Arc 2- Chapter 10: A Crimson Encounter
"Alright gang, you ready to go?"
A man said to his group of four adventurers. He was just starting out his career as a crusader. With his new allies, a mage, an archer, and a healer, he was sure they would succeed on their second quest.
"We're going goblin slaying right Jacob?" The mage said to the leader named Jacob the crusader.
"You're right William. Make sure your set on your arrows Lucy." He said to his comrades.
"Don't worry, I packed extra. What about you, James? Are you set on healing potions?" The archer Lucy asked towards the healer of the group.
"Got it all packed." He said as he showed the bottles that were around his belt.
"Welp, looks like we're all set." Jacob said his final verdict. "Now then, as you all may know, our quest today is to kill a group of goblins in the nearby forest." They all nodded.
"Before we go there, I want to discuss our game plan for the quest. Lucy, I will be going head on with the goblins, so snipe any that are in the back, got it?" She nodded.
"William, you will use spells that do damage to large groups okay? I'll lure them into one big group, and you'll launch it."
"Got it."
"James, as per usual, you will heal any injuries we face."
"I will do my best." He said as he closed his eyes. His mood was much more different than the others. It was like he was more 'done' or 'dead'. Though, they hadn't really noticed.
"Now then, since you all understood the plan, let's head out." Jacob said as they all looked at him, except for James, with pure determination in their eyes. All of them were confident that they would succeed in the quest.
They marched forward to the doors and went outside. They looked at a map to see where their supposed destination is and embarked on a simple journey towards the campsite.
"Say, I didn't think you guys would stick to the party. Thought you'd leave after yesterday." Jacob said relieved. Yesterday, as per usual, they went on a giant toad extermination quest. Each one had to kill 5 toads. Of course, some stuff happened. Like one getting eaten alive and the others had to save them. But all in all, it was a successful quest.
Jacob feared that with such a simple and kind of disastrous quest (since he was the one to get eaten and saved), he thought they would leave him be. But as luck would have it, they stayed! He was so relieved to see them actually come into the doors of the guild.
"Of course we won't. We're not some kind of jerks who leaves people hangin'." William said.
"What, did you think we'd leave you just after we formed our team?" Lucy asked, curious.
"Honestly, yeah. But luckily, I picked good friends this time." Jacob said as he smiled at them. The two returning the favor by smiling back as well, while James only gave a tired smile back at him.
"Alright then, let's focus on our journey." Jacob said as the four adventurers looked back on the path towards the campsite. They left the town of Maine and we're soon on the path of the forest.
They walked under the tall trees that surround them. Some flora enamored their eyes, but they quickly focused their attention on the journey ahead. Soon, they would arrive at the goblin's campsite. They stopped in their tracks as Jacob motioned to huddle behind the bushes as to not be seen.
"Hey Lucy, think you can eye some of them from a distance?" Jacob asked to her.
"Yeah, I can. Foresight." She enhanced her vision by using a spell which can make her zoom her eyes on farther distance. She can see things clearly in their camp even if they were further away.
"Looks like there just some normal goblins with clubs." She said to them as she observed the campsite. "No big goblins or even archers." she added.
"Well that just makes our job easier right?" Jacob said as he heard Lucy's report. "Alright gang, you all remembered the plan right? Let's go!" They all nodded
They jumped into action with Jacob charging into the campsite. Of course, with his brute entrance, the goblins were all alerted at his presence. Lucy sniped the incoming goblins that were headed his way by the side, being careful not to hit Jacob himself.
"Aaahhh!" Jacob yelled at the top of his lungs like a barbarian as he swung his sword left and right. It was amateur moves, but it got the job done.
"You could swing a bit more strategically y'know?" Lucy commented to herself as she sniped the goblins whilst also observing Jacob's violent swings.
"Come at me you sons of bitches!" Jacob yelled as he tried to lure all the goblins into one spot. It was done pretty easily as the goblins had the IQ of a baby, which immediately went for the screaming crusader.
William saw the goblins all grouping into one crowd, it was time to execute his spell. He gathered up the mana he has in his body, and began to point his staff towards the goblins. He just had to wait for Jacob to move out of the way.
When Jacob was sure all the goblins were in one place, he ran away from them and headed towards his group of friends. William saw this move as the signal to fire the spell.
"Fireball!" His staff gave a glow of bright light, which then left the orb of his staff to create a ball made of fire. It travelled towards the group of goblins chasing after Jacob.
Eventually, the fireball made contact with the group, exploding into an explosion of flames which burned and disintegrated anything and anyone in it. In this case, the goblins. They screamed in pain as they burn under the intense heat of the fireball. Their bodies soon turn into char as their clubs burn to ashes. There were still some lucky goblins that survived the blast, but they were soon dealt with as Lucy fired her arrows at them with precision.
Jacob jogged his way to his group.
"Phew, that was a lot more easier than I thought. Good job guys!" Jacob congratulated his team for the effort they give.
"Thanks Jacob. You were also pretty great. Grouping those goblins up for me to attack." William said. "And so were you, Lucy."
"Thanks William." Lucy blushed a bit after she was complimented by the mage.
"All in all, I'd say this was a successful quest. Let's go take our rewards!" Jacob yelled out. The three all cheered in joy.
As the three adventurers were patting each others backs, the healer of the group, James, just looked on with a solemn expression.
"*Sigh, Honestly, what was I expecting really? I've been through multiple parties in my career, and everytime, I do nothing. You know, I should be happy. Happy that I get money for absolutely doing nothing at all. But for some reason, I don't. Like, am I actually doing something if I'm the healer? Am I contributing to them? I'm just a waste of space aren't I?" James thought deeply as he sees the group of three leave. He soon followed them close behind.
"I was really expecting this quest to be different. With how Jacob's energy was different and all that. But it seems I was wrong. Another party, another useless healer. Maybe I should change careers or something." James saw the group of people Infront of them, all happy and excited. Probably because they actually did something.
"It's a bit gruesome and wrong, but... I kinda wish someone would just get hurt and I can actually be useful."
What James and the rest of the party hadn't known, is that his off-handed wish would actually come true.
Hiding behind the tall and thick trees, was a creature much bigger than the four. It's fur was jet black, claws that wer sharp as a well sharpened sword, and fangs that could dig through skin with little to no effort. It saw it's prey just walking by, clueless about the threat lurking behind the trees and bush.
