Chapter 11: I Have Become the Strongest Mage! & Extras

Part 1

When I came to, Megumin was already up and about.

She was at the door, knocking on it and screaming.

"Mother! Open up this door now and I might forgive you still!"

There was no answer.

When she turned around while letting out a defeated sigh, she made eye contact with me.

"You," she said.

"Uh, hi."

She groaned and slid her back against the door, until she was sat on the floor.

"You could have resisted my mother more," she said.

"What kind of man would resist this kind of situation?"

"Are you that thirsty?! Are you that desperate to get laid?!"

Yes.

It was obvious, wasn't it?

That a virgin like me would be so desperate.

"Whatever. I expected this much from you. Get up. We're getting away from here."

When I made no attempt to move, she rolled her eyes before walking to the room's sole window.

She stood on her tippy-toes and then easily opened it.

"Tch! That Yuiyui-san didn't think this through at all," I said.

"You don't have to be so honest with your disappointment."

She hauled herself up and slid through the window.

And so I was left on my own.

Suffering from blue balls.

"Ah, there's no helping it. I guess I'll 'take care of my needs' right here, in Megumin's old bedroom…"

The speed at which Megumin returned through the small opening of that window was astounding.

"Don't be so difficult, Kazuma! Even if you act this way, there will be no dirty things happening between us, you should know that, right?! Get rid of your unrealistic expectations!"

"Don't underestimate a virgin's resilience."

"Since when did you become so proud of being a virgin?!"

It's not like I would say 'no', when given a chance.

Megumin was still an attractive girl, despite it all.

But at the same time, I really wasn't expecting anything.

I mean, Megumin was Megumin.

I wouldn't do anything that would make things weird between us.

It was just so fun to tease her that I couldn't help myself.

She sighed dejectedly.

"Fine, I'm staying. But just to keep you from doing anything strange. You're sleeping on the floor, Kazuma," she said.

"No, I am the guest here. The host should sleep on the floor."

I expected her to argue, but she relented with a sigh.

"…You do have a point, and it was my own mother's fault that we are in this mess, anyways. Fine, I will sleep on the floor."

She grabbed some spare blankets from the closet and laid them out on the floor.

"No, actually, I will sleep on the floor," I said.

"Are you messing with me, or what?!"

Megumin was breathing hard. She wasn't used to straightman role, after all, and the consecutive retorts were starting to tire her.

"I feel like I'm losing at something if I concede the moral high ground to Megumin."

"You were never in any high ground in the first place. Please don't be so worried about matters you know nothing of, morality being one of them."

I was given a scathing retort.

Megumin gave a huff as she settled down on the bedsheets. She yawned once.

Following our dispute, silence overcame the room.

I felt an itch on my thigh and I reached down to scratch it.

Unfortunately, this motion created a suggestive sound.

"Fap, fap, fap, fap."

This awkward sound echoed throughout the room.

"You're doing something disgusting right now, aren't you?! Are you really that backed up?! If so, then you have my permission to slip through that window and do your 'business' in the bushes outside!"

"I'm just relieving an itch. And I'll have you know that if I was really that backed up, I wouldn't have any problem with doing it in the bushes."

"…Whatever, I don't care anymore. You're just doing this to rile me up anyways."

Yes, I couldn't disagree.

For some reason, I derived absolute joy in teasing Megumin.

I felt giddy.

Like a child about to enact an elaborate prank.

And I wanted to do something more.

Not anything dirty.

But something a bit wilder than usual, that would receive more of a reaction from Megumin.

"Freeze."

I sent an icy wind to Megumin.

She gasped. "Kazuma?! What are you planning now?!"

"Oh, sorry, was that too cold for you? Tinder, Wind Breath."

Minimizing the output, so as not to set Megumin on fire, I sent a gust that reached the temperatures of a heat wave.

"Hot, hot, hot, hot! Why are you doing this to me?!"

"Here, let me bring you back down to room temperature. Create Water."

I aimed a focused stream of water on her pants.

The fabric was soaked at the crevice between her legs.

"…"

She couldn't find the words to retort as she looked down at her wet pants.

