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Chapter 32: A Fight For These Best Friends!

Part 1

It was bound to happen eventually. Besides, I was a complete asshole for not telling Mitsurugi right away.

It was a silent and awkward walk outside, as Mitsurugi told me he wanted to talk in the garden. It was dark, but there were lamps illuminating the cobblestone path leading into the garden, casting a dim light on the bushes and flowers adorning it. He stopped and turned to me.

"...I thought you were going out with Rin? Are you cheating on her?"

I glanced away from him, thinking of the best way to explain this.

"She's aware of it."

"And she's fine with it?"

"Yeah, she is."

"Tsk… I was hoping I could use that."

This guy was really plotting my downfall, huh?

I couldn't really blame him. If I was in his position, I'd pretty much try to dig up as much dirt on the other guy as I could.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

He said, frowning.

"...Well, I figured you only had a small crush, so I was kinda hoping you'd lose your feelings for her eventually."

"Wow. You really are a scumbag, huh?"

It sounded worse when I said it aloud. It sounded much better in my head when I was rationalizing it to myself.

"You know, I was gonna let this slide if you just told me that you were worried about my feelings, but after hearing that… Well, I'm really pissed off now."

I nodded and spread my arms.

"You can punch me if you want."

"...Nah, that's too easy."

Easy for me, or for him?

"We gotta settle this like men and have a duel."

"Say what?"

I said, staring blankly at him. I went on and said,

"What is this, the samurai period?"

"Come on, you're a guy, you know that this is the only way to settle things, right?"

"...You're much higher level than me."

He took out a bottle from his inventory with a purple liquid inside.

"This is a poison that temporarily decreases one's stats upon consumption. It should decrease my stats to around your level."

This guy was really serious about this.

"Besides, we won't use weapons or any skills. Just fists."

It was gonna be a classic brawl, huh?

"...Listen, isn't it really cliche to have guys settle this with a fist fight? Why don't we play some Mario Kart, or something?"

"I'm the one who got cucked, so I choose the rules."

I guess that was that.

I accepted the terms, since I knew what he was feeling.

…I felt the same way when I saw my childhood friend with that delinquent senpai.

It made the whole thing worse, since I already knew how horrible it felt to have the girl you had a crush on get with another guy.

Even more so if you see the other guy as pure filth.

We squared off against one another, fists raised. It just occurred to me that I had never really fought with my fists before. In the dungeon, I used my bow or Chunchunmaru.

My only knowledge when it came to fist fights were the occasional self-defense clickbait videos I saw on YouTube.

I knew the theory behind a good punch was to use my legs to generate the power, rather than relying purely on my arms.

It seems that Mitsurugi was an amateur as well, since he charged in without any technique whatsoever, throwing a very choreographed right hook that I managed to backstep away from. Then, I threw a punch.

"Owww!"

The one who screamed in pain wasn't him, even though I hit his head with my punch. I screamed as my knuckles started throbbing in pain from punching his skull. Meanwhile, he only seemed a little dazed.

"Oi… You punched me without hesitation. That hurts!"

"My hand hurts even more! I think I broke it!"

He charged at me again, trying to tackle me down into the ground, but I was able to push him off, making him fall over.

"Gah! My nose! It's bleeding!"

"Oh, shit. My bad."

"..." x 2.

Once he got up, we stared at each other, with my potentially broken hand, and his bleeding nose.

"...This is stupid."

"I told you."

With the adrenaline wearing off, and with all our injuries, we stopped the duel.

I casted [Heal] on us, then we sat on a bench.

"...You're such an asshole, Satou."

"Yeah, sorry."

"You're aware of it, right?"

I was the type of guy who'd get depressed for years because I couldn't get a girl, only to do the same thing to another guy and expect him to be fine with it, because he was my friend. I was fully aware of how selfish I was, but what else was I supposed to do?

In my mind, Mitsurugi already had everything. He was popular, athletic and handsome. If it wasn't for the app or the dungeon, he would have coasted through life without any problems, while I would have stayed as a NEET, with no prospects, no girlfriend, or anything else.

I didn't take his feelings seriously because I figured he could just get any other girl he wanted. But he seemed serious about Aqua, at least. Just because he could get any girl he wanted, it didn't make his affections for Aqua less meaningful than mine.

"...Sorry, Mitsurugi."

