Chapter 3 is here. I don't own Konosuba by the way.
Chapter 3: Explosion Demon
"Hey, Kazuma? Do you want a harem?"
"Who the fuck starts a conversation like that? I just sat down!"
The newly made couple were currently sitting next to each other at the guild's restaurant area for breakfast. Out of all the conversation starters Aqua could ask, Kazuma was not expecting that one at all.
"I didn't hear a no."
"Well of course I do! I just didn't think that'd be the first thing you'd ask, not even an hour after we became a couple!"
The goddess rolled her eyes. "Please. I'm sure a lot of guys want a harem."
"Not all of them. Some find it immoral. Others just don't want it. Me, I don't give a shit. If I can, I'll take a harem. Only if you'd approve, of course."
"Ho?" The goddess grinned. "So you'd give that power to me? Even though I can say no?"
"One, the fact you're even entertaining this makes me think you won't. And two, if you did, I'd accept it." The young man threw a teasing grin back at her. "I'm sure I could live with only having a hot goddess as a girlfriend."
She smirked smugly. "No other mortal can say they captured the heart of a goddess, especially me. Consider yourself lucky!"
"I'll be thankful to whatever force out there made it possible for the rest of my life."
"Thank me. I am your goddess after all. And you're right, I do approve of you building a harem."
The brown haired teen gazed at her thoughtfully. "While I am over the moon, why?"
"First, I don't care if there are two people in a relationship or three hundred. If you can find love any way you can, then good for you."
"Agreed. I believe in true relationship equality! If a man or a woman wants their own harem, then so be it! Let them live their life and relationship the way they want to! Who cares if it's more than two?!" The adventurer seemed very passionate about this issue.
"Second, I was sure that you wouldn't object to harem, and I was right. And finally, there is one thing a bunch of us deities in this world have in common with Greek deities."
"You're all douchebags?" The brown haired young man deadpanned.
"No! Well, sometimes, but still!" The deity pouted. "That's not a nice thing to say about your girlfriend."
"You're the one who set yourself up for that." The goddess responded with puppy dog eyes. "Okay fine, I'm sorry. I'll buy you a round of booze tonight."
The woman's eyes lit up in excitement. "Really?! Apology accepted then!" She leaned over and gave the teen a kiss on the cheek. As a result, he turned into a bright shade of red. "I can't believe a kiss on the cheek gets you that worked up even though we made out this morning~"
"Hey! I was a shut-in for a decent portion of my life, and have had no prior experience with girls. Cut me some slack!"
"I didn't say it was a bad thing." The woman smirked. "Just means I have you wrapped around my finger."
"Keep telling yourself that." The goddess's boyfriend said as he averted his eyes.
"You can deny it all you want, but your face says it all!" The archpriest bellowed, pointing at the young man's deepening blush. "Back to the main topic, I meant that a bunch of us are bi. Including myself."
"O-Oh…" At that moment, some very hot thoughts filled the mind of the pervert with that revelation.
"I can tell that turns you on." The woman said with a smug grin.
"I'm a guy. Of course that shit would turn me on."
"Regardless, this wouldn't just be for you. Obviously I have to approve of any girls of course, and they have to want in themselves. If we're gonna have that type of relationship, everyone has to buy in, or it falls apart." The goddess said seriously.
"You seem to know a lot about this stuff."
"I was educated on these types of relationships in heaven so I could avoid them."
"Huh?
"In heaven, they can't make things like sex or even being in a relationship illegal. It would be impossible to enforce. So instead, they try to discourage us by telling us horror stories. They said stuff like 'Because Zeus was horny is why he was a douchebag. That's why desires for us deities are bad.' NO!" The goddess banged her fist on the table. "Zeus was already an asshole. His desires weren't the issue, it was his character."
"You're right. Not to mention all the other stuff Greek deities did in myths. Like Apollo and Hera."
"I'm surprised you know Greek mythology yourself." The archpriest commented, impressed.
"Some anime and games I played were based on Greek mythology. I was curious, so I read a few stories, and I was hooked."
"That makes sense." The goddess frowned. "I pointed this out, and a bunch of deities laughed at me. Deep down, I think they knew I was right but they wanted to impress the council."
"That brain of yours was working for once, and they laughed at you?!" Kazuma exclaimed, clearly pissed. "What type of garbage is that?!"
"It doesn't matter. I've been banished, so I shouldn't have to worry about that stuff for a while." The blue haired beauty pouted. "And I'll have you know my brain works all the time."
"Debatable."
"Anyway. Obviously, I had…needs, but I wasn't confident that I could get into a relationship with a god or goddess without being caught. Or even with mortals for that matter. You can get shunned by a lot of deities in no time flat if you get caught, and I didn't think I could deal with that. So I just went about my life. However, after getting banished, I decided that wasn't necessary anymore. Even after doing my duties the best I can, I still got screwed. So from now on, I'm gonna do what I want, and find that happiness I wanted for a long time. And I believe it will be with you."
"Wow." The adventurer looked at the beauty in awe, seeing her in a new light.
"Of course, we might find other people to love ourselves. That's why this option is open." The woman bit her lip. "Though, I'm sure I'll never fall for another guy like I did with you." A visible smirk appeared on Kazuma's face. "Don't you dare."
"I didn't say anything."
"You were about to. I know you."
The young man turned around, trying to hide the visible smile on his face. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Don't play dumb with me!" The woman began to lightly punch the back of her boyfriend. The scene was both comical and cute at the same time. After growing tired of the act, the teen decided to take initiative. He turned around, and quickly planted a kiss on the lips of his girlfriend. The action stunned the goddess, while the adventurer looked away with a blush. "Wh-Where did you learn to do that?"
"From an anime I watched." The brown haired young man stammered. 'I can't believe I had that in me, especially in public.' To make matters worse, there were some witnesses, some dudes at the teen with envy, while others gave him approving nods.
"It must be wholesome. I tried finding wholesome anime to watch, but I'd end up watching something darker instead."
"How'd you even manage that?"
"Whenever I want to watch something, I try to avoid spoilers as much as I can. To do this, the only thing I do is listen to the OP or take a look at the poster." The woman explained. "For example…Death Parade."
"Ah." Kazuma gave her a look of sympathy. "You fell for the OP too, huh?"
"Yep. Despite that, I thought the show was good. However, I had become so jaded with death that I couldn't resonate with it." Her expression became one of guilt. "I'm…sorry I made fun of your death."
"You already apologized for that."
"I know…it's just…now that we're in a relationship, I can't help but feel guilty for it. I don't know if a simple apology can make up for that."
