"Gotta admit, I'm pretty excited about this trip. Was never a big fan of the beach, but I've never had anyone else to go with either!" Kazuma mused as he gathered up the beach towels and a blue and white beach umbrella while the girls gathered their own beach day supplies from the cart they'd arrived in. "For once, I'm gonna approach this with optimism and say today is gonna rock...hopefully, anyway."

"And you get on our case for raising flags like that?" Megumin mocked gasped before shaking her head and chuckling in obvious mirth. "Kidding. I'm actually happy you're going into this with a positive mindset. Then again, what's not to love about the beach, right?"

"Couldn't have said it better myself, Megumin! I think the beach is great!" Aqua cheered, her rampant enthusiasm infectious as ever as she bounced from foot to foot excitedly. "I've never even considered what'd it be like to have a proper day out with you guys, though! This is gonna be awesome!"

Kazuma smirked but rolled his eyes all the same. Of course his water goddess girlfriend would naturally be excited about going to the beach. It might as well have been her secondary home, really. Plus, he seriously doubted they will get much in the way of complaints if she accidentally purifies some splotches of water here or there. Not like how they did back in Alcanretia at least.

"I must admit, while I haven't taken many trips to the beach myself, I've thoroughly enjoyed myself for the most part." Darkness chimed in from nearby, beaming at her party and friends. "I also share Aqua's sentiment of finally being able to share the experience with friends!"

Wolbach and Sena were the last ones out of the cart, the two ladies having elected to open their umbrellas early and already pulling out their respective sunblocks they acquired from their local vendors back home.

"I didn't want to admit this at first but I'm going to be frank…I have never been to the beach before," Sena confessed shyly as she focused on applying sunblock to her arm. "And the stories I've heard from my old coworkers always had something bothersome happen to them whenever they went. Like sunburns and coming home with sand forever littering the house. I'd prefer to avoid those two in particular if it can be helped."

"I must concur with Sena on that front: I've never been to the beach before either. At the very least, not to relax." Wolbach agreed with a skeptical expression, taking some of the offered sunblock once Sena was finished and applying it as well. "Still, I will approach this with skeptical optimism, much like Kazuma. After all, the company could certainly be worse, so at the very least I'm guaranteed not to be bored."

Aqua sighed dramatically as she spun on her heels to face the dark goddess. "You still need to learn to loosen up more, Wol. You too, Sena. You girls are both total workaholics! The beach will be a great opportunity for you to stretch your legs and let out that free spirit you keep caged inside! Also, hold off on the sunblock, will ya? Kazzy will be personally applying it for each and every one of us."

The blue-haired vixen suddenly turned back to bat her eyes at her boyfriend. "Isn't that right, my most faithful follower~?"

"That feels like a dangerous sentiment, but if you're really that set on the idea…" Kazuma chuckled with a slight flush, caught off guard by the unprompted offer. Granted, no amount of time and maturity would ever fully tune out his pervert instincts, but he hadn't planned on bringing it up himself and risking ruining the mood.

It was then that he noticed a certain other pervert in their midst shivering like crazy despite the perfect beach weather outside today. Darkness kept her mouth shut and her eyes on everywhere else but him, but Kazuma could tell a whirlwind of depraved thoughts was swirling around in the crusader's mind at that moment. Again, no amount of time and maturity could ever truly stamp out the young man's perversion, and the same rang especially true for his masochist girlfriend.

Still, points for not blurting her fantasies out loud in public, Kazuma thought to himself in earnest.

"Regardless, we should probably set up shop first before we get to anything too exciting." Kazuma chuckled, before pointing towards the nearby beach itself, which was an admittedly stunning sight of the gorgeous coastline. "Shall we, ladies?"

With a triumphant bellow, Megumin led the charge by storming the beach like a bat out of hell, spouting her usual brand of Crimson Demon dramatics. Everyone else just shook their heads in amusement and followed after her in no big hurry, hoping to find a good spot that had yet to be taken.

The beach resort they were at was actually only about a day or two away from Axel by cart, and due to its relatively close proximity to the well-fortified town, it was quite lively with villagers and adventurers alike. Kazuma even heard that the place was renowned for their dishes that mixed seafood caught from the ocean and leftover cabbages that come flying in to escape the continent during harvest. He couldn't help but compare the living vegetables to baby sea turtles who have to scramble to the ocean before getting plucked off one by one. Survival of the fittest he surmised, even if it was weird as hell in this world.

After taking time to pick out a proper spot on the beach, Kazuma and the others set up a pretty decent little hang out spot. Setting up all their towels and umbrellas to provide shade, as well as Wolbach's beach chair that she brought along, they got a pretty good setup situated for their time there.

