A Search for This Runaway Goddess!

1

You'd think our self-proclaimed goddess would be wise enough to know better, but she wasn't: She'd run away from home. That might sound unbelievable, but it's true. Aqua left a note; then she hit the road.

As for the rest of us… "I think you know why we've asked all you adventurers to come here. Rumor has it that the Demon King's forces are going to attack our town."

No, we didn't go after Aqua. We went to the Adventurers Guild. They'd summoned us at the worst possible time. I had half a mind to ditch them and go chase after Aqua, but I couldn't just abandon this town to fend for itself, could I?

At the Guild, the tables had been arranged in a circle so that Axel's adventurers could all see one another as they crammed in.

The meeting was supposed to serve as an impromptu task force to address the Demon King's plan to attack Axel. Under interrogation, Serena (currently in jail) had revealed that the attack plan would move forward even without her, its commander, and that there was no stopping it. Things didn't look good, and everyone was frowning at one another when a wizard woman raised her hand.

"Do we know when they're going to attack? Or how large their force is? If we knew when they were coming, maybe we could request a detachment of knights from the capital to reinforce us…" There was some nodding at that, but the receptionist leading the discussion— I'm pretty sure her name was Luna—shook her head. "According to the general we captured, the original plan was to use enemy elements inside Axel so that only a small attacking force would be necessary. However, now that their commander has been captured, I think we can expect them to come in force to try to get her back."

I guess she was a general of the Demon King, after all; if she was alive, they would naturally want to rescue her.

Luna went on. "We don't know what their numbers are going to be, but we anticipate a difficult battle, since just about everyone in Axel is a novice adventurer. As for getting help from the capital… As it happens, the main force of the Demon King's army will be assaulting the capital at the same time as the attack on Axel…" She sighed, looking like she might burst into tears. "In other words, we have to act on the assumption that we won't be receiving reinforcements. If our nation's central government was to fall, it wouldn't matter if Axel survived. Every guild in every town has been informed of the planned attack, and the most capable adventurers and knights are streaming into the capital. We're going to have to protect Axel on our own."

A cloud settled over the gathered adventurers. This was the most serious threat we'd faced since Mobile Fortress Destroyer.

People started offering their thoughts in light of this better understanding of the situation. Maybe we could barricade the town gate and shut ourselves up inside, some said, or dig pit traps all around the periphery of the town, or arm the civilian populace, or create an emergency community watch… The ideas went on and on. Most of them weren't too terrible, actually, but none of them left the impression that it would actually be the key to saving Axel.

However, I didn't really notice any adventurers panicking, unlike when Destroyer attacked. All we were talking about was a difference in fighting strength. The opponents were just minions of the Demon King—our weapons would work on them just fine. This town might be full of low-level adventurers, but if they all banded together, things would work out somehow. That, at least, seemed to be the general, optimistic mood in the Guild.

...…What should I do? I kinda came here to ask everyone to help me track down Aqua. Should I wait to go look for her until after Axel is saved?

But Aqua had said that the Demon King's attack on the capital, when his castle would be all but empty, was our best chance. Which meant there was a possibility our wayward goddess would end up trying to storm the castle herself.

I was only Level 1—what good could I do if I stayed here? But with the crowd's momentum building, I kinda felt like it would take the wind out of everyone's sails if I said, Hey, guys, I'm going away for a while—see ya. It would probably sound like I was trying to weasel out of being part of the battle… "Satou. Kazuma Satou. I don't see Lady Aqua anywhere. What's going on?"

The voice caught me by surprise as I stood there with my arms crossed, worrying. "…? …Oh, hey, Yamazaki."

"It's Mitsurugi! We're beyond a simple acquaintanceship by now; the least you could do is remember my name! H-hey, I know you do it on purpose, right?

…W-well, forget it, just tell me what's going on with Lady Aqua. Isn't she with you today?"

It was Mitsurugi, the Sword Master with the enchanted blade and a pretty girl on either side of him.

"Aqua? She left a note and ran away from home. Anyway, what are you doing here? You've been all over the newspapers lately. I guess you've been killing it at the capital. Aren't you going to go help them out in their hour of need?" I asked him.

"When I heard Axel was in trouble, I came to help. This town is Lady Aqua's home base, after all. But…you say she ran away?" That got his attention. "Did you finally reach the end of her good graces? Lady Aqua is crucial. Where is she now?"

"Hell, I'd love to know. She wrote a note saying she was going to defeat the Demon King and left in the middle of the night. If she caught the last carriage before midnight, she's probably in Arcanletia by now. She thinks we've beaten enough generals of the Demon King that we might be able to break the barrier around the castle."

"Defeat the Demon King?!" You could hear Mitsurugi's shout all over the Guild. Everyone else fell silent. Mitsurugi had me by the lapels. "She said she was going to do that?! Lady Aqua, all by herself, left to defeat the Demon King?!

Well, what in the world are you doing here?!"

"What do you want me to say? I only just learned Aqua was gone, and then they wanted everyone to come to the Guild, so here I am!"

When the rest of the adventurers heard what we were saying… "Aqua left all on her own?! She's as good as dead!"

"And they let her go solo? There's reckless and then there's reckless! That late at night, there are probably undead all over the place!"

"Aqua can barely survive in ordinary everyday life. Even after all this time, she still gets lost in town occasionally. She'll never make it to the Demon King's castle!"

We had really stirred up a hornet's nest. Anyway, it was a little late for all the complaining.

"Calm down! Everyone, calm down, please! …Has anyone around here seen Aqua?" Luna asked. The Guild went quiet once again. People started offering bits and pieces of information but nothing that could definitively lead us to Aqua. What surprised me was how many people Aqua seemed to have become good friends with while I wasn't paying attention. Even adventurers I hardly talked to seemed to be on good terms with her.