The young man wrapped his arms around his girlfriend. "You don't need to worry about that. You've done enough already. I'd have never confronted my past or have been able to use my Cursed Energy without you. And I'd never realize a guy like me could get a girlfriend like you until you proved me wrong." He disengaged the hug and gave her a grin. "If you really want to make it up to me, be the magnificent goddess I know you are. That's all I want…" His grin became perverted. "And some sex as a bonus."
The blue haired beauty snorted. "Not so fast, Pervzuma. We shouldn't rush into that too quickly. A NEET like you would probably die trying to keep up with a goddess like me."
"What a wonderful way to go."
The woman let out a laugh. "Thanks for that. I shouldn't dwell on the past too much. I've got a future to worry about."
"Anytime. It's a boyfriend's job to comfort his girl when she's down. At least, I think. I skimmed over the job description."
The beauty grinned. "Lucky for you, I read all of it. And it is."
"You read a job description? Who are you, and what have you done with Aqua?"
"Hey!" The deity flicked her boyfriend on the nose.
"Ow!" The teen nursed his nose. His nose wasn't broken or anything, getting hit on the nose just hurt. Or he was just a baby. "Now, let's talk about recruiting a new member."
"Already taken care of." The goddess puffed her chest with pride. "While you were in the bathroom, I made a recruitment poster." She pulled out the poster form underneath her shirt, proudly showing her handiwork to her boyfriend. "Well, what do you think?"
The teen began to read the paper. As he got through the paper, his expression became one of concern. "Aside from the quotes, I'm really concerned about this requirement. Why are we restricting it to just advanced classes?"
"We can't just bring in dead weight to our party. We need people who have the potential to keep up with us. That's why advanced classes are always safer."
"But can't we just grab an adventurer class and hope they grow with us?"
"It's possible, but unless you have a cheat item or work really, really hard, it's gonna be difficult. I asked Luna about this, and she told me that a lot of adventures will only go up one class level at most. When they see how terrible the job can be, they just stick to low level quests to earn money, not really growing at all. Others will just die. And only a very small percentage will crawl up from the basic classes to the advanced ones. But if you take away those who came down here with a cheat item, that number is probably even less." The deity explained.
"Woah." The young man blinked. "I'm impressed. You actually did your research."
"Hey, I had to make it up somehow for ignoring Luna's instructions yesterday. All that got me was nearly being a toad's snack."
"Frog."
"Toad. Frog. Who cares? They're both disgusting." Aqua said with a look of disgust, shuddering at the thought of those Giant Frogs.
"Aren't you the goddess of water? Shouldn't you respect amphibians?"
"I don't know what an amphibian is, but I'm not gonna respect something that nearly ate me!"
"Fair." The adventurer looked thoughtful for a second. "Alright, I get the requirement. I'm just not sure someone with an advanced class is gonna be chomping at the bit to join our party."
"Kazuma, you're forgetting something." The archpriest pointed a finger at herself. "I'm the archpriest who is being looked at as a candidate to take down the Demon King." She pointed at Kazuma. "You're an adventurer who can use Cursed Energy, something no one in this world can use. There's gonna be interest in us. And besides, there has to be someone who has an advanced class but is being overlooked due to circumstances. Haven't there been party members in isekai stories who have turned out to be diamonds in the rough after the protagonist gives them a chance?"
'She's not wrong. The question is…should we bank on that?' Kazuma was suddenly met with a growing weakness of his: Aqua's puppy dog eyes. 'Damn it. Since when did I grow soft?' The young man sighed. "Fine. We'll do it your way first. But if no one joins our party after a few days, we'll lower the requirement."
"We won't have to! I'm sure someone will join us!" The goddess said confidently.
"I'll trust you then." The brown haired adventurer conceded with a sigh. "In the meantime, let's take another quest." It was at that moment, their waitress arrived with their food.
"Here's your order." The server said as she set down their plates and left.
"I have to admit…I love the Guild's uniforms." The young man admitted unashamedly.
"That's because they do a good job showing cleavage. Perfect for a perverted man like you."
"You're not wrong."
A smirk appeared on the woman's face. "Hmmmmm. Maybe I should add 'waitress uniform' to the list of future ideas~." She added a wink to help the young man catch on.
"Oh." The teen blushed as he realized the implications. 'Cosplay sex? Roleplay? I love this girl!' He gave her a perverted grin. "Care to share some more of these 'ideas'?"
"Can't. You'll have to wait until after our first time. Your best chance was probably this morning."
'Huh?' The implications began to sit in. 'Wait. Was I really cockblocked by a horse?!' He had never gotten the answer to whether or not he was a horse shit away from losing his virginity. 'I…I have to know.' The answer his girlfriend gave him would determine the fate of horses everywhere. "Were…you really gonna…you know…"
"No. Remember, I'm not that easy." The woman answered firmly.
'Looks like I was wrong. Horses, you're safe.'
"But…" The blue haired beauty averted her eyes. "I thought about giving you a handjob with how the mood was going. Too bad that was interrupted."
'I take it back! Horses must be purged! Extinct! Eradicated! They will pay for this transgression!' On the day Kazuma gained a girlfriend, horses everywhere gained a frightening enemy for their cockblocking crimes.
"As the goddess of water, I'm starting to loathe the creatures that inhabit my domain."
As nightfall approached, the couple had just completed their latest quest: Killing five Octopi. Octopi in this world were different in three ways to ones on Earth. One: They were bigger. They weren't giants, but they were comparable to giant Pacific Octopus in size. Maybe slightly bigger. Two: they could move about on land just fine. And finally, three: only some of them had the ability to camouflage. Luckily, they never encountered those types on this quest.
"First off, Octopi in this world are amphibious. Second, they never even touched you," the adventurer pointed out sourly as they strolled through the city. The mission had been easy; Aqua was able to obliterate two of them with her God Blow, while Kazuma cleaned up the other three. This resulted in Kazuma making it to level 7. However, if there was one thing the young man hated about these monsters, it was that they reminded him of something he had grown to dislike in his old world.
'I hate tentacle hentai.' Indeed, the brown haired teen was not a fan of tentacle porn. It just weirded him out every time he found it. It wasn't a complete deal breaker like scat, but he wasn't going to go out of his way to search for it either. 'I mean, if there is a guy who has the ability to summon them, I can tolerate it, but when a fucking octopus is doing the deed, that can completely ruin the mood.'
"I can't help but despise them. They're so gross. I can't believe your world came up with tentacle hentai. It's so disgusting." The woman spat with a look of disgust.
"You know I could kiss you right now, right?"
The goddess grinned. "Oh? Why don't you then? I'm your girlfriend after all."
"Don't know if I can do that in public again."
