An ordinary profession creates the world's strongest

Yue asked Hajime:

“…Hajime, why are you fighting alone?”

"Um?"

Yue was referring to the battle against the Imperial soldiers, where he stopped Yue from casting magic and chose to fight alone. Regardless of Yue's involvement, the outcome would have been an instant kill. However, after defeating the Imperial soldiers, Hajime was troubled, causing Yue great concern.

"Hmm~ Because I wanted to confirm something..."

"...Confirming things?"

Yue asked back with a puzzled look on her face, and Shia also glanced at him with interest over Hajime's shoulder.

“Ahh~ That’s right…”

Then Hajime began to explain, and to summarize his words into the key points...

Hajime's initial reason for stopping Yue and confronting all the Imperial soldiers alone was "experimentation." He aimed at everyone's heads as a precaution, but in reality, he also shot through their armor. He did this because using a railgun against humans would be too destructive, and in a town, fearing it would penetrate everything, making it too dangerous to use.

While he was perfectly capable of dealing with brutal villains, shooting through a residential building behind him, accidentally killing an entire family, would be a case of madness beyond the realm of evil. Hajime had absolutely no desire to become a murderer, slaughtering innocent people indiscriminately. Therefore, he had to calculate the appropriate amount of explosives to use, and his experiments yielded promising results; he had found a precise way to fine-tune the power.

Another reason was that he wanted to know if he would hesitate when killing someone. Although he had completely changed, he had no experience of killing anyone, so he wanted to know if he would hesitate before and after killing someone.

The result was "no special feeling", which means that the value of killing any enemy without hesitation was deeply rooted in his heart.

"But, maybe it's because it was my first time killing someone, and I didn't feel anything special. It made me feel like I've completely changed, and I'm a little sad..."

“…Is that so…are you okay?”

"It's okay, it's totally fine. This is who I am now, and I'm glad to know that I can fight well in the future."

Shia was shocked to hear that Hajime, who had been so cruel, was actually killing someone for the first time. She also felt admiration for Yue, who had been able to detect such subtle changes in Hajime (perhaps only towards Hajime). However, this also made her realize that she didn't understand Hajime and Yue at all, and she couldn't help but feel a little lonely.

"Um, um! Can you tell me about your business?"

"? We already talked about this, didn't we?"

"No, I'm not talking about your abilities. I'm talking about why you went to the abyss? What's the purpose of your journey? And what have you experienced so far? I want to hear about you all."

"...What do you think after hearing this?"

"I don't have any intentions, I just want to know... My condition has caused my family a lot of trouble, and I've hated it since I was a child... Of course, everyone says it doesn't bother them, so I don't hate myself now... But I still feel like I don't fit in this world... So I'm really happy to meet you, to know that there are other people like me in the world. I'm not alone, and I don't feel out of place... It's just my own fault, but I, I feel like you, you guys are like my companions... So, should I say, I want to know more about you... Or how should I put it..."

As Shia spoke, she became more and more shy, her voice becoming smaller and smaller, and finally she shrank back and hid behind Hajime. When Hajime and Yue mentioned this, they remembered that when they first met, Shia was very excited and had an indescribable expression on her face.

At the time, Yue was feeling depressed due to mixed emotions, and coupled with the sudden confrontation with the monsters that attacked the Hauriya tribe, they only briefly mentioned the reasons why they were able to use magic at the bottom of the valley. But Shia must have been very concerned about the follow-up from that time.

Indeed, this world hardly tolerates people with the same physique as monsters, so it is understandable that they feel they are partners. However, Hajime and Yue did not immediately feel a sense of companionship towards Shia.

However…it would still take a while to reach the sea of ​​trees, and they had nothing to hide, so they just wanted to kill time. Hajime and Yue began to tell her what had happened so far, and the result was…

“Wow, wow… That’s too much, too much~ Hajime-san and Yue-san are so pitiful~ Compared to you, I’m so lucky… wow~ I feel so ashamed~”

She began to sob, murmuring, "I was so naive!" and "I'll never complain again!" through her tears, then nonchalantly wiped her face with Hajime's coat. She had thought she was miserable enough, but she hadn't expected Hajime and Yue to be even more miserable than she was. She felt so worthless with such a gloomy face.

Shia, who had been sobbing for a while, suddenly raised her face with a resolute expression, clenched her fists, and declared with vigor:

"Mr. Hajime! Miss Yue! I've decided! I'm going to travel with you! I, Shia Hauria, will help you two in every way! You don't need to be polite, because we are only three people. In the future, we will overcome hardships together and realize our wishes!"

