If I owned Konosuba, I'd put more emphasis on the better minor characters (Iris, Wiz, Chris/Eris, etc)
If I owned Familiar of Zero, I'd make a legitimate map.
Enjoy this silly story staring our favorite pair of explosion lolis!
This story is a part of my Louise Summons series. The goal of the series is to show what would happen if Louise (from Familiar of Zero) summoned a familiar from another franchise. Differences exist between the Anime, Manga, and LN versions, and those difference are dealt with differently. Timelines are flexible to what serves the story. Character traits are squished together as cleanly as possible. I do a minimal amount of planning for these stories. There is no end goal I want to force the story into. Instead, I want the story to develop as naturally as possible based on character interaction. Familiar of Zero had some potential, but it was wasted on a generic harem story. Let's change that, shall we?
Louise de la Valliere walked through the halls bearing all the dignity of a young noble girl from a duke's household. Her head was held high, her rosy pink eyes staring straight ahead, unconcerned by the people she passed. Her curly strawberry-colored hair flounced with every step, shaking off stray soot in the process. The girl's black cape trailed behind her, similarly leaving behind an ashy grey trail. Grey flecks streaked across Louise's black skirt and white blouse, marring her front with indisputable evidence.
Louise Valliere had once again caused an explosion.
Most students were content to snicker behind their hands. Loud enough for Louise to hear, but quiet enough for the action to not be seen as uncouth. Some students, however, added fuel to the fire by loudly whispering rumors.
Louise was not a true mage.
Louise would be expelled soon.
Louise was and would never be more than a Zero.
Once Louise finally reached the safety of her room, she allowed her body to slump. While her pride as a Valliere steeled her resolve in front of others, their words bothered her more than she would ever admit aloud. Even in the comfort of her own room, while her body betrayed her true feelings, her words were defiant as usual.
"I'll show them all," Louise vowed. Her legs trembled with shame and resentment, but her voice was steeled with determination. "I'll show them I'm not a Zero!"
The Familiar Summoning Exam was one of the most monumental events in a mage's life. Granted, it didn't compare to a mage being given their first wand, but it was a close second. The exam—or, to call it more accurately—the ceremony was a two-part process. The first was a summoning ritual created by the Founder himself. It was designed to seek out the familiar most suited for the mage, both in elemental and personal affinity. The second step was the binding of the familiar. The mage would kiss their summoned familiar, binding it with the powers of the elemental pentagon and branding it with a familiar rune.
Once bound, a familiar would serve their master until one of the two died. If the latter died first, the familiar would normally be taken care of by members of the mage's family, until the familiar too passed away. However, this occurrence usually only occurred due to old age. A familiar served their master, even to the point of sacrificing their life to preserve that of their master. As the Familiar Summoning Ceremony was mandatory in a mage's education, if a mage had no familiar, it was reasonably assumed that their familiar had perished in service.
This ceremony, being such a monumental event in a mage's life, was often looked forward to with glee. However, Louise de la Valliere was filled with dread. With her non-existent success rate in spellcasting, there was little hope for her to pass the exam.
All of the second-year students stood in one of the triangular courtyards of the Tristan Magic Academy. Louise watched as each of her classmates went forward and summoned their familiars. Some familiars were mundane, like Malicorne's owl or Montmorency's frog. Others were more exotic, like Guiche's giant mole or Francis's bugbear—which, despite its name, was actually a floating eyeball. The two familiars that stood out the most were Kirche's salamander and Tabitha's wind dragon. Given that the two mages were triangle class, unlike most of the second-years, who were dot class, it made sense that they had summoned the most impressive familiars.
Now Louise was the only student left to summon her familiar. She stepped forward and drew her wand.
"Good luck, Louise," Kirche said to her in mock encouragement.
"Do try to impress us," Montmorency snickered.
Louise gritted her teeth but did not respond to her barbs. Instead, she summoned every vestige of willpower inside herself. This was her moment to prove to everyone that she was a proper mage.
"My familiar exists in the vast universe!"
"What is she saying?" Montmorency whispered to her boyfriend, Guiche.
"Louise is speaking from her heart," Guiche replied. "It certainly suits her."
"She does wear her precious heart on her sleeve," Kirche snickered.
