21

Chapter 21: Winter Blues

Notes:

Magnus: I will no longer apologize, and instead explain why there have been these horrible delays. The Ketoacidosis that nearly killed me left me scarred, and parts of my brain got affected to the point it's getting painful to concentrate for long periods of time. I'm still going to write this story and all the others, but it will take much longer due to the forced breaks I need to take.

Disclaimer: Thanks to taking the choice to expand this story for at least ten more chapters, I need to spend this chapter on world building. Deal with it.

Chapter 20

Winter Blues

It had been three days since the Mobile Fortress Destroyer attempted to destroy the town of Axel, the so-called town of Beginners. Three days since the day the ancestral super-weapon finally met its end at the hands of one Izuku Midoriya and his partner Megumin, the most famous Crimson Demon of the current generation.

It had also been three days of the scariest lockdown to ever happen to the town.

Inside her office, a certain busty attendant sighed as she continued to write her report.

After Izuku destroyed the Destroyer, and he went silent, several things happened. First, the Arch Druid came out of the chest of the gargantuan Treant, gently carried, alongside Megumin, by a group of Dryads. This wouldn't have been an out of place sight, considered who the Hero was, but the group was… dressed, as in, not only not naked, but surprisingly well covered. Many witnesses refrained from loudly commenting on that fact, but there were opinions about it, some saying that the Dryads probably feared retribution from the petite Crimson Demon, others called upon the sight being similar to rowdy children being shy in front of their parents.

Luna may have been just as bothered by the sight, but the fact that the Verdant Titan remained after the event was what captured her attention, almost all of it.

Taking a look at her report, she looked at how she had worded the next part, and how it would sound to the Grandmaster…

With the Arch Druid out of commission, and his lover incapacitated, the ominous sounds coming from the carcass of the ancestral superweapon nearly gave her a heart attack. Whatever ancient mechanisms holding together the monstrosity had been starting to collapse, which could have ended in a seriously destructive explosion… had not the entire forest come to life and charged against the stubborn machinery.

Treants were a serious threat even for mid-level adventurers. A single one of them could wipe out a medium-sized party of rookies with ease.

There were dozens of them, tearing apart the carcass of the Destroyer, ensuring that no additional explosions were likely to happen.

Luna wanted to believe that this army of Treants was no threat to the town, that they were subservient to Izuku, and thus, a magnificent line of defense for the town of Axel. Unfortunately, Izuku had yet to speak to anyone about this, and no one had the courage to go up to the treants and Dryads to ask…

Except for a certain Dwarf Artisan, and the newly settled redeemed Lich.

As soon as the remains of the Destroyer stopped giving signs of trying to blow up, Keel and Talenof approached the tree warriors and made their demands.

Keel wanted to pick out a trophy for Izuku, a memento of his victory over the most dangerous enemy of the world. Talenof just wanted to get his hands on as much metal and artifacts as he could. The Treants were all too happy to allow Keel to select some trinket or other from the rubble of what seemed like a throne-control room, while Talenof just designated an area where they could place all the metallic and oily garbage; to be fair, Talenof worded it as "collecting trash site, so he could remove it from the forest in an orderly fashion."

Luna looked away from the document, allowing her mind to be distracted as she wondered how he was going to work with the pieces of the Destroyer's armor. She highly doubted that the Dwarf had a smelter hot enough to melt the metal, or a hammer strong enough to shape the ingots in the unlikely case he can get them.

The busty attendant sighed as she wondered how to reach Izuku right now. If not to pester him for answers, then at least to prod for an opportunity to join his…

Knock! Knock!

The steady knocking on her door brought Luna out of her musings, although she didn't had time to call the guest in before the door opened.

"Sorry for intruding," A scantily-dressed young woman with light green hair entered without waiting for a prompt, "I was told to come here to clear my… situation with the Guild."

Luna recognized this woman, one of Kyouya's companions. There was no need to ask, or guess, what business she had with the Guild; the entire team had been black marked due to a string of stupidity they committed. First and chief among them was their unauthorized run on Keel's Dungeon. That nearly ended with the whole town being swallowed by the undead… well, according to Keel he was just going to seal his tomb for a century or two while he reined in his anger, but she didn't feel like correcting the Guildmaster's fears at the time. Besides, the situation still ended with the town losing the dungeon.

"And you are?" Luna asked while making the effort to make it clear she was looking behind the woman, obviously expecting more people to enter.

"Clemea, the Thief." Clemea presented herself, making an effort to clarify that she was of commoner origins, and proud to be an adventurer.

She also made a show of indicating that she was alone.

