"Explosion!"
A person wearing a low hood calmly chanted the spell. In contrast to her calm tone, the power of the spell was devastating. Without warning, a boom shattered the air and was accompanied by a scorching blast. The b̵̸̢͜͠l̕͡á̶͟c͏͡k̢̕͢͢ ̴͏̡b̴͞e̸̡͝a͘͠s̵̵͢͡t҉ chasing me was easily blown away.
And that's not all. My playground was also completely destroyed by the powerful spell, and all the toys that I worked so hard to gather were blown away.
Overwhelming power that can sweep away anything. The greatest destructive force that was stronger than any other kind of spell. This massive destruction was unleashed by a single mage. One shot was all it took.
What kind of spell could that be? Even the adults in the village have never used something like that before.
The hooded person walked toward the mind-blown and dazed me.
"Are you ok?"
She bent down and peeked at my expression. The robe she was wearing was really rustic, but when she bent down, her plump breasts were displayed prominently. Oh wow, this is awesome. Well, that spell was awesome too, but this is way better!
"How do I become someone like you?" This question just immediately popped out from my mouth. I even forgot to thank her first.
The words that my mom kept repeating recently floated in my mind. 'Our family has always had slender figures. It'd be better if you give up early.' — something like this. I am not gonna give up; not gonna give up until the very end.
"Megumin."
"…Is that a nickname?"
"It's my real name."
The onee-san fell silent as she tried to calm herself down, and then she said,
"You want to become someone like me? Hmm... if you eat more, learn more, and become an Archmage, I am pretty sure..."
Become an Archmage, then I can have huge breasts!
"Yes. If you become an Archmage, one day you will be able to use that spell. But honestly, I don't really recommend that spell."
Seemed like the hooded person said something else, but I've already fallen into the dream of being an Archmage.
"But…"
The person with the hood patted my head while I kept mumbling 'Archmage, Archmage', and looked around.
"Megumin, did you see any other adults around here? There should be someone who removed the seal. The fragments of the seal are here, and it shouldn't be able to undo itself…"
The person with the hood twisted her head and picked up the fragment beside my feet.
"That person should still be around here. It's a mystery as to who unleashed it. Well, never mind, asking you is not gonna help me figure it out."
While she was talking, she moved to the centre of the giant hole that was created by the spell.
A b̵̸̢͜͠l̕͡á̶͟c͏͡k̢̕͢͢ ̴͏̡b̴͞e̸̡͝a͘͠s̵̵͢͡t҉ was lying at the centre, perceptual static wreathing it. My eyes watered when I looked at it, and my head began to throb painfully.
She put her hand upon it's head.
"Please sleep a little longer, my other half. This world is still too peaceful for you to wake up."
The static tensed, and then flexed, blasting outwards and soaking into the woman.
Meanwhile, the b̵̸̢͜͠l̕͡á̶͟c͏͡k̢̕͢͢ ̴͏̡b̴͞e̸̡͝a͘͠s̵̵͢͡t҉ became smaller and smaller.
Finally, it shrank to the size of a cat, and as its shape became a blur, it disappeared.
"Okay, after this- What are you doing now, little girl?"
I was picking up the toys that were scattered on the ground.
"I am picking up my toys. My family is very poor, these are all I have."
"Ah? No, no. These are not toys. They are used for sealing the beast. They're very important…. Hmm?"
I assembled the fragments I picked up, but some of them are missing.
Need three more pieces.
"Onee-san, your spell blew three pieces away, can we look for them together?"
The person with the hood kept stroking her jaw and seemed to be really confused.
"When did you come and play on this restricted area, little girl? Didn't the adults inside the village tell you not to go near here?"
"My mom said that if people tell you 'It's dangerous there' 'There's nothing there' or 'Don't get close to it', that always means there are treasures hidden over there."
"Wha-Whaaaat!"
The person with the hood was frightened and panicked.
After that, she stood beside me and put her hand on my head.
"Well, there are still many things that I don't know, but most likely, I have you to thank. Do you have any wishes, little girl? I might not look like it, but I am actually a mysterious mage with great power. No matter what kind of wish you have, I can make one of them come true."
"Wish?"
"Yes, a wish. No need to hesitate, just say it. No matter what kind of… "
"Can I wish for more-"
"No wishing for more wishes."
I scowled at that.
"Conquer the world."
"Sorry, I can't do that."
The edge of her hood was very low, but I could still see the corner of her mouth twitching.
"Then turn me into a girl with huge boobs."
"N-No, that is impossible too. How old are you? You shouldn't be at the age to worry about such matters."
Looks like this is not gonna work either.
"Turn me into the demon king."
"Sorry, but no. Do you have any other wishes?"
I looked at the fragments on my hand.
"My toy is still missing three pieces. Could you find them for me?"
"I can grant a wish that's a little bigger..."
