An ordinary profession creates the world's strongest

"No, nothing."

"Um, sorry to bother you."

Hajime turned around with bloodshot eyes, and the two immediately took back their words and retreated humbly to the back.

"Wow... This is so scary, Shizuku-chan, please stop him~"

"Don't force me, Ling. I don't want to die yet. Although I think it's normal for him to be angry..."

Ling was crying and trembling while hugging Shizuku. Shizuku sighed and patted Ling's head to comfort her.

Then, looking to the side...

There was Guanghui squatting on the ground, crying and covering his eyes with his hands.

“Eyes~! My eyes~! Damn you, Nagumo! What are you doing all of a sudden!?”

Kouki let out a cry of pain, like that of a certain colonel, as if someone had stabbed her eyes. (Editor's note: This is the line Colonel Muska cried out in the animated film "Castle in the Sky" when he was blinded by the bright light caused by the spell cast by Palu and Sheeta.)

Incidentally, it was Hajime who stabbed Kouki's eyes with a scissor hand move.

Then why did Hajime burn the forest in anger, and why did he stab Kouki's eyes...

The reason was the ape-like monster that attacked a few minutes ago.

Although they were only equipped with clubs or stone knives, the group of strange monkeys made full use of their agility and took advantage of the forest to manipulate Kouki, Shizuku, and Ling with their unique movements.

Even so, they were still no match for Hajime and the others. Just like when they encountered the strange bee just now, they easily dealt with the monsters that came towards them.

The apes, struck hard, seemed to sense a danger and resorted to new tactics, but their cleverness brought them misfortune.

The ape made the wrong choice.

Like the reddish-brown slime, the strange apes possessed the inherent magic of "Transformation," and they also seemed to have received information about Hajime and the others from the Great Labyrinth.

That's right, they made the worst choice. Of all the people they could transform into, they chose to transform into the person who could most disturb the mind of Shi, the biggest threat.

That's the moon.

The strange ape dragged out from behind the bushes and transformed into the companion of "the bruised and disheveled Yue".

Same as the reddish-brown slime, its appearance looks exactly the same as the original.

Of course, even the reddish-brown slime's transformation, Hajime could easily tell it was a fake just by feeling it, so he immediately realized that the one the monster ape dragged out was not Yue.

However, it is still the moon, the moon goddess.

Does it matter if it is the real one or not? No, it doesn’t matter!

At this point, Hajime used his scissor hand to rob Kouki of his vision. After all, his appearance was identical to the original, so he couldn't let Kouki see Yue naked.

Then, with the abyss monster on the verge of exploding, the apes assaulted and mocked Fake Tsuki, which ultimately drove Hajime crazy. Furthermore, Fake Tsuki, with a sorrowful expression, said to Hajime, "... Hajime, save me," and things got even worse.

At that moment, everyone heard the sound of their sanity being severed.

Then it evolved into what it is now, a hellish scene that looks like the end of the world.

The area about 500 meters ahead had become a fan-shaped scorched earth, with the charred corpses of humanoid apes scattered all over the ground. Furthermore, all the other monsters that inhabited the forest sea were also burned along with nature.

Even with his mind completely broken, Hajime still carefully checked to see if Yue and the others were within the bombing range. He dispatched a large number of crow-type sampling aircraft, the "Ornis," and now Hajime was surrounded by crimson flames and ominous black crows...

He looked like the devil from hell.

The hero is still crying in pain, and the only ones who can stop the Demon King are the Demon King's Four Heavenly Kings (?) - Shia and Kaori.

"Alright, you two, don't give up! No one can stop Nagumo-kun except Shia and Kaori!"

"Shizuku-san, but..."

"B-but Shizuku-chan... it's a bit inappropriate right now..."

“No buts! Why give up now?! If you give up, Jukai will be doomed! Come on, come on! Come on! You can do it! You can do it! A girl in love is invincible!!”

Shizuku uses lines from coaches she doesn't know where to find to encourage Shia and Kaori. To be frank, Shizuku doesn't want to get close to Hajime in his current state, so she desperately encourages them to stop him. (Editor's note: This quote is from former Japanese tennis player Shuzo Matsuoka, as well as a classic line from Coach Anzai from the manga "Slam Dunk.")

