Chapter 866: The Grudge Has Been Formed
"Ugh..."
"Megumin, you're awake? Come eat dinner!"
About ten minutes later, Megumin held her head as she pushed herself up from the sofa.
Although she had been unconscious for a while, it surprisingly didn't hurt much—just like accidentally bumping into a cabinet door. Thankfully, she didn't have a concussion.
After feeling relieved for a moment, Megumin hurried to the dining table at Darkness's urging.
Eiji and Kazuma sat on opposite sides of the table, but Megumin didn't mention the wand incident at all.
"Where's Aqua?"
She took her seat.
"She hasn't come back yet!"
Darkness handed a bowl of rice to Megumin, then sat back down and picked up her own dinner.
Eiji watched her thoughtfully for a while.
"W-What? Is there something strange about me?"
Darkness, feeling uncomfortable under his prolonged gaze, couldn't help but ask.
"Not really. I just didn't expect that aside from being a perverted masochist, you actually have this side to you too."
Eiji replied calmly, his words full of stereotypes.
"I-I'm not a pervert!"
Darkness didn't want to be described that way by someone she'd barely met and refuted strongly.
"So you're not denying being a masochist?"
"..."
Darkness fell silent, her face slightly flushed, looking somewhat embarrassed.
Why are you blushing, you teapot!
Kazuma stopped chewing his smoked lizard burger, his strange gaze shifting from Eiji to Darkness.
He remembered—hadn't Darkness been slept with by the boss?
Was the boss planning to start a Darkness route?
Ride first, pay later?
You're something else, boss!
"What's with that look, Kazuma!"
"Nothing, don't mind me, sis-in-law!"
"How many times do I have to say it—I wasn't slept with by the Demon King!"
"Yeah, yeah, sure!"
Seeing Kazuma's completely unbelieving expression, Darkness felt exhausted.
A month ago, trapped in the Demon King's Castle, her father had personally brought her out. The Demon King had actually said right in front of her father that as punishment for killing his subordinate, he'd sleep with her!
As a result, now everyone in Axel knew she'd been slept with by the Demon King!
Although thanks to this, her father had finally stopped arranging blind dates for her—which felt pretty good—being constantly misunderstood by the townspeople and labeled as "the woman slept with by the Demon King" still left a bad taste in her mouth!
But being looked at with scornful eyes, in another sense, also felt incredibly stimulating!
"Wait!"
Megumin, who had been focused on eating, suddenly felt like sitting on pins and needles.
"Kazuma, weren't you always wanting to acknowledge the Demon King as your boss? Why are you calling this person boss now?"
Megumin had finally spotted the crucial point!
Darkness also suddenly had a realization!
That bastard Kazuma had really been calling this young man named Nangou Eiji "boss" earlier!
The two glanced subtly at Eiji, feeling like the chairs beneath them were getting uncomfortably hot!
"Ah, well... that..."
Kazuma froze for a moment.
He really hadn't considered this issue before!
"As you know, Kazuma's a fence-sitter!"
At that moment, Eiji suddenly spoke up. He was leisurely cutting his hamburger steak, his movements unhurried as if he wasn't the least bit flustered.
His words were met with unanimous agreement from Megumin and Darkness, both nodding in sync. Kazuma's face instantly darkened.
"I saved his life during the trial, and he started calling me boss ever since!"
"So that's it! I get it now—Kazuma must have his eyes on Mr. Nangou's royal emblem!"
Darkness had an epiphany, glaring furiously at Kazuma. "Kazuma, you are absolutely forbidden from using the royal emblem, or I'll make you regret it! Got that?!"
"No, Kazuma must be after this person's money! I clearly remember that just from slaying various major monsters, the bounty rewards he collected totaled 835 million!"
Megumin spoke with absolute certainty, refuting Darkness's argument.
Eiji gave Megumin a subtle look.
I don't even remember the exact amount myself, yet you recall it so clearly?
Just who exactly is the one eyeing my money here?
"Hey! In your eyes, am I really the kind of person who won't lift a finger without some benefit?!"
Kazuma shouted indignantly.
"Aren't you?"Do you even have any room to refute?"Under Megumin and Darkness's intense, oppressive gazes, Kazuma took a moment to self-reflect.
Perhaps, maybe, possibly, probably... he really didn't have any room to refute.
"I'm confident I'm not that kind of person!"
But he still had to save face. Kazuma seriously and firmly denied it—he couldn't let the boss misunderstand!
"Eek!"
"Your skin has gotten thicker, Kazuma!"
The dining table was instantly filled with a cheerful, lively atmosphere.
Half an hour passed, dinner was almost over, and Aqua still hadn't returned.
"I'm full!"
Megumin clutched her round belly, looking utterly satisfied as she slumped back against her chair.
Anyone who didn't know better might think it was some new prison trend.
"No one was fighting you for it, why eat so fast? And eating so much this late at night—make sure you digest it properly later!"
"You have to eat every meal like it might be your last! I'll go exercise in a bit!"
"By the way, who made tonight's dinner?"
"We bought it from the bar, since we have a guest."
After admonishing Megumin, Darkness turned to answer Eiji's question.
Among their group, only Megumin and she could cook, but the meals they made weren't exactly something to boast about.
"Speaking of which, Darkness, there's something I've been wanting to ask you since this afternoon."
Megumin shuffled over to the sofa, sprawling on it like a limp noodle, only turning her head to look at Darkness, who was busy clearing the dishes.
"During the trial this afternoon, why did that fat pig lord seem to keep staring at you? And his gaze was super creepy!"
"There was such a thing?"
Kazuma jumped up in surprise.
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He grinned maliciously, already picturing how miserable that fat pig lord's eventual fate would be. How dare he covet a woman the boss had slept with!
Serves him right for giving me a hard time!
Eiji pricked up his ears.
"Uh, we've only met once before..."
Darkness hesitated, clearly seeming to hide something.
"Just from meeting once, he started targeting Darkness?"
Megumin pondered for a moment, her expression gradually turning displeased.
"That fat pig looks exactly like the kind of cunning, treacherous scoundrel he is, and on top of that, he's a lord. He might use his authority to make things difficult for us later—we need to be prepared!"
Kazuma had offended him, and Darkness had also caught his attention.
No matter how you looked at it, they had thoroughly made an enemy of him!
"Don't worry, when the time comes, we'll just have the boss step in. After all, with the royal family's emblem, even that fat pig of a lord wouldn't dare act recklessly!"
Kazuma, however, was quite at ease.
He was always ready to borrow authority from the powerful!