Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest Vol. 2 Page 5

  “Ehehe, don’t worry, Father. Hajime-san might be cruel towards women, demand compensation for everything he does, and mercilessly use people as bait, but he’d never break a promise or trample on the hopes of someone else! I’m sure he’ll protect us!”

  “Hahaha, I see, I see. So what you’re saying is he’s just shy. In that case, we’re in good hands.”

  At Cam’s words, the surrounding rabbitmen all started murmuring at once. Sentences such as “I see, he’s just shy,” and the like. They all nodded to themselves while gazing kindly down at Hajime.

  Hajime angrily pulled out Donner, but before he could do anything, he got blindsided by a surprise attack.

  “...Yeah, Hajime’s really shy (in bed).”

  “Yue...”

  His face cramped up at that, but he figured if he kept arguing for too long they’d just have more monsters to deal with, so he instead focused on getting everyone ready to leave. Once all forty-two rabbitmen were ready, he started leading them to the gorge exit.

  They ran into many monsters along the way, as a caravan of defenseless rabbitmen made for an easy target, but not a single monster got past Hajime. Any time something that threatened them showed up, Hajime would promptly shoot it down without mercy.

  With every gunshot, another of Reisen Gorge’s ferocious monsters met its end, unable to put up even a modicum of resistance. The rabbitmen were all astonished at how easily he dispatched monsters that others would struggle to even escape from. Before long, they all respected him for his overwhelming strength. The little bunny children all stared at Hajime with glowing eyes, like he was their hero.

  “Fufufu, Hajime-san, look! All the kids are staring at you! Why not give them a little wave at least?” Seeing how uncomfortable Hajime was at being adored by the children, she started poking fun at him. An angry vein pulsed on his forehead, and he wordlessly fired Donner at her.

  Bang! Bang! Bang!

  “Awawawawah!?” The rubber bullets headed straight for her feet, and Shea had to do an impromptu tap dance to avoid them. Having gotten used to this spectacle, Cam only smiled wryly while Yue just looked tired of the ongoing skit.

  “Shea seems to have taken quite a liking to you, Hajime-dono. To the point that one would suspect she might... Well, I suppose she is getting to that age now. As her father, I do feel a little sad about it. But I’d be relieved if it was you I entrusted her to, Hajime-dono...” Cam seemed to be completely unconcerned about the fact that his daughter was still being shot at, and tears pooled in the corners of his eyes as he spoke about her growth.

  “Someone save meee,” Shea screamed, but the other rabbitmen also just watched with warm expressions as she danced around a storm of bullets.

  “There’s something wrong with you guys. You look at this and that’s what goes through your heads?

  “...They’re weird.”

  As Yue had said, there was definitely something odd about these people’s idea of common sense. Or perhaps they were naturally inclined to be airheads. Though there was no way to tell if that was something specific to the Haulia clan in general, or applicable to all rabbitmen.

  Soon enough, the party arrived at the staircase that would lead them out of Reisen Gorge. Hajime used his Far Sight skill to scout out the area, and his first impression of the stairs was that they were quite an impressive feat of engineering. The staircase was actually a series of switchbacks cut directly into the cliff face. Each switchback went about fifty meters before turning. Past the staircase was the sea of trees, of which only a glimpse could be seen from down in the gorge. It would take an average person about half a day to go from the exit of the gorge to the entrance of Haltina Woods.

  Shea realized Hajime must be doing something to magnify his sight, so she timidly asked him,

  “Do you see any imperial soldiers?”

  “Not sure. It’s possible they gave up and went home, but...”

  “U-Umm, if we do run into them... Hajime-san... what will you do?”

  “What do you mean?” He tilted his head in confusion, and Shea took a moment to steel herself before continuing. The other Haulia members all perked up their ears in order to listen in.

  “Our opponents this time wouldn’t be monsters, but soldiers... Other humans like you, I mean. Will you really be able to fight them?”

  “Worthless rabbit, didn’t you say you saw me helping in the future you got a glimpse of?”

  “Yes, I did. I definitely saw you fighting imperial troops, Hajime-san, but...”

