Konosuba Dust Spin Off 5

“It’s way too heavy of a burden for you, that’s why I said
nevermind. Neither of us wants to work on a fruitless task,
right?”
“What’s that supposed to mean? I’m the future chief of the
Crimson Demons. I’m not like you who does nothing but laze
around every day. As I am right now, I’m confident I can handle
whatever challenge comes my way!”
She sure does sound confident.
Did she gain a little more confidence after passing that
chieftain’s trial or whatever? … Though, her newfound pride
does rub me the wrong way a little.
“Well, if you’re that self-assured, I’ll entrust this task to you.
There’s a certain rumour I want you to spread amongst your
friends… no, I mean, acquaintances. It should be an easy task
for the future chief of the Crimson Demons, right?”
“Sorry, I can’t do that…”
Her confidence sure does disappear in a hurry, huh?
I knew she wouldn’t be up to the task at first glance, which is
why I stopped myself.
“Umm… If I can ask, who and what is that rumour about?”
“You know that new priest, Serena, right?”
“Yes, I know her! I asked her to help me make friends, but she
told me not even the power of Regina can do that…”

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Even a god can’t win against her loner aura.
Speaking of which, Regina is the minor god that Serena
worships. I asked around, but it doesn’t seem like anyone
knows much about her. It seems to be a fairly unpopular faith.
“You seem to be someone who’d be easily tricked, but nothing
happened to you, right? Say, what do you think of Serena?”
“Er, well, hmm, I’m envious of how many friends she has.”
She seems to be acting the same as usual.
I don’t know how exactly Serena is gaining followers so quickly,
but at the very least it doesn’t seem like anyone she talks to
automatically becomes her fervent follower.
“It’s best if you don’t get too close to her. She’s a bad person to
get involved with.”
“For Dust-san to make such a warning, is she that dangerous?”
“She’s especially dangerous to you.”
In Yunyun’s case, as long as you use the word “friend”, she’d
pretty much do anything, so you don’t even need to brainwash
her or whatever Serena is using.
Yunyun seems to have come to her own conclusions and
nodded before leaving.
As for influencing the townsfolk and the female adventurers, I
guess I’ll have to do it the old fashioned way. Seems like I’ll be
busy spreading rumours for the next few days.

↲

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Chapter 3: Part 3 ↲

Half of the money Kazuma gave me went towards feeding and
placating Faitfore, which allowed me to spend almost every
night out in the taverns buying drinks and spreading rumours.
It seems to be working well. Just the other day, I heard that
Serena, along with a large number of adventurers in tow, were
chasing Kazuma halfway across the town. Those rumours and
Kazuma’s continued harassment must have gotten to her.
Well, that’s all fine and all, but the next piece of news I received
almost made me want to grab my head and scream.
For some reason, Kazuma ended up as a follower of Serena too.
He’s practically abandoned his mansion and has been living full
time with Serena these past few days.
What confused me even further is that the other adventurers
slowly came back to their senses after that, including Taylor
and Keith.
Right now, both of them are drinking happily in front of me.
“I’m surprised you guys dare come back all dandy like this.
Weren’t you going to spend the rest of your life as Serena’s
followers?”
“Well, about that, I don’t remember that time period too well.
Even I myself don’t know exactly why I became so obsessed
with her.”
“Me too. It felt like my mind was filled with fog or something.
Though, I’m perfectly sober now.”

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It doesn’t seem to me like they are playing dumb.
I knew it, they must have been brainwashed by magic or some
other method.
“Don’t think you can play dumb by pretending to forget things
whenever it’s convenient for you. The heavens are watching
you! Now, hurry up and cough up some compensation money.
If you give me everything you have, I’ll forgive you.”
“Dust, conveniently pretending to forget things is your
specialty, isn’t it? They are safe and back with us, so let it go
already.”
Lynn has an exasperated look on her face, but she also seems to
be relieved.
She has had a lonely look in her eyes in the past few days, but it
seems to be a thing of the past now.
“If you coddle them too much, they’ll become spoilt. As their
owner, we need to properly discipline them.”
“Who the hell are you calling a pet!!” x2
Lynn tried to break us up as the two of them pounced on me,
but despite that, she had a smile on her face.
Well, that’s one problem off my list, at least.
“Hey, that’s a little too hard! Don’t you know what restraint
means!?”

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“Sorry, it’s been a while, so it seems I’ve put in a bit too much
strength. By the way… What happened to Faitfore? I don’t see
her around.”
“She was still sleeping when I left the room, but it’s about time
she wakes up. I’ll go check up on her. Order some food for her
when we get back, okay? It’d be your treat, of course.”
“Normally I’d refuse, but I’ll do it just this once. It seems like I
caused quite a bit of trouble for you, after all.”
Keith waved one of the waitresses over, and I headed upstairs to
Faitfore’s room.
When I opened the door, the bed was empty.
“She didn’t go out alone, did she? I told her not to wander off on
her own… Is she entering her rebellious period? You’re going to
run into all kinds of problems if you go out on the town by
yourself… What’s this?”
There was a piece of paper on the table next to the bed.
On it was a sentence written in a crude, but still legible hand.
“You won’t take me out to play, so I’m going outside.”
… Did Faitfore write this? I always knew she was a smart kid,
but she even learnt how to write. She’s sure grown… Ah, wait,
now’s not the time to be impressed.
Come to think of it, I haven’t been able to spend much time
with her lately because of the Serena incident. That’s probably
why she’s sulking and went out alone.

