ground, stopping every few steps to examine its surroundings. The shadow turned out to be a monster that looked vaguely like a dog, a chill wind ruffling its black fur.

  After some time, it crested the hill and stared at the sea of lights in the distance. Said lights were man-made. They were the flower of the night, the glimmer of the Heiligh Kingdom’s capital.

  The majority of the capital’s citizens were fast asleep. But for the city’s thieves, black market merchants, and other unsavory types, the night was just beginning.

  Aside from them, the city’s watchmen and throngs of adventurers also walked the streets, which of course meant some enterprising merchants kept their stores open late to cater to them.

  The capital was a far cry from Fuhren though, as that city never slept. Every few minutes, another light winked out of existence, until finally the capital was shrouded in darkness. Only the distant twinkling of the stars and the moon’s cruel light illuminated the night now.

  The monster, who’d been watching the capital’s lights dwindle, jumped with a start when it sensed something behind it. It flipped around and looked warily at the newcomer.

  “Grr...” The newcomer didn’t respond to its growled challenge.

  That was only natural, as what had appeared behind the monster was no living creature.

  The ground in front of the monster glimmered with light. The presence it had sensed was an amalgamation of mana. It stared warily at the light, unsure of what to do.

  Nothing happened for a while, so the monster cautiously approached the magical light. It seemed like the mana was stored underground, and only some of its light was leaking to the surface.

  The monster started digging with its front paws, and its claws eventually struck against something hard. Eventually, it found a stone slab engraved with unnatural geometric patterns.

  Curious, the monster started digging the stone slab out.

  A second later, it leaped back in surprise. Another section of the ground was glowing now too. Yet another glowing circle popped up after that, and a fourth after that.

  The monster’s instincts were screaming at it to flee. It dashed off, running as fast as its legs would carry it.

  It had made the correct choice. Once it had put some distance between the anomaly and itself, it turned around to see more than a hundred lights dotting the top of the hill. The lights joined together, creating one massive magic circle.

  The strange carvings on the stone slab had been a miniaturized version of the pattern on the circle. Had a certain vampire princess been present, she would have recognized the design.

  It was the magic circle for a teleportation spell.

  And, unfortunately for the citizens of the capital, it was big enough to transport an entire army.

  Chapter I: A Disturbing Darkness

  Shea was the first to notice something.

  “Hm? Hajime-san... isn’t there someone being attacked over there?” As always, Hajime and Yue had started flirting, which had led Kaori to interrupt them, distracting Hajime from his driving and making him swerve recklessly. Shea’s words finally tore his attention away from the battle of the stands that was happening between Yue’s thunder dragon and Kaori’s now powered-up ice demon, so he looked out the front windshield.

  He spotted a merchant caravan under attack. They seemed to be holding their own for the moment. As they grew closer, Shea’s ears picked up on the sounds of people shouting, and Hajime activated Farsight to get a better idea of what was going on.

  “Looks like they’re fighting bandits. There’s... forty of them, it looks like. They’re all dressed in rags. Hmm, only have about fifteen guards... I can’t believe they’re holding their own with only that many people.”

  “Yeah. That barrier’s pretty good.”

  “Indeed, it’s protecting them as well as a castle wall would. Those brigands cannot approach the merchants so long as it stands. Plus, they won’t last long if they continue taking such concentrated magical attacks.”

  “But it doesn’t look like the bandits are backing down.”

  “Well, unless they’ve got an entire party of Barrier Masters in there, they won’t be able to hold something that powerful for long. As long as the bandits keep at it, they’ll win. Their defenses won’t last.”

  They must have been taken by surprise. A number of the merchants’ guards were lying on the ground in a pool of their own blood. A few others were gravely injured.

  The only reason they were still holding out was because of the barrier. But with such an overwhelming difference in numbers, each guard that went down was a huge loss. Once the barrier fell, they’d be overwhelmed in seconds. One of the female adventurers had already been captured by the bandits. She’d been stripped naked and strung up as an example to the others still fighting.

