Lies & Ties

by AsheriteAbyss13

Nagumo Hajime saves Yaegashi Shizuku from certain death in a freak incident that left her stranded. Yaegashi grows feelings for him and returns the favour by plunging herself into the Abyss to save him when he is betrayed. This is a story about love and salvation. About family and struggle. About freedom and loss. About Lies and Ties

4. Chapter 4

Hi everyone. Thanks for following along!

Note: As we have new characters interacting with my story's version of Yue, you may notice that all of the other characters (apart from Shizuku and Hajime) refer to her as 'Aletia', the name that she permits others to call her by. For the sake of clarity, when I'm talking about her in the third person I'll use Yue or Aletia interchangeably.

Without further ado, let's get down to the next chapter.

Edits 02/12/2022

- I've changed the conversation between Shea and Shizuku

- I've decided to change things so Shizuku and Hajime kill the slavers instead of letting them go free. There are interesting pathways that I want to explore here.

---

Lies and Ties – Chapter 4

Vision

I'm sorry everyone!

A lone figure with bright blue bunny ears ran away desperately. She was being chased by horrid pursuers. The humans had already caught a number of her brothers and sisters. It was only through their sacrifice that she was able to make it.

They believed in her words, in her visions. She prayed only that she would have the strength to see it through.

I have to make it to that gorge!

Her breath ran ragged as she used every inch of her strength to run across the arid dry plains. She only stopped when her legs gave way. Still, her vision kept her going. It kept her directed and focused. She couldn't give up. She needed to do this to save her people.

The fact that she hadn't been caught was proof to her that her vision was correct. That the people she saw would be her people's saviours. It didn't matter that her clothes were torn to shreds or that she had no dignity left. She would starve and beg if it meant saving her people.

After what seemed like days of gruelling travel she made it to the entrance of the valley that she saw in her visions. There was still a ways to go. This valley was well known for being filled with monsters. Doubtless, the monsters would hinder her travel. She would have to hope that she would find the people in her vision sooner rather than later.

Using the larger rocks for cover, the bunny girl slowly traversed the valley. Her visions allowed her to avoid the more dangerous monsters. Still, she had to keep her eyes peeled, her visions wouldn't be able to help her if she encountered a monster directly. She was simply too weak to be able to repel any monsters.

By this point she had been running herself ragged for at least 3 whole days, with little rest. The sun was bearing down on her. Her vision was blurring and the headache that she had been experiencing for hours now grew worse until she collapsed from the pain. Her strength faded at last. She collapsed for the final time, with no strength to pull through.

She knew that this was the end. She had come so close but she knew that she would likely die of exposure or be eaten soon. One last thought streamed through her head.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

"Oh….. A bunny girl. I had heard that beast men are a thing in this world. If I was some kind of pervy isekai protagonist I'd count this as a good day. " A voice blithely remarked.

A clear distinct voice cut through the haze and pain. She felt herself being lifted up. Then it seemed like cold water was poured into her mouth.

"Hmm. Looks like she is waking up." The male voice remarked as the bunny girl came to her senses. "What's your name?" He asked.

A dinosaur-like monster leered above them about to eat them whole. It seemed like the boy hadn't noticed.

"Behind you!" She cried out desperately.

Calmly and with lightning speed, the boy pulled out an odd weapon. Without even glancing at the monster behind him, he aimed the weapon behind him and fired several times. The dinosaur collapsed, dead. The bunny girl could only react with her mouth gaping.

"Oi. Enough of the gag reflex. Can you please tell me your name?" He demanded, annoyed that his question was ignored.

"Ah, my name is Shea…." Responded the bunny girl with blue ears.

"Shea huh. Alright, Shea, you're obviously in no shape to walk on your own. I'm going to have to carry you then."

Taking very little regard to the compromising situation that she was in, the white-haired boy with blood-red eyes carried her bridal style. He dashed faster than she could possibly imagine, making her dizzy and about to pass out again.

Thankfully it wasn't long before he stopped. It seemed that this was a camp that he built. He gently laid her on something soft and put her under the shade of the rockface to keep her away from the sun's rays.

"Well, you can rest a bit. I'll explain to the others why there is a bunny girl laying in our camp when they get back." The boy mentioned.

Seeing no other option, Shea, the blue-eared bunny girl laid her head and rested for the first time in a long time.

---

Night

It was not long before Shizuku and Yue returned. Hajime recalled the events that led to his encounter with the bunny girl Shea.

"Hmm a [beastman]. A girl from one of the Rabbit tribes it seems." Yue remarked observing the sleeping girl. "If my information is not outdated, the rabbit tribes are what you would call 'vulnerable'. They're the weakest of the Beastmen clans, whose survival depends solely on their ability to run away."

Based on Hajime's observations Yue's description seemed to match what he had seen of the bunny girl. Yet it was all the more curious as to why one was running around in a valley filled with monsters.

"Based on the information that I got from the Kingdom, rabbit men and most of the Beastmen live in the Forest nation of Verbergen, located in the sea of trees. Humans and Demons look down on Beastmen as 'unholy' heathens who do not have the blessings of the gods due to their lack of mana control. As such they are often the target for slavers."

Yue visibly flinched at the word 'heathens', recalling the crusade that the human's waged against her people. Shizuku seemed to be distracted by the bunny girl's ears, looking with great interest at the ears which drooped as the girl was sleeping. Hajime had to prod Shizuku to get her attention.

"Shizuku-tan, Shizuku-tan. I know you like bunny rabbits but please don't do anything that would be considered sexual assault." Hajime teased, as he saw his lover get embarrassed.

"I'm not!" Shizuku denied loudly, getting redder and redder with each giggle from Hajime and Yue.

"I was just….. Checking her condition!" Shizuku denied. "You know she could be hurt a lot more than we thought!"

"Uh-huh. Yeah, try convincing me of that after you peel your eyes off her ears." Hajime continued unconvinced.

Shizuku pouted and refused to look at Hajime and Yue who were laughing their heads off. Shizuku hid her red face behind her ponytail in response.

"Oh, the ponytail guard came out!" Hajime teased.

The commotion awoke the sleeping bunny girl, who was startled and awoke in fright. When she saw that they were not monsters she breathed a sigh of relief. For the first time, she was finally able to get a good look at her saviour; the white-haired boy with blood-red eyes.

"You're him! The white-haired boy that I saw in my vision! I saw you in my [Future Sight]!" She exclaimed.

Glancing around she noticed other people besides him. Searching her memories Shea also confirmed that they were in her vision as well.

"Yeah! Yeah! I remember seeing that sulking white-haired girl over there! And the short blonde girl! I remember all of you. All of you were in my [Future Sight]!"

"[Future Sight]?"

Shea explained that she was born with the special ability to manipulate mana, unlike the rest of her fellow Beastmen. She had the ability to use [Future Sight] since she could remember. In most cases she could only use it to see a few seconds into the future, but sometimes she would see visions of important events or people.

Shea tearfully explained the situation that her clan the Haulia found themselves in.

"Our tribe the Haulia, are the weakest. We've always been shunned by the rest of the Beastmen tribes for our weakness. We've always been at odds with the tougher Beastmen, who always saw us as dead weight."

"Beastmen have always ostracised anyone that had the ability to use mana. My clan hid my ability from the others to prevent me from being kicked out." Shea explained, tearfully recounting her role in her clan's predicament. "They found out about my abilities. We pleaded for mercy, knowing that we'd most likely die or be enslaved if we were kicked out of the forest. The Verbergen council ignored us and formally expelled us from the Sea of Forests."

"It didn't take long before we were caught by the Holscher Empire's goons." Shea cried out. "All my people have been taken….."

"But when we were fleeing I saw you guys. And I saw your strength first hand…. I know that this might be bold of someone who just met you…. But please help me save my tribe!"

Hajime mulled it over. It was true that he didn't need to save these people. After all, he could easily chalk up everything up to the rambling words of a desperate bunny girl. Still, after all he'd been through, a girl with the ability to see the future isn't a big shock anymore.

He looked at Shea's eyes and no matter how he looked at it Shea did not seem to be deceiving them. But any time that they would waste could mean putting Shirasaki and Endou's lives at risk. Hajime was still conflicted, when Shizuku came up to him grasping him by the shoulder.

"Hajime. We should help them!" Shizuku declared. "Don't you feel bad for the girl and her tribe?"

"Shizuku. We don't-"

Hajime was about to object when he saw that his lover's eyes were swaying with the bunny ears again. He sighed. He wasn't going to get through to Shizuku with her eyes being like that. Rationalising that they needed a guide to help them find their way, he figured that helping out Shea was a worthwhile exchange.

"We'll help you save your tribe." Hajime decided. "My rabbit-obsessed lover here won't exactly settle for any less. If you can help guide us around this area for a bit, I'll consider it even and worth our time saving your tribe."

Shea cried for joy and relief. She thanked them profusely before realising that she didn't know their names.

"Huh oh yeah. I guess we got all caught up in the whole [Future Sight] thing. I'm Nagumo Hajime." Said the boy with messy short white hair.

"My name is Yue Aletia Galdea Vespirito Avartal. You may call me Aletia." Replied the petite blonde.

"I'm Yaegashi Shizuku. I hope that we become good friends, Shea-san" Shizuku replied brightly offering a handshake.

They spent the rest of the night talking about their stories and their intentions with Shea. From her story, they got a vague idea of where they were. This was the Reisen Gorge, a rift valley that spans the length of the continent. It bisected the continent in half, between the more fertile Northern regions and the arid desert regions of the south.

To be exact they were in one of the valleys that led into the larger Reisen Gorge, but no one bothered to name any of these smaller valleys.

"Wow. You guys must be super strong to survive all of that! I guess my visions weren't wrong." Shea exclaimed. "As for that labyrinth that you're looking for, us Beastmen have a sacred tree named Uralt in the middle of the Sea of Forests. We were told to protect it by our greatest ancestor Haltina. Perhaps that's one of the labyrinths you're looking for."

"Well, Oscar's diary mentioned Haltina several times. It seems that he didn't know the exact location of her labyrinth, but I'd say hiding a labyrinth in the Sea of Forests is a good hiding place." Shizuku observed.

