Arifureta Chapter 140 (1/2)
Whispering voice
Howa, Howa, Fuwa, Fuwa
Surely, if there were sounds to describe the current situation, it ought to be those words Areat labyrinths, there was a labyrinth called the ice and snow cave And inside that labyrinth was a gigantic maze in which there was a sealed door before which laid a tent The mood inside the tent had become a pink space
“… Hajime Aaa…n”
“Nn Aaa…n… M a kotatsu is stew”
“Hajime-san, have some of mine too Aaa…n”
“Aaa…n… M every day, you will reat wife”
“Je-Jeez, Haji! To say that I’m extremely cute, and on top of that, I would make a lovely wife from whom you wouldn’t want to be away for even ame blush-!”
“Hajime, what about me?”
“Nn? Isn’t that obvious? You will become the best wife in the world”
“Nn… I will also do my best to learn how to cook”
“Fufufu, Yue-san, let’s study together and make Hajime’s favorite dishes”
While “Aaa…n” feeding Haji on both sides of Hajiine they were inside one of the world’s great labyrinths
There was stew on top of the kotatsu That was seafood stew prepared by shi+a, the sredients had been acquired at the maritime town Erisen, frozen and stored inside the treasure warehouse
shi+a, with splendid knife-handling skills, had prepared the seafood along with various vegetables and seasoned the whole mix exquisitely The sauce which looked like Ponzu (TL: citrus-based sauce, source wiki) was also neatly done and truly wonderful Because her houseas also perfect, Hajireat as no overstatement
Nevertheless, shi+a was over interpreting Hajime who had become tolerant towards shi+a’s attitude didn’t particularly mind nor snap her out of it
Then, as Yue was lightly tugging at his sleeve while asking ‘Will I becoood wife?’ with the expression of a lover, Hajientle sness to train hard to learn ho
“Ne, Nee, Haji are also two ofpoints you know? I’ll make plenty of delicious dishes for my husband and properly welcome him every day, you know?”
“Goshujin-saood wife, you know? As you know, Mistress is a ‘devoted wife’ She guarantees she will ht? So, please also give this mistress some words of praise”
Hajime, Yue and shi+a’s pink space was interrupted by Kaori and Tio’s i with a sweet tone for the same words he said to Yue and shi+a
“… Maa, since originally Kaori was alwaysthe first place of the ‘I want to date her’ and ‘I want to s at school, isn’t she already a char wife?”
“Mouu! Not that I’eneral opinion, but Hajime-san’s!”
“… Kaori Why are you hurting yourself?”
“Yu-Yue!? What do you mean!?”
“… You’ve already come to understand You’re still five, no, six years too soon”
“Concrete nued, but I won’t lose!”
Yue answered in place of the evasive Hajime With teary eyes, Kaori clenched her fists and renewed her detered, Hajime’s heart softened, but he kept it secret for now
“Umm, Goshujin-sama?”
Tio, with tearful eyes, was pressing for an answer Two splendid water hi it on purpose
“… You said ‘As you know’ But let’s see you state concretely the contents of the ‘devotion’ you speak of”
“Mu? Isn’t that obvious? Of course, every day, be it ht, I will do ‘this–‘ and ‘that–‘ to Goshujin-saain Then, Goshujin-saht? That’s why I will return the favor by doing “that–“ Ah, I feel relieved Doing “this–” and “that–” properly, then “that—————” Ababababababababa-!?”
“… You worthless dragon You will be the only one I leave behind in this world”
“Tio-san, restrain yourself a little…”
In response to Tio as shahly, an ‘Abababa’ sound caused by Haji Clad’ interrupted Tio’s speech
With a ‘PikuPiku’ sound, Tio kept convulsing without getting up The lightning seemed really effective Even shi+a was stunned at the appearance of such a Tio
However, since ‘I will leave you behind’ waswords, it could be quite naturally assu as well
The fact that Tio was standing close to Haji Hajime’s permission to be by his side
Kouki and the others were sitting on a kotatsu on the opposite side, silently pecking at their stehile trying their best to ignore the ongoing scene However, barely able to put up with the irresponsible and irritating scene, their chopsticks were continuously shaking in frustration
“Kouki… even though I thought I had gotten used to this kind of commotion…”
“Don’t talk about that, Ryuutaro, my mind can’t take it anymore…”
“Isn’t it a good thing? Objectively seeing hoe used to be?”
