Author's Note: Thank you all once again for the support on this story! You guys seem to be really enjoying the story so far. I'm glad. My schedule got shifted around recently, and it appears that I'll be quite busy. Worry not! I'm just saying to expect weekly updates for this story to come out either on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. I won't be able to publish updates during the weekdays anymore.

Now a quick reply to the reviews.

KetchupBottle, I'm glad that you're enjoying the story. Thanks for your information on honorifics!

Owen, as for divergence from the original anime, there will definitely be changes in this story. I do not know for sure how major, but they will be happen later on in the story, so bear with me here. Also, I'm working on a second Konosuba fanfiction that diverges a lot from the original anime, while keeping the same characters. So if you like to read that kind of stuff, keep a lookout for it! The first chapter should be published sometime this weekend.

Also a quick note on Megumin. I do admit, last chapter was sort of a "Darkness" chapter. But now, it's Megumin's turn! Also, as to Kazuma being a weak MC, I have something planned out for him to grow stronger, but that won't be until chapter 9 or so.

Alright, now let's get this show on the road!

Disclaimer: I don't own KonoSuba or any of its characters.

Season 1, Chapter 4: My Luck Is A Roller Coaster

Ah~! I yawned as I woke up. Another day of waking up to the smell of horse shit! I looked besides me. Aqua was already gone, probably at the guild using Nature's Beauty again.

I cleaned myself up and got dressed. Feeling thirsty, I held up my right hand, palm facing my mouth.

"Create Water!" I shouted.

Instantly, a wave of pure, sweet, and clean water shot out of my palm and into my mouth.

Create water was a spell that I had Aqua teach me. I thought it could come in handy if I ever get stranded out somewhere someday. Plus, I'd never have to pay the water bill again!

My thirst now quenched, I walked over to the guild hall for some food.

Opening the guild doors, I immediately heard a familiar voice shout out, "Nature's Beauty!"

Aqua was here, as expected. I grabbed a plate of fried cabbage, and made my way to an empty table.

Sitting down, I was just about to begin eating when Darkness walked up to me.

"Look at my armor, Kazuma!" She said. "I got it fixed at the blacksmith yesterday! Isn't it beautiful? Look at how shiny it is!"

Now that we were officially all in a party together, I had asked everyone to drop the honorifics.

"Yeah sure, whatever, Darkness," I replied. "It will be beautiful in my eyes once you actually hit a monster with your sword."

"Hmpt!" She pouted. "Kazuma, even a girl like me would appreciate a honest compliment every now and then!"

Oh come on! Don't pretend like you didn't like what I said!

Darkness blushed as she sat down in front of me.

"Oh~ Kazuma, you never show any mercy, do you?" She moaned.

And there you go!

I started to eat my fried cabbage. Damn, how could something like cabbage taste so good with just a little bit of salt and oil?

"Oh! Hi there, Kazuma, Darkness!" It was Megumin. She too, had a plate of fried cabbage in her hands as she sat down next to me to eat.

I looked at her. Wait, where was her robe and hat? Today, she just wore a simple t-shirt and a skirt.

"Megumin? Where's your robe? And your wizard hat? I thought you loved that wizard outfit!" I asked her in surprise.

"I sold them," she said, happily munching on her food.

"Sold them? Wait, what for?" That was an unusual thing for her to do.

"So that I could eat," she said, while rapidly shoving cabbage down her throat.

"You were out of money? What about the cabbage quest yesterday?" I asked her. "Your explosion must've killed thousands of cabbages!" I exclaimed.

"I did. But the quest wasn't about killing cabbages, it was about bringing them back so that the town could sell them. My explosion completely reduced them to ashes." She said.

"As a result, I didn't earn a single Eris..." she looked down and stopped eating.

I was going to say something like 'Serves you right, you stupid explosion loli! Spells like Light of Saber or Detonate would've have REALLY came in handy, huh?'

But seeing her like this, I couldn't do it.

"Why didn't you ask me for help? I could have given you some money until we went out on a quest again." I said to her.

