In fact, Shizuku's speculation was not wrong. Tio was indeed convinced. She believed that even if Hajime lost his mind, he would never destroy them.
However, she believed that the only people who were definitely safe were Shia, Kaori, Myuu, Remia, and herself.
Shizuku and Hajime had a certain level of trust and had confessed their feelings to each other before. Hajime also trusted Aiko. Tio thought these two would be fine, but she wasn't so sure about Suzu, Ryuutarou, Liliana, Yuuka, and other classmates.
Therefore, she prioritized letting Yuka and the others take refuge downstairs, and asked Kaori to protect Myuu and Remia to prevent them from falling into the hands of the enemy and becoming hostages again. She then stepped forward to protect the dying Shia, Shizuku, Suzu, and Ryuutarou.
In fact, although Myuu, who was closest to them, was affected by the aftermath of the magic power and fell, he was able to escape from the battle zone between Yalu and Hajime and was not hurt.
Suzu noticed this from Shizuku and Tio's conversation. Not only Suzu, but also Aiko, Yuuka, and the others. They all had somewhat awkward expressions, but the atmosphere had eased considerably.
Kaori pinched Hajime's cheeks with both of her palms and turned him to face her. Then, with a gentle expression completely different from before, she said to him:
"It's not over yet, is it?"
“…Yes. You’re right.”
"Hajime-kun, you're definitely not fighting alone. We're here with you. More importantly, you still have Yue. Even though her body is separated from you, her heart is always with you. I think, no, absolutely, she's still fighting right now. To get back to you. After all, she's Yue. There's no way she'd lose to someone like that."
"...Exactly. Just like she saved us before, she will definitely do everything in her power to stop Esid, even to the point of making him regret it."
"That's right. When it comes to playing pranks, there's no one better than Yue!"
"She's just trying to tease you, Kaori."
The two of them teased each other and smiled at each other. At this time, they finally relaxed their bodies and minds.
Then, he looked around at everyone...
"sorry."
Then, she apologized formally. Finally, she turned to Myuu. She stared at Hajime, seemingly enduring it.
Their eyes met. Shiji opened his mouth, wanting to apologize to her as well. But then he thought of something else that would be more appropriate to say.
"Myuu."
"dad……"
After a pause, as if to express all the emotions in his heart, he sent these words to his daughter.
"Thank you."
What Miao saw was a smile that was even gentler than anything he had ever seen before.
Hajime felt very proud that this little hero looked up to him as a father.
Myuu completely understood Hajime's intentions, and finally, her eyes burst into tears.
“Dad────!”
Tears welled up in her eyes like a dam bursting, and at the same time, she felt an overwhelming sense of relief.
Myuu sprinted forward with all his might, throwing himself into Hajime's arms.
"Uh, no, wait a minute, Myuuu—ahem!?"
The rocket-like embrace of joy was a fatal blow to Hajime, more terrifying than an attack from a god. He was completely unable to resist and fell backwards, his head struck hard on the back.
“Ah, no more…”
If it was this little hero who rescued the monster from the abyss, then it seemed that she was also the one who took its life.
──Myuu will never lose to my current father!
It seems that this girl is worthy of being Shi's daughter. She does what she says and has a lot of her father's style.
After receiving the biggest punishment of the day, Shi rolled his eyes and passed out on the spot.
Then──
"Dad? Dad—! Open your eyes! You'll die if you fall asleep!"
"Myuu! Miu! Stop it! You can't slap Hajime like that anymore!"
Miao also continued to slap Shi back and forth with her little hands.
"Ah! Hajime-san isn't breathing!"
"This isn't good! Even my heartbeat is getting weaker... Eh? It seems to have stopped."
"Kaori—! Come quickly! Please come here as quickly as possible! Use regeneration magic!"
"Leave it to me—Absolute Situation! ……………Huh? The wounds are healed, but why hasn't the heartbeat returned? Isn't it too late?!"
