AN: Just a quick moment of your time before we begin. I have a question for my readers; that question relating to the proper name of the Dullahan. Is it Beldia or Verdia?

I've been looking and have found both to be used almost in equal measures. In the LN (at least the translations I've read) and the Konosuba Wiki, they say Beldia but the anime and the Konosuba page on Wikipedia say its Verdia. Does anyone actually know which is the right name or are both technically correct?

Another question is I have a few other Konosuba fic ideas swimming around in my head. While this fic is my sole main focus and will remain so until its finished, or at least until I reach a certain points in this story, does anyone want to know what my other ideas are, if only so you can voice your opinions on which one you would like to see me tackle first (as a secondary piece of work to go alongside this fic when time permits)?

Chapter 3:

Part 1:

"Excuse me, are you the one from the recruitment flier?"

I heard a deep and sultry voice come from behind me. Two recruits and both being female coming in just one day? Maybe I was entering my popular phase after all.

I turn and look at the owner of the voice.

She was tall, probably a tad taller than me. She wore light armor with a bronze sheen and yellow lines running along it. Deep blue eyes and long blonde hair tied into a pony tail. And while her armor tried its best to hide it, I could tell she had curves in all the right places along with really big boobs.

In other words, her body type was the exact opposite of Megumin's.

Not that I said that aloud. I'm not that stupid.

"I'd like to offer my sword to your party, if you will have me."

"You... you would...?"

Damn, my voice came out far squeakier than I had intended.

I give my head a quick shake, smack my cheeks a few times, then take in a deep breath to calm myself. I then say with as much cool and confidence as my voice could muster-

"I mean, of course you would. It's obvious that anyone would want to join with me; to take the road that will end with us becoming legend. Now be aware that this road I walk will not be easy to follow and there will be trials and hardships that await us and you may even find yourself facing grave peril that could even leave you robbed of your virtue..."

"That's perfect. Where do I sign up."

She says this so suddenly that it takes me aback.

As I had been speaking, the rational part of my mind, which wasn't all that big to be honest, had been screaming at me, saying 'Don't be getting so cocky so suddenly unless you want to scare her off.' Looking back, I quickly agreed that I should have thought of something better to say, but her response-

"Wait, maybe you didn't hear me properly. I said you could be facing much hardship and could even have your virtue taken by..."

"Yes, I did hear you. Every single word. That won't be any problem, I assure you, huff huff..."

With that, she began to pant heavily, her cheeks almost instantly becoming a deep shade of pink.

Immediately, a flag was set off in my brain; warning me that this chick would be nothing but bad news and that I would be a fool to take this wacko on. But how should I get rid of her?

"So... You're saying that if we ran into a pack of horny male orcs, who's only desire would be to strip you, ravage you, and leave you a sticky gooey mess, you'd be fine with that?"

Her eyes light up even more as she brings her face within inches of my own; so close that our noses were practically touching. If she had looked excited before, she was looking like she was in ecstasy right now.

And all of this was making my poor, shut-in heart beat so fast that I feared I would have a heart attack...

Again!

"Yes, that's it exactly. That's exactly what I want in life... I mean, it is the duty of those who walk the path of the Knight to safe guard those who wouldn't be able to protect themselves from such unspeakable horrors. That is why you must let me join you, so that I can take the brunt of those... I mean shield the innocent masses from such scandalous happenings."

Going from super horny, to compose, then right back to super horny all within a single blink of an eye. Yep, there was no longer any question about it.

This super hot chick was psycho.

A incredible perverted psycho, which wasn't really a bad thing so long as her perverted interest went a certain way. But she seemed to have a monster rape fetish and that was way outside even my range of acceptability. And I had played some rather sick perverted hentai back home too.

For educational purposes, of course.

Perhaps sensing that I was being overwhelmed by her presence, she pulls back and takes in a breath herself. Once she had composed herself, confirmed by her cheeks returning to their natural color and her huffing and moaning no longer audible, she tries talking with more control.

"My apologizes, I admit I have a weird fetish; the origin of which isn't worth discussing here..."

I'll be the judge of that. I decide to not press that question right now; opting to let her continue.

"I happened to see you walking the streets earlier, carrying a girl on your back. I can assume that she is a mage of some sort?"

She was trying to be more civil now. Maybe she wasn't so bad after all. Only one way to know for sure.

"Yeah, she's an Arch Wizard. If you saw us, then you probably noticed that she was covered in goo. The end result of being pulled into the mouth of a giant toad; it's a long story."

I await her reaction, wondering if her perverted nature would resurface?

"I see, a most terrifying fate indeed. That is all the more reason you should accept me into the party. My role is Crusader; one of the highest tiers of Knight available. With me there, you wouldn't have to fear such a thing happening again, either to her or even yourself. In fact, I would gladly... huff huff..."

And there it was, wasting no time at all. Miss Crusader's perverted side.

{Insert Image 1}

I honestly wanted to tell her 'no, nope, sorry, can't help you' and so on but my gut was telling me that my rejections would only spur her onwards, making her want to redouble her efforts in regards to joining me and Megumin.

While I acknowledged having another member join so soon, especially one who was already a high ranking Knight class; and if RPG's had taught me anything, then having someone with such a role so early on was very lucky and advantageous to have; I already had one problem child to deal with.

Did I really have it in me to add another on top of that?

There had to be something I could do that would make her not want to join us. But what?

Feeling her eyes on me draws me from my thoughts. I couldn't think clearly like this so I opted for the only option that came to mind right now.

