It had been a couple of months and it was now early summer.

Kazuma was up in a tree branch, bow in hand. Megumin was sitting in a lower branch on the same tree. Down on the ground Darkness was already fidgeting. They were located on a hilltop with a clear view of the surrounding lands.

"Can I?" Darkness called up.

"Yeah, go ahead." Kazuma replied.

With an eager grin she unscrewed a clay jar and poured out enough liquid to fill the cap before splashing it on herself. Kazuma had been very explicit about what he would do to her if he used more than a capful. A few minutes passed without event. Then from over a mile away they heard a lone howl. Other quickly joined in until there was a chorus of monstrous howls.

"That got their attention," Kazuma said. "There are around forty of them." From the tree top he could see a dust cloud being kicked up heading their way. Even without his Detect Enemy skill he would have known they were coming and from what direction.

"What a nice big target," Megumin said, trying hard to hide her excitement. "You know, I could-"

"Don't even think about it," Kazuma nocked an arrow and got ready.

Megumin 'hmmphed' and frowned but didn't argue.

"Get ready!" Kazuma called down.

"Ready!" Darkness called back, sword in hand and almost jumping in place. "Please take your time! I promise to endure no matter how much they may bite and tear into me! Please show no concern for my safety!"

Kazuma sighed and shifted focus back to what was coming. At this point he was used to darkness and there was no point telling her to be careful. He saw the pack burst out of the forest and begin charging up the hill. They looked like ordinary grey wolves except for being six to eight feet at the shoulder. As he watched, one tripped a wire he'd set up earlier that morning. A branch that had been tied down swung out, three wooden spikes had been tied to it. The direwolf that had tripped the wire was impaled through the side of its chest, it gave out a mournful wail before it died. None of the other direwolves slowed down or even took notice.

Kazuma saw another wolf fall into a pit filled with spikes. Another charged through an ordinary looking bush, only to impale itself on a row of stakes. Three monsters killed before they'd even gotten a quarter of the way up the hill. Not a bad start, he thought and let go of the arrow.

"Snipe! Snipe! Snipe!" He shot his arrows as fast as he could draw them and pull back his bow string. The wolves were swift, they could run down horses, and the hill was wooded, giving them cover. But they were big targets and with his Detect Enemy skill he knew exactly where they were. Every shot hit and the arrows buried themselves into the thick hides. The problem was none of them were kill shots. The direwolves had thick hides, at this distance the only place he could be lethal was the eye. His luck stat meant he always hit, but as fast as they were going, he couldn't hit a wolf's eye.

Sitting on her branch Megumin lifted her staff over her head. "Lightning Bolt!" Electricity shot from the end of her staff and forked out, the bolt struck three monsters, making them glow and twitch for an instant. Three smoking corpses crumpled to the ground as the remainder of the pack kept charging towards Darkness.

Kazuma kept sniping while Megumin cast another lightning bolt killing two more of the creatures. That was all they could do before they charged straight into Darkness. The very first one to reach her, the pack leader, had its jaws wide open and was leaping towards her head. Darkness stood her ground, with one clean, swift swing of her she sliced clean though its neck. The head fell away as blood gushed out and coated the crusader. The remaining direwolves let loose a howl and came at her fangs bared. She split another one's head in two and chopped a couple more in twain. The thick hides that could blunt his arrows might as well have been paper when it came to her magical blade.

"Kazuma! Do you see this?! Do you? I'm a true crusader!"

"Yeah! I can see! Don't get cocky!" Even after a couple months she was still not used to being competent with a sword. "Snipe! Snipe! Snipe!"

Now that they were no longer running at full speed Kazuma could hit them like a marksman. Three of the beasts were killed with arrows straight through their eyes.

"Blast!" An explosion not five feet from Darkness sent half a dozen monster into the air.

Despite the arrows, magic, and her best efforts several direwolves were able to sink their teeth into her.

"They're biting me!" Darkness cried out. "They're trying to tear me apart!" Her shouts didn't sound the least bit frightened. They were quite joyous. And even with direwolves chomping down on her and refusing to let go, the crusader had no issue continuing to swing her sword about.

