Chapter 38

"Ahaha, ohohoh, kuwuwuwu~"

After receiving permission to travel with Aichi, Shizuka felt extremely happy. She giggled strangely, covered her cheeks, and twisted her body. Her serious expression when answering Aichi seemed like a lie, and she put on a disappointed face.

"…Disgusting"

Yue whispered quietly on the side, but Shizuka's excellent rabbit ears accurately captured the low murmur.

"…Wait, what do you mean by disgusting! I can't help it if I'm too happy. After all, this is the first time Mr. Aichi has been so affectionate! Did you see? Aichi's final expression. I couldn't help but feel a little flutter in my heart. Now, the day when Aichi falls for me isn't far off~"

Shizuka was so overjoyed that she couldn't control herself. Aichi and Yue, who were annoyed by her, said in unison with a look of irritation:

"‘…Annoying Rabbit’"

"What! What do you mean by Annoying Rabbit! It's about time you called me by my name~ We are travel companions~ Do you really not plan to call me by my name properly from now on? It can't be, right?"

"…"

"Why are you silent? Wait, don't look away! Come on, Shizuka, X I Y A. Repeat after me, X I Y A" (4022li: Here, it's a play on "Repeat After Me" in Japanese... Where did Shizuka learn her English?)

Aichi and Yue ignored Shizuka's desperate efforts to get them to call her by her name and began discussing their future plans. Shizuka, with tears in her eyes, hugged them and said, "Don't ignore me~ I don't want to be left out by my companions~" It seemed that even as travel companions, Shizuka was still treated the same way.

Just as they were fooling around (only Shizuka was fooling around), several Horia people emerged from the mist. They appeared to have completed Aichi's task of monster hunting, returning with parts of the monsters as proof. Upon closer inspection, one of them was Kam.

Shizuka smiled at the sight of her long-lost family. Since she had clearly expressed her feelings to her family before starting her serious training, she hadn't seen them for ten days. Although it was only ten days, the training was so intense that Shizuka felt like she hadn't seen her family for several months.

Shizuka wanted to talk to her father Kam as soon as possible and had a mountain of things to report. However, before she could speak, she swallowed her words, noticing something strange about Kam's aura.

Kam, taking a step forward, glanced at Shizuka and then immediately turned his gaze back to Aichi. Then...

"BOSS. We have successfully hunted the monsters as part of the task. Is there anything else?"

"BOSS? Father? Your tone... and your entire aura..."

Completely ignoring Shizuka's confused voice, Kam and the others presented the torn monster teeth and claws. These monsters were among the higher-level ones that inhabited the forest.

"…I remember saying to kill just one..."

Aichi's task for graduation was for a team to hunt one higher-level monster. However, from the parts presented, it was clear that at least ten had been killed. In response to Aichi's question, Kam replied with a fearless smile:

"Yes, that's what I said. Halfway through the hunt, the monster's companions came out... They charged at us with a killing intent, so we gave them a grand welcome. Right, everyone?"

"That's right, BOSS. These guys were just monsters, yet they had the nerve to charge at us."

"We finished them off properly, not letting a single one escape."

"Although they were a pain... their cries were quite nice, hehe."

"Should we hang their bodies as a warning?"

"Well, we've already cut them into pieces, so it's fine as it is."

It was a parade of dangerous statements. There was not a trace of the gentle and peaceful rabbit people they used to be. Their eyes gleamed, and they fearlessly smiled as they reported their dangerous battle to Aichi.

Shizuka, watching this, said in a daze:

"…Who are you?"

～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～

"What's going on?! Mr. Aichi, what's wrong with Father and the others?!"

"Calm down! It's just... the result of the training..."

"No, no, no, what kind of training can turn people into that? This is a completely different personality! Wait, don't look away! Look at me!"

"…Well, there have been a lot of changes, haven't there?"

"Are your eyes holes in a board! Look! He's been looking at that knife with pleasure since just now! Ah, just now, he called that little knife 'Juliet'! He named his knife and cherishes it so much! Isn't that terrifying in a normal sense~"

Shizuka's agitated voice echoed through the forest. Kam and the others looked at Shizuka and Aichi's interaction with a "What's going on?" expression, not quite understanding what was happening. More Horia people returned after the conversation, but all of them... how to put it... had become wild, not just the men, but the women, children, and even the elderly.

Shizuka, pointing at her transformed family, demanded an explanation from Aichi with a fierce momentum. Aichi, on the other hand, avoided her gaze with a troubled look, trying to evade her questions ambiguously.

Judging that she couldn't get an answer from Aichi, Shizuka turned her attention to Kam and the others.

"Father! Everyone! What's going on?! You all seem like different people! Ever since you started, you've been talking about scary things... Please return to normal!"

Kam, looking at Shizuka who was tightly gripping him, changed his piercing expression back to his usual gentle and kind one. Shizuka felt a bit relieved.

But...

"What are you talking about, Shizuka? We're perfectly normal. Thanks to BOSS, we've realized the truth of this world."

"Truth? What do you mean?"

Shizuka, with a sense of foreboding, asked Kam, who smiled and confidently declared:

"Nine out of ten problems in this world can be solved with violence."

"Sure enough, it's someone else! The gentle Father is dead~ waa~~~"

Shizuka, overwhelmed by the shock, started crying and was about to run into the forest to disappear. However, before she could run into the mist, she collided with a small figure, making an embarrassed "Ow" sound and falling to the ground.

The small figure quickly adjusted its balance and didn't fall, then extended a hand to the fallen Shizuka.

"Thank you"

"You're welcome, Shizuka-nee. It's only natural for a man to do this."

"Nee, Nee?"