The deity responded with a pout on her face. It was very cute, and seemed to have a similar effect on him as the puppy dog eyes.
"...Fine." The adventurer sighed in defeat, knowing he couldn't win. He gave her a quick peck on the lips, one that did not go unnoticed by the people in the streets.
"Now was that so bad?" The archpriest asked with a smug smile.
"Yes. Now everyone is staring at us." The young man replied with a blush.
"Let them. Let the entire city know that Satou Kazuma has a magnificent woman like me as his girlfriend!" The woman exclaimed proudly.
"I thought you were a goddess?"
"Of course I am…" The goddess grew a teasing smirk. "In more ways than one."
"Careful." The adventurer grew a smirk of his own. "That's implying you want to lose your virginity tonight."
"Nope!" The woman crossed her arms in an X formation. "However, I do want to sleep in the same bed as you again…and cuddle all night."
"That's less lewd than I expected out of you goddess…but not unwelcome."
"Hey, you may be corrupting me, but I still have wholesome wants and needs."
"I never said I disliked wholesome stuff. It can't always be about sex. You need to mix it up a bit."
The blue haired beauty smiled. "I know. I'm just teasing you."
"Let's cash in our reward for the quest and find a tavern. We should have plenty of money to stay in one after this." With that, the duo went straight to the guild to claim their reward.
"Here's your reward. Minus transportation costs, your total reward is 120,000 Eris." Luna said with a smile. "Good work today."
"Thank you." Kazuma said as he claimed his and Aqua's reward.
"By the way, congratulations." The blond woman said with a bow.
"For what?" The brown haired teen asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Kazuma! She's clearly talking about our relationship!" The beauty exclaimed.
"Oh." The young man wanted to facepalm himself. "Thanks."
"No problem. When did you become official?" The busty woman asked.
"This morning." The couple said at the same time.
"Jinx! You owe me more booze!" The blue haired woman shouted happily, knowing Kazuma now had to buy her two rounds of booze.
"Fine." The adventurer sighed, letting the smallest of smiles appear on his face.
The guild worker smiled. "Well good for you. I wish you both luck." The couple waved Luna goodbye, and left to find a table to eat dinner. As they walked, Aqua tugged her boyfriend's sleeve.
"So, whatcha think? You want to add her?"
"Easy there. There's probably some bullshit rules about guild workers dating adventurers," The young man pointed out.
"You're gonna let some rules prevent you from dating her?"
"Fuck no. But I don't know how she feels about that stuff. Plus, I barely know her," the young man pointed out.
"You have a point…" An imaginary lightbulb appeared over the goddess's head. "Guild Workers have to have days off right? So maybe when she has one, we can invite her out with us to get to know her better."
"That's…actually a good idea." The young man was impressed by his girlfriend for what felt like the millionth time in a row. "Although, we'd have to schedule our day off to be on the same day as hers. But…if we're earning enough money, I'm sure we can afford that."
"Exactly! Obviously, it doesn't have to be now. Just something to consider for the future."
"What are you, the official harem scouter?" Kazuma asked playfully.
"Polycule technically, and yes I am. I have to let you know if I approve of any girls after all, and I know you would love to get your hands on her tits. Not that I blame you, I'm in the same boat."
"I'll have to do my part then. I can't just let you do all the work." The young man sent a challenging grin her way.
"Go ahead. It'd make my job easier." The woman sent her own grin. The couple found a table, and the young man proceeded to buy his girlfriend two rounds of alcohol like he promised. The young man decided to limit himself tonight to one drink. He initially planned to bump up to two beers in one night to see how he did, and he wanted to match his girlfriend somewhat. However, he felt he was not ready for that step yet.
"Don't worry about it," said girlfriend assured him, "When you're ready to take that step, I'll be there to support you."
Later, the duo found a tavern to rent out. After paying the fee, which was 10,000 Eris a night, they went up to their room. It was a simple room. A bed barely big enough for them both, a nightdesk, a candle lamp, and a desk.
"Not the best in the world, but I'll take it over sleeping on hay." The goddess commented happily.
"Or the smell of horseshit."
The woman's nose scrunched up. "Don't remind me." She walked over and immediately got into bed. "This feels comfortable enough. Come on, let's get changed."
The young man nodded, and was about to leave to let her change first, when he felt his shoulder being grabbed. "What are you doing?"
"You don't have to leave. You can watch me get changed."
The adventurer blushed. "A-Are you sure?" The nod from his girlfriend gave him everything he needed. "Then…I'll change too." He looked into his new bag, which contained his new clothes. The bag itself was cheap, but he wasn't storing anything besides clothes in it, so he could live with it. Though his standard clothes were still his tracksuit. 'I need to change that.' He took off his shirt, and suddenly felt a pair of eyes staring at him. Knowing the source, he turned to his goddess.
The woman was staring at his developing body. He already had a six pack going for him and growing muscles. They weren't all that defined, but it didn't matter to her. "I'm impressed. I didn't think a NEET like you had the ability to get that type of body."
Her boyfriend blushed. "Well, I always wanted to maintain myself. Even back in my old world, I tried to at least do some physical activity. Just never outside. Despite liking my lifestyle, I never wanted to end up like…you know…"
"The typical NEET, who's usually fat and gross? Someone you'd find in ugly bastard hentai?"
"Exactly." The brown haired teen nodded. "I never wanted that to happen to me. Of course, my lifestyle still wasn't healthy. I pulled off too many all nighters, and my sleep schedule was usually fucked."
"Well you never have to worry about that again. You'll never live that lifestyle again. And you have me. I'll do what I can to make up for the love you missed out on from your parents. And I'm sure other partners we add to this relationship in the future will do the same."
The adventure gave her a smile. "Thank you." He took a closer look at his physique. "Although, I definitely wasn't like this when I arrived in this world. It must have something to do with the strength stat."
"Could also be from working at the construction site and fighting monsters."
"Whatever it is, I hope this continues. My ideal physique would have to be Toji. Though at worst, I'd like to reach Nanami's."
"I'm sure you can reach it. No, I know you will." The goddess encouraged, putting a hand on his shoulder. She grinned. "Now, it's my turn." She took a few steps away from her man, making sure his eyes were glued to her.
'Why do I feel so nervous? She's just changing into her PJs!' The teen wondered, as she reached for her shirt. 'I was okay with the thought of having sex…so why am I…?' It was at that moment it dawned on him. 'This is the first time I'm gonna see a girl half-naked. Not like in porn or hentai or whatever. This is real. Well, I'm not gonna let my nerves get the better of me. I'll savor the gift in front of me. Thank you to whatever god or goddess made this possible!'
