He wasn’t sure how to react to that. In the end, though, it was her decision. If this was what she truly wanted, he wasn’t going to refuse her. Happiness had a different meaning for everyone. It wasn’t for Hajime to decide what would make Kaori happy, nor was it his place to dictate such things.
“I see... If that’s what you’ve decided, then I won’t argue.”
“Good. I know I’ll be causing you a lot of trouble, but please don’t hate me for it.”
“Bit late to be asking that. You were causing me heaps of trouble back when we were in Japan even... You’re more of a troublemaker than you look.”
“Hey, that’s mean!”
“Well, it’s true. You’d always come talk to me in school, completely oblivious of what everyone else thought. You didn’t even notice the other guys in the class looked like they wanted to kill me every time you said anything remotely suggestive. Plus, you came to my room at night wearing nothing but a negligee...”
“Ugh... I-I didn’t realize anything back then. I just wanted to talk to you... And that time I went to your room, I got super embarrassed about it afterward...”
Kaori buried her face in her hands. Smiling wryly to himself, Hajime helped her up. He patted her on the shoulder and the pair made their way to the end of the hold. There was a glowing magic circle there.
Kaori grabbed hold of Hajime’s sleeve, holding him back. She was still shaking a little. Clearly, being possessed had been quite an ordeal for her. Though it seemed not to have left any lasting effects, so it wouldn’t take long for her to recover.
“Let’s take a short break.”
Kaori decided to make the most of her break, and jumped onto Hajime’s back.
“What are you doing?”
“It’s better to hurry, right? There’s no telling how long that magic circle will stay active. If we stay here too long, the fog might come back, so this is more efficient, right?”
She’s got a point. Hajime reluctantly allowed her to ride on his back and stepped into the magic circle.
Kaori wrapped her arms around Hajime’s neck and hugged him tight.
Hajime had a hard time concentrating with her pressing so tightly against his back. Plus, Kaori whispering into his ear only made it worse. Her hot breath tickled his ear.
“Hajime-kun... Can you say that again?”
“Say what again?”
“When you got angry at the ghost. Remember?”
“Hmm, I can’t say I do.”
“Come on, you could at least say it one more time.”
The two of them continued flirting amicably as Hajime stepped into the magic circle.
And, in a completely different location, pale light illuminated the ocean’s surface as waves lapped against the ceiling.
In the center of the room was a shrine, which was supported by four massive pillars. It had no walls, and the ceiling was held up by the pillars alone. An altar lay in the center of the shrine, with a detailed magic circle engraved on its face. Also, it was surrounded by seawater, and four floating paths jutted out from it along the cardinal directions. They each ended at a circular platform. There were magic circles carved into the floor at each platform.
One of the four started glowing faintly. A second later it exploded into light, and two figures stepped out. Hajime and Kaori.
“Where are we? Hm? Wait, is that the final magic circle? Don’t tell me we beat this labyrinth already...”
“Umm, is that bad?”
“Nah, I just didn’t think we’d finish it so fast. It feels like it was way too easy compared to the other labyrinths... I thought that sea angel thing might come back at the end, but I don’t sense it anywhere...” Hajime was a little disappointed they’d reached the end of Meiru Melusine’s labyrinth so easily. Kaori poked her head out from behind Hajime’s shoulder and grimaced.
“You know, Hajime-kun. I’d say what we went through already was hard enough. First, we had to find our way into an underwater cavern. You know most people don’t have submarines in this world, right? You’d have to use a lot of mana just to get here. If you mess up, you’d drown before even stepping inside. Then, we had to fight that crazy sea angel monster, and after that we had to fight a bunch of illusions. They couldn’t even be hurt by physical attacks, so we had to use mana again. After that, at the end, you had to fight an army of soldiers while exhausted. I wouldn’t call that easy.”
“Hm, you’ve got a point, but still...”
“The people of this world are pretty devout. Seeing something like that would have probably broken them...”
