Konosuba: A Real Adventure for this Loner!

Chapter 3 - The Demon King's Generals!

— Part 1 —
A Rival for this Chuunibyo!

"Kazuma, come with me."

Megumin stood over the dining table as I ate my breakfast. I raised an eyebrow at her.

"This can't be good—what did you do this time?"

"It's not like that! I swear!" She yelled, flustered. "I'm not Aqua!"

"Oh? Then what is it?" I asked. She blushed a little and looked away.

"Y-you'll see. Just come along."

We ended up going on a walk through the fields and forests outside of town. The weather was pleasant, and the atmosphere was fitting of a fantasy world.

"Where are we going, Megumin?" I asked, although it didn't seem as if she had a clear destination in mind.

"Hey, look at that!" She said, eyes sparkling as she pointed off into the horizon. I followed her gaze toward a ruined castle standing on a hill in the distance.

"Wow! That's amazing!" I gasped. Sometimes I forgot that I was in a genuine fantasy setting. Precious sights like these really took my breath away sometimes.

"Excellent." Megumin mused. "Most fitting."

"Hm?" I looked up at her, but she had prepared her staff, pointing it at the small castle.

"EXPLOSION!"

"eh?"

A flash of light engulfed the whole sky, followed by a shockwave of flame and smoke. The castle shook, several of the towers and walls nearly completely collapsing under the blast.

"nice... explosion... ehehe..." Megumin muttered as she fell foward into the dirt.

"Huh?? Wait wait wait, why did you do that?!"

"To keep the god of destruction sealed in me at bay, I have to use one explosion every day..."

"Now's not the time for your Chuunibyo delusions!" I sighed.
[Narrator's Note: 'Chuunibyo' refers to a cringey/edgy phase for teens/middle schoolers]

"It's real." She pouted. "Anyway, you can carry me back now."

"Are you kidding...? Is that why you dragged me all the way out here?? Why couldn't we have done this closer to town, then?"

"No! We can't do that!" Megumin cried. "I don't want to get a noise complaint again—!"

"Of course—" I rolled my eyes as I picked her up off the ground and rested her on my back. "Wait, 'again?!' "

On our way back, we ran into a young girl with dark hair and red eyes like Megumin's. She seemed to be traveling toward us.

"Megumin!" She gasped as we approached each other. "I thought that explosion looked familiar."

"Huh? Who's this?" I asked, turning toward the young mage clinging to my back.

"Beats me."

"Megumin—!" The girl wailed. "Don't be so cruel!! I'm Yunyun! The future chief of the Crimson Demons, and your rival!! I challenge you to a duel!!"

"...Anyway, so this is Yunyun, a girl with no friends who claims to be my rival." Megumin explained. "Sometimes she challenges me to duels."

"Eh..."

"Megumin!!" Yunyun cried.

"I'm in no condition to duel you at the moment." Megumin sighed from her spot perched on my back. "More importantly, why are you even here in Axel, Yunyun? Shouldn't you be in the Crimson Demon village?"