Despite this, Hajime continued to shout as if showing off to his lover. As if responding to his momentum, the magic power shook the heavens and the earth, and finally, cracks began to appear in the entire space.

At this time, Hajime activated "Limit Breakthrough".

Hajime didn't care about his almost exhausted magic power and released magic power that broke through his limit in one breath.

"The same goes for the others. They may be troublesome and disobedient, but it's precisely because they have different ideals from mine that I am who I am today. They've allowed me to retain my people's hearts and remain myself. Don't think that mere ideals can replace the realities of them!!"

The world was dyed crimson, and a torrent of red light erupted, reaching the sky. The false world wailed.

Then--

The world collapsed.

Like shattered glass, fragments of the world flew through the air, the glittering shards looking like ice crystals.

Just as life shines for a moment at the moment of its end, in the light that fills the destroyed world, the Fake Moon smiles quietly.

That wasn't Yue's smile, but someone else's... someone's smile.

Although Shi had a rough guess as to who that person was, his consciousness was rapidly declining, and he did not have the luxury to point out the person's identity.

"...You passed. Simple, sweet, and gentle things are worthless, and simply being given away is meaningless. Please don't forget... no matter how hard and difficult the situation, only the bonds accumulated and interwoven in reality can bring you happiness."

Her voice was completely different from Yue's, sounding both feminine and masculine. However, her tone was very gentle.

Just before his consciousness was about to end, Hajime shouted in a weak voice:

"Ha, you're being too nosy... But I'll remember that."

The person whose figure had become so blurred that it could not be seen finally seemed to reveal a gentle smile.

Volume 8, Chapter 3: Grasping Hope

Feeling the cold, hard touch and dry air against his back and head, Hajime, who was originally half asleep and half awake, quickly regained consciousness.

"……here it is……"

Hajime shook his head, sat up, and took a rough look around.

Although the surroundings were completely dark due to the lack of any light, Hajime's 'Night Vision' skill allowed him to see without being affected by darkness. Thus, he could see that this place was the same tree hole he had entered before losing consciousness, only the space was about twice as large.

However, there is one decisive difference - the presence of an unidentified object in the room.

In a hemispherical space, rectangular objects are neatly arranged on the circumference.

The object was about the size of a person, and Hajime thought it looked like a coffin.

The place where he first woke up seemed to be one of the coffins arranged on the circumference. The center of the room was empty, and there were no entrances or exits in the surrounding walls.

Hajime shifted his gaze towards the coffin-like objects on either side, and slowly walked towards the coffin closest to him on the right.

"This... this is just like amber."

Hajime couldn't help but gasp. The one before him was Yue. Not Yue with goblin appearance, but her usual beautiful girl, who looked like a porcelain doll.

Yue lay quietly, eyes closed, in a coffin-shaped box filled with a yellowish-brown substance. Her posture resembled that of an ancient creature sealed in amber, a truly mysterious presence.

For a moment, Hajime wondered if she was dead, and felt a surge of anxiety. However, his 'breath sense' clearly detected Yue's heartbeat, and she didn't look fake; she was definitely Yue.

There were nine pieces of amber in the room, and as expected, Hajime checked them one by one. Others were also trapped there. Perhaps they had been trapped in the amber since they were transported from the giant tree man's hole.

That illusory dream I just had—

That false world was like a carnivorous plant, luring its prey with sweet nectar and never letting go once it had captured its target. The others must also be dreaming, and if they could escape that world, they would be freed from the amber prison before them.

Hajime looked at Kohaku who was holding Yue captive and came to this conclusion about the current situation.

"Never mind. Anyway, thankfully Yue and Tio seem to have recovered. Now it depends on whether everyone can get out on their own... but it should be no problem."

Just as Hajime said, Tio's appearance was no longer that of a goblin, but returned to her original beauty.

Hajime also speculated that as long as the transformed people passed the floor guarded by the giant tree people, they would automatically return to their original state.

He sat on Yue's amber coffin, his hand reaching out to his beloved lover who was sleeping with her eyes closed. Of course, because of the amber barrier, his hand could not touch Yue, but even so, Hajime still stroked her face along the contours of Yue.

"Come back soon, Yue, I really want to hear your voice now..."

For a split second, a crazy thought flashed through Hajime's mind—he wondered if he should use brute force to break the amber. However, even if that freed Yue, the trial would likely be deemed a failure, so Hajime suppressed his urge.

