Kazuma's POV
"Kazuma? Maybe you should make some changes to this alarm clock."
"Look, I did the best I could, ok? It's hard without the proper equipment…"
So it worked. It worked a bit too well, though. I think I don't really need to tweak it, seeing as Megumin only woke up since she's on top of me. Hang on a second, what time is it?"
"Kazuma, it's still dark out."
"...Looks like I set it too early. Still, I need to leave at dawn. We can stay like this a bit longer, but then I'm gonna go."
"You can stay a bit longer, though, right?"
"I guess I can. What were you planning on doing today?"
"Probably hang out- I mean let Yunyun challenge me. Why?"
"Heh. Just interested. Hoping that you don't become a NEET like me."
"I would go on a quest, but we wouldn't have our party leader!"
"Why don't you ask Yunyun? Maybe you could have a competition to see who can kill the most monsters?"
"Well, why would I challenge her? That seems like an excellent idea, if she challenges me."
She really is a tsundere, huh. A comfy tsundere, but a tsundere nonetheless.
"In a sense, I've already won."
"I mean, yeah. You win pretty much any competition you guys come up with."
"I'm not talking about that! I've won because I have you!"
Well shit. I'm gonna have to get these skills quickly.
"W-well, see you later, Megumin. Stay alive."
"I am perfectly capable of handling myself, you know-"
Strolling on over to the shop by myself is kinda chill. It's starting to get a little hotter, though. Maybe I should buy one of those coolers everyone's been talking about.
"Howdy Wiz? Ready for some power levelling?"
"Of course! Vanir? Kazuma's here!"
"Moi has decided not to come today."
"Huh?!" x2
"Ahahahah! Your disappointment is quite delectable! Now then, away we go!"
One of these days…
Megumin's POV
"Hey Darkness, Megumin!"
"Yes?" x2
"Well I was thinking, since Kazuma's out power-levelling, why don't we have a girls day out?"
"Hey, that doesn't sound like a bad idea! Megumin, what do you think?"
"I think that could be fun. Where do you guys want to go?"
"We could do some muscle training-"
"Bad idea. Aqua?"
"We could get a teleport to Alcanretia-"
"Nope. God, do either of you have any good ideas?"
"Oh please. You just want to unleash your explosion magic."
"H-hey! For the record, I was going to wait for Kazuma to come back for my daily!"
"Oh, do you hate being carried by a goddess that much?"
"I… I just prefer Kazuma for that, ok? Look, why don't we do a kill quest?"
"I dunno… Didn't you just say that you were waiting for Kazuma to get home for your daily?"
"I didn't think you'd string it together, Aqua. Why don't we just head into town and go from there?"
"Fine by me. Maybe we can get some good booze!"
"Aqua, you shouldn't be spending too much money like that. Let's go."
Megumin: "Roger that, Darkness!"
I wonder what awaits us in town.
Kazuma's POV
"Damn, we're going even faster than last time! These skills are really helping out!"
"Of course, you have both of us clearing the way for you! Moi believes that we'll be out before dark!"
"Sleep, curse, paralyze, sleep, hey Kazuma, over here!"
This is amazing. I've already got 23 skill points. At this rate, even an adventurer like me with only above average intelligence will be able to cast explosions without manatite!
"It's times like these when I remember that you guys are a duke of hell and lich."
"Well, how could you forget? Moi was rumoured to be even stronger than the devil king himself! If moi didn't hold back against humans, who knows how much damage I'd cause?"
"I-it's a good thing we don't have to worry about that, huh? Heh heh…"
"That's right! Moi would never physically harm a human!"
"Kazuma! Close your eyes and ears!"
As I did as she said, I felt a dull wave pass over me.
"You can open them now! They're all yours."
"Thanks a bunch, Wiz!"
"I'm seriously going fast! At this rate we'll be back before dinner!"
"Moi has no concept of regular meals outside of when your pitiful party comes over to our shop."
"Yeah yeah. Let's just keep going!"
Megumin's POV
What are those 3 doing here?
"Uh… Hi, Alice-sama."
"Oh, boss, it's you! It's good to see you again!"
"Oh, hello Iri-Alice-sama."
"What are you guys doing? And where's Onii-sama?"
"He's off doing some power levelling with Wiz and Vanir. We were actually having a girl's day out because of that. Want to join, my assistant?"