"So as I was saying, I think our next quest should be-" William was idly talking about their next plans. But before he could finish his sentence, he was met with a terrible and cruel fate.
Slash*
A blur of black passed the four startled adventurers. When it passed, Jacob, Lucy and James were all confused. What the hell was that? They looked around and saw something that would forever haunt their lives, especially Lucy.
"OH MY GOD! WILLIAM!" Lucy screamed at the top of her lungs as the now group of three see their comrade's body dead on the floor, with William's head missing.
Jacob immediately went to action by grabbing his sword from his belt. Having a stance on guard to see where the enemy would come. Lucy grabbed her bow and arrow while wiping the tears from her eyes. She quickly focused on defending the team with her bow now pulled back.
James, could only look in silence. Just seconds ago, he wished that someone would get injured just so he could be useful. And right Infront of him, was a wish that was granted to him. That's what he asked for, and injury. Albeit, not in the way he was expecting, but an injury nonetheless. He looks in shock. Not uttering a word, not a single movement in his body.
"There!" Jacob yelled as he saw the bush rustling beside them. Lucy quickly turned around to where Jacob pointed at and shot her arrow at it.
They could hear the sound of flesh being pierced. It seems they hit something. They looked cautiously at the direction which Lucy shot at. Their eyes glared at the threat looming over them. James still looked at the corpse of William the mage being dead on the floor. He could only blame no one but himself for asking such a stupid and foolish request. The crusader and archer can only wonder what creature was hiding behind that bush, the one that killed their friend.
Lucy and Jacob got their answer as the creature, or rather, monster emerged from the lush bush and trees. A creature of black fur, sharp fangs, and deadly claws were shown right towards the two adventurers. Jacob had never seen this creature before, but Lucy had knowledge on the monsters that lurked the world, and she knew exactly what this monster was.
"It's a Rookie Killer." Lucy whispered as she saw the formidable opponent tower over them. The arrow which Lucy shot was stuck on its left cheek.
"What the hell is that thing?" Jacob frantically asked in panic.
"It hunts people who are close to a goblin pack. These guys lurk beside goblin campsites, and when they see people kill goblins, that's when they strike. Usually, new adventures are the ones who meet these guys." Like their names suggest, they hunt rookies. Earning the name as the Rookie killer.
With Lucy's short description of the killer, Jacob could only cower in fear. He had fallen right into its trap, and so has the other three. He didn't know what this thing was capable of, but seeing how easily William was killed earlier, he could only imagine what the outcome of the battle is. And it did not look good.
As the rookie killer walked closer and closer, Lucy and Jacob backed away in fear. They backed away until Jacob bumped into something behind his back.
"What? James, snap out of it." Jacob whispered in a panic, trying to get some sense into his friend. "You want to be sliced into dead meat or something?"
"... It's my fault." He whispered, not even Jacob or Lucy could hear it.
"What the?"
Before Jacob could ask him again, the rookie killer growled before reading it's body to pounce on them. Jacob and Lucy we're ready to move out of the way.
But before they were able to, a sudden rope with a grapple was shot from within the woods
Shooof* A grapple whizzed passed the trees from the side, and wrapped around the rookie killer, startling it, and getting it hooked. The rookie killer stopped it's attack and was more focused on what this thing was wrapping it's neck.
"Heagh!" A man grunted as he reeled the grapple in on himself to propel himself forward. He lunged forward as he whizzed past the trees and swung under the beast.
With the momentum moving him forward, and the rope wrapped around it's head, he easily swung under it and upwards. He let go of his rope as he soared in the air. He took two daggers by his side, and proceeded to drop towards it in a spinning motion with his two daggers facing outwards.
shing!*
He cut through the head of the rookie killer with ease, he emerged and landed on the bottom with the head of the beast dropping on the ground and blood spewing out. The beast's body soon dropped as well.
The man stood up, and looked back at the dead rookie killer.
The trio saw the amazing display right Infront of them. How the man grappled the beast and launched himself from the trees. How he swung under it's head and flew upwards in the sky. How he took two daggers out and proceeded to slice the head off the rookie killer while he spun in the air. It was a work of art.
They also observed the man Infront of them. He wore a dark green cloak with a hood. The cloak itself extending far past his abdomen and reached his knees. He held two daggers beside him. One was a normal looking short sword that was bent slightly upwards, and had only one side sharpen. The other was a short sword that was gold and and white accents, with a red gem in the middle and had two sides sharpened this time. He also wore grey pants and brown boots. They didn't see his face however since he wasn't looking at them and he was covered with a hood.
"Are you guys alright?" He finally turned around and asked them out of concern. His voice sounded young, but they could tell it was devoid of any life. They still couldn't fully tell his facial features, they only saw his chin and mouth.
"Y-yes, thanks to you." Jacob said as he thanked the hero that was standing Infront of him. "Without you, I'm pretty sure all us here would've been turned to shreds."
"Your welcome. You're lucky I was here. I'm actually on a quest to hunt rookie killers, and I just so happen to saw this one. But..." The hooded man then saw the dead body of William behind Lucy's legs. "It seems I was a bit late." His voice then got more dead and soulless.
"Don't worry, it's fine. You can't be everywhere y'know." Jacob knew where he was looking at and reassured him. "Thank you, again."
"Same here." Lucy had also spoken up, her eyes were now dry and she had a small smile on her face. Yes, she was still sad that he crush and friend William was dead, but she was still grateful that this man came out of nowhere to save them.
"..." James, while still in shock with the recent events that took place just now, only looked at him in silence.
"No problem, everyone."
"Say, we never asked your name. What is it?" Jacob asked. They never bothered to ask before since they were all in shock and everything went by so fast. But now that they've slowed down a bit, they never got the name of this hooded hero.
"Yeah what is it?" Lucy had also joined in our of curiosity.
"My name is... Satou Kazuma."
It has been three months since the incident where Ferdinand and Chris had left Kazuma all on his own. And things have definitely changed.
Kazuma's looks had somewhat changed. After a month, he decided to change his look by ditching the green cape and opted for a long cloak with the same color. His hair had also been growing out longer since he didn't bother to get a haircut. Now it's length had surpassed his ear and reached his chin. Though, he is planning on cutting in a few days.
