That clever girl… She knew she will deplete here magic… She knew she won't be able to stay awake for long… She knew we're going straight to her home after this…
"Congratulations, you outsmarted me,"
"Whatever you're talking about Kazuma kun?"
I poured some of my mana into her before dropping her to the ground.
"Oww… That hurts! Is that how you're supposed to treat a girl?"
"You haven't told your parents anything and now you expect me to tell them you already have a daughter?"
Megumin stood up and rubbed her back a little. "But you're so good at explaining things. This can't be harder than fooling an entire town with a fake goddess right?"
"In that scenario, I have two weeks to prepare! You only gave me the warning two minutes ago!"
A hand pulled on my cape. I turned to the left and saw Liz staring at me with wide eyes.
"Ano… Otou sama… You don't have to force yourself to explain myself to them…" Liz said. "I'm a dragon, right? I'm not actually your daughter so I can turn back into…"
"NO!!!"
Megumin outraged voice cut her off. Then, she grabbed my hand and started sucking off my magic and vitality.
After a moment, she let go and stretched her arms a little.
"It'll take more than mana exhaustion to knock out a Crimson Demon. Let's go everyone, my house is just behind this hill."
---
We made it in front of Megumin's run down house. It is even worse than the one I saw in her memories. I'm a bit tempted to chew out her father for this, but Megumin said that she loves her family for who they are and begged me not to do anything about it.
Still, I'm definitely going to do something about this.
Megumin knocked on the door.
The door slowly opened, revealing a little girl half Liz's age. She has black hair, scarlet eyes, and a star shaped hairpin on her head. She looked at us with her wide innocent eyes, switching back on forth between me and Megumin.
"Oh, Megumin's sister, huh? Such a cute kid." Darkness smiled brilliantly.
"It feels like a mini Megumin. Hey little Megumin, want some sweets?" Aqua took out sweets from somewhere…
"So this is the Komekko I've been hearing about…" Liz said while taking a closer look at her.
"Komekko, I'm home. Have you been a good girl?" Megumin said to the child gently while leaning on my shoulder.
Komekko's eyes widened and she took a deep breath. She then turned around and began shouting into the house.
"Dad! Onee-chan brought a man back with her!"
This is not going to be easy…
---
That's Hyoizaburo and that's Yuiyui. They are Megumin's parents and a Chuuni just like her. They're both lived in poverty because the dad sucks at making magical items. The only reason why Komekko isn't starving is because of her sugar daddy, Bukkoroli.
In other words, I have the moral and wealth high ground.
"Watch closely. The mug I placed upside down on the low table will move around like so!"
"Amazing! Amazing!! How did you do that? Hey, how? Blue-haired nee-chan, how did you do that?"
"It's magnets! It must be moved by the magnets under the table! Right? Am I right, Aqua?"
"No, her hands are both above the table! What is this trickery, Aqua sama?"
Megumin and I watched Aqua's party trick performance. An upside down glass is moving around the table. Darkness, Liz, and Komekko were all entranced by the performance. As for me and Megumin, we're just distracting ourselves because…
"Ahem…" Hyoizaburo cleared his throat. "… Thanks for taking care of my daughter. I express my sincere gratitude for that," he bowed politely at me.
Beside him was a beautiful lady who resembled Megumin, with a head of black hair and slight wrinkles on the corner of her lips and eyes.
"My daughter has troubled you very much… I learned much about Kazuma-san from the letters she sent back… So, we know you quite well…" Megumin's mother, Yuiyui-san bowed deeply toward me.
Hyoizaburo has the look of every protective father out there.
"So… Would you like to explain the relationship between the two of you?"
"Okay, we'll take turns answering question. Who's gonna go first?"
"You go first,"
I nodded and took a deep breath to prepare myself.
"I have a very close relationship with her."
Yuiyui tilted her head and smiled at us.
"How close?"
I turned to Megumin.
"Follow up questions doesn't count!"
I sighed a little and continue.
"Uhh… lovers?"
Megumin blushed a little and looked down shyly before slowly nodding in affirmation.
"Ara…" Yuiyui clapped her hand a little and smiled. "Megumin chan has grown so much over this years…" she then looked at me. "I'm sure you will commit to it, ne? Kazuma kun?"
"Yes, of course."