  “Then what’s there to be worried about?”

  “I’m not exactly worried; I just wanted to make sure. Protecting us from the empire might make you into humanity’s enemy. I was just wondering how you felt about fighting your own people...”

  All of the Haulia silently gazed at Hajime. The smaller children obviously didn’t fully grasp what was going on, but they could tell the atmosphere was tense and that all the adults were looking at him, so they did too.

  However, Hajime was completely unfazed by the serious atmosphere and answered frankly.

  “I don’t really see a problem with it.”

  “Huh?”

  Despite Shea’s serious tone, Hajime replied casually, without a hint of doubt.

  “I mean, what’s wrong with turning all of humanity into my enemy?”

  “B-But I mean, they’re your people, aren’t they?”

  “Aren’t you guys being chased by ‘your people’ right now, too?”

  “I mean, I guess that’s true, but...”

  “Besides, I think you guys are misunderstanding something.”

  “What do you mean?” This time it was Shea who tilted her head in confusion. The other Haulia were all puzzled as well.

  “Okay, listen up. I’ve hired you guys to help me navigate through the sea of trees, which is why I’m protecting you right now. I can’t exactly let my guides die. I’m not doing this because of some sense of justice or because I sympathize with you guys or anything. Can’t say I plan on babysitting you guys forever, either. You haven’t forgotten that, have you?”

  “Umm, no... I haven’t forgotten...”

  “I’ll protect you as long as it takes to get you guys to guide me through, for my own sake. And it doesn’t matter who they are. Anyone who gets in my way, whether they be monsters or humans, is an enemy. And the only thing that awaits my enemies is death. That’s all.”

  “I-I see...”

  Shea smiled bitterly at how Hajime-esque his reasoning was. Even if she had seen them protecting her tribe from imperial soldiers, the future wasn’t set in stone. While her visions had a high chance of coming to pass, on the off chance that the empire did get their paws on the Haulia, a fate worse than death awaited them. They would be sold off as slaves. Though she never let it show, Shea felt a lot of guilt about getting her family wrapped up in this situation, which was why she needed to be 100% sure that Hajime would save them.

  “Hahaha, I like a man who can keep things simple. Don’t worry. Just leave guiding you through the sea of trees to us.” Cam laughed cheerfully. It was easier to trust a person who was doing this as part of a contract rather than someone who said they just wanted to be a hero of justice or something. His laugh wasn’t one bit forced. That was just what he truly thought.

  The rabbit party slowly approached the foot of the staircase. With Hajime in the lead, they began climbing the multitude of stone steps. Despite the fact that they probably hadn’t had a chance to eat since fleeing into the gorge, the Haulia’s footsteps were full of energy. In return for not having any magical ability, most beastmen were quite sturdy.

  Finally, they cleared the last switchback and escaped from Reisen Gorge.

  What waited for them as they crested the last set of steps was...

  “Holy shit, you serious? They’re actually still alive! And here I thought the commander was nuts for leaving us here. Well, this’ll make a nice present to send back home.” There were around thirty or so imperial s
oldiers waiting around the exit. They had created a makeshift camp near the staircase, and there were a few large carriages dotting the campsite. Each of the soldiers was wearing an identical khaki uniform, and most of them had swords or spears or shields slung across their backs. They were clearly surprised to see Hajime and the rabbitmen. But they quickly recovered from their initial shock. Smiles erupted on their faces as they began appraising the stock they would soon sell.

  “Boss, the light-haired girl’s with them too! You were eyeing her before, right?”

  “Oooh, today really is my lucky day. I don’t care what you do with the old farts, but you better not harm a hair on her head, you hear?”

  “There’s plenty of women to go around, so it’s fine if we examine a few of the goods before shipping them off first, right? They made us wait here in the middle of nowhere for three whole days, so it’s only fair, right boss? We definitely deserve a little bonus, don’t you think?”

  “Sheesh. Fine, but you better not do them all. Behave yourselves and keep it to just two or three.”

  “Hell yeah! I knew you were a nice guy, boss!”

