The Annual Cabbage Harvest & the First Unofficial Outing:
"Huh, oh there you two are. Where have you been all this time?" Aqua inquired after seeing Maximus walking through the front doors of the Guild. She studied him a little further and noticed Kazuma, unconscious, wrapped in Maximus' right arm. "What happened to him?"
Maximus looked down at Kazuma. "Oh, him, I had to teach him some manners and may have overdid it just a bit." He said raising his free hand forming a pinching gesture and a small innocent smile on his face.
"It was horrible, he was such a perverted boy that if Maximus wasn't there who knows what he would have done after that." Chris said on the verge of crying and pressing close to Maximus, wrapping her arms around his left arm.
"So, it is true, he's a creep after all. I knew it from the moment I first saw him." Aqua said in terror hugging her chest and backing away from him.
"Is this true?" Megumin asked.
"It is true, your friend here was in need of some discipline after using a steal skill on Chris. This resulted in her panties being taken and afterward he was being overjoyed about it. That is when Maximus punished him for it." Darkness briefly explained and afterward she began to blush a little with a thought. "If ever you feel I have stepped over my bounds, feel free to punish me in the same fashion!" She said almost shouting it at Maximus wrapping her arms across her chest thinking about being bashed over the head by him.
Maximus looked at her as she was on the verge of hyperventilating and his uncomfortable feeling towards her was overflowing him. "For heavens sake, she is so weird." He said to himself.
Maximus placed Kazuma upon the bench and looked over to the bar. "Hey, can I get a pitcher of water drawn up over here?" He shouted over.
"Coming right up sir." The bartender responded.
After being handed the pitcher Maximus dumped it on top of Kazuma. "Wake up kid."
Kazuma quickly awakened to the cold sting of the water being dumped upon him and the moment after he sprung to life.
"Ah, what was that for?!" He inquired looking down at his drenched tracksuit. The moment after his head began to feel as though it was swelling up. He slightly pressed his hands upon his head to relieve the pain.
"Isn't it obvious, it was meant to wake you up from your unconscious state. Now then, I believe we must discuss about what quest to go on" Maximus sat down on the opposite side of Kazuma. "Not to mention we never established who the leader of this party would be."
"I think that should be obvious," Kazuma said looking down at the table. "You should be our leader."
Maximus sat there feeling surprised that Kazuma didn't put up a bid for himself to be the party leader. "Alright," He turned to the others who were standing near the table. "What say you all about me being the party leader?"
"Sure, I would've voted for you anyway over him." Aqua said sitting next to Maximus and wrapped her arms around his right arm.
"I agree, I think it would be a great idea." Megumin added pressing her hand on his right shoulder.
"As long as we go on very difficult quests where there's a chance we could be captured and tortured beyond belief. Oh, the horrors those enemies would make us endure as they ravage our bodies with shameful acts." Darkness shouted out hugging herself with excitement building rapidly.
"And there she goes with her weird attitude." Both Maximus and Kazuma thought to themselves.
Maximus turned to Chris and she was hesitating for a moment. "Uh, I don't know if I should join your party to be honest. I do have other obligations so I may not be there all the time." She laughed nervously with her hand behind her head, scratching it.
"Well, you can be an honorary member until the time you decide to fully join us. In between your obligations and whenever you are around, you can always team up with us as there will always be an open slot for you." He said with a smile and his free arm extended out in a welcoming gesture.
"Sure, that'd be great." She replied with a smile and immediately wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
She glanced over at Aqua who was having an upset look on her face. Chris looked over at her and pressed her right index finger under her right eye lid slightly pulling it down and stuck her tongue out. The two locked their gazes for a few moments before Chris backed away. She faced Maximus and kissed him on the forehead. She leaned back and winked at him.
Maximus was unsure of what to do in that moment. He could sense Aqua's anger mounting by the second.
Kazuma sat there feeling his jealousy build up. "Oh man, this is so not fair. How come he is getting the attention of all the hot chicks so far. This was supposed to be my start at a new life and here he is taking it away from me. Why couldn't I start out like him?" He thought to himself.
