Naofumi Iwatani, Megumin, Satou Kazuma. Fanfiction 3. Chapter 9:

Raphtalia is currently silently waking Naofumi at the request of Kazuma, while he is waiting outside the tent with his two old companions. Upon seeing his father again Naofumi is suspicious of if the man in-front of him really is his father, and who these two other women could possibly be. In the meantime the other idiots… I mean heroes, are searching for Naofumi and the princess, but most of all the "demon of obliteration," or as a normal person says it, Megumin (Satou/Iwatani).

"If you truly are Kazuma, prove it by telling me something only he would know," Naofumi demanded, much to his father's approval.

"When you were five you had gotten your head stuck in a tree, and after your mother had gotten your head out of there, you got the "brilliant" idea to try and trick me into putting my own head into it by telling me you lost your book into the hole, only that your plan didn't work because you didn't account for me having longer arms then you. The funny thing is that I wouldn't have known you tried to trick me if it hadn't been for your little temper tantrum about how I cheated," Kazuma ranted on making Naofumi let out a sigh of both part relief and annoyance.

"Ok, yeah it is him alright, but tell me, who are these two?" Naofumi gestured to the two women in their own respective armor, his suspicions now turned into curiosity.

"First, let me introduce your godmother, Darkness, or if you really want to annoy her you can call her Lady Dustiness Ford Lalatina, or Lalatina for short," Kazuma said much to Darkness' chagrin.

"I have told you not to call me that!" She exclaimed in frustration as she grew a little bit red.

He ignored her complaints and went on with the introductions. "And this is my eldest son Naofumi, he is the shield hero," Kazuma said as he emphasized the word, instantly making Darkness stare intently at the 20 year old man standing in front of them.

"Did you say shield?" Darkness uttered in pure shock.

"I did indeed say shield," Kazuma reaffirmed.

(Great dad, now I am going to get an earful about how bad the shield is, AGAIN!) Naofumi thought, but he was then shocked when the busty woman dragged him into a bear hug.

"Why is she hugging me?" Naofumi questioned.

"My noble house is of the shield, and my godson is the shield hero, I couldn't be happier right now!" Darkness exclaimed as tears of joy ran down her cheeks.

"The better question is, how are you not getting crushed in her bear hug?" Kazuma uttered in disbelief when Naofumi showed no problems of breathing.

"Ok, enough," Naofumi instantly got out of the bear hug without any problems as soon as his father said that, making Iris and Kazuma trade confused looks.

(There are 2 possibilities as to how Naofumi could do that, 1. Darkness has grown weaker as the queen of Belzberg, while Megumin has grown stronger, or 2. Her level was reset when we got to this world) Kazuma thought to himself.

"Darkness what is your current level?" Kazuma asked.

"Last time I checked, it was 350… ONE!" She said as she saw the number flash up in front of her.

"You went up a level since you traveled here?" Iris asked confused by her reaction.

"No, it just says one, I am back at level 1," Darkness explained making Iris get her own level up, and she nearly passed out from shock when she saw that her level had gone from 800 to 1, so much so that Kazuma had to hold her.

"Darkness go and drink EXP potions, while I introduce Iris," Kazuma ordered, and the crusader didn't need to be asked twice.

"So, is this, what was her name again, Lalatina's younger sister?" Naofumi asked trying to wrap his head around all that just went down, wondering if it was always this crazy and hectic when his father used to go adventuring.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Lalatina yelled from the carriage she was currently guzzling down EXP potions from.

"No, this is crown-princess Iris of Belzberg, she is kind of your aunt," Kazuma explained as Iris leaned more into Kazuma's hold, forcing him to pick her up in a princess carry.

"If everything goes right, I will be your step-mother," Iris playfully remarked, as she rubbed her head up against Kazuma's chest.

"WHAT!?" Raphtalia and Naofumi said in shock.

"She means she wants to ask Megumin for permission to be my 2nd wife," Kazuma quickly explained, before any questions about his loyalty towards Megumin popped up.

"1st royal wife," Iris cheekily shot in.

"Why do you want to marry my dad?" Naofumi asked.

"Well, I have kind of been engaged with him for 22 years ever since he slayed the demon king, and 23 years by my own standards," Iris explained.

"It's a long story, I will tell you another time, but what has happened here after I disappeared?" Kazuma expertly redirected the conversation.

"Ehm, well, I will give you the short version, while traveling we saved the crown princess of Melromarc from an assassination attempt, only for us to be blamed with kidnapping her. After being cornered by the other three stooges and their party members. That bitchy princess made everyone believe I can brainwash people with my shield, we had to do a masterful escape with the help of mom's explosion while flying away on Filo, that is why we are here now," Naofumi quickly summarized.

"That's my boy, expertly evading capture from the idiotic authorities, you even utilized your mother's explosion, I am really proud of you," Kazuma praised his son.

"Thanks dad," Naofumi said nonchalantly, but Raphtalia could notice he smiled a little, only enough for her to notice though.

"I was also really impressed by how you and your party took out that soul-eater under the wave, and recognized that I needed healing when I was fighting Glass, couldn't really tell you though, since I got teleported and all," Kazuma kept on, it was rare for him to praise people like this, but this whole situation was pretty rare.

"Thank you, Kazuma, I will be sure to tell Filo" Raphtalia said as she generously accepted the praise.

"Now then, Iris would you please go and drink EXP potions?" Kazuma asked, while nudging his head towards the carriages.

"But I am so weak now that you have to carry me there," Iris lied, but Kazuma just carried her over to the carriages, not wanting to start an unnecessary discussion.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me, you have to join my party," Kazuma said, which they promptly figured out how to do. Kazuma put Iris under Megumin, and Darkness under Iris. Then he walked back to his son and Raphtalia.

"Ok, let us sit down, what I am about to tell you is very important so listen well," Kazuma took on a serious expression as he gestured for them to sit down, where no one from the camp could see or hear them.

"What is it dad?"

"Son, I hate clichés where someone keeps information from their loved ones to keep them "safe," so I am just going to put this straight," Kazuma said as he looked down at the ground, Naofumi could swear it looked like his father was ashamed of something.

"What is it you want to tell us?"

"See the whole reason all these waves are happening is because of some power hungry goddess called Medea, the waves happen because she merges worlds she has gained control over together after having killed the specific god residing over each world," Kazuma explained as his foot started to shake nervously.

"How do you know all of this?" Naofumi and Raphtalia queried.

"The goddess of fortune, Eris told me, Medea has been doing so ever since you were five Naofumi, and at this point she has merged 8 worlds down to two, this one we are in right now, and the other that probably Glass is from," Kazuma went on explaining, making both Naofumi and Raphtalia go wide-eyed.

"There is something you haven't told yet, right," Naofumi could tell from his father's expression, which made Kazuma go totally still as he prepared himself to tell them, taking deep breaths in and out to prepare himself.

"Yes, when I was your age, I had the chance to stop Medea for good, but I couldn't go through with it… I am so sorry, but I couldn't force myself to go through with it," Kazuma's tears started to collect in his eyes, as his voice became strained.

"What do you mean? What was it you had to do?" Naofumi questioned, while Raphtalia went silent.

"I had killed her, t-then I revived her, so she couldn't get revived again, I then proceeded to torture her to break her mind and soul, but the process was too horrific, and I only managed to do it for 6 hours, I felt like a monster so I just simply ended it by killing her a second time by chopping her head off. But all that did was just create this huge mess, because the gods of judgement gave her a role as a goddess, since the man she "loved" had not only killed her twice, but also tortured her. My actions gave her merit to become a goddess, my actions were so deplorable that a demon king's daughter became a goddess," Kazuma explained his voice hoarse and his face streaming with tears and his hands shook nervously

"Why did you do all that in the first place?" Naofumi needed to know, how his father that mostly sat around tinkering with his inventions every day could, or rather ever would commit such acts.

"To protect Megumin, to protect her from being obliterated from existence, by the very same woman I was torturing, in the beginning it was easy with that in mind, but then I started to see how much pain I was inflicting, and I didn't see how I could deserve to call myself human when I was ripping and healing someone apart for hours," Kazuma couldn't keep himself seated anymore and fell forward onto the ground and started to cry.

"I-I am s-so s-sorry s-son, if I ha-had been stronger that day, you wouldn't have needed to go through all of this, IT'S ALL MY FAULT!" Kazuma cried into the ground, he wouldn't dare to look his son in the eyes because of all the shame he felt.

Naofumi stared at his prostrating father, he could tell that his father hurt from reliving this memory, and now that added with all the guilt of having your child summoned to another world, all because of an old enemy. How had he felt when he thought that his actions had killed Filo, and hurt Raphtalia. It was a horrible feeling, he would easily kill someone that hurt any of them, but when he knew he was the reason for their dismay then what else could you do than try to fix it, and say sorry, and even that felt like he did nothing.

Naofumi rose from the log he was sitting on, and kneeled down next to his crying father. He put his hands on each of his father's shoulders. "Look at me," his tone stern and commanding as he started to try and lift Kazuma's head, which Kazuma reluctantly did. Taking a minute before Kazuma was able to look his son in the eyes.

