I moved to the guild to take a quest. It was morning, so the guild was quiet.
That's when I saw a girl sitting alone at a table in the corner, playing cards by herself, radiating an aura that screamed don't approach me.
She seemed unusual, so I looked closer. She had the Crimson Demon Clan's traits—red eyes and deep brown shoulder-length hair tied in pigtails on both sides. It was probably Yunyun.
Wait, aren't Megumin and Yunyun 13 right now? What's with those breasts…
She was surprisingly well-developed for her age, and she was wearing a bold outfit that openly showed off her chest, so I couldn't manage my gaze.
I could see phantom police officers saying "Gotcha, you!"
Yunyun is the daughter of the Crimson Demon Clan chief and is quite talented as a mage.
But she's shy, and she's the only one in the clan who doesn't have chuunibyou, so she doesn't get along well with the villagers.
Aside from Megumin and Megumin's little sister Komekko, she has no friends and has always been a lonely, pitiful girl.
That situation piled up over time and her personality got weird—she tries too hard to match others, or overreacts to small kindnesses and burdens people.
Eventually, not just the Crimson Demons but normal people started avoiding Yunyun. She just wanted to make friends, though.
Seeing how she tries to summon demons just to make friends in the original, her situation is pitiful, but… she's not exactly normal either.
One question I had was why she was in Kazuma's party.
Yunyun is capable and one of the few people who can fill the party's weakness—lack of continuous, sustained damage. Yet Kazuma never accepts Yunyun into his party. He only gets help occasionally.
Kazuma's smart. He wouldn't not think of this… is it because of Megumin?
I was thinking about the original's setup while looking at Yunyun, and she must have felt my gaze because her face turned red and she kept glancing at me.
Crap… I stared too long.
Since things were like this, I figured I'd say hi and sat at the table Yunyun was at.
"Hi~ I'm Tae-jin. Waiting for your party?"
Yunyun got flustered, lowered her reddened face, and spoke in a barely audible voice.
"U-uh… n-no, I just got here not long ago... I don't have a party, so I came early hoping maybe there's a party recruiting members."
"Sorry, I thought you had a party. I came out early today because the people I was hunting with yesterday had things to do, so I was going to hunt alone."
"..."
Yunyun said nothing and just fidgeted with her hands.
Ugh… what do I do with this atmosphere? Did I mess up by talking to her? Should I just leave?
"Anyway, nice to meet you. The guild receptionist isn't here yet, and I was curious since a Crimson Demon girl was here alone in the morning."
Just then, the receptionists started coming to work one by one.
"Then let's greet each other again when we see each other."
I stood up to move to the reception desk. But Yunyun stood up with a determined, resolute expression.
"U-um! If it's not rude, are you planning to hunt alone today? I-if so, could I go on the quest with you!? I'm Yunyun. I'm an Arch Wizard, but I can only use intermediate magic for now. But I'll try hard not to be a burden! And I'll learn advanced magic soon!"
She fired off words like a machine gun. She must have practiced that line.
"Uh... sure, I'm counting on you today."
"Ah~ I'm so happy! I got a party member—this isn't a dream, right?"
"Ahem, calm down. It's not a dream."
Honestly, I thought this worked out. If Yunyun's treated like a leftover by Kazuma and the others, having her travel with me isn't bad.
We moved to the reception desk and asked receptionist Luna about the location of One-Hit Bears and any quests nearby.
"Um... Tae-jin, I know you're strong, but One-Hit Bears are dangerous—even veteran adventurer parties can suffer casualties if they're careless. And sometimes they move in groups, so it might be dangerous to hunt one alone."
"No need to worry. I'm not alone today—I'm going with an Arch Wizard."
I pointed at Yunyun with my hand. Yunyun got pointed at and her face turned red from embarrassment. And if it got really dangerous, I was confident I could grab Yunyun and run.
"Sigh... can't be helped. Still, don't overdo it."