"Like what you see, HikiNEET?" The words from his girlfriend interrupted his thoughts, and at that moment, Kazuma felt like he could die happily. His girlfriend was wearing a cyan bra with matching blue panties. The lingerie complimented her hair nicely. In fact, it looked oddly familiar…
"Wait. Isn't that the underwear you showed me when we shopped tonight?" The adventurer wasn't the only one who had gone clothes shopping. Much to the embarrassment and enjoyment of the young man, Aqua had shown him different types of underwear she wanted to buy. Like the one she was currently wearing.
"Well yeah." The beauty shrugged. "You said you liked it, so I decided to wear this one after buying it. Besides, you probably would have been confused by what I usually wear."
"What do you usually wear?"
"Invisible panties." The woman answered seriously.
The brown haired young man blinked. "Invisible…what?"
"Invisible panties. They're panties that are invisible unless you shine a bright light on them. They do the job just fine, they're just invisible."
The teen felt an incoming headache coming on. "Okay. I just have one question: Why?"
"Well…believe it or not, a lot of underwear in heaven is really uncomfortable. They're always so itchy."
"You're telling me…heaven sucks at making underwear."
"I told you heaven was not as great as you thought it was."
The young man sighed. "Okay, so let me guess: The only comfortable underwear in heaven are the invisible ones?"
"Yep." The woman nodded. "And as I said, they actually do their job. They can cover the lower parts just fine. You'll just look…well…"
"Androgynous?"
"Mmm. And for Gods, it's good for hiding any boners. Only if they're not wearing pants though…"
"Doesn't that defeat the purpose?"
The goddess sighed. "Yeahhhhhhh."
The teen chuckled. "Well, I appreciate the honesty."
The deity smiled, before it turned into a teasing smirk. "You never answered my question, HikiNEET. You like what you see~?"
The adventurer blushed and averted his eyes. "...Y-Yeah."
"Of course the NEET is left awestruck at the mere sight of a half-naked girl in front of him."
"Says the goddess that was staring at me earlier. You're just as bad."
It was now the blue haired beauty's turn to avert her eyes. "S-Shut up."
Satisfied with his win, Kazuma grabbed his white shirt and put it on. It was at that moment he saw the woman pull from some type of blue void. It turned out to be her baby blue pajamas. As the young man stared at her in surprise, the woman put them on without a care in the world. It was only until after she was fully dressed that she noticed her boyfriend staring at her.
"What?"
"What the hell did you just do?!" The young man exclaimed.
"What do you mean?" The goddess tilted her head in confusion.
"When you pulled out your pajamas!"
The young man swore he heard gears start to turn in his girlfriend's head, before her eyes lit up in understanding. "Ohhhhhhhhh! You mean my pocket dimension."
"You have a pocket dimension?!"
"Yeah. All deities have one. It's used for storing clothes inside. Much more convenient than some stupid old drawer or bag."
"Can it be used to store anything else?"
The woman looked thoughtful for a moment, before shaking her head. "I don't think so. None of the other deities mentioned being able to store anything other than clothes or raiments."
"Raiments?"
"Yeah, this one." The woman pulled from her dimension once again to show the hagoromo she had worn when she first met him, then promptly put it back in.
The young man decided he was gonna do the impossible: he was gonna mimic Aqua's puppy dog eyes. "Can I use it?"
"Sorry." His girlfriend shook her head sadly. "It only responds to me, and only stuff that I own can be put inside of it. Mortals can't access it."
The teen deflated. "Worth a shot."
"Don't look so down." The woman's smile became mischievous. She pranced to their shared bed, before jumping in it and patting the spot next to her. "Hurry up and change. The bed will get cold without you~"
Not needing any further prompting, Kazuma quickly changed into his t-shirt and shorts. He rushed to the bed and took his spot next to Aqua, who was grinning at him the entire time.
"Nice response time."
"I've heard it's not good to keep a girl waiting." The teen responded with his own grin.
"Well they were right." She held out her arms for her boyfriend. "There isn't too much room. We'll have to cuddle like we did last night~"
"Weren't we gonna do that anyways?"
"Yeah, but now we have a reason for it."
"Do we need a reason to cuddle?"
"No, but sometimes it's fun to have one."
Kazuma couldn't help but chuckle at his goddess's antics. "I guess you're right." The adventurer took the invitation and wrapped his arms around the woman, while the goddess did the same. She buried her head in his chest, just like she had done last night. At that moment, the otaku decided to try something he had seen in an anime once: He kissed the top of her head. The satisfied sigh from the woman indicated it was a good move.
"Goodnight, Aqua."
"Goodnight, Kazuma." It didn't take long for sleep to overtake the couple, satisfied and happy smiles on both their faces.
"Waaaaaaaaaah! Kazumaaaaaa! Why hasn't anyone joined us yet?!"
The couple were currently at the guild standing near its bulletin board. The adventurer could only sigh as his girlfriend cried from no one joining their party yet. "Calm down. It's only been one day. We don't have to lower the requirements yet."
"B-But, I thought with all that stuff I wrote, someone was gonna join for sure." The woman sniffled.
"Actually, what did you write?"
"You didn't read it?!" The goddess exclaimed.
"I just skimmed through it. I didn't pay attention to it. I was more concerned about the requirement."
"You missed all the nice stuff I said about you!" The beauty pouted.
"Huh?" The teen blinked. 'Nice stuff? What did she say about me?' He walked up to the poster to get a closer look at the quotes. 'Join the party of the magnificent archpriest and the quintessential, superlative, wonderful, amazing, unbelievable, superb…' A bright red blush appeared on his face. "First of all: WHAT THE HELL?! Second: How do you know the words quintessential and superlative?!"
"The guild provides a free thesaurus." The beauty's look turned to one of sadness. "You…don't like it?"
"No no no no no no no!" The adventurer quickly denied. "Look, I'm happy you think of me like that. But…don't you think it's a bit much?"
"Of course not! Doesn't everyone think their partner is the most amazing person in the entire world?!" The beauty exclaimed seriously. "Why wouldn't I say stuff like that?!"
The teen blinked. 'I…don't think I can disagree with her on that. Are all girls in love like this? Or is it just because she's Aqua? Is this her way of giving me enough love to make up for lack of love from my parents? Whatever it is…I can't say I hate it. In fact, I love her passion. Though, I wish her poster didn't make me look like a cult leader.' The adventurer sighed in defeat. "You're right. I'm sorry."
"It's okay. Just make it up to me with either cuddles or a round of booze."
"I'll switch it up and do cuddles this time."
"Wait!" The woman twiddled her fingers together and gave him the accursed puppy dog eyes again. "Can we add kisses too?
