Konosuba x Akashic – Side 1 – Town of Axel

Translator: yuNS
Proofreader/QC: Ulti

Side 1: The Town of Axel – Akatsuki Natsume (Konosuba)

That day.

With too much time to kill, I went for a walk around town. That was when two girls descended from above.

[——!]

[——!?]

The two girls that appeared before me with a flash of light showed confused expressions as they conversed in some mysterious language.

One of the girls, who had blonde hair and blue eyes, seemed to have a sophisticated bearing.

The other, who had silver hair and green eyes, bore an unyielding spirit in her gaze.

Their ages were probably the same as mine.

That means, these two must be…

[––––––!]

[––––––––!]

They cried out in a mysterious language I just couldn’t wrap my head around, as they looked across their surroundings—

◆         ◆         ◆

“—So there you have it. The two of them are the new heroines.”

“I still don’t get what you mean though.”

I had somehow convinced the two girls that suddenly appeared in front of me to follow me home using various gestures and expressions.

Then, I had introduced the two of them to Aqua, who had come to greet us, but…

“Two girls fell from the skies right in front of me as I was out in town for a walk. It’s obvious what this means, isn’t it? God saw how pitiful I, who was not blessed with any heroines, was, and decided bestow upon me true heroines.”

“Just what do you take gods for? Plus, if you’re talking about heroines then there’s already one right here isn’t there? One of unparalleled beauty. You’ll be punished if you ask for too much, you know?”

So said the pretend-heroine as she snorted scornfully from her nose.

…Witnessing me start a scuffle with the pretend-heroine who had rushed at me, the blonde-haired girl let loose a giggle.

In response to her partner suddenly giggling, the seemingly panicked silver-haired girl said something in their mysterious language, while shaking her partner’s shoulders.

Then, hearing what they said, Aqua suddenly came to a halt.

“Hey, where did you find these two? For your knowledge, the language they speak isn’t from this planet.”

“…Huh?”

Aqua declared out of the blue.

[–––∆∀–, Φ∆∆]

“I see I see. That’s quite a pickle. Well, you’re not the only one who’s constantly around weirdoes and has to clean up after their mess. I understand how you feel.”

Aqua nodded in agreement as she listened to what the blonde-haired girl said.

[Φ◇! ✕✕∆!]

“The two of you became substitutes for the experiment? This Glen person sounds like a really outrageous instructor. If I ever meet him, I’ll remember to scold him for you.” Said Aqua with an expression full of pride and triumph.

I tugged on her sleeve to grab her attention.

“Yo Aqua, how are you able to talk to the two of them? While you’re at it, act as an interpreter or teach me their country’s language or something.”

“I’m a goddess, you know? With my super-duper divine powers, getting the meaning of my words across is a piece of cake. Anyway, interpreting for you would be a pain, so I’ll make it so that you can understand their language.”

Saying that, Aqua put a hand on my head…

“Hey wait a second! This is dangerous isn’t it!? If I get unlucky my brain will go ‘pop’ won’t it!? Stop! Stop!!”

I hurriedly removed Aqua’s hand, but all she did was show me a reassuring smile.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s already done. Well Kazuma, I can’t say I expected anything less from you, given that your luck is your only redeeming factor. It went well this time too!”

“You bitch—!”

As I dove into Aqua, who casually almost made my mind go pop, I heard another giggle from beside me.

As I turned my gaze in the source’s direction, the blonde-haired girl seemed to notice, bowed her head apologetically.

[Ah. I-, I’m so sorry! Seeing the two of you reminded me of how Sisti and sensei’s argue…]

[W-, Wait Lumia, do you look at him and I in the same manner?]

The silver-haired girl showed a rather flustered expression as she turned toward the blonde-haired girl called Lumia and…

[Oh wait-!? I can understand! I can totally understand what they’re saying!”]

[Whoa!? I thought you couldn’t understand what we were saying…]

The silver-haired girl retreated backwards in a perplexed manner as Aqua introduced the two.

“This cat-girl like girl is Sistina, and the blonde-haired girl is Lumia. Apparently the two of them got inside some mysterious device made by some guy called Orwell, and by the time they knew it they were in front of you, Kazuma-san.”

