How this story became my most popular one is beyond me, but I'm not complaining. I don't own Konosuba or something. Also, I'm also gonna advise you ffnet readers to follow me on AO3 if you can, because FFNet's notifications and everything else on that site are kinda broken. Please fix your shit, FFNet

Chapter 4: Crimson Love and The Crusader

"There, there Kazuma. The bad man can't cockblock you anymore," Aqua whispered to her boyfriend.

It wasn't hard for the goddess and Megumin to stop the rampaging Kazuma from killing the couple's former landlord: All Aqua had to do was cast Haste on herself and she had been able to tackle the young man to the ground. This did not stop the teen from trying to struggle from the woman's grip. Luckily, the beauty had a card to play.

"If you stop, I'll give you a lap pillow when we get to the Guild."

And that's where we find the couple and Megumin currently. The archmage was sitting across from the couple in her seat, looking at the two with a small blush on her face. Meanwhile, the goddess was stroking her boyfriend's hair, looking down at him with a loving smile, while the adventurer had a content smile on his face as he laid on his 'pillow.'

"I can't believe you two are bold enough to do this in public." The mage commented as her blush darkened.

The deity shrugged. "I don't really care if people see. I just don't think it really matters if we do acts like this in public. Except for making out or sex of course." She pointed to her boyfriend below. "He gets all embarrassed usually, but he can be affectionate in public if he wants to."

"Huh. Good to know."

"Ah…" Kazuma groaned as he sat up, nursing his lower back. "The pillow is comfortable, the bed is not."

"You were laying on a wooden bench seat. What did you expect?" The Crimson Demon deadpanned.

"We'll just have to try it again on a proper bed." The blue haired woman suggested with a smile.

"Sure." The young man said as he averted his eyes with a blush. The mage looked at the pair with complete awe.

"I know what you're thinking. Despite being perverted, Kazuma is also really innocent. It comes from him not having much interactions with girls. I say he's doing a good job despite that!" The goddess praised her boyfriend with a wide grin.

"You don't have to say all that!" The brown haired young man exclaimed. "But…thank you."

"Of course! I have to praise my boyfriend when he's earned it, right?" The woman said with a sly smirk. "And reward him when he does well~"

The brown haired mage sitting across from them blushed. "W-Wow…"

The adventurer expression turned to one of concern. "Sorry. Are we making you uncomfortable at all?"

"What? Absolutely not!" The mage denied quickly. "It's just…it's so surreal seeing you two flirt and all that."

"Huh?" The couple asked at the same time.

"Remember when I said that most stories in my village revolved around the main characters going through a long journey before confessing?" The couple nodded. "Well…it was rare for a story to show the characters in a relationship. They'd just confess and that was it."

'I've got a lot of shitty romance manga that these people would love to read.'

"I always wondered what it would be like if we could see those characters…you know, be together and whatever." The girl smiled. "And now that I've seen how you two are, I think it should be something like this. Be it two people or a harem, I would have liked to have seen the type of interactions you two have in those stories."

"Megumin!" The goddess had happy tears in her eyes as she rushed to the mage and wrapped her up in a hug. "Thank you! That's so sweet!"

"U-Uh…y-you're welcome." The red-eyed mage stammered with a blush. It was easy to see why: Her head was currently pressed into the goddess's bountiful bosom. "I-I think your boyfriend is enjoying this a bit too much."

Indeed, said boyfriend was gazing at this sight with a perverted grin. "When a wonderful gift is presented to me, should I not take the time to admire it?"

"Of course you'd say that." The archwizard deadpanned.

"Well I'll give you an even better gift!" The beauty disengaged her hold on Megumin, before rushing towards her lover. She wrapped his head in a hug, pressing it to her breasts. "How's that?" she asked with a sly grin.

'Ah. So this is heaven. I died and went to heaven.' The thumbs up the young man gave was all the woman needed for her grin to become a full smile.

"I envy your big tits." The red-eyed mage commented with narrowed eyes.

"You'd be surprised how many guys or girls would love to be smothered by your thighs or would want you to sit on them." The blue haired beauty assured her.

"Yeah, I know that." The mage said as she leaned back. "But the odds of a guy walking up to me and asking for that are probably zero, right?" The adventurer raised his hand. "Of course you would," she deadpanned. "Well, the odds of a girl asking that have to be zero then, right?" This time it was the goddess's turn to raise her hand. "Oh…I get it now. It's not just Kazuma who's the pervert. It's both of you!"

"Hey, we're not perverts!" The goddess denied vehemently. "We're wholesome perverts!" She noticed Kazuma smacking his hand on her hip. She quickly let him go, as the young man regained his breathing.

"That's still being perverts!" The red-eyed mage exclaimed pointing at the two. "And you're supposed to deny it outright."

"We don't like cliches." The couple chorused. Kazuma looked at her with wide eyes. "Wait, you don't like cliches either?"

"They can get annoying after a while. If they're done well, fine. If not, it becomes a minor annoyance." The beauty clarified.

"I agree with that." The Crimson Demon interjected, causing the duo to look at her in surprise. "Don't get me wrong, cliches are a central part of my village's stories, but when they don't fit or aren't executed well, I'm half tempted to drop the story."

"You're perfect!" The couple exclaimed with stars in their eyes.

"Woah, woah, woah!" the brown haired Crimson Demon waved her hands rapidly as she blushed. "I didn't say I'd join your relationship. Just that I'd consider it. Even if I'm tempted to try it out…"

"What's stopping you?" Aqua asked.

"One: As I said, I want to get to know you more. Even though I can gauge you two well, I want to wait a little bit before I say yes. And two…" The chuuni's expression became downtrodden. "I've never been really good at getting close to other people."

"What do you mean?" The Cursed Energy user asked.

"Back in my days at the academy, I wanted to be more of the prodigious loner type. The one who said they were gonna be the best and wanted no friends. On the surface, it was just a simple role. We Crimson Demons like to play different roles all the time while we're schooling. It helps us stand out."

'As expected of chuunis'

"In reality…I was scared of getting close to other people. I'm fine just talking to people, I just have problems taking the next step." Megumin bore a fond smile. "Of course, someone just had to stop me. That was my friend, Yunyun. We had known each other a bit before the academy, but when she declared she was gonna be my rival on our first day, that was the start of when we became true friends." She frowned. "I wasn't always the best to her, but at the end of the day, she was still so nice to me. I guess in our own ways, we were loners, so I guess we were drawn to each other. I was scared of making friends, and she was an outcast in her village."

"Why was she an outcast?" The goddess asked.

"She's…not like the rest of us in our village. She's embarrassed by her name and doesn't like to do all the traditional stuff we do. In other words…"

"She's a normie." Kazuma concluded with wide eyes.

"Bingo." The mage nodded. "On top of that, she's socially awkward and can get really anxious when talking with people. She's gotten better. I think finding someone who wanted to be her friend really helped with that."

"Is she the one you gave all your money to?" The adventurer asked.

"Mmm." The Crimson Demon nodded. "We had traveled to this town together. After I killed the powerful monster I mentioned, she decided to go on a training journey. I was hesitant, but I accepted it. She declared she was gonna work to be the best rival and friend she could be…but I told her that she was my best friend in the entire world. She was so happy when I said that."

"Did you never tell her that before?" The blue haired beauty asked curiously.

The red-eyed young woman shook her head. "Not really. I can only really remember like one or two times where I said something like that. It was never that direct. After that, I saw her off, waited for a party to take me in, and now I'm here."

"You've come a long way." The deity said with a smile.

"I'd like to think so. I think I've gotten less scared about approaching people, and because of Yunyun, I was able to have a solid relationship with my other classmates. They're the ones who gave me some of my gear, after all." The red-eyed archwizard frowned. "I'm just scared that if I try to get in a relationship, I'll mess it up. I wasn't the greatest friend to Yunyun, so what's stopping me from screwing up my romantic life?"

Kazuma stared at the mage's conflicted and sad expression. He gave a look to Aqua, who nodded. "I was always alone before coming here."

The red-eyed young woman looked at him, confused. "What?"

The young man nodded. "Yeah. I had friends, sure, but I was always focused on getting my parents' approval and being the best man possible for this girl I liked. When that girl found someone else and it was clear I was never getting my parent's approval, I just shut down. I stopped going to school and decided to live a shut-in life."

"You were a shut-in before coming here?" The Crimson Demon asked in shock, to which Kazuma nodded. "Wow. You remind me of this one guy in our village. He's a shut-in like you were. In fact, he likes this one girl who is really out of his league. I still kinda root for him though. When he's not being a pervert, he's like a big brother to me"

"Huh. Wouldn't mind meeting him one day. Point is, I can relate to you a little. Though my case was a bit more extreme, I just wanted to be left alone and escape from life. It wasn't until one of the days I went outside and met Aqua that I was finally able to take that step." Left unsaid was the fact he had to die in order for his life to change. 'Don't think she'll buy that I'm from another world and we don't want her to know Aqua's a goddess…at least not yet.' The approving nod he received from the woman indicated he had made the right choice. "After she helped me overcome some of my…problems, we got into a relationship not long after. Every day, we're learning and we might make some mistakes in the future. What I'm trying to say is, don't be afraid of messing up. It happens sometimes, and if you ever did, we'll pick you back up. Unless you plan to cheat."

