[Megumin's POV]
Suspicious. Very suspicious.
The two of them are acting strangely suspicious.
Kazuma and Darkness both seem off.
The way they're interacting isn't like usual at all.
Normally, Kazuma would just throw insults at Darkness without hesitation, but now he's gone completely silent around her. Darkness, who usually flaunts her fetish shamelessly, is also oddly calm today.
And I don't like the way they're looking at each other, either. They've known each other for long, but why are they blushing just from looking at each other?
Something must have happened between them.
There's definitely something going on, and I have no idea what it is. No, I think I have a guess what happneded between them. Because I have experienced such a thing once.
"Ka-Kazuma, please help me peel this wild potato!"
"Darkness, are you kidding me? No way! I don't even want to touch that thing."
"Stop making excuses! It's already midday, and we're late cooking breakfast!"
"Eeeeek…! Don't bring that wild potato any closer! Isn't it still alive? Kill it first!"
Kazuma and Darkness were supposed to prepare breakfast this morning. But the two of them overslept, so breakfast for the four of us was late.
If Kazuma had been the only one on breakfast duty, I would have expected the delay. I know Kazuma would've overslept from staying up all night.
But Darkness? Darkness oversleeping is really strange. She's a noble daughter who received strict upbringing from her family. That's why Darkness is usually the most diligent and disciplined among the four of us.
In our party, Darkness acts like a big sister. She's the one who always guides us down the right path, scolding us whenever we made a mess. She protects us both on the front lines and from behind. Basically, she's a dependable big sister. But today, it wasn't just Kazuma who overslept—Darkness did too.
"AAAAAAAHHH!!!"
I heard Kazuma's scream and snapped out of my deep thoughts. After causing a commotion in the kitchen, Kazuma ran over to Aqua, who was playing chess with me.
"Aqua... Aqua… Heal, please use Heal on me!"
"Tsk, tsk tsk, Kazuma. You've defeated the Demon King, but you're scared of a wild potato."
Kazuma, practically in tears, begged Aqua to heal his hand, which had swollen and turned purple from the wild potato's poison. Aqua looked like she was complaining about his whining, but her expression showed she was actually delighted to have him ask for her healing.
Aqua is the healer in our party, and her greatest pride is, of course, her healing and resurrection abilities. Or rather, those are the only skills she can really be proud of.
At one point, Aqua was furious with Kazuma for learning healing magic himself, to the extent that she thought she was no longer needed in the party. But now, Aqua was thrilled since Kazuma's healing magic was still locked, so he couldn't heal himself.
"Sh-shut up! Those plants are weird—they're alive!"
"Huh? Kazuma, is it just me, or has your intelligence dropped? Plants are obviously living things, so why are you stating the obvious?"
I interrupted Kazuma and Aqua's conversation, puzzled by Kazuma's strange comment. I know he has a trauma for plants, but how could his intelligence suddenly drop just because he's scared of a plant?
"No, no, no, that's not what I meant, Megumin. What I meant is that they can move..."
"Sacred Highness Heal!"
"Cure Poison!"
"Kazuma, go help Darkness with the cooking. I'm starving."
Before Kazuma could finish his sentence, Aqua had already healed him and sent him back to the kitchen. But I was also really hungry. If I just sat there watching Kazuma and Darkness cook, I'd starve to death.
"Aqua, let's stop the game here for now. I want to help Kazuma and Darkness."
"Eeh, why, Megumin? We were just getting into it, I was almost about to win against you!"
Of course, what Aqua said was a lie. She was nowhere near "almost winning." In fact, she was on the brink of losing. Just one move from me would have been enough to checkmate her. But I wasn't in the mood to respond to Aqua's taunts, so I decided to ignore her.
"Yeah, I'm worried about leaving them to cook those wild plants. As a veteran who's used to eating wild grass, I should help them out."
"Tch, no fun. Fine, then let me help too."
Aqua and I quickly cleared away the chess game and rushed to the kitchen to help Kazuma and Darkness with the cooking.
"Kazuma, just leave the wild potato to me. I'll peel it."
"Yeah, thanks, Megumin."
With agility and skill, I peeled the wild potato that had poisoned Kazuma earlier. Of course, I didn't make the same foolish mistake Kazuma did. Even my little sister Komekko could peel this wild potato without getting hurt, yet Kazuma still couldn't handle it.
"Kazuma, Kazuma."
"Yes, I'm Kazuma."
"By the way, you've never explained to me—why are you so scared with plants from my world? I know my world is a different world from yours, but aren't all plants the same?"
