Chapter 43: A Once in a while Explosive Date for this Couple!

Proofreader: LordVTP


Part 1

After the intermission, the audience returned to their seats and the contest was resumed.

I gave Eris some last words of encouragement. I didn't bother to tell her about what Aqua was up to. There was no need to trouble her before her performance.

With the audience settled in, Darkness emerged from the curtains carrying some cue cards. She had an uneasy look on her face as she addressed the crowd.

"The results are in for the voting. These scores were tabulated based on audience voting. Thank you for participating. As the tabulations were done with magical means, the possibility of the results being tampered or influenced through illegal means is almost zero. As such, please don't complain if you feel like the results aren't favorable…"

This was directed to the Axis-cultists in the crowd, who looked like they were about to raise a riot should Aqua end up having a lower placing in the standings.

"In fourth place is… contestant Wolbach. I'm sorry to say that she is in last place."

There weren't any signs of disapproval from the crowd. I felt bad for Wolbach, but she deserved this much for not taking the contest seriously.

I was sure some guys in the audience appreciated the amount of skin she was showing them, though.

"In third place is contestant Regina."

There were some moderate applause from the crowd. The Axis-cultists were determined not to cheer for a goddess who wasn't Aqua, but there was some polite applause for Regina among those of the Eris-order.

Her stock was rising due to her performance. Her choice to participate in this contest to promote herself was paying off.

I was glad that she didn't try to sabotage the contest and was actually participating properly. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions based on my own biases.

"In second place… contestant Aqua!"

There were loud cheers from the Axis-cultists. They would have booed since this meant that Aqua only got second place, but they didn't want to make it seem as if Aqua was the one getting booed.

Instead, they saved their ill intent for the next announcement.

"And in first place is contestant Eris! Congratulations, Eris-sama! Eris-sama received the most votes by far during the swimsuit event! She also received the most votes during the fashion show, but contestant Aqua and contestant Regina were close behind, accumulating a lot of points by themselves! But in the end, contestant Eris still has the most points! Keep it up, Eris-sama!"

Oi, Darkness, your favoritism is showing.

Also, there was no mention of Wolbach at all. Please tell me she got at least some votes from the horny guys in the crowd.

There was a mix of cheers from the Eris-order crowd, and a chorus of boos from the Axis-cultists.

"P-Please behave in an orderly manner! Eek! A-Are you throwing tomatoes at me?! I-I'm being disgraced in such a manner…"

Some Axis-cultists had thrown tomatoes at Darkness. They were immediately escorted out by security.

As Darkness returned backstage to clean the tomato juice that was staining her dress, the contest resumed.

The talent show was next.

The one who wins first place during the talent show, which was the main event of the contest, will have the points they accumulated for that round doubled.

It was the wildcard of the pageant, a chance for a comeback.

If Regina and Wolbach win, they might even get a chance to sneak in as one of the finalists for the last round.

As I kept my fingers crossed, Darkness came back, wearing a different dress.

"Then, we will start the next event! Please give it up for contestant Wolbach!"

There was some uneasy applause from the crowd as they waited for the 'towel goddess' to appear.

But this time, she didn't come out in a towel. It was a far more embarrassing outfit.

"...I-I am Wolbach. My calling is that of an Arch-Wizard, one who commands explosion magic…! I-I can't do this! This is way too embarrassing!"

She was acting shy now, even though she had come out on stage with only a towel on before.

Well, I guess she had a proper reason to be embarrassed.

She was wearing Megumin's robes. It wasn't cosplay or anything, Megumin had actually lent her robes, which were several sizes too small for Wolbach.

The stitching at the chest looked like it was about to burst, and the skirt was so short that it looked like Wolbach wasn't wearing anything underneath.

We could even see a hint of her white lingerie panties peeking out underneath...

From behind the curtain, I saw Megumin's hand come out, giving Wolbach a thumbs up. She was urging Wolbach to go on with whatever routine they had planned.

"N-No way…"

Wolbach hung her head and went on with her performance.

By the way, I could see several men around me breathing hard through their noses.

Perhaps Wolbach wasn't completely out of the competition yet?

"U-Um, the talent I'd like to display is my explosion magic. Watch and be amazed…"

She took out Megumin's staff and raised it to the sky.

Wait… She can't be…?!

Before anything could happen, Darkness sprinted onto the stage and tackled Wolbach.

"N-No explosion magic allowed! Contestant Wolbach is disqualified!"

It was a good thing Darkness did that, because I saw Lucie train her crossbow at Wolbach's head as soon as the words 'explosion magic' left her mouth.

Wolbach was a former devil king army general after all. The king probably ordered his people to keep an eye for any suspicious movements.

After Wolbach was escorted from the stage, it was Regina's turn.

She brought those Regina dolls from before with her. It looked like they were attached on puppet strings.