"No!" The red-eyed young woman bore a look of disgust. "Never!"

"Then don't worry so much about it. And if you're still not sure what to do, we'll help you."

"If you want to be with us, of course." The goddess added. "If not, we'll still help you, though the context is…different."

The Crimson Demon had a thoughtful expression before beaming at the couple. She stood up, and made another dramatic pose, putting a hand on her heart. "I am Megumin! Future Master of Explosion Magic and all its aspects! Mage of the party of Aqua and Kazuma! I am no longer afraid of messing up!" She pointed at the two. "I would like to do a trial run before joining your relationship!"

"Trial run?" The couple asked in unison.

"Mmhm!" The mage nodded cutely. "I do want to get to know you two better, but why wait to figure out if we'd work well in a relationship? This would kill two frogs with one explosion! Pretty smart, hmm?"

"Not bad." Kazuma nodded. "You'd get to know us better while getting a glimpse of what it's like to be in a relationship with us."

"Exactly!" The red-eyed mage beamed. "Obviously, simple physical affection is fine. The only thing that's off limits is k-k-kisses on the lips and obviously anything beyond that!" She blushed. "Kisses on the lips should be the climax of a confession, and if I accept, I shall give you both a confession befitting of my heritage!"

"So everything below kisses on the lips is fair game." Aqua grew a mischievous smirk. "Careful. We might just shower you with so much affection you'll explode with happiness!"

The chuuni grinned smugly. "As a Crimson Demon, I don't back down from any challenge. Especially when explosions are involved. Bring it on!"

"Be prepared for tomorrow then." The goddess smiled. "Because right now, let's celebrate the trial run!"

"Sure." Kazuma nodded. "You do owe me two drinks after all."

The blue haired beauty pouted. "You and your stupid jinxes."

"Finally!" The archwizard cheered. "I haven't had the chance to drink alcohol for the first time since coming here. This is the perfect opportunity to-"

"Absolutely not!" The couple exclaimed at the same time

"Hey! What's the problem? I'm allowed to drink!"

"You are, but I got a feeling in my gut that you should be nowhere near alcohol." The adventurer said as he pointed at her.

"Same! You seem like someone who would only need one drink to cause trouble!" The deity added.

"If I'm being watched by you guys, it shouldn't be a problem, right?"

The lovers looked at each other, before nodding. "Fine." Aqua sighed. "But we're gonna keep a close eye on you."

"I'll be okay." The mage insisted. "It's not like I don't understand the dangers of drinking too much. I'll take it one sip at a time, okay?"

"That's all we can ask." The brown haired young man said. They would order their drinks, which would arrive not long afterwards. They toasted to their first mission together, and the trial run for their relationship. Then, when it was time for Megumin to take her first sip of alcohol…

"Ugh!" The young woman began to violently cough and hack, clearly not a fan of the taste of her drink. "Yuck! How do you drink this stuff?"

"We told you not to drink that." The goddess reminded the archwizard "It's a stronger taste than the average beer. It's not something I'd recommend to try as your first drink. You're the one who said that you could handle it."

The Crimson Demon turned a crimson red as she poked her fingers together. "Ehehe, sorry."

"Here." The brown haired adventurer presented his mug. "Try some of mine. It's less strong."

The red-eyed young woman paused before nodding, taking the young man's mug. She brought the mug to her lips and took a small sip. She put it down, before bearing a thoughtful expression. "It's not the best. But it also doesn't make me want to throw up."

"It shouldn't. It's a starter beer from what the waitresses told me."

"I see." The young woman began to hand the mug back, but Kazuma stopped her.

"You can keep that. I'm owed another mug from Aqua, remember?"

The chuuni smiled. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it. I can't leave one of my party members with shitty beer."

"Is it really shit if it's an acquired taste?" The blue haired goddess asked. "Some people enjoy beer like that."

"Look, if it makes someone hack violently like they're choking, it's probably not that good in the first place."

"Maybe to you, but I'm sure someone like me can drink this no problem!" The woman declared confidently.

"It's your funeral." Megumin said as she shoved her old drink towards Aqua.

"Thank you for your concern, but it's not necessary!" The beauty brought the drink near her mouth. "This should be easy for a more experienced drinker like myself!" She began to sip.

'3. 2. 1…'

"Bleh!" It was now the blue haired woman's turn to cough and hack. She put the mug down, and began to run her hands down her tongue rapidly in a futile attempt to get the taste off. Her efforts were interrupted by the growing laughter of her party members. "Hey!" She exclaimed before pouting.

"S-Sorry." Kazuma said as he tried to control his laughter. "But you have to admit, you set yourself up for that."

Aqua sighed. "I did. Sorry. You were right. This beer is horrible."

"Glad you saw the error of your ways." Megumin said with a sly grin.

"Careful. I might have to punish you for even ordering a beer like that in the first place." The goddess threatened with a smirk.

"Do your worst."

"Remember, you asked for it." The blue haired woman rushed over to the mage and began to give her an evil and dastardly punishment: tickling.

"Ahahahaha! Stop! Please! No more please! Hahahahaha!" The red-eyed archwizard begged desperately as she laughed. Her pleas went unanswered as the deity continued to tickle her sides and stomach.

"Oi, Aqua. You should stop now." Kazuma said as he walked up to the pair with an amused smile.

His girlfriend pouted. "Fine." She stopped her assault on the mage.

"Thank you Kazu-"

"It's my turn after all!" Instead of stopping the tickling, the young man picked up from where the deity left off.

"Nooooooo! Stop! Ahahahahahahahahaha! Please!" The archwizrd's torture continued for a while before it finally ceased. Afterwards, the trio talked and had fun throughout the night. Unfortunately, all good things had to come to an end…

"Well, see you guys tomorrow." Megumin said as they got ready to head home.

"See ya Megumin!" Aqua exclaimed as she beamed at the young woman, before a smirk appeared. "Starting tomorrow, you'll get so much affection, you'll just burst."

"W-Whatever you say." The mage replied as she tried to hide the glowing blush on her face. She began to look towards the ground. "Y-You know. I-I have to get you b-back somehow. F-For the t-tickling."

"Megumin? Why do you look so nerv-" Kazuma's question was cut off by a pair of lips that kissed his cheek rather quickly. As his cheeks were dusted with light pink, his gaze shifted to Aqua. He was just in time to witness the same pair of lips quickly kiss the goddess's cheek as well.

"T-T-There! N-Now we-we're even!" The Crimson Demon stammered as her blush intensified. "G-Goodnight!" The red-eyed mage dashed away, leaving a trail of dust behind her. The couple were left absolutely speechless.

"Well…" The blue haired deity began as she broke the silence. An outright devious smirk formed on her face. "She's gonna be fun to tease."

"Don't go too crazy, Aqua." The brown haired adventurer warned his girlfriend.

"I should say the same to you." The goddess pointed an accusatory finger at her boyfriend "A girl who's really easy to tease is the exact scenario HikiNEETs like you live for!"

"Hey! You're not wrong, but still!"

"I knew it." The woman deadpanned. She grabbed her lover's hand. "Come on. Let's get back to the tavern."

"Aqua, what are you thinking?!" The adventurer questioned with wide eyes.

"Huh?" The blue haired woman tilted her head in confusion.

"Holding my hand in public! How lewd! What if people see?!" The young man was doing everything in his power to hold back his laughter. It wasn't successful, as some chuckles escaped from his lips.

Picking up on his gag, the deity decided to play along. She quickly let go of his hand and gasped. "Goodness! How careless of me! I can't believe I even did that!" It was her turn to hold in the laughter, and she was worse at it then Kazuma. "We can't let p-people…t-think we're a…a…a couple!" That was it, as said couple began to burst with laughter, holding their stomachs at their little joke. Finally, after a few moments, their laughter calmed down.

"Thanks for playing along with that." The brown haired teen said as he wiped his eyes.

"Of course! That type of joke is one of my favorites!" The goddess beamed. Suddenly, a hand intertwined with hers.

"Come on, let's go back to the tavern." The Cursed Energy user urged with a motion of his head. The woman nodded with a smile, as the coupe strolled throughout the city hand-in-hand. They would arrive at the tavern not long afterwards.

"You know, I've been thinking of buying some adventurer's clothes when I get the chance." Kazuma said to his girlfriend as they began to change into their night clothes in their shared room.

"Mmm." The beauty nodded as she stood there half naked. She was in a different set of lingerie this time, opting for a navy blue bra and panties this time. "I agree. I love your tracksuit and all, but it's not something you wanna wear forever. I wouldn't want anything to happen to it."

"Right." The teen nodded as he put on his cotton shirt. "Even if I don't have many great memories back home, it's still my home. I'm still attached to it, and I don't want to lose anything with a connection to it." He suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap around his back.

"I get it." Aqua said from behind him. "I still have some attachment to my home even though they casted me out. If you're gonna buy new clothes, wait until you can afford the best ones you can buy." The young man didn't need to look behind him to know the woman was grinning. "My boyfriend should wear the best clothes he can after all!"