He chuckled and sighed.

"A part of me wants to continue being petty, but we have more important things to worry about. It's kind of stupid to worry about relationship drama when there's demons from another world trying to invade ours."

Could I have been that mature about it, if the same thing happened to me? I doubt it. I thought that I grew up a lot thanks to Megumin, but I was only just starting to act like a normal person. I was nowhere near as mature as I wanted to be.

My mind was still a bit warped due to my NEET days, and there was still a lingering resentment in my heart towards riajuu, normies who I thought were living on easy mode.

Once I stopped thinking about Mitsurugi like that…

I can see now that he was probably my best friend at this point.

You finally realized it, you stupid male tsundere!

Your bond with Mitsurugi Kyouya has increased to the max level!

Mitsurugi Kyouya (Soccer Club Ace), Bond Rank: 7 (MAX)

At Rank 7, Mitsurugi Kyouya sees you as his best friend. Even with all your faults and secrecy, he has accepted everything about you. You are now friends for life, even if you won't admit it. He trusts you with his life, because he knows you trust him just as much.

Bond Reward: You learn the skill, [Rune Warrior]!

[Rune Warrior] Skill Rank: 1, Active Skill (20 mp)

Once you cast a spell, you can absorb it. Melee weapon and unarmed attacks are then imbued with the effects of that spell, which will change situationally depending on the spell absorbed. If the spell deals damage, that damage will be applied on-hit. This transformation will change your eyes and hair to reflect the nature of the spell absorbed. This transformation state will only last 1 minute and cannot be used again for another hour.

Part 2

"...Y-You can try again, Dustiness-san."

Konno-san encouraged Darkness, who was still screwing up her naginata drills.

Darkness and I went to the naginata club again after school with Konno-san, but Darkness wasn't making any progress at all.

"L-Like this? Eiii!"

"You're putting a lot of power into it… Perhaps that's what's making you miss?"

I was watching her as I did my own drills. We were supposed to hit a wooden target, with the club president and Konno-san supervising us.

Since I had the [Teaching] skill which was supposed to make someone learn faster, I decided to give Darkness some advice.

"Why don't we try just having you move closer to the target, instead of having you attack from a distance?"

Darkness was missing because she had to step forward and thrust her naginata at max range. By moving closer, it would increase her accuracy a lot.

"...But if she's that close, wouldn't that ruin the purpose of this exercise?"

Konno-san said, doubtful of my method.

"Well, it's better to have her get used to hitting the target, rather than having her lose confidence."

"I suppose so."

Darkness looked embarrassed as Konno-san set the target right in front of her.

"Um… Isn't this too close?"

She said, holding the spear and tapping the target with the tip.

"Ohh! You hit it, Dustiness-san!"

Konno-san clapped her hands, much to Darkness's mortification.

"K-Kazuma, this isn't gonna help me at all!"

"Just keep doing that. Trust me."

She was about to argue again, but when she saw that I was serious, she kept poking the target.

"...Eh? Why did my dexterity go up?!"

She said, when she checked her phone after doing that drill for an hour under my supervision.

"I knew it. You were affected by my [Teaching] skill."

Mitsurugi told me that he unlocked this skill after training me during soccer practice. Back then, whenever Mitsurugi taught me, I experienced a crazy amount of growth when it came to my physical stats, even if all I was doing was basic practice.

In short, someone could make an incredible amount of progress once they were under the effect of the [Teaching] skill. At least, that was the case for a beginner. Darkness was bound to hit a development wall like I did, eventually.

But still, it was good to raise her dex as high as possible while we still can.

"...Raising my dex is nice and all, but like what you said before, Kazuma, it's still way too low even if I train it."

"Well, you're still developing your accuracy by doing that, aren't you?"

"...I really doubt that."

She couldn't believe me at all.

After practice, we said goodbye to Konno-san and the club captain. Then, we headed over to the dungeon. I wanted to show Darkness what I meant, even if she remained skeptical of me.

We went to the first floor of the dungeon, and then we came across a goblin…

"[Freeze Gust]!"

I froze it in place.

Then, I handed Darkness a spear that we took from the lizardmen before, which remained in my storage box.

"Stop using that greatsword for now and use this spear."

"B-But I want to keep using a greatsword!"