Regina faced the crowd with a wide smile.

"...A long time ago, I was cursed and became a fallen goddess. I became the goddess of puppetry and manipulation. I used to think that my powers of puppetry were nothing more than a cruel reminder of what I had become, but today, I'd like to display the benevolent side of my powers…"

She raised her fingers and the Regina dolls came alive.

There was a collective 'kyaa~!' from the girls and children in the audience at the cute display.

There was a merry tune being played as Regina made the puppets do a cute dance. The audience clapped along to the beat of the performance.

It was a simple performance, but it was nice and sweet. I even found myself clapping along.

"Thank you for watching and supporting me until now!"

Regina said, as her performance ended. She bowed to the audience, and the Regina dolls bowed as well.

What a wholesome girl. She's really become a good girl.

"...These Regina dolls will be on sale at the Wiz magic item store, so please do come by!"

W-What a good girl…?

Part 2

"Again, I'd like to apologize for the incident regarding contestant Wolbach. She and her 'producer' have been escorted out of the premises and are currently being scolded. But enough about that. Let's continue this wonderful festival! Are you ready for the next contestant?!"

At Darkness's call, the audience responded with a cheer.

Darkness was actually doing alright as an M.C. She was obviously biased towards Eris, though.

"The next performer is contestant Aqua. Please welcome her back to the stage!"

"Let's go, let's go, Aqua-chan! Let's go, let's go, Aqua-chan!"

The Axis-cultists brought out blue-colored glow sticks. Where did they even get those? This event was becoming more and more of an idol concert than a beauty pageant.

I didn't know what to expect, so my jaw dropped when I saw Aqua coming out on stage.

"Thanks for waiting, everyone! Your number one idol, Aqua-chan, is here~!"

She just went ahead and called herself an idol.

No, rather than that… The outfit she was wearing…!

Standing on stage, with a bunch of V.I.P. 's watching, an unashamed Aqua was wearing a bunny girl outfit.

The corset was blue colored, while white bunny ears and a puffy tail completed the outfit. Slung around her shoulders, she had the electric guitar Vanir delivered during the intermission.

"Today, I'd like to sing a song for you all. It's from a faraway country called Japan. The song is called 'God Knows', I hope you all enjoy it…!"

She brought the mic stand closer, checked her equipment and then…

With a strum of her fingers, the guitar came alive.

"?!"

Just like I expected, the crowd was stunned by this sound they'd never heard before until now.

She even went into a frenzied solo to start the performance. Her fingers went on a rapid sequence, running along the neck of the guitar, tapping on the strings as she strummed.

"Blazing on by… there's nothing more that I can do. I'm sorry that… I can never be with you again~!"

I-Is this really Aqua?!

Even her voice changed. Her singing voice was mature and husky. Quite frankly, it took my breath away.

"...It's my life, I'm moving on and never going back there. But you just turn away, and leave me on the lonely rail~!"

She swung the guitar up with a dramatic flair and brought it back again as she played a power chord.

"God Knows that I will follow you if that is what you wanted! Take me into all your darkest shadows and you'll see that… I'm even stronger than you could know! God Knows that I am standing here, and you could disappear, slipping right over the edge of the future, but if I had my way… we'd be together forever… Eternally God Blessed…"

By now the crowd was standing and cheering their hearts out. Even the Eris-order folk were joining in with the cheers.

"Aqua-sama…! You're glowing brightly for everyone to see! Wahhh!"

Meanwhile, the Axis-cultists were too busy shedding tears of pride for their goddess.

Aqua ended the performance with another solo. After the last note died out, the audience let out one last cheer.

"Encore! Encore! Encore!"

Darkness came out on stage to try and calm the crowd.

"P-Please settle down! It's not fair to the other contestants so we won't allow an…"

"Yosh! If you guys want more, then I'll give you more! This one is called 'Lost My Music'! Looking at the starry sky, I wish that you would be…"

"No more! Please stop! Security!"

Aqua was pulled away from the stage as the microphone was snatched away from her.

Rock n' roll until the very end, huh?

...That's one tough act to follow.

I could just imagine Eris shaking backstage after watching that performance.

"Wow, that was unexpectedly good! Ne, if Aqua can do a performance like that, I bet Eris-sama's performance will be even better!"

"Yeah, she's one-upped everyone until now. I'm looking forward to it!"

The audience was seriously expecting Eris to top that performance.

"Ahem… Now that everyone has calmed down, let's bring out the next performer! Contestant Eris, please come out!"

A meek Eris came out on stage, wearing the idol outfit from earlier. She came up to the mic stand, all eyes on her. She started dancing.

Arms raising alternately in fist pumps, with her knees going up along with the movement.

"P-Popipopopopipo… Popipopopipipo… VeGeTaBlesssss a-ah-ah-ah-ahhhh~!"

Aqua won that round.