The adventurer chuckled. "Of course you'd say that. But, you're right. I don't want to walk around in poorly made or cheap clothes."

"Exactly!" The deity laid a quick kiss on the Cursed Energy user's cheek before disengaging her hug. She quickly got into her baby blue PJs, before jumping into bed. She made a "come here" motion with her finger. "You owe me a makeout session and some cuddles. Remember~?"

'I love this woman.' Those were Kazuma's last thoughts before he quickly climbed on the bed and pounced on his girlfriend, which was met by the giggles of the girl under him. They began to kiss, another clash of tongues beginning anew. Each tongue was on even ground, neither giving an inch, just like last time. Then, much to the surprise of the Cursed Energy user, the woman began to gain the upper hand, winning the battle of the tongues as the young man's tongue began to have little room to fight back. Their positions began to switch, as the goddess slowly began to roll over. Soon, she was on top of him, assaulting his mouth with her tongue, exploring every nook and cranny she could find.

"Damn it. I can't fight back.' It seemed like a hopeless situation, one where Kazuma was destined to lose this battle of the tongues. However, he had one ace up his sleeve, but it was a little bold. His hands inched and wandered down her back until they were just above her rear. His counterattack began now! He reached down to her ass and squeezed.

"Mmmmm!" The blue haired woman's eyes widened in surprise, but the moan that escaped her showed it wasn't unwelcome, just surprising. Her tongue's assault stopped temporarily, giving the brown haired young man the opening he needed. His tongue began to overpower hers, as he explored every area possible just like he had before. Their positions flipped once more, the young man on top once more while the deity below him moaned in pleasure. Their session lasted for a few more moments before they realized they needed to breathe. They broke their kiss, panting heavily in an effort to catch their breaths.

The adventurer looked down at her with a smug smile. "I win."

The blue haired beauty pouted. "That's because you cheated!"

"How did I cheat?"

"I wasn't expecting you to grab my ass! When did you get so bold?!" The woman exclaimed.

The Cursed Energy user chuckled, before averting his eyes as a blush began to grow on his face. "I mean, I saw that in a…"

"Hentai? Porn?"

The young man sighed. "Yeahhhhh."

"Of course you did. Not that I'm complaining, I liked it after all."

The brown haired young man's blush grew. "W-Well, it was the only card I had left to win to beat you."

"Well congratulations! You may have beaten me twice, but that will be the last time! I, Aqua, vow to never lose another makeout session to you!"

The adventurer smirked smugly. "You can try." The woman under him smirked back, before the pair gave each other a couple of smooches. This only spurned them to begin Round 2, as their kissing grew more intense by the second, before the tongues came to play once again. This was how it was throughout the rest of the night before the couple finally decided to turn it in, but with a slight difference this time…

"Can you breathe okay?" The goddess asked as she held onto her boyfriend's head over her bosom.

"Yeah." The young man said, before he nuzzled his head over her breasts.

The beauty giggled. "Glad you like it. As long as I don't suffocate you like earlier, this should be fine."

"Wouldn't be the worst way to go…" The adventurer trailed off. He was promptly squeezed rather harshly by his girlfriend. "Ow!"

"You're not wrong, but don't even think about dying on my watch." The blue haired beauty requested. "I can resurrect you, but I don't want it to come to that."

"That's right! Archpriests all have the skill to resurrect someone!" the Cursed Energy user remembered with wide eyes.

"Right. But, just because I can resurrect you, doesn't mean I want to. If you died…I wouldn't like it very much." The deity looked to the side, as if trying to hide something. She wasn't good at it, as Kazuma caught on to how vulnerable and close to tears she was. It was something he had grown to hate: It was a look that did not fit his usually confident goddess. So he did the first thing that came to his mind. He shifted up, grabbed the beauty's chin, and laid a quick, but reassuring kiss onto her lips.

"Look. I'm not gonna act like some generic shounen protagonist and say 'Don't worry, I won't die!' or something like that. I can't even guarantee there won't be some close calls. This type of life is dangerous. Hell, on our first quest, I had to save you from being eaten because you didn't listen to instructions." The blue haired goddess pouted at that. "But, I can promise you that I will try to make sure it doesn't have to come to that."

The blue haired woman smiled. "That's all I can ask for." She then bore a guilty expression. "Sorry. You were just making a joke, and I overreacted a bit for no reason."

"It's fine. I can understand. I wouldn't want you to die after all. Let's just call it even and drop it."

The beauty raised an eyebrow. "Where'd you learn to compromise like this? Some cheesy romance manga?"

"While I can attribute some of the wholesome doujin I've read, the rest is just my logic kicking in. I've seen a lot of shitty romance manga just either not have the characters compromise or get into fights over misunderstandings. You can imagine my reaction every time I see it. I get it does happen, but don't do it in nearly every damn arc!"

The goddess grew an expression of annoyance. "Ugh! Why'd you have to force me to dig up memories I wanted buried. I've dropped manga over that. Once or twice, fine. Every single time…" The couple shivered at the same time at that thought. "Who would have thought porn can at times have better written romance than some official stories?"

"You'd be surprised." With that, the couple finally drifted off to sleep, content smiles on their faces.

"Psst. Kazuma, Aqua." Megumin whispered as she tapped their shoulders to get their attention. "Do you think we can talk over there for a sec?" She pointed towards the alleyway on the right.

The couple gave her a look. "Are you trying to mug us or something?" Kazuma asked with a raised eyebrow.

"NO!" The archwizard immediately denied with a blush. "I just want us to talk in private. What I'm about to say is…embarrassing, and I d-don't want there to be too many witnesses." Her blush grew as she continued to speak.

"Ho?" Aqua grew a teasing smirk. "Is this because our Megumin has now decided it's time for her to confess and join our relationship?" The mage's blush now matched her race as she averted her eyes. The deity's eyes widened. "Wait, seriously?"

"Huh." The adventurer's eyes were as wide as his girlfriend's. "Five days. A bit shorter than I expected."

Indeed, five days have passed since Megumin had joined Kazuma and Aqua's party. The mage had said she would be able to take any type of affection they threw at her. What she didn't anticipate was that there wouldn't be a moment where she wouldn't be a blushing mess as long as she was with this party. Even on quests, she wasn't safe. There was always gonna be a show of affection at any opportunity the couple could find. Not that the mage hated it of course.

As the days passed, the Crimson Demon's reciprocations started to increase as she grew more and more comfortable. It started small, the standard hugs and kisses on the cheek. It wasn't until day three that she began to get bolder. After a quest where they had killed a pack of Giant Rats, the red-eyed young woman had asked to give Kazuma a lap pillow. How would the adventurer compare the lap pillow experiences he had gotten so far? Well, with Aqua, it was like he was laying on an actual pillow. A comfortable pillow, but still a pillow. With Megumin and her magnificent thick thighs? A warm, luxurious cloud. No matter how impossible that was, it was the best he could describe it. An actual cloud. His girlfriend shared the same sentiment, as she had a turn herself.

The day afterwards had the Crimson Demon being on the receiving end of a lap pillow from the goddess. The same attempt was made for the brown haired young man, and despite his thighs not being as good for stuff like this, the mage didn't seem to mind. And the Cursed Energy user wouldn't complain, who wouldn't want a girl's head on their lap. And now, it all culminated to day five, where after they had to deal with a group of land turtles, it seemed the mage was ready to give her answer.

She didn't say a word. All she did was motion for them to follow her towards the alley, all the while keeping the blush on her face. They entered, and walked a few feet before the mage finally stopped.

"O-Okay. This should be good enough" She took a deep breath. The blush she had before was now gone. She dramatically pointed at the couple. "Kazuma, Aqua! Before I met you two, I was close to living in the stables and dying of starvation!"

"Part of that was your fault." Kazuma deadpanned, while Aqua just gave her a flat look.

Poof! The blush was back. "E-Even s-so." The young woman stammered. She cleared her throat. "You still took me in, and for that, I am forever grateful. And…about me joining your relationship…" The couple waited in anticipation. The chuuni made yet another dramatic pose, giving the couple a grin. "Since we agreed to the trial run, I've been getting more and more comfortable around you guys. I don't think I need to spend more time getting to know you: you're pretty much open books around me."

"We're just being ourselves." The blue haired beauty shrugged.

The archwizard grinned. "And I like that. You two are very open. I also like how affectionate you two can be, even if Kazuma blushes afterwards." It was now the Cursed Energy user's turn to blush. The red-eyed mage smiled smugly, while the deity gave her a proud smile. "You two have your flaws, but you're also kind people deep down. Chaotic, but kind." The young woman bore a serious expression. "Where I come from, we've always been told to wait until after a long and glorious journey to confess. But…what if that journey doesn't have to be long? Or…do I even need to wait to know something is right for me? That's something I've questioned my entire life. After meeting you both, I know my answer now!" She pointed a finger to the sky. "I, Megumin, future master of explosion and all its aspects! The future number 1 mage of the Crimson Demon Village! And now…" She pointed at the duo. "Girlfriend of Aqua and Kazuma! I like you both, and I would love to be a part of your relationship!"