Hajime and Yue cast extremely cold glances at Shia, who had become excited without permission.

"What is this fragile rabbit we're protecting saying? It's just getting in the way."

"...Don't nonchalantly upgrade 'like a partner' to 'partner'... cheeky rabbit."

"Why are you looking at me with such cold eyes... I'm heartbroken... Anyway, you should stop and call me by my name!"

Her boldness was met with such a cold response, which made Shia waver a little. Hajime pursued her again:

"...You just want a travel companion, right?"

「!?」

Shia was shocked by Hajime’s words.

"After ensuring the safety of your tribe, you planned to leave them, right? Since we, your kind, have appeared at this time, you'd like to take this opportunity to travel with us? After all, a rabbit-man with such a unique hair color wouldn't be able to travel alone."

“…Uh, that’s… I really…”

Perhaps it was a prediction, Shia stuttered. She had already decided: after exhausting all means to secure Hajime's assistance and ensure the safety of her entire clan, she would leave her family. As long as she stayed with them, the entire Hauriya clan would be in constant danger. They had already lost many family members this time, and next time, they might be wiped out. This was the only thing Shia desperately wanted to see.

She was well aware that such an idea went against the entire clan's values, and from a certain perspective, this action was even tantamount to betrayal. However, she had made up her mind to carry it out, even if it meant so.

She had anticipated the worst-case scenario. Even if she had to travel alone, her worried family might catch up. However, if she simply expressed her desire to travel with the powerful and strong—Hajime and Yue—to repay their kindness, her family would accept her departure. Shia was now thinking desperately and diligently, a stark contrast to her outward expression.

Of course, Shia herself genuinely held a strong interest in Hajime and Yue. As Hajime had just said, they were her "kindred," and she held an incredibly strong sense of companionship towards them. Considering the affairs of her tribe, she felt that meeting Hajime and the others was simply "fate."

"I'm not scolding you, but please don't have strange expectations. Our goal is to conquer the seven great labyrinths. The depths of the real labyrinths are probably filled with monsters similar to those in the abyss. With your strength, you will definitely be killed instantly, so we don't intend to travel with you."

"..."

Shiya's completely unsympathetic words had already left her speechless and frustrated. Unexpectedly, he and Yue not only seemed unconcerned about her reaction, but also continued to attack her, causing Shiya to sit quietly in her seat for the rest of the journey, with a complex expression on her face, as if she was thinking about something.

After several hours, the group finally reached the boundary between the Hartrina Sea of ​​Trees and the plains. Standing outside the sea of ​​trees, they could only see lush forests, but once they entered, they seemed to be immediately shrouded in thick fog.

"Well then, Mr. Hajime, Ms. Yue, once you're inside, please don't leave us. We'll be following you, but it would be very troublesome if we get separated. Also, our destination is deep in the forest, under a large tree, right?"

"Yes, from what I've heard, it seems to be connected to the real labyrinth."

Cam first warned Hajime and confirmed the destination.

The "big tree" he was talking about was a giant tree in the deepest part of the Hartrina Sea of ​​Trees. The demihumans called it the "Big Tree Uya Aruto" and regarded it as a sacred place, so almost no one would approach it - this was what Kam talked about when he just left the canyon.

Hajime had initially assumed that the Hartrina Sea of ​​Trees itself was a great labyrinth, but upon closer examination, that would make the sea of ​​trees a demonic realm, home to monsters of the same caliber as the Abyss, making it unsuitable for demihumans. Therefore, like the Orcus Great Labyrinth, the true entrance to the labyrinth must be hidden somewhere within the grounds. Based on what Kamu had said, he felt the tree was suspicious, so he decided to go there himself.

After hearing what Hajime said, Kamu nodded and signaled to the other Hauriya people, who then gathered around Hajime and Yue.

"Mr. Hajime, could you please be as discreet as possible from now on? The tree is a sacred place, so few people approach it. However, it's not specifically forbidden, so we might run into people from other settlements like Feabelgen. We're being pursued, and running into them would be very troublesome."

"Okay, I get it. Yue and I can both operate stealthily to a certain extent, no problem."

After saying that, Hajime used "Breath Concealment", and Yue also used the method he cultivated in the abyss to weaken his own breath.

“Hmm! This is too much… Mr. Hajime, could you please keep your concealment level similar to that of Miss Yue?”

“…Like this?”

“Yes, that’s all that’s needed. If you had concealed your presence like that just now, we might not even have been able to find you. No, we wouldn’t have been able to find you at all. As expected of Mr. Hajime.”

