Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku o! - Volume 9 - Chapter 5

Hint: To Play after pausing the player, use this button

Add to favorites

Chapter 5

An Explosion on This Fated Dark God!

It was the day after Wolbach’s attack and Aqua’s antics.

“I’ll be all right today. Please, please let me do it!” Megumin cried as soon as she entered the room. She had hesitated to attack when she saw Wolbach yesterday, after all.

“Are you sure about that? I mean, I don’t even know what happened out there… Was it, like, you saw that your enemy looked human, and you couldn’t bring yourself to harm her? I get that. I’ve gotta admit—I’m not sure I could cut down a woman that hot.”

Megumin shook her head. “As long as it is a monster that will give me loads of experience points, I can easily strike down any foe, be it humanoid or suckling babe. I simply, um…”

She looked like she wanted to say something else, but she swallowed the end of her sentence.

Megumin had been acting strange ever since yesterday. Heck, even Yunyun looked preoccupied, and she hadn’t come out of her room. They both had some pretty intense reactions to the name Wolbach before we got here, too. Maybe there was something they couldn’t tell me.

“Well, I’m not entirely sure what’s going on with you guys, but there is one thing I’m sure of. Ambushes are out. Yesterday, some idiot forgot the plan and royally screwed up everything. That put all our enemies on the alert and damaged the fortress walls even without Wolbach’s help.”

I shouldn’t have set our ambush so close to the fortress. The flood of water Aqua called down had been the last straw for the already damaged fortifications. As a gesture of good faith, I’d sent her, kicking and screaming, to help repair the wall, but that was probably about as helpful as a single mouthful of water in the desert.

I also didn’t like that we had given away that there was a goddess named Aqua with us. Granted, she spent all day lazing around and eating and sleeping, and she liked to waste time playing with the neighborhood kids, and despite how long we’d been in Axel, she still got lost on a regular basis, but still. Even the worst goddess is still a goddess.

After what had happened yesterday, the enemy would be on the lookout for any ambushes.

“…I see. Still, if there is anything I can do, tell me, won’t you? Though I confess, what I can do consists mostly of exploding things.” Megumin gave me a wan smile.

“Eh, anyway, I guess the first thing is to come up with a strategy together. Maybe over a nice, quiet—”

—meal, was what I was going to say.

But that was when I heard a very familiar rumble shake the fortress.

Megumin and I rushed to the site of the attack. I expected others were heading the same way. When we got there…

“Call somebody! Get anyone who can use Create Earth and anyone who can make golems! We need to fix the wall, quick!”

Knights and adventurers were rushing around trying to repair the shattered barrier. I looked for any sign of Wolbach, but—

“I see she is already gone. She must have retreated to replenish her magic after attacking the wall,” Megumin, also looking for our assailant, murmured to me.

Let off an explosion, then run home with Teleport. A simple but effective strategy.

Oops, I couldn’t just be standing here. Figuring I could at least use Create Earth to help repair the wall, I went over toward the fortification…

“Arrrgh! What’s going on here?! This looks even worse than when I left it!”

A sudden shout.

“…Why are you dressed like that, Aqua?”

Megumin was looking at Aqua, who was coming toward us with a towel wrapped around her head like a workman. It reminded me of the fond times just after we first arrived in Axel.

“There’s no why about it. Kazuma told me to fix the wall, and I had to look the part. But what’s going on here? I’ll kill whoever did this!”

“It was our friend the dark god from yesterday. Remember she told us she wants to destroy this wall? Your timing couldn’t be better, costume and all. Come help us repair the damage.”

As I spoke, I used Create Earth on the fresh crater.

…I guess they had been doing this sort of thing every day. Morose soldiers and adventurers gathered up the rubble and tried everything they could to plug the hole in the wall.

“Come on, now, that’ll never work! Let me tell you. To get this wall up and running, you need to start with a core. Then you use earth to build out from there; then you daub on plaster to harden it. Here, watch, like this.”

Aqua, behind me, sounded more than a little pleased with herself. I guess she was all excited, since we’d done some expansion work on a wall back when we were in construction. Come to think of it, she’d turned out to really enjoy physical labor.

I was letting my thoughts wander to times past when I heard a sound of surprise from behind me. I looked over, wondering what was going on, and found Megumin watching Aqua, who had trundled up to the hole in the wall and—

“What?! She’s fast! And…really good?! Hang on a second! When did you turn into a certified bricklayer?!”

Aqua turned to me with an expression as if to ask why I was so shocked. “Who do you take me for? Have you forgotten that when I told the foreman I was going to take a break to become an adventurer, he suggested I skip adventuring and just work full-time for him?”

Damn, he never said anything like that to me.

Okay, no, that didn’t matter now. I had never had a free moment during our construction work to check out what Aqua was actually doing, but now I saw that her work was downright professional. I had to wonder why she was a savant at construction of all things, but at the moment, I was grateful. I had been convinced that this fortress was moments away from having its walls knocked down and then being summarily blown into a million pieces.

That’s why I’d come up with the whole dangerous ambushing-Wolbach idea in the first place. But in just minutes, Aqua had fixed the wall so well that it looked better than it ever had.

“Look, there’s no way this is for real. Do you have some kind of wall-repair cheat? It hasn’t even had time to dry yet, right?”

“You must have a very low opinion of the goddess of water. Manipulating the moisture to dry out the bricks is child’s play for me, you understand? Think of how quickly and thoroughly the clothes dry when I’m on laundry duty.”

I resolved to make Aqua handle not just the toilets but the washing from now on.

Okay, more importantly—

“…Now we can fight!”

There was a boom, and the fortress shivered.

Another day’s work.

Aqua was practically quivering with excitement at the sound.

“You’re up, Repair Captain,” I said.

“Mission accepted! Come on, everyone! Come and see just how awesome your captain can be!”

“We’re counting on you, Captain!”

“Repair Captain!”

“Another day, another job for the repair captain!”

The soldiers and adventurers behind Aqua and me were downright giddy as we headed for the site of the explosion. Darkness, temporarily in charge of the fortress, had granted Aqua the somewhat enigmatic title of repair captain.

“Repair Captain, your work will determine the fate of this fortress… So, uh, good luck.”

“You can count on me, Commander! Don’t worry—they don’t call me a captain for nothing. I won’t let some dark god beat me!”

“Captain!”

“That’s our captain! Come on, everyone, the challenge awaits! Let’s see what she can do!”

Darkness had the “captain” by the nose: Aqua gleefully headed off for another day of doing repairs.

It was the third day of Aqua’s tenure as the repair captain, a position that was purely a formality and received zero pay and no benefits.

As if in spite of the daily explosions, the fortress walls got thicker and sturdier every day. I was starting to think Aqua could actually make a living in this line of work.

Morale had taken a complete 180 in the formerly gloomy fortress, and when added to the vast quantities of wine that a cheerful Aqua spread around (no doubt inspired by the constant calls of Captain, Captain!), everyone now was acting ready to do battle.

“…Um, whatever happened to the doom and gloom hanging over this fortress when we first got here?”

“I feel silly for losing sleep worrying about it.”

* * *

I could hear the two Crimson Magic girls talking to each other, a bit overwhelmed, as they watched Aqua go.