"OK, I understand. Look, its getting pretty late into the day and I'm tired from the excitement from earlier. Would it be OK if we push this off until tomorrow. We can party up and tackle a Quest together and see how it goes from their. Besides, I want my Arch Wizard to have a say in this matter too."

The Crusader smiles at me, giving me a slight nod.

"That's fine. I promise you won't regret giving me a chance to show what it is I can do."

Oh, I'm sure I will.

"What time should I swing back by?"

I think about this for a moment, then say-

"Let's say, between 9am and 10am. That will allows us all to have breakfast before Questing."

"Very well then. I shall see you then and I'll look forward to meeting your Arch Wizard too."

With that, she bows gracefully before turning and walking away.

"Say, do you want to join us for dinner?"

I ask that, immediately regretting that decision. I mean, what if she and Megumin met now and they hit it off? Then whatever plan I might come up with between now and the Quest tomorrow would be meaningless.

"No thank you. I already ate earlier. I appreciate the offer though. Anyways, until tomorrow..."

She stopped, looked back at me to respond, then waves as she continues on till she was out of sight.

At least that danger had been averted.

For now-

"Hey Kazuma, who was that you were talking to?"

Megumin's voice makes me jump. I hadn't seen her show up.

"Oh, she's just another potential party member. We'll need to be hear tomorrow no later than 9am so we can meet up with her then go on a Quest to see if we could use her."

"That's great news. And even greater is..."

She sits besides me, her attention already on the lovely spread of food before us; her eyes sparkling and drool forming around her mouth.

I wondered if she had even heard me say anything or if it had already been forgotten.

As I watch her eat like a mad man, I couldn't help but smile. Yes, I did think Megumin was going to be a problem child for me to deal with in the future but I don't think I minded that much. Maybe having that Crusader around won't be so bad either.

I'm sure she wouldn't let her fetish take hold when things got crucial. Hell, she'd probably even be able to help me deal with this one here.

That didn't mean I wasn't going to try to figure out a way to scare her off with whatever Quest we did-

"Hey, what are you doing. That's my plate..."

Megumin had already finished her two servings of dinner and, seeing I hadn't started mine yet, decided to help herself to thirds. I race to stop her before she left me high and hungry-

Another flag shot up within my mind.

Part 2:

I was sitting at the small bar located inside the Guild's mess hall, waiting patiently for our new recruits arrival.

Megumin had yet to show up either which made me worry a little bit.

I had told her to be here early so we could have enough time to eat before the Crusader arrived.

"Come one, just what's taking you so long?"

Maybe I should step out and fetch her? I go to stand to follow through on that thought when I realize something important.

I didn't actually know where Megumin was staying.

After we had finished up dinner last night, we had both gone our separate ways. I had spent the night laying along the banks of the river that passed through Axel, but what about her? I needed to remember to ask her about this once she arrives.

Sitting back down, I decide to do something else to pass the time till either she or the Crusader finally arrived. I also realize that me and the Crusader hadn't done a proper introduction with each other either. That would also need to be rectified once she arrived.

Putting those things aside, I pull out the Adventurer's Guide Book and turn to the class information section; specifically the pages that detailed information on the Crusader class which was one of two Knight specific classes that were considered to be Holy Warrior's in nature.

The other being the Paladin.

As I read up on both, getting lost in the interesting details that helped define the two types and the roles they could bring to the party, I failed to notice the approaching presence behind me until I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"Sorry, am I late?"

It was the Crusader's voice that spoke.

Closing the book, I turn back to respond but find that she wasn't alone. Another familiar face was with her.

"Hey, it's you..."

The Crusader probably thought I was talking to her and started to reply only to be caught off guard when her thief companion stepped forward and spoke up first.

"We meet again, huh? I didn't expect to see us keeping such like minded company close by ourselves. So, have you been keeping out of trouble, Kazuma?"

"I've been trying to Chris, believe me. I did have a close call yesterday evening though; a misunderstanding between me, some city guards, and a few female Adventurer's over the state my Arch Wizard was in following the completion of a Quest."

Me and Chris started to have a friendly chat with each other, having forgotten that there was a third party present; her attention jumping back and forth between us. She was trying to break in; to join in the conversation, but-

"Hey, excuse me? Do you two know each other? And I'd like to hear more about what happened to your companion; in all its depraved and perverted detail... Hey, will you two listen to me already."

The Crusader's shout makes me and Chris remember her being present in the room. We both blush as we scratch the back of our heads in embarrassment.

"OK you two, let's start again. You two know each other I take it?"

Chris answers this question.

"Only recently. We met a few days back and conversed briefly. Exchanging names, having a few laughs, that sort of thing. I haven't talked with him since then."

"Are you forgetting the part when you were eying me up like a piece of meat?"

I asked Chris, making it sound as perverted as I could.

Darkness looks at Chris with shock; unable to imagine her thief companion doing such an act.

"Chris, did you really do that to this man? If so then that means my impression of you needs some serious rethinking."

"Wait, Darkness, I swear it's not what it sounds like. I mean, sure, I DID circle around him a few times, eying him very closely. But there wasn't anything sexual about it. I... well, I can't go into detail right now but I assure you that I had a good reason."

Chris says this in a panic, waving her arms frantically in the air.

"Oh really? I would very much like you to go into 'detail' right here and now. If it isn't anything bad, then there should be no problem, right? Unless, there is something more naughty in your actions?"

The Crusader, no, Darkness leaned in close to Chris, giving her an accusing eye which makes Chris panic, tear up, and back away in fear.

