DISCLAIMER IS IN THE FIRST CHAPTER!
ARC I: ORCUS GREAT LABYRINTH - Part 04
—»O«—
Hajime and his entourage spent some time in the base he had created for this floor, the fiftieth since the Tar Floor, sharpening their skill, giving their weapons the needed maintenance, and resting their body properly. They had already discovered the stairs leading to the next floor, but there was a location on this floor that seemed distinctly different to him and the other two. An ominous atmosphere seemed to pervade the space around it.
At the very end of one of the side passages was a room which contained a set of majestic double doors, each three meters tall. On each side of the door was a statue of a cyclops sunk deep into the recesses of the wall.
When they had tried to step into the room, Hajime and Co. had felt chills run down their spine and had beat a hasty retreat, deciding that room was dangerous. Of course, the retreat was only temporary. He and his girls were going back to prepare and had no intention of skipping past that room. After all, it was the first thing he had run into these past 50 floors that were "different." There was no way he wasn't going to check it out. Kaori also showed her interest to what inside the room. It seems that only Shizuku who showed doubt about the room, but she was helpless against the other two's strong interest in the mysterious room.
They were filled with both expectation and trepidation as Hajime thought about the door. However, once they opened it, he knew some kind of disaster awaited. Still, it was also an opportunity to call forth the winds of change in this never-ending hell.
"It's just like Pandora's Box... Now then, I wonder what kind of hope awaits me when I open it." Hajime gazed at the double doors with interest.
"Pandora's Box? Isn't it said to bring disaster than hope, no?" Shizuku still showed her resistance against Hajime's intention to check out the room.
From her research about Anime, Manga and Light Novel with Kaori, she knew what Pandora's Box is.
Meanwhile, Kaori was alternating her gaze between the two Cyclops' statues. Her red eyes were glowing in the darkness of the room, giving eerie light.
"What's it?" Hajime found Kaori's action was a bit strange. His question took the Demonic Priestess' attention, and Kaori turned her eyes in Hajime's direction.
"These statues, no, these monsters are alive."
"What did you mean, Kaori?" Hajime gave Kaori an incomprehensible stare, mirrored by Shizuku.
"It's weird. My «Examine» tells me these statues are monster and alive." Digesting Kaori's report, Hajime rubbed his chin and made a thoughtful expression. He stared at the statues with interest.
"Maybe, they are inactive Golems or Gargoyles perhaps?" Hajime showed his fantasy knowledge he gained from his hobby. Kaori and Shizuku who had some knowledge of Japan's subculture didn't have any problem following Hajime's words.
"So, are we going to wake them, kill them, and eat them?" Kaori asked the leader of their group frankly. Even though it had never been discussed properly, Hajime was unofficially the leader of their group. Shizuku followed Kaori's gaze and waited for Hajime's decision. Being the center of two beautiful young women's attention and looked up with intense gaze would make Hajime nervous wreck back in Japan, but he is different now. They had experienced hell together and supported each other so far. They had the unmeasurable deep bond, which was tempered by the hardship they forced to triumph.
"It's quite obvious, isn't it? A famous monster like Cyclops likely has an interesting skill that can help us in the long run. But, firstly first, we need to wake them from their slumber, and I have an idea how to do it." Hajime smiled fearlessly in the girls' direction.
"Well, usually, a guardian type monster will appear when something they are guarding is in threat. If my guess is correct, we need to open the door to wake them up." Kaori tilted her head slightly, crossed her right hand on her torso, unintentionally making her breasts bigger, while holding her left elbow, and tapped her chin with her left index finger. She had a thoughtful expression.
Shizuku had a calm expression while fingering the handle of her «Raikiri (Lightning Cutter)». She was ready for action. It had become her new habit when she was excited or nervous. Hajime and Kaori knew that. They also felt excitement and trepidation for fighting the famous monster like Cyclops and found out what's in the room.
When all their preparations were complete, Hajime slowly moved to the doors. Hajime's footsteps grew steadily more wary as he attempted to enter the room with the double doors. He made it all the way to the door without encountering anyone.