Her declaration was met with claps from the couple. "10/10!" Kazuma exclaimed with a smile.

Aqua wiped a growing tear from her eye. "I agree! That was incredible!"

The red-eyed young woman nodded with a smug smile. "Now, prepare yourself for what you've been waiting for! The conclusion to any confession! A kiss on the lips!" For a few moments, no one moved. The couple was waiting to see what Megumin would do, while the Crimson Demon just stood in place. No one moved, no one spoke, until…

"You don't know where to start, do you?" The adventurer deadpanned.

The young woman blushed hotly, averting her eyes. "S-Shut up!" She stomped her foot. "I-I don't understand how you two could even d-do that in the first place without getting embarrassed! I can't even move!"

"With us, it just came at that moment." The blue haired beauty began. "I wanted to tell him I liked him then and there, and the best way I thought of showing that was to kiss him." She pointed to their boyfriend. "He didn't have any time to get embarrassed since my kiss came out of nowhere, nor would he have wanted it to stop. The only thing on his mind was to beat my tongue."

Somehow, the mage's already dark red blush became even darker. "Y-You added tongues?!" The goddess nodded proudly, while the adventurer turned his head to the side as he sported his own blush. "W-Why?!"

"I thought he would like it, and he did." The deity shrugged. "You don't have to do all that if you're not comfortable with it."

"Yeah." The brown haired young man interjected. "Just because Aqua added tongues to her kiss, doesn't mean you have to. Hell, you don't have to even kiss us like that if you're not comfortable. You can just wait until you're ready."

"But…" The mage was now downcast. "It's the culmination of an amazing confession! I should be able to do it after pouring my heart out. If I can't, am I not doing something wrong?"

"No, you aren't. Take it from a guy who has read a lot of romance stories in his life." The young man began. "In some stories, the main couple don't even kiss until sometime after they start dating. In others, you're right, they do kiss after the confession. Neither scenario is wrong, just different. If you want to wait, you can."

"He's right." The goddess added. "We'll wait for you. Always."

The Crimson Demon gazed at the two in amazement, before beaming at them. "Thank you." She then stared at the ground. "You know…I might have a way to overcome my embarrassment…"

"Really? Wh-" In a flash of speed that Kazuma had no idea his new mage girlfriend had, he was quickly silenced by a pair of lips. Before he could even comprehend what just happened, they were gone. He looked to his right, and found his goddess girlfriend's eyes wide open. He switched to the Crimson Demon, who was not even looking at them, with the brightest blush they had seen from her so far.

"T-There we go. I-I knew I could do it!" The young woman cheered as she bore a happy smile despite her clear embarrassment. "W-Well, let's get out of this alley and head to the baths!" She said as she started to walk out, a bit faster than usual.

The couple gave each other a look. "I knew she would be fun." The blue haired beauty said smugly.

The young man couldn't help but snort. "You were right on the mark."

"Huh?! I thought you were gonna save all of your points to get Cursed Technique Lapse!" Aqua exclaimed from their party's shared table.

"I did." Kazuma nodded. "It was a skill I really wanted to get. But, despite leveling up so much, I still need quite a few levels to get all the skill points I need. And despite the number of kills I'm getting, my experience gain is starting to slow down."

"Couldn't we just take on more powerful monsters then?" The goddess asked.

"We could, but we probably can't beat them the same way as we've done before. We've been able to get away so far with Megumin casting Explosion, you casting Haste on me, and I handle the rest. But we're not gonna be able to do that forever. Besides, even if I get all the skill points I need, I don't think it's worth spending nearly all of my points on it."

"Take it from the girl who spent all her points on Explosion." The Crimson Demon interjected, pointing to herself. "While it was worth it to start the path I had been dreaming of for so long, it also came with a lot of hardships. If I hadn't had help or joined you guys, it could have been a lot worse. So, I agree with Kazuma. Find another skill to get that doesn't cost an arm and a leg."

"Thanks Megumin." The adventurer smiled, to which the mage averted her eyes with a blush. "Now, I think I want to spend my points on two skills for now. The first is Cursed Energy Reinforcement."

"What's that?" His girlfriends asked at the same time.

"It's one of the most basic ways of using Cursed Energy outside of an Innate Technique like Conversion," the young man explained, "Pretty much exactly what it sounds like; rather than using Conversion to pump up my stats, I just use Cursed Energy to directly strengthen my body and enhance my attacks."

The blue haired deity's eyes sparkled at the possibilities. "If you could add that to your Conversion, you'd be unstoppable!"

"Is there a catch?" The red-eyed young woman asked.

"Yeah." The Cursed Energy user nodded. "Its effectiveness is tied to how much Cursed Energy I can put out at any given moment, and I gotta be able to channel it to the right place for enhancing attacks. Maintaining it could be tough, and it doesn't suddenly make me a better fighter."

"Huh?" The deity tilted her head in confusion. "But…wasn't there that…one, um, case…"

The young man immediately knew she was talking about Mei Mei. "She only got to that point from years of training and ignoring her Cursed Technique. Those guys trained a lot to get to that point."

"Who are these other people who have used Cursed Energy?" The archwizard asked curiously. "You guys told me what Cursed Energy was, but I hadn't heard about it until I met you."

"They're legends in my hometown. They weren't real, but I really liked them a lot." The brown haired young man half-lied. "It wasn't until I finally used it for the first time that I discovered maybe those legends had some truth to them."

"So the people aren't real, just Cursed Energy, right?" The Crimson Demon asked, to which Kazuma nodded. "That's a shame. I'd still love to hear those stories."

'Am I really gonna turn a chuuni girl from another world into an otaku?' The brown haired adventurer nodded. 'Yes. Yes I am.' He smiled at his mage girlfriend. "Sure, I don't mind. They're pretty great."

The chuuni beamed at him. "Thank you, Kazuma!" All the while, Aqua was giving him a knowing look.

"Wait, you said you wanted to learn two skills. What's the other one?" The blue haired goddess asked.

The Cursed Energy user grinned. "Shikigami summoning."

"Shikigami?!" The deity's eyes widened in shock. "But I thought only Megumi was allowed to use those things!"

"Megumi?" The mage repeated with a tilt of her head.

"One of those characters." The adventurer answered. "And no. Only Megumi can use the Ten Shadows Shikigami because they are a part of his Cursed Technique. Shikigami in general can be used by anyone with Cused Energy. You just need some kind of intermediary to summon them."

"What type of intermediary?" The archpriest asked curiously.

"An offering, a talisman, stuff like that."

"But how did Megumi-" The blue haired woman was about to ask, but was cut off.

"It's a part of his Cursed technique. For most of his shikigami, he just needs to make hand-signs and use his shadow as a medium. The only summon that has a real cost is his most powerful one, Mahoraga." The young man answered his girlfriend.

Ah. There were the gear sounds turning in the deity's head that he had grown to love so much. "OHHH! I get it now!" She exclaimed with a smile. "If you have a Cursed Technique that summons Shikigami, you don't need to pay the cost! And if you don't, that's when you need the intermediary!"

"Exactly." The Cursed Energy user nodded.

"Hang on a second." The mage interjected, narrowing her eyes. "You said this character's name was Megumi, right?" They both nodded. "That's not far off from my name!" She exclaimed in shock.

"You're right." The adventurer nodded. "In fact, the name Megumi means 'Blessing.' Which makes sense, when you remember he is the prodigy of the story."

The goddess grew a devious smirk. "When you put it like that, it fits our Megumin. She is a blessing to us after all."

The red-eyed young woman blushed hotly, and turned her head down towards the table. "T-That's r-really s-sweet."

The deity grinned, before a thought seemed to occur to her. "Wait, Kazuma. What Shikigami would you get?"

The young man shrugged. "Dunno. It just says it will be something that will help cover my weaknesses."

"Which is?"

"Besides experience, definitely my Cursed Energy output. It's growing slowly, but still not large. I also lack long-range attacks, but that can be fixed later."

"I say go for it." Megumin said nonchalantly. "The shikigami should be good no matter what, right?"

"I agree with Megumin. I'm curious about what shikigami you'll get." Aqua added.

Kazuma nodded. "Alright. Cursed Energy Reinforcement and my very own Shikigami: here I come!" He pressed his finger on the adventurer card, and a blue aura surrounded him. He could feel his very DNA, his mind, and his entire being engraved with the knowledge and ability to use his skills. The best he could compare it to was Ushio from Summertime Rendering transferring her memories, or data, to the other characters. But it couldn't have been anything like this! As quickly as the blue light appeared, it vanished, and the adventurer could only keep his eyes wide open in disbelief. "Wh-What the fuck?!"

"Incredible, right?" The Crimson Demon said grinning smugly.

"Th-That was awesome!" The brown haired young man exclaimed, fumbling over his words from his awe.

"That first time you learn a skill, or skills, is amazing. You can feel the knowledge pouring into your mind, the incantation, the movements, all of it. There's hardly any words to describe it. After that, you get used to it," his Crimson Demon girlfriend sighed happily, putting a hand to her cheek reminiscently.

"I'm surprised you didn't say anything about this." The young man said to his goddess girlfriend.