"Hey, Megumin, didn't you tell me that Crimson Demons don't need to use the bathroom? If you needed to go, you could have used that empty bottle over there."

"I'll say this once more, what do you expect me to do with that empty bottle?!"

I was practically shaking in amusement.

What was this feeling?

I enjoyed teasing Aqua and Darkness, too.

But somehow, it was different with Megumin.

Maybe because, unlike the other two, there was a chance of retaliation with Megumin?

Did I derive excitement from the sense of danger involved?

But that couldn't be, as I wasn't in any way an adrenaline junkie.

Really, I was acting strange.

Megumin grabbed a towel and dabbed it on her pants. "I don't know where that outburst came from, but are you done now? We're leaving tomorrow morning, right? We should go back to sleep."

She was acting calm, but I already knew that she was constructing a revenge plot.

"…"

"Hm? Kazuma? What's wrong, you had gone quiet all of a sudden."

"Freeze."

"Again?! Stop it, stop it! I must have made you mad at some point, that's why you're doing this, right?! What is it, tell me what I have to apologize for!"

"Sorry. I was just testing my emotions, seeing if I felt joy in seeing you suffer."

"So you've finally awakened your sadistic side, huh? This is kind of inevitable, isn't it?"

It was already late, and the exhaustion of the day was finally catching up to me.

We had been arguing, but now a stretch of silence ensued.

My eyes drifted close a few times, and around the time when I thought I would finally succumb to sleep, I felt the shuffling of sheets beside me.

And then I felt the warmth of a body.

"Kazuma, Kazuma! T-T-There's a bunch of cockroaches on the floor! One of them almost entered my mouth!"

Somehow, I wasn't surprised.

This was the house of a family way below the average standards of living.

So there were roaches, huh?

I didn't care what Megumin had to say, I was definitely leaving some money to Yuiyui-san.

The bed was small.

This had been a young Megumin's bed, after all.

Even though I wasn't especially tall, I still had to bend my knees if I didn't want my legs dangling down the edge of the bed.

I looked down at Megumin, still shivering from her close encounter with roach-kind.

Breathing hard, a slight sheen of sweat making her face look radiant as the moonlight shone on it.

She looked beautiful.

I couldn't believe that this was that same Megumin.

We were so close.

Her hands, whether she realized it or not, were pressed against my chest.

My heart was beating.

I was actually feeling some desire for that Megumin!

"I might need those bushes pretty soon."

I couldn't help but blurt this out.

Part 2

"In the end, it still turns out like this," Megumin said.

I couldn't see her face, as we had our backs to each other, but I could imagine that she was looking pretty pissed, then.

She couldn't leave, in fear of what I might do in her bedroom.

And she couldn't sleep on the floor, since there were roaches.

And so we were sleeping together once more, though our sleeping positions were like that of a couple in a love-less marriage.

This time around, though, we were all alone.

There was no Komekko between us...

Which might explain why Megumin was so agitated.

But this only made me want to tease her more.

"Are you sure you should be so lax around me?" I asked. "I'll have you know that men are like wolves in sheep's clothing, and you are now in my hunting grounds. Welcome to the gates of hell!"

"Don't flatter yourself. Kazuma is more of a scavenger than a hunter. Instead of a wolf, you're more like a dung beetle"

"…"

I couldn't come up with a sufficient response.

She laughed and I could feel her shoulders shaking.

"Calling me all sorts of names…even though I have accomplished so many great deeds!"

She laughed again, but somehow, this wasn't the usual laughter I heard from Megumin.

It was...if I had to describe it…

It was the girly kind of laugh I used to hear idols from TV use, when they were trying to act cute.

Except with Megumin, it didn't seem pretentious, or even intentional.

"I do have to agree with you on that part. Even though Kazuma is lazy, doesn't have initiative, and an enemy of all women, you do have some admirable traits."

"Oh? I'm interested. What are those traits?"

I ignored those other comments about my laziness.

