I am so sorry. School started back up and I can say without a doubt it is one of the reasons this took longer than normal to come out. So I won't take up too much more of your time with this author's note, but I do want to thank williamwz3 for pointing, what I believe, was missing last chapter, and it was Aqua. She didn't show up once, and it is very alarming that I have no idea where she was that entire day.

Enjoy!

Chapter: 13

All things considering, this is probably the most relaxed I've been in a long time.

This thought rang through Kazuma's head as he held onto the reins of the small wagon belonging to his friend, and mentor, Chris. The girl in question was resting in the back, claiming she needed a short nap after traveling for so long, and now he was guiding the vehicle towards a destination he knew nothing about with someone who's idea of excitement involved kidnapping people. So yeah, it was just another regular day for the Adventurer.

Kazuma sighed as he realized just how crazy his life had become.

"Nothing I can do about it now…" the teen muttered to himself as he guided the horse to move a little to the side to give the much larger caravan heading his way the space they needed. The merchant leading the group nodded in thanks while the following vehicles tried to sell their wares as they passed. None of them really interested him, until one man called out to him.

Turning to look at the upcoming merchant, Kazuma saw him holding out a seemingly ordinary pair of gloves.

"These bad boys have been enchanted with the Minor Barrier spell! With just a thought, a shield – the size and strength dependent on how much mana is used – will form around the user and protect them from a certain amount of damage!"

"How much?" the teen called out as they he started to pass the Enchanter's wagon.

"Two-hundred thousand!"

Kazuma was surprised. "That much?!"

The man nodded, hopping off his vehicle to walk along side the potential customer. "It's to cover the materials used in making these particular gloves. Regular clothing isn't capable of holding any form of magical energy, which is why it is required to infuse whichever piece of clothing you wish to enchant with mananite dust. The process can be severely time consuming and a huge waste if done incorrectly. Hence, the steep price."

"Well… thanks for the magical lesson, but I don't have that much money on me right now."

The man frowned and turned away to rejoin the caravan. "Waste of my time…" the Enchanter whispered.

Kazuma narrowed his eyes, having heard the comment. And so, with his face looking in the opposite direction of the man, the teen pointed an open palm towards his target, and with a devilish smirk, uttered a spell so quietly that no one was able to hear it. It was only after the last vehicle of the caravan passed that the teen looked down towards his prize, far too pleased with the results.

"Two-hundred thousand seemed a little much." With more grandiose than needed, Kazuma took the dark-blue gloves he recently… acquired, and placed them on, enjoying how comfortable they felt on his hands. "But free? I'll take that deal every day of the week."

"You have no idea how proud of you I am right now."

He screamed in surprise and turned around to see Chris, her head in her hands as she looked at him with a large grin, a snicker escaping the woman's lips as she hopped out to sit next to him. "He was trying to scam you."

"Kinda figured as soon as he mentioned the price." Kazuma said, only partially confident in that statement, especially when he had to ask the follow-up question. "How exactly was it a scam?"

Chris took the reins while explaining. "Because he was exaggerating every detail, hoping your knowledge of the magical arts would be little enough to not call out his bullshit." Realizing too late the vulgar language she just used, the Master Thief could do nothing more than slam a palm over her mouth.

Kazuma laughed at her mortified look. "I think that's the first time I've heard you swear!"

"I've been hanging around you lot too much." Her words held far more meaning than Kazuma could ever understand, so it was unsurprising to the woman when he took it the wrong way.

"Excuse me, but you're the one who keeps coming by, uninvited I might add! Not to mention the fact that you kidnapped me!"

"Oh relax," Chris waved off his ire, "I was talking more about Arakuremono than you guys."

"Ah…" He trailed off weakly, having nothing else to had now that that matter had been clarified. But there was one question that Kazuma felt like needed answering. "What exactly is this job? The only thing I know about it is that it's a thief's mission – which isn't really much to go on. We're stealing something though, right?"

She nodded, making a noise of confirmation as well. "It's something I've been planning to do a few years now." Chris' excitement began to make itself known as the Master Thief began to bounce in her seat. The sight brought a small smile to Kazuma's face. "It's going to be a multi-stage operation involving observation of the target, planning, and infiltration!" Chris added a little flair to the last word.