"Oh, so suddenly cuddles aren't enough?" asked the teen, crossing his arms in mock hurt.
"No!" the beauty immediately denied. "It's just…you know…I wanted to add something to it this time…we haven't made out since yesterday, so-" Her attempt at clarification was interrupted by the laughter of Kazuma. "Hey! You were teasing me!"
"Was it not obvious?" The pout on his girlfriend's face clearly indicated she was not amused. "Sorry, I couldn't help it. We can do that."
"Good. You better be prepared for tonight, HikiNEET! I'm gonna take your breath away!"
"Excuse me." The couple's antics were interrupted by a new voice. The two turned to the source of it.
She was two or three inches shorter than Aqua, not counting the big, brown witch hat perched on her head. She had brown hair and one red eye, the other was covered with a red eyepatch with a cross. In addition to her witch hat, she wore a matching cape with a long red shirt and orange boots. Like Aqua, she was a beauty in her own right. She had a pair of thick thighs that rubbed together with every step, smushing enticingly, with an ass comparable to Aqua's. Round, plump, almost spilling out from under her shirt. Hell, it might be even bigger than the goddess's!
'She's not as blessed as Aqua or Luna in the tits department. I'd say she's probably a solid B-cup. Maybe at best, a C. Good thing I do not discriminate against chest sizes. Small, medium, large, give me them all!'
"I heard you two were recruiting. Well, you're in luck!" The girl swooshed her cape, showing off the wooden magic staff in her hands, and putting out her arms out wide in an over the top display. "I, Megumin, the foremost archwizard of the Crimson Demon clan, want to join your party!"
"Are you making fun of us?" The couple deadpanned in unison.
"Jinx! Haha! You owe me a beer now!" The brown haired teen exclaimed.
"Fine, fine. Don't get too cocky, Kazuma! I'll beat you next time!" The goddess promised with fire in her eyes.
"H-Hey!" The Crimson Demon exclaimed. "What makes you think I'm teasing you?!"
"You gave us a weird name and acted like…that. Of course we'd think you're messing with us." Kazuma explained.
"Well I'm not! This is just who I am!" The archwizard stated proudly, puffing her chest.
"What do you mean it's-" The Cursed Energy user's eyes widened in horror. "No. No it can't be."
"Wait, now I remember." The goddess took a step back, sporting her own horrified expression.
"It seems you both now understand." The red-eyed young woman said with a grin.
"Yes. Yes we do!" The duo exclaimed in unison.
"That's right! Fear my name and power. The user of explosion magic is in your presence." The girl put her hand on her chest. "I am Megumin! The foremost archwizard of the-"
"You're a Chuunibyou!" The couple declared at the same time.
"Jinx!" Kazuma shouted.
"Damn it! I thought we weren't doing that this time!" The goddess pouted. Suddenly, the girl in front of them collapsed to the ground.
"Umm…can you two feed me please? I haven't eaten in three days." The girl pleaded weakly.
"Three days!?" The couple shouted at the same time.
"So let me get this straight: You gave the last of your money to your friend because you wanted to look 'cool.' Am I hearing you correctly?" Kazuma asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Mmm." The archwizard nodded ashamedly as she munched on her food.
"And despite no other party having taken you before this dumbass mistake, you still banked on being on someone taking you in?"
"W-Well, I had to killed this really powerful monster, and-"
"Don't try to make an excuse for your poor choices!" The teen interrupted, not having it. The Crimson Demon sitting across from him tried to sink deeper into her seat, which was impossible. "Now, I would chalk all that up to you being a dumbass, but there's something bothering me." He leaned closer in his seat. "If you really killed this powerful monster, why in the fuck are you not in a party now? You're a Crimson Demon. From what Aqua told me, you're all supposed to be strong mages."
The red-eyed teen trembled. "It's because I only know one spell currently: Explosion."
"Hang on, what?" It was the goddess's turn to join in on the interrogation. "How is that possible? Explosion is the strongest spell of the Detonation series spells. If you've only got the one spell, that means you spent all your skill points trying to get it."
The young woman nodded. "I did."
"Why?! Explosion is a powerful spell and all, but it costs so much mana to use. If you don't have enough, it can leave you unable to move for hours!"
'Now I know it's stupid if even Aqua is pissed about it.'
"It's because it was my dream!" The girl shouted.
'Dream?'
The Crimson Demon immediately realized what she had done, and gave the duo an apologetic look. "I'm sorry."
"What's this about a dream?" The adventurer asked.
"Well…years ago, I played with a seal in my village. All of a sudden, some giant beast emerged from it, threatening to kill me. Then, a busty mage woman appeared out of nowhere. She then used her magic to get rid of the monster, saving my life! The magic she used: Explosion! Before she left the village, I asked her to teach it to me. On that day, I decided I would walk the path of explosions!" The young woman stood up proudly, making yet another over the top pose. "I, Megumin, will be the master of Explosion magic! That means mastering it and all its aspects!"
"Aspects?" Kazuma asked.
"Yes, aspects! It's not enough for me to just master Explosion! I want to master all of its aspects! Heat that burns your skin, a shock wave that leaves you trembling, the scent of blasted earth, a glaring light that stabs the eyes, and the painful smoke!"
"So you want to learn Fire, Light, Earth, Lightning, and Smoke magic?" The adventurer asked.
"And the rest of the Detonation series too." The archwizard nodded.
"That still doesn't answer why you haven't been able to join a party." The brown haired young man pointed out. "Or why you chose to only learn Explosion so far."
"I wasn't going to learn Explosion right away. My initial plan was to learn one other spell before graduating from the academy in my village. Then on the first day, my teacher insulted the spell, while most of the class laughed at me. At that moment, I didn't care about anything anymore: I just wanted to graduate with Explosion so I could say screw you to those who laughed at my dream. It was petty, I know, but…it really hurt me."
The adventurer gave the Crimson Demon a look of sympathy. In some ways, he could understand her. He had always tried to get approval that he would never receive from his parents. 'She took the opposite path. She wanted to defy those people, and not even bother with their approval. It wasn't the best idea, but…' He looked towards his girlfriend, who seemed to be deep in thought.
"As for why I haven't been able to join a party…it's because they didn't want to wait for me to get to their level. Adventuring is a tough job, and if your party member is useless after one attack, it can cost everyone else their lives." The brown haired young woman answered sadly.
The Cursed Energy user turned to Aqua again, who this time was staring at him. She gave him a nod, then the young man sighed. "You can join us."
The girl blinked. "What?"
"I said, you can join our party." The adventurer repeated. 'When did I become soft? Ah well. Maybe she's that diamond in the rough Aqua was talking about. She's got the backstory for it.'