Upon taking a closer look at it, Hajime realized the craftsmanship of the doors was even more impressive than he had initially thought. And that there was a magic circle carved into a tiny hollow on each of the two.
"Huh? That's odd."
"Is something wrong?" Kaori gave Hajime a puzzled look at Hajime confused reaction after he checked the double doors.
"I studied quite a bit back at the castle... but I still don't recognize this inscription." Back when he had still been ridiculed as worthless, Hajime had spent all his time studying to compensate for his lack of combat ability. Of course, he hadn't had enough time to learn everything there was to know about this world, but it was still unsettling that he couldn't recognize a single symbol on the circles. Of course, Kaori and Shizuku hadn't known what Hajime experienced in the hand of their so-called classmates. He had a plan to tell them, but he hadn't found a perfect time to share it yet.
"Something you don't know? Shall we continue this expedition or proceed to the next floor?" Shizuku stared at Hajime with inquiring eyes.
At that, Hajime pondered a little bit and closed his eyes. He recalled what happened to him, them, so far. So much hardship and the high price they had paid for their survival. Since it had been this far, it would be an insult to their bitter experience, and Hajime didn't want that.
Opening his eyes, Hajime alternated his eyes to Kaori and Shizuku and showed a firm expression.
"We don't know what's inside the room. But, there's a chance, small it may be, to help us go back to Japan. And if something inside this room is proven to be a danger for us..." Hajime trailed at the end of his sentence and showed a fearless smile to the girls.
""We kill it!""
Kaori and Shizuku's resolute voices overlapped each other. They gave determined nod in Hajime's direction. They didn't show any hesitation when they uttered that world. Going back home and keeping each other safe was their sole motivation for now.
After that, Hajime returned their nod with his own then faced the double doors again.
Does that just mean this spell's really old? Hajime pondered over the magic circles as he investigated the doors, but he was unable to discover anything of note. The conspicuous placement of the circles just screamed "trap" to Hajime, but he didn't have enough knowledge to derive any hints from his investigation. Meanwhile, Kaori and Shizuku were flanking him, standing at his sides and ready to defend Hajime from any ambush.
Guess my only option is to transmute it like always. Hajime finally met the conclusion of his investigation. He had already tried pushing and pulling on the doors, but they hadn't budged. And so, he had turned to his trusty transmutation skill. He placed his right hand on the door's surface and began transmuting.
But the moment he started pouring «Mana» into his hand...
*Zap!*
"Uwaah!?" A bolt of red lightning ran down the door, blasting Hajime's hand and body away.
""HAJIME!"" Kaori and Shizuku ran in Hajime's direction in panic. Tendrils of smoke rose up from Hajime's hand. Seeing his condition, Kaori immediately applied her mid-level healing magic, «Miracle», to heal him. If she had higher healing magic, she would use it without second thought, but she hadn't gained it yet. So, she used this instead.
A second later, they heard a deep roar.
"Uoooooooooooooooh!" It reverberated throughout the entire room.
Hajime and Kaori didn't move from their position since Shizuku had stood in front of them. Her «Raikiri (Lightning Cutter» was unsheathed and her posture showed her readiness to defend her companions. Any threat getting close to Hajime and Kaori would meet the sharp edge of her blade.
"Wow, this is a clichéd as it gets." Hajime smiled sardonically as he watched the two cyclops statues suddenly spring to life and start destroying the wall that held them. Their petrified skin rapidly regained its color, going from gray to dark green.
The Cyclopes fit the fantasy description for them to a T. They each wielded swords nearly four meters long that they had pulled from god knows where. Currently, they were struggling to free their still–entombed lower halves, determined to eliminate the unwelcome intruder.
Ignoring Kaori's chiding, "Now, be silent and let me focus on healing you!", Hajime fired «Donner-Schnitt» directly at the right Cyclops' glaring eye. With a ferocious *BANG*, the electrically accelerated Taur bullet pierced through its eye, made mincemeat out of its brains, and pulverized the wall behind it as it exited the back of its head.
