Prologue
“Explosion!!!!!”
A blast that laid waste to everything in the vicinity shook me to my core, and the field near Axel got a fresh crater.
Well, it would give the old men at the civil service something to do. Again.
Megumin, collapsed on the ground, turned her head toward me and asked simply, “How many points was that one?”
She had recently taken to calling me her “explosier”—like a sommelier for explosions—and I didn’t want to go too easy on her.
“Hmm. For sheer destructive force, I would say ninety points. But the blast wind didn’t have the heat it usually does. Is it fair to assume that’s because it’s a hot summer day, and you deliberately reduced the amount of heat energy you put into it?”
The edges of Megumin’s mouth turned up in a smile. “Indeed. I thought that rather than just increasing the power unchecked, it might be best today to create a pleasant breeze with my explosion. What do you think? Did I not blow away the hot, muggy air? Personally, I believe these explosions will go down as one of the distinctive features of an Axel summer.”
I didn’t follow half the things she said, but I got the general idea.
“That sort of thoughtfulness toward your audience, along with the beautiful circular shape of the crater, means today’s explosion gets ninety-seven points!”
“Thank you! I’m getting better!”
After this admittedly ridiculous conversation, I hefted the immobilized Megumin onto my back. Business as usual. She never grew even a tiny bit, so she was always light and easy to carry.
“Sorry for all the trouble.”
“If you’re really sorry, then raise your level until you have enough MP that you won’t collapse every time you do this.” Since we had a bit of a hike to town, I took the opportunity to air my grievances with Megumin.
“I expect it will be like this no matter how much my level rises,” she said. “The skill points I get by leveling up, I immediately put right into increasing Explosion’s power.”
“Huh?! I keep thinking you just never catch up to the MP requirements for the most powerful spell, and that’s what you’ve been doing?! You mean these piggyback rides aren’t just something I have to endure for a while until your level goes up? I’ve been so patient! I want my time back!”
“Oh, it is fine, I think. Developing ‘skinship’ with your friends is important sometimes.”
“Think carefully—you sure that’s how you wanna phrase that?”
I had half a mind to go a lot further than skinship with the unrepentant Megumin.
“If I had told myself when I lived in the Crimson Magic Village that I would one day have friends I valued this much, I probably wouldn’t believe me.”
“I don’t exactly feel very valued right now,” I shot back, and Megumin giggled. “What did you used to be like anyway? What the heck went so wrong that you started wanting to learn Explosion?”
“Went wrong? How rude. But as for the old me, that’s a good question…”
She went quiet for a moment. Maybe she was thinking back.
“I didn’t really have any friends before,” she said finally. “I was a genius, so I figured I could make it on my own forever.”
“So you’re saying you’ve always been trouble.”
Megumin cinched the arm she had around my neck.
“Ow, sorry, I take it back! What I mean is, you’ve always been all alone, with nobody to— Owowowow! You’re higher-level and stronger than I am, so take it easy, please!”
From my back, Megumin gave a frustrated sigh. “You bring it upon yourself with your scathing remarks… Did you not want to hear why I learned Explosion?”
“Yeah! Yeah, I do! You must have had someone to show it to you first, right? I want to know what kind of troublemaker taught you a spell like that.”
“It’s rude of you to call the one I admire, the one to whom I owe everything, a troublemaker… But let’s see here.”
She started to recall her past.
“You’ll find out someday. When I’m able to tell one person in particular that I finally learned Explosion,” Megumin said with a cheerful smile.
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