…She really knows how to get along, doesn't she? No wonder she was so shocked when the puppeted adventurers had turned against her. Many of them had been her friends. And now she was making them all worry! When I found her, I was gonna lecture her until she cried. That's what she got for upsetting so many people.

But to do that, first…!

Mitsurugi beat me to it. "I—I can't just stand here! I'm going after Lady Aqua!

Kazuma Satou, what will you do?! You'll look for her, too, won't you? You'll come with me, yes?"

"B-but that leaves us in a bind!" Luna objected. "We need high-level adventurers like you to help with the defense of Axel, or at least of the capital…! I'll alert the guilds in the other towns and ask them to keep an eye out for Aqua…!"

Then we heard it: "Aw, let 'im go!" a certain gold-haired punk, already drunk first thing in the morning, shouted angrily. He was sitting in a chair, but he could barely stay upright, and he looked very upset. "Us here, we're more than enough to keep this town safe. Lissen, lady! There's lots of high-level adventurers here; you just don't know it. We don't need Harem Boy with his two girlfriends there to save us—we can do it ourselves!"

I wasn't sure if he sounded really cool or really stupid. Yunyun was sitting beside the punk—Dust, in case anyone was wondering—looking like she didn't know whether to stop this tirade or not. Then there was Keith and the other members of Dust's party, who definitely weren't going to stop him and, in fact, were openly enjoying the spectacle.

I was glad Yunyun had finally found some friends to hang out with at the Guild, but surely she could have picked better ones.

"Lots of high-level adventurers," though?

Luna, looking pained, gave voice to my question. "I'm sorry… Do we have that many adventurers above Level 20 here? I think most of our people range from Level 10 to Level 20. Typically, adventurers who surpass Level 20 leave this town and move to areas with more rewarding monsters. That custom means we would be lucky to have even a few people above Level 20 with us in Axel…" So that was the story—everyone moved after they hit Level 20. My party and I hadn't thought about it because we had a house here…and also because we seemed to struggle even fighting against small-fry enemies. But when you thought about it, we'd had a pretty high-level party… Megumin had the highest level of all of us, and I didn't count because I'd gone back to Level 1, but other than that, our average had to be above 30. I didn't know how quickly the average adventurer normally leveled up, but with all the big bads we had faced over the past year, we'd advanced at a crazy-fast pace.

At that moment, a male adventurer got to his feet and said:

"Uh, I'm Level 32…" "What?" Luna asked, shocked.

Another guy stood up. "Um…and I'm Level 38."

"What?"

One after another, the adventurers in the Guild stood and announced their levels. Every single one of them was over Level 30. A few had even passed 40.

Luna went around looking at their Adventurer's Cards as if she couldn't believe what was happening. "Wh-why in the world are you all still here when you have such high levels?! Surely it can't be very efficient to continue leveling up on the monsters around Axel?" She was as bewildered as she was amazed.

In response, one of the adventurers scratched his head, embarrassed. "Well, it's obvious, ain't it? We like this town."

Geez, that was the sort of awesome answer that could get a person's heart racing… …and at that moment, I'm sorry to say, I realized. I knew why they were still here.

"Oh, e-everyone…! Let's do it! We can protect this town! With this many capable adventurers here, we can prevail! Let's give it everything we've got! If we all work together, we can save our home!"

While Luna and the other Guild employees were all but weeping tears of gratitude, I was busy noticing that all the high-level volunteers were men. And I recognized every single one of them.

Are you all regulars at the succubus shop?

2

There was an unusual excitement coursing through the Guild, but Mitsurugi ignored it and spread a map out on a table. "Here. This is the Demon King's castle," he said. He was pointing to a spot in the northwestern part of the map, marked with a symbol of a castle. Far to the south of the Demon King's hideout was another castle symbol representing the royal capital.

"As you can see, the quickest way to get to the Demon King's castle is to be teleported to the capital city and walk from there," he said. "Near the border between the two realms is the fortress you visited, Satou, along with a number of other small towns that have been turned into strongholds. We can restock provisions there." He traced the route to the castle with his finger.

Megumin, who was sitting beside me, spoke up. "Do you think Aqua, of all people, would take such a direct route? I'm sure she would think of a way to cause trouble or otherwise do some other weird thing… In any event, I'm confident she would get herself in over her head and not be able to take the direct path. Who knows? She might even still be near Axel, dawdling about getting ready to go."

Darkness and I were both nodding. We recognized an accurate description of Aqua's behavior when we heard it. Heck, knowing her, she might get tired—or scared—halfway and hang around for a while, hoping we'd come after her. In which case, she would take the longest, and safest, possible route. Maybe she'd hit every village along the way, letting her curiosity be her guide (and the cause of countless problems, no doubt).

I gazed at the map. "It's a longer route, but you can reach the castle via Arcanletia, too," I said.

Arcanletia: the "city of water." It was the home base of the Axis Church, and if you went northeast from there, you'd reach Crimson Magic Village. To the northwest, I could see a small road. It didn't look like much, but it led to the Demon King's castle.

I tried to think like Aqua. She had run away from home, and at first she'd be thrilled to be going on a little trip. Judging by the P.S. on her letter, though, she had already been questioning her decision. She was probably scared to go alone.

Notwithstanding all the high-level adventurers who had come out of the woodwork a few minutes before, this town was mostly populated by novices. If Aqua wanted to hire some help, she'd probably do it at a town somewhere along the way where she could hope to find people who were a little more powerful. And that meant… "Knowing her, she probably made the bar to entry for her party way too high, just like back when we first got here."

