AN: OOCness. Also, chapters with . like this one is either short stories or extra parts for the previous chapter.
[Chapter 7.25: The Outlanders' New Start]
[Part 1: An attempt to train]
(3rd person POV)
Day 7: A new start for the damned demon and the unhonorable knight!
Location: The yard of Kazuma's mansion.
Repeated sound of metal and wood clanging against each other amidst a field. Two scrawny-looking guys, both observing one another to see their potential. While there are three spectators, one sitting on the ground nearby with another staring daggers at him, the other watching from the balcony.
"Yar movements are predictable, even if they are based on yar instinct. We still can read it like an open book." Xciozen the spirit, who got invited to stay in the mansion along with Vargus for the time being, commented while blocking strikes of Chunchunmaru the supposedly legendary sword of Kazuma, the Demon King's generals slayer.
After a little incident yesterday, Taylor's party returned to the guild and reported (mostly) everything that happened. From what Kazuma heard from their plan yesterday, they would try their best to convince Luna that the demon and the alien are (kinda) innocent and they should be let go for now, unless they commit an actual crime.
Little did they know, the talk with Vanir has already made Luna change her mind; the talk was basically about the two of them being here is both important for the sake of this world (Luna couldn't understand the concept of the universe, yet. So Vanir had to resolve to just saying 'world'.) and for the sake of his pocket.
Megumin decided to tend Yunyun for a while in the mansion as she knew that her fri- rival would be in a state of mind that simply isn't the best after watching such horror being committed against her Kazuma. The girl is simply scared of life now, and it will be so for a long time.
"Come on, go easy on me! I'm only a human here, you know!?" Kazuma screamed as he attempted to strike again and again, only to see X dodging a strike with practical ease and the other strike was parried by a hand-made wooden sword imbued with some kind of magic that keeps it from breaking.
"I care not." The reply he got was a simple, blunt answer. A parry then a simple lunge directed at the sword, the impact was made and Chunchunmaru fly away and plucked right into the hand of Vargus, totally not a purposeful action caused by Xciozen.
"Ow." Vargus weakly fakes a pained expression as blood begins to drip out of the wound.
However, they were not allowed to sleep in the mansion, or more specifically, Vargus wasn't allowed to sleep in the mansion. As per request by Aqua, who Kazuma couldn't convince otherwise this time, so Vargus decided to move out, not that he minded it anyways, totally not. Due to that, X decides to go out with Vargus too, even though he said it was not needed. X insisted due to a 'personal matter', which Kazuma still hasn't got the answer to what that matter was.
"Don't get cocky, Create Earth!"
X deftly jumped back to avoid the clump of dirt he threw at him.
Yesterday, Kazuma got killed and revived against his will, so he had to rest earlier than usual. Fortunately for him, the night was pretty special for him with a certain crimson girl being there- Anyway, he had to rest and get ready for tomorrow.
Kazuma already expected no less from someone like X, and so.
And the next morning, which is right now; Kazuma is determined to train to reach his maximum potential, and that would certainly be easier when an alien who is skillful in the art of battle, is your sensei.
"Wind Breath!"
Kazuma threw the cloak he was wearing and cast his spell in its direction.
Or so he thought.
Blown by the wind, his cloak spread and proceeded to block X's vision.
"Bind!" Kazuma throws his metal wires at an angle that X couldn't possibly see.
But despite the odds, he swiftly caught it and returned it to the sender.
He decided to 'action first, words later' as he wanted to see the outlanders' performance before he asked questions, sure, their feats are quite impressive, defeating Mitsurugi and his party (legitimately, or kinda?). It was still unexplained how Mitsurugi managed to literally blast the entire area but it is what it is.
Kazuma narrowly dodged it and jumped back as he quickly took out his bow.
Since 'Xciozen' name certainly was even weirder than those of crimson demons (Mayhaps it's understandable due to him coming from a different world, a different universe), they decided to call him Zen. Vargus still calls him X though because his name isn't much better in terms of weirdness anyways (He hasn't told them his family name, even X got weirded out by it)
"Tinder, Snipe!"
"I've dealt with surprise attacks way too many times before. What hope does ya have to think that those will work against me? Come on, fight me at close range, I assure ya that ya would not like to fight me in a far-ranged battle at all." X said as he blocked the fire arrow, thanks to the imbued spell, the wooden sword managed to survive and not get pierced.