"My divine, wise, beautiful, and powerful servant," Louise continued, focusing all of her power while pushing aside the whispers of her classmates. She would not fail here. She could not afford to fail here. "Heed my summons! By the power of the pentagon, appear before me!"
For a brief moment, it was silent.
Then, an explosion ripped through the courtyard.
"Miss Valliere, are you harmed?" Professor Colbert, the proctor for the exam, called out.
Louise, being the one closest to the explosion, couldn't answer right away due to ash entering her throat and eyes. "I am fine," the girl finally managed to get out after a few coughs. She blinked tears from her eyes as she peered into the now-dissipating smoke. "It appears that my summon did not go as planned." Louise could not hide the disappointment in her voice as she said this.
As the smoke began to clear, Colbert spotted a dark figure standing in the ash-covered grass. "Actually, it appears you have succeeded, Mrs. Valliere," he said with no small amount of surprise. While he was pleased with her success, he could help but be caught off guard. Louise was dedicated to her studies, and knew the theories of magic as well as some teachers. However, her explosive failures were infamous. Even for a spell as simple as this one, it was hard to not doubt her ability.
Louise's eyes widened in surprise as she also caught a glimpse of the shadowy figure. "I actually summoned a familiar," she said excitedly. The figure was taller than she was, and appeared to be bipedal. As the smoke cleared and Louise was able to make out the finer details, her expression fell. The height she had attributed to her familiar was actually due to a hat on their head. Not only that, but the creature standing in the fading smoke was a human girl! Worse, the girl looked younger than her! And as if that wasn't bad enough, the staff in her hand and cape on her back made it clear that she had summoned a mage. A mage! She couldn't make a member of nobility into her familiar!
The girl Louise had summoned looked around at her surroundings. Her outfit resembled that of a mage, but her accessories were strange. Her large pointed hat looked like a face had been stitched into it. A red eyepatch with a white cross covered one of her eyes. She wore a brown cape with gold borders. The red tunic she wore had long sleeves and fell past her hips, making it also serve as a short dress. A wide belt hung lopsided on her waist. One of her exposed legs was covered with a stocking than ran almost to the end of her tunic. The other leg was wrapped in bandages that reached halfway up to her thigh.. A pair orange boots clad her feet.
The summoned girl and the students both student in an awkward silence, no one sure what to say first. It was the newcomer who made the first move, slamming her staff against the ground and making a horizontal V with her fingers over her visible red eye.
"I am Megumin, Archwizard of the Crimson Demon clan!" she declared. "My very presence is the bane of the Demon Lord and his generals! No one can rival my undisputed magical power! I ask of you, who dares summon me to this other world!"
Not even crickets were heard as the girl finished her declaration. Students looked at each other in confusion, trying to understand what Megumin had said.
Finally, Colbert stepped forward. "Pardon me, but did you say 'other world'?" he asked the petite girl.
"That I did!" the girl declared proudly. Then, in a more hesitant voice, she added, "This is another world, right? Kazuma said the portal was an isekai flag, but I want to make sure. He and Aqua say a lot of strange things."
Colbert blinked owlishly. "What?"
"I don't get it either, but apparently if a circle shows up in front of you and makes a bunch of weird symbols before glowing, touching it will send you to another world," Megumin replied. "Kazuma told me not to fall for it, but I was compelled! The destructive of beauty of my explosions must be spread everywhere! If that suspiciously glowing circle did send me to another world, then that means I have a new audience to witness my magic!
Louise had been staring at the summoned girl mutely, but at Megumin's latest declaration, she found her voice. "You're from another world?" Louise asked skeptically.
"That is what I said!" Megumin declared proudly, all of her uncertainty gone in an instant. "I, Megumin, was born in the Crimson Demons Village. Upon graduating as an Archwizard, I traveled to the town of Axel to demonstrate my power to the entire kingdom of Belzerg! In my adventures with my friends, I have slaughtered monsters in droves, and even slain a Demon Lord General and destroyed a national threat-level Destroyer!"
Disbelief was clear in Louise's eyes as she regarded the girl she had summoned. Megumin's claims were not only grandiose, but also nonsensical. Was she claiming to be a demon? The only thing red about her was her clothes and her single visible eye. And what was this about a nation-destroying demon general?
Her classmates her even more skeptical, and voiced their opinions openly.