“Used to be? Could it be you are actually angry at…? No, forget it”
Kouki was glancing at Hajime and Kaori with an extre in a low voice with Ryuutaro whose face showed deep annoyance Strangely, the usually sarcastic shi+zuku re fish froaze at Hajiht up the topic, shrank back spontaneously each time she was remembered of the fuss
And, at that moment, Haji because of being ‘Aaa…n’ed all the tiray metal plate froic square engraved on it It was a ‘gate key’ which connected space
Hajime suddenly turned back and projected the key It was connected to the cross bits he had sent looking for the key to open the sealed door that prevented the further At the center of the plate which had stuck into space, a gate opened On the other side of the gate was a geht from a pedestal in a room surrounded by ice walls
Further
“GuruaAAAAAAA!!!”
Froem, there was also the for
“Bufu!?” X4
Kouki and the others ere seated at the kotatsu and pecking at their stew all simultaneously spewed it out At any rate, theirapproached by an ogre clearly on a different level than the ogres they had confronted so far It was pointless to tell them not to panic
However, Hajih the gate, picked up the yellow gee, he si as a basketball from his treasure warehouse A ‘Bachi’ sound resounded as he instantly poured electricity inside, after which he casually threw the ball through the gate as if throwing trash away
Then, he i it
Immediately thereafter,
ZudoOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
From a distant place, the sound of a ridiculously powerful explosion reverberated as the air started vibrating
Haji had particularly happened The geht on top of the table was proof that this series of unbelievable events took place in their reality
“… Hajime Aaa~n”
“Hajime-san, Aaa~n desu”
And, as expected, Yue and shi+a also resu had happened Kouki and the others who had been dripping cold sweat snapped back to reality and simultaneously opened their mouths
“No, no, no, no, there’s definitely soht!?!?” X4
“Nn?”
Haji stuffed with fresh seafood by Kaori and Tio who entered the feeding co?’
With an expression not hiding his irritation towards Hajime’s behavior, Kouki inquired
“Nagumo What was that earlier?”
“Earlier you say… But you were looking, weren’t you?”
“I was! But not that! I’ about what you did!”
“What I did… you ask strange things It’s just as you saw, right?”
Haji his sanity after Kouki raised his voice Not having obtained the response he was seeking, Kouki looked ready to flip the table over in anger at any moment
shi+zuku ca her forehead as if putting up with a headache and tried to explain the ‘as you saw’ part to Kouki
“In short, Nagueate’ It’s likely that the euardian or souuess”
“Ah It’s coht?”
“That’s what I’ with this! You noruardian keeping the dungeon’s treasure, defeating it, and retrieving the prize like that!”
Kouki was honestly saying so trivial
“No, isn’t it better to collect the after each one of the four keys ourselves, right?”
“Th-That ress be acknowledged by the labyrinth…”
“Once or twice should be alright We did take a considerable shortcut at the Great Volcano, and our capture was acknowledged with no probleawa’s group respectively defeat the guardians of the two re keys and retrieve them I’ll map a route for you”
“Uu… Is the difficulty alright? It’s the capture of a great labyrinth after all?”
“Kouki… Stop thinking too deeply about Nague”
Kouki was holding his head between his hands Ryuutaro patted his shoulders with an expression of sympathy
“That’s right Nagu e to be surprised about”
“shi+zu, shi+zu…… When Suzu thinks about Guardian-san, she becomes excessively sad for sous will definitely look bad So let’s work hard to preserve our sanity?”
