Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou (LN) - Volume 14 - Chapter 9.2

“She’s going to grow up a lot faster than you expect. Girls always do,” Remia said with a smile.

“Is that so?” Hajime asked, looking down at her.

“It is. Does it make you happy to see her grow, dear?”

Hajime brushed a strand of hair out of Remia’s eyes and shrugged his shoulders.

“Of course it does... Well, okay, not completely. It does feel a little sad to see her grow up so fast. I wish it’d happen a little slower.”

“My, my. I’m afraid that’s impossible.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because she herself wants to grow up as fast as possible. She wants to be a certain someone’s bride, after all.”

“......”

“Girls who have a husband in mind grow up even faster, you know?”

Just then, Hajime heard Myu yell, “Oh, mama’s getting a lap pillow! I’m so jealous!” and all he could do was chuckle. Remia got off of Hajime’s lap and waved at her daughter.

“Well, doesn’t it make you happy, dear?” she asked, glancing over at Hajime. There was no good answer to that question, so Hajime pulled out his ultimate trump card.

“Huh? What’d you say?” he asked, bringing out the cliché but always effective “pretending not to hear” strat. That particular skill was normally reserved for the main character rather than the Demon Lord, but Hajime wasn’t picky about what techniques he used. Unsurprisingly Remia just smiled knowingly.

Meanwhile, Liliana frowned and muttered, “Hang on, have I just become a third wheel?”

It was too awkward to insert herself into this conversation, but at the same time, it was too awkward to get off of Hajime’s lap and do something else.

“Mama, Lily-oneechan, are you two okay now?”

“Yes, seeing your smiling face made me full of energy again,” Remia said, patting her daughter’s head. It felt a little strange, since Myu’s head was twenty centimeters above where it normally was.

Thanks for the save, Myu-chan! Liliana thought, taking the opportunity to sit up and show that she’d fully recovered as well.

“Yep, I’m doing great now too! But I think I’ve had my fill of entrusting my life to contraptions I don’t fully understand.”

“You’re exaggerating, Lily, roller coasters aren’t that bad,” Shizuku said with a shake of her head.

“Don’t worry, Lily. Even if you die, I can just bring you back to life!” Kaori declared with a smile.

“That just makes me even more worried.”

“Should we go on a gentler ride next, Hajime?” Yue asked.

“Ha ha ha, sorry, but I think I’m all roller coastered out as well,” Aiko said with a tired smile. Magic could easily heal motion sickness, but even so, thrill rides were mentally taxing.

“Sounds good. It’s about time we got lunch too, so...”

“Oh, can we go here before lunch?! Please?!” Shea exclaimed, jumping up and down as she pointed to a corner of the map.

“Oh, an escape room? And it’s themed after that one famous ninja movie.”

It wasn’t quite a traditional escape room with puzzles, but rather a more athletic attraction that involved escaping a maze while running from people trying to catch you. It was themed after a famous movie where the protagonist, who’s the descendant of a ninja clan, has to become a spy to save his country.

“Yep! And I was thinking, what if we make it into a contest? Whoever escapes first...” Shea paused there and looked over at Yue and the others, then smiled confidently and said, “gets the right to ride the Ferris wheel alone with you!”

Suddenly, everyone’s eyes lit up.

“Don’t you think it’s unfair to make this attraction into a contest? No one can beat you in a battle of speed!”

“It’s perfectly fair, Lily-san. Think about it, this attraction is designed for even children to be able to play. In other words, you’re not required to be super fast. And while it’s not a traditional escape room, there are still some puzzles as well, so there are elements that play to everyone’s strengths.”

It seemed Shea had prepared her counterarguments ahead of time. Liliana couldn’t say anything to that, so she reluctantly fell silent.

“We haven’t decided who’s going to get to ride the Ferris wheel with Hajime-san yet, so this is the perfect way to make an impartial choice.”

The Ferris wheel was, of course, the quintessential ride to go on with your lover. Looking down on the land of dreams and wonder together with your beloved from up on high was bound to be a memorable experience.

Before they’d gone to the theme park, Yue and the others hadn’t really understood the appeal of a Ferris wheel, but Kaori had given a truly eloquent speech on the romantic nature of the Ferris wheel ride. However, it would take too much time for Hajime to ride with everyone one at a time, so they’d decided just one person would obtain the right to enter the gondola with Hajime.

Honestly, Hajime would have preferred it if they all rode together, but he knew it’d be tactless to say so. Thus, he wisely kept his mouth shut.

“Well, if you all think you don’t stand a chance against me even then, I suppose we stake the Ferris wheel ride with Hajime-san on something else.”

“You seem confident you’ll win...” Yue muttered. “Perhaps it’s time I reminded you that you’ll never be a match for me.”

“Yeah, maybe it’s time we taught Shea a lesson. She’s been getting too cocky recently,” Kaori said, a feral grin spreading across her face.

“It’s not a bad proposal, Shea. But I hope you haven’t forgotten, the Yaegashi family is—or well it might be—descended from ninjas, you know?”

“Umm, Shizuku-oneechan, is that actually going to help you?” Myu asked, cocking her head to one side.

