KonoSuba: A Tale of this Beautiful World Vol6

by Dknightodin

The sixth volume of the series.

2. Chapter 1: The Underground Trail

Chapter 1: The Underground Trail

Part 1

"Well, what do you say, should we leave things as they are or would you both like to continue?" Caine remarked.

"Continue!" Megumin retorted, slamming her palm on the table as she did.

"My oh my, seems like the little miss is fired up; how about you Mr. Kazuma, dare to continue?"

I glanced over at Megumin; clearly, she wasn't gonna take 'no' for an answer. "Sure…I guess," I replied, reluctantly agreeing to carry on.

Caine then tapped his finger on the table.

"Wha— Oh, right." I looked over at Megumin again. "Pay up."

"What?!"

"Don't 'what' me; we're only continuing 'cause you want to, so, pay up."

Megumin frowned, but she subsequently withdrew another eris from her coin purse, placing it on the table with the few others.

Suddenly, from behind came the familiar and annoying wailing of a particular goddess.

"UWWWAHHH! DARKNESS!"

"There, there, Aqua, you'll be alright."

"UWAHH! My stomach it-it hurts!"

Snobs and sniffles followed.

I looked over my shoulder to see both Darkness and Aqua coming down the stairs. "Oi, you wanna keep it down?"

"Megumin? Kazuma?" Darkness said, turning her attention to us.

"What are you two doing down here? Did you get enough sleep?"

Darkness nodded. "Umu."

"Hmmm." Caine rubbed his chin as he eyed Aqua. "Are you alright, my dear guest?"

"Huh? Who are you?"

"Ah, sorry that's right, I don't believe we've been introduced. My name is Caine; I'm something of this place's caretaker."

"That one's name is Aqua," I answered in place of the goddess who was too busy sniffling.

"And I'm Darkness; nice to formally meet you, Caine-san."

"Likewise." Caine stared at Aqua once again. "Are you ok, Ms. Aqua?"

"She's fine," I interjected.

"I'm not fine!" she yelled back. "My stomach really hurts." And with a frown, she dared to say, "It's probably your fault that my stomach is hurting; knowing you, you probably went out of your way to jostle me around while carrying me."

"This bitch! Huh?! The hell you're talking about?! I didn't even carry your dumbass!"

"Sure you didn't. Typical of you to go blaming someone else for something you've done; just how long do you think I've known you for, you shameless hikiNEET."

I honestly wanted to slap her. First thing she does after waking up is come down crying, and then she has the nerve to blame me for the bad choices she made.

"Ahem." Megumin cleared her throat loudly. "Aren't we going to continue this?"

"Ah, right."

"Continue what?" Aqua queried.

"None of your business," I replied. "Why don't you go do whatever it is you usually do."

"Now, now, Mr. Kazuma," Caine said, interjecting, "why not have Ms. Aqua join in on our little game? Perhaps Ms. Darkness may want to join as well?" he said, tossing a glance her way.

"I wouldn't mind," Darkness said. "What is it that you're playing?"

"A simple game. All one has to do is either tell the truth or tell a lie and their opponent has to discern which applies. Given that I know nothing of either of you, you can go ahead and partner up with your friends against me."

"Four against one?" I remarked. Even I felt a bit bad about matching up against someone on such uneven terms.

"It'll be fine; after all, this is just a small game to get to know each other better—nothing high-stakes. In the meantime, let me see if I can get something to take care of that upset stomach Ms. Aqua has. Be right back." Caine stood up and left towards the kitchen.

"Seems like an attentive person," Darkness said.

"Umu. Hey, Darkness."

"Hm? What is it, Kazuma?"

"You sure you're ok? We've got some time before we have to head out, so if you're still feeling tired you can go and get some more rest."

Darkness smiled lightly. "Thank you, Kazuma, but I'm fine—really."

"Hey, what about me?!" the obnoxious goddess yelled. "Where's my concern?!"

"Wherever your intelligence is! Why the hell should I concern myself with you? Almost all the trouble you find yourself in has no one but you to blame for it. Case in point, you wouldn't be having a stomach ache if you didn't drink so damn much!"

Aqua's lips quivered as her eyes lined themselves with tears. "UWAAHHH! Why are you bullying me?!"

Soon enough, I found Darkness and Megumin's gazes on me.

"Kazuma really knows how to go overboard, doesn't he?" Megumin remarked.

"Indeed, his verbal abuse is truly something to behold," Darkness followed up. "P-, Perhaps it would've been better for me to receive such scathing beratement instead of Aqua?"

I frowned. "You two already know she deserves every bit of it; it's not like anything I said was a lie."

Megumin sighed. "Still, it wouldn't do Kazuma bad to learn to reel in such cruelty."

"I wouldn't say those things if she learned to reel in some of her worst habits. You've learned. Hell, even Darkness has made some progress."

"Even I?" Darkness shuddered. "The way you say it… It almost feels as if you're on the precipice of losing hope in me."

"...Nevermind, I take it back. Also, look, she's not even crying anymore."

Having pointed this out, Aqua immediately turned on the waterworks again.

"Oi!"

And despite it all, the other two still consoled her.

"There, there, Aqua, why don't you sit down and play with us," Megumin said.

"If she's actually gonna play then we're as good as done. I have no faith in winning something—even something as lopsided in our favor as this—with her taking an active role. In fact, hey, Aqua, I'll go ahead and buy you some nice booze later if you just sit there and be quiet."

She frowned. "Do you think you can buy me just because a drink is involved? Such a shameless hikiNEET. I get to choose the drink—and you better not be stingy with the price either, alright?"

"Sure, sure, fine, whatever."

At that moment, Caine returned with a bottle in hand. "Here you go, my dear Ms. Aqua, a little homemade recipe for curing upset stomachs; it even does a fair job at taking care of things such as mistakenly-ingested seeds."

"Why thank you," Aqua replied. She removed the cap of the bottle and quickly emptied its contents.

"Wai…— Nevermind."

"Hm? Something wrong?"

"Ah, well…you weren't supposed to drink all of it—but it's fine. The side effects shouldn't be life-threatening or anything…I think."

"You think?!"

"Well, I'm not really sure; I never seen anyone take the entire bottle like that. Don't worry, Ms. Aqua, I have a good hunch that nothing so grim would befall you. In any case, I think it's my fault since I didn't tell you how much to drink beforehand."

"Ka-Kazuma-san! Megumin! Darkness! H-Help me!"

"Hey, Caine-san, are we gonna continue the game or…?"

Seeing my lack of caring, Aqua pounced on me with tears pouring. "You demented hikiNEET, how dare you be so callous! D-Don't you even care that I'm going to die?!"

"G-Get off me, you'll be fine!" I said, trying my best to remove the clenched grip she had on my shirt.

"You don't know that! You don't even care!" she sobbed.

Caine cleared his throat. "I'm sorry I scared you, Ms. Aqua, but I'm sure you'll be ok."

"Really?! Are you sure?"

"I am. Unfortunately, I don't think you should leave until you've used the toilet at least once."

"Really?" Aqua let out a sigh of relief.

"I don't think you should be sighing about that," I remarked, but Aqua paid me and my comment no mind. "Wait a minute, does she even use the bathroom?"

In all my time with her, I still couldn't answer that question.

"Caine-san," Megumin interrupted, "let's continue."

"Ah yes, my apologies; let us continue with our game." Caine took his seat opposite of us. "I believe it was my turn, right? Then, since Ms. Aqua and Ms. Darkness have joined us—"

"Just Darkness," I interjected. "The other one is just gonna observe."

"Oh? Do you not wish to join, Ms. Aqua?" he said, glancing at her.

But before she could answer, I replied. "The stomachache seems to be a bit too much for her, so she's decided to sit this one out."

"Ah, I see. Well, maybe next time. In that case." He withdrew one of the coins on his side. "Three coins instead of four, no?"

Megumin and I glanced at Darkness who then looked back at us with a momentary look of confusion.

"Oh, should I…?"

"If you wanna play," I replied.

Darkness dug into her clothing and removed a coin pouch. She undid the knot at the top, took out a single eris, and then placed it on the table, in line with our own coins.

"Now what?" she asked.

"Now I make a statement," Caine said, "and then you three will decide whether or not it's true or false. And since there's three of you now, I think it's only fair that there's one answer shared amongst you all. Not much of a game if there wasn't any ri— ahem, challenge, involved."

"You definitely were gonna say 'risk', weren't you?"

Caine sent a blasé smile my way. "I'm sure someone as well-rounded as yourself knows that all games involve a bit of risk, Mr. Kazuma; I hope the word itself isn't enough to scare you away."

"Of course not!" Megumin interjected. "Kazuma and I are ready to risk it all in this endeavor!"

"Oi!"

Caine laughed. "Well, well, is that right?"

"No, it isn't!" I retorted, slapping my hand over Megumin's mouth. "We're definitely not risking everything. And you, stop making such dumbass comments!"

Megumin pulled herself away. "Fine! Enough stalling! Let us finish this!"

-Several turns and a few hours later…

Caine chuckled as he shifted the pile of eris he amassed over to the side of the table. "My, my, another win for me. Are you sure you want to continue?"

"Un-, Unbelievable," Megumin stammered.

"Honestly, I'm amazed as well," Darkness said.

Even I was astounded at how much he was able to win; we must've gone through 30+ rounds by now and only managed to eke out two wins between us three—and I suspected those two were given to us. If it wasn't for the bell, I would've definitely suspected him of foul play or something.

"Um," Aqua said out of nowhere, "is there supposed to be all that stuff under the table?"

"Huh? Stuff? What the heck are you talking about?"

"All those things he has underneath the table: the string, that ball, whatever it's all attached to."

All of us turned our gaze on Caine, who was now sporting a rather nervous look despite the smile gracing his face.

I took a quick glance under the table and verified what Aqua said was indeed true.

"Oi."

"Well, look at the time; I should be going." Caine attempted to get up, but I quickly grabbed onto his arm.

"Where do you think you're going, you cheat!"

"Cheat?"

"Are you gonna deny it even now?" Megumin remarked. "Give it up!"

"That's right," I said, "and give us back our money, you bastard!"

"Why the hostilities? I know it may seem as if I cheated, but allow me to explain," Caine replied.

"Explain what?! It's as plain as day!"

"Then there shouldn't be any trouble in me trying to prove my innocence."

I frowned and then, reluctantly, let go of his arm. "Start talking."

He picked up the bell and presented it to us.

"What?" I said, sort of confused by the gesture.

"Take it—any one of you, and please say something truthful."

All of us exchanged glances, fully suspicious of what was being asked. After a few rounds of this, I took the bell.

"My name is Satou Kazuma."

No sound.

"Good," Caine said with a nod. "Now say something false."

"Kazuma-san isn't an incorrigible NEET," Aqua replied as she snatched the bell from my hand.

"Oi!"

However, the bell made no sound.

"Ka-Kazuma is an upstanding individual who isn't proficient at making women cry," Darkness then said.

Nothing.

"Kazuma definitely isn't a man driven by his own desires," Megumin added with a slight frown.

And yet, the bell still made no sound.

"How's that possible?" Darkness queried.

I smirked. "Seems like that thing is functioning perfectly."

RING! The bell rang, but only due to Aqua flicking it.

"No," Megumin replied, "there's absolutely something wrong with it."

"It's just as you all guess," Caine remarked, "that bell isn't actually functioning at all."

"What?" I said, perplexed by his answer. "So then how'd you—"

"I manipulated it, with the things Ms. Aqua pointed out: some string, some springs, balls, and some magnets."

"So you did cheat."

"Technically, I didn't."

"What the heck are you talking about? You just said—"

"I manipulated something that doesn't even work. Essentially, I was just guessing the correct answers every time, and then I pulled on the string to make the bell ring. If anything, I was making the game even harder on myself by doing so. If I even got one of the guesses wrong then the whole thing would come apart."

"Wait. What? You were guessing?"

"The whole time?" Megumin said, as stunned as I was.

"That's right," he replied with a playful smile still on his face.

"Bull-shit," I retorted. "You're telling me you guessed right over thirty times?"

"Well…not completely. They were and are guesses—for the most part, but I've always been really good at discerning the truth; that has been the case ever since I was just a child."

"So, the whole thing was rigged from the start."

Caine shrugged, the smile still adorning his face. "It isn't that I cheated or that I got lucky, I was just the better player; in reality, in a game like this, against me, none of you stood a chance, but good or not, that doesn't change the fact that I still had to guess the answers."