"I'm in your party now, Kazuma. I want to be able to take care of myself so that you guys don't have to worry about me!" She exclaimed.

Respect.

"Even so Megumin," I started. "In my party, we take care of each other. You shouldn't have to feel bad about having to ask to for help! It's perfectly natural! Just tell me if you need something from now on, okay?" I asked her softly.

"Um... well... if you're sure..." she talked quietly. "In that case, could you give me some money so that I could buy a new staff?" She looked up at me with a hopeful smile.

"How much?" I questioned her.

"Umm..." Megumin hesitated, "It's... it's... it's about 200,000 Eris."

"200,000 Eris?" I exclaimed as I instinctively raised my voice. 200,000 was no small amount to someone who had been living a god damn stable!

Seeing my reaction, Megumin quickly lowered her head again.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Kazuma! That was obnoxious of me to ask for such a large amount!" She cried out.

"I'm sorry," she apologized again. "I got so excited at the possibility to finally replace my staff that I didn't stop to consider your feelings! Please forgive me, Kazuma!"

Respect x2.

"Don't worry about it. It's all right. I shouldn't have raised my voice. Here," I pulled out the coin pouch that I had been filling up with her requested amount. I dropped it into her hands.

"Kazuma? What's this?" She asked, eyes widening.

"The money to buy your staff," I replied with a warm smile.

"Kazuma! I can't accept this! I shouldn't have asked you for it in the first place!" She dropped it on the table, no doubt unused to handling such a large amount of money.

I picked up the bag and dropped it in her hands again. "You said it yourself. You said that you were in my party, didn't you?" I began. "Anyone who's in my party is my friend, and friends help each other. Think of it as the first step on our road to defeat the Demon King!"

"Really? Are you... are you sure?" Megumin muttered out.

"Take it," I confirmed.

"Kazuma! Thank you! Thank you so much!" Megumin exclaimed as she quickly gave me a quick hug. Before I could react, she stood up and pulled away, taking the money.

"I won't let you down, Kazuma! Wait for me! I'll be right back!" She ran off, no doubt to going to buy her staff. Seeing her happy like this put a wide smile on my face.

"Kazuma, that was really kind of you!" Darkness looked at me in surprise. "Giving her 200,000 Eris just like that... I can't help but wonder, how much money did you earn from the cabbages?

"Oh, about a million Eris," I causally said.

"A MILLION?!" Aqua yelled out as she walked over, having overheard our conversation.

Apparently my high luck stats had finally come in handy. The cabbages that I had harvested were of exceptional quality, and thus, yielded double the money. Not to mention that I had managed to fill up five whole baskets with these high quality vegetables. Finally, I wouldn't have to live in the stables anymore!

"Kazuma~san," Aqua began, thinking. "You know, I think that sometimes...uh... sometimes you act pretty okay, you know?"

Ah fuck. I recognized this tone. Aqua used this tone with me whenever she wanted to ask me for something, especially money. And what the fuck was with that compliment? Really? "Sometimes I act pretty okay?" What the fuck was that even supposed to mean?!

"No need to keep up with your act, Aqua," I said as I sighed in exasperation. "Just tell me what you want."

"Kazuma! I thought that I had earned a lot of money from the cabbages!" Aqua started to whine.

Uh huh, go on.

"But when I went to collect my reward, it was a lot less than I expected! It was only 70,000 Eris!"

Mhmm, not my problem.

"Luna said that apparently that most of the cabbages that I had collected were actually lettuce!"

Still not my problem. Weird that there was lettuce mixed in with the cabbages, but not my problem. I causally took a sip of my tea.

"As a result, I spent money that I didn't have!"

What a fucking dumbass.

"I just need 100,000 Eris to cover the beer tab from last night, Kazuma!" She pleaded with me.

"What?!" I shouted out in rage. "Absolutely not!"

"But Kazuma! You gave Megumin 200,000 Eris! I only need 100,000!" She said, trying to justify her actions.

"That was because she needed a new staff! I only gave her that money because it'll help us to beat the Demon King eventually! I'm not giving you 100,000 Eris to cover your freaking beer tab! Plus, I'm using my money so that we can finally stop sleeping together at that stable!"