  The soldiers clearly didn’t even see the Haulia as a threat, as they weren’t even bothering to get into formation. Their attention was completely focused on the female Haulia, and vulgar smiles were on each of their faces. The rabbitmen were all shivering with fear.

  Finally, the grinning man the others had called “boss” noticed Hajime’s presence.

  “Huh? Who the hell are you? You’re... not a rabbitman, are you?”

  Judging from their tone, it didn’t seem likely they would just let Hajime and the others pass through, so he decided to humor them by answering.

  “Yeah, I’m a human.”

  “Huuuh? And what’s a human like you doing with the likes of them? Coming from Reisen Gorge no less. Wait, are you a slave trader? Did you come here because someone tipped you off about the rabbits? Well, you’re quite the dedicated merchant, you know. Sucks for you, though. Unfortunately, those cuties over there are property of the empire, so I’m gonna have to ask you to leave.”

  The soldiers’ commander made his own assumptions and barked out orders with the clear belief that they would be followed unquestioningly.

  Obviously, Hajime had no intention of obeying.

  “No.”

  “What’d you just say?”

  “I said no. These people are with me. I’m not handing a single one of them over to you. I suggest packing up and going home.”

  Thinking he surely must have misheard, the leader asked again. However, he was just met with an even more arrogant refusal. A vein pulsed on the soldier’s forehead.

  “Kid, you better watch your mouth. Do you not realize who we are, or are you just that damn stupid?”

  “Oh, I know exactly who you are. But you of all people really don’t have the right to be calling anyone stupid.”

  The smile vanished off the commander’s face at that. The rest of the soldiers all started glaring angrily at Hajime too.

  Suddenly, Yue stepped out from behind Hajime, grabbing everyone’s attention. Despite her childlike appearance, there was an aura of maturity surrounding her, captivating all the men present.

  For a moment, the commander was stunned too, but then he noticed how tightly she was clinging to Hajime’s sleeve and realized she must be with him. Suddenly, he was wearing the same vulgar smile from before.

  “Aaah, now I get it. I see how it is now. You’re just a little brat that doesn’t know how the world works. Well, allow me to give you a free lesson about just how harsh it can be. Kuku, that girl over there looks mighty fine. Think I’ll rape her in front of your eyes after I chop all your limbs off. After that, I’ll sell her off to slavers.” Hajime’s eyebrow twitched, and despite her unchanging expression, Yue’s gaze clearly dripped with hatred. She raised her arm regally, as if rejecting that this man even had any right to exist.

  However, Hajime held her back before she could do anything. She glanced at him dubiously, but he cleared up her confusion with his next words.

  “So you’re our enemy, is that it?”

  “Huuuh!? You still don’t get it, kid? You can get down on your knees and beg if you want, but it’s—” Before he could even finish his sentence, he was interrupted by a gunshot. As Hajime had expected, the commander had been too proud to even talk things through, and as a result he was now missing his head. He wouldn’t be badmouthing anyone again. His headless corpse fell limply to the ground a few seconds later.

  The remaining soldiers stared dumbly at the corpse of their dead boss, and before they could even gather their wits, they were hit by a follow-up attack.

  Booom! There was another gunshot, but this one decapitated five soldiers at once. Actually, there had been five gunshots, but Hajime fired so fast that their sounds melded together.

  Panicking now at the sudden death of their comrades, the soldiers scrambled to point their weapons at Hajime. Even if they couldn’t tell how it was happening, it was clear who was responsible. All told, their reaction was pretty quick. They might have had rotten personalities, but they were still professional soldiers. Their training was the real deal.

  “Get him!”

  “Everyone, start chanting!”

  The troop quickly organized themselves into a backline and frontline. However, as if mocking the frailty of their formation, a small object suddenly rolled up to one of the backline members. It was a black cylinder of some sort. The backline members all stared at it, but they didn’t stop chanting. In the next second, that ceased to matter, however, as they were all turned into corpses.

  With a thunderous roar, the cylinder exploded, the shockwave sending lethal shards of metal tearing through every single one of the backline members.

