AN: Sorry about the long wait for the next chapter, I was learning some pretty cool stuff. I promise this FF won't die out. Anyways. more stuff at the bottom. Enjoy the chapter. :)

'Explosion'

'Explosion'

'Explosion'

Megumin walked through the mansion hallways, her destination being the now vacant room of Kazuma.

'Explosion'

'Explosion'

'Explosion'

She tried her best to ignore the constant calling of explosions but alas she couldn't take it anymore.

'I'll only let out a small explosion! In a lake far away from here! That way they won't know that it was me! But first I need my staff, an explosion without it won't be enough to satisfy me. It simply won't do!'

She tried searching for it last night but fate had other plans as she was forced to hide in his closet as Kazuma and Chris(?) raided the room and caused a commotion.

She still wasn't sure if it was Chris, the silver hair would've been a dead giveaway, but something else confused her.

Megumin looked down at her chest. She and Chris shared the same size!

But the person that Kazuma was with had a completely different size! The new girl had about the same chest size as Aqua!

The only possible explanation would have to be that Chris padded her chest.

…

'Nah, the leader of the Legendary Silver Haired Thieving Band is above padding!'

…

Another thing that caught Megumin's attention was how different the girl's voice sounded compared to Chris.

It was higher pitched and had a more girly tone to it compared to Chris' more tomboyish voice.

She wondered if this was an entirely new girl that Kazuma had befriended. Frankly that worried her.

She figured that an explosion would help ease her nerves and eventually lead her to an answer. And thus, the search for her staff continued.

"Me-Boss?" A blonde girl dressed in a casual outfit stood in front of the broken remains of Kazuma's door frame. "W-What are you doing here?"

"Good morning my Underling. Please excuse me." Megumin waved at her before stepping into the room. Iris followed her in.

Megumin looked around the room. She looked under the bed, ontop the drawers and behind the chair. No luck.

Finally, she settled for the closet, thinking she hadn't searched it properly last time. And thus she began digging around, looking for any sign of her staff. She was careful not to break anything. She moved the boxes and junk scattered around with great care.

'Man, I really should've put a bell on it or something!' She thought.

Iris watched on as Kazuma's closet was being thoroughly searched. "Boss?"

"Yeah?" Megumin's muffled voice echoed from inside.

"What are you doing going through Onii-sama's belongings? I don't think he would like you messing his stuff up." She asked.

Megumin popped her head out of the closet. "It's not as if I'm breaking his stuff! I'm very gentle with these kinds of things, I sure wouldn't like someone breaking all my possessions."

Megumin noticed something on the ground. She bent down and picked up a discarded bag of chips that had fallen out of its respective box. The bag was very bland in terms of design, with the words "PROTOTYPE-C-051" on it, she offered it to her Underling. "Want one? He was giving some out a while ago. Aqua said that these are the same food Kazuma used to eat back in Japan."

The Underling, with starstricken eyes, gratefully accepted the snack. "Onii-sama's home… Japan…" The Princess can barely contain her joy as she scrambles to find a way to open the bag.

With no luck, she simply tried to pulling it apart. With utmost carefulness, she slowly pulled the bag from each side, hoping to get to her prize as quickly as possible.

*RIIIIP!*

"-Ah! No!" Unfortunately, even while holding back as much as possible, the bag still ended up being destroyed. Kazuma would have to make those bags out of more durable materials in the future.

The prized snack that was being stored fell to the ground and all over the floor.

Megumin once again popped her head out and looked down at the newly made mess. "Tsk tsk, did you fail to retrieve the delicious food from that wimpy bag?"

"…Yes." A defeated Iris said. "…Boss? Can I get another one please? I really want to try food from Onii-sama's home! I promise I won't make a mess this time!"

Megumin stood up and finally exited the closet. "How about this? I'll give you another chance at it, but in return you have to help me look for my staff- and accompany me to my explosion routine!"

"But Lala- I mean Darkness told me that you're not allowed to use explosions and to keep an eye on you when she's not around."

Megumin flinched.

"…Fine then, it seems like you'll never have a taste of that exquisite food from Kazuma's homeland." Megumin put on a pained expression. "What a shame too! There are tons of flavors to try out and there's even some drinks here as well! I guess you'll never know how good they taste…"

"W-Wait! I'll help you look! Please let me try some!" Iris cried out.

