An astonished Megumin whispered “W-w-w.... What is this place...!”
Right now, it’s rush hour, is funny seeing Megumin tremble at the sounds of the car horns.
“Ka-Kazuma! Something like a small destroyer is coming! We should evacuate the people here!” Darkness looking around the area and spotted a large truck traveling slowly from afar.
“Geez, you behave like someone from the countryside. You two calm down. Those big ones are called ‘Trucks’. They’re tame monsters that listen to what their masters say.” Aqua kept trying to calm them down.
Even though she said it in a silly manner, it wasn’t wrong. Seems she knows about this world, but not of the technology in it.
“I will tell you many things about this world!”
We’re in a Japanese cityscape that I’ve seen many times since I was a child.
It all started when we met with Wiz, a shop owner who could only collect useless items.
“Everyone, please look at this! The products I bought this time are amazing!” The thing in Wiz’s hand was a small box that didn’t seem odd at first glance, you can’t tell what’s so remarkable about it.
“What’s that? It’s just the usual, useless magic tool that has side effects, right? I don’t have a problem with money these days, if it’s really a good item, I’ll buy it.” Aqua casually broke something in the store as she said that.
Wiz was over the moon at Aqua’s comments “This is a magical shifting device that can make you go to another world!”
Megumin and Aqua tilted their heads “Another world? You mean like hell or heaven?”
“No, I don’t for sure what the world is like. It might be a very dangerous... But it’s another world! Isn’t that amazing?! Don’t you feel excited?! When I heard about it, I was immediately interested!” Wiz answered with a beaming face.
“...What side effects does it have?” Wiz was startled and her body trembled at my comment.
She turned her eyes uneasily “...Well, you can only go to the other world for 12 hours...” that meant that even if that world was dangerous, if you could survive for 12 hours, you could come back here again safely. If that’s the only drawback...
“And when you return from that other world, your memories of it will disappear.”
Then it’s useless.
“In other words, you don’t know if you really went to another world. If you use it, when you return your memory will disappear, right? So, when you open the box, you only feel that 12 hours have passed? ...Isn’t it just a trick magic tool that will only take away your memory for 12 hours the moment you open it?”
“N-No! Inside this box there is a strong magic power! T-That’s why, Kazuma! As you recently became wealthy, I have a request...!”
“No.”
“P-P-P-P-Please! If Vanir finds out I bought things without his permission, he’ll scold me again! If we run a loss, I’ll have to eat breadcrumbs with sugar until the loss is recovered! I can’t take it anymore! I want to eat protein! Please, buying it at half price is okay!”
Darkness was looking at the crying Wiz with sympathy “H-Hey, Kazuma, lets buy it. You tend to shut yourself in when you have money, so use some of it and then we’ll go out on quests like true adventurers.”
“I don’t want to. I intend to save my money, so I won’t have to work again. Besides, we don’t know what kind of world it is. It could be a very dangerous.”
“Ugh... That’s right; I only know that the name of that world is ‘Japan’...”
“I’ll buy it.”
Part 2
We went back to our mansion and used the magic item...
“Kazuma, Kazuma! Look at that guy, here’s talking to someone even though there’s no one around him!”
“H-Hey, don’t point at him, he’ll get angry! That’s called a cellphone; it’s like a magic tool that can communicate with people from a long distance!”
Megumin and Darkness looked around a little uneasily. Aqua looked at them with a smile.
“Aqua, is this world really Kazuma’s home?! There are monsters roaming everywhere, is this really a city?” What Darkness called the monster seemed to be cars.
“Don’t be scared. That’s a ‘truck’, it can avoid people, it’s predictable and smart. But some of them are wild and hit people, so don’t go near them, okay?”
...There was a lot I wanted to argue with her, but until the deadline came, we had to spend our free time in the best way possible.
At least until we return to the other world, I have a regret, in my house…
“Kazuma, Kazuma. You have money, right? If you don’t, let’s change the Eris gold coins on that pawnshop. Gold is expensive in Japan, isn’t it?”
“Wa-Wait a minute. It would look suspicious for a kid like me to be carrying gold to a pawnshop. I should still be carrying the wallet I had before the accident.” I took out the wallet that I had before I died. Inside were four worn-out 1,000-yen notes and some coins.
“Here, one thousand yen each. The value of this currency is about of one thousand Eris. You can afford a small snack... By the way, can we bring back something we bought here?”
“If we can’t then we’re just wasting money. Should I buy food and drinks?”
