KonoSuba Continued, Explosions! Volume 2

“… The liger is acting really strangely. It like it is frightened by
something…”
The liger that was facing Iris down just a moment ago suddenly
stiffened up.
It’s almost like a housecat standing before a bear…
“Aah! That necklace was suppressing my magic power, so that’s
probably…!”
The liger leapt backwards the moment Iris raised her voice.
“Oh, yeah, that necklace was to prevent you from scaring away
weak monsters. Now that it’s removed…”
“T-There’s no need to be afraid. See, I’m unarmed!”
Iris smiled and spread her arms before the liger in an attempt to
assuage it…
But the liger just maintained its gaze on Iris while slowly backing
away…

“How about this!?”

With a loud cry, Barton suddenly threw away his clothes.

200

“Yunyun, another rare monster appeared! It’d be a bad influence
on Iris, so let us take care of it!”
“Understood. I’ve always been worried that he might do
something to Iris, but to think that he’d actually make a move.”
As Yunyun and I moved forward, the newly appeared monster
angrily protested.
“I’m being serious here! Listen up, liger type monsters have a
specific pose that they make to demonstrate their submission to
an alpha! The lie on the ground like this and expose their stomach
and throat! I’m trying to make it think that we are weaklings so it
doesn’t run away!”
“I think it’s more afraid of you than Iris right now.”
Seeing Barton, clad in only a pair of underwear, make beckoning
motions to the liger seemed to only make it take another few steps
back.
“Is it because it saw a wildlife researcher strip!? Is it picking up on
my aura of authority…?”
“Any creature would be on guard after running into a rare
specimen like Barton-san.”
Just then.
“Light of Saber!!”
“!?”

201

Having completed her chant, Yunyun sent a flash of light towards
the liger’s tail.
However, the liger, being on guard, managed to dodge that by the
skin of its teeth.
“Iris, now!”
“Roger! Leave it to me!”
I grabbed Iris’s holy sword and threw it forward, and Iris rolled
forward and snatched it out of the air–!

↲

202

Chapter 4: Part 7 ↲

By the time we could see the edge of the forest, the sun was
already on the verge of setting.
“It’s gotten awfully late out. I’m a little worried that they might
have thrown the capital into chaos searching for you, Iris.”
Hearing my words, Iris trembled slightly.
“Yeah. But that’s not the only thing you’re worried about, right?”
Iris once again stiffened upon hearing Yunyun’s follow up.
“… I wonder if I can pay for the necklace with my royalties…”
“I-I’m sorry! I’ll make sure this won’t cause trouble for you, so
please rest easy!”
Upon hearing Barton’s mutterings, Iris hastily apologized.
“It couldn’t be helped. Who knew a liger could pull off such an
act? Still, you really are a child, Iris. You should learn a little more
from me. I can unleash my explosion on a family of loving onion
ducks.”
“You should learn to have a little more compassion.”
Back then, after Iris received her holy sword, she slashed at the
liger’s tail, but…

203

“Still, I shouldn’t have forgotten that a Crystal Liger is an
advanced version of a Rookie Killer. To think that it would take
advantage of human pity and compassion to steal that necklace…”
The opponent was a liger, a family of monsters that’s famed for
having high intelligence.
When it saw Iris launching her attack, it acted wounded and let
out a pitiful mew, and used the slim opening that created to
snatch away the necklace and escape.
We were caught completely off guard.
“Well, I was the one at fault for aiming for the jewel of a Crystal
Liger in the first place. I’ll apologize to your parents and
compensate you, Iris-kun. I am a leading authority and the author
of a best selling book, after all. If I lower my head, they shouldn’t
have any reason to get angry!”
This old man still hasn’t figured out Iris’s true identity. I think it
might really be best for him to see the ire of the important people
at the castle first hand.
Then, Yunyun let out a wry smile.
“There’s no way we can let our client do such a thing. It’s not
exactly rare for adventurers to lose some pieces of equipment
while on a quest.”
“Y-Yeah. I was the one who brought that expensive necklace out in
the first place, so it has nothing to do with Barton-san! I’ll just
give my father a shoulder massage and take things from there…”

204

Iris has become particularly crafty as of late. Most likely because
she’s being influenced by a certain someone.
“Leaving the matter of the necklace aside, what are we going to do
about Barton-san’s wedding ring?”
“Augh…” x2
Iris and Yunyun let out a small groan in response to my question.
However–
“You don’t have to worry about that. Behold!”
With a flourish, Barton produced an extremely small crystal
fragment.
That was the same crystal that he picked up while we were chasing
the liger’s tracks.
“You said it, didn’t you, Iris-kun? Something that comes from the
heart is far more important than the price. This is just a small
crystal, but it’s a crystal that I acquired with my own hands.
Nothing could be more heartfelt… Nah, this won’t work. W-Would
it?”
Barton started out really strong, but slowly lost his confidence as
he went on after seeing our dumbfounded expressions.
Seeing Barton wavering like this, I gave him a reassuring smile
and said.

205

“… It isn’t too bad. It seems like you understand the heart of
women a little more now.”

