The next morning, as we were all eating breakfast together, I gave Yunyun the bracelets and explained how to use them.
"What's this…"
"They're bracelets that can store mana. I got them in the Royal Capital. Store a little bit of mana in them each day. Then, when you run out of mana during a fight, you can use the mana stored in the bracelets."
"Ah, I see. Thank you."
Yunyun was overjoyed to receive the bracelets. With this, it seed she would no longer be in a dangerous situation due to mana depletion when fighting large numbers of enemies.
"Let's rest today. We were tired after arriving at the Royal Capital and fighting the Demon King's army imdiately yesterday."
"Okay."
Yunyun decided to go visit Kazuma's mansion, and I stayed with Luna. In the evening, Yunyun returned. She was only wearing one bracelet on her arm.
"Huh? Yunyun, where's the other bracelet?"
"Well…"
According to Yunyun's explanation, when she visited Kazuma's mansion and gumin saw her bracelets, gumin's eyes lit up. Saying that since she had two, she could afford to give one away, gumin took one of the bracelets.
"What!!!???"
Hearing that, I beca extrely angry. Given Yunyun's personality, she probably hadn't been able to say anything. gumin had crossed the line by a long shot. I imdiately took Yunyun and went to Kazuma's mansion.
"Tae-jin, wait! This was my fault, so…"
Yunyun tried to stop sohow, but I ignored her and entered Kazuma's mansion.
"gumin!!! Co out!!!"
When I shouted loudly inside the mansion, everyone from Kazuma's party ca outside. Naturally, gumin ca out too.
"Huh? Tae-jin, what's wrong? You look so angry."
Kazuma was flustered, seeing my expression. Ignoring the others, I approached gumin and asked,
"Is Yunyun a friend to you? Or is she just a pushover you can take advantage of?"
"Well… she's a friend…"
Slap!!!
"Aaah!!"
Thud, crash!
"gumin!!!"
I slapped gumin hard across the face. She scread and tumbled across the mansion's yard. Seeing that, Kazuma and the others were shocked and quickly tried to stop .
"Tae-jin, what's wrong! What did gumin do!"
Kazuma hurriedly grabbed , and Darkness stood in front of gumin, blocking my way. Aqua helped gumin up.
"This isn't like you, Tae-jin. Calm down and tell us what happened."
Darkness asked with a serious expression. I pointed at the bracelet gumin was wearing and explained.
"Do you know what that bracelet is, that she took from Yunyun?"
gumin, her mouth bleeding from the force of my slap, said,
"We-well, it's just a mana savings bank, she said…"
I explained slowly and clearly.
"You probably know that Yunyun and I have been taking quests in the Royal Capital, because I ntioned it before. As soon as we arrived at the Royal Capital, we fought a huge army of the Demon King's forces. Facing that enormous number, Yunyun couldn't hold out and retired mid-battle due to mana depletion."
As I explained what had happened at the Royal Capital, everyone listened intently. Given the atmosphere, they couldn't just brush it off.
"Fortunately, because Yunyun was behind the kingdom's knights and adventurers' formation, she was safe even after exhausting her mana. But I thought that if it had been a chaotic lee, I couldn't guarantee her life. So I prepared for an ergency and quickly obtained those bracelets."
"I see…"
Only then did gumin begin to grasp the seriousness of the situation.
"gumin, I don't know what desire made you take that bracelet from Yunyun, but did you know that it was directly connected to your friend's life?"
"…"
gumin just stood there with her head bowed, unable to say anything.
"Listen carefully. You just traded that bracelet for your friend's life! Use it well, and don't ever co near us again."
Just then, Kazuma quickly said to , trying to smooth things over.
"Wait, can't this be solved by just returning the bracelet? Don't be so harsh. Please forgive gumin."
"No. gumin didn't care at all about her friend Yunyun's situation. She was only interested in the bracelet. That's why this happened."
"But still…"
Kazuma seed to want to say sothing, but in the end, he couldn't continue.
"You all might want to think about that girl again. She treats even her best friend this way. To her own party mbers… Sigh… Never mind. Pretend I didn't say that. We're leaving."
I took Yunyun's hand and returned ho. Yunyun just cried the entire way back, unable to say anything.
Seeing Yunyun return crying, Luna was surprised and asked ,
"What happened?"
I took Yunyun to her room, then explained to Luna what had happened today.
"I see. But gumin is still young. She's at an age where she focuses more on her own interests than on those around her. We should try to understand. Just forgive her when she apologizes next ti."
"Yeah, I suppose so. I hope she can grow from this."
In the end, we couldn't go to the Royal Capital the next day either and rested one more day. That evening, I saw Kazuma and the others standing in front of our gate.
"Co to ~~!!!"
"Hey, gumin! That's no way to talk when you've co to apologize!"
"Well… I couldn't think of what to say all of a sudden…"
"Sigh…"
You're all too loud, you idiots.
Luna, Yunyun, and I went to the gate and opened it. Kazuma and the others, seeing us, just stood there awkwardly without saying anything.
"What's wrong? Why are you just standing there?"
As I urged them, Luna poked in the side, so I turned to her. She whispered in my ear,
"Don't be like that. Give them ti."
After a mont, gumin took off the bracelet she was wearing, returned it to Yunyun, and bowed her head.
"I'm sorry, Yunyun! I was blinded by my own desire and didn't care about your situation. Please forgive …"
Kazuma and the others also bowed their heads.
