Chapter 29: Spicy Invitation

"I'm home."

Aiz said this as she returned to the temporary base of the Loki Familia. Currently, the Loki Familia had rented an entire inn to serve as their temporary headquarters.

"Welcome back, Aiz," Finn replied shortly.

"Aiz-tan, where have you been?" Loki asked, her curiosity piqued about why Aiz had been missing all day without a word.

"I was in the dungeon," Aiz answered Loki's question shortly, without any further explanation.

"By yourself? Why didn't you bring any of the other familia members along?"

But Loki didn't let Aiz off the hook and continued to question her. She was a bit worried because the Loki Familia was currently resting before their next dungeon exploration in two weeks. Aiz, who should have been spending her time resting as one of the core members for the upcoming expedition, had instead exhausted herself in the dungeon.

"Aah... I wasn't alone"

"Hoooh... Aiz-tan, you didn't bring any of the members of Loki today. Don't tell me you went on an adventure with someone who isn't part of our familia. Can you tell me who you were adventuring with?"

"Bell Cranel."

"W-wait, Aiz!!! You went to the dungeon with that weak little tomato kid?"

Bete, who had been silently listening to the conversation between Aiz and Loki, suddenly interjected upon hearing Bell's name. Because of Bell, he had been punished by his own familia to reflect on his mistakes. However, due to his immense pride, he refused to admit his faults, resulting in even harsher punishments. This only fueled his growing hatred for Bell.

"A-Aiz-tan, you went on an adventure with another familia without my permission, and what's worse, you went with Bell Cranel from Hestia Familia, which led us to this situation?"

Loki had a response not much different from Bete's. Although her anger towards Bell wasn't directed at him personally, it stemmed from the goddess behind him, which is Hestia. The relationship between Loki and Hestia wasn't particularly good, but it wasn't bad enough to make them eternal enemies. They simply often argued about their breast sizes and it always ended with Loki's defeat.

"Bete, stop calling him like that. Haven't you realized how much trouble we've gotten into because of your mouth? And Loki, this isn't Bell's fault, it's entirely our own mistake."

Finn scolded both Bete and Loki. He had learned from his past mistakes after the previous incident. Now, he fully understood that it was better to remain silent if you couldn't say something nice.

"Tsk... I know."

"So, Aiz, can you explain why you went on an adventure with Bell Cranel?"

Finn asked Aiz. Naturally, he was curious about how Aiz ended up adventuring with Bell. He couldn't think of any reason that would make Aiz want to team up with him.

Then Aiz explained to Finn why she had gone on an adventure with Bell that day. Naturally, all the core members of the Loki Familia listened to Aiz's story.

"Ah... I see... It's true that it's very unusual for a Level 1 adventurer to easily fight monsters on the tenth floor, especially alone without any help."

"That's right... Because of that, I want to observe him for the next two weeks. I want to see if the power of friendship is real and if I can achieve it as well."

"Yeah, I don't mind. After all, we're still on break before our exploration in the dungeon starts again. But don't push yourself, Aiz."

"Umm... I won't push myself."

The next day and for the following two weeks, Aiz accompanied Bell as he adventured in the dungeon. During this time, they both poured their blood, sweat, and tears into their endeavors, producing results that once again astonished the city of Orario.

Although Aiz remained at Level 5, Bell managed to reach Level 2 in just two weeks. Just yesterday, there had been news of a new adventurer reaching Level 2 in only one week. A week later, another announcement stated that a rookie adventurer had reached Level 2 in just two weeks. Additionally, Aiz acquired the same skill as Bell: The Power of Friendship. Of course, only the Hestia Familia and the Loki Familia were aware of this skill.

The residents of Orario were, of course, baffled by the news of these level-ups. Moreover, the gods and goddesses who heard this news were left wondering whether leveling up had become that easy or if their own familias lacked talent, requiring years to level up.

But that's a story for another time.

For now, let's return to the other side.

.....

[Kazuma's POV]

Tch, that Megumin... what's with her?

She's always like this... always teasing me like that.

Even though I want to do something, I'm a man, not a beast.

A man can have a gentle heart too—why does she always have to tease me like this?

If I really did something to her, what would happen? Aqua and Darkness would probably look at me as if I were trash.

