Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest Vol. 6 Page 2

  “Oh, do you no longer need to go to Horaud?”

  “Yes, this is far enough. Of course, I will still pay you the full fee.”

  It seemed Liliana had originally planned on going to Horaud too. However, now that she’d found Hajime and his friends, there was no need.

  Hajime wasn’t sure he’d like what Liliana had to ask, but he knew if he said anything now Kaori would just yell at him for being mean to the princess, so he held his tongue.

  “I see... I’m happy to know I was of assistance. You don’t have to worry about paying me.”

  “Huh? But I can’t just not pay you...” Liliana seemed at a loss. The caravan had provided her with food and lodging, and she couldn’t imagine not repaying them for their hospitality. In fact, she’d been expecting him to ask for more than the usual since she’d promised to pay him upon reaching Horaud and not up-front.

  However, More simply smiled at her.

  “I doubt I’ll ever say those words again... Let me give you one piece of advice before you go. Normally, you pay up-front when asking to join a caravan. If someone doesn’t ask to see your money right away, then they’re either up to no good, or they have their own reasons for not wanting to take your money. Fortunately for you, this time it was the latter.”

  “Wait, does that mean...”

  “I have no idea why someone of your standing needs to sneak out of the capital, but I have no doubt it is a matter of utmost importance. If I didn’t assist you in your time of need, then I could hardly call myself a proud citizen of Heiligh. I may be a merchant, but I’m a patriot too.”

  So he knew from the start... Despite that, he hadn’t revealed Liliana’s identity, and had tried to help her to the best of his abilities.

  “In that case, I owe you my gratitude. It was only thanks to you that I was able to leave the capital.”

  “I see. I’m sorry to change the topic so suddenly, but do you know what it is that merchants want most, but find hardest to obtain?”

  “Huh? No, I don’t.”

  “It’s trust.”

  “Trust?”

  “Yes, trust. Without it, we would be unable to conduct any business. At the root of every merchant’s profits lies a relationship built on trust. Furthermore, even if a merchant finds themselves bereft of money, as long as they have the trust of others they won’t be ruined. After our little trip, would you not say the Nos Trading Company is worthy of your trust? If you do, then I’ve already made a far greater profit than any amount of money you could provide me.”

  Liliana smiled to herself. He certainly knew how to give a speech. If she paid him now, it would be the same as saying she didn’t trust him. Her thanks would have the opposite effect of what she intended.

  Liliana pulled back her cowl and looked More in the eyes.

  “Your company is one I would trust with my life. I swear that I, Liliana S. B. Heiligh, will never forget the kindness you have shown me. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

  “You are far too kind.”

  More, along with the rest of his merchants, bowed deeply to Liliana.

  After all that, More left Liliana in Hajime’s care and continued down the road to Horaud. Just before they were out of sight, he turned around and yelled one final warning to Hajime. More had heard that Hajime was now a heretic, but despite that he chose to believe in the man who’d saved his life twice. He informed Hajime that something sinister was happening in the capital, and that he should be careful. In return, Hajime told More that his party had purified Ankaji’s oasis and that they were no longer in dire need of food. That was all the information More needed to guess as to why the Holy Church had turned against Hajime. He left with a final “If you ever find yourself in need of supplies for your journey, please come to the Nos Trading Company first.” He really is a merchant through and through.

  Once More left, Hajime and the others took Liliana back to Brise and asked her what she’d come for. The tension in her voice did not bode well, and Hajime was worried he’d get dragged into something he didn’t want again. However, the first thing she said took him completely by surprise.

  “Aiko-san... has been kidnapped.” This was far worse than anything Hajime could have imagined.

  Liliana explained her story to the shocked party.

  For a while, Lilliana had been worried about how strained the atmosphere in the palace was. Her father, the king, had been spending more and more time with the pope, and had grown far more religious. He’d oftentimes praise Ehit during meals or conversations, and his piety influenced the ministers and nobles to become more religious as well.