“Does that mean they still haven’t come clean to you?” Aiko asked in an exasperated voice. They were doing a terrible job of hiding the Yaegashi family secret, so she figured they may as well come clean about it to their daughter.

Shizuku awkwardly averted her gaze. Though in truth, she’d seen the movie this attraction was based on numerous times as a kid. In fact, the box set for the entire movie series was sitting at home. Shizuku was an avid fan of ninja fiction, and she’d read a bunch of ninja novels as well. As a result, she’d put that out as her advantage over everyone else, but after Myu’s rebuttal, she’d realized that might not actually help her, and she’d suddenly grown embarrassed.

“Sounds good to me. Without a contest like this, we probably would have ended up simply deciding with rock-paper-scissors,” Tio said with a shrug.

They were completely fired up now, and Yue and the others strode resolutely toward the escape room.

Fool! I knew from the start that you had your eyes on this particular attraction, which is why I investigated it ahead of time! You’re three hundred years too early to challenge me! Yue thought.

You messed up, Shea. Why were you under the impression that this is my first time coming to this attraction? I’ve already cleared it twice! Kaori thought.

I’m sorry, everyone, but information is the key to every battle. I’m the only one who knows that they revamped the attraction with a new set of puzzles today. Of course, I used family connections to obtain this information, but all’s fair in love and war... Shizuku thought.

We’ll have to spend some time waiting in line, right? Maybe I can use spirit magic during that time to project my soul into the room and... No, wait, I’m a teacher! I can’t be setting a bad example for my students! But still... Aiko thought.

I can read your thoughts like the back of my hand. Pathetic. The battle starts well before we arrive at the battlefield, youngsters. And I’ve already decided to give up on this match and lead Myu to victory instead! That way, I’m sure Master will reward me handsomely and... He he he he! Tio thought.

I’ll be sure to keep my eyes peeled, all for the sake of gathering more information and improving the economy of my nation, of course! Liliana thought.

Only Myu was unaware of the battle raging within everyone’s minds as she excitedly ran to keep up with the others. Her innocence made everyone else’s corrupted hearts seem darker than ever by contrast. Hajime couldn’t bear to see how low his girlfriends had sunk and looked away in shame.

“You’re not going to compete with them, Remia?” he asked, noticing that Remia was hanging back with him.

“I do wish to ride the Ferris wheel with you as well, of course, but I’ll let the others have this particular reward. Besides...”

“Besides, what?” Hajime asked. Remia placed a finger over her lips and winked conspiratorially at him.

“It’s obvious who’s going to win this.”

She gave him a cute smile, her eyes twinkling with hidden wisdom.

Indeed, everything went as she’d predicted.

“I won!” Shea shouted, pumping her fists into the air.

“You damned overpowered rabbit...” Yue grumbled.

“How could this happen...?” Kaori muttered.

“To think our scheming would come back to bite us...” Shizuku said.

“I was able to defeat the devil on my shoulder! I did the proper thing as a teacher! That’s victory enough for me...” Aiko said.

“I was so, so close!” Tio wailed. All five of them had dropped to their knees and were pounding their fists against the ground. It was honestly kind of embarrassing to watch for Hajime.

Liliana was just smiling darkly though and she muttered, “He he he, fascinating. If I adjusted the difficulty, this could be transformed from mere amusement to a worldwide competition that attracts the attention of all nations... We could hold a contest once every few years to celebrate and commemorate peace. Regardless of which nation wins, as the host, our Heiligh would reap the most profit. Ha ha ha ha ha ha!”

She pulled a notepad out of her pocket and started furiously writing down ideas. Her expression was terrifying. Even Myu was starting to ignore her now.

“That was amazing, Shea-oneechan! I couldn’t catch up to you at all!”

“You were amazing too, Myu! You had the second-best time in the world!”

“He he he, it’s because I’ve been spending a lot of time in the training room!”

“Yeah, about that...”

When Hajime had remodeled the Nagumo house, he’d created a training room underground and Myu had been spending a lot of time there learning how to fight. Not because she needed to, of course, but because she looked up to Hajime and the others and wanted to become like them. Furthermore, she knew that there was no telling what life might throw at you, which was why she’d asked Hajime and the others to train her. Her sincerity had immediately won everyone over and they’d readily agreed.

She’d only been training for two months, but she was already stronger, faster, and smarter than most kids even twice her age, hence why she’d been the second fastest out of the escape room. In fact, she’d moved so fast that Tio hadn’t even had a chance to support her from the shadows.

“Hajime-san, Hajime-san, Hajime-san, Hajime-san, I won!” Shea shouted, making a peace sign in front of Hajime.

“You really went all out, huh?” Hajime said with an exasperated sigh. Shea really had pulled out all the stops for this attraction. She’d even used her unique ability to see into the future. It was easy to forget, since Shea was so physically strong, but her actual job was Diviner. She could see a few seconds into the future, and also see how the future would branch out based on the decisions she made. Since this was an escape room meant for kids, most of the riddles were multiple choice rather than ones where you had to fill in an answer.

