chapter 4

Part 1

I announced in a loud voice before the two of them.

“In summary, we will now hold the battle conference on how to break through the heavily guarded mansion and meet Darkness. However, I already have the gist of the plan in mind!”

After returning home, I explained the situation to Megumin and Aqua.

I was discussing the battle conference together with them.

“Kazuma is really excited. So the marriage between Darkness and the landlord as fat as a pig is the talk of the town now? I know Darkness has bad taste in men, but this is atrocious. Normally, Darkness’ father would veto it. Did something happen…? I am pissed. At this happening right now, as well as the divination of that suspicious devil coming true…”

Aqua burrowed her brows, which was a rare sight, and said while cradling her egg on the couch.

That devil did predict that misfortune would befall Darkness’ House and her father.

Normally, people wouldn’t treat divination too seriously.

They would take it with a grain of salt at best.

However, magic and curses exist in this world.

“Kazuma, you really believe in the divination of that devil? You’re really doing what the devil told you, developing merchandise nonstop despite your immense wealth… He’s not as bad as Aqua, but devils won’t help others without something in it for them. So advice is given on the basis that he’ll reap some benefit from it. If we can return to the Home of the Crimson Magic, we can ask a great fortune telling Onee-san I know…”

Although Megumin said that…

To be honest, I didn’t understand myself either.

I felt that the words of the devil couldn’t be trusted so easily.

But…

“I don’t think Vanir said that for fun, even though he didn’t say it seriously. I don’t know how helping Darkness will benefit him… In fact, I’m only working hard on developing my products just in case it will be of use for Darkness as foretold by the divination. Even if the divination fails, there is nothing bad about developing merchandise. My thoughts are that simple…”

The stupid Darkness who thought she could solve the problem by sacrificing herself and acted recklessly.

That was what Vanir divined for Darkness.

If it was the prophecy of some random fortune teller, I will have no problem laughing it off…

“No matter what, it’s still too early to come to a conclusion. We only know the secondhand account that Rin heard from someone else. We won’t know the situation unless we ask the person directly. The letter only told us that she wants to leave the party, so we can’t find out more details. That landlord gave us plenty of problems too, so there is a need to force a meeting to make things clear, right? Am I right?”

Overwhelmed by my eagerness, Aqua and Megumin kept nodding their heads.

In fact, that retard did say something like ‘As a prospective marriage partner, that noble’s despicable and underhanded personality is just right.’

Something happened to her father, and there was also the possibility that Darkness was in agreement with the marriage— I didn’t even want to consider that.

That girl would say brainless things sometimes too.

That’s right, she even wanted to follow Beldia back then, and was really happy when Vanir possessed her.

On the way to the Home of the Crimson Magic, she was devastated when she heard the news of male Orcs going extinct.

Also, she left the party after leaving just a letter behind, and has always made me worried

Anyway, I had to confirm this matter after meeting her face to face.

And ask her what the meaning of this letter was.

Going to visit with just a letter wasn’t appropriate, but since Rin told me that important titbit, I couldn’t just leave it alone.

I sighed, it couldn’t be helped.

And of course, I didn’t have thoughts like ‘taking revenge for making me worry’, ‘I haven’t seen her for a long time, so infiltrating into Darkness’ house is exciting’ or ‘I have a proper reason to see that woman now!’

Hehehe, just you wait, Darkness…

For some reason, Megumin smiled as I was thinking about various matters.

Aqua was looking at me as if she just saw something strange.

“Hey Kazuma, you looked so distracted recently, but seem really happy right now,” she said a little happily.

Part 2

“Yup, about time to go. Aqua, I’m counting on you.”

It was about two a.m. right now.

We didn’t go for the heavily guarded front or rear gate of Darkness’ mansion, but the side that didn’t have an entrance.

An iron fence surrounded the mansion.

We hid in the darkness and peeked at the mansion through the gaps in the fence.

Following my request, Aqua started chanting softly.

It was several buff spells that enhance my physical abilities.

?Increase Strength? and ?Improve Speed?

I didn’t know if it would be needed, but I got her to cast ?Enhance Defense? and ?Enhance Magic Resistance? too.

“?Versatile Entertainer?!”

Aqua casted some spell I had never heard before.

From the faint light that appeared momentarily on my body, it should be a buff spell.

“What was that spell just now?”

“A spell that turns you into a super entertainer.”

I slapped her silently.

Ignoring Aqua who was trying to strangle me with tears in her eyes, I took out the tool that was really useful during the fight with the Mobile Fortress, the rope with a hook at the tip. It could be fired with an arrow.

