Holy crap this took awhile. This chapter fought me with every thing it had, making me realize something important, I need to speed things up until I get to season 2. The only thing that means really is that I'll be working more on episode-based chapters for a little while. I really do love doing slice of life chapters, gives me and the audience more opportunities to connect with the characters - both the ones we know and the the ones I add - and learn more about them, but I think I've reached a point where I'm out of ideas that can be done within season 1.

I should be able to finish the next chapter much quicker if I do focus on an episode instead of coming up with my own ideas, so look forward to that!

Anyway, I've taken enough of your time, enjoy!

Chapter: 9

Verdia felt his hands shake uncontrollably as he buttoned up the high-end tunic he kept lying around for special events like this. The festival would be starting very soon, and the young Sword Master was still trying to build up the courage necessary to confess to Miko. He hasn't even seen her yet, how the hell was he supposed to do this?

"Would you just relax already." Kyūdō – who walked into the room not even a second ago – moved to finish buttoning the tunic since it was very apparent to both men that Verdia wasn't capable of doing it right now. "You're going to ask Miko to spend the festival with you, and then spend the evening participating in a whole bunch of activities so she doesn't get bored with you," he blocked the light punch aimed for his head, "I'm joking, but seriously, you need to calm down."

"Easier said than done." Verdia did his best to calm down the raging torrent of thoughts and doubts running through his mind, and managed to do so just enough to stop his hands from shaking. "I've been wanting to do this for a very long time, but now that I have an opportunity to do so-"

"You're beyond nervous, and are consequently coming up with any and every way this night could go to hell." The Archer finished for him, surprising Verdia enough to leave him speechless. "Yeah, figured that was the case."

"Fighting is my specialty," Verdia glared at his friend, turning away as he continued, "always has been, and I know I'm being stupid right now since we'll still be friends even if she rejects my feelings, but experiencing this is a lot different than I expected!"

"Good, it means you care."

Whatever he was about to say died in his throat as Kyūdō's simple statement was processed by his brain. "I guess it does…" the Sword Master muttered. Knowing he was still nervous, and anticipating it would only get worse as the night went on, Verdia asked his leader, "What should I do if I can't tell her?"

Kyūdō shrugged. "Screw it, if words fail then let your actions speak for you." He sighed when he saw his friend's face scrunch up in confusion. "Kiss her, dumbass."

Immediately, Verdia's face went red as he stuttered out multiple protests, until he finally regained control of his voice. "But what if that ruins our friendship?!"

"If one stupid kiss was all it took to ruin your friendship with Miko, then it wasn't much of a friendship to begin with." The leader immediately said without hesitation. It sounded harsh, but Kyūdō knew it was true, especially when it was concerning his two teammates.

"That's not helping." Despite saying that, Verdia did visibly relax at his words. "You're a real bastard, you know."

"And you're a dumbass." Kyūdō replied, both men chuckling after that. "Now put this on too."

"My cape?" Verdia questioned, taking the purple garment and eyeing in incredulously.

"It goes well with the blue from your clothes." The Archer crossed his arms and leaned casually on the wall as he watched Verdia attach the extra garment onto his person. "Heh, you could almost be mistaken for royalty with that outfit."

The joke made Verdia snort in amusement as he looked himself over with the mirror nearby. His cape was meant to be worn with the armor so it flowed neatly from the shoulder plates down to his knees, but now it wrapped around most of Verdia's body and ended at his feet without the extra bulk the armor provided. "I look ridiculous."

"I think you look great!"

Verdia went rigid when he heard Miko's voice just behind him, completely caught off guard by his teammate's sudden entrance. Turning around, Verdia nervously laughed while scratching the back of his head, struggling to find his voice.

"I'm surprised, really." Miko continued, stepping closer to her friend, subsequently making him more nervous as the close proximity allowed him to catch a whiff of the perfume she was wearing. "I honestly expected you to dress normally today."

Focus, focus, focus! Verdia continually chanted mentally as he racked his brain for an appropriate response. "It's a special occasion, so I thought, why not?" the Sword Master finally said. "You look great as well."

