『A Certain Home』

Jack's eyes flickered open with the morning sun that overtook their camp.

"This is refreshing..." He uttered quietly as he felt a small weight pressing into his chest. His eyes moving down to see the top of Megumin's head, as her face was nuzzled into his sternum.

"Awoo?" The Direwolf let out a soft sound as it raised its head from its sleeping position, as the pup was resting by the center of the shelter he had made the night before. Its big eyes centered on the man who had slain the bear along with the girl who was held close to him.

"Good morning to you too," Jack was rather surprised by the vocalization of the wolf, as he knew it was not a dog. Though it seemed relatively used to social interaction. Could it be it was the offspring of the wolves that had come here? The ones he had killed off? He didn't let that bother him all that much, however, as there was nothing he could have done otherwise.

Megumin squirmed against the larger figure before wrapping her lips around a bit of the fabric of his robes, feeling it contently with just her lips.

"Oh?" Jack glanced down at her again as he let his hands wander down from her upper her back to her waist. Her slender form was bony, but at the same time squishy.

It was clear this girl wasn't physically strong, though he already knew this, which made her vulnerable. In a world where casting a single spell could put her dead in the water, it was hard to figure out how she had gotten this far without him.

His gaze looked to Chris who was laying on the opposite side of the shelter, her back to them. Judging by her breathing patterns, he could only assume she was still asleep or faking it.

A small smirk formed over his lips as his fingers then trailed down to her leg, feeling delicate muscle covered by flesh. Her body was far too soft and without thinking, he wanted to explore.

The moment she let out a small moan, however, Jack froze and withdrew his hand. Taking in a sharp breath, he exhaled slowly before looking down at her again, feeling her yawn into his chest.

It appeared she was still asleep, his body blocking her face from the sun that was coming in through the stick walls that surrounded them. Slowly he laid her on her back and moved over to hold himself over her. Inspecting her sleeping face, he took a mental screenshot of the drool that ran down the side of her face. How her two long locks of hair hugged her torso, and how the leafs stuck in her hair.

His eyes moved to her scrawny shoulders and then to her near, almost, flat chest. Letting his right hand moved to trace his fingers along her collar bone, he could feel her heartbeat. It was slow, evenly paced with her breathing. Despite moving her around and touching, she seemed relatively calm, as if she knew she was safe beneath him.

Licking his lips slightly, his fingers moved up to her chin in which he would pinch between his thumb and forefinger. He leaned down, feeling her breath tickling his lips as he closed in on hers.

"What are you doing?" Chris now sitting up was scrutinizing the male hovering over the unconscious girl sprawled out beneath him. She, nonetheless, wasn't wearing a scolding expression but more of a curious one. This thief was well aware that he had kissed the girl last night, this time she just wanted to interrupt. On her lip was a coy grin, her eyes seeming to shine with the sunrise.

"Nothing in particular," Jack responded though his lips were still inches away from Megumin's, his emerald eyes jumping on over to her.

"For some reason, I am not inclined to believe you," Chris teased as she moved onto her knees and waddled her way over to him.

"Is that so?" He chuckled to himself, "And what exactly do you believe I'm doing?"

"Touching and kissing a defenseless girl who trusts you while she is still sleeping," Slyly the thief leaned in towards him like a fox, dropping her hands to the floor. "Are you two lovers?"

"I saved her from being violated," Jack tilted his head to the side slightly. "Since then she doesn't want me to leave her side. I likewise promised I wouldn't," he stated a matter a factly.

"Heh... What does that have to do with what you're doing?" Chris snickered as she reached over and moved some of Megumin's hair out of the way of her face, toying with her bangs.

"If you wanted a morning kiss, all you had to do was ask," Jack offered with a shrewd gaze of his own. This thief had piqued his interest with her seemingly lax approach towards his actions.

Immediately flustered by his intentional flirtatious retort to her question, she nearly fell backward in surprise, "Th-that is not what I meant!" She tried to laugh it off, but that didn't stop her eyes from peering over his lips as he responded. Whether or not she wanted a kiss, she still thought about what it would feel like or was at least wary if he would force the subject.

"And you were being provocative just now, weren't you?" Jack playfully poked his tongue out at her before looking back down at Megumin who stirred onto her side, curling up slightly in the process due to the lack of warmth.

"That's...!" With a face as red as a tomato, Chris pouted. "When are we going back to Axel?"

"Changing the subject?" This time he didn't look away from Megumin as he responded to her question, lightly pushing Megumin onto her back as she had been before.

"Mmmm..." Megumin's eyes fluttered open before squeezing shut from the sudden feeling of sunlight pouring into her sights. "Aaaah~" She groaned before yawning.

