Konosuba Volume

15: Heretic Syndrome

TL: Cannongerbil

Editing: BoringBone, Ulti, Xenthurr

epub & pdf editing: einBeo

 Prologue
It was a normal day in this peaceful, uneventful town.

“Kazuma-san, Kazuma-san, pass the soy sauce.”

“Here.”

Unlike Megumin and Darkness who woke up early in the

morning, Aqua and I were helping ourselves to a late
breakfast.

Upon receiving the bottle, she said thanks and proceeded to

—

“Hey, you just touched the soy sauce, didn’t you?”

“No I didn’t.”

This girl has about a one in five chance of purifying the

bottle of soy sauce whenever she handles it.

“Then go ahead and spread it on your meal. It isn’t water, so

it won’t ruin the taste, right?”

“… Say, Kazuma, why are you being so harsh? We’ve been

together for quite some time, haven’t we? So you must know
what is going on, right?”

With a gentle smile, I pushed the plate of grilled fish to Aqua.

“You keep saying that you didn’t purify the seasonings every
time it happens, right? So go ahead. Pour some soy sauce
on this fish and dig in.”

“Oh, fine, I’ll do it! What’s the big deal, I just changed a little
of the soy sauce to water! Thinning the sauce a little will
surely make it more delicious!”

Aqua tipped the bottle over and poured a stream of water

onto the plate.

“… Do you have anything to say?”

“… I’ll go buy more soy sauce later, so please pass me the

salt…”

With a regretful expression, Aqua shook the salt shaker over

her meal.

Just then.

“Ah! What are you doing!? That’s mine! Give it back, you
beast!”

Chomusuke jumped onto the table and snatched her meal

away.

The cat crawled to my feet to enjoy her meal. At the same

time, Aqua rose to her feet and glared at it.

“… This thing really looks down on me. Move aside,

Kazuma. It’s about time someone taught this evil black
furball about the hierarchy in this house.”
“Oh come on, it’s just breakfast. Can’t you just enjoy your
meal quietly…?”

Aqua furrowed her brow and pounced upon the cat.

“Ow! This horrible demonic beast! It actually dares to scar

the flawless skin of a goddess! Fine, if that’s how you want
to do… Hot!”

I can understand her cries of pain, but hot?

I was a little curious, but I ignored the grown girl having a

deathmatch with a cat and continued eating…

“Kazuma! Kazuma! This demonic beast just breathed fire!”

“Hey, cut it out! Don’t shake me while I’m drinking soup!

Besides, didn’t I already say it in the past? That cat can
breath fire and uses it to cook her fish.”

Perhaps spooked by Chomusuke, Aqua quickly distanced

herself.

“I knew it. I always knew this thing wasn’t an ordinary cat

from the moment I saw it, but… Oh, I see it! I see it now! I
see its true form!”

So you finally realized it.

Glancing over while finishing my meal, I saw Aqua staring

intently at the cat.

“Your true form is… Yes, a really devil-like form! Hey, let me
sniff you! Don’t think you can mask the scent of devils from a
goddess!”

She kept stealing glances at me while she said that. It

seems like she’s not completely confident in her deduction.

“I don’t have full confidence in her identity either, so go

figure that out by yourself.”

“… Well, it doesn’t really reek like a devil… Why does a cat

have the smell of soap on it? Come on, I’ll give that fish to
you, so tell me your true identity. I’ll keep it a secret.”

Aqua crouched before Chomusuke as she dug into the fish

and asked with a straight face.

“Hey, if you mess with her too much while she’s eating,
she’ll get angry—”

“Waaaah! Stop! Stop! I get it! I get it! I won’t pester you
about your identity, so don’t scratch up my precious
hagoromo!”

Looking at Chomusuke attacking Aqua after she ignored my

warnings, I let out a contented sigh.

“… It’s so peaceful…”

“What do you mean by peaceful, you shitty NEET! I’ll give

you some of my side dishes during dinner, so hurry up and
stop this thing!”
 Chapter 1: Divine Punishment
upon this Holy Woman!
Part 1
A Demon King’s General and a Dark Priest, Celestina.

She’s an opponent that far outclasses a NEET-turned-

adventurer like me.

Right now, I’m standing over her in a deserted alley, where

she’s crouching after Wiz exposed her identity and Vanir
fleeced her off all her money.

Source @CGtranslations.me

—Serena looked up at me, pointed her index and middle

finger at me and opened and closed them repeatedly.

When I replied with a puzzled look, she angrily snapped.

“Tobacco. I’m talking about tobacco. Someone with such a

bad reputation as you must have some of that on hand,
right? Come on, give me some. I haven’t had the chance to
smoke ever since I came to this town.”

“N-No, I don’t have any.”

What even passes for cigarettes in this world?

They probably don’t have any disposable ones wrapped in
paper, so perhaps she’s talking about a pipe?

No, wait, this woman is a punk?

As a former hikikomori, I subconsciously started speaking in

a polite manner when confronted like that.

I get along just fine with Dust and his friends, so I wonder
why only she causes this kind of reaction in me.

Hearing my reply, Serena looked down and irritatedly

scratched at her head.

There’s not a single trace of her prim and proper demeanour

left.

Eventually, she heaved a big sigh.

“I guess there’s no point in trying to keep the act up… I’m

Celestina, the Demon King’s General in charge of schemes
and infiltration, and a Dark Priest that follows the Dark
Goddess of Puppetry and Vengeance, Regina.”

“So you actually call your own goddess a Dark Goddess. I

would’ve thought those of the cloth would treat their own god
as absolute and decry all the others as heretics.”

The moment I said that, Serena’s face instantly shot up.

Her expression was completely different than what she had

before, a cold and expressionless mask like that of a doll’s.
She’s quite beautiful, but seeing her look at me with such a
mask sent a chill down my spine.

… I let my guard down because Wiz and Vanir were here,

but now that I think about it, I’m alone, without any proper
equipment, and standing in a secluded alley with a Demon
King’s General.

Isn’t this really bad?

“My goddess is the patron of vengeance and puppets, you

know? What else can she be other than a Dark Goddess?”

She showed me a gentle smile, one at complete odds with

her rough tone.

Her smile seemed artificial yet carefully crafted, resembling

ones that you’d see on a doll.

As expected from a follower of the Goddess of Puppetry.

It gives off a gentle allure when she’s saying her usual kind
words, but it couldn’t be more out of place in this situation.

This situation where she could kill me any time she pleases.

My heart was pumping wildly, but I did my best not to let it

show.

“… Puppetry. Don’t tell me, the zombies at that graveyard

that were immune to Turn Undead were…”

“Oh, yes, that was all me. Those weren’t zombies, they were
simply corpses animated by the power of the Dark Goddess.
It was really hard to set all of that up. I had to dig up all the
corpses one by one in the middle of the night and put them
under my control. When the priests in town found
themselves helpless, I would come in and handily take care
of all of them… It’s a good technique to use to gain the trust
of all the adventurers in a city in one fell swoop.”

This girl really is rotten.

No, perhaps I should say, as expected of a General of the

Demon King’s army.

“… Then, all those things you said earlier about the Demon
King being a girl and the curse and whatnot is…”

“Huh? What, you actually believed that? I tell that story to

every skilled adventurer that seems like they’d be a threat to
the Demon King. The curse afflicting the girl will eventually
wear off and the Demon King will disappear, so peace will
return to the world even if they don’t risk their lives fighting
the Demon King. Most of them give up after hearing such a
story. Everyone values their own hide, after all. If you give
them an excuse that makes risking their lives unnecessary,
they’ll happily take it and be on their way.”

This girl really plays dirty.

There would also be those who’d stay their hand upon

learning that the Demon King was originally a young girl.

As expected of the Demon King’s General in charge of

schemes, she really is cunning.

I would like to take back those passionate feelings I felt

when I first heard that story.

“But, why are you telling all of that to me? Sure, your identity
was revealed thanks to Wiz and Vanir, but showing your
entire hand like this is a little…”

Serena replied without her smile faltering in the slightest.

“I just thought that rather than pile on more lies and put us
both on guard, it’d be better to tell you the truth and come to
an arrangement… I’ve been observing your conduct and
actions these past few days, but I still have absolutely no
idea why the Demon King considers you a threat… I’m just
going to lay it out plainly, you’re a NEET who dislikes hard
work.”

“Yep, that’s me.”

I instantly replied.

“You have no intentions of risking your life to defeat the

Demon King for the sake of humanity, right?”

“Not at all.”

Yet another instant reply.

“… If you hear that someone you never knew living at

someplace you’ve never been has been suffering under the
Demon King, what would you think?”
“I’d send them my condolences…”

I flippantly answered while picking my ear.

“…”

Serena stared at me with that expressionless mask of hers.

… She’s expressionless, but for some reason I get the

feeling that she’s looking down on me.

Back when I was living in Japan, I never felt any righteous

indignation or call to action whenever someone brought up
unfortunate children or similar topics.

Even if I was a billionaire back then, I probably wouldn’t

have spared a thought about helping unfortunate children
I’ve never met living on the far side of the world.

I’m not some kind of fiend or anything, I’m just a regular

Japanese person.

… I think…

… Probably…

“… Umm, I’m pretty sure most people would give similar

responses, so can you please stop looking at me like that?”

“Eh? A-Aaah, sorry. There have been people who’ve given

me similar replies, but this is the first time someone has
answered instantly without even the slightest hint of
hesitation, so…”
She sounded slightly flustered, but her expression didn’t
change at all.

“… I was ordered by the Demon King to investigate this town

where several Demon King’s Generals went missing, and
the man whose name kept cropping up in relation to them,
but… At the end of it all, the man who’s at the center of
everything is you. Leaving that aside…”

“Wait, hold on a minute, being described as the man at the

center of it all doesn’t sit well with me. If anything, I’m the
one who’s constantly getting caught up in such matters.”

“Indeed. Leaving that aside, I’ve gotten a firm understanding

of your personality.”

Saying that, Serena smiled.

“Satou Kazuma, the Demon King’s Army would like to offer

you a deal.”

“Oh?”

Serena stooped lower to the ground.

“Thanks to a certain person, the war between the Demon

King and humanity that’s been at a stalemate for quite some
time has started shifting again. After losing so many
Generals, the barrier around the Demon King’s castle is on
the verge of collapsing.”

“Oh ho? Could that certain person be referring to me?”

“… Yes, it is referring to you. Why do you seem so smug?
Don’t get ahead of yourself.”

Serena averted her eyes, but, yeah, I’ve become quite

manly, haven’t I?

“I see, so it seems like the Demon King is in quite a pinch

right now. If the barrier were to fall, the famously combative
Crimson Demons will launch constant teleport raids on the
castle.”

“True, we aren’t in a very good position right now, but that’s

the same for humanity, no?”

… Hmm?

“In the past, strong people with strange names and a

disregard for common sense would constantly appear in this
world. Those people caused us a lot of pain. However… I
think it was around the time our fortune teller detected a
strange presence in this town? Well, for whatever reason,
those hero candidates have completely stopped showing
up.”

Hero candidates with strange names and a disregard for

common sense most likely refers to the people like me who
are transported here from Japan.

And for those guys to have completely stopped showing

up…

Source @CGtranslations.me
Ah.

Source @CGtranslations.me

“… What’s wrong? It feels like you’ve come to some sort of

realization… Why are you all shaken up? … Well, whatever.
Anyway, we would like to strike a deal with you.”

I have an inkling of the reason why new cheat wielders have

stopped appearing in this world.

Isn’t it because I brought Aqua to this world?

No no, her job should’ve been taken over by that

replacement angel.

She looks pretty capable, so she should have a good handle

on things.

I told myself that this has nothing to do with me to calm

myself down and maintain my composure.

“W-What kind of deal?”

“Your voice is cracking, you know? Seriously, what’s

wrong?”

Even though Serena seemed concerned about me, she

continued.

“You should join the Demon King’s Army.”

She said that in the same manner one would use to invite a
fellow classmate to an after-school club.

“… … … … Huh?”

What did she just say?

“Don’t give me that. I’m asking you to join the Demon King’s
Army… You are our kind of people. I know that very well.”

Hey, don’t screw with me.

“Don’t misunderstand me. Sure, as you’ve most likely

already known, people in general call me a brute and scum
and NEET and lolicon and such, but—”

“This is the first time I’m hearing about the lolicon bit.”

Ignoring Serena’s words, I straightened up and raised my

fist.

“True, as a human I might have more bad qualities than

good ones… Indeed, I have more than enough money for
my needs, any indecent desires I have can be satisfied
through that shop, and I have affectionate companions that
fawn all over me. I would like to be pampered while living an
easy life. One where I occasionally splurge on useless
expensive things and occasionally book out the tavern for a
whole day and trouble everyone…”

“You’re even worse of a human than I thought…”

I grew more and more passionate as I continued.

“But even I have a small amount of compassion and a sense
of justice. I don’t care if someone I don’t know is suffering in
a place I’ve never been to, but I’m not so scummy that I’d
ignore someone asking for aid right in front of me. … I
understand why you might want my power on your side. I
understand, but I have no intention of turning upon the
people who’ve taken care of me all this while.”

“… No, it’s not like we want you because of your strength…”

……

“What, aren’t you afraid of my full power and would rather

have me as your friend instead?”

“Not at all. The truth is I’d rather keep you as far away from
me as possible, but, like I’ve said earlier, those people with
strange names have stopped appearing.”

She suddenly stood up and brought her face inches away

from mine.

“There’s a persistent rumour about these people with funny

names. That they are chosen by the gods or some such.”

That’s exactly the case.

… I won’t confirm it for her, of course.

“But then, those people who were constantly popping up like

weeds suddenly stopped appearing after you showed up. It’s
almost as if the gods are saying that you alone would be
enough. Even the Demon King thought that you might be the
descendant of some legendary hero or the other that shows
up in the fairy tales.”

At the same time I brought Aqua to this world, the cheat

wielders stopped showing up, and my name kept cropping
up in the incidents relating to the defeat of the Demon King’s
Generals.

Indeed, this would cause anyone to sit up and take notice.

What an annoying misunderstanding.

“I don’t have the strength or force of will to survive in a place

surrounded by monsters like the Demon King’s castle.
Please tell Demon King-san that I’m not that amazing of a
person. Getting involved in the vanquishing of your Generals
is just a stroke of luck. I just happen to have really amazing
luck. Apart from that, I’m a weakling with the weakest job,
Adventurer. Having you treat me like an enemy really scares
me, so please stop. Please relay that to him.”

Hearing my words, Serena let out a bitter laugh.

“… Yeah, I thought so. I’ve confirmed that after seeing you

in person. The only person who wanted you to join us is the
Demon King, and I do think that he’s worrying too much…
But is this okay? There’d be quite a few benefits for you if
you were to join us… Ah, yes, you’re a virgin, no? If you join
us, you’ll be able to indulge in all your wildest sexual
desires. Incidentally, most female demons have really hot
bodies.”
“… … … … I-I’m not going. If it was me from a few months
ago, I probably would’ve been convinced, but right now, I’m
in my popular period. Such cheap benefits wouldn’t sway
me.”

“Why are you so restless?”

As expected of a Demon King’s General. What a terrifying

negotiation technique.

Anyone without a will of steel like me would’ve fallen right

away.

“… Well, it’s fine. I’ll tell the Demon King that you’re a small
fry too insignificant to bother with. He’ll probably stop
keeping his eye on you after that. I’ll also arrange for him to
tell his underlings not to lay a hand on you.”

“Thank you very much!”

“S-Sure… In return, keep my identity a secret, even to your

companions. Don’t interfere with my business in this town.
And, as for my two colleagues… Don’t tell them about what
I’ve been up to. Especially Wiz. … Those are the conditions
of my deal.”

I hesitated for an instant.

“… Tsk, I don’t have a choice. My conscience and sense of

justice are yelling at me to punch you, but the town would be
in big trouble if we clashed against each other directly…”
“Yeah, yeah, you can drop that now. So I take it we have a
deal? It’s good that you’re a sensible person.”

Saying that, she patted her butt and turned to leave…

“… Ah, sorry, but… Can you lend me some money?”

Wordlessly, I handed some money to the Demon King’s

General who just got fleeced by her colleague.

“You owe me one.”

“… Gurk…”

—As I was making my way back after parting ways with

Serena.

My head was swirling with thoughts of the future.

“Still, even if she’s a Demon King’s General…”

I do feel a little like I betrayed humanity as a whole, but with

this, my safety is assured.

As an adventurer that fights with monsters, it’s not like I hold

no regrets at all, but there’s not a whole lot I can accomplish
by picking a fight right there.

Sure, technically I’m involved in the destruction of several of

the Generals, but to be honest, I mostly contributed by
giving instructions to others.
Like in Beldia’s case. Aqua was the one who weakened him
before I stole his head away.

Vanir was taken out by Megumin’s Explosion.

Against Hans, Aqua purified the hot springs while Darkness

protected her, and Megumin once again blew him up with
her spell.

As for Sylvia, he actually ended up getting a power boost

thanks to my actions…

And Wolbach was pretty much all Megumin…

All of those incidents ended well, but there was probably

nothing I could’ve done if I faced them alone.

If I had rejected that deal back then, it would’ve immediately

turned into a fight…

Challenging a Demon King’s General head on would

undoubtedly result in my swift and sudden demise.

I’m nothing but a simple small fry. Just escaping the Demon
King’s notice is good enough for me.

Source @CGtranslations.me

“I’m home!”

While my head was filled with such thoughts, I

absentmindedly opened the door to the mansion…
“Waaaaaah! Waaaaaah!”

“There, there, please stop crying. Kazuma should be coming

back… Ah, Kazuma, welcome back. You came in at just the
right time.”

I stepped right back out and closed the front door.

The door flew open with a bang.

“Hey, don’t pretend you didn’t see this! This is a really

serious matter!”

Hearing Darkness’s words gave me nothing but bad

premonitions, but I tentatively asked.

“… So what happened this time?”

Aqua was curled up in a fetal position on the sofa in the

main hall and crying up a storm, clearly in no position to
answer any questions.

In her place, Megumin heaved a deep sigh and said.

“… Apparently, she caused some kind of ruckus in the guild

and was thrown out by the adventurers… I don’t know
exactly what she did, but it seems like Aqua is barred from
entering the guild for a while.”

… Did she actually end up turning all the wine in the guild to
water?
“Megumin and I came back to the mansion after
investigating that woman and found her crying with an
invoice in her hand.”

That must be the bill for all the wine she turned into water.

… Investigating?

“Are you investigating Serena? Is that why you two have

been spending all your time out lately?”

Darkness excitedly replied.

“Exactly! Listen to this, Kazuma, something’s really odd

about that woman! Someone skilled enough to take out an
undead horde that large should be a fairly famous priest, but
when I went all over searching for more info… there isn’t
even a single rumour in any of the cities I contacted about a
priest named Serena!”

After Darkness, Megumin, while patting Aqua on the head,

continued.

“… On top of that, according to the guild staff, that woman

has never once claimed a reward from the guild. No matter
how saintly of a priest she is, this is way too absurd. You
need to present your adventurer’s card in order to claim a
reward… So we were thinking that perhaps there is a reason
why she can’t show others her card.”

… These girls. They normally only ever get up to stupid

things, but for some reason, they just have to be really sharp
in this instance.

“If only you could demonstrate such competence every

day… That being said, don’t look any further into her. We’ve
reached an agreement. Serena will no longer approach us
or badger me to let her into the party.”

In response to my words, Megumin and Darkness gave

each other puzzled looks.

Part 2
The next day.

“It’s a really fresh feeling for just the two of us to be out

together. Still, what business do you have at the guild? Are
we going to get lunch at the tavern?”

Darkness and I were headed to the guild.

Megumin was still playing babysitter for Aqua who has holed
herself inside the mansion.

Plus, if things really take a turn for the worst, she wouldn’t
be able to cast Explosion in the middle of town.

That’s why I brought Darkness along, but…

“… Why are you dressed like that?”

Instead of wearing any sort of armour, Darkness was
wearing a very upper class seeming dress that I almost
never see her wear.

Instead of her usual straight skirt that’s easy to move around

in, she’s wearing a white frilly dress with a matching set of
elbow gloves.

In her hands was not a weapon, but a parasol.

“… What are you saying? You were the one who invited me.
Everyone in this town already knows about my identity, so
there’s no need to go out of my way to hide it.”

Darkness answered, her face blushing as she looked down

at the ground.

“… Well, I guess it’s fine.”

It’s not like we’ll get into a fight the moment we see each
other or anything.
… Indeed, I’m heading out to observe Serena’s actions.

With Darkness’s strong sense of justice, she’ll probably kick

up a fuss if she learnt that I struck a deal with a Demon
King’s General, so I kept it a secret from her.

Similarly, Aqua would probably head right out to pick a fight

with her if she knew she was a Demon King’s General, so I
kept it a secret from her as well.

And telling Megumin is out of the question.

Striking a deal with the Demon King in order to guarantee

my safety.

Even I think that’s low, but if Serena too were to be taken

out after coming to this town, the Demon King will definitely
take action.

This is not just for my sake.

If it comes down to that, the entire town itself might be at

risk.

Serena said not to interfere with her business in this town.

That one line piqued my interest, so I headed off to the guild

to investigate, but…

“Not many people have heard the name of the Goddess

Regina, but her power is the real thing. Any number of your
wishes may be granted with her power.”

“Is that true!? Will she allow me to get a boyfriend!? I don’t

have much choice but to sleep in the stables, but whenever I
confess to a man that isn’t an adventurer, they would say
’The smell of horse dung is a little… ’ and reject me!”

“That can be accomplished. Bring me the hair of the man in

your heart. With the aid of Regina-sama, I will make a charm
that helps him return your feelings.”

“Serena-san! Me too! Please make one of those charms for

me too!”

“Hey, don’t cut in line! I was here first!”

A massive ruckus greeted me from the moment I entered

the guild.

… What’s with this commotion?

Serena has pretty much become the face of the guild. She
was seated at a table at the center, and the adventurers
were crowded all around her.

She addressed the concerns of one adventurer after another

with a gentle smile plastered unfalteringly on her face.

“Come, no problem is too small or worry too insignificant. I

shall hear you out. That is the duty of a priest, after all…”
“… U-Um…! I have trouble making friends in this town…! I
came back to this town with my best friend, but she has
been quite busy lately… A f-friend…! I want a friend with
whom I can eat dinner with! I don’t want to eat alone
anymore…!”

“Er, well, even with the aid of the great Regina-sama, I’m not
sure what I can…”

“… Is that so… I’m sorry…”

Serena is acting like the perfect exemplar of a priest.

Apart from a certain lonely Crimson Demon who left in low

spirits, most of the other adventurers had their problems
resolved one after another.

“Hey, Kazuma, what’s going on? Don’t tell me, the reason
you invited me to the guild is because of that woman…!”

Darkness said uneasily as she repeatedly tapped me on the

shoulder.

“… ? Yeah, I’m here to investigate Serena. I’m a little

curious as to what she’s up to.”

“Y-You…! You said you reached an agreement with her!

You were the one who told us not to look any further into
her! I even… I-I even dressed up like this…”

Darkness gradually deflated as she continued.

……
“… Did you think I was inviting you out on a date or
something?”

“N-No…! N-N-Not at…!”

Darkness blushed deeply and panicked, destroying any of

her attempts at denying it.

At the same time, Serena stood up and made ‘come over

here’ motions at me.

Shortly after, Serena moved over to a corner of the guild.

Perhaps being considerate of us, the other adventurers

started milling around, leaving me and Serena alone in the
corner.

“It doesn’t seem like you’ve spoken about me to anyone.

Just a fair warning, this is also for their benefit. I might not
be particularly combat focused, but I’m still a Demon King’s
General. The Dark Goddess Regina is the patron of
puppetry and vengeance. If I were to die, not only the
person who killed me, but people in the general area would
be struck by a powerful curse. At a guess, I’d say perhaps
half the town would be wiped out.”

Serena narrowed her eyes as she started, but her smile

didn’t falter at all.

Her expression remained the same as she drew closer.

“There are a lot of different types of curses. Ones that

render body parts useless, ones that petrify, and even some
that are far crueler. If someone other than you finds out
about my true identity, I’ll probably have no choice but to
defend myself. In that case, there are bound to be a lot of
casualties. You should think deeply on that if you ever think
of breaking our deal.”

I wonder why this girl is telling me all of her secrets.

… Wouldn’t just saying that you’ll be cursed if she dies do

the trick?

Simply saying that would’ve made anyone hesitant to kill

her.

Perhaps my thoughts showed up on my face, as Serena

thrusted her finger out at me.

“Go ahead and stab my finger with your dagger. Ah, but
don’t stab too deep now.”

…?

“What are you saying? I can’t do that in front everyone.

What are you, Aqua?”

Saying that, instead of using a dagger, I pricked Serena’s

hand with a toothpick from one of the tables instead.

“!?”

The same instant I pricked her with the toothpick, I felt a

stabbing pain on my finger as well.
Looking down, I noticed a small bubble of blood forming on
my right finger.

It’s the exact same place I prodded Serena at.

I see, that’s why Regina’s called the Goddess of

Vengeance.

“… Do you understand now?”

“… This town is like my sanctuary of sorts. I won’t make an

enemy of you. I don’t know exactly what you’re planning, but
would you stop scheming in this town and go back to the
Demon King’s castle?”

In response, Serena merely gave me that same smile.

With a sigh, I left her side and returned to the table that
Darkness was sitting at.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Darkness…”

“Ojou-sama! Lalatina ojou-sama, what’s with your outfit!?

What’s with your maiden-like outfit, ojou-sama!? It looks
really cute!”

“Lalatina-chan, your frills are really cute! Don’t hide your

face, let me have a good look!”

“Hey, ojou-sama, why are you blushing? Come on, strut

your stuff!”

Darkness, dressed in her frilly one piece dress, was blushing

all the way to her ears as she covered her face in her hands,
her shoulders shaking.

The usual adventurers were gathered around her and

teasing her.

“Hey, don’t bully our ojou-sama! She’s not a display piece!

Shoo, Shoo!”

Even as I chased away the adventurers, what Serena was

planning weighed heavily on the back of my mind.

Part 3
“Hey, I’ve heard that Serena-sama’s holding a sermon! Get
a move on!”

“It’s this way! You’ll miss out on seeing Serena-sama’s

esteemed face if you don’t hurry!”

It’s been a few days since we had that chat.

Aqua’s ban on entering the guild has since been lifted, but
now, there’s something very odd with the town.

“Over here! Over here! Serena-sama’s about to start! Hurry

up!”

“H-Hey, wait up! Why are all of you acting so odd? Serena-
sama this and Serena-sama that… Isn’t she just a priest?”
The name on everyone’s lips was Serena-sama.

In the blink of an eye, everyone’s started looking up to that

Demon King’s General as though she’s a saint.

“… What exactly happened to this town in the few days

since I was sealed away in the mansion?”

“What do you mean sealed, you hikikomori? While you were

cooped up at home, Serena has become the idol of this
town.”

I told off Aqua who finally came out of the mansion and was
surprised at the state of the town.

“… That woman really smells fishy. Well, since Kazuma told

me not to go after her, I’ll leave it as it is.”

Megumin, trailing behind Aqua and me, muttered.

“… Well, her acts are praiseworthy, at the very least… It’s a

little odd for me to be saying this, but the way she seems to
have no human failings at all doesn’t quite sit well with me.
Still, since Kazuma said that, I too will leave things be. At the
end of the day, I always treat your warnings seriously. I
won’t ignore your words and head off to do my own thing
anymore.”

And Darkness said that almost immediately after Megumin

did.

… My chest hurts for some reason.

I wonder what they’ll think of me if they know that I made a
deal with a Demon King’s General to keep her identity
secret.

Will they look at me with contempt?

Will they punch me?

Sure, I made that deal to protect my hide, but it’s also for
their safety as well.

Especially Aqua. If she learns that Aqua’s an actual

goddess, there’s no way the Demon King will stand idly by.

Yes, keeping my nose out of her business is for the best.

With the three of them in tow, I headed down the street

towards the guild…

“Serena-sama! Serena-sama!”

“Serena-sama, please, please grant my wish!”

“Yes, yes, there’s no need to rush. Please line up orderly…!

Regina-sama can grant any number of your wishes, and of
course, there’s no need for any payment. Now, please.”

“Thank you very much, Serena-sama! The truth is…”

… The street ahead of us is filled with a crowd of people.

And right at the center of it all is Serena.

It almost looked like a popular idol being cheered on by her

enthusiastic fans.

Seeing that, Aqua snuck away and hid behind me.

Seems like getting repeatedly overwhelmed by Serena has

taken its toll on Aqua, giving her an instinctive aversion to
her.

Serena met my gaze and gave me a slight bow of

acknowledgement.

Just then.

“Serena-sama! Please, this guy got heavily wounded during

an extermination quest…! It’s a pretty serious wound! Can
you please help him!?”

A band of adventurers appeared near the town gates.

Two of them were carrying a third upon an improvised

stretcher.

He must have taken quite a serious wound. His eyes were

lifeless and his breathing was ragged.

And, in a voice almost too soft to be audible, he muttered.

“… —Qua… Aqua… Nee-chan… please…”

I wasn’t the only one who heard that voice. It seems like
Aqua heard it too.

“I’m right over here! Leave it to me, you’ll be completely fine

in an instant!”

Perhaps overjoyed that she’s being relied upon, Aqua

happily rushed over to the injured person.

