Chapter 6: An Official Match For This Sub!

Part 1

I had a late dinner and was about to take a bath when Aqua started whining.

"If you keep running away all the time, you'll never gain levels, Kazuma!"

"...My 'Bravery' stat is at 24. It's not my fault."

"It's completely your fault if it's that low!"

"Cowardice is what allowed my ancestors to survive. Risk-takers don't get to live another day!"

"No need to be afraid, Kazuma! Since I'm a goddess and all, I already have a bunch of high level healing skills! I can even use the [Resurrection] spell in case you die!"

"...That's not exactly reassuring."

Why would I want to die and leave my fate in this idiot's hands? I said,

"Listen… If you didn't do unnecessary shit, you might actually have some use. All you need to do is heal and buff me. We might see a lot of success if you didn't sabotage everything with your dumbass stunts."

"Why are you always so harsh towards me, Kazuma?! Is that how you talk to girls?! You'll never get laid at this point!"

"What does that have to do with what we're talking about?!"

I closed the bathroom door on her, then proceeded to take a bath.

The whole time, Aqua was banging on the door.

I tried to relax, but that banging was grating on the ears.

"What's your problem?!"

I came out of the bath and opened the door, wearing a short towel around my waist. She said,

"You can't just ignore me! You need to treat me with more respect!"

"I'll respect you once you actually deserve it!"

"You need to work harder, Kazuma! We have to beat the Demon King, or else I can't go back!"

"...You know, I'm starting to think that I don't even have a chance against the Demon King."

"Hah?! How much of a coward are you! You're one of the chosen few who have the potential to defeat the Demon King!"

"You say that, but there are other heroes who have OP cheat weapons and powers. Even if I don't do anything, one of those guys will beat the Demon King."

"...I guess you're right. But if those guys don't succeed, you still need to train so you can take out the Demon King!"

"And I'm telling you I don't think that's possible."

"What do you mean by that?! You have me by your side!"

And that's exactly why I didn't think it was possible.

My stats were mediocre to begin with. Thanks to the Adventurer class, I could learn a variety of skills and manage to survive so far in the dungeon.

But in order to defeat someone with the title of Demon King, I doubted that my loosely connected variety of skills was enough to do even any serious damage to him. I said,

"The only reason why I'm doing all this stuff is because the app seems to make my life better. Even if I don't take the dungeon seriously, I'm making money and even getting closer to girls…"

"Oiii! The app isn't some self-improvement program! It's supposed to make you powerful enough to take down the Demon King and his generals! Why are you treating it as some multi-purpose organizational tool to get your life in order…?!"

"Hah? Look at all the quests it's giving me! 'Joining the soccer team', 'get a girl's number', 'work a part-time job'. How are these quests supposed to help me defeat the Demon King?! There was even a quest that told me to drink a smoothie!"

Aqua glanced away and started backing away from me.

"W-Well… The app is customized to fit whoever is using it. I guess that before you become a hero who can defeat the Demon King, it's trying to make you become a person who can someday become a hero who can defeat the Demon King…"

"It's too slow paced! Where are my bullshit powerups?! I'm supposed to be power creeping everyone by now!"

"L-Like I said before! The app isn't some magical tool that gives you a crazy amount of power instantly! It merely displays your growth as a person! If you want to blame anyone, blame yourself for being untalented!"

While we were yelling, my mother peeked her head in to see why we were yelling.

She looked at me, with only a towel around my waist.

"Lover's spat, huh?"

She returned to her room and closed the door.

She couldn't have been further from the truth.

Aqua crossed her arms and said,

"...In any case, just because your progress has been slow, don't use that as an excuse to slack off on your training, Kazuma! You're only Level 4, of course you're not as powerful as you could be! You're just not taking enough risks in the dungeon! You're also not spending enough time grinding levels!"

"What's even the point of grinding levels? I only get 1 Skill Point every time I level up."

"...J-Just work harder from here on out!"

Aqua couldn't find a proper rebuttal and went back to her room in a huff.

Part 2

I was walking to school when Rin saw me and joined me.

I noticed that Mitsurugi was about to approach me, but when he saw Rin, he gave me a thumb up and walked away.

