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

by Ryo Shirakome

  Tio’s eyes glimmered with hope.

  Hajime responded with a straight face, “I mean, would you like it if your pet dog started wagging its tail for some other guy?”

  “Mmmmmm!? Is this my punishment!? To think you would impart such harsh words onto me after being so kind, Master! You truly are amazing!”

  Tio hugged Hajime and started panting in excitement. But for once, Hajime didn’t push her away.

  They’re both beyond saving... Yue and Shea thought simultaneously.

  Half a day passed while Hajime and Yue rested and Tio trained. Finally, a portal opened in the center of the living room. Suzu and the others had returned. They’d brought with them a menagerie of tigers, wolves, snakes and other high-level monsters from Verbergen. It seemed their taming attempts had been successful. The party rested for half a day longer, and Suzu and the rest took that time to strengthen their new familiars.

  Hajime also fashioned collar artifacts enchanted with his Gate Keyholes for everyone’s familiars. This way, Suzu and the others could let them roam free in their homeland and still summon them whenever they needed them.

  “Alright, we should probably get going now,” Hajime said.

  Suzu and the others nodded. Their preparations were complete.

  “Oh yeah. Here you go, Hajime-san.”

  As they left the palace, Shea handed Hajime a teardrop-shaped pendant. It was made of a transparent blue crystal that looked like ice, and it was engraved with Vandre Schnee’s crest. This was proof that Hajime and the others had conquered the Frost Caverns. In truth, when Hajime and Yue had fallen unconscious, part of the wall had slid away to reveal an alcove with the pendant. Shea had retrieved it back then, but she’d forgotten to give it to Hajime until now.

  Hajime took the pendant and stepped into the magic circle that was at the entrance of the palace. There was a sharp crack, and the fountain in front of the palace froze. An egg-shaped chunk of ice then rose up from the frozen fountain. A second later, the egg burst, sending shards of ice flying everywhere. From within the egg appeared a dragon made of ice. The translucent ice was made of shimmered white light.

  Hajime and the others were in awe as they watched the spectacle. The ice dragon descended to where the party was and lowered its neck so they could climb on. It seemed this ice dragon was the shortcut that would take them out of the Frost Caverns.

  “This is one hell of a way to make a shortcut.”

  “Mmm... Maybe it’s our reward?”

  “Never thought the guy who made such a nasty trial would give us something like this.”

  Hajime and the others clambered onto the dragon’s back, using its scaled neck like a staircase. Once they were situated, the dragon flapped its wings and shot into the sky.

  It looked like the dragon was going to crash into the ceiling, but a moment before it did, a circular hole appeared to let it through. It flew through the opening without slowing down.

  As the party enjoyed the breeze, Tio muttered, “The only dragon worthy of bearing Master upon its back is me... Is it too late to swap?”

  Hajime and the others laughed, and a few seconds later they were through the tunnel. The dragon emerged inside the snowbound land of the Schee Snow Fields. Hajime expected the dragon to drop them off here, but it continued flying upward. It shot up through the dark clouds covering the snow fields and came to a halt only when the party was basking in the warm light of the sun. From there, it banked and started flying horizontally.

  “Judging by the position of the sun, it’s taking us northwest. I guess it’ll take us all the way out of the snow fields.”

  “Mmm... Miledi and Meiru should have learned from Vandre.”

  “I feel like all the female Liberators had nasty personalities.”

  West of the snow fields was the Demon Kingdom of Garland, while the Reisen Gorge was to the north. Since the dragon was going northwest, it’d drop them off somewhere close to both locations, so regardless of the race of the challengers, they’d be near some part of their own home territory. Judging by the fact that the party didn’t feel cold despite the altitude, the dragon had also erected a simple weatherproofing barrier. Vandre’s shortcut was a far cry from Miledi’s toilet or Meiru’s seawater torpedo. And while Haltina hadn’t unceremoniously evicted challengers from her labyrinth, she’d incorporated cockroaches into her trial.