“Yeah, it’s possible just watching them go crazy would have been too much for them to handle...”
What Kaori was trying to say was that Hajime was just too strong. When he thought about it, Hajime realized the Grand Gruen Volcano had been a piece of cake too. Had it not been for Freid’s surprise attack, they would have cleared it without a single injury.
I guess it’s possible the labyrinth was so easy that we cleared it even before meeting up with Yue and the others again. Just as he was thinking that, the magic circle on the platform to his right began to glow.
Once the blinding glow of light faded, Yue, Shea, and Tio stepped out. Perfect timing.
“You guys got here at the perfect time. Is everyone alright?”
“Yeah. Did you... run into difficulties?”
“Ah, are you alright, Kaori-san?”
“Hm? You aren’t injured, are you? Shouldn’t you be able to heal yourself if you are?”
Yue and the others responded cheerfully. When they saw Kaori riding on his back though, their expressions changed to ones of worry. Kaori hurriedly reassured them.
“Thanks for worrying about me, everyone. But I’m fine. I’m just being a little lazy.” She smiled as she said that.
Yue glared at her, while Shea ended up muttering jealously.
“Wow, lucky you... Let me have a turn too.” Tio, on the other hand, simply had a knowing grin on her face.
“I see.”
“Wait, Kaori. You can stand now?”
“Ehehe. To be honest, I could have walked from the start... Sorry.”
“Haaah, just get off.” Kaori smiled guiltily and Hajime shrugged her off his back. The two of them joined up where the paths connected and headed to the temple.
“So what happened between you two? Come on, Master, you have to tell us. Something happened with you and Kaori, did it not? Don’t try to hide it now, I can— Bweh!?” Tio’s persistence was getting on Hajime’s nerves, so he slapped her to shut her up. Tio sank to the ground, a look of pure ecstasy on her face. She was already panting heavily.
“I-It has been a while since I felt such pain. Haaah... Haaah... Mmm... Master, will you please punish me more? You can even kick me if you like.” Hajime ignored her expectant gaze and continued walking toward the altar.
“One more! Just one more slap, please! I beg of you!” They heard Tio pleading with Hajime from behind, but everyone ignored her.
“So? What happened?” Yue asked the same question Tio had. However, her question was directed at Kaori, not Hajime. Kaori met Yue’s gaze and beamed. Her smile had the same warmth that Hajime had grown used to seeing in the classroom.
“We just kissed.”
“I see...”
“What!? Really!? Who started it!? Did you kiss him or, wait, did he kiss you!?” An edge of anger slipped into Yue’s voice, but Shea seemed excited for Kaori.
“I kissed him. After seeing how angry Hajime-kun got for my sake, I couldn’t help myself.”
“Wow, it’s just like what happened with me! I did the exact same thing before. We’re comrades now, Kaori-san!”
“Ufufu, I guess so, Shea. Shall we steal him together, then?”
“If we’re doing this, we have to make him ours for good.”
It almost sounded as if they were planning on kidnapping him. Cold sweat poured down Hajime’s face. True, it sounded like they were just joking, but there
was a dangerous glimmer in their eyes. It scared him to see a pure girl like Kaori and a cheerful bunny girl like Shea stare at him as if they were wolves staring down their prey. Frankly, he never knew Kaori especially could be so aggressive.
“I thought you’d run away with your tail between your legs.” Yue looked probingly at Kaori.
She’d noticed how Kaori was letting her inferiority complex eat away at her. Honestly, she’d expected the labyrinth to break her spirit and convince her to give up on Hajime. Had that happened, Yue certainly wouldn’t have tried to console Kaori. After all, if Kaori’s feelings for Hajime were that shallow, then she had no right to be here anyway.
However, it seemed Kaori had managed to survive. More than that, her resolve was even firmer than before. Yue was curious as to how she’d managed to find her courage again.