The Cyclops on the left stared blankly at its now deceased companion. On the other hand, the dead one twitched for a few seconds before collapsing forward, making the entire room shake as its huge frame crashed into the ground. The fall of such large creature raised a massive cloud of dust. Taking away its attention from Hajime and Co. was the last cyclops' mistake.
The last cyclops heard a sound of whistling wind and its instinct screamed at it to move. But, the Cyclops was already too late. Shizuku appeared in front of its face with electricity imbued «Raikiri (Lightning Cutter)» thrust to its eye. The sharp katana pierced its eyes and continued to its brain. The electricity covering the katana added the lethal element of the sure kill attack. Before it realized, the last cyclops had died, killed by Shizuku.
"Sorry, but we're not a nice enough guy to wait for you to break free." The dead cyclops hadn't seen that coming, in more ways than one. For Hajime and his girls, who had survived through countless bitter struggles, it was merely a natural course of action to take. Yet...he still felt a twinge of pity for the cyclops.
"Hajime! Please be silent and let me focus on my work! This isn't time to say your cool line!" At Kaori's words, Hajime's expression soured. The Demonic Priestess really didn't know how to read the mood.
"Let him have his moment Kaori. We know that Hajime hasn't fully graduated from his eighth-grade yet." While gliding on the floor, returning to her friend's position, Shizuku made fun of Hajime.
"Eh? Really? But, isn't Hajime a sophomore high school student like us? How hasn't he graduated from eighth grade?" Still healing Hajime, Kaori showed her confusion, tilting her head cutely. Though she had done research about Japan's subculture with Shizuku's assistance, there were some parts Kaori still hadn't understood yet. Shizuku's lips wriggled as she held back the urge to laugh at Hajime's expense.
Hajime held the instinctual need to writhe in agony from the mental damage Shizuku had given him. Though his body was motionless, his cheeks and brows were twitching from his complicated feelings.
"Alright, you have your fun at my expense, Shizuku. And Kaori, I think you have healed me enough, and please forget what Shizuku has said." Listening to Hajime's words, Kaori stopped her treatment. Hajime quickly stood up, followed by a second later. He saw the impish smile on Shizuku's face and ignored it. He moved to the dead Cyclopes warily. When he realized they were honest-to-God dead, he used «Gale Claw» to strip its flesh for meal.
Hajime and Co. ate the Cyclopes' meat wordlessly. They felt a sting in their stomach, but it only happened in split second. They checked their «Status-Plate» and found a new skill called «Diamond Skin» from devouring the Cyclopes. After the trained with their new skill into acceptable level and prepared for their expedition into the mysterious room, they huddled close in front of the door. As he glanced back to the door, an idea sprouted in Hajime's mind.
He used «Gale Claw» to cut open the Cyclopes and extracted their «Mana Crystals». Shizuku quickly followed his example then gave the bloodied crystal to Hajime. He accepted it without fanfare. Ignoring the fact that they were dripping with blood, he carried the two fist-sized «Mana Crystals» over to the double doors and placed them in the two indents.
They fit perfectly. After a brief delay, they began pouring gouts of dark red «Mana» into the magic circles. The sound of something snapping echoed in the distance and the light began to fade. «Mana» started diffusing through the room at the same time, making the surrounding walls glow with a bright light. The room was suddenly filled with more light than Hajime and his girls had seen in ages.
They blinked at the sudden brightness then pushed open the door, clearly on the lookout for any traps. He was stopped from entering by Kaori's hand on his shoulder. Hajime realized Kaori's intention, but he gave the healer a stern gaze.
"Wait in here. I'll check inside first."
"But!" Kaori stopped her protest when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She averted her eyes from Hajime and saw Shizuku shake her head. Chewing her lower lip, Kaori grudgingly followed Hajime's instruction. But, she was ready to jump in when Hajime needed her help.
