I moved to the guild to take a request. Looking around, the guild was quiet, probably because it was morning. Then I saw a girl sitting at a corner table playing cards alone, radiating an aura that somehow seemed like you shouldn't approach. She seemed a bit unusual, so I looked closer; she was a girl with red eyes, characteristic of the Crimson Demons, and dark brown hair tied on both sides that reached her shoulders, probably 'Yunyun'.
'No, aren't Megumin and Yunyun 13 years old now? What's with that chest...'
Compared to her young age, her development? was quite good, and she was wearing bold clothes that openly revealed her chest, making it hard to manage my gaze. I could see the afterimage of Podo saying, 'Got you, you rascal!' over and over.
Yunyun is the daughter of the Crimson Demon village chief and is quite talented as a mage. However, she is very shy and is the only one in the Crimson Demon clan not suffering from chuunibyou, so she doesn't get along well with the villagers. She is a pitiful girl who has always been alone, with no close friends except Megumin and Megumin's younger sister, Komekko.
As that situation piled up for a long time, her personality changed strangely, making her try too hard to conform to others or overreact to small kindnesses, burdening the other person. This led to not only Crimson Demons but even ordinary people avoiding Yunyun. She just wanted to make friends. In the original work, seeing her try to make friends even by summoning a devil makes her pitiful situation understandable, but she wasn't normal either.
One point of doubt is about Kazuma's party. Clearly, Yunyun is capable and one of the few people who can fill the unique shortcoming of Kazuma's party's inability to deal continuous and sustained damage to enemies. Yet, Kazuma doesn't accept Yunyun into his party. He only occasionally asks for her help.
'I don't think Kazuma, with his high intelligence, wouldn't have thought of this. I wonder if it's because of Megumin?'
While looking at Yunyun, I was thinking about various original work settings when Yunyun, perhaps feeling my gaze, blushed and kept glancing at me.
'Oops... I was staring for too long.'
Given the situation, I sat down at Yunyun's table to say hello as well.
"Hello~ I'm Cassian. Are you waiting for party members?"
Yunyun, perhaps flustered, lowered her reddened face and spoke in a barely audible voice.
"Uh... n-no, I haven't been here long... I don't have a party, so I was wondering if there might be a party recruiting members, so I came early and was waiting."
"Sorry, I thought you had a party. The guys I usually hunt with have something to do today, so I came out early thinking I'd hunt alone."
"..."
Yunyun just fidgeted with her hands without saying anything.
'Ugh... what to do with this atmosphere? Did I speak to her for no reason? Should I just leave?'
"Anyway, nice to meet you. The guild staff weren't here yet, and I was curious seeing a Crimson Demon girl alone in the morning, so I said hello."
Just then, the staff began arriving for work one by one.
"Well, let's say hello to each other next time we see each other too."
I got up from my seat and was about to move to the reception desk. But then Yunyun, with a determined, grave expression as if she had decided something, stood up.
"Uh, excuse me! If it's not too much trouble, are you planning to hunt alone today? I-if so, could I go on the request with you!? I'm Yunyun. My job is Arch Wizard, but I can only use intermediate magic for now. But I'll work hard not to be a hindrance! And I'll learn advanced magic quickly too!"
She blurted it out like a machine gun. It seemed like she had practiced this spiel.
"Th...that's fine. Let's work well together today."
"Ah~ I'm so happy! To think I would have a comrade... this isn't a dream, is it?"
"Ahem, calm down. It's not a dream."
I thought it was a good thing. If the capable Yunyun was treated coldly by Kazuma's group, it seemed better for her to come with me.
We moved to the reception desk and asked the guide Luna about the location of the One-Punch Bear and any requests in that vicinity.
"Hey there... I know you're strong, Cassian, but the One-Punch Bear is a monster that even veteran adventurer parties can suffer casualties against if they're not careful. And sometimes several of them travel in groups, so it seems dangerous for you to hunt it alone."
"No need to worry. I'm not alone today, I'm going with an Arch Wizard."
I pointed at Yunyun with my hand. When Yunyun was pointed at, she blushed, perhaps embarrassed. And I was confident I could grab Yunyun and run if it got really dangerous.