My laughter catches them both off guard, making them look at me. Seeing me laughing hard enough that I had to hold my sides makes them start to laugh too. The three of us had ourselves a good hearty laugh for a minute before we finally settled down enough to have a proper conversation.

"Well, that was as good an ice-breaker as we could ask for. Shall we get down to business then?"

The two girls nod as the sit beside me and we begin our meeting.

"First, let's get the introductions out of the way. My name is Satou Kazuma; just Kazuma is fine."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Darkness. And this is my best friend, Chris though you already know that."

Darkness motions to Chris who leans forward and says 'High' again.

I give them a nod then continue my introduction.

"I already know your class is Crusader and Chris is a thief. You know my mage teammate, her name is Megumin by the way, is a Arch Wizard. As for me, I'm a Stra... I'm a Freelancer which is more or less the same thing as a base Adventurer. In fact, the Guild lady Luna has said she's thinking about contacting her bosses in order to add Freelancer to the official registry. She likes it better than the current name for a jack-of-all-trades class."

"A base Adventurer, huh? I guess that means you don't have any skills learned you, right?"

Darkness ask me this, making me tilt my head to the side in confusion.

I pull out my Adventurer's card and bring up the skill section. All I could see on there so far was Explosion magic. It needed fifty skill points in order to learn but I also noticed another numerical listing just below it; saying one out of twenty five exposure points earned.

I give my card to Darkness who looks it over with Chris sneaking a peek at my card as well.

"Just the Explosion spell, huh? That won't do."

Said Darkness as she hands my card back to me.

"How about I help him with that right now. I can teach him a few thief skills, IF he buys me a drink first."

I accept her offer and buy her a full pint of Crimson Ale. As she drank, I looked at my card again and focus on the exposure points bar.

"Say do either of you know what this exposure point thing is about?"

I show my card to Darkness again who takes a moment to think, then says-

"Oh, right. I'm guessing you didn't read about this in your Adventurer's Guide. To put it simply, all skills can be broken up into several tier's; Beginner, Novice, Adept, Advanced, and Expert. If you check the detail page for each skill, it will tell you which tier that skill belong to."

Chris then breaks in and adds further context for me.

"Based on the tier level of each skill, you may have to see it used a set amount of time before it becomes available to learn. Beginner skills only need to be seen used once. Novice will need two or three times. Adept will need five to eight, Advanced between ten to fifteen, and finally Expert twenty to twenty five.."

Darkness cuts back in and adds-

"And once learned, you can also apply your skill point to level up your skills to make them stronger. Based on the skill's tier will determine how many level's a skill can gain. A Beginner tier skill can go up as high as Lvl 7 while an Expert can go all the way to Lvl 99. Once you reach the max level, the skill becomes marked as Mastered which could bring out bonus perks within the skill."

"For example, the Steal skill we thieves use, once Mastered, has the chance of stealing multiple items from our targets or could steal an item from multiple people at once provided the secondary targets are within close enough proximity to the primary target."

Chris adds this at the end.

I look at my card then back at them again.

"Damn, I didn't know that all this could be so intricate in its design. I definitely have a lot of things I need to learn about with this stuff."

Chris and Darkness nod as they get up from their chairs and I follow suit.

"And on that note, how about we go somewhere a little more private and teach you some thief skills."

"Sure thing, but why do we need to go someplace private?"

Were these two planning on doing anything 'risque' with me after teaching me some skills?

I mean, I wouldn't mind. Hell, I'd be all for it. Just give a guy a little warning beforehand so he can have some time to mentally prepare himself. You know, so I can perform to the best of my abilities.

"While the Thief class is officially recognized by both the Guild and the kingdom as a whole, there is still a bit of a stigma surrounding it. As such, anyone who's rocking the Thief class tend to be wary when around others, just as others are understandably wary around us in turn. I can't tell you how many times thieves have been blamed for things being stolen by someone who took the opportunity to steal from others and, seeing a thief walking around, decided they had a perfect out by blaming them."

Chris explains this, getting a nod from Darkness.

"I've had to help Chris out after she's suffered a few of these accusations herself."

As we pass Luna, I stop and ask her-

"Hey Luna, when Megumin gets here, let her know that I needed to step out for a quick bit. I'll be back shortly."

Luna looks at me a gives me a nod. I then rejoin Darkness and Chris

"Speaking of which, where is your Arch Wizard anyways?"

Darkness ask me this as we pass outside.

"That's what I'd like to know. I told her to be here by 9am so we could have enough time to have breakfast. I'm sure she's fine but if she's not here by the time we get back, then I'll start to worry about her."

"By the way, did you say your last name was Satou, Kazuma?"

Hearing Darkness question makes me recall something.

"Yeah, that's right. Hey Chris, that reminds me. You said when we first met that when we see each other again, you'd tell me why my family name is so special."

Chris cocks her head, clearly thinking back on our first meeting.

"Oh yeah, I did say that, didn't I. It's no big secret, really. There's an old fairy tale that speaks of a legendary youth named Satou who came from a shore so distant that returning home was said to be impossible. It is said that he, along with his party, defeated the Heretic King and became the first great hero of the world."

"It's also stated that this hero was also the progenitor of several powerful dynasty's; like the royal family that rule over this kingdom; aided by his female companions no less."

Added Darkness with stars in her eyes.

Either she was a big fan of this story or there was something perverted about it. I was to afraid to ask.

"Oh, I see. I'll need to read this story one day if I can find a copy."