Luna told us where One-Hit Bears were spotted and about a Kobold nest investigation and extermination quest that was in the same direction, though a bit far.
One-Hit Bears aren't like the round, cute bears on Earth—they're huge and have massive muscular bodies, so they're much stronger and faster. Luna's worry isn't unfounded.
But in the original, they die in one hit to advanced magic, which is kinda pathetic. So I asked Yunyun what intermediate magic she could use and coordinated.
"Got it, Yunyun? I'll engage it up close. You support with Paralysis and Lightning. If you run out of mana or other danger appears, be sure to shout loud and call me."
"Got it! Leave it to me!"
We left the village and moved to where the One-Hit Bear was reported. If we finish the One-Hit Bear quickly in the morning, I plan to handle the Kobold nest in the afternoon.
After wandering the forest near the location for about an hour, we finally found a One-Hit Bear.
It must have a good sense of smell, because it was already looking our way and taking an attack stance.
"Yunyun, stay back."
It was incomparably bigger than any bear I'd seen at a zoo as a kid. The way it growled and slowly stepped forward felt like the ground was shaking, like a giant. In the original, it was described as trash that dies to advanced magic, but seeing it in person made me tense too.
I took a stance and slowly closed the distance.
In the tense moment, once we got close enough, the One-Hit Bear charged and swung an arm like a log.
Flash Step
I dodged sideways instantly and slashed its leg, but it didn't feel like a deep, fatal cut.
The hide was tough and the muscles were dense—its physical defense was higher than I thought.
This guy's tougher than I thought!
Kuooong~~~!!
The One-Hit Bear roared loudly, angry from having its leg cut, and started charging again.
I weaved between large trees to evade, but every time the One-Hit Bear swung its arm, trees shattered, so I couldn't use them as cover.
This brute is just bulldozing through.
That's when I heard Yunyun's voice.
"Paralyze! Lightning!"
Kwaak!!!
The One-Hit Bear flinched for a moment, and lightning struck right on it. The One-Hit Bear screamed in pain.
"Nice! Yunyun!"
Not missing the opening Yunyun made, I approached the One-Hit Bear quickly with Flash Step.
"Iai!"
I put maximum weight from the Kilo Kilo Fruit into my Iai and slashed the One-Hit Bear vertically.
Chwaak~!
With a crisp sound, the One-Hit Bear was split vertically in two and started to collapse.
Thud!
"Tae-jin~! Are you hurt anywhere?"
Yunyun, who had been supporting from afar, came over and asked if I was injured.
"I'm fine! Thanks for the support~"
Seeing her use magic with precise timing, Yunyun definitely had skill.
I unconsciously patted her head.
"Hehe~"
If someone you met for the first time today touched your head, you might feel bad, but luckily Yunyun didn't seem to feel that way—maybe because we hunted together.
We rested a bit, then looked around the nearby forest in case there were more One-Hit Bears. Luckily, that One-Hit Bear seemed to be operating alone—we didn't see any others.
Now to catch Kobolds, we checked the map and moved toward the Kobold nest. At lunchtime, we sat under a tree with a nice view on a hill, pulled two cheeseburgers from my inventory, gave one to Yunyun, and started eating deliciously.
"Wow~ this is so good."
"If you want more, say so. I have more."
"Um..."
"Huh? Want another burger?"
"No, it's not that. Today I'm just so happy. Even if it's just for a day, I got a party member, did a quest with them, and had an event where we eat lunch outside together..."
Yunyun was saying pitiful things.
"Then let's keep adventuring together. We worked pretty well together earlier, didn't we?"
Yunyun's face suddenly turned bright red, steam started coming from her head, and she fell backward and fainted.
"Hey! Hey~ Yunyun! Are you okay?"
I caught Yunyun and shook her awake.
"Ah, it was a dream after all. There's no way a handsome guy like that would be my party member..."
Yunyun spoke nonsense with her eyes closed, tears streaming down her face.