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Up ‘till a few days ago, this town was filled with devoted Serena
followers, so I didn’t feel comfortable taking her out, but as of
right now, the only one acting weird is Kazuma.
The town has pretty much gone back to the old days, so it
shouldn’t be particularly risky even if Faitfore is out there on
her own. In the first place, I doubt anyone in this town would be
able to track her down.
… Apart from Sir Vanir.
“She might not be in any danger, but she doesn’t have much
knowledge of the outside world, so…”
Faitfore looks like a simple young girl, and she’s probably
starving right now.
If someone were to approach her carelessly, she might very well
bite their heads off…
“That was a really grotesque scene I just envisioned. Yeah, I
should probably go look for her.”
To be honest, there’s not really a lot of risk to her safety, but
there’s no telling what they’ll say if it becomes known that I
abandoned a young girl alone out on the streets.

I quickly explained the situation to my companions and had
them help me out in the search.
“I can’t find her. Where did she go… Rather than looking
around like this, wouldn’t it be faster if we lay a bunch of meat

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skewers along the streets to lure her back to the guild or
something instead?”
That sounds like a decent idea, but if the cops were to see me
leaving skewers around the street, they’ll probably take me in
for questioning. I’m not exactly the most popular man amongst
the police right now.
I even visited the old man at the general store and Loli
Succubus, but they didn’t see her either.
At this point, I’ve pretty much visited every cafe, restaurant,
tavern, and soup kitchen in town, but there just isn’t any sign of
her.
“Seriously, where the hell did she go? Argh, guess I have to rely
on Keith and the others.”
I made my way back to the plaza that we agreed to be our
meeting point earlier, but the only person there was Lynn.
“Judging from your appearance, it doesn’t seem like you found
her.”
“You seem empty handed too. Keith and Taylor went out to
search again. Say, do you have any idea where Faitfore might go
in this town?”
“I can only picture her eating or sleeping. And she does like
plains and forests. She did use to drag me around those places
back in the day. Apart from that… I suppose she enjoys playing
in the water..”

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“Oh? You sure sound like you had a lot of fun back in the day..
Seems like you know a lot about that girl. To think that a girl
that young would be within your range too…”
I just honestly answered your question, so why are you getting
unhappy?
I really want to shoot back, but right now, Faitfore comes first…
Though, I suppose there’s something I should say.
“Who cares about the past? And… Lynn, do I really look like I’m
not enjoying myself in this town?”
“The only thing you do every day is cause problems for
everyone else, so, okay, yes, I was mistaken.”
“Seeing you concede the point so quickly like that makes me a
little irritated.”
“Yeah, yeah, sorry about that. Anyway, back to Faitfore, from
what you just told me, isn’t it possible that she might’ve gone
out of town?”
“It’s… Certainly not impossible.”
Could it be that the outside she wrote on that letter was
referring to outside the town?
In the past, I didn’t really pay much attention to my actions, but
I’ve found that I’ve become much more aware of them ever
since she came to me in Axel.
Hmm… no wait, I’m a little slow on the uptake when it comes to
this, but how did Faitfore know I’m in this town in the first
place? Ever since I left the country, I haven’t kept in touch with

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anyone from back home. No matter how good her nose is,
there’s no way she’d be able to track me down all the way from
there.
… No, there’s no point in thinking about it now. After I track
her down, I’ll ask her about it while lecturing her.
“If she really went outside, we need to hurry! A giant frog would
eat her in a single gulp!”
“Wouldn’t that be a little too much for her?”
Faitfore might be a big eater, but even so, there’s no way she
can swallow a giant frog in a single gulp.
“Huh?” x2
The two of us exchanged confused looks.
It feels like we aren’t on the same page.
“A-Anyway, if we have time to talk, it’d be better used heading
to the gate. It’d be faster to just ask the gatekeeper.”
“Yeah, I’m sure the gatekeeper isn’t so foolish as to let a young
girl go out of the town by herself.”

Upon reaching the gates, I called out to a bored-looking guard
who was standing around.
“Say, have you seen white haired brat wandering around here?”

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“Hey, you… At least explain it a little better. Err, have you seen
a young girl about this tall with long, white hair around here?”
Lynn placed her hand around her waist and conveyed Faitfore’s
height in an easy-to-understand manner.
“Nah, I haven’t seen her. The only people who’ve passed
through today are a few carriages and a couple of adventurer’s
parties. We especially keep an eye out for lost children, so it’s
doubtful that she could pass by us without any of us noticing.”
Yeah, the primary duty of the gatekeepers is to keep outside
threats from entering the town, but part of their job also
includes preventing mischievous children from sneaking out.
On busy days, it’s possible to blend in with the crowd and sneak
out that way, but with the recent fears of the Demon King’s
army on the march, there haven’t been very many people going
out of town.
And the walls that surround Axel are tall and thick. They were
recently renovated after Aqua destroyed a part of them with her
flood, so they should still be very sturdy.
It would normally be impossible to get over them, but…
“That’s a relief. Axel is a pretty safe town, so there shouldn’t be
much to worry about.”
As I looked up at the ramparts, Lynn breathed a sigh of relief.
“Yeah, she wouldn’t do something so flashy. Right then, lets
search the town again. It’s probably about time she started
rummaging through trash looking for food.”

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“She isn’t you, Dust. There’s no way she’d do that.”
“You’ve seen how she acts when she’s hungry. Are you really
sure she wouldn’t do that?”
“… Let’s hurry up and find her.”
Lynn has been looking after her while I wasn’t around these
past few days, so it seems she’s gotten to know her very well.
As Lynn ran down the street shouting Faitfore’s name, I turned
back and gave one last lingering look at the gate.
“Nah, there’s no way.”