"Oh, of course, Kazuma! I understand perfectly." Aqua said, with a smirk forming on her face.

I don't like where this is going.

"I know that you're a growing young man, Kazuma. The fact that you're sleeping next to me, a beautiful young goddess, must be really hard on you. After all, you've always been shuffling around me at night, no doubt trying to do something, but couldn't because we could be easily overheard. So, of course, you would want to get a private room with me as soon as possible..." Aqua finished, wiggling her hips suggestively.

MOTHERFU-

"Just shut up and take it!" I stopped her before she could say anything more. I dropped the money on the table. There was no fucking way that I could afford a repeat of "The Megumin Incident."

Aqua picked it up. "Ah, aren't friends the best?" She said while rubbing the money lovingly against her cheeks.

She went off to go pay her debt.

Not even a word of thanks. Fucking gold digger.

I turned to look at Darkness. "Are you going to ask me for some money as well? I don't think you managed to even kill one cabbage yesterday." I questioned her, annoyed.

"Ah! Kazuma!" She sounded flustered. "I don't need any money anytime soon."

"Oh, okay. Well, I'm glad you're able to take care of yourself. Are you like rich from being a noble or something?" I joked.

"Ah! No!" Darkness blushed out. "It's just that... um...oh! You know the party of 4 I rescued yesterday? They gave me 200,000 Eris as a token of gratitude, that's all!" She said, holding up a bag of coins.

I detected some lies in that statement, but I decided not to question them.

"Kazuma, look!" Megumin had returned.

I turned to face her. Not only was her staff new, but it appears that she has gotten a new set of wizard clothes as well.

"The staff came with a free set of clothes!" Megumin exclaimed, giving me a little twirl.

"Sweet, they look good on you. I assume that the new staff buffs up your Explosion spell by quite a bit?" I asked her.

"Yeah, of course! It feels so much better than my old one. I can only imagine how powerful my explosions will be now!" Her crimson eyes glowed brighter in excitement. "Can I test it out right now? You don't mind, do you? I can, can't I? EXPLOS-"

"DO YOU WANT US TO DIE?" I shouted out at I leapt at her, stopping her channeling.

Unfortunately, my momentum carried me too far, and I tackled Megumin to the ground. I stuck out my arms to break my fall.

I ended up on top of Megumin, my face inches away from hers. I could feel the glares that the other people in the Guild were giving us on my back.

"Umm... Kazuma? What are you doing?" Megumin whispered as she blushed heavily, her cheeks turning the same color of red as her eyes.

GOD DAMN IT! What the hell was with this cliche situation!?

KONOSUBA!

That afternoon, we went out to check the quest board. Aqua had somehow already gotten herself in debt again drinking, so now we needed to make some more money.

"Kazuma! Let's go on a kill quest with lots of small and weak monsters!" Megumin said. "I want to test out my new staff!"

I looked at her. Megumin was wrapping her body around her staff and was twisting herself all around it. It almost looked like...okay, it almost looked like she was a fucking stripper pole dancing! And how did I know what pole dancing looked like? Well, I've played my fair share of R-rated romance games. But that's not the point here! I looked at her again.

Maybe it was a mistake to upgrade her staff.

"No," Darkness spoke up. "Let's go on a quest with super strong monsters that hit wonderfully hard!" Darkness suggested while blushing heavily.

Maybe it was a mistake to accept her into my party.

"No!" It was Aqua this time. "Let's go on a quest with a super high reward so that I can pay off my debt and drink more!" Aqua declared while raising a fist in the air.

Maybe it was a mistake to- No, it was definitely a mistake to bring her along as my companion. I once again wondered how overpowered I'd be right now if I had picked Boner Assault as my special skill.

"Alright, listen, let's just go check out the quest board and see what they have to offer first." I said as I walked over, the three of them following me.

I looked at the quest board. They were filled with nothing but insanely strong monsters that could no doubt one-shot any one of us.

"What the heck?" I shouted out. "These quests are all suicide missions for beginning parties like mine! I thought Axel was supposed to be a beginner's town!"

