"Yunyun, we've been grinding for four days and you finally learned advanced magic, so let's rest tomorrow."
"Yes! Understood."
At that moment, Megumin, who had been eating, looked at Yunyun and said,
"Oho~ So you can finally use advanced magic now? You're finally acting like a proper Crimson Demon mage."
"Heh! Heh! Huh! I'm a proud Arch Wizard now, Megumin!"
In 'KonoSuba: An Explosion on This Wonderful World!', Yunyun was forced to learn intermediate magic first to protect Megumin's little sister Komekko from Wolbach's minions, right? I can't remember clearly.
To be honest, I didn't find 'An Explosion on This Wonderful World!' that fun, so I only watched it once. My memory's fuzzy.
All I really remember is that Nerimaki, Megumin's classmate, was cute, and that the Axis Cult priests Zesta and Cecily were out of their minds. Well, the entire Axis Cult is insane. With a goddess like that, what do you expect...
"Alright! To celebrate Yunyun learning advanced magic, let's have a drink! My treat!"
"Ooh! Nice!"
"Then right away, some premium Shuwa-Shuwa..."
Thwack!
I immediately flicked Aqua on the forehead.
"Oww! That hurts, Taejin!"
"I'm buying, but have some conscience when you order."
"Tch! You make good money, so don't be so stingy! C'mon~ bring me my premium Shuwa-Shuwa~"
Thwack!
This time Kazuma flicked her.
"Do you have no shame? Taejin's helped us so much. He even paid off your debt last time!"
"Waaah~ He hit me again! Why does everyone around me turn violent!?"
Aqua started crying. Kazuma and I sighed at the same time.
"Okay, okay. Yunyun and Megumin are still minors, so they get drinks, and Kazuma and Aqua... it won't be premium, but I'll buy you as much regular Shuwa-Shuwa as you want, so drink up."
Aqua's expression brightened like she'd never cried at all, and she started ordering food and Shuwa-Shuwa like crazy. We laughed and celebrated Yunyun's advanced magic achievement.
"Anyway, congratulations, Yunyun!"
"Should we call you Great Archmage Yunyun from now on?"
Yunyun was so moved she covered her face with both hands and started crying.
"Hueeng~~ This is the first time anyone's ever celebrated me like this~~"
Seeing how touched she was, I thought I should take better care of her when things like this happened.
We ate, drank, and talked happily as the food came out.
Megumin kept glancing at Yunyun, like she had something to say, and finally spoke with difficulty.
"...Yunyun, thank you for back then."
"Huh? Back then?"
"Um... when Komekko was attacked in the Crimson Demon Village..."
"Ah! It's fine. I learned advanced magic now anyway, and if I hadn't graduated from school back then, I never would've met all these wonderful people."
"Yunyun..."
It looked like Megumin had always carried guilt over Yunyun being forced to learn intermediate magic because of Wolbach's minions, even if she never showed it.
Seeing Megumin look so moved, Kazuma poked her in the ribs and teased her.
"What? Is it Megumin's turn to cry now?"
"Kuhup... The Crimson Demon Clan's greatest mage doesn't cry!"
We all burst out laughing at Megumin turning her head to hide her face.
That night, we drank happily until late.
The next morning, we all woke up still wearing our clothes from yesterday—too drunk and tired to change. I looked over at the bed and saw Aqua's skirt flipped up to her stomach, and she was sleeping like she was dead to the world.
This girl really doesn't wear panties... How did I not notice until now?
I was completely flustered, but it was way too exposed, so I gently pulled the blanket over her. Luckily, Kazuma was still asleep.
I hadn't really paid attention before, but Aqua's skirt was that short, and somehow it was never visible. Plus she always wore pants pajamas to bed, so there was never a chance to see.
Does she have some kind of magic that keeps it from being seen?
Pushing the question aside, I had a lot to do today. I washed up quickly at the well behind the inn and headed to the guild.
"Good morning, Luna."
"Good morning, Taejin. You're here early?"
"Yes, I have somewhere to stop by. I'll be back before lunch, though."
"Where are you going?"
"That's actually what I wanted to ask you about, Luna. Where's the strictest temple around here?"
"Huh? A temple all of a sudden...?"
Luna looked surprised at my sudden question.
"Ah, I'm not going to the temple itself. There's someone I need to find near one."
"A strict temple... just a moment."
Luna showed me several pamphlets.
This is it!
I picked up the pamphlet with the monk illustration that looked exactly like the one from the anime.