The person with the hood seemed embarrassed.
Something a little bigger.
Well then—
"Please teach me that spell."
Underneath that hood of hers, the big breasted onee-san seemed to twitch.
"What did you say?"
"I said, please teach me that spell."
The onee-san made a face more troubled than when I said I wished to conquer the world.
More troubled than when I asked for a way to grow my chest.
And even more so than when I asked her to make me into the Demon King.
"Er, that spell… I said it before, didn't I? I really don't recommend that you learn this spell."
"Fine then, can you at least teach me how to catch some crayfish? I want something for dinner."
"Don't look at me so coldly! I can teach you that spell if you really want, I just don't want to because no good will come off it…"
I looked at the onee-san panicking in front of me
"What was the spell you used just now?"
"That spell? It's called Explosion, the so-called strongest spell."
Strongest!
"Some believe it is the ultimate offensive spell that can destroy almost anything."
Ultimate!
"However, learning it requires an enormous amount of skill points, and even if you learn it, you won't be able to cast it if you don't have a massive amount of mana. Even if you can cast it, the mana required would leave you unable to move after a single shot- Hey, are you listening to me?"
"Not at all. Please teach me that spell. I want to cast Explosion."
I grabbed onto the onee-san's robe and started shaking her.
"How did this happen? I just wanted to thank her... but I might have messed up her life instead."
The onee-san, who's name was Wolbach, asked for a day of rest due to having already cast Explosion, so today is the day she promised to teach it to me.
"Young lady, are you sure you don't want to reconsider?"
We met up at the tomb, before Wolbach took me to an empty plain quite some distance away from the village.
"No, the only spell I want to learn is Explosion."
The mage sighed in response.
"Well, I'm only teaching you the spell. It should take you about ten years to learn it, so you'll probably give up sometime along the way."
"Never! I will learn it for sure! Just you watch!"
Even though she frowned after hearing my answer, Wolbach nevertheless started slowly reciting the chant of the explosion spell.
"Right, that's the chant to Explosion. First let's see if you can memorize-"
Before she could finish her words, I flicked my cloak and-
"The true crimson god of destruction, Megumin, hereby commands! With my authority, manifest the power to render all creation to ash before me!"
"What kind of chant is that!? What's that about god of destruction or authority or what not? I definitely didn't say any of that!"
Thus, from that day onwards, I spent my days learning magic from that onee-san.
"Young lady, I really don't think you should add your own lines to the chant when performing magic. Your lines do sound cool, but that isn't Explosion any more."
"I'm a Crimson Demon, so I want to add a Crimson Demon flair to it."
Persuading me not to add my own lines to the chant.
"Young lady, don't strike a pose. If you make that kind of pose, the spell will end up flying all over the place."
"Bukkororii told me that a Crimson Demon who achieves victory without striking a pose is no true Crimson Demon."
"That person is knocked in the head, don't listen to him."
Correcting my posture while channelling magic
"Look, this is the advanced magic spell 'Inferno'! It's a powerful spell that creates a large blaze and incinerates the entire area. What do you think? Do you want to learn this instead?"
"Not at all. Anyway, hurry up and cast Explosion! I want to see today's Explosion!"
"Young lady, Explosion isn't a firework, you know? Even if you learn it, you can't just set it off whenever you want."
"No, I will."
Wolbach was frequently left on the verge of tears as she tried to persuade me, who continued to stubbornly cling to Explosion.
"Young lady, advanced magic and teleport is a very potent combination that can deal with most enemies."
"Explosion!"
"If you use the spell Light of Saber, you can cut apart anything if you have enough mana-"
"Explosion!"
"Okay, instead of Explosion, how about learning Blast or Detonate? They're both pretty strong spells in their own right-"
"Explosion!"
"Please, listen to me!"
My magical instructor finally snapped and burst into tears as I practised my cool lines.
"I don't want to learn anything other than Explosion! I don't care how many years it takes. Even if I have to practice until I become an old lady, I will not give up until I learn Explosion."
"Say, just what exactly it is about Explosion that made you so obsessed with it?"
Because I don't want to be helpless. I want to be like you on that day, to be powerful enough to crush fear with absolute confidence.
"Before the actual training starts, there's something I wanted to show you. But it's really big and scary, and you're a child, so I shouldn't force you to come along."
"My mom's really scary, so it's fine."
Wolbach actually laughed for once.
"The thing I was talking about is several times scarier than your mother, you know?"
"Really?! When my dad went out to borrow money for his strange inventions, my mom paralysed his body from the head down and threw him out into the forest as he cried. It's scarier than that?"
"Oh right, your mother should also be a Crimson Demon. If she's anything like you, then she'll probably be just as scary as that."
Something that is as scary as mom…
"Are we going to see the Demon King or an evil god?"
"Just how scary is your mother? And why are your eyes glowing? Are you interested in the Demon King or evil gods?"