"Are you still gonna be stubborn about that? Swords take too much skill to use properly, much less by someone as clumsy as you. But just about anyone can use a spear. Besides, you spent all that time training with a naginata. It's the same thing."

She silently accepted the spear and went to the immobile goblin.

Before, Darkness would have still struggled to finish off an enemy who couldn't even move. But with all the practice she spent hitting a stationary target from up closer with a spear, she didn't have any problems at all finishing off the goblin.

"...! I actually did it!"

She said, looking in wonder at the dead goblin.

I nodded and said,

"This is what I meant. Since I have a lot of ways to disable the opponent, all you need to work on is how to finish off a target with a spear. All you need to do is thrust a spear forward, so you don't need to think about anything else and just let muscle memory take over."

"...But I want to stick with a sword…"

I raised a brow at her insistence to keep using a sword.

"Why are you so hung up on swords, anyway? Historically, spears have always been more effective. The effectiveness of a sword is in its ease of carriage, but that doesn't even affect you since you can just summon a spear from your inventory whenever you want."

She stared at the katana I had sheathed on my belt and said,

"Kazuma… Then why aren't you using a spear?"

I averted my gaze.

"...I don't know what you mean by that."

"You do! You totally do! I don't care about the historical effectiveness of spears or whatever. Swords are cooler!"

"Who cares if they're cooler! Use something more effective!"

"Then, Kazuma, why are you using a katana and not a longsword?"

"..."

I averted my gaze again.

"...A-Anyway, stick to spears from now on."

"Kazuma, you're totally avoiding the question! Come on, let's both be spear partners, alright?! I mean, spears are better than katanas, right?!"

"No way! Katanas are way cooler!"

"So you finally admit it!"

"So what?! I don't have any problems hitting targets, but you do! So keep using that spear!"

Darkness didn't have any comebacks for that one, so she couldn't respond.

We kept training, with me freezing targets or wrapping them up with [Bind, and Darkness walking up to them to finish them off with a spear. Eventually, once she was able to consistently do that, I decided to increase the difficulty a little.

"Instead of standing close to the target, you should go from a running start and finish off the monster at the max range of the spear, just like we practiced with Konno-san."

"...I couldn't do that before, though."

"Well, that's the point of practicing, right?"

She eventually nodded and we looked for some more goblins to hunt.

"Hahhh…!"

Even with the goblin tied up and ready for killing, Darkness still ended up completely missing it.

"It's no use after all…"

She said, hanging her head in defeat.

"I think the problem here is that you're biomechanically incompetent."

"...I'd rather you just called me clumsy like you usually do."

She said, glaring at me with teary eyes.

"Let's put it another way. You can't efficiently combine the different motions your body uses to make an attack. That's not really all that unusual. I mean, not everyone is suited for combat."

The reality is that most modern humans have no real use for a lot of these complicated movements, especially when it comes to combat.

"...So, what should I do?"

"If you can't handle moving your body in a natural way, then we'll have to come up with your own way of using a spear that will suit you."

Darkness could attack with a spear from a completely standstill position. The problem was that in a real fight, even if I could disable a target, Darkness would still need to move in to attack, and that movement before the attack was what threw her off.

At the same time, if Darkness simply walked up to the enemy like she did with the goblins earlier. There was a chance the enemy could break out in the time it took for her to walk over, or block the attack since they can see her walking their way with such a choreographed attack.

And so, I came up with a different method.

We found another goblin. When I froze it, Darkness started running to the goblin.

When she reached within the maximum distance of the spear, she skidded to a halt. Then, once she was standing in place…

"Hahhh!"

She killed the goblin with a thrust.

"..." x 2.

We stood in silence after Darkness perfectly executed that move.

"Pffft!"

"S-Stop laughing, Kazuma!"

It looked so stupid.

There was hardly anything fluid about that movement at all. She skidded on the ground like Wile E. Coyote trying not to fall off a cliff.

"Bwahahaha!"

"I-I told you to stop laughing!"

It was a rather effective attack.

But it looked so stupid and ridiculous that I couldn't help but laugh at her.

Part 3

"Aww~! You've grown big, haven't you?"

Darkness said, as she hugged the Giant Toad she accidentally tamed.

We went to the Giant Toad area after Darkness got tired from her 'skidding' practice. She wasn't physically tired, she was psychologically tired from me laughing at her the entire time.