"...By the way, Yue looks in a Western-style uniform... It's really not good. Shia looks pretty good in it too... I'm glad I was able to stay rational in my dream... Okay, I'll let them try it on when we get back to Japan."

Just as Hajime was thinking foolishly, Yue's amber began to glow faintly. Hajime withdrew his hand from the amber, stepped back, and watched the changes.

As the amber's light gradually faded, its edges began to melt, disappearing as if absorbed directly into the coffin. In less than five minutes, the amber covering the moon had completely vanished.

Yue lay quietly, and after Hajime confirmed the rise and fall of her chest with her breathing, the slight tension he had originally felt eased. He immediately ran to Yue's side and picked her up.

Because Hajime didn't want her to continue lying in the cold... No, to be honest, he actually wanted to hug Yue as soon as possible.

Hajime held Yue horizontally and brushed her hair away from her face. Yue's long eyelashes and eyelids trembled, and then she slowly opened her eyes.

"Welcome back, Yue. How are you feeling?"

“…Hmm, Hajime?”

"Yes, it's me."

Yue seemed to be in a daze, but her eyes never left Hajime. Even after regaining consciousness, she was still looking at Hajime intently.

“…The real Hajime?”

"I think I understand why you're asking that... but that's up to Yue to decide. Now, am I the real me, or a fake?"

There must have been a fake Hajime in Yue's dream.

In that false world that reflected his ideals, Yue's heart allowed him to appear. While Hajime was delighted by this, he also left it to Yue to judge whether he was real.

"By the way, I'm convinced that the Yue in my arms right now is the real Yue herself."

Yue was momentarily surprised when she heard what Hajime said, but she immediately understood what he meant and a smile appeared on her face.

Yue realized that Shi had also met a fake version of himself in his dream, and was delighted that she had appeared in Shi's ideal world. Yue smiled, a gentle smile on her face.

“…Why does Hajime think I’m the real one?”

Yue knew the reason very well, but she still asked despite knowing the answer. Even if they both knew each other's feelings, it was both a happy and important thing for them to be able to put it into words.

Hajime was well aware of Yue's feelings, so he shrugged and replied simply:

"Because I didn't feel anything wrong... Deep down inside me, my soul must be telling me that the person in my arms is undoubtedly my 'special one'."

“…Hehe, me too. The soul deep inside me also told me that the person holding me now is Hajime. Forget my question just now.”

"Yeah, because you just woke up."

Hajime shrugged again, and Yue smiled even more broadly. She wrapped her arms around Hajime's neck and hugged him tightly, while Hajime also hugged Yue tightly.

——Ahem!

"...How was I in the dream?"

"I look damn good in my high school uniform."

Yue received an unexpected feeling. Just from these words, Yue understood what kind of world Hajime was dreaming of. Yue smiled softly and said:

"...Well, one day I'll wear it for you to see."

"That's really what I'm looking forward to. What did Yue dream about?"

—Ahem!!

Yue buried her face in Shi's neck and kissed him softly. Shi also enjoyed Yue's fragrant scent and asked Yue in return.

“…The dress and the throne suit Hajime to bits!”

"Sorry, I'm fine with the dress, but I can't handle the throne. No, why do I have a throne?"

"...I started out as a princess, and I already have eleven children."

"How far have we gotten? And we're a big family!? Our kids alone could form a soccer team!"

Hajime couldn't help but pull Yue away and looked at her with astonishment.

Yue licked her lips, moistened by the kiss, and gazed at Hajime with a seductive gaze. Her sensual gaze and breath made Hajime's heart race. Hajime, confident that his spirit would remain unshaken no matter what monster attacked him, was now easily shaken.

"...Hehe, I'm looking forward to it."

"!...Alas, I will never be able to defeat Yue in my lifetime."

——Ahem!!

Despite her mischievous smile, Yue's eyes still made it clear she was serious. Hajime, caught in her gaze, sighed to the sky in surrender.

Then, Hajime once again deeply felt that this was Yue. With excitement, Hajime placed one hand on the back of Yue's head and the other around her waist, hugging her body.

Yue understood what Hajime was trying to do, and she wanted to do the same, so she gently closed her eyes and raised her chin. Her pink cheeks were adorable, and her bright red tongue was faintly visible from her seductive lips, making her look extremely sexy and beautiful.

Everything was said without words. Their lips seemed to be drawn to each other, and the distance between them gradually closed.

Ten centimeters, five centimeters, the distance gradually shortened, and just as it was about to reach zero—

“Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!”

"--ah?"

"--Um?"