When it had been just Aqua and me, she had put "only Advanced Classes need apply" on our want ads, and Megumin was the only person who ever inquired. If I wasn't mistaken, we had been looking for party members because we had our hands full with the simple quest of hunting five frogs.

"It does make one think of our humble beginnings," Megumin said. "As I recall, I had no money and hadn't eaten for several days, so was starving when I just happened to see the post soliciting party members…" She sounded really nostalgic.

"And when I saw Aqua and Megumin covered in frog slime, I knew this was the party for me," Darkness added. "The way Aqua was nearly driven to tears by that goop, and the way Megumin rode around paralyzed on your shoulders, Kazuma. Those two gave me the confidence that even I, as incompetent as I was, might be able to— Oh! Oh! Stop that, Megumin! I'm only telling the truth!"

I ignored Megumin, who had started pulling on Darkness's hair, and ran my finger over the map. "I think this is the route Aqua would take. She wouldn't go to the capital. She'd stick to a path she already knows. She'd hop on a carriage to Arcanletia, where she'd probably try to hire some other adventurers, but she'd set the bar too high, and no one would apply. So she wouldn't have a lot of options, but she'd still be too scared to go by herself, so instead she'd run crying to the Axis church in Arcanletia."

"Sounds right to me," Darkness said.

"Yes, I can easily imagine it," Megumin agreed.

"Wh-whoa, wait. What exactly do you all take Lady Aqua for?" Mitsurugi asked, the only one to object to our flawless prediction of Aqua's course of action. Come to think of it, he still didn't understand what kind of person Aqua was, did he?

"You don't have to like it, but I can almost guarantee that's what she's doing.

We've known her a long time now. She's got a decent head start on us, but I'm sure she'll lose time getting into God knows what kind of trouble, so if we set out now, we can probably catch up with her."

Mitsurugi didn't look quite ready to believe me, but he nodded. "If you say so, you're probably right. Let's see, it's noon now… If we hurry, we can still catch one of today's tourist carriage departures. They don't go very fast, but they don't cost much, either. And if we move at a forced march after we arrive, we should be able to catch up with Lady Aqua. All right, we can do this."

Then he stood as if he was in a big hurry. Even Luna didn't try to stop him now. Things were what they were; she was evidently ready to let him go. Luna glanced at us and smiled slightly—she was probably worried about Aqua, too— and then announced to the adventurers in the Guild, "Okay, everyone, we're going to split up into groups! Those who already have parties, stick together!

We'll assign you squad numbers and watches…" The crowd started splitting into small groups and obediently lining up in front of Luna. Megumin, Darkness, and I, along with Mitsurugi and his two hangers-on, stood apart. Finally, as the adventuring parties each received a number… …we saw Yunyun standing there, completely alone.

Shoot, that girl always was bad at finding a group or getting into a party.

Yunyun's eyes darted around in visible distress. Eventually, she spotted Dust and his party and went over to them, but she stood at an awkward distance, not quite with them, not quite apart from them, obviously hesitating.

Dust got on her case immediately.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing? You don't belong here."

That was pretty harsh, even in my book, but it reminded me of the first time I'd met him…and also reminded me that, yeah, this was pretty much what he was like (sigh). I'd thought maybe some of his rough edges had been smoothing out recently, but maybe it had just been my imagination.

"Uh, um… I'm s-sorry…" Yunyun bowed repeatedly and apologetically and backed away from Dust and his party.

Seriously, this was too much. I was about to give in and say something when:

"Where the hell do you think you're going? That's where you belong." Dust grabbed Yunyun, who was still sort of drifting away, and dragged her right over to us.

"…?" She looked at him, thoroughly confused.

"You've gotta be one of our top fighters in this town. If a genuine Crimson Magic Clan member and Magic Sword Boy here joined forces, you might even be able to give the Demon King a run for his money, yeah? When you see that troublemaking bastard, punch him in the face for me."

"Excuse me, but if Yunyun is a 'genuine' Crimson Magic Clan member, then would you please tell me what I am?!" Megumin exclaimed, but Yunyun just looked more confused than ever.

"Hey, I'm worried about these guys. If they bring home my girl Aqua, that's great, but I know them. They'll find some way to get into trouble. You're not some Arch-whatever; you're a real Arch-wizard, and you need to go with them… Aw, c'mon, you can use Teleport, right? If push really comes to shove, you can come back by yourself to help us."

Huh, this punk could talk a pretty good game when it really counted.

"I shall have you tell me to whom that remark about an Arch-whatever referred!" That was Megumin again, marching up to Dust.

"I understand. I'm going to go help Aqua! Because f-friends…friends help each other!" Yunyun was almost too embarrassed to get the words out, but she was smiling.

Luna, who'd been listening to the entire conversation, looked less than pleased to be losing someone who could use advanced magic, but she didn't say anything, probably because she didn't want to get in this punk's way.

"A Crimson Magic Clan member never backs down from a fight. So I accept your challenge. Come now, let us step outside!" Megumin had Dust by the lapels and was about to drag him away. Mitsurugi, meanwhile, smiled broadly and held out his hand to Yunyun.

"Looks like that settles it. All right…Yunyun, was it? Let's go together. It'll be nice to have an Arch-wizard along. Looks like you don't really have a party.

Maybe when this journey is over, you can stay with me."

"Oh, um… That's all right…" Yunyun hesitantly took Mitsurugi's outstretched hand and shook it lightly, but she refused his invitation to join his party.

"...…" He remained silent.

"H-hey, it's all right, Kyouya! You have us!"

"Yeah—yeah! Sure, having an Arch-wizard with us would be good for balance, but that girl is famous all over town for her wizardry! She's probably in high demand! So come on, chin up!"

Mitsurugi looked a little hurt, but at least he had his two friends to comfort him.