While their first transgression had been bad enough to keep their cards marked for three years, messing with the vacation home of a Noble was enough to increase the penalty to ten whole years. Turns out that the recent haunting problem the town had was also traceable to this particular group of idiots. Ghosts and Spirits causing trouble around town had been a nuisance, but when the largest concentration fell into the vacation home of one of the few nice nobles of the region, it escalated into a very real concern.

Ten Priests attempted to exorcise the home, and all of them failed; they were sent back into the streets naked and covered in various colorful substances, and occasionally, feathers. When the situation seemed lost, the Noble resorted to selling his vacation home; which of course meant that the Guild had to buy it and then deal with the problem, or that was what Alderp ordered upon hearing about this tragedy.

"I'm not going to say that my former party is innocent, nor that the penalty is unfair." Clemea started, taking a seat in front of the busty attendant, and completely ignoring the paperwork that said attendant was trying to still finish, "I just want to clarify my involvement in the situation, the current situation of my former party, and then negotiate a… way out."

Young as she looked, Luna was still a veteran when dealing with adventurers, especially the ones like Clemea. The girl had been expecting to deal with a man, that much was obvious, hence her slight panic, and now was acting submissive to make up for her mistake. Luna guessed that had this Thief known she was facing a woman, she would have been far more polite, instead of invading her office.

Had the situation been different, Luna may have been in the mood to show some lenience, but… five hundred million Eris… Perhaps for the Nobles that was a pittance for a manor, but for the Guild that was five years of budget. In fact, if it hadn't been for Keel, this branch of the Guild would have been sent into bankruptcy due to that incident!

The former Lich only paid one hundred and fifty million, but by solving the haunting problem, he earned the necessary clout to ask for a lease, which was accepted by the noble upon hearing of his valiant effort.

Turns out, the haunting was the result of their graveyard being sealed by a divine barrier, which prevented the souls of the departed from finding their resting place. The former Lich immediately recognized the workmanship of the barrier, and called out the miscreants who vandalized his tomb as the same culprits, which, when compounded by Aela's recognition of the description, just added more guilt to Kyouya's already growing list of misdeeds.

Luna set her paperwork aside and motioned for the green-haired Thief to explain. She didn't however, promise in any way, shape, or form to help the Thief out of her problem. While her party leader had been the brains behind all the recent troubles of the town, this particular Thief was ratted out by her former, and betrayed, comrade. One thing Luna didn't forgive was betrayal. That was one fact Clemea the Thief was about to learn the hard way.

At the common area of the Guild Hall…

The reunited adventurers had been engaged in non-stop gossip for a while now. For days they were brainstorming the meaning of the recent feats of their local celebrity, ranging from poor Izuku being the owner of a massive harem of Dryads, to him being some sort of demigod. It didn't help that thinking that his previous accomplishments were the result of him being special made them feel less like trash.

Then there was the fact that a set of previously-branded 'useless' adventurers had jumped into nearly Hero status. There was talk about the reason behind this, from the idea that all their new gear was to blame, to the possibility of Izuku blessing them through lewd acts.

Today had been special though, as Clemea's arrival made for a new source of gossip.

The adventurer Kyouya, the former Ace of Axel, was previously known for being seen as invincible, capable of completing any quest he wanted to take. He was even scouted by the Crown as a potential Hero. But after attempting to mess with a certain green-haired Arch Druid had…

Fallen into massive debt.

Abandoned one of the companions he swore would never be betrayed.

Chickened out of protecting the city he swore to protect against Beldia.

Fucked up Keel's dungeon and the respawning chests.

And now… sending one of his companions alone to fix his mistakes?

The gossiping was going wild; some speculated that the greenette was sent to obviously appease Izuku, her feminine charms an obvious choice for the task, which of course made Kyouya a bastard in the eyes of most people. A few brought up the possibility of the swordsmaster abandoning this pretty girl too, expecting her to not make it back to the city, or taking for granted that no one would believe her over his own word. Some even supported the idea of the now official coward of the town trying to get rid of his original partners so he could start anew somewhere else.

In the eyes of the gathered adventurers, Kyouya Mitsurugi was…

BAM!

The door of the Guild Hall opened with a bit more force than any normal party would have used. Immediately after a pair of young women entered, silencing the entirety of the reunited adventurers with their mere presence.

"I'm not telling you to slack off!" Darkness all but screamed, looking rather miffed after returning from wherever she and her companion had gone, "I'm just saying that you don't need to shoot every enemy that is about to reach me. I can take a couple dozen of them no problem!"

"Those were Cruel Wasps! CRUEL WASPS!" Aela shouted back in clear exasperation, even throwing her hands up for added emphasis, "Those things will not only sting you! They will sting you repeatedly until death! Not to mention that their venom is said to cause so much pain that a single sting can send a veteran adventurer into a seizure!"