↲

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Chapter 3: Part 4 ↲

A few hours passed without any one of us being able to locate
her, so we decided to gather at the guild to calm down and
exchange information.
For some reason, Yunyun and Loli Succubus were there too,
along with my companions.
“What are you guys doing here?”
“Because we are worried, obviously! Is it true that Faitfore ran
away from home!?”
“I’m curious as to what her exact relationship is with you, Dust-
san.”
Yunyun seemed to be genuinely worried as she shook me by the
shoulders.
Loli Succubus on the other hand seemed to be here out of
curiosity than true concern.
“Rather than run away, it’s more like she took a walk around
the town.”
“Why are you treating it so casually!? A young child is walking
around outside the town by herself, you know!?”
What Yunyun is saying isn’t a lie. According to Keith and
Taylor, someone sighted a person who fit Faitfore’s description
getting onto a carriage.

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And we couldn’t catch hide nor hair of her anywhere in town
despite combing it over several times by now, so the chances of
her having left the town is quite high.
“Even I am starting to get seriously worried about her.”
“Are you really that heartless of a person?”
Don’t you two men gang up on me like that.
Lynn and Loli Succubus didn’t say anything, but they both gave
me a cold gaze. Is this what they mean when they say a look can
convey more than words?
“Sigh, there is a reason why I’m not worried for her. I was lying
when I said that her parents brought her to this town. The truth
is, she came over to Axel from the neighbouring country by
herself. It’s quite possible that she went back home by herself
too.”
“That doesn’t match at all with the letter she wrote. There’s no
reason for her to leave such a note if she’s really going back
home. Do you really find the search so bothersome that you’re
willing to come up with such a lie?”
Lynn got up in my face with a furrowed brow.
“I didn’t think you were that heartless of a person.”
“You really are scum.”
“I already knew this from the start, but you really know how to
exceed my expectations.”

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“That’s really horrible. The shop raises the price for people who
don’t treat girls well, you know?”
Everyone started berating me.
“Do you have any other excuse, or anything you’re hiding from
us? If there is, you best come out with it.”
Lynn’s tone was less of an interrogation and more akin to
someone asking out of concern.
Did she pick up on something after spending so much time with
Faitfore over the past few days?
If I tell them about her true identity, it’d probably clear up a lot
of the misunderstandings and suspicions they had.
However, more so than letting her wander around the
countryside, revealing her true form would be a greater risk to
Faitfore’s safety.
“Tch, shut up. I’m going to sleep, so if you want to keep
searching, you guys can do it yourself.”
I put on a disgruntled act before leaving the guild.
I could hear them shouting behind me, but I ignored them
“Where did that unruly girl run off to? If she’s looking to stretch
her wings, she’d probably go to the forests, right?”
She shouldn’t have gone too far, but even after searching
around the outskirts of town until it became dark, I couldn’t
find any traces of her at all, nevermind Faitfore herself.

↲

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Chapter 3: Part 5 ↲

Two days have passed since then.
Faitfore never returned.
It seemed like my companions, Yunyun, and Loli Succubus
continued searching for her, but in the end they didn’t get
anywhere close to locating her.
As for what became of my reputation during this time, well…
“Hey, the fiend who made use of and abandoned a young girl is
approaching.”
“A person who tricks a child to take advantage of her before
abandoning her… I think calling him a fiend is an insult to
fiends.”
The adventurers whispered in voices just loud enough to be
heard by me.
It’s nice that the guild is beginning to fill back up with
adventurers after the Serena incident wrapped up, but more
people means an easier time for rumours to spread, and this is
the result.
Even so, I boldly strode over to my seat at the corner of the
guild. I’m not the kind of person who responds just because one
or two more bad rumours started spreading about me.
Outsiders can wag their tongues however much they want.

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“It seems like he’s grown tired of young girls and is now more
interested in mature women instead. That short, pink haired
one at that store told me.”
“Actually, I heard that he leans both ways. That strange
helmeted man said that some time ago, so I’m sure it’s true.”
Just because three or four more bad rumours…
“I heard that he actually looks up to that crazy Crimson Demon
girl and has been begging her to take him as her disciple or
something.”
“Ah, what I heard is that he’s actually really compatible with
young lady Lalatina’s tastes, and they frequently meet up at
night to visit a certain club–”
Just five or six…!?
“You bastards! I can stomach the other rumours, but don’t
lump me together with Kazuma’s party! All of you guys stay
right there! I’ll give it to all of you in sequence! As for you girls,
present your breasts or your ass! I’ll let you off with just a
grope!”
“Bring it on!” x4
I confronted those adventurers who were spreading such
slander about me, which resulted in a huge fight that lead to all
of us getting thrown out of the guild.
My companions were in the guild too, but they simply looked
on without lifting a finger.
… Are they still angry at me?

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“I need to hurry up and find Faitfore and dismiss all these
rumors sprouting up around me.”
As I walked down the familiar road to the main gates, a
woman’s voice called out to me.
“Hey, perverted looking delinquent over there.”
“You sure say something horrible out of the blue. I’m in a really
bad mood right now, so even if you are a woman, I won’t hold
back… You look really different.”
Turning back, the woman who called out to me is none other
than the popular priest, Serena.
The Serena I know was a dignified and gentle woman who
despite projecting a prim and proper image has a somewhat
sultry air about her.
However, the woman standing in front of me has frayed hair,
bags under her eyes, and hollow cheeks.
It’s obvious at a glance that she’s not exactly in the prime of
health.
“It’s all that guy’s fault!”
Her rough tone and words were completely unsuited to that
proper priest image that she had before.
So she really was putting on an act before.
“So is this your true nature? By that man, are you talking about
my friend Kazuma?”