That guy was unexpectedly cool sometimes.

"Hm? Senpai, you look like you're in a bad mood…"

Rin said, when she noticed the scowl on my face, which remained there after my argument with Aqua.

"It's nothing."

"You can tell me, senpai! Oh, I know! It's girl trouble, isn't it?"

She was somewhat right, but I bet she was imagining something else.

"Just had an argument with someone, I guess."

"I see… And does senpai care about that person?"

"Hah?"

"Why is senpai making that face as if I said something incredibly offensive?"

I couldn't help but make a face as if someone falsely accused me of committing a horrible crime. I said,

"I think it's an exaggeration to say that I care about this person. Something they said just made me really mad."

"Well, if you care that much about what they said, I think that senpai actually does care about this person, at least to a certain extent."

"No, no, that's not true."

She giggled when I denied her speculation. She said,

"You know, I'm actually kind of jealous. I don't really have any friends that I can have arguments with."

"Why would you want to argue with your friends? I think having harmonious friendships is better."

"I figure that the closer you are to someone, the more you can argue with them. It means that you're willing to show your true self to them. I mean, could you imagine spending a lot of time with someone without having any disagreements whatsoever?"

"It's fine to have disagreements, but there is such a thing as incompatibility. If two people just can't get along, why force it?"

"I disagree with that! I think that it's better to surround yourself with people who have opposing viewpoints to your own. It's like solving a puzzle. You can't make a beautiful picture if you only have copies of the same piece!"

"I think life is more peaceful if like minded people stick together."

"Oh, my. Senpai, could it be… Are we having a disagreement?"

"Ah…!"

I didn't even realize it, but she was right.

She giggled and said,

"Does that mean that we're incompatible, senpai?"

"I-I guess not."

"I'm glad I could make you see things my way! Don't worry, I got something out of what you said, too. It's not like arguments are all about who's right or wrong, or who comes out as the victor, you know? It's really all about learning from one another."

Why was this first-year girl so mature?

…

…

It was becoming routine for me to head to the soccer field after classes.

After changing out of my uniform, I joined the others in the field.

There was an official game that day. Not that it mattered to me, since I was just cheering from the bench.

The coach didn't have his usual enthusiasm when we saw him. He said,

"I have bad news, everyone. It seems that a few of our players tried the new 'spicy curry challenge' at a family restaurant. Their digestive systems couldn't handle it and they are now out of commission for the next few days."

Don't tell me…

The coach turned to me and said,

"Since we have a game today, we'll have to rely on substitutes to take their place. Satou-kun, please prepare yourself to play in the game!"

…It was this kind of cliched development.

"Hah? Why can't we just forfeit if we don't have enough players?"

I said, looking for any excuse to not play.

Sure, I'd like to complete that quest, but this was too big of a step for me.

"...B-But we do have enough players. You're a substitute… You're supposed to fill in when the starters can't play."

Damn it.

Since there were lots of players in the club, I didn't think that I'd actually have to play an actual game.

To think that they'd all take on that stupid challenge…

Even though Mitsurugi and I didn't have any problems.

Mitsurugi was pale when he approached me. He leaned in and whispered,

"...I-I think it's our fault, Satou."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Think about it… We unlocked the [Heat Resistance] skill as soon as we finished the challenge. That means our digestive systems improved to handle the consequences of the spicy food. The skill saved us before our bodies digested the curry."

"I still don't see how that's a problem…"

"Well… I heard that the restaurant thought the challenge was too easy since we, the first contestants, finished it easily and didn't show any side effects. As a result, they added even more spice to the curry…"

Even though the reward was only a 50% discount and having your photo hung up on the wall.

How cheap was the owner of that restaurant?!

Once he explained it that way, I could understand why he thought it was our fault that our teammates suffered a grim fate.

That curry must have been more painful going out than in.

I made a quick prayer for their holes.

Your earnest prayer has increased your 'Faith' by +1!

After making my prayer, I said,

"...What am I supposed to do now? I'll just make a fool out of myself out there."

"Just try your best. Stick to the fundamentals and pass it to whoever is open."

He gave me as much advice as he could while doing our warmups and drills.

Half an hour later, the opposing school arrived for the match.

