Chapter 35: An Encounter with this Beautiful, Explosive Nee-san!

Proofreader: LordVTP

Part 1

I had marked our house as a destination point for the Teleport skill.

I ended up in Megumin's room after my attempt to escape Hell.

"S-So cool…"

Megumin had this to say when I explained the situation to her.

"I knew you'd say that. Hey, this is a serious matter! I'm a wanted criminal in Hell now!"

"And that's what makes it so cool! Never in my wildest dreams could I have ever imagined that Kazuma would do something so cool! I'm your number one fan for a reason!"

She excitedly leaned close to me, looking up with sparkling eyes.

"That's… Sigh, never mind. I don't think they'd go out of their way to chase me here, right? Ahh, I don't even want to think about it! Let's change the subject! How's Megumin's search going?"

"Chomuske got tired of walking around, so I brought her home. She's currently taking a bath now."

"For a cat, that one sure likes to take baths. What's Megumin doing up here in her room when it's still early? Planning to take a midday nap?"

"I'm not so lazy that I'd do such a thing. I had to stop the search short because of Chomusuke, but thanks to the neko-radar, I know the general direction of where the enemy camp may be. I was making a map before Kazuma came in."

Megumin showed me a map of the town. She had drawn strange symbols all over it.

"I don't know how to read this."

"That's because it's deciphered in code. Kazuma must crack the code first. We must take care to confuse the enemy."

"I'm the one who's confused here. Just show me where you think they're hiding or I'll show Megumin just what an escaped convict from Hell can do..."

I wiggled my fingers in a creepy manner.

"That's cool! How menacing! Do that again while saying a similar line! Ah, but it'd be even cooler if Kazuma wears his thieving outfit while saying such lines!"

Instead of being creeped out, Megumin just got even more impressed.

It took a bit of prompting, but Megumin finally showed me where she thinks the enemy camp is located.

"This wooded area here, just in the fringes of town."

"I guess that would be the smartest place to hide an army. Maouko also hid her base in the forest outside of the Crimson Demon village last time. But the question is, where exactly is their camp?"

"Does it matter? If I just use my explosion magic to blow it all up…"

"Starting a forest fire near the town will end up in a disaster, please think of solutions outside of blasting things away for once."

Also, firing an explosion big enough to engulf the entirety of the woods will damage the town as well.

Megumin scrunched her face as if I had given her an incredibly difficult task.

"Well, there's no point in rushing in. I have some stuff to do beforehand, so this works fine. As long as they don't attack us first, things will be just…"

Suddenly, we heard a distant but resounding boom.

We rushed to the window, just in time to see smoke and fire rising from the walls surrounding the town.

A wide, top portion of the eastern wall was destroyed.

I used the Farsight skill and looked through the new gap in the wall. I saw a figure outside the wall.

The figure fit Serena's descriptions of Wolbach.

"Kazuma, what do you see?"

"Megumin was right. She has big boobs. Ow, don't step on my foot, I'll lose concentration. Oh, look what you've done, I lost sight of her."

She teleported away.

There was panic in the streets but guild staff, town guards and adventurers were quick to respond.

"Seems like no one is hurt. I'm surprised the wall suffered minimal damage, considering the power output of explosion..."

"From what I heard, some mages from the capital arrived to help reinforce the town's defenses. Ah, there are also some top adventurers who were sent here."

I didn't think it was a good idea to spread the country's fighting forces too thin, but a handful of reinforcements should be fine. I should thank the old man.

"I don't think our defenses can hold up if Wolbach turns this into a battle of attrition. And if Wolbach starts chipping away at the wall everyday… Hm? What's that?"

I saw some movement around the walls. Ladders were raised and scaffolding were already being built.

"I heard that Aqua was recruited to lead the wall repair team in the event the enemy tries to breach it."

Already, the Aqua who is mysteriously good at all kinds of random things, was making significant progress in repairing the wall. The carpenters we used to work with were also lending a hand.

"I guess I can leave the defenses to them. Good, because I have my own plans."

"Does it involve breaking out of Hell's prison again?!"

"No, that's something I never want to repeat again. Ever."

Part 2

I wanted to debrief with the others, but Darkness and Aqua were busy with their own duties.

Chris is part of the search crew and they were looking through the woods right now, where Megumin thinks Wolbach's camp is located.

Knowing Maouko, though, she set up some kind of trick to hide her base from view.

I took Megumin to Vanir's shop, hoping that the devil returned with news from Hell.

I found Vanir waiting for me. He was in front of the store and he had a stiff smile on his face.

"Thou… Is indeed very unpredictable."

"...Is it that bad?"

"It's pretty bad, brat."

"Hey, Vanir-san, please elaborate on Kazuma's daring escape! And don't spare any details!"

While there was a serious mood between Vanir and I, Megumin said this enthusiastically.

"Moi has no time to spare on frivolities! Brat, thou dungeon has been built, it's time to visit it!"

"Eh? That fast?! But wait, isn't Hell on my tail right now?!"

"It will take Hell a while to decide what to do with thou. They are rather thorough. In the meantime, thou also has plans with the dungeon. Let us not waste time and go!"

Vanir was all giddy like a kid about to open their birthday present.

"A dungeon? Kazuma has a dungeon? Eh, eh, eh?"

Megumin poked me repeatedly as she heard about my newly purchased dungeon.

"Fine! Let's just go there! You two won't calm down unless we go, so let's just go!"

"Yayyy~!" x 2.

Vanir and I arranged for the dungeon to be built at a location that was familiar to Megumin and I.

On the cliff where the abandoned castle used to be, that's where my new dungeon has been constructed.

As the old castle has been reduced to rubble by Megumin, there was a vacant spot for the new dungeon.

"Whoooaaaa! Kazuma got me a new target!"

"I didn't buy a dungeon for Megumin to practice her explosion on!"

After reprimanding Megumin, we walked to the entrance. There was a sign in front, "Kazuma's Dungeon".

We noticed that Luna-san and some other guild staff were already around the perimeter of the dungeon. When we arrived, Luna-san walked over to us. She had heavy bags under her eyes.

"...Kazuma-san? This dungeon, it wouldn't happen to be yours?"

"Er, yes, it's mine."

"HOW?! How did you suddenly build a dungeon?! I thought it was just a coincidence that this new dungeon is named 'Kazuma's Dungeon' but it's really yours?!"

"It's so cool, isn't it?!"

"More like it's troublesome!"

Luna-san disagreed with Megumin as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"...I don't even want to know the details. Kazuma-san, you already know that we have a lot on our plate right now, why are you giving me a new headache to deal with?"

"Trust me, Luna-san. I'm planning to use this dungeon for the sake of the town."

"...I'm listening."

Vanir and Megumin couldn't wait on me. They went ahead to look inside the dungeon while I shared my plan with Luna-san.

I told her about the power-levelling regimen I had planned for the adventurers and town guards, which will hopefully increase our battle potential in the war.

"That… Could actually be very helpful."

Luna said, looking thoughtful.

"They can go in shifts, half will spend time guarding the town while the other half comes here to train. And since Vanir is the boss of the dungeon, he can keep the monsters from killing or dealing serious injuries to anyone. By the way, I heard that the capital sent some reinforcements?"

She nodded, looking very intrigued by my plan.

