"Kouzuki Style: One-Cut Severance—"
Giant Frog Progress: (2/10).
"Die! Now!"
Giant Frog Progress: (3/10).
"Fire Arrow—"
Giant Frog Progress: (4/10).
Though the giant frogs could barely be considered half-divine slayers, they were still nothing more than beginner-level monsters in the face of Hayashi's party—hardly a match for any of them.
"Despite their size, they're not difficult to handle," Erina remarked coolly, standing beside Hayashi with a look of disgust. "It's just their slime that's disgusting."
True that.
Hayashi clicked his tongue. "The slime is bad, but I think their stomach acid is even worse."
Hisako shuddered. "Like I said before, if I ever got swallowed by one, I'd have nightmares for a month!"
Surely no female character would actually get swallowed whole by a giant frog, right? Right?!
Meanwhile, Yunyun stood happily beside her new teammates—this was her first time fighting alongside a party. Sure, the enemy was just a low-level giant frog, but the atmosphere was what mattered!
"You did great too, Yunyun," Hayashi said with an encouraging smile. "Even though it's just Intermediate Magic, its power rivals ordinary Superior Magic—you must've worked really hard for this. That's amazing."
"..."
Yunyun stared blankly at Hayashi, and suddenly, an inexplicable wave of sorrow welled up in her heart. No one knew just how much insecurity she carried. In the Crimson Demon Clan, mastering magic meant graduation—but when she learned Intermediate Magic to save Komekko, everyone misunderstood her as a talentless hack who could only reach that level.
On top of that, Yunyun was the only normal person in the entire Crimson Demon Clan. She couldn't understand the appeal of their chuunibyou antics, making her feel completely out of place.
In fact, apart from Megumin, Yunyun didn't have a single close friend—which only made her already fragile self-esteem even more sensitive.
Today's experience was truly a first in her life—
For the first time, someone treated her with kindness and warmth.
For the first time, someone enthusiastically invited her to eat together.
For the first time, someone praised her with genuine encouragement.
"Eh?! Why is she crying?"
"Did something upset her?"
"Don't cry, don't cry! When we get back, Erina will make you some sweets!"
"Yeah, yeah!"
"I-I just—" Yunyun sniffled, her voice trembling. "This is the first time anyone's been this nice to me... I-I... Being your teammate is the best thing that's ever happened to me, waaah—"
Look at her! So sincere!
The trio, who had already felt pity for Yunyun after learning about her past in the original story, couldn't help but tear up, covering their mouths.
This girl—she's too precious!
Spoil her! Be good to her!!
And thus, a strange team dynamic was born—
Teammates?
No.
Family?
Yes.
...
...
After successfully defeating the giant frogs and completing the quest, the four members of the all-purpose gourmet squad (EMT—crossed out) gathered once more in a corner of the guild hall.
"Although the giant frog extermination was a complete success, a quest of this difficulty level clearly doesn't showcase our true strength!" Hayashi placed his hands on the table and spoke with utmost seriousness. "Plus, Yunyun also needs to defeat powerful monsters to accumulate skill points. So I propose we take on some higher-difficulty quests next. What do you all think?"
"I have no objections."
"Same here."
Seeing that neither Erina nor Hisako had any objections, Yunyun didn't say anything either. Instead, she obediently nodded her head, as if to say, "Whatever you decide is fine." She was just too adorable.
Such a well-behaved little cutie—spoiling her was a must (pulling out credit card).
"Higher-level monsters, preferably ones that don't involve too many complications—" Hayashi stroked his chin, slightly worried about scenarios like slaying a Death Knight only to discover its extended family guarded the Demon King's castle gates, leading to an encounter with the legendary Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King's Army...
Just thinking about it made his blood pressure spike. But the problem was, this kind of development might actually happen in this world.
Damn it!
"In that case, I have a suggestion—" Yuyu timidly raised her hand. "I remember there's an abandoned ruin near the Demon King's Castle..."
"Abandoned..."
"Ruin?"
Hayashi and Erina exchanged glances before simultaneously grabbing Yunyun's hands and solemnly declaring, "Good girl, forget about that place. That's not something we should get involved in!"
In any other world, an abandoned ruin would undoubtedly hide some treasure chests, offering a one-stop service of secret manuals and divine artifacts upon opening. But in this world, it was guaranteed to unleash some long-sealed Demon King or something equally disastrous.
The infamous Kazuma, who scouted ahead (or so he claimed), had already proven with his life just how terrifying these ruins could be!
...
...
To find suitable monsters for training, Hayashi and the others started with weaker creatures, gradually working their way up.