The same pair of green eyes staring back at each other, one filled with tears, shame and regret, while the other pair was void of all emotions. "You say you did all that for mom, which means you did all that for us, for me and my brother, to protect us, and I don't think you stopped the torture of that woman because you were too weak, I think you stopped because you couldn't call it love if you had destroyed someone else's soul, I know you can easily justify killing someone if it saves someone else, but totally ripping someone out of existence is on another level, so even if I am in all of this shit because of some crazy bitch, I am proud of calling you my, dad!" Naofumi stated calmly, before he wrapped his father into a hug.

"thank you, son!" Kazuma was able to utter, his relief was indescribable, his son didn't resent him. He was proud of him, even after all the shit this world had thrown at Naofumi, he was still able to call him son. Tears continued to stream down Kazuma's face, but this time it was tears of joy.

After a minute of hugging they pulled away and sat back down on each their log as Kazuma started to wipe his face. They let silence take over as the only thing they could hear was the sound of the wood from the fire pop occasionally.

"Thank you Kazuma!" Raphtalia suddenly broke the silence, her tone filled with indescribable joy.

"For what?" Kazuma asked confused.

"If you hadn't shown mercy that day, I would never have met Naofumi, and for that I am eternally thankful," Raphtalia said as she grabbed Naofumi's arm and gave it a squeeze as to reaffirm her words.

"But-"

"No, buts, you are the main reason I could ever meet Naofumi, and for that I am grateful far beyond what I can express," Raphtalia said as she left no room for discussion on the matter as Kazuma realized something, as he looked at the gaze she was sending Naofumi.

(She loves him, she loves my son way beyond what I initially thought, oh my I am blind as fuck, but he loves her as a daughter, I GOT TO HELP HER) Kazuma thought as his eyes shot wide

"Dad it is ok, I have forgiven you," Naofumi said as he tried to soothe his father.

"Yes, and I am ever thankful for that, but I can't have you cleaning up my mess, I am going to send you somewhere safe, while me and your mom takes this godly bitch down once and for all," Kazuma explained.

"Where is this safe place?" Naofumi asked, clearly curious.

"It is pretty much my 2nd home, you are going to the kingdom of Belzberg, and you are going to live with your grandparents, of course Raphtalia and Filo can come with, since they are precious to you, while we can protect the crown-princess," Kazuma explained to his son.

"Wait, I can get out of this world, HOW!?" Naofumi exclaimed in disbelief.

"Indeed you can, no need for you to risk your life for your old man's mistake, you can go and live a relaxed life back in Axel with Raphtalia and Filo, while I take care of things here," Kazuma said as a smile spread across his face at the thought of his son being safe, and maybe Raphtalia had gotten through to Naofumi by the time they got back from pummeling that fake goddess.

"This is wonderful, I can finally leave this shitty world for good, I will go and wake Filo immediately," Naofumi said as he actually smiled and ran to the tent Filo, Chomusuke and Melty slept in. Miraculously not waking anyone else than Filo.

"Why did you wake me master?" Filo groggily complained.

"Look over there," Naofumi said pointing to Kazuma.

"Master you are smiling, what is it you are point- GRANDPA!" Filo joyfully exclaimed as she leapt onto Kazuma and started to hang from his neck.

"Good to see you too Filo," Kazuma said as he returned the hug.

"OK dad, you told me I can get out this shitty world, how do we do this?" Naofumi queried, clearly excited at the prospect of getting to relax.

"Wait, you are leaving us?" Filo asked with concern in her voice.

"No, you and Raphtalia are coming with me, but we are going somewhere safe," Naofumi answered her with a reassuring smile on his face.

"Is Melty also coming with us?" She asked.

"No, but my mom and dad will take care of her while we are gone," Naofumi said with a smile as he lovingly ruffled Filo's hair, easily convincing her.

"Ok I need everyone to hold hands, and in three seconds I will teleport us away," Kazuma instructed as all four of them started to hold hands. "Ok, in, 1, 2, 3, {Teleport}" Kazuma chanted which made a blue circle appear around them, before everyone got electrocuted by Naofumi's shield.

Naofumi felt a light tingle, Raphtalia and Filo felt a little shock, while Kazuma was on the ground twisting around in pain from the electrocution.

"{First heal}" Naofumi chanted as Kazuma got a green glow around him, which quickly faded away, making Kazuma stop rolling around in pain as he got up.

"What went wrong this time?" Kazuma asked as he looked at his son for an answer.

"Oh, this warning just popped up, Heroes are not allowed to invade other worlds," Naofumi read, which made both father and son bash their fist into the ground, angered by this stupid rule.

"Well, looks like we will have to do this the hard way after all," Kazuma complained as he sagged over to Megumin's tent.

"Goodnight dad," Naofumi shot in before his father disappeared into the tent.

"Master Naofumi, can I also go to sleep?" Filo and Raphtalia asked simultaneously.

"Yeah, I want to talk with those two anyway," Naofumi said pointing towards the two women that was currently pumping themselves full of EXP potions. Filo looked at them with mild curiosity but she was too tired to care as she sagged into Naofumi's tent with Raphtalia, where they instantly fell asleep to their master's scent.

"So, how did you two meet my dad?" Naofumi questioned the two ladies that was currently sucking down EXP potions like no tomorrow.

"Well, I met your father when I was 17 and he 16, I asked to join his party, and do you know what he told me,"

"Yes?" Naofumi guessed.

"First ,he made me wait a whole night for an answer, and when I came to the guild the next morning he quickly rejected me without hesitation, it is one of my fondest memory," Darkness smiled as she explained.

"Then how did you join my father's party?" Naofumi asked now confused.

"I tried to convince Aqua and Megumin to let me join, before your father went into great detail of what the demon king might do to me if I were to be captured, but even after showing my total dedication towards killing the demon king he still wouldn't let me join," Darkness explained as her smile got even wider.

"Let me guess, also a fond memory,"

"How did you know? Never mind, your mother and father are both quite perceptive so this is to be expected of their son," Darkness quickly deduced.

(Or you are just easy to predict) Naofumi and Iris thought to themselves.

"How did you join his party then?" Naofumi asked again, now a little irritated by Darkness' tangents.

"Ok, so the annual cabbage harvest struck as we were talking in the guild, I couldn't hit any of the cabbages so I resorted to use myself as a shield to protect the other adventurers, as cabbage after cabbage hit me at high velocity, slowly stripping my armor away allowing the other male adventurers to stare at me with lustful eyes, but then your mother cast her explosion and I was so lucky to be in the center of the blast," Darkness retold as she stifled a moan.

"Wait, did you just say you tanked one of my mother's explosions?" Naofumi uttered in disbelief.

"Yes, I did indeed, but it was nothing near the 2nd explosion she cast on me a few months later, I was possessed by this demon king general named Vanir, and the only way he would agree to die was by Megumin's explosion, I passed out from how intense that blast was," Darkness said with a stupid grin on her face, which made Naofumi slowly back away from her, as he realized that this woman was a bit crazy.

(If this is my first godmother, how the fuck is my other godmother)

"So, Iris, how did you meet my dad?" Naofumi questioned, preparing for an equally bad shit backstory.

"After Kazuma and his party had defeated not just one, but four demon king generals, they were invited to the castle were I met your father, at first sight he looked like all the other "great" heroes, but then he started to tell me stories about his adventures, and they were truly exciting." Iris explained as she had a dreamy look in her eyes.

"While many of the other heroes only talked about their successes and none of their hardships, they kind of seemed too perfect for me to find interesting. Your father, on the other hand, told me about both his fiascos and troublesome party members, as well as the ridiculous ways they defeated the generals," Iris chuckled at the last bit.

"Hmm, that sounds normal, surprisingly so, but how did you end up engaged with my dad?" Naofumi asked.

"Oh that is a great story, so your father broke into the castle with Darkness' closest friend Chris, disguised as the chivalrous thieves to retrieve a dangerous relic that was on me at the time, they made a huge commotion, but they outsmarted all the guards and a hero named, I think his name was Katsurugi, before they reached my room, but they were both in such a hurry that they had to use {Steal} to hopefully grab the relic off me," Iris explained with a gentle smile on her face.

"My dad didn't get the relic did he?" Naofumi guessed.

"No, he got the ring meant for my fiancé, but I didn't mind him having it, and when he later gave me this ring, I counted us as engaged," Iris said as she flashed the cheap ring to Naofumi.

"How old were you back then?" Naofumi wondered out loud.

"I was 13, and your father was 17 at the time," Iris quickly stated.

(Ah, I see why he didn't marry her back then, because she was jailbait) Naofumi thought to himself.

"How does these actually taste?" Naofumi changed the subject as he picked up an EXP potion.

"It is really great to drink these, I love how they feel when they go down," Darkness complimented as she drank two more in quick succession.

"I might as well try one, since I haven't reached level 40 yet," Naofumi stated, totally missing the mischievous smile Iris was wearing as he put the potion to his lips and took it down in one painfully long gulp.