I binded several layers of cloth onto the tip so it wouldn’t make a din when it hit the roof.

“I will make a move first.”

After discussing it with them, it was decided that I would sneak in alone. After all, I had several skills like hide and night vision, which were suitable for infiltration.

It might be the home of a noble, but it definitely wouldn’t be harder than breaking into the royal castle.

I didn’t plan to harm anyone, so aside from my bow and arrow, I didn’t bring anything else along.

After shooting the arrow, I will hand the bow to Aqua so she could bring it home.

“Take care of yourself. It’s fine if you knock her out and drag her back by force.”

“… N-no matter what, you are still a woman of the cloth, is it fine to say that?”

“No, Aqua is right. She is stubborn, and wouldn’t budge even if you tried to reason with her. It’s fine to be a little rough with her, don’t hold back!”

“Why are you all always so violent?”

Under their watchful eyes, I readied my bow and used ?Snipe? to shoot the hook to the edge of the roof.

The hook latched onto the roof with a soft thud.

I observed the situation for the moment— No one seemed to notice and came out to check.

Tying the rope to the iron fence, I whispered to the two of them:

“After I get onto the roof, untie the rope from the fence. There might be patrols, so they will know I have infiltrated if they find the ropes. I will think of a way to get out, so go back to the mansion and wait for now.”

I tugged on the rope to make sure it was taut. The two of them nodded at me.

Alright, time to do this!

Paying homage to army rangers, I got onto the rope and scaled it.

With my poor physical ability, I could never have done that without the magic buff.

After reaching the roof successfully, I signalled to Aqua.

Upon confirming that Aqua had untied the rope below, I used my sensing skill to detect the presence of people nearby.

Being able to confirm the presence of someone inside a building without needing to go inside made this very useful.

Finally, I found a room that was empty.

I wanted to use the rope tied to the building to break into that room on the second floor directly, but it was locked.

Now was the time for modern technology to debut.

“Tinder.”

With one hand on the rope, I put my other hand near the glass window and heated it up.

With nothing to burn, the fire died out after exhausting the mana put into it. I repeated it several times.

After the surface of the glass got heated…

“?Freeze?.”

With a soft chant, the glass was frozen instantly and made a soft cracking sound.

I was on alert for a moment, but no one came to investigate the noise.

This was a way to break glass by using thermal shock, normally done with a lighter and water.

When I was inflicted with Chunnibyou, I learnt this when I searched for dangerous knowledge that I didn’t plan on ever using.

I thought it would be useless when I learned about this, but to think it could be put to use now… Pressing the cracks in the glass, I peeled off the pieces near the locks piece by piece.

After the hole was big enough for my hand to reach the lock, I opened the window and sneaked in.

This was the moment I changed from an adventurer to a thief.

Yup, the infiltration was proceeding smoothly, the next problem would be finding Darkness’ room.

Do I need to sneak across the corridor and check every room?

No, if there was someone on patrol, I would be found out even if I used ?Hide?.

At that moment…

“Did you really hear something?”

“Eh, I hope it was just my imagination…”

From inside the room, I heard this voice from one end of the corridor.

I covered the broken window with the curtain hurriedly, and cleaned up the broken glass shards scattered on the floor.

With the creak of the door unlocking, I slid under the bed in the nick of time and activated ?Hide?.

When the door opened, I heard a resigned voice.

“See, it’s nothing. Norris, it’s about time you change your cowardly personality. Let’s go to the kitchen and ask for some supper to eat.”

“S-sorry… I thought I heard something breaking…”

I didn’t move as I listen to the door closing and the footsteps fading into the distance.

Since they were talking about supper in the kitchen, they were definitely the patrol guards in the mansion.

In that case, checking the rooms one at a time… Well then, let’s go to the kitchen they mentioned, the young lady wanted supper, then follow the servant sending supper to Darkness’ room… That was too unrealistic.

First of all, I couldn’t let them see my face, and I didn’t have the talent to imitate the voices of the two patrolmen.

I just felt that if the multi-talented Aqua was here, she would be able to imitate the voices without a problem.

… Multi-talented?

I suddenly remembered something and coughed dryly— One of the patrolmen was called Norris right?

“… This is Norris here… Huh…!?”

I was surprised by how good my imitation of his voice was.

What was happening, this was really nerve wracking!

I just remembered about the super entertainer spell Aqua casted on me, and tried it without expecting anything…!

“T-this is really amazing… Ah~ ah~ Darkness, oh, it’s Darkness…! This is without a doubt the voice of Darkness!”

I tried mimicking Darkness’ voice and it was indistinguishable from the real thing.

It would work, this skill would work!