'That was easier than expected…' Megumin has yet to figure out that the Princess is a total pushover when it comes to her "Onii-sama". Yikes…

"Great! Now start looking around there for it! Leave no sock unturned!"

"…"

"Maybe don't touch the socks!"

Meanwhile in the Living Room:

"Is everything alright with you both?" Darkness asked her guests. "You both look on edge."

Claire and Rain were sitting across from her on a different sofa, both were armed with their weapons.

Rain took a sip out of her tea. "Yes, I'm fine Lalatina-sama, I'm just a little allergic to the flowers the Princess brought over." She lied.

"Oh! Those flowers really helped liven up the place." Said flowers were now placed in a white ceramic vase on top of the small table in between Darkness and the royal escorts. Red, blue, and yellow flowers were all neatly bunched together in one vase.

Green flowers were also given, but those had to be placed in a separate vase due to the sheer amount of them present.

The Princess gave each girl a colored flower from her basket. Aqua got blue, Megumin got red, and of course Darkness got yellow. Unfortunately Kazuma wasn't there to receive his abundance of green flowers.

"I should thank Iris for these."

"My apologies for dropping by without notice Lalatina-sama." Rain bowed her head. "I tried to reason with the Princess but she insisted we come here as soon as possible, and for that I deeply apologize." Rain finally raised her head. "I hope we didn't cause too much trouble."

"O-Oh! N-No! You didn't cause any trouble. It just took me by surprise, that's all." Darkness gave her a gentle smile that seemed to calm Rain down, the grip on her staff easing up. "And please, call me Darkness in this household as I'm not Lalatina the Noble, but Darkness the adventurer. Oh, and please drop the honorifics, we're all equals here."

Rain smiled back. "Thank you, La- I mean Darkness."

Silence quickly followed.

"…I might be out of my lane to ask this… But I for sure thought that the Royal Family as whole would come visit us, not just the Princess. I was only able to speak with both the King and Prince Jatis momentarily during the celebrations." Darkness broke the silence with a question.

"It's fine, I expected the same, especially from his highness himself." Rain put down her tea cup. "Unfortunately the chaotic state of the Capital is more important to him than a family trip. His highness is more of a businessman at heart than a family man. In his stead he sent both Claire and me to accompany Princess Iris."

"And what of Prince Jatis? Kazuma got along surprisingly well with him." Darkness asked.

"The Prince, prioritizing the safety of the citizens, has decided to hunt down the remaining members of the Devil King army, specifically the last remaining general, the Devil King's daughter herself. He said something along the lines of "it isn't over until every last bit of evil is destroyed…". I suggested that they both take time off and spend at least a day together as a family but they both immediately rejected that idea, Princess Iris refused to come out of her room for some time after that…" Rain sighed and wiped a tear that formed in her eye.

Darkness also sighed. 'It's the unfortunate truth of things. Most noble 'families' put their jobs above their own family. The King himself isn't an exception to this. The Royal Family have an image to uphold, both for the sake of the Kingdom and its future. This image was forced onto the Princess since birth. I also had to learn these things, but my father was lenient, giving me freedoms that other noble children didn't get. I was able to live my life differently, and I'm forever grateful to him.'

'Unfortunately Princess Iris herself wasn't so lucky, her father being the King himself had to upkeep his image of royalty. Her own brother stopped treating her like a sibling and instead treated her like another noble… Life must've been stale and harsh for her, especially with her energetic and upbeat nature.'

'Then came the day Kazuma was kidna- I mean, taken as a guestto the Royal Castle. His own nature must've broke the monotony of her life and reignited her own joyful spirit once more.'

'They were able to form a sibling-like bond over a couple of days. This also explains Iris' behavior when it comes to Kazuma, she starts acting her age and seems to forget all about being a Princess, I see joy that was never present in the times I've seen her at the castle. Emotions that were never able to express themselves in the environment of noblety, all locked up inside of her. Kazuma must've somehow rekindled those emotions and released them from their chains.'

'…I'm a bit envious of him in that regard, I was never able to achieve that type of bond with Iris in all the time I've spent with her.'

"S-Speaking of Kazuma…" Claire finally broke her silence and knocked Darkness out of her thoughts.