[Cat-girl like girl…]

[Ahaha, you’re treated like a cat no matter where you are.]

Lumia patted Sistina’s back to comfort her, who seemed mildly depressed at the revelation.

Facing the two of them, I mustered the best ‘handsome-man’ voice I could make.

[My name is Satou Kazuma. I work as an adventurer in this land. The incident regarding the mysterious device seems rather troubling, so if you need any help, just say the word.]

[Adventure…r…? Errm, well there’s something I’d like to ask, if you don’t mind.]

Tilting her head at the term ‘adventurer’, Lumia nervously continued.

[First of all, where are we?]

◆         ◆         ◆

The mood in the living room was quite gloomy.

The source of it was Sistina, who lay languidly on the couch.

[Impossible… Hey Lumia, do you believe that we’re actually in an alternate world?]

[Well, I can’t think of any other possibility to explain this situation… Plus, didn’t Professor Schuzer[1] say something along the lines of ‘I have a sudden urge to eat the pinnacles of stews, so I’ve been searching for the ultimate ingredients. If there aren’t any here, we just need to go to a place where there are! Anyway, I’ve invented a special teleportation circle that will automatically calculate the location with the peak ingredients. Also, since Glen-sensei has kindly offered the two of you as scapegoats, I will entrust the two of you with gathering fresh vegetables!’… Remember?]

The two discussed such incomprehensible things.

…No, wait a second.

[‘Alternate world’? You just said ‘alternate world’ right?]

[Huh? Y-, Yeah… That’s what I said. I don’t find it believable. Even if it’s true… I would honestly question the sanity of anyone who would suggest that…] Said Sistina with a strained smile.

As an alternate world specialist, her dilemma was quite relatable.

[No, I believe it. I mean, I couldn’t understand what the two of you were saying at first.]

The two’s eyes widened in surprise at my declaration.

[Do you really believe something so absurd? That we were sent to this world for a stupid reason like gathering ingredients?]

[I do. After all, you’re not the only one surrounded by people who do ridiculous things for stupid reasons.]

“Hey Kazuma, why did you look at me when you said that?”

While Aqua clutched my shoulders and shook my body, Lumia turned her gaze upwards and inquired.

[B-, But why is it that you believe our story so easily?]

[Well, it’s cause I’m also from an alternate world. My name is Satou Kazuma. I come from a distant world called ‘Japan’, entrusted with saving the masses of this world from destruction. I was brought into this world as a hero who bears the hopes of the gods.]

“Hey Kazuma, to be completely honest with you, I didn’t have such high hopes for you.”

Aqua’s comment aside, the gazes of the alternate world duo, particularly Sistina’s, seemed to suggest that they were suspicious of me.

[Hey Lumia, was it alright for us to follow this guy? I followed along since we didn’t have anywhere else to go… but to call himself a hero of the gods…]

[They’re a little… different, but I don’t think they’re bad people…]

It seems that they don’t believe me at all.

It was then—

“We’re back—. Oh, do we have some guests?”

Noticing the front door of the house open, I figured that they were back after firing explosion magic like usual. Seeing the guests in the living room, Darkness inquired about the situation while carrying Megumin on her back.

I began to explain the circumstances regarding our mysterious guests—

◆         ◆         ◆

The day after I introduced the two of them—

[Hey, what are you doing!? Didn’t you come here to look for fresh ingredients!? Stop hiding behind my back!]

[That’s right, we came here to look for fresh ingredients! But first, what the heck is that white thing and why is it chasing me!?]

I had brought Sistina along to the large farm near Axel to gather vegetables.

[This vegetable is called a cabbage. It’s quite crispy, so it works well with stew.]

[Did you really just call that a vegetable!? By that you mean the thing that’s chasing me is actually a vegetable!?]

Sistina faithfully played the role of the straight-man.

“Kazuma, stop playing around with that cabbage and do something about this mushroom!”

[Hey, Darkness-san is getting swarmed by mushrooms!? Those are mushrooms, right!? Why can they move!? By what principle are they able to move!?]