The bleachers were also starting to fill with spectators.

"Kyaa! Mitsurugi-kyuun! Do your best~!"

Mitsurugi had a bunch of female fans as usual.

Part 3

Once the officials arrived, the starting 11 from both schools stood in a line to bow.

"Wait… Satou, is that you?"

In front of me, there was a guy I recognized.

He used to go to the same middle school as me.

"Eh…? Satou… I heard you went to this school, but… I didn't know you played soccer?"

He said, confusion all over his face.

"...I didn't feel like the quality of our middle school team was worthy of my skills."

I said, trying to rile him up.

"Hah?! Oi… Just because we went to the same middle school, I won't go easy on you! I don't care how good you are!"

Your 'Cunning' has increased by +1!

He fell for it so easily.

Once we went back to our side, Mitsurugi who witnessed the interaction said,

"Satou… Why are you antagonizing your former schoolmate?"

I looked around before saying,

"They don't know that I actually suck. I figured that we could use that to our advantage."

"...I don't know what you're planning but I guess I'll go along with it."

Since the only thing I could do was pass and dribble a little bit, the coach slotted me in at Midfield.

It was still an important position, but he also couldn't trust me at defense and there was no way I could handle the responsibilities of a Forward.

…Also, most of the guys who got hit by the curry challenge played as Midfielders. It was the position with the biggest gap.

Which also described their holes after eating all that curry.

Our team ran a '4-2-3-1' formation. Since they couldn't trust me as a Defensive Midfielder, they assigned me as an Attacking Midfielder.

"I believe in the potential sleeping within you, Satou-kun…"

The ever optimistic coach, who just gave me a vital position in the attacking patterns of the team, said this.

As the game was about to start, my former schoolmate glared at me, as did a lot of the other members of his team.

He probably told everyone about what I said.

The game started with our possession.

Mitsurugi kicked the ball back to me.

"Get him!"

The agitated frontline of the other team rushed to swarm me.

"Let's see… Place the ball like this… And…"

All the passing practice paid off as I sent a lob pass over the heads of the swarming players.

"...!"

Even the one who received it, Mitsurugi, was surprised.

"Huh?!"

The opposing players turned back to try and block Mitsurugi.

He held the ball, posting up the Midfielder who tried to stop him. The Wingers rushed forward and received a pass from Mitsurugi.

A simple 1-2 pass from the left winger to Mitsurugi and he was off, sprinting towards the goal.

…I have to admit, watching Mitsurugi up close in a real match… He was one hell of a talented player.

He sent a curving shot that the goalkeeper had no chance of saving. Just like that, it was a 1-0 lead for us.

"Kyaa! Mitsurugi-kun! You're so cool!"

"Hey… Who's that Midfielder who made the pass?! How come we've never seen him play before?!"

"It seems our school has been hiding a secret weapon, just for this moment…"

The peanut gallery was getting all kinds of misconceptions about me.

After that goal, the opposing team got even more wary of me.

My former schoolmate walked past me and said,

"...It seems that you really were hiding your skill all this time, Satou. Why didn't you play with us back then?! We could have made the nationals if we had you!"

I chuckled and turned around.

"That kind of 'what-if' mentality is why I didn't consider you worthy… If you want to prove yourself, then show me your strength…"

"...! Fine! I'll show you that I'm not the same weakling I was back then…!"

This dude read way too much sports manga if he thought people actually talked like this.

This time, the opposing team was on offense.

I was able to stand around and preserve my energy while the defense did most of the work.

They kept a Defensive Midfielder to keep an eye on me at all times. That pass really left an impression on them.

It took a while until our team was able to retain possession and work up a series of passes that reached the midfield.

In the meantime… While I didn't have the ball…

"[Lurk]..."

I hid my presence from the Midfielder marking me.

"Oi… Over here…"

I held my hand up to my teammate who had the ball.

He seemed surprised that I was free from my mark, but still sent the ball my way with a long pass.

My first touch was atrocious, but I had a lot of free space, giving me lots of time to control the pass.

I controlled the ball with my inside foot and advanced forward.

"...! Catch him! Don't let Satou get away!"

"[Escape]."

My footspeed increased when I used the newly learned [Escape] skill.