"Fine, but I don't have a sword, so all I have to do is create one. Create Water!" Water flowed out from Kazuma's right hand. "You surely have seen this before, right? Freeze!"
The water dripping from his right hand slowly changed from water to ice with a crack.
It was transforming into the form he has in mind; and an ice sword was formed.
"Ice Arts... Nothin' new to me. In fact, a few days ago, someone used it against me-"
While Megumin, on the second floor of the mansion, standing at the balcony, stared at Kazuma with eyes of admiration, not the same as the ones while engaging with Fenrir or the Masked member of the thieving group. But still cool nonetheless, the same tactic from their 'drunk date' in a forest a few days ago.
Kazuma dashed in and strikes, taking advantage of X getting distracted.
...
The result wasn't very good after all.
"Time's up." X kicked Kazuma in the gut before he could even notice it and is now collapsed on the ground.
Vargus, who is sitting nearby, simply watched in boredom while eating probably poisonous fruits, he is however, aware of a very angry-looking Goddess standing a few meters away from him, having an intense bloodlust aura around her while glaring holes into him; probably gonna reduce the demon infront of her to dust once she gets the chance.
Xciozen cut the distance between him and the adventurer in mere seconds, he held his hand out to help Kazuma get up, knowing that he probably needs a rest now.
Kazuma held his hand and got lifted up. A devilish grin appeared on his face the moment he got his composure and used Drain Touch-
He was shocked to his core, his limbs gave in and he fell back to the ground. Unbeknownst to him, the mana he just attempted to suck was filled with an affinity that he wasn't very compatible with.
"I'm a Great Spirit of Lightning, so wouldn't it make sense that my mana, my bein' is also fused with electricity?" X sighed before secretly applying a pain reduction, from what he was told. Aqua, the self-proclaimed goddess (X can sense a divine aura around her, but he dismissed it and thought it as some kind of accident in the past that led to her having such a thing that she clearly shouldn't have, obviously due to her personality led to X thinking that.) Would not like to have another person who is also capable of healing in their party. But not like they joined their party anyways, it was just a cooperation but ahh whatever.
Although, hiding it would most likely be futile as the evidence was quite clear. Aqua had seen him heal Kazuma back to almost full in just a matter of seconds and literally revive him from the dead, against his own will. The goddess was shell-shocked as she attempted to process what happened back then.
Even though she is naive and oblivious to many things. She wasn't that dumb to not realize what just happened and she is very much waiting for an answer. However, knowing her she will just eventually forget it and-
A loud boom was heard by every residence in Axel city, and there was no exception with Xciozen. This is a normal occurrence for the citizen of Axel though, not the Xciozen knows anyways and his mind drifted to thinking about the worst scenario.
"Hey Vargus! Did ya hear that-" However, Vargus was nowhere in sight; Xciozen panicky turns to Kazuma.
"What about-"
"Wait, did Megumin just use Explosion? Wasn't she standing on the second floor a few minutes ago?!" He has no idea how Megumin just disappeared like that and used Explosion. He thought she always wanted to do it with him. Not to mention, someone needs to carry her back too.
But Aqua is sobbing while sitting on the ground as if she just got scolded, and then got hit in the head after spilling out unreasonable excuses like Kazuma always does to her.
And Darkness is currently doing paperwork in the mansion, the nobility suddenly got really busy right after we went back to Axel. Kazuma could confirm that as he saw a glimpse of Darkness in the mansion. But she quickly got panicked as she realized what just happened.
"Kazuma! Did the demon kidnap Megumin?!" Darkness asked with real concern in her voice, no perverted fantasy in her mind.
"For god sake, what the hell did ya do again, Ville?!" X grunted before suddenly knees on the ground with one hand pressing against it.
Kazuma swore that he just saw a trail of blue light appearing on the ground and moving at immense speed into a direction before curving intensely.
"Kazuma, hold my hand." X suddenly demanded.
"Excuse me, what?" Kazuma was confused at such a random and sudden request.
"Just do it if ya want to get to yar party mate fast."
Kazuma was still confused but held his hand anyways, expecting the spirit to do something magical.
And it was indeed magical.
"Acceleration." A strange sensation that Kazuma has never felt before travels through his body as Xciozen activates the first stage of his iconic spell.