"We're sorry our party mber caused you trouble. Please forgive gumin."
Yunyun glanced at . When I nodded, signaling it was okay, she finally approached gumin and took back the bracelet.
"Um… You were so happy because this ant you could use Explosion twice a day, right? Are you sure you want to give it back?"
"Don't worry! Next ti, I'll find an even better item and show you using Explosion three, no, dozens of tis in a row!"
"Okay. I believe that you'll find an even better item than this."
Honestly, finding a better item than that would be difficult for a while. Because the material was the ultra-rare 'Coronatite'. But I didn't want to ruin the mood, so I kept quiet.
"So… you forgive ?"
Yunyun, crying and smiling, answered gumin,
"Of course."
"And you, Tae-jin?"
I wanted to joke a little, but Luna was glaring at , so I gave up.
"Fine. I forgive you too. Just don't let it happen again."
Then gumin and Yunyun hugged each other and started crying profusely.
"I'm sorry, Yunyun!"
"No, gumin!"
Kazuma and the others, and Luna, went over to comfort Yunyun and gumin. That day, everyone ate at our house and then returned to Kazuma's mansion.
Personally, I was fine with everything, but I wished Kazuma and the others would respect boundaries a little more. Especially Aqua and gumin.
Starting the next day, Yunyun and I began taking one quest after another at the Royal Capital. Our nas were also becoming more renowned.
I was still known as the 'Silver Flash', but Yunyun had gained the alias 'Crimson Mage'. It seed she got that alias because of her red eyes.
"Heheh, Crimson Mage. Heheh, heheh."
Because of that, Yunyun spent the entire day giggling happily, calling herself by her alias. I didn't know she would like such a chuunibyou-like alias so much.
About three days passed like that, and we decided to take a rest day. In that ti, Yunyun had gone up 5 more levels, and I had gone up 2. My level really wasn't increasing. I was starting to miss the Demon King's army.
I was at ho, cooking for Luna, when suddenly Yunyun ca running in urgently.
"Big trouble! Kazuma is about to die!"
"Huh? What happened? Oh Crimson Mage?"
"Heheh, Crimson Mage… no! I said Kazuma is in danger!!"
To summarize: Kazuma had coincidentally t Wiz at her shop and they were looking at items together. While joking around with gumin, he accidentally dropped sothing, and as they were all cleaning up, Kazuma accidentally put on a 'Wish-Granting Necklace'.
This necklace was a strange magical item that only ca off when the wearer fulfilled their wish. It was popular among won for dieting. Usually, one would make a diet wish and then put on the necklace.
The problem was that the necklace would shrink every day, gradually choking the wearer, so they had to diet frantically within a set ti limit. This magical item gained popularity due to the tension it created, which was said to make dieting more effective.
"So what did he wish for?"
"Well, he says he didn't wish for anything."
"Then it should co off when he fulfills his usual desires. Anyway, let's go."
Yunyun and I moved to Kazuma's mansion.
Upon arriving, Kazuma was lying on the floor, his head on the thigh of a kneeling Wiz, stroking her leg. Darkness had taken off her armor and was doing push-ups.
"Hey~ Tae-jin, you're here?"
Kazuma, lying on Wiz's thigh, greeted arrogantly.
"Huh? What are you guys doing?"
"To get Kazuma's necklace off, we're trying to grant his usual wishes…"
According to Aqua's explanation, they had decided to grant Kazuma's usual wishes to get the necklace off.
"Ah~ I see. So you're just doing whatever Kazuma says."
"Yeah. But we have no idea what that beast will order."
Even as she said that, Kazuma continued stroking Wiz's thigh.
"Um, Kazuma? How about a bed?"
"Wiz's thigh is cool and nice. And really soft. I also love the shy look Wiz gets."
"Is that so... Th-thank you."
Kazuma seed intent on using this opportunity to have them do everything he wanted. I decided to look at the necklace first.
"Kazuma, let see if I can get it off."
Looking reluctant, Kazuma slowly got up from Wiz's thigh. I approached him and examined the necklace with [Eyes].
The necklace wasn't made with particularly strong mana, so I could probably just tear it off by disrupting the flow of mana and applying force. But that wouldn't be fun, so I decided to leave it alone.
"So? Do you think you can get it off?"
Aqua asked .
"I don't know. How about just killing him and resurrecting him?"
"If he dies this ti, he says he won't co back. He'll just die for good."
"Really? I see. I guess Kazuma is pretty tired too."
Hearing that, Kazuma agreed.
"That's right. I'm tired. Honestly, since coming to this world, I wanted to make a pretty girlfriend, and get married like you, Tae-jin."
"Oh~ That's it, isn't it? A pretty girlfriend, dating, and marriage! That might be Kazuma's dream."
Hearing my words, Kazuma's expression brightened and he agreed enthusiastically.
"Right! That's exactly it! That's what I want!"
Hearing that, gumin pointed out a problem.
"But if you don't get that necklace off within four days, you'll die. When are you going to date and get married? And is there even a woman for that?"
I answered for her.
"Isn't that sothing you all are supposed to do for him?"
"Even so, marriage is a bit…"
"Just try to set the mood. You'll figure it out as you go. And it only takes one of you to sacrifice here. Then no one else has to suffer."
"Oh~ When you put it that way."
With that decided, Kazuma looked around at the won, thinking. The won desperately averted their eyes, trying not to be chosen.
"Alright, I've decided!"
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