Darkness was surprised about Chris' action and wondered why she kissed Maximus. "Could she be developing a crush on him already?" She paused for a moment looking at him. "I do not deny he is a very attractive man. His large stature would be ideal to receive torment from. His strength is unmatched thus far and after defeating a Manticore with his bare hands, it's obvious as to why that is. I must be punished by this man right now!" She finished her thought and began to think about Maximus torturing her.
Before she could continue with the thought, Luna's voice was echoing throughout the hall and the town.
"Emergency quest, emergency quest, we need all able adventurers assemble at the front gate immediately!" Her voice sounded as though something terrible was forth coming.
Everyone began to make their way to the gate and on the way there both Maximus and Kazuma began to wonder what could make everyone panic. They saw many people in the markets running in fear, terror filled their eyes. Many prepared themselves for this important event.
After everyone gathered, they all waited outside the walls of the town. Both Maximus and Kazuma kept their gaze forward after seeing everyone else was still facing in the same direction.
"What could everyone be so afraid of?" Kazuma asked out loud.
"Who knows for sure, but I get the feeling we are about to find out." Maximus responded.
The next moment the clouds darkened as if on the verge of raining. The atmosphere had a gloomy feel to signal a coming terror.
"This is going to get ugly." The Mohawk guy said barely over a whisper.
Both Maximus and Kazuma began to sweat a little wondering what is coming their way. The next moment the two saw just over the horizon, far off from the town, a green haze that looked like a massive cloud of fog. They kept their focus for a moment longer as the massive object barrel towards them.
"What is that, a giant blob or a green monster?" Kazuma asked out loud backing away from where he stood.
"Oh no, silly, those are just cabbages." Aqua informed him.
Both Maximus and Kazuma were confused.
"In this world, cabbages fly at the time they are ripe and ready to be eaten. They soar great distances to be capture and be devoured by their captors. The ones that are never captured, continue on until they wind up in a secluded, desolate place to rot and die, having never been eaten." She paused for a moment from explaining to them. "Which is such a waste, so we should capture as many as we can." She giggled.
"It's harvest time!" Everyone shouted with cheer.
"Unleash the mayonnaise!" Aqua shouted with a smile.
The next moment all of the adventurers charged forth with Maximus hanging back wondering if it would be worth capturing any of the vegetables. Kazuma took a step but quickly noticed Maximus was standing his ground.
"This year's harvest is the best one yet and as such we are offering a hundred thousand Eris for every cabbage you can catch. We even have water cages to store them in to keep them fresh." Luna shouted through the paper megaphone. She then looked over seeing Maximus at the back of the pack. "Maximus, good luck with this quest." She waved to him with a smile.
Maximus winked at her and turned to Kazuma and with a smile.
"What do you say to a little bet?" He inquired.
"Huh, how can I even compete against you?" Kazuma protested the idea.
"Tell you what, you can use the new skills Chris taught you as a handicap and I'll stick with my natural ability. Deal?" He said in an attempt to be enthusiastic about the situation.
"Uh, ok, I'll hold you to that though." Kazuma said with little doubt he would do well.
The next moment the two split from where they stood and began to round up lots of vegetables. Darkness tried with all her might to chop the lively food and was missing every single target. She began to feel embarrassed with each missed strike.
Maximus had made his way around the horde of vegetables scooping up every cabbage he could find and return with blinding speeds to a cage he designated for himself. His movements were near lightning speeds that no one was capable of keeping track of him, he zipped through them all from side to side. He had gathered a large portion of the horde when he heard the cry of a random adventurer grunt in pain.
Maximus turned to see the man laying on the ground and many others were beginning to join him across the field. The next moment a lone cabbage was barreling towards the man at high speeds and he feared the worst would happen. He closed his eyes and when the vegetable was a few feet away he heard the crushing sound of metal against the food.
Maximus noticed Darkness had stood in front of the man with her arms crossed to block the potential damaging impact. She stood there unfazed as many other cabbages began to funnel their way towards her. Each hit slammed against here with such force her armor began to crack under the surprising power. Every other cabbage took off a shred of her armor and she continued to stand her ground. The man behind her began to beg for her to run away.
"I will not stand by while there is someone who is in need of assistance. I must, as a knight, protect my comrades in arms!" She shouted.
Everyone around began to admire her bravery as the cabbages continued to pound against her. Soon after her armor was in pieces and her clothing were on the verge of being torn off completely. Darkness slightly turned feeling aroused at the situation.