The deity shrugged. "I mean, it felt cool, but it was nothing that special to me."

"Seriously?!" Both the blue haired woman's partners nearly fell out of their seats in disbelief.

"Don't get me wrong, it was awesome and all." The beauty clarified as she rapidly waved her hands. "I just wasn't as wowed as you two, that's all."

'I wonder if her being a deity has something to do with it…'

The achwizard sighed. "I guess that's fine. I have heard some people aren't as wowed by it as others are." She turned to her boyfriend. "So, what Shikigami did you get?"

The young man grinned. "It's called Grudge Battery."

"And? What's it do?" Both ladies asked at the same time.

"Jinx!" The archwizard said immediately.

"Damn it!" The archpriest cursed as she pouted. The red-eyed mage began to hum in victory.

"I'll tell you when I actually use it. To summon it though, I need to burn an offering. Ugh, I don't want to have to carry matches everywhere."

"Why not get the Tinder spell to make that easier?" The young woman asked with a tilt of her head.

The adventurer blinked. "I could just kiss you now." He then took a closer look at his adventurer card. "Wait! I don't need to light it on fire at all! I just need Curse Energy. I still wanna kiss you though."

The Crimson Demon's face now matched her namesake. "Y-You can. I-I don't mind." This answer resulted in the mage getting a quick, soft peck on the lips. Her blush darkened, but she couldn't help but bear the sweetest of smiles.

"I'll still add Tinder. Couldn't hurt." The young man said with a shrug.

"Why not add Create Water too?" The deity asked with a grin. "I'll reward you~"

"Yes mam!" The young man nodded quickly, furiously pressing at his adventurer card. "Fuck! I forgot I needed someone to show me the skills before I could learn them!"

"Wait, then how'd you learn those other skills?" His mage girlfriend asked in confusion.

"Turns out, since I've already seen the skills used in the story, I don't need someone to show me them." He lied.

"I…guess that makes sense."

"Luckily for you, I know both Create Water and Tinder!" The goddess grinned smugly.

"Seriously?!" The brown haired adventurer exclaimed in surprise.

"Yep! Some wizard showed me those skills when we went shopping the other day. He probably wanted to impress me or something." Her grin grew wider. "Too bad for him, I'm already taken. Twice over in fact!"

"You're the best!" The Cursed Energy user exclaimed, praising his goddess.

"Of course I am." The blue haired woman hummed in happiness. "You should add it too, Megumin." The deity suggested to her girlfriend with a wink. "I want to reward you too~"

Somehow, the archwizard's blush darkened even more. "I-I'll do it, b-b-but could I cash in that reward later."

The archpriest nodded. "Of course."

"Skills aside, we should figure out who's going to be our next party member." The adventurer suggested as he stroked his chin.

"Absolutely." The red-eyed young woman affirmed with a nod. "We've been clearing a lot of quests with ease, and we're leveling up quickly too. But, if we're gonna be taking on tougher quests soon, we're gonna need at least one more member to help us. And I think that person has to be a Crusader."

"I agree!" The blue haired woman exclaimed with a nod.

"Don't Crusaders have incredibly high defense?" The Cursed Energy user asked, stroking his chin.

"Yep!" The mage nodded. "This party needs some defense right now. Having a Crusader would help us out a lot. They can protect me if I run out of magic power, and they're really good swordsmen. They're also really strong physically, and we don't really have a specialized physical fighter who can also take hits well, now do we?" she added that last part with a smug grin as her partners stared at her in awe.

"W-Woah." The young man blinked. "That was impressive."

"Y-You must have put a lot of thought into this." The blue haired woman added.

The Crimson Demon's smug grin grew. "Of course I did! I have had visions of my ideal party for a long time. And this party is incredibly close to it!" She then blushed and scratched her cheek. "Although, I didn't expect to be dating two of them. Ehehe."

"Question is, what Crusader would want to willingly join our party?" The young man wondered.

"Excuse me." The group turned to the new voice. She had blond hair tied in a ponytail and blue eyes. She wore a black and yellow, sleeveless dress and silver armor, with plating on her shoulders, thighs, and, most importantly to Kazuma, her chest. "I saw that recruitment poster of yours. If you would be so kind, I would love to join your party," she requested in one of the most elegant and polite tones the young man had heard in his life. But, most importantly, she was…

'Drop-dead gorgeous!' The young man exclaimed internally. 'That armor is hiding some of her features, so I can't get an accurate read on her, but she has got to be stacked, based on the size of the armor. Damn it, why'd that armor have to be in the way!' The adventurer could see his girlfriends weren't much better than him, as they seemed to be in some type of trance from the woman in front of them. It was then he realized he would have to be the guy to say something. "S-Sure. What's your class?" He asked with a blush.

"A Crusader." the blonde answered.

'What are the odds?!'

"Forgive me. It'd be rude to not introduce myself." The blonde young woman put a hand to her chest. "My name is Darkness. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I have been bouncing around party to party with no one to take me in permanently. I'm hoping this will be the party I find stability in."

The awe towards the girl in front of them quickly disappeared, as Kazuma and Megumin both raised eyebrows. "Okay, what's wrong with you?" The brown haired young man asked.

The knight blinked, while Aqua looked at the adventurer in shock. "Kazuma! That's rude! Why would you ask that?!"

"Aqua. Can you repeat what she said after introducing herself?" The red-eyed mage requested.

"Ummm, sure. She said she had been bouncing around from party to party…" It suddenly clicked for the goddess, a look of realization dawning on her face. "Ohhhhh! Now I get it!"

"Don't worry about it. I could have worded that better." The adventurer put his attention back on the warrior in front of him. "You're everything we're looking for in a new member, but it's clear that you have some problem. Otherwise, you wouldn't even be talking to us right now."

Darkness blushed, and began to nervously fidget. "Y-You've got me."

The Cursed Energy user sighed. "We'll still consider taking you in, but you need to be honest with us. We can't help you if we don't know what the problem is."

The blonde looked at the young man in surprise. "What?"

"I'm not against taking on charity cases. Hell, just five days ago…" He pointed his thumb at the archwizard. "Megumin only had one spell that left her incapacitated after one use. Now she has two. We can help you, but only if we think we can help you. But we can't do that if you don't tell us."

The blonde young woman bowed. "Y-You're right. I am sorry."

"It's fine already. Now, what's the problem?"

"May I sit here?" The Crusader asked the Crimson Demon.

"Of course." The red-eyed archizard nodded. The blonde young woman took the seat next to Megumin.

The knight took a deep breath. "So…my issue is…"

"So let me get this straight: You can't hit anything?!" Kazuma exclaimed with wide eyes.

Darkness shook her head. "I do just fine when I'm practicing. But, for some reason, I fall apart when I'm on quests."

"Why is that? Is it your technique or something?" The blue haired beauty asked.

The gorgeous blonde shrugged. "Maybe. It has fallen apart when on quests, but it doesn't make sense to me. My technique and skill were ranked at the top of my class."

"Huh?!" The trio exclaimed at the same time.

The blonde young woman blushed further. "You see, my family is of nobility, and since I wanted to become an adventurer, my father tried to find what would best suit me. It turned out I was talented with the sword. And because I have naturally high defense, I deemed Crusader to be the best class for me."

'So she's apparently a good swordswoman, but can't hit shit when out on quests.' His eyes widened. 'Is it…?' The young man turned to his deity girlfriend, and it seemed she had come to the same conclusion judging from the look she was giving him. "Do you think it's a mental block of some kind?"

The knight's eyes widened before frowning. "I…wouldn't dismiss that possibility."

"Well if it is, what's causing it?" The Crimson Demon wondered as she stroked her chin.

"I wouldn't know." The Crusader insisted. Her tone was uneven, something that wasn't missed by Kazuma.

"You're lying," he said immediately.

"Wh-What?" The blonde stammered. "N-N-No I'm not!"

"You clearly are. Don't try to deny it." The blue haired woman said with a serious look.

The blonde young woman sighed. "Alright, fine. There is more to it. But…it's embarrassing and shameful. I don't even think I could ever utter my…'problem' to anyone."

"Trust me. Whatever it is, it's not a big deal. We all have our own issues. There's nothing wrong with that. But take it from me, it's better to let your emotions out than bottle them in. Hell, I wouldn't have been able to use my Cursed Technique if I kept my problems bottled in."

The blonde young woman tilted her head in confusion. "Cursed Technique?"

"I'll teach you about it and Cursed Energy later. I'm a great teacher if I do say so myself. Just ask Megumin!" The goddess boasted confidently as she pointed at her archwizard girlfriend.

"I wouldn't say great…but she's a lot better than I thought she'd be," the Archwizard admitted.

"I still don't know how she did it." The young man sighed, with a small smile appearing on his face.

"I was taught by my boyfriend, of course I was gonna be good at teaching Cursed Energy!" The deity beamed.

The knight blushed. "O-Oh. So you two are in a relationship?"

"Nope. All three of us are in a relationship." The red-eyed young woman corrected, a small blush appearing on her face.

The Crusader's eyes widened. "WHAT?!" she exclaimed in shock.

