An ordinary profession creates the world's strongest

“““!?””””

That's right, it was the sound of the trap being activated.

The moment the sound ripped through the room, there was a resounding roar, and water poured in from the walls with terrifying force. Like a water cannon, the torrent didn't blast straight ahead, but rather gushed diagonally. In a flash, the room was awash with the torrent. Simultaneously, the floor, centered around the magic circle in the center of the room, sank like an antlion's nest, creating a hollow at the center. The torrent rushed into that hole in one breath.

“You! What’s this…!”

As if Hajime had noticed something, he froze for a moment, then immediately twisted his face in humiliation.

A white room, a hollowed-out central cave, and a large amount of swirling water flowing into it... Yes, this is simply a "toilet"!

"Wash away the things you hate with water☆"

It was unknown what principle was used, but Mini Miledi changed the smiley face pattern and blinked.

In the exasperated atmosphere, Yue immediately considered using magic to send everyone flying. Perhaps because the room was encased in a magic circle from the Age of Gods, it wouldn't disintegrate. Therefore, despite Yue's limited remaining magic power, he might still be able to successfully free everyone from the current.

"--"Come"……"

"I won't let you succeed~!"

But just as Touzuki was about to use the "Come Shove" spell, Mini-Miletti extended her right hand, and an overwhelming force crashed down upon them. As if being crushed by a massive force from above, they were succumbing to the current. She must have used gravity magic, multiplying the force several times from above.

"Goodbye~ Keep working hard to conquer the maze~"

"Puguu... You bastard, you treat us like dirt! I'm going to destroy you one day!"

"Ahem... unforgivable."

"I'm going to kill you! Puff!"

Hajime and the others left these words behind before leaving, helplessly swallowed by the current and sucked into the cavern. Just before they fell, Hajime threw something to try and claw their way back. As they were swept into the cavern, the water receded at the same speed it had flown in. The floor also healed, and the room returned to its original state.

"Huh~ What a bunch of strong personalities~ But, is he an Alchemist like Oku? Haha, I feel like it's fate. I'll just have to keep fighting to fulfill my wish... Okay, okay, I still have to repair the maze and golems, so it looks like I'll be busy for a while... Hmm? What's that?"

Though sweating was clearly out of the question, Mini Miledy made a gesture to wipe her forehead, muttering to herself. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted something she hadn't seen before. It was a knife stuck in the wall, and a black object hanging from it. "What the hell is that?" She approached, startled to realize she had seen that shape before.

"Eh!? Could this be it!?"

That black object was a grenade Hajime had crafted himself. Just before falling into the cave, he'd decided to at least get his revenge, so he strapped the grenade to his knife and hurled it. Having used it several times in the labyrinth, Meredith recognized it as an explosive and, with an anxious expression, quickly retreated to avoid it. In reality, Mini Meredith's current gravity magic had drained her significantly of mana, and that was the final blow, so she couldn't suppress the explosion.

Mini-Milletti turned around in panic, but it was too late. The moment Mini-Milletti turned around, the white room was instantly filled with flashes of light, and a violent shock wave swept over.

"Aa ...

Meanwhile, Hajime and his companions, swept away like filth, drifted at a furious speed through the overflowing underground tunnel. With no place to breathe, they simply continued to advance underwater. They desperately tried to control their bodies, trying to avoid slamming into the wall and losing consciousness.

Then, at that moment, Hajime and the others caught sight of several figures chasing them. They were fish. It seemed the area where they had been swept away connected to an underground water vein connecting to another river or lake. But unlike Hajime and the others, the fish swam tenaciously in the current, gradually overtaking them.

One of them had somehow swam right up to the face of Shia, who was desperately holding her breath, and swam alongside her. No, side by side. Shia couldn't help but turn her gaze towards the fish.

She locked eyes with the fish... no, it was a fish, but it had a human face, an older man's. She locked eyes with an older man. It might be hard to understand what they were saying, but that was the only way to describe it. In other words, the fish that locked eyes with Shia was a fish with a human face. Somehow, the somewhat arrogant and listless older man-faced fish before her reminded her of the nostalgic SEAMA in the game.

Shia's eyes widened in shock, nearly lashing out a breath. She hurriedly clamped her hands over her mouth. But she was too stunned to look away. Shia stared at the uncle (the fish) as they continued their journey through the rapids.

