Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest: Short Stories (Premium) Read online

  “Tch, he got away. Fine, we’ll just have to handle it ourselves. Someone! Anyone! Untie that student—” Loud music drowned Shizuku out before she could finish. It was an upbeat rock number, one that got everyone’s blood pumping. Confused, Shizuku turned to look at the music control tent. But before she could get a grasp of the situation, the girls entered the stage.

  “Let’s settle everything once and for all here on this grand stage. Hajime’s mine, I won’t hand him over to anyone, no matter what obstacles present themselves.”

  Yue, the strongest and prettiest magician in the school, strode onto the courtyard first, her white lab coat and golden-blonde hair glimmering in the sunlight. Following behind her were a hundred members of the “I want Yue-sensei to give me private lessons after school” club.

  “I’ll obliterate any obstacles that get between me and my love. Whether they’re a teacher or a friend, I won’t show any mercy. I’ll drown this field in a sea of blood if I have to!”

  Shea stepped onto the courtyard next, swinging her trusty warhammer from side to side. If Yue was the academy’s strongest magician, then Shea was their strongest melee fighter. Not only that, she was revered as an idol by students and teachers alike. Following behind her were a hundred members of the “I want Shea-tan to step on me” club.

  “Hajime-kun is mine and mine alone. I’ll seal away any obstacles that try to come between us.”

  Kaori stepped onto the courtyard next. She was dressed in a nun’s habit that only showed off the barest hints of her tantalizing legs. She was known as the school’s gentlest healer, but right now her gaze was as cold as ice. Following behind her were a hundred members of the “I want to be healed by Kaori-chan” club.

  “My goodness, I cannot believe these youngsters are doing whatever they want on my campus. Know that none who’ve dared to stand against me have survived the encounter. This love nest belongs only to me and my mast— Hajime. All obstacles will be removed.”

  Tio’s golden pupils flashed dangerously. She was the last to step onto the courtyard. She was the respected dragon princess who reigned as the chairwoman of this school, and also a raging masochist. Following behind her were a hundred members of the “Dragon Princess Bodyguard” club. Sadly, they were unaware of her hidden perverted side.

  After glaring at each other for a few seconds, the girls all simultaneously said:

  “I’ll be the one to remove all obstacles in the way of my love!”

  “Stop right thereeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! What the hell are you guys doing!? You’re not even entered in this event! Besides, teachers and administrators aren’t even allowed to participate! And just because you guys keep using the word obstacles doesn’t automatically make what you’re doing an obstacle course! What kind of battle are you trying to hold here!? Get off the stage and get back to the stands, you idiots! I’ve had enough of you!” Shizuku was panting by the end of the tirade.

  “Wow, to think the student council president can argue on equal footing with those four. She really is amazing,” Liliana exclaimed.

  Unfortunately, the four of them completely ignored Shizuku and went ahead with their competition anyway. The student council couldn’t hope to match the authority of the chairwoman, so it wasn’t like Shizuku ever had a chance.

  The “obstacle course” that followed was one that had never before been seen in history. Shizuku lost a few years off her life from that event alone.

  “Heeey! Quit sending lightning dragons into the stands! Chairwoman, you can’t transform here! Hey, don’t use your breath! Kaori, stop using the teachers as catapults. Just because you’re healing them right after doesn’t make it right! Shea, just because Kaori can heal everyone doesn’t give you the right to knock people around like pinballs! Oh no, one of the teachers got thrown right into the pope’s stand! I’m terribly sorry for how unruly the students are being!”

  Shizuku kept yelling until her voice grew hoarse. She was respected by the entire student body, and known as the academy’s strongest swordswoman, but there was one other nickname the school knew her by.

  “The school’s most pitiful student council president.”

  “You braaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaats! Cut it out, before I cut you all down!” The student council president’s angry screams had become a regular fixture of this academy.

  Arifureta Magic Academy IV: Elections of Sorrow

  “I can’t take it anymore. I quit. Someone else can be student council president.”

