KonoSuba Continued, Explosions! Volume 2

“So that means Choppy is an Axis Cultist, right? Now I
understand why it’s so stubborn.”
“Hey, don’t just make me an Axis Cultist! Actually, remember who
I am already!”
Choppy turned its attention towards me the moment I mentioned
the Axis Cult, and taking advantage of that opening-
“Cursed Crystal Prison!”
“Wha-!?”
Yunyun unleashed a spell at Choppy, encasing it within a solid
block of ice before it had time to do much more than gasp in
surprise.
… This is giving me deja vu. I feel like I’ve seen something similar
to this before…
“You let your guard down! As someone who bears the name of the
Crimson Demons, I won’t let myself be defeated so easily!”
“Haha, and here I thought you were just a brat! Before we fight to
the death, why don’t you name yourself!?”
I’m a woman who doesn’t care much for the past.
Still, I feel like I’ve heard Choppy’s voice before…
But, well.

150

“My name in Yunyun! Archmage, wielder of advanced magic, and
the next chief of the Crimson Demons! … I always thought naming
myself before a battle was embarrassing, but… It doesn’t seem too
bad…”
“Haha, that wasn’t too bad! I see, so you are the next chief in line.
So that’s why you’re so strong! Very well, I shall respond in kind!
Allow me to tell you what I’ve been done before my revival! And
how I managed to survive after taking an Explosion head on! You
see-!”
Even if it is a tokoroten slime, there’s no way a Crimson Demon
can simply sit idly by when someone is picking a fight with them.
I pointed my staff at Choppy and–
“Explosion!!”
“What are you dooooooing!?”

↲

151

Chapter 3: Part 5 ↲

After taking care of Choppy, we headed back to the Axis Cult
cathedral to make our report.

“So, this is all because of Cecily-san’s tokoroten slime undergoing
some kind of mysterious mutation, right?”

“Megumin-san, wait! Now that I think about it, Choppy really
doesn’t seem like one of my children! I mean, it could talk! And it
was rebellious too!”

“I definitely won’t forgive you! How could you be this bad at
reading the mood! Aah, my decisive battle with Choppy….!”

Ignoring the two of them, I turned towards Iris.

“Did they do anything to you while we are away? There’s no need
to keep quiet, I know a very competent prosecutor in Axel. She’ll
definitely help you, and I’ll lend you any aid I can too.”

“Don’t worry. Boss. Other than oji-sama asking me to help inflate
some balloons because his lungs aren’t as good nowadays, there
isn’t much to report.”

Zesta, who was cradling a balloon like it was a precious porcelain
vase, ran away before Iris finished speaking.

In place of me who had trouble moving after exhausting my mana,
Yunyun chased after him instead.

After being chased into a corner of the church, Zesta, with a
resigned expression, brought his face to up to the balloon–

152

“Light of Saber!”
“Dispel magic!”
The blade of light that Yunyun unleashed at the balloon faded
away an instant before it touched Zesta’s outstretched hand.
“Zesta-san, please stop acting so dangerously! That spell can slice
through anything depending on how strong the caster is! You
might end up losing your hand!”
“I don’t want to hear that from you who casted such dangerous
spells at other people in the first place! This divine artifact that
contains the breath of a young girl shall be the relic of the Axis
Cult. Damned heretics, get out!”
“How could you call me a heretic after all the help I gave you
today!? That’s it, I’m definitely taking that from you!”
Saying that, Yunyun unsheathed her dagger and brought it to
bear.
“… Seriously, I think Yunyun might have an even shorter temper
than I do. It’s fine, isn’t it? You and Alice got to take down a
wyvern today. All I managed to do was chase down a few
tokoroten slimes.”
While slumped in a chair, I offered those words to calm Yunyun
down, but Cecily interjected.

153

“Megumin-san, Megumin-san. Let me give you something nice as
thanks for your efforts today in hunting down the tokoroten
slimes.”
“N-No, it’s fine. There’s no need for that. We are pretty close, after
all, so there’s really no need for this!”
After expanding all of my mana, I can’t put up any kind of
resistance no matter what she attempts to do.
Cecily extended her right hand towards me with a smile…
“Blessing!”
And casted a spell on me.
“… Er, is this what you mean by something nice?”
“Yes. May only good things await you in the future! Or, wait, were
you expecting something strange? Ah, Megumin-san, you’re so
cute!”
“Aaah, my body feels really sluggish right now, so please don’t
cling onto me like that!”
Cecily suddenly wrapped me in a hug and gave me a bright smile.
“Megumin-san, today’s adventure was really fun!”
… Well, I don’t think this can really be counted as an adventure,
but…

154

I would be lying if I said it wasn’t fun heading out with everyone
today.
“Boss, I also had a lot of fun today! Let’s head out together with
everyone again!”
Seeing Iris join in with an unblemished smile of her own, I
couldn’t help but smile in response–
“–Don’t try and pass this off so casually! I definitely won’t forgive
you until you change your thinking!”
Finally managing to pop the balloon after chasing Zesta around a
whole bunch, Yunyun came up to me with her hands on her hips,
clearly still angry.
And Zesta is running around trying to collect the pieces of the
popped balloon.
Seeing him cradle the pieces while saying stuff like “indirect kiss
with a young girl” made me think that it might really be for the
best if he was properly locked away for a while.
“I do feel sorry for stealing away your prey, but Choppy was the
one who picked a fight with me. If anything, you should blame
yourself for dawdling around so much.”
“What do you mean by dawdling? If anything, the right thing to do
back then is to properly hear Choppy out!”
I thought she finally awoken to the Crimson Demon within her
blood, but it seems like Yunyun still has a ways to go.