“I thought so too. Hajime-kun even said I should leave. Still, it’s a bit too late to care about trivial things like... how much stronger you are.”
“So you’re determined, then?”
“I guess you could say that. But you know, I was determined from the start. I just lost sight of that when I saw how much stronger you all were. I won’t show you anything pathetic like that again.”
“It would have been better if you just gave up.”
“Hehe, scared? Worried I’ll steal Hajime-kun away from you?”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, you troublemaker.”
“Hajime-kun called me a troublemaker too. But I really don’t think I’m that much of one...” Kaori frowned. It was a little disheartening that both the man she loved and her rival thought she was a troublemaker. Still, she got over it quickly enough. In all fairness, Yue, and in fact, all of Hajime’s group were pretty big troublemakers. Sadly, Yue herself wasn’t aware the word could apply to her just as well.
“Well, maybe you’re right, Yue... But at least now I know I’m someone important to Hajime-kun. All that’s left is to steal the title of ‘special’ from you. I won’t give up, no matter what anyone says.”
“I see. Then like before, I accept your challenge.”
“Yep! Oh, by the way, I don’t hate you or anything. In fact, I feel like we’re just friends that fight a lot.”
“Friends? I’m your friend?”
“Yep, you’re my friend. In Japan there’s a lot of people like that. They show their friendship by fighting with each other. Just like us. We’re rivals in love, but we’re still friends, right?”
“Japan... That’s Hajime’s home. The more I hear about it, the stranger it sounds. But... I like it.”
“Glad to hear it. Ufufu, so let’s try and get along, alright?”
“Okay...”
It should have been a good thing that they were finally getting along, but for some reason it made Hajime feel lonely. He was the only one being left out of the girls’ conversation.
Kaori and Yue’s conversation reminded Hajime of the dialogue between certain Monogatari characters, but he didn’t say anything about it.
Hajime was a patient man after all, so he knew when it was time to wait his turn. Once they reached the altar, the party stepped into the giant magic circle together. As usual, their memories were examined to ascertain whether or not they’d actually cleared the labyrinth. However this time, each group saw the memories the other group had experienced as well. In other words, Hajime and Kaori got to see what Yue, Shea, and Tio had gone through.
It seemed they had traversed through the ruins of a giant underground city. Like Hajime, they’d been shown illusions made of magic. Their vision had been one where two armies had fought in the streets of the ruined city. At first, the invading demon army had attacked the human defenders. But once Yue had used magic, both sides had turned their blades onto them, just like in Hajime’s vision.
They’d made their way to the city’s castle while defeating the enemies that came after them. Once they got inside, they’d overheard a discussion among the country’s leaders.
It appeared the demons had overrun one of the human villages and slaughtered everyone inside. Because of that, the humans had declared war on the demons. However, it seemed the attack had all been orchestrated by the humans’ leaders. They’d wanted an excuse to eradicate all demons from the planet. Before they knew it though, the flames of war spread far beyond their ability to control. Soon enough they were the ones losing, and the humans had been pushed back to their capital.
From the sound of it, it seemed a high-ranking priest from the Church of Light had been the one to push hardest for war. They had also been the ones behind the attack on the human village. The Church of Light was apparently the predecessor to the Holy Church Hajime and the others were familiar with.
Driven into a corner, the humans had turned to desperate tactics. They attempted to sacrifice someone to appease their gods and gain their favor. A hundred little girls were invited into the church’s grand cathedral, where they were summarily slaughtered.
Yue and the others had naturally been appalled at what they saw. Their faces paled as they were forced to rewatch those memories. It even looked like Shea was about to puke.
The memory scan finished, and the circle deemed that they had indeed conquered the labyrinth. Another branch of magic from the age of the gods was inscribed into their minds.
“Of course they’d put this magic here... This is the other tip of the continent, goddammit! Stupid Liberators!
“So this is where we were supposed to obtain the power of restoration.”
