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Chapter 40: Blessing Humanity With Its Ultimate Guardian!

Part 1

Once Regina disappeared, I was about to prepare myself for bed, but then I heard a knock.

"Hm? Come in."

Megumin walked in, wearing her pajamas.

"Hey… Can we talk for a bit? It won't be long."

"...Can't it wait? I'm about to pass out."

"U-Unbelievable! Can't you see that I really wanna talk to you?!"

I sighed and got up, patting the bed. She muttered to herself before accepting the invitation and sitting down next to me.

"So? What's up?"

"...I just checked my app. I gained a bunch of EXP… I think my explosion actually managed to kill Arnes and the others."

I nodded, knowing that already after what Regina said to me.

"Yeah… You were pretty close with them at one point, right?"

"...Well, it was all a lie."

She brought her knees up, resting her chin on them.

I lifted my hand, hesitating a bit, before I eventually wrapped my arm around her shoulder.

"I didn't think it was all a lie."

"Now you're the one lying."

Was she starting to get trust issues?

"...I'm telling the truth. I spent a whole week with them, right? Arnes and Wolbach, it seemed like they regretted lying to you. And they wanted you to join their side."

"As if I'd join them."

"Well, I just wanted you to know that there was some truth mixed in with the lies. They really did like you. It was just unfortunate that our two sides are at war."

She buried her face against her knees.

"That just makes things worse. I killed Arnes."

My breath got caught in my throat.

She felt anger from being betrayed.

And now regret from killing her friend.

There was never a good outcome to all of this.

"...You did what you had to do."

"No, I could have just let them go. I even risked my life just to get back at them."

"Either way, it's not your fault. And besides, maybe she's like Vanir. She's like, a demon or something, right? Maybe she reincarnates."

Megumin nodded softly at that.

"I heard from her once that she was summoned by Wolbach-sama. So she might be able to come back again."

"Well, there you go."

"But even if she comes back, she'll just try to harm everyone. She might try to capture you again, or worse."

I waited for her to say more, but she didn't expand on that, and I didn't want to break the silence.

After a few moments, she said,

"Hey, Kazuma. Can you just… help me forget?"

She looked up at me. She still had her contacts on, her eyes glowing a beautiful crimson as they shimmered with apprehension.

"...How do you want me to do that?"

"Do whatever you want with my body. Like you do with Aqua."

"...I thought we agreed that it's better not to rush."

"I need you right now."

When a beautiful girl says that, it's hard to refuse.

But I still managed to keep my composure, somehow.

All it took was seeing her pained face.

"...I don't want to take advantage of you. Ask me again when your thoughts are in order."

"You must think I'm some kind of kid, huh…?"

I sighed and rubbed the back of my head.

"It's not like that. I just don't want your first time to happen because of something sad like this. I want it to be a happy moment."

"...But how can I get over how I'm feeling right now? I want to forget everything."

I wasn't going to say something cliche like 'tragedy happens for a reason' or 'pain helps us grow'.

It always pissed me off, whether it's in real life or fiction, when people say the most generic things to those seeking comfort.

More than the lack of originality, I felt like what a grieving person really needs to hear is logic. They want an answer, something of substance they can latch onto.

"You know, Wolbach told me that there are other worlds out there, probably an infinite amount of worlds."

"...I'm having a depressive moment here, and you're just gonna confirm the multiple worlds theory to me? Are you trying to break my mind or what?!"

She gripped my collar and shook me around.

I couldn't really fault her, since I had the same reaction when Vanir first told me about this.

"Oi, just listen!"

"Fine, go ahead."

She managed to calm down and removed her hands from my collar.

"...With the portal technology of the Demon King army, I don't think it's impossible to say that we can someday take that technology for ourselves or reverse-engineer it. Then we can refine it and potentially hop to any world we want."

She rubbed her chin in thought, before eventually nodding.

"Yeah, if the demons can come to our world, I think it's fair to say that we can do that."

"Not to mention that we get a wish from heaven once we beat the Demon King. We could even just straight up ask for the ability to go to other dimensions."

I looked up at the ceiling and continued,

"With the infinite multiverse out there, there's no such thing as a final goodbye. We can meet Arnes, and even Wolbach, in worlds where they are friendlier. I mean, maybe in those worlds there aren't even demons or dark goddesses. Maybe they're humans like us."

"I guess… That's true…"

She said, her voice lowering into a whisper, the bright shine in her eyes lowering into a sentimental glimmer.

Whether it's friend or foe, we're all just aspects of each other, reflections bouncing off shining mirror fractals, repeating infinitely.

At least, the sappy part of me wants to see it that way.

Megumin sighed and leaned her head on my shoulder.

"...I guess you're not as much of a pervert as we claim, huh?"

"Of course not…"

"I mean, I was practically throwing myself at you, but you didn't even go for it."

"Don't get it wrong. I'm probably gonna call Aqua to come fuck me after you leave."

"...You just had to ruin the moment, huh?"

She removed her head from my shoulder, giving me an unamused glare.

Only to lean back in afterwards.

"..."

It was a quick kiss, so quick I almost didn't even register it.

She backed away, face flushed but confidently smiling.

"...Some other time, when I'm ready… Please be gentle with me, Kazuma."

I hid my face as I blushed as well, which only made her giggle at me. I said,

"Yeah… You better be prepared. I'm quite the stud, you know?"

"So I've heard."

They were talking about me behind my back, huh?

Part 2

The next day, when I woke up, I checked my phone, since I hadn't had a chance to interact with Appuri-chan properly while I had my mind taken over.

"Glad to have you back, Kazuma-san! Now, aren't you gonna thank me for saving your butt?!"

"Yeah, thanks for that."

I said, and I meant it. If it wasn't for Appuri-chan, I didn't know how the others could have found me.