"Morning sleepyhead," Jack chuckled down at her as she let her eyes adjust, blinking up at his silhouetted form that hovered over her.

"Jack?" Megumin mumbled quietly before yawning again.

"That's my name," Jack pitched his head down a bit, blowing a raspberry against her cheek.

"Ah! Stop!" Megumin reached up and pushed his face away, grasping his cheeks in both her hands. "I am not a little girl, so don't treat me like one, okay?!"

Chris's eyes widened lightly watching this, a loose smile across her lips. "Ohohoh~?"

While the thief's flustered blush had since faded, Megumin's face suddenly turned a brilliant vermillion red.

"I suppose it's time to get the campsite taken down," Jack gave the young girl beneath him a gentle caress upon her cheek before standing up as he made his way out of the shelter. He was careful enough not to hit his head on the low hanging ceiling.

Megumin and Chris both watched as he vanished from their immediate sight, before looking to one another. The older girl seemed to be smiling widely, even more, curious about their relationship than before.

"So~" Chris chimed as she moved to sit beside the Archwizard who was fixing her hat upon her head. "What do you have going on with the big guy?"

Megumin looked over to her, the tinge of pink remaining on her cheeks. Her crimson red eyes though remained focused on Chris, "He saved me from a barbarian with his magics. Broke the beast of a man's sword in two with a single flick of his wrist, before plunging it into his gullet!" She threw her hands in the air as if to exaggerate the short tale, "Then he vaporized the man."

Chris blinked several times hearing the tale, how Jack had broken a sword with his hands and then vaporized the assailant who was trying to violate Megumin. It wasn't her first time hearing of a man in a party who tried or even succeeded in forcing himself upon a female member of a party. Heck, it wasn't abnormal either from the whole stress of behind everything that they do.

"And that's how I became joined at his side and formed a party known as the dynamite duo!" Megumin shamelessly grinned, leaving out the fact she had promised her firsts and seconds to Jack. She didn't think that Chris had any reason to know of it.

After a few seconds of silence, Jack's voice boomed, "We are not known as that!"

Chris giggled to herself, "Hmm If my friend joins, you'd become the dynamic trio."

"Dynomite." Megumin gave a flawless smile.

"Still not known as that," Jack uttered as he peered in through the door to the shelter, looking over the two who were sitting beside each other all friendly-like. "Mind exploding the shelter?"

"Can I?!" Megumin immediately scrambled to her feet and ducked under the archway frame to leave the little hut he had built with sticks and leaves.

Chris wasn't too far behind, her eyes as large as saucers as she and the wolf darted from the shelter. There was no way they wanted their lives to be taken away by an explosion!

Several seconds later, an explosion rocked the entire forest, causing birds that had nested nearby to take up to the skies. There was no doubt that the residence of Axel had once more felt the shaking might of the Explosion Magic released by Megumin once again.

With a light thud, Megumin's hat fell to the ground beside her head, as she wore a smug-looking grin of accomplishment. "Ah, yes! Sweet crimson... Heh..." She was rather happy with herself. "

Jack knelt leaned over and pulled her up over his shoulder, grasping her staff in one hand as he did so, before testing her rear on his forearm. "So, Chris..." He turned to their silver-haired maiden of a friend as he adjusted Megumin's arms around his neck. "Why don't you join our party along with your friend?"

"Eh?" Chris raised a brow looking over him as it didn't sound all that bad of an idea, though she had plenty of followers in the Order of Eris to watch over. "I don't know about that, maybe some other time?" She said thoughtfully though by her upbeat tone he could tell she was interested.

"Take all the time you need," Jack said with a smile across his lips as he placed Megumin's hat back on her head. He could see that satisfied look on her face as she looked over at him. "I guess we'll just head back to the Adventurer's Guild and collect the prize money, then go to the Commerce Office to see if there are any places up for sale."

All three of them nodded, even the wolf as if it knew what he was saying.

Not too long later a portal would appear, expanding in front of the gates of the Walled Town of Axel. Chris, Jack with Megumin in his arms, and the wolf came waltzing out of the passage.

"Never ceases to amaze..." One of the Guards groaned seeing the portal and the four that made their appearance. "Remember to keep from using that power in the market place," the guard pointed at Jack who simply smiled back at the man, giving him a nod.

"Of course, Guard-san," Jack pursed his lips slightly before the four of them found their way in through the massive gateway that leads into the town. His portal vanishing after being about two feet away from it.

About halfway towards the Guild, Jack paused and glanced over towards Chris who was about to speak. "Heading over to the Church?" He asked with a brow raised.