Once they successfully identified the right targets, Hayashi led the team on an intense spree of quests—either turning in completed missions or embarking on new ones. Their relentless pace earned them nicknames like "Quest Maniacs," "Overworked Corpses," and even "Child Labor Exploiters" from neighboring teams.
Yet, Hayashi's squad—including Yunyun—felt like Kennedy in a limousine, thoroughly enjoying themselves!
For Hayashi and the other two, the visible stat boosts from slaying numerous monsters were intoxicating. Such immediate "effort equals reward" feedback was something no one could resist.
For all four members, killing large numbers of monsters meant gaining vast amounts of experience to level up, significantly boosting their attribute and skill points.
For Yunyun herself, fighting closely alongside teammates who were kind and cared for her, chatting together on the road every day, then reviewing the day's gains and analyzing and reflecting on the battles—this was an experience she had never had in all her years.
And so, after about two months of effort by the four of them, Yunyun successfully accumulated enough skill points to learn advanced magic—though it was only two short months, the efficiency of Hayashi's team was more than ten times what Yunyun could achieve alone!
Hisako handled accepting quests. She would take on all the tasks that could be completed along the way during a single outing, based on the map route.
Corviknight was in charge of target searching. She could quickly lock onto mission targets from ten thousand meters in the air, then provide precise guidance, reducing the time needed for enemy detection. She could also observe from high above for any unusual situations.
In combat, the four team members fought together. Whether in terms of the rationality of their class composition or the safety of their cooperation, it was far superior to when Yunyun fought alone.
Clap clap clap clap—
Amidst a round of enthusiastic applause, Hayashi and the other two congratulated Yunyun in front of them, speaking over each other.
"Thank you, really, thank you all—"
Yunyun looked at her companions with teary eyes, her moved expression seeming like she might burst into tears at any moment. "I-I-I, I really, really appreciate everyone—"
The maternal instincts in Erina's heart awakened. She gently hugged Yunyun—an action only she and Hisako could do without hesitation. If Megumin tried it, she'd probably be driven into a frenzy by Yunyun's assets—and said, "Alright, hurry up and learn advanced magic! Don't delay and risk something going wrong."
"Mm-hmm!"
Yunyun nodded vigorously. She opened her skill menu and looked at the grayed-out icon for advanced magic. Taking a deep breath, she tapped it with slightly trembling fingers.
The next moment, the icon lit up, and the knowledge of advanced magic flooded into Yunyun's mind. She closed her eyes, sensing the completely different mana flow patterns compared to intermediate magic.
"Phew—"
A few seconds later, Yunyun reopened her eyes and said earnestly to Erina, who was still holding her, "Senior Erina, I've learned advanced magic! Now I'm a mage worthy of your team!"
"What kind of nonsense is that?" Erina couldn't help but pinch Yunyun's cheek. As Yunyun let out a pained "Ow ow ow," Erina chided her lightly, "Even if Yunyun only knew intermediate magic, you'd still be a member of our team—you already are one. There's no question of being 'worthy' or not!"
"Waaah—"
Yunyun felt like crying again. How could she be so lucky to meet such kind people?
Really, she's so kind, I could die!
"There, there, don't cry—" Erina quickly comforted Yunyun. She didn't know why she had so much patience with Yunyun—perhaps because Yunyun's portrayal in the original story was too heartbreaking, or maybe because she had once imagined that if she and Hayashi ever had a child, she would never repeat her mother's mistakes...
Hayashi and Hisako exchanged a glance, both looking amused as they watched Erina gently patting Yunyun's back and patiently comforting her.
"Master Hayashi, doesn't Erina give off the perfect wife-and-mother vibe right now?"
"Absolutely! EMY!"
"What's that?"
"Erina—"
"Maji—"
"Yamato Nadeshiko—"
Hisako immediately straightened up with deep respect, bowing to Hayashi before saying sincerely, "Master Hayashi, you truly are the undisputed leader of our ETK faith..."
Hayashi raised a hand to stop her, sighing with emotion. "Enough, Hisako! The ETK faith has disbanded—"
Hisako's face twisted in pain as she nodded reluctantly. "I... I understand—"
Hayashi looked up at the sky and sighed, saying, "From now on, I guess I'll just have to settle for being the unremarkable leader of the EMT cult."
Hisako also let out a heavy sigh.
Beside them, Erina: "???"
Excuse me? I'm not deaf, you know? Could you at least try to avoid saying these things in front of me, or at least lower your voices a little? This is basic respect for my hearing, okay??
Looks like tonight I'll have to prepare a keyboard covered in thumbtacks and open a TXT document—every extra letter typed means an extra hour of kneeling!