Kazuma raised an eyebrow. "Alright, but what exactly is the job?"

"Oh," Chris deflated a little after realizing she failed to actually answer the question. "We're going to rob a noble."

"Are you crazy?!"

Megumin looked up from her workbench, situated just outside in the backyard with a canopy placed over it to prevent the rain from soaking the materials on it, and saw Clemea storming over to her with a near-furious look.

"Eh?" the Arch-Wizard oh-so wisely asked, tilting her head to the side in the process.

"Don't you 'eh' me! You had Verdia summon undead warriors just to help you work in your garden!"

"I mean…" Megumin glanced towards her new garden, watching as Aqua and Wiz worked together to dig a hole deep enough for the aforementioned undead to plant a multi-fruit tree. "It didn't seem like a problem."

Clemea placed one hand on the girl's bench, using the other to furiously scratch her head while idly wondering if this is what Kazuma had to deal with on a daily basis. "The problem is that you had him do it in the middle of town." The Warrior explained the situation as calmly as she could, finding it incredibly difficult especially after having a very long- not to mention annoying – conversation with the city guards.

Was it ironic that having a long history of mischief actually made the guards more lenient?

"I mean… it's not like people don't know about Verdia and what he can do." Megumin tried to explain, doing a terrible job as she slowly shifted her gaze away from the girl she considered an older sister.

"That may be true, but that doesn't mean you won't send people into a panic when undead show up, unannounced, within the town square!"

"Well what do you want me to do, apologize?" the Arch-Wizard asked, getting defensive.

Groaning at the girl's stubbornness, Clemea counted to ten before continuing. "Ideally yes, at least to the guards who had to calm people down. Megumin, I need you to understand that while we may be used to Verdia and his powers most of the regular citizens are not. There's a reason we keep him around the house, or out of sight at least."

"You two do realize I'm right here, do you not?"

The two looked to the side where the undead in question sat atop his new pedestal, adorned with a small plaque labeled 'Head Gardener' along with a minor extension to the side and an even smaller pillow made specifically for the Snow Sprite. The spirit was currently resting on said pillow while Verdia continued in a quiet voice.

"And while I do see your point that my powers should not be used so openly, you cannot deny the point that my presence is no longer a surprise to anyone living in this town."

"I suppose so," Clemea felt some of the tension leave her body as she agreed to that point. Honestly, she was so used to Kazuma dealing with these matters, the luxury of having someone else take the blame was gone now that she was the de-facto leader of the group. Weird considering she was part of someone else's party. "Could you please keep the dark magic contained to this house though?"

"As long as nothing were to-"

"Sure." Megumin replied with a shrug, making Verdia realize the question had, in-fact, been directed to someone other than him.

"Why are you asking her as if she's controlling the magic?!" the former General demanded, his voice rising a few octaves out of outrage.

"Would you have done it if she hadn't asked?" Clemea asked back.

"Of course not!" the undead shouted, realizing his mistake a moment too late.

Sending a sly smirk in Verdia's direction, the Warrior was practically shining with amusement as she finished answering the question. "Then I guess Megumin's the one I need to ask, nee?"

Megumin suddenly coughed – a cough that sounded far too much like a laugh to Verdia – as she turned her attention back too the unfinished diagram of what the new garden would look like. Her mind briefly entertained the idea of learning dark magic, because seriously how cool would it be to be known as the Mistress of Dark Explosions, but she shook away the idea with a quiet laugh, Honestly, why would she even need to learn something other than-?

-lifeless eyes gazed up at her even while the snow around them continued to be dyed red from his blood-

The hand holding the pencil was shaking uncontrollably while her face began to lose all of its color. Her smile remained, but it was obvious to see it was strained at best.

"Megumin?" Clemea kneeled next to the girl, her concern making itself known as she cupped the girl's face to force those crimson eyes to look at her. "Are you alright?"

Several blinks were the only response received, and just when the Warrior was about to ask again, Megumin blinked one final time, snapping out of the trance she had just been in, appearing to be just fine now.