"Yes, they sent some high-level adventurers and mages who are helping to enhance our walls."

"Good. Like I said, my plan is to have the high-level adventurers deal with the boss monsters in this dungeon. Then, once the monsters are dying, the low-level adventurers will deal the final blow, giving them the experience points."

"Such a shortcut method… I heard the Crimson Demons used this method to train their young. But to apply the same method to adventurers… This could revolutionize the way this country trains its combatants…!"

I'm just surprised no one outside of the Crimson Demons has tried this method before. I guess it's due to lack of resources.

"I hired Vanir to defend the citizens of the town, but that doesn't mean he can protect even those who are fighting. Maouko is recruiting demons and devils to join her army, we need to be prepared."

"...Kazuma-san is actually taking this seriously. Since when did you become so dependable?"

Luna-san looked at me as if seeing me for the first time.

"I guess you can thank Darkness for always nagging me to try harder."

I said, while thinking about the Darkness who's been working non-stop since the festival.

She took out some kind of device from her satchel. It seemed to be a radar of some sort.

"We were frightened when our machines picked up the presence of a new dungeon in this town, but if it's Kazuma-san's personal dungeon, I guess it should be fine. We'll register this as an official dungeon. The rating of the dungeon will be determined as we send the adventurers and guards there to train."

"Yeah, just leave it to me."

I pounded my chest, trying to make myself look as dependable as possible. Luna-san didn't seem too convinced, though.

…

…

After Luna-san and the others left, I entered the dungeon to join Vanir and Megumin, who had gone ahead.

This was also a good chance for me to explore the dungeon.

The interior was made of simple, smooth stone and the dim lighting was provided by torches installed on the walls. I chose a simple dungeon design, but I didn't expect the interior design to be as minimalistic as the 2D dungeons found in early CRPGs. I suppose this has its own charm, but maybe I should consider an upgrade in the future.

I encountered monsters along the way, the typical mobs like goblins and slimes, which I only purchased to fit the ambience of the dungeon, not for their combat strength. They didn't attack me since I'm the Dungeon Master.

I found Vanir and Megumin after climbing several floors. They were standing in front of a large door. This must be the final boss room.

"What's up? How come you guys aren't going in?"

"The dungeon master is required to unlock the boss rooms, brat."

"If Vanir knew that, then why did you rush in without me?"

I moved past this hyped-up duo and placed my hand on the door. It opened, as if recognizing me as its master.

Inside, there was a spacious room. A grand stairway leads to a massive, golden throne with many treasure chests around it. It was a stark contrast from the simplicity of the rest of the dungeon.

"Oi, Vanir, you really went all out with your room, huh?"

"Moi will not settle for anything less when it comes to moi boss room. Also, how else will moi attract heroes here if the appearance of the boss room is shabby? Ah, don't worry about the costs of those treasure chests. They are merely props, and the biggest chest is set up so moi can pop out from it and surprise the adventurers who believe that they have slain moi…"

"I don't really understand Vanir's weird dream, but I'm glad you're enjoying yourself."

I can only shrug and leave it at that.

Megumin ran up the stairs to the throne. She sat on it and crossed her legs, trying to make herself look imperial.

"I'm impressed, Vanir-san! You have good taste!"

"Ahhh! The crazy girl sat on moi throne! Moi is supposed to be the first to sit on the throne! It is moi boss room!"

"Don't be selfish, Vanir-san. We can share. Oi, don't pick me up and throw me! Wahhh!"

Vanir lifted Megumin by the waist and threw her out, taking the throne for himself.

"Kazuma, Kazuma, tell Vanir-san to let me have a turn."

Megumin said, after dusting herself off.

"No! The brat bought this for moi!"

I feel like a parent dealing with two kids who just got a gaming console.

"Megumin, let Vanir have his moment. Come here, I'll show you something cool."

"Something cool?! Even cooler than a final boss room?!"

Without sparing Vanir another glance, she dashed down the stairs to me.

"That's right. Come this way."

While relying on my memory of the dungeon's design, I led us to one of the other boss rooms.

The door opened for me when I placed my hand on it.

Compared to Vanir's boss room, this one aligned more with the rest of the dungeon's bare-bones design. There's a simple, dark stone walkway that leads to an open area.

"Kazuma, this room doesn't look as cool as the other one… Hmm?!"

Just as Megumin was criticizing the place, she stopped in her tracks as she saw the figure waiting at the center of the room.

It was a headless knight, a Dullahan.

"Fufu… To think there are adventurers who have reach this room already. Welcome to my…! Eh?! The crazy explosion girl?!"

He jumped in surprise, the glowing eyes behind the helmet he was carrying were wide open and clearly showing his distress and shock.

"Eh? Kazuma, Kazuma, isn't this that Dullahan? I thought he's already dead? Is he haunting us? Are we being haunted? That's also pretty cool!"

I was surprised to see the former Devil King army general, Beldia, included in the list of monsters available for purchase.

"Take up work as a dungeon monster, they said! The pay is good and you can even return to the mortal realm, they said! Geez, who would have thought I'd end up employed by you nuts?!"

Beldia held his detached head in the air, shaking it violently, as he screamed in agony.

"Hey, Kazuma, I think this guy is rather impudent for a dungeon monster. How about I teach him a lesson…?"

"Hihhh…?!"

Megumin didn't take too kindly to being called a nut or a crazy explosion girl.

"I paid good money for this guy. Don't do anything weird, Megumin. Hmm… It'd be kind of sad to kill you off just so some noobs can get experience points, considering our history. I know, I'll just leave you in charge of the dungeon's defenses. You can be a Mid-boss, I guess."

"Tch! Am I supposed to be grateful for that?! You nuts who explode, explode, explode, explode and explode all day?! Day after day after day you come to my castle and go boom, boom, boom, boom, boom?! Gyahhhh!"

He collapsed onto the ground in a fetal position while remembering his past traumas.

"Ne, the bad guy who casted a fatal curse on Darkness doesn't have the right to talk."

Megumin wasn't willing to relent at all. She crossed her arms and glared at Beldia accusingly.

"Hah?! I wasn't actually going to let that honorable knight die, you know?! If you had just come to my castle, I would have congratulated you on your bravery and lifted the curse! I-I even prepared a party and some cake for you, b-but you guys didn't come…"

He pointed his fingers together while the eyes behind his helmet, which, after all his flailing around ended up lying on its side on the ground beside him, glanced away shyly.

"Ew… Kazuma, this guy reeks of the same desperate, loner smell as Yunyun. Let's get out of here."

"Hah?! P-Please don't leave me! Are you really going to leave me here in this dark place?! Nuuuu!"

We left the room and closed the door behind us.

Part 3

Megumin and I continued to tour the rest of the dungeon.

"There's some phantom type undead over there."

"Ohhh! Cool! I can't see them but that's cool!"

Megumin has been saying 'that's cool!' for a while now.

I got the Priest skill Spectral Sight, which allows me to see the phantom-type undead in the dungeon and other spiritual bodies.

The phantom-type undead aren't capable of physical damage, but they can use debuff spells on the enemy like 'Fear' or 'Curse'.

"You have many types of monsters in this dungeon, Kazuma."

"Yeah, I guess I went a bit overboard."

It's like I'm playing a dungeon-maker game.

