Kazuma Sato, a second-year high school student, accidentally introduces himself as a hero from another world on his first day at a new school. That night, the naked goddess Aqua falls through his ceiling. She was supposed to take Kazuma to a fantasy world, but due to a paperwork error, both have been reborn as modern Japanese high school students. The next day, Megumin, a chuunibyou girl, and Darkness, a masochistic lady, also turn out to be reincarnated from that same world.
The four are force
Blessings on This Wonderful School Life! - The Transfer Student is an Explosion Magic User! A Co-ed Life of Craters and Jealousy
The air in the classroom was heavy, as always.
A week had passed since I—Satou Kazuma—blurted out "I'm a hero from another world" on my first day as a transfer student. My standing in Class 2-3 of Hinagi First High School remained unchanged: the transfer student everyone laughed at.
The seat at the very back by the window. That was my spot. Keep my head down, avoid eye contact, and ride out morning homeroom. Today would be just another day like all the rest.
Or so I thought.
"Good morning. Today, I'll be introducing a new transfer student."
Our homeroom teacher, Miyahara Tadahiko, forty-two years old. The mild-mannered-looking Japanese literature teacher stood at the podium and spoke with a slightly tired expression.
At the word "transfer student," the classroom stirred. As someone who had just transferred in a week ago, it was, how should I put it—incredibly awkward.
"Come on in."
Following Miyahara's voice, the classroom's sliding door rattled open.
In that instant, the air in the room changed.
The person who walked in was a petite girl.
Black hair down to her shoulders, with a single streak of red. Deep crimson eyes that seemed to burn. And what caught the eye most of all—
For some reason, she wore a black eyepatch.
White bandages wrapped around her right hand. And on her back... a cape? Over her school uniform, she wore a black cape.
The classroom fell silent in an instant.
"...What the hell is that?"
I heard someone mutter under their breath.
She walked to the podium with the confident stride of a stage actress, surveyed the entire class, and declared in a ringing voice:
"My name is Megumin! A genius mage of the Crimson Demon Clan who commands Explosion magic!"
...Huh?
The classroom froze.
No—it froze for only a moment, and the next instant—
"Pfft... hehehe."
"What is she, a chuunibyou?"
"No, that's way too chuunibyou."
Suppressed laughter began leaking from all around the class. But the girl who called herself Megumin seemed utterly unfazed by such reactions.
"Hmph... a reaction of this level is within my expectations. Those who do not know the true power of Explosion magic could never comprehend my greatness. But they will understand, in time. The day will come when the flower of Explosion blooms wildly across this school's grounds."
With an exceedingly composed expression, she flipped her cape.
That self-introduction—I recognized it. No, I'd just experienced the same atmosphere a mere week ago.
(...This is bad. Really, really bad.)
I unconsciously slumped over my desk and buried my face. Please, stop. Don't associate me with any more weird transfer students.
But it seemed my prayers didn't reach anyone.
"Megumin's seat... let's see, the one next to Satou is open, so why don't you sit there?"
Stop! I don't need that kind of consideration!
Megumin walked boldly to the seat next to mine. And before sitting down, she stared down at my face—
"Oh... so you're Satou Kazuma."
"...How do you know my name?"
I responded in a mumble, face still buried.
"Hmph. I heard there was someone in this school whose self-introduction was so deviant it rivaled my own. A man who declared himself 'a hero from another world' on his first day of transfer. That would be you, would it not?"
Stop! Don't dig up that glorious and humiliating past any further!
Giggles could be heard from all around the classroom. It seemed Megumin and I had been completely categorized as "the same kind" by our classmates.
...My school life might already be over.
Even after homeroom ended, Megumin's eccentric behavior didn't stop.
First period, Japanese literature.
"Teacher Miyahara. I have been deeply moved by this story, 'Run, Melos!' A man who risks his body for the sake of friendship. Is this not an aesthetic that connects directly to my Way of Explosion?"
"...Ah—well, that may be so, but right now, let's focus on the textbook commentary."
"No, wait. Commentary is unnecessary. What matters is this passion. Setting aside all personal feelings, staking everything on a single Explosion—yes, just like my Explosion magic."
Megumin's visible eye blazed with intensity as she began expounding her theories.
The classroom's atmosphere had moved past laughter into sheer exasperation.
(Please, stop. I'm begging you, don't reinforce the image of the weird transfer student any further.)
I screamed internally, over and over.
Lunch break.
As always, I was on the rooftop—no, on the stairwell landing leading to the rooftop, eating a convenience store rice ball.
To be precise, since the rooftop door was always locked, I ate lunch on the stairs just before it. I'd been doing that for the past week.
A quiet place where no one came. One of my few moments of peace.
...Or so it should have been.
"Kazuma, so you were here."
A haughty voice came from behind me.
I turned to see Megumin, cape fluttering, standing at the bottom of the stairs looking up at me.
"...How did you know where I eat lunch?"
"Hmph. I can sense the presence of a comrade immediately."
With that, Megumin sat down beside me without hesitation.
The physical distance between us shrank in an instant. Close enough that our shoulders might touch. Sitting this close to a girl might have been a first for me.
"...More importantly, what do you mean by 'comrade'?"
"The moment I saw that self-introduction, I was certain. You are the one man in this school who would show interest in my Explosion."
"No, I'm not particularly interested in Explosion magic..."
"There is no need to hold back! In this school, you are the only one who listens to my words without laughing!"
