Confused, I touched my face. My expression didn’t feel
any different. I turned questioningly to Yue, and she nodded
in agreement.
What the hell? You guys are making me blush... I quickly
tried to change the topic.
“Oh yeah, I’ve gotta do something about your body too,
Kaori.”
“Huh!? Wh-What do you mean... ‘do something about my
body?’”
Blushing, Kaori glanced over at a nearby wall. I was
pretty sure there was a bedroom behind that wall. I opened
my mouth to say something, but Yue beat me to it.
“You damn pervert... Hajime’s talking about what he’s
going to do with that body you’re in right now after you go
back to your original one!”
“Oh! O-Of course that’s... I-It’s not what you think,
Hajime-kun! I wasn’t expecting anything at all! Besides, I’d
like to have my first time with Shizuku-chan present, too!
I’m not a pervert! Please believe me!”
Yaegashi glared at Kaori, as if to say, “Don’t include me in
your delusions!” Meanwhile, I spotted Amanogawa
trembling off in the corner. Sakagami and Taniguchi noticed
he was acting off too, then exchanged a look. They both
wanted the other to go and calm him down.
This is one lively party we have here. I remember way
back then, when Kaori and Yaegashi were the idols of the
class. I never thought both of them would end up falling for
me. Especially Kaori...
I thought back to that conversation we’d had the night
before I fell into the abyss. Kaori had sworn she’d protect
me. And even after I’d fallen, she was the only one who
believed I was still alive. After we were reunited, she
constantly felt inferior to Yue and the others. So much so
that she swapped bodies after dying once. Her devotion to
me was so great I couldn’t help but be moved.
She was a clumsy girl, with a habit of getting so focused
on her goals that she forgot to take stock of her
surroundings, but she was kinder and stronger than anyone
else. If I hadn’t fallen into the abyss, she likely would have
been the ideal I looked up to.
“U-Umm, Hajime-kun?”
It seemed I’d ended up staring unconsciously at her.
Blushing in embarrassment, Kaori averted her gaze.
“Sorry. I was just thinking about our lifespans.”
“O-Our lifespans?”
Kaori wasn’t the only one surprised by that response.
Everyone looked confused.
I smiled ruefully at her and said, “Since I’ve eaten all this
monster meat, I have no idea what’s happened to my
lifespan now.”
I hadn’t really thought about it before, but it was pretty
important. Kaori, Yaegashi, and Shea gulped, looking
worried. Kaori looked especially worried, as if I’d just
announced I was dying tomorrow or something.
I raised a hand to calm everyone down and added,
“Considering I’ve been strengthened in every conceivable
way, my lifespan’s probably a lot longer than a normal
human’s too.”
“O-Oh, that’s what you meant.”
Kaori sighed in relief. I smiled at her and said,
“Regardless, I have no intention of dying and leaving Yue
alone. But Kaori, once you go back to your original body,
you’ll have the same lifespan as a regular person, right?”
The same was true for Yaegashi and Shea as well. Both of
them muttered, “Oh...” while Kaori said, “That’s... true. I...”
“Don’t look so worried. Miledi managed to attach her soul
to a golem and live for thousands of years, so we know
there are ways to stay alive for longer. Worst case scenario,
we can do that to you guys. But chances are, we can find a
way to lengthen all of your lifespans if we study the body of
that apostle a bit more thoroughly.”
“......”
Kaori stared intently at me. I cocked my head, wondering
if I’d said something strange. But a second later, she smiled
just as gently as Tio had earlier and said, “Hajime-kun,
you’re always thinking about the future, aren’t you?”
“Is that wrong?”
Kaori vehemently shook her head and her smile grew
deeper. At the same time, Yue, Shea, Tio, and Yaegashi all
smiled at me as well.
“It’s just, we’ve always been struggling to just make it out
of the next crisis alive so... I’m happy. Especially since the
future you’re thinking of includes me. Fufu, it feels like my
heart’s floating!”
“I see...”
I didn’t know what else to say. When I saw Kaori and
everyone else’s smiles, it felt as though any words I might
have would be pointless anyway. Feeling the heat rise up my
face, I awkwardly looked away again. The moment I did—
“Kaori... You should take that body of yours and float away
with your heart. And then never come back.”
“Yue, how could you say that? Do you have no soul?”
