The morning sun had not yet reached its highest point while Theo and Darkness walked along the path leading to the gates of Axel. The air was fresh, and the dew still dampened the grass on the sides of the road. Theo felt renewed; the week had been exhausting but extremely fruitful. Thanks to his new Astrologer class, his mana felt as if it had increased significantly, and his statistics had risen enough to reach level 23.
He had completed all the missions he took, including a hunt for a rookie-killer that turned out to be more problematic than expected, but with Chris's help, they managed to resolve it without too many scratches. The most surprising thing about the week was his luck. For the first time, Theo understood what it meant to have a high luck stat combined with the Treasure Detection skill. In the middle of one of the missions, he found a vein of pure mithril hidden alongside many other treasures which he sold, except for the mithril vein which he used to lower the price of his commission.
'That luck saved me weeks of work' - Theo thought. Thanks to the sale of those treasures, he was finally able to order his new mithril equipment, which he looked forward to with anticipation.
In addition to the levels, Theo had taken the opportunity to spend his accumulated skill points. As he had already planned, he acquired Intermediate Magic to cover his lack of long-range attacks. Also, after asking Darkness to teach him her signature skills, he spent points on Physical and Magical Resistance. Now, his arsenal of spells included all the Intermediate Magic spells.
However, despite his good mood regarding the progress, the atmosphere with Darkness was... complicated. Theo looked at her out of the corner of his eye as she walked beside him, maintaining a distance that seemed a bit forced.
Since that kiss in the apartment, Darkness had been acting strangely. Not in front of everyone, but when they were alone or with Chris. Theo recalled her behavior over these last few days.
=≠=
The day after the encounter in his room, Theo found her at the guild. He expected a serious talk, but she, as soon as she made sure no one was nearby, started with her usual defense mechanism.
"So you dare to show up after what you did!" - she had said, although her voice trembled more than usual. - "You used your strength to silence me with that kiss... What a calculating man! Surely you plan to have me at your mercy during missions so that I can't refuse any of your selfish orders"
Theo could only sigh. Darkness was using her masochism to avoid the fact that the kiss had been real and that she had liked it. Every time he tried to talk about the subject normally, she would jump in with a masochistic phrase, avoiding any kind of honest conversation.
But that didn't stop her from losing a few more kisses when she overstepped... and Theo knows it is something she expects when she knows she is overstepping.
=≠=
Back in the present, Theo stopped just before reaching the entrance to the city. Darkness stopped a few steps later, turning to look at him with curiosity.
"Is something wrong?" - she asked.
Theo remained silent for a few seconds, observing her. She became nervous under his gaze and, as expected, began to ramble.
"That look..." - she murmured, blushing. - "Are you thinking of doing something inappropriate to me right here? Even though I haven't done anything? Are you already going to show your true personality?..."
"Darkness, enough" - Theo interrupted her with a calm but firm voice.
She fell silent, blinking in surprise.
"We've been like this for a week" - Theo continued. - "You use that behavior to avoid talking about the main subject. I don't mind that you like that treatment, but it bothers me that you use it as a wall so we don't move forward in anything else. If we keep going like this, we're going to spend months going in circles over the same thing."
Darkness looked down, fiddling with the gauntlet on her left hand. The blush on her cheeks was not the usual one from her fantasies; it was one of genuine shame.
"I... I don't know what you're talking about" - she whispered, though her voice lacked conviction.
"You know perfectly well what I'm talking about" - Theo replied, taking a step toward her. - "So, to make things clear and get out of this circle: I want us to have a date."
Theo felt a slight tightening in his chest. He still wasn't used to these things, but he knew that with Darkness, it was the only way.
Darkness snapped her head up, her eyes wide. It seemed as if a paralysis spell had been cast on her.
"A... date? You and me?" - she asked, her voice cracking.
"Yes. A date two days from now" - Theo said, maintaining eye contact. - "And I don't want you coming in armor. I want you to leave the armor at home and wear normal clothes. I want to have a date with the woman, not with the mission partner."
"But... Going out in normal clothes... that is..." - she started to ramble again; although she is sometimes seen in normal clothes, that is only when her armor is being repaired. Theo knows she doesn't like being without her armor.
"It's not a punishment, Darkness. It's a date. If you don't want to, tell me now and I'll stop insisting" - Theo said seriously.
She remained silent for a long moment. The wind blew softly between the two of them. Finally, she nodded her head, very slightly.
"Alright... I accept" - she replied, almost inaudibly.
Theo nodded with satisfaction. - "Good. We'll meet at the fountain. Get ready."
Without saying more, Theo resumed the path toward Axel, leaving Darkness a bit behind so she could process the situation. She followed him a few meters later, walking with clumsy steps and her mind flying at a thousand miles per hour, wondering what kind of clothes she should wear.
Then, as they were entering through the south gate of the city, an unusual phenomenon caught everyone's attention in town. Out of nowhere, a white light illuminated all of Axel from the clear sky for just a few seconds.
When the glow vanished, almost in the middle of the street, two figures appeared who weren't there a moment ago: a boy in a strange-looking green tracksuit and a blue-haired girl in a pompous dress who began to scream hysterically almost immediately.
Kazuma Sato and the goddess Aqua had just arrived in this world, and with that, Theo's life was about to become much more complicated.
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Well, I hope you liked the chapter. I wanted the date to be in the next chapter, but I thought I'd start the plot of KonoSuba: An Explosion on This Wonderful World first.