I needed to thank Aqua after returning to the mansion.

……

“You’re wonderful Kazuma-sama, do me!”

I played around with the voice of Darkness and some other people, and suddenly came to my sense.

No good, now wasn’t the time to play by myself, I almost lost track of my goal.

I had never thirsted for a tape recorder so much before, but I should complete the mission of meeting Darkness.

Anyway, time to visit the kitchen.

After making up my mind, I activated ?Hide? and was planning to leave the room quietly—

I followed the patrolmen who led me to the kitchen. When I was certain they had left, I leaned towards the door.

Coughing once, I thought back on how Norris sounded.

Pretending to knock the door frantically, I said in a hurried tone:

“Sorry, this is Norris! I forgot to mention that the young lady wanted supper! I still have to do my rounds, could you please send the supper to the young lady’s quarters!?”

I apologized to Norris-san who I have never met before in my heart.

“Really, why are you so eccentric, Chuck? You are usually meticulous about things, but you always forget about the important stuff… Understood, we will send it over, work hard on your duties.”

I heard a reply along with wry laughter.

I said in a panicky voice—

“Thank you very much!”

And with that, I pretended to run off.

I then hid at a corner and waited quietly for the chef to come out.

Sometime later, there was finally some movement from the kitchen—

Part 3

“Young lady, I am here to bring you supper.”

After the chef said that, he knocked the door.

I peeked at him from the dark.

Good, good, I found Darkness’ room.

After the chef knocked a few times, the door finally opened.

Wearing a silk negligee and with her hair a mess, Darkness rubbed her tired eyes and appeared. She seemed to have been sleeping.

The chef averted her face and said:

“Erm, Norris said that the young lady wanted supper…”

“…? I don’t remember saying that.”

The chef was confused, but lowered his head immediately and apologized to the sleepy Darkness.

“…!? I-I’m very sorry for disturbing you so late into the night!”

Darkness seemed baffled as she watched the chef ran off in a panic, and closed the door.

Some time passed by after the chef who didn’t understand what just happened passed my hiding place.

Using this chance when no one was around, I knocked Darkness’ door—

“Young lady, please wake up. A man named Satou Kazuma suddenly came here in the middle of the night, saying he wants to meet the young lady no matter what…!”

I used the voice of the patrol guard Norris and spoke to the person inside the room.

After a while, a reply came from inside…

“… Those claiming to be Kazuma, Aqua and Megumin are to be ignored— I already said that. Really, that guy actually came at such an hour… He, really is—!”

A gentle voice that was a mix of pain and happiness came from within.

“But young lady, that Kazuma man says… if he is ignored, he will spill the dark history of Lady Lalatina to the people in the guild…”

When she heard that, Darkness laughed:

“Fu fu, that guy is the same as usual… Tell Kazuma to do as he wishes. Anyways, I can’t go to the adventurers guild any longer…”

Darkness said a little sadly.

……

“But young lady, that man is telling very unsavory things to the servants at the main gate. He said the young lady’s abs are getting more and more defined, and the young lady is very concerned. He asked us to control the amount of protein in her meals…”

A clank came from inside the room.

“He also said that the young lady once giggled happily when she posed with a cute one piece dress, and that we should prepare more of such clothings…”

Another slam came from the room. It sounded like something dropping.

Darkness then said with a quivering voice:

“T-these, these, these are… all lies! Lies! Don’t be fooled!”

……

“Eh, he mentioned something more incredible— may I repeat it to you?”

“… S-say it.”

I took a deep breath.

“He said the young lady accumulates lust within your matured body over time, even though you are a virgin, but every night—”

With tears in her eyes and her cheeks flushed, Darkness opened the door violently and rushed out.

And locked eyes with me.

“!!?????!??!??”

Darkness’ mouth open and shut as she panted, and couldn’t say anything. Her eyes were wide open.

I broke in!

Part 4

I covered her mouth with my hand and pushed her into the room.

She had yet to recover from her shock and panic, but she still grabbed my right arm with her hands, and tried to push me away. However…!

“With the buff of Aqua’s support spells, I won’t lose so easily!”

After whispering that into her ear, I closed and lock the door with my other hand.

Darkness shivered for some unknown reason when she heard the click of the door being locked.

To prevent Darkness from making any sound, I covered her mouth with my right hand and grabbed her right wrist with my other hand. I checked the situation inside the room swiftly.

The light wasn’t on, she was definitely asleep earlier.

Only the sparse starlight lit her face and mine.

I wanted to talk after suppressing her, but didn’t want to throw her onto the floor directly… At this moment, I noticed a large bed behind her.

