May There Be Growth for These Unchanging Adventurers!

1

"..."

Aqua crouched on the fluffy carpet, watching me.

She'd been that way since this morning and didn't show any sign of getting tired of it. Was something wrong with her? In light of how things had been going with Megumin and Darkness, it wouldn't be wrong to say my time with the ladies had come—could Aqua be falling victim to my charms, too?

Could that be the fabled gaze of a woman in love?

From my place lounging on the living room sofa, I said to Aqua, "…What's with the stare? Ahhh, is this what you're after? Want a drink?"

Then I drained the champagne-like stuff I was drinking. It was strange, kind of…bubbly, or maybe fizzy. According to Aqua, this was on the fancy side when it came to wine, but personally, my alcoholic palate wasn't well developed enough to understand what was so great about it.

Even if I didn't have any special appreciation for it, though, sitting around and drinking expensive wine first thing in the morning was its own kind of victory, in my opinion.

And there was Aqua, staring at me as I drank.

"…I've just been thinking. I know the festival is over, but I've been really surprised at what a worthless lump of human trash you've turned into, Kazuma."

Ah. So not the fabled gaze of a woman in love but the fabled gaze of a woman looking at a worthless lump of a guy.

Right at that moment, though, Aqua's verbal assault wasn't enough to make me angry or even move me. I could afford to stay calm—literally. I was living the life of a man who had become filthy rich, gotten his own mansion, and could spend his days in the lap of luxury, all from a young age.

"Listen, Aqua, I don't know what you're talking about. I'm a huge success, remember? And now I'm just living the life I've earned. Nothing wrong with that. I've got money in the bank—fat stacks, at that— and I plan to live off the interest for the rest of my life. No more working like an idiot. Maybe an adventure, when I feel like it. Just fun and fancy-free."

"Makes sense," Aqua mumbled. She took my champagne off the table. "When you put it like that, it's understandable. Well, in that case, I'm going to have a sip of this high-quality, Neroided-down stuff, okay?"

"…That's champagne, isn't it?"

"No, it's got Neroid in it. Carbonation doesn't exist in this world. Most fizzy drinks here are mixed with Neroid." She went to get a glass as she talked.

As she walked out, Darkness and Megumin walked in.

…Heck, they both looked ready to go on an adventure. Darkness was in full armor (clank, clank), while Megumin had a firm grip on her beloved staff.

I took a look and asked, "Off for your daily Explosion? Take care. Oh, and could you pick up dinner on the way home? I'll pay you back later. I want something nice and decadent to eat tonight." I didn't move from my place on the sofa.

Megumin and Darkness looked at me intently. These were definitely the gazes of two women in love.

"…Darkness, what shall we do with this man who lies around drinking from the moment he wakes up, never moving?"

"…Maybe we should throw him out somewhere."

Huh?

…Wrong again, I guess. Just another example of the look of people fed up with a man.

I rolled over so I was faceup on the sofa and said, "Now listen, you two. For your information, I don't have one good reason to move. Why do people work?

It's to make money so they can support themselves. But me, I already have enough money to support myself for the rest of my life. So what in the world is wrong with committing myself to a lifetime of dissolution? No one else has to be bothered by me."

I grabbed some of the peas I had put on the table as a snack, popping them into my mouth and crunching noisily.

Seeing me that way, Darkness gave a deep sigh. "Disgusting… You've got some money, so you're never going to work again? If everyone thought that way, the world would come to a standstill. People are honor bound to contribute something to the world, even if they don't need to work for money."

A laudable ideal. "As far as I'm concerned, I'm just living life the same way you nobles do," I said.

"Y-you uncouth—! How dare you insult the nobility! We may not look like we're doing anything to the likes of you, but we work tirelessly to ensure the citizenry can have a peaceful life. Surely you have it in you to give something back to the populace. Try doing it for the people you love instead of for money.

Take down a monster or two that's doing people harm—it would be better than just lying around like this…" Laudable indeed. I flopped around so my back was to Darkness, buried my face into the sofa, and yawned.

"Hey!" Darkness exclaimed, but I ignored her. This was probably the first time in her whole pampered noble life that someone had been so rude while she was talking so passionately.

My name is Kazuma Satou.

A man who never bends to authority.

When an authority figure like Darkness said to work, it was practically my duty to stubbornly refuse.

Darkness, annoyed by my attitude, came stomping over to the sofa and grabbed me by the back of my shirt.

"All right, Kazuma, you're coming with us. You're going to become an even bigger lump than you are if you don't move sometimes. Come help us hunt— H-hey, you! Let go of that! Don't you fight me!"

I had clung tight to the sofa, so Darkness started trying to pry me off in earnest…!

It was Megumin who stopped her.

"Come now, Darkness, let me handle this." She knelt down so she was level with where I was clinging to the couch, and she smiled kindly at me. "Kazuma, please let us see you in action once in a while. Won't you show me how reliable you are in a moment of crisis?"

I glanced at her for just an instant.

"..." Then I looked back in the direction of the sofa and clung even tighter.

"Huh?!" Megumin seemed to be slightly shocked by this.

My name is Kazuma Satou.

I am not a man to be dissuaded from my goals by a moment of sentiment.

Yes, I'd been feeling pretty good about Megumin and me recently, but it would take more than that to sway me. My schedule for today was already packed anyway: I was going to have myself a little something to drink, take a nap until evening, and then go out on the town to enjoy the nightlife.

I held fast to the sofa, still stretched out, and glanced at the two of them without moving. "…You exterminate monsters on sight because they hurt people. And you let other creatures live because they benefit people. I hate that kind of arrogant attitude. We should be kinder to monsters. I wish you would both remember the goodness of heart you had when you were children."

Then I popped a pea into my mouth and rolled over once more toward the sofa's backrest… "Y-you go looking for good monsters with bloodlust in your eyes when you need money! Don't you start giving us sermons now!"

"She's right! You're one to talk, considering how you just recently ordered an expensive Duxion to cook so you could raise your level without even trying!

Grab that end, Darkness! Let's tear him off of there!"

Darkness took hold of my feet, and Megumin got a grip on my back, and then they started trying to pull me off the sofa. I could feel Megumin's body heat against my back. "Yeah," I said, "push your chest right up against my back like that. That might get me to loosen my grip on this couch."

"You are the worst! I knew this man was the worst! Darkness, let's get some rope and drag him to the Guild!"

"I-I'm starting to think we really should just dump this guy somewhere…!"

