Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest Vol. 10 Page 19

  All the ancient magics had been given the names they had because those names best represented how that magic interfaced with people.

  Incidentally, the Compass of Eternal Paths used spirit magic to read the users wishes, then used spatial magic to pinpoint the location of what they desired, and finally used evolution magic to process all of that information and display it accurately. None of those three things were possible with the more well-known applications of ancient magic. Hajime explained all of that to the others, and Shizuku frowned a little.

  “I see. So every ancient magic can interfere with some fundamental abstract concept. I guess that’s too much for normal humans to handle. No wonder you can’t just make something to take us home... From the sound of it, it’ll be pretty difficult to combine all the right elements together...”

  “That’s definitely part of it. But the biggest thing is that concept magic requires an unbelievably powerful will.”

  Hajime smiled ruefully. Starting from that very vague concept, he and Yue would need to clarify their objective, condense it into a series of steps that could be executed, then provide the requisite energy to achieve what it was they wanted while also strengthening themselves enough to bear the strain of casting such magic.

  “Mmm... We also need to use your creation magic to attach the spell to an object.”

  “Yeah. We’ve gotta synchronize your precise mana control with my transmutation abilities and create an artifact that’s capable of moving people across worlds.”

  “But it’s possible, right?”

  At Shea’s question, Hajime smiled fearlessly.

  “Of course it’s possible. I worked my ass off down in the abyss, practicing until I could make anything.”

  There was a fire in Hajime’s eyes. From the very start, the thought of going home had been what had given him the strength to keep pushing onward within the abyss. He wasn’t going to be deterred here. When they saw his expression, Kaori and the others were certain that no matter how difficult the task was, Hajime would pull it off. At the same time, a sudden longing for home welled up within them.

  Hajime thought back to his days in Japan and his days in Tortus. He felt his chest constrict, and he exchanged glances with Yue. The two nodded to each other and got to their feet.

  “Are you planning on attempting it right away?”

  “Yeah, explaining it helped clear some things up for me. The final goal’s right in front of my eyes, so there’s no way I can just sit still. I’ve gotta give it a shot.”

  Hajime made a fist and brought it down on his open palm. In an attempt to calm him down, Yue placed her hand over his. Her gentle touch helped Hajime rein in his emotions. He relaxed a little, and some of the tension drained from his muscles.

  Hajime then smiled at Yue, but before they could start flirting again, Suzu asked awkwardly, “Umm, Nagumo-kun. Will it take a lot of time to make something that can take us home? Because if so, I think I might go try and meet Eri first...”

  “Nah, it won’t take long.”

  Even factoring in the time it would take to practice the new applications of all the ancient magic they’d learned, as well as the fact that this was their first trial, Hajime estimated it would take him and Yue only a few hours to prepare a suitable object to enchant, then focus their concentration and cast the spell.

  “Once we’re ready, the spell should be cast in an instant. I bet I can do it in one shot. No one wants to go home as badly as me. The only thing I’m not sure of is how exhausting it’ll be.”

  It’d be pointless if Hajime created a way back only to be summoned again. Which was why he’d also need concept magic that could prevent that. But depending on how exhausting casting concept magic would be, it was possible he wouldn’t be able to add that protection in right away. Meaning he had to give everything a try first before saying anything for certain. Suzu considered her options for a few minutes, then nodded.

  “Okay. Gotcha. In that case, I’ll rest here until you’re done casting magic. I finally earned the right to use metamorphosis magic, so I should probably practice it too. We can go to the demon capital afterward. Umm, what’re you going to do, Shizushizu?”

  Suzu turned to Shizuku, wondering what her plans were. Suzu was glad that Shizuku had finally decided to be honest with her own feelings, and wouldn’t mind if she also left the party to stick with Hajime. Suzu also turned to Ryutarou. Her business was personal, and she wasn’t going to force anyone to join her in infiltrating enemy territory if they didn’t want to.

  “Of course I’ll come with you, Suzu.”

  “Same here.”

  Shizuku and Ryutarou replied immediately. There wasn’t the slightest bit of hesitation in their voice. Smiling, Suzu thanked Ryutarou. But when she turned to Shizuku, her expression turned timid.

