The Forgotten (Arifureta x original character)

Chapter 55: The Tale of Yukitoshi Shimizu

Upon realizing that the commander is the missing Shimizu, Hajime decides to take the boy back to the town of Ur with him. He plans on letting Aiko Hatayama make the decision on what to do with him, since he is one of her students after all. Hajime figures that is the least that he can do for his former teacher.

At this point, Hajime drags Shimizu back to Ur. He does this, going through the monsters that are now in chaos all around the area. These monsters have little to no interest in Hajime though, as they are smart enough to not attack someone that is much stronger than them. For this reason, he is not attacked by a single monster on his way back to Ur.

Upon getting back to Ur, Hajime drags Shimizu in front of Mrs. Hatayama. Hajime then throws Shimizu down at the feet of Mrs. Hatayama. Once Hajime has done this, Mrs. Hatayama asks, "I don't believe it. Why would one of my students do something so completely horrible?"

Shimizu replies, "I just wanted to show everybody in this world how incredible I am."

"What? That makes no sense. All this just made you look evil, Shimizu. Why did you think that we would be impressed by you hurting people?" Mrs. Hatayama asks.

"Not you stupid," Shimizu says. He then explains, "I mean the demons. I went north into the mountains alone to prove that I could capture a monster. That's when it happened, I met an actual demon. They understood exactly what I was capable of. They could see how much potential was inside me. So naturally, I had to make a little contract with them."

"A contract? What is it that they want from you?" Mrs. Hatayama asks.

Shimizu says, "It is funny that you should ask. Because it says that I have to murder you. They can't leave the Goddess of Plenty to her own devices. She would end up being more of a nuisance than the so-called heroes. Which means that if I kill you, the demons will be so pleased that they will hail me as their champion."

"Please say you are joking," Mrs. Hatayama states.

"How did this go wrong? I had 60,000 troops but I still lost?" Shimizu shouts. He then turns to Hajime and says, "Why do you have such powerful weapons? Tell me. What kind of monster are you?"

Mrs. Hatayama grabs Shimizu's hand at this point and says, "I understand what you are saying. You just want to feel like you are a special and important person. It is a perfectly natural desire. But still, you can't join the demons to achieve that."

"You shut up. Why shouldn't I choose to be on the side that will treat me better?" Shimizu shouts.

"Because you know it is not right. I am sure that deep down your intentions are pure and noble. And I won't let one of my students be used for evil," Mrs. Hatayama replies.

Shimizu says, "You don't know what I feel."

Mrs. Hatayama states, "Shimizu, why don't we start over again from the beginning? I promise that I will always have your back. Everything is going to be alright."

At this point Shimizu grabs Mrs. Hatayama. He then pulls out a needle and puts it to her neck. He explains that the needle is coated in a powerful poison that he got from one of the monsters that he was controlling.

After doing this he says, "Drop your weapons and put your hands up, or she's dead."

Mrs. Hatayama says, "Please Shimizu. You don't want to do this."

Shimizu shouts, "Don't tell me what I want to do you hypocrite. Keep quiet and be a good hostage, so I can get out of here." He then turns to Hajime and says, "Heah, tough guy."

When Hajime does not respond, Shimizu says, "Yeah, I am talking to you edgelord." Hajime acts like he does not know who Shimizu is talking to. He looks around, acting confused. This causes Shimizu to say, "Stop playing stupid. You keep looking around and our teacher is seriously dead."