Seeing Shizuku's eagerness, Shia and Kaori exchanged glances. After a beat, they nodded with resolute expressions. While Hajime was reloading Alcorn, they rushed towards him, grabbing his arms tightly from both sides.

"Mr. Hajime! Stop fighting, let's stop now!"

"Yeah, Hajime-kun! Calm down a bit!?"

Shia and Kaori desperately clung to Hajime. Hajime glanced at them with a fierce expression, and let out a dissatisfied "Huh?", looking like a gangster no matter how you looked at him.

Having said that, they did have a friendship from traveling together after all, and seeing the two trying their best to comfort him, the angry Hajime gradually regained his composure.

“…I understand. Anyway, let’s leave it at that.”

Hajime relaxed his shoulders, recalled the cross floater and Ornis, and put them into the "treasure vault" with Alcorn. Shia, Kaori, and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm sorry to have troubled you."

"No, their methods also make me angry. I can't blame Mr. Hajime."

"Yes, that's really bad... In a sense, it's worthy of being a large labyrinth."

Having regained his composure, Hajime gave a wry smile, and the two shook their heads, expressing their disgust at the enemy's vicious tactics. As women like Yue, they would naturally be dissatisfied with the enemy's tactics.

While Hajime and the others were talking with their backs to a part of the sea of ​​trees that had been reduced to scorched earth, Shizuku walked towards them with a slight twitch on her cheek.

“Nagumo-san, if you calm down, I think it’s about time for you to recover your glory…”

Hajime only remembered this after hearing her say that and turned to look at Guanghui.

Kouki's tears were still streaming, and her expression was truly pitiful. Hajime begged Kaori with his eyes to heal her, and Kaori agreed, immediately casting a healing spell.

"Wow, is this feeling like recovery magic? Ah, I can see again..."

Suddenly, Guanghui's expression brightened, and it was a very peaceful expression. Because he was kneeling on the ground and looking up at the sky, he looked like a person who was called by God in a religious painting.

After Guanghui regained his sight, he naturally glared at the murderer who had stabbed him in the eye. His brows were furious, and his originally handsome appearance was ruined.

"...Nagumo, I'll just listen to your explanation for now."

Guanghui suppressed his voice, his body trembling uncontrollably. His rage was on the verge of erupting like a volcano.

"A fake Yue appeared, half-naked, so I had to kill the other men. Because it was Amano River, I didn't kill you, but stabbed you in the eye instead—that's about it."

"What do you mean by probably like this!"

Kouki seemed dissatisfied with Hajime's explanation, brandishing his holy sword and shouting angrily.

"Tianzhihe, it's my fault for losing control of my strength, but facing the critical moment where my lover's body could be seen by other men, as a man... the least you can do is blind them, right?"

"Don't ask for my consent like, 'Isn't this common sense?'! I almost thought I was going blind! Besides, you knew it was a fake from the beginning, right? If it was the real one, it would be fine, but the thought of me having to endure that kind of pain because of a fake... I'm furious!"

"You're so stupid! On one side is your eyesight, and on the other side, even if it's a fake, it's still the moon's half-naked body... Would anyone compare a roadside stone with the finest gem on a scale?"

"Are my eyes the stones by the roadside?"

Kouki's mind seemed to be disconnected, and he wanted to rush towards Hajime, but was stopped by Shizuku from behind.

"Well, the view is wider, making it easier to explore."

Hajime ignored Kouki's anger and urged everyone to set off.

Hajime's attitude infuriated Kouki even more, but Shizuku and Suzu were there to comfort him. In a sense, Kouki and Hajime both shared the same commonality of being cared for by the girls around them—a truly annoying commonality.

"Uh-huh?"

At that moment, Hajime's 'scent sense' suddenly detected a creature approaching directly. It was only one, advancing at a light trot.

Judging from the feeling of the aura, the other party did not seem to be a strong enemy, so Hajime showed a surprised expression and turned to face the sea of ​​trees behind him.

Shia seemed to have noticed the situation as well. She tilted her rabbit ears and gazed into the depths of the sea of ​​trees.

Judging from the actions of the two, Guanghui and others also realized that an unidentified object was approaching, so they changed their mood and increased their vigilance.

