Konosuba 17 PDF

Table of Contents
1. Illustration
2. Chapter 1
3. Explosion for this mage!
4. Chapter 2
5. Good Luck for this Goddess!
6. Chapter 3
7. Ovation for this holy knight!
8. Chapter 4
9. Glory for this adventurer!
10. Epilogue
11. Afterword
12. Short Story 1
13. Short Story 2
14. Short Story 3
Chapter 1
Page 1 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

Explosion for this mage!

Part 1
In this world, there is an organization known as the Demon King’s army.
They have power far surpassing that of humanity, and have been threatening
mankind for ages.
Even after humanity received amazing powers from the gods, they were still
unable to stand up to them. They can truly be called the natural enemy of
mankind.
And at the home base of that organization that has spread terror amongst
much of humanity, which is protected by a powerful, impenetrable barrier──
“Explosion! Explosion!!!”
“Wahahahaha! Wahahaha! That’s it, Megumin! Give it to ‘em! You are the
strongest mage in this world!”
That very same home base is currently undergoing an unprecedented crisis at

the hands of a single, good-for-nothing mage.
“Look, Darkness! Behold this wondrous sight! Thinking about it, the Demon
King’s army has caused me quite a bit of trouble in the past! Now I’ve finally
gotten some revenge! Wahahaha! Look at that pathetic sight! And you dare
call yourself the Demon King!?”
“Ah, aaah… Aaah… Top grade manatite that are each worth more than a
house are disappearing right in front of me… One… Two…”
Every time Megumin unleashed her spell, the pale-faced Darkness would
mutter something under her breath.

Every time that voice echoed across the plains, an unbelievably powerful
explosion slammed against the Demon King’s barrier.
“Are those elite soldiers of the Demon King’s army!? They look like they’re
about to piss themselves! I’m sure they’re normally pretty strong enemies,
but to us right now they might as well be kobolds!”
“Aaaaah… Awawawawa…”
This is the current situation. Megumin, her face one of unbridled glee, has
been continuously bombarding the enemy with Explosion Magic.
By the time the third blast impacted against the barrier, the Demon King’s
troops came rushing out of the castle in a panicked mass.
Most of them were clad head to toe in pitch-black plate armour, quite an
imposing sight.
Alongside them were also creatures wearing loose and flowing dark robes,
probably spellcasters, and winged, Gargoyle-like monsters.
It’s obvious at a glance that any single one of them is far stronger than any
monster we’ve encountered before.
Just catching sight of one of them would normally cause us to turn tail and
flee, and now there’s an entire army of them rushing towards us.
But we held the high ground, and none of them could even begin to get close
to us without getting blown to smithereens by Explosion.
A few of the Gargoyle-looking monsters tried coming at us from the air, but
Megumin needed only to raise her hand and unleash her spell, and they
drifted towards the earth like fallen leaves.
Today, Megumin is casting her spell without chanting, just like she did back
when she faced off against the Demon King’s General, Wolbach.

Chants are used to control and amplify the power of a spell.
Reciting a fixed chant prevents the magic from running amok, and can also
increase the power of the spell.
However, for someone like Megumin who has mastered Explosion Magic,
she can easily cast without chanting.
…Well, that’s only to be expected.
After all──
“Explosion! Explosion! Explosion!!!”
This Archwizard loves Explosion Magic more than life itself. She has never
cast any other spell in her life.
In the face of magic that could take down even gods and devils, the elite
troops of the Demon King’s army were turned into dust, leaving not even
corpses behind.
Darkness looked at this scene and trembled,
“T-This is Hell… This is Hell on Earth…! Even if it used up a lot of top

grade manatite, if any of the nobles or His Majesty were to witness this, they
would definitely designate Megumin as the most dangerous person in the
world…! There’s no way the Kingdom could ignore her…!”
“Wahahahaha! This feels great! It’s like all the gloomy stuff clawing at my
chest vanished in an instant! Megumin, get them! Keep blasting even after
you shatter the barrier! Aqua and the others have only just entered the castle!
The Demon King’s room is most definitely on the top floor! Once you break
through, raise your aim a little and take the entire top off!”
“D-Don’t do that! Considering Aqua’s poor luck, she might end up getting
caught in the blast! And look at Megumin! Her eyes are already shining
brighter than ever…!”
Perhaps it is because of her continuous unleashing of high level magic, but

Megumin, in addition to her glowing crimson eyes, was also surrounded by a
constantly fluctuating halo of electricity.
After taking so many hits, cracks were spreading all across the semi-
transparent barrier. Even to my untrained eye, it was clear that it was on the
verge of collapse.
As Megumin continued her devastating barrage, an endless horde of monsters

came spilling from the castle like it was some kind of monster spawner.
I doubt they were eager to meet their deaths, but they probably knew that the
barrier wouldn’t last long if things were to continue.
As the monsters drew Megumin’s fire, the robe-wearing members of the

Demon King’s army raised their arms and started casting magic.
I’m sure they were trying to repair the barrier, but looking at them with my
Farsight, every single one of them had looks of teary-eyed desperation.
As time passed, the stream of black knights was reduced to a trickle, before
being replaced by a wave of large, ogre-like creatures that zealously charged
up the hill.
They zealously charged up, but were just as easily swept aside by Megumin’s
spells.
…Eventually, the area around the castle was riddled with craters.
The flow of monsters coming from the castle stopped completely. I was
thinking that they’ve finally run out of troops, when…
──A man wearing a pure white mask walked out through the gates.
His robe and staff were also white, matching his mask.
This guy certainly had a different feel about him than the cannon fodder that
came before.

Despite being in the Demon King’s army, he had a certain holy aura about
him, almost like he himself was a divine presence…
“A bigshot showed up. I wonder if he is the ‘world’s strongest mage’ or

whatever Serena was talking about.”
Megumin, her cheeks flushed and with eyes glowing brighter than I’ve ever
seen, ceased her assault when she saw the robed figure emerge from the
castle.
Still buried up to her waist in the pile of manatite, she playfully rolled a
chunk around her hand.
Noticing that the rain of spells has stopped, the white-robed mage stepped
through the barrier and casually made his way towards us.
A semi-transparent, membrane-like material appeared around him as he

approached. It certainly seems ominous.
We are still quite some distance from each other, certainly too far to have a
conversation.
Is he coming up to demand our names and objective?
Or perhaps he’s coming up here to challenge Megumin for the title of the
strongest after being impressed by her strength.
Or maybe even──
──Just then, Megumin sent a spell his way without hesitation.
“Explosion!”
“Wha─!?” x2
Darkness and I raised a yelp of surprise, but of course, it’s already too late to
stop the ball of magic that went hurtling from Megumin’s staff straight
towards the robed man.

The next moment, a large boom erupted where he stood, accompanied by an
immense column of smoke and a strong shockwave.
The robe was shredded to pieces, revealing a pair of pure white wings.
So is he an angel-type monster?
I ran into a fallen angel named Duke in the past who got blasted to pieces by
Wiz. Is he one of his kinsmen?
…Then, the naked angel shakily got up to his feet.
“Ooh!” x2
Darkness and I let out a voice that is both equal parts surprised and
impressed.
Seeing that he managed to tank a shot from Megumin, there’s no doubt that
he is the gatekeeper, the very same one rumoured to be the strongest mage in
the world.
Raising himself to his full height, the angel looked up and us and shouted──
“…I am…! The Demon King’s… Strongest…! …A sudden attack…!”
He was saying something, but the distance between us is too great for me to
make it out.
Probably naming himself and demanding to know why we launched such an

attack out of the blue or something similar.
Megumin and Darkness too didn’t seem to have much luck in making out his
words and traded looks of confusion.
I activated my Farsight and Lip Reading skills.
“If you can hear me, then respond! Just who are you!? Adventurers? How
dare you bombard the castle from such a long range!? Do you not know of
the legends of the Demon King and the Hero, or of the conduct of nobility!?

The divine blood that flows in my veins cannot abide such an unseemly
act…!”
The naked angel was ranting about something.
“Did you figure out what this guy is saying?”
Megumin asked me as she noticed my confused expression.
“I’ve used my Lip Reading skill, and he seems to be saying that attacking the
castle from range is unfair. Like, super unfair.”
“That sounds really childish coming from someone said to be the strongest
mage in the world… Though, it’s true that I’ve never heard of someone
taking on the Demon King in such a manner…”
Darkness crossed her arms and frowned, while Megumin waved her staff in
the man’s direction.
“So, can I blow him up?”
“Go ahead. We have the range advantage, and there’s no reason for us to play
along with him.”
“…I feel sorry for him…”
This time, Megumin properly began chanting her spell instead of truncating it
like she did before.
It seems like she intends to end it in a single blow.
“You have been warned! Behold my power! The infinite mana granted to me
from the demonic realm and my vast knowledge of magic shall render you─”
“Explosion!”
Megumin unleashed her spell before the guy could finish.
The naked angel was sent flying into the sky in a parabolic arc before

collapsing into the ground in an ashen heap, where he lay, twitching
sporadically.
──Just then, a complex magic circle suddenly appeared beneath the angel’s
body and began glowing brightly.
At the same time, the wounds on that angel’s body started healing at a rapid
rate.
…Come to think of it, Serena did mention that he had powerful regeneration
abilities.
The mages who were repairing the barrier stopped their work and dashed out
to drag the angel back behind it.
Megumin once again raised her staff.
“He’s gone back behind the barrier. Oh well, I was going to destroy it either
way. We’ll settle which one of us is the strongest after I bring it down!”
As Megumin resumed her unrelenting barrage, I focused my gaze on the

mages inside the barrier in order to follow their conversation.
“Aaaaah, what should we do!? What should we do!?”
“It’s hopeless, this is the end!”
“What is wrong with her!? Is she out of her mind!?”
“The barrier won’t hold! If we don’t get away quickly, that vicious Crimson
Demon will destroy us all along with the castle!”
“Why did such a last boss-like creature suddenly attack us!? How can she
keep casting Explosion like this!? Is this some kind of attack by a Demon
King from another world!?”
“M-Mama──!”

As the mages behind the barrier fell into complete disarray, the naked angel
groggily opened his eyes.
Seeing that, I gave a signal to Megumin to pause the bombardment.
As surrounding mages rushed around to fetch a spare robe, I focused my gaze

on him, my Lip Reading skill at the ready…
“…Even with… True power… Taken out by that… That… Small… Crimson
Demon…”
“He said if he was in peak condition, he would’ve taken out that flat Crimson
Demon easily.”
Megumin renewed her attack with increased vigor after hearing my

interpretation.
The barrier visibly flickered. It won’t be long now before it collapses.
“K-Kazuma, did he really say that!?”
“Pretty much.”
I casually replied to Darkness’s question. At the same time, the former

Demon King’s General wobbled to his feet.
The wounds that Megumin inflicted on him just moments ago have
completely healed over.
“All we have to do is wait for the insane Crimson Demon to run out of mana!
The enemy outranges us, so we will focus on maintaining the barrier! I can
draw a limitless amount of mana from the demonic realm, so if we draw this
out into a battle of attrition, we’ll be able to take out that insane mage without
direct combat!”
The mages around him raised a ragged cheer.

The cloaked angel, not knowing that his plan had been revealed to me, raised
his hand towards the barrier and started pouring mana into it.
“He says he’s ‘waiting for the crazy Crimson Demon mage to run out of
mana’. He has an unlimited supply of mana, so he can’t be bothered to deal
with crazy mages. ‘Just repair the barrier and turn it into a battle of attrition’,
or so he says.”
“I’m going to kill him.”
“Wait, Kazuma, did he really say that!? Did he really put it like that!?”
“Pretty much.”
As the cloaked mage and his mage assistants ran around frantically trying to
repair the barrier──
Megumin took a deep breath, her eyes shining crimson──
“Explosion! Explosion! Explosion! Explosion! Explosion! Explosion!

Explosion! Explosion! Explosion! Explosion! Explosion! Explosion!
Explosion! Explosion!!!”
“Wait…!”
In the face of Megumin’s onslaught, the barrier that has surrounded the
Demon King’s castle for so many years instantly crumbled.
The cloaked angel once again became a naked angel. He seemed to be saying
something, but…
“Explosion! Explosion! Explosion! Explosion! Explosion! Explosion!

Explosion! Explosion! Explosion! Explosion! Explosion! Explosion!
Explosion! Explosion!!!”
The Explosion shower turned all the mages around him into dust, leaving
only the nude and heavily wounded angel in the center of a large field of
craters.

As expected of the strongest mage in the world.
Just as I praised his tenacity, Megumin began chanting.
This flow of magic is completely different from anything I’ve seen before.
It wasn’t drawn from the manatite, but instead from Megumin’s own reserves
that she had been saving until this point.

[Thanks to Kasen for the colouring]
Right now, Megumin probably has more mana within her than is stored in
even the highest grade manatite.
The angel, whose regeneration failed to keep up with the hail of explosions,
seemed to notice Megumin’s unusual presence even in his half-dead state and
gasped,
“I… Am… The… Strongest… Oldest… Of the Demon King’s Army… My

name is…”
“Explosion!!!”
Taking the largest Explosion that Megumin has ever unleashed head-on, the
angel vanished from this world without us ever knowing his name.

Part 2
“Thanks for your hard work! Still, this is a horrible sight. I don’t think it was
this bad even back when the mobile fortress Destroyer attacked us. Anyway,
with this, you really are undoubtedly the world’s strongest… H-Hey,
Megumin, your nose is bleeding.”
“Eh? Ah… ”
I noticed her bleed just as I transferred mana to Megumin using Drain Touch.
Upon hearing that, Megumin grabbed her robe to clean the blood off, but
only succeeded at spreading it all over her face.
“Oh, come on…”
I used Create Water to drench my handkerchief before wiping her face.

Megumin closed her eyes, leaning into my hand and seemingly enjoying the
cool sensation.
Did she get so excited that she got a nosebleed?
No, wait, this is…
“Hey, Megumin, why is your cheek so hot? What is going on? This isn’t just
from excitement, is it!?”
“N-No, it’s fine. I’m fine. Just watch, I’ll take out the top floors of the
Demon King’s castle now…”
Megumin wobbled to her feet, seemingly in a feverish daze as she shakily

waved her staff in the general direction of the castle.
Darkness caught her before she could slip and fall.

“Explosion Magic is the strongest offensive magic that humanity is capable
of. It’d be stranger still if you are perfectly fine after casting it so many times
in quick succession. Casting using manatite involves circulating the mana
stored within the crystal through your body. It shouldn’t put too much strain
on your body if a healthy person were to cast regular spells with it, but…”
“But it seems to be too much for Megumin’s body…”
“Don’t make it sound like it’s a problem because my body is too small! It’s
fine, I can still carry on. Actually, please take me with you!”
I ignored Megumin who was clamouring for me to carry her and started
gathering the scattered manatite.
After stuffing them into my rucksack, Megumin instantly extended her arm
towards me.
“I’m not letting you cast any more Explosion Magic today. And I’m carrying
the bag, so don’t push yourself.”
“…No matter what you say, if you are in danger I’ll still blast away. And this
is something you gave me, so I’ll have to insist on carrying it myself.”
So willful…
In the end, I gave in to the stubborn girl, handing over the rucksack after
making her promise that she will only use Explosion if we are in serious
danger.
She’s used up quite the number of them during her barrage earlier, so the
weight of the rucksack is actually quite manageable, but all the same, the
sight of her carrying a large rucksack while wobbling on her feet can’t help
but make me worry…
In any case, the biggest obstacle in the way of us entering the castle has been
removed.
The surroundings were completely silent, but I still activated my Enemy

Detection skill as we warily headed towards the castle.

Even though they should be able to clearly see us approach, no attack came
from the castle. They must be in a right panic.
“…Alright, here is where the real work starts. Is everyone ready?”
“Ah, let me take the lead here. Even if a Dragon shows up, I won’t give an
inch. Seeing Megumin get all the spotlight is making me a little jealous.”
Darkness, dressed in a very similar fashion to those dark knights that came
pouring out of the castle earlier, said with an unexpectedly motivated look on
her face.
“Heheheh, I’m afraid the only way to overshadow me today would be to take
down the Demon King.”
“Kuh…! The role of a female knight is to be captured by the Demon King,

but we came here to take him down… Do I fulfil my role as a female knight
or defeat the Demon King…”
“Why do you think we came here? Have you forgotten about Aqua?”
I ignored those two who had no sense of tension at all and carefully
approached the main gate.
My Enemy Detection skill didn’t give any response, so I walked through the
gate.
Just then,
“Ah!”
“Uwoh!?”
A sudden scream of surprise came from out of thin air, causing me to make a
similar noise.
Before I could do anything else, a bunch of familiar faces suddenly appeared

before me.

“Megumin! Waaah! Megumin! Megumin! I-I-I was so scared! This place is
really scary!!”
“W-What’s wrong, Yunyun? You do love to cry, but you look really bad
today!”

They were Mitsurugi’s party and Yunyun.
“Satou Kazuma, you caught up with us! …Actually, I’m surprised you were
safe. Wasn’t the Demon King right outside!?”
Mitsurugi suddenly said.
His two hanger-ons must have gone through quite an ordeal, they both clung
onto Mitsurugi with a death grip while trembling and muttering something
about the Demon King under their breaths.
…Still, Demon King?
“No, why would the Demon King be outside?”
Yunyun turned towards me, seemingly having calmed down from Megumin’s
headpats.
“W-We managed to sneak into the castle thanks to Aqua-san… While we

were exploring the castle with the help of the light-refracting spell, the castle
was suddenly hit by a mysterious barrage… Aqua-san said that the Demon
King must have sensed that his natural enemy, a goddess, has entered his
castle and plans to collapse the entire structure to bury us alive, so we rushed
to the entrance…”
Darkness and I slowly glanced over to the “Demon King”.
The crimson eyed “Demon King” bearing a large manatite-filled rucksack

over her shoulder averted her gaze.
──Oh right, that reminds me!
“Hey, what happened to Aqua, then?”
“T-That’s…!”
We finally managed to meet up with them, but the most crucial person is

nowhere to be seen.
Yunyun, looking quite apologetic, started explaining, but before she could
start, a similarly apologetic Mitsurugi interjected.
“Aqua-sama, um… We got separated… The sudden explosions threw the

castle into chaos. In the confusion, we managed to use Yunyun’s spells and
my companion’s Lurk skill to make it here, but… She must be close by. She
was with us until just a short moment ago. When I took my eyes off her for
just an instant…”
She only left my sight for a short time and already she’s off causing trouble.
Actually, how the hell did she even get lost when they were running away
together?
“I’m sorry… I couldn’t protect Aqua-sama after saying all that to you…
Dammit, what Magic Sword Hero am I? I couldn’t even protect the person I
love─!”
“No, wait, sorry to interrupt you while you’re getting emotional, but getting
lost is like her signature trait. It happens all the time, so don’t worry about it.
More importantly, we should go look for that idiot.”
I said that because I didn’t want Mitsurugi to stay depressed, but the truth is
if Aqua somehow ran into a Demon King’s soldier out there by herself, that’d
be the end of it.
Considering her luck, she won’t be able to avoid encounters for very long, so
we need to find her quickly…
──After stepping into the castle, we decided on our course of action together
with Mitsurugi.
“I don’t really want to split up, but it’s an emergency, so we’ll have to in
order to look for Aqua. Shout if you run into an enemy. Mitsurugi or Yunyun
will come running over. I don’t mean to brag, but we probably won’t be of
much use in combat.”

“O-Okay, if you are willing to say it so boldly, then I won’t rely on you in
combat. Give us a shout if you run into any problems.”
After telling Megumin and Darkness to stay within shouting distance of

Mitsurugi and Yunyun, I activated my Enemy Detection skill and began
scouting out the area.
I don’t have much confidence in my combat skills, but one thing I am

confident in is my ability to remain undetected and locating people.
Peeling away from everyone, I moved towards the places where Aqua
seemed likely to be.
…I don’t sense any enemies nearby.
It seems like most of the people who lived on the first floor were taken out by
Megumin’s rampage earlier.
In this case, it’d probably be fine for me to go a little further in. I can detect
traps and use the Lurk skill, after all.
“Darkness, let’s go this way. Knowing Aqua, she’s probably found some
dark and out-of-the-way place to hide in out of fear of running into any
enemies.”
“No, she came in with Yunyun and the others, right? Considering how
cowardly she is, she would definitely head towards the widest passageways
so she can be more easily noticed…”
Leaving those voices behind me, I once again took a good look at the interior
of the castle.
The castle is laid out in more or less the same way as a dungeon.
Torches hang on the walls every few paces, illuminating the hallways.
The entire place was built much like a labyrinth, with twisting and intricate
passageways fanning out in all directions, perhaps as a measure against
intruders.

Considering this is the Demon King’s castle, I was expecting something far
more dark and gloomy, but the interior is actually quite clean and well lit, in
contrast to the intimidating exterior.
Well, I suppose even demons don’t like living amidst filth and darkness.
──Just as I was exploring the layout, I suddenly noticed something strange.
Right in a dead end was pasted a piece of paper labeled “Do not push.”
A magic circle lies directly in front of the piece of paper, and next to it is a
button.
…This is a little too obvious for a trap.
I activated my Trap Detection skill, and expected, I got a response from the
wall.
Unfortunately, the skill doesn’t tell me what kind of trap it is, and I have no
idea what mechanism it uses.
I do have the Trap Disarm skill, but I haven’t used it since Chris taught it to
me after my first trip into the dungeon, so I’m a little uneasy about relying on
it now.
Well, as long as nobody touches it, it shouldn’t do anything…
──Then, it hit me.
Is this really a trap?
Under normal circumstances, no one would be stupid enough to fall for such
an obvious trap.
So this must be a camouflage for something else.
Like, for instance, a teleport circle that connects directly to the Demon King’s
throne room.

Something like a secret escape hatch placed close to the main gate in case the
Demon King needs to escape on short notice…
The fact that my Trap Detection skill is going off means that there is
definitely a trap linked to it.
But, thinking of it another way, you could also set up a smaller trap next to
the teleporter to mask its presence.
Not everything that sets off my skill would necessarily be life threatening.
A simple trap that drops a blackboard eraser on your head after you teleport
would also be picked up by my skill.
The Demon King is still a King, after all.
It wouldn’t be unusual for him to have an escape route prepared. Plus it’s not
like he’d be cooped up inside his castle all year round.
It’d be terribly inconvenient to navigate the labyrinth-like path to his throne

room every time he leaves or enters the castle, so installing a quick shortcut
here would definitely make sense.
And I heard the current Demon King is getting up in age too, so I’m certain
this isn’t a trap──!
“Hmph, you might be able to fool those simpletons back there, but you won’t
fool me that easily…”
Muttering that confidently to myself, I stood on top of the magic circle and
pushed the button labeled “Do not push.”
…Ah, crap.
I was so elated after discovering a secret passage that I forgot to call those
guys over first before pushing it.
Well, if my guess is right, this shouldn’t be a one-way passage.

I can confirm what it looks like on the other side and come right back──!
──Before I noticed it, my surroundings had changed completely.
I’m in a small, dark, and cramped room.
There wasn’t a single light source in this place, and It feels like a ghost would
pop out at any moment.
On top of that, I could hear the faint sound of a woman sobbing coming from
somewhere…
“Shit, it was a trap!”
“Waaaaah!”
I couldn’t help but curse, and as I did so, a familiar sounding scream came
from the corner of this dimly lit room.
…Wait.
“Aqua?”
“…Eh? …Kazuma?”
Sitting in the corner was Aqua, hugging her knees to her chest while softly
sobbing.
Aqua seemed confused for a moment, before her expression gradually

twisted…
“K-Kazuma…! Waaaaah! Kazuma-san, Kazuma-san, Kazuma-san!”
She must have been pretty scared, because she stood up in a state of shock
and immediately tearfully leapt at my chest.
At that moment, my innate good luck happened to activate my Auto-Evasion

skill, and I elegantly stepped out of the way of that flying leap.

Part 3
“Waaaaah! Bwaaaaah! Aaaaah!”
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. I can’t help it, it’s an automatically triggered skill!
Come on, I’m sorry, so stop crying already!”
After slamming into a wall face-first, Aqua has been crying non stop.
You normally end up in far more painful situations, so why now of all
times…!
…No, it’s only natural to cry in such a situation. If I went through the same
thing, I’d be crying too.
“Hey, keep quiet! We are in the Demon King’s castle! If you keep raising a
fuss some of his underlings might come to investigate!”
“But, but…! When I thought we finally met up again, Kazuma,

Kazumaaaaa!”
Ah, what a pain in the ass!
“Oh, come on, show me where you hit your face, I’ll fix it up for you…
Heal!”
I extended my hand over to the bump on Aqua’s head and casted Heal.
Aqua immediately stopped crying, so it must have worked…
…No, wait, her eyes are widening…
“It-It healed… Kazuma, Kazuma, you used Heal…! Ah, aaah, aaaaah…!
Waaaaah! You shitty NEET, you came all this way to steal my role!? You’re

not content with just demoting me to the goddess of toilets, now you’ve
stolen the only thing I’m good at, too! Alright, bring it on, you thieving
NEET! My real enemy isn’t the Demon King, but you! Let’s settle this right
now!”
“Stop being a pain in the ass! Do you have any idea how much trouble we’ve
gone through while you were off getting lost like a fool!? You even left a
letter practically begging us to come after you before running away from
home! You really are a handful, you know that!?”
I vented my frustrations at her, and Aqua raised a clenched fist,
“Seems like I have no choice but to give you a taste of divine punishment…!
I’ll make you regret angering the Goddess of Water! The water will refuse to
come out of the shower just as you are washing your hair!”
“Your punishments are always so petty! Anyway… No, wait!”
After hearing footsteps in the distance, I activated a certain skill.
“I really did hear a woman’s voice.”
“That’s impossible. We are on the top floor, you know? The intruders are still
wandering around somewhere on the first.”
That conversation accompanied the sound of footsteps as they drew closer.
The skill I activated was Eavesdrop, a special skill exclusive to the Dark
Stalker advanced class.
The person who taught it to me said that despite the class having the word
“Stalker” in its name, it’s actually closer to an Assassin and really cool, but…
Then, Aqua, who didn’t know that I picked up such a skill, said,
“What’s wrong? Why are you making funny faces all of a sudden? You’re
not challenging me to a ‘who can make the funniest face’ contest, are you? I
might be talented, but that would tarnish my image as a beautiful goddess,
so…”

“Who the hell would challenge you to such a stupid game!? I’m not making
strange faces, I’m focusing! Underlings of the Demon King are coming this
way, hurry up and hide!”
Aqua and I scrambled to find a place in the dimly lit room to hide.
“Come to think of it, how did you end up here? Did you press the button
too?”
“Yes, I fell for that sophisticated trap that exploits your desire to push
something labeled ‘do not push’! I’m sure the Magic Sword Guy and the
others will be here before too long.”
“Yeah, that is a fearsome trap that exploits reverse psychology. The others
will definitely be here soon, so all we need to do is to buy time… Is there any
place to hide…? Oh.”
“I found a pot!” x2
Aqua and I both found a pot large enough to hide a person, and both of us put
our hands on it at the same instant.
“…Hey, I found this first. Go find somewhere else to hide.”
“You should be the one to go elsewhere… Ah!”
Opening the lid, I found the pot to be filled with water.
They must be using it to store drinking water.
Aqua let out a smile and brushed her hand through her hair,
“Oh my, seems like only I, the beautiful goddess who can breathe water, can
hide in…!”
Seeing Aqua’s smug expression.
“What are you talking about?”