They didn't stop trying to get me off the couch, though.

That was when Aqua came back with a clear glass, a simple side dish, and a plate with what looked to be a lime or something on it.

"…And what kind of new game have you come up with this time? Tell me the rules, if you don't mind."

"It's not a game! Megumin and I were thinking we should all go on a hunting quest together. But Kazuma won't stop bellyaching about how he doesn't want to go… Aqua, please, please don't let yourself be poisoned by this man…" Darkness was looking at the plate Aqua was holding, appearing thoroughly distressed.

Poisoned? The nerve! Aqua had always been this way.

Aqua cocked her head, then popped a slice of lime from the plate into her mouth, grimacing at the tartness.

"Hmm? I wouldn't mind going, but I think it'll be a tall order to get Kazuma to come along, considering how he's been a total, ridiculous NEET ever since the festival ended. How about we just leave pathetic Mr. Weakest Class there and go by ourselves?"

She just haaad to go and say something I couldn't ignore.

I sat up angrily. "…Now listen here, O Advanced Class Aqua. Just think about it. You know I'm the strongest member of this party. And you think you can still go around calling me Mr. Weakest Class? There's no real point comparing how strong we are, considering each of us has different roles in the party, but it still pisses me off to hear talk like that from Miss Weak Advanced Class."

I couldn't have been any clearer.

Aqua, ignoring the tartness, popped another piece of lime into her mouth.

"Kazuma, you've been under the impression you're the strongest one in this party? I grant that your skills are convenient. And I know you can render even Darkness powerless with Drain Touch… But have you forgotten? Stupid Lich skills like that only work on me when I'm not paying any attention to you at all.

Do you really think you can win in a fair fight?"

"Hang on, since when am I the low bar around here?" Darkness said. "I've been honing some skills lately that'll help me resist Drain Touch and magical attacks and raise my defense against status conditions…" It would be stupid to rise to Aqua's lime-mouthed provocations. Stupid, yes, but I couldn't let a line like that go unanswered.

"Aqua, listen up. Surely you don't think Drain Touch is my only weapon? I'm more versatile than someone like I'm-So-Tough-but-I-Can't-Hit-Squat Darkness would ever understand, okay? I have a whole arsenal of magic spells and skills. I can snipe from a distance or swing a sword from up close. You really think you have any chance of beating me?"

"H-hey! I may never hit anything, but I'm confident in my endurance! If the battle dragged on, I might turn out to be your equal…!"

Aqua, meanwhile, blinked slowly in surprise. Then she set down her plate on the table. "Well now, my dear Kazuma, I think you're missing something, don't you? I'm an Arch-priest. But I'm also a Renaissance woman who can do a little bit of everything outside of the highest of high-stat-point offensive magic. A little sword here, a little bow there. If I buffed myself and came at you, Kazuma, you wouldn't even last one minute. Oh, and…" She gave a casual toss of her long, blue hair and said confidently, "I guess you've learned the Bind skill? I hate to tell you this, but Darkness is about the only person you can expect to catch with it. Me, I have Sacred Dispel, which can forcibly negate just about any magic or skill. Plus, we've known each other long enough that I'm wise to all your little tricks, understand?"

"H-hey… Yes, Bind leaves me powerless. I admit that, but… Hang on, Aqua, if you could do that all along, why didn't you free me the other day…?"

Aqua was brimming with confidence, wearing a smile that was totally uncalled for.

"…Okay," I said flatly, "you're on."

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Darkness blushing for some reason and Megumin giving her a consoling pat on the shoulder.

2

And so I arrived at the Adventurers Guild. I wondered how long it had been since I had last shown up here.

I spotted familiar faces here and there; when people I knew spotted me, they waved and said hello.

I walked past a flaxen-haired punk grumbling into his wine cup, slumped over the table even though it wasn't even noon, and I headed for the board where all the quests were posted.

Beside me, Aqua was having a staring contest with the quest board, trying to find prey that would serve for our contest. Far be it from us to settle our differences with an actual fight; we had decided a monster hunt would determine which of us was stronger.

Megumin would be the judge. Concerned that battle would be difficult for Aqua, who didn't carry a weapon, I stuck Darkness with her as a sort of bonus.

Though, granted, being called a "bonus" made Darkness cry.

The battle would be decided by which of us took out the most monsters, so ideally, we would find an area with a large monster population. It wasn't breeding season, so the frogs weren't out in full force, and even if they had been, other adventurers would have quickly culled their numbers.

I heard muttering from beside me.

"…'Hunt a pair of manticores. Exterminate a powerful subspecies wyvern in the mountains before it can finish building its nest…' None of these has quite the impact I'm looking for…" Clearly, I had better be the one to pick the quest.

…And that was when I found it.

Beginner's Bane & Goblin Hunt.

The Beginner's Bane, a monster we seemed to share some sort of unfortunate connection with. It was a powerful enemy more suited to mid-level parties— and one I had faced more than once.

Well, we weren't novices anymore. We'd already gone toe to toe with enemies way stronger than a Beginner's Bane.

Time for some payback.

We were practically veterans at this point, yet we had never beaten one of these things.

I tore the paper off the board. Immediately, three frowning faces turned on me.

Apparently, I wasn't the only one who had been traumatized by our experiences with this thing.

I had once briefly joined a different party, and this was the monster we had ended up running away from.

"This thing uses goblins or kobolds or other weak monsters as bait to attract low-level adventurers, right? The winner of the contest will be whoever offs the most members of its little horde. And…how about extra points to the one who does in the Beginner's Bane? We're veteran adventurers now… Don't you think it's about time we took one of these guys out?"

That was my speech.

The others, finally convinced, all started to smile.

An eyewitness report placed the Beginner's Bane in a copse of trees a fair distance from town.

It wasn't big enough to be called a proper forest, but apparently, a troop of armed goblins had appeared there. And a Beginner's Bane was skulking around nearby, keeping an eye on them.

That was one clever monster, using as bait the kinds of weak but rewarding prey new adventurers loved to hunt—but right now, it looked like it wasn't home.

"I see those stupid goblins! My God Blow can take care of the likes of them in one shot!"

There they were, just like Aqua said, digging up potato-like things near the roots of trees or smacking the trunks to make little berries fall down. Maybe they were hungry. The goblins, these so-called major monsters, were single-mindedly focused on their hunt for food.

We watched them from the underbrush, closing the distance to them bit by bit.

There weren't very many of them, though, maybe just three.