I put my strength into the arm that was being grabbed by her hands, and lifted her up.

“!?”

Darkness probably never expected that the weak me could lift her up with one arm.

Maybe Aqua’s wish to bring Darkness back was really strong, her support magic was very effective today.

After lifting Darkness up, I used the momentum to push her down to the bed.

With a gentle pomf, Darkness’ body sunk into the bed.

I placed my body between Darkness’ legs to prevent her from kicking me, and held her down steadily.

Good, now we could talk without any interruptions. Right…?

… Darkness released her hold onto my arm and laid weakly onto the bed.

Blinking the tears in her eyes away, her face was beet red.

I could see her blushing face under the faint starlight.

Because I was covering her mouth with my hand, I could feel her fast breathing coming through my fingers… Hmmm!?

Wasn’t this situation really bad!?

Hey, resist a little, it would be hard for me to go on if you give in like this!

With the full support of Aqua’s buffing spells, I don’t think I would lose to Darkness in strength.

However, there were all sorts of problems if she was defenceless like this, as if she had given up…!

I whispered in the dim room:

“Hey, hey Darkness, don’t misunderstand! The situation is weird now, but I don’t mean it that way. I just came to talk to you, don’t misunderstand this as a night raid… Ah, hey! Don’t close your eyes as if you are resigned to your fate! Stop! The atmosphere will become weirder! Stop, this is bad, bad in all sorts of ways!”

As for what was bad, that would be me of course.

Even if I told them I was just wanted to talk to Darkness, and went with the flow because Darkness looked very lewd and I went for it, I would definitely be hit by their combo of ?Explosion? and ?Resurrection? until their anger was appeased.

With my hand on Darkness’ mouth, I started trembling.

“Hey, hey listen to me! I sneaked in here to ask you what happened! Look, don’t scream when I remove my hands alright!? I am here to talk to you!”

Darkness opened her eyes a little and nodded.

Alright…

I was more nervous than all the battles I experienced.

“I’m letting go now, don’t scream alright?”

After seeing Darkness nod, I let go of her, and got in position to cover her mouth again if she screams.

Darkness averted her face a little shyly.

“Erm… Kazuma, can you lie beside me when we talk. If you ride on top of me and stick so close, it’s a bit…”

I turned my face in the opposite direction from Darkness.

“Oh, yeah, right. E-Excuse me, I didn’t mean to ride you! … And you too, why did you write such a letter…

When I let down my guard and wanted to continue the conversation.

“Thief…! I am about to be violated… Ugh…!”

Damn, this bitch was trying to pull a fast one!

I was careless!

It was too late when I covered Darkness’ mouth again. Sounds of footsteps came from the corridor.

Someone was heading this way.

Oh no, what should I do!?

Darkness whose mouth was covered while being pressed down by me had a triumphant and provocative look.

She must be grinning in her heart.

Damn wench!

“Is something the matter, young lady!? Pardon me, I am opening the door now!”

After saying that, the lock creaked open…!

Shit, Darkness’ cocky victorious expression made me want to beat her up.

But, don’t think I’m done here…!

“Don’t open the door! My appearance is indecent right now! Sorry, I was too excited with my intense play just now, and yelled by accident!”

Darkness opened her eyes wide when she heard me.

That’s right, I was speaking in Darkness’ voice.

“Is that so… However, this humble one has yet to confirm the young lady’s safety… And playing games in the middle of the night is a little…”

The servants were doubting me.

That was natural, Darkness might be saying that because an intruder was threatening her.

“Intense play means the type of games that adults play alone, don’t make it say it, it’s embarrassing.”

“Young lady…!?”

Baffled voices came from outside the room.

At the same time, Darkness held onto my right wrist with both hands.

“What, you might be saying that you want to confirm my safety, but in actual fact, you just want to see my indecent appearance right, you pervert ahhh!”

Darkness glared at me fiercely with tears in her eyes. She strengthened her grip, as if she wanted to break my right arm.

When they heard me scream from the pain, the people outside panicked.

“What, what is the matter!?”

I endured the pain from my right arm being twisted and said:

“N-Nothing! I just forgot to turn the indecent magic toy off ahhhhh! Ahhh, it, it’s breaking! I am turning strange! I can’t hold it in anymore! I am really going to break!”

“P-Pardon me! I-I will leave at once!!”

The sound of footsteps running away could be heard.

There seemed to be a lot of people who came after hearing the commotion. But they had scattered after hearing what happened.

Enduring the pain in my arm, I smiled deviously at the tearing Darkness who was trembling all over.

Part 5

Darkness poked at my hand that was covering her mouth.