155

“Kazuma said that only a third rate would start to talk about
themselves in the middle of battle. Someone who starts talking all
about their master plan as a final gift to those who are about to die
always end up getting foiled in the end. If I run into someone who
starts monologuing in the middle of battle, I’ll use that
opportunity to launch a surprise attack, or so he says.”
“I think it’d be nice if Kazuma-san gets properly lectured every
once in a while.”
Just then.
With his eyes turning completely bloodshot after crying his heart
out, Zesta came over to us.
“Leaving aside that heretic, Megumin-san, you did well today. As
the head of this cult, allow me to properly thank you.”
“No, it’s fine. It was pretty fun after all.”
Besides, the people here aren’t complete strangers to me.
Some of them, no, most of them are weirdos of some sort, but I
don’t think the Axis Cultists are fundamentally bad people…
As I gradually lost my confidence in that statement, Zesta casually
asked.
“By the way, Megumin-san, that Archpriest that is in your party…
is she spending her days well?”

156

“Aqua? Yeah, she’s spending her days so well that she spends
almost half of it asleep. She certainly seems to be having fun each
day.”
And she often ends up crying after getting too full of herself.
But I think I’ll keep that to myself to avoid damaging Aqua’s good
name.
“Is that so. That’s good.”
A relieved smile appeared on his face
The way Zesta is acting reminded me of a grandfather asking
about the condition of his favoured grandchild.
After a short moment, he gave me a gracious smile and said–
“May good fortune be with Megumin-san, and the rest of your
party–”

↲

157

Chapter 3: Part 6 ↲

That night.

“I’m home~”

“Waaaah-! How many times do you want to win before you’re
satisfied!? You must be cheating somehow! You can’t fool my
divine eyes so easily!”

Aqua’s wailing was the first thing that greeted me when I returned
to the mansion.

“Oh, welcome back. You’re out pretty late today. Where did you go
to play?”

Pushing Aqua away who was clinging onto him, Kazuma looked
away from the Jenga tower and said to me.

“We went to Alcanretia today. We had a little adventure there.”

At those words, Aqua froze mid wail.

“Hey, Megumin, why didn’t you take me with you? Alcanretia is
the city of water, and when you think of water, you think of me,
right? Sit right there with Kazuma, I’m going to lecture the both of
you.”

“Aren’t you forbidden from stepping foot in Alcanretia?”

Aqua patted the sofa in front of her, trying to get me to sit down.

158

Then, Darkness, who was sitting on the carpet playing with
Chomusuke by dangling a finger above her, said,
“I kind of want to pay that city a visit too. To be honest, I quite
liked being swarmed by that strange cult back then.”
Just which part of that is any way likable?”
“Hey, Darkness, don’t call my children some strange cult. Cecily
told me, you know? That there are far stranger people than the
Axis Cult or the Crimson Demons amongst this country’s
nobility.”
“W-What are you saying!? Aqua, bring that Cecily to meet me! I’ll
dispel whatever strange prejudices she has about the nobility!”
Darkness suddenly stood up, revealing that noble lady side of her
that I almost never get to see.
“Oh yeah, now that I think about it, why am I playing with
Kazuma who is good at all kinds of games when Darkness is here?
Hey, Darkness, let’s play Jenga together. Whoever loses gets to
swap trash duty for one day.”
“Oh, so you think you can defeat me just because I’m clumsy?
Games like this relies more on brain power than physical
dexterity. Very well, I’ll take you on!”
After accepting Aqua’s challenge, Darkness moved to sit in front
of the Jenga tower.

159

“You accepted it, Darkness. Leaving Kazuma who is cheating
somehow aside, there’s no way I can lose to Darkness. After all, I
have a secret plan.”
“Very well, show me that secret plan of yours. You’re not going to
add some really amazing tasks I have to do if I lose just like
Kazuma usually does, are you?”
“… Hey, Darkness, I’m going to arrange these jenga blocks
artistically, so maybe we should call off the game?”
“Not a chance.”
Ignoring the two of them as they started on their game of Jenga, I
dragged my lethargic body over to the sofa and collapsed next to
Kazuma.
“You seem quite worn out today. Well, considering that you went
to Alcanretia, I can probably guess what you went through today.”
“… Oh, you want to hear my tales of adventure so badly?”
“Not that badly.”
“… Say, Aqua, why do you keep going after the most difficult
blocks?”
“I don’t get it either, it’s just that pulling out the more difficult
blocks make my entertainer’s blood boil… Ah!”
“Thank you for taking out the trash today.”

160

Ignoring the two of them and their game, I picked up Chomusuke
from the carpet and started recounting the events of today to
Kazuma.”
“We hunted down tokoroten slimes in Alcanretia today. They
might be slimes, but they are surprisingly tenacious, and one of
them…”
In order to stroke the desire for adventure in his heart so that he’ll
agree to go out with me tomorrow–
“Wait, Darkness, one more time! Ah, no, wait, there’s a reason for
that! You see, the ghost of the young girl that lives here keeps
waving her fingers through the tower…!”