Emerging from the thick mist was a Horia boy who was still a child. He carried a large crossbow on his back and had two small knives and a slingshot-like weapon on his waist. The boy had a rather cold and ruthless smile. Shizuka had never been called "Nee" before, and the boy used to call her "Shizuka-nee," so she was confused.

Ignoring Shizuka's confusion, the boy quickly walked up to Aichi and saluted him with admiration.

"BOSS! I'm very sorry for coming empty-handed! I have something to report! Requesting permission to speak!"

"Oh, oh. What is it?"

Seeing the boy's aura, which was like that of a seasoned soldier, Aichi now felt, as Shizuka had said, that he might have gone a bit too far. The boy, however, continued without hesitation.

"Yes! While tracking the target monster for the task, we discovered a group of fully armed bear people. The location is on the path to the Great Tree, and they seem to be planning to ambush us!"

"Ah, as expected. I thought they would come sooner... I see, they want to make us see our goal within reach and then crush us. That's quite a character. ...So?"

"Yes! If possible, can we, the Horia, be their opponents?"

"Hmm. What do you think, Kam? This is what he said."

Kam, taking over, smiled confidently and said with enthusiasm:

"If we can, please assign it to us. We want to test our strength against them... Don't worry, we won't let you see us in a bad light."

Hearing the chief's words, the entire Horia group showed a warlike expression. More and more people were calling out the names of their weapons, and Shizuka's expression turned to despair.

"…Can you do it?"

"Yes, sir!"

Aichi made the final confirmation, and the boy responded with a spirited answer. Aichi closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened them.

"Listen up! All of you, Horia! Brave and valiant warriors! From today, you have graduated from being worthless maggots! You are no longer just fodder to be eliminated! Crush all that is unreasonable with your strength! Subdue all hostility with your courage and wisdom! You are the strongest warriors! Teach the bear people, driven by their grudges and unable to judge the situation, that they are nothing but stepping stones! They are nothing but

[Beep] scoundrels! Build mountains of their corpses and rivers of their blood to prove yourselves! Prove that you have been reborn! Prove to the entire forest that the Horia have been reborn!"

"‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘Sir, Yes, Sir!!’’’’’’’’’"

"Answer me! All of you! As the strongest and highest warriors! What do you desire!"

"‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘Kill!! Kill!! Kill!!’’’’’’’’’"

"What is your specialty!" (4022li: Long ears)

"‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘Kill!! Kill!! Kill!!’’’’’’’’’"

"How will you deal with the enemy!"

"‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘Kill!! Kill!! Kill!!’’’’’’’’’"

"That's right! Kill! You can do it! Earn the right to survive with your own hands!"

"‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘Aye, Aye, Sir!!’’’’’’’’’"

"Good spirit! All of you, Horia! My order is only one! Search and Destroy! (Search And Destroy) Go!"

"‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘YAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!’’’’’’’’’"

"Ow~ Sure enough, my family is dead~"

The Horia people responded to Aichi's command with astonishing spirit and disappeared into the mist. Were there ever a gentle and peaceful race that avoided conflict? Anyone who saw this scene could only say such a thing. Shizuka, looking at her transformed family once more, fell to her knees and cried, her sobs echoing through the forest. Yue, unable to bear it, slowly stroked Shizuka's head to comfort her.

The boy ran past the sobbing Shizuka, and Shizuka immediately called out to him.

"Baru-kun! Wait! Look, there are pretty flowers here? You don't have to go... Let's wait here together? Okay? Let's do that?"

It seemed that Shizuka still wanted to bring the young boy back to the right path, pointing to the beautiful flowers blooming nearby and trying to persuade him. This was because the boy used to be the one who loved flowers so much that he called them "flower ladies."

The flower-loving boy, no, the boy Baru, sighed and shrugged his shoulders, as if in a dramatic European-style reaction.

"Shizuka-nee, it's not nice to bring up someone's past. I've already abandoned my past self. That soft, flower-loving heart is gone."

By the way, Baru is eleven years old.

"Huh? Past? Abandoned past? I don't quite understand, are you no longer fond of flowers?"

"Yes, I've abandoned that feeling along with my past."

"How can you, when you loved them so much..."

"It's like a mistake from my youth."

Again, Baru is eleven years old.

"Anyway, Shizuka-nee."

"What is it?"

Seeing the change in the boy who used to call her "Shizuka-nee" and admire her, often picking flowers for her, Shizuka's mind naturally began to avoid reality, making it difficult for her to even respond to Baru's call. However, Baru's next words were like a final blow.

"I've discarded my weak name along with my past. I am now Barudo Ferudo. From now on, please call me [The Destroyer Barudo Ferudo]."

"Who are you! Where did Barudo Ferudo come from?! And what's with 'The Destroyer'!?"

"Oh, sorry, my companions are waiting, I have to go, so!"

"Ah, wait, what 'so'! We haven't finished talking, it's so fast! Wait! Please wait~"

Shizuka, like a woman abandoned by her lover, reached out her hand towards the mist and fell to the ground. No one responded to her, and her family all rushed bravely to the battlefield. Shizuka, with her head hanging low in dejection, sobbed again. The family she knew was gone, and her sad appearance was both heart-wrenching and moving.

Yue looked at Shizuka with an indescribable, subtle expression, while Aichi looked troubled and awkward, his gaze wandering. Yue looked at Aichi and whispered:

"…As expected of Aichi, to calmly do something humans can't do"

"No, why do you know that NETA...?"

"…To brainwash without dark magic… so strong"

"To be honest, I do feel I went a bit too far, but I'm not regretting or reflecting on it."

For a while after that, in the place where the Horia had left, only Shizuka's sobbing and a subtle atmosphere lingered.