After wiping out the Tranquility Girl, Megumin and the others didn't feel the slightest guilt—if anything, they looked relieved.
"Great, she's dealt with!"
"Mm-hmm, and we even leveled up."
"Monsters deserve to die! And she had the nerve to mimic a loli!"
"You guys…" Shichen frowned tightly, giving them a hard-to-read look.
"What about us?" Megumin asked, puzzled.
"She was so cute…"
Megumin's brows pinched. "Cute? All the more reason to erase her—she's a monster."
"…And you too, Yunyun?"
What shocked Shichen most was Yunyun. She'd cut the Tranquility Girl down without a second thought. That wasn't like her at all.
"What about me?" Yunyun blinked innocently.
"Forget it—so long as you're happy," Shichen said with a shake of his head.
"Of course we're happy. We leveled up—and on our way back to save the Crimson Demon Village, no less."
"…Let's keep moving."
Shichen took Frieren's small hand—she was still staring down at her manga—and led the way into the forest.
Megumin and the others followed without hesitation, as if nothing had happened. After all, it was just a monster; what was there to dwell on?
The forest was big, and no monsters showed. It took them most of the day to get through, and by the time they came out, the sky was dark.
Thanks to convenient teleportation, there was no way a group of girls like Megumin and the rest wanted to sleep outdoors, so they went straight back to Axel.
Only then did an issue occur to them.
"Shichen, once you've been to the Crimson Demon Village, will you be able to go there any time you want?"
"That's right."
"Then we could pop home whenever we want?"
"Are you sure that's what you want?" Shichen looked evenly at Megumin and Yunyun.
"What's the problem?"
"If you can go back anytime, anywhere, are you even 'adventuring' anymore? Isn't that just going out by day to play and heading home at night?"
"Huh… that's kind of true~"
"So don't rely on teleportation magic all the time."
"Got it. Then I just won't learn that spell," Yunyun said earnestly, nodding.
"Wait, that's not what I meant. You should still learn it."
"Eh? Didn't you say not to rely on it?"
"Just use self-control. It's incredibly handy. What if something happens elsewhere? You can rush over fast."
"No problem—don't you already have it? As long as you can do it, we're fine."
"…Learn it anyway, just in case."
"If you put it that way, Shichen, I understand."
"Good girl~" Shichen ruffled Yunyun's hair.
"Hehe~"
"I'm not learning it. I'm only learning magic that supports Explosion," Megumin said.
"…Teleportation might support Explosion, you know."
"How?"
"For example… teleport to the perfect spot to cast it."
"No need! Explosion is meant to be fired face-to-face!" Megumin refused outright. "And teleportation is a waste of skill points. It's enough if you two can use it."
"Alright—your call."
"Mm-hmm! As long as you support me staying on the path of Explosion, I'm happy."
"No problem." Shichen ruffled Megumin's hair, too.
"Hehe~"
"Okay, it's late. We walked all day—everyone's tired, right? Turn in early; we've got another day on the road tomorrow."
"Okay!"
They took turns bathing and went back to their own rooms. Shichen stayed in his room a while; after Frieren and Aqua stopped by, he went to bathe.
Bathing and resting isn't like soaking in a hot spring—no need to do it together, and tonight wasn't the time for that anyway. After a full day's walk, everyone except Darkness and Shichen fell asleep quickly.
Shichen didn't sleep holding Frieren and Aqua that night. Instead, he went to Darkness's room to help her "work off" the rest of her energy.
They'd eaten grilled meat outdoors for dinner, and Darkness hadn't had her fill, so Shichen fed her a little first—then helped her expend her stamina. Most of the night passed before Shichen made sure Darkness was satisfied on both counts; only then did he hold her and drift off to sleep.
…
The next day, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, Shichen led everyone back to the spot where they'd exited the forest and continued onward.
Beyond the woods stretched a plain. Shichen remembered this plain vividly and, sure enough, they ran into a truly terrifying presence.
