The Protagonist System

Both Megumin and Darkness were in high spirits when they woke up. Their happiness was quite infectious as we ate supper and I couldn't keep the smile off of my face. I didn't have to try reading their minds to know that the last few days had been the happiest that either of them had ever been. They tested their skills against fierce opponents and lived to tell the tale.

I thought about telling them I handled the other two quests while they were recovering and decided not to, mostly because I didn't want them to think I left them behind because they were useless. It was their choice to bask in their victories and I wasn't going to ruin that for them. I would just have to do what I did the last time and have them get their cards updated first.

We left the trunk with Darkness dressed in normal clothes and Megumin and I dressed in our adventuring outfits. I dispelled the protections on the trunk and stored it after looking at the area for enemies. I checked the remains of the bear and the head was mostly intact, so I repaired it and the body before I stored it.

Neither of the girls asked me why this time and we made our way back to one of the main roads that traversed the kingdom. I had made a permanent teleportation circle at the crossroads that led to different towns and cities, including the capital, and we teleported back to the outskirts of Axel.

We could have gone right to the Tower, except we left the normal way and had to be seen coming back, just so I didn't give away the fact that we could travel so quickly. It was only another few hours of walking anyway and it was a nice sunny day, despite the chill in the air.

“Winter is coming.” Darkness said as she looked around the thick forest we passed through. There were light traces of snow around the roots of the larger trees that were losing their dying leaves, which meant the ground was cooling off and starting to freeze.

“I assume the quests are going to dry up during the winter months?” I asked and they both nodded. “What do people usually do during the winter?”

“There's not much else to do but make babies.” Darkness said and then gasped, blushed, and pointedly looked away from me. Megumin blushed and looked straight ahead.

I laughed and they blushed harder. “Again, neither of you have to do anything you don't want to. You are experienced adventurers and have faced dangers that other adventurers run away from.”

“You are right, my Lord.” Darkness said and looked back at me. Her blush didn't go away. “We haven't known you for long; but, you are honorable and haven't taken advantage of us when you very easily could have.”

“The two of you do pass out a lot.” I said, suggestively. “What makes you think I haven't?”

Instead of moaning at the thought, Darkness smiled knowingly. “Because I've tried to give you as many opportunities as possible without seeming to. You haven't once tried anything, even this last time after my clothing and armor were pretty much destroyed.”

“We'll commission something new for you when we get back to town.” I said and avoided her blatant hint that I should have tried something.

“You really are a noble noble.” Megumin said.

I chose to not comment on that. “Since we're going to get Darkness some new armor, how is your staff holding up?”

“It's fine.” Megumin answered a bit too quickly.

I held in my sigh at that and cast a specific diagnostic spell on her staff. I wasn't an expert on things like that, since it wasn't something I had encountered in my travels. The closest was with Tsubaki and her forging magical armor and weapons. I never learned how to do that, though.

“The most I can do is cast repair on it and maybe add reinforcement charms and things.” I said and Megumin blushed. “You don't have to be embarrassed about that, Megumin.”

“It... it's not that. I...” Megumin kept her gaze forward. “An Archwizard's instrument of destruction is sacred. This staff has been through a lot during my journey to perfect my magic, and... it's shameful... to have to have it fixed, re-enchanted, or replaced with something new.”

“Oh.” I said and gave her a searching look. “Is that why you refuse to wear anything but your adventuring outfit while outside? It's a Crimson Demon secret code of conduct or something?”

Megumin's blush deepened and she didn't say anything.

“You do know that you're rich and can buy anything you want, right? You can keep your Crimson Demon uniform and your main staff safe back in your room at the Tower while you use something else in the field.” I told her. “Just because you become more powerful and it's starting to not be safe to use something, that doesn't mean you have to throw it away or abandon it completely.”

Megumin turned her head to stare at me and wasn't watching where she was walking. Her toe hit a loose root and she let out a squeal and threw her arms out to windmill them as she fell. I caught her instantly and held her for a moment, then stood her back on her feet. Her face was as red as her clothing and she looked faint.

“Don't let sentimentality for the past hinder your pursuit for the ultimate explosion, Megumin.” I cautioned her. “Your passion for your craft will fade if you focus too much on equipment that can't keep up with your progress.”