"I wouldn't put to much stock in it. Most historians today don't believe its true, just a tale meant to help inspire the masses."

Darkness tells me this with Chris quickly adding-

"That's what they want people to believe. Some aren't fond of the idea that the royal lineage could trace its origins back to such commoner beginnings. Many want to uphold to idea that the royal family are the children of the Gods."

"Chris, you shouldn't go saying that aloud. There are some nobles who'd have you jailed just for insinuating such a thing. You and I both know of the one particular noble I'm referring to."

Darkness chastises Chris who merely lightly conks her head, closes an eye, and sticks her tongue.

"Well never mind that, now. Let's go learn me some skills. Then we can come back, eat lunch, and go do that Quest... Assuming Megumin ever shows up that is."

Part 3:

"OK, I'll be teaching you three skills right now. I'll teach you more another time."

We had arrived at a nice, secluded spot here in Axel. One chosen specifically by Chris as, according to her, it would serve best to show off one of the skills she wished to teach me.

There was also the fact there wasn't much traffic here; none actually, which made the task of teaching much easier for her.

And for other, more exhaustive activities if my wild imagination was to come true.

"What do you plan on teaching him?"

Darkness asked, standing off to the side.

"Well, there's Steal, obviously. I'll also teach him Lurk and Enemy Detection. I'd teach him the Bind skill too but I don't have any rope that could be used right now."

"Isn't Enemy Detection a passive skill? How can you teach him that one without joining us in doing a Quest outside the town?"

Darkness asked her, making me wonder that too.

"Luckily, that won't be necessary... I hope. With a little luck, you should hopefully learn the Enemy Detection skill alongside learning the either two. If not, then I'll have to teach you that at a later date too."

"Why can't you join us when we go to do that Quest we'll be doing later?"

Chris looks at Darkness and replies-

"I'd like to join you guys but I have to go and get supplies for an upcoming job I'm doing. It's an important one too, one that will keep me away for a month, maybe longer if need be."

"OK, enough waiting. Let's teach me some skills."

I said, becoming a little impatient with their back and forth.

Chris nods, turning her attention back to me.

"OK, first let me teach you the Lurk skill. Since its a novice ranked skill, I'll need to show you it a few times in order to unlock it for you. First, I'll conceal myself behind that barrel. Once you hear me say Lurk, count to five then walk over and see if you can see me."

I nod as Chris hides herself behind the barrel. A moment later, I hear her say "Lurk, then count to five before making my way over to the barrel. There was indeed no sign of her hiding there. I reach out and feel around, finding nothing there in the spot where she should have been.

I then feel a blade pressed against my neck, followed by Chris's words.

"Lurk can make one invisible; but with several restrictions. To use it successfully, you need to already been in an environment where stealth can be achieved. Lurk is simply a booster to help aid one in better concealing oneself. You can also cover others with Lurk as well, once you master it. There's also an enhanced version, called Cloak, that can be learned that is far more reliable. It can even be used to hide oneself when out in the open. But you'll need to master Lurk before you can use Cloak. As such, think of Cloak as a reward from me if you ever do master the Lurk skill."

I nod before she pulls away.

She then has me pull out my Adventurer's card to see how many more times she would need to use it before it was available for me to learn.

"Only one more. And I've already learned Enemy Detection too."

Chris then uses Lurk again, finalizing my ability to learn it. With that done, she approaches me-

"OK, on to the last skill for right now. I'm pretty sure I don't need to explain how Steal works?"

I shake my head.

"Luckily, Steal is considered a beginner's skill so I'll only need to use it once. Now, are you ready?"

"Let's see it.

I crack a smile which she returns. She then holds her right hand out and says jubilantly.

"Steal."

A burst of light emerges from her hand, blinding me for a moment. I then look at her and see my Bank card held out before me. Off to the side, Darkness smirks just a little bit.

"That never fails to impress me."

"OK, you should have Steal available to you now. Go ahead and learn it and the other two skills I've taught you."

I look at my card and select the three skills. Once I press down on the confirm symbol, I feel a sudden rush course through my body. And like that, I knew how do perform these skills.

"OK, show me if you can handle Lurk, Kazuma. We'll try Steal after."

After a successful Lurk, I stand before Chris again and see her dangling my Bank card out before me.

"You gonna give that back to me?"

"Maybe... How about a little challenge from me to you?"

"Chris, isn't this going to far?"

Darkness asked, showing a little concern.

Chris looks at her and waves her concern away.

"Don't worry. I'll give it back regardless. So, wanna hear what the test entails?"

I was a little doubtful about this but there was no harm in at least hearing what her challenge was.

"OK, what is this challenge?"

"It's simple one, really. On my person are several items; some that are worth a small fortune like my enchanted dagger while others have little to no worth to them. My challenge is for you to steal something that has value to it. If you succeed, you may keep the item you steal."

"And if I get the items that have little worth?"

"Then you agree to buy all the supplies I was planning to buy today for my job."

I think about this for a moment then say-

"Alright, why not. Even if I lose, it probably wouldn't be to much I'd be spending on you, right?"

"That's the spirit, Kazuma. Show me what you got."

Off to the side, I see Darkness shake her head. I suddenly had a bad feeling about this.

I shake those thoughts from my head as I channeled my mana into my right hand; holding it out-

"Steal."

Like before, a flash fills the space between us and I feel my hand close around something soft and warm. I pull my hand close to see what it was I had gained.