"What's this time...what's coming?"

Guanghui muttered. As the atmosphere continued to tense, a rustling sound was heard, and from the trees emerged a creature resembling a goblin. It had dark green skin, a twisted, ugly face, and a short build, with a tattered garment wrapped around its shoulders.

The goblin immediately let out an excited "Guga!" upon seeing Hajime and the others. It then paused, as if surprised by its own voice, and stood still, staring at Hajime. Because of its facial shape, it looked as if it was staring at him with murderous intent.

In fact, that's how it seems to Guanghui.

"Don't even think about it!"

Having achieved no success so far, Guanghui was feeling anxious but also wanted to show off. So, he quickly approached the goblins, assumed a high-level stance, and raised the shining holy sword high above his head.

Yet, even as its life was about to be snatched away, the goblin remained motionless for some reason. It showed no sign of wavering, no desire to fight, and simply stared at Hajime, defenseless.

For a moment, Guanghui was puzzled by this, but as a monster of the Great Labyrinth, this fact did not change, and it could not be careless, so Guanghui swung down the holy sword with all his strength.

At the moment when the shining holy sword was about to cut the mysterious goblin in two.

"What are you doing, idiot!"

“Wha—Puwaa!?”

Hajime instantly caught up to Kouki and used a spinning kick to send Kouki flying.

Guanghui let out a strange wail and flew out as if hit by a dump truck, disappearing directly into the depths of the forest.

After poking his companion in the eye and then delivering a back kick, Hajime's crazy behavior (?) stunned Shizuku and the others for a moment. However, they quickly recovered and angrily said to Hajime:

"Hey, Nagumo-kun! What do you mean?! This is ridiculous! Kouki just wanted to defeat the monster!"

"Yeah! By the way, is Kouki-kun okay? The way he flew out was scary!?"

Shizuku and Suzu gave Hajime a reproachful look, while Shia and Kaori also had confused expressions, not understanding the reason for Hajime's actions.

However, Hajime didn't seem to hear what Shizuku and Suzu were saying. He didn't react at all, just staring intently at the goblin in front of him.

Because the shock just now was so great, Shizuku and the others had forgotten about the goblin. Only after seeing Hajime's reaction did they remember its existence and became more alert.

At this moment, Guanghui emerged from the sea of ​​trees in a rage, seemingly unharmed. Although he flew far away, Hajime seemed to be showing some mercy, merely kicking him away as if to push him out.

Even so, Kouki was still being attacked by his own men during the battle. He looked like he was about to pounce on Hajime at any moment.

“…Nagumo, what do you mean? Why are you trying to stop me? This is different from what happened just now. You better give me a reasonable explanation. You actually harbored a monster. I really doubt your sanity—”

"It's not a monster."

This sentence was beyond everyone's expectations. Guanghui was speechless and a puzzled expression appeared on his face.

Hajime seemed to completely ignore the reactions of Kouki and the others, kneeling down in front of the goblin who was still standing there.

This action made Guanghui and others open their eyes wide in shock.

"Could it be..."

Only Shia seemed to realize Hajime's true intention and murmured.

Hajime matched the goblin's eye level and stared directly into its eyes. Then, a sudden smile appeared on his face, and he uttered something startling.

"...You're Yue, right?"

“Guga!”

“…Huh?”

Ignoring the stunned Kouki and the others, Hajime shook the goblin's hand without hesitation and called out "Yue..." once again. The goblin also let out a "Gua" sound, seemingly happy.

“Uh~ Hajime-san, could it be Miss Yue? That… looks like a monster type to me…”

"I-I also thought it was a monster when I looked over there. Is it really Yue?"

Shia and Kaori looked at the goblins in front of them and asked questions.

The goblin began to make a series of "Guga, Gukoko, Gaa ...

But at this time it was up to Hajime to show that nothing was impossible for him who loved Yue so much.

"Hmm? Hmm~ After the transfer, you came back to your senses and it turned out like that?"

“! Guga! …Gugugugu!”

"So, the body itself has changed..."

"Guga... Guga, Guga."

"Is that so...? You lost your equipment too."

"Gugu... Kouga-kouga."

"You said that wherever there's an explosion, there's Hajime? That's correct..."

“…Chuck, chuckle.”