A big cyan circle looking like a clock appears beneath them, on the ground as mana starts to accumulate at the spot.
"Wha-" Kazuma swore that he could hear small ticking sounds coming from the circle, or clock.
"This is my own exclusive spell that boosts my or others' agility to a terrific level.
"Your own exclusive spell? So you mean you created it? If so, can you teach me it?" Kazuma asked, even though he thought that he already learned it, all he need to do left was press a few buttons on the Adventurer card.
"No, only a very handful amount of people are capable of learning it. They needed to train days and nights, concentrating and manipulating mana around them 24/7 just to not slip during the process of chanting. And not everyone is compatible with the spell."
'Great, no chance of learning a strong spell in the way it intended to be. Gah, what did I expect.' Kazuma internally grumbled.
"...So our Adventurer cards won't work then?" Clinging to the last bit of hope he has left-
"Of course not, what did ya expect? And even if it does work by some kind of miracle. What do ya think ya can do? I doubt that ya would even be able to chant it for 10 seconds straight without bawling in immense headache, not to mention the fact that it will probably drain yar life force because yar mana reservation being little would be an understatement, even with yar entire life force, it wouldn't be enough for-" X was quickly interjected by Kazuma, who waves his hand frantically infront in an attempt to stop the trash-talk.
"Ok, ok! I know I'm weaker than an average person, you can shut up about it now."
X gave a soft chuckle, "Kek, don't be so dejected. Sure, bein' weak is somethin' I can sympathize with you."
'...What are you saying?! You literally beat- Ok sure, whatever.' Kazuma grunted in his mind.
"But honin' yar skill will prove to be useful. I also gotta compliment yar for bein' quick-minded, yar would be a pretty good tactician or strategist if I'm bein' honest here." X said with a smirk.
"...But I always was a tactician and strategist. But thanks for the compliment anyways... Talking about Adventurer card, do you have one? If I remember correctly, Luna briefly said something about your and Vargus-san's stats."
"Hm? Oh, yeah I do, he too. But um...It's- Weird."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, Vargus's card is probably just like yars, everythin' is fine and stuff..."
"...Keep going?"
"...And my card, well, the simplest way to explain it is: It's glitched, utterly glitched."
"...That seems... Interesting? May I see it later?"
"Sure, I don't mind. I doubt that I could do anything with the card anyways."
After a few more moments, Kazuma begins to notice random places in his vision having a blue hue here and there.
"Also, am I seeing things or it's the huge amount of mana that is collected in this atmosphere?"
"I believe that ya're seein' things." X said while still gripping Kazuma's hand, making him feel a little bit uncomfortable, "It's the product of havin' Acceleration applied on ya, or maybe it's just because of me."
"Say, why am I not hearing Aqua or Darkness saying anything?" Kazuma hasn't heard anything else other than the two of them talking for a minute now.
"Ya noticed it just now? Well, I believe that it is because of the amount of mana I'm accumulatin', it would be dangerous if someone who can't stand the amount of pressure were to enter."
"...Doesn't that make me one of those people?" Kazuma questioned while looking around, he saw Aqua and Darkness attempt to get in and shouts but they couldn't enter nor their shout could be heard by Kazuma.
"That's why I told ya to hold my hand. If ya aren't doin' it right now...I don't think ya would like to look at what becomes of ya."
"Oh...Uhm, how long do you need to charge this thing?"
"As soon as I successfully locate Ville."
Kazuma remembered the faint blue trail appearing on the ground earlier.
"Hold on, that blue trail was the tracker?" Kazuma questioned the spirit standing beside him.
"Well, ya could say so. In truth, I just secretly placed a little spell on him so that I could track him 24/7 in case he went...barbaric." X explained, the latter part sounds as if saying Vargus was a little angry pet.
Kazuma grimaced at the memory of having his soul left his body before he could even process anything.
"So...That necklace was something that helps him calm down or seal his instincts?"
Xciozen thought for a moment while still focusing on accumulating mana to cast a long-duration Acceleration.
"To be fair, I have no idea. I can certainly sense an immense amount of dark energy inside it, however, I haven't asked Ville what it was, yet. But it's probably just some precious devilish artifact because y'know, he's a demon."
"...Fair enough."
And they waited for 15 seconds more in silence, and the total time was 3 minutes.