Originally, the Bunnymen, due to their relatively low overall stats, only possess exceptional hearing and stealth, which they use to locate enemies and hide. Simply put, despite living on the surface, their stealth is comparable to that of a Moon forged from the abyss, demonstrating their prowess to the point of being professional.

However, Hajime's 'Scent Concealment' was even more advanced. If this level of 'Scent Concealment' was used in a normal location, it would be impossible to lose him as long as one knew of his presence. However, in the forest, even the Bunnymen could still lose him even with their excellent search abilities. That was how powerful Hajime's abilities were.

Seeing him, despite being human, easily surpass the Bunnymen in their sole strength, Cam could only smile wryly. Yue, standing beside Hajime, puffed out his chest with pride for some reason, while Shia seemed preoccupied. Perhaps she truly understood the power gap Hajime had just mentioned?

"Then let's go!"

Following Kam's command, the group, fully prepared, entered the forest with Kam and Shia leading the formation.

After walking for a while on a path that didn't resemble a road, a thick fog quickly obscured their vision. But Kamu's steps remained unwavering, as if he knew exactly where he was and where he was going. He didn't know why, but demihumans, simply by being demihumans, seemed to possess the ability to accurately grasp their location and direction, even in a sea of ​​trees.

After the group had walked smoothly for a while, Kam and the others suddenly stopped and looked around—they could sense the presence of monsters. Of course, Hajime and Yue also noticed that several monsters seemed to be surrounding them.

The members of the Hauriya tribe all grabbed the knives Hajime had lent them before entering the forest. They usually used their superior stealth to escape when encountering monsters, but this time they couldn't. A look of nervousness crossed everyone's face.

Suddenly, Hajime quickly swung his left hand horizontally, and after a series of subtle firing sounds,—

Dongsha, Dongsha, Dongsha!

“““Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee!?”””

After hearing the sounds of three objects falling to the ground and wailing, three ape-men about 60 centimeters long and with four arms jumped out of the fog in panic.

Yue raised her hand towards one of them and whispered softly:

“—Wind Blade.”

The wind blade shot out at high speed along with the magic name she uttered, cutting the ape-man in mid-air as if playing a joke, leaving him no chance to even wail before he fell to the ground with a thud on the sand.

The remaining two split up, one charging at the nearby children, the other lashing out with its four clawed arms at Shia. Both Shia and the children froze involuntarily, unable to move, caught off guard. In that instant, the nearby adults tried to protect them with their bodies... but their actions were unnecessary.

Hajime swung his left arm again, and with a "bang!" countless needles about ten centimeters long shot out, piercing the head of the gorilla approaching the child, and the ape-man died instantly.

Hajime uses the "needle gun" hidden in the prosthetic arm of his left hand.

Drawing inspiration from his previous encounter with Scorpion, he crafted this single-shot/shotgun-type needle gun, concealing it in his prosthetic hand. While it couldn't compare to the Thunder-Wrapped Donal and Hulak, it still possessed considerable power.

Even though it only had a range of about ten meters, it was quite silent and could be paired with a poison needle, making it a very convenient weapon, a kind of concealed weapon. Since he didn't want to attract attention with the sound of gunfire in the forest, he abandoned the Donal and used this one instead.

"Thank you, Hajime-san."

"Thank you, big brother!"

Shia and the child (a boy) who had been rescued from danger thanked him, but Hajime waved them off. The boy looked at him with sparkling eyes, while Shia felt frustrated at being unable to move in the face of such a sudden crisis.

Cam gave her a wry smile upon seeing her, and continued to lead the way at Hajime's urging.

Afterwards, they encountered several more monster attacks, but Hajime and Yue were able to defeat them all without any trouble. Even though people thought the monsters in the Sea of ​​Trees were difficult to deal with, they posed no problem to them.

However, a few hours into the forest, they were forced to stop when they encountered the largest aura they had yet encountered. The sheer number, murderous intent, and skillful cooperation of these new enemies far surpassed the previous monsters.

Cam and the others quickly used their rabbit ears to search for the enemy. Once they grasped some information, they all wore expressions of extreme distress. Even Shia's face instantly turned pale. When Hajime and Yue realized their opponent's true identity, they couldn't help but look annoyed. And this opponent's true identity was...

"Why are you... hanging out with humans?! Tell me your race and clan name!"

Before him was a demi-human with tiger ears and a tiger tail, his body bulging with muscles.

