Arifureta After III The Two At That Time Were Second Part
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「That forest witch really have done it now――wait, Shia! Stop breathing!」
The light that dyed their field of vision settled down and Hajime spontaneously cursed, but the wasteland where red wind that was like blood was blowing and the pain he felt in his throat and lung right after that made Hajime raised a warning.
「Hajime-san, this air……」
「Yeah, it’s harmful. It must be some kind of poison gas but……I’ve never seen anything like this blood colored wind. Or rather, this isn’t earth no matter how you cut it.」
Hajime drank recovery medicine while deploying Cross Velt’s barrier and exchanged conversation.
Even when he looked around, there was only a wasteland, a mountain that as making rain of magma from its eruption right at that moment, lightning cloud that continued forever, and flames dancing between that cloud’s gap like magma. It was a hellish scenery. They weren’t on earth no matter how they looked at it.
Hajime stared at the sight while asking Shia.
「Come to think of it, Shia. Did you see just now?」
「Just now? Err, it was really bright and I couldn’t see anything but……was there something?」
「Yeah, a little bit. If you couldn’t see it then it might be my imagination though……」
「Hajime-san has that special eye, isn’t it because of that? What did you see?」
「Aah, I see. That might be the case. No, it was only for an instant……it felt like I could see a large tree.」
「Large tree……was it Haltina sea of tree’s Uralt?」
Hajime nodded.
To be more accurate, it was an illusion of a gigantic tree that looked really similar. The sight was similar like a hologram floating in the middle of light. Hajime felt like he saw the vision of a huge tree that was similar with the grand tree Uralt when it was growing luxuriously after regeneration magic was applied to it.
「Now that you mentioned it, that witch-san, at the end she yelled “world tree” wasn’t she?」
「She did didn’t she~」
Hajime groaned ‘Hm~’ and fell into thought. He fell into his sea of thought as though the dangerous looking atmosphere of the surrounding world wasn’t a big matter at all. He began to mutter to himself.
「The diameter of that open space, it’s almost the same with the diameter of the great tree……don’t tell me, there is a stump under the ground? No plants can grow because of some kind of effect from it? World tree……the one from Norse mythology? Yggdrasil? It’s a standard of a tale but……did it exist for real? No, that’s impossible……no no, even though that was what I thought, earth is quite full of fantasy……there is also a witch……is it possible? Wait……come to think of it the star tree Lutria also looked exactly the same……if I remember right in the myth, the world tree contained nine worlds wasn’t it? The worlds are connected? Don’t tell me, even that world I went with Tio too? ……Perhaps what summoned us could be――」
「Hajime-sa~~n! Please don’t enter your own worl~d! Look, a guest is coming heree!」
Hajime’s shoulders were grabbed by Shia and he was shaken back and forth before he finally returned to his senses. He put aside the various questions rising within him for the time being and turned his gaze toward the direction Shia pointed at.
Certainly, something was rapidly approaching.
――Humans?
Seeing the other party flying on the sky,
「……」
「……」
Hajime and Shia were speechless. Or rather they were dumbfounded. The reason was because, the humanoid male? Female? They had fire bursting out from their whole body. Didn’t they feel hot?
Furthermore, their appearance was like gargoyle wearing armor. They looked really fiendish. And then, their voice was also rubbing the nerves the wrong way, it also sounded like a sweet whisper instead. The voice was indescribably strange and resounded directly inside the brain.
In any case, this was the first villager that the two encountered in this foreign world. No, it was unknown whether the other party was villager or not though.
Hajime coughed once. Then he patted his face. What appeared there was a magnificent smile like a veteran salesman.
「Nice to meet you. The two of us are just humble travelers. Haha, this place is really lovely isn’t it!?」
Harmful bloody wind blew violently, the ground was dry and cracked, at far away there was a mountain that endlessly erupted, the sky was decorated with lightning cloud and flame. Shia leaked out an admiring voice 「A, amazing. Even though Hajime-san shouldn’t be thinking of such thing at the slightest, but that sentence just now sounded like he was saying his honest feeling desuu!!」.
‘Shut up for a bit’, Hajime said and covered Shia-chan’s mouth *mugyu*.
「By the way, are you someone from a nearby town? Embarrassingly, this is our first time coming here without even any prior investigation, so if you can be so kind――」
――I don’t know how can humans be here but, this might be good!
Amicable words came back with eagerness. At the same time a flame spear was gifted. The way the other party presented the spear was really sharp. It even looked like they unleashed a thrusting technique that was filled with killing intent. Drool was dripping from their mouth, making it looked like their appetite was gushing out but, yep, surely it was just his imagination without a doubt.
*Gakin* Hajime’s four point barrier deflected the fervent gift.
――What!? Mere human is deflecting my spear!?