"Alright, ready to go." Xciozen said as the previous blue trail on the ground began to glow faintly, but enough for anyone who wants to follow it to see.
"Wait, what about Aqua and Darkness?" Kazuma looked at them, trying to smash an invisible barrier.
"Hey, even my spells have drawbacks, I only can buff it with one more person besides me, and I only can cast it twice a day because of the amount of mana it needed."
"Wait, can Aqua and Darkness fol-"
"Yes, yes, they can follow the trail. Now, no more questions," Xciozen presses his backfoot deeply into the ground, indenting it. "Acceleration!"
The mana around the atmosphere is released in an instant, only the ones that haven't been consumed though.
Aqua and Darkness heard a loud sound while being blinded by the dust.
"Kazuma-san!" "Kazuma!" They shouted as they thought Xciozen did something horrible, unimaginable, inhumane action on Kazuma after seemingly forming an alliance yesterday just to betray them the next day.
Fortunately for them, that was just a simple misunderstanding.
As the two took off, running at the speed of 300 mph. Or more specifically, X dragged Kazuma along as tears starts forming in his eyes due to the immense speed.
If anyone were to be in their way, they could hear a very loud not-manly (girly) scream coming from a guy with a green cloak.
"Sorry bud, I can't hold the spell for too long, or else it will break too. It was a strong spell, after all, so precision is important."
And so, they continue their run to find a certain unhinged mentality unstable demon. All the while poor Aqua had to beg Darkness to carry her and follow the trail.
[Part 2: Demon? Chuunibyou? Explosion?]
Earlier when Vargus was watching X 'toying' around with Kazuma. Boredom got the best of him, as well as the itching muscles of his yelling at him to run through this small city. On the other hand, Azure, who is clearly dissatisfied with Kazuma's poor performance of skills, grumbled in slight anger.
[Skills are nothing against absolute power...]
"Oh come on Azure, don't be so grumpy. I'm sure he'll eventually learn it the hard way." Mumbled Vargus.
[That's a very lame human. He's too weak! Even your daughter, who's a human, is a thousand times stronger than him! What a shameful man he is...!]
"It's not like she was trained by me, and she's also the wielder of Lavasdia's sacred weapon. Of course, she is better than Kazuma... Talking about her, I'm starting to get too anxious here. I wonder if Raido actually evacuated everyone including her," Vargus sighs. "I just hope that everyone is alright."
[...Overthinking isn't good for you. Just be positive and think about the bright side.]
"Gah dayum, even you could say that? I'm surprised!" He chuckled. "Either way, you're right. I should be an optimistic Demon. But uh, the instinct says otherwise. Say, you said you were the 'Second Vargus' but your origin contradicted it. I've heard from General that you were born since the start of the universe. And you're of the thirteen Devils."
[The thing is, I split myself into two parts. One to maintain the position within the rankings, and one to accompany you to your father's request. So technically speaking, I am you.]
"I see. I've also heard from my dad about you once. He said that you were the sixth strongest. I guess that's true, a Devil is capable of destroying the Omniverse after all- Wait, if you're that strong, why don't you just rejoin with the other half and kill the entity in the first place?!"
[Us devils aren't allowed to interfere with anything that's not a threat to themselves. That's why I split up. This weaker half can only manipulate blades so that only makes me a lesser species of Devils. While the other stronger half can destroy everything with a gaze. If we Devils were to interfere, we would be killed by the 'Seven Sinful Beings'. Beings that are not bound to anything, they exist in their own world. With just a flick of their fingers, we Devils will be erased.]
'That's...alot to take in," Vargus fidgets with a blade that he made out of thin air. "Well then, I suppose that I should start to learn how to fully manipulate the blades aye?"
[I will teach you later. Try to keep up with me if you can, lesser me... Why do I have a feeling that I have talked about this with someone before...? Eh, probably just Deja Vu.]
Fidgeting with the knife he continues, a little girl in the corner of his eye caught his attention. Looking to the side, he sees a crimson girl sneakily walking up to him.
"Hey...Vargus-san, was it?"
"Yes, it is I, the face of all irrational fears. What does one need, The Transcendent Scarlet Sorcerer?" Vargus smirked. "Or is it that you came all the way here just to catch a glimpse of my supreme power?"
Just as he said that, her eyes lit up with immediate interest. And for that, she introduces herself in a flashy way.