Off to the side, I spy Darkness looking at me expectantly before we both hear Chris make a squeak sound. Turning to look at her, we see her cheeks face turning red as a panic comes over her.

Why, I wonder? I open my hand and immediately understand-

I had a pair of white, silky panties awaiting me.

"AAAHHH, you pervert. Please give me back my panties..."

She screams out in embarrassment, my Bank card slipping from her grasp onto the floor.

For a moment, I have an urge to hold her panties high in the air above me, swinging them around and allow myself a moment to cackle. I don't do this however; I instead-

{Insert Image 2}

Drop them onto the ground, freaking out and fearing someone would come along in response to her scream and see this and make the wrong assumption.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."

"Aah, Kazuma. Don't drop them onto the dirty ground."

"I'm sorry..."

"Don't pick them back up either."

"I'm sorry, again."

"Please don't drop them back onto the ground."

We kept repeating this little comedy routine, over and over for who knows how long.

Off to the side, Darkness watched it all play out with wide eyes, pinked cheeks, and even a little drool around the edges of her mouth. Her words easily matched her thoughts.

"My lady Eris, what a savage and depraved man this Kazuma is. I MUST join his party no matter what."

After all that had finally concluded, I had retrieved my Bank card while Darkness covered Chris while she took time to get her panties back on. While I confess I had been tempted to peek, even I knew that I'd be meeting some form of Divine Punishment if I did so. Mainly because Chris had told me as much.

As far as our deal, Chris said she would forgive me in exchange for her panties back. I agreed as I feared her wrath if I didn't. After all, she had proven already that she could sneak up behind me and kill me if she wanted to. No way would I get on the bad side of a girl who could do that.

We soon arrived back at the Guild Hall and I quickly saw Megumin sitting on a bench just inside the entry way. I called out to her, getting her gloomy expression to brighten up as she looked at me and stood.

"Hey, where did you run off to, Kazuma? I've been waiting for a while, you know?"

I look at the clock above the service desk and see it was nearly noon. We had been gone for a little over an hour now. Had we really been gone that long? I turn my attention back to Megumin.

"I should be asking you that question. Where have you been? We were suppose to meet here before 9am, remember?"

Hearing my words makes Megumin blush. She also fidgets a little; making me worry a lot.

"Oh right, I forgot. I had to run a little errand earlier this morning. I didn't get here till a quarter after eleven. I was worried you had gone off without me."

I wanted to ask her about this errand, worried that she had been trying to "borrow" some fruit off trees again. But seeing as we were already passing into the afternoon, I decide to bring up that question later.

"We're comrades now so I wouldn't go leaving you behind. Not without your permission anyways."

Before she could respond, another Adventurer who had also just arrived and had been looking at the Quest board turned and looked at us as if he had heard something incredulous. He then bolts past us into the Mess Hall and moments later, we hear him say aloud to whoever else was in there-

"Hey, everyone, get this. That crazy, psycho girl with Explosion's on the brain has actually got herself into a party full time. Hell must have frozen over or something."

"The party and its leader must be cracked in their heads if they let her join full time."

"Or maybe their leader is the one giving her a taste of his own brand of Explosion, if you know what I mean?"

The last one coming from a guy who was looking back our way.

Hearing that made a vein pop on my head, but that was nothing compared to the look Megumin had on her face. Her eyes glowed with a burning fury.

"Excuse me for a moment. I feel the need to give them a little taste of my Explosion... Right now..."

I go to stop her but she struggles against me. Darkness jumps in to help me but even together, Megumin surprises us both with her strength. It only took her a moment to throw us off before rushing into the Mess Hall.

"Bind."

A rope shoot past me, wrapping itself around Megumin, causing her to fall onto the ground.

"Hey, what's going on. Untie me at once."

Megumin screamed as she looked back and glared at us.

"Good thinking Chris That should keep her under control for awhile."

Said Darkness as she breathed a sigh of relief. She then walks over and hoist Megumin over her shoulders, getting more complaints and curses from the little mage.

"I thought you said you didn't have any rope left?"

I asked Chris who scratches her cheek sheepishly.

"I don't anymore. What I said before was true, in a manner of speaking. I didn't have enough to properly teach you but this was an emergency. I'll have to finish teaching you Bind another time."

She then looks at Megumin, who sticks her tongue out in return.

"And something tells me it won't come soon enough for you."

She jokingly adds.

"Anyways, I have to be going now. I'll check back with you guys once I get back. Darkness, Kazuma, I hope things go well with whatever Quest you three end up doing today."

She turns to leave, but looks back at Megumin.

"And by then, I hope you learn to better control your temper, peewee."

"PEEWEE? Hey, get back here and fight me, you bondage bimbo."

Megumin screams as Chris gives her a laugh.

"Hey Chris, before you go. Once last question?"

She stops and looks back at me, waiting for my question.

"I wanted to ask if you wanted to join us too. The more the merrier as they say?"

"What? I refuse to accept that, Kazuma."

Darkness covers the mouth of the still raging Megumin and then says-

"Kazuma's right, Chris We could have a lot of fun as a team. Don't you agree?"

"Yeah, maybe. I'll think about your offer and I'll give you my answer when I get back."

With that, Chris made her exit.

After that, I introduced Megumin and Darkness to each other then we headed over to the Quest board to see what was available.

"Since this Quest is to show us what you can do; to convince us that we'd be fools to not let you join, I'll let you choose the Quest. Just keep in mind both me and Megumin are still fairly low level so pick something that won't be outside our skill range."

Darkness nods as she begins to look at the offerings.