Part 3

Wolbach got disqualified, which meant that there were three contestants left. However, only two contestants could advance to the final round.

In the talent show, Eris got last place, while Aqua took first place by a landslide. Regina got second place.

Since Eris had a large lead until the talent show, she still ended up as a finalist. She wasn't too far behind Aqua in total points, but this still meant that Aqua had the advantage heading into the final round.

This also meant that Regina was eliminated from the competition.

"I truly didn't expect to get this far. I thank you all for your support! It was an honor for me to share the stage with these great idols… I mean, goddesses! Please continue to support me in the future, everyone!"

I didn't miss how she said 'idols' there.

Regina put on a great show and the crowd made sure to let her know. Many people stood from their seats and applauded as Regina made her way out of the stage.

Despite my affiliations with Eris, I couldn't help but root for the underdog Regina. I joined in on the applause. The king had been touched by Regina's efforts as well.

"What a lovely young lady. If she keeps up the hard work, I'm sure she'll go far as an idol… I mean, goddess."

Even the king was calling them 'idol'.

There was a short break until the final round. I felt a tug on my arm.

"Onii-sama, didn't you say that you were in charge of Eris-sama's choreography?"

Iris's tone was accusatory. Was she rooting for Eris or something?

"I didn't expect Aqua to perform so well in that round. Don't worry, I'm sure Eris-sama will do better in the final round."

That's right. After all, the final round was the interview portion.

You'd need more than gimmicks to win this round. Only the contestant's charm and ability to think on the spot would be the deciding factors.

Aqua lacked both of those things.

And, knowing Aqua, it was possible that she'd bomb this round by answering a question tactlessly.

"The final round will now begin everyone!"

Darkness announced, after she and the contestants came back on stage after a short break.

They were both wearing their normal outfits. Aqua was confident as ever while Eris was more reserved, although I could sense a quiet resolve from her. She was intent on winning this competition, if not for her sake, then for the sake of her followers in the audience.

"In this round, I will present both of you with a question. You will be judged based on your answer. Are you ready?"

The contestants nodded.

"Then, as the leading point-getter so far, contestant Aqua will go first."

Darkness looked at her card, then read the question.

"...There are those who say that the Axis-cult has aggressive recruiting practices, which some argue borders on harassment. What is your opinion about these claims?"

Oi, I wasn't rooting for Aqua or anything, but wasn't that question a bit too difficult?

I didn't know that the questions would end up touching on sensitive matters.

To her credit, Aqua didn't falter even as there were murmurs of agreement among the crowd.

"Thank you for your excellent question. While there are some who do say those things about my dear followers, I'd like to make a counterpoint. They are aggressive with recruitment only because of necessity! How else are we supposed to gather followers when there is such an unfair bias against us?! Everyone avoids us like we are the plague!"

Those biases were very much based on reality, though.

"Furthermore, even though this country invests a lot of tax money on the Eris-order's operations, we get no such consideration. Even in this town, there is only one Axis-cult church with one priest leading it, my lovely child Cecily. But how many churches and Eris-order institutions do we have in this town alone? There are all kinds of orphanages and homeless shelters owned by the Eris-church! How despicable!"

Why the hell is she blaming a religious order for building churches and orphanages?

"If we received as much support from the kingdom as the main religion does, then we wouldn't have to resort to these supposed 'aggressive recruitment practices'! Please don't blame my followers, they only do what they must. We are the oppressed minority! Check your privilege! And speaking of bias, isn't the host of this contest an Eris-order follower?!"

"H-Hey…!"

Aqua reached into Darkness's blouse and pulled out her Eris-order necklace.

"Hmph. I've made my case. Even though the deck is heavily stacked against us, even though we are discriminated against, we still persevere! Row, row, Fight da powah!"

There was thunderous cheer and applause from the Axis-cultists.

Amidst the cheers, I heard the rest of the audience discussing Aqua's speech.

"That's true… I guess they really are only acting like that because they're underprivileged."

"Yeah… I feel a bit guilty for speaking ill of them before."

"Maybe we really should check our privilege…"

"Yeah, she made a good point about the host being an Eris-order follower. The other religions should have gotten represented too. We need more diversity…"

Oi, is this B.S. actually having an effect on these people?

"P-Please settle down everyone. Let's move on to contestant Eris…"

Darkness moved things along before the audience could get out of hand.

"Eto… here's the question for contestant Eris. Over the years, the Eris-order has done many things to improve the lives of not only their followers, but the people of this country. Why do you think that the Eris-order has achieved such great results in its ministry and outreach?"

...Compared to the question Aqua received, this one is clearly intended to paint Eris in a good light.

"Hey, what's with that question?! It's too easy! Maybe Aqua really did have a point?!"

"Yeah, the question you gave Aqua was 100 times more difficult than that!"

"Boooo! This is rigged!"