"Alright gang!" Aqua cheered. "Now all that's left to do is to switch out into our swimsuits. Shame this isn't a nudist beach, though. Otherwise, I'd put on one helluva strip show for Kazzy and vice versa!"

"Sheesh, really laying it on thick this early, Aqua? Save some for the rest of us." Wolbach chuckled as she sank into her seat, rolling her eyes in amusement over her fellow goddess' antics before casting their mutual boyfriend a thoughtful look and small smirk. "Then again...the latter proposition is remarkably tempting…"

"Gods really are thirsty beings," Kazuma snorted as dug in his bag for his swim trunks, holding up his hands to placate the pointed look Aqua shot his way. "But only when you want to be, I get it. Still, I'm glad this isn't a nudist beach. I don't think neither I nor Darkness could…'behave' yourselves if that were the case. For a multitude of reasons."

"I'm afraid I must agree with Kazuma, this environment is...s-s-stimulating enough as it is." The crusader confessed, still blushing a bright scarlet as she shifted slightly while clutching her bag desperately. "If this were a nudist beach...Eris above, I can't imagine how much I'd embarrass myself and you all."

"Right…besides, changing and bathing in an all-women's bathroom is enough for me as is," Megumin added with a grimace as she glanced down at her underdeveloped chest ruefully. "Any cows call me an ironing board again and I'm throwing hands. An Explosion if they get really cocky about it. That'd scare 'em."

"I'd prefer you keep the Explosion until after our mini vacation here, but you do you, babe. I trust your judgment. Y'know...mostly." Kazuma replied with another chuckle before retrieving his trunks with a triumphant 'Aha!' and rising back to his feet. "Well, I'm gonna go get changed, and I assume you five are gonna do the same. See you in a few?"

"We'll be back at this spot before you know it," Sena confirmed along with a half-serious salute before reaching into her bag and pulling out her own swim attire. She glanced hesitantly at it…and promptly blushed while pinching the bridge of her nose. "Gods, how did I let Aqua convince me to buy this again…?"

"Easy, I'm a persuasive gal when I wanna be!" Aqua replied swiftly and with a mischievous giggle, before turning to Kazuma and waving him off with a far too innocent smile. "See you in a minute or two, Kazzy~!"

Kazuma continued to laugh as he headed off to one of the nearby changing rooms, finding it mostly barren as he entered, much to his subdued relief. He wasn't a huge fan of this environment either, but then again, he never caught as much flak as Megumin did back home.

All the same, Kazuma took up a vacant stall and made sure to lock it behind him as he began to undress. Even though most male adventurers were (usually) mature when it came to stripping down to their birthday suits in front of each other, that didn't necessarily mean Kazuma wanted anyone to accidentally walk in on him if he could help it. Truthfully, the young man did his very best not to think about compromising situations such as these back when he was forced to use the public bathhouse, keeping his eyes locked above the torso range at all times lest he feel…inadequate by comparison.

Although…he'd be lying if he said sex with his girlfriends and friends with benefits haven't helped boost his body confidence to a degree. They were always quite fond of his "Excalibur" in those situations.

Changing into his swim trunks didn't take long at all, so soon enough Kazuma was ready to get back out there and have a fun day in the sand with the girls. While they weren't on call much these days, it still felt good to just have a laid back day like this where they could just do nothing besides relax.

When Kazuma stepped out of the changing rooms and returned to his spot on the beach, he noticed that Wolbach was already there and was wasting no time in relaxing herself, lounging in her special beach chair and nose deep in a book Sena lent her under the umbrella. However, upon closer inspection, Kazuma could deduce how and why the fallen goddess was seemingly able to change so fast.

Put simply, all she did was remove her cloak and pants, leaving her in just a loose short-sleeved shirt and black panties…

"Wolbach, really?"

"What? I was under the impression this was acceptable attire!" She replied while crossing her arms, pouting slightly in her seat. "Aqua and Sena both assured me it was sufficient, you know."

"While I can't deny that you make it work, I'm still kind of amazed that's what you're going with, even if you admitted to not visiting that many beaches in your exile," Kazuma chuckled lightheartedly in amusement as he squat down next to Wolbach who rolled his eyes at him. "Either way, as long as no lifeguards signal you out for it, I certainly won't be complaining."

"Mhm, I'll keep that in mind for the future." She huffed softly, before cracking a small smile and shaking her head. "As I said before, I'm very thankful that my first proper visit is alongside the people I value most in my life. It makes it a bit more...poignant, I suppose."