"Ah wow wow wow! Shirosaki-san, calm down! Someone come quickly, is there anyone who can use soul magic!?"
"Ai-sensei, you should be the one calming down. Don't you know how to do that too!?"
"S-Should we kiss then? I know. I read in a book that a princess and a prince will wake up if they kiss. If that's the case, then the other way around should work too. After all, I'm a princess too."
Everyone was unexpectedly caught up in a very dangerous and chaotic commotion, which caused everyone to fall to the ground.
As for the people of the Demon Tribe—
“Excuse me… what should we do…?”
If I run away, I might be caught up and punished. Staying here is just as scary, but I have this little hero with me.
So I'll just ask for now. But...
Of course, no one answered, so they could only sit there and wait awkwardly.
Volume 11, Chapter 3: A Demagogue Worse Than God
Dark and cold. It felt like drifting on the bottom of a silent body of water. Gradually, I picked up a faint noise.
"Dad, don't..."
"Hajime—"
"Hurry up—start—"
The extremely urgent voice and the anxious tone as if facing the end of the world caused ripples in the underwater world.
I have to respond to them... subconsciously, I thought so.
As the sensations grew more vivid, a strong sense of weariness set in. My body was undoubtedly preventing me from waking, and if I didn't resist, I would surely be dragged into darkness.
(So warm... Is this, light?)
There was a vague sense of warmth, soft and gentle as a feather, and a light, like sunlight shining on water.
As soon as I felt this sensation, I felt like I had been refueled, and I was filled with energy, successfully conquering the fatigue that kept forcing me to rest. My consciousness quickly cleared, and then -
"dad!"
"Mr. Hajime!"
"Hashi-kun!"
"Owner!"
"Nagumo-kun!"
Hajime woke up. When he opened his eyes, he saw five faces leaning over to look at him: a beautiful girl, a beautiful woman, and a beautiful little girl.
Myuu, Shia, Kaori, Tio, Shizuku. Each of them had tears in their eyes, their expressions half crying, half laughing, as if they had just let go of a heavy burden.
Hajime realized that he must have made them worry to death. Recalling their reproaches before he fainted, he felt both relieved and apologetic. He didn't know what to say, and could only show a confused expression, not knowing what to do.
"I'm sorry to have worried you. My injuries...ah, that flash of light just now was Kaori's regeneration magic, right? Thank you."
"In fact, your heart even stopped for a moment... wuwu... It's really, really, so good..."
"My heart actually stopped... Then I should thank you even more."
Kaori knelt on the ground with her knees drawn together, crying passionately. Shizuku put her arm around her shoulders and comforted her.
"Rather than saying your heart stopped beating, I think you were truly dead just now. It seemed like your soul had left your body, so Tio quickly used soul magic..."
Shizuku faltered as she explained. Her face was ashen, as if she had just experienced something terrible.
With Shia's help, Hajime managed to stand up with some difficulty. Once he stood up, his vision widened. He noticed a large group of people behind the five girls.
Ling, Ryutaro, Aiko, Liliana, Yuka, classmates, and even Remia. Everyone's face showed an expression of relief from the bottom of their hearts.
Hajime was puzzled. Did something go wrong just now? He narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at Tio.
"Master was deeply wounded, and her soul has been unable to anchor to her body... I also thought she was truly gone. I have never been so anxious in these five hundred years."
“Is this true…?”
It seems that the forced activation of "Limit Break" caused fundamental physical fatigue, even affecting the soul. In other words, he must have been weakened to an unimaginable degree just now. Or perhaps even his soul itself fell into a state of "death".
"Master must thank Sensei-sama. While I was trying to fix your soul, you simultaneously cast a spell to heal it. If any one of you, Kaori, me, or Sensei-sama, had been missing, Master would probably be..."
Tio said this and quickly shook her head, as if to shake off the ominous thoughts. At this time, Hajime shook Tio's hand, expressing his gratitude.
Then, Hajime turned to face Aiko. She had been standing nearby, looking at him with tears in her eyes.
