0p0 #408 - Master and Apprentice
#408 - Master and Apprentice
“A long, long time ago, when the Crimson Demon clan was just starting out, everyone felt the village needed a bit more color, so—”
“Skip it.”
“Huh? ? ? ”
“I’ve heard this part, so skip it.”
Sato Kazuma unexpectedly played this trick on her, leaving Yunyun at a loss, and she could only roll her eyes slightly.
“Kazuma, you really have no tact.”
“If we get into the details, it’ll take forever. Don’t waste time. What’s going on with Megumin and that Wolbach?”
He had also noticed something was wrong.
According to the planned schedule, Yunyun was supposed to hold Wolbach back while Megumin prepared a Explosion magic attack, but she didn't cast it in the end. Seeing Megumin's expression, Sato Kazuma keenly sensed a connection between the two, so he came to ask Yunyun.
After all, in such matters, it's usually not appropriate to ask the person involved directly, and Yunyun, who seemed to know everything, was easier to approach.
“A long, long time ago… no, not too long ago, about when Megumin was 6 years old—”
She immediately changed her words under Sato Kazuma's unfriendly gaze.
“One day, when Megumin was playing in the Evil God's graveyard, she was attacked by a mysterious, black, ferocious magical beast. At that moment, a red-haired, yellow-eyed older sister wearing a hood suddenly appeared and defeated the black magical beast with a super magic that Megumin had never seen before. After witnessing that overwhelming power that swept away everything, Megumin fell for the power of Explosion magic and begged the other party to teach her Explosion magic.”
“Eh! ? ”
“Looks like you guessed it.”
Yunyun said, seeing Sato Kazuma's expression as he put two and two together: “Do you know why Megumin embarked on a journey to become an adventurer?”
“Don't tell me… ”
“That's right, it's to help me become the Demon King!”
“Hey!”
“…Of course, before that, Megumin wanted to prove, and prove to that person, that her Explosion magic had reached perfection. So, disregarding the ridicule and teasing of her clan, she resolutely learned Explosion magic, which was called a joke magic, and then, day after day, month after month, year after year, she poured all her heart and soul into it.”
Yunyun spoke calmly, but Sato Kazuma could still feel the persistence in it… or rather, obsession might be a better word?
The Crimson Demons were quite obsessive to begin with.
The Piasaro family was the most obvious example. Piasaro was enthusiastic about making useless magical tools, Komekko liked to teach others about 'white studies', and Megumin was particularly fond of Explosion magic. In short, they had the Crimson Demon spirit.
Sato Kazuma pondered: “So, Megumin and Wolbach are like… a disciple and a master?”
“I suppose. But more like an enlightener and a guide than a master.”
“No wonder you said you wouldn’t interfere.”
“…How could I bear to deprive Megumin of her strong desire to prove herself?”
Her long-held desire and relentless pursuit could be said to be Megumin's life goal: to prove her growth to Wolbach.
At that time, Arue said that Megumin was learning Explosion magic to help her become the Demon King and clear all obstacles along the way, but in Yunyun's opinion, Arue probably sensed her entanglement and distress and comforted her in accordance with her true feelings.
“In short, let Megumin handle this. I believe she can do it.”
“You’ve said so yourself, Yunyun.”
After understanding the ins and outs, Sato Kazuma didn't say much. He was really understanding in this regard.
“Okay, I'll go see Megumin…”
Boom—
Just as Yunyun got up to leave and was about to enlighten Megumin, a violent explosion and a violent tremor came. More debris fell from the ceiling of the fortress again, and the outside became noisy.
Adventurers and knights ran to the outer walls one after another.
Before the two of them could react, the door of the room was suddenly opened, and Aqua, wearing work clothes, appeared in front of them.
“What are you two dawdling about? Go fix the wall!”
She was like a foreman.
No, not like, she was a foreman now.
After Aqua butted heads with Wolbach yesterday, she decided to give the other party a taste of her own medicine, but the idiot goddess, who lacked attack power, had no way to defeat the other party by force, so she came up with a good method.
—Repairing the wall.
Relying on her exquisite wall-repairing skills, comparable to those of a goddess, she repaired all the broken outer walls and even continued to reinforce them.
The reason why this fortress was shrouded in a sense of sorrow was because everyone felt that the outer wall was about to be breached and the fortress would be captured along with it, so most people could only retreat.
However, the part that Aqua repaired in such a short period of time looked even more solid than before it was repaired.
As the days passed.
The demolisher Wolbach still fired two Explosion magic spells a day, while the foreman Aqua also stubbornly repaired the city walls from morning to night. Despite being bombarded every day, the outer walls surrounding the fortress became thicker and more solid.