Aaaah... no, no, no... I can't keep thinking about this. I'll go crazy if I keep thingking about Megumin.

Let's think of something else to distract myself.

How about reviewing the magic tools I've created?

Hmmmm...

During these two weeks, I've created a variety of magic tools. I even managed to make a spatial ring, and it worked according to my theory. Additionally, I discovered a trick to prevent the magic tools I use from breaking. Before the energy in the magic stones runs out, I can recharge them using my Drain Touch skill. Of course, only I can use this trick and I don't have any plan to reveal this. Even if I sell it to others, I only need to sell magic tools with strong durability. Right now, my tools can be used up to 10 times before they completely break.

During these two weeks, I experimented with all the skills and magic that Aqua and I had, combining them into magic tools. Well, I think everything went smoothly for the magic part since that's the simplest aspect. However, I faced many failures when trying to combine skills with the objects I was using. Most of those failures stemmed from my flawed thinking. Initially, I simply thought that creating a skill item would be the same like magic item that would allow it to unleash the power as soon as it was activated. But most of the items I combined with skills ended up providing buff effects to the user of the item.

For example, I created a necklace and combined it with the One-Handed Sword and Two-Handed Sword skills. Both skills enhance proficiency and accuracy when using a sword.

Then I asked Darkness to wear the necklace.

Suddenly, Darkness was able to wield the sword with ease! All her attacks were hitting their target. However, the downside of this skill item is that it can only be used for a short time. I don't know why, but all the skill items I created could only last for three minutes before turning into dust. Perhaps it's because most of the skills I used are passive skills, while items combined with active skills function more like magic tools.

"Ouch!!"

My toe bumped against the table leg.

Ouch, that hurts a lot. It seems I've been daydreaming too much and didn't pay attention to my surroundings.

But it's already very late. I should hurry up, take a bath, and then go to bed.

I quickly rushed to the bathing area in this manor.

Even though it's a large and luxurious manor, I had no idea it had a big hot spring bath. And now, this is my favorite bathing spot in the manor. As I thought, hot spring baths are a favorite among the Japanese, and taking a bath at night is a routine for them.

After walking for a bit, I finally arrived at my destination.

The bathing area is very large and luxurious. As soon as I entered, I was greeted by an enormous changing room. I would say this changing room is big enough to build a small house. As expected from the Loki Familia.

Although the style of this hot spring bath isn't Japanese, it resembles that of ancient Rome. It's not my taste but well I don't have any complain about it. Tall pillars stretch upward, and the walls and ceilings are adorned with various paintings and carvings that could sustain me and my descendants for generations if sold in my previous world. However, I'm not even sure if I'll have any descendants, especially if I don't die from shock after mistaking a tractor for a truck.

After I took off all my clothes in the changing room, I quickly rushed into the main area of the hot spring bath. This hot spring is open-air, so I can see the moonlight clearly from here.

"The moon is beautiful tonight."

I turned my gaze to the sky, trying to appreciate the stunning moon. If the moon were a goddess, I wondered what she would look like; I was sure she would be incredibly beautiful.

But that was a big mistake on my part—getting all poetic and trying to romanticize the past while appreciating the beauty of nature completely oblivious to the presence of someone standing right in front of me..

"Yoo... Kazuma"

She waved at me calmly, as if nothing had happened.

That's right, the person in front of me was Darkness. At the moment, she was only wearing a towel to cover her body, but that didn't stop me from seeing her sexy figure, which looked incredibly ideal under the moonlight.

Normally, no one would bathe at this hour, so I never expected to meet Darkness at this hour and at this place. Has she finally started to be influenced by me and adopted the habit of bathing like the Japanese?

"Ah... D-Darkness, I'm sorry... I didn't know someone was here."

I quickly covered my eyes with my hands, even though I could still see Darkness because, for some reason, my hands weren't blocking my view properly. I was afraid Darkness might misunderstand and think I was some pervert, even though that was the first impression she had of me when we first met.

But anyway, I was trying to escape from this situation. However, before I could take a single step, Darkness grabbed my hand, preventing me from fleeing.

Her grip was so strong that I couldn't break free. Even if I tried to teleport, it would be pointless and only create a bigger misunderstanding when Aqua and Megumin saw the two of us not wearing anything.

"Wait, Kazuma... do you want to take a bath together?"

(To Be Continued)