Shizuku took back her hand and rested it on the handle of her sword for easy draw. Like Kaori, she was preparing herself for jumping to help Hajime when he needed it. Furthermore, she was the fastest one of the group. She had higher chance to assist Hajime when he needed it.
Hajime entered the room alone. The room on the other side of the door was a pitch black, with not a single light source to be found. However, a combination of his «Night Vision» and the light spilling in from the room outside was enough for him to dimly make out his surroundings.
The interior of the room was composed of the same marble-like substance that Hajime had first seen in the church cathedral. Two rows of thick pillars, spaced out at regular intervals, extended all the way to the end of the room. In the very center of the room was a huge cubical slab of rock. Its surface was glossy, and it shone from the reflected light coming in from the room behind.
Hajime took a closer look at the cube, noticing there was something that glowed faintly jutting out from the center of its front face. It looked almost as if it was sprouting out of the rock. Intent on getting a closer look, he threw the doors open wide, and signaled his girls to hold them in place. He didn't want to make the classic horror movie mistake and enter only to find the door shut behind him.
He stepped carefully and froze a second later because whatever was in the center of the cube stirred.
"...Who goes there?" He heard a faint, hoarse, female voice. Startled, Hajime looked over to the center of the room again. The "something" he had seen earlier was squirming slightly. The light pouring in from the other room revealed that something's true form.
"What's it, Hajime?" He heard Kaori's voice from far behind. But, he ignored it because what was in front of him. He got closer to get better look while keeping his guard all the time.
"A... person?" The something sprouting from the rock was indeed a person. Because the soft and weak voice and the distance between the rock and the doors, it was unlikely for Kaori and Shizuku to hear the spoken words. The girl was buried in the rock from the neck down, and her golden-blonde hair dangled limply in front of her face, much like the ghost from a certain famous horror movie. Eyes as red as the blood moon peeked out from between gaps in her hair. She looked to be rather young. Still, despite her haggard appearance and her hair covering the better part of her face, it was still clear she was quite beautiful.
Hajime stiffened in surprise; he hadn't expected to see another person so deep in the labyrinth. It seemed the girl was just as surprised to see him too, as she was staring at him in dumbfounded shock. For a moment, silence engulfed the dark room.
"Hajime? Is there a problem?" Kaori's voice from outside snapped him out of whatever spellbound Hajime and the mysterious girl in silence. He took some deep breaths to steady himself, and then resolutely said...
"Sorry. I'll just leave now." He went to go back and close the doors again. But before he could, the blonde-haired red-eyed girl hurriedly called out to him once more. Her voice was hoarse and weak, most likely from years of disuse, but the desperation in it was clear.
"W-Wait...! Please...! Help me..."
"Don't wanna," Hajime replied curtly then returned his attention to the doors.
A truly heartless reply.
"Wh-Why... Please... I'll do anything, so..." She really was desperate. Though she could barely move her neck, she still raised her face up to look at Hajime.
But even then, Hajime only gave an irritated reply. "You know, I really doubt it'd be a good idea to free someone that's clearly been sealed all the way down here in the deepest pits of hell. That just spells trouble. As far as I can tell there's nothing but the seal in here... and it doesn't look like that'll help my escape at all, so..." It was a fair argument.
However, there were few people so devoid of sympathy that they could so easily ignore a girl's pleas for help. It was clear that the old, kind Hajime had long since perished.
Though he had refused her so bluntly, the girl continued hopelessly calling out for help.
"No! *Cough*... I-I'm not anyone bad...! Please wait! I..." He almost arrived at the door; he continued his step, ignoring the mysterious girl's desperate plea for help. He could see Kaori and Shizuku's expressions, the mix of surprise and wary because they heard the voice. He had signaled his girls to close the door, but just before he passed the doors and the two confused and wary girls, he ground his teeth. Had he been a bit faster he wouldn't have had to hear those last words of hers.
"I was betrayed!" He, Kaori and Shizuku too, heard that loud, desperate shout.