"Teacher, it seems I owe you a huge favor."
“What’s the point of owing something? I just want you… I just want Nagumo-kun to survive. That alone is enough…”
"Nagumo, you're such a fool! You really don't understand how we feel!? Whether we owe each other or not is not the point at all, understand!?"
Aiko covered her face with her hands and cried, unable to contain the emotions welling up in her.
Yuuka was glaring at Hajime beside her, and she seemed to be unable to control her excitement as well.
"Nanyun-kun is so careless!" "Can you please check the atmosphere before you speak?!" Nana and Taeko hugged the two of them and protested to Hajime.
“That’s right, you worried us to death! If anything happens to Hajime-san… how am I going to explain to Yue-san…”
“Shia…”
Shia clenched her fists and repeatedly pounded on Hajime's shoulders. Her demeanor was incredibly weak, a stark contrast to her usual self. Her bunny ears drooped limply.
It's not hard to see how dangerous Shi's situation was just now.
"You always survive. No matter what happens, you always find a way to resolve it. That's what we see in Nagumo-san. Please don't abandon our trust in you again, okay?"
Shizuku, standing beside Kaori, said this with a smile. Her smile was gentle, and she seemed no longer nervous, though her hands were still trembling slightly. Kaori, too, seemed to have finally calmed down a bit.
Hajime realized once again how important his life was to them. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel ashamed of his previous embarrassing state and laughed at himself.
He almost forgot the humanity that Yue had restored for him at the bottom of the abyss, and almost abandoned the self that Xia and others had supported. Such behavior was undoubtedly a betrayal of their trust.
Hajime looked around, seeing all sorts of emotions in the eyes of the people looking at him. He looked at each one one by one.
"...I'm truly sorry for causing you all any worry. I sincerely thank you all."
At the bottom of the abyss, Hajime made up his mind to be with Yue, and started this journey with the resolution that they would become enemies together with the world.
However, before he knew it, he had gathered so many friends who were willing to care for Yue and himself, who were no different from monsters, from the bottom of their hearts.
Hajime looked up at the sky and vowed in his heart—
I will never lose again. Never lose to the enemy, and certainly never lose to myself.
Thinking of his beloved vampire princess, he made up his mind again.
Hajime's expression was so sorrowful that it made people sigh with emotion, yet it was also full of strong power that made people feel at ease from the bottom of their hearts.
Shia, Kaori, and the others seemed unable to control their emotions. Just as Hajime was about to speak to them—
"Dad, I'm sorry...are you okay yet?"
Myuu, held in Remia's arms, timidly asked Hajime. She seemed to think her embrace had nearly killed Hajime, and she didn't dare approach. Her eyes were red; she must have been crying.
"Myuu, you did absolutely nothing wrong and don't need to apologize for anything. I say thank you again. Thank you for stopping me. Myuu, you've become much stronger than I was."
Hajime reached out to Myuu. His expression was so gentle that it made anyone who saw it lose their breath. Ryuutarou and other boys looked incredulous. Some girls, like Yuuka, even blushed slightly as they looked at him with a sort of fascination.
Myuu seemed to understand Hajime's true feelings from his expression and left Remia's embrace...
"Hehehe, of course. Because Myuu is daddy's daughter!"
Myuu jumped onto Hajime's lap and sat down, pressing her face against his chest, rubbing it continuously. At the same time, she grinned foolishly, as if to hide her shyness, but also out of joy.
Hajime's hand gently stroked Myuu's emerald green hair, his expression filled with infinite kindness. He then turned to Remia, and just as he was about to speak, Remia had already sensed his thoughts and preempted him.
"I told you not to apologize. Did you forget?"
“…! That’s true…”
Remia refused to let Hajime apologize for implicating the mother and daughter. After all, that wasn't unforgivable. Seeing Myuu constantly flirting with Hajime, Remia's eyes—the eyes of a mother—were filled with pride.
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