Softly smiling, Kazuma wrapped an arm around the pained eternal pariah and, before realizing it, planted a loving kiss on her cheek. "Well, I'm just happy you're learning to open yourself up again. I may not have been around the block for as long as you have, but trust me, I know all too well how difficult that really is. Case in point, I'm thankful you and the others are here with me. Almost feel like a normal person now!"

Wolbach chuckled warmly at that one, before resting her hand on top of Kazuma's and just smiling in amusement. The truth was, while she didn't say it often enough, she adored Kazuma and was more than happy to be a part of his life. Moments like this made it all the more important to remember.

"Awww! Getting all lovey-dovey without us?"

On that familiar voice, Kazuma turned and spotted Aqua and the rest of the girls approaching from their own changing rooms, each now clad in their respective beachwear and beaming bright as the sun. While their excitement was a treat to see, Kazuma had to mentally remind himself to keep from saying or doing anything too foolish in that moment.

Just sending a quick mental prayer to thank Eris-sama once again for gifting me with these beauties…and sent. Think I'll treat "Chris" to another round of beers when we get back to the guild. Can never be too grateful to her!

"You guys all look great! I can see Aqua had her fun selecting everyone's outfits." He chuckled after a moment, allowing some levity for the more shy members of the group like Darkness and Sena. "So, does anyone have any ideas about what they want to do first?"

"Fufufu. I already know what I wanna do first," Megumin started smugly before propping her foot up in the ice box they brought to store their drinks and posing dramatically. "Build the biggest sand castle known to man! One to rival the Royal Palace and assert my explosive dominance unto this world!"

"Sand castle sounds like a fun start, hell yeah! I'm definitely in!" Kazuma chuckled, before turning to the rest of the girls and quirking an eyebrow. "Anyone care to join us in making the finest sand-based architecture to ever exist in the kingdom of Belzerg?"

"Tempting…but I already convinced Darkness and Sena to come play with me in the water," Aqua confessed as she linked her arms around the two women and beamed like a child. "I am the goddess of it, after all. So of course I gotta stick to my domain!"

"Yet again, Aqua proved to provide a compelling argument. We couldn't bring ourselves to refuse." Darkness admitted with a light laugh, amused with the childish excitement her friend was displaying. "Perhaps later I could lend a hand on your masterpiece."

"Thanks…but somehow I get the sneaking suspicion you're holding out hope on us burrowing you neck-deep in the sand," Kazuma commented with a sly, knowing smirk as he watched his blonde girlfriend's face freeze up. "I thought as much. You really are too easy for your own good, Dark~"

"Mhm...I will maintain my composure, regardless of your teasing…" The crusader assured me, though her blush did return with a vengeance as the girls started to giggle. "This is terribly unfair, you know. Very unsporting."

"Yeah, but you love it," Kazuma countered, causing Darkness to whine in protest/arousal. He wouldn't dare go any further though since he actually wanted the woman to keep true to her word and compose herself. Turning to Wolbach, he said, "And I assume from how comfy you look that you're just going to sit in the shade and read?"

"Oh, without a doubt. I'm content where I am." Wolbach confirmed pleasantly, before nodding to the beach and flashing a nice smile. "I wouldn't recommend keeping the little one waiting much longer. She looks about ready to perform an Explosion the old fashioned way."

For a split second, Kazuma thought he was going to have a panic attack when Wolbach said that. However, when he looked over to where Megumin had wandered off, he realized she was just excitedly waving him over to come help her get a head start on the sand castle. He breathed a sigh of relief and headed over to the Crimson Demon, but not before shooting a quick glare back at the smirking bottomless goddess.

"Phrasing, Wol. You made me think she was about to set off a real Explosion. And I doubt this city would tolerate her passion like Axel has."

"Oh, come now. She has more self-control than that...on a good day, of course." She replied as Kazuma departed, clearly having enjoyed the brief spook she'd given the young man. "Best of luck on your castle, you two!"

For the following hour, the polygamous gang had their fun under the sun. Kazuma and Megumin worked diligently and carefully to ensure that their sand castle was up to "Crimson Demon standards" as his chuuni girlfriend so eloquently put it. Aqua, Darkness, and Sena meanwhile enjoyed their time swimming and having a splash fight, with Aqua accidentally summoning a mini tsunami that unfortunately ruined the sand castle and called for a temporary suspension of anybody going into the water while the lifeguards determined if it was safe to go back in.

She vigorously apologized to Kazuma and the rest for that. Wolbach just read, unbothered by it all.