Hajime froze. The girls' confusion deepened because of the myriad of emotions in Hajime's eyes. Hajime's shadow blocked the light that illuminated the darkness within. He could imagine the blond-haired girl's red eyes were desperately gazing at his back. Ten seconds passed, then twenty. Finally, Hajime turned his body around, scowling unhappily at the situation at hand.
He ignored Kaori and Shizuku's look that was filled with confusion and uncertainty.
No matter what she had said, he hadn't planned on helping her. He figured there must have been a very good reason someone was sealed all the way down here, far below the light of the sun. And there was no proof that she wasn't dangerous, either. In fact, it was likely that she was just some evil creature that was trying to deceive him into releasing her. He should have just left her.
Seriously, what the hell am I doing? Hajime sighed to himself as that thought passed through his mind.
"I was betrayed!" — To think those words would stir his heart, the heart he thought he'd long since buried. He thought he had already forgotten about the classmate who had flung that fireball at him. He thought he had already thrown away paltry feelings like hatred and sympathy. In order to survive in this cruel world, he had to.
But the fact that the girl's words had shaken him so deeply meant that he hadn't completely buried his old self. Enough of the old, kind Hajime still lived that he could sympathize with this girl's circumstances, which were so very similar to his own. Well, it isn't entirely correct either. He had Kaori and Shizuku, but it was very complicated.
He scratched his head uncomfortably and walked up to the girl. Of course, he still remained vigilant. He didn't forget to give a meaningful glance to Kaori and Shizuku to keep the doors open.
"You said you were betrayed? But that still doesn't explain why you're trapped here. If you really were betrayed, how come they sealed you in this rock?" The girl seemed shocked that Hajime had actually come back.
She stared fixedly at Hajime through her dirty golden locks, crimson eyes gleaming in the darkness. He began growing impatient at her continued silence.
"Hey, are you listening? If you don't want to talk, then I'll just head back now," he said brusquely and turned on his heel. The girl came back to her senses with a start and quickly began speaking.
"I am one of the original, atavistic vampires... because of the extraordinary power I was gifted with... I worked hard for the sake of my country and my people. But then... one day... my retainers all... said I wasn't needed anymore... My uncle... said that he would be king in my place... I...was fine with that... but because I had so much power everyone was afraid of me, they thought I was dangerous... They couldn't kill me... so they decided to seal me here instead... That's why..."
She spoke haltingly but desperately, her parched throat making speech difficult. Hajime sighed as he heard her tale. She had certainly suffered a cruel fate. However, during the course of her tale, he heard some things that nagged at him. He felt an inexplicable, complicated feeling well up within him, so he asked the following:
"So does that mean you were some kind of royalty?" She nodded furiously at his words.
"What do you mean they couldn't kill you?"
"...I heal automatically. No matter what kind of injury it is, it'll just heal by itself. Even if you cut my head off I'll regenerate eventually."
"Th-That's quite the ability... So that's the power everyone was afraid of?"
"That too, but... the main thing was that I could control «Mana»... directly, without a magic circle."
Hajime nodded and replied with a simple, "I see."
After consuming monster flesh he and his girls had become capable of freely manipulating their «Mana» as well. They needed no chants or magic circles to enhance their body, or use the special magic they had acquired. Same with his transmutation skill.
However, Hajime and Shizuku had zero affinity for magic, so even if they could manipulate their «Mana» directly they still needed a huge magic circle to actually cast anything, meaning they effectively couldn't use it for much.
But with this girl's magical affinity, being able to directly manipulate «Mana» turned into an insanely powerful asset. Because while everyone else had to waste time preparing circles and chanting their spells, she could just blast off magic like nobody's business.
Frankly, it wouldn't be much of a fight if she chose to take someone on. And to top it off, she was immortal. It probably wasn't perfect, and there was most likely some way to actually overcome it, but even then it was a cheat level skill far surpassing that of any hero's.
Overall, this girl was like Kaori, albeit she was a pure offensive type mage while Kaori was mostly a support type mage with odd offensive and defensive abilities in here and there.
"...Please, save me..." She begged softly as she watched Hajime sink deep into thought.
