Hiatus Gifting This Unfortunate Guy With Blessings

"Let ME piggyback Megumin!" Darkness happily exclaimed when I was about to start getting Megumin on my back.

I gave that idea a little bit of thought. I wouldn't say I was very thrilled about having a very slimy and not-very-nice smelling Megumin on my back. And Darkness seemed very eager about the idea. It didn't really matter, right?

"No, I got this." I answered after some additional thinking. I felt that it was my fault for not making sure what Megumin was up to in the morning. She probably wouldn't go with some random people if I told her I would go with her after the meeting.

Darkness seemed very sad about my answer and Megumin didn't help with this either.

"Yeah, your armor looks too hard, Darkness. But Kazuki, can you change into the Crimson Demon since you don't have that leather armor there?"

What a picky girl! Also, Darkness, stop looking like you are going to cry!

With Megumin on my back, I turned around and saw her two temporary team members covered in Toad's intestines. One of them looked somehow scared of me and the other one was beaming a smile.

"Thanks for the help, man! I didn't think I would get out of it alive!"

"Y-yeah, thanks."

I didn't mind the fact that one of them saw my Griffin form since I already had shown it to half of the city. I wondered if there will be any repercussions but seeing how it would probably end badly if I waited around I wasn't regretting anything.

As I started walking towards the city I asked Megumin:

"Couldn't you wait until after the meeting? I would go with you, like yesterday. Why did you go on a quest anyway?"

"Those two came up to me and practically begged me to join their party! I magnanimously agreed because they didn't have the third person for the team and since our party only had a meeting planned I thought it was okay if I helped a duo of rookies."

"It was her idea!"

Dane and Karg shouted at the same time when they heard Megumin's take on what happened. Both me and Darkness looked at Megumin's face but she somehow had enough energy to snap her head in another direction.

I kinda felt sorry for these guys now.

When we were nearing the city, Darkness suddenly spoke up.

"I will go on first and explain a few things to the guards." after which she broke into a run and left us behind.

"What Darkness needs to explain to the guards?" Megumin asked with curiosity in her tone.

"Who knows. Maybe it is about how I turned into a Dragon and she flew on my back." I nonchalantly answered.

"What?!" Megumin yelled in surprise.

No matter how she tried to struggle to get the further explanation I didn't cave in. That's what Explosion Girl gets when she makes their teammates worry because of her impatience.

The guards looked at me suspiciously but otherwise, there was nothing abnormal about our ID checking. Darkness caught up with us when guards were checking Dane's card who was last in the line.

I nodded my head appreciatively towards her but I wasn't too sure if she noticed that since Megumin started yelling to tell her what exactly had happened. Darkness was confusedly looking at me, visibly asking "Why haven't you told her?" to which I just shrugged my shoulders.

I kinda wanted Megumin to see my Young Griffin transformation first before hearing about it but I doubted she wouldn't get her answer out of Darkness in the bathhouse we were going to. So I told her about my new addition to the arsenal and unsurprisingly I could see Megumin's eyes start glowing crimson red from excitement.

"See?! I told you that he had transformed!" Karg said to Dane who still looked like he didn't believe even though he should have seen me transform from human to Crimson Demon.

"I need to see it. Show it to me now!" Megumin excitedly exclaimed but I just answered:

"If you want to see it, then you will need to take me to your next Explosion Walk."

Fortunately, because of my mask, I didn't have to hide a giant grin that crept on my face.

That had erected a frustrated yell out of Megumin but I just calmly proceeded towards the bathhouse. I kinda wanted to oblige her request and hear saying "Sooo cooool!" but I also wanted to make sure she didn't go 'on her own' again.

There was also the fact that I probably shouldn't use that form in the city. For now, Darkness seemed to take care of the guards but I predicted that wasn't the end of it.

When we arrived in the bathhouse I gave Megumin to Darkness whose excitement fell when she realized that slimy Toad's saliva had mostly dried up already.

Then I went to wash my clothes and myself too. Karg and Dane also came with us to the bathhouse but they didn't stay long. Supposedly they were hungry because of a lack of money for a few days and when Megumin proposed the quest to them she also said that they could take all the money so they were in a hurry to eat something.

Maybe she didn't take this quest because of her urge to use Explosion but to help-

"...Explosion! And four went down in a scorching inferno!"

Suddenly I could hear Megumin yelling and from the women's part of the bathhouse.

…

I said goodbye to the manipulated duo and sat down to wait for Megumin and Darkness to come out. It took them quite some time so I almost dozed off on the bench but the sound of Darkness walking with her armor on woke me up.

"Hey, Kazuki, can you take Megumin to her home? I need to take care of something..."

"Of course. Thank you for your help, Darkness. I owe you."