"Rough uncouth men are looking at my bear naked body with lustful eyes," She thought to herself and paused for a moment. Her clothing almost completely gone as she continued her perverted thought. "It's shameful, embarrassing, glorious!" She spread her arms slightly exposing herself through her torn clothes.
"She's getting off on it, a true masochist." Kazuma said to himself.
"Why is she acting this way, it's completely not the way a lady should act." Maximus said barely over a whisper.
The next moment he rushed over pulling his trench coat off to use as cover for her. When he was a few feet away he heard the overly excited incantation of Megumin's Explosion Spell. The moment he got to Darkness the spell was activated and he and Darkness were caught within the explosion. Darkness could feel the burning sensation upon her skin and was aroused after being hit with such force. Maximus had placed his hand forth to form an energy barrier that was quickly destroyed by the blast.
The two stood there slightly hunched, breathing rapidly, and when Maximus looked over, he saw Darkness standing before him completely naked. His face turned red as the rose and he quickly dashed over to cover her with his trench coat.
"Here, you should put this on so no one would stare at you awkwardly." He coughed a little and after doing that he turned away for a moment to allow her to put it on.
She maneuvered her arms through the sleeves and soon found it to be much bigger than she first thought. She could still feel the warmth of his body within it and started to feel impressed with his actions.
"Thank you for allowing me to wear your coat." She said buttoning it up and buckled the belt across her waist due to the fact of how tall he was compared to her. "This is truly a chivalrous act. He would shield me from being publicly shamed by the others, to not allow myself to lose my dignity." She thought to herself thinking highly of him in that moment.
"Whatever dignity she had is more than likely gone by now." Maximus said to himself.
"That was truly an inspiring act of bravery." One man shouted with praise to her.
"We knights should learn a thing or two from her." Another knight added.
"No! She's just freaky." Kazuma said to himself.
"What is wrong with the men in this town that they would completely miss her behavior?" Maximus wondered to himself.
Everyone began to round up their haul and afterwards returned to the Guild Hall for the rest of the day.
Later on, during the celebration at the Guild, Maximus was sitting at the table with Aqua to his right and Darkness across from her. She was wearing Maximus' long blue trench coat that looked more like she was in a tent. Megumin was sitting next to her and Kazuma on her right.
They were all enjoying the stir fry cabbage that was cooked up from the day's harvest. Chris walked up to Maximus and wrapped her arms around his neck and shoulders. She pressed herself very close to him and had a big smile forming on her face.
"What are you doing?" Maximus inquired after she latched onto him.
"What's wrong, you don't like me next to you?" She inquired with a teasing voice.
"No, I just thought you would like it better if you sit down and be more comfortable." Maximus said.
"I thought you'd never asked Maximus." She quickly replied and sat next to him wrapping her arms around his. "That's so generous of you to look after my well-being, you are a kindhearted man, one that every woman should go after." She said with a smile and shot a quick glance at Aqua who was already becoming angry.
"Hey, there's no need for you to get all touchy feely with Maximus!" Aqua began to shout and took hold of Maximus' right arm. "Besides, that is what I am for whenever we sleep at night. The two of us share a haystack after all, so if anyone is going to do that with him, it's going to be me." She declared.
Aqua shot an intense stare with annoyance in her eyes and Chris had a smirk forming. Maximus sat there feeling annoyed by their staring war and continued to eat his meal.
"What is it with Chris, acting like she knows me somehow. It's annoying that she just shows up out of the blue and thinks she can take him away from me! If that's the case, she has another thing coming." Aqua said to herself.
"It's hysterical to see how serious she is taking this. She may be my senior, but that's not going to stop me from getting his affection. He'll soon see how I am much more levelheaded if he hasn't already." Chris grinned more and giggled a little.
"Wait, do the two of you know each other or something?" Kazuma inquired of the two. "Because it sure seems like it."
Aqua looked over at him for a moment and back at Chris.
"No, I've never seen her before until today." Aqua and Chris said at the same time.
The two realized they had spoken at once and looked at each other. Aqua had an annoyed look forming on her face with a hint of anger. Chris had an innocent smile as she thought about the real truth of it all.
