Shirakome Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest: Volume 6

1. Auflage 2018
ISBN: 978-1-7183-1110-7
Verlag: J-Novel Club
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 378 Seiten

Reihe: Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest

Hajime and his party are on their way to the Haltina Woods when they run into Heiligh's princess, Liliana. What she reveals shocks Hajime. Aiko, the teacher that Hajime owes so much, has been kidnapped. Hajime decides to alter his plans and run to her rescue. However, in order to save her, he'll need to first make it up the Divine Mountain. Awaiting him there is the toughest challenge he's faced yet: a battle with God's Apostle.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Shirakome, Ryo

Weitere Mitwirkende

Takayaki

Ningen

Leseproben

Meld made it the rest of the way back to his room without incident. He heaved a heavy sigh and put his sword up on the stand on the wall. After disarming, he flopped himself onto his sofa and massaged his temples.

Once he’d rested for a while, he started planning.

“Magic that only affects troops’ morale... It would make sense that demons are behind it, but I can’t believe they’ve infiltrated the capital already. And if they have, why not try something bolder than just hitting our morale? And why only target our rank and file soldiers? If they can cast spells undetected into the palace, why not come for me? Killing me would remove a powerful enemy lower their morale anyway. So why? What on earth is going on?” Meld spoke his thoughts aloud. He was still extremely worried about this unknown threat that had wormed its way into the palace. He wasn’t exactly at his limits, but the constant planning and worrying had been taking its toll. Doubly so since his fellow palace officials didn’t seem to share his concerns.

Worse, the problems kept on piling up. He could feel his impatience permeating every inch of his thoughts, like an ink stain spreading through paper.

“I wonder what he’s up to right now?” Meld thought back to the boy he’d been reunited with in the Orcus Labyrinth. The boy he’d believed he’d failed to protect. The boy who’d used legendary medicine to save his life.

After reminiscing for a few minutes, Meld stood up and walked over to his desk. Then, he pulled out two pieces of paper and as many envelopes. Looking conflicted, he began to write.

He needed to be ready for the worst. The first letter was addressed to the duke of Ankaji. The second, to Hajime. He was hoping Duke Zengen would know how to get in touch with Hajime and pass it on. This way, even if something happened to him, the kingdom would have a fighting chance.

Glimmering moonlight illuminated his room as he wrote away.

He finished writing and started going over the letters again. Just then, he heard a knock on the door.

Meld warily grabbed his sword off the wall and asked who was at the door.

“Who is it?”

“Umm, it’s me, Captain Meld. Hiyama.”

“Daisuke? What are you doing up at this hour?”

“Well... there’s something I really need your advice on.”

Wondering what could have made the boy sound so desperate, Meld slowly opened the door. Hiyama stood in the hallway, his head bowed low.

“You said you needed my advice but... why this late at night?”

“I’m sorry. I know I’m being a bother... but I don’t want any of my classmates to overhear this.”

“I see... Well, it’s no trouble for me. Come in.” Meld thought he had a good idea of what Hiyama needed advice on, and invited the boy into his room.

Hiyama’s standing among his classmates was tenuous. It was his own carelessness that had nearly gotten Hajime killed. He’d apologized profusely for the incident, and the other students had all agreed not to bring it up again too, so no one blamed him for anything. Still, that was only on the surface. Most generally kept their distance from him.

Especially now that they’d all learned Hajime was alive.

Meld was a little worried about his relationship with the others too, so he was actually glad Hiyama had come to him for advice. At least, that was what Meld assumed Hiyama had come for.

Hiyama kept his head bowed low, so Meld couldn’t make out his expression. However, Meld didn’t like what he saw. Hiyama seemed on the verge of doing something drastic.

Meld ushered the boy over to his sofa. He waited patiently, but Hiyama didn’t say anything. The boy simply sat there, wringing his hands and tapping his foot.

“Daisuke, I think I know what it is you wanted to talk about. You don’t have to sugarcoat anything. Give it to me straight. Tell me what’s troubling you and we can come up with a solution together.” Meld’s reassuring words did nothing to ease Hiyama’s apparent nerves. He still kept his head bowed, unwilling to meet Meld’s eyes.

Meld tried to reassure him again.

However, before he could get more than a few words out, he heard another knock at his door. He called out to ask who it was.