"You couldn't even handle yourself against frogs before," I said to Aqua, who was acting all high and mighty beside me.

"Those big, soft stomachs absorb my blows. Certain things match up better against certain other things, you know. Did you not realize that? What are you, stupid?"

I gave her a good pinch on the cheek, sending her halfway to tears, and that was when the goblins seemed to notice us.

Crap! This is because we made all that noise! Idiots!

Two of the goblins, when they saw our weapons, froze in place and trembled helplessly. The third let out an earsplitting screech. Maybe he was calling his friends or something.

Our best bet would be to clean out this mess before the Beginner's Bane got here.

As I was thinking all this, Megumin said, "Very good. Begin the goblin hunt!"

That was the signal. Someone took a step back.

"Just you watch, Kazuma! A few goblins? I'll finish them off in no time flat!"

Then Aqua charged eagerly at the monsters. She was glowing faintly; I guessed she must have cast some kind of buff on herself. Darkness, her heavy armor rattling and clanking, tried desperately to follow her.

I calmly watched them go, then readied my bow from a distance…!

Shwing!

""Oh!"" My arrow went flying ahead of the two of them, sniping the goblin Aqua was about to attack right in the head. And while she and Darkness stood there frozen with shock…!

"Brgggh?!"

"Gyagh?!"

The goblins were hardly twenty yards away. With my Deadeye skill, there was no way I could miss. So I had an early lead of three goblins on Aqua and Darkness.

"Now just a minute, Kazuma! What do you think you're doing, killing the goblin I was about to fight?!" Aqua was clearly unhappy.

"Taking out the enemies before you can get to them. Sounds like a winning strategy to me."

Aqua and Darkness exclaimed in unison: ""You lowlife!"" I continued to tramp through the underbrush.

"Over there! I just saw something over that way! You can't escape my eyes, Kazuma!" I heard someone yelling behind me.

Darkness's voice followed. "You sneak, stealing our kills from us! Now I'm mad! Come out and fight like a man!"

I was just wandering aimlessly through the forest. So far, I had eight kills, and they had zero. I was using my Ambush skill to stalk them, letting them draw out the goblins while I sniped from a safe position. A perfect, flawless, beautiful plan—which made my opponents so angry, for some reason, that now they were hunting me.

They couldn't win their little contest, so they were resorting to violence— —and they called me a lowlife.

The fact that I couldn't seem to shake Darkness in spite of all the armor she was wearing must have been thanks to Aqua's strengthening buffs. I usually didn't think too much about support magic, but when your enemies were using it, it turned out to be pretty fearsome stuff.

I used Ambush to keep running away, then magically scattered some water on the ground and immediately froze it.

Then I deliberately deactivated my Ambush skill for a moment. It was about as primitive as traps got, but… "Ooooh, now I've got you, Kazuma! It looks like you've finally accepted your inevitable f— Hrrrgh!"

"We've got you now, Kazuma! Hff, hff… T-today, I swear I'll finally have my reverrgh!"

Both girls took spectacular tumbles.

"Woooooooh!"

I let out a great whoop as Aqua jumped to her feet.

"Darkness, let's surround that guy! And then let's beat the daylights out of him! He's gonna be such a mess when we're through with him!"

(Image)

Darkness was dragging herself up off the frozen ground. "…We thought we were chasing you down, and yet you so easily left us at your mercy… I admit it's painful, and yet… Is it strange of me to think it's not bad, either…?"

Yes. Yes, it is.

Megumin, who had finally caught up with us, appeared from the bushes. "… Ugh, what is going on here? Please don't you all forget about the goblin hunt."

Hey, I wanted to focus on the hunt just as much as the next guy, but they insisted on calling me a lowlife for using my brilliant strategy.

Still, Megumin's comment prompted me to activate my Sense Foe skill to see if there were any goblins around… "So you've finally stopped running away, Kazuma," Aqua crowed. "You can start by saying you're sorry. Then we'll decide what to do with you, you freeloading NEET."

"Shut up a second—we're surrounded."

Should I have expected it? Yeah, probably. With all that shouting and rushing around, we were practically begging to be attacked.

Now Aqua and Darkness realized we were in deep.

We could see goblins peering at us from here and there among the trees.

Probably more than a dozen of them—certainly more than you could take on solo.

And on top of that… "Well, well, look who it is."

The goblins had us surrounded, sure. But someone else strode among them like their protector, a black beast.

A Beginner's Bane.

It was time to get our revenge on this critter so we could finally hold our heads up high as a veteran party.

Even in the middle of our argument, it looked like we all felt the same way about that, at least.

Darkness stepped forward to draw the enemy's attention. I assumed she was setting herself up as a Decoy, an ability that would allow her to keep the enemy occupied.

"Huh. I guess I've got no choice, Kazuma—I'll buff you, too." Aqua cast some magic on me as she spoke. My body glowed for a second, and then I felt my natural abilities increase dramatically.

Awesome. That would be the leg up I needed.

Darkness to defend us, Aqua to heal. And me, orchestrating the whole operation.

Each of us had a role. There was no need to decide who was number one or anything. I started to feel a little bad about having lost my temper.

I took out an arrow, got my bow ready, and came up on Darkness's right side.

"Don't worry," I said, "I won't make a mistake and shoot you in the back or anything. I'm counting on you, Darkness."

"And I'm counting on you. Don't worry—I won't let a single enemy get behind us. You handle the offense."

Darkness stabbed her gigantic sword into the ground, gazing forward as if all that she saw was hers, never looking back. Just seeing her like that made me feel as if we could take on any enemy at all.

"And if you get hurt, Darkness, I'll heal you right up, so don't worry about that, either! Let's go! This time, we show that creature what we're made of!"

Aqua puffed out her chest as if to say that with a team like this, there was nothing in the world to be afraid of.

I glanced at Megumin. "Hey, Megumin, remember back at the mansion when you were haranguing me to let you see me in action, begging me to show you how cool I could be in a crisis? Well, look closely, because you're gonna see that if we work together, no enemy can—" "Explooosion!!!"

The whole area was filled with a roar and a rush of air. The massive blast that had cut me off before I could finish my awesome speech swallowed up all the goblins, the Beginner's Bane, and more besides. It got all the trees nearby, and us, too.

On the very front row, Darkness, her gigantic sword, and her heavy armor got blown backward into Aqua and me, and all of us were thrown around like rag dolls.