"By the way, you have some new notifications! Actually, there's a lot of them!"

I went ahead and checked them.

Your bond with Megumin has reached the MAX rank!

Megumin (Explosion Mage), Bond Rank: 7 (MAX!)

At Rank 7, Megumin sees you as her hero. Not only that, she sees you as someone she wants to spend the rest of her life with, not only as a lover, but as a companion. You are both growing up together and relying on each other, as she helped you with your insecurities, and in turn, you comforted her in her time of need. May you both be blessed with eternal explosions!

Bond Reward: You learn the skill [Explosion]!

I felt myself choking up a bit after seeing that bond rank up message. It made me reflect that Megumin and I really did become incredibly close, and I opened myself up to her so much.

…Beyond that, though.

I learned explosion magic?!

[Explosion] Skill Rank: 1, Active Skill (100 mp)

Unleash a powerful explosion within a range of 120-feet. Creatures within a 30-foot radius, 30-foot high sphere receive 100 fire damage plus your Magic Power modifier (7). The attack can't miss as long as enemies are within the area of effect, however, magical defense still applies.

…T-That damage.

This attack could just one-shot me and I didn't even put any skill points into it yet!

And what's with that ridiculous mana requirement?!

I can't even use it!

It really is useless… Well, for most people.

Those with deep mana pools like Megumin and Wolbach could pull it off.

Well, Megumin could only use it once before running on empty, so that's debatable.

Maybe if she didn't rank it up, she could have grown her mana capacity to be able to handle casting multiple explosions.

But I bet the mana cost goes up as you level the spell, since it was that powerful.

I shook my head and checked the other notifications.

You got out of Serena's control!

For this feat, you gain 10 Willpower!

Quest Reward: You learn the [Overwhelm] skill!

[Overwhelm] Skill Rank: 1, Active Skill (10 mp)

You can shake off any attempts to disable your movement, whether it's magical or physical. You also have defenses against magic that aims to control your mind or body. Success of this skill depends on your Willpower (68).

At least there was a skill I could actually use…

Although this skill would have been way more useful before I got my mind taken over.

The Willpower bonus was also pretty substantial.

Then again, breaking free from a dark goddess's mind control power is probably a pretty big deal, so maybe it shouldn't be so surprising.

From creating your own dungeon, you gained a new title!

[Dungeon Master]

When this title is equipped, you gain the necessary knowledge on how to build and manage a dungeon. You can also access the features of any dungeon core you come in contact with.

I didn't expect to gain a title like this…

Well, I guess not just anyone could build a dungeon, so it was worthy of a title.

I replaced the [Monster Tamer] title for now.

Then I took out the laptop that I 'borrowed' from Wolbach.

Aqua and her superiors' dungeon had multiple entrances around the world.

So it would only make sense if the dungeon I made could have the same function.

I still had school, so I made this quick.

Within a few minutes, using the knowledge that flooded my brain from the title…

"...It really works."

I said, while looking at the door that appeared in front of me.

I went inside and saw that it was the same dungeon. The chair I left was still inside.

Stepping out again, I got an idea.

I made a new door and this time…

I opened it and saw the school grounds.

…There was now a dungeon door in front of the school.

Closing the door again, I headed back inside my room.

"Wait, this is pretty crazy, isn't it?"

I looked at the laptop. There was something like a Google Maps feature that showed the entire globe.

I could type in a location and zoom in on addresses and coordinates, and plant a door anywhere I wanted.

And the only limit was the dungeon's mana pool.

The original dungeon had things like coronatite cores, but this dungeon only had a basic manatite core.

It was good for what I was doing, but a coronatite core would launch the capabilities of my dungeon through the roof…

But how would I manage to get one…?

It was then I remembered that I once stored a coronatite core in my inventory, to prevent it from blowing us up.

"..."

A dangerous thought wormed its way into my head.

I mean, at this point, it was my contributions that led to the most victories, right?

…Although I'll admit that the others were the ones who ultimately beat Wolbach and Serena last time.

But still, if I didn't sacrifice myself as a pawn and brought the others to me through Appuri-chan, there was no way they could have cornered Wolbach like that.

So, no matter how you look at it, I'm still the one doing the heavy-lifting!

That means that I'm justified in doing whatever I want if I think that it will directly lead to humanity's victory, right…?

Yeah, that makes sense to me!

After nodding to myself at my own conclusion, I started to get dressed for school, but I didn't rush.

I could just walk through the dungeon door, after all.

Once I was dressed, I went downstairs to where everyone was.

"Oi… Who wants a free teleport to school?"

It was basically teleportation, right?

Aqua looked up from the breakfast she was eating.

"Hm? Did you learn teleportation magic? That's useful."

"No, but I got a dungeon now, and I can create doors wherever I want."

She stared at me.

"...There's no way! The means to create dungeons are closely guarded by us goddesses! Unless you're an Arch-Wizard who has achieved the pinnacle of creation magic, you can't create a dungeon!"

"You say that, but didn't you just steal the program from Norse?"

"Urp! Well, the point still stands!"

"If you don't believe me, then just follow me."

The others were curious as well and followed me to my room.

It was there that they saw the floating door in my room.

Aqua opened it and looked inside, before closing the door again.

"This is impossible! How did you do this?!"

Mitsurugi looked inside the door as well, surprised that he could see the school grounds from my bedroom.

"...You're already pretty lazy, yet you found another shortcut in life, huh?"

This guy sure was fast when it came to insulting me.

It was then that Aqua saw the laptop on my desk.

"Wait, where'd you get that?!"

She said, inspecting the laptop up and down.

"Got it from Wolbach. She put me through a lot, so it's only fair if she gives me a gift or two, right?"

"I'm confiscating this! This is stolen property from us goddesses!"

"Why are you taking credit for Norse's achievements?! Steeaaaal!"