I could understand how they felt, but it was definitely best to err on the side of caution here. This would allow us to buy some time, and while we strengthened the fortifications, some wizards who could use Teleport headed back to the capital to let them know what was going on.

We were locked in a stalemate now; a handful of reinforcements could turn the tide. Meanwhile, a steady stream of supplies and even soldiers and adventurers arrived from the city.

Aqua’s nominal subordinates adored her for her generosity with the wine, and the captain herself was more than happy to let them adore her. (It didn’t hurt that the lives of everyone in the fortress pretty much depended on her.) The daily explosions no longer concerned us at all.

At last, we had gotten to a point where Aqua wasn’t just expanding the walls but was even adding some playful artwork.

“Wolbach’s here!”

We all looked at one another: The shout didn’t sound like normal.

“What is going on?!”

Wolbach was standing in front of the fortress gate, shaking.

“Wh-what is what?” asked the person probably most used to talking to her by now—namely, me—as the other adventurers looked on.

I guess Wolbach didn’t like my tone, because she stamped her foot. “I’m talking about your wall! Your wall was practically rubble. So how come it looks like that now?! It looks stronger than it did before I got here!”

“You’d have to talk to Aqua about that…”

“Her again?!”

It sounded like almost getting washed away in a huge flood was still a raw nerve for Wolbach.

At that moment…

“Well, well, if it isn’t… Hmm, what was your name again?”

“It’s Wolbach! …And it looks like I have to settle things with you! …Wait, what?”

Wolbach was readying a verbal onslaught for the smart-mouthed Aqua, but then she stopped in surprise. She noticed Darkness coming up behind us. No, wait—she was surprised by Yunyun and Megumin, with Chomusuke in her arms.

She immediately fixed her gaze on Chomusuke. The cat, meanwhile, couldn’t seem to look away from Wolbach.

Aqua spoke up as the cat and the woman stared at each other. “Excuse me, could you please not look at Chomusuke like that? What, are you the kind who likes adorable stuffed animals? Are you just like our Darkness?”

“Hey, Aqua, I don’t like…! I don’t care about…”

Aqua ignored Darkness’s attempts to interject, walking forward to stand between Wolbach and Chomusuke.

“I was not looking at her because she’s adorable, even if she kind of…is…?” Wolbach suddenly stopped. “You, what did you just call that black cat?”

“Chomusuke? I always thought it was kind of a weird name, but it’s started to grow on me lately.”

“Hey, you, I shall ask you not to defame a glorious and cool name. It is not ‘weird.’”

Wolbach couldn’t seem to believe what she was hearing. “What is this?!” she shouted, and she started stalking toward us.

When she saw the adventurers behind us all focus on her, though, she stopped and gave them a resentful look.

“U-um, just so you know,” she said, “that cat’s a girl. So I’m not sure about that name.”

“Chomusuke is Chomusuke. My familiar and pet.”

“What?! Seriously, somebody please fill me in! What in the world happened to my other half?!”

Wolbach had stopped making any sense to me. But Aqua…

“…Ahaaa. I thought you seemed like an awfully low-grade deity. Is it because Chomusuke here took half your power? …Oh, oh, my all-seeing eye perceives it now. There’s some kind of seal on Chomusuke.”

Aqua leaned in and stared intently at Megumin’s cat.

Chomusuke, perhaps in response to Aqua, started struggling to go over to Wolbach.

“Ah…”

Wolbach started to walk up slowly, reaching out her hand to her “other half.”

“Don’t you dare give Chomusuke to her!” I shouted. “Megumin, hold on to that cat!”

“What?!” Wolbach exclaimed, sort of crying. “That’s my other half you’re talking about! My partner who I’ve been searching for for years! This is a big, emotional reunion!”

“I don’t know what you want with Chomusuke, but can you swear that if we give her to you, you’ll stop fighting us? Do you promise to leave this fortress alone? Because if not, it would be stupid to do something that might make our enemy stronger, right?” Wolbach kept walking as I spoke. “Oops, don’t come any closer, you hear? I don’t have anything against you personally. That’s why I’m willing to negotiate. If you want us to let Chomusuke go, listen very carefully and promise to do exactly as I say. If you really are a dark god, then swear on your own name not to stand against us anymore.” I smirked as nastily as I could, leaving everyone there flabbergasted.

““““Yikes…””””

The collective gasp from the adventurers left me feeling like I was doing something really villainous. No! This is just a ruse so she won’t see through us…!

Fine, who cares what some adventurers I just met the other day think about me? As long as my party members understand who I truly am…

“Hey, I guess that woman’s a dark god or something. But if someone can make a dark god cry, are they even still human anymore?”

“Take it easy, Aqua. I’m sure he’s negotiating the best way he can. The most respectful thing we can do for him is to try not to look.”

“Mr. Kazuma, you’re the worst…”

…I think I’m gonna cry, myself.

“…I’ll withdraw for today, but don’t let it go to your heads! Even if I can’t destroy your walls, that only leaves us in a stalemate. As long as this fortress is here, we can’t advance any farther. But if I were you, I wouldn’t feel too good about all the demon forces camped out in the forest.” Wolbach was on a roll. “Now it’s a war of attrition! I’m going to bring down each and every stroke of the graffiti on that wall!”

She was just about to teleport out.

“U-um! Hey! Do you… Do you remember me?! I’m… My name is Yunyun, a-and…”

Yunyun and Megumin had just stood watching the entire scene, when right at the end, Yunyun burst out with a question.

“…I remember you,” Wolbach replied. “I believe you’re from the carriage, the one I invited to travel with me… There’s something I’ve always wanted to ask. ‘Yunyun’… Is that a nickname, too…?”

So apparently, I wasn’t the only one who knew this lady. Yunyun did, too.

“It’s my real name! Um… All this time, I’ve never forgotten your invitation! I made sure to write it down in my diary that day, and sometimes I read back over that entry!”

“O-oh, do you? You didn’t have to take it quite so seriously, but if it makes you happy, then that’s what matters,” Wolbach said.

“Um…!” Now it was Megumin, clutching Chomusuke, who spoke, her voice strained. “And me…! Do you remember me? My name is Megumin…”

Wolbach sort of half smiled, almost sadly.

“No. I don’t remember you.”

It was hardly a whisper, and then she teleported away.

At the fortress’s assembly grounds.

The knights and soldiers all looked downright excited.

Before, they had been hit with attack after attack that they couldn’t respond to, ground down physically and mentally, but now their eyes sparkled, and they held their heads high with anticipation.

They didn’t care that we were in a stalemate.

They were watching my every move with rapt attention. And with all eyes on me, I began to speak.

“All right, let’s review the plan one more time! The three of us are going to go out there and get close to the enemy base using Ambush. Then, when we’ve lured the enemy within spell range, we’ll hit her with Explosion and then teleport out! We can expect retaliation, so I want everyone in the fortress to get ready for it!”

The adventurers bellowed hungrily at that.

Wolbach had said it herself. This was a stalemate.

But why should we just sit and wait any more than she was?

My plan was outrageously simple, but I was confident it would work.

After all, it was the exact same plan the enemy had been using.