  As Hajime had predicted, the merchants weren’t able to keep up the barrier. Right around when their conversation ended, it began to crumble.

  The bandits swooped in with whoops of joy. Their thoughts were already turning toward the loot they’d soon have, and they smiled viciously. The remaining guards fought valiantly, but they were completely outnumbered. One after another, they began to fall.

  Kaori raised her hands to her mouth and gasped. She turned to Hajime and begged him to help.

  “Hajime-kun, please! We have to save them! What if...” Hajime didn’t even wait for her to finish. He poured more mana into Brise and sped up. The merchants would be doomed if he spent time debating whether or not they should help. He’d hear Kaori’s explanation later. First, he needed to save them. If there was one thing Hajime prided himself on, it was his decisiveness. Especially when it came to requests from his comrades.

  Brise roared down the plain, a trail of smoke rising in its wake.

  “Hajime-kun... Thanks.” Kaori smiled, glad that Hajime was willing to listen to her. Hajime just shrugged his shoulders.

  Meanwhile, Yue and the others hurriedly strapped on their seatbelts. They knew what Hajime was about to do.

  “U-Umm, Hajime-kun? You aren’t planning on...” Kaori’s expression stiffened as she saw Brise hurtling toward the crowd of bandits. She knew she’d been the one to ask Hajime for help, but as someone who lived in a world with cars, she’d assumed he would have hesitated in doing something so unethical.

  Hajime turned to Kaori and replied with a straight face.

  “When you see criminals, you run them over... Isn’t that what they teach in driving school?”

  “It’s not! Stop making up your own traffic laws! Look, even Yue and the others agree with me!”

  Hajime ignored Kaori and drove Brise straight toward the rear of the bandits, aiming for the one that appeared to be their leader. It was clear he believed vehicles existed to run over bad guys.

  The bandit leader noticed Brise too late. He started shouting panicked orders to his men and began casting a spell. He was sure this strange black box was some kind of new monster; he would never have guessed it was actually a metal vehicle made for transporting people.

  Hajime poured more mana into Brise and activated one of the gadgets he’d attached to it. Meter-long blades popped out of the sides and front of the hood.

  The men hurtled fireballs at the monstrosity bearing down on them, but they had no noticeable effect. Hajime ignored their pathetic attempts at resistance and powered forward.

  The bandits trembled in fear as they watched the black box shrug off their best attacks. There was a sickening crunch and Hajime powered into t
he mass of unarmored bandits. Despair and confusion was etched onto their faces as they were blown away by Brise.

  A few of them were pushed up onto the hood and sliced apart by the blades on there. Others tried to dodge out of the way and were sliced apart from the blades on the side. Those fortunate enough to avoid death by slicing were blown apart by the force of a giant truck slamming into them at 80km/h, their bodies utterly pulverized.

  In the span of a single second, seven bandits were killed. After destroying the bandits’ backline, Hajime drifted Brise to a halt.

  Both the bandits and the merchants stared blankly at Brise. The sudden carnage had left them speechless. Some of the guards and bandits had stopped mid-swing, even.

  Hajime ignored them and turned to Kaori.

  “If we’re doing this, I’m not going to show any mercy. I’ll kill them all. No healing any of them. You get that, right?”

  “Yeah. I know.”

  He knew how kind Kaori was, but he had no intention of letting her heal his enemies. If she did, she’d no longer be his comrade, at which point she’d have to return to Kouki’s party.

  Kaori took a deep breath and nodded.

  “Alright, then go. I won’t get in your way.”

  “Okay!”

  Kaori leaped out of Brise and ran to the injured merchants. The bandits had been shocked senseless when Brise had showed up. However, Kaori just looked like an ordinary girl. That was something they could handle. They let their anger fuel them and attacked.