  Meanwhile, Vandre had not only provided a comfortable and convenient shortcut, it looked cool too. Hajime couldn’t help but feel grateful toward Vandre. At the same time, he couldn’t help but pity the male members of the Liberators. They’d no doubt had a rough time dealing with their female counterparts.

  “You know, I’ve never seen Nagumo-kun make an expression like that...”

  “I don’t know what happened in Miledi-san’s labyrinth, but I distinctly remember how horrible the end of Melusine’s ruins were.”

  As Suzu and Kaori chatted, the dragon began to descend. It seemed it was nearing its destination. From the looks of it, the ice dragon was incapable of going past the boundaries of the snow fields. It plunged back into the clouds that perpetually covered the snow fields and brought them down to the very edge of the snow.

  “Thanks. I’m sure the guy who made you was a great man.”

  “Unlike Miledi, Vandre Schnee knows how to treat his guests!”

  “Mmm... Thank you. I’m glad Vandre was a much better person than Miledi or Meiru.”

  Hajime, Shea, and Yue thanked the dragon as they got off it. Hajime wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, but the dragon seemed pleased by the praise. It waved its tail happily, then flew back into the icy blizzard.

  Hajime and the others weren’t happy they were stuck in the snow field’s blizzard again, but at least they knew the exit wasn’t far. The party hurried toward the border of the snow fields, but then Hajime and Shea suddenly stopped.

  They narrowed their eyes and said, “Everyone, be careful. It looks like we’ve got a welcome party waiting outside.”

  “I definitely recognize this presence. There’s a lot of them too. This isn’t good.”

  Everyone tensed up upon hearing Hajime and Shea’s warnings. They drew their weapons and prepared for battle. Hajime and the others exchanged glances, nodded to each other, then walked out of the snowstorm. Outside, they saw—

  “So you came out here after all. It’s the same place I was deposited. So, did you all manage to clear the labyrinth, white-haired boy?”

  “Fufu. Long time no see, Kouki-kun. Have you been well?”

  The demon general Freid Bagwa, and his white dragon Uranos. He’d brought with him a few hundred flying monsters, most of them dragons. Eri was there as well, her gray hair fluttering in the breeze. She was flying, a pair of gray wings sprouting from her back. But scariest of all were the apostles. There were five hundred of them. An army large enough to blot out the sky awaited Hajime.

  Extra Chapter: The Seven Most Important Things for an Otherworld Summoning

  “Hajime... Come down!”

  I hear my mother’s voice calling me from downstairs. Looking at the clock, I realize it’s 6:15 PM. Time for dinner. But right now, I’m fighting the demon lord’s army, so I don’t have time for dinner.

  “Well, if you’re in the middle of a fight, I suppose dinner can wait.”

  As always, mom manages to figure out what I’m doing without me saying a thing. My mom, Sumire Nagumo, is a popular shoujo manga artist, and a bonafide otaku as well, which is why she understands these things better than most moms. I open my mouth to shout back that I’ll eat once I’m done preparing against the demon lord’s attacks, but—

  “Just know that if you don’t eat dinner now, I’ll make your beef bowl without this super high-grade beef we got as a gift.”

  “A beef bowl without beef is just rice!”

  Mom got high-grade beef as a gift? This isn’t the time to be fighting the demon lord! I hurriedly drop my controller and get to my feet. Mom never makes empty threats.


  “Hajime! Leave the dinner arrangements to me and focus on your battle!”

  I can’t believe my dad, Shuu Hajime, wants my meat so badly that he’s trying to convince me not to come down for dinner. My back hurts, but I nevertheless hurtle down the stairs. Time is of the essence! I burst into the living room and dad clicks his tongue.

  “Tch...”

  He reluctantly puts the beef he took out of my bowl back where it belongs.

  “Dad, you realize normal dads don’t try to steal their kid’s food, right?’”

  I take my seat and glare at my dad.

  “Well, I’m no normal dad. The Nagumo family doesn’t believe in lax parenting!”

  “Stealing my beef has nothing to do with whether or not your parenting is lax!”

  “I’m just teaching you that it’s survival of the fittest out there.”