—Only to find her path blocked by the crowd around Serena.

Source @CGtranslations.me

“Ah, what are you doing!? You’re in the way! Do you want a
taste of my God Blow!? If I don’t heal him quickly…”

As Aqua angrily protested, Serena crouched down next to

the injured adventurer.

“Heal! Heal! Heal!”

As Serena repeatedly casted heal, that adventurer’s wounds

rapidly faded away.

It wasn’t long before the light returned to the man’s eyes.

“… T… T-T… Thank you very much, Serena-sama…!”

The man who was calling for Aqua just a short while ago
was breathlessly thanking Serena while tears flowed down
his cheeks.
What’s with that?

Healing wounds with magic is an everyday occurrence for us

adventurers.

Normally, just having your wounds healed isn’t enough to

make an adventurer break out in tears and start attaching -
sama to their healer’s name

Aqua even revived several adventurers, and no one treated

her with anywhere near the same amount of reverence.

Sure, it’s normal to be thankful, but those are all adventurers

who put their lives on the line to go up against monsters.

Healing wounds is the job of priests, just like how it’s the job
of the vanguard to stay out front and protect the priests from
harm.

It’s a symbiotic relationship.

Priests can’t take down monsters by themselves, and on the

other side, the simple presence of a Priest in the party
makes a great difference in their survival rate.

In other words, Serena is simply doing her job as a priest.

Of course, it’s natural to offer thanks.

But that…

As I was thinking that, Aqua casually wandered over to that

adventurer and placed a hand on him.
His life threatening wounds may have closed, but he was
still sporting a few scratches here and there.

It seems like fully healing him is outside of Serena’s power.

Aqua must have moved to heal him up.

But.

The hand Aqua offered was brushed away.

And not by anyone else, but by the very adventurer she tried
to heal.

“Ah…”

Aqua let out a soft gasp of surprise.

“I want to be healed by Serena. There’s no need for you to

do anything, so please get away from me.”

The man said directly to Aqua’s face.

Part 4
Aqua plodded back towards us with drooped shoulders.

Seeing her so depressed gave me an unpleasant feeling in

the pit of my stomach.
Something feels very wrong about today’s incident.

Megumin and Darkness were looking at Serena and the

surroundings with a complicated expression.

Serena had her usual carefully crafted smile plastered

across her face.

This is Axel. The town of beginners filled with nothing but

weaklings. Why would a Demon King’s General be doing
this all the way out here?

And what exactly is she planning?

It’d be far easier to come up with a countermeasure if her

plans were more easily understood.

Normally, I would’ve just pretended I didn’t see it and moved

on with my life.

But, for some reason, I have a really unpleasant feeling in

the pit of my stomach.

It’s like this combination of irritation and impatience… I can’t

really describe it too well.

The crowd surrounding Serena were enamoured with her to

a degree that defied common sense. The priest only
appeared in this town a short time ago. It’s almost as if they
were under some sort of spell.

The Goddess Regina is said to be the Goddess of Puppetry

and Vengeance.
… I only have my suspicions to go on, but could this be the
power of puppetry?

As I was thinking that, Aqua, who finally made it back to us,

looked enviously towards the crowd surrounding Serena
before depressedly turning her back on it…

It’s been quite some time since we started living in this town.

Even Aqua who was treated as a troublemaker has become

a sort of mascot of the guild.

She would head over to the guild to drink up with familiar

adventurers whenever she’s free, but now even those
adventurers wouldn’t give her the time of day.

… She was a person who would cause all kinds of trouble

the moment I take my eyes of her and leave me to clean up
after her. A handful of a goddess.

She never listens to a word I say, and would do that exact

thing I tell her not to. A Goddess that is more associated
with public entertainers than any sort of divinity.

She who possessed not a shred of cuteness nor holiness, a

Goddess in name only.

A goddess who sent me to this world only to force upon me

a life of hardship.
Someone who caused me no end of irritation every day, and
the one who’s been with me the longest in this world—

… Ah, god dammit!

Seeing Aqua all depressed and completely unlike her usual

bubbly self really doesn’t sit well with me!

She’s the only girl who doesn’t cause any feelings in me as

a member of the opposite sex.

Whenever she gets into trouble, it’s just her reaping what
she’s sown, so I never paid much thought to it, nor did it
elicit any particular feelings in me.

So, what exactly is this clawing feeling in the pit of my

stomach?

… Dammit, should I ignore our deal and start moving

against her?

But, she’s a General who came to investigate this town on

the Demon King’s orders.

If she doesn’t make it back safely, I’ll definitely be targeted

by the Demon King.

Me, who almost pees his pants just by getting close to a

thug with a scary face.

If I get targeted by the Demon King…

—Just then…

Someone tapped me on the shoulder.

“… Kazuma, I don’t know what’s going on, or what exactly

you’re troubled over right now, but it’s something you
decided for everyone’s sakes, right? Then isn’t it fine? No
matter what you choose, it always works out in the end.”

What Megumin said not only didn’t help any, it actually

intensified what I was feeling.

“… Indeed. I’m sure you thought hard about it before telling

us not to get involved with her. That’s why… Just do as you
wish so that you won’t have any regrets.”

Knowing Serena’s true identity, Darkness’s words only made

things worse.

That said, Serena had the power of Vengeance.

Killing her would bestow a curse upon the surrounding area,

but perhaps Aqua would be able to do something about
that?

No, no, I can’t be hasty. This isn’t something I can just brush
away if it doesn’t work out. It’s too dangerous of a bet to
take.
Well, at the end of the day, she’s still a human, so could I
ambush her with a Bind and drag her off to a dungeon
somewhere and deal with her there?

No, no, she’s a Demon King’s General and a Dark Priest on

top of that. She might be able to dispel the Bind even after
she’s been captured, just like Aqua did in the past.

… Ah, dammit! I can’t consult with anyone about this either,

so what should I do!?

Perhaps I’ll break my promise and consult with Wiz and

Vanir?

But if Serena finds out…

—Just then, unaware of my inner turmoil, Serena walked

over to us with a smile on her face.

Seeing that, Aqua jumped up with a start and hid behind me.

Surrounded by her followers, Serena moved to pass me by

the streets.

Just as she crossed my path, she stopped for a moment.

And in a voice just loud enough to be heard by me.

“You remember our deal, yes? I hope you remember the

kind of disaster that would befall this town if you break it. …
Though.”
She let out a small laugh.

“You seem to be making quite the anguished expression. …

Ah, yes, I still owe you a bit of gold, don’t I? … Hmm, if you
attempt to challenge me alone without the aid of Wiz or
Vanir or revealing my identity to anyone else… Yes, if you
do that, I shall face you as a Demon King’s General without
taking the inhabitants of this town hostage. … But you’re
very similar to us. A coward and a realist, one who can
weigh the pros and cons. I trust you won’t do something so
foolish.”

Almost as if she was taunting me, she left one final line
before moving on.

“Now, my debt to you is cleared.”

Argh, this really makes me sick.

I’m not some hero of justice or anything. Of course, I value

my life the most.

But at the end of the day, I know the people in this town.

… No, wait. Don’t be hasty, think about this.

If I do try and pull something here, in the worst case

scenario, the entire town might end up in a pinch.

But, wait, isn’t this town already in quite a bad situation?

The thing that disgusts me most is that I’m the only one who
knows her true identity and can’t tell anyone else about it.

Ah, dammit! Why exactly…!

Why am I the only one who has to shoulder the fate of this
town!? Why do I have to think so hard about his!?

—Suddenly, I felt Megumin’s hand on my right fist that was

clenched so tightly that it has gone completely rigid.

She was staring straight at me, so I thought that she was

going to say something, but…

“… W-What?”

“… … ”

Megumin continued to wordlessly stare at me.

At that point, I felt something touch my left hand too.

“… You too? What do you want?”

“… … ”

Turning back, I saw Darkness holding onto my left hand.

“What’s up with you two? If you want to say something, just

say it.”
… Well, after being together for so long, I’m sure they can
tell that I’m hiding something.

They might have even figured out that there’s a reason why I
couldn’t tell them about it.

… Maybe I should just go for it.

Come to think of it, I’ve tangled with plenty of strong foes in

the past.

Those all happened as a result of some kind of

circumstances or just me getting caught up in things.

This is different. This would be me and me alone picking a

fight with a Demon King’s General of my own free will.

Normally I had everyone with me, and even if the worst does
happen, I had the insurance known as Aqua.

But if I were to challenge her by myself and get killed without

anyone knowing…

Just thinking about it made my knees grow weak. This really

isn’t like me at all.

It’s me. Me who has the weakest job picking a fight with a
Demon King’s General all on my lonesome. Is it really fine to
cross such a dangerous bridge because of a fleeting
emotion?

Yeah, if I just turn a blind eye to this, I’ll be able to continue

living a luxurious life, the same as before.
—Though, there is one thing.

There’s just the one thing that might be the impetus to kick
me into action…

……

“… What, you too? Seriously, say something already.”

I said to Aqua who started pulling on me by the hem of my

clothes.

I really wish the three of them would stop silently judging me

like that…

“Kazuma-san, Kazuma-san.”

Unlike the other two, Aqua softly spoke.

Turning around, the Aqua who’s normally all bubbly and to

whom the word depressed seems to hold no sway over.

That girl who never thinks deeply and could scarcely be

imagined to have any sort of worries.

Having her hand shoved away by that adventurer must have

shaken her quite deeply.

She looked up at me through teary eyes, and in a voice that

seemed on the verge of breaking into tears, said.

“… Does this town not need a goddess like me?”

……

“Let go of me.”

I softly admonished the three of them who were holding onto

me.

“Ah…”

Instead of complaining like she usually would, Aqua

obediently let go of my shirt without a single word of protest.

Then, turning my back on Aqua who’s making an expression

that reminded me too much of an abandoned dog, I said.
“Cast some support spells on me. Ones that increase my
strength and speed.”

Aqua casted those spells without a single question.

I’m not looking at those three.

The only thing within my sights is a distant back slowly

striding further and further away from me.

That’s why I don’t have even the slightest idea what kind of
expressions those three are making.

“Hey, Aqua.”

“…? Yes?”

Taking my eyes away from Serena for a moment, I turned to

face Aqua behind me.

“I’m probably about to take a whole lot of damage and get

knocked out, so I’ll need you to heal me. Darkness, please
take my unconscious body to the police station. Megumin,
those people surrounding Serena right now will probably
raise quite a fuss, so I’ll leave threa- soothing them to you.”

“W-What? Kazuma, what exactly are you saying!?”

“Wai-Kazuma, what are you planning to do!?”

After conveying my instructions, I kneeled and entered into a

crouching start.
The only thing in front of me was Serena, her back turned
upon us as she was leisurely walking away.

“Hey, Kazuma-san, what are you doing? I have a really bad

feeling about this…”

Aqua was saying something, but that isn’t important right

now.

“Hey, wait, Kazuma, what are you doing all of a sudden…! I

know I said to do as you wish, but that woman is merely
suspicious. She hasn’t actually broken the law, so don’t do
anything vio—!”

Darkness was also saying something in a panic, but before

she could finish, I, strengthened with Aqua’s support spells,
sprinted towards Serena’s back.

“K-Kazuma, I don’t know what you are doing, but you are
really cool right now! It really tickles my Crimson Demon
heartstrings!”

My name is Satou Kazuma.

I’m a man who supports true gender equality, a man who

wouldn’t hesitate to dropkick a woman in the face.

“Don’t encourage him, Megumin! Kazuma, wai—”

Leaving the voices of my comrades behind me, I sprinted full
pelt towards Serena and shouted at her…

“Let’s both take a nap today! I’ll leave thinking about how to
seriously get in your way for tomorrow!”

Serena turned around in surprise, only to be met by a full

powered drop kick directly to her face.
 Chapter 2: Divine Punishment
upon this NEET too!
Part 1
A dimly lit room.

“… Don’t think you’ll be treated this cordially forever. I’ll ask

again… Satou-dono, you dropkicked a passing priest who
has done nothing to provoke you yesterday. Do you deny
this?”

“I do not.”

Upon hearing my instant reply, one that I’ve repeated who

knows how many times by now, a vein started twitching on
the temple of the brown haired female knight seated
opposite me.

“… Right, so you, upon seeing the back of the head of a

passing priest, was seized with the uncontrollable urge to
dropkick her. However, the priest detected your presence
and turned around, causing you to kick her right in the face
instead. In other words, you did it on a whim. Is that right?”

“That’s exactly the case.”

The pen the knight had in her hand snapped right in half.
“… That priest is the same person that Lady Dustiness
asked me to thoroughly investigate a few days ago. Does
that have anything to do with this matter?”

“It doesn’t… Probably…”

The knight threw away the remnants of the pen and

slammed her hands on the table.

“You piece of shit, do you think I’m some sort of inept

retard!? We have been looking into that priest too! Do you
really think that excuse will work on me!?”

“S-Stop! Using violence during interrogations is against the

law! Get me a lawyer! I can afford it, so get me a lawyer!”

I yelled as the knight grabbed me by my collar.

I wanted to get away, but right now, both my hands were

chained together. All she had to do was pull on my chains to
foil any attempts at such.

“Satou-dono, you’re speaking to a knight of Axel! One in

charge of managing this police station! Naturally, I’m well
aware of the odd atmosphere that has taken over this town
as of late! You know something about this, right!? You might
have a bad reputation, but even someone like you wouldn’t
kick a woman for no reason! Considering your actions in the
past, you must know something! Now, out with it! What are
you hiding!? What is happening to this town!?”

“I-I know nothing! S-Stop! You’re a knight of a lower

standing than house Dustiness, right!? I’ll tattle on you! I’ll
tell Darkness that you did some unspeakable sexual things
to me!”

“H-Hey, don’t fabricate things! In the first place, Lady

Dustiness is well known for being just. I know she’s in the
same party as you, but she wouldn’t unjustly exercise her
power just because of that. Too bad for you! Just wait here,
I’ll go fetch the lie detecting magic item!”

The knight looked down upon me with a smug smile as she

confidently declared that.

D-Dammit!

“I-I beg your pardon!”

A voice called out from the other side of the door.

Without turning away from me, the knight said…

“What is it!? I’m busy right now! This man keeps replying
with empty platitudes…!”

“Well… Lady Dustiness wants to see him…”

“!?”

The knight let go of my collar.

Source @CGtranslations.me

—This is the interrogation room at the town’s police station.

After kicking Serena in broad daylight, I lost consciousness
and found myself detained here when I came to.

Seems like the damage I inflicted upon Serena really was

completely mirrored back onto me.

Even though I felt a strong impact the moment my legs

made contact, I don’t feel any pain or discomfort at all right
now. Aqua must have healed me while I was out.

And that brings us to now.

Ever since I woke up, I’ve been interrogated by this knight

who seems to be the one in charge of this police station…

“Why is Lady Dustiness here? Tell her that I shall see her
after I find out what this man is hiding. Satou-dono is a fairly
accomplished adventurer, so a stay in the detention cells
should suffice. I shall give her a detailed report after I’m
done.”

The knight said without turning around.

This isn’t good.

I can’t speak of Serena right now.

Especially not towards someone as hardheaded as her or

Darkness.

I did ask Darkness to get me out of here, but we are talking

about the same Darkness who dislikes injustice and abuse
of power.
Telling her to get me out without even filling her in might be
a little too much…

—Just as I was thinking that, the man on the other side of

the door said in a troubled voice…

“T-That’s…”

“What’s the matter?”

The knight turned around with a puzzled expression, and

standing next to the man was…

“My apologies, it’s me. I hope you don’t mind if I let myself
in.”

The door opened an inch, and standing next to the man was
Darkness.

As the man bowed and retreated, the knight gave Darkness

a crisp salute.

Following that, I screamed.

“Lalatina-sama!”

“H-Hey, I told you not to call me Lalatina! … Ahem. My

apologies. So, did you learn anything from him?”
Darkness was flustered for a moment, but quickly recovered
her posture and asked the knight.

The knight, standing as stiff as a board, said.

“This man clearly knows something, but has told me nothing

nothing but a stream of excuses like having struck her out of
irritation or for fun… Please wait for a moment. I’ll rip out
whatever it is that this man is hiding…!”

After hearing the knight’s formal reply, Darkness looked me

right in the eyes.

“… Kazuma, is that woman’s secret something you can’t tell

even me or Aqua or Megumin?”

I wordlessly nodded.

Seeing that, Darkness fell silent for a moment.

“… Is it bad if someone else knows about it? Are you saying

to leave this incident to you? … If you can’t reply, it’s fine to
remain silent.”

“… … ”

I wordlessly returned Darkness’s gaze.

With that, Darkness shifted her gaze from me towards the

knight and awkwardly scratched her cheek.

“So, well… Could you let him off on my account?

Considering his previous achievements, couldn’t you file this
incident as a fight between two adventurers…? ”

“Huh? … Umm, well… Are you certain, Lady Dustiness?

The other party didn’t lodge any reports, so there’s no issues
with this, but… you who hates abusing your authority…”

The knight gazed between me and Darkness with a

surprised look on her face.

Eventually, the knight handed the keys to my manacles over

to Darkness.

In truth, I probably had the same expression as the knight

right now.

She didn’t use her authority even when she was about to be
married off to Alderp, but now she’s using it in this
situation… She’s really changed.

Ignoring mine and the Knight’s gazes, Darkness said,

“Kazuma, you don’t have to say anything. I’ll leave this

matter to you. However, I’ll handle the cleaning up… At least
rely on me for that.”

“Dustiness-sama!”

“Hey, don’t grab onto me! I can’t unlock your chains if you
move around that much!”

That hardheaded Darkness, that very same Darkness who

went on about the law and what humans ought to do and
such not too long ago…
Sure, she has been less willing to let her principles get in the
way as of late, but still…

To think that she’d trust me enough that she’d do this for

me.

Overcome with joy, I happily placed my wrist in front of her,

and she unlocked them without any hesitation.

“U-Umm… Lady Dustiness, is your relationship with Satou-

dono really that of simple party members…?”

Almost like she’s afraid to hear the answer, the knight

hesitantly asked as she looked upon us with a dumbfounded
expression.

Darkness blushed slightly, but managed to keep a straight

face…

“… We’re just party members. Right, Kazuma?”

“… Well, I suppose.”

Hearing my reply, Darkness seemed relieved, but a hint of

sadness flashed over her features for a moment.

The knight let out a relieved breath as well.

“Y-Yeah, of course… Lady Dustiness is like a dignified

exemplar that all of us female knights look up to. There’s no
way she could be together with such an infamous man, and
a commoner on top of that… Yeah, of course, they’re just
friends…”
……

“Yes, indeed, we are just regular party mates. Party mates

that take baths together and get into close contact in tight
spaces. The kind of party mates where she asks me to
remove her panties when she needs to use the toilet. What
else? Oh, yeah, the kind where I’d sneak into her room in
her mansion and push her down, and then she’d turn the
tables and push me down. And there’s also that time where
she tried to drug me to sleep. Yes, we’re just regular party
mates.”

“!?”

“T-T-T-That’s no— That’s not true! I-It isn’t…”

The knight looked at us with a stunned expression, and

Darkness was at a loss for words.

“Y-Y-You two are… !? It’s— It’s that, right? You’re

companions, after all! That’s just fooling around and teasing
each other, right, Lady Dustiness!?”

“Awawa! Y-Yes, it’s just like that! It’s just… like…”

The knight got really desperate for some reason, and

Darkness awkwardly flailed around.

Looking at those two, I rubbed my wrist where the manacles

were and said.

“Oh, yeah, we kissed.”

“!?”

The knight blushed and her jaw fell open.

And Darkness, blushing all the way to her ears, pressed her
face against my back and slowly slid down.

—After getting released from the police station, I’m currently

getting an earful from Darkness.

“… You-You really are— How could you!? What should I

do? That will become a rumour amongst the other knights
and nobles… I’m not helping you again if you get caught! …
Actually, I can’t show my face around this place anymore…”

“But none of those things I said were lies.”

Darkness, still blushing, glared at me upon hearing my

words.

That said, while she does seem a little troubled, it doesn’t

seem like she’s particularly angry.

Judging that her mood isn’t that bad, I raised something with
Darkness.

“Say, Darkness, can I ask you for a favour?”

Part 2
“Now, there’s no need to be embarrassed. Tell me about
what’s troubling you… Oh, my, if it isn’t Kazuma-sama.”

“Yo, Serena. There’s no need to attach -sama to my name, it

just makes us sound distant. Just Kazuma is fine.”

At a corner of the guild, Serena was extending a helping

hand towards another troubled adventurer.

As I appeared, Serena flashed me a warm and welcoming

smile, one which I returned in kind.

The favour I asked of Darkness was to have Aqua put a

barrier around the mansion and hole herself up inside
together with Megumin and Aqua.

And also to inform them that I won’t be coming home for a

while.

Serena spoke in a warm and welcoming manner, almost as

if I never dropkicked her.

I too adopted the same jovial tone.

“You’re offering help to the troubled adventurers again, huh?

It must be tough on you to do this every day. Do you want
my help?”

“No, no, it wouldn’t do for me to take up the time of the busy

Kazuma-sama. How about turning your strengths and efforts
to getting rid of monsters instead?”

Despite our casual small talk, for some reason, the

adventurers around us seemed quite on edge.

Most of the adventurers here were the same ones who saw
me deliver a dropkick to Serena yesterday.

It must have seemed strange to them to see us chat away

so casually after such an incident.

Despite her polite refusal, Serena still seemed to regard me

with some degree of wariness as I sat at a table a short
distance away from the crowd.

Eventually, she shook her head and turned back to the

adventurer.

“… My apologies. Now then, why don’t you start by telling

me about your troubles?”

The adventurer, who had been politely waiting while we had

our little chat, hesitated for a moment before saying,

“Um… It just never goes well no matter how I confess.

Whenever I get close to girls, they always say ‘You’re a
pretty good person’. They always say that, but then when I
ask them to go out with me, they always decline…”

That’s a pretty common story.

Serena gave the adventurer a gracious smile.

“Don’t you think being called a good person is the highest

form of praise? Most other forms of charm and beauty fade
away with time and age, but someone who’s beautiful on the
inside will stand the test of time… Please continue being a
good person. Being called as such by many people is quite
charming on its own, don’t you think? It’s too soon for you to
worry and despair over it. I’m certain the person who would
fall in love with you would appear soon…”

Serena replied with some equally common platitudes.

It seems she can’t use the power of her goddess on every

little problem that crops up.

The adventurer brightened up slightly.

“Y-Yes! I was feeling a little down since I kept getting

rejected in the same way, but… thanks to you, I’ve cheered
up a little. Serena-sama, thank you ver—”

“If he’s that charming, why don’t you just go out with him?”
Source @CGtranslations.me

Just before the adventurer could finish his words of

gratitude.

My carefree words caused Serena and the crowd that

surrounded her to stiffen up.

The adventurer who came to consult with her slowly turned

around to face me.

His expression made me think that the thought hadn’t

crossed his mind before, but he started entertaining it the
moment I mentioned it.

I decided to help him on a whim.

Even I get in a mood where I want to help others from time

to time.

Sure, people call me fiend and heartless and whatnot, but

when someone is in trouble right in front of me…

“Serena even called you charming, you know? She went all
the way out there to send those signals to you, so why the
hell are you chickening out now!? The reason you’ve been
rejected all this while is for this very moment!”

“Seriously!? Then… Serena-sama!”

“Y-You’re a good person, but, well…”

Hearing what Serena had to say even before he completed

his confession, the adventurer let out an anguished squeal
and moved to dash out…

I grabbed his hand before he could leave.

“Why are you giving up so easily!? Don’t just accept their

words at face value! Women are complicated creatures! You
need to learn how to read between the lines! Haven’t you
heard of the term tsundere?”

“…… Tsun… Dere…?”

“U-Umm…”
As I started trying to convince the adventurer, Serena
uneasily interjected, but I continued.

“Saying no even though they like you. Haven’t you heard of

this famous term before?”

“I-I do know of that phrase! I see, read between the lines…”

“Wai—”

After receiving my encouragement, the adventurer tightly

grabbed Serena’s hand.

“Serena-sama! I… I…!”

“W-Wait a minute! Please calm down…! Argh, you lit— K-

Kazuma-sama!”

Ignoring Serena’s cries, I left the guild to think about what I

can do to get in her way tomorrow.

Part 3
It’s been a few days since I was released from the police
station.

Serena, along with her usual crowd of hanger ons, warily

gauged their surroundings before exiting a restaurant.
They’re probably on the look out for a certain someone who
has been harassing her these past few days.

One of the adventurers from the crowd, who has become

more like Serena’s personal bodyguard detail than anything
else, leaned over and whispered something to her.

With my Lip Reading skill, it was easy to make out what he

was saying.

“It’s alright, Serena-sama. There’s no one nearby.”

Observing Serena’s figure from behind, I muttered to myself.

“Wind, check. Distance, check. Angle, check.”

On a rooftop quite some distance away from the group, I ran

down my short checklist.

Right now, I’m observing her through my Farsight skill while

training my bow upon her.

It’d be hard for them to notice me from this distance.

Of course, Serena would know who exactly attacked her.

Even though I had my bow trained upon her head, if I let my

arrow loose, I would instantly die along with her.

Not only that, but if what she said a few days ago was real,
the people around her would be cursed as well.

Right now, Serena was gripping a cup of something she

bought from the restaurant in her hand.

I don’t know exactly what’s inside, but it’s probably some

cold juice or coffee or something.

… That’s just perfect.

The arrow I’m using has a rounded tip, so even if it does end
up accidently hitting her somehow, it wouldn’t be lethal.

My goal right now isn’t to assassinate her.

Indeed, my goal is…

“Snipe!”

Along with a strong gust of wind, I let loose my arrow.

And the target of that arrow is…

“Gaaah! Dammit, so she was drinking hot coffee!?”

I rolled around on the roof in response to the sudden burning

sensation that spread across my hand.

Observing Serena with Farsight, the cup in her hand had

been split open by my arrow and she was hastily trying to
shake away the coffee that covered her hand.

… Dammit, so this won’t work either.

Shaking my head, I got back to my feet and continued

observing her.
—I figured out several things about Serena after harassing
her for the past few days.

The first thing is that, even if you hurt her in an indirect

fashion, that damage will still be reflected to you.

Just like in this incident. Even though I didn’t attack her

directly, the burns caused by her spilled coffee were still
transfered to me.

If an indirect attack would work, I’d have bought one of Wiz’s

potions that exploded on impact and snuck it into her
belongings…

Serena warily looked around as she healed her hand.

It’s doubtful that she’d be able to find me, but just to be safe,
I activated my Lurk skill and changed locations.

—Another thing I’ve discovered about Serena’s powers.

“U-Um, Kazuma-san…? Err, I came with you because you

said you wanted my help with something, but isn’t this
against the law…?”

The rapid change in the behaviour of the adventurers is

definitely related to her power in some way.

The adventurers who started addressing her as -sama still

retain their own individuality.

The one thing they all have in common is that all those folks
who basically revere her as a goddess now are those who
have consulted with her before.

“Well, the act itself probably isn’t exactly praiseworthy, but…

I’m begging you, Yunyun, I’m keeping this a secret from
Megumin and the others. You’re the only one I can count
on.”

“I’ll do it! Please let me do it! We are friends, after all! Leave
it to me! You can rely on me for anything!”
Perhaps being happy to be relied upon, Yunyun
enthusiastically nodded.

It’s midnight right now.

Despite my reckless request, Yunyun still agreed to go along

with it.

Even though she consulted with Serena just like all those
other adventurers who ended up as part of Serena’s
entourage, Yunyun still retained her senses.

I wonder why Yunyun’s still fine even after consulting with

the Priest that follows the Dark Goddess of Puppetry.

Right now, we are in front of a sturdy and windowless

cottage that Serena was staying at.

Her followers erected this building to serve as her residence

after she started getting attacked by a mysterious assailant.

I started preparing in front of the cottage.

I gave a small signal. Upon seeing it, Yunyun nodded and

started softly chanting her spell.

A small shimmer fluttered around us, before fading away.

Yes, the spell I requested from Yunyun is the one the

Crimson Demons are so fond of, the light refracting spell
that made us invisible.
After casting it on us, Yunyun leaned over and softly
whispered.

“Is this okay, Kazuma-san? All that’s left now is to cast

Silence on the door, right? Actually, the town has been really
weird as of late. Does it have anything to do with what you’re
doing now, Kazuma-san?”

“Yeah, it does. What we’re doing now is very close to a

criminal act, but this is all to save this town, so don’t worry.
Ah, of course, I’ll have to ask you not to tell anyone about
tonight.”

“… … Right.”

“Ah…”

Perhaps reminded that she doesn’t have anyone to tell

tonight’s events to in the first place, Yunyun started slowly
tearing up.

As I tried to comfort this lonely girl, I started making

preparations to cast my spell as well.

I’ll probably end up using a lot of mana tonight.

That why I bought several manatites from Wiz’s shop.

The bigger and clearer these stones are, the more

expensive they are and the more mana they contain. This
time, I only brought a few mid grade manatites with me.

It’s quite cold around this time of year.

It probably won’t melt before morning.

I pointed my hand towards the door and—

—Dawn.

After a short nap, I returned to the cottage to check on my

work.

“Huff! Huff!”

The sound of someone smacking against the door was

mixed with the soft, somewhat urgent sounding cries of
someone behind it.