Hearing my outburst, Luna walked over.

"We're sorry," Luna began with an apologetic smile. "But one of the Demon King's generals has recently moved in nearby. As a result, all of the weak monsters have gone into hiding, leaving only the strongest ones left to fight. But don't worry, the capital is sending over their elite adventurers and guards soon. Until they arrive and deal with the General, I'm afraid that there's nothing you can do right now." She finished.

Game balance? Hello? You there? Oh that's right, YOU DON'T FUCKING EXIST! Seriously?! A fucking GENERAL right next to a BEGINNER'S town?! Fuck this world to hell!

"I see," I turned around to face my party. "I guess we should take a short breather for now. Let me know if you guys need anything."

"Sounds good," they all agreed.

I left the Guild hall. The first thing that I did was to scout out an inn that I could rent for Aqua and I. I found one pretty quick, and for the first time since I came into this world, I didn't fall asleep to the smell of horse shit.

KONOSUBA!

Megumin and I were walking on a path that led out of Axel. As we had nothing to do here in town until the royal guards arrive, Darkness went back home to do visit her family, Aqua was out working to help pay off her debt again, and Megumin, having nothing particularly important to do, had asked me today to accompany her to practice her explosions.

"Why did you make me tag along? Couldn't you have practiced by yourself?" I asked Megumin as we were walking along.

"Then who would carry me home?" She replied, blushing slightly. "It's not like I could just walk back on my own, you know."

Don't tell me she's going to make me come with her everyday!

"Wait, then how did you practice your magic before?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"..." She stayed silent, only blushing harder and looking down.

Okay then.

"Say, isn't this far enough? Just blow something up so we can go back." I said to her.

Megumin looked up quickly. "I can't do that! If I cast it this close to town, the guards will no doubt scold me again!" She exclaimed.

"Oi. You just said "again", didn't you? You've done this sort of thing before, haven't you?" I narrowed my eyes at her.

She nodded sheepishly.

And so we walked on until we came across what appeared to be an abandoned castle up on a hill.

"Kazuma, look! An abandoned castle! Surely no one will mind if I blow that up!" Megumin exclaimed happily.

"Okay, sure. Go ahead." I nodded my head in confirmation.

She did her usual chanting, blah blah blah, and then-

"EXPLOSION!"

A mini nuke went off in front of my eyes. I gotta be honest, it was really pretty to look at.

As expected, Megumin fell flat on her face.

"Ah~" She whispered contently. "That felt amazing..."

Hmm... maybe I could have some fun with her, with her being paralyzed like this. And no! Not that kind of fun! Get those images out of your heads!

"Well then, see ya!" I turned my back towards her and started to walk back.

"Kazuma? Kazuma!" Megumin shouted out, panicking.

Hmm, she sounded pretty stressed. I should probably go back.

Nah fuck it, I'll tease her for just a bit longer.

"Good luck!" I shouted back, continuing to walk further away.

"Kazuma! I'm sorry! I'm sorry for whatever I did wrong! Please don't leave me here, Kazuma! Please... I don't want to be alone again...please..." She started sobbing uncontrollably.

Oh shit. I fucked up. I hurriedly walked back to her. I picked her up, still crying, and started carrying her back to town.

Pretty soon, my entire back was wet from her tears. Jesus, did what I do really hit her that hard? Damn, I feel really bad right now.

"Kazuma, do you hate me?" She quietly whispered out.

"No, Megumin, not at all." It was true. I didn't have any reason to hate her. In fact, she was probably the most level-headed member in my party, despite being the youngest.

"Then why..." She choked out. "Why did you want to abandon me?"

"I would never abandon you, Megumin." I reached my right hand behind me and gently patted her head. She flinched at the sudden touch, but didn't try to move her head away.

So I continued. "That was me trying to play a joke on you. I went too far. I'm sorry."

"Then... you really don't hate me? You won't abandon me?"

"Of course I won't. Do you think that I would've given you 200,000 Eris if I hated you?"

"Kazuma..."