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“You bastard, you’re a friend of Kazuma? Dammit, of all
people…”
“Oh, did I hit it on the head? Hehehehe, making an enemy out
of my friend isn’t going to turn out well for you. His
deviousness is far beyond anything you’d expect from a small,
two-bit villain.”
He’s quick witted and isn’t above stooping to dirty tricks. Even
though his skills as an adventurer aren’t too much to speak off,
he has defeated several Demon King’s Generals through that
alone.
Definitely a gem you should keep an eye on.
“I’m well aware of that. Sigh, he was supposed to become my
ally, so how did it end up like this…”
Serena heaved a sigh so deep that I swear I could see her soul
peeking out.
Seems like I can leave this matter in Kazuma’s hands and it’ll be
resolved before too long.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but my condolences. Anyway, if
there’s nothing else, I’ll be heading off.”
“Hold on a minute, there is some business I have with you. Take
a look at this.”
With that, she suddenly lifted the hem of her robes and flashed
her panties at me.

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Black, huh? She has a pure and innocent image, so wearing
black panties makes me give her a lot of points.
“You sure wear some really bold underwear.”
“Y-You little… You look like a pervert, but is that all you’re
going to say? You just saw the underwear of a priest, you know?
Shouldn’t you be a little more thankful about that?”
“What are you saying? You are the one who decided to flash
your panties at me. Why would I be thankful for that? There’s
nothing in it for me.”
It seems like this girl doesn’t understand the finer points of
seduction.
“Sigh, you don’t get it. Intentionally flashing yourself without
the slightest hint of shame is just playing at seduction. Such
basic tricks won’t work on someone like me who’s been in the
care of the cops numerous times because of peeking!”
I’ve been coaching Loli Succubus through those points, so I
know exactly how powerful just a hint of shame can be.
Plus, I’m busy right now.
“Why is this guy saying such things so proudly? Is there no
decent person amongst the acquaintances of Satou Kazuma?
Just what is wrong with this town!?”
She cradled her head and said in a strained voice. Seems like
Kazuma is giving her all kinds of hell.
Still, this woman is really blind to her own shortcomings. Even
though she’s a simple slut.

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“I thought it’d be easy to get some money out of this guy…”
She was mumbling something under her breath, but staying
here any longer would just be a waste of time, so I ignored her
and carried on.

↲

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Chapter 3: Part 6 ↲

“Not here either.”
I ran into a few one-strike rabbits and took care of them, but
still no sign of Faitfore.
Maybe she really did get homesick and went back home.
Still, is she really someone who’d go back without saying
anything to me?
Well, she might still be holding a grudge against me not taking
her along when I left, so she’s doing this as revenge… If so, I
really have no right to be angry.
I slapped my cheeks and took a deep breath.
“I guess I can search a little longer.”
It isn’t a problem if she went back home, but it’d be a big
problem if she’s only hiding somewhere in this country.
I skinned one of the one-strike rabbits I defeated and took it
along with me. It wouldn’t be worth much more than a snack to
Faitfore, but it’d at least settle her stomach a little.
“I suppose I should start searching places a little further from
town. Faitfore wouldn’t have any problems straying far from
town, after all.”
I’ll end the search close to town and extend my range a little
further.

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I spent the entire day searching, but still no progress.
Perhaps it’s about time I seriously start considering bowing
before Lynn and the others and begging for their forgiveness. I
have no intentions of stopping the search for Faitfore, but being
left out alone like this is taking a heavy toll on me
psychologically.
So this is how Yunyun feels… I think I’ll be a little kinder to her
in the future.
When I returned to the guild, fully prepared for any kind of
heckling, the guild was in such an uproar that they didn’t even
notice my presence.
The guild staff were busy running around, putting up notices on
the board, and adventurers were excitedly gathering around it.
“Did they put up some lucrative quests or something?”
I elbowed myself to the front of the noticeboard, and pasted
front and center is a large poster, reading:

[Capture the white dragon!]

“What!?”
As I was taken aback by the completely unexpected contents,
one of the other adventurers shoved me back and I was ejected
from the crowd.

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Normally, I’d be fuming right now, but this is not the time for
that.
“Seriously…?”
“Ah, it’s Dust.”
I must be pretty out of it. I didn’t notice Lynn’s presence until
she called out to me. Keith and Taylor were standing behind her
too.
The fact that they called out to me means that they aren’t angry
with me anymore, right?
“I saw the quest poster.”
“That’s the talk of the town right now. It seems like several
people witnessed a white dragon not too far from here, so the
guild is really starting to mobilize.”
“… Is it really that white dragon?”
“Yeah, it’s the same white dragon that’s rumoured to bring good
luck and wealth. Everyone who’s looking to strike it rich has
their eyes on it.”
White dragons are, as their name implies, dragons with a pure
white body with a strong holy attribute. They are said to be
fairly intelligent and docile, but as a species they are considered
on the verge of extinction.
“The bones and fangs of white dragons are said to raise your
luck and allow you to make money hand over fist, right?
Nobles, merchants, and other folks with too much money to

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spare will pay a handsome sum for them. If we manage to
capture one, we would be able to live the rest of our lives in
luxury.”
What Keith is saying isn’t wrong.
The materials of white dragons go for extremely high prices on
the market. Amongst noble circles, it was even rumoured that
the blood of a white dragon can reduce aging or even grant
eternal youth.
It was commonly believed that the people who believed such
rumours hunted the white dragons to extinction a long time
ago, until a few years back.
“Speaking of white dragons, the most famous one would have to
be–”
“That Dragon Knight, right!?”
Yunyun suddenly cut Taylor off.
Her presence is as faint as always.
Still, this is a rare occasion for her. As a general rule, she almost
never joins a conversation of her own accord.
“Um, which Dragon Knight are you referring to?”
“S-Sorry for cutting you off like that…”
“No, you don’t need to apologize, just tell me more about that
Dragon Knight.”