While we were close to the tamed Giant Toad, the other toads left us alone. Perhaps they also recognized Darkness as the mother of this toad.

We gave Darkness's toad a collar that had a note on it, asking other app-users not to kill the tamed toad. Thankfully, they could at least listen to basic instructions.

"You come up with a name for it yet?"

I asked, as I walked forward and also petted the toad. It was wary of me at first, but my [Monster Tamer] title did its job and it soon relaxed.

"Hmm… How about 'Senbei'?"

Darkness said, after giving it some thought.

"You mean, the rice cracker?"

"Yeah, I've taken a liking to those. They're very good with tea. I'm gonna take a bunch of them with me to England when I come back."

It was a rather weird name, but I sensed some homesickness in Darkness's eyes as she talked about home. So I didn't make fun of her for it.

…I'm being way too nice lately. Not that it's a bad thing, but it just feels weird.

"Senbei, huh? So would her nickname be Bei-chan?"

"Oh, that's cute! I like it!"

"Isn't that nice, Bei-chan? You've got a cute name now."

Bei-chan didn't seem to understand me, but she rubbed her head against my hand as I patted her.

I looked at Darkness for a bit as she was smiling at Bei-chan, then I got an idea. I smirked and said,

"...You sure are cute, Bei-chan. Just like your mother."

"...!"

Darkness snapped her head to me, blushing hard.

"...Stop teasing me like that, Kazuma! I won't fall for it."

OK… That was actually kinda cute.

Really cute, actually.

Saying that I was just joking now would be too cruel.

Rather, I began to learn that with Darkness, it wasn't like she was a masochistic freak all the time. Just like how Aqua wasn't a complete idiot all the time, or Megumin wasn't an explosive terrorist all the time.

"W-Well, you are cute, Darkness…"

"Oh, you're serious?"

I gave her a blank look.

"...Are you just fishing for compliments, or something? I mean, come on, you look like a goddamn supermodel. 'Cute' is an understatement, isn't it?"

Darkness blushed even harder. She knelt down to her knees and buried her head in them. Seeing her like that just made me embarrassed, too.

"T-Thanks, Kazuma…"

"Just telling the truth."

"...You know, I've been called beautiful a lot before."

"Wow. So humble, this girl."

"I'm not trying to brag! I'm just saying… This is the first time I've actually felt like I was beautiful."

My heart actually skipped from that. I mean, what is a guy supposed to do if a girl says that?

When you're not being a crazy perverted bitch and you stand there with your mouth closed, yeah, you're hot.

Maybe I would have responded like that in the past.

It was a defense mechanism, I knew that now. I didn't want to compliment someone, only for them to laugh at me or turn it around and say that I was some simp or a desperate loser. I guess my insecurities ran deep, and I had a rejection complex, after all.

But I knew Darkness wouldn't do that to me.

With my lips trembling, and a weird feeling bubbling in my stomach, I said,

"...Well, uh, I'm proud of you for today, Darkness. You worked really hard, and I know it was hard for you to stop using a sword, because you really did like it so much. Maybe one day, you can start using your sword again. I'll always be here for you to train."

I felt weak. My hands were cold, and I was expecting for Darkness to laugh at me at any moment.

She stood up. Then, she hugged me.

"...Thanks, Kazuma."

It was hard, saying all that. I didn't even know why. A decent person wouldn't have any problems complimenting a friend. Yet, here I was, feeling like my world was gonna shatter around me, just like the roof of this place did when Megumin exploded it.

Under this fake sky, with this artificial light and heat around us, this moment felt so real.

"If you want a reward of some kind, go ahead and tell me. You deserve it after working so hard."

I said, drawing back and giving her the best smile I could give, even if it turned out crooked.

"You're really trying hard right now, aren't you, Kazuma?"

"You know it."

"W-Well… Um, how about something lewd… Hehe… Gah! Ignore that! We're having such a nice moment and here I am letting my fetish take control again!"

She looked deeply ashamed of herself, but rather than roasting her…

"...I'm fine with it."

"Eh?"

She looked at me, confused that I agreed.

"...It's not like you're asking for something I don't want as well."

"But… I'm always asking you to do these crazy things for me. I know it's weird, and…"

"It's not really that weird."

In terms of fetishes, I had seen more degenerate things. In fact, the whole masochism thing was such a common fetish, anyway.