"So thou finally acknowledged me huh? How foolish of thee to rise against one's vast sea of blistering aura! Kneel before me, demon, for I am the wielder of the most glorious, powerful and grand explosion magic. Powers sealed behind this eye-patch, as it holds the wicked magic that shall never be discovered. I am the greatest sorcerer within this world, Megumin!" She struck a pose as she speaks.
[Hey, lesser me, don't you dar-]
"Haha, wicked power? Thou dared to bring that up before this Demon who was feared throughout heavens and hells? Such naivety could be seen dwelling within you. Have thee consigned to oblivion about the real identity of this fallen one is, Scarlet Sorcerer?!" Vargus stands up, towering over Megumin, staring her down with his dimming amber eyes. "To be bestowed with thine's magnificent ensorcellment is truly a blessing, but have thou reasoned with thineself hereof one's capability?"
Amber eyes paired with the gloomy aura of Vargus struck fear into Megumin. And at the same time, she was amazed by his lines. Which it drove her to shake him back and forth, bombarding him with questions about his identity. Deliberately getting dizzy, Vargus unhesitatingly answered all of her questions with an empty mind. However, he was conscious enough to keep some details about him hidden from her.
Nonetheless, Megumin then quietly brings Vargus down to her head level, then she whispers to him to take her to a certain place so that she could use her signature move. Though Vargus did refused at first, but when he sees an insignificant resemblance of his daughter in her for the way she acts, as well as her appearance, he relented and took her to the designated place. Picking her up with one hand, he tenses the muscles in his legs, lowering his entire body down. Ferocious wings disclosed far and wide, ground indents. No sound was made when he took off with Megumin in his hands, as he went unnoticed by Aqua, who slacked off for a moment to look at Kazuma and Xciozen sparring.
The departure was so silent that none of them knew that he had disappeared from the yard. Back to the two, Megumin was so astounded by the beauty of nature endorsed by the view from high up that she forgot to direct Vargus.
"Heh, this girl reminds me of when I flew Anagen around Earth. She looks just like her, and it's itching me to spoil her." Vargus reminiscence of his good ol' times.
[You know, if she were to be here right now. You wouldn't even be making it out alive, you will have to crawl out from the deepest pit of hell with immense pain as your only guide.]
"...I mean- You know what? Never mind it," Vargus snapped out of his thoughts, then he speaks to Megumin. "So, Megumin-san, was it? Where do you need to go?"
His voice pulled her out of her own astonishment. Thus, Megumin directs Vargus to the place that she wanted to go to. And after a while, she pointed at an abandoned castle from far away. Vargus dives at it at a high speed that rivals those of a falcon, embracing her with his arms. Near the ground, he discloses his wings and brutally flaps them once, allowing him to perfectly land without any injuries.
Longing to see how strong her spell is according to Kazuma, he leaves her there and flies into the castle. Rummaging around, he finds himself a seat in the middle of the hall.
"Perfect." He sits down, arms crossed, waiting for the detonation.
And just like that, Megumin chants out a series of fascinating words, alongside with the red sphere in her staff surrounded by rainbow rays. Inside the castle, he could see the sun. Then...
...Boom!
A huge Explosion was unleashed on top of him. And what he did was... Sitting there and watching as the castle collapses onto him.
[Vargus, move. Sloth isn't your title, it was supposed to be that cyan freak's.]
But Vargus cared not, so eventually, he was buried alive and Megumin collapsed to the ground, satisfied, and she knew that the area she collapsed on certainly is safe, so no worries. But then, she saw a cyan trail coming from the ground.
Before she could even process anything, a loud noise that sounded like thunder appears right beside her. Shocked, she rolled away, which took everything she had at that moment since she just cast Explosion half a minute ago. Looking up, she sees Kazuma teary-eyed, and trembling.
"Kazuma, something happened?!" From satisfied to worried and concerned in an instant.
"H-Huh!? O-Oh, n-nothing Megumin. I was just...H-Having a ride." Replied Kazuma with a pale face.
Meanwhile at Vargus's side.
"For god's sake, can ya not create problems for five minutes?! Alufura!" X sweep all the debris away to find a chilling Vargus on the dirty floor.
The chilling Vargus in question: Tattered clothes with dusty hair, lying on the dented ground with cracks everywhere and his face eating dirt.
