"I... I am the phantom of the crimson clan, who never stops redoubling efforts to reach the truth of infinity, and my name is Renji!"
I tried to imitate a pose similar to a member of Frieza's special forces from the DBZ manga, since they're the only ones mentally screwed up enough to keep pace with the Crimson Demon clan.
As I expected, Megumin sketched a friendly smile.
It seems like the greeting according to Crimson Demon clan culture positively increased her opinion of me.
"I'm really happy to run into another member of my clan in Axel," she said in a happy tone.
If I remember the original story correctly, Megumin must currently be having trouble finding a party.
Despite her status as an Archwizard, the loli in front of me is extremely specialized in Explosion magic.
This is a trait of her personality that ruins her potential and has strengthened her in certain aspects.
A paradox.
"Now that I think about it... I'm sure I've never seen your face in the village or at school."
She squinted at me without hiding her suspicion, but I didn't show a sign of nervousness.
I wasn't a demon, and she's the one who needs a party here.
So the situation is to my advantage.
If she annoys me, I'll just wait for Darkness or YunYun to respond to my ad.
After all, there are tons of talented adventurers in Axel at this period of the light novel.
"For certain private reasons, I didn't live within the village."
I didn't lie, but didn't tell everything.
After a few minutes of reflection, Megumin nods as if she accepts something.
"Okay, I accept joining your party."
I grimaced slightly at her shameless behavior, since she's the one taking the interview to join my party.
I cast a neutral look toward the Archwizard, who ended up avoiding my gaze.
After a few seconds, she finally cracked.
"Okay okay, ask me whatever questions you want, but know that I have a first-class named Archwizard and I have an advanced spell!!"
As expected from someone with high intelligence stats.
Megumin subtly avoided mentioning the lack of magic other than Explosion, and didn't mention her refusal to learn any.
If I recruit her, I have to expect her to waste all her skill points on increasing Explosion magic level and the chant time reduction skill.
"I already intended to recruit you, since we're cut from the same cloth... I can feel it thanks to your explosive personality."
Yeah, we're both officially adults stuck in teenagers' bodies... hell.
Sometimes I wonder if I'm influenced by my hormones... no, at least I hope not.
Maybe because of my allusion about her explosive character, which is true in certain aspects, Megumin puffed out her nonexistent chest with pride.
Honestly, I should aim for the mother, since I remember she's blessed in that department.
"Haha, you felt the aura of the explosion voice, but wait a second, if you were gonna recruit me why did you give me that emotionless look?"
She leaned toward me, while I was still sitting on the chair across from her.
After confirming acceptance into my party, she had gotten up to laugh dramatically.
"Because I don't like people who are too confident."
I don't have Aqua with me.
It would be a shame if I died stupidly like Kazuma against The Winter Shogun, because a party member didn't want to listen to me.
After these words, I ordered giant frog legs for me and Megumin.
Fortunately, the service didn't take long.
I could literally hear Megumin's stomach growling from my chair while we talked.
"You can eat, I'm treating today."
Despite her lack of honesty about her real abilities, I didn't hold it against Megumin.
That's why I decided to feed her a bit.
The poor girl hasn't eaten in a long time.
"Thanks for the meal!!"
Without waiting, she immediately started devouring the food in front of her.
Where does all this food go in that small body? A mystery of the Konosuba universe.
...
"Tomorrow, I'll be able to level up enormously."
After eating, I separated from Megumin after setting a meeting time at the adventurers' guild.
Currently, I'm heading toward the stables.
Yeah, it's still too early to sleep.
However, I don't have much budget to enjoy Axel and its wonders.
So I decided to go back and experiment with my power, which was granted to me by Aqua's website.
Although it's level 1... I keep a little hope.
"Okay, there's nobody at this hour in the stables and I still have two usable knives."
After a quick check of my equipment, which currently consists of only the two knives.
I raised my hand toward the wall, before pronouncing the skill name while imagining the scene of Shenron in front of Pilaf in Dragon Ball.
My goal?
I wanted to steal the pig pervert's stupid wish.
"Dimensional Travel..."
Instead of a portal, I simply disappeared from the stable to appear in a Japanese-style house in front of an ordinary-looking girl.
"...Hi, do you understand me?"
I don't know if there's a language barrier, but she seems Japanese and her outfit seems similar to those of servants from the past.
She didn't answer immediately, but she looked around with a confused air.
Maybe she saw things in a similar way to me.
One moment, there was nothing and then I was there.
"Don't be afraid... I'm not mean."
"Help!!! There's a man in the shogun's harem!!"
Without a shadow of hesitation, I immediately closed the distance with the woman and blocked her mouth.
We were extremely close to each other, since I was above her on her futon, a traditional Japanese bed.
"Calm down." Maybe it was my imagination, but the woman seems to blush slightly after seeing my face.
At first, I was in shadow, but the moonlight lit up the room and our current location.
"I'm gonna free you slowly, okay?"
She nodded slowly, but my actions were unfortunately too late.
With a thud, the traditional door was pulled.
A blond man, wearing white clothing with a katana, entered the room with other armed men.
Maybe it was my years of kendo experience or the stats that place me above ordinary humans.
But... I could feel that he's dangerous for the current me.
(Image)
"Catch!!" I threw the woman of about 15 or 16 years toward the man, who surprisingly caught her,
before diving headfirst toward the wooden wall, since I trusted my strength.
Bam
After a small roll on the ground, since I had fallen from the second floor,
I started running while avoiding arrows.
"Why, of all places, did I end up in this story!!"
Hell's Paradise, that's where the blond man in front of me comes from after neutralizing the shogun's servant or concubine.
During the use of the skill, I did indeed think strongly about DBZ.
But... my desires were elsewhere.
Yes, my heart desired a harem...
Don't judge me, but this damn skill brought me to the desired place successfully.
I'm literally in a harem, belonging to a state lord...
I should have avoided using this skill after my meeting with Megumin.
[You cannot currently use Dimensional Travel, as the cooldown time has not elapsed]
[Time remaining: 10 days...]
Okay, I'm screwed.