After touring the entire place, we checked up on Vanir, who insisted on staying in his boss-room for a while, then we left the dungeon.

"Now that the Dullahan is back in this nostalgic place, I want to cast explosion on him now."

"No. I'll never allow any explosion magic on this dungeon! Explosion magic is banned!"

To prove a point, I took a sign and placed 'No Explosion magic' by the entrance.

"Tch… Ruining all the fun."

"Megumin can start talking once she earns enough money in her lifetime to even cover half the cost of this dungeon."

When we returned to the town, I headed to the guild to deal with the next order of business.

However, there was quite a commotion in the guild.

"OK! Can the capital's reinforcements and the Crimson Demon reinforcements please line up here! We'll discuss our schedule for today!"

Darkness and Luna were addressing a crowd of high-level adventurers and Crimson Demons.

When I arrived, their heads turned to my direction.

"It's Kazuma-san! Hey, Kazuma-san! Thanks for employing me! I was in trouble for a while but you really helped my finances out!"

Some of the Japanese reincarnates are here.

"Hey, Satou Kazuma. It's nice to see you again."

Among them, a handsome Japanese youth approached me.

"Oh, if it isn't Katsuragi."

"It's Mitsurugi! Anyway, as you can see I've been assigned as part of the reinforcements. I'm looking forward to fight alongside you."

"Ah, yeah. About that. Darkness, I need to borrow these guys."

Darkness sighed as I disrupted her meeting.

"Luna-san already informed me about your ridiculous plan. I was just about to lead these people to your new dungeon. Seriously… Kazuma has a dungeon?!"

Is it really that hard to believe?

"To come up with a plan to effectively boost our fighting force's capabilities… As expected of the hero."

Mitsurugi said, with a twitch in his smile, clearly leaving a lot of his real thoughts unsaid.

"Well, I'll be relying on you. You guys can go ahead to the dungeon. Darkness, you already figured out the shift rotations, right?"

"Yes. I've already selected the first batch of trainees."

I looked at the Crimson Demons.

"Will they be helping as well?"

"Since this training method originally belonged to the Crimson Demons, I figured that they have more experience when it comes to this. Also, when I asked them to help with the town's defenses, they said they don't want boring bodyguard duties and would rather work in the dungeon. Ugh…"

I looked at the Crimson Demon group. They sent quite a few people here. I should thank the village chief as well.

I spotted Megumin's friends, Funifura and Dodonko. They shyly waved at me. Arue was also there and she gave me a casual wave.

"Oh? Fuwarin-san?"

I also spotted Fuwarin-san among the crowd.

I was quite surprised to see her since she seemed resolved to stay in the Crimson Demon village for a while, yet here she is.

She smiled at me in greeting.

"Hello, Hero-kun. It's been a while."

She's still calling me by that weird nickname.

"What is Fuwarin-san doing here? Do you really want to join the fighting force that much?"

She pouted cutely. I had to remind myself that I'm talking to a granny who's been frozen for several decades.

"When I heard you guys were in trouble, I just had to come right away. Besides, I can't let my cute grand niece fight by herself!"

"Grand niece? Could Fuwarin-san be talking about…?"

"Alright, everyone! Let's move out!"

Darkness finished addressing the crowd and issued everyone to report to the dungeon.

"Well, then, let's continue our chat next time, Hero-kun!"

Fuwarin-san waved as she followed Darkness, Luna-san and the others.

As the crowd cleared, I saw Dust in the bar. He waved me over.

"Man, everyone sure is busy lately. We're smarter than that, aren't we, Kazuma? Let's drink and eat while the try-hards do everything by themselves!"

He raised his glass and winked.

"I think I'm actually the busiest try-hard around right now. Oi, Dust, I can count on you for the battle, right?"

"Hah? Yeah, I guess we'll have to fight. My party needs their swordsman after all."

He put an emphasis on 'swordsman'.

"Preferably, I'd like to see you handle a spear…"

"Dude, are you coming on to me?"

He backed away in disgust.

"Ugh, you know what I'm talking about! Listen, the fighting is going to be intense. Think the Destroyer battle except, like, ten times worse."

"Pssh…! With so many famous adventurers around, why do I have to put in any extra effort? And I already blew my identity in front of the king, for cryin' out loud. I'm probably on some kind of criminal watchlist right now."

"You're on a watchlist, but for another separate reason."

I said, recalling his criminal file that I found in the police station.

He gulped down the rest of his beer, foam forming around his mouth. He wiped it clean with the back of his hand.

"Listen, I'll just do my job as a normal adventurer. I'll be fighting some mooks with my rookie team, but that's it. Don't expect me to be in the frontlines or anything crazy like that."

I sighed, giving up on pursuing the matter.

"Fine. This is Dust we're talking about. What was I expecting? Later."

"Oi, Kazuma, where are you going? Take it easy for a bit. Buy the both of us a couple rounds of beer. Hehe."

"I don't have time to be bumming around! I have very important stuff to do!"

"Che! Look at this big shot. Doesn't have time for the small people anymore."

Dust said, as he licked the rim of his mug for any remaining drop of beer.

Part 4

Later into the day, Wolbach returned for a follow-up assault.

Like yesterday, she destroyed a large portion of the wall and promptly escaped with Teleport.

"Using such tactics… How cowardly."

Arue said, after we heard the report from Luna-san.

We were inside my dungeon and I was following Arue's group. The trainees and instructors were separated into different teams and exploring different floors of the dungeon.

"Don't the Crimson Demons rely on such tactics as well? Firing off big, showy spells and then running away with Teleport…"

"It's different when Crimson Demons do it. We're the race chosen to turn over the wheels of Ragnarok. We're allowed to do whatever we please."

"So you say."

Funifura heard my exchange with Arue. She glared at Arue and said,

"Kazuma-san, don't listen to this hillbilly from the Crimson Demon village! Not all Crimson Demons are as delusional as her!"

Dodonko chipped in, following up after Funifura,

"That's right. Don't pay attention to that hillbilly, Kazuma-san! Why don't us city-folk go talk over there, away from this hillbilly?"

Funifura and Dodonko had taken on a rebelliious attitude against their own clan after witnessing the clan's eccentric behavior during King Belzerg's visit.

They now consider themselves 'city-folk' even though, from what I hear, they still live in their parents' houses in the village. Axel isn't even a city, it's a town. I don't know why they're so proud to be hanging around here.

"Satou Kazuma, my team and I have cleared our floor. We'll help our trainees allocate their newly gained Skill Points now."

The true city slicker Mitsurugi showed up. Funifura and Dodonko hurriedly fixed their hair while sneaking glances at Mitsurugi. This is the 'handsome guy' effect at work.

Sorry, girls. You're not his type. He prefers his girls idiotic and blue-haired.

"I heard that Aqua-sama is working hard to repair the city's fortifications as we speak. As expected of a goddess…"

See what I mean?

The reincarnates and Crimson Demons are already used to this method of helping others power-level. I hired the reincarnates for this same purpose and the Crimson Demons employ this method in their magic academies. They're quite adept at disabling monsters and letting their weaker trainees deal the finishing blow.

"This reminds me of our school days but I guess we're the ones doing the teaching and training now."

Arue said, as she fired a lightning spell at a Mystic Spider, letting a rookie Warrior deal the last blow.

