“…How neat.”

Seeing this message, Hajime simply held such thoughts in his mind. Looking around, Hajime realized that for a secret residence of the creator of the Grun Volcano, this room was quite plain. Unlike Orcus's secret residence, it didn't feel like anyone lived there at all; it was simply a space for a magic circle.

"...Looks like he's taken care of all his affairs."

"It seems like Natsu-san has nothing left except magic."

"Come to think of it, Orcus's notes also mentioned Natsu. He seemed quite taciturn."

Yue left the task of supporting Hajime in Shia's arms, then walked over to a fist-sized opening in the wall and retrieved a pendant. Compared to the evidence he'd obtained so far, it was a slightly different style, an exquisitely shaped ring-shaped pendant. Yue placed it around Hajime's neck.

"Okay, now that we have the magic and the proof, the next step is to get out of here."

“…What should we do?”

"Hajime-san, do you have any ideas? The outside is probably already submerged in lava, huh?"

Yue and Shia expressed their doubts, but they didn't seem to be worried at all. Hajime was relieved to see that they trusted him so much, and he told them his escape plan.

"Swimming through the lava, of course."

"……Um?"

"……What?"

The first sentence left everyone completely confused. Yue and Shia thought, "Hajime's injury is really serious, right?" Their expressions seemed to be a little worried about Hajime's brain injury.

"No, I'll explain, so don't look at me like that. Actually, I have a submarine ready outside this building. I thought I'd need it for the upcoming Melkinne Undersea Ruins, so I built one beforehand. I was a little worried at first, wondering if it could withstand the intense heat of the magma, but since small boats covered in diamond are fine, I figured it should be able to hold up, and it turned out to be just fine."

“When on earth did you do that…?”

Shia's tone was a little surprised, and Yue's eyes seemed to be speechless towards Hajime.

In reality, when Freed suggested destroying the foundation stone, Hajime had already teleported the submarine directly from the "treasure vault" into the lava. If the submarine melted, he and Tio would immediately force their way through and escape through the path in the ceiling. However, after observing for a while, there was no sign of melting (there was a sensor stone inside, allowing Hajime to sense the submarine's condition), so he concluded that even if the labyrinth was flooded by lava, they could still escape.

However, the earthquake at the Gulun Volcano itself was clearly of an abnormal magnitude, and they were likely unable to escape due to the collapse. With time pressure to return to Ankaji, they didn't have time to slowly find an escape route. As a precaution, Hajime had Tio flee first, all in the name of retrieving the "Stone of Serenity" within the time limit.

"The escape route is, of course, the shortcut through the ceiling. Yue, could you please set up a barrier so we can reach the submarine's hatch?"

"Hmm... leave it to me."

Yue nodded in agreement to Hajime's request, carefully casting three layers of "Holy Spell" in succession, and a radiant barrier enveloped the three of them. After nodding in confirmation, they stood in front of the door and opened it, leading to the outside world filled with boiling magma.

Then, a violent crash of water echoed as searing lava flowed into the room. The Holy Absolute had indeed protected Hajime and the others, but their vision was instantly stained a fiery crimson. Seeing lava from within lava was an impossible experience. Though they had been prepared for this, even Hajime and the others were speechless at the sight before them. The world was vast, but Hajime and the others were surely the only ones who could experience this.

"The submarine is outside, let's go."

"Um!"

“Yes, yes!”

At Hajime's command, the three of them slowly walked out of the room. Although they couldn't see anything around them, it seemed that the submarine was indeed waiting outside the door, just as Hajime had said. As soon as they stepped out of the door, the "Shengze" collided with something, and they immediately knew it was a submarine.

While adjusting the barrier, Yue guided the two to the hatch. The three of them finally successfully boarded the submarine, and their originally tense and stiff bodies unconsciously relaxed.

At that moment, the entire space vibrated with a force incomparable intensity to that which had occurred previously. The magma suddenly and violently flowed in a certain direction. The submarine was tossed by the current, and Hajime and the others inside were like being thrown into a blender, tumbling up and down, turning left and right.

“Guwaa!?”

