After such a… passionate night, the explosive duo had been at a loss as to how to behave in front of the rest of their party, let alone each other. Megumin had opted to take Aqua with her for her daily routine that day, under the cover of wanting to gather more fresh fish for dinner.
Kazuma, lost for words himself, made no objections and spent the majority of the day dealing with a whole mess of bureaucratic documents that had been handed to him. It turns out that landing the killing blow on the greatest threat to humanity came with a great deal of paperwork. Still, it took his mind off the now awkward dynamic that had developed between him and his favorite mage.
But what now? We've done the deed and I think some of our outings could very well qualify as dates. Hell, the siege of the Demon King's castle was probably THE ideal date…
Then it came to him. While there was commitment on both ends, albeit much shakier commitment on his end, nothing had really been set in stone yet. They'd said their "I love you's" in months past, but even now their relationship was vague.
He knew himself, any fine female that entered his line of sight would be fair game for his textbook perviness. Any validation or interest from a pretty woman, and especially a gorgeous crusader, would send his pulse skyrocketing. It would be a tough habit to break, if it could be broken at all. Would he be able to truly go steady with one girl for the rest of his life?
Then again, after that?
His mind went back to the hours of pleasure they'd shared. Sure, he wasn't exactly the experienced stud that his ego believed him to be, and there had been some hiccups, but maaaaan... The thing she did with her mouth...
He tried to snap out of it, reminding himself that some very, very serious work needed to be done.
"Ah! Who the hell could think straight after that though!?" He cried out.
His quality time with the succubi left him with a clear head and took a load off his shoulders, but the real deal...? It drove him crazy. He was a fool to reach for a taste of the good life, his hubris would be his downfall.
Hours had passed and now a cool night breeze filled the adventurer's room. He was just about done with the reports needed by the Capital and decided to call it a night, though he doubted he'd be getting much sleep in his current state.
Kazuma stripped off his usual adventurer clothes and slipped into his pajamas. Noticeable bruises decorated his hips, a battle scar he wore proudly as living proof that he may still be a NEET but he was a virgin no more.
As he finished buttoning up his shirt he could sense someone's glare behind him.
He began to turn around and called out, "Megumin?"
A flash of blue hair zoomed out of his room and slammed the door shut. A 2,000 Eris coin that had been sitting on his dresser was now gone, replaced with an origami rendition of Emperor Zel.
Why that useless Goddess!
He tore the door open and made to chase after the deity of debt only to smack into something small and hard.
"Ugh…" He could hear a familiar voice groan out.
Looking down, the woman who'd thrown his mind into disarray lay sprawled out against the stone floor.
"Shit, s-sorry." He scooped her up and sat her on his bed.
"You alright?"
"Small though I may be, I'm still the rightful new Demon King. You won't wound me so easily!" She said as she dusted herself off. The Crimson Demon act quickly gave way to a more sincere attitude, however.
"About last night…" She started. Kazuma covered her mouth firmly and motioned for her to wait. The mage was taken aback, but decided to comply.
Kazuma looked under the mattress. Clear. He swung open the closet. Clear.
What am I missing…?
He went over to the door and turned the lock until a clear click could be heard.
The mage gave him an amused smile. "There's our leader, always learning from past experience."
He sat down beside her and waited for her to start up.
And waited.
And waited.
He began to sweat. What the hell! She's the one who was waiting outside my door! Last night what? Good? Bad? A mistake? You're killing me, Megumin!
The tension was so thick that he thought he might honestly cry if they stayed like this for another five minutes. Kazuma gulped and decided to break the silence.
"You, uh, did a number on me," He chuckled nervously. "I've got bruises all over my pelvis now."
She gave him a quizzical look. "Is that not a sign of a job well done?"
They shared a quiet laugh before the silence resumed. Just as Kazuma began to fidget and plot his next zinger, Megumin grabbed his sleeve and got his attention. "Hey… You'll take responsibility, right?"
"Responsibility…? Oh. OH." Panic began to seep in. She had a point. In all his excitement and dread, he failed to grab one of the contraceptives Vanir'd sold him. This wasn't earth, there was no plan B at a pharmacy across the street.
She looked at him expectantly. Swallowing, he nodded. "I'm a bit short on cash at the moment, b-but once the bounty comes in… Yeah, yeah we can make it work. Um, do you think you're…? Like, does anything feel… different?"
A bit of fear seeped in now that he'd said it out loud. She shook her head.
"Even if it doesn't come to that, things are different now. I know what I signed up for. You're a spineless pervert that will leer at any girl that shows the slightest bit of skin. You get flustered by the most miniscule bit of female attention. That, I can tolerate. It's in your nature and I've come to accept it." She wrapped her fingers around his and gave him a serious look.
"That being said, I'd really appreciate it if you reserved your sleazy gaze and lustful comments to me, at least as much as possible, from now on. C-Can you accept it?"