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Yunyun repeatedly bowed her head, but Lynn simply brushed it
aside and pressed on.
“Um, you know about the Dragon Knights of the neighbouring
country, right? Amongst them, there was a particular Dragon
Knight who was said to be the very exemplar of a knight, with
both a sharp mind and handsome looks. The dragon that knight
rode was a white dragon! … Or so I’ve heard.”
Yunyun grew more and more excited as she told the story, and
her voice grew louder and louder, before she seemed to notice
and hastily composed herself.
“Doesn’t it sound amazing? A knight riding a white dragon…
Haaaah, that’s so dreamy. I wish a white dragon riding prince
will appear in front of me someday…”
[TL note: 白馬の王子 (Lit: Prince (riding a) white horse) is the
Japanese equivalent of prince charming. In Konosuba the
horse is replaced with a dragon, but it otherwise has the same
connotation.]
Let’s just leave Yunyun to get lost in her own imagination for a
while.
“I heard that story too. Apparently he kidnapped their princess
and took her around the country. It’s a crime that would have
led to immediate execution, but it turns out that he didn’t
kidnap her, the princess herself ask him to do it. But it still
didn’t change the fact that he spirited the princess away for
several days… If I recall, his lineage was destroyed and he was
exiled from the country.”
“Nevermind about that story, let’s talk about this quest instead.
Are you guys planning on accepting it?”

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This conversation was going in an unfavourable direction, so I
forcibly changed the topic.
Feeling someone’s gaze on me, I turned around to see Lynn
narrowing her eyes. Looks like I was a little too obvious.
“Nah, taking on a dragon is a little too much for us. It seems
like a bunch of other parties are planning on teaming up to take
it down, though.”
“If Kazuma and his party were coming along, we might have a
shot, but it seems like they are busy with something else and
are sitting this one out. If Aqua was coming with us, we could at
least count on her resurrection.”
Seems like Taylor and Keith weren’t too keen on it.
White dragons are considered to be one of the more docile
subtypes, but even so, it’s still a dragon.
Even if a dozen or so regular adventurers were to get together,
it’s doubtful they’ll be a match for it.
“According to eyewitness reports, the dragon was engaged in a
flashy battle with a monster. The dragon put on a threatening
display and scared the guy off, but apparently it didn’t do any
harm to humans at all. I don’t feel like hunting down a creature
like that.”
Threatening display? That phrase seemed to ring a bell, but
right now I have more pressing things to take care of.

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“But the quest is also offering a large reward for reliable
information about the dragon. If it’s the docile type, we might
be able to easily find it.”
“You don’t often suggest sticking your neck into dangerous
situations.”
“If the information is right, there weren’t even any casualties.
It’s a mild mannered subtype, so it’ll be fine. And don’t you
want to see a rare white dragon with your own eyes?”
My last words seem to have struck a chord with their
adventurer’s spirit, and after a short pause, they all readily
nodded.
Right, then, that leaves just one more thing.
I took a deep breathe to ready myself.
“And, while we are at it… Um, could you help me look for
Faitfore? It’d be really dangerous if she runs into it by accident,
right? Plus, there’s a limit as to how much ground one person
can cover.”
I looked away to hide my blush.
My companions seemed surprised for a moment, but that was
soon replaced with cheeky grins.
“Oh? Oh my~ Didn’t you wash your hands off Faitfore a long
time ago~?”
“Didn’t that girl go home? Hmm~?”

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“Hey, you weren’t going out looking for her behind our backs,
are you? So you do have a cute side, Dust-chan.”
Dammit, this is why I didn’t want to ask them!
Stop giving me that grin! Don’t poke at my cheeks!
I was the one asking a favour of them, so I put up with it, and it
didn’t take long for them to be satisfied and agree.
“Um, can I join you too?”
Yunyun nervously raised her hand.
“Of course, you’re welcome. We’ll be counting on you if we do
end up running into the dragon.”
“L-Leave it to me! Ehehe, I’m being counted on.”
With this, the firepower is secured.
Still, I really want someone who’s well suited for searching. If
possible, I want to narrow down the places I should start
searching too.
And the one place that can fulfill both these requirements
would be–

“Well, that’s the situation, so do you think you can help us, Sir?”
I paid a visit to the familiar magic item shop, and in it was Sir
Vanir, wearing an apron, and Loli Succubus, busy cleaning the
floors while wearing a similar apron of her own.

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She’s been spending her days in the magic item shop and her
nights at the succubus store recently.
As for the beautiful shopkeeper, she’s nowhere to be seen.
Judging from the scorch marks that Loli Succubus was busy
trying to wipe away, she must have done something and got
punished by Sir again.
“Hmm, basically, you want me to ascertain the current location
of that silver haired girl, yes?”
“Yes, please, Sir… I don’t have any money on me right now, but
I’ll definitely pay you back! Really!”
I put my hands together and bowed, and Sir let out a small sigh.
It’s hard to tell his mood because of the mask he’s wearing, but
I can tell that he’s exasperated.
“There’s not a single person in this town that would take your
promises of payment at your word, but very well. Moi shall
divine the girl’s location for you.”
“Thank you, sir!”
“However, there is one condition.”
The conditions that Sir whispered to me sounded reasonable, so
I immediately agreed and reached a deal.
“To request such a thing, as expected of you, Sir.”

