Songs in the Void

Arifureta Universe, Tortus, Haultina Sea of Trees.

The blame game the Haulia Tribe of rabbit beastmen played lasted for a little while longer. All the while, the tiger beastman patrol team watched them with exasperated expressions on their faces. And although it was only a guess, Tatsuo, Sumire, and Aletia saw their leader's expression and thought that he was having second thoughts about allowing the Haulia Tribe's return to the Sea of Trees.

Luckily, just before the sun started to set, the shameless rabbits ended their game. Then, they separated from the patrol team and headed deeper into the Sea of Trees. And just like the tiger beastmen said, after a certain point, the fog got so thick that not even the Haulia Tribe could go any further without getting lost.

"This is as far as we can take you for now." Cam said after understanding that they had gone as far as they could. "We'll have to wait until the fog thins. It shouldn't be much more than a fortnight, though."

"I guess so." Tatsuo replied with a shrug as he deactivated his [Stealth]. "For now, we should probably set up some houses and what not. Then, I'll draw a big magic circle around the area to alert us if anyone is approaching this little settlement we'll be setting up. Don't want anyone to see Shea or the rest of us, for that matter."

"Yeah, judging by the way they talked about her when she wasn't here, it's easy to see that they don't think too well of her." Sumire said while shaking her head.

"It's probably because she's a shameless rabbit like the rest of her tribe." Aletia said in a harsh tone while glaring at Shea, who was still holding Tatsuo's hand despite the fact that he had dropped his [Stealth Skill].

"Says the girl who's still hanging from his neck." Sumire said while shooting a pointed glare at Aletia. "Or did you forget, I'm still his only official girlfriend. So, could you please let go of my boyfriend?"

"Tch!" Aletia clicked her tongue as she turned away from Sumire. Even so, she did not let go of Tatsuo.

"Actually, I need to get to work." Tatsuo said as he let go of both Sumire and Shea's hands before taking Aletia off his back. "I need to build houses, a training field, and set up the detection magic circle around the area. *Sigh* This is gonna take a long time."

"Well, if you set up somewhere for us to cook, I'll make sure you have a meal when you're done." Sumire said with a smile.

"Tch!" Aletia clicked her tongue again, as she found out that she was not the best cook during the time since she was rescued from the sealed room.

A moment later, Tatsuo separated from the rest of the group and used [Alchemy] to create a number of tree houses for the Haulia tribe to use. However, in the houses meant for the beastmen, he did not make any of his convenient magic circles for cooking or cleaning, since without mana, they would not be able to activate any of them. Still, he did make stoves and the like using some of the metals he took from the Abode of Liberators at the end of the True Orcus Great Labyrinth. He even made several years' worth of firewood for them.

Once he was done with all the construction, which took almost two hours, he started working on the [Detection Magic Circle]. And because the area was so large, and he had to carve the circle into the ground, he once again employed [Alchemy] to do the job. And that process took another hour.

By the time Tatsuo was finished, the sun had set, the moon hung high in the sky, and the Sea of Trees was even darker than before. However, just as promised, Sumire had a meal waiting for him as soon as he came back from doing his work.

"I thought you were going to set up a training field." Sumire said as she set a plate of food made from the monsters in the Reisen Gorge.

"I was going to." Tatsuo replied after nodding his head in thanks. Then, while cutting into the meat, he continued. "But since I plan on taking advantage of the rabbit beastmen's natural gifts, namely, strong senses, stealth, and powerful legs, I thought it would be better to leave things the way they are."

"I guess that makes sense." Sumire replied with a nod. "But what are we going to do with Shea-San? It's obvious to anyone who looks at her that she wants to leave with us."

"But she's too weak." Aletia said.

"Then, we'll have to train her." Tatsuo said after chewing and swallowing a bite of his dinner. "And I'll leave that to you two. But training her like the rest of her tribe would be the wrong move. I mean, she's really strong. Like stupid strong. She can probably raise her Strength by sacrificing mana or something like that."

"I'll keep that in mind." Sumire said with a nod. "We should probably do our best to teach her how to best control her mana, too."

"Yeah." Tatsuo replied with a nod.

"But what should we do about taking her with us?" Aletia asked. "Humans don't treat beastmen very well. They may try to kidnap her into slavery."

Hearing that, Tatsuo smiled. However, this smile was nothing like his usual smiles. No, instead of either a fake smile that tried to imitate those around him or a mischievous one that had been gracing his lips more often as of late. This smile was filled with malice.

"That would be a bad idea." Tatsuo said in a grim tone. "A very bad idea. And anyone who tries, I guarantee, they won't like the consequences."

In response, Sumire only shook her head with a warm, affectionate smile on her lips. Meanwhile, Aletia looked at Tatsuo like she was ready to pounce on her prey. However, she glanced at Sumire for a moment before snorting and looking away, knowing that the black- and white-haired young woman would stop her if she tried to cross the line.

After that, the rest of the night passed peacefully, the Haulia Tribe unaware of the training they would be forced to endure. For, at the very least, the next two weeks.