As Megumin took the money “Well, since I’ve come here, I’d like to eat some food that I haven’t tried before!”
“Hey, Kazuma, I want to eat French food... I have a good idea. We’ll be back in 12 hours, right? Then use steal on that ATM.”
“Don’t say that! What do you want to make me do?!”
She is definitely not a goddess!
“It’s not bad. The bread is soft, and the staff was very kind, the low price was surprising too. I’m just not used to eating with my hands...”
“This black-colored drink fizzed and exploded inside my mouth. Is it okay to swallow? Won’t my stomach explode?”
Two people ate curiously at a set menu from a fast-food restaurant. I felt nostalgic eating this, there was just one problem, Aqua was…
“…Hey, Kazuma if you have any fries left over give them to me. I’ll eat them later.”
“By the way, Kazuma, what are we going to do after this?”
Good question. Before I solve my regrets, there is time to spend, I thought as I took a glance at their outfits.
Aqua wore her usual clothes. It looks a little eccentric, but not too odd.
As for Darkness, she isn’t wearing her armor nor carrying her greatsword. She’s wearing a tight skirt and a shirt with the slit wide open, while it looks sexy, it also looks like an office lady’s uniform. The other one is the problem…
“What’s wrong? Is there something on my clothes?” Megumin was wearing her usual clothes and carrying her staff.
I told her to wear a one-piece dress or something, but she made a scene saying ‘We’re going to another world, I want to wear my formal clothes’.
As for me, I was wearing the sportswear I have, so it was fine.
A place that doesn’t attract much attention if you wear odd clothes would be...
[Akihabara. Akihabara.]
“Kazuma, someone said ‘Akihabara’ just now! Did anyone else hear that?! It’s here, right? We have to get off here!”
“I heard it too! Come on, Darkness, the mouth of the ‘train’ is open, we must jump out before it closes again!”
…They’re so embarrassing. The people around started pretending not to see the two otherworldly people shouting at the top of their lungs on the train.
Ah, thank goodness this is Japan...
“You two are too excited. It’s okay that you’re seeing a train for the first time, but calm down...”
When the station attendant blew the whistle, the end of Aqua’s scarf was caught in the train door.
“WAAAAAAAA! Kazuma, Kazuma!! My holy treasure was eaten! Help! Kill the train!”
Seriously, stop.
“That was close Aqua. If that so-called ‘station attendant’ hadn’t calmed the monster down, you probably would have been eaten.”
“He looks like an ordinary man; we must not underestimate the people in this world. Could he be a monster tamer?” The three people behind me were having such an odd conversation.
“Either way, Megumin and Darkness, thank you too. You guys tried to open the train’s mouth. I’ll buy you a nice drink with my pocket money! Look, if you put money into this box, a cold drink will come out!”
“What is this? What’s going on?”
“Is this using teleportation magic?” They looked closely at the vending machine while listening to Aqua’s explanation.
“This is called a ‘vending machine’. There’s a person inside who receives the money and immediately takes out the product.” It doesn’t seem like she is just saying stupid things to those who don’t know, she really misunderstands everything.
“That has to be a lie. There’s no way someone stays trapped in this box.”
“Yeah, how do they go in anyway? There’s no door.”
[Welcome]
“It can talk!?” said Darkness and Megumin, quite surprised.
It’s a talking vending machine.
Aqua bought the juice she wanted, the sound of something rolling, and the voice of the machine was heard once again.
[Thank you very much]
“Working in a place like this despite this heat, thank you for your work.” “Aqua, sorry for doubting you! To the person inside, thank you!” “Thank you very much person inside!”
I was keeping my distance from the people talking to the vending machine, pretending not to know them.
“Hey, you, can I have a moment?”
I heard a male voice and turned around; a man who looked like some kind of bar host was talking to Darkness.
Well, they all are quite beautiful, if only they stay silent...
After I approached them, the man left after saying something and gave Darkness his business card.
“What did he say?” I asked Darkness who was inexplicably grinning.
“That guy asked our ages and gave Darkness a card.”
“Aqua stubbornly didn’t want to say her age. For some reason he didn’t even look at me.”
To be approached by a host, great.
“Fufu, look Kazuma! I was asked if I want to be an actress! I can’t accept because we’re going back to our world, but... it’s not bad!” She said that with a big smile handing me the business card.
“...T-This...”
“Kazuma, shhh! Shhh! She’s happy, if you tell her...”
“Hey, what does she mean? That guy said he was looking for an actress… Is something wrong?”
“There’s nothing wrong...”