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“Moi has no need to keep secrets. That girl is… currently close
to a lake. It appears to be the same place where the Tranquility
Girl resided a while back.”
“Ah, I know that place. You’re a lifesaver, Sir. Oh, and, one
more thing, do you mind if I take her along?”
“For Vanir-sama’s sake~ I’ll do any dirty work~ Kyaa! What are
you doing!?”
I grabbed Loli Succubus who was busy shaking her butt while
cleaning the floor like she was trying to seduce Sir by the collar.
I thought I should at least ask first.
“Do as you please. It’s of no concern to me.”
“That’s horrible! But… If I can get Vanir-sama to drink the soup
that I personally brewed, that might be worth it!”
Really? Loli Succubus is so infatuated with Sir that if he told her
to die, she might seriously do it. I think even the fanatics who
follow Serena around are more sensible than that.
“Right, then I’ll be taking her for a while. Hurry up and take off
your apron, we’re leaving.”
“Is that how you ask others for a favour!? Even if we are close,
you should still have some manners!”
“Stop making a ruckus in the store. If you are done cleaning,
then you no longer have any business here. Go shack up with
this delinquent instead.”
“Aah, getting such a cold treatment is nice too! If NTR is to your
tastes, no, I mean, it’s painful, but I can go with Dust…”

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Don’t look at me while saying such crazy words.
And don’t give me such looks of disgust just because Sir can’t
see you from that angle! I have the right of refusal too!
It feels like her infatuation with Sir Vanir is just getting worse
by the day.
She reluctantly put away her cleaning tools and slowly stripped
off her apron in a way that’s probably meant to be sexaully
titlating, but given her appearance, I can’t see her as anything
but a child.
She seems to be conscious of Sir’s gaze, but he didn’t even
glance at her.
“I’m being ignored, but what is with these feelings welling up
within me? Is this the joy of being abandoned? I feel like I
understand Darkness-san’s feelings a little better now. A new
door is opening for me.”
“Hey, don’t you dare open that door!”
There’s no need to understand the feelings of a dangerous
pervert. The last thing I need in my dreams is to be plagued by
the desires of a masochist.
As I pulled Loli Succubus with me, she reached out to Sir with
tears in her eyes.
“Vanir-sama is getting smaller… When I get back, I need to fill
my lungs with Vanir-sama’s scent. Ah, the fragment of Vanir-
sama’s shell that I have still has his smell, right? I need to check
when I get back!”

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Isn’t Sir’s body made of dirt? Wouldn’t it just smell like dirt?
“Say, we already have more than enough perverts in this town,
so please don’t join their ranks.”
“Don’t treat my love for Vanir-sama like some kind of
perversion! My love for him is pure!”
“All stalkers say the same thing…”
I feel a pang of regret for bringing her along, but she is vital to
the search. She can fly, after all. Searching for someone would
go much faster with someone in the air than on foot.
She’s still gazing longingly in the direction of the magic item
shop, but she should return back to normal after we spend
some time away from Sir, right?

↲

231 | P a g e

Chapter 3: Part 7 ↲

“We don’t really have enough people to capture a white dragon,
but that isn’t our objective, so I guess it’s fine.”
“Lynn, if you say such things, it’ll definitely appear, you know?”
“Stop it, don’t say such scary things.”
Following the advice of Sir, the six of us are currently heading
towards the lake.
We ran into several other adventurers along the way, but most
of them were headed over to where the dragon was last sighted.
That place is quite some distance away from the lake, so there
shouldn’t be anyone who’s beating me to the punch.
“Vanir-san said that Faitfore-chan is by the lake, right?”
“Yeah. Sir Vanir’s predictions are always accurate.”
The accuracy of his predictions is unreal. Though to be more
accurate, they are more like prophecies than predictions.
I really want to find her right now, but the problem is Sir’s
words. Just what did he mean by–
“Seems like we’ve reached the lake. It’s quite a large area, so
let’s split up into two teams. One team will take the left shore,
the other the right shore, and we should be able to meet up on
the other end without letting anything slip by.”
I didn’t have any objections to Taylor’s suggestion, so we
decided to split the party in two.

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On my team is Lynn and Loli Succubus.
The other side is Keith, Taylor, and Yunyun.
Yunyun’s face is stark white with anxiety. She never interacted
much with anyone else other than me, and on top of that being
the only girl in her party seems to be giving her quite a bit of
anxiety.
“You know, you look like you’re about to faint.”
“I-I’m fine. As the future chief of the Crimson Demons, I need
to i-improve my communication skills.”
There’s no way anyone would look at her tremble and stumble
over her words like this and think she’s fine.
“We can handle our end with just the two of us. I have the
Farsight skill that is perfect for searching for someone, after
all.”
“Yeah, Yunyun, you can go help them. Us men will be fine on
our own.”
It seems like the two of them couldn’t stand to see Yunyun in
such discomfort any longer and yielded to her.
“I-I can’t just go back on something we agreed on. There’s no
way I can be that selfish.”
She says that, but at the same time she repeatedly shot
expectant glances towards me.