The first villager-san mentioned a spear attack. It seemed that it wasn’t just a bit intense gift like saying 「Please take this as the proof of us being acquainteddd!!」.
「……Hahah. The skinship of the people here is a bit intense perhaps? Let me say it first just in case, but we don’t have any hostility. I wish to hold interaction between different race by all means――」
Shia whose mouth got covered appealed to Hajime 「Hajime-san……I think it’s pointless you know?」 with a side glance, but the self-alleged model Japanese person Hajime-san wasn’t negligent with his endeavor of holding a dialogue till the very end!
――Then how about this!
A gigantic lump of flame swallowed Hajime and Shia along with the barrier.
No question asked.
「’How sad that my good will doesn’t go through as expected’ Punch」
At the same time with such words,
――Buberah!?
The steel punch of sadness from Hajime who teleported behind the villager (?) using a gate assaulted the opponent’s back of the head. The villager (?) spun while crashing on the ground.
Hajime shook off the something that got stuck on his fist like a filth. He observed the something got carried by the wind and became dust in the blink of eye while landing beside Shia.
「Why is it that human cannot understand each other?」
「Because the other party isn’t human?」
‘Then it can’t be helped!’ Haijme nodded deeply.
Then, at that time, a great amount of presence from the direction of volcano was……
「……Shia, could it be that this is a situation that create various misunderstanding?」
「No, it’s not misunderstanding or anything, it’s the fact that Hajime-san punched the local villager-san.」
「I’m not bad! I’m not bad! The bad one is that villager-san!」
The villager-san was still twitching and convulsing. Shia said「Well, it’s that side that attacked without listening to here after all. Hajime-san has done his best」 and he expression turned gentle.
And then, her expression immediately turned bright and,
「Hajime-san, Hajime-san. There is a lot of unknown and danger here!」
Shia-chan’s eyes sparkled bright. Even in this situation, no, exactly because it was this kind of situation that she went “We have to go in adventure now it’s like this!’.
「You’re right. ……We still have some leeway with the schedule of our travel date. From investigating using the compass, it looks like we can also return to earth using crystal key anytime.」
Then there was only one answer.
「Let’s have an adventure date!」
「Let’s do an adventure date!」
They high-fived.
The countless presences were rapidly approaching, pushing their way through the volcano’s eruption. And so, for the time being Hajime-san dug a hole on the ground using transmutation and quietly buried the first villager-san (?) into it. There was a hole for air so it was fine!
Like that, it was obvious even without using anything like future sight. The two hurriedly ran away from that place in order to escape from the situation that would surely accelerate the misunderstanding. Run run♪ Thrill thrill♪.
They leaped into a crack on the ground and ran randomly to hide from the countless presences.
The bloody wind was gnawing on their body, so Hajime drank recovery medicine while on the way he improved the cold protection artifact “Air Zone” that he used in ice and snow cavern to create air purification artifact “Air Zone Revised”.
「……Yosh, I managed it somehow. Here, Shia, this one is for you.」
「Ah, I’m fine you know?」
It was a harmful material that would erode from the skin even when they didn’t breath. Hajime wondered just what she meant by alright and turned a dubious expression toward her. There,
「I’m already used to it!」
「Ah, is that so.」
Shia said that with a radiant smile. To be more accurate, she used metamorphosis magic and obtained resistance by adjusting it many times. Even so the harmful substance still eroded her body, but the recovery of regeneration magic counterbalanced it.
The bugged rabbit could heal mere little wounds and moderate abnormal status with guts. It seemed that she finally even obtained a method to acquire resistance rapidly even against toxic substance.
Hajime didn’t think too deeply about it.
Through this and that, there was no sign of the countless presences seething in killing intent were chasing them, so the two immediately started their foreign world sightseeing.
The worn-out ground with many craters smashed on it. Or rather, it was a dead land where it felt like breath of life was nonexistent.
River of magma. Boiling lake. A great number of crows with rotten body. A swamp that looked like slime. A tornado of lightning flame. The trees of a burning forest and yet they didn’t turn into ash. Creature with blasphemous appearance that couldn’t be comprehended fully……
Hajime and Shia took selfie of the two of them with those backgrounds and a wide smile on their face.
Just how much they were having fun with the adventure date in this place that was like hell?
「Oh? That’s……a village?」
「Is that an abandoned village?」
They discovered a place that was like a village with weathered and half destroyed stone houses crowded in disorderly fashion. At the same time, Shia’s stomach pleaded *kyuu~~* of its hunger. Shia’s rabbit ears flopped down and her hands pressed on her stomach while she looked down in embarrassment.
Haijme launched a yakuza kick to pulverize a monster that was hard to be described looking like a praying mantis that attacked them while his expression smiled.