The only reason why Darkness was seeking out pain in combat was that she was backed up from not getting any sexual fulfillment when it comes to her fetish, right? She was a teenager, too. Sometimes you just get so horny that you do stupid stuff. I could relate to that.

I mean, I went inside a succubus dream brothel and used their services without hesitation, after all.

Then all that stuff with Aqua happened afterwards.

"T-Then… I can ask Kazuma…?"

"Yeah, sure."

Her eyes widened, unable to believe I was agreeing so readily. I mean, a blonde foreign beauty was telling me she wanted to do lewd things with me. Why would I refuse, anyway?

Aside from being more honest with my feelings, I also made a promise to myself, an eternal promise that will never be broken.

Satou Kazuma will never become like those dumbass LN and anime protagonists! If a girl wants to do lewd things with me, I'll gladly accept!

Part 4

We went back home, in Darkness's room. I looked at the picture of Darkness and her father. It was a cute picture, with a young Darkness being held by her father.

Darkness was clearly nervous as she sat on her bed. I sat beside her, raising a brow at the way she was fidgeting around.

"Why are you so nervous? You're always asking goblins and kobolds to mess you up, but you're getting all shy now?"

"You're back to teasing me again, huh?!"

I couldn't avoid some playful teasing.

She was wearing a white blouse and blue jeans, even though she normally wore a dress or a blouse and a long skirt. She'd wear pants whenever we went to the dungeon.

I placed a hand on her thigh, and she squealed, flinching from the contact.

"Oi. If you're gonna react like that, I won't do this."

"I-I'm fine, you can keep going…"

"...Well, you said you wanted to do something lewd, but can you be more specific?"

"It's embarrassing to say aloud…"

"If it's some kind of extreme sadistic play, I'm out."

"It's nothing like that! I don't want to scare Kazuma away, after all…"

So if I was fine with that kinda play, she would have requested it, huh?

"...How about this? I'll just slowly escalate things, and if you want me to stop, just say a safe word."

"I see… What should our safe word be?"

I thought about it, then said,

"How about senbei?"

"...You're gonna use my daughter's new name as a safe word for lewd stuff?"

That did seem kind of messed up.

We settled instead on 'lemon'.

I resumed what I was doing, letting my hand slide along her thigh. She didn't flinch at the contact this time, but she was blushing pretty hard.

"You have gorgeous hair."

I said, touching her blonde ponytail dangling behind her.

"T-Thanks…"

I leaned in, my face drawing close, she turned her eyes away, but she didn't move away from me. I gave her cheek a soft kiss.

Her face was completely red now. I chuckled.

"Wow. You're a complete maiden under all those messed up fetishes of yours, huh?"

"So what if I am?!"

I gave her another kiss on the cheek, before kissing around her jawline, then going lower, to her neck.

She gasped as she felt my hot breath on her skin, then my lips. I kissed her cheeks again, before drawing back, then turning her head to face me.

She recognized what I was asking for, and closed her eyes, lips slightly perked.

I chuckled at her shy expressions, before leaning in to take her first kiss.

She went still, before her body seemed to soften up from its tense state, as I kissed her as gently as I could. I drew back, looking into her blue eyes.

"Did you like that?"

I said, smiling as I ran a thumb across her bottom lip to clean it.

She nodded, her eyes shimmering with wonderment.

"Yeah…"

I let her enjoy the moment. A first kiss were one of those things that become a permanent memory. I didn't want her to feel like hers was rushed. After giving her a few seconds to soak in the moment, I held her face and went in for another kiss.

Once she got accustomed to the normal kisses, I opened my mouth and deepened it. I didn't slip my tongue in yet, not wanting to overwhelm her. I knew just how fun it was to experiment with kissing from Aqua, even without doing lewd stuff. There was almost a sense of innocence to it, free from anything sexual, a playful, mischievous activity.

Her shyness dwindled as we kept kissing. I felt her tongue on mine, surprising me that she was the first to extend an invitation. I accepted the invitation, my tongue meeting hers, letting her set the pace.

Still, if Darkness just wanted to make out with me, she wouldn't have specifically requested for something lewd. I let my hands drift up her toned stomach to her chest, stopping just underneath her breasts. I waited for her to say the safe word, but when she kept making out with me, I let my hands lift one of those big breasts of hers.