"Of course not! In my world, there aren't any crazy plants that can jump around like that!"
"Eh? Really?"
"Yeah, it's true. The plants in my world can't move like the ones in yours!"
That was the first time I'd heard that. Plants in Kazuma's world can't run, jump, or fly. If there were plants that didn't move, it would be so convenient for eating—people wouldn't have to go through the trouble of catching wild plants.
Everything went smoothly once Aqua and I joined Kazuma and Darkness in preparing breakfast. Of course, I didn't forget my initial reason for helping them. I was helping because I wanted to find out what was going on between those two.
Upon closer inspection, those two were really strange. Kazuma was even so shocked when Darkness accidentally touched his hand. What's going on with that? Are you a girl going through puberty or something?
You're blushing just because your hand brushed against the opposite sex. Haven't you been carrying me every day ...and purposely swaying your body while carrying me so you could feel the sensation of my chest? and don't we always hold hands? Besides, didn't Darkness kiss Kazuma once? So why is Kazuma acting all shy just because his hand accidentally touched hers?
I need to keep a close eye on them today, not letting my gaze wander for a second.
.....
After the four of us finished breakfast in the afternoon, we went about our usual routine in Twilight Manor. Afternoon was Kazuma's time to head to the blacksmith room to play with his magical tools.
I rarely went there because the room was incredibly hot, and even Aqua wouldn't go unless Kazuma forced her to help him make something. But now that I thought about it, Darkness always accompanied Kazuma to the blacksmith room everyday. Maybe I should go there too. Besides, I hadn't seen what Kazuma had made yet until now.
"Oiii... Kazuma, Darkness, what are you two doing?"
I entered the blacksmith room without knocking. I couldn't say a word when I saw what they were doing. I stared at them as though I had just seen a cockroach that had no right to exist in this world.
"No... no, Megumin, this isn't what it looks like."
"Ka... Kazuma's right, Megumin. I was just testing the magical tool Kazuma made."
Even before I said anything, they had already come up with excuses. Yeah, but that was inevitable. My expression alone made it clear that I was completely shocked by what they were doing.
"Darkness... testing a magical tool, you say? All I see is you trying to satisfy your fetish."
What I saw at that moment was Kazuma putting handcuffs on Darkness. There was no doubt about it—Darkness must have lost control and asked Kazuma to create something... unusual that could satisfy her desires.
"B-but I'm being honest, Megumin! I'm just helping Kazuma test a magical tool!"
"So, Kazuma, Darkness... what magical tool are you testing?"
I decided to ignore the scene as usual and asked them to satisfy my curiosity.
"Megumin, don't misunderstand. This can't really be called a magical tool anymore. It's a divine artifact!"
"OOOH... what? A divine artifact? Is it an artifact containing the power of the gods? That sounds really cool!"
My eyes sparkled when I heard the words "divine artifact." I've always wanted to get my hands on cool artifacts with great power. But for some reason, the divine artifacts I've encountered with Kazuma always turned out to be either incredibly stupid or used by incredibly foolish people.
For example, there was the divine artifact that could swap souls. Kazuma once used it to swap his soul with Iris, but he ended up using it to take a bath with Darkness. Then, there was the slave collar—whoever wore it would become a slave and could choose their master. If the slave didn't obey their master's commands, they'd experience excruciating pain. It was a perfect fit for Darkness. But I still didn't found a perfect divine artifact for me.
"That's right, Megumin. This is a divine artifact powered by Aqua's power. It's called the Magic Sealer Cuffs. Anyone who wears them won't be able to use their skills or magic," Kazuma explained.
"What? No magic or skills?"
"Not only that, but with Aqua's power, yhese handcuffs cannot be removed for 24 hours unless Aqua unlocks them herself."
"Oi... Kazuma, why would you make such a dangerous tool? What are you planning?"
I took a step back after hearing the effects of the Magic Sealer Cuffs. There's no way I'd want to get anywhere near a divine artifact like that. And besides, why would Kazuma create such cuffs? Who exactly did he intend to put them on?
My gaze then shifted toward Darkness, who was already wearing the cuffs.
"You perverted Crusader... did you make Kazuma create such a foolish divine artifact? Get rid of that thing!"
"Ahhh... No, Megumin! Kyaaa... Please, help me... Kazuma, please help!"
(To Be Continued)
Sorry for the irregular update, lately the weather in my area is very bad. My electricity and internet often got blackout, so I can't write anything.