Kazuma raised an eyebrow when he saw who had asked him.
'Tsk, Loki Familia again. Why do I keep running into them every day?'
"Why should I tell you?"
"Because I want to become stronger."
"Aiz-san, you want to become stronger? But, Aiz-san, you're already strong! Remember, you saved me from that Minotaur with a single blow!" Bell cut into their conversation from the side.
If other low-level adventurers had heard what Aiz just said, they'd immediately think she was mocking them. How could a high-level adventurer ask a low-level one for advice on getting stronger?
Even Kazuma was a bit surprised by Aiz's words. Luckily, he didn't feel offended, as his only thought right now was how to avoid the members of Loki Familia. Meanwhile, Bell, with his pure heart and infatuation with Aiz, believed she was genuinely asking for advice.
"But, I want to get even stronger. That's why I'm looking for any hints that might help," Aiz said.
"Aren't you already level 5? Why would you ask someone who's only level 2?"
"But you reached level 2 in just a week, while it took me a whole year to get there," Aiz replied.
"So? That's still not a good enough reason for me to reveal my secrets to you."
At first, Aiz hesitated to tell Kazuma why she wanted to become stronger, but in the end, her curiosity got the better of her, and she decided to reveal the truth.
"I want to get stronger to avenge the monster that killed my parents," Aiz replied.
Aiz was truly determined to learn Kazuma's secret for leveling up so quickly. No matter how hard she thought about it, she just couldn't understand how Kazuma could gain levels at such speed, even though she herself had also become strong in a short time.
But, as the saying goes, the grass always looks greener on the other side. People can never truly understand how blessed they are; their eyes go blind when it comes to seeing their own strengths. Yet, when they look at others, their vision becomes sharp enough to spot every advantage someone else has.
Aiz Wallenstein herself wasn't an ordinary human. She was born from the union of a human man and a female spirit. Generally, spirits cannot bear children, but somehow, Aiz was born from that spirit.
In addition, though she looked like an ordinary 16-year-old girl, Aiz was actually born a thousand years ago. Somehow, she had been frozen at the age of 7 for a thousand years and only awakened from that frozen state nine years ago.
"Oh, I see. So you're the type who's completely obsessed with revenge—you want to get stronger so you can satisfy yourself with vengeance?"
One of Kazuma's ears perked up as he heard a word he'd often come across in anime, manga, and games: revenge. After hearing that word, Kazuma came up with a brilliant idea to get out of this situation. Naturally, it involved lying.
Although Kazuma was aware that he didn't possess some magical speech ability to turn enemies into friends, he was confident he could deceive someone blinded by revenge.
"Is my reason for wanting to become stronger wrong?"
"It's not that your reason is wrong. Back in my hometown, there were many stories about heroes, and they all shared one secret to getting stronger."
Kazuma crossed his arms over his chest, striking a confident pose to make his story seem believable. He was about to share a clichéd tale he'd seen so often it bored him back when he was a Hiki-NEET.
"What is it? Tell me!" Aiz's eyes sparkled a bit as Kazuma prepared to reveal the secret to becoming stronger.
"It's The Power of Friendship."
"The Power Of Friendship?"
Aiz tilted her head, not understanding what Kazuma meant.
"Yes, As long as you fight for your friends and alongside them, you'll gain the strength to face any challenge before you."
"Is that true?"
"Oh, absolutely. If you don't believe me, Aiz, why not accompany Bell to the dungeon?"
"Ehh, Kazuma-san? Why would you say something like that? I'd only be a burden to Aiz-san!" Bell's eyes widened, and he looked a bit flustered at Kazuma's suggestion that Aiz join him.
"Uh... I'll do it," Aiz replied.
Aiz nodded her head, readily accepting Kazuma's suggestion without hesitation.
'Gah... did she just believe me that easily?'
Kazuma was shocked internally at how quickly Aiz took his words at face value. At first, he thought he'd have to spin a longer story to convince her, but just one or two sentences were enough to win her over.
"B-but..."
Bell was a bit unsure about the situation. Although he was happy at the thought of exploring the dungeon with Aiz, lately, he'd often felt inferior when seeing the strong adventurers around him.