“Ah!”
I couldn’t help but deliver a kick to the pot.
The pot cracked open and spilled water everywhere.
“Did you hear that!? There’s definitely someone here!”
“Over there! It’s coming from that room!”
They must have been alerted by that noise. I could hear the voices of the
approaching demons even without using the Eavesdrop skill.
“What should we do!? What should we do!?”
“Crap, I can’t believe I made such a mistake. It’s been a while since I
interacted with you, so…!”
“I have no idea if you are stupid or smart! What should we do!? We’ll be
discovered!──”
“──Who’s there!? Come on out!”
The door opened with a slam.
Aqua and I were hunkered down in a corner of the room in a last ditch effort
to remain hidden.
Aqua had a firm grip on the hem of my clothes and pulled me in tightly,
perhaps to take advantage of my Lurk skill.
We are both capable of seeing in the dark, so we were able to clearly make
out the two demons who came in.
One of them was a knight clad in pitch-black armour.
The other one was a two meter tall ogre with reddish skin and a pair of horns
growing from his head.

The two of them scanned through the room..
“…There’s no one here.”
“That’s strange. I could’ve sworn I heard something.”
And, coming from behind them, a voice said,
“No, there’s definitely something in that room. Something annoyingly bright

to the point of being blinding!”
The voice of a ghost, wearing a tattered robe and pointing towards where
Aqua was hiding, echoed directly in my brain.
“A mere undead, and a mere wraith at that, dares to call me annoying!? You
sure are full of yourself! I’ll purify you until there’s nothing left!”
“Dammit, I knew nothing good would happen whenever you are with me!”
Aqua jumped out of the corner to confront the wraith pointing in our
direction, and I followed after her with a resigned sigh, drawing the magic
sword that Dust gave me.
“I knew it, intruders! Hurry up and get reinforcements… Wait. Don’t these
guys seem… Kinda weak?”
“Yeah, doesn’t seem like we’ll have much trouble dealing with them. Are we
doing this?”
“Seriously!? Please don’t make me deal with that woman! She’s really
dangerous! She smells just like my worst kind of natural enemy!”
Pointing my sword at the Demon King’s underlings who started chatting

amongst themselves, I declared to Aqua,
“Aqua, give me some support! Leave the vanguard to me. I’ve awakened to
my true power in the short time we’ve been apart! Just stay back and bear
witness to my mastery of a thousand skills!”

“Kyaa~! Kazuma-san, you’re so cool! Hey, Kazuma, do you need the buff
that makes you a great actor!?”
“Please! That skill is really useful!”
As I took up a battle stance, the Demon King’s underlings did the same.
“T-These guys sure are noisy! Do they not have any sense of urgency!”
“Let’s do this! Let’s tear these two jokers to shreds!”
“I can feel my body growing fainter just by being near this woman!”
As Aqua prepared to cast her support magic, she said with a smile,
“Hey, Kazuma, even though we are in a crisis as usual, even though this isn’t
an enviable position at all, for some reason, I feel like I’m having a lot of
fun!”
“Dammit, me too! I’m conflicted about feeling this way, but this is just
business as usual!”
Battle start──!


Part 4
After receiving Aqua’s buffs, we stood back to back.
“Aqua, I’ll leave that wraith to you.”
“I’ll take care of it! Ahahahaha! An undead who dares appear before me must
really be tired of this world! What should I do with this wraith? How should I
play around with him!?”
“Hey, I don’t know why, but this girl is really scary! She’s really dangerous!
Sorry, but can I run away!?”
In some unknown room deep inside the Demon King’s castle, a wraith is
being scared near witless by Aqua.
“Payne, let’s switch targets! You and I will take care of this beansprout-
looking man! Noss, you take care of that woman that Payne is so afraid of!”
“Right, leave it to me! Payne, if you have to, go ahead and hide behind us!”
“What are you talking about? He’s a vanguard class with nothing but a
sword! Dealing with such people is my specialty! Hey, little man, just so you
know, physical attacks won’t work on me!”
The ogre-like guy I was facing off against shouted instructions to the rest.
The black knight started inching closer towards Aqua, and the ogre and
wraith started advancing on me.
….At this rate, this can only end badly for us.
“Kazuma, now’s your chance! Use ‘that’! Your instant kill ‘that’!”

“That!? What do you mean by ‘that’!? I know I said I’ve awakened and
whatnot, but do I really have some secret power that will show itself when
I’m in a crisis?”
“!?” x3
The three monsters stopped in their tracks, wary of what they were hearing.
“What, no, Kazuma, you’re just an ordinary human that wouldn’t seem out of
place anywhere in the world. I’m talking about that! You know, that thing
you always do during such situations!?”
I looked back, and Aqua was pointing at her eyes.
…Oh, I see!
“Oh, that’s what you’re talking about! Eat this, Flash!”
“Guraaah!”
“Kyaaa!”
This spell would blind me too, but I’m not the kind of man who makes the
same mistake twice.
After casting my spell while covering my eyes with my left hand, the ogre
and the knight were sent staggering, clutching their eyeballs.
“Dammit, this brat…!”
“Cheap tricks like these…!”
It worked perfectly well on the ogre and the knight, but…
“Hah! I don’t rely on my eyes to see, so that won’t work on me!”
“What about it!? Your friends won’t be able to help you now! And by the
time their eyesight returns, you’ll be gone from this world! Aqua, now’s your
chance, do it!”

I taunted the wraith while giving instructions to Aqua at the same time…
“K-Kazuma-san! Kazuma-san! W-Where are you!?”
But Aqua was clutching at her eyes just like the two monsters in front of me.
“You are the one who told me to blind them in the first place, so why did you
get blinded too!?”
“I didn’t know you learnt such a spell! What I was talking about was your
underhanded combo with something earth and whatever breath!”
Aqua, her eyes tightly closed, wandered blearily around for a while before
clutching onto my clothes.
Seeing our current state, the wraith let out a victorious crow.
“Too bad, little brat. Since physical attacks don’t work on me, you have no
chance of victory! Haha!”
He extended both hands towards me, his face twisting into a wide smile.
His ghostly hands extended to an impossible length, and just before they
touched me──
“L-Like I’ll let you!”
I hastily dragged Aqua who was clinging onto me in front and used her as a
meat shield.
“Hyaaaaaa!” x2
The both of them screamed at the same time.
Just being close to Aqua is causing his body to grow fainter, so touching her
directly is bound to hurt.
“Kazuma, what was that!? I felt really cold all of a sudden!”

“That heartless brat! How could you use your friend as a shield!? Aaah, my
arm is disappearing!”
Aqua screamed, her eyes still tightly closed, while the wraith cried out while
looking at his right arm.
“P-Payne, what is going on!? I know the woman is a bad match for you, but
you should have no problems taking care of the guy, right?”
“I-I can’t do that! Noss, Logia, hurry up and regain your sight already!”
The knight shouted in the completely opposite direction to where the wraith
is.
──Well, now I know all of their names.
Payne is the wraith, Noss is the knight, and Logia is the ogre.
Noss and Logia have yet to regain their sight.
And Logia just so happens to have his back turned to Noss, who had his
sword raised in front of him.
──I see an opportunity!
“Noss, in front! That man is right in front of you! Get him!”
“Right!”
“Graaaaaagh!”
With the aid of the buff that Aqua casted on me, I imitated Payne’s to
instigate Noss, who slashed Logia right across the back.
“Did I get him!?”
“You didn’t get him at all, Noss! You just cut Logia down! Aaah, how did it
come to this… You bastard, stop fooling around! How did you imitate my
voice so perfectly when we only just met!”

Payne threw himself over the fallen Logia and cried towards me.
“Ahhh, I cut down Logia!? W-What is going on!? Tell me what is going on,
Payne!”
Hearing Payne’s cry of anguish, Noss shuddered.
“That man imitated my voice somehow! Noss, don’t do anything until your
sight returns! If you cut me with that magic sword of yours, even I will be
annihilated!”
“I-I see, okay! I’ll stay right here!”
Noss obeyed and instantly became stock still.
I quickly cleared my throat…!
“Yeah, just stay right there! Seriously, you are a real pain in the ass, you
musclehead! I thought you were a fool for a while now, but I can’t believe
you would drag us down like this at a time like this…!”
“P-P-P-Payne!? I-I-Is that what you really think of me!?”
“N-N-No! That was said by that man…! Damn you, what are you grinning
about! I’ll kill you!”
While wary of Aqua who I’ve used as a meat shield earlier, Payne rushed
over in a furious rage.
He thinks that Aqua is the only weapon I have capable of hurting him right
now, but I have a magic sword too!
“Eat this!”
“Ouch! T-That is a magic sword!? Dammit, you look like a rookie at first
glance, but you have some pretty good equipment on you! But now that I’m
this close, the battle is mine! Eat this, the ultimate technique of the undead,
Drain Touch!”

“Woaaah!?”
While Aqua and Noss were still struggling to regain their eyesight, Payne and
I grappled with each other.
I stabbed at Payne with the magic sword that Dust gave me, while Payne
grabbed me and started draining my mana.
“Dammit, get away from me! Heal! Heal!”
“Ow-ow-ow-ow! Y-You can use recovery magic too!? But too bad, it seems
like my Drain Touch is sucking away more life force than your unpolished
sword skills and your magic can take away!”
This isn’t good. My consciousness is starting to fade.
I wanted to use my anti-undead shield, but not only was Payne wary of me,
even the shield herself is on guard against me, preventing me from making
use of her.
I quickly shoved my left hand into Payne’s translucent body.
“What are you… Hyaaaaa!? Y-You, you are clearly a human, so why can you
use Drain Touch!? S-S-S-Stop! I’m going to disappear!”
Using Drain Touch, I siphoned back the mana that Payne was draining from
me.
The ghostly mana flowing around my body sent chills down my spine.
I get the feeling that accepting mana from an undead creature into your body
isn’t terribly good for your health.
Now I understand why Wiz isn’t fond of draining mana from monsters.
Thinking back to the times I drained mana from Megumin and Aqua, I
couldn’t help but…
“Graaaah! M-My body is… Why are you smiling like that!?”

“I’m thinking that there’s no meaning in draining mana from a ghost! I felt
far more fulfilled when I drained mana from a beautiful female mage!”
“You drained mana from a beautiful female mage…!? S-So jealous…! I

understand how you feel. If we met under different circumstances I would’ve
loved to talk about drain feel… But right now we are enemies. It’s about time
we settle this, human!”
…This bastard.
If only you weren’t a wraith, we could’ve shared a few drinks together…!
“Here I go, my serious Drain─!”
“God Blow!”
Just as we were about to go all out, Aqua punched Payne and destroyed him.
“Undead are but child’s play for my might. How was I? Wasn’t I cool?”
“You really need to learn how to read the mood one of these days…”
Aqua, fishing for praise, jumped all around me, but now is not the time for
that…
“Y-You bastards, how dare you…!”
Noss, who regained his eyesight just like Aqua did, approached us, his heavy
armour clanging.
I readied my sword, but to be honest, I’m not sure if any of my attacks would
be able to make it past his plating.
“Hey, Aqua, this guy is acting like a protagonist seeking revenge for his
fallen friends despite being the guy who cut them down in the first place.”
“As expected of a knight of the Demon King’s army, he truly is vile to the
core.”

“Y-You were the one who set me up to cut down my friends! You still have
the nerve to say that!?”
I tried to provoke him in order to throw him off, but as expected of an enemy
of this caliber, he didn’t take the bait or give me an opening.
Facing a trained knight, there’s little chance I could exploit the gaps in his
armour.
Even if I wanted to use Drain Touch on him, I couldn’t touch any part of his
body.
…Suddenly, Noss slashed at me without any prior movement at all.
“D-Dodged!”
“…Hm? Well, you certainly are no slouch when it comes to dodging. I didn’t
expect my blade to be dodged so cleanly…”
Fortunately, my Auto-Evasion skill activated, allowing me to deftly evade

Noss’s sword.
This isn’t good. To be honest, I couldn’t even see his slash.
As expected of a knight guarding the last dungeon. There’s no way for me to

defeat him in a straight up sword fight.
But as a gamer, I’m well aware that these muscleheads are weak to magic.
This is common knowledge in games of all kinds from the very beginning.
“Lightning!”
“!?”
I cast Intermediate Magic, and a bolt of blue lightning burst out from my
outstretched right hand into Noss.
Noss trembled, sword slipping out of his hand.

“K-Kazuma-san really knows a lot of skills! You defeated your opponent in a
head-on fight like the protagonist of some legend! This feels really strange!”
“S-Shut up. There are times when I feel like fighting properly, you know!?”
As Aqua excitedly shouted and celebrated, Noss picked up the sword that he
dropped,
“Sorry to interrupt you while you are celebrating, but I was just startled. That
spell only gave me a little jolt, that’s all.”
“…Don’t mind! Don’t worry about it, Kazuma! Though, I’m a little
relieved.”
“Oh shut up! You two have been making fun of me for some time now! I was
hoping to conserve my mana, but in this situation I have no choice but to use
my trump card!”
“!?” x2
After hearing my declaration, Noss raised his sword in front of him and
lowered his center of gravity.
Aqua looked on nervously behind me, but this is fine. There’s no need for her
to worry.
I have a sure-fire move that will instantly take out any creature with low
magic resistance.
“Is it a beam!? Are you finally going to shoot a beam!?”
Aqua excitedly hopped about as she fussed over me. Seems like she wasn’t
worried about me at all.
I quietly chanted my spell while withstanding Aqua’s expectant gaze.
Upon seeing that, Noss lowered his stance even further.
“I don’t know what you are trying to do, but the moment you unleash your

spell, I’ll pierce your stomach. I’ll even tell you what technique I’ll use. It’ll
be a thrust. I’m going to run you through with a thrust. If you dodge this
attack like before, the woman behind you will get hit instead.”
“…You heard that, Aqua!? You better dodge with all your might!”
“You’re talking like you’re already planning to dodge it! Hey, don’t you have
any desire at all to protect this frail and beautiful goddess!?”
I observed Noss’s movements.
Right now, my chant has been concluded, and I can unleash the spell at any
time.
I’m a little concerned about how Aqua is holding on to my back.
Is she planning to use me as a shield?
Using a companion as a meatshield is really unbecoming of a goddess, or

even as a regular human being.
…Is she holding a grudge over how I used her as a shield against the wraith?
“…Just who are you people? Where did you come from? It was only a short
while ago that I heard about the barrier being destroyed. Only the most
skilled of intruders would be able to make it all the way to the upper floors…
Though, I think the guys in charge of traps set this place as the destination for
one of their teleport traps that they created as a joke…”
Noss muttered to himself, his sword wavering slightly, before suddenly

looking up like he had some manner of revelation.
“Y-You… I didn’t think it was possible, but did you two fall for that joke of a
trap?”
“T-T-That’s not it! I saw through that trap! I knew that this is the quickest
way to the Demon King’s chambers, so I activated it on purpose!”
“Y-Yeah, me too. I knew that there was no way that could be an actual trap!

My unclouded eyes identified it as a shortcut from the very start!”
In response to Aqua and my frantic explanations, Noss let out a prolonged

“…Eeeh” before saying,
“You definitely fell for…”
“Don’t you dare finish that sentence! Eat this!”
The moment I unleashed my spell, Noss leapt at me with the tip of his sword
pointed directly at my stomach.
Dammit, I was planning to take him by surprise, but his reactions are too fast!
If I had casted any other spell, neither of us would be able to get out of this
unscathed.
However, my trump card was…!
“Teleport!”
“!? Heheh, Teleport, huh!? Pity, but teleporting me is─!”
Noss kept his sword outstretched before him, but was whisked away before it
could reach me.
For some reason, only his armour was left behind, which collapsed to the
ground with a loud clatter.
“Teleport too…! How did this happen? This man really did have a trump card
up his sleeve! …By the way, where did you send him?”
“Axel’s police station.”
Right now I have two locations registered as destination spots, directly in

front of the police station in Axel, and the lowest level of the dungeon I went
to with Vanir and Wiz.
I could’ve sent him to the dungeon, but I did make a promise with Vanir to

go back there to haul all the remaining treasure back once we returned to
Axel.
There is a chance that the knight would be waiting there to kill me the
moment I teleported to the dungeon, so I chose not to take that risk.
“Wouldn’t the police officers cry if you sent someone like that over to
them?”
“When you are in trouble, you should rely on the power of the state. They
deal with the thugs in town and rowdy adventurers every day, so they should
be able to deal with a single monster… Well, now that I’ve awakened, such
opponents are but mere trifles to me.”
I said with a relaxed smile, and Aqua suddenly approached me with twinkling
eyes,
“I’m relieved to see you’re still relying on others! It’s really best that
Kazuma-san has a bit of a small-fry aura about him!”
“Ahahaha, you little brat! If you keep saying such things, I’m going to
teleport home by myself.”
“Oh, Kazuma-san, you’re such a joker! Ahahaha… It was a joke, right?

You’re joking, right!?”
Ignoring Aqua’s whining, I looked around the room.
The only things left in this room was the corpse of the poor ogre who was cut
down by his trusted companion and the armour that Noss was wearing.
“Why didn’t his armour get teleported with him?”
“…That guy who got transported probably had low magic resistance. You
remember how that Dullahan had sacred magic resistance on his armour,
right? If he fails to resist the spell, he might end up instantly losing depending
on where he was sent. So he must have placed an enchantment on the armour
to protect against teleportation. Which would be fine if it just prevented
teleportation magic, but if he got ahead of himself and placed the

enchantment on the armour itself…”
…………
“So the armour didn’t get transported, but the guy inside was? Isn’t it just
defective, then?”
“I wouldn’t know. It just sounds like what a musclehead knight would do.”
…Seriously?
So, that guy who was so confidently telling me about how Teleport wouldn’t
work on him actually ended up stark naked in front of the police station?
No, I’d like to think that he’s at least wearing clothes under his armour…
“I thought there was a problem with my instant kill technique, but if that’s the
case, then it’s fine. Anyway, let’s just wait for the other guys to catch up.”
“Yeah. With a trap like that, I’m sure everyone will be with us before long.”
Indeed. This is a trap that even I fell for. I’m sure they’ll fall for it too.
Convinced of that, Aqua and I decided to sit in the corner of the room and
wait for everyone else──

Chapter 2

Good Luck for this Goddess!

Part 1
“They aren’t coming!” x2
I’ve lost track of how much time has passed since we were sent here.
Aqua and I busied ourselves with word games, but it didn’t seem like
anybody was coming at all.
“What’s going on? Did no one else fall for that high-IQ trap? No, no, there’s
no way…”
I muttered as I rubbed my chin, with Aqua nodding along,
“…Maybe they didn’t even notice that high-IQ trap? Megumin only ever
thinks about breaking things, and Darkness only cares about finding hard
objects to bang against. They aren’t the most perceptive of people.”
…That makes sense.
“Wait, hold on, doesn’t that means they’ve gotten lost and now we have to go
out and find them?”
“Seems like it. Seriously, I take my eyes off them for just a moment and they
get themselves lost. Those girls really can’t get by without me. Honestly!”
Despite we being the actual ones who got separated from the others, we
mouthed off about the people who aren’t present.
…But we can’t stay here doing this forever.
Still, how do we meet up with the others?
I searched the room while we were waiting, but it doesn’t seem like there’s a

return magic circle on this end.
Noss said that this place is on the upper floors.
In other words, we are currently at the very end of the final dungeon.
“…Say, Aqua, which do you think is better? Exploring the Demon King’s
castle filled with traps and danger lurking around every corner by ourselves,
or just teleporting back home?”
“The ‘teleport home’ option has my support.”
We really are on the same page when it comes to such things.
“…I would really like to do that too, but Darkness and Megumin who are so
in love with me would never give up on me and go home, so I’m a little
conflicted.”
“Yeah… I don’t think the two of them who worship me will retreat without
seeing me first.”
While saying things that would definitely make the people in question angry
if they were present, Aqua and I continued to dawdle.
──Just then,
“Hmm? I think I heard some footsteps. Hold on a bit.”
I activated my Eavesdrop skill and focused on the area outside…
“Reinforcements! Call for reinforcements!”
“Get the guys from the upper floors to come down too! The intruders are
going crazy out there! The guys who destroyed the barrier are coming up!”

“Nooo! I was told that being a guard at the Demon King’s castle was a safe
and stable job! I think I forgot to feed my Neroid today, so can I go home!?”
Seems like Mitsurugi and Yunyun are causing quite the scene while looking
for us.
…In that case, wouldn’t it be safer to wait here?
“Sounds like the others are on a rampage. They seem to be making their way
up fast.”
“As expected of the legendary attendants I’ve chosen… The brave heroes that
carve a path through the Demon King’s castle in order to rescue the goddess.
Doesn’t it sound like it came straight out of a storybook?”
“To be more specific, rescuing a goddess who ran away from home, got lost,
fell into a trap, and ended up trapped in the Demon King’s castle for no
reason.”
Aqua disgruntledly poked at my shoulder after hearing my comment.
…Speaking of which,
“You should apologize to Megumin and Darkness when you see them. When
we get home, Darkness will definitely give you an earful. And I know
Megumin usually ends up in trouble along with you, but I don’t think she’ll
defend you this time.”
“…Kazuma-san, Kazuma-san, I’ll give you a special, funny-shaped stone

when we get home, so could you cover for me? I do feel a little remorseful
this time.”
I do want to ask why just “a little”, but it wouldn’t do anyone any good to
make her cry here.
Plus, I’m sure those two will be happy to pick up any slack I give her now.

──In truth, there were a whole bunch of things I wanted to say to Aqua after
I caught up with her.
Like how the normally lazy me had to venture deep into a dungeon to gain
enough power to chase after her, and how I spent most of my fortune in order
to break through the barrier, and how worried the people back at Axel are for
her.
Not to mention how even Wiz and Vanir, normally the enemies of goddesses,
agreed to help her.
And how we ran into all sorts of troubles during our trip, and how utterly
hopeless the Axis Cultists are.
There were plenty of things I wanted to complain to her about, but when I
looked at her relieved face…
“Hmm? Why are you looking at me like that? Are you perhaps moved by
seeing the beautiful form of a goddess after so long? If you’ve developed any
bit of respect for me, you should make all my favourite dishes for dinner
from now on… Ow-Ow-Ow! It hurts! Sorry for getting full of myself! Ah,
but a part of me kinda missed this scene!”
Just as I pulled on Aqua’s cheeks, who despite being punished, seemed just a
little happy…
“Alright, listen up! The large detachment led by the Demon King’s daughter
to fight humans to the death has overwhelmed the knights at the capital! If
she comes back to find that we, the custodians of the castle, were unable to
stop a few intruders, it’ll be all on our heads! Search every room on every
floor! Find the intruders and cut them to pieces!”
Those words reached my ears──
“──Hey, Kazuma, are you really going to do this? I’ve been through quite a
lot so far, but I feel like what you are about to do is far worse.”

“What’s the point in saying that? If they find us here, it’s all over. I’m scared
too, and you’re the one who wandered out to the Demon King’s castle in the
first place. And isn’t this the best chance for us to defeat the Demon King?”
At this rate, it’s only a matter of time before we are discovered, so I

formulated a plan to get us out of this…
“Sure, but, I don’t really care about the Demon King right now. I was really
relieved when I saw you, and I kinda just want to meet up with the other two
and go home.”
What a lousy goddess. Why did you even write that letter, then?
…But I know exactly how she feels.
“I don’t particularly want to face the Demon King either, but everyone is
already giving it their all. What do you think would happen if the two of us
went ‘yeah, the Demon King is too scary, so let’s just go home’ after all that
they’ve been through?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if we got stoned.”
“Right? So let’s get out of this room and meet up with the others. After that, I
have a plan that will work as long as we can get into the Demon King’s room.
I’ll show you my true special move.”
Saying that, I put on my helmet.
──The helmet came from the knight that I fought earlier.
I never found out what kind of monster Noss was, but his armour didn’t have
the stench of an animal, so he might be surprisingly similar to a human.
It’s a little too big, but it was still light enough that I could move around
while wearing it.
“What kind of special move!? Is it a beam? Are you going to shoot a beam

for real this time!? Or could it be that you learnt my Party Tricks─!”
“Of course not. Enough of that, get ready. Cast that actor’s buff on me again.
And I will… Kukuku… Seems like it’s finally time to make use of this…”
With a sinister smile on my face, I took out the potion that Assassin-san in
Axel gave to me.
“Kazuma-san, Kazuma-san, I don’t think that is something that a hero trying

to defeat the Demon King should use. My goddess instincts are telling me to
purify that potion at once.”
“D-Don’t do that. Honestly, I’m not sure about it myself… The assassin who
taught me my special move also gave me this potion. I don’t mind getting my
hands dirty for the sake of the world. For the sake of my friends and
everyone, I’ll give it my all so that I won’t have any regrets.”
While preventing Aqua from doing anything unnecessary, I poured the potion
over the sword that Dust lent me.
“You’re saying some cool-sounding lines, but you are straying further and
further away from the path of the hero. I really think you should choose your
friends better.”
“I’m already hanging out with the patron goddess of the Axis Cult, so it’s a
little too late to be saying that now… Hey, stop! It’s an expensive potion, so
don’t purify it!”
I hastily sheathed the potion-coated sword.
“…Good. Are you ready? Then, let’s go.”
“I’m ready to go at any time… Kazuma, don’t go too far, okay? If your
attitude is too annoying, I won’t be able to put up with it. I don’t mean to
brag, but I don’t have a lot of patience.”
After spending all this time with you, I know better than anyone how short on
patience you are.

Opening the door to the room, I shouted out in Noss’s voice.
“I found an intruder!”

Part 2
A group of monsters clad in black armour surrounded us. One of them, a

giant, goat-headed monster with a large double-headed axe on his back,
shook his head and said,
“…It’s no good. Logia is as dead as a doornail. The man who left this woman
behind must be very skilled. Look at Logia’s wound. It’s like he received a
single fatal blow while he was completely defenseless.”
Well, it is true that he was completely defenceless when he received that

blow.
Hearing the goat-headed monster’s conclusion, the lizard-headed monster

who was currently pointing a weapon at Aqua angrily exclaimed,
“Dammit, revenge for Logia! Let’s turn this woman into minced meat!”
“W-What, you want to go!? I’m strong, you know!? The Axis Cult didn’t put
their faith in me for nothing!”
Aqua struck up a stance to intimidate the lizard-headed man, and all the
monsters surrounding her suddenly turned pale and leapt back.
“Axis Cultist!? This girl is an Axis Cultist!”
“Crap, I just talked to an Axis Cultist!”
“Don’t get any closer, I don’t want to catch it!”
“Hey, I’m not doing it! I don’t want to get involved with the Axis Cult!”
“Oh, wow, look at that blue hair. She’s definitely an Axis Cultist!”