"All our hard work...washed away in seconds…" Megumin whined as she stared at the spot that had once been an admittedly impressive sand castle, now reduced to a sad lump in the middle of the beach. "I didn't even get to finish the main tower."

"I know, I know. I'm disappointed we didn't get to finish it too," Kazuma soothed as he patted the distraught girl on the back and offered a bottle of chilled avocado juice from the cooler. "But don't worry, we'll punish Aqua after we get back home, okay?"

"H-hey! I already said I was sorry, I didn't mean to wreck your castle!" Aqua pleaded nearby while Darkness and Sena dried themselves off. "I promise I'll make it up to you both somehow! Maybe...I can help with the reconstruction efforts?"

Just as Kazuma was contemplating on his ditz of a girlfriend's offer, a voice suddenly called out. A familiar and…unwelcoming voice at that.

"AQUA-SAMA! MY GODDESS! I should've known that glorious wave was your doing! AQUA-SAMA!"

You gotta be fucking kidding me, Kazuma groaned internally.

Turning around with a less than inviting frown on his face, Kazuma turned to face the source of his irritation, Mitsurugi Kyouya approached in all his annoying, stereotypical isekai MC glory. Unsurprisingly, he was still clad in his royal blue and gold armor, though he didn't seem to have his usual company with him as he jogged over to their location.

"My goddess! A thousand apologies, Aqua-sama. I was settling a dispute with some rowdy dragons over in the kingdom of Elroad, so I haven't had the time to check up on you," Mitsurugi apologized, frowning when he stole a quick glance at an unamused Kazuma. "Ah, Kazuma the Cad. I see the good goddess has yet to kick you out of her party yet. You haven't been defiling her while I was out of the country, have you?"

Resisting the urge to respond with the swift and tactless answer of 'absolutely', Kazuma instead elected to choose his words a bit more carefully to start. "Great to see you too, Matsuragi. Now, I'm sure you'd love the chance to play catch-up with Aqua, but the girls and I are kinda in the middle of a beach day, so…"

"It's Mitsurugi! Mit-su-rugi! It's really not that hard to remember!" the blonde Japanese teen cried in frustration. Sighing, he glanced over at the other girls present, miraculously missing the warning glares in their eyes as he takes particular notice in Sena and Wolbach. "Wait…isn't that the royal prosecutor of Belzerg? And is that…Wolbach the demon general!? Stand back ladies, I still have my sacred sword – !"

"I really wouldn't recommend it, blondie." Wolbach warned with a raised eyebrow, looking entirely unamused with the newcomer's bluster as she crossed her arms. "Sena and I are both out of the job, as it were. You seem to have missed quite a bit while you were off fighting dragons."

"Yeah, haven't you been keeping up with current events? The war's over, no thanks to you," Megumin added as her crimson eyes glowed dangerously his way. "Also, insult my man again and I'll blow you up till there's not even an ash pile left to your name…"

Faltering a bit over the duel pressure of Megumin's glare and the surprise news, Mitsurugi turned to Kazuma with an utterly baffled look on his face. "Wait...the war is over?! I...I don't understand. How? When?"

Deciding to be merciful, Kazuma gave the incredulous cheat-user from Japan a quick rundown of the events that transpired leading up to the official surrender of the late Devil King's army. Mitsurugi's reactions to Wolbach's desertion and the death of the king himself were particularly amusing to watch, even if the latter sparked a small pang of hurt recalling it. Still, it was rather entertaining to see just how out of the loop the self-proclaimed "hero" was on the matter he felt he was supposed to resolve like a cliched shonen protagonist.

"The war is over, the king is dead...what am I supposed to do now?" He murmured aloud, his confidence visibly drained for a moment, enough to make Kazuma feel the tiniest bit bad for him. It was a lot to take in at once. "I was summoned to this world to fight the Devil King...what happens now that he's gone?"

"Hell if I know, man. Truthfully, not much has really changed between me and my team. We just keep going on quests, laze around at home, or do what we're doing now and go out somewhere," Kazuma offered earnestly, closing his eyes and shrugging his shoulders in a 'whatcha gonna do' manner. Even so, he couldn't help himself as he opened one eye and added cheekily, "There's also great sex but we try to keep that to ourselves."

"Hmm. I suppose not much has changed, in the grand scheme of things. Perhaps you have a point…" Mitsurugi started, before trailing off as his eyes slowly narrowed, turning to Kazuma with an accusing expression. "I'm sorry...what was that last part?"

"You know, just having some adult fun between my girlfriends and friends with benefits. Again, though, we try to keep our sex life relatively private," Kazuma calmly reiterated, taking great satisfaction seeing the pompous jackass who had everything handed to him on a silver platter silently fuming over his casual remarks. He even decided to be smooth and slid a hand around Aqua's waist to pull her closer to him. "But I will say this…we've really gotten to know each other during and after the war, inside and out."