It was like forcing a giant pill down your throat, how could anyone like this, wait, he should have figured this out from who praised the potion, and who stayed very quiet. After having forced the potion down Iris smiled at him deviously, as she drank 5 of them in quick succession, seemingly without any problems.

"Showoff," Naofumi complained as he went around to inspect what the other carriages contained.

"Potions, potions, potions, crystals, food and other supplies, potions, guns and ammo, wait, GUNS! Ok, dad don't give a shit about game balancing, the best guns I have seen so far in this world are flint-locks, can I use one of these?" Naofumi pondered as he tried to pick up an AR only for him to get the standard electrocution and warning.

"Well, that is unfortunate, but maybe he can teach Raphtalia to use one, when we aren't being hunted that is, these make a lot of sound after all," He theorized as he wandered around the camp in deep thought.

/the next morning

Megumin felt warm and safe when she started to wake up, like someone was embracing her. First, she noticed an arm protectively laying across her stomach, the arm led to a man sleeping next to her and that man looked like Kazuma.

(If this is a dream I don't want to wake up) Megumin thought to herself as she snuggled up closer to him, and used his other arm as a pillow.

"Kazuma," She whispered in a daze.

"Yes, I am Kazuma," He stated in his usual nonchalant tone breaking her out of her half-asleep state.

"AH, why did you have to ruin my dream, I dreamed that I woke up next to-" Megumin's complaints stopped abruptly as she looked in disbelief at, "KAZUMA!" She screamed in joy as she launched herself forward into Kazuma's embrace, which he promptly returned.

"Wait, if it is really you, tell me something only we would know," Megumin scrutinized him as she pushed him a little bit away.

"Never hold your hand when you are giving birth, you crushed mine on Naofumi's birthday, but I learned from it, so you crushed the nurse's hand instead of mine in round 2," Kazuma said while waving around his left hand as proof, which made Megumin a little flustered.

"Couldn't you bring up something less embarrassing, never mind, Kazuma since you are here I got some big news for you," Megumin excitedly said as she tried to grab his attention.

"I bet you my news are bigger," He confidently stated.

"I will take that bet, ok on 3, 1, 2, 3,"

"I am-"

"You are-"

"PREGNANT!" They exclaimed simultaneously.

"WAIT HOW DID YOU KNOW?" They yelled at each other in equal shock.

"A naked woman casted {life check} on me and when her hand lit up green she declared me to be pregnant, mixed with me being sick and throwing up," Megumin answered.

"Vanir told me," the moment he said that Megumin silently cursed that devil for ruining her surprise.

"Well, I am not going to have a tie, come with me I got more things to show you," Kazuma said as he dragged her with him out of the tent to see Iris standing there nervously.

"IRIS!" Megumin yelled in shock as she laid eyes on the armored princess.

"BOSS!" Iris yelled back in joy as she jumped forward and tackled her into a hug.

"Heh, I am not the only one that gets tackled that is good to know," He noted.

"You have grown up so much," Megumin noted as she looked at Iris' boobs then back at her own in slight disappointment.

"Thank you boss, you almost haven't changed at all since the last time I saw you," Iris complimented as she looked Megumin over. "Other than longer hair that is,"

"How did you get here?" Megumin asked clearly puzzled to see her junior again.

"Kazuma teleported all three of us here after Eris tossed him into this world from Belzberg, or something like that," Iris happily explained.

"What do you mean all "three" of you?" Megumin questioned her tone now having changed to a deadly serious one as she looked behind Iris and saw Darkness nervously waving at her. "Oh, I see now," She said her tone void of any emotion.

"Eh, what is going on?" Naofumi questioned his father as he felt the atmosphere change from a happy, warm and jolly to an icy cold one.

Kazuma looked down on his own ring now flashing red, indicating Megumin was getting really emotional, but not even her eyes lit up. (She is holding her feelings back) Kazuma thought as he studied his wife's mannerisms.

"Lalatina, it has been quite some time hasn't it," Megumin calmly stated as she walked over to her.

"Yes, Megumin, it has been quite some time, I hope you are doing well, you look absolutely stunning, like you haven't even aged a day," Darkness complimented in return.

"Thank you Lalatina, you look like… you have… come here to help I presume," Megumin said in a restrained tone as she stared at Darkness with the warmest eyes she could muster.

"Indeed I have come to help, however I have not been totally filled in on the details on what we are going to do, or what the situation currently is," She tried to keep her tone steady as she felt guilt start tugging at her.

"In that case I am most pleasured by having you here with us Lady Lalatina," Megumin forced herself to say with feigned warmness as she presented her hand to Darkness.

"So am I," Darkness reaffirmed the statement as she took the hand of Megumin in her own, and to her great dismay it was a normal firm handshake. She didn't try to avoid her hand, nor crush it to a pulp, it was a firm and disturbingly normal handshake.

"Very well then, would you fill us in on the situation Kazuma?" Megumin questioned as she took ahold of his arm and laid it across her neck like a scarf, as she simultaneously leaned her head onto his chest.

"What are you planning?" Kazuma whispered to Megumin.

"I can't hug her, and I can't hit her, since they would basically be the same to her, I got to reprimand her by being gentle and normal, don't reveal that I am happy to see her yet, I want to see her squirm a little more," Megumin whispered back, as she sent him an evil smile before she leaned in and kissed him.

"Heh, Ok, first of all, Melty and Filo, these are my companions Lalatina-"

"Don't call me that!" She instantly complained.

"Sorry, the busty one in dark armor is Darkness, and the far sexier one is Iris, they will be accompanying us from now on," Kazuma explained, as a got a scowl from Darkness.

"Where did you guys come from all of the sudden, with all of these carriages?" Melty asked in astonishment.

"We teleported here," Kazuma answered rather simply, which seemed to satisfy Melty's curiosity.

"Ok so here is the plan for getting out of the forest without being recognized, First, we will deconstruct all the carriages into one big one that Darkness can drag,"

"Why can't I drag it?" Filo interrupted.

"Because your Filolial queen form is too noticeable, if you were able to look like a normal filolial then you could drag the carriage," Kazuma explained as Filo transformed into a normal looking filolial.

"Wait, you could do that all this time?" Kazuma said in shock.

"Yes, but it is uncomfortable, so I prefer to be in my true form," Filo explained as she started to wonder how big carriage she was going to pull.

"You can pull it then, Darkness will be the backup, then it comes to the construction of the new carriage, we will make a fake bottom and a fake top to store the ammunition and manatite crystals, at the same time we will make the back of it hollow enough for 2 adults to hide in, while, we will make the driver seat hollow and big enough for 2 children to hide in, this is after we add the pillows in to make it both comfortable and hard to easily notice that the rooms are hollow," Kazuma explained as he started to draw a sketch of how it would look in the end.

"Damn, that is smart, but shouldn't you add extra planks to the top to make it more structurally sound," Naofumi interjected as he looked at the sketch.

"Ah, you are correct, I will fix that," Kazuma said as he rewrote the sketch, but this time Megumin picked it up.

"Based on all the weight we will be carrying shouldn't we put more wheels on to distribute the weight more evenly, and we should definitively make each wheel bigger to give it more surface area," Megumin explained as she rewrote the sketch for Kazuma.

"Thanks Megumin, but wouldn't all these changes make us stick out more?" Kazuma challenged his wife.

"It would, but we don't want to risk this thing falling apart while we are traveling, and it is not like we have created a steam engine or anything, so people won't pay that much attention to us even if we do all these changes," Megumin argued back.

"Fine, but I am going to lead the building," Kazuma relented.

"Sure, but let us begin," Megumin said smacking her hands together as the building project began, and after a few hours of vigorous work, Kazuma, Megumin, Iris and Raphtalia was out of energy, while Darkness, Filo, Naofumi and Melty sat down relaxing. Melty wasn't tired since she made the food, while Darkness, Naofumi and Filo seemed to have endless stamina.

After dinner was eaten they started to load the new carriage meticulously, all the manatite in the fake top, while they loaded the ammunition and guns into the fake bottom together with the few EXP potions that were left, then they took a bunch of the empty potion bottles and stacked them on top of the signs to the fake bottom. After that was done the food and other normal items were loaded on, Kazuma then placed a carpet in the top to make it look bulgy, and if someone touched it they would just feel that is was a carpet with nothing else above, unless they went even further up.

"Now then, our roles shall be divided, so listen closely," Kazuma took the lead, like he was used to and Naofumi listened in and took notes.

"Raphtalia and Naofumi will be hiding in the bigger back compartment, while Megumin and Melty will take the front compartment,"

"WAIT! Didn't you say that the back compartment was meant for 2 adults, while the front was meant for 2 children," Megumin interjected.

"Dear, we both know, and acknowledge that you have a petite body type, both Raphtalia and Naofumi are the taller than you, and we need to use the space we have most efficiently, so since you are closer to Melty's size, you need to sit with her," Kazuma argued back making Megumin pout a little, but she relented in the end.

"What about me and Iris?" Darkness shot in.

"You will be Lalatina," Kazuma simply stated, which made her flustered.