"Hmm..." He stared unblinkingly at her. She stared right back. They spent what felt like an eternity gazing into each other's eyes. He got closer to the girl.
Her eyes widened as her expectation rose. Her lower lip trembled, his face inching closer, his hand reaching up to her face. Softly parting her hair with his fingers with a gentleness his whole body language had not even hinted at. His hand moved to the top of her head and gave her light pat.
The girl was dumbfounded. But, his hand left her head. A tinge of regret in her eyes, her facial muscles unchanged, still unused to forming expressions. Hard, like porcelain, from decades, centuries of disuse.
Hajime sighed. Hajime's palm touched the stone. Cold seeping through the fingerless glove, the transmutation circle long since faded, but he had outgrown its usefulness. It wasn't needed anymore. Then, he pushed his «Mana» into the cube, trying to transmute it.
«Mana» practically poured out of him, squeezing through the palm of his hand, before being lost within the stone. The dark red sparks grew in intensity, however, the cube he was trying to transmute remained unchanged, as if it was resisting the force of his «Mana». Just like the bedrock that lay between each floor of the labyrinth. Nevertheless, unlike those it wasn't as if his magic was being completely nullified. Little by little, Hajime's power began seeping into the cube.
"Guh, this thing's tough... but I'm not so weak anymore!" He poured yet more «Mana» into his spell. It was enough «Mana» that it would have taken six verses to chant out, were he not able to manipulate it freely. Finally, he felt his magic start taking effect. The tremendous volume of «Mana» dazzled bright crimson, illuminating the entire room in a fiery red.
And yet Hajime continued pouring «Mana» into his arm. Seven verses worth, then eight. The part of the rock encasing the girl began to tremble at that point.
"I'm not done yet!" He pushed even harder, pouring a ninth verse's worth of «Mana» into the stone. At that point he had burned enough «Mana» to cast some of the most advanced spells in existence and still have some left over.
The girl stared at him fixedly as his «Mana» grew brighter and brighter, determined not to miss a single moment.
Cold sweat poured down his back as he kept going. This was the first time Hajime had tried to cast such a large-scale spell. If he lost focus for even an instant, the massive amount of «Mana» he was wielding would go berserk. But even after all that, the cube refused to budge. Desperate, he threw all the «Mana» he had into the spell. Finally, the portion of the cube entrapping the girl began to melt like hot butter and dribbled to the ground, slowly releasing her from her stone prison. But, it wasn't enough.
Hajime wasn't sure why he was going so far for a girl he had just met.
But for some reason, he just couldn't leave her alone. Even though he had sworn to himself to eliminate all obstacles in his path and to live only for the sake of his goal, he still continued transmuting. Seriously, why the hell am I doing this? He mentally admonished his actions, but then he reasoned that everyone makes exceptions sometimes and stubbornly thought, I decided to do this, so there's no way in hell I'm quitting halfway!
However, he didn't want to exhaust his «Mana» fully. Who knew what would happen next. If he was alone, he would use brute force until his «Mana» exhausted. But, since he wasn't alone, he called for help.
"Kaori! Could you get here and help me?"
The vampire princess gazed in Hajime's direction quizzically. A second later, she turned her eyes in other direction as she heard a hurried sound of footstep. When she saw Kaori, her red eyes narrowed. Meanwhile, Kaori was focused on Hajime to notice Yue. She immediately hugged Hajime from behind, pushing her well-endowed breasts on Hajime back, then used «Infiltrate» to send «Mana» into Hajime.
The girl's eyes narrowed when she saw Kaori's action then widened when she didn't see magic circle or hear incantation from the girl. Then, Hajime's crimson «Mana» rampaged without impunity, brute forcing the cube like raging beast with energy to spare.
As the rock slowly fell away, her modest breasts were fully visible. Next came her waist, then her hands, her thighs, and finally the cube melted away entirely and she was free. Her completely naked body was clearly emaciated, but it still had an alluring charm to it. She slumped to the ground in an exhausted heap as soon as her body was fully free. It seemed she wasn't strong enough to stand.