After gaining some distance from us, the monsters started whispering that
amongst themselves.
“Uwah! Hey, Noss, you keep a firm grip on her, you hear!?”
“That was close. I was this close to touching an Axis Cultist.”
Aqua wanted to jump at the monsters after hearing what they said, and the
monsters all shrunk back in fear upon seeing her demeanour.
The mad dog of the Axis Cult… I mean, Aqua, is currently attached to me
with the rope that I used for Bind that’s tied around her neck.
Aqua said that it’s better than having her arms or legs bound and being
unable to move, but now that we are in this situation…
“Hey, Noss, just dump that thing outside the castle… Seriously, you might be
skilled, but you really need to work on your smarts… She’s an Axis Cultist,
you know? Noss, aren’t you afraid of her? Do you even know what the Axis
Cult is?”
The goat-headed monster, which seems to be like their leader, asked me.
…Yes, me, who is currently passing myself off as Noss who “captured”
Aqua.
Judging from what the goatman said, Noss really was a musclehead.
I remember his voice well enough, but I’m not quite sure what kind of tone I
should use…
Putting my hand to my throat, I thought back to our brief encounter…
“No, no, sir, we can’t do that! This girl is our trump card against that guy
who ran away! That Kazuma guy is a formidable opponent that’s skilled in

both sword and magic. But as long as we have this girl as a hostage, our
victory is assured! Let’s use her to draw out the intruders who are rampaging
through the castle!”
For some reason, the monsters who heard me say those words in Noss’s voice
shrunk back.
W-What’s going on?
I’m pretty sure I nailed the voice…
“H-Hey, Noss, did you hit your head during the battle? You weren’t all that
smart to begin with, but now you speak like some low-born thug. Didn’t you
use to conduct yourself like a proper knight? You said it’d make you seem
more cultured…”
“And taking a woman as a hostage, too. You sure have picked up some bad
habits…”
“I’m a little taken aback…”
As the monsters started whispering amongst each other, the goat-headed one
placed a hand on his chin.
“…Hmm, considering that someone as strong as you is calling him a skilled

foe, it’d be best to have a trump card or two when confronting him. Okay,
Noss! Take that woman and follow us! Make sure you keep an eye on her!
Don’t let her come near us, you hear!?”
After emphasizing that point, the goat-headed monster turned around…
And Aqua silently rushed over and patted him all over the back.
“Ah! Mammon-sama was touched by an Axis Cultist!”
“Geh! Mammon-sama, keep your distance!”
“Noss! I told you to keep an eye on her! Cut it out, Axis Cultist! Go over
there! Shoo! Shoo!”

──We walked through the dark corridors of the Demon King’s castle along
with the other monsters.
A few of them were carrying torches, so probably not all of them were
capable of seeing in the dark.
…If our cover is blown, I can put the torches out for a quick distraction.
I was walking at the back of the group along with Aqua.
Luckily, none of the monsters seem eager to avenge their comrades on Aqua,
so everything is proceeding smoothly.
My current goals are to maintain this charade until we can meet up with
Mitsurugi and the others, and if possible find out where the Demon King is.
…Just then,
“Kazuma-san, Kazuma-san.”
Aqua walking slightly in front of me, whispered.
The monsters were treating Aqua like some kind of deadly pathogen, keeping
their distance from us, but even so I didn’t feel comfortable talking to her
right now.
“What? I told you not to talk to me, right?”
I whispered back, and Aqua said with a serious look on her face,
“I can’t take this situation for much longer. Why are they treating me like
some kind of disease? This is no way to treat a goddess. I was expecting
something more like fitting the image of a goddess captured by the forces of
evil. This feels more like a rabies-infected beast getting cordoned away.”
“Put up with it for a little while more. With this many people here, even
running away is a little… Oh, seems like we’re here.”

Aqua and I were brought to a large hall with weapons racked up everywhere.
There were also over a dozen knights wearing the same armour as me
standing in the room.
The entire place feels like a halloween attraction.
…Just as Aqua and I hesitated upon seeing that room,
“Hey, you guys, we caught one of the intruders! From the reports, it seems
like the rest are scarily strong. Strong enough to rattle the entire castle to its
foundations, and there is the fear that in a straight-up fight, we might not be
able to protect the Demon King! However, Noss came up with a great plan to
deal with them… Namely, using this girl as a hostage to wipe out all the
intruders in one fell swoop!”
“Ooooh!” x6
The knights in the hall raised their voices in unison.
Seems like Megumin’s little rampage really shook the Demon King’s forces
quite badly.
…Well, it’s only natural. The barrier that had rendered their homebase and
fortress secure for who knows how long has been violently brought down in
just a few minutes, after all.
Plus, their strongest gatekeeper has been defeated, and intruders are now
running freely throughout the castle.
“We’re saved…”
“Still, using a girl as a hostage… I thought Noss was a decent guy, but to
think that he could come up with such an idea…”
“It’s a little disgraceful to be taking hostages. Such tactics should be the

domain of the middle management. We are the Elite Guard of the Demon
King, you know? Should we really do something like this?”
As the Demon King’s knights started chatting amongst themselves, the goat

headed-man headed deeper into the room.
There seemed to be some kind of magic item in the back.
He shouted into the cigarette-box sized object…
“This is the captain of the Demon King’s Elite Guard! We’ve captured one of
the intruders! All units currently in combat with the intruders are to inform
them of this fact! The one we captured is a priest of the Axis Cult! Tell them
to surrender if they want to keep her alive!”
Mammon announced before sitting down on the chair with a smile.

Part 3
The monsters nervously waited in silence.
Aqua has been surprisingly quiet so far.
…Actually, she just yawned, didn’t she?
Is she relieved because I can teleport us out if something goes wrong?
While I was at a loss for words by her lack of urgency, Mammon turned
towards us,
“Hey, woman, how many intruders are there? Tell me everything you know if
you don’t want to get hurt… In particular, tell me about that super-skilled
Kazuma guy who ran away without you. What class is he? What about his
equipment? His fighting style? Personality? Past accomplishments? Tell me
everything you know.”
Perhaps to kill time until Mitsurugi and the others were captured, Mammon
questioned Aqua about me.
This isn’t good. It’d be problematic if they caught on to what I’m doing if
Aqua says something unneeded.
“I don’t mind telling you, but I’m getting a little thirsty, so bring me a cup of
tea.”
“This woman!”
One of the knights rose to his feet after hearing Aqua’s willful request.
…But Mammon stopped him with a wave of his hand,

“Go and brew some tea for her. It’s going to be her last cup anyways, so use
some of the top-grade leaves.”
With the authority of the man in charge, Mammon commanded one of the
knights to make some tea.
“…So, let’s start with the number of intruders, and the class of that Kazuma
guy. So, what class is he? A Crusader? Or perhaps a Swordmaster? Judging
from the wounds left on Logia’s body, I doubt he’s a magic-using class.”
“Including me, there are about eight of us. And Kazuma’s class is
Adventurer.”
The room fell into silence upon hearing Aqua’s response.
Then──
“Bwahahahaha!” x5
Aqua and I were suddenly surrounded by raucous laughter.
“Adventurer!? The weakest class, Adventurer, you say!? At least try and keep
your lies realistic! How would such a person make their way into the castle in
the first place!? Bahahaha! …Ah, I see, so he’s your porter, huh? And then he
placed all his skill points into sword wielding, is that right?”
Mammon said between bouts of laughter, but Aqua shook her head.
“You don’t get it. Kazuma-san can use the sword, but he’s also good with
magic. He even learnt Recovery magic behind my back. He can also use
Teleport and various others skills like the undead-exclusive Drain Touch…
Ah, thanks.”
Aqua thanked the knight upon receiving the cup of tea.

As the room fell back into silence, only the sound of Aqua sipping her tea
could be heard.
“Hey, this is just plain water.”
The cup in Aqua’s hand is, indeed, filled with just hot water.
“Hey, stop messing with her with such petty tricks. Do you intend to drag my
name through the mud!? I understand your anger after losing Logia and
Payne, but stop doing stupid things!”
At Mammon’s reprimand, the knight hastily took back the cup from Aqua
and wandered off to pour a fresh cup of tea, scratching his head the whole
while.
…Looks like she turned the tea to water. Cut it out, stop infuriating them for
no reason.
Mammon cleared his throat and straightened his posture,
“Pardon my subordinate for his actions. Anyway, you said Drain Touch?
That’s supposed to be a rare skill that only undead can use… Well,
nevermind, let’s move on. Tell me about his equipment. Does he have some
legendary-tier weapons that the black-haired, black-eyed people usually
possess? In that case, I can understand how he took out both Logia and
Payne. But we know how to counter those types. We just need to hit him with
Steal…”
Mammon trailed off, and Aqua added,
“Kazuma-san’s equipment is just common gear you can buy in any town.
He’s clashed with your Generals several times using just a cheap short sword
he bought. Right now, he’s using an imitation Japanese sword with the
strange name that he commissioned. He likes to swing it around in the middle
of the night going ‘Judgement! Judgement!’ …Oh, thanks.”

Aqua accepted a fresh cup of tea, and the room once again fell silent.
Also, she noticed the secret sword practice I did late at night?
I really wish she wouldn’t reveal my embarrassing moments so easily…
──Then, one of the knights said.
“…I think I’ve heard about him before. That man named Satou Kazuma… If
I’m not wrong, he’s the guy who has been taking out our Generals one by
one… ”
As the room once again fell silent in response to his words, Aqua said,
“This is just hot water.”
Mammon slugged the knight who made the tea away as he closed in on Aqua
with a tense look on his face.
“Is-Is that man the same Satou Kazuma who has been defeating our
Generals?”
“He’s the same person. He’s involved in the defeat of most of your Generals.
Beldia, Vanir, Hans, Silvia, Wolbach, and Serena. As far as I know, those are
the Generals that Kazuma has defeated.”
Aqua eloquently listed my achievements.
“Apart from that… He took out the monster pretending to be Elroad’s prime
minister, and is also the one who defeated the mobile fortress Destroyer, and
many other high bounty targets as well.”
Apart from Aqua and Mammon talking, the room was totally silent.

In the middle of this silence, the sound of someone gulping could be heard.
Hearing that, Aqua, who seemed to be taking great enjoyment in scaring the
knights, continued,
“What was your next question? You wanted to know his fighting style and
his personality, right? He is, in a word, devious. He’s devious and
underhanded, and has an extremely sharp mind. In combat, he will never
fight you head-on. Instead, he would do something like using Farsight and
Night Vision skills to observe you from afar before taking you out with
Snipe, or hide from sight using Lurk in order to launch a sneak attack from
behind.”
Just who are you calling devious and underhanded? I’m going to whack you
upside the head later.
“Snipe and Lurk…”
Mammon nervously muttered to himself, and Aqua accepted the fresh cup of
tea that the knight brought to her.
“Yes, Lurk. And he has the Enemy Detection skill, so even if you hide, he’ll
probably still know exactly where you are… In fact… He might be in this
very room!”
“Eeek!” x6
As the knights screamed out in fear at Aqua’s threats, I rested my hand on the
hilt of my sword so I could cut down Mammon at any time.
Actually, why did you tell them about my skills? What’s the point of keeping
them on high alert?
As Mammon nervously kept watch on his surroundings, Aqua carefully

sipped from her cup.
“It’s hot water again.”

“Wait! That’s really strange! I really did brew tea… No, wait, Mammon-
sama, you have the wrong idea! I definitely did pour her a cup of tea!”
Just as Mammon stood up and was about to lay into the poor knight who
Aqua had set up──
“Mammon-sama, we’ve caught the intruders! One of them was a terrifyingly

skilled warrior with a powerful magic sword, but he fell in line when we told
him we had the blue-haired woman hostage!”
A knight burst into the room and reported.
Sighs of relief echoed throughout the hall, one of which came from
Mammon.
He turned to the newly arrived knight,
“Great, bring them in! Well done! And, Noss! Your plan worked out! I’ll be
sure to reward you later!”
Saying that, his goat face broke out into a smile.

Part 4
A squad of armoured knights came in the hall, escorting a group of familiar

faces.
Mitsurugi was in the lead, and following him was everyone else who entered
the castle.
“Aqua-sama, you are unharmed!?”
Mitsurugi exhaled in a great sigh of relief upon seeing Aqua casually

enjoying her cup of tea in the back.
Darkness, Megumin, and Yunyun’s expressions also seemed to soften a little

upon seeing Aqua’s face.
As for Mitsurugi’s two hanger-ons, they simply stood there clutching their
weapons in their hands.
When Mammon noticed that they still had on to their weapons…
“Oh, pardon me, but I’m going to have to ask you to put those weapons aside.
I didn’t want to resort to such tasteless tactics, but after hearing this woman
say such scary things about you, I have no choice. Hey, you over there! You
are that Kazuma guy, right? Throw away your weapon and come here!”
Mammon pointed towards Mitsurugi.
“That’s not him.”
Aqua casually said while sipping tea.
“That man is the Magic Sword Guy. Kazuma-san isn’t with them.”

“!?”
The knights in the room jumped up in panic upon hearing that.
Mammon, who had been relaxed before, started to warily glance around the
room once again.
Just how scared of me is this goat-headed, mid-boss looking guy?
I even told her not to say anything unnecessary because it’d be less likely to
work if they are on their guard.
This is all because Aqua decided to have some fun and scare them.
“Tsk, yes, the numbers don’t line up… Right, okay, just this woman is
enough to serve as a hostage. Take care of the others. Don’t you dare resist
now! Who knows what would happen to her if you resist…!”
“Dammit…!”
Mammon said that clichéd line like a third-rate villain, and Mitsurugi gritted
his teeth in an equally clichéd way.
Megumin and Darkness seemed to be considering their next move.
“Drop your weapons! You guys, surround them!”
…This isn’t good. At this rate things will just get worse and worse.
I stepped forward and sidled up next to Mammon.
“There’s no need to rush into this, Sir Mammon! Payne and Logia won’t rest
easy if we give them such an easy death! Please, let me take care of this!”
“E-Er, I see. Well, you did know the two of them best. Then I’ll leave them
to you… But seriously, do you intend to continue speaking like that?”
After receiving Mammon’s permission, I pulled on the rope around Aqua’s

neck.

I was signaling her to keep an eye out for a chance to run towards Mitsurugi
and the others.
“I’m trying to change my image, Sir… Alright, take a good look at this, you
fellows. At the end of this rope is your companion, trembling in fear!”
“She’s drinking tea.”
At Megumin’s rebuttal, I turned back to see Aqua calmly seated in her chair
sipping tea while holding the rope around her neck in her hand.
I really want to give this idiot who couldn’t read the mood even at this stage a
good smack.
…Dammit, change of plans.
“Hey, Crusader girl!”
“!?”
I suddenly called out to Darkness, who jumped up in shock with her

greatsword still raised.
Sorry, Darkness, but I need to put this Mammon guy off his guard first.
“First off, throw away your weapon. If you don’t, you know what would
happen to this girl casually drinking tea over here…”
“…Understood. I wouldn’t be able to hit anyone anyways… There. Would

this be fine?”
Darkness threw her sword on the ground just as I instructed.
As she said herself, she’s just as effective barehanded as she is with her
sword.
And seeing one of the intruders throw away their weapon, Mammon and the
other knights naturally relaxed just a little.

Instead of urging the others to disarm too, I focused on Darkness and said.
“Next… Well, I’ve taken quite a liking to that wicked-looking armour of

yours. Let’s get you out of it.”
“What!? T-This armour is…! N-No! This armour, this armour is…!”
I thought she would follow my instructions, but Darkness is surprisingly

stubborn.
“You won’t take your armour off!? Don’t you know what situation you’re in?
What happens to a female knight who is captured after entering the Demon
King’s castle… I’m sure you understand what is going to happen, don’t you?
Now, take off your armour in full view of all these people!”
“Y-You..! You…!”
“Woooow…” x5
Darkness blushed and clenched her teeth, and, for some reason, the knights
around me suddenly let out an incredulous voice.
“I can’t believe it. Noss, I’m really disappointed in you.”
“I never expected you to be this vile… So you were putting on an act all this
time…”
“H-Hey, Noss, I did say I’ll leave it to you, but this is a little…!”
It’s a bit of a shock to see that all the other knights including Mammon were
taken aback.
I focused on Darkness and gave her further instructions,
“Heheh… I’m sure you have a very ripe body hidden beneath that armour…!
Now then, this is for the great cause of saving your friend’s lives, so hurry up
and strip!”
“G-Great cause…! N-No, I’m not the kind of person who can be brought to

heel by a man I don’t even know…! Aaah… What is with your enthralling
gaze and irresistible aura…!? Just who are you, to be such a perfect match for
my desires…!?”
Flushed bright red all over, Darkness muttered to herself as she fumbled with
the straps holding her armour together.
Eventually, the pieces of her armour fell to the ground, revealing her pale
shoulders.

“Oooh!” x6
…Whoops, I raised my voice along with the other knights without realizing
it.
“I-I… I won’t let this embarrassment get the better of me!”
Darkness, her face completely red, looked straight at me with expectation in

her eyes.
Though I’m a little concerned at how Megumin was giving the stink eye.
…Megumin might be sharp, but there’s no way she saw through the disguise,
right?
──Just then,
“Stop! I can’t let you get away with this! You might be a part of the Demon
King’s army, but you’re all still knights, aren’t you!? Aren’t you ashamed of
treating a young maiden like this!? Don’t you have the guts to face me head
on!?”
Mitsurugi yelled through gritted teeth, misreading the mood completely.
Mammon straightened his posture, as though hearing those words were a slap
to his face.
Dammit, why did he have to interrupt the fun?
A disappointed sigh echoed through the room from the other knights.

…Actually, I think Darkness looks the most disappointed of us all.
──Mammon took a step forward.
In doing so, he exposed his defenceless back towards me.
Mammon’s yellow goat eyes glinted in the dark…
“Hey, Noss, there’s no need to go any further! We already have her as a

hostage, so such acts are unnecessary. Now, everyone, surround them! I’ll
deal with the magic sword guy myself. If Kazuma isn’t here, this will be a
cakewalk!”
The moment he spat that out, he placed both hands on his giant double-
headed axe.
“Kazuma? Are you talking about Satou Kazuma? Compared to him, I’m far
stronger! My name is Mitsurugi Kyouya. I’m the reasonably famous
Swordmaster with the magic sword!”
Mammon lowered his stance, facing Mitsurugi who described me like I was
some small fry.
The tension in the room slowly rose.
“Oh? Are you that afraid of our Kazuma?”
At which point, Megumin, her staff at the ready, said in a tone that seemed
more suited to making small talk than anything else.
“What? Who’d be afraid of some sneaking coward!?”

Darkness, who was scrambling to pick up and reattached the pieces of her
armour that she discarded, said,
“Don’t underestimate that man. After all, almost every enemy that has gotten
involved with him has met an unseemly end… Of course, you are no
exception.”
Darkness said while looking directly at me. Honestly, it’s hard to tell if that
was a compliment or an insult.
Just so you know, the same applies to almost everyone that’s gotten involved
with you.
“Shut up! Shut up! My name is Mammon! I’m the captain of the Demon
King’s Elite Guard that protects this hall leading into the Demon King’s
room! In a straight up fight, not even the Generals would be a match for me!
There’s no reason to be afraid of a man who hasn’t the guts to even show his
face!”
The knights raised their weapons to Mammon’s declaration, and Mitsurugi

slowly unsheathed his sword.
Yunyun held her wand behind her back, her eyes shining bright red as she
took up a position to be able to start chanting at any time.
Seems like they are all ready to go.
I grabbed the sword at my waist and eyed Mammon’s openings──
“Really? You were so jumpy just a short while ago. Are you really not afraid
of Kazuma-san? He might even be right next to you, you know?”

Despite still being a hostage, Aqua casually and fearlessly taunted the giant
goat-headed man.
…She probably thinks that I’ll find a way to get her out if something goes
wrong.
I need to have a good, long talk with her if we make it safely back to town.
“I told you, I’m not afraid of him! Hey, Satou Kazuma, can you hear me!?
You damned coward who only knows to sneak around! You must be on this
level, right!? If you can hear me, come out right now and name yourself!”
I took off my helmet and plunged my sword into the back of Mammon’s
head.
“Yes, Kazuma the Coward here. Nice to meet you.”

Part 5
Quickly pulling my sword that shallowly stabbed into Mammon’s head, I

leapt back to put some distance between us.
The skill that I learnt from Assassin-san, Deadly Backstab, has a small
chance of instantly killing the target if used from behind while they aren’t
aware of my presence.
There are a lot of conditions that need to be fulfilled for it to be usable, but
it’s a perfect fit for me.
I don’t know if it is the effects of the skill or the poison, but Mammon fell
forward after flapping his mouth like a goldfish.
Having someone that they thought of as an ally suddenly turn out to be me

threw the knights around me into chaos.
“H-He’s here!”
“He killed Mammon-sama!”
“How despicable can this man be!? He’s lower than a beast!”
“Eh!? W-What!? How could this happen! Are you still human!?”
To their credit as the Demon King’s Elite Guard, the knights quickly regained
their composure, and three of them came charging at me.
“Light of Saber!”
On the opposite end of the hall, Yunyun unleashed her signature spell to cut a
knight in twain.

Taking this as a signal, Darkness rushed straight for me, paying no heed to
any of the attacks the knights in her way sent towards her.
Mitsurugi followed her after a moment’s pause, and the hall quickly turned
into a pitched battle.
“That man is dangerous! Surround him and get him together!”
The knight in front of me said while taking up a guarded stance, and the
knights on either side of him wordlessly nodded.
I pointed my sword at the three of them and said.
“Oh, going three on one with me? You guys really bring shame to the title of
a Knight. I can’t believe these are the much vaunted Demon King’s Elite
Guards!”
“Y-You’re not one to talk! I don’t want to hear that from someone who
stripped their female friend at swordpoint and killed Mammon-sama by
surprise!”
“I-I can’t believe the nerve of this guy…!”
“That’s enough. There’s no need for us to go along with this man’s pace─”
And, the moment the last knight showed the slightest opening…
“Bind!”
“!? Eh? Wait!”
Interrupting him in the middle of his sentence, the rope in my hand coiled up
like a living creature and shot towards him.
“Ow-ow-ow! Hey, Kazuma, it hurts!”
…And reeled in Aqua who still had the other end of the rope around her
neck.

“Guah, dammit! Not only does he sneak attack Mammon-sama, but he also
has no qualms about catching his companions in his attacks! What a
scumbag! I let my guard down! The rest is up to you guys!”
Being called a scumbag hurts, but there’s no way I can tell him that I
honestly forgot that Aqua was still attached to the other end of the rope.
“Kazuma-san! Kazuman-san! This guy’s armour is so hard that it hurts! Can I

use my magic to dispel this bind!?”
“Hang in there for just a short while! I’ll take care of these two right away!”
I replied as I carefully raised my sword to face the other two knights.
Seeing that, the two knights lowered their center of gravity.
“He might be a scumbag, but he still neutralized one of us in the blink of an

eye. Don’t let your guard down. We go on the count of three.”
“Leave it to me. One, two, three, right?”
As the two knights discussed tactics in front of me, I focused on the voice of
one of them…
“No, I think we should go with just one signal. Or maybe it’d be best to count
to ten…”
“Eh? Eh? Which one is it?”
“Cut it out! Stop imitating my voice, you bastard!”
As I was sowing chaos between the two of them, we were interrupted by a

shouted warning,
“The Crusader is heading your way!”
The two knights facing me glanced over…
“Woah!?”

“W-W-What is this!?”
“S-Stop her! Don’t let her get over to them!”
“This girl is unstoppable! No matter how we cut her, it doesn’t phase her at
all!”
Completely ignoring the blades and fists getting sent her way, Darkness
rushed over the length of the hall with two knights clinging onto her waist,
futilely trying to stop her.
“Kazuma, Aqua, I’m here to help! …Kuh, h-hey, Kazuma, give me a hand!
These two just won’t let go…!”
“What kind of help are you trying to give by dragging two knights over
here!? Now it’s two against four!”
The two knights let go of Darkness and, together with the other two knights,
formed a small semi-circle around us.
──Just then, I heard a triumphant voice.
“Heheh, then, what about turning this into a three versus four?”
The person who said that was Aqua, standing there with a huge smile on her
face after dispelling my Bind.
Of course, dispelling my Bind means that the knight who was bound together
with her is now free…
“S-Say, Kazuma, I feel like the situation suddenly turned against us. Is it my
imagination!?”
“Why do I have to face down five knights with a useless Crusader and
Priest!? Are you guys idiots!?”
While we were having that exchange, all five of them pointed their swords at
me and me alone.

It seems like Aqua’s flowering of my reputation worked a little too well, and
the knights agreed to focus on me first.
This isn’t good, if five Demon King’s Elite Guard were to attack me at once,
I’ll definitely die!
I wanted to hide behind Darkness, but the knights immediately charged at me

the moment I made the slightest move.
“Decoy!”
The knight’s blades suddenly shifted towards Darkness.
The blades left shallow scratches in her armour, along with scattering several
strands of blonde hair to the wind.
The knights that were aiming at me seemed taken aback by the fact that their
blades found Darkness instead.
“I-I can’t believe I was affected by a Decoy skill…”
“Dammit, this Crusader is stirring up my abusive instincts… I feel itchy all

over if I don’t stab her with my sword…!”
As the knights voiced surprise at their actions, a certain red-faced pervert

who was breathing heavily even as several swords were thrust at her opened
her mouth,
“Kuh, as expected of the elite of the Demon King’s army, you have a good
thrust…! But I alone shall withstand all your attacks! Now, unleash all your
wild savagery upon me! Come on! Hurry up! Hurry up and stab me!”
The knights, perhaps taking Darkness’s eagerness as some kind of trap,

warily backed away.
Then, one of the five suddenly collapsed to the ground.
“Aqua-sama, are you alright!?”

I looked over to Mitsurugi, and found that all the knights apart from the ones
that surrounded us have already been taken out.
One of the knights swiftly turned to the new intruder and lashed out with a
wild slash, but…
“!? What… M-My demonic blade is…!?”
“This magic sword is a legendary weapon bestowed upon me by the Goddess

herself! There’s nothing it cannot cut!”
Mitsurugi cleaved the knight’s sword in twain as easily as slicing through

some vegetables, and his second stroke reduced the knight to a similar fate.
“This man is far more dangerous than that scumbag over there! We need to
take care of him─ Ah!”
The knight who said that met a similar fate at Mitsurugi’s sword.
Seeing that, two of the knights attacked at once, but…
“Rune of Saber!”
Mitsurugi’s sword glowed brightly, and he cut the two of them down with a
single stroke.
“This man once again did something unnecessary…”
Darkness dejectedly muttered after Mitsurugi protected her.
…I have to say, this guy’s magic sword is really unfair.
Do all the Japanese sent to this world apart from me have a similarly broken
cheat on them?
Mitsurugi sheathed his sword with a flourish and took Aqua’s hand in his
own.
“Aqua-sama, are you hurt?”