Everyone in the Guild Hall winced. The monster described was rather frail, but they were so fast that hitting them with arrows was considered a heroic feat. Then many started to panic after the realization that such threat was lurking so close to the town of beginners. Rumors were starting to form around the prospect of either how to survive the threat and if fleeing was still an option.

"And you killed them all!" Darkness shamelessly complained like someone who saw her toys getting destroyed, "How long do you think I'll have to wait for someone to try to smuggle those again? Traveling to the Ghastly Badlands is already rare enough, you know?"

No one could hide their relief at hearing the unintended clarification.

It wasn't unheard of for unscrupulous nobles to make such unreasonable requests. Trying to get live Cruel Wasps was new though; usually nasty nobles were happy enough with collecting their stingers to use as torture tools, especially with how vicious the cat-sized bugs were.

"Did I heard that correctly?" A certain blond noble asked, taking the risk of approaching party members of the Hero of Axel, "You fought and killed over a dozen Cruel Wasps?"

While the leering noble had learned his lesson and stayed away from the Arch Druid's party, he still eyed Aela's weapon with greed. Bowguns had begun to circulate in the market, proving in many ways to be superior to crossbows. However, the complicated inner workings, the delicate maintenance they required, as well as their need for specialized ammo, made many ranged fighters second-guess their purchase.

To make it worse, only Talenof knew how to make them of acceptable quality.

Many blacksmiths, and no few Dwarves, had attempted to recreate them. Some from scratch, just looking at them from afar, while others went through the humiliation of purchasing one, only to break it apart to copy the design. All inferior copies.

"A couple dozen, yes." Darkness replied while Aela used her as a shield, not believing for a second that the idiot noble wouldn't try to get his hands on her Bianca, "What is it to you, Yavin?"

The idiot noble eyed Aela for another split second.

To add insult to injury, Talenof's bowguns, while superb, were still nothing like the original. Bianca was unique, a piece of art so refined that it made all others look like junk in comparison. He and other nobles demanded the same quality, but no matter how much they offered, or how many threats they threw at him, the damn Dwarf still refused.

He had excused himself with the lack of materials, which turned out to be some outrageous things that no one had heard about before.

How could one get hellflame-melted silvered-mithril?

What's even God-touched Ironbark?

"Before you try to sell the remains to the Guild, I want to make you an offer." Yavin started, trying to sound as neutral as possible, "One million eris for each intact body, and three hundred thousand for those that can only be harvested for the stingers."

Everyone in the Guild turned to look at the noble.

The offer had been rather fair. The little monsters were stupidly valuable, even if only as tools for nefarious purposes. The Guild bought them both to keep them away from unscrupulous nobles, and to use the stingers as special weapons against humanoid monsters. The Guild paid less though…

"Can't do that." Darkness flatly replied, and then tried to walk to the counter. The noble wasn't going to give up that easily though.

"What? Why?!" Yavin kept calling for attention, much to the annoyance of the two girls.

"Because we burned them." Aela explained while still using Darkness as a shield, "It's what Izuku would've wanted, after all."

The answer didn't surprise anyone.

Izuku was filthy rich, more than enough to buy a nobility title. To make things worse, he was known for spending only when necessary, which meant that he was saving a massive amount of eris every day.

To be fair though, he did spend a lot on keeping his harem happy. But when weighted against how little he wasted on himself or on fancy food, it more than compensated for the expenses… especially when considering just how elite the girls were. Like they had forgotten how little they thought about them not too long ago…

"Why would you do that?!" The women accompanying the idiot noble screamed as one, all of them feeling the rewards from Yavin's family turn to ashes alongside the evil bugs.

"Because it was the right thing to do." Darkness bit back, sending a glare that indicated she wasn't in the mood to keep bickering about that specific topic.

Aela wisely decided not to add that, while Izuku would have ordered such just to avoid the use of the stingers on other people, she had done it in order to not have to explain to Izuku why Darkness used them on herself.

"Hi, Maria." Darkness greeted the Guild attendant, the elven girl wincing at the prospect of having to deal with this particular party, "I take it Luna is busy elsewhere?"

It was nothing but a friendly question, but since their ascension to Elite, dealing with this party, or rather, this party without Izuku, was something everyone dreaded. Hence why Luna was given the job of designated attendant for them.

"Ah… Well… She…" Maria tried, and failed, to come up with some sort of conversation to stall for time. Fortunately for her, she didn't had to pray for a miracle.

The door of the office opened, revealing a smug looking Luna, followed by a distressed green-haired girl that looked oddly familiar.

"You have your options, now go, and I don't want to hear that you are making trouble." Luna commanded the girl that exited with her, and then turned to look at Darkness and Aela, her mood changing dramatically, "Darkness, Aela! Welcome back! How did the herb gathering go?"