“Another underhanded scheme… I guess if it means we get to go on the offensive, I can’t complain…”

Darkness, the only person in the fortress who could take a hit from Explosion and survive, and Aqua, who was our master of support and healing magic and who repaired a mean wall, would stay here.

Until now, the people here had been unable to do anything except coop themselves up in this fortress while the enemy pounded away at them, and they were getting pretty tired of it. As we prepared to go out and meet the foe, we got shouts of encouragement and slaps on the back from everyone around us.

Our squad consisted of three people: Yunyun, to handle teleporting and help fight in a pinch; me, to provide the quick thinking, the Ambush skill, and the ability to detect incoming enemies with Sense Foe; and Megumin, to bring the firepower.

With pretty much everyone in the fortress seeing us off, the three of us headed for the woods near the base. The enemy encampment was in there somewhere.

Monsters always seemed to like forests and other natural locations, so maybe it made sense to them to set up shop in a place like this when they knew they were going to be staying for a while. But it also provided a perfect opportunity for us. A forest meant plenty of underbrush—plenty of places to hide if you had Ambush.

As we got close to the enemy camp, we started to get a sense of what was going on with them. It was already like a big party over there, probably inspired by Wolbach’s attacks virtually decimating the fortress wall.

I felt a tug on my sleeve and glanced over to see Megumin give me one firm nod.

That was the signal: We were in range for Explosion.

I caught Yunyun’s eye, and she tightened her grip on her wand as if to show that she was ready, too.

All right, time for a little revenge!

After Wolbach’s daily attacks, I guess the monsters figured victory was just a matter of time.

“Explooosion!”

Our ultimate-finisher magic dropped straight into the heart of the encampment of the Demon King’s army.

The explosion magic blew away every single monster caught in the blast, leaving only a giant crater. The demon troops, convinced that the battle was already over and reveling in their victory, were thrown into a total panic by the unexpected attack.

“Wh-wh-whaaaat the?!”

“Wh-what just happened?! Was that explosion magic?!”

“Enemy attack! Enemy attaaaaack!”

The more intelligent-looking bipedal monsters in the camp furiously tried to raise the alarm, but Yunyun was already chanting Teleport.

“Hey! There, look over there! That’s them, two Crimson Magic Clan members and—”

“Teleport!”

Before the monster who spotted us could finish his sentence, Yunyun got us all out of there.

“Mission accomplished!” I announced loud enough that everyone could hear as we arrived back at the fortress. All the gloom that had been building up vanished in a massive cheer. I could hear people shouting things like “Yeah! Take that!” and others exclaiming that they had seen the explosion from the guard towers. Everyone looked thrilled.

But in the middle of it all…

“You were right! Here they come!”

…an adventurer on watch was pointing to the woods and shouting.

Everyone went straight to their battle stations and prepared to meet the enemy attack.

On came the Demon King’s army. I guess our little stunt had touched a nerve. I could see murderous rage in the enemies’ eyes, and they advanced on the fortress in an unruly mob, with no proper formation.

It was time for my friends and me to take a step back. Let the cheaters and the knights handle this. The bad guys had numbers on their side, but we had the advantage of defending from inside a fortress. But it wasn’t my job to deal with a big, violent battle like this.

“My dear adventuring friends! I leave this in your hands!”

The other adventurers, riled up with even more bloodlust than the Demon King’s army, gave a huge collective shout.

And so it went…

“Explosion!!”

“Huuuuuh?!”

“It’s them again! Don’t let them get away—catch them!”

“Look what they’ve done to our brothers in arms! Surround them—they’ll pay with their lives!”

From all around us, we could hear the shouting of the Demon King’s chosen troops, Devils and demons and all sorts of nasty creatures. But as for us?

“Teleport!”

We continued our attacks on the enemy encampment, a different time every day.

“Explosion!!”

“The food! They just blew away our stockpile of provisions!”

“Dammit, not again! I’m so sick of waking up to explosions!”

“Call Lady Wolbach and ask her to get rid of these guys!”

“She already used her explosion for today!”

“Just hold tight! If we can hang in there a little longer, their walls’ll come crashing down! Then we can have our revenge!”

“Do not let them get away today! Don’t let them use—”

“Teleport!”

We pestered them with attacks day and night.

“Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! I am Megumin, first among the Arch-wizards of Axel! Time for another harvest of experience points!”

“There they are!”

“Run! Run awaaaaay!”

“Idiots, don’t bunch together! That Crimson Magic girl always hits the densest spot! Get away from me!”

“No, not over there! Spread ou—”

“Explosion!”

Megumin’s level rose almost comically fast, so her explosions grew more powerful every day, a state of affairs she found deeply satisfying. At some point she started to accompany her attacks with insane laughter.

“Gya-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Wa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Behold, I have come once more!”

“D-do us a favor and beat it! Here, we’ll give you candy!”

“Spare me! I have an elderly mother!”

“Hey, uh, demons love magic, just like Crimson Magic folks! I’ll bet we can be friends!”

“Let’s talk about this! Y’know, t-try to understand one another. Fighting doesn’t solve anything, right?”

“Look, I threw down my weapon! Surely a proud and honorable Crimson Magic Clan mage would never attack a poor, defenseless—”

“Explooosion!”

It got to the point where all they had to do was look at us.

“Megumin, over there! They’re trying to look like they’re scattering, but they’re all going the same way!”

“Understood! Not one of them shall escape!”

“Arrrrgh! Oh god, oh god! Lady Wolbach!”

“When I die, I hope I’ll be reborn as a cat, not a demon… Then I can spend every day with my beautiful lady owner, getting food and cuddles…”

“This has to be a dream. Yeah, I’m gonna wake up and go on one of my walks, and when I get back, Mom’s gonna be making steaks from the Bloodfang she just caught…”

“I-I-I-I’ve got an in with the Demon King! If you let me live, I’m sure he’d pay a lot of money to have me back…!”

“Explooosion!!!”

They would scream and cry and run away.

“I won’t let them escape! No, I shall certainly not… Oh, wait!”

“…Okay, I think that’s enough. How about we go home for today?”

I’d lost track of how many days it had been since we started exploding the Demon King’s troops. Early on, they had come in force to counterattack every time we hit them, but by now their morale was extremely low; I was shocked they hadn’t just packed up and gone back to the Demon King’s territory yet.

“Gosh, I can hardly tell who the bad guys are anymore…,” Yunyun groaned, dragging us off.

By now, just the sight of Megumin brought on a variety of reactions: begging, rolling around on the ground, and praying. They had given up on the idea of even trying to run away. I figured it was about time for them to close up shop, but in a hierarchy like the Demon King’s army, I guess you didn’t ignore orders from above. They had probably threatened to kill deserters or something.

“Most troublesome. I can’t level up efficiently this way.”

“Just a reminder, but we aren’t doing this so you can farm experience, all right?”

We had started to get away from our original objective, and it seemed like the iron was plenty hot. We had wiped out most of the Demon King’s so-called handpicked troops with merciless explosions day after day. Aqua had taken over the repair of the fortress walls and done so much work that by now they were stronger than when we’d arrived. I was of the opinion that she would have done better for herself as an entertainer or an engineer than an Arch-priest.

But anyway, by this point, we should have been okay.