"Dust! Oh, Duuuuust!" I exclaimed. "Did you see her turn that hunk down flat? He tried to shake her hand like, Hey, baby, but she shot him down without a second thought!"

"Ha-ha-ha-ha, take that! Even Axel's loneliest wizard knows which friends are worth having!"

"Th-that's not what I—! I just thought that if I joined them, I would only cause them problems…! I'm t-t-telling you, I wasn't—! Kazuma, Dust, stop. You've got it all wrong!" Yunyun said, trying to stop Dust from whooping it up over Mitsurugi.

"G-geez! These guys suck! Kyouya, don't pay any attention to a couple of losers like them!"

"Hey, punk, get away from us! Go on, scram!"

Mitsurugi's little girlfriends scowled at us; meanwhile, Mitsurugi somehow got himself together. "O-okay, I think we'd better get going… So, pursuing Lady Aqua, we've got my two party members and myself, along with the four of you, including Satou. I think this could be an excellent opportunity, actually. With the Demon King's army attacking Axel and the capital simultaneously, there's probably only a few enemies at the castle itself. They've tricked themselves into thinking they can leave the castle undefended because of that barrier, but when Lady Aqua brings it down, we can storm the place. How about it? I think it'll work."

Wow. He sounded exactly like Aqua. And while I hated to spoil the mood, I had to say: "Sorry, but I'm not going after her. The whole reason I came to the Guild in the first place was so that I could post a quest to hire some high-level adventurers to do it for me. I mean, I'm only Level 1 right now."

"L-Level 1?" Mitsurugi said. "How did that happen? I mean, you were always weak, but…" "Excuse me, I was always what? And I beat you how many times?"

Hey, if I had an overpowered enchanted sword like this guy did, I'd go after Aqua, too. But all I had were average stats (maybe even a bit below average, being the sheltered shut-in I was). I wasn't going on any journey.

"Forget about that. I can't believe you, Kazuma Satou! You've been with Lady Aqua for so long, yet you would leave her fate in the hands of someone else?!

And you call yourself—! …Hold on, there's something else you just said. How many times have you beaten me? The only time I ever lost to you was when you stole my enchanted sword from me…wasn't it?"

As Mitsurugi mumbled worriedly to himself, Megumin turned to me with an expression of distress. "Kazuma, is it true you are not going to get Aqua back? If it's your level you're concerned about, I expect it would rise at least a little during the trip…" "I wanna go after her, but if there's one thing I know, it's that right now, one good punch from a goblin would probably kill me. You're high-level, Megumin, and Darkness is tough as nails, but I'd just slow you guys down."

Looking a little uneasy, Darkness said, "Don't worry. I'll protect you. So, Kazuma—" "Look, we don't have Aqua with us this time. In other words, if I die in one of our little screwups again, I can't come back to life. Does our shared adventuring history inspire any confidence in me at all?!"

Megumin and Darkness both looked away.

"You know what I hate? Those heroines you see in anime and manga sometimes, who go running off on their own out of a misplaced sense of justice or sheer determination, all 'I have to do this…!' only to wind up captured by the enemy and causing trouble for everyone. I think if you're only going to get in the way, you should stay home and let the people with real power take care of things."

Let it be remembered that the whole issue here was that our failure of a goddess had gone running off on her own. But then there was the fact that her real objective was to defeat the Demon King and return to the heavenly realm.

Even if we went after her and dragged her back, it wouldn't solve anything.

Mitsurugi looked like there was something he wanted to get off his chest. He sighed deeply and nodded. "All right, I see. Without any divine items or special abilities, at Level 1, you're just an ordinary high schooler. I won't ask you to go on a brutal journey in that state. But you won't object if I go after Lady Aqua and then work with her to defeat the Demon King?"

"Hey, if you think you can do it, be my guest, but I think you're throwing up a major death flag." Then again… "About what you said earlier… If Aqua and Yunyun both joined your party, you might actually have a shot at the Demon King. Balance-wise, it would be a pretty ideal group."

Mitsurugi looked surprised at my show of affirmation. Me, I didn't think this was just another enemy I could take out with sneaky tactics and sheer dumb luck. The Demon King was the last boss, and I figured I'd let someone with a proper cheat handle him.

In fact, things had been going a little too smoothly until now. I wasn't stupid enough to keep pushing ahead with no plan at all, relying on a convenient series of miraculous events. Now that I was Level 1 and completely powerless, it was time for me to take a step back and start going on adventures that suited my current abilities.

"Megumin, Darkness. In my situation, I would only get in your way, but both of you have fantastic fighting prowess. Go with Mitsurugi to look for Aqua. I'll stay here and hold down the fort." I knew that they, at least, would stand a chance against the Demon King, even if I wouldn't. The best thing for the entire world, then, would be to let them go with Mitsurugi, who was obviously eager to take on the Demon King.

Megumin, though, thought for a moment and then said, "No, I believe I will stay here. I know perfectly well that I am only useful in very specific situations.

Without you to tell me what to do, Kazuma, I would probably use my magic on the first monster we saw, and then I would be nothing but dead weight—no better than baggage. I think I will stay with you and wait for Aqua to get back."

"…In that case, I think I'd better stay here, too. It's a Crusader's duty to protect people, after all. I can probably be helpful in the defense of Axel.

Besides…" Darkness looked at me as if there was something more she wanted to say.

"Wh-what?" I asked.

"No…," she said after a second. "It's nothing."

Geez, if she had something to say, she ought to just say it. Worse, now Megumin was looking at me like she wanted to say something, too.

Yeesh, you two. Get it together or I'll use Steal on you.

3

We saw Mitsurugi and Yunyun on their way, and then, without much to do, we went back to our mansion.

"We're home!" Megumin called as she opened the door, even though there was no one there to hear her.

