On the plains outside Axel City, the setting sun dyed the grass a bleak orange-red.
The air was filled with an unpleasant, sticky, fishy stench. The unmistakable smell of Giant Toad mucus.
"Help meeee! Kōichi! Kazuma! Save me! This frog's tongue is disgusting! It's going to purify me!" Aqua let out an earth-shaking scream. Her prized sapphire-blue hair was currently caught in the mouth of a frog the size of a small hill, and she dangled in midair like a charm, flailing wildly.
Not far away, Darkness was letting out one unsettling, rapid gasp after another.
She made no move to draw her sword. Instead, she spread her arms wide and allowed another Giant Toad to lick her heavy Crusader armor until it was soaked.
"Ohhh... this slimy touch, this humiliation of being completely overpowered by a monster... This is the kind of hunt I've been longing for!"
Kōichi wiped muddy water from his face and turned to Megumin, who lay sprawled on the ground like a dried fish, unable to move. "Hey, Megumin, since you've already fired off your Explosion Magic, could you at least cheer us on a little? This whole scene is a disgrace to Adventurers."
"Huff... huff... Don't be ridiculous, Kōichi. After releasing my ultimate spell, I don't even have enough magic left to move a finger." Megumin lay on the grass, a strange pride in her eyes. "More importantly, hurry up and rescue that Goddess being digested by the frog. She looks like she's about to become its late-night snack."
Just as Kōichi was about to rush toward Aqua, a clear yet slightly hesitant voice came from a nearby slope.
"Um... excuse me, is that Megumin?"
Everyone turned at once.
Standing in the glow of the setting sun was a girl wearing a dark gothic-style dress.
She had glossy black hair and red eyes shimmering with the magical glow unique to the Crimson Demon Clan. Her figure was far more impressive than Megumin's.
She twisted her fingers nervously, wearing a very gentle, even somewhat timid smile.
"Megumin... Thank goodness. I finally found you. Ever since you left the village, I've been worried about you... Um, have you been doing well?" As she spoke, the girl hurried down the slope, her eyes filled with the joy of reunion.
However, the instant Megumin, who had been pretending to be dead on the ground, saw the girl, her eyes wavered violently. Then she quickly put on an expression of absolute indifference.
"...Who are you?" Megumin stared at the girl expressionlessly, her tone as flat as if she were addressing a stranger on the road. "Which lost little lamb might you be?"
The girl's smile froze on her face as though she had been struck by Lightning. "Huh? M-Megumin? What are you talking about? I'm Yunyun! Your classmate, your rival, your one and only... um, your one and only rival, Yunyun!"
"Yunyun? Never heard that name before." Megumin turned away as if nothing had happened and even yawned. "Kōichi, Kazuma, do either of you know this strange, voluptuous woman? If not, ignore her. She might be a spy sent by the Demon King's Army, trying to destroy our morale with that tired old 'long-lost acquaintance' routine."
"Hey, Megumin, this is way past the point of being a tsundere and straight into bare-faced lying, isn't it?" Kazuma Satou could not help retorting. He looked at the Crimson Demon Clan girl who seemed about to cry, then back at Megumin. "No matter how you look at it, she knows you, right? She even called you by name!"
"I don't know her. My circle of friends contains no one with such excessive development," Megumin declared firmly.
"Waaah! Megumin, you're so awful!" Yunyun finally could not hold back. Tears gathered in her eyes as she cried out, "Back at school, you stole my lunch every single day!"
"And we fought in the library over the last copy of Introduction to Forbidden Magic! How can you say you don't know me?"
Kōichi looked at the Crimson Demon Clan girl crying pitifully, then at Megumin, who looked guilty but was stubbornly holding out, and pressed a hand to his forehead.
"Um, Yunyun-san, right?" Kōichi tried to smooth things over. "I also think Megumin is acting extremely punchable right now, but could you help us rescue that Goddess who's about to be swallowed by a frog first? As payment, we can consider making Megumin remember you."
"R-really?!" Yunyun looked up sharply, as if she had grabbed a lifeline. She was still sniffling, but powerful magical light had already begun gathering in her hands. "Leave it to me! If it means Megumin will acknowledge me, then a few frogs are nothing... Take this! Light of Saber!"
With a sharp cry, the blade of light sliced cleanly through the Giant Toads trying to devour Aqua and Darkness.
Several dull bursts sounded as the once-rampant frogs were instantly cut into neat halves, their sticky green juices spraying across the grass like fountains.
"Waaah! I'm saved! I was this close to holding an Axis Order sermon inside a frog's stomach!"
Aqua scrambled out of the frog remains, soaked from head to toe and sobbing uncontrollably. Her once-holy Goddess image had already collapsed so thoroughly that not even scraps remained.
Darkness, on the other hand, regretfully wiped slime from her face, her voice filled with disappointment. "...What a shame. That frog's tongue was just about to reach my core defenses... Still, this girl's magic really is astonishing."
Kōichi and Kazuma Satou stood frozen, their mouths hanging open.
"Hey, Kōichi... did you see that?" Kazuma pointed shakily at Yunyun, who was withdrawing her magic. "She cast magic that powerful and didn't collapse onto the ground like a pile of mush like a certain someone? And... it looks like she can still cast more spells?"
"So this is... a normal Crimson Demon Clan member?" Kōichi also sank into deep self-doubt. "So the Crimson Demon Clan isn't made entirely of one-shot guys and girls who can only fire once a day. That combat efficiency, that magic control... What kind of huge problem did we bring home with us?"
Both of them turned in unison toward Megumin, who was still lying on the ground and trying to hide her face behind her bangs.
"Megumin, stop playing dead." Kōichi walked over and lightly nudged her shoulder with the tip of his foot. "She just saved our lives. Are you still going to insist you don't know this... well-developed Miss Yunyun?"
"Hmph... This is exactly why you ordinary people are so easily fooled by flashy low-level magic." Megumin's tone was stubborn, but her voice clearly trembled with guilt. "How could magic that only cuts up frogs ever compare to my ultimate Explosion Magic? As for this young lady... I truly, completely, absolutely have no memory of her. She is probably just some junior from the Crimson Demon Clan who worships me."
Hearing Megumin's nearly shameless statement, Yunyun trembled with anger, tears swirling in her eyes. At last, as if making some enormous decision, she suddenly leaped back a short distance.
"I understand now... Megumin! You won't admit it unless I go this far, will you?!" Yunyun shouted while forcing down her embarrassment. She crossed both arms in front of her chest, then flung them out to the sides, striking an extremely exaggerated, painfully dramatic pose.
Her eyes glowed with the distinctive red light of the Crimson Demon Clan. Though her cheeks were so red they looked ready to steam, she still declared in a clear, ringing voice.
"My name is Yunyun! I am the Crimson Demon Clan's foremost sage and the future successor to the clan leader! I am also the one destined to defeat that idiot Megumin, who can only launch fireworks, and become the world's strongest Wizard!"
After delivering that declaration, Yunyun looked as if she might explode on the spot from sheer embarrassment. She covered her face and whimpered softly, "Sniff... Is that enough now? You awful jerk! Hurry up and admit it!"
The four of them fell briefly silent.
"...Ah." Megumin finally made a sound. She slowly pushed herself up, dusted off her robe, and spoke with the composure of a victor. "So it was Yunyun. Why didn't you just say so earlier? You had to make such a big scene. What a show-off."
"You forced me to do that! You absolutely forced me to do that!"
Yunyun completely broke down and rushed forward, shaking Megumin's shoulders wildly.