"Yes, yes. I have to get my friend, she should be waiting there," Chris nodded lightly to the teenager who she had accompanied on their trip to the forest. "I'll keep your Party offer in mind."

"Of course," Jack snickered lightly as he watched the thief go running off on her own.

"Seems like it'll be a long time before it's just the three of us," Jack uttered quietly under his breath. Not sure if he would want to take on two other people. While he could see himself tolerating the current company alongside Chris, he had no idea what kind of person she was bringing in.

She may have said that she wasn't any type of weirdo, but that could have easily been an objective lie, as she likely didn't see her friend as weird. Or it was a biased one, where she thought he'd just deny her for being weird.

Jack shook his head at his thoughts, silently channeling mana into Megumin to help her recover.

It didn't take long or them to show up at the Guild Hall, or collect their prize. Once he set everything up, he collected the rest of the funds from the Inn, sold the bear meat remains, and went to the Commerce Office of Axel.

Megumin, Jack and Petra walked in through the door minutes later looking around at the furnishings. There were several sitting areas, coffee tables, and catalogs at each one.

This place reminded Jack of a certain manor from a previous time in his previous life. He had at one time tried to settle down before trying to join up with long lost friends. His eyes narrowed on the man standing behind one of the counters who was staring at them from across the room.

"How can I help you two today?" The man sounded rather snobbish as the trio approached, judging by the dirt on their clothes and the smell of burnt wood looming in the air.

"We're looking for a place to stay, we potentially have the funds, we'd like to know what land is available." Despite the tone that was used towards them, Jack chose to use a polite tone, refraining from snapping at the man with his fists.

"Hm..." Looking over the teenage girl who was about four foot seven inches, then towards the man who was well over a foot taller. It wasn't abnormal to find such a pairing, "Right this way, follow me." With a simple gesture of his hand, the commerce man leads them over to a lounging area before sitting down in the largest armchair available, crossing his ankle over his knee. He then leaned forward as he watched the three movements for the couch across from him.

"Ah~ Ah~ Ah~" He tsk'ed as he ticked his finger side to side, "No mutts on the couch."

Petra gave a light growl before flopping flatly onto the floor.

Jack snickered and sat down on the couch, Megumin sitting beside him and moving her hat into her lap. He then watched as the man picked up the catalog for the homes for sale in the area.

"May I ask what you are looking for, exactly, as a homestead?" The man seemed a bit more attentive as he took a gander over the boy's eyes. Almost immediately he could see the magic power radiating within them, only to see the red hues of Megumin's red glowing eyes.

Right in front of him, he could recognize a latent power couple waiting to bloom.

"Two bedrooms minimum, four maximum. At least two Restrooms, and a bath." Jack looked towards something simple that was for sure, "And possibly on top of a vacant storefront... If not we can handle a manor."

"Ah, you would be adventurers wanting to sell your wares, yes?" The man leaned forward looking over them, raising a brow at this.

"I've been creating enchanted items out of the pelts I've collected from our hunting jobs," Jack leaned forward as he sunk slightly into the cushions. "Anything in particular available?"

Flicking from page to page, the man looked over what was available and yet, sighed. "There is one vacant storefront available in the market place, however, it only has one bedroom on the second floor. Though you could transform the attic into another bedroom, there is only one restroom and no bath."

"Ah..." Parting his lips Jack simply looked over the man for a few seconds before leaning back into the couch. Though disappointed, he was not dissuaded as he watched the man flick through more pages to see if they could meet his demands.

"How about this one?" He turned the catalog to face them, revealing a perfect colored sketch of a manor.

The building appeared lofty in design and had a low standing obtuse roof with three stories beneath it consisting of an unsaturated dark greenish-grey stone. There were a few large windows that encompassed the lobby section and the walkway that appeared suspended above it, leading into the separate areas of the house. While the long stairwell was just visible inside, he could tell that the windows were likely more opaque than the image let on.

There appeared to be a large amount of open space on the premises, aside from a few trees and a ten-foot wall that surrounded the property. It wasn't a bad deal either, though the price seemed iffy.

A series of people had died in the home from various causes, ranging from illness to outright murder. The previous owner of the place was a Lord who moved to the Capital and wanted to get rid of the land cheaply even though the land was mostly seen as the epicenter of power and influence.

Jack's eyes looked to the man, a glimmer in his gaze, "That one seems promising... Perhaps we'll take Chris and her friend for a tour of the place?" He looked to Megumin who nodded in a supporting fashion.

"I'll get a tour arranged for you, I'll meet you... Five back at the property?" He asked as he held the catalog out for them to take a look at the map which lead to the home in question.

"Yes!" Megumin gave an enthusiastic thumbs up.