Aqua to see what the trials had in store for them.

“All right, how about we go get Megumin?”

“Say, Kazuma, instead of bailing Megumin out of jail every day, maybe we could think of a way for her
not to wind up there in the first place?”

As we walked through Crimson Magic Village, I saw a guy I thought I recognized.

“Hey, Kazuma, it’s your rival,” Darkness said. Whatever that was supposed to mean.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t have any rivals; I’m undefeated and invincible. But he
does look familiar somehow…”

“H-hey, you haven’t forgotten him, have you? He’s—you know—I’m sure it was…uhhh…”

“Mitsurugi! To be forgotten even by the daughter of that most stalwart of noble houses, the
Dustinesses, is simply too much!”

That’s right: It was the Sword Master with the enchanted blade, Mitsurugi himself.

“Hey, it’s been a while. How ya doing? Well, we’re in a hurry…”

Mitsurugi grabbed my hand before I could make my escape. “Hold it right there! Why are you trying to
ditch me?”

“Simple: You and I don’t really get along, do we? You needle me about every little thing, and it’s really
annoying.”

“E-erm, well, that’s true, but… Wait, what are you even doing here? The monsters around the village are
too powerful for you, aren’t they?”

“A friend of mine is taking the trials to become the next chief. And I’m here to help. Hey, why are you
here?” He didn’t even seem to have his little girlfriends with him.

“Um, you might think I’m crazy for saying this, but a divine item ran out on me… According to the note,
at least, it was going on a journey… Ha-ha… You can feel free to laugh at me now…”

I knew that divine item and exactly which journey he was on. But

Darkness, who had never met Aigis personally, looked at Mitsurugi mournfully. “You seem pretty tired,”
she said. “There’s a hot spring here. You should take a dip and help yourself feel better. Um, don’t
overthink things, okay?”
“Ha-ha… Of course, I don’t expect you to believe me… To tell the truth,

the goddess Lady Eris came to me in a dream. She entrusted me with this precious divine item, asking
me to use it to save the world. But then one day, the item left me a note: ‘As long as you rely on your
enchanted sword for your strength, you won’t be worthy of me. There’s something I have to do as a
divine item. While I’m doing it, go on a journey and search for me. And let it make you stronger! I’ll
always be waiting for you. Now, hero, go forth!’ … That was all.”

I knew what the divine item “had to do.” He had to go to Crimson Magic Village to get a load of all the
chicks.

“Then I heard there was a brilliant fortune-teller in Crimson Magic Village, so I came here to ask her to
help me locate the divine item. But she seemed to think I was making some ridiculous joke. She only
teased me, saying, ‘It’s right over there in that bar, harassing the waitress.’”

I could vouch for that fortune.

“But don’t worry about me. This is a trial set for me by the divine item granted to me by the goddess. I
never expected it to be easy.” I was just trying to decide whether to tell Mitsurugi about Aigis when his
face got very serious. “There’s something more important that I have to say. Since you’re here, let me
give you a warning. It seems like the generals of the Demon King are targeting Axel. More like the entire
army, in fact. I don’t know if they want to destroy the town, or you personally, or if they’re after Lady
Aqua… But what I do know is that you might want to lay low for a while, maybe here or at the capital.”
Then Mitsurugi turned to leave. “I’m the one who’s going to defeat you. I can’t have the Demon King
getting to you first. I’ll win next time. And then Lady Aqua will be…”

There was resolution on his face as he proudly walked away.

“…Hey, Darkness, if he’s really after me, that’s pretty, you know, main character–like, isn’t it?”

“And yet, I can’t shake the sense that the guy who just walked away is the

more heroic of you two.”

We waited until Mitsurugi was out of sight. “Okay, next stop, Megumin.”

But Darkness replied abruptly: “…Hey, um, Kazuma. It’s fine, going to get her and everything, but maybe
we could take a little walk first? Remember that nice walk we took in Arcanletia?”

“I’ve got nothing against a walk. But there’s no telling what Megumin might do to us if she finds out we
left her rotting in jail while we went off on a pleasant constitutional.” Besides, surely we could get
Megumin first, and then the three of us could go on a walk…

“N-no, look, I was just thinking, maybe once in a while we could have a sort of…you know, date…like
thing…” Her voice became quieter and quieter as she got to the end of her sentence.
A date. A date, huh…?

“Now that I think about it, I’m not sure I’ve ever been on a proper date.” “Y-yeah, right?! I mean, I think
just walking through town is a date, but

I’ve always had this soft spot for the sort of dates you see in romance novels. You know, getting all
dressed up, showing up early…!” Darkness was growing very excited all of a sudden, starting to blush,
even though she was the one who had suggested this.

“You really do act like a proper maiden sometimes. If you’d been like this from the moment I met you,
maybe I’d be head over heels for you by now.”

“What?! Y-you really think so? I always hid this part of myself… I thought maybe it wasn’t seemly for the
daughter of a noble household to have these girlish fantasies. B-but… I see…”

I wasn’t talking about her girlish fantasies. I was talking about hiding her bizarre sexual proclivities and
acting like a normal person…but whatever.

“H-hey, Kazuma, have you noticed the great weather today?”

“Yeah, I guess the Crimson Magic Clan uses magic so it’s sunny and clear all the time around here.”
Perfect weather for a walk through town. The Crimson Magic Clan really had some impressive spells,
even if they did tend to use them in silly ways.

“Look, Kazuma, there’s a cat sleeping over there on that fence! This village is so idyllic; I love it!”