Tired from casting Explosion, and with my hand gently stroking her hair, Megumin quickly fell asleep on my back.

I turned my head slightly to look at her face. She had a really cute sleeping face. Her warm breath was tickling my neck.

I felt my heart suddenly skip a beat.

Hold up. I tried to ignore it, but I was suddenly starting to feel warm and fuzzy from having Megumin this close to me. It was the same feeling that I had felt with Chris. Could I be... Could I be in lov-

Nope! It was just my imagination! Yeah! I'm sure its just my imagination! I mean, how could I ever love an explosion loli, right? Haha! Maybe some food would make me feel better...

I started to walk faster towards Axel.

KONOSUBA!

A month had passed since then. Darkness had returned from visiting her family. Me accompanying Megumin to practice her explosions had become a part of our daily routines. Surprisingly, the castle had only got slightly damaged after a month of Megumin's explosions. I thought for sure it would have collapsed by now or something.

Anyhow, Megumin did not let anything come in between her explosions, be it rain, wind, or even lightning. She would make sure to cast her explosion at the castle every single day.

Of course, I tagged along every single time. Overtime, I was able to distinguish the difference between her explosions, and I began to rate them, since I had nothing better to do. I experienced that warm and fuzzy feeling again with her, but I tried to ignore it the best I could.

What surprised me the most was the fact that "Explosion" showed up on my "Available Abilities to Learn", though at a whopping 35 skill points. Maybe one day...

But more importantly, what did I do for a month? Nothing, besides a lot of thinking.

None of my tryhard tactics could be put into play. I really wanted to go outside and slay a bunch of weak monsters to level up my character, but that wasn't an option. Instead, I was forced to stay inside with nothing to level up my stats with. I couldn't even learn any new spells since I had no skill points. My money was running out quickly from having no source of income, and by the looks of it, I might even have to go back to the stables again.

I honestly got a bit depressed. How was someone like me supposed to beat the Demon King? If those other people with broken abilities couldn't do it, then how could I? I'm a tryhard at games, not at life, damn it! I'd be lucky to even survive in this world until I'm old! I mean, there was a fucking General outside the town right now! What the fuck am I supposed to do? How long were the royal guards going to take?

Ugh... I lowered my head onto the Guild table, where I was currently sitting. Megumin, noticing me, came over.

She put a hand on my back, her warmth spreading through me. "Kazuma, are you okay?" She asked worriedly.

"I'm fine. I've just been... thinking about some things." I replied, enjoying her warmth.

"What kind of things?" She continued on, her crimson eyes twinkling.

"Just...stuff about the future." No way was I going to show her my inner-self.

"The future? You know, Kazuma, I've been thinking about the future too. About this party, and about you..." She blushed slightly.

Hold up.

"About... me?" I looked her in the eyes, only deepening her blush.

"I... ummm. I..." Megumin twiddled her fingers together nervously and looked down at the ground. "What I mean by that is that I... I just wanted to say that... that-"

"Emergency! Emergency! All adventurers, please gather at the front gates! I repeat, all adventurers, please gather at the front gates! This is an emergency!" Luna's voice rang out through the loudspeakers.

GEEZ LUNA! EVER HEARD OF RUINING THE MOOD?! Okay, but seriously, what was Megumin about to say? That she liked me? That she loved me? Nah nah nah Kazuma, what were you thinking? I mean, we've only known each other for like 2 chapters! No way Megumin fell for me that quickly. That was impossible!

Wasn't it?

"We should probably go," Megumin blushed out, shaking me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah, okay." I said, dejected.

I swear to god, this better not be some fucking Demon King General bullshit.

KONOSUBA!

It was some fucking Demon King General bullshit.

Fuck my life.

We were all gathered outside the gate, staring at a figure on top of a hill.

The dude was riding on top of a horse with no head, and he himself was carrying his own head in his arms. This was some real headless horsemen of the apocalypse BS right here.

"It's a Dullahan!" Darkness gasped. "I bet he hits wonderfully hard!" She moaned out.

I'm so tired...