She was probably signalling that she wouldn’t scream anymore.

I let my hand go and Darkness sighed.

I looked at my hand that was grabbed by Darkness, and a dark purple hand shaped mark appeared on it.

If Aqua didn’t buff my defence with magic, it would probably be broken.

Darkness said with resignation:

“… Seriously, you actually went that far. The servants are going to address me as the perverted young lady in secret now… Ughhh…!?”

Darkness suddenly quivered.

“You must be thinking ‘that isn’t too bad’.”

“No I didn’t.”

“Yes you did.”

Even in such a situation, this fellow was still…

“Hey, what in the world happened? Why did you leave the party, the rest are worried about you too. At least explain the situation, we are…”

Comrades right?— Before I even said that, I felt embarrassed for saying such a line.

“Some things can’t be said because you all are my important companions… Well, it’s nothing serious, just some problems in my home. Actually, my House owed money to that landlord, and father said he will pay it back by instalments… But my father’s health is ailing recently and that landlord came to rush for the payment, making things difficult and questioning if my father can repay the debt within his lifetime… I heard that the debt would be forgiven if I marry him. It’s that simple.”

What the hell.

“Your House owed that much money? Isn’t your dad a grand noble in this nation, wouldn’t the king help him out? And this…”

I stopped mid way.

This seemed like…

“That’s right, it’s coercion through loaning us money… However, this is the norm for nobles. A daughter from a noble family marrying another noble— that’s all it is.”

Darkness said easily as if she wasn’t involved.

She continued after seeing my face.

“Don’t make such an expression, Kazuma. You know my taste in men right? That landlord seemed really eager to make me his. That lusty pig like landlord won’t even wait for the wedding night before rushing into my room and push me down. Hehe, he will probably ravage me for days and nights without anything to eat or drink, how exhilarating…!”

She laughed casually after saying all these jokingly, as if she was trying to hide something.

… If that was so, why do you look so sad?

“That’s why you wanted to defeat the Hydra with just the few of us… Erm, sorry for getting so many people to join in, the path to hell is paved with good intentions… How much did you owe, I will pay for it—”

“Don’t put it that way, Kazuma. I am a noble. My duty is to protect the people. Rather than using the hard earned money of the citizens to pay my debt, I would rather sell my body… And your assets won’t be enough to clear the debt.”

She cut me off and looked at me straight in the eye.

At this moment, I finally had the chance to look at Darkness properly under the starlit sky.

Her pure and strong eyes stared right at me.

Her hair spewed on the bed like golden threats, reflecting the starlight faintly.

She struggled with her mouth covered moments ago, so she was still panting with sweat on her cheeks.

With each deep breath, her chest covered by her thin negligee undulated, giving off a strong sense of presence.

And when she struggled with me earlier, Darkness’ negligee had slid off her shoulders and flipped up her skirt. Darkness whose whole body was emitting heat turned a light shade of red—

I started chanting spells that could clear my head.

?Old lady who is lying half naked in the living room…?

?The panties of the grandma filled with unknown expectations…?

?Dust’s butt inside a red lace underwear—!?

?May my heart be as still as water!!?

The spell worked and my heart was absolutely serene.

Good, no problem, I could definitely tide over this.

Darkness who was looking straight at me from below smiled gently, and said to me after I regained my composure.

“… Instead of giving my precious virginity to the landlord… Hey, Kazuma, how about becoming adults together…?”

The spell I casted was suddenly ineffective.

Calm down Satou Kazuma, think it through.

Darkness only said that because her mind was set on marrying.

She had given up, and thought she won’t meet us ever again.

But how could I let this happen!?

That’s right, I won’t give Darkness to that fellow so easily, and I will definitely stop this.

In that case, it would be awkward if we did it here.

Becoming lovers with Darkness?

Wrong! Satou Kazuma, why did you come here in the first place!?

While I was trying to convince myself, Darkness gripped my right hand gently.

And pulled it towards her body…!

She probably didn’t have the courage to let me caress her breasts right away, so Darkness simply grabbed my hand, not knowing where to place it.

Seeing her uneasy expression, I considered it for two seconds…!

Screw the consequences and enjoy the moment.

I place my right hand that was grabbed and placed it on her abdomen.

Darkness shivered intensely.

And gently closed her eyes.

I thought about saying something romantic as I caressed Darkness’ white skin on her stomach…

“… Your abs are getting really defined.”

Part 6

Under the shine of the only light source, which was the starlight, Darkness and I faced off against each other in the middle of the room.

Before me was Darkness who lost all her earlier lewdness, her fists tightly clenched with bloodshot eyes, ready to attack.