"Why do I have to use that name?" Darkness asked in her unusual shy manner.

"Because A. you are a terrible liar, and B. it sounds more normal here than calling yourself Darkness," Kazuma argued back also getting her to give in.

"But what about me, what role do I get?" Iris questioned.

"Before you get your role, you need to ask Megumin that important question," Kazuma said as he flashed her a smirk.

"That question?" Kazuma nodded. "NOW?" Kazuma nodded again. "Ok, Megumin could I get to talk with you in private for a few minutes?" Iris shyly asked as she went over to the woman she regarded as her boss, and close friend.

"Of course, you can ask me anything?" Megumin said with a loving smile as Iris lead the way to a private area.

"So what did you want to ask me that you needed to be in private," Megumin asked Iris, her smile shining with confidence.

"You promise you won't be mad?"

"I promise I won't be mad, no matter what you ask, you can tell me anything," Megumin again reassured her.

"I want to marry Kazuma, could I get your blessing?" Iris asked, her eyes shining with hope.

"Come again, what did you just say?" Megumin asked, unsure if she heard the question correctly.

"I asked for your blessing to marry Kazuma, I want to become his 2nd wife?" Iris said again, now with more confidence.

Megumin stood there staring at Iris in disbelief for a few seconds before she suddenly burst out, "WHAT!?" the sound of her shock rang all the way back to the camp.

"I, Belzberg Stylish Sword Iris, crown princess of the kingdom Belzberg, would like to marry your husband Kazuma Satou, with you explicit blessing," Iris formerly stated, as she looked her straight in the eyes.

"You still want to marry him?" Megumin looked at her for an answer.

"Yes, ever since he broke into the castle and stole my ring I was certain of it," Iris answered with pure honesty.

"Even after all this time?" Megumin uttered in disbelief at seeing the conviction and sincerity oozing from her eyes.

"Always! Just like you Megumin, I was worried sick for him when he was kidnapped, I worked hard to find him, but even then I felt like all my efforts paled in comparison to yours. Your mother had to force you to sleep, and that was after you had been up for 5 days straight trying to find him, and she even had to cast it 20 times before you gave in, and even after that you only slept for 2 hours, I lost to my sleep after 2 days of tireless searching," Iris praised Megumin.

Megumin looked at the sincerity from Iris and was stunned speechless, and when Iris saw this she continued.

"When he was found again, I wanted to hug him, I wanted to keep him all to myself, but back then I knew that if I did so, I would betray my most trusted friend, so I sent for you, but you were of course already on your daily visit, the commitment and love you have shown for him is something I think I could never come anywhere near, but I would like to try, and I will accept your answer regardless of what it might be and continue to be friends. So what is your answer Megumin" Iris finished, her gaze filled with hope.

"Iris…" Megumin began, but she didn't know what to say or rather what she wanted to say. From her point of view Iris had done more, while she felt like she went into an obsessive frenzy. So why was she idealizing that, that month was maybe the lowest she had ever felt.

"Yes!" Iris gripped Megumin's arm tightly in anticipation.

"I don't know, I really don't know, what if I told you no, would you respect my decision and not try anything with Kazuma?" Megumin asked, now her turn to grip Iris' arm tightly in anticipation.

"Of course I would respect that," Megumin could see she was sincere, without a trace of deceit.

"What if he came onto you, would you still turn him down then?" Megumin asked, she needed to know, would she truly accept it if only she said no.

"That would be hard, but if you had told me that I couldn't, I would have to turn him down. I want what you and Kazuma have, I don't want to be like Darkness with children I don't feel I deserve, if I have children with Kazuma, I want to be able to tell them about all the things he has done while he sits next to me, if he is going to be my king I want to be worthy of calling myself queen," Iris spoke with so much sincerity and truth that even a blind person could see it.

"Then I can give you my honest answer," Megumin said with a hurt smile, Iris also truly loved him, but she valued their friendship more. It wasn't like Darkness that disrespected her relationship with Kazuma, Iris only wanted to be a part of it.

"Which is?" Iris' words loaded with anticipation and hope.

"I give you my blessings to marry Kazuma," Megumin said as Iris' tears started to stream down her face.

"Really?" Iris couldn't believe she had gotten to hear those lovely words, she could really be with the man she loved. The best part was that she wouldn't lose her friendship with Megumin. This was an unbelievable dream come true. Her tears just kept streaming down her face as she looked at her friend.

"I do have some requirements though," Megumin said as she tried to wipe away Iris' tears.

"Let me hear them, I am certain I can complete them," Iris' resolve didn't falter, she would move mountains if she had to.

"1st. You are engaged until I have given birth to a girl, if anyone is going to give birth to a girl, it is going to be me, his first wife, you can kiss him, but no sex before marriage," Megumin stated, which sent joyful tears down Iris' cheeks as she heard the news, that was so easy.

"But Darkness-"

"Doesn't count, she is not his wife, plus Naofumi is probably the oldest child of Kazuma regardless, since he is born on July 10th," Megumin stated confidently.

(Eris' child doesn't count either, she is neither his wife, but I still feel sorry for her)

"You have to go into more details, because Darkness' twins were born on the 10th of July as well," Iris reluctantly informed her friend.

"TWINS, SHE HAD TWINS! In the morning, at 7:10 AM, don't tell me she had both twins before that," Megumin now nervously pleaded.

"Good news, Naofumi is Kazuma's oldest son, but oldest child goes to Darkness' daughter Robin, she was born 4:20 AM, while Masaharu was born 4:20 PM," Iris informed her as Megumin instantly turned around and started to sprint back to camp, with Iris following after.

When Megumin came storming out of the woods with Iris right after her, with visible signs that she had cried, Kazuma expected that she was denied, but then Megumin straight up sucker punched Darkness and sent her flying into a tree.

"YOU BITCH, WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU HAD GOTTEN TWINS!" Megumin roared, which for everyone expect Kazuma and Iris looked like Megumin was about to straight up kill Darkness.

"Dad, shouldn't we stop mom?" Naofumi asked a little worried, but after what Darkness had told him last night he was a little confused about how he should feel.

"Nope, she is just giving her a late "nice to see you again," greeting," Kazuma stated calmly as he walked over to Iris to wipe away her tears.

"That really hurt, you do still care about me!" Darkness uttered in realization.

"OF COURSE I CARE ABOUT YOU, YOU IDIOT, WE ARE FRIENDS RIGHT!" Megumin yelled as she punched Darkness again.

"Did she say no?" Kazuma whispered to Iris, which she just answered with a kiss.

"No, she said yes, but we only get to have sex after she has given birth to a girl," She answered the moment she released him from the kiss, the scene of Iris and Kazuma kissing shocked Filo more than the scene of Megumin beating up Darkness.

"GRANDPA IS CHEATING ON GRANDMA!" Filo yelled out as she pointed at Iris and Kazuma, which caught everyone's attention except for Megumin and Darkness.

"WHAT!?" Melty was the only one to yell out in shock as she looked at Kazuma and Iris kissing again.

"I AM NOT CHEATING! Megumin said it was fine! RIGHT MEGUMIN?!" Kazuma tried to get reassurance from Megumin, but she was too busy beating up a now crying Darkness, which looked really wrong from an outsider's perspective, but Kazuma knew those were tears of joy.

"You know, I am just going to go and sit down in the carriage until things calm down," Naofumi said as he walked over to the carriage.

"Yeah, I will join," Raphtalia stated as she followed after him.

"ME TOO!" Filo energetically stated as she started to run circles around Naofumi.

"I guess the carriage would be a more fitting place to be right now," Melty stated as she took hurried steps after Raphtalia.

"Megumin did say yes right?" Kazuma asked now a little worried.

"Yes, she told me I could marry you," Iris happily stated as she went in for another kiss, which Kazuma stopped, he just needed to be extra sure.

"Megumin you did say yes, right? Hey can you focus on me for like a second," Kazuma said while waving his hand in front of her face, finally catching her attention.

"Huh, oh yeah I gave her my blessings, but no sex before marriage, and no marriage before I get a girl, understood?!" Megumin said as she stared daggers at Kazuma, which he quickly nodded to.

"Then Iris can play my fiancé without any problems, and I will be the merchant Thomas Essler," Kazuma proclaimed as he put on the mask he had gotten from Vanir.

"Is she still awake?" Iris asked pointing to the grinning Darkness.

"One quick way to find out, LALATINA!" Kazuma yelled into her ear, but it solicited no response from her.

"Nope, I bet she passed out from pleasure, you shouldn't spoil her like that Megumin," Iris jokingly reprimanded.

"I am not going to carry her, you two can figure this one out," Kazuma quickly excused himself as he ran over to the carriage.

"You punched her you carry her," Iris argued.

"I allowed you to marry Kazuma, and you told me about the twins, so you carry her," Megumin argued back.

"How about you take her legs and I take her upper body, would that be a fair compromise?" Iris questioned.

"Ehm, ok, I am fine with that, since I can avoid carrying 90% of her weight," Megumin joked as she pointed to Darkness' chest, which made Iris chuckle.

