Shirakome Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest: Volume 5

1. Auflage 2018
ISBN: 978-1-7183-1108-4
Verlag: J-Novel Club
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 381 Seiten

Reihe: Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest

With the addition of Kaori into their party, Hajime and his friends make for Myu's hometown, the coastal city of Erisen. While crossing the Gruen Desert, they save a young Ankajian man, Bize, from a sandworm attack. Apparently, he was searching for a cure to the mysterious disease that has struck his people. His travels led him to conclude that a mineral known as stillrock held the key to saving his country, but it can only be found inside the Grand Gruen Volcano, a labyrinth far too dangerous for most. Hajime agrees to help Bize procure some, and the party begins their quest to conquer yet another labyrinth. But along the way, they meet a most unexpected foe...

Autoren/Hrsg.

Shirakome, Ryo

Weitere Mitwirkende

Takayaki

Ningen

Leseproben

Chapter I: The Grand Gruen Volcano

Sand stretched on as far as the eye could see.

Hajime and his companions had finally arrived at the Gruen Desert. The grains of sand were so fine that the whole thing looked like one unbroken brown sheet. The incessant winds had covered the sky in so much dust that even it looked brown. Anywhere one looked, all they would see is sand.

The only thing breaking the monotony was the dunes that undulated through the desert like waves. The wind pushed them along at a steady pace, giving the desert the semblance of one massive living creature.

The sun’s harsh rays heated the sand below until it glowed red. It was easily over 40 degrees Celsius. With sand flying everywhere too, it made for an inhospitable environment.

For normal travelers, anyway.

Brise tore through the dunes like it was nothing. And because it was completely enclosed, none of the sand or the heat bothered Hajime and the others. Furthermore, the magnetic compass Hajime had installed into the dashboard kept them from getting lost.

“Thank god we’re not traveling by horse. It looks miserable out there...”

“Indeed. I’m not so weak that a little heat and wind would hinder me, but... it certainly is more comfortable not having to brave it.”

Shea and Tio stared out of the window at the unforgiving wasteland they were currently traversing. Tio may have been a masochist, but even she wouldn’t welcome that kind of discomfort.

“It’s so different this time! Myu’s eyes don’t hurt, and it’s not hot! Daddy’s amazing!”

“That’s right~ Daddy is amazing~ Myu-chan, do you want some cold water?”

“Yeah! Thank you, Kaori-onee-chan~”

Myu was sitting happily on Kaori’s lap. She was excited at how different this trip through the desert was compared to the first time, when she’d been abducted.

Her reaction was only natural. For an aquatic species like Myu, the desert crossing must have been doubly harsh. Considering how young she was, it was a miracle the trip didn’t kill her. However, she was traveling in completely different circumstances this time. Brise was air conditioned, and it kept the wind and sand out.

Not only that, he’d stocked up on chilled provisions for the trip. It still bothered him a little that his opinion had been completely ignored when Yue had agreed to let Kaori join their party, but he was getting used to having her around.

Kaori pulled a bottle of cold water out of the mini-fridge Hajime had added to Brise.

“Hey, Shirasa... I mean, Kaori. Could you please stop calling me daddy? It just sounds really creepy.”

“But Myu-chan calls you that all the time.”

“It’s one thing if it’s Myu, but you know, being called daddy by someone my age is pretty weird...”

Kaori’d always been good at looking after others, so she’d ended up taking on the role of Myu’s caretaker. However, because of that, she’d also taken to using Myu’s nickname for Hajime.

It was acceptable, if still a little awkward, to have a little girl calling him daddy, but it was another thing entirely when a girl his age was doing it...

As an aside, the reason Hajime was calling Kaori by her first name was because she’d insisted until he’d finally given in. She’d thought it was unfair that he called everyone else by their first names, but only her by her last name.

“Really? Alright, I guess I’ll stop... Until we actually have kids of our own, at least...” Kaori trailed off, blushing furiously.

An awkward silence descended upon the car. Hajime pretended he hadn’t heard anything, but Yue wasn’t about to let this go.

“Too bad. I’m going to be first. Hajime promised.”

“Hajime-kun, what’s the meaning of this!?”

“Is it really that surprising? It’s not like I’m planning on having kids anytime soon, anyway.”

“Fufu. I’m going to be the first to introduce myself to his parents too.”

“Wha—!?”

“I’ve already planned everything out.”

“Huh!?”

“Including all the dates we’re going on when we get back.”

