“Hmm... Here it is. In the language of seashells it means, ‘I wish you luck in your travels and pray for your safe return.’ Heh, Myu sure picked out a good shell for Remia...”
Hajime grinned to himself as he skimmed through the encyclopedia.
“Anyway, that proves the shells were just platonic gifts,” Hajime said with finality. But Yue and the others weren’t convinced. They snatched the encyclopedia and read through the entry for themselves. “It can also mean, ‘I hope to see you again’...” Yue muttered.
Shea turned the page and said flatly, “And ‘May fortune smile upon you.’”
Kaori added, “Also, ‘I’ll never forget you.’”
“The peach-colored seashell is similar to the white seashell in that they both represent affection. However, the peach shell has a more romantic nuance to the affection than the white one.”
The girls all glared at Hajime again.
“Seriously, you guys are overthinking this. Besides, I’m not even interested in Remia.”
Suzu, who’d finally recovered from the forehead flick, said, “You say that now, but I bet she’ll be all over you in a few more months, just like all the other girls!”
“Taniguchi, outside, now. It’s time I taught you a lesson.”
“Huh!? Wait, stooooooooooooooooooooop! Shizushizu, save meeeeee!”
Hajime grabbed Suzu by the scruff of her neck and started dragging her out of the room. But while he’d tried to sound imposing, it had looked more like he was fleeing the stares of the other girls.
The remaining girls exchanged glances.
“So we’re agreed that Remia goes on the blacklist?” Yue asked quietly.
“Absolutely!” Everyone else said in unison.
Remia’s gentle smile flashed through all of their minds.
Arifureta Fairy Tales: Little Mermaid
Deep under the sea lay a village of mermaids, hidden from human eyes. Within that village lived a mermaid princess. Though she was called a princess, she wasn’t actually royalty. She was just cute. Incidentally, her mother was an extremely beautiful single lady. At any rate, this mermaid princess was a source of great joy to the people of the village. Especially the men of the village who wanted to treat her to snacks and have her call them Daddy. One day, when the princess was playing tag with these men of rather suspicious motivations, she ended up swimming pretty far away from the village.
“Th-That was close... They’re trying really hard today...”
The mermaid princess would never call any of them Daddy. She was determined to protect Mommy from them at all costs. Suddenly, she heard a huge splash from the surface of the ocean.
“Wh-What happened!?”
Looking up, she saw there was a fierce fight going on close to the water’s surface. The ancient creature of the deep, the Hell Eater, was locked in mortal combat with a human. Normally, the Hell Eater wouldn’t have had any trouble with a lone human. But this one was different. It pumped the Hell Eater full of black tar, then blew the giant jellyfish up. As the jellyfish turned into a rather ugly fireworks display, the human who’d been fighting it fell into the sea.
“Oh no!”
The mermaid princess quickly swam toward where the human was falling. Then, she grabbed hold of him and made a beeline for the surface. Eventually, she poked her head out of the water and saw that the boat the man had been fighting on had been severely damaged during the explosion. And so, she placed the man on the remains of the boat and shouted, “Are you okay!? Hang on, I’ll—”
The mermaid princess suddenly trailed off when she got a good look at the human she’d rescued. He had white hair and wore an eye patch. But most importantly, she could tell at once that he had the strength of a great white shark and the kindness of a whale. He was a true prince. It was love at first sight. Myu knew that this was the man she would call Daddy. She’d been growing tired of the lecherous men who’d been chasing her day after day, but at the same time, she had been longing for a father figure. Still, she wouldn’t just let any random guy be Mommy’s husband. But this man... Well, he was clearly her fated father.
But first, she needed to save him. She grabbed hold of the man once more and started swimming to shore. Once he was safely on land, she slapped his cheeks a few times, but he didn’t respond. Thinking he might have swallowed seawater, she elbowed his stomach in the hopes that it’d get him to throw it up. As she was attempting various other lifesaving maneuvers, she sensed someone nearby. She couldn’t let humans see her, or Mommy would scold her! The mermaid princess hurriedly dived back into the water and poked just a little bit of her head out to see what was going on. If anyone tried to steal her prince away from her, she’d fight them tooth and nail, regardless of what the rules said.