Sistina cried out, noticing the swarm around Darkness as she ran away from her pursuers.

After getting the cabbage I was chasing under control, I quickly shoved it into the basket.

[The vegetables of this world can move. The reason they can move is because of magic, you know, that magic. To put it another way, these vegetables are magicians.]

[Are you mocking me!? I will never acknowledge that as magic!]

“Aah, the mushrooms…! These big black mushrooms are coating me with spores…!”

While I was caught up by Sistina, Darkness started spouting some obscene things as she was counterattacked by the mushrooms.

Seeing that, Sistina hurriedly stretched and arm out and—

[<Oh the great winds>–!>]

The sudden gale blew the swarm of mushrooms together with Darkness.

[A-, Are you alright Darkness-san!? It seemed like an emergency so…]

Sistina quickly rushed to Darkness, who had been sent flying.

“I don’t understand what you’re saying, but I understand that you did it to save me. It may have been better to allow to mushrooms to violate me a little longer, but you have my thanks regardless. I’ve managed to protect what a woman must protect even with her life. Kazuma, please tell Sistina what I said.” Darkness said with a straight face as she got up from the ground and gave Sistina a smile.

“Is this some kind of punishment game?”

[Hey Kazuma, what did Darkness-san just say to me? I understand that she meant to thank me, but could you please translate?]

I’ve learned the language of their world thanks to Aqua’s mysterious god powers, but I strongly protested against having Darkness and Megumin do so as well.

After all, with bad luck, it seems that the power also has a side effect of frying the brain.

[She definitely meant to thank you. At the rate it was going, the mushrooms were in danger of climbing the stairs of adulthood. She is thankful for that.]

[Could you not phrase in such an obscene manner! Just translate to get the right meaning across.]

As Sistina shouted at me with irrational anger, Darkness said with a warm smile.

“Ah, the wind magic just now felt wonderful. The pleasure I felt as I rolled across the ground was truly out of this world. Please tell her that I would be grateful if she would kindly hit me harder next time.”

[I-, It felt really good when she rolled across the ground due to your wind magic. If there’s a next time, please do it harder…]

[There’s no way someone as polished as Darkness-san would ever say that! Even if we can’t understand what the other is saying, I can tell what kind of person she is just by observing her at the mansion! Darkness-san is a noble lady from somewhere, isn’t she!? I don’t need to read hard into it to notice that much!]

[I’m telling the truth—! Rather, I sugarcoated what she said—!]

I desperately tried to justify myself in the face of Sistina’s wrath.

–The reason we came to the farm to gather vegetables goes without saying.

After hearing about their circumstances from Sistina, we started thinking of a way to return the two to their world…

[Hey, can you two really get back after you gather the ingredients? Is that professor what’s-his-name really someone you can believe in?]

[Umm… I-, It’s hard to say whether he’s someone trustworthy… But although he’s a fool, he’s also a genius of sorts. The direction of his mind may be a bit off, but he definitely has the ability. Once we complete our goal, we… should be able to get back.]

It seems like these girls had come here by the instruction of an inventor called Orwell, having been tasked with the errand of gathering ingredients.

Their class instructor was apparently supposed to be the one to run this errand, but they had been used as substitutes in his stead.

[You’re not completely sure about that huh… Well anyway, this Glen guy sound like a serious piece of work. What kind of instructor would use their students as substitutes?]

“Kazuma, I don’t understand what you’re saying, but I get the feeling you’re trying to dismiss what you’ve done in the past…”

Darkness expressed her doubt as I picked up the mushroom laying near Sistina’s feet.

[Well, he really is a piece of work… but he has his good moments I guess. Like uhm… When he became our instructor, he didn’t really have any motivation to teach and most of the learning was from self-study, but…]

[Uhuh, but…?]

I couldn’t really tell what Sistina was thinking, but her forehead progressively curled until her eyebrows it was in a 八 shape.