/Meanwhile in Melromarc, the throne room

"YOU STILL HAVEN'T FOUND HER! IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO MELTY I WILL HAVE EVERYONE OF YOURS MISERABLE HEAD ON A PIKE!" Trash… I mean the king of Melromarc threatened as his voice seeped over with anger.

"Yes sir!" The knights leaning in front of him said in unison as they rose from their kneeling positions, never raising their heads.

Melty is in the hospital, because she needs her hair fixed, oh and her ears too, but she is pretty much deaf to anything people says about her so how much difference does it really make.

"This can't happen to my family again, how much do you intend to make me suffer, THAT CURSED SHIELD!" The king yelled out, clearly worried about his daughter's safety, but also filled with immeasurable rage.

If anyone was here now he would have been so easy to manipulate, oh so easy. Luckily all those who could or would done something like that was not in near vicinity, since they had other more important business to attend.

"And now I have to deal with another demon, what is next a dark goddess, like the waves wasn't enough," King Aultcray complained.

/Meanwhile back in camp

"Have anyone seen Chomusuke?" Megumin questioned as she couldn't remember seeing her familiar all day.

"No, maybe-"

"achoo!" A muffled sneeze came from a steaming pot, so Kazuma and Megumin checked it out, and there they found Chomusuke floating around in a bucket in what seemed like an improvised steam bath.

"How long have you been here?" Kazuma questioned as he made eye contact with the black cat's eyes, which made the cat shoot out of the bucket like a rocket as it clawed itself tightly onto Kazuma, as she started to purr and sniff him.

"Seems like she has been missing you too," Megumin remarked.

Suddenly Chomusuke looked up at Kazuma and meowed, "Nyan?" which translated to (Why do you smell like my junior, Jake?)

"What is it Chomusuke, oh yeah I met Jake while I was in Axel, he is really big now, he almost accidently flattened me when he pounced on me," Kazuma answered as he gave the cat some head pats, much to her liking.

(Hmm, I guess he is as fast as the wind just about now then, his smell is really laying thick on you, if a white tiger met you now they could accidently perceive you as a mate, but if you cuddle with me, over time his divine aura should eventually be dominated by my own,) Chomusuke thought as she rubbed herself onto Kazuma.

"The others seems to be busy, so Megumin, how did Iris convince you?" Kazuma asked as he got closer to her while petting Chomusuke.

"You are not my property Kazuma, and I know you liked spending time with Iris from way back in the day, we had to literally rip you out of the castle, or you got thrown out by the royal guards every damn time," Megumin reminisced with a smirk.

"Yeah, but has to be some other reason, didn't you tell me she was your rival?" Kazuma pushed on.

"She admitted defeat, or rather she knows that I am more dedicated to you than her, but what really convinced me was that she accepted to lose you entirely to me, she would truly have accepted my decision, so I can share with my best friend, because in the end I will always hold the biggest piece of your heart," Megumin said with a smile.

"Neither of you hold the biggest piece of my heart," Kazuma informed her with a smug smile.

"Excuse me, then who does?" Megumin asked in shock.

"My children, I will always save my children, I never want to go in my child's funeral, I have however accepted that I might have to walk in yours," Kazuma told her as he looked straight into her crimson eyes.

"Does that go for all your children?" Megumin asked.

"Of course it does, even for the ones I have never met," Kazuma answered without hesitation as he put his hand to her stomach and looked to the skies.

"So, I am even 2nd to yours and Eris' child?" Megumin asked as she looked at Naofumi loading up the carriage with the last pot.

"Yes, that you are," Kazuma confirmed, as he flung his arm around her and pulled her close.

"I understand, I would put our boys before anything or anyone, but it still hurts to hear it, but I understand it, and I just love you more for it," Megumin calmly stated as she leaned more into his embrace.

"MEOW!" Chomusuke shrieked as she got mushed between Kazuma and Megumin, totally ruining their moment.

"Sorry Chomusuke!" They both quickly apologized, in return Chomusuke climbed onto Megumin and dug herself down in-between Megumin's bra and tits.

"Are you sure you want to sit there, Megumin is going to sit in a dark, small room that can get hot rather quickly," Kazuma informed the cat, but she stayed put.

"Meow!" (You had me at dark) Chomusuke meowed, which she received a generous amount of head pats from Megumin for.

"Yes, my familiar is finally starting to show her devoted loyalty to me," Megumin proudly stated, as she started to walk towards the carriage.

"Ok, have everyone that is going into a hiding space been to the toilet?" Kazuma questioned when he sat down in the front, next to Iris.

"Yes!" everyone stated in unison.

"Ok then, Megumin help the princess in first and then I will help you in, Naofumi, you and Raphtalia have to figure out who is going to go first in, the last person in must spoon the other," Kazuma informed.

"Raphtalia do you-"

"I would like to go in first," Raphtalia quickly stated, as a blush started to emerge on her face.

"Are you developing a fever, your face is flushed," Naofumi asked in a worried tone, akin to that of a father.

"N-no, I am fine," Raphtalia quickly said before she stepped into the room, with Naofumi following after and laying his arms around her protectively.

(YAHOO!) Raphtalia internally screamed as she got to feel the protective presence of Naofumi around her, and they were going to be on this trip for hours.

Kazuma closed the hiding spots and put more empty potion bottles in the front while he just rolled a passed out Darkness onto the back entrance, which was really challenging to him, because of her armor. He then lastly placed the mask on his face as he sat back down next to Iris, which started to lean on him.

"Why are you smiling?" Iris asked.

"Oh, no reason," (My son is smart, but he doesn't recognize when someone has fallen in love with him) Kazuma thought as he gave signals for Filo to move.

"This is the best carriage so far, so much weight, I love this!" Filo happily stated as she started to drag the carriage.

"Remember Iris, my alias for now will be the merchant Thomas Essler, you are my fiancé and we are traveling with your older sister Lalatina, and FILO NO TALKING!" Kazuma went over their backstory.

"Ok, Kazuma!" Filo and Iris confirmed.

"Not Kazuma, Thomas! No talking Filo!" Kazuma reprimanded.

"Sorry! Thomas," only Iris verbally confirmed this time, while Filo nodded.

"Good," Kazuma said as he gave Iris a quick kiss.

Coming out of the woods they were stopped by the bow hero's party, apparently they had been healed by Rishia, since all that was needed for fixing bursted eardrums was a simple healing spell they were able to patrol the night. Kazuma could tell they had been working on shifts because half of them looked more tired than the other half, there were two outliers though. Itsuki himself which was well rested and Rishia which seemed like she hadn't slept at all.

"STOP, OR WE WILL OPEN FIRE!" Itsuki commanded as he trained his bow on Kazuma, which Kazuma promptly did.

(If he fires I can reflect it, but we have to see if this carriage is able to fool them at the very least) Kazuma thought as the bow hero's party surrounded his carriage.

"Why are you coming out of the woods, in such an unordinary carriage?" a guy in flashy armor interrogated.

"Your questions has similar answers dear traveler, I came through the woods to hide my new invention and get a shortcut to the next town to sell my wares, you see this carriage can handle much more weight, and it is both safer and sturdier than your run of the mill carriage, so this is both a test run and a sales opportunity, one should always know how to utilize time to its fullest you see," Kazuma energetically explained as he took on a friendly tone.

"So you are a merchant, what are you planning to sell?" Itsuki asked now in a friendlier tone.

"I got an order to deliver potion bottles to a business partner of mine, apparently someone has been ordering a lot more potions than he can keep up with lately, so I intend to earn a handsome profit at such a prosperous time," Kazuma answered still friendly and full of energy.

"Who are you traveling with?" Itsuki asked as he put away the bow.

"My fiancé here, and her older sister, which is currently sleeping in the back," Kazuma answered as he hugged Iris tightly, both to show her off and to reassure her he had the situation under control.

"What would your name be dear merchant?" Itsuki seemed to be fully won over by Kazuma's friendly attitude, but Kazuma noticed that none of the other party members had sheathed their weapons.

"My name is Thomas Essler, remember it well and I might give you a discount next time we meet," Kazuma heartily lied as he pretended to focus entirely on Itsuki.

"And the name of your fiancé and her sister?" Itsuki asked as he directed the question to Kazuma.

"My name is Iris, and my sister is called Lalatina," Iris answered with a gentle smile, throwing the bow hero off, since he had expected "Thomas" to answer the question and thereby tell if he was lying.

"Oh, very well, but you see mister Essler, we need to search your carriage, princess Melty was last seen being abducted into the woods by the shield hero, accompanied by a devil wearing human skin, a tanuki girl and a big bird/little girl," Itsuki informed.

"They still haven't found that poor girl," Iris expertly feigned worry, as she gripped onto Kazuma tightly as to seem weak and innocent.

"Searching my carriage comes with certain requirements," Kazuma said as he raised a finger.

"What are those requirements mister Essler?" The bow hero tried to keep his friendly demeanor up, but now Kazuma could tell he was straining himself.