  “Die, you bitch!” One of the bandits brandished his sword at her.

  Kaori only spared the man a glance before turning her attention back to the injured. She continued running to the injured merchants and started chanting a healing spell.

  That only made the bandit angrier, but before he could vent his frustrations, he was slaughtered. Hajime had blown his head clean off.

  Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! With each gunshot, another bandit lost their life. Even the guards, who were the ones being saved, shivered in fear as they watched Hajime slaughter the bandits.

  It was just so merciless. In the span of a few seconds, over half of the forty-odd bandits were executed.

  Some of the bandits panicked and tried to take the merchants hostage, but they were met by Shea, who leaped in front of them.

  One of the guards shouted out a warning to her, but it was entirely unnecessary. At this point Shea was so overpowered she could even give Hajime a run for his money. This fighting rabbit had no blind spots. She summoned Drucken from her Treasure Trove and held it aloft. Then, she swung it with such force that a wall of air was pushed forward. The three men charging at the merchants crumpled to the ground with the upper halves of their bodies missing.

  “Huh? Wah, look at all that blood!” It had been so long since they’d fought an actually weak enemy, so none of them were able to hold back too well. Shea had been planning on only sending them flying, but she’d accidentally cut them in half. It was quite a gruesome sight. Shea jumped back away from the sudden fountain of blood that erupted in front of her.

  Yue and Tio spared Shea a single glance before obliterating the remaining bandits in a storm of magic.

  The few who tried to escape had their heads blown off by Hajime. They didn’t even have time to beg for their lives. Their punishment was swift and thorough.

  Kaori used Holy Blessing, an AoE healing skill, to heal the injured merchants and adventurers all at once. Unfortunately, a number of them were already dead. And sadly, not even restoration magic could bring back the dead.

  She ground her teeth, frustrated that she hadn’t been able to save everyone. As she was lamenting their deaths, someone came running up to her. They were wearing a cowl over their face, so their features were unrecognizable. However, Hajime could tell by the color of the mana surrounding her that she was the one who’d cast that barrier earlier. And so, he saw no reason to stop her.

  “Kaori!” The girl threw herself into Kaori’s arms. Kaori was honestly surprised that her guess had been correct.

  “Lily, is it really you!? I thought I recognized that barrier, but I still wasn’t sure. I can’t believe you’re out here...” The person Kaori had called Lily was, in fact, the princess of the Heiligh Kingdom, Liliana S. B. Heiligh.

  Liliana breathed a sigh of relief and pushed back her hood to reveal dazzling blond hair and sparkling blue eyes. She looked at Kaori in admiration and whispered something to her.

  “I didn’t expect to see you here either, Kaori. Thank goodness you were passing by, though. It seems my luck hasn’t run out just yet.”

  “Lily? What’s happened...” Kaori looked worriedly at her friend. As if just noticing something, Liliana covered her face with the cowl once more. She then put a finger to Kaori’s lips and implored her not to use her real name.

  It appeared she’d been traveling incognito, without taking any attendants. Kaori’s expression grew grim. Something serious must have happened for Liliana to embark on such a dangerous journey. The two of them looked at each other for a few seconds.

  “Kaori, have you finished healing everyone?” Hajime walked up to the two of them and asked Kaori that.

  Liliana hadn’t heard him coming and squealed in surprise upon hearing a voice right next to her. She stared at Hajime for a few seconds before recognition dawned on her.

  “You must be Nagumo-san, correct? It’s been a while. Shizuku told me you were still alive. It must have taken an unbelievable strength of will to escape the labyrinth. I’m glad you survived. It hurt to see how sad Kaori looked when she thought you were dead.”

  “Lily! Did you really have to bring that up!?”

  “Fufu... I heard about your confession from Shizuku, too. You should tell me all about the adventures you’ve had later.”

  Kaori blushed and Liliana smiled at Hajime from beneath her hood.