  “Shizushizu, are you sure? You finally...”

  “What’re you saying? My feelings for Nagumo-kun are important, but so are you. I can’t just leave you in the hands of these two idiots. Besides, you’re not planning on staying for long, are you? Once you’re done talking, we can rush back to Nagumo-kun, so it’s not like I’ll be lonely or anything. Plus, I want to say my piece to Eri as well.”

  Shizuku casually shrugged her shoulders after saying that. And in response, Suzu smiled in relief.

  “That’s my Shizushizu! So manly she’s always making girls fall for her!”

  Annoyed at being called manly, Shizuku gave Suzu a noogie so powerful that Suzu teared up. Trying to change the subject she asked, “A-Also, about Kouki-kun...”

  Hajime cocked his head. He then looked around the room.

  “Oh yeah, where’d that guy go?”

  “Did you only now realize he’s not here? I put him down in one of the other rooms. He probably won’t wake up for a while still.”

  Shizuku gave Hajime an exasperated look. She couldn’t believe he’d forgotten about the hero until now. Naturally, Hajime ignored her.

  “Oh well, who cares about him. Yue and I are gonna start working in the room where the magic circle is. If Amanogawa wakes up before we’re done, make sure he doesn’t get in our way.”

  “There’s no way he’d try to bother you if you’re in the middle of making a way back home, right?”

  Conflicted, Ryutarou tried to stand up for his friends. Hajime just shrugged his shoulders and didn’t bother arguing back.

  “I sure hope not. I’ll be too focused on casting, so it’s a just-in-case thing.”

  “Leave it to me, Hajime-san. Since I can’t help you make the magic, I’ll at least make sure no one bothers you!”

  “Thanks. We’re counting on you, Shea.”

  “If you’re watching our backs, we don’t have to worry...”

  Shea puffed out her chest proudly. Hajime and Yue smiled at her, their trust in her absolute. Then, they went off to the room where the magic circle was. Shea stayed outside the door to keep watch while Hajime and Yue filed inside.

  Two hours later.

  “I wonder...” Suzu’s worried voice echoed through the living room. She trailed off, her vague worries as indistinct as her statement.

  Kaori, who was sitting next to her, asked, “What exactly are you wondering, Suzu-chan?”

  “Umm... everything, I guess? I wonder if Nagumo-kun’s doing okay? I wonder if we can really go back to Japan? I wonder if Kouki-kun’s okay? You know. I wonder if we’ll be able to make it out of the demon capital alive...”

  Despite looking like she was just lying down and resting, it seemed Suzu had a lot on her mind.

  “Everything’ll be fine, Suzu-chan. No matter how hard things get, Hajime-kun always pulls through. And he has Yue with him too, so there’s nothing he can’t do.”

  “Kaorin...”

  “As for Kouki-kun, he’s the only one who can do anything to improve his situation. Of course, I’ll help as much as I can, but it’s on him in the end. And Eri-chan... Well, act first think later! No matter how much you think about it, you wo
n’t know how your meeting’ll go until it happens.”

  Kaori’s attempts at reassuring Suzu were so haphazard that Suzu couldn’t help but laugh.

  “K-Kaorin... Hahaha. You’re too cool. I guess Nagumo-kun’s rubbed off on you.”

  “You’re wrong, Suzu. Kaori’s always been like this. Once she makes up her mind to do something, she’ll just keep charging forward until it’s done.”

  “Hey, that’s rude, Shizuku-chan, Suzu-chan. You make it sound like I’m just like Ryutarou.”

  “Hey, Kaori. What’s so bad about being like me, huh? You picking a fight?”

  Ignoring Ryutarou’s protests, Kaori pursed her lips and pouted. But a second later, she got over it and turned to Suzu while clenching her fist.

  “Anyway, even if I don’t know how things’ll go with Eri-chan, I’ll at least make sure she doesn’t hurt you. I’ll be with you the whole time, and if she tries to kill you, I’ll disintegrate everything and buy us time to run.”