“Serena-sama, we’ll do something about this ice soon, so

please hold on for just a while more!”

“Argh! That’s why I said that a room at an inn with proper

guards would be better! There would be a toilet attached
too!”

“We can’t help it, we didn’t have the money! Serena-sama,

please hold on for just a while longer! Hey, aren’t any of the
adventurers who can use fire magic here yet!? What about
hot water!? Or at least get a hammer or something to break
through!”

“A hammer wouldn’t work on this! Some twisted guy sprayed

the entire house with water before freezing it, so the entire
thing is frozen solid! Ahh, what should we do…!?”
With the aid of Yunyun’s invisibility spell, I spent the entire
night using Create Water and Freeze to encase the door of
the cottage in a solid block of ice.

Still, I haven’t gotten a clue as to what Serena’s true goals

are.

Why would she travel all the way to this town of beginners to
get more followers through her powers of puppetry? What
purpose would that serve?

My mind filled with such thoughts as I casually observed the

adventurers work themselves into a panic from afar and dug
into the cup of shaved ice I bought on the way.

—A few more days have passed since then.

I made contact with Darkness, but apart from Megumin

repeatedly trying to cast Explosion in the skies above town
and Aqua complaining incessantly over being unable to go
out, there didn’t seem to be any issues.

I was a little worried that Serena might snap and target the
mansion or them, but it seems like she’s still putting on a
tough front.

Though, her mask has been cracking a lot recently.

It seems like those rumours I spread about her a few days

back did get to her.
With those thoughts in mind, I busied myself with preparing
my next trick.

“S-S-So this is where you were, Kazuma-sama. I-I’ve been

searching… wanting to meet with you.”

Suddenly, I heard a polite-seeming voice that was only just

barely able to conceal her anger from behind me.

I turned around and cordially smiled.

“Yo, if it isn’t Serena. It’s been some time. What’s wrong?

You’re scaring the people around you with that face of
yours, you know?”

Right now, we are in the backyard of the inn that I’m

currently using as my base.

Normally, the adventurers who slept in the stables would

use this place to sharpen their weapons and tend to their
armour and such, but for some reason, right now, I’m the
only one here.

Serena put on an obviously forced smile in response to my

greeting.

“Yes, it has been some time, Kazuma-sama… May I ask

what are you doing there?”

She warily asked upon sighting the item in my hand.

“Do you know of the balloons that they are selling at Wiz’s
magic item shop? This is called a water balloon. It’s an item
that expands upon being filled with water. Right now, instead
of water, I’m filling it with a mixture of paint and starch—”

“Hey cut it…! I don’t know what you intend to do with that,
but if you’re planning on playing some kind of prank with it,
then I won’t stand idly by.”

Saying that, Serena took a step back.

At the same time, a few of the adventurers surrounding her

stepped forward.

“… Hey, what are you trying to do?”

“You are asking me that? … I’m almost at my limits. These

people are almost completely under my control. If I order
them to kill you, they’ll do it without blinking an eye… I really
underestimated you. To think that just you alone could really
push me to this level…! Yeah, you really had your fun, didn’t
you!?”

This ain’t good.

Right now, the only people around here are us.

Serena was smiling, but that smile didn’t reach her eyes.

Crap, I might have went a little too far.

However…

“Hey, you were the one who told me to challenge you alone.
I boldly rose up to your challenge, and now you, a Demon
King’s General, is attacking me, the one with the weakest
class, with numbers on your side. Don’t you think it’s unfa—”

“Shut the fuck up!!”

Serena interrupted me with a sudden outburst.

“How dare you! You sure enjoyed yourself spreading all

those rumours about me, didn’t you!?”

She glared at me with bloodshot eyes.

“H-Hey, wait! As promised, I didn’t tell anyone about your

true identity, so those rumours that I paid the blonde-haired
delinquent to spread shouldn’t matter—”

“As if! Of all things, you had to spread the rumour that I’m
actually a man! You even mixed in bits of truth like how my
voice occasionally breaks…! Thanks to you, several people
even asked me about it directly! There were even a few who
said they’d prefer it if I was a man… Just what is wrong with
this town!? You bastard… I’ll fucking kill you!”

She started waving her hands and chanting…

Noticing an old man passing by, I hastily interjected.

“Hey, someone’s watching!”

“Kcht…! G-Good morning. The weather is quite nice today,

isn’t it?”

“Oh, Serena-san. Good morning. Yes, the weather is pretty

good today.”

As expected of the much revered Serena-sama.

It seems like she’s familiar with that man.

As Serena started making small talk with that man, the

adventurers around her stared blankly into space.

Well, this ain’t good. A Demon King’s General snapped.

She’s the general in charge of schemes and whatnot, so I

expected her to go about things in a more roundabout way,
but to think that she’d demonstrate her power in the middle
of the town… What should I do?

Fighting her and her puppeted entourage head on.

No, that’s impossible. Most likely, I wouldn’t last a full

minute.

Serena seems to be wrapping up her conversation, and the

man seems like he’s about to make his leave.

“Then, allow me to cast a spell of protection on you for your

safe journey…”

“Ah, thank you very much.”

Should I make a run for the police station?

No, I might have the Escape skill, but if Serena casts her
buffs on the adventurers surrounding her, it’s not impossible
for them to catch up to me.

Just then, Serena raised both hands to her chest and took
up a pose like she was offering a prayer.

I knew a chance when I saw one.

“Then, safe journeys upon yo—”

“Wind Breath!”
Just as Serena was casting her spell on the passerby.

I thrust my hand towards the ground directly beneath her

feet and unleashed a strong gust of air from it.

As I did so, her robe flew all the way up to her head, and
she, with her hands around her chest, could do nothing to
stop that.

I’m really lucky that she’s wearing her usual mature-seeming

long skirt.

After confirming that her robe was fully above her head, I
took out my wire from my pocket and aimed at her torso.

“Bind!”

“Wha—”

A muffled voice sounded out from within the robe.

With my Bind, I’ve secured her robe over her head.

Normally, this skill would only be useful for buying time, but
in this case…!

“Serena-sama!”

“Se-Serena-sama is—!”

“Serena-sama is all bundled up!?”

Seeing Serena bundled up with nothing between her waist
and her ankles but a set of panties seem to have
momentarily jolted the adventurers back to their senses.

“Aahh, thank the gods. What a divinely shaped ass…”

The person Serena was talking to fell to his knees in awe

and stared intently at her panties.

“Hey, wait, sto—!”

Serena struggled within her robes, but the wire I used was
the mithril wire I commissioned for use against monstrous
targets.

She might be a Demon King’s General, but she’s still a

human. It’s not something she can struggle her way out of.

“Aah! Serena-sama… Serena-sama’s ass is in broad

daylight…”

“Hey! Hide it! Form a wall! Hide her from view!”

“T-To think that Serena-sama wears black panties… I need

to remember this…”

Despite having mostly returned to their senses, the

adventurers around Serena still formed a circle around her
to hide her from view.

It doesn’t seem like Serena’s strong enough to dispel my

Bind like Aqua.
An angry-sounding voice emerged from underneath the
robe. It seems like she’s no longer able to maintain her
facade.

“Damn you Satou Kazuma! Don’t think you’ll get away with
this! Once I get out of here…!”

Well, I don’t know what will happen once she does, so to

buy myself a little bit more time, I took a deep breath.

And shouted to the world.

“Oh no! The great Serena-sama is right here with her bottom
exposed!”

“S-S-STOOOOOP!!!”

Part 4
“So you’ve come to visit again, Satou-dono.”

“I’ve come to visit again, Chief.”

A female knight was staring at me from the far side of a

small desk.

Indeed, I’m being interrogated yet again.

As the prime suspect in the Serena panties exposure

incident, I was once again detained at the police station.
Yeah, I suppose they won’t be able to overlook that kind of
ruckus.

Her adventurers couldn’t tear through her robes, and I put

my all into that Bind, so it wouldn’t wear off for quite some
time.

The people who were attracted by my cries formed a crowd

around her and made the place seem as lively as a
marketplace.

And the police who came to investigate the commotion once

again brought me into custody…

The female knight let out a sigh.

“Satou-dono, allow me to be frank. You’re a nuisance.”

“Even if you tell me that, I’m not exactly doing this because I
want to…”

—After I’ve been caught, the police sent a couple of people

to meet with Darkness.

However, apparently, she said that she wouldn’t bail me out

anymore.

Perhaps I shouldn’t have teased her in front of this knight

the last time I was here.

“… This time, that priest submitted an official report. Even if

you have Lady Dustiness’s favour, it’d be hard for her to bail
you out this time. Someone far higher ranked than her would
have to vouch for you, otherwise…”

“Yeah, I suppose so.”

Relying on Darkness so often wouldn’t sit very well with me

either.

Even if she bailed me out again, I’ll most likely end up back
here again before long.

After hearing my reply, the knight let out another sigh.

And then, tossing away the serious demeanour she has

shown me all this while, she rested her forehead upon the
desk and started grumbling.

“Argh, dammit! Why were you caught so easily!? You

could’ve easily escaped from us if you would’ve just put up a
bit more resistance!?”

“Is that something a police chief should really be saying?”

The knight slowly raised her head at my words.

“In the first place, what is that woman? All those people who
saw her underwear ended up as her fervent supporters.
Sure, she has a good body. In this town that’s filled with
weirdos, she’s a rare sensible person… But even so, the
pace at which she’s getting new converts is really strange.
What, is it really her panties? Just by showing people your
panties, you’ll get people to become your fans? Could even
a hardheaded fool like me get a few fans if I flash my panties
here and there for a bit? I know this town is a little out there,
but still… Ah, dammit, if that’s the case, I might as well…!”

……!?

“Wait, all those people there ended up as her followers? Just

by seeing her panties? I mean, sure, if there’s a religious
organization where the lady priests show us their panties, I’d
love to join it, but…”

Something feels off again.

The men of this town pretty much all make frequent use of
the succubus service. Just seeing her panties wouldn’t…

Well, sure, it’s natural to be thankful to see such a beautiful

sight, but becoming her follower just because you’ve seen
her panties is….

… Thankful.

Something’s nagging at me.

Regina is the Goddess of Vengeance. Could it be that…

Hmm…

That adventurer who was grievously wounded a few days

ago.

He ended up joining Serena’s posse after his wounds were

healed by her.

Sure, it might be natural to end up being her follower after

getting healed of such grievous wounds.

However, if I recall, he was one of the adventurers who got

revived by Aqua in the past.

Her daily behaviour doesn’t exactly make her out to be some

sort of goddess deserving of worship, but as far as her
healing skills are concerned, Aqua should’ve been far more
highly regarded.

It feels like I’m close to putting my finger on something, but I

just can’t narrow it down.

Yunyun went to consult with Serena, but her problem wasn’t

resolved, and she kept her senses.

And the people who saw Serena’s panties thanks to me

ended up becoming her followers.

In other words…

“Satou-dono! Don’t just space out! Answer my question! You

know about that woman’s secret, right!? Now, come on, out
with it!”
… Ah.

“AAAAAAAAAH! WHAT THE HELL!? I was just on the verge

of figuring it out! Why the hell must you interrupt me at the
crucial point, you left-on-the-shelf knight!?”

“Ah, you actually said it! It’s not like we female knights don’t
date because we don’t want to! Having children would be
detrimental to our mission, so we’re just waiting for a
wonderful man who would understand… Don’t cover your
ears, Satou-dono! Listen to me! And if you’re going to call
me left-on-the-shelf, at least introduce me to someone
decent…!”

Blocking out the words of the knight who was screaming

about something while shaking the table, I tried to go back to
my train of thought.

In order for Serena to turn people into her puppets, they

must need to be grateful or feel like they owe her in some
way, or something of that sort.

That means that in order to break them out of that state…

Aqua might be able to solve it with her Break Spell, but if her
identity was revealed to Serena in the process, that’d be
checkmate. I can’t take that chance.

… But before I can focus on this.

“Satou-dono! I don’t care about his personality, as long as
he has a somewhat modest income… The important thing is
being able to do housework! A house husband would be
best. Apart from that, telling me, ‘I love you,’ once every day
—”

“Say, chief, can I make a request of you?”

“… What is it?”

The knight who was going on about something weird

suddenly turned sullen for some reason.

“I would like to send a letter. Money is no object, I just need

to send a letter to an acquaintance in the capital. Express, of
course.”

Part 5
“Now then, Satou-sama, please take care. If you ever find
yourself in trouble, please feel free to rely on us.”

“A-Ah… Thanks…”

The day after I sent out the letter.

The knight gave me a crisp salute similar to the one she

gave Darkness a few days ago as she was sending me off.

It’s quite impressive how much her personality has changed

over the past day.

She seems to be giving me the same sort of treatment she

would give a high-ranking noble.

Well, that’s probably because of the letter I had hastily

written getting delivered to those two women in the capital…

“To think that Satou-sama is connected to not only the

Dustiness family, but the Symphonia family as well… And
for that Claire-sama to write back with specific instructions
not to give you any cause for offense… This is the first time
I’ve seen that happen.”

I sent the letter to the two nobles who served as bodyguards

for Iris, Claire and Rain.

Ever since the two of them replied, the stiff attitude that this
knight showed me has completely vanished.

She displayed an amazing smile while shaking my hand.

“I wondered what happened when Rain-dono appeared here

in tears while bearing Claire-sama’s letter… You really are a
playboy, Satou-sama! Not just Lady Dustiness, but even
Claire-sama and Rain-dono…!”

“Err, well… That’s not quite the case, but nevermind…”

It’s almost to the point where I want to ask who the hell she
is.
It seems like she’s under the impression that I’m close
friends with Rain and Claire.

In that letter, I wrote that I recovered my memory, and I’ll

soon be paying them a visit to give my thanks for that
incident.

And, as a postscript, I added that I have fallen into quite a

spot of trouble, and it would help me if they would provide a
document with their signature on it. That’s all.

Upon hearing about my situation from the person who

delivered the letter, the two of them immediately agreed to
become my guarantor. Or so I’ve heard.

“… By the way, where are those two right now? I would like
to give them my regards.”

“Claire-sama said that she’d be taking a vacation at a hidden

villa starting today, so she wouldn’t be in the capital even if
you went there. Rain-dono was handling the paperwork for
your release, but the moment she was done, she used
Teleport and disappeared off somewhere.”

Oh, so they are that afraid of me, huh?

I followed the knight to the entrance of the police station.

The other policemen gave me pitch perfect salutes as I

passed by.

The female knight put her arms behind her back and leaned
forwards with a smile on her face.

“Satou-sama, from now on, we’ll turn a blind eye to any

happenings in town, so feel free to tease or investigate or do
whatever else you want to that priest!”

“T-Thanks…”

Is this town okay?

“You know, you said you looked up to Darkness and stuff a

few days ago, so I thought you’d be a more inflexible
person…”

“A great noble like her would be able to have her pick of any
handsome noble scion she wishes, but despite that, she
chooses to be alone. We nobles who are similarly alone look
up towards her and admire her for that… Come to think of it,
Satou-sama, in addition to having such amazing contacts,
you also have fame and a mansion, right?… Not only that,
but you have a fortune that would put several nobles to
shame, no?”

“… I-I suppose…”

……

“I’m Aloerina, 23, single, the surprisingly devoted type, and

pretty amazing when the lights go—”

“Well, I have to go! Thank you for your hospitality! I’ll repay
you someday!”
I get the distinct feeling that nothing good will happen if I
were to linger here, so I hurriedly left the police station.

—I was momentarily blinded by the morning sun upon

leaving the police station.

Was it because of the time I spent in that dark detention

cell?

I couldn’t see clearly due to the glare, but even so, my eyes
were drawn towards a certain figure standing outside.

Long flowing blue hair that shimmered in the morning sun.

A blue hagoromo that gave off a gentle seeming aura.

Standing right there was a person I hadn’t seen in a long

time, cheerfully waving at me with a bright smile upon her
face.
It’s almost like she’s welcoming home a friend she hadn’t
seen in a long time.

“Welcome home, Kazuma! Thank you for your hard work!”

I told her to hole herself up within the mansion. Why is it that

she never listens to a word I say?

Still, I am a little happy to see her.

Just a little.

She might not know the full story, but she still came out to
greet me upon my release even knowing that it’s dangerous
outside the mansion.

With a smile in my heart, I headed towards her…

“Say, with this, you’ve been in the care of the police for more
times than I’ve been, right? You can’t call me an ex-convict
anymore, can you!? Say, how does it feel, Kazuma-san who
called the police on me when I took over the mansion? The
same Kazuma-san who called me ex-convict who knows
how many times after that? So how does it feel? How do you
feel now!?”

……

This little bitch!

“Hey, you didn’t wait for me here just because of a stupid

reason like that, did you!? Don’t screw with me! Why do you
think I spent so much time in the care of the police!? In the
first place, I got arrested in the process of protecting the
peace of the town! Don’t compare it to the petty crime you
did, you Goddess of Criminals!”

“Waaah! How could you say that?! You’ll get divine

punishment, you shitty NEET! Why don’t you tell me the
reason why you ended up in the care of the police so many
times!? Come on, say it! If your conscience is clean, then
why don’t you come out and say it!?”

Dammit, I haven’t seen her in a while, and all I want to do is

to smack her upside the head!

I wouldn’t be struggling so much if I could say it!

Actually, we are talking about that bloodlusted Serena here.

It wouldn’t be surprising if she attacked us right now.

Speaking bluntly, even if the worst happened, as long as

Aqua is fine, she’d be able to do something about it with her
Resurrection.

Well, that’s just as a last resort, but still.

Perhaps because they are both priests, Serena does seem

to have her eye on Aqua, so it’s best to get her home as
quickly as possible.

While making sushing motions with my hands, I said.

“Argh, fine, I did it because I couldn’t stand that priest,
alright? There’s no other reason in particular, so hurry up
and get back inside the mansion. What happened to
Darkness and Megumin anyway? I told them to keep an eye
on you.”

“Those two were caught in my certain kill party trick, the type
100 mist! Once activated, it’d last for at least half a day
before fading. Actually, they just got bored after holing up in
the mansion for so long. Being a NEET and spending all day
indoors gets old really quickly. You’re being so unfair,
Kazuma. You’ve been staying outside all this while, right? I
want to go to a slumber party too. Take me with you.”

It looks like this idiot plans to follow me even though she

hadn’t the slightest idea what I’ve been up to.

Her certain kill party trick sort of intrigues me, but right now,
the most important thing is what to do with her.

… Well, before any of that, I should get a meal.

The portions they provide at the police station isn’t much.

I can think about how to persuade Aqua while we are having

a meal…

With that in mind, I took Aqua with me and wandered around

town for a bit to find a good restaurant.

Just then.
The group I’d hate the most to run into right now appeared
right in front of me.

“Yo, aren’t you early, Satou Kazuma. I’ve been waiting…

You have your companion with you today? Well, no matter.
Let’s settle our score, Kazuma. I’m almost boiling over with
rage right now!”

Serena, looking at me with bloodshot eyes, her original

gentle demeanour nowhere to be seen, and her entourage
of adventurers—

Part 6
“Kazuma-san! Kazuma-san! What is going on!? Why are
those people chasing us!? I don’t think I’ve done anything…
I can think of a few reasons why they might be chasing us,
but why!?”

“Properly apologize when they regain their senses! Dammit,

how many people did she turn into her followers while I was
in jail!? No one is taking notice even all the ruckus we’ve
been causing!”

Aqua and I were running through the town.

There were about ten adventurers chasing us, but none of
the people in town even raised an eyebrow upon seeing us
tear a path through it.

I’ve managed to stay ahead of them thanks to Aqua’s buffs,

but it’s only a matter of time before I’m cornered.

… In the first place.

“I thought she was more of a schemer! Doing this just

because I teased her a little is way too rash! Her actions are
getting more and more overboard!”

She at least bothered to keep things out of the public eye

when she attacked me the other day, but now she’s not
even trying.

She must be pretty confident in how thorough her

brainwashing of this town is if she’s willing to act so
brazenly.

Aqua, half-crying as she ran next to me, screamed.

“Hey, I thought you were arrested for sexual harassment!

Just what did you do to that priest to make someone as
gentle as her so mad!?”

“Nothing much! I just froze her inside a house with no toilet,

spread some strange rumours about her, and called a lot of
people to see her when her panties were visible for about an
hour, that’s all!”
“You can’t complain if she kills you over that!”

Dammit!

I purposefully toppled the merchant display stores I ran past,

creating obstacles behind me to slow my pursuers down.

Several angry voices called out after me as I ran, but I didn’t

have the time to apologize and offer compensation to each
and every store owner.

I have no idea how many people have been puppeted.

With Serena pursuing me so boldly through the streets, it’s

best to think that most people on the streets are my enemy.

Thus, I naturally avoided the crowds and went through the

less crowded areas.

Even though she had no idea what was going on, Aqua still
followed me without any hesitation.

This isn’t good. If anything were to happen to her, I won’t be

able to get revived.

Should I send her off to the police station on her own?

Or should we keep running towards the mansion like this…

“Hey, Aqua, do you sense anything when you look at these

people!? You wiped out the curse on Darkness’s dad in a
snap back then, didn’t you!? Can’t you sense any evil power
at work here!?”
“My divine eyes tell me that the most evil existence in this
town is the man running next to me!”

This bitch!

Just when I’m considering tripping her and using that

opportunity to run away, a triumphant voice called out from
behind me.

“The only path ahead of you leads to a dead end, Satou

Kazuma! Did you not notice the arrangement of the people
on the streets!? It’s all to lead you to a deserted area. The
only thing ahead of you is…!”

Indeed, the only thing around this corner is a dead end with
a high wall blocking any progress.

Anyone would know this after spending enough time in this

town.

“Hey, Aqua, they’ll catch up at this rate! Crouch down below

the wall and fling me over it! I’ll pull you up once I’m on top!
We’ll be able to escape that way.”

“I see, what a wonderful idea! Then, Kazuma, why don’t you

fling me over!? I’ll pull you up once I get on top of the wall!”

“Y-You little…”

Aqua said that without blinking.

After spending so much time together, it’s obvious to the

both of us what we had in mind.
As Aqua and I rounded the corner at the same time…

“Pant… Pant… H-Have you finally given up, Satou

Kazuma…! Y-You’ve got a pretty good priest there… Pant…
Pant… That’s some pretty powerful… Support spells…
Pant… Pant…”

Serena breathlessly said upon seeing us stopping, as she

tried to catch her breath.

Then, it seems like she finally noticed.

We didn’t stop because we gave up.

Serena followed our gaze.

Standing right there was…

“Welcome! We have been awaiting you, dear customers!

The weather is nice today, so Moi and the shopkeeper have
decided to set up an open air store here!”

“Ah, welcome! It’s just like Vanir-san said, we’ve gotten

customers even in such a place!”

Wiz and Vanir, their goods spread out upon a rug right at the
end of a dead alley.

—I don’t want to deal with this all-seeing Devil anymore.

 Part 7
“Hey, what are you selling? … Actually, are you okay?
Smoke is coming out from your head, you know?”

“Vanir-san went off the handle just now, saying ’I just got rid
of the Bug Killerin, and you brought in another bunch of
weird stuff!’… But don’t worry, Aqua-sama. I just drank some
sugar water earlier, so my body will automatically heal up.
Even if the worst comes to worst, I can just drink some water
from anywhere… Ah, Aqua-sama, that’s Vanir-san’s
recommended item for the day.”

Aqua squatted next to Wiz and started picking through the

products on display.

While the two of them were having a casual conversation,

“Hey, Vanir, what’s the meaning of this? Are you still not
satisfied after taking all the money I had on hand?”

“Did you pull the strings behind the scene this time? No,
actually, what are you doing setting up shop at the end of a
dead alley that I got chased into? Just how much did you
forsee this time?”

Serena and I hounded Vanir.

The members of Serena’s entourage who were chasing us

are currently standing by a short distance away from us.
Vanir responded with a laugh.

“Fuhahahaha! Now, now, there’s no need to be so angry,

you two. Right now, my job is to earn money, so Moi shall
appear at any place that smells of money. Worry not, Moi
has prepared items that would be of great benefit to the both
of you. So, would you like to take a look?”

Leaving Vanir aside, there’s no way we can start fighting in

front of Wiz.

Serena and I looked at each other and wordlessly agreed on

a temporary truce.

… No, wait, in this situation, couldn’t I just throw our deal out
the window and clue Wiz in on what’s going on?

With Vanir, Wiz, and the goddess Aqua here, there’s a

decent chance that it’ll work out in my favour.·

The problem is that I’m not entirely certain who Vanir and
Wiz would end up siding with.

We might be on fairly good terms, but I have no idea what

their relationship with Serena is. The only thing I know is that
they used to be co-workers.

In the past, Wiz got really angry when she learnt that
another Demon King’s general, Hans, had laid a hand on
another person.

I recall her saying something about Hans breaking some

sort of agreement she made with the Demon King…

Still, I have no idea how she would react in this situation.

She might be one in name only, but she’s still a General of

the Demon King.

Though, it’s probably safe to say that those two wouldn’t

work together with Serena to attack this town—

“Hey, don’t think of doing anything strange now. Let’s make

a truce for today.”

Seemingly understanding what is currently going through my

head, Serena whispered into my ear.

… Dealing with an intelligent enemy like her is really

annoying.

“Now, now, you two, stop standing there whispering to each

other and give my products a look. Even without using my
all-seeing gaze, Moi is certain that there’ll be something
that’ll have the two of you jumping for joy.”

Serena and I shot Vanir a doubtful gaze after hearing his

suspicious sounding invitation.

Unfazed by it, Vanir brought out a piece of paper.

“First is this! This is a contract that states that Moi will not
interfere no matter what you’re plotting in this town—”

Serena snatched away the piece of paper before Vanir could

finish his sentence.

Come to think of it, Vanir did promise to keep her personal

information a secret because of her status as his customer,
but he didn’t promise not to get in her way.

Devils like Vanir seem to place a high amount of importance

on contracts.

Dammit, if I had known, I would’ve snatched it for myself…

“Say, Vanir, I can definitely pay a higher price for that than
her, so would you mind selling that to me?”

Upon hearing my words, Serena triumphantly said.

“Hey, hey, this is a first come, first served sort of thing.

Vanir, how much is this?”

“730,330 Eris.”

“All of my money again!? I only just managed to save up this

much, you piece of shit!”

Serena angrily shouted as she threw her wallet at Vanir.

“Thank you for your patronage~!”

… Oh, right.

“Oh, yeah, Serena, you still owe me some money, don’t

you!? Pay me back right now! You were the one who said
you’d face me as a Demon King’s General if I challenge you
alone! It’d be something else if you face me one on one, but
if you are going to break your promise and send a bunch of
guys after me, then pay me back right now! … Hehehe, with
this, you’ll have to return what you just bought from Vanir,
right?”

“Y-You bastard… Dammit. Hey, you!”

Serena called out to one of her adventurers.

With a blank gaze, the man approached Serena.

“Give me some money… There, will this do!?”

Serena snatched the wallet from that adventurer and

handed it over to me.

Dammit, I guess that was too naive of me.

… Hmm, wait.

“… ? … Huh? W-What am I doing here…?”

“Tsk.”

The adventurer who got his wallet taken regained his senses
for a moment, and Serena clicked her tongue upon seeing
that.

… Well, isn’t that interesting.

“Umm, can I have a moment?”

In a cheerful tone, Serena called out to the adventurer.

“That’s odd. I’m pretty sure I was… Ah, what is it, Serena-
san? Why are you holding the hem of your skirt…”

As he was saying that, Serena, blushingly, lifted her own

skirt and gave the adventurer a good view of what’s going
on underneath.

“Umm… What do you think after seeing this?”

“Thank you very much! Thank you very much! Thank you
ver…y…”

The man looked utterly elated for a moment, but soon, his
expression was replaced with the same blank one that the
others had.

… Oh, this is very interesting indeed.

“Oh, did you see that? That priest that looks so refined
actually did something like that! What a pervert!”

“Celestina-san… You always were a little boorish, but when

did you become so bold…”

“Celestina? Do you know that priest?”

Seeing Serena’s actions, Aqua and Wiz gleefully gossiped

like old housewives.

Serena herself ignored the two of them, instead seeming

more annoyed that I seemed to have picked up on the man’s
behaviour as she turned back to Vanir.

“Hey, Vanir, with this, you won’t get in my way anymore,

right? I can take this as a contract, right?”

“Indeed, we have made a contract. Worry not, we devils

absolutely will not break a contract. … Now, boy.”

Yes, it really does seem like you need to feel like you owe
something to Serena in order to become puppeted by her.

Thus, if you feel as though that debt was repaid in some

way, whatever form it takes, her control over you will be
broken.

Just like what happened to that man when Serena took his
wallet.

The reason why Serena flashed her panties to him is most

likely due to the boom in followers she experienced after that
incident with my Bind.

It’s definitely not a bad method to quickly turn someone into

her puppet.

“Hey, boy, Moi is about to recommend some products to

you.”

… Hmm, but, come to think of it.

The people who were already her puppets came to their

senses for a brief moment upon seeing her panties back
then.
Why would that happen?

“… Hey, boy who’s been staying outside as of late to enjoy a

certain service that gives him visions of the two girls back at
the mansion and pretty much all the women present right—”

“Yes, yes, show me the goods! What do you want me to

buy, Vanir!? My wallet is quite full right now, so I’ll buy
anything you have to offer!”