"If we save my tribe, we'd be happy to guide you to the sacred tree." Shea mentioned.

Based on Shea's story, it had likely been several days since her tribesmen were captured and it was at least a day by foot to make it to the last place she'd seen them. Time was certainly of the essence.

Shea began to yawn, indicating to everyone that it was time for a rest. She laid to rest and dozed off almost immediately.

Hajime ordered Shizuku and Yue to rest.

"Rest up you two. You're going to need your mana at full capacity tomorrow. With any luck we'll be able to find some traces of the marauding band tomorrow. We'll just need to use a bit of mana to get there faster."

"What are you planning Hajime?" Shizuku asked, noticing that glint in his eyes.

"Oh you'll see." He said as he grinned.

---

Next Day

Yaegashi Shizuku awoke the next day early, as part of her early morning routine. The sun was not yet up, yet she heard the sound of tinkering and clutter rattling about. Hajime was busy fiddling with his tools, making adjustments to a machine of some sort.

"Oh good morning Shizuku…. (Yawn)…. Yeah, I'm making some last-minute adjustments here. I don't want anyone to explode on the maiden trip of the [Magi-Cycles]"

Coming closer, Shizuku recognised the shape of the machines he was adjusting. They bore the resemblance of motorcycles from Earth. They seemed futuristic in style, something that Shizuku chalked up to Hajime's personal taste.

"I made them help traverse this continent. They're powered by mana but you'd need the ability to manipulate mana directly to use them. That's a security measure really since that ability is rare on this continent. They should fit about two people comfortably." Hajime explained excitedly.

"I figured that you like the colour purple so that one is yours." He said, pointing to the violet-coloured [Magi-cycle]. "I'll get you to ride with Shea and I'll ride with Yue. With us on the [Magi-cycles], we'll make it to the spot Shea told us about in no time."

Shizuku and Hajime began to test drive the motorcycles. After waiting another hour, Yue and Shea woke up to the sound of roaring engines.

"What is that ungodly racket?" Yue demanded angrily.

They quickly explained their plan to assuage Yue's anger.

"I readily agree that time is of the essence." Yue agreed. "However!"

Yue began to charge her ice magic.

"Learn to be considerate of others!" She shouted as she froze the ground around Shizuku and Hajime.

"Stay there until Shea and myself get ready." She ordered, fuming at them.

Yue dragged Shea away from the two human ice blocks. Yue began to get properly dressed for the journey ahead.

"Are those two okay to be okay?" Shea asked worriedly.

"They've survived much worse than that. It'll be nothing more than mild discomfort for them." Yue dismissed. "Besides, worry about yourself. Why haven't you asked for new clothes? I will not allow you to continue to wear those rags."

Shea looked down at her clothes' present state. They were horribly ripped and left little to the imagination. Shea blushed and covered her exposed area's with her hands.

"Wahhh! Why didn't anyone tell me earlier!" Shea cried out, pouting. "Now I can't get married…."

"Enough of your nonsense." Aletia dismissed, as she rummaged through the stores for spare clothes. "Wear these. You can get Hajime to make you something that suits your taste later."

She thanked Aletia-san.

"You have an interesting relationship with Hajime-san and Shizuku-san, don't you, Aletia-san?" Shea asked, trying to strike up a conversation with the Queen of the Vampires.

"Certainly. My annoyance with them at the present moment belies the fact that I deeply care for them." Yue explained, her face loosening from her anger. "They are my saviours….. But more than that they are my family. I would give my life for them."

"They gave me the name 'Yue'. That is why I don't permit others to use that name unless I consider them family. To others, I'm Aletia Galdea Vesperito Avatarl; the last Queen of the Vampires. But to them, I am Yue, their friend and their kin."

"And because they're family you need to keep them in line every now and again," Shea remarked, understanding a little bit of the stress that comes with family. "You're kinda like their older sister?"

"Older sister? I admit I've never really seen myself as their older sister. They did save me from 300 years of darkness and isolation after all." Yue acknowledged. "But pondering about it, I guess that would be an appropriate description of my relationship with them."

As soon as Yue and Shea were finished getting ready, she approached the two frozen ice blocks. Noticing that they were sufficiently repentant Yue decided to unfreeze defrosted them with a quick heat spell.

"Dry yourself. If you've learned your lesson then take it to heart. Let's go." Yue ordered.

They were shivering, from the tips of their toes to the very roots of their hair. Without objection Shizuku and Hajime dried themselves, silently vowing to behave themselves in front of their 'older sister' from now on.

After eating a quick breakfast, they stored their camp and prepared to ride off on the motorcycles; Hajime with Yue and Shizuku with Shea. Since Shea had to guide them, Shizuku took the lead using Shea's instructions.

Using this opportunity Shea decided to strike up a conversation with the white-haired sword master. Shea knew very little of the swordswoman. She knew that she held quite a lot of sway with Hajime, but little else. Latching onto the topic of Hajime, Shea began her attempts to speak to her.

"So Shizuku-san….. How long have you known Hajime-san?" She asked, struggling to start up a conversation of interest.

"Hmm. I guess it'll be about two or so years now. Give or take a couple of months. We're not exactly sure how long we were stuck in the Labyrinth." Shizuku responded curtly.

Shea responded with the date of the common calendar in Tortus.

"Hmm. Only three months then. It sure felt a bit longer than that." Shizuku observed.

"So Hajime-san and yourself. You're lovers right?" Shea asked, trying to state the obvious to start a bigger conversation.

"Yes. We are." Shizuku answered without a hint of embarrassment. "He is my heart. The person that I gave my everything to. If all goes well I'm going to marry him when we get back to Earth."

"Ohh you're so forward with that!" Shea exclaimed. "You must be very lucky to have found someone that you can be with for the rest of your life."

"In a sense. Certainly, life becomes a bit happier when you have a spouse. But ''love" isn't as easy as it cracked up to be. I pledged my everything to Hajime when I was in that dungeon. I still stand by that."

Shizuku continued speaking about her relationship with Hajime and the depths to which it went.

"But 'loving' someone isn't just about loving them when we have happy romantic feelings for each other. I figured out that its about becoming vulnerable to the other person. To open yourself whole and entire to the person you love, no matter what happens."

Shizuku recounted all the instances when Hajime pissed her off or caused her heart to break in two due to his reckless actions.

"When did you know that you fell in love with him?" Shea asked curiously.

Shizuku recounted the events that led to her being saved by Hajime.

"When he saved me, any veneer of [Yaegashi Shizuku] the strong swordswoman shattered. All that was left was [Shizuku], A weak girl, who desperately wanted her prince to save her. A girl whose weakness was all on display."

"Hajime accepted all of that. He accepted my everything and never let me go. His love got me through the worse experience of my entire life. He reached out his hands and saved me….. Why wouldn't I be in love with him?"

"Wow you've got a really mature outlook, Shizuku-san." Shea acknowledged. "You must really love him if you've thought about it so much."

"So what if someone, say tries to steal Hajime-san away from you?" Shea asked.

"Oh, I'd rather not think about such dark hypotheticals. Would you?" Shizuku replied, her harsh tone emphasised each word. Shizuku's gripped the bars of the bike tighter and tighter until her veins were showing.

She'll probably execute the other woman!

Shea quickly apologised. Shizuku's dark aura quickly diminished and she relaxed.

"That's okay Shea-san. I'm glad you took the time to speak to me. In exchange…"

Shizuku mumbled. Shea unable to hear her, prodded about her request.

"rub your ears…" she mumbled.

"Rub my what?"

"Ears," Shizuku whispered, growing more embarrassed.

"Oh… Do you like bunny ears, Shizuku-san?" Shea asked, happy to discover a soft side to Shizuku.

Shizuku nodded.

"Okay, Shizuku-san. If it's you I'll let you rub them for a bit. Just be gentle with them okay? They're very sensitive for rabbitmen."

"Thank you," Shizuku responded brightly.

---

Several Hours Later

What meant to be a day's journey was completed in several hours. The Empire's slavers had done a poor job of making sure than no one could follow them. It would have been several days since the slave raid but evidence that the Haulia clan had been kidnapped here was very clear. The remains of campfires littered the immediate area and personal effects (which were identified by Shea) were left strewn across the campsite.

"Shea, how many of your clan members were kidnapped?" Hajime asked grimly.

"I would say about 300 of us." She replied, trying to not relive the horror of that day.

"Hmm, then they can't have gone far," Hajime concluded. "Kidnapping 300 Haulia, would mean a very large slaver caravan, with the appropriate level of supplies to keep the slavers alive and the Haulia alive as well."

"If they intend to kidnap the Haulia to be sold as slaves they would keep them alive. The conditions are likely brutal but the slavers would at least do the bare minimum to keep the Haulia alive." Shizuku concluded.

The evidence seemed to support Hajime's conclusion and Shizuku's reassurance. There were plenty of tracks indicating a large caravan, pulled by horses which surrounded the Haulia camp.

"Shea, how far would this place be to the next Empire town?" Yue asked.

"We're actually quite far away from the nearest Empire-friendly town. Us Haulia would never go so close to Empire-held territory. From what I know we should be at least 7 days away" Shea responded.

"Take a bit of a rest," Hajime ordered. "In a half hour's time, we're riding out again. With any luck, we can follow these tracks and catch up to them soon."

This time Hajime took the lead, using several of the tracking skills that he embedded into his contact lens to follow the tracks as they continued to race after the slaver caravan. After several hours of riding, they were forced to stop, the night preventing them from continuing any further. They were getting very close however since the tracks were very clear now.

"Based on how clear the tracks are we're likely going to catch up to them soon. Rest up and be prepared for a fight tomorrow." Hajime instructed everyone.

---

Next Day

As they suspected after a bit of riding, they could see a large dust cloud up ahead. This was clearly the slaver's caravan that they were after. There at least 20 or so large caravans, carrying the Holscher Empire soldiers and slaves they captured.

As part of the plan Shea took over the controls of the motorbike from Shizuku and Yue took the controls from Hajime. They had some practice with steering the bikes to prepare for this eventuality.