  Liliana had kept trying to tell herself that it was just a side-effect of all the time he was spending with the Holy Church officials. Humans needed to be united in this time of crisis, or the demons would overrun them, she thought. However, things steadily got worse. Many of the soldiers started looking listless, as if someone had sucked out their souls. Whenever she asked any of the knights how they were doing, they’d always reply that they were fine, but to her they all looked seriously ill.

  She’d then tried to consult Meld, the knight she trusted most in the palace, but he had seemingly vanished. He still showed up to Kouki and the others’ training from time to time, but whenever she managed to catch a glimpse of him there, he’d vanish before she could talk to him. In the end, she never got a chance to see him.

  It was then that Aiko had returned to the capital. She’d given the king a report on what had transpired at Ur.

  Liliana had been in the audience chamber at the time and had heard the whole story. At that point, an emergency vote had been held.

  That was when they’d decided to declare Hajime a heretic. They ignored Aiko’s protests, the fact that he’d saved both an entire city and the hero party, and declared him an enemy of mankind.

  Liliana had naturally found the vote absurd, and had said as much to her father. However, the king seemed convinced that Hajime was an enemy of Ehit. His hate was so vehement that Liliana feared he was possessed. As a matter of fact, he had claimed Liliana herself was lacking in faith when she even mentioned the possibility that Hajime was innocent. As the meeting progressed, he began to look at his own daughter as if she were the enemy.

  Terrified, Liliana had pretended to agree with her father and fled his chambers. She’d run to Aiko, hoping to share her worries with the teacher.

  Aiko had told her she planned on telling her students what Hajime had told her about the gods and the true goal of his journey during dinner. She’d expressed her hopes that Liliana would join them.

  So that evening, Liliana had headed for the dining hall where the students took their meals. On the way there, she’d heard Aiko arguing with someone. She’d peeked out from the edge of the hallway to see what was going on, and watched as a silver-haired nun incapacitated Aiko and took her away.

  Liliana had been terrified of that nun, and hidden herself in a nearby guest room. Once inside, she’d entered a secret passage that only royalty knew about.

  The nun had come looking for her, but had been unable to find her. Fortunately for Liliana, the passage had been an artifact that hid the presence of whoever was in it. Liliana knew she had to tell someone. The nun was clearly behind the strange atmosphere she’d been feeling in the castle. Or if not behind it, working for whoever was.

  However, she knew if Aiko had been taken that the students would likely be under surveillance. And Captain Meld was still nowhere to be found.

  After a lot of worrying, Liliana had decided to turn to the one friend she knew who was outside the palace.

  Kaori. Plus, she knew that Kaori would have to be traveling with Hajime. Those two were the only people left that she knew she could rely on, so she’d followed the secret passage out of the castle and tried to find someone willing to take her to Ankaji.

  She’d picked Ankaji because she knew the Zengen family would be willing to help her. On top of that, they were far enough from the capital that
they were likely still unaffected by the darkness that hung over it. And more than anything, she guessed that there was a good chance she’d run into Kaori there.

  “After that, I joined More Nos’ caravan and traveled with him out of the capital. I didn’t think he’d recognize me straight away, or that we’d be attacked by bandits, or that the people I’d set out to meet would be the ones to save me, though. A few weeks ago, I would have said that this was all because Ehit was watching over me. But now... I’m... afraid of the Holy Church. I don’t know what’s happening anymore. I have no idea who that silver-haired nun is... or what’s wrong with my father...” Liliana hugged her knees and trembled in fear. Right now she looked less like the wise and confident princess she was reputed to be and more like an ordinary, frightened girl. Hajime couldn’t blame her though. Everyone she knew and loved had either gone insane or was missing.

  Kaori hugged Liliana tight. That was all she could do right now to ease her friend’s worries.

  Hajime mentally shook his head. Liliana’s story had borne a surprising resemblance to the visions they’d seen in the Sunken Ruins of Melusine. One by one, Ehit was starting to possess people. Things were not looking good.