"First, only two people in my carriage at once, secondly if you are going to search my carriage you have to buy something, third any potion bottles broken will mean you pay me the full price of everything, because you just ruined my business deal, and lastly I will kill any thieves without hesitation," Kazuma informed joyfully, but on the last requirement his voice shifted into murderous one as he presented the threat, making a few of them flinch.

"Very well, but if we find any of the people we are looking for, you will be arrested or killed if you resist, and any damage done to your wares will be seen as resisting arrest," Itsuki threatened back, which made Megumin do her best to hold a chuckle back.

"Go on then, who will search my carriage, I don't got all day," Kazuma rushed them as he jumped down from the carriage with some food, going over to feed Filo.

"Come with me!" Itsuki ordered as he gestured to a knight with flashy armor.

"If they find them, I need you to take off at full speed immediately," Kazuma whispered only loud enough for Filo to hear, which she gave an inconspicuous nod to.

When Itsuki first came into the carriage he saw the sleeping Darkness laying on the floor in her dark armor, both he and Flashy armor guy ignored her as they started to search the carriage. They knocked on the wood, but everything was so tightly packed that everything seemed like hard wood. Neither of them thought about looking up, and they found it too risky to move the glass bottles when all the wood knocking had gained no results.

"Nothing, well we will be on our way then," Itsuki said as he jumped out of the carriage while Flashy armor got sneakily tripped by Iris on the way out, making him faceplant into the ground.

"Oh my, are you ok, that seemed like a hard fall," Iris said with feigned concern, this time forcing Raphtalia to hold in her chuckle.

"I am fine, nothing to worry about," he said while doing his best to hide his pained expression.

"What are you going to buy?" Kazuma asked as he wandered back to the carriage.

"Ehm, I guess the bow I saw hanging in there," Itsuki said as he remembered seeing something that might be of use to him.

"You are interested in my bow, well that would be 100 gold pieces," Kazuma happily informed the boy, making him flinch from the amount mentioned.

"That is an outrageous price!" Another party member complained.

"It has been in my family for generations you see, and if I were to part with it, only 100 gold would be sufficient, since the bow has a blessing on it, which makes you unable to miss your target," Kazuma lied.

"Hmm, prove it," Itsuki demanded.

"Darling would you be so kind to fetch me the bow with 3 arrows," Kazuma directed his attention towards Iris.

"Of course, here you go," Iris instantly fetched the bow and some arrows.

"Give me 3 targets, but make it hard or else someone with actual skill might hit it," Kazuma informed as he put an arrow onto the string.

"Ok, hit my arrow out of the air," Itsuki said as he shot one of his own arrows.

"{Snipe}" Kazuma murmured to himself as his own arrow flew after the on Itsuki had shot, and since snipe is based on luck and Kazuma has incredible luck, the arrow of course skewered Itsuki's arrow with ease. The proof even fell in Itsuki's head afterwards, much to his annoyance.

"Well boy, give me 2 more targets, I don't have all day," Kazuma urged the boy.

"You see that bird's nest behind all those branches, shoot it down," Itsuki challenged, which made Kazuma internally sigh as he fired his 2nd arrow and it hit with ease.

"See, this bow will make you hit any target, but you must pick another target for me to finish the presentation," Kazuma said.

"You see that flock of flying birds, I want you to kill 3 of them with 1 arrow," Itsuki smirked as he thought the task to be impossible.

"Fine choice young one, {Farsight}{Snipe}," Kazuma shot the arrow and all of the sudden a huge part of the flock started to fall down, like something had clipped their wings. Then a huge wind came in from the direction of the bird flock and dead birds started to rain down on them, only missing the carriage, Kazuma, Iris and Rishia.

"Bleurgh!" Itsuki grunted as he spat out a bird that had crash landed in his open mouth.

"Oh look, here is my arrow, and look it skewered 3 birds, so would that be a deal?" Kazuma asked as jovial as ever.

"Would you mind me taking a closer look at the bow?" Itsuki more demanded than asked, Kazuma had clearly gone a little too far with his "presentation."

"You can take a closer look," Kazuma confirmed, but when Itsuki stretched his arm out to grab the bow Kazuma smacked it away in an instant, "Do you look with you fingers?" "Thomas" rhetorically asked.

"S-sorry, how rude of me," Itsuki said with gritted teeth as he did his best to not punch the man in front of him, which greatly amused both him and Iris, not that they showed it.

"What will it be, you buying my bow for a 100 gold pieces, or are you just going to waste more of my time?" Kazuma asked as he waved the bow in front of him, like an irresistible dessert.

"You see, I am the bow hero, so how would that change the prize for me?" Itsuki proudly revealed as he brought his bow back out, to prove his claim.

"The bow hero, interesting," Kazuma said with fake intrigue.

"Indeed, master Itsuki is the greatest hero out of all those that were summoned, a prize change is befitting," Flashy armor spoke as he wiped off blood from his armor, making it not so flashy anymore.

"Indeed it is, 120 gold pieces!" Kazuma exclaimed as he held the bow higher, while the group went into a collective gasp.

"Excuse me, did you not hear what I just said, I am the bow hero," Itsuki now offended, prepressed as he stepped closer to Kazuma.

"Indeed, I believe you good sir, but you have already wasted much of my time, and I am quite frankly offended by you wasting more of it by introducing yourself, so I increased the prize for your audacity," Kazuma explained, which made the others around him go into their battle stances, except for Rishia who had to hold everything.

"You do understand I am here to save this world, and that rare bow of yours would be of great help, so why don't you lower the prize?" Itsuki said.

"Hmm, in that case give me 140 gold pieces for it," Kazuma said which made them look on in even more shock.

"The audacity you have, how dare you-"

"150 GOLD PIECES!" Kazuma interrupted the man speaking.

"I just want to hold the bow for a few seconds, how much would that cost?" Itsuki changed his approach, which made Kazuma suspicious.

"Hmm, 10 gold pieces should be fine for that," Kazuma finally said.

"Pay the man!" Itsuki quickly ordered, which made one his companions hand Kazuma the money, as Kazuma handed the bow to Itsuki.

The moment Itsuki got the bow into his hand he sent Kazuma an evil smirk, "There, the copy is done, I no longer need this," Itsuki proclaimed as he threw the bow back to Kazuma, as his bow changed into a perfect replica of Kazuma's ok bow.

"Interesting, so you can copy any weapon you pick up," Kazuma noted.

"Indeed, and now I will be on my way old man, until next time we meet, Thomas Essler," Itsuki mockingly said as he started to walk away, while flaunting his newly acquired bow.

"Yes indeed, until next time we meet bow hero," Kazuma said with gritted teeth as he tried his best to hold in his laughter.

(I tricked him good) Both Kazuma and Itsuki thought as they parted ways, only one of them being correct.

"Are you ok, K-Thomas?" Iris questioned as she saw how hard he was working on holding his feelings back.

"Iris, indeed I am, that boy just gave me something far more valuable than gold, he gave me information about how those legendary weapons works," Kazuma said with a smirk, when they had gotten further away from the bow hero's party.

"Let me guess, this bow isn't special, it's just your stupidly high luck that made you hit all those shots," Iris guessed as she began to smirk herself.

"Indeed, I got 10 gold pieces and valuable information, and all I had to do, was act like I had been tricked, that boy must feel proud of himself," Kazuma smirked back as they continued traveling for another hour.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" A man yelled as he jumped into the road with 20 armed men on each side of him.

"We are being robbed I guess," Kazuma noted.

"You are indeed being robbed, so handover all your valuables and we will spare your life!" The man in the middle of the road lied, as he flourished his sword.

"Can I take care of them? I promise to make it quick," Iris pleaded as her fingers itched to draw Calibur.

"Sure, but kill all of them, I don't want to deal with people knowing how strong we are," Kazuma said as he leaned back to watch the show.

"Hah, you think you can take us that lightly, after we knock this woman unconscious we will be sure to make her our new whore," Another more thin man said as he stepped into the road, quickly followed by everyone else.

"Careful now, we don't want to wake the pervert," Iris cheekily noted as she drew Calibur.

"Boss, this woman think she can fight all of us, I will be sure to adjust her attitude," a burly man twice her size gloated as he stepped up in front of her.

"Be sure to do, just don't kill her," The first man jokingly noted.

"Iris, can you make sure they don't lay dead in the road after you are done, otherwise it's going to be such a hassle getting them out of the way afterwards," Kazuma informed her.

"Of course, that should be easy enough," Iris confirmed sending Kazuma a bright smile.

"DON'T IGNORE ME!" The burly man roared as he tried to hit Iris from behind.

"{Exterion}!" Iris yelled as she spun around and sliced her sword through every single bandit, then the shockwave from her strike sent all the now sliced bodies flying to the ditch on the right side. Some were sliced in half, and lay in the ditch let out cries of pain, while the shorter ones had gotten their heads sliced clean off.

"AH, IT HURTS!" The unlucky ones screamed in unparalleled agony.

"OH SHIT! I am so sorry, that should have obliterated all of you in an instant, I didn't mean to let you suffer like this, {Sacred lightning blare}," Iris chanted as beam of burning light shone from her hands, and when it resided all the bodies were gone.