…I landed face-first on the ground and peeked up as carefully as I could to discover the goblins and the Bane were both already gone. Darkness's eyes were rolling in her head like maybe she had been hit by some flying debris.

"Koff… U-ughhh… By—by bouth, id's full ob dirt…" Aqua, like me, had landed on the ground.

Also on the ground, right beside me, was the prostrate form of the person who had brought this catastrophe upon us.

That person said flatly, "We always take the ripest opportunities. An instinct any member of the Crimson Magic Clan cannot resist. Also, this shows that I am the strongest member of this party."

"You impossible, impossible woman!" I exclaimed. "And here I thought you'd been growing up a little recently!! Weren't you supposed to be the judge anyway?!"

3

That pretty much sums up how we were passing the time these days. One such day, though… Dust was dancing in the shafts of morning light that peeked in through the window.

"Strange to see you up so early, Kazuma. What's gotten into you? Ready to go on another quest?"

Darkness was holding a saucer in one hand, drinking her after-breakfast tea, when I came into the idyllic dining area. She sounded surprised to see me.

"I'm not 'up.' I never went to sleep. It's so hot during this season, all you can do is make your room freezing cold and sit around doing nothing."

"O-oh. I'm glad to hear some things never change. Speaking of which, I thought about this on our quest the other day: You hardly ever buy weapons or armor anymore. It's like you've given up even the pretense of being an adventurer."

As a matter of fact, I had pretty much given up on the idea of being an adventurer.

"Eh, I'm thinking it's about time I quit adventuring. The next step is to become a businessman, make some easy money, and live a life of dissolution."

"You just have to say something idiotic every so often or you don't feel right, do you?" Megumin, sipping tea like Darkness, said with exasperation. "You haven't even been seriously injured, and you want to quit adventuring while you're still in your teens? That is simply not how it works."

I ignored her, grabbing the newspaper that was sticking through the mail slot on the front door. "Say what you like. An adventurer with my list of achievements should just sit around reading the newspaper, keeping an eye on the world situation. It's best for everyone if I save up my strength for moments of crisis."

I was just about to plop myself down on the sofa when— "Aww, Kazuma, lemme read that first. I just wanna see the funnies. I really want to know what happens to General Winter. He set out on a journey to rescue his captured sprites."

"Just hold on—I want to know the same thing. That's why I even bothered to pick up this stupid newspaper."

Megumin watched Aqua and me argue over the comics, looking like maybe she had an opinion to offer herself, when a particular headline caught my eye.

"Demon King's General Turns the Tide on the Front Line. Capital in Danger—?

Hey, that sounds serious. I wonder if my dear little sister Iris is all right."

"You impudent dog! How dare you arbitrarily call Lady Iris your little sister!

Still, if it's true the capital is in trouble… Here, let me see that."

I handed Darkness the paper, which she studied intently. "It sounds like a fortress on the front line is under attack by a general of the Demon King. The article says the general is a dark god who wields fearsome magic."

"What?!"

Darkness hadn't actually sounded very interested, but Megumin leaped to her feet.

"What's up, Megumin? …Ahhh, I get it. I know how you love the words dark god. You keep saying that crazy stuff about how you were a god of destruction in your past life or something."

"It's not crazy—it is, I must think, true—but that's not what this is about! I think I have an idea who that deity might be…" Aqua, reading the comics over Darkness's shoulder, frowned. "I don't know anything about any dark gods, but you could be in line for some serious divine punishment if you keep calling yourself a god."

"Look who's talking, Miss I'm-a-Goddess," Megumin muttered as she picked up the newspaper Aqua had flung at her.

"The evil deity who has turned the tide of the battle goes by the name Wolbach—"

4

The next morning.

Dawn was breaking pleasantly, and I was just thinking about crawling under my blankets and going to sleep—one of my favorite moments of the day—when I was rudely interrupted.

"Kazuma, are you awake? Considering it's only just dawn, I assume you are, yes? Come, then, let us go forth to the capital, Kazuma! The world needs us right now!"

The one who pushed open the door was Megumin, highly excitable despite the early hour.

I stuck my head out from under the blankets. "…What are you jabbering on about now? Your name is already weird enough, and you act even weirder. Just leave it at that. Why would we even go to the capital? Not to brag, but I could get in a lot of trouble if I show my face there. I can't tell you why, but if it weren't for that, I would've moved to my little sister's home long ago, believe me."

"Still you insist on this ridiculous little-sister talk… Well, perhaps that's perfect. Yes, consider your little sister Iris! She will be in danger if this goes on!

Kazuma, is your love for your little sister so shallow?!"

I sat up, caught by both Megumin's passion and her unexpected words. "I always assumed you and Iris hated each other. Was I wrong? Oh, you're talking about that newspaper article from yesterday. Eh, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried about Iris, but we're dealing with a general here. Even if I went…" And heck, apparently there was some kind of god involved this time. That wasn't like any of the other generals of the Demon King I'd fought so far. This had last boss written all over it.

Then again, considering what I knew about the powers of the person closest to me who insisted on calling herself a goddess, maybe this general wouldn't be such a big deal.

Megumin, though, was practically champing at the bit. "The article said the general was a dark god, and I just cannot let that go. Look, you remember how we talked about what Chomusuke really is? This is merely my intuition, but I can't help thinking she may be that dark god."

"The other day, that dark god of yours was being chased around by a newborn chick."

I wasn't about to believe any of this, but Megumin looked dead serious.

"Kazuma, I won't ask you to fight this general. This is a score I'll settle myself.

But I'm begging you. Come with me. Be there with me."

"Absolutely not. Why in the hell should I walk right into the jaws of danger like that? Do you understand what's happening here? The front line is bad enough, and the enemy just added a god, get it? We aren't talking about slimes or undead anymore, okay? Gods, those are last-boss material."

In the face of my instant retort, Megumin replied, "…Yes, Kazuma, I very much imagined you might say something like that. We have certainly been living together long enough for me to expect it. The Beginner's Bane quest the other day made it abundantly clear." At that point, she blushed a little, then peered at me where I was seated on the bed and said, "My goodness, you are the most obstinate person. Then let me make you a proposition. If you go with me… I mean, after everything is said and done, I could see myself spending a night in your room…" Her voice got smaller and smaller as she talked, and she pulled her hat farther and farther down over her eyes, embarrassed.

"Yeah, sure. Kazuma sleepy now. See you tomorrow."

"What?!"

I guess she had been feeling pretty confident about that ploy, because she looked a little shocked. My reaction had caught her off guard and left her floundering.