The mazes weren’t all that complicated either. As a result, even a few seconds of future sight was enough to completely trivialize the entire attraction for Shea. Furthermore, she was the most athletic out of everyone. Of course, the physical fitness requirements for this attraction were low enough that regular kids wouldn’t have any trouble clearing it, but that didn’t change the fact that if you were trying to run through the shortest route in the fastest time, speed was a valuable asset, especially since it let you parkour around the maze and take shortcuts no one else could. Shea’s form had been so perfect that it even put Olympic gymnasts to shame. As a result, she’d set a record time that no one else in the world would be able to beat. And on top of that, she was a real beauty, so naturally, she’d gotten a lot of looks as she’d zipped around the room.

Indeed, people were still staring at her even now. To the kids, she was practically a superhero and their eyes were sparkling in admiration.

“I take it you predicted this, Remia?”

“I knew from the start that Shea-san would have an overwhelming advantage, yes,” Remia said with a smile. She’d known Shea would be desperate for a Ferris wheel ride with Hajime, which meant she’d go all out. In which case, there was no way anyone else could win. Thus, she’d chosen not to waste her energy on a losing battle.

“Now then, Hajime-san...” Shea said, shedding her coat. It seemed the exercise had warmed her up enough that she needed to strip off some layers. She was wearing a T-shirt that exposed much of her cleavage underneath, as well as a miniskirt and knee-high socks. She clasped her hands behind her back and looked pleadingly up at Hajime, her bunny ears and tail swinging back and forth.

“You’ll give me my reward, right?” she asked in such a cute tone that all of the nearby guys, even some of the elementary school kids, clutched their chests. The guys who had wives or girlfriends got cold looks from their partners, but that didn’t stop them. Hajime could only pray that Shea hadn’t awoken new fetishes in these guys.

“All right, all right, should we go now, then?”

“Yes, please! I’ve heard the Ferris wheel is even better at night, but it’ll be more crowded then, so let’s just go now!”

Smiling brightly, Shea wrapped her arm around Hajime’s, pressing her breasts against him. Unsurprisingly, all of the guys started blushing, but some of the girls did too.

At this rate, the whole park would be captivated by Shea. However, some of the people glanced over at Yue and the others, who were still slumped on the ground like losers, and started muttering things like, “Were they all fighting over that boy?” and “Wait, does that mean they’re all part of his harem?”

A few of the park attendants smiled threateningly at Hajime.

“Come on, get up, Yue. You too, Kaori. Let’s get going.”

“I wanted to ride the Ferris wheel with you Hajime...” Yue muttered, glaring angrily at Shea.

Myu stood imposingly in front of Yue and declared, “You lost fair and square, Yue-oneechan, Kaori-oneechan, Shizuku-oneechan, Tio-oneechan! Stop whining!”

“Yes, ma’am,” the four of them said in unison. Myu then slapped Liliana to bring her back to her senses and started walking over toward the Ferris wheel.

Somehow, Myu had become the coolest of them all.

◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

Shea hummed happily to herself as she sat down in the Ferris wheel gondola next to Hajime. She then leaned out past him to take a look outside the window.

“Shea, wanna swap spots? It’ll make it easier to see out the window.” Hajime asked. All he could see right now was the side of her face, and her hand kept sliding back and forth along his thigh as she tried to settle into a more comfortable position.

Shea turned back to him and said, “Come on, are you really going to ask that?”

“I mean, all I can see is your face right now, so...”

“You mean all you’re looking at is me? How romantic!”

“I meant that literally.”

Of course, if Hajime turned all the way to the side, he could see out the window, but Shea was still so close to him that you’d think they were in a packed train rather than a spacious Ferris wheel gondola.

Every single time Shea turned excitedly back to Hajime to point out some new exciting thing she’d seen, their noses practically touched. She really was sticking to him like glue.

“Listen up, Hajime-san, this is actually the perfect place to be sitting.”

“And why’s that?”

“Because I can see you and the scenery at the same time. Plus, I get to cuddle up with you. It’s killing three birds with one stone. There’s no way I’m giving up this seat.”

I see.

“Well, if you’re happy with this, then it’s fine with me.”

“Ufu fu fu, you’re always like that, Hajime-san. You’re always too nice to us. Btw, Yue-san and Kaori-san were saying the same thing.”

Since when did you pick up internet slang like “btw”?

Hajime wasn’t exactly trying to be extra nice, so he scratched his cheek awkwardly. Shea smiled gently at Hajime and kissed him on the cheek. At the same time, she rested her bunny ears on his head, basically wrapping herself around him.

“You went through a lot of effort to set this trip up for us, didn’t you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Hajime said, not meeting Shea’s gaze.

She pressed herself against him and said, “Thank you so much. I’m—No, we’re all extremely happy right now. If you spoil us any further, we’ll just become layabouts so you’ve gotta stop.”

Shea rubbed her ears against Hajime’s forehead as she said that. While the main reason she’d wanted to ride the Ferris wheel alone with Hajime was so she could flirt with him, in truth, she’d also wanted an opportunity to thank him in private.