“Ah!”

Yue’s words were like daggers, stabbing through Kaori’s chest one after another.

Still, Kaori was a strong girl. She wouldn’t break from just this. She’d spent the better part of her time in this world believing in Hajime’s survival, and had even had the courage to stand up to Yue. If someone hit her, she hit back.

“I know all sorts of things about Hajime-kun that you don’t! Like what he wants to be in the future, what his hobbies are, and even what genres he likes the most! I bet you don’t know what his favorite anime and manga are, Yue!”

“Hmph... I... That doesn’t matter. None of those things exist here. I just have to learn about them when we go to Japan.”

“Oh, but they do. Just look at Hajime-kun. His appearance practically screams anime character.”

“Gah!?” Though Yue and Kaori were the ones arguing, it was Hajime who was suffering. That last statement had gone right for his jugular.

“White hair, an eyepatch, even a magical fake eye... I’m pretty sure Hajime’s favorite character had all of those too... Even his weapons, those Cross Bits. They’re definitely based off of the ones in Gundam... It doesn’t matter what world we’re in, Hajime-kun will always be an otaku!”

“Guh!? K-Kaori...”

“U-Ugh... To think Hajime’s weapons were based off entertainment...”

“Hehe. You don’t even know what kinds of things the man you love likes.”

“You’ve got guts, Kaori. But do you know what kinds of positions Hajime likes in bed?”

“Wh-Wh-What!? In bed!? Ugh, you’ve already gone that far...”

“Fufufu. That’s how big the gap is between you and me.”

Everyone had gotten used to ignoring Kaori and Yue when they started arguing like this. At first Shea had fussed over the two of them, trying to mediate and make them get along. Eventually, however, she’d come to realize it was more trouble than it was worth. Especially since the two didn’t seem to actually hate each other.

In fact, the only person really suffering because of their arguments was Hajime. As almost all of their arguments were centered around him, many of his embarrassing secrets were turned into ammunition to make a point. All the things he was self-conscious about were poked and prodded at until he couldn’t take anymore.

Kaori covered her ears, trying to shut out the truths Yue flung at her. Painfully gripping his heart, Hajime tried to break the two of them up. However, before he could do anything, Myu spoke up.

“No, stop fighting Yue-onee-chan, Kaori-onee-chan! I hate it when you fight!” Myu hopped off of Kaori’s lap and crawled to the back where Shea was sitting. She glared, pouting all the while at the two girls in front. They both looked at each other awkwardly. Having a little girl tell them she hates them was a surprisingly effective weapon.

“Sheesh, you two. You could at least stop when Myu-chan’s around. You’re a bad influence on her. I can understand getting worked up about Hajime-san, but you could at least act like adults about it.”

“Unbelievable... To think I would be scolded by Shea...”

“I-I’m sorry, Myu-chan, Shea.”

Never in her wildest dreams had Yue thought she would sink so low that Shea would be scolding her.

While Shea was Yue’s best friend, Yue also treated Shea like a younger sister. Though she was also vying for Hajime’s affections, Shea loved Yue just as much. It was a slightly different relationship than the one Yue had with Kaori.

On the other hand, Tio was just a pervert.

In a sense, Kaori was the first true love rival Yue had ever encountered.

Yue was confident that her bond with Hajime was stronger than anything. She had unwavering faith that only she was special to him. That was why, at first, she’d seen Kaori as a mere challenger. And she’d believed that it would be easy to beat her down.

And while her confidence remained unshaken, Yue had noticed Hajime and Kaori reminiscing about the life they’d had in Japan from time to time.

This was the one advantage Kaori had over Yue. She’d known him for longer.

And it was the one thing that let her fight Yue on equal footing.

For her part, Kaori was jealous of the fact that Yue was Hajime’s current lover, but she was too honest and good-natured to try anything underhanded.

Because neither of them wanted to “cheat” their way to victory, their squabbles never escalated into anything truly serious. However, they were so frequent that they grated on the rest of the party. And today, Myu and Shea had finally had enough.

Normally, Hajime put an end to most arguments by professing his love for Yue, but he’d taken too much damage in a short span of time. He simply stared off into the distance, ignoring everyone else.

“Hm? What could that be? Master, there appears to be some commotion to your right.”

Hajime, who’d been muttering “I’m not an otaku” to himself over and over like a dead fish, suddenly returned to his senses and turned to his right. Kaori and Yue...