“–Right then, let’s hurry up and turn it into a ring. Barton-san,
I’m not as familiar with such matters as Megumin, but I’m sure
it’ll be fine. It’s a piece of crystal found from a monster thought to
be extinct, so I’m sure she’ll be happy!”
Barton nodded happily along with Yunyun’s words, before
suddenly turning pale.
“Oh, right! If word gets out that a Crystal Liger was sighted,
people might end up actually driving them to extinction this time”
…Ah.
“Just give up on that one. It stole Iris’s necklace, after all, so
there’s no need to feel sorry for it.”
“N-No way! As a wildlife researcher, I can’t…!”
In the first place,
“You didn’t care the least about extinction or what not when we
found the mythical King Toad the last time.”
“Don’t compare my beloved liger type monsters to a frog.”
This man really is…

206

“Then let’s just accept that you aren’t fated to be together with
Barbara-chan and go home. Actually, if we don’t get Iris back
soon…”
“Yeah. There’s still the matter of the necklace to worry about.”
“Wait, wait, wait!! I’m terribly indebted to you all, and trust you
very much! Can I please borrow the knowledge of the Crimson
Demons!? There has to be a way to introduce this jewel into the
world without putting the Crystal Ligers at risk!”
Barton wailed while clinging onto me. I kinda think he’s annoying,
but at the same time, as a Crimson Demon, there has to be some
trick I can pull–
“Well, there is one. All you have to do is defeat that Crystal Liger.
Then there is no need to worry about anyone going after it.”
“What kind of absurd statement are you saying?”
Barton, the jewel still in his hand, grabbed his head as he thought.
Towards him, I said.
“It’s really fortunate that I didn’t run into any strong enemies on
our trip today. Thanks to that, I still have my mana.”
“…? Megumin-kun, what are you saying?”
Unlike Barton, whose expression was one of confusion, Yunyun
seemed to have understood something of what I’m getting at as
she suddenly stiffened.

207

“W-Wait a minute! We are right next to the capital right now! If
you want to let it off, you need to do it deeper in the forest…!”
Hearing that, Iris approached with an air of anticipation.
“Boss, it’s fine! As the princess of Belzerg, I shall bear witness to
the vanquishing of the Crystal Liger!”
“Hnggh!?”
Barton made a really strange sound upon hearing Iris’s words.
Yunyun turned to Iris with a wry smile and said.
“Iris-chan, even if you were to vouch for her, the adventurer’s card
will record down the monsters that you take out, so…”
“It’ll be fine!”
“It’s fine!? No, it’s actually bad that you’re fine with something
like this!”
Yunyun scolded Iris who was showing her a carefree smile. Still,
Iris has really been becoming more and more like a certain
someone I know as of late.
“Right, then there’s no problem. Now, Barton-san, I won’t forgive
you if you mess up your proposal even after making the princess
of a kingdom and a great Crimson Demon mage go this far for
you.”
“Err–”

208

Barton has been staring at Iris in a daze ever since he made that
strange sound a short time back.
Judging from how profusely he’s sweating right now, it would
seem that he finally realized who Iris really is.
An extremely nervous Barton, a green faced Yunyun, and Iris
who’s excited for some reason.
Facing the three of them, I raised my staff and declared.
“Right, etch everything I say right now into your memory. With
the help of the wildlife researcher Barton, we found a thought-to-
be-extinct Crystal Liger in the forests near the capital. Hearing
that it’s a rare existence, I, who is somewhat of a renowned figure
in Axel, couldn’t restrain myself and unleashed my explosion on it
right here. The near extinct Crystal Liger was reduced to dust
alongside the necklace that it stole from Iris!”
Finishing with a flourish, I started my chant for explosion…
“Explosion!”
And made an explosive flower bloom in the forests next to the
capital–!

–At a small bar tucked away in a alleys of the capital.
Barton offered a ring towards a beautiful looking girl that seemed
to be the owner of the place.

209

We, who were observing them from quite some distance away,
had no idea what they said to each other.
However…
“Barton-san and Barbara-san both look really happy.”
“Yeah! Seems like there’s no need to ask him about how it went!”
Just as Yunyun and Iris said, is clear to everyone how things went.

–Thus.
“As you can see, those two who have been living alongside each
other for years without knowing about the other person’s feelings
have finally ended up together. Can’t we just accept that happy
ending and leave it as it is?”
“Of course not! It’s forbidden to release Explosion magic close to
the capital! And what do you mean by Crystal Liger!? Those things
have gone extinct a long time ago!”
The one currently holding me in custody is a female police officer.
As expected of the elite officers who work in the capital city, they
won’t be fooled so easily.
“If you need proof, all you have to do is ask Barton-san! It’s small,
but he has a genuine fragment of its skin!”

210

“Nevermind that matter! The important thing is the fact that you
unleashed Explosion right next to the capital!”
The officer pulled on my cheeks, and I’m unable to resist due to
exhausting my mana and being bound by rope on top of that.
“S-Stop! How could you fool around with a girl who can’t move!?
You still call yourself a police officer!?”
“Stop phrasing it like that! Dammit, why is a girl like this a friend
of Iris-sama…!? If she wasn’t, I would’ve had her behind bars a
long time ago!”
With a frustrated expression, the officer looked towards Iris who
was smiling as she observed Barton from afar before reluctantly
untying the rope.
“… That was smart of you. That girl is pretty much my underling.
If you’ve continued to keep us in custody, you would’ve tasted the
holy sword Blahblahcalibur first hand.”
“Iris-sama wouldn’t do something so unreasonable. Listen up, if
you use explosion close to the capital again, I’ll have to barr you
from the city entirely.”
“We will not bow down to threats. This is the pride of the Crimson
Demons-!”
“That sounds cool, but you still shouldn’t say that! Really, don’t
ever unleash your explosion around the capital again, you hear!?

↲

211

Chapter 4: Part 8 ↲

“Hey, we’re here. You should’ve regained enough mana to walk by
yourself by now, right? Stop clinging onto me already.”
By the time Yunyun carried me back to the mansion, it’s gotten
completely dark out.
“… It’s great that things worked out for Barton-san, isn’t it?”
“I could’ve gone without getting yelled at the end. Why did they
only get angry at me?”
After that, we brought Iris back to the castle, and got a lecture
from Claire.
After that, we got a lecture from Rain. And after that…
“You really worried the people in the castle, didn’t you?”
Indeed, I had to listen to lectures from a whole ton of people from
the castle, from the knight captain all the way down to the maids.
Well, their precious princess was out until so late, so I suppose it’s
to be expected, but…
“But, what is up with them only lecturing me even though Iris was
the one who willingly went out? The only thing that happened was
a little national treasure going missing.”
“You should be thankful that you got away with only a lecture
after causing such a ruckus.”

