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Aiko said such things while s, but stopped and just shrugged his shoulders when he saw the depressed Sonobe and the other male students Yue was the one who took action in his stead As if it were thein the world, she suddenly sat on Hajime’s lap

"… Nn"

She was so pleased that she entrusted all of her weight to Haji that, Shia, who looked lonely, embraced Hajime from behind Aiko’s cheeks ienerated Sonobe and the fe, "Kya-- kya--", in exciteround their teeth

Haji the two off, just averted his gaze He seehtly embarrassed However, Hajime’s expression suddenly sharpened in the next ?"

Having heard Haji far into the distance, Yue asked him Because of his appearance, Aiko and the others blinked their eyes wondering what happened

"On the river’s upstreas… … it looks like they’re still new It o"

"Nn…"

"Yes!"

Hajian to prepare for departure Aiko and the students actually still wanted to rest, and although they knew they were overdoing it, they couldn’t just stand still once they saw that Hajime had found some clues They laborously raised their still exhausted waists and once again desperately tried to follow Haji speed

At the location Hajime and his party arrived at, just as he confirmed with the Unmanned Reconnaissance Planes, ss were scattered around However, there were dents on the round shields, and the bags were torn up in the s pulled out

Hajis Then they found some nearby trees with their barks peeled off of theht It was apparent that the bark was in such state because soht, it clearly wasn’t the work of humans Hajime instructed Shia to use her search ability to the fullest, while also using his own perception skill as they approached the barkless trees

Advancing ahead, they found signs of combat one after another There were trees and branches that were broken in half There were also plants that had been traments of blades and blood scattered around Everytime they found such traces, the expressions on Aiko and the students’ faces stiffened For a while, they chased after the signs of co

"Hajime-san, this, isn’t this a pendant?"

"Nn? Aa… … it’s probably so they left behind Let me confirm it"

After he washed off the dirt from the pendant he had received from Shia, he noticed it was not just a pendant but also a locket He removed the clasp and saas inside, it was a woraph Perhaps, she was sonificant clue, it was not an old one but a recent one… … it could belong to someone from the adventurers’ party That’s why it’d be kept for now

Afterwards, they found more articles of the deceased or so they called them, but they only collected ite searched around for a while, eventually day turned into night, and the ti

Even now, there were no signs of life aside froh they were cautious because of how Will and his party encountered and were attacked by den of des Their current location was between the eighth and ninththe mountains, usually, they would encounter one or two demonic beasts, so Hajime and the others could feel the eeriness of this situation

After a while, the Unain found a location with abnorreat destruction 300 ed everyone to rush to that location

There was a big river A small waterfall could be seen upstream, and the voluinally, it was likely to flow straight towards the foot of the e and souged by a laser or so, from the flank

The reason they had such iht line, while the surrounding trees and ground were scorched Further impact, a lot of trees were partly broken and thrown tens offootprintsmore than 30 centimeters

"It seems the real coe bipedal demonic beasts… … Surely, there were demonic beast called Brutal beyond the second ed…"

What Haji sih they didn’t have high intelligence, they took action as group Because they had a weaker version of the peculiar nized as quite powerful enemies They usually descend into the second e, but these demonic beasts never came into towns In addition, they didn’t have any attacks that could ht of the Brutal as he observed the footprints, he hesitated whether to go upstreah Will’s party had likely to escaped upstreaht it would be hard for them to run upstream after such combat He doubted that they would physically and mentally run further from town

Hajime decided to direct the Unmanned Reconnaissance Planes upstreah the Brutals’ footprints were on the riverside, the possibility of Will and his party juht they’d likely be swept away because of physical exhaustion

The others also agreed with Hajime’s speculations, and descended towards downstream on the riverside

Afterwards, they encountered a much more splendid waterfall compared to the one from before Hajime and the others nimbly descended from the cliff on the side of the waterfall and landed on the vicinity of the basin The refreshing wind peculiar to a waterfall healed theirThen, Hajin Perception"

" ! This is…"

"… … Hajime?"

Yue immediately reacted and asked hi his eyes Following that, while slowly opening his eyes, he let out a surprised voice

"Oi oi, seriously The Sign Perception picked up so, I can say it’s a human The location is… … in the interior of waterfall’s basin"

"You mean there are survivors!"

Hajime nodded towards Shia’s words of confirmation He answered, "Only one person", when Yue asked for the number of people Aiko and her students were also surprised It was soh the odds of survival were not zero, they actually didn’t expect any at all It was the fifth day since Will’s party had goneIt was a miracle for even one of them to re the waterfall basin, Hajiuess Hajime’s intentions froht hand as the er

""Wave Castle," "Wind Wall""

Then, the water in the waterfall and its basin began to split in two just like the Red Sea in Moses’ legend Moreover, the scattered water was perfectly brushed off by the wall of wind It was the result of water h-pressure wall of water called "Wave Castle," and wind ic of two different attributes were activated at the sa seen how they were used, Aiko and her students, although they didn’t remember how many times they had done it, dropped their jaws in astonishment Surely, the Hebrew people also displayed such expressions

Because her ed Aiko and the others on, as he led them into the interior of the waterfall basin’s cave The cave they entered ie cavity Water and light poured down fro, and the fallen water flowed into the water pool below The reason it didn’t overfloas surely because they continued flowing inside

They discovered adown in the innermost part of the cave When they arrived at theh he looked like a noble, he currently looked pale and displayed the coe injury, and because there was food re His bad complexion was surely related to hoas the only one here

Having seen the anxious Aiko, and because Hajihis power to the li man’s forehead

BACHIKONh!!