↲

161

162

A Cutting Light in this Forest of Beasts!
Chapter 4: Part 1 ↲

TL: Cannongerbil
Editing: Makentosh, Ulti

On that day.
“Just what is wrong with you!? Give it up already!”
Even though it was almost noon, Kazuma was still lying under his
blanket.
When I beat on it, Kazuma poked his head out and said.
“There’s a famous saying where I’m from that goes ‘The moment
you give up is the moment where it’s actually over’. Thus, I’ll
never give up!”
“That’s a good saying, but you’re definitely not using it in the right
situation! Today for sure, I’ll definitely drag you out on an
adventure!”
Kazuma once again disappeared under the blankets and fiercely
resisted when I tried to pull the covers off him.
However, there’s a large gulf in the difference between our
strengths.
Such feeble resistance will not–
“Create water.”

163

“… Hey.”
Kazuma stuck his hand out from under the blanket and drenched
me with his spell.
As I retreated, trembling from my newly wet clothes, Kazuma
once again stuck his head out from under the blanket.
“A curse upon all who would seek to prevent me from slumber. If
you don’t leave this place immediately, I shall taint you with
Create Earth next time.”
“That sounds a little cool, but I won’t retreat just because of that!
No, actually, how dare you do such a thing!? I’m going to dry
myself off with your blanket!”
“W-Wait, stop, you’ll get it wet! I get it, I was in the wrong! Now
you just made it look like I wet the bed!”
Kazuma hastily got up after I trashed about on his bed.
“Besides, haven’t you been going on an adventure every day as of
late? You defeated a giant frog and tokoroten slime and such,
right?”
Kazuma said as he stretched.
“I don’t want to go after small fry monsters like that. Yunyun took
down a wyvern together with Iris the other day, you know?
Compared to her, all I managed to take down was Choppy!”
“What’s a Choppy?”

164

–As we made our way down stairs, we came across Darkness,
dressed like the perfect picture of a noble lady, seemingly about to
head out somewhere.
“W-What’s wrong, Megumin? You’re soaking wet.”
“This man drenched me with Create Water.”
Darkness started fidgeting when she heard that, and, poorly trying
to keep her excitement in check, asked.
“Oh… What exactly did you do to get him to do that?”
“When I got onto his bed to wake him up, he suddenly bared his
fangs at me. And not only was he not satisfied with drenching me,
he even said that he will taint me if I don’t leave.”
“I know I was in the wrong, but please choose your words more
carefully! And Darkness, stop fidgeting like that!”
… Actually.
“Darkness, hurry up and change too. We’re going on an
adventure.”
“N-No, I’m headed off to the lord’s office right now to handle
some urgent paperwork…”
Darkness reluctantly answered while clutching a packet of
documents in her hand.

165

“I finally managed to get Kazuma up before noon, so why do you
have to be busy today!? Just what is your occupation!?”
“I’m a noble lady acting on the lord of this land’s behalf! Ah, hey,
give that back! If you get those documents wet, the ink will run!”
Just as I snatched the documents away from Darkness and she
started tearing up from seeing the ink run.
“Sorry, but I can’t go with you on an adventure today either. Cecily
brought back some high grade wine from Alcanretia as a souvenir,
so I’m heading over to the Axis church to throw a party.”
Aqua, dressed like she’s heading out just like Darkness, ran into
us and said.
“You too, Aqua!? And it’s not even noon yet! Just what exactly is
your occupation, Aqua!?”
“I’m a goddess, of course.
I probably shouldn’t be saying this, but why is this party so
dysfunctional?
Just then, the doorbell rang.
Kazuma went to open it, and on the other side was a familiar girl.
“Oh, if it isn’t the guild receptionist. My, my, if you came all the
way here, does that mean you need my strength again?”
The person who came to visit us was one of the receptionists at
the guild.

166

Kazuma started putting on airs the moment he saw her and
casually laughed, but.
“Ah, no! It’s true that I came here with a job, but it isn’t for Satou-
san. This request mentions Megumin-san by name…”
“… …”
Ignoring Kazuma who fell silent, I dramatically flared my cloak.
“Oh, they requested me by name? That person has a good eye, I
see. Very well, go ahead and lead me to this person!”
“Um, I don’t know why you’re soaking wet, but it’s fine if you want
to change first. I can wait.”

↲

167

Chapter 4: Part 2 ↲

Leaving behind Kazuma who started sulking because he wasn’t
the one who was called, I made my way over to the adventurers
guild.
When I got there…
“The one who put in the request is Barton-san. The location is at
the capital.”
“Right, I think I’ll go home now.”
I turned right around and tried to leave the moment I heard that
name, only for someone to pull on my cloak.
“W-What’s wrong, Megumin-san!? Please wait, the person who
made the request is one of the people who made a large donation
to the guild headquarters in the capital… ”
“Who cares about that? It’s true that I once accepted a request
from him, but he’s a weirdo that loves monsters. It’s too heavy a
burden for me to bear alone, so please ask someone else.”
I tried to pull away after saying that, but the guild lady just
refused to let go of my cape.
“Megumin-san, are you really fine with that!? It’s a request from
the famous Professor Barton, you know!? The same one who
wrote the Professor Barton’s Monster Guide for Dummies that’s
been in vogue in the capital lately!”

168

That’s strange, when I last met him, he didn’t give off the
impression of a famed person, or even a person one would like to
spend much time around.

There’s no reason for the guild show this much consideration for
him…

“Ever since he published the ecology of the King Toad, a monster
has long been regarded as a myth, he’s become a famous celebrity
and an authority on matters of biology amongst the academic
community.”

“What did you just say?”