[…O-, Oh that’s right! He gradually started to lecture us properly! Also, he gave everyone advice during the games festival and err…]

[Wow~, he sure sounds like a man of passion. From what I heard yesterday, he seemed like quite the untrustworthy person. You know, like the kind who would gamble away everything and use others around him for his own benefit. Man, I must’ve totally gotten the wrong impression.]

Sistina fell silent for a moment, her lips curved in a へ shape.

[……Right! He supported my dreams and ambitions and even got himself into a duel to help break off a marriage I didn’t want…]

[I have to admit that that’s pretty cool. He must’ve almost been as cool as I was when I gallantly swooped in to prevent Darkness’ marriage that one time. So, anything else?]

Hearing what I said, Sistina’s expression seemed to grow grim.

[…What should I do, now that I’ve calmed down and thought it through, there really aren’t that many praiseworthy aspects about him.]

[You could at least try a little harder. I’d feel bad for Glen otherwise.]

“Hey Kazuma, translate for me!”

It was then—

I spotted a cabbage that had snuck up behind Darkness.

“‘Tinder’!”

Cabbages were weak to heat.

Having been an adventurer for a long time, I’ve managed to learn such pieces of general knowledge.

As the cabbage was set aflame, its leaves gradually lost strength…

[What was that!?]

Sistina, who did not have the general knowledge of adventurers, cried out.

◆         ◆         ◆

After harvesting the cabbages and mushrooms, we returned to the mansion.

[Cut the crap! I will not recognize what you did there as magic!]

[Geez, why are you being so insistent about this! I chanted it so it happened, what’s wrong with that!?]

Sistina kept hounding me for some reason.

“We’re back~. I got some carrots and welsh onion. Hey, look at this carrot, it looks delicious doesn’t it!? Oh, what are you two up to?”

Aqua, who had just returned from her harvest, tilted her head as she looked at Sistina and I.

[Lumia, there’s something wrong with the magic of this world! It’s as if these people don’t understand magic theory at all! …Lumia? I-, Is something wrong? You don’t look so well…]

[…Sisti, did you know welsh onions are quite pungent? About that, when a welsh onion thinks that it’s about to be harvested, it’ll try to force its pungent root straight into your mouth.”

“What in the world happened on your end!?”

As Sisti went off to comfort Lumia, Megumin, who had been a part of the other group, came to brag to me with mud all over her face.

“We got a great harvest today Kazuma. By the way, Sistina seems kind of angry for some reason, did you do something again?”

“Again? I didn’t do anything this time either! I don’t know what’s gotten to her head but she was getting really fired up when talking about magic.”

Holding a carrot in her arms, I could see her expression visibly change as I spoke.

“Magic discussions!? How could you leave me out on something so interesting!? Sistina, feel free to talk to me about magic!

[Hey Kazuma, what’s wrong with Megumin!? It’s as she’s become a different person!]

[As you can probably tell, she’s a girl who really loves magic. She got really excited when she heard about this magic discussion of ours.]

Sistina’s expression grew bright as a lightbulb.

[Let’s do it! I’d be more than happy to! Megumin comes from a famous line of magicians right? I want to hear all about the schools of sorcery of this world!]

[Hey, does that mean you want me to act as a interpreter?] I wearily asked Sistina who joyfully took a seat at the table.

[Sisti kind of goes off into her own world when it comes to magic… Now that she has the chance to learn about the magic of an alternate world, I don’t think that you’ll be able to stop her…]

[I’m fine with translating… but I get the feeling that she’ll get angry once I do…]

◆         ◆         ◆

[––Cut it out already! What the heck do you mean by skill points!? What are levels!? Stop with this nonsense already!]

[Calm down for a moment, Sisti! After all, this is an alternative world!]

[I called it! I freaking called it, didn’t I!? That she’d get angry again! I mean, what am I supposed to do, that’s just the way things are here! If you got a problem with it go and complain to the management of this world!] I lashed out in response to Sistina who had flared up just as I had expected.

I don’t know if this girl is earnest or what, but she has a serious fixation when it comes to magic. She had gone totally off the rails after I told her everything.