And that's pretty much it. Nothing much changed really for his looks. But a thing that had a big change was his demeanor.
He had grown a lot more, colder. He isn't rude to people when he's talking, but his voice and overall personality is just a lot more colder than his previous one. Like, he doesn't show any emotions. He talks normally, but you could tell that there was something bothering him, and that it sounded like he was putting up an act.
Another thing which changed was that the quests he would take are a lot more harder and challenging. Not to the point where he was willing to kill a pack of wolves or something. No, not that. Never that. But he isn't picking quests where he kills goblin packs, raiding a mid tier dungeon, guarding a transport vehicle, or anything that is easy. He's picking quests that could actually pose a threat to him. Like the recent one- killing rookie killers.It wasn't hard, but it wasn't that easy either.
He had decided to take more harder quests since he knew he needed to grow up. Grow out of his shell of comfort and start taking hits. He knew that he can't just rely on people anymore now that he's alone.
With no one else to rely on, he was forced to learn much more advanced skills and spells. He practiced 'mana manipulation', to the point where he could extract mana much more quicker and efficiently. He also started experimenting other tricks and spells that he uses. For example, grapple is a very simple spell which is a rope with a hook that launches from your hand and grapples on to things, and then you have to manually pull yourself up. With this in mind, Kazuma tried to think of ways to better this system without having to pull his own weight.
Then, he thought that if he could use his wind magic, he could potentially pull himself up by producing wind behind his back which propels him forward. Or, he try manipulate the rope by reverse engineering the grapple spell. He tried the first method, and it somewhat worked. But it was a bit tedious to put your hand behind your back and produce some wind, so he tried the second method. And the results? It miraculously worked!
He was in the forest and grappled onto a tree, he then Invisioned in his mind on how the spell should be and tried to put mana into it, he then said some random words that can potentially activate it. Shorten, pulley, anti grapple, just a lot of words. But, when he said 'reverse grapple', he was suddenly pulled forward and the grapple started shortening it's length.
He was so happy when he finally did it. He also realized that day that he made a new spell, or it was probably a spell that existed but he just didn't know it. Whatever, it didn't matter. What mattered was that he had a new skill which could potentially change his method of combat. The more flexible he could be in quests, the better.
That's when he started practicing the reverse grapple spell. He tried hooking to a tree, launch himself forward, land on it, grapple to another tree, and repeat. He realized pretty early on that if you pour little mana into it, it will pull you in at a snails pace. But if you pour a lot of mana in, the opposite happens. With mana manipulation in his arsenal, he whizzed through the trees with ease, flying through like he was about to kill some giant humans or something. Of course, he fumbled and missed some shots when he grappled onto trees, but after a month of practicing, he got the hang of it.
With the new look and the new skill he learnt, he was finally beginning to look and feel more stronger than before. Of course, not strong enough where he could kill deadly foes (like dragons or generals), but he could float above the waters just enough by himself.
For the past three months now, that's all he was doing. Practicing, questing, eating, shitting, and sleeping. He hasn't been in a party nor has he wanted to establish one. It wasn't out of laziness or duty, but more out of fear.
Fear, that they may leave him.
He was left a bit traumatized after Ferdinand and Chris left them on their own volition. Ferdinand had an excuse. It was just his way of thinking and that was good enough reason. But for Chris? It broke him apart.
She said that she needed to leave for him to grow up and become better and more independent, and he knew it was true. But... he just had this slight feeling, that she may be lying.
It was outrageous and stupid to think that way, and Kazuma himself knew it. But after that sudden leave, he can't help but think of other things. That can't be it right? She had reasons for sure. There's no way she left for his own benefit.
He shook his head at these thoughts. It was getting annoying to think about scenarios that didn't and will never happen. He took a sip of his drink and continued eating his food. Currently, he was at the guild hall where he sat near a bar and ordered some food and a drink.
As he was eating, a group of familiar people walked in through the double doors, he minded his own business and continued eating away.
"Look, it's him! The guy who saved us yesterday." Lucy spoke as she pointed her finger towards the eating neet. The trio walked up to him.
"Hey there Kazuma." Jacob greeted him as he smiled.
Kazuma swallowed the food that he was chewing and said, "Hai, Kazuma desu. What do you want?" He was currently eating alone (as usual).
"Nothing really, just wanted to say hi is all." Jacob continued smiling on.
"Say, James, you never gave your thanks did you." Lucy looked back at the wallowing healer at the back. It seems the incident that happened yesterday was still haunting him. He never got to say a word after that.
"Hmm huh?" James was clearly caught off guard by that.
"Jeez James, your never gonna be the same huh?" Jacob observed his behavior, and concluded that he had some type of trauma from yesterday since his behavior before was a lot more responsive and actually observed his surroundings. Now, he mostly zones out to his own little place and barely talks to anyone or any of them.
"S-sorry." He apologized. "What did you say again Lucy?"
"I said you never said thank you to Kazuma yesterday. I think you should do it now. He did save your life after all."
"Lucy, it's fine really. He doesn't have to." While Kazuma did appreciate the kind gesture (or ego boost), he was fine if people didn't want to and weren't obligated to do so in the first place.
"Come on Kazuma, it's the least he can do."
"N-no, I should." James finally spoke up and decided that he should do it. He walked up to Kazuma, Jacob and Lucy backed away to give him some room.
"Mr. Kazuma, thank you, for saving me yesterday. I don't if I would be alive without you." James talked straight forward to him with no signs of stutters. Looks like he can be normal like his usual self.
"Your welcome, James was it?" He nodded. "Right, anyways, is that all you guys wanted?"
"Well, there is one more thing." Jacob then went forward to him. "We'd like to ask you for something."
"Go on then."
"How about joining us as a team."
"... What?" Honestly, he wasn't expecting this. For a while now, no one has approached him to join a party, and he liked to keep it that way. But this? This was very unexpected.
"Since we're one man short, how about joining us. I know it's very early to replace someone who left just yesterday, but, we don't want to miss our chances. So, how 'bout it?" Jacob said. Lucy looked on with a sad expression. It was clear she felt it wasn't right to replace William so soon after his death, but she knew that's how parties worked, and that's how they can grow as a party. It was part of the cycle of adventuring, and she accepted that.