"Pfft, Louise summoning a mage from another world?"
"She got a noble's kid to dress up for her, how cute!"
"She thought we would fall for that?"
"I know, right? As if Louise could do anything but useless explosions!"
"She's can't even do real magic!"
Louise gritted her teeth against the accusations, but to her surprise, the crazy child mage she had basically kidnapped came to her defense. "You dare insult the wonderous powers of Explosion Magic?" Megumin challenged the students.
"Explosions aren't true magic," Kirche scoffed. "They're just harmless flukes when Louise fails as usual. That what makes Louise a Zero."
Megumin's hand tightened around herself as her whole body shook. "I cannot accept such a statement from big boobed bimbo like you!" she declared, pointing her staff at Kirche. "I will show you the true power of Explosions Magic!"
"Miss, Demon was it?" Colbert inquired. "Would you mind not pointing your staff at of my students?" With his Sense Magic spell, he could tell that Megumin was a genuine mage. While he couldn't judge how much power she had without her casting a spell, he'd rather not take chance of her casting a spell at Kirche in a moment of blind rage.
Megumin locked eyes with the professor for only a moment before relenting. "Fine," the archwizard huffed, pointing her staff in the air instead. "And it's Megumin of the Crimson Demons. Demon is not my family name."
"Then your family name is…?"
"Uh… I'm not exactly a noble," Megumin confessed, shifting her weight awkwardly.
This led to another chorus of whispers from the students.
"A mage, but not a noble? What a joke!"
"No wonder she insists explosions are a type of magic."
"I bet the staff and eyepatch aren't even real!"
"My staff is real! And my eyepatch looks cool!" Megumin protested.
"You're as useless as she is!" Kirche said with a laugh.
Megumin head snapped to Kirche as the smaller girl puffed out her cheeks. "I'm not useless!" she protested. "My explosion magic is the most powerful magic in existence!"
"Did Louise pay you to say that?" Montmorency snickered.
"I didn't pay her to do anything!" Louise snapped. "I summoned her!"
"Wait, you summoned me?" Megumin asked in surprise. "Perfect! So, what task have I been summoned for?"
Louise froze. "Um…" she mumbled.
Megumin walked towards Louise as she continued to speak. "Is there a Demon Lord to slay? A dungeon that needs clearing? A monster horde to eradicate?" Megumin asked, pulling in closer to Louise's face with every word.
"Not exactly…" Louise admitted, turning her face to the side.
"You didn't know?" Kirche asked with smug grin. "Louise summoned you as a familiar. I, for one, think you two are a perfect match."
"A familiar?" Megumin asked incredulously. "Familiars are creatures like Chomusuke, I am Megumin, the Archwizard of Explosions, not a familiar!"
Louise didn't know what kind of creature a Chomusuke—what a stupid sounding name—was, but she knew that her words were had offended Megumin. "I apologize for the insult," Louise said lowering her head. "My failure has taken you from your home."
Megumin huffed and rested one hand on her miniscule hip as she leaned against her staff. "Such are the risks of venturing into the great unknown," she said dramatically. "Very well, you can send me back now."
"Eh?" A bead of sweat dripped from Louise's brow.
"Since you don't need me for anything important use your magic to send me back," said Megumin.
"B-but I can't really—"
"If you ever need the assistance of the greatest Crimson Demon Archwizard, you can always summon me again."
"Actually, about that…"
"What?" Megumin asked, finally noticing Louise's stammering. Seeing the—slightly—taller girl looking away, Megumin became suspicious. "What are you not telling me?"
"Well… the thing is…" Louise said slowly. "I may, not be able to send you home."
"… Huh?"
Kirche burst out laughing. "Louise is a useless Zero, after all," she said between laughs. "Unless it's another explosion of failure, you can't expect much from her."
While Louise tried her best to look unperturbed by the comment, her head involuntarily dipped in shame. Megumin's claim of being from another world aside, the red-eyed mage was certainly going to be missed from wherever she came from. Even if Megumin was a commoner, Louise would still be the laughingstock for summoning a mage as a familiar. And that wasn't even considering Megumin's eccentricities.
"That's enough."
Louise looked up to see Megumin glaring at Kirche, her free hand clenched into a tight fist. "I've heard enough of out you," the eyepatch-wearing mage declared.