The next day, after everyone had the chance to eat breakfast, Tatsuo, Sumire, and Aletia stood in front of the entirety of the Haulia Tribe they were able to rescue. 

"Okay, everyone." Tatsuo said, addressing the gathered beastmen with a smile. "I know some of you are wondering why you're here, right?"

With confusion all over their face, many of the Haulia tribesmen nodded in response.

"Well, it's simple." Tatsuo continued, his smile widening as he did so. "Shea-San asked me to protect all of you when I rescued her. Unfortunately, I don't plan to stay here forever to act as your protector. And that goes for Sumire-San and Aletia, too."

Hearing that, the expressions on the faces of the Haulia tribesman was a sight to see. A mixture between dread and pleading. Yet, they did not open their mouths to protest, as they could all tell that Tatsuo's words had not come to an end.

"So, I came up with a better solution." Tatsuo said as he took a pair of bladed knuckle dusters crafted from a very sturdy wood out of his [Inventory]. "I'll teach you to protect yourselves and keep your tribe safe. After all, giving a man a fish can feed him for a day. But teaching that same man to fish could feed him for a lifetime, right?"

"What?" A rabbitman youth shouted in disbelief. "No way!"

"But... But we don't like violence." A rabbitman woman said apprehensively.

"That's right!" A second young man shouted. "We believe in passivism."

"And that's a very noble, if not misguided, path." Tatsuo said while shaking his head. "But do you think the people who want to enslave you will care that you don't like to act in violence? Will that stop them from forcing you and your families into slavery?"

The rabbitmen had no idea how to answer either of those questions. Rather, they knew exactly what the answers to those questions were. Yet, they did all they could to ignore reality. However, Tatsuo's next words managed to light a fire under all of them.

"And just think about it." Tatsuo said while briefly making eye contact with all the rabbitmen present. "Do you intend to leave your fellow tribesmen in the situations they found themselves in? Are you okay with letting them suffer until the day they die?"

This time, instead of looking lost or despaired, the members of the Haulia Tribe all had a flame of determination burning in their eyes. And when Tatsuo saw that, he smiled to himself.

'It's like a watered-down version of the [Talk no Jutsu].' Tatsuo thought to himself. 'High [Charm] definitely has its perks. I still don't think it would be enough to turn an enemy into a friend or make a bad guy so remorseful that he would kill himself. But hey... it's a start.'

Not long after that, Tatsuo took most of the Haulia tribesmen with him to begin their training. The only exception was Shea, who was left behind with Sumire and Aletia.

"Um... Hi..." Shea said shyly while waving bashfully. "Can I... Um...ask you guys something?"

"Sure." Sumire replied with a friendly smile.

"Do you think I could... Um... Maybe... Uh..." Shea stammered while her eyes swam around the area.

"You're too weak." Aletia said in a nearly emotionless tone, cutting off Shea's stuttering.

"Huh?" Shea asked in a confused tone.

"You're too weak to come with us." Aletia reiterated in the same tone.

Hearing that, Shea's eyes widened in surprise. A moment later, however, her eyes started to water.

"How? How did you...?" Shea asked.

"It's obvious from the way you look at him, you know." Sumire said in a much gentler tone. "But Aletia-San is right. You're too weak for what we plan to do. And letting you come with us would be dangerous for you."

In response, Shea lowered her head as she clenched her fists while the tears that had been accumulating in her eyes began to fall.

"But we'll give you a chance." Sumire said as she patted Shea on the shoulder.

Immediately, Shea's head shot up so that she could look Sumire in the eyes.

"We'll train you until we're ready to continue our journey." Sumire continued with a smile. "And if you can reach our standards, we'll let you come with us."

Hearing that, just like her tribesman from a few minutes ago, Shea's eyes were lit ablaze with determination as she clenched her fists even tighter. However, before she could get too excited, Aletia spoke once again, dumping a bucket of freezing water on her enthusiasm.

"But you better not think it will be easy." Aletia said coldly. "Honestly, I don't want to bring you with us. So, my standards will be outrageously high. And if you can't meet them, I'll be the first to tell Tatsuo that we should leave you behind. Got it."

"Yes, I understand, Miss Aletia." Shea said while nodding her head vigorously, her ears flopping up and down with her head movements. "Don't worry, I'll push myself to the limit and beyond. I promise, I won't disappoint you."

Seeing Shea's determination, Sumire and Aletia had totally different reactions. While Sumire smiled encouragingly at the younger rabbit girl, Aletia frowned in displeasure. As she said, she did not want Shea to begin traveling with their group, as there would be more girls after Tatsuo's attention.

"Anyway, let's get started." Sumire said while patting Shea on the shoulder. "First things first, we need to determine what kind of weapon would be best for you. Do you have any kind of training with a specific weapon?"

In response, Shea only shook her head.

Seeing that, Sumire took quite a few weapons that Tatsuo made out of her storage ring. Then, she lined them up one by one in front of Shea. And there were every kind of weapon from daggers to morning stars.