"I-I suppose that hick town wasn't so bad when it comes to education…"

Funifura said, as she sent a Magma Serpent writhing on the ground with a powerful water spell.

"Wind Blade…! Wow… I'm gaining so much levels, Kazuma-san!"

Lynn said, after she finished off the Magma Serpent Funifura weakened.

"Hiyah! Heh, this is the best! Maybe I'll gain enough levels and stats to get an advanced class?!"

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Keith. Sigh… Where the hell is Dust?! That guy should be here raising his levels!"

Dust's party, Lynn, Keith and Taylor, were diligently raising their levels.

"Things look good here. Arue, once your team clears this floor, rendezvous at the Safe Area and help Keith and the others with their Skill Point distributions… Actually, nevermind. Just give them over to Luna-san and she'll help them."

"W-Wait! Kazuma-san changed his mind because he thinks Crimson Demons have no common sense, right?! Not all Crimson Demons are like that…!"

I ignored the cries of Funifura and Dodonko, who were hellbent on denying their roots and dark past as Crimson Demon chuunibyou.

I left them to their own devices as I had something else to do. I left the area, descended deeper down the dungeon and entered one of the Safe Areas.

I commanded the monsters not to enter or attack adventurers in the designated Safe Areas. I was also using one of these Safe Areas as a place for my factory.

"Fuwarin-san, how's the work going?"

"Ah, Hero-kun. I'm making significant progress."

Wearing a lab coat and protective goggles, Fuwarin-san greeted me excitedly.

The factory area where I assigned Fuwarin-san is now filled with golems of various shapes and sizes.

Fuwarin-san's specialty as an Arch-Wizard is golem creation. She even has the ability to mould the shape and properties of her golems with the Golem Transmutation skill.

"After this shift, I'd like to see Megumin-chan…"

"Un. I'm sorry for having Fuwarin-san do all this work without letting you see Megumin first."

"Don't mind. I'm glad to help. What is Hero-kun planning to use these golems for, anyway?"

"They could be useful."

Golems were very versatile and I even relied on them to farm EXP for me in the past. The Golem Transmutation skill at the hands of a master like Fuwarin-san further expanded their utility.

"I see. Well, here's the list of commands. They'll follow basic commands according to their configurations and programming, but they can't do any complex maneuvers that's outside of these pre-existing configurations."

"Yeah, I guess having a bunch of super smart golems that can execute any task is too OP. Still, Fuwarin-san managed to make a lot of golems. I'll have to give you another area to store them in."

"Ehhh? Hero-kun is planning to make more?"

She said in astonishment as she looked at the golems that were now filling this vast area of the dungeon.

I nodded my head.

"If Fuwarin-san needs to replenish her mana, you can use one of the mana crystals in the core room."

With the others using spells and skills to clear the floors, spilling excess mana into the dungeon's frame, the mana crystals were quickly filling up.

I'm sure the Despair Crystals, a name Vanir had come up with, were also quickly filling up.

I told people that there was a 'treasure' awaiting them if they reached the last floor of the dungeon and managed to beat the boss.

Vanir was having a lot of fun trolling these gullible people.

It's vital to instill a sense of reality and disillusionment to these newbie adventurers.

It wouldn't do good to have them grow big heads just because they're quickly gaining levels right now. They need to have the cruel realities of adventuring beaten into them, and being tricked by a devil as you're about to take his treasure is a good way to have them learn about the perils of adventuring, that things don't always go your way.

Well, at least I hope this is the case, or otherwise I'm just subjecting them needlessly to be Vanir's unwilling playthings.

Just as I was thinking that things were progressing smoothly, the dungeon's intercom system carried the panicked voice of Beldia.

"D-Dungeon Master…! Boss! Can you hear me?! The Crusader in your party has found my room! I repeat, she's found my room!"

"T-T-T-This dullahan has returned from the dead just to defile me?! H-How persistent! Are you so insistent on ravishing my body that you'd go this far?!"

"Somebody save meeeee! I don't caaaree how you dooo ittt!"

I was afraid of this happening, that Darkness will find Beldia and get all turned on.

I left Fuwarin-san to her work and went straight to Beldia's room.

When I opened the door, I found Beldia hunched up on the ground, quaking in fear as a blushing Darkness stood over him.

"K-Kazuma! What do I do?! This vile creature has come here to do all sorts of n-n-naughty things to my body!"

It looks like Darkness is the one who's planning to do all kinds of wicked things, though.

"Sigh… You were so close, Darkness. You started having less 'M' outbreaks these days. I guess the sight of Beldia triggered some old fantasies, huh? Come on, let's leave poor Beldia-san alone."

He's about to be terrorized by Megumin who will probably come later, anyway.

"No, Kazuma I can't! Our fighting force is training in this dungeon! I can't let them fall in harms way to this demon…!"

She said such cool lines even while wiping drool from her mouth.

"Stop wasting my time already! If you're not gonna leave then… Bind!"

The rope wrapped around Darkness's neck, like a leash. I tugged on the other end of the rope.

"Come on, let's go, you mutt. Time for your daily walk."

"K-K-Kazuma?! W-What are you doing?!"

"This is the only way to get you out, right? If I do something as equally degrading as being locked in a room with a Dullahan? And didn't you say you wanted to experience first hand what I did to Claire and Lucie that one time as punishment? Then why don't I show you… Now come here, Doggie-ness! Time for your walk!"

I tugged on her collar. She immediately went down on her hands and knees without being told.

"L-Let go of me, Kazuma… This is so… Yip! Humiliating! Yip!"

She's saying 'Yip!' like a dog in heat without being told.

"Sniff. You're not bad, kid. Even though you once stole my head and kicked it around like a ball, you're not bad at all…"

I left the poor Beldia alone as I dragged Darkness out of his room.

Part 5

"Ahem. Sorry about that display, Kazuma. I've been really stressed lately, and needed some kind of outlet."

Darkness apologized only after I walked her around the dungeon like a dog for half an hour or so. She sure took advantage of that development.

"You've been busy with the festival preparations and now must deal with the war. I guess I can understand."

"Thank you for understanding my fetish."

"I understand your situation, but I'll never understand that."

We were chatting outside the dungeon. Darkness is standing like a normal person again after I freed her from the rope. There's still friction burn marks around her neck and she fondly traced her fingers over them, relishing the pain.

"Everyone is working hard to improve. I will also train my skills."

I scoffed at Darkness's words.

"That's funny, Darkness."

"I-I'm not joking! When I have free time, I'm always practicing my sword skills!"

"Darkness can also join the power-levelling training if you want. Maybe you can spend points on sword skills rather than spending it all on defense."

"Uuu~ Even so… It's hard for me to hit the enemy."

"Even if someone else does most of the fighting for you?!"

I underestimated this girl's ineptness.

She glanced away ashamedly. She's acting shy now even though she was enthusiastically acting out the part of a leashed dog earlier.

"I'm trying! I'll head back to the dungeon after this and keep training!"

"This is Darkness's fault for spending all her points on defense in the first place…"

She flinched and turned her body away from me.

"I-I'm learning from my mistakes! I've been saving my skill points for sword skills recently, but because of my lack of talent, I need to spend at least double the skill points than normal to learn them."