"Say, can someone untie me already. I promise I won't stir up any trouble now."

Megumin did sound a little calmer, her face more irritated than angry now.

"The rope will fall away after a short time. That's what Chris has told me about how Bind works."

Darkness offhandedly replies to her request.

Megumin sighs then looks at me.

"So, did you learn anything useful? Luna said you stepped out to learn some skills. I hope you didn't learn this annoying skill."

"I show you while we're doing this Quest."

Darkness then pushes the Quest she had chosen into my hands. After reading it over, I decide that it seems easy enough so I give her the OK. We show the flier to Luna who gives us a special item needed to do the Quest with.

With the item in hand, we set out to perform this seemingly simple Quest.

Part 4:

We arrived at the spot our target was last spotted at.

Looking around, we saw nothing at first then saw the tree line on the far side rustle as a large gray skinned beast emerged. It's movement was slow and it didn't take notice of us, instead moving to a large patch of grass which it proceeded to start munching on.

The Quest was a simple one. The objective was to find a creature called a Yak-Rhino that had escaped from a nearby farming village. Normally a docile and obedient creature, one of the handlers had accidentally loosened its restraining collar which allowed it to run wild when a wooly dog, whatever that is, came up barking at it, or at the handler; trying to alert him of his error.

Because of this, and do to Yak-Rhino's being very fidgety and easily frightened creatures, despite their large and intimidating size, had panicked and ran away. Our job was to find it and place this collar back on it then see it escorted home safely. Once the collar was back on, all we had to do is tell it what we wanted to do, while saying certain words it was trained to follow, and bring it back.

Seemed simple enough, right?

Well, according to flier, this one wasn't fond of its collar so we'd need someone with incredible strength to come in and hold it down by grabbing its large horn like nose and restraining it while someone else placed the collar onto it. It was also recommended that the one who restrained it have incredible defensive stats too as, while the creature was fairly docile, it could be surprisingly violent though that was just its way of playing.

Hence, this Quest was perfect for Darkness or so she said.

"Are you guys sure we can't just blow this guy up? This would go by so much quicker?"

Megumin ask this, clearly not interested in the Quest. Understandable, I suppose, as she really didn't have anything to do, apart from either being a cheer leader or adding colorful commentary to everything.

"If we did that, not only would we fail the Quest but we'd have to pay the owners a hefty sum. How much does it take to replace one of these guys anyways?"

I asked Darkness who was strangely breathing heavily. I suddenly remember how she was acting last night and found a feeling a worry forming withing my thoughts; taking the form of a flag.

"It'll be alright, huff huff... To think to be close to and possibly be manhandled and made sport of such a magnificent beast... aah... It fills me was such excitement."

As Darkness squirms, me and Megumin can help but deadpan at her actions.

"Kazuma, is she OK?"

"No, no she's not. Hey you, don't forget this is your chance to prove yourself; to see if you can get our vote to join the team. Quit letting mister horny get you all horny too."

"I... I wasn't. I'm just excited to being doing a Quest with you both."

Darkness says this, trying to rein in her weird quirk and failing miserably. She then looks back at the Yak-Rhino and proceeds towards it slowly. In order to not spook it, she was being as careful as she could.

The Yak-Rhino's appearance was fairly similar to rhino's found back on Earth; big and bulky. They did have slightly longer legs, probably for running, and long, meaty necks so getting the collar on it once it was being restrained.

As Darkness approached it, I found myself thinking that this would be fine; that maybe there wouldn't be anything to worry about. I should have known better than to think that as the very next moment, it turned towards Darkness; having spotted her at last, and studied her for a moment before making a strange sound-

And then it charged at her with surprising swiftness.

"Darkness, fall back..."

I yelled at her. Instead, she stops moving and braces herself, taking its tackle head on and bringing it to a stop.

"Hm, not as hard as I had expected. Were you just coming over here to say high? Hey Kazuma, lets hurry and get that collar on him before..."

She doesn't finish as the Yak-Rhino lowers its head, then sudden jerks it upwards; sending Darkness flying straight up. What happened next was way to strange for words.

It started bouncing her up and down, like someone was juggling something into the air. Each time her armor collided with the beast horn, I could see little shards break off from her armor.

"Hey, hold on Darkness. We'll save you."

I shout at her, then look at Megumin who gives me a nod.

"Please don't..."

She yells her reply, making us stop dead and watch dumbfound.

"Can't you see, Kazuma? With every hit, every rebound by it that sends me flying again, more and more of my armor is stripped away. Is it making sport of me, does this count as some form of foreplay for it? What is this feeling I'm having? Oh, now I can feel it tearing away my clothing to. I think it might be planning to strip and shame me. Please, don't look at me, Kazuma. Don't watch on with your lecherous eyes as it defiles me and leaves me a gooey, unrecognizable mess."

Megumin looks at me, either with concern for Darkness or or maybe she wanted to see if I indeed had the eyes of a lech in this moment. Before I could reply, we hear Darkness say one final thing.

"AH, who could have thought my first mission could have been so amazing, AH."

Wait, the sudden look of satisfaction on her face, the way her eyes had slightly glazed over? Had she just...? With all her armor now gone as well as parts of the garments torn away, the Yak-Rhino finally stopped juggling her and allowed to fall onto the ground. And then-

It proceeded to start licking her like it was a dog showing its master plenty of love and affection.

"Kazuma, you have to hurry and get that collar onto it before it does something even more disgusting to Darkness."