"Hey, the little girl wanted to-"
"Shuddup, at least tell us before ya do somethin' like that again! Now good luck in gettin' on that self-proclaimed goddess's good side." X scolded Vargus, not much like scolding a child but still.
"Eh, I don't think I will ever get on her good side anyways, and not that I want to anyways. I can just get rid of her with a flick of my finger." Said Vargus confidently, with a cheeky smile.
"Oh no ya don't, if ya're doing it, don't drag me into it. For fuck sake I think I will commit seppuku if I ever step into that mess ever again." X crossed his arms and looked down, reminiscence things in the past.
"You spoke as if you dealt with it in the past. Actually, did you? I haven't really asked you about your past." Vargus said as he stands up, his clothes starts regenerating themselves and he wipes the dust off them.
"...I will talk about it at a later date. But what about ya? Ya doesn't look like someone who hasn't committed several 'Heaven and Hell' crimes already."
"Uhhhhhh," Vargus stands up, wiping the dust off of his coat.
"Wait, Ya actually did?"
What Xciozen got as a response was a blank stare from Vargus, he had figured out the silence said it all.
"Sigh, let's just hope that no one like an archangel, for example, is coming for yar head. Be grateful that I'm on a very long break way from my normal duty right now, or we would be fightin' until the end of time."
[Oh you bet.]
"Oh you bet." Vargus said as he begins to walk toward X while cracking his fist, sadistically smiling.
"O-Oi! C-Chill out, I was just jokin'-!" Xciozen said his last words while raising his hand frantically, trying to defuse the situation but to no avail.
Back to Kazuma and Megumin.
After giving Megumin enough mana, Kazuma helps her stand up but then she insists on having him carry her so he had no choice but to obey.
"How was my Explosion today, my Explosion connoisseur?"
"I was getting dragged across the world by Zen-san so I couldn't see and hear it properly, but I think it would be estimated about 80 points." Said Kazuma while piggybacking Megumin, then blushed red once he realized something in Megumin's sentence, who giggled at his antics.
"Kazuma, if you don't mind. Can I have my daily explosion training with Vargus-san for a few days? I need to make sure that he is friendly."
"That was a reckless idea! After you cast Explosion, who will protect you?!"
"..."
Kazuma sighed, "But you can do that if you want, I'm pretty sure that he is friendly anyways. You guys don't have to be so strict about it."
Then they see the castle nearby abruptly collapse down into smithereens, along with a few claps of thunder here and there. Plus black smoke fumed out of the castle and several blades flying into the sky.
"...Let's just get outta here," Kazuma already ran away along with Megumin before he said that.
On the way back, they reunited with Darkness and Aqua, both of them have concerned looks on their face, especially Aqua who bomb raided them with questions.
"Megumin! Kazuma! What did that demon do to my precious Megumin? Are you hurt? What did that alien do to my Hiki-NEET? Do you need-"
"Jeez Aqua, we are fine!"
"Then what did these disgustin-"
"They are just having a beef with eachother." Kazuma answered quickly, cutting Aqua off.
"Having a beef...?"
"...I think so? We saw Verdia's castle suddenly collapse and more stuff happened."
"Should we check on them?" Darkness asked.
"Nah, just let them be," He continued to walk toward the mansion, following the trail. "They are always like that, such good 'friends'."
Back to Vargus and Xciozen.
[Weaklings.] Azure grumbled toward both Vargus and Xciozen, who are now walking toward the mansion as if they hadn't had a fight minutes ago.
"Shut up Azure, we need him alive."
"Ya say as if ya could've killed me."
"Well, because it is true. I could've killed you if you didn't have pre-chanted Acceleration."
"Keyword: If."
"Whatever." Vargus shrugged off.
Coming back to the mansion, everyone got in the living room.
Kazuma is sitting on the sofa, along with Megumin who is lying down and using Kazuma's lap as a pillow. Xciozen sat on a chair nearby and so did Darkness. A grumbly goddess sitting in the corner while staring holes at Vargus, who is lying on the floor, wiping it with himself. Yunyun is still sleeping in Megumin's room due to you know what.
And the questioning session starts.
[Part 3: Questions? Answers.]
[Note: This part is pretty much used to give you information about our 2 little OCs here.]