"Clemea, why are you so close to me?"

And while the Green-haired girl fumbled to come up with a proper answer, Verdia gazed at the Arch-Wizard with a narrowed eye. He had sensed something, despite it lasting no longer than a second, something that filled the undead with a mixed sense of dread and rage that he hadn't felt in so long.

It's probably my imagination, Verdia reasoned to himself. There was no way he would come to a place like this. Even as he thought this, Verdia couldn't help but send a look full of remorse towards Megumin, knowing that if his worst fears came true, that little girl would be hit the hardest out of the bunch.

KO-NO-SU-BA!

"That's another one planted." Aqua took out a piece of cloth to wipe away the sweat gathering on her forehead. She turned to Wiz and offered her a thumbs-up. "Nice job!"

The Lich, wearing her own set of work clothes, sheepishly returned the gesture, feeling a sense of pride in their accomplishment. "Megumin certainly is going all out with this garden." One of the undead soldiers – because no one was going to follow through on Megumin's idea to label them undead gardeners – offered the woman a glass of water, which she took with a quiet thanks, distinctly aware that Aqua was doing the same thing.

"Ah…" the Water Goddess happily sighed, tossing the glass away, accidentally hitting one of the soldiers in the process. "That was refreshing."

"It was," agreed the well-endowed Lich, setting her own glass on the ground. "Aqua… I… I want to say thank you for inviting me to do this. It really means a lot."

Aqua shrugged, offering her a smile. "It wasn't that big of a deal, I mean, we are friends after all!"

"Right!" Wiz nodded, her smile growing larger. "It's just," and then her smile began to wane, "you treated me so differently not too long ago, it made me think you didn't want to be near me."

"Ahaha… right…" The Arch-Priest awkwardly scratched her head as she thought of a response. "Back then it was different because you… uh… kinda smelled?"

Anyone – literally anyone – else would have been able to tell that was a horrible, terrible lie, so much so that it should be a crime, but innocent, sweet, busty Wiz was not just anyone. And so, with a horrified look on her face, the woman asked her friend for confirmation. "Really?!" Her question was nearly a shout.

The nearby undead soldiers shared a disbelieving look – which was impressive when you realized that they lacked anything resembling a face.

"…Yes."

When Fio arrived to help the small group with the garden, she was greeted with the very interesting sight of Wiz apologizing repeatedly to Aqua while said Arch-Priest looked surprisingly ashamed of herself.

"How many… of these trees… did Megumin order?" The question had been asked with the occasional huff interrupting it.

"I believe four, maybe five, but no more than six."

Kyouya gave a mental groan as he readjusted the Multi-fruit tree, so it didn't hurt his shoulder so much. This was only the second one he had Darkness were moving, and at this rate, the Sword Master would need to equip Gram and the matching armor to get the stat boosts needed to continue. Unlike him though, the Crusader seemed to manage just fine despite carrying the heavier part – something Darkness was suspiciously adamant about doing. He was slightly envious of her strength.

However, once that thought finished its course, another one took its place that made Kyouya perk up. "Hey Darkness…"

There was a questioning hum in response.

"Do you want to work out together some time?"

Another hum came, this one containing a hint of worry, and Darkness shrugged, jostling the tree in the process. "I suppose so, but you should know my routine is extremely tiring for those not used to it."

"Come on," Kyouya puffed out his chest a little, "you know me, I'm used to difficult workouts. And it would be nice not having to be yelled at by Verdia all the time."

Darkness laughed a bit at that. "I suppose it would. But it's because I know you that I felt the need to caution you."

The Sword Master allowed his body to slump in disappointment. "Yeah, you're probably right."

"I don't know how we're going to do this." Kazuma muttered while scouting out the rather large mansion he would be robbing with Chris. The two of them were currently several blocks away on the roof of some random building, one that gave them a clear line of sight on the Nobleman's residence. "For crying out loud, I can't see a single spot we could enter that isn't covered!"

Collapsing the telescope he was using with more force than was required, the Adventurer turned towards his mentor with an annoyed look. "You didn't say there would be this many people watching over one place. What's even in there that's so damn valuable?"