With all this space, the opposing team's defense was forced to pay attention to me.

I moved to the right side of the field, towards my own winger.

At first he was confused why I was running towards him, but I gestured to the left. He nodded and made a horizontal run to the left.

I made a simple pass to the winger who received the ball in free space, the midfield area that I vacated.

"Shit…! Switch to the winger!"

As soon as they glanced away from me…

"[Lurk]."

I made an overlapping run down the right side.

"Oi… Free again…"

"Eh?!"

The winger was surprised once more to see me open again.

I received the ball from him near the last line of defense.

"H-How'd he get there?!"

The defense went forward to try and trap me.

"...How do I cross again? Oh, well, I hope you catch this…"

Since I knew that my crossing was awful, I just kicked up a wild cross towards where I saw Mitsurugi was, hoping that he'd get it.

"...?! What kind of shitty cross is that, Satou?! Hah!"

Mitsurugi rose up… And that bastard actually did a bicycle kick to catch my awful pass.

The ball went in, making the score 2-0.

"Good work."

I said, running up to Mitsurugi and helping him up.

"...We're working on your crosses after this."

He said, standing up and wiping off the grass from his kit.

Then he leaned in and whispered to me,

"Oi… You were using skills, weren't you?"

"...I figured that it counts as a 'talent', so I went ahead and used it."

"That's cheating!"

"I'm a total beginner, so it's fine for me to cheat a little."

"So you admit that it's cheating… Whatever. Aside from the use of skills, everything else was perfectly executed, anyway. You might actually have some talent."

Our teammates caught up and surrounded us, celebrating the goal.

"Who knew that Satou was this good?!"

"If we have Satou and Mitsurugi… We might make it to nationals?!"

"A new deadly combination is born!"

After my team was done celebrating, my former schoolmate walked over to talk to me again.

"...I admit, Satou… You're good. You might have won this time… But next time I'll definitely beat you!"

Did this guy forget that the game wasn't over yet?

Part 4

The game ended with a 2-0 victory for us.

We spent the rest of the game turtling up and focusing on defense to maintain the 2 goal lead.

In the locker room, the coach embraced me and cried tears of happiness.

"...I knew you had it in you, Satou-kun! I knew I saw talent in you!"

They were treating me as if I was the Man of the Match, even though Mitsurugi was the one who scored two goals.

Once I checked my phone, I saw two new notifications.

Quest completed! You played in an official soccer game! You gained +2 on all your 'Physical' stats!

Your superior vision on the field has allowed you to learn the [Farsight] skill!

[Farsight] Skill Rank: 1, Active Skill (5 mp cost)

You can see objects and creatures 60 miles away. If your vision isn't 20/20 already, you will have perfect vision whenever this skill is activated.

Playing in that game gave me quite a big yield…

I changed back into my uniform. Mitsurugi caught up with me as I was about to leave.

"...You're always quick to leave."

"That's because I don't spend all my time socializing in the change room. I just get changed and leave."

"Why are you so antisocial?!"

"I'm only antisocial towards overly social people, though."

"...What does that even mean? Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks for filling up the vacant spots like that. It was unreasonable for the coach to put a complete newbie in, but not only did you go along with it, you even played really well."

I rubbed the back of my head, wondering why I even bothered playing well.

If I played poorly, that would guarantee that the coach would never put me in a game again.

"I guess it was fun beating all those guys. It's like… I'm a total noob when it comes to the sport and I don't even like playing it, but I still managed to beat those guys who have been playing their whole lives. It was incredibly satisfying."

"...There's something seriously wrong with you, Satou."

We talked a bit more. When we parted ways, my phone buzzed in my pocket.

Your bond with Mitsurugi Kyouya has deepened!

Mitsurugi Kyouya (Soccer Club Ace), Bond Rank: 3

At Rank 3, Mitsurugi Kyouya will view you as a teammate who he can rely on in emergencies. He will gladly do favors for you if you help him get closer with Aqua. He will give you tips when it comes to the dungeon if you ask and he has time. Staying on the soccer team and working hard in practice will deepen your bond with him.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Bond Rank-Up Reward: +10 Strength

…Why did this guy's bond rank-ups give out such good rewards?!