  Under most circumstances, Hajime would have just washed his hands of this and said it had nothing to do with him. He would simply have sped up his schedule, conquered all the labyrinths as quickly as possible, and left this world without a second thought.

  However, Hajime could more or less guess why Aiko had been kidnapped. He couldn’t say this had nothing to do with him. Someone affiliated with the Holy Church had likely taken her because she’d tried to tell the others what Hajime had told her. Ehit likely didn’t want his own pawns, Kouki and the others, to stop following his script.

  She’d been kidnapped because Hajime had tried to use her for his own gain.

  Seeing as they’d kidnapped her, Hajime doubted they intended to kill her any time soon. Still, he didn’t want to imagine what kinds of things they might do to her. After all, the so-called gods had no qualms about manipulating people like pawns. He doubted they’d shy away from torture.

  More than anything, he owed his current happiness to Aiko. She was the one who had advised him to change the way he lived his life. Even if her kidnapping wasn’t his fault, he wouldn’t have abandoned her.

  That was why he knew there was only one option.

  “Guess we’ve gotta save Sensei.” Hajime made his decision. I won’t abandon her. This isn’t someone else’s problem, but mine.

  Liliana looked up at him, relief flooding her face. She had been expecting him to refuse. Shizuku had told her how he’d said that the people of this world, and even his own classmates, meant nothing to him anymore. She’d been mentally preparing herself for a long debate.

  “You’ll come back to help?” Liliana asked one more time, just to be sure. Hajime just shrugged his shoulders.

  “Don’t misunderstand. I don’t give a damn about the kingdom. I’m only going back to save Sensei. It’s my fault she got kidnapped in the first place, and even if it wasn’t, I do owe her.”

  “Aiko-san’s...”

  While it was unfortunate that he cared nothing for her kingdom, it didn’t change the fact that he would come back with her. Liliana was content to settle for that.

  Hajime’s next words brought a smile to her face.

  “And, well, if whatever’s messing up the palace tries to get in the way of me saving Sensei, I’ll beat the shit out of it for you.”

  “You’ll... Fufu. In that case, I pray it does try to get in your way. Thank you so much for agreeing to help, Nagumo-san.”

  Aiko had been kidnapped by a nun. That, plus the strange fanaticism of the king told Hajime that chances were the Holy Church was behind this.

  Saving Aiko would almost inevitably entail fighting against them. Hajime knew that too. In other words, he understood that accompanying Liliana back to the capital would mean he’d end up having to save her kingdom in the process.

  The corners of Hajime’s mouth inched upward as he watched Liliana and Kaori smile at each other.

  He had a secondary reason for going to back to the capital, too. After all, the Divine Mountain housed its very own labyrinth. In other words, an ancient magic that he needed was in there. However, he had absolutely no idea where that labyrinth’s entrance was. Searching the area would be difficult with all the priests and clergy running around.

  It was because he hadn’t wanted to start a fight with the Holy Church just yet that he’d decided to ignore the mountain and head for Haltina first. With the situation being what it was, though, he had ample reason to conquer the mountain immediately.

  Rescuing Aiko would put him in direct opposition with the Holy Church. In which case, it made sense to launch a pre-emptive strike against them. Plus, he’d be able to get his hands on ancient magic that he’d need eventually anyway. It was killing two birds with one stone.

  The silver-haired nun Liliana had spoken of reminded Hajime of the hooded figure who’d been by King Aleister’s side in Melusine’s visions. When they’d disappeared below the deck with the king, Hajime distinctly remembered seeing a flash of silver hair. He wasn’t sure if they were the same person. After all, centuries had passed since then. For some reason though, Hajime had a feeling they were. And he was sure that they’d soon find themselves at odds with each other.

  He was raring for this fight. The monster incubated in the abyss was thirsting for blood. Anything that stood in his way would die, no exceptions.