James only looked more dead after he hears this. He knew they wouldn't have to do this if he hadn't made that stupid wish. He was an atheist, but he somewhat believed there was higher being controlling them after yesterday's event.
"Well..."
"... sorry guys. But I can't join your party."
"Why?" Jacob asked out curiousity. He knew he had every right to decline, and he wasn't even mad about it, or upset. He was sure Kazuma was going solo after he asked about it to the other adventurers. He just wanted to know why is all.
"Well... I want to go solo is all. It's... my duty." That was a lie. He even took the excuse Ferdinand had. He can't tell them truth. He didn't trust them enough to tell them.
"Oh, um, that's a bummer. Oh well, thanks again Kazuma." Jacob sighed and said his farewells to him, and so did the other two. He was bummed out that he couldn't recruit him, especially after that performance he did yesterday, but hey, you can't have everything in life. He walks away with his party to fetch another (more easier and no tricks) quest.
Kazuma sighs. Looks like his fear got to him. He really can't control it. He continues eating the food, chewing on the tasty toad leg he ordered. He was unaware that the doors of the guild had opened again, but it was easy to forget since it opens all he time.
"Hi, h-have y-you seen this m-man name Kazuma?" He faintly heard a girl ask something to someone. He brushed it off as he didn't fully hear it and just assumed it was something else. But for some odd reason, that faint voice sounded too familiar.
"...thank you..." No, he was just hearing things. That voice sounded similar, but he was sure it didn't belong to her.
He kept on chewing his food, taking a large sip after, unaware of the approaching footsteps getting louder behind him.
"Hello?"
!!! No, that couldn't be.
"E-excuse me?"
Th-there's no way!
"I-I'm sorry for b-bothering you mister, but h-have you seen this m-man named Kazuma?" She asked in a all too familiar voice.
Kazuma was still wearing his green cloak with the hood atop his head, so she didn't know it was him.
Kazuma slowly turned around, some food crumbs still stuck on his lips.
". . . No."
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.
.
"KAZUMA-SAN?!"
"Come on, he's gotta be here somewhere. I've searched every part of the kingdom for him." Currently, Yun Yun was walking down the streets of Maine after having to travel to multiple towns in search of Kazuma.
She had gone through the west of Belzerg, going to towns like Josephine, Alexander, Mash, and many others. She then searched in the east of the kingdom. No luck there. She searched through the upper north, where the capital is and still, no Kazuma. Her last hope was the south, where the town of Maine, Castool, and the recently liberated town Obsidio was residing at. She had travelled by carriage since her teleportation magic only worked if she had been to a place. And since she's never been to any of these places before, it took a pretty penny to afford all this travelling expenses.
It didn't matter though as she arrived to her first town of the south, Maine.
It was almost the exact same like any other town. People selling their goods in market places, parents watching over their kids as they play their games, citizens walking by and minding their own business, it was the usual.
She had decided that in every town she has been through, she will ask them of his name. To see if they knew him to get a clue on where he's at.
"U-um, excuse me sir." She said it so quietly to a man that he didn't even hear her, nor did he knew there was even a girl behind him, so he just proceeded to ignore her.
"U-um, sir." She asked again, this time more louder. He still didn't hear her!
"Uh, um, nevermind..." She was about to ask again before the man left to do his own thing. YunYun only sighed in frustration, more at herself.
"Come on YunYun, you can do this! For Kazuma and the village." She psyched herself up before moving on to another person to ask.
After a while, YunYun looked dejected.
The same scene happened multiple times. Heck, this same scene has been happening ever since she had started this journey. She was disappointed at herself for not improving her social skills.
But it wasn't all down in the dumps. She did have some successful interactions. She had asked this one woman who was very kind and patient with YunYun's stuttering about his whereabouts and she said she knew him by the newspapers. Now this was some valuable and surprising information.
It was confirmed that Kazuma was in this town for sure. Now she doesn't have to go through the other close towns at least, so that was good news. The other thing was that she was surprised to hear that he was on the news. Usually, you would have to do something extraordinary or worthwhile to be on the newspapers.
YunYun did ask about what Kazuma did to earn such coverage and she said about him killing a demon king general.
What?! Demon king generals?! Kazuma?! What was going on? she thought. It was honestly astounding to hear that he did it again. She had heard of his achievements being the person who helped slay Beldia, Hans, and even the destroyer. But to think he would do it again? It was getting more and more crazy.
She said her thanks to her and moved on with a different mind now. She still couldn't take that image off her head that Kazuma the panty stealing, drop kicking woman, man would be able to do such another feat. But she shouldn't be surprised. He did kill Beldia, Hans, and the destroyer which saved the town of Axel and that city full of cultists.
After asking for directions to the guild hall, she walked towards it, hoping that Kazuma would be there. He was and adventurer after all, so it made sense.
When she arrived, she asked multiple people on his whereabouts. Sadly, she didn't catch many of their attention like before but luckily, a few people had answered her questions. After she asked this guy on Kazuma's last appearance, he said that he was in this guild but didn't know where. Awesome, now it was confirmed he was in here. Just ask a few more people and she will surely find him eventually.
She saw a hooded man currently sitting at a bar with a plate of food Infront of him. It was a bit rude to interrupt someone eating, but she got desperate after having to ask so many people in the guild and failed. She walked up to him and asked him the same question.
"Hello?" She said, her voice still on the low side. He was still facing his food. It seems he didn't hear her the first time. Figures.
"E-excuse me?" She said a second time, trying to gain the man's attention. Still no response.
"I-I'm sorry for b-bothering you mister, but h-have you seen this m-man named Kazuma?" She decided that even though he didn't show any sign of acknowledgement towards her, she'll try and ask him her question.
And it seems it somewhat worked as the hooded adventurer slowly looked turned around to look at her. And when he fully turned was something she definitely, definitely, wasn't expecting.
". . . No."
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.
.
.
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"KAZUMA-SAN?!"
The two look at each other with wide eyes. YunYun's sudden shout had caused a scene within their perimeters. The other adventurers looked at them weirdly, especially at the girl. Kazuma could only look at her with the same emotions running through his eyes: Shock.
