For several days, Kazuma and the others started hunting Giant Toads diligently. Unlike the original story, where they struggled to catch two or three and it turned into a comedy show, they were doing fairly well thanks to Kazuma's performance.
Kazuma saw [Wind Moon Slash] and fell in love with it at first sight, immediately using his saved-up points to learn it. This technique involves imbuing the sword with mana and wind and launching it at the enemy.
It provided the Kazuma party, whose only offense had been Megumin's one powerful blast, with much-needed harassment and continuous attacks. Now, Giant Toads were easy for them to catch.
"Ah... the technique is great, but the downside is I don't have enough mana to hunt more than ten."
"Don't just spam [Wind Moon Slash]. If you can handle it with your sword, do it directly. If you run out of mana when you're in a pinch, it could be dangerous."
"True. I feel like I've been relying too much on [Wind Moon Slash] lately. So, could you teach me [Iaido] and [Flash Step]?"
"Alright."
[Iaido]
Gathers mana in the sheath and quickly draws the sword to cut the enemy.
[Flash Step]
Moves as quickly as the wind for an instant.
As I taught him the skills, I also explained in detail how to use them in different situations. Kazuma was deeply absorbed in swordsmanship, and while similar to the original story, he seemed to be heading in a slightly different direction.
"By the way, are the wedding preparations going well?"
"Yeah. We've sent out invitations and ordered the dress."
Since Luna was in the early stages of pregnancy, she wanted to have the wedding ceremony quickly before her belly became prominent, so things were moving a bit hastily.
"I see. I'd like to meet many women, date them a lot, and get married too. Honestly, I'd like to create a harem, hehe."
Kazuma spoke, scratching his head in embarrassment.
"Oh~ That's every man's dream."
"Right? See, Tae-jin gets it. My dream is to create my own harem before I die!"
At first he was embarrassed to talk about it, but when I acknowledged it, Kazuma proudly spoke of his aspiration. But his voice was too loud. The women who heard Kazuma's words looked at him in disbelief and approached.
Aqua: "What did you say!? Your dream is a harem??? You scumbag!!!"
Megumin: "I'm disappointed that Kazuma was looking at us with such eyes!!! Mr. Scumbag!!"
Darkness: "As expected of the man I chose, Kazuma!!"
Completely flustered, Kazuma broke into a cold sweat and tried to make excuses.
"No, it was just a joke between guysā¦"
"Between who?"
"Wellā¦ Taeā¦ huh?"
Kazuma turned his head to look for me, but I had long since left that spot. After that, Kazuma had to endure a lecture from the women for quite a while.
Having nothing much to do these days, I went to the Guild and hung out with Luna. When I asked her,
"Now that you're pregnant, shouldn you take a break from Guild work or even retire?", she said she had no one to replace her and that she was still fine, so I just said okay.
With Kazuma's active role, Megumin rarely got a chance to use Explosion magic, so she still went with Darkness or Kazuma to a distant location to practice magic.
The next day, after teaching Kazuma swordsmanship, I went to hang out at the Guild with him. Luna urgently shouted to everyone,
"Emergency! Emergency! All adventurers, arm yourselves immediately and gather at the village gate in battle formation!"
Hearing that, the adventurers quickly armed themselves and went to the village gate. Kazuma and the others, including Yunyun, were there as well.
We went to the gate with the many adventurers. There, we saw the Demon King's general, the Dullahan 'Verdia', standing in front of the gate on horseback.
Verdia was a Dullahan warrior, armed with armor and a greatsword. His head was not attached to his body; he was holding his own head in one hand.
Kazuma, breaking into a cold sweat, said,
"Hey, is this okay? He looks incredibly strong?"
The other adventurers also murmured nervously. It seemed no one had imagined that a Demon King's general would come to Axel Village, a beginner's town.
Then Verdia began to speak.
"I am a Demon King's general who recently moved into a castle near hereā¦"
Verdia, trembling with what seemed like immense anger, continued his speech.
"Which idiot has been shooting Explosion magic at my, my castle day after day, after day, after day, every single day without fail!!!"
Hearing that, the adventurers whispered among themselves.
"Explosion magic?"
"If it's someone who uses Explosion magicā¦"
"Speaking of Explosion magicā¦"
In fact, it was obvious who the culprit was. There were very few people in the beginner's village who could use such powerful magic.
That's why all the gathered adventurers looked at Megumin. Then Megumin, utterly shameless, suddenly looked at a nearby female mage with red hair.
As the other adventurers followed Megumin's gaze and also looked at the female mage, she became extremely flustered.
"Huh? M-me? Why is everyone looking at me? I can't use Explosion magic. I'm still a novice andā¦"
I was annoyed by Megumin, so I smacked the back of her head and stood in front of the female mage.
"It was me! I'm the one who shot Explosion magic at the castle!"