"Just about everything that isn't nailed to the wall and then some." Chris replied, far more casually than Kazuma would have liked, she placed her own telescope down while pulling out a small notepad. "We're also not trying to find any weak points to get in, we're looking for ways to get out quickly if things go bad." She turned to him with calculating eyes. "Did you find anything like that?"

He sighed and brought the telescope back out to give the area a second look. "That giant window to the far left, the one on the top floor."

"I saw it."

"We could jump out and start running along the rooftops, I doubt the guards would be able to catch up to us if we did that."

Chris nodded, writing it down as her friend continued.

"There was also a small hatch leading to the rooftop, wouldn't be hard to get out from there."

On and on, Kazuma listed off possible escape routes for them to take with the occasional input from the Master Thief herself. By midday they were back at the room they had rented out, a map of the city lying next to the blueprints for the mansion. Kazuma sat on one side with his arms and legs crossed, looking over the notes they had been taking all day. He scratched the side of his head, enjoying how the gloves felt on his skin.

"Okay, I give, how exactly are we supposed to get in?"

Not even looking up from the papers she was looking at, Chris replied in a no-nonsense tone. "How many times to I have to tell you, it's not about getting in, it's-"

"-about us getting out." Kazuma finished, having heard that over five times over the course of two days. "But it doesn't matter how many ways we have to get out if we don't have any way to get in in the first place."

"And it matters even less how many ways we can get in if there isn't a plan for us to get out at a moments notice." As she finished her calm explanation, Chris looked up to give the Adventurer an understanding smile. "Believe me, I get it, I've been in your position before." The woman placed down the current stack of papers and grabbed onto another to look them over. "Or is it that you don't have any faith in your teacher?"

Her teasing remark made him roll his eyes. "You know that's not what this is about, I wouldn't trust anyone but you for a job like this."

Chris peaked at him over the top of her papers, her eyes containing a glint of mischief in them. "You're just saying that because you don't trust your friends with anything important, right?"

Kazuma outright scoffed at that. "Of course not, I wouldn't trust them with much of anything, it's way too easy for them to screw up even the most basic task."

"Is that right?" Chris asked, a secret smile hidden behind the papers.

"Gah! It's so frustrating!" The Adventurer nearly screamed, making sure to keep it down so no one would investigate what was going on. "Most of the time it's stuff you wouldn't think someone could screw up, but no, somehow everyone in that house of ours is capable of turning a relaxing afternoon into absolute chaos."

"There was one day where Clemea had set the entire kitchen on fire while she was working on her potions, forcing us to not only to put it out before it spread to the rest of the house, but to also spend the rest of the day either cleaning up the mess or going out to buy replacements for everything that was lost. Then there was the day Fio accidentally hit Kyouya in the leg with an arrow because it apparently had bounced off Verdia's head, why that damn undead bastard was out in the middle of the field I'll never know and flew straight at him in the complete opposite direction – I don't think I've ever heard anyone scream as loud as he did that day."

"Really now?" Chris' smile began to grow wider as she watched Kazuma's lips twitch a little.

"Then there's Darkness, I think you know her well enough for me not to say anything."

"I do."

"Great, because I have an entire list of complaints reserved specifically for Aqua."

"None of which I want to hear."

"Oh…" Kazuma looked as if he wanted to say something to that but hesitated as something else came to mind. "Honestly, and I mean completely honest, Megumin probably annoys me the most."

Hold on, what? Chris placed her notes down, swept the papers away to clear the area, and gave her student the full attention this needed. "Why's that?"

"Why do you think?" He asked, only to answer the question himself. "Because of that damn obsession of hers! Nearly everyday she has me frolic out with her to some area so she can use that worthless spell, forcing me to carry her all the way back to town, and adamantly refuses to listen when I suggest to her to learn something much more useful in battle."

"Huh," the Master Thief filed that piece of information away, "wouldn't have guessed that with how you act around her."

"Well what can I say, I'm a great actor." Suspicion creeped into his gaze as the full meaning of those words dawned on the teen. "And uh… what exactly does it look like when I'm around her."