The young woman's eyes lit up in happiness, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "T-Thank you!" She put a hand to her chest "On the pride of my entire village, I, Megumin, will work to be the best archwizard I can be! I will become the master of explosion magic and all its aspects! This I swear!"
Kazuma smiled. "I'll hold you to that."
"Welcome to the party!" Aqua exclaimed, giving the girl a thumbs-up.
"Glad to be here. Let me reintroduce myself." The girl made another dramatic pose, hand on her hat, while her arm was outstretched. "I am Megumin, foremost archwizard of the Crimson Demons, future master of Explosion magic," She smiled. "And a member of Adventurer Satou Kazuma and Archpriest Aqua's party!"
The couple clapped for Megumin, having gotten used to her antics rather quickly. "Not bad. I'll give that an 8.5 out of 10. Can definitely be improved on." The adventurer commented.
"I give it a 10 out of 10! I think that was absolutely perfect!" The blue haired beauty exclaimed as she clapped her hands together.
"Come on Aqua. You can't give her first attempt a 10. She'll have improved on her introductions after a while, so her first 10 should be special!"
"But Kazumaaaaaa! If it's ten worthy, she should be given a 10!" The goddess refuted. She turned to the archwizard "What do you think, Megumin? Who's right?"
The Explosion user blushed in embarrassment. "I-I don't know. I think all my introductions are flawless, but Kazuma has a point that my first 10 should be special."
"Eh, let's drop it for now. It's not that big of a deal." The adventurer urged.
"Alright. And here I thought I was gonna have fun with this." The blue haired beauty pouted. Suddenly, a thought crossed her mind. "I find it strange that the mage who saved you taught you Explosion before she left."
"Well…" The Crimson Demon poked her fingers together, the blush from earlier growing darker. "The mage said she wanted to repay me. I at first asked for big tits, but that was denied."
"Huh?" The couple chorused.
"Look! I really admired the mage who saved my life, okay!" Megumin's face was now completely red. "I wanted Explosion and big tits. I've only been able to get Explosion, and I've completely given up on big tits. It's never gonna happen for me."
"Don't worry. As a believer in chest equality, I think your tits are fine the way they are." The adventurer assured the mage.
"T-Thank you." The brown haired young woman averted her eyes, her blush still present. "Though you probably shouldn't compliment me like that in front of your girlfriend."
"First off, I'm not gonna get mad at my boyfriend for boosting up another girl's confidence!" The goddess declared. "Second, I'm fine with it. I'm letting him build a harem after all."
"Eh?" The red-eyed mage looked at the woman in shock. "You are?"
"Yep, she is. You could imagine my shock when she brought it up to me yesterday morning." Kazuma added with a sigh.
"I mean…I won't judge. I know relationships like that exist."
"Thank you. But don't think it's a traditional harem either. Let's just say…it's for the both of us."
It took mere seconds for the implications to hit the Crimson Demon like a freight train, a blush forming across her face. "O-Oh. S-So you want that type of relationship." The blue haired beauty nodded. "W-Well…I'd consider it, but there's no way I could join a relationship that's clearly been going on for years."
"We only started dating yesterday." The adventurer revealed."
"Eh!?" The mage looked at the two in shock. "W-Well, then you two must have been waiting for so long to confess for each other, beating all the odds, and finally, after a long journey, it all-"
"We've only known each other for ten days." This time it was Aqua's turn to correct their new party member.
"Wha-" The red-eyed teen's mind looked like it was gonna explode. She stood up. "TEN DAYS?! YOU'RE THAT DOTING AFTER ONLY KNOWING EACH OTHER FOR TEN DAYS?!" The couple nodded. The mage sat back down, trying to process everything she just learned. "It…It doesn't make sense to me. And yet, it does at the same time. All my life, I've read grand stories where after a long and hard fought journey, the main character and the love interest finally get together. I've been told that's how it should be. I always had some doubts about it, but I never cared much about romance too much to really question it. But…you two just completely shattered that."
"Well…while those stories can be great, that's not always gonna be the case." The brown haired young man answered "I mean, we didn't have some grand tale about falling in love. It just…happened."
"He's right. He picked me up at my lowest point, and I helped him accept his past. We didn't expect ourselves to get together as quickly as we did, but…the stars aligned for us. And we're happy about that." The blue haired woman added with a smile.
The mage pondered their words for the moment, before sighing. "I guess you're right. If you're happy, who am I to question it?" She blushed. "And as for that…offer. I'll definitely…consider it. But right now, I don't think I'm ready to take that step yet. I barely know you two after all."
"That's fine." The Cursed Energy user assured her, "It's not conventional at all. Take as much time as you want. We'll support you either way."
"Take it from me, he'd be very happy if you joined. Kazuma is pretty perverted after all." Her boyfriend scoffed. "But he's right. Whatever you decide, we'll support your decision. It's not like party members have to fall in love with each other."
"Thanks." The red-eyed young woman said, giving the couple a smile. Her smile became a grin. "How about we do our first quest together as a party?"
"That's a good idea." The goddess agreed. "Did you see any quests we could take on the bulletin board, Kazuma?"
"I saw another Giant Frogs quest. Although, I don't think you want to face them again after what happened last time."
The woman shivered at the memory of the Giant Frogs, before rapidly shaking her head. "No, I'll be fine. Last time I got eaten was because I ignored Luna's warnings. This time, I know what to do. I will not get eaten again by those disgusting toads!"
"Frogs."
"I love that!" Megumin's eyes were sparkling. "The strength to fight the same monsters who traumatized you, overcoming your fears to rise to the occasion. It gets my Crimson Demon blood pumping!" The girl made yet another over the top pose. "I, Megumin, agree with Aqua. We shall take down those Giant Frogs. No mere frog is any match for a crimson demon mage like myself!"
"Then it's settled." The adventurer got up, ready to tell Luna they would take the frog quest again. Suddenly, a thought came to him. "By the way, Megumin: What's with that eyepatch?"
"Oh, this?" The red-eyed mage pointed at the eyepatch, a grin plastered over her face. "This is a magical item that suppresses my immense power. If it were ever removed, a great catastrophe would surely befall the world."
"So, it's like a seal?" The young man asked, slightly scared. His girlfriend seemed to be in the same boat judging from her expression.
"Well…" The girl rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "Not really. I just wear it because it's cool."
The couple deadpanned at the chunni. Kauzma walked up to the mage, and pulled on her eyepatch.
"Ah…I'm sorry! Please don't pull on that! Yame…Yameroooooooo!" Smack! "Ow! My eye!"
"Explosion magic is incredibly strong, but it needs time to prepare. Do you think you can buy me some time?" Megumin asked.