"YunYun?" Kazuma asked, almost as if he couldn't believe at the sight Infront of him.
"Ka-Kazuma?" YunYun also had the same impression.
"Hai, Kazuma... desu..." Kazuma couldn't help but give her that iconic response. It was built in his system. But that doesn't matter. He looks at her with his mouth slightly agape.
"KAZUMA-SAN!!!" Suddenly, YunYun yelled his name out and ran straight at him. She got up to him and hugged the life out of him. Kazuma was a bit surprised by the sudden gesture, but eased in quite easily as the two pillows she had were squished against his chest. His emotions went from fear and shock, to relaxed and pleasured.
"Kazuma-san!... Kazuma...san... Ka- Kazuma-san?" YunYun was actually crying in the neck of the crude adventurer, her sobs was heard by him. She continued to do say his name, expecting some kind of reaction. She slightly opened her eyes, tears slightly blocking her vision, and looked back at him. She expected some kind of a shocked or surprised face, or anger, or happiness, just anything. But she soon stopped her sobs as she questioned the odd choice of emotions as she saw his face having more of bliss and pleasure. Something she definitely wasn't seeing coming.
But given the reputation this man had, she was slightly disappointed that he hadn't changed one bit about his habits. So she let go of the hug, much to the dismay of Kazuma.
"Huh?" Kazuma while in a daze, audibly expressed confusion and slight sadness when she pulled away from the hug.
"Jeez Kazuma..." YunYun whispered in one direction, the man Infront of her didn't catch the line.
"What did you say?" Kazuma asked out of curiosity.
"It's no-nothing." YunYun stuttered as always.
For some reason, Kazuma felt some genuine guilt when he saw her expression. It seems that he had somewhat disappointed her. Was it something he did? Was his action of taking advantage of her at that moment noticed? He didn't know. (Dumbass)
"Well, I ... still can't believe it. You're here." Kazuma tried to change the subject as he was still shocked to see YunYun here. "I mean, how did you find me?"
"Oh!" YunYun took the turn of the new topic. "Well, it was a bit hard to do actually." She scratched the back of her head, her cheeks slightly tinted red, more out of embarrassment really.
YunYun then explained the entire process of her traveling the entirety of the kingdom. From going up north, to the east, west, and now south. She also explained the traveling expenses, her ways of trying to find him, and finally up to this point.
Currently, YunYun was sitting beside him at the bar.
"And that's pretty much it." YunYun had ended the story with a gaze above her head, seeing if there's anything worth mentioning.
"Damn, you really went through all that trouble to just find me." Kazuma was more saying this to himself rather than her. He really hadn't expected the meek, shy, socially anxious girl to go through a 3 month journey across the kingdom to just find him of all people. Actually, why did she search for him in the first place? He just thought.
"Why?" Kazuma suddenly asked to her, the girl was caught off guard by this. She didn't know what type of question he had, so she looked at him to emphasize it more. "Like, why did you search for me?"
"Well..." She thought about it for a moment. Really, the sole reason was for this- a question. A question as to why he left. Why he left his team, left Axel, and why he's here now. She wanted to know all of this as the initial info she got form Darkness was really unexpected and she just couldn't believe. But seeing as she's seeing him now at a completely different place with presumably no party members as he's alone right now, it was apparently proven true.
But, for YunYun, having these questions as the sole reason for the search was a bit embarrassing. For her at least. Luckily, she had another reason.
She took out her travelling bag and rustled the contents in it, searching for something. Kazuma waited as she pulled out a letter from it.
"Here." YunYun gave the letter to him, her cheeks flustered as she knew the contents of the letter and Kazuma was about to know why she had been here because of that. She took the letter out of it's envelope and placed it on the table.
YunYun waited patiently as Kazuma was reading the letter. Word per word, he read its content's, digesting every bit of information to know her reason fully. Then, YunYun saw his facial expression change from neutral, to shock, to flustered, to being really interested at reading it.
He then looked up from the letter and looked at her with a red face.
"You know, I kinda gave up on this idea, but I think it might actually come true." Kazuma thought carefully. He had abandoned this idea long agao as he thought it might not be true, especially after the fake fan incident that happened to him once. But maybe, just maybe...
"My popular phase." Unconsciously, he formed a large smirk on his face, startling YunYun.
"U-um, Kazuma?"
"Huh what?" Kazuma was then knocked out of his thoughts and returned to reality. "Sorry, I was just thinking about it."
"Huh?!"
"Yeah, I think we should make a baby." Kazuma placed his hand underneath his chin, as if to look cool and calculating.
"Eh?!"
"I prefer to name him Kazuma Jr if he's a boy. Though I prefer we get a girl. If that's the case, I want to name her Sakura."
"Eeehhh?!"
"So when should we start? I do have an inn right now, so maybe we should start now. We don't want to waste time now do we?" Kazuma looked at her with a smile to impress, but it looked more like he was an old man smiling like a pervert at some poor young girl.
"EEEHHH?!?!"
Obviously, Kazuma had not taken the audible gasp that YunYun had made multiple times.
"Ka-Kazuma... Do-don't s-say it so c-casually." YunYun looked down at her thighs, embarrassed to not even look at him in the eyes.
"Oh come on. Isn't that what you wanted? You even gave this letter to me." Kazuma complained as he grabbed the letter again that he placed on the tabletop. "See. It says right here. You must find a man and make a baby with him. Raise that baby well and it shall defeat the looming threat that flows above the village . It's all written down."
YunYun couldn't look at him again as she darted her eyes to look at anywhere but him. She darted her eyes to the table. When she looked, she had noticed a very peculiar detail. There was a another letter.
"Wait." YunYun had forgotten the shy and embarrassing topic and changed her mood to curiosity.
"Hmm?" Kazuma looked at her confused.
YunYun went and grabbed the extra letter on the table. She read the contents, confused as to why there was even a letter there in the first place. After a minute, her face changed from neutral confusion, to shock, and now embarrassment (again).
"What? What's the letter about?" Kazuma asked, also confused. Especially after seeing her shift in emotions.
"Ka-Kazuma..." YunYun stuttered as she called his name. "Could you please give me the letter you're holding?"
Kazuma looked perplexed, but he gave her the letter.