Technically, he was right—and that, perhaps, was the most frustrating part about it all.

With his explanation done, Caine scooped the eris into the bag that Calem left behind and swung it over his shoulder.

"Hey wait, hold on! What are you doing?! That's Nyle's—"

"We were playing for everything, all of the money, remember?"

"What? No, no, I thought—"

"I clearly said all of the money and both you and Ms. Megumin agreed to it. Although…" He placed the bag back down and withdrew a handful of eris, which he then placed in front of Darkness. "Ms. Darkness wasn't here when that agreement happened, so it's only fair I return her losses."

I was almost speechless at the level of bold-faced shrewdness this man was displaying; it wasn't that I had never seen something like it, rather, I never really expected to be so thoroughly disarmed by it.

"Well now, I shall take my leave; I've been up for quite a while and it'd only make sense for me to rest at this point—of course, should you need anything, don't hesitate to come find me or help yourselves. Good— Hmm…it's morning already…well, goodnight anyway."

Caine gave us a wave as she disappeared upstairs.

All of us were still stunned by the suddenness of what just happened—all except for one of us.

"Did you hear what he said," our clueless idiot remarked, "we can help ourselves to whatever we want."

"Oi. If you knew about the stuff hidden under the table, WHY THE HELL DID IT TAKE YOU SO LONG TO SAY SOMETHING ABOUT IT?!"

Aqua shrinked away from me. "Why are you getting mad at me? You told me to sit there and be quiet, so that's what I did."

"..."

If there was any lesson to be learned from all this, it was that I had to be especially careful about what I said.

-Back upstairs…

Megumin and I returned to the room, leaving the other two to their own devices. As I closed the door to the room, I let out a heavy sigh. "I'm gonna go take a bath."

"Huh? Oh, sure." As I was about to go, Megumin spoke once more. "Um…are you upset?"

"What? Am I— No, not really. It's not like I ended up losing much; it was most of your money."

She gave me a brief frown, but then sighed as well. "Well, as long as Kazuma isn't upset I guess it's fine." Megumin smiled. "Don't take too long, ok?"

"Sure."

-Several minutes later…

The water was warm, unlike the weather we experienced up top; we'd have to return to that at some point. That thought encouraged me to take as much time absorbing this feeling of warmth, knowing full well that it'd be something elusive in this place.

"Kazuma?" Megumin's voice came from the otherside of the door. "Everything ok?"

"Huh? Yeah. What's wrong, don't tell me you wanna hop in the bath with me."

"..."

"Wait, seriously?"

"Th-That's not it! I was just checking if something happened to you; it's been some time since you got in. I was thinking maybe Kazuma slipped or something."

"No, I'm fine, just enjoying the water; I'll be out in a little bit. Oh, actually, I forgot to get another pair of underwear, so can you grab one from my…ah, that's right…our stuff was taken."

"Ah, that's true; I completely forgot as well."

"Looks like you'll be in the same situation as I am."

"And that is?"

"Having to use the same underwear."

"Guh. Why do I get the feeling that Kazuma is grinning from ear to ear after saying such deplorable things?"

"..."

"You, you won't even deny it?!"

"You're imagining things; I'm just stating the obvious."

"I'm not so sure."

"Listen, if you're just gonna hang out by the door nagging me then do me a favor and just go sleep or something. I'd like a bit of privacy."

"What is Kazuma planning to do? I'd also like to take a bath, you know."

"I'm enjoying my bath and whatever else I decide to do; is that a crime?!"

"Whatever else you decide to do; is that what I think it implies?"

"Heh. And you guys call me the perv."

"It is, isn't it?! You'd do such things in a stranger's home?! What am I saying, of course you would!"

"Damn right! I'm a healthy young man who hasn't had a moment of indulgence since we left Axel! And you, calling yourself my wife but declining every move I make on you."

SWISH! BANG! The door slid open and crashed against the end of the track. In the same instance, I heard the frenzied meow from a certain feline as it scurried away.

"Me?! I'm declining every move you make?!"

I instinctively covered myself. "O-Oi."

"What is there to hide, we're husband and wife!" Megumin screamed, trying to pry my hands free from my precious parts.

"Oi, stop it! What the hell's wrong with you?!"

"Come, let us spend this moment together!"

"H-Hold on! I'm not ready! I haven't prepared myself mentally!"

However, Megumin was having none of it, still locked in a heavy struggle with me.

"Oi!"

Fed up with her aggression, I activated Drain Touch.

And to no one's surprise, she immediately collapsed, melting like ice cream under the summer sun. That's right, she collapsed, right into the tub.

"Bubububu."

I pulled her head from under the water. "Look at what you've done. There's water and…"

Drenched from head to toe, the water clung to her clothes, winter clothes that were already quite tight on her body.

I was a healthy young man…and she was my wife, my significant other; at very least, I could call her something very close to a girlfriend…at the very least. Whether lacking or not, it was a female form, a female drenched completely, with the clothes covering her failing to do what was undeniably one of its intended designs and, consequently, revealing the slim body—and all its contours—underneath it.

"Why would Kazuma—? What are you…?" Noticing where my gaze was, she quickly looked down and noticed what I had just moments ago. And just like I had done, she instinctively covered herself. "Per-Pervert." Megumin looked away, but I could clearly see the various shades of red taking over the near-porcelain paleness her skin originally has.

Still covering herself, Megumin rose out of the water, the heft of it dragging down the outer layers of her clothing causing it to mat itself against her body. As she was about to get out of the tub, I grabbed onto her hand.

"Where do you think you're going?"

I felt Megumin tense up and the following shakiness in her voice told me what I already suspected. "Ah, y-, you see, perhaps I was wrong to incite Kazuma so strongly. I'll just—" I tugged her back into the tub. "Wh-What are you doing?! I'm sorry, I was just a little angry so—"

"What, are you gonna just leave sopping wet like that? Not like you have a change of clothes."

"Ah—...umu."

"Take it off."

"Huh?"

"Your clothes."

"What?"

"Might as well. Besides, you'll catch a cold if you stay in it. I already have enough problems looking after you when you aren't sick so I'd hate to have you get ill on me."

"I-I'll be fine."

"Stop being so difficult! Take it off already…or I'll take it off. What? After spouting all that we're husband and wife stuff you're gonna go all scared on me, say it has nothing to do with something like this? Well, I guess saying things like that is something kids do, so…"

Megumin looked at me with a frown, her eyes glowing. "Kazuma thinks he can provoke me by calling me a kid?"

"Well?"

"It's kind of frustrating how upset it makes me feel." She let out a heavy sigh. "I'm not a child."

Part 2

Hesitantly, Megumin removed the outer layer, the overcoat of her attire, revealing the skin-tight rompers that laid beneath it.

"What do I do with it? It's not like I can leave it on the floor."

"Floor is already wet as it is, not like a little more water is gonna make a difference."

"But I don't want my clothing to be left on the floor!"

"You don't make any fuss about it back home."

"That's different!"

I snatched the overcoat and tossed it aside. "The next bit, come on."

Megumin glared at me but then, after another sigh, she turned her back towards me and lifted her hair. There lay a well-obscured zipper line. Without missing a beat, I unzipped it.

With the same hesitance, Megumin slid one part off her shoulder and then…she paused, glancing at me over the same shoulder.

"What?" I said, a bit of frustration apparent in my tone.

"What is it that Kazuma wants?"

"What? What do you mean?"

"I mean, what is it that you really want? Clearly, this isn't to prevent me from getting sick. I'm just confused, because sometimes Kazuma is really adamant about waiting, and then at times, like now, he's really forward and aggressive. If…if Kazuma is ready to…to go all the way then…I…I'm ok with it. I'm ok with whatever he chooses." She turned around to face me. "Just make it clear which one it is…and stop being such a coward."

I was stunned, shocked that she would so brazenly call me out. Then again, she wasn't wrong. I tended to flip-flop on committing to the act or not. The issue was that I was sort of torn between desires: my desire to finally climb the stairway to adulthood and my desire to be a 'good' and 'proper' boyfriend. Either one I picked was fine by her, she said it herself and, right now, I knew which one I wanted more.

"Don't blame me if I get carried away." With that said, I pulled the other sleeve off her shoulder and laid bare the upper part of her torso.

Megumin clammed up, trying her best to cover herself; she was embarrassed, as much as she put up a front.

I grabbed her arms and pulled them away.

There, in front of me, was her chest, her breasts and rosy nipples fully exposed. I pulled her closer to me, wasting no time in pressing my hands and fingers to them.

She flinched, following it up with a short gasp.

I was completely preoccupied, so when her fingers grasped my bottom half, it startled me, my sudden movement causing me to unintentionally pull on the bath's drain plug.

As the water emptied and more of our bodies were revealed we drew closer to each other, timidly touching at our bare and wet skin.

I traced my hands over her chest and moved them further down, only to be blocked by the lower parts of her clothing. I began tugging on them to get them free, but Megumin took the initiative and removed them, the only article of clothing a pair of sodden black panties cradling her most precious of parts.

She laid back, completely flat against the floor of the tub. I could hear her slow and heavy breathing matching my own as I pushed myself closer between her legs, her crimson eyes glowing brightly. This was it, me and Megumin were about to cross the line. Suddenly, I stopped. This was it—which meant something was bound to interrupt us. That's right, this was an opportune time for Darkness or—more likely—Aqua to come and inconveniently discover us; I had to make sure something like that didn't happen.

"Kazuma?" Megumin said as I got up.

"Hold on, I'm gonna go lock the door."

I leapt out of the tub and then, suddenly, my sight shifted upwards. I was…falling? I was—

BANG! A sharp pain.

I could hear Megumin shouting and then all my senses leaving me. Where in the hell was my luck when I needed it?

When I regained my senses, I was still laying on my back, however, the view of the ceiling changed, replaced by the bedroom's. In that same view was Aqua, who was quietly filing her nails. When she noticed I was awake, her focused expression shifted to one of disdain.

"I'm afraid to ask what happened."

"What happened, huh?" Aqua said, a heavy frown still draped across her face. "Megumin told me you walked in on her and slipped."

I turned my head and saw that Megumin—fully-clothed—was quietly sitting nearby, casting intermittent glances at me.

"I slipped? Ah, that's right." I instinctively touched my head.

"Lucky for you, Megumin came running to me and Darkness as soon as it happened. Whatever you have up there in that head of yours was practically all over the floor."

"Wait, so I died?!"

"You would've if it wasn't for me!"

I sighed in relief. "Ahhh, thank you, Aqua-sama."

Upon hearing those words, Aqua smiled proudly, the angry look she had just moments earlier completely dispelled.

"Kazuma." Darkness' voice came from the foot of the bed, prompting me to look in that direction. "It looked really bad, like a monster completely ravaged you."

"Almost like the time you were beat up by all those kobolds in the capital," Aqua said cheerfully.

"Why'd you have to go and remind me of that? Anyway, what happened to all the blood and stuff, did you guys clean it up?"

"I cleaned it up, thank you. I had to separate all the blood and water on the floor. Even Megumin's clothing was completely drenched in the stuff."

"Ah, so that's how her clothing got dry. Well, thanks; I mean it."

Once again, Aqua smiled. "Really, what would you do without me?"

There she was, as always, getting carried away; still, she deserved the praise…this time.

I sat up, feeling the back of my head.

"What's wrong?" Megumin asked. "Do you feel something?"

"No, that's not it, I was just making sure everything was put back correctly."

"Hey!" Our errant goddess yelled.

It was then that I noticed I was wearing my pants. "Oh? Who put these on?"

"I did!" Aqua replied. "Couldn't have you going around showing that shriveled little thing off—especially in the presence of a goddess like myself."

I couldn't help but frown, for this was the same goddess who led a deranged band of psychos; the same psychos who made committing disturbing acts seem like it was part of their core tenets.

"Anyway, has it been long?"

"About an hour," Megumin replied.

I sighed loudly and then laid back down. "Thanks for saving me, but can I get some sleep now?"

"Sleep?!" Aqua said in a condescending manner. "That's all you were doing!"

"And what was I supposed to do, huh dumbass?!" As much as I was indebted to her, I was also fed up with her annoying remarks. "Half my brain was lying on the floor, excuse me if I wanna sleep now!"

"Aqua," Darkness said, jumping in before she could get any words in, "maybe we should let Kazuma rest; he did lose quite a bit of blood."