The name of a monster I couldn’t possibly ignore suddenly came
up.

“The King Toad is a monster whose habitat, ecology, and very
appearance is unknown. Up till a few days ago, it was regarded as
little more than an urban legend, until Professor Barton produced
the remains of a King Toad–”

I produced my adventurer’s card and pointed towards the killed
monsters column.

“Onee-san, please take a look at this. King Toad is written on it,
right? Is there a large bounty placed on one?”

“Eh? W-Why would Megumin-san have such a monster in her…
Er, well, the existence of a King Toad was only recently confirmed,
so unfortunately, there isn’t a bounty on it…”

“I see…”

169

Even though it was such a tough monster, it wasn’t worth even a
single eris.
Still, to think that that Barton-san is now a leading authority in
the field of biology amongst the academic community…
“Huh!? Wait, below the King Toad, this named monster, a deadly
poison slime named Choppy…”
Wait, hold on.
If he has become a leading authority, it’s a good bet that Barton-
san is now quite affluent.
And we played a major role in getting him to this spot in the first
place.
Even after taking out such a powerful monster, the reward we got
was positively pitiful.
… Right!
“Megumin-san, this Choppy is…”
“Very well, I accept that request!”

— After receiving the quest document, I left the guild lady who
seemed like she wanted to say something behind and started
searching for someone.

170

The person I’m looking for is, of course, my best friend who’s
strong, reliable in such situations, and capable of casting teleport.

“I’m Beat, and this one is Claris. I’m a warrior and she’s a priest!”
“We just arrived in this town today, and we were wondering if you
would like to join us? You’re a spellcaster, right? You don’t seem
to be a member of a party, and in terms of jobs, the three of us are
pretty well balanced.”
It didn’t take long for me to locate my best friend.
However, something is strange.
A pair of people not too far from our age is calling out to her, and
Yunyun is awkwardly looking around her with a blank look on her
face.
Eventually, she pointed a trembling finger at herself.
“… U-Umm, could you be talking to me?”
“Of course we are. Who else could we be talking to?”
“Ahaha, are you nervous? Don’t worry, this will be our first quest
too!”
It seems like Yunyun is getting hit on by some newly arrived
adventurers.

171

“A-Aaa… M-My name is Yunyun! I’m not anyone special, but, p-p-
pleased to work with you!”
She must be quite happy to be invited like this, for she deeply
bowed with tears in her eyes.
“There’s no need to be nervous. I defeated several monsters back
at my village, so I’m already level 4.”
“What a cute name! I’m just level 2, but I’m wearing a set of steel
chainmail, so we’ll do just fine against frogs!”
Yunyun blushed upon hearing the girl named Claris
complimenting her name.
“L-Leave it to me! With the power leveling technique passed down
by the Crimson Demons, ‘Cultivation’, both of you will have
double digits in levels by the end of the day!”
“Haha, I’ll look forward to that! Though, I feel like I’ve heard the
phrase Crimson Demon somewhere before…”
“That sounds familiar too… By the way, what level are you,
Yunyun? Could it be that you can already use intermediate
magic?”
Yunyun stiffened up for a moment when the topic of her level is
broached, and she let out a nervous laugh to cover it up.
“My level is, well… It’s high enough to make use of intermediate
magic, at least!”

172

“You’re selling yourself short, you know? This girl can not only use
intermediate magic, she can use spells like Teleport and Light of
Saber. In fact, she’s an Archmage whose level is over 40.”
When I interjected, Yunyun instant froze up.
“O-O-Over level 40!?”
“Archmage!?”
The two newbie adventurers let out an incredulous voice.
“And she’s not just an average Archmage. She’s a Crimson Demon
who are born with a high aptitude for magic. It’s best for you two
to party up with someone around your level when you’re first
starting out.”
“Sorry for calling out to you when we are such weaklings!”
“S-S-S-Sorry! We just came to this town, so we didn’t know!
Please forgive us!”
“Aaah!? W-Wait…!”
The two newbie adventurers beat a hasty retreat after hearing my
words.
I grabbed Yunyun, who reached out her hand towards the two in
an attempt to stop them by the shoulder and wagged my finger in
front of her.

173

“Let them go. They are sure to find a party suitable for them. The
only thing we veteran adventurers can do is cheer them on from
afar.”
At those words, Yunyun lunged at me and grabbed me by the
collar…
“AAAAAAAAH!”
“W-What are you doing!? Please calm down! My throat- I- I can’t
breathe…!”

↲

174

Chapter 4: Part 3 ↲

After calming Yunyun down, we teleported over to the capital.

“… Seriously, you’re way too short tempered, Yunyun. And you’re
the next chief of the Crimson Demons, so please don’t form a
party with any random newbie that happens to ask. The people
back at the village will lose their faith in you if they hear about it.”

“You’re one to talk about short tempered! … Someone actually
asked me to join their party…”

“You already have me as your party member, don’t you? We’ll be
heading out on an adventure after we fetch Iris. Barton-san
submitted a request for us.”

I explained the circumstances that brought us to the capital to a
still sulking Yunyun.

“That strange wildlife researcher? Is it really fine to bring Iris
along? He might end up actually getting executed this time, you
know?”

Even if you say that, the quest he posted specifically requested for
the same party members as the previous time we met.

Looking up at the royal castle in front of her, Yunyun uneasily
muttered.

“Plus, I get the feeling that we are really pushing our luck by
casually visiting the castle so often like this…”

“Pardon me!!”