Megumin yells this at me; I assumed out of fear for what might happen next to Darkness.

"Actually, I don't think she's in any real danger here. Maybe it wanted to remove her armor because it doesn't like the taste of metal or something."

Before Megumin could retort, we hear the Yak-Rhino make another sound which draws our attention to it. Looking, we see that it was reacting to Megumin's shout and see that it was looking at us. It first looked to me for just a moment, then turned to Megumin who it spent a few more minutes studying.

This makes Megumin hide behind me, fearing it might come after her next.

But after another moment, it returns to giving Darkness its idea of 'kisses.' By now, Darkness wasn't making any noise which, to be honest, scared me a little. Not because I was afraid for her safety, but because, if my earlier assessment was true, she may have passed out from her 'moment.'

I sigh and approach the beast who paid me no mind. With zero effort, I place the collar back on it and that was that.

Part 5:

After commanding it to leave Darkness alone, and Megumin waking up said Crusader with a surprisingly loud slap, we escorted the wayward Yak-Rhino home, received a letter to hand off to Luna, then began our fairly decent walk back to Axel.

"So, how did I do back there?"

Darkness asked, fidgeting nervously as me and Megumin looked at her. She probably knew her actions had confounded the two of us. Me and Megumin look at each other then back at her with worry.

"I know I allowed myself to get carried away with the moment. But if you'll have me, I promise I won't let my weird fetish interfere with my duties when you really need me to step up."

"Well, her defense was surprisingly good. Despite being batted around like that, she suffered no cuts or bruises on her body which is amazing, really. And her strength when stopped its charge was also impressive. I think we should take her on, Kazuma. I doubt we'll find another quite like her."

Oh, I agreed with her on that one though not for the same reasons that she stated.

That aside, I did agree with Megumin's assessment too. Oh, what the hell-

"If you think she's a good fit with us, then who am I to judge. Welcome to the party, Darkness."

I hold my hand out to her which she happily shakes. She then shakes Megumin's hands as well; tears pouring from her eyes.

"Thank you, both of you. I promise I'll work hard and make sure you never regret this decision."

I wonder about that?

"Hey, that reminds me, I didn't get to see Kazuma use any of his new skills he learned today. Is now a good time to show them to me?"

Megumin ask, looking at me with excitement. Darkness was wanting to see me in action again too.

I look around but see no good spot nearby that I could use to show off Lurk, so just left-

"Alright, I can show one off now. The other two will have to wait till we do another Quest as I don't have the right conditions here to properly show them off now."

Darkness quickly explains what Skills I had learned today.

"You'll give me back whatever you steal from me, right Kazuma?"

"Don't worry, I will. If I don't, you know the drill. Punish me however you see fit. After this, you can do an Explosion so Darkness can see what you got, OK?"

Those words bring an excited look to Megumin's face as she holds her staff out before her with pride.

I walk a few steps away, giving myself a fair spacing between us. Off to the side, watching was Darkness who had bawled her hands into fist; pumping them up and down. I could hear her chanting something so I close my eyes and focus my senses onto her words-

"...panties... panties... panties..."

She repeated over and over again; clearly wanting to see me do a repeat of what had happened with Chris

"Ready to be stolen, Megumin?"

Megumin gives me a confident smile.

"Try you best. Kazuma, if you can steal my eye patch, I'll give you an amazing reward."

Oh, giving me an incentive, huh? Challenge accepted. I gather my mana into my right hand and-

"Steal."

After the flash of light, I look and find nothing there.

"Huh? What happened?"

I asked as I looked at Megumin who returned my gaze with disappointment.

"Oh, right. Chris forgot to mention Steal has a chance to fail, especially early on. You'll need to power it up a bit before the odds are more or less guaranteed to succeed. Try using both hands as that will double your chances at getting something good."

"Where you'd learn that Darkness? I thought you were a Crusader, not a thief."

Megumin asked though the answer should have been obvious.

"From Chris, obviously. We've known each other for a good while and she's shared secrets with me about how the Thief class works that probably shouldn't be shared with others outside the class. That just goes to show how close we already are."

Megumin looks back at me and says-

"Wanna try it again then? If you fail to get my eye patch though, you have to buy us all dinner tonight and I have to say, I'm feeling really hungry right now."

You say that despite not really doing anything today; apart from being late getting to the Guild, which I still need her to answer why she was late, causing a ruckus that needed her to be tied up, and then just standing around while me and Darkness, mostly Darkness, took care of the Quest.

"Alright, but if I do get that eye patch of yours. Then your 'amazing reward' better live up to the amazing part; nothing lame like a pat on the shoulders or buying our dinners for us instead."

Megumin gives me a smug smile as I hold both arms up and shout "Steal" again.

After another flash of light, I quickly realize that it had worked this time as I found myself touching something soft... and squishy? In both hands too? I had closed my eyes when I had used Steal so I didn't know what it was. But I had an idea and it was an ominous one at that.

"Kazuma... Are you sure your class is really Freelancer and NOT Pervert?"

My eyes shoot open, finding Megumin easily within arms length of me. And my hands were currently pressed against her mostly flat chest. I say mostly as I could feel the pumps that existed and clearly well hidden beneath her mage attire.

"I know I called you a pervert last night but that was meant as a joke. But now...?"

I panic as I look to Darkness who was looking at me as if I was some wild, untamed, perverted beast.

"Such a depraved and lecherous act to perform on a girl. I'm so glad I've been accepted into this party."

"Hey, wait a minute. I didn't do this on purpose, you know. I didn't even know you could do this with Steal."