Aqua glared at me, but then crossed her arms and sighed. "I'll have you know that putting all that blood back in you wasn't easy. You really should think about how to thank me. Come on Darkness, Megumin, let's leave this ungrateful—"

"I'll stay," Megumin interrupted.

Aqua stared at her and then at me; she did this a few times, each set of glances harboring more worry than the last. Finally, she let out a tired sigh. "Fine. Let's go, Darkness."

As Aqua walked past her and out of the room, Darkness got up from the foot of the bed and stared at us. She said nothing, only gazed at us with the same worried look Aqua did, after this, she too, left the room.

I waited a few seconds before speaking, making sure Megumin and I were truly alone. "Walked in on you, huh?"

"Would you have preferred if I told them what actually occurred?"

"There'd be no end to it if you did."

"I don't mind, you know."

"Mind what?"

"Telling them. We're married. Sooner or later…" Megumin went quiet, seemingly lost in thought. "I hope they can accept it; I don't want us to stop being friends."

That was really on her mind; Megumin was really worried about our friendships.

"Nah, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Besides, where's Aqua gonna go? That girl can't survive longer than a week on her own. And Darkness, well…she's stubborn, but I can't really imagine her cutting us out because me and you take a serious step in our relationship."

"I hope you're right," Megumin said, looking wholly unconvinced.

"By the way, did you really run out there with nothing on?"

"Huh? Of course not; I grabbed a towel. Fortunately, I didn't have to go very far; Darkness and Aqua were coming up the stairs when I opened the door."

"Seems like they were about to intervene if I didn't do anything. Not like it mattered anyway."

"Also, it might be surprising for Kazuma to know, but you actually slipped on my clothing. I told you leaving it on the floor was a bad idea."

"..."

I could do nothing but cover my face in frustration and embarrassment.

-A few hours later; afternoon…

Kazuma was fast asleep, and like before, I was wide awake. Chomusuke was sleeping on my chest once again, having returned soon after the whole debacle. I stared up at the ceiling in silence; a familiar routine.

"So, thy intended to copulate with him."

"Furiosa?! Ah—sorry, I mean, Furiosa."

"Thy are the capricious sort, aren't thee?"

"Capricious? Me? That would describe you more than me. Anyway, forget about that. You could see what was happening?!"

"This one told thee, I experience all that thee experiences; did thy think it only applied to things thee touched or fell in sight of? It applies to all sensations: painful…or…pleasurable."

Suddenly, I felt myself grow flushed with embarrassment. "S-Sorry!"

"No, it is fine, do not be sorry. This one… I have never felt such things before. Such intense feelings and emotions, powerful…and yet…enough to make this one feel…weak. Indeed, a very odd sensation."

"So, you don't…know…about these things?"

"Copulation isn't something necessary to us; the need to know wasn't present. The thought of willingly weakening yourself for another is…strange, to say the least."

Her words made me smile a bit. "It isn't weakening yourself. I'll admit, you are sort of vulnerable in those cases, but it isn't like you'd do that with just anyone. At least…I don't intend to—and I believe the majority of people wouldn't either."

"...I see. Perhaps in time I will learn more about such acts."

"Wait, are you going to keep on looking?!"

"Even should this one choose to shut themselves away in the depths of thy mind and body, the feelings thee feels will still permeate through; I am as much a victim to them as thee."

"Victim?"

"As long as thee holds control over this vessel there is little this one may do; I am at thy whims."

"I see. Is it alright for you to be telling me such things though?"

"It is of little concern to this one. If thou believes that by telling thee these things this one has created a weakness for herself, thou art mistaken. If thee wishes to put this theory to the test then come, this one will gladly accept thy challenge and reap the rewards from such a foolish action."

"Relax, I wasn't thinking about doing that; I was just curious."

"Humph. Will thee be copulating, then?"

"Cop— Can you stop saying it like that? A-Anyway, I-I don't intend to…especially if you're gonna watch."

After I gave my answer there was nothing but silence. "Furiosa?" I called out into the recesses of my mind, however, nothing came of it.

Despite my lack of tiredness, I found myself sighing from the feeling of mental fatigue.

I pulled on the fabric of clothing lining my inner thighs. All of it was dried by Aqua…all of it except one.

I looked over at the bathroom, and then I shifted my gaze to Kazuma; his eyelids fluttered lightly telling me he was dreaming, the dubious grin and shady chuckles, however, told me whatever he was dreaming about wasn't anything that could be considered pure in nature.

I picked up Chomusuke from my chest and placed her down by the end of the bed. She lifted her head groggily and meowed, falling back to sleep soon after.

"Tired, huh? Wish I could say the same…although it's pretty cool not having to sleep."

If only we weren't underground, then I'd be able to use this time to practice more of my new Explosions. I sighed heavily, aware of how long it's been since I unleashed one; the same thing filled me with a sense of sadness.

Once again, I looked at Kazuma. By now, he was drooling slightly, with just as wide a grin as before.

"Got to make sure I don't wake him. Ugh, it was a pretty bad idea to keep these on without underwear—but what could I do, they were still wet—and it wasn't like I could just tell Aqua to dry those for me; that would be too risky."

I carefully lifted myself above Kazuma, trying my best not to wake him.

"Wha—?! Ka—?!"

Kazuma suddenly wrapped his arms around me…but upon closer inspection, I realized that he was still asleep. Despite this, somehow he found a way to make the situation worse and now threw his legs around my thighs, firmly locking me in place.

I let out a small yelp as I felt something pressing against my lower body. "I really hope that isn't what I think it is."

Before I could check, Kazuma started brushing his face against my own.

"Ugh. Ka— Kazu— Ka—! Kazuma!"

He stopped as he wearily opened his eyes. "Huh? Megumin? Ah," he said seemingly disappointed, "it was just a dream." He let me go.

"What exactly were you dreaming about?" I asked, my brow furrowed by his tonal disappointment.

"Nothing," he replied. "I'm going back to sleep." And then he turned over, shutting his eyes as if nothing just happened.

Another sigh from me. I turned around, knowing now I could get my underwear in peace.

Or so I thought…for as I was about to walk away, I was stopped by Kazuma grabbing my arm.

"Where are you going?"

"Erm, to…the bathroom?"

"Ah, well, let me go real quick."

As he got up, I began to panic; I couldn't let him go inside and find my underwear. "Huh?! W-Wait! I-, I wanted to go!"

"Huh? What's your problem? I'll be out real quick."

"Wait!" I said, grabbing on to him. "Don't go!"

"Oi, come on, let go, you're gonna make me go on the floor!"

"Wait, Kazuma can't go in there!"

"Why the hell not?!"

"C-'Cause you can't!"

"What are you trying to hide, huh?" In my desperation, I began to squeeze down tighter on his waist. "Oi, h-hold on! Megumin! Gah! I'm gonna— GAHHHH! DRAIN TOUCH!"

"AHHHHH!"

Shocked free from my grasp, Kazuma bolted into the bathroom.

"Wait!" I yelled, dashing in after him.

"WHA—?! What the hell are you doing in here, you idiot!" he yelled, trying his best to push me back out the door.

"Why won't Kazuma let me go first?!" I yelled, struggling against him.

"Grrr, get out and let me pee; I'd already be done if it wasn't for you!" Suddenly, he stopped, causing me to tumble over. "What's this?"

I attempted to grab the conspicuous black object from the towel rack, but unfortunately, Kazuma was faster.

"Ho? These what I think they are?" he said, opening them up completely. "Ah, no wonder you were so desperate to get in here. This all? Here," he said, about to hand them to me…however, he stopped just short of my open hand. "Hold on…if these are your only pair then…" A disturbing smirk crawled up his face.

I, almost on an instinctual level, shielded myself.

"Can it be that you're—urk." Suddenly, Kazuma froze, his face twisting in discomfort. "H-Hold on, Megumin."

"Wait, what are you doing?!"

"What does it look like? Haaaaaaaahhhh."

"HOW CAN YOU JUST GO LIKE THAT?! DOESN'T IT BOTHER YOU THAT I'M HERE?!"

"'Course not. Why would it? You've seen it so many times already that it'd be dumb of me to get embarrassed of that by now. Anyway"—He shook himself off and placed it back in his pants—"these," he said, twirling my underwear around his finger.

"Would you please give them back?"

"Are you actually running around without any?" he asked, tilting his head to get a better view.

"What does it matter?" I replied, becoming desperate to be rid of this scrutiny. "Can you please give them back now?"

He stopped twirling them around his finger, and then stared at me. With a heavy sigh, he declared, "No", and then stuffed them into his pocket.

I pounced on him. "Give it back!"

"Oi, you little—"

"You can't do this to me! This is sexual harassment! I won't let this infringement pass!"

"Sexual harassment?! Look who's talking! Who's on who right now?! Get off of me before I do something to you you'll regret!"

In spite of Kazuma's protests, I only struggled harder, trying to dig into his pocket to free my only pair of underwear.

"Got it!" I yelled.

"Let go, you—" The air went still as the sound of tearing fabric was clearly heard. "...whoops."

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" With the article of clothing now torn, Kazuma relinquished his grip on it. I held it up before my eyes, assessing the extensive damage.

"Look on the bright side, now you don't need to worry about anyone running into it."

I slowly lowered it, feeling my sense of dread and anxiety drain, anger and violent thoughts taking their place. Slowly, I raised my arm, my hand balling into a fist.

"N-Now hold on, Megumin! It's not that serious! I can fix it! I-I can fix it! Megumin? M-Megumin?!"

I dropped my fist as fast and as hard as I could.

-Sometime later…

Megumin glared at me as I put the final touches on the patch-up job.

"Oi, come on, I already apologized; what more do you want from me?"

Megumin, however, didn't answer, her frown settling in even deeper.

"Maybe I should sew in an explosion or something."

Her anger seemed to let up a bit as I said that. She looked away, almost as if she was trying to downplay the effect it had on her. "Don't think I'll forgive you just for saying 'explosion'," she retorted, her face scrounging up once more in reprised fury. "The embarrassment I had to go through just to get that sewing kit."

"Hey, I'm sorry, but how else was I supposed to fix this? It's kinda easy to forget that my sewing kit is amongst all our other lost things."

"You could've asked for it yourself!"

"And how was I supposed to do that?! Did you already forget how hard you hit me down there?! I swear I thought it was over for me."

"To be honest, I should've hit Kazuma even harder."

"Hey, take it easy, alright? I admit, I went a little overboard, ok?"

"A little?" Megumin scoffed. "Are you finished already?

"Sure you don't want me to sew a design in?"

"I'm fine without one! Kazuma has held onto my underwear for long enough already."

"Fine, fine. Here."

She snatched it from my hand without a second thought and then stormed off into the bathroom.

I looked over at Chomusuke who had been lying by my side and then sighed. "I hope you're paying attention, that's a good example of how not to treat someone who's supposedly dear to you."

"I can hear you, you know!" Megumin yelled from inside.

"What? You can? It seems her senses are becoming sharper thanks to Furiosa…what a nuisance."

"I can," she said, coming back out.

"Done?"

"I am," Megumin replied with a smile. She sighed in relief. "How wonderful it feels to have something soft and dry between clothing and skin."

Now I sighed, but mine was laden with disappointment.

"Why is Kazuma sighing so depressingly?"

"No reason."

The thought of being so close to crossing-the-line and not crossing it was enough to make any virgin like myself depressed. Still, even if I had any plans to make it come true, my lower half was in no shape to follow my will…which made it all the more sad.

-Some hours later; evening…

After sleeping off lingering pains—both physical and mental, I decided to get up and go see what everyone was up to. Megumin had left soon after I repaired her panties, leaving Chomusuke to accompany me; if only she wasn't in her feline form.

"Hey, girl," I said, scratching her behind the ear, "sorry to wake you, but I'm headed downstairs." Chomusuke replied with a lazy meow, her eyes barely opening to acknowledge me. "Yeah, I know, but I don't wanna leave you locked in here when I go, so unfortunately, I'm gonna have to bring you with me."

I picked her up.

"Oof, you're getting a bit heavy, aren't you? Is it because you have to supply that new body of yours with more nutrients?"

Chomusuke meowed, seemingly responding to my remark.

"Eat lots so you don't end up like that crazy owner of yours, ok? It's one thing to be lacking in some areas, it's another thing altogether to be lacking in areas and also be crazy."