212

Yunyun just had to have a response for every line.
Still, my recent adventures have been fun and all, but they aren’t
exactly the kind of adventures that I’m looking for.
I’ve been playing the role of reining everyone in, and that’s not
really what I want. What I want is…
“Besides, you’re the leader of our party, aren’t you? So you need to
properly take responsibility if anything happens.”
Even though she would normally never say that, Yunyun started
teasing me all of a sudden.
“Being a party leader is all work and no fun…”
“… I-If it’s that much work, I wouldn’t mind taking the role… I
mean, I’ll be the next Chief of the Crimson Demons, so I’ll need to
get some practice in being a leader one way or another…”
Seeing Yunyun fidget with an expectant look in her eyes kinda
pisses me off.
“Still, I suppose it will be best to avoid inviting Iris to come on our
adventures for a while. Without her magic sealing necklace, she’ll
just scare all the monsters away.”
“Iris-chan looked really sad when we parted ways. I really want to
do something for her… S-So, anyway, about the leader thing…”
Iris was insistent that the Crystal Liger that we ran into was taken
out by me, so we managed to brush over that, but it doesn’t
change the fact that we couldn’t retrieve the stolen necklace.

213

I suppose we could go after monsters that are powerful enough
not to flee even after seeing Iris’s immense magical aura, but…
“It’ll probably be impossible for us to get that necklace back.”
Iris, Yunyun, and me are fairly specialized in combat, but we can’t
really do much outside of it.
We would need to be able to track down a fleeing monster, and,
more importantly, the party would need to follow precise
instructions.
“With such an ill coordinated party…”
“Hey, you’re the most problematic out of all of us, so why are you
talking like it’s someone else’s problem!?”
With just a naive princess and a loner girl, even if they had the girl
with the strongest firepower in the world and high intelligence
leading them, it would be a completely impossible task.
“Hey, why are you sighing while looking at me? You haven’t even
considered yourself, have you?”
I would much rather prefer to be the one using my abilities to
their fullest rather than ordering others about.
This is made abundantly clear to me on the past few adventures I
had without Kazuma.
“Leave Iris’s necklace to me. I know someone who is very reliable
in cases like this.”

214

It seems like Yunyun knows exactly who I’m talking about.
“… Kazuma-san must really have it rough too.”
… I have to agree with her.
Darkness, who can’t hit any of her attacks and has a really strange
fetish on top of that.
Aqua, who has bad luck and is prone to clumsiness, and will get
into trouble the moment you take your eyes off her.
With those two problem children in the party, even Kazuma
would get mentally exhausted dealing with them.
Well, I guess I just have to make up for them.
“Now then, it’s gotten quite late out. I’ll tell him about what
happened today and ask for Kazuma’s help tomorrow. He has a
pretty kind side to him, so I’m sure he’ll do something about it.”
“… Kazuma-san really does have it rough every day. It is really
hard dealing with someone who is a problem child yet thinks of
herself as the most sensible person.”
After waving goodbye to Yunyun who was saying something
incomprehensible while looking sadly towards the mansion, I
opened the door to the mansion.
“I’m home~”

↲

215

216

An Explosion for this Jeweled Beast!
Chapter 5: Part 1 ↲

TL: Cannongerbil
Editing: Ulti
[thanks to Kasen for the colored images]

I thought that it had been quite peaceful recently. I should’ve
known that wouldn’t have lasted.
Bright and early in the morning, Megumin asked to consult me on
something…

“Run that by me again.”

In the main hall of the mansion, I asked that of Megumin who was
sitting on her knees in front of me.
I leaned forward to the edge of the sofa, and sitting next to me,
Darkness froze with her mouth hanging wide open…
“Hey, Megumin, why didn’t you tell me that you were going after
such a valuable monster? And I didn’t hear a word about your trip
to Alcanretia either.”
Aqua, who was sitting on her knees next to Megumin for some
reason, leaned over to her.
“Right, you, shut up. We are way beyond talking about that kind
of stuff.”

217

I noisily cleared my throat and said.
“So, what was it again?”
“I went on an adventure with everyone yesterday… A lot of things
happened, but at the end of the day, the necklace that’s a national
treasure got stolen by a Crystal Liger. I’m going to get it back, so
will you please come with me?”
I grabbed my head and collapsed onto the floor.
“This! This is exactly why I didn’t want to go out on an adventure!
Why do you always cause nothing but problems? And here I
thought you all were more sensible than before! Even Aqua has
been behaving herself recently!”
And here I thought Megumin is far more mature now compared to
how rabid she was back when we first met…
“No, actually, yesterday, Aqua…”
“Hey, Darkness, he finally said something good about me, so why
must you open your mouth? I’ll just offhandedly tell him about it
while we are taking care of Megumin’s mess. If you bring up a
small mistake when taking care of a big mistake, the small
mistake wouldn’t seem like such a big problem in the end.”
“Graaaaaah!”
I couldn’t help but let out a cry after learning of yet another mess I
have to clean up.

218

Then, Megumin, who has been oddly quiet for some time, raised
her head and said.
“I did go on an adventure with everyone yesterday, but…”
“Why are you saying it again!? And what’s with the smile of
yours!? What, do you think I will go easy on you just because you
smile a little!? I’m not letting you get away with it this time! I’m
sick of having to clean up after you every single time! Do you have
any idea what I have to put up with, you useless piece of trash!?”
As Megumin’s smile faded, I heard the sound of clenching teeth
from her.
“Here I thought to properly ask you for once and this is how your
react! Yeah, I’m very familiar with how troublesome it is to run a
party over the past few days! Yes, I know how hard you’re trying
for us! Yeah, it’s really amazing! You’re really great! Thanks for
everything you do! Are you happy now!? You’ll come along in the
end anyways, so delaying any more is just a waste of time!”
T-This little-!
“Oh you finally said it, you little brat! I won’t forgive this! I’m
going to use Drain Touch to drain your mana every day from now
on! Until you earn my forgiveness, you’re never going to cast
Explosion again!”
“W-What are you saying!? That’s no laughing matter, you know!?
There are some things that a human should never say, and you
just flew across that line without the slightest bit of hesitation!”

