An ordinary profession creates the world's strongest

"Yeah, but is this a special event just for academy students? I haven't heard of anything like that, and there wasn't one last year... Anyway, everyone, stay here and don't run around! Teacher, go in and take a look!"

Teacher Aiko was about to step into the cave to challenge it with high spirits, but the next moment, she heard a sound as if something was loose.

Everyone heard screams of "Uwaaa!?", "Ouch!?", and "Ahhh!?" as the ground beneath their feet opened like double doors! Hajime instantly picked up Myuu, trying to use the boy next to him as a stepping stone to escape, but it was as if he was mocking him...

"What! Gravity magic!?"

A powerful pressure descended from above, and Myuu in Hajime's arms let out a mournful cry.

As a result, everyone fell to the ground with screams.

"It doesn't hurt? Oh, there's a cushion."

Aiko muttered to herself, looking down at her feet in shock. Then she hurriedly asked, "Everyone! Is anyone hurt?" She glanced around. It seemed everyone had simply sat down, and no one, including the younger students, was injured.

However, it is an indisputable fact that many people are in a state of confusion.

"Hey, hey, there's a light over there!"

"That should be the exit, right? Damn it! I'm definitely going to sue this campground!"

Shouting, Hiyama, Saito, Kondo, and Nakano rushed out without checking the situation—and then the floor beneath their feet rebounded. The four of them flew through the sliding roof, uttering a collective "Aa ...

“““““!””””””

A heavy silence weighed down on the students, and some of them swallowed.

"...Aiko-sensei, I want to confirm. Is this standard procedure? Is this also the case in previous years?"

"How could that be possible!"

It seems that this facility is a completely different situation from last year's Grand Challenge.

At this moment, glowing words appeared on the wall inside the cave.

"Welcome to Mireidi's Great Challenge Paradise! I've done a devilish transformation for the students! It's been upgraded to the Grand Labyrinth level! Mireidi has worked hard! Please enjoy it! Also, because the transformation is too extreme, there's a possibility that you won't be able to come back... Please forgive me for that☆"

“““““…”””””””

In short, the Great Challenge Park, which was once accessible to children, seemed to have transformed into a maze from which there was no return. The students were sweating profusely.

"Are you kidding me?! I don't want to stay in a place like this anymore! Ling wants to go home!"

Suzu ran down a different passage from Hiyama and the others, and Eri chased after her, calling out, "Suzu! Wait for me!" Aiko was about to speak up to stop her, but before she could...

“Pfft!?” “Huh!?”

A white net-like object covered their heads, and they stumbled and fell to the ground. Then, as if caught by a fishing line, they were pulled into the hole in the ceiling.

"Eh~ I'm most afraid of spiders!!" "How disgusting! Don't touch me! I'll kill you!"

Huh? It seems like everyone thinks Eri's personality is... but no one has the luxury of complaining.

"R-We can't just stand there now! Ryuutarou! Kouki! Let's go save Suzu and the others!"

Ryuutarou responded with a triangle jump, attempting to reach the pit above. However, the wall he was standing on suddenly flipped over, and Ryuutarou cried out, "Ah!" before disappearing behind it. Then, the wall erupted with hypnotic gas, and Shizuku and Kouki collapsed. The ground then turned to quicksand, and they vanished beneath the ground.

"No, this isn't good." "Dad~"

Even Hajime couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat at the Miledi Challenge, and Myuu looked very uneasy.

At this time, glowing words appeared on the wall again.

"Hey, hey! A few people are already leaving before we even get started? The level of this year's students is really poor~! Puff."

Veins popped out of anger on the foreheads of all the students in the academy.

"It's okay for you to give up, okay? Please tell me how you feel then! How would you, honored students of the magic academy, feel when you give up on a mere amusement park ride? Hey, how would you feel when you gave up? Tell me! Haha!"

With a loud gunshot, the words and the wall were destroyed. Hajime held Myuu in his arms and looked around at his classmates.

"You know what I'm trying to say, right?"

His answer was a neat "I know!"