"You want to flex your ego that much, huh? Very well, I'll humor you. Despite being a coward, Kazuma is reliable when it counts. Despite treating us like we're burdens dragging you down, you've shown that you are loyal, and that you care about your comrades. Really, if you act like more of the reliable Kazuma rather than your despicable alter-ego, Scum-zuma, I think that you'd be more popular with women."

I couldn't help but blush at her honest words.

"Oh, did I leave you speechless? You can't handle praise, huh? Kazuma is meeker than I thought."

It was Megumin who was the weird one, not at all feeling embarrassed after saying all those things.

And yet she continued.

"And Kazuma has this effect on other people, too, especially our party. You make us better, drawing out our full potential. I don't think I could have reached the heights I have achieved now, if I hadn't met Kazuma. Right now, when I claim to be the strongest mage, or call myself a genius, I don't feel like I'm just boasting anymore. I actually feel…confident in myself, true confidence, not like the ostentatious way I presented myself before. And it's all thanks to you, Kazuma, for putting up with a troublesome mage like me."

Where did this moe come from?!

Seriously, my heart was actually beating for Megumin!

And this wasn't the hormonal fueled desire that overtook me earlier…

This was…this was…!

I took a deep breath to calm myself.

I was just taken off guard by Megumin, after all.

Once I had calmed myself, I responded to her words.

"I-I think that you accomplished all these things by yourself, Megumin," I said. "It's not like I especially encouraged you to pursue Explosion magic. I think I even discouraged you a lot of times."

Why was I denying her praise so much?

Even though I could just confidently say 'You're welcome', or offer a snide comment like I usually would.

Perhaps, I wasn't used to getting praised?

Well, in regards to NEET like me, there was not a lot to praise.

And yet Megumin saw all these things in me…

To think that I'd have my composure broken by this little girl!

"Nonsense. You helped me with my routine every day. Sure, you'd complain about it from time to time, but you kept your promise. Ah, that's another one of your good points, you keep your promises."

I couldn't help but blush at her words.

This impudent little girl was so casually hitting on me!

Saying all the things I wanted to hear!

"If you say all this, it's almost like you're saying that you like me. What, is this a confession? Has my popular period finally arrived?"

I retaliated with this.

Surely, I would regain control of this conversation if I managed to disorient Megumin…

"But, I do like Kazuma?"

My heartbeat spiked once.

I was the one who was disoriented instead!

"E-Eh?!"

She chuckled. "Why are you getting so excited?"

"B-Because you…!"

She laughed even more.

I made myself calm down.

If I fell to her provocations, I was sure that Megumin would smile mischievously and say something like 'Ah, did you actually believe me?'

This tricky girl, I almost fell for that trap!

"So, since I went out of my way to flatter you, what does Kazuma have to say about me?"

So that was just flattery, huh?

However, she did say some nice to things about me.

It would be somewhat cruel to not say anything in return.

But, what to say about Megumin…

I had a feeling that if I said anything apart from praise and adulation, I would receive some sort of retaliation.

But, somehow, it really wasn't too hard to come up with compliments for this recent version of Megumin.

Certainly, I couldn't quite rely on my old impressions of the troublesome Megumin.

Calling her a useless mage would now be a false statement.

And as I got to know her, I learned that Megumin had a mature side, too, even though she liked to act like a delusional middle-schooler most of the time.

Really, there were a lot of contradictions to her personality.

I used to think that Megumin was cold hearted, but then she went on that rage after Yunyun got hurt, and afterwards, deployed her most powerful Explosion yet.

And I knew that Megumin would go to the extremes for her comrades.

But, to just say all of this, it was embarrassing.

I didn't know how Megumin said those things about me without any hesitation.

When I thought about it, however, there was a way…

"Hey, Megumin, about our Explosion routine, how high do the scores go up to?"

"Oi, don't change the subject! If you have nothing good to say about me, then just shut up!"

"Just humor me this time."

"…I guess it goes up to about a 100."

"So that's the limit, huh?"

Considering how we were, there was a way to convey what I thought about Megumin properly.

"120," I said.

That's the score I would give Megumin.

As a friend.

As a party member.

As the strongest mage.

A score that broke the limits.

I felt Megumin turn around, but I still kept my back turned to her. "Hm? 120? What do you mean by that?" she asked.