And then, the time between Shia and the uncle (fish), which seemed to last forever, suddenly came to an end. Because, a voice sounded in Shia's mind -

——What are you looking at?

Shia let out a "tsk!" sound, unable to contain herself. With a loud "puff!", she exhaled heavily into the water. Perhaps this fish was a type of monster, perhaps possessing a unique magic similar to telepathy, but that was impossible to confirm. The fish swam leisurely through the rapids, then vanished in the blink of an eye.

The only one left behind was the bunny-eared girl who rolled her eyes and helplessly followed the crowd.

On the streets connecting towns and villages, a carriage and several horses slowly advanced with the rhythmic sound of footsteps. Of course, those horses were carrying people. They were three men and one woman, dressed as adventurers. In the driver's seat sat a woman of about fifteen and a monster... or rather, a muscular, burly shemale.

"Sona-chan~ We're almost at the spring, let's take a break there~"

"Understood, Miss Christabel."

The muscular transvestite known as Christabel is the owner of the clothing store in Brook Town who looked after Yue and Shia. And the girl sitting next to Christabel is the featured girl at the Masaka Inn—Sona Masaka. While her name might sound surprising, she's just an ordinary girl with a lot of romantic ideas.

The two of them had hired adventurers as escorts and were currently on their way back to Brook from the neighboring town. Christabel's sturdy build was enough to tell she was incredibly strong, so she mostly sourced her clothing materials herself. This time, she had temporarily left town for some shopping, and Sona had taken the opportunity to hitchhike. She had heard that a relative in the neighboring town had been seriously injured, so she was sending gifts to her parents, who were unable to leave the inn. The adventurers were originally local to Brook and were returning from a mission, so they had acted as their escorts.

It was still a day's journey to Brook Town, and Christabel and her friends decided to take a lunch break at a spring beside the street.

Christabel and her companions arrived at the spring, watering their horses while preparing lunch. Sona arrived at the spring to draw water. Just as she dipped her container into the water, a sound echoed: gulp! gulp! gulp! gulp! Suddenly, bubbles erupted from the center of the spring, and water erupted in a burst.

"Ah ah!"

"Sona-chan!"

Christabel instantly rushed over to Sona, who screamed and fell to the ground. She picked her up protectively and carried her back to the adventurers. Meanwhile, the eruption of water intensified, eventually forming a column over ten meters high.

This spring was a well-known resting place along the streets, and no one had ever reported such a phenomenon. Therefore, Christabel, Sona, and the adventurers all stood there with their mouths open in astonishment. They ignored the torrential rain of water and simply stared up at the massive column of water. And then—

“Puwaa ...

"Um----!!"

“…………”

As the water surged upward, three people… no, two people were thrown outward with cries of pain. "What the hell!" Christabel and the others cried out, their eyes nearly popping out of their heads. The three people screamed and flew about ten meters away. With a thud, they landed on the opposite bank from Christabel and the others.

“““““…”””””””

“What the hell is going on…?”

The adventurer and Christabel were speechless, and Sona's mumblings expressed everyone's feelings.

"Ahem... That's too bad. I'm going to destroy that girl one day! Yue, Shia, are you okay?"

"Ahem... Yeah, it's okay."

Hajime finally surfaced, cursing as he checked on Yue and Shia. However, Yue was the only one who responded.

"Shia? Hey, Shia! Where are you!?"

"Where is Shia...?"

He called out her name, but there was no sign of her. Hajime quickly dove into the water to peer closely. As expected, Shia was sinking to the bottom. She was unconscious, and the weight of Drukken was preventing her from floating.

Hajime took out a compressed super-heavy mineral from the "treasure vault" and used it as a weight to dive down in one breath, then kicked the ground and pulled Shia up.

He dragged Xia onto the shore. Xia, who was unconscious, looked up, her face pale and eyes rolled back. Her breathing and heartbeat had stopped. She seemed to have seen something very disgusting, and even though she was unconscious, her face was still subtly contorted.

"Yue, artificial respiration!"

“…Human…what?”

"Ah~ That is, to ensure airway security..."

"???"