175

“Listen to what I’m saying!”
The guard manning the gate frowned upon laying sight on us.
“We came to invite Iris out. Please tell her that her friend
Megumin is here to see her.”
“Sorry, we can’t exactly let the princess of this country go out to
play whenever you feel like it…”
“See, the guard is saying that too! I’ll handle Barton-san’s request
somehow, so let’s go already!”
Yunyun hastily said after hearing the guard’s words.
“We don’t even know what kind of quest it is, so do you really
think a party of just two mages will cut it? What we really need is
a strong vanguard. And I don’t think there’s a stronger vanguard
than Iris.”
“You are planning to use Iris-sama as a vanguard for a quest!?
Now there’s definitely no way we can let you take her away.”
“See!?”
Throwing a side glance at Yunyun who started tearing up, I
thought of a great idea.
“Then what about this? In place of Iris, why don’t you come with
us instead? A castle guard would be more than sufficient as a
Vanguard.”

176

“I’m in the middle of work…”
“Sorry, this girl is a little bit of an idiot! I’ll be taking her away
immediately!”
Yunyun said such rude thing while grabbing onto my arm.
“Are you really fine with letting two friends of Iris go out on a
quest without a vanguard? It’s just us two girls you know? If
anything happens to us, I’m sure Iris would be heartbroken.”
“Er, well…”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Please don’t mind this girl’s words!”
As Yunyun apologized to the guard who had a troubled expression
on his face, a fairly mature looking man appeared from the side
gate.
“Then allow me to go with you. My shift will be up in just a short
while anyway.”
“Eeh? Captain, are you sure about this!?”
The person who the guard referred to as captain certainly does
looks strong.
“I used to be an adventurer too, so I won’t slow you down. Plus, I
have the day off tomorrow. There’s no way I can let friends of Iris-
sama go off on their own. Please leave being the vanguard to me.”
The captain smiled and confidently said.

177

“Yunyun, seems like we’ve managed to secure a strong looking
person. He should be able to as a vanguard in place of Iris.”
“Is it really fine to bring someone from the castle along? Though, I
suppose this is better than exposing Iris-chan to danger…”
Then, the sound of a bell ringing could be heard throughout the
town.
“Right, that’s the end of my shift. I’ll head out with you if you need
a vanguard, so please give up on dragging Iris-sama out, okay?”
“Very well. I get less chances to shine when Iris is around anyway,
so, thinking about it carefully, this arrangement might actually be
better. Very well, I’ll stop inviting Iris-sama out from now on.”
Saying that, the captain and I shared a small laugh.
Just then, Yunyun pulled on my sleeve and frantically motioned
towards the main gate.
“… …”
Standing behind the gate was a teary eyed Iris with puffed up
cheeks.

↲

178

Chapter 4: Part 4 ↲

“How could you say something like that! I can’t believe Boss is
such a heartless person!”
“I couldn’t help it, you are a princess, after all.”
Iris has been sulking this whole time while we made our way to
the capital’s adventurers guild.
Walking next to her, Yunyun, who was periodically glancing
behind her, said.
“Still, that knight captain seemed pretty strong. Couldn’t we take
him along too?”
“Yeah, he even wanted to come with us.”
The captain guy offered to come along to act as Iris’s bodyguard,
but…
“I alone will be enough as a vanguard! I’ll show you exactly what I
can do today!”
“If you go all out, I’ll lose any chances I have to shine! You’re my
underling, so please behave yourself!”

We continued arguing all the way to the guild, and standing right
at the entrance, waiting for us, is the wildlife researcher, Barton.
“I’ve been waiting for you all! I’m really glad you showed up!”

179

Upon seeing us, Barton adjusted his glasses and happily called out
to us.
And Iris replied with a smile on her face.
“It’s been some time, Barton-sama! I’ve heard that your book has
been flying off the shelves ever since you were credited with the
discovery of the King Toad. Congratulations!”
However, Barton continued staring at me as though he couldn’t
hear Iris’s voice.
Yunyun uneasily asked.
“… What’s wrong, Barton-san? Don’t tell me you forgot about Iris-
chan? There’s a limit as to how disrespectful you can be, you
know?”
When Barton remained silent, I said.
“It has been some time, Professor Barton.”
“It has, Megumin-kun! They officially recognised me as a
professor after that trip! This is all thanks to you, I really can’t
thank you enough!”
Yeah, his personality is still as troublesome as ever.
“E-Er, Professor Barton, let me start over again. It has been some
time. Congrats on your book becoming a bestseller.”

180

“Ahh, thank you very much, Iris-kun! Would you like a
signature?”
“A-Ah, there’s no need…”
Still seemingly ignorant of Iris’s true identity, Barton gave her a
teasing smile.
“Say, Megumin, maybe it’s really best to make something happen
to him while we are on the quest…”
“You sure think up some really scary things every so often This
man is pretty famous now, so don’t try anything, okay?”
After I whispered to Yunyun, Barton turned towards me with a
serious look on his face.
“Now then, there’s only one reason why the leading authority on
ecology and the author of a best selling book called you all here
today. You see, after we took out the King Toad on that quest back
then, it was clear skies the day after…”
Come to think of it, the rainy season really did end after we took
out the King Toad.
The reason why he put up the quest to take out a King Toad is
because the girl he had his eye on told him that she’d go on a date
with him if it was sunny.
It really was a stupid reason, now that I think about it.

