Banir and Nero's first encounter had not been a pleasant one.
Banir had attempted to take over Nero's body, only to fail and end up dead. The Banir standing before Nero now bore the Roman numeral "II" on his mask, symbolizing that this was his second life—Banir the Second, as he called himself.
When Kazuma first saw Banir working as a clerk in Wiz's magic item shop, he was so startled he nearly fainted, thinking Banir had come back for revenge.
Despite their rocky start, Nero and Banir quickly became friendly.
As someone blessed by multiple goddesses, Nero evoked only curiosity and a hint of caution in Banir, with no hostility.
It's worth mentioning that after dying once, Banir had resigned from his position as a general in the Demon King's army. Furthermore, his principle of not harming humans made him effectively harmless, and Nero saw no reason to eliminate him.
Not that she could kill him anyway.
"Ah, Wiz bought more junk, huh?" Nero said knowingly. She was all too familiar with Wiz's poor selection skills. "That's on you, though. Why didn't you keep an eye on her?"
"I told her many times that all inventory decisions should go through me, and all she had to do was stand at the entrance to attract customers… It's my fault for naively believing this incompetent shopkeeper could learn from her mistakes," Banir grumbled.
"Banir-sama, that's so mean…" Wiz pouted, her overwhelming "mature woman" aura undercut by her meek, almost tearful demeanor.
Curious, Nero picked up a magic tool at random and asked, "What's this? It looks like… a miniature toilet? A toilet figurine?"
"That's a portable toilet!" Wiz said enthusiastically, eager to explain. "Think about it, Nero—adventurers often get stuck in the wilderness during missions. Resting is one thing, but when nature calls, it's so inconvenient, right? Especially for female adventurers—it must be so embarrassing for them to go in the bushes!"
Nero nodded in agreement, finding Wiz's reasoning sound.
"This portable toilet solves that problem! Just press the button, and it transforms into a fully functional, clean, and hygienic toilet! Isn't that incredibly convenient?"
"Fair point… But what about the side effects?" Nero asked skeptically. She had learned from experience that anything Wiz deemed "convenient" likely came with catastrophic drawbacks—on par with the side effects of Eirin Yagokoro's potions.
As expected, Wiz hesitated before answering.
"Well, the side effect is… to prevent others from overhearing the user and to alleviate their fear of going at night, the toilet makes a very, very loud noise while in use."
Scratching her cheek awkwardly, Wiz added, "The noise might, um… attract monsters by giving away the user's location in the wilderness."
Nero: "…"
Banir wasn't wrong—this was indeed trash.
"And this scroll?" Nero picked up another item.
"That's a teleportation scroll. Its destination is set to a very dangerous dungeon. When being chased by enemies, you can use it to send them there and escape!" Wiz explained.
"Hmm, sounds useful… And the side effect?"
"The user gets teleported to the dungeon too."
"…"
As Wiz continued her explanations, Nero encountered more absurd items: an explosive magic scroll with a blast radius larger than its range, a bug repellent that annihilated all small lifeforms—including microbes—within its radius, and a collar designed to "help users fulfill their wishes" that would strangle them if they failed to achieve their goals.
"Wait, this collar looks familiar…" Nero said, examining it closely. After a moment of thought, she recalled, "Oh, right. I think this is one of the magic items made by Megumin's father. When I visited the Crimson Demon Village, I heard that he was thrilled someone finally bought one of his unsellable creations."
"Ah, you mean Piosaburo-san? Funny you mention it—every single magic tool in this shop was bought from him!" Wiz said, smiling brightly. "He's such a nice man, selling everything to me at ridiculously low prices and even offering a steady supply!"
"…Are you sure it wasn't because he couldn't sell them to anyone else?" Nero asked.
She vividly remembered Megumin's own complaints about her father: despite his extraordinary magic power and skill in crafting magic tools, everything he made was useless junk that no one wanted to buy. The Crimson Demon family's poverty—forcing them to live off wild vegetables—was entirely due to Piosaburo's expensive yet fruitless hobby.
"Hahahahaha!" Banir suddenly burst into laughter.
"What's gotten into you now?" Nero asked, startled. Banir's eerie, triumphant laugh reminded her of a certain trio of insufferable voices: Gilgamesh, Ozymandias, and Edmond Dantès.
"So, the one who repeatedly sells this shopkeeper trash, the one who plots to overturn the world—is that man!" Banir exclaimed, a twisted grin spreading across his uncovered mouth. His gloved hand rose to cover his face as his eyes glowed crimson with a menacing light.
"…Banir, what's that in your hand?" Nero asked, noticing for the first time the item Banir had been hiding behind his back since her arrival.
Damn it! Banir cursed internally. He understood all too well that the magic tool he held was the key to opening the gates of doom, the trumpet that would herald the end of days. And Nero… Nero was the one person who could sound that trumpet.
For the sake of his dream and the future of humanity, he couldn't let her discover its true effects!
But just as Banir resolved to keep silent, Wiz cheerfully leaned in, oblivious as ever. Her words nearly gave Banir a heart attack.
"Huh? Nero, are you talking about that magic tool Banir's holding? Let me tell you, it's actually—"
"Banir's Death Ray—!!"
---
In a seemingly modest magic item shop in Axel, a flash of violet light erupted.
The next moment, a thick purple beam shot through the ceiling, piercing the sky and disappearing into the heavens above.