There was a noticeable shift in the air, the tension rising as she moaned into my mouth. Aqua's were the biggest pair of breasts I'd felt, but they were pretty average all things considered. But Darkness was properly stacked. I had never seen a girl with her cup size outside of porn or drawings. And even through her bra, I could feel how soft and bouncy they were.

My hands went up her blouse, unbuttoning them. I wanted to see more. She didn't refuse, blushing wildly as our lips separated and I looked down her cleavage, revealing more as I unbuttoned her blouse. She was wearing a white bra.

With her blouse off, she was just in her jeans. The sight of Darkness with just a bra and jeans on was way too alluring.

"God, you're so hot."

I said, fondling her breasts through her bra.

I loved seeing all her shy reactions. People in school thought of her as a beautiful foreigner, while those who were close to her knew about her perverted side. I was the only one who knew how cute she was when I was praising her like this.

"I wanna see them. Can I?"

I said, pointing at her bra.

She eventually nodded. I reached behind her and unclasped her bra. Those large breasts of hers were in full view. I reached for one, cupping it in my hand, amazed at how perky they are despite their size. She moaned when I touched a pink nipple, playing with it with my thumb and forefinger.

"Lay down for me."

She nodded, laying back as I straddled her, groping her breasts, then leaning down to take one in my mouth. She gasped at the contact, as she felt my lips around her nipples, moaning once I started licking and suckling them.

Even with the safeword, I didn't think that she wanted to go all the way yet. Otherwise, she would have specifically asked for sex. Maybe if I wasn't as experienced as I was, I would have started pushing for sex right away. Knowing Darkness, I wasn't even sure if she was capable of saying no if she was coerced. I had to be careful about that. I was the most experienced one, so I had to be all the more considerate about boundaries and such.

Still, she clearly told me that she wanted to do something lewd. That meant that pretty much anything that wasn't sex was on the table, unless she said the safe word, of course. Knowing this, I sat up, confusing her and making her release a small groan of disappointment, thinking that our session stopped, until I started to take off my pants. That retained her interest once more, as she watched in anticipation as my pants fell, my boxers following after.

Now, I've had sex with two girls. I probably shouldn't be acting like some shy virgin about having a girl see my member. Yet, I still blushed as I showed myself to Darkness for the first time. Maybe I'll never really get over that first-time shyness. I mean, it wasn't like I only viewed Darkness as a one-time hook-up. She was my friend, someone I fought battles of life and death with. Even beyond the intimacy component, the matter of our friendship gave me a level of embarrassment that even an experienced guy like me couldn't just shrug off.

"...Don't stare so much."

I said, blushing as I looked away.

Her eyes widened, before she glanced away.

"That reaction… Kazuma, you can be kinda cute sometimes, huh?"

I pouted, which made Darkness bite her lip.

"Yeah, Kazuma… You're cute when you act all tsun."

"Oh, shut up!"

I didn't like how I was being labeled as a male tsundere by these girls.

But rejecting it would just affirm the label, right?

Damn, tsunderes have it hard.

Not like I am one.

I eventually got over my first time shyness, as I started to shift closer to Darkness' chest, eventually mounting it.

"...Um, I'm fine with whatever kinda play, but what is this, Kazuma?"

I responded by taking my cock and slipping it between those tits of hers.

As expected of a pervert like her, she got the idea I was going for.

Darkness is a degenerate, but she was also an ojou-sama who was pretty much inexperienced when it came to actual sex. It's difficult to please her, since she'd want to do something pretty out there to satiate her masochistic desires, yet, it couldn't be anything actually extreme or penetrative. If I did something mild like ask her for a simple handjob, or if I just fingered her and made her cum, she'd probably complain and her masochistic side would come out and demand to ask for more.

And so, I settled on an act that was a bit unusual, but not totally crazy, which is, a mounted titjob.

I squeezed her breasts together around my cock, then I started thrusting between those heavy, soft mounds.

She was definitely liking this, from the way she was watching me move between her tits, to the way she was panting while blushing hard.

"...You like the way I fuck those rude tits of yours?"

This was still Darkness, so I gave her some dirty talk as a service.

"Y-Yesh! Please use these naughty breasts as you desire, master!"

She went way too far, as usual.

I let her have her fun, giving her some casual dirty talk in a sadistic tone as I leered down at her, all while thrusting my cock in and out of her breasts.