I'd never gotten a +10 in anything before…

With 54 'Strength' I was only just a bit above the average person, though.

Why were my stats so bad? That was the real question.

…

…

On the way home, I bought something from the convenience store that I also worked part-time in.

Since it wasn't my shift, there was another new employee working there, one that the manager just hired recently.

I gave him a look of understanding, since I was in the same position.

When I got home, I saw Aqua on the couch, playing with Kazuto's Nintendo Switch while lying prone.

She turned her head when I walked in and made a disgusted face, turning back around.

Seems she was still angry about our fight.

I walked over to her and took out the sparkling juice I bought from the convenience store.

I pressed the bottle against her cheek.

"Wah! So cold! What was that for, jerk?!"

"This is for you. You like fizzy drinks that go 'shuwa shuwa', right?"

"...D-Do you think this is enough to make me forgive you?"

She grabbed the drink anyway.

I sighed and sat beside her on the couch when she made room for me.

"Look… Maybe I shouldn't have said that I was giving up on facing the Demon King. I know that beating him is the only way for you to return home."

If I got dragged off into a world that wasn't my own, and the guy who was tasked to bring me back said that he had given up, I would have gotten mad, too.

"...As long as you understand. I'm sorry for calling Kazuma a pathetic virgin who will never get laid."

"You don't need to repeat it."

She opened the bottle and started drinking straight from it.

"Puwah! I wish it was alcoholic, but that still hits the spot! Oi, get me some snacks to eat with this."

She was back to her bossy self.

I got her some chips from the pantry as my final peace offering, then went upstairs.

Your bond with Aqua has deepened!

Aqua (Water Goddess), Bond Rank: 4

At Rank 4, Aqua will act reasonable if you ask her to. She will listen to your demands if you ask nicely. She sees you as a reliable housemate who will do things for her if she bugs you enough. She sees you as someone she can mooch off, so she won't leave you alone.

Bond Rank-Up Reward: +10 Faith

Another +10 reward…

I didn't really care about this one, though.

What did the 'Faith' stat even do?

…In the end, she gave me another useless reward.

Part 5

"Yes… He will need to take the day off again this week… His sickness is… Eh? He played in a soccer game yesterday?! Kazuma did?! Erm… Y-Yes… That's exactly why he needs a break, because of his frail body…"

I had my father call the school and get them to give me a day off on Saturday again.

With the day off, I wanted to go to the dungeon and grind some levels.

"Oi, Aqua, I'm going to the dungeon. Wanna come with?"

"...Go away. I wanna sleep."

Even though she made such a big deal about wanting to train at the dungeon…

I kept prodding her, but she wouldn't move.

I left her alone and headed to the dungeon by myself.

However, on my way there…

Somewhere outside the city, there was a faint sound of something blowing up.

Everyone in the street turned their eyes to the sound, but when it disappeared, they went back to what they were doing.

…These people sure were carefree.

As for me, I headed to the source instead of going to the dungeon.

"I knew it was you…"

I ended up in some abandoned junkyard.

There, I found a girl who had collapsed on the ground.

"...That was the best explosion yet."

It was the chuunibyou explosion enthusiast, Megumin.

I helped her up, supporting her arm as she dusted off her school uniform.

"Ah, Kazuma… It seems you're also ditching school."

"I'm not ditching. The school allowed me to take the day off."

"...! W-What sorcery did you use?! You must teach me!"

She clutched my shirt and pressed her face way too close to mine.

"Nevermind that. Why are you ditching school, Megumin? Not only are you ditching school, you're even committing domestic terrorism."

"I wish you wouldn't call it that. After all, this junkyard is abandoned, as you can see."

"You're really good at rationalizing your destructive tendencies, huh?"

"Hehe… Is that true?"

"I'm not complimenting you."

I tried helping her walk around, but she couldn't even move her legs. Instead, I settled for giving her a piggyback ride again. I said,

"This is becoming a recurring theme whenever I meet you."

"That must mean that you're destined to walk the path of explosions with me!"

"No, thanks."

"Eh?! Why not?!"

I carried her out of the junkyard before the police or some emergency responder could arrive to assess the cause of the mysterious explosion.