They sped up until Hajime and Shizuku could comfortably reach the last carriage, with [Riftwalk]. Once they had made it to the caravan, they signalled back to Yue and Shea. Yue and Shea proceeded to continue forward intending to cut off the head of the caravan as soon as possible. Using [Hide Presence] Shizuku and Hajime stealthy jumped each caravan until they reached the lead caravan.

"Shizuku, we might have to kill human beings now. Are you going to be fine with that?" Hajime asked as they jumped from caravan to caravan intending to stop the lead caravan.

"No. I don't think I will be. I would like to avoid killing sentient beings as much as possible." Her hands shook, her mind rebelling at the notion. Yet she was under no illusions, these people were slavers. They would not easily part with their 'goods' so easily. Shizuku resolved herself to stain her swords with human blood for the first time.

"But we're in a situation where we may need to kill in order to liberate the Haulia. We don't have a choice."

Hajime nodded. He felt and sensed that something broke when both of them plunged into the Abyss. It was only the presence of Shizuku, his light that held the darkness at bay. He implored her to keep him 'human.'

"Please keep me sane, my love. If it wasn't for you I would have lost my humanity when I threw away my humanity. If I ever look like I'm about to lose myself…. Please stop me."

"I won't ever let it get to that…." Shizuku affirmed. "I'll journey with you to hell if that's what it takes. I will protect the [Hajime] that I love, the [Hajime] that sees everything about me and loves me. So do the same for me."

Hajime nodded, silently resolving to go to hell and back for the sake of his beloved.

---

To Hell and Back

Using the [Magi-Cycle]'s superior speed, Aletia and Shea were able to overtake the slaver's caravan. Briefly leaving the reigns of the [Magi-cycle]'s to Shea, Aletia concentrated on casting her spell; [Ring of Fire].

As the name suggested, Aletia's magic surrounded the slaver's caravan in a ring of deadly flames. Once the trap was completed, Aletia focused on pouring more mana to the spell, supercharging it, and changing the color of the flames to blue.

[Hellflame]!

The caravan stopped dead in its tracks. The mercenaries under the employ of the slaver merchants burst out of the caravans. There were some 100 mercs of varying classes and builds. Enraged at being hindered by two impudent girls, some of the mercs attempted to eliminate Yue and Shea immediately.

Shea cowered in fright, whilst Yue stared at her would-be killers with a cold dead stare. Brandishing a short dagger, an assassin managed to get a blade within inches of Yue's face.

"Serves that impudent girl right!" He gloated.

In the next moment, the assassin noticed that the hand that had the dagger was flying away.

"Huh?"

That was his last thought before his head was parted from the rest of his body in a single swing. The body of the dead assassin collapsed and all the blood splattered to the ground. The head landed several metres away, with a loud splat.

The rest of the mercenaries stopped dead in their tracks. What stood before them was something resembling a human woman but her ghostly white hair and porcelain-pale skin gave the impression of a terrifying otherworldly being. Most terrifying of all was her eyes, red-on-red nearing abyss-black. She swung her blade in air, removing the blood that stained her weapon.

"Who are you!?" The leader of the mercenaries demanded his senses on high alert.

"We're after the rabbitmen you intend to enslave," Shizuku replied coldly. "Drop your weapons and go."

The mercenaries laughed. The sheer ridiculous demand snapped them of out their initial fear. There were only three of them. One was a useless weak rabbitman, and another was keeping the [Ring of Fire] spell intact and couldn't fight. That left the white-haired girl as the only threat. 100 versus 1 wasn't even a fair fight.

They brandished their weapons and prepared to attack. They would eliminate their enemies and get back to the sweet reward that awaited them.

"Is that your final answer?" The ghost girl asked, colder than before. An armoured knight stepped forward, holding his blade aloft intending to eliminate the threat once and for all.

"Look around you girlie! You're dea"-

The armoured knight stopped, flinching at the abyss of the ghost girl's eyes. The sight of the never-ending darkness was the last thing he saw. He collapsed, with a hole in his head. The body twitched slightly before becoming still.

Another ghost appeared, wielding weapons that the mercenaries could not comprehend. Enraged and overwhelmed by fear, the mercenaries attacked intending to eliminate and murder their assailants.

"Negotiations are over. There is no saving them." Hajime muttered darkly.

"Agreed. Eliminate all of them." Shizuku responded.

She hadn't even bothered to use any of her movement skills. They all moved too slowly for the monster of the Abyss, none of their attacks hit her. She suspected that even if they did, she would barely feel a thing. She determined that using any mana was a wasted effort.

Using her overwhelming agility and strength she slaughtered the whole lot of them. Each swing taking down two or three at a time. They foolishly tried to gang up on her, only to have her eliminate them first. She silently stared at the corpses, before proceeding to massacre her remaining opponents.

Hajime dispassionately shot each mercenary that stood in front of him. The targets moved so slowly that it was mere target practice for Hajime. Each shot hit its mark without fail, instantly killing them.

When their numbers were reduced to a mere fraction of their original group, the remaining mercenaries dropped any notion of defeating these monsters. The soldiers scrambled back to the caravans. They broke open the slave holds and took some of the Haulia as hostages. The remaining mages aimed their staves at the carriages, intending to burn the remaining Haulia alive.

The Haulia tribesmen that were taken as hostages had their eyes wide open in fear. They trembled and cried. They had no doubt in their minds that today would be their last day alive. The soldiers placed their weapons underneath the necks of the Haulia and restrained them

"You wanted these 'slaves' alive right?!" They shouted. "Let us go or else we'll kill them all"-

[In a Moment of Instant]

Using her mana to push her physical abilities to their absolute maximum, Shizuku moved instantaneously, killing the soldiers and freeing the hostages before they could even finish their threat. Hajime used [Riftwalk] and shot the remaining mages before they could finish casting their spells. He caught Shizuku before she collapsed to the ground.

The hostages were unharmed. The soldiers were dead. The battle was over. There was brief deafening silence over the battlefield. Not even the freed Haulian hostages cried. Shea stood still, mouth agap. Yue walked towards her adopted siblings and whispered some words to them before ordering Shea to free the remaining Haulia.

Shea quickly ran to free the enslaved Haulia. It was a very terrible sight. It had only been several days since they were enslaved by the conditions were brutal. They were kept in carriages where very little light filtered through. Judging by the stench, it was likely that the Haulia were not even allowed outside to defecate or pee. Had they been kept in such conditions for much longer their condition would be much worse and deaths would have been a distinct possibility.

Once the Haulia were freed they gathered around their saviours. They were exhausted so many of them sat or lied down. One from among them rose to his feet, aided by Shea. It was apparent that these two were close.

"My name is Cam Haulia. I'm am the chieftain of the Haulia. But most importantly I am Shea's father."

With some effort he bent down low as a sign of his utter gratefulness towards his saviours. Shea and other Haulia replicated his actions.

"You three are our people's saviours. We could never make it up to you but anything you ask of us, we'll do it!" Cam declared.

Murmurs of agreement came from the other Haulia.

"Please… we only saved you so that we get some advantage from us. We wanted you to guide us through the Sea of Forest. Don't call us your saviours" Hajime denied.

"Even so we want to thank you for saving us. From now on whatever you ask of the Haulia, we will do it. No matter how difficult it may be, we will do it." Cam declared, bowing even lower this time practically prostrating himself before Hajime and the others.

"Hajime, it would be rude to deny their wish any further. If their hearts and minds are set on this course of action then a rejection of their genuine desire would be counterproductive." Yue advised. "I am not saying that we should take advantage of them but grateful allies would be welcome in this fight of ours."

Hajime and Shizuku eventually relented.

"Alright. If your tribe completely agrees to this, then we'll accept your help gratefully." Shizuku accepted. "We look forward to working with you."

The Haulia immediately displayed looks of pure joy. They seemed rather excited to be of use to Hajime and Co, as if they hadn't experienced belonging for a long time. Several of them cried, including Cam.

"We apologise. Us Haulia have been homeless for some time. We haven't had a place to belong to and we lacked purpose, since we were kicked out of Verbergen. Naturally, we're quite moved that you've come to accept us as your underlings."

Hajime let go of that 'underling' comment for now but he was curious as to why they were kicked out. Cam continued to explain.

"Us Haulia are very weak. When we're pressed with danger we don't really have a fight or flight instinct. We just have a flight instinct. We flee at the very first sign of trouble. We're natural 'cowards' or so the other beast men call us. So from the being, we've had a poor reputation with the other beast men."

"Then they found out that Shea could use magic. They thought that was bad omen. So they kicked us out of Verbergen and the Sea of Forests. Us Haulia don't regret getting kicked out though. We'd never abandon Shea or any of our own. But it has left us vulnerable."

"Is it going to be a problem for you to guide us through the Sea of Forests to the Great Tree?" Shizuku asked concerned.

"Ah, so you have business with the Great Tree? Then suspect we'll clash with the other beast men." Cam replied.

It seemed at this the Haulia became downcast and frightened. Noticing Hajime's and Shizuku's concerned looks, Cam quickly interjected.

"But if you three are with us I'm sure we'll be fine." He reassured them.

Hajime and Shizuku remained unconvinced but they decided to set that aside for now. For now, they decided that it was more important to let the Haulia rest and to provide them some shelter.

Hajime used stored the supplies in his treasure trove and pulled out materials to create a makeshift camp for the Haulia. Shizuku and Yue busied themselves with moving the horses and carriages to form a makeshift barrier. Luckily Shizuku seemed to be rather good with horses and was able to direct them with surprising ease.

After the preparations were done, Hajime gathered the Haulia once more.

"There is a lot of you here but we have limited supplies. If we are to make it to the Sea of Forests, we will have to ration in order to make it." Hajime advised them. "I hope you understand that."

The Haulia did not seem to object to this. He portioned enough of the food supplies that they had so that Haulia could feel satisfied. In order to assist somewhat with food shortage, Hajime and Shizuku decided not to partake in normal food but unlocked their emergency supply of monster meat. Yue would make due drinking blood from Shizuku and Hajime.

"Hmm, dinosaur meat pretty good Hajime," Shizuku said whilst munching some of the monster meat they spread on a platter.

"Hmm, it's an acquired taste I reckon." Hajime disagreed. "The meat is a bit tough and sinewy."

