Kazuma still couldn't understand and said,
"No matter what, I can't understand a kingdom getting destroyed over one cup size bigger breasts."
"Ah! Kazuma, you're a guy so you don't really get it."
I whispered quietly to Kazuma so the girls wouldn't hear.
"Think of it as 1cm instead of one cup size for your thing."
"Ahem... I, I get it now."
Kazuma nodded like he finally understood. You can't resist that 1cm.
Chris came up to me and spoke in a tone that still sounded suspicious.
"Yeah, I get that the Pongyuhwan exists. But Tae-jin! How do you know all this? And you said you'd get it for me, but that means you don't have it yet, so how are you going to get it?"
"Pongyuhwan is too dangerous to be known, so I can't tell you details, but it's true that it'll come into my hands."
"How can I trust you?"
"I've got nothing to lose! I can just learn skills from another thief with money, since it'll take time. And I can sell the Pongyuhwan to a rich person for a lot."
"Ugh... fine! Got it! You better get it for me!"
I was planning to just give it as a gift later anyway, but making people go through trouble on purpose for something as world-saving as this? Bad judgment.
Kazuma, Darkness, Chris and I moved to a quiet empty lot behind the building to learn skills.
"Thief skills have things like [Enemy Detection] or, but the one I recommend most is this!"[Stealth]
Chris stretched one hand toward Kazuma.
"Steal~~~~!"
Light came from Chris's outstretched hand, and a small pouch appeared on her palm.
Just then, Kazuma said in surprise.
"Huh? My wallet!"
"This is the theft skill. If it succeeds, you can steal the opponent's belongings."[Steal]
Chris stopped herself just as she was about to return the wallet to Kazuma.
"Hey, Tae-jin, Kazuma, want to have a match with me? You guys learn thief skills and try to get this wallet back! You're adventurers, right? Then you should be able to take on dangerous stuff!"
I knew Chris's trick.
"I'll leave it to Kazuma, who's lucky. I believe in Kazuma."
Kazuma thought for a bit and then looked at Chris and said.
"Fine! Let's do it!"
Kazuma and I took [Enemy Detection],, and.[Stealth][Steal]
"Chris, I still have more to learn. Teach me [Skill Bind], [Treasure Detection], and too."[Lockpicking]
"You're planning to take all my trade secrets? And how do you know thief skills so well?"
"Pongyuhwan! I'll bring it to you within half a year!"
"Tch! Fine!"
I was able to learn [Skill Bind], [Treasure Detection], and all.[Lockpicking]
"Alright! Let's start, Kazuma! You can use it anytime!"
"Good! I'll take back anything I lose, no crying!"
Just then, Chris smiled slyly and pointed to the dagger at her waist as she spoke to Kazuma.
"Heh~! The jackpot is this magic dagger, it's worth over 400,000 eris. And the duds are these stones!"
Chris slowly opened both fists and showed the small stones in each hand.
Steal is a skill that randomly takes an opponent's item, so the more junk they have, the lower the chance of getting what you want, making it hard to get your desired item.
"Ah! That's dirty!"
"With this, the chance of drawing the dagger just dropped, huh?"
"Damn it!"
I believed in Kazuma's crazy luck, so I cheered him on.
"Kazuma! Don't worry too much if you can't get the wallet! I'll give you that money, so relax!"
"Hey! That's not fair, making him less nervous."
"And who was it that tried to trick a beginner adventurer first?"
When I teased her with facts, Chris had nothing to say and just glared at me with a frustrated expression.
"Ugh, I hate you!"
Her reaction was funny, and it felt good to tease her.
This might become a habit.
Just then, Kazuma shouted like he'd made up his mind.
"Fine! I'll do it! Steal~~~~!!"
Kazuma felt something in his fist and said with a bright expression.
"Tae-jin! It worked for now."
"Oh~ nice! As expected of Kazuma!"
"Hmm? What's this?"
Kazuma slowly lifted the item he succeeded in stealing into the air to check, and in his hand was a white pair of women's panties.
"Wooo~ not just a jackpot, this is a mega jackpot!!!"
Chris's face turned red and she started squirming, speaking in a flustered, surprised voice.
"Hiyaaa~~!! My, my panties, give them back!!!"
"Wahahahahahaha~~~!"
Kazuma grabbed Chris's panties and started twirling them in the air. Darkness, who was watching, got excited, her face flushed, and said,
"Th-this, what kind of fiendish act is this! As expected, my eyes were right!" she evaluated.
And so, Kazuma ripped Chris off completelyânot just the wallet, but all her moneyâand we returned to the guild.
---
When we entered the guild, Aqua, Megumin, andâsomehowâYunyun were there too.
"Hey~ Aqua, Megumin, Yunyun"
"Hello, Tae-jin."
"Yunyun, did you rest well today? Let's work hard on quests together starting tomorrow. Yunyun needs to learn advanced magic soon too."
"Yes, got it. Please take care of me tomorrow too."
Just then, Aqua asked.
"Tae-jin and Kazuma, where were you? And why is that person crying?"
Darkness was there, and she told what happened.
"Ah, actually, when she was teaching Kazuma thief skills, her panties got stripped off and on top of that she got all her money taken, so she's down."