Actually, there was someone: Chomusuke, drawn by Megumin's voice, came running to the front door.

"Oops, I cannot let you outside! There are dangerous vegetables growing in the garden. You must stay where I can see you until after the harvest."

Megumin grabbed Chomusuke, who looked like she wanted to go outside and play, and held her in her arms.

Meanwhile, I thought about getting some weed killer and ruining those vegetables when the girls weren't looking.

Darkness came inside and looked around, seeming a bit down.

"…? What's going on? What's the matter?" I asked.

"O-oh, it's nothing, no big deal. It's just, whenever we all came back, Aqua would be the first to shout, 'We're hoooome!'" I guess she was lonely not hearing it.

Aqua had always been a bit of a whirlwind, but I had to admit, it felt weird not seeing her. Although part of that was because normally when I didn't see her, it meant she was off getting into trouble somewhere.

"Oh, Kazuma, did you see that we have a letter?" Megumin said, inspecting the little mailbox on our door. She passed me the letter. Just for a second, I thought maybe Aqua, feeling lost and alone, had sent a message begging for help, but when I saw who the letter was addressed to, I froze.

"Hot damn! It's from my little sister!"

"Don't say that! Say it's from Lady Iris!" Darkness exclaimed, but I completely ignored her and excitedly read the note… Dear Kazuma, The leaves are falling, and the Snow Sprites have begun to show their chilly faces. Please forgive the suddenness of this letter. I'm writing to you about a matter of which I suspect you're already aware: The Demon King's army is planning to attack the capital in force.

The attack is expected to be led by the last of the Demon King's generals, his own daughter. She's believed to be an exceptional commander; in the past, she even brought ruin to the famously combative Crimson Magic Village.

I believe the battle between humanity and the Demon King's army is about to become very fierce indeed. I know those may sound like words of farewell, but there are many strong dark-haired, dark-eyed people like yourself, Elder Brother, here at the capital, so we should be all right. At the moment, not only members of the Crimson Magic Clan but elite fighters from all around the world are gathering here!

I've heard that you recently lost your life while capturing the Demon King's general Serena. While it thrills me to know that you continue to fight as hard as you always have, I wish you wouldn't do anything too dangerous. It's my understanding that the Demon King plans to attack Axel as well, and I pray that you'll take care of yourself.

Your little sister will try to make you proud to be her big brother.

Yours, Iris Stylish-Sword Belzerg P.S. If I take out the Demon King's daughter, Elder Brother, will you tell me I did a good job?

"""...…""" I was silent as I finished reading.

…Hang on a sec. Were things really getting serious? I mean, sure, when I'd talked with Serena, she'd gone on and on about how humanity would never win or whatever. But what was this stuff about Iris making me proud to be her big brother and taking out the Demon King's daughter? It all sounded pretty dangerous, actually.

"Hey, Iris wouldn't really go into battle, would she? At times like this, they always have the princess run away to preserve the royal bloodline, right?" I said.

"Y-yeah, normally. But the Hero's blood flows especially strongly in Lady Iris's veins, even among members of the royal family. Our country is the main line of defense against the Demon King's army, and if it falls, humanity itself could be in real danger. Which means she might have to act as humanity's trump card…" Darkness's obvious discomfort was starting to make me worry, too.

"I'm sure she will be fine; after all, she is the flunky, grunt, and left hand of yours truly. I fully expect her to not only match the Demon King's daughter in battle but send her home crying as well."

Megumin sounded so nonchalant, but I felt a flash of rage. "I-if anyone important heard you talk about Iris that way, they'd have your head!" It was the same anger I'd felt when Serena had come to Axel and I hadn't been able to do anything but watch her work. First Aqua, now Iris. People were getting themselves in trouble, and I was completely powerless to help. How pathetic was that?

But this was sort of how I had always been. I recognized this anger. It was the same way I'd felt watching my childhood friend—and first crush—riding away with some good-for-nothing older guy on his motorcycle. Back then, I'd tried to tell myself there was really nothing I could do about it, and that was when I had more or less stopped leaving my room.

But then I got a second chance in this world.

Dammit, at times like this, I really wished I had some sort of cheat ability. If only I had something, anything that could help me take on the Demon King, then this time— Megumin and Darkness were whispering.

"He's holding his head and staggering around. What could it mean?"

"I think maybe he's overcome with sadness at the idea of a girl as young as Lady Iris going into battle… All right." Darkness coughed loudly. "Listen, Kazuma.

If there's really nothing else we can do, how about we try to shake this off?

Let's go back to where it all began…our mortal enemy."

Then she grinned.

4

I probably don't have to explain what "where it all began" and "our mortal enemy" meant.

We were in the field outside Axel.

"I keep telling you, I'm Level 1! If we let our guard down for even a second, that's it for me! Darkness! Darkneeeess! Hurry up and do something about this frog!"

A Giant Toad was hot on my heels.

"No, Darkness, you need to help me! I'm up to my neck already! I've reached my record for 'most times swallowed,' and I am in trouble!" shouted Megumin, who had already used up her spell and was now neck-deep in a frog's gullet.

"Just try to slow it down—that's the only useful thing you can do right now!" I shouted. "If this frog gets me, we'll be stuck until Darkness learns how to hit the broad side of a barn!"

"You can only say that because you have relatively little experience being swallowed by frogs, Kazuma! Remember your instinctive fear, the primordial terror of being consumed that all animals have…!"

"You're the one who said being swallowed by a frog was nice and warm on a cold day!" I shot back.

Darkness was after the frog that was after me, holding her great sword and shouting, "Kazuma, I can't do anything about him when he's moving, so just stand still for one minute! It'll be fine—trust me!"

