"Something this useful?"
Shichen eyed the plain-looking lump of metal in surprise. So with this, you could be immune to magic like he was? It sounded powerful—especially in this world—but it was completely useless to him.
Normal people couldn't use it either; who had the strength to carry such a big hunk of metal? And even if you could, what would you do with it?
He did remember, though, that a certain Demon King General—the chimera—could use one. For that thing, this really was a good find.
"Why is there a Mage-Killer here?" Megumin couldn't help asking.
"Didn't you say this place sealed a weapon capable of destroying the world?" Darkness asked.
"A Mage-Killer can't be that weapon. How could it destroy the world?" Yunyun shook her head.
"True."
"Shichen, what should we do with it?" Yunyun looked to him.
"It's useless. Just destroy it," Shichen said casually.
"You can't destroy a Mage-Killer. My magic and Megumin's don't work on it."
"Isn't that what I'm here for?" Shichen flicked a clump of golden flame onto the Mage-Killer.
The fire quickly wrapped around it and roared to life. Unable to withstand the holy fire's heat, the Mage-Killer was soon burned to nothing.
"A-amazing! Shichen, that flame isn't magic?" Yunyun asked, eyes wide.
"Of course not."
"As expected of Shichen!"
"All right, let's keep looking for anything interesting."
"Okay!"
Everyone split up to search. Shichen didn't. He was debating whether to just stash everything here in the Gate of Babylon—antiques or not, they were still treasures. There were a few consoles he didn't even have at the café house.
He did have a collector's streak.
"Shichen, look at this." Just as he was considering packing it all up, Aqua walked over holding something that looked like a notebook.
"What's this?"
He took it and saw it was filled with what the Crimson Demons called "ancient script"—Japanese.
"Probably a diary?" Aqua said uncertainly.
"Let me see." Shichen opened it.
"—○ month × day. This is bad—the facility's been discovered. Luckily they don't seem to know what I made. If they found out I used state research funds to build game consoles and toys, I can't imagine what they'd do to me…"
"…"
One paragraph was enough for Shichen to get it. The culprit was still Aqua—if she hadn't randomly summoned people to this world to pad her numbers…
"Shichen, why are you looking at me like that?" Aqua blinked innocently.
"It's nothing… I'll keep reading."
"Okay, you read. I'll see if there's anything good."
"Sure."
He quickly finished the notebook and pretty much understood everything. First, this underground hangar had been built by someone from Japan.
Second, the Crimson Demons were modified humans—modified by that Japanese person.
Lastly, there really was a world-destroying weapon here: that "rifle" in the only clothing shop—the electromagnetic railgun. Who knew how it ended up there.
Not that it mattered. He didn't need it. He'd already destroyed the Mage-Killer, so the Crimson Demons no longer had a natural enemy. Even if a Demon King General attacked, it wouldn't be a big deal.
Shichen didn't plan to tell the others what the diary said. He burned it on the spot.
"Shichen, Shichen! Look! This console actually works—and it uses mana instead of batteries. Pretty neat! I wonder how many games there are. Let's take them all!" Aqua ran back, clutching a console, excited.
"Sure."
Shichen nodded and, with a wave of his hand, swept the entire contents of the underground bay into storage.
Megumin and the others, still rummaging for useful bits, suddenly found everything in front of them gone. They froze, then realized it was Shichen's doing.
"Shichen, what did you do?"
"I took the lot. We'll sort it out back home. It's getting late—your parents should be on their way back. Let's head home too."
"Eh? My mom and dad aren't coming back tonight," Megumin said.
"What do you mean?"
"They're sleeping at the workshop. Happens all the time."
"Is that so? Then let's go home anyway—it's dinner time."
"Okay!"
They left the bay, Shichen closed the door again, and they headed off. Back at Megumin's, Hyoizaburoo and Yuiyui indeed weren't there—but Komekko was.
As soon as she saw Shichen, the little girl scampered over, tilted her face up, and stared at him with wide eyes without saying a word.
Shichen smiled, took out a few candies, and handed them to her.
"Komekko, were you hoping for these?"
"Thank you, Onii-chan~" Komekko said politely.
"Good girl~" He ruffled her hair with a smile.
"Shichen… you're not… having any ideas about my imouto, are you?" Megumin eyed him suspiciously.
"What nonsense? She's just too cute. And she's your sister—what's wrong with me being nice to her?" Shichen pinched her cheek, giving it a gentle tug.
"Mm… but aren't you a lolicon?"
"Hm?" He grabbed her other cheek and pulled both sides.
"I-I'm sorry, I was wrong…"
"I'll deal with you tonight." He released her soft cheeks.
Shichen made dinner; Aqua and the others played the consoles. At first Megumin and the rest didn't get it, but after Aqua coached them a bit, they were hooked.
Frieren still only cared about manga—she didn't even look at the games.
Komekko stuck to Shichen, curious about everything—and the aroma from his cooking had her gulping nonstop.
She ate until she was stuffed, her little belly round. It was her first time tasting something so good—compared to before, it was heaven and earth. Naturally, she couldn't help eating a bit too much.
Fed and watered, everyone flopped down, reluctant to move—manga for those who read, games for those who played. The scene was the very picture of laziness.
Hyoizaburoo and Yuiyui really didn't come back. With them gone, everyone could relax; no need to split up sleeping for the night. Yunyun decided not to go home either.
She said her dad didn't really like her staying out overnight and looked like he had something to say but couldn't—very conflicted.
He didn't have much authority, though, and Yunyun wasn't afraid of him; in the end all he could do was tell her to be careful.
Shichen didn't get what that was about. What safety was there to worry about with him around?
It's not like they were off to fight the Demon King's army.
Night passed without incident. They all squeezed in together to sleep, and nothing happened—even though he noticed the eager, itchy expressions on Darkness and Yunyun's faces. With Komekko there, it wasn't appropriate.
The next day, Shichen had planned to have Yunyun and the others introduce him to some of their old classmates and maybe drop in on that novelist.
But before he could suggest it, the Demon King's army attacked—right by Megumin's house.
Megumin's place sat on the edge of the village, a bit removed from other homes—practically the outskirts. A group of Demon King grunts were skulking outside the fence, and since the village alarm hadn't sounded, the Crimson Demons clearly hadn't noticed yet.
"I mean, why are you here again? You got thrashed last time and still dare to attack—my house, no less. What's your goal?" Megumin swaggered to the front of Shichen's group and demanded impatiently.
"Megumin, be careful." Darkness stepped forward, shielding her.
"No worries," Megumin said confidently. "Look at how sneaky they're being. Their goal isn't the villagers—it's the village facilities."
"The village facilities? I remember you said there was a tomb that sealed a Dark God or whatever. But didn't that seal already get broken?" Darkness asked, puzzled.
"Yeah, so there shouldn't be anything here the Demon King's army wants. Don't tell me they're after the cat-eared shrine statue!" Megumin frowned.
"As if."
Shichen flicked her forehead. "If the Demon King wanted something that silly, he'd have to be a Crimson Demon."
"Shichen, how dare you insult the Crimson Demons," Megumin pouted.
"…"
"Could it be that weapon capable of destroying the world?" Yunyun asked uncertainly.
"No way." Megumin shook her head firmly. "That facility's under a special seal—the Demon King's army can't get in. And there's a more basic problem—nobody even knows what the weapon is, let alone…" She glanced at Shichen and let the sentence trail off.
He'd already taken everything. What was left for the Demon King's army to grab?
"So what do we do?" Yunyun looked to Shichen.
"Easy. They're the Demon King's army—we defeat them, of course."
"Oh, right~"