“Explooosion!”
✦ ✦ ✦
Megumin, with the satchel full of manatite on her back, let off an explosion from the balcony.
“Megumin?!” Yunyun exclaimed when she noticed her friend beside her. “Wait, what are you doing?!”
“Explosion! Explosion!!”
“Stop! Megumin, stop it! You’ve got a nosebleed! Blood is coming from your nose!”
I came out on the balcony to stop Megumin from attacking the Demon King’s army, but from that vantage point, I could see the troops below had been thrown into disarray by the sudden series of magical explosions. I saw someone running away in tears as monsters covered her retreat. That must be the Demon King’s daughter.
“Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! I am the Demon King Megumin! Conqueror of this castle and the world’s strongest Arch-wizard! Any fool who dares approach my castle shall be blown into oblivion by my unstoppable power!”
“Megumin, calm down! We didn’t defeat one Demon King just to have another one pop up!”
She was so right. I desperately didn’t want any more trouble coming my way.
Well, it looked like it was time.
“Yunyun, get Teleport ready. I’m out of MP.”
“Huh? Oh! I only have enough magic left to use it maybe twice… But here we’ve got…”
Teleport could transport up to four people at a time, but now that I’d brought Eris here, we had nine people.
“I see there’s no choice. Take this, Kazuma.” Megumin, enjoying a brief, but much-needed break from cowing the Demon King’s daughter and her forces with Explosion, wiped her nose furiously and handed me a chunk of manatite.
“Hey, uh, try not to overdo it, okay?” I said.
“Well, after getting such a rich gift from you, Kazuma, I feel I must repay you somehow. Although a certain someone doesn’t seem very bothered by any of this.”
“Wha—? Oh…! Who, me? Are you talking about me?!” Darkness exclaimed.
What was she saying anyway? That the castle itself was repayment for the manatite? I felt like I was getting a lot more than I’d given. Wait… What was I supposed to do with a castle full of monsters anyway?
“Okay, uh, all right, everyone, gather over here, please. I’ll use Teleport to get us out of here!” Yunyun said, and the others clustered around her.
“Hold on! Heal Kyouya first! I think his pulse is dropping!”
“He’s hardly breathing…!”
“Lady Eris, I just can’t shake the feeling that you and I have met somewhere before…”
“N-n-n-no, we definitely have not! Oh, but I don’t know what I’m going to do now…”
With everyone chattering excitedly, Yunyun activated her first burst of Teleport.
“Teleport!”
Eris, Mitsurugi, and his two friends were swept away, leaving five people in the room.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Ohhh… Sniff… Sniff…”
✦ ✦ ✦
Yunyun put a hand on Aqua’s shoulder; the goddess seemed intent on sniffling for as long as possible. Megumin lined up beside them, followed by Darkness, wiping some blood off her cheek.
“Here I go again,” Yunyun said. “I’ll see you in Axel, all right, Kazuma?” And then she shouted, “Teleport!” and disappeared.
✦ ✦ ✦
For some reason, though, Aqua was still there, sniffling away.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Huh? What’s going on? Why didn’t Teleport work on you?”
“B-because I didn’t…sniff…w-want it to! Hic!” Aqua wiped her nose.
“Oh, for—! Even at the very end, you have to act like a brat, don’t you?”
“N-no! That’s not it! Hear me out!” Aqua said quickly, her eyes still full of tears. “There’s something I want to say! Just maybe not…in front of the others…”
“I can’t believe you! This isn’t the time for that kind of talk! While we’re standing here, the enemy is pouring in! Who knows when they’ll show up?!” I shouted, but Aqua, tears still hovering at the corners of her eyes, didn’t look like she was going to say anything.
Not far away, I heard someone (or maybe several people) bustling around. They hadn’t taken the trap that Aqua and I had used to get here but must have come up the stairs or whatever it was you were supposed to do. I was definitely on edge as I waited for Aqua to say whatever it was she was going to say. She wiped her tears and began, “Hey, Kazuma…”
“What? Get it out already! Look, I’m sorry for leaving you behind, but I really did plan to come get you eventually!”
Aqua, though, shook her head. “Um… Look, even I know… Well, I know I’m not the absolute smartest person in the whole world, right?”
“Uh-huh. I might say you’re probably one of the dumbest. What’s your point?”
Aqua gritted her teeth for a second at that, but then her expression softened again. “Well, since we both agree on that… I won’t try to find the perfect words. I’ll just put it as simply as I can.”
“Seriously, what is it? How many ways can I tell you to hurry up?! Listen, you can hear footsteps outside!” And indeed, from the other side of the chamber door, we could hear a loud thudding coming closer. I was pretty much panicking already, but Aqua gave me her most beatific smile and said:
✦ ✦ ✦
“Thank you.”
✦ ✦ ✦
…I never, in my whole entire life, thought a day would come when my heart would skip a beat because of her. But here we were.
✦ ✦ ✦