The two had been thinking they were hearing a strange sound for a while now, and now that strange sound suddenly rang in their ears, Hajime and Yue could no longer ignore it. They stared at each other in surprise from a very close distance. After a pause, the two of them turned their eyes to the direction of the strange sound, only to see there——

"Wuwu, no one wants me anyway. I tried so hard to return to reality... but suddenly I'm treated like air. Wuwu... I even coughed to remind myself of my existence... Wuwu, wuwu, but even that was ignored... Reality is always cruel."

It was Shia, crying with her bunny ears drooping. Her eyes were filled with tears, and she looked very pitiful.

It seems that Shia woke up shortly after Yue woke up. Since Hajime and Yue could only see each other, they didn't notice her at all. How careless!

The rabbit walked to the corner of the room and sat on the ground with her knees hugged in frustration. She would glance here from time to time, and she was quite clever.

That being said, perhaps abandoning Shia, who had bid farewell to her ideal world, was truly too much. Hajime and Yue smiled wryly, and together they comforted Shia.

The two of them stroked the rabbit's ears, and Shia happily wagged her rabbit's tail.

Hajime said with an expression full of emotion:

"Yeah, Shia really needs bunny ears. She's Shia with bunny ears, not Shia without them. No, I should say bunny ears are Shia."

“No, I don’t understand what you mean. Rabbit ears aren’t my true form. Hajime-san really loves to touch my rabbit ears. Did something happen in your dream?”

"Yeah, because the Shia in the dream didn't have bunny ears. She was just a regular Shia."

"...Hmm? Is that still Shia?"

"Ms. Yue, it's not an exaggeration to say that my bunny ears are my identifying mark, but even without them, I'm still me, okay?"

Shia felt a sense of crisis at their reactions. She wondered if they loved bunny ears more than she did.

The two comforted Shia, whose expression was distorted, and asked her what kind of world she dreamed of. She explained that it was a world where her family, who had been killed by Imperial soldiers after escaping the forest, were still alive. Furthermore, Mona, who was supposed to have died when Shia was young, was also there, leaving no one missing. And then there were Hajime, Yue, and everyone else, living a happy, daily life together.

Hajime asked Yue about the dream again, and the content of the dream was that the kingdom in the past had not been destroyed, she had not been betrayed, and she had friends such as Shia, Kaori, and Tio. She also married Hajime as her husband and even gave birth to a child.

"I dreamed of not being summoned to this world, living peacefully with Yue, Shia, and the rest of you... The world the Great Labyrinth allows us to dream of is probably one where the events of the past, accompanied by immense suffering, are undone, and the happiness of the present is added to this foundation."

"I see... then it can indeed be said to be an ideal world in a certain sense."

"...How did Shia achieve this breakthrough?"

Yue asked Shia how she escaped from the ideal world, and Shia smiled and replied:

"Of course, that's because I can't and don't want to deny who I am now, so I yelled, 'I hate this world! They're taking advantage of my family, what a joke!'"

"……I see."

Yue suddenly realized, and Hajime nodded in response with a gentle expression.

In Xia's dream, she was probably still as weak as before, but Xia would not allow herself to be like that.

"In my dream, I had met you, Hajime-san, before my family was exiled, and I'd even lived with you. So, all I wanted was protection. But deep down, I was screaming, 'That's not the case! If I allow myself to live in a weak way, I'm unworthy of being by their side!' Hajime-san said he would protect me, and Yue-san hugged me, telling me not to worry... Those two were truly forgiving and gentle, giving me a very comforting feeling. But the more I heard you say that, the more I felt something was wrong... When I came to my senses, I had already chosen to fight by your side."

"That's why you can come back..."

"Yes! Because from now on, I also want to stand shoulder to shoulder with Hajime-san and Yue-san, even if it's a difficult and painful road."

Shia said this with a smug smile. Hajime looked at her with a feeling of deep emotion, thinking that she had truly become stronger.

When they first met, Shia was clearly just a stray dog, no, a member of the group of stray rabbits, but now she has changed so much. The reason is that she wants to be with Hajime and Yue, to stand shoulder to shoulder with them. Especially since the reason for her change is because of her love for Hajime, so Hajime can't say anything.

Hajime's feelings for Shia were completely different from his feelings for Yue, yet he felt a strong and distinct emotion welling up within him. Without giving it much thought, he held Shia's head and gently caressed it.

Yue beside him seemed to have noticed Shi's mood, as she looked at him with an extremely gentle expression.

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like