The next morning, as we were all eating breakfast together, I gave Yunyun the bracelets and explained how to use them.
"What's thisā¦"
"They're bracelets that can store mana. I got them in the Royal Capital. Store a little bit of mana in them each day. Then, when you run out of mana during a fight, you can use the mana stored in the bracelets."
"Ah, I see. Thank you."
Yunyun was overjoyed to receive the bracelets. With this, it seemed she would no longer be in a dangerous situation due to mana depletion when fighting large numbers of enemies.
"Let's rest today. We were tired after arriving at the Royal Capital and fighting the Demon King's army immediately yesterday."
"Okay."
Yunyun decided to go visit Kazuma's mansion, and I stayed with Luna. In the evening, Yunyun returned. She was only wearing one bracelet on her arm.
"Huh? Yunyun, where's the other bracelet?"
"Wellā¦"
According to Yunyun's explanation, when she visited Kazuma's mansion and Megumin saw her bracelets, Megumin's eyes lit up. Saying that since she had two, she could afford to give one away, Megumin took one of the bracelets.
"What!!!???"
Hearing that, I became extremely angry. Given Yunyun's personality, she probably hadn't been able to say anything. Megumin had crossed the line by a long shot. I immediately took Yunyun and went to Kazuma's mansion.
"Tae-jin, wait! This was my fault, soā¦"
Yunyun tried to stop me somehow, but I ignored her and entered Kazuma's mansion.
"Megumin!!! Come out!!!"
When I shouted loudly inside the mansion, everyone from Kazuma's party came outside. Naturally, Megumin came out too.
"Huh? Tae-jin, what's wrong? You look so angry."
Kazuma was flustered, seeing my expression. Ignoring the others, I approached Megumin and asked,
"Is Yunyun a friend to you? Or is she just a pushover you can take advantage of?"
"Wellā¦ she's a friendā¦"
Slap!!!
"Aaah!!"
Thud, crash!
"Megumin!!!"
I slapped Megumin hard across the face. She screamed and tumbled across the mansion's yard. Seeing that, Kazuma and the others were shocked and quickly tried to stop me.
"Tae-jin, what's wrong! What did Megumin do!"
Kazuma hurriedly grabbed me, and Darkness stood in front of Megumin, blocking my way. Aqua helped Megumin up.
"This isn't like you, Tae-jin. Calm down and tell us what happened."
Darkness asked me with a serious expression. I pointed at the bracelet Megumin was wearing and explained.
"Do you know what that bracelet is, that she took from Yunyun?"
Megumin, her mouth bleeding from the force of my slap, said,
"We-well, it's just a mana savings bank, she saidā¦"
I explained slowly and clearly.
"You probably know that Yunyun and I have been taking quests in the Royal Capital, because I mentioned it before. As soon as we arrived at the Royal Capital, we fought a huge army of the Demon King's forces. Facing that enormous number, Yunyun couldn't hold out and retired mid-battle due to mana depletion."
As I explained what had happened at the Royal Capital, everyone listened intently. Given the atmosphere, they couldn't just brush it off.
"Fortunately, because Yunyun was behind the kingdom's knights and adventurers' formation, she was safe even after exhausting her mana. But I thought that if it had been a chaotic melee, I couldn't guarantee her life. So I prepared for an emergency and quickly obtained those bracelets."
"I seeā¦"
Only then did Megumin begin to grasp the seriousness of the situation.
"Megumin, I don't know what desire made you take that bracelet from Yunyun, but did you know that it was directly connected to your friend's life?"
"ā¦"
Megumin just stood there with her head bowed, unable to say anything.
"Listen carefully. You just traded that bracelet for your friend's life! Use it well, and don't ever come near us again."
Just then, Kazuma quickly said to me, trying to smooth things over.
"Wait, can't this be solved by just returning the bracelet? Don't be so harsh. Please forgive Megumin."
"No. Megumin didn't care at all about her friend Yunyun's situation. She was only interested in the bracelet. That's why this happened."
"But stillā¦"
Kazuma seemed to want to say something, but in the end, he couldn't continue.
"You all might want to think about that girl again. She treats even her best friend this way. To her own party membersā¦ Sighā¦ Never mind. Pretend I didn't say that. We're leaving."
I took Yunyun's hand and returned home. Yunyun just cried the entire way back, unable to say anything.
Seeing Yunyun return crying, Luna was surprised and asked me,
"What happened?"
I took Yunyun to her room, then explained to Luna what had happened today.
"I see. But Megumin is still young. She's at an age where she focuses more on her own interests than on those around her. We should try to understand. Just forgive her when she apologizes next time."
"Yeah, I suppose so. I hope she can grow from this."
In the end, we couldn't go to the Royal Capital the next day either and rested one more day. That evening, I saw Kazuma and the others standing in front of our gate.
"Come to me~~!!!"
"Hey, Megumin! That's no way to talk when you've come to apologize!"
"Wellā¦ I couldn't think of what to say all of a suddenā¦"
"Sighā¦"
You're all too loud, you idiots.
Luna, Yunyun, and I went to the gate and opened it. Kazuma and the others, seeing us, just stood there awkwardly without saying anything.
"What's wrong? Why are you just standing there?"
As I urged them, Luna poked me in the side, so I turned to her. She whispered in my ear,
"Don't be like that. Give them time."
After a moment, Megumin took off the bracelet she was wearing, returned it to Yunyun, and bowed her head.
"I'm sorry, Yunyun! I was blinded by my own desire and didn't care about your situation. Please forgive meā¦"
Kazuma and the others also bowed their heads.