181

Still, it turned out that him and that Barbara-san were childhood
friends, so things might have ended up going well between the two
of them.

“So what happened with Barbara-san? Did you scare her off with
your arrogance?”

“What are you saying? Things went very well after that. She even
asked me for a date the other day. It was really cute seeing her as
me for this and that.”

Barton dreamily smiled.

“Ah, I see. You went from a washed up self-proclaimed professor
to a famous best selling author in an instant, so–”

“Megumin, shhh! You can’t say that out loud!”

Yunyun clasped her hand over my mouth, and Iris approached
him with a smile to divert his attention.

“So, Professor Barton, why did you call us all here today?”

“Oh, right! You see, I bought everything Barbara-chan wanted,
but at the last jewelery store, she rejected the wedding ring that I
bought on a whim. That was the best that shop offered…”

… I see.

“In other words, she’ll accept other presents, but she finds such
heavy gifts to be bothersome–”

“You really shouldn’t say that!”

182

Barton gave me a wry smile.
“So that really was it, huh…? The truth is, I called you down here
to get some relationship advice from you all. I followed your
advice the other day when you taught me about the feelings of
women, and it seemed to go pretty well, but it might just be my
own imagination…”
“Ah, well, the only reason I came here today is to get some more
money after you made it rich off the back of the King Toad that we
eliminated–”
“Stop being so straightforward already!”
Yunyun pushed me from behind before I could finish my
sentence.
Just then.
“I understand how Barbara-sama is feeling!”
Fist clenched and with sparkling eyes for some reason, Iris
suddenly interrupted.
She raised her hand and showed off the cheap ring that seemed
completely unfitting for a princess.
“Look at this! This ring is by no means expensive, however, out of
all the rings and jewels that I received, this is my most precious
possession. Leaving other presents aside, when it comes to a ring,
something that comes from the heart is far more important than
the price. That’s why…!”

183

If I recall, that’s’ the ring that Kazuma gave her.
I felt my brow twitch when she so proudly held that ring out
before her, and Barton let out a deep sigh.
“Even if a kid like you were to talk about the feelings of women…”
“I’m seriously giving you advice here! Just what is wrong with
you!?”
Iris angrily stomped her feet, but Barton gazed off into the
distance with a placid expression.
“Still, you might be a child, but you’re also a girl. I see, a heartfelt
gift…”
Barton thought on that for a moment, before he suddenly said,
“Megumin-kun, change of plans! I would like you to acquire a few
items for me!”
“Apologize! Apologize for treating me like a child!”
Just as Iris grabbed him by the shoulders and aggressively shook
him.

↲

184

Chapter 4: Part 5 ↲

What actually is a heartfelt item varies from person to person.
Personally, I think that lining up early at a popular store to get
your hands on a limited edition item is more than enough.
For people who are good with their hands, a handmade item
would work too.
Alternatively, if someone were to work hard and buy a ring worth
three times what they make in a month, I’d be more than happy
regardless of the actual monetary value of the ring.
However, when you talk about a heartfelt item from a man who
studies monsters, well, that can only be–

“Barton-san! Barton-san! Barton-san!”
“Call me Professor Barton, Yunyun-kun! That creature is called a
magic eater! It’s a spirit type monster that can consume magic!
Their numbers have been steadily going down, so it’s not easy to
find one! A truly rare monster!”
In the forests near the capital, a swarm of white glowing balls are
chasing after us while laughing creepily.
“Barton-san, magic doesn’t work on this monster! Doesn’t it have
some kind of weak point!?”

185

“Call me Professor Barton, Yunyun-kun! A magic eater consumes
almost all the power from any magic spell cast at it! Use either
Light of Saber, that converts the user’s magic power into a single
strike, or Explosion, that contains more energy than what a magic
eater can absorb. Those are the two most practical ways for a
magic user to defeat one!”
Hearing that, Yunyun raised her right hand and chanted a spell.
“Light of Saber!”
A flash of light split one of the glowing lights chasing us into two.
However…
“Barton-san, it’s sticking to me!”
“Call me professor-! Graah, use light of saber a hundred times in a
row! That will definitely…”
“I don’t have the mana for that! Is there really no other way!?
Otherwise we’ll just get Megumin to use her Explosion on it!”
I want to say it’s my turn to shine, but I feel like it’s a little bit of a
waste to cast my Explosion on a few measly glowing balls when
I’m in a forest full of strong creatures in every direction.
“It should technically take damage from a magical weapon!
However, to defeat a magic eater, you need to use a fairly powerful
magic weapon, otherwise…”
The moment Barton said that, one of the floating lights that were
chasing us was sliced through and faded away.

186

With her softly glowing sword in hand, Iris swung it at the second
glowing ball, vanquishing it too.

Seems like she brought the national treasure, Blahblahcalibur
with her this time.

[TL: For some reason yuns translated Iris’s divine relic as just
Calibur in volume 10. The original text is なんとかカリバー
(Nantoka-Calibur), which roughly translates to “something
something calibur”, or, the version I’m going with,
Blahblahcalibur. Anyway, I’ll be using this version going
forward.]

Perhaps feeling safe after seeing that, Barton stopped running to
catch his breath.

“Well done, Iris-kun. I’ll give you my signature when we get back
to the city.”

“A-Ah, there’s no need… More importantly, why is such a strong
monster going extinct?”

Iris asked as she took care of yet another one of those glowing
lights.