And she really did; the green shoulder-less dress and accompanying jacket was, while simple, rather elegant. It suited her perfectly, even though he thought it was a little weird she wasn't wearing any other accessory, but there wasn't any doubt in his mind that Miko had something else nearby if she needed wanted it. Verdia swallowed a nervous lump in his throat even as she thanked him for the compliment.

"So, are we all ready to go?" The Arch-Priest of the group asked, looking at her two friends excitedly, eager to show them her home's brand of celebration.

"Yeah, about that…" Kyūdō started as he slowly made his way to the door, subtly nudging Verdia closer to Miko. "I actually promised these two women that I'd let them escort me around today, and you know how much I hate to break promises…" his sentences continued to trail off as he inched closer and closer to the exit while both teammates watched it happen in disbelief.

"You… don't want to spend the festival with us?"

Kyūdō hesitated at the door, before sighing as he turned back to give the Arch-Priest a gentle smile. "It's not that I don't want to, and I will see you two at some point tonight, but I've already got a date planned out…"

"And we all know you can't say no to a pretty face, or two in this case." Verdia added with a roll of his eyes, knowing damn well what his leader was trying to do. He was almost inclined to thank him for the opportunity.

He got an innocent shrug in response. "You know me all too well, besides, you can keep each other for the time being." Kyūdō left after that, purposefully making a hasty exit to avoid any more protests from Miko.

"Well that's disappointing." Miko grumbled, looking a little peeved about the situation.

"But not unexpected, really." Verdia said, inexplicably calm. Maybe some of Kyūdō's confidence was rubbing off on him? Whatever it was, he was going to take advantage of it for as long as he could. "Shall we?" he held out his arm for her.

Miko blinked at him in a brief moment of confusion, before a lovely smile lit up her face as she accepted the offer and wrapped her arm around his. "We shall, and I know the perfect place to start!"

With noticeably effort, Verdia shook away the memories before they could continue and remind him of the worst moment of his life. Or at least, the last moment of it. Why? Why were these memories – which he thought had been long since buried, surfacing back to the forefront of his mind? What on earth could have possibly triggered…

His blurred surroundings came back into focus, and the sight before him answered everything.

"I-It's not like it meant anything. The k-k-kiss was just a… spur of the moment action!" The stuttering fool, otherwise known Megumin, desperately tried to explain her sudden, and intimate gesture to the equally flustered Kazuma, who was blushing up a storm as he struggled to keep eye contact with his wizard companion. "I was so glad you were just alive that I may have been a little more…" the girl bit her lip as she wracked her brain for a proper word, "forward?"

Verdia listened to the one-sided conversation – Was she asking a question as an answer? – impassively. Inwardly was another story altogether. Torn between exasperation, pity, and grief he did not think possible, Verdia watched the children before him attempt to sort through their feelings and come to a conclusion that wouldn't compromise the relationship they previously had a little more than a week ago. The interactions they shared reminded him of the ones he wished to have with Miko – no wait, he did share one moment with her on that very night at the festival.

"It's not like I don't appreciate the gesture either, it was just so sudden…"

Wait, hold on, what?!

Verdia's eye went wide as he refocused on the scene in-front of him once more, where he saw a semi-transparent image of Miko overlapping Megumin. This… this wasn't right – more than that, it didn't make any sense!

"I care about you a lot, Verdia, maybe more than a friend normally would…"

They weren't saying the same thing – while he could hear only Miko's soothing voice, he could still read Megumin's lips. Nor were they performing the same gestures – Miko nervously adjusting her glasses without really needing to as Megumin gripped her staff hard enough to turn her knuckles white. But he knew, knew that they were trying to convey similar messages.

"I… I understand…"

The undead knight turned his gaze over towards Kazuma, and was only mildly surprised to see himself - when he was alive at least - overlapping Kazuma's body. Heavens was this confusing, painful, heartwarming, and heartbreaking all at the same time.

"It's fine, Megumin, really." Kazuma had raised his voice to interrupt his friend's rambling, and those four words shattered the short-lived illusion Verdia had been witnessing. The young Adventurer ran a hand through his hair, finishing the gesture by scratching the back of his head, as he looked up towards the sky, hoping it would some how spell out what he should say.