"N-now wait just a minute. I worked up much resolve and said something pretty incredible just now, I think."

"…How many times do you think you can fool me with a line like that? Just how easy do you think I am? Geez, I've got Darkness trying to get me to go after a bounty head for one little kiss, and now this… Both of you are way too impressed with yourselves."

"?!" Megumin froze, totally taken aback.

"I'm not your average hormone-addled virgin, okay? I'll grant that you and Darkness are nice to look at, but what's behind those pretty faces is a big, big minus. Maybe you could think about that and figure out how to be a little sweeter."

I remembered what had happened just the other night. I wasn't about to be duped again.

My flat declaration left Megumin shaking. "What, are you still all upset about the other night?! You've hardly looked unhappy when I've gotten closer to you recently, Kazuma, so don't play at being all cool now!"

"'H-h-hardly looked unhappy'? What the hell does that even mean? I think you're reading too much into things! When did I say anything that made me seem even remotely interested in you?!"

Let me tell you something about men: We're creatures who'll fall for anything that shows the slightest bit of interest in us. And that had been my downfall recently. But I could no longer be deceived so easily. Megumin was pretty, but there was nothing else good about her.

"You're the worst! So what, then?! Have you been trying to spend the night with a girl you don't even like?! And to think, you were expecting so much back then!!"

"N-no way, idiot, I didn't have any expectations; I knew there had to be some kind of catch. Don't get full of yourself, jailbait!"

Aaand that was the last straw. Megumin attacked me!

Wide-awake after a life-or-death wrestling match with Megumin, I regretfully gave up any hope of sleeping and went down to read the newspaper on the sofa again.

"'Adventurer Ranking Number 3: Kyouya Mitsurugi'? Don't make me laugh— how the hell did he get number three when I'm not even on this list?! Where's the company that publishes this paper? I'll set 'em straight!"

Darkness, petting Zel with Aqua nearby, smirked. "That's a ranking of active adventurers, so naturally, someone who's just shut himself up in town wouldn't be on it. If you want to be on the list, you've got to get out there and adventure, see? Want me to come with you as reinforcement? I've been doing nothing but paperwork recently, and it's driving me nuts. I'd be happy to go with you."

So Megumin had already gotten to her.

Darkness's attempt to make me take the bait was all too transparent, but then Megumin jumped in triumphantly. "Yes, indeed, it's just as Darkness says.

Do you want to be part of the ranking? Do you want even greater fame? Then let us stand upon the battlefield together! Let us defeat another general of the Demon King!"

I ignored them and waved to Aqua, who was cooing, "Gimme your paw!

Emperor Zel, give me your paw!" as she tried to teach the chick a trick. All she was getting out of it was pecked fingers.

"Hey, Aqua," I said, "back me up here. These two think we should go defend the fortress on the front line. I don't think they've learned that every time we go farther than the front yard, something bad happens. You don't feel like fighting any generals of any Demon King, either, do you?"

Darkness and Megumin might be full of bloodlust, but I was confident Aqua would feel the way I did.

I never expected her response.

"Me? I wouldn't mind going. That general is causing all kinds of trouble for people, right? Surely you don't expect the pure, upstanding Lady Aqua to ignore all those seeking salvation by her hand, do you?"

What was with her all of a sudden? Maybe it was something she ate.

Megumin and Darkness seemed as surprised as I was; they looked at Aqua with worried expressions.

"Geez, change of heart much? You're usually the first one to cry and shout that you don't want anything to do with something like this."

"That's because most of the monsters around here aren't even worth my time. But now someone or something comes here calling themself a god—a dark god, but still—without even the common courtesy to introduce themself to me. As the avatar of the Axis Church, it's my job to teach them some manners."

She sounded like some low-level street punk defending their turf. And I realized the entire situation was going in a very bad direction.

"No way am I going. I don't like this one bit. I hate that every battle I get into seems to be with a general of the Demon King. Anyway, there are lots of adventurers stronger than me out there, right? Let them worry about the capital. Why are you all so eager for this?"

"Quit acting like a spoiled child and just give up; you should know when you're beat. It's all right—I'll finish that fiend in one blast! There's nothing to worry about this time. You just have to come with me on the off chance something goes horribly wrong!"

"You know this lot—and you think there's only an off chance something will go horribly wrong? If you can look at our history and honestly tell me you don't think anything will happen, I'll go with you! …Hey, don't look at the ceiling— look at me!!"

I grabbed Megumin by the chin, trying to force her to look at me when she attempted to avert her eyes.

That was when a very reluctant-sounding knock came at the door.

"H-hello… I think this belongs to you…" And there was Yunyun, carrying Chomusuke.

5

"This tea isn't much, but please enjoy."

"Th-thanks… Er, Miss Aqua. Is this…?"

"It's just some cheap tea, but it's pretty good, isn't it? I bought it with the allowance Kazuma gave me, and I've been drinking a lot of it recently."

"Oh… Yes, it's quite good…" Yunyun looked troubled as she held the cup of tea Aqua had poured for her.

I glanced over to see that the contents of the cup were translucent… Hey, that's just hot water.

Aqua had actually been thoughtful enough to brew some tea, but it looked like she had accidentally purified it into plain hot water.

Just as thoughtfully, to spare the obviously pleased Aqua, Yunyun destroyed the evidence by quickly drinking the cup down. Chomusuke was still in Yunyun's arms and showed no sign of moving; the young wizard looked at us, concerned.

"Um, I was taking a walk in the park when I found a kid bullying Chomusuke…" The winged cat probably looked like an attractive playmate to some troublemaking little twerp.

I looked at the motionless Chomusuke, then whispered to Megumin beside me, "Hey, your alleged dark god wasn't happy just being chased around by a chick—now she's getting herself bullied by little kids, huh?"

"Y-Yunyun, you've come just in time! As a matter of fact, well, ahem, it's no big deal, but a slightly terrible thing has happened!" Megumin passed Yunyun the newspaper as if in an effort to ignore me.

"S-slightly terrible?" Obviously disturbed by this, Yunyun took the proffered paper uncertainly. "Ummm… Let's see. The daily funnies: General Winter goes on a journey. Pen Pal Classifieds Corner? Say, Megumin, if you don't need this paper, could I have it? Just the pen pal section?"

"What are you even looking at?! This one! This article right here!" Megumin grabbed the paper and pointed.

Yunyun looked doubtfully at the headline, and her reaction was downright theatrical. "Hwwwhhhaaaa?! J-j-j-just a second! Megumin, could this be…?"

