By the time Orion woke again, the world felt strangely gentle. No tied-up hands, no sadist on top of him. The morning boner was also gone.
He surprisingly felt free and light-weighted.
Warmth lingered around him, steady and reassuring, and for a moment he did not move. His body felt rested in a way that went beyond simple sleep, like exhaustion had been peeled away layer by layer. When he finally stirred, he realized Marika was still there beside him, arms wrapped around him as though he were some treasured pillow she had claimed in her sleep.
That alone made him freeze. He gulped; there was no obvious sign of what happened before around.
He lay there, staring at nothing, trying to determine whether what he remembered was real or just the mind playing tricks after stress, battle, and far too many deaths.
'If I lose my V card in a dream then believe me this wouldn't be the first time. But, this one didn't feel like a dream, I swear...'
His hands were free. His legs were free. No divine restraints, no ominous glow, no overwhelming presence pressing him into the ground.
Just… quiet. And still he felt that it wasn't a dream.
He glanced at the culprit of the entire thing. If all of that was a dream then she was the culprit; it had been so long since he had experienced a wet dream and it was all on her.
However, shouldn't there be some sort of strain or something left behind if it was a wet dream. His pants and underwear were spotless.
He turned to Marika. She still slept peacefully, golden hair spilling over his shoulder, expression calm in a way he rarely ever saw. Asking her directly felt… dangerous. Not because he feared punishment, but because he was not sure he could handle the answer.
Needless to say, by the time he slipped away and prepared to leave, he was deeply frustrated—with himself more than anything.
By the time they reached the guild hall in Axel, Orion had glanced at Marika at least a dozen times. Only he could see her, of course. To everyone else, he was just a handsome adventurer repeatedly looking over his shoulder like a man haunted by his own thoughts.
Marika noticed. Of course she did.
Her response... she just sent that knowing smile to him while seductively licking her lips, which sent a shiver down his spine. Before his pants became tight again and his walking got strained, he looked away.
'Honestly... who said bigger is better, its like walking with a bat between your legs when you're hard...' he grumbled.
That smile made everything worse.
Orion cleared his throat and resolutely focused forward. Whatever had happened—or hadn't—he would deal with it later. Preferably much later.
Inside the guild hall, the noise hit him like a wall. Same old, same old Axel greeting him.
Adventurers shouted, laughed, complained, and drank all at once. At a familiar table sat Kazuma and Aqua, already mid-argument despite not having taken a quest yet.
He was late; it was obvious. But god, he so needed that 2 hours of sleep after that...
"I'm telling you, we need someone who can actually deal damage!" Kazuma snapped.
"Orion-Kun deals damage enough!" Aqua shot back, pointing at herself proudly.
"True... but I'm talking about more damage. Even he had trouble handling too many toads!"
Orion heard that and sighed. 'Does the neet underestimate me because I held back yesterday...'
He walked over, intending to greet them, when a small figure suddenly stepped into their argument. A girl wearing a red mage's robe, oversized hat, and an eyepatch over one eye stood before them, hands clasped dramatically.
'Ah... the explosion freak...' Orion almost immediately recognized the girl. She was kind of hard to miss with her strange mage clothing and small appearance. She might be the smallest in the guild.
"I am Megumin," she declared. "Archwizard of the Crimson Demon Clan. I seek companions… and foo...."
The voice cut out and the girl almost collapsed out of hunger. Turns out she hadn't eaten for a long time.
"Yes. That checks out." Orion nodded mentally.
Kazuma stared at her. Aqua stared harder. Megumin's stomach growled loudly, as if punctuating her introduction.
And so, against Kazuma's better judgment and Aqua's complete lack of one, another toad-hunting expedition was formed. With Megumin along them, of course.
The fields outside Axel were as lively—and as slimy—as ever.
"Alright tiger, go get them..." Orion pointed at the nearest giant toad in their vicinity. Strangely, that toad looked familiar somehow.
"Behold!" she cried, staff raised.
"Darkness blacker than black and darker than dark,I beseech thee, combine with my deep crimson.The time of awakening cometh.Justice, fallen upon the infallible boundary,appear now as an intangible distortions!I desire for my torrent of power a destructive force:a destructive force without equal!Return all creation to cinders,and come from the abyss!
EXplooooSION!!!"
The blast was magnificent. Earth shattered, fire roared, and the toad was obliterated in a single, glorious moment.
Even Marika's eyes widened just a tad bit in acceptance of Megumin's qualification as a mage.
[This one is indeed a mage, true to her name—unlike that good-for-nothing goddess. You would do well to forget those two fools and take her into your party instead. She could likely slay that headless knight on her own, if given the chance.]
The goddess said with a mild form of approval on her face until...
Megumin collapsed face-first into the dirt.
[...]
"…She's out," Kazuma said flatly, baffled.
"She can only use that spell once a day." Orion explained to his baffled goddess, making her lips twitch.
That was when the second toad appeared.
And promptly swallowed Megumin whole.
Orion pinched the bridge of his nose. "Of course."
Before Kazuma could panic properly, Orion stepped forward again, activating Anivoice and speaking directly to the toad.
"Listen carefully," he said calmly. "You spit out the girl. Right now. Or I will personally introduce you to a very unpleasant end."
The toad froze.
"…Its you again?" it croaked.
"Huh... wait, I knew I saw you somewhere. You are from yesterday, don't you."
"…That's right. How come you are trying to kill me and then asked to forgive them, you think I am easy to bully." This time the toad snapped back.
Even Orion felt baffled at what to say, that his team was even worse than an oversized toad.
"Hmm, just let the girl go, okay... I'll let you..."
"I know, I know. You'll let me go and won't kill me... hmph..." The toad huffed.
Still, the toad complied, coughing Megumin back out in a slimy heap before hopping away as fast as its massive legs could carry it.
'Man... at this rate my reputation with the wildlife around this area would be non-existent...' Orion grumbled with irritation.
By the end of the hunt, Orion had claimed most of the kills. Megumin was getting a piggyback and covered in slime, Aqua was loudly declaring herself a victim, and Kazuma was carrying Megumin on his back with the hollow-eyed expression of a man questioning every life choice he had ever made.
"Why am I the one carrying her !" Kazuma grumbled.
"Cause I got the most kills." Orion shrugged, making Kazuma complain even more.
On the walk back, Kazuma asked the question that sealed their fate.
"So… you can use magic other than Explosion, right?"
Megumin stirred just enough to answer proudly. "No."
"Seriously!"
"Seriously..."
Kazuma felt like exploding.
Orion looked up at the sky and sighed, 'its going to be a long wait before Beldia shows up, isn't it...'
xXx
A/N : A little rush chapter since I didn't had enough time to write it. Sorry...
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