"Meow."

"Good, I'm glad you understand. You do understand, right?"

"Meow."

"Hehe, I knew it."

I scratched her head lovingly.

As I arrived downstairs, I heard the others embroiled in conversation.

"Ah, there he is. Kazuma," Megumin said, running over to me.

"Whoa, what? What's wrong?"

"Huh? Nothing. I just wanted to know if you want to head out to walk around; do you? Nyle-san said that our stuff should be arriving soon, so it'd probably be a good way to kill time and see some new sights, huh?"

"They found our stuff already? Hmmm…and what about her?" I said, raising the cradled cat in my arms.

Megumin took her off my hands. "Oof, you're getting heavy, aren't you?"

"Are you feeling better, Kazuma?" Darkness asked as she walked over with Aqua.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What's this about taking a trip around town?"

"Umu, I assume Megumin already told you; Nyle-san offered to show us around. I think it'd be a good opportunity to see some interesting things; after all, the dwarves are known for craftsmanship—there's even been some talk about some rather eccentric things that come out of the dwarven kingdom." Darkness grinned.

"If you're saying it's weird then I don't even wanna hazard a guess as to what the heck it is. Anyway, I'm ok with taking a look around town."

"Great," Megumin said. "Nyle-san went upstairs so when—"

"Oh, looks like everyone is here," he said, suddenly showing up. "Looks like the others won't be joining us, unfortunately."

"Others?" I queried.

"I went to ask Daichi and his group if they wanted to come along as well; they declined my offer. Oh well, it's better this way; I don't really like traveling in a large group, job or not. Anyway, shall we get going? I'm sure you all are desperate for a change of scenery."

"Wait!" Coming from the end of the hall was the female elf in Daichi's group.

"Ms. Inara?"

"Let me come along."

"I thought—"

"Yes, I know. I…had a change of heart."

"Ah, well…alright. A-, Anyone else deciding to come along?"

"No…just me."

"I see. Ok. Let's be on our way, then."

With a new addition to our group, we headed into town.

Part 3

As we strolled through the streets, Nyle presented us with some trivia about a few locales. The stares of curiosity we got upon our arrival were present on this occasion as well.

"I should have known that the swindler would have sought to ply his devious trade on you as well," Nyle said. "In any case, you can't say I didn't warn you, Kazuma."

Kazuma shrugged lightly. "Well, it's not like it was a huge loss on our part; that money was given to you by Calem-san, right?"

Nyle sighed. "It was. Now I feel I must get it all back, merely on principle…and also because I really despise that conman."

"I definitely understand where your hate for him comes from."

"Well…'hate' might be a tad strong of a word to use when it comes to him, but he's definitely someone I could go without seeing for a good long time."

As Kazuma and the dwarf continued to speak, Darkness and Aqua took their time taking in the sights. All the while I stood some distance behind, trying to digest everything. It was then that I remembered there was someone else tagging along. The moment I looked over to her, our eyes met, prompting both of us to look away in embarrassment.

"S-, Sorry," she said, rather timidly.

"N-No, it's fine." I cleared my throat. "Um, sorry, I haven't introduced myself yet." Feeling my confidence return, I flared my cape dramatically and said, "Behold, the one who stands before you is the foremost genius of the Crimson Demons, the one who slayed The Destroyer, the Vanquisher of the Demon King's Army, the one, the only, Crimson Annihilator Megumin, Master of the Explosive Arts and renowned daughter of prodigy."

"Ehhhh? That's…quite the list of achievements."

I chuckled proudly. "And it's only the beginning. I intend to have more under my belt very soon."

"Soon? What is it you're here for? Don't tell me you came to defeat the Demon King of the North. Ah, sorry, where are my manners; I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Inara, Inara Leirani."

"Inara Leirani. Umu. Nice to meet you, Leirani-san. To answer your question, yes, me and my companions have come here by royal decree to put an end to the Demon King's machinations in this region."

"You and your companions? And by royal decree, no less." She looked away, seeming rather upset by my declaration.

"Is there something wrong?"

"Huh? No, nothing at all. By the way, 'Inara' is fine." She looked over at the others, silently staring as they entertained themselves with current going ons.

"That one is Aqua; she's our healer. The tall one is Darkness; she's our Crusader. And that guy over there is Satou Kazuma, our leader…and also my husband."

"I see, what a fine—HUSBAND?!" Her explosive reaction caused the others to look in our direction. "Ah, sorry," she said, whispering as if to compensate for her recent outburst, "I…I didn't know Megumin-san was old enough to marry."

"And why not?" I said, frowning instinctively.

Inara looked away. "No…no reason."

"What weird things are you saying to her, Megumin?" Kazuma asked as he wandered over to us. "Hey—Inara-san, was it—you don't have to listen to anything this girl says, alright? She's a little special in the head."

"Spe… It seems like Kazuma has acquired some strange tastes."

"Strange tastes? What the heck are you talking about?"

"Umu. It seems like experiencing that pain twice wasn't enough; though it rubs me the wrong way, perhaps I should comply with Kazuma's wishes and make him feel it for a third time."

"Oi, relax, I haven't even fully recovered from the last. And who the hell acquired strange tastes?!"

"Are you two actually in a relationship?" Inara remarked, looking at us with a raised brow.

"Huh? Is that what she was telling you? *sigh* It's true…as embarrassing as it is."

"What was that?" I said with a glare.

"N-Nevermind," Inara interjected, "forget I asked. Megumin-san told me who you all are; seeing as I haven't introduced myself properly to you all yet, allow me to do so; my name is Inara Leirani."

"Nice to meet you, Leirani-san," Darkness said with a short nod.

"Please, 'Inara' is fine."

"Inara-san, then."

"Nice to meet you too," Aqua said. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to be a Crimson Demon, would you?"

Kazuma frowned. "Of course she's not, she's—"

"How…did you know?"

"Wait, what?"

"You're a Crimson Demon?" I said, surprised by the reveal as well.

"Well…I don't know if I can really call myself one; I'm only half."

"Only half?" Kazuma said. "Well, you should consider yourself lucky, then."

I frowned deeply. "I'd like to know why Kazuma believes so; please, do tell."

Completely ignoring my demand, Kazuma went on. "Well, it looks like you got the good half of the genes, seeing that you don't even seem to act half as strange as they do."

"Is…is that so?"

"No, it's not!" I retorted. "If Kazuma has something to say about me and my kin, why doesn't he come out and say it this instant! I won't stand idly by and listen to someone slander my brethren—even if that someone is Kazuma!"

"Oi, come on, Megumin, even you have to admit you have more than a few oddballs in your village. I mean, you constantly go on about Bukkorori and Yunyun for starters, then there's those two girls who were your classmates—what were their names again?"

"Dumbdonko and Funnykura—but that's besides the point!"

"I agree with Megumin," Aqua said, taking my side in the argument. "Megumin's folks may be a little odd but it doesn't mean they're bad people."

"Aqua!"

"I never said they were bad," Kazuma replied. "And honestly, I don't think you should be calling anyone's folks strange considering the group of people you're supposed to be the leader of."

Just then, Nyle coughed, getting our attention. "Sorry to interrupt what is obviously a very interesting discussion, but if it's talking you all want to do, perhaps it's best if we move to somewhere besides the middle of the road?"

Noticing this, we all quickly followed Nyle, to which he then led us to a nearby tavern.

"A much better place to have a conversation, wouldn't you all agree?" he said as we finished placing some orders.

"If you don't mind the cramped spaces and tiny chairs," Kazuma replied.

"Hey, it isn't like these places are made with a bunch of humans in mind. Even so, I made sure to get you the special table—you know, for occasions just like this."

"So then they are made with a bunch of humans in mind."

Nyle frowned.

The size of furniture aside, the truth of the matter was that the tavern was too loud—as they often tended to be; still, this did indeed present some security to any conversations that were to be had, be they illicit or not.

"So," Nyle began, "I guess the real question is why did you decide to tag along, Inara? I didn't think I'd see you anywhere without Daichi."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I thought it was obvious; don't you like Daichi?"

"L-Like him?! I-I don't— Why would you even think that?!" Inara screamed, completely flustered.

"Ah, you don't? My apologies, then."

"Honestly…spouting such nonsense. Humph. There's no way anyone would ever…l-like a…a fool like him."

"Tsundere," Kazuma suddenly said.

"Excuse me?"

"Tsundere. You. are. a tsundere."

"What? What are you—"

"Don't mind him, Inara-san," I said, interjecting. "Kazuma likes to say things that don't make sense very often."

"You trying to be one too?"

"I don't get it," Aqua suddenly said. "If you don't like the guy, why are you still in a party with him, Inara-san?"

We all looked at her, awaiting her reply.

She looked away from our longing stares, her ears and face turning red all the while. "It…It's not like I hate him…or anything," she mumbled. She cleared her throat and turned to us with regained composure. "If I wasn't around, Daichi would likely run into more trouble than he could handle…like he already has." Once again, she looked away, but this time her face was governed by a solemn expression rather than embarrassment. "That idiot—as strong as he is—really doesn't know how to rely on others; he shoulders way too much."

Her comment made me instinctively look at Kazuma, whose gaze found its way to my own; the look on his face seemed to ask me 'what?'.

"So you stick around because he couldn't function without you," Aqua said, a pompous smile appearing on her face. "Sounds a lot like a certain hikiNEET."

"Eh?" Kazuma frowned. "You'd better not be talking about me."

"Who else would I be talking about?"

"You—!"

Darkness spoke, cutting Kazuma off. "Inara-san, we're here for a specific purpose, but—if you don't mind me asking—what are you and your own companions here for?"

"What are we here for? The same reason anyone has for coming here: to defeat the Demon King. That was our intention…is…our intention."

"Is that why you're coming along with us?"

"Coming along? What?"

Nyle looked at her with a curious brow. "Did Calem not tell you guys anything at all? I'm supposed to 'escort' you both to the north…together."

"What?! I—no, no one did; no one said anything!"

"*sigh* Typical. Not that I can say I'm at all surprised by it. Guess you can be the first to tell Diachi the news, I suppose."

Inara looked down in silence. "...I don't think he'll agree to it."

"He won't?"

"Why not?" Kazuma suddenly asked.

"Because…Daichi's…a coward."

"Hmmm." Aqua rubbed her chin. "Well, he can't be more cowardly than Kazuma, and even we managed to drag him over to defeat the Demon King."

"The heck you talking about? I know you have a knack for saying dumb things, but are you sure you aren't going senile, grandma?"

"G-Grandma?!"

"Anyway, you didn't have to drag me anywhere; I willingly set off for the Demon King's castle out of the goodness of my own heart."

"You mean, Princess Iris," Darkness remarked.

"Iris-chan too—but mostly because it was the right thing to do."

Still wearing a pall of gloom, Inara went on. "Daichi…was once someone who you could call brave…but ever since that day…he became a completely different person."

The rest of us (minus Nyle-san) traded glances.

"What happened?" I asked.

"...Haruto-san, Daichi's younger brother…died."

It was then that the shroud of solemness and gloom extended itself to the rest of us.

"S-, Sorry."

"It wasn't his fault, but he still blames himself. I hate seeing him that way; slumping around like a complete shadow of his former self. That's why…I decided to come along with you all…to get away from it."

"I see."

Kazuma sighed. "His brother…damn. That's rough."

"That's terrible," Darkness said, adding her own sentiments to the tragedy. "I can't imagine what it'd feel to lose a sibling."

"Did…you guys try resurrection magic on him?" I asked.

"Well…that's the thing…we couldn't, not with the way things turned out. The situation…it was dire enough as is; the rest of us barely escaped. Had we stayed behind to recover Haruto-san…well…it was likely that none of us would've left that place."

"Is it really that bad up north?" Kazuma queried.

"Things are much calmer down here, yes; not to mention, we're underground. Things are very different on the surface."

"Like I had informed," Nyle remarked. "The situation above is chaotic, even more so the farther north we get."

Once again, the rest of us found ourselves exchanging glances.

"I wouldn't blame you all if you decided to head back to Belzerg," Nyle continued. "Times are definitely rough—and we'd benefit from any help we could get—but I don't know if I were in your shoes whether or not I'd be willing to risk everything in some other land if I didn't have to."

We all looked to Kazuma.

Of course, we knew that going back now wasn't really an option, but I think we all wanted to see where he actually stood on the matter after hearing how bad the situation here was.