  He broke into the same fearless grin he had whenever he was up against grim odds.

  “Hajime, you’re amazing.”

  “Hawawa, Hajime-san’s making that face again. I’m falling for him all over!”

  “Hm, Master. If you keep grinning at me like that.. my panties are going to get soaked.”

  The trio of girls drooling over Hajime ended up ruining the tense atmosphere he was building up.

  Let’s turn back the clock to a few days before Liliana met up with Hajime and the others.

  A lone figure stood near the outskirts of the royal palace. They were in an empty, quiet clearing. It was a solemn place, the silence punctured only by the night breeze. Crisp moonlight illuminated the area.

  Truthfully, the figure was standing in a graveyard. However, as it was near the palace, it was no mere graveyard for the masses. There was a single stone monument carved directly out of the mountainside. A towering edifice that immortalized the sacrifices of the brave souls who’d given their lives for this kingdom. All those who died in battle for the kingdom had their names engraved there.

  The man standing in front of the grave was Heiligh’s knight captain, Meld Loggins. Though his expression was neutral, there was a deep sadness in his eyes.

  This late at night, the only people wandering the palace grounds were the soldiers on patrol, but none of them passed through this graveyard.

  That, of course, made this quiet graveyard the perfect meeting place for clandestine activities.

  “Captain.” The whisper was so quiet it was nearly snatched away by the wind. Meld turned around and saw the man he was waiting for. The newcomer walked up without making a sound. His name was Jose Rancaid. He was the vice-commander of the knights, and Meld’s right-hand man.

  “Were you followed?”

  “No, I didn’t meet a soul on the way here. Still, it would be unwise to linger too long.”

  “We certainly wouldn’t want people starting rumors that the two most important knights in the kingdom are plotting something, especially considering the current state of the court. The ministers all suspect even their own shadows.”

  Meld smiled bitterly, which Jose reciprocated.

  “How are the soldiers?” Meld asked, his expression serious once more. Jose’s expression didn’t inspire confidence. In fact, he was pale.

  “Including the captains, over sixty percent of the soldiers are showing signs of ‘Hollowness.’” The Hollow
ness Jose referred to was a strange phenomenon that had appeared over the past few days. It had spread quickly through the ranks of common foot soldiers and knights. Put simply, the Hollowness was some strange affliction that made them lethargic.

  They still continued doing their jobs, and responded to direct questions. However, they were clearly more listless than usual, and none of those affected by it smiled. They became social recluses, leaving their room only to work.

  The epidemic had spread fast, and now it was affecting even nobles and commanders.

  Naturally, Meld had launched an investigation as to the cause of the matter. He was worried about his men, and feared that this was worse than simple lethargy.

  “Already? I should be thankful only 10 percent of my knights are affected. That, and none of my captains seem ill yet.”

  “But Captain. I’m not quite sure how to put this... but should we really assume this is an enemy attack? Could it not simply be that the men are burnt out?” Jose’s tone was hesitant.

  “Kouki’s been beaten, we’ve lost many of our best knights, and the demons have overturned the numbers advantage we had over them. Do you really think this is a coincidence? I understand how you feel, Jose, but blind optimism will get you killed.”

  “My apologies.” Jose was by no means being optimistic. It was his job as Meld’s confidante to offer alternate viewpoints and contradict any potential flaws in his boss’ reasoning. And so, Jose cleared his throat and continued.

  “How are things on your end, Captain? Has the king been affected as well?”

  “His Highness is still safe for now. He shows no symptoms of Hollowness. If anything, he seems more lively than ever. He swears by Ehit that he won’t let the demons’ atrocities continue. However...”

  “What is it?” Jose wasn’t used to seeing his boss hesitate.

  Meld tried to search for the right words. In the end, he wasn’t able to find them and he shook his head.

  “It’s nothing.” He could hardly tell his vice-captain that the king was too religious. It would be blasphemy, both to Jose and to his own faith.