[What the heck do you mean by management!? And anyway, don’t you have any doubts or questions about the magic you use!? The origin of the world, the structure of the world, the very laws that control this world; Isn’t the purpose of the discipline of magic to deciphering all of that to come to a greater understanding of truths that god set for the world?]

[If it’s god you’re asking for there’s one sipping tea right there, if you have any problems why don’t you ask her?]

[Such blasphemous remarks will be punished you know!]

Despite pointing directly to the goddess leisurely sipping tea in the room, I was still put down.

Aqua, who noticed that she had become the topic of discussion, took a sip from her tea with a mildly satisfied expression.

“I’m actually a goddess though. If you have anything you would like to ask, then feel free to ask me.”

Hearing that, Lumia asked Aqua.

[Erm… By what theory does magic activate in this world?]

“By god-power of course.”

[Even Aqua-san!]

Megumin showed a gentle smile to Sistina, who had been noisy from beginning to end.

“I don’t know what she’s so excited about, but I can tell that she must really love magic.”

Seeing Megumin’s smile, Sistina finally found it in herself to calm down.

[Ack-hem… Sorry about that… You kept teasing me about magic, so I sort of lost myself there…]

[I haven’t been teasing you at all though. Rather, I was wondering if you could teach me the magic from your world, actually.] I offhandedly said.

Sistina’s eyes seemed to sparkle hearing that. Lumia, on the other hand, murmured something knowingly and placed a hand on her forehead in defeated manner.

[Of course! I’ll tell you everything you need to know about magic and its archaeology!]

[Actually, on second thought, I’ll pass. Just give me a rough outline of some simple magic or whatever.]

[An outline!? Using magic is always accompanied by accidents and dangers, so it’s not something you can learn through just an outline!! So anyway, the most basic spell would be Shock Bolt. So first off, magic is typically divided into verses…]

[Why does she have to be such pain in the ass!?]

Then, after having been forced to interpret the entirety of Sistina’s lengthy explanation of magic, Megumin suddenly began pulling on my sleeve.

“Kazuma, please tell her that as thanks for her immensely interesting explanation, I would like to teach her a cool pose that enhances the firepower of magic.”

“Hell no, she’d just get angry at me again.”

[Hey, what did Megumin say just now? Do you mind translating it?]

I’ve seen this pattern before, now haven’t I?

[Alright, I’m not the one saying this, so don’t get angry okay? Megumin said she wanted to teach you a cool pose that she thinks increases the firepower of magic…]

[Just because I don’t know the language of this world doesn’t mean you have to keep spewing this nonsense! There’s no way that someone who loves magic this much would say such dumb things! Or do you just enjoy teasing people that much!?]

[I’m just saying the truth! Everything Darkness and Megumin said, I translated it word-for-word! Hey Aqua, tell her that I’m not lying won’t you!?]

As I went to beg her for help, Aqua suddenly seemed to realize something.

“Say, didn’t we gather a lot of fresh ingredients before coming back?”

[[[Ah]]]

That night—

Darkness and the others had come to my room to bother me some more with the task of interpreting.

[I was planning on going to the magic tools store tomorrow.]

[Magic tools!? Let me go as well!]

[Sisti, we don’t have any money, so even if we go…]

Ignoring their reactions, Aqua and I turned to face one another.

“I see, we might some kind of weird magic tool or two there that might be useful for solving this predicament.”

[That’s right. There’s a lot of random items with strange side effects there. Who knows? There might be a thing or two there that would send them on a one-way trip an an alternate world.]

[Hey, I couldn’t help but overhear you two talking about strange side effects…]

[If it’s anything like Professor Schuzer’s tools, then I have a bad feeling about this…]

That being said…

[The two of you seem rather calm for people who might not be able to return home.]

It would be normal to be anxious or uneasy in such a situation, but the two of them didn’t seem to be worrying too much.

The two turned to look at one another as if they had just realized their situation.

To alleviate their fears, I continued.

[Well, even if it doesn’t work out there’s no need to worry too much. Worst comes to worst you guys can just stay here as the new heroines of this world.]

Sistina appeared to be somewhat dubious.