After just a few minutes it was all over. Kazuma and Megumin climbed down onto a pile of corpses. Darkness was coated in blood from head to toe. Her armor was damaged and there were bite size gouges in her clothing, but Darkness had come through without a scratch.

"You all right?" Kazuma asked.

Though drenched in red Darkness nodded. "I am fine, though it was terrifying. Those beasts were trying to devour me." She let loose an exultant sigh.

"You're very brave," Kazuma did his best not to sound too snarky. "Anyway, lets get to work." He handed one of his throwing knives to Darkness who accepted it without comment. He handed another one to Megumin who did not look pleased. Kazuma then took 'Sting' his ten-inch-long magical dagger.

"Why so I have to do something so icky?" Megumin complained. "I'm am archwizard and a young woman."

"As equal members of this party we should share the labors equally," Darkness said.

"If you don't want to help you don't have to," Kazuma told her. "But then you don't get a share of the pelts."

The reward was 250,000 eris per direwolf killed. There was also a high demand for direwolf pelts. Before setting out Kazuma had gotten a deal from a tailor to pay 100,000 for every intact pelt and 40,000 for any that were no longer whole but still usable. Megumin grumbled a bit but eventually got to work. Along with skinning the direwolves Kazuma also had to go around the base of the hill taking apart the traps that hadn't been sprung. All that took much longer than the actual battle had.

As they were leaving Megumin pulled out her adventurer's card. As soon as she checked there was a smug grin on her face.

"Ha! I'm level thirty-five now and I got a new skill point."

"Are you going to-" Before Kazuma could complete the sentence he saw her swipe her finger across her card.

"One more into Elite Explosion."

Kazuma didn't look happy. "That's a waste. You've already maxed out Greater, Supreme, and Elite. You're just throwing away your skill points now!"

"They're my skill points and I can do what I want with them," she stuck her tongue out at him. "I've got Fireball, Blast, Greater Freeze, and Teleportation. I learned all of those because you wanted me to. Isn't that enough?"

"I asked you to get those spells, so you'd be more useful for the party. You've already maxed out Explosion as much as you can. Isn't it a waste to keep dumping skill points into it?"

"Even if I'm not learning any more new spells the more skill points I have the more powerful the result will be. So, it's not a waste!"

"Because being a nuke isn't enough," he muttered. "It needs to be an even bigger nuke."

"Huh?" Megumin looked uncertain.

"Don't worry about it," Kazuma sighed.

"I still think it's unfair I can't use Explosion whenever I want."

"If I could trust you not to use it on the first squirrel you spot it'd be fine."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm not that bad! I can stop any time I want!"

"Oh? So, I don't have to take you out of town every day just to blow up an empty field? Great!"

"Wait! I never said I wanted to stop! Just that I could!"

He gave her a flat stare. "Uh huh."

She began to fidget and press her index fingers together. "Uhm, speaking of which, the mission is over, and you don't need any more magic from me. Soooo…"

He sighed. "Go ahead."

With a triumphant smile she lifted her staff. "Split open the sky and shake the earth! Let the sound of destruction echo and fill every ear! Explooooooooosion!"

The hilltop where they'd fought was suddenly a mass of flame and ruin. Trees and earth were blasted into pieces. Megumin toppled over with a content smile. Without comment Kazuma lifted her onto his back. Darkness had all the wolf pelts tied up into a single huge bale. Together they headed back.

"So, did you check your level yet?" Megumin asked as she limply rode on Kazuma's back.

He pulled out his card. "Yeah, I went up, I'm twenty-eight now. Darkness?"

She checked her own card. "No, I am still at level twenty-three."

"Any chance when you do go up you pick an offensive skill this time?" After getting One Handed Fighting Style and Swordsmanship she gone right back to hoarding defensive skills again. With her insane strength, just being competent with a sword had made her one of the top fighters in the entire country. Kazuma would have liked to have seen what she would be like if she became an actual expert with her sword though.