Hajime noticed Shia's condition and instructed Yue to try CPR, but a question mark loomed over Yue's head. Perhaps there wasn't CPR in this world? She wasn't injured, and she'd already swallowed a lot of water, so it was impossible for her to absorb more. Therefore, the sacred water was useless. Yue herself wasn't skilled in healing magic, so she probably didn't know any suitable spell to massage the heart and induce vomiting.

Even though he didn't know when Shia lost consciousness, the situation was definitely a matter of seconds. Hajime realized what was happening and began to perform CPR on Shia.

If that's the case, then of course... it'll become a 'mouth-to-mouth' situation...

Yue, seeing that scene, momentarily revealed an unhappy expression. However, she understood that this was the method to save Shia, so she simply watched obediently. Yes, carefully, attentively.

Hajime tried his best to ignore Yue's emotionless gaze and continued to perform CPR on Shia.

(Seriously, I just started to admire you, but you're on the verge of death after everything's over... You really are a sorry rabbit.)

A wry smile formed in Hajime's heart. After several rounds of artificial respiration, Shia finally spit out the water. To prevent the water from blocking her trachea, Hajime turned her face to the side, maintaining a position completely pressed against her.

“Ahem… Hajime-san?”

“Yes, it’s Hajime-san. Seriously, I almost died in a place like this—huh!?”

From a very close distance, Hajime watched Shia lying on the ground, coughing and choking on water, a look of relief on his face. Shia, staring blankly at Hajime, suddenly hugged Hajime tightly and kissed him. The unexpected action and the close proximity prevented Hajime from dodging in time.

"Uh-huh--!!"

“Ah, um!”

Shiya wrapped her arms around Hajime's head and her legs around his waist, completely pinning him down. Without hesitation, she plunged her tongue into Hajime's mouth. Shiya's incredible strength and her position made it impossible for Hajime to push her away.

In fact, after who knows how many times she'd been giving artificial respiration, Shia had somehow realized that Hajime was kissing her. Though she couldn't move, and was barely conscious, the moment she drank the water, her body had strengthened. Perhaps that was what caused this peculiar condition.

Shiya's repeated kisses made her emotional gauge explode. To prevent Shiya from escaping, she hugged him tightly and kissed him back with all her heart.

Meanwhile, Yue, seeing this scene... seemed deeply unhappy. Though displeased, she didn't step forward to intervene. She murmured softly, "For now, as a reward..." Apparently, she sympathized with Shia's feelings and decided to forgive her, along with her efforts in the maze.

However, the light disappeared from her eyes, and it was clear at a glance that she was quite troubled. Tonight, Hajime would definitely have to accompany Yue, who was in a state of aegyo mode, and would not be able to rest... Perhaps.

“Waaaa, what!? What’s going on here?! W-Wow… I’m soaking wet, and it’s so tight… W-Wow… This is so intense… We’re outdoors! This is so perverted!”

Joining them was the overly delusional inn sign girl—Sona. "Huh? You really are..." And Christabel, swaying her body, thinking of Yue and Shia. Then, there were the male adventurers, eyes blazing with jealousy, their hands naturally resting on their swords, their other hand desperately holding them down. And finally, the female adventurer, who regarded the group of men with a cold gaze.

Shia was still completely entranced, breathing warmly and looking at him intently, sucking fiercely on Hajime's lips. With veins popping out of his head, Hajime lifted Shia's entire body up, opened his palms, and rubbed her soft buttocks fiercely.

“Ahh!”

Shia gasped softly. In an instant, the restraints loosened. Hajime didn't miss the opportunity, pulling Shia off and throwing her into the spring.

“Aaaaaaah!”

With a gorgeous splash and a scream, Shia fell into the spring. Hajime looked at her sideways, panting heavily as he pushed his hair back.

"I really, really can't let my guard down for even a moment. They attacked me the very second I woke up... It's totally unpredictable."

Shia quickly emerged from the water with her bangs hanging down, just like Zhen, causing Hajime to show a trembling expression.

“Ugh~ That’s too much~ Wasn’t it you, Hajime-san, who started it~?”

"Huh? That was pure first aid... I mean, you were conscious?"

“Hmm… Yeah. It seems like I did, but it also seems like I didn’t… But I vaguely knew that Hajime-san kissed me! Hehe!”

"Don't laugh like that... Listen carefully, I'm just trying to save your life, there's nothing special about it. Don't have any weird expectations, okay?"

