Laughter in This Wonderful Everyday! ~Seven Days with Everyone~ - Yunyun and the Lonely Duel Declaration

Three mugs sat lined up on the tavern counter. Amber Axel Ale formed tiny bubbles atop the wood grain. It wasn't even noon yet, and this was already my third. "You've gotta be kidding me! Forty million, I said forty million! What the hell are we supposed to do about this debt?!" I, Kazuma, pressed a hand against the aqua-blue head beside me as it tried to snatch my mug away. "But it's not my fault! How was I supposed to know that creature would eat paper!" Aqua shook her waist-length aqua-blue hair, tears welling in her big blue eyes. At a glance, she seriously looked like a goddess, but on the inside, she was a total screw-up. "'I didn't know' doesn't cut it! The request forms on the bulletin board—all of them, every single one!" "Still, that fluffy little creature was so adorable. I'd love to see it again." "Don't!!" When I yelled, the tavern keeper behind the counter gave a wry smile. The guild tavern was a wide, stone-built space. The forty or so wooden tables were still sparsely filled. Even so, a few adventurers kept glancing over at the commotion. —And beside me. "More… I want to be insulted more…" A female knight with long golden hair tied back was blushing, enraptured. Tall, at a hundred and seventy centimeters. A dignified face. Her blue eyes were glistening. Darkness. Real name Lalatina. A Crusader of noble birth. Her appearance alone was top-tier cool. But on the inside, she was a hentai. "Nobody's insulting you! Hell, why do you look so happy about this?!" "Haaah… being cornered by debt is, quite… nice…" "It's not nice!!" I tilted my mug back. Bitter. Third one in, and I couldn't get drunk at all. "Kazuma, if it's come to this, I shall use my Explosion magic to blow up the guild's entire request board and establish a new order—" "No, you won't!" A petite girl with black hair swaying at her shoulders, crimson eyes gleaming. Megumin. A genius mage of the Crimson Demon Clan. Except the only magic she could use was Explosion. One shot a day. And after firing it, she couldn't move. "I shall purify this world's absurdities with Explosion!" "And what good would 'purifying' do?! It's not like the debt's gonna disappear!" "A debt collector blown away by Explosion magic would be unable to come demanding payment again." "That's a crime!!" I clutched my head. My dull brown hair crumpled messily under my palm. Thanks to Aqua ruining every single request form on the bulletin board, today's income was zero. If anything, the compensation fees just added to our debt. Why does this stuff always happen to me? "Kazuma, I'm hungry." "I'm hungry too, you know." "Then let's order something! Luna-san!" "Do we have money to order anything?!" —That's when it happened. "As noisy as ever, huh, Kazuma." Without a sound, someone had taken the seat next to me. Short silver hair. A light-looking leather chest guard. A slender shortsword at her hip. The eyes looking at me were narrowed mischievously. Chris. A silver-haired female thief, and something of a mentor who taught me Thief skills. She's great at gathering information, and also a troublesome person whose hobby is eavesdropping. "Chris… listen to this, Aqua screwed up again—" "I heard, I heard. I happened to pass by the Guild Master's office too." Chris lowered her voice. "The bulletin board compensation—an extra hundred thousand eris, apparently. The Guild Master was really angry." "…Huh?" My mind went completely blank. "The cost of the request forms, plus compensation for losses until replacements are ready. And a penalty fee for bringing a monster into the guild on top of that." "Aquaaaaaaaa!!" When I spun around, Aqua was already reaching for the next mug. "Yay, another one! Chris, you want some too?" "Listen to what people are saying!!" Laughing, Chris snatched her own mug away from Aqua. "Now, now. More importantly, things are getting noisy outside." At her words, I looked toward the tavern entrance. —Boom! A small explosion. Then, a woman with a soot-covered face burst in. "Kazuma-saaan! It exploded agaaain!" Her waist-length brown hair was singed in places. Her face was pitch black. Smoke was rising from her clothes. Wiz. A former adventurer, now a Lich running a magic item shop. She's gentle and kind, but every single item she stocks is defective, and explosion accidents in her shop are a daily occurrence. "Wiz-san… what exploded today?" "The fire-breathing lantern breathed a lot more fire than promised… and now there's a hole in the shop ceiling…" "Don't buy something called a 'fire-breathing lantern' in the first place!" "But… the wholesale price was so cheap…" "It doesn't matter if it's cheap if it explodes!!" —From behind her. "Foh-foh-foh-foh, how auspicious." Along with a strange laugh, a masked man appeared. A black mantle. A bizarre mask. In his hands, several more suspicious-looking masks. Vanir. A masked demon mooching off Wiz's shop. He has the ability to read people's emotions and is a nasty piece of work who turns other people's shame into business. "Wiz, you've done it again. That's the third repair bill for the shop this month." "I'm sorry… the masks Vanir-san sold me got burned up along with everything else…" "Foh-foh, think nothing of it. By the way, Kazuma." Vanir turned toward me. The eyes behind his mask glinted sharply. "How about this 'Explosion Prevention Mask'? I'll sell it to you for three thousand eris." What he was holding was clearly the same kind of cheap mask as before. "That's definitely a lie." "Foh-foh-foh-foh, as expected of Kazuma, so skeptical. However, if you wear this, even if the shop explodes, your face alone will remain unscathed." "Don't talk on the premise that the fire-breathing lantern is going to explode!!" "Ah, that sounds great! I want one too!" "Don't buy it!!" The tavern was getting rowdy. Aqua started haggling with Vanir, Wiz tried to stop her while crying, Darkness brought up the debt again with a blissful expression, and Megumin began chanting