He was a talent scout for adult movies.
Megumin was looking towards a shop.
“Kazuma, what’s that big store? Pleasant music can be heard coming from inside.”
“Ah, it’s a game center. It’s like a playground, I guess? At least it’s like a playground to me. Want to stop by?”
“A playground! I want to stop by!” Megumin and I were getting excited.
“Hey, Darkness, stop moping around. Sure, it’s a perverted job, but being approached by a talent scout means you have some appeal!”
“...But why was I the only one... Aqua and Megumin are also quite attractive...” Darkness was moody after hearing the explanation, Aqua was soothing her.
Darkness was chosen because the man didn’t know Aqua’s age and Megumin looked like she was under 18. I think the biggest reason was that Darkness was wearing a very perverted-looking outfit.
“Kazuma, there’s a problem! These people forced to fight in that box! I must help them!” Megumin was watching a fighting game, she then raised her staff and smashed it against the screen, I hurriedly tried to stop her.
“It’s not people. Think of it like a moving picture with magic or something.”
While stopping Megumin I looked around the game center for the first time in about a year, then.
“H-Hey, who are you cosplaying as?” “It’s high quality! Umm, is it okay if I take a picture?” Men who seemed to be otaku called out for Megumin.
“What is cosplay? I just came from another world; I still don’t have common knowledge of this world.” Megumin immediately revealed that she was from another world.
“You’ve really gotten into your character! That’s amazing! Moreover, the witch’s robe and magic staff are also of very high quality!”
“Oh... Y-Yeah, this robe and staff are gifts from my friends in the Crimson Magic Village… it doesn’t feel bad to be praised.”
“Crimson Magic...? Is there a fantasy anime called ‘Crimson Magic’?”
“There is no such anime this season. Sorry, could you tell us the name of the character you’re cosplaying?”
Megumin didn’t seem to feel bad about being mobbed and praised by otaku, so she began to pose “My name is Megumin! The number one genius of the crimson magic clan and user of explosion magic!”
“Oooooooh! I don’t know that character, but your pose is perfect! Your name is Megumin, right?! I meant to ask the name of the character, but never mind.”
“Excuse me, please look here too!”
I left Megumin with her fans. Looks like Aqua and Darkness are also stuck with a game.
That means...!
“Who is this guy?! He has won 20 times in a row.” “Isn’t there anyone who can stop him?” “Ah! That’s a perfect!” There was an audience behind me.
“Kazuma, you’re amazing! In this world everyone’s surprised at how strong you are!” Megumin said with joy and respect...
Yes, this is just a fighting game. I was worried that my skills would decline because I hadn’t played for so long, but I’m still quite strong.
“Good, 20 consecutive wins.”
“Awesome! I’ll go call Aqua and Darkness!”
“Wait a minute, Darkness is fine, but don’t call Aqua.” If she comes she’ll expose that this is a game, and I won’t be able to brag that I’m strong anymore.
“Wait customer, you can’t do that!” I heard the store staff shouting alarmingly.
“...I figured it’d be you guys.”
“Ah! Kazuma, you came right on time! This guy is complaining unreasonably, look at this! Just a little bit more, that ball seems like it’ll hit and then falls! It’s been teasing me for so long, think about how many coins I’ve used!”
“I understand how you feel, but you can’t hit the machine dear customer.”
It seems that Darkness is playing a game by dropping coins. She showed anger not suitable for a daughter of a noble family...
“The one who is unreasonable is you. I’m sorry, she came from another country, so she doesn’t really understand. Come on, let’s go!”
“Ah! The jackpot! If that ball falls, I’m sure I’ll hit the jackpot! Kazuma lend me some money!”
“Never mind, let’s go! That game has a trick that will make you feel ‘Ah, it’s about to fall, just a little more’ but it never does! ... Huh, where’s Aqua?”
“She’s over there, flailing around, just like Darkness.”
...These people are always like this.
“Ah! Kazuma, look at this! A little more! A little more and I’ll get it! Kazuma, lend me some money!”
“Y-You’re the same...”
Aqua was playing on a UFO catcher that had a keychain prize.
“Look, there’s Pekachu! There’s a Pekachu over there!”
“I beg you! Kazuma, lend me some money! Or get me this! If you get it, I’ll feel grateful to you for as long as I can remember!”
“Our memories will be lost when we return to the other world! That means it’s the same as you forgetting it right away! Besides, we don’t know whether we’ll be able to bring it back with us... Fine, I’ll show you how to play!”