Shea and the rest of the Haulia, joined Yue in her disgust. Luckily no one wretched out their carefully rationed food. It seemed that this display emboldened Shea and some of the other Haulia to find food soon, so that they could be spared from the sight of their saviours casually enjoying such wretched food.

Night

After the Haulia fell asleep, Hajime rose and left the makeshift camp. He had a grimace on his face as he left the camp. Ever sensitive to the mood of her beloved, Shizuku stopped him and questioned his intentions.

"What are you doing, Hajime?" Shizuku asked. She noticed his twisted look, a look of deep pain and anguish that she had never seen before. Shizuku hugged Hajime. She held him close intending to never let him go.

"I'm going to make graves for them," Hajime admitted bitterly. "It feels like if I don't at least do this…."

Hajime didn't need to finish his words. Shizuku understood. They had taken the lives of 100 humans. They had done so with brutal efficiency. They had no hesitation to kill the slavers whatsoever. This fight confirmed fear of theirs; they had lost something in the Abyss. Something which they may never get back.

"I'll help you." She offered. "I won't let you do this alone."

"Thank you, beloved." Hajime

As they were getting ready, they were approached by Yue who stopped them. She had overheard their conversation.

"I will also help." Yue offered.

"Yue, you don't have to do this." Shizuku objected. "It was Hajime and I that."

"We are family aren't we!" Yue shouted back. "What kind of sister turns her back from her siblings in their time of greatest need?!"

It was not the Queen of the Vampires that demanded their submission. It was their elder sister showing the depths of her concern. They could not refuse her. They nodded accepting Yue help. They would get through this as a family.

It was grim work. 100 individual graves were dug using Hajime's transmute and Yue's Earth Magic. Next, they retrieved the bodies of the soldiers that they had killed. It had been hours by this point, so their bodies were already stiff due to rigor mortis. The looks of sheer terror stared back at Hajime, Shizuku, and Yue. It took all their strength to stop themselves from retching. They closed their eyes and then gently put their bodies in the graves they prepared. They threw in any personal effects that they had.

"Do you want to say a few words?" Yue asked them.

Hajime stirred up his courage and spoke first.

"These people were scum. They enslaved innocents and even had the audacity to take the Haulia hostage when they knew they would lose." Hajime began. "Yet they were human and we took their lives. Justified or not, we took the lives of these 100 men and we can never get them back…. They deserve at least this much dignity as humans."

Shizuku continued, recalling the faces of the dead bodies that died in terror.

"I won't forget their faces. That look of fright and shock. That sheer terror in the face of death. I suspect this will be a burden we carry for the rest of our lives." Shizuku recounted. "Others may wish to forget such a thing. But we shouldn't. If we forget their faces. If we forget the terror that we inflicted….. I believe we would be truly lost."

Yue finished things off.

"Be grateful to my siblings and stay dead." Yue spat. "Do not curse the living with your unfinished hatred. Drift off to your final destination and do not bother the living."

Using [Transmute] and Yue's Earth Magic once more they closed the graves. The ground consumed them and they would no longer see the light of day.

Hajime and Shizuku continued to stare at the graves for a moment longer. They returned back to Yue. Yue noticed the twisted and pained expressions still remained.

"Are you two okay?" She asked.

Shizuku turned to Hajime, who shook his head. Shizuku squeezed his hand

"No… But we will be."

---

Next Day

Their plan for their convoy (dubbed Haulia Train) was simple. They would be heading eastward to the Sea of Forests. Along the way to the Sea of Forests were smaller woodland areas which they had decided would be perfect for scavenging and hunting. The convoy would move as fast as it was practicable for all hundred Haulia to keep up.

To this end Hajime dismantled the old carriages and recreated them into much more comfortable carriages. These carriages eased the burden on the horses, allowing the horses to continue pulling the carriages far longer, allowing the Haulia train to reach further distances in a single day. The Haulia were training in handling the horses and the carriages so that Hajime and the others could focus on more important issues

Fearing retaliation from the Empire and monster attacks; Hajime and Shizuku often acted as scouts to ensure that the convoy would not encounter any serious danger.

After a day's journey, they reached the first woodland area. The Haulia proved to be natural scavengers, expertly identifying all kinds of edible plants and fruit. But as they indicated they were more than useless when it came to hunting live animals.

Hajime and Shizuku tried to train them, but they were so useless at handling weapons that there was a genuine fear that they would accidentally kill themselves wielding weapons. They showed absolutely no hostility towards anything.

Upon observing the Haulia's performance Hajime decided to convene a discussion between himself and his party.

"They're useless in combat," Hajime stated bluntly. "I'm not sure what use were going to get out of them."

Yue nodded sagely in agreement. Shizuku seemed to disagree, shaking her head.

"They have potential. Their natural instincts could serve them well in combat. That is if their mindset could be changed." Shizuku commented.

"But their foundation is all wrong for combat. Their outlook on life is too rosy. I observed them admiring a small flower that was growing in the woodlands….." Yue dismissed shaking her head.

"Our classmates were the same. Many of them wouldn't even consider wielding a weapon back home. But once reality broke them, they took up their weapons and magic." Shizuku commented. "If you want the Haulia to fight, well you may well need to break them and then rebuild them."

Hajime considered it. After all there was no way that they could continue this roving convoy as they journeyed to find their friends and the other great Labyrinths. If the Haulia remained the way there are they would immediately be picked off by the other Beastmen or worse yet enslaved by the Empire. They needed to be able to protect themselves, that was true.

He would have to be merciless and he would have to break them whole and entire.

Shizuku decided that she would also assist in doing so, after all she couldn't let her fiancée go through everything alone. Yue volunteered to train Shea, since she had potential in using magic.

---

Breakdown

The next day the Haulia were all gathered together for a meeting of the convoy. The Haulia noticed the grim faces of Hajime, Shizuku, and Yue. Cam once again acting as their representative stood up asking for what reason they were all called together like this.

"I'll be absolutely honest…" Hajime began. "You lot are absolutely useless." He concluded darkly.

"You can't pick up a weapon. You get frightened the second something threatened appears. You run around thinking that everything is going to be peaches and roses.

The Haulia were horrified and frightened. Even so, Hajime and Co continued.

"The second we leave you, you're all going to die or worse spend the rest of your miserable lives enslaved, exploited, abused, and in the end of it all die a miserable death with no one to comfort you," Shizuku concluded.

"So will that mean that you're abandoning us?" Cam asked resigned to the fate of his clan.

"No," Hajime stated. "But by the end of this, you're going to wish we did."

Shea was led away by Yue to prevent her from objecting and stopping the inevitable. Hajime pulled out his guns and cocked them. A devilishly evil grin stretched across Hajime's face.

"Let me make it easy for you worthless rabbits to understand!" Hajime shouted at his group of Haulia. "You do anything I dislike! You get shot! You disobey what I say you! You get shot! Trust me I have more than enough ammunition to kill the lot of you several hundred times over! Do you understand!?"

The Haulia did not respond quickly enough so Hajime shot at them with rubber bullets. They all cried out in pain and in terror.

"From now on you will respond with SIR YES SIR when I order you lousy asses! Do you understand!" Hajime bellowed.

The Haulia were unable to respond quickly enough due to the pain. So Hajime shot them again.

Finally they all cried out in unison. SIR YES SIR.

The rubber bullet soon became the terror of the Haulia.

Not answering his orders. Shot.

Not following his orders perfectly. Shot.

Admiring flowers. Shot.

Admiring bugs. Shot.

Cowardice in the face of animals and monsters. Shot.

Refusal to spar. Shot.

Made the wrong moves. Shot.

Refused to train. Shot.

"This is the reality you worthless rabbits! Out there in the world; if you're weak you will all be exploited. You will all be abused! You'll eventually been used like a wet rag and thrown out!" Hajime shouted as he ordered them during physical training. "Be grateful that we haven't thrown you out like rags! If you're angry at me, then take your rage and fight! If you don't have the guts then get stronger until you can!"

When he told them that their training with him was over they all sighed with relief. Until Hajime's lover; Yaegashi Shizuku came to at them brandishing a pair of wooden daggers. Anybody that fled before her was struck down and beaten mercilessly. Anybody that failed to fight back was beaten.

The Haulia had several days of merciless beatings before they even gained the courage to confront her. She trained them in dagger fighting, making sure to correct their faults with punishments that further drilled into them the severity of their faults.

When they finally learned how to wield daggers, she switched to another weapon; wooden Kusarigama; a small scythe attached with a wooden weight. They all trained in that weapon until they could master it. And then the cycle would repeat until Shizuku was satisfied with their proficiency in the weapons that she could teach them.

When she told them that their weapons training was over, they finally thought it was all over. Until Hajime came along once more, telling them that they weren't done. From this point on the convoy would continue to move to its next destination.

The convoy would move to its next destination, affording the Haulia relative peace. Hajime and Shizuku still subjected them to daily morning training but until they got to their next destination the next phase of their training would not begin.

When they reached their next destination Hajime and Shizuku ordered them all to form groups and to hunt down monsters and edible animals to eat. The group that caught the least would get extra training (aka extra weapons training with Hajime and Shizuku). The groups were all jumbled up so that rivals would not form, and the desperation to avoid more weapons training drove them on.

Eventually, their attitudes seemed to change. They began to look forward to weapons training and the intense workouts that they were being subjected to. Now it seemed that the thrill of the hunt rather than fear of being beaten compelled them. Then seemed to be extremely resistant to pain and gruelling mental exhaustion.

This cycle continued until they reached the edge of the Sea of Forests. The Sea of Forest were covered in magical thick fog that confounded just about everyone, who was not use to it. The Haulia were natural experts at traversing the forest and naturally acted as guides.

The training intensified as they traversed the Sea of Forests. They were taught how to lay traps, how to ambush their enemies, how to overwhelm their enemies with without mercy. Shizuku beat into them how to hone their senses in a fight and how to make use of their natural speed to their advantage. Hajime reminded them all that in a fight between the life and death, the win was all that mattered. He savagely taught them all he knew about exploiting any and all advantages in battle.