“Ah, well,” Megumin said. “All right, Yunyun, take us home for today. It’s too bad we didn’t get to let off an explosion. Let’s try coming back in the middle of the night, when they’ve let down their guard a bit. Get ready to teleport us, please.” She laid her staff casually across her shoulders, and that was when it happened.

“I’ve been looking all over for you lot. So we finally meet again.”

The attacks on the fortress had completely stopped by now—maybe they’d given up hope of destroying the outer walls. But there was Wolbach, a pained expression on her face.

Oh hell.

Who would have thought we would end up in a situation like this at a time like now?

“Looks like your friend isn’t with you today,” Wolbach said, staring straight at me. Then she giggled a little.

By my “friend,” she seemed to mean our useless goddess. I personally never found Aqua to be very helpful, but this dark god was apparently a little leery of her.

Wolbach’s gaze shifted from me to Megumin, and then those golden eyes narrowed. “You’ve overplayed your hand,” she said. “I can’t overlook any more of your destructive antics. I do hate to fight someone I’ve had such nice conversations with, but so it goes…”

“H-hold it! I don’t want to fight you, either! I mean, not after we’ve shared the bath and everything!”

““Huh?!”” Megumin and Yunyun chorused.

“…Given the present circumstances, I’d prefer you didn’t bring that up…”

““What?!””

Geez, girls, I’m trying to negotiate here.

“A-ahem, I think your young friends are getting the wrong idea…”

“The wrong idea? We’ve bathed together twice. Heck, you’ve even said you feel a connection to me…”

“I did! Yes, I did say that, and yes, we’ve bathed together! But still!!” Then Wolbach glared at us in an effort to regain the initiative. “I’ve taken the liberty of doing a little research on you, my frequently attacking foes. Beldia, Vanir, Hans, Sylvia… I assume those names ring a bell?”

She was listing the names of the generals we’d defeated.

“Wolbach, if you don’t mind my saying so, your ears are red.”

“Quiet, you!” All the bath talk must have embarrassed her, and when I pointed out the state of her ears, it only caused the rest of her face to flush, too.

“Yeah, I remember them,” I said. “But I really don’t have any motivation to fight you.”

“That may be, but I just can’t imagine what you’ve been doing. I have to get you to give back my other half. And this business about defeating four different generals, it makes you sound like the hero from that old fairy tale.”

Hero might be a bit much for someone from the weakest class. My most powerful ability was Steal.

Wolbach, ignoring my internal jab, continued, “And the more I found out about you, the less I could just look the other way. Tell me. Do you know the name of that hero from the fairy tale?” She grinned as if she knew some damning secret about me.

“…I don’t know about any hero. Wanna just tell me?”

“You can certainly play dumb, I’ll give you that. Or is it that it was so long ago, you’ve already forgotten? The name of that fabled hero was Satou. That’s right. Just like you. Are you going to tell me it’s just a coincidence that both of you have such an unusual name?”

Um, it’s actually just about the most common name where I come from.

If nothing else, though, things finally made sense. Wolbach thought I was a descendant of this hero or whatever. Even though I was pretty sure this other Satou and I were totally unrelated.

At that moment…

“Um.”

…Megumin lowered the staff she had been holding.

“Are you…sure you don’t remember me?”

Her face was red, and her crimson eyes were glittering.

Wolbach hardly glanced at her. “…Don’t make me repeat myself. No, I don’t… But don’t worry. I’ll certainly remember you after this. As the one who sent so many of my subordinates to their graves!”

“?!”

No sooner had she finished speaking than she began chanting her magic! Guess we aren’t friends anymore.

“Hey! Hold on; I told you, I don’t want to fight—”

I broke off, realizing our opponent wasn’t playing around. How did I know? Because that incantation was—

“Yunyun, cast Teleport!” I yelled.

“G-g-got it! Right away!”

Confronted by Wolbach suddenly chanting Explosion, Yunyun hurriedly began to recite her own spell. Megumin—perhaps from the shock of being told Wolbach didn’t remember her, or maybe for some other reason—showed no sign of chanting her magic.

Deeply regretting having left all the magical items I’d so carefully prepared back at the fortress, I looked around in hopes of coming up with something, anything—!

I searched every pocket I had and came up with one object.

“Kindle!!!!!”

I cast my spell on the miniaturized thing and flung it at Wolbach!

She saw it arc through the air toward her, and she froze for an instant, unsure whether to interrupt herself, dodge, or what.

We didn’t stick around to see it explode: I grabbed the dumbfounded Megumin and dragged us both over to Yunyun.

“Teleport!!!”

I closed my eyes as Yunyun shouted the spell.

We instantaneously returned to the fortress, where we collapsed in a heap.

“H-hey, what happened, Kazuma?” Darkness came up to us where we were sitting on the ground. “We didn’t hear much from today’s explosion.”

We had transported ourselves right into the gathering area in the middle of the structure. The rest of the inhabitants, sensing something was amiss, came running.

“Hey, Kazuma, what’s wrong? You’re all so pale. Did that Miss Whoever bully you?” Aqua, apparently genuinely bothered by all those days of being called the goddess of whatever, crouched down next to us.

“We almost ate an explosion ourselves. I flung the Tinymite in my pocket at her, and we got out of there. I think that’s the first time I’ve ever felt as lucky as everyone says I am.” I shook my head between heaving breaths. “…Hey, what’s up? You’ve been pretty excited ever since we got here. I guess it’s ’cause your other half is nearby, huh?”

Chomusuke, whom we had left with Darkness and Aqua, had climbed up onto my knees.

If what Wolbach was saying was true, then this cat was basically a part of a dark god, and that left the question of what exactly to do with her.

“Hey, Kazuma, that Tinymite…is that the stuff you made earlier? When you blew it up, the sound carried all the way here. Does that mean you finished off that self-proclaimed goddess?”

…Actually, I had no idea what had happened after our escape. If they’d heard the blast here, then at least it hadn’t been a dud. But as powerful as my little invention had proved to be, I really didn’t think it had the kick to bring down a general of the Demon King.

“I’m very sorry,” Megumin said, appearing at my side. “After I talked myself up, back in Axel and here at the fortress. When I was finally face-to-face with the enemy, I couldn’t get my magic off, and I’m so sorry…”

She stared into my eyes.

“Do you have some kind of history with that woman?” I asked.

My question had been offhand, but Megumin, looking at the ground as if she might burst into tears at any moment, replied, “…I can’t tell you.”

Seeing her like that, I worried—

I’ve done it now, I thought.

I felt like I had stepped on a land mine.

But look, knowing how aggressive Megumin was, there had to be something going on to make her hesitate like that! There just had to be. But what was I going to do? She was practically on the verge of tears!

I looked around to the others for help, but all the other adventurers, even Aqua and Darkness, glanced away.

I can’t believe these people. Aqua is one thing, but Darkness?

But then…

“Hey, isn’t that…Wolbach?” someone said.

One of the adventurers was looking out a window, and at his words, everyone rushed over to see. Including me, obviously.

Outside, making a beeline for the fortress, was a person covered in splotches of blood here and there. It was Wolbach.

“Wolbach is wounded!”