I stole the laptop from her and put it in my inventory, before she could get any ideas.

"Why you…! Kazuma, you're such a disobedient child!"

"Who are you calling a child?!"

Darkness sighed, raising her hands to defuse the fight that was brewing. She was already in her uniform.

"Now, now. Kazuma isn't doing anything wrong, so stop berating him. And this is very convenient, so I'll make use of it. I want to get some extra studying before the midterm exams today, after all."

"...Wait. That's today?"

They turned to me, before realization dawned on their faces.

"Oh, right. You were gone for a week, Satou, so you probably didn't realize it was the end of the month, huh?"

"..."

I should be fine.

Right?

Part 3

Konno-san gave me a strange look as she walked into the classroom and saw me with three books open and cue-cards spread all around me.

"...What are you doing?"

I didn't look up at her, my eyes flitting around my notes.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I missed a whole week of school, so I gotta cram all the information that I can!"

"Oh, right. You were gone for a while, huh?"

"Geez, thanks for noticing!"

She sighed and placed a notebook in front of the textbook I was reading.

"Here. I took notes for you while you were gone."

"Konno-san…"

Is she an angel?!

I was already a big fan of her idol persona, but at this point, she'll be my kami oshi!

"You're the best, Lia-chan~!"

"Why are you calling me by my first name?!"

I got carried away and let my idol otaku self out.

Not like I'm an idol otaku, or anything.

I gratefully accepted the notebook and started reading.

Thankfully, I did study hard before I went missing.

Including all of those study sessions with Konno-san.

So there was a good chance that I could still fulfill that quest.

Please, my high Intelligence stat! Please work!

After thirty minutes of cramming, the homeroom sensei came in.

We stood up and did the morning greeting. Konno-san did the roll call, before calling up people to help her pass down the exam papers.

…The moment of truth.

The first exam was on Japanese Literature.

I flipped the exam over and looked over the questions.

The first section was multiple choice, which was easy enough.

I answered them until I got to the trickier portion, the open-ended-question portion.

Name a theme found in Dazai Osamu's 'No Longer Human'.

We read that novel a week after I went back to school.

I thought about that story, thinking of the theme.

…Basically, it's about a depressed, good-for-nothing guy who somehow gets a bunch of girls to fall in love with him.

Actually, how did those girls even fall in love with such an eccentric loner?

Wait… No, I refuse to accept that the same question could be asked of me!

I wrote a short paragraph about alienation and finding commonality among other misfits and moved on to the next question.

Name a theme found in Murakami Haruki's 'Norwegian Wood'.

A question about another novel we read, although this one was modern.

I thought of another answer…

…It was a story about a depressed guy who somehow gets a bunch of girls to fall in love with him.

Wait, is this a recurring theme in Japanese literature?!

Even those trashy isekai light novels are about this theme!

After giving an answer that I thought would fit, I moved on to the next question.

Name a theme found in Shikibu Murasaki's 'Tale of Genji'

…Another Japanese novel about a guy who somehow ends up with a bunch of women.

I answered the best that I could.

…

…

Somehow, I survived the first day.

Konno-san walked over to my table as I laid my head in my arms.

"...Hey, are you alive?"

She said, while poking my cheek.

"Yeah, just barely. Thanks for helping me out."

She chuckled while accepting the notepad I borrowed from her.

"I looked at you once in a while. You looked like you were really struggling."

"You were so concerned for me, huh? What a good girl…"

"Thanks… But the way you said that was kind of creepy."

What was so creepy about it?

Or maybe she sensed my otaku side coming out as I looked at her adoringly.

I coughed into my hand to suppress my otaku side.

…Having a classmate be an idol in disguise is kind of dangerous.

But exciting, in its own way.

Not like she knew that I knew about it.

"Well, I'm glad that my notes were useful to you."

I hated to say this since she seemed so proud of herself, but…

"Actually… Aren't your notes kind of messy this time around?"

She blinked and said,

"Eh? But I wrote as neatly as I could."

"No, no, the handwriting was great, elegant, even, but… the organization was kind of rough."

I didn't expect it from a studious girl like her, but the notes were all over the place.

There were random footnotes on the margins, and there were even doodles from when she got bored.

Also, I tried not to make it obvious that I noticed, but she even tried practicing her signature at one point. And it was the same signature she used for her idol activities.

She sure was brave showing that to me!

I didn't know if she trusted me, or if she just forgot about that.

She blushed and glanced away.

"S-Sorry. My friends do say that I'm kind of sloppy sometimes…"

"Are you the type who is a model student at school, but you're a total slob at home?"

Like Umaru-chan?

"...Well, maybe I am."

She sighed, reluctant to admit it.

"Well, thank you for being honest. So, how bad is it?"

She took the chair in front of me and sat down.

"...My friends don't come over to my place anymore. They said my room is too messy."

"Yikes… Is it that bad?"

Even when I was a NEET, my room wasn't a total pigsty.

To think a model student like her had comparable organizational skills to a NEET.

I shrugged and said,

"Well, if you want, I can come over to your place and help you clean up."

She blinked, staring at me for a while.

Ah, crap. I just casually said that as if it wasn't a big deal, didn't I?

I guess I was getting too used around girls. But the difference is that Konno-san and I aren't even that close yet.

I was about to apologize before she saw me as a sex fiend, but she said,

"...If you're offering, sure, I guess. It's your way of paying me back for lending you my notebook, right?"

I was surprised she accepted the offer, but I guess we weren't total strangers.

We were classmates who often studied together and we were even in the same club.

Not to mention that our bond is even at rank 3.

…I guess that'd mean that we're actually friends now.

We made plans for me to come to her place once midterms ended, so that I could clean her room.

In exchange, she gave me more of her notebooks to take home and study.

…After a quick look, I saw that the other notebooks were just as disorganized as the first one.