In between the battles, Hajime and Shizuku overheard them joyfully recounting their experiences of fighting and the sufferings that they went through. Instead of hating Hajime and Shizuku their admiration of them skyrocketed into practical worship. They had taken to calling Hajime the 'Boss' and Shizuku the 'Boss Lady.'

As they were traversing the Sea of Forests and headed towards Verbergen, Hajime gifted all of them with new clothes. To match the often dark and inhospitable jungle he gave them all black clothes to wear, with extras to match the area that they were fighting in. He provided them all with masks to hide their faces. These masks with designed with terrifying monsters in mind. The masks all had night vision capabilities. Hajime forged them their favourite weapons amongst the ones that Shizuku taught them in.

Eventually, they decided that training was over. Hajime and Shizuku breathed a sigh of relief and patted themselves on the back. They had accomplished their goal. The Haulia were now more than capable of defending themselves.

But in the rush to train the Haulia, Hajime and Shizuku had to their eventual horror taken things too far. They were proud of the Haulia's newfound fighting abilities and that they were no longer cowards. But their training had some unintended consequences.

They all began acting in a distinct ninja-like style. Coupled with their camouflaged outfits, deadly Japanese weapons and terrifying face masks, they began to look like the very image of ninjas. Somehow they began to act very much like stereotypical ninjas. Shizuku swore that she could hear attach the words 'nin' to the end of their sentences.

They rarely spoke now, save for one exception. When it came to discussing names and titles. The Haulia were inspired by Yue's full name. Some of the Haulia came up with the idea of renaming themselves and the idea caught on like wild fire. Now when they weren't training they were busy coming up with more and more ridiculous sounding names from themselves.

Cam Haulia now started to call himself Camaieus Entelion Soraus Haulia. Other's followed his lead to come up with create with even more ridiculous sounding names.

Worse of all for Nagumo Hajime a former(?) chunni, they became to come up with titles for him.

"What are you talking about! The Boss's white hair is the most distinctive thing about him! It only appropriate to call him the White Hurricane of Death!" A faction of the Haulia shouted.

"Don't you recognise the brilliance of his Stormy mana and his piercing red eyes?!" Some shouted incredulously. "Crimson Lightning Disaster! It got to be Crimson Lightning Disaster !" Some others insisted.

Wild fights started over the dispute over their names. Hajime tried to bring their fighting to a stop but it seemed that he had unleashed something that he could no longer control. Shizuku couldn't help but giggle and laugh, hiding her laughter behind her ponytail.

"Help me, Shizuku!" He shouted.

"No, this is your problem! You're the one that turned them in Chunnibyous!" Shizuku spat back, laughing.

"This is your problem too! You're the one that turned them into ninjas! What sort of school is the Yaegashi style!? Are you a bunch of ninjas?!"

"No! Grandfather describes it as martial arts with acrobatics!" Shizuku denied.

"That's called being a ninja Shizuku! He was teaching you to become a ninja!" Hajime cut back.

She continued laughing until it was apparent that they were also trying to come up with a title for herself.

"What about the boss lady? I think her white hair is the most distinctive thing about her!" Some insisted.

"I've got it! "We'll call her the 'White Haze Death!"

"Are you lot crazy! Don't you remember the crimson sky that we all lay under as she beat us all within an inch of our lives!? Don't you remember those dark red eyes that stared at us demanding blood and war?! Executioner of the Crimson Sky Emperor! That is the only name that I will accept!" Cam (?) Haulia shouted.

Horrified, Shizuku was also about to force them to stop. Until a voice rang in the darkness.

"Well the boss is our King right? And the boss lady is his lover and soon-to-be wife. So we should call her Princess. We can use both crimson and white. What about 'Crimson Snow Princess?'

Some nodded in agreement. At the mention of the word 'Princess,' Shizuku decided to stop bothering the Haulia. It seemed that she rather liked being called ' Princess.'

"Hajime. Maybe we should leave them alone." Shizuku suggested, clearly not thinking straight.

"Guys the Boss Lady likes that one!" The Haulia murmured. "Yoosh, 'Crimson Snow Princess of the Lightflash Blade' it is!"

"No! Shizuku no! They used the one word that can beat Shizuku! No! Shizuku! Come back to me! Don't get dragged by the Haulia's thinking!" Hajime screamed.

Yue was sniggering all throughout until she realised that took inspiration from her own name. She spent the rest of that day attacking Haulia with a variety of magic spells. It was absolutely pointless since their extreme pain tolerance meant that they no longer feared pain and death.

Shea was absolutely horrified. Her friends, her family they were all gone! Gone were the nice peace-loving Haulia, all she saw now was crazy rabbit people in black outfits. She ran over to Hajime and Shizuku, using her acquired strength to pound them lightly on the chest.

"Hajime-san! Shizuku-san! My family what did you do to them?!" She cried out in tears.

They turned around and stared at her directly in the eyes.

"We made them strong." They deadpanned.

"You made them crazy!" Shea pointed out. She grabbed Hajime by the collar and shook him "Bring them back! Bring them back!"

Yue grabbed her friend by the shoulder and shook her head.

"It is best that you accept this reality. It is best that you pray for their souls to find rest." Yue suggested.

"Yue-san! Please don't kill off my family like that!?" Shea implored.

"Yue?" Asked Hajime and Shizuku curiously.

Yue sighed whilst Shea grinned at them proudly.

"I won the right to call her 'Yue'. I won against Yue-san!"

---

Side: Shea

As Shea was dragged away from her clan her fear and distress was apparent.

"You shouldn't worry about your clan. Worry about yourself." Yue commanded Shea.

Yue began to fire different magic spells at Shea. Wind. Ice. Fire. Lighting. Everything that Yue could fire, Shea had to endure. She ran around desperately dodging from side to side to avoid the spells. Her [Future Sight] helped her avoid some, but soon she was overwhelmed and her body could not keep up with her visions.

"What are you trying to do, Aletia-san!?" Shea screamed.

"Resist. Dodge. Take your pick. I'm not a teacher. I'm a Queen. Find your own way to endure. Like a royal endures everything to find their own path." Yue commanded.

"But I'm not royalty!?" Shea pointed out in desperation.

Once again, without giving Shea time to rest, Yue continued firing magic spells at her. Once again she used [Future Sight] to try to dodge the spells. This time she focused on [Future Sight] to try to see more. She forced more of her mana into her skill. For a brief moment, she same a second further into the future. She was able to dodge more than before. But once she reached the limit of her [Future Sight] she was once again struck by Yue's spells.

"Aletia-san! At least give me hints!" Shea implored, as she lay on the ground dying. "I'm able to focus more on [Future Sight] but my body isn't keeping up!"

Yue walked over to Shea looking at her.

"You're a [Atavist] right? You can directly manipulate the mana in your body, right? Try experimenting with that." Yue suggested.

Shea breathed and breathed, trying to get a feel for spreading her mana throughout her body. She focused and focused but it was no use.

"Aletia-san! I'm not getting it!" She cried out.

"Well, I didn't expect you to get in on your first try," Yue admitted. "Do you recall the feeling of focusing more on your [Future Sight]?"

Shea shook her head.

"Well, maybe desperation bought it out of you," Yue observed. "I guess there is nothing for it then. More training is necessary."

Yue once again began to charge her weapons, and the dangerous golden glow of Yue's mana spread throughout her body once more.

"Wait! Wait!" Shea screamed.

Shea's screams would echo throughout the day and night. Not that anyone heard her screams. They were too busy screaming themselves.

After repeated failures, severe beatings, burns, and bruising Shea was eventually able to get a hold of spreading her mana across her body. She used it to improve her reflexes and improve her endurance so that in conjunction with [Future Sight] she could now expertly dodge Yue's magical attacks.

"Ha ha! Aletia-san! How's that!?" Shea asked, with her mouth stretching into a broad grin.

Yue recognised Shea's achievement which she completed in record time. Still, that silly mocking grin of hers pissed Yue off.

"Oh. How bold of you Shea." Yue said grinning evily. "I didn't think you'd be bold enough to challenge me."

"Dodging won't be enough this time!" Yue bellowed

Without giving her a chance to respond, Yue fired two spells at once, crushing Shea in a torrent of wind and flame at once.

[Combination Magic – Firestorm]!

"So how was that, Shea?" Yue asked, mocking her.

Shea could only let out a groan before fainting in misery. In the next few training sessions, Yue did not let up against Shea. As Yue said merely dodging was no longer enough. This time she needed the strength to fight back against the onslaught.

She focused on channeling more and more of her mana into her body. She had learned how to strengthen specific parts of her body before. Now she had to take the next steps to strengthen her entire body all at once.

It still took several dozen tries before she could control her mana in such a way to strengthen her entire body. And still, several dozen more to maximize her mana so that she actually protects herself against Yue's combination attacks. When Yue started to vary the strength of her attacks in order to coax Shea into using too much mana, Shea had to learn how to fine-tune her mana output to match her opponent's strength.

By the time the convoy had reached the Sea of Forests, Shea was now able to expertly fend off Yue's magic, both singular and combination attacks. One day Shea gifted with a hammer for a weapon by Yue. It was silver in color with light blue acescents at the ends.

"That's a specially made weapon made by Hajime. It's made with an [Azamantium] and [Shtar Ore] Alloy. It be strong enough to withstand the strength of blows made with your [Body Strengthening]. If you pour mana into it Hajime tells me that you should be able to increase the weight of the weapon and it also increases the length of the handle."

Shea swung the hammer around several times. It was a perfect fit for her.

"Thank you Aletia-san! Did you ask Hajime-san to make this for me?!" Shea exclaimed.

"I did. I acknowledge your abilities, Shea. Your achievements and improvements are nothing to be scoffed at." Yue declared. "Be proud Shea Haulia, I the last Queen of House Avartal acknowledge you as one of the strongest I have seen."

"Aletia-san!" Shea cried out crying on top of the diminutive Yue.

"Shea, stop that. That it an attitude unbefitting for a warrior such as yourself." Yue scolded.

It took some time for Shea to finally calm down enough. After drying her tears, Shea decided to try her luck and push for another challenge. One last challenge.

"Say Aletia-san. Do you want to make a bet with me?"

"Ohhh. So Shea thinks she can make a bet with me?" Shea asked. "Speak Shea. I will consider this bet of yours?"