“You said your name was Kazuma Satou? You sure know how to handle yourself…!”

“Is what I heard from Lady Aqua true? Did you really not get any special boosts like the rest of us?”

The adventurers praised me lavishly at the sight of the bleeding general, but I have to say, I didn’t feel very good about it.

No. She might have been a hot woman, but she was also our enemy. She was a general of the Demon King, and that made her an enemy of humanity.

That was it. There was no need to beat myself up about it. What I’d done was justifiable self-defense.

While all this discord and doubt was running through my head, someone else spoke up.

“Hey… She looks kind of weak. You think we could take her down right now?”

When the other guys—probably all blessed with OP weapons and armor—heard that, they looked at one another.

“Yeah, let’s go! We’ve taken out more than half the Demon King’s handpicked troops, haven’t we?”

“Man, she sure is hot, though. I guess that doesn’t count for much right now.”

“Yeah, let her get under your skin, and we’ll all die. All right, everyone who can bear arms, get ready! Once we take out Wolbach, we’ll go straight for the last of the Demon King’s forces!”

I guess that was all to be expected from a bunch of adventurers. Pretty much everyone there went streaming out of the gathering area.

I saw Aqua follow them, probably less interested in helping to destroy Wolbach than in having a ringside seat for the fight. Darkness’s face was grim.

…As she left the area, Darkness glanced back at me and nodded.

Dammit. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Was there something she wanted me to do?!

Was she telling me to snap Megumin out of it?!

Speaking of Megumin, who was left there with me, she hadn’t reacted at all to the announcement that Wolbach had shown up.

Man, I’m so bad at these serious moments. My life until now has been so upbeat!

As I fretted to myself, Yunyun, who had kindly stayed behind with me, spoke up. “That person out there is a general of the Demon King and a dark god.” Her crimson eyes flashed, and she drew her wand. “That woman invited me to travel with her. I was so happy that I wrote about it in my diary, and I’ve read over that entry so many times. For a while I couldn’t even sleep because I regretted turning her down.” (Megumin and I weren’t sure how to respond to this unexpectedly intimate confession.) “But the Crimson Magic Clan was created by human hands to be the strongest wizards ever known in order to oppose the Demon King. No matter what may happen, we absolutely must not befriend a general of the Demon King.”

She looked so serious. I wondered if she knew who Vanir and Wiz really were.

Yunyun, still wielding her wand, headed for the door. “I may know that woman only from a short conversation in a carriage. But rather than let a bunch of adventurers who have never even spoken to her bring her down, I would rather… I’d r-r-r-rather…!”

She was trying so hard to be cool, but she must have reached her limit, because she started trembling as if she was going to cry. Megumin, maybe still weighed down by her inability to do anything when we faced Wolbach, didn’t say a word, despite her friend’s obvious distress.

I couldn’t tell what was in Megumin’s head, but suddenly she grabbed Chomusuke off my knees, silently hugging her to herself.

We knew Chomusuke had some sort of connection to Wolbach, something that kept Wolbach from immediately attacking us.

“…What are you going to do?” I said to Megumin.

“…What?”

As gently as if I were inviting her to go play, I said, “I don’t know exactly what the story is here.” Megumin continued to stare at me in confusion. “But you have some kind of history with that woman, right? Can you just let those adventurers out there finish her off?” I was as cool as if we were talking about going for a walk. “She’s come looking for a fight, and since she wants Chomusuke, I doubt she’ll have to think twice about killing us. So personally, I’m not going to stop them.”

I took Chomusuke—who would’ve probably only heightened the tension had she been present at the upcoming battle—back from Megumin.

“Crimson Magic Clan members always take the ripest opportunities, right?”

Megumin’s eyes were beginning to glimmer.

“If you want to finish this yourself, I’ll help however I can.”

A crowd of adventurers and knights looked on as I confronted Wolbach, with Chomusuke in my arms and Megumin by my side.

When I promised the crowd of bloodthirsty adventurers that I’d tell them about a certain incredible shop, they let us handle the battle. Apparently, they had more than cheats going for them. All of them had already saved up a general’s worth of bounty money.

Geez, color me jealous…

I glanced back at Darkness and Aqua, who looked like they had something to say, and silenced them with just my eyes.

“Are you sure you aren’t the descendant of that hero? That was quite a fearsome thing you used on me.” Wolbach, her robes torn here and there and covered in streaks of blood, smirked sarcastically at me.

“Call it the fruits of civilization. But I’ve gotta admit—I never expected it to work so well against a general of the Demon King. I might have to start mass-producing them.” Standing there holding Chomusuke, I showed her I could be just as biting as she was. “Look, why come all the way to the fortress now? We can all see who’s going to win this fight. Wouldn’t now be a great time for you to retreat? Tell you what. If you promise to forget about Chomusuke and never bother us again, I think I could find it in myself to look the other way while you escape.”

I didn’t expect the woman in front of me to accept those terms, but I thought I would offer, just in case.

“What a shame. If you really are capable of mass-producing those little toys, it’s just one more reason that I can’t let you live. And I can’t forget about your pet cat, either. I need her power, or I’m going to disappear.” Wolbach held up her right hand. It was starting to become translucent.

“…Are you some kind of undead?”

“How rude. I’ve lost so much power that at this rate, I’m going to be absorbed by my other half.”

This other half she kept talking about… Was it by any chance the cat I was holding in my arms?

…Huh?

“Can I ask you something? If I do return this cat to you, how will you get your power back, exactly? Are you going to, like, merge with Chomusuke or something?”

“No,” Wolbach answered, “I’ll erase that cat with my own hands. I rule sloth, and she rules violence. Once, long ago, we were accidentally unsealed, and her nature led her to go on a rampage. I sealed her back up, after stealing a considerable amount of her power, but…”

I didn’t exactly follow. Was she threatening to attack Chomusuke? As a cat lover, I wasn’t going to let that happen.

Then Megumin finally spoke up. “Was there not a little girl nearby when the seal on you and Chomusuke was broken? A girl with crimson eyes, perhaps five or six years old?” Her hands tightened on her staff; a look of certainty entered her expression.

“I don’t remember,” Wolbach almost spat, but still Megumin fixed her with her gaze.

I didn’t like where this was going.

Desperate to change the subject, I floated another question that had been on my mind.

“…Hey, look, if you’re in the Demon King’s army, how come we can have such a pleasant chat?”

Wolbach let out a pained breath. “If you want to know…defeat me first.” She smiled teasingly and repeated her words from earlier.

No good, huh? I knew it.

It was starting to look like we weren’t going to get out of this without a fight.

“This girl beside me is a user of Explosion, as I think you know by now,” I said. “So when this is over, you won’t be around to answer my questions.”

“…True enough. In that case…” Wolbach gave a little giggle. “Ask the Demon King. He’ll tell you.”

Again, her reply seemed to bring her pain. Then she started chanting a spell.

Here I’d been trying to buy time against a fading enemy, and I got the tables completely turned on us!

I knew how fast Megumin could chant. If she started right this second, it might be just enough to finish her spell first.

I glanced at Megumin beside me.

“…I think you do remember me, don’t you?” she murmured, then squeezed her staff again.

I went pale when I realized she didn’t seem to be chanting at all. I reached out for her so we could make our exit, when…!