"Ahem…" Hyoizaburo cleared his throat again. "Satou san, was it? Megumin sent updates through her letters, one of them said something about you getting arrested for Sexual Harassment, Noise Disturbance, Physical Abuse, and Property Damage. "
"Your turn Megumin,"
Megumin shot me a look before turning back to her parents. "Ano, Otou san, Okaa san, you don't have to worry about those charges. It's actually an unfair trial, the Plaintiff were using black magic to control the judge and the prosecutor,"
"Ho? That's interesting," Hyoizaburo said, a little bit skeptic. "How did you know?"
"Aqua said so," Megumin pointed at Aqua who's still performing her tricks. "She's a powerful Archpriest so she can detect black magic at work. Unfortunately, she was taken away by the knights when she tried to counter it."
"I see…" Hyoizaburo looked just a little bit calmer after hearing that. "But the letters said that you still have to pay for the property damage, right?"
"Yes, shouldn't you clear all the debt before taking in our daughter?" Yuiyui added.
"Your turn,"
I rubbed the back of my head and smiled sheepishly. "Honestly… I forgot about the debt, don't worry, I'll be sure to pay for it once we get back home."
Yuiyui narrowed her eyes. "Kazuma san, are you implying that you're capable of paying the debt at any time?"
I nodded a little. "You see, our party have a shared bounty policy. All mission rewards goes to our treasury," I pointed at Darkness and the Crusader waved her hand a little. "And we all get a daily payment of twenty thousand Eris. We all have rights on all the money for buying stuff, equipment maintenance, and the likes," I explained.
I realized that this is a perfect opportunity.
"For example, before we come here, we decided to use some of our party funds to buy gifts," I took out a box of Alcanretia Dumplings and put it on the table. "We stopped by Alcanretia on our way here, I hope you like it."
At that instant, Hyoizaburo and his wife grabbed the package I was handing over at the same time.
"… My dear, this is a gift from Kazuma-san to me. Let go."
"Oh, really now hubby. You were just addressing him coldly as 'Satou san', and you suddenly change it to 'Kazuma-san' after seeing the gift, just how thick-skinned are you? This will be dinner tonight, I won't let you eat it as snacks for your wine, all right?"
No, those were just buns. You can eat that for dinner or as snacks to complement wine.
I endured my urge to say that, and Komekko cheered.
"Food? Hey, that's solid food, right? Not porridge so thin you can't even see the rice, but something that'll make you full?"
Ahh… Komekko chan, please don't say that mournful thing with such a bright face.
I took out more and more boxes I bought as gifts from Alcanretia. It piled up on the table and the parents look overjoyed.
"You came at the right time, Kazuma-san! My dear, serve him our best tea!"
"There's only one type of tea in the house, I'll brew some right now, a moment please!"
Megumin and I fist bumped in victory.
…
"Liza chan, what is that?"
Komekko asked the Emperor while staring at the wings tucked behind her back. The latter is currently unwrapping a box of bread we bought for Komekko.
"These are my wings, young Komekko," Liz spread her wings to prove her point, making Komekko gasp and clap her hands in awe. She then folded her wings again as it was a bit too cramped here in the house.
"Whoa, that's so cool! You're like Hoost!"
"Hoost?" Liz asked.
"Yeah, my first friend! He's a greater demon that attends to lady Wolbach!"
Megumin and I froze after hearing that. We looked at each other for a moment before looking at Komekko. Liz just opened the box and now Komekko is staring hungrily at the bread. She must be very hungry, I mean, the little kid has lived in poverty for so long and…
Wait, no! Never mind that! What was that about her first friend being a Greater Demon?
Komekko wasted no time stuffing her face full with the food. One after another, with both hands, like a squirrel she stuffed her mouth with the bread. Beside her, Liz is watching her in a mixture of amazement and disbelief.
After a moment, Komekko stared at Liz as she chewed on her bun. She held up one of her bun towards the dragon.
"For you…"
Liz held up her hands.
"Ah, I commend your offering young Komekko, but these gifts are yours, help yourself… please…"
Komekko smiled and shoved the bread she was offering into her mouth.
No wait, stop distracting us with your cuteness. What was that about the Greater Demon? Ah, what the heck, I'll just go ask Vanir later.
In front of us, Yuiyui and Hyoizaburo are also eating the Alcanretia bread. The latter looked like he's trying hard not to enjoy it.
"Thank you again for these wonderful gifts," Yuiyui said while patting the huge sack of rice beside her. "I'm sure it must've costed you quite a fortune. Being adventurers and all, it must be hard for you to have a stable income."
"Not really, we have too much spare," I chuckled a little. "I mean, we already have so much money to spare that I'm looking for ways to get rid of it."