Seeing humans and demihumans walking together in the forest was a sight so impossible that the supposed tiger demihuman cast a traitorous glance at Kamu and the others. His double-edged sword was unsheathed, and the dozens of demihumans surrounding him were also setting up a fierce, murderous defense.

“U-Um, we are…”

Kamu's forehead was covered with sweat, and he tried hard to find an excuse to get away with it, but before he could do so, the tiger tribe demi-human spotted Shia and said with wide eyes:

"You're... the white-haired rabbit-men? ...Are you the Hauriya people mentioned in the report? You've truly brought shame upon the demi-humans! You've deceived your compatriots for years, not only hiding the Forbidden Child, but now you've even brought humans along. This is treason! No need to explain! I will execute everyone here! Everyone—"

Boom! !

When the tiger demi-human gave the attack order without further explanation, Hajime's arm instantly sprang up, and a flash of light immediately passed across his cheek along with the sound of the gunshot, piercing through the trees behind him and disappearing into the depths of the forest.

The incomprehensible attack froze the tiger demi-human, leaving a scratch on his cheek. If his ears were on the side of his face like a human's, they would have been blown off. This unprecedented explosion, coupled with the ultra-high-speed attack that took them so long to react, left the demi-humans stunned.

Then, Hajime spoke. His voice wasn't deliberately pretentious, but it carried an indescribable pressure. This unique magic directly exerted a magical power called "pressure" to apply physical pressure to the opponent.

"I can fire dozens of rounds of an attack like the one just now in a split second. Besides, I already know the positions of the guys surrounding us. You're all within my range."

"W-what? No, no chant?"

Seeing the opponent's ability to unleash a series of powerful, unprecedented attacks without chanting, and hearing that he had already grasped his comrades' location, the tiger demi-human couldn't help but stutter. To prove his words, Hajime naturally raised the Shulak and pointed the muzzle in a certain direction, which happened to be the tiger demi-human's confidant. A sense of uncertainty emanated from the other side of the fog.

"I won't hold back when I take action. Until our agreement is fulfilled, their lives will be mine... Even if you only kill one person, don't even think about escaping from me."

Beyond the oppression, Hajime also began to radiate murderous intent. Faced head-on with that overwhelming killing intent, the tiger demihuman began to break out in a cold sweat, desperately trying to control himself, as if any carelessness would cause him to panic and let out meaningless cries.

(You must be kidding! Is this person still considered human? They're basically monsters!)

To avoid being defeated by fear, the tiger demi-human kept shouting inwardly. As if aware of his feelings, Hajime held up Donal & Hulak and continued speaking:

"However, if you retreat immediately, I will not pursue you. After all, if you are not my enemy, there is no reason to take your lives. Come, make your choice. Do you want to be my enemy and be meaninglessly wiped out, or do you want to go home obediently?"

The tiger sub-man was certain that once he gave the order to attack, the flash of light would destroy them all in an instant, and they would have no chance of survival.

This tiger demihuman is the captain of Fjarbergen's Second Guard. His primary duty is to patrol Fjarbergen and neighboring settlements, protecting his compatriots from monsters and invaders. He holds this duty with a strong sense of honor and awareness. Therefore, even though he is certain he and his men will be annihilated, he refuses to retreat easily.

"...Before that, I want to ask you a question."

The tiger demihuman tried his best to fill his hoarse voice with strength, and Hajime urged him to speak faster with his eyes.

"...What is your purpose?"

It was simple and clear, yet it also reflected his determination. Based on Hajime's answer, the tiger demihuman might also give it his all here, even if it meant his own death. The tiger demihuman glared at Hajime with determination, his eyes filled with the determination not to retreat, not to flinch, if Hajime intended to harm Feyabergen or the demihumans of the settlement.

"I want to go to the depths of the sea of ​​trees—to the great tree, Uya Aruto."

"You said... you were going to the tree? Why?"

He had initially assumed that Hajime was going to enslave the demihumans, or harm them, but he was simply going to visit the sacred, yet now less important, tree, leaving the tiger demihumans perplexed. To the demihumans, the tree was merely a tourist attraction.

"Because that might be the true entrance to the Great Labyrinth, our goal is to conquer the seven great labyrinths, so we hired the Hauriya people as guides."

"A real great labyrinth? What are you talking about? The Seven Great Labyrinths refers to this forest. This is a completely natural labyrinth. Once a race other than demihumans enters, they can never leave."

"No, that's questionable."

"What's the meaning?"

Hearing a certain confidence in Hajime's tone, the tiger demi-human asked back in surprise.

"If this is really a large maze, the monsters are too weak."