Everyone winced as they understood that, once again, a simple rookie quest turned into something unreasonable. An Axel thing, really.

"No real complaints from us…" Darkness replied casually.

"Speak for yourself!" Aela quickly interrupted, "Some idiot tried to smuggle two crates full of live Cruel Wasps!"

"Which you killed and then incinerated before they even had a chance to attack." Darkness vehemently countered, earning a sigh of relief from the busty attendant, and a jaw nearly dropping to the floor from a certain thief.

While Luna was ever so grateful that Izuku had come back, and saved everyone and her city, she was still in a dire situation. Izuku's party was still taking quests, albeit minor ones, and with a much slower pace, meaning that the completion rate was still plummeting.

She couldn't complain though, because, just like when Beldia attacked, Izuku actually got hurt while saving everyone's skin.

Meanwhile, Solstice Manor…

Izuku Midoriya, Arch Druid and holder of way too many titles he really didn't want, stared at the canopy of the large bed he was resting on. He had just woken up yesterday, although he was only able to start moving since this morning. He avoided doing such due to the pain though.

'Why?' Izuku asked mentally, knowing that finding answers was a fool's errand, 'Why did it have to happen?'

He shouldn't have been comfortable, there was no reason for it. His passive comfort demanded harsh conditions to properly relax, after all. However, right now, he was feeling pretty well, or at least as comfortable as someone who hurt all over could be. All because he was actually resting atop Liza.

The Gator-girl was just entering hibernation, going into fits of near comatose slumber that she valiantly tried to resist in order to guard her beloved master; efforts that were proving futile in the face of instincts and biological needs. Fortunately, she had been eating non-stop since the incident with the Destroyer, meaning that she was safe to sleep all winter without worrying about starvation.

Izuku moved his head just a little bit, feeling conflicting emotions about enjoying too much using Liza's breasts as pillows. On one hand, she still had her slave mentality, making this some kind of abuse. On the other hand, she was pretty much comatose due to her hibernation, meaning she was defenseless. Then again, she looked extremely happy about having this kind of contact, as indicated by her slow tail-wag.

It was taking everything he had to not just… attack her… or any of the other girls.

'Please…' Izuku began to beg inside his mind as he realized the only reason that his hands weren't groping Liza's breasts was because it was really painful to do so, 'At least try to show you don't want me to do this…'

For good or ill, Keel had been the one to explain why he was showing so little self-restraint.

Turns out that classes had an impact on the people.

Rather than being common knowledge, it was an accepted reality of the adventurer system. Warriors were boisterous, Mages were smart, Rogues were sneaky. It was something so intertwined with one's base personality that no one paid it any mind. However, certain classes did more than exacerbating the original personality.

Druids were mysterious not because the knowledge of their class was protected, but because Druids rarely remained in contact with civilization. Keel used to have Druid friends back before becoming a Lich, and thus, knew a bit more than most. And as he explained, Druids were a little too attuned to the natural world.

That attunement made them more inclined to give in to natural impulses, as well as accepting the needs of their own body and that of others. The knowledge was harmless on its own, as that merely meant being more assertive, and more likely to accept the advances of other people.

Unfortunately, Druids were also affected by the seasons.

Seasons affected Druids in a variety of ways, and in most cases, these ways differed from one Druid to the other. For Izuku, it affected how energetic his approach to things turned out to be. He had been very understanding and forgiving that first month, the end of spring, then he went and become strangely active through summer. Autumn made him stupidly intolerant, and now that winter had finally arrived…

The door slowly opened, revealing the poking head of a rather shy looking Megumin. Just that morning he had been a little too forward with the kissing and cuddling, even if he couldn't freely move. That incident had startled her a little bit, which led to her going for a walk to cool off.

"How is my grumpy boyfriend feeling?" Megumin asked with a slight blush, still not entering the room proper.

Izuku looked at her without even trying to remove himself from his pillows. His petite girlfriend made it very clear that she didn't hate the energetic attention, she just felt that she wasn't ready to go further beyond… at that moment. He had also decided to take her up on her offer about allowing him to be playful with Chika and Liza.

"Still grumpy." Izuku replied, failing to convey any sort of animosity, or the fact that he already missed her warm and lithe body, "I could use a hug and a kiss though."

For her part, Megumin couldn't help but to look at her wonderful boyfriend, the man that kept doing the impossible, that kept surprising everyone while becoming stronger with each feat. Her Izuku, who was now as defenseless as a newborn kitten, changed due to his insane feats worthy of a demigod.