“When you met Yunyun and me, you asked whether her name was a nickname, too.” Megumin slipped away from me, still not chanting, but instead talking to Wolbach, who stood stock-still. “There is something I’ve wanted to say to you, and show you, for a very long time.”

Wolbach, on the other hand, was obviously chanting.

“The spell you taught me. My mastery of it has surpassed that of any other, such that I can now control it without even a chant.” Then I thought I heard her whisper, “Thank you.”

“Explosioooonnnn!!!”

The Demon King’s army was in tatters, and his general had been blown away. Normally, that would have been cause for a huge victory celebration, but Megumin didn’t look quite right, so we decided to take our leave quietly.

We said our farewells to the others at the fortress, and the next day, we were on our way home. We reached the inn where I’d bathed with Wolbach, and I found myself lying back in my bed, my hands under my head, staring at the ceiling.

With all that had happened the day before, I was exhausted; I wanted nothing more than to hop in the bath and then go to bed, but the girls were having their turn at that moment. I had initially tried to join them, arguing that it was a mixed bath, so there was nothing illegal about it. But I was fixed with two pairs of glowing crimson eyes, and I beat a hasty retreat.

…The fight this time really was a close one.

All our enemies up to this point had been— I mean, there was some hope of running away or just avoiding them. Being on the receiving end of Explosion, though… That put real fear into you.

I had learned my lesson: I would have to be careful not to really tick off Megumin in the future.

Chomusuke sat on my chest—she had been clinging to me all the way home—and I asked myself for the umpteenth time:

…What the heck is this cat anyway?

After that explosion, Wolbach was gone without ever answering my question. Considering that she was a full-fledged general of the Demon King, I had hoped she would’ve withstood the blast better than…well… There was nothing left but an empty crater. I didn’t want to believe this meant the woman I’d gotten to know was dead. Was this really how it would all end?

Actually, when Megumin fired off that explosion with the words thank you, was it my imagination, or did Wolbach smile for just a second?

I kind of hoped I wasn’t just imagining it…

Come to think of it, shouldn’t this lazy furball have disappeared, too, if she was really Wolbach’s “other half”?

Everything had happened so fast this time. There were too many things I didn’t understand. My head felt like it was going to explode.

As I lay there trying to sort it all out, Chomusuke edged toward my nose.

…I guess I don’t care if you’re a dark god or whatever. You’re the only one who’s tried to comfort me…

I patted her where she had curled up again, getting a contented rumble in return.

There was a knock at my door, and I heard Megumin’s voice. “Kazuma, are you still awake? We’re all done in the bath.”

“Great, I’ll go down in a minute!”

I felt bad evicting the relaxed, purring Chomusuke from her spot, and I drew her closer as I answered.

Then the door drifted open.

“…So this is where you were. I didn’t see you anywhere.” As Megumin entered the room, she smiled to see Chomusuke resting on my chest. She pulled the door shut behind her, then sat on the end of the bed.

“We’re having Make-Kazuma-Feel-Better time. Give us a few more minutes before you take her away.”

“I don’t have to take her anywhere. I was afraid she had wandered outside, but if she’s with you, I don’t have anything to worry about.” Megumin reached out toward where Chomusuke was settled on top of me.

And then…

“…H-hey. Why so sudden?”

…Megumin went from reaching out for Chomusuke to leaning over, then lying down beside me.

Chomusuke—as if sensing her cue to leave—hopped down off the bed and curled up on the floor.

Megumin ignored my question, pulling the blanket up to her head so I couldn’t see her face. “May I sleep here tonight?” she whispered.

Back at the fortress, Megumin had barricaded herself in her room on account of what had happened yesterday. So what was going on now?

It sounded like she had known that woman somehow, and then she ended up having to drop an explosion on her. Not that I didn’t sympathize, but…

“…Of course you can’t. What are you talking about? Don’t take me for the pushover I’ve been in the past, okay? …I made myself a little promise, right here at this inn. I decided that if you or Darkness led me on with your sly looks and honeyed words ever again, I was going to just jump you.” I tried to say it jokingly so it wouldn’t come off too grim.

Just for an instant, Megumin’s eyes flashed red under the covers. “I wouldn’t really mind. In fact, that’s why I came here today.”

Then she giggled.

…Seriously, what was with this girl?

Er, actually, with her breathing on me from so close, my chest was starting to get a little warm from the heat.

This is bad. My heart’s gonna start beating out of my chest any minute now.

Heck, that’s not the only reason. This is bad, bad, very bad! It’s only a matter of time before my lower half starts chanting Explosion himself!

“You know what you’re dealing with, all right? A healthy young man in the prime of his adolescence. You can’t joke like that with a guy like me. Listen, a guy’ll get the wrong idea if you go around doing stuff like this. Especially unpopular ones. We can fall in love if someone so much as holds our hands. Seriously, be careful.” My voice had gone up an octave from nervousness.

But then I felt a hand work its way around my back and pull me close.

“I’ve told you before as clearly as I could.” I couldn’t see Megumin’s face, and her voice was muffled. “I love you, Kazuma.”

I didn’t know how this had happened.

I didn’t know why things were developing so suddenly.

No, calm down. Megumin isn’t her usual self. Something’s wrong.

But I couldn’t not let myself get swept along in what was going on here.

Let’s, uh, let’s change the subject. You know what I really love? Manga.

I love light novels.

Games are great, too, and watching anime is fun.

And all the time I was watching and reading and playing these things, I had one thought: Why, when a guy is all but cornered by a beautiful woman, doesn’t he lay a finger on her? Isn’t he young and ravenous? What losers. If I was in their position, I thought, I would get with those ladies, no question.

Well, now I practically was the main character in one of those rom-com manga.

I finally understood.

And I apologize. To all those characters I unfairly criticized in my head, I apologize. I beg you: Tell me what to do right now, when I’m in bed with a girl around my age, who’s holding me close and telling me she loves me.

I felt Megumin hug me a little tighter. Not tight enough to hurt. Just enough to let me know what was in her heart.

…Geez, this is wicked dangerous.

If I could muster up just a bit of courage right now, I really could cross that line.

No, I couldn’t! I can’t!

Think, Kazuma Satou, you have to think. This was different from that time when I almost crossed that line with Darkness. She had been expecting to go be someone else’s bride then. But now? Right now, it looked like the two of us were about to do it just because we wanted to.

Think about what would happen with all your party members living together if you and Megumin were to cross that line!

This is wrong. Something’s wrong here. Something’s wrong with her!

Okay, wait, don’t get ahead of yourself. Remember the situation: She’s holding on to you, and she’s said she loves you, but that’s all.

I could feel myself getting hotter, my voice scratching as I said, “Y-you’re going to be a real troublemaker when you grow up. What’s going on here? This is pushing it. Look, you know? When something like this happens to a guy, there’s a lot of this and some of that, and he can’t control himself. It’s like, he doesn’t care what’s going to happen in the future as long as he can enjoy himself right now. You’re lucky I’ve got a will of steel. Or else you…”

I kept talking faster and faster, trying to distract us both. From within the covers, her breath still dissipating against my chest, Megumin giggled. “…When I grow up? What are you talking about?”

