The two of them, rolling around on the ground, didn't quite lose themselves in gnawing at each other. After a simple kiss that left their lips dry, they stopped, and Jhin carried the limp Megumin off into the bathroom to wash up.
No one knew what happened in there, but when she came out she confessed to sneaking cola.
All the cola set out in the room got swept into Jhin's storage space too, and he drew up a whole new diet plan for her. Only the two of them knew the details, but judging by the pained look on Megumin's face, it wasn't going to be easy.
As for the bounty for successfully defeating the Demon King's Army officer - Hans the Deadly Poison Slime, Jhin and the others didn't go collect it at the Adventurer's Guild here in the Golden Sea Dream.
For one thing, they had nothing that could prove they'd defeated it; and beyond that, they didn't want to draw the attention of [Death]. Both sides were keeping their movements hidden, and whoever exposed themselves first would be at a disadvantage.
As for the seawater problem, Jhin wrote an anonymous letter and spent a bit of Eris to have it delivered to the Adventurer's Guild; the right people would surely come to handle it soon enough.
With everything here wrapped up, they checked out and left the Golden Sea Dream area, heading for the Crimson Demon Village under Megumin's lead.
If she were a normal Crimson Demon Clan mage who'd studied magic the ordinary way, there'd be no need to travel on foot at all - she could just use Teleportation Magic to bring the whole group straight to the Crimson Demon Village. Unfortunately, she was the world's number one [Explosion magic] enthusiast, so their only option was to hoof it.
The thought of lacking a ride surfaced in Jhin's mind again, and he decided that this time, no matter what, he'd have Nymph rig him up some kind of travel tool the moment they got back.
Wait - once I reach the Crimson Demon Clan, can't I observe and study Teleportation Magic?
Only now did he remember he'd toyed with this idea a long time ago, but since none of his companions knew Teleportation Magic, he'd had to shelve it for the time being.
Every Crimson Demon Clan member was an Archmage, so plenty of them surely knew Teleportation Magic. Figuring the spell out shouldn't be too hard.
The more Jhin thought about it, the more excited he got. He just went ahead and pulled on his [Elemental Armament], tucked two girls under his arms, held one against his chest, and carried one more on his back, then took off with all of them at high speed.
"Wait, wait, what's the sudden rush?" Megumin rapped her knuckles against his hard living-metal helmet.
"Teleportation Magic! That's what I wanted to learn all along. Tons of people in your clan can do it, right? Once I figure it out, I can create my own version, and then I can run all over the world!"
Pecorine, tucked under his arm, perked up at once. "Does that mean we can go hunting for legendary ingredients everywhere?"
"Shouldn't be a problem." Jhin didn't actually know what limits Teleportation Magic had, but the ability to move fast was already a huge boon for adventuring.
"You absolutely have to learn Teleportation Magic!"
"Leave it to me!"
"Ooooh, charge!"
The two foodies' souls blazed together. Kyaru, her tail wrapped around Jhin's waist, buried her face in her hands. "You two are so embarrassing."
Kokkoro said with a giggle, "There's nobody on the road anyway, so isn't this just fine?"
With Jhin traveling at full speed, a journey originally expected to take a week was brutally cut down to three days. Kyaru quipped that if he couldn't learn Teleportation Magic, he himself could serve as a means of transport - way faster than any carriage or flying eagle.
Probably from running so fast, Megumin got a little turned around on the exact bearings, so the route she pointed out veered off by just a touch. When Jhin came to a stop, her face went as sour as if she'd swallowed a fly.
"Jhin, let's hurry up and get out of here."
"Isn't this the Crimson Demon Village? Did you point the wrong way?"
"The direction's off by a little bit. We're still some distance from the Crimson Demon Village, and most importantly... this is Orc territory."
At the mention of "Orcs," the other girls' faces twisted with discomfort too, like they'd come across a dung-smeared rat chasing a cockroach in the middle of the road.
Kokkoro kindly explained to Jhin, "Orcs are a race the Beastmen refuse to acknowledge. They're in heat around the clock, and the moment they spot a male they launch a ferocious assault, knock him out, and haul him back to their tribe, where they wring him completely dry - keeping him just barely alive so they can keep squeezing him."
"The children they bear are only ever more Orcs, and on top of that their looks are very... very distinctive, so this race has a terrible reputation across the continent."
"What is this, some Another World gender-swapped goblin? And this kind of thing actually gets to live near your Crimson Demon Village?" Jhin was sweating buckets by the time she finished. Just as he was about to grab them all and leave, he felt the ground begin to shake.
Rolling clouds of dust rose in the distance as countless Orcs came charging in at furious speed. Extremely sensitive to the scent of a male, they'd sensed Jhin's presence the instant he stepped into their territory, dropping whatever they were doing and rushing straight for their target with bloodshot eyes.
"A man!! It's a man!!" "Grab him, quick!!" "This time I'm having ten!"
"It's been so long since I tasted a man!!"
The Orcs shouted as they ran, drool spraying everywhere like water from a showerhead, thick plumes of excited white mist puffing from their pig snouts, their beady eyes holding nothing but the purest bestial lust.
Megumin had meant to have Jhin whisk them all away, but then she heard exactly what these Orcs were bellowing.
She was angry. Furious.
She leapt down off her boyfriend's back, a crimson glow igniting in her eyes, and ground out word by word through clenched teeth, "What insolence - you actually have the nerve to fight me over my man!"
A multi-layered magic circle, unseen for ages, hung in the sky. All of Megumin's magic gathered at the tip of her staff as she chanted aloud.
"Crimson gate of death,
Divine thunder that pierces the heavens,
Bloom as the higanbana blooms,
Let blood soak the earth,
And deliver pitch-black despair unto mine enemies!
Explosion!"
The [Explosion magic], charged with the fury in her heart, blasted an enormous crater into the horizon and gave off a searing white light. Jhin threw up a barrier to shield everyone before the aftershock rolled in.
"Feels like the power of your Explosion magic has gone up again."
"Hmph, of course it has. Just because I'm not casting Explosion magic every single day now doesn't mean I've stopped honing my craft!"
"Yes, yes, you're the greatest." Jhin hoisted her back up onto his back. "Just don't point the wrong way again this time."
"Heh heh, you're pretty happy right now, aren't you?"
"Very happy. You get a bottle of cola today."
Megumin grinned so wide her mouth nearly went crooked. "I wouldn't say no to a few extra bottles, either."
The other girls all gave her a thumbs-up. Who'd have thought that she - who spent every day either sparring or bickering with Jhin - could have a moment this glorious? What those Orcs had said had left them all deeply unsettled, so this one blast of [Explosion magic] felt immensely satisfying.
____
⚡ BONUS CHAPTER GOALS
✍️ 5 REVIEWS = +1 Bonus Chapter
💎 100 POWER STONES = +1 Bonus Chapter
🔥 P@TREON (Walnut-chan): Read +40 chapters ahead and get access to over 60 exclusive stories!
🔥 New history: Mushoku tensei: Speed Run to kill Hitogami — posted on The_Mikudayo