“Huh?!”

“Ah!? That hurts!”

The three of them collided with the walls of the ship, each letting out a scream. Yue instantly activated the applied version of "Absolute Disaster", pulling them towards the small, rotating black sphere, finally freeing them from the shaking situation.

"I'm saved. Thank you, Yue."

"Thank you, Miss Yue."

"Hmm... the important thing now is..."

Yue moved the "Absolute Disaster" and transported Hajime to a place that looked like the driver's seat. Hajime injected magic power and tried to control the submarine, but the strong current and the viscosity of the magma made it impossible for Hajime to steer the direction as he wished.

"Tsk! If this were a volcanic eruption, we'd be blown out. That would be luckier."

"...wasn't it a volcanic eruption?"

Seeing Hajime's bitter expression, Yue tilted her head and asked.

"No. To avoid getting lost in the lava, I loaded a special stone onto the cross floater and fired it near the exit before it exploded. So at least I know where the shortcut on the ceiling is... but the lava flow is taking us further and further away from the exit."

"Eh? Does that mean we're going deep underground?"

"Yes, but it's not flowing straight down, it's flowing diagonally downward... I don't know where it will lead to. Yue, Shia, we can't go back quickly. We can only take it one step at a time."

Hajime said this with a prepared mind, Yue and Shia showed gentle eyes and snuggled up to him.

"...I will stay with you until the end. As long as I can be with you, nothing else matters."

"Hehe... this is truly like being in fire and water. Me too, as long as I can be with you two, I'm willing to go anywhere!"

“…Is that so? That’s true.”

Hajime smiled in response to the two.

The three of them snuggled up to each other in the submarine, drifting along with the hot magma.

When they were unable to escape from the Gulun Volcano and were drifting in an underground tunnel where magma was flowing, a shadow was flying unsteadily above the Gulun Desert, which was blowing with a copper-colored wind.

It goes without saying that it was Tio in the "Dragon Transformation" stage.

"Hmm, this is a bit bad. Seriously, you actually spit out such a tricky breath... I can't help it, Master, please forgive me."

Due to her forced breakthrough, Tio was struck by numerous auroras, and her injuries worsened under the toxic effects of the auroras. She concluded that if she continued at this rate, she would collapse before reaching Ankaji. She apologized to Hajime for using the secret medicine without permission, begging for forgiveness. She then took the sacred water from her "treasure vault," crushed it along with the container, and drank it.

Continuously exhaling and pushing her physical and flight abilities beyond their limits had consumed a significant amount of her magic power, but by taking the sacred water, she quickly recovered. Furthermore, while her wounds couldn't heal immediately, they at least suppressed the effects of the poison.

After several hours of flying, she finally saw Ankaji ahead. If she continued flying, Ankaji's watchtower would probably spot her. Tio briefly considered whether to cancel her dragon transformation, but—

"Forget it. Once that white dragon rider knows my identity, there's no point in hiding it."

And considering that if she wanted to travel with Hajime and the others in the future, there would be many situations where she would need to transform into a dragon, Tio decided to take it easy.

The Dragon People's hideout wasn't easily discovered, and even if they were discovered, they wouldn't be easy to deal with. Besides, even if they were faced with the nightmare (persecution) of five hundred years ago again, as long as Tio asked for help, Hajime would definitely help them, because no matter what, Hajime always cared about his people.

While Tio was pondering these things, she finally arrived a few kilometers from Ankaji. Looking closely, the people in the watchtower seemed extremely panicked. If they were attacked due to a misunderstanding, it would be troublesome, so Tio circled around to the city gate and landed a little further away.

Boom! Tio landed halfway down, sending up a cloud of dust. Ankaji's soldiers formed into teams and arrived at the landing site. Looking around, they saw a large number of soldiers on the city walls, ready with bows and arrows or wands inscribed with magic circles.

As the misty dust was blown away by the wind, the soldiers swallowed nervously. When the dust cleared, a beautiful woman with black hair and golden eyes appeared. Seeing her look quite exhausted, the soldiers looked at each other with confusion.