"How am I supposed to trust you right now?! …Oh, I've got it! Your Decoy skill! Why are you trying to attack him? Use Decoy and draw him off!"

"I've been using Decoy! But even frogs can learn and evolve! I'm wearing metal armor, and these guys hate metal armor, so I don't think it's working very well!"

Dammit, of all the times for her to come up short!

I grabbed the wire at my hip and thrust it at the frog behind me. "Biiiiind!"

Once I was sure my special wire had bound the creature up, I came to a halt, breathing hard. "Man, I really made the right choice not letting my emotions sweep me up into going after Aqua."

"H-hey, hold on! Decoy works fine on things that aren't frogs! Trust me next time!" Darkness stammered, but I ignored her; I went over and finished off the immobilized amphibian. Yeah, it was cheap. But that's life.

I said a little prayer for the creature I'd killed, then started working my wire free.

…Yes, I started working my wire free.

"…Huh?"

Something seemed very wrong. Wait…why could I use skills at all? I took out my Adventurer's Card and looked at it. Thanks to the frog, my Level had increased from 1 to 2. And… "I got a skill point," I said, staring vacantly at the card.

Darkness, wondering what was going on, said, "What's the matter, Kazuma?

Something wrong with your card?"

"Nah… I mean yeah, I guess. Heh…" I turned toward Darkness and smirked. "I think my time may finally have come."

And then I showed her the SKILLS section of my card.

"'My time may finally have come,' indeed! And, Darkness, how could you forget about me being swallowed by that frog? How can you still call yourself a Crusader whose duty is to protect her friends?!"

""I'm very sorry."" Back home, Megumin was chewing us out (after she'd had a long bath).

Overwhelmed by the magnitude of my discovery, I had completely forgotten about her. After I had proudly shown my card to Darkness, I turned to show it to Megumin, only to discover that she was fully submerged in the frog's mouth.

We'd rushed to rescue her, but… "The thing that makes me maddest of all is that you used Drain Touch to transfer MP to me! Normally, you'd just give me a piggyback ride. I'll bet you were afraid of getting covered in frog slime!"

"You read me like a book. B-but look, Megumin, now's not the time! I've made an amazing discovery! And it means I've got to go somewhere!" I said, trying to get the words out before Megumin succeeded in strangling me.

If this went well, it might be the start of my legend. "Wiz! I have to go to Wiz's shop! I'm not just going to sit at home and wait anymore! I've got something to take care of at Wiz's place, and then I'm going after that moron!"

That took Megumin and Darkness by surprise—and then they both smiled wider than I'd ever seen.

5

"Bwaaaa-ha-ha-ha-ha! Find her, indeed! What a truly troublesome goddess! A journey—glancing over her shoulder to see if anyone is following her even as she heads off to defeat the Demon King?! Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

That was the delighted, cackling reaction I got when I showed the demon part-timer my discovery.

"Vanir, you're laughing too hard! Do you realize Lady Aqua went off on a journey by herself?! Oh, what shall we do?! Knowing her, I'm sure she'll get caught up in something terrible and end up crying…! What Lady Aqua said the other day, about sending me to the next life… It was about breaking the barrier around the castle, wasn't it?" Wiz was reading Aqua's letter over and over, torn between chastising Vanir and being in a complete tizzy.

I'd come to Wiz's Magical Item Shoppe to buy a certain something… "Vanir, give me all the level reset potions you have! I don't even care if you rip me off!"

Everyone except Vanir stared at me.

"K-Kazuma, what do you mean to do with those?" Darkness asked.

"Reset my level, obviously! By raising my level up and down, I can become one of those cheat protags!"

My discovery? Even when my level dropped back to 1, I didn't lose the skills I'd learned. And I retained all my leftover skill points, too. And just killing frogs was enough to raise my level, which resulted in more skill points each time. It was such an outrageous way to farm unlimited skill points that I couldn't believe no one had thought of it before.

I was practically bursting with excitement over my great idea, eager to tell everyone about it… "I see, I see," said Vanir, looking at me intently. "You have some very interesting ideas, human. So you plan to lower your level and then raise it back up, repeatedly, as a way to accumulate skill points…" (I wished he would stop using his powers of foresight to get ahead of a guy and give away his plans.) "I must say, though, that one wouldn't normally go out of one's way to do that even if one had the means."

"They wouldn't? Why not? You can get unlimited skill points, right?"

Vanir snorted, which ticked me off.

"Most people don't need skill points that badly. Everyone is born with a certain number of them. I suppose in a broad sense, one might call it talent. I believe that damnable goddess acquired every skill with her starting points the moment she became an Arch-priest, yes?"

Come to think of it, in addition to knowing a bunch of party tricks, Aqua had said something about learning every single Arch-priest skill.

…Huh?

My starting skill points had been zero… Was that supposed to mean that I had no talent at all?

Vanir, ignoring my private depression (which he could no doubt see), continued. "We may consider that cheating goddess to be an outlier, but still.

Take the members of the Crimson Magic Clan, for instance: They're born with the potential to be great wizards, and almost all of them know advanced magic.

That's because as soon as they become Arch-wizards, they have enough skill points to acquire it. And if they don't, their friends help them gain experience through the method they call farming or by using items they call skill-up potions, until they are able to master the skill. Once you have advanced magic, of course, it's a trivial matter to raise your own level."

There was only one exception to the all-Crimson-Magic-Clan-members-know-advanced-magic rule, and she was standing next to me.

Okay, so maybe Megumin and Darkness had weird ideas about how to use their skill points, but they did have them; if they'd put their points into normal things, there wouldn't have been any problem.

"Okay, but everyone must want loads of skill points, right? If hunting a few frogs outside town can get you a level or three, why wouldn't the beginners here just do that every day and then pretty much start with all the skills in their class?"

