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As I gazed at the capital of Elroad, which trailed further and further away—

"Hey, in the end, we really didn't do any real sightseeing or fun things did we?"

Murmured Aqua. She sat in the backseat of the carriage, whilst hugging her knees.

"The heck are you saying? Out of all of us, you have the highest likelihood of causing a mess wherever we go, so what the heck are you saying?"

"Hey wait a moment you bed-creeper NEET. If I had some more allowance this trip, I would've been able to enjoy myself much more. After we get back to Axel, increase my allowance! If you do that then I'll take cooking duty for one day ok?"

This girl…!

"What did you say just now!? Did you just call me a bed-creeper NEET!? I have zero interest in you. How long do you think we've slept together in the stables? I didn't do a single thing to you back then!"

"Weren't you making those all those rustling sounds!? I mean, you slept next to a beautiful young woman like myself right? There's no way you didn't have any sexual fantasies, you lying NEET!"

This bitch!

Having reached my boiling point for the first time in a while, I – without a care for the moving carriage – walked from my seat next to the driver, to where Aqua was.

Now, how should I make her cry?

Seemingly detecting the incoming danger, Aqua raised her hands to surrender.

It's too late for that.

As I was about to chastise her—

"Ahahahaha-!"

Iris, who sat beside Megumin, suddenly began to laugh in a strange manner.

"Ahahahahaha-! Ahahahahahaha-!"

Dumbfounded by Iris' laughing, I reluctantly sat down beside Aqua.

"If you want me to forgive you, then take cooking duty for this week alright?"

"Sure, but be prepared to eat nattō three meals a day okay?"

<TL NOTE: NATTŌ IS A TYPE OF FERMENTED SOYBEAN THAT HAS STRONG SMELL, FLAVOR, AND SLIMY STICKY TEXTURE. IT'S FAIRLY HARD TO EAT MORE THAN ONCE IN AWHILE>

Iris looked at Aqua, who didn't seem to have reflected at all.

"Every day is really fun when you're around, onii-sama. Thank you for accepting this bodyguard request."

And showed an innocent smile.

"No, it's fine, I had a lot of fun of as well. The things that shocked me the most is that other than Iris, who has been with me for the shortest time, everyone else failed to see through my imposter. What the heck is wrong with you guys? How long have I been with each of you?"

Then, suddenly, a voice of protest came from the direction of the driver's seat.

"Wait Kazuma, I had-, only I saw through you! I was tricked at first, but I confirmed that it wasn't you immediately after that you know!?"

"You're really not any better. Remember what you tried to get that imposter to do? That guy was actually slightly taken aback by what you did wasn't he!?"

Megumin and Aqua abruptly turned their eyes away.

"I said this to prince Revi before, but I have confidence in my ability to judge people you see?"

Iris showed a confident smile.

"Hey Iris, whenever you admire Kazuma by calling him 'onii-sama', your eyes are always clouded you know?"

<TL NOTE: IN ASIAN CULTURES, EMOTIONS (IN PARTICULAR, HONESTY) ARE OFTEN READ BY LOOKING AT THE EYES RATHER THAN MOUTH. 'EYES BEING CLOUDED' INDICATES LACK OF IMPARTIALITY, INABILITY TO JUDGE (HONESTLY), AND NOT TRUE ONESELF.>

"Oh, says you, the self-proclaimed 'cloudless' Aqua-san. You couldn't even see through the disguise of a monster, so what should you be called now? Huh?"

As Aqua covered her ears and pretended to not hear anything, I remembered something, and took it out of my pocket.

"Right. Iris, you were working the entire time so you didn't get the chance to visit the town. It's cheap, but I bought you a gift."

I took out the small ring for children that I bought in town.

It's just a cheap, 400 eris item. It's a shame, but I forgot to go look for something a bit more expensive during our time there.

I thought that my cheap gift might be rejected, but Iris opened her eyes wide at the sight.

"Really? May I really have this?"

"Yeah, I mean, the ring that you always wore is gone now, isn't it? The white mark there is really noticeable, so I wanted to buy you something to replace it."

She, with utmost care and importance, received the cheap ring with both of her hands.

. 

----------------->

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"Kazuma Kazuma, do you not have something like that for me as well? I'm a girl of marriageable age, so if you give me something like that, I wouldn't be dissatisfied either."

I took out what I arranged for Megumin, who hurriedly rushed between Iris and I.

"Here, this is an Elroad rice cracker. Actually, this is was more expensive than Iris' ring you know?"

"....."

Megumin received the rice cracker bag with both hands.

Ignoring Megumin, who started eating the bags contents with a mixed expression—

"Kazuma-san Kazuma-san, what about me? Do you have some gift for me?"

"As for you, I have this rock that looks like it's blended with gold. I discovered it during our Dragon subjugation in the gold mines.""

I handed the rock that looked like gold ore to Aqua. She accepted it without any complaints, and wordlessly stared at it. Was she pleased?

Darkness, who was in the driver's seat, occasionally stole glances towards me.

Since you're driving, yours comes later.

Rather, now that I think about it, you guys are different from Iris. You all had the chance to go out to town to play around however you like, so was there ever a need to buy gifts for you guys?

As I was thinking about this….

"Heh-, Ehehehehe…"

Iris, who stared at the ring like some important treasure, suddenly began to giggle.

"Onii-sama! Ah, no… Erm, uhm…"

Iris, who attempted to say something, suddenly took a deep, resolved, breath.

"Thank you, onii-chan!"

Saying that, she showed a wide smile—