"Oh, nothing major," Chris gave a casual shrug, purposefully looking up at the ceiling as she finished the sentence, "just that you have a major crush on the girl." With that said, she waited to hear his reaction, hoping it would be something between a sputtering yell and a strangled gasp. Nothing happened though, and Chris looked back after a few more moments of silence to question why he hadn't said anything, only to receive that answer when she saw his face.

"Ah…" Kazuma's expression was downcast, acting as if his biggest secret had been revealed, and Chris shamefully realized that might have been more on the nose than previously thought. "Guess I'm not that good of an actor after all."

"Geez, it's not like it's a big deal if people know about it, but… I'm sorry if you didn't want people to know."

He waved off her apology. "No, it's fine. Really, I – what do you mean people?" The sudden shift in his demeanor was enough to throw Chris off balance.

With wide eyes, the Master Thief realized her mistake. "…whoops?"

"Other people know?" Kazuma nearly shrieked, a blend of panic and dread – a combination only he seemed capable of perfecting – leaking into his voice. "How many?!"

"Oh, not many really: just everyone at the mansion, a handful of people at the guild, and a few others here and there." Chris' voice continued to slowly rise in pitch as more and more people were listed while the steadily growing look of intensity, zeroed in on her, actually forced the Master Thief to look away. "Not many people… if you don't think about it that is."

"Holy shit…"

"Yeah… and if you think that's bad, you're really not going to like that there's a bet going on."

"A bet?!"

Chris held up her arms in a calming gesture. "Now, don't be mad…"

But Kazuma was beyond furious at this point. "How could I not be mad?! My love life is a subject for half the town to gamble on!"

"I mean, I don't think half the town is in on it – although the mayor did make a wager as well."

"Well that's great, just great, even the mayor is in on this." Kazuma stood up and went over to his bed, falling face first on the object so the following groans would be muffled.

"Hey, hey, come on, there's no need for that." Her attempt to comfort the teen bore no fruit, however, and the girl sighed as she walked over and sat on the bed to place a gentle hand on his back. "Ok, so I know you didn't want to hear that basically everyone you know is betting on when you'll ask out Megumin, or that Clemea accidentally spilled the beans to the girl so she probably knows as well…" Chris trailed off, knowing she said more than she should have.

The teen moved his head so he was looking at her. "Let me get this straight. Several people, including friends and strangers, know I'm into Megumin and vice versa, there's a bet going on involving when one of us will ask the other out, and the two people this bet involves are now aware of what is going on." Kazuma raised an eyebrow. "Am I missing anything?"

Chris thought about and shook her head. "That should cover everything."

"Wonderful." Kazuma turned his head so it was buried in his pillow once more. "This whole situation is so messed up."

"You know what might cheer you up?" Her demeanor brightened considerably as she stated her idea. "If you help me win this bet by asking Megumin out within the next week or two!"

"Are you serious?!" The teen demanded, pushing himself up to glare at his mentor.

"Please do it!" Chris begged as she fell to her knees, her face pleading with him to do the right thing. "I'm going to be out of this bet if you don't!"

The two would argue for the next twenty minutes on why asking a girl out to win a bet was a terrible idea.

KONOSUBA!

"Should… should we do something?"

The hesitant question made everyone share nervous looks. Aqua, Darkness, Fio, Kyouya, Megumin, and Verdia all sat awkwardly in the main room of their mansion, trying their best to ignore the shouting match that was happening in the kitchen right now between Clemea and Sena. The Prosecutor came by today to check in on the group, having just sent her report the day before, and the green-haired warrior took it upon herself to explain the current situation.

Everyone couldn't help but admire her for it.

Verdia was the first to respond by shaking his head. "Nothing good would come from sending another person in there. The only thing an extra person could contribute in a shouting match is more noise and chaos."

"He's right." Darkness agreed, her posture a little more regal than normal. "Our friend is more than capable of handling this situation herself, Clemea wouldn't have volunteered if she didn't think so herself."