The originally depressed atmosphere inside the fortress was completely restored to fighting spirit, and perhaps because of the praise of the crowd, Aqua generously shared the large amount of alcohol she brought with everyone.
When the kingdom knew that the battle situation had returned to a stalemate, and that the tide of battle could be turned with just a few more people, they continuously sent supplies, and even reinforcements of adventurers and knights were teleported over.
Just as the days were getting better and better, Wolbach finally couldn't hold back and ran over to challenge them.
—What's going on! ? ”
Wolbach stood in front of the main gate of the fortress, trembling.
“W-what do you mean, what's going on?”
“The wall, the wall!”
Perhaps because Sato Kazuma was pretending to be stupid, Wolbach stamped her feet in anger and shouted: “I clearly blasted the walls of the fortress to the point of collapse, so why is it like this now? It's even thicker than before I came! ? ”
Two Explosion magic spells a day.
Originally, she thought that the outer walls of the fortress would be destroyed soon, but she didn't expect that Aqua would also compete and constantly repair the city walls. As a result, the latter, whose wall-repairing skills were the same as a goddess, was even better.
Just then—
“Oh, I thought it was someone… Uh, isn't that… what's-her-name?”
“It's Wolbach!”
Aqua's sarcasm made Wolbach lose her composure for a while. The two had been secretly competing these past few days, and the current situation was that this competition had entered a feverish stage.
“Looks like we're going to have to settle things here… huh?”
When Wolbach saw Wiz in Megumin's arms, she stopped her original movements, and Wiz also stared at Wolbach.
“—I won’t give her to you.”
Yunyun and the others stood in front of Megumin one after another.
Knowing that Wiz was Wolbach's split body, how could they hand her over?
Aqua even opened fire with her sarcasm.
“I was wondering why your godhood was so low. It seems that half of your power was taken away by this child, right? Oh, oh, oh, after carefully seeing through her with my purifying eyes, I saw that some kind of thing that looks like a seal was applied to Wiz's body.”
“—Then we can't give her back to you even more.”
Sato Kazuma grabbed Wiz by the throat, looking like an evil person, “Great Evil God, you should just give in obediently. You don't want your other half to die like this, right?”
“Wah—” X4
Kazuma, who was displaying the characteristics of a despicable Japanese, received unanimous negative comments from his companions, making him almost cry.
“W-wait a minute, don't be so rough with her. She's a girl!”
“Oh, I don't understand what you're saying. I'm just saying that if Lady Wolbach gets any closer, I'm really going to get ruthless. Look, look!”
Sato Kazuma showed a vicious smile and slightly increased the force of his clenched hand.
Aqua whispered to Yunyun at this time: “Hey, why do I feel like Kazuma is more like an evil god?”
“If he had godhood, he would undoubtedly be an evil god.” Yunyun gave Sato Kazuma high recognition, but his expression didn't seem too good.
“...I'll retreat for today.”
Wolbach was concerned about her other half after all, and said this with some reluctance, but still made a threat.
“Don't get too carried away. Even if you can't destroy the city walls, it's just a stalemate. It's true that Explosion magic can't break through the city walls in a short time, but as long as we continue to stand by in the forest, it will be difficult for you to win, right? In that case, let's have a war of attrition!”
The Demon King's army had been planning a war of attrition from the start. Now, it was just that the battle situation had become more stalemated.
Just as she finished saying this and was about to teleport away—
“E-excuse me! Do you still remember me? That… my name is Yuiyui…”
Yuiyui, who had been observing the situation with Megumin, suddenly said this.
“I remember you.” Wolbach nodded and said: “I remember you. You were the little girl who showed me the way in the Crimson Demon Village and asked if I came for sightseeing, right? ...Let me ask you, the name you just said isn't a nickname, right?”
“It's my real name! Um… thank you for enlightening me at that time, telling me that it's okay to only know intermediate magic. Although I still learned advanced magic later, I was really grateful to you at that time!”
Yuiyui said with a serious face.
It seemed that she had communicated with Wolbach without Yunyun's knowledge. No wonder she was so flustered before. Let's ask her what happened later.
“T-that's right. Actually, you don't have to take this matter so seriously, but it's good if you're happy.”
Wolbach made an expression of not knowing how to react.
“Excuse me!” Next, Megumin, who was hugging Wiz tightly, also asked in a voice that was so tense that it was raised: “Do you still remember me? My name is Megumin…”
Everyone was silent, waiting for her answer.
Even Yunyun became nervous.
However, Wolbach showed an awkward smile and said softly: “I don't remember.”
After saying that, she disappeared with teleportation magic.
Megumin was silent, her red eyes gazing at the void, only her hands constantly exerting force, and Wiz in her arms let out a painful groan.
Yunyun didn't say anything, just gently hugged her, feeling her slightly trembling, thin body.