When they were completely confused about what was happening, a girl slipped through the gap between the soldiers and ran out. She had the same black hair as Tio, and this girl was Kaori.

Although the soldiers and the lord's son in the rear thought there was danger and tried to stop them, Kaori completely ignored them and rushed to Tio, who was kneeling on one knee and gasping for breath.

Kaori knew that Tio was a dragon-man, so when she heard the report from the watchtower, she realized that Hajime and the others had returned, and she hurried over.

"Tio! Are you okay!?"

"Um, is that Kaori... Well, I'm fine, just a little tired."

Seeing Tio covered in wounds and exhausted, Kaori's face changed drastically. She immediately ran to Tio's side, knelt down, and hurriedly diagnosed her injuries. Then, when Kaori discovered that Tio had a toxin she had never seen before, she immediately cast a purification and recovery spell.

"How could it be... that it can't be purified..."

However, even the sacred water takes time to detoxify Aurora's poison, and Kaori's recovery magic alone cannot instantly cleanse it.

Kaori showed a look of regret, but thanks to the effects of the holy water she had taken earlier, coupled with Kaori's extraordinary recovery magic, Tio's physical condition had improved significantly. She patted Kaori's head and smiled comfortingly, "Don't worry, it will be cleansed soon."

Seeing from Tio's expression that there was really no need to worry, Kaori's shoulders relaxed and she smiled with relief. Then, she looked around, her expression gradually turning uneasy.

"Tio... um, where are Hajime and the others? Why did you come back alone? ...What was that volcanic eruption about?"

"Kaori, calm down. I will tell you everything. Tell the soldiers in the rear to calm down and lead us to a place where we can talk."

"Ah, yes, that's true."

Only then did Kaori realize that the soldiers behind her were confused and agitated. Although Kaori's face was uneasy, she still nodded firmly in agreement. The lack of sadness on Tio's face was the main reason for her to regain her composure.

She then returned to Biz and Longi, who had arrived, explained the situation to them, and took Tio to a place where they could talk quietly.

“So, Hajime-kun and the others…”

"Yes, they should be here soon. The master has no intention of giving up. I can't ask in detail due to time constraints, but I'm sure the master must have some kind of countermeasure."

After hearing what happened at the Gulun Volcano, Kaori's face turned pale and her hands clenched. The unease she'd felt since the eruption, which had shocked even the people of Ankaji, now rapidly intensified.

Kaori clenched her hands tightly, as if she would fall down at any moment, but Tio gently placed her own hand on Kaori's and looked at her with a firm look.

"Kaori, the master wants me to pass on a message to you."

"Hajime-kun, are you going to give me a message?"

"Yes, to be more precise, he told Kaori and Myuu... He said 'see you later'."

Kaori had expected words like "I'll definitely be back" or "Don't worry," words to reassure them, but Hajime's delivery was so effortless, it was almost as if he was saying "I'm going to the convenience store and will meet up with you later." She was stunned.

Kaori's mind flashed back to Hajime's smug smile as he said, "What's the big deal about such a small matter?" His unwavering confidence, as if he could overcome any obstacle with a smile, made her smile wryly. The image of Hajime so naturally surfaced in her mind, and Kaori couldn't help but smile wryly. This effortless message, more than any pretentious words, reassured her.

"Is that so? That's fine then."

"Yes, I have unconditional faith that even if the situation seems hopeless to others, Master will survive it as if nothing happened."

"Well... Hajime-kun will be fine, so I have to do what I have to do."

"Yes, of course I will help."

The fact that Hajime was missing in the Great Labyrinth made Kaori feel dizzy, but she clenched her fists, believing, like Tio, that Hajime was safe. Kaori assumed that the "Serenity Stone" she had given to Langi and the others would have been ground into powder by now and distributed to the patients. With a resolute look in her eyes, she stood up and took action to heal the weakened.

After that, Kaori and Tio went to the palace and met Myuu who was playing with the lord's daughter, Airi (14 years old), and explained the situation to Myuu.

When she learned that Hajime's father was not there, Myuu burst into tears, but Tio told her that Hajime's daughter should not cry easily, so she puffed her cheeks and tried hard not to cry.