  Despite how softly it was said, the words carried across the student council room.

  The other student council members and its advisor all stiffened. An unnatural silence followed that proclamation. Urged by the piercing stares of his fellow council members, vice-president Kouki Amanogawa hesitantly called out to the president.

  “Sh-Shizuku? What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

  Shizuku’s face was hidden by her bangs, and her expression was unreadable.

  “You want to know if something happened?”

  Kouki quailed at the thunderous tone of her voice. The secretary, Eri Nakamura, accountant, Suzu Taniguchi, and advisor, Aiko Hatayama, all flinched as well. Shizuku merely indicated the stack of documents on her desk.

  “Why don’t you tell me what didn’t happen. This stack of papers is all complaints people have lodged against the academy. No other student council president in the history of this academy has ever had to deal with so many. Now this stack of papers is all the orders to repair, replace, and strengthen school facilities that have been destroyed. That stack of papers over there is order forms for all the goods that were taken without permission during academy events and need to be replaced. Finally, that stack of papers over there is receipts for all of the events we’ve held. Worse, a certain teacher’s and a certain student’s fanclubs have grown so large that their club budget is greater than that of the sports clubs! Oh, and I almost forgot. You see this? This is a letter a student sent in. He’s asking how he can steal Yue-sensei away from Nagumo. Apparently if we don’t reply he’s going to bomb the school. There’s hundreds more like that, dozens for all of the girls surrounding Nagumo. Ufufu, I must say our students are certainly wonderful young adults, don’t you agree? Fufufufufufufufufu.”

  Suzu and Eri shrunk back and hugged each other as Shizuku rattled off her problems one after another. Aiko fell to the ground when she heard Shizuku’s deranged laughter.

  “C-Calm down, Shizuku. I’m sure... I’m sure it’ll be alright! We’re here for you. We’ll pull through this somehow—”

  “Somehow!? You mean you’ll make me do even more work, right!? Ufufu, Kouki you really need to get better at telling jokes... Say that again and I’ll kill you.”

  “Hiii.”

  Kouki crumbled. No one could blame him. Shizuku looked ready to go off on anyone who so much as looked in her direction. The accumulated stress of managing the student council had finally caught up to her. However, Shizuku was, above all, rational. When she saw her friends flinching away from her gaze she realized she’d been unreasonable. She cleared her throat and tried to calmly—

  Before she could say anything, the door slid open. The head of the public morals committee, Ryutarou Sakagami walked inside, a stack of papers in his hands.

  “Hey, Shizuku. Yue-sensei and the others have blown up the school again. Here’s all the complaints and—”

  “I’ll kill them.”

  With that ominous proclamation, Shizuku picked up her katana and stomped over to the door. Everyone present knew she would really do it.

  “S-Stop, Shizuku!”

  “Calm down, Shizushizu.”

  “Someone call a healer! We need someone who can heal broken hearts!”

  “Sakagami-kun! Defend that doorway like your life depends on it! We can’t let Yaegashi-san get out while she’s like this.”

  Kouki tried to pin Shizuku’s arms behind her back while Suzu and Eri held her back. Aiko hung on to Shizuku’s sword arm for dear life. Sweating profuse
ly, Ryutarou prepared to give his life to stop the student council president.

  “Hmph, let me go. Let me go, I said. I won’t be satisfied until I’ve killed them at least once! They need to taste my pain!”

  “You can’t even kill someone more than once! Besides, they’ll be dead so they won’t be able to taste your pain!”

  Kouki was absolutely correct. However, Shizuku really was at her limit now. Taking care of Yue and the others’ fights, then taking care of the riots each girl’s respective fan club caused after those fights had left her utterly exhausted. Sounds of fighting filled the student council room for a while. Finally the dust settled, and Shizuku remained standing amidst a sea of corpses. With her enemies defeated, Shizuku declared, “Student council president elections are now open.”

  Translation: “I’m sick and tired of dealing with this! Someone else can handle these problems now!”