Her face blushed and she took a sudden interested in the plants growing by the roadside. "I'll think about it," she promised.

"Which means you won't do it. Don't you think you'd get more out of Greater Swordsmanship than Supreme Physical Resistance?"

"I… I'll think about it."

"Hey," Megumin complained. "They're her skill points. She should use them however she wants. You don't hear us complain when you waste yours on something useless like, 'Negotiation.'"

"You think that's useless?! None of the tailors offered more that 20,000 eris for a direwolf skin when I went in to talk to them. It's a luck-based skill, so for me having it is the same as a license to print money."

"Yeah, well everyone should get to choose their own skills without you trying to bully them."

"I'm not a bully, I'm just the only one with any common sense."

"Whatever," Megumin muttered.

XXX

They collected payment at the tailor before returning to the guild. All together the party earned more than thirteen million eris for a single day's work. They were about to settle down for a celebratory meal when Luna approached them. Walking just behind her was an attractive blonde woman with a bronze complexion and a flower in her hair.

"Ah, Kazuma?" Luna asked sounding a bit nervous.

"Yes, I'm Kazuma."

"We've just received a special request for an escort mission," Luna's hands kept opening and closing as she spoke. "The customer is specifically asking for you. She wants you to accompany her on a six-hour carriage ride to the nearby town Lancaster. She is offering a payment of one hundred thousand eris, as well as pay both for a night's stay at an inn and the carriage ride back in the morning."

"Lancaster?" Kazuma said in surprise. "That's a really safe location isn't it? Why would anyone need a bodyguard?"

The girl stepped forward, clasping her hands together. "I know it's foolish, but I would just feel so much safer traveling if I had THE Satou Kazuma there to protect me. Everyone says you're so amazing! It would be such a thrill to have you sharing a carriage with me!"

Kazuma grinned and puffed out his chest. Meanwhile Darkness was frowning.

"Kazuma, isn't this a bit suspicious?"

"What do you mean? It sounds perfectly reasonable to me."

"But-"

Without waiting to hear Darkness out Kazuma stepped up to the young woman and spoke in a deeper voice. "I'd be honored to escort you and make sure you get here safe and sound."

"Wonderful!" The girl eagerly took hold of his arm.

Luna stood there watching with a cheerless smile.

XXX

Shortly after Kazuma and the girl departed Luna approached Darkness and Megumin.

"I'm very sorry about this," Luna bowed to them.

"What are you apologizing for?" Darkness asked.

Luna paused and considered her words. "That escort mission just now? Well, it sort of has an ulterior motive."

"What do you mean?" She demanded. "Is Kazuma in some kind of danger?"

"No, no, no!" Luna waved her hands in front of her. "It nothing like that! The escort mission is just as safe and easy as you think. It's just that the reason behind it is a bit, well deceptive."

Darkness frowned. "I don't care for deception, what exactly is this about?"

Luna sighed. "Recruitment. In general, the guild frowns on trying to recruit members of established parties, but there's no formal rule against it. And, well, the guild received a special request from the royal court. So, we sort of have to cooperate."

"What?! Someone's trying to recruit Kazuma?!"

Luna shook her head. "No, not Kazuma."

There was a stir in the guild. Darkness looked to the door and saw a Blue haired archpriestess, a sword master in plate armor, and a small crowd entering. They spotted where Darkness and Megumin were and headed straight for them.

XXX

Kazuma and the young woman were in the carriage and rolling out of town.

"So, I guess we've got the next six hours to talk and get to know each other," Kazuma said in his manliest voice. "Would you like to hear about some of my amazing adventures?"

"Actually," as if by magic the girl suddenly produced half a dozen colorful brochures. "I'd like to talk to you about the Axis Church and why you should devote yourself to serving the goddess Aqua."

Kazuma stared at her wide eyed before letting out a one-word shriek. "WHAT?!"

"The goddess Aqua stands for love, happiness, and not padding your chest. We believe…"

It was going to be a very, very, very long trip.