Arifureta After III Brutal Hero Shia Arc Now, I Become The Wind! Desuu!
.
Around the time when the sun would soon reach the zenith.
A cute humming was resounding in a corner of the courtyard in the palace of Balted Kingdom.
「Funfunfu~n♪ Fufu~n♪ You are really late Hajime-sa~n♪ Come quickly Yue-sa~n♪ The bunny of~, Nagumo Family is riight heere you know~♪」
Correction. An original song that surpassed a humming was resounding. From Shia.
Her rabbit ears were twitching *piko piko*, and her rabbit tail was shaking *shake shake* while she was singing. Several maids including Dahlia were watching such Shia smilingly.
If Shia was singing while admiring the flowers that were blooming profusely in the courtyard, surely they would watch enraptured at a beautiful girl frolicking with flowers.
Though unfortunately, what Shia was admiring right now was a lump of metal.
「Pain, pain, fly away~, my soul friend Schutaif-ta~n♪」
Shia’s soul buddy――magically powered two-wheeled Schutaif.
It was her beloved vehicle that was sent flying from a lightning spear of several hundred million volts. It was damaged here and there, but when Shia diligently checked it like this in the courtyard, it seemed that it didn’t have any fatal damage. It was a small mercy that the weapons loaded in it didn’t explode. Right now she was washing it with appreciation of its service to her.
Now then, Shia who literally made his majesty Arogan who suddenly appeared at the breakfast went splat, why was she working hard to give maintenance to Schutaif as though nothing had happened……
The truth was that his majesty the demon king Arogan was apparently a kind of clone. A spirit art or something that Louis was also able to perform after a fashion.
It was a body made from spirit element, so naturally it could also fly. It could also perform pseudo teleportation by means of binding and reconstructing spirit element. Because one could travel far faster with it rather than traveling in the flesh, it was often used as messenger or the like.
It was a convenient spirit art, but in the end it was something like an illusion that only created outer appearance using spirit element. Originally it didn’t have material body, to say nothing of performing magic with it.
But, in regard to that, it was just as expected from the demon king. In a feat of skill the clone was given a substantial body and the caster could even use spirit magic remotely through it to a certain degree, resulting in a creation of a clone that was completely the same like the real thing.
Although, even for someone at the level of the demon king, “Shia-style straightforward right straight” seemed to be beyond his imagination.
Not only in the senses of the fist’s power and speed, but also in the sense of experiencing getting punched in the face by a girl of that age.
Seeing his majesty Arogan who was smashed apart and reduced into sparkling particles, his majesty Eric and Greg made twitching face, while Louise smiled widely, Phil went pale, and Dahlia showed a face that was even more sparkling than the particles.
Within the atmosphere of heavy silence, they broke up for the time being to take care of various businesses including confirming the true intention of his majesty Arogan who suddenly visited. Shia didn’t really have anything she particularly needed to do, so that was why she was servicing Schutaif appreciatively like this. She was passionately wiping the frame with a sponge that came with it.
(Come to think of it, I missed my chance to mention about Hajime-san……)
Shia suddenly remembered and her hand stopped in thought.
The arrival of her popular period that visited her suddenly. She felt an emotion that was akin to bewilderment. After all, until Shia encountered Hajime she was living under the concealment of her family. Before she met Hajime, she had never interacted with opposite sex other than her relatives.
And then, since her existence was discovered in Fea Belgen, she was swimming desperately in a sea of malice and hostility. Even after meeting with Hajime, even though there were people who desired Shia as slave, there wasn’t anyone who came into contact with her with pure affection.
Of course, it was also caused by Shia blatantly directing her immense affection toward Hajime alone, so no one tried to lay their hand on her but……
Anyway, she had almost zero experience of being popular. Since coming to earth, sometimes there would be passerby attracted by Shia’s appearance and made a pass on her (a part of the classmates called them the hero passerby), so it wasn’t like her experience with this was non existence.
But, most of the time beautiful women and girls like Yue and others would be nearby, naturally those people’s eyes would be turned toward them too, so her awareness that “I am popular” was thin.