"Going back isn't really an option for us," Kazuma finally said after some time. "Besides, it wouldn't really sit well with me if I didn't give the whole defeating-the-demon-king-here business a fair try."

Nyle grinned. "Ah, you are far nobler than the rumors say."

"Rumors?! What the heck are these rumors saying about me?! Just know they're all lies!"

Nyle laughed. "Everyone knows rumors have some foundation of truth, as for which, well, that's anyone's guess; although, I'm sure there's nothing true about the embarrassing portions of those rumors."

Finally, the food and drinks arrived.

"I say we all have our fill; there's no better remedy to sorrow than drowning it in the pit of one's stomach. A toast." We all raised our cups. Standing on the top of his stony seat, he said, "To success…and long lives."

We all repeated it, each with our own level of enthusiasm, some more than others.

-A few hours later; night…

"That idiot never learns, does she?" Kazuma said, looking at Aqua who was being carried upon Darkness' back.

"It was fun though, wasn't it?" I remarked. "We haven't had such a great time since we were last in Axel; it really brings back memories."

"Ah, I guess you're right. That aside, I'm surprised I'm not carrying you; you didn't have anything to drink this time around, did you?"

"Surprised? Humph. Well, it's only right that a mature lady like myself be a responsible drinker."

In reality, I only withheld from drinking because of the taste of whatever the dwarves deemed to be suitable for consumption—which in my opinion…was not.

"Mature? Lady? Responsible? Which of those refers to you?" I frowned. "Still, I gotta say I'm fairly glad that you didn't cause a ruckus this time around—bad enough I have one drunk to look after."

Shifting focus from the current topic, I spoke. "Say, Kazuma…what did you think of Inara-san's story?"

"You mean about Daichi's brother? It sucks. What else can I say? I imagine something like that struck a bigger chord with you, though."

"Huh?"

"You know, on account of you being a total siscon."

"Sis—?!" I took a deep breath and calmed myself. "Kazuma's comment aside, I didn't even think about that at the time…but yeah, you're right, Komekko and I are close. You know, now that I think about it, it's fairly frightening how close I've gotten to having something similar happen to me. If it wasn't for Yunyun…"

"I'm actually more surprised that you chose Explosion over your sister—was back when you told me, and I still am."

"Both are very important to me! And it's not like I was just gonna let Komekko…well… I-I was ready to make that sacrifice…luckily, I didn't have to."

"Honestly, you really need to do something more for Yunyun given how much she's bailed you out."

"Impossible. If I did more, she would start to get the wrong idea. I know that girl, she would definitely get an inflated ego and hold it over my head every chance she got. Not to mention, she's my rival; I can't go being too kind to her."

"Right, right. Although, I thought you guys already laid that to rest."

"Laid what to rest?"

Kazuma sighed. "Nevermind."

After a lull in the conversation, Kazuma chuckled lightly.

"Hm? Why is Kazuma laughing?"

"What, I can't laugh now?"

"Kazuma can be odd at the best of times, him laughing for no reason just fills me with dread; please tell me you have good reason to be laughing."

"You… *sigh* It's not exactly hilarious or anything, just find it interesting that we met another Crimson Demon way out here; thought your people were hermits."

"I take great offense to that…although, being a hermit sounds pretty cool—a solitary master hidden away from the world, accessible to only the most determined of individuals."

"You're really stretching it. Anyway, isn't it really odd for you guys to leave the village, let alone Belzerg?"

"It isn't entirely strange of us to leave the village; many Crimson Demons leave to make a name for themselves, you know. It is, however, fairly odd of us to venture beyond the kingdom's border; in fact, there are only a handful of individuals who've been known to—although I'm sure there are probably far more who haven't. It isn't like we know where all of us are at any one time."

"Fair enough."

"Still, Inara-san is the first Crimson Demon I've heard of who isn't entirely human."

"Umu, to think that there was someone else out there crazy enough to get with one of your people."

"Alright, I've had enough. If Kazuma seeks to wage war with his words then be prepared to—"

"Drain Touch."

"Ahhhhh. Ok, ok, I'm sorry."

"Honestly, would it kill you to just keep that temper of yours under control?"

I snatched my arm away with a frown. "Humph. Isn't Kazuma supposed to keep the existence of that cursed ability a secret? I feel he may be using way too liberally for his own good. Anyway, you may have won this time, but I'd be careful if I was you."

"Maybe, but it's the only skill I can use against a crazy mage with a surprising amount of strength and an uncanny knack for explosions. And if you're planning something against me, I hope you know I won't hesitate to defend myself—even against my so-called wife."

"Tch. You really are a beast."

"Hey, Kazuma," Nyle said, walking over.

As they engaged in conversation, I slowly made my way over to Inara.

"Is everything alright?" I asked.

"Megumin-san? Ah…umu. You don't have to worry about me."

"Is that so? To deny aid even when it seems most pressing, the blood of the Crimson Demons does indeed flow through your veins, Inara-san; however, I learned that we should rely on our friends when we're not feeling well."

"Fr-, Friends?" The way she said it reminded me of a certain someone. Inara shook her head. "No, I think you're mistaken, Megumin-san, I am feeling alright. In fact, talking back at the tavern actually helped ease some of my longstanding worries."

"I see. So walking alone is also something you enjoy? It seems our kind's traits are indeed very dominant regardless of who they partner up with."

Inara let out a light and seemingly forced laugh. "No, I don't think it has anything to do with that; I just enjoy walking alone."

"Hmm, a coincidence then."

"So it seems." There was a pause in conversation as we continued to walk; finally, Inara spoke once more. "Megumin-san."

"Hm?"

"Are you and Kazuma-san…— No, I should say, do you and Kazuma-san actually like each other?"

I smiled. The answer was fairly obvious, but it still gave me pause to hear someone ask that question. "I love Kazuma…and I believe he loves me as well. I know it may not look that way given the way things looked back at the tavern, but…I think it's just because we have no reason to hide the people who we really are from each other. To others it It may not be the most attractive thing in the world, but to me…to us…I believe those parts of us are just fine. Why do you ask?"

"I just wondered is all. Sorry if I'm being too personal."

I shook my head. "It's fine. You know, I still think there's a way to go between us, Kazuma and I, but I'm happy to work with him towards that end. All the moments in between just make for a finer story to tell when all is said and done. No matter the outcome, I think I'd look back and say that our moments together were the best moments of my life…and I hope…that he'd feel the same way too."

Inara smiled. "You act much older than you appear, Megumin-san—no offense."

"Normally I'd take that as a slight, but I guess I could make an exception this time and accept it as a compliment."

"Please do. Also, thanks; talking with you guys really helped."

"Glad to have been of assistance," I said with a smile.

"That being said, I still can't believe you guys defeated a Demon King."

-Back at the safe house…

"There you go," Nyle said, "that should be everything, right?"

"Just about," Kazuma replied. "You guys missing anything?"

I shook my head, as did Darkness.

"Wonderful. See? I told you I'd retrieve all of your possessions."

"You did, but it'd also never have been lost if it wasn't for you."

"As would your lives. With that said, I think it's fine to let this whole affair be rocks over the proverbial cliff, wouldn't you?"

Kazuma sighed, his brow knit with a frown. "Sure…I guess you're right."

"Excellent. Now then, now that you've been reunited with your possessions, I think that you all should get some rest. We'll be leaving tomorrow."

"Wait, what about our carriage?"

"You can relax, your carriage has been moved to the warehouse; we can retrieve it tomorrow. Although, I'll have to warn you, we may end up having to leave it behind somewhere—either at another stop or somewhere mid journey."

"Wait, what? Why?"

"It all depends on how damaged the tunnels are. We may have to take some routes where a carriage may not fit. In any case, I'd set that thought aside for now and just worry about it tomorrow."

"Worry about it tomorrow, huh? *sigh* Fine. Not like worrying about it now is gonna change anything."

"Well then, good night, my friends."

"Night." "Goodnight, Nyle-san." "Have a goodnight, Nyle-san."

"Well," Darkness said, turning to us, "I guess I'll turn in as well. Goodnight, you two."

With Aqua already upstairs sleeping, Darkness walked off to join her.

"Guess we should get some rest too, Megumin."

"Umu."

-Back upstairs…

"Hahhhhhh." Megumin let out a loud sigh of relief as she tossed herself onto the bed. "It feels good to be in my pajamas again."

"Well, can't say I don't agree," I replied, as I myself had donned my tracksuit. "How about you, Chomu-chan, don't you agree?" I asked the black feline I had been playing with.

"Chomu-chan? What odd names are you giving her?"

"Nothing weirder than you'd give her."

Megumin frowned.

Following that, a few minutes went by with me continuing to play with Chomusuke in relative silence.

That silence was suddenly broken by Megumin. "Kazuma."

"Hm? What's up, Megumin?"

"I have…something serious I need to tell you."

"Huh? What's wrong?" I replied, glancing over at her.

Megumin turned towards me with a serious yet anxious expression on her face.

I quickly sat up. "Is something going on with you? Is it Furiosa again?"

Suddenly, Megumin's brow started twitching, shattering her once-stoic expression. "W-When can I cast Explosion again?" she said with a stutter.

"What are you talking about? You know there's no—"

"You can't expect me to not cast Explosion for such prolonged periods of time!" she interrupted, leaping onto me and shaking me in desperation. "You know what going without it for so long does to me! I feel like I'm going insane!"

"Can you stop?" I said, pulling her hands away from the collar of my shirt. "Listen, you're fine; didn't you just let off a massive explosion some time ago? And besides, there's no way a girl as crazy as you could get any crazier."

Megumin shook me once again—but this time with an angry look on her face. "Say that again, why don't you?! I dare Kazuma!"

"Drain Touch."

"EEEEP!"

Part 4

"PWAH! Ugh." My awakening came with a start as I found myself sprawled out on the floor, sheets tangled around my leg. "Must've fallen off the bed." After pulling myself free from the sheets, I got up and noticed the absence of a certain someone. "Huh? Where'd she go? Is it morning already? Oi, Megumin, you in here?" I asked, knocking on the bathroom door.

The lack of a response led me to enter, the lack of a scream—or indeed—a body confirmed that no one but me was in the room.

"Where the heck did this girl go?" My line of thought was interrupted by my own abrupt yawn—and as I did, I stretched, wringing out what lingering drowsiness I had. Knowing Megumin, if she wasn't with me, she'd likely be with the other two. "Oh well, best wash up and head downstairs, then."

-Sometime later…

As I walked downstairs, I noticed it was crowded with people. Aqua and Darkness were there, but so was Daichi and his group—even that conman, Caine—and yet, there was no sign of Megumin.

"Hey," I said as I approached Darkness and Aqua, "what's going on? Why's everyone here?"

"Good morning would be a good way to start," Aqua said with a frown.

"How would I know what time it is? Ah, whatever, that's not the point. Why's everyone gathered here? Also, where the heck is Megumin? Have you guys seen her?"

"Megumin?" Darkness queried. "She's over there with the dwarf. Why? Do you have something you need to ask her?"

I glanced over in the direction Darkness pointed, and indeed, Megumin was speaking with Nyle in some far off corner of the room.

"What the heck is she doing?" I mumbled. My curiosity led me to break away from the group and head over.

"Oh, Kazuma, good morning," Nyle said as I drew near.

Megumin nearly jumped, her shoulders and frame locked in surprise. "Ka—?!"

"Oi, what are you doing?"

"N-, Nothing," she replied, her back to me, still.

"Nothing?" I glanced over at Nyle.

"Oh. She just asked me if I knew of a place sturdy enough to take an explosion. I told her the only place I know of is the open-pit mine near Maglin. Although, that's some distance from here and there isn't a direct route underground."

I placed a firm hand on Megumin's shoulder prompting her to stiffen up once more. "Oi."

She apprehensively turned her head to face me, doing her utmost to avoid eye contact. "Ahh, g-good morning, Kazuma, I didn't see you there. It seems you have some important things to discuss with Nyle-san here so I'll just leave you to it."

I tightened my grip as she tried to pivot away. "Oi, what's this I hear about finding a place to use Explosion?"

"Guh." Megumin instantly turned towards me with a beaming smile. "As an adventurer and upstanding citizen, I was simply trying to lend my talents to any who might need it."

"Don't give me that, you little—!" As I tried to get a complete hold on her, Megumin tried her best to escape. "No one needs you to cause more issues for them!"