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From the looks of things, this conversation would probably go
around in circles until we extend an invitation. And she’d be too
nervous to search for anyone if she’s with Keith and Taylor
anyways.
“Fine, you can come with us. You have a lot of experience with
telling how someone wandering around by themselves would
act, right?”
“O-Oh fine, if you are willing to go that far, I’ll go with you.”
Despite saying that, she seemed really relieved. I don’t think
she even picked up on my backhanded compliment there.
We split with Taylor’s party and started walking along our side
of the lake, and so far, nothing unusual has happened.
“U-Um, this might be a little late, but do you really think
Faitfore can wander this far away from the town? It sounds a
little far fetched to me.”
“It’s not a distance you’d think a child would be able to cover on
foot, right? Normally, I wouldn’t believe it, but if Vanir-sama
says so, there’s no doubt about it!”
“… …”
Loli Succubus relied only on her unwavering trust in Sir Vanir
to dispel Yunyun’s doubts.
Lynn didn’t open her mouth, only silently staring at me, as if
waiting for me to say something.
“It’s fine if Sir says it. He enjoys toying with humans, but he
wouldn’t…!”

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Suddenly, my head started spinning and my vision blurred.
I fell to one knee, unable to withstand the sudden bout of
vertigo.
“What happened? Did you stub your toe on a rock or
something? You should be less clumsy.”
I couldn’t even muster a response to Lynn’s ribbing.
What’s with this sudden sensation?
I took a feel deep breaths to regain my composure so my
companions wouldn’t find out.
“Seems like last night’s wine hasn’t fully gone out of my body
yet. I’ll catch a break here, so you guys go on ahead.”
I sat down facing the lake and casually waved my companions
onwards.
“What a hopeless man. Make sure you catch up with us, okay?”
“Take it easy on the wine. It’d affect our jobs too.”
“… We’ll go on ahead.”
After confirming that the three of them have left, I drew closer
to the lake and took a good look at my reflection.
My eyes staring back at me were slightly redder than usual.
“So that’s what’s going on.”

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Ignoring my nausea, I got to my feet and sped off in a different
direction than the other three.
I jumped into the thicket of trees around the lake and
sharpened my senses.
The smell of greenery and earth came to me much sharper than
they normally would.
“She must be close. Where are you, Faitfore!?”
I heard the sound of something crashing against the earth from
deep within the forest.
That’s the sound of trees breaking. And it’s not just one or two
trees. Something large is smashing its way through the trees as
it made its way forwards.
Normally, I’d avoid running into a monster if I can, but this
time, I headed straight for the source of the noise.
The sound gradually became louder. At the same time, I could
feel the ground shaking beneath my feet.
Something large is rampaging around. This is most likely…
My nausea worsened as I drew closer. These feelings welling up
from my gut… Is that rage? And sadness?
And it wasn’t just that, a large variety of emotions came flowing
into me.
As I ran towards what seemed to be the source, I stepped on
something round beneath my feet and almost tripped.

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“Pant, pant. Don’t throw your trash out here. What’s with this
mountain of vegetables… Hey, wait, aren’t these mandrakes?”
Oh yeah, that problem priest of the Axis Cult threw out most of
the mandrakes that she took, right? So this is where they
dumped it.
Looking over the pile, quite a few of the mandrakes had chunks
bitten out of them.
“I see, so she’s delirious after eating this.”
That explains why she’s rampaging around.
Trying my best not to succumb to my nausea, I carried on ahead
and stumbled into a clearing.
A large number of trees have been knocked aside, and standing
right in the middle is a single white dragon.
Unlike other dragons, this one was more beautiful than it is
scary.
It’s pure white scales shone magnificently in the sunlight, and
when it spread its wings as a threat display, it looked almost
like an angel descending from the heavens.
This is why it’s not only considered an omen of wealth and luck,
but also fetch high prices as ornamental pieces.
And on its neck is a single necklace with a red gem.
“You’re–”
“Graaaaaah!”

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A loud roar cut me off.
This species is known to have a gentle and cautious demeanor,
but this one bared its fangs at me in an overt display of hostility.
It’s normally pearly black eyes are instead red with the colour of
fresh blood.
“H-Hey, calm down. You’re just confused because you ate
something bad!”
The feeling of nausea in my head is getting stronger, but I
fought to keep it down and slowly approached the dragon.
When I advanced, the dragon shrunk back, even while keeping
up its threat display.
“It’s fine, there’s no need to be afraid. Everything will be
alright.”
Saying that, I slowly extended my hand–
“Dust, what are you doing!? Lightning!”
A sudden flash of white light shot past my vision, obscuring the
dragon from sight.
Looking back, Lynn came charging out of the underbrush with
her staff pointed dead ahead.
“Graaaaah!”
The dragon twisted under the light, but it recovered quickly and
turned it’s blood red eyes towards Lynn.

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“What is it doing here!?”
“We followed you because you were acting weird! What are you
doing without even drawing your weapon!? Do you have a
death wish!?”
“This guy won’t hurt me, so don’t interfere!”
I shouted towards Lynn before turning back to the dragon.
“Sorry, that must have surprised you…”
The first thing I saw when I turned back was a set of large
claws, which came swooping down at me.
With the sound of something ripping, my surroundings
suddenly turned into a blur.
No, that’s not it! It’s my body that was sent flying back.
My flight soon came to a stop when I crashed into a large tree.
“Gack!”
That impact knocked the breath out of me, and I had to fight to
even draw the most shallowest of breaths.
My vision swam with red, but I could barely make out Lynn
rushing towards me.
She seemed to be on the verge of tears. It wasn’t an expression I
thought I’d see on someone who’s normally so headstrong.
“Dust! Dust! Get a hold of yourself!”