The hug got tighter, and her voice got softer.

“I’ll be turning fifteen years old soon. That’s plenty grown up.”

I decided not to think about anything anymore.

I slid my right arm under Megumin’s head, my hand brushing her cool black hair. I ran my fingers through the strands, combing down the length of it. Megumin, still not making eye contact, moved her hand up my back until she could feel my hair.

I put my other hand behind her, too, so I was embracing her small body. I felt her sigh into my chest, silently telling me she felt safe in my arms.

…For a virgin like me, this was already about as much as I could handle. What the heck was I supposed to do next?

Please, somebody tell me!

Should I kiss her first, cool and calm?

Argh! Remember your succubus simulations!

As I lay there arguing with myself, Megumin and I ran our hands through each other’s hair. It felt nice, touching that cool, thick black hair.

I buried myself under the covers, and in the darkness under the sheets, I leaned my face toward hers. Neither of us could quite see the other. My Second Sight ability allowed me to at least see Megumin in outline, though.

Seriously. How had I gotten swept along so far, so fast?

I thought I was going to go nuts from the anxiety, but at the same time, my heart was full of emotions. And it was pounding nonstop.

So this… Was this love? Had I fallen in love with Megumin in spite of myself?

I didn’t think the pounding of my heart was just pure lust.

These thoughts ran through my head as I silently prepared myself.

It was all right. We had money. We had a house. Megumin and I would make it work.

I felt Megumin squeeze me again. It brought her lips right up to my neck. Suddenly, I felt her warm breath on my skin with every exhalation.

I thought of those lips and leaned down to—!

“Megumiiiin! Megumin, where are youuu?”

…Why am I not surprised?!

I poked my head out from under the covers when Aqua called from down the hallway. We heard somebody rushing back and forth outside the door.

I was definitely ticked that she could ruin a moment even when she didn’t know she was doing it. But at the same time, it helped me get my head back, and I was able to relax a little.

That’s right. I was definitely going to regret it if I let myself get swept away like this.

I was sure there was something wrong with Megumin today. If we crossed that line now, my relationship with everyone around me would change permanently. Hadn’t Megumin said it herself when she made those charms for us?

“I am happy. These charms contain my heartfelt wish that our party members stay together forever… I’m always grateful to you, too, Aqua, you know that? I hope we never part ways.”

Would we all be able to stay together if she and I crossed the line?

Megumin wanted us to stay a party; she didn’t want there to be any awkwardness.

This was fine, then. I’d never even been on a date with a girl. What was I doing jumping into the deep end?

“Aqua, did you find Megumin?” we heard Darkness asking outside.

I was just about to sit up when I noticed something: Megumin was still clinging to me, showing no sign of letting go.

…Huh?

Aqua and Darkness were looking for her. Did she plan to just ignore them and keep going?

“M-Megumin, Aqua and Darkness are… I m-mean, are you okay with this?” I asked, still with just my head sticking out from under the covers. Megumin didn’t answer, just hugged me tighter.

“Um, Megumin really seemed like she wanted to be alone. She must have had some connection to that Wolbach woman, just like I do…” That would be Yunyun outside.

“Huh… Well, I don’t think she would leave the inn anyway. Aqua, let’s go ahead and go to sleep.”

“Aww, I wanted to play a four-person card game…”

Megumin and I stayed together in the bed, pretending we couldn’t hear the conversation outside. We kept petting each other, unable to come up with the courage to take the big step.

But now that I’d gone this far, I didn’t think I could stop.

My bonds with my party members? Difficult times ahead with us all living together?

Forget all that, I thought.

Oh, right. Before you kiss a girl, don’t you have to say… You know? Megumin had told me how she felt about me; now it was my turn to come up with a sweet nothing.

“M-Megumin. I— You know… You know how you said you loved me? I… I think I love you, too!”

There! Did it!

Now I would just go wherever this took me. I was eager to get started, but Megumin—

“…Really? What do you love about me?”

She finally looked up at me, with something like hope in her eyes.

Being totally unaccustomed to chatting up girls, I didn’t have any smooth lines I could just drop in.

“…I, uhhh, you know… Your explosion magic and stuff…”

“You’re not just saying that because it’s the obvious way to butter me up when you can’t think of anything else?”

Damn, she was sharp. Argh, I didn’t know what I was doing, and now I’d put my foot in my mouth. Why did I always have to spoil things when I was having a moment? Maybe I was cursed to be a virgin my entire life.

But even though I had assumed Megumin would be annoyed, she buried her face in my chest and giggled again. “That’s one of the things I love about you, Kazuma. You’re exactly who you say you are. You know your own strengths, and when we run into a powerful enemy, you don’t make some show of trying to be brave and protect the women or something. You’re perfectly happy to hide behind Darkness. You may not have the nerve to do anything really bad, but you don’t pretend to be a do-gooder, either. And if you do bad things sometimes when people aren’t looking, when you’re in a good mood, you have it in you to do good things, too. I like that you’re not exactly good or evil. You’re just you.”

…Wait, is she complimenting me?

“You’ll work so hard to get out of debt, but then the moment you have some money, you stop working entirely. Depending on your mood, you can either be kind or kind of a jerk. You’ll make me think you really value your companions, and then you’ll go and do something like trade party members without a second thought. Sometimes you have ideas that make me think you must be brilliant, and then the next moment, you’ll do something so stupid that I don’t know what you’re thinking at all…”

Yeah, this was definitely praise.

Megumin, watching my expression get weirder and weirder as she spoke, smiled as if this was the most amusing thing in the world.

“And I love you because despite all your complaining, you’re still there for us when we need you. I love how you’re really kind, even if you have trouble showing it; how you can mess up a golden opportunity so badly that it’s honestly impressive but then have moments like this one. I love you for how you aren’t cool, how you can never quite get it together when it really matters.”

She smiled as she spoke, sliding her hand from my back to my neck.

In the starlight twinkling through the window, Megumin closed her eyes. Just a little bit of the light fell on her face, and I felt myself drawn toward her.

Was this really okay?

Could I just go ahead and…do this?

I had to remember—this was another world.

At my age, I would still be a student in Japan, but around here, where the average life span was shorter, I was already an adult.

Certainly old enough to marry Megumin.

It was okay; I would take responsibility.

So I steeled myself, leaned in, and—

—saw tears pooling in the corners of Megumin’s closed eyes.

“…H-hey. You’re not forcing yourself, are you? Are you really in love with me? If you feel like we’re going too fast, I mean, I’m a gentle guy. I can wait as long as you need! I can afford it! I mean financially and, uh, experience-wise!”

Shaken by Megumin’s sudden fit of tears, I started talking too fast, saying things that didn’t even really make sense to me.

Megumin didn’t seem to realize she had been crying until I said something. “Oh! N-no, this…!” She quickly sat up, wiping her eyes.

That finally gave me a chance to regain a cool head. “…So tell me. Why did you suddenly decide to come here tonight?”

It felt like such a belated moment to ask such an obvious question.

I was lying back, my arms under my head, staring up at the ceiling.

“This was back when I was still about Komekko’s age…” Megumin was lying beside me, also looking at the ceiling, her hands resting on her stomach. “You know the ‘seal of the dark god’ in Crimson Magic Village? I broke it one day, and that’s how it all started.”