“I’m fine. More importantly, I need to heal Darkness’s wounds…”
Aqua looked at Mitsurugi with a troubled expression on her face.
“Ah, m-my apologies!”
“…I don’t really mind, but if you are going to commit sexual harassment so
casually, you’re going to end up just like our Kazuma.”
Looking around, I said to Mitsurugi as he hastily pulled his hand back at

Aqua’s warning.
“You are really strong. Couldn’t you defeat the Demon King by yourself with
that strength?”
──The bodies of Mammon and the Elite Knights were scattered around the
hall, and most of them were taken out by Mitsurugi’s blade.
“You got an even greater cheat than I recieved.”
Mitsurugi glanced at Aqua.
…An even greater cheat, huh.
I followed his gaze, and Aqua, who was busy healing Darkness’s wounds,
awkwardly looked away.
As Megumin and Yunyun came over with relieved expressions, my attention

was drawn away by the massive door at the end of the hall.
I’m pretty sure Mammon said that this hall leads to the Demon King’s room.
The knights who were hanging out in this hall were probably the final
defence against any intruders.
Aqua and I managed to reach this place through a shortcut, but there can only
be one thing beyond this door.
The people on the other side have no doubt noticed us making such a ruckus

out here.
Now that everyone is gathered in one spot, I opened my mouth,
“Now, then, we’ve achieved our original purpose of bringing Aqua back. We
could just use Yunyun and my spell to teleport back home, but…”
At those words, Mitsurugi shook his head, with an expression that all but said
‘What kind of idiocy are you spouting?’
“What are you saying after having come this far? The Demon King, the
enemy of all humanity is right before us. With the majority of the Demon
King’s army away attacking the capital, there’s no way we will get another
chance like this. We can put an end to the war between the Demon King and
humanity right now.”
…So he says, but what is going to happen to the Demon King’s daughter who
is currently leading the larger half of the Demon King’s army?
Even if we defeat the Demon King here, I get the feeling that his daughter
would simply take his place.
“Ouch! Ow-ow-ow-ow! It really hurts! Hey, why are the two of you pulling at
my cheeks? This is an emotional reunion, so shouldn’t you be hugging me
and saying stuff like ‘I was so worried about you’!? Ow-ow-ow, it really
hurts!”

Aqua’s yelps drew my gaze towards her, where I saw Megumin and Darkness
silently pulling on Aqua’s cheeks.
While looking at Aqua who seemed to be enjoying herself despite her

protests, I said,
“Well, listen up. The barrier that surrounded this castle was blasted apart by
Megumin. Thanks to her, we can attack this castle at any time. Let’s leave the
rest to the Belzerg’s knights, the cheat-holders, and the Crimson Demons.”
I casually said that, and Yunyun reacted with a gasp of shock.
“You destroyed the barrier? Megumin, you took down the barrier that the
combined efforts of the entire Crimson Demon Village couldn’t take down?”
“That’s right. You felt the castle shake under the force of a barrage of
explosions, right? That was actually fired by Megumin with the help of a ton
of manatite─”
“K-Kazuma, don’t say anything more…”
Megumin hurriedly interrupted me, but…
…Ah!
“S-So that wasn’t an attack by the Demon King, but you… Megumin, you let
loose with your magic despite knowing that we were in the castle…!”
Yunyun’s eyes teared up and trembled.
Crap, I completely forgot about that.
“You’re horrible! Are you really my friend!? I can’t believe you tried to bury
us along with the Demon King!”
“T-That’s not it! It’s just, I got a gift back then, and various other things
happened, so I got a little too excited…!”

“Hey, Darkness, I don’t mind you rubbing my head. I really don’t mind, but
it kinda hurts when you do that while wearing gauntlets! I apologize for
running away from home, so please forgive me!”
As the four of us messed around in ways that are most unfitting for a room
right before the Demon King, one of Mitsurugi’s companions, the
spearwoman, crouched down with a tired look.
“So, what are we going to do? Are we going ahead? Well, I’ll follow you
wherever you go, Kyouya.”
Then, the thief girl who had been quietly standing next to Mitsurugi said,
“I came here for Kyouya’s sake, too. We’ll die together, Kyouya. I’ll follow
you to the ends of the earth…”
Those cool lines sound just like the ones a group of close companions would
say on the verge of the final battle.
…I’m so envious.
Whether it’s his cheat-level magic sword or the atmosphere he had with his
companions, I’m totally jealous of Mitsurugi.
My companions are just messing around as usual, without the slightest hint of
tension or romance.
Megumin has started wrestling with Yunyun, while Darkness had Aqua in a
headhold.
Just how did Mitsurugi and I end up with such different circumstances?
“Aqua-sama, what do you think we should do?”
Mitsurugi asked Aqua, who was still trapped in Darkness’s headlock and
having her hair ruffled by her.
“Me? …Well, if we could easily take out the Demon King, I would do it, but
after meeting up with everyone… Umm… I kinda don’t feel very

motivated…”
Aqua trailed off, her last words so soft that they were almost inaudible.
…I see, she lost her nerve now that she’s right before the Demon King.
But I understand her feelings very well. I feel like going home too.
“Right, let’s go home then. We can come back next time with better
preparations and a better plan. For starters, now that the barrier is down, I can
set a teleport point in front of the castle and bring Megumin here every day to
launch an Explosion on it─”
“Wait, Satou Kazuma, there’s no reason for the Demon King to remain in this
castle now that the barrier is down. There’s a high chance that he will hide
out in a dungeon somewhere and waylay knights and adventurers until he
gathers enough Generals to establish the barrier. With that in mind, I really
don’t think we should let this chance slip by.”
Mitsurugi gave me a vehement refusal just as I was about to lay my

conclusion.
He gave the two girls at his side a light pat on the head before separating
from them.
…I recall patting Darkness on the head while smiling once, and all she did
was get angry over me messing up her hair.
Seriously, just what is the difference between us?
I looked towards Darkness as that memory swam in my mind, and our eyes
met.
“Hey, Kazuma, I’m done with chastising Aqua, so now it’s your turn! I can’t
believe you embarrassed me like that in front of so many people! What is
with that ill-fitting armour! Hurry up and strip already!”
“Oh? It looked like you were enjoying it… Ow-ow-ow-ow! Stop it, I’m sorry!
Don’t trap me in a joint lock while I’m wearing armour, my bones are

creaking!”
Just then, Mitsurugi, his face deadly serious, said to me just as Darkness had
me trapped,
“You were the one who dragged Aqua-sama to this world, right? Despite
that, you’re giving up on taking down the Demon King? Isn’t it only proper
for you to risk your life to take out the Demon King and deliver her back to
Heaven? That should be your responsibility.”
He’s as bad at reading the mood as Aqua is, but there’s not really anything I
can say in response.
It’s true that because I dragged Aqua here, no more Japanese have been
appearing in this world…
Mitsurugi lowered his gaze and whispered in a voice just loud enough to be
heard by me,
“And I can’t entrust the person I love to you if you remain like that…”
It’s probably a very important confession for him.
I replied in a similarly soft whisper,
“You have really bad taste.”
…Mitsurugi grabbed my collar in a most uncharacteristic rage, and I

retaliated with Drain Touch.
“Dammit, you’re still like this! And here I thought we would be able to
become friends and reach an understanding if we defeat the Demon King
together! H-Hey, what is this skill!? I feel like I’m losing strength…”
“I have plenty of male friends in Axel! I would only come off as a sidekick if
I hang around someone like you! Go somewhere else!”
… As I gathered the mana I needed for casting Teleport from Mitsurugi,

Aqua hesitantly, and uncharacteristically for her, got between the both of us.

“Umm, I’ve been having fun every day since I came here, and I don’t mind
being here at all you know?”
She said with an anxious look on her face, like she was trying to hide
something──
“─Then, why did you leave town?”
At Mitsurugi’s words, the look on Aqua’s face became conflicted once more.
Then, she looked at me apologetically and said.
“I just wanted to feel what it was like to run away from home…”
I could instantly tell that she was lying.
“…You know, I kinda wanted to punish those who’ve forgotten how

important I am by leaving town for a bit. So how did it go? What did the
people in town say about me? Were they worried?”
Aqua asked Megumin with far more excitement in her voice than usual.
“Of course they were worried about you. You still get lost in that town even
after living there for more than a year, so there’s no way you can travel
alone.”
“Before we left town, the adventurers told Kazuma to make sure to bring you
back before teaching him all of their skills. If it weren’t for the attack that the
Demon King’s army had planned for Axel, I’m sure most of them would
have come with us.”
“Oh, is that what they call ‘tsundere’? They always act so cold, but now look
at them… Well, I guess there’s no helping it! Let’s go home, Kazuma!”
Aqua said brightly before turning to me and flashing me her smile.

I only picked up on this because I’ve spent so much time with her, but,
That same ridiculously bright smile that Aqua showed me is, just a little, just
a little bit clouded.
“…Very well, if Aqua-sama says so, this time, we will…”
At Mitsurugi’s words, his two companions let out a sigh of relief.
In response, Yunyun took out her wand and started chanting.
“…Do you know what ‘opportunity makes a thief’ means?”
I muttered as everyone started making preparations to go home.
Hearing that, Megumin and Darkness happily turned around, like they knew I
was going to say that.
Stop grinning at me like that. I’m not a tsundere.
I’m not doing it for Aqua’s sake. I have my own reasons for taking down the
Demon King!
“After trading almost my entire fortune for manatite, I’m almost broke.”
We’ve known each other for a long time.

There’s no need for long winded speeches. Just one sentence would do.
“I wonder just how much the Demon King’s head is worth?”

Chapter 3

Ovation for this holy knight!

Part 1
Darkness boldly stood in front of the door to the Demon King’s room, sword
in hand.
Behind her was Mitsurugi, and after him followed the Spearwoman, the Thief
girl, then Yunyun, Aqua, and Megumin.
──First, Darkness would charge into the room and use her Decoy skill to
divert any attacks from the Demon King and his bodyguards.
While Darkness is drawing their attention, Mitsurugi and Yunyun will be our
main damage dealers to take out the enemies.
The Spearwoman would act as rear guard to take out any enemies who got
close, and the Thief girl would provide support.
Aqua would heal anyone who got wounded, and I managed to convince
Megumin who had pushed her magic to the limit today, to stay in the back as
our trump card.
If I determine that the Demon King’s attacks are too strong for even Darkness
to handle, Yunyun and I will teleport us all away.
The ideal situation would be for Mitsurugi and Yunyun to take him out while
Darkness is still up.
But if it becomes a battle of attrition──
“You are really underhanded, you know? Between our duel and that sneak
attack you pulled off earlier, I’m starting to think that you just hate a head-on
fight. You’ve been boasting about how you beat me to the four corners of the
world, so it’ll reflect badly on me if you keep using such underhanded

methods…”
I blended into the shadows as Mitsurugi lectured me.
“This isn’t underhanded, I’m just being prudent. Plus, there are fights that are
worth taking even if I end up getting branded as a devious lowlife. After all,
this battle would decide the fate of humanity…!”
I threw away the cumbersome armour and placed my bow and sword with the
strange name on my back before drawing the magic sword from my waist.
──If it starts to become a battle of attrition, I’ll sneak into the room with the
Lurk skill some time after everyone else went in, make my way over to the
Demon King, and backstab him like I did with the goat-headed man from
before.
“…Kazuma is saying all that, but he’s been pretty underhanded in all the
battles we’ve fought so far, hasn’t he?”
“Shh! You shouldn’t say that, Aqua! He’s acting cool just before the battle
with the Demon King!”
“Yeah, don’t press him on that. What will we do if he throws a tantrum and
teleports home without us?”
Those three girls whispered from behind my back.
It’s really making me consider just teleporting back home…
“Everyone, please listen to me.”
Mitsurugi suddenly turned towards everyone else.
“…It’s been hard fighting making it this far. What awaits us is a battle that
will decide the fate of humanity…”
As Mitsurugi started his speech, Aqua pulled on my sleeve.
“Kazuma-san, Kazuma-san, are we really doing this? After everything, we

have gotten a little stronger, so we can just earn money the usual way.
Defeating the Demon King to get rich in one shot doesn’t seem like you, as
cowardly and cautious as you are.”
It sounded like she was making fun of me, but her uneasy expression told me
that she was genuinely worried.
“…Who exactly was the one who said all that stuff about defeating the
Demon King in the first place? I’m giving you a good telling off once we get
home.”
Yeah, I held my tongue until now because of the various emergencies, but I’ll
definitely scold her until she cries when we return.
“At the end of the day, you do want to go back to Heaven, right? Then, let us
defeat the Demon King, gain the right to go back to Heaven whenever you
want, then live your life happily after that. Putting on a brave front here or
forcing yourself to go on is a death flag, so just do things normally.
Especially you, you often do stuff that triggers death flags, so be careful.”
I thought back to those words Aqua said to me on the night she ran away
from home.
“Kazuma, I think I had enough, so let’s go home. I miss Emperor Zell too, so
let’s go home. I can enjoy a glass of delicious wine while letting your lectures
wash over me, so… Let’s go home?”
I wanted to tell her not to just ignore our lectures, but now is not the time for
that.
“…I want to go home.”
I can never forget how Aqua looked when she said those words while looking
at the moon.
“Oh shut up! Even if you are fine with it, I’m not! If I don’t make it such that
I can return you to Heaven at any time, it’s really going to weigh on me if
anything happens!”

“What do you mean by return, you tsundere NEET!? Can’t you be honest for
once in your life!?”
I pushed Aqua away to prevent her from strangling me. While we were doing
that, Mitsurugi and his two hanger-ons seemed to be in high spirits.
“Fio, Clemea, there’s no need to be tense. Even if we lose here, we can

always get stronger and come back for another go. I know the two of you are
getting worried about plateauing and sneaking out to various places to train…
Thank you for sticking by me all this time. Let’s defeat the Demon King and
go home together!”
…Seems like Mitsurugi has concluded his speech.
The Spearwoman and the Thief girl were looking up at him with sparkling
eyes, thoroughly moved by his speech. I wonder exactly what he said to
them.
Come to think of it, which one of them is Fio and which one is Clemea
again?
No, now is not the time for that.
“Hey, Aqua, you know the plan, right? The moment someone dies, we’ll
retrieve the body and teleport out immediately. Don’t go out there and revive
them on instinct, you hear? If you get downed while reviving someone, we’ll
all be done for. Don’t revive them until we teleport to a safe place. You got
that?”
As long as she stays alive, no matter how bad the situation gets, we’ll be able
to recover from it.
The issue is if Aqua, who almost instinctively heals the injured and dead on
sight, would heed my words…
“You don’t need to tell me that over and over again. Just trust me… But,
Kazuma, I have a really bad feeling about this. And not just the usual bad
feeling about you dying like a lemming, but something that can’t be

reversed…”
“You idiot, don’t say any more! Why do you like hoisting death flags so
much!? Just listen to me for once in your life. No matter who dies, don’t go
out in front. Just support us from somewhere safe. As long as you are alive,
we’ll be able to pull through as long as we have the bodies. Do you
understand?”
I repeated, and Aqua nodded her head.
She’s always been bad at following instructions, but it should be fine after
I’ve said this much.
“Looks like you’re done with your conversation… Now, It’s my turn. First
off, I’m giving you back some of the stones, Kazuma. Just in case.”
Saying that, Megumin gave me five pieces of manatite from the rucksack that
she’s been protectively carrying all this while.
Then, she turned to Yunyun and pulled out one more piece.
“Wow, what a huge manatite…! Are you really giving it to me? Megumin?
H-Hey, Megumin? If you are giving it to me then let go already!”
Even though she offered the manatite to Yunyun, Megumin kept a firm grip
on the gem.
“This is a really precious item that I got from Kazuma, so make sure to take
good care of it. Only use it at the most critical of moments, you hear? This is
something he gave to me, after all!”
“Okay, I get it. I get that you’re happy that you got a gift! You don’t need to
boast about it this much! I’ll take good care of it!”
Yunyun stared at the large chunk of manatite she received with mesmerized
eyes.
Aqua looked at the two of them with an expectant gaze.

“Hey, Megumin, what about me?”
“You don’t need it, do you? I’ve been together with you for a long time now,
and I’ve never once seen you run out of mana… Ah, what are you doing!?
This is very important to me! Besides, even if I gave you one, you’ll just hold
on to it to sell later!”
Ignoring the two of them as they started fighting over the manatite, I stuck
the pieces I was given in my pocket and hid in the shadows.
I activated my Enemy Detection skill, and immediately I received numerous

signals from behind the door.
…I see. I did find it strange why the knights didn’t all gather in the same
room to benefit from the Demon King’s buffs, but it seems like the reason
they didn’t do that was because the room was already stuffed full to bursting
and they couldn’t fit anyone else in.
…Just then, Darkness came up to me, giving me a bright smile despite this
situation.
“Hey, Kazuma, do you remember the time I joined this party? You said
‘Darkness, we might look this way now, but we’re serious about taking down
the Demon King.’ I never expected that to become a reality…”
…I can’t believe she remembered something that took place such a long time
ago.
“Don’t say that. Reminiscing at a time like this is a death flag, you know? If
you have to say something, talk about something happier to give me the
motivation to see this through. Say, for instance, that I’ll be able to create a
harem after defeating the Demon King in order to ensure that the blood of the
Hero is spread as far as possible.”
“E-Even at a time like this, you are… No, this is more like you… Wait, after
you defeat the Demon King? Defeat the Demon King…!”
Darkness gave me a wry smile, before suddenly letting out a scream like she

just remembered something.
“Aaaaah!? Hey, Kazuma, do you still have that ring on you!? You know, the
one that you stole from Iris-sama when you snuck into the castle way back
then!?”
Wha─!?
“Stop, Mitsurugi is here, you know!? Why are you bringing it up now!?”
“N-No, I can’t ignore that. You snuck into the castle and stole something
from Iris-sama…?”
Mitsurugi, who was making preparations behind Darkness, frowned at me. It

seems like he heard the entire conversation.
“Nevermind that! Most importantly, the ring! You didn’t lose it, did you!?”
“I didn’t lose it! It’s kept safely back in the mansion, right next to my
precious porn magazines!”
It’s my sister’s precious ring after all. I kept it in my strongbox so I wouldn’t

ever lose track of it.
“Por─! Don’t put the royal ring together with your porn books! Look, let
someone else deal the finishing blow to the Demon King! …No, it’d be
troublesome if Mitsurugi deals the finishing blow too… Argh, just let me
have the head of the Demon King!”
“What are you rambling about all of a sudden!? Do you really want
achievements so badly!? You always act like you have no interest in money,
but you’re finally letting your greed show, you piss-poor noble!”
“I’m not doing this for such a stupid reason! As long as it isn’t you or
Mitsurugi, I don’t care who deals the final blow!”
Just then, Megumin, who had been listening to our conversation, raised her
hand.

“Then, let me take the title of the Demon King Slayer.”
“Megumin, don’t make things more complicated than they already are! You
can’t use Explosion magic in that room in the first place! And it’d be a
problem for you too if Kazuma defeats the Demon King! Aqua, you say
something to him, too!”
“I’m more concerned about your armour than that, Darkness. I don’t know
why you’re wearing such an evil-looking armour, but to my eyes, that armour
is definitely cursed. I can remove the curse for you, but it is possible that the
armour will vanish when I do that…”
Darkness grabbed Aqua who started chanting a spell and gagged her in order
to prevent her from uncursing her armour.
It’s right before the final battle, but what is with this complete lack of
tension?
“If you guys can kill the Demon King without me having to assassinate him,
that’d be fine by me. More importantly, do you understand what you’re
getting into? As far as I know, your magic resistance and physical defence is
the highest in Axel. If you can’t withstand his attacks, then nobody will be
able to defeat him.”
If both Aqua’s healing and Darkness’s high defensive capabilities are unable
to defend against the Demon King’s onslaught, then we have no choice but to
abandon a frontal attack and resort to Megumin’s long-range bombardment.
And that would only work if the Demon King decides to stay inside the castle
even after his barrier has been taken down.
──Just then, Darkness tapped on my chest with her fist and gave me a smile.
“I’m fairly hapless in anything else, but you can rely on me when it comes to
defence.”
She’s a modest person at heart, so it’s rare to see her say such a thing.
Up till now, she’s always kept a fairly low profile, quietly acting as our shield

and staying out of the spotlight.
If she would normally act like this instead of getting excited all the time or
losing her top, she would have been perfect.
“I’ve always wanted to be a knight, but I never thought that I would be able
realize my dream of getting ravaged by the Demon King… Kazuma, thank
you.”
“Give me back the feelings of gratitude I just had for you.”
Aqua, Megumin, and now Darkness too, even at the very end, these guys
are…
After Aqua cast her buffs on everyone, we shared a glance and nodded.
──And Darkness kicked down the door!

Part 2
“Demon King! Prepare yo─”
“Cursed Lightning!”
“Cursed Lightning!!!”
The moment the door was opened, countless bolts of dark lightning flew
towards Darkness.
“Wai─”
I couldn’t help but let out a gasp upon seeing this scene.
This is the same spell that Wiz used to blow a hole in the stomach of a
dragon.
After taking a barrage of the very same spell head on, Darkness shuddered
for a moment, before…
“Damned cowards who attack without even showing your faces! Is this what
a Demon King does!? Name yourselves!”
Even while smoke was still leaking from her armour, she charged straight
into the room──!
…Those spells she just ate would’ve definitely vapourized anyone else…
As I was marveling at just how tough Darkness is from my hiding spot

behind the door, my companions rushed in one after the other.

Yunyun started chanting a spell, and a deep voice that made my chest feel
tight the moment I heard it boomed from the room──
“Pardon my subordinates for their rudeness! Indeed, you do have a point.

Intruders who have rampaged through my castle, I know not if you are heroes
or mere fools, but this battle shall render that clear… Now, show me your
power─”
“Inferno!!!”
“Guaaah!?”
The owner of that deep voice let out a scream.
The person who cast that spell just now must have been Yunyun. I could feel
the heat from under the small gap underneath the door.
“Hey, Yunyun, I thought I told you to save that manatite for the most critical
of moments! How could you make use of it right at the start of the battle!?”
Following that was Megumin’s angry voice.
It seems like she used the top grade manatite to deliver a most powerful
opening blow.
This doesn’t seem like the kind of thing Yunyun would do. She must have
been poisoned by a certain devil or perhaps some delinquent thug.
“…Crimson Demons, huh. As bold as usual…”
“S-Sorry! But a friend of mine asked me to ‘Go hunt down that damned
annoying Demon King and give him a good few blows in our place’, so…!”
And this is the precise moment the honour student falls off her perch.
“My name is Yunyun! I’m an Archwizard and wielder of Advanced Magic.

As the foremost mage of the Crimson Demons and the future chief, I will
show you the true power of the Crimson Demons!”

“Thinking about it, the Crimson Demons have caused me no end of trouble…
Very well, show me what the future chief of the Crimson Demons is capable
of!”
Amazing. The battles with the Demon King’s generals can’t even compare to
this.
This is the Fantasy that I wanted, the decisive battle against the Demon
King──!
“What’s with that cool act!? Normally you’re too shy to even name yourself!
And you used the Manatite I gave you just for this entrance!?”
“Ow-ow-ow, what are you doing at a time like this!? Megumin, cut it out!”
I can’t see them from here, but I get the general idea of what’s going on.
Really, what the hell are you doing at a time like this?
Just then, the voices of several monsters roared in unison, drowning out the
proceedings.
“Decoy!”
Darkness yelled out a skill of her own, almost as if in direct challenge.
“Let’s go, Demon King!”
Mitsurugi’s overzealous voice came next, followed shortly by the sounds of a

swordfight.
The sound of spells getting thrown about and Darkness’s maniacal laughter,
no doubt influenced by her armour, soon joined the cacophony.
After such noises persisted for who knows how long, I heard Megumin’s
urgent voice break through.
“Darkness, you’re pushing yourself too much! You need to reduce the power
of your Decoy skill!”

It seems like she’s been taking the enemy attacks all by herself.
But the stubborn woman who once refused to bow before the Winter Shogun
himself would definitely not back down now.
This battle looks to be becoming a long one.
The number of enemies I detected hasn’t gone down at all, so at this rate it’s
only a matter of time before Darkness goes down.
There were about ten enemies inside, the same as the amount of knights we
faced just a short while ago.
If it weren’t for the Demon King boosting their power, we should have no
issues taking them on.
──In other words, all I have to do is take care of the Demon King, and this
battle will resolve itself!
My time has finally come.
It’s fine, this is a low-risk operation. It’ll definitely work!
I activated my Lurk skill and snuck into the room that is now filled with the
sounds of battle.
I draped my cloak over my body and slowly made my way through.
It might seem as stupid as a child hiding under his bedsheets, but under such
conditions, my skill would be usable as long as I stick to the shadows and
press myself against the wall.
I thought back to the time when Chris taught me this skill.
She crawled into a barrel right in front of my eyes and told me it was the
Lurk skill.
Creeping along the wall, I peeked through my cloak and saw Darkness
standing right in the middle of the enemy.

She couldn’t land any of her attacks as usual, but the way she was vigorously
swinging her sword around in wide arcs is causing most of her opponents to
keep their distance…
Her Decoy skill directed all the underling’s attacks towards her, but even
though she’s repeatedly taken hits from creatures boosted by the Demon
King’s buffs, she still stands resolute and shows no sign of faltering.
“What is with this girl!? Is she a lump of iron or something!?”
One of the Demon King’s guards shouted in frustration.
Taking a glance around, three of them were dressed in long flowing robes
and were most likely spellcasters, while four others were dressed in heavy
plate armour.
There was also a gigantic, horned ogre-like creature, and a creature that
looked like the Grim Reaper itself, a floating skeleton with a scythe in one
hand clad in a frayed, black robe.
──And right at the far end of the room is a man giving out commands and
directing the battle.
I couldn’t see his face clearly from here, but he must be the Demon King.
…And with him lies the chance for victory.
He doesn’t seem to be wearing any armour, so all I need to do is work my

way around and attack him in the back.
I slowly crept forward──!
“What are you trying to do?”
Before I knew it, the Grim Reaper-looking guy was right in front of me.
Hey, what happened to my Lurk skill?
The Grim Reaper raised his scythe.

“Kazuma-san.”
Aqua’s voice called to me.
──Oh, right.
I threw my cloak away and tried to draw my sword, but the Grim Reaper’s
scythe bore down, and my vision drew ever closer to the ground──
I remembered what Aqua said when we delved into a dungeon together.
The Lurk skill doesn’t work on undead creatures.