Kyouya sighed and then winced as they all heard something break in the other room. "Even though that's true, it's still surprising just how… vocal, Sena is with her displeasure."

"I thought she liked us." Megumin muttered as she sipped her tea.

"Pretending to be nice and being a friend are two sides of the same coin." Lalatina gave the group a sad smile as she watched their various reactions to her words. "While I cannot say which side she is on, Sena, regardless of how she feels, has a job to do, and this situation puts her in a very bad spot should her superiors find out."

The Noblewoman refused to add that they could use this information as a form of blackmail should the need ever arise. They wouldn't agree to using methods like that anyway. Then again, she didn't really need them to agree to go ahead with her idea.

Aqua suddenly began to slurp her tea, desperately trying to get the last drop out of her cup, causing everyone in the main room to turn to her with a deadpan look.

Come on! The Goddess thought furiously, working even harder to enjoy the magical flavor of Clemea's tea. Finally, when the last of it reached her tongue, Aqua allowed herself to sigh in pure bliss. She blinked at the sight of everyone staring at her. "What?"

Whatever was about to be said was interrupted as Sena came marching into the main hallway, a look of pure fury on her face as she turned back to yell into the kitchen. "This matter is far from over! I hope you have a better answer the next time I visit!" With that, the Prosecutor stormed out of the building, slamming the door shut in the process.

Clemea came running out of the kitchen, the fire in her eyes threatened to burn anyone who looked at her wrong. "You can be damn sure my answer will be much clearer next time!" she roared, taking several deep breaths as the fire dimmed down to something more manageable.

"I see things went well." Verdia said with a sarcastic undertone, unfazed when the woman shot him a dirty look. "No need for that, you're scaring the little one."

She narrowed her eyes in confusion until she felt something cold rub against her cheek. Looking over, Clemea saw the Snow Sprite looking up at her with wide, innocent eyes as it chirped a questioning tune. Her own eyes softened at the sight, "Don't worry, I'm fine," and she offered the creature a small smile, to which it gave her an eye-smile in return.

"I swear that thing likes everyone else more than me." Aqua muttered dejectedly.

"So… what did Sena have to say?" Kyouya asked the question that was on their minds, being the only one brave enough to do so.

"Nothing good once I told her what was going on." The Warrior just about growled as her previous anger began to reignite, but the comforting presence of the adorable Snow Sprite helped cool her down. "Long story short, we've got about a week before she needs to send out another report to her superiors. I don't think I need to explain what would happen if it was reported that he disappeared."

No, no she did not. The entire group looked down in thought with various ideas going through their head. Fio was the first to come up with something.

"Darkness is there any way for you to get in touch with Chris and tell her what's going on?"

The woman shook her head. "No. Chris has always been one to disappear at a moments notice, and despite my best efforts, I've never been able to track her when she does. No one has now that I think about it."

"How about Sena then?" Kyouya asked, clarifying when he saw their confused looks. "Is there any chance we could convince her to send out false reports until Kazuma comes back?"

"Not a chance in hell." Clemea scoffed, crossing her arms and looking away. "All that shouting you heard was me trying to convince her to do that."

"Not to mention how much trouble she'd get in should they ever find out a report had been altered." Verdia added. "Of course, we could simply swap out her report with another of our own making…"

The Crusader of the group placed a hand on her chin, thinking the idea over a little bit. It definitely had some merit, but she ultimately had to shake her head. "I doubt that would work as well as we would like, most of her work is hand written, and even if we were able to successfully forge her hang writing, it wouldn't take long for Sena to figure out something was amiss if there wasn't an immediate response."

"Well, I could always…" Megumin's eyes drifted off towards her staff, and the entire group responded with a rather loud 'No' in response.

"So, the only thing we can do, without getting our hands dirty in some way, is to simply wait for Chris to bring Kazuma back within a week?" Fio questioned, watching as the others frowned while nodding to her words.

"That would seem to be the case." Verdia agreed, knowing he'd be sentenced to be purified should the worst-case scenario come true. "It is not ideal by any means, but none of us have any ideas that would work otherwise."