"If I win against you, then I want to be able to call you 'Yue-san'." Shea replied.

Yue laughed. This certainly was a most ridiculous bet. Through all of their training, Shea wasn't so much able to get Yue to move from her spot or be anywhere near her to land a blow. Shea winning against her was a laughable pipe dream.

"I'll give you a handicap dear Shea. One blow. One solid blow against me. I will count that as my loss and your win." Yue offered. "Do that and I will let you call me 'Yue'. I will acknowledge you as part of my family."

Shea's eyes sparkled. This was just what she wanted. Shea was smart enough to know that winning against Yue was impossible yet in her pride she made the bar much easier for Shea to fulfill. Shea would now put her everything to clear that final hurdle. After she wanted to try one last trick up her sleeve.

"Deal!" Shea accepted.

Once they had sufficiently separated, Yue began the bout with her normal magic onslaught. Using her standard [Body Strengthening] Yue was able to swat away most of her low and mid-tier spells using her new War Hammer. Shea's strength meant that she was able to wield the hammer deftly and skilfully.

Yue picked up the pace now, intending to overwhelm Shea, and was quickly making gains against Shea. But this was seemingly not enough to stop Shea who used [Body Strengthening] to ignore most of the damage that Yue was dealing against her. In response, Yue used one of her stronger earth magics to push her away.

[Earth Magic – Titans Fist]

A giant earthen fist appeared to punch Shea. At the last minute, Shea poured mana throughout her body and into the war hammer, putting emphasis on her arms and legs. Despite the gigantic strength of the Earth Fist Shea was able to stop from dealing any significant blow to her.

"I anticipated that you'd be able to stop that." Yue declared. "So thank you for playing with my diversion."

[Combination Magic – Magma Tide]

"You've done well Shea. Better than I anticipated really. So accept this final attack of mine." Yue declared. "Don't worry. With your regenerative abilities, you won't get killed by this."

Using a combination of Earth and Fire magic, Yue turned the area in front of her into magma which she freely controlled. She sent the magma tide hurtling toward Shea.

Gritting her teeth, Shea prepared her final move. She planted her feet firmly into the ground, her left foot in front and her right foot behind her. She placed her left hand on the end of the handle and her dominant right hand closer to the mallet end.

At once she let the ever last drop of her mana surge throughout her body. She connected with the War Hammer, letting it become one with the mana flow, one with her body.

"[Mana Force – Surge]!"

Shea mana surged into a blue visible aura. She took one step and the ground cracked under the force of her mana aura. She began to charge at the magma tide, each step she took gathering more and more energy for her final attack.

When she got close to the magma tide she jumped forward whilst also swinging her hammer upwards, dispersing the magma in front of her. In one swift move Shea had lifted the hammer above her head. She had used [Future Sight] to accurately time her jump so that she be directly above Yue, in range of her final attack

"[Shea Special – Meteor Smash]!"

Shea swung downwards with the force of all her mana with her. Yue reacted immediately sending a gale of wind to push Shea away, whilst she charged her mana to send another spell away.

"I'm not done just yet!'" Shea bellowed as she sent the last remaining drops of mana into her upper body and hammer increasing its weight.

Unable counter attack Yue's gale barrier finally collapsed allowing Shea to land a blow on Yue's head. The impact of the blow was enough to knock Yue unconscious for a brief moment. But the effects that Shea's final attack was worse on the user itself. She had well and truly exhausted her mana to dangerous levels.

When Yue came to Shea was in a terrible state. Her breathing was heavy and laboured. It seemed that she was in quite a lot of pain. Yue knew that this was a form of mana exhaustion. She had no choice but to bite into Shea.

[Blood Conversion – Mana Conversion]

Using her [Blood Conversion] skill Yue was able to convert a portion of her blood into mana. She could transfer this mana into another person. Yue often used this skill when she was Queen of the Vampires.

After the transfer, Shea's condition was much better. Shea's complexion relaxed and the pain seemed to subside. Yue sat beside her watching over Shea as she rested. When Shea finally awoke Yue slammed her right fist on Shea's head.

"Ouch!"

"Foolish girl. Do you know what you nearly did to yourself?" Yue scolded.

"I guess I took that too far huh?" Shea acknowledged. "I'm sorry Aletia-san. I just wanted to do my best in defeating you."

"A pyrrhic victory is no victory at all." Yue reminded her. "Do not do something so reckless again!"

Yue's face relaxed.

"You are a big fool. Amongst the biggest fools, I have met." Yue said. "Hajime, Shizuku and now you. What big fools the lot of you are. Never giving up. Putting everything to winning. It seems that my family is a bunch of fools."

Yue sighed.

"But I guess this is the role of the big sister." Yue resigned as she shook her head.

"Family?" Shea asked curiously.

"You won, didn't you? You landed a blow against me. You can call me 'Yue'. That means that you're family now." Shea declared.

"Yay! Yue-san. Yue-san!" Shea cried out as she hugged Yue tightly.

"Well if you're family now. That means I get to scold you as a big sister would." Yue threatened. "I hope bunny girls stand the freezing cold."

To make the point Yue, the new big sister of Shea Haulia charged her ice magic.

"Wait! Wait! Yue-san wait!" Shea implored, as she was being frozen into a block of ice.

The Limits of Humanity

"You had it tough 'little sister'." Hajime acknowledged.

"We feel you on that 'little sister.' Shizuku sympathised. "'Big sister' Yue can be terribly cruel sometimes."

Hearing the uproar Camaieus Entelion Soraus Haulia walked up to them.

"Yo Boss. Good to see you and the Boss Lady so healthy." He greeted. "Aletia-san it seems that I have you to owe for thanking care of my daughter."

"As thanks why don't we Haulia come up with a new title for you. Last Queen of the Vampires is pretty cool but the more titles the better!"

"No thank you!" Yue strenuously rejected it.

"Dad! What happened to you?!" Shea exclaimed in horror.

"The other Haulia and I awoke to our true selves," Camaleous replied simply. "Now we have the power to protect the things that we care about!"

"Just take a look over there!" Camaleous directed them to a spar between two members of the Haulia.

The Haulia formerly known as Lana and Mena were having an intense spar.

"It's time we settled this Minalosdaour!" Shouted Lanaflourous the Single Flash, as she wiped the blood off her dagger.

"Yeah. It's time we settled this fight over who can be called the [Deadliest Woman in the Haulia]." Minalosdaour the Silent Death declared.

An intense bout began once more as their daggers flashed. They pulled every dirty trick in the book to get an edge over the other, which was immediately countered by the other with another dirty trick.

"Lana-san! Mina-san! This is terrible!" Shea exclaimed

Shea tried to get them to back down peacefully, to no avail. Seeing no other option she pulled out the war hammer [Drucken]. She slammed the hammer onto the ground, cracking the ground and felling several trees in the process. Lana and Mina, immediately ceased their fighting.

"Oi, stop fighting you two," Shea demanded.

Lana and Mina, did not consider this a request from their cute family member Shea but a demand from Shea Haulia; youngest sister of their Boss and Boss Lady and a true force of nature.

"Boss! Boss Lady! We've got trouble!"

Before Shea could scold them further, a small Haulia child ran up to them. Shea recognised him as Par, a boy she considered her little brother. He was carrying a bow and a set of arrows on his back.

"Par!" Shea exclaimed.

"Lady Shea, I'm not 'Par' anymore. I'm Parleon the Mist. That weak boy that you knew is long gone."

Shea stared at Shizuku and Hajime demanding an explanation. Hajime ignored her.

"What's wrong?" Hajime asked.

"It's a troop of Beastmen Boss! A troop of about a hundred Beastmen, led by one of the leaders of the Bear Clans." Parleon explained. "Their leader was the one who convinced the others to kick us out."

"I was able to find out what they were here for. It seems that they caught wind of us and are looking to kick us out again. They're lightly armed, thinking all they'll need is to threaten us to kick us out again.

"Hmmm. Cam. It's time for the Haulia to make a statement." Hajime ordered. "Send them a message. You can do what you like. But don't kill them."

At the words of Hajime, the Haulia mobilised, donning their black outfits and geared up with their favourite weapons. They lined up in formation in front of Camaieus their leader.

"You heard the Boss! We're going to send a message to those idiots back in Vebergen. Those idiots want to block our Boss's path to the Great Tree! Are you going to let them do that?!

"No!" They all cried.

"They're looking to piss on the name of the Boss and his Lady! Are you louts going to let them do that?!

"No!"

"Do you want to disappoint the Boss and his Lady?!"

"No!"

"We'll show them why we Haulia are worthy to be called the Bosses 'Shadow!"

"Yes! We'll show them their waking nightmares! When they go to bed, they'll double-check the darkest corners out of fear of us! They'll tell their children to be good or else the Haulia will come to snatch them alive!" They bellowed.

"Then get going you lazy louts! Show them the terror of the dark! Show them the terror of the Bosses army! Show them 'Shadow and Fear'!" Cam ordered.

At his command, the Haulia vanished into thin air.

"I'll be honest with you Shizuku. I'm kinda looking forward to this." Hajime admitted. "Is that a bad thing?"

"Why am I not surprised? You can deny being a Chunni all you want but the Chunni will never leave you." Shizuku reminded her. "It might be problematic but that's a problem we'll deal with later. After we need to make sure our disciples do their jobs properly."

All the while Shea cried her eyes out in horror.

It was a complete rout. Had Hajime allowed the Haulia to kill it would have been an absolute slaughter. In less than an hour's time, Parleon had come to fetch Hajime and Co to see the results of their battle.

No less than one hundred Beastmen of various tribes were bound and gagged laying at the feet of Cam Haulia and the other Haulia. They were currently being verbally abused by an irate Cam Haulia.

"You piss-stains! I thought the great warriors of the Beast-men would put better fight than that!"

Some of the Beast-men were wounded but they were currently be treated by the Haulia. Not that it was done of kindness. They made it very painfully clear that the only reason why they were being spared was that their boss ordered them not to kill them. In their words "You weak ass piss stains aren't worth shedding blood over."

"Cam. Stop screaming at them." Shizuku ordered. "Remove the gag from their leader. I'm going to speak to him."