Darkness panicked at the audience's reaction. She held up the cards she had in her hands.

"W-Wait! I assure you that there's no favoritism! I only picked a random question out of many! These questions were collected from the audience, so…!"

"Are you saying that someone in the audience wanted to ask that insensitive question to Aqua-sama?!"

"I'm literally shaking and crying right now! How dare you!"

It took a while to get the audience to calm down.

"Fuu… As you can see, there is a lot of bias against us. Why don't we get a representative from the Axis-cult to ask a different question for Eris?"

At this point, Darkness could only nod her head and let Aqua choose her representative.

She chose Cecily, who was watching from the audience.

"Cough… cough… Thank you for choosing me, Aqua-sama…"

For some reason, Cecily is now in dirty rags and has a cough of some kind.

"My poor child… Finances have been rough this month, huh?"

"Yes, Aqua-sama. I had to sell my body to Eris-order priests this month just to get by… cough, cough…"

There were even more cries of outrage from the audience. Aqua is going all out with the slander now.

Eris looked completely uncomfortable out there. I somewhat expected Aqua to play dirty, but I didn't think she'd try to pull off something like this.

"Then, I will ask my question…"

Even though Cecily was asked out of the blue to come up on stage, it looked like the attention from such a large crowd didn't bother her at all.

She looked directly at Eris and said,

"...The question is this? Do you pad your chest? Yes or no."

Silence overtook the crowd, just like it did in the Axis-cult church.

This was a serious issue, after all.

In fact, the main reason why people were interested in this pageant was to find out if Darkness's claims were true.

Does Eris pad her chest, or not?

Everyone waited in anticipation for the answer.

It seemed like Eris was expecting the question and was prepared to answer. She looked Cecily dead in the eyes and smiled without faltering.

"...That's none of your business, is it?"

Breaking everyone's expectations and image of her, Eris answered the question in a cold, dismissive manner.

"Eh…? Ah, right… No, wait."

Even Cecily, who was trying to pressure Eris into fumbling, was at a loss for words.

If Eris says it in such a straightforward way, there wasn't anyone in the crowd who could argue against her.

Even if she was a goddess, she was still a girl. No one had the right to know about her private matters unless she wanted to share it.

Anyone who insisted otherwise would just come off as a pervert or a maniac.

"Hah?! Do you think you can just get away with that non-answer?! You're just hiding it! I know those things you hide in your chest aren't real! Darkness and your priests were probably mistaken! Everyone knows how delusional your followers are! They were hallucinating!"

Are you sure you're not talking about your own followers? I thought, as Aqua lunged for Eris.

"Eh? Senpai…?!"

Aqua couldn't keep up that righteous act she was putting on and finally revealed her real self.

"It's time to expose you for the fraud you are! You're gonna get cancelled! I'm gonna expose you!"

"Eeeek?!"

The security guards had to come up on stage and pry Aqua away from Eris. Aqua had the audience on her side a few moments ago, but they returned to her senses after seeing her assault Eris.

"Get your paws off Eris-chan, you brute!"

"I can't believe you almost had us fooled!"

"Boooo!"

In the end, it was a close one, but Aqua brought about her own ruin.

Amidst the chaos, Darkness, who had been hiding behind the curtains after Aqua turned the audience against her, came out from hiding.

She had to snatch the microphone away from Cecily, who refused to let it go. Darkness won out due to her brute strength. Cecily spit on the ground and probably said some curse words at Darkness before heading out to retrieve Aqua.

"Um… I'm here to announce that contestant Aqua has been disqualified. And so, by default, contestant Eris has won the competition!"

There were cheers from the crowd despite this anticlimactic result. The axis-cultists booed as loudly as they could, but they were drowned out by the cheers.

"Thank you for your support everyone. I'll keep working hard to meet your expectations from now on!"

Eris said, with the 'wink and finger to the lips while leaning forward' pose I had her practice. The cheers got even louder after she did that.

Two contestants were disqualified, which meant that Regina was her only real competition in the end.

Still, as long as Aqua didn't win, I was happy with the result. It would have been terrifying if her insane cult got any more influence if she won over Eris.

I shuddered at the thought.

Part 4

After the pageant, Eris snuck out and returned to her Chris form. There were many curious followers who swarmed the backstage, hoping to meet Eris, but they couldn't detect an experienced thief like Chris. She easily snuck out.

Iris and her family also snuck out before they could stir any more commotion with their presence. Claire and the guards were efficient as they evacuated the royal family back to their carriage. I was able to say a few words of goodbye to Iris, with the promise that we'd meet again soon.

"Thanks for your help, assistant-kun…"

Chris said, after we were safely away from the huge crowd of spectators. We ended up in the guild. There were only a few people around, since most of them went over to the pageant. It seemed like some staff members even ditched work to watch it. The only one around was Luna-san and a few other diligent staff members.