I brought my blanket around me as I sunk my head deeper into my pillow.

"N-Nothing! Well, I'm getting sleepy. Good night, Megumin."

"Oi, I think I have some idea about what you meant, but I want you to say it clearly! Hey, Kazuma? Kazuma?!"

Part 3

Unlike Aqua, Megumin didn't have an atrocious sleeping posture.

In fact, she looked like her age as she slept with the blankets drawn up to her chin, and with her fingers peeking out the top of the blanket as she grasped it for comfort.

Therefore, I actually felt something when I woke up next to a pretty girl.

"Yahoo!"

I couldn't help but let out a cheer.

"…Kazuma, what are you so excited about?"

Megumin stirred a couple times before she opened an eye.

I smiled. "Was it as good for you as it was for me?"

"…!"

She sat up and started patting down her clothes.

"Relax. I didn't do anything. I'm not that kind of guy."

I didn't mention that I did think about doing something, but decided not to.

She let out a sigh of relief. "Phew. So Darkness was right. You wouldn't have the guts to do it even though you have the chance."

"So Darkness was the one badmouthing me, huh?! I'm going to have to discipline that girl who is spreading malicious lies about me!"

"They are hardly lies, though?"

I didn't have enough energy to take this abuse so early in the morning.

I walked up to the door and held the knob. "Open Lock."

Using the thief skill Open Lock, the door was easily unlocked.

"…"

Behind me, Megumin settled into an uncharacteristic silence.

"You mean we could have just walked out this whole time?!"

I couldn't react as Megumin, with her increased stats, dove at me.

"Ouch!"

We fell on the floor.

"You don't need oxygen that much, do you? Here I'll squeeze some out!"

"Y-You'll kill me! You'll actually kill me!"

This girl hadn't noticed the increase in her physical abilities yet!

Or maybe she did, and she just didn't care if I died or not.

As I fought off Megumin's grapple attempts, the door opposite to ours opened.

A drowsy Aqua came stumbling out.

Megumin and I froze before we separated from one another.

Aqua looked at each of us in turn.

"…Was I imagining things, or did I just see Kazuma and Megumin come out of the same room? And I think I saw Megumin on top of Kazuma while she was straggling him by the waist?"

The way she worded that was just full of so many troubling implications.

"I-I think you're still half-asleep, Aqua? Why don't you wash your face with cold water, maybe that will wake you up?"

Megumin batted away Aqua's suspicions while laughing suspiciously.

How unconvincing.

But still, this was Aqua we were dealing with.

Aqua nodded once before shuffling away to the bathroom.

Megumin and I looked at each other as we shared a sigh of relief.

"Oh, my. If Aqua-san's descriptions were correct, then that must mean that everything went well? Fufu."

Maouko was just the mid-boss.

The final boss appeared.

"D-Don't think that I'll forgive you that easily, mother! Locking me in with such a sexually deprived NEET…it's a good thing that Kazuma is so weak-willed, or I could have met a tragic outcome by now!"

"…How about I show you exactly what a 'sexually deprived NEET' can do once he is aggravated past what he is willing to put up with?"

Having these accusations thrown about, I made this threat.

Yuiyui-san smiled gently despite the increasing tension.

"Fufu. For now, let's all have some breakfast, which are leftovers of the rice gruel and broiled soybeans from yesterday!"

"…"

I had a feeling that there was no distinction with dinner or breakfast with this family.

Since we've been here, I'd only seen them eat rice gruel and broiled soybeans.

"…Yuiyui-san, please don't take offense. Here is some money, it's nothing much."

Once again, Megumin hindered my attempts.

Part 4

After 'breakfast', we started bringing our luggage down into the living room.

Megumin brought Chomusuke's cage down. She was still sleeping, that lazy cat, but she stirred awake when Megumin settled the cage down next to some travel bags.

"Let's say our goodbyes to the others for now," I said. "And then we'll leave."

"Do you really have to leave so soon?" Yuiyui-san said.

"…Why are you surprised? You've caused me a lot of trouble with your antics. Of course I want to leave ASAP," Megumin said.