Cam silenced himself and ordered the others to shut up as well. He bought the leader Jin Vanton, a member of the Bear clan and removed the gag from his mouth. Immediately he began shouting expletives and spat at Shizuku.

"You B***h! Are you their leader!? We'll get you for this B***h! He shouted.

Immediately Cam kicked him in the knees forcing Jin to kneel in front of Shizuku.

"You worthless trash! You dare to insult the Boss Lady?!" Cam shouted, intending to inflict more pain on the belligerent Beast-man. Shizuku stopped him.

"Enough Cam. You too Hajime. Leave the rubber bullets for another time." Shizuku ordered dispassionately.

Hajime returned his gun back into his treasure trove. He was angry but he'd let his fiancée handle it. Shizuku dragged Jin Vanton by the collar of his clothes.

"I thought sentient races were meant to be more intelligent. Surely you understand that you're in no position to be making threats? " Shizuku asked.

"I want you to send a message to whoever rules Verbegen. If you mess with us again, then prepare to be beaten into submission. I'd like them to think carefully about their decision."

At this, she flung Jin Vanton like a ragdoll. Shizuku ordered them all to be released. The Haulia stripped them of all their weapons but let them go. It seems that all hundreds of them were very eager to leave Haulia's presence.

"You lot will regret this!" Screamed out Jin Vanton as he was kicked out of the Haulia camp.

Hajime worked quickly taking any useful supplies whilst he assisted the Haulia is divvying up the spoils. When the work was done he asked the Haulia to gather.

"Good work Cam." Hajime congratulated. "I feel fine about leaving you guys when the time comes."

"Thank you, boss!" Cam shouted. "We're not worthy of such high praise!"

"You hear that boys! We've been praised by the Boss!"

The Haulia roared in ecstasy and reveled in their first win dedicated to their boss.

"Oi, you lot. Settle down. This isn't over just yet." Hajime reminded them. "Am I right in saying that Beastmen tend to be prideful people?"

"You'll get all sorts I reckon Boss. Rabbitmen like us tend to stay away from stuff like that. But the stronger races; Like Elves, Dwarves, and the more aggressive Beastmen will likely take this as affront to their honour." Cam explained.

"So based on your assessment do you think they'll take Shizuku's words to heart?" Are they going to try again?" Hajime asked.

Murmuring began within the Haulia. They weren't in the least bit worried. They were excited at the prospect of showing their newfound strength.

"I can't be certain of that Boss. You always taught us not to make judgments without enough information." Cam replied.

"Fair call. Cam get your best scouts on this. Get them to follow the retreating hundred. If a confrontation is likely, we'll need the information about their troop strength, how their supplies, how long it will take for them to get to us."

Cam Haulia ordered his best scout team on the job and they vanished.

"As for the rest of you. Make preparations immediately we're heading toward Verbergen as soon as possible.

---

Due to the pace and speed of the Haulia the company traversed the Sea of Forests at a breakneck speed. The Haulia's keen senses, knowledge of the land, and ability to keep pace with Hajime and Shizuku meant that they could quickly make it to their location undetected.

Reports from the scouts indicated that a substantial force of about 1000 Beast-men had been assembled to make war with the Haulia. The last report as that this force was assembled in the area surrounding Vebergen. When the Haulia heard this report they were visibly annoyed.

"They should have at least bought 10,000 for us to be on equal footing with us!"

Hajime shut down this kind of talk. No matter how powerful the Haulia had become, being out-numbered nearly 3 to 1 was no easy task to overcome. The scouts reported a good position to encamp, on a raised hill just outside of Verbergen.

Without the host of Verbergen noticing, Hajime and Company quickly encamped on this hill. Using the supplies that Hajime had stored in his [Treasure Trove] they quickly built a makeshift fortress. They sent Haulia to make traps and to make the ascent to their fortified hill as difficult as possible.

"This is my Sunomata Castle!" Hajime declared, to Shizuku.

Understanding the reference, Shizuku scolded him.

"Hajime enough of the Japanese cultural references. Get everyone here. We need to discuss our next move."

Hajime asked Cam and the others to gather. Hajime began discussing their plans. Eventually, the talks concluded and Hajime gave a quick summary.

"The plan is simple. We won't be able to win in a pitched battle. Luckily we won't have to. This fortification isn't meant to defend against attack, its meant to pull our enemies in. Once we're done with preparations we'll make sure that we get their attention."

"Make sure that they don't have an easy time getting to this fortification. Avoid killing them as much as possible. Remember, we're not trying to destroy Vebergen or to substantially reduce its forces. As long as you guys can keep them occupied at our fortress your main objective is complete. "

I'll leave Shea and Yue here. I'm counting on you to protect the Haulia."

"An elite force comprised of Cam, Shizuku, Myself, and a few others will use the distraction to sneak into Verbergen. We'll capture the leaders of Vebergen and force them to submit." Hajime concluded.

The next day, the Haulia raised the flags that they had made to bring attention to their fort. Using megaphones created by Hajime, the Haulia began to insult the army. This continued for hours on end.

"You pieces of S**t! Come get us!"

"Are you Beastmen or sissies!?"

A portion of the Haula hid in the surrounding forest to await their enemies. Soon messengers reported that the host of Beast men had just made it to foot of the hill and were attempting the assault on the foot of the hill. It seemed that their host was tired at being force-marched by their commander; Regin Vanton the Elder representing the Bear Clan on the council.

These poor tired fools were easy pickings for the experienced, battled hardened Haulia. Since they had been ordered to avoid killing as much as possible, they trapped these beleaguered units in various traps and watched as the Beastmen desperately tried to free themselves. Some were scrambling to escape the large pits that they fell into. Others were caught in vine traps that left them struggling to be set free. At opportune moments, Haulia took unsuspecting soldiers into the trees never to be seen again by their comrades. This tanked the morale of the rank-and-file soldiers who were already reluctant to fight the Haulia.

Still the vast majority of the host was able to make it to the fortified hill. Though a portion of this force seemed even more unwilling to continue battling. The shouts of Regin had scared enough men into submission.

"Bring me Cam Haulia! Bring me the human collaborators that you are working with!" Regin Vanton demanded. "If you do so we'll spare you."

In response the Haulia defending the fort jeered at him and spat insults at him; daring him to assail the fortress.

"But if you don't want to we understand. Every sissy wants to run back to his mommy. It's fine Regin Vanton. We'll let you run back to her, tail between your legs!"

Angrily Regin Vanton ordered his men to assault the fortress. With axes and clubs on hand they attacked the wooden ramparts of the fortress. In response, Haulian archers rained arrows on them to disrupt them.

Through all of this Yue and Shea observed the battle.

"Hajime underestimates us," Yue stated displeased. "Does he believe that a mere 1000 of this rabble, is enough to overwhelm the last Queen of the Vampires?"

"Yue-san don't say that! He definitely knows that you're strong enough to kill everyone, But that's not the point is it?" Shea pointed out. "Come on Yue-san! We've got a job to do!"

With a flick of Yue's wrist, she released the spell that she was preparing. Suddenly a barrier of fall appeared behind the attacking force, cutting off their escape.

"I guess what Shea said was true…. Still, he can't blame us if we go above and beyond." Yue observed. "Shea! It's your maiden battle. Try not to kill them."

Shea and the other Haulia jumped into the fray directly. Shea swung her war hammer downwards causing the Earth to crack. Since she was instructed to avoid killing whenever possible, Shea proceeded to 'lightly tap' the enemies around her. This 'tap' sent gruff burly Beast-men flying high into the air.

The Haulia quickly disarmed the more fool-hardy Beastmen with their superior skills. Knocking them out quickly and daring the rest to come and defeat them. It seemed to the Beast-men that these were no mere rabbits but monsters from some otherworldly Abyss come to haunt them.

Faced with such otherworldly threats who could blame them for wishing to flee, yet the flames grew even hotter as the witch who stood on top of the ramparts, increased the flames judging them all. Out of fear they bent the knee on mass, quivering and shaking, begging to be spared the fate of their brethren.

Even the most battle-hardened of the enemy host felt their courage flee them. Even the most skillful found their hands shaking. Their faith was broken. Their reason was lost. All they had was mere axes, clubs, and spears What are they against nightmares come alive?

Regin Vanton was a fool who could not see what was in front of him. He screamed. He shouted. In response a spear wall was erected, separating Regin from the Haulian advance. But what were spears against a woman who had received a baptism of fire and ice, a baptism of earth and wind? What good would 50 spears be in the face of nature's wrath?

The spears would not pierce Shea's hardened skin. With a single swing of her war hammer, their spears snapped like twigs in the hands of a child. The other Haulia taking advantage of the disruption quickly bought them down.

With the enemy so close even Regin Vanton could see the writing on the wall. The fool begged and pleaded. To no avail. Perhaps Regin imagined that there would be honour or glory in this fight. He received nothing. Not even the dignity of a proper fight. The Haulia embarrassed him by choking him and capturing him. The host of 1000 beast men surrendered to their otherworldly enemy.

"Vebergen won't let this stand. We might not have won today but when word of this gets out! We get 10,000 men on this and turn this fort into a pile of rubble!" Regin threatened.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Shea responded cheerfully. "By now I'm sure Dad, Shizuku-san, and Hajime-san have made it to Verbergen."

---

"Oh, so this is Verbergen?" Hajime wondered out loud.

The gates of Verbergen stood as high as the trees that formed its foundation. Its thick trunks provided protection against any invading army if they were lucky enough to make in through the Sea of Forest's thick fog. Such defensive formations were necessary for it became the refuge of the Beastmen, long prosecuted by the other races of Tortus.

Still it wasn't exactly a match of monsters forged in the Abyss nor their disciples. In several bounds, Hajime and Shizuku were able to stand on top of the ramparts that overlooked the city. The Haulia including Cam worked together to climb the trees but with good climbing equipment and their natural agility, it was not long before they too reached the top.

Verbergen was a city that was one with nature. Its buildings made out of still-living trees that reached toward the highest heavens. Beast-men could be seen going about their everyday business, talking with each other, working, and shopping. It was certainly lively.

"Cam where would their leaders be?"