"I haven't done anything much…"

Darkness answered embarrassed after I truthfully thanked her. Although she had some pretty weird quirks she was a great person. I slapped myself mentally for being scared and trying to avoid her up until now. Wasn't that how other people treated me?

I received Megumin, said goodbye to Darkness and went towards the house.

"Want to come over for tea?"

Was the first question Megumin asked me after we left the bathhouse. I gave it a momentary thought and I suddenly changed the direction I was walking towards.

"Huh? Where are you going?"

"I want to buy some proper tea first."

"Something's wrong with the tea I have?! It's super delicious and helps with digestion!"

The Unable-to-move Explosion Girl started yelling lines along "It's time to d-d-duel!" but I just calmly proceeded towards the nearest shop that sold a real tea.

The man at the counter was confused about why a little girl being piggybacked by a masked guy in weird clothing was insulting his wares and comparing them to some random tree leaves but, fortunately, I managed to obtain some real tea before getting thrown out of the shop for creating a ruckus.

Chomusuke was lazily lying on the doormat under Megumin's house's door and after I opened it she stormed in and started greedily devouring the remains of the food in her bowl.

"I am home."

"Meow"

Chomusuke promptly answered with her mouth stuffed with food.

After the difficult task of removing mine and Megumin's shoes in the entrance, I went and put her on the usual couch. Afterward, I went towards the entrance and poured some more cat food to Chomusuke's bowl for which I was rewarded with another happy 'meow'

Without waiting for permission I went towards the kitchen and started preparing the tea.

"Which one do you want, yours or the smelliest-and-nastiest one?"

"I will t-try the one you bought."

This time I observed the final product and saw that it was a proper brown liquid instead of transparent water that came out from the kettle into the mugs.

With two drinks in hand, I came back to the room, put them on the table, helped Megumin up, and sat down in the chair.

Megumin seemed to have enough energy to hold the mug herself and just as she was about to drink from it I started a new topic:

"Oh, by the way, I was in the guild in the morning to check how much stats I still needed towards the Archwizard job."

Megumin suddenly stopped. I didn't notice this at first and just continued.

"And guess what. I could already take that job!" I exclaimed happily but at that moment Megumin's hands got a little bit shaky.

"O-o-oh! C-congratulations!"

…

I looked at Megumin's suspicious behavior and started thinking. Was Megumin wrong about the stats I lacked or did she knew I could take the job but deceived me because of some reason?

"That is a-amazing news! Say, you didn't use any of your skill points, right?"

I thought about saying that I learned Intermediate Magic to see her reaction but decided against it. There was definitely something going on there.

"No, I haven't picked any skills yet. I thought I would consult some Archwizard with experience first."

"That was a great decision! Picking up any skill before Explosion would be a waste! You should aim to get it first!"

I knew it. Megumin probably tried to get me to earn enough skill points first before acquiring the job so she would then have an easier time persuading me to pick up Explosion Magic.

I honestly wouldn't mind learning Explosion but the skill points cost for it seemed very steep and the fact that one could use it only once before being unable to move was also a massive detriment.

I hanged my head down and added:

"I was thinking of taking some magic classes from an Archwizard-" I tried saying about an Archwizard who was a shopkeeper that Luna-san told me about but Megumin quickly shouted:

"Of course! I will gladly teach you anything you want to know about Explosion! I can talk about it for three days without sleeping!"

Her eyes starting to shine again.

How can I tell her that I want to learn Advanced Magic if she looks at me with such expectation in her eyes?!

"Sure…"

I couldn't do it!

"Yes! I knew you had it in you!" Megumin almost fell to the floor from happiness.

I decided to reach out to that other Archwizard and learn a little bit about Advanced Magic before I made my final decision. For now, I just couldn't say no to Megumin.

The fact that my Crimson Demon form also was excited about learning Explosion didn't help my rational side at all.

Megumin decided that this was an as good time as any for another lecture about Explosion and I ended up listening to her for around an hour until I felt that I needed to go and take of other matters before it got too late.

Megumin wasn't thrilled about me leaving mid-lecture but magnanimously allowed it. I petted Chomusuke on my way out and left the house.

When I was walking up the stairs towards my flat I suddenly remembered that I didn't mention to Megumin that I was her new neighbor. I decided to surprise her the following day.

I took out the key to my door and opened it. After walking inside I checked if Chris was inside by calling her but no one answered.

The tea with Megumin took longer than I expected and I decided that the guild could wait until the next day. Instead, I opted to visit the nearby restaurant to eat some food and to come back home and wait for Chris.

I bought some unseasoned meat for my other forms as well because similarly to the tiredness, hunger didn't disappear in all forms when only one form was fed.

I lied down in my bed until I heard a key opening the door and Chris walked in.