In the morning, Shichen was woken by the sunlight spilling in through the window. He opened his eyes, his awareness drifting back—and the first thing he noticed was the silky softness in his hand.
He blinked. His vision cleared: the back of Megumin's small head, short black hair with a faint, pleasant scent.
Last night he'd "helped with Megumin's development" until she fell asleep, and then held her like this as they slept.
Flexing his fingers to savor the delicate softness he was cupping, he glanced outside. The sun was bright—already a bit blinding. It was probably late. How come no one had come to wake them?
"Mm…" Megumin suddenly let out the faintest little sound.
Shichen's hearing was sharp enough that he wondered if he imagined it—until he felt her heartbeat quicken against his palm. No need to doubt.
"Awake?" He leaned in and whispered by her ear.
"That tickles~" His breath brushed her ear; she shrank her neck, unused to the sensation.
He noticed a blush bloom on her fair, dainty ear. Unable to resist, he pursed his lips and took her earlobe into his mouth.
"Mm!" Megumin trembled all over, eyes opening, a misty sheen in them.
Her ear felt great—almost as good as her lips. He kept it to a taste, but as he left, he gave the lobe a gentle nip.
"W-what are you doing?" Megumin turned over, eyes wet as she looked at him—petite face flushed, dewy and gorgeous.
Seeing that, Shichen didn't bother with words—he dipped his head and kissed her.
Megumin didn't resist at all. She clutched the fabric at his chest and answered him obediently. Or rather, "answered" was generous—she wasn't very practiced at this kind of thing and could only let him have his way.
After a long while they parted. Looking at her reddened cheeks, Shichen slid down a bit and lowered his head.
Megumin's eyes flew open. She bit her lip, then wrapped her arms tight around his head.
…
Shichen left Megumin's room first.
Megumin needed to change—swap out her pajamas, and her panties too.
In the living room he didn't see Hyoizaburoo or Yuiyui, and Komekko wasn't there either. The kitchen was empty as well. He checked the house and only found Aqua and the others in the master bedroom.
They were somehow still asleep.
With the parents gone, Shichen headed straight to the master bedroom.
He pushed the door open to a mess of covers. Aqua was sprawled diagonally in a very unladylike way. Darkness, at least, was sleeping properly—though the fact she still wasn't up was… suspicious. Frieren was already awake, quietly reading manga.
Shichen walked over, gave Frieren's small backside a light pat, then started shaking Darkness and Aqua.
"Darkness, Aqua—rise and shine."
Frieren didn't even glance up, still lying on her stomach with the manga.
"Mm… Shichen? You finally came to 'night raid' me?" Darkness popped her eyes open to find his face right there and instantly got excited.
"…" Shichen, deadpan, gave her chest a squeeze.
He'd already guessed why she was still in bed—clearly she'd stayed up late waiting for a midnight assault that never came.
"Mmm~" Darkness murmured, even more thrilled, and reached to pull him into a hug.
He slapped her hand away and lifted the still-sleeping Aqua up.
"Eh?" Dangled like a kitten, Aqua naturally woke. She stared blankly at the white sheets.
"Time to get up. The sun's already roasting your backside," Shichen said, giving her a light swat.
Aqua didn't mind. She glanced back at him. "Shichen?"
"Yeah, it's me."
"Mm… what time is it?"
"Almost noon."
"Really? No wonder I'm hungry."
"…All right, up you get. We're in Megumin's house—try to be a little civilized." He set her down with a helpless sigh.
"Okay~"
"Frieren, where are Uncle and Auntie?"
"Think they went out to sell stuff. They left us breakfast," Frieren answered without looking up.
"I see." Shichen nodded. He remembered Megumin's family did sell magic items—just ones with side effects so bad no one wanted them. Well, that ditz Wiz would buy them.
"Up you get. Once we eat, let's go out for a bit," he said, turning to leave.
"Shichen…" Darkness suddenly hugged his leg, cheeks flushed, breathing quick.