"It was… scary, really." He continued, looking back down. "That spirit was stronger than anything we've ever faced, and during the whole thing, I didn't know what to do."

The admittance was followed with a weak laugh as Kazuma looked straight forward at nothing in particular as moisture gathered in the corners of his eyes.

"I was so scared watching that thing walk towards us." There was another weak laugh, with hints of a sob mixed in, that escaped his lips as he kept his gaze forward, focused on nothing in particular. "You couldn't perform another explosion, Darkness can't hit anything even if its standing still, Fio might be a good archer but I didn't believe arrows would do us any good, Kyouya was scared stiff, Clemea might've been able to something – I don't know what, and Aqua is… well she's Aqua."

On and on the list went. Each point adding to the moisture in his eyes until enough had gathered for a trail of tears to fall down his face. All the while, Megumin watched, enraptured by his admittance while her own set of tears mixed into the snow covered ground next to his.

"But then Aqua knew what to do to save us, and did so in a way I can't help but be proud of even to this day. 'We're actually going to make it out of this alive.' That was the first thing that came to mind, only for that to go away the second I saw Darkness – with her damn sword still drawn – in-front of the Winter Shogun. I reacted, shoving her face to the ground in the hopes that it would still count as a bow to that spirit."

They both knew what followed, and Megumin looked down and shuddered as the image of his bloodied head still haunted her.

"I didn't realize it at the time, but I know did what I did because…" Kazuma paused as he debated admitting something very personal, something that recaptured the Arch-Wizards attention. "well…" the Adventurer smiled – tears still falling – as he looked back down at his friend, "I didn't want any of you to die."

Any hesitation within Megumin shattered the second that sentence was finished, and she leapt forward, dropping her staff in the process, to wrap both her arms around Kazuma's neck and pull him close to hug the Adventurer with everything she had. Resting her head on one of his shoulders, Megumin allowed the tears to fall freely as she tightened her grip around his neck.

Shocked for a brief moment, but getting over it quickly, Kazuma returned the hug by placing one hand on her waist and the other on the small of her back before pulling the Arch-Wizard closer, relishing in the warmth and comfort her presence provided. He almost laughed when he realized her hat was big enough to cover both of their heads, but that would have earned him a smack from the girl.

It was within that comforting embrace that Megumin said what she meant to say when he gave her the earring.

"I'm glad you're alive."

With tears still falling, Kazuma tightened his grip just a little more before finally admitting what he wanted to that same night.

"I am too."

Verdia turned away at that. Listening in on the conversation had been rude to begin with, but it would have been criminal to continue invading this private moment. He turned around and came face-to-face with the snow sprite as it watched the scene with a curious chirp.

"Come along, little one." The former General said, gently guiding the small spirit away. "Let's not ruin their moment."

KO-NO-SU-BA!

"HA!"

The mighty yell echoed within the clearing, completely drowning out the grunts of exertion that followed each one. It was within this clearing, a fair distance away from the town, that Darkness spared with Arakuremono while her new mentor, Kuruseidā, watched with his sword planted firmly in the ground in-front of him.

Arakuremono was savage when it came to fighting. His attacks with a mace were wild and powerful as he continuously engaged his opponent leaving them to room to recover and come up with a plan. As if that wasn't bad enough, the man's strength rivaled that of a bear, so much so that Darkness often needed to block even his one-handed attacks with everything she had, even then her arms would shake as the Crusader struggled to push the man back.

He was the perfect opponent for one working on their defensive abilities.

Of course, those were the only abilities Darkness could train in.

It was embarrassing – no – absolutely humiliating watching Kuruseidā's disbelief during their first meeting as she explained her inability to hit an opponent – even those who did not move.

Another battle cry erupted from Arakuremono's mouth as he brought his mace down in a mighty swing which was just barely blocked by Darkness who felt her armored boots sink into the ground as the man in-front of her leaned closer in with a crazed look.