There were some fairly strong monsters on the plains—One-Hit Bears, Griffins, Fire Dragon Beasts—names that sounded tough at a glance. But those weren't much of a threat to Shichen's group anymore.
They weren't the point anyway. The real problem was a class of creatures games and light novels usually list as low-tier mobs:
Orcs.
These orcs were bipedal monsters with pig-like heads. Their breeding ability was off the charts; they were basically in heat year-round. Orcs can mate with almost any humanoid. If humans are caught by them, the outcome is miserable. Better to end it yourself than be taken alive.
Staring at the horizon-spanning orc horde ahead, even Shichen, confident as he was, felt his heart lurch. The way they were looking at him… was terrifying.
This was the dread of being a male.
He couldn't help it—these orcs were female. All of them.
Their appearance was quite close to human; despite pig snouts and ears, their facial outlines were very human-like, and their clothing was normal enough. Their most distinctive trait was hair—wild, messy manes. With their green skin, a casual glance might mistake them for people.
But Shichen had zero interest in that sort of thing. Not even a little.
"Good morning, handsome~ Want to have some fun with us?"
"Ooh, a human hottie!"
"So handsome!"
"He's mine!"
"No, mine!"
"Charge! Grab him—enough for everyone!"
"Go!"
Rumble—!
The endless sea of orcs thundered forward, all of them zeroed in on Shichen, eyes blazing as if they wanted to devour him whole. The ground shook, dust billowed—an intimidating sight.
Shichen didn't even want to imagine what would happen if they caught him. A scene like this would make any underpowered guy's knees buckle.
"Yunyun! Megumin! Get spells ready!" Shichen shouted.
"Yes!"
Megumin and Yunyun flanked him left and right, wands leveled at the surging horde.
"Don't hold back. Wipe them out."
"Got it!"
"Light of Saber! Fireball!"
"Explosion!"
"Sacred Fire! Aeroblast! Origin Pulse! Precipice Blades!"
A full-on barrage turned the boundless army of orcs to ash. Shichen had gone all-in, borrowing the signature moves of Rayquaza's companions.
Couldn't be helped—those orcs made his skin crawl.
"Whoaa—! I gained a ton of levels!" Megumin sagged against Shichen, buzzing with excitement.
"Me too! By the way, what did you just use, Shichen? That was insane!" Yunyun asked.
"I borrowed it—abilities from Rayquaza."
"Oh, that explains it."
"Alright, let's move." Shichen hoisted the exhausted Megumin onto his back.
"Mm-hmm!"
Maybe they'd made too much noise just now—on the way, they didn't encounter any more monsters.
Soon, they drew near the Crimson Demon Village—and ran into the Demon King's army on its outskirts.
"Aren't those two Crimson Demons? And kids, no less! Perfect—time to earn some glory!"
"The others look like human adventurers—no threat!"
The speakers were two armored monsters with pointed, upturned ears, reddish-brown skin, and skinny limbs—ghoul-like, with a single horn jutting from their foreheads.
"Those are… lower-class Mimic Demons," Darkness identified them.
"Let's get them!"
The Demon King's troops ignored Darkness entirely. Weapons raised, they charged.
"Charge—!"
And then, behind the two Mimic Demons, a huge crowd of their kind appeared—more than the orcs from earlier.
"Why are there so many?!"
"Shichen, what do we do?"
"If they're Demon King's troops, we just take them ou—hmm?" Shichen looked into the distance.
There, out of literally empty space, four figures in black robes appeared. Two of them were a bit different: black one-piece outfits like knight leathers, fingerless gloves. Their gear varied—one with a short staff, one empty-handed—no standard-issue weapons.
But the most obvious thing? Their eyes were all red.
Those sudden arrivals had the same vivid crimson eyes as Megumin and Yunyun.
Which made their identity obvious: Crimson Demons.
The four had clearly been hiding there the whole time; Shichen hadn't sensed any spatial ripple. They only revealed themselves because Megumin and Yunyun were under attack.
~~~
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