“I was wrong! I admit I was wrong okay!? It was a slip of the tongue! Sorry, I couldn’t help it!”

“There are times when I blow my top too! Damn it, how dare you toy with a woman who is offering her body, you will pay for this! I will cut you into pieces!”

“Young lady, please don’t use crude terms like ‘cut you into pieces’! …What, so you like me, is that it? Then just say it straight!”

“Who would like a dumbass like you! I am raging so hard right now! And don’t call me young lady!”

Darkness yelled as she pounced at me.

With my speed enhanced by buff spells, I dodged easily.

The sound of footsteps came from the corridor once again, someone was charging this way.

“Hehe, what now, Kazuma? My servants are here! You are done for if they find you. You broke into the bedroom of a young lady, you will lose your head without my help! If you prostrate before me now, I might just forgive you!”

She probably became madder because of my nimble dodging, which made Darkness look more furious than ever.

In the end, a whole crowd of people gathered outside and the door was banged heavily.

“Young lady! We are opening the door now, young lady!”

When she heard their voice, Darkness opened her arms wide and jumped in an attempt to catch me.

I could dodge this easily under normal conditions, and now that I have Aqua’s buffing spell, it was a walk in the park.

I suffered a lot of hardships to get here, not to mention how worried I was all this while.

How could I back down now?

“Bring it on! Erosader whose only strong points are your erotic body, stamina and arm strength! It is time to see you cry a river after losing to the weakest job! Have a taste of the real power I showed in the capital!”

I answered using Darkness’ voice and took on Darkness who pounced on me, pushing against each other with our hands.

“D-don’t mimic my voice!”

“Y-young lady!? What are you playing at!?”

Confused voice came from behind the door.

They must be baffled since Darkness and I spoke with the same voice.

The door then opened with a creek.

I turned my face towards the door…!

“Don’t open the door~ Lalatina is naked right now! I will be seen~!”

“Huh!? P-pardon me…!”

My voice acting made the door opening sound stop.

Using this chance, I used Drain Touch to siphon Darkness’ stamina.

But Darkness’ stamina was on a totally different level from the capital’s knights, and was unmoved by Drain Touch.

Grabbing onto me forcefully, Darkness said with a blushing face:

“Don’t say that with my voice! Hey, come in quick! It’s an intruder who can mimic my voice with magic!”

“Ah, okay, right away!”

The sound of the lock opening started again.

Damn it!

“Hahahaha! It’s my win, Kazuma! After so many battles with you, I am satisfied that we can finally resolve this!”

Darkness said cockily as she endured my Drain Touch.

She even said ‘final’, how can I lose now!?

I relaxed my strength, and Darkness who was leaning forward while saying her victorious lines lost her balance.

Using this chance, I pulled my left hand from her and put it on Darkness’ back.

I shout with my original voice:

“Freeze!!”

“Ahhh!”

Darkness yelped when the ice attack hit her back, and shivered.

When Darkness fell onto her knees with her face flushed and body quivering, I pulled my right hand out.

“Young lady!”

I faced the door that opened with a bang and raised my right hand.

“Create Earth!”

This was the ever effective beginner spell that blinds people.

When she saw the dirt on my hand, Darkness realized my intentions and warned…

“Everyone, cover your…!”

Eyes— Before she could finish—

“Wind Breath!”

I casted my spell—!

Part 7

I am Kazuma.

An adventurer from Japan.

My dream was to live a carefree and willful life without any want for money.

With such a simple dream and living a simple life, I—

“Found him yet!? He’s not in the shadows here! That guy has the ?Hide? skill, don’t overlook places that seem empty either! Don’t let him escape! With the name of House Dustiness on the line, I want that fellow captured and brought before me!”

“Yes, young lady!” x3

I am thinking about how to hide from the pursuit of the furious Darkness.

“Kazuma! Where are you!? If you come out now, I will forgive you after punching you at full force ten times! But if you get caught by me, I won’t let you off so simply!”

The raging Darkness roared behind my hiding place.

While listening to the cries, I crouched and sneaked through the corridor.

Darkness was completely lost in her fury right now.

I won’t be able to talk to her like this, so I will withdraw for now.

Or rather, I might really be murdered by Darkness if she catches me. She knew Aqua could cast ?Resurrection? after all.

In order to escape from the mansion, I tried breaking into a room nearby.

Luckily, the door wasn’t locked.

Alright, I just need to get out through the window.

I approached the window while thinking that…

I suddenly heard a faint voice from the middle of the room, where the bed was.

“… Is someone… there…?”

It was Darkness’ dad.