"Ah, my daughter has finally reached her rebellious stage. Papa, please talk to her."

Hyoizaburo sighed at Yuiyui-san's fake dramatics.

Still, he went over to Megumin and then patted her head.

"You've grown up so well. I'm proud of you," he said.

Megumin blushed. "You're not the perfect father, but…thank you, for teaching me to never give up on my dreams."

"Megumin…!"

"Father…!"

"Onee-chan, please come back and bring me more treats from the capital. I especially liked the candied apples."

This heartwarming moment was interrupted by the greedy demands of Komekko.

"If Komekko wants to, we can bring you to Axel sometime. I'll treat you to all the goodies you can handle!"

Komekko's eyes lit up. "Is that a promise, Onee-chan?!"

"Yup! It's a promise!"

"Then let's make it legally binding. Please sign here, thumb print here, and I'll need a blood sample, please."

"…"

This little girl was going to be great someday.

Our next stop was Yunyun's house. Yunyun was planning to come back to Axel, but the chief insisted that she stayed a few days, as a precaution for the injuries she sustained.

We found Funifura, Arue, and Dodonko there as well.

As Megumin chatted with her friends, I was approached by the village chief.

"Thank you for your efforts, Satou-sama. You will always have a place as the general of the Crimson Demon's War Council."

"Please don't associate me with that phony council of losers and burnouts."

He completely ignored my insults.

"And I must thank the King for having the foresight to send you to us, in our time of need. The enemy was much stronger this time than we are used to."

"…Don't cause so much trouble for the King and just rescind the village's sovereignty already. This issue would have been taken care of much easily if the King could send his forces here without breaking some kind of territorial law."

"Sovereignty…? Ah, that's right. We declared independence from the country long ago. So there was still a thing like that, huh?"

"…"

I was glad to leave this village.

I left Megumin to chat with her school friends. Darkness wanted to visit that blacksmith once more while Aqua was content to sight-see by herself one more time.

I took this chance to seek Rain, who would be Teleporting us out of this place.

I found her, of course, with Buzucoily-san.

With nothing else to do, I decided to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"I will be leaving soon, Butsuwutzy-san," Rain said.

"…I've been meaning to say this, but you've been getting my name wrong this entire time."

"Sorry, I stuttered."

"No, I'm pretty sure you're doing this on purpose."

"Sowwy, I stuttered."

"It wasn't on purpose?!"

If this was what their conversation was going to be like, then I had no desire to listen.

I could just find Rain again once she was done with her business.

As I was walking away…

"…So, Buzucoily-san, you fought together with a very beautiful girl yesterday…I believe her name was Soketto-san?"

"W-Why do you look so angry, Rain-san? And didn't you just say my name correctly just now?'

"Did I stutter? Now, who was that girl? Please tell me."

"N-No, it's not what it looks like?!"

Buzucoily-san just carelessly said the most typical line of cheaters.

I found even further incentive to leave.

I walked around the village, taking in the sights without the danger of Maouko's forces constantly hanging over my head.

The home of the Crimson Demons didn't have the natural beauty of Alcarentia.

And certainly, it was behind the industrial development of a place like the capital.

But there was a certain charm to this place.

An exotic quality, almost.

In the town centre there was a realistic looking statue of a griffon.

Next to a blacksmith's store, there was a sword that was lodged in a stone, just like that popular legend back in my old world.

There was even a shrine, though the object of worship, what appeared to be a bishoujo figurine of some sort, was somewhat questionable.

"…"

Nevermind.

There was nothing charming about this place, at all.

Part 5

With all the farewells exchanged.

And after I had secretly given Yuiyui-san all the cash I had in my wallet.

We were ready to go home.

"Ah, first, we should stop by the capital," Rain said. "I'm sure the king will appreciate a detailed report of our mission."

Going back to the capital…

I didn't mind a quick stop.

And I could hang out with Iris for a few days.

Or a few weeks.

Megumin immediately intervened.

"No, no. We will have none of that. Take us directly to Axel, Rain. You can handle the official stuff on your own."