"You're defending Louise?" Kirche asked.
"I'm defending Explosion Magic!" Megumin thundered. Or at least, she would have thundered, if her voice wasn't so high pitched. "Explosion Magic is the most superior type of magic there is. You have insulted the glory of Explosion Magic far too many times! It is time for your reckoning!"
"Oh, and what are you going to do?" Kirche asked with a teasing smile. "Make a little boom, little girl?"
"I'll show you little!" Megumin declared. She held her staff to the sky with both hands, chanting loud enough for the entire courtyard to hear her.
Power from beyond the Void, answer my call…
Everyone was startled when Megumin mentioned the Void in her chant, not realizing that she was speaking about the general concept of nothingness, rather than the Founder's lost element. The surge of willpower they felt building up only added to their concern.
Silence the heretics and proclaim my power to this forsaken world…
As Megumin's chant continued, a circle of fire appeared in front of her staff and a second appeared under her feet. The students could immediately tell that the magnitude of this spell had eclipsed that of a line class spell, and with the pressure it was generating, it would soon surpass triangle class.
The blood of the Crimson Demon clan run through my veins…
"Students stand back!" Colbert shouted. His Detect Magic was being overloaded by the amount of concentrated willpower Megumin was generating. The spell was already rivaling the power of a square class spell, and the unfamiliar chant was still continuing. Normally, he would attempt to stop such a spell from being cast, but if a spell of that scale misfired, the results would be disastrous. He could only pray to the Founder that Megumin could control that immense power.
My passion, my purpose, my life is dedicated to performing the great magic in existence…
Megumin took a deep breath and focused at a point high in the sky, above the largest tower in the Academy. If the world was going to see her greatness, she would need to put her all into this explosion. It was going to be worth one thousand points!
"EX-PLOSION~!"
Now, for context, Louise's explosions could be heard across the academy, disturbing pretty much all classes and workers. However, those explosions occupied only a very small initial area, with the force of it reaching across a classroom at best.
Megumin's explosion wasn't just heard across the Academy. It was heard several miles away in the Capital. The initial explosion was the size of a house. The area it reached? Much larger.
With a boom and a sharp crack, the top of the Central Tower was violently torn asunder. Only a pair of quick spells from Colbert and Tabitha saved the students from being rained on by the falling rubble. All of the familiars squealed, shrieked, and bellowed, at the ear-rupturing sound.
The explosion erupted in a ball of flames, but this was no ordinary fire spell. The light that shined from the explosion rivaled the sun, and the ash that fell from it rained down over the entire Academy. No fire spell known in Halkegenia had this much destructive power.
As the last of the rubble settled on the ground all eyes fearfully turned to Megumin, who was lying face first in the dirt, her hat having been flung away by the explosion. Though her situation was embarrassing, her voice was triumphant. "Behold, the true power of Explosion Magic!" she declared, her voice slightly muffled due to her position. "I'd like to see any of your pathetic spells come close to this destructive beauty! Also, someone help me up. The ground tastes like ash."
Louise, who was closest, was the one to pull Megumin to her feet. "How did you do that? How did you use the Founder's lost element?" Louise asked, shaking the other girl violently. "And why can't you stand up?
"One question at a time," said Megumin. "My explosion drained me of all my MP, so I can't walk on my own."
"MP?" Louise echoed.
"You destroyed the top of the Central Tower," Colbert said hollowly as he examined the damage. "And even some of the connecter walls are damaged." Thankfully, the very top of the tower was just a hollow dome that was rarely used, but that level of destruction should have been impossible. The walls of the academy were reinforced with square class Earth Magic. The epicenter of the blast hadn't even touched the tower! No magic of this caliber had ever been even rumored to exist!
"You should have made it more durable," Megumin retorted. "My Explosions have leveled the castles of Demon Lord Generals!"
"An explosion that can level a castle…" Colbert said in horror. "Tell me, are the others from your country who have this power?"
"Of course not!" Megumin declared. Colbert started to let out a sigh of relief, but clammed up as Megumin continued, "Their explosions are far inferior to my own! I have dedicated all of the fourteen years of my life to this one spell! I have sacrificed my ability to use any other magic or cast more than once a day so I could break all limits in this spell."