Before Kazuma could speak, Aqua raised her hand and asked Vargus first even though he didn't say anything yet.
"Vargus-san, can you die?" Blunt and simple.
"Yes. Next question." Straight to the point.
"Zen-san, what is a spirit? I briefly know something about them back in Japan when I was a-"
"Hikikomori." Aqua butted in with a smirk on her face, Kazuma sent her a glare.
"Yeah, that. But I have gone away for a while now, so I don't really know anything about them."
"...So you're definitely from Japan." Thought out loud Vargus, "If you don't mind me asking, how did you get here?"
"...We do not talk about that."
"Yeah, Kazuma, you've told me- Us about your homeland, Japan several times before. And you always say that you can't come back and... You preferred staying here." The latter was left heard only by Megumin herself, "So can you tell us why?"
"Seems like this guy got isekai'ed and didn't tell his companions that he's from another world. Can't exactly blame him, I guess." Xciozen told Vargus via telepathy.
"Watch me." Vargus replied, "Ahem, was earth destroyed?" Vargus briefly opened the can of worms that Kazuma tried so hard to keep closed.
"Huh? Earth? Destroyed?" Darkness, Megumin, and Aqua breathed out in order; Xciozen and Vargus could see the sweat forming on Aqua's forehead.
And Kazuma? He was confused but shaking nevertheless, "W-What are you talking about?"
"Earth getting destroyed. Was it the reason why you got here?"
"...No? I got here for a totally different reason." Darkness and Megumin were just in the dark just like eachother, attempting to process what they just heard.
"Oh...So maybe Earth didn't get destroyed then..." Vargus mutters while X had the same idea in his head.
"Then how are ya here?"
"...We don't talk about it-"
"This Hiki-NEET t-"
"Actually, we will just assume that to be a normal isekai trope. We won't dwell on others' past."
"...Ok, let's not get side-tracked. A spirit... That word has many different meanin' so uh. I will just take the example of myself." X coughed into his fist, "So right now, I'm pretty much a physical manifestation of... Well, myself. There are 4 types of spirits where I came from. Lesser spirit, Quasi Spirit, Spirit, and Great Spirit, which is the highest tier of Spirit. Only Spirit and Great Spirit can manifest into physical form. Mine is a little bit of a special case that I can manifest into physical form and stay like that forever. Sure, I can just not do it if I want, but it would take a great amount of mana for me to manifest back to physical form so I just decided to stay like this until somethin' very urgent happens."
"Great Spirits like me are also capable of possessing -(Darkness silently squirms*)-, but I personally do not like to do that sort of thing. Also, from what I've seen in this world, it doesn't seem to have spirits."
Aqua nodded, agreeing with X, she couldn't find a single clue as to why her junior's world doesn't have a single spirit, or maybe there are spirits but they are just not in Belzerg and its neighbour countries. Then she chimed in, "Spirits also can make contracts with other beings, just like the kind of disgusting demons and devils." She glares at Vargus, who simply shrugged off, "Except they are purer. Too bad, as long as this spirit stays with the demon, he would be wasted-"
"Wait, so you mean Zen-san and Vargus-san can make contracts?!" Kazuma excitedly said, he almost jumped out of his seat, much to Megumin's displeasure. He thought that maybe they could contract him and make his life heaven-
"If ya're thinkin' about makin' a contract then not even in ya dream that would happen. I once had a contract with the world itself that bounded me to it, and let me tell ya, it wasn't great. Sure, I can break a contract myself but it wouldn't be very good for my name afterward." X left no room for argument.
"And for me, up until this point. I had only made a contract with a person who I adored so much. It was a one-sided contract, all benefits went to her. I engaged in the contract, if I'm being honest," Vargus mused sadly, "It went like, 'To stay alive is your duty, to give you the happiness you deserved is mine.' that was what I said. But one day, she forcefully broke it, and it changed everything. She's not my lover, but rather, my aunt, mind you."
"So in the end, we both have unpleasant experiences with contracts. So if ya want to make a contract with us with the terms of working for ya. Ya better offer something better than just mere mana and lifeforce." X said while leaning on the chair, "Also, one thing to note. The self-proclaimed goddess -(Aqua fumed in her place*)- and the silver-haired thief yesterday, both of them have really good spirit attractions, but only the thief has good spirit affinity."