Megumin opened her mouth to refute that as she looked into my eyes. She saw the sincerity there and she sighed. “I suppose... since we're taking a break to wait for Darkness to have more armor made... I might as well try and see if I can find a new staff.”

I smiled warmly at her. “If you can't find anything locally, we can travel to one of the bigger cities and take a look around. We shouldn't limit ourselves by what's available here.”

Megumin nodded and the three of us fell into a comfortable silence as we walked on towards the walled in starter town. We had been gone for several days and it was a relief to finally be home.

*

Luna was surprised when the Heroes of Axel party entered the guild hall. It was only the fourth day since they left on their quests and she knew from experience that it took at least that to reach the area where the manticore had established its territory. That meant they only went half the way and then turned around for some reason and came back.

She thought she had hidden her disappointment as they approached the counter and saw by the look on Satou's face that she hadn't. She let out a soft sigh at him always knowing what she was trying to hide and didn't try to stand and bend over to show off her enormous breasts like she usually did for the other adventurers as a reward for completing a quest.

“Go ahead, Megumin. You first like usual.” Satou said.

Megumin struck a pose and gave Luna a 'V' sign with her fingers. “The great Heroes of Axel have returned and are victorious!”

Luna almost winced at the blatant lie and held her hand out.

Megumin didn't notice the slight flinch and gave her the One Shot Bear quest notice and handed over her Adventurer Registration Card.

Luna accepted both and started working on sorting the experience and assigning appropriate levels. Her thoughts were that they must have found the bear first and returned for the bounty. It wasn't until she was done and saw exactly how much experience she had sorted that she realized she made another huge mistake and embarrassed herself by assuming the worst.

Megumin's level had jumped way too high for someone that was already one of the highest levels in the town after only killing the One Shot Bear.

Luna handed the card back and stamped the notice with a completed stamp as she set it aside.

“Darkness, you're next.” Satou said.

Darkness proudly put the manticore versus griffon notice on the counter and handed over her card. “Thank you, my Lord.”

Luna did hers up as well and again felt embarrassed that the Crusader's level jumped up much further than fighting those two monsters should have given her. She assigned the skill points and handed the card back, then stamped that notice as completed as well.

“You two can go check out the notice board and see if there are any other local things to handle while I get my card updated.” Satou said.

“Right away, my Lord.” Darkness said and she and Megumin walked over to the notice board.

Satou put the two notices for the void wolves and the Destroyer on the counter and handed over his own card.

Luna tried to not have her hand shake as she accepted the card and started to work it over. The experience he had gained was phenomenal, since he had taken out both the pack of void wolves and the Destroyer by himself. It was almost soul crushing that his party had done all 4 quests so quickly.

“I was wondering if there were extra bounties for bringing the monster carcasses back?” Satou asked her as she started to tally up the bounties.

Luna thought about not answering, mostly because she knew he had asked specifically because he must have somehow skinned the creatures and saved the pelts intact. Instead of staying quiet, she sighed and told him what he wanted to know.

“Depending on the condition, you could double or triple the bounties on the void wolves. The bear skin and meat isn't that uncommon, so not much extra for them. The manticore pelt, teeth, claws, and tail spikes could net you another 200,000 Eris if they aren't too damaged. The griffon is about the same, except the feathers would earn an extra 100,000 Eris.” Luna said, her voice even.

“No chance of stuffing them and hanging them in the hall, then?” Satou asked with a smile.

Luna caught her breath and stared at him with wide eyes.

“Heh. Megumin asked me if I wanted to scare the guild workers. It seems she was right.” Satou said and started to take out the void wolf pelts, 12 of them. He then showed the giant bear and dropped it off to the side. “I'll keep that one, stuff it, and bring it back here to mount by the bar. It'll give people something to talk about.”

Luna could only nod as he then took out the giant eagle head. She let out a sad sound against her will, because he was giving her even more proof that she had severely underestimated him.

“I'll be mounting that in my own trophy room.” Satou said and took out the griffon's body. “I left the innards at the site, just because they stank to high heaven and I figured no one would want to eat them.”

“That's solid reasoning.” One of the guild workers said and waved over several more. “We'll take these high quality wolf pelts in the back for safe keeping.”

“What about the dragon wings from the manticore?” Satou asked and took one of them out. “I was going to ask if you guys wanted them to mount above the bar or the notice board.”