We were at the bar area, enjoying some beer. Chris really needed it.

"I didn't think that Aqua would pull off a musical performance like that. I'm sorry."

Chris tried to wave it off, but it was obvious that she had been stressed out once she heard Aqua pull off the first chords of that guitar solo.

"It's fine, but what was that song assistant-kun taught me to sing, by the way? It's catchy, but it had some strange lyrics. Something about vegetables…?"

"It's a jingle that's pretty much an advertisement for vegetable juice. It got pretty viral back in Japan, so I thought that it would resonate with the audience here as well."

"Well, it wasn't a bad song choice, but I guess I just got upstaged by senpai and Regina-san…"

"Speaking of whom, does Chris still feel animosity towards Regina?"

Chris had a thoughtful look on her face as she sipped her beer before replying.

"She's regained her purity as a goddess, so I can't really say anything about her being a dark goddess anymore. And I don't have any problems with her trying to build up her religion from the ground up. It actually makes me kind of want to cheer her on."

I was glad to see that I wasn't the only one who shared this sentiment.

"But enough about the pageant. I don't want to think about it anymore. Does assistant-kun have any plans after this? I'd like to treat you to dinner for helping me out."

"What's this? You weren't trying to hit on me, were you? I'm sorry. My heart fluttered for a moment, but after calming down, I still can't."

"I'm not hitting on you! Assistant-kun pulled off a similar stunt last time, didn't he?! How many times do I have to be rejected?!"

I laughed at Chris's overreaction. I know I said that goddesses weren't different from normal human beings, but the gap between how she conducted herself gracefully as the goddess Eris, compared to her easily riled up Chris form, was admittedly very cute. It was the best form of gap moe.

"Truth is, I have plans tonight with Megumin. I kind of screwed up with her, so I'm trying to make it up with a date."

I explained the real reason why I had to decline Chris' dinner invitation.

"I see. I guess you're taking her out to see the fireworks show, then?"

"...Is it too predictable?"

"From what I know of Megumin-san, she doesn't deal well with surprises, right? And based on her background, she'd just be uncomfortable if assistant-kun planned a lavish date event for her. She seems like a down-to-earth girl who is happy to experience the simple things in life."

"Big boss is pretty insightful."

"Well, I've spent a lot of my free time observing humans. I even studied couples and how they interact. Er… I don't mean that in a dirty way. I don't peep or anything."

I didn't say anything about peeping.

"Then, since big boss is such a relationship expert, can you tell me if Megumin and I are a good match?"

I was a bit curious about how others saw us as a couple. Some people still couldn't believe that we started dating. My drinking buddies would even say things like 'Hah? Why did you go for the loli? Why didn't you go for Darkness? She's THICC!'.

"Hmm… From what you've told me, you two didn't have much feelings for each other at the beginning, but Megumin-san started to slowly build up feelings for assistant-kun as you got to know each other, right?"

I nodded my head.

"And assistant-kun didn't see Megumin as a romantic prospect until she expressed her interest in him. Usually, romance stories in fiction are often a bit more wild in its premise. There's usually love at first sight, or, otherwise, it's obvious to the reader which characters will eventually get together. Realistically, most relationships start much like assistant-kun and Megumin-san's. So, I guess, if I had to sum it up, I see you two as a normal couple…"

"Normal, huh?"

I guess that wasn't too bad.

At least she didn't say that we were a weird couple, or anything like that.

That was probably what everyone else thought of us, though.

Part 5

After successfully leaping over the hurdles the beauty pageant presented, I was faced with another one.

"...Where did Megumin go?"

It was almost time for the fireworks show and I had no idea where she went.

I checked the mansion, but nobody was home. I didn't bother checking the streets since it was full of festival goers.

Just to make sure, I headed back to the beauty pageant area again to see if she and Wolbach were lingering around. Maybe they were still complaining to the staff who had them leave.

I also considered the possibility that she was purposely making this hard for me and playing hide-and-seek as revenge for what leaving her high-and-dry last night.

The last location I checked was the bathhouse, since that was where Wolbach was most likely to be.

"...Excuse me, you can't go in there."

The bathhouse owner's daughter looked at me suspiciously as I tried to check the female baths.

"I'm not a pervert or anything, I swear. I just want to look for my friends."

"I can check for you. What do they look like?"

"One of them is a tall, busty onee-chan with red hair and long ears, like an elf. She also has goat-like horns on her head. Oh, and she has a green crystal of some kind on her forehead..."

I started listing off Wolbach's distinguishable traits, but she just looked at me in exasperation.

"I don't think such a person exists. Please leave."

"W-Wait, I'm also looking for this black haired and red eyed loli!"

"So you're a lolicon, huh?! Get out!"

She took a broomstick and whacked me on the head with it until I left the bathhouse.

Without much else to do, I headed home.