I soon found a small park and sat her down on a bench, getting a juice for the both of us to drink.

"This is the second time you've treated me. I won't forget this…"

"You can pay the 1,650 yen in total you owe me for the last meal and this drink."

"Y-You remember the exact total, huh? Haha…"

She started nervously averting her gaze.

"Alright, mind telling me exactly why you're blowing up a junkyard?"

"...It's an abandoned junkyard."

"Whatever! Just tell me why you're randomly blowing things up!"

"I received a quest telling me to blow up an abandoned junkyard at exactly 10 am."

"...Why are your quests so oddly specific? And why do they always involve destruction of property in the real world?"

I was very worried about this girl. She should be on a watchlist.

"The quests are my only real way to progress, since I can't exactly go into the dungeon by myself…"

"Didn't you mention a friend named Yunyun before?"

"She's not my friend. She's more like my fan."

"...I don't know this Yunyun personally, but I bet she'd object to that."

Megumin sipped the apple juice I gave her and said,

"Yunyun is a sell-out who is learning ordinary magic and has refused to follow the path of explosions with me. As such, she is too powerful for the beginner floors and I forbade her from coming along with me."

"She's someone with common sense, huh? How unusual for someone who is your friend."

"She's not my friend. She's more like a wounded puppy that likes to follow me around."

Why did the description change?

Although the nickname 'Yunyun' would actually fit a dog more than a real person.

"Well, then… I bet you can recover on your own if you just sit here for a few more minutes. I gotta get going now…"

"Hold it."

Megumin grabbed my arm before I could stand up and leave.

"Huh? Do you need to go to the toilet?"

"Not that! You're going to the dungeon, aren't you?"

How perceptive.

"...What makes you say that?"

"Why else would you skip class and head to the city? I can't imagine you going on a date."

"Do I really give that kind of impression?"

I tried to shake off her hand, but she had a surprisingly strong grip.

"Take me to the dungeon."

"Never."

"You didn't even think about it!"

With what happened last time, it wasn't strange for me to turn her down.

Just as I was about to ditch her…

"Please take me with you to the dungeon! I'll do anything if you let me come back!"

Several people turned their heads to look at us when Megumin started screaming.

"What are you talking about?!"

I tried to cover her mouth but she bit it.

"Owww!"

I heard people talking about us.

"...Dungeon? Is she talking about some weird BDSM thing?"

"Poor girl… That scumbag made her addicted to some kind of strange dungeon play, and now he's throwing her away once he's had his fun…"

"I mean… If he doesn't want her anymore, can I have her?"

Megumin gave me a smug smile as a crowd started to form around us.

"Fine! You win!"

"Heh… Next time don't even bother opposing me and just do as you're told!"

I picked her up again and carried her to the dungeon.

Part 6

Megumin was able to walk again once we arrived.

"...Why do you even want to come with me? Not only is your explosion magic useless in a dungeon, you already used it. I doubt you have enough mana to use it again."

"I can still finish off enemies with this…!"

She took out her phone and a staff came out from her inventory.

It had a wooden shaft and a red crystal at the top.

"I got this from a Random Loot Box I got after finishing that quest at the junkyard."

"Oh…! Can it recover mana, or something?"

"Even better! It amplifies my magic power!"

"Why do you need even more power? That's the last thing you need. Go ahead and sell that thing. It must be rare, right?"

"...D-Don't tempt me. I know that I can buy a full month's worth of groceries if I sell this!"

"Then why don't you sell it?"

"Because it's cool."

I was tempted to leave her at the entrance.

However, knowing that she'd find a way to make my life hell if I did that, I let her come along with me.

"Are you telling me that you'll use that staff to fight monsters? I doubt it does a lot of physical damage."

"It's still a blunt object, you know. It can do a fair bit of damage. And for some reason my 'Strength' score is pretty high…"

"What is it?"

"Right now, it's 60."

I stopped walking, causing her to bump against my back.

"Ow! Why'd you suddenly stop…?!"

I turned to her just as she was rubbing her forehead.

"...Why are you looking at me like that? I-It can't be… Now that you have me alone in a place where no one can find us, you're going to do perverted things?!"