Furthermore, even those occurrences lately never happened. Hajime created the artifact of the recognition obstruction, and even before that Hajime’s existence was well-known. Man who tried to make a pass at Shia wasn’t a hero passerby anymore, they were already nothing more than an applicant for a novel way of suicide.
(Nufufu~, that Hajime-san, even though he is endeavoring to be peaceful, when it come to us he will immediately enter demon king mode)
Shia sang in a good mood while polishing Schutaif diligently.
(He should come to pick me up tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow at the latest, it will be fine if I introduce him then~)
While she was thinking lightly like that, the shining slime Udar who was on Shia’s head like usual called out to her.
『……It’s really something.』
「Eh? What is?」
Shia tilted her head. Udar jiggled *poyoyon* and leaped on top of Schutaif while continuing his word.
『After receiving my lightning, how did it come out of it with only a part of its armor blown away? What is it made of?』
「Rather, I was the one who was shocked that its armor was blown away even if only a part of it though.」
『That war hammer too. In the end I couldn’t destroy it and could only make you let go of it. I know nothing that boasted toughness to such degree even among divine spirit arms.』
「Divine spirit arms? What is that?」
According to Udar, tool that was using spirit element was called as spirit instrument. And even among them, tool that was forged personally by divine spirit was apparently called as divine spirit arms. It seemed to possess powerful strength that was in a different level from divine spirit arms.
Actually, the great sword that his majesty Eric possessed, that too was a divine spirit arms that were handed down from generation to generation in the kingdom. Its name was “Tarnada”, and it was able to manipulate wind.
「Hee……it’s like what we called artifact in our place. But, if it’s something that Udar-san’s people created, aren’t you going to take it back now that they are opposing your side?」
『It won’t be able to do anything to us anyway when it’s used in the capacity that human can handle.』
It wouldn’t amount much to anything if not by abnormal being like Shia or exceptional existence like his majesty Arogan. By the way, according to Udar, Louis also possessed strength that was close to his majesty Arogan. When he wielded his full strength and worked together with his majesty Eric when he was using a divine spirit arms, the two of them might possibly display strength that was equal or surpassing his majesty Arogan.
「But, a divine spirit was repelled when attacking the demon kingdom wasn’t it?」
『It wasn’t me. It was Oros.』
「Oros-san? Is it a different divine spirit?」
『Correct. He is the divine spirit of earth. I met him before coming here. Oros told me that apparently the spirit element weapon of that country is even more of a threat than the demon king.』
There Udar was emitting a dark atmosphere that could be guessed even with his light sphere form.
『I was told, that the earth was screaming.』
「The earth, was screaming?」
『What that country created thoroughly sucked up the spirit element of the earth. Not only that, it seemed that even the spirits of earth were sucked in to bring in destruction.』
It was as though the earth was screaming at that time. That was why Oros pulled back.
Certainly, Oros who received terrific destruction was injured in his soul, but it wasn’t to the degree that he had to retreat. However, he was unable to continue listening to the scream of the earth even more than that.
『Objectively speaking, it might be a bad move on Oros’s part to retreat like that.』
If he kept attacking, the demon kingdom might fell. In the end, he was only postponing the problem. The earth might be screaming again in the future.
Oros understood that and yet didn’t attack till the end was because of his terror. It wasn’t a terror for his own destruction, it was a terror toward the scream of the children, the spirits. As a divine spirit, as the executor of divine punishment, it could be said as an unbecoming failure.
However,
『I cannot bring myself to criticize Oros. I too understand his feeling painfully well.』
「Is that so……」
Shia wondered what she should say. Shia gently moved the depressed Udar from above Schutaif to her palm. She was unable to find any words and only patted him in consolation.
Shia thought.
In earth, a world where information was overflowing, she saw and heard many things. The problem of this world was similar to earth’s problem.
Population explosion, drying up resource, pollution of land and air……. The difference was in the divine spirit. A world where the scream of the natural world could be heard and a world where it couldn’t be heard, which one was more fortunate she wondered.