Both Hyoizaburo and Yuiyui turned stiff after hearing that.
Darkness on the other hand just shot me a look.
"Kazuma, don't speak of it like that, I am not letting you waste around this money,"
"Aqua is next to you if you want to tell someone about wasting money."
"What?! Kazuma, are you implying that I'm the one who wastes the most money in this party?"
We all turned towards her and spoke as one.
"Yes,"
Aqua groaned in frustration. "Aaah! I just want to lead a proper life as a wealthy adventurer would! Is that too much to ask?"
Darkness sighed a little. "Aqua, just because we have a lot of money to spare, doesn't excuse us to flaunt our wealth around. We're still adventurers who has to work hard to earn money."
"We live in the largest Mansion in Axel City! We're way past the point of 'adventurers'."
"In the mansion?!" Yuiyui and Hyoizaburo exclaimed in surprise.
"Ka-Kazuma san…" Yuiyui gulped a little. "This 'too much to spare' just how much is it really?"
I smirked a little and Megumin just groaned beside me.
"Why don't you ask our treasury?" I turned to Darkness and she just rolled her eyes. "Oi, Darkness, how much do we have?"
"We have three hundred million in our mundane expense account and one billion point two in our emergency account in my mansion, that makes one point five billion Eris."
"O-one Billion?!?!" Hyoizaburo and Yuiyui yelled in shocked disbelief.
"One and a half, but really, I don't have much use for it,"
Hyoizaburo lunged forward and shook my hand with a bright grin on his face.
"Welcome to the family Kazuma! I'm glad you are willing to take in my daughter, please, make yourself at home!"
Yuiyui moved from her seat and hugged Megumin tightly.
"Megumin chan! Okaa san is so proud of you! I approve, I absolutely approve your relationship!"
After a moment, they let go of us and we can continue our conversation.
"Ano, Hyoizaburo san,"
"You're part of the family now Kazuma, no need for all that formality,"
I nodded a little. "Right so uhh…" I turned towards Liz and motioned her to come over. The dragon quickly positioned herself to sit between me and Megumin. "This girl was a dragon we picked up during our adventures,"
It seems they both caught on to the uncanny resemblance between her and Megumin. But they keep silent as they listened to our explanation.
"The dragon was blessed by the Goddess Aqua and became her champion. We also nurture her with our combined magic, jump starting her growth up to forty years of dragon age."
Megumin continued our explanation.
"After that, the dragon revealed to us that she's capable of turning into a human. I… we fell in love with her human form and since then we decided to take her as our own," she hugged Liz tightly as she looked at both of her parents with pleading eyes. "Otou san, Okaa san, I want you to meet Emperor Queen Elizabeth, your granddaughter…"
"M-my granddaughter!" Hyoizaburo broke into tears before pushing aside the table, breaking it to pieces. He lunged at Liz and embraced her into a tight hug. "My adorable granddaughter! Waaaah!!!"
"I knew it! I knew it!" Yuiyui said victoriously while she too hugged the little girl. "I know a Crimson Demon when I see one! I knew she's related to you somehow!"
"What do you mean you knew?"
Yuiyui gave her daughter a sheepish smile.
"Because, I thought you ran away from home because of the mistake of youth. You raised the child as your own before you finally meet Kazuma kun who would accept you and your daughter for who you are,"
Oh wow! Now that is some speculation!
"Okaa san!" Megumin yelled in embarrassment. "Is that what you think about me leaving?"
"What? I don't really mind at all," Yuiyui crawled closer towards Megumin. "So… Megumin chan, how was it like?"
"Wh-what was what?" Megumin asked.
"Your… first… time?"
Megumin pushed her mother away. "Aaah!! You're not supposed to ask me something like that!!"
"So you have! So how was it?" she turned towards me. "Ne, Kazuma kun, was it your first time too? Or do you have experience?"
"Oh I had plenty of experience, I was literally trained by a powerful succubus," I told her much to Megumin's embarrassment. "I think I did a pretty good job for her first time."
Yuiyui looked overjoyed after hearing that, ignoring Megumin who's desperately pushing her away from me.
"Aah… I know this is inappropriate, but now I feel jealous of my daughter,"
"Now, now, Yuiyui chan…" the woman blushes a little after being called that. "You already ha…"
"YOU ARE NOT HITTING ON MY MOTHER YOU SHAMELESS DEGENERATE BASTARD!!!"
Something extremely hard hits me right in the head and everything went black.
Worth it…