Hearing that aloud, it occurred to Kazuma that significant work would be needed before he could move back up to just being a scumbag.
Kazuma squeezed her hand and smiled. "Yeah. Look, I know I haven't been the most faithful in the traditional sense, and our relationship has been fairly ambiguous, but I'm committed if you are."
Sensing she hadn't been all that reassured by his words, he continued. "I mean it! I'll try to… well you know, not be human garbage so often."
Megumin shoved him back on the mattress and curled up next to him. "It's alright. Change takes time. I've said it time and time again, but I really do love all of you. The way you tease people with your uncouth comments and leer at the most inappropriate times, it may make me jealous, but it's a part of you."
She pressed her face into his neck. "Could I ask a small favor though?"
"Uh, yeah. Sure." Kazuma ran his fingers through her silky black hair as he mulled over their conversation.
"Fight back a little harder if Darkness ever tries to pull something again, okay…?"
Guilt stabbed at his chest. After confessing her love to him, and he accepted her confession, he still let Darkness get away with undressing him and almost crossing the uncrossable boundary that separates friends from lovers.
"I-I, yes. I won't let things get that far again. Now that we're… Huh."
"'Huh' indeed, I've been pondering this as well," Megumin said, now looking up at him. "I was comfortable being more than friends but less than lovers in the past due to circumstances at the time. Is it safe to say that we're dating and on the path to marriage now?"
Marriage, huh? I guess in a world with short lives and no… protection, things move a lot quicker.
"Dating? That sounds right." He paused, strategically omitting marriage. "Do we, um, do we go 'public' now?"
She blushed at that. "Let's just… do what feels natural."
That could work. Just play it by ear for now, no problem.
As she lay there, breathing close to his ear, he could feel the all too familiar pangs of desire begin to build. It felt pretty scummy to bring this up after a heart to heart, especially one of his commitment or lack thereof, but having tasted nirvana once already he could hardly help himself.
"H-Hey, Megumin? Do you want to…?"
She patted his chest and sighed. "You're not the only one bearing scars from our battle the day before. I need a little more time to… recover." She looked about as crimson as he'd ever seen. "I would like to... though. I'll let you know, okay?"
A bit disappointing, but completely understandable. To be honest, now that he thought of it another round like that would probably hurt enough to take away from the experience.
"Let's just get under the covers then." With that, the newly affirmed couple put the day behind them.
The mood at the Guild was jubilant. With monsters being weakened after the downfall of the Demon King, even the most novice of adventurers could stand to go toe to toe with the usual foes.
Kazuma and the party members that besieged the Demon King's castle queue up by the service counter. As expected, Mitsurugi and his harlots received a hefty share of the reward. Several hundred million from the sound of it. Kazuma fumed silently, knowing damn well that he couldn't really complain because they probably would've died without his firepower. Yunyun got a decent payout, enough to probably fund the entire village for a while. Again, totally justified but still fuming nonetheless...
Kazuma and his party, on the other hand, only received fifty thousand for the time being. Luna wasn't sure herself, but word on the street was that a team from the Capital would be coming by later to deliver the rest of the sum. How much and when was still unknown to the Guild. With so much work being done and so many big targets going down all at once, it seemed that the Guild network was dealing with a currency shortage.
What gives? The tryhard and his harem get paid before the guy that frickin' took down the Demon King!? Short on cash or not I should get priority…
"Waah! Kazumaaa~ Y-You sed we'd buh-be rich again but you still haven't stawted up my allowance again! Do something! I can't go back to that misewly lifestyle!~" Aqua was besides herself, almost choking on snot and tears, much to the annoyance of the staff and party alike.
Yunyun looked panicked, glancing at everyone before opening her purse. "H-Here, I've got plenty so you guys can take some and pay me b-"
Kazuma had been about to help himself and thank the mage before a certain arch-wizard shoved him aside.
"As if we'd stoop so low as to take charity from one of my minions! Keep your reward and use it to train for our next battle. We'll earn our keep through hard work as we always have!" Megumin said while proudly puffing her chest out.
This prompted another bout of tears from their Goddess, and honestly Kazuma felt like joining her after this Crimson pipsqueak ruined their easiest solution.
"Work, huh? Let's se- Hngh!" Darkness took a look at the bulletin board for only a moment before being yanked back. A moan escaped her lips as the adventurer brusquely took her place.
"Bad crusader! Every quest you ever pick is a guaranteed death sentence for the rest of us. I'll handle it!"
Darkness' face grew flush but she didn't argue.
A beginner's bane, a Fenrir, Salzatar the Undying Duxion King, oh! Here's a good one…
"Got a quest here paying 120,000 eris to clear out a goblin camp nearby. Any objections?"
Megumin gave a thumbs up while Aqua was still moping about near the bar. Darkness looked quite pleased with his choice.
"Filthy, sex-starved goblins as far as the eye can see. The noble crusader fights valiantly only to be overwhelmed by their neverending numbers…"
Looks like everyone's on board then.