She read the letter again, her face leaning much more closer than she should have been. Finally, after waiting for about a minute, Kazuma saw YunYun looking down all of a sudden. Her aura of downcast was felt by the other adventurer.
"YunYun, what's wrong? Did you change your mind or something?"
"Th..."
"Hmm?"
"THAT DAMN ARUE!!!"
YunYun had suddenly screamed in agony as she crumpled the letter up and threw it at the floor. Her anger had jump-scared not only Kazuma, but the other adventurers as well.
"Y-YunYun what's wrong?!" Kazuma asked, slightly scared as he had never seen YunYun being this mad before.
"My damn classmate had made a dumb novel and sent it as a letter!" YunYun yelled at him as she picked up the crumbled up paper from the floor and un-crumpled it. She shoved the letter against his face.
Kazuma, still scared, took the wrinkled paper from her hand. Kazuma read it again, this time fully. He didn't want to admit it, but he had stopped paying attention after he read the "find a man and make a baby with him."
He read it's contents again, fully paying attention this time. Finally, after reading it, Kazuma had the same emotions that flowed through him like she did. He looked down in shame and embarrassment. If Vanir was here, he would be savoring the taste like it was the finest wine on earth.
"... So. It is a novel..." Kazuma said with a cold dead gaze. YunYun only nodded slowly with a disappointed expression.
"Tch..." Kazuma after a long three months, had gotten the same feeling he had when Chris left- Depression.
"My popular phase..."
"Alright, so what's the actual real letter." After calming down for about 10 minutes, Kazuma had gone back to his normal self. He asked for the contents of the real letter which was given to her.
"It's a letter from my father. He talks about how I'm doing and when I'm coming back. Oh, and he also told me that I'm going to be chief of the village soon." YunYun summarized the rather long letter.
"Oh, so no big deal then." Kazuma said as he placed his arm on the table. "So, what are you gonna do now? I mean, you have no reason to stay here right?"
With YunYun's reason for finding him was actually just a novel written by her classmate, she really had no other reason for being here now. Though, that's what he knew at least.
"Oh, um..." YunYun looked away in shyness, trying to hide the feelings within her. "Actually, there's another reason why I'm here..." She said quietly, but was barely heard by him.
"Hmm?"
"I... I wanted to ask..."
Kazuma leaned in closer.
"Why... Why did you leave your party?"
"Ah. So that's why..."
Kazuma sighed as he leaned back and tapped his fingers on the table.
"It's... a long story."
Kazuma retold the story from start to finish. From their quest in the forest, to the death of himself, to the conversation he had with Chris, and finally the climax between him and his previous party members. He didn't tell her what he said to them, he just told her that "I had a falling out with my party. I told them I didn't want to be in it anymore." and told the reasoning that he was holding himself back and that he needed a change.
Of course, he didn't fully tell his conversation with Chris. It was confidential. He told her that that conversation, was one of the most important talks he had ever in his life. One with Eris, and the other with Chris.
He also talked about his adventurer with Chris in the underground city. YunYun had brought up a detail she had spotted in Maine that Kazuma was in the newspapers, talking about him slaying a demon king general. He told the story with as much detail he can possibly remember. The fortress, the discovery in the basement, the fight with the necromancer, and his death.
Kazuma had also added the part where he died. Which, made YunYun utterly emotional and tried to comfort him. He said he was fine and that she didn't have to, but, in his heart, he truly, really appreciated that. It felt nice to be comforted for something as traumatic as death itself. Though, he was never going to tell her that.
"Wait, so where is Chris now?" YunYun knew that Chris was there through his entire journey here, so it made her curious as to why she isn't here with him.
"Right, I didn't tell you that..." He mumbled but was heard faintly by her. "After we went back to Maine, Ferdinand said that he would leave." Kazuma turned away from her and faced against the shelf full of alcohol Infront of him. "Of course, I understood. He was a freelancer after all. Plus, he didn't even say he wanted to be in the party to begin with. I wasn't mad at all."
Kazuma then grabbed his mug full of ale, which was refilled every-now and then while he told his tale.
"The next day, Ferdinand left, and me and Chris went to a quest to capture some thieves or something." He took a sip before setting the mug down on the table top. "We did it with no issues at all."
YunYun just listened, not saying a word or two. She was paying close attention to every word he said, trying to digest and understand his story.
"After we did that, we were walking down the path towards the guild. And then..." Kazuma took a deep breath, closing his eyes, then letting it out as a sigh.
He turned his head to face at her, his eyes now open. The atmosphere around them had suddenly gone down.
"... She left." He said with a straight face, his voice slightly croaking which was barely noticeable by her.
"What?" YunYun asked like she couldn't believe it.
"She said that that quest was a test. To see if I can handle by myself. When that happened, she said that she wanted to leave. So here I am. After three months, I've been soloing quests."
"Ah, I see..." YunYun drifted off as she wasn't feeling the energy to speak up more. Not after how Kazuma was left all on his own. It was hard to believe the thief named Chris would leave him be so suddenly.
"So now you know. Any other questions?" She shook her head, indicating she had no more.
"Then I guess that's it. You can go back to your village or something." Kazuma got up from his seat. He wanted to leave since he had no more buisness other than going back to his inn to rest. But YunYun had grabbed his cloak before he was just about to walk away.
"Wait."
"Hmm?"
"Listen, I know this is a bit much for me, and you don't have to if you don't want to but..." Kazuma cocked an eyebrow.
"You are soloing right?"
"Um, yes?"
"Then... Could you... c-c-" YunYun bit her lip and looked down at the ground.
Kazuma knew what she was about to ask was embarrassing for her, so he waited patiently.
"Co-could y-you..."
"c-come with m-m-me t-to my v-vi-village?" She managed to speak her question before breaking down on the ground and proceeded to apologize to him profusely. Her body bowing up and down quickly.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm -"
"Woah woah woah hold on YunYun! Calm the fuck down!" Kazuma then crouched down to her and grabbed both of her shoulders, shaking her a bit to snap her out of it.
After 5 minutes of just YunYun crying and apologizing while Kazuma tries to stop her from doing so, the former had eventually calmed down and went back to her senses. Still, she felt guilty for asking him when their not even friends. (She still believes their not friends to begin with.)