"Come on, blondie!" the man mocked, beginning to push the Crusader back. "Where's that fire in your eyes?! Back at the bar, I thought you would burn the whole damn place to the ground – it was so intense! Now it looks like you're struggling to keep an ember going!"

Feeling a fresh wave of anger and determination coursing through her, Darkness managed to halt the progress the brute was making, and, with a yell that started low and quickly gained volume, began pushing Arakuremono back. With one last push, the Crusader was able to knock the man off balance long enough for her to take a swing at him with everything she had, only for it to miss entirely.

Laughter erupted within the clearing as Arakuremono didn't even bother dodging the next two attacks before once again bringing his mace down too lock both of their weapons in a stalemate. "You just can't hit anything with that sword, can you?"

Darkness felt her face burn with a fresh wave of embarrassment, she racked her brain for a retort and said the first thing that came to mind. "S-s-shut up!"

The brute used his free hand to cover his mouth as a snort mixed with a laugh caused him to back away from the stalemate. That hand quickly moved to his stomach as the booming laughter that followed made Arakuremono fall over as he felt his sides begin to ache from the humor he felt.

Arakuremono was not the only one enjoying the scene, as Darkness soon realized, when Kuruseidā made himself known as his own laughter mixed in with the brute's. All the while, Darkness felt like finding the nearest cave to crawl in and hide as her entire body turned a bright shade of red.

"I want to die…" the Crusader mumbled miserably.

It took some time for the two men to calm down, and even when they stopped laughing the humor was vary apparent in their eyes.

"Eh, don't beat yourself up, not many people can block my attacks consistently like you do." Arakuremono said as he rested his weapon on his shoulder. "Damn shame you can't hit anything though, you could probably be the greatest Crusader out there if you did, right Kuruseidā?"

"I wouldn't doubt it." the man said with a smile as he approached the two. He reattached the sword back to his hip before crossing his arms as he looked Darkness over. "Are you feeling alright?"

She didn't verbally reply, but nodded as the red covering her body slowly receded.

"Then there's no need to wait, we can head out immediately."

"Head out?" Darkness questioned.

"I signed us up for a quest." The man clarified as he and Arakuremono began heading towards the tree line with Darkness jogging to catch up to them. "It's nothing difficult, but I figured it would be a good way to test a few things out."

Narrowing her eyes in suspicion, Darkness leaned forward a bit so her mentor could see how she felt. "What do you mean 'test a few things out?'"

Kuruseidā chuckled. "I guess I shouldn't be vague. We're going to see how well you can do with a shield."

"A… shield?" the Crusader asked.

Nodding in affirmative, Kuruseidā looked towards the brute who nodded as well, before looking back to his apprentice. "Like we said earlier, you can't hit any target even when they're doing nothing to dodge your attacks, so, we decided to try something different."

"Oh," Darkness felt conflicted about the matter. On one hand, it would be beneficial to use something that was meant to block attacks – at this point there was no denying her sword was more of an accessory then an actual weapon. However, and the woman felt her body heat up at this, she enjoyed the feeling of an opponent striking her exposed body. The feeling of someone dominating her in battle was one Darkness couldn't experience any where else. Verbal abuse was a close second though…

"Arakuremono, she has that look on her face again."

"Huh? Oh, give me a second."

-and Kazuma was extremely good at that. There wasn't anyone else Darkness had met that could scold her consista-

The woman was forcibly brought out of her thoughts when Arakuremono leaned close to her face and let out a belch with enough force to blow her hair in the opposite direction. Hair frazzled, and face scrunched up in disgust, Darkness used one hand to cover her nose while turning to glare at the brute.

The man let out another round of booming laughter as Kuruseidā sighed in exasperation.

"Goodness, you two are a handful."

Eventually, the trio reached the entrance to a massive looking cave at which point Darkness decided to ask a question.

"Where's my shield?"

There was a good stretch of silence following that question, long enough for Darkness to come up with the answer herself.

"You don't have it, do you?"

"…I probably left it back at my house." Kuruseidā admitted as he placed a hand over his face to hide his embarrassment. "You can use mine." He held out the yellow and white kite shield for her to take.

