[Darkness's POV]
I love Kazuma.
The first time I saw him dragging Aqua and Megumin, both covered in frog saliva, I realized he was my type. When I tried to get closer by joining their party, my suspicions were confirmed.
Kazuma is a pervert, a lazy guy who only wants to stay home and do nothing. He refuses to work and is always getting tangled up in huge debts.
That side of Kazuma really is my type. Seeing him like that made me want to protect him from anything that might harm him. I sacrificed everything I had—my family, my wealth, even myself. But in the end, it was Kazuma who sacrificed everything he had just to save me.
It was only then that I realized Kazuma was no longer just my 'type.' He had faced countless challenges and incredibly strong enemies, yet he always emerged victorious. He could easily defeat Mitsurugi, the cursed sword user, and had taken down various Demon Generals far stronger than him. If I were to list all his achievements, which far exceeded my initial expectations, I'd never be able to stop.
When Kazuma spent all his money to save me from a corrupt noble who wanted to force me into marriage, I truly fell in love with him.
At first, I liked Kazuma just because he was my type, but everything changed after that. I loved him not because he was my type, but because he was Kazuma. No matter how he changes, I know I'll always love him.
Even though he once rejected me, I'll never give up.
Even though he likes Megumin, I still won't stop.
Even if I become a second person in his heart, I'll keep loving him.
But...
I also like Megumin.
I also like Aqua.
I truly love this Familia.
I want to be with Kazuma, but I also want to be with Aqua and Megumin.
I know that if I keep following my heart, it could break this Familia apart.
But I don't want that to happen.
I want to be Kazuma's lover without tearing this Familia to pieces.
Oh, Eris-sama…
What should I do?
Have I become a bad woman?
"So, Darkness... what did you do with Kazuma today?" Megumin asked me.
I snapped back to reality from my thought, but I hadn't caught what Megumin had just asked.
"Huh…?"
My eyes darted left and right, taking in my surroundings—I hadn't even realized I was already inside the Twilight Manor.
"I said, what did you do with Kazuma today?!"
Megumin asked me again, leaning forward with a bit of pressure in her stance.
"I... I didn't do anything with Kazuma."
"Really?"
Megumin looked at me skeptically, eyeing my shopping basket filled with clothes.
"Then what's the meaning of this? Why are you buying such... pervert clothes?"
Megumin kept pressing me to admit what I had done. She picked up one of the clothes I'd chosen—a black, lacy nightgown. From a distance, it looked like any normal pajama, but it was actually a transparent pajama. If I wore it, Kazuma would be able to see my entire body. But, of course, I hadn't shown this to Kazuma.
"I just went shopping with Kazuma. Besides, it's my choice what clothes I want to buy,"
I told Megumin honestly. After all, I really did just go shopping with Kazuma. I wasn't thinking of anything strange or trying to do anything to him.
"Then why did you have to go alone with Kazuma and leave me and Aqua behind?"
"That's right, that's right! You're so unfair, Darkness. You went off with Kazuma, and you didn't even bring back any alcohol!"
Aqua suddenly butted into my conversation with Megumin. As usual, Aqua wasn't very good at reading the room. Even while we were arguing like this, she still found a way to talk about alcohol. But that's one of the things I like about Aqua.
"Aqua, be quiet! I'm talking to Darkness right now!"
"Sorry…"
From her expression, it seemed Aqua was a bit surprised when Megumin scolded her. Then Aqua walked away, leaving the two of us alone in the Twilight Manor.
"I just felt bad for interrupting your time together."
"Don't lie, I know you're trying to get close to Kazuma."
"No, Megumin, that's not it!"
"You naughty crusader! How dare you try to flirt with a man who already belongs to someone else!"
"Haah… Megumin, what do you mean? I'm not flirting with Kazuma at all. And besides, Kazuma doesn't belong to anyone."
"Darkness, Kazuma is mine!"
"Megumin, you're being unfair... You once told me this:
'This isn't a topic that I have any say in. You should value your own emotions more. After all, we are still not proper lovers yet. It's not my place to say anything about who this indecisive man decides to go with.'
So now I'll ask you, are you Kazuma's girlfriend? No, you're not, right? Your relationship is still the same as before—more than friends but less than lovers."
"You, you're unfair, Darkness… How dare you bring up old things! Don't tell me… you're still after Kazuma…"
"If I am, then what?"
I interrupted Megumin before she could finish her sentence, but she continued with what she wanted to say.
"... Just because of what I said back then, and even knowing that Kazuma likes me. I'll remember this, you naughty crusader!"
After that, Megumin ran off, leaving me alone. I could only watch as she dashed down the corridor of the manor.
Thud....
Both my knees fell to the floor. I just realized what I had just done.
"Oh no, what did I just do?"
"Darkness, how could you be so stupid?!"
"Why would you say something like that to Megumin?!"