  Said cylinder had, of course, been one of Hajime’s grenades. This one was a frag grenade packed to the brim with metal scraps. It was far more powerful than frag grenades made on Earth.

  The initial explosion alone was enough to instantly kill the ten or so soldiers closest to it, and fatally maim another seven.

  Furthermore, the remaining seven soldiers that made up the front line were blown forward by the force of the blast. Six of them turned to look back and instantly lost their heads as bullets rocketed through their skulls. The resulting spray of blood drenched the lone survivor, who lost all will to fight and slumped to the ground. It was only natural. In only an instant, his entire platoon had been annihilated. It hadn’t been an especially weak one or anything either. In fact, they had been one of the more elite units in the army, which was precisely why his eyes were currently darting about, his mind unable to accept what was happening as reality.

  Meanwhile, the monster who had caused such a tragedy spoke with such casualness that one might think he were commenting on the weather.

  “Yeah, like I thought, I don’t even need Lightning Field against humans. Plain bullets are more than enough.”

  The soldier jumped with a start, and gazed fearfully at Hajime. Hajime tapped Donner’s barrel against his shoulder while he slowly walked up to the soldier. His fluttering black coat and the ease with which he delivered death made him seem like the grim reaper. Or well, at least he did to the sole surviving soldier.

  “Ah... G-Get away from me! N-Nooo! I don’t want to die! S-Someone! Anyone! Save me!”

  The soldier crawled backward on all fours as he begged for his life. His face was twisted in fear, and the dark stain near his crotch indicated he’d wet himself. Hajime looked down at him, ice in his eyes, before suddenly aiming Donner at the soldier’s back and firing multiple times in quick succession.

  “Ack!” The soldier desperately shrunk back, but there was no impact to his body. That was because Hajime had only finished off all the soldiers who had been mortally wounded by his grenade. Terrified, the soldier turned around, only to see his entire platoon well and truly annihilated.

  His entire body stiffened at the sight, and he couldn’t even move as
Hajime pressed Donner’s barrel against his head. Trembling in terror, the soldier desperately attempted to plead for his life.

  “P-Please, I’m begging you! Please don’t kill me! I’ll do anything! Anything!”

  “Anything? In that case, tell me what you did with all the other rabbitmen you captured. I’d heard you took quite a few... Have you already shipped them back to the empire?”

  The reason he’d asked was because Hajime was sure it would take a decent amount of time to transport over a hundred people, which meant it was possible they were still nearby. If they were, he didn’t see any problem with saving them on the way to the sea of trees. Though if they’d already been sent to the empire, he wasn’t going to go that far out of his way to mount a rescue.

  “I-If I tell you, will you let me go?”

  “I don’t think you’re in any position to be making demands here. Can’t say it’s information I need that badly, anyway. If you don’t wanna talk, I’ll just kill you now.”

  “W-Wait, please! I’ll talk! I’ll talk, so please don’t kill me! I think they transported them all. After whittling down the numbers a little...”

  By “whittling down the numbers,” he probably meant the soldiers had killed all the elderly and anyone else that wasn’t likely to sell. The Haulia all despaired at the soldier’s words. Hajime spared them a quick glance before returning his attention to the soldier. Murder dwelled in his eyes now that he no longer had a use for him.

  “Wait! Please! I’ll tell you anything else you ask! I’ll spill whatever you want, so please!”

  The soldier began pleading for his life again when he realized Hajime planned to kill him. However, the only reply he got... was a single bullet to the head.

  There was a collective intake of breath as the Haulia all gasped. It appeared they were taken aback by how utterly merciless he was. For once, there was some fear in their eyes. Even Shea was looking at him a little timidly.

  “U-Umm, couldn’t you have just let that last one go...” He gave her a withering glare, and she shrank back fearfully. These are the people who killed and enslaved her comrades, and she still wants to show them mercy? These rabbitmen are way too nice. Or wait, maybe they’re all just pacifists? Hajime was about to open his mouth to protest, but Yue beat him to the punch.