「Come to think of it, it will be dinner time soon. I forgot because I got absorbed into this world that is like hell but, I’m also hungry.」
「Ehehe……then, it’s nice timing, let’s borrow a house in this deserted village.」
The two of them searched for the house that was in the best state. They casually beat or shot to death the slime thingy that launched tentacles or a spider thingy that they had never even seen before that rushed at them from inside the deserted houses while looking around the deserted village. Then they finally found a house that looked better.
Hajime reinforced it with transmutation, took out things like sofa inside, and also put air purification filter through the whole house using Air Zone Revised.
He left the unknown thingy sticking on the window outside like a gecko and the pack of Bio Hazar○ dog look-alike roaming outside the house’s wall to sentry gun and arachne squad before taking warm meal.
The two relaxed while staring at the bloody wind outside the window with the BGM of Chidori-sensei’s beautiful sound and the war cry of the arachne swarm 「IiIIIIIH」 that sounded motivated for some reason.
They finished their meal. The two snuggled close to each other on the sofa while drinking tea and checking their selfie pictures.
――GISHAAAAAAAAH
――IiIIIIIH
――GISHA!?
――IiIIIREGULAR REMOVAL IIIIII
「What are we going to do Hajime-san? Will we camp here? Or, will we return to earth for the moment?」
Shia suddenly asked. Perhaps because of the relaxing atmosphere, her eyes were blinking repeatedly with sleepy look.
‘Now then, what to do……’, Hajime showed a pondering gesture. It was then,
「Hm? It became silent?」
「Ah, arachne-san returned. ……Somehow, they have this atmosphere as though they has accomplished something amazing.」
Without anyone noticing the arachne-san group entered inside using the created small door with rustling sound. Erst and Neunte came forward as representative and stared fixedly at their master Hajime.
Could it be they wanted to be praised……no, such program wasn’t written into them……’What’s with that round and cute eyes pleading at me!?’ Hajime thought. He also stared back at Erst and Neunte for a few seconds.
At the next moment.
「Tsu!! Hajime-san!」
「! Ou-」
Three layers of four point barrier were instantly laid out. Hajime did that because his instinct raised a sense of danger, but Shia’s voice also told him to do that.
From the result it was the correct action.
An invisible attack instantly blasted the house, furthermore it pulverized the first layer of the barrier and the Cross Velt. The second layer was similarly pulverized after a slight resistance. And then the third layer was cracked before the attack dissipated.
――As to be expected from someone who defeated my subordinate
A voice resounded directly inside their brain. It had a similar reverberation with that first villager-san (?). Even so, this voice was far heavier, far more terrifying, and indescribably shook the soul.
Right after that,
「O, oo?」
「Wawah!?」
The space distorted, and immediately after it their field of vision suddenly switched.
In front of the gaze of the surprised duo was someone clad in extravagant outfit. He looked like an old man in a glance. However, it needed to be added that he floated in the air and rode a monster that looked like a giant crocodile.
There was a thunderous sound behind them. When the two spontaneously looked behind, surprisingly the volcano that was in the middle of eruption was right there.
(We were teleported? If we are forcefully sent back to the former place……ah, crap. The matter of villager-san got exposed and we were searched huh……)
Hajime grumbled inside his heart and returned his gaze to the front. His eyes met the old man who was calmly emitting terrifying presence. Behind the old man, there was also a giant castle made of stone.
Hajime swallowed the fact that he was the one who got attacked first with effort and formed a wide smile that was evaluated by both his classmates and government people as shady.
「Nice to meet you. Are you someone from that castle? This is quite a novel way to invite someone! Furthermore, that’s one splendid castle! By the way, perhaps there is some kind of misunderstanding, so I’ll say this first but, we are just a virtuous tourist――」
――Mixed person who isn’t human or demon, I’ll receive your soul as the compensation of your sin invading my territory
「Hajime-san!」
A vision of death attacked once more!
Hajime immediately opened a gate behind him and the two of them teleported by falling back. The two who went out behind the old man saw the sight of a part of the volcano ahead got severely shaken.
It was an attack in the level that instantly changed the landscape.
「O, oi oi. It has been a long time since I feel death so near. Ain’t you really energetic for a gramps?」
「Wha, what to do? It feels like no dialogue can be held just like usual though.」
Even while they were talking, killing intent became intense quake that attacked them. They teleported again to evade. But,
「Uoh!?」
「No wayyy! Desuu!」
It seemed their teleportation’s destination was predicted. A shadow hung over them, and right after the teleportation a jaw was opened wide behind them. It was that giant crocodile.
Just before the jaw was closed, Shia’s magic power burst out. The closed jaw was held open with both her legs and both her arms supporting it. Hajime drew out Donner and Schlag at that opening and fired. A thunderous roar resounded, at the same time crimson flash trampled the inside of the crocodile’s mouth.