Hajime sat down in front of her. He was panting heavily. Even though he got Kaori's support, he felt tried from transmuting the cube that sealed the blond-haired, red-eyed vampire princess.
Suddenly, the girl put her hand over his and grabbed it. Her small, slender, and frail hand trembled as it entwined with his own. He gave her a sidelong glance, and realized she was looking right at him. Though her face was expressionless, a wealth of emotions dwelled within her crimson eyes.
In a small and trembling, but powerful voice, the girl conveyed her feelings.
"Thank you." Hajime wasn't sure he could ever express the emotion he felt at those words. He just knew that the heart he thought he'd discarded began glowing with a faint, but resolute light.
He sat there quietly, his hand in hers. He wondered how long she must have been trapped there, suffering. As far as Hajime knew, the vampires had gone extinct hundreds of years ago. At the very least, that was what had been written in the history books he had read in the royal library.
Even when she had been talking to him earlier, her face had remained expressionless, which meant that she had at least spent a long enough time in this solitary dark cell to forget how to speak, and even how to show emotions.
According to her tale, she had been betrayed by someone she trusted too. It was a wonder she hadn't gone insane. Perhaps that had been due to her healing factor? But if that really were the case, that meant she had been tortured for centuries by her own abilities, unable to even sink into the release of madness.
But, is that really the case? Hajime wondered briefly if the vampire princess was really sane. He was apprehensive of his own decision regarding the formerly sealed vampire. Guess, I will take wait and see approach. If she's proven as a real danger for us, then... Hajime's internal monologue stopped abruptly as the girl's hand squeezed his.
"...What's your name?" she whispered to Hajime. His smile grew awkward as he realized they hadn't told each other their names yet. He replied quickly, without a hint of hesitation in his tone.
"Hajime. Hajime Nagumo. What's yours?" She nodded, affirming something in her mind. After she finished that, she opened her mouth to answer his question, before hesitating for a moment and thinking better of it.
"...Give me one."
"Huh? You want me to name you? Don't tell me you forgot your actual one?"
Considering how long she had been imprisoned here it wasn't impossible, but the girl shook her head slowly.
"I don't need a name from the past... I'm fine with whatever name you give me, Hajime."
"...Haah, It's not so easy to just think up a name..." The reason she wanted a new name was probably similar to the reason Hajime had reformed his heart. She wanted to throw away her old self and be reborn. Hajime had practically been forced to change by the pain and starvation, but it seemed she wanted to be reborn of her own free will. And the first step toward that transformation was getting a new moniker.
She looked expectantly up at Hajime. Hajime scratched his cheek as he thought, but a voice suddenly broke the peaceful atmosphere between them.
"Excuse me…I hope you didn't forget I'm also here, Hajime."
Flinched, Hajime turned his head and gazed at Kaori from the corner of his eyes. The Demonic Priestess was leveling a flat gaze at Hajime. She crossed her arms under her breast and drummed the floor with her left foot. Hajime felt cold sweats trickled on his back, feeling nervous by the emotionless gaze of Kaori. He had forgotten the healer for a moment, and he was introspecting silently.
"Ah…" The vampire princess stared in Kaori's direction. Unlike her gaze to Hajime, though it was still flat but there was a trace of warmth in it, her gaze to Kaori was flat, cold and devoid of any emotions. Her gaze was as if saying "Who is this nuisance?"
"Ah, eh, of course, not, Kaori. Anyway, this is Kaori, Kaori this is, er—" Hajime tried to introduce Kaori to the vampire princess, but he hadn't given her name yet. At that moment, Hajime realized the girls were ignoring him in favor of glaring each other with frigid eyes.
It was the beginning of their endless rivalry for the first position in the future.
When Hajime saw that, he deadpanned and wondered if he had made a mistake.
—»O«—
Footnote:
Next will show what Yue thinks from her 3rd person viewpoint. This Yue will be different from canon Arifureta's Yue.
Don't forget to leave review, please~