"Don't mind me. I'm just thinking to myself that life is unfair and needlessly cruel."

"I understand. My father occasionally has those moments. I believe they're called a 'midlife crisis'..."

"How old do you think I am?! You and I are pretty much about the same age, you know?!"

"Sorry… Those bags under your eyes add a couple years. I recommend sleeping early and washing your face with cold water when you wake up."

Even though I had a proper sleep schedule these days, it was hard to undo all those late gaming sessions I enjoyed as a NEET.

As we were walking, I held a hand out to stop Megumin.

[Enemy Detection] was telling me that there were creatures ahead.

…Although I didn't sense a high threat-level from them.

When we peeked around the corner, we saw some lizards skittering around.

"Huh? What are those? They don't look like monsters…"

Megumin said, as we were huddled together and looking around the corner.

"These are just normal creatures that are there for the monsters to hunt and eat. These monsters still need to eat and drink. They don't just randomly spawn like mobs in games. They also need to breed and procreate, that's why sometimes you don't see a lot of monsters."

"I see. Let's kill them."

She took out her staff and ran forward, using it like a hammer to pummel down the lizards who couldn't run away in time.

"Oiii! Didn't you hear me?! The monsters eat these things! If you kill them, we won't have as many monsters to hunt!"

"Oh, these things give out quite a bit of EXP, and they don't even fight back."

"...Come again?"

Megumin showed me that killing those weak lizards gave her 5 EXP each.

"Are you telling me all this time that I could have hunted those creatures instead of fighting dangerous monsters?"

"Sigh… Don't worry, it's not your fault. Not everyone has the intelligence of a Crimson Demon like me…"

I wanted to chop the back of her head to make those fake eye contacts of hers fall out.

Megumin and I proceeded to fall into a pattern of avoiding monsters and hunting the helpless creatures.

Mostly they were insects like beetles and caterpillars, along with the lizards that we found earlier.

"Kazuma… That sword you have…"

Megumin said, noticing my katana.

I smirked and held it for her to see. I said,

"I got it custom made. Not bad, right?"

"It's quite excellent, for sure. Does it have a name yet?"

"I haven't thought of one yet. I was thinking something manly like Excali…"

"Chunchunmaru."

"Huh?"

I lost my train of thought when Megumin said that.

"That's the name of your sword now. Chunchunmaru."

"No way."

I ignored Megumin's suggestion and kept walking.

Eventually, we came across a small pond in the lake.

I came across this pond before in the past, but aside from killing the monsters who gathered around it to drink water, I didn't really interact with it in any special way. I didn't want to risk drinking from a random pond I found in a dungeon, after all.

Megumin didn't even hesitate. She dipped her head into the water and started gulping down mouthfuls of it.

"...?! Oi! What would you do if that was toxic to humans?!"

I pulled her head out of the pond and started to do the Heimlich maneuver on her to get her to spit the water out.

"Let go of me! I found something really good in that pond!"

She pushed me away and went back to dipping her head into the pond.

A few seconds later, her head reemerged.

She turned around and showed me that she had two crawfish in both hands.

…What kind of savage girl is she?

She had a proud smile on her face and waved the crawfish around.

"There's a bunch of them in that pond, Kazuma! Come on, help me catch them!"

I didn't really feel like it, but I figured that I might get something if I cooked those crawfish.

I helped Megumin gather a bunch of them, although I wasn't as skilled as her when it came to capturing the slippery things.

You learned the [Fishing] skill!

[Fishing] Skill Rank: 1, Passive Skill

You are now proficient in using fishing tools. Your fishing skill depends on your 'Intuition' (60) score. You can fish aquatic creatures that are ranked as 'Common'.

…I didn't think that I'd actually get a skill from that.

Not only that, gathering those crawfish even gave some EXP.

Part 7

On the train, people avoided us again.

That was because the duffel bag I had was stuffed with creature carcasses, including the crawfish.

We couldn't fit everything in our inventories, and Megumin insisted that I bring them home with me.

She also insisted that I let her come over to my place, to cook all the 'food' we captured.

"We're gonna have a feast today! I should bring some home for Komekko…"

"What's a Komekko?"

"My little sister."

"You even give your sister a weird nickname?"