I nodded.
"After I defeat the Demon King, I will take on his title and become the next Demon King!"
"You can't do that! It's not something you can become just by defeating the current king!"
After saying that, Wolbach looked away from me.
"And evil gods usually don't have very pleasant lives."
She said, a strange smile playing on her lips.
The forest bordering the outskirts of the village is usually forbidden to me as it contains numerous strong monsters.
"Young lady, I think we should go back! It was my fault, please listen to me!"
"The liver and stomach of a one-strike bear are worth a lot of money! I don't know why they're so afraid of us, but this is a wonderful opportunity! If we catch one, we can eat it for dinner!"
We ended up chasing a pack of cowardly one-hit bears who were running away from us in fear for some reason.
I've been eating nothing but crayfish for some time, so the prospect of having a different sort of meat for dinner is really appealing.
"Wait, I only brought you here because I wanted to teach you that advanced magic is much better for dealing with dangerous monsters! I didn't come here to hunt one-hit bears!"
"No problem. I don't feel like I'll lose to anyone right now. I'm sure my abilities as the god of destruction will appear in the heat of battle!"
"Why are the Crimson Demons so… are they like this from the moment they are born?"
Wolbach started chanting her magic after sighing deeply.
"Freeze Gust!"
A white powder burst from onee-san's hands and enveloped all the one-hit bears, rendering them motionless.
"Oh, I think that this can be made into a new attraction if we bring it back to the village."
"No way am I letting you do that! This is just to show you that there are other, better, stronger spells out there!"
Looking at the frozen pack of one-hit bears who could do nothing except whine pitifully, Wolbach let out a rare smile.
"What I just used was the intermediate magic Freeze Gust. See? With enough mana, even intermediate magic can be a powerful weapon. This requires much less mana than Explosion. If you use advanced magic and intermediate magic strategically, I'm sure you'll be able to become one of the best mages- young lady, what are you doing?"
She hurriedly moved in front of me as I approached the pack with a large stick.
"It's a rare chance to have a herd of high-level monsters lying helpless, so I'm going to finish them off and earn some experience points. The people in the village often use this method to power level. They freeze them up like this and finish them off, and some even raise monsters specifically for this."
These happy days continued for quite a while.
But in time, it looked like my teacher finally started to get restless.
"Young lady, can I ask you something?"
"What is it? I'm not telling you where the crayfish nest is, so don't ask."
"Don't worry, I don't want to know that. Say, Crimson Demons have their adventurer cards made when they're born right? Then, can onee-san take a look at your card?"
Hearing this, I tried to hide the card that was originally in my robe pocket.
Wolbach once again sighed after seeing this.
"I knew it. Explosion already appeared in your learnable skills hasn't it?"
"No, I am a slow learner, so I need a lot more time to learn something like that."
She raised her hand towards me.
"Paralyse."
As expected, I found that I couldn't move at all.
"What, you want to have your way with me while I can't move? I will call for help when I get back to the village! When I get back I report to my mom and dad that an onee-san with big breasts and yellow eyes kidnapped me. S-stop! Stop!"
"I just wanted to see your adventurer card! Please don't tell people about me!"
As much as I wanted to resist, I couldn't move a muscle, and my card was easily taken from me.
Wolbach negated her spell once she took my card, and started reading it in a low voice.
"Explosion is under learnable skills. The other skills that I showed you are here as well? How can you call yourself a slow learner? You learnt all these after just seeing them just once!"
Seeing me cross my arms and look away, she made a troubled expression.
"Young lady, I still have things I need to do and places I need to visit. Now that I have taught you Explosion, it's about time that we part ways."
"I don't wanna! If onee-san leaves, I won't be able to see Explosions anymore!"
Hearing that, Wolbach bent down to my eye level.
"Didn't you say you will learn Explosion for sure? You'll see it again once you learn it."
She gave me a gentle smile.
"Then it's time to for us to part. It'd be dangerous to go further from the village, so there's no need to see me off. I don't really approve of this, but in the end, it's your life. I won't stop you, it's up to you to make your own decisions from now."
We didn't spend that much time together, but I enjoyed every day that I spent with onee-san.
I got to eat great food, hunt powerful monsters, and see many different types of spells.
"If the day ever comes that you learn explosion magic, I would really want to see it for myself."
"Then don't forget about me before that day comes."
"I don't think I could forget about you even if I wanted to. Your unusual name, all the things you did, and your aptitude for magic. You should try and lead a peaceful life from now on."
The person who cast that spell for me many times, the spell that I fell in love with…
"My goal is to defeat the Demon King, so I can't promise you that I'll lead a peaceful life, but I can promise you that I'll definitely show you my Explosion, so-"
As if she knew what I was about to say, Wolbach gave me a wry smile.
"Could I please see onee-san's Explosion one last time?"