Darkness looks at me, then places a hand on her chin and she ponders my response.

"Actually, you're right about that. Steal shouldn't be capable of actually stealing a whole person. I wish Chris had accompanied us now as I'm sure she could answer what might have just happened."

We'll need to remember this incident and ask her about it when she gets back. Wait, I'm not sure remembering this is a good idea. I'm sure Megumin wouldn't want us to... Oh right, Megumin?

I turn back to look at her, saying-

"Sorry about this, Megumin. How about I go ahead and buy us all... supper..."

I then notice something like an alarm going off inside my head; a feeling of great danger just ahead of me. Was this how Enemy Detection felt when it was activated?

"Kazuma, just how much longer do you plan on keeping your hands THERE?"

She ask me with a dangerous tone, her eyes ablaze with raging crimson energy. I finally realize I had indeed failed to move my hands away from her chest. What's more, my fingers had begun to involuntarily flex and I could feel a smaller sensation coming from each hand; the feeling of a something poking outwards.

{Insert Image 3}

I try to say sorry; I tried to say something really but her response was faster as she sent a hand flying fast and hard against my face, sending me flying like a kite in the wind.

We arrived back at the Guild Hall not long after. Megumin was being carried on Darkness back following her rather impressive anger fueled Explosion. Despite fearing her wrath being unleashed upon me again, I had still complemented her on how awesome that Explosion had been.

That seemed to have lessened her anger towards me.

While she had her head turned away from me, I wasn't sensing the same murderess intent she had been giving off when she had sent my flying so maybe she wasn't mad no more? Maybe she was just looking away to hide her embarrassment; either from my unintended groping or her response? Or both?

I didn't have the courage to ask her now.

As for me, I still had the imprint of her slap clear as day on my face. Still hurt like hell too.

Luna looks at us, seeing the state we were in as Darkness puts Megumin down on the ground.

"What..."

"Don't ask. Seriously, don't ask."

I quickly respond to Luna before she could fully ask her question. We then hand her our cards as well as the letter from the client.

"Well, that aside, it looks like it was a successful mission. Oh, before I pay you, I need to apologize."

"For what?"

We all ask in unison.

I feel another pare of eyes on us and see that the Adventurer who had triggered Megumin earlier was peeking out from the mess hall, probably wanting to hear some more juicy gossip.

"After you had left, I received an update from the client. He said the Yak-Rhino that had escaped had a rather curious quirk about it. You see, it goes gaga whenever it sees a girl and will immediately rush over to her and start lathering her with kisses. Nothing serious, I guess, but that I should probably warn any female Adventurer's of this detail should any take the Quest on. I'm sorry you weren't made aware of this detail."

So that's why the client had looked remorseful when talking with Darkness.

"Don't worry about it, Luna. It wasn't all bad, to be honest. In fact, I wouldn't have minded if it was just a little bit more affectionate."

Darkness tells her this while already showing signs she was entering horny mode again.

A thought then crosses my mind while Megumin says-

"Hey Kazuma, remember when it looked at us? It turned away from you rather quickly but it kept looking at me for a few moments. Does that mean...?"

Does it mean that it was trying to decide if you were a girl or not and ultimately decided not? Don't expect me to say that aloud. I'm not that stupid.

"Hey guys, you have to hear this. That little Explosion loving kid was mistaken to be a boy by some overly affectionate monster. That's got to be a blow to his... I mean, her ego, right?"

The sudden laughter that erupted from the mess hall pushed Megumin's temper over the edge as she immediately tries to bolt after that guy and everyone else who was laughing along with him.

"Wait, stop. Megumin, calm down. It's not worth it. Hey Darkness, hurry up and help me here."

I yell at Darkness who quickly joins me in trying to restrain Megumin. Luna and a few waitresses also join in trying to restrain her.

"LET ME GO. I'M GOING TO KILL THEM. THEY'LL SUFFER MY WRATH THIS TIME, I SWEAR IT!"

"Megumin, please no. Don't let those assholes get to you. You're a far better person tha...OOF..."

My attempt to calm her came to a sudden, and very painful halt, as Megumin's staff, which she had been swing around frantically in her rage, had somehow been sent slamming into by groin. Needless to say, I was taken out of the restraining fight.

As I crumpled onto the ground in a hacking, sputtering mess, Megumin broke free of the others and charged into the mess hall. Seconds later, the sound of crashing; bashing, and screaming was heard. Luna and the waitresses ran in after her but it was clear things weren't going well for all involved.

And Darkness? Rather than follow after to help out, she instead chose to stay by me; kneeling down and asking me-

"Kazuma, tell me what it's like? To have your pride and joy crushed under her brutal swing. I know this isn't my usual kink source, but please tell me just how much pain and humiliation are you feeling?"

She even got turned on by something like this?

Oh my god, what has my poor decision making choices have led me to?

After that, several things happened.

The Knight Guards had to be called in, resulting in the three of us spending the night in jail.

Our reward money for the Quest was taken to repair the damages Megumin's rampage caused to the Guild.

We were also barred from enter the Guild again for two weeks; so no Quest and no more money either.

And I realized that this was going to be a regular thing for me to deal with, wasn't it?

I wish I could go back to Japan...

Next time: The Dullahan arrives...

Image 1: Darkness looking all hot and bother while Kazuma is freaking out.

Image 2: Kazuma holding Chris's panties as she pleads with him to give them back.

Image 3: A shot of Kazuma's hands groping a red faced Megumin's chest.