Ryuutaro approved the advice a sad-looking Suzu had given shi+zuku as Suzu was gulping down fish and turned to her in turn
“It seems it would also be difficult for ed any further by Hajiestion”
Kouki and his group had satisfied their hunger and were pecking at the last remnants of their food when the sound of a second explosion reverberated through the great labyrinth
“I wonder if shi+zuku-chan and the others are fine…”
Kaori’s worried voice echoed
They were before the two sealed doors
Three ge sockets Of the three, aside froeht by Yue’s teauardian and seized its key, which was to be expected given their ability
Only one key was reeuided by one of Hajiroups, Kaori had grown anxious, wondering if Kouki’s teauardian safely
“Looks like there’s no probleed to bring it down They don’t have any severe injuries At some point, it did seem like Ryuutaro had frostbite but it was immediately healed”
“Thank God”
Kaori breathed a sigh of relief after hearing the inforh the cross bits
Haji before Kouki’s team ere finished with their battle and had retrieved the last key At the saate key’, Hajime connected the space between their location and the cross bit space softly distorted, and the appearance of Kouki and the others who had a strangely refreshed expression could be seen on the other side
“Souys look happy…”
“Umu They are most likely relieved to have been able to properly pass the maze’s trial”
shi+a was tilting her head pondering the reason for their happy faces when Tio answered her question with a seeht on the mark
Kouki, as holding the geate, went past shi+a’s group and headed towards the sealed doors There, he inserted the gem into the last socket
Immediately after, the thorny shrub on the door was covered in light The gehtly in all their splendor Then, the gate’s i on their own
At a glance, the passage starting froate looked no different fro was different, it seeht reflection of the ice walls Hajiures were vividly reflected
“Well then, let’s go”
Following Hajih the door The sight before the of a ht was reflected endlessly Indeed, the ice walls on both sides of the passage acted like opposite mirrors, and Hajime’s party was reflected a countless number of times
Aside fro hidden by a spray of snow, it looked really like an endless corridor The intense reflectivity of the icecold it radiated, it could maybe even be mistaken for a mirror
A ‘Kotsu, Kotsu’ sound echoed along with the footsteps of Hajiht, sounds also seemed to reverberate
“… So”
Yueat their reflections in the walls
The worlds piled up inside the ice walls repeated endlessly, the deepest parts being shrouded in darkness Yue’s words were truly right on the mark
Hajirasped Yue’s hand
“I won’t let go of you so it’s alright”
“… Nn”
“You guys, can you not stop flirting at every occasion?”
shi+zuku’s reproachful eyes dug into Haji smiles However, their love had already far exceeded the maximum theoretical threshold Such a remark didn’t make them flinch
Giving a sidelong glance to shi+zuku who sighed, the group continued advancing
They had not encountered the sign of any traps orthat they were on the right hen Kouki suddenly halted and started looking around restlessly
shi+zuku, representing the group who grew suspicious of his behavior, inquired
“Kouki? What’s the matter?”
“Ah, no well, didn’t you hear so like someone’s voice Rather, a whisper like this…”
“Wa-Wait a minute Kouki-kun, Stop We already had our fill of this at Merujiine’s Undersea Ruin”
It seemed Kouki could hear someone’s whisper Since she didn’t think it possible for anyone else to actually be there beside theed herself with both ar a voice of protest
“Isn’t there anyone else who heard so? shi+a?”
Hajime quietly narrowed his eyes and looked around to confirm
“No I didn’t hear anything And I sense no sign of anyone else here besides us”
shi+a who had closed her eyes and focused her rabbit ears answered while shaking her head negatively The other , in particular, all shook their heads in negation
“… Surely, I thought I heard so…”
“Are you sure you’re not overthinking this?”
“… Maybe I am”
Understanding he was the only one who heard it, Kouki wondered if it was his iination as he showed a bewildered expression A concerned Ryuutaro who displayed a face lacking his usual self-confidence also agreed
“… shi+a”
“Got it”
While everyone was thinking it was Kouki’s i theht to shi+a who could be relied on to search for the eneht it was only Kouki’s iiven a request by Hajime, she obediently nodded her head in approval Her rabbit ears shook
Then, they kept advancing without any proble lost, until Kouki halted one more time
This time, he shouted
“Ah, again! It wasn’t ain!”
“Ko-Kouki?”
shi+zuki and the others turned a bewildered look to Kouki as frantically searching for the owner of the voice
Frouessed no one besides him had heard the voice this time as well, and raised a chaotic voice
“It’s true! This time, I heard it clearly! It said: ‘Is it fine like this?’!”