"I'm doing no such thing! I'm creating solutions!"

"Solutions for who?! Yourself?!"

"ARRRGGH! Let go! If Kazuma won't let me find a place to use Explosion, I'll just use it here!"

And indeed, she certainly started trying to.

"Stop it! Don't do that, you psycho!"

After a short scuffle and some drain-touching, I was finally able to pacify our rouge mage. Seeing her limply sprawled out on the floor, Aqua and Darkness rushed over.

"Kazuma, what's going on here?" Darkness asked.

"Why don't you ask her? If it wasn't for me, we'd all be waiting in line at Heaven's gate."

"I see."

Nyle coughed slightly. "It's a good thing you arrived, Kazuma; everything is just about ready for us to start our trip. I just need to make sure a few things are in order, and then we'll be ready to go. Make sure you get some food and drink in you before we do."

"Umu, got it."

As Nyle walked off, Megumin sat up.

"Oh? You're up already?"

She returned my remark with a frown. "I'm still feeling quite drained."

"Hey, you brought this on yourself, so don't go looking at me like I took advantage of you or something. Anyway, let's head back before things start to be said." I knelt down and gave her some mana.

"Kazuma-san." Daichi called out to me as we rejoined the group. He lowered his head with a short nod. "Thank you for watching over Inara. I was told she joined you on your outing last night."

"Ah, no need to thank me, Daichi-san, she took care of herself."

"Regardless, thank you; I shouldn't have left the responsibility of a party member in someone else's hand…not that I can blame her much for it."

Despite the length of time between our last conversation, Daichi looked no better, still carrying the same melancholic and haggard expressions of our first meeting.

"Instead of going on about nonsensical stuff, wouldn't it be better if you properly introduced us," Inara said as she came over with the other members of Daichi's group.

"Ah, that's right. I was told we'll be going along with you and your group, Kazuma-san. That being the case, I think Inara's suggestion is most sensible. You've already met her, so the other two members of the party are Kevin and Hurnus, our healer and tank, respectively."

"Nice to meet you all," the man named Kevin said with a courteous bow.

"Likewise, I'm Hurnus Clobberock. We saw each other briefly the other day, but it's nice to actually meet you."

"Same. Well, I'm Kazuma, Satou Kazuma. That's Aqua, our healer, Darkness, our tank, and this one here is Megumin, our mage. I look forward to working with you all."

"As do we," Daichi replied.

Suddenly, our brief intros were interrupted by Nyle shouting in aggravation. "Bah! Why am I even trying to argue with you; I know it's an exercise in futility."

"Whatever do you mean, Nyle," Cain said, "I'm only answering your questions honestly."

Nyle waved him off and then furiously marched over to us. "Is everyone here ready? We'll be leaving pretty soon."

"We're prepared, Nyle-san," Daichi replied.

"Ok. I'll go get the last of our preparations done. Unfortunately, I was unable to procure our lost funds for our trip so things will be a bit more difficult."

"Lost funds?"

Nyle sighed. "Nothing you need to concern yourself with. Anyhow, if there's anything you all need to do, now would be the best time to get it out of the way. I'll be seeing you all in a little while."

"Actually, Nyle-san, there's something I'd like to discuss, if you don't mind."

"Discuss?"

"Yes."

"Well…sure."

Daichi then turned to the rest of us and gave a short nod, and then as he went off with Nyle, the rest of his group saw themselves off and joined him.

"Now what?" Megumin queried.

"I don't know," I replied.

"Maybe a hot meal?" The swindling host of the rest stop said as he walked over.

"So I guess there's no giving back the money for our trip?"

Caine smiled. "I'm afraid it's all gone, Mr. Kazuma."

"You sure were quick to spend it all. It's been barely a day."

"I assure you, it has gone to a good cause."

"Is that what you told Nyle?"

"I did." I frowned. "What, you don't believe me? Should I go grab the bell?"

"That broken one? The same one you used to con us?"

Caine chuckled. "I was sure we already went over this. Anyhow, what do you say, a meal to see you all off?"

The rest of us traded glances before I spoke once more. "This one come with strings attached, too?"

This time, Caine laughed. "No, no strings attached. Consider this part of my care and duty to you—after all, you are my guests."

"Don't know if I can believe anything you say now…but a warm meal before we head out sounds pretty good."

"Very well, take your seats. I'll be right back."

Once Caine left, I sat back in my seat and sighed.

"What's wrong?" Darkness asked. "Are you tired, Kazuma?"

"No, I'm fine. Just thinking about this whole thing; none of it is gonna be easy—psh, none of it has been easy."

"It has certainly been quite the ordeal."

"But at least we're having fun!" Aqua retorted. "I'll admit, I miss Axel, but it's nice to get out and experience new things. I'm sure something like this is quite the paradigm shift for a hikiNEET but that's why you have me to guide you."

"Guide me? To where, the nearest bar? The only thing you've guided with confidence is more trouble—not that you would even know, given you've been passed out drunk half the time."

"Well, maybe if you were more honest with yourself and took my teachings to heart none of this would occur. At the very least, you would learn to live your life in a more principled but carefree manner."

I felt my brow twitch.

The absolute cheek she had to say such things.

None of this would be happening if it wasn't for her miserable aura of misfortune—not to mention, she was the greatest obstacle to me living a carefree life.

I sighed yet again, and then I thought about Axel, I thought about Belzerg, the capital—Iris…and everyone else; I really won't be seeing them for a while. I'll be stuck with these troublemakers for the long and foreseeable future.

And perhaps reading the pure depression upon my face, Megumin asked, "why is Kazuma looking so pitiful?"

"*sigh* No reason."

"And I'm back." Caine had returned with a sizable pot, which he placed upon the table. He removed the lid, and upon doing so, a savory aroma wafted out of the pot.

"What is it?" Megumin asked, getting out of her seat to get a look.

"A stew; I've been preparing it since you've all arrived. I figure there's nothing better for the cold."

"It smells great," Darkness remarked.

"Why, thank you," Cain said with a smile. "Please, eat up."

He quickly passed around some bowls and spoons.

"This gonna cost us anything?" I asked.

He chuckled. "Oh no, of course not. Well, I should clarify, it's already been paid for."

Certainly, he meant the money he managed to get out of us.

With the others already digging into the pot, I decided to set aside my suspicions and eat.

-A few minutes later…

"Haaaah." Aqua sighed loudly, rubbing her belly as she did.

"Satisfied?" Caine remarked.

"Yes, quite. That was a marvelous stew. Caine-san, have you ever wondered about joining the Axis Church? If you did, I could make it so that you'd be a culinary specialist within its ranks."

"Really?"

"You'd best stay clear of them," I interjected. "Nothing good will come out of associating with that band of lunatics."

As sour as my relationship with Caine had been, even I wouldn't allow him to fall victim to such a fate.

"Don't listen to him, Caine-san. Kazuma-san is just mad because he's yet to gain much credibility within our organization."

"Truly the work of divine intervention."

Caine chuckled. "I appreciate the offer, Ms. Aqua; however, I'm still needed here."

"That's a shame," she replied. "Well, if you're ever around Axel be sure to stop by the Axis Church; I'll introduce you to everyone."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind."

The front door opened, Nyle coming in as it swung ajar. "Everything's ready, Kazuma. Ready to leave?"

"Seems like this is farewell," Caine said.

"Yeah, seems like it. We're ready, Nyle-san."

"Good. Let us be on our way, then."

"Bye, Nyle," Caine said with a smile.

"Bah!" He waved Caine off. "Hopefully Calem is around next time."

Caine smirked.

Then, Aqua and the others said their goodbyes. As they headed out the door, I got up and prepared to follow them, however, Caine stopped me.

"Mr…" He shook his head and then smiled once more. "Kazuma, I know our time has been rather short, however, I enjoyed the company." I wished I could've said the same. "Here." He took out something wrapped up with the unmistakable shape of a bottle. "A gift for the journey."

"What is it?"

"A helping of our finest."

"Geez…thanks," I said, grabbing it. Aqua will likely be its only consumer—mostly because she'll likely get to it before any of us would.

I gave him a short nod of approval and then proceeded to the front door.

"Kazuma, the master sends his regards."

"What?" I said, turning around.

However, Caine was already walking away, a simple, playful wave being his response.

"The master? He couldn't be talking about…"

Were my initial suspicions correct? Did that guy really have eyes all the way up here? Even if it were true, I wouldn't get an answer to my question anyhow.

"Kazuma"—the front door opened—"are you coming?" Darkness asked, standing at the threshold.

"Wha—" I was startled by her sudden appearance. "*sigh* Yeah."

I took one more look at the place and then headed out the door with Darkness.

"What's that?" she asked, referring to the gift-wrapped bottle in my hands.

"What's it look like? A bottle."

"I meant where'd you get it? Did Caine-san actually give that to you?"

"What? You think I stole it or something? Of course he gave it to me. Said it was a gift for the road." I turned my attention to the things in front of us, things which I could only describe as minecarts. "What's this?"

"Our transportation," Nyle replied suddenly. "I know the size isn't exactly ideal for you folk, but it should do well enough to get us to the warehouses. Hop on."

I was hesitant only because I didn't know where I could fit. Several of the carts were chock full of luggage, and the rest—which were already few in number—were occupied by the many people going on this trip.

"You guys, over here," Aqua said, slapping the side of the cart she and Megumin were in.

Despite her enthusiastic invitation, I couldn't find any way of climbing into that cart by myself let alone having Darkness join us.

"Where…am I…?"

"Just hop in, already!"

I scoffed, and then angrily did so. The moment I did, I felt the half of my body within the cart shrink in size.

The sudden change nearly made me shriek; luckily, I was able to contain myself seeing as there was nothing beyond the change in size.

"What the heck is this?" I said, waving my hand into the depths of the cart; it too submitted to the weird size-altering effect.

"I'll take that," Aqua said, snatching the bottle away from me as I was still entranced by the strange phenomena.

Darkness hopped in shortly after.

"Is everyone in?" Nyle queried.

"Good to go!" "Yup." "You're good." "We can go." "Go on."

After receiving several replies confirming the fact, the carts began to move.

"Oi, what's up with her?" I said, gesturing towards Megumin.

Aqua glanced over, noticing the dead look on her face. She shrugged. "Hey, Megumin, are you alright? Do you have a stomachache? I still have some of that medicine Caine-san gave me if you do."

"I'm fine," Megumin replied despondently.

Like Hell she was. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Megumin sighed deeply and then turned away from us, resting her head on the palm of her hand. "Ahhhh," she groaned dejectedly. "How my life force wanes."

"Life force?" Aqua, Darkness, and I exchanged glances. "Is Furiosa messing with you again?"

"Ahhhh, Explosion, how I wish for Explosion."

"...Oi."

A few minutes later, the carts came to a stop and our trip was over. As we hopped out, our bodies assumed their normal sizes.

"Seriously, what the heck is that? Is it some sorta spell?" I asked.

"That's correct," Nyle replied. It's just a little thing we use in order to make as much space as possible. Luckily, it also doesn't seem to have any negative side effects on living beings."

"Seems like a pretty handy thing to have. How come we don't have anything like that in Belzerg?" I asked Darkness.

"Your guess is as good as mine; I'm not sure."

Nyle chuckled. "Something of a trade secret of ours. In any case, this is where your carriage is stored."

"Nice, but didn't you say we might not be able to take it on the route we're taking?" I remarked.

"I said we might not. In fact, it's fairly likely we won't be able to use it for the majority of the trip."

"So, what happens with our luggage? Are we gonna have to haul all of it or are you saying it has to stay here?"

"Erm…truth be told, I'm not really sure. You all are free to do whatever tickles your fancy, but I won't be held responsible for lost items along the trip. That being said, the road out of here is good enough to accommodate transportation; it'll be fine to take the carriage. That's also why I rented a carriage for Daichi's group, too—well, he did."

Saying that, Nyle whistled.

The doors to the warehouse shuddered, and then they slowly slid open.

A dwarf stuck his head out and then looked in our direction. After Nyle gave him a wave, he retreated back into the building and fully opened the doors.

Several dwarves came pouring out, with one of them walking over to Nyle.

"Which one?" the dwarf asked.

"It should be a black one and the spiffy one you all should've gotten recently."

"Der one wit der bells n whistles?"

"Should be. Here, take him and have him show you. Kazuma, please go along with our friend here and show him which one is your carriage."