"You can only use it one per day?" Louise asked. "That's…" She didn't want to say limiting, because it was clear that this spell had no business being used more than once a day. In fact, there was little reason to use this spell at all, aside from eradicating an entire landscape. If that explosion had been released at ground level, Louise had no doubt that the entire academy would have turned into a smoking crater.
"Well, I can only use it once per day because I run out of MP," Megumin admitted. "If Kazuma was hear to drain Aqua or Darkness, I could use multiple of them."
Colbert paled at the implications. "And those people are…?"
"Oh, they're adventurers like me," Megumin replied. "We're in a party together, and our goal is to defeat the Demon Lord who threaten the entire world! Aqua's an Axis cultist with powerful healing and water magic. She calls herself a goddess, but just because she can purify armies of undead and flood an entire town doesn't make her divine, just a powerful archpriest. Darkness is actually Dustiness Ford Lalatina, and a cousin to Princess Iris. She's a crusader who's tough enough to survive The Destroyer, a national-level walking catastrophe. Kazuma's only a plain adventure and is pretty weak, but he's got a lot of useful skills. He also has a knack for getting us out of the worst situations, even if he is a bit perverted. I'm surprised Princess Iris calls him Big Bro, but I guess she idolizes him."
"Your company has strong ties to royalty?" Colbert asked weakly.
"We go adventuring with the Princess from sometimes," said Megumin. "She's pretty strong. I've seen her tear through orcs like they were fattened pigs. Of course, she can't use Explosion magic, so she isn't as good as me, but she's very strong for her age."
"Oh…" was Colbert's response.
"She might even be stronger than Yunyun. Yunyun's my rival, and the future chieftain of my village. Of course, she isn't as powerful as me, but even without explosions, she's a competent archwizard. Once she properly embraces her heritage and realizes the greatness of Explosion magic, I'm sure she'll coming running back to me to learn how to properly eradicate armies." Megumin's expression dropped. "Well, she would come back to me. If I was back in Axel…"
Louise instinctively pulled Megumin into a hug. She patted the smaller girl's head, just like her big sister Cattaleya had done for her when she was younger. Louise assured Megumin, "I promise you, I'll find a way to get you back home."
"Really?" Megumin asked, tears building in her eyes.
Louise nodded. "You've shown me that something I thought was a fluke can actually be powerful," she said. "If you can master explosions to this degree, then I, Louise Francois le Blanc de la Valliere, can learn to undo a summoning."
Colbert looked at the two petite mages doing heartfelt bonding. He looked at the rest of the students who were rather trembling in fear or paralyzed in shock. His eyes swept across the ruined surroundings of the academy. "Yes, let's send her back," he said shakily. "And ensure that no one else can get their hands on this power."
It took time, effort, and several embarrassing moments for Louise to learn Megumin's style of magic casting. After a while, the poses and chants became second nature to her, and her Explosions were just as easy.
Megumin never did learn any other spells, but with the lack of a level up system in Halkegenia, her mana reserves were able to naturally grow to the point that she could cast multiple—smaller—explosions in one day, not that she often did so.
Eventually, Louise and Megumin were famous in Halkegenia as the unstoppable Explosion Duo. No army could hope to survive their assault. Assassins and kidnappers had tried to get their hands on the duo, but none ever succeeded, or were ever seen again.
There was probably no correlation to the winged black cat that sometimes appeared around Megumin.
When Louise finally learned how to properly use the World Gate, all of the countries in Halkegenia signed an armistice.
And thus, the world was saved by the power of…
"EX-PLOSIONS~!"
I originally intended to make this a short story with multiple chapters, but it ended up being a one-shot because Megumin and Louise would just be doing silly things that wouldn't be conveyed well in a written format.
To those who know me, and know which fandom I have decided to claim as my own personal garden (or just found this story randomly), I have an announcement. Today is my last day of vaca, so my focus is going to shift to school. Instead of 4-5 chapters a month, I'll be slowing down to 3. I keep a schedule of expected uploads on my profile if you want to check that out. Or you can follow me so you never miss a thing. If you want to influence which stories I'll be focusing on, vote on the poll in my profile! If you want to give me some financial support, visit my Ko-Fi (RainEStar is my tag there).
EDIT: I forgot to mention I have a POLL on my profile. Please check it out!
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