The party of three were in the plain fields once again, taking on the mission to kill five frogs again. Luckily for the trio, there were five frogs in a group together grazing in the field. This made their job a lot easier.
"Wait, why do we have to buy you time? Those frogs haven't noticed us yet." Kazuma questioned her with a raised eyebrow.
The mage blushed in embarrassment. "W-Well…I don't want to take more experience than I need…and I want to see you two in action."
The adventurer sighed. "Just say that next time."
"But it's not as cool as-"
"Just do it!"
"Yes sir!" The young woman did an army salute, not wanting to argue with the Cursed Energy user.
"Now…how many frogs am I allowed to kill?" The young man asked.
"I'd say…two frogs." The red-eyed mage estimated. "Three frogs would allow me to get another level, and would get me closer to learning Blast or Fireball."
"Two frogs. Got it." Kazuma put up two fingers and made a hand-sign. "Cursed Technique: Conversion!" His cursed energy had increased by quite a bit from all the leveling he'd done. Before, he had to use up all of it just to increase any one of his stats by ten. After getting to level 5, he only needed to use up over half. And now, at level 7…'I can now boost one of my stats by 20 and still have some cursed energy left over. My guess is my limit currently is 24. Add Haste or any of Aqua's other support spells, and I can mow down many monsters with ease!'
"Wait, what happened?" The archwizard asked. "Your pose and declaration was amazing, but I didn't see anything happen. Am I missing something, or did you do something wrong?"
"I couldn't see it either, but I sensed it." Aqua said, shocking the mage. "What you just witnessed was Kazuma using his Cursed Technique."
"His what? I didn't see anything…"
"You can't. No normal person can see Cursed Energy. I can only sense it because it's similar to the undead." The goddess explained.
"Wait! So did Kauzma go on some journey to obtain ultimate power, making a deal with the undead to protect his loved one?" The chuuni asked hopefully, eyes sparkling at the thought.
The blue haired beauty shook her head. "No, nothing like that." The Crimson Demon deflated. "I can't explain it too well, but Kazuma has a power unique to him. And he'll hone it so he can kill the Demon King one day."
The mage's eyes regained their sparkle, the girl bouncing on her heels in excitement. "So he has a power unique only to him, but is heavily underestimated, right?!"
"Umm…I guess?" The blue haired woman answered awkwardly.
'They'd have to have an opinion about me at all to underestimate me…'
"Then I will do what it takes to help him accomplish that goal!" The young woman declared. "Underdog stories were very popular back in my village, and I will not miss out on the chance to watch one grow right in front of me!"
'Great…Now she thinks I'm a typical shounen protagonist.' The adventurer scratched his cheek in embarrassment. 'Then again, this is probably what I get for choosing a shounen power system as my cheat item.'
"Kazuma!" His thoughts were broken by his girlfriend. "Take this boost for good luck. Haste!" A green aura covered the goddess's boyfriend, his agility further increased.
"Thanks Aqua." The Cursed Energy user switched to Megumin. "Go prepare that spell."
"Right." The red-eyed young woman nodded. "I'll let you know when I'm finished. And make sure you keep them in the same place."
Kazuma nodded. "I'll be back." He unsheathed his shortsword, then dashed towards the frogs at quick speed. The herd of frogs quickly picked up on his presence, looking towards the hunter speeding towards them. One frog dared to challenge him, leaping towards the teen. He stopped just a few feet away from him, then stuck out his tongue to wrap up the adventurer. The slimy appendage inched closer and closer to him, and the monster seemed gleeful at the thought of being close to having his next meal judging from its eye smile. At the last second, the young man pulled right, dodging the attack cleanly, not a single drop of saliva getting on him this time. He leapt up into the air, and at blinding speeds the frog couldn't comprehend, prepared to slash the throat of the frog. With a final yell, he connected a horizontal slash across the beast's neck. He leapt back, waiting for the results of his slash to kick in. Blood dripped from the wound of the monster before it released a final pained croak, collapsing onto the ground, dead.
"W-Woah." Megumin was left awestruck and speechless. "That was incredible. I don't think that frog even touched him."
"Of course it didn't." Aqua said proudly. "Kazuma's Cursed Technique allows him to exchange cursed energy for an increase in one of his stats. Combine that with my archpriest abilities, there's no way a filthy toad can touch him!"
"Frog."
"Damnit, not you too!" The goddess pouted with a stomp of her foot.
"Still, that's one incredible ability. Not as incredible as Explosion of course, but that goes without saying. I still don't get what Cursed Energy is…"
"Leave it to me!" The blue haired woman exclaimed, palm on her chest. "Kazuma taught me everything there is to know about Cursed Energy. Teaching you should be a piece of cake."
"For some reason, I don't think that's a good idea." The mage responded wearily. Her answer was met by Aqua's puppy dog eyes. The young woman sighed. "Fine. You can teach me." It turns out that Kazuma was not the only one weak to the goddess's puppy dog eyes.
"Trust me, you won't regret it!" The beauty declared confidently.
"Kazuma! I'm ready!" The archwizard shouted.
"Alright!" The adventurer had just slain his second frog when he got Megumin's confirmation. He dashed away towards his party members, leaving the amphibians confused as to where their opponent went.
"Kazuma, Aqua. Prepare yourself. For you will bear witness to the ultimate offensive spell." The mage's eyes glowed as she stuck out her staff. Bluish black energy started gathering into the gem of the staff, the stone glowing a light purple. Kazuma and Aqua could only stare in shock and awe, as the sky darkened. "Darkness blacker than black and darker than dark, I beseech thee, combine with my deep crimson, the time of awakening cometh! Justice, fallen upon the infallible boundary, appear now as an intangible distortion! Dance, dance, dance! I desire for my torrent of power the ultimate destructive force: a force without an equal!" An orange magic circle suddenly appeared under the frogs, the monsters looking very confused as to what was happening. "Return all creation to cinders! Come forth from the abyss! This is the mightiest attack known to man, the ultimate offensive magic! Explosion!"
The magic circle began to grow, and three more appeared above them, stacked on top of each other. The first circle expanded further and further, energy compressing on top of it until it looked like a medium sized dome. And then, it popped. A column of fiery energy burst from the ground, streaking so high it touched the clouds! Kazuma and Aqua had to cover their eyes and brace themselves in order to not be blown away by the sheer power of the spell. Finally, the light returned to the sky, and the shock wave finally ended. The couple uncovered their eyes to see the results of their new party member's handiwork, and they nearly gasped. In the place of the frogs was nothing but burnt ash, the only evidence they had even existed in the first place, along with a large crater where they had once stood.
