At the Adventurers Guild the next day:
“………Where are they?” Aqua groaned.
We’d posted a notice that we were seeking party members and then set up shop at a table in a far corner of the Guild Hall…but so far we’d been sitting here for more than half the day, and not one candidate for “Future Hero” had shown up.
Maybe no one had seen our posting.
There were lots of other adventurers looking for party members. But they seemed to have one interview after another and then, after a friendly chat, would go off somewhere with their new ally.
I knew why no one was coming to our table.
“Maybe we need to lower our standards a little. I get that we’re trying to defeat the Demon King here, but the part that says, ‘Only those of advanced classes need apply’ is probably putting people off.”
“Uhh… But… But…”
The class system in this fantasy world included what were called “advanced classes.” Aqua’s class, Arch-priest, was an example. It was a stage normal people would never reach—heroes of legend, if you will. And obviously, most everyone with that kind of talent had already found parties…
Aqua was probably just looking to get the most powerful people we could to help us take on the Demon King. But…
“At this rate, no one’s going to show up. Anyway, you might be an advanced class, but I have the lowest job there is. How can I hold my head up if my entire party’s full of elite characters? Let’s cast a wider net, please?” As I spoke, I made to stand up. But then…
“I saw the notice seeking adventurers of advanced classes. Is this the right place?”
I met a red eye that looked oddly languid, almost sleepy. Full black hair that just barely reached the shoulders.
The girl who’d spoken to us was the very image of a spell-caster: black mantle and black robe, black boots, a staff, even a pointy hat. She had doll-like features—one of those “Lolita” types.
I knew it wasn’t unusual in this world for children to work, but this girl couldn’t have been more than twelve or thirteen. She was short and wore a patch over one eye, and suddenly she threw back her mantle and declared: “I am Megumin! I am of the occupation Arch-wizard, one who wields the most powerful of all offensive magics, Explosion!”
“…Are you messing with us?”
“I—I am not!”
She didn’t seem to expect me to dismiss her self-introduction.
And what was with that name, anyway?
“…That red eye. Are you one of the Crimson Magic Clan?”
The girl nodded at Aqua’s question and passed her Adventurer’s Card to Aqua.
“Indeed I am! I am Megumin, first among the spell-casters of the Crimson Magic Clan! My ultimate magic can level mountains and shatter stone…! Y-you don’t happen to need an exceptional magic-user, do you? …And if you will pardon my asking, could you give me something to eat before we start the interview? I haven’t had a bite to eat in three days…” She looked at us pleadingly.
At the same moment, her stomach gave a loud gurgle.
“I don’t mind treating you,” I said. “But what’s with the eye patch? If you’re injured, Aqua here can fix you up.”
“…Heh. This is a magic item that restrains my incredible power. If I removed it…why, then a great calamity would come upon this world…”
“Wow, really? So it’s like some kind of seal?”
“Oh, no, I made all that up just now. I just think it looks cool… Ow! I’m sorry! Stop! Please don’t pull on it!”
“All right, let me fill in Kazuma,” Aqua said as I tugged on Megumin’s eye patch. “These kids, the Crimson Magic Clan, are born with exceptionally high Intelligence and Magic, making it easy for them to become expert spell-casters. They’re distinguished by their red eyes, which give them their name and…well, their weird personal names.”
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✦ ✦ ✦
Huh. I’d thought she was just teasing me about the eye patch and the name.
I let the patch go, and Megumin collected herself.
“Weird names, indeed! From my perspective it is everyone else in town who has a weird name.”
“…Out of curiosity, what were your parents’ names?”
“My mother is Yuiyui. My father, Hyoizaburou!”
Aqua and I looked at her in silence.
“…Well, anyway. You said this kid’s people turn out a lot of great magic-users? How about we take her, then?”
“Hey! If you have something to say about my parents’ names, let us hear it!” Megumin shoved her face up close to mine. Aqua quickly returned her Adventurer’s Card.
“Why not? You can’t forge an Adventurer’s Card, and this girl’s definitely an Arch-wizard, an advanced class capable of powerful offensive magic. If she really can use Explosion, that would be a big deal. That’s supposed to be among the most difficult magic to master.”
“Hey,” Megumin said hotly, “you do not have to call me this girl all the time. Use my name.”
I passed her a menu. “Calm down and order something. I’m Kazuma. This is Aqua. Pleasure to meet you, Arch-wizard.”
Megumin looked like she was about to say something, then silently took the menu.
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“Explosion is the most powerful of magics. But it takes time to prepare in proportion to its power. I will need you to hold that toad at bay until I am ready.”
Aqua, the now-sated Megumin, and I had come to get some revenge on the Giant Toads.
We could see one of them far off across the field. It had noticed us and was coming closer. But we could also see other toads approaching from the opposite direction.
“Use your magic to target the one that’s farther away. As for the closer ones…well, here we go, Aqua. Time to get our payback. You keep telling me you used to be a—y’know. Why don’t you show me what you can do?”
“What do you mean, used to be?! It’s present tense: I am a goddess! I’m just an Arch-priest for now!”
Megumin gave the self-proclaimed goddess a strange look as Aqua strangled me with tears flying from her eyes.
“A…goddess?”
“…I-is what she calls herself! Poor kid. Sometimes she just lets it slip, you know? Don’t pay her any attention.” As I spoke, Megumin looked sympathetically at Aqua.
The tearful Aqua made a fist and lunged desperately at the nearest frog.
“Whatever! I know Giant Toads are supposed to be resistant to physical attacks, but this time I’m going to show you what a goddess can do! Just you watch, Kazuma! I didn’t get my glory last time, but today—!”
With that, Aqua, who seemed to have learned nothing from her previous foray into a frog’s digestive system, ceased to move and stalled the Giant Toad in her own way.
Only a true goddess would sacrifice herself to buy her allies some time!
That was when the air around Megumin began to tremble.
Even I, who didn’t know the first thing about magic, could see that what Megumin was cooking up was serious stuff. Her voice grew louder as she chanted the incantation, and a single bead of sweat rolled down her forehead.
“Behold! The most powerful magic known to mankind! This is truly the ultimate attack magic!”
The end of Megumin’s staff began to glow. The vast light condensed until it was tiny but piercingly bright. Megumin’s red eye glowed as she opened it wide.
“Explosion!!”
A single beam of light flew across the field. It raced from the end of her staff and enveloped the frog that was coming in our direction.
Then I saw the effect of this dire magic.
The frog burst into tiny pieces with a light bright enough to set your head spinning and a roar that shook the air. I planted my feet and covered my eyes against a shock wave that threatened to send me flying. When the smoke cleared, a twenty-meter-wide crater lay where the creature had been, speaking to the awesomeness of the blast.
“In-cred-ible! So this is magic…” At that moment, while I was admiring Megumin’s spell, a Giant Toad—perhaps awakened by the sound and the shock wave—crawled up from under the ground.
I’d been wondering how the toads survived in an area without rainfall or a major water source, but I’d never thought they might do it by living underground.
The toad was crawling out near Megumin but moving very slowly.
I just had to get her back far enough to prepare another explosion.
“Megumin! Let’s fall back, then we can hit them agai—”
That was as far as I got before I saw Megumin…and stopped in my tracks.
She had collapsed.
“M-my magic is utterly powerful, b-but it takes strength e-equal to its power… I’ve overexerted myself and w-will not be moving for a while… Oh, who could have known a toad would appear right near me? This is trouble. I shall be eaten. P-please help—Mfffgh?!”
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I finished off the two toads Megumin and Aqua had immobilized. And so it was that we did actually kill five Giant Toads in three days…
Quest successful.