"Guwah!!"

He screa his forehead with both hands Aiko and her students shuddered because of the powerful and nored Aiko and the students, and approached the young man with teary eyes to ask his name

"You, are you Will Kudeta? The third son of Count Kudeta"

"Ah, eh, you are, just how on earth did you guys get here…"

Because the young rasp the situation, Hajiain made a stance to flick his forehead and slowly aimed at it

"Answer my question I’ll increase the power by 20 percent every ti other than the answer"

"Eh, eh!?"

"You, are you Will Kudeta?"

"Uht! I a erous light, and he i man immediately announced his name Apparently, he was truly the person in question He seeumo Hajime I have couild, Ilwa Chang (For ood that you’re alive"

"Ilwa-san!? Is that so Once again… … I am indebted to that person… …Umm, I am thankful to you You must be a remarkable person to receive a request directly froratitude with respectful eyes It seemed he didn’t mind the forehead flick with unbelievable power froood person A great difference than a pig fro introduced everyone, they heard the story of what happened to Will

This was the suo, Will’s party ca the mountain path just like Hajime and the others Suddenly, they encountered ten Brutals As expected, they couldn’t win against the number of Brutals they encountered, so Will’s party tried to withdraw But, the nu, and they were by the river of the sixth mountain when they noticed it Then, the Brutals encircled the fro and unimportant soldiers, were sacrificed After that, when they arrived at a big river, despair appeared

It appeared to be a jet-black Dragon As soon as Will’s party caon let out breath, and Will was blown off into the river by the attack Fro swept away, one person vanished because of the breath, while the other tere attacked froon from the front

Will fell into the basin of the waterfall after he ept away as is, he went into the cave he had found by chance, and he see here ever since

Somehow, it sort of resembled what may or may not have happened to a certain so proud of it, and then suddenly started to sob It was not soht hih one of the their safety, the pathetic him was only able to tremble in fear and wait for help to come, the him who felt relieved because his rescue cas continuously eed and his tears overflowed

"I-I a Hikk, fer me chu be d cole curvibor… oso, sniff… chu fil relif… I--!"

(I ah everyone is dead, I didn’t do anything Hikk, for me to be the sole survivor… Also, sniff… to feel relieved… I--!)

Will’s wails echoed inside the cave No one could say anything to hi down his face, they didn’t knohich words would be good for him The students looked at Will with sorrowful expressions, while Aiko gently patted Will’s back Yue was expressionless as usual, while Shia looked troubled

But, at the moment Will found himself at a loss for words, an unexpected person ripped Will’s collar He used his inhu that, towards the Will as in pain because he couldn’t breathe, Haji voice

"What is wrong anting to live? What is wrong with being glad because you’re alive? That wish and feeling are so natural and inevitable Even more so because you’re a human"

"B-but… … I was…"

"Even so, if you’re worried about those who died… … then continue to live Frole as if you’re going to die If you do that, soht come a day when you understand the reason why you survived today"

"… … Keep living"

Even while crying, Will repeated Hajime’s words in blank surprise Hajime violently threw Will down, he tsukkomi’ed himself with, "What have I done," his words just now, more than half of them were directed towards himself Will’s situation was a little similar to his, and for hi for you to survive," towards Hajiered

Of course it was just his persecution coer, so it wasn’t different froh various things, Hajime was still a 17 year old boy, and there was still ht self-loathing Having seen such a Hajihtly

"… … It’s okay, Haji"

"… … Yue"

"… … Live to your best Keep living on Together withno ht happen… … so, don’t leaveto himself, then Hajime and Yue created a world with just the two of theently stroked Yue’s cheek, while Yue was also being spoiled and let his hand stroke her cheek Not understanding what happened to cause such a development, Aiko and her students could only blink, while Shia watched Hajime and Yue with half-opened eyes

The chaotic situation continued for a while (thanks to Hajiain their senses The party then decided to immediately descend the mountain There was still more than an hour before sunset, so if they hurried, they would likely reach the foot of the h they were concerned about the Brutals and the jet-black Dragon, those were outside Hajime and his party’s ation while having to protect those with low combat potential Will also understood that he would just be a hindrance, so he understood that theythe investigation because of their slight sense of justice that came from the troubled townspeople, Aiko stubbornly refused to investigate because of the great danger the Black Dragon and Brutals posed In the end, they descended the ain, they were passionately welcoot out of the waterfall basin with Yue’s roan, with its whole body covered in jet-black scales, its golden eyes glared at theon"