Even though the room was dark, his thin and pale face was obvious to me.

“Ahhh, it’s you… What are you doing here in the middle of the night…I see, my daughter has a bunch of good comrades…”

Darkness’ dad said with a weak smile.

He seemed to have guessed my goal after seeing me here at this hour.

As expected of the noble known as the treasure sword of the kingdom.

However, he didn’t have the same vigour as the first time I met him.

The father that was so energetic then was now smiling so weakly.

Just what kind of illness could ravage a man in such a short time?

The sound of people running echoed from the corridor.

“Old man, sorry for visiting you when you are not feeling well, but your daughter is raging in the house right now. Can you calm her down?”

When he heard that, the uncle smiled happily in his blanket.

“Is that so. My daughter that was so depressed recently actually got that angry.”

Old man, this was no laughing matter.

… Oh right.

“Old man, I heard you owe that landlord old man some money, but I don’t think someone like you would borrow from him. Also, this doesn’t look like a House that is troubled over money. Why are you troubled over debts then…?”

I expressed my doubts.

It wasn’t appropriate to ask this with him being ill, but Darkness wouldn’t tell me the details, so this was the only way.

“… Yes, Kazuma-kun, you are really bright. I will leave my daughter to you. Sorry, but can you elope with her…?”

What was this person trying to say?

I was asking about the debts, so why did he talk about eloping?

“No, I refuse, no freaking way. Also, your daughter is chasing me all the house, out for my blood right now. Allow me to be frank, your daughter is really refined.”

“Haha, you are right, she is a virtuous and gentle girl. Pure, shy, and hates to trouble others.”

I wanted to retort ‘who the hell is that!’, but decided to hold my peace.

He accepted my sarcasm straight and started praising his daughter.

I don’t know what disease it was, but it probably got into his brain.

Uncle might be feeling weak, but he still looked at me straight with unwavering eyes.

“Please don’t mind the details. My daughter only owed money because of her own actions… Don’t worry, once you elope with my daughter, I can sell the house. I will get a large sum then. I am thinking of some other way to wipe away the debt too.”

Wipe away the debt… in other words, an unjustifiable debt?

Anyways, this competent father would definitely think of some way.

“However, my daughter wanted to settle the problem through marriage. I am willing to give anything to stop her… Kazuma-kun. From the eyes of this father, my daughter really likes you. I might be shamelessly promoting her but— she is really a good woman… How about it, would you take her hand…?”

“You ask me how about it…? Your daughter just said she wanted to turn me into mince meat…”

On top of that, the important thing was…

“That’s right, old man, just where does it hurts? I have a good… Eh, an arch priest that is only good in magic in my team, she could even use resurrection. I don’t know where it hurts for you, but if I bring her here, there should be a way to help.”

In an exceptional case like this, that useless bum would be of help.

But he merely smiled when he heard me.

“… No, it’s futile. Healing magic can’t heal me either. And resurrection won’t work if I die from sickness. That would be a way for life to end naturally. Those who die a natural death can’t be waken from the miracle of the gods. No matter the cause of death, those whose time has come should return to the heavens, which is something we should be happy for… So, don’t make such a sad face.”

It seemed my expression was shown on my face without me realizing it.

“Can you let the arch priest in my party to diagnose your illness? For uncle to fall sick at such a time is a bit…”

“Like I have been poisoned by the landlord, right?”

Uncle said what I was thinking out loud.

… That’s right.

From how obsessed that landlord was over Darkness, he probably would do anything to get his hands on her.

However…

“I already investigated. No, this is the first possibility I checked. But I wasn’t poisoned.”

That’s true, Darkness’ dad was a competent noble.

He was definitely more thorough in his investigation than me.

“Haven’t found him!? Still haven’t found him yet!? Come out Kazuma! And explain to the househelp how you mimicked my voice, and undo the misunderstanding!”

Darkness’ voice came from the corridor.

Uncle smiled wryly.

“Hey… I leave my daughter to you.”

T-this was bad…

“Can’t you discuss this with the king or someone about this? Uncle is a grand noble in this kingdom right? If the debts were forced onto you by the landlord through unscrupulous means…”

Closing his eyes, he shook his head slowly.

“Even if I did so, my daughter will still marry. She is really stubborn, I wonder who she learned that from. Even if I asked the king for help, she would say ‘don’t use the tax money of the people on something like this’ and sacrifice herself… Sigh, why is my daughter so witless.”

That’s right.

Absolutely right.

As her father, you should do something about your daughter’s stubbornness… At that moment, the door opened with a bang.

Outside the room. the panting Darkness stared at me with wrath in her eyes.