219

Megumin immediately shot up and swiftly backed away, her fear
only barely hidden behind her nervous smile.
I retrieved my binding wire and waved it in front of me in a
threatening manner.
“My name is Satou Kazuma. I’m a man of my word who will do my
best to keep any promises I make. I stand boldly in the face of the
incongruities of the world and deliver justice upon cheeky
Crimson Demon brats. I’ve been taking it easy recently, so you
and Aqua started looking down on me. Seems like I have to show
you what I can do when I get serious every so often.”
Megumin, trembling and covered in cold sweat, suddenly gave me
a gentle smile like a switch just got flipped inside her.
“Calm down, Kazuma. I apologize for snapping at you, so please
stop waving that wire around. The Kazuma that I fell in love with
isn’t the kind of man who would do something so horrible. You
might complain and grumble when dealing with our problems,
but at the end of the day, you’ll still come to our aid. That’s the
kind of man I fell in love with. Hehe, are you jealous because I’ve
been heading out every day? Very well, I’ll stay with you in the
mansion today, so–”
“Bind!”
Megumin collapsed onto the carpet after getting hit by my bind.
“Kazuma! I get it, I’m sorry! I’m sorry for snapping at you and
trying to strongarm you like this! I-I apologize, so don’t come any
closer to me! A deal! I’m sure we can come to an agreement,
Kazuma!”

220

“Aqua, watch closely! I’ll suck Megumin dry and seal away her
Explosion! As for you, say goodbye to your collection of strange
looking rocks and high end liquor you have in your room!”
“K-Kazuma-san, I won’t snap at you, so there’s no need for any
punishment. But, well, yes, I might have taken you for granted
recently. I’ll clean up the small mistake that I made yesterday on
my own, so there’s no need to concern yourself with me.”
Ignoring Aqua who trembled as she hid herself behind Darkness, I
brought my hand closer to Megumin.
“Kazumaaaaa! Please wait, I’m really sorry, please forgive me! I’m
in the wrong, I was just a little sulky! You weren’t playing along
with me at all so I had no choice but to go out with Yunyun and
the others but I really wanted to go on an adventure together with
Kazuma and the others, please forgive me, I’ll do anything!!”
Just as my fingers brushed against the nape of her neck.
“You’ll do anything, you say?”
I can feel the three of them staring me down with a withering
gaze.
“… Er, well, I’m fine with it. I mean, we are already at that stage…
Still, I feel really conflicted about your desires being your weak
point every single time…”
Megumin said that with a sigh, but…

221

“That’s not it. I’m not going to ask anything erotic of you. Don’t
think I’m that easy of a man that is driven by nothing but lust.”
“What’s wrong with you, Kazuma? Are you under some kind of
strange curse or something?”
“My all seeing eyes don’t pick up on any curse affecting him.”
Ignoring those two who were whispering in the corner, I
continued.
“Now then, in the name of Satou Kazuma, I shall now seal away
your Explosion magic. In order to use your magic from now on,
you’ll need to have… yes, permission from your master, me.”
“M-Master!? Why does it sound so cool!? But don’t think I’ll just
play along because you start dropping cool sounding terms like
Master and seal and what not!”
I laid my hand on the wriggling Megumin and drained away just
enough mana to prevent her from casting Explosion.
“Kuh, an evil NEET who fears my power placed a power seal upon
me… But be aware, when this seal is released, this world shall be
covered in flames…!”
“I sealed away your Explosion because you say such stuff all the
time. Now, come on, let’s go! I’ll lend you a hand as long as you’ll
do anything I say!”
“See, Darkness, Kazuma-san really does give in easily.”

222

“Shh, your voice is too loud. … Say, Kazuma, there’s something I
want to ask…”
After shushing Aqua, Darkness turned to me with an expectant
gaze…
“I know what you’ll do to Megumin and Aqua, but what exactly
would you do to me if I did something?”
“I’ll make you wear some frilly clothes and call the other
adventurers over for a wine party–”
“I’m just asking out of curiosity, alright? I didn’t do anything!”

↲

223

Chapter 5: Part 2 ↲

After collecting our equipment and leaving the house, I once
again turned to Megumin.
“I know we are searching for a Crystal Liger, but do you have any
plans as to how we go about doing it?”
“I have an idea I can put into motion when we reach the capital.
Incidentally, it seems like high quality jewels are irresistible treats
to Crystal Ligers.”
High quality jewels…
“Say, Darkness–”
“No.”
She cut me off before I could even say anything.
“This is where you’re supposed to shine. The only thing good
about you is your family name, so I’m sure you have one or two
jewels lying around.”
“I’m saying no because I don’t feel like I’d get them back! The only
jewels that my family have are all ones with historical value!”
Immediately after hearing that, Aqua sped off in a hurry, followed
shortly after by Megumin.
They are probably heading off to the Dustiness mansion.

224

“Hey, wait, where are you guys going… Wait, Kazuma, why do you
have my family’s pendant with you!? What are you planning!?”
As the two of them ran off, I took out the Dustiness family
pendant that I borrowed from Darkness some time ago and
brandished it.
“Hey, give that back! There’s no reason for you to hold onto that
anymore!”
“Come now, this has a lot of uses. My current kick is to wear it
prominently on my chest as I parade myself in front of someone
who looks like a noble.”
I’d get looks of envy, and occasionally even an offer to treat me or
two, but she snatched the pendant out of my hand before I could
say that.
“You really are…! No, wait, now is not the time for this. I need to
chase after those two!”
“Now, now, my lady, let us just have some tea at that store while
we wait for them to come back.”
“Cut it out already. We can do this sometime else! If I don’t chase
after them… I see, so you’re trying to delay me. Very well, I’ll go
after them after taking you out.”
Oh?
“That’s some bold words, my lady. Do you really think you can
best me?”