Darkness took the object gingerly before moving her left arm through the straps. It felt… weird. The extra weight on her arm was barely noticeable, but the fact that she was now going to have to use one hand to wield her sword while the other could block attacks would take some getting used to.

"What about you?" She asked as Kuruseidā drew sword.

"Well, unlike you, I can hit my enemies with my sword." The man said with a smile.

Puffing her cheeks out with indignation, the woman refused to say anything else even as she heard Arakuremono snicker from behind.

"Come on." Kuruseidā said, taking the first steps into the cave dungeon. "The enemies here shouldn't be too tough, especially with Arakuremono watching our backs."

"Heh, almost feel sorry for the poor bastards we're about to fight." The brute said with a crazed look to his eyes.

"Which is why it's the perfect place to practice using that shield." The other Crusader finished as the group walked down a large flight of stairs, relying on the wall torches to light their way.

"Yeah, you can watch our backs while we clear the area – make sure no one catches us off guard." Arakuremono added. "Or maybe you can keep a group busy while we pick them off one by one," he shrugged, "doesn't really matter to me."

"Right…"

The group passed through a small archway that served as an entrance to the first room. Several coffins lined the room's walls, made of wood so rotted it was a wonder they didn't turn to dust whenever a stray breeze blew by. Looking across the room, Darkness could see another archway, partially concealed by hanging moss and vines, that lead further into the dungeon. The moss swayed as a gust of wind, carrying the echoes of a whisper, blew though from deeper in the dungeon, snuffing out the torches that lined the walls of the room.

They relit a moment later with an eerie green flame replacing the calming orange glow.

"Awfully dramatic for a low-level dungeon." Arakuremono commented, eyeing the coffins, just waiting for them to do something.

At that, Kuruseidā shrugged. "I don't think there's any dungeon out there that that isn't a little over the top."

Without any warning, a skeletal hand broke through one of the coffin lids nearby, the action causing a series of spider cracks to form along the coffin. However, before anything else could be done, the entire coffin was unceremoniously demolished by Arakuremono as the brute had leapt forward and swung his mace down with great force. The skeleton had been ground into a fine powder underneath the man's incredible strength while its place of rest had shattered into several splinters.

"Who's next?!" Arakuremono called out, his face twisted with a maniacal grin.

Every coffin and tomb that had been slowly opening to that point slammed shut, and the torches regained their natural, orange glow.

"Arakuremono…" Kuruseidā started while pinching the bridge of his nose, "remember when I said we came here so Darkness could practice using that shield? How are we supposed to do that if you scare away all of the enemies?"

"Oh please," the man scoffed, returning to the center where the others stood – one looking at him in annoyance while the other awkwardly shifted back and forth on her feet. "She wouldn't have gotten any good practice with these enemies. I say we just head out and practice the good old-fashioned way." Arakuremono looked towards Darkness with a grin that showed all his teeth, causing the woman to gulp nervously.

"Hold on, hold on." The other man said with his arms raised in a calming gesture. "We still have the rest of the dungeon to go through before we decide anything else."

An iron gate came down the second Kuruseidā finished his sentence, effectively preventing the group from entering the deeper portions of the area.

"Heh," Arakuremono's grin grew a little wider.

"Oh…" Darkness finally spoke, although it sounded more of a despaired whimper than an actual sentence.

"Well…" the other Crusader's sentence as he processed the turn of events, making a mental note to never bring the brute on anymore training missions. "That's unfortunate."

KONOSUBA!

Clemea loved making tea.

It was a habit she picked up years ago after her mother made a cup for them both. People didn't really consider it a skill, but she knew better then most how different a cup of tea could taste when it was made by a novice or an expert, and Clemea liked to consider herself an expert on the matter. She liked coffee when a little boast was needed, and there was no denying that creep Kazuma was great at making it, but the Warrior could only achieve a state of tranquil bliss when she had a warm cup of tea in her hands.

Something Clemea desperately needed after her leader burned their house to the ground.