"...You're kidding me, right?"

"I wish I were! And even if I learn sword skills, it's not a guarantee that I'll be able to use them. It all comes down to talent and compatibility after all…"

While the adventurer card system is very convenient, it is only a tool to help one manage their own growth.

One can't do anything about their inherent weaknesses or flaws.

For example, no matter how many levels I gain, my stats max out around level thirty. There's no way to surpass the wall that is talent.

I patted Darkness on the shoulder.

"Hang in there, Darkness. I'm sure you'll be able to hit a stationary target one day."

"I know Kazuma is saying that sarcastically but that's actually one of my main goals. Kuh!"

Darkness went back to the dungeon. Since I didn't have anymore business there, I headed back to town.

When I returned to town, I noticed the condition of the walls. They were already fixed despite reports that Wolbach had come to blow it up earlier.

Furthermore, the quality of the fixed portion of the wall was a substantial upgrade from its previous state.

There was even some kind of mosaic art on the walls depicting a certain blue-haired goddess.

"Amazing…! These walls are a work of art! This mosaic of the goddess Aqua even rivals the famous stained-glass mosaic from the main Eris church in the royal capital!"

I heard a passerby, one of the leftover Eris order pilgrims who came here during the Eris festival, say this.

Aqua was proudly looking over her work. Our old construction buddies were behind her.

"Say, Aqua-san, why don't you consider a job as an architect? You sure do have a talent for it!"

One of them said, as he stared in awe at Aqua's work.

"Heh. I have much more important things to do…"

"Such as?"

I snuck up behind Aqua and asked her what these 'important things' were.

"Err… Nevermind that! Kazuma, as you can see, I am clearly the M.V.P. this time! Even though that Wolbach comes here to blow our walls up, I can quickly fix whatever damage is there within a day! You should have seen the look on her face when she saw that the walls were already fixed! Kusukuskusuku…!"

Aqua laughed in a much too sinister way. I'm not sure who the villain is in her story if she laughs like that.

"Hmm… I don't like how Aqua is so arrogant, but I guess I have to give you praise for doing your job."

I gave her a thumbs up.

"I like it when Kazuma praises me! See, isn't it better than insulting me every time?"

She batted her eyelashes in a cutesy manner.

"Well, if Aqua keeps being useful and not screwing things up all the time, maybe I won't insult you so much."

"...So rude."

Aqua sighed, as she rubbed her sweaty face. She was wearing a bandana but the temperature that day was scorching, and the explosion from earlier also caused a mini-heatwave to wash over the town.

The mages sent from the capital were also present. They were enchanting the newly fixed portion of the wall with defensive magic. I recognized Rain-san among them.

"Yo, Rain-san."

"..."

She was in deep concentration and didn't notice me.

"Freeze."

"Eeep! I'm being sexually harassed?! Oh, it's just Kazuma-san. I should have known…"

She jolted after I sent a cold breeze down her neck.

"I see that you're part of the mage corps, Rain-san."

"Un. We're doing our best assisting with the city's defenses."

"Thanks for your hard work."

She wearily smiled and said,

"Thank you, but I feel like there's more we can do. We attempted to stop Wolbach's Teleport with Planar Binding, but it's hard when we don't know where she'll attack."

Planar Binding is the spell Maouko's mages once used on the Crimson Demons to prevent them from warping around.

"Once we hit her with it, we can stop her escape. We'll rely on your services in the future, Rain-san."

"Un. Leave it to me."

She bowed in acknowledgement before returning to her work. What a diligent girl.

Aqua came over to join us. Rain's eyebrow twitched as we crowded around her, distracting her from her work.

"That cowardly Wolbach should just come and fight us fair and square! What's with her coming in to destroy the town's property and running away afterwards?! I wish kouhai's search team would find their camp already!"

"We went over this. They're using magic to hide their location. They might also be constantly changing their camp site, they don't stick in one place all the time, and not to mention that the woods around Axel is quite vast."

"Che! They're such cowards! I should just flood the whole area!"

"You and Megumin can only think about such destructive solutions. Furthermore, you're doing such a good job with the wall, why would you flood it down again?"

Aqua stiffened as she remembered that incident that caused us to go into great debt.

In fact, now that I think about it, why couldn't she have just fixed the wall back then?!

"Urk…! W-Well, I guess all we can do is patiently wait for kouhai to find the enemy camp! Haha…"

She was quick to leave and go back to her work, but as she already finished repairing the wall, all she did was continue to spend more time creating unnecessary art pieces.

"Ohhh! What wonderful art! I'm getting inspired just by looking at it!"

"Yosh! Let's work extra hard to protect this town!"

I thought it was unnecessary, but it seems like her art is raising the morale of our troops.

"I see that Aqua is only useful outside of actual battles."

"She's trying her best. Please don't insult her, Kazuma-san. And please leave me alone so I can focus."

The usually meek Rain suddenly developed a backbone and shooed me away.

Part 6

That night.

"Kazuma, can I come in?"

Megumin visited my room.

"Hm? What's up?"

I got used to her coming to my room at night that I hardly make a fuss about it anymore.

Tonight, though, the mood seems a bit different.

She was wearing her pajamas and had Chomusuke, the ever present chaperone, in her arms. She sat on the edge of the bed. I sat up and stifled a yawn, as I was prepared to drift off to sleep before she came in.

"I want to talk about… you know who."

"You mean, Wolbach?"

She nodded.

"...Honestly, I only had a hunch that Chomusuke was an evil god. I only had the stories of my clan to rely on, after all, and who knew that the nee-san who saved me that time was actually…"

"So Megumin admits that she doesn't truly believe the nonsense her clan spreads, huh?"

"T-That's not true! On this one occasion, I was a bit doubtful, that's all!"

Megumin glared at me and Chomusuke seemed to mimic her master's expression.

"Nyaa!"

I held a hand up in acquiescence, not willing to have an argument.

"You know, Megumin doesn't have to force herself to fight Wolbach. I know that Wolbach is important to you."

She shook her head.

"This town is more important to me. I know I call her 'master' sometimes, but ultimately, that person is a stranger to me."

"Serena told me that Wolbach is under Maouko's mind control. It's not like she actually wants to attack the town…"

"Kazuma said so himself. She's under a suggestion, not complete mind domination. She's a Devil King general who rules over the aspect of Violence. I'm sure that she's more than willing to attack us if she'll benefit from it."

She stroked Chomusuke's fur.

"When it comes to it, I will have to deal with that person…"

I've never seen her like this before. It made me heart sink seeing the normally jubilant Megumin acting this way.

I made room on the bed, shifting over to one side and clearing the bed sheets for her.

"Megumin can spend the night here if you want."

"...Is Kazuma taking advantage of the situation?"

"No, that's not it! Am I that suspicious?"

She giggled. She looked away for a second, set Chomusuke down, and plopped down on the bed beside me.

"I sort of miss having Komekko around. I used to have her comfort me during times like this. I use her like a hug pillow."

"Megumin can do that with me."

I pointed to myself while grinning sheepishly.

"You're so sly, Kazuma. But I'll go with the mood."

Grinning mischievously, she tucked her arms around me.

I stayed still, enjoying the warmth and feeling of her body.

"I sort of want to have a chat with that person."