“A-Are you alright!? Don’t worry, I’ll cast healing magic on you right— Oh my, you’re so handsome!”
A woman dressed in a priestess’ robe had arrived. Though she looked saintly, the mermaid princess could tell she was the kind of woman who’d chase the man she desired to the ends of the earth. The woman cast healing magic on the mermaid’s prince, and he slowly opened his eyes.
“Huh? Where am I? Did you rescue me?”
“That’s right! You washed up here and I healed you! So now, you have to marry me!”
“Like hell I do. Anyway, come to the castle, I’ll give you your reward there.”
“I don’t need money, all I want is your hand in marriage!”
“Oh great. Figures I’d get saved by one of the crazy ones...”
In the end, the prince ended up going back to the castle with the priestess without ever learning it was the mermaid princess who’d actually saved him.
“I’m not letting you have Daddy!” the princess swore to herself as she made a temporary, tactical retreat. She was going to visit the witch who was squatting in the mermaid village.
“Miss Witch, Miss Witch! Please make me into the prince’s daughter!”
“Mmm!? The prince, you say? Hmm, this might just be my chance...”
After a few seconds, the witch smiled at the mermaid princess.
“Very well, I shall use metamorphosis magic to make you appear to be his daughter. However...”
“I know, you want something! What is it?”
The mermaid princess was wise. She knew there was no such thing as a free lunch. As she stared into the mermaid’s resolute gaze, the witch fidgeted bashfully.
“Once you’ve become the prince’s daughter, can you call me Mommy?”
“No way!”
The witch was taken aback by the mermaid princess’ blunt refusal.
“P-Please, can’t you at least consider it?”
“I’m sorry, but I already have a mommy!”
But despite the mermaid princess’ clear refusal, the witch was undaunted. After all, she was in love with the prince. However, the world believed she was evil, which was why she was hiding out at the bottom of the sea. Meaning this was her only shot at making the prince hers.
“I’m fine with being your unofficial second Mo—”
“Not happening!”
The whole time she was shooting the witch down, the mermaid princess was smiling brightly.
“Ah, alright... I’m sorry I asked for the impossible...”
The witch slumped to her knees, defeated at last. She looked so forlorn that it wouldn’t have been surprising if she let the current just sweep her away.
“U-Umm, Miss Witch! I can’t call you Mommy, but I can try to ship you with the prince! Will that work?”
“It most certainly will.”
The witch recovered almost instantly, her mermaid disguise melting away. Meanwhile, the mermaid princess returned home to leave her beloved Mommy a letter. It read, “I’ve found the perfect Daddy. I need to convince him to let you live with him, so I’ll be gone for a while.”
And with that, the witch and the mermaid were ready to set off.
Since this mermaid princess was perfectly capabl
e of speech once she found the prince, all she had to do was tell him that she was the one who’d carried him to shore and he happily took her in as his daughter. After that, she spent her days in the castle, living with her newfound Daddy. Of course, she didn’t forget to pester him about Mommy.
“Daddy, Daddy, can Mommy live in the castle too?”
“Hm? Of course she can. If she’s grown up, she’ll have to work, but there’s plenty of work here to do. I’m sure I can find her a job in the castle.”
“Thank you Daddy! I knew I could count on your harsh but realistic methods!”
“Oh, stop it, you’re making me blush!”
“By the way, what do you say to marrying Mommy?”
“Well, uh, I’ll have to think about that...”
The mermaid princess was in no rush. She’d already gotten Daddy to promise to bring Mommy here. Once they started living together, Mommy’s natural charm would captivate him in no time. The mermaid princess was confident no one was as beautiful as her Mommy. Oh, but there was one last matter she still needed to settle.
“Also, can the witch who helped me live here, too?”