After my knees touched the floor, my face followed. My forehead pressed against the ground.
Bang....
Bang...
Bang....
I pounded the floor with both hands continuously, blaming myself.
"Stupid…"
"I'm so stupid…"
....
....
....
[3rd Pov]
In the northern wall of Orario,
Satou Kazuma was sleeping while leaning against a wall. Even though he was sitting, he looked deeply asleep.
Tap... tap... tap...
Not far from Kazuma, the sound of soft footsteps echoed. Just from the sound, it was clear that it was belonged to a woman. She walked slowly toward Kazuma, gripping her staff tightly.
When she reached Kazuma, she suddenly crouched down.
She stared at Kazuma's sleeping face, which was drooling.
After enjoying the sight of his face for a moment, she abruptly slapped his cheek.
Smack!
"Hey, wake up!!!"
Smack!
"Satou Kazuma!!"
Smack!
"Hurry up and wake up, Satou Kazuma!!!"
SMACK!!!
The final slap from the woman was quite hard, causing Kazuma, who had been sleeping while sitting, to fall to the floor.
"AAAAWWWWW!!! That hurts, it hurts... Hey, Darkness, why did you wake me up so roughly...?"
Kazuma groaned in pain. He immediately woke up from his sleep, trying to scold Darkness.
"What are you dreaming about? I'm not Darkness. I'm Shakti Varma!!"
"Ah, I'm sorry!"
Kazuma's cheeks flushed. He quickly apologized when he realized who had woken him up. It was Shakti Varma, the one who had let him sleep here yesterday.
Kazuma himself was puzzled about how he could sleep so soundly outside, needing to be woken up in such a rough manner. But what surprised him the most was that he was safe despite having slept alone outside.
"Hurry up and wake up so you can go home. I want to go back too. I've been tired of staying here since last night!"
"Eeeh... you've been here since last night… Don't tell me you stayed here to watch over me?"
Kazuma was a bit surprised when he heard what Shakti said. He had never imagined that he had been watched over by a beautiful woman while he slept.
"Don't get the wrong idea. As a security guard for the city of Orario, I can't just leave a low-level adventurer sleeping outside without any protection."
"Ah... I'm sorry for the trouble... thank you so...!"
"Stop talking and just go home already!"
Before Kazuma could express his gratitude, Shakti had already shoved him away from the wall of Orario in a somewhat rough manner.
...
.....
.....
The sun had just risen.
Although Kazuma knew that Aqua, Megumin, and Darkness were still asleep, he headed straight home to the manor. Of course, Kazuma walked to Twilight Manor. He was afraid that using teleportation would only bring him more trouble.
"Haaah... just as I thought."
Upon arriving in front of Twilight Manor, Kazuma still saw the half-spherical barrier covering the entire manor.
Realizing that he still couldn't enter, Kazuma decided to take a stroll around the city of Orario alone.
Kazuma wandered around the city of Orario aimlessly, just trying to see what the city had to offer. Even from a surface-level glance, he noticed that the city had an area that resembled a slum. In addition, there was also an area filled with women. Just by looking at the appearance of the women on the street, Kazuma could tell that this was some kind of adult entertainment district.
When a woman tried to approach him, Kazuma immediately fled from that area. Just from observing, he realized that this place was a source of trouble. His danger instincts were ringing loudly, warning him to stay away from it.
Kazuma ran away from that place and, without realizing it, he found himself in front of the Babel Tower. He immediately sat down on the street, trying to catch his breath. Even though everyone was giving him strange looks, he ignored them all. He felt a bit exhausted after running non-stop and didn't have time to worry about what others thought.
Among all the adventurers staring at him, one adventurer equipped for dungeon exploration approached Kazuma and greeted him.
"Good morning, Kazuma-san."
"Good morning, Bell."
"What are you doing? Are you heading to the dungeon? If so, do you want to go with me?"
"Ah, no, I have a few problems to sort out, so I can't go to the dungeon today."
"Oh, I see... Of course... You must have a lot to deal with after the war game yesterday."
Bell looked a bit disappointed at Kazuma's refusal, but there was nothing he could do.
"How did you manage to level up to level 2 in just one week?"
"EEEEEEEEK!"
Kazuma and Bell were startled when a woman suddenly appeared behind them and asked something.
"A—aa—Aiz-san??!!!"
Bell's mouth hung slightly open, his face flushed, and smoke seemed to be coming out of his ears. At that moment, his brain had stopped working; he couldn't formulate a sentence to speak to Aiz Wallenstein standing in front of him.
"How did you manage to level up to level 2 in just one week?"
Aiz looked at Kazuma, repeating her question. Although she asked with a flat expression, she was filled with a strong curiosity. Unlike adventurers from any other familia, Aiz was fiercely hungry for strength, eager to become stronger. She was always searching for ways to increase her power so she could defeat the enemies who had killed her parents.
"Why should I tell you?"
(To Be Continued)