"Sigh... can't be helped. But please don't push yourself."
Luna told us the location where the One-Punch Bear was spotted and also about a request to investigate and exterminate a Kobold nest, which was in the same direction but some distance away.
The One-Punch Bear, unlike the round bears on Earth, has a considerable size and a muscular physique, so it's much stronger and faster. It's not for nothing that Luna is worried. But in the original work, it also showed the patheticness of being killed in one hit by advanced magic. So I asked Yunyun what intermediate magic she could use and coordinated.
"Got it, Yunyun. I'll engage it up close, so support with Paralyze and Lightning. If you run out of mana or other dangers appear around, be sure to call me loudly."
"Got it! Just leave it to me!"
We left the town and moved to the place where the One-Punch Bear was reportedly seen. If we finish the One-Punch Bear quickly in the morning, we plan to handle the Kobold nest together in the afternoon. After wandering around the forest near where the One-Punch Bear was said to be for about an hour, we finally spotted it. Its sense of smell was developed, so it had already noticed us and was taking an attacking stance, looking our way.
"Yunyun, get behind me."
It was so large it couldn't be compared to the size of bears I saw in the zoo as a child. The bear, growling and slowly stepping forward, was like a giant shaking the earth. In the original work, it was portrayed as just a weakling dying to advanced magic, but seeing it in person, even I got tense.
I took a stance and slowly closed the distance. Amid the rising tension, when the distance closed somewhat, the One-Punch Bear charged and swung its log-like arm.
'Shunpo'
I instantly dodged to the side and slashed its leg, but it didn't feel like a deep, critical hit. Its hide was tough and its muscles were dense; its physical defense was higher than I thought.
'This guy is tougher than I thought!'
Groooaaar~~~!!
The One-Punch Bear, its leg slashed, roared loudly as if angry and began charging again. I moved, dodging here and there between large trees, but every time the One-Punch Bear swung its arm, trees were smashed, so I couldn't use them as cover.
'This brute is just plowing through.'
Then Yunyun's voice was heard.
"Paralyze! Lightning!"
Kwaaaak!!!
The One-Punch Bear paused for a moment, and then lightning struck down on the spot. The bear screamed as if in pain.
"Nice! Yunyun!"
Not to miss the opportunity Yunyun created, I quickly closed in on the One-Punch Bear with Shunpo.
"Battou!"
I used the Kilo Kilo Fruit to put maximum weight into the battou slash and cut the One-Punch Bear vertically in a large motion.
Swaaak~!
With a crisp sound, the One-Punch Bear began to fall, split vertically in two.
Thud!
"Cassian~! Are you hurt anywhere?"
Yunyun, who was supporting from afar, approached and asked if I was injured.
"I'm fine! Thanks for the support~"
Seeing her use magic at the exact right timing, Yunyun definitely had skill. I unconsciously patted Yunyun's head.
"Heheh~"
If someone she just met today touched her head, she might feel bad, but fortunately, Yunyun, perhaps because we hunted together, didn't seem to feel that way. We rested a bit, and looked around the nearby forest, wondering if there might be more One-Punch Bears. Luckily, it seemed that bear was a solitary one, as no others were seen.
Now, to hunt Kobolds, we looked at the map and moved towards the Kobold nest. When lunchtime came, we sat in the shade of a tree on a hill with a nice view, took two cheeseburgers from my inventory, gave one to Yunyun, and started eating deliciously.
"Wow~ this is so tasty."
"Eat up. If it's not enough, tell me, I have more."
"Um..."
"Huh? Want another burger?"
"No, it's not that. It's just... I'm so happy today. Even if it's just for a day, I got a comrade, went on a request with a comrade, and even have an event like eating lunch together outdoors..."
Yunyun kept saying pitiful things.
"Then let's keep adventuring together from now on. We seemed to work pretty well together earlier, right?"
Yunyun's face suddenly turned bright red, steam rose from her head, and she fell backward, fainting on the spot.
"Hey! Yunyun! Are you okay?"
I grabbed and shook Yunyun to wake her up.
"Ah, it was a dream after all. There's no way such a handsome guy would be my comrade..."
Yunyun shed tears with her eyes closed and muttered nonsense.