Chapter 28

Aqua relentlessly chewed me out while I leaned into Kazuma’s back as he carried me to the capital. “Unbelievable, Megumin. Unbelievable. The only thing that makes you useful is your explosion magic, and you missed. You’re not Megumin without your explosion magic. You’re just Min.” “There is a lot to unpack here, but the first thing I want to know is why Megu is in charge of explosions. It should be Megumi at the very least.” “That makes it sound like your explosion magic is more important than you as a person, Megumin. Are you sure you’re fine with that?” The liger had remained frozen after its den was destroyed and stared at us to see what we would do. After that, Burton, overly excited, suddenly tried to reason with the liger, but it simply put the heirloom in its mouth down on the ground and left for some reason. “That Crystal Liger was extremely unique, wasn’t it? It was as if it could understand what we were saying!” Burton mirthfully exclaimed, thrilled I hadn’t killed the liger. It really had looked like it understood what we were saying. Burton had told it things like it would eventually be hunted again, since we were near the capital, and how we wouldn’t hurt it as long as it gave us back the family heirloom in its mouth, but the entire time, the liger simply stared quietly at me. “I feel like I’ve seen that liger somewhere before. But we have a deep affinity with Beginner’s Banes, so maybe that’s why I felt some sort of connection with another liger-type monster…,” Kazuma mentioned curiously while tilting his head to the side and carrying me on his back. “You have way too many acquaintances, Kazuma. First demons, then undead, and now you’ve finally extended to wild beasts as well, huh?” “I’m pretty sure Darkness is the only one interested in wild beasts.” Darkness held on dearly to her family heirloom and gave it a hug. “I-I’m just happy I got my family heirloom back. Everything else that happened during this adventure is just a bonus. Now that I think about it, I probably came out on top today.” “That’s because all you had to do was let a beast pin you down on the ground. You were at least more useful than Aqua, though.” Even feeling exhausted from having my mana depleted was nice after finishing an adventure with everyone. “Not so fast. Did you forget about the party trick I did to save the day? Darkness couldn’t take her eyes off me.” “I told you to distract the liger, not Darkness.” “But, Kazuma, that trick was amazing. You have to show it to me again once we get home, Aqua.” I felt myself growing sleepy, perhaps due to the mana depletion. “Scholars of nature, I would just like to express my gratitude for your help. I learned today that the Crystal Liger, a creature shrouded in mystery, may actually understand our tongue. That alone is a huge win in my book!” Not only Darkness but also Burton seemed to be elated. “Hey, Professor Burton. I didn’t get the gems I was hoping for, so could I have your autograph when we get back to the capital? In return, I’ll listen to whatever you want to talk about.” “Very well, my dear! I’ll give you however many autographs you’d like! So you want to know more about my work and me, huh? Well, first of all, most liger-type monsters’ feces are black because of the color of their hair under their crystal body!” Burton began giving a lecture on monster feces as if he was the happiest man in the world. “Psst. Aqua. I thought you already got an autograph?” “He’s apparently famous, so a few more wouldn’t hurt, right? What are you going to do if they sell for a high price?” “Absolutely nothing.” Listening to their exchange, I pondered why I had purposely missed the liger with my spell. Oh, right. Wolfberries. When Burton mentioned Crystal Ligers liked wolfberries, I’d suddenly remembered when I befriended an herbivorous Beginner’s Bane a long time ago. It wasn’t easy, but I’d managed to save it from a nobleman in Axel. I wondered if that crimson-eyed Beginner’s Bane was still doing well. There was something about the Crystal Liger today that reminded me of it. Perhaps it was because they both liked wolfberry fruit and were of the liger family? “By the way, when are we going to return this necklace to Iris? I’m a little worried having you guys go alone, so I’m coming with you.” “You’re not even allowed in the capital. Just let me bring the necklace back to her.” “Hey! You’re just trying to take all the credit for yourself, aren’t you?! I’m coming with you no matter what! And she’s going to be like, Wow, Kazuma! You’re so amazing.” “I—I worry about you sometimes.” I reflected on what had happened today while listening to their noisy conversation. Aqua cried, Darkness got turned on, Kazuma got mad—it felt like home. I had a lot of fun going on adventures with Yunyun and Iris, but it seemed that I was better suited to a trash party like them. Besides, they’d be helpless without me. “Anyway, this party would be nothing without me. Whatever our reward is, I should get most of it.” “All you did was a single party trick. If we’re playing that game, then I’m the most useful one in the party. You guys should be more grateful to me, the leader.” “I—I don’t really do anything special, but I can confidently say that I help hold this party together, and it’s a thankless job if I do say so myself.” Yunyun did argue that the biggest problem-causers always think they’re the most useful. But, well, regardless of that, adventurers should go on adventures is what I say. There are always so many surprises and exciting things that can happen, like today. And there are things that we remember fondly, like… “Kazuma, Kazuma…” “What? Tsk. I don’t mind giving you a piggyback ride, but could you not drool on me?” Unbelievable. “I am not drooling on you. I just wanted to say…let’s all go on another adventure tomorrow, too…” “Not happening. Besides, is that really what you should be thinking about right now? Have you already forgotten what I’m going to do to you when we get back home? You said you’d do anything I wanted. Oh, and since it seems like you haven’t realized this yourself, I’m going to fill you in: Around thirty percent of all piggyback rides I give you, you fall asleep and drool on me.” I was trying to thank him, yet he somehow effortlessly destroyed the mood. “Now that I think about it, that liger wouldn’t take its eyes off you, Megumin. It was observing you like there was something unique about you…” Kazuma was basically mumbling to himself, never to know my true feelings. But, well, I guess I shouldn’t complain. After all, he did go on an adventure with me today for the first time in forever. Tomorrow, I’d go return the necklace, then after that… “Hey, Darkness. Do you think Kazuma’s in a good mood right now? Maybe this would be the right time to tell him what I did yesterday?” “Hold on, Aqua. Not yet. The best time would be right after he gives the necklace back to Iris and she showers him with praise.” “Are you guys talking about me? Hold up. Now that I think about it, Aqua, you still haven’t told me what you did yesterday!” Then after that… “There’s another tale I just remembered about the Crystal Liger. It’s a very strange hypothesis not supported by most researchers, but some believe that Crystal Ligers are rare breeds of Beginner’s Banes that eat wolfberries and crystalize their bitter components.” “Okay, old man. I think I’ve heard enough about ligers for today.” While gently rocking on Kazuma’s back, I imagined going on another adventure tomorrow while surrendering my consciousness to the comforting land of dreams.