  Suzu and Ryutarou raised their eyebrows at Kaori’s declaration of “I’ll disintegrate everything.”

  Blinking in surprise, Suzu asked, “U-Umm, you’re coming with us, Kaorin?”

  “Of course I am. I’m not going to leave you by yourself, Suzu-chan.”

  “But Nagumo-kun...”

  “Like Shizuku-chan said, it’s not like we’ll be apart for long. Besides, it’s not like I can help him add enchantments that’ll make it impossible for us to get summoned again, or get Myu-chan and Remia-san for him, so I may as well protect you instead, Suzu-chan.”

  “Oh, Kaorin... You’re such a good girl... I wuv you.”

  “Suzu, why are you talking like that?”

  Suzu’d been so overwhelmed by Kaori’s kindness that she started acting silly to hide her embarrassment.

  Smiling as she watched the group of friends play around, Tio said, “If Kaori is with you, I have no need to worry. Hrmmm, I suppose I should return to my own village at least once before following Master to his world. I must complete my mission, after all.”

  “Oh yeah, you were investigating Tortus on behalf of your clan, weren’t you, Tio-san? I totally forgot about that until Hajime-san mentioned it a while back.”

  Tio’s face fell in disappointment. She couldn’t believe Shea had forgotten such an important fact.

  “Shea. You wish to meet with Cam-dono before you leave as well, correct?”

  “Yep. But now there’s a teleportation artifact connecting to the Haulia village, so I can go see them whenever I want. Oh yeah, your village is on an island way past the northern mountains, right Tio-san?”

  Shea rifled through her memories. While Hajime understood the girls all wanted to speak to their families before leaving, if their journeys took too long, he’d probably get tired of waiting.

  “Indeed. It is quite a long distance, however... I’m sure Master will allow me to go after he punishes me for making him wait! Especially since I shall be able to return home via a portal.”

  “Your family’s probably going to wonder why you look so happy despite being all wounded... I sure hope they don’t panic.”

  Tio started drooling as she thought about how she was going to be punished by Hajime, and Shea and the others all backed away. They were used to her masochistic delusions, but that didn’t mean they wanted to see them. Shea didn’t want to imagine what the other dragonmen would think when they saw what Tio had turned into. The princess everyone had revered was now just a pervert.

  “It’s going to be a tragedy...”

  “Some people might even die from shock...”

  “Hey, Kaorin. I’ll be fine, so could you go with Tio-san instead? You might need to bring the other dragonmen back to life.”

  “Nagumo better take responsibility for what he did. Hell, he should go apologize personally.”

  “Are you not all being a bit too unkind!?”

  While everyone was joking around, the door suddenly opened and Kouki walked in.

  “So this is where you all were...”

  “Oh, you’re finally awake. How do you feel?”

  Shizuku had hesitated for a moment, unsure what to say, but then she smiled at Kouki and asked after his health. But she remained wary, just in case. Kouki smiled back, but it was obvious there was a shadow behind his smile.

  “I’m fine. Sorry for worrying you guys.”

  “It’s fine. As long as you’re not hurt.”

  “Yeah, we’re just glad to see you safe, man.”

  “Thank goodness.”

  Shizuku, Ryutarou, and Suzu all smiled at Kouki. He briefly returned the smile, but then started scanning the room. His expression was unusually stiff.

  Kaori easily guessed who he was looking for and said, “If you’re looking for Hajime-kun, he’s holed up in another room.”

  “I see... I figured I should apologize for attacking him, but...”

  At the very least, it seemed Kouki wouldn’t snap at Hajime like he had last time. His mental state was more stable than expected. However, he was clearly pretty depressed.

  “You don’t have to worry about apologizing to Hajime-san. As long as you don’t start attacking him again, he probably won’t care.”

  “Shea-san... I guess you’re right.” Kouki spoke hesitantly, as if he were swallowing quite a bitter pill by saying that.

  In truth, while Hajime had found Kouki’s rampage a nuisance, he neither hated Kouki nor did he particularly care enough to want an apology. For him, he’d just done what he’d done to protect Kaori and Shizuku’s hearts from trauma. Labeling Kouki as an enemy would mean destroying what he’d already worked so hard to protect, so he’d decided to just not care about him. But the fact that he didn’t even want an apology proved once again that Hajime didn’t even consider him a rival.