  Most people couldn’t resist her smile. It had grown famous throughout the kingdom. Men and woman, old and young, were all captivated by how dazzling it was.

  However, Hajime didn’t seem affected by it at all. He gazed suspiciously at Liliana and asked her a question, his words echoing his confusion.

  “Wait, who are you?”

  “Huh?”

  Kaori and Liliana had been friends even when Hajime was still in the capital. In fact, Liliana had made an effort to talk to all of the members of the hero party at least once. Since Hajime hadn’t been looked favorably upon by the others, she hadn’t had as many chances to talk to him. Still, they’d conversed a few times when he’d been with Kaori.

  Liliana wasn’t used to being forgotten. Not only was she royalty, her affable personality made her memorable to most people. And so, she was honestly stunned when Hajime didn’t recognize her. Due to that, she stared at Hajime with a dumbfounded expression on her face.

  Kaori stepped in, explaining in place of Liliana. She whispered in Hajime’s ear, since Liliana had told her she didn’t want her identity revealed to the caravan.

  “H-Hajime-kun! She’s the princess! The princess of Heiligh! Liliana! You’ve talked to her before, remember!?”

  “......Oh......”

  “Hic... I never knew being forgotten could hurt so much... Hic...“

  “Lily, don’t cry! Hajime-kun’s just a bit, you know, dense. No normal person would ever forget you! Please don’t cry!”

  “Hey, did you just insult me?” Hajime hadn’t expected Kaori of all people to just casually insult him like that. Even more surprising, Kaori snapped back with “Shut up for a bit, Hajime-kun!”

  “No, no, it’s fine, Kaori. I shouldn’t be thinking so highly of myself anyway.” Liliana smiled bravely, and Hajime found he couldn’t really say anything back to that. Besides, it was his fault in the first place for forgetting about her.

  Yue and the others walked up to Hajime, along with the leader of the merchants. To Hajime’s surprise, he recognized the man.

  “It’s been some time, hasn’t it...? You seem t
o be in good health.”

  “You’re the energy drink guy...”

  “Energy drink? I do sell those, among other things, but... I don’t think my energy drinks in particular are all that famous...”

  “Ah, sorry, just talking to myself. Your name was More, right?”

  “Indeed. I’m honored you remember me. More Nos, of the Nos Trading Company at your service. This is the second time you’ve saved me from certain death. I’m beginning to think we’re connected by fate.” The leader of this merchant caravan was none other than the same one that Hajime had escorted from Brooke to Fuhren, More Nos.

  He still remembered that trip well. It was there that he’d learned just how far the merchants of this world were willing to go to make a sale. His mercantile spirit hadn’t waned one bit, and he thumbed the ring on Hajime’s finger as he shook his hand. It looked like he still hadn’t given up on buying Hajime’s Treasure Trove off him.

  Shea explained to Kaori and Liliana how they knew More, which caused the princess to sink further into depression.

  “He remembers someone he met just once... but not me... the princess...” she mumbled.

  Kaori tried everything she could to cheer Liliana up, while Hajime continued his discussion with More.

  It turned out he was en-route to Ankaji via Horaud. Everyone had heard of Ankaji’s plight by now, and More was hoping to make a huge profit selling the starving city food. He’d already finished one trip. Then, he’d gone back to acquire more food from the capital and was on his way back now. Judging from his smug expression, Hajime guessed he’d already made quite a profit from his first trip.

  On the other hand, Hajime and his comrades were on their way to the Haltina woods. However, they were planning on passing through Horaud and Fuhren first. Horaud was on the way and they needed to tell Ilwa that they’d successfully reunited Myu with her mother in Fuhren. As they would both need to pass through Horaud, More asked Hajime if he’d be willing to guard them until then.

  However, Liliana interrupted them.

  “My apologies, good merchant, but I would like to hire their services myself. I understand I’m being presumptuous, especially as you were so kind as to let me join your convoy, but...”