"Follow me, we're going to prove that the students at the academy are excellent!"

""""Yes, sir!""""

And so, Hajime and the others advanced in the dim cave like an army...

An hour later, because they had not returned yet, Yue and the others came to look for them, and they witnessed—

Find Meredith for me! Catch her alive! I'm going to make her suffer hell! — Hajime and the others, their clothes torn and tattered, their faces etched with ghostly rage, furiously searched for Meredith.

Short Story Collection Bonus: Ordinary Fairy Tale ~The Little Mermaid~

Deep in the sea, there is a town of mermaids who have escaped from human life.

There lived a little girl named "Mermaid Princess".

She's not royalty, just incredibly cute. Incidentally, the mermaid mother is also a super-beautiful single mother, a healing presence who's especially popular with mermaids. They often say to the mermaid princess, "Hoo, little mermaid princess, call me daddy!" or "Here's some candy, do you want to play with me?"

One day, the mermaid princess accidentally left the town while playing real hide-and-seek with her mermaid brother who called himself a gentleman.

"This is a bit dangerous... Those guys are finally getting serious..."

I will never call those people "Dad"! I must protect my mother! The mermaid princess looked at the sea, her eyes filled with a determination that was unlike that of a little girl. At that moment, the sea exploded.

“What, what happened!?”

A closer look revealed a fierce battle taking place near the sea. The ancient monster, the "Evil Food," was clashing with humans, a match humans would normally be no match for. However, the outcome was unexpected. Black tar flowed through its body, shattering the Evil Food into pieces. A truly foul display of fireworks. Simultaneously, a figure sank into the sea.

“Oh, no!”

The mermaid princess swims like a torpedo, so fast that it seems like she is swimming on water!

The mermaid princess rushed to rescue the man. When she surfaced, she saw that the ship had been destroyed by the explosion, and that the man had fallen into the sea. The mermaid princess helped the man onto the wreckage and called out to him.

"Are you okay? Cheer up—"

The calling voices suddenly stopped, and the mermaid princess finally saw the other person's appearance. She felt as if she was struck by lightning.

The reason for this is that the person being rescued has white hair, wears an eye patch, and is a prince who evokes the strength of a shark and the tolerance of a whale. The mermaid princess was captivated upon seeing him for the first time, and a strong feeling welled up within her. That feeling was...

──I want him to be my dad!

Lately, I've been finding this mermaid brother, who calls himself a gentleman, a bit troublesome. While I admire my father and kind of yearn for someone like him, the mermaid princess wouldn't leave her mother to some stinky guy from nowhere. So, for the mermaid princess, this could be considered a fateful encounter.

The mermaid princess was suddenly full of energy. She couldn't let the most powerful candidate for her future father die.

The mermaid princess tried hard to drag the prince to the shore.

After a while, she patted the prince's cheek, thinking that he might have drunk some water, so she used a jumping elbow to hit his chest, trying to give him first aid...but then she felt the breath of a human!

Originally, mermaids were not allowed to have anything to do with humans; this was something my mother had forbidden.

The mermaid princess was a well-behaved child! She quickly dove into the sea, only peeked out to observe the situation. Of course, if the other party tried to harm the prince, she was prepared to perish along with them.

“Are you alright? I’ll cast a healing spell on you right now! Ah! So cool!”

The person who came was a girl who looked like a nun. She gave people the impression that she would never let go of any prey she set her eyes on, and she was a beautiful girl with the appearance of a saint.

The nun cast a recovery spell on the prince, and he woke up safely.

"Huh? Where is this place? Did you save me?"

"Yes! I cast healing magic on you when you were washed ashore! Just marry me as a token of your gratitude."

"No, I'm not getting married. Anyway, please come to the castle and I'll pay you a reward."

"I don't want money! Marry me!"

"...I think I'm being targeted by a troublesome guy..."

So, the nun girl fell in love with the prince at first sight and returned to the castle with him, but she didn't know that it was the mermaid princess who actually saved the prince. So...

"I won't leave my dad to anyone else!"