Whatever he did against the Destroyer came with a price. His hair turned leafy, although you wouldn't be able to tell until you touched it; then, he had grown horns that looked more like small antlers masquerading as branches. Keel had spoken about his attunement to the seasons, something made apparent by his hair changing from deep green to ashen gray. When combined with how radical his behavior changed when winter actually started, it made it seem like he was a different person.

This person was still her Izuku though. No amount of grumpiness, touchy desires, and overall greed of heart he showed, he was still the benevolent guy that changed her for the better. Having even more romantic attention didn't feel bad at all too; knowing that it would be linked to the season she preferred to stay indoors was certainly a boon.

"I'm sorry I scared you…" Izuku lamented, seemingly accepting that his girlfriend would probably be on guard thanks to his outburst of… affection.

"No! It's not that!" Megumin quickly panicked, and then finally entered the room, "I just… didn't know how…"

Izuku quickly noticed that something was wrong, or rather, that the Arch Wizard was hiding something… in her chest, below her pajamas… supported by her arm still in a plaster…

While Cecily and the Dryads had made a good effort on healing the both of them, they were still in need of further castings of healing spells. Castings that neither church seemed too happy to perform.

Still, watching Megumin move with almost full freedom eased the heart and mind of the Arch Druid. He still wondered what could she possibly hide below her clothes, and why was she nervous about it.

Then she reached him, ending up by his side. Her position allowed Izuku to notice that the mound on her chest was irregular. Then, something poked out from the collar of her pajamas, accidentally unbuttoning the top two buttons.

"Nyaaa…"

What poked out was a black cat's head, albeit with a small symbol on its forehead. The meowing had been blatantly fake though.

"Megumin…" Izuku started, throwing a deadpan stare at the petite Crimson Demon, "Why were you hiding this little fellow?"

The petite Arch Wizard actually winced. She had always wanted a pet; not a familiar, bound to her will by magic, but a normal pet. Her familial and financial circumstances never allowed it, to the point that the last time she had a cat on her hands, she had to let it go before her sister could eat it.

"Can I keep it?" Megumin begged with big watery eyes, "Please?"

She was ready to go into the typical tirade about being very responsible about the cat, especially how she'd make sure the sweet little thing would be properly fed and kept out of everyone's way. It was completely unnecessary though.

"Sure." Izuku plainly agreed, all while motioning for his girlfriend to stop being stubborn and lay down with him, "Just keep her safe."

With a big and vibrant smile, Megumin moved to take her place on the bed. The little animal easily crawled out of her clothes and nestled atop the Druid's head. Izuku found the action adorable, enough to allow him to fight his new grumpy impulses.

"Does she have a name?" Izuku began to ask, still wondering what kind of creature his petite girl had brought with her, "She will n-"

"Chomosuke."

The name thrown was completely unexpected, making Izuku look at his girlfriend with confusion in his eyes.

"Nya…"

The fake meowing clearly conveyed that the creature had given up on arguing about the name, and had resigned herself to answer to it. Megumin's face didn't help the scene either; she looked like a child who had done some kind of mischief, and now wanted to pass as innocent. With his grumpy levels getting high again, he decided that arguing wasn't worth it.

"Sure, why not?" Izuku replied, and then made to kiss his girl. Megumin was the one to close the distance though, and soon, they started a slow kissing session.

Indeed, the bed, the covers, even the well painted walls were uncomfortable, and were getting on his nerves. But the kissing and the cuddling? The warmth of his girls? That completely overshadowed all that, making him feel really great!

Outside the manor…

Wiz, the last of the Avariel, watched her target from the cover of a bush. She loved more than the feathers of the black harpy she was admiring, she was cute, adorable, and lovely. Above all else, she reminded her of the little girl she adopted long ago, before her fall.

"Hmmm~ hmmm~" Chika hummed as she sharpened her talons against one of the multiple stones in the backyard. The sound produced by her sharp claws was almost as bad as her voice.

The little girl was probably a grown woman now, with her own family and her own worries. As much as she had wanted to watch her grow, that ship sailed too long ago for her to do something. At least she left her everything she owned back when she was the Ice Witch.

"Hmmm~" Chika took a moment to admire her claws, just as she did when admiring her feathers after properly clean each and every one of them.

As the winged Arch Wizard stealthily moved towards her target, she couldn't help but admire the Harpy; how she went from another slave to someone who could proudly stand beside her lover. Wiz always knew she wouldn't get her old life back, not that she wanted it, but Izuku had given her something much better. She could have her own new life. No need to return to the behaviors that nearly killed her dear friends and led to that girl having to grow alone when she had promised her constant presence.

No. Not just any life. She wanted a life with Izuku.

She fell for the boy long ago. Not for his money, or his power, but for his tender heart. She wasn't going to force her way into the arms of the cute Druid though. She conceded that Megumin would always be first, and that the boy was in a precarious situation in which he didn't want to hurt anyone, but she knew it was only a matter of time.