"You say you shot it? You don't look like a mage?"
Verdia, seeing me wearing a sword, was puzzled.
"Well, it wasn't Explosion magic! It was a bomb!"
"Hmph! That lie won't work on me. It seems you've stepped forward to protect the villagers. Although I have fallen and become a monster, I was originally a knight. Therefore, I highly value your chivalry. I will let you off just this once. Return."
"There's no need for that. You're weaker than me, so it's not you who should let me off, but the other way around."
When I stood strong, Verdia thought for a moment and then said,
"Indeed. So that's how it is. I've heard rumors. You are the 'Silver Flash'. The one people call the future hero. That changes things. If you are a future threat, it might be good to cut you down now."
I was a bit embarrassed to hear the title 'Silver Flash' I had earned in Konosuba again, but since everyone was watching, I didn't show it.
Verdia dismounted and drew his greatsword. I also stepped forward, drew my sword, and took my stance. The many adventurers watched nervously.
"I would have preferred to meet you when you had grown into a finer opponent. It doesn't sit well with me to cut down a growing adversary in a beginner's village, but you will pay the price for challenging me without knowing my strength."
"Don't worry about that. Let's begin."
We glared at each other for a moment, then charged simultaneously, our swords clashing.
Clang!
"Gh! Your strength! You bastard, you've been hiding your power!"
Verdia seemed quite surprised by my strength. He was certainly a strong swordsman; after just one clash, he realized I was not an easy opponent.
"That's what I told you. I've never lied."
We struggled against each other for a moment, then both leaped back.
"I see. It seems it was I who let my guard down because this is a beginner's village. I acknowledge you as my opponent. I will also use my full power."
Verdia threw his head into the air, then gripped his greatsword with both hands and began to swing. I parried accordingly.
Clang! Clash! Clang, clang!
"Impressive. I never imagined such a person existed. I must stop you before you grow stronger."
Verdia swung his greatsword with all his might, but when I parried every blow, he seemed quite surprised. In truth, I was holding back a lot. Considering Mihawk from One Piece, who could cut a mountain with a single swing, each blow was incomparable. Moreover, with [Observation Color], there was no way his attacks could land.
But the reason I was doing this was that if I won too easily, I'd get tired from having to explain everything, and also the kingdom might make some strange requests. So I needed to show that I won with some difficulty.
It took some effort to block and attack as if we were evenly matched, but fighting while understanding Verdia's swordsmanship was also enjoyable.
"Go for it, Silver Flash!"
"I love you, Tae-jin!"
"We believe in you, future hero!"
As the fight dragged on, the watching adventurers began to cheer enthusiastically.
"It seems you have no allies."
"Damn! Shut up!"
Verdia stepped back for a moment, then summoned a horde of undead.
"Hey, hey! Didn't you say you were a knight? Why are you summoning those during a sacred duel?"
"To shut them up!"
The undead Verdia summoned began to charge toward the adventurers. I quickly fired successive [Wind Moon Slashes] at the undead.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
"Gwaaah!" "Ugh!"
Not missing the opportunity, Verdia quickly thrust his greatsword at me.
"Opening!!!"
Clang!
I deflected Verdia's greatsword upward, barely making it look like a block.
"A sneak attack? Are you really a knight?"
"It's your fault for being distracted during a duel!"
Verdia might have been jealous because the duel wasn't going as he wanted, but this was quite different from my idea of chivalry. It seemed he had a 'do as I say, not as I do' type of chivalry. Verdia was quite narrow-minded.
Anyway, it seemed I had hurriedly dealt with about half of the undead horde, but a large number were still swarming toward the adventurers.
Still, I wasn't worried. Yunyun was there, and Kazuma and Aqua had improved, so I trusted they would handle it themselves.
As I was fighting Verdia for a while, I saw Kazuma and Aqua approaching, leading a horde of undead.
"Huh?"
Just then, Kazuma shouted to me.
"Get back, Tae-jin!!! Megumin, now!!"
It seemed Kazuma, like in the original story, intended to use Megumin's 'Explosion' magic to take out both the undead horde and Verdia at once. So I also quickly stepped back. Then Kazuma and Aqua herded the undead toward Verdia and retreated at just the right moment.
"Explosion!!!"
KABOOM!!!
Megumin's Explosion magic landed right on Verdia and the undead horde, causing a massive explosion. Kazuma was certainly smart. Using Aqua's tendency to attract undead, he had come up with this strategy in an instant.
As the aftermath of the explosion settled and a giant crater came into view, the adventurers cheered.
Wooo~~~!!!!
"Wow~ The crazy Crimson Demon kid took care of it!"
"Her name and her head may be weird, but when it counts, she delivers!"
"There it is again, the crazy kid!"
Indeed, Megumin's image in the village was strange. She went off somewhere every day and fired Explosion magic, so it was understandable.