She said, as she pressed her face close to my chest. I could feel her hot breath tickling my neck.

"She seems pretty important to you."

"Hm… I don't know. It's weird. Like I said, she's practically a stranger to me. I guess I sort of feel an affinity with her?"

"Maybe you just like the whole 'evil goddess who rules over Sloth and Violence' part."

"I guess I do sort of admire her… Especially her big breasts."

"That's what it all comes down to in the end, huh?"

She shifted her body, scooting up to meet me at eye level. She leaned her head against my shoulder, using it as a pillow. She said,

"I admire her, but now she's my enemy…"

"I guess it's true what they say about meeting your heroes…"

"Yeah. I bet Kazuma has a lot of fans who'll be disappointed if they meet him in real life."

"Oi."

"That's alright. I'm the only fan Kazuma needs."

She said, while smiling sweetly. This made my heart race. She's just teasing me but I feel warm inside.

This is what it's like to have a cute girl who likes you. A former NEET like me can only feel grateful in times like this.

"I guess I should be happy. Megumin has good looks despite the questionable personality."

"Says the Kazuma who has no looks or personality."

"S-So mean! How could you say that to your lover?!"

She raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? Are we lovers now?"

"Don't casually undo all of our progress!"

She chuckled after saying such dangerous words that scared me a little.

"Kazuma is quite insecure isn't he? It's fun to tease you sometimes."

This girl is quite the bully.

"Does Megumin actually intend to fight Wolbach? I don't think the town can handle an explosion duel between you two."

Eager to switch topics, I brought up Wolbach again.

"Sorry, but that can't be avoided. Only an explosion user can hurt another explosion user."

"You'll be hurting everyone else if you seriously think that way."

I didn't even want to imagine what would happen if the situation actually escalated to that point.

"At the very least, I want to show that person how far I've come with explosion magic. Do you think she knows about me?"

"I'd be surprised if she didn't. You're pretty famous in this country, well, more infamous than anything."

"Fufu. I relish that kind of attention."

She flipped an imaginary cape behind her.

"S-Seriously, don't get carried away and start throwing explosion magic around! Promise me that, Megumin!"

"That's impossible. Now that we're talking about it, the prospect is starting to excite me…"

"What happened to the nervous, sweet girl I saw earlier? Please bring her back."

Not one to sulk for long, Megumin was back to her usual self.

"Hehe. Thanks, Kazuma. I feel better now."

She snuggled up against me even tighter.

T-This is getting dangerous…!

"Eh…? Kazuma, what's that?"

"Urk…!"

She started squirming, moving her thighs around.

"...Kazuma, what's this? Hm?"

She coyly looked up at me while grinning smugly.

When did this girl get so dangerously naughty?!

"Er… This is just a natural reaction from being in close proximity with a person of the opposite sex. That is, please just ignore it."

"But if I ignore it, won't Kazuma suffer?"

She kept squirming around, completely ignoring my plight. Just when I thought I was seeing a delicate and vulnerable side of Megumin, she's messing with me as usual… No, she's really intent on bullying me tonight!

"D-Don't mess with this poor cherry boy's heart! What did this cherry boy even do to warrant this kind of torture?!"

"Fine, I get it. I don't want to be cruel to Kazuma. So… Do you want me to give you a hand?"

An unbelievable proposition was just offered to me.

"...Come again?"

"But you haven't come yet?"

"Not what I meant! W-Why would you just randomly bring that up now?! I-I need time to mentally prepare!"

Her smug grin shifted into a gentle one as she looked at me warmly.

"Hmm… Well, I guess it's pretty abrupt to just randomly bring this up now."

"Y-Yeah, just a bit."

Before, I was certain that I'd jump at the opportunity if I was lucky enough to have a cute girl like Megumin offer this to me. But now that it's happening, I find myself panicking rather than being excited about the idea.

Maybe it's because I care so much about Megumin that I don't want to screw anything up by rushing, or doing anything intimate based on a sudden impulse.

Megumin also doesn't seem emotionally stable tonight. She seems vulnerable and scared about the Wolbach situation. Didn't she just say as much? In light of this, please calm down, my son!

Or it could be that Darkness is right, that I'm the type who's all talk but pulls out at the very last minute.

I hate how I'm indecisive at times like this, but it's better to wait now than do something we'd both later regret.

As I was mulling over this matter, Megumin proposed an alternative,

"How about this? If Kazuma finds a way so that I won't have to fight that person… If Kazuma can find an ending where everyone is happy, then I'll reward him with something like this. Does that sound good?"

I was snapped out of my panicked state as Megumin is looking at me seriously again. Her eyes are intently gazing into mine.

I scratched my head, not really sure how to respond.

"Don't get your hopes up… But I guess I can try."

"Good. I'm counting on you, Kazuma. Now let's go to sleep shall we?"

As if on command, Megumin went right to sleep, even snoring and drooling.

Maybe I should have just taken her up on her offer.

Part 7

The next morning.

I headed to the walls, where Rain and the mage corps have already gathered. They were waiting for Wolbach to show up.

"Hm? Why is Kazuma-san here?"

Rain asked, when I joined her and the other mages.

"I'm the expert when it comes to explosion magic wielding troublemakers. You guys can use my help. By the way, can you teach me Planar Binding?"

"Eh? Can Kazuma-san even learn such a spell? It costs a lot of Skill Points for those who don't have a mage class…"

"It's fine, it's fine. Just teach me already."

As if I'm worried about the cost of Skill Points these days.

After having Rain teach and demonstrate the skill to me, I practiced the spell on one of the mages.

Just before he could use the Teleport spell…

"Planar Binding!"

"...!"

Golden, immaterial chains extended from the ground and wrapped his ankles. He could still move around as the chains weren't a physical construct, but his attempt to cast Teleport failed.

"Eh… The result is a bit weak since Kazuma-san isn't a mage, but I'm surprised you can use it. That's the Adventurer class for you."

Rain was surprised to see me pull the skill off.

"I used to hate my class, but when you think about it, isn't the Adventurer class great? If you're smart, you can easily exploit it and learn all sorts of skills."

I couldn't help but brag about my class.

"Every class and role has its place in the party dynamic. Sure, having an all-rounder with lots of skills is an overlooked necessity, but there's also a place for specialists. The success of Kazuma-san's party is a testament to that. In some ways, I think that Kazuma-san's party combination is a perfect match."

Rain complimented our party even though I distinctly remember our early struggles.

I guess we're the type of late-bloomers who excel in the late-game but will have to first undergo a disastrous early-game.

Thinking back on those hard times, though, I can only smile fondly.

"...! Rain-san! Our mages from the east wall have detected…!"

As a mage reported this to us, we heard Wolbach's explosion in the distance. When we looked in the direction of the thunderous noise, we saw the crumbling collapse of the eastern wall.

The sound of heavy stone crashing to the ground alerted the townsfolk around us. They made a quick retreat, abandoning their businesses and running to the newly built evacuation centers.

"Mage corps, let's go!"

Rain and the others teleported to the eastern wall.

I used Teleport as well. I've marked certain strategic points around the town as Teleport designations just for moments like this.

When I appeared amid the other mages, Rain looked at me in surprise.

"Eh? Kazuma-san can use Teleport now, too?! You didn't use a scroll, right?"