Wiz placed herself in arm's reach of the Black Harpy, ready to pounce with a warm hug.

Druids, as a class, was largely unknown. However, one thing she learned is that Druids got a massive boost to their stamina, something that the petite Crimson Demon lacked. Izuku may deny having a harem, but she knew it wouldn't be long before the girls already in it started looking for more sisters to keep up with their man. And she would be there when that time came.

"CHIKA!" Wiz shouted in absolute delight as she leaped forward with her arms stretched out, she could already feel the fluffy feathers, especially the long and majestic tail…

WHAM!

Instead, she crashed against the rock that the Harpy had been using to sharpen her claws.

"Ugh…" Wiz couldn't even begin to understand what had happened, and how she ended hitting the rock head-first.

"Dummy!" Chika whispered from her perch atop the tree next to the rock where Wiz had crashed.

Chika had learned nearly from birth to be always aware of her surroundings. Noticing Wiz stalking her had been the easiest of her tasks. From there, she just had to use Minor Illusion to make an image of herself to bait the winged Wizard. For all her intelligence, Wiz was way too easy to trick.

A little bit away from the winged duo, a different Arch Wizard was showcasing her own obsession.

"IT WORKS!"

Yunyun cheered in overwhelming joy as she observed the result of studying Izuku's forbidden knowledge. In her hands, she was holding the pretty wand that the Druid had bought for her, the heart-shaped magecite gem glowing intensely as it was used as the emanation point of the lightning sword she had created; the violet light was as beautiful as it was ominous.

"No, not lightning…" Yunyun sobered as her mind went into all the theory behind this development, "Lightning is just the effect, electricity is the name of the energy, the flow of electrons."

The beautiful Crimson Demon gave a few slow swings with her new toy. The near malevolent humming sounds it made sent Keel's subordinates into a panic, forcing them to take a few steps back. They had seen many magical swords, but none remembered feeling such dread at the sight of one.

"Encasing lightning, and expecting to use it as a weapon is not efficient." Yunyun spoke more to herself than to anyone else, evoking Izuku's line of thought, "Once it strikes, lightning is gone, its energy spent or dispersed. Electricity is better off used in changing part of the air into supercharged elements, which when contained inside a special magic field…"

Yunyun called upon all the lessons of swordsmanship that her clan forced into everyone, the endless drills that would help in controlling their iconic Light of Saber.

SWOOSSSHHH!

Swinging against a previously prepared training dummy, a hastily made straw doll covered in cheap iron armor, revealed the potential of the developed spell.

THUD!

The upper half of the dummy fell to the ground, its armor providing absolutely no protection against the blade made of pure energy. To make things far more worrying, the division in the armor was glowing red and slightly melted; the straw inside had turned into a charred mess.

"Becomes a heat source comparable to the sun." Yunyun looked at the effects of her new magic, and couldn't help the grin adorning her cute face, "This is plasma. The core of my Light-Saber!"

It was nothing but a play on the spell used as a base. The well-developed Crimson Demon had just optimized the wasteful Light of Saber, and then added Izuku's knowledge. Compared to Megumin's Big Bang, and subsequent Eraser Blast, Yunyun's Light-Saber had required a lot less effort. No one of Keel's friends had the guts to mention that though, not even behind her back. The fact that this magic weapon required just a fourth of the mana required to cast the Light of Saber was also scary.

"Hmmmm… I still need to test it in combat…" Yunyun muttered, transfixed by the luminous blade, "Hey guys, do you…"

The moment she turned to talk to the reincarnated adventurers, she noticed she was all alone. The men and women, veterans with centuries of experience in combat, had turned tail. Yunyun could only pout as she made a deadpan expression. She had almost forgotten this lonely feeling thanks to Izuku, and now these people had reminded her of it.

She couldn't complain though, as they were giving her a room in this medium-sized manor just for being Izuku's friend. The thought of having friends made her feel butterflies… especially when thinking about Izuku giving her encouraging words…

Back at the Guild Hall…

Clemea sighed. Sitting alone while considering her options, she realized that she had moved too late to make any meaningful entrance, and too soon to understand enough of her new target.

Moving back to Axel had taken longer than expected, and also had required much more legwork than she had anticipated… of the kind she disliked the most. The reason for this was due to trying to save as much money as possible. That decision had led to her taking the cheapest caravans, and joining the bodyguards for free, not that she could officially take requests or charge for any kind of service. All so she could present a bag full of coins as a peace offering to Aela.

But it didn't work.

The pink-haired Ranger rejected the money, even when Clemea explained that it had been the money they were supposed to leave for her to survive on before they could return to save her. Aela didn't seem to care though, instead politely telling her to keep it instead for her own survival, as Izuku was guaranteed to reject her.