"I-Is Kazuma-dono really under the control of a D-Devil!?" Claire asked, her voice crumbling apart.

Rain flinched as well, her expression losing all composure and the grip on her staff tightening once more.

Darkness cringed, remembering about her little act from last night. "I have to come clean…"

"Ahah… you see, I kinda lied to you both about that…"

"…"

Both escorts remained silent.

"I apologize for lying, I let my emotions get the better of me."

"You see, my party got into a fight with Kazuma… and we kicked him out of our home for the time being."

"…I apologize for lying to you both, I let my emotions speak for me and it was extremely unprofessional of a noblewoman like myself." Darkness bowed her head in apology,

Rain flinched, not being used being bowed to by someone else, especially someone like from the house of Dustiness! "O-Oh! It's quite fine! Really! We all make our own mistakes! No need to bow your head at me! Please raise it!"

"O-Oh!" Darkness raised her head.

"Ahem, I understand and I'm not mad or anything. I just didn't expect you out of all people would tell a lie like that, I'm a little shocked to be honest." Rain kept her smile, in fact it got bigger.

In reality she was just happy that she won't have to face the wrath of a Devil controlled Kazuma. Her grip on her staff fully relaxed. She placed it against the side of the couch. Some color has even returned to her face!

"If there is anything that I can do to make it up to you both, please it'll be my pleasure."

"Oh, don't worry about that! I wholeheartedly accept you apology Darkness, no need to worry on it for any longer." Rain eased Darkness. "But, I will like a tour of Axel, I never really had the chance to take in the sights myself. I would also like to make sure the Princess enjoys her stay as well."

"-Oh, I certainly won't mind doing that, I'll make sure to make this trip the most memorable for Iris." Darkness returned the smile with one of her own.

"Ahem." Claire cut in. "Lalatina-sama, might I ask a question?"

"S-Sure?" Darkness responded, a little concerned with Claire's tone.

" If Kazuma-dono wasn't under control by a Devil, then why did he attack the Princess and where did he escape to last night?" Claire questioned, a hint of anger in her voice.

Darkness once again cringed. "I'm extremely sorry about what happened to Iris, it looks like she was in the crossfire between Kazuma and Aqua. Well, more like in between Aqua and her catching Kazuma. Fortunately there was no harm done besides some irritation on her eyes that went away in a couple of seconds. I still had Aqua heal her afterwards just in case. So, Iris should be completely fine. As for where Kazuma is… I have no idea where he could be. I do know for sure that he hasn't left town."

"Well, I suppose there's no real harm done. But I do have a question for you myself." Rain said. "Why did Kazuma-dono come here in the first place?"

Claire stayed silent.

This question stumped Darkness. "…I don't have a clue…Maybe just to mess with us? That's my only guess." Then it hit her. "Ah! He had someone else with him-" Darkness shut herself up as quickly as she could. The two carriers instantly looked at her.

'I don't want them hunting down Chris… No, not Chris. That girl was different." Darkness looked down at her chest. "Very different. Had he befriended someone new?'

"What did you say Lalatina-sama?" Claire asked, eyeing Darkness down.

"Oh!" Darkness put her hand to her ear. "I think I heard Megumin calling for me! I'll be right back! Please finish your tea! I'll give you that tour once I get back!" Darkness avoided the topic and ran upstairs.

Clare and Rain looked at eachother. "Do you think it can be…"

"Yes, I fully believe it to be the second Chivalrous Thief." Claire said.

"What should we do?" Rain asked.

"I say, the next time Kazuma-dono and that Thief return, we capture them. And if we do so, we can return Princess Iris her ring."

Rain was conflicted. "…Is that really a good idea?"

"It's in the best of Princess Iris' future." Claire was adamant on this.

"…I'll think about it." Rain said.

"Did you find anything over there?" Megumin asked.

"No staff around here." Iris answered from the other side of the room.

Megumin sat down on Kazuma's bed. "*Sigh* It's no use. I have no idea where he could've hidden it… I know for a fact it's here, but where!?"

AN: So, I only now realized that Kazuma didn't close the secret stash in the previous chapter. So uh, just pretend that he did. Shhhhhhh, it was always closed… You're imagining things… Get back to reading now…

'If only I was able to see where he grabbed the mask from!' Megumin groaned in frustration.