her Explosion magic. Chris watched it all from the side, laughing. —The usual scene. I let out a huge sigh. "Forget it. I'm drinking today. Gonna forget everything." I tilted my mug back. That's when it happened. Bam!! The tavern entrance door burst open forcefully. "Megumin!! Today we settle this!!" A familiar voice. I looked up. Standing in the entrance was a girl with semi-long brown hair, a little past her shoulders. The sides were tied with small ribbons. Her crimson eyes, characteristic of the Crimson Demon Clan, sparkled brightly. She was about a hundred and forty-seven centimeters tall. A little taller than Megumin. Yunyun. A genius mage of the Crimson Demon Clan, and unlike Megumin, she could masterfully use a variety of advanced magic. But for some reason, she had few friends, and was a lonely girl who always saw someone as a rival and challenged them to a duel. "Yunyun?" Yunyun strode purposefully into the tavern. Adventurers turned around with interest. "Megumin! I finally found you! Today, let's decide once and for all which of us is the truly stronger mage!" "Heh… you've come, my rival." Megumin slowly stood up. She was a hundred and forty-five centimeters tall. Standing side by side, Yunyun was just a little taller. "Before my Explosion magic, your advanced magic is no more than scraps of paper. I shall accept your challenge." "H-hmph! You can only fire Explosion once a day! If you miss that one shot, you can't do anything at all!" "I will not miss. My Explosion magic has no blind spots." "Yes, it does! You missed just the other day!" "That was the wind's fault." "Liar! You just aimed wrong!" Giggles began to leak out from all around the tavern. The two of them were glaring daggers at each other. Crimson eyes and crimson eyes, seeming to scatter sparks—or so it looked, but somehow it was kind of heartwarming. "A-anyway! Let's duel!" Yunyun thrust her right hand out sharply. In doing so, her elbow bumped a mug on the table. —Clatter. "Ah…" Juice spilled. Yunyun frantically steadied the mug. "I-I'm sorry! Something to wipe it with…!" Her face turned bright red. This time, clear laughter rose from around the tavern. "Whoa, she bravely challenged someone to a duel, then immediately spilled her juice." "She's got a cute side, huh." "That girl's from the Crimson Demon Clan, right? Are they all like that?" Even Yunyun's ears turned red. "N-no, that's not it! That was, um… just because I was nervous! I'm not usually this clumsy!" The laughter grew louder. "I-I mean it!! I don't need friends or anything!!" —Silence. For a moment, the tavern went quiet. A sudden declaration no one had asked for. "…Friends?" "Did she just say 'friends'?" "N-no…! That's not what I—! I mean, I just have few friends, so I make rivals through duels, and—" "She said it." Chris was holding back laughter. "Foh-foh-foh-foh, what an honest soul." "Yunyun-chan, you poor thing…" Yunyun froze, realizing what she had blurted out. "Ah… aaaah…" The whole tavern was wrapped in gentle laughter. Megumin stepped forward. "Yunyun, it's fine that you challenge me—but let me say this. Even if you won our last duel, I am superior in the power of Explosion. There are things that cannot be measured by points alone." "What are you talking about! I won that time! That makes it five wins and three losses! I'm in the lead!" —Ah. Megumin's face twitched. "…Wait, hold on. Five wins, three losses?" I couldn't help but interject. "That's right! I'm winning! Because once Megumin misses her Explosion, she can't do anything, so I win in that opening!" "Yunyun! Don't say unnecessary things!" Megumin's face went red. "Megumin, you've got a losing record, huh." "Wins and losses are irrelevant! I am superior in the power of Explosion! That is the point!" "No, wins and losses are the point. It's a duel." Laughter rose from the tavern again. "Megumin's losing?" "Well, with only Explosion…" "But five wins, three losses—Yunyun's pretty amazing." Yunyun's face, which had been bright red until just now, softened a little. "…B-but, you know, Megumin." Her voice became a little gentler. "Um… winning or losing doesn't really matter. What I really want is…" "Hm?" "…I just want to be friends." —The tavern fell silent. Yunyun was looking down. Her ears were bright red. "Because… you're the only Crimson Demon my age, Megumin… I don't have any other friends… and if I say it's a duel, I get to see you…" Her voice was trembling. "…" Megumin fell silent too. Her crimson eyes wavered slightly. —At that moment. "Oh, is that all! You just wanted to be friends! You should've just said so from the start!" A voice utterly incapable of reading the room rang out. "Wha—! N-no! That's not what I meant just now! She's my rival! We're not friends!" "Foh-foh-foh-foh, no matter how you look at it, that's the face of someone desperate for a friend." "Yunyun-chan… if you'd like, would you be friends with me?" "Don't become friends with Wiz, you'll get caught up in the explosions." "Chris-san, that's so mean…" The tavern was filled with laughter. But it wasn't the teasing laughter from before. It was warm laughter. I stood up from the counter and pointed to the seat next to Yunyun. "Well, sit down and have a drink. Juice is on me." "Eh…" "Everyone here is a total screw-up. But well, they're not bad people." "Who's a screw-up?!" "You are. An Explosion idiot with a losing record." "What do you mean, Explosion idiot?! I shall accept that as a title of honor!" Yunyun timidly took a seat. "…Thank you, Kazuma-san." She was teary-eyed, but smiling a little. "Yunyun! Be friends with me too! Being friends with a water goddess is incredibly valuable, you know!" "Eh, um…?" "If you join now, as an Axis Order membership perk, I'll even throw in an amulet with my autograph!" "Yunyun, if you become friends with Aqua, your debt will increase. Don'

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Episode 2

Name: Laughter in This Wonderful Everyday! ~Seven Days with Everyone~
Author: Novelia

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