Prologue

"Explosion!!"

A massive fireball tore through the formerly tranquil plain, accompanied by a whoosh and rumble that whipped up a gigantic dust cloud. I went over to where Megumin, now fresh out of MP, lay collapsed on the ground.

"H-how many points was that…?" she asked. As drained as she obviously was, the light in her eyes hadn't dimmed.

"Based on reverberation and destructive power, I'd say…eighty-five points!"

"Ah, I would expect no less from you, Kazuma. If I were to rate that explosion myself, I would give it much the same score. What a connoisseur you've become…!"

"Heh-heh! I like to think I've learned a thing or two, doing this with you every single day. You may refer to me as your explosier—like a sommelier, except with explosions. Come on, climb aboard." Megumin gave a tired groan as I hefted her onto my shoulders. "So you really never get sick of explosions, huh?

Never think maybe it's about time you picked up some other spells and changed classes to 'Great Wizard'?"

"No, never. In fact, I do not even understand what you're saying, because I am already a great wizard."

The self-proclaimed "great wizard" was running her hands along my back.

Thinking about it, I guess she had actually been sort of helpful recently, as long as she used her skills at the right time. With a sigh, I made sure she was safelysettled.

Tomorrow, we'll be on the road again.

Megumin had talked me into going out for her daily explosion on the grounds that once we were traveling, she might need to conserve her MP and not be able to use her magic.

It was true. She really didn't get sick of explosions.

We headed for Axel Town with the twilight sun glowing red on the horizon.

Behind me, Megumin was muttering stubbornly.

"Next time, I'll get a hundred points for sure…!"