  I look over at Dad’s beef bowl. It’s time to hunt. If survival of the fittest is the law of the land, then he can’t complain if I make his beef mine.

  “Alright, that’s enough, you two. Stop fooling around and eat. Fufufu, there’s nothing tastier than free meat.”

  Mom brings the miso soup over, and dinner begins. The moment the three of us take our first bite, we fall silent. The beef’s so soft that it melts in your mouth. Like starving savages, we tear into our beef bowls.

  Once dinner’s over, we all sigh in contentment. High-grade beef really is something else. While we’re basking in the afterglow, the evening news starts playing on TV. The beautiful newscaster’s voice fills my ears. Apparently, some high school boy who went missing a while back was found safe and sound. He hadn’t been kidnapped, just went hiking in the mountains without proper gear and got stranded.

  I guess he just couldn’t control his urges... I take a sip of my tea.

  “I see. So he was summoned to another world.”

  Dad sips his tea as well. Nice one, Dad. You managed to come up with an even nerdier explanation than me.

  Dad’s an even bigger otaku than me, and he’s the president of a video game company, so I guess it makes sense that he’s always thinking about stuff like this.

  “But since he managed to make it back, he’ll be able to use all the superpowers he gained while in that fantasy world to live an easy life.”

  “Can we please stop pretending he was actually isekaied? There’s no way that happened.”

  His family was probably worried about him. If all he said after being found was, “Oh, I just went to another world for a bit!” his life’s already too fucked up to be easy. Dad sighs and shakes his head.

  “Don’t be so sure, Hajime. Nothing in this world is certain.”

  “He’s right, you know. The two of us often hoped we might have wild fantasy adventures when we were young.”

  The isekai boom only started a few years ago. Meaning Mom and Dad were way ahead of the curve when they were young. I don’t know if I like this.

  “Oh yeah! Let me show you something cool, Hajime!”

  Dad dashes up the stairs. A bunch of strange noises start coming out of his room on the second floor. After thirty seconds of banging and crashing, he comes back down.

  “Here. I bequeath this to you, Hajime.”

  “What is this?”

  Dad hands me an old notebook. It’s bound in leather and looks needlessly fancy.

  “Oh my, now that’s nostalgic!” Mom says, her eyes sparkling.

  Before I can open it Dad grins and says, “This is part three of my what-if series! It’s the isekai edition!”

  “The heck does that mean!?”

  Apparently, Mom and Dad had written down tips and guides in case various fantastical situations ever occurred to them. They’d called them the what-if series. The situations varied from a zombie apocalypse to an alien invasion, to what to do if your left arm started throbbing all of a sudden. Apparently, this notebook was about what to do if you were isekaied.

  The really scary thing here was that Dad had put this twenty-year-old notebook somewhere he could access it within thirty seconds.

  Even though I told my parents I didn’t need something this ridiculous, they kept insisting. Eventually, they managed to enter “The seven most important things” I’d need to know in case I was summoned to another world into my cell phone. They even locked the file so I couldn’t delete it. That just pissed me off, so I decided I’d never read them no matter what.

  Then, around the time I was beginning to forget they were even on my phone—

  Mom, Dad. I’m sorry, I was wrong. I never thought I’d be sitting in a palace in another world... I actually was summoned to another world, along with the rest of my class. Tomorrow, we’re going to delve into our first dungeon.

  Unfortunately, I’m the most worthless member of our class. Not only are my stats really low, but my job is also a generic blacksmith one that plenty of people in this world have. All I can do is process and shape ore. No one in my class likes me either. Hiyama’s bullying is getting worse by the day, and now he’s got magic and souped-up stats to make my life hell. It’s like giving a toddler a gun.

  But worse than that is the church that worships the god that brought us here, Ehit. I’m gonna be honest, the pope and his followers scare the shit out of me. The pope’s always smiling and acting polite and giving us everything we want, but he’s definitely scary.

  I’m scared of the king and the other nobles too. They all seem to love the pope. This whole time, I’ve been haunted by that image of Ehit smiling that I saw in the cathedral we were summoned into.