Shia didn’t know. She didn’t understand, but when she looked at the dejected Udar, she was unable to consider it as other people’s problem.
It was then, she suddenly could see flickering light at the corner of her vision. ‘Oh?’, when she tilted her rabbit ears while turning her gaze there, she could see a light sphere that was really similar with Udar was converging around Vire Drucken that she put near a flower bed nearby.
『It’s my children. They are spirits of lightning. It’s unusual for them to come out in front of people. Is it because I’m here?』
「Now that you mention it, recently the spirits-san too won’t come near human settlement isn’t it?」
Were they relieved because the embodiment of lightning cloud was nearby? However, in spite of that they weren’t gathering toward Udar, rather it looked like they came out because of great curiosity toward Vire Drucken. A part of them also came toward Schutaif.
「Are they curious toward the artifacts?」
『Hmm. No, that’s not it. Shia. These war hammer and two-wheeled vehicle, do they have the function to stockpile lightning?』
「He? Lightning? ……Aa! They have!」
Shia took Vire Drucken into her hand and poured magic power to activate one of its gimmicks. Right after that, Vire Drucken sparked *bachi bachi bachi*.
The lightning spirits went 「Waa~~~h」 and crowded toward it in delight.
「It has electricity storage installed. It’s a function to electrify the opponent when locking weapon with them, but it’s faster to send the opponent flying so I’ve never used it you see~. And so, I completely forgot about it~, ahaha.」
『Ri, right. I see.』
Udar couldn’t really laugh as someone who had been sent flying before. While Udar was somewhat creeped out, Shia also made her own body to spark bluish white.
「Like this I can also wrap myself with electricity after a fashion as a part of body manipulation, but in the end it’s only to the degree of static electricity that is only useful for playing prank.」
She would use it to shock Yue’s butt when Yue transformed into lifeless Yue and wouldn’t move away from in front of her vacuum cleaner. Yue would raise a cute scream 「Hyaa!?」 and moved away squirmingly while holding her butt. It was a cute sight and actually it became Shia’s favorite scene recently.
At the beginning she learned it in order to wake up Hajime at the morning when he just wouldn’t wake up, but it didn’t work on Hajime who possessed “Lightning Clad”. Rather, she was the one who got electrified and dragged into the bed instead. Honestly it was faster to use “Shia-style Good Morning (Physical)”.
Dahlia and others who saw from afar how Shia was enveloped in bluish white spark went 「My!」 and they pressed their hand on their mouth. The lightning spirits also similarly went 「My!」 and converged toward her. They twirled around Shia as though they were dancing.
『……It looks like they like you. Shia, the spirits are in high spirit, saying that it’s comfortable beside you.』
「Is that so? Wait, wawah, please don’t play with my rabbit ears! Hyah!? Inside the clothes is not allowed~! Ah, please don’t pull my haiiir!」
The spirits were making ruckus looking like they were having a lot of fun.
Udar’s atmosphere became really gentle seeing that scene of the spirits being playful with fondness toward Shia. His depressed mood just now cleared away as though it had never happened. Such scene between human and spirit was nostalgic, and then this scene was how the world should be originally. He himself also seemed happy.
Above all else, the emotion he directed toward Shia was really warm. No, rather it had reached a passionate degree.
『However, Shia. As the personification of lightning cloud, I cannot just ignore how you mentioned that the power of lightning isn’t really useful.』
「Even if Udar-san say that, you understand right, after experiencing my battle style? By the time an opponent enter the state of weapon locking with super heavy weapon like war hammer, it’s the same like entering a disadvantaged situation. They can only get blown away.」
『In other words, in an instant of contact――if you can inflict electric attack to the opponent through a blow in that moment it will be effective enough right? Or perhaps, it will be fine if you fire lightning attack like me.』
「That’s, well, that might be so.」
『Right. Then let’s try it.』
Udar hopped *poyon* and moved onto Vire Drucken. And then he called out 『Children, lend me your strength』 to gather the spirits on him. They became together and vanished into Vire Drucken.
「Eh? Wait a second Udar-san? What are you doing?」