She was telling me how she accidentally undid the seal when she was young. She had just thought she was playing with a toy.

She had immediately been confronted with a huge, pitch-black magical beast. In other words, she was attacked by Chomusuke, back before the cat’s power had been sealed away. And she had been saved by someone using Explosion—Wolbach.

The magic left a major impression on her, and from that day forward, her dream in life was decided.

That woman sure had screwed everything up good.

Many years later, Megumin herself learned Explosion. Acquiring magic made her a full-fledged adult in the Crimson Magic Clan, and she set out on a journey to find the person who had saved her that day, so she could thank her—and show her what she had learned.

But—

“I really am terribly ungrateful. I destroyed the very person who saved me.”

In the dark, Megumin kept talking, almost as if to herself. Beset by her feelings of guilt, she seemed so weak, as if she might disappear at any moment.

“…Did I mention to you how back in my country, I was a hikikomori and a NEET?” I asked gently, and Megumin glanced over at me.

“Yes, I think I’ve heard that a few times now. Why…?”

I didn’t quite let her finish her question. “Believe me, I’m the master of being ungrateful, if nothing else. My parents paid these outrageous tuition fees to send me to a private school, but I hardly even went to class. It started with just playing hooky here and there. I’d play games all night on the weekend, and then come Monday, I was just so tired and depressed. And my parents both worked, so it was easy to skip.”

I had never told anyone about this glittering history of mine before, but I decided to tell Megumin now.

“It was only going to be one day. That turned into once a month and then every Monday. Before I knew it, I’d stopped going to school entirely.”

It was actually kind of an ugly story, now that I thought about it.

I had planned to graduate middle school and get out of the hikikomori lifestyle, but it was all for naught.

In the mornings, I would pretend to leave for class; then when I saw my parents go to work, I would sneak back in the house. Then I’d call the school, make up some excuse, and spend the rest of the day playing games. I would be discovered when the school finally called my parents, but no matter what they said to me, it wasn’t long before I would go back to being an inveterate shut-in.

“You call yourself ungrateful, but you’re the one who freed Wolbach in the first place, right? Then her other half attacked you, and she saved you and taught you magic. She caused the problem, so she doesn’t get credit for fixing it. I know a certain little punk of an adventurer who does that all the time.”

Megumin looked at me blankly.

“You freed her, she owed you, and so she stopped her other half from attacking you. Like she should. You don’t have to thank her for it… If you’ve been spending all your time worrying about that, how could someone like me ever face my parents again?”

Not that I could have, really, even if I’d wanted to.

“So, look… The point is, you know. On an Ungratefulness Scale of one to Kazuma, you’re nowhere near me. If you’re spending time fretting about feeling ungrateful when you don’t really have anything to worry about, think how awful I must look. So, uh…”

Even I wasn’t sure what I was talking about anymore. Megumin continued to watch me intently, then exhaled. She buried her face in my chest, quaking with suppressed laughter.

“…What’s with you? I’m trying my best to comfort you here, and this is how you treat me? I’m revealing the most painful secrets of my past. You really are an ingrate!”

“I’m sorry. I promise I’m not laughing at you. I just felt bad for your parents having a son like you. And it was so funny, the way you looked so serious, comforting me in the strangest way possible.”

You little—!

“Gee, sorry for trying to do something different! I know what this is, okay? You’re pretending to be this tragic heroine, but I’m the real victim here. Think how a guy must feel when a girl comes to his room in desperation just to comfort herself.”

But Megumin only laughed harder at my tirade, wiping tears from her eyes.

“Would you like to pick up where we left off, then?”

“H-h-h-hell no! People may call me Cad-zuma or Trash-zuma or whatever, but even I’m not low enough to take advantage of someone who’s feeling as vulnerable as you are!”

I was just trying to sound tough, but I guess it helped Megumin get her head back on her shoulders, because she giggled again. “I see. That’s too bad.”

But then her eyes flashed red as she spoke in a way that suggested she didn’t think it was too bad at all.

“…Listen here, though. If you ever feel like you’re finally free of the bad feelings surrounding you and that woman, and you come to me just because you want to be with me, I won’t have any reason at all to say no.” I hated to think I might be throwing away a golden opportunity here, but it was too late to turn back. Megumin’s shoulders were shaking again.

“Is that so? When that time comes, then, I’ll visit your room again.”

Then she gave me a smile of relief.

Megumin left my room, telling me how much better she felt.

But I didn’t feel better. I was all hot and bothered now. I tossed and turned under the covers.

“Arrrrrggghhh! I let a perfect opportunity slip through my fingers, and I said the most embarrassing stuff in the world! Arrrrrrrgh!”

I was hardly going to sleep after that, so I decided to go try to cool my head. A nice, cold shower ought to do the trick.

To be perfectly honest, I couldn’t believe I had let that chance get away. But at the same time, I felt sort of glad that I didn’t get caught up in the moment and do something that might’ve come back to bite me.

Come to think of it, in light of what had happened, was I basically dating Megumin now?

I mean, I said some things about love and stuff, too, right?

But it turned out I did have a lot of affection for her. Enough that I wasn’t sure I really minded if we were dating.

…So, wait, did I have a girlfriend now?

Were we going to be one of those happy, sappy couples everyone hates?!

“Okay, wait, calm down. Megumin’s been acting weird ever since yesterday. Let’s see how she feels tomorrow and then go from there,” I muttered as I got to the changing room…

Then I noticed Chomusuke had joined me somewhere along the line, pattering along by my feet.

“…And just what do you think you’re doing?”

“Mrrow.”

She had been so sensitive to what was going on earlier. What had gotten into her now?

Well, she hated baths anyway, so I was sure she would turn back soon…

“…I’m heading for the bath. You hate those, remember? Are you sure you want to come in?”

I sat down on a stool and tried to reason with Chomusuke, who had boldly followed me in.

Then, while taking a cold shower, I considered the future. My first decision was that tomorrow, I would act like nothing had happened. But if Megumin actively approached me for some “skinship,” I wouldn’t turn her down. For a wimp like me, that seemed like a pretty good compromise.

Pretty soon it wasn’t just my brain that was feeling cool; my skin was downright chilly, too. Time to head for the bath. A nice soak, and then I could get to sleep…

“…You really wanna come in here?”

“Mrra.”

I was just stepping into the tub when I saw Chomusuke coming with me. That was weird. Still, I put a little water in a washbasin.

“When I get in, the water’s gonna overflow. You can hide out in here.”

I set the basin down, and Chomusuke approached it delicately, checking the temperature with her paw before climbing in and curling up.

…What was with the cat today? I mean, besides the fact that she wasn’t a cat.

I didn’t know why she had suddenly taken a liking to baths, but I guess it was good she was keeping herself clean.

Thinking about how that other woman had appreciated a good bath, I said offhandedly, “Well, my dear Wolbach, how’s the temperature?”

The moment I said the name Wolbach, one of Chomusuke’s ears twitched.

………

Was that just a coincidence? Was I anthropomorphizing Chomusuke too much?

Was there any chance she would turn into Wolbach herself when she got bigger?