225

Darkness has still never once won against me, but she’s smiling
really confidently today.
“Don’t think I haven’t gotten stronger at all, Kazuma. The only
skill of yours that I need to be wary of is Bind. Don’t think you’ll
be able to stop me by using Freeze or Drain Touch!”
Saying that, Darkness lowered her center of gravity and took up a
guarded stance against me.
“Oh, my, it seems like you have matured at least a little since you
were a naive, sheltered noble lady. If it were you in the past, you
would’ve charged at me without a second thought, only to end up
rolling around on the ground after eating my Bind. You’d end up
looking really pathetic in front of the masses…”
“Save your breath, Kazuma. Such tactics won’t work on me
anymore.”
Darkness casually brushed aside my provocations.
“You plan to excite my masochistic heart and bend me to your
will, aren’t you? I might have fallen for that in the past, but even I
will learn from my mistakes after stumbling so often! Don’t think
you can keep leading me by the nose with sweet talk like getting
humiliated and having amazing stuff happen and what not!”
Sweet talk, huh?
“Well, if you really wish for it, I wouldn’t mind gifting you some
truly amazing memories, but you always get cold feet whenever
such opportunities actually arise. Are you really a masochist or are
you just pretending to be one for kicks?”

226

“P-Pretending!? Pretending, you say!? You’re provoking me with
such words in order to better your own position, I see! But I won’t
lose to such transparent sweet talk-!”
And, just then.
Aqua returned with an armful of glittering jewels in her hands,
followed closely by Megumin.
“Good work, Kazuma! We managed to borrow some high quality
jewels!”
“I told Darkness’s father that it was a request from his daughter,
and he happily lent us his family’s treasured jewels.”
“Took you long enough… Is something wrong, Darkness? My role
is done, so just count it as my loss. I don’t really mind.”
Darkness, who was so engrossed in our battle that she completely
forgot about chasing after the two, hung her head low and said in
a soft voice.
“… Nevermind, just count it as my loss…”

— Now that everything has been taken care off, we can head off to
the capital…

227

“Are you kidding me!? Why am I still prevented from using the
services of the teleport store!?”
“There’s no use complaining to me! The word from above said in
no uncertain terms that Satou-san is to be refused if he attempts
to use the shops services to go to the capital…”
We arrived at the teleport store in order to get to the capital
quickly, but for some reason, I am still barred from teleporting to
the capital.
The lady who’s manning the store seems troubled in the face of
my questions.
“Please wait a moment. It’s true that this man is barred from
stepping foot into the capital, but this is a special case. In the
name of the Dustiness family, he will not cause any problems in
the capital. This I swea… I swear …”
“Hey, hurry up and finish your sentence! Now is not the time to be
uncertain!”

–Thanks to Darkness, we finally managed to make our way to the
capital.
Upon our arrival, Megumin seemed like she had something on her
mind.
“What’s wrong, Megumin? Is something up?”

228

“No, it’s just… After seeing you use your authority like that, I’m
struck by the thought that you really do have an adverse effect on
that girl’s education.”
Who is she talking about?
… Just then, Aqua pulled on the sleeve of Darkness.
“Say, Darkness, can you give me a crest of the Dustiness family
like the one Kazuma has?”
“N-No way. Besides, Kazuma doesn’t have a crest anymore. I took
it back earlier.”
In response, Aqua simply tilted her head.
“Your crest isn’t the only thing that Kazuma has, you know? I’ve
seen him flash around a different looking crest when he visited an
expensive seeming restaurant the other day. I too want to flaunt
my authority like that.”
“Hey, Kazuma, what’s the meaning of this!? You had another
family’s crest too!? Since when did you get your hands on
something like that!?”
“I got it from a lady named Claire some time back. That thing is
really convenient, you know? I can walk into those noble only
establishments wearing my jumpsuit without them tossing me
out.”
Ignoring Darkness’s incredulous looks, I hurried ahead to catch
up to Megumin who’s taking the lead.

229

Eventually, we arrived at the capital’s adventurer’s guild.
In both the building itself or the quality of the adventurers within
it, there’s a stark difference between this place and the
adventurer’s guild back in Axel.
With a silent prayer not to get involved with any scary looking
adventurers, I entered the guild.
Megumin, on the other hand, strode over to the receptionist’s
table with a practiced ease and sat herself in front of the counter.
“Young miss, I’m here about that matter. Can you please call that
person over?”
“Understood, Megumin-sama. I’ll fetch him right away.”
What the hell, Megumin is talking to the receptionist the same
way a veteran adventurer would.
“Hey, Megumin, since when did you become a regular of this
place? And the other adventurers seem to all be staring at you.”
“I might have gotten some famous achievements as of late, but
even so, they still shouldn’t stare so blatantly. Seriously, what a
troublesome bunch…”
Megumin said that with a casual exasperation, seemingly
completely unfazed.
“Hey, why did we leave Megumin alone all this time? I don’t know
exactly what she has done, but it feels like she created some kind
of strange misunderstanding.”