"Shocking, huh?" The Adventurer asked rhetorically.

"Y-Yes… I know these types of relationships exist, but I never expected to see one in real life." The blonde haired young woman clarified.

"Funnily enough, Megumin just officially joined our relationship today." The Archpriest revealed with a grin.

"Really?" The blonde looked at the chuuni in surprise.

"Well…" The mage began to poke her finger together, her blush darkening. "I-I had suggested we do a trial run, a-and after five days, I decided I wanted to be in a relationship with them."

"And we love her for that!" the goddess interjected as she pumped her fist. "And…" She grew a mischievous smirk. "It's not like we're against new additions."

"Down, Aqua." The red-eyed young woman deadpanned.

"Get used to it, Megumin." The Adventurer sighed. "She takes her recruiting very seriously."

The blonde blushed hotly. "C-Can we move on t-to something else?"

"Sure." The brown haired young man nodded. "I guess what we were trying to say before we got sidetracked is don't worry about it so much. We're not gonna judge you for it."

The blonde young woman bore a look of confliction, before nodding. "Thank you." She began to fidget in her seat, a blush forming, and her mouth beginning to form words. "I…" Her blush began to match the eyes of Megumin. "I-I…sort of…like getting hit."

The trio blinked. "Eh?"

The Crusader squirmed. "P-Please d-don't make m-me repeat it."

The Adventurer shook his head to clear. "O-Okay. So, you like getting hit?"

The blonde haired Crusader nodded. "A-And…sometimes I've found myself to enjoy being…insulted."

'Oh, now I get it. She's a masochist.'

As if they were on the same wavelength, his two girlfriends asked at the exact same time. "So you're a masochist?"

The blonde haired knight's expression became one of confusion. "There's a word for it? I've never heard of it…"

"Really?" The brown haired young man raised an eyebrow. "Is that word not common?"

"Actually, it shouldn't. At least around here," the blue haired beauty interjected, "I'm surprised Megumin knew that word."

"I read it in books. It's also thrown around sometimes in my village." The red-eyed mage shrugged.

"Regardless…" The young man began, trying to get back on track. "So, you get some sort of…relief from getting hit and degraded." A blush started to form as he described Darkness's kink.

The knight rapidly nodded. "I discovered this during a sparring match at the academy. My opponent had struck a blow onto me…and I…m-moaned, in front of the entire class." She covered her face with her hands. "It was so embarrassing and unbecoming of me. And the ridicule that followed was even worse."

"Ridicule?" The brown haired adventurer repeated.

"Mmm." Her expression became downtrodden. "I was relentlessly bullied afterwards until my father stepped in. Afterwards, I was just isolated. That of course didn't stop the other students from badmouthing me when they thought I wasn't listening."

'Geez, now I feel bad.'

"After that, my skill with the sword plummeted. I began to struggle to hit even a single opponent. I don't know why, but I can only guess it was because of the relentless bullying." She clenched her fists over the table. "I had begun to resent myself. Sometimes I cried to myself. After graduating at last, against the advice of my father, I still wanted to become an adventurer. But of course, he supported me, and bought me this armor." She bore a small smile. "I had also remembered praying to Eris to give me a friend of some kind. I no longer could endure the loneliness. And I'm happy to say she answered my prayers."

"That's good." Kazuma nodded, before sending a glance towards Aqua. She bore a proud smile on her face.

"Does she know about your masochism?" The deity asked.

The masochist nodded. "I did confide in her some time after we became friends. I was happy when she didn't judge me for it. But, while she has insisted it's not a big deal, I still harbor ill feelings towards it."

'Hmmm. I wonder if her mental block is because of her hatred towards her masochism. As ridiculous as that sounds, it's not completely out there.'

"Why do you?" the Crimson Demon asked.

"B-Because it's improper for someone who wishes to be a Crusader! I-It's wrong."

The mage shook her head. "I don't think so. I mean, maybe it's strange, but you shouldn't be ridiculed over it."

The blonde Crusader shook her head. "I appreciate the sentiment, but it's still improper of me."

"Does your father care?"

The knight blinked. "Well, no. He still loves me the same."

"Your friend said she doesn't care either, right?"

"Yes."

"Then why does it matter?"

The Crusader bore a conflicted look. "W-Well, yes. Someone of my standing shouldn't…be like that." Her words seemed unconvincing, like she didn't truly believe it herself.

"I can tell that's not it." The Crimson Demon refuted. "Is it because you felt like an outcast because of it?"

The blonde lowered her head in defeat. "Yes."

The red-eyed young woman smiled. "You know, I knew someone with a similar situation. She didn't…exactly moan from getting hit, but she was an outcast in our village because she wasn't…like us. She needed a friend, and I somehow ended up becoming that for her. I never thought there was anything wrong with her, she was just…different. And I don't think there's anything wrong with you."

The blonde young woman sighed. "I see your point. But…it's hard to just…let those feelings go."

"Tell me about it." Kazuma agreed, smiling bitterly, "I still have some negative emotions here and there about my parents. If it wasn't for…" He pointed at the goddess next to him. "This ditz over here, I wouldn't have been able to move on. Or use my Cursed Technique for that matter. Instead, for a long time, I just isolated myself to ignore everything. So I can understand you, in a way."

The blonde Crusader looked thoughtful for a moment. "What was that like?"

"Isolating myself?" She nodded. "It was…" He began to explain his circumstances, just as he had done with Aqua and Megumin. By the end of it, he felt two hands rub his back. One from the goddess, the other from the mage. They both gave him a smile, before the mage sat back in her seat. A small smile formed on his lips. "What I'm trying to say is…if I can do that, I think you can accept yourself too. Take it from me, you're doing a better job than I did."

The blonde gave a small smile. "I appreciate the kind words. I…have much to think about."

The brown haired young man grinned. "I'm sure you do. Now, you want to go on a test run tomorrow?"

The Crusader nodded. "Absolutely. What did you have in mind?"

"I wanted to take on the turtle quest. 250,000 Eris just to kill five turtles sounds like a decent deal."

"That does sound like a great deal!" The deity exclaimed excitedly, before she bore a thoughtful look. "But wait, is there a catch?"

"Sort of." The Crimson Demon sighed. "Turtles aren't really threatening, they're just incredibly annoying to kill. So much so that most adventurers don't really bother unless there is a high reward for them."

"While that is true, I have heard that as long as you can kill them while they're not hiding in their shells, they shouldn't be too difficult to fight." Darkness added. "However, they can hurt people with their shells. Or their jaws."

'Oh, so they're like snapping turtles. Great. Still shouldn't be too much of a hassle.' He put up his hand. "So, all in favor?" Everyone put their hands up. "Good. Now that that's settled…Aqua, will you do the honors?"

"Thanks Kazuma!" The blue haired beauty stood up. "Let's celebrate a new member with some booze!"

The blonde smiled. "That would be lovely."

"So…what's this reward you've been teasing me about?" Kazuma asked as he and Aqua settled into their room after the celebration. He had learned Tinder and Create Water just before entering the tavern, so now he was due for his reward. The couple were currently on their shared bed, and the entire time, the goddess was giving her boyfriend a grin that promised something really interesting was in store for him tonight. And while he had changed into his white shirt and shorts, she was still in the same clothing.

"Well…" She began, as her grin widened. "I think it's time for us to take a step in our relationship. Don't you?"

The young man pondered this for a moment, before grinning. "Yeah, I'm more than fine with that. So, do you wanna move up to second base, or…"

The goddess shook her head. "Oh no. I'm not the one deciding that." Her grin became a smirk. "You are. That's your reward."

The adventurer blinked, before a small blush appeared on his face. "O-Oh…so…does that mean you're fine with whatever?"

She nodded. "Second base, third base, or even go all the way. It's all up to you."

'Whew. Okay, so it's all up to me. Talk about pressure. Well, I don't know if I want to go all the way, but I'm not gonna be satisfied with just second base, so…' The young man decided he was gonna go down the middle. "I'll hit a double and head to third base."

The blue haired beauty blinked. "Wait, what's a double?"

The brown haired adventurer fought back the urge to facepalm. "Let me guess: you know what bases are, but you've never watched baseball, right?"

"Nope."

The Cursed Energy user rolled his eyes. "Why am I not surprised?"

"It doesn't matter, does it?" The blue haired beauty said with a grin, before her expression changed. Her eyes became half-lidded and a small smirk appeared on her face. It was downright seductive. Not that the teen minded at all. "You want to head to third base?" She began to crawl over to him, getting close to his ear. "Let me give you some motivation. Just. In. Case." She cupped her hand to his ear and whispered. "Come worship your goddess~"

'You know, maybe I don't mind going all the way.' That was the last thought the Adventurer had before his lips smashed his goddess. The deity could only grin before she returned the kiss, both lovers matching each others' movements as the tongues came out to play again. They had gotten better and better each time they kissed, and tonight was no different. Finally, they plopped down onto the bed, with the young man on top of her, feeling her amazing body, while the deity mimicked his actions. Finally, the girl under him tapped him a couple of times, making the young man stop his actions for the moment.