Part 3
“Power!”
When I came to, I could feel a spell being cast on me.
This place is the usual white room.
It seems like I got my head cut off yet again.
…I dumbfoundedly got to my feet.
“…What are you doing, Eris-sama?”
“Protection!”
Eris responded by casting another spell on me.
I wonder what is going on. I did get Aqua to cast her buffs on me earlier, but
I could feel Eris’s buffs taking effect on me too. I guess it really is true that
spells of different sects stack with each other.
But still…
“Umm, Eris-sama, why are you casting spells on me?”
“Resist! …So you can return to battle the moment Senpai revives you.”
Eris answered while casting yet another spell on me.
…No, no, wait, wait.
“Give me a break, Eris-sama. I already failed. I didn’t even consider the

possibility of there being undead in the room… And here I thought it was a

really good plan, too.”
Saying that, I flopped onto the ground.
It worked without issues on Mammon, so I thought it’d work out fine here
too…
No matter how lucky I am, there’s no way everything would just fall into
place for me.
Dammit, the death flag that Aqua raised with her bad feeling really did come
true for me.
I’m going to go complain to her about it when I get back.
“What are you saying? The battle has only just begun. Even as we speak,
everyone is fighting with the Demon King… True, we are at a disadvantage,
but… Ah! Darkness’s Decoy skill just ran out! Mitsu…? …Rugi-san is
surrounded by enemies! …Oh, good, Yunyun just blew them away with
Tornado.”
Eris stared off into the distance, intermittently giving me updates on what’s
going on below, but I really wish she’d stop saying things that only made my
heart ache now that I’m unable to contribute.
“We had a plan, the moment someone dies we’re calling it off. We’ll retrieve
the body and teleport out immediately. Aren’t they getting ready to retreat?”
Eris tilted her head in confusion.
“No, they haven’t given up yet. If anything, Yunyun-san is getting fired up

by Megumin-san’s encouragements. She’s saying ‘My lifelong friend and
rival, help me avenge Kazuma!’ and waving her staff around in anger. Even
now she looks ready to unleash Explosion in such a cramped room. And
Darkness is off saying disturbing things like ‘I’ll kill you’ repeatedly…”
C-Cut it out, Megumin, don’t blow your top here…
And Darkness is supposed to be a young lady from a good family, so why is

she so short-tempered?
I was wondering why they didn’t retreat, but, well, the one who died was me,
after all.
If it was Yunyun, Darkness, or Mitsurugi who went down, we would’ve

taken a huge hit to our combat ability and everyone would have no choice but
to retreat. But it’s rare to have a shot at taking down the Demon King, so I
suppose they aren’t willing to throw in the towel so easily.
If the situation really does become serious, I’m sure everyone would run
away.
…Though I’m worried that they’ll forget the plan and just leave my body
there…
N-No, it’ll be fine. They’ll definitely remember to retrieve my body. Right?
Eris gave me a smile as I began to get nervous.
“Now, it might seem a little harsh, but I’ll have to send you back out there.
This is the first time I’ve broken a rule because of my own selfishness rather
than at Senpai’s insistence, so I’m a little nervous, but…”
She says that, but she clearly looks excited.
“No, no, that’s impossible, Eris-sama. From what you told me earlier,
Mitsurugi is having a tough time, right? What do you expect me to do by
throwing me into a battle like that? I have the weakest class and have
absolutely no cheats at all, you know? Actually, I have to ask, does Backstab
and poison even work on the Demon King? I mean, in most games, instant
death attacks and status effects like poison don’t work on final bosses.”
“…I doubt poison will work on the Demon King. Most likely, instant death
attacks wouldn’t work either…”
Eris gave me a bitter smile.
So a surprise attack wouldn’t work anyway.

“Then there’s nothing I can do. My stats are also far lower than everyone else
out there. The only thing I have going for me is my high luck… I don’t mean
to complain too much, but don’t you think I’ve already done more than
enough after being dealt such a crappy hand? Not that I mean to boast, but…”
Eris listened to my whining with a gentle smile.
“I was sent to another world with only the clothes on my back, and
immediately, I had to sleep in a stable and perform hard manual labour when
I lived my entire life in a modern house as a shut-in. And along with having
to bail out my troublesome companions, I somehow ended up racking a huge
debt that forced me to pick fights with strong opponents just to clear them.
And even after that, trouble would come knocking at my door one after the
other…”
My goodness, even at a time like this, I can’t help but whine and complain.
All those unpleasant memories came rising to the forefront.
“I don’t think it’s asking too much to get some kind of reward for all the
troubles I’ve gone through. Come to think of it, I think my personality has
twisted for the worse ever since I came to this world. I was never an
upstanding specimen of humanity to begin with, but… I feel like I’ve gotten
even worse since I came here…”
Eris quietly listened to my monologue.
After a short pause, she let out a chuckle and said.
“But, it was fun, wasn’t it?”
…That’s so unfair.
“…Well, I can’t deny that.”
“Right?”
Eris gave me a proud smile.

…Big Boss is really cute.
“It’d be really sad for Kazuma-san to be the only one who retired while
everyone else has yet to give up, wouldn’t it? So I’ll make it such that you
can jump right back into battle the moment Senpai brings you back.”
──I’m grateful for that sentiment, but…
“That wouldn’t happen. I’ve already told that idiot countless times not to
move forward no matter what happens or who dies out there.”
That’s why…
“All the magic you’ve cast on me would go to waste.”
Eris confidently nodded in response to my mutterings.
“…Is that so? Then, I’ll continue. Haste!”
And continued as before like she never heard my words at all. Are all
goddesses this bad at listening to others?
Just as that thought flashed through my head.
A voice that should never be heard in this situation echoed through the
room──
“Kazuma-san! Kazuma-san!”
──That was the voice of Aqua, who still refused to listen to a word I say
right up till the very end.
What is that idiot doing, charging out to retrieve my body even while a fierce
battle is raging round her?
If she dies, no one else will be able to get revived. Does she not understand
that?
I even told her not to go out in front so many times.

And she’s so scared of the Demon King, too.
“Kazuma-san, we are really in a pinch, in more than one way. Megumin has
started chanting Explosion Magic!”
I couldn’t help but bolt straight up after hearing the tidings of danger that
Aqua brought.
Then, I turned to Eris, who seemed to be genuinely enjoying this.
“…Why does she never listen to what others say?”
“But that part of Senpai is a little cute, isn’t it?”
It’s not the slightest bit cute at all, and when I get back, I’ll definitely scold
her until she cries.
Eris looked down at me, and in the most joyful manner I’ve ever heard her,
said,
“Kazuma-san, you’re smiling, you know?”
…Well, I’m at a loss.
She’s wilful and easily caught off guard when she was Big Boss, but she is
able to effortlessly grasp people’s hearts when she’s a goddess.
Plus, I can’t deny that I’m smiling.
──I stood up and slapped myself on the cheeks to refresh myself.
“Seriously, just who does that idiot think I am? Still, I’m surprised she
managed to revive me in the middle of a pitched battle.”
While saying that, I walked towards the gate that led back to the world
below.
“I’m sure it’s because Darkness is still holding out against the Demon King
and all his guards by herself. Fufu, even the Demon King and his personal

guards are taken aback by Darkness’s toughness. I really wish I could show
you his dumbfounded expression.”
Eris laughed cheekily.
That’s only to be expected. Our prized Crusader is hard, after all.
She’s not only the hardest in Axel, but also the entire world.
I told myself that even Darkness is putting her life on the line in order to
motivate myself, but I couldn’t help but let out a sigh when I think about the
opponent I’m going to fight.
“The Demon King, huh…”
It really is a fierce battle against the final boss.
Why do I always end up facing down impossibly strong enemies?
Once again, I question if my luck is really that good.
I turned around in front of the gate, and saw Eris clasping her hands in front
of her chest in anticipation..
“…Just so we’re clear, I don’t have any plans right now. I won’t roll over and
wait to die, but even if I go back there, I don’t think I’ll make much of a
difference.”
At my wavering words, Eris gave me a serious look and said.
“Then, I’ll give you one piece of advice. Right now, Senpai is on the other
side. It may be difficult for you to believe, but Senpai is still a powerful
goddess. She’s strong enough to be able to seal away the Demon King’s
abilities for a short period.”
“Eh, really!? It’s like she’s a true goddess!…But, wait, she never said a word
about that.”
“…S-She must have forgotten about it…”

…Is she really a goddess?
But she did once threaten to put a seal on my lower half that can never be
broken by human hands.
And she also put a seal on the necklace divine relic that Iris had before Chris
was able to steal it from her, right?
Then, perhaps this might actually work…
“…Oh, but, wait, the Demon King’s most fearsome ability is to raise the stats
of nearby monsters. Will that ability be suppressed too?”
“That won’t happen. Her seal would only reduce the Demon King’s physical
abilities, like his strength, physical defence and magic resistance. But there
lies the true hint. Kazuma, you can use Teleport, right?”
…Oh, I get it!
“Once his magic resistance has been reduced to the point where even my
spells can work on him, I can teleport him to Axel’s police station! Then I
can have every adventurer in town surround him and beat him to a pulp!”
“N-No, you can’t do that! Right now, a small detachment of the Demon
King’s army is attacking Axel! They are holding out pretty well for now, but
if the Demon King shows up over there, the entire detachment will be
strengthened and the town would fall in the blink of an eye!”
Dammit. Come to think of it, there was talk about a raid on the town…
“Then, what should I do…?”
Eris raised a finger.
“You registered the deepest part of the dungeon as one of your teleport
points, didn’t you?”
And said, her voice full of anticipation like a little kid planning a prank.

──Oh, I get it!
“I see, I can send him to the deepest part of the dungeon and leave him to die!
It’s a little dark, Eris-sama, but it’s definitely a good plan.”
“No, no, that’s not it! That place might be crawling with monsters, but the
Demon King would be able to easily bend them to his will, and he’d stroll
back out within a day… So I need you to do me a favour, Kazuma-san…”
I have a really bad feeling about this.
“Can you defeat the Demon King for me in a one-on-one duel?”
I’m starting to think that this girl is even more unreasonable than Aqua.
“No, no, no, no, that’s definitely impossible. If we really want this to work,
it’d be better to send Yunyun, Aqua, and Mitsurugi to the dungeon along with
the Demon King. Yunyun and Mitsurugi can take him down while being
supported by Aqua’s buffs, and then Yunyun can teleport them all back. It’d
have a far better chance of success than having me fight him one on one.”
Eris shook her head.
“In the first place, the Demon King can use Teleport too. If he were sent there
under such circumstances, he would simply teleport back to the castle.”
“If that’s the case, wouldn’t he do the same even if I teleport him to the
dungeon by myself?”
In response to my question, Eris gave me a smile.
“Fighting with brave adventurers and dying magnificently is also part of the
job of being a Demon King. If he were to run away from a lone adventurer,
he wouldn’t be able to call himself a Demon King anymore.”
…I feel like I heard something like that before.
I think it was when I was in that dungeon together with Vanir and Wiz.

Clashing magnificently with a band of valiant adventurers, before
magnificently exiting the stage. That’s what a Demon King is, or something
like that.
“B-But… Then, how about sending Mitsurugi and the Demon King alone
instead? He seems like he genuinely wants to become a hero.”
…I’m ashamed to say this, but he’s definitely stronger than me in a straight
fight.
“That would be unlikely to work. Mitsurugi can only use a sword, so I doubt
he would be able to best the King of the demons inside a dark dungeon… But
if it was you, with your mastery of various skills and ability to adapt to any
situation, there might be a chance. Plus…”
Her eyes sparkled and she put both hands on her chest.
“Plus, for a single, powerless young man with the Weakest Class to defeat the
Demon King… Wouldn’t that be far cooler!?”
I wonder what came over her.
Still, she does go down to the world to act as a righteous thief, so she might
be the kind of person who likes these kinds of hot-blooded developments that
often show up in manga and anime and such.
…Then, almost as if to encourage me,
Aqua’s half sobbing voice suddenly burst into the room, interrupting our
serious conversation.
“…Seriously, she usually only sees me as a joke, so why does she always
come running to me for help whenever things start getting serious?”
Saying that, I resolved myself to face down the Demon King.
“That’s definitely because Senpai trusts you… You really are a tsundere,

Assistant-kun. Despite complaining so much, you are soft when it comes to
Senpai.”
The smile Eris gave me wasn’t the serious and dignified one of a goddess, but
the prank-loving one that often appears on the face of a certain friend of
mine.
“You really are cute, Big Boss. After I defeat the Demon King, will you
marry me?”
“That’s fine. Please break the news to Megumin-san and Darkness, Assistant-
kun.”
Eris said with a smirk. Perhaps she’s getting used to my teasing.
“Seriously? Then I’ll do my best! I’ll go tell Megumin and Darkness that I’m
marrying Chris!”
“S-Sorry, please don’t do that! The two of them will definitely get angry with
me! It’s just a little joke, so please forgive me!”
Guess not. Despite looking serious and capable, Big boss still has quite a few
weak points.
As I enjoyed her flustered state with a grin, Aqua’s voice once again broke
into the room.
…She always gets in the way whenever things start going well. I’m starting
to wonder if she’s interrupting me on purpose.
I’ll definitely tell her off when I get back.
“Currently, the capital and the town of Axel is under attack by the Demon
King’s army.”
As Eris said that, she snapped her fingers, and the white gates before me
slowly opened.

“In Axel, the adventurers that you’ve laughed, fought, and drunk together
with are battling against a small detachment of the Demon King’s army,
while at the capital, the Royal Knights led by the King himself, the
adventurers from Japan, and the elite forces of the Crimson Demons are
engaged in fierce combat against the bulk of the Demon King’s army──”
She said such with a serious face, but suddenly broke into a smile.
“And the brave young maiden who looks up to you as her brother, the chosen
of the divine relic Aigis, is currently about to engage the Demon King’s
daughter in a decisive battle with the support of a certain Axis cultist and
Megumin’s Crimson Demon friends.”
“Eh!?”
I couldn’t help but turn back at this shocking revelation.
I don’t know what the exact situation is, but is it really so serious that Iris
herself needs to take the field?
No, wait, what even is the situation in the first place? How did Aigis and Iris
meet, and how did that armour agree to let Iris wear him? Leaving the Axis
cultist aside, Megumin’s Crimson Demon friends could only mean her
classmates, right?
“It’s a law of this world that, when a Demon King is crowned, the monsters
of the world will slowly become stronger. Conversely, when the Demon King
is vanquished, the monsters will gradually grow weaker… Kazuma-san, you
understand what I’m trying to say, right?”
It’s really unfair to tell me that now, Big Boss.
Now that I know about this, I have no other option but to defeat the Demon
King.
…No, she’s only telling me this because I’m already motivated to see it
through.
Seriously, it would’ve been much easier to convince me if you’ve told me

this from the very start. She really is too kind.
“Telling me that just made me more motivated. Even my sister is giving her
all, so I’ll give everyone a hand by taking down the Demon King.”
──Just as I was about to step through the gate, Eris called out to me.
“Before you go back into the world, Assistant-kun, let me give you one final
parting gift.”

It seems like her work as a Goddess is done.
My friend, Chris, extended both hands towards me.
I already had a load of buffs on me, but against the Demon King, I’ll take
every advantage I can get.
“When it comes to this spell, I’m confident I won’t lose out to anyone! In the
name of the Goddess of Fortune, I grant you the greatest of all blessings!
Blessing!”
After receiving her gift, I can now say I am as prepared as I can.
My luck is already high to begin with, but now it’s been boosted to the
stratosphere. My motivation soars similarly.
──I can do this.
With both Aqua’s and Chris’s spells upon me, I’m at my peak.
…That’s when that idiot who could never read the mood sent out yet another
series of urgent messages, almost as if she wanted to be a wet blanket──
“Kazuma-san! Kazuma-san! Hurry up and come over! Hurry up!”
………
Chris and I traded a smile, after which, I shouted into the void.
“You really are helpleeeeeeesss!”
Seeing me shout, Chris joined in with some words of her own,
“Now, go forth…”
With the voice of a goddess, my Big Boss, and a dear friend of mine at my
back──
“And defeat the Demon King!”

I stepped through the gate and leapt into the void──!

Part 4
“Megumin, I don’t care, go ahead and kill them all! I’ll protect all of you
with my body! I’ve already proven that it takes more than a single Explosion
to kill me!”
“Very well, let us greet death together! And even if Darkness couldn’t protect
me, after firing off so many Explosions in one day and trading lives with the
Demon King at the very end, I can die with no regrets! It’s an honour to die
with you all!”
“Wait, stop, Megumin, wait! Don’t blow up Darkness-san!”
The first thing that greeted my ears was a very disturbing conversation.
I opened my eyes, and met the gaze of Aqua who was looking directly down
at me.
The warm and soft thing my head was resting on is probably Aqua’s thighs.
“Ah…! You’re finally back, Kazuma!”
Aqua squealed with joy upon seeing me return to consciousness.
I quickly sat up and confirmed my surroundings.
Directly in front of me is──
“Your majesty, please get behind us!”
“Hey, Crimson Demon! If you cast Explosion here, you yourselves will be
caught in the blast! Do you understand what you’re doing!?”
Megumin, her staff shining with the mana of Explosion, waved it around to

scare the Demon King and his men. In front of her stood a battered and
bruised Darkness, having her sword somehow lost during the melee.
Standing opposite them is a pair of knights, protecting the Demon King

behind them. Both they, and Yunyun, who was standing quite some distance
away, were desperately trying to talk Megumin down.
Mitsurugi must have been wounded somehow. He crouched on one knee,

while his two hanger-ons stood around him as if to guard him.
I searched for the Grim Reaper that foiled my attempt to sneak through, but
the only thing I found was a large scythe and Darkness’s sword, broken in
half, next to the puddle of blood that I left.
It seems like Aqua took care of the Grim Reaper that killed me.
Seeing me stand up, Megumin and Darkness let out a slight sigh of relief.
The battle is at a stalemate, and the Demon King’s guards don’t seem to have
taken notice of me.
Though, I suppose that’s because the threat posed by Megumin is so high that
they could scarcely afford to look away.
──As the Demon King’s guards are still trying to talk Megumin out of it.
“Kazuma, please start preparing to cast Teleport. We’re all getting out of
here. Once Kazuma and Yunyun are done with their preparations, Megumin,
just fire your Explosion through that balcony over there and we’ll all make a
break for it!”
Aqua urgently whispered to me, but…
“Aqua, listen closely to what I’m about to say. Actually, listen to me for once
in your life. Eris-sama just told me this, but you can weaken the Demon
King, right?”
I relayed what Eris told me just now to her.

“…Kazuma-san, what are you talking about? There’s no way I can do
something so goddess-like. Are you okay? Get a hold of yourself.”
………
“You get a hold of yourself! Have you forgotten what you are!? You’re
technically a goddess, aren’t you!?”
“Oh right! I am a goddess! I’ll use the divine power of the goddess to seal the
Demon King… No, wait, I can put a seal on him to lower his stats, but that’s
all it will do. The Demon King hasn’t really taken an active part in the battle,
so I don’t think weakening him will do much.”
“Once you’ve weakened him, I’ll take care of it somehow… You killed that
Grim Reaper-like undead monster, right? That means my Lurk skill would
work.”
Aqua’s expression changed to one of worry the moment she heard the word
‘Lurk’.
“Kazuma-san, you’re still planning on doing this? …Can’t we go home?

Let’s just leave the Demon King to the guys in charge and live a leisurely life
instead. If we don’t have enough money… It’s against my principles, but I
can consider selling my art. Ah, but it’s only to get enough money to live on,
okay? I’m not selling them forever. So…”
I thrust my right palm towards her, signaling her to stop talking.
Then, I gave her a serious look and said──
“Just watch. You’ve been with me for quite some time now, so you know that
I always managed to get us out of such situations. Just trust in me one more
time.”
“It’s because I know you for such a long time that I can’t trust you.”
…The urge to smack her upside the head rises.
I went out of my way to say a cool line for once, and she had to be a wet

blanket. I grabbed her head.
“Enough! Already! Just prepare to weaken the Demon King!”
“Ow-ow-ow! It hurts! Okay, fine, I get it, I’ll do it!”
As I used my iron claw on her, I explained my plan for what’s going to

happen next.
“You get it? Once you weaken him, I’ll once again use Lurk to get close to
him. Once I’m in range, I’ll use Teleport to abduct him to the deepest depths
of the deepest dungeon, where I’ll finish him off.”
“Wait, hold on, you are planning to fight the Demon King one-on-one? My
unclouded gaze tells me that the only thing that awaits you down that path is
death, you know?”
Does she not feel content unless she reduces my motivation to the negatives?
“I have plenty of tricks up my sleeves. If things go really bad, I’ll teleport

back to Axel on my own. If the Demon King doesn’t show up here, you can
go ahead and assume that I’ve defeated him. Even if I can’t defeat him, I’ll
buy you as much time as I can. Use that time to take care of the guards in this
room. Without the Demon King present, these guys would be heavily
weakened, so you should be able to handle them, right?”
And if the Demon King does show up here after all his guards have been
defeated, you can just gang up and defeat him.
But Aqua seems to grow more and more uneasy about my plan.
“…Kazuma, what happens if you drop dead in the dungeon? If someone as

squishy as you were to die in a dungeon, you might get eaten by some hungry
wandering monster, you know?”
“D-Don’t call me squishy… Anyway, if things get really dangerous, I’ll run
away. Even if I used up all my mana, I can still use this manatite to Teleport
out.”

More importantly, if I don’t act soon, the Demon King will notice that I’ve
been revived and will be on guard.
“Fuhahahah! If I defeat the Demon King here, I will become the new Demon
King…!”
“Megumin, calm down! Even if you defeat the Demon King, you won’t
become the next Demon King! Your eyes look serious, but it’s just an act,
right!? The adventurers in Axel told me that they will treat me to a meal
when we come back, so I must come back alive…!”
Seems like the other side is still in a state of chaos.
…At that moment, my eyes met Darkness’s, who happened to glance my

way.
However, she almost immediately averted her gaze.
It’s almost like she doesn’t want to draw the Demon King’s and his guards’
attention to my presence.
Is Megumin putting on such a flashy performance to direct attention away

from me as well?
Perhaps they are still expecting me to Backstab the Demon King like we
originally planned.
“Right, I’m heading out. Hey, Aqua, make sure you explain to Megumin and
the others what’s going on after I teleport out. In particular, be sure to tell
them that I’ll teleport home if I’m in any danger, otherwise they’ll definitely
go crazy again.”
Saying that, I activated my Lurk skill, but Aqua grabbed onto the hem of my
clothes and wouldn’t let go.
“…Hey, Kazuma, why do you care so much about slaying the Demon King?”
She uneasily asked.

But at the same time, she had a somewhat expectant look about her.
…She’s probably expecting me to say ‘for your sake’ or something equally

cliché. Honestly it kinda ticks me off a little.
Her eyes were sparkling with anticipation, and she’s definitely taken in by the
romance of a Goddess sending a brave Hero on his way.
“…I’m not doing this for your sake or anything!”
“Can’t you just honestly say ‘I’m doing this for you, my Goddess’ at a time
like this!? …Tsundere NEET, if you really feel that your life is in danger,
make sure you come running back to us, you hear? A beansprout like you
would die instantly if you take a direct hit from the Demon King.”
Don’t call me a beansprout.
“I know, trust me. Do you honestly think I’m the kind of guy who would
fight him till the bitter end? NEETs give up easily, so don’t worry.”
“I know. You’re a coward who gives up easily. I know you’re inept and
easily led astray.”
…Can’t she properly support me even at a time like this?
“…And I know that at the end of the day, no matter how dire the
circumstances, you’ll be able to find a way to resolve it, so go ahead and play
with the Demon King. Just don’t die.”
With a wide confident smile, Aqua met my gaze──
──Using my cloak to cover my face, I pressed my body against the walls and
slowly advanced.
It’s about as far as you can get from a brave warrior on his way to defeat the
Demon King, but I’ve given up on looking like some cool hero.
As I drew closer to the Demon King, Aqua put her palms together and closed
her eyes as if in prayer.

Shortly after, a bright light began emanating from her body, illuminating the
entire room.
…She really does look like a goddess right now.
“Oh, my kin who live in this world…”
As sweat began dripping down from her temples, the glowing goddess started
chanting.
“The Goddess of Water, Aqua, commands you…!”
The attention of Demon King and his guards were immediately drawn to this
unusual phenomenon.
It seems like they wanted to interrupt her, but with Megumin’s staff still in
the way, they couldn’t do anything.
Eventually, Aqua slowly opened her eyes and raised her voice to a crescendo.
“Place a seal on these tainted beings──!”
Just by simply shouting those words, a sense of calmness seemed to descend

over the room.
Hearing the words ‘tainted beings’ made me stiffen up, but it seems that I’m
not that far gone yet.
As the guards formed a wall in front of the Demon King to shield him from
the light,
“Decoy!!”
The battered and bruised Darkness activated a skill and charged straight into
the middle of them.
“Protect the Demon King! Don’t break your formation!”
One of the guards shouted.

But the charging Darkness slammed into him, opening a hole in the wall that
allowed the light to envelop the Demon King.
I looked over in Mitsurugi’s direction, curious as to what he’s doing. He was

getting up to his feet after finally receiving healing from Aqua.
Good. They’ll be more than capable of taking out the remaining minions after
I teleport the Demon King away.
As Darkness flailed around with her fists, attracting the attentions of the
guards with her skill, I successfully managed to maneuver myself behind the
Demon King──
From up close, the Demon King looks to be a particularly large old man.
There is a pair of horns extending from his white hair, but apart from that he
would look indistinguishable from a regular human.
However, he was clad in his flashy, pitch black outfit, and his body was
emitting a constant stream of black mist that strengthened all of his minions.
Anyone who saw that would definitely say he’s a Demon King.
“It’s a bluff, that Crimson Demon girl won’t use that spell in such close
quarters. Ignore the Crusader in your midst and focus on the man with the
magic sword instead! And take care of the other Crimson Demon girl, too!”
A vein twitched on Megumin’s temple upon hearing what the Demon King
said.
Hey, cut it out, don’t antagonise her! She’ll really do it!
“Dammit, how annoying… To think that a goddess would descend to this

world… Is the true identity of the light that fell to the town of beginners
really this dumb-looking woman…?”
The Demon King had his back towards me, staring at Aqua with an annoyed
look.
…Should I change my plan and just stab him in the back?

No, if I fail, that’d be the end of it. Plus, Eris did tell me that poison and
instant death attacks wouldn’t work on him.
Then I’ll just have to teleport him away…!
“To think it was the goddess of water of all people who descended…! Hey,
aren’t you supposed to be governing some other world? Or did you come
here to bail out your junior goddess and put on some airs while you’re at it?”
The Demon King angrily shouted.
But the actual reason why she came to this world is all because of me. I’m
sorry.
──Argh, dammit, I’m scared after all.
The Demon King has his back wide open. The opportunity is right before me.
All I had to do was touch him.
Is there nothing that can bolster my courage? I just need the slightest push…!
──Then, despite still being under the effects of my Lurk skill, I feel like my
eyes met Darkness’s for a moment.
No, our eyes definitely met.
And not just Darkness, but Megumin’s too.
They both quickly looked away, but their faces lit up with a slight smile of
anticipation──
I look over to Aqua, who let her shoulders slump, knowing that her part is
over and the rest is up to me.
…I don’t care for cheat abilities any more.
I don’t need a legendary magic sword, or a prodigious skill, or enough power

not to lose to anyone.

So, Goddess Eris-sama──
So, Goddess Aqua──
Please give this cowardly shut in the courage to take on the Demon King──!
“…!? You!? When the hell did you get there!?”
While chanting my spell, I leapt at the Demon King and screamed.
“Teleport!”

Chapter 4

Glory for this adventurer!