"I don't mind going back to the capital. They have the finest foods and wine!" Aqua said. "But I've already started to make a base at Axel, which I will eventually rename Alcarentia 2.0 once I seize control of the local municipality!"

I would have taken her threat more seriously if I didn't already know that Aqua's insane cult had a terrible reputation in Axel, which was predominantly of the Eris faith.

Contrasting Aqua's excitement, Darkness let out a weary sigh.

"Although a lot happened this past month, I'm glad that we are able to come back home in one piece," Darkness said.

"To think that I'd hear those words from a masochist like you."

"…Please don't overstate just that one aspect of my personality. I am more complex than any of you give me credit for."

This was the same girl who had wet herself in front of a bunch of nobles, and was calling me 'master' after I finished dragging her along a battlefield.

"…"

"W-Why is Kazuma looking at me with such disbelieving eyes?!"

If anything, we gave her too much credit.

Rain started casting the group Teleportation spell.

Megumin was quiet through it all, but when she saw me looking at her, she gave me a small smile.

There were red sparkles in her eyes as she took Rain's hand, and then my own.

"Let's go back home, Kazuma," she said.

I couldn't help but remember last night…

But, I do like Kazuma?

Even with some time to think about it, I still haven't figured out if that was a confession or not.

And aside from that, we told each other a bunch of embarrassing things, too.

I could feel that the atmosphere around Megumin and I had changed somewhat.

Like I was more conscious of her, or something.

But, being who I was…

An inexperienced virgin NEET…

I couldn't tell if I even liked Megumin in any special way, or if I was just happy that a pretty girl seemed to be flirting with me.

To have such thoughts!

Was this the youth I missed out on in Japan?!

What a bittersweet feeling!

Rain had finally finished chanting.

"Are you all ready?"

We nodded.

"Teleport!"

The light of teleportation magic engulfed us.

…Only for the light to overtaken by darkness.

"…"

I couldn't move.

Aqua was the only one who could move, and she was floating above us.

This pitch-black space…

It was the Ethereal Realm.

Again.

"H-How could this be?! For the Group Teleportation spell to fail twice…?!"

Rain said this with much remorse.

Well, such hiccups pretty much defined all of our adventures so far.

And so, I had come prepared.

"Aqua, grab the rope from my backpack and start pulling."

"Uwaahhh! Not this again! Don't make me pull that heavy Darkness, too!"

"I-I'm not heavy! And we're all weightless in this realm, anyways!"

Beside the screaming Darkness, Megumin let out a weak laugh.

"W-We'll make it back home," she said. "Soon. Probably."

How reassuring.

Extra # 1: The Thieving Goddess!

As usual, Kazuma-kun's party had emerged victorious.

Of course, I've come to expect this much from Kazuma-kun's party.

With the remnants of the Devil King army taken care of, that's another thing I don't have to worry about.

I must thank Kazuma-kun for making my job easier.

I've secured the artifact from Prince Jatis, which resulted in a manhunt for the Chivalrous Thief in the capital.

As such, I needed a place to hide out.

And since Kazuma-kun offered to let me stay in his mansion earlier…

Though, he made that offer to the other me, but…

Well, technically, I'm still the same person!

Right?

Ah, how troublesome.

Bend the rules like a thief.

Or stick by them like a goddess.

Leaving a double life could be so stressful!

…In the end, I found myself in my human avatar, renting a caravan carriage heading to Axel.

"Heading back to Axel, huh?" the coachman of my carriage said. "A bunch of out of town merchants are heading there, did you know? It's because the city suddenly grew a lot of economic interest, since the hero, Satou-sama, and his comrades live there. And for some reason, even though it's a town for beginner adventurers, there's a lot of powerful individuals have made a home there, did you know?"

This information was provided for me even though I did not ask for it.

We didn't run into any trouble along the way, though there was some commotion as some patrolling knights stopped the caravan.

No doubt, they were looking for the Chivalrous Thief.

But with my Disguise skill, I didn't have any problems with them.

"Well, then, thanks for your patronage."

I gave the coachman a generous tip.

Generosity brought back good luck, after all.

When I entered the familiar town, old friends began to greet me.