"Let's get this shirt off. You're not gonna need it tonight~" Aqua grinned as she tugged at the hem of Kazuma's white shirt. He nodded, sitting up while straddling his girlfriend, before taking off the shirt. As he threw the shirt to the floor, he noticed the woman unconsciously bite her lip as she stared at him. It wasn't exactly unexpected: she had done it for the past three days every time they changed into their night clothes. And every single time, it filled him with confidence and pride.

"Like what you see?" The boyfriend teased, matching the grin form earlier with one of his own.

The Archpriest quickly shook her head to snap out of her stupor. "Okay, it has to be the strength stat. Your muscles look more and more defined every day!" She wasn't incorrect. He was still lean, but his muscles were showing more visible definition compared to five days ago. He still didn't match people like Yuji or Toji, but he was slowly getting there.

"I asked Luna about this, and you're half right." He pointed to his chest. "It's actually a combination of strength and physical activity."

The deity blinked. "Questions for later." She pushed her boyfriend off of her, causing him to sit on his butt. He only had a moment to process what she was doing before she pulled the hem of her shirt. She took it off, revealing a dark purple bra when it was partyway off, before tossing it with Kazuma's discarded shirt. "Fair's fair." She smirked.

The young man felt some heat enter his cheeks, and some blood pumping to his lower area. But who could blame him? The sight before him was sexy. "Is purple your second favorite color?" he asked in an attempt to fight his blush.

"Yep." She nodded. "Obviously as the goddess of water, blue is my favorite color. Since blue makes up purple, I like that color too. Oh, and I like green too!" She grinned as she reminded Kazuma the color of his tracksuit. "Are you okay now?"

"How'd you know?"

She scoffed. "Please! It's not hard to guess that a former NEET like you would be nervous from this sort of thing! Especially if you had to gaze upon my magnificent body to boot!"

"I'd say something, but you're not wrong." He sighed. "Thanks."

"Don't thank me yet. Remember, fair's fair." The deity reached back and began to pull on something. The young man's eyes widened as he immediately figured out what she was doing. She tugged and tugged, until her bra finally hung loosely off her shoulders. The goddess slowly, probably purposefully, began to slide one strap off her left shoulder, until she finally pulled her arm out of it. She did the same with right shoulder, until finally, the bra was completely off. She tossed it away, before putting an arm under her bosom. This only made her tits look bigger as she put them on display for her lover.

The Adventurer was enraptured by them. He had seen tits in porn and hentai before, but nothing could have prepared him for this. Her tits weren't as big as Luna's, but they were still large, round and firm. The pink, succulent nipples were a nice bonus, already stiffening up under his scrutiny. While he didn't say anything to her, he did have one coherent thought. 'I love equality.'

The blue haired woman could only grin as her boyfriend continued staring at her naked bust. "Come on Kazuma. I know you love my tits, but shouldn't you make a move?"

The brown haired adventurer snapped out of his trance. "R-Right!" He knew what to do! Sorta…ah well, Aqua was just as experienced in this as he was, so he should be fine. Hopefully. He sat up again, and attacked the beauty's breasts.

He began to grope and knead the woman's bountiful tits, much to the sighing pleasure of his girlfriend. "That's it! Just like that~" She encouraged him. Soon, they plopped down onto the bed again, the young man back on top of her. They kissed again, tongues clashing more and more, while the young man played with her girls. He began to increase the roughness of his groping slowly, to which the woman responded with moans. He then decided it was time to try something else. He broke the kiss and moved down before his face was right in front of her left tit. He then latched his mouth onto her nipple and began to suck.

"Oh fuck!" The beauty exclaimed in pleasure. "Like that, please!" This spurned the young man on as he sucked and licked the left tit, his tongue swirling and lathering attention to her nipple, while he groped the right one with the same vigor. Every so often, he would switch places. This continued for a while, all the while the blue haired deity's moans and words of encouragement spurred him on. Finally, he decided it was time to try something a bit more daring. He brought his hand off the tit he was groping. He trailed his hand down her skin, something that made the Archpriest shiver.

'Whoever said porn wasn't educational was a liar.' He then burrowed his hand down under the blue haired beauty's skirt until he found what he was looking for. He began to rub what felt like a wet spot on her panties, and was rewarded some panting from his girlfriend. Then, she tapped him again.

"Let me make it easier for you~" She winked. The young man complied, backing off and giving his lover the necessary space she needed. The blue haired deity began to slowly pull down her skirt. She kept her eyes on him as she slowly tugged the skirt, allowing the young man to take a view of her matching purple panties. Finally, when it was hanging off her foot, she kicked it off, tossing it onto the pile of their other clothes. With a grin, she did the same with her panties, something that made the Adventurer's breath hitch. Once they had been similarly disposed of, she spread her legs, giving her boyfriend a view of her pussy. "There, all done~" She chirped, before making a 'come here' motion with her finger, spreading her legs.

The brown haired Adventurer's cheeks felt like they were on fire as he crawled over to her. 'Porn and hentai, please don't fail me now!' As he reached her, she pointed a finger to her lips, giving Kazuma an idea of what she wanted. He stood up on his knees, and smashed his lips to hers once more, while trailing a finger down her body, before inserting it into her pussy. She moaned into his mouth as he began to pump in and out at a steady pace. Their tongues clashed with one another again, and Aqua had no chance of winning with the finger currently inside her. Soon, he added a second finger and increased the pace, which caused the blue haired beauty to break the kiss and moan loudly. This gave the Adventurer the idea to put his lips on her neck instead.

"Ahn~ That's it! More, Kazuma! More!"

The young man obliged by pumping as fast as he could, much to the pleasure of the deity. She moans became louder and began to hold onto her lover tightly with her right hand. Soon, however, the Adventurer felt a hand on the inside of his boxers. He let out a grunt as he felt the goddess's other hand travel down, and begin to slowly pump his already hard member. He tapped her this time, stopping her actions.

"Let me help you out," He said with a grin, playing on her earlier words. He quickly pulled off his boxers and tossed them away, much like she'd done.

His girlfriend giggled. "Are you still scared that a horse is gonna ruin this?"

"Yes." He answered, his dick now on display for his deity girlfriend.

"Ara, ara~" Her eyes became half-lidded and unconsciously licked her lips. "I guess I have to make sure that you forget all about it~" She got on all fours and began to crawl over to him. "Lay down. I got a way to make us both feel good~"

The Cursed Energy user decided to listen to her, and waited for her to make her move. She crawled over to him, making a show with every motion. The young man was entranced by the way her ass and tits swayed and moved as she got closer and closer to him. Until finally, she was hovering on top of him, her lips above his. Suddenly, she flipped completely around, this time displaying her amazing ass and wet pussy to him.

"I don't need to tell you what to do, right?" She teased. Soon, he heard her spit, and felt something warm and wet travel down his cock. Then, he felt her hands pump up and down his shaft. The pleasure was growing, unlike anything he felt in his entire life, even when he was masturbating. Understanding his role, he squeezed on her big asscheeks and began to lap away at her pussy. His reward was more moans from his goddess.

"There you go!" She cried. Not to be outdone, she began to pump with more vigor and spirit. The young man in response squeezed her ass harder and licked her snatch faster and faster. As the session continued, the blue haired woman began to pump with only one hand while the other played with his balls. He didn't think it was possible, but somehow, he felt even better from this action. He groaned into her ass, and decided two could play it that game. He took one of his hands off her ass and began to rub at her clitoris, causing the goddess to yelp in surprise.

"YES! Fuck! Keep going, Kazuma!" She encouraged, causing the young man to further his actions. The pair kept going, both partners doing whatever it took to further please each other. Eventually, the young man could feel something. He was starting to reach his limit. And as for the blue haired deity…

"I'm close, Kazuma!" she warned. This only encouraged his actions, as he rubbed and licked faster and faster, wanting to make sure his girlfriend finished. This resulted in the goddess erupting into squeals of pleasure. This resulted in faster pumping, causing the Cursed Energy user to grunt as he reached the edge. "I'M CUMMING!" she screamed before the young man felt her juices erupt onto his tongue. The young man wasn't far off, as he felt his own release come at the same time, feeling an eruption he had only come to know through jacking off. But, this occasion was much different, as he was now doing it with a deity. How far he had come! (Literally and figuratively)

He lapped up her nectar greedily while he heard the deity lick up what he was sure was his seed. Finally done, the blue haired goddess crawled off of him, while Kazuma finally sat up. He was greeted with the smirking face of his girlfriend. "Well? Was I awesome or what?"

"You were. Best night of my life." The young man said honestly.

"Of course it was! This is me we're talking about!" She smiled. "And you were amazing too! I didn't know you could pleasure me like that!"

The Adventurer rubbed the back of his head as a blush formed. "Well…I had some idea of what I was doing because of all the porn and hentai I've watched…"

"I'll say!" Her eyes darted over to his crotch. She grinned. "You're still hard, huh?"

The young man looked down for a moment, before grinning at her. "Yes I am."

"I'm surprised a NEET like you has a dick that big."

He shrugged. "I guess I was just lucky. Now, I wonder if the amazing goddess can keep up with me?" He teased as he sat at the edge of the bed.