Part 3
“Phew... I’m tired of playing. I’m surprised that Kazuma is from this world. If you say you’re from another world, you’d be regarded as a freak. You should tell us more about it.”
“Yes, that’s right. Let’s talk about it once we return. We’ll listen to Kazuma’s past. ...But there’s still time before we go back. Kazuma, can you tell me what regrets you have?”
Night fell; I was surveying a detached house in a peaceful residential area.
“Do you want to rob that house? We don’t know if we can bring back loot, but if we get caught, we’ll be fine, like stealing and running away” Said a very happy Aqua, Wearing the Pokachu keychain on her belt.
“No, that’s my parents’ house. My family is usually asleep by now; this is what I’ve been waiting for. I didn’t have any preparation or notice before I was suddenly sent to your world. There’s something I need to do before I leave, I’m going to settle my regrets.”
I hid with the stealth skill and used night vision skill to see in the dark. Using a spare key hidden behind the post I was able to enter.
I moved slowly so as not to make a sound and headed to my room on the second floor...
“Haven’t changed at all...” My room is still the same as before I died. To complete my mission, I turned on my computer.
“…Good, I deleted the contents of local disk D. There was no sign of my password being unlocked, so no one should have seen the contents of my computer. This way there should be no regrets...?”
I looked around in my room and realized there was no dust at all. There were flowers on my desk...
...I want to meet my family, but that will be after I defeat the demon king.
I took out all the Eris gold coins I had and left them on the table... is it okay to leave everything behind?
Then I heard a ruckus outside.
“W-What! Why do you think I look like a lady of the night!? Bastard, I’ll kill you!”
“Y-You, stop it! You’ll be penalized for interfering with police! If you’re wandering around at this hour in such clothes, it’s obvious that you’re under suspicion! What country are you from? Did you bring your visa?” The police were questioning Darkness, from the conversation it seems those three are suspect of being illegal immigrants.
“What can I do, should I launch my explosion...?! ...Oh, it seems that the mana in this world is low. Your life is spared for now.”
“W-What are you saying, you’re going to have to come with us.”
“I-I didn’t do anything suspicious! Telling him to steal the ATM was just a little joke...!”
What the hell, I really don’t want to go out.
...my body feels transparent.
“Wh-What’s wrong?! Ah, your bodies...!” As I heard the panicked voices of the police outside the house, I tore off a piece of memo that was on the table and quickly wrote.
[Your dead son is doing well in a distant place. Please use this money]
On top of the memo, I put a bag full of Eris coins, then…
Part 4
“...Huh? What the hell, nothing happened!”
“Right? It was boring.” We tried to open the box that could transport us to another world, but...
“Wiz said that our memories of the other world would disappear, right? If our memories disappeared, we don’t know if we left or not.”
Darkness looked out the window “Ah?! Hey, it’s dark outside!”
She’s right, when we opened the lid, it was still daytime, but now it was night.
“So, we went to another world? I must have completed my mission. The regret in my heart has disappeared. In that case, it wasn’t a loss...” As I said that, I realized that my wallet felt light. I hurriedly checked it...
“Hey, all my money is gone!”
“Maybe you used it in that world? It’s a shame we don’t have any memories. I feel like I ate a delicious meal! I’m sure I must have eaten French cuisine or something delicious like that!” Aqua said happily.
“...? What is this, I feel like Kazuma and Aqua’s big secret was revealed. Is it just me?”
“I also feel like there’s something I should ask Kazuma...? Well, I don’t feel too worried...”
While listening to the two of them I scratched my head...! “Damn it! I intended not to work for the next 3 years! All of you, tomorrow we’ll be looking for quests that will make money!”
Aqua was happily laughing, “I don’t know why but I’m in a good mood. I’ll listen to your selfishness once in a while!”
I noticed a faux keychain in her belt, I think I’ve seen it before.
If this chapter seems familiar, that’s because it was adapted in the manga.
Credits
Feel free to translate this to other languages/ get in touch to further improve, just make sure as to include the credits section as included here. Thanks.
Konosuba Yorimichi Anthology Volume 2 by Natsume Akatsuki
Illustrations by Kurone Mishima
Published by Kadokawa Shoten on November 1st, 2020.
Original crappy translation by H. Berry.
Additional help goku0.
Edited by Felinicity Bone.
Edited chapter title image by u/artgold8 and @jacht_ny, images sent by Felinicity Bone.
Contents
If you liked what you've read here and would like to help to make more feel free to support on Patreon or Kofi!
Comments
Post a Comment