Part 1
We found ourselves standing in front of a pair of lavishly decorated double

doors that wouldn’t seem out of place as a door leading to the final boss room
in a video game.
I had teleported us to the lowest floor of that dungeon.
The Demon King and I were standing in front of where that ancient vampire
had been holed up just a few days ago.
There are no signs of any monsters on this level.
Back when I came here with Wiz and Vanir, the only creature we ran into on
this floor was that vampire.
In other words, this is the perfect place to fight the Demon King.
──The Demon King quickly leapt backwards to gain some distance from me.
“…Where am I? I thought you would’ve teleported to a place where your

friends are waiting for sure… Hmm, judging from the musty smell and the
strong concentration of mana, we must be in a dungeon.”
I told the Demon King where we are as I slowly edged away from him,
“Bingo. We are at the lowest level of what is said to be the deepest dungeon
in this land. If you want to get out of here, you’ll have to trek all the way
up… Or teleport back.”
After hearing my words, the Demon King let out a snort and muttered,
“Right, I’ll be heading back to my castle. Did you really think the Demon
King couldn’t use Teleport? There’s no need for me to remain in this musty

place──”
Before he could finish his sentence, I interrupted.
“Of course I know you can use Teleport. But is the Demon King really going
to run away from a one-on-one fight with a brave adventurer?”
I waggled my index finger as I said provocatively to the Demon King.
“……I see. I don’t know where you got this information from, but it seems
like you did do your research on Demon Kings. It is true, if I were to run
away from such a challenge, I would not be able to call myself the king of the
demons any longer… However, you are a weakling who got done in easily by
one of my underlings. A person of your measly strength is no worthy match
for me. Go train for a few more years before coming back. You should be at
least as strong as that Swordmaster with the magic sword before considering
facing me.”
The Demon King sneered.
In response, I said──
“I am an Adventurer.”
In response to his condescending attitude, I returned with a sneer of my own.
“…Adventurer?”
“Indeed, Adventurer. I have the weakest class, Adventurer.”
I don’t know if this place is enchanted or if it is some kind of bioluminescent

moss, but despite us being far below the surface, this level has always been lit
up in a faint light.
“…You’re an Adventurer? Not an advanced class, or a vanguard, or even a

spellcaster, but a plain Adventurer? That beginner of beginner classes…”
“Indeed. A weak Adventurer is challenging the Demon King to single

combat… Oh? No matter how weakened you are by the goddess’s powers,

I’m sure you’re not so weak that you need to run away from an Adventurer,
are you, my dear Demon King?”
The Demon King’s lips twisted into a frown.
I almost pissed my pants upon seeing that, but I can’t afford to let the Demon
King leave.
Now is the time to put the trolling skills that I’d honed during the time I was
a shut-in back in Japan to good use.
However, the Demon King took a deep breath and calmed down.
“…I won’t fall for your provocations. I didn’t accumulate all these wrinkles
just for show. So what if you are an Adventurer? …Ah, I see what you are up
to. You’re not much use in direct combat, so your role is to teleport me away
and keep me here to buy time for your friends to take care of my subordinates
while they are cut off from my powers.”
He reasoned out loud.
“And once you’ve bought enough time, you’ll teleport away. If I teleport to
the castle after that, I’ll be surrounded by your friends… That’s your plan,
isn’t it?”
After saying that, the Demon King began making preparations to teleport
back.
──Now is not the time to be impressed at his intelligence.
I whipped out a card in front of him.
“Now, now, there’s no need to get hasty. This is my adventurer’s card. It’s a
little dim and there’s some distance between us, but you can see my level,
stats, and class, right? Come on, look at my stats. They are pretty low even
compared to mid-rank adventurers, aren’t they? You can come up with all the
excuses you want, but at the end of the day, you’re just afraid of being
defeated. Would you still run away from such a weak and tasty morsel in
front of you? Is that what a Demon King would do?”

A vein started throbbing on the Demon King’s temple.
“……………Don’t provoke me, little boy. If I feel like it, a brat like you
would be dead in an instant.”
“Oh, that sounds just like what a third rate mid-boss would say. I’m really
disappointed in you. You call yourself a Demon King and put on airs, but
you’re just a cowardly old man who would run away from a man with the
weakest class!”
Crick.
The faint sound of the Demon King grinding his teeth echoed through the
empty level.
“…Save your breath. Knowing that you have the weakest class and are
clearly a sacrificial pawn gives me even less reason to fight you. I now know
for certain that you are only here to buy time. Farewell, big-mouthed little
brat!”
The Demon King said through gritted teeth before going back to completing
his chant…!
“──You know, I was the one who took out most of your generals. Who were
they again? Beldia, Vanir, Hans, Sylvia, Wolbach and Serena. That was the
sequence I faced them in, I think. And there was also Mr. Strongest who was
guarding this castle whose name I didn’t manage to get… As the Demon
King, at least try and avenge your subordinates.”
The Demon King stopped his chant, looked at me, and snorted,
“What a bad joke. Know that a fool like you couldn’t even stall for time!
Cursed Lightning!”
The Demon King suddenly casted a spell at me.
Eh? Shit, I’m going to──!

“!?”
“!?… Ah, that was close… Seriously, what kind of Demon King resorts to
sneak attacks? But well, when you’re as good as me, seeing through an old
man’s tricks is but child’s play. Hahaha!”
That really scared me.
The bolt of black lightning the Demon King sent my way passed through the
place where my head had been just a second ago.
If my Auto-Evasion skill didn’t activate right then, I would be headless right

about now.
As I slowly stepped back in fear, the Demon King tilted his head in confusion
while still maintaining his spell-casting posture.
“…? You used a skill to dodge that, didn’t you? Normally, no one can react
fast enough to lightning magic to dodge it. Well, it would seem that you’re a
troublesome one.”
The Demon King let out a sigh and casually approached me.
Wait, I’m not prepared yet──
“Wait── ”
“Now, what do you intend to do next? You’re out of tricks, aren’t you? I may
be getting up in years, but killing one measly adventurer is still…”
“……?”
The Demon King instantly closed the distance between us and grabbed me by
the chest, but he then suddenly stiffened up.
Then, a small column of smoke started rising from the hand he used to grab
onto my chest, which was accompanied by the sound of sizzling.
“…Gyaaaaaaaaaaah!”

The Demon King quickly let go of me and rolled around in pain on the
ground, clutching at his hand.
I leapt back before looking down to realize that something was missing from
my chest.
I’ve been cherishing it for quite some time…
“What is this!? A protective charm? A curse of some sort!? Uuugh, you’re

full of petty tricks…!!”
The Demon King angrily tossed away the small pouch that he ripped off my
neck.
── That was the Crimson Demon protective amulet that Megumin gave me
some time ago.
[See Volume 9: Chapter 1]
I thought it was just a simple amulet with everyone’s hair stuffed into it,
but…
“Hey, that’s very important to me, so don’t mess it up.”
“…What is this!? My hand is almost burnt to a crisp! Just what is in it…!? …

Blue hair?”
The Demon King said as he cautiously prodded at it from above, and I said,
“It’s a charm stuffed full of a goddess’s hair.”
“I can’t believe I touched such a dangerous object! …Oh, right, I don’t have
time to mess around with you. I thought you were small fry and went easy on
you, but enough of that! If I don’t make it back to my subordinates soon…”
This old man! Even after going through all that he still doesn’t intend on
fighting me!
Now that Aqua has weakened him, I’m sure this will work!

Eris-sama, please let me take something good!
“Steal!”
“!?”
I’ve relied tremendously on this skill ever since I first learnt it.
I looked at my hand──
“Ah, it was a dud…”
“……”
The item I stole from him was a single, intricately embroidered handkerchief
that had a very handmade feel about it.
I casually tossed it aside, and the Demon King hastily leapt for it.
“…Was it something important?”
“…It’s my daughter’s handmade… No, it’s nothing…”
…My conscience hurt a little, but I unexpectedly managed to get my hands

on something that’s really important.
I unsheathed my sword and raised it in front of me, abandoning my strategy

to hold something important of his hostage and went right back to basics.
“You use a sneak attack when you think you can take your enemies out
easily, and start running away when they turn out to be tougher than you
expected. Is this really what a Demon King is made of? Ah-ah, and I even
went out of my way to get my hands on a magic weapon to fight with the
Demon King! I’m really disappointed in you!”
The Demon King glanced at the sword I was holding.
“…It’s certainly enchanted, and it seems really valuable, but I don’t think that
weapon is meant to see actual combat.”

“No, no, this is a pretty impressive weapon. A good friend of mine found it
on the corpse of a dead adventurer, so it’s a completely nameless magic
sword with no achievements to its name. In other words, it’s more than
enough to kill a cowardly Demon King── Wah!”
Perhaps my repeated provocations finally got to him, or perhaps he’s just

angry that I casually threw away the precious gift he got from his daughter,
but──
“Very well! If you want to die so badly, I’ll send you over to the other side
right this instant!”
The Demon King charged straight at me!

Part 2
“Wait! After all this provoking you’re just running like a coward!? What was
it you called me just now? You are the one who’s cowardly!”
The Demon King screamed at me from a distance, but he can say anything he
wants.
Hidden in the shadows of the dungeon, I took aim with my bow──
“You really are crafty to use those useless spells to blind me! Didn’t you
challenge me to a proper duel!? Hurry up and come out, brat!”
I peered out through the darkness at the Demon King running around looking
for me…
Snipe──!
“Hgrk!?”
The arrow hit him right in his temple, and his head snapped to the side.
I blinded him with Create Earth when he charged at me and used that
opportunity to gain some distance. It seems like that really pissed him off.
And having been caught off guard, the Demon King took a direct shot from
my bow, but…
“T-There you are! Just how much do you intend to play around with me
before you are satisfied!?”
The Demon King placed one hand over his temple as he dashed over in my
direction.

What the hell, my attacks are barely working at all!
Does he take reduced damage from any weapon that isn’t enchanted!?
I kept my distance, moving deeper into the dungeon.
I’ll probably be done for if he manages to get into close range with me.
It’s unlikely that I’ll be able to defeat the Demon King with Drain Touch, and
I have no desire to test it out.
Still, if I tried to chip away at him with my bow, I’ll probably run out of
arrows before I can kill him.
“Don’t you think you’re pathetic after provoking me like that? That Magic
swordsman came at me fair and square! And so did that Crusader! What are
you compared to them!?”
Using my Enemy Detection skill, I could sense the Demon King slowly
drawing closer to me.
I pulled out a paper cylinder from my bag and poured oil on it.
I slowly backed away, letting the oil drip on the floor like a fuse, before
activating my skill.
“Trap Creation.”
“There you are!”
Hearing my whisper, the Demon King rushed down a fork in the labyrinth
into a passage that led straight to me.
The Trap Creation skill that Ranger-san taught me really came in handy.
It’s a skill that increases the power and activation chance of any trap, even
one hastily slapped together by an amateur. It’s a skill that perfectly fits
someone like me.

I stood up and faced the Demon King who came charging my way, not even
bothering to conceal my presence.
“Draw your sword, brat! I’ll put an end to this in an instant!”
I lit my lighter and let it drop onto the oil.
When he saw the oil catch fire, the Demon King took a large leap backwards.
“Explosion!”
“!?”
Along with my voice, a loud boom echoed through the labyrinthine dungeon.
The walls and floors of the dungeon cracked, and pieces of them even came
flying at me.
“…! What…! What is this!?”
My homemade imitation dynamite tore up the Demon King’s leg from the
knee down.
Dammit, he took far less damage than I expected.
Is his damage resistance applying to this too, since it isn’t magic either?
Judging from the power, it should be more than powerful enough to tear his
leg clean off…
In order to keep my inner worries hidden, I faced the Demon King who was
on his knee after taking a wound, and slowly backed away while putting on a
brave front.
“Heh, don’t think I am just a normal adventurer. As I said before, I’m the one
who took out most of your generals. A single Explosion is easily within the
grasp of my abilities.”
“You lie! That isn’t even close to the power of a true Explosion! I couldn’t

detect any magic coming from you, so you must have used an explosive
potion of some sort! You really are full of cheap tricks── Hey──!”
I turned tail and dashed away before the Demon King could finish his
sentence, and he limped after me.
Despite being weakened, his physical stats are still far superior to mine.
Even with his injuries, he’s still easily keeping pace with me.
I wonder how far this level extends.
If I accidentally wind up in a dead end, I’ll definitely be crushed by him.
Rummaging through my bag, I pulled out my last stick of imitation dynamite.
Dammit, if Megumin didn’t hate these things so much, I could’ve made far
more of them…
It’s a real pain to make them while keeping it a secret from Megumin.
If I could catch him in another blast, I could weaken him just enough that I
can finish him off with my magic sword…
──Just then.
I sensed an extremely dangerous presence behind me.
This is a really bad one.
It’s not as powerful as when Megumin is preparing her Explosion, but the
Demon King is definitely working on a powerful spell behind me.
Looking back, the Demon King was pointing at me.
I can probably make it out if my Auto-Evasion skill activates, but that’s

relying too much on my luck. If It doesn’t activate, I’ll probably die instantly.
There’s about ten meters between me and the Demon King.

This is bad, his chant is longer than the lightning spell he cast earlier!
“I’m tired of playing around with you. I’m not getting any younger, after all.
I was hoping to conserve my mana for when I returned, but… You will not
be able to dodge this.”
Crap, something is coming! This is bad! This is really bad!
Do I have any defensive spells available to me?
I took out one of the top grade manatite that Megumin gave me from my bag.
“Eat this! Inferno!”
“Create Earth!”
I pulled on every last scrap of mana contained within that piece of manatite
and created a large volume of earth in front of me.
“What! Ouch! Hot!”
I heard that shout from the other side of the earth wall.
He must have been burnt by the heat that was sent blowing back at him after
being blocked from coming my way by the earth wall I created.
Still, this manatite really is something. I don’t think I’ve ever created this
much earth in my entire life.
…Hold on a minute.
If that is the case…
“You annoying little brat! Are you trying to seal off this passage with dirt and
run away!? In that case, then our little game of tag is over! I’m──!”
I took out another piece of manatite.
“Create Earth Golem!”

“Going… Back to… The castle…”
The soil moved and shaped itself into a vague humanoid shape.
Normally, my mana is only enough to create a flimsy earth doll, but…
“…You are capable… Of something like this…?”
With the mana contained inside a top-grade manatite, I could create a golem
so large that it dwarved even the Demon King. In fact, the golem is so huge
that it just barely scraped the ceiling.
I looked at the Demon King through the gap in the earth golem’s legs and
smiled.
──This game of tag isn’t over yet.
“Time for round two!”
“Dammit!”

Part 3
“Coward! What kind of Demon King turns tail and flees!? Fight me head on!
What were you calling me earlier!?”
“You son of a bitch! You son of a bitch!”
As our roles have now reversed, I was the one chasing the Demon King
around the dungeon.
“Wahahaha! The Demon King is so weak! All of your generals put up a far
greater fight than you!”
“You fool! What are you expecting from an old man who’s already long past
his prime!? In the first place, my true power lies in strengthening my men,
not in fighting in the front lines! Not to mention I’m currently weakened!”
Not even the Demon King could defeat such a giant golem head on, or
perhaps he is simply worried about me landing a sneak attack while he’s busy
fighting it. In any case, he quickly turned tail and limped away.
It might seem like I have the advantage, but in truth, I focused all my mana
into creating the biggest and strongest golem I could create, sacrificing
operational time in the process.
If this drags out for too long, the golem will cease functioning, so I need to
settle this as fast as I can.
“Eat this! Snipe! Snipe! Snipe!”
“Ow! Ah! Gurk! Y-You…!”
I shot a few arrows through the gap between the golem’s legs.

It’s nothing more than a mild annoyance, but it seems it’s more than enough
to make the Demon King lose his composure.
If he teleports my golem away or something like that, it’d be over for me

instantly, so I need to keep him from thinking straight.
…Ah, crap, I’m out of arrows.
The ideal situation is to have the golem tie the Demon King down while I
finish him with my last imitation dynamite and my magic sword, but…
“…Pant… Pant… I can’t run anymore…”
The Demon King stopped in his tracks.
“Did you really take out my generals? …I’m sure you did… You might be
using underhanded tricks, but even I have been pushed this far.”
What’s with the sudden conversation?
Is he trying to buy time until my golem ceases to function?
But the golem will continue to attack the Demon King until I stop him.
“How did they fare? Did they give you a battle they wouldn’t be ashamed of,
like what a general should do? Did they at least give you trouble?”
“…Beldia was purified while he was wandering around in confusion after I

stole his head. Come to think of it, taking him out is the reason why I first
landed into debt.”
The Demon King took a deep breath, and his golden, raptor-like eyes flashed.
“Vanir was blasted to pieces with Explosion, but he turned up the next day
happily working at Wiz’s store as her assistant. I’ve lost count of the number
of times I got ripped off by him.”
The golem extended its hand towards the Demon King.

“Hans almost devoured me, and Sylvia also almost devoured me in a
different way. Ah, but Wolbach seemed to have a pretty good head on her
shoulders… And the last general we fought, Serena, turned me into a Regina
worshipper and killed me. Well, I’ve been through a lot thanks to them.”
“……Seems like you’ve had your fair share of troubles too…”
I sighed, and the Demon King seemed to genuinely sympathize.
It seems like this old man went through a lot thanks to them too.
“Create Earth!”
Suddenly, the Demon King created a large amount of Earth in front of me.
The amount of earth he created was comparable to the amount I created with
the help of a top grade manatite.
The sudden appearance of the wall of earth blocked my golem’s hand.
“Wait, you’re not──”
“Create Earth Golem!”
At the Demon King’s voice, the mound of earth shivered and twisted into a
humanoid form.
His golem was about a head smaller than mine.
I really shouldn’t be saying this, but the Demon King really is capable of
anything!
“…Phew. Oh no, that took up more magic than I expected… Still, you’ve
done quite well, brat. Against a swordsman, use a sword. Against a
spellcaster, use spells. And against an adventurer, use whatever specialty they
have demonstrated to crush them… But still, you’re the first one that forced
me to resort to such a strange fighting style.”
The Demon King seemed genuinely impressed, but right now I couldn’t care

less.
It’s true that my golem is bigger, but the Demon King’s ability is…!
“Now it’s my turn. But you truly are a man with plenty of interesting ideas. I
wonder what you’re going to do next?”
The Demon King’s golem, bolstered by the Demon King’s aura, smashed my
golem to dirt with a single punch.
“Now then, little brat, it’s time for round three!”
“Dammit!”

Part 4
“Fuhahaha! Run, run! Why don’t you try creating another golem? You might
actually win this time, you know!?”
The Demon King’s elated voice came from behind me along with the sound
of heavy footsteps.
Three more pieces of manatite on me.
One last stick of imitation dynamite.
And a single magic sword and my sword with the strange name. Those are
my only weapons.
“You know very well that if I create a new golem, it would easily lose to
yours! Your personality is really twisted! Just as expected of the boss of all
those guys!”
I shouted in return as I ran through the dark and twisting passages.
“Wha…! W-Wait! Those guys gave me a ton of trouble too! Beldia wouldn’t
stop rolling his head into the baths, Vanir would constantly prey on my
soldiers to harvest their dark emotions, and Wiz would take money and
precious items from the treasury without asking and start selling them as
practice for opening a real shop…!”
The Demon King spoke in a rapid-fire manner, as though he couldn’t stand to

be lumped into the same category as them.
“Hans should properly ask if he wants to eat something, and not sneak into
the granary and rub his poisonous body all over the food store there! Sylvia,
stop saying you want to ‘become one’ to anyone who catches your eye! And

Serena constantly runs around the castle asking people for money in the name
of donations! Wolbach is the only decent one of the bunch…! So don’t talk
as if I’m the worst one of them all!”
Y-You’ve really suffered, huh…
Despite my sympathies for him, I took out my last stick of imitation dynamite
from my bag.
Non-magical attacks aren’t very effective on the Demon King, but if it was
used on the golem instead…!
I turned around and threw the stick of imitation dynamite at the golem.
Then I stuck out my hand…!
“Tinder!”
“!?”
When the smoke cleared, the golem’s upper body was completely eradicated,
leaving only a pair of legs that still slowly continued walking towards me.
That explosion just now was pretty big, and fragments of stone were starting
to fall from the ceiling. I’m a little worried that this entire place might
collapse.
“Y-You bastard…”
The Demon King angrily growled as clumps of dirt from his golem splattered
his face.
I responded with a victorious smile and declared.
“…Incidentally, that wasn’t Explosion. It’s just Tinder.”
“I know that! You even screamed ‘Tinder’ just now! In the first place, there’s
no way a mere Adventurer could use top-tier spells like Explosion!”

The enraged Demon King chased after me once again.
Dammit, despite being the Demon King, he knows nothing about the
common Demon King tropes!
I still have three pieces of manatite left. What should I do? Should I intercept
him now?
As I was considering my actions, the Demon King extended his right hand
towards me.
I grabbed a piece of manatite and…
“Lightning!”
I concentrated all the mana reserves contained within that piece of manatite
into a bolt of lightning and shot it at the Demon King.
At the same time, the Demon King shot a bolt of black lightning at me, which
deflected off of mine and brushed against my right shoulder.
“…Graaaaah! Not bad! Not bad, little brat!”
“… O-Oooooouch! My shoulder! There’s a hole in my shoulder!”
I clutched my right shoulder and howled in pain. At the same time, the
Demon King crouched in place, cradling his right thigh.
I had a hole torn straight through my shoulder, but he doesn’t seem to have
suffered a serious wound at all.
This is bad. Standing here trading blows with him is just going to result in my
death. I need to retreat──!
“Trying to play a game of tag again? Sorry, brat, but I tire of that game.
Cursed Lightning!”

While still crouched on one knee, the Demon King extended his hand and
fired another blast of his deadly spell.
…I’m done for.
How is he able to fire such powerful spells in quick succession without

chanting at all?
I subconsciously drew my magic sword with the hand that was pressed
against my shoulder and moved it in front of me to cover myself…
──With a crisp sound, the magic sword that took the force of that spell head
on, shattered.
“Aaah!”
“!? …You found a way to survive even in that situation. Just how lucky are
you?”
With the weapon I’ve been relying on reduced to pieces, I desperately threw
the hilt of the sword at the Demon King as I retorted.
“What do you mean by lucky!? If I was really lucky, I wouldn’t be in this

place in the first place! Aaah… That bastard Dust, I can’t believe he gave me
such a rubbish sword!”
“Y-You shouldn’t say that about something another person gave you… In the
first place, a regular magic sword wouldn’t be able to fend off a spell like
that…”
Ignoring the Demon King’s confusion, I pulled out my favoured blade from
my back.
“In any case, you’re now out of options. How many manatite do you have
left, and how many more times can you cast Lightning? You can’t cast
Advanced Magic, can you? If you could, you would have used far more
damaging spells than the intermediate spell, Lightning, that you’ve been
using… So, what do you intend to do with that butter knife of yours? It
doesn’t even look like it’s enchanted.”

“It’s Chunchunmaru.”
………
“…What?”
The Demon King seems taken aback.
“It’s called Chunchunmaru. It’s not some butterknife, it’s called

Chunchunmaru. After I defeat you, I’m going to donate this sword to a
museum as the sword that slew the Demon King──”
“Uwah!?”
My Auto-Evasion skill activated, allowing me to dodge the bolt of lightning

that the Demon King sent my way.
“Bastard, just how long do you intend to keep this up!? This is the first time
I’ve been vexed to this degree!”
I’m trying to anger the Demon King so he runs out of mana, but I think this is
the only time this weirdly named sword of mine has come in handy.
I threw my sword on the ground, which couldn’t damage the Demon King
anyway, and pressed my hand to my shoulder.
“Heal!”
“…You can use healing spells too?”
The Demon King exasperatedly said.
“Heal! Heal!”
Enduring the pain, I repeatedly casted recovery magic on my shoulder.

But the wound is too deep for my spells to do much good.
Clutching my still aching right shoulder, I stood up and turned my back on

the Demon King once again,
“You really are good at running away, aren’t you? That’s enough, just give
up. You did pretty well for an adventurer. I’m saying this from the heart. Out
of respect for your performance so far, I’m willing to let you go. You still
have a piece of manatite, don’t you? I’ll give you time to finish chanting your
Teleport.”
The Demon King’s voice called out from behind me.
Ignoring his honestly very appealing offer, I turned around the corner and
slumped against the wall, hand clutched firmly over my shoulder as I slowly
sank to the ground.
…This is bad. I can’t stop the bleeding. And it really hurts.
He said he’ll let me teleport away…
What should I do? Have my companions back at the castle already taken care
of the Demon King’s personal guards?
Well, I managed to hold out pretty well fighting the Demon King alone, so
I’m sure he won’t be a problem for those guys.
More importantly, I need to hurry up and stop the bleeding.
“Say, brat, I don’t think I ever caught your name. In this kind of decisive
battle, as the Demon King, I should make an effort to get your name. Why
don’t you name yourself?”
The sound of the Demon King’s limping steps drew closer to me, and I pulled
out yet another one of my manatite.
“Heal!”
After the wound on my shoulder closed, I shouted over in the direction of the

Demon King.
“My name is Satou Kazuma… What is your name?”
I’ve lost too much blood. My body is sluggish.
I know I need to stand up as soon as possible, but I just couldn’t find the
energy to do so.
“It’s Yasaka.”
Listening to the Demon King’s soft voice, I…
Wait.
“Yasaka? Demon King Yasaka? I was expecting you to have a much more
terrifying name.”
The limping steps of the Demon King stopped after I said that.
It seems like the Demon King has stopped walking.
Then, I heard the sound of laughter coming from around the corner.
I couldn’t see his face, but it sounded like he was genuinely laughing.
“My name is Yasaka Kyouichi. Demon King Yasaka Kyouichi.”
………Eh?
“…Wait, wait, wait, what? Are you from Japan? Are you human?”
In response to my panicked voice, the Demon King replied jovially.
“No, I’m a simple Demon. I’ve never been to the place known as Japan,
though I’ve heard rumours of that country. Come to think of it, you have the
same name as a famous hero.”
……!?

“Hey, stop spouting things that make absolutely no sense! What, are you
trying to confuse me so I will hesitate to finish you off? That’s really low,
you know.”
“Who is going to finish off whom, I wonder? Heheh, you know, I always get
plenty of interesting reactions from adventurers like you whenever I name
myself… Do you want to know the origin of my name? And do you want to
know why the Demon King’s army is attacking humanity? It should be the
greatest unsolved mystery of the Demon King’s army.”
Saying that, the Demon King let out a bout of heartfelt laughter.
──Wait, what’s going on?
What’s with this strange development that often takes place during the final
battle in games and comics and the like?
“I never said I wanted to know any of that. Why would you specifically offer
to tell me about any of that?”
“Because those are the questions the people with strange names like yours
would ask upon meeting me. There is a popular fairy tale amongst your kind
about the hero that became a Demon King… So, do you want to hear the
truth of the matter that no one else knows?”
[See Explosions spinoff 2: Epilogue for that famous fairy tale]
Saying that, the Demon King let out a chuckle.
“…Um, so, can you tell me about the origin of your name? You can tell me
why the Demon King’s army is attacking humanity later…”
“If you want to know that, you’ll have to defeat me first!”
T-This guy is really infuriating!!
“Wahahaha! Did that get on your nerves? It did, didn’t it? Ah, it feels nice to
finally get you back after suffering so much at your hands!”