Although Myu is a seaman, she travels with Kaori, the "Apostle of God," and even the slightest contact reveals her adorable side. Everyone at Ankagi Palace seems captivated by Myu's adorable side; Airi, in particular, remains confined to her surroundings, having just recovered from a serious illness.

Although Langji and the others seemed to have some concerns about Tio being a dragon-man, she risked her life to retrieve the "Quiet Stone" for them and was also a benefactor of the Principality, so it did not cause a big commotion.

Kaori and the others cured the patients one after another, but after two days, they still hadn't returned, and Hajime's expression gradually became gloomy.

Tio explored the route leading to the Gulun Volcano many times, but still couldn't find any trace of Hajime and the others, and didn't know what to do.

On the third night after Tio returned, Kaori proposed a plan to Myuu and Tio.

"After treating today's patients, I don't think there will be any more patients I need to deal with. From now on, I can just let them rest and let time heal naturally, or I can leave it to the medical staff to handle. That should be fine. So... I want to go look for Hajime and the others."

"Dad? Are we going to pick them up?"

"Hmm, that's true. I also think it's about time we set off."

Myuu happily leaned forward upon hearing Kaori's proposal, while Tio agreed with a serious expression.

"But we can't take Myuu to the Grun Volcano after all."

"Yes, otherwise why would the master have entrusted Myuu with this? Besides, due to the volcanic eruption, it's impossible to explore the Grun Volcano now."

"Yes, I thought so too, so I plan to go to Enison first and send Myuu back to reunite with her mother."

"Hmm, this is the more appropriate approach... All right, then, take my back and head to Enisen. If we hurry, we can arrive in less than a day. If we leave in the morning, we should arrive by evening."

The matter was quickly settled, leaving Myuu with a multitude of questions. After Kaori explained the situation to her briefly, Myuu expressed sadness at not being able to go directly to greet Hajime. However, she seemed eager to see her mother, and when Kaori urged her to wait with her mother for Hajime's father to come find them, Myuu reluctantly agreed.

Seeing that Myu actually compared Shi and his biological mother on the same scale, the two could only smile bitterly, thinking that Myu really regarded Shi as his father.

The next day, with their lord desperate to keep them and Biz looking at Kaori with passionate eyes, Kaori and Myuu sat on the back of the dragon-like Tio and set off to fly into the western sky. Behind them, the loud voices of people thanking and praising Kaori could be heard.

Thinking of her lost beloved, Kaori once again made up her mind to find him, and then moved forward without hesitation.

But she never dreamed that she would easily meet Hajime again...

When Kaori and the others set off for the [Maritime City of Enison], Guanghui and the others spent every day training in the [Kingdom of Heilig].

That being said, their training wasn't so much about improving their strength as it was about solving a practical problem they'd encountered in the Orcus Labyrinth—if war broke out, would they really be able to "kill"? To resolve this psychological dilemma, they trained desperately, bewildered.

Such a serious problem could not be overcome through "training" that could not even be called actual combat, so the training naturally made no progress.

They themselves are also self-conscious, which in a sense is escaping from reality. Therefore, although they feel anxious, they cannot take the first step, and the depression in their hearts accumulates day by day.

What's more, the brave man who took the lead was also a representative of escaping from reality, so the group left behind must have accumulated a considerable degree of mental fatigue.

In a corner of the palace, where a gloomy atmosphere permeated, training time had already ended, and the location was another training ground that was rarely used. Now, a short and sharp exhalation could be heard.

“Hurry!”

Countless sword flashes flashed through the air in sync with the sound of his breathing. The knife drew a beautiful black circle, but before the afterimage faded, it sheathed itself with a subtle sound. In an instant, without a single strike, the knife was unsheathed again.

It was a slash so sharp that it seemed to split even space. Every time it struck, the hair on her ponytail swayed slightly.

In the empty training ground, only one person kept swinging the jet-black sword given to her by others - it was the conscience of the class, Yaegashi Shizuku, who worked harder than anyone else.

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