"We're sorry our party member caused you trouble. Please forgive Megumin."
Yunyun glanced at me. When I nodded, signaling it was okay, she finally approached Megumin and took back the bracelet.
"Umā¦ You were so happy because this meant you could use Explosion twice a day, right? Are you sure you want to give it back?"
"Don't worry! Next time, I'll find an even better item and show you using Explosion three, no, dozens of times in a row!"
"Okay. I believe that you'll find an even better item than this."
Honestly, finding a better item than that would be difficult for a while. Because the material was the ultra-rare 'Coronatite'. But I didn't want to ruin the mood, so I kept quiet.
"Soā¦ you forgive me?"
Yunyun, crying and smiling, answered Megumin,
"Of course."
"And you, Tae-jin?"
I wanted to joke a little, but Luna was glaring at me, so I gave up.
"Fine. I forgive you too. Just don't let it happen again."
Then Megumin and Yunyun hugged each other and started crying profusely.
"I'm sorry, Yunyun!"
"No, Megumin!"
Kazuma and the others, and Luna, went over to comfort Yunyun and Megumin. That day, everyone ate at our house and then returned to Kazuma's mansion.
Personally, I was fine with everything, but I wished Kazuma and the others would respect boundaries a little more. Especially Aqua and Megumin.
Starting the next day, Yunyun and I began taking one quest after another at the Royal Capital. Our names were also becoming more renowned.
I was still known as the 'Silver Flash', but Yunyun had gained the alias 'Crimson Mage'. It seemed she got that alias because of her red eyes.
"Heheh, Crimson Mage. Heheh, heheh."
Because of that, Yunyun spent the entire day giggling happily, calling herself by her alias. I didn't know she would like such a chuunibyou-like alias so much.
About three days passed like that, and we decided to take a rest day. In that time, Yunyun had gone up 5 more levels, and I had gone up 2. My level really wasn't increasing. I was starting to miss the Demon King's army.
I was at home, cooking for Luna, when suddenly Yunyun came running in urgently.
"Big trouble! Kazuma is about to die!"
"Huh? What happened? Oh Crimson Mage?"
"Heheh, Crimson Mageā¦ no! I said Kazuma is in danger!!"
To summarize: Kazuma had coincidentally met Wiz at her shop and they were looking at items together. While joking around with Megumin, he accidentally dropped something, and as they were all cleaning up, Kazuma accidentally put on a 'Wish-Granting Necklace'.
This necklace was a strange magical item that only came off when the wearer fulfilled their wish. It was popular among women for dieting. Usually, one would make a diet wish and then put on the necklace.
The problem was that the necklace would shrink every day, gradually choking the wearer, so they had to diet frantically within a set time limit. This magical item gained popularity due to the tension it created, which was said to make dieting more effective.
"So what did he wish for?"
"Well, he says he didn't wish for anything."
"Then it should come off when he fulfills his usual desires. Anyway, let's go."
Yunyun and I moved to Kazuma's mansion.
Upon arriving, Kazuma was lying on the floor, his head on the thigh of a kneeling Wiz, stroking her leg. Darkness had taken off her armor and was doing push-ups.
"Hey~ Tae-jin, you're here?"
Kazuma, lying on Wiz's thigh, greeted me arrogantly.
"Huh? What are you guys doing?"
"To get Kazuma's necklace off, we're trying to grant his usual wishesā¦"
According to Aqua's explanation, they had decided to grant Kazuma's usual wishes to get the necklace off.
"Ah~ I see. So you're just doing whatever Kazuma says."
"Yeah. But we have no idea what that beast will order."
Even as she said that, Kazuma continued stroking Wiz's thigh.
"Um, Kazuma? How about a bed?"
"Wiz's thigh is cool and nice. And really soft. I also love the shy look Wiz gets."
"Is that so... Th-thank you."
Kazuma seemed intent on using this opportunity to have them do everything he wanted. I decided to look at the necklace first.
"Kazuma, let me see if I can get it off."
Looking reluctant, Kazuma slowly got up from Wiz's thigh. I approached him and examined the necklace with [Eyes].
The necklace wasn't made with particularly strong mana, so I could probably just tear it off by disrupting the flow of mana and applying force. But that wouldn't be fun, so I decided to leave it alone.
"So? Do you think you can get it off?"
Aqua asked me.
"I don't know. How about just killing him and resurrecting him?"
"If he dies this time, he says he won't come back. He'll just die for good."
"Really? I see. I guess Kazuma is pretty tired too."
Hearing that, Kazuma agreed.
"That's right. I'm tired. Honestly, since coming to this world, I wanted to make a pretty girlfriend, and get married like you, Tae-jin."
"Oh~ That's it, isn't it? A pretty girlfriend, dating, and marriage! That might be Kazuma's dream."
Hearing my words, Kazuma's expression brightened and he agreed enthusiastically.
"Right! That's exactly it! That's what I want!"
Hearing that, Megumin pointed out a problem.
"But if you don't get that necklace off within four days, you'll die. When are you going to date and get married? And is there even a woman for that?"
I answered for her.
"Isn't that something you all are supposed to do for him?"
"Even so, marriage is a bitā¦"
"Just try to set the mood. You'll figure it out as you go. And it only takes one of you to sacrifice here. Then no one else has to suffer."
"Oh~ When you put it that way."
With that decided, Kazuma looked around at the women, thinking. The women desperately averted their eyes, trying not to be chosen.
"Alright, I've decided!"