"Kazuma! I can't believe you're trying to force this on me!" Darkness declared.

"What's the problem? It's for your own good and the good of the party too."

"I refuse!"

"Just try it! I'm sure it will be amazing," he leaned in grinning. "Don't you want to see what it's like?"

She shook her head violently. "Absolutely not!"

"Why not?"

"It would be humiliating!"

"… and that's a problem now?"

"This is not the kind of humiliation I like!"

XXX

A Few Days Earlier

The following morning Kazuma returned to the guild hall to gather information. Luna ended up being his primary source. The guild hall's manager was knowledgeable about almost everything about adventurers. While talking to him she was also nice enough to inform him that other than Mitsurugi and his party, no one was mad at him or Darkness. He'd seen himself that fights and brawls happened some times. The sense among adventurers was that people should be allowed to work out their own differences.

Also, just seeing Darkness beat up their new hero had been kind of funny. Who was going to be mad?

When Darkness showed up around lunch time Kazuma told her about what he'd found out.

"A monk?" Darkness's reaction was a look of confusion and stunned silence.

Kazuma explained. "That's right. They're a sub-class of fighter who specialize in unarmed combat and don't usually wear armor. I think it would be perfect for you."

"I know what monks are, Kazuma. Why are you suggesting I become one?"

He quirked an eyebrow. "Are you kidding? Isn't it obvious it's the ideal class for you? I mean, let's be honest here. As a crusader you suck. You don't need armor and you're worthless with a sword."

She gasped and twisted from side to side. "Y… You never show mercy, do you?"

"Please stop that," he looked around and felt embarrassed. "Look, I'm being serious here. You can't use a sword or any other weapon so far as I can tell, but you're brutally strong and can land punches. Monks can learn all sorts of specialized unarmed fighting skills and get bonuses. And since you're already a wall even without armor you wouldn't really lose anything by switching classes. It would suit you perfectly! What do you say?"

"I refuse!"

"Huh? Look, there's no penalty for changing your class, and all the defense skills you already have will transfer over. I mean you'll be a level one monk, but so what? You'll be tough as nails and able to smash things with one punch." He chuckled. "Maybe I'll even start calling you Saitama."

"What is a Saitama?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it."

"Kazuma, do you really expect me to go around in monk's robes fighting monsters and enemies with my bare hands?"

"Yes. There a problem with that?"

"I absolutely refuse!"

He could feel a vein start to throb in his forehead. "Is there a reason you don't want to do something that makes so much sense?"

Darkness glanced about to make sure no one was close. She then lowered her voice. "You're aware I'm the eldest daughter and heir of the Dustiness family?"

He nodded.

"We are one of this kingdom's great noble houses. As such we have a certain reputation to uphold. Those of us who serve the kingdom as warriors are expected to do so as either knights, paladins, or crusaders. Even though I prefer to keep my true identity hidden I am still a member of my house. To be seen in public fighting not with a sword in hand but by punching and stomping would be humiliating!"

Kazuma stood and stared at her. "Let me get this straight," he said with a flat voice. "You're fine with the idea of being tied up and tortured. But fighting monsters with your bare hands, that's beneath you?"

"Yes, that is correct."

He smacked a hand to his face. Are all the women in this world other than Chris allergic to common sense or something?

XXX

Kazuma went to the weapons shop to get some upgrades. His long experience in RPGs had taught him it was important to constantly improve your equipment so as to be able to deal with stronger foes.

To begin with he got himself some chainmail with a minor enchantment on it to keep it from making and noise as he moved about. It was stronger than the leather armor he had now. Hoe could have actually afforded to buy full plate, but it was way too heavy to walk around in. Besides, given his skills he needed to remain as mobile as possible. The chainmail cost him 250,000 eris.

There was a real life katana available in the shop. Katanas in this world were rare and the cost on it was a whopping two million. He could afford it, but it was a lot. He put it through a couple practice swings and discovered it was kind of heavy for him. Kazuma also realized the katana was designed as a slashing weapon. His preferred method of attack for close combat was to sneak up from behind and use Backstab. The katana was the absolute wrong weapon for that. Instead he got a new short sword with magical enchantments that made it ever sharp and harder than ordinary forged iron. It was a bad ass sword and so he decided it deserved a bad ass name. He called his new sword, 'Excalibur.' Kazuma even paid to have the name seared into the weapon's hilt. He swore he would always keep it on him at all times. So everyone would know that Kazuma's special sword was called Excalibur, and that even if it wasn't big it was still awesome!

That cost him 700,000 eris.

He then got himself a new dagger. It had similar enchantments to his sword that would make it an ideal stabbing weapon. It cost him 400,000 eris.