“A witch, you say? Are you sure she can be trusted?”
“I owe her my life! Plus, she’s really nice and cute!”
As promised, the mermaid princess did her best to ship the witch with the prince. She would never go back on her word because she was such a good girl. And thus, the witch and the mermaid princess’ mother were brought to the castle.
“Oh my, it really is a castle... That girl sure is something.”
Despite her attempt to smile gently like usual, the mermaid princess’ mother couldn’t hide her shock. Honestly, her daughter’s assertiveness was rather worrying. On the other hand, the witch was extremely nervous. At long last, she’d be meeting the prince of her dreams. A few minutes later, the prince came down to greet the two of them.
“H-Hello... I’m the witch.”
“Greetings, witch. I’m the prince. Now, I realize this is rather sudden, but I’ve fallen in love with you at first sight. Please marry me.”
Though the prince’s sudden proposal came as a surprise, the mermaid princess was quite happy about the sudden development. It meant she’d fulfilled her end of the bargain already. All that was left was to let her mother work her charms, and the mermaid princess’ life would be perfect. Unfortunately, life never went as smoothly as people wanted it to.
“I’ll never hand the prince over to some witch!”
The priestess everyone had forgotten about suddenly burst back onto the scene. Things were getting heated.
“Choose! Either give up on the prince... or I’ll stab you with this knife and throw you to the bottom of the sea!”
The priestess held her hand out and a knife— no, a sword, suddenly appeared within it. In fact, there was another sword in her other hand as well. It appeared this priestess was a master of dual-wielding as well.
“You’ll be the one swimming with the fishes!”
“Bring it on! Just sit there and watch, Prince! I’ll take care of this dirty witch!”
There was a series of resounding explosions as the priestess and the witch began fighting over the prince. The prince watched on as his castle was destroyed by the two women.
“M-My Mommy is a much gentler person,” the mermaid princess said timidly.
“I see... That’s reassuring.”
The prince looked kindly down at the mermaid princess’ mother. She blushed slightly, seemingly pleased with the attention.
In the end, the mermaid princess’ mother, the witch, and the priestess all lived happily ever after with the prince. At some point, an overpowered bunny girl and a perverted dragon joined his harem as well. Still, while their life was quite crazy, the mermaid princess was happy to be surrounded by so many people.
(Forced) Metamorphosis
Some time after clearing the Frost Caverns, Hajime and the other men went into a separate room to prepare for their upcoming departure. Meanwhile, the girls all relaxed in the living room. Shea, who was lying on a sofa, stretched languidly, making her massive boobs rise up prominently. A short distance away, Tio and Shizuku were chatting. While they weren’t doing anything to emphasize their own assets, they were quite large as well.
“Tch...” Yue clicked her tongue in irritation. Kaori, who was sitting next to her, turned around in surprise.
“Wh-What is it, Yue?”
“It’s nothing... I’m not thinking about the time Shea called me washboard flat or anything,” Yue replied in a low voice.
She obviously was. Wow Shea... I can’t believe you had the courage to actually say that, Kaori thought to herself. Her expression stiff, she tried her best to cheer Yue up by changing the topic.
“O-Oh yeah! I still need to practice metamorphosis magic some more! Do you think you could show me some pointers, Yue? I want to know how you managed to change your hair color—”
Suddenly, Yue turned to Kaori, who flinched. Ignoring her reaction, Yue stared intently at Kaori.
“Kaori!”
“Eeeek!? Wh-What is it, Yue? You don’t have to get that close, you know!?”
Yue cupped Kaori’s cheeks in her hands and brought her face close enough that they could kiss.
“You’re a genius! I never thought of that! I could kiss you right now!”
“Please don’t! And can you let go of me?”
Yue carelessly flung Kaori away from her and started concentrating. She seemed unaware that everyone else was watching her.
“Mrrrrr... Like this? No, that won’t work. How about this? Still no good! Dang it, I need to focus here! I’m the strongest vampire in history, I can do this! Hnnnnnnnnnnnngh!”