"You weren't kidding. That's some spell," Kazuma uttered in complete awe.
"Explosion is a powerful offensive spell, maybe the most powerful. I've only heard about it in passing. Seeing it for the first time is just…" His girlfriend was in the same boat, her eyes looking towards the mage in amazement.
"There's no other spell stronger than Explosion. It is the ultimate offensive spell. It's what I spent so much time trying to learn…" The girl suddenly collapsed on the ground.
"Megumin!" The couple rushed to the young woman quickly.
"I'm fine. Just the side effects of Explosion," the Crimson Demon assured them. "Um…do you think one of you can carry me?"
Aqua gave the adventurer a look, to which her boyfriend sighed. "Fine, I'll do it."
"Thank you Kazuma." The mage said appreciatively as the young man picked her up and put her on his back.
"Yeah, yeah. Not like I don't get something out of it."
"What? Carrying a girl like me for hours, feeling my breasts and thighs all over you, you pervert?"
"Exactly."
"I don't like how you said that with no shame whatsoever," the mage deadpanned. "You're also supposed to deny it, saying something like 'It's not like that at all'!
"One, I'm not a fan of cliches. Two, I can feel shame. You just don't know what buttons to push."
"And Aqua does?"
"Yep!" The archpriest interjected. "It's pretty easy to tease him if you know what buttons to push. Maybe I can teach them to you along with Cursed Energy."
The Cursed Energy user blinked. "You're asking her to teach you something?"
"Against my better judgment, yes." The archwizard sighed.
"Hey!" The goddess pouted.
"Why?" The adventurer asked.
"Puppy dog eyes." The Explosion wielder answered.
"She got you too?!"
"Mmm." Kazuma didn't need to see her face to know she was embarrassed.
"Glad to know I'm not the only person that ability works on." Suddenly, three frogs started to emerge from the ground, clawing their way out from under the grass with dirt sliding off of their slimy bodies. "Crap, they must have woken up from the explosion."
"Ehehe. Sorry." The red-eyed mage apologized awkwardly.
The adventurer set her down. "Don't apologize. I still have my boosts active. This is just an opportunity to earn more exp." He turned to his girlfriend. "Look after her Aqua." The young man rushed the frogs again, ready to add another three kills to the day.
"That quest went off without a hitch!" The blue haired beauty cheered. "Especially since I didn't get eaten this time!"
The party of three were currently walking the streets of Axel ready to report their successful quest. Megumin by this point was able to walk again, much to the relief and disappointment of Kazuma. Relief because despite the girl being lighter than he expected, his arms had started to grow tired. Disappointment, because he lost the feeling of archwizard's thighs and breasts. Although, it did give him something to bring up to Aqua later…
"This is the first time a party's not gonna dump me after the first mission." The red-eyed mage chimed in.
"I can't believe no one thought of distracting the monsters and helped you gain experience." The adventurer commented.
"It's not that they didn't. It's that they couldn't." The mage corrected. "No other party is like yours. The newer or low level parties I joined didn't have both a strong fighter and a priest to support me, and the higher level parties didn't think it was worth the risk. Especially since I would have to take quests like these, and when you're a party of 5 or more, these types of quests don't pay well." She pointed at the couple "You two are quite literally the perfect party for me."
"Huh. When you put it like that, it makes sense." The brown haired young man stroked his chin. "No one has an ability like mine, nor an archpriest like Aqua." The blue haired woman bore a smug smile at that compliment.
"Exactly." The Crimson Demon nodded "You may not be a front line fighter naturally, but you can make yourself one with your…Cursed Technique, right?" Kazuma nodded. "When paired with Aqua's buffs, you can kill the lower level monsters with ease. And since you're a new party, you don't have to worry about stuff like shares too much yet."
"What if you found a party with a warrior and a priest?" The archpriest asked.
"Maybe that could have worked, but not every priest starts out with support spells. I must have been unlucky, because I was never recruited by a party like that." The Crimson Demon answered.
"Why didn't you search for one?" The brown haired young man asked.
"At first, I was expecting people to line up to recruit me. I'm a Crimson Demon and I had started to get some achievements without even officially joining a party. And there were people who did. But it was less than I expected. Then, some word got around about me only knowing one spell, which probably hurt my chances even more. As I began to starve, I had to put aside my pride and find some party to take me in. Luckily, I found you two." The red-eyed mage bowed. "Thank you for letting me join. I promise you won't regret it!"
The Cursed Energy user smiled. "Glad to have you aboard. Come on, let's head to the baths and then report to the Guild."
"Yeah. Then afterwards, we can snuggle and kiss at the tavern tonight~." The goddess added with a wink.
The Crimson demon blushed. "S-So, you're staying at a Tavern?"
"Yeah, though we only started living there yesterday. It's much better than staying at the stables, that's for sure." Kazuma said with a look of disgust.
Megumin's eyes widened. "Wait, you were living in the stables?!"
"Yeah. We didn't have any money after arriving in Axel. Why?"
"Well, I heard at one of the stables, the owner hates romance and people…doing it. So, he feeds his horses stuff that makes their shit smell extra bad to kill any potential moods." The archwizard revealed.
The couple had wide eyes. "Is this owner a middle aged man?" The adventurer asked with a trembling voice.
"Yeah. Why do you…oh." The young woman gave the couple a look of pity.
Suddenly, Kauzma unsheathed his shortsword and started walking in the opposite direction of the baths. The girls looked at each other briefly, before they began to follow him.
"Kazuma. What are you doing?" His girlfriend asked in a worried tone.
"I just want to talk to him." The young man answered.
"Kazuma, calm down. Don't do something you'll regret." The mage urged.
"I just want to talk to him."
"Kazuma! Stop doing that! You can't kill him!" The goddess pleaded desperately.
"I just want to curse him."
"Kazuma! Stop!" The girls cried at the same time.
"His crimes against me must be punished!" He shouted as he began to run.
"Kazumaaaaa!"
End chapter
When I started writing this chapter, I asked myself: How much Fluff do you want? I replied with: Yes. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. In case you guys couldn't tell, Megumin is aged-up to Kazuma's age. As well as modified. I have a couple of images I found to give you a rough visual representation…that can only be seen if you're on AO3. Sorry Fanfic. net people, you're out of luck. Anyways, I also had to make a couple changes to Megumin's character as well. If I'm gonna improve on Aqua, you know for damn sure Megumin's getting the same treatment as well. As well as a certain masochistic crusader. Stay tuned. Can't believe I even had the drive to pump out another chapter for this story, I wasn't planning to post anything until next month. I guess when you're on a roll, you're on a roll. That's about it. See you guys next chapter!