Ignoring Serena, who was giving me an extremely disdainful

gaze, I moved to examine the items that Vanir prepared…

“… What’s this?”

“This case contains the ‘Useless Potions Series’ that this

worthless shopkeeper bought in the past.”

You just said it’s useless.

“For instance, this is the Stats Up Potion (Changed). It’s

made from a regular stats up potion, and is more effective
than its regular counterparts.”

“… And its side effects?”

“As it increases one of your stats, its paired stat will

decrease.”

… Paired stat?

“So, what would happen if I drink it?”

“Your strength will increase tremendously, but in return, your
intelligence will decrease.”

I see.

“It might be pretty useful for a frontline combat class that

doesn’t require much intelligence to do their job…”

I rotated the potion in my hand and mused out loud. At the

same time, Serena stared thoughtfully at the bottle.

“So, how much is this reduction in intelligence?”

“It would definitely end up lower than this boy’s blue-haired

priest.”

I returned the potion to the case.

“Then what about these? The first part of Forbidden Potions

Series! This potion will allow you to draw the ire of monsters
for the rest of your life when you drink it! Perfect for earning
experience points! Or this one that’ll raise your magic power
in exchange for killing your hair follicles! Or this one that’ll
reduce your magic to zero but raise your levels by leaps and
bounds! Or this potion that attracts the opposite sex but
make you smell like a goblin? Or this level reset potion that’s
perfect for masochists who would wish to relieve their harsh
training?”

“They are all defective products! I don’t need them!”

Just as I reflexively interjected,

“Or this potion that cures the Puppet status effect?”

“What!?” x2

Vanir casually offered an item that’d be extremely useful to

me right now.

“Oh, that seem to have caught both your interest. This is a

potion that cures the unique status ailment ‘Puppet’. That
said, that’s a very rare status effect that no extant monsters
can inflict. As far as Moi is aware, the only one that can
inflict it right now is a minor Dark Goddess…”

“Don’t refer to Regina-sama as a minor Dark Goddess!”

Ignoring the angry Serena, I took the potion from Vanir’s

hands.

“Is this the only bottle you have?”

In response, Vanir jabbed his finger towards Wiz.

Right there, rows upon rows of potions are displayed on the

mat that Aqua is currently crouched in front of.

Dammit. Sure, it’s a great help and all, but I can’t help but
feel frustrated that we’ve all been dancing in the palm of
Vanir’s hand all this time.

She might be my enemy, but Serena probably feels the

same way.

Staring at those potions, Serena bitterly said.

“… Didn’t you make a contract not to get in my way?”

“Fuhahahahaha, the all-seeing devil so declares! Even if

these potions fall into this boy’s hands, they will not get in
your way! In fact, there will come a day when you’ll be
deeply thankful that this boy has these potions on hand.
Now, boy, the Forbidden potion series, and that Puppet
curing potion I just gave you is a free service! Now, here
comes the main event! How much are you willing to pay for
a case of those potions over there…!”

Letting out an ecstatic laugh, Vanir once again moved

towards the case of potions…

“Ah, Aqua-sama, what are you doing? Those potions might

not be of much use now, but Vanir-san has been carefully
preparing them since morning. You shouldn’t stick your
finger in them.”

“Nevermind that, you’re starting to turn a little see through,

you know? Have you been taking in enough water? It’s great
that you have so many useless potions right now. Here, I’ve
turned them all into clean water, so douse yourself with them
and cool off.”

“Sorry, Aqua-sama. Thank you very much… But Aqua-

sama’s divine power is making me sort of numb…”

… …. …

The three of us fell silent upon seeing what Wiz and Aqua
are doing.
Out of all of them, Vanir, after spending so much effort to get
us dancing to his tune, naturally stiffened upon seeing that.

“… Snicker.”

“!”

This really isn’t a laughing matter, but for some reason,

Serena and I let out a chuckle at the same time.

Part 8
“Fuhahaha! Fuhahaha! Moi has really overlooked you this
time! Moi should’ve taken care of this goddess of toilets a
long time ago!”

“Do it if you think you can, you Masked Devil! I don’t know
what kind of goods you were trying to sell to our Kazuma,
but aren’t you embarrassed at all to lose your temper just
because things aren’t going your way? Are you really a
Great Devil? Is your title self proclaimed? How do you feel
after having your products ruined? Come on, tell me! It’s
really amazing! Kususu! Fukususu!”

<TL note: Kusukusu (クスクス) is the onomatopoeia for a

snickering, teasing sort of laughter, the kind you’d expect a
clique of cool girls to be having behind the dork’s back. If
you know of a good english equivalent, contact me.>

………
“Vanir Style Death Ray!”

“Reflect!

—I jabbed my thumb towards the unfolding commotion

behind me sighed.

“… Hey, what should we do about those two?”

“… Why are you asking me? In the first place, just what is
that priest to be able to fight with Vanir like that?”

Technically, she’s a goddess. Technically.

Wiz, seemingly having been caught in the crossfire, fell

charred and smoking to the ground.

Serena heaved a sigh.

“Well, the only one who could’ve stopped them got taken out
instantly, so there’s really nothing we can do. I’m not
considered particularly strong amongst the Generals… Aah,
this feels really stupid. Doesn’t seem like anything good will
come out of tangling with you… There are too many strange
folks hanging around you. Other than Vanir and that priest
who’s currently fighting him to a standstill, you also know a
lot of other dangerous people, don’t you?”

I can’t deny that.

There’s the proudly crazy girl back home, everyone back in

the Crimson Demon Village, and the strongest step-sister in
the world, just to start with.

Perhaps sensing something from my expression, Serena

went “Uwah…” and cringed a little.

“Sigh… Oh, fine, I give up on this town. Truth be told, I

underestimated you. I should’ve come at you with full force
right from the start.”

Saying that, Serena heaved yet another sigh.

Her gloomy gaze has been focused on Aqua and Vanir

fighting all this while.

… Well, I can understand where she’s coming from.

Even I wouldn’t have taken such a ridiculous bunch

seriously as opponents.

“You bitch of a goddess, Moi shall have you compensate me

for all the potions you rendered useless today!”

“Ahahaha! Devil who believes that everything moves

according to his plans, only to get his hopes dashed at the
last moment every single time! I shall not compensate you!
In fact, I turned your useless potions into Aqua’s beautiful
and delicious water, so if anything, you should be paying
me!”

“Don’t you dare imitate me! Those lines are my trademark!

That is it! Moi shall beat you black and blue and take every
last coin you have!”

… Yeah, I can understand where she’s coming from.

Well, I’d be fine if things ended here.

After all, I did already avenge Aqua for what she suffered the
other day.

………

No wait!

I didn’t kick her because Aqua was depressed or anything.

I didn’t pick a fight with a Demon King’s General just

because Aqua seemed uncharacteristically sad.

It has nothing to do with that good for nothing goddess. I did

that to resolve the unpleasant feelings in my stomach, that’s
all.

As I repeated that to myself, I said to Serena.

“Then we’ve reached an understanding, right? Just to say it

again, I have absolutely no interest in the Demon King, so
there’s no need to treat me as a threat. To be honest, even if
you tell me that the Demon King and humanity are at war
over the state of the world and whatnot, when I’m living in
such a peaceful town, it really doesn’t resonate with me at
all. Seriously, if you leave me alone, I won’t cause any
trouble for you.”
“Yes, yes, I get it. I’ll tell the Demon King that neither you nor
this town is worthy of his attention, so there’s no need to
worry so much about them. And I’ll leave this town too.
That’ll be fine, right?”

I let out a breath I’ve been holding.

“Right, then, we have a deal… Sigh. You said you weren’t

strong amongst the Generals, but even then, I was really
breaking out into cold sweat while facing you. In the first
place, rather than charging right at someone with the
weakest class like me, a General should act like one and
come up with some grander schemes…”

I started grumbling about all the worries that have piled up

over the last few nerve-wracking days.

“Well, I didn’t have it easy either. Though I don’t really care

about any of it now… Sigh, I’m not looking forward to this…
This might be the end of your part in this, but I still need to
report to the Demon King afterwards.”

With an exasperated look on her face as she gazed upon

the goddess and devil fighting, Serena started grumbling as
well.

“Either convince you to join us, or kill you. Those were my

original orders regarding you… Well, I’ll tell you something.
The truth is, I wasn’t exactly looking forward to clashing with
you either. I’ll forget about how you exposed me in front of
half the town, so you forget about a bunch of things too,
alright?”
“Yeah, yeah. After this, we are both even, okay?”

Serena produced a small smoking pipe and what appeared

to be tobacco from the folds of her robe.

After lighting it with a very familiar item, she took a deep

draught from it before turning to me.

“With this, you won’t be targeted by the Demon King’s army

anymore. Oh, one more thing, your companion. She was
called Megumin, wasn’t she? There was a pretty large
bounty on her head too, so I’ll get rid of that for you.”

Seriously? When did that happen?

Though, she’ll probably be happy if she learnt that the

Demon King’s army put a bounty on her head…

“Oh, please do that. Oh, wait, wouldn’t I have something like

that too? If I have a bounty on my head, please take care of
that too.”

“Yes, yes, leave it to me. I’ll handle it.”

Serena exhaled a cloud of smoke in a somewhat annoyed

manner before bringing the pipe to her lips again.

“… Sigh. You know, you could be a little more thankful to

me, right?”

Her gaze was still squarely focused on Aqua and Vanir as

she said that.
“Oh, yeah, thank you. But, leaving me aside, just what were
you planning to do in this town anyway. This is just a town of
beginners…”

… Wait a minute.

What’s with this strange sensation?

“…You finally said it.”

Serena still hasn’t turned to look at me.

She said that while breathing out a cloud of purple smoke.

… I said it? … What did I say?

Why is my body feeling so strange…? And my head is

feeling floaty…

… Ah…

“My, my, you really are something. You already figured out
how my power works, right? You might be the first one to get
this close to figuring out the true form of my power.”

… Oh shit… You dirty little…!

I let my guard down because Vanir and Aqua were fighting

like usual…
“You wanted to know what I’m planning in a town of
beginners like this, right? There, there, I’ll tell you all about it,
so be thankful to me, okay? You asked, so of course I’ll
answer. I listened to you request, so you’ll owe me for this,
right?”

Shit… shit….

Hey, stop! Don’t say anything more!

I wanted to say that, but not a single word came out of my

mouth.

It’s not just my mouth, my entire body has gotten really

sluggish.

“You coward! Stop using Wiz as a shield! … Hey, actually,

don’t you think Wiz has gotten really see through right now?”

“Then you stop throwing around purification spells! … No,

no, this is taking things too far. That’s a warning sign. At this
rate, the storekeeper will vanish for real.”

“W-W-What should we do!? Really, what do we do!? If I cast

healing on her, she’ll just vanish faster!”

“There’s some sugar water in that bag over there, so let the
storekeeper drink some. This usually works out. She’ll spring
right back like a snake after shedding its skin… probably.”

Vanir and Aqua are currently panicking over a Wiz that

became almost completely transparent.
At that instant.

—Serena finally turned to face me.

A triumphant grin was plastered across her face.

“The truth is, the army will dispatch a division to this town
not to long in the future. But, well, this town is the town
furthest away from the front lines. There’s no way we can
march an entire army all over the country to this town. Thus,
only a small amount of units are scheduled to be sent here
through Teleport. But, well, for a town of beginners, that is
more than enough.”

Hey, stop! Don’t say anymore!

“Do you know the fallen angel, Duke? He went missing

around this town a while ago.”

…?

Oh, right, that’s the guy who was saying something about
becoming a Demon King’s General and challenged Wiz only
to get taken out.

“It seems like you do. Could it be that you took care of him
too? Well, we received a message from him before he
disappeared, warning us to be wary of you.”

That bastard. He actually did such a thing.

Though, yeah, he did say something like that. Something

about this town becoming a priority target or something.
So the reason this town is getting attacked is because of
me?

No, I couldn’t care less about that right now. If I hear

anything more, it’d really be bad.

“Ah, don’t get the wrong idea. This town has been a target
for quite some time. Even before the Generals started
disappearing and high bounty targets started getting taken
out.”

Sto—…!

……

“W-Why…?”

I couldn’t control my body very well right now, but I still

forced those words from my mouth.

I know that if Serena tells me her big secret, the puppeting

process would just progress further.

I know that, but…

“Because this is the town of fledging adventurers. Because

this is the town of beginnings. I might be a Demon King’s
General, but I’m still a human. I even used to be an
adventurer, you know? And of course, when I first started as
an adventurer, I was directed to this town. Everyone picked
up their first quest here. This is the town of beginners, Axel.
The weakest monsters all over the world are purposely
cultivated and given a breeding population here. A town
specifically meant to raise newbie adventurers.”

It’d be like the starting town in a game.

It’s supposed to be a town for beginners, but for some

reason, I’ve been through a lot of hardship in this town.

“Then, what would happen if this place were to be

destroyed? Goblins might be known as a staple training
target, but even their rusty blades are dangerous to newbie
adventurers fresh out of the gates. Giant frogs can be taken
down as long as you get enough people on your side, and
the only place where they breed is here. If this town didn’t
exist, exactly where would newbie adventurers go to train?”

… I see.

“Do you get it? Apart from a few exceptions like the Crimson
Demons with their mysterious training method, all famous
adventurers had their start in this very town. They raise their
levels here before setting off towards other towns. Unless
they have some special reason, most adventurers will stay
in this town until they gain quite a few levels under their belt.
And those people will eventually end up facing off against
us.”

I can’t hear any more of this…

“Now that the people bearing strange names have stopped

showing up, if this town disappears too, the recruitment of
adventurers will cease entirely… You know of the strongest
of the Demon King’s Generals? The Demon King’s
daughter? She’s currently planning a large scale attack on
the fortresses along the frontlinew and the capital. That will
surely cause significant casualties amongst the
adventurers… And, if those guys who are desperately
holding the line and awaiting new reinforcements were to
hear that the training ground of new adventurers, the town of
Axel is destroyed….”

… Their morale would naturally take a huge blow.

In this world that’s crawling with monsters, who knows how

many years it would take to rebuild a town?

Aah… My consciousness is going…

“… I guess you’re nearing your limit. This power isn’t a

curse. No matter what kind of person you are, there’s no
way you can resist it. Especially not a man like you. But
don’t worry. If I give you an order you really hate, you’ll still
be able to resist. It might cause you great pain, though. But
it’s you we are talking about. I’m sure you won’t simply lay
back and submit to being my puppet… Now, let me enjoy
finding out exactly how much you will resist my orders…!”

Serena happily laughed.

And at long last, my thoughts ceased entirely…

—At the very edge of my consciousness, I heard Serena’s

gentle voice.

“Now, listen very closely… You feel something at the depths

of your heart, don’t you? That’s all the humiliation, injustice,
and ridicule you’ve suffered… Think back. You’ve been
looked down on by the inhabitants of this town, right? Have
you ever been laughed at for having the weakest job? Have
your companions ever slowed you down or gotten in your
way?”

Those words flowed sweetly into my chest.

“Yes, why do you have to always clean up after everyone?

There’s no need to hold it in any longer. Throw away your
restraints, your common sense, your morality, your
conscience. Throw them all away… Now, it’s time to take
your revenge along with me. Very soon, my friends will
gather in this town. When that time comes, you will help us
alongside the other puppets. Now, it’s time to take your
revenge. Revenge on the inhabitants of this town, and your
former companions—!”

“—Wiz, are you okay? Do you know who I am?”

“…? Aqua-sama? And Vanir-san? What’s the matter? Why

are the two of you so close to me?”

“Hmm, if you don’t remember what happened, then there’s

no need to worry yourself. It’s best not to force yourself to
remember.”
“Y-Yeah! If you don’t remember, it’s probably best not to
dwell on it.”

Aqua, squatting next to Wiz who’s laying on the ground, got

to her feet and turned towards me.

“Kazuma! We should head home soon. It’s kind of scary

watching Darkness and Megumin rummage around the
house like bears while you were out. Let’s head home and
calm those two down.”

She approached Serena-sama without any hint of wariness

at all and extended a hand towards me…

… I deftly dodged Aqua’s outstretched hand.

“….?”

Aqua tilted her head and gave me a confused look.

Serena-sama seemed really amused to see her like that.

She straightened her shoulders and said with a hint of

laughter.

“This man said he doesn’t want to go back to you guys

anymore. He wants to become my companion. Isn’t that
right, Kazuma? You don’t need those potions anymore, do
you? Come on, tell it to them.”

In response to Serena-sama’s words, I said.

“I’ll be of the Regina cult as of today. I’ll be working together

with Serena-sama from now on, so send my regards to the
rest for me.”

Part 9
Serena-sama who’s walking in front of me is thinking about
something.

What is she thinking about? Is something troubling her, I

wonder?

… Just then, Serena-sama suddenly stopped and turned to

face me.

“Say, you’re currently puppeted right now, right? You’ll do

anything I say, right?”

Why would she ask me something that’s so obvious?

“Of course, Serena-sama. Even If you would order me to

hold up your breasts in place of your bra for an entire day, I
would happily obey.”

“A-Ah, is that so… I wouldn’t give you such a ridiculous

order, so don’t worry. None of the other puppets have ever
declared that they would join the Regina cult, so I just… but
well, there’s no need to worry about that.”

Serena-sama turned back and continued walking.

Then, in a voice like she’s been holding this back for a long
time, she whispered.

“… Finally…”

It’s a voice just soft enough to be heard by me.

“Do you know how long I have been waiting for this
moment!? Do you have any idea how much shame I
endured at the hands of the Demon King’s Army after
Regina-sama was captured and sealed by the Crimson
Demons!?”

“No, I do not.”

“Is that so? Then just stay silent and listen! A few years ago,
the seal on Regina-sama was broken for some reason. And
I only recently regained my powers. One day, out of the
blue, the power Regina-sama gave me suddenly increased
several fold! Yes, Regina-sama gave me who have been
struggling for so long her blessings!”

“Isn’t that because the Regina cult was just you at that
moment?”

“I told to you listen quietly! I’m in a good mood right now, so

don’t ruin it!”

—After telling everyone that I joined the Regina cult.

Aqua cried and gabbered about something, but Serena let

out a triumphant laugh before leading me away, and we
quickly left the area.

Incidentally, I gave the puppetry curing potion to Aqua to

shut her up.

It doesn’t seem like Aqua knows what that potion is,

however.

Now that I’ve become Serena-sama’s devout subordinate,

there’s no need for me to have such a dangerous item.

After parting ways, it seems like Serena has started looking

for a new base of operations now that she gained such an
excellent pawn in the form of me.

Also, it seems like she relaxed her control over the other
adventurers to put more focus on me. Just in case.

She said something about control capacity or whatever.

Perhaps the number of people she could puppet at once is

limited.

And if she’s putting so much effort on me, that just means

she requires my abilities that badly.

As I walked behind Serena who was in a great mood, I had

to ask her a burning question.

“Incidentally, Serena-sama, what’re the conditions to remove

the puppet status from me?”
Serena-sama immediately stopped upon hearing my
question.

“… You are really puppeted, right? Why do you need to

know that information?”

She said in a harsh tone without turning back.

“It’s nothing major, but I’d be quite troubled if I were to be

released from Serena-sama’s puppetry. I simply wish to
keep my distance from any situations that seem like they’d
be able to do so.”

I casually answered, and Serena turned back in surprise.

Eventually, she grabbed my face with both hands and stared

deeply at my face.

“… You…? … Yes, I can feel the power of Regina-sama

coming from you. What’s happening here? Could that be it?
Did I put too much power into it and overdo the
brainwashing…? Rather than ending up as a puppet, it’s
more like I’ve gained a devoted underling capable of
independent thought… Well, no matter. It suits my purposes
just fine. Keep at it.”

“Of course, Serena-sama.”

She nodded contentedly in response to my instant reply.

“Very well, I shall tell you. This will be helpful to you too. The
first is if your feelings of owing something to me were to
change, but you already know that. Next is a strong faith…
You know, back when you bound me up and exposed my
panties to my puppets, they regained their senses for an
instant, right? Those kinds of ‘stroke of good luck’ events
that would make people thank their god are particularly
dangerous. I don’t know what kind of god you worship, but
do take note of that.”

“Don’t worry, the one I worship is Regina-sama. If something

erotic were to happen as you were out doing your everyday
business, the one I would be thanking is Regina-sama.”

“I-Is that so…? Don’t push yourself. There’s not a single

human who doesn’t have faith in something. It doesn’t have
to be towards a god, even if such notions were directed to a
devil or a Dark Goddess, it’d still be effective. What did you
worship before you started worshipping Regina-sama?”

“No, I didn’t worship anything.”

“Haha, I see. Well, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want
to. Let’s get along, partner.”

Serena-sama called me her partner.

I’ll have to really put in some work for her sake.

We’ve arrived at the doorstep of a high class seeming inn.

“Right, we’ll stay here for today. It’s a little on the expensive
side, but it’s fine every once in a while. Kazuma, go pay for
it.”

“I refuse.”

I immediately rejected Serena’s request.

“… What did you just say?”

“I said I refuse. If I pay for your stay here, my feelings of

owing something to you will be resolved. The puppetry on
me will be dispelled.”

“Aah… right… But, still…. O-Oh, well…”

Serena-sama seemed to be thinking about something as

she took out her wallet.

And inside her wallet is…

“Ah! Dammit, I forgot that Vanir took all my money again!

Hey, Kazuma, I don’t care if it voids the puppetry or
whatever, just lend me some money! I’ll release a few
puppets to strengthen my control over you. Just lending me
a bit of money won’t…”

“You can’t do that, Serena-sama! Getting complacent like

that is especially dangerous! All the villains I know of in
manga and games always end up losing because they get
complacent at the very end. Don’t worry, I’ll just go borrow
some money from those people over there.”

“M-Manga? Game? … O-Oh, very well, thank you… Ah, but,

wouldn’t that just end up with you clearing your feelings of
indebtness too…?”

Leaving Serena-sama who was mumbling something

behind, I approached a couple of the adventurers who just
happened to be milling around the entrance.

“Sorry, can I have a moment? You see, Serena-sama here

has a bit of money trouble and can’t afford to pay for the inn
right now. She’s poor and has few survival skills, so won’t
you take some pity on her and gift a bit of offering to her?”

“Eeh!?”

Serena let out a surprised voice from behind me.

The adventurer in front of me took out his wallet without a

word of complaint.

“Serena-sama is in trouble? Leave it to me, I’ll give poor

Serena-sama… Serena-sama? Why did I start attaching -
sama to her name? … Ah, nevermind. Here. Seriously,
what’s a priest doing asking for money? Please work harder,
Serena-san.”

“Ah… U-Um… Thank you very much.”

Serena-sama said with a blush.

The adventurer handed over a small sum of money before

disappearing off somewhere.

It seems like that adventurer was one of Serena-sama’s

followers.

His puppetry was broken just now, but that won’t be a

problem.

Serena-sama has me, after all.

“Aah… That man was a pretty skilled adventurer… Oh well.

Come on, Kazuma, hurry up and pay for the room with that
money.”

“Roger that. But, before that…”

Before leaving for the counter, I approached the tired

seeming Serena.

And grabbed her bountiful chest with both hands.

Then, I wordlessly started groping them.

………

I silently stared into Serena-sama’s eyes as I enjoyed the

soft sensation in my palms.

Suddenly, my hands were knocked away by Serena-sama.

“Y-Y-You little!? W-What are you doing!? Just what are you
doing!?”

Stepping back in a panic, Serena screamed without a care

for the people who are around us.

“Calm down, Serena-sama. You’re attracting attention.”

“That’s my line! Yeah, people are watching! What are you

doing!? Why did you suddenly start fondling my boobs!”

What a strange question.

“What are you saying? I just borrowed money for your sake,
you know? In other words, the feeling of obligation I hold
towards you just weakened. Thus, if I don’t get some
repayment from you, my puppetry will be dissolved. But,
right now, Serena-sama doesn’t have any money, so I have
to get my repayment through your body.”
“!?!?!? I-Is that so? No, wait, isn’t it odd? I mean, that
adventurer earlier said he’d give the money to me… I
attracted such gazes and even lost a puppet… It’s like I just
set myself up… ?”

Leaving Serena-sama who was saying some

incomprehensible things behind, I headed over to the
counter to rent a room for the night.

“—Sigh… Did I get myself a trump card, or did I not… I don’t

even know for sure right now…”

Letting out a sigh, Serena-sama closed her eyes and

collapsed onto the bed.

Is she worried about something, I wonder?

She does look tired. Perhaps I should give her a massage.

“You seem exhausted, Serena-sama. Would you like me to

give you a shoulder massage?”

“Hmm? Ah, sure, go ahead…”

Serena opened one of her eyes and lazily gazed up at me…

“… Wait, why are you in this room?”

And suddenly asked something weird.

“Well, the money we got is only enough to pay for one

room… Ah, I won’t complain even if the bed is narrow, so
don’t mind me.”

“I will mind! I will mind it very much! What’s with you!? Why
are you climbing into my bed like it’s only natural? Weren’t
you more of a coward when it came to women!?”

“Serena-sama, you were the one who ordered me, didn’t

you? … Throw away your restraints, your common sense,
your morality, your conscience. Throw them all away… I’m
simply following your orders. It feels like I’ve been reborn.”

“So that’s it!!!!”

Serena-sama jumped from her bed and cradled her head

between her hands.

Then, in a tired voice, she said.

“… Say, if I rescind that order, will you still feel like you owe
me a huge debt?”

“Thanks to you removing the limiters on my heart, I’m

actually enjoying life quite a bit right now. If you ask me to
regain my senses again, that blow probably couldn’t be
smoothed over by just letting me fondle your breasts for a
bit.”

“Gurk…”

Serena-sama groaned and curled up into a ball while still

clutching her head.
“You know… Why do I have to prepare a place to sleep for
you? Just go find a place to sleep on your own… The other
puppets all see to their own accommodations.”

“My circumstances are a little special. Unlike the other

adventurers, thanks to Serena-sama, I can’t go back home
right now. You need to properly support me there.”

“Gurk… B-But, well, now that I have brought you over to my

side, my victory is more or less assured. I’m going to work
you to the bone! Be prepared for some hard work tomorrow!”

After hearing my reply, Serena-sama clenched her fist and

raised her voice as though she was trying to convince
herself.
 Chapter 3: A Goddess’s
Protection upon this Puppet!
Part 1
O Month, X Day

Serena-sama said that there’s something strange with the

state of my puppetry.

First off, it seems like she is dissatisfied with the way I

haven’t done any work at all.

I seem to be obedient, but am strangely rebellious and have

done nothing but get in the way, or so she says. That made
her unreasonably angry, for some reason.

She ordered me to keep this diary in order to understand

what’s going on in my heart.

Demanding to show my diary to someone else would require

substantial compensation.

Thusly, I’ve asked her to call me Kazuma-sama while

pushing her breasts onto me every night before bed.

Serena-sama made a face like she just lost an important

part of herself in the process.
Still, Serena-sama reads this diary every day.

In other words, I will be able to harass her with what I write

in this diary.

Thusly, I’ll write an erotic short story every day after each
entry.

Right, then, let’s get to it…

Source @cgtranslations.me

O Month, △ Day

Serena-sama told me to stop writing erotic stories.

I told her that making such an unreasonable order will

require compensation, and she cursed me before giving up
on the matter.

Her face is still on the verge of tears right now. It’s quite a
precious sight.

I think I’ll use Serena-sama as the main character for my

erotic story today.

She keeps saying that there’s definitely something wrong

with the state of my puppetry.

That it’s impossible for a puppet to speak and write so

fluently and such.

… Well, let’s leave that aside and continue with my entry.

What should I write about today…

“Just then, I felt something soft press against my back. Yes,

a naked Serena-sama is currently pressing both her peaks
against my body. ‘Kazuma-sama, I can’t hold myself back
anymore…’ Oh dear… I carefully embraced Serena-sama
who was looking at me with puppy eyes…”

Oh, come on now, Serena-sama. Don’t look over the

shoulder of someone writing his diary and raise a fuss about
it.

I’ll require a great amount of compensation, you know?

O Month, O Day

Serena-sama came to me today and tearfully begged to stop

writing erotic stories involving her.

The moment I said that obeying such an unreasonable order

would require compensation, she punched me.

But a mysterious phenomenon happened when she did that.

A bruise appeared on Serena-sama at the exact same spot

where she hit me.

Serena-sama was in a panic trying to figure out what

happened, but as compensation for having hit me, I asked
her to do a hundred squats with her hands behind her head
while clad in nothing but her underwear.
She repeatedly cursed me, but her sweat-drenched form as
she did squats in front of me was a really beautiful sight.

Let’s have her do push-ups next time.

△ Month, X Day

I discovered a really serious matter today.

Apparently, Serena-sama was involved in agitating the

Moguninnin, the ninja-like robot that I fought with at the
Crimson Demon Village.

It seems like she tried to put it under her control, but it was
too strong to be easily bound and went berserk because of
that attempt.

In other words, I went through all those troubles because of

Serena-sama.

Doesn’t that mean that Serena-sama owes me big because

of what I went through?

As I was musing about what exactly I should get her to do

this time, she punched me on the head. For some reason,
that caused the same bump to appear on her head.

Serena-sama seems really confused as to what’s going on.

Seeing her rolling around in pain and holding back tears with
a confused expression was yet another lovely sight.
X Month, X Day

Serena-sama came home with tears clinging to her eyes.