"Hah! Have you finally acknowledged my brilliantness as a goddess?"
Xciozen along with Kazuma facepalmed at the so-called goddess's pride and ego.
"You aren't a goddess, you're just merely an 'overpowered' priest. Jeez, if you're the definition of 'goddess' in this world then I seriously wonder, why hasn't it been doomed yet." Vargus was tempted to give the goddess a flick to the forehead but refrained from doing so.
[I heard there are the Demon King things going on, I wonder what's holding them from destroying the humanity. Mitten Syrup? I seriously doubt that.]
"You two, I know both of you aren't on friendly terms but please calm down and don't go any further." Darkness stood up and try to calm the tension, and Aqua was practically turning into the Goddess of Fire rather than Water.
"Gonna defend my buddy here," X raised his hand and spoke, "It was Goddess-sama's fault for being so hot-headed in the first place." X tried to conceal his annoyance toward the goddess but eventually, he failed.
"Oi oi guys, let's calm down!" Kazuma gently placed Megumin's head on the sofa, who already fell asleep who-knows-when, and stood up saying, "We don't need to throw hands right now!"
"But this damned creature dared to insult me! It even tainted the Great Spirit!"
"Miss, I wasn't tainted by anyone other than myself." X retorted as he begins to chant a 'simple' spell, hand glowing faint light blue and he waved. Sending the light across the whole mansion.
The tension suddenly disappears, then the mansion seemed to magically be more beautiful than ever. And what is left was cool air all around the mansion.
Kazuma sneaked beside Xciozen and said, "Zen-san, you better teach me this spell. I will learn it no matter what it takes."
Xciozen only nodded, even though knowing that Kazuma has near zero chance to successfully cast such a spell.
"So, any of ya has questions left?"
"How many spells can you cast?"
"Too long to list."
"How can you use Resurrection?" Aqua innocently asked, not even realizing that she just opened the can of worms Kazuma has been desperately trying to keep closed.
"...I have no idea what ya're talkin' about."
"But Zen-san-"
"We have no idea what you're talking about." Kazuma chimed in.
Aqua blinked for a few moments before completely dismissing it, one of the only times that this trait of hers is useful for him. They do feel bad for that but perhaps it was the best course of action as Aqua would not like the truth, at all. And it's not like X will be able to use Resurrection freely anyways, Kazuma was a special case so he was able to use it.
"Alright, we are done here. So, Zen-san and Vargus-san, we are going to the guild to try to give you two legitimate citizenship. Perhaps we should visit Ignis too, I'm pretty sure he can help us out with this." Kazuma said, unaware of what is currently going on in the capital.
Darkness wanted to object and stop Kazuma from placing a burden on her father, but because this was pretty much the best course of action currently, she had no choice but to accept.
"Alright, me and Ville will go back to our little camp once ya're done." X waves his hand and walks away with Vargus, departing the party.
Soon, boredom got the best of them, so X and Vargus decided to go into the city, with stealth, of course. Later on, they found several information about Kazuma's party.
"Demon King's Generals' slayers, huh?" X read aloud, "A powerless man with three powerful women managed to defeat Wolbach, one of the Demon King's Generals. Sounds cool, I guess."
"But they seemed weak-"
"To us, but not to the people in this world... At least, I think so? Nevertheless, I gotta admit that Kazuma is quite close to bein' powerless. If he were to meet someone who knows how to counter his little tricks, he would be absolutely doomed."
[Told ya.]
...
"Hey Vargus, what do ya want?" Asked Xciozen.
"What I want...? Well, don't laugh at me, but I want to be a star." Vargus briefly answered.
"Huh?" X glanced at Vargus.
"Eh...Never mind that."
So X shrugged it off his mind, not going to have a second thought about it.
"Alright, let's go."
And so, the two continue to have fun around the city of Axel without getting suspected by anyone to be the '2 monsters roaming around'.
AN: Brilliant OOCness, I know. I'm gonna be honest here, if you're a Konosuba fan and decided to read this just for Konosuba stuff, I would say that it will be a bad idea, seriously, it will be. OCs have their own lore which will be revealed in the future. Or every little piece would be scattered all around the story.
Proofreader note, from Sohom:
Amazing grammar. It was so amazing that my keyboard refused to work for half an hour straight.
Xciozen: Huahehehe- Drowns in disappointment in himself.