"That is weaker than what I remember," Kazuma noted.

"Well, my level was reset so what do you expect, if I was still level 800 these poor fools would have been gone in a flash at my sword strike," Iris nervously complained as she jumped back onto the carriage with ease.

"{Create water}, we can't let that start a forest fire," Kazuma said as he dozed the area with a torrent of water from his hand.

"Shouldn't we take a break soon and let the others stretch their legs a little?" Iris questioned.

"I guess we should, but I don't feel we should stop just yet, we need a place where we can unload without attracting much attention," Kazuma said as they went on traveling for another hour.

"Excuse me!" A tall young man with dark blue/black hair, that was cut in the front, said in a gentle tone catching Kazuma's attention. When taking a closer look, Kazuma could see the man had light blue eyes and was wearing a pair of armless glasses on his nose, his smile gentle and welcoming.

"Yes good sir, what is it?" Kazuma asked ever so politely, while trying to get a good read on the man.

"This is certainly a peculiar carriage, never seen one like it before, and to be dragged by just one filolial when it seems so heavy is truly impressive," The man complimented as he studied the carriage intensely.

"Thank you good sir, this is my latest invention, and I am taking it for a test run with my fiancé here and her sister, which is currently sleeping in the back," Kazuma happily informed the man.

"Fiancé you say, might I get to know the name of the happy couple?" The man politely asked.

"Of course, a good merchant must always spread his name, I am Thomas Essler and this is my fiancé, Iris," Kazuma happily informed.

"I will take note of your name, since this seems like fine craftsmanship," The man bowed as he walked closer to the carriage.

"Kazuma, where are we now?" The now awake Darkness suddenly asked, making Iris and Kazuma involuntarily cringe at the mention of his real name.

(Fuck, why did you have to wake up now of all times) Kazuma internally monologued to himself.

"Kazuma, good to make your acquaintance, I am Van Reichnott, the Lord of this domain," He introduced himself as he went into a deep bow, which Kazuma took as an opportunity to use {Concealment} as he placed a mirage in his place. Now having Chunchunmaru drawn right behind the man, while he would be talking to his illusion.

"You must excuse my companion, Lalatina's lover's name is Kazuma, and she is always used to having him by her side when she wakes up, my name is Thomas Essler after all," Kazuma's illusion said as it sent her a reprimanding glare which made Darkness gulp.

"Oh my what a terrible misunderstanding, my deepest apologies," Van said as he went down in another deep bow.

"Ah, yes Thomas, I am sorry if I created an unnecessary misunderstanding for you," Darkness said as she started to sweat bullets.

"Your friend is not a good liar, but I plead that you don't kill me, for I am not your enemy, so please "Thomas" lower your blade," Van pleaded as he slowly turned around, which shocked Kazuma.

"You are good, but tell me, why should I believe you?" Kazuma said as he appeared in front of Van, his blade still trained on Van's neck.

"Because I am an ally to the shield hero, and I don't think he would let someone else travel with the heavenly fowl, let alone that it would willingly traveling with some random person, so you must also be an ally of the shield hero," Van explained happily.

"You must be delusional, this is just your run of the mill filolial," Kazuma tried to excuse himself.

"Oh please, don't take me for a fool, I recognize that your carriage is holding much more content than what it looks like, and no ordinary filolial would be able to drag this much weight, with such ease," Van pointed out, much to Kazuma's annoyance.

"Why should I trust you? All you have done up to now is point out reasons for me to kill you," Kazuma threatened.

"True, but I beg of you to trust me, I am only here to help, I am an old friend of the queen and princess Melty, but if this is not enough to convince you, then cut my head off," Van said as he got down on his knees and presented his neck.

"Jump in the carriage, I have an easy way to check if you are telling the truth," Kazuma said as he withdrew his blade.

"I thank you," Mister Reichnott said as he got into the carriage and sat down next to Darkness.

"Restrain him by hugging him Lalatina, I will find a place we can freely stretch our legs," Kazuma ordered, which Darkness quickly did as she trapped him in her infamous bear hug, but she did allow him to breathe.

"Oh my, trapped in the arms of a beautiful woman, even if I could escape why would I," Van complimented, which made Darkness a little flustered.

After traveling for 30 minutes they came to a patch of thick trees, where it was easy to hide from people traveling on the main road. Kazuma then gestured for Darkness to move, while he opened the back compartment and Iris opened the front compartment. Then they helped everyone out of their cozy hiding spots as they started to stretch their legs.

"Your carriage is even more roomy than I first thought, very impressive," He complimented

"Melty, do you know this man, and is he to be trusted?" Kazuma asked as he pointed to the trapped man, totally ignoring his compliment.

"Yes, this is indeed Van Reichnott, and he is one of the few that advocated for friendly relations between humans and demi-humans, so I vouch for him being an ally," Melty said as did a nervous tap dance.

"Your vouch is much appreciated my dear," Van said as he bowed his head, since the rest of his upper body was being held tight by Darkness.

"I don't know, I don't have such a good experience with nobles," Naofumi shared.

"I have also had bad experiences with nobles, but I guess some have been alright," Kazuma cheekily noted, which made Iris give him a playful punch to the arm and Darkness send him a judging glare.

"It is like a compass, one scale measures if the noble is good or bad, the other measures if they are sane or insane, Iris lands in good/sane spectrum, while Lalatina here is on the good/kind of insane spectrum," Megumin joked as she rested her head on Kazuma's lap.

"In that case you are just the same as me on that spectrum," Darkness retaliated.

"Don't start anything right now, we haven't eaten yet and I am still not sure why Van here stopped us," Kazuma interjected before friendly banter could begin.

"Isn't it obvious, I wanted to help, I can provide you all with food and a place to sleep, back at my mansion," He happily informed them as he sent a warming smile.

"I have no reason to doubt him, he has been a loyal supporter of Lord Seaetto, before he was tragically killed under the first wave," Melty informed as her nervous dance had gotten more intense.

"I was from the Seaetto region, our town was badly hit by the wave, and before we were able to rebuild, soldiers from the capital we thought were there to help suddenly killed all the remaining men, and sold the rest of us into slavery," Raphtalia angrily informed them.

"So they lied to me about that, hmm, say sir shield hero, the knights have informed me you tried to start a forest fire in order to cover your tracks, would you consider that account to be accurate?" The Lord asked with a knowing smile.

"That is a complete lie! I can guarantee you, it's that bitchy princess that tried to start those fires, and if I were unsuccessful in starting the fires, how come they didn't find me," Naofumi angrily retorted.

"Indeed, an astute observation, I also believed you to be innocent, but out of concern for princess Melty I patrolled the area by myself, and then I came upon this masterpiece, and the rest is history, with me stuck in Lady Lalatina's arms," He happily retold as he leaned more into her embrace.

"I think you can let him- Can you just go and PEE ALREADY, I can't focus with you tapdancing," Kazuma finally snapped at Melty making her hide behind Iris. "Iris, can you go with her?" Iris gave a quick nod to his question as she led the fellow princess out of the carriage.

"As I was saying, I think you can let him go of him now," Kazuma remarked.

"No-no, I might still be a threat, so just to be on the safe side she should still hold me, right?" He challenged.

(Oh poor fool, she might be hot, but her personality is not, well I won't be a party pooper) Kazuma thought to himself as he facepalmed. "Keep ahold of him for now Lalatina," he reluctantly ordered, as Van's smile got even brighter.

"When the others come back we will travel to your mansion Lord Reichnott, but trust me when I say: If you plan to hurt any these people, death will be your last worry," Megumin threatened as her crimson eyes lit up.

"The knights also told me about a red eyed demon that could muster forth the sun itself, would you consider that account to be accurate?" He casually asked, not even faced by her threat.

"Yes, if I wanted to, I could obliterate a whole city with the power of my explosion spell," Megumin calmly stated, which made Reichnott stare at her in disbelief.

"She is not lying!" everyone in the carriage reaffirmed simultaneously, which made Van even more shocked, since he believed this account to be untrue baloney as well.

"You certainly have a powerful wife "Thomas"," He complimented.

"The rings gave it away," Kazuma guessed.

"Yes, but also the way you act towards each other, you stroking her hair, she laying on you like it is completely natural," Reichnott pointed out as he sent them a warm smile.

"Astute as ever Reichnott," Melty spoke as she stepped back into the carriage with Iris behind her.

"Your compliment is greatly accepted," He said as he bowed his head to her.

"Everyone back into hiding, we are leaving for Reichnott's mansion, and we don't want anyone to be spotted, which incidentally means that you can no longer be our "prisoner" so let him go Lalatina," Kazuma ordered as he helped Melty back into the front pocket while Naofumi and Raphtalia helped each other into the back pocket.

"Before I go," Megumin said as she leaned in and whispered something to Kazuma.

"Oh, that does sound good," Kazuma agreed as they parted with a quick kiss.

"What sounds good?" Iris asked curios, which made Kazuma lean in and whisper to her.