The mermaid princess decided to make a strategic retreat. She headed to the witch's house, which had taken up residence in a corner of Mermaid Town without permission.

"Miss Witch! Miss Witch! Please help Myuu become the prince's daughter!"

"...Hmm!? The prince's daughter?... Well, in some ways, this is a good opportunity for me."

The beautiful witch thought for a moment, then smiled triumphantly.

"...I understand. In order to make you my daughter, I will use transformation magic to change the characteristics of a mermaid, but!"

"But! What are the conditions?!"

The mermaid princess was very smart. She knew that in this world, equal exchange was the basic principle. Seeing the mermaid princess looking at her with a resolute look, the witch made a request in a coy manner for some reason:

"...If you become a prince's daughter, please call me mother—"

"I can't do that!"

The witch was shocked to hear the mermaid princess's refusal.

“…Please, please be flexible!”

"I'm sorry! Mom is the only one!"

It was as if there was only one truth. But the witch refused to give up! She was truly in love with the prince! But she was considered a wicked witch by the world, and her identity forced her to hide at the bottom of the ocean... Just as she was wavering, she encountered this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

“…It’s okay to be a stepmother—”

"impossible!"

The mermaid princess refused with all her might, smiling. Her smile was truly dazzling!

“…Ah, yes, I’m sorry, I made an unreasonable request…”

The witch sat in the sea with her knees hugged, her back a little dark, and it felt like she was about to embark on a journey with the tide.

"Um, um, witch! I can't call you mother, but I can 'recommend' you and your mother to the prince! Is that not okay?"

“…No, it’s settled.”

The witch regained her spirits, and the mermaid's fish fin ears transformed perfectly into human ears. Afterward, the mermaid returned home and left a note for her mother, saying, "I've found the ideal father. I'm going to recommend my mother to him, so I won't be back for a while." Then, full of confidence and determination, she set off to find the prince.

Because she was not unable to speak, the mermaid princess told the prince that she was the one who sent him ashore. The prince immediately believed her and doted on the mermaid princess like his own daughter.

The mermaid princess got her wish and lived a happy life with her ideal father.

Of course, she wanted to recommend her mother. She acted like a spoiled child to her prince father and asked, "Dad, Dad, can you please ask Mom to come to the city too?"

"Hmm? Of course. Adults have to work to eat, but there are plenty of jobs in the city. I'll find her a job with room and board."

"As expected of a dad! His realistic and strict side is the coolest!"

"Stop praising me! I'll be embarrassed."

"How about marrying Mom too?"

“…How should I put it? These are two completely different things…”

The mermaid princess is not in a hurry. She has already obtained consent, so she can call the mermaid mother over. In the process of living together, the mermaid mother's charm should come into play, because she is the mermaid mother that the mermaid princess is proud of!

Let’s put this matter aside for now.

"There's a witch who's been very kind to me. Can you please call her over as well?"

"Hmm? Witch? Can I trust her?"

"She's my benefactor! She's such a lovely and kind person!"

The Mermaid Princess recommends the Witch, a big tweet! The Mermaid Princess will never break a contract! She must abide by the agreements that must be observed, because this is the correct way of the mermaid!

So the mermaid mother and the witch finally arrived at the castle.

“Oh my, it really is a castle…that kid is just…”

Despite a smile on her face, she couldn't hide the twitching of her cheeks. The mermaid mother felt a headache inwardly at her daughter's activeness.

On the other hand, the witch finally got to meet her beloved prince, and she was so nervous that her whole body was stiff.

Then, when the two finally met.

"...Nice to meet you. I'm a witch."

"Hello, I'm the prince. This may be sudden, but I've fallen in love with you. Please marry me."

Unexpectedly, the prince proposed right away; it seemed he'd fallen in love with the witch at first sight. For the mermaid princess, this was the first hurdle. As long as the mermaid mother and the prince also had a harmonious relationship, then the mermaid princess's life as a mermaid would be a success!

However, no matter whether it is human life or mermaid life, things are not always so smooth.

"I won't hand over the prince to a witch who just showed up out of nowhere!"