Your bond with Konno Lia has deepened!

Konno Lia (Idol-In-Disguise), Bond Rank: 4

At Rank 4, you have advanced through the acquaintance stage and you are now becoming friends with Lia. She admires how hard you study, even if you have to cram for the midterms. She's also surprised that you offered to help clean her room, but she seems to trust you enough to invite you to her home. Spending more time with her will deepen your friendship.

Bond Reward: 10 Intuition

Part 4

There was no naginata club practice after-school because of the exams, but the club president did remind us about the tournament coming up.

However, I didn't even want to think about that, since I was already exhausted from a whole day of exams.

Instead, I went to the dungeon door in the school courtyard, which occupied the space of the previous door where I first met Aqua.

Using that door, I immediately ended up in my room.

I didn't even bother taking off my uniform and just collapsed face first on my pillow.

"Ughhh…"

I took a quick nap, before getting up from my bed and changing out of my uniform.

Once I was comfortably dressed, I went to my desk, where the laptop was.

It was a miracle Aqua didn't steal this thing from me, considering how she was going on about it being the property of the goddesses.

I didn't want to go to the original dungeon after all that work at school, so I decided to do some AFK farming.

Going inside the dungeon, I activated the mechanism that summoned the Earth Golems.

The golems emerged from the dirt and started mindlessly heading towards the trap.

Then I sat on the chair and idly watched them as they fell to their deaths.

Eventually, I got bored and went on my phone.

I ended up chatting a bit with DarkAngel, who was complaining about her own exams.

"This suuucks! I just wanna game all daaaay!"

It was comforting, knowing I wasn't the only one suffering.

We only ended up texting for a bit, since she went back to studying.

And that reminded me that I needed to study, too.

I groaned as I went back to my room and got the notebook Konno-san lent me, before returning to the dungeon again.

But it was uncomfortable holding the notebook over my lap. I also needed some space to write my own notes and solve practice questions.

So I went to the laptop and started coding.

If dungeons could produce all kinds of different biomes, then it was child's play to make it produce a desk. While I was at it, I just recreated my study space in the dungeon.

I sat down and opened the notebook again, before I started thinking.

…Could the dungeon create advanced electronics, like computers?

Since I had the [Dungeon Master] title, the answer came to me.

And the answer was yes, it was possible.

As long as the code was correct, and there was enough energy, I could make it.

The problem was the energy.

…Maybe I did need to steal a Coronatite core, after all.

The problem with that plan was that I already learned my lesson from messing around with the dungeon. Megumin learned that same lesson.

I wasn't stupid enough to cause another incident.

But then, I had another idea.

…Did the energy source have to be mana?

Perhaps I could tweak around some code to have the dungeon run on another type of energy source.

Like for example…

What if I made my dungeon nuclear powered?

"..."

I mean… It sounds kind of crazy, but I was sure I could pull it off with my government connections.

And with the proper dungeon design, I didn't need to worry about the dangers of radiation.

Also, since nuclear radiation, especially gamma rays, can be considered a wave, can't I control it with the newly acquired [Meta Control Spell]?

"...This might be a good idea, huh?"

"Kazuma-san, shouldn't you be studying right now?"

Appuri-chan said, once she noticed that I was procrastinating.

"...Hold on, child. I have some great ideas right now, so don't ruin my momentum. You mustn't interrupt a genius at work!"

"That's cool and all, but if you don't finish the midterm exams quest, you won't be able to receive new quests until the next midterms, you know?"

"...What did you say?"

That was new to me.

"Well, think about it. You can't gain new quests unless you finish all the ones you currently have, right? That's why you didn't get any new quests for a while after you got that quest to return Chris-san's panties. You just kept stalling before you returned them."

"Why do you even remember that?! And you should have warned me about this earlier!"

"It wouldn't have been a problem if you were properly studying, but now you're clearly just procrastinating! Get to work!"

And so, my plans for the nuclear-powered dungeon needed to wait.

With Appuri-chan watching me like a hawk, I went back to studying.

By the time I finished, it was already dinner time.

I went downstairs to eat. Everyone else was already seated, but when I took my seat…

"...Hey, why don't I have any food?"

I said, as I watched Darkness, who was in charge of making dinner that day, handing out the dishes.

"A-Ah! Sorry, we haven't been cooking for you since you were gone, so I forgot to make dinner for you! Just eat my share and I'll make something for myself!"

Was this a new form of bullying?

I muttered to myself as Darkness handed me the roast beef and potatoes she made.

She always made western-style food. I didn't complain, since it did its work, but the way Darkness cooked made everything taste too generic. It was like she didn't even try to be creative with her food and choice of seasonings.

"...Nevermind. I can cook for myself. You can go eat your share, Darkness."

"A-Are you being considerate, or rude? I can't tell."

Aqua looked up from the plate she was devouring. After wiping her face with a napkin, she said,

"With this guy, you should always assume the worst."

"You're right, Aqua. Kazuma, I demand that you apologize."

"Apologize? Why the hell should I apologize when you're the one who screwed up, and I have to fix your mistake?"

"Y-You're right, sorry…"

"Don't back down, Darkness! You know how this guy is! He always has something rude to say, but he backtracks like a little chicken when you call him out on it!"

Darkness's eyes were swirling as Aqua and I went back and forth.

While this was happening.

"Ahhhh!"

Megumin randomly started yelling.

"...Oi, Megumin. If you have something to say, then say it to my face instead of just yelling."

I said to her, but she just stood up and showed that she was holding something in her lap.

It was that egg that Aqua was raising.

"Hm? What's the matter? Are you offering that egg for my dinner?"

I said, which made Megumin quickly snatch the egg back.

"How could you even say that?! Aqua, your egg is hatching!"

Aqua quickly went over to Megumin.

"M-My baby! Quick, go to the living room! Someone, get some hot towels and water!"