"Chris? What are you doing here? I thought you moved to the capital?"

I scratched the scar on my cheek. "Ehehe. I'm just not cut out for the big city, it seems."

"Aw, that's too bad. I was rooting for you. Anyways, did you hear, Kazuma is finally returning in a couple days. Heh. About time. That bastard promised to treat me to a beer."

I smiled.

"Ah, Kazuma-kun is returning, huh? Good, because he promised me something as well."

"…What, did he steal your panties again?"

"No, that's not it at all?!"

Extra #2: A Conversation at the Bath House!

"And that's what happened," Feydrick-san said. "Maouko-sama asked me to leave the village before the assault, just in case the worst case scenario occurred…and it did."

"I see."

I had just come out of a splendid bath. I meant to enjoy the green tea I always had after a bath, when a familiar face approached me with a sullen look.

"I don't have any affiliations with Maouko. My contract with the Devil King army ended when her father died."

"You…! What happened to your loyalty, Wolbach?!"

"Like I said, my loyalties lied with her father. I never got along with that Maouko, anyways. Her father might have been a massive pervert, and a complete loon, but at least he cared somewhat about his subordinates and didn't treat them like pawns, unlike his manipulative daughter."

"…It seems that you can no longer be swayed. Very well, then. I must warn you, though, that as the last remaining Devil King army leader, the same heroes who defeated us might come after you."

"From what I've heard of those heroes, they won't come after you if you don't come after them. And what reason would I have for coming after them?"

Feydrick-san smiled. "Oh, trust me, you do have a reason."

He knew something.

He always did.

"Tell me what you know," I said.

"And why should I? We don't have any obligations to each other anymore, remember? This is where we part ways."

"I could just make you talk," I said.

"And you think that I didn't account for that?"

Suddenly, Feydrick-san's form started to disintegrate, until he melted into mud at my feet.

It was an Earth Puppet.

I looked down at my feet, now caked in mud.

"…"

I shuffled over to the old lady at the reception table.

"…Women's bath for one adult, please."

"O-Okay…"

Extra # 3: The Late Arrival of a Hero with Good Intentions!

My name is Mitsurugi Kyouya.

I had once thought that I was the hero chosen to save this world.

But, a fellow reincarnated Japanese fulfilled that mission for me.

Although I was sincerely glad that peace had finally returned to this war-ridden world…

What was this feeling?

It was like the feeling of motivating yourself to get out of bed to go to school.

Only to realize that there was still one more day left in the break until the semester started.

Or yet another analogy…

Finding out that the princess was at another castle.

Yes.

It was a feeling of wasted effort.

But, I didn't feel any misgivings.

Even if I wasn't destined to save the world, I could still save many people with the powers I've been given.

And so I motivated myself once more, to wield the cursed blade Gram, and be of service to the people of this wonderful world!

"…Sorry. If you've come to defeat the remnants of the Devil King army, Kazuma-kun and his party already did that a couple of days ago." This girl, Arue, looked at my new equipment, and the cursed sword Gram. "I like your getup, though."

"…"

At the home of the Crimson Demons, I met a girl named Arue. I had inquired about the Devil King army, and she told me this.

I had begged the King to give me a quest of dire importance.

He had said, at the time, something like, "Well, although it should be fine with him there…I guess it won't hurt to send a powerful young man like you, too."

So that was what he meant.

"It's that Scum-zuma again! Always a step ahead of Kyouya-kun!"

"I wish that panty stealing scumbag would stop stealing Kyouya-kun's spotlight already!"

I calmed my companions, who had a tendency to be overzealous sometimes.

Satou Kazuma.

What a mysterious fellow.

He gave the impression that he really didn't care about defeating the Devil King army, when I first met him.

And he picked the beautiful and generous and benevolent Aqua-sama as his 'chosen item'.

Certainly, when one thought about a 'hero', a guy like him would never come to mind.

But somehow, I admired him because of that.

But…

But…!

"Leave some for the rest of us, damnit!"

"Kyouya-kun?!"

Chapter 11 END

Next Chapter: The Return of these Hometown Heroes!