Hiatus Gifting This Unfortunate Guy With Blessings

Mistakes have been made.

That's one of many phrases that could describe the following events of my decision to change into Crimson Demon on the spot.

Well, I certainly didn't expect to feel the same breeze on my body as the night I woke up in this world. To make matters worse I confusedly looked at my lower half while sitting and noticed a barcode near the base of my son upon which I did what can be boiled down to:

shouting very loudly 'what the hell' and standing up abruptly.

I myself wouldn't call that an inappropriate action if I were alone, but in the presence of Megumin, it was really … not what you would call 'an outstanding move'.

Well, I certainly felt that I needed to report myself to the guards a little bit and Megumin certainly was of the same opinion.

"Do you enjoy flashing yourself to a lady?!"

"I didn't know that would happen! And you told me to transform yourself!"

I would know what would happen if I stopped for a few seconds to consider the facts, true, but I have only average intelligence you can't expect me to consider each and every possible outcome!

And what was that about a lady?! If Megumin were a proper 'lady' I would be at most half as ashamed!

Fortunately, the last two working brain cells that I could rub together in that situation decided to quickly change back into a human form and nice clothes came back to my body.

I awkwardly stood in place for a few seconds before I sat down once again not knowing what to say.

"Did you see what happened to the card?"

Megumin sent me a glare saying 'Are you gonna ignore this?' but answered anyway. "It was too quick before you shouted and distracted me with your … but I think I saw the job space turning blank and your stats changing values as well."

"But could you read it without problems?"

She nodded and added. "Yes, it looked normal otherwise."

That was interesting, to say the least. I had to check it again. Alone and somewhere else of course but this might be really important. My power might be more powerful than I immediately considered.

I then noticed that it was getting dark outside. It was time to head back to the inn and I definitely didn't think that because I wanted to run from the awkward atmosphere. No sir. I really needed to take care of my revenge plan and do further experimentation. Yeah.

"Well, I will need to check it when I am alone then. Thanks for the ideas. Do you need anything before I go?" I asked out of consideration for her still not being able to move well alone.

"Please fetch me some water to this mug."

I picked up the kettle and asked. "How about some more 'delicious tea'?"

"W-water, please. Too much of that tea doesn't sit well with my stomach."

I called it…

I left her some water on the table and went outside after saying goodnight.

Just as I opened the door something big and black ran into the house. A cat stopped mid-step when it noticed that it was not Megumin letting him in and started examining me from top to bottom curiously.

It felt weird being scanned so intensely so I went outside and closed the door behind me.

Well, it was really getting dark so I had no time to do scouting for my revenge plan so I had to leave it for now. I should also think about a housing problem that I will have after the fact but that also had to wait for another day.

The only option left was going to the inn and waiting for Chris to show up. I could test my power in my room.

The road to the inn was uneventful if one wouldn't count curious gazes from various citizens and guards patrolling the streets. But they seemed perfectly fine to just take a glance before moving away.

It was a refreshing experience - not being stopped by the police force for being 'suspicious-looking'. Normally a person with a mask was more suspicious than one without a mask. That didn't apply to me apparently.

I will work on that 'getting used to my scars' later, besides, why should I trust Aqua on this? Isn't she the most untrustworthy of people that I met in this world? I should ask Chris a second opinion. Even if she doesn't know about those 'soul scars' maybe she could ask goddess Eris for me?

I wonder how and if people can communicate with gods in this world. Is this the standard approach - pray and be heard or there are some rituals for that?

I kept thinking while walking and got to the inn without accidents.

The Innkeeper gave me a strained smile when I arrived at the counter.

"How much will it be for a week's stay, miss...?"

"Teyla, you can call me Teyla. It will be…" She delivered an entire speech about different options with baths and meals and also about how cheaper and better the service would be if I were an Axis Cultist.

I attentively nodded a lot while she was talking, but I chose to politely refuse the signup form and pay a normal amount for a room and one meal a day since Chris said it was safe to eat here.

I received the key after lowering the weight of my money bag and went upstairs. After double-checking if the door is properly closed I started to look around to see if there are any holes that would enable someone to peep inside the room.

After not spotting anything with my human eyes I tried the same thing with my mouse form. I found a hole behind the wardrobe, but that seemed to be a genuine hole that was there because of the building being old or other natural causes.

It was full of dust and cobwebs but after walking through it I could easily see the corridor. Fitting through would be an issue today, but I could work on that.

With a plan for the night completed, I switched back to human form.