"My name is Beldia," he began speaking. "I recently moved in to a nearby castle."

Wait a minute...

"I am one of the Demon King's generals."

Oh. My. Fucking. God.

"My plan was to vacation here for a while, to relax from all the fighting that I do."

Seems like a pretty legit reason.

"HOWEVER!" He suddenly started shouting. "Not even two days after I settled into a castle that I found, my front door gets blown up!"

Is it possible for your luck stat to be in the negatives?

"At first I thought that maybe it was just a misfire. I could forgive that."

He's surprisingly noble. Hmmm... maybe I could reason with him...

"But the next day, my side wall gets exploded! And the day after that, it was my garden! Day after day after day, everyday for an entire month, some deranged maniac kept blowing up my castle! Do you know how tiring it is to fix the things that got blown up?" His eyes started to glow dangerously red.

"WHICH ONE OF YOU STUPID MINIONS KEEPS BLOWING UP MY CASTLE, HUH?" He demanded.

All of the people's eyes turned to Megumin. She started to sweat profusely, gripping her staff tighter in fear. It wouldn't be long before she would be exposed to the Dullahan.

Oh boy, looks like this is the part where I get to play hero!

Hooray.

I walked away from the group and looked up at Beldia.

"You? You're the crazy kid that keeps blowing up my castle?" He said while looking down at me.

"Actually nah, not really. I am the party leader of the person who's responsible, though. I would tell you who actually blew up your castle, but they're not here right now." I put on a straight face.

"Hmm. Party leader, you say? Well, I appreciate you coming out here and telling me the truth." His eyes returned to normal.

SPEECH 100. I mentally patted myself on the back.

"HOWEVER, I cannot let people go unpunished for their crimes. I heard about how tight parties these days were. And if you're the leader of the party that holds the member responsible..."

You're going to give me a cookie?

"THEN I SENTENCE YOU TO DEATH! That'll teach your stupid party member and the people in this town to never mess with me again, OR ELSE." The Dullahan cried out, having mind up his mind.

Now hold on just a minute here...

"However, I was once a knight before I gave in to evil. I'll give you a chance at redemption. If you dare, come find me at my castle. Should you manage to defeat me, the curse will be broken. You have one week." He raised his hand and pointed his index finger at me.

Before I could move, a dark bolt of energy shot out towards me and hit my chest.

I instantly collapsed to the ground, clutching my chest.

Oh my god, why the hell does my chest feel like its being tickled by thousands of little feathers? I started rolling from side to side on the ground, trying my best not to burst out laughing.

"HA! See how much pain he's in? He'll die in a week!" The Dullahan pointed at me. "If you wish to save him, you know what to do." He addressed the townspeople. "I'll be waiting in my castle. HAHA! AHAHAHAHA!" He began laughing maniacally as a dark red cloud surrounded him, and then, he was gone.

"KAZUMA!" Megumin shouted as she ran over towards me. My chest finally calmed down, and I was currently laying down on my back, resting. Megumin lifted my head and turned it to face towards her. It looked like she was about to cry.

"Kazuma, why did you do that? Why did you stand up for me?" She sniffled, trying to hold back her tears.

I raised my right hand and gently cupped her face in my palm. "Shhhh... it was the right thing to do."

"Kazuma... I'm going to go the castle. I'm going to fix my mistake." She said determinedly.

"It's alright, Megumin. You don't have to put yourself in harms way just for me." What the hell am I saying? I don't want to die! Go explosion loli! Go blow up that stupid Dullahan and break my curse! God damn it, now my mouth wasn't listening to my brain!

"But... but if I don't break the curse..." Some tears started to trickle out of her red eyes. "Then I'll never get a chance to tell you... that I... that I-"

I sat up a bit further. Now this, I NEEDED to hear.

Megumin took a deep breath. "Kazuma. The truth is, I've been wanting to tell you that I-"

"SACRED BREAK SPELL!"

MOTHERFUCKER! GOD FUCKING DAMN IT! JUST FUCKING END ME ALREADY! THERE'S NOTHING BUT PAIN AND SUFFERING IN THIS WORLD!

