My Favorite Isekai Adventure (Konosuba)

Chapter 15: Secret Matters of the Night (Part 1)

Kobayashi was a little surprised when they arrived at the base.

The seven days of working from dawn till dusk had only made the warehouse minimally habitable; the whole place had been messy and piled with trash.

But now, it was clean, tidy, and completely refreshed. It was starting to look like a proper home.

"So those two are actually useful, huh?"

Kazuma also hadn't expected them to improve the base. His impression of them as being completely useless softened slightly.

"Mmm, we should praise them properly later."

Kobayashi had said it was a holiday, and what Darkness and Megumin did was entirely voluntary. It wouldn't be right not to praise them and give them a reward.

"Is this sort of thing worthy of Master Kobayashi's praise?"

RyuZU tilted her head, confused. "Even if it is a bit more refined, it is still just a warehouse. Is there any difference between this and the small houses that only lower-class people would live in?"

"This is still the fruit of their hard work," Kobayashi said, rubbing her head.

Afterward, the group walked into the base.

Just as they entered, they saw Megumin riding on Darkness's shoulders, holding a magic stone for illumination in her hand, trying to place it into a small hole chiseled into the wall.

"Darkness, a-a little higher."

"Oh, okay."

"Almost there, just a little bit more..."

"Nngh..."

Darkness tried her best to stand on her tiptoes, but unfortunately, Megumin lowered their average height, so even as she stretched her arm out desperately, she couldn't put it in.

"What are you two doing?" Kazuma couldn't help but ask.

"As... you can see... we're putting in... the l-lighting stone..."

Megumin's face was flushed, and she was covered in sweat. It was a pity she was just a tiny bit short, making one want to help her.

Kazuma rubbed his temples and said, exasperated, "You two, if you can't reach, why don't you just stand on a stool?"

"...Oh, right!"

"I completely forgot!"

The two girls, who had been struggling for half the day, were extremely embarrassed and at a loss for what to do.

One really had to worry about their intelligence.

"Alright, alright, everyone gets a little muddle-headed sometimes, especially when you're absorbed in tidying up. It's normal to forget."

Kobayashi called over to the panting and sweating Darkness and Megumin, "Take a rest first. We'll all clean up together later."

Given a way to save face, the two girls had no objections.

The six of them sat at the large table in the main hall. This table served the important functions of dining, meetings, resting, and more. If Kobayashi had to choose one place in the base that he was satisfied with, this would be it.

Everyone took a seat.

RyuZU very naturally slipped into the kitchen and prepared steaming hot tea for everyone. After making her rounds, she just as naturally sat down beside Kobayashi.

Megumin blinked, pointing at RyuZU. "I've been wanting to ask since just now. Who is she, and why is she at our base?"

Although Darkness didn't ask, the inquiry in her eyes showed that she was also very curious.

"I was just about to introduce you."

Kobayashi introduced her to the two girls. "Her name is RyuZU. She is my attendant, and starting today, she will be joining our party."

"Attendant?"

"It means maid."

"Oh, I see."

After receiving the explanation, Megumin and Darkness didn't ask any more questions, seeming not to be particularly interested.

This, in turn, made Kobayashi feel strange.

"Aren't you going to ask more about her? It's fine, feel free to ask anything."

"There's no need. I trust your decision," said Megumin.

"The two of us have our own problems. What right do we have to judge others?" said Darkness, placing herself in a very humble position.

...He hadn't expected the two of them to be so self-aware.

Kazuma didn't say anything, but his eyes conveyed the same meaning.

However, to prevent them from having any misgivings, Kobayashi still said, "RyuZU is very strong. Currently, she has the best overall strength in our party."

"Oh? Stronger than Megumin?"

"Please listen carefully. I said overall strength."

Megumin and Darkness had different focuses and their own respective strengths; one had high attack, the other had strong defense.

RyuZU, on the other hand, could be seen as having high speed.

The effect of her [Imaginary Motion Mechanism] was to accelerate herself to a speed that was close to stopping time. The drawback was that it wouldn't stop until the mainspring's energy was depleted, and after stopping, the mainspring needed to be rewound to activate it again.

"But I can't demonstrate it now. We'll have to wait until a battle... hmm, we can show you during the Great Cabbage Operation in three days."

"Oh, is it that time of year again?"

"Looks like we have something to look forward to."

Everyone suddenly became very enthusiastic.

"The Great Cabbage Operation? What's that?" Kazuma felt like he was being left out of the conversation. It was normal for him, an otherworldly person who had just arrived, not to know about this festival.

"Let me tell you..."

Everyone started talking at once to explain it to him.

Simply put, ripe cabbages would fly past Axel. Because they had a rich and sweet taste, each one was priced as high as 10,000 Eris. Many adventurers prepared to make a big score on that day.

Of course, Kobayashi was no exception.

If he wanted to get start-up capital, the cabbage harvest day was the best opportunity.

Hearing their explanation, Kazuma also got excited.

Kobayashi said, "Don't get ahead of yourself. We still have to wait three days."

"Oh, right." Kazuma's excitement was for nothing.

After everyone calmed down, Kobayashi said to Darkness and Megumin, "Although it's a bit late, I still have to say, thank you both for tidying up the messy room."

Megumin: "Hmph. If you want to thank me, treat me to a deluxe meal set."

Darkness: "I-it's nothing. I just had nothing else to do."

Their answers were completely different. Kobayashi agreed to Megumin's request.

"Alright, there's still a little left. Let's do it together."

"Yeah!" x4

The party members were in high spirits.

RyuZU walked over and said softly, "Master Kobayashi, please let me handle the rest. I can finish tidying up in an instant. Of course, I also request that Master Kobayashi praise me properly."

"No, that's not necessary. But if you want to help, let's do it together," Kobayashi said, shaking his head.

RyuZU was puzzled. "Why? I can finish cleaning in an instant using the power of my gears. There's no need for any of you to lift a finger."

"Hmm... how should I put this."

Kobayashi thought about how to explain it. After a moment, he said, "Rather than having a servant do it, we'd rather tidy it up with our own hands. Because we're not just simply cleaning the room; we're more interested in enjoying the fun of it and creating shared memories."

"...Humans are truly strange."

"Right? Humans are creatures with complex emotions."

RyuZU seemed to have her own way of thinking about interacting with others, but her perception of human emotions was still somewhat weak. It seemed that to make her understand the subtleties of human feelings, she would need to experience them much more.

A short while later, the room was finished, but now a serious problem stood before them.

—There weren't enough rooms!

Although the warehouse was large, there weren't that many rooms. Because they hadn't considered that more people would join the party, there was now no room for RyuZU.

Everyone looked at each other, at a loss for what to do.

(End of Chapter)