Iris sat down next to her. "Hey Boss? I'm sorry that I couldn't find your staff, but can I get another chance with that bag? I promise I won't mess up this time." She excitedly asked, bouncing up and down on the bed.

"…Huh? Sure go ahead, they're in the closet." Megumin, lost in her thoughts, pointed to the closet.

Iris squealed with joy and bounced off to the box and retrieved a new bag from it.

"…I should probably ask Kazuma himself for my staff. He did say he'll let me use explosion. I should probably go see him…" She said her thoughts out loud.

*POP!*

Megumin flinched at the sudden loud bang. She looked up and saw Iris looking at her, her eyes wide open and staring right through her soul. In her hand she clenched at another bag of chips, suffering a far worse fate than the first bag. It had exploded from the bottom due to the immense pressure her iron grip had on it. Another mess was made.

"Again? Really Underling?" Megumin said in a disappointed voice. She moved her head from side to side. "It looks like I have more to teach- EH!?"

"Say Boss, didn't Aqua-san say that Onii-sama was under the control of some Devil? Yet you said that you'll see him. Do you know where he is being held captive? Or was it all a lie?" Iris' eyes narrowed.

"I'll explain everything! Just give me some space will you!?" Megumin said.

Iris took a step back. Her face that was previously an inch or two away from Megumin's was now a couple of feet away. "Please do explain, I'm very curious Boss."

"Jeez, calm down would you?"

"…Sorry."

"Ahem, ahah, you see…"

One Explanation Later…

"Then Aqua thought it was a good idea telling you three that Kazuma was under the control of a Devil for some reason. Honestly I'm a little surprised you actually believed her, Darkness' bad acting was a dead giveaway." Megumin took a drink out of her soda bottle and set it down beside her.

Iris also sat down her soda bottle, albeit this one being her third one. " I see, so Aqua-san kicked Onii-sama out of the mansion because of a childish fight? And then she lied about it? I thought Aqua-san was more mature than this."

"Please lower your standards."

"But this seems like this is an issue with your party, I have no right to get involved. Although I do wish that they make up already ASAP."

"I wouldn't worry about it, they argue a lot but deep down they care about each other a lot, they just don't want to admit it. They'll make up real soon."

"…Boss, you did say something about going to see Onii-sama right?" Iris looked up at Megumin, excitement slowly building up in her.

"Yes..?" Megumin answered.

"Please take me with you!" Iris once again ignored the concept of personal space and closed the distance between the two. "I really want to see Onii-sama again! I promise I won't cause any trouble or anything of the sort! Please take me with you Boss!" Iris repeatedly asked, bouncing up and down.

"H-Hold on Underling! I don't exactly know where he is just yet."

Iris' movements came to a full stop, her once joyful face turned into a still and expressionless one.

"But I can ask a certain Devil I know to tell me where and then we can go from there."

Iris' joyful expression returned and she was hopping in place one more.

"What are we waiting for?! Let's go see Onii-sama already!" Iris grabbed Megumin's arm and pulled her to the room's exit.

"H-Hold on!"

"Oh? Iris? And Megumin..? What were you both doing in there?" They both bumped into Darkness in the hallway.

"Just talking, that's all." Iris gave her a straightforward answer.

"O-Oh, alright… Iris, I must come clean about something, about last night…" Darkness prepared to confess.

"I already told her everything." But Megumin cut her off.

"O-Oh!" Darkness was taken aback.

"It's fine Darkness, I take no offense, I don't hold it against you, feelings are apart of us and I understand that it wasn't your true intention to cause me any trouble." Iris smiled at her.

"I-Uh. Thank you for very so understanding…" Darkness smiled back.

"A-Anyways, Rain wanted a tour of Axel and I was wondering if you would like to join us." Darkness invited Iris.

"No thank you." Iris swiftly rejected the offer.

"E-Eh?" Darkness stuttered.

"Boss already promised to go shopping with me just now, I don't want to be rude and reject her offer… Also, I worry that my presence will keep Rain on edge throughout the entire tour. I also want both Claire and Rain to finally relax and have fun during this trip, not just me."

