“Sniffle...sniffle... It stinks... My clothes stilink...!” A whimpering, slime-covered Aqua trudged behind me.

“The inside of a Giant Toad smells bad, but it’s rather cozy and warm. Add that to the list of things | never really wanted to know firsthand.” The equally slime-covered Megumin was perched on my back, offering up facts | myself didn’t really want to know.

It turns out that when a spell-caster uses a spell that goes beyond the limits of her MP, she makes up the difference out of her HP. Use a major spell when your mana is running low, and it could even put your life at risk.

“Save your explosions for emergencies from now on, Megumin,” | said. “You should stick to smaller stuff most of the time.”

| felt her hand, resting on my shoulder, clench. “I...can’t.” “Huh?” | said dumbly. “You can’t what?”

She gripped my shoulder even harder. | felt her small chest pressing against my back. “I can’t...use anything but Explosion. I’m completely incapable of casting any other spells.”

“..You're kidding.” “No, | am not.”

Megumin and | fell silent. Aqua, who’d been quietly sniffling in the background the whole time, finally saw fit to enter the conversation.

“What do you mean, you can’t use anything but Explosion? If you have enough skill points for that, surely you have enough to learn other spells, too?”

. Skill points?

Oh yeah—the girl at the Guild had said something about points being connected to learning skills. Aqua saw my expression and explained—

“You get skill points when you choose a class, and you use them to learn abilities. The better you are, the more points you start with, and you can allocate them to various skills. For example, | am very exceptional, so | started by learning all the party-trick skills and then all the magic appropriate to an Arch-priest.” “What are party-trick skills for?” Aqua ignored my question.

“The types of skills a person can learn are limited by their class and personality,” she went on. “For example, someone who hates water would have to spend more points to learn ice-or water-related skills or, in a worst-case scenario, might not be able to learn them at all. Explosive magics are part of the category called multi-type magic, because they rely on a deep knowledge of both fire and air magic, among others. Someone who can learn a spell from the explosive magics should have no problem learning other elemental magic.”

“In other words, there’s no reason you should be able to use an advanced spell like Explosion and not easier spells.” | paused. “So. When and where does one use party-trick skills?”

From my back, Megumin whispered, “l...am an Arch-wizard who adores Explosion above all else. | do not care for all the explosive magics—Explosion is my only love.”

| was starting to wonder what made Explosion different from any other “explosive magics.”

| had no idea, but Aqua seemed to be taking Megumin’s declaration of uniqueness quite seriously.

Actually, you know what? The thing about “party-trick skills” bugged me even more than the semantics of magically blowing stuff up.

“Of course it might be easier for me to go adventuring if | took other skills. Even abilities in the basic elements of fire, water, earth, and air would help me... But | cannot. | love only Explosion. Even if, with my present MP, | can cast it only once a day. Even if | collapse after casting it. It does not matter. | love only Explosion! Indeed, | chose the path of the Arch-wizard merely and solely so | could cast that one spell!”

“Incredible!” Aqua said. “Just wonderful! When | see you pursuing something so utterly impractical—and yet so romantic—l’m moved to tears...!

Well, this was no good. Looked like this mage had decided to specialize in being useless. The ultimate proof was that Aqua sympathized with her.

Our recent battles with the Giant Toads had left me doubting whether this goddess was going to be any help to me at all. To be blunt, Aqua was a liability all by herself. To take on another problem child...

All right. l’d made up my mind.

“Wow, is that so?” | said. “Well, it won’t be an easy road, but stay strong! Oh, hey, there’s the town! When we get to the Guild, let’s split the reward three ways. And then, who knows? Maybe we’II meet again someday...”

As | spoke, Megumin’s grip on my shoulder tightened.

“Heh... My one desire is to let off Explosion. Any reward is merely a bonus. | do not need an equal share. Give me enough for a meal and a bath and some necessities, and | will ask nothing further. Yes! You can have me, an Archwizard, for hardly more than the price of a meal! Could you do anything other than take me on long-term under such conditions?”

“Ha-ha! Oh, we couldn’t! Such phenomenal power would be wasted on a small-fry party like ours! Pearls before swine, you know? A regular spell-caster would be plenty for a couple of novices like us. Look at me—l’m the lowest possible class!”

As | spoke, | tried desperately to loosen Megumin’s grip on my shoulder so | could send her on her way as soon as we reached the Guild Hall. Megumin tried desperately to hold on.

“Not at all! | don’t mind in the least if this is a weak or inexperienced party. | may belong to an advanced class, but | am a novice myself. | am only Level 6! | am sure that with a few more levels | will stop collapsing every time | cast a spell. R-right? S-so please, s-stop trying to p-pull my hand away...”

“No, no, no. A spell-caster who can cast only one spell per day? That’s hardly user-friendly. Oof! Wh-who’d have thought a mage could have such a strong grip...2 Hey, leggo! You’ve probably been kicked out of other parties, too, haven’t you? Think about it! If we go into a dungeon, you won't be able to use your Explosion in a confined space like that! You won’t be able to help us at all!

H-hey, let go already! Don’t worry—we’ll give you the reward from this quest! Now let...go!”

“Please don’t abandon me! No other party will take me! When we go into a dungeon, | can...| can carry your bags for you! I’ll do anything! I’m begging you, please don’t leave me!”

Maybe it was the girl on my back shouting, “Please don’t abandon me!” at the top of her lungs that attracted the looks and whispers of passersby. By now, we were already in town. Usually just Aqua alone was enough to gather a crowd, so we must have really stood out.

“Oh my goodness... That man is going to abandon that poor girl...” “What’s all over that woman next to him? Is that slime?”

“He made such a young girl his plaything—and now he’s just going to throw her away? Disgusting! Look—both those girls are slimy! What kind of sick games was that perv playing with them?”

..| seemed to be the subject of a major misunderstanding.

| hated the way Aqua smirked when she heard those comments. And then it turned out Megumin had picked up on them, too.

As | looked over my shoulder at her, her mouth twisted, then opened...

“V’ll play whatever games you want! I’ll even put up with the slime play you showed me with those Giant Toads earlier!”

“All right, all right, enough! Welcome aboard, Megumin!”