"Go ahead, try each weapon." Sumire said with a smile. A moment later, after Shea picked up one of the weapons, a flamberge, Sumire continued in a much stricter tone. "Once you've decided on your weapon of choice, your training will begin. And we won't be going easy on you."

Hearing the severity in Sumire's tone, Shea subconsciously swallowed a mouthful of saliva. Even so, she nodded her head, the determination in her eyes not diminished in the slightest.

Arifureta Universe, Tortus, Heiligh Kingdom, Royal Capital.

Two days have since Tatsuo, Sumire, and Aletia started training the rabbit beastmen in the Haultina Sea of Trees. That means that three days have passed since the messenger from the Hoelscher Empire delivered the message of their envoy's journey. Meaning, the envoy should arrive sometime today.

Because of the envoy's visit, the Hero Party, which would have normally been training in the Orcus Great Labyrinth, had been stuck at the castle since then.

"They should be here soon, right?" James asked himself while sitting in the castle's dining room. "Because just sitting here at the castle is a pain in the ass. It's boring enough here without TV, internet, or video games. And they took away the only thing that's been fun since I got here because of a visiting diplomat."

"Come on, Alaverus, it's not that bad." Hajime said while smiling awkwardly. "Taking a little time to relax isn't so bad, is it?"

"Maybe if I were actually pushing myself in that dungeon." James said in an annoyed tone. "But everything in there is too weak to even call a challenge. Maybe I should just start exploring alone. I could probably make better progress that way, too."

"Please don't do that, Alaverus-Kun---" Kaori, who was sitting next to Hajime, said in a somewhat panicked tone. 

"How many times do I have to tell you?" James said, raising his hand to interrupt Kaori. He then raised a hand to his face and started rubbing his left cheek. "Stop it with the honorifics. You're gonna trigger my PTSD."

By now, everyone in the class had heard that same statement more than once. However, no one knew the story behind it. And whenever someone asked James about it, he would just look off into the distance with a blank expression on his face.

["Would you stop with the melodrama?"] Ddraig asked while he would definitely be rolling his eyes if he could. ["It wasn't even that bad. You just got slapped for telling Red about herself. Besides, she had already stopped with the forced honorifics by then, right?"]

'I know.' James replied while smiling internally. 'But they don't know that. And that lost look on their faces never gets old. Oh, look! There it is now.'

And just as James said to Ddraig, both Hajime and Kaori looked as if they didn't know what to do. At the same time, Kaori looked apologetic for bringing up a past trauma.

["*Sigh* Are you ever going to grow up?"] Ddraig asked in an exasperated, yet amused, tone.

'Probably?' James replied while chuckling internally. 'Check back in about a thousand years and we'll see if anything has changed.'

"Um... Anyway... Without you, we would have been in much more danger." Kaori said in an awkward tone. "We might have lost even more of our classmates."

"And he's the reason for us losing one of them in the first place." Kouki said as he led Shizuku, Ryutaro, Eri, and Suzu over to the table where James, Hajime, and Kaori sat.

"Yeah, and without me all of you would have died at least once because of your recklessness in the dungeon. So, I don't see your point."

"You think we really need your help?" Kouki asked in an irritated tone.

"No, not in the beginning." James replied. "Meld would have been more than enough to act as a babysitter. But the deeper we go, the stronger the monsters are. And as skilled as Meld may be, he just can't keep up anymore."

"Why you!" Kouki growled.

"Honestly, if it were up to me, I would have just sent you all into the dungeon without a chaperone." James said, ignoring Kouki's indignation. "Sure, it would have been a lot more dangerous for you. And you probably would have lost even more people than we already have. But at least you would have understood what it was you signed up for by just following this overly charismatic idiot with no awareness of the situation or anything around him."

"What are you talking about, Alaverus?" Shizuku asked curiously while placing a hand on Kouki's shoulder to calm him down. Though, she was pretty sure she knew what James would say next.

"You all agreed to fight this country's war." James said in a deep tone. "Do any of you have any idea what that means?"

With James' question, the entire dining room fell silent, not just the group who normally ventured into the Labyrinth, but all the other students and the teacher, Aiko, as well.

"Of course we do." Kouki said in a self-righteous tone. "We're here to save these people from the demons."

Hearing that, James could only shake his head in disappointment.

"Does that mean that any of you are ready to kill?" James asked not only Kouki but the rest of his class.

And what he saw was that that question made everyone look uncomfortable.

"Because that's what it means to be a soldier in a war." James continued. "And judging by your expressions, none of you are ready for that."

Reaching that point, James placed his hands on the table he was sitting at before pushing himself up and turning to leave the dining room. However, before he could take more than two steps, a steward of the castle entered the dining room.

"Please excuse me, Chosen Heroes." The steward said while bowing his head politely. "But His Majesty requests your presences in the throne room, for the envoy from the Hoelscher Empire has arrived."

Hearing that, James sighed in annoyance once again before he continued walking towards the dining room's door. A moment later, the rest of the class, still feeling uneasy thanks to James' question, followed him towards the throne room.