An ordinary profession creates the world's strongest

Kaori accidentally drank a large amount of seawater. Coughing, she looked around and saw Hajime, his arms wrapped around his waist, and a pure white beach. Other than that, there was nothing around. It was a vast space, with dense trees visible in the distance. Above her, a rippling surface of water seemed to be blocked by something like a barrier to prevent the intrusion of seawater.

"We got separated from the others... I gave each of them a 'treasure vault'. It's only about the size of a small warehouse, but if it's them, they should be able to handle it on their own."

"……Um."

Hajime's hands left Kaori's waist and lifted her hair, his tone very relaxed, but Kaori's expression was a little depressed.

He stood beside Kaori and changed his clothes openly. Kaori looked at him and recalled what had just happened.

Hajime and his group conduct a strategic retreat, escaping from the giant naked sea butterfly.

The place they fell into was a huge spherical space with dozens of caves, some of which violently spewed out seawater, while others sucked it in. The current in this place was so strong that it was like a storm.

Despite being tossed by the rapids, Hajime and the others managed to move to their nearby companions, but the current mercilessly swept them apart. Yue used magic to manipulate the water, but the erratic flow made it impossible to control it. Shia, using her weight and the weight of Drukken, finally reunited with Tio, which was already quite difficult.

Hajime originally wanted to summon a submarine to ride, but it was impossible to do so in the rapids.

He gritted his teeth in frustration and took out a super-heavy amount of compressed ore from the "treasure house", intending to imitate Shia and use the weight to resist the tide.

Then, Hajime saw Yue drifting over by chance. As long as the current kept its direction, they should be able to reunite. Shia and Tio seemed to have been washed into a cave, and their presence was no longer visible in the space.

To prevent more people from being swept away, Hajime reached out to Yue, but his eyes caught sight of Kaori about to flow below. Kaori, seemingly in pain, met Hajime's gaze. In front of him, Yue also reached out, her eyes meeting Hajime's.

pick one of two.

If Yue was caught, Kaori would probably be rushed into a cave alone; conversely, if Kaori was caught, the same situation would occur.

Now, Hajime could only hold one person's hand. In this time that seemed like a moment and also like eternity, Hajime and Yue's eyes met, and then Hajime made a decision.

He took out a super-heavy compressed ore from the "treasure vault" and used its weight to descend in one breath, steadily catching Kaori as she drifted towards him. That's right, Hajime chose Kaori, not Yue.

Kaori opened her eyes wide in surprise, but she was soon swept away by the rapid current and could not open her eyes, and both of them were sucked into the cave.

While drifting, Hajime held Kaori in his arms and activated Kongo. Despite crashing against the rock wall, he struggled to endure. Just as the current weakened, a bright light appeared above, and Hajime floated up in one breath.

And that was the pure white sand beach where they were now.

“…Hajime-kun, why… did you save me?”

"what?"

Kaori asked this question to Hajime who was changing clothes with his back to her. Hajime tilted his head and thought, "Why are you asking this all of a sudden?"

"Why didn't you save Yue, but saved me?"

"Of course it's because Kaori looks like she's dying. Yue can handle it herself, and she also asked me to save you with her eyes."

"...You trust her a lot."

"Of course, right? She's my partner, right?"

"..."

After hearing the answer, Kaori felt even more depressed and lowered her head. Suddenly, a figure fell on Kaori.

Kaori looked up, wondering what was going on, only to see Hajime's face right in front of her. It was so close, so close they could kiss if they just leaned in. As Kaori stared into Hajime's eyes, as if drawn in, her cheeks were suddenly pulled hard.

"What a hole! What's your fault!"

Kaori protested with tears in her eyes.

Hajime ignored Kaori's protests and continued to play with her soft cheeks for a long time. Finally, Kaori finally got her freedom and rubbed her red cheeks with her hands, glaring at Hajime with resentment. Hajime snorted.

"Instead of being depressed, why not get up and take action? This is a huge maze. How long do you plan to stay in those wet clothes? Or are you trying to get my sympathy this way?"

Hearing Hajime's cruel words, Kaori's face flushed with shame. Hajime's implication was as if he was saying, "You really shouldn't be staying here?"

"I, I'm not! I was just kind of dazed, that's all. Um, well, I need to get changed. Sorry."

"..."

Kaori stood up hastily. Before leaving Enison, Hajime had gifted everyone a miniature "treasure chest" (roughly a tiny household storage unit). She retrieved a change of clothes from the chest and shed her wet clothes. Hajime turned away nonchalantly. Normally, Kaori, though shy, would have said something like "You can look," and launched into a fight. But she wasn't in the mood for that now, and quickly changed.

"S-Switch on... so what should we do now?"

"Let me think about it. Even if we return to the bottom of the ocean now, we don't know where they've gone... We can only explore deeper. Yue and the others will probably do the same."