  Kouki tried to convince her out of it, but Shizuku refused to listen. In the span of a few days, she’d already set up the special elections to decide the next president. It was times like this where her unparalleled organizational skills shone. The candidates for the next student council president were as followed:

  Canditate 1 — Yue “If I am elected president, I promise to make a room all students can use to have sex in.”

  Needless to say, the students’ expressions stiffened when they learned a teacher of all people was running for student council president.

  Candidate 2 — Shea Haulia “I want to make a government of the rabbit ears, for the rabbit ears, by the rabbit ears! In other words, turn the government into me and Hajime-san’s love nest!”

  Needless to say, the students all retorted that no one would vote for someone who was clearly planning on using the student council for her own gain.

  Candidate 3 — Kaori Shirasaki “I-I’ll do my best in Shizuku-chan’s place! I promise to open up a suggestion box where everyone can bring me their opinions and requests. I know with Hajime-kun’s help the two of us will be able to make the academy a better place!”

  It seemed Kaori was planning on having only Hajime in her student council. Needless to say, the students all sighed as they could easily tell what she was really after.

  Candidate 4 — Perverted Dragon Chairwoman “If I am elected, I will make Mas— Ahem, I mean Hajime Nagumo the student council president! After that, I will utilize my powers as chairwoman to turn the student council room into my office! No one is allowed to— Ah, hey! Stop throwing things at me! Wh-Who did that!? And who’s firing advanced-level magic at me!?”

  Needless to say, the students all hurled insults at her.

  “Go back to your cave, you perverted dragon!”

  And needless to say, Tio found said insults highly arousing.

  In the end, the election resulted in Shizuku Yaegashi being chosen to serve for another term. Because of the special election rules she herself had set up, she had no right to refuse the appointment. When Shizuku saw the results, she threw a tantrum.

  “Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. That does it, I’m dropping ouuuuuuuuuuuuut!”

  After her infantile outburst, she tried to flee the school.

  “Th-The president’s trying to run away! Everyone, chase after her!”

  “Without her, this school’s doomed! Capture the president, for the sake of our future!”

  “Guys, surround her! We’ve gotta make sure she can’t escape!”

  “This is an announcement for all little sisters of this school! Launch the onee-sama disciplinary squad! There will be a prize waiting for the one who can console her! Furthermore, you are permitted to take advantage of the chaos and touch her.”

  Needless to say, the entire student body chased after Shizuku. Their fervor was surely a sign of how much the students loved her.

  However, despite her childlike tantrums, Shizuku was still a crafty woman. She continued to evade her pursuers for a good three days and three nights. Finally, after a concentrated effort combining the entire talents of the student body, they captured her. Her great escape was so impressive that leaders of other countries applauded her skills. Unfortunately, that also meant her status as student council president was set in stone.

  “I swear, I’ll kill you all someday,” Shizuku Yaegashi muttered to herself as she nursed a headache and started working through today’s pile of paperwork. She truly was this academy’s hardest worker.

  Chapter III: Arifureta Fairy Tales Compilation

  Arifureta Fairy Tales: The Honest Woodcutter

  One day, a woodcutter was cutting down trees near a certain spring. He had with him his trusty magic-powered azantium chainsaw. His chainsaw made a loud buzzing noise as it cut through trees like a hot knife through butter. With his trusty chainsaw, the young man could chop down anything he pleased, whether it be boulders or steel walls. A tool like this would be just as useful on a battlefield as it was in a forest. Anyone who wielded it would be able to mow down hordes of soldiers with ease. Swords, shields, and even plate armor would be unable to withstand its might.

  As for why a mere woodcutter possessed such a powerful tool, well, that was not important. Why he was still just a woodcutter despite having the ability to be far more was also not important.

  With a resounding crash, one of the trees fell to the ground.

  “Phew, looks like work went well today, too.”

  Today’s job was done. It had only taken the young man five minutes, but he still wiped a bead of imaginary sweat off his brow. Just then, he sensed something trying to kill him!

  “Tch, die you worthless mutt!”