  Also, it’s the church that wants us to fight in their war. I’m scared of fighting, both against monsters and other people. On top of that, I’m pissed at Hiyama. So this whole isekai thing honestly isn’t all that great. I mean, there are a few really cool things, but I’m more worried than I am awed.

  Granted, it’s not like I have my back against the wall or anything. And I’m still doing my best to do everything I can. But I’d really like it if there was at least one thing in my life right now that wasn’t out to get me. I’m just tired. I guess maybe that’s why I’m suddenly remembering that dinner when you gave me the seven most important things I needed to remember for an otherworld summoning.

  I go back to my room and open up my closet. My uniform’s hanging up there. I reach into my pocket and pull out my cell, which is useless in this world. Since I turned it off right after we were summoned, I’ve still got a good amount of battery left.

  I relax as the light of civilization hits my face. Then, I navigate through my folders until I find the file I’m looking for. I smile as I read the ridiculous title.

  There’s a total of seven pages here. Each page contains a single tip, it looks like. I scroll down to read the first tip.

  “If you get summoned alongside other people and someone in your group looks useless, make sure to befriend them! They’ve definitely got some hidden strength you just can’t see!”

  “Dad, Mom, sorry, but I’m the useless one.”

  Also, I definitely don’t have any hidden powers. This isn’t any help at all... Let’s see what the next tip says.

  “Be careful! The princesses of the country you’re summoned to are often evil bitches! If you’re going to trust someone, trust the princess of another country!”

  “I can’t believe how biased you guys are...”

  Unlike the fanatical king and his nobles, Liliana’s a surprisingly nice princess. She’s already become good friends with Shirasaki-san and the others. And she’s even really nice to me. Probably because I’m useless... If even her kind smiles are actually hiding an evil interior, then I don’t think there’s anyone I can trust.

  What’s next...

  “Hurry up and seal your left arm!”

  “Dad, Mom, my left arm isn’t throbbing and it doesn’t have an evil god in it.”

  “If you hear a mysterious voice, make sure to listen to it! It’s probably a spirit or something! It’ll definitely be a helpful all
y!”

  I’m not hearing any voices! Next!

  “Register at the adventurer’s guild!”

  “Now you’re just writing down the stuff you want to do!”

  God, my parents are so useless. Oh well, maybe the next one’ll be useful!

  “Befriend the assassin in your party! They’re probably the strongest of the group!”

  “The assassin, huh...? I guess we do have one.”

  This is the first decent piece of advice they’ve given. I pocket my phone and go look for our class’ assassin. I end up looking for half a day.

  “I can’t find Endou-kun!”

  Why!? Why is it that no matter who I ask, no one has any idea where he is!? When I checked the dining hall and the training grounds, I found traces that he was there, so why can’t I actually find him!?

  “Dad, Mom. You were right. Endou-kun’s the strongest one among us.”

  He’s always been hard to spot, and even teachers occasionally forget to call his name during roll call, but he’s never been this hard to find. I’m pretty sure he’s not avoiding me... Also, I feel like I’ve been hearing someone whisper my name the whole time I’ve been searching. I think I’m just getting tired. I’ll look for Endou-kun later. He’s harder to find than Waldo.

  I go back to my room, my shoulders drooping. Then, I flop onto my bed and take out my phone. I’m expecting the last piece of advice Mom and Dad have for me to be just as useless as the rest.

  “If things look dicey, run! Your life takes priority! I know you normally take it easy, but you always act recklessly when things get dangerous, so make sure you take care of yourself! It doesn’t matter what kind of dirty things you have to do to survive, just come back alive! We’ll forgive anything you have to do, as long as you come back to us!”

  My vision blurs, and my hand starts to shake. But I can’t start crying yet. There’s still one sentence left.

  “Don’t give up! Make sure you come back to us no matter what!”

  “What the hell... None of these are actually useful tips. How seriously do you guys take your delusions... Sheesh!”

  I stare at the screen silently for a while. Drops of water drop onto the LCD screen, making it hard to read. But I don’t look away.