“Hehehe… So you are here, Kazuma, hahaha! Let’s see how you will…”

“Hey, there is a sick person here, don’t make a din opening the door. Calm down, I only came as a representative for everyone who is worried about you…!”

The angry Darkness ignored my explanation.

“Shut up! To think you can shatter the reputation of the target you are worried about in such a short time…! This is a matter between nobles, a commoner like you shouldn’t interfere, going back to the mansion and farming some strange crops should be enough for you!”

This woman!

“Forget about the debt! Let’s run away together! And start over in a new place! You should know that if I return empty handed, those two will—! Especially Megumin, she will do something reckless! Like blowing away the venue of your wedding or something!”

“Do it if you’ve got the guts! I will definitely have you arrested as the mastermind! If you don’t want to go to jail, rein them in! I won’t run! Even if I do, someone else would be implicated! … And first of all…”

Darkness charged me as she said that.

So she wanted to conclude the last match before her marriage?

Oh no, I will die!

I turned and sprint for the window.

“You witless stubborn woman! Enough, do what you want! I won’t care no matter how much you cry after this!”

After spitting out this line, I flew towards the window with a flying kick…!

“If you want my help, you can apologize to me anytime! Say ‘I am sorry for making everyone worry, I need Kazuma-sama’s help’… Uwah!”

The glass on the window was harder than I imagined. I didn’t break the glass with my kick, and my entire body crashed into the window.

Instead of a kick, the window was smashed open with my body slam, and I fell out of the window with the shattered windows onto the ground.

Even though it was just the second floor, without anything to break my fall, I rolled on the ground in pain.

Darkness came to the window and looked down at me—

“A-Are you alright, Kazuma-sama!? If you say ‘Sorry Darkness-sama, please save me’, I wouldn’t mind helping you with first aid!”

Her shoulders were shaking as she said while holding back her laughter.

Pushing my painstruck body, I climbed over the iron fence to flee from the guards that came running because of the noise…!

“D-damn it… Darkness! I will not help you even if you come to me crying! — Don’t fucking come here! ?Create Water?! ?Freeze?!”

After cursing out at Darkness who was watching me excitedly, I casted my spells on the guard chasing me and escaped back to the mansion.

Part 8

“Uguuuu…! Aqua! Aqua!! Heal me! Heal me quick!!”

After making it home, I walked towards Aqua who was dozing off on the couch in the living room, with an egg in her arms.

Darkness probably thought it would be awkward to meet Aqua and Megumin, so she didn’t pursue me.

“… Hmm? … Hey, what happened to you Kazuma, you are wounded all over! Did you see Darkness? Why are you hurt so badly? Did you say something dumb again?”

Aqua asked nonstop as she healed me with her spell.

And why did you seem so happy to see me wounded all over?

Hearing our commotion, Megumin who was sleeping on the same couch woke.

“Kazuma, you are finally back. What happened? Did you shoot your mouth off again? Did you convince Darkness?”

Now I know how these two sees me.

Despite Aqua healing my wounds, I still felt upset.

Unable to expel that feeling in my heart, I headed to my room on the second floor alone.

“Don’t interfere with that girl anymore! Leave her be! Unless she comes crying for help, leave her alone! I don’t want to suffer anymore, so take care of the rest!”

Aqua and Megumin looked at each other when I showed my attitude of resignation.

“Eh… Darkness even promised to build a small pet house after this child hatches…”

Aqua lowered her gaze disappointedly with the egg in her arms.

As for Megumin—

“Kazuma, I don’t know what happened, but now is not the time to throw tantrums! And why must Darkness marry anyway!?”

She asked while facing my back that was walking up the stairs.

I stopped.

“She owed money! Her family owed a big sum of money to the landlord! I heard the debt will be forgiven if she marries the landlord!”

“Ugh… Debt huh. I don’t know how much she borrowed, but I just sent money back home and don’t have much on me…”

Megumin said as she flipped through her purse that was full of shopping point cards and coupons, and sighed.

“It can’t be helped, if she really needs money, I will break my tiger shaped piggy bank then.”

Aqua proposed a useless idea with an egg in her arms.

The sum was unknown, but it was big enough that a grand noble like Darkness had to sell herself off.

Megumin and Aqua’s spare change would just be a drop in the ocean.

With my back towards them, I headed to my room.

“She already made up her mind! Just let her be! Unless she comes to me crying and apologize, I will not do anything about it!”

Megumin shouted at me.

“Kazuma, is this the time to vent your anger!? Darkness is going to be married off! Are you fine with that!?”

Tell that to that stubborn girl instead!