At the Adventurer's Guild, Kazuma faced harsh criticism from the three female members of his party.
The women's merciless words poured like scalding water over his fragile heart, making his soul writhe in agony.
Upon hearing "degenerate" from a certain pervert, Kazuma shouted angrily, "Hey! I can accept being called a pervert and scumbag, but degenerate? What makes me a degenerate? Tell me!"
"Going around stealing men's underwear — how is scumbag Kazuma not a degenerate?"
"I'm telling you, it was all just a misunderstanding!" He loudly protested that everything was beyond his control, then turned pleadingly to Adam, "Carter-senpai, please help me!"
'I can't help you, just accept your fate and die!'
Though Adam wanted to say that, Kazuma remained a party member, and they couldn't abandon him. More importantly, rumors of his perverted actions would ruin the party's reputation.
But what could be done?
Their urgent task was to stop the rumors from spreading, or at least alter their meaning. Perhaps they could claim Kazuma had stolen something innocent — a belt, a scarf, or an undershirt.
But this would require the victim's testimony. They needed Kyōya to come forward and deny the underwear theft.
With so many witnesses on the street earlier, damage control seemed impossible.
After such public humiliation, Kyōya had fled in tears, too ashamed to show his face. Though his party members — the spear user and thief — had threatened to return, aand his whereabouts remained unknown.
Just as Adam stood there feeling helpless, the Chūnibyō Guy himself — who had fled after having his underwear stolen — came back!
He stumbled into the Adventurer's Guild and, upon spotting his group, headed straight for them.
"Hm? Why did he come back?" Adam wondered, curious about his thoughts — hadn't he been embarrassed enough?
But this worked perfectly for him!
"Well, if it isn't the Kingdom's Number Three who got his undies swiped! Here for revenge?"
Since Kyōya had returned, he must have had a reason he couldn't stay away. Adam wasn't afraid he'd leave, so he teased him freely.
"You — you guys are truly despicable!" Kyōya pointed at everyone with trembling hands, "I thought you were heroes who saved the village, but I never imagined you were these kinds of people!"
This guy clearly hasn't experienced life's harsh lessons.
How dare he say such things to our faces? Has he always been this bold? Isn't he afraid of getting beaten up?
But before Adam could speak, Aqua became upset.
"Huh?! Say that again if you dare!" She slammed the table, "It's one thing to insult scumbag Kazuma, but how dare you call us despicable too?"
"Indeed! While scumbag Kazuma is truly despicable and shameless, we're not like that at all!" Megumin glared at him with red eyes, turning to Adam for permission, "Can I hit him with an Explosion spell? Please, please, please let me blast him with just one Explosion!"
Even Darkness was displeased.
She spoke in a stern voice, "While it's true that Kazuma Satou is despicable, I am not that kind of person! There should be limits to such rudeness! As a knight, I cannot allow myself to be slandered!"
"Huh? Wait, why has everyone suddenly agreed that I'm despicable?" Kazuma was completely bewildered.
Without realizing it, he had been thrown under the bus by his own teammates.
"You—you—you guys... eh?!" Just as Kyōya was about to say something else, he noticed the water-blue figure leaning against Adam's shoulder. He shouted in shock, "Lady Aqua?!"
Good grief! How did you only just notice such a huge blue idiot?
Perhaps because there were too many people earlier, plus the underwear-stealing incident, he hadn't noticed Aqua watching from the side during his hasty exit. Now with fewer people around, he spotted her immediately.
"It's me, it's me!" Kyōya pointed at himself, then at the magic sword in his hand, "I'm Kyōya Mitsurugi, the one who received the Cursed Sword Gram from you! I'm one of the reincarnated ones you sent here, my Goddess!"
"Goddess? That's right, I am a Goddess!"
Perhaps because it had been so long since anyone had shown her such respect, Aqua immediately stood up proudly, radiating divine glory as she blessed her devoted follower.
She carefully avoided mentioning that she had completely forgotten about Kyōya.
"So then, my devoted follower, what business do you have with this Goddess?"
"It's been so long, Lady Aqua. As the hero you chose, I've been working hard every day!" Still believing she remembered him, Kyōya continued without suspicion, "By the way, Lady Aqua, why are you here in the mortal realm?"
"Well, actually..." Face-to-face with her devoted follower, Aqua told him the truth.
Some time later, Kazuma was attacked again...
"What?! You brought Lady Aqua to this world?! How dare you!" Kyōya grabbed Kazuma's throat while shouting. He turned to Aqua and said, "Lady Aqua, come join my party. With you, we'll definitely defeat the Demon King!"
Hm? Trying to steal her right in front of me?
Young man, that's not very honorable. Don't you know this will get you beaten up?
For some reason, Adam felt angry, unable to suppress the rage burning in his heart.
"No!" Aqua refused immediately.
"I'm happy every day, I don't want to change parties."
"What happiness could there be with a man ?" Hearing her words, Kyōya tightened his grip on Kazuma's throat, "Though I don't know how this man won you over, you're a goddess! Besides, how could this party possibly compare to mine?!"
"Let me be clear about something." Adam, who had been letting others steal the show until now, stepped forward with a grim, "Our party has defeated the Dullahan — one of the Demon King's Generals. Meanwhile, you're merely ranked third in the Kingdom, don't get ahead of yourself. And since you're so concerned about Aqua's wellbeing, you should know she resides in an elegant mansion, dines on the finest cuisine, and enjoys premium sparkling wine. These are simply facts."
"H-how can this be..."
"Give up! In fame, reputation, wealth, and looks, you're no match for me. Only I can bring Aqua happiness!"
These words asserting dominance completely crushed Kyōya's spirit, and he fled the Adventurer's Guild in shame once again.
Meanwhile, Adam laughed triumphantly, having completely forgotten about salvaging Kazuma's and the party's reputation.
And so! Spend too much time with these problem children, and your own intelligence starts to drop!
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