Hajime cursed at the long dead Melusine. The magic they’d received was regeneration magic.
Hajime recalled the time they’d gone to the Grand Tree in the Haltina Woods. The stone tablet had told them they would need the power of restoration. In other words, to conquer the labyrinth on the eastern tip of the continent, one would need magic obtained by clearing the labyrinth on the western tip of the continent. For Hajime, who’d gone to the east first, this was unbelievably annoying. At least he had a car to drive, though. Normal challengers would have been forced to make another year-long trek.
The Liberators just keep getting more and more annoying. As the light from the magic circle faded, a rectangular block rose up from the ground. It was like a miniature version of the altar they were on. It began to glow with a faint light, and a second later a vaguely humanoid shape formed above it. Like Orcus, it seemed Meiru Melusine had left behind a message for the labyrinth’s conquerors.
A second later the light coalesced and Meiru’s features could be made out. She was sitting on the block, wearing a white one-piece dress and had long, emerald-green hair. Her ears were also shaped like fins. Surprisingly, it seemed Meiru Melusine had been a Dagon.
Like Oscar, she introduced herself and then began explaining the Liberators’ true goal. She seemed like a gentle person. There was a look of profound sorrow on her face as she spoke of the atrocities the gods committed. Her speech was otherwise not too different from Oscar’s. As she wound her speech down, she left a final warning for Hajime and the others.
“Please, don’t cling to the gods. Don’t rely on them. Don’t grow accustomed to what’s given to you. Struggle on, and grasp what you desire with your own two hands. Decide your own path in life, and walk down it with your own two feet. Remember, no matter how bleak things look, you’ll be able to find the answers inside of you. Only you have those answers. Don’t be deceived by the gods’ honeyed words. Only when you live by your own free will can you find true happiness. I pray the path you walk will be forever showered in fortune.” With that, Meiru Melusine’s apparition faded away. As the light from the circle that summoned her dissipated, Hajime spotted a coin engraved with her crest resting atop the mini-altar.
“And this makes our fourth marker of strength too, Hajime-san. Now we should be able to challenge the labyrinth in the sea of trees. We’ll finally be going back, won’t we? I wonder how my dad’s doing.” Shea gazed nostalgically in the direction of her home. However, when she remember
ed how her father and the rest of her family had transformed into gangsters, she shook herself back to the present.
Hajime put the coin in his Treasure Trove and similarly tried very hard not to think about the gangster Haulia tribe.
The moment the coin disappeared into his Treasure Trove, the temple began to rumble. A second later, the water level began to rise.
“Whoa!? Tch, looks like we’re getting another rough exit. Everyone, grab onto me!”
“Okay.”
“Wawah, not so rough!”
“I don’t want to go through another Reisen Gorge!”
“Water torture... sounds rather fascinating.”
They were completely submerged in seconds. Hajime didn’t even have the time to pull out his submarine. He handed everyone oxygen masks just in case this trip lasted a while, then had everyone huddle together so they wouldn’t be separated like last time.
The ceiling of the room opened up, just like it had in the Grand Gruen Volcano, and the water started flowing into it. The party was carried up by the powerful current, and they found themselves heading for the hole.
Hajime assumed this was the shortcut out of the labyrinth. Still, he would never have guessed that kind, gentle woman would have come up with such a violent way to take them out of the labyrinth. Especially since it was forced. Maybe she was a lot more ruthless than she looked.
After a while, Hajime noticed something. At the rate they were going, the current would crash them into the roof above.
Hajime activated Diamond Skin and moved to shield Yue and the others from the shock. However, just before they hit the ceiling, it too slid away to reveal a hole. The current bore them out and spit them into the sea. Hajime was sure of it now. Meiru Melusine was nowhere near as gentle as she appeared.
Now that they were in relatively calm waters, Hajime pulled out his submarine. He motioned for everyone to get inside.
Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest Vol. 5 Page 20