“Good question, Iris-kun! You see, magic eaters are attracted to
strong magic power, so they tend to gather around strong
monsters in order to feed on them. Most monsters don’t take
kindly to such intrusion. There was a period of time when the
Demon King’s castle was positively glimmering with swarms of
these things.”

187

… Strong magic power.
“So, all these Magic Eaters were drawn towards us because of a
strong magic user here, right?”
“Indeed, Megumin-kun. The culprit that attracted all these magic
eaters is amongst us!”
After finishing off the last of the Magic Eaters, Iris stared at
Barton for a moment before turning away and muttering.
“As expected of Boss and Yunyun-san. The power of the Crimson
Demons really is something, isn’t it?”
“Well, it’s not that powerful…”
“I don’t think it was Megumin or I who drew them here…”
Sheathing her sword, Iris presented an expensive looking necklace
that she’s wearing.
“I-It definitely isn’t my fault, okay? I got a powerful magic item to
help restrain the magic aura I have after scaring away all the
tokoroten slime the other day!”
“Magic eaters are attracted to powerful magic items too.”
The moment Barton said that, Iris tried her best to hide her
necklace and magic artifact that is her sword behind her.
“So, Professor Barton, did you see any trace of the Crystal Liger
that you’re looking for?”

188

Yes, the reason why we traveled so deep into the forests in the first
place is to search for a monster that is already rumoured to be
extinct in order to gather the materials for Barton to create his
heartfelt gift.
A Crystal Liger is, like its name suggests, a monster that is
completely covered head to toe in crystal-like growths. Killing one
would not only earn you fame, but the materials it provides can be
sold for a small fortune, so it was frequently sought out by
adventurers.
Due to that, it was hunted extensively. Nowadays, it’s generally
accepted that the Crystal Liger has long since gone extinct, and it’s
almost impossible to buy those materials on the market.
“There’s definitely one of them in this forest. My gut as the
leading authority of biology says so. Crystal Ligers are cautious
and cunning, so ordinary adventurers won’t even find a trace of
them. However, for me…”
Normally I would just dismiss what he’s saying as pure nonsense,
but he did lead us to the King Toad in the past.
He must have some kind of reasoning if he’s this confident.
Even though we are deep in the woods, Barton is still constantly
looking at his feet.
“Oh…?”
After some time, Barton picked up a stick and started digging at
the ground beneath the roots of a tree.

189

Soon afterwards, he unearthed a lump of black material, which he
studied for a brief moment.
Perhaps that action piqued her curiosity, but Iris too drew up next
to Barton and gave him an inquisitive look.
“What is this black thing?”
“Ohoh? Are you curious about it? Why don’t you try poking it with
your sword?”
Iris followed Barton’s suggestion and poked the lump with her
sword. As she did so, the lump cracked open with a pop…”
“I-It stinks! Professor Barton, just what is…!?”
“That’s monster droppings. … Hey, keep that sword away from
me!”
Ignoring Iris who started shaking her sword with tears in her eyes,
Barton crouched down and took a closer look at the piece of poop.
“There’s no mistaking it! There’s a hard fragment in the center of
this dropping. This are the droppings of a Crystal Liger! Good
work, Iris-kun! It’s only thanks to you stabbing the poop with
your sword that we were able to identify it!”
“Um, isn’t there a better way you can phrase it…?”
Iris said with tears in her eyes as she tried to get rid of the stuff
clinging onto her sword.

190

“It’s nice that we are able to find the poop of a Crystal Liger and
all, but what do we do next? If we had an Archer with the Tracking
skill, we would be able to chase it down from these poop, but…”
“Say, Megumin, can you not say that word repeatedly?”

191

192

[TL: Thanks to Kasen for the coloured pictures]
In response to my question, Barton let out a victorious smile.
“Cautious monsters like Crystal Ligers are really careful about
where they leave their droppings. If we found some here, that
means this is within its territory.”
Saying that, Barton looked around for a brief moment before
locating something and picking it up.
“I found it! This is part of the skin of a Crystal Liger! It must have
rubbed its body against this tree to break its old skin apart to
make way for new growth! It was crushed and buried, but you
can’t fool me that easily!”
What he held in his hand is a jewel so small that even if it were to
be placed in a ring, it’d probably draw less attention than my
fingernail.
“Then, all we need to do is to find the monster itself. Liger type
creatures tend to be fairly agile, but no matter how agile it is, it
won’t be able to get out of the range of an Explosion.”
However, for some reason, Barton shook his head with a frown.
“No, we can’t do that. Crystal Ligers are even rarer than magic
eaters. So, even if we do encounter one, we’ll just take the tip of its
tail. Ligers can regenerate their tails even if it’s been cut off, and
the jewel from the tail would be more than sufficient to make a
fairly impressive ring!”

193

“You’re a little weird, but you do act like a proper wildlife
researcher at times. Still, the tip of the tail, huh? That means…”
All of our gazes naturally drifted towards Iris and the glittering
sword she’s holding.

“–Crystal Ligers are attracted to anything that shines and glitters.
On top of that, they are particularly attracted to high quality
jewels. Even if this one is particularly cautious, it won’t be able to
overcome its instincts. Still, I’ve only managed to get my hands on
a bunch of cheap jewels…”
Barton is scattering cheap jewels at a small clearing a short
distance away from where we found the droppings.
“Of course, dragons are also attracted to shiny items. It’s been
said that gold and jewels have innate magic or lead creatures
astray and other such tales, but… Megumin-kun… Megumin-kun!
Pleased stop picking up the jewels that I just scattered!”
Finding myself picking up those jewels before I knew it, hearing
those words brought me to my senses.
“I see, jewels do really have the power to lead creatures astray. To
think that even I, a Crimson Demon with high magic resistance,
could be so easily affected…”
“In your case, it’s just because of your personality.”
I ignored Yunyun’s words and scattered the jewels that I picked
up.