Hajime looked out at the forest in the distance and turned back to say this. Kaori smiled, not wanting to be noticed, and nodded in agreement. Seeing Kaori's smile, Hajime narrowed his eyes slightly, but in the end, he walked forward without saying a word.

The two walked along the pure white beach, their footsteps rustling as they entered a dense forest. Hajime cut through the dense trees and long grass, continuing forward, with Kaori simply following behind him.

At this moment, Hajime suddenly stopped, turned around to face Kaori, and put one hand on the back of Kaori's head as if to hug her.

“Eh? U-um, Hajime-kun? W-why is this happening? This is so sudden…”

Kaori blushed, but Hajime immediately left her side. Seeing what Hajime was holding in his hand, Kaori turned pale instantly.

It was a spider, about the size of a hand, with twelve legs constantly moving and dripping with purple fluid. Its legs had two parts: a normal leg and a dorsal leg. Its structure was practically reminiscent of a "flip-around" spider, which was incredibly disgusting.

"Don't be careless, okay? The Great Labyrinth and the surface of Orcus are completely different. If you approach them with the same understanding, you'll be in trouble, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry. I'll be more careful."

"..."

The spider Hajime had caught had no magic stone, just a disgusting, poisonous spider. Kaori was even more frustrated by the fact that she had almost been killed by a creature that wasn't a monster and had Hajime clean up her mess.

Kaori was so active and brilliant when she was with Kouki and the others, but she was completely useless in Hajime's team, which gradually made her anxious.

Kaori was more focused on being alert to her surroundings, so the two of them didn't talk much and passed through the dense forest in a subtle atmosphere.

After passing through the dense forest...

"Is this... what they call a ship graveyard?"

"I'm amazed there's such a big sailboat..."

After passing through the dense forest, there is a rocky area where numerous sailboats are lying. Most of them have decayed. Each sailboat is at least one hundred meters long. Looking around, the largest ship may be three hundred meters long.

Hajime and Kaori couldn't help but stop, fascinated by the strange scene. However, they couldn't continue watching, so they gathered their spirits and stepped into the ship graveyard.

The two continued to move forward, sometimes through cracks in the rocks, sometimes across the rocks, and sometimes walking on boats. Although each boat was rotten, it was not to the point of collapse at the slightest touch, making it difficult to determine when they had appeared here.

"Come to think of it... these are all warships."

"Yes, but only the largest ship seems to be a passenger ship, and the decorations on board are also very luxurious..."

The ships in the graveyard didn't have gun ports on the sides like Earth's warships (sailboats). Even so, Hajime could tell they were warships because each one bore heavy scars of battle. From the looks of it, they might have been subjected to magical attack, leaving only broken masts, charred decks, and petrified ropes and nets.

Since there were no cannons, magic could only be used to defeat distant enemies. From these traces, one can imagine the previous fighting methods.

Then, when they arrived at the middle of the ship graveyard, his speculation was proven to be true.

——Uooooh ...

—Wa ...

"!What!?"

"Hashi-kun! Look around!"

Suddenly, the shouts of many humans were heard, and the surrounding scenery immediately began to distort.

At first they stopped in surprise and looked around to see what was happening. However, during this time, the distortion of the scenery became more intense. When they came to their senses, they found themselves standing on the deck of a ship in the sea.

Looking around, it was no longer a ship graveyard. Instead, there were hundreds of sailboats divided into two groups facing each other, with people on board holding weapons and shouting.

“W-What’s going on…?”

"Hajime-san? Am I dreaming? Hajime-san, are you still there? Are you there?"

Hajime and Kaori were both shocked. They could only try to calm their almost confused minds and observe the situation around them.

Before they knew it, a large firework rose into the sky, exploding with a loud bang, and hundreds of ships immediately moved forward simultaneously. After the fireworks were launched, the ship they were on also moved forward together with the opposing fleet.

After approaching to a certain distance, the sailboats rushed forward as if to collide with each other, and both sides fired magic at each other.

"Whoa whoa!?"

"Ah ah!"

As the explosions rang out, flame bombs from both sides flew out in a staggered manner, making holes in the hull; a huge tornado headed towards the mast; the ship stopped sailing due to the freezing sea surface; the gray sphere hit and immediately petrified the sails.

The deck of the ship they were on was also hit by a fire bomb, and a raging fire broke out on the deck. The crew immediately used magic to draw seawater to put out the fire.

This is a true battlefield, with a large number of ships and people engaged in battle. The wind of murderous intent contained in the magic blows across the skin.

They watched the battle in a daze. Another fire bomb flew towards them from behind. If they ignored it, the fire bomb's trajectory would hit Hajime and Kaori.

Why was he suddenly caught in the middle of a battlefield? Although his mind was filled with questions, since he was under attack, Hajime, with a relentless determination, drew his Donal and fired his railgun to counter the fire bomb.