"Th-this time you're acting too surprised, Yunyun! The article isn't that startling!"

"I don't think I'm acting too surprised, and it is that startling! This dark god, Wolbach… She was originally sealed up in our village, wasn't she?"

(Image)

"Shhh! Not so loud!"

…Hold on.

"Did I hear what I think I just heard?"

"You imagined it, Kazuma. This girl says the strangest things; that's why no one in Crimson Magic Village wants to talk to her."

Megumin looked pointedly away from me, but Yunyun was emphatic. "Wait just a second, Megumin, you're the one acting strange! And, Kazuma, please listen! This dark god, Wolbach, used to be sealed up in our village. One day the seal got broken somehow, and Megumin secretly went to try to make the god her familiar…" Megumin tried desperately to cover Yunyun's mouth. "S-stop that right now!

You mustn't expose the humiliation of the Crimson Magic Village to the entire world! We just have to go to the capital, stop the evil-god imposter rampaging around there, and then act like none of this ever happened!"

Darkness was pressing her hands to her temples.

"Hey, Darkness," I said. "Please pay a visit to the authorities and ask them if we can borrow that bell of theirs. The one that rings when someone's lying."

"Y-yeah, sure. Ugh, please don't let this get any worse…" "I—I haven't done anything wrong! My lawyer! I want my lawyer!"

Yunyun and Aqua had to restrain the hysterical Megumin between them, while Darkness left the house, looking like she might burst into tears herself.

Several hours later.

Armed with the lie-detecting bell, we surrounded Megumin, who had been forced into a formal sitting position, her hands tied with Bind.

"Okay. It's time for some answers… This dark god Wolbach that the article mentions—who or what is she, exactly?"

"As it happens, Yunyun and I have had our fates entwined with this dark deity.

It is for this reason that I felt compelled to learn all I could about her… Wolbach is the god who rules over sloth and violence."

I glanced at the bell, suspicious that Megumin would be so forthcoming. But it didn't make a sound, and Yunyun didn't say anything, either, implicitly confirming the story.

"What was a threat like that doing at the Crimson Magic Village?"

"Long ago, our ancestors fought a desperate battle against this dark god and ultimately succeeded in sealing her away. Then they brought her to the village so she was never out of their sight."

Ding, ding.

The bell jingled immediately.

"...Somebody said it would sound really cool to be the place where the dark god was sealed up, so they freed a deity someone else had already sealed away, resealed it in a corner of the village, and made it a tourist attraction."

This time the bell stayed quiet.

"Hey," I muttered, drawing the attention of not just Megumin but Yunyun, too.

Darkness, who had been holding her head until that moment, said, "Th-that's enough; what's done is done. Now we understand why Crimson Magic Village has a dark god sealed away in it. So why was the seal broken? And who did it?"

"I must assume one of the deity's dark servants broke the seal in order to restore the goddess to full strength and destroy humani—" Ding, ding.

""""...…"""" We all stared intently at Megumin, and she bowed her head in resignation.

"...…My little sister was playing around and released the dark god by accident."

"Wait, what?! Megumin, you never mentioned that part to me!" Yunyun sounded as surprised about this as any of us, but then… Ding, ding.

"Huh?!" Megumin herself sounded startled to hear our lie detector jingle. A moment later, though, she clapped her hands. "Oh, that's right! The dark god's seal has actually been broken twice in the past. The first time was when I accidentally released her, and a mysterious woman passing by saved my life.

Komekko's breaking the seal would be the second time." She looked downright pleased to see that the bell didn't ring.

"What in the heeeeeeeeell?!"

"H-hey, what are you doing?! St—! Stop it! I'm answering all the questions I've been asked, so calm down!"

"You Crimson Magic morons never come up with any good surprises," I muttered in exasperation. Aqua, though, seemed weirdly excited about something; she grabbed the magic bell.

"Megumin, Megumin, do you really love the Axis Church? Or do you hate it?

Cecily told me you seem to have some kind of connection with my church and that a good, strong push might get you to join."

"Push me as hard as you like—I would never join you! Cecily never causes me anything but trouble, and I want nothing to do with a gang of problem children like the Axis Church. You ask whether I love or hate the church? I most certainly despise—" Ding, ding.

Aqua looked at the jingling bell, her face aglow, while Megumin glanced away in humiliation.

"…Some members of the church have been of help to me from time to time, and, well, maybe despise is too strong a word…" I had to admit, I was pretty impressed with how Aqua had decided to put the all-knowing bell to use. I'd always taken her for a garden-variety idiot, but was it possible she was actually a twisted genius?

"Say, Megumin," I interjected, "how do you feel about us? Answer using the words love or hate."

"Mm, I have the same question," Darkness said. "You made charms for everyone not long ago, so how about it?"

"…G-geez, surely there's no need to ask such a thing right here and now… Hey, can everyone stop smirking at me like that?!"

As I was busy teasing Megumin with the bell, though, Yunyun spoke up. "U-um… So if the dark god behind the broken seal was really your cat, but the newspaper article still mentions the dark god Wolbach, what's going on…?" She was stroking Chomusuke innocently; she almost sounded like she was only just remembering all of this… My eyes went wide, and I looked at the bell, but it didn't even quiver.

"Okay, hold on just a second. Let's go over that again. You're saying this cat is the dark god? That Chomusuke is actually an evil deity?!"

"I believe I have been telling you that for some time now. Chomusuke is a dark god and my familiar. In fact, I wonder what that general of the Demon King's army is thinking, taking Chomusuke's true name for herself."

What Megumin was saying sounded even crazier than what Yunyun had said, but still the bell didn't make a sound.

"Seriously, this cat? This sweet, innocent house pet is a dark god? This bell isn't broken, is it?"

Me, I like cats, and I had spent too much time brushing Chomusuke and playing with her to believe she was really something so awful.

And then in came Aqua with the non sequiturs.

"Hey, Kazuma. I've been thinking this for a while now, but you're such a kind and wonderful person. I'm really grateful to have you in my life."

"Oh? What's all this? I've been privately thinking I've gotten pretty popular with the ladies. Are you hot for me now, too? Shower me with all the compliments you want; you won't get any money out of m—" Ding, ding.

Aqua nodded in satisfaction at the jingling magical instrument. "Sounds good.

The bell's working fine."

"All right, let's step outside. Lately, you've been getting all your laughs at my expense. It's high time I paid you back, with interest."

