I thought back to that conversation we’d had the night before I fell into the abyss. Kaori had sworn she’d protect me. And even after I’d fallen, she was the only one who believed I was still alive. After we were reunited, she constantly felt inferior to Yue and the others. So much so that she swapped bodies after dying once. Her devotion to me was so great I couldn’t help but be moved.
She was a clumsy girl, with a habit of getting so focused on her goals that she forgot to take stock of her surroundings, but she was kinder and stronger than anyone else. If I hadn’t fallen into the abyss, she likely would have been the ideal I looked up to.
“U-Umm, Hajime-kun?”
It seemed I’d ended up staring unconsciously at her. Blushing in embarrassment, Kaori averted her gaze.
“Sorry. I was just thinking about our lifespans.”
“O-Our lifespans?”
Kaori wasn’t the only one surprised by that response. Everyone looked confused.
I smiled ruefully at her and said, “Since I’ve eaten all this monster meat, I have no idea what’s happened to my lifespan now.”
I hadn’t really thought about it before, but it was pretty important. Kaori, Yaegashi, and Shea gulped, looking worried. Kaori looked especially worried, as if I’d just announced I was dying tomorrow or something.
I raised a hand to calm everyone down and added, “Considering I’ve been strengthened in every conceivable way, my lifespan’s probably a lot longer than a normal human’s too.”
“O-Oh, that’s what you meant.”
Kaori sighed in relief. I smiled at her and said, “Regardless, I have no intention of dying and leaving Yue alone. But Kaori, once you go back to your original body, you’ll have the same lifespan as a regular person, right?”
The same was true for Yaegashi and Shea as well. Both of them muttered, “Oh...” while Kaori said, “That’s... true. I...”
“Don’t look so worried. Miledi managed to attach her soul to a golem and live for thousands of years, so we know there are ways to stay alive for longer. Worst case scenario, we can do that to you guys. But chances are, we can find a way to lengthen all of your lifespans if we study the body of that apostle a bit more thoroughly.”
“......”
Kaori stared intently at me. I cocked my head, wondering if I’d said something strange. But a second later, she smiled just as gently as Tio had earlier and said, “Hajime-kun, you’re always thinking about the future, aren’t you?”
“Is that wrong?”
Kaori vehemently shook her head and her smile grew deeper. At the same time, Yue, Shea, Tio, and Yaegashi all smiled at me as well.
“It’s just, we’ve always been struggling to just make it out of the next crisis alive so... I’m happy. Especially since the future you’re thinking of includes me. Fufu, it feels like my heart’s floating!”
“I see...”
I didn’t know what else to say. When I saw Kaori and everyone else’s smiles, it felt as though any words I might have would be pointless anyway. Feeling the heat rise up my face, I awkwardly looked away again. The moment I did—
“Kaori... You should take that body of yours and float away with your heart. And then never come back.”
“Yue, how could you say that? Do you have no soul?”
I didn’t know whether it was to spare me everyone’s gazes, or just because Yue enjoyed teasing Kaori, but she started insulting her again. Naturally, Kaori’s smile went from happy to threatening, and she turned to Yue. As always, the two started scuffling.
Sighing, Shea went to break them up while Tio just watched and Yaegashi shook her head. Taniguchi joined in as well, deciding it’d be more fun to participate than to rest. As chaos descended upon the living room once more, I thought back to my parents’ words again.
“Don’t give up! Make sure you come back to us no matter what!”
The last of their seven tips had come in handier than they ever realized.
Don’t worry Mom, Dad. I’m coming home soon. Together with all the wonderful people I met in this world.
Afterword
Hello everyone, chuuni lover Ryo Shirakome here. Thank you very much for picking up volume 10 of Arifureta.
This is the first time we’ve had an arc spanning two volumes. What did you guys think of it?
I mentioned this last time as well, but writing about the thoughts and feelings of characters is a lot harder than anything else. Figuring out what would fit each character’s personality was really hard, and I got stuck multiple times. The whole time it felt like I was taking one step forward and two steps back until finally, I managed to hit a point where I was taking three steps forward instead.
I could write battle scenes for days, but more emotional moments like these are really hard. I spent so much time glued to my PC writing all these cool action scenes, then I’d come back to my senses and realize I needed to be writing more emotional moments and get all depressed.
Anyway, enough about my woes. I ended up making the latter half of this arc pretty short in the original version, but for the print version, I decided to flesh out all the characters a bit more. I hope fans of the original find all the extra text worthwhile enough to pick up the print version.
We’re nearing the end of the Arifureta’s story, and we’re already in the double-digit volume numbers. Honestly, the whole time I was writing this volume I was in awe over the fact that we’d hit volume 10. It’s all thanks to you readers that I’ve made it this far. Thank you so very, very much.
On another note, Volume 10 comes bundled with a drama CD. The drama CD cover has Tio wearing casual Japanese clothes, and she looks absolutely great in them. It’s like she’s gone into Super Tio mode to do voice acting. Unfortunately, inside the contents of the drama CD, she’s just a pervert from start to finish. For those of you who bought the drama CD version, I hope you enjoy her erotic panting!
Now then, forgive me, but I’d like to do some shilling with the few lines I have left. Volume 5 of the manga and Volume 3 of the Arifureta Zero manga spin-off released at the same time as Arifureta 10, so please buy those too! Roga-sensei, Misaki Mori-sensei, and Ataru Kamichi-sensei are all wonderful mangaka, and their art truly brings the world of Arifureta to life. The manga’s a totally different experience from the novels, so you should definitely give it a shot. Also, the anime’ll be coming out soon, so make sure to watch that too!
Now then, last but not least, the acknowledgments. I’d like to thank Takaya-ki-sensei, Roga-sensei, Misaki Mori-sensei, and Ataru Kamichi-sensei for all their wonderful illustrations. I’d also like to thank my editor, my proofreaders, and all the staff at the publication division for making sure every volume is as perfect as it can be. Lastly, I’d like to thank my readers, both those from Narou and those who’re reading the print releases. Thank you so, so much! I hope you continue to enjoy the Arifureta series!
Ryo Shirakome
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Copyright
Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest Vol. 10
by Ryo Shirakome
Translated by Ningen
Edited by DxS
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2019 Ryo Shirakome
Illustrations by Takaya-ki
Cover illustration by Takaya-ki
All rights reserved.
Original Japanese edition published in 2019 by OVERLAP, Inc.
This English edition is published by arrangement with OVERLAP, Inc., Tokyo
English translation © 2019 J-Novel Club LLC
All rights reserved. In ac
cordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property.
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The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
Ebook edition 1.0: November 2019
Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest Vol. 10 Page 24