"...…Um, Kazuma…," Megumin said hesitantly.

"…?"

"You know it's not usually that easy to raise your level, right? Typically, under optimal conditions, it takes around one year to get to Level 10. And to reach Level 20, the level at which it's generally considered safe to leave Axel, takes upward of five years."

"Megumin can wipe out hordes of strong enemies with her Explosion, and I'm able to afford XP-packed food, so both of us advanced faster than the average adventurer," Darkness said. "But you, Kazuma…" They couldn't quite bring themselves to say the rest, but then Vanir broke in merrily. "It's the way of this world: There's no one whose level goes up as easily as someone with no natural talent at all!"

""Oh!"" …As I began to fiddle with the nearby merchandise, Vanir said, "In any event, the only reason you can speak so nonchalantly of resetting your level is because you come from another world. When one's level goes down, one becomes weak. Those born and raised in this cruel land resist the idea of growing weaker even temporarily; every instinct as a living creature cries out against it. Only you, coming from a peaceful world, could accept the idea so readily. Besides, so long as they don't seek specialized skills such as explosion magic, most adventurers have all the abilities they need by the time they become veterans.

Hardly anyone remains a member of the weakest class forever, as you have."

""...Another world?!"" Megumin and Darkness were still stuck earlier in the conversation. Come to think of it, I guess I'd only ever told them that I came from a faraway country.

"I don't understand. Kazuma, are you not a native inhabitant of this world?"

Megumin asked.

"…I do seem to recall you saying once that you were from a faraway country…" Stupid Vanir, bringing that up at a time like this.

"Listen, I'll tell you all about it some other time. Anyway, I get it: People from this world don't like resetting their level. But I don't mind, so sell me some level reset potions!"

"I'm sorry to say that I don't have any left. They're technically forbidden, you know. You're not even supposed to create them."

Huh?

"You've been leading me on, you bastard! I know you can 'see all,' so you knew what I wanted this entire time!"

"Bwa-ha-ha-ha! Yes, and what I wanted was to feast on your bad vibes!

However, my dear boy, it's too early to give up yet. As thanks for this sumptuous feast of disappointment, let me offer you a bit of advice."

What a jerk. Just because Aqua wasn't here, he thought he could tease us to his heart's content!

"The important thing is, you want to raise your level, right? Among the status ailments in this world, one of the most reviled is called Level Drain. If you were to make strategic use of a monster who can employ this attack…" "Y-yeah, I get it! Then I could raise and lower my level pretty much at will!"

I was thrilled to see a light at the end of the tunnel; Vanir nodded happily.

"Mm, indeed. The caveat is that only a small number of exceptionally powerful undead creatures can use Level Drain. Normally one would never even encounter them, let alone manipulate them into using their abilities in specific ways. I'm quite pleased to inform you, however, that we have a friendly Lich— the very quintessence of powerful undead—right here!"

"Awesome! Unlike a certain goddess, you actually come through every once in a while!" (Vanir's lip curled at the comparison.) "U-um," said Wiz. "Liches do have the Level Drain ability, but unfortunately, it's not possible to intentionally inflict a specific status ailment. It's one of several ailments that can occur randomly when a Lich attacks a hostile enemy.

Others include Curse, Sleep, Magic Seal, and Panic. Critical ailments include Petrification and even Instant Death…" "Huh, is that right? Sorry to hear that. Oh well, let's just pretend this conversation never happened…" Megumin and Darkness grinned at each other to hear me give up so promptly on farming skill points (even if they did look a little exasperated about it).

Hey, even I value my life.

"Effort and exertion are right and proper for humans. Gaining too much power too easily invites karmic retribution. And power gained easily is almost always accompanied by significant drawbacks," Megumin said, and suddenly I found I couldn't help thinking of Aqua, whom I'd brought here as my "special item" when I was reincarnated. She'd caused me an awful lot of trouble, sure, but when I considered my own thought process—If I bring along a goddess who can grant cheap powers, I'll be more powerful than anyone; it's like being told you have one wish and wishing for unlimited wishes—I couldn't help feeling like I had gotten my just deserts.

I was feeling a little defeated—words like karmic retribution and significant drawbacks had hit me right in the heart—when Darkness said, "We're talking about attacking the Demon King's castle and defeating the king himself. I'm sure he'll be well protected. I think in this case, a frontal assault would be the only option. That means it's just like you said: Mitsurugi's party along with Yunyun and Aqua would be a pretty good combination. The whole reason the barrier around the castle is weak enough for Aqua to bring it down is because of your excellent work, no question. You've done your job, Kazuma. It's okay for you to take a breath now."

"She's right. Anyway, this is Aqua we're talking about. It's quite possible she's on her way home right now, too scared to go all the way. We should be waiting for her when she gets back, with a properly prepared lecture, of course."

It wasn't like Darkness and Megumin to be so gentle on me.

...…No, the truth was, even I understood. Deep down, I wanted to take Megumin and Darkness and go after Aqua and make her dream of defeating the Demon King come true.

Then there was my one brag-worthy quality—my Luck stat, which was so absurdly high, it was practically a cheat ability.

I looked at the girls who were trying to console me with smiles of defeat, and I made my decision.

"Hey, Wiz. Can I ask what destinations you have registered with Teleport?"

The spell might have been called Teleport, but it wouldn't send you just anywhere. You had to have the destination registered first, and you could register only up to three places.

Wiz looked confused, but she said, "One of my destinations is Axel's town gate. I overwrote the second one and made it Crimson Magic Village, for business purposes."

"Wiz, you should immediately overwrite Crimson Magic Village with somewhere else." Vanir was frowning. What did he have against her going there?