This old man is acting just like a little child!
“…Still, it’s been some time since I named myself like this. So far, I’ve only
ever given my name to those who are about to die. But I shall allow you to
take this knowledge of my name home with you. Call it a gift in recognition
of the fact that you pushed me this far in a fight all by yourself.”
After saying that, the Demon King once again began limping towards me.
If I don’t teleport out of here right now, he’ll probably finish me off.
I only have one piece of manatite left.
I don’t have enough mana right now to teleport home by myself.
If I want to go home, I would have no choice but to use this.
“Say, are you really going to go back to your castle? My companions would
probably be waiting for you when you get back. After all the time we spent
down here, your personal guards would probably all be dead by now.”
Hearing my words, the Demon King replied,
“Well, yes, against those guys, I suppose all my subordinates would’ve long
since been defeated by now… I suppose I’ll take a little break after I kill you
or you run away. Then I’ll make my way through this dungeon and recruit a
few powerful monsters to my side. By the time I return after my rest, my
daughter should be coming back to the castle with the main army.”
It just occurred to me that if the Demon King’s daughter returned with her
army, that would result in the worst possible outcome.
I could teleport back to Axel, recover my strength, and teleport back

alongside a few of Axel’s strongest adventurers…
No, no, I don’t have enough mana left to teleport here, and this piece of
manatite is my last.
I could get a few of the adventurers to share their mana with me with Drain

Touch, but they should be involved in a defensive battle right now.
Even if I asked, how many adventurers would actually be willing to abandon

the town in their time of need to tag along with me?
──Clack. Clack.
The sound of the Demon King’s footsteps closed in.
…What would happen if I go home without defeating him?
Would those three troublemakers obey my instructions to me and run away if

the Demon King comes back with a bunch of monsters in tow?
…No, they’ve never listened to me to begin with, so why would they start
now?
Could I get the Demon King to pass on a message that we fought to a tie and
I went back to town ahead of them?
But there’s no way they’ll believe him…
That leaves…
“Say, if I said I want to go back to the castle with you, would you give me a
lift?”
“…I see no reason for me to aid you. Though, you are quite talented, you
know? Have you considered coming to work for me? I’ll have to put a curse
on you that prevents you from betraying me, but if you are fine with that, I
can take you back to the castle.”
Yeah, of course.
Wait, couldn’t I let him put his curse on me and bring me back to the castle,
then have Aqua break the curse?
…No, no, if it is a curse to prevent me from betraying him, it might even

prevent me from speaking about it to Aqua.

──Clack. Clack.
As his footsteps drew ever closer, I sat down and pulled out two things from
around my back.
In my right hand I held my adventurer’s card, covered in stains after spending

such a long time with me.
In my other hand, I held my last piece of manatite.
──Clack. Clack.
…Honestly, this doesn’t suit me.
I always thought that stuff like this should be left to the people who want to
be an ally of justice.
Or perhaps those who want to become a hero, or those blatantly overpowered

folks.
It really shouldn’t suit someone who only wants to be a NEET that lazes
around until noon every day, drinks late into the night, is waited on by
beautiful girls and enjoys a life of wealth and luxury.
“So, are you done with your preparations for casting Teleport? I did say I’ll
let you go, but I can’t promise I can hold myself back the moment I lay eyes
on your detestable face.”
As the Demon King drew ever closer, I thought…
──Those guys will probably get mad at me.
But if I don’t this, they’ll probably lose their cool and do something really
stupid.
I reached out to my adventurer’s card, and the Demon King’s footsteps came
right up next to me..
“──Please don’t turn the corner, don’t get angry, and hear me out. How

about we call it a draw right here? You can send me back to the Demon
King’s castle first.”
At my words, the Demon King’s footsteps came to a complete stop.
“After you give me a lift, I’ll go back to town with my companions. You can
take as long a break as you want. Or, even if you want to go back to the castle
without resting, I promise my friends won’t lay a finger on you.”
The dungeon is completely silent.
“…Heh… Hahahaha. A tie? What are you saying? It seems you have some
kind of misunderstanding. You lost. It’s only by my whim that I allow you to
walk away…!”
The Demon King turned the corner, and immediately froze in his tracks.
His eyes fell on the ball of Explosion Magic shining between my hands.
“………I see, a draw, huh? Very well, adventurer. I’ll send you back to the
castle first. Would that be acceptable?”
“That won’t do. I told you, didn’t I? Don’t turn around the corner, and don’t
get angry. There’s no way I can trust you now that you’ve seen this. What
would I do if you sent me to some deep crater out in the middle of nowhere? I
would be on the losing end then, wouldn’t I?”
Without taking his eyes off the ball of light I hand in my hands, the Demon
King gulped.
“…I understand. So, what should we do? If you unleash Explosion Magic at
this distance, neither of us would be safe. No, even if you fired it from
outside the blast radius, it would definitely cause this entire dungeon to
collapse. I’m sure you’re well aware of that, which is why you didn’t use it
until now, right?”
Well, you could say that.
“In the first place, how can you, who couldn’t even use Advanced Magic,

cast a top tier and most complex spell like Explosion? Just what are you?”
“…I wonder. I’m not sure of that myself. I’m not even sure of my place in
the world. Am I their… Guardian? Lover? Owner? Master? Friend?
Companion? Roommate? …I wonder which of these terms best fit me?”
Seeing me suddenly become pensive in such a situation, the Demon King

nervously looked down at my hands while breaking out in cold sweat.
“There’s a girl I know that loves this spell. She would drag me along and
randomly blow things up with it every day. After spending so much time
going along with her daily routine, it seems that I’ve become so familiar with
the incantations and movements of the spell that even an Adventurer like me
could learn it.”
The light between my hands is blazingly hot, to the point where it feels like
my hands are being burnt.
It feels like it would go off if I relaxed for even a moment.
I can’t believe Megumin is able to control such a dangerous thing every day.
“If you fire it from this distance, someone as weak as you would be reduced
to ashes and dust. But I’m still a Demon King. A single shot of Explosion
fired from an adventurer might not be enough to kill me, you know?”
“After Aqua has weakened you, there’s probably no chance that you can
survive it. And besides, this entire dungeon would come down anyway. Even
if you manage to survive somehow, it wouldn’t do you any good if you were
buried alive.”
At those words, the Demon King once again fell silent.
I feel light headed. Seems like I’m still suffering the effects of blood loss.
──It’s best to end this as quickly as possible.
“…Aren’t you afraid of dying?”

“I’m super scared of dying. I’ve already died several times, so that makes me
even more afraid.”
I’m scared of dying.
Honestly, I feel like I’m about to start crying anytime now.
When I think about all those people that I won’t be able to talk to ever again,
my chest hurts. It really hurts.
However.
“…If I die here, many things that are unknown to humanity would vanish
forever with me…. Don’t you want to know the origin of my name? And why
the Demon King’s army is──”
“I don’t care.”
──But.
I’m sure they are expecting me to find a way out of that too.
“…Cursed──”
“Explosion!”

Part 5
My body felt weightless, and it felt like I was floating.
Actually, I couldn’t see or hear anything.
But then, I felt like I heard a voice calling me from afar.
I turned towards where the voice was coming from.
Just by willing myself to move, I somehow started floating towards the

source of that voice.
It feels like I’m dreaming, or perhaps floating on a cloud.
I wonder what this strange sensation is?
As I drifted in the direction of that voice, I eventually came face to face with
a pillar of light──
“──Welcome to the afterlife. I am the goddess who will guide you on your
new path, Aqua. Satou Kazuma-san, you’ve lost your life at the bottom of the
dungeon. Unfortunately, your life is now over.”
……
I found myself in a familiar white room.
I jumped into the pillar of light after discovering it, but for some reason,
Aqua is standing in front of me.
And standing next to her is Eris.
…The fact that she’s here means that the Demon King was defeated, right?

Actually, what happened after that?
Was she sent here the moment I defeated the Demon King?
“Hey, Aqua, what happened after I teleported the Demon King away?”
I asked her, but for some reason, she refused to look me in the eye.
Her hair covered her face, so I couldn’t make out her expression from here.
“…There are a few choices available to you.”
Aqua said those words in a flat monotone.
“…Do you want to be reborn as a baby in this world?”
“…Hey, Aqua, start by explaining the situation. What happened to everyone

after I left? And you should look at someone while you’re talking to them.”
I asked her again, but Aqua simply ignored me and bluntly continued on.
“…Or would you want to be reborn as a baby in peaceful Japan?”
“Hey, listen to me. I’m asking what happened after I left. If you keep
avoiding me I’m going to stick my fingers up your nose.”
Finally, Aqua lifted her head, and said in a wavering voice.
“…Or would you rather live in peace in Heaven, where you will be free of
dealing with troublesome companions, crushing debts, getting arrested, or
other such hardships…!”
Her shoulders were shaking and tears flowed down her cheeks.
…She’s really crying.
Eris gently placed a hand on Aqua’s shoulder.
Aqua buried her face into Eris’s chest, trembling and choking.

Seeing her like this, I managed to catch on to what’s going on.
The fact that she’s crying like this probably means that I can no longer be
revived.
I went into it fully knowing that this might happen, so it wasn’t a shock to
me.
…I thought I would feel more conflicted over this, but I’m surprisingly calm.
Perhaps it’s because I did my utmost and achieved what I set out to do.
──Which is, to bring her back here.
I looked down at my body, and everything below my chest is transparent.
Eris, holding the sobbing Aqua gently in her arms, said to me while stroking
her hair.
“…Kazuma-san, thank you for your hard work. Everyone who was there has
safely defeated the Demon King’s underlings and are currently waiting and
praying for your safety. The moment you defeated the Demon King, Senpai
was transported here. And everyone who saw that, seemed to understand that
you succeeded in your mission.”
I let out a sigh of relief.
“Right now, they are tending to their wounds after that fierce battle. They
seem to be in some confusion upon seeing Senpai disappear, but…”
…Come to think of it, they don’t know that I died in that dungeon, right?
Well, nuts, what if Megumin and Darkness go out searching for me?
Actually, I feel like the people of Axel would join in with this searching
expedition too.
It might actually end up being a pretty major operation…

…Yeah, unlike me, those guys would do a proper search for me, wouldn’t
they?
…It really is hard to leave everyone behind without being able to share a few
last words with them.
I’m really glad I don’t have a body right now.
Otherwise, I would probably be crying as hard as Aqua is right now.
──My thoughts must have shown up on my face somehow.
Eris turned towards me with a gentle smile and said.
“…Now, Satou Kazuma-san, as the hero who died defeating the Demon
King… I’ve been allowed to offer you another option in addition to the ones
that people are normally allowed to take.”
Aqua sharply raised her head at the news.
“Option one, as mentioned previously, you can choose to live a leisurely life
in Heaven.”
Eris raised a finger to her lips and smiled.
“Option two, I can grant you a body and return you to Japan. If you choose
this, I can offer you enough money that you’ll never need to worry about
financial matters for the rest of your life. And I can arrange for you to meet
your ideal spouse… Hey, Senpai!? Y-You’re too close! Your face is too
close!”
Aqua wiped away her tears and listened to Eris with rapt attention.
Eris cleared her throat and continued,
“And, option three, which would be to get your body back, and once again
return to that world.”
──Aqua broke out into a wide smile upon hearing those words.

…What’s with that stupid smiling face?
She’s smiling like she already knows which option I would choose.
It’s a little too early for me to be heading to Heaven.
But, living in Japan is an appealing option.
Not only will I have enough money to live the rest of my life in peace, but
there’s also what Eris said about my ideal spouse and what not…
In other words, if I return to Japan, I’ll be able to enjoy a life free of

hardships or unreasonable situations together with my lovely wife.
“Now, which one will it be?”
Eris waited for my response with a smile.
What even is there to consider?
Just how much trouble did I go through in that world?
It’s full of strange creatures and incorrigible people.
It’s a world where people with common sense are considered rare, a garbage
world that’s rotten to the core.
If I go back to that world, I’ll definitely see no end of hardships in the future.
That’s why I said that there’s nothing to consider.
“Please send me back to that good-for-nothing world that I hate so much.”
Hearing my unhesitant reply, Eris broke out into a smile.
“Well, now that you’ve made your decision, we should hurry up and go back
to everyone! Eris, do what you do with this and that, and send us back to the
Demon King’s throne room. I’m sure they’re worried about me after I
suddenly disappeared, so I need to go back to them!”

Aqua said that as she excitedly pranced around the room.
However, Eris furrowed her brow.
“…Um, Senpai, I’m sorry to say this, but, now that you’ve already returned
to Heaven… As the goddess in charge of Japan, for you to go down to this
world to play is a little…”
Aqua grabbed Eris by the shoulders before she could finish, and rapidly
shook her head as tears gathered around her eyes.
“Even if you give me those eyes, there’s nothing I can…! Ah, please stop!
Senpai, please don’t try and rip out my pads! Really, even if you do that
there’s nothing I can do!”
As the two goddesses started struggling in front of me.
“…Can I ask a few questions?”
I scratched at my cheeks with my half transparent fingers.
“I seem to recall some talk about granting me a single wish of any kind if I
defeat the Demon King.”
I asked Eris a vitally important question.
The two goddesses stopped moving the moment they heard that.
“Hey, Eris, what should we do? I told him that because I thought that there
would be no way he could defeat the Demon King. This guy is the kind of
person who might seriously ask to become a god or own the universe.”
“I-I know he’s Kazuma-san, but even so I don’t think he will… Ah, but he
might wish to live a harem life with all the beautiful girls he’s met…”
The two of them started whispering to each other, but I could clearly hear
each and every word.
And seriously, the prize was a lie? The goddesses here are really useless!

Forming a harem with the girls I know is really tempting, but I’ve already
decided on my wish.
“Please give me a cheat since I didn’t really pick one when I first went to that
world.”
Eris chuckled upon hearing that.
“I agree to your wish. The Demon King might be defeated, but that world is
still filled with strong monsters, so if you want to continue living in that
world, I suppose you can’t go without that…”
Eris gave me a mischievous smile. It seems like she figured out where I was
going with that.
“Ah…”
Aqua extended her hand towards me after letting out a gasp of realization, but
quickly retracted it as if she had second thoughts.
After all that’s happened, it seems like she’s a little too embarrassed to call
herself my cheat.
Just the fact that she realizes that she is a handful of a goddess is a
tremendous leap in her self-awareness.
“Now, what cheat do you want? A powerful weapon? A strong body? Or

perhaps an exemplary talent?”
Eris excitedly said, while next to her, Aqua was uncharacteristically silent.
It’s rare to see someone as assertive and headstrong as her silent like that. If
only she was like this more often, I wouldn’t have had so much trouble.
I said to Eris.
“Does a Goddess count as a cheat?”
Eris gave me a smile from the bottom of her heart.

And next to her, Aqua broke out into the brightest smile that I have ever seen
her make.
“Eris! Eris! Hurry up and revive Kazuma! Quickly! If we take too long, the
others at the castle would’ve finished resting and gone back to town!”
“Yes, yes, I understand, so lend me some of your strength too, Senpai. We

are reviving someone who has lost his body, after all… Now, then, Kazuma-
san, this is a very special exception. It won’t happen again, so be sure to
value your life in the future──”
“Enough about that already! Come on, let’s go!”
“Ah, Senpai! Oh, fine… Right, let’s go…!”
“Resurrection!” x2
I felt a burning heat deep within me after receiving the powers from the two
goddesses.
My body felt heavy again, and a slight chill went through my feet as they
touched the ground.
Then the two goddesses suddenly turned around.
…?
“S-Senpai! This is all because you rushed into it! Hurry up and find some
clothes or something…!”
“But-but I couldn’t help it! I completely forgot about it! Hey, Kazuma-san,
you’re very bold right now!”
I was standing completely naked right now.
“P-Please wait a moment, I’ll get some clothes…! Here, Senpai, you hand it
over to him! You’ve already seen it countless times, haven’t you!?”
“I don’t wanna, I feel like I’ll be devoured! Kazuma-san, you used to be so

cute, but I guess you’ve really grown up now…”
“Oh, cut it out and just give me my clothes already! Just how long do you
plan on keeping me stark naked!?”

Part 6
After I got dressed, Eris turned around to face me.
“…Now, after this, you’ll be able to freely come back to Heaven at any time.
Though, it doesn’t seem you have any intentions of returning anytime soon.”
She said as she looked at Aqua excitedly bouncing on the balls of her feet
next to me.
“Yeah? Everything turned out alright in the end! If I didn’t promise to grant
you a wish, the Demon King wouldn’t have been defeated anyway… Oh?
Wait, couldn’t it be said that Kazuma was guided by a goddess to defeat the
Demon King? I did weaken the Demon King, so I think I acted pretty much
like a model goddess this time, if I say so myself… Thinking about it that
way, aren’t I kind of like the MVP?”
Aqua, maybe because she’s overly excited, or perhaps because her ability to
learn from experience is still critically low, got carried away and spouted out
all this nonsense.
“…Hey, are you insulting me? I was the one who defeated the Demon King.
Do you get that? Kazuma the Hero did it. I’m the one who is going to become
a legend. You are just the useless goddess who ran away from home and had
to be rescued by me. So what are you even saying?”
“Oh? Do you realize that a beansprout NEET like you would’ve had no
chance of taking out the Demon King without my help? In fact, I should be
taking a larger share of the bounty on his head for my efforts. Yeah, 90 to 10
sounds about right. Also, now that I’ve returned to Heaven, I’ll be able to use
the full extent of my goddess power from now on. So you better watch how
you treat me, otherwise you might receive divine punishment.”

Aqua confidently flipped her hair and spouted out such shameless lines.
Eris watched the both of us with an amused look on her face.
“I hope Darkness and Megumin aren’t worried to tears after seeing me vanish
in front of their eyes. We should hurry back so I can reassure them!”
Aqua continued on, saying such flippant words.
“Now, then, Kazuma-san… It’s time for you to voice your wish…”
Eris placed her hands together in prayer, and also seemingly expressing
thanks for defeating the Demon King.
Seeing her give me such a godly smile really makes her seem like a proper
heroine.
Compared to her…
“Hey, Kazuma, I want a glass of ice-cold Crimson Beer when we get back to
town! Please be prepared to cast Freeze a lot on my mug. I want to hurry
back and see Emperor Zell! He’s probably grown into a great dragon by
now!”
I repeatedly shifted my gaze between Aqua and Eris.
“…? What’s with that strange expression? You’ve always looked a little
strange, but now you look even worse off than usual. Do you want me to cast
Heal on you?”
………
I told Eris my wish──
──After a moment of dizziness, I found myself standing in a familiar place.
This is the Demon King’s throne room.
As proof of that, the bodies of the Demon King’s personal guard are strewn

about all over.
My sudden appearance seemed to leave everyone present stunned for a

moment. But then,
“Kazuma, welcome… Back…”
Darkness and Megumin rushed to welcome me back, but their words trailed
off as they looked at me in confusion.
Now that I have the chance to take a good look at her, Darkness is practically
covered in grievous wounds.
It doesn’t seem immediately life threatening, but it’s clear that she’s been in a
fierce battle.
Yunyun and Megumin are completely dumbfounded, but they don’t seem to
have any injuries on them.
…On the other hand, Mitsurugi has collapsed on the other side of the room,
and his two followers are hovering around him.
He’s still breathing, so he’s not dead yet.
“Umm…”
Pointing at the person standing next to me, Megumin timidly asked.
“…Who is she?”
The person she’s pointing to is the goddess, Eris.
I waved my hand over to Eris, who was nervously looking around at a

complete loss for what to do.
“This is the famous goddess, Eris-sama. I brought her with me as my reward

for defeating the Demon King.”
“Eh!?” x3

Megumin, Yunyun and Darkness let out a surprised yelp and stepped back.
Then, Darkness got down on one knee…
“O-Oh, Eris-sama! You look just like the sculptures in… The church…”
Darkness lifted her head and slowly trailed off as she examined Eris’s face.
Eris quickly averted her gaze.
Just then,
“Whyyyyyy!?”
A sudden pillar of light appeared in the room, and from within popped out
Aqua.
“Ah! How did you come down here by yourself!?”
“S-Senpai!? What are you doing!? You can’t come down to a world outside
your jurisdiction without permission! Don’t blame me if you can’t get back to
Heaven again!”
Hearing both our voices, Aqua broke out in tears.
“Waaaaaaah! K-Kazumaaaaaaa! Waaaaah! Aaaaaaaah! Bwaaaaaah!”
“You really a pain in the ass, you know that!? I left you back there because
you were getting full of yourself! I was going to go get you back after a
while, so why did you do this you idiot!?”
Seeing the familiar sight of Aqua crying up a storm, Megumin and Darkness
let out a sigh of relief.
Then──
“Hey~! I don’t really get what’s happening, but if the priest is back, please
save Kyouya!”

“Yeah, he’s really hurt!”
Almost as if to drown out their voices, Yunyun suddenly screamed,
“Aaah!? The Demon King’s army is teleporting back one by one! Wait, isn’t
that the Demon King’s daughter!?”
Yunyun, standing on the balcony, nervously looked back towards me.
Wait, seriously, they’re already back?
We already achieved our objective, so it’s time to get out of here.
“Hey, stop crying, we’re getting out of here! I can’t help that you’re already
down here, so we’ll just deal with what comes next later…”
“Waaaaah! Bwaaaaah!”
“…Um… Darkness…san? Why are you looking at me this closely…?”
“…No, it’s just, I thought you resembled a friend of mine… ”
As Darkness stared at Eris, and Aqua bawled her eyes out, Megumin chanted
a spell.
Eh? Wait──!
“Explosion!!”
Megumin, her rucksack full of manatite still on her back, unleashed a burst of
Explosion Magic from the balcony.
“Megumin!? W-What are you doing!?”
Yunyun hurriedly rushed to stop her.
“Explosion! Explosion!”
“Stop! Megumin, stop! You’re bleeding! Your nose is bleeding!”

I rushed over to the balcony to stop Megumin from exerting herself anymore,
and happened to glance outside.
The Demon King’s army that were gathered outside are now running away in
a panic after suddenly receiving a barrage of Explosion spells.
There’s a girl running away with tears in her eyes while being protected by
the other monsters. I wonder if she is the Demon King’s daughter.
“Fuhahahaha! I am the Demon King Megumin! I have taken over this castle
and become the world’s strongest Archwizard! Worthless fools who dare
approach my castle, witness my great power and begone!”
“Megumin, calm down! We just defeated the Demon King, so why are you
bringing another one into being!?”
Seriously. Can’t we just stay out of trouble from now on?
──Anyway, it’s time to go.
“Yunyun, I’m counting on you for Teleport. I’m completely out of mana.”
“Eh, erm…! I have enough mana for two trips, but… With the number of
people here…”
Teleport allows for four people to be transported at the same time.
But after I brought Eris here, there are currently nine of us who need to be
teleported out.
“Oh, very well. Kazuma, please use this.”
Megumin handed me a piece of manatite as she wiped the blood from her
nose with her other hand.
“…You really shouldn’t push yourself like that.”
“I received such a valuable present from you, so I really want to give you
something in return too… Of course, there seems to be someone who

couldn’t care less about that.”
“Eh? Ah…! Me? Are you talking about me!?”
Saying that, Megumin dragged Darkness into the conversation.
Wait, is she planning to gift me this castle as repayment for the manatite?
That’s way too big as a gift of gratitude.
In the first place, what should I even do with a monster-infested castle like
this?
“Erm, everyone, please gather around. I’ll start teleporting everyone out!”
At Yunyun’s words, everyone started gathering in the center.
“Hey──! Heal up Kyouya before that! His pulse is getting weaker!”
“He’s barely breathing…!”
“…Eris-sama, have we ever met before…”
“O-O-Of course not! …Actually, what should I do from now on…”
As everyone created a ruckus, Yunyun teleported the first batch of us out.
“Teleport!”
Eris, Mitsurugi, and his two hanger-ons were warped out, leaving the five of
us behind.
“Sniff… Sniffle… Sniffle…”
Yunyun placed a hand on the sniffling Aqua.
Megumin stood next to her, along with Darkness who was busy wiping the
blood off her face.

“Now, then, let’s go. Kazuma-san, I’ll see you in Axel!”
“Teleport!”
As the light faded from Yunyun’s spell, for some reason, Aqua’s snivelling
form was still visible in this room.
“Eh!? What’s going on!? Why didn’t the Teleport work on you!?”
“Because… Sniffle… I resisted… Sniffle…!”
Aqua said that as she sniffled.
“You… Why are you always like this!? Even at the very end!”
“T-That’s not it! It’s not like that, listen to me!”
Aqua frantically tried to string words together while suppressing her tears.
“I wanted to say something to you! It’s just, with everyone watching, it’s a
little…”
“What is it? And now isn’t a good time to be having a conversation! Right
now, countless enemies are flowing into the castle. There’s no telling when
they’ll reach us…!”
With a slight panic setting in, I hurriedly tried to get Aqua to voice whatever
she was holding back, but she remained quiet while tears streamed down her
cheeks.
At the same time, I think I could hear footsteps in the distance.
There might actually be a proper secret passage that led directly to the throne
room that wasn’t the “shortcut” Aqua and I used.
As I impatiently waited for Aqua’s words, she wiped the tears from her eyes.
“…Hey, Kazuma.”

“What!? Hurry up and spit it out! I’m sorry I left you behind, but I really did
have a plan to pick you up later!”
Aqua shook her head.
“Um… You know, umm… I’m not very bright, aren’t I?”
“If you want to bring it up, you are pretty stupid. But what of it?”
Aqua gritted her teeth for a moment in response, but her expression soon
softened.
“…Well, I can’t find the right words to say this, so I’ll just say one thing.”
“Seriously, what are you trying to say!? Hurry up and spit it out already! You
can hear footsteps, can’t you!?”
The footsteps heading this way are getting louder.
As I panicked, Aqua raised her head and gave me an unblemished smile.
“Thank you.”

……I never once thought that there would come a day where my heart would
skip a beat because of this person.

Epilogue
In the same old, unchanging room.
In this boring and unchanging workplace of mine, a regular customer

appeared.
“Yo.”
He raised his hand and gave me a friendly greeting.
Though now is not the kind of situation to be saying ‘yo’…
“Kazuma-san… Good grief, why are you…”
Why does this person die so easily?
He even defeated the Demon King, so I really wish he’d stop popping up in
here so often.
More importantly, I really wish he’d stop making himself at home here.
He had both hands behind his head and crossed his legs, completely at ease…
──This is the place where the souls of the deceased end up.
It’s not supposed to be a place where you can make yourself at home, but…
“Phew, this place really is the best place to relax. How do I put it, I feel like
I’m being rejuvenated just by meeting Eris-sama.”
Saying that, he laid down, using his hands as a pillow.