230

“I wouldn’t know anything about that. Aren’t you supposed to be
her caretaker, Kazuma?”
My and Aqua’s whispered words caused Megumin’s ears to turn
red.
Darkness gave Megumin and gentle smile and said,
“Megumin, you’re putting on airs, aren’t you? Don’t worry, pretty
much everyone around your age goes through a similar phase.”
“T-that’s not it, I am a regular of this place! Errr… Ah, isn’t that
Max over there?”
Megumin, blushing bright red, hastily looked around the guild
before calling out to a man with a scar across his nose who has
already started drinking this early in the day.
“My name is Rex, not Max.”
The man lifted up a large drinking cup as he corrected Megumin. I
get the feeling that he’s somewhat hurt by the mix up.
Next to him, a strong looking and beautiful girl and a man with a
large axe resting on his shoulder gave Megumin a hearty wave.
“H-Hey, Kazuma, Megumin is talking really naturally with those
veteran adventurers!”
“Kazuma, this is really odd. Megumin is seeming more and more
like a veteran adventurer, even to me.”

231

“Calm down, you two. Those two are just plants. They were paid
in advance so that they will act familiar around her.”

“What are you saying!? Why would I do something so stupid!?
Those three are people who once invited me to their party in the
past!”

After hearing Megumin’s outburst, I mentally relaxed.

“Now, now, saying that you have been scouted by another party is
stretching things a bit too far, don’t you think?”

“Yeah. I’m feeling really relieved somehow.”

“M-Megumin, I really don’t recommend telling those sorts of lies.
It’s going to result in some real trouble later on, you know?”

After hearing our words, Megumin pulled on the large man
named Rex and directed him towards us.

“Now, properly explain it to my companions!”

“Eeh!? N-No, I mean, sure, I did try to recruit her into our party
some time ago. After all, she’s a Crimson Demon who can use
Explosion, so I thought she might want to come make a name
with us at the capital.”

At first glance, it doesn’t seem like he’s lying…

“Say, they aren’t selling any mind controlling magical items, are
they?”

“No, no, she must be threatening them…”

232

“No, she must have a hostage…”
“Right, why don’t the three of you step outside with me!?”
Just then, the receptionist lady returned with another person in
tow.
“Thank you for waiting. I’ve brought Barton-san with me”
The person was a middle aged man sporting a pair of square
spectacles.
“It’s been some time, Megumin-kun! Are those three your
companions? My name is Barton, I’m a leading authority in the
field of biology, and the author of a best selling book. Would you
like my signature?”

↲

233

Chapter 5: Part 3 ↲

According to Megumin-kun’s story, that necklace was stolen while
they were handling the quest that this man issued.
By rights, the loss of any of the adventurer’s personal equipment
while on a quest falls squarely on their own heads, but…
“Megumin-kun has been a great help to me on the quest we went
on the other day and many other occasions besides that. Anyway,
it would be easier to track down the Crystal Liger if I tagged
along.”
“Seriously, Megumin-kun? Just what have you been doing behind
our backs?”
“Thank you, Megumin-kun. Thanks to you, I got the signature of
an old man that I don’t know.”
Right now, we are heading to the depths of the forests near the
capital along with Barton. He said that he felt some amount of
guilt over losing the necklace, so he’s willing to help.
“… B-by the way, how far away is the destination, Megumin-kun–
Ow! Aaah, why only me…!?”
Seemingly being unable to stand being referred to as Megumin-
kun any longer, Megumin-kun started wailing on Darkness.
“We went into it around here the other day, but Crystal Ligers are
the same type of monsters as Rookie Killers. They are extremely
crafty, so it might have already changed its hunting grounds…”

234

Megumin surveyed her surroundings as she held Darkness is a
nelson hold.
“Yes, indeed. Well, this is what I’m here for.”
Saying that, Barton took out a black lump from his backpack.
“Oh, do you have some kind of plan, mister?”
“It’s not mister, call me Professor Barton.”
“Understood, Professor Barton!”
I’ve only known him for a short while, but I’m getting the distinct
impression that he is a weirdo too.
Aqua being able to get along with him so easily is the most
definitive proof.
“So what do you think this is, Aqua-kun?”
“From what my unclouded eyes see, this is definitely a pile of
poop.”
Aqua prodded at the black lump with a stick she found off the
ground.
“That’s pretty perceptive of you, Aqua-kun. As you’ve said, this is
the poop of a Crystal Liger. We are going to use this to lure it in!”
“My powers of perception are impressive indeed, but that’s not
the only thing impressive about me. I already know what you plan

235

to do with that. You want to let Kazuma take a whiff in order to
track down it’s scent, right?”
“Just what kind of creature do think I am?”
Barton wrapped the droppings in a handkerchief and held it high
in front of us.
“Ligers as a species are extremely guarded and take care to avoid
leaving traces of themselves in the open. We found this poop
buried under the ground back when we were here the other day.
Now then, a question for you, Aqua-kun. What do you think
would happen if we were to leave this out in the open?”
“It’d be too embarrassed to have other people see it’s poop, so it
would hurry back to take care of it.”
“It’s a little off, but that’s the general idea. It’ll come back to get
rid of it’s poop.”
Somehow, I’m starting to lose faith in those two after hearing
them repeatedly use the word poop without any reservation.
“Say, Megumin, is this man really okay? Is he really a wildlife
researcher? He’s not just some ordinary middle aged man, is he?”
“I have my reservations too, but he’s never been mistaken when it
comes to monsters.”
“Our goal today isn’t to vanquish the Crystal Liger, but retrieve
the necklace that it took. If it appears in front of us, all we need to
do is dangle our high quality jewels before it. It would surely take

236

it back to its lair, and we will be able to find out where it is by
following it.”
Barton, who seemed to be on the same wavelength as Aqua,
pushed up his glasses after saying that.