[…Hmm, now that I think about it… The way that Kazuma acts is a lot like our teacher, like how he always messes around and doesn’t appear to have any motivation to work…]

Oh my, those are certainly not charming words.

[Well, he’s usually up to no good, but… I guess he generally comes through in the end… That being said though, he’s the one that forced us to into this situation in the first place!]

Sistina seemed to display trust in this Glen person for a moment, but that quickly turned a rather suspicious display of anger.

[Despite everything you really trust him, don’t you?]

[What are you suggesting Lumia!? It’s not like I trust him or anything…!]

Sistina’s face turned red as Lumia chuckled to herself.

[So she’s a tsundere, huh.]

“Mhm, a real classic tsundere.”

[Yep, Sisti’s a real tsundere, isn’t she?]

[Hey, why are you agreeing with them!?]

As she began to slap the table in frustration, I said to her.

[Well, I’m sure that this’ll all work out somehow. If there’s anything you can rely on it’d be my luck.]

I said with a reassuring smile.

◆         ◆         ◆

[Nevermind.]

[I takeback everything I said about you! Being similar to him and coming through in the end, everything!]

[Calm down Sisti! You shouldn’t strangle him!]

Sistina, who had been restlessly waiting at the entrance of the mansion for our return, began to strangle me upon hearing the news.

Finally breaking free from her grip.

[You should at least let me finish before strangling me! Actually, let me guess, Glen calls you short-tempered or violent or maybe even cheeky doesn’t he!?]

[…Ch-, Cheeky…? Sometimes, I guess…]

[Don’t be down about that Sisti, I don’t think he means it when he says that!]

I turned a sidelong glance towards the now gloomy Sistina and explained what happened at Wiz’s store.

[There weren’t any convenient magic tools at the store operated by an undead I know. That being said, the part-time guy who’s really good at fortune telling said that we’re missing something for the stew we wanted to make. He said that the fish that’s currently in season at the plantation’s fields doesn’t fit well with stew and that if we wanted to make seafood stew we should head to the lake to catch one.]

[So which part am I supposed to retort first? The part about the undead running the store? Or the part about fish coming from a field?]

[Sisti, the conversation won’t go anywhere if you keep being like that!]

Though afraid of Sistina, who gradually began to close the distance to me—

[How many times do I have to tell you, I’m not lying to you in any way! Why won’t you just believe me already!?]

[No matter how many times you say it, you’re too much like him for me to believe you! Not just the way you slack off, but also the way you make things up and the way you try to cheat your way out of taking responsibility!]

God, damn. There really is no getting through to her is there?

[Anyway, the part-time devil said that it’ll work itself out if we go to the river, so let’s just go and have a look.]

As I headed into the mansion to gather my equipment…

[What do you mean by part-time devil!? Would it kill you to try to have a serious conversation!?]

[Sisti tends to take things a little seriously, so try not to tease her too much…]

[I’ve told you nothing but the truth! Just chill out already before I use Steal on you!]

◆         ◆         ◆

“I hate to say it, but I’ll have to agree with that weirdo of a devil this time. In the current season, we might be able to catch pufferfish, goosefish, or maybe even a pollack! Let’s have a hot pot dinner tonight!”

“I’ve retired from playing the straight-man by the way. I’ll be passing that baton to Sistina from now on. I’ll be turning a blind eye to how you can even catch pufferfish or goosefish in a lake and all that.”

Having arrived at the lake, we started preparing our fishing gear as quickly as we could…

[Kazuma-san, weren’t we going to go fishing?]

[Uhuh, that’s what we’re doing right now.]

Lumia seemed to be perplexed for some reason.

Hearing me respond in such a way, Sistina worried shook my shoulders.

[Then why did we sink Darkness-san into the lake!?]

Darkness was within view of us, being used as bait.

[Why don’t you tell her that instead then!? She’s the one who said that a lady would be perfect for catching a big pollack and offered to be bait!]

Expectedly, I had become the one to play the straight man in the face of Sistina’s questioning.

“Hey you two, hurry up and get ready for the catch! The juices are starting to come out from Darkness!”