  “It looks like you’ve come back to your senses. Or do you still think Nagumo-kun’s brainwashed all of us?”

  Shizuku’s glare was stern. While she was glad Kouki was awake and not in a murderous rage, she also knew that the only reason Hajime hadn’t killed him was for her sake. Meaning it was her responsibility to make sure Kouki never went on another rampage.

  Kouki awkwardly averted his gaze, unable to meet Shizuku’s cold eyes. However, Shizuku was done coddling him.

  “Look at me, Kouki.”

  “Ngh... Yeah, I don’t believe that anymore. I wasn’t thinking straight back that.”

  Though Kouki’s expression was still clouded over, he met Shizuku’s gaze and spoke firmly. Shizuku looked back at him, trying to determine if he meant it or not. Shea and the others did the same. While it was hard to tell if Kouki truly believed that in the depths of his heart, it seemed he at least believed he believed it. That was enough for Shizuku though, and she nodded.

  “I see. Good. Kouki... is there anything you want to ask us?”

  Trying to dispel the gloomy atmosphere, Shizuku smiled and spoke cheerfully. Sensing her intentions, Kouki smiled ruefully at her. He asked her what had happened after he lost consciousness.

  Shizuku explained that everyone but him had cleared the trial and that Hajime and Yue were currently working to master concept magic enough to create a way home in the other room. Kouki sat down on a nearby sofa and listened to everything silently. His expression didn’t change at all throughout Shizuku’s explanation. However, he was the only one who’d failed to clear the labyrinth. There was no doubt that he found that a harsh truth to accept.

  Shizuku could also easily tell that he was hesitating about whether or not to ask the one thing he was actually dying to know. It was the reason he’d gone berserk in the first place, and why he’d convinced himself Shizuku had been brainwashed. Shizuku waited for him to ask, but sensing that he probably wouldn’t be able to bring himself to do it, she decided to volunteer the information herself.

  “Kouki. I’m in love with Nagumo-kun. And I want to be together with him.”

  “Ah...”

  At that, Kouki’s expression warped. Being told t
hat flat-out by his childhood friend made it hard for him to try and interpret the truth in a more convenient manner, but it was also a difficult truth to accept. Kouki thought back to how peacefully Shizuku had been sleeping on Hajime’s back, and he suddenly felt an overwhelming desire to tear his heart out.

  Keeping his emotions in check, Kouki asked as calmly as he could, “Does that mean... you’re going to travel with Nagumo too? Even though he already has a favorite, and Kaori? Don’t you think you should reconsider? I’m saying this for your sake, Shizuku, you—”

  Shizuku shook her head and cut him off.

  “Kouki, I’m not asking for your advice here. I’m simply letting you know because you’re my childhood friend.”

  “......”

  Kouki looked as though he’d just swallowed a thousand stinkbugs. He glanced over at Ryutarou and Suzu for salvation, as well as Kaori. Surely you don’t want your best friend fighting you for the guy you like, right? his gaze seemed to say. But none of them backed him up. They had already accepted Shizuku’s decision. No one would sympathize with Kouki at this point.

  The color drained out of Kouki’s face. Realizing he could no longer run from reality, impatience, jealousy, hatred, and anger welled up within him. But he had no valid target for his rage, and he knew he couldn’t just start throwing a tantrum. After all, the last time he’d done that, he’d ended up unconscious.

  The bitter knowledge that he’d been handily defeated was one of the main reasons he wasn’t about to go on another rampage. However, everyone could tell that Kouki was once again slipping down a dark path. Though Ryutarou knew this was a trial Kouki needed to overcome himself, he couldn’t help but want to help his best friend out. He gave Kouki a sympathetic look, but Kouki interpreted that as pity, making him even angrier.

  Knowing he couldn’t just wildly swing his sword at people, Kouki instead said sardonically, “Hahaha, so you’re all his friends now, huh? Even though he’s a murderer who’ll abandon anyone he doesn’t like...”