…Why was she treating it like a human baby?

"Right away, Aqua-sama!"

Still, Aqua's number one boot licker, Mitsurugi, immediately obeyed her orders.

Iris, who wasn't there when we acquired the egg, watched in wonder as we all went to the living room.

"What kind of egg is it?"

Aqua smiled proudly as Megumin carefully handed the egg over, which was shaking. Some small cracks have also started to form.

"I'm glad you asked, Iris! Since I have been giving it my holy mana, of course it will be a beautiful and powerful light dragon! Megumin has also been helping infuse her mana into it, so I'm sure it'll turn out incredibly powerful!"

Megumin had a thoughtful look on her face.

"Well, I got my powers from a dark goddess technically, so wouldn't it be a dark dragon?"

Aqua turned her head so fast, I almost saw a blur.

"How dare you say that, Megumin?! N-No, that can't be how it works, right?! Because my mana is greater and a higher volume than yours! Surely my pwecious widdle bwaby will take after me!"

"What do you mean your mana is greater?! I am Megumin! The greatest explosion magic user in this world! There's no way my mana will be surpassed by anyone!"

"Ahh! Stop all this chuuni talk! Look, you're stressing the egg! There's already so many cracks!"

How else was it supposed to get out? Is this girl really that stupid?

Yunyun watched nervously, clutching my sleeve.

"...Hopefully the birth will turn out safe."

I leaned in to whisper to her.

"Even if it did, it's probably not gonna be a dragon, or whatever."

"Eh? What do you mean, Kazuma-san?"

"That egg came from a Random Loot Box. The items from those things are determined by the user's Luck, and Aqua was the one who opened it. So that means that thing is gonna be garbage."

Even if it turns out to be a monster, it's probably gonna be an ugly baby goblin, not some majestic dragon.

Also, why would a dragon come out of such a tiny egg, anyway? It looks like a regular egg that's cracked and eaten for breakfast.

"I-I see… I hope Aqua-san isn't too disappointed…"

"Don't feel sorry for that idiot."

Meanwhile, Rin, who didn't hear what I was telling Yunyun, smiled as she took out her phone.

"Alright, I'm filming it! Aqua-senpai, what are you going to name your child!"

"Fufu… I already decided on Emperor Zell! Ah, but if a certain someone decided to take care of the baby as its father, I might name it Kazuma jr."

She said, while sneaking glances at me.

"Oh, so it's name is Zell, huh?"

I said, without hesitation.

"...Do you wanna avoid responsibility that badly?"

Mitsurugi said, giving me the stink eye.

"Why are you acting like I contributed in any way to the birth of whatever disappointment that thing is gonna be."

"I-If you won't be the father, then I will gladly volunteer!"

Aqua looked at me and Mitsurugi, then smirked.

"Ahh… If Kazuma doesn't wanna take responsibility, then I guess I'll name it Emperor Zell Mitsurugi!"

"I-I'd be honored, Aqua-sama!"

Did she think that would make me jealous?

"Ahhh! Something's coming out! I can feel the contractions!"

Aqua yelled, while quickly breathing in and out.

Megumin held her hand.

"Remember what the coach told you. Quick breaths, quick breaths."

Did they actually get a childbirth coach for this?

And it was a damn egg, what contractions was this idiot talking about?

"The head is coming out! It's crowning!"

Just as Darkness said that, the egg split in half.

The upper half of the shell slid off.

Then, a head came out.

It was a yellow, fluffy head.

"Chirp…!"

A baby chicken… It was a chick.

Not even a monster, just a normal chick.

It looked at us with what seemed like a confused expression, as if it was wondering why it wasn't seeing a mother hen.

"Chirp…?"

It said, while tilting its head, its beak opening in confusion.

Aqua blinked, then raised the chick to eye-level.

"...This golden color… It's a light dragon! I knew it!"

I didn't know if she was in denial, or if this was her usual stupidity at work.

Aqua turned to Iris and said,

"You're from the other world, so you can confirm this is a light dragon, right?!"

Iris couldn't even look her in the eyes.

"C-Congratulations, Aqua-san…"

She couldn't give a straight answer, huh?

Aqua grinned at Megumin, holding out the newly born chick.

"See, Megumin? It's not a dark dragon, right?!"

Megumin also couldn't look her in the eyes.

"...I-I'm glad there weren't any complications!"

Another one who couldn't give a direct answer.

Aqua turned to Mitsurugi next.

"Say hi to your child! With this light dragon, we'll surely defeat the demon king!"

"...R-Right… Let's raise it well."

So no one was gonna tell her, huh?

"Aqua, I'm still feeling pretty hungry. How about we have some karaage right now… Hmph…"

Rin and Darkness placed their hands over my mouth.

"Quiet! Don't you dare ruin this for her, senpai!"

"Kazuma, just let her dream!"

They prevented me from telling the truth.

Part 5

Since I was occupied with Aqua's 'childbirth', I didn't have as much time as I wanted to study.

I spent the rest of the night cramming.

Then, when I woke up the next morning, I used the extra time I would have spent on walking to school to study even more.

Those doors were really useful.

"Senpai… You don't look so good."

Rin said, when I got to the cafeteria for lunch break, after spending the morning doing tests.

"Yeah, Kazuma, are you sure you're fine?"

Darkness said, looking at me with concern.

I sat down beside Rin and buried my face in my arms.

"...I feel horrible."

Rin chuckled, then picked up a sausage with her chopstick and fed me.

I gratefully let her feed me, since I was too tired to even hold a chopstick properly.

"Hang in there, senpai. At least you're back here safe with us."

"...Yeah, I guess that's a silver lining."

If my grades were the only thing at stake, then I wouldn't even really care.

But the quest issue that Appuri-chan mentioned was too big to ignore.