It was possible that Megumin was also searching for me while I was out looking for her. It would be better if I stayed in one place where we would most likely meet.

When I got home, to kill time, I took out the bag of items Vanir gave me, after I bought those looted items for the Axel adventurers earlier.

He also had me buy all the junk in Wiz's store.

Each item had a description that came with it. I amused myself by reading the descriptions of these useless items.

It seems like Hyoizaburo-san has been up to his usual antics. He was supposedly a talented guy. I hoped that someday he'd make proper, working magic items, instead of the duds he usually made. It would benefit Wiz's business as well, since she liked purchasing his creations, for some reason.

Among the items, I found two in particular that caught my eye.

One was a box with a description that said, "Within this box is the sword of a certain famous hero". The other magic item is a ring with a red jewel. It was described as, "A ring that lets a mage store their magic. It is unknown where this magic is stored".

The sword of a famous hero intrigued me, because I had lost Chunchunmaru during the fight with Aesir.

I wasn't planning on fighting or adventuring in the near future, but it didn't hurt to be prepared. After all, I had just learned that there were other Devil Kings in this world. One of them might want to take revenge for their fallen comrade, though I doubted that Devil Kings had such notions of companionship.

Since the box was smaller than my hand, I assumed that it was using powerful storage magic to keep the sword inside. This was actually quite useful, and I was about to reevaluate my opinion of Hyoizaburo-san.

That was until…

I opened the box and a familiar-looking katana fell on my lap.

It was Chunchunmaru, and it was whole again.

There was a note from Vanir.

"Moi fixed thy sword. Did thou thinketh that this was a legendary blade of some hero from the past? The famous hero is none other than thou… but this blade is far from legendary! Moihahaha!"

Well… At least he fixed it for me.

I did remember that Vanir told me to visit his shop after the Aesir fight if I wanted my sword fixed.

To be honest, I was looking for an upgrade once Chunchunmaru broke. But it was good to have my partner back.

I placed the sword back into its sheath and equipped it to my belt.

The next item of interest was the ring.

It occured to me that I didn't have a gift for Megumin. I didn't know much about dating, but it was probably a good idea to have a gift ready. The ring's magical effect also intrigued me, and it could end up being useful later on.

She might get the wrong idea again like last time I gave her a ring. This time, I should make sure not to go down on one knee while giving it to her.

I also thought that maybe giving her another ring as a gift might be a bad idea, since she already had other rings, such as those rings that increased her magic power.

The last ring I got her, the one that was mistaken for a wedding ring, was even purchased from heaven. It would be tough to beat.

But I've seen mages wear multiple rings in this world, anyway. Some of them wore a ring on each finger, except their thumb.

It shouldn't be a problem, but next time I should give her another kind of jewelry. Maybe some earrings?

After I pocketed the ring and started cleaning up the mess I made, I heard the front door open. Then, Megumin and Wolbach appeared in the living room.

"Where have you been all this time?"

I asked, sounding much like a concerned parent waiting up for their child, who had yet to arrive home.

"Sigh… We were taken to the police station and scolded for almost firing off explosion magic during the pageant. They don't understand! Wolbach is a master of explosion magic! She wouldn't have caused any damage or harm!"

I looked at Wolbach to ask if this was true.

"...I'm confident in my abilities, but I think she's overestimating me a little."

That was a close call, then.

"How are you feeling, Wolbach? Megumin had you do some pretty crazy stuff on stage."

I asked out of concern as Wolbach sat on the couch. She had the back of her hand over her eyes.

"I had many suspicious looking individuals approach me afterwards. They said they were from Lexa and were asking if I was interested in 'graduating'. I didn't know what they meant, but I politely declined their offer."

It was a good thing she did. Lexa was the neighboring town to Axel, but I heard that security wasn't as tight there as it was here. The town was famous for its adult, nightlife entertainment and red-light districts. I could only guess that those guys were part of that crowd.

Still, I kept this part to myself. Wolbach seemed embarrassed enough after her performance in the pageant.

"Well, I'm sorry for the delay, Kazuma. Should we head out for our date?"

Megumin said, as she tugged excitedly on my sleeves.

"...I was hoping we could catch dinner at a restaurant somewhere first, but the fireworks show will start soon. Are you OK with that by the way? We tried to watch it last time, but Wolbach interrupted the festivities…"

Wolbach blushed and looked away at the mention of her former misdeeds.

"Err… I was under hypnosis, so…"

I heard it was a very minor suggestion and not complete hypnosis, though.

Again, I kept this to myself.

"Of course I want to go! I was very excited the first time! And we didn't get to see the full fireworks, but seeing Wolbach's explosion was just as good!"

Just as expected, Megumin had completely approved of my date plans.

"I'm glad you liked it, but please don't mention that event from my dark past again!"

Wolbach screamed in agony as we kept bringing up bad memories.