It felt good, how my shaft rubbed against the soft flesh wrapping around it. The visual impact and novelty was also pretty insane. I mean, I never thought I'd be getting a paizuri from a foreign beauty. Yet, here was this gorgeous blonde ojou-sama, watching me with her blue eyes as my cockhead appeared and reappeared from between her large breasts.

Soon, the mounting pleasure and the situation was too much.

"Hnnnngh!"

I released my seed all over her tits, with enough force that I managed to get it on her face, too.

She closed her eyes as spurts landed all over her face. Opening them as the last spurt landed on her chin.

And like that, I fulfilled Darkness's request.

"Hah… Hah… Kazuma…"

We both stared at each other, dazed from the intensity of the moment.

Before we eventually blushed and I climbed off her.

"Sorry… I made a mess…"

"I-It's fine…"

"...Did you like it?"

"Y-Yeah… Can we keep doing things like this?"

Sometimes, it was hard to be honest, but…

"Yeah, definitely."

This time, I could say the truth without much trouble at all.

Part 5

I stared at the number I found in the wallet of the app-user Mary 'ate'.

The number belonged to his girlfriend.

There was a picture of Mary's 'beloved' and his girlfriend. She was a pretty lady in her mid twenties who had dyed brown hair. She wore a red dress and they were in some kind of bar.

I had been thinking about how to go about returning this wallet and tell her of the death of her boyfriend, but I couldn't really figure out a way to explain how I knew he was dead. If it didn't turn out well, I could be blamed for his death.

I wasn't fearful of the legal consequences, considering my connections to the government. I just didn't want to have to deal with her thinking I was her lover's killer.

I approached Sena and told her about the complicated situation I was burdened with. She listened attentively, then said,

"Why don't you just give us the wallet, and the police can deal with this matter? After all, it's not like you're personally obligated to do this yourself."

That was true. And the police could spin whatever story they wanted to explain the app-user's death in a rational way.

The fact I felt like it was my personal duty to do this myself showed that I was still self-absorbed in a lot of ways.

Or perhaps, I felt like it was my responsibility as Mary's guardian of sorts.

Regardless, it was the right call to let Sena and the police handle this.

"Thanks, Sena. You're a big help."

She smiled and nodded.

"You do so much for this country, it's an honor to help when I can, sir!"

We smiled at each other, while I waited for something to happen.

"...? Um, is there anything else I can do for you?"

"I guess you really have no talent or potential after all, Sena."

"Excuse me?! I thought we were having a moment there!"

I accidentally said something rude.

I was actually waiting for a bond to form between us, but Appuri-chan didn't say anything.

Bonds can only form with those with potential to enter the dungeon. I suppose that meant that even my family could one day enter the dungeon and download the app, since I had a bond with them.

The fact that I hadn't been forming any bonds with Sena, despite all we had been through together, meant that she had zero potential whatsoever.

I mean, I was even able to bond with a plant monster, of all things.

"Don't worry, Sena. You're incredibly useful even without the app."

"So that's what you mean…"

She sighed in relief, when she found out I wasn't referring to her talents as a normal person.

"Speaking of talents, perhaps I can show off one of them to you, sir."

"...Just call me Kazuma. I'm younger than you, right?"

"Well, you're a captain, so…"

"That's also supposed to be super classified."

"Oh, right. Then, Kazuma, have you ever had formal hand-to-hand combat training?"

"Do mandatory judo lessons at school count?"

"...Not really. Well, maybe. Are you interested in some lessons from yours truly? You might learn a skill or two!"

"Well, I have the archer class right now. I might not be able to learn any skills even if I do that."

"I'm not talking about app skills! You can learn things normally without it involving the app in any way, you know?!"

She was right. I kept thinking about app related stuff, where there were a whole bunch of skills I could attempt to master even if I didn't gain any app-related abilities from it.

"Very well, I accept your offer. And I think it's cute that you want to prove your skills to me."

She blushed and said,

"...I am older than you, so you shouldn't tease me. Besides, I already know you're fooling around with a bunch of other girls…"

Well, I guess if Mitsurugi found out, a policewoman like Sena would also find out pretty quickly.

"Aqua tells me all about it, after all."

So it was her fault!

"That drinking buddy of yours sure is loose-lipped, huh?"

Sena wagged her finger.