"I feel sorry for you, Kazuma. You have midterms to deal with, and you have a child to take care of at home, too."

I glared at Darkness.

"What do you mean, child?! Aqua is just lucky I haven't made karaage out of that chicken already!"

Rin weakly laughed while looking to the side.

"...It was hard to watch, seeing Aqua-san call that thing a dragon."

"Then why didn't you guys say anything?! I bet if we held an intervention for her, she'd stop calling that thing a dragon!"

"Well, she's so invested in the idea, none of us want to break her heart."

"I'm completely willing to do that!"

"That's because you're ruthless, senpai."

"Oh, wow, honestly is no longer a virtue, huh?"

"With the way you use honesty as a weapon to crush the hopes and dreams of others, no, it's not a virtue in your hands."

Rin really had lost all her faith in me. She wouldn't have given me such a jaded look before.

Once lunch break ended, I went back to the classroom again to face another brutal wave of exams.

Konno-san came to check up on me.

"How are you holding up?"

She said, even though there were already dark circles under my eyes.

"...Do you even need to ask?"

"I guess I don't. Here, something to lift your spirits."

She handed me a small chocolate.

"Oh, thanks."

I unwrapped it and enjoyed the treat.

It was such an unexpected, sweet gesture from her that I actually felt motivated enough to face the next test.

I still suffered greatly, though.

It took all I had to survive until the school bell rang.

Konno-san came to my desk again.

"Good job, Satou-kun."

"...Thanks."

"Wow, you can barely speak. Want another choco?"

I opened my mouth and let her pop another chocolate inside. I slowly chewed it, savoring the taste and the gesture.

Eventually, I managed to get out of my desk and joined the weary lines of students leaving the school grounds.

Meanwhile, there were those who were still full of energy, bragging about how surprisingly easy the tests were.

I bet those guys just gave up on their grades and were slacking the whole time, that's why they were still full of energy.

If they managed to get better grades than me, I vowed to myself that I'd hunt all of them down.

…Maybe the exhaustion was getting to me.

I dragged my weary self to the dungeon door, just glad that I didn't have to walk home like the rest of the masses.

Like last time, I collapsed as soon as I ended up in my room.

I was woken up from my nap only after I heard a knock on the door.

"...Come in."

Blearily sitting up, I saw Yunyun walking in. She was still in her school uniform.

"Hey, Yunyun. Did you just get back from school?"

She meekly nodded.

"Y-Yeah… Um, I didn't want to disturb you while you're tired from exams, but…"

It wasn't like I had it in me to deny Yunyun, especially if she was making a rare request.

If it was just Megumin asking for an explosion walk, I would have just ignored her.

"No, it's fine. What is it? Feeling lonely?"

"Well, yes, but there's also another matter I want to talk about…!"

I nodded and invited her to sit with me on the bed. She shyly came into my room and sat down.

"You see, Kazuma-san… I know it's awkward to talk about, but we all gain bond rewards from each other whenever our bonds deepen, thanks to the app, right?"

I did realize that it was awkward to talk about, but since Yunyun was brave enough to ask me this, I was willing to talk about it.

"Yeah, I've gained quite a few valuable power-ups from you, Yunyun."

"Well, um… I gained this skill from Mitsurugi-san after the recent battle. He was thanking me for supporting him, and I felt like our friendship really improved! B-But I gained a problematic skill afterwards!"

While blushing, she showed me the skill.

[Lady Killer] Skill Rank: 1, Passive Skill

You become more attractive to the fairer sex! You will even gain a 1 boost to all your stats when in combat with them.

…What a useful skill.

Rather, why did this skill go to Yunyun and not to me?

I coughed into my hand, and said,

"Well, Mitsurugi is quite a playboy ikemen… I guess that's why bonding with him gave you that kind of skill."

"B-But my problem is that this is a passive skill, and I can't turn it off! In class today, a bunch of my female classmates gave me looks they never did before! Even Megumin was staring at my chest!"

I was pretty sure Megumin only stared out of envy.

Like she always did.

…Well, she did have a tsundere thing in regards to Yunyun.

Maybe there really was something there…

"Hmm… Well, if you want to get rid of the skill, I do know that bond ranks can go down if the bond between two people decreases…"

Like it almost did with Aqua.

"...Are you telling me I need to sabotage my bond with Mitsurugi-san? No way! He's so nice to me!"

"Well, if you wanna be a yuri magnet, then fine."

"Uuuu… Is there some way to get rid of skills?"

"I'm not sure… Let me check."

I took out my phone and asked Appuri-chan.

"Well, there is a certain magic item that restricts the effects of skills when they're worn. But those are considered trash items, though."

"Why is it considered a trash item? I'm sure it'll be effective if it's used on an enemy."

Like, for example, if I put that item on Wolbach, then she wouldn't be able to use teleport anymore.

"It needs to be used on a willing target."

"Yeah, that's pretty useless."

Yunyun's case was pretty unique, but most of the time, there was no need for someone to willingly restrict their own skills.

"Where are we even going to find such a magic item, anyway?"

Yunyun said, which gave me an idea.

"Well, there's only one place that would sell worthless items like that."

It was time to visit Wiz.

I did owe her a thanks for giving Mitsurugi those free Manatite Crystals to save me, anyway.

Part 6

Before we could even step foot into the store…

Vanir appeared in front of me with a big grin on his face.

"Hello, dear customer! Can I get you some tea?!"

This blatantly servile version of Vanir immediately made me uneasy.

"...What's this about now, Vanir?"

"Did you forget, boy, that I'm a mind reader? And did you also forget what my goal has been this whole time?!"

"Your goal… You mean working poor Wiz to the bone and stealing all her profits?"