[Did I just hear her say that!? Did she just say juices!? Be it magic or vegetables, what the heck is wrong with the world!? Sensei, get me out of here already!]

Unlike Sistina, who seemed to be suffering from a psychotic breakdown, Lumia seemed to be rather calm – perhaps due to being strong-willed or just not being easily moved to begin with.

[Shh Sisti, quiet down or you’ll scare away the fish.]

[Hey Lumia, don’t just accept it would you!?]

As Sistina, on the verge of tears, grabbed Lumia’s shoulders and furiously shook her, a loud sound echoed from the lake.

“It’s coming Kazuma, get ready! I can feel it poking my legs! Try to take it down before it gobbles me up!”

“Don’t give me such a tall order if front of our alternate world guests could you!? You guys, grab the harpoons and aim for the spot just under Darkness’ feet!”

Though the task was difficult, I quickly grabbed a harpoon and aimed it towards the lake—

[Hey stop, don’t do it! Darkness-san is right there so don’t do anything stupid!]

[A-, Argh, get out of my way! Her skin’s thicker than you think, even if I hit her with this it won’t make a scratch!]

Sistina glared at the lake as I readied the harpoon.

“Kazuma, Darkness is being taken away! Are we still going through with the emergency explosion fishing!?”

“Wait, it’s still too early! We’ll reel her in before that… H-, hey!”

As I rushed to stop Megumin readied her staff with a dangerous light in her eyes, Sistina dashed towards the lake.

[Sorry Darkness-san! <Oh the thunder spirit’s lightning>-!]

A streak of light shot forth from the finger pointed towards the lake—!

“Aaaooohhh-!? That’s a new feeling! It’s a great feeling Kazuma!”

Darkness whose body uncontrollably convulsed from the lightning let out a loud shout.

[Quit showing your perversions in front of these minors! Darkness, make your way back, we’re switching plans! I hate to reshape the landscape like this, but we’ll be going with explosion fishing!]

So as to not corrupt the minds of our alternate world guests any longer, Aqua and I began to reel Darkness in—

“Kazuma, Sistina just used some mysterious magic! I don’t want her to underestimate the magic of this world, so I’ll be going all out—!”

“Hold your horses, don’t make this situation worse than it already is! …Huh, Lumia?”

Besides Megumin, who had started chanting explosion magic, Lumia revealed a look of determination—

[We’re saving her right? Let me help!]

As she said that, she put her hands on Megumin’s shoulders.

[Normally, this isn’t a power that you would use in front of others, but I’ll make an exception this time—]

“Oooh, K-, Kazuma, this is crazy, Lumia’s pouring something into me! It feels sort of like that time where you used drain touch to inject magic energy! The way this is going I feel like I’ll fire off an incredible explosion—!”

She probably thought that Megumin was using a magic to help Darkness out.

That understanding was not inherently wrong.

However, what Lumia did not understand was that Megumin was about to fire the strongest offensive magic at Darkness without reserve—

“Kazuma-san! Kazuma-san! I have a bad feeling about this! Lumia poured some kind of power into Megumin and what’s coming up seems more than just dangerous!”

“Oh it’s fine! This tingling I feel on the back of my neck makes me feel really excited! I have a good feeling about this!”

[Hey Lumia, I have a bad feeling about this!?]

[…Ahaha, did I do something wrong… perhaps…?]

Beside Megumin, whose eyes shined with a fiery blaze, Lumia scratched her cheek awkwardly.

Well, looks like we’re going to be doing a little more than just reshaping the lake.

Whilst picturing the scenery, without the lake, in my head—

[Maybe this…]

Even so, I powerlessly muttered in a futile attempt—

“‘EXPLOSION’—!!”

◆         ◆         ◆

“It’s a big catch! Kazuma, hurry up and preserve them with ‘Freeze’! Seems like we won’t have to worry about fish for a while!”

Thanks to explosion magic, the lake had become a crater.

Water had begun raining from the sky alongside the fish. In the midst of it all, Aqua joyfully went about collecting the fish.