"That place is a bit far. You probably can't make it there and back on foot in one day."
"I'm pretty fast. I'll be back before lunch."
"Then the location is..."
After getting directions from Luna, I reduced my body weight and ran toward the temple at high speed. On the way, I caught a wolf, stored the corpse in my inventory, and kept going.
After running for about an hour, I saw a girl with short green hair sitting on a large tree stump, her arms and legs wrapped in blood-red bandages. She spotted me and weakly waved her hand, giving me a pitiful look.
Found her!
This girl's true identity is a plant-type monster called the "Comfort Girl."
When people come by, she acts as pitiful as possible and talks to them to keep them from leaving. If they say they're hungry, she tears off fruit from her body and gives it to them.
It tastes good, but it has almost no nutrients and blocks the nerves that sense pain or hunger, slowly weakening them to death.
Then she extends roots into the corpse to absorb nutrients. She's a man-eating plant. Despite her appearance, she gives a lot of experience, and Kazuma once tried to farm her to level up.
The important thing here isn't the Comfort Girl herself, but the adventurer's belongings from the person she's eating.
"She really does look pitiful, but not that pitiful. Is it because of [Strong Mind]?"
I drew Enma and approached the Comfort Girl. She started crying and acting pitiful.
"Are you going to kill me...? I was happy to talk to a human for the first time since I was born. But I'm a monster, so if I live, I'll just be a nuisance..."
"I know everything. Stop acting."
"If I'm reborn... I hope I'm not a monster next time..."
"Good! If that's what you want."
I raised the cold blade of Enma and held it to the Comfort Girl's neck. That's when she flinched and her expression began to rot.
"Damn it! Picked the wrong guy... Please spare me!"
"If you do as I say, I won't kill you. First, the corpse you're eating right now?"
"Y-Yes..."
"Bring it out!"
The ground shook a little, and the adventurer's corpse rose up next to the Comfort Girl, tangled in roots.
Kazuma found it as almost nothing but bones, but this one still looked fresh, like he hadn't been dead long.
Good. The timing worked out.
I opened the corpse's pack and found a wooden one-handed hammer.
This is it!
"Appraisal!"
[(S) Golden Denden]
Shake it and gold coins come out. (If used by someone other than the owner, consumes luck.)
"Ah, damn... I can't use it right now."
Even with Kazuma's absurd luck, he'd have a hard time using this item knowing the penalty. Chris stealing it actually saved Kazuma.
I figured I'd have to seal it away until I drew a [Penalty Removal Ticket], so I just put it in my inventory.
"Um... can I keep eating this corpse?"
The Comfort Girl asked carefully.
"Yeah, and eat this too."
I took the wolf corpse I'd caught earlier out of my inventory and tossed it onto her roots.
"Thank you. You're a good person."
I decided to think positively. If I ever get a [Penalty Removal Ticket], I'll be able to use it.
And the reason I didn't kill the Comfort Girl is because of the original story. Kazuma develops serious mental trauma because of the Demon King executive Sylvia, and the Comfort Girl is absolutely necessary to treat it. That's why I brought the wolf corpse too—so she wouldn't die.
I left the Comfort Girl behind and returned to Axel.
As soon as I got back, I saw Chris standing at the town entrance, glaring at me.
"Yo! Chris, decided to live a good life? Nice to see you."
"You! Seriously! Ugh... never mind."
Chris was pressing her head like she had a headache, trying hard to suppress her anger. It was actually pretty funny to watch.
"Anyway, you got a Divine Item, didn't you? That thing's dangerous, so hand it over right now!"
"Why should I?"
"Why!? Because it's dangerous! If you use it wrong, you'll be in danger too!"
"Nope. And whether it's dangerous or not is for me to decide."
Chris seemed to realize talking wasn't working anymore. She got furious and started rapid-firing words without even breathing.
"You~! You're suspicious! The Breast Enhancement Potion, and knowing where Divine Items are, and how you got one but now it's like it disappeared from the world—it's all weird!"
I fired right back.
"You're suspicious too! How do you know I got a Divine Item, and how do you know it's dangerous, and why are you collecting Divine Items anyway?"
"That's..."
"Everyone has one or two secrets. You know what you call someone who tries to dig them up by force?"
"..."
"S! T! A! L! K! E! R!"
"Grrr~! You! You!"
Chris looked like she was about to explode, pointing at me and unable to get her words out. Ah~ that was so satisfying. Is this some kind of disease?
"You! Just you wait!!"
Chris stormed off somewhere, fuming.