It was Megumin, her tattered black cape billowing in a non-existent wind. Her crimson eyes blazed with unhinged glory.
A puff of smoke.
“The door was an acceptable sacrifice for DRAMATIC ENTRANCE!” she shot back.
He looked up. It was Wiz, holding a single, miraculously un-exploded cup of Eris Pudding. She gave him a gentle, knowing smile. Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo
“No. We’re not spending our last eris on a rival goddess’s pudding,” Kazuma deadpanned. “Besides, pudding is pudding. We have a cabbage.”
Darkness walked into the crater, a blissful look on her face. “Ah… the heat… the shame of our failure… it’s exquisite.”
“It’s efficient!” Aqua pouted.
“Stealth,” Kazuma whispered. “I’ll use Lurk and Steal . Megumin, no chanting. Darkness, don’t volunteer to be tied up. Aqua… just don’t cry.”
“Why… why is there always an explosion?” Kazuma wheezed, picking himself up from a vegetable cart.
Kazuma, lounging in the corner with a stolen (gifted? borrowed?) blanket, didn’t look up from his self-help book, “How to Retire Rich Without Dying First.” “You’re washing dishes. With holy water. That’s like using a legendary sword to chop vegetables.” It was Megumin, her tattered black cape billowing
“Because pudding is an affront to my existence!” Aqua wailed, stomping toward the crater. “Now we have no pudding and no money!”
A thunderous crack interrupted them. The front door, a sturdy oak thing reinforced with iron, flew off its hinges and embedded itself in the far wall. Dust billowed in. A figure strode through the wreckage, silhouetted by the afternoon sun.
“I have returned!” she announced to the stunned tavern. “And I bring news! A challenge! A foe so vile, so cunning, so… crunchy, that only the greatest arch-wizard of the Crimson Demon Clan can hope to defeat it!” “The door was an acceptable sacrifice for DRAMATIC
“I bought one earlier. You look like you need it more than me.”
The air left the room.