The Infinite Journey of a Certain Flame

Her unreasonable and argumentative behavior naturally aroused the dissatisfaction of her companions.

The companion referred to here is Huihui.

"Bastard!"

The repeated humiliations had pushed this red-eyed little magician to the brink of losing control.

Feeling indignant, she struck Akya on the head without saying a word.

'bump! '

The wooden staff made intimate contact with the head of the silly goddess, producing a loud sound of wood striking wood.

Immediately afterwards, the goddess was easily knocked unconscious by Huihui.

"Uh!"

All of this happened so suddenly that Megumin, who acted impulsively, didn't even have time to react before Aqua fell to the side.

He finally collapsed heavily to the ground, his eyes gleaming...

He looked utterly dejected, as if he had fainted.

After successfully knocking out the goddess, Megumin looked around and finally focused her gaze on Kiana.

Their eyes met, the young magician coughed, and then dragged Aqua aside.

"I'm going to take a shower. Remember to leave some for me."

After leaving those words, Huihui departed.

Watching her drag Aqua away, Kiana felt a little emotional.

So, is this really their way of expressing friendliness?

[Host, you may have misunderstood something.]

"Did I misunderstand? Probably. This way of interacting is a bit hard for me to understand..."

How best to describe it?

It basically means that even though they have feelings for each other, they can easily abandon one another.

There will be absolutely no sense of guilt.

However, even though they interact in such a casual way, you can still feel that they are a cohesive unit.

How amazing...

Just as I was wondering what was going on, the food was served one after another.

Although Kiana had chosen the most expensive dishes when ordering.

But as the dishes were served one after another, she looked at the simple food with some disappointment.

"Roast chicken, vegetable salad, roast meat... drinks, that seems a bit lacking."

Kiana casually picked up the glass and smelled the alcohol.

Although it was very faint, she felt uncomfortable just from smelling it.

As expected, I'm still not very good at drinking.

"Hmm? Lady Kiana?" Darkness's voice interrupted Kiana's reverie.

Looking in the direction from which the sound came, she found that the female knight was staring at her intently.

It's unclear what she was thinking at that moment.

I have a feeling this isn't something ordinary...

"Just call me Captain."

Kiana put down her glass and answered in a rather casual tone.

"What's wrong?"

"Is this food not to your liking, Captain?"

As she spoke, Darkness casually picked up a chicken leg and began to eat it with great gusto.

If it weren't for the system's prior warning, Kiana would never have guessed that the strange knight with the peculiar fetish was standing before her...

He's actually a descendant of nobility!

Even with this noble lineage, she never put on any aristocratic airs.

Perhaps it is precisely because of this easygoing nature that she has not been exposed even now.

"Huh? Is there something on my face, Captain?"

"No, it's nothing. Cough! This food is good, but to be honest... I don't really like it."

“Oh...I understand. When I first came out of my home—no, when I first started my adventures—I also thought the food was too coarse, practically no different from pig feed.”

Upon hearing this, the entire Adventurers' Guild fell silent instantly.

The adventurers, who were enjoying their meal, all turned their attention to the female knight who had made such outrageous remarks.

It has to be said that Darkness's map-wide attack was exceptionally well executed.

So impressive was it that Kiana wondered if she had said it on purpose.

I really enjoy being stared at by all the adventurers with hostile and contemptuous eyes.

If that's true, then Kiana has to admire this female knight's cunning.

"Uh, but it doesn't seem like that?"

As if to confirm her guess, Darkness immediately stood up and hurriedly explained after realizing she had said the wrong thing.

The gist of it is that he was merely stating facts, not deliberately provoking anyone, and that he did not look down on those people.

As she said this, the female knight, who found pleasure in being abused, blushed and panted heavily.

Judging from their posture, it's hard to shake the fact that they're deliberately preparing for battle.

Kiana felt that it wouldn't be surprising if several adventurers came to her place specifically to provoke her...

"Hey, hey, hey, what did you just say? Huh! Dare to say it again?"

Whether it was to confirm Kiana's guess or not, a provocative voice came from the side.

Sometimes, you just can't help but say something that causes trouble.

Seeing this, Kiana could only sigh softly, then turned her head away...

I was immediately taken aback by the man in the tracksuit.

"Kazuma? What happened to you? You look all tattered."

"What? Ah! It's you guys!"

It wasn't until Kiana reminded him that the man who had shirked his responsibilities and left them to others, while he himself lived a carefree life, finally remembered.

I think I'm a member of this adventure party...

"What have you been doing all this time you've disappeared? It seems like..."

Looking at Kazuma, whose eyes were vacant and whose cheeks were sunken, as if he had been drained dry.

Kiana and Darkness both sensed that something was wrong.

How could a perfectly healthy person turn into this state after going out and coming back?

What exactly did he go about?

"No, I didn't do anything..."

The captain, who had been away from his post for a long time, sat down to the side and ate the food on the table somewhat blankly.

While eating, he also made sure to drink some wine.

Seeing how pitiful he was, Kiana and Darkness didn't say much and just waited quietly.

Before long, Kazuma, having replenished his food, finally recovered somewhat.

He let out a long sigh, then said somewhat discouragedly:

"How long has it been?"

"...Uh, Kazuma," Darkness asked, somewhat puzzled, "What have you been doing these past few days?"

"I can't say, I can't say. This is a secret between me and them."

After saying this, Kazuma got up and left the association.

As he left, Kiana suddenly heard the system's side quest notification sound for some reason.

A Certain Infernal Affairs in Another World (Konosuba): Chapter Eleven - Persuading People with Reason

[Ding! Congratulations, host, you have triggered a side quest: No Lewdness!]

[Mission Completion Introduction: Although it might seem like meddling, your captain and Zhen are currently being troubled by a group of succubi. They survive by absorbing the life essence of males and are incredibly powerful. Occasionally, they don't discriminate against beautiful women of the same sex. If you don't want to get into trouble in the future, you'd better teach those succubi a lesson.]

[Mission Completion Method: Teach the succubus of this city a lesson.]

[Maximum reward for completing the mission: 1000 Herrscher Points.]

[Friendly Reminder: This mission aligns with the duties of an acting leader of an adventure party, namely protecting party members from the threat of death. We recommend that you accept and execute this mission.]

Kiana was somewhat bewildered by the sudden system task.

"Succubi? Why are we suddenly bringing them up?"

[Host, didn't you notice that the man is clearly almost completely drained?]

After hearing the system's question, Kiana pondered for a moment, then asked in return:

What does "being drained dry" mean?

【...】

Why aren't you saying anything?

Just think of it as a particularly severe internal attack.