I didn’t know whether it was to spare me everyone’s
gazes, or just because Yue enjoyed teasing Kaori, but she
started insulting her again. Naturally, Kaori’s smile went
from happy to threatening, and she turned to Yue. As
always, the two started scuffling.
Sighing, Shea went to break them up while Tio just
watched and Yaegashi shook her head. Taniguchi joined in
as well, deciding it’d be more fun to participate than to rest.
As chaos descended upon the living room once more, I
thought back to my parents’ words again.
“Don’t give up! Make sure you come back to us no matter
what!”
The last of their seven tips had come in handier than they
ever realized.
Don’t worry Mom, Dad. I’m coming home soon. Together
with all the wonderful people I met in this world.
Afterword
Hello everyone, chuuni lover Ryo Shirakome here. Thank
you very much for picking up volume 10 of Arifureta.
This is the first time we’ve had an arc spanning two
volumes. What did you guys think of it?
I mentioned this last time as well, but writing about the
thoughts and feelings of characters is a lot harder than
anything else. Figuring out what would fit each character’s
personality was really hard, and I got stuck multiple times.
The whole time it felt like I was taking one step forward and
two steps back until finally, I managed to hit a point where I
was taking three steps forward instead.
I could write battle scenes for days, but more emotional
moments like these are really hard. I spent so much time
glued to my PC writing all these cool action scenes, then I’d
come back to my senses and realize I needed to be writing
more emotional moments and get all depressed.
Anyway, enough about my woes. I ended up making the
latter half of this arc pretty short in the original version, but
for the print version, I decided to flesh out all the characters
a bit more. I hope fans of the original find all the extra text
worthwhile enough to pick up the print version.
We’re nearing the end of the Arifureta’s story, and we’re
already in the double-digit volume numbers. Honestly, the
whole time I was writing this volume I was in awe over the
fact that we’d hit volume 10. It’s all thanks to you readers
that I’ve made it this far. Thank you so very, very much.
On another note, Volume 10 comes bundled with a drama
CD. The drama CD cover has Tio wearing casual Japanese
clothes, and she looks absolutely great in them. It’s like
she’s gone into Super Tio mode to do voice acting.
Unfortunately, inside the contents of the drama CD, she’s
just a pervert from start to finish. For those of you who
bought the drama CD version, I hope you enjoy her erotic
panting!
Now then, forgive me, but I’d like to do some shilling with
the few lines I have left. Volume 5 of the manga and Volume
3 of the Arifureta Zero manga spin-off released at the same
time as Arifureta 10, so please buy those too! Roga-sensei,
Misaki Mori-sensei, and Ataru Kamichi-sensei are all
wonderful mangaka, and their art truly brings the world of
Arifureta to life. The manga’s a totally different experience
from the novels, so you should definitely give it a shot. Also,
the anime’ll be coming out soon, so make sure to watch that
too!
Now then, last but not least, the acknowledgments. I’d
like to thank Takaya-ki-sensei, Roga-sensei, Misaki Mori-
sensei, and Ataru Kamichi-sensei for all their wonderful
illustrations. I’d also like to thank my editor, my
proofreaders, and all the staff at the publication division for
making sure every volume is as perfect as it can be. Lastly,
I’d like to thank my readers, both those from Narou and
those who’re reading the print releases. Thank you so, so
much! I hope you continue to enjoy the Arifureta series!
Ryo Shirakome
Table of Contents
Cover
Color Illustrations
Chapter I: The Overpowered Vampire Princess and the
Godlike Rabbit’s Grand Battle
Chapter II: Thank God She’s Still a Pervert!
Chapter III: What Makes a Hero
Chapter IV: The Key to the World
Extra Chapter: The Seven Most Important Things for an
Otherworld Summoning
Afterword
About J-Novel Club
Copyright
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Copyright
Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest Vol.
10
by Ryo Shirakome Translated by Ningen Edited by DxS
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places,
and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or
are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events,
locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2019 Ryo Shirakome Illustrations by Takaya-
ki Cover illustration by Takaya-ki All rights reserved.
Original Japanese edition published in 2019 by OVERLAP,
Inc.
This English edition is published by arrangement with
OVERLAP, Inc., Tokyo English translation © 2019 J-Novel
Club LLC
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright
Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing
of any part of this book without the permission of the
publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s
intellectual property.
J-Novel Club LLC
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The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their
content) that are not owned by the publisher.
Ebook edition 1.0: November 2019