We were ona hill outside town.

It was a communal cemetery for those who died poor or without anyone to bury them. Interment was the custom here—no coffin, just straight in the ground.

Our quest was to deal with the undead monsters that were plaguing the graveyard.

It was almost dusk. We’d pitched camp nearby and were waiting for dark.

“Hey, Kazuma! | had dibs on that meat! We’ve got some perfectly good grilled vegetables right here—eat some!”

“That cabbage hunt kind of killed my interest in vegetables. I’m always afraid they’re going to fly away or jump out of the fire while I’m trying to cook them.”

We’d set up a small grill off the cemetery grounds and were making dinner while we waited. It might seem like a lax thing to do when we were ostensibly hunting monsters, but this time our mission was on a low-level creature called a Zombie Maker. They were a kind of evil spirit that controlled zombies. The Zombie Maker commandeered the best corpse and had several undead lieutenants.

We took the quest because we’d heard even novice parties could take on Zombie Makers. Maybe it would be less risky for the unarmored Darkness, as well.

My stomach pleasantly full, | took some powdered coffee and dumped it into a mug. | used a simple magic spell called Create Water to fill it up, then another called Kindle to start a fire to heat it. These were functions of the Basic Magic l’d learned from a Wizard at the cabbage hunt.

Kindle, as the name implied, was used to start fires. You couldn’t hurt anyone with it, but it was sure more convenient than a lighter.

Megumin held out her empty mug with a perplexed look.

“Could | have some water, too, please? | am surprised, though, Kazuma. You know even more spells than | do. Most people skip over Basic Magic, but you make it look rather usefu | chanted Create Water over Megumin’s cup.

“| thought that was what Basic Magic was for. Oh yeah. Create Earth! What’s this one do?” | held out my palm, which was full of fine soil. Basic Magic encompassed spells relating to all four elements, but only the earth spell left me without any idea what to do with it.

gs

“Oh...| have heard it is especially rich soil in which to grow things. That is al

Aqua piped up at that: “Growing things, huh? How about it, sir Kazuma, planning to switch jobs to a Farmer? You can make your own fields and do your own irrigation! Why, you were practically born for it! Pffft hee-hee-hee

| pointed my soil-filled right hand at Aqua and made a gesture with my left.

“Wind Breath!” “Eeeeyah! G-gaah! My eyeees...”

A gust of wind blew the dirt straight into Aqua’s face. The goddess and her sand-filled eyes writhed on the ground.

“Huh, so that’s how you use it.”

“No, no, it isn’t! That is not how you are supposed to use it! How come you are better at beginner magic than an actual Wizard, anyway?”