Happy thoughts. Happy thoughts. Happy thoughts. The woman mentally chanted that line over and over as she relaxed her grip on the ceramic cup. Yes, she was still very pissed about the incident, and more than likely would remain so for a very long time. They hadn't been able to salvage everything in the short amount of time given, so there were a great many memories held in photos, journals, and random souvenirs that had been lost.

Clemea took a sip from her cup, sighing dejectedly as the liquid effectively drained her anger away, unfortunately doing nothing to rid the sadness she felt. "This is horrible…"

"I think it tastes great."

The Warrior screamed in surprise as her body jerked in the opposite direction of the voice, the motion causing the tea in her cup to slosh out onto the floor. Clemea looked towards the source of the compliment. "A-Aqua?!" she sputtered, trying to recall when the Arch-Priest had sat next to her, drawing a blank in the process.

Said Arch-Priest hummed in confirmation, moving to pour herself another cup while eyeing the small puddle on the floor. "Are you going to clean that?"

"Wha-?" Clemea, still very much confused, looked over towards the mess she made. "Oh, uh… yeah." She got up and grabbed a cloth to wipe up the mess. "Aqua… when did you get here?"

"A few minutes ago." She said, happily sighing after taking another sip of tea. "Why didn't you tell me you could make tea?"

"I did," the Thief replied, kneeling down to clean her spill, "I told you a while ago, actually."

"Did you?" Aqua questioned, placing a hand on her chin while looking up towards the ceiling. "I don't remember that."

"Well, memory isn't exactly your strength, Aqua." Clemea stood back up once the mess was wiped up, turning quickly to hide her smile as the Arch-Priest made a noise of offense. "Besides, it's been some time since I've done it."

The blue-haired woman tilted her head in confusion. "Why's that?"

Clemea shrugged. "Haven't had time, really." She admitted, dumping the now soaked rag into the sink. "With everything going on over the past few weeks, I just kept pushing it back until today."

"Well I think you should do it more often."

"Are you just saying that so I'll make you more tea?" The Warrior's green hair swayed as she turned to look back at her friend, who had the decency to blush as she looked down while mumbling an affirmative. Chuckling, Clemea turned back to the sink to rinse out the cloth. "I don't mind doing so, I really like making it. Maybe you could help me?"

"I would love to!" Aqua excitedly stood up with a large smile, her excitement, unfortunately, caused the entire teapot to tip over, spilling the entirety of its contents on the table and floor.

The Arch-Priest stared at the mess she made with a face as red as a tomato, and felt something damp land on her shoulder.

"Better clean that up before it dries." Clemea smirked as she moved to pick up the cups and pot. "It will be that much harder to clean if it does.

Letting out an exaggerated groan, Aqua took the cloth from her shoulder and began wiping up the spilt tea.

"HERE?"

"NO."

There were a few grunts.

"HERE?"

"A LITTLE MORE TO THE LEFT."

Verdia watched on with interest as Fio instructed Kyouya with minor adjustments to the rather large bullseye as it, and several more like it had been placed on the edge of the forest next to their house in varying distances. It had been the young Hunter's idea to set this makeshift range up as a means to both hone her skills, and serve as a past time should anyone else want to take up archery. There were even talks of holding a quick tournament after it was completed – something Verdia was actually looking forward too.

"RIGHT THERE!" Fio suddenly called out, causing Kyouya to freeze where he stood so he could lower the target into the ground.

"Why are they making an archery range?"

The former General looked to his side to see both Darkness, sans her armor, and Kazuma approaching the group with curious looks on their faces.

"A little side project our resident Hunter came up with." Verdia replied as the duo reached his side. "Care to join us for a test of skill?"

Kazuma raised an eyebrow. "Sure, but how are you going to do it without a body?"

"The same way I keep myself afloat."

"Ah."

"It sounds like fun." Darkness added, only to frown a moment later. "But isn't Fio the only one with a bow?"

"Yes, we will have to share it until we potentially get more."

The group of three heard Fio cheer, bringing their collective gazes back forwards where they saw the girl clasp her hands together as her party leader finished his work. The Sword Master stood up straight and used his forearm to wipe the sweat off his brow.

"Good, it's finished." Verdia began floating towards the range, with Darkness and Kazuma close behind, where he decided to be the first to congratulate the Hunter.