"In your dreams." He rejected her on the spot, pried her off, and walked out.
"How could you—n-no, being rejected that coldly is… kind of nice too… hah—hah—"
Same old pervert. If Aqua and the others weren't around, he'd definitely give her a proper lesson.
Yunyun showed up while they were eating. She'd only just finished her own breakfast—not surprising, since she'd gone to bed late, burned a lot of energy, and was a bit dehydrated besides.
Yuiyui hadn't prepared much, and it was pretty bland. Shichen barely ate anything and it was gone.
So after tidying up, he had Megumin take them to the Crimson Demon Village's only café for a real meal.
Fed and watered, noon had already passed. Megumin and Yunyun took Shichen and the others on a tour of the village.
Crimson Demon Village had plenty of curiosities. First up: the only building that looked like a shrine, where they venerated a statue of a cat-eared "sukumizu" swimsuit girl.
"A long, long time ago, our ancestors saved a traveler who'd been attacked by monsters… As thanks, that traveler gave them this statue and said, 'To me, this is a divine treasure more precious than my life.' We don't actually know which deity it is, but our ancestors figured if they enshrined it, they'd receive protection. He also taught them about facilities called 'shrines'," Yunyun recited, face blank.
She obviously didn't buy it. What kind of god looks like that?
Megumin, however, looked very devout in front of the statue.
Aside from her obsession with Explosion, Megumin wasn't much different from the other Crimson Demons, so of course they all treated this swimsuit-girl goddess statue with the same reverence.
Utterly abstract.
As for the traveler—Shichen didn't have to think hard to guess he was a Nihonjin summoned by Aqua.
He looked at Aqua helplessly.
"Hm? Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked, puzzled—completely oblivious.
"It's nothing," Shichen said, shaking his head. "Yunyun, take us somewhere else."
"Okay!"
Following Yunyun, they soon arrived at a boulder with a sword stuck in it. The sight gave Shichen déjà vu.
"Shichen, this is the legendary holy sword that grants great power to whomever pulls it free," Megumin explained.
"Knew it…"
"You've heard of it too?" she asked.
"Heh—so the rumor is that if you draw it, you get 'legendary power,' right?"
"Not really," Yunyun said, shaking her head.
"Hm?"
"This sword doesn't have any such power, and you can't pull it out… until a long time has passed. You also have to pay a challenge fee to the blacksmith."
"What the heck?" The corner of Shichen's mouth twitched.
Yunyun smiled and explained, "The blacksmith made this 'holy sword' to attract tourists. There's a magic on it so that the ten-thousandth challenger will pull it out exactly… We've only had a few hundred challengers so far—it was made about four years ago."
"…" Shichen was speechless.
Very Crimson Demon.
"Wait, my magic could probably break that seal~ Shichen, want to take the sword?" Aqua piped up.
"Forget it. Useless. Next stop."
"Okay."
"I'll lead the way!"
Following Megumin, they reached a little spring under the shade of some trees.
"This is the so-called 'Wishing Pond.' The legend goes that if you offer an axe or a coin, you can summon the goddess who governs gold and silver… so people sometimes toss axes or coins in, trying to call her," Megumin explained.
This world had way too many elements from the real one—but that made sense. Aqua had summoned so many people from other worlds here that the place was heavily influenced.
"No idea who started the rumor… If the kind blacksmith didn't clean the spring regularly, it'd be a mountain of iron by now," Yunyun said, shaking her head.
"The blacksmith again? What does he do with the coins and scrap he fishes out?" Shichen asked.
"Recycles them, I think—turns them into materials for weapons and armor."
"…"
Well, there's your culprit.
"Come on, let's just walk the village. I'm done looking at these gimmicks," Shichen said, exasperated.
"Eh? Already bored? There's lots more fun stuff."
"I'll pass. Show me the real Crimson Demon Village—introduce me to some of your people."
"Okay then."