"Uh, sure."

As we walked towards the warehouse, the dwarf I was following shouted, "Der black one".

One of the other dwarves motioned to the others. A few of them ran back into the building. The other dwarf looked back at the one I was currently following. "That's it?" he replied.

"There's a 'nother one. Ground yerself."

When we made it to the door, I expected to see an assortment of things being stored, not least our carriages; however, I saw no such thing, in fact, I saw nothing at all. The entire building was empty and there were no signs of the other dwarves who ran back in.

"'ey, laddy, stick close, got it?"

"Erm, yeah…got it."

We continued to walk into the empty building until the dwarf I was following slowed down.

"Keep on walkin' until yer reach der post down there. Then yer gonna make a right at it and keep goin' down towards that there wall." I looked at him in confusion. "Now don't worry, lad, I'll be right behind ya," he said reassuringly.

I looked ahead, seeing the wooden post that the dwarf mentioned, and then I looked over to the right of it, the wall. There was nothing in between here and there, and so all that was left to do was to start walking. But there had to be, there had to be something here, in all this space. And so, as I began to walk, I stuck my hand out, reaching for something, a something that must've been there.

I looked over my shoulder, hoping to see some sort of reaction from the dwarf, but he just followed along quietly. Eventually, we reached the post. Once again, I found myself glancing back at the dwarf; this time he looked back.

"Did ya ferget already? Yer gonna go right frum 'ere, towards that there wall," he said, pointing at it.

"Why that wall? And why is this place empty? There some sort of portal in here or something?"

The dwarf chuckled. "Don wanna spoil der surprise, laddy, now go on; yer right takin' too long."

I, apprehensively, approached the wall, hand raised, arm sweeping side-to-side. And yet, there was nothing but open space until we reached the wall itself.

"Now what?" I said, looking back at the dwarf.

He grinned. "Now yer gonna take a few steps back n run as hard as ya can into it."

I pressed my hand to it, making sure I wasn't gonna run into a solid wall. "Oi, what is this? It's solid."

"Aye, that it is. That's why I said ter take a few steps back n run into it as hard as ye could."

I frowned. "This better not be some trick to try and get me to run into a wall."

"Ye really think I have time to mess about wit sum stranger? Come now, lad."

"Here I go." I took a few steps back and ran full sprint—

SLAM!

—into the wall.

As I rolled around the floor in pain, there was a bright flash; a large portal opened up beside me, the lost dwarves appearing with a black carriage in tow.

"Ah, my mistake, laddy; it were a bit more to der left."

"You bastard," I said, stumbling to my feet, "you did that on purpose."

The dwarf snickered and then pat me on the leg. "Yer alright though, aren't ya? Come on now, before the ol' boulderhead comes out here and starts makin' noise."

He went ahead of me and disappeared into the wall, a bright flash accompanying his disappearance.

I reached out and touched the wall, wary of crashing into it once again. This time, however, the solid structure of the wall gave way and my hand and arm melted into it, a constant bright light filtering out from where my arm penetrated its surface. With a bit of my confidence rebuilt and the current effects as reassurance, I pushed into the wall in full.

As I passed through, my sight was overwhelmed by the brightness of the light. Once it subsided, the scenery that came into view left me cowed: various items of all types and sizes, as far as the eye could see. Indeed, despite having seen it with my own eyes, I felt like this too was an illusion.

"Took ye long enough; did ya get lost along der way, lad?"

"What…what is this place?" I said, still amazed by the sheer volume of everything.

"The Vault," another person said. I turned to see a very old yet dangerous-looking man walking towards us. "Seamus."

"Ah, darn, here he goes. What is it, mi lord?" the dwarf said mockingly.

"Weren't you supposed to—ah, I see, this is him." The old man gave me a short nod. "Forgive me. My name is Oldren. I work on behalf of the Masters Cain and Calem. You must be Lord Satou."

"Uh, yeah, I am. Caine and Calem? Those two, huh?"

"Indeed," he said with another nod.

"Looks like they've got more going on than they let on."

"Lord Satou, I was told you're here to retrieve some items."

"Um…yeah, I am; it's our carriage."

He nodded, and then turned his sight on the dwarf. "Well, what are you waiting for, Seamus?"

"Perhaps for, mi lord, te move outer me way."

"Would you have me stuff you into a sack and cart you off, you impertinent fool?! 31-D. Now off with you!"

"What, am I supposed te get it meself?!"

"There are others around! You're a crafty fellow, figure it out!" The dwarf, Seamus, grumbled and then began walking off. "And don't tarry or I'll have you join the next shipment as goods! Sorry about that," Oldren said, turning back to me. "Despite his demeanor, Seamus is actually a good worker. Anyhow, whatever belongings were on the carriage have also been returned."

"Ah, thanks. I take it none of it was misplaced, right?"

"Of course not. Lord Calem made it clear that all of the items associated with the carriage were to be returned. Although I have little way of confirming, I have more than enough reason to believe it was all returned; however, if you find anything missing, Lord Satou, please be sure to let me know. Also, don't worry about leaving your belongings." He handed me two pieces of paper that looked like a talisman. "Should you ever need to depart from the carriage for the purposes of your journey, just place this on it. We'll retrieve the carriage and keep it safe. Whenever you need it returned, place the other on a solid wall or structure."

"Uh, thank you. Do I uh…have to pay…or—"

"Pay? Lord Caine had said the services have already been paid in full."

"R-Really? Ah, well, that's good, I-I guess. Did that conman actually end up using the funds for this?"

Part 5

"There you are," Nyle said as I came out with the carriage being towed behind me. "I was beginning to believe you might've gotten lost."

"What, you know how much of a maze that place is?"

"That place? Are you speaking of The Vault?"

"So, you do know about it."

"Of course. I've visited it several times in the past. How was it, your first time seeing it?"

"Like nothing I've ever seen before. I can't believe a place that big actually exists. It does exist, right?"

Nyle chuckled. "Indeed, it does, Kazuma."

"Kazuma!" Darkness yelled, running over with Aqua. "I thought something might've happened; you were gone for some time."

"Not that long, was I?"

"You were gone long enough for us to start suspecting something."

"Well, I'm fine."

Megumin meandered over to us, still sporting a depressed look on her face. "Are we going now?" she asked, still just as despondently as earlier.

"You're still acting like this?" I remarked. "*sigh* Nyle-san, are we ready to go?"

"Pretty much. Your carriage is out here. Daichi and the others have already boarded the other one. You'll have to mount your luggage from the carts, but after that we should be ready to continue with the trip."

"Well, let's get to it, then. Darkness." She nodded and headed off towards the minecarts. "Oi, go lend her a hand, will ya?" I said to Aqua.

"What? And what about you? Don't tell me Kazuma-san thinks he can just order a goddess around while he sits by and does nothing."

"I'll be over there in a sec," I replied, knitting my brow in increasing irritation.

"Humph. You'd better, unless you want to suffer divine punishment."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it, go on, now," I said, waving her off. "Nyle-san," I said, turning to him, "we'll follow once we're ready."

"Got it. Alright." He walked off towards Daichi's carriage.

Once everyone was gone, I turned to Megumin, who stood quietly all this time. "Hey." She looked up at me. "What's actually going on? You really that down about not casting Explosion?"

Megumin grasped her staff tightly and then frowned. "Kazuma makes it seem as if that isn't a good enough reason."

I scratched my head, letting out a sigh of mild apprehension. "Listen, you know I'd let you if I could, but you can't really fault me for stopping you; even you know that letting Explosion off underground is a bad move."

Megumin stared at me, her eyes and expression full of some gathered hope. "So, does that mean…once we're above ground…Kazuma will let me use Explosion?"

I scratched my head again. "Look, I'm not—"

"I have to let it out! I just have to! If I don't, then all that power…all that mana…it'll back up and end up destroying me!" she yelled, desperately grabbing on to me.

"Oi, come on, stop being so dramatic; both you and I know that isn't true." I pulled myself free from her grasp. "Listen, Megumin, I'm not gonna promise you that the moment we're out of the tunnel you can let one off, but…"

"But?"

"Are you gonna help?!" Aqua yelled.

Looking over, I could see her hands filled with some of the luggage, though nothing to be wailing about. "Why are you whining, you're barely holding anything."

"More than you are! Come and help! Megumin, tell him to come and help!"

"Kazuma," Megumin said, tugging my shirt.

"What? I'm gonna go help, I just—"

"No, that's not it. You never fin—"

"If you're not gonna come and help, then here!" Aqua said, dropping as much of the stuff she was carrying into my arms and chest.

"Whoa! What the hell are you doing, you dumbass, don't just toss all this stuff on me!"

Aqua stuck her tongue out at me and then grabbed Megumin. "Come on, Megumin, let's leave this NEET to some well-needed labor."

As she ran off, I yelled after her. "Oi, don't just leave all this stuff with me! Come back! Tch." I was thinking about drinking some of her wine and then pissing in the bottle as payback, but in the end even I thought that would've been a bit much.

"Ah!" Darkness collapsed beside me.

"Hey! Huh? What the heck are you doing?"

"N-Nothing…just…carrying…this stuff," she said, speaking between pants.

"No, I get why you're carrying our stuff, but why are you carrying the minecarts too?"

Darkness grinned. "I figured it would be a good opportunity to keep working my endurance; we'll probably run into more situations where it might be tested going forward."

A reasonable explanation…for someone who didn't know this weirdo for well over a year now.

"No, you're just doing that because you like the weight of it bearing down on your arms and shoulders, don't you?"

Darkness quickly looked away, but she couldn't hide the shuddering she was producing—no doubt fueled by her depraved fantasies.

-Later that morning…

"REOW!"

"Ow! How dare you, you little devil!" Aqua had tried to pet Chomusuke, but found herself facing the same response she always got. "Why is it still such an impudent little beast? And why does it only act that way towards me?!"

"Probably 'cause she knows how annoying you are, right girl?" I said, scratching Chomusuke between the ears. She purred, rubbing her face and whiskers against my hand.

"Well, I won't stand for it! Someone is gonna have to teach it who's in charge!" Saying that, Aqua snatched her away from me.

The fight that ensued was certainly no surprise. What was surprising was the fact that Megumin was fast asleep.

Something suddenly switched and now she was able to sleep; not only was she able to sleep, but sleep deeply. I found this out a few hours earlier after we had just gotten on our way. Nothing I said or did seem to get a strong reaction from her, the strongest being a gentle groan.

Had this occurred a few weeks ago, I would've been overcome with anxiety, but now that I knew about Megumin's situation with Furiosa, I was able to sweep the worst of the thoughts aside; she'll likely get better with time. That being said, I was still curious about what was actually causing her to go from restlessness to near coma-like states.

The attention I was giving my thoughts wavered as they began to be drowned out by a certain goddess' crying and wailing.

"Why is it so mean to meeeee?!" she sobbed.

Her face was covered in scratches and her hair was a mess. The one responsible for it was now lying lazily on my lap once more.

"You really are incapable of learning, aren't you? Can't even take care of a single animal."

"That thing's no animal!" Aqua retorted. "It's the impish form of some fallen miscreant! Besides, I have plenty of experience taking care of things."

"Oh really? Your rock collection doesn't count."

"I'm not talking about my rock collection! In case you've forgotten, I'm a goddess, not only that, I'm practically a mother; I take care of my flock, Emperor Zell, and you too, Kazuma-san."

"I don't know if you ingested some bad mushrooms or something, but there's no way you're the one taking care of me."

"We'll see how much you disagree once you need me to heal you."

"Cheaping out on the one thing you're good at? Guess I'll just have to learn Heal my—"

"Don't you dare!" she yelled, desperately latching on to me. "If Kazuma-san does that I'll lose my place in the party!"

"I wouldn't worry about that, you'll still be the best when it comes to cleaning toilets."

"Noooooo! WAHHHHHH!"

"Ugggh! Alright, stop it, I won't learn any healing spells!"

"Thank you, Kashuma-san, thank you," she sobbed, cleaning the snot from her nose with my shirt.

"Oi!"

"REOW!"

"Ow! You little demon! That's it! I've had it with the blatant disrespect you show your betters! Come 'ere!"

As Aqua weathered a relentless assault from Chomusuke, I looked over at Megumin once more. Despite the commotion, she showed no signs of waking.

I sighed. "Honestly like it better when you're not like this."

There was just something distressing about Megumin being calm and quiet—even more so when I knew the reason wasn't something normal.