"Oh, I understand, I'll inform the others. Have fun shopping you two." Darkness smiled.

"Megumin." Darkness looked towards her. "Don't cause any trouble, and no explosions."

Megumin frowned. "…I'll try."

"Thank you." Darkness walked away and back downstairs.

"No more wasting time, let's go!" Iris yanked Megumin through the hallways.

"Oh! Morning Megumin!" They ran into Aqua who had just woken up and exited her room, still dressed in pajamas.

"Gwuaaah~" The blue haired NEET yawned and stretched her arms in the air. "Oh- good morning Iris." Aqua lazily waved her hand at her.

"Morning..? But it's the afternoon." Iris said.

"Ahah… don't mind her Underling. This is normal for her." Megumin explained.

Aqua quickly hushed Megumin. "Shhh Megumin!" She turned to Iris. "Ahah, so what are you two up to so early in the morning?"

"We're going shopping!" Iris exclaimed.

"Oh! Hold on! I have something I need you girls to deliver." Aqua went back inside her room and retrieved a paper origami, neatly folded with care. "I originally wrote it on a piece of paper but I thought an origami would look nicer. I just need you two to stop by-"

"No way. We're not delivery workers." Megumin cut her off.

"Oooh~" Iris took the origami from her hands and admired the craftsmanship of it. She was in awe of the precise folding that kept the paper bird in place. "Who's this little guy for?"

"It's for Kazuma but I need-" Aqua was cut off.

"We'll do it!" Iris quickly accepted the side quest, hoping to get closer to her goal.

"W-Wait! I haven't even told you to the whole thing!"

"Oh, sorry. Go ahead." Iris apologized.

"Ahem, since you already agreed to deliver it, I'll tell you what to do. I don't exactly know where Kazuma ran off to last night but I do have a clue on his potential whereabouts."

Megumin and Iris listened intently.

"Ahah! You see, I smelled something off about him." Aqua pridefully said. "He reeked like a Devil, specifically that annoying and pesky masked Devil that constantly vandalizes the Axis Sect Church! He must know something about Kazuma! I just know!"

"So I just need you two to give it to him so that he can pass it along to Kazuma."

"Gasp! Great thinking Aqua-san!" Iris clapped her hands in celebration.

"Fufufu~ That's right! I'm just that great!" Aqua inflated her own ego.

"…Oi. If you got such a big lead, why don't you go there yourself instead of having us go? You're not really doing anything right now." Megumin popped the NEET's ego bubble before it got too big.

Aqua moved her fingers through her hair and flicked it to the side. "I had to get my beauty sleep! Oh! I also have to make preparations incase Kazuma keeps acting like a child. Hmmmm, got it!"

Before Megumin can pry any further, Aqua ran off to the bathroom. Just as she was about to follow the residential NEET, she felt someone grab her arm.

"C'mon Boss! We wasted enough time here! I have the note so let's get going already!" Iris yanked Megumin's arm and took her downstairs and out the door.

"H-Hold on! Aren't you a bit too excited about this!?"

AN: In the LN's, Iris calls Vanir "Hachibei", I was originally going to add that here but, it honestly just looks weird and doesn't fit well with the text. Sorry about that.

*Ring!*

"Hellooo?" Iris knocked and opened the shop's door. There was a sign pinned to the front of the shop's window, stating that it was currently closed for business, the curtains being shut clearly indicated that. She figured she might as well see if anyone is inside as this was a special occasion.

"Is anyone there? Mr. Masked Shopkeep-" Iris froze.

Standing in the middle of the room was Kazuma! A smile plastered on his face.

"Onii-sama!"

Overcome with all sorts of emotions, the Princess practically threw herself at him.

Finally, she got to see her "Onii-sama"… properly this time.

Right as she started hugging him, his body started crumbling and falling apart. Bit by bit until "Kazuma's" entire torso was practically non-existent.

Then the rest of what was left broke down. A few moments later, there was nothing but a pile of dirt on the floor.

"W-W-Wha!?" Iris was in complete and utter shock. Tears started streaming down her cheeks.

"O-Onii-sama!?" There she lay on the floor, a sniffling and crying mess, clutching at a pile of dirt.

It was this horrific scene that Megumin walked in on. "Iris..? What happened!?"