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Come to think of it, someone once called my name with the
same, almost sobbing tone before…
The sudden shortness of breath only amplified my nausea. This
is bad. At this rate, I’m going to pass…

↲

240 | P a g e

Chapter 3: Part 8 ↲

“Is this the end of the line?”
An uncountable number of monster corpses lay sprawled
beneath my feet.
I really want to praise myself for taking out such a large number
of them, but an even larger horde of monsters stand before me.
I stayed behind to hold the line to give my companions a chance
to escape, but I suppose this is as far as I can go.
My left arm hangs limply by my side, and a cut on my forehead
is allowing blood to leak into my right eye, obscuring my vision.
My armour is heavily battered and there are even prominent
cracks in several of the plates. It’ll probably only take one more
good hit to completely shatter it.
“So this is what they mean by on your last limb. Still, my
companions got away. As a knight, this is the end one can hope
to achieve … If I die, will she cry for me?”
That person’s face swam appeared in my mind.
I tried to picture her being sad, but all I could imagine is her,
hands on her hips, angrily yelling that she won’t allow me to die
without her permission.
Even though I’m at death’s door, I couldn’t help but smile.
“It’s too early to give up…”

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I can’t push such a troublesome task off onto someone else.
Plus, she isn’t the only one waiting for me. I promised that I’d
always be with her. Breaking a promise would be taboo as a
knight.
I thrusted my spear at an approaching monster, and the shaft
split in twain.
I might have lost my favoured weapon, but I still had my sword.
And if my sword’s gone, I still have my fists. And if my fists are
gone, well, I’ll just have to bite them to death.
“I can’t die here yet!”
With a desperate strength of a man on the edge, I brought my
sword to bear.
Several of the monsters came charging at me right this instant.
Death might be just around the corner, but I’ll fight till my last
breath.
I managed to raise my sword into position, but I no longer had
the strength to swing it.
As a final act of resistance, I stared directly at the monster
charging at me.
Just before its claws could reach me, my vision became covered
in white.
That was a pure white dragon.
“Did you come back for me… partner?”

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Even if it is a dragon, nothing could take on such a large
number of monsters without injury. As she threw itself into the
horde, her beautiful body became covered in wounds and
speckled with blood.

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Even so, the dragon fought on desperately to help me.
Mustering the strength to press on in spite of my ragged state, I
charged into battle by her side.

↲

245 | P a g e

Chapter 3: Part 9 ↲

Something white is slowly approaching.
I was taken out by her… Why did she take me out?
Did I do something to make her angry…? No, I was searching…
No, wait, who was I searching for?
Someone is crying next to me. Her face… it’s the princess.
And a dragon is approaching her.
I am a knight in charge of ensuring the princess’s safety.
Now is not the time to be sleeping.
“Please be at ease, I’ll definitely protect you.”
Even though I still felt a little shaky, I stood up and put myself
between the princess and the approaching dragon.
“Now is not the time to be fooling around! We need to hurry up
and run!”
“I will protect you with my life.”
Even if I lose my life while protecting the princess, it’s a point of
honour as a knight.
I tried to raise my spear, but apparently I must have lost it
somewhere, so I drew my spare sword from my waist.

246 | P a g e

Despite being my first time holding this sword, it sits nicely in
my hand … Wait, first time?
Then what was it doing on my waist?
No, now is not the time to be thinking about such things.
Protecting the princess comes first.
Just then, the princess pulled upon my cheeks and pushed her
face close to mine.
“Stop saying such disgusting things! You were never such a
serious person! You are always more underhanded and selfish
and create nothing but problems… but even so, you’d say
something stupid and resport to whatever underhanded tricks
you have to in order to survive! That’s what you are, Dust!”
What is the princess screaming about?
My name is Line Shaker. A proud dragon knight. Not Dust or
whatever she’s calling me.
“Princess, please get ahold of yourself”
“That’s my line! Your eyes are still red. You must still be seeing
stars… Oh, I’ll have to use my last resort.”
The princess brought her face even closer to mine. Just before
our skin would’ve made contact, she suddenly drew her head
back.
“Eh?”
And then, she brought her forehead crashing down against
mine.

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“Ouch! That hurt! How is your head so hard!?”
“Argh! That hurt quite a bit, but it seems like you’ve regained
your senses. Can you tell me your name?”
“It’s Dust, obviously. Did something go wrong with your head?”
“That’s my line… Idiot.”
My head is still slightly fuzzy, as though it’s filled with fog, but I
can put that by the wayside. Just like all these pent up feelings
of frustration and self loathing.
Me in the past would probably be caught up thinking about
some useless things, but right now, I’m Dust!
“And you should stop panicking too! I’ve told you not to eat
stuff you find on the floor, right!?”
I angrily scolded the white dragon who was glancing down to
the side with one claw on her forehead while we were talking.
My annoyance must have gotten through, for she shook her
head as if she was trying to come up with an excuse while
folding her wings behind her.
“Eh? Is the white dragon scared?”
“If you don’t come to your senses right now, you’re not going to
have any dinner tonight!”
When I shouted, the white dragon trembled for a brief instant.

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I thought she might regain her senses, but her eyes remained
red and she opened her mouth.
A dark flame blazed at the back of her throat, past the lines of
sharp teeth lining her maw.
Is she planning to use her breath weapon at such close range!?
By myself, I would be able to get out of the way in time, but
Lynn is beside me.
I kicked off with all my might and closed the distance with a
single leap.
“Eh? When did you become so good at jumping!?”
At the same time as Lynn’s surprised voice, a blazingly hot
burst of fire came roaring at me.
At this angle, Lynn won’t be caught in the blast.
The jet of flames shot past me, singeing my clothes with the
heat, I clenched my fists tightly.
“Knock it off already, Faitfore!”
The moment I got within range, I swung my fist at her head.
A loud smack echoed throughout the forest, and the shockwave
from my blow resonated through the grass and weeds.
As for the white dragon, it stumbled around in a daze for a few
moments before collapsing on the ground.

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