"You want me to join you in your village?" Kazuma repeated the question as YunYun nods slowly, her cheeks flushed red as usual.
"Well," Kazuma scratched his cheek with his finger, slightly turning to his side in shyness. "I am a bit bored here so..."
"... I guess I can go." Kazuma said it pretty fast, but was heard from her. Kazuma now fully looked away from her, feeling pretty embarrassed as well.
Kazuma could see her giving a sigh of relief as she closed her eyes, before opening them again to look at him.
"That's good to hear." She smiled. "So, when do you want to leave?"
"I guess we could head out now. I don't really have that much stuff in my inn." He said. The only stuff in his room were just some clothes in a bag. He doesn't really have any other stuff or trinkets.
"Oh, then should I wait here while you go pack your stuff?"
"Guess so."
"Alrighty then, I'll be waiting for you here." She gave a pretty cute smile with her eyes closed.
"God I need to protect that smile at all cost!"
Kazuma got up and went outside the guild to go to his inn. On his journey home, he thought about what YunYun requested.
"Man, to think YunYun would ask something about that? She's really grown out of her shell hasn't she huh?" Kazuma smiled a bit.
"Though, her reasoning for coming here to see me was..." He thought back on his first interaction with her today.
YunYun's reason had two. One was the novel her classmate had written. Which was pretty embarrassing since it talked about how her village was in peril and that she needed a mate and child to save it. It's humorous, but to think she was willing to find him of all people just to save her village was astounding. Especially with her willing to lose her virginity and make a baby.
Her other reason was pretty surprising as well. Her curiosity. Her curiosity to know why he did it. Why he left his party and left Axel. It's somewhat a good reason. But the journey for it, was something really unexpected for YunYun to commit. From going up to the northern territory, to the east, west, and finally south of the kingdom, she was really committed to finding him. It must be some curiosity that couldn't be extinguished. With how happy and heartfelt YunYun had hugged him when she found him, it really asked him a question,
"That hug. She was so happy to find me. It felt quite nice. Probably because of her huge milkers, but that's beside the point. I really do wonder, with how desperate she was for searching me, her reasoning being to question my decision and make a damn baby, does she do it out her own curiosity and duty, or is it..."
Kazuma shook his head. No. There's no way it could be that reason. There's just no chance. He knew what type of guy he was, and he knew what type of girl she was. There's no chance. Especially how he often talks about gender equality and obvious pervertedness.
Kazuma had eventually arrive at his inn. He walks in through the doors, and met the same receptionist from when he first came in.
"Hello there Mr. Kazuma." He eventually got to know his name after living here for so long. His name was George. He's actually a pretty good guy after Kazuma decided to know him better. He felt really bad for lashing out on him after his falling out with Chris. So after that fateful day, he went downstairs and apologized to him japanese style. His head on the floor and the whole shabang.
"Hi there George."
"Is everything going well?" He nodded. "My, that face seems to be the look of finding a new girl. What's her name?"
Apparently, this guy was just really good at reading people's faces. He's like a dating expert. He can know when someone is feeling lovestruck, heartbreak, and will even give them tips about dating and comfort them for their losses.
"You know too well. But she's just a friend. And her name is YunYun."
"That's what they always say." George gave him a grin.
"Yeah yeah whatever. Anyway I'm going upstairs to pack my stuff." He says as he walks past him.
"Pack your stuff? Are you leaving?"
"Yeah."
"That's a bummer. I'm definitely going to miss you. But, you are a customer after all. I hope wherever you go, success would come."
"Thanks George." Kazuma gave him a smile before retreating back upstairs to go to his room.
"Your welcome, Mr. Kazuma."
Kazuma got to his room, packed his stuff, and went back to the guild with waving George a final goodbye. He walked past the numerous stalls selling foods and items, and eventually arrived back at the guild where the crimson girl was waiting.
"Hey there YunYun." Kazuma greeted her as he walks up to her from behind.
"Oh Kazuma, you actually came. I thought you didn't for a second." YunYun patted her chest and drew a sigh of relief.
"This poor girl is way to damn innocent!"
"Of course I came. I'm not that type of guy y'know." He says as he placed his bag on the ground and sat down beside her.
"Well, you are that type of guy to..."
"Hey! I'm not like that anymore okay!" He lied through his teeth as he was still starring at her mountains beneath her.
The two eventually calmed down and went back to the original topic.
"So, should we go now?" Kazuma asked.
"I think we should." She answers as she got up.
"So where is it then?"
"It's up near the south eastern border."
"Wait, you're telling me your home is near the demon king's empire?" He remembered that on the map, the border dispute between the kingdom and the empire was near the south.
"Yes, but we're actually quite peaceful with them. They don't attack us or anything." She smiled happily."
"Gee I wonder why." With how crimson demons are, he could guess why the empire hasn't struck them yet.
"Well then, let's go." YunYun walks past him and wen to the door. Kazuma also followed suite.
"Hey YunYun, how are we going to get to your village anyways?" He manages to ask as he followed behind her.
"Don't worry, we won't have to go by carriage or anything." She says as she walks through the big doors of the guild.
"Then?"
"Kazuma, stand here." She points at the middle of the street.
"Um, okay. And then?" He asks as he stands at where she pointed.
"Just stand still and then..." She goes up to him and grabs his hand.
YunYun did this on instinct, while Kazuma on the other hand was getting some ideas brewing in his head. While the innocent YunYun was blissfully ignorant of the connotations.
"Teleport!"
"Huh? Wh...what!" Kazuma was confused for a second before he started floating up and light began blinding his sight. After a few seconds, the light completely blinded him completely until he floated down to the ground.
"What the-" Kazuma slowly opened his eyes, and saw that his surroundings had changed. Before it was the town of Maine, the wooden and concrete buildings and the guild Infront of him. But now it was different. The surroundings now were full of trees and grass.
"Where the hell are we?" He asks as he walks around a bit, turning his head from side to side, admiring the forest Infront of him.
"Here we are." YunYun walks up to him. He had noticed that she was here as well.
She then walks straight ahead, Kazuma followed her behind. They eventually arrived at a dirt path leading to presumably her village.
"I'm guessing that was a teleporting spell."
"It is. I learned that spell so that I could easily travel from place to place." She explained.
"That's pretty neat. You think I could learn that?"