“Aahhh… It’s been a while since I’ve felt such a satisfying feeling… I can only imagine how good it would’ve felt to be hit directly by it…”

“It’s been a while since I’ve felt such a satisfying feeling… I can only imagine how good it would’ve felt to strike a monster directly with it…”

“Alright guys, cut the chit-chat and focus, let’s wrap this up before the officials from town come here to investigate.”

I took a glance at the two people lying limply on the floor, whilst going about collecting the fish—

[W-, What have we done… The whole lake disappeared…]

[W-, What should I do Sisti… This is my fault…]

With a sigh, I called out to the two of them who stood by idly carrying dumbfounded expression.

[Stuff like this happens every once in a while, so don’t worry about it. It’ll be a pain to restore the lake, but Aqua can probably restore the water to the lake as easily as lifting a finger…]

[Now that I can’t ignore! What the heck do you take magic for anyway!? How can you believe that restoring this place would be as easy as lifting a finger!? Explain what’s going through your mind to me clearly!]

Sistina yelled at me, carrying a fish that had fallen into her hands in her arms.

[Darkness-san, let me heal your wounds… Uhm, I’m trying to heal your wounds, so why are you resisting!?]

“Wait, let me be like this for a little longer…! At least let me enjoy the aftertaste…!

[She’s a real masochist so just leave her be. Also, Aqua’s the goddess of water despite how she looks, so it’d really take no effort to restore a lake’s worth of water.]

[Hey, wait a second, you’re not joking are you!? Could it be that you’ve been telling the truth all along!? Ah, wait, is this a transportation circle!?]

Saying that, something that appeared to be a magic circle appeared beneath Sistina and Lumia’s feet.

[See? This matches entirely with what I told you about going to a store operated by an undead and getting a fortune from the part-time devil working there. Now, I suppose the least you can do is apologize for suspecting me and being so cheeky.]

[If it’s all true, how can I just go back with nothing to show for it!? The part about learning magic with skill points is also true, isn’t it!? How am I supposed to accept that!? That and the truth behind the magic of this world—]

Sistina shouted, but it didn’t seem like she had a lot of time left anyway.

Lumia on the other hand, was tearily pleading to Darkness, who stubbornly refused to be healed.

[Tell this Glen person I said hi, would you? If he’s anything like me, he must be a real handsome elite instructor. If you get your tsundere tendencies and cheekiness out of the way, I’m sure you can flirt with him some more.]

[With this little time left that’s what you say!? AAHH, if only I learned at least one magic from this world—!]

As she cried out—

“…And they’re gone.” Aqua murmured as Sistina and Lumia disappeared with a ray of light.

◆         ◆         ◆

“Stew is just the best, isn’t it? It’s just so delicious. Hey Kazuma, did you know that stew also has really high nutritional value?”

Before the police from Axel could arrive on scene, we quickly escaped to the mansion.

“If Lumia was still here I could keep firing off that super-enhanced explosion magic day-in and day-out… I wonder if they’ll ever come wandering back…”

“Well, that explosion was great and all… Well, let’s hope that they’re enjoying stew right now just like we are…”

As we poked around the pot, we thought about the visitors who came as quickly as they went.

A shame really, here I thought they were going to be the new heroines too—

“What’s wrong Kazuma? That sneer on your face looks kind of nasty, really.”

“All least call it a smile. Anyway, those two were students, weren’t they? They were around my age and my interactions with Sistina sort of reminded me of the time where I was back in school and all, so their visit was a nice change of pace.”

It’s been a while since I’ve experienced school life, hasn’t it?

Thinking about that, I couldn’t help but feel a little nostalgic about Japan.

Despite them being students from another world, I couldn’t help but wonder—

“By the way, wasn’t Sistina saying something at the end? Something about the magic of this world… If I had known I could have at least taught her a cool chant or two for magic.” Said Megumin as she chewed on her meal.

Hearing her say that, I took out my adventurer card—

“Actually, from the looks of it, it seems like I’m able to learn a new spell for some reason. Look, this one right here. It says that it takes three points to learn it right? Isn’t this the spell that Sistina taught…”

Fin

TL Notes:

[1] Note that Orwell & Schuzer are the same person; First and last names.