“–It really came…”
An hour later.
We were whiling the time away by listening to Barton ramble on
about monster trivia, when my Enemy Detection skill activated.
I cast my gaze in that direction and activated my Farsight,
spotting a jewel covered giant feline gazing intently in our
direction.
But for some reason, it’s staring towards Megumin instead of its
own droppings…
I pretended to observe my surroundings in order not to alarm the
liger as I whispered to Barton and Darkness who were close by.
“Hey, the Liger is here. Don’t make any sudden moves, it doesn’t
know that we’ve seen it yet. Just act like you were.”
“In other words, from a biological standpoint, it’s the right choice
for monsters that imitate the female body to look erotic! Why do
female knights wear bikini armour that have low defenses? That’s
because playing on the enemy’s desires will increase their survival
chances! Between a person in full armour whose gender can’t be

237

determined at first glance, and a woman wearing bikini armour
who is clearly a woman, any enemies would clearly make efforts
not to kill the bikini armour wearing knight and capture her
instead!”
“Don’t make up such vulgar reasons for why female knights wear
their traditional bikini armour! The reason why monsters imitate
the female body is to lure men to be their prey! Bikini armour
exists for proper, respectable reasons, such as to raise the morale
of their own troops and take care of the nobility at night…!”
Barton and Darkness completely ignored my whispers as they
steadily got more agitated in their conversation.
Just what the hell are these two talking about?
“So it is for those kinds of purposes after all! In the first place,
bikini armour provides almost no protection for the wearer at all,
so it’s ridiculous to call it armour in the first place! Besides, if
bikini armour is so versatile as you say, then why aren’t you
wearing bikini armour yourself!?”
“Yeah, yeah!”
Darkness’s face blushed a deep red upon hearing those words.
“No, that’s…! I’m the party’s shield, so being well protected is
more important than being sensual…”
“Who the hell said that protection is more important than being
sensual!?”

238

Just then, Megumin pulled on my sleeve, and I turned around to
face her.
“Kazuma, isn’t the liger already here? What are you doing getting
involved in their silly argument too?”
“It’s not silly, it’s a very important matter.”
There was something in there that I just couldn’t ignore.
“Right, Darkness, come over here.”
“W-W-What are you planning to do!? As a noble scion, there’s no
way I can wear bikini armour…”
“Nevermind that, just come here! No, it’s an important topic, but
what I mean is, come over here and take out those jewels.”
Immediately understanding the situation the moment I
mentioned the jewels, Darkness stared straight at me and said.
“Where’s the liger?”
“It’s behind you. It’s observing us, so don’t look back. Listen up,
make sure you act natural when you take out your jewels. We can’t
let it pick up that we are baiting it.”
Darkness shot me a look of acknowledgement.
“Phew, talking with you really wore me out… I’ll soothe my soul
with my daily routine of admiring my jewels.”

239

Just what kind of daily routine is that? Put a little more thought
into your act, will you?
Megumin fought to stifle her laugh as she said.
“I didn’t know Darkness had a daily routine too. That’s just like
my one explosion a day routine.”
“Y-Yeah, I guess we are the same!”
With a strained look on her face, Darkness retrieved the jewels
and started staring at them in plain sight.
“I didn’t know you had such a strange hobby, Darkness. I need to
tell everyone when I get back to town.”
“Aqua, I’ll talk to you later.”
Just as Darkness admonished Aqua for saying such unnecessary
words,
“Crap, it’s fast! Hey, Darkness, behind you!”
“Eh!? Aaah!!”
The liger, that was so far away just a moment ago, closed the
distance in a flash and snatched away the jewels that Darkness
had in her hands.
As it swooped by, I caught a glimpse of an obviously very valuable
necklace shining around its neck.

240

Just as I was feeling slightly impressed over a monster being able
to put on accessories, the liger, jewels in its mouth, shot me a
glance…
“The Liger is escaping! After it!”
“Just as planned.”
Everything is going just as I expected so far.
Just as we planned, we started chasing after the liger.
“Say, Kazuma, doesn’t the liger seem really fast? My legs are like
those of an onion duck, but even I don’t think I’ll be able to catch
up with it.”
“That sounds really delicious. Are you sure you don’t mean to say
onion deer?”
“I-It’s fine. Kazuma must have a plan for this eventuality. This is
within your expectations, right?”
I nodded at an uneasy sounding Darkness.
“Yeah, I just need a little time to figure out what to do now.”
“Those are one of my family’s greatest treasures!”
With an expression on the verge of tears, Darkness charged off
after the fast receding liger.

↲

241

Chapter 5: Part 4 ↲

After losing track of the liger, we took a short break to regain our
energy.
“We lost all traces of it. But don’t worry, I have another plan.”
“Really!? You do have one, right!? If those go missing, father will
definitely scold me!”
Apart from Barton who seemed entirely out of breath, it seems
like everyone else can still push on for a while longer.
“Oh, Darkness just said she’ll be scolded by her father. She really
is a daddy’s girl, isn’t she?”
“To think that she’d be afraid of getting scolded by her papa, it
seems like Darkness has her cute side too.”
“Gurk…! Kazuma, hurry up and tell me your plan! Just what
should I do next!?”
Darkness blushed in the face of Megumin’s teasing, but she didn’t
even bother to shoot back and instead frantically pestered me.
“Now, now, calm down. The next step is up to Barton-san. As a
wildlife researcher, I’m sure he can identify where the liger went
by picking up on its traces.”
“R-Right…!”
Hearing that, Darkness shot an expectant gaze towards Barton.

242

Barton nodded a couple of times and said,
“Hmm, I would like to say leave it to me, but there’s no way I
would be able to do something like that.”
“That’s what he said.”
“What should we do!? Those are my precious family jewels!”
Darkness aggressively shook me by my shoulders.
“Oh, fine… I don’t really want to do this, but…”
Even though I’m sure this will just result in more trouble coming
our way, I activated my Enemy Detection skill–

“Kazuma-san! Kazuma-san!!”
“What the hell is this idiot doing!? Hey, Darkness, I’ll cut the
vines, so pull Aqua out of there!”
I followed my Enemy Detection skill to regain the trail, and the
closest response turned out to be…
“This is a new mimic type monster! Rejoice, Aqua-kun! You’ve
just allowed me to discover a new monster species! As the person
who ran into it, I’ll allow you the opportunity to name it!”
“Wait a minute, Barton-san. I want to give it a name.”