Aela also assured her that trying to butter up the Druid would only backfire in the most horrible of ways.

Sighing again, Clemea looked at what awaited her. The Guild attendant, that busty woman that shouldn't hold that much authority, had sentenced her to either pay a third of the reparations for the fuck up of her party, or complete a hundred quests without pay.

"Why do I have to work this hard?" Clemea quietly lamented, comically nursing her glass of water, another sad reminder that she was in dire straits, "I hate working hard!"

Clemea's class skills were best suited to avoid combat, avoid hard work, and avoid danger. Her personal expertise was to deal with men. Most males only required a smile, well-placed words, and showing some leg to bend them to her will. A few required the type of legwork she did enjoy, even if she rarely did so due to her own high standards.

The owner of the carriage? That one would have been nice to 'work' with, but he was accompanied by his wife and child, meaning that she had to work for real to pay for her seat. Getting extra favors from Kyouya had also been good 'work', but the fool finally outlived his usefulness.

She had made a detailed plan to 'work' with Izuku, climbing to the top of his harem and find an easy and fulfilling life. Now she had been warned about even trying it.

It made sense, though.

While the rumors she had heard back before leaving Kyouya were something impressive, what she heard while traveling had taken her breath away. Inventing new spells, earning recognition from the Crown, and to surpass even Beldia's demise, the defeat of the Destroyer. There was no room to cast doubt into that last feat, as the evidence of the feat was there, on the side of the main road outside the town.

Clemea shivered at the memory of the Titan, sleeping at the side of the road, seemingly waiting for a wake up call to wreck havoc upon the world.

Izuku's call, no less.

"Hi there!" Clemea was snapped out of her musings by a cheerful greeting, and a mug of ale being placed before her, "Couldn't help but notice you moping. What's your story?"

Looking at the new arrival, Clemea couldn't help but notice that she remembered this particular girl. Her silver short hair and air of mischief was well known among other thieves.

"You are… Chris, right?" Clemea asked as she guardedly grabbed the offered mug, "The Thief that the Eris Church hires?"

"Yes…" Chris deadpanned as she waited for her fellow Thief to take a sip of the perfectly safe ale, "And you are Clemea, one of Kyouya's bitches."

The greenette couldn't help but to spit out her drink at the moniker. If it was widespread, then her chances of securing a safe spot in a strong party were gone like ashes in the wind. Strong adventurers didn't like their 'partners' to be mistaken with common whores, after all.

"Don't worry, skillful Thieves are easily accepted regardless of their inclinations." Chris offered, earning another deadpan from the other Thief, "We can also spread a rumor of you being taken advantage of by that fake hero wannabe."

"That's what actually happened…" Clemea growled back, knowing that such a story would take time to circulate, along with a lot of hard work.

The silver-haired Thief left out a playful giggle, one that spoke of not believing a single word.

"You are a Thief too." Clemea stated as she returned to her drink, savoring the last bit of alcohol she would likely have in a long time, "You know what happened."

Of course Chris knew, just not in the way Clemea thought. As Chris the Thief, she was aware of the fast-traveling rumors that fed the barely legal depths of the underworld. As the goddess Eris, however, she had been aware of every step taken by the reincarnated Kyouya. All his mistakes, as well as those of his party members. She knew of Clemea's plans, and what they spelled for Izuku; more importantly though, what they could entail for her beloved.

Neither as Chris nor Eris could she allow this greedy human to succeed.

"Yes. Yes I do." Chris replied as she took a sip of her own ale, "I know of your dire straits, and how difficult of a situation you are in."

Clemea just sunk deeper into her growing depression. There wasn't just any easy way out of this situation.

"So, I want to propose a little joint venture." Chris began to explain, using her divine skills to sound even more compelling than she should, "One that will allow you to save face before the Guild, and may even make Izuku turn his head and see you in a more favorable light."

Clemea grimaced, knowing very well that between thieves, this was known as the prelude to hell. This other thief was about to exploit her, but, at the same time, with so little in the way of options, perhaps it'd be better than nothing.

"What's the job?" Clemea asked, knowing that hearing Chris out couldn't hurt her any more than she already was, "And what's in it for you?"

Chris lifted her hands in a placating gesture, trying to show she was being honest,

"The job itself is relatively easy." Chris stated as she took an even more relaxed posture, "In fact, your part of the job is more along the lines of being a witness."

"Are we framing someone?" Clemea quickly asked.

It was one of the easiest jobs that the underworld had to offer. Being false witnesses, planting evidence, spreading false, or true, rumors. It was one of the safest and best paid jobs, doubly so when it was the Church contracting them, as that meant doing holy work that would likely end in blessings.

