"It's Megumin."
Darkness recognized the girl immediately. It was indeed Megumin, the great arch-wizard of the Crimson Demon Clan.
Of course, she only knew her name.
There were so many adventurers in Axel that Darkness couldn't possibly know everyone personally.
The reason she knew Megumin was because of her peculiar habit of only using Explosion Magic.
"Tsk tsk tsk~"
Rin was equally surprised. "Is this the inertia of the plot?"
Sure enough, after acquiring Darkness and Aqua, Megumin also appeared.
"Hello, is there something you need?"
Rin ignored Aqua, who had started chugging premium bubbly wine, and asked Megumin why she came.
"Whoosh!"
The next moment, the black-haired girl flung her cloak and declared loudly, "I am Megumin, ah-woo..."
Unfortunately for her, Rin forcefully interrupted her chuunibyou chant.
He stuffed a piece of bread into her mouth, leaving her only able to emit muffled whimpers.
"Mmm mmm..."
But Megumin didn't spit the bread out. Instead, she started gnawing on it with astonishing speed.
Judging by her actions, it looked like she hadn't eaten in days.
But as far as Rin remembered, he had just hosted a banquet yesterday.
"Want some?"
Rin offered her a glass of juice. Megumin didn't even glance at him, snatched the cup, and downed it in one go.
"Hah~"
"I'm alive again!"
Megumin plopped down beside Rin and proudly declared, "Since you've fed me and given me juice, I'll reluctantly join your party!"
"Sorry, I refuse."
"Why?!"
Megumin, who had just sat down, instantly shot up and retorted indignantly, "I am a great arch-wizard of the Crimson Demon Clan! Why would you refuse such a powerful teammate who is so easy to obtain?!"
"You only use Explosion Magic, right?"
"Eh?"
Megumin had thought Rin didn't know her true worth.
Now, it seemed she had run into someone who actually knew her.
"Please, you must let me follow you, Rin!!"
But Rin underestimated just how shameless she could be.
For three meals a day and a roof over her head, for consistent food, Megumin directly abandoned her pride and hugged Rin's leg. "If you don't agree, I'll..."
"Die here?"
"I'll give up for now and come again tomorrow!"
"..."
Rin was speechless. He realized he had overestimated the people of Konosuba's sense of shame.
These people perfectly demonstrated the philosophy of, "As long as I have no morals, no one can morally pressure me."
"I say, aren't you two going to say something?"
"Gulp, gulp, gulp..."
Aqua was still drinking wine. When Rin looked over, she naturally turned her head away.
As for Darkness—
The knight was wondering whether Explosion Magic could break through her defense.
After gaining her new strength from Rin, Darkness had developed a new interest.
She wanted to use her tempered body to experience various powerful attacks.
And it all started with Explosion Magic.
What kind of brain-dead idea is that, hurting your own teammates?
Rin could hear Darkness's thoughts, and his mouth twitched nonstop. Sure enough, he still hadn't fully disciplined her. Tonight's punishment would be doubled.
However, given Darkness's personality,
The harsher he was, the more excited she'd probably get.
"Forget it."
Rin sighed, then grabbed Megumin by the back of her collar and set her beside him. "I'll allow you to join the party, but!"
"What?"
Determined to cling to the rich man's thigh, Megumin declared she feared nothing.
Of course, lewd things were out of the question.
"You can only use Explosion Magic when I give permission."
"Huh?!?!?!"
Megumin never expected such a condition. She screamed, "Are you a demon?! How could you say something so outrageous to a little girl like me?!"
"Hey!"
At that moment, Rin truly understood how Kazuma must have felt in the original story.
Because of Megumin's loud yelling, all the surrounding adventurers looked over.
For a moment, Rin was surrounded by a strange and awkward atmosphere.
"I'm just telling you not to use Explosion Magic whenever you feel like it!!"
Rin couldn't let Megumin ruin his reputation in Axel, so he quickly clarified.
"Ah, so that's it."
"I knew it. No matter how desperate Rin-san was, he wouldn't lay hands on a loli."
"Who's a loli?!"
Megumin exploded. If Darkness hadn't held her back, she would've grabbed her staff and challenged whoever said that to a three-hundred-round duel.
"..."
To be honest, Rin suddenly regretted it a little.
Originally, it was a nice, quiet two-person world with Darkness.
Just because he couldn't keep his mouth shut, he ended up dragging Aqua in.
Now look at Kazuma...
He had already joined a new party and gave Rin a helpless glance before blending in perfectly with his new teammates.
And this was before he even realized he had been given a cheat skill.
Rin suddenly felt that Kazuma's real cheat was actually his luck.
Sure enough, without Aqua's bad luck dragging him down, Kazuma was about to rise up.
Rin looked over at Aqua, who had already finished her third bottle of high-grade bubbly wine in just a few minutes.
By the way, is it still too late to give her back?
Meanwhile, in the Cardinal World, in the Kingdom of Englassia.
Shizue, who had just returned from the Great Jura Forest, was rushing toward the academy where the children were.
She wanted to tell them the good news.
Then, she would bring them to the Monster Nation, break free from the curse of incomplete reincarnation, and live peacefully ever after.
"Beep~"
"Hmm?"
Shizue paused. She looked up in confusion. "Telepathy? Is it that child, Yuki?"
The sudden telepathy had disrupted her original plan.
Still, every student was important to Shizue. She wouldn't show favoritism.
"Yuki?"
"Ah, you're back, Shizue-sensei!"
Yuki Kagurazaka sat in the Free Guild headquarters. Standing beside him was a blonde elf in a suit.
This was the former Demon Lord, Curse King Kazalim.
Now, however, Kazalim had changed their name to Kagali and served as Yuki's secretary.
"That's great."
Yuki smiled. "I was worried you might run into danger in the Jura Forest. Now that I see you've returned safely, I'm relieved."
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)