She smirked, "Careful what you wish for." She warned as she got off the bed. Then, she got on her knees and positioned herself between her lover's legs, her smirk never leaving her face. "You just might get it~"

'I love this woman.' Those were the last thoughts Kauzma had before the night between mortal and goddess continued. It would be a long time before the couple finally went to bed.

As Kazuma was in the middle of fighting a Turtle for the first time, he thought back to one of his favorite games of all time: Megaman ZX. He could gush about that game all day long…and would insist he played it legitimately. He did not download a rom file of the game and played it on an emulator. There was no evidence for it. Anyway, there was one enemy he was always really annoyed by whenever he touched that game, and it was the Mettaur. They were these hardhat wearing creatures that were always invincible as long as they crouched down, and you had to wait for them to pop back up to kill them. And that was only if they didn't hit you with a laser blast from their mouths.

Why was any of this relevant? Because, as the Adventurer had unfortunately discovered, these monsters were similar to the Mettaur. Except, they were far more annoying. And dangerous, of course.

"Gah!" The young man grunted as he used his barrier for the first time. A dome of negative energy only he could see appeared around his body, as he felt a small portion of his cursed energy start to drain to create and maintain the barrier. The turtle, which was about the size of the average person, opened its jaw to try to bite him, only to collide awkwardly with the solidified air, creating sparks. The Adventurer quickly disengaged the barrier, and reinforced his body with Cursed Energy. 'Come on! This time!' He cocked back his fist, causing the monster turtle to quickly retreat inside its shell. The brown haired teen threw the punch anyway, hitting the top of the shell. The first punch he'd thrown hadn't done much to the shell except maybe make a few small cracks. Hopefully this one would do more damage.

At first, the punch didn't appear to have done any damage. Then, there came a loud *Crack!* much to the young man's delight. The damaged shell's cracks began to grow larger and larger, all appearing on different sides of the husk. One more hit, and it would shatter. The tortoise seemed to realize this, as panic showed in its eyes. Suddenly, it began to push itself sideways, until finally it was on the side of its shell. It suddenly began to spin around like a wheel, and began to roll towards Kazuma like a Donphan using Rollout, tearing up the dirt and grass as it went. The young man quickly leaped to the side, the shell rolling past like a truck. It continued a few feet more before turning, making a clumsy U-turn and heading straight back for him

'I need to time this just right.' He thought as he prepared the incoming shell wheel. As it rolled towards him, the young man cried "Conversion!" He had already been under the effects of Haste to increase his speed, so this time he invested his cursed energy into increasing his agility, as much as he felt was needed. Though this left him over half full, it was necessary: he would need to be agile enough to attempt what he was about to do. As the tortoise neared him, the young man jumped to the side, out of the path of the monster. Then, he planted his foot, and began to dash towards the rolling shell. He quickly caught up to the turtle, and began to reel back his fist, surrounding his body in reinforced Cursed Energy. Then, he smashed his fist right into the shell!

Upon impact, the shell shattered like pottery clay, chunks of the shell scattered across the ground. The turtle was virtually naked, nothing but a large blob with no protection to hide behind from what was gonna come next. The brown haired Cursed Energy user grinned. As he landed, the turtle tripped and tumbled to the ground, since it could no longer roll. The young man then dashed towards the reptile, drawing and brandishing his sword. The monster finally came to a stop, coming up dazed and its head spinning. Before it knew what happened next, its head took a deep stab from the Adventurer to the cranium with an audible squelch, before going limp. The teen sighed in relief, happy he had finally won.

Suddenly, there was clapping. The brown haired young man turned to the source, and saw it was both his girlfriends congratulating him on the hard fought win a few feet away. "Good job Kazuma," Megumin declared, "It was nothing compared to what I did, but you were very impressive!"

Her boyfriend could only gawk when he saw the result of her battles, the sizzling remains of the turtles all next to each other. It turned out Blast was powerful enough to split boulders. So it wasn't a surprise it would be effective against the reptiles. She had killed three turtles in total, all of them without their shells, and with gaping wounds coming from their naked backs.

"I agree, Megumin. He has a long way to reach our level, but he's showing a lot of promise." Aqua teased as she pointed to her own kills. She had killed two turtles: one still had its shell, but its head had blood pouring from it. The other had its shell completely shattered…with a massive gaping wound on its head as well.

"When did you kill those?!" he demanded in shock.

"While you were busy with yours," the Archwizard explained. "To be fair, we matched up better against these things than you did. I had the magic to shatter their shells after one to two uses, and Aqua could kill them with one blow."

The goddess was now smiling smugly. "But of course! I am the best Archpriest after all!" She pulled the Crimson Demon into a side hug. "And you are the best Archwizard!" She motioned for the Adventurer to join him. The young man rolled his eyes before allowing himself to be pulled into his goddess's other arm. "With the best Adventurer in the world, we make the perfect team!"

"Your bias is showing." The red-eyed mage deadpanned.

"But it's true!"

"What about Darkness?" The brown haired Adventurer asked with a teasing grin. "What is she? Chopped liver?"

"Complimenting you two takes priority!" The blue haired woman declared. "But, since Darkness is a part of this party, she is the best Crusader in the world! Even if she has her hands full right now!" She pointed to the right, and quite a distance away from the trio was Darkness, still struggling to kill her turtle. She was hitting the target, but her attacks were doing nothing to the turtle's shell. She jumped back, and watched as the turtle popped out of its shell. Something else that the young man had discovered today was that for turtles, these monsters were fast. The retile leaped towards the blonde young woman and opened its mouth, ready to sink its teeth into the knight.

However, she seemed to be ready for this. She threw her arm in the path of the monster's jaw. It clamped down on her arm as hard as it could, causing an unexpected reaction: The Crusader's expression changed to one of pleasure as she let out a loud moan, shocking her party members, and even the turtle. Her face changed from pleasure to determination. She gripped the sword in her free hand sideways, and moved to stab the beast. By the time the reptile could process what happened, the blonde haired Crusader had stabbed right through its skin, around where the brain should be. The tortoise's jaw released her, just as she pulled the sword out; blood gushed from the hole in the monster's head. The Beast staggered a few steps, before completely collapsing. It had been slain, marking their quest complete.

The knight had a bright smile on her face, as she seemed to savor her skill, before a massive blush appeared on her face as she turned to look at her fellow party members, who were staring at her in absolute shock. "I-I'm sorry!" The woman cried as she crouched on the ground and buried her head in her arms. "I-I don't know what came over me! Th-That shouldn't have-"

"Way to go, Darkness!" The deity cheered as she and her partners ran up to her.

"Yeah!" The archwizard agreed. "You were pretty badass! That felt like watching a tale from my village!"

"B-But…I reacted shamefully to getting bit…"

"So what?" The young man interjected. "We already told you. We don't care. Hell, it might actually work as a distraction. That turtle seemed to be caught off guard by your moan."

The blonde blinked a few times, before she smiled. "I was so quick to forget. How foolish of me."

"As long as you're with us, you don't have to worry about that stuff!" The deity's attention switched to somewhere in the distance. "Now that I got a closer look at it, this lake looks amazing!"

The rest of the party could only nod in agreement. The sunlight that glistened off the large lake's surface made it a sight to behold. For the Cursed Energy user, it was a scene out of any of his favorite anime brought to real life. Aqua was practically bouncing as she stared at it, which made sense, as she was the goddess of water.

Suddenly, the brown haired young man heard a growl from right behind him. Judging from the expressions of his party members, they caught it too. The four of them turned around to find the source, and the Cursed Energy user could only gasp in horror.

Standing on all fours a few feet away from them was a large, black, cat-like creature. It looked similar to that of a lion, but had two large fangs that were only slightly smaller than a saber tooth tiger's. It seemed like it was daring them to make any move, or maybe even welcoming it. From its posture, if any of them tried to move, it would pounce on them and try to kill them.

Kazuma had only been given a description of this creature once, and it was from Luna. When she had finished describing this monster, she had given him only one piece of advice.

"If you see it, hide!"

For standing in front of him and his party was the monster that had killed many beginners before him. A monster that was known by one name:

The Rookie Killer

End Chapter

And done! I hope you all enjoyed that chapter. Yeah, I definitely wasn't expecting Megumin to enter the relationship as quickly as I ended up doing it, but it felt right and logical, and with everything that I had presented so far, it was only a matter of figuring out how long it would take before it became official. Felt like Megumin was intelligent enough to come up with that type of solution, and since she is part chuuni, part getting inspired by Kauzma and Aqua, I ended up coming up with a six day total for her to join officially. Could also be a trait shared with her parents, but I'd be getting too far ahead of myself. Now, with Darkness, I ended up making compromises to her character. I kept the masochism, but I ended up adding more shame to her. And she's obviously going to get the push that she needs to accept that side of her when the time comes. Hope y'all enjoyed my first smut scene. It was fun for me, I guess. Finally, I created the turtles. They have aspects that are similar to a Mettaur from Megaman, but they are more offensively dangerous, and less invincible if you have a strong enough attack to shatter their shells. Next chapter, we're gonna see this party fight the Rookie Killer. Should be fun. See y'all then!