The next moment Luna approached the group and stood at the side of the table. Maximus took notice of her and he felt a little awkward with having the two girls sitting so close to him. She was unsure if she should approach him further with a question that was forming in her head.
"Maximus, it's good to see you." She said with slight excitement and feeling a little insecure.
"Likewise, Luna," Maximus quickly shot back. "You know we never did get to finish that conversation from last night about our outing." He finished.
"No, we never did. I guess we could talk about it another time." She said looking down at her hands, which were twiddling her thumbs. "Well, until then,"
"No, wait, please stay and join us. There is plenty of room at the table here" Maximus said with a welcoming gesture. Luna hesitated for a moment before sitting down next to Chris. "Let's call this an unofficial outing for now and work out the kinks for next time." He finished looking at her golden eyes.
She smiled back and the whole group began to eat and drink the night away. Later on, Chris and Darkness bid them farewell and Maximus escorted Luna back to her place. Aqua was too drunk to realize where they were going and Maximus embraced Luna before leaving her place. After shutting the door, she became wrapped up in the moment of feeling his warm welcoming embrace. In that moment she felt safe and secure and afterward wanted the two of them to be together even more.
Maximus returned to the stables with Aqua in his arms and he laid her down in the haystack. He decided to wrap his blanket on top of hers and leaned against the wall for the night.
"Maybe next time Luna and I can actually do something together without any interruptions." He said to himself and began to think about Chris. "I find it weird that Chris suddenly latched onto me after the incident with Kazuma. I feel like I am now in one of those stories from the 'Fable' where the chief character ends up with multiple wives. I believe they call it a Harem or something of the sort." He stopped to look out the window, his gaze fixed on the stars of the nights sky.
The next moment Chris' image appeared before him and he was surprised. He wiped his eyes for a moment and looked up once more. He discovered her image no longer before him.
"I can't help but feel as though I am becoming attached to this world. Luna and I seemed to be drawn to each other a little more every time we meet. Now I have Chris who immediately started to grow an attachment the very same day we met." He stopped to turn back to Aqua. "Then there's her, so unbelievably childish, rude, a bit narcissistic, and not to mention completely helpless. Yet at the same time I can't help but feel the need to look after her. Is this connection between us really growing off of that?" He wondered to himself.
He began to think about the day's events as if to look over them. He started to think about the women he has met thus far once more.
"Chris and Luna are the only two who are levelheaded and not so much of a pain to deal with. But Aqua and now Darkness, I feel is going to be quite the handful to manage. What have I gotten myself into and can I keep my sanity until I defeat the Demon King? Or is that even worth undertaking?" He said to himself.
He began to think about Kazuma for a moment.
"Poor Kazuma, at the dinner table he had the look of someone who was defeated severely without taking a punch." He paused for a moment when a thought brewed up. "In the morning I'll teach him some swordplay that I had learned from my life on Lorin, maybe that will get his confidence up a lot or at least I hope it will." Maximus said to himself and began to close his eyes to sleep for the night.
Chris had appeared in her Goddess form like a transparent figure. She sat next to him seeing him sleeping uncomfortably against the wall. She leaned against him with her hands on his right hand.
"It's such a shame Aqua had taken you out of your world, but if that hadn't happened; then I wouldn't have met you. I can't believe I am falling for one who has Demonic blood within their veins. But that isn't a bad thing considering his personality and the way he treats others." She said feeling bad for him and pressed her right hand on his forehead to take the discomfort out of him which had built up. "I'm going to keep my watchful eye on you, Maximus." She leaned up to kiss his forehead once more and disappeared.
Maximus awoke to the familiar feeling of Chris' kiss from earlier. He pressed his hand on his forehead and slightly felt the damp feeling. He looked around and turned to look out the stable in the direction of the other stalls. His eyes beheld a beautiful woman standing at the opening. She was dress in a manner of a Goddess with purple clothing. She smiled with a wink and slowly faded away.
"Who was that just now and why did she nearly had the same face as Chris?" He wondered to himself. "Could they be related or are they the same person? The only difference is Chris had a scar." He finished his thought.
The next moment he felt his body wasn't in pain anymore as it usually would be sleeping in such an uncomfortable situation. He soon felt the fatigue of the day's events and fell back to sleep the night away.