Part 6

Like last time, there were a lot of couples around.

Everyone rented yukatas last time, but this time around, it looked like most of the girls couldn't be bothered. Megumin still had the one I bought her, but she didn't have the time to put it on properly. Instead, she wore her standard mage clothes, sans the eye patch.

We got a V.I.P. area again, on top of an overlooking hill. The nobles who visited Axel because of the beauty pageant had stayed to watch the fireworks show, and they occupied the other V.I.P. spaces beside us.

Before the show could start, I had to socialize with the big shot nobles around us. I mostly just nodded along to whatever they were saying. Megumin, for the most part, let me handle all the talking. That was probably a good thing, considering that her usual conversation topics could be interpreted as threats of terrorism.

I noticed that there were even more Regina dolls among the children in the crowd. Regina's performance had touched a lot of people's hearts, especially the children.

It also helped that the Regina dolls saved everyone during Wolbach's attack last time, with the barrier magic she planted in them. Maybe this could be the start of a new tradition, giving one's child a Regina doll to carry during the fireworks show, to ward off bad omens or something like that.

"Hm… How come Aqua isn't trying to sell her jams and Alcarentia-style sweet bread like last time? We went through quite a bit of effort making those jams… The only thing they did was inadvertently give the enemy army an advantage."

Megumin said, as she looked at the vendors who were selling goodies to the crowd. As for what she mentioned at the end there, an investigation of the Devil King camps revealed that the Devil King army had acquired the amber berry jams we had been selling during the festival.

Amber berry jam was packed with magical energy, and a spy from the Devil King army had found Aqua's stall and bought a bunch of them. This spy then circulated the jam among the demon troops, giving them more a boost in mana reserves.

...It's embarrassing to think that we helped our enemy with those jams. Let's not talk about it anymore.

Instead, I answered Megumin's first question.

"I bet Aqua is laying low after that scandal at the pageant, just like how Wolbach is hiding away in our home right now after all that towel-exhibitionist stuff you had her pull."

"Hmph. I think Wolbach should have won over Aqua, at least."

Megumin crossed her arms and said this with a frustrated huff.

"Why did you want Wolbach to win again?"

"If she gets more influence as a goddess, explosion magic will be more commonly accepted among the populace."

She had a secret agenda like that. It was for such a simple reason, but I had to admit that I didn't think she had a deeper reason for having Wolbach participate.

"What do you think about all this goddess thing, anyway? There's so many goddesses in this town now. And not to mention, you just found out about Aqua being a goddess..."

Darkness was in shock after she learned Eris and Aqua's secret. I wondered what Megumin's thought process was when she found out.

"At first I was in shock. I pinched my cheeks a few times. Is this reality? I asked myself."

I guess that was the normal reaction. Not to mention that Megumin couldn't handle unexpected developments.

"But when I thought about how Wolbach was a goddess herself, a dark goddess, even, and how we were able to get along just fine even though I knew this, it changed my perspective. I've known Aqua for much longer than Wolbach. Eventually the shock went away after I accepted that Aqua was my friend, above all. She just happens to be a goddess, that's all."

"That's a mature way of looking at things. You handled it better than Darkness did, at least.."

I hoped that Darkness and Chris would figure out a way to go back to the way they were. It was harder for Darkness, since she had been such a devout follower of Eris. Megumin wasn't an Axis-cultist by any means, although she did seem to have a strong connection with some members, particularly, Cecily.

"I like how you called me 'mature', but the way you're patting my head kind of ruins it. Please stop."

I couldn't help but pat Megumin's head. I teasingly smiled back.

"Oh? Megumin was all raring to go last night, but this much physical contact is already making you uncomfortable?"

"Does Kazuma really have the right to tease me about this after what you did last night? And it's not the physical contact that irks me, it's the way it makes me feel like a kid when you pat my head like that!"

"Head pats are a universal sign of affection. Just take it already!"

I began using both hands to aggressively drum on her head, giving her a head pat attack rush.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Stop it already!"

I stopped treating Megumin's head like they were bongo drums after she swiped my hands away.

After we waited for a while, the organizers announced that the event was going to start.

Megumin bounced in her seat excitedly. I watched the night sky to see if we'd get another ambush tonight, like last time.

Fortunately, there were no interruptions this time.

The first fireworks successfully flew through the sky and bloomed into sparkling arcs. They started off with bright, energetic colors to draw the crowd in.

"Waaa…"

I thought that Megumin would be in hysterics by now, but there was only subdued wonder in her eyes.

After the first dynamic colors, to give the viewers eyes a chance to get a rest, the next fireworks were of the calming variety, lots of blues and greens and white.

I took this lull in the show to nudge Megumin on the shoulder. She spared me a glance.

"Well… I know I got you a lot of rings already, but I got you this."

I gave her the magic ring from Wiz's store.