I appreciate Rain-san's admiring gaze right now, but there's someone else she should focus on.

Through the decimated part of the wall, I saw Wolbach up close.

A beautiful red haired, busty onee-san type. If it weren't for the horns on her head that gave her an evil appearance, I'd say she was a flawlessly beautiful woman.

...Megumin is right. She has big boobs.

"Oh? You guys are quick to respond today. Well, then, I'll just Tele…"

"Wait a second, Wolbach-san. Mind if we have a chat?"

I stepped up in front of the others and said this. Rain-san looked at me incredulously.

"Kazuma-san?! I know that Kazuma-san is the type to go after beautiful women, but please don't hinder us from capturing her!"

I really want to correct Rain-san's image of me.

The evil god known as Wolbach stopped mid-cast and looked at me curiously.

"She called you Kazuma. You must be the famous Satou Kazuma …Eh? Haven't we met before?"

She pointed at my face, clearly recalling something. From the expression on her face, though, even if we've met before, she didn't seem to have a very good impression of me.

Seriously, what's with that look of disgust? Why must every woman I meet react to me in this way?

There comes a point when the reputation overshadows the individual. This is what I want to say to the woman who's looking at me as if I'm scum right now.

But come to think of it, I do recognize this woman.

Ah, that's right. I once bathed with a red haired onee-san in Alcarentia in one of the hot springs.

"Oh, it's you. Sorry, I didn't recognize you with clothes on."

"T-To think the Devil King army is having such a hard time with is this perverted person… It kind of takes the wind out of my sails."

Her shoulders deflated even though she was in a tense battle stance earlier.

The last time I saw this nee-san in the bath, she was talking to Hans, another Devil King general.

I should have suspected her since then, but it's not like I could track her down after all that commotion.

"I guess you could call this fate. Even so, as former bath-mates, I can't find it in myself to fight you. Just let me take my leave now and no harm will come to you or the cute little mages behind you."

"C-Cute…?"

Rain was shocked as Wolbach looked at her and the mage corps with bored eyes.

To a powerful mage like Wolbach, even mages sent from the royal capital weren't a threat to her.

Wolbach is acting confident, but she just used explosion magic. Even with her large reserves, she can only cast one other significant spell afterwards. Normally, this would mean that she'll use Teleport to escape, but we've already surrounded her.

"I doubted you at the start, Kazuma-san, but good job distracting the enemy! Now that we've surrounded her, there's no way she can escape!"

"Oi, don't raise any flags!"

I yelled at Rain-san who was getting ahead of herself.

"Sigh… I warned you. Oi, guys, cover my escape!"

There was a rustling of leaves from the woods behind Wolbach. From the shadows of those woods, a large contingent of demons appeared.

"Protect Wolbach-sama!"

The demons rushed out of their hiding places. With great speed, they soon reached us.

"Eiiieee?!"

Not used to fighting in direct combat, the mages who fight in the backline weren't prepared to meet the stampede of Demons, and were now in disarray.

Using the confusion, Wolbach started to retreat.

"Planar Binding!"

Before she could cast Teleport, I used my newly learned spell.

"Oh? You actually hit me."

She maintained her composure even after I stopped her retreat.

However, before I could pursue her, the Demons have already finished surrounding us.

Our own reinforcements were also arriving, but at this rate, Wolbach will escape again.

"Rain-san, you and the mage corps, please cover me!"

I said, as I chased the retreating Wolbach.

The Demons tried to stop me, but Rain-san and the others gave me cover fire.

"Y-You're awfully persistent! Ne, since we have some history together, can't you let me go?"

Wolbach looked behind her as she ran away, an awkward smile on her face.

"For a supposed evil god, you sure say some naive things to your enemy. Bind!"

She was restricted from teleportation magic, but she was still free to physically move around. I threw the mithril rope at her. It spun in the air, but she dove to the side and tumbled before the rope can latch on. What amazing reflexes!

"Puh! Puh! First Planar Binding and now Bind? A-Are you into bondage? Um, please stop harassing me already!"

She said as she coughed up some dirt she accidentally swallowed and got up on her feet to start running again.

Eh… How can I say this? She doesn't really seem like a villain type of character at all.

While Maouko is the type with a 'kekekeke!' laugh, she struck me as the gentle nee-san type to go all 'ehehehe'.

Even Aqua's 'kususususu' laugh is much more sinister and villainous.

I don't really want to fight her. How can I put this… She doesn't seem like all that bad of a person.

I put aside these thoughts as I pulled out my spare wire rope.

"How much rope do you have?! Second unit, cover my escape!"

As we reached the entrance to the woods, Wolbach called out for more reinforcements.

A second contingent emerged from the woods and met my advance.

"Let's get him! There's only one human, surround him!"

Even the enemy side is raising these obvious flags.

I took out my bow and notched three arrows at once.

"Quick-Draw! Volley!"

"Gack…!"

I combined these Archer skills to take out three Demons at once.

I ran through the opening in the middle, but there was a big, ogre-type Demon waiting at the backline.

"I'll smash you into a paste, human!"

The ogre-type demon lifted a spiked metal club above his head and swung it down at me.

"H-Hah?!"

My body automatically spun away from the blow due to the Auto-Dodge passive skill.

"C-Come back here! My name is Joog, a high-ranking Demon in Wolbach-sama's personal army! I won't let you get away!"

This persistent guy kept chasing me.

While running, I muttered an incantation.

"Lightning!"

"Gacckk!"

A bolt of lightning struck struck the pursuing Demon. There were burns all over his red skin, but he didn't stop running.

"Escape! Escape!"

I used the Escape skill to gain speed, but this guy is fast…!

I looked ahead and saw that Wolbach was quickly gaining on me. I'll lose sight of her in these woods at this rate, but I can't ignore the Demon chasing me. The reinforcements were busy fighting the first wave of Demons and won't reach me in time.

"You're such a pain in the ass! Chasmic Mud Trap!"

The earth underneath the Demon softened, becoming a knee deep pit for his massive body.

"The mighty Joog won't be stopped by weak Intermediate Magic!"

With a show of brute force, this guy struck his club at the ground and used it as leverage to pull himself upwards. He already got one leg out of the trap.

"Wind Blade!"

I drew my katana and slashed it in a horizontal arc, unleashing a wave of razor wind. It made a deep gash on the Demon's armor but inflicted minimal injuries.

I used a lot of spells and was quickly running out of mana, but this guy was still alive and well. I took out a manatite crystal and recovered my reserves.

I took out my last wire rope. I wanted to save this for Wolbach, but I'll lose her if I spend any more time with this minion of hers.

"Bind!"

"Hah?! Oof…!"

The powerful and reliable Bind skill did its work. Even after the Demon got both legs out of the mud, he fell on his face as the wire rope restrained his limbs.

"Please go ahead, Kazuma-san! We'll take care of these guys!"

I looked behind and saw Rain-san and the reinforcements had caught up and were taking care of the second wave of demons. I nodded and chased after the fleeting figure of Wolbach.

"Speed-up! Speed-up! Speed-up!"

I casted more movement enhancing buffs on myself. Aqua forbade me from learning Priest skills, but they were too useful to pass up.

"Y-You really are persistent, huh?! And it looks like you even got past Joog. If only I still had Hoost around… N-Ne, as former bath-mates, you'll let me go, right?!"