I was just standing up to go after Aqua when Megumin, who had been sitting on the carpet where we put her until that moment, seemed to get an idea. She suddenly bowed her head.

"…Kazuma, I'm sorry to ask this of you, but could you come with me? There have been several occasions in the past when Chomusuke was nearly abducted, and I believe the subject of that newspaper article has something to do with them. As her owner, I feel compelled to deal with this self-proclaimed dark god calling herself Wolbach."

And then Megumin, with her short temper and her distaste for bowing to anyone, dipped her head again.

We would be facing a general of the Demon King calling herself a dark god, one who had apparently turned the tide of battle single-handedly.

Honestly, I didn't want to go. I really didn't, but… "…Please?" Megumin looked up at me pleadingly, her red eyes wavering.

I don't like to think of myself as an easy mark, but at that moment, even I didn't have any other choice.

"Fine! Fine! I'll go!"

6

It was the day after I accepted Megumin's request. We had to get ready for what promised to be a long journey, so I told everyone we would leave tomorrow. As for me, I was seated on the living room sofa, using my Smith skill to prepare a certain item.

Darkness was seated right next to me, watching with interest, while Aqua was perched on the other side of me.

"Hey, Kazuma," she said. "Whatcha got there?"

"It's a potion I bought at Wiz's shop. It explodes if you hit it with enough impact."

""What?!"" Darkness stood up quickly at that, and she and Aqua both backed away a step.

My materials were spread out on the table in front of me. They included paper and a syringe, along with a special clay created by allowing a certain highly absorbent, readily flammable plant to rot.

For a while now I had been using the syringe to siphon up little helpings of the potion, then depositing them onto the clay sitting on the paper.

Aqua backed away slowly, anxiously saying, "H-hey… Why do you have something so dangerous here? And what in the world are you going to do with it?"

I picked up the potion and calmly carried it some distance away. Then I set it gently on the ground.

"Y'know, I've always assumed this potion was magic. But listen, it'll explode if you expose it to fire, too. Just one drop of this stuff anywhere near an open flame, and boom. That made me think, maybe it's closer to nitroglycerin."

We were heading into battle with a general of the Demon King. Even one of those adventurers who'd been given a cheat might find themselves overwhelmed.

Back when Darkness was almost married off to Alderp, the former governor, I had attempted to replicate a certain something here in this world. At the time, I hadn't had any substitute for nitroglycerin, and I'd only been able to imitate the look of the stuff.

And then, after I'd finally created my knockoff explosive, Megumin had thrown it away.

I turned to the perplexed-looking Aqua and Darkness. "This will enable us to produce something very specific. Think about what we're facing after we leave tomorrow. If we can make this work, we'll have an ace up our sleeves."

Aqua looked at the stuff spread out on the table and seemed to put the pieces together.

Yes, it was the fabled explosive— "I get it… It's summer now. The Japanese blood running through your veins is eager for some fireworks!"

"It's dynamite."

Darkness still looked confused. "Ny-troh-glisserwhat? Die-nuh-might? I've never heard of any of these things. What are they used for?"

I showed her the three sticks I'd already completed. Ever since Megumin had thrown away my work in progress, I'd been trying them out whenever I could find a few minutes, but with the start of our journey coming up the next day, it was crunch time.

I held up the dynamite-like thing I'd made; Aqua looked at it intently. Then she covered it with both her hands as if to hide it.

"Kazuma, watch this!"

…?

Aqua set my "dynamite" on the table. But wait, it was obviously about half as large as it had been a moment ago… "It got smaller!" she announced.

"You idiot!!"

Aqua quickly swept the shrunken dynamite back up, but unlike the sleight of hand a normal stage performer might do, here it was obvious that the dynamite had actually become physically smaller.

"You…! Look what you've done, and after all the time I spent on that! What am I supposed to do with this?! Can you put it back the way it was?! Is this even usable?!"

"Of course I can't change it back," Aqua said, with no sign of remorse for her stupid, unasked-for party trick.

"Do you understand what's going on? I made this for our trip tomorrow. You have nimble hands. Help me make more to replace the one you just ruined."

"I could…but I should warn you. One out of three of them is probably going to shrink."

"Why?! Do you have a shrink ray inside you or something?!"

I couldn't just throw away the tiny dynamite, so I stuffed it into my pocket, still heated over the fact that it was now pocket-size.

If you could still use it at that size, there wouldn't be much to complain about, though.

Darkness, all but ignoring us as she picked up one of the completed sticks of dynamite off the table, asked with interest, "So what is it?"

"Tell you what—after we have breakfast, I'll show you. But it's pretty surprising, all right? It'll probably be extra shocking for Megumin." I let a little arrogance creep into my voice.

"Breakfast time! Come along, everyone, clear the table and wash your hands… What? Why is everyone looking at me?"

Megumin had arrived with breakfast, as if on cue.

We were among some rocky hills, well outside of town. This was where Megumin liked to go on her "explosion walks."

"How unusual. You all don't normally come with me. It makes me wish we had brought some lunches to eat while we're out."

Megumin must have been pleased that everyone had decided to come with her for her daily explosion, because pretty soon she was swinging her staff around and in high spirits.

Not long afterward, she was casting her spell… "Explooosion!!!"

There was a huge blast, and the entire area shuddered. Her magic, the pinnacle of destruction, easily took out the giant boulder she was targeting. The rest of us kept our heads down, trying to protect ourselves from falling shards of rock. Well, except for Darkness, who calmly stood there covering us. I held up Megumin, who was now so low on magic, she couldn't stand on her own, and used Drain Touch to transfer enough MP that she could at least walk.

"Well, now, that's an explosion that'll earn a high score," I said.

"You think so? Well, I am rather proud of it myself. Ahhh, how satisfying. Now then, let's…go…home…? Kazuma, what is that?"

I retrieved two sticks of my pseudodynamite, quickly attracting Megumin's attention. They consisted of the explosive potion-infused clay wrapped in several layers of paper and a wick doused in the same potion. Crude, but effective. They were just prototypes, after all.

"I have only one true weapon: money," I said. "And I've wielded it to produce a little something that I think should bury our enemies without any hassle. Have a look?"

I put the dynamite next to a rock nearby with the wick facing us so it was clearly visible.

"…Just a second. I believe I recognize this thing you've made, Kazuma…" Whatever Megumin was saying, I was too busy getting some distance to bother listening to her.

"Kindle!"

Once I was a safe distance away, I cast my fire magic.