The big guy chuckled. “Are you going to stuff them like you're going to do to the bear?”

“Of course! I'll even lighten them so they won't be a danger and easily mounted.” Satou promised.

“Then the guild hall will graciously accept your generous donations.” The man replied.

“Great! I'll have them done by tomorrow night at the latest.” Satou said and stored the wing and took out the large manticore's body. “Have fun tearing that apart.”

“We usually do while extracting the useful parts.” The man said with another chuckle. “We'll be right back with your bounties and the extras for the pelts and things.”

“Thank you.” Satou said and turned to the bear's carcass and giant eagle head to store both before he turned to the counter and held his hand out.

Luna briefly looked at his card and the level of 252, saw his unnatural and ridiculously long list of skills that no one else in the world had, and wondered why she ever thought that being a basic adventurer was so detrimental to a person's growth. She let out a soft sigh and handed the card over to him.

Satou gave her a smile and stayed there until the workers cleared out the things he had delivered and returned with several sacks of money with a total of 7 million Eris. He took out the trunk for such things and added them, stored it, and shook the hands of the workers as he gave them tips of silver coins.

“Thank you and have a good day. All of you.” Satou said and put a silver coin on the counter in front of Luna before he walked over to the notice board.

“There's not much left.” Megumin said. “Someone took the wolves and Destroyer, so we won't be heading back out for a while.”

“All that's here is the request for a swordmaster for lessons with a noble family's young son and this weird request that wants someone with a high defense stat or high magic resistance to be experimented on.” Darkness said with a shake of her head. “Only an idiot would subject themselves to that one.”

Megumin and Satou exchanged amused looks. If they hadn't shown Darkness much better ways for her to get her fetish handled, she would have been all over that in a heartbeat and wondering exactly what she would have to endure when she showed up for it.

“Come on, let's go home. There should be a large steaming bath just waiting for us to soak in it.” Satou said and offered his elbows to the two girls. Both accepted and the three of them walked out of the guild hall with smiles on their faces.

Luna watched them go and did her best to not be sad. With the Heroes of Axel around, the people in the town were going to be safe.

“You could have asked him for a date.” One of the barmaids said and handed her a tankard of ale.

“So could you.” Luna said automatically and took a sip. She was on a break, so it was okay.

The barmaid with short brown hair laughed. “As if a rich noble would ever notice someone like me.”

The front doors of the guild opened and the barmaid and Luna looked over and saw Satou enter and he strode right over to them at the teller booth.

“I'm sorry to bother you again.” Satou said and actually sounded apologetic. “I forgot to ask if anyone came in about my notice about showing off their skills.”

“There was one man asking about you, the hero Kyoya Mitsurugi. He showed up here about a month before you did and has earned a reputation for himself.” Luna said.

“Any idea about his skills?” Satou asked, his eyes squinted slightly. He knew that was not a normal name for this world.

“I heard he has a powerful sword called Gram and has defeated many creatures, even a dragon.” The barmaid said with a smile.

“Really?” Satou asked and smiled back at her. “Maybe later when you get off work, we could meet up and you can tell me more about what you heard?”

Luna stopped breathing and stared at him, then at the happy barmaid. Don't take my advice! Don't take my advice!

“I'd be delighted to go out with you to... talk.” The barmaid said with a sultry smirk.

Satou paused for a moment and then chuckled. “I'll be by about 8 to pick you up. How does a moonlight picnic beside the lake outside of town sound to you?”

The barmaid's smirk changed to a beaming smile. “It sounds like I'll be... talking... a lot, my Lord.”

“Ha!” Satou barked the laugh and nodded to her, nodded to Luna, and left at a fast walk.

“I guess I was wrong.” The barmaid said and looked down at her barmaid uniform. “Dammit, I have to run home and grab a change of clothes. I hope he won't think I ditched him if he shows up and I'm not here.”

Luna wanted to not help her, then internally sighed, because it was her own fault for encouraging her. “You can leave ten minutes early and I won't dock your pay.”

The barmaid gasped and stared at her, then let out a squeal and hugged her. “I'll come in ten minutes early tomorrow to make it up!”

Luna watched as the excited barmaid returned to work. Her happier attitude made their customers buy more food and drinks and earned the guild more money than if she had kept her normal behavior.