"Hey, not so fast! If Alice-sama's joining you, then we are too!"
"Claire… I think that she's more than capable, especially with the party that killed the devil king. Plus, Kazuma isn't with them, so there won't be any trouble!"
"... Fine. However, come back by 10:00 pm, ok?"
"Gotcha! See you guys!"
I watched as Iris waved goodbye to her bodyguards.
"So what brings you here, assistant?"
"Well, I wanted to say hi to all of you! I also haven't gotten a chance to properly thank onii-sama in person for defeating the devil king!"
"Oh. You were here to see him?"
"Yeah, but running into you guys isn't bad either!"
"W-well then, do you have any activities in mind, Alice-sama?"
"Hey relax, Darkness! I was gonna go drinking, but considering we've got 2 kids here-"
"I am not a kid!"
"Tell that to that half mug of beer."
"Boss? What's she talking about?"
Screw you, Aqua. Low blow.
"I have no idea. Say, why don't we go on a kill quest now? I originally didn't want to since without me, we don't have much firepower, but with Alice, we'll have a steady source of damage."
"Yeah! Hopefully we can get a big, strong monster that'll-"
"Stop indulging yourself in front of Alice, you perv!"
"Enough talking! Let's go to the guild already."
The guild isn't too far from here. Wonder if they have any good quests…
"Oh look! A one shot bear kill quest! It's paying 300000 eris! I could buy some really good wine…"
"Perfect! I'll blast it- actually… I'll plan our strategy! Yes, I, the greatest genius of the crimson demons shall make a foolproof strategy to take down this beast! Darkness, stay with the group. Aqua, give Alice some buffs. Alice, you take it on!"
"Gotcha, boss!"
"Hold on Megumin, isn't it a bit dangerous to put Alice-sama out by herself?"
"She'll be fine, Darkness. She literally took down a dragon all by herself! And if the worst comes to worst, I'll be there with an explosion!"
With that, we headed out of the city and into the woods. We were wandering around aimlessly for a good amount of time. If only Kazuma was here, he could probably track it down with farsight and enemy detection… Still, we can do this!
"I think I spotted some footprints here. Let's follow them."
"Great job, boss!"
I shot Iris a smile. I think I kinda get what Kazuma's on about when he says that Iris is like a cute younger sister.
"According to these prints, it should be nearby! I'll have my money in no time!"
"Hey Aqua! Put those buffs on Iris, according to my eyes, it's right there!"
Where's Darkness pointing- oh. There. Well, it's not like I can do anything, so I'll just sit back. I want to explode right now, but I'll manage until Kazuma gets back.
"Exterion!"
I watched as Iris leapt up and immediately slashed the bear in half. I guess we know who has the better one shot attack, I guess… Still, it's starting to rain so we should get back as quick as possible.
"Nice job, Alice! Now I can get my-"
"Not so fast. Does anyone remember the way back? It's really starting to rain!"
"Hey boss? There's a dungeon right there that we could hide in!"
"Great thinking, Alice!"
We rushed into the dungeon, barely getting in before the rain really started coming down. That is, all of us except Darkness who "tripped" and fell into some mud.
"Ooh… Now I'm all gross and dirty. How shameful~"
"Shut up, you perv! Let's make sure that nothing attacks us!"
"Hey Megumin? It's kinda weird, but I don't detect any undead near us. I do detect some foul presenses, but they seem to be pretty far away and they're getting fainter."
"Also, boss? It looks like there's a lot of fresh corpses here. They all have some pretty new cuts."
Could this be the dungeon where Kazuma's power levelling at?
Kazuma's POV
This went by way quicker than I thought! Time to start heading back up.
"Hey guys? I got enough points to get the skills I needed and get back up to level 42. Thanks a bunch."
"Moi detects that we're all a bit low on mana except for thee. Could you teleport us out?"
"Actually, I was saving it for later. I needed to teleport Megumin to and from the devil king's castle."
"By the way, Vanir told me everything! Congratulations to the 2 of you!"
He did what?!"
"Mwahahaha! Your negative emotions are quite delicious! Don't worry, for moi already told the entire adventurer's guild! Moi does recall some cries of Lolima or Pedoma-"
"What the hell?!"
"Ahahahahahahah! Moi finds your negative emotions to be a true delicacy! Fear not, for moi didn't actually tell anyone. We won't tell a soul!"
"Thank Eris."