Even though it was embarrassing, I was getting used to having people avoid me on the train after a visit to the dungeon.

Your 'Bravery' has increased by +1!

Even the app recognized that I was getting used to the humiliation.

Once we got home, Megumin took half of the carcasses in my duffel bag, took a grill and headed outside.

She left me with the crawfish.

I simply boiled them and ended up putting them in miso soup.

Once it was done, I scanned it with the app.

Boiled Crawfish Miso Soup - Common

Eating this will give you +2 Health.

After I finished making the dish, Megumin came back with a tray full of fried skewers.

Fried insects, fried lizards and some other things I didn't recognize.

"Throw those away."

"I won't let them go to waste!"

I was worried that the neighbors would complain about the smell of grilled insects in the air.

Aqua came down, smelling the food.

When Megumin saw Aqua, she blinked and said,

"Wait, you two live together? How indecent."

"It's not like that."

Even though I didn't want anything to do with the fried insects and lizards, Megumin and Aqua sat down on the table and started eating them.

Megumin already showed me that she had a wild side to her, but I didn't expect Aqua to start chowing down on the food.

"Aqua, why are you eating that stuff so easily?"

She chuckled, waving a fried lizard skewer around.

"Do you think I'm dumb? Since you two caught these together, I assume you were from the dungeon, yes? Therefore, I can conclude that these are actually some kind of dungeon monster that can be consumed as food, such as Flying Cabbages and Flying Lettuce."

"Actually, they're just random insects and lizards we found roaming around the dungeon."

Aqua immediately spit out the beetle legs and lizard tail in her mouth.

"Why are you two hunting the critters in the dungeon?! Those things are monster feed, you know?!"

Megumin was chewing on a worm-like thing when she said,

"They give out just as much EXP as monsters. Why wouldn't we hunt them?"

"...They give out a lot of EXP because they're supposed to make monsters grow at a faster rate! Why do you think you always see mature monsters around, and not a bunch of younglings!"

"All the more reason to eat them."

"Argh! Do you not understand the consequences of this…?! If the young monsters can't defend themselves, the parents will… Eh? It seems that eating these things raised my Health Points?"

Aqua resumed eating the skewers when she found out that they raised Health Points.

"..."

Knowing this, I ended up eating them, too.

…They actually weren't that bad.

Your 'Health' has increased by +1!

…

…

"Thanks for the meal."

Megumin said, when I saw her out as she was about to leave.

"...You shouldn't use your explosion alone. If you collapse like that, you'll be in trouble if some perverted guy finds you."

"Kazuma found me but you didn't do anything."

She really thought I was a pervert.

Aqua laughed and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Don't worry about this guy! He's a pervert, but he's also a coward! Even if he has the desire to violate a girl, he'll never act upon it. He's completely harmless!"

"Enough with the slander."

I said, shaking off her hand from my shoulder.

"Seriously, though. Just call me next time if you get a quest like that again."

Megumin seemed surprised by my offer, but she smiled.

"Once you make a promise, I'll hold you to it."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm not as much of a scumbag as everyone seems to think I am."

"Well, then… Farewell."

"Later."

We waved goodbye to Megumin.

Your bond with Megumin has deepened!

Megumin (Explosion Mage), Bond Rank: 2

At Rank 2, Megumin considers you as a slightly reliable guy who seems really perverted. She noticed the way you took the chance to grope her butt while you were carrying her. She thinks that you seem like a nice guy and you have potential as an explosion sommelier. If you offer to help her practice her explosion magic, she will readily agree.

Bond Reward: Magic Power +5

…Why did it seem like her opinion of me got worse after the rank up?

The good news was that I finally managed to raise my Magic Power.

"Megumin has more useful bond rewards than Aqua, huh?"

"...Kazuma, if you want to fight, I'm more than willing to give you a fight!"

"Why don't you wash the dishes, instead? You're the goddess of water, right? You should be good at chores that involve water."

"D-Don't reduce my divinity to that of simple chores! And what's with you going to the dungeon with Megumin and not taking me along, huh?!"

"I tried to wake you up, but you're too damn lazy."

"I don't want to hear that from you!"

Even though we just recently made up, Aqua and I started arguing again.