'Only one person can join — that was the bet between you and Megumi, wasn't it? I'm not exactly on board with that kind of wager.'
Then you should have stopped us from the start!
Jhin seemed to read Kyaru's thoughts, because he gave her an apologetic smile. 'I still needed to gauge the strength of any potential new member, so I figured I'd let you two have your match.'
He wasn't wrong, and Kyaru couldn't really blow up at him for it. All she could do was swallow her resentment whole and stew in silence.
'Even if I win, I'm not actually going to kick you out of the guild, you know.' Megumi was sprawled in Kokkoro's arms, her head lolling back lazily. She'd only wanted to prove the raw power of her Explosion magic — sending people packing had never been part of the plan.
Besides, from the way Jhin had spoken, Megumi could tell he'd already figured out that she could only cast Explosion magic once per day. There was no point hiding it, so she laid her cards on the table herself: 'And since we're being honest — I can only cast Explosion magic once a day. Outside of that, I don't know any other spells. That's just how it is.'
'You really are spectacularly one-trick,' Jhin said, shaking his head with a helpless sigh. He had vaguely suspected the magic could only be used once, but he hadn't imagined for a second that it was literally the only spell she knew.
Pecorine helped Kyaru to her feet and brushed the dust off her with practiced ease. 'In that case, Kyaru really is an indispensable member of the team, isn't she!'
'Exactly — Megumi can serve as the team's trump card, while Kyaru handles everything a normal mage is supposed to do. It's perfect!'
Megumi stared at Jhin in disbelief. 'You're really going to keep me around? A mage who can't do anything except Explosion magic?'
'The sheer destructive power of Explosion magic alone is reason enough to keep you.'
'So you actually recognize how incredible it is. I was starting to think I was the only person in the whole world who understood its greatness.' If she hadn't been completely incapacitated at the moment, Megumi would have grabbed Jhin and talked his ear off about Explosion magic for hours.
'Master, so after this we just need to fill out the application form and we can establish the guild, right?'
'That's right — though there's one more important matter we need to settle before we get to that.'
'What matter?'
Jhin glanced around at the group, then thought better of bringing it up just yet. 'Let's find somewhere to wash off this layer of grime first. We can talk after.'
The others looked at each other, then as one, their gazes all landed on Jhin — who was standing right at the front, his face so thoroughly caked in dust that only the whites of his eyes and his teeth were still clean. A snort of laughter broke free, and the mood at the clifftop lifted into something warm and bright.
They left the cliff behind, and Jhin found a flat stretch of ground to deploy the Capsule House. Kyaru, who simply could not tolerate being dirty, made a beeline straight for the bathroom before anyone else had even finished blinking.
The other four were equally coated in grime, but they could hardly track dust into the house while Kyaru was bathing, so they stood outside and waited their turns.
'By the way — Megumi can't really move right now. How is she going to bathe?'
'…' Megumi leaned against the wall in silence. It was only after Jhin said it aloud that she'd realized bathing had become a genuine problem.
'Master, I'll wash Megumi for her.'
'Thank you, Kokkoro. That would be a big help.'
'Kokkoro, if it feels like too much for one person, just call me over too, okay?' Pecorine chimed in cheerfully.
'N-no, no, no — there's really no need to make such a production of it.' The image of herself being scrubbed down like a marionette by two people at once made Megumi's skin crawl. She squirmed as if ants were marching all over her. 'Just let me rest a little longer — if I go last, I should have enough strength back to manage on my own.'
'Then I'll go second to last. Kokkoro, Pecorine — you two head in first.'
'Understood.'
Some time later, Kyaru poked her head out through a window, her long hair dripping wet. 'I'm done — your turn.'
'Got it.'
More time passed. Eventually, only Jhin and Megumi were left outside.
Watching Jhin stroll toward her at an unhurried, leisurely pace, Megumi inwardly cursed herself for letting her guard down.
I completely forgot — this guy has a terrible personality. It's just the two of us out here now. What exactly is he planning to do?
She watched him draw closer, step by step. Each footfall made her heart skip a beat. Her fingers, resting against the ground, curled inward, gathering a fistful of dirt. The moment he tried anything funny, she was going to smear mud across his entire face and scream bloody murder.
Jhin stopped right in front of her and crouched down until they were eye to eye.
'Relax, Megumi. I'm not here to do anything to you.'
A man's words are worth nothing. Lies, all lies!
She'd read that line somewhere, in some book, and right now it felt like it had been written specifically for Jhin.
The deeper her suspicious glare grew, the wider his smile became.
'You may not know this, but when I first arrived in the royal capital, I got a front-row seat to your Explosion magic. It launched me clean into a lake for a complimentary cold bath.'
Megumi's eyes darted everywhere except at him, and the words started tumbling out in a rush: 'I-I have no idea what you're talking about. It's not like Explosion magic is exclusive to me — you've probably got the wrong person, aha, ahahaha.'
I'm done for. This is the end.
Jhin cracked his knuckles with theatrical deliberateness, right fist wrapped in his left hand. 'Maybe so. But I do remember hearing a bit of the incantation at the time. Let me think… how did it go again?'
'M-magic incantations are so long — how could you possibly still remember it?' Just being under his gaze was enough to make cold sweat bead all over Megumi's skin and soak through her clothes. A breeze drifted past, and the chill seeped right through to her bones.
'It's coming back to me now.' Jhin leaned in close and murmured directly into her ear: 'Darker than black, deeper than darkness, the pitch-black that swallows all light… — that's the opening, isn't it, Megumi? Sounds familiar?'
'I-I-I-I — I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about… that incantation does sound really cool, b-but it has nothing — nothing — to do with Explosion magic, okay?!'
'I never said it did.' Jhin's smile made Megumi's heart seize in her chest. He raised one hand and traced a lazy shape through the air.
And then Megumi's most deeply buried secret was broadcast to the world in full surround sound — a solemn, imperial proclamation of maximum humiliation.
'Even if you happen to be ridiculously good-looking and technically my type, I absolutely would never—'
'AAAAAAH! HELP! Kokkoro! Pecorine! Kyaru! Someone save me! Jhin is doing something absolutely unforgivable out here — GET OUT HERE AND RESCUE ME!'
Her cries for help accomplished exactly nothing. Megumi burned with shame and indignation, her body still refusing to cooperate, and all she could do was let the tears run down her face while Jhin subjected her to a 360-degree, all-encompassing tour of her own embarrassing history.
A cloud of pitch-black resentment, visible to the naked eye, drifted up from the window — accompanied by Megumi's wailing screams.
'Are we… really not going out to rescue Megumi?' Kyaru pointed at the window and asked the other two. Pecorine and Kokkoro both turned their heads away in perfect unison and stared very hard at nothing in particular.
Better to pretend I didn't see any of this. Who knows if Megumi will drag us into it too.
'So this is how you treat a new member—'
Megumi's wretched shrieking cut off abruptly. The three inside the house grabbed onto each other and shook.
____
👻🔥P- Walnut-chan🔥👻
🔥 New history: Oshi No Ko: Co-starring with Kana Arima
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