Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest (ありふれた職業で世界最強)

My adventures with Hajime and our happy little crew

have only grown more perilous and fantastic.

The desert was so hot.

Like cook-an-egg -on-your-face hot.

But it felt like a pleasant breeze

compared to the Gruen Volcano Labyrinth.

And things only got worse when this awful demon

suddenly appeared and hurt my poor Hajime.

I will make him pay for that.

Myu is so cute.

I'm so happy we could drop her off in the city of Erisen

to reunite her with her mother, Remia.

It was lovely. Truly lovely.

I want kids of my own someday.

Getting through the Sunken Ruins of Melusine

was a bit tricky, but our submarine did the job.

But then we got blasted with a huge underwater explosion

on the other side.

It was intense to say the least.

I hope Hajime and Shea's friend is okay.

Myu turned out to be one strong kid.

It was a pretty emotional goodbye,

but we promised we'd come back to visit her.

We met Liliana, and she told us

of the danger facing the Kingdom of Heiligh.

That danger turned out to be a demon siege.

And that awful demon was leading the charge.

Hajime fought some girl

claiming to be God's apostle or some junk.

Aiko and Tio's main contribution

was blowing up stuff.

Hajime's power came as a real shock

to the demons, but y'know.

What else is new.

The main demon had already fled

by the time I arrived on the scene,

and he absconded with one of Hajime's classmates.

Kaori was murdered,

but we brought her back to life.

We're currently en route to the Haltsina Sea of Trees.

Only two more Great Labyrinths to go.

I hope to wrap it up quickly

so Hajime and I can finally pursue our dream.

Hey, what are you doing?

Hello?

Uh...

It's a secret.

HAULIAS ASSEMBLE

Just a reminder.

We're only dropping you off at the border, Princess.

I know,

I'm just grateful for your assistance.

Oh, that's right.

I almost forgot you're on a different mission.

You're on your way to meet the emperor

of the Hoelscher Empire, right?

Wow. The Empire, huh?

I really wanna visit there someday.

-No, you don't, Kaori. -Huh.

He's right, you would not enjoy your time there.

They may be humans, but the brutal nature

of their nation couldn't be more different from Heiligh.

Jeez, is it that bad?

Hm.

The Hoelscher Empire is a military nation

composed of powerful mercenaries and adventurers.

It is a savage meritocracy.

"Take what you want by force.

Kill all your enemies.

The weak must obey the strong, no matter what."

They utilize any immoral method they find practical,

and that includes the act of keeping slaves.

And when you say slaves, what you mean is beastmen.

Hm.

Yeah, that's pretty much the exact opposite of Heiligh.

Right? There's no racism in Heiligh from what I've seen.

I wish that was true but I'm afraid it's not.

Beastmen lacking magic power are widely considered

to be an evil and lowly race abandoned by God.

In all honesty, they're reviled and discriminated against.

Oh.

Hm...

-Hm. - Princess of Heiligh.

Huh.

Shea doesn't take personal offense with you.

It's just that she has her own tragic history

with imperial soldiers.

I'm so sorry to hear that.

Perhaps there's something I can do to help in some way.

If it's not too painful to recount,

can you tell me what happened?

Why not go on and tell her?

'Kay.

This happened a while ago now,

not that long before I met Hajime and Yue.

My tribe was forced to flee Verbergen

because of me,

and we ran straight into a band of imperial soldiers.

They slaughtered most of my family,

and enslaved the rest.

On top of that,

monsters attacked our colony.

And it was all my fault.

None of it was your fault.

Indeed.

The heinous laws of Verbergen are to blame.

Condemning beastmen with mana to death is ghastly.

And the rest of the blame goes

to the Empire for what they did.

Oh, Shea. I promise you,

I'll inquire into what happened to your family

when I get there!

It might be difficult to locate them, but I'll try.

- That's it! - Huh.

You okay?

Listen, Nagumo!

The Labyrinths can wait!

We need to go save these beastmen!

As messed up as it is,

enslaving beastmen is commonplace in this world.

It's not our place as otherworlders

to go overturning entire societies.

Huh!

If you still wanna help 'em though,

well, that's your call to make.

Huh.

No one's stopping you.

Hm.

Hm.

Hm.

- Kouki. -Hm.

It's nice up here.

How can someone have so much power

and make these amazing things,

and then act all helpless when other people need him?

Is it really so easy for him to abandon them?

You mean the beastmen in the Empire?

And everyone else!

Every person in this world!

He knows the horrible truth about their God.

I think...

Well, I think he's made a choice.

What choice?

He acts all aloof,

but I don't think it's anything more than an act.

I mean, he does all he can to play things cool,

but actually I think he's desperate.

How so?

He's desperate to survive

and protect the people he loves.

Remember what he said?

You don't do something just because

you're strong enough to do it.

You get stronger to accomplish something

that you actually want.

Hm.

As powerful as he is now,

you have to try to keep in mind

that he didn't start out that way.

At first, he was weak,

and he climbed up from the depths of hell

to earn that power.

It wasn't to save a world, or to defeat some evil God,

he did it to live and keep his loved ones safe.

We're driven to do things because we can,

but that's not him.

Asking him to do something

just because he has the power to?

You need a better argument than that.

After all, that isn't why he gained

those powers in the first place.

It seems selfish.

Huh.

Wait, are we changing course?

Let's head back in!

-Is something wrong? -Sure is.

There's a horde of imperial soldiers chasing after someone.

I've seen those carriages before!

The Empire uses them to transport slaves!

We need to get down there and save them!

Hm.

Really, Nagumo?

You're gonna turn your back on them

when they're right there?

If you can't be bothered to save them, I will!

Wait a sec, will ya?

Huh.

Hey, Shea, take a look at those two.

Huh.

What? Is that really them?

I can't believe it!

But it's actually them!

That's definitely Lana and Mina!

Had a feeling it was.

They're pretty hard to forget after that intense training

we put the two of them through.

Why'd they stop?

Calm down, there's nothing to worry about.

How can you even say that?

Those poor, frail women,