Kazuma also bought a dozen more throwing knives. His experience with the bandits had shown him they were ideal in close combat when he didn't have time or room to grab his bow. He kept most of them in his belt but also got a couple special sheaths so he could hide one in each boot. All together they cost him 65,000 eris.

So upgrading his stuff wound up costing him 1,415,000 eris, or more than half of his share of the bounty on Black Tom. That was fine though. He still had plenty more money on account, and if it kept him alive it was the best possible investment.

As he was getting ready to leave something on one of the stands caught his eye.

XXX

A Couple Days Later, Present Time

"Happy birthday!" Kazuma handed Darkness a box with a big red bow on top of it.

"What is this?"

"Do you not celebrate birthdays by giving people gifts?"

"We do," she confirmed. "But, ah, my birthday isn't for another five months."

"I couldn't wait," he said with a big smile. He tapped the box in her hands. "Aren't you going to open it?"

She gave him a suspicious look, but opened the box up. Inside were a pair of metal gauntlets with a solid steel bar running across the knuckles. Bolted on the bar were four large metal studs. The gauntlets had a faint bluish aura to them.

"What are these?"

"A little something I picked up at the weapons shop. They're magical fighting gauntlets. They're designed to focus blunt force from any blow they deliver. I even paid to have them enchanted so they'll fit any size hand and never break no matter how much damage they take. They cost me five hundred thousand eris."

"You spent half a million eris on these?!" Darkness said in disbelief.

"That's right."

She narrowed her eyes. "Kazuma, I know what you are trying to do here! Since I refuse to become a monk you are trying to make me feel obligated to use these in combat."

Kazuma calmly looked back at her. "Is it working?"

"Kazuma! I can't believe you're trying to force this on me!" Darkness declared.

"What's the problem? It's for your own good and the good of the party too."

"I refuse!"

"Just try it! I'm sure it will be amazing," he leaned in grinning. "Don't you want to see what it's like?"

She shook her head violently. "Absolutely not!"

"Why not?"

"It would be humiliating!"

"… and that's a problem now?"

"This is not the kind of humiliation I like!" She held out the box with the gantlets in them

"I see," he said sadly. "Well, if you don't want them I guess I'll have to respect your decision." He accepted the box back from her. "You know, this was the very first gift I'd bought for anyone since coming here. I really hoped you would be happy about receiving it from me. But it's fine, I don't mind that you're rejecting my effort to show you my appreciation and friendship. And you don't need to worry that I can't return these because I had them enchanted just for you. So I am out five hundred thousand eris. But that was totally my decision, so you don't need to feel you any kind of obligation. I mean I just wanted to help you be the most powerful and effective fighter you could be, and make our team as strong as it could be. I guess I was being selfish, I apologize." He gave a long heartfelt sigh. "It's okay, this is not the first time I've had a girl reject me when I just wanted to show her I cared about her and her safety."

Darkness stood there with her lips turned down looking more miserable with every sentence.

"You are deliberately trying to make me feel guilty for not accepting these."

He stared back at her. "Is it working?"

XXX

Kazuma and Darkness were standing in front of the quest board. After Beldia's destruction all the minor monsters that had gone into hiding had returned with a vengeance. The board was filled with low level quests to exterminate these weak monsters. Kazuma was looking them over trying to decide which was the best one for them. Beside him Darkness was shifting her weight from one foot to the other and rubbing her hands together. On them were a new pair of enchanted gauntlets.

"Just because I accepted them does not mean I intend to become a brawler. I am still a crusader and my primary weapon is my sword."

"Got it."

"At best, at best! They'd be a weapon of last resort."

"Sure."

"I especially won't start using them where people can see! It would be humiliating!"

Kazuma looked over at her. "And you'd hate that wouldn't you?"

Her cheeks blushed and her eyes avoided his. "There are different kinds of humiliation."

"So, does that mean if we're fighting some place without witnesses you'll use them?"

She opened her mouth, hesitated, closed it, and then opened it again. "I… I might depending on the situation."

"Good!" Kazuma reached up and tore down one of the notices from the board. "In that case let's take this job."

He showed it to her. It was a quest to eliminate a tribe of goblins that had moves into some nearby hills. The reward was 5.000 eris per goblin killed.

"This should be far enough out of the way for us to be out of sight."

She sighed and gave a non-committal wave of a hand. "I might use them; I don't promise I will."

"Sure thing," he said with a smile. "I mean why would you want to use something that will let you actually hit the enemy and do harm? Its fine if you just want to swing your sword around hitting nothing but air. I don't mind if you force me to do all the hard work on the quest. It's not as if I'd ever think you're not pulling your weight and you could do so much more as my partner and party member. I would never hold it against you, even if it meant you were putting me in unnecessary danger for no real reason."

She stared at him. "Kazuma, I know what you're trying to do!"

He gave her a wide smile. "Is it working?"