She smiled and said,

"I'm not one to complain when someone cares enough to give me a gift. Thank you."

She gracefully accepted it and slid it on her ring finger.

"At least you didn't bend down on one knee this time."

"Y-You still remember that, huh?"

She giggled at the memory while admiring the simple, but elegant red gem on the ring.

"I wasn't really a fan of jewelry before, but they're very nice, I have to admit."

"I'll get Megumin different kinds of jewelry in the future."

"You really intend to make me your woman, huh?"

She gave me a coy smirk, while drawing closer.

...This is a good moment.

This mood practically screams 'kiss her'.

I moved closer, until my shoulders met hers.

I tried to look into her eyes and maintain eye contact, but I ended up having to close my eyes. I didn't know if Megumin was doing the same as well.

I moved my head closer and closer until I could feel her hot breath.

Until I felt it, my lips pressing against hers.

I hadn't felt this sensation before, but it was unmistakable.

A girl's lips sure are soft, and warm, I thought.

Beyond that revelation, I didn't have much in the way of coherent thought.

It was a short kiss, and it almost seemed like coincidental contact.

It didn't take long for us to seperate. Keeping my eyes closed, I returned to my position, and then promptly buried my face into my knees.

"Pffft. Kazuma, I think you're more of a maiden than I am."

"Oh, shut up. I bet your face is just as red as mine."

"Well, you'll never know, because you're not looking!"

Ah, I really am a poor excuse of a man.

But if Megumin is still attracted to a guy like me despite this, I guess it didn't matter in the end.

"Yosssh! I'm really excited right now! I feel like adding my own 'fireworks' to this show!"

I finally opened my eyes after Megumin's startling declaration.

I looked up at her. She didn't have her staff with her, which was a relief. I didn't know what would happen if she unleashed a full-powered explosion here.

I also noticed that the ring I gave her was glowing, the red gem shining bright.

"The seal has been broken! The past and the future has connected! By putting on this ring of power… We will make a crimson path to the future! O, the twelve sealed taboos, with the seven forbidden arts I summon thee, one is all, and all is one, with that principle, render all to dust! EX… PLOOOOSIOOOON!"

The people around us ducked for cover as soon as they heard these words from the resident explosion maniac.

But nothing happened.

"...Huh? Oof."

Megumin said as she collapsed on the blanket. She blinked her eyes in confusion.

"I thought you'd do that. The description that came with the ring said that it takes the mage's magic power and transfers it somewhere else. Knowing that it was made by your father, I knew it would have some kind of faulty side-effect like this."

"Traitor! You've betrayed me, Kazuma! You do this after I gave you my first kiss?! You bastard! You're an enemy of women!"

Megumin flailed her arms around after learning about my supposed treachery.

"There's a whole bunch of important big shots around, and you were really planning on casting explosion magic?! I don't care how important we are to this country, we really will be charged with terrorism charges again!"

"...So you planned this, huh? Well, I can't say that I hate the gift. It's like a limiter that suppresses my powers. O-Of course my eyepatch does that too. By the way, where did my explosion go? Did the ring absorb it?"

"I don't know. Apparently even the creator doesn't know where it goes."

"Maybe it was transported into another world?!"

That's a scary thought.

Somewhere out there, in a different world, Megumin's explosion was unleashed.

I was glad to see Megumin was in a good mood even after I spoiled her fun, but I started to feel bad about it.

She didn't have her staff, so she wouldn't have done any damage anyway. I should have trusted her more.

"Alright. You want a show, I'll give you one."

"Eh?"

Megumin's eyes widened as I stood up and started chanting.

Of course, she recognized those words immediately.

"The crimson path of explosions… Let's walk it together, Megumin. EXPLOSION!"

For my second time using explosion magic, I unleashed it into the fireworks covered sky.

"Wait, you learned explosion magic?! Since when?! This is… I forgive you, Kazuma! I really do like you after all! I like you so much it hurts! Kazuma… You're so… You're so cool! I'd kiss you again if I could move right now!"

I fell to her side, my body completely limp.

"Yeah… Well, we can at least hold hands."

I reached out with my hand and slowly grasped hers. We smiled at each other.

Then, a pair of handcuffs locked our hands together.

"For disturbing the peace… you're under arrest!"

We spent the rest of the night in a prison cell.


A/N: To those who read my other fic 'God's Blessings on this IRL World!', now you know where that explosion at the end came from. I think this will be the last real chapter before the epilogue. It's been fun, really. I'll write a proper afterword in the epilogue, but I want to take this moment to thank you guys for sticking with me all this time. I haven't been able to upload regularly after I became a college student, but there were still a lot of people who patiently waited for each chapter, and I'm grateful for that. Well, this is the end of the 'game', I guess. So, like in the end credits of Konosuba Season 2, I want to say, "Thanks For Your Playing"!

-BB