Cam pointed to the tree in the centre of the city, which snaked around the other trees surrounding it. There at its peak stood, the central council building where the elders of Verbergen, the Elders of the various clans of the Beast men met to discuss the governance of Verbergen.

"Well let's get going then. Let's pay those lousy Elders a visit."

Hajime and his company stealthily made their way through Verbergen, taking care to avoid being spotted and alerting the Elders to their strike force. At last they made their way to the central tree of Veebergen. They quickly entered into the main tree, which was partially hollowed out. They quickly took care of any guards that was protecting this place.

At last they came to a large door right at the peak of the tree. This was the main council room. Without hesitation they dispatched the last two guards that was protecting this place.

A fierce debate was taking place.

"Regin has taken the law into his own hands!"

"He is the only one with the guts to drive invaders from our lands! You would sooner collaborate with them and then politely ask them if they want their boots licked!"

Hajime signaled to the Haulia. Cam Haulia and the other masked rabbits broke down the door. The Elders of the Council immediately stood up, some in fright and some in indignation. Some immediately called the guards.

Cam Haulia loudly cleared his throat, silencing any further objections.

"Stop wasting your breath! The guards won't come. None of them will."

One of the Haulia dragged both guards and threw them in the centre of the Council round table.

"They're not dead by the way. You lot should all be grateful. We very well could of killed them all."

At this sight, the more belligerent Elder men quieted down. At once Cam began to address the Elders of Vebergen.

"Elders of Vebergen. I introduce to you; our Boss, Our one true master; The Crimson Lightning Disaster; Nagumo Hajime! And our Boss Lady of peerless beauty; The Crimson Snow Princess of the Lightflash Blade!"

Hajime and Shizuku were visibly distraught and embarrassed when they entered the room. They quietly promised to punish Cam after all this was done.

"Elders of Vebergen, I their humble servant Camaieus Entelion Soraus Haulia have come bearing their message!"-

"Enough Cam. Save the pageantry for later. Elders of Vebergen. I'll make this nice and simple for you. Cease your war against us." Shizuku declared.

"We desire only to be allowed safe passage through the Sea of Forests and to the Great Tree Uralt. We seek to challenge the Grand Labyrinth that your ancestor; Haltina left in your protection."

Hajime cleared his throat.

"As a sign of goodwill, we have attempted to avoid killing your people. However, know this. Had we chosen to do so, Vebergen would have been nothing by ash and ruin. We are here to give you a choice.

"Make peace with us or submit to us that is your only two choices. Will you make peace willingly or will you submit in the midst of tears and gnashing of teeth."

One of the representatives of the Bear tribe spoke out.

"Your words are nothing! Even now your tribe is being put to the torch by our army led by Regin Vanton. You are the ones you should submit!"

Confidently Shizuku countered his words.

"We've left my two capable sisters to defend against your attack. We told them that defeating your army was not the objective but honestly, I think with their power they may have routed your army."

The Elders were stunned to silence. It didn't take a genius to tell that they weren't lying. Just 7 people had infiltrated their city, came to the central tree unnoticed and took down all the guards. That was already mind-boggling. What then of 300 hundred skilled rabbits and the person they called their 'sisters?' Would a conscript army of 1000 be enough? Deep in their hearts, they knew that it wasn't.

The Elven elder spoke first.

"Humans, why do you seek to challenge the labyrinth? Our ancestor Haltina told us to protect Great Tree and Haltina's Labyrinth to ensure that those who challenge it are worthy of it. If your ends are evil, if they go against what our fathers have taught, there can be no peace with you."

Hajime spoke loudly declaring their intentions.

"We know of the ancient magic that can be passed on. We seek to use that power to find a way back home. We know of the games that the gods have played in the realm of Tortus. The god Ehit dragged us and our classmates to become pawns in his entertainment. Due to his meddling, our sister lost her home and was trapped by her beloved Uncle to deny Ehit his prize."

"You too are also pawns of the so-called 'god' Ehit and his followers. For thousands of years, they have preached hostility against your people. There is no doubt that Ehit would do anything that would challenge his game, so we seek the power to break the chains that he has set on this world."

The leader of Elves glanced at the eyes of Hajime and Shizuku. He noticed their steely determination and the calm they exhibited. He could not sense any deception in them. The Eleven elder conferred with his immediate compatriots. After a few tense minutes of discussion, he rose to his feet and declared the decision of the council of Elders.

"Humans! I detect no falsehood in your words. By the law that was passed down to us by our ancestor Haltina, I grant you safe passage through the Sea of Forests and the freedom to challenge the Great Labyrinth."

The representative for the hostile tribes objected to this pronouncement.

"You step out of line Ulfric Heipyst! You intend to give out most precious treasure to outsiders! To Humans no less! Our Bear Clan and our allies will not stand for this!" He declared.

In response, several other Elders joined with the Bear clan leader in their objections. The council broke out into fierce argument once more. Until a single shot silenced the din of shouting and arguments. Hajime's threat was clear; 'shut up or get shot.'

At this moment an orge masked Rabbit-man entered into the room. He was a messenger responsible for relaying information between Hajime and the rest of the Haulia at the fort.

"Boss! The enemy army has been routed! Their Regin Vanton has been captured. He is being dragged here as we speak!" He declared. "I was asked to pass on this message from Aletia-san; "Hajime you underestimate us."

"How far away are they?" Hajime asked.

"Regin Vanton was bought with us. My comrades will be bringing him along soon. They will be here in Aletia-sama and Shea-sama are leading the rest of the Haulia here. We expect our main force to reach Verbergen in several hours."

Hajime turned his attention once more to the Elders of Vebergen. He had a calm expression on his face. With confidence he declared the situation that the council members found themselves in.

"Elders of Verbergen. You heard my messenger. Your army is done. Any resistance no matter how many men you intend to throw at us will be destroyed." Declared Hajime.

It was not long before other Haulia came carrying with them the unconscious body of Regin Vanton. They tossed him to the ground which startled him and made him conscious once more. When he observed his surroundings he remained stubborn and belligerent.

"Elders of Verbergen!" Regin shouted. "See how the enemy treats our people! As livestock to be used! They did not even give me the right to have an honourable fight on the battlefield but they decided to humiliate me and the pride of our Bear Clan."

Regin continued blathering and spluttering his insults and grievances.

"This insult cannot go unpunished! The Humans and their Haulian collaborators must be put to death!" Regin insisted with more and more Elders agreeing with his assessment.

Hajime walked up to Regin. He took a look at the Bear Clan leader. All Hajime saw was a pathetic being who refused to see reality. He decided to ram reality right down his throat. He forcefully yanked Regin Vanton up by the arm with one arm. To his credit, he did not yelp like a weakling.

"Regin Vanton. You say that you have not been treated honourably?" Hajime asked coldly. "Do you seek a proper fight then?"

"Yes! If I win then I will exterminate your collaborators and destroy you all!" Regin declared stubbornly.

A cold smile stretched across the faces of Hajime and Shizuku. Shizuku made decision on behalf of their party.

"Fine. Cam Haulia will take our place in this fight. If we lose then we will subject ourselves to your judgment. If we win then you and the council will accede to our demands."

Walking up to Cam, Hajime whispered into his ear.

"Cam. Fight him. You can do as you like. Just keep him alive. We want them to fear us but not hate us."

Cam Haulia nodded and grinned. To Cam this was the greatest day of his life. Vengeance against Bear Clan and an opportunity to show his loyalty to his masters? There could be no greater joy….

The Haulia removed Regin's restraints and gave him his weapon, a large battle axe. He immediately charged at Cam his battle axe held aloft. That was too slow for Cam who immediately responded with a flying knee to the face.

Cam followed up his attack with a punch to his stomach that sent Regin Vanton flying into the centre of the council room. Cam quickly jumped on top of him and proceeded to snap Regin Vanton's left arm in two.

[SNAP]!

A loud snap could be hear, followed by howls and howls of pain. But Cam was not done. He took his other arm and snapped it as well.

[SNAP!]

Cam was about to start with the legs when Regin Vanton cried out.

"PLEASE! STOP!" He begged and cried. "I give up! We give up! Just make him stop!"

Hajime signaled Cam to stop. Shizuku walked up to Regin Vanton. She grabbed him the hair on his head. She treated him like a ragdoll. He howled in pain as he was manhandled by the human woman. She bought him face to face with her, his face was flooded with tears as his body was racked with pain.

"Do you swear it?! I can promise your life will be short and miserable if you break your promise. The Haulia will haunt you for the rest of your days."

"I swear! I swear! Please! Please!" He cried.

"Elders of Verbergen. You are witnesses. If Regin Vanton or the Bear Clan breaks their promise, then consider them cursed. They will be hunted until their short and miserable lives are over." Shizuku declared.

A silence came over the council. No more discussions took place. They knew that they were well and truly beaten. If they knew what would befall them if decided to resist.

The one named Ulfric Heiphyst rose to his feet once more. This time with the full backing of the council he made the following proclamation.

"From this moment on the nation of Verbergen declares that the Humans, Nagumo Hajime and Yaegashi Shizuku have full freedom in Verbergen and the Sea of Forests. They and their allies the Haulias will be afforded this freedom henceforth."

"From this moment forth we will ally ourselves with Nagumo Hajime and his company!"

---

I think I'm going to end it here. This chapters already a lot longer than I expected. Originally I was planning on completing the Verbergen portion of the story now but this chapter is already the single longest chapter in the story.

The story of the Haulia and Sea of Forests will conclude in the following chapters. Well, at least this part of their story. Don't worry if you're a fan of the Haulia like I am, they will return when this part of the World comes back into focus.

If all goes well with the next chapter, significant changes should start to happen soon. So look forward to it!

As always thank you for the follows and favourites! Any feedback that you have for me is much appreciated.

Edit 03/01/2023

If you've read this fanfic before, you may notice that I've made changes to the story in this chapter.

Most significantly the original chapter has Hajime and Shizuku let the slavers go free instead this edited version has our MC kill them all. I want to explore the ramifications of this decision on the psyche of Hajime and Shizuku as well as their relationship with their family.

I hope the changes are not too jarring and fits the rest of the story. Look forward to future chapters exploring Hajime's and Shizuku's continuing development.