  He let loose a string of violent curses that one wouldn’t expect to hear from a village woodcutter. The young man then pulled loose an L-shaped piece of metal from his pocket and took aim. A second later, a streak of red light was set loose through the trees. There sure were a lot of things being set loose today.

  The last thing to come loose was the head of the “mutt” he’d shot at, a wolf-like monster that had been hiding in a nearby thicket. The moment the streak of light hit its head, it blew clean off. Still, there wasn’t just one wolf aiming for the young man’s life. He fired off a series of flashes that brutally obliterated the entire pack. The scene was gruesome enough that it should have been censored. The peaceful forest was dyed red with the blood of monsters.

  “Tch, as always, all you’ve got on your side is numbers. Hm? Shit, the goods!”

  Until now, the young devil who’d been painting the forest red had been perfectly composed. However, he lost his cool when he noticed one of the wolves sneaking up to his precious goods.

  By goods, he of course meant the splendid tree he’d just chopped down. The monster then heartlessly activated its special magic and shot a fireball at the tree. Even if the woodcutter slaughtered the monster now, his tree would be burnt beyond recognition. The woodcutter flung his L-shaped weapon to the side, raised his chainsaw in both hands, and charged toward the fireball.

  “Like hell I’ll let you!”

  With a spirited cry, the woodcutter swung his chainsaw down and split the fireball in two. He then swung it back up, slicing right through the wolf’s stomach. Another red flower blossomed amidst the green trees.

  “Phew, I made it... Oh yeah...”

  Once again wiping an imaginary bead of sweat off his brow, the woodcutter looked about for the weapon he’d thrown earlier. When his gaze passed over the spring, he noticed there were ripples in the previously still water.

  “Crap! I can’t believe I threw it right into the spring!”

  The woodcutter walked over to the edge of the spring. Seeing as he couldn’t find his weapon anywhere else, it was likely it had fallen in. He slumped his shoulders and sighed.

  “Man, what do I do? Without that, it’ll take more time to annihilate monsters and thieves. God, what a pain.”

  The spring was both wide and deep. Diving to the bottom to search for his weapon would take considerable time and effort.

&nb
sp; “Maybe I should just throw a bunch of burning taur down there and vaporize the spring.”

  The woodcutter muttered ominously. Taur burned at an impressive 3000 degrees Celsius, so it would certainly be possible. The spring suddenly began to sparkle, as if reacting to the woodcutter’s terrifying remarks. Surprised, the man turned on his chainsaw and got ready to fight. From within the spring’s depths, a person emerged.

  “Wow...”

  The usually curt and cruel woodcutter gasped in wonder. That was just how beautiful the goddess who had emerged from the spring was. Nothing could match her splendor. Her golden-blonde hair sparkled in the sunlight. Her long eyelashes and deep crimson eyes captivated all who gazed upon her. Her porcelain-white skin was tinged with the faintest of blushes. She appeared to be no more than twelve or thirteen years old, but her passionate gaze and seductive smile made her seem much older. She was quite the captivating goddess. Her slender limbs peeked out from a pure white gown. When she spotted the woodcutter, the goddess crouched down in front of him. She then thrust both hands into the spring and pulled something out with each. The woodcutter had expected her to use magic, not something as mundane as her own two hands.

  “Is this your crafty rabbit? Or is this your perverted priestess?”

  The woodcutter didn’t know how to respond. The goddess had just pulled two people out of the spring. One had bunny ears growing out of her head, while the other was dressed in priestess robes. They were both soaked through and seemed rather miffed at being held up by their collars.

  From the sound of it, the goddess had plunged them into the spring against their will. It seemed this was a goddess who kidnapped people.

  “Ugh. Hey, you, mister with the chainsaw. Won’t you please pick this poor rabbit? If you do, I’ll devote these bunny ears to you for life!”

  The woodcutter wasn’t quite sure what it meant to have bunny ears devoted to him, but he certainly was tempted. The bunny girl had an impressive bust size, and she made sure to emphasize it while pleading to the young man.