Kyouya groaned, leaning back while placing both hands over his face. "Wait a minute!" the look of realization on the Sword Master's face caught everyone's attention. "Darkness, Chris would have known something like this would happen, right?"

Darkness blinked at the sudden question, but it didn't take long for her to get where he was going with the question. "She would," the woman smiled, "and that means she would have planned this all out so there would be more than enough time to get Kazuma back home!"

"So… Kazuma will be back in time?" Megumin relaxed at their words. Feeling a set of eyes on her, she turned to see Clemea sending her a teasing smirk, making the Arch-Wizard blush in response.

"As comforting as that knowledge may be, we should still prepare to leave at a moments notice should the worst occur." Verdia said to the group, getting a couple nods in response. "We should inform a few people at the guild about our situation as well, I imagine Arakuremono would be able to help us out."

"I can do that tomorrow." Kyouya volunteered. "If I go in early enough, I should be able to talk with him privately."

"Can I tell Wiz?" Aqua's questioned surprised the group, and she puffed out her cheeks in anger at their looks. "If we're all leaving, someone is going to need to look after the garden! I didn't just spend the entire day working on it just to let it get over run by weeds while we're away!"

"That… shouldn't be a problem." Verdia muttered, seeing the odd logic. He was still worried though, the Lich wasn't exactly the greatest liar. "Just don't give her too much information."

The Arch-Priest gave him a salute. "Roger that!"

While everyone continued to make plans and contingency plans, Megumin quietly prayed for the safe return of her… her… she sighed, figuring there was no point in denying her crush for Kazuma at this point, everyone seemed to know anyway. Just please be safe, wherever you are.

Meanwhile, miles away from his group, Kazuma sat on a chair with his arms tied behind his back, Chris was a short distance away in a similar position, an apologetic grin on her face.

"So… what do you think of your first heist so far?"

"I'm honestly trying to figure out if I hate you right now." Kazuma said as the mocking laughter from the Nobleman they tried to rob echoed in their room, the man having just left a moment ago.

"Come on…" Chris moved as if to wave off his words, but the ropes around her wrists prevented her from doing so. "This isn't so bad. There was this one time I-"

"I don't want to hear it." The teen cut her off as began looking around the area for something sharp. "That bastard took our gear, money, my new gloves, and left us down here to die." He saw a broken piece of glass a short distance away and began hopping over there. "Forget what I said about you keeping most of the loot. We're splitting it evenly as soon as we get out."

The Master Thief whined at that even as she reached for the hidden dagger on her person. "Come on! I'm the one who spent more time and money getting this prepared."

"Not enough apparently, considering we got caught in five minutes!" Kazuma shouted, grabbing the glass once he was close enough before beginning the grueling process of cutting his bindings.

"Would you believe me if I said this was part of the plan?"

He opened his mouth to reply, but a sudden screeching sound make the duo look towards a nearby grate, watching as it slowly opened revealing a set of red eyes glaring at them. Out of the shadows came a group of snarling giant rats, slowly making their way too them.

"Was this part of the plan?" Kazuma demanded as his cutting motion became a little more hurried.

"It was part of a plan!" Chris shouted back, her own blade beginning to move faster as the danger loomed closer to them.

"And which part of that plan are we on now?!" The glass finally sliced through one of the bindings, allowing Kazuma to cut even faster as he glared over at his friend, who was returning the look with her own.

"The part where you shut up and finish cutting that rope so giant rats don't eat us!"

"Well exuuuuuuse me if I seem a little pissed off since I was unaware that we even had a plan like that!"

"Well now you know!" Chris shouted as she finished cutting through her rope at the same time as Kazuma. "Take care of the ones on the left, I'll take on the rest."

"When we get out of this, we're going to have a very long conversation about your planning skills!" Kazuma gripped the glass in one hand while preparing a spell in the other, and the two gave a battle cry as they lunged at the incoming beasts.

And that's a wrap. Once again, I'd like to thank everyone who followed, favorite, and reviewed this story, and a big shout out to everyone who's been waiting patiently for me to upload, it never fails to bring a smile to my face.

Until next time, which hopefully won't be as long, I hope you all have a wonderful day!