She keeps bringing up the bath-mates thing as if it means anything. She must really love baths.

She was stumbling along the foliage and tree roots along the way, but with my Acrobatic Talent and Fleet Foot passive skills, I was able to zip through the terrain.

"E-Eh? There's two of you?!"

However, when I was finally close enough to see her retreating figure clearly, I saw that there were two copies of her now.

Did she use some kind of illusion spell? Or maybe one of her minions has a disguise skill…?

As I was startled by the two Wolbachs, my Enemy Detection went off. More Demons emerged from the woods, setting themselves as roadblocks for Wolbach and her copy.

"Kazuma-kun…! We'll help!"

Chris and the scout team, who were probably in the middle of a patrol, arrived to help me deal with the demons, but by then Wolbach had already safely retreated.

…

...

Interlude

"Hah… Hah, nice assist, Ragcraft. I thought he had me there for sure."

I collapsed in exhaustion as we finally made it to one of our hidden camp locations.

Ragcraft changed back to his normal form, dismissing his disguise of me.

"That was close, Wolbach-sama. It seems like our hit-and-run tactics won't work anymore now that they know to expect it. But at least we have an idea of our enemy's fighting strength now."

"Un… This would have been much easier if it weren't for the speed of their wall repair team. Honestly, how do they manage to fix the walls that fast?!"

They even have time to construct a mosaic on it. Who would have guessed that a bunch of construction workers would be the main reason why we can't invade this town. What I don't understand is why they chose to make a goddess Aqua mosaic just right after they held the Eris festival. Isn't that a bit sacrilegious? I'd cry if I was the goddess Eris right now.

I wiped away the sweat from my forehead as Ragcraft boiled some tea for us. Hot tea sounds nice, but I could really use a bath. Actually, hot tea and a bath sounds perfect right now.

I started to think about my encounter with the one known as Satou Kazuma.

To think that boy I met in the bath, who stared at me so lecherously, would end up being the number one enemy of the Devil King army…

Does that mean he's the one who killed Hans?

"What do you think Maouko-sama will have us do next?"

Ragcraft asked, as he handed me a cup of tea. I happily accepted it and took a sip, feeling my body relax.

"I think we'll use that now."

"A full attack, finally? For some reason, Maouko-sama has been strangely cautious even though we could have just used that at the start. Does she fear the heroes to such an extent?"

"Don't let her hear that. And I guess I don't really blame her since both her and her father lost to them before…"

After facing the leader of the famous party, I can get why she's cautious of them. He's smart and resourceful and seems to have an endless arsenal of skills and spells.

Ragcraft wanted to do a sweep of the area to make sure we weren't followed. I soaked a towel in hot water and wiped the sweat off my body. It wasn't a proper bath but I had to make do for now until we can return to the main camp. In the meantime, I thought about my encounter with one of those famous heroes. In particular...

"...I still haven't met her."

I was curious about the heroes who slayed my former boss, the previous Devil King, but I was most curious about the explosion user among them. Apparently, she is a powerful Crimson Demon mage who specializes in explosion magic.

There's a high chance that this same person is that certain girl from before.

I've always wondered what happened to that child. It's a shame that we'd have to meet again in such circumstances, but there's nothing I can do about that now.

Of course, I'm also here to retrieve my partner, my other half.

If Maouko's intel is right, and it usually is, then that same girl has custody of my other half.

What a coincidence that it'd turn out this way. Hey, what's the point of saving you from my other half if you're just going to release it and tame it to be some kind of household pet? I want to say this to that child right now.

That's fine. I can retrieve my other half while satisfying my curiosity about that girl.

Between my explosion and hers, I wonder which one will win?

Ah, that's not good. My Violence aspect is taking over again.

My whole existence is quite a contradiction, if I do say so myself. An evil goddess who rules over both Sloth and Violence. Most of the time, these two cancel each other out, to tell the truth. I'm more content to relax in a hot spring bath than seek out violence. Really, I may be an evil goddess, but I consider myself to be quite mild-mannered. My opponents are prone to saying 'Are you really a Devil King general?'

Perhaps I've retained more of my Sloth aspect, while my other half retained more of the Violence aspect. This is a pet theory of mine. My other half was about to go on a rampage before I went ahead and sealed it again, which proves that it certainly has a 'violent' side.

Resealing my other half… I'm always doing unnecessary things like that. For an evil goddess, I sure do have a soft side.

And now, that young girl I saved, has become quite a formidable enemy. What a complicated situation.

Maybe I should just forfeit my right to rule over the Violence aspect. Sloth is more my cup of tea. I like hot spring baths more than blood baths. If someone is out there who wants to take this bothersome aspect from me, please go right ahead.

When Ragcraft came back from his surveillance sweep, we moved to the main camp location, taking care to cover our tracks. The patrols have been discovering our minor camps, but they haven't discovered any of our main bases yet. This might change if we stall too long.

When we arrived in the camp, we saw that there were more Demons gathered. As we predicted, Maouko is amassing the forces for a frontal attack.

"Oh? Isn't that…?"

I pointed to a masked gentleman wearing an overcoat, who is now talking to Maouko.

"Yeah. I heard from some gossip that he's here to arrest one of the heroes, the one Wolbach-sama just fought. That man broke one of Hell's laws, apparently."

"...Seriously? What kind of hero is he to do such a thing?"

Why was he involved with Hell in the first place? Did he visit there or something?!

I thought he was already quite impressive, but is it possible that we're dealing with someone ridiculous?

"Hey, if Aesir, one of the Arch-Dukes of Hell, who has the title of 'Hound Dog of Hell' is here, then why can't we just leave it to him to deal with the heroes?"

As we were drawing near the Arch-Duke Aesir and Maouko, Ragcraft lowered his voice to a whisper in fear of being caught gossiping. He said,

"You know the rumors about how uptight he is when it comes to the laws of Hell. That's why they call him the 'Hound Dog of Hell', because he voluntarily hunts down the sinners who have broken the laws of Hell. He's only here to arrest Satou Kazuma. He won't help us with anything else or step outside of his jurisdiction."

"Ehh… That's a shame."

It would be convenient if we could just leave most of the fighting to him.

"Fear not. It looks like Maouko-sama has gathered quite a fighting force. Looks like her plan worked."

Ragcraft said, as unfamiliar demons were seen in the campsite. More and more of them are coming through the portals from Hell.

"Well, if you throw enough money at them, the mercenaries will come."

"Fufu. That's true."

I can't really judge these Demons who came to the mortal realm looking for some easy money, as I'm only here for my own self-interests.

I had one of the minions draw up some hot water to fill up the bathtub in my tent.

I skipped on the strategy meetings since I didn't care for them at all and headed to my tent once the bath was ready.

"Ah, this is niiiice…"

I soaked in the bath water and set aside all thoughts about the upcoming war.

…

…

A/N: I'll keep trying to get these chapters out as fast as I can, but I'm taking a break tomorrow because I don't want to burn out. I spent practically the whole day today editing this chapter, only stopping for meals and the essential post-lunch, mid-day nap that is necessary if one aims to maintain this kind of consistent, non-stop production. As such, please enjoy the fruits of my labor, and thanks for your continued support.

-BoringBone