With an explosion, the bullet transformed into a flash of light and flew out, but the result was beyond his expectations. The bullet did not meet the flaming bomb, and even if it had hit it accurately, it would have directly penetrated the flaming bomb and disappeared into the other side of the sky.

"What!?"

Hajime let out a startled cry for who knows how many times, and was about to pick up Kaori beside him and run away.

"Wait a moment, I'll block it! — 『Light Destruction』!"

Kaori's chant sounded, and a barrier of light-attribute primary defensive magic appeared.

As for Hajime, he had clearly hit the magic core, but the bullet had passed through. Such an unknown attack would have been best avoided by dodging. Kaori, however, cast a spell, hoping to stay where she was. Hajime had no choice but to activate the "Vajra" defense against the fire bomb.

However, Hajime's worries were unfounded, as Kaori's barrier did block the fire bomb.

Hajime showed a surprised expression, and the question welled up in his mind, "Did I miss?" He tried to shoot at the incoming fireball again. This time, judging by Hajime's Mystic Eye Stone, it had indeed hit the magic core, but...

As expected, the bullet penetrated the fire bomb and flew in a completely different direction.

“…Is that what’s going on?”

After observing this scene, Hajime deduced the effectiveness of the attack and decided to try a different method. As Kaori prepared to once again erect a barrier to defend against the incoming fireball, Hajime stopped her and activated Wind Claw on Donal. While dodging, he slashed at the fireball with Wind Claw, but this time, it didn't penetrate the bullet, successfully splitting it in half.

"Uh, Hajime-kun?"

"It seems these attacks aren't just ordinary illusions, but they're also not real; physical attacks are ineffective, but attacks with magical energy are effective. Seriously, what the hell is going on?"

As Hajime sighed at this awkward situation, he heard a painful groan behind him. Hajime turned and saw a young man squatting on the ground, a machete in one hand and his other hand pressed against his abdomen. A closer look revealed a pool of blood at his feet and a blood-soaked icicle next to him. He must have been struck by the icicle.

Kaori immediately rushed over, concerned about his injuries, and cast a healing spell. A violet-white light enveloped the young man. With Kaori's skills as a "healer," the young man should have recovered in an instant... but unexpectedly, the moment the young man came into contact with Kaori's healing magic, he instantly transformed into a faint light, and the mist and clouds dissipated.

“Eh? Huh? W-why…”

Kaori's mind was in a mess. After thinking for a while, Hajime expressed his speculation.

"So, as long as it contains magical power, the properties and effects of the magic are irrelevant, right?"

“…Then I, I… killed him…”

"Kaori, this isn't reality. Just think of it as a 'directly effective illusion'. And if someone disappears under healing magic, then they're not human."

"Hajime-kun... Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry, I lost my composure a bit. I'm fine now."

Although Hajime's tone was calm, his words also showed his concern for Kaori. Kaori, however, was not as cheerful as usual. She seemed to feel bad, her shoulders drooping in frustration, but she quickly put on a smile. Seeing Kaori's smile, Hajime couldn't help but express the thoughts he had been feeling since a while ago.

"...You keep apologizing."

"Eh? Did you say anything?"

"No, nothing."

Hajime turned his eyes away from Kaori.

However, he looked away not because of the awkward atmosphere between him and Kaori, but because he sensed a dangerous aura.

Looking around, many men appeared without them noticing, looking at Hajime and Kaori with dark and cloudy eyes.

Kaori noticed Hajime's gaze and looked around as well. Then the men attacked Hajime and Kaori at the same time.

"Everything is God's will!"

"Long live Lord Esid!"

"Damned pagan! Die for our God!"

The scene before my eyes could only be described as crazy. Everyone's eyes were bloodshot and saliva was gushing out of their screaming mouths. It was really unbearable to watch.

The two fleets faced each other, clearly a war between nations. Now, Hajime understood the reason for this war. This was a religious war. Listening closely, the soldiers on both fleets roared and shouted the same roars, only the names of the gods they called out differed.

Kaori was shocked by the crazy atmosphere and stood there in a daze.

Hajime hugged Kaori from behind and shot Donal from her shoulder, but what was shot out was not bullets, but pure magic blocks.

Mana blocks are emitted through "mana radiation" and "mana compression" derived from "mana manipulation." Generally speaking, mana blocks have almost no physical effect on the target, and only have the effect of destroying mana.

Since magic power depletion can incapacitate both humans and monsters, this technique can incapacitate an opponent without harming them. However, Hajime couldn't choose such a gentle method when dealing with an enemy, so he had never used this technique until now.

However, this gentle measure was the most effective right now. Donal's red bullet instantly pierced the air, striking a soldier with a frantic look in his eyes, his scimitar held high. The bullet didn't stop, piercing through and striking the soldier behind him, instantly dissolving the soldier's body into mist.