It seems like she ran into Vanir when she visited the guild to
gather more puppets.

Apparently, he threatened her, saying that he opened a

consultation office first and whatnot.

Serena-sama really doesn’t deal well with Vanir, so she

quickly paid up to resolve this territorial dispute and once
again came home penniless.

Thanks to that, she wasn’t able to eat anything today.

Or so she told me while crying.

Seeing her miserable form while I was eating dinner made

tonight’s sukiyaki stew taste really delicious.

△ Month, O Day

It seems like Aqua, Megumin, and Darkness were asking

around for mywhereabouts.

Come to think of it, I had amazing comrades who would look

out for my well-being.
I told Serena-sama that if I had to be kept away from them,
that would require its own compensation as well.

Serena-sama went ‘Just paying for your room is giving me a

ton of trouble as it is, so why do I have to deal with nothing
but your selfish requests as well!?’ and finally broke down in
tears.

She said she was considering renting a cheaper place now

that she has lost her consultation office at the guild.

I told her that I was used to living in a mansion, so if she tells

me to live in more squalid conditions, that’ll require its own
compensation…

She fell silent and went back to doing her side jobs.

I told her that she could just work as an adventurer and earn
easy money with those skills she had as a priest, but she
said something about her job being listed as ‘Dark Priest’ on
her adventurer’s card, so she can’t earn money through
questing.

That’s why she has never accepted a reward from the guild
until now.

Plus, it’d be some time before the Demon King’s army is

ready to make their move, so she’ll have to stand by in this
town for quite a while yet.

In the event of an attack, I and the other puppets would be

assisting them from the inside.
Serena-sama was staring enviously at the high quality
roasted meat that I had for dinner.

Of course, I couldn’t just give it to her.

If I did so, the puppetry on me would be cured.

Yes, I’ll keep owing Serena-sama more and more, and

eventually become her devoted right hand.

Incidentally, her dinner for today was a single cup of corn

soup.

□ Month, O Day

It’s been quite some time since I started living with Serena.

Recently, Serena-sama has really started snapping under

the pressure.

It seems like she’s been going through a lot to afford me my

luxurious lifestyle.

But Serena-sama was the one who told me to cast away my

restraint in the first place.

There’s nothing I can do about that.

She had to borrow money from all her formerly puppeted

adventurers, so it seems like the only person she can count
on as her underling right now is me.
Recently, she’s even started flashing passersby her panties
to puppet them so she could take their money, and this has
run her afoul of the police.

They lectured her about adult business laws and such and
took away all the money she earned.

Right now, Serena-sama seems to be getting quite close to

her limit.

I told her she could just repay me with her body, and she
asked ‘How much would it take for you to live on your own?’

When I asked her to go into more detail, Serena-sama said

some really strange things.

She’ll remove the puppet status from me, so I can go

wherever I please.

Serena-sama mentioned that I can resist if she gave me an

order I really disliked.

I endured quite a bit of pain in order to resist that order, and

at that moment, Serena-sama started acting oddly as well.

When I asked her what she was doing, she said she was
offering a prayer to Regina-sama and was in the middle of
forcibly removing the puppet status from me.

It seems like Serena-sama has lost her mind.

I fiercely resisted Serena-sama’s attempts and offered a

prayer to the goddess I hold deeply in my heart as well.
O great Regina-sama, please grant me strength…

X Month, O Day

Someone threw a rock at my window.

The culprit was a somewhat familiar-seeming blonde

member of the Axis Cult.

It seems like she wasn’t happy with how Serena-sama was

spreading her faith within the town.

Serena-sama turned red with rage and flew out of the inn,
but the Axis Cultist managed to escape by the skin of her
teeth.

It seems like she had been accusing her of being a ‘whore

who gains followers by flashing her panties’ and spreading
such rumours about her.

The neighbourhood housewives and such seemed to be

always gossiping about Serena-sama whenever I pass them
by as of late, so the rumor definitely managed to take root.

Serena-sama started saying something about how the good

name of Regina-sama was besmirched and such as she
broke down in tears.

She was looking at me with teary eyes, so I grabbed her

hand and nodded.
“Comforting you will cost 5000 eris and your breasts.”

Source @cgtranslations.me

O Month, X Day

Serena-sama has been acting very strange lately.

She’s been giving me a lot of immensely reckless orders

and paying no heed to any compensation, almost as if she
wants to break me from my puppetry.

As a devoted follower of Regina-sama, and as an excellent

subordinate of Serena, I naturally asked for her to repay me
with her body.

Serena-sama would be troubled if the puppetry were to be

removed.

In response to my gentlemanly teasing, Serena-sama tiredly

said that she’ll be taking me somewhere tomorrow.

Does she plan to finally cross the line?

I’m way too excited to sleep right now.

Just in case, I’ll give my body a thorough wash tomorrow.

Part 2
“… … … ”

Serena-sama raised her head from the diary I wrote.

Closing it, she let out a sigh.

“I was thinking of returning you to that Priest today-”

“I refuse.”

Upon hearing my immediate reply, Serena-sama let out

another deep sigh.

She has slimmed down quite a bit since when I first met her.

In contrast, I look particularly healthy.

It must have been due to how I’ve been living my life to its
fullest these past few days.

Serena-sama wordlessly took my hand in hers.

And then…

“Ow!”

She suddenly stabbed the tip of my finger with a toothpick

that she had in her other hand.

Of course, blood flowed from the prick.

At the same time, blood flowed from the same spot on

Serena-sama’s finger and dripped to the floor.
“You really didn’t believe in anything before? You’ve
completely become a Regina cultist!”

The blood drained from Serena-sama’s face as she said

that.

What are you saying now?

Is it bad if I am a Regina cultist?

“I’ve said it all this time, didn’t I? I didn’t believe in anything

before, but now I only worship Regina-sama.”

“As if such a person could exist in this world! Whether it’s a

god or a dark god or a devil, most everyone here will have
their faith in something!”

“Well, I wasn’t from this country in the first place. Plus, it’s
not that unusual where I come from. There are plenty of
people who don’t subscribe to any particular faith where I
used to live.”

“Wha-!?”

Serena-sama seemed at a loss for words.

“S-Seriously?”

“I’m serious. Ah, though perhaps it’s slightly inaccurate to

say they don’t have a faith. Most of my countrymen throw a
big celebration for the birthday of a major prophet for one of
the sects, then the next month they’ll ring the bells of a
different sect to welcome the new year. And when they get
older, they’ll follow the traditions of a sect known as Shinto
to pray for their well being for the next year.”

“Is your country picking a fight with the Priests?”

Even if you say that…

After a moment of silence, Serena-sama took in a deep

breath.

“What should I do… How do I break the puppetry on you?

Even if I try to repay what you owe me, you stubbornly
refuse to accept it. When I order you to get out of the room,
you start resisting fiercely despite the pain. And now that
you’re a Regina Cultist, if I try to lay a hand on you, the
curse of vengeance will…”

She’s saying some really dangerous things.

“Ah, dammit! What should I do! What should I… Hey, what

can I do to get you to stay away from me!?”

“Because of what you did when you asked me to follow you,

my relationship with my companions is in tatters. It’d be
troublesome if you don’t take responsibility for—”

“AAAAAAAAAA! I CAN’T HEAR YOU! I CAN’T HEAR YOU!

… Ah, right! Hey, didn’t you get a potion that cures puppetry
along with that forbidden potion series that Vanir gave you?
What happened to that?”

Serena-sama tearfully clung onto me. .

If I recall…

“I gave it to that priest with the ability to turn any liquid she
touches into water…”

“Aaaaaah! Of all the people in the world, why did you have
to give it to someone with such a power!?”

Serena-sama dashed out of the room as she said that.

“How did it end up this way… It was going so well, so where

did I go wrong!? Dammit, I was so close…! The puppeting of
the adventurers was proceeding smoothly, and I would’ve
completed my preparations with just a little more time…!
Just where did I go wrong!?”

As she ran, she angrily muttered to herself.

I chased after her.

“It’ll be fine, Serena-sama. You have me, don’t you?”

“You are the cause of all of my problems!”

As though something finally snapped within her, Serena-

sama suddenly started strangling me.

“You…! You wouldn’t listen to a word I say and made

nothing but selfish requests! That’s why I… Gurk!”

“Gurk! … S-Serena-sama, if you strangle me, then you’ll

also…!”
She grabbed my throat and started strangling me, but
started sputtering and coughing herself not too long after
and let go.

“Dammit…! Dammit…! Dammit all! Why…!? Why did you

become a cultist so easily…!? Choosing a god to serve is a
once in a lifetime decision, so at least put some thought into
it!”

Serena-sama smacked me repeatedly in the chest before

collapsing to the ground.

Judging from the waver in her voice, she’s probably crying.

“Even if you say that, there were a ton of different faiths in

the country I came from… They say there are eight million
gods in the country I used to live in… So adopting a faith
isn’t really that heavy a decision. I heard there are even
people who worship a flying spaghetti monster or
something.”

“I hate your country… I hate it so very much…”

Serena-sama was lying on the ground, shaking and covering

her face.

I flipped up her skirt and took a peek underneath.

I need to make sure to get compensated after she strangled

me just now.

“… You like black, I see.”

“… Naaaaaaaaaaagh!”

Serena-sama stood up and batted my hand away.

“I’m going to your mansion! You’ll probably follow me even if

I tell you not to, so just hurry up!”

“Is that an order? Then, I would need some compensation

—”

“Then fine, stay here!”

“You want me to watch the house all by myself? Putting me

through such boredom would require a really large amount
of compensation.”

“No, no, just shut up! Shush! Talking to you right now makes
my head hurt!”

Serena-sama shouted without paying any heed to keeping

up appearances and set off in the direction of my mansion.

After recent events, her reputation in this town is in complete

tatters.

Even rumours like her being a slut who flashes her panties
in public have taken root in the town.

I have no idea how she has fallen this far, but she certainly
has my condolences.

Serena-sama sped down the streets without any attempt at

keeping her true personality hidden, and before long, we
found ourselves in front of my nostalgic mansion.

She barely took a moment to catch her breath before

banging on the door.

“Open up! You’re in here, right!? Open up! I’m here to return
your precious companion! Open up!”

However, no one responded to her calls.

It seems like the house is empty at the moment.

“Dammit! Why now of all times…! Hey, come on, let’s go!
They might be at the guild!”

Saying that, Serena-sama ran off.

… As I moved to follow after her, for some reason, I was

taken by the urge to look back towards the mansion.

………

A currently empty and uselessly large mansion.

Whenever I look at it, it feels like something is trying to get

my attention…

“Hey, what are you doing!? Stop standing there and hurry
up…!”

Serena-sama started agitatedly lecturing me once she

noticed I wasn’t following her.
Constantly chasing me to hurry up and whatnot… she really
doesn’t know how to take it essy.

I took one last look at the mansion…

………?

“Hey, come on, hurry up and get over here! Seriously, why
the hell do you never listen to my orders!?”

“No, it’s just, Serena-sama, there’s a girl standing at the

window…”

I felt like I just caught a glimpse of a young blonde-haired girl

peeking out from the second story window.

They should have told me such a cute girl was staying at my

mansion. I would’ve considered coming home if I knew that.

“What are you saying? A girl? Are you starting to hallucinate

now? … No, wait, I can smell the scent of ghosts hanging
around this mansion… You didn’t gain simple priest powers
in addition to the protection of Regina, did you…? No, wait,
who cares about that right now? Come on, hurry up.”

… …?

Something’s weighing on my mind.

I took another close look at the mansion, but I couldn’t catch

even a glimpse of that blonde-haired girl.

… This really bothers me for some reason.

It felt like I saw someone whom I’ve spent a lot of time with
gazing forlornly at me, but…

With one last look at the mansion, I tore my gaze away and
chased after Serena-sama.

Part 3
“Huh? Outside the town?”

“Yeah, especially around this time of day.”

Upon reaching the adventurer’s guild, Serena-sama made to

dash out again almost immediately after confirming that
Aqua wasn’t here, but,

“Why would they go out of town for? Is there something out

there?”

“Well, not particularly. It’s more like our mage’s daily routine.
They most probably all headed out together. It’s about the
right time for it.”

“Tell me about these sorts of things earlier!”

Serena-sama shouted in an anguished voice, paying little

regard to all the glances being sent her way.
She might be reaching her limit, in a lot of ways.

Anyway, more importantly…

“Serena-sama, now that we are here, I want to get

something to eat too.”

Saying that, I moved to take a seat by a table.

Serena-sama stared enviously at me.

“… I’m not paying for it. I no longer have any need to keep
you in my debt.”

“Excuse me, give me everything on the menu, and put it on

her tab.”

“I’m not paying for it! I really am not! … Ah, I’ll… I’ll have a
cup of water, please…”

Serena-sama ordered a cup of water to keep up

appearances, but she grew increasingly antsy as she
waited.

“Hey… Hey, you know where your companions went, right?

Just tell me the location. I’ll head on over by myself, you can
stay here and enjoy your meal while I do that.”

“I refuse. There’s no way I can let you head out of town on

your own. My party consists of an Archmage famous for
having a screw loose, an Archpriest whose power possibly
exceeds your own, and a girl whose only merit is being
tough. I find it very unlikely that my party will sit there and
hear you out. If you run into them outside of town, it’ll most
likely end in a fight.”

Serena-sama fell silent for a moment.

“… Right, then come with me after you’re done eating what

you ordered. There’s something I can try if they are outside
of town… I’m going to have to put you to some proper work
for once.”

Eventually, Serena-sama confidently said that with a

fearless smile on her face—

“—You are quite late, Serena-sama. I almost grew bored

waiting for you. What were you doing? You treated me, but
with all that waiting, I’d say the balance sheet is just about
even now.”

“… Y-You… You really are…”

Serena tiredly grumbled at me upon seeing me sitting on the

ground.

Right now, we are at the public cemetery outside of town.

She said to hurry on over to the cemetery after we had our

meal, so I quickly ate my fill and headed over ahead of her.

I ordered quite a bit, so, as her subordinate, I gave the

remainder of the food to Serena-sama who hadn’t eaten
anything decent recently.
I told Serena-sama that I needed to use the toilet before
sneaking out and leaving the bill to her.

Thar brings us to now…

“Did it taste good?”

“Yeah, it did! It would’ve tasted better if I didn’t had to wash

dishes until now in order to pay for my food!”

She snapped at me.

“Aaah, I don’t have time for this! Come on, Kazuma, hurry
up and dig up the corpses buried under here! I’m going to
puppet them and turn them into my soldiers! I’ll start from
here, so you go over there!”

“My apologies, for religious reasons, I cannot do something

so blasphemous.”

“Aren’t you a Regina cultist!? What religious reasons could

you have!? If you just don’t want to touch a corpse, then just
say so! Just do it! Stop saying selfish things and start putting
in some work for once!”

“Seriously, spare me.”

Digging up corpses and the like is definitely out of the

question.

As I started enduring the pain to resist her orders, Serena-

sama let out an anguished scream.
“Fucking fine! Forget it! Just stand there and watch!”

Almost on the verge of tears, Serena-sama picked up a

shovel and got to work.

Because of her delay, it’s already close to evening.

They should be returning to the mansion right about now.

Meaning they would already be behind the walls of the town,

so if Serena-sama was planning to attack them with an army
of puppet zombies…

I wanted to tell her that she wouldn’t be able to make use of

the corpses she was digging up, but I’d end up repaying part
of my debt if I were to give her advice.

Thus, I simply hardened my heart and watched her work.

“Pant… Pant… Y-Yes, I got one! I just need to puppet this

guy and let him dig up the rest… Marionette!”

“But you don’t have enough puppet points.”

“What!?”

Serena-sama turned around with a surprised look on her

face.

And, just as I said, the corpse didn’t move at all.

“H-Hey, what do you mean by puppet points!? What exactly

is going…”
Serena-sama mused for a moment, before bringing her
hands together in realization.

“You’re talking about the amount of control power I have

invested in you! Don’t give it such a flippant name! Hey,
Kazuma, don’t resist, you hear? I’m going to pull back a bit
of the power I have invested in you to keep you a puppet.
Really, don’t resist, you hear!? I really want to get rid of you,
but if I release you from my hold right now, you’ll definitely
get in my way. So, really, you get it? I’m reducing my hold
on you to increase the number of puppets under my control,
so, seriously, don’t resist.”

“You know, with how insistent you are about this, it almost
sounds like set up for a punchline. Is it fine for me to take it
as such?”

“Of course not! Seriously, don’t resist. Right, here goes… I

just told you not to resist! You’re my puppet, so listen to my
orders already!”

I fought fiercely to hold on to Serena-sama’s power as it

tried to flow out from my body.

She already has me. She has no need for any other
puppets.

Eventually, Serena-sama tearfully grabbed me by the collar

and started strangling me.

“G-Gurk… W-Wait, Serena-sama, please listen to me! After

all the time you spent washing dishes, it’s already close to
evening… Those three would probably be back at home by
now—”

“Tell me that sooner! In the first place, whose fault do you

think it is that I had to spend all that time washing dishes!?
Fuck this shiiiiit!”

After screaming something that no respectable woman

should say, Serena-sama started back towards my mansion
without bothering to wipe the tears flowing down her face—

—Serena-sama looks utterly wiped out at the moment.

Seeing a beautiful girl with such an exhausted look on her

face isn’t too bad either.

Serena-sama tiredly walked up towards the door of my

mansion and started beating on it.

It seems like she’s too exhausted to even raise her voice

right now.

Eventually, a soft voice came from the other side of the

door.

“Who is it at this time of day? I’d welcome you if you’re a

salesman, but if you’re a religious solicitor, go elsewhere!”

That’s Aqua’s lifeless voice that I hadn’t heard in some time.

“It’s me. I’m here to return your man to you.”

The mansion fell silent after Serena-sama said those words.

After a short while, the door opened just a crack.

And peeking out from beyond that crack was Aqua’s

doubtful gaze.

“Kazuma-san? … Really? Are you really…?”

In a voice filled with trepidation, Aqua said while peeking

through the door.

At the same time, a loud bam could be heard from behind

her, followed by the stomping of rapidly approaching
footsteps.

Serena-sama leaned over to my ear and whispered.

“Don’t do anything to mess this up, you hear? If you end up

back inside, I’ll definitely give you a worthy reward.”

“Why don’t you just give it to me now?”

An anguished expression flashed across Serena-sama’s

face for a moment before she clasped her hands and stood
back up.

Not long after, the front door opened, and standing behind a
somewhat fidgety Aqua were Megumin and Darkness.

The two of them brightened up upon seeing my face.

And then…
“… Can I ask what that man is doing?”

Megumin sternly asked.

By that man, is she referring to…

“Don’t worry about that. Actually, I’m here to return him.”

Yes, she’s probably referring to me who’s currently kneeling

besides Serena-sama and brazenly taking a look up her
skirt.

The three of them stared dumbly at us.

After a short pause, Megumin approached us with barely

concealed anger written all over her face.

“… Kazuma, what exactly are you doing? It really is strange

for such a spineless person to be doing such acts in broad
daylight. I know you like doing this sort of things, but at least
try to pass it off as an accident or cover it with an excuse.
You use all kinds of underhanded tricks when doing such
things with me, but now…”

Something bothered me about Megumin’s hesitant words.

This is… I wonder what it is?

“… Even when I make advances on him, he always gets

scared and chickens out before long. This is both his good
point and a bad point. Just what did you do to get him to act
like this? In the first place, there’s been a lot of rumours
about you and Kazuma these past few days. Just what do
you mean by you’re returning him? Rendering him into such
a pathetic state… This… This is…”

Darkness continued where Megumin left off.

This is… Just what is this feeling?

“… Actually, we don’t need such a Kazuma. If you’re going

to return him, put him back in his original packaging. Taking
something from someone and returning it after you broke it
is quite horrible, don’t you think?”

And finally, Aqua said that…

There’s plenty I want to say about her referring to me as

unneeded and broken and whatnot, but Serena-sama
forbade me to speak right now.

I’m a little too busy looking at her panties anyway.

Just then, Serena-sama extended a hand towards Aqua.

“Let’s strike a deal. I’ll return him to normal. In return, you’ll

give me that potion he gave to you. If you do that, I’ll
properly bring him back to his senses and give him back to
you.”

At those words, Aqua looked down towards the potion she

was clutching protectively against her chest.

And then…

“I refuse. This is something Kazuma-san gave me before he

collapsed from stress. There’s no way I will give it to you.
What are you going to use this potion for? What did that
strange devil say to you? Tell me what you intend to do with
this potion.”

Serena-sama’s teeth made a krit noise from how strongly

she’s been clenching them.

She’s probably really close to her limit after everything I’ve

put her through.

“… You should listen to what I’m saying before I lose it. It

wouldn’t do for you to look down on me. I’m still a—”

Serena-sama softly started, but before she could finish,

“It’s something Kazuma gave to me, so it’s really important! I

refuse!”

“Fine, very well. Our negotiations are over. Eat this!”

Serena-sama jabbed a finger towards Aqua and shouted.

Seeing that, Darkness ran to place herself in front of Aqua.

“Death!”

A purple glow emerged from Serena-sama’s finger.

However…

“… Huh?”
It lasted barely an instant before fading away, seemingly
without accomplishing anything.

“Get her!”

Aqua shouted, and quickly leapt onto Serena who was still in
shock.

Part 4
After Serena-sama was pushed to the ground, Darkness
straddled her.

Darkness isn’t wearing any armour right now, but her well-
trained body gave her more than enough strength to subdue
a priest.

“Dammit, my magic…! Why!? Regina-sama! Regina-sama!

Grant me strength—”

Serena-sama struggled to escape Darkness’s grasp, but she

just couldn’t compete with her strength.

Seeing that, Darkness tightened her hold on Serena-sama’s

neck and demanded.

“Now, release your curse on this man… W-What’s this? I

can’t breathe…?”

Taking advantage of Darkness’s distraction, Serena-sama

wrenched one of her hands free and pointed at Darkness.

“Death! Death! Dea—”

She repeatedly chanted, but nothing seemed to befall

Darkness, who eventually pushed her hand over her mouth.

Now then, what should I do?

I should probably step in on Serena-sama’s side right now,

but…

“… Say, you two, I really don’t think we need such a thing…”

“Er… Er, well, we probably don’t want this thing either.”

Could they be referring to me who’s peeking up Serena’s

skirt after she’s been restrained, I wonder?

Just then, I felt a slight tug on my sleeve.

Turning around, I saw Megumin, who was smiling for some

reason, standing behind me.

She grabbed the hem of her dress and slowly lifted it up…

“… Girls really like black, huh?”

I muttered as I admired the panties Megumin displayed for

me up close.

“M-Megumin!?”
“When did you become so bold, Megumin!?”

Ignoring the other two, Megumin cheerfully placed a hand on

my head.

“Right, if no one wants him, I’ll be taking this man for

myself.”

“Ah!?”

As Megumin triumphantly declared, Darkness let out a

flustered squeak.

… Still, this is a really strange situation.

There’s Serena-sama who’s being held in place and gagged

by Darkness who’s straddling her.

There’s Megumin who’s gently patting my head as I admired

her panties.

And lastly…

“… Oh, I see. The blessings that the minor goddess Regina

has been granting you were cut in half, wasn’t it? The
blessings of a god are divided amongst their followers. That
goddess of yours must be so minor that you are her only
true follower, right? All of her powers used to be granted to
you, but that’s no longer the case now that Kazuma has
become her follower too.”
“!?”

Serena-sama, her mouth still gagged, shot a murderous

stare at me.

It seems like turning me into her puppet and converting me

to the Regina cult has actually ended up weakening her.

Still, even if you glare at me like that, it’s not going to do

anything.

Aqua crouched down next to Serena-sama and motioned to

Darkness to loosen her grip on her mouth a little.

“Now, turn Kazuma back to normal.”

“… He’ll return to normal if you give that potion to him. He

might resist you, however.”

Serena-sama told Aqua in a resigned manner.

Just what is going on here?

What should I do as Serena-sama’s devoted servant?

Plus, right now, Megumin held onto me with a death grip

even as she was still stroking my head with her other hand.

I’m still kneeling while staring intently up Megumin’s skirt,

but…

“Fufu, it’s been some time, Kazuma.”

Megumin chuckled. There’s a slight blush on her face, but
that was definitely a chuckle.

I would really like to head off to help Serena-sama, but when

faced with the devilish temptations of such a happy looking
Megumin…

Since Serena-sama unshackled all of my inhibitions, I’m

currently unable to go against my instincts.

So there’s really nothing I can do about this. Please forgive

me, Serena-sama.

“Still, how did he end up like this? Just what did you do?
What’s so fun about turning our Kazuma into such a brazen
pervert?”

“I didn’t expect he’d turn out this way either! I just sought to
turn him into my puppet. I unleashed his true desires and
removed his inhibitions… But he turned out being way more
wilful than I expected.”

Serena-sama tearfully bit her lip.

“… It was really horrible, these past few days… He refuses

to work no matter what reasons I give, and does perverted
stuff whenever he can. He’s just been indulging in his
desires to live a decadent life…”

“… That doesn’t sound very different from how Kazuma was

originally… But, nevermind. He’ll recover if I use this potion
on him, right?”
Saying that, Aqua approached me.

“… I don’t really mind if he remains like this…”

Megumin blushingly said even as I continued to look up her

skirt.

Though, she still retained her death grip on me, so I couldn’t

run away even if I wanted to.

If you’re really fine with me as I am, I’d really appreciate it if

you could let go.

Aqua guardedly approached me and said.

“Hey, Kazuma, I’m going to turn you back to normal now, so

don’t do anything, okay?”

“This is fine.”

Ignoring my instant reply, Aqua crept ever closer to me.

“We can’t have that. Just stay right there. Right there is
fine…”

“Hey, Priest, don’t let your guard down! That man is

definitely up to something!”

Serena-sama gave out such a warning, but Aqua responded

as though she was stating the obvious.

“I-I know that. How long do you think I’ve been with
Kazuma? Megumin, make sure to keep a tight grip on him!
Right, then…”

Source @cgtranslations.me

“Steal.”

“Ah!” x3

I briefly averted my gaze from Megumin’s panties and thrust

my arm towards Aqua.

Shortly after, Aqua’s potion popped up in my hand.

And then.

“Eat this!”

“Waaaaah!”

I casually threw it at the ground.

Just before the bottle hit the ground, Aqua managed to catch
it with a marvelous sliding save.

“That’s why I told you! That man is definitely up to

something!”

“There’s nothing I can do about that! You should know this

after being on the receiving end of his antics! There’s no
telling what this man will do! Megumin! Megumin! Do
something!”
Aqua cried out towards Megumin as she cautiously
approached me again with the potion clutched tightly to her
chest.

Additionally, Serena-sama shouted at me.

“Satou Kazuma! As my puppet, I order you to stay right

there! Just stay still for a moment!”

“Oh fine. I don’t really mind him staying this way, but… Here,
Kazuma, let me give you a hug… Just stay right here…
right… ? Hey, wait, stop squirming and stay still! Aqua!
Quickly! The bindings on my chest…!”

“Megumin! Just keep him right there and turn him towards
me!”

Something cold splashed against my head as I rubbed my

face into Megumin’s chest.

I can feel something leaving my body as that cold liquid

flowed down me.

Hey, cut it out. I like being this way.

There’s still stuff I want to do with Serena-sama.

To do that, I need the power of the Dark Goddess of

Vengeance, Regina-sama…

“… Huh?”
Why do I need the power of a Goddess of Vengeance
again?

And, actually, Serena-sama?

Why did I start addressing a Demon King’s General with -

sama…?

Why did I suddenly start worshipping a random unknown

goddess in the first place?

… Ah, right.

Just before I lost consciousness, I recall earnestly yearning

to take vengeance on the Demon King’s General for the
wounds she inflicted on our useless goddess…

Part 5
“Kazuma, did it work? Are you healed?”

Something was slapping me.

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was Megumin’s

face, right in front of me.

……
“I think I’ll get healed a lot more if you hug me a little more
tightly.”

“It seems like you are back. Now… H-Hey, if you’re healed,
then please let go of me!”

As Megumin started pulling away from me, I had no choice

but to stand up.

It feels like I was having an amazing dream.

And it feels like I had a really wonderful God looking out for
me…

… Well, nevermind that.

“Kazuma-san, Kazuma-san, are you okay? If you’re going to

worship a minor goddess like Regina that I’ve never even
heard of, it’d be better for you to worship me. If you convert
right now, I promise you’ll be able to get better with your
handwriting and a whole host of other benefits too.”

“I don’t need it. In the first place, why do you think I would
worship a minor goddess… Hmm?”

……

What was it again?

“Hey, what was I worshipping?”

Aqua gave me a shrug.

“Who knows? I don’t really know the details.”

I don’t really know myself, but now’s not the time for that.

“Yo. Seems like you’ve regained your senses.”

Serena greeted me, still pinned to the ground by Darkness

who was straddling her.

How should I deal with her now…

“… It’d be a problem to take care of you here.”

“Then, what about letting me go? We lived together for a

time, didn’t we? I think that’ll definitely make the both of us
happy.”

Serena casually said as she raised both her hands.

She’s very much aware that I can’t do anything to her right

now.

… Still, there’s something crawling at the edge of my mind.

For instance, since Aqua can revive me even if I was killed

by the curse of vengeance, I could simply take her far away
from the city and—

… No, murder is impossible for me.