"Is that so? But a kiss is a kiss, and from now on we're in the passionate love phase!"

"No. Anyway, Yue, you should help me stop her."

“…Only now… But, Shia is working hard… No, but…”

"Tsuki~? Miss Tsuki~"

Yue stared into space, still mumbling. Hajime looked at her, thinking that things were going badly here, and sighed. Then, he turned his gaze to Christabel and the others who were peeking at Hajime and the others nearby.

Hajime's gaze swept across the adventurers, paused on Sona, looked at Christabel, and then immediately returned to Sona, as if he was trying to pretend he didn't see Christabel.

Sona, who was exposed to Hajime's sight, shuddered and her face instantly turned red.

"S-Sorry to bother you! Please, please don't mind us and just keep going!"

Christabel grabbed Sona's collar as she turned and started to run, yelling, and walked towards Hajime and the others. Hajime backed away from the monster that was getting closer and closer. Shia, standing nearby, said, "Ah, the manager!" as if she knew her well. Hajime decided to talk to them.

Finally, Hajime and the others realized they were about a day's journey from Brook Town, and decided to head there as well. Christabel offered them a ride in her carriage, and they accepted. They changed out of their soaking wet clothes and chatted about many things along the way. Under the warm sunshine, the clatter of horses' footsteps served as background music as they advanced.

Together with his new partner, he successfully conquered the second big maze.

Hajime, lost in such emotion, lay on the carriage's cargo bed, gazing at the brilliant, dazzling sun. He thought—will there be more journeys to come after this? A faint smile played upon his lips.

Volume 2, Final Chapter

"You are the one who is truly fit to be a hero."

A half-moon shone dazzlingly across the mountains. Amidst the eerie glow of the evergreen crimson leaves, regardless of season, these words rang out with remarkable clarity. The man who spoke extended a hand as if inviting, his narrow eyes fixed squarely ahead.

“! I, I…”

In contrast, the person who had been given those words swallowed his saliva, swallowing back the words that had come out of his mouth. He clearly understood that he was now standing at a crossroads in life, and he also felt that the intense danger and temptation were violently shaking his heart.

He looked around, seeing the monsters obeying him. Far to the north of the Lakeside City of Uru, far from the capital of the Kingdom of Heilig, stood the Northern Mountain Range. He had left his companions behind and come here alone in the dead of night because he desperately wanted to change his current situation. Such a wonderful thing as being summoned to another world could only happen in fantasy. He had been chosen as the principal, and even gifted with unbelievably high talents, yet he was relegated to a supporting role. He couldn't accept this.

Most importantly, he couldn't forgive the man who had abandoned him and embodied the image of a legendary hero. That's why he forced powerful monsters to obey him, hoping to gain recognition from those around him.

However, he also felt the limit of this approach. As long as he spent time, his wish might come true. But giving time means growth, and this is the same for others. Especially the brave heroes who continued to grow on the front line, at this moment, they might also be distancing themselves from him. He wanted them to look back at him and recognize him. Even so, he still succumbed to fear and escaped from the Great Labyrinth. He might not be able to catch up with them like this. He convinced himself that he was just doing things differently, and believed that the method he found was "absolute". Even so, he could not stop the uneasiness, anxiety, and the objective thought that "what he and the brave heroes were born with is always different" from each other flashed through his mind several times.

However, this man suddenly appeared in front of him and persuaded him, "You are special." The man's words made his heart waver violently.

...even if the price is something irreparable...

"Will you really let me become a hero? Are you planning on betraying me later?"

"Yes. If you are willing to abandon everything you have so far and come to our master, and use the fact that the inhabitants of that town are hostile to the 'Goddess of Fertility' as proof, we will trust you and welcome you as one of our heroes. We cannot betray you. You, the 'special' one, are the only one we want to join our side."

"...I am a hero, the protagonist of this story..."

The man swallowed again after hearing what the man said. The black flames of ambition began to ignite in his eyes, filling his heart with desire and depression, like a stream of water gushing from a broken dam, gradually seeping into the depths of his heart. Unable to conceal his silent excitement, the man licked his lips and nodded, answering:

"...Okay, I'll be your hero."

His ugly and distorted expression, no matter who looked at it, did not fit the title of "Man of Courage".