Bell knew that girls liked men who were strong and dependable. That was why he hesitated to go adventuring with Aiz. If he really went into the dungeon with her, it would mean exposing just how weak he was to the girl he liked.
"Bell, what are you hesitating for? Hurry up and get to the dungeon while you've got someone willing to go with you!"
Kazuma quickly nudged Bell and Aiz toward the dungeon before either of them could refuse or change their minds.
After that, he hurriedly slipped away from the two of them and headed back to Twilight Manor. By the time he arrived, the barrier Aqua had set up had already vanished, and the items he'd ordered from the guild and the Hephaestus Familia store had arrived.
But behind the manor gate stood Megumin, striking a daunting pose. Her gaze was so sharp it looked as if it could kill someone.
Kazuma felt a bit of fear seeing Megumin waiting outside the manor like that. At first, he hesitated to go in, but he realized that just standing there wouldn't solve anything.
"I'm sorry!!"
Kazuma threw himself down in front of Megumin outside Twilight Manor, bowing deeply in a dogeza pose.
"Why are you apologizing?" Megumin asked him in a cold tone.
"I should have told you when I went out with Darkness."
"Well, Kazuma, whoever you go on dates with isn't really my concern. Besides, our relationship is just... more than friends, but less than lovers."
"I won't do it again!"
"Are you serious?"
"I'm serious!"
"Then, pinky promise."
Megumin extended her pinky finger toward Kazuma, and he responded by doing the same.
"Pinky, pinky promise: if either of us lies, they'll be blown up by explosion magic."
"Oi... oi... Megumin, isn't that a bit extreme for a promise?"
"Hmph... I don't care! If you ever do something like that behind my back, I'll blow you up with my explosion magic."
Megumin said this while puffing out her cheeks and then turned to walk away from Kazuma.
....
....
....
"So, what am I supposed to do with all this now?"
Kazuma looked to his left and right. On his right were the many magic stones he'd purchased from guild, and on his left, ores he'd bought from the Hephaestus Familia.
"With this much stuff, there's no way I can carry it all into the manor by myself."
"Aqua, Megumin, Darkness, help me out here!"
In the end, Kazuma called on his Familia members to help him carry everything he'd bought. He planned to bring it all to the blacksmith room inside the manor.
Although the Loki Familia primarily focuses on dungeon exploration, that doesn't stop its members from learning skills outside of combat. One of these skills is blacksmithing, which is why Twilight Manor is equipped with a blacksmith facility.
Aqua refused to help Kazuma because she wanted to focus on tending to her plants. At first, Megumin also declined, wanting to stay with Aqua, but when Darkness agreed to help Kazuma, Megumin changed her mind and decided to help him as well.
On their way to the blacksmith room, the three of them walked in silence. The atmosphere was extremely awkward, especially between Megumin and Darkness. Kazuma was well aware that something was going on between the two of them, but he was too afraid to ask.
"Kazuma, why did you buy so much material? What do you want to do with this?"
Darkness, being the oldest among the three, couldn't stand the awkward silence any longer and decided to break it by asking Kazuma.
"Ah, there are many things I want to make, but the first thing I want to create is a spatial ring."
"A spatial ring? What's that?"
"A spatial ring is a very useful tool. You see our current situation, right? We have to carry all this material by ourselves, which is really inconvenient. With a spatial ring, I can transfer all this material elsewhere, and when I need it, I can summon it. In other words, I won't have to physically carry all this stuff."
"Hmmm... that sounds really useful. But how are you going to make it?"
"I'll create the ring and embed teleportation magic into it using my new abilities. With teleportation magic, the ring can mark three locations that I'll use as storage. After that, I just need to use the spatial ring to move items to the designated spots."
"Kazuma, Kazuma, if that's the case, can you make an explosion magic ring?"
Megumin, who had been quietly listening to the conversation between Kazuma and Darkness, suddenly interjected. With her sharp intelligence, she understood the significance of what Kazuma had just said. If her assumption was correct, it meant she could use explosion magic more than once a day.
"Well... theoretically, that's possible, but I'll need to do a lot of trial and error."
"Then what are you waiting for, Kazuma? Let's hurry up and make that explosion magic ring!"
With high enthusiasm, Megumin grabbed Kazuma's hand, eager to see him succeed in creating the explosion magic ring.
(To Be Continued)