If I could do such a thing, I wouldn’t have a reputation for
being a coward.

Perhaps I could tie her up and abandon her in a dungeon…

No, no, that’s just the same as me murdering her…

Dammit, after spending that last few days together with her,
I’ve gotten somewhat close to her…

Still, just letting her go like this would be…

“Seems like you’re conflicted… Say, Kazuma, would you

suffer at all if you let me go? If you let me go, I’ll make
changes to the plan to attack this town. I really want nothing
more to do with a town where you live. Really. … Plus there
is that Demon King’s Generals in name only, Wiz, and Vanir
living here. If we attack this town, there’s no telling what they
would do. I’ll rethink the operation when I make it back to the
castle. If you let me go, I won’t ever lay a hand on this town
again. What do you think? Let’s strike a proper deal this
time.”

Seemingly figuring out what is going through my mind,

Serena gave me a slight smile.

“… Hey, Kazuma, just who is this woman? Is she part of the

Demon King’s army? Should I kill her to protect the
inhabitants of this town?”

I grabbed Darkness’s shoulder as she started saying some

dangerous things.
Darkness is a noble and was, for a time, the lord of this
town.

In order to protect the inhabitants of this town, she might

very well go through with it.

Hearing Darkness’s words, I steeled my resolve.

“… Hey, what is that? Why do you still have that with you?”

Serena’s expression fell upon seeing what I retrieved from

my bag.

“Sorry Serena, our deal is off. It hurts me too, but since we

both broke it, let’s just call it a mutual default.”

What I retrieved from my bag is the set of forbidden potions

that Vanir gave to me.

Most of the stuff in that set is useless, but I’m pretty sure
there was a level reset potion or something along those lines
amongst them.

I always relied on the power of my companions to get

through these troublesome situations, but, just this once, I
would like to see things through to the end.

If I use the potion on her, my level would probably be reset

as well thanks to her curse of vengeance.

“What are you planning… Hey, Kazuma, don’t do it. Aren’t

we friends who’ve lived together for a time? Come on, let me
off.”
But, between a NEET who has the weakest class and a
General of the Demon King’s army, it’s fairly obvious who
would suffer more if both our levels were reset back to one.

I retrieved the level reset potion from the case and knelt
down next to Serena.

“Sorry, I’ll have you redo things from level one together with
me.”

“!?”

Serena started struggling upon hearing that, and Darkness

delivered a punch to her stomach.

“Gurk!”

“Uck!? W-What’s this? Hey, Kazuma, when I hit this woman,

my stomach…”

I quickly instructed Darkness who seemed taken aback.

“If you attack her, any damage you do will be mirrored upon
you. Whatever you do, don’t kill her. It seems like a death
curse will befall a large area around here should she die.”

“… I see, so that’s why you fell unconscious after you gave

her a drop kick that one time.”

Megumin muttered after hearing my explanation.

Darkness, however, wordlessly started pulling on Serena’s

cheeks for some reason.
“Ow ow ow! What are you doing!?”

“Aah… You’re still hiding something, right? Come on, out

with it! You can’t fool me that easily! Pant pant… I-It hurts…!
Kuu, but I’m not the sort of person who’d give up so
easily…!”

“What are you saying!? Kazuma pretty much knows

everything! Ow! Hey, cut it out, there really isn’t anything
more I haven’t already told Kazuma! OW! Cut it out! The
pain would just go right back to you! Seriously, stop! Stop!”

Darkness started enjoying herself with the effects of

Regina’s protection, and Serena desperately struggled
under her grip.

I held out the potion in one hand.

“Hey, Kazuma, stop this wom—… W-Wait, stay back! Your

level will drop too, you know? Think about it. It’s not like
you’d personally benefit if my level drops, right? Seriously,
think about it!”

“Well, I’ll just slowly earn my levels back. I’m pretty close to
reaching my stat cap anyway, and I have enough money to
live comfortably, so there’s no need to rush… Let’s go all the
way to the end with your loyal subordinate, Serena-sama.
Come on, let’s start over from zero.”

Serena managed to free one of her hands and grabbed

Darkness who was pulling on her cheeks.
“You really are the greatest threat to the Demon King’s
army.”

“You are exaggerating. I’ll be living a laid back life from now
on, so if you ever make it back to the castle, please relay
that to the Demon King.”

In response to my seemingly jovial words, Serena pointed

her finger at me.

What is she…

… Ah.

“You really are too dangerous to be left alone. If you’ve

regained your senses, that means I’m back to being the only
worshipper of Regina. All my powers must have returned to
me. Farewell, my wilful puppet.”

I grabbed the hand that Serena was using to point at me.

Darkness moved to place her hand back over Serena’s

mouth, but Serena was faster.
“Death.”
 Chapter 4: A Proposition for this
Adventurer!
Part 1
“Welcome home, master!”

I found myself in a very familiar white room.

The moment I opened my eyes, a cheerful Eris-sama was

standing in front of me.

“… You seem to be enjoying yourself, Eris-sama.”

“You’ve gotten used to coming here by now, so if I didn’t do

this, you wouldn’t have a sense of novelty, right? Though,
sorry, I suppose it’s not really something I should say
considering your situation.”

Saying that, Eris-sama gave me a wry smile.

“… Can you do that one more time?”

“It’s a little weird to say this since I’m the one who did it first,
but I won’t be doing that again.”

And she’s always so agreeable whenever she’s Big Boss.

“… S-So what happened to everyone else after she casted

Death on me?”

“Darkness punched her in a fit of fury, so both of them are

out of it at the moment. Senpai is working on resurrecting
you, and Megumin-san is attending to Darkness after tying
up the Demon King’s General… Please be at ease.
Everyone’s fine.”

I let out a sigh of relief after hearing Eris-sama’s words.

That means that it’s my turn to shine once Aqua revives me.

Honestly speaking, going back to level 1 is quite a heavy

price to pay, but it’s the best way I can think of to render
Serena powerless.

I’ve considered several other methods, but I really want to

settle things with my own hands.

Feeling the tension bleed from me, I collapsed to the floor

and sat crossed legged.

… Still, it’s been quite some time since I last died…

This unreasonable world holds no mercy for those that are

weak, so such is only to be expected, but is there really
nothing I can do to stop dying so often?

I can’t help but feel down after being killed so easily.

Getting used to dying isn’t something that brings me much

joy either.
Eris-sama silently smiled at me.

Just seeing her stand in the center of the room with her
hands clasped together made me feel revitalized for some
reason.

It’s like I’m being released from all my worries.

I thought back to what brought me here.

Why do I have to fight against the Demon King’s Generals?

Why do I have to deal with nothing but strong enemies ever
since I came to this world?

Even after gaining a fortune, I still had to deal with the

Demon King’s daughter planning an attack on the capital
and a hit squad attacking the town and what not…

Ahh, what a pain…

Perhaps it’s because I just died, but I can’t help but feel
depressed.

Still, I have to go back.

Right now, the only one who knows about the Demon King’s
plans to attack the capital or the hit squad coming to the
town is me.

And my level has gone back to one along with Serena’s…

Just thinking about what’s to come made me heave a sigh.

Eris-sama gave me a worried look.

“Are you alright? … Well, of course you aren’t. You’re dead

after all…”

Saying that, Eris-sama crouched down to bring her head

down to my level and stared at my face with that same
worried expression on it.

“Big Boss really is cute, you know? Have you ever

considered quitting your work as a goddess and eloping with
me to a remote world somewhere?”

“You’re going out with Megumin-san. You’re going to get

divine punishment if you say such things to a goddess while
having a partner.”

Oh, right, Megumin!

“Eris-sama, you’re not pulling any kind of strange strings to

make something get in the way whenever Megumin and I
are about to cross the line because you harbour secret
affections towards me or anything, are you?”

“Of course not! I wouldn’t do something that stupid! Ah!

What’s with that expression? Do you doubt me!?”

Ah, just seeing Eris-sama react to my teasing is breathing

life back into my battered soul.

“Kazuma-san! Kazuma-san! Everything’s done on my end,

so hurry up and come back.”

And right in this calm moment, the voice of the goddess who
isn’t the slightest bit calming broke into the room.
I don’t want to go back to that unreasonable world just yet,
so I buried my face in my knees and covered my ears.

“U-Um… Senpai is calling you… I do understand how you

feel, but…”

Eris-sama seems quite troubled by my attempts at running

away from reality.

“… After dying so many times, I can’t help but be depressed.

And when I think that I might die again, I just don’t feel like
going back anymore. I’m thinking that maybe it isn’t so bad
to get reborn into a new life.”

“That’s… Well, I suppose that’s only natural. Simply dying

once is already a pretty big shock… Well, Kazuma-san has
died fairly clean deaths so far, so the shock should be quite
minimal…”

Eris-sama made a troubled expression for a moment, but

eventually, she gave a me a warm smile.

“… But, you’ve found wonderful companions in this world

and created a quite a few happy memories with them,
haven’t you? Don’t you still have things you need to do?
There, there, try and remember those happy days…”

I casted my mind back to the experiences I had in this world.

The harsh times I spent living together with Aqua in the

stables back when I first came to this world.
The huge debts I got unreasonably burdened with.

Meeting companions who are good at nothing but causing

problems, and cleaning up after them.

The town that’s full of weirdos…

And me repeatedly dying as a result.

There’s also the bit about how even though things have
been going well with my companions, I still haven’t managed
to cross the line.

“… I really think I’d like to be reborn again…”

“Ehh!?”

Maybe I’d ask to get reborn as the pet cat of a rich person
back on Earth.

Then I’d leisurely sleep and eat my life away.

“Kazuma-san! Hurry up! Hurry up!”

Aqua’s irritating voice broke into the room again.

I gave it my all.

I really gave it my all.

Even if I head back, I get the feeling like I’d end up back
here in a jiffy.
“I’ve decided to be reborn! I’ll leave the rest to you! Please
tell the other two that I wish them happiness!”

“Eeh!?”

Eris squeaked in shock as I shouted that to no one in

particular, but she eventually fell silent.

And then…

“That man is saying stupid stuff again! Stop messing around.

Why do you say such stupid things every so often? Do you
really like troubling me that much? Are you stupid? Are you
really stupid? Is that why you ended up at the beck and call
of that priest?!”

“Ah!”

Aqua’s reprimand cracked through the air.

“You stop messing around! For whose sake do you think I

picked a fight with a Demon King’s General in the first
place!? I kept fighting with that priest behind everyone’s
backs to protect this town, you know?! I got brainwashed at
the end of that intense battle—”

“Eh, wait, Megumin, what are you doing? Huh?”

… Hey.

“That won’t work on me anymore! I don’t care what kind of

pranks or whatever else you do with my body! Unless you
start crying and begging me to come back…”
“Megumin, what are you doing!? No, wait, what are you
doing!? Kazuma-san! Kazuma-san! Hurry up and come
back! If you don’t hurry up…!”

… I won’t be fooled so easily. No matter what you do with

my corpse now…

Yes, those kinds of threats will no longer—

“Kazuma-san! Megumin is…! Megumin is saying something

about taking your first time or whatever and is doing
something really amazing right now! Actually, Megumin, you
really shouldn’t be doing that sort of thing in broad daylight!”

You’re tempting me with erotism?!

“… …”

Seeing me squirming on the ground, Eris-sama seemed to

grow colder for some reason.

Ah, what should I do? If I don’t go back, I’ll miss the moment
I become an adult…!

But if I go back now, I’ll get teased as an easy guy who fell
for Megumin’s seductions easily… No, no, no, but…!

“Hey, Megumin, I don’t think something that big will fit for
Kazuma-san’s first time. Kazuma-san’s Kazuma-san’s will
definitely break.”

……
“Hey, by first time, you mean that!?”

“Megumin, you can’t do that! That’s food! You can’t do that

sort of things with food! You’ll get punished!”

“Cut it out! Aqua, I’ll head back right away, so stop her right
now!”

“Aaah! Megumin! Megumin! You can’t do that! He said he’s

coming back right now, so hurry up and pull his pants—!”

I immediately stood up.

“Anyway, Eris-sama, I have some urgent business to take

care of, so I’ll take my leave here.”

I rushed over to the gate and pushed it open…

“Ah, have a safe trip… Wait, no, Kazuma-san! Sorry to

bother you when you’re in a rush, but there’s something
important I need to say—”

“Right now!? We had plenty of time before this, so why did

you wait till now to tell me!? Just come see me as Big Boss
after I’ve made it back!”

“Megumin, why do you always do such brash acts!? Come

on, he’s coming back soon, so hurry up and get rid of the
evidence!”

I briefly turned back to Eris-sama.

She gave me an apologetic look and said,

“The truth is, that world is—”

“Megumin, don’t remove it, put it back on! Oh no, we don’t

have enough time—!”

“Sorry, Eris-sama, I really can’t afford to stay right now!

Aqua! Stop her! I’ll give you some pocket money later, so
stop her!”

There’s just no way to maintain any sort of serious

atmosphere with Aqua’s voice constantly breaking in like
this.

“I mean, there’s a lot of stuff you can’t show to Kazuma…!

Ah, Megumin, you can’t! You can’t! Aah!”

“Don’t give up! Don’t you dare give up, Aqua! I’ll head back
right away!”

Eris-sama, her face bright red, shouted as I pushed through

the gate.

“That world is currently facing a crisis! At this rate, it’s highly

possible that the Demon King really will end up wiping out
humanity! Please listen to me—!”

—The first thing I saw when I came to was Aqua and

Megumin staring at my face.

“Ah! Welcome back, Kazuma! It really was a close one,

wasn’t it?”
“W-W-Welcome back.”

Megumin was blushing slightly and seemed out of breath.

Additionally, she also seems to be hiding something behind

her.

When I looked into her eyes, she quickly averted her gaze.

My trousers are in disarray and seemed to be hastily put on.

That really isn’t something that puts me at ease.

And behind the two of them were Darkness and Serena

lying unconscious across the yard.

“I-I’ll go continue seeing to Darkness, okay?”

Saying that, Megumin quickly moved to Darkness’s side,

almost as if she was running away from me.

I turned my gaze to Aqua who was exceptionally fidgety right

now.

“Hey, Aqua.”

“What? I stopped her, alright? The two of us looked at your

little Kazuma-san, but we didn’t do anything, alright!?”

… This-This girl…

After calming myself, I said to Aqua.

Source @CGtranslations.me

“… Say… Do you still want to return to heaven?”

Part 2
“Kazuma! Come on, wake up! It’s morning! Hurry up and
wake up!”

The next day.

Without even a single knock, Aqua cheerfully bounced into

my room and started pestering me.

I lazily poked my head out from under my blanket, and

noticed it’s still dim outside my window.

“… What time is it…?”

“It’s just before five.”

It’s too early for this…

When I crawled back under my blanket, Aqua leapt onto my

bed.

“Why are you crawling back into your bed!? Come on, wake
up! Get dressed and we’ll head to the guild to pick up some
quests and raise your level!”
“Spare me~ I was up late drinking last night, so I really want
to sleep until evening today… I was celebrating taking down
another Demon King’s general yesterday.”

—Yesterday, after I passed Eris-sama’s message to Aqua, I

proceeded as planned and reduced both Serena’s and my
levels back to one.

I then left the unconscious Serena with the police and told
them about everything I knew, but…

Now that she’s been weakened, Serena should no longer be

able to cast all those strong curses she was using in this
town.

The Knight said that she’d be thoroughly interrogating her.

They’d also be coming up with countermeasures against the

Demon King’s daughter’s invasion plans and the sneak
attack on Axel and what not.

I received quite a sum for capturing a Demon King’s general

and stopping her plans.

… That said, now that I’ve been reduced back to level one,
there really is nothing more I can do.

There’s nothing I could’ve done about the attack on the

capital anyways, and the adventurers that Serena puppeted
were released from their state, so her plan of helping the
invasion force from the inside is a complete non-starter now.

Without aid from the inside, it’d be quite difficult for this town
to fall to hostile forces.

Plus, now that the mastermind behind the plan, Serena, has
been taken out, it’s quite possible that the entire operation
would be scrapped.

So that’s why I put myself at ease and celebrated my

success until the wee hours of the morning…

“Wake up! Wake up! Come on, hurry up and wake up! For
the sake of humanity, and for the sake of the future, we’re
going after the Demon King!”

But Aqua starting saying such things before the sun has
risen while repeatedly slapping me on the back.

Defeating the Demon King.

There’s a reason why she suddenly started saying such

stupid things.

Yes, it’s the message from Eris-sama.

“Some hero chosen by the goddess will take care of the

Demon King before long… Anyway, good night…”

“The goddess is right here, you know!? I choose you as the

hero, so hurry up and wake up!”
—The crisis that Eris-sama mentioned is the same thing that
I heard from Serena: The fact that new potential heroes
have stopped appearing in this world.

It was originally Aqua’s job to give the people from Japan

cheat-like powers and send them to this world.

However, ever since the angel took over, it seems like there
hasn’t been a single person who accepted that deal.

Apparently, the new angel is far too honest and doesn’t

attempt to dress things up at all.

She tells them about the fate and survival rate of the people
who have been sent over, the possible side effects of
learning the language, how hard life is in this world, and all
kinds of other details.

… In other words, it’s only because the person handling the

recruitment is Aqua that anyone would accept the deal to be
transported to this world.

“You were the one who sent people like me here without
explaining everything. I’m sleeping till the afternoon to
protest!”

“You always sleep till noon anyways! Come on, a goddess is

making a request of you! A beautiful goddess is making a
tearful request of you, so why don’t you ever listen to me!?”

There are a lot of threats in this world.

Even if the Demon King weren’t here, there would still be
plenty of threats to humanity.

It seems like heaven realized the value of a goddess that’s

good at scammi— no, I mean, persuasion, and wants her
back as soon as possible.

“Say, is heaven really that short on manpower? Couldn’t

they just grab a goblin from somewhere to do your work?”

“I won’t let things slide if you keep poking fun at me. I’ll use
voice mimicry magic to imitate that strange devil’s voice and
laugh for an entire day by your bed.”

It’d be one thing if it was back during my time in the stables

when I wanted to get her out of my party as soon as
possible, but now that I’ve gained a measure of stability,
what possible reason could I have to go after the Demon
King?

More to the point, it’s way too reckless.

The only reason why I managed to foil Serena’s plans and

defeat her was because of multiple coincidences
conveniently working out in my favour.

And she’s considered one of the weakest amongst the

Generals.

Not to mention, even as weak as she was, I still got killed at

the end.
And you’re telling me to go attack her boss in his castle filled
wall to wall with his powerful underlings?

Are you an idiot?

I turned my head to look at Aqua who was still straddling me

and repeatedly hitting me on the back.

“… We’re talking about the Demon King, you know? There’s

no way I can defeat someone like him. Do you really think I
look like someone who can defeat the Demon King?”

“Of course not. Even I’m not that delusional.”

… This girl.

“Then what do you want? Even if I raise my level and we

head off to the Demon King’s castle, if we aren’t taken out
by strong monsters on the way, we’d be surrounded by his
forces the moment we reach his castle and get taken out.
You, Megumin, and Darkness will end up in a really bad way
at their hands. The only one who’d be happy with that is
Darkness, you know?”

“Of course I know that. I’ve put some thought into it myself
too, you know? All I need you to do is to raise your level
enough to bring me close to the castle, that’s all.”

… Oh?

“Well, if you have a decent plan of some sort, I don’t mind

hearing you out.”
“Listen well. There was a time when we wanted to head
straight for the Demon King’s castle, didn’t we? But then
they told us that there’s a barrier around the castle. A barrier
maintained by his generals.”

Hmm?

Was there such a thing?

I didn’t feel like it concerned me back then, so I didn’t really

pay attention.

Taking my silence as understanding, Aqua continued her

explanation.

“And you neutralized another General yesterday. A level one

General can’t possibly maintain the barrier. That means that
the only generals left supporting the barrier are… how many
of them are left now?”

“… There were originally eight of them, right? The first one

we encountered was that dullahan Beldia. After that, there’s
Vanir, Hans, Sylvia, Wolbach, and now Serena… So,
including Wiz, that just leaves two of them.”

“Yes, there are only two generals left! With my amazing

goddess power, I can probably destroy a barrier maintained
by only two generals if I put some effort into it! It’d be best if I
can take down the barrier entirely, but even if that’s
impossible, I should be able to open a hole big enough for
someone to go through.”
……

“Well, that’s good and all, but how exactly are we going to
defeat the Demon King?”

Aqua confidently replied.

“Once the barrier is down, the rest is simple! I’d recruit the
help of my precious Axis Cult, the Crimson Demons, and the
people running this country! We’ll use those connections you
forged in this world and tell them that the barrier around the
castle is down!”

So she intends on leaving the hard work to others.

But, well, it’s true that without the barrier, the Demon King
would need to station a large amount of his forces around
the castle for defence.

Just that alone would heavily shift the tides of battle.

“But what happens if you can’t break the barrier entirely?”

“Then I’ll have to leave it to you.”

Oh?

“Tell me more about that.”

“Using Enemy Detection and Lurk, you can sneak right up to

where the Demon King is sleeping and assassinate him.”

“Screw off.”
Ignoring the fuss Aqua is making, I once again covered my
head with the blanket.

Part 3
I was having lunch together with Darkness and Megumin in
the hall of the mansion.

“Hey, Kazuma, can I have a moment?”

Aqua, a serious expression on her face, slid up to me with

her hands behind her back.

It feels like she’s about to tell me something important.

“… What’s wrong? You have a really serious look on your

face.”

I looked up from the leg of roast duck I was eating and met
Aqua’s gaze.

“Please listen to me! I really don’t think it’s good for us to

remain like this!”

She gulped before suddenly saying that.

I’m still chewing on the roast duck, but I suppose I should

hear her out.

“What do you mean by that?”

“This self indulgent lifestyle! Are you really okay with this?
Sleeping until noon and doing nothing but eating and
sleeping! You’ve changed! You really have changed,
Kazuma-san!”

Where did this come from?

Megumin and Darkness put down their utensils.

“This man has pretty much been this way since forever.”

“Yeah, that’s how he was. Besides, haven’t you been living

the same way, Aqua?”

……

“Yeah, he might have been the same way before, but I really
want the old Kazuma back! The one who was burdened with
debts and worked hard every day to earn just a little bit of
money!”

“Right, come at me. I’ll turn you into my experience points.”

I stood up with fork in hand, and Aqua guardedly took up a

boxing stance.

“What’s wrong? You normally laze around just as much as

Kazuma, so where did this come from?”

“The fuss from that priest just got resolved not long ago, so I
understand not wanting to go on any quests for a while…
Just what brought this on, Aqua?”
Aqua gulped when faced with the questions of those two.

“That’s… well, you know, the duties and responsibilities of

an adventurer…”

……

“… Or something…”

Aqua trailed off in the face of our disbelieving stares,

practically withering as she did.

“As adventurers, we have a responsibility to the people of

the world… Gurk… Waaah!”

Being unable to stand our gazes any longer, Aqua wailed

and ran away.

“—What’s up with Aqua?”

After finishing her meal, Megumin asked as she helped

herself to some after lunch tea.

Darkness was also hanging around, surreptitiously wiping

her mouth with her napkin.

“Don’t worry too much about it. She just got bitten by a
strange bug that made her want to defeat the Demon King,
that’s all.”

“Demon King!?”
The two of them shouted the moment I mentioned the
Demon King.

“The Demon King, huh? Very well, in order to cement my

status as the strongest, let’s go defeat the Demon King. You
pretty much defeated Serena on your own, and the battle
against the Ninnin was over too quickly. Plus, the victory felt
somewhat hollow anyways.”

Since when did you become the strongest?

And don’t propose doing something like that in the same

tone of voice you would use to ask someone to pick
something up at the convenience store.

“… The Demon King, huh… He must have a really strong

attack… Perhaps strong enough to destroy my precious
armour in a single blow…”

And this pervert is staring off into space with a dreamy

expression and flushed cheeks.

It’s been some time since I was last reminded of this, but,
yeah, these are the sort of people these two are.

“I’ll just say this up front, I’m not heading out to fight him.
Don’t misunderstand me just because we happened to take
out a few of his Generals. If I have to say, our party is more
on the useless side, so… Even if you give me those puppy
dog eyes, I’m still not heading out.”

Source @CGtranslations.me
“—Seriously, what’s up with her?”

That night.

I was laying in my room, using my hands as a pillow as I

mulled over things.

Seriously, just what is she thinking?

Sure, I forcibly dragged her into this world, so I can

understand her wanting to go back now that it’s a possibility.

Still, I’m a little taken aback by how quickly she came to this
decision.

Is our relationship really that shallow?

… Well, from what Megumin told me, it seems like she got
really depressed recently after the actions of the puppeted
adventurers made her feel unneeded.

I’m sure that has some influence on what she’s trying to do

now.

She’s an idiot, but even she’s not that carefree…

……

Or perhaps she’s just blinded by how heaven needs her and

hasn’t thought about how she won’t be able to see us again
if she goes back.

Well, goddesses have their own thought processes and

values.

She might be that way, but she’s still technically a goddess

with ardent believers of her own.

If she puts her mind to it, even a Demon King…

A Demon King…

… Nah, that’s impossible.

How long was I asleep for, I wonder?

I heard a voice coming from quite some distance away.

“… Chosen… goddess…”

That was a very calming voice.

It felt like it brought strength flowing out from the bottom of

my heart…

“Chosen of the goddess, the legendary…”

Yes, I’m the chosen of the goddess, the legendary…

… Legendary?

I opened an eye.

As I did so, I felt someone’s breath tickle my ear, along with

a fair amount of whispering.

“Chosen of the goddess, the legendary hero Satou

Kazuma… The fate of humanity is in your hands… Now, rise
up against the Demon King… Grant the wish of the beautiful
goddess!”

Turning my head, I came eye to eye with Aqua who was

creeping around and whispering something into my ear.

“… What are you doing?”

“… I-I wanted to see Kazuma-san’s cute sleeping face…”

I leapt out from my bed.

“Darkness, Megumin, come quick! Aqua came here on a

night raid—!”

“Waaaah! I’m sorry! I was trying to brainwash you!”

Part 4
“Hey, Kazuma, please take a look at this.”

It’s been three days since Serena was captured.

From what I’ve heard, it seems like they managed to wring

some information out of her and are planning on transporting
her to the capital’s prison.
Also, I finally remembered where I’ve heard Regina’s name
before.

She was the same goddess that the ghost we were hired to
vanquish that time, Lucy, looked up to.

Lucy thought she was the last worshipper of Regina, but to

think that there was still one amongst the Demon King’s
forces…

I’ve now defeated two of Regina’s followers. I really hope

she forgives me for this, if nothing else, at least because I
was also her worshipper at one point.

Right now, I’m sitting cross-legged on the sofa in my

mansion as I sorted through my equipment.

I’ve been buying scrolls and potions to bring with me

whenever I set out on an adventure as of late, but I haven’t
had the chance to use them once.

Even back when I was on Earth, I was the type of person

who’d hoard powerful healing items in games and not use
them even when I was facing down the final boss.

Just when I was thinking of a way to make good use of the

forbidden potion set that Vanir foisted onto me, Aqua,
walking by Darkness who was sitting next to me and looking
at my items with interest, gave me a piece of paper.

…?
I stopped working on my stuff and took piece of paper off her
hands.

Darkness joined me as well.

The title was written with elegant penmanship.

“What do you think of the Demon King? Survey results.”

“… The title of Demon King sounds kinda cool (Baker).

Seems like the sort of person who’d feed stray dragons
while keeping it a secret from his underlings (Pet shop
owner). Nevermind that, I’d rather you just lend me money
(Delinquent). When I told him I’d be leaving the castle to set
up a shop, he said it was a good idea and lent me some
money (Pale-looking Shopkeeper). Nevermind him, Moi is
stronger (Obvious). My god is the Demon King (Tired-
looking man).”

…….

“What the hell is this?”

“Ahh! That’s not the right one! That’s the one with the
answers that shouldn’t be shown to you!”

Can you really call it a survey then?

“Look at this one! This one holds the opinions of the

residents of this town who are suffering and fearful of the
Demon King!”

Saying it, Aqua shoved another piece of paper into my

hands.

“… We set up a store in this town, but business just isn’t

picking up. I don’t really understand why, but the Demon
King probably has something to do with it (Owner of a
skeevy shop). I’m too afraid of the Demon King to sleep at
night, so I have no choice but to sleep during the day. I can’t
hold down a proper job thanks to that, and it’s all his fault I’m
still living with my parents. (NEET). Because the Demon
King exists, our god just isn’t popular at all (Worshipper of
the god of destruction). Yeah, yeah, he’s totally scary. He’s
just as scary as a cup of chilled neroid (Person in the
theatre). It’s the Demon King’s fault that I can’t get together
with her (Middle-aged man). It’s the Demon King’s fault that I
can’t get a boyfriend (Guild lady).

“I’ll repeat what I said, what the hell is this?”

Aqua reacted with obviously feigned shock and surprise.

“How could you say that!? Kazuma, do you really not feel
anything ever after hearing about all the troubles the people
in this town face because of the Demon King!? That’s why
people are calling you the gigolo NEET of that shameless
woman!”

“H-Hey, I can’t ignore that. Is that the nickname they gave

me when I was being puppeted by that woman?”

Aqua ignored my words and thrusted a finger at me.

“Don’t you feel any shame as an adventurer? Even as you
are fooling around with Darkness here, the people the world
over are living in fear of the Demon King! Apologize!
Apologize for calling yourself an adventurer! Apologize to
everyone in the world!”