“…Good grief. I had a really hard time after that, you know? Do you know
how much work it took me to return here?”
“Well, I mean, you were gone by the time I got back to town. I was planning
on giving you a lift.”
…Give me a lift?
No, more importantly,
“Um, could you please stop calling me Eris-sama? You are the hero who
defeated the Demon King, and you know my true identity as well, so you can
drop the honorifics. And you should also use your usual casual tone…”
“Well, if you speak to me like you usually do, I’ll do the same.”
“…That’s how I naturally talk when I’m a goddess… Still, you look really
worn out. What happened this time? After peace was restored to the world
below, I haven’t had the chance to observe it too much…”
Just what kind of monster killed him this time?
With the Demon King defeated, the monsters of that world should’ve grown
weaker.
As he is right now, there wouldn’t be very many creatures capable of killing

him.
“…Well, a lot of things happened. Actually, they kicked me out of the

mansion because I got just a little carried away. I’m the Hero who defeated
the Demon King, you know? It shouldn’t be too much just to ask for a few
rewards more.”
That’s terrible.
I don’t know exactly what happened, but I agree that this man deserves to be
rewarded just a little more.
“Sounds like everyone is as lively as ever… Did you run into any major

trouble so far?”
“Yeah, they really are lively. Nothing really troublesome has happened so
far, but… Well, I have a really bad feeling. For instance, recently, Megumin
has been disappearing off somewhere with Yunyun quite often and coming
back with a refreshed look on her face. She must be letting off her Explosion
somewhere, but who knows what she’s using as her target this time…”
…I think I’ll keep the fact that the two of them have been heading to the
Demon King’s castle every day to blast it with Explosion to myself.
“As the great noble who helped defeat the Demon King, Darkness was
granted new land to govern. Speaking of which, she has been complaining
about receiving countless marriage proposals from not just nobles of Belzerg,
but from all over the world too. Recently she has holed herself up inside the
mansion to avoid meeting the messengers from the country.”
…He’s the reason why she’s rejecting all those proposals. Seriously, acting
like it doesn’t concern him at all…
She faces strong rivals in the form of Megumin and his “adopted” sister, and
on top of that he’s such a free-spirited person. Darkness sure has it tough.
“And Aqua, who kicked me out from the mansion, refuses to let me back in.
She keeps telling me to ‘Stop saying stupid things’ or the like, but even if she
says ‘stupid things’…”
“Just what did you say to get her to kick you out?”
I believe this is the second time he was kicked out of the mansion.
He has accomplished many great things to save the world, so just saying a
few things shouldn’t…
“I was being showered with praises and attention after defeating the Demon
King, so I let it get to my head a little and made just a little joke. It went,
‘Alright, daddy’s making a harem’.”
“……………”

“…Eris-sama, I do feel bad over that, so please don’t stay silent. It’s going to
make me depressed.”
I take back what I’ve said.
This guy should definitely go through a little more hardship.
“Well, anyway, you can feel free to relax here until Senpai calls you back.”
…But I guess it’d be fine to let him relax when he’s over here.
“…Call me back? …Ah, I’m not dead, you know?”
He raised his head from the floor and said that.
“…You’re not dead? But aren’t you right here?”
“Well, yes. I came here by my own power.”
……..?
“I teleported here. Teleport. You know, I was here before the duel with the
Demon King, right? I still had a spot open for my teleport destinations, so I
thought…”
“!?”
What did this man just say?
“Wait, hold on a minute. You placed a Teleport destination here?”
“Yeah… I mean, come on, not even I would leave Aqua hanging here
without a plan to get her back. By the way, do you think I can come here to
hang out every so often? You know, when I get dragged into troublesome
things…”
“No, no, no, you can’t! What are you saying!? And, you managed to register
a Teleport point here? How could you do that? Actually, how do you keep

doing things that no one else can even consider!?”
“W-Well, I just tried it as a test and it worked, so…”
If he could just pop in here anytime he wanted, this place would be stripped
of its dignity entirely.
“Come to think of it, Darkness has been looking for Chris a lot nowadays,
you know? Actually, if she could just meet you normally, there’d be no need
for this charade.”
“Ugh… If I meet her now, she will chase me to the bottom of it… I’ll find
time to meet with her later.”
Then, he languidly sat up.
“Seriously, how could they treat the hero who saved the world this poorly?
Right, I think it’s about time I go teach them a lesson!”
He cracked his neck as he was saying that and stretched.
──The Hero who saved the world.
He says it so flippantly, but does he really understand what he has achieved?
A single powerless man with unreliable companions managed to defeat the

Demon King’s generals and other strong enemies one by one, eventually
managing to take out even the Demon King himself.
Even the great heroes featured in the extremely distorted fairy tales could
only achieve such a feat with the help of legendary equipment and powerful
companions.
“First is the idiot who kicked me out. I was just a little soft on her, and it
immediately got to her head.”
He started chanting teleportation magic while doing some light calisthenics.
Just imagining the scenes that would take place after this brought a smile to

my face.
Even though chaos and trouble followed him everywhere, he always seemed
to be in good cheer.
“Right, Eris-sama, I’m off to make them cry a little.”
“Have a safe trip. Don’t do anything too horrible to them, okay?”
Hearing my words, the great hero who saved the world turned around with a
wry smile on his face.
──I hope that this person gets rewarded just a little more.
──I hope that he will never come to regret staying in this world instead of
going back to Japan.
“Kazuma-san, please hold on for a moment. You don’t come here very often,
so let me give you a little present.”
He gave me a puzzled look. In response, I extended my hand and gave him a

smile.
“I wish good fortune upon you who have worked so hard for the sake of this
world.”
──I hope that you’ll come to enjoy this wonderful world that you’ve worked
so hard to protect.
I extended my hand towards him and offered a prayer from the bottom of my
heart──!
“Blessing!”
Fin

Afterword

Thank you for purchasing “Gifting this Wonderful World with Blessings”
Volume 17. I’m the author, Akatsuki Natsume.
This series grew to have seventeen entries before I knew it.
I would really like to express my gratitude to everyone who has followed me

up to this point.
Now then, I’ll be explaining some events that take place in this volume.
Those of you who like to read the afterword first will be spoiled, so it’s best
if you leave reading this to after you’ve finished the volume.
──While Kazuma and his party were wandering around the Demon King’s
castle trying to bring back the runaway goddess, the small division of the
Demon King’s army sent to attack the town and the adventurers who, despite
having high levels, refuse to leave the town where they started out are
probably clashing fiercely in the town of Axel.
The delinquent adventurer with an evil-looking face, the former noble

residing inside a stuffed mascot who only occasionally brings out his true
power, the owner of the magic item shop, and a certain masked part-timer
who received a large sum of money from a large-chested receptionist might
be going wild.
A casual look through the inhabitants of the town with appraisal magic would
also reveal oddities like a chicken with an absurdly high level, and a cat with
“evil god” listed under her class column.
A soldier of the Demon King’s army who entered a certain house might even
get attacked by various vegetables planted in the garden and mysterious
poltergeist-like activity.
──And in the capital, the elite troops of the Demon King’s army led by the
Demon King’s daughter would be clashing head on with the royal army, the
cheat-wielding adventurers and the veterans of the Crimson Demons.
A certain strange suit of armour who tagged along with the Crimson Demons
because of the high number of beautiful women present, would see a picture

of the mother of a certain girl, whose name is only just slightly different from
his, and judge that she has great future potential…
And the strongest girl equipped with the strongest sword and the strongest
armour would fight alongside Megumin’s classmates, Axis Cultists, and
various other adventurers, who might not be as tough to deal with as
Kazuma’s companions but are still a handful, in order to eventually challenge
the Demon King’s daughter to a duel.
Despite her valiant efforts, she would eventually be on the verge of being
overwhelmed by sheer numbers when the monsters suddenly grew a lot
weaker, giving her the chance to escape. She would then be the first to realize
that a certain someone defeated the Demon King, and her brother complex
would only intensify…
Well, I don’t think I’ll be able to write about these events in the main series
proper, so I’ll just have to briefly summarize them here.
If I ever get the chance I might end up including these events in a spinoff or
something, but this is a story about a protagonist with NEET tendencies along
with defective companions performing really well in spite of everything, and
eventually even taking out the Demon King, so this will be the conclusion of
the main story.
However, there are still plenty of foreshadowing, plot hooks and mysteries
that have yet to be resolved.
For example, the origin of the names of the Demon Kings, and why the
Demon King’s army is so hell-bent on the destruction of humanity. Such
questions that the top minds of this world have been agonizing over for such
a long time are now forever doomed to remain a mystery thanks to the
actions of a certain someone.
And there’s also the daughter of the Demon King, who was beaten up by a
certain combative princess and returned to her castle only to see her armies
scattered by Explosion magic. I wonder what kind of hardships she would
experience after that.

As for our protagonist who defeated the Demon King, he’s eagerly looking
forward to attending the awards ceremony the country would hold.
However, he has no way of knowing that his “adopted” sister has done
something that far overshadows his own achievements.
And there’s the promise that Megumin made to do some amazing things after
they get back, and the traditional right granted to anyone who defeats the
Demon King to marry into royalty──
There are still many stories left to tell in this world, so I hope I will be able to
write a sequel to this series in the future.
However, for now, let’s allow Kazuma who has worked so hard to enjoy a
little break and a peaceful life for a while.
──Now then, to all the people who’ve worked to get the series out in the
world, including this volume.
To the four generations of editors in charge of this project, to everyone in

Sneaker Bunko’s editorial department, the designers, the proofreaders, the
marketers and the people who work in the bookstores all over the world.
To the people who worked on the comic versions, the anime, the games, the
movie and countless other works.
And to the one who brought such quirky characters to life, who has drawn
wonderful illustrations for us each time despite harsh deadlines, Mishima
Kurone-sensei.
It’s only thanks to everyone that so many volumes were able to be delivered
to readers all over the world, so you have my greatest thanks──
And of course, to everyone who has read this series, I thank you from the
bottom of my heart!
Akatsuki Natsume

And that’s Volume 17. I’ll be honest, when I started working on this series
three years ago, I never expected it to become such a large part of my life,
and I certainly never expected to be working on it all the way until the series
ended. It was originally an impulse decision that drove me to work on this
series, and I fully intended for it to be little more than a stopgap until the
active translator of the time got back into the game, but, well, here we are.
I hope you enjoyed the conclusion of Konosuba. I certainly liked Volume 17,
even if the ending isn’t quite as definitive as I would’ve liked. Still, there are
plenty of awesome moments to make up for it, and there’s always the
possibility of a sequel that Natsume himself teased in his own afterword.
Speaking of which, there have been rumours floating around about Natsume
having confirmed one, but all those rumours come from this one tweet, where
Akatsuki Natsume mentioned a potential title for a sequel spinoff, which he
hopes to eventually work on. I don’t want to be too much of a wet blanket, but
it’s not an official announcement, and that’s the only thing we’ve heard about
it, so it’s best for everyone to temper your expectations accordingly.
Now, while the main series might have ended, that doesn’t mean I’m retiring
just yet. As everyone knows, there’s still the last Dust spinoff volume I’ve yet
to get to, and there are still plenty of short stories I’ve yet to get to, including
two more from this volume. There’s also the matter of the short story booklets
that were released alongside the movie, which I’ve been sitting on for quite
some time now, but I just could never find the time to properly work on them.
With things winding down, those booklets should be making their way to the
site sometime very soon.
Now, I’d like to thank my artists, Kasen, who provided all those lovely
colourized insert images in all the chapters, Magzh and Fructose for
cleaning the insert images, and Ulti and Fructose for doing the typesetting.
In particular, Ulti has been doing the banner images that are gracing each
chapter, so great thanks for that. Additionally, I’d like to thank my editors,
Striker, Ulti, and Xenthur, for making sure my works aren’t complete drivel
by the time they make it to your screen, and Shaoqi for supporting me all this
time. And of course, all of my Patreons, for your support
Tentatively, Dust 7 will be going up some time in September, so look forward

to it. I’ll also keep everyone apprised of any additional details as I come
across them.
Now, till we meet again.

Short Story 1

Today, I win again!
… I called out to Kazuma who was laying on the sofa, casually patting
Chomusuke laying on his lap.
“Kazuma, if you are free, can you go out with me for a bit?”
Upon hearing that, Kazuma looked up at me and said,
“If you want to do your daily routine, wait ‘till after we have lunch. If you
need someone to be a witness for some duel you’re about to pick with
someone, get Aqua who can use recovery magic. If you want me to follow
you because something you want just came out, then go get Darkness.”
“That’s not it at all! Just what kind of person do you think I am!?”
Those seem vaguely familiar somehow, but if I admit it, I lose.
And the strongest Crimson Demon can’t possibly be defeated.
“Do you want to go on a date… You don’t need to jump up like that! You
gave Chomusuke quite a shock!”
ーAs we wandered around the town of Axel, Kazuma tilted his head and said,
“… Say, Megumin, you invited me on a date, right?”
“That’s right. Doesn’t it feel very much like a date when we walk together
like this?”
Kazuma had a frown on his face for a while now, though I have no idea what
he’s so unhappy about.

“Yeah, but, those people who have been sneaking around behind us all this
time are your classmates, right? You only invited me out to show off in front
of them, right?”
Indeed, just as Kazuma said, three of my classmates have been following me.
One of them is my rival, Yunyun.
The other two must be Funikura and Dondonka, or something like that.
I have no idea why they are following us. Maybe they just have too much
free time on their hands.
“Well, it’s true that I want to assert my dominance over those sore losers who
are at the age where they should be seeking a boyfriend, but it’s also true that
I do genuinely want to go on a date with you, Kazuma.”
When I told Kazuma my honest feelings, he blushed red and started acting
suspiciously.
“O-oh… I see… Well, I’m fine with that…”
Seeing Kazuma’s awkward behaviour, the people behind me suddenly

erupted in muffled shrieks and whispers.
I’m sure those three are reaching the peak of their excitement.
Then, Kazuma opened his mouth like he just remembered something.
“You know, the dates I know consist of much more flirting. Like walking
around with our hands intertwined, or kissing whenever our eyes meet.”
“I can understand holding hands, but if we start kissing in the middle of the
street, the other adventurers will tease us, you know? …And, doing such
things in front of my classmates is embarrassing…”
I casually held his arm as I said that, and once again muffled screams came
from behind me.

I really wish they’d stop stalking me and go somewhere else to play.
Kazuma seems to have heard them too, and gave me a confident smile.
“Heh… Then, today, let’s show your classmates what you look like after
ascending the stairway of adulthood. Leave it to me, I know a thing or two
about such things.”
“Kazuma, whenever you get full of yourself like this, you always mess up, so
don’t do anything unnecessary.”
He’ll definitely get full of himself, so I had to hammer home what not to do.
Those three will probably go home in tears after seeing us flirt with each
other.
So, once they leaveー
“… Wait, did you just say ‘Doing such things in front of my classmates’?
That means…”
“Yes, that’s exactly what you think it means! Come on, let’s get on with our
date already!”
He’s as blunt and lacking in tact as ever, but I guess that’s part of him that I
fell in love with.
Looking down in order to hide my blushing face, I pulled on Kazuma’s hand

and tried to leaveー
“… It’s only been a short time since I last saw you, but you’ve really changed
since then…”
Only for my path to be blocked by a blushing Funikura.
“What are you trying to do, Funikura? Are you not satisfied with just
stalking, so now you want to get in the way too!?”
“I’m Funifura! Remember my name already! And I’m not stalking you for

the sake of it… I came here to deliver a letter, and I can’t stand to watch you
be lovey-dovey with him any more…”
Funifura pushed a letter into my hands while averting her blushing face.
“This is a letter from my parents and Komekko… S-Sorry, I thought you

were just here to spy on me, so I tried my best to put on a show…”
“Y-Yunyun said that the two of you really are an item now, but I still don’t
believe it! There’s no way you who had shown absolutely no interest in love
could’ve beaten me…”
I’m no longer a child who places such importance on winning and losing.
Honestly, I really couldn’t care less about Funifura and the others anymore,
so I really wish they’d hurry up and go…
“Hey, enough about that already. Let’s be alone together so we can make
out!”
“Why do you have to open your mouth at a time like this!? Okay, fine, I get
it. Let’s go back home!”
At Kazuma’s words, I hastily snatched the letter from Funifura’s hands to

hide my impatience.
It’s fine, it’s not embarrassing at all.
If anything, I want them to spread this news to the other people back at the
village.
This would put an end to my rivalry with Yunyun and strike a final blow to
Funifura, who had been making fun of me for so long…!
Funifura, who had constantly poked fun at me and Yunyun about matters of
romance back when we were classmates, seemed to finally admit defeat and
broke into tearsー

“Uwaaaaah! I didn’t want to believe it, but it’s just as Yunyun said, the two
of you really are an item now! You two are definitely already busy making
babies!”
“W-W-W-We haven’t gone that far yet! Wait! Please don’t spread false
rumours about me!”
Funifura took off running after leaving that ridiculous line, and I chased after
herー

Short Story 2

A Night out with the Wrong Crowd──
“Thank you for attending my daughter’s birthday party. She has always
looked up to you, Dustiness-sama, so I’m sure this was the best party she
had.”
The host of tonight’s party, the Marquis, said as she saw us to the door.
“It was my pleasure to be here. I envy you for having such a beautiful and
adorable young lady. Now, then, If there’s ever the chance…”
I smiled at the young girl standing behind the Marquis and gave her a wave.
After saying my farewells, I headed over to the carriage──
“Dustiness-sama, are we heading back already? The party had to end early on
account of the Marquis’s daughter’s young age, but isn’t it a little early for us
adults to go to bed?”
“If you have time to spare, perhaps you’d like to join us for a few drinks. Of
course, there’d be other noble ladies present too, not just us men. I’m sure
everyone would be elated if you were to join us.”
Just as I was about to step onto the carriage, a nobleman just slightly older
than me called out to me.
Behind the two of them were several other noblemen looking at me with an
affectionate smile.
“…No, my apologies, but if I’m late in returning, the people back home
would worry, so perhaps another time──”
“I-Is that so? No, no, I’m the one who’s delaying you, so pardon me!”

“The Dustiness family is in charge of much of the internal security of the
realm, so it’s only natural that you’re busy! Please don’t worry about it!”
When I replied with a smile, the two men blushed red… And let out a small
sigh.
Socializing is important, but I can clearly tell that this party would just result
in being surrounded by smiling nobles showering me in praises.
I think I’ve had enough of putting on the guise of a noblewoman for tonight.
Bidding my goodbyes, I got onto the carriage──
“──I’m home…”
“Waaaaah! Darkness!”
The moment I opened the front door of the mansion, a bawling Aqua came
rushing to me.
I can guess at the reason why she’s crying, but…
“What’s all this the moment I come home? Did Kazuma scold you again?”
“That’s not it, listen to me! Kazuma is terrible! He went and snuck off to that
pub that we promised to visit together when it opened by himself!”
“Hey, I didn’t sneak out to visit it! In the first place, we never promised to
visit that pub together! And if a new pub were to open in town, of course I’d
pay it a visit!”
As it turns out, it was for a far more petty reason than I expected.
“…In that case, why don’t the two of you just go to that place together. We
could invite Megumin too…”
“Hah!? Even if you take me there, it’s not like you’d let me drink anyway,

right? In that case, I don’t really… Yes, I’m coming with you! I’m coming
with you to eat some good food!”
A somewhat sulky Megumin said that before heading off to prepare.
“…Hmm? It’s a little late to say this, but aren’t you wearing a really
expensive dress? Did you head off to some noble’s party or something?”
It really is a little late, but Kazuma asked.
“Hey, Darkness, you didn’t leave us behind to go to some glamorous noble’s

party to hoard all the good food for yourself, did you!? Did you bring
anything back? You must have brought back a box stuffed full of delicious
food, right!?”
“S-Stop it, Aqua. Don’t pull on my dress! This type of outfit slips off really
easily! And how would I be able to do that at a birthday party for a noble
girl!? Kazuma, Megumin, please say something to Aqua too!”
“Aqua, do your best! If you cause a slip I’ll treat you to something expensive
at the pub!”
“This man is really the worst! Darkness, hurry up and go to your room and
change! Then we’ll all go out for a night on the town!”
Saying that, Megumin started struggling with Aqua.
I already ate, so I was planning to spend the rest of the night at home…
However──
“We often have meals together at the Adventurer’s guild, but it’s rare for us
spend a night out together like this. Hey, Aqua, why don’t you teach this
young lady some games? This way, when you come home in the morning
after being out all night, Darkness would be a little more gentle in lecturing
you.”
“Oh, that’s a interesting idea. Very well, this Aqua who is famous for
drinking around in this town will teach you how to hold your drink in this

newly opened pub!”
“It’s really unfair if everyone other than me is going to be drinking! I’ll be

drinking tonight too!”
However──
“…Alright. I’ll go change, so give me a moment.”
“Oh, yeah, make sure to dress modestly tonight. If you go to that kind of
place wearing your usual erotic outift, some drunk man is going to come up
and start trying to pay you.”
“W-What do you mean by my usual erotic outift! I always dress modestly!”
When I shot back, the three of them froze up and looked at me like I was
speaking a different language.
Yes, tonight──
“I’m tired of being formal and putting on a noblewoman’s guise! Let’s go a

little wild tonight!”
Leaving the three of them who seemed even more dumbfounded behind, I
returned to my room in a good mood and quickly changed──

Short Story 3

The same old Town of Axel──
On a certain afternoon.
“Hey, Aqua, I need to ask you for a favour.”
I was happily taking a nap in the back garden with Emperor Zell on my belly,
when a NEET came to interrupt me.
I opened my eyes and whispered to avoid waking up Emperor Zell,
“…Can’t you see what I’m doing right now? I’m taking a nap because I got
sleepy after lunch. Don’t wake me up unless the world is in trouble or the
heavens are about to fall.”
“If something like that was really happening, I wouldn’t bother coming to a
simpleton like you.”
How could this man call a noble and beautiful goddess like me a simpleton?
“You’re really lucky I’m in a good mood after eating my fill, you
hikkiNEET. If I were in a bad mood, you’d be a crying NEET right now.”
“Oh, you sure have some guts, you Goddess of Naps. How about I turn you
into a Goddess of Tears instead?”
After I sincerely apologized, the easily tricked NEET let out a sigh.
“It’s not anything major, and you can go back to your nap once you’re done
with it.”
“Well, if it’s not anything major, then don’t bother me about it… That was
just a little joke, so don’t make such a scary face. If you do anything horrible
to me, Emperor Zell who has now evolved into a high-level dragon won’t

stand idly by.”
I raised up Emperor Zell who evolved into a dragon after drinking a

mysterious potion, and the low-leveled NEET picked up the furball that was
sleeping by his feet.
“If you’re going to use that chicken as your shield, then I’ll use this cat that is
the natural enemy of chickens… Hey, why is she scared of a bird when she’s
a cat?”
The furball instantly started struggling in the NEET’s arms, like she’s trying
to say that fighting Emperor Zell is an absurd idea.
“It’s obvious that a cat can’t stand up against a dragon. That black furball
fears Emperor Zell by instinct.”
“Hey, Chomusuke, don’t you have any cat instincts? Even a chicken is
looking down on you, you know? Are you sure you are an evil god?”
This chuuni-NEET said something that sounded a lot like what Megumin
would say.
…Well, it is true that this cat is quite strange, what with her baring fangs only
against a goddess like me and her fondness for taking baths…
“…Ah, I don’t have time to care about Chomusuke right now. More
importantly, Aqua, can you get in the bath?”
………
“So you finally reveal your true colours, you brutish NEET. You don’t
normally see me as a woman at all, but now you’re telling me to take a
shower before seeing you…!”
“I’m going to smack you if you keep saying such stupid stuff. It’s my turn to
clean the toilet today, but Darkness and Megumin came back covered in oil
and herbs earlier, so cleaning it up is proving to be a pain.”
“What happened to those two to get them to come back in such a state? Are

they trying to change classes to fried food?”
I’m really curious what happened to result in this situation.
“The two of them went on a monster hunting quest together. Well, I’m sure
it’s something stupid so I didn’t ask too much about it. Anyway, can you
please purify the bathwater for me?”
What is this man talking about?
“Do you think goddesses are some kind of detergent or something? If I’m
going to take a bath, I would rather take one in a tub that has been scrubbed
clean.”
“I’ll buy you a mug of ice cold Crimson Beer after you’re done with your
bath.”
I decided to take a bath.
“──Hey, Aqua, you sure are drinking something nice even though it’s only
noon. Darkness isn’t around, so do you mind giving me a sip?”
As I was enjoying my ice cold beer after my bath, Megumin came up and
talked to me.
“This is my reward for cleaning the bath. In other words, I cleaned up after
the two of you dirtied the toilet. If you want a sip, why don’t you start by
apologizing for making such a mess?”
“Gurk…! I never thought there’d come a day when Aqua would be cleaning
up after me… But I do want a taste of alcohol, so I’m sorry for causing you
trouble, Aqua.”
That’s a rare honest apology from her. She must really want a taste.
Just then,
“You can’t have that even if you apologize, Megumin! It’s still too early for
you to be drinking alcohol! Hey, Aqua, get this! After we were done with the

monster hunting, Megumin found a patch of herbs and did her thing…”
“W-What are you saying, Darkness! You were the one who was clamouring
to keep that Oily Slime we found as a pet! Thanks to you I ended up covered
in oil, too!”
I enjoyed my glass of beer as the two of them started arguing with each other.
Just then, I heard the angry voice of the housewife-NEET come from the
bathroom,
“Aqua! You were playing around with the soap and shampoo again, weren’t
you!? They’re all gone!”
“In the first place, Darkness, you are way too obsessed with slimy stuff! The
other day too, you were gazing enviously at the piece of Tokoroten slime I
got. You really shouldn’t play with food!”
“Even I wouldn’t do something like that! My body just reacted upon hearing
the word ‘slime’…!”
As the voices of these inept girls drifted through this calm afternoon, I
enjoyed my mug of beer.
“Hey, Aqua! I was planning to take a bath after everyone was clean! Go out
and buy some shampoo and soap!”
I once again managed to protect the peace of Axel──!

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Table of Contents

Page 1 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

Page 3 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

In this world, there is an organization known as the Demon King’s army.

That very same home base is currently undergoing an unprecedented crisis at

Page 4 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

Page 5 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

…Well, that’s only to be expected.

“Explosion! Explosion! Explosion!!!”

Darkness looked at this scene and trembled,

“T-This is Hell… This is Hell on Earth…! Even if it used up a lot of top

Perhaps it is because of her continuous unleashing of high level magic, but

Page 6 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

As Megumin continued her devastating barrage, an endless horde of monsters

As the monsters drew Megumin’s fire, the robe-wearing members of the

Page 7 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

“A bigshot showed up. I wonder if he is the ‘world’s strongest mage’ or

A semi-transparent, membrane-like material appeared around him as he

Is he coming up to demand our names and objective?

──Just then, Megumin sent a spell his way without hesitation.

Page 8 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

…Then, the naked angel shakily got up to his feet.

“…I am…! The Demon King’s… Strongest…! …A sudden attack…!”

Probably naming himself and demanding to know why we launched such an

I activated my Farsight and Lip Reading skills.

Page 9 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

The naked angel was ranting about something.

“Did you figure out what this guy is saying?”

Megumin asked me as she noticed my confused expression.

“So, can I blow him up?”

“…I feel sorry for him…”

It seems like she intends to end it in a single blow.

Megumin unleashed her spell before the guy could finish.

Page 10 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

Megumin once again raised her staff.

As Megumin resumed her unrelenting barrage, I focused my gaze on the

“Aaaaah, what should we do!? What should we do!?”

“It’s hopeless, this is the end!”

“What is wrong with her!? Is she out of her mind!?”

Page 11 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

Seeing that, I gave a signal to Megumin to pause the bombardment.

As surrounding mages rushed around to fetch a spare robe, I focused my gaze

Megumin renewed her attack with increased vigor after hearing my

The barrier visibly flickered. It won’t be long now before it collapses.

“K-Kazuma, did he really say that!?”

I casually replied to Darkness’s question. At the same time, the former

The mages around him raised a ragged cheer.

Page 12 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

“I’m going to kill him.”

Megumin took a deep breath, her eyes shining crimson──

“Explosion! Explosion! Explosion! Explosion! Explosion! Explosion!

“Explosion! Explosion! Explosion! Explosion! Explosion! Explosion!

Page 13 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

Just as I praised his tenacity, Megumin began chanting.

Page 14 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

“I… Am… The… Strongest… Oldest… Of the Demon King’s Army… My

Page 16 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com

“Oh, come on…”

I used Create Water to drench my handkerchief before wiping her face.

Did she get so excited that she got a nosebleed?

No, wait, this is…

Megumin wobbled to her feet, seemingly in a feverish daze as she shakily