"And that's why I'm not falling for your tricks, even if you try to seduce me. Even if I am a single woman who is constantly worried about never having a lover despite nearing 'that age'!"

Was she telling me it was OK to make a move on her, or not?

"...I wasn't even trying to seduce you."

"You weren't?!"

Just because I said she was cute, she thought I was already seducing her?

Well, I did think that my childhood friend was gonna marry me, just because she said I was cute before.

"Sorry, my bad. I didn't want you to think I was making a move on you, or anything."

She was surprised when I actually apologized about it.

"No, it's fine… It's my fault for misunderstanding."

I looked at her for a second, then said,

"But I do have special circumstances surrounding me. More specifically, since I have an open relationship, you don't have to hold back if you ever feel like you want to try something."

She stared at me, mouth going wide.

"...You serious?"

I shrugged and replied,

"I mean, I do find you very attractive, and we get along. If you can't find anyone else, it'd be cruel to deny you a chance when I'm giving everyone else a chance, right?"

"...I feel like that logic is kind of messed up, but… Why does it kinda make sense at the same time?!"

I guess this was my max bond rank with my family was capable of, the ability to have an unlimited number of girlfriends.

It wasn't that Sena was OK with the arrangement right away. Rather, she just accepted the logic and reasoning behind it.

I guess Megumin's hypothesis was right, and I didn't have to worry that my app abilities were mind controlling people into joining my harem, twisting their beliefs and morals just for my enjoyment.

"Just something to think about. Anyway, so you wanted to give me some lessons?"

"Oh, right."

She remembered the original topic at hand.

We moved to the gym, where this was a connecting room leading to an open space with plenty of mirrors. There were padded mats stacked at a corner, which could be used for yoga or, in our case, an unarmed combat lesson. After we finished setting the room up, Sena began her lesson.

"I'll be teaching you some MMA basics."

She said, standing in front of me.

It was just the first lesson, so there were more verbal instructions than anything, but she did eventually have me practice some punches on her, as she held up some protective mitts.

With her instructions, I was able to punch more smoothly than in my fight against Mitsurugi.

I knew about crosses, jabs and hooks, but just knowing about certain techniques and having an image in your head doesn't really translate to success. Sena had me repeat the punches over and over, giving me the basis to build my muscle memory on.

I doubted that I'd ever really need these lessons, since I could just make weapons with my magic, but it was a good exercise, and it didn't hurt to have more options. All my victories were the result of my versatile skill set, after all.

Your stamina has increased by 1!

We trained for a couple hours before we stopped. I thanked her for the lesson, then took a bath after, washing away the sweat. There was dinner after that, and everyone came to the dining room table to enjoy a meal. It was Yunyun's turn to cook dinner that night. As always, she made way too much, likely an effort to get our approval.

In order to satisfy her need for validation, we made sure to give her lots of praises.

"It's so good, Yunyun!"

"Your cooking is the best!"

"...It's pretty good."

Megumin forced herself to smile at Yunyun and praise her. At least she was holding up her end of the promise to be more honest with Yunyun.

Yunyun smiled from all the praise she was getting.

"Ehehe… Thank you, everyone. Now, for dessert!"

We all chuckled weakly as she brought on a bunch of dessert that we didn't have room in our stomachs for.

When we finally managed to finish the dessert, I made an announcement to everyone.

"...Who here has played an MMO before?"

Only Megumin raised her hand.

"What did you play, Megumin?"

"I played Myriad Swords 1 and 2 at the net cafe before."

I was surprised she could even afford the net cafe before. Then again, those were pretty cheap.

I got the idea about playing Myriad Swords 2 with the others after training with Darkness. It occurred to me that these guys didn't really have a clue when it comes to things like MMO knowledge.

Considering that the app was based on things like RPG mechanics, it wouldn't do to have a bunch of normies bringing us down with their lack of knowledge.

The biggest offenders were Mitsurugi and Darkness.

"...Satou, why are you looking at me as if I'm filth?"

"Ah, my bad. I'm still working on trying to view you as a real person, and not a mindless NPC whose head is filled with convention and banal ideas."

"Oi! I thought we made great strides in our friendship recently! What the hell is that for?!"

It's always one step forward and two steps back with me when it comes to being nice.

And so, they agreed to form a guild with me on Myriad Swords 2.