The next morning, while having breakfast together, Cassian gifted the bracelet to Yunyun and explained how to use it.
"This is..."
"It's a bracelet that can store mana. I got it in the royal capital. You can store a little mana in the bracelet each day, and if you run out of mana during a fight, you can use the mana stored in the bracelet."
"Ah, I see. Thank you."
Yunyun was very happy to receive the bracelet. With this, it seemed that Yunyun wouldn't be in danger from mana shortage when fighting many enemies.
"Let's rest today. We were exhausted from fighting the Demon King's army as soon as we arrived in the royal capital yesterday."
"Alright."
Yunyun decided to go play at Kazuma's mansion, and I stayed with Luna. When evening came, Yunyun arrived with only one bracelet on her arm.
"Huh? Yunyun, where's the other bracelet?"
"Well..."
Listening to Yunyun's explanation, when Yunyun went to play at Kazuma's mansion, Megumin saw the bracelet, got greedy, and said that since there were two, she could have one, and took one bracelet away.
"What!!!???"
Hearing that, I got really angry. I thought that given Yunyun's personality, she probably couldn't say anything. Megumin had crossed the line by a long shot. I immediately took Yunyun and went to Kazuma's mansion.
"Cassian, wait! This is something I gave..."
Yunyun tried to stop me somehow, but I entered Kazuma's mansion without saying a word.
"Megumin!!! Come out!!!"
When I shouted loudly in the mansion, everyone inside came out. Of course, Megumin came out too.
"Huh? Cassian, what's going on with that angry face?"
Kazuma asked nervously upon seeing my face. Ignoring the others, I approached Megumin and asked.
"Is Yunyun your friend? Or just an easy target to take advantage of?"
"That... she's a friend..."
Slap!!!
"Aah!!"
Thud!
"Megumin!!!"
I slapped Megumin's cheek hard. Megumin screamed and rolled on the ground of the mansion's yard. Seeing this, Kazuma and the others were shocked and quickly tried to stop me.
"Cassian, why are you doing this! What did Megumin do wrong!"
Kazuma quickly grabbed me, and Darkness stood in front of Megumin to block the way. And Aqua helped Megumin up.
"This isn't like you, Cassian. Don't do this and tell us what happened."
Darkness asked with a serious face. So, I pointed to the bracelet Megumin was wearing and explained.
"Do you know what that bracelet is and that you took it from Yunyun?"
Megumin, perhaps because I hit her too hard and her mouth was torn, spoke while bleeding from her mouth.
"Th-that's just a mana piggy bank..."
I explained slowly and clearly.
"You know from what I said before that we're now taking requests in the royal capital. Yunyun and I fought the Demon King's army's large forces as soon as we arrived in the royal capital. Due to the immense number of Demon King's army, Yunyun couldn't hold out and retired midway from mana depletion."
When I explained what happened in the royal capital, everyone listened intently. Given the atmosphere, they couldn't ignore it.
"Fortunately, Yunyun was in the formation with the kingdom knights and adventurers, so even if she ran out of mana, she could be safe, but if it became a melee, I thought we couldn't guarantee Yunyun's life, so I quickly got that bracelet for emergencies."
"I see..."
Only then did Megumin understand the seriousness of the situation.
"Megumin, I don't know what greed made you take that bracelet from Yunyun, but do you realize that it's directly connected to your friend's life?"
"..."
Megumin couldn't say anything and just stood there with her head down.
"Listen well. You exchanged that bracelet for your friend's life! Use the bracelet well and don't act like you know us anymore!"
Then Kazuma quickly spoke to me. It seemed like he was trying to resolve things amicably.
"Wait, if she just returns the bracelet, it'll be solved. Don't be like that and forgive Megumin."
"No, Megumin had no interest in the situation her friend Yunyun was in and was only interested in the bracelet. That's why this happened."
"But..."
Kazuma seemed to want to say something but couldn't continue.
"You all should think about that girl again. If she does that to her closest friend, to the same party... Huh... Never mind. Let's pretend I didn't say that. We're leaving now."
I took Yunyun's hand and returned home. Yunyun also didn't say anything all the way home and just cried.
Luna, seeing Yunyun come back crying, was surprised and asked me.
"What happened?"
I took Yunyun to her room and explained to Luna what had happened today.
"I see. Ms. Megumin is still young, right? It's a time when she's more focused on her own interests than her surroundings, so you should understand. Just forgive her if she apologizes next time."
"Yeah, that's right. I hope she grows from this incident."
Because of that incident, we couldn't go to the royal capital the next day and rested for one more day. That evening, I saw Kazuma and the others standing at the front gate of our house.
"Come here~~!!!"
"Hey! Megumin, you came to apologize, and that's how you talk!"
"Well... I suddenly can't think of what to say..."
"Sigh~"
We can hear you, you guys.
Luna, Yunyun, and I went to the front gate and opened the door. Kazuma and the others saw us and just stood there awkwardly without saying anything.
"What's going on? Why are you just standing there?"
When I urged them, Luna poked my side, so I looked back at Luna, and she whispered to me.
"Don't be like that and give them some time."
After a moment, Megumin took off the bracelet she was wearing and returned it to Yunyun, bowing her head.
"I'm sorry, Yunyun! I was blinded by my greed and didn't care about your situation. Please forgive me..."
Kazuma and the others also bowed their heads together.
"Our party member caused trouble, sorry. Please forgive Megumin."