194

Just then.
I detected an intense gaze directed towards me.
I turned towards that direction, and standing right there in the
shade of the trees was a cat type monster, its hide glittering in the
few beams of sunlight that made its way through the trees.
It was even larger than a rookie killer, and its gaze was fixed
squarely upon Iris’s chest, where a necklace that no commoner
could ever dream of getting their hands on is glimmering…
“… Say, Iris, about that necklace of yours. In addition to being a
magic item, it seems to have a lot of jewels on it too. I have to ask,
just how expensive is it?”
“… I heard it’s considered a national treasure…”
The Crystal Liger let out a roar as it leapt directly for Iris–

↲

195

Chapter 4: Part 6 ↲

“Yunyun, slow it down! It’ll become a really big problem if the
necklace ends up stolen!”

“Iris-chan, run for it! Bottomless Swamp!”

Yunyun frantically created a tarpit beneath the feet of the liger.

However, it simply leapt upwards, seemingly completely unfazed
by the sudden appearance of the swamp beneath its feet, and used
the branches of the trees as its footholds to continue advancing.

It completely ignored us, making a beeline straight for Iris who
was standing in front of Barton with her sword at the ready.

“Liger type creatures like the Crystal Ligers are generally all great
climbers! Yunyun-kun! Did you not read my book even after it’s
become a bestseller!? That’s a minus for an adventurer!”

“If you allow me to take it out, I wouldn’t need to slow it down in
the first place! Doesn’t it have any weaknesses!?”

Drawing her dagger with her right hand, and holding her wand
with her left, Yunyun snapped at Barton.

Having fled next to me, Barton let out a confident smile.

“Leave that to me! Liger type monsters can’t reach their backs
with their front legs! Thus, if you want to pet them, all you need to
do is approach from behind…”

“Megumin, please prepare to use your Explosion!”

196

“Rookie killer type monsters are cool and I quite like them, but I
suppose there’s no helping it in this case.”
“Wait! Wait! Wait!”
As I gave up on cutting off the tail and started chanting, Barton
grabbed my staff and refused to let go.
Seeing that, Iris threw away her sword and ran forward.
“Yunyun-san! I’ll hold it still with my bare hands for a moment, so
can you use Light of Saber to slice off the tip of the tail during that
time!?”
“Bare hands!? Iris-chan, forget about it! Even if it’s a nearly
extinct creature, let’s just exterminate it!”
“Yunyun-kun, please wait! As a wildlife researcher, I cannot
accept that!”
The persistent Barton clung onto Yunyun while shaking his head.
I placed my hand on Barton’s shoulder and gave him a serious
look.
“Barton-san, your spirit as a wildlife researcher is admirable, but
is that liger really worth protecting at the expense of Iris’s safety?
Even if you get your hands on that jewel, are you really going to
give that bloodstained jewel to Barbara-san?”
“Grrrr, Grrrrr….!”

197

The liger, seemingly suspicious after seeing Iris put away her
sword, came to a halt and gazed warily at her.
Even though her magic power has been suppressed by the
necklace, the instincts of a powerful monster aren’t so easily
fooled.
As expected of a liger type monster, this one is smart.
“Hey, Megumin, what is up with you!? I told you, no matter how
poor you are, you shouldn’t eat stuff you picked up off the ground!
You didn’t eat those unknown mushrooms we came across along
the way, did you!?”
Here I am trying to have a serious conversation, but Yunyun just
had to butt in.
“Oh shut up, you’re ruining my persuasion attempt! If something
happens to Iris or that national treasure, our heads might end up
rolling! Just let me sweet talk him into allowing us to wrap up this
quest!”
“You should say such things in a softer voice! …Still, I suppose
giving Barbara-chan a jewel acquired by exposing a child to
danger wouldn’t make her happy at all…”
“Barton-sama, if you keep treating me like a kid even when you’re
hiding behind me, even I will get mad!”
And just as Iris, who’s still engaged in a stare down with the liger,
said that.
“Iris-kun, leave this to me. I’ll need to borrow your necklace.”

198

With resolve burning in his eyes, Barton ran forward.
At the same time, Yunyun hastily started chanting a spell.
That spell she’s preparing is most likely the Light of Saber that’s
she so favours.
“Barton-san, that necklace is apparently a national treasure. I
can’t let you go on if you intend to grab it and run.”
“Megumin-kun, this is important, so please don’t get in my way!
I’ll be the bait. The moment it turns to chase after me, use that to
cut off the tip of its tail. I’m the wildlife researcher Barton. There’s
no way I would be afraid of a monster!”
“Professor Barton…!” x2
Yunyun and Iris let out an impressed voice. Of course, it’s a little
undercut by how Barton’s knees are shaking.
“It’s best not to push yourself. You got recognition as a professor
and a fortune by way of your royalties. You could just give up on
Barbara-san and go after a younger girl instead. With your fame
and fortune, I’m sure they’ll be just lining up for you.”
“Megumin-kun, do you hate me or something!? Why do you have
to pop my bubble every time!?”
Barton said as he received the necklace from Iris.
Just then.

199