"Hah? If anyone wass stealing profits, it's her! Whenever I earned money for this store, she went ahead and used the money on her worthless inventions! If you will pity anyone, it should be me! Well, I suppose I don't have to deal with that anymore…"

I was about to ask him to elaborate on that last part, but he said,

"Never mind that! The dungeon! Remember, my goal is to own a dungeon!"

Ah, right. There was that.

Last time, he tried to get me to sneak him into the dungeon, but apparently there was someone that was like a goddess that stopped him…

Although I still didn't know who that goddess-like person might be.

"Now you remember, boy? And you also now have access to your own dungeon, right?! Put two and two together!"

Ah, so that was it.

Vanir wanted me to give him a dungeon.

Certainly, with the laptop, it was possible to code a dungeon for him, but…

"No way."

"What do you mean by that?! Who do you think has been helping you until now?! Do you think I was doing that for free?!"

"...Our agreement was that I would let you into the first dungeon, and I already did that for you. I didn't agree to anything beyond that!"

"So stingy! You humans are so greedy! Then, how about this! If you don't let me have that dungeon, then I'll be forced to return to the Demon King army's side! After all, there's no point in helping you if I can't secure a dungeon!"

…That certainly was quite a threat.

Wolbach survived that last battle since she teleported away in time. I didn't know how many more Demon King generals were left, but having Vanir return to them might shift the tide of battle.

His ability to read minds and see future timelines was the most powerful ability I had encountered so far, after all.

I really didn't want to give him a dungeon, but…

"Hah, fine… You win."

"Excellent! Well, at least you still have me on your side now! Unlike that troublesome Lich…"

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"Wiz decided to go back to the Demon King army with that little demon scout, Dante."

"Eh?!"

I looked around the store. Surely enough, Wiz wasn't there at the counter.

Yunyun, who hadn't met Wiz yet, looked confused.

"Um… Is this Wiz an important person?"

"Well… She's a powerful Lich…"

Vanir chuckled at that.

"That's kind of an understatement, really."

I grabbed Vanir's collar and shook him.

"Oi! Why did she leave?! I bet she got tired of your abuse, huh?!"

"Why do you blame me?! And if you want the answer, read her farewell letter herself!"

He produced a letter from his suit and gave it to me.

I hurriedly opened it and read it.

Dear Kazuma-san,

I've had a fun time running the store, and I enjoyed my friendship with you, but at the end of the day, I am still a Demon King general. I pledged my allegiance to the Demon King, and I am not one to break promises.

I also promised to help Vanir-san obtain a dungeon, and when he told me that he saw a future where he can get a dungeon from you, I decided that I had fulfilled my promise with him.

My promise to the Demon King was that he would not force me to join the war against humanity, as long as the Demon King army doesn't harm any innocent civilians. So far, he and the other generals have kept that promise, even as more generals have fallen to this world's forces. I no longer have an excuse to keep playing favorites by aiding you.

In order to maintain the balance, I will now take a more active role as one of the last remaining Demon King generals. I do not want to have to fight you, Kazuma-san, so I advise you to stand down and let the Demon King peacefully take over your world.

Your friend forever,

Wiz

I gently folded the letter.

…I didn't see this coming at all.

Then again, Wiz was clear to me where her loyalty was, and the conditions for her neutrality.

Once the balance shifted unfavorably away from the Demon King army, she couldn't justify helping me anymore.

I was sure that it made her feel even more conflicted, when she supplied Mitsurugi with those Manatite crystals.

To Wiz, who valued loyalty greatly, that must have taken a lot of willpower to do, especially since her support directly contributed to the defeat of Serena and Wolbach.

I turned to Vanir and said,

"...Why didn't you warn me about this?"

He turned his head away and said,

"What was I supposed to tell you? The only way to have kept Wiz around is a solution you would have never gone with, anyway."

"What do you mean by that?"

He sighed and said,

"...If innocents were harmed by the Demon King army, then she would have sided with you. Or, at least, she wouldn't take an active role as the Demon King army general. For example, if Hans had killed innocents when he and Sylvia came to invade your world, then Wiz wouldn't have left just now. In fact, she would have helped you defeat Hans herself."

So the fact that the Demon King army has kept their pact with Wiz meant that she had no reason to side with us.

"Are you saying that I'm simply helping humanity win too much?"

If I did a poorer job protecting humanity, Wiz wouldn't have left and would still be helping us?

"...Why are you making it sound like I'm blaming you? You're doing a good job as humanity's hero, aren't you? Wiz is just a stubborn girl who keeps promises no matter what. It's not like it's your fault for that."

I studied Vanir, who's expression was unreadable with that mask of his. I said,

"And what about you? I don't really know about your past with Wiz, but you two are pretty close, right? Are you fine with her just leaving?"

Vanir placed a finger and my head and kept prodding it.

"Hah?! Why is that any of your business?!"

"Says the mind reader!"

"I got my dungeon, and she was able to fulfill her promise with me! That's all there is to it! If you think that I have any regrets just because she left, you're dead wrong!"

"...I didn't say anything about regrets, though."

Some of his real thoughts came out.

I looked at Yunyun, who was patiently waiting even though she didn't understand what's going on.

"Sorry, Yunyun. I don't think we can get that item now."

She gave me an uneasy smile.

"Well… That's unfortunate, but it seems like something big is going on right now, so please don't mind me!"

What a sweet girl.

Part 7

Just to make sure, I asked Vanir if there were any of the wares Wiz left behind that could help Yunyun, but he said that there wasn't anything of use that Wiz left behind.

It was kind of insulting to Wiz, but at the same time, I believed him.

Since the news was a shock to me, I wanted to process it before I went home. I ended up inviting Yunyun back to the batting cage with me.

Apparently, there was a new game mode called 'Endurance Mode', where a bunch of balls would be pitched to the player until they couldn't hit anymore. The pitches weren't fast, but the frequency of pitches tested one's endurance.

This game mode will increase one's Stamina by 2!