"And lastly, in order to be able to gather magical ingredients, I've registered the entrance of what's said to be the deepest dungeon on the continent…" "That's it!" I exclaimed. I remembered: Back in the battle with Mobile Fortress Destroyer, Wiz had been sent to that dungeon with Random Teleport by a rock called Coronatite, and she said she'd registered it as one of her Teleport destinations just for good measure. A dungeon like that ought to be overflowing with experience points—er, I mean, powerful monsters.

I turned to Wiz and bowed my head. "Wiz, train me in that dungeon. And then, after my level goes up, use Level Drain on me, right there in the depths."

"What?!" Wiz cried, and Megumin and Darkness looked almost as amazed as she did.

"Kazuma, were you even listening?! A Lich's status-ailment attack is terrible!

You could conceivably be petrified or even killed on the spot, and for someone as weak as you, the HP-sapping Curse could be fatal as well!"

"You're always so interested in covering your own neck, and then sometimes you say the craziest things! Aqua's not here right now. If you die…" Yeesh, didn't they ever shut up? "Ugh, pipe down, you two!" I snapped, now totally in the grip of my own brilliant idea. "I want you to hit the town and find every adventurer you can who has any useful skills! Tell them that as soon as I get back from the dungeon, I want them to teach me their abilities!"

There was Megumin, who'd sworn she would defeat the Demon King and show everyone up ever since the other members of her village had discovered she could only use Explosion and made fun of her, calling her a "joke wizard" and a "spare mage."

There was Darkness, who obviously wanted nothing more than to go after Aqua, but she held herself back instead and said she would watch the house.

And then there was Aqua herself, terrified to be out all alone but doing it anyway so that she wouldn't drag the rest of us into trouble with her.

Curse them all.

I mean, curse them all!

Normally they couldn't stop themselves from causing problems. So why did they have to pick the weirdest times to turn sensitive and thoughtful?! If they were capable of this level of human decency, I wish they would have shown it all along!

"I know people talk about me like I'm a good-for-nothing, like I'm a devil! But even I'm not such a loser that I would leave something like this completely in the hands of other people! So a Lich can inflict Level Drain, Curse, Sleep, Magic Seal, Panic, Petrification, and Instant Death, right?! Okay, so let's pretend that Curse, Petrification, and Instant Death are my losing hands. You two have known me long enough that you ought to know…with my Luck, I only pick winners. So come on, get going! Get out of here!!"

I did my best Aqua impression as I shooed them away, even making her little shoo, shoo! noises.

"A-are you insane, Kazuma…? At the very least, you should come back to Axel and have a priest cast Bless on you before you get your level drained… Something, anything…!"

"H-hold on, Kazuma, wouldn't it be best to have me along to shield you from the monsters, then…?!"

The girls were trying to object, but I all but shoved them out of the shop. Then I turned back to Wiz. "That's the plan. Sorry to impose, but do you think you could toughen me up? I know it's a lot to ask a former general of the Demon King to help me with this, knowing my objective is to bring down the king himself, but…" "I-it's all right; I want Lady Aqua back as much as you do… But I can't guarantee I'll be able to protect you all by myself. It's a large dungeon. We could get lost, and there are dangerous traps… And above all, there's always the chance that my skill could kill…you… Oh! That's it!" Wiz had looked awfully down on the idea, but now she clapped her hands. "Vanir! With your ability to see everything, you would know whether I was going to inflict a critical ailment on Kazuma before I did it, wouldn't you?! A-and! And! You would be able to tell the best way through the dungeon and foresee any traps!"

"Absolutely not." With those two words, Vanir shot down Wiz's brilliant suggestion. And then he started laughing. "Bwa-ha-ha-ha! Yes, it was to obtain these bad vibes that I gave the kid such kind and helpful advice! Oh, delectable!

The negative emotions the two of you are generating are positively exquisite!"

I was starting to hope I would get the chance to destroy this demon sometime.

"I don't particularly care what happens to the Demon King, but I don't see why I, a demon, should be obliged to help save a goddess! Bwaaaa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Yes, excellent! Good fortune will come of that goddess getting lost on the road, munching on some weeds somewhere, and dropping dead! Well, it hardly matters. Someone like her will never, ever make it to the castle alone!

Bwaaaaa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

"Vanir! Surely now of all times, you could see fit to help her. And if not, I have a thing or two to say about it myself!" Wiz said, suddenly deadly serious.

Vanir acted a bit taken aback. "Oh-ho? Then speak, if you believe you can threaten the great—" "I have some stock here that I got in secretly, without letting you know. There turned out not to be very much of it, so I was thinking of returning it, but now I don't think I w— Oh! Stop, that's an important item that I don't have any intention of returning! Please stop trying to take it!"

I turned to Vanir and Wiz, who were struggling over some merchandise, and said, "Y'know, Vanir, I think I owe you a favor. If I get back from that dungeon safely, I promise I'll finally make good on it."

I dropped the words into their argument like a pebble into a pond.

"…? A favor?" Vanir, keeping one hand on Wiz's head to prevent her from grabbing the merchandise back, looked at me, perplexed.

"When Aqua had chased me out of our mansion, you helped me sneak back in in the middle of the night. I promised you I'd buy whatever overpriced crap Wiz stocked at the store, right?"

"Oh yes, that did happen… Wiz, I am going to sell off this junk you've acquired at a stroke! So—grrr, let go already! There's nothing important in any of this; I declare it all to be complete junk! And I'm going to sell the whole lot of it off!"

"No, wait, that's not junk! It's a rosary that's supposed to bring a wonderful encounter to anyone who possesses it…!"

They weren't done arguing, but I said:

"Sorry, but that's not what I plan to buy. I already know what I want. And I'm sure Vanir will be thrilled to have me take it off his hands…"