Hearing that, Kazuma hurriedly said.
"Hey, you! What are you saying!"
Chris, tears streaming, said loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Just returning the wallet wasn't enough, so I said I'd give anything if you'd return my panties, and you said I should decide my panties' price myself, sob sob..."
"Hey, wait! It's not a lie, but wait!"
"Otherwise you said you'd pass these panties down as a family heirloom for generations! Sob sob..."
The female adventurers around were looking at Kazuma like he was trash.
I knew the original, so I knew Chris was intentionally getting revenge by speaking loudly and making Kazuma look like a pervert.
So I was watching Chris's face closely, and even though she was covering her face with both hands pretending to cry, I could clearly see the corners of her mouth turned up.
She's covering her face and laughing while pretending to cry. Losing a bet and framing someone as a pervert... really bad personality.
Kazuma did nothing wrong. He just won an unfair match fair and square. So unlike the original, I decided to save Kazuma.
"Wait! Isn't that too much? What did Kazuma do wrong to be treated like a pervert? Chris, stop pretending to cry! If you're trying to get revenge on Kazuma with public opinion, we'll do the same to you."
I stood up and clapped my hands twice loudly.
Clap clap!
"Excuse me, everyone, please pay attention!"
Everyone in the guild looked at me.
"Oh~ the future hero!"
"Kyaak~ so handsome."
"Marry me~"
Huh? Marry me? Anyway, I got their attention.
"Right now, an adventurer named Kazuma is being unfairly framed as a pervert."
I pointed at Kazuma. And spoke.
"Chris the thief is cutting out everything that happened before and talking, so the beginner adventurer Kazuma is suffering unfairly right now."
People started murmuring.
"A adventurer who came from far away to Axel Town with the dream of being an adventurer, Kazuma, had no money, so he worked construction at a job site, barely bought a sword, and with no skills, at level 1, really struggledâgetting eaten by Giant Toadsâto level up."
"Right! That friend's party member was always covered in weird liquid. So that was the toad's drool."
"Kuh~ reminds me of the old days!"
"Uwa, pitiful..."
"Next time I'll buy you a drink, hang in there!"
Aqua was crying tears while patting Kazuma's back to comfort him. Kazuma looked at Aqua with a dumbfounded expression.
"With the points he painfully earned, Kazuma didn't know where to put them because he's a beginner adventurer. That's when Chris the adventurer appeared."
I pointed at Chris. Chris was flustered.
"Chris lured Kazuma, saying she'd teach him skills for a glass of Shuwa-Shuwa. Pitifully, Kazuma fell for it, bought the Shuwa-Shuwa, and learned the skill."
People started focusing more on my story.
"She said she'd teach skills, then took the beginner adventurer Kazuma to an empty lot where no one goes. Then she used the thief skill to rob Kazuma's wallet. And said, 'This is the skill. You're an adventurer, so you should experience this kind of thing! Learn and take your wallet back.'"[Steal]
"Beginner killing, huh."
"There are still people like that."
"These are the end times."
"Kazuma thought 'I've been had!' but there was nothing he could do. He had no choice but to take to get his wallet back. And when he was about to use, Chris cheated by picking up small stones and saying 'This is a dud,' mocking Kazuma."[Steal]
"That's so mean!"
"Wow~ evil!"
"Not even human!"
"But Kazuma didn't give in and prayed to the goddess of luck, Eris, and tried on Chris.
Really, really luckily, he couldn't steal the wallet but he was able to steal Chris's panties. And the beginner adventurer Kazuma gave Chris a proper lesson.
Like you all heard earlier, he said to decide your own panties' price. In the end, Chris had no choice but to give Kazuma her wallet and all her money."[Steal]
"Wow~ Kazuma, cool"
"Got what she deserved."
"People like that need to be taught a lesson!"
"And now, frustrated by that, Chris is using the fact that she's a woman, making the stolen panties an issue, trying to turn Kazuma into a pervert again, and cornering him."
Just then, Chris flared up and spoke.
"That's a lie!!! You're distorting the facts!"
I asked Chris with a smile.
"Where is it distorted, and what's the lie?"
"That's..."
When Chris hesitated, I didn't give her time.
"You can't say, right? Because it's all true! And there's a witness. Darkness!"
When I pointed at Darkness, Darkness was startled for a moment and answered.
"Huh? Me?"
"Darkness, you're a knight, right? And an Eris Cult believer."
"Uh? Uh, yes."
"As a witness who watched, on your honor as a knight, is there any lie in what I said?"
"Ahem... there isn't. But..."
I quickly cut off Darkness's words.
"So who's bad now? Kazuma, who was lucky but got framed as a pervert? Or Chris, who tried beginner killing and got countered?"
People started cursing Chris.
"Because of women like that, good female adventurers like us get blamed."
"Wow~ framing a guy as a pervert is nothing to her. Scary."
"Live righteously, Eris is watching!"
"Sorry for misunderstanding, Kazuma~!"
"Even a demon would cry and leave."
Chris couldn't take it and really cried and ran out.
"Calling me a demon! Uwaaaaang~~~~"
"Wait, Chris~!"
Darkness hurriedly followed Chris.
Huh? Wait! Darkness shouldn't go now, what happens to Kazuma's party now?