243

“Stop saying stupid stuff and help me! Kazuma, your skills as a
swordsman is just average, right!? And I don’t think I’ve seen you
use that sword of yours very often before!”
The moment I said: “There’s a monster nearby”, Aqua went and
plucked a fruit from a nearby tree.
At that instant, a vine extended and wrapped itself around Aqua,
leading to this situation.
“It’ll be fine, trust me! I’ll make sure to close my eyes while I cut
away! With my luck, it’ll definitely work out!”
“Waaaaah!”
I performed a vertical slice with my chunchunmaru, and the vines
fell apart.
“Kuh, normally, it would be my turn to get tangled up, but right
now, chasing after the liger is more important… Aqua, you’re
okay, right? Kazuma, let’s go towards the next target!”
A strangely serious seeming Darkness pulled Aqua to her feet.
“I want to go home already…”
“P-Please bear with it, Aqua. And don’t carelessly touch anything
around you.”
As Darkness consoled Aqua, Megumin slowly opened her mouth.
“Let’s name this monster the Creeping Aqua. The name came to
me after seeing how it elegantly wrapped around Aqua.”

244

“A Mimic that takes the form of a tree, Creeping Aqua. Very well,
I’ll register the monster once we get back to the city.”
“If you register it with that name, the capital shall be washed away
in a heavy downpour.”
Ignoring Aqua as she threatened Barton, I activated my Enemy
Detecting skill once more.
“Right, next!”

— On the way to the next target that my Enemy Detection skill
picked up.
“Waaaaaaah!”
“There’s no need to be afraid, Aqua-kun! That Tentacled Dorcus is
just being curious.”
[Dorcus: A specific genus of stag beetle.]
A giant stag beetle appeared out of nowhere and captured Aqua.
“True, it’s not reacting to my Enemy Detection skill. That means it
doesn’t hold any hostility towards us.”
“I suppose it’s similar to play biting, then.”
It doesn’t seem to have any hostile intent, so we decided to just
quietly wait till it leaves, but…

245

“Hey, hurry up and let go of Aqua! We can’t chase after the liger
like this! If you want to grab something so much, then grab me!”
“Darkness, wait a minute, I feel like I’m starting to forge a
connection with this child.”
An agitated Darkness made to pull Aqua out, but it doesn’t seem
like Aqua herself is in any hurry to be extracted.
After Aqua and the stag beetle both had their fill and parted ways.
“I got some sugared water at Wiz’s shop earlier, so maybe that’s
why it took a liking to me.”
“Enough! Kazuma, let’s go already!”

— A short distance after we parted ways from the stag beetle, my
Enemy Detection skill reacted towards something in the trees
above us.
“There it is…”
Megumin, her eyes glowing a bright crimson, whispered to me.
A small bowl made out of branches lay in the trees, and on top of
those branches is a pile of jewels.
And, laying beside the pile of jewels is…
“It doesn’t seem to be too on guard. I wonder what’s going on…?”

246

Barton stared unflinching at the liger as he muttered.
True, the liger lying on top of the tree definitely has spotted us,
but it made no efforts to scare us off.
Still, the fact that it triggered my Enemy Detection skill meant
that it certainly didn’t have any friendly intentions.
Just then, Aqua, whose eyes started sparkling the moment she
noticed those jewels, said.
“The only thing we need to return is the necklace, right? That
means we can keep the other jewels, right?”
“Aqua, don’t forget about my family treasures.”
Still, why is that liger so completely relaxed?
“It’s not taking any actions even after we’ve seen its nest. It might
be a trap.”
Liger type monsters tend to be fairly intelligent.
I see, it intends to get us to lower our guard, and use that chance
to…!
“No, it seems like it just doesn’t think highly of us.”
Barton straightforwardly said.

247

“… No, no, it was staring at us in fright when we ran into it the
other day. And, earlier too, it immediately ran away the moment it
got its paws on Darkness’s jewels.”
“It was afraid of Iris-kun, not us. And as for today, it seems like he
doesn’t think there’s any need to take us out, so he simply left us
be…”
Megumin started chanting her spell.
“Wait, Megumin, the necklace and my family treasures are over
there too!”
“Yeah, Megumin, you can’t cast your Explosion in front of that
pile of gems! They would all be destroyed!”
The two of them hastily moved to restrain Megumin, but they
needn’t have done that at all.
After all, Megumin is under a seal right now.
“Calm down, you three. It isn’t looking down on us, it’s being wary
of us. As a cat lover, I can tell. It has no intention of tangling with
us.”
Yes, there’s no need for this to end in a fight.
The only thing we need are the necklace and the Dustiness family
treasures.
Ligers are smart creatures.
That means that they should be able to understand our intentions.

248

Laying in the tree, the necklace wearing liger seems to have taken
a great liking to the Dustiness family jewels, rolling it around
between its paws and playing around with it.
I gave it a casual smile in order to put it at ease and said.
“It’s fine, there’s no need to be afraid. Come, I have something far
better than jewels for you. Do you like dried meat? Or what about
some fruits? But, in exchange–”
Just as I slowly approached the liger, it suddenly leapt towards
me.
I managed to just barely avoid its claws, and it stared down at me
with Darkness’s family jewels in its mouth.
“That guy attacked me! Dammit, and I was trying so hard to be
friendly too! … Ah, that bastard, it just yawned!”
“It’s looking down on you, Kazuma-san! It’s definitely looking
down on you!”
Just then, Darkness suddenly ran in front of me…
“I’ll be taking back my jewels! It sounds like you’re a rare species,
so I won’t kill you, but if you resist–!”
Darkness is probably trying to scare it into giving up, but the liger
quickly leapt back up into the trees, out of the range of Darkness’s
sword.

249