Calling her confused would be an understatement. She was completely lost on why her Underling is cradling a pile of dirt while crying her eyes out and muttering "Onii-sama…".

Frankly she'd much rather Iris not run ahead the next time they go out together as to prevent another disaster like the one she's currently witnessing from ever happening again.

"Iris..? What happened..?" Megumin called out.

Iris didn't say a word, her small painfilled sobbing being the only sort of response she got.

Megumin approached her.

Suddenly.

"Please do not touch the merchandise." A familiar voice said.

Megumin watched as Vanir emerged from the shadows. With a snap of his finger, the dirt that Iris was holding returned to its previous state. Even the dirt that stained her dress was gone!

The lights flickered on.

"Well, if it isn't the Chirimen's daughter! Well? What does Thou think about Moi's latest ware?" Vanir wiped away any smudges on the Kazuma dirt clone.

"W-What…" Iris was shell shocked. A flurry of very mixed emotions were threatening to burst out of her.

Vanir, seeing the clearly traumatized Iris, lowered himself to her level. "Now, now, there is no need for tears child." He got her back up on her feet. "This version of the brat is a fake, a doll made out of dirt. Nothing more and nothing less."

Iris wiped the last tears away. "I understand… I was just a scared."

"Oi. Why do you have that?" Megumin asked.

"It's our newest product. The brat came up with it himself. His lines of thinking were something like "What if people can see the hero himself everyday!", and thus, this thing was born. Moi believes this will sell very well." The devious Devil looked at Megumin.

"Moi believes a certain feature will pique your interest."

"And that is?" Megumin asked.

"It copies poses." Once those words left his mouth, a switch flipped in Megumin's head.

In a split second she was in front of the dirt doll, doing all sorts of poses. The dirt doll, like Vanir said, started copying her poses. "HA! This is amazing! Do one of these! Now one of those! HAHA! Kazuma should really join me in my daily pose routine! It'll be so awesome!"

Iris looked on as the doll did weird and goofy Crimson Demon poses alongside Megumin.

"Moi believes you have business with me." Vanir went in front of Iris.

"Oh! Yes we do. Here you go." She handed over the origami. "It's from Aqua, can you give it to my Onii- I mean Kazuma."

Vanir accepted the origami and set it on the counter. "Moi will pass it along to the brat the next time he visits Moi."

"Thank you."

"Oi Vanir." Megumin said.

"Mage who is secretly jealous about your companion's new ally, what do you want from Moi."

"Shuddup! I am not!" She denied it.

"I'm just wondering if you know where Kazuma might be."

"Moi may or may not know where the brat is." Vanir turned away.

"Please tell us!" Iris spoke up.

"Moi won't say as that would put our contract at strain."

"What? Do you think we'll go beat him up or something? We just want to talk to him so he can settle things with Aqua."

"Let us see here…" Vanir made a triangle with his fingers. "Very well, it looks like you two won't get in the way, the brat is in the shopping district of town. Don't cause trouble."

"Thanks." Megumin thanked the Devil and turned to leave. "Wait, one last thing." She stopped in her tracks.

"How much for the doll?"

"Not for sale."

"Why!?"

"If thou wants to continue to do ridiculous and embarrassing poses with the brat, do it with the real one. Moi gets second hand embarrassment just by witnessing thou's horrible performance. Mind you, Moi doesn't feel embarrassment easily."

"What did you say about my poses, you damn Devil!?"

*Riiing!*

Iris ran out the store.

"Huh?! Wait for me! Damn it! We'll settle this another time!"

"Moi will be prepared." Vanir struck a valiant and magnificent pose and let out a taunting laugh.

"Hrk- I'll show you true beauty… at another time!"

Megumin ran out the door and followed Iris, all the while Vanir was laughing at her. "Come back with something worth Moi's time!" He let out a laugh before shutting the door again.

"Now to get back to work." The Devil snapped his fingers and the dirt doll was destroyed once more. The room's light flickered off and the Devil once again entered his workshop to finish his newest work.

AN: So, I was reading my last chapter and I realized there was some out of character-ness, so I had to retcon some stuff. Don't worry, it won't effect future chapters at all. Anyways, until next time, hopefully not in a month. I'm going to try to get my uploading schedule back together. See you all and thank you for your patience :)