A few sparks went flying… And inspiration struck. I stuck my hand out toward the rock and shouted, "Explooosion!"

"Huh?!" Megumin exclaimed.

If she said anything else, though, I couldn't hear it over the sound of the blast my simple dynamite produced, cracking the rock I had set it by.

Okay, so maybe it wasn't cut out for civil engineering projects. But I figured that as a weapon, it would be more than good enough.

"Ah... Ahhh...…" Beside me, Megumin was gawking and trembling.

Darkness clenched her fist, her face red with disbelief. "Th-that's incredible, Kazuma! When in the world did you learn explosion magic?!"

"Hmph… I'm so powerful, I've been secretly leveling up while you guys were asleep." Okay, so I was just making that up, but it was hard not to get carried away with Darkness acting the way she was.

"Ah... Ahhh...…" All Megumin could do was gibber quietly and tremble.

In the midst of all this, I felt Aqua tugging on my sleeve. "Kazuma, Kazuma, give me one, too. I want to use Explosion, too."

"These are just prototypes. You can have one when I perfect a model with a longer wick. I was using Kindle from a ways back because I wasn't sure what would happen, either."

"Ahhhh...… Ahhhhhhhh..." "Okay. But you have to promise to let me play with one when you finish them for real."

"Fine, but those potions don't come cheap, you know. And there aren't many of them. You can't use up my entire supply playing around, okay?"

"C-could even a Crusader like me use Explosion with one of those? You didn't really learn the spell, did you? C-come on, when you make a new one, let me try it, too…!"

Aqua and Darkness were pretty interested in my little show, but I was kind of annoyed by Megumin's lack of response. I'd assumed her reaction would be the most extreme of any of them, but instead she had just been quaking and muttering the entire time.

I stood in front of her and struck a pose, thrusting out my hand.

"My name is Kazuma! Greatest adventurer in Axel and wielder of Expl—" "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

Before I could finish, Megumin screamed and grabbed me.

"That thing! That thing is not Explosion! At the very most, it possesses only vague similarities to explosion magic! That thing! That… That thing…!"

(Image)

"Wh-whoa, whoa, cool it! I used an item! It was just a little joke!" I insisted.

Megumin, still howling, grabbed the other stick out of my hand. "Hey, stop!

Come on, making one of those takes a lot of time and money! Give it back!"

"I will not! You have me, so you don't need this! Who cares about this stupid thing?!"

As she shouted, Megumin flung the dynamite I'd put so much work into.

Ahhh… "If I ever see another one of these, I'm going to throw it away! That invention is entirely unorthodox! I cannot abide by such heresy!"

"All right, all right, no one's…abiding by anything… Sheesh, and to think, I made those things to indulge you and your explosion addiction."

"Yes, they might be helpful for that, but I don't care!"

I would have to start making the dynamite secretly, in my room, so Megumin wouldn't find it.

…I held out my hand toward the dynamite where Megumin had thrown it, a pretty good ways away. I took advantage of the fact that she was still angry to intone some magic under my breath.

"…Kindle."

My quiet incantation got the wick burning.

I judged my timing, and then… "Explooosion!!"

"?!"

I wasn't going to let her just throw away my hard work. I was gonna get something out of it. And so I did my second faux Explosion of the day.

Megumin didn't talk to me until dinner.

7

The next day.

I dressed myself in brand-new gear with my embarrassingly named sword at my hip. I donned the cape that was the trademark of the Adventurer class and stuffed enough food in my backpack to last me an entire day, just to be safe.

"Weapon, check! Food, check! Gear, check! Every kind of item imaginable, check!"

As a party, we had battled lots of generals of the Demon King and plenty of bounty heads, but we were doing things differently this time, unlike when we just got sucked into whatever happened. This time, we were setting out to pick a fight on purpose.

Despite one of my trump cards having been wasted the day before, I had bought a few other items at Wiz's shop that I thought would be useful. I'd made preparations and even came up with a few possible strategies.

"Gosh, Kazuma, you were so against this at first, and now you seem downright excited. What happened to you?" Aqua's rucksack was bulging; I wondered what she could possibly have crammed in there.

Incidentally, Emperor Zel was still too young to be left on his own, so Aqua had foisted him onto Wiz that morning.

"When I cooled down a little and thought seriously about this battle, I realized we actually have a pretty good chance of winning," I said.

We were heading to a fortress on the front line not far from the capital. At present, the national military strength would be focused on that fortress. From what I had heard, the ranks of the knights around here included several of the cheating bastards who had been sent here before me, and if that one particular general hadn't shown up, I don't think the battle would have been any trouble for them.

So that was the situation: We hole up in the fortress, nice and safe behind a wall of powerful cheaters, and when the general shows up, Megumin blows them away with Explosion. Simple but effective, I thought.

Considering how safe and easy this looked compared with the battles we'd fought in the past, the potential returns seemed terrific. And there was something else… "This time we've got Yunyun with us, and she can use Teleport," I said, looking at Yunyun. She was over by Megumin, checking her luggage.

Yunyun, who had apparently worked hard to level up and acquire the Teleport spell, had asked to come with us. She had two registered teleport locations: Axel and the capital. It was great to know that if things got too hairy at the fortress, we could come back here anytime.

"I-I'll do my best! I can carry the bags, make meals, keep watch at night, even join the battle—I'll do anything!"

"Yeah, sounds good, thanks. I've heard there could be some pretty nasty monsters on the way over, so it's good to have you with us, Yunyun."

Apparently, Yunyun was so used to being all by herself that she was thrilled to be able to join us on this trip. She had seemed restless and eager all day.

"Is everyone ready? You're not forgetting anything? I have tissues and toilet paper, so if anyone needs them, just speak up!"

"I am begging you—please calm down. One would think you were a little girl going on her first trip."

I watched the unusual sight of Megumin trying to talk down Yunyun, then gave a nod. "Okay, Yunyun, looks like you're up. Fly us to the capital; then we'll head for the fortress on foot. They say it's about two days' walk for good, fit adventurers. But there are lodgings along the way, so we'll start by going there."

"Okay! I have board games and card games for when we stop at the hotel— new ones, old ones, games from every corner of the world. You can count on me!"

That would explain why Yunyun's bag, too, looked full to bursting. She was apparently expecting a night on the road.

Maybe this was the first time she'd ever been away from home with the group before. I was thinking it might have been nice to have invited her out with us sooner as Yunyun intoned her magic.

"Teleport!"