Anyway, I suppressed a laugh and shouted loudly,
"He's not dead yet from that!"
At my shout, the adventurers became quiet again. As expected in the original story, the undead horde was gone, but Verdia, as I said, wasn't dead yet and slowly rose from his spot.
"Hehehā¦ This is fun! This is fun! I didn't expect you to annihilate my subordinates."
"And it's also true that you took damage!"
I decided to use a little more power now. Because I could probably blame it on Megumin's Explosion magic.
Clang! Clash! Clang! Slash!
I quickly closed in, exchanged sword strikes with Verdia, then slashed his side.
"Gah!! You bastard! Taking advantage of my weakened state!! Can you still call yourself a hero after this!!"
"You've got a mouth on you. After summoning subordinates to attack the adventurers and even sneaking in an attack!"
"Damn!! I won't die like this!!"
Suddenly, Verdia threw his head into the sky and shouted.
"Death Sentence!"
A red magic circle appeared in the sky. Having cast Death Sentence, he spread his arms as if giving up resistance. I didn't hesitate and cut Verdia down.
Swish!!
"Gwaaaaah!!"
Verdia slowly turned to ash and disappeared, smiling at me as he said,
"Hahaha, your life now has one week left. I'll go ahead and wait for you, hahaha!"
It seemed he intended to curse me and die together, but with my [(EX) Status Ailment Immunity], that sort of thing didn't work on me.
"Sorry, but curses don't work on me."
"Wh-what???"
Verdia disappeared with an expression of disbelief.
Ding~
[You have acquired the abilities (A) Death Sentence and (B) Verdia Style Swordsmanship.]
In the past, I had been very worried about Verdia, but having grown stronger through various creative works, I was able to catch him easily.
Wooo~~~~!!!!
"Just as expected! The Silver Flash!"
"I believed in you!!!"
"Eek~! I love you~!! Tae-jin-sama!!"
When I completely finished off Verdia, the adventurers cheered again. I waved to them, then gave a thumbs-up to Kazuma and Megumin, who was being carried by Kazuma. Kazuma and Megumin also smiled and returned the thumbs-up.
We entered the Guild with the adventurers and all had a drink together. Luna, who had been worried, hugged me and burst into tears, causing a commotion that made it hard to calm her down.
"Do you know how worried I was? Please don't push yourself like that again. Anyway, in honor of Tae-jin's achievement, we award you a reward of 300 million eris!"
Hearing that amount, the Guild erupted again. In the original story, because Aqua's magic had destroyed the castle walls, they didn't receive a single eris and instead ended up in debt. But because of me, such a thing didn't happen, so we could receive the full reward.
I immediately shouted to all the adventurers in the Guild.
"Drinks are on me today!! Drink as much as you want!!!"
Wooo~~~~!!!
"Tae-jin! Tae-jin! Tae-jin!"
We ordered a lot of food and alcohol and drank while mingling with the adventurers. Then the red-haired beginner mage I had helped earlier came over and thanked me.
"Thank you, Tae-jin-sama, for helping me."
"Don't mention it. And wait a moment."
I spoke to Megumin, who was eating nearby, and made her apologize to the beginner mage. Megumin, knowing she was at fault, bowed her head and apologized.
"Sorry. I panicked too, andā¦"
"It was harsh, but I've forgotten about it now."
"Thank you."
The beginner mage smiled and accepted the apology, and Megumin was also grateful for that. It would have been a heartwarming scene, but then Megumin started preaching about the greatness of Explosion magic.
The beginner mage, getting tired of it, made an excuse that her party was waiting and eventually ran away.
"She doesn't appreciate the greatness of Explosion magic."
Come to think of it, Megumin doesn't have any friends here besides Kazuma's party and her hometown friend Yunyun... Well... given her behavior, it's understandable.
I shook my head and again enjoyed eating and drinking with the adventurers, having fun until late.
The next day, out of the 300 million eris reward from the Guild, I handed 100 million eris to Kazuma's party. Nominally, we had received help thanks to Kazuma's performance, so I had to share the reward.
"Huh~? Are we allowed to take this? You did almost everything, Tae-jin."
"No, if you hadn't helped, it would have taken much longer."
Just then, Aqua snatched the bag of eris and said,
"You should accept something like this quickly! Heheh! Thanks, Tae-jin~"
"Hey! Don't you have any shame?"
Kazuma was dumbfounded by Aqua, but Aqua hugged the bag and was overjoyed.
I tried to give another 100 million eris to Yunyun from the remaining reward, but she said she hadn't done anything and refused to accept it.
So I eventually went to the Guild, gave 100 million eris to Luna, and told her to buy whatever she needed for the wedding and keep the rest for emergencies.
Now, after paying for the drinks, I had only about 90 million eris left, but since I could always create gold coins, it didn't matter how much I spent.