The reason I listened without laughing was because I'd just been through the same thing myself, and it wasn't funny. But I couldn't say that.
Megumin fixed her crimson eyes directly on me and continued.
"Tell me, Kazuma. Have you ever felt that something was missing in this boring world? That your true power must be greater than this. That somewhere in the world, a destiny awaits you."
Those words caught me slightly off guard.
...Something missing.
Yeah, I'd always felt that. Ever since I was laughed at after a failed confession in middle school. Wanting to change something, but unable to. That sense of being trapped.
"...I won't say I haven't felt it."
"I knew it! You are the same as me!"
Megumin's face lit up. The expression was strangely childlike.
"Listen, Kazuma. Come to the corner of the school grounds after class. I shall show you a truly spectacular Explosion."
"Huh? Explosion magic?"
"Indeed. My one and only, ultimate magic. I shall set off a magnificent explosion before your very eyes. Oh, I heard you work part-time for 980 yen an hour. It became a rumor at the school store during lunch that you're the only one in this school who doesn't laugh at my stories."
"...Why has even that gotten around?"
"Well then, look forward to it! After school, at the corner of the grounds! It's a promise!"
Leaving those one-sided words behind, Megumin flipped her cape and dashed down the stairs.
Left behind, I could only sit there dumbfounded, half-eaten rice ball in hand.
(After school, at the corner of the grounds, Explosion magic...)
That girl—could she be...
No, I already knew. She was definitely the same as Aqua.
A reincarnator from the other world, Verdina.
"...Hah."
A deep sigh escaped me.
It had been a week since that naked goddess, Amano Aqua, had barged into my house. My life had finally started settling down, and now what—adding more weirdos to the mix?
But when I remembered those serious eyes, I couldn't quite bring myself to refuse going to the school grounds after class.
After school.
I stood at the northeast corner of Hinagi First High School's sprawling grounds.
Outside the 200-meter track. Behind the gym equipment shed—a spot where few people passed by.
"You came, Kazuma. I have been waiting for this moment."
Megumin was already there. Standing with the setting sun at her back, black cape billowing in the wind. She was about 150 centimeters tall. A full head shorter than me.
She really did look the part, somehow.
"...So, are you going to fire this Explosion magic here on the school grounds?"
"Indeed. Ideally, the banks of the Hinagi River would have been better for their spaciousness, but as today is the first day, I shall make do with this school's grounds."
"No, don't fire it on the school grounds. What are you doing, casually trying to destroy school facilities?"
"'Destruction'—how insulting. This is art. I shall etch a beautiful scene of momentary Explosion into this boring space. The sight of the earth being blasted away—would that not be a magnificent view?"
...That supremely confident expression. Not a trace of guilt.
This was exactly the same feeling I'd had when I first met Aqua.
"Hey, did you come from another world? Verdina, or something?"
When I said that, Megumin blinked in surprise. Then she smiled softly.
"You have the look of someone who has met another person in this world who knows that word, besides me."
"...Well, sort of."
"Hmph. I, too. It seems this place is special for residents of other worlds like us."
Megumin's crimson eyes caught the sunset and glinted.
"Then I must show you. My greatest power—Explosion magic."
She raised her right hand smoothly toward the sky.
"Let me ask you, Kazuma. The mana in this world is extremely thin. To recover enough magical power to be usable requires deep sleep. Do you know this principle?"
"...No. Actually, what even is mana?"
"Exactly as the word suggests. The essence of magical power. In this country called Japan, mana barely exists. Because of that, we reincarnators, once we exhaust the scant magical power remaining in our bodies, become unable to move."
So that's how it was. Aqua only ever thought about lazing around in bed, so she'd never once told me anything that serious.
Which meant, after this, Megumin would...
"...Hey, wait. You know what's going to happen to you after this, and you're still going to fire it?"
"Naturally. One fires Explosion magic fully aware of that risk. I dedicate my Explosion—which I can only fire once per day—to the finest moment."
She said it with a serious face.
"...You're insane."
"Will you tell me my Explosion is interesting?"
Megumin asked that abruptly.
"Huh?"
"This power is, by nature, something meant for national defense or defeating enemies. But I simply find the moment of Explosion beautiful, noble, and above all, dear to me. So I want to fire it. There have been plenty who laughed at that. But I believe this is my one and only path. What will you think when you see this flame?"
The color of the sunset and the color of her eyes looked like the same crimson.
She was serious. She was trying to show me the path she believed in.
No matter how much the world mocked her, she staked everything on this Explosion.
That conviction was, just a little, dazzling.
"...Fine. Show me. Whether it's interesting or not comes after."
"Hmph, very well!"
Megumin swept her cape back with a flourish and began her incantation.
"Thou who cometh from darkness, who unleasheth crimson flames. With thy deep-red power, burn all creation to ash and pierce the heavens and earth! By my command, reveal the demon flame of Explosion here—!"
Fifteen seconds.
Her incantation echoed across the school grounds.
"—EXPLOSION!!!"
DOGOOOOOOON!!!
With a thunderous roar, the ground was blasted away.
Earth and sand flew, the shockwave violently whipping my hair. My vision was momentarily engulfed in crimson light.
After the explosion subsided, what remained was—
A perfectly carved crater, three meters in diameter.
"...No way."
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
The school grounds' soil had been vaporized. This "Explosion magic" was real.
"H-how... was that, Kazuma? That was... my greatest... Explosion..."
I turned to see Megumin collapsed on the spot. No, not just collapsed—
"...Ugh, as I thought, the ma
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