“W-We’re not fooling around or anything, I’m just curious

what Kazuma is doing with those items!”

At Darkness’s words, Aqua seemed to finally notice what

I’ve been working on.

“What are you doing?”

“Those are the set of forbidden potions that Vanir gave me.
This potion causes monsters to attack you for the rest of
your life, this one heavily increases your magic power but
kills your hair follicles in exchange, this one makes your
levels shoot up in exchange for reducing your mana to zero,
and there’s this one that attracts the opposite sex but makes
you smell like a goblin. I was just thinking if there’s any way
to make use of them.”

The only one that seems useful is taking the level up potion
along with the balding potion.

If I use both of them in that order, I’ll be able to gain a lot of

levels at once while still having magic power.

Of course, I’d end up bald as a result.

I wonder if healing spells works on the hair follicles

destroyed by that potion…

Just as I was thinking that, Darkness shoved her face in

front of me.

“Hey, Kazuma, can you sell me the potion that attracts

monsters—”

“Absolutely not.”

Part 5
Shortly afterwards, we received a request to escort Serena
to the capital.

However, it seems like it will take some time before the

preparations and paperwork for her transfer would be
finalized.

With such a reason in hand, I could go back to my NEET life

without any shame at all.

“Cockadodledooo!”

… Or at least, that’s the plan.

“Cocka! Cockadodledooo!”

“No, Emperor Zell! You shouldn’t make noise right now! That
man has been saying a lot of stuff about turning you into
dinner as of late! He’ll do it! A man as brutish as Kazuma-
san will really do it! So please go back to your quiet and
gentle self! Seeing your unruly side is quite beautiful too, but
you can’t make such a fuss this early in the morning. We
need your power as a dragon to take down the Demon King,
so before you grow big enough to fly us all the way to the
Demon King’s castle, you need to quietly build up your
power.”

“Cockadodledooo!”

“No, Emperor Zell, please be quiet!”

“Oh shut up! What are you doing so early in the morning!?
Keep it down already!”

I leapt out of my bed and yelled through the window.

Directly below my room is the coop where we keep Zell, and

it’s at that place where Aqua and Zell are currently making a
ruckus.

“Wasn’t he supposed to take a long time to grow up because

of his high mana!? When did he suddenly become a
rooster!?”

“Emperor Zell is a lifeform steeped in mystery! He’s a

dragon, after all. He must have gotten fired up over fighting
the Demon King and awakened to some kind of mysterious
power!”

Zell has somehow changed jobs from a chick to prime

chicken meat.

“What kind of nonsense are you saying!? If you don’t shut

that chicken up, I’m going to turn him into dinner!”

“Emperor Zell, I’ll stop that fiend here, so hurry up and run!
Don’t worry about me, just run! Live free and grow strong!
Once you’ve fully grown, we’ll go fight the Demon King
together! Be careful of the butcher on the third street!”

“Cocka cock…!”

“Aah, Emperor Zell! Are you saying you won’t leave me

alone? Very well, let’s face down that fiend together! As your
mother, I’ll definitely protect you!”

After saying some strange things, Aqua took Emperor Zell

from his coop and hugged him close to her chest.

“I don’t care what you do, just let me sleep in peace.

Seriously, I’m begging you.”

“Then, will you promise not to say stuff like turning him into
dinner and such?”

“Yes, yes, I won’t say that anymore. In exchange, please

move his coop to someplace else.”

Saying that, Aqua held Zell in front of her and said

something about getting Darkness to help her move the
coop later.

“… Still, are you still going on about the Demon King? Just
give up on him already. The last General, the Demon King’s
daughter, is still hanging around his castle, and so are a
whole bunch of elite monsters. Just leave that kind of
dangerous stuff to the actually strong people and enjoy our
lives here. Don’t worry, someone will definitely take care of
it. We should be enjoying our lives now that we have fame
and fortune.”

Aqua hugged Zell and shook her head in an exasperated

manner upon hearing my words.

“This is why Japanese that are used to peace are… Why do

you always think of this as someone else’s problem? It’s
because of your naive way of thinking that you end up dying
more often than a guy playing spelunker.”

Aqua looked at Zell and went “Right~?”.

This girl… The main reason I die so often is because of you.

She’s saying whatever she wants because she thinks I can’t

touch her from the second floor.

“Leave such thoughts back on Earth. Right now, this world is

at war. The Demon King’s daughter is about to lead a large
army against the capital, right? And there’s still a chance
that they will attack this town…”

Even if you say that, I can’t help it. I just don’t get that sense
of urgency.

Perhaps it’s because spent my entire life growing up in

Japan…

…?

“What’s wrong? Why are you opening and closing your

mouth like that? Are you imitating a fish now? If it’s some
kind of party trick, it doesn’t look impressive at all, you
know?”

Aqua hastily returned Zell to his coop.

“That’s not it! Yes, right, the Demon King! Kazuma, now’s
the perfect time to take down the Demon King!”

She’s still going on about that?

“Ah, ah, wait! Don’t go back to sleep, Kazuma-san, please

hear me out! If the Demon King’s daughter is leading a large
force to attack the capital, that means that the castle is
empty! And if they attack this town on top of that…! They
have the barrier, so they feel safe sending such a large force
out! If we attack them while their armies are out, if we are
lucky, there might only be the Demon King in the castle!
After all, there’s no need to keep a powerful force in reserve
when they have that barrier of theirs, right!? This might be
the perfect chance to launch a raid on his castle!”

… True, it certainly does seem better than attacking while he

has all his forces in the castle…

“Even if you say that… Ah, I’ve been meaning to ask you,
but can healing magic cure baldness?”
“Leaving aside cases where the hair has been burnt off, that
normally wouldn’t work… I’m sorry I can’t help you,
Kazuma.”

“I’m not going bald yet! There’s a potion in that forbidden set
that increases your magic in exchange for turning you bald,
right!? I was just thinking of drinking that along with the
potion that increases your levels in exchange for your magic,
that’s all!”

I quickly explained myself to prevent any

misunderstandings, but…

“There isn’t one.”

“… Huh? What do you mean?”

Aqua picked up Zell and raised him high as though she was
showing him off.

“I gave the potion that increases your levels in exchange for

your magic to Emperor Zell. Look at his beautiful body. At
this rate, it seems like he will be able to eat the Demon King
in a single glup in about ten years, don’t you think?”

… That means…

“What!? You used that potion that could’ve been my trump

card on him!? Why!? Why are you so stupid!? Why do you
always ruin my plans!?”

“W-What, you don’t have to get that angry! I just thought that
if Emperor Zell gained a few levels and grew larger, he’d be
able to do something against the Demon King! Come on,
look! Don’t you think he looks a lot stronger now?”

I looked at the chicken that Aqua was holding in her hand.

“… Pfft.”

And snorted.

“—What are the two of you raising such a fuss about so

early in the morning? Kazuma, breakfast is ready, so… Y-
You look like you’re having fun…”

After entering my room, Darkness said such carefree things.

“Cut it out! You’ll let mosquitoes in if you break a hole in the

window! If you break it, I’ll use your room until the window is
fixed! Wind Breath!”

“Using magic is cheating! If you don’t want your window

broken, then help me out with taking out the Demon King!?”

Aqua picked up a rock from the yard and threw it up at me,

which I intercepted with my wind spell.

However, it’d be bad for me if things continue like this.

“Create Water!”

A ball of water appeared above Aqua’s head and splashed

down on her.

But, even though she was soaking wet, she seemed

completely unperturbed and looked triumphantly up at me.

“So you’re giving the goddess of water a refreshing shower

now? Did you forget? I can be completely submerged in
water and it wouldn’t do a thing to me. Even if it’s getting
cold out, this is but a reward to me—”

Before Aqua could finish her sentence.

“Create Earth.”

“Wait, no, stop-”

I threw a shower of dirt at the soaking wet Aqua.

—After satisfying myself with Aqua’s cries, I went down to

the hall.

Sitting right on the sofa was Megumin, sipping a cup of tea.

She was dressed in her Crimson Demon robes and had her
staff by her side.

“I’ve been waiting for you, Kazuma. Would you mind

heading somewhere with me once you’ve finished
breakfast? There’s something I need to do, and I would like
you to be my witness.”

After being smothered in mud, Aqua is currently in the bath,

and Darkness is helping her wash her hagoromo…

“Well, I don’t mind… But witness? That makes it sound like

you’re headed off to a duel or something.”

Part 6
“But aren’t we friends!? Aren’t we bosom friends!? We just
declared an eternal rivalry in the Crimson Demon Village not
to long ago, so why did it turn out like this!?”

“It’s precisely because we are eternal rivals! You were the

one who gave me the letter to meet you in the forest
because you had something important to talk about! Now
come on, bring it!”

The forest close to the town.

Megumin was guarding herself with her staff as she faced

off against a frantic looking and teary eyed Yunyun.

“And here I was wondering what was going on… So Yunyun

challenged you to a duel again?”

“That’s not it! That’s not it at all! It’s not a duel! I just had
something to discuss with Megumin!”

As the two of us had this exchange, Megumin waved her

staff around in a threatening manner.

“Then why did you call me out to such a deserted place!? If

you had something to discuss, you could just pay me a visit!”

“Eh!? B-But… If I walked in when you and Kazuma-san were

having a good moment, you’ll definitely tell me not to come
back… Friendship between women is as flimsy as tissue
paper when romance is involved… I read that in a book…”

Yunyun’s voice slowly faded as she went on.

“We’ve been interrupted a lot of times by loads of different

people by now, so I wouldn’t get angry over just that! Plus, if
you really did come in at a bad time, I’d just chase you out
for that day, that’s all!”

“Eh!?”

I think what Megumin said just made things worse.

“So, anyway, what was the thing you needed to discuss with
Megumin?”

At my words, Yunyun offered a letter to Megumin.

“This is something the Crimson Demon villagers sent…”

Megumin received the letter and started reading out loud.

“… The Demon King’s army is marching on the capital in

force. All Crimson Demons, in preparation for when the
Kingdom calls us to their aid, please gather at the village…
Fufu, so the time has finally come when my power is
needed. Very well! Yunyun, let’s go show the Demon King’s
army what we can…”

Megumin, who started out so confidently, suddenly trailed off

as she continued reading.

Yunyun seemed somewhat uncomfortable as she said.

“Umm… They wrote to show the letter to you too, so…”

I moved over to Megumin who has frozen and looked over

her shoulder.

“… Oh, so Yunyun is in charge of the first squad. As

expected of the future chief. Now, Megumin is… She’s at the
corner of the second squad. Substitute is written next to her
name…”

“Megumin can’t use advanced magic, so that’s probably why

she’s benched-Aaah!”

Megumin folded the piece of paper into an airplane and sent

it flying into the forest.

“What are you doing!? I still have to show that letter to the
other Crimson Demons!”

Yunyun angrily shouted at Megumin, but the person in

question seemed to pay it no heed.

“Who cares about that. More importantly, what are you going
to do? You just came back to Axel recently, so are you
heading back to the village again?”

Yunyun started to say something, but she bit her lip before
she could.

It seems like she has something to say, but is too afraid to

spit it out.

Just as she started nervously glancing around,

“Seriously, you’re going to be the next chief, so why are you

still so hesitant!? If you have something to say, just say it!”

“Ow ow ow! I got it! I’ll say it, so please stop pulling on my
hair! … U-Um… I’ve heard that minions of the Demon King
will be coming to this town too… I’ve made a few f-frien…
acquaintances in this town recently…”

Yunyun, glancing at the ground and fiddling with her thumbs,

said in a soft voice.

… Ah, I see.

“The people back home are calling you back to the village,
but you have friends in this town too, so you want to stay
and protect the people of the town, right?”

“Eh! A-Ah, yes… Friends… I’ve made a few friends in this

town…”

By friends, does she mean those people?

I’ve heard that Yunyun has been spending quite a bit of time
with a certain blonde delinquent and a certain masked
assistant of a magic item shop.

They probably aren’t exactly what I would call good

company, but, well, I can’t really say anything about that.

After nodding to herself several times, Yunyun finally raised

her head, her face shrouded with pensiveness.

“But a gathering of the entire village is not something that

happens often. As the future chief of the Crimson Demons, I
can’t possibly ignore the summons when the village calls for
a gathering…”

… I see, so she came to talk to Megumin to figure out what

she should do.

And the person she came to consult with, Megumin, was

facing in a completely different direction…

Wait a minute!

“Hey, Megumin, what are you—”

Before I could complete my sentence, Megumin called out.

“Explosion!”

And sent a blast of Explosion right into the woods, in the

same direction where she sent the letter flying a few minutes
ago…

“Ah! What are you doing, Megumin!? There are still people I
haven’t shown that letter to! What should I do!? What should
I…”

Yunyun grabbed her head and started panicking.

Megumin, after unleashing her spell, collapsed to the ground

and flashed me the smuggest grin I’ve ever seen on her.

When I gave her just enough mana to stand, she shot right
up and confidently declared.

“Did you see that, Kazuma? This is the true power of a

Crimson Demon that is worthy of being placed in the first
squad!”

Yunyun screamed at her with tears in her eyes.

“W-What should I do!? Really, what should I do now!? Why

do you always keep causing trouble for me!?”

“Oh, stop panicking, you spineless girl! Just say the delivery
man got captured by orcs on the way or the letter got eaten
by your pet Goat Devil or something! You want to protect
this town, right? Rather than spending time thinking about
such useless stuff, you really should be bolder!”

Megumin said some completely irresponsible things, but

Yunyun blushed and made a strange expression that
seemed like a mix between being troubled and joyous.

It seems like she’s a little happy that the letter has been
destroyed beyond repair.
Well, I do think that Yunyun could stand to learn a little from
Megumin’s brashness.

I do think that, but…

I walked up behind her.

“You just don’t want her to go back just because you aren’t
happy with how you’re treated, right?”

“Wha—!”

And Megumin stiffened in shock.

 Chapter 5: Farewell to this
Beginner’s Town!
Part 1
“…nii-chan…chan…wake…”

My blanket feels heavy.

On top of that, I can hear a voice gently calling to me from

afar.

It’s a line I’ve been hoping to hear for a very long time…

“Onii-chan, wake up! You’ll be late! Come on, wake up!”

Onii-chan.

Roused by those sweet words, I opened my eyes.

“Good morning, Onii-chan! Now, let’s go take down that

Demon King like we always do!”

And my self-proclaimed little sister whose age I don’t know

cheerfully said while straddling atop my blanket…

“Get off!!”
“Oniiii-chan!!”

I grabbed the edges of my blanket as I sat up, flinging Aqua

off from my bed and sending her rolling across the floor.

Without wasting a beat, I rearranged my blanket and

collapsed back onto the bed.

As I wrapped myself in my blanket again, I took one last

glance at Aqua.

“… Today’s awakening was kinda nice.”

“I knew it. Using ‘Onii-chan’ on the lolicon Kazuma really

does work best.”

Source @CGTranslations.me

—For the past few days, Aqua’s been trying all kinds of
schemes to persuade me to go take down the Demon King.

“Hey, Kazuma, isn’t it about time you give in already? You

might whine and grumble, but you’re the kind of person who
always pulls through in the end whenever one of us is in
trouble, right?”

“Do you think I’m some kind of blue cat robot who can do
anything? In the first place, you are the actual goddess here,
so shouldn’t you be the one to resolve such issues?”

Despite my biting remarks, Aqua seemed completely

unfazed as she got back to her feet and nonchalantly sat on
my bed.
“The only things I can do are purifying water, dealing with
undead and devils, and resurrecting people. Goddesses
aren’t exactly that great of an existence, you know?”

“So you finally admit it. Can’t you seal away the Demon King
or something? Sealing evil existences away is what
goddesses are supposed to do, right?”

Aqua hugged her knees close to her chest and stared at my

lower body underneath the blanket.

“The only sort of evil I can seal away right now are the kind
coming from your pants.”

“D-Don’t stare at it… I can’t help it, it’s morning! Anyway,

nevermind that.”

Changing the subject, I looked up at Aqua’s face.

“Right now, it isn’t a guarantee that you would be able to

bring down the barrier, right? But if another General would
be taken out, you’d definitely be able to bring it down, so
let’s wait until then, alright?”

There’s still one more Demon King’s General hanging

around.

“The last General is the Demon King’s daughter, right? I

don’t know how strong she is, but it’s hard to imagine her
coming out without a scratch after attacking the capital. The
capital is swarming with those cheat holders, and above all,
there’s my sister, the strongest in the world, at the capital as
well. Once the attack on the capital fails, I’ll ask the people
at the top to send a strong escort with me to take down the
barrier. If they fail, well, we can think of another plan when
that happens.”

This plan relies a lot on other people doing the hard work,
but that’s really the extent of my abilities right now.

This is completely different from what happened in the past

where we were just winging it and counting on my luck to
see things through.

I’m not a hero or anything.

In fact, my party is one of the worst parties ever put

together.

It’s really strange that our party has never been wiped out
before this…

“General… If there’s only one general left…”

Aqua was muttering about something.

…?

“Hey, what exactly—”

“Yeah, if there’s only one general left, I’ll definitely be able to

take down the barrier! Once the barrier is down, someone
will eventually take the Demon King out! Yeah, definitely!”

Aqua suddenly stood up and exclaimed…

Wait, she’s not thinking about…!

“I’m heading out for a bit!”

“Hey, no, wait! Wait a minute!”

Aqua ignored my words and flew out of the room.

—After going out on a morning sprint to chase after Aqua, I

finally saw my destination.

I hate to admit it, but Aqua is just much faster than me. The
difference in our stats is just way too large.

“Wiz! Where are you!? Stop hiding and come out already!”

“Are you deaf? Moi has already told you that the slacking
shopkeeper isn’t here! That shopkeeper orders a whole
bunch of useless stuff the moment you take your eyes off
her, so Moi is also—… Hey! Remove your hands from my
mask!”

As I feared, the sounds of a scuffle can already be heard

coming from Wiz’s magic item shop.

Seems like Wiz is out at the moment.

Walking into the shop, I saw Aqua struggling with Vanir, her
hands on his mask as she tried to rip it from his face.

Despite being occupied with resisting Aqua’s efforts, Vanir

managed to notice my arrival.

“Graaaa-Welcome! Handler, do reign in your rabid hound of

a goddess!”

“Don’t call me a handler. Is Wiz out? Actually, this makes it

really hard to talk, so cut it out.”

Hearing my words, Aqua reluctantly released her grip.

“Hey, strange devil, if those powers of yours aren’t a scam,

hurry up and use them to determine Wiz’s current location.”

“Hmph. Don’t lump my powers together with that of the

goddesses who claim omnipotence but are in fact unable to
accomplish anything at all. Besides, Moi has already told
you, the more power a person has, the harder it is for me to
see through them. That defective shopkeeper has no talent
for business, but the one thing she does have is power.”

Vanir disgruntledly replied as he straightened up his clothes.

“You talk a big game, but at the end of the day, you just
don’t know, do you? You really are completely useless
whenever it’s important. This is a little weird coming from
me, but doesn’t that make you even worse than me?”

“… Very well, it has been some time, but perhaps it’s time
for me to get serious. It’s best that you leave the store. Moi
shall settle the score with those irritating gods today.”

These guys really don’t get along…

Just then, I felt someone’s presence behind me.

I turned around, and standing at the doorway was…

“Ah, Kazuma-san, Aqua-sama. Welcome. You came in at

just the right time. I just got my hands on an interesting
item…!”

Happily saying that, she smiled and motioned towards the

paper bag that the penguin following her was holding.

Vanir stiffened up upon seeing that.

Seemingly unable to hold back her curiosity, Aqua wandered

over and curiously looked into the paper bag.

Ignoring the penguin who seemed completely petrified with

fear, I asked in place of Vanir who was similarly motionless.

“So… What did you buy?”

“I’m glad you asked!”

Wiz happily reached into the bag and took out…

“… A teru teru bozu?”

<TL note: These things.>

“What’s a teru teru bozu? This is a powerful magic item that

can control the weather. Simply hang it at the front of your
house and they will forcibly clear up the weather! Normally,
controlling the weather requires a long ritual and the use of
many rare components, but that can be done with just this
item! What do you think? Isn’t it amazing!? It’s amazing, isn’t
it?”

It is amazing.

It is very amazing, but…

“… So, does that thing has any side effects? Like using it will
cause it to not rain for ten years… Or it requires a large
amount of mana…”

“There aren’t any side effects. I’ve learnt after getting

lectured by Vanir-san so many times! To use it, all a person
needs to do is pour a reasonable amount of mana into it and
hang it by the eaves of your house. And it can only be used
during a specific season, so there aren’t any downsides at
all! What do you think? Isn’t it an amazing item?”

Vanir stiffly walked towards us, and raised the teru teru
bozu-like item that Wiz seemed so proud of towards the
light.

“And what exactly is the season that you can use these
things?”

“It’s right now! It can only be used during this season! I’m not
foolish enough to buy something that couldn’t be used. You
really are a worrywart, Vanir-san.”

“… Dear customer, do come here for a moment.”

Ignoring Wiz who was smiling brightly, Vanir grabbed me by
the shoulder and led me towards a corner of the store.

“… I’ll just say this up front, I won’t buy it.”

“Don’t say that. Moi can definitely feel strong magic coming
from this piece of— this wonderful product. Its capabilities
are definitely the real deal.”

I see. Well, if he says so, then this item must be the real
deal.

I’ve heard that Wiz would prefer buying items containing a

large amount of magic whenever she goes out shopping.

Still, there is one last thing that’s bothering me.

“… I don’t recall it ever raining recently. Does it even rain

around these parts in this season?”

“… There was a day when it rained around this season

twenty years ago.”

“I won’t buy it.”

Vanir moved closer in response to my refusal.

“Don’t say that. This world is very large. There might be a

place in the world that’s troubled by extreme rains around
this season. If you bring it into such a region, it shall
definitely be treated as a prized treasure. If you buy it now,
Moi will even throw in the forbidden potion set: number two
as a free gift.”
“I won’t buy it. Besides, Aqua can make a similar item on her
own. She made a Teru Teru Megumin or something a while
back.”

“On top of that, Moi shall throw in a pre-release product that

Moi has been developing in secret, the life size body pillow
of the erotic shopkeeper.”

“I won’t… Tell me more details.”

Just then,

“Um… Is something the matter, Aqua-sama?”

I heard Wiz hesitantly say—

“—Come to think of it, it’s been over a year since we met,

hasn’t it? How ironic… I’m a goddess and you’re a lich.
Normally, the two of us could never have such a cordial
relationship.”

“Has it already been that long? … Ah, I bought some

cookies along with that magic item. Would you like some,
Aqua-sama?”

“I’ll have some… No, that’s not it. Say, Wiz, we’ve become
way too close to each other. Normally, it would only be
natural for me to purify you the moment we met. Yes, a god
and an undead. Those are two entities that should never get
along this cordially…!”
Aqua said that while nibbling on the cookie she received
from Wiz.

Sensing this tense atmosphere, Vanir walked briskly to

place himself between Wiz and Aqua.

The shop mascot penguin— no, I mean, the former count

Zereshrute was trembling slightly in fear, but he also moved
to Wiz’s side.

… I really hope Aqua isn’t serious about this, but…

Standing in front of Wiz as if to protect her, Vanir sternly

said.

“There’s a really dangerous aura around you for some

reason, Goddess of Violence. Moi doesn’t know what
happened, but if you intend to go wild here, Moi will be
forced to bill you a tremendous amount for the damages. If
you’re prepared for that, then feel free to go ahead.”

Saying that, Vanir pointed his finger at Aqua as a challenge.

But Aqua ignored him and focused on Wiz.

“Wiz… Please understand! We can’t protect this world

without defeating you! It pains me to hurt a friend, but,
please, Wiz, I want to return to heaven! I’ll make it quick, so
please go back to the earth!”

After saying such dramatic words, Aqua took up a combat

stance.
As for Wiz, she simply stood there with a blank expression
on her face.

After a while, Wiz nodded and said jovial manner.

“… If I return to the earth, will Aqua-sama be able to go back

to heaven?”

“Yes, exactly! It’s a pity, Wiz, but there are reasons why I
can’t let you off! I don’t mind if you hold a grudge against
me, but, as a goddess—”

“Very well.”

“As a goddess…! … It’s fine? No, wait, Wiz, you can’t give
up on life so easily! What do you think your life is? You’ll get
punished, you know?”

What are you saying? You were the one who was talking
about returning her back to the earth and what not in the first
place.

There’s a lot I wanted to say, but now’s not the time.

As for Wiz, she still had that blank look on her face as she
said,

“If you purify me, you’ll be able to go back to heaven, yes? I

don’t understand the details, but something must have
cropped up, right? After spending so much time together, I
know very well that Aqua-sama is a benevolent and kind
person… If that Aqua-sama wants to purify me, I’ll go along
with it.”

This time, Vanir is the one to raise a fuss.

“What are you saying, Wiz? Have you forgotten the promise
you made with me!? You really are gutsy if you think you
can break a contract with a devil! If you go back into the
earth, who will create my dungeon for me!? Everything I’ve
done for this shop is in service of that goal!”

Wiz seemed taken aback, but regarded Vanir with a smile.

“Vanir-san, you actually called me by my name. I’m sorry I

couldn’t keep my promise… Um, he’s asleep in a mansion
deep in the forest right now, but I do know another lich. I’ll
introduce you to him, so please make do…”

Vanir gritted his teeth upon hearing that, but in the end, he
still resolutely stood between Aqua and Wiz.

Wiz turned away from Vanir, clasped her hands together,

and smiled at Aqua.

“Normally, it would’ve been natural for you to purify me the

moment we met. Thank you for letting me off until now,
Aqua-sama. Thanks to that, I was able to manage this shop
together with Vanir-san and get to know a lot of other
people. I’ve lived a long time, but this past year has been the
most enjoyable year of my life. That’s no exaggeration. So
nevermind holding a grudge, I should be grateful to you.”

“… … ”
Hearing those words, Vanir wordlessly stepped back.

Judging from the way he’s gritting his teeth, it doesn’t seem
like he agrees with Wiz, but is rather respecting Wiz’s
decision.

“I originally set up this shop to be a place where my old

adventuring companions could come back to. But, just the
other day… Yeah, it was back when Vanir and I were talking
about our past and Aqua-sama fell asleep. I managed to tell
my companions, ‘Welcome home,’ when they came to visit
on that day… So I have no regrets.”

And Aqua…

“U…uuuu…”

Seemed like she was on the verge of tears as she retreated,

being completely caught off guard by those words.

Seeing Aqua in her state, Wiz called out to her in the same
tone of voice one would use to comfort a crying child.

“Aqua-sama, I will have to be purified by someone someday,

or I’ll be around forever. If I have to be purified by someone,
I would choose to be purified by Aqua-sama. It’d help you,
after all. Plus…”

Wiz gave Aqua a pure, unblemished smile, as if to put her at

ease and remove any guilt she might be feeling.

“I enjoyed being your friend, Aqua-sama”

In the face of Vanir’s, Zereschrute’s, and my stares.

And Wiz who seemed more worried about Aqua than her
own well being.

“U…uuu… Waaaaaah!”

Aqua broke down into tears before fleeing the store.

Part 2
… To think that the kindest person in this town, and the most
respectable person, is a lich…

Such thoughts occupied my mind as I headed back to the

mansion to search for Aqua.

Darkness and Megumin were playing a board game while

lounging on the sofa in the main hall.

“Say, did Aqua come back?”

“Aqua? She came rushing back in not too long ago and shut
herself in her room. I told her dinner’s ready, but she didn’t
come out at all. Just what happened?”

I fell into deep thought upon hearing Megumin’s words.

What should I do? Should I just leave her alone for a while?

… No, that’s probably not a good idea.

“It’s, well… Just give me Aqua’s portion of breakfast. I’ll

bring it up to her.”

After receiving a tray from Megumin, I headed up to Aqua’s

room.

Source @CGTranslations.me

“—Hey, I understand how you feel, but don’t just go home

without me. Megumin made breakfast, so open up.”

“… Leave me alone. I just lost a little bit of my confidence as

a goddess right now.”

… Just a little bit, huh?

I called out to Aqua through the gap in the door again.

“Say… Isn’t it fine to put the Demon King out of your head
for a while? Is there really a need to rush back to heaven
right now?”

“… …”

At the end of the day, Aqua doesn’t hate Wiz.

She does constantly pester her and accidentally purify her

when she gets into a fight with Vanir and the like, but, when
all is said and done, the two of them have a fairly close
relationship.

I called out once again.

“… You know that you won’t be able to see Wiz again if you
go back to heaven, right?”

Of course, she wouldn’t be able to see any of us too.

… No, wait, Eris-sama does occasionally come down here

to play as Chris, so that might not necessarily be the case.

But would that be the case for Aqua?

From what I recall, Aqua was the goddess in charge of

Japan.

Will she be able to pop up here whenever she wants, I

wonder?

Aqua was still silent.

I called out one last time.

“… I brought the dinner Megumin made up with me. If you

don’t want it, I’ll take it down.”

“… Just leave the food here.”

“—What’s wrong with Aqua? She’s usually the first one at

the table. Does her stomach hurt?”
When I returned to the hall, a worried-looking Megumin
asked that of me.

Judging from the way Darkness was frowning as she glared

at the board, Megumin seemed to be winning in their game.