"Thanks!" Fio's smile widened upon receiving the praise

"I'm just glad it's finally done." Kyouya said as he walked back to where everyone else was.

"Is the 'Hero of Axel' winded after moving a few targets around?" Kazuma teased with a smirk.

"Hey, give me a break, we both know Gram and the armor gives me a huge stat boost!"

Before an argument could even start, Fio reached out to grab an ear from both of them before tugging down hard enough to earn an "Ow!" from the two males.

"No arguing you two!" The Hunter stated with no room for discussion.

"Yes ma'am…" Kazuma and Kyouya said, rubbing their respective ears.

Verdia blinked, before chuckling to himself. These children acted so much like his old team did yet so differently at the same time. If he were completely honest, it warmed his long-dead heart to see them interacting with each other. Being isolated from humanity, besides the occasional raid, had left him a hollow shell of his former self, but this group and all their interactions made him feel human – no, better than that…

It made him feel alive.

Refocusing back on the group, the former General saw Fio demonstrating to the others on how to shoot an arrow so they could get started on the impromptu tournament.

"-you don't have to, but steadying your breath can make it easier, then, once the target is in sight, you release the arrow."

Fio did so, and everyone watched as the arrow within the bullseye, earning a round of applause from everyone watching. She did a quick bow, and continued to shoot the other targets, figuring she would be the first one to go, hitting every target while hitting a bullseye on five out of the seven.

Verdia decided to go next, using his telekinesis to operate the bow, and surprised everyone by getting the same score as Fio.

"What?" the undead asked, seeing their faces. "I used to work with one of the world's greatest archer's."

"I'm starting to think this tournament is rigged." Kazuma whispered, both Darkness and Kyouya nodded in agreement.

"I guess I'll go next." The Sword Master said, scratching the back of his head as he took the bow in his hands. The skill gap was made very clear when Kyouya missed three of the targets and barely managed to hit the other four. Dejected, the teen walked back with his head down while Kazuma patted his shoulder.

"Can't be good at everything."

Now his turn, the second party leader took the weapon from his friend's hand. After scoring much better than Kyouya, hitting six while getting a bullseye on two of them, the teen walked back with a little extra confidence in his steps.

However, once Darkness stepped up, everyone took a collective step back. Seeing this, the Crusader blushed furiously as she shouted back to them. "I-I'm not that bad!"

"The battle we had say's otherwise." Verdia replied, much to Darkness' humiliation.

Determined to prove them wrong, and secretly desperate at this point, Darkness took a deep, calming breath of air. Raising the bow to eye level, the Crusader readied an arrow as she focused on the first target. Breath out and…

She fired.

There was a collective gasp from the group, Darkness included, as the arrow not only managed to hit the target, but hit the exact center of it.

"Did… did she just…" Kyouya voiced the question on everyone's mind as the woman in question started jumping up and down, cheering with what could only be described as pure glee.

"I hit it! I hit it!" the Crusader repeated that several more times, joy still clear, Darkness turned back to the group with the largest smile they have ever seen on her face. "See! I can hit something."

"Seeing… still working on believing." Kazuma said, his face conveying how shocked he was.

"Don't forget about the other targets." Fio – while just as shocked as everyone else – felt an equal amount of joy for her friend.

"Right!"

Everyone soon found out that Darkness, the person who could never hit an enemy with her sword, had perfect accuracy when it came to using a bow and arrow, hitting every target dead center. Fio and Kyouya stepped forward to congratulate the Crusader while Kazuma and Verdia stayed back to process what they had just witnessed.

"To think, she's this accurate without using any skills." Verdia muttered just loud enough for Kazuma to hear.

The Adventurer thought about for a little bit. "I would bet anything her accuracy would get worse if she did use a skill with it."

The undead laughed at that. "I think you are right, child!"

Done!

Verdia is becoming one of my favorite characters in this story, although, that might be because he's almost a blank slate for me to use when it comes to making a backstory for him. That, and his interactions with everyone feels so natural to me, don't know why.

Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed this, and I'll see you next time.

Have a wonderful day!