A divine light started to shine around me. Suddenly, I felt as if something heavy had been lifted off my heart.

"Well, Kazuma? What do you think?" Aqua said, walking over with a smirk. "Breaking a Dullahan's curse is child's play for me! How about it? Think you can stand up?"

Yeah, I'll stand up so that I can beat your ass! Couldn't you read the god damn situation? Megumin was about to saying something really important, you fucking dumbass!

I stood up. Seeing me stand up, Megumin backed away.

Oh? Is this the part where Megumin gives me a hug?

Megumin rushed over to Aqua and gave her the tightest hug I had ever seen. "Thank you, Aqua! Thank you so much!" She cried out.

Alright look, is the luck stat just some troll stat that doesn't even exist? Because I sure as fuck don't see any fucking luck around here!

A cheer went up from the crowd as they all rushed towards Aqua, praising her. Despite myself, I couldn't help but walk over to her too. I mean, let's be honest here. Aqua had probably just saved my ass from certain death. I couldn't help but to be grateful to her for that. Maybe she wasn't useless after all.

I laid a hand on Aqua's shoulder.

"You did good, Aqua. You did good." I said to her with a genuine simile on my face.

"Ehhhhhhh?!" Aqua flinched. "Kazuma?!"

KO*NO*SU*BA!

It was late at night. Me and Aqua were already back in my inn. Aqua was already asleep, but I having trouble sleeping. My mind was too busy thinking.

Without any income soon, I'd have to go back to the back-breaking laborer job if that's even available, otherwise I'd have to move back into the stables.

Damn it, this sucks.

I was also thinking about another important thing. Just what the hell was Megumin trying to say to me?

Ugh. I'll probably never know now.

There was a knock on my door. "Kazuma?" Megumin's voice asked.

Or maybe I will know right now! I got up and hurriedly opened the door.

Megumin was standing outside in her usual clothes, though without her wizard hat. Her eyes glowed red in the darkness.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" I whispered.

Suddenly without any warning, Megumin punched me in the shoulder, hard. OW, FUCK! That fucking hurt!

Alright everyone, it's official. Luck is officially gone. It doesn't exist in this world, apparently.

I clutched my shoulder. "What the hell? What was that for?!" I said, biting my teeth.

"That was for making me think that I would lose you today! Please don't do something as reckless as that ever again." She whispered softly, almost crying again.

Then she suddenly rushed forward and hugged me. Her arms wrapped tightly around my back, pulling me closer to her.

What the hell? What's with this sudden 180 degrees mood swing? Wait, don't tell me that she's actually hit puberty?! Does this mean that her chest will finally grow? Does this mean that-

Damn it, Kazuma! Focus! Hug her back, you idiot!

I wrapped my left arm around her back, and I put my right hand on the back of her head, pulling it onto my chest.

"Kazuma..." Megumin let out a soft sigh as she relaxed in my arms.

She looked up at me with those beautiful red eyes again.

"Kazuma, I came here because I wanted to tell you something." A light blush starting forming on her face.

Oh shit! Here we go! Is this the classic girl-confesses-to-boy part that I'd seen in so many of my romance games? What will I even do?

"Kazuma, I wanted to tell you..." More color rose to Megumin's cheeks.

I casually glanced around. No one's going to ruin the mood, right? NO ONE'S GOING TO FUCKING RUIN THE MOOD, RIGHT?!

"Thank you. Thank you for taking me into your party when no one else would. Thank you for giving me the money to upgrade my staff. Thank you for coming with me everyday to practice my explosions. Thank you for saving me from that Dullahan." Megumin took a deep breath.

"And thank you for saying that you'll never abandon me." Megumin finished, burying herself harder into me.

Well. Damn. Wow. Not what I was expecting, but I'll take it!

Wait, what do I do now? Should I say something? Probably not.

I leaned my chin down until it touched her head. I took a small sniff. Megumin smelled really nice, like a fresh morning breeze.

I held her closer to me. We were both enjoying each other's warmth, forgetting about anything else at that moment.

It felt nice.

It felt really, really nice.