“Don’t worry. She seems like she’s willing to eat the food I
brought up. Give her some time. She’ll definitely come back
down once she gets hungry again.”

I casually said that, but in the end, Aqua spent the entire day
holed up in her room.

Part 3
I can’t sleep.

It’s probably around midnight right now.

It’s an extremely quiet night today, to the point where even

the usually ever present humming of the bugs were absent.

This morning’s ruckus isn’t anything particularly unusual.

Aqua goes out, causes a ruckus, creates some trouble, and

comes back home in tears.

That’s something that happens every day. It’s nothing

unusual.
But for some reason, today’s incident weighs really heavily
on my mind.

Aqua didn’t respond when I asked her if she’d be okay with

not seeing Wiz again after she goes back.

It wasn’t Wiz that I wanted to ask about back then, but

something far more personal.

“Are you really fine with being separated from us?”

That’s what I wanted to ask.

……

…………

“AAAAAAAH!”

I rolled around on top of my bed.

What kind of embarrassing thoughts are running through my

head right now?

I buried my face into my pillow.

No, no, what I actually wanted to ask was:

“Do you really want to go back after staying here for so

long?”

After living together with these three for so long, it’s difficult
to imagine life without Aqua.
What exactly does it mean if Aqua’s gone?

Living together with just Darkness and Megumin.

Even if I have the mansion and my fortune, Aqua will no

longer laze around or cause trouble, nor will she barge in
just as things are going well…

… Wait.

What was I so worried about? That doesn’t sound like such

a bad life.

… No, no, no.

Aqua will definitely cry if she hears that.

Plus, it feels like life would be pretty boring without her

around.

Sure, she won’t be creating problems for me every day, but

it feels like I’ll have too much free time to know what to do
with.

Still, what does Aqua think about this?

Actually, why the hell am I losing sleep over it in the first

place?

This is getting on my nerves.

Yeah, there’s a clawing feeling around my chest…

“… … ”

I threw my blanket aside and got up.

It’s quite late, but I’ll go wake her up and interrogate her.

And properly lecture her while I’m at it.

I’ll explain to her exactly what the risks are in going to take
down the Demon King, and how little we stand to gain from
it.

I crept out of my room and moved down the corridor as

quietly as I could.

They are most likely sleeping now, but I really don’t want to
get caught by Megumin or Darkness and have them think
that I’m trying to launch a night raid on Aqua.

Yeah, that kind of misunderstanding would haunt my name

for the rest of my life.

Activating my Lurk skill, I started stealthing my way over to

Aqua’s room.

But before I’ve taken more than a few steps.

I spotted Aqua gazing up at the night sky.

There’s a balcony on the second floor of the mansion, just

above the entrance, and Aqua is currently sitting there.
There’s a very beautiful full moon out tonight.

Aqua was wearing her usual blue hagoromo and was seated
hugging her knees against her chest.

I intended to wake her up and give her a stern talking to,

but…

Aqua really does look like a goddess when she’s just sitting
there, silently staring up at the sky.

Come to think of it, back when I first died, I instinctively knew

that she was a goddess from the moment I laid my eyes on
her.

She was really beautiful, I thought.

If only she acted like this every day…

As I watched her from afar, she suddenly seemed to have

noticed my presence and turned to face me.

“… What are you doing over there? You couldn’t sleep?”

I walked out onto the balcony somewhat guilty.

I can’t possibly tell her that I got up to look for her, so what
exactly should I say?
And I definitely can’t say I was taken in by her form as she
was moonwatching.

If she heard that, it would definitely go to her head.

That’s why I said something that wasn’t remotely related to

what I was thinking just now.

“… Well, I slept a little too much this afternoon… Anyway,

what are you doing here? You’re going to end up feeding the
mosquitoes, you know?”

“You really are as trashy as usual, aren’t you?”

Aqua listlessly said as she turned back towards the sky.

……

“The only thing you have on your mind is food, so what are
you doing out here moongazing? Is heaven on the moon?
Are you guys like Princess Kaguya or something?”

“Of course not, I’m just looking at it because it’s pretty. You
know, I’ve been wondering about this for quite some time,
but what exactly do you think I am? Even I have times where
I want to admire something beautiful, you know? What do
you think? Isn’t a goddess looking up at the moon absolutely
picturesque?”

It certainly is.
To be honest, seeing her like that got me thinking that, oh
yeah, this girl really was a goddess.

Of course, I’m not going to say any of that to her.

“… Say, do you really want to go back to heaven so badly?

You’ve been here for over a year now, right? You’ve gotten
to know a lot of people, so don’t you ever think that it might
be lonely not being able to see them again?”

“… … ”

Aqua simply stared silently at the moon.

Eventually, she turned her back on me and started

monologuing.

“It’s only been just over a year, hasn’t it? It feels really
strange. I’ve known the other gods and angels in heaven for
far longer, but life on this world is, how do you put it, stormy
and full of drama?”

The one who made our lives here so stormy and full of
drama is you, though.

That line was on the tip of my tongue for a moment, but I bit
it back.

Instead, I said…

“You’ve been in heaven for far longer? That means you

really are an old—”
“If you say anything more, I’ll put a seal on your lower body
such that it will never stand up straight again.”

For the first time in my life, I’m honestly afraid of Aqua.

Aqua continued with her monologue.

“In heaven, every day is the same. It doesn’t change the

slightest from day to day. To be honest, it’s quite boring…
Well, on the flip side, it does mean that I don’t end up with
any unpleasant memories.”

Unpleasant memories.

Is she talking about what happened a few days ago when

the adventurers suddenly turned against her?

“Ever since then, I’ve gotten several apologies from the

adventurers. Though, as a goddess, I wasn’t really affect by
those acts.”

You liar. Megumin told me you were pretty depressed for a

while after that.

… Then, Aqua, looking up at the moon, muttered in a voice

almost too soft to be audible.

“… I want to go home.”

Her face didn’t particularly look sad or lonely or anything.

It’s just that, her face looks like that of a lost child gazing
forlornly at the place she used to call home.
Those words weren’t directed towards me.

It wasn’t a demand, nor was she whining. It was simply her

expressing her desire, one held close to her heart.

I don’t know how long she lived in heaven.

I don’t know if she had any friends or acquaintances over

there.

I don’t even know anything about her lifestyle in heaven.

Nothing at all.

… I was the one who forcibly dragged her here with me, so if
she herself wants to go back, the duty of sending her back
should really fall to me.

Also, I don’t really want to dwell too much about this, but it’s
also kinda my fault that no new cheat users have been
appearing for the past year.

But still, the Demon King…

… I should probably say something here.

“… Well, you know, I’ve been putting a little bit, just a little
bit, of thought into how to take down the Demon King too…
But just so you know, I’m not about to head off right now to
take him down or anything, alright? For example, I could buy
a large amount of explosive potions from Wiz and create a
large amount of explosives with them. Then we could bury
them around the Demon King’s castle like landmines and
starve them out. Alternatively, I could have Yunyun register
a teleport point right in front of the Demon King’s castle, and
launch an explosion against it every day…”

“… Heheheh. You were so against this earlier, but you’ve

finally started! See, I told you. Kazuma-san always finds a
way to deal with it in the end… But, it’s fine. You were
originally pretty weak to begin with, but if you take an attack
from the Demon King at your level, it’s possible that there
might not even be enough of your body left to perform a
resurrection.”

T-This girl!

She always, always has to add an extra line.

I stepped onto the balcony and said towards Aqua’s back.

“The reason I’m weak is because I got you in place of a

cheat. If I’m weak, that’s because you weren’t pulling your
weight, so those words apply to you too. Do you understand,
you useless goddess-sama?”

“Hey, I want to put a seal on you, so come a little closer, will

you?”

“I’m sorry.”

If I spend anymore time around here, she might really just

decide to put a seal on me.
I told Aqua that I should probably go back to sleep and
started heading back to my room…

Aqua, clutching her knees close to her chest, called out to

me without ever taking her eyes off the moon.

“Kazuma-san, Kazuma-san.”

I stopped in my tracks.

“… What is it?”

“Satou Kazuma-san. Are you glad that you’ve come to this

world? Have you ever regretted it?”

Aqua innocently asked.

Back when I was in Japan, I was an unrepentant hikikomori

with nothing to look forward to.

It’s nothing compared to what I’ve achieved in this world. I

have a fortune, I own a mansion, and above all, I have the
affections of several beauties from this world.

I did briefly consider reincarnating back when I was killed by

Serena, but, even if I’m not exactly thankful to Aqua, there’s
no way I can have any regrets right now.

Even if this place is a harsh world filled with all kinds of

nonsense.

“I don’t regret a thing. I’m glad to have come here.”

Aqua seemed genuinely relieved upon hearing those words

and let out a soft “Oh?” along with a sigh.

Just like how I feel a little guilty over forcibly dragging her
with me to this world, she might have been concerned in her
own way about sending me over to this world.

“That’s good then… Good night. Don’t do anything strange

back in your room just because you were captivated by my
beauty in the moonlight, okay? You’ll get divine punishment
if you do that.”

“That’s utterly impossible.”

I instantly replied.

Aqua seemed a little miffed at how quickly my answer came

and started muttering “Maybe I really should put a little seal
on him…” and other such dangerous stuff under her breath.

I hurriedly back to my room and collapsed onto my bed.

But, as I expected, my head was still too full of thoughts for

me to sleep.
… The Demon King, huh…

Yeah, no matter how I look at it, it really is impossible.

If only there was a way for me to easily defeat him…

… No, no, there is a limit as to what I can do.

But, if I take some time to think about it, I should come up

with a good plan or two…

Just then, I noticed something.

Why the hell am I seriously thinking about taking down the

Demon King?

I closed my eyes to shake away such stupid thoughts and

went back to sleep.

Just before sleep took me, a certain desire dreamily flashed

through my mind.

I’ve never really wanted such a thing before now, but,

—I really want a cheat power that’d allow me to go toe to toe

with the Demon King—
 Epilogue
“Hey! Kazuma! Kazuma! Wake up! Wake up already!”

I woke up with a start.

Perhaps it’s because I fell asleep not too long ago, but I
came to my senses very easily.

Darkness was violently shaking me while screaming my

name…

……

I closed my eyes once more, wrapped my arms around

Darkness, and pulled her onto the bed with me.

“I can’t eat another bite…”

“H-Hey! You’re awake, aren’t you!? Aah, wa-wait!”

… I just wanted to play a little prank on Darkness, but feeling

her slowly go limp in my arms brought a sudden halt to my
thought processes.

“… What are you doing? … I just asked you to wake

Kazuma up! Seriously, the moment I take my eyes off you,
you’re back to seducing him! You really are a slut!”

“Ah, n-n-no, that’s not! I haven’t done—!”

Seems like Megumin is in the room too, so I opened my
eyes.

And of course, the first thing that I saw was Darkness’s

eyes.

“… Did you come to attack me again!?”

“Aah! Y-You little—!”

After separating myself from Darkness whose cheeks turned

red under these false accusations, I stretched and said

“What’s the matter, you two? Why are you raising such a
fuss so early in the morning?”

“It’s already noon! More importantly, this is really serious!

Please read this!”

Rising up from my bed, I accepted the envelope that

Megumin handed to me.

Inside it was a letter written with an extremely exquisite

penmanship, and I wasted no time in reading it.

Source @CGTranslations.me

“Dear everyone,

The light breeze heralds the refreshing breeze of autumn.

How is everyone doing?

Darkness, don’t go overboard with that game you play

where you repeatedly stub your toe against the dresser.

Megumin, if you don’t reign in how often you use your

Explosion, I’m certain your actions will eventually be counted
as one of the factors contributing to the greenhouse effect.

Kazuma, I know that you’re a young man with a healthy

libido, but please stop laying out everyone’s laundry on the
floor and rolling through them.”

I crumpled the letter I was reading and threw it into the

corner of the room.

“Ah!”

Megumin picked up the letter from the floor.

“I understand how you feel, but please read it all the way to
the end.”

Well, I couldn’t exactly refuse her request, so I continued

reading.

“Now then, the Demon King is currently spreading chaos

and destruction throughout this world. Do you think that the
beautiful and lovely goddess that I am could simply stand by
and let the Demon King do as he wishes?

No, I cannot do that.

For the sake of my beloved Axis Cultists spread throughout
the world.

To answer the wishes of the ten billion people who believe in

me

I’m heading out on a journey to become a legend…”

I raised my head.

“… Are there really ten billion Axis Cultists in this world?”

“… There’d probably be about a few hundred at best.”

Hearing Darkness’s words, I let out a relieved sigh before

continuing to read the letter.

“Thus, in order to turn this lofty ideal into reality…

I’ll be going out for a bit to take down the Demon King.”

I leapt off my bed.

“That idiot…!”

Towards the flustered me, Darkness started

“… Aqua has been saving up the allowance you’ve been
giving her. She should’ve saved up quite a sum by now, so
she might be trying to hire a few skilled adventurers right
now…”

I rushed to grab my jacket.

If I don’t hurry up and chase after her…!

Source @CGTranslations.me

—Then, just as turned back towards the two, I noticed

something off about their expressions.

I gave them a questioning look, and Megumin pointed

towards a corner of the letter.

I’d probably miss it if I wasn’t paying attention, but right

where her finger was pointing were a few words that
seemed to be crossed out.

She probably wrote this but canceled it out because it

sounded stupid or something.

I leaned in for a closer look.

“PS: Please come after me.”

… Wasn’t it supposed to be “Please don’t come after me”?

—That idiot!
 Afterword
First of all, thank you for picking up this book.

This is the volume where the protagonist, Satou Kazuma,

launches a counterattack.

Normally, he’s the kind of person who avoids picking fights,

and relies upon his friends to bail him out when he does get
into a brawl.

However, looking upon Aqua’s sorrowful form, he challenges

the general on his own, and continues struggling even when
facing the enemy’s mind control…

I don’t think that there are that many people who start
reading from the afterword, but if you want a summary,
that’s pretty much the gist of it.

Anyway, I was only able to get this book published thanks

to: The illustrator Mishima Kurone-sensei, manager I-san,
Design-san and Proofreader-san, many people from the
editorial department and various people involved, and, of
course, all of my readers who have been cheering me on.

That’s why I always do this in every volume…

My deepest thanks to everyone who worked on this project,

and to each and every one of my readers!

Akatsuki Natsume
 Short story: Noble Style
I was at a fully booked out high-end restuarant, wearing an
unfamilar tuxedo, and staring at the myriad of dishes laid out
before me.

In this kind of setting, the table etiquette I should use is…

“I’m supposed to use the utensils starting from the

furthermost ones, right?”

“Kazuma, how many years has it been since you heard

about that? Nobles are extremely sensitive to changes in
trends. Right now, you should start with the innermost ones.”

Darkness, seated opposite me, said in an astonished tone.

Seriously? The etiquette is different in this world too?

Still, Darkness did start from the innermost utensils.

She’s a noble lady, so I’m sure she knows what she’s doing.

“I see. It’s a different country with its own culture, so it’s only
natural for table etiquette to be different too. But I know
about this one. This is called the finger-bowl, right? It’s
meant for washing your fingertips.”

Saying that, I dipped my fingers into the bowl of water

placed next to the table.
“That’s meant for washing your face. This is a restaurant
directed towards serving nobles, you know? Both parties
wash their faces with it before eating. It’s meant to signify
that neither party has any ulterior motives as they dine with
each other without wearing any sort of makeup.”

“… You’re kidding, right? I mean, there’s no towel, so

wouldn’t your face be left dripping?”

“What do you think that napkin is for? Why did you put it on
your lap in the first place?”

Seriously? Isn’t this used to keep any food stains away from
your clothes?

“Today’s just practice, so it’s fine, but make sure you

properly memorize the etiquette for tomorrow. Otherwise
you’d embarrass me. Right, so first, let’s start with the
soup…”

Seeing me caught off balance, Darkness began with a smile

—

—A lady from some noble house requested to meet with me.

Right now, I am a celebrity famous enough to appear in the

papers.

Just like how Iris wanted to meet with me in the past, a

similar request seemed to have ended up on Darkness’s
table.

Yes, a proper ojou-sama.

“A noble lady, huh… I’m sure she’s a girl who couldn’t lift
anything heavier than a pair of chopsticks, fawns all over a
small animal the moment she lays her eyes on one, and
speaks to the flowers in the gardens…”

“Anyone who fits that description perfectly would be a very

strange person. Just what do you think noble ladies are?
The nobles might appear gentle on the surface, but each
and every one of them have hearts as black as coal.”

Darkness, who is incidentally also one of those noble ladies,

said with a sigh.

“Cut it out! This is a dinner that might restore the image of

noble ladies in my mind after you have brought them so low.
At least let me get excited about it before we meet.”

“Why don’t you explain to me exactly why your image of

noble ladies have been brought down by me?”

Darkness gave me a glare, and I avoided her gaze.

“Noble lady sure does have a nice ring to it. Haa… All the
nobles I’ve met with so far have all been full of weird quirks,
so I shouldn’t get my hopes up, but it’d be nice if it was a
gentle ojou-sama…”

I wistfully voiced my hopes about the noble lady, and

Darkness bit on her lip as though she wanted to say
something.

Eventually, she spoke up.

“… Say, Kazuma, it’s fine to look forward to it and all, but do

you know the etiquette for dealing with nobles? Nobles are
very sensitive to trends, you know? Are you familiar with the
latest ones?”

—And thus, Darkness offered to coach me. And the next

day…

“So you are Satou-sama, yes? I’ve heard many great things
about you… I’m glad to finally meet you in person. I hope we
can have an enjoyable conversation today.”

“I’m honoured to be in your presence. If you wish, I’d be

happy to converse with you.”

After visiting that high-end restaurant yesterday, I greeted

the noble lady under the watch of Darkness.

“Now, pardon me—”

“Eh?”

When I washed my face in the finger-bowl-like item, the

noble lady let out a soft gasp.

As I wiped my face with my napkin, I noticed that the patrons

around us started staring at me.

“… A-As expected of an adventurer, you sure are quite

wild… Ah, the soup is here. The soup of this restaurant is
very rich…”

I grabbed the bowl containing the soup in both hands and

noisily downed the entire bowl in a single shot.

I thought it was a little weird at first, but Darkness said that

making noise while consuming it meant that it’s delicious.

There are similar customs back on Earth too, so I suppose

it’s not unthinkable for it to be the case here.

… Just then, I noticed something was off.

The lady facing me was blushing bright red and trembling

with embarrassment.

And next to her, Darkness was blushing too and shivering…

“You lied to me, didn’t you! Don’t you dare laugh!”

—After getting chased out of the restaurant, I gave

Darkness an earful on the way back home.

“Do you have any idea how much I was looking forward to
this? She’s a noble lady, you know? A proper Ojou-sama!
How could you ruin it…!”
“Yes, yes, I’m sorry. Still, you should be a little thankful to
me. That lady really does have an ulterior motive. Her family
enjoys opulence and spends gold like water, and is
rumoured to be on the verge of bankruptcy. Just as those
rumours started to spread, she suddenly wanted to meet
with you. Still… Pfft.”

She’s been constantly breaking out into giggling fits ever

since we left the restaurant.

“How long are you going to laugh!? I know that girl was only
getting close to me because of my fortune, but you still
shouldn’t have have toyed with me like that! I even missed
out on eating that restaurant’s dishes…”

“Pfft… Sorry, but her family does have quite a bit of pull. I
couldn’t refuse her request without a good reason. I’ll buy
some high-quality ingredients and cook you a meal once we
get back as an apology.”

… High-quality ingredients, huh…

No, no, I’m not so easily swayed…

“And afterwards… Well, we can have a meal together. I’m a

noble lady too, you know? Can you forgive me with that?”

Darkness said with a bright smile—

Short story: The Basic Equipment
to take down a Demon King
As I turned my sword around in my hand, I mumbled to
myself.

“… I really want a magic sword.”

Yes, a magic sword.

Even though I’ve taken down more than a few Demon King’s
Generals, my equipment was still pretty crappy.

If it was a game, I would’ve gotten my hands on the rare

equipment that they were using or found some amazing item
hidden away in their stronghold by now, but that hasn’t
happened at all.

… Just then, Megumin suddenly looked up from her book

titled “How to Prepare Beef and Potato Stew for Dummies”
and said.

“Isn’t your Chunchunmaru a pretty rare sword already? What

part of it is unsatisfactory?”

“There’s the name, for one.”

Indeed, this sword was forged with the vague ideas of

Japanese sword forging techniques that I gleaned from
documentaries and the like.

Of course, it’s not as well made as a proper katana, and it

has a very painful-sounding name engraved into the blade.

“It’s a little boastful for me to be saying this, but there aren’t

that many swords that have such a cool name, you know?
I’ve said this before, but your naming sense is really
strange.”

“I never dreamed that there’d come the day where you’d be

criticizing my naming sense…”

Just where does this girl get her confidence from?

“Still, a magic sword, huh? I do understand why you might

want something like that. It’d be hard to take down the
Demon King without a powerful magic weapon, after all.”

“I’m not doing this for such a grand purpose, so stop it.”

Still, even though I’m not going after the Demon King, there
are quite a few monsters that can’t be harmed without a
magic weapon in this world.

I am a pretty famous adventurer by this point, after all.

Maybe it’s about time I get my hands on a magic weapon or

two.

“… Oh, very well. Let’s go get a magic sword, then.”

Megumin said in the same tone of voice one would use to

say ‘I’m off to pick up some milk.’

—Not long after, we arrived at the adventurer’s guild.

“See, there’s a magic sword.”

“I want to say it’s been some time, but what’s going on

now?”

Standing in front of us was the Magic Sword Guy.

“Say, Megumin, if I take away the magic sword from the

Magic Sword Guy, wouldn’t he just become a regular guy?”

“True, that magic sword really is that guy’s only unique

point…”

“Hey, wait, even I do have plenty of other memorable traits!

And would you please call me by name!?”

The Magic Sword Guy started raising a fuss for some

reason.

“You’ll bother the other people if you shout like that, Magic
Sword Guy. Anyway, Kazuma here wants a magic sword. If I
recall, you have a powerful sword called Gram, right?”

“Why is it that you can remember my sword’s name but not

mine!?”

The Magic Sword Guy still seemed just as agitated.

Still, something just came to mind.

“Megumin, Gram is a magic sword that only he can make

use of. I don’t think I’d be able to make proper use of it.”

“Is that so? I really think it’s a waste for the Magic Sword
Guy to have such a powerful weapon when he can’t even
manage to take down a single Demon King’s General…”

The magic sword that the Magic Sword Guy has is a divine
treasure that is linked only to him.

“A-A waste… Hey, wait, even I managed to take down a few

high bounty targets.”

“… Well, it can’t be helped in that case. Let’s head over to

our next stop, then.”

“Listen to me!”

—And the next stop that Megumin was talking about is…

“Welcome, dear customers who are looking for a magic

sword. Moi stocks various magic weapons in this store, so
feel free to pick one you like.”

“Ah, yeah, if you want a magic sword, a magic item store is

of course a good place to stop at.”

A very jovial Vanir welcomed us as we stepped foot inside

Wiz’s magic item shop.
“Kazuma, look at this. From what I can tell, this is a very
powerful magic item! Moreover, this thing feels really
compatible with me!”

“Hou? As expected of a Crimson Demon, your eye when it

comes to magic items is sharp indeed. That’s a rare magic
sword that will explode when you pour mana into it.”

“I’m not buying that.”

Judging from my past experiences, Vanir will definitely try to

pawn off something useless onto me, so to head that off, I
took out a small but heavy bag filled with coins.

“Use your powers to help me find a magic sword that I can

use and isn’t trash.”

“Leave it to me, dear customer! Fuhahahahaha! Behold, my

powers of foresight…!”

After receiving the bag, Vanir’s eyes started glowing…

“… … Brat, magic swords tend to choose their own

wielders…”

“Don’t say anything more! You’re just going to say that there
isn’t a magic sword that I can use, right!?”

Great, this again! The limitations of me having the weakest

job rears its head yet again!

But Vanir shook his head and handed a small knife case
from the shelves over to me.
“Isn’t this a cooking knife?”

Inside the case is a fish filleting knife.

“This is the magic item, ‘Fish Slayer’. It’s is enchanted to be

more damaging against aquatic creatures. Moi heartily
recommends this item.”

“You bastard, are you telling to pick a fight with a strong

enemy armed with a cooking knife!? I’m not going into battle
with a cooking knife! … But it looks quite cool, so I’ll buy it
anyway!”

—And thus, my kitchen was equipped with a magic sword.

 Short story: A Heartfelt Gift
"Kazuma, Kazuma, we've known each other for quite some
time, haven't we?"

Aqua, playing with Chomusuke in the yard, happily said to

me as she approached me.

"… So, who do you need to apologize to this time?"

"Hey, wait a minute, why do you immediately think I've done

something wrong?"

Isn't that obvious?

"The only reasons why you would call me by my name like

this is because you got into some kind of trouble, are
completely bored, or want some more pocket money from
me."

"Dammit, I don't like this, but I can't find a way to retort… But
just listen to me this time. You'll definitely be overjoyed to
the point where you'll willingly give me more pocket money."

……

"Didn't I already gave you some yesterday?"

"It's already all gone. I don't get it. My purse was full
yesterday morning, but it's now completely empty after I
spent a night out drinking."

I turned towards Chomusuke and started dangling a cattail

in front of her.

"It's over here! Over here! What you swiped at just now was
just an afterimage… Oh, to think you saw through my feint.
You're quite something indeed…"

"Kazuma, please listen to me! I'm begging you! The guy at

the store was selling something really amazing today! I
could tell at a glance! You'll definitely be happy with it too!"

—Aqua wouldn't stop whining after that, so I had no choice

but to go give it a look.

"Just what kind of amazing item is it? I've come across

plenty of amazing stuff since I've come to this place, and I'm
pretty much used to such things by this point."

"Fufu, seems like you've slowly gotten to know the world of

art. Why don't you stop becoming a useless adventurer and
start working towards becoming an art connoisseur from
now on?"

"Just who exactly are you calling useless?"

Just as I got into a quarrel with Aqua, I noticed something

strange about the town.

Everyone walking down the streets seemed to be in a good

mood, and cheerful music could be heard throughout the
town.

"Is there some sort of special occasion today?"

"This is why NEETs are hopeless. There's a holiday today.

Everyone in town is throwing a festival, that's why it's so
rowdy. See, look at how cheerful everyone is."

So there are holidays in this world too?

"So, what holiday is it?"

"I think it is the birthday of the princess of this country."

Ah.

"Hey, isn't that Iris? This is bad, I haven't prepared a

birthday gift yet!"

I immediately started to panic, but Aqua merely said.

"What are you saying? Just where do you think we are

heading to right now, Kazuma?"

The place we are heading to right now…

"That shop that sells that really amazing item! Aqua, you
aren't totally useless after all!"

"Hey, hold on, haven't I been really useful as of late!?"

—The place Aqua let me to is…

"… What exactly is this?"

"It's just as you see, Kazuma. This is a store that sells rocks.
These rocks have been gathered from the four corners of
the world by the storekeeper."

No matter how you looked at it, this was completely a fraud.

"Did you get conned again!? These rocks all look like they
were picked up from the local riverbed!"

"It's only expected for someone with no eye for art like you
to say such things, but you're just asking to get chewed out if
you continue. Say, storekeep, why don't you show this man
just how formidable this rock is?"

The man who was manning the store glanced at me and

picked up a pebble.

"This is why amateurs are… Take a good look at this rock

from this angle."

When I did as he asked, the pebble seemed somewhat

familiar somehow…

"Winter Shogun? Hey, isn't this the Winter Shogun?"

"Yes, indeed. Isn't it amazing? To think that a naturally

weathered stone could form such an image…"

Seriously? You're saying that this rock was found in such a

shape…

"… No, no, wait, wait, it's amazing and all, but what use
could I have for such an item? In the first place, I'm here to
pick up a present for Iris—"

"What are you saying? A girl brimming with curiosity like her
would be sure to be amazed with such a gift. She would've
gotten tired off receiving precious jewels and ornate
treasures by now."

Well, it does make sense, and I get the feeling that Iris
would be very happy to have such a gift…

"Excuse me, I'd like to buy this pebble."

"Sure thing. That'd be eight thousand eris."

It's just a rock, how could you sell it for that much? Those
words were on the tip of my tongue, but I kept them in my
heart as I reached for my wallet…

"Hey, wait a minute, I wanted that pebble."

Just then, Aqua interrupted.

"Aren't you broke? Besides, rather than something

expensive, Iris would probably be happier with some oddity
or a handcrafted piece of art. Even if it's cheap, as long as it
comes from the heart, she'd surely be happy with it, so—"

"I was the one who saw it first! Please, Kazuma, I can let
you have the Winter Shogun, but please at least buy this
piece for me!"

"That'd be twenty thousand eris."

Are you kidding me?

"Please, I really like this piece! I'll take good care of it! See,
from this angle, it looks a little like Chomusuke."

"Seriously… Oh, fine, I'll buy it for you."

She did help me pick a gift for Iris today, so I guess I can
indulge her just this once.

"Thank you, Kazuma!"

Seeing Aqua happily cradle the piece of rock to her chest, I

thought to myself, well, I suppose this isn't too bad…

"I'll probably forget about this in an hour, so I wanted to

thank you before I forget."

"Give that rock back to me, I'm going to go get a refund."

And thus, I spent the rest of the morning chasing after Aqua.