Just then, Darkness knocked on the front window.

I got up and went to lower it. "What's up?"

"Nyle-san said we're getting close to the drop-off point." She paused, noticing the chaos going on in the background. "Is everything alright in there?"

"Yeah, everything's fine, just focus on driving."

"Ah, right."

"Anyway, just let me know once we get there."

"I will."

I raised the window and then turned just in time to catch the cat who leapt into my arms.

"You little…!"

Chomusuke, in the safety of my arms, hissed viciously at the goddess who was approaching me with arms raised.

"Alright, quit it," I said, turning away from Aqua. "I know it's difficult for Axis Cultist's to know when they're being a pain, but you should at least have a bit more sense since you're a supposed goddess."

"Supposed?!"

Even though I said that, I barely believed a word of it; this girl lacked sense in almost every…sense…of the word.

Suddenly, Aqua began crying.

"Oi, what the heck? Why are you crying?"

"'Cause here I am, a deity, defiled, and Kazuma-san does nothing to remedy the issue, instead choosing to protect that dumb creature!" she sobbed, pointing angrily at Chomusuke.

"Oi, come on, don't call her dumb; that's another level of insulting coming from you."

"See! Kazuma-san is being a complete jerk!"

I sighed and then put Chomusuke down. "Alright, look, I'm sorry, stop crying."

"You mean it?"

"Yeah, I mean it. I'm sorry."

"*sniffle* *sniffle* Good, then maybe Kazuma-san won't get mad if I tell him that I drank all of the wine Caine-san gifted us."

"...You drunkard goddess, come 'ere!"

"No wait! You said you were sorry!"

"Sorry that I didn't drink it first! I should've left you nothing!"

"WAHHHH! Stop puwwing on mah chekssh! WAHHHH! It hurstsh!"

"Maybe that'll teach you to stop hoarding gifts for yourself!"

"Waiiiiit!" she said, sobbing.

I stopped. "What?"

"I did leave some," she replied, rubbing her reddened cheeks.

"Didn't you say you drank it all?"

She looked away, and just as I was about to pounce on her again, she quickly spoke. "I-I was only saying that because…I wanted to drink the rest," she mumbled.

"Oi."

"B-But there's still some left! Kazuma-san can have it."

"Umu."

"See how gracious I am?" she said, crossing her arms proudly. "And yet Kazuma-san still refuses to worship me. Tell me, when was the last time that girl Eris has done anything for you?"

Eris has done more for me than this girl would ever know; it wouldn't be a mistake to say it was thanks to her that I was still around today. Sure, Aqua was the one who healed and even brought me back on occasions, but it was thanks to Eris' efforts that those revivals were allowed in the first place—and at her own expense.

A few minutes later, the carriage came to a halt.

There was a knock on the glass once again.

"Looks like this is it," Darkness said as I lowered the window.

"Got it. Oi," I said, turning to Aqua, "time to get off."

"What, already?"

"Yeah, looks like it."

*Knock* *Knock* "Kazuma." The voice on the other side of the door came from Nyle. I opened it. "We'll have to go on foot from here on."

"So, we're leaving the carriages here?"

"Unfortunately. Although, I received some Spatial Slips; I can give you one if you haven't any."

"Spatial Slips?"

Nyle retrieved one from his pocket. "This."

"Oh. Yeah, I got those from the guy in the warehouse. Oldren, I think, was his name."

"Ah, perfect. I assume he explained to you how they work."

"Yeah. Just place it on the carriage, right?"

"That's correct. Take whatever you can carry with you and leave the rest. Make sure you don't take too much; some of the places we might have to go through will be quite tough for humans to travel through comfortably and you wouldn't want it to be even less so."

"Alright."

"Do you need any help with your belongings?"

I glanced back, taking a quick stock of the things we were likely bringing. "No, I think we're alright."

"Ok. Once you're done with your packing, meet me by the entrance."

"Entrance? Where are we?" I said, looking outside.

"It's something of a small outpost before the tunnels. It was like a checkpoint when travel between here and the other burrows was more prominent."

"Ah, got it. Alright, I'll see you when we're done here."

Nyle nodded and then headed off towards Daichi's carriage. As he left, Darkness came over.

"Kazuma."

"Hey, Darkness, can you grab some essentials from our packs?"

"Um, sure."

"Oi, Aqua."

"What is it? Can't you see I'm trying to get some beauty sleep?"

"We're here, already, so get up. Go with Darkness and see what we can take with us."

"What are you talking about?" she said, sitting up.

"We can't take everything with us; we're leaving the carriages behind."

"What?"

"Come on, you were here when Nyle-san said it. Anyway, go help Darkness."

"What? Why? You go."

"I already carried all the junk you dumped on me last time—or did you forget that? Maybe you wanna be the one to carry Chomusuke?"

⸻!⸻ "N-Nevermind, I'll go," she said, throwing up her nose in response.

"Anyway, I gotta see if Megumin will wake up."

Aqua glanced over at her with a rather worried expression. "Ah, that's right. Hopefully, she's just tired."

"Anyway, go on; I'll finish things here."

Aqua exited the carriage and went to join Darkness, while I turned my attention to Megumin.

"Hey," I said, pulling on her cheeks. "Wake up." Besides the drool that began to roll down her chin, Megumin didn't show any response. "*sigh* Hey, sorry, but I gotta pick up your master, alright?" I said to Chomusuke who was resting on her lap. "You can climb on my shoulder for a bit."

"Meow."

"Here we go." I knelt down and slung Megumin's arms over my shoulders, then I picked her up. Chomusuke hopped on shortly after. I reached over and grabbed my satchel and then headed outside.

"We can afford to take a few, it won't be too much."

I caught Aqua with three large bottles of wine in her hands.

"What do you think you're doing?" I said.

"Wah! Where did you come from?"

"Why are you carrying three bottles?"

"Because Kazuma-san said we should go and see what we can take with us."

"Yeah, necessary things we can take with us."

"It is necessary."

"To who, you?"

"A little bit of wine will help ease the nerves when things get a bit scary. You'll thank me once you have a sip during such a moment."

"Quit being an idiot, there's no way we're taking that with us. Go put it back."

"I don't wanna!" Aqua shouted, shielding the bottles within her bosom.

"Argh! Come on, I don't have the patience to deal with you right now! Go put it back!"

"No!"

Just as I was about to teach her a lesson, Daichi and Inara came over.

"Kazuma-san, do you need help carrying anything?" Daichi asked.

"Daichi-san. Ah, no. We're good." I glared at Aqua. "You can bring one."

She smiled gleefully and then hurried off—presumably to put the other two back into storage.

"It looks like the journey wore on Megumin-san," Inara remarked.

"Ah, yeah. She's dead tired as you can see," I said, chuckling somewhat nervously; how was I supposed to explain Megumin's prolonged spells of sleep?

"Are you sure you don't need any help?" Daichi asked once more.

"Nah, we're good. Thanks."

"Alright, we'll see you in a little bit, then."

"Right."

"Kazuma," Darkness said, coming over. "I think this is good enough. Do you mind checking?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, sure."

"Kazuma-san! Kazuma-san!" Aqua said, running over.

"What is it?"

She shoved four bottles in my face. "Can you help? I can't decide which of these I wanna leave behind."

"What does it matter?! And why do you have an extra?! I thought I told you to take one!"

"I know. That's why I can't decide."

"Aren't you becoming too much of a drunk?"

"What is Kazuma-san talking about? Drinking is a part of a god's life; it's a hallmark of a credible deity to be able to consume enough alcohol to make mortals tremble. Not to mention, I'd be letting Ambrosia Oba-san down if I lived a life of sobriety. Besides, Kazuma-san doesn't need to worry; I only drink enough to enjoy the flavor."

"Yet somehow we keep ending up with empty bottles. Look, whether it's part of your lifestyle or whatever, you're only taking one. We don't have enough room to spare for you to carry a damn wine cellar along."

"Then pick!" she said, shoving the bottles in my face again.

"What does it matter?! Just take one."

"But I don't know which one."

"Ugh, fine. That one," I said, gesturing at the one on the left.

She turned it around to see. "Reinermarche. Ooooh, I haven't tried this one yet." Then hurried back to—hopefully—put the other ones in storage.

"Alright. Hey, Darkness, mind carrying Megumin for a moment?"

"Not at all—though I see she still hasn't woken from her slumber."

"Yeah."

After passing her along, I took a look through the packs and verified that the majority of its contents were useful. There were a few questionable choices but, by and large, I could confidently say that Darkness actually filled the packs competently.

"Looks good…for the most part," I said, closing up the bags. "Alright, I'll carry one, you can carry the other." I looked over at the back of the carriage. "Oi, Aqua, you done?"

"Yeah!" She came back around with six bottles in her arm.

"...Oi."

"Yes? What is it, Kazuma-san?"

"Don't give me that, you dumbass! I said one! Now you show up with six?!"

"Wah! I can't decide! When I went to go put the others back, I noticed these—then I had a really hard time deciding which one I really wanted to take."

"Are you kidding me?! Stop messing around, idiot! Go put them back or I'll start feeding all of it to the ground!"

Aqua turned away, huddling closely against the bottles in defense.

As I tried to pry the bottles away from her arms, Aqua began yelling in defiance. "Stoooop! Dooooon't!"

"Let go of it already, you drunk!"

"Nooooo! Don't wanna!"

"People are waiting for us; we don't have time for this, you retard!"

"Darkness! Help me!"

"Darkness, don't listen to her! Help me!" Darkness glanced between me and Aqua in uncertainty. "Oi, Darkness, if you help me, I'll make sure you get the chance to use that stupid flail of yours."

Spurned on by my tantalizing offer, Darkness began moving towards Aqua.

"Huh? W-Wait, Darkness! If-If you help me I-I'll make sure to find you some nice rocks!"

"Rocks?" Darkness replied in mild confusion.

"Yes, some nice rocks you can use for your training! You know, the training you have me and Megumin help you with, the one where you have us throw them at you for defensive drills?"

I don't know why, but I was sort of stunned to hear what I had just heard.

In the midst of our struggle, Chomusuke suddenly jumped onto Aqua's head. The suddenness of it all caused Aqua to throw her arms up, resulting in all the bottles to come falling to the ground with a resounding crash.

"..."

"..."

"...WAHHHHH! My bubbly!"

-Sometime later…

"This should be it," Nyle said, stopping in front of a building. "It's not a bonafide spirits shop, but I'm certain they'll have something you'll like, Ms. Aqua."

Aqua, who was still sniffling from the earlier event, said nothing.

"Oi, you listening?" I said; however, Aqua continued to sniffle in response. "*sigh* Come on, I'll pay."

Suddenly, she stopped. "Kazuma-san's paying?"

"Well, I promised to, didn't I? I'm just holding up my end. Now, stop crying and hurry up and find something you'd like. One. Alright? You hear me? One." Aqua nodded, rubbing away the snot and tears from her face. "Good. Now, hurry up." With my approval, she walked into the shop. "Hey, Darkness."

"Kazuma?"

"Mind taking care of Megumin for a while longer? I'm gonna go along with Aqua."

"Sure."

"Is Mrs. Megumin alright?" Nyle asked. "If she's exhausted, we can delay the journey for a bit of rest."

Darkness looked at me, awaiting my response.

Truth was, I didn't know whether a few hours of sleep was gonna fix what was causing her to be so tired. If we did take the offer and she was still in the same shape, the others could begin to grow suspicious.

"No, it's fine. I'm sure she'll wake up soon."

"Alright. I'd like to warn you, however, that once we start heading down the deeper tunnels, it would be unlikely that we'd be able to stop for rest; the dangers of doing so are quite prohibitive."

"I'll keep that in mind. I'll be back in a bit, but don't stand around if you guys got somewhere else to be."

Nyle nodded. "Then we'd best grab whatever else we might need. Daichi."

Daichi gave him a short nod. "Sounds like a good idea. It'd be best if we make ample preparation."

"I believe we have enough things, Daichi," Inara remarked, her brow slightly furrowed.

"We can never be too cautious, Inara. Anyway, let's double-check. Kazuma-san, we'll see you in a little bit."

"Umu." I nodded. As Daichi and the others walked off, I turned to Darkness. "Stay here," I said. "Now then, let's see what this girl is up to."

I entered the shop fully knowing that I'd have to curb this goddess' unrestrained hunger for alcohol.