Once I saw that notification from Appuri-chan, I accepted the challenge, with Yunyun following along.

By the time we were done, we could barely lift our arms. We went to a resting area and got some juice from the vending machine.

"Wah… That sure was a workout…"

Yunyun said, as she sipped her orange juice.

"Well, I need to get my stamina up, so I guess I can't complain…"

Aside from 'Attractiveness', it was my lowest stat.

Come to think of it, I should make use of that weekly smoothie bonus that raises stamina. I had been so busy that I didn't even bother doing it.

Yunyun started poking her fingers together. Then, she said,

"Um, about Wiz-san… Do you want to talk about it?"

I smiled at her, feeling bad that she was worrying about me.

"...There isn't really much to say. She made her decision. I wish I got to say goodbye to her, at least."

"Well… If it were me, I'd rather just send a note, too. Saying goodbye face-to-face is a lot more painful…"

I understood that as well, but an illogical part of me felt somewhat betrayed that Wiz even left to begin with, even though I know a true betrayal would be for her to abandon her post as a Demon King general.

She wasn't as shamelessly disloyal as Vanir.

Maybe a bit of my trauma with Ame remained, even if I knew the whole truth about that event now.

…My abandonment issues run deep, huh?

Yunyun looked to be deep in thought for a minute, before she started blushing.

Then, before I knew it, she scooted closer to me, until our shoulders were touching.

She turned to face me, looking shyly into my eyes for a moment, but still leaning in to embrace me.

The action took me off guard, and it took me a moment to see that her face was completely red as she buried her face into my chest.

"Um… Aqua-san and the others can probably do a better job at this… But I just wanted to comfort you…"

This girl is way too innocent!

Did I really deserve Yunyun?!

I'm sure there were many who would vehemently yell 'Hell no!'

But whether or not I deserved her affection didn't really matter.

All that mattered was that she was trying to overcome her shyness just to make me feel a little bit better.

I patted her head, before wrapping my arms around her shoulders, pulling her in more.

"W-Wah! Don't embrace me too much, Kazuma-san! I'm all sweaty from the batting we did!"

I chuckled and let her go before she became too embarrassed, although I missed the contact.

"Thanks, Yunyun. I really needed that."

She gave me a pure, tender smile.

"I'm always here for you, Kazuma-san."

After our visit to the batting cage, Yunyun teleported the both of us home.

I thanked her again for what she did, before she went to her room to study.

When she mentioned studying, I was brought back to reality.

Reluctantly, with heavy steps, I headed back to my room to study once more.

But before I did, I noticed a flashing notification on my phone.

Your bond with Yunyun has deepened!

Yunyun (Lonely Stalker), Bond Rank: 6

At Rank 6, Yunyun has seen a more vulnerable side of you! Before, she saw you as someone infallible and wondered how she could be useful to someone like you. But now, she sees that you need her as much as she needs you. Yunyun is slowly growing out of her co-dependency on other people and becoming her own person. Continuing to encourage her growth will take your bond to the next level.

Bond Reward: You learn the [Teleport] skill!

[Teleport] Skill Rank: 1, Active Skill (30 mp)

Instantly teleports up to 4 targets to a marked location (3 marks total). You can teleport a target to an unmarked, random location if it is an inanimate object. If the target is a creature, they must be willing to teleport, otherwise, they will need to pass a 'Willpower' or 'Magic Power' check with advantage. If their 'Willpower' or 'Magic Power' surpasses yours by 20 points or more, the effects of the random teleport will bounce back to you.

"..."

I stared at the notification for a few minutes.

…I got quite a crazy skill from my bond rank with Yunyun.

Even the dungeon doors couldn't beat the instantaneous utility of Teleport.

One only had to look at Yunyun's feats in combat to see its usefulness.

I set about testing its applications right away.

There were three empty slots for the marked target of teleportation.

I concentrated on the spell, and instinctively, I could tell that the marked location needed to be specific.

For example, if I set the marker beside my toilet, then I will teleport to that place beside the toilet, instead of on top of it.

I figured that the trick Yunyun used to teleport around the battlefield was that she would empty her teleportation slots and set up different points in the battlefield to teleport to.

To test this, I set a teleportation point to the backyard and a spot in my room.

"[Teleport]!"

In an instant, I ended up in the backyard, looking up at the window of my room.

I experienced some disorientation, but I had gone through the effects of teleportation often enough, even with Wolbach, that it wasn't as bad as the previous times.

I teleported back to my room.

"Yikes… This thing eats up a lot of mana."

I was already near empty just from two teleports.

The fact that Yunyun could teleport around so much showed how big her mana pool really was.

I went through the dungeon door and put my hand on the wall.

"[Drain Touch]!"

After some time, I was back to full.

…If I kept a teleportation mark in the dungeon at all times, that meant that I could always teleport there to refill my mana.

This may seem like cheating, but considering the kind of threats I was up against, I needed to abuse the system as much as possible just to keep up.

Not to mention I might need to face Wiz in battle.

"..."

I didn't even want to think about that.

Not only would fighting a good friend be awful, but I couldn't even imagine how powerful Wiz really was.

She thought that the 50th floor of the dungeon was considered 'weak' after all.

Well, now that she is full on the Demon King's side, I wondered if Wiz could even come back to the dungeon now.

It was a miracle she was even allowed to enter, considering Vanir couldn't.

I couldn't even see Wiz as some evil Lich, a Demon King general who I was meant to defeat.

She was just Wiz, friendly, kind Wiz.

…Maybe just surrendering to the Demon King was the right move, after all.

I really didn't want to fight Wiz.

I shook my head. I shouldn't let my personal feelings get in the way.

Wiz was loyal to her faction, so I should respect her decision and be loyal to mine, too.

Even if we will inevitably have to fight some day.

…But first, I should focus on midterms, I guess.