Next on my to-do list was to experiment with my power so I took out the adventurer card from my pocket and left it lying on the desk. Afterward, I took out a coin from a pouch and kept it in between my fingers which I lifted in front of my eyes.

I then issued a command to change into a Crimson Demon. If my focus had wavered even for a fraction of a second I wouldn't have noticed what had happened and would say that the coin simply disappeared. But no, it got very quickly covered in skin and then disappeared inside it.

THAT WAS FREAKY AS HELL!

...

I decided that some things are better left unexplained. People didn't seem to comment on how weird it looked when I transformed so I shouldn't dwell on that.

There was a mirror attached to the wardrobe's door so I could see myself in all my n.a.k.e.d glory. Before I put on some clothes I noticed that not too much has changed. I would say that I even lost some of the muscles in my legs.

Apart from that, there was that weird bar-code thing. I looked thoroughly but it couldn't be anything else. Should I ask Megumin about it? That didn't seem like a good idea… I still had hope that no guards will be waiting to meet me at tomorrow's team gathering. Megumin looked calm when I was leaving, right?

With my body's examination complete I put on this prison-pajama I had and decided to go buy some clothes for the Crimson Demon form as well in the near future. I needed a mask for it too.

My budget was getting smaller and smaller with each hour. I hope we can manage to earn some money tomorrow with that team.

With a sigh, I reached out for the guild card to check.

The job space was indeed left blank and my stats were changed as well. I lost a lot of Agility and Dexterity but gained Intelligence and Magic stats while Strength, Vitality, and Luck remained the same.

With these stats, I might qualify for a mage job! I probably could have two different classes by transforming into Crimson Demon and Human! Or even more, if I acquire other race's form! This was a proper cheat ability! I was doubting it after 'no human form' fiasco and I am extremely sorry for that!

The curious thing were skill points though. I had 18 instead of 12 that were available in my human form while my level stayed the same - 2. I seemed to level up from helping to kill that giant toad today.

The skill section was empty. Was it because they were connected to the class? Further investigation was needed.

For the next experiment, before I changed back to my human form I needed to find something sharp. I looked around the room and I found nothing. The only weapon around was a bow.

Ah, right. Arrowheads were sharp-

Argggghhhh… how could I forget to buy arrows for a bow?!

…

I wonder if the old lady's shop will be open tomorrow morning...

Wait, no. Maybe I should shop elsewhere?

While internally screaming I realized I had a knife that Chris has lent me.

It was on my human form so I changed quickly back and forth. With a dagger in hand, while in Crimson Demon form, I sliced shallowly my finger. I put down the dagger on the desk and changed back into a human once again.

And I didn't see any blood on my finger.

This fact only added more questions to which I couldn't find any answers right now… but this was really important news one way or another.

My thoughts were interrupted by knocking on a door and Chris' voice resounded quickly after.

"It's me, Chris, may I come in?"

I went and unlocked the door letting Chris in. She smiled upon seeing me and energetically went inside. She made a quick look around and noticed a dagger with fresh blood on it almost instantly.

Her smile almost instantly vanished as she looked at me with a serious gaze.

"Kazuki, you can't-"

"Let me explain first. I was experimenting with my power. Look at this finger." I pointed a finger in her direction, changed into a Crimson Demon and started quickly explaining things I found out about my power. This seemed to reassure Chris and her smile returned.

Until she looked at my face. Though she kept on smiling, it was a little bit strained and nervous. When I was done she said.

"Ufff, I thought you did something stupid."

"Why would you think that?" I asked curiously while transforming once again to the masked form.

"You looked betrayed when I 'gave you away' to Kazuma's party."

"Well I was sad about that but I am sure you had your reasons." I answered honestly to which I received an apologetic kind of smile.

"Goddess Eris sends me to do a lot of tasks so I wouldn't be able to form a permanent party with you. Don't worry though, we will adventure a lot together. I might even need your help in some of those tasks."

This reassured me a lot. Although I didn't know Chris for long I enjoyed her company greatly.

Then we talked about how our evenings went and laughed together. I also asked Chris if she could ask Goddess Eris a second opinion on my scars and told her what said about them. Chris agreed to ask this for me but also added that Aqua might be a better healer than goddess Eris.

Aqua being better at something than goddess Eris?

No way, I can't believe it.

(A/N: I had a free Monday so I managed to write two chapters today. This might put my prediction of 3 chapters a week in jeopardy but in a good kind of way. I kinda feel motivated after posting the story so there's that. Let's see how long it lasts.)