Golden mana swirled around Yue, who seemed to be concentrating even harder than when she’d helped Hajime make the Crystal Key. What the heck is she trying to do? everyone else thought.
“Y-Yue, what are you doing?” Kaori asked timidly, spurred on by Shizuku’s pleading gaze.
“Kaori... I’ve finally discovered the true essence of metamorphosis magic.”
“Umm... I thought you did that a while back?”
“Fool!”
Controlling her rising anger, Kaori patiently asked, “Okay, but what do you mean?”
Yue, who was massaging her boobs said with a completely deadpan expression, “Listen... metamorphosis magic is capable of transforming one’s appearance.”
“I know. That’s why I asked you to show me how you changed your hair color earlier...”
“And that means I can make my boobs bigger, too!”
“What did you just say!? Yue-oneesama, please teach meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” Suzu roared as she ran up to Yue like she was the only oasis in a vast desert. Kaori gave the two of them a sad look.
“You know Hajime-kun doesn’t care about boob size, right Yue?”
“That’s right! And Suzu-san, you’re already cute enough as it is, you don’t need to change how you look!” Shea added.
“Calm yourselves, you two. Larger breasts bring more cons than pros, so there’s no reason to waste your time trying to—”
“You can use it to make your skin smoother, too...”
“Please teach me!” the girls shouted simultaneously. All their previous warnings and misgivings had been thrown out the window.
Yue smiled at them and shouted, “Do you guys want to be pretty!?”
“We do!”
“Do you all want perfect figures you can maintain without having to exercise or diet!?”
“We do!”
Metamorphosis magic had the power to achieve all that and more. Having understood that, the girls started concentrating harder than they ever had in their lives.
Ten minutes later, Hajime came to check up on them.
“Hm? It’s pretty noisy in there. Hey guys, what’s all the fuss ab—?”
The moment Hajime opened the door, Suzu lost her concentration and her mana spiraled out of control. That, in
turn, caused Yue and the others to lose control of their mana as well, creating an unstoppable chain reaction.
“What the hell is thiiiiiiiiis!?”
Their mana converged on Hajime, enveloping him in light. Yue and the others turned guiltily toward him, wondering what effect their magic would have. Eventually, the light faded, revealing Hajime’s transformation.
“I-It’s been a while since something scared me that bad. Hm? How come my clothes feel tight?”
Hajime suddenly realized that he’d both grown taller, and more muscular. He unbuttoned his shirt to give him room to breathe and brushed his hair out of his eyes. Though he didn’t know it, those gestures highlighted his transformed figure, which was that of an extremely attractive, middle-aged man. It seemed the combination of the girls’ magic had aged him up a few decades. They stared blankly at him, their eyes wide open.
“Hm? Hang on, my voice has changed too... and my eyesight feels different... Hey, what’d you guys do to me?”
No one answered. They were still too stunned. Though everyone except Suzu also seemed to be blushing. Seeing as he wasn’t going to get a reply, Hajime grabbed a mirror to look for himself.
“What the hell!? I’m an old geezer! Seriously, what did you guys do!?”
Hajime glared at Yue and the others. However, his glare had the opposite of the intended effect.
“Adult Hajime is... good...”
“Awawawawah! Being that sexy is cheating, Hajime-san!”
“E-Ehehehe. I see. So this is what Hajime-kun is going to be like in the future. After we get married, this is what I have to look forward to... Ehehehehe.”
“Y-You mustn’t look at me like that, Master. If you do, I’ll be unable to control my— Haaah... Haaah...”
“Hajime... D-Don’t look at me. You’re making me feel weird...”
Naturally, Hajime smacked them all upside the head.
“You could stay like that a while longer, you know...” Yue muttered despondently.
“Just hurry up and undo this.”
Yue begrudgingly started casting something to fix the situation. Unfortunately, she still wasn’t used to metamorphosis magic, and she overdid it a little. This time Hajime came out looking like—
Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest: Short Stories (Premium) Page 25