Surprisingly, it was Jose’s voice that answered him. It appeared he had an emergency report to make.

His timing couldn’t have been any worse. Hiyama was still in Meld’s room, and it was entirely possible what Jose had to report was something Meld didn’t want the students to hear.

Hiyama noticed Meld’s hesitation.

“It’s fine, Captain Meld. I’ll just wait in the hallway until you’re done.”

“If you’re sure... Sorry, Daisuke.”

“It’s fine,” Hiyama replied curtly, and stood up.

Meld walked to the door and turned the knob. The door opened with a soft click. Standing in the hallway was Jose, but he’d gone Hollow.

Meld felt goosebumps run down his back. His instincts screamed at him to run.

“Ah!?” he gasped, and leaped backward. A second later, a knight’s sword whistled through the air where he’d been standing.

“Jose, what’s gotten into you!?” Meld yelled out to his vice-captain. The only response he got was a diagonal slash aimed at him. Meld rolled out of the way, pulled his sword free, and blocked Jose’s follow-up attack. The two swords met with a resounding clang.

“Shit, so it was a form of brainwashing after all!?” Up close, Meld could tell Jose’s eyes were blank. It was one of the symptoms of Hollowness. However, the other Hollow soldiers hadn’t ever tried to attack him, which meant that Jose was following someone’s orders, and that all other Hollow soldiers could be made to do the same.

Meld shivered. In order to cure Jose of his brainwashing, Meld first needed to immobilize him. He yelled loudly and shoved Jose’s sword back.

“This might hurt a little, old friend!” Meld rushed at Jose. Jose was off-balance after having his sword repelled, and Meld hoped he could pin his vice-captain in place with a tackle.

However, Jose didn’t move according to the plan. Since he’d been attacking Meld thus far, Meld had assumed he was the target. However, Jose now ignored Meld and turned his gaze to Hiyama, who was staring at the two of them, dumbfounded.

Jose’s sudden change of target made Meld hesitate for a second. He turned to see Hiyama take a few steps back and trip over himself. Meld couldn’t believe it.

Hiyama was one of the frontliners of the hero party. Moreover, he had an extremely powerful job. He shouldn’t have lost his courage when faced with a single measly knight. Meld clicked his tongue and changed directions.

His legs screamed in pain as he pivoted without losing momentum. The sudden change in direction required him to step with so much force that his floorboards snapped, but he managed to get himself in between Jose and Hiyama.

“Ngh... Such power.” Their swords met in a flash of sparks. Because of his sudden shift in direction, Meld’s stance was in tatters. Still, even after taking that into account, Jose’s blows were more powerful than they had any right to be. Meld’s arms went numb as they absorbed the impact of the blow.

Jose was definitely a master of the sword. However, his style favored speed over strength. Technique and agility were his weapons, not raw power. Yet somehow, the blows he was raining down were a match for Meld’s.

Plus, Meld couldn’t dodge, since he was covering for Hiyama. He couldn’t push Jose back either, since his stance was all wrong. His full strength was utterly out of reach.

“Sorry about this, vice-captain!” There was a risk of him severely injuring his right-hand man, but he put his faith in Jose’s resilience. Meld held out his free hand and prepared to fire a blast of wind at point-blank range.

“Heed my call, O wind— Blitz—!?” However, he never got a chance to finish his spell. He stopped chanting midway... when a sword stabbed into his side.

“Daisuke?”

“Tch... I can’t believe you managed to dodge that.”

Meld turned around, his disbelief evident. However, just as he’d thought, the person who’d thrust the sword into his side was none other than Hiyama. Moreover, his eyes weren’t blank. They were bloodshot.

“Daisuke, you...” Meld didn’t know all the details, but he was certain that Hiyama had something to do with the Hollowness that had been spreading through his men’s ranks. If Meld hadn’t dodged to the side at the last minute, Hiyama’s sword would have pierced his heart. He had his uncanny instincts to thank for his survival. Hiyama had aimed for the kill.

He ignored Meld’s question, yanked his sword out, and once again tried to drive it into Meld’s heart.

“Blitz Hammer!” The mana from Meld’s unfinished spell was still primed, so he called out the trigger that would cast it. He aimed not at Hiyama, but at the floor below him. A compressed...