"Close enough." Chris replied, taking on a conspiring tone, "We are going to investigate the Titan's husk. The Church wants to make sure it's not an actual Titan, but they are deathly afraid of confronting Izuku about it… for obvious reasons."

Ancient tales about the Titans were almost forgotten by the vast majority of the population. Only the priesthood of the temple still spoke about such legends, of the enemies of the gods, destroyers of continents. There was even a theory about the Mobile Fortress Destroyer being built to fight the Titans.

All of it was bullshit, of course.

"You think it really is a Titan?" Clemea asked. If it was, she guessed that hiding the truth would certainly make them look good in the eyes of the cute Druid.

"Of course it isn't!" Chris laughed the concern off, "Do you think a Titan, even a sleeping one, would allow people to pass by him? Do you think this town would still be here?"

Clemea actually laughed at the very idea, knowing that a walking, living cataclysm wouldn't differentiate between friend or foe, nor had the capacity of showing restraint and not just erase all civilization by taking just a couple of steps.

Chris' laughter had been completely false though; she felt the moment the emerald Druid touched something beyond the realm of mortals, further beyond that of heroes. The very planet had answered the call of just one person, and that wasn't possible. Then again, if Izuku was more than just some reincarnated guy, that would explain why he could do so many miracle-like things, why he could bring back the beloved.

The Church wasn't just afraid, it was downright terrified. The idiots may have even attempted to assassinate the boy and his party members, had it not been for her and the dreams she sent to the Arch Bishops. The objective of this little adventure was to clarify Izuku's status, to endorse his power as divine, and to dispel all notions of heresy. By using Clemea as the sole perpetrator, she would make her look evil before the Druid's eyes for desecrating his work, making it impossible for her to join his party; all while actually helping her fellow thief to get out of her problems.

If Clemea fucked things up and ended up dead? Well, who was going to miss her anyway?

Omake  –  The shamed

It was the day of departure, and Kyouya was drowning in shame.

When the innkeeper learned of his plans to leave her mining town for good, the large woman gave him a proposition too hard to pass. She requested a full day and night of entertainment for her and her friends, and in exchange, she would pay for him and his cute little priestess' passage in a decent caravan.

"Lady Aqua." Kyouya called as he double-checked his traveler's bag, "Are you sure you aren't forgetting anything? We are NOT coming back."

The body of the Swordsmaster shuddered just by remembering that horrendous smile. The licking of lips.

"Doubly surely!" Aqua replied, carrying only a small bag with only a handful of trinkets, "I'm not going to return to this boring place ever again!"

For her part, Aqua was done with being treated as a slave by the stall's owner. The woman seemingly loved to scream at her for the smallest of reasons. Each time she didn't sell all the items, each time she ate something that obviously wasn't going to be sold…

"Good!" Kyouya responded, happy to know they were ready to leave. Then he turned to the driver, "When can we depart?"

If he hadn't been a real hero, he would have erased the town from existence with his cursed sword. He almost did, in fact, but he couldn't show such behavior. What good would it do to face All Might if he carried the stigma of being a villain? He had to prove his worth, complete his task, and then everything would return to what it should be.

He, at the very top, enjoying the veneration of the world, and the love of the most beautiful ladies.

The mental image was instantly shattered by the memory of the innkeeper.

"In a couple of hours, kiddo." The driver replied, not too fazed by the eagerness of his client, "I won't leave without the rest of the clients, or the escorting parties. You can go get something to eat if you want, or take a nap."

"NOT LEAVING!" Both shouted at the same time, clearly unwilling to set foot in the town again.

Kyouya wasn't a virgin boy. He could recall the girls he had been with, well, the important parts. His first experience being back home, with a girl he really liked, and who just happened to have a boyfriend with violent tendencies. To his credit, he didn't know about said boyfriend.

In this world, he was able to test two fine ladies. One of which betrayed him not too long ago.

Now, he feared he would be forever traumatized by accepting that deal. He just couldn't believe how atrocious his luck had turned after leaving Axel; it was like he had picked up some kind of obscenely powerful talisman of bad luck!

Seriously, what were the chances of such a group of ugly ladies knowing spells to grow… male members just for the fun of it!

"Let's try to rest for a while…" Kyouya said in defeat.

"Not casting cleansing spells on you again." Aqua quickly bit back, "If you want more, you'll have to wait until we save my cute little worshipers!"

Kyouya quietly cursed his own luck, and wondered what he did to deserve such abuse.

Notes:

Magnus: While the poll will continue to be open, I'll give you quick update. Seeing the numbers, so far the order for the stories will be: 1st. Verdant Lord, 2nd. The Heart of Darkness, 3rd. Heroic Ranger. There is still plentful time for voting!