"No. You're still an adventurer right? Teleport is advanced magic." She asks as she looks at him.
"Right." Kazuma said disappointed, turning his eye to the side.
YunYun and Kazuma walked among the dirt road, admiring the scenery. Before they arrived at the gates of the crimson demon village.
"Well Kazuma, we're here."
"My home."
To be continued...
Side story 2: Learning The Truth
Rosalina was walking in her new home- Kazuma's old mansion.
She had moved in after her new party insisted that she move in to their house. She was thankful and very grateful that they did that.
Now, she was walking around through the hallways of the mansion, admiring the craftsmanship behind such and old building. She really wonder how rich this guy was to afford such a big mansion like this. But she guessed due to its old age, it's price has gone down so maybe that's how.
Anyways, it's been a few days after they went on their first quest together, and their habits still hasn't changed since that fateful day.
Megumin has been keeping everything to herself, not bothering to speak to anyone other than her pet cat chommusuke. Aqua had been pretty quiet. Rosalina didn't see this as anything too bad since she didn't know what her true personality was, but she knew there was something bothering her. While Darkness was somewhat her usual self, albeit, less energetic than before.
Rosalina knew there was something seriously wrong with all of them. She could tell that something was off, but she just couldn't know what it is. That's why she intended to ask Darkness for some context since she seemed to be the most approachable out of the bunch.
She went to their living room since that's where Darkness usually hangs out in. She walks down the steps from the hallway and into the living room, where, as expected, she sees Darkness on the couch, reading her book.
"Hello there Darkness." She greets her as she walks up to her, approaching from the side.
"Hi there Rose. What brings you here?" Darkness puts her book down to her lap and answers her greeting politely.
"Just wanted to be here is all."
"Then have a seat then." She gestures her hand towards the sofa beside her.
Rosalina went around the sofa and finally sat on it. Her back leaning on the plush pillows behind her, her legs closed in, leaving no gap between her thighs.
She was wearing a pretty casual black dress. She wasn't wearing her gauntlets since they weren't questing this day. Darkness was also wearing some casual clothing. She was wearing a white button up shirt with long sleeves reaching her wrists. She wore a black skirt that extended to her feet, and on her collar she wore a red ribbon.
"I want to ask." Rosalina started, and Darkness looked at her curiously. "How was your party beforehand?"
Darkness internally sighed. She knew this question would come up in the distant future, seeing as how her friends behavior have been somewhat off from what normal standards are. Especially with Megumin's quietness and lack of social interactions, and Aqua's depressing energy radiating off of her. It's no wonder why Rosalina was so curious.
"Well, it's a long story." Darkness fully closed the book in her hands.
"We were a pretty good party in Axel. We've defeated many strong enemies before and struck through all of them. Megumin was once a very energetic girl with aspirations to become a powerful mage. She even practiced everyday to improve her explosion skill."
"Explosion?" It was the first time Rose had learned that the girl Megumin used such a spell.
"Really, that's the only spell she had in her."
"... Huh?" Rose internally cocked an eyebrow at that.
"And Aqua was a really cheerful and prideful friend of mine. She always boasted about her skill to everyone. Though, her faith to the axis cult is a bit, much. But I don't want to step on anyone's belief."
"Wait, she's in the axis cult?" This was also the first time she had heard this. To think that that depressed and slothful girl was once a devoted Aqua believer was hard to imagine. And to think that Darkness explained that she was a 'cheerful' and 'prideful' friend? Just what happened to them for it to all change?
"She also claimed to be the goddess Aqua. But we didn't believe her."
"... What??"
"I... well, you don't have to know." Darkness looks away with a blush on her face. Rosalina just squinted her eyes a bit at her.
"A-anyways, I'm sure you know there was another person here right?" Darkness recovered from her embarrassment before and went back to the original topic.
"Yes. I'm pretty sure his name was Kazuma right?" Darkness nodded.
"Your correct. His name was Kazuma. He was our leader ever since I came in the party. I would say his personality was, a bit much."
"What do you mean?"
"He can be a brute at times. Fantasizing about groping women's breast, stealing women's panties, saying he would dropkick any women if he deems them rude. Oh, he is just the perfect man isn't he~?" Darkness was madly blushing while saying out all of Kazuma's less favorable traits. While Rose looked-
Absolutely horrified. How in Eris' name did this man not get in jail? With all things Darkness had listed, it seems to her that this Kazuma man was not a very good guy. In fact, he looked more like a douchebag to her. And to hear her say that he's the perfect man? What the hell was going on in this party?!
"Truthfully, I wish he was still here to lead us."
"... Excuse me?!?"
Rosalina had to take a breather after all of this info dump. Firstly, there was a mage who takes explosion as a skill,which isn't too bad actually, until she mentioned that's her only spell. Secondly, there was a god damn Axis cultist in the party whose personality changed upside down and would even dare to imitate a goddess. Which makes her very uncomfortable to think about. Finally, there was this vile and disgusting man who talked about assaulting and sexually assaulting women that somehow became their leader.
Rosalina had a downcast look after this. Her hair fell Infront of her eyes, blocking their view from her and from Darkness.
"Is there anything else you want to ask?"
". . . No."
"Oh, then feel free to ask me if you do." Darkness said as she opened up her book again and began reading from where she left off.
Rosalina got up from the sofa and went back upstairs to leave. The floorboards creaked under each step she took upstairs and in the hallway.
"You know, I wanted to ask her those questions so that I could get to know better of my team to help them in whatever their problem is. But now? It's gonna be really hard to try an fit in." she depressingly thinks as she reaches her room and walk in to rest. Tired from just hearing a tiny bit of story from Darkness's perspective.
Author's note:
Hey everyone, welcome to arc 2! Where I'll call it the "Crimson demon arc".
It's going to be a wild and interesting journey with a climax that I'm very excited to write soon. There will also be some returning characters from the anime which wasn't in the first arc be in this one, so guess which ones there are.
Anywho, I want to say thank you to everyone that has stuck to this story from the very beginning, and have been doing so to this day. You all mean so much to me for the people that follow and favorited this. It's what makes me want to continue until it ends. Thank you all once again.
That is all from me, I hope you enjoyed reading this new chapter, and I'll see you in the next one.