"That does indeed sound good," She agreed as she bit her lower lip, making Darkness stare at them in confusion.

"Filo you will get instructions from Reichnott here, and he will tell you the way to his mansion," Kazuma explained as she gave him a nod.

And so the travel to the mansion began, which took around 10 minutes. It was pretty close after all. The moment they had stopped Filo transformed back into her little girl form, as the rest of the group started to get off the carriage. They were then escorted to a private room with a dinner table covered with all sorts of delicious food.

"Nobody eat anything!" Naofumi ordered as he snatched a baguette from Filo.

"Absolutely exquisite, rest assured the food isn't poisoned," He reassured them as he ate something from every dish on the table, making them let out a sigh of relief as they sat down. Naofumi sat on the right side of the host, with Raphtalia on his right again, while Melty and Filo sat opposite of them, and Darkness next to Filo. Kazuma sat down on the opposite end of the table, with Megumin on his right and Iris on his left, his mask still on.

"Ok everybody, time to eat!" Filo happily exclaimed as she grabbed the food with her hands.

"Where are your manners?! Put that down," both Raphtalia and Megumin reprimanded her, as Megumin started to eat.

"Ugh, ok," Filo reluctantly put her food down as she picked up a knife and fork and started to eat more civilized.

"Come on master Naofumi I am sure it is fine to eat," Raphtalia reassured him.

"It is incredibly rude to cast such doubts on his gracious hospitality," Melty said as she started eating.

"No, it is purely logical to cast doubts on someone we just met, even if you vouched for him, he could very well have ended up betraying us," Kazuma pointed out as he also started to eat, with Iris following his example.

"I take it you still doubt me, since you have yet to reveal your face," Reichnott pointed out as he joined the feast.

"No, I simply keep this mask on to avoid other problems,"

"Ok, I will not pry, but how long do you plan to stay?" Reichnott directed the questioned toward Naofumi, which also started to eat.

"We are leaving tomorrow morning at dawn," Naofumi stated, which made Kazuma nod in agreement.

"But why so soon?" Melty questioned.

"Because, the longer we stay here the higher the odds of us being sniffed out," Naofumi explained.

"More like ratted out, even if Reichnott is trustworthy, is all of his staff the same?" Kazuma argued.

"You two are both cautious, it is almost like you are related," Reichnott joked, but this time no one revealed anything with their facial features, that was something they couldn't let be revealed to more people.

When the food had been properly eaten Kazuma spoke up.

"Reichnott do you have a shield available?" He asked

"Indeed I do, do you wish for me to bring it?" Reichnott asked, which Kazuma confirmed with a quick nod.

It took 3 minutes before Reichnott returned with a family shield and put it on the table in front of Naofumi.

"Naofumi, pick up the shield and see if you can copy it," Kazuma instructed.

"I can't copy shields," He argued back.

"Just try, the bow hero could copy my bow, I have a feeling you can copy shields then," Kazuma theorized, which made Naofumi pick up the shield.

"Nothing is happening," Naofumi complained.

"Try to believe that you can, Aqua couldn't do anything without belief," Kazuma argued.

"Ok, believe, I can copy any shield I hold, I can copy and shield I hold, I can copy any shield I hold," Naofumi chanted to himself, when suddenly a weapon copy section popped up in his player Hud, making him stare at it in disbelief, as the shield he was holding became available.

"IT WORKED!" Everyone stated in shock as they saw the shield Kazuma held, got a perfect copy on his shield arm.

"This is huge, tomorrow I can travel back to Axel and build some shields for you, comeback and give you some of the highest quality shields I can gather," Kazuma happily explained.

After the great revelation, they were showed to their rooms, Kazuma asked for a big room close to the ground, while Naofumi and his companions were provided with a room on the third floor. Meanwhile Darkness had been placed in a room awfully close to the Lord's own bedroom.

"Would you please tell me where we could take a bath?" Kazuma asked the maid.

"There is a bathroom down the hallway if you wish to freshen up sir…"

"Essler, Thomas Essler," Kazuma answered.

"Very well mister Essler, if you need any soap or lotion, just ask and we will provide it for you," The maid politely informed.

"The hospitality is appreciated, well girls, do you need any soap or lotion before we go to the bath?" Kazuma asked.

"Yes please!" They both exclaimed in unison

/Meanwhile in Naofumi's room

"Wow this feels amazing, so soft and bouncy!" Happily informed the others as she rolled around in her bed.

"You should get some rest, why don't you sleep?" Melty suggested to Naofumi.

"There is no way of knowing when this place is going to be attacked, I make it a point of not sleeping at times like these,"

"Don't you think "Thomas" is going to stay up and watch us, would be surprised if he didn't,"

"Yeah, but what if there really is a rotten apple in this mansion, wouldn't that be the perfect opportunity to strike," Naofumi argued back.

"Master Naofumi why don't I keep watch, so that you can go and get some sleep," Raphtalia offered.

"Alright," agreed as he walked over to his bed.

"Why do you listen to Raphtalia and not me?" Melty queried in an annoyed voice.

"Don't worry about it," Naofumi bluntly stated as he flung himself onto the bed and closed his eyes.

"Sleepy," Filo simply stated as she fell asleep in an instant.

"She has been dragging that carriage around all day, no wonder," Raphtalia noted as she pulled the covers over her companion.

Melty tired herself also went to sleep.

"Would it hurt to be a bit nicer to her, it wouldn't cost you anything you know," Raphtalia whispered to Naofumi as she also pulled the covers over him. He didn't say anything in response, he just rolled over on his side and started to sleep.

(I enjoyed being so close to you today, maybe I should thank Kazuma for that) Raphtalia thought to herself as she lovingly gazed upon him.

/A few hours pass

Kazuma retrieves an AR and 4 magazines from the carriage. His instincts are telling him they might come in handy later. In the meantime Naofumi woke up to see Melty staring out of the window.

"You are up," Melty noted.

"Yeah, I will take over now," Naofumi said as he stretched.

"It's fine, I am actually not really sleepy," Melty retorted.

"What's the matter?" Naofumi asked, kind of worried.

"Naofumi I…" Melty stopped.

"What is it?"

"I was just thinking as a crown-princess should I really keep running like this? As a member of the royal family there's just so much more I could be doing, but I find I am doing nothing, because I keep running," Melty explained as she stared out the window, not really sure what to focus on.

"You being alive is essential for all of us, if you cannot stand witness for my innocence everyone is pretty much screwed, so worry about your duties when you are safe and out of danger," Naofumi argued.

"But… I feel so pathetic," Melty shared as she trapped the curtains in a death grip.

Suddenly Naofumi placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, which made her gasp from the unexpected contact. "Don't be so hard on yourself, get some rest now!" He strongly advised.

"Ok," was all Melty answered with as she went over to her bed and sat down.

"Don't worry, I am sure something will come up that only you can take care of," Naofumi shot in to comfort her.

"Thanks… uhm, never mind it is nothing, goodnight Naofumi," She said in a gentle tone as she pulled the covers over herself and started to fall asleep.

"Yeah, goodnight," Naofumi quickly answered as he looked back out the window.

/The adults room, except for Darkness

"Aren't you gonna go to bed, dear?" Megumin worriedly asked as she saw him sitting in front of a bunch of dismantled parts.

"No, I can do an all-nighter or two without any problems, just get your sleep," Kazuma said as he rubbed his chin in thought.

"I know I like you with that mask on, but let me see your face now," Megumin said as she stretched her arms out and removed the mask. "Please dear come sleep with us, you are worrying too much and need to relax," She pleaded with him, and tugged at his sleeves.

"I did enough relaxing in the bath with you two, I need to figure out our next step," Kazuma said as he turned away from his wife, and looked out the window.

"At least eat and drink something," Megumin said as she put forth a glass of water and some meat.

"Ok, sleep well," Kazuma simply retorted as he looked back to his disassembled gun, before he reassembled it again for the 10th time.

/Back in Naofumi's room

"No… leave her alone," Raphtalia murmured, which caught Naofumi's attention, and he could she see was sprawling around in her bed, like she had done when he had first bought her.

He went over to her and held her hand, which seemed to calm her down a little, but her tears still ran down her cheeks. Naofumi wiped them away as they streamed down her face with his hand, and every time he did Raphtalia seemed to get calmer and calmer until her tears stopped.

(Poor thing, she is having that same nightmare again) Naofumi thought as looked at her now calm sleeping face with concern.

After a few more hours of pacing around in his room and checking up on Raphtalia every now and then, he could see the sun start to rise. He started to get dressed when all of the sudden the serene silence was broken.

"BANG! BANG! BANG!" Three rapid shots could be heard loudly ringing throughout the mansion, waking everyone up in an instant.

A/N

Ok I will end it here, since this is the longest chapter I have written so far. I do hope you enjoyed reading it though. The 4:20 thing was a tribute to this story reaching 420 followers on the 4/20, which I find funny. The choice of Megumin allowing Iris to marry Kazuma, might be disliked, but I am not called ContriversalNews for nothing.

Hopefully I see you people in the next chapter.