There was a long, kinda unsettling pause as Mitsurugi just kind of...stared at Kazuma for a while, as if his brain was trying to piece together everything he'd just been told with increasing difficulty. Of course, Kazuma wasn't too worried, at worst the guy would just throw a temper tantrum and storm off, right?

"You…ABSOLUTE SCUM!"

Wrong.

"I don't know what kind of insidious tactics you've used on the Goddess Aqua-sama or this 'harem' of yours, but I will not stand for this debauchery!" Mitsurugi exclaimed, reeling his fist back for a mighty punch…

Only for it to be unceremoniously halted by a very durable abdomen that suddenly appeared in front of him. Mitsurugi clutched his hand in pain before flinching under the glare of an extremely unamused crusader.

"You would do well to watch your mouth, and refrain from attempting to strike my lover again." Darkness stated plainly, only the slightest edge of aggression evident in her tone as she scowled at the armored boy. "Our relationship is none of your concern, and I will not tolerate you attempting to besmirch Kazuma's name!"

"You know, I've just about had it with your attitude, whatever your name is," Aqua dangerously growled, warming up a God Blow as she bore holes into the shocked reincarnated lad. "I have half a mind to beat your ass into the ground and give that stupid sword of yours back to Eris for trying to fuck with my Kazuma! See how brave you are without your magic crutch!"

"Now can I blow him up already?" Megumin asked with a deadpan expression.

"Temper, temper, little one. We wouldn't want to make it too quick." Wolback growled, her eyes flaring with thinly restrained power as magic curled around her fists in preparation. "I must concur with Aqua; I'd like to see how well he'd fare without his crutch."

"I may have been laid off, but you still don't get to the position of royal prosecutor by being low leveled I'll have you know," Sena added sharply, adjusting her glasses in a way that the sun reflected menacingly off of them as she cracked her knuckles. "Dealing with hot-headed smart-mouths was far from uncommon in my previous line of work…"

At this point, Mitsurgi's anger had apparently dissipated significantly as he had taken a step or two back, obviously shocked with just how ferociously these girls were defending Kazuma, not that the young man was any more prepared for it.

"Uh…Satou Kazuma-san?" He asked politely, dropping the honorifics for good measure. "You're not just gonna let these charming young ladies of yours gang up on me, n-now are you?"

"Oh, it's tempting to let them off the leash, trust me." Kazuma snarked, not particularly upset over the past threats and yelling on Mitsurgi's part, especially since the girls had come to his aid so quickly. "How about we call it a draw for now, and you go off on your merry way. Find something new to do with the Devil King gone and all."

Despite being under the mercy of Kazuma's protective and supportive family, Mitsurugi mentally sang curses at the brown-haired Japanese as he narrowed his eyes on him. Eventually, though, he nodded in agreement, standing upright and clearing his throat as though he were a professional about to give a speech.

"Very well then. Perhaps I will travel the continent and see what it has to offer outside of Belzerg and Elroad. Evil never sleeps as they say, there's bound to be other villains that try to rise. Should we ever cross paths again though…we will have a proper rematch. Farewell Satou Kazuma-san, Aqua-sama. Till we meet again."

With that, the armored adventurer started to depart, though Kazuma couldn't help but roll his eyes over the mutinous muttering that started up as he did so, with one particular word ringing out just a bit clearer than the rest.

"Coward."

Megumin was the first to snap. "FIREBALL!"

"OH SHIT!"

The battered, singed, and more than likely bruised body of Mitsurugi lay on the sand, the young man's head still spinning from the asskicking he'd received over his loose lips. Meanwhile, Kazuma was trying to decide whether to be proud or concerned over the girl's ferocity.

Putting aside his moral quandary for later, Kazuma picked up the Sacred Sword Gram lying uselessly next to it's barely conscious master and smiled at his party. "So…I sell this thing, treat you girls to some ice cream, and we help rebuild Megumin's sand castle?"

"Sounds like a wonderful idea, Kazuma." Darkness replied with a bright smile, one shared by the rest of the girls in that moment, surprisingly chipper given the beatdown they just dished out. "Lead the way!"

And with that, the gang set out to find the closest vendor in town, leaving the battered Mitsurugi to pick himself up and lick his wounds (figuratively speaking of course). Just another day of adventurers on the beach as far as the lifeguards were concerned. They didn't get paid enough to settle romantic disputes, especially not when Fireballs were involved.