Yunyun looked at me for my opinion. So, when I nodded and gave a signal that it was okay, she finally approached Megumin and received the bracelet.
"Um... you said with this, you can use explosion magic twice a day, right? Are you sure it's okay to return it?"
"Don't worry! Next time, I'll get a better item and show you using explosion magic three times, no, dozens of times in a row."
"Yeah. I believe Megumin will get an item better than this."
Honestly, it'll be hard to get something better than that item for a while. After all, the material was the ultra-rare 'coronatite'. Anyway, I didn't want to ruin the mood, so I kept quiet.
"Then... are you forgiving me?"
Yunyun, with tears in her eyes, smiled and answered Megumin.
"Of course."
"Then, what about Cassian?"
I wanted to play a little prank, but Luna glared at me, so I gave up.
"Alright! I forgive you too. Don't do that again."
Then Megumin and Yunyun hugged each other and started crying a lot.
"I'm sorry, Yunyun!"
"It's okay. Megumin!"
Kazuma and the others and Luna approached Yunyun and Megumin to comfort them. That day, we all ate at our house, and Kazuma's group returned to his mansion. Personally, it was all good, but I wished Kazuma and the others would keep some boundaries. Especially Aqua and Megumin.
From the next day, we started taking requests one by one in the royal capital with Yunyun. Our fame also grew accordingly. I remained with the nickname 'Silver Flash', but Yunyun earned the nickname 'Crimson Flame Mage'. Probably because of her red eyes, she got that nickname.
"Heheh, Crimson Flame Mage. Heheh, heheh."
Because of that, Yunyun smiled all day, calling her own nickname and being happy. I didn't know she would like that chuunibyou-like nickname so much.
About three days passed, and we decided to take a day off. During that time, Yunyun leveled up 5 times, and I leveled up 2 more times. The levels really weren't rising. So, I started missing the Demon King's army.
I was at home making food for Luna when suddenly Yunyun came and said urgently.
"Big trouble! Kazuma is going to die."
"Huh? What's going on? Crimson Flame Mage?"
"Heheh, Crimson Flame Mage... no! Kazuma is in danger!!"
To explain briefly, while Kazuma and Wiz were at her shop and happened to meet, they were looking at items together, and while playing around with Megumin, they accidentally dropped an item, so while everyone was cleaning up, Kazuma accidentally put on a 'wish-granting necklace'.
This necklace is a strange magical tool that only comes off when the wearer fulfills their wish, popular among women for dieting. Usually, they wish for a diet goal and wear the necklace, but the problem is that every day, the necklace tightens, gradually strangling the wearer's neck, so they have to diet like crazy within the set deadline.
This magical tool has gained popularity because rumors say the tension makes the diet effect good.
"So, what wish did he make?"
"Well, he didn't make any wish."
"Then, if he fulfills what he usually wants, it should come off. Anyway, let's go see first."
Cassian and Yunyun moved to Kazuma's mansion.
Upon arriving at the mansion, Kazuma was lying with his head on Wiz's thigh, kneeling and stroking her thigh, and Darkness was doing push-ups without her armor.
"Hey~ Cassian came?"
Kazuma, lying on Wiz's thigh, greeted arrogantly.
"Huh? What are you guys doing."
"Well, to help Kazuma with his necklace..."
Listening to Aqua's explanation, to help Kazuma with his necklace, they decided to grant what Kazuma usually wants.
"Ah~ I see. So, you're doing what Kazuma says."
"Yeah. But I don't know what that beast will make us do."
Kazuma continued stroking Wiz's thigh while saying this.
"Um, Kazuma? How's the sleeping arrangement?"
"Wiz's thigh is cool and not bad. And it's really soft. Also, Wiz's shy look is really good."
"Is that so... Th-thank you."
Kazuma seemed determined to make them do everything he wanted with this opportunity. I decided to look at the necklace first.
"Kazuma, let me see if I can remove it."
Then Kazuma reluctantly slowly got up from Wiz's thigh. I approached Kazuma and checked the necklace with [Naked Eye]. The necklace wasn't made with very powerful mana, so it seemed like if I disrupted the mana flow and used force, I could just tear it off. But that would be boring, so I decided to leave it.
"How is it? Can you remove it?"
Aqua asked me.
"I don't know. How about killing him and resurrecting him?"
"This time, if he dies, Kazuma won't resurrect and will just die."
"Really? I see. Kazuma must be really tired."
Hearing that, Kazuma agreed and said.
"Yeah, I'm tired. Honestly, when I came to this world, I wanted to make a pretty girlfriend and get married like you, Cassian."
"Oh~ isn't that it? A pretty girlfriend, dating, and then marriage! That might be Kazuma's dream."
Hearing my words, Kazuma's expression brightened, and he agreed.
"Yeah! That's exactly it! That must be what I want!"
Hearing that, Megumin pointed out the problem.
"But if you don't remove that necklace within four days, you'll die, so when will you date and get married? And is there such a woman?"
I answered.
"Didn't you guys agree to help with that?"
"Even so, marriage is a bit..."
"Isn't it enough to set the mood as much as possible? You'll know once you try. And only one of you has to sacrifice here. Don't make everyone suffer."
"Oh~ hearing that, it makes sense."
With that decided, Kazuma looked around at the females and pondered. The females desperately avoided eye contact, trying not to be chosen by Kazuma.
"Alright, I've decided!"