“Hey, didja hear? They say one of the Demon King’s generals moved into that castle on the hill outside town

| was in a corner of the Guild tavern. All afternoon I’d been drinking and shooting the breeze with the guy sitting next to me.

Well, drinking, yes—but not alcohol. My beverage of choice was Neroid Fizzizz as | chatted with the guy.

What’s Neroid, you ask? And Fizzizz, for that matter?

It was a favorite here among those who didn’t drink much, so out of curiosity I'd decided to give it a try.

But... If someone were to ask me if it was any good, I’d have to answer: Um... don’t know.

But at least I’d figured out what Fizzizz was. The sensation of drinking it was very fizzizz.

It wasn’t carbonation. | had no idea what fizzizz actually meant, but it was definitely the right word.

| drank the last of my Neroid and set it on the table...

“One of the Demon King’s generals? That sounds like a pain, but it doesn’t have anything to do with us.”

“Damn straight.” He chuckled at my disinterested, unconcerned response.

There was a surprisingly large number of people just hanging around the Adventurers Guild chatting, and you could hear a lot of interesting things: A dangerous monster had been found in such-and-such place, so you’d better avoid doing quests there for a while. That monster hates the smell of citrus, so if you rub some citrus juice on yourself, it won’t attack you. That kind of thing.

Actually, since I’d gotten to this world, I’d had my hands full just trying to make a living. This was the first time I’d done any intelligence gathering like this. In a video game, getting information was one of the most important ways to learn about new story beats. Being part of conversations in the tavern like this made me feel like a real adventurer, and it was terrific.

The man across from me said, “Well anyway, you’d better stay away from the old castle to the north. | dunno what the Demon King’s general wants out here. This ain’t the Capital or anything. Seein’ as he’s a general, you suppose he’s an ogre or a vampire? Or maybe an arch-demon or a dragon? Whatever. I’m sure he’d wipe out any of our parties in a second. Just steer clear of that castle—for your own sake.”

| thanked the man and stood, then turned toward where my own party was sitting, but...

“What? Why are you all looking at me like that?”

Aqua, Darkness, and Megumin were gnawing on vegetable sticks resting in a glass on the middle of the table and watching me.

“No reason,” Aqua said with an uneasy shift of her eyes. “I mean, obviously we’re not worried that you might join another party or anything.”

“Huh...? Look, getting information is Adventuring 101.” | sat down at the table with them and reached for a vegetable stick. The stick dodged out of my reach. .. Sheesh.

“What are you doing, Kazuma?” Aqua gave the table a good smack, causing the vegetable stick to jump in surprise. She grabbed the temporarily immobilized snack and popped it in her mouth.

“Hmm. You seemed to be enjoying yourself. Were you enjoying yourself, Kazuma? You sure looked like you were having a good time, talking to that guy from that other party...”

Megumin slammed her balled-up fist on the table, snatched one of the startled vegetables, and ate it.

“What is this strange new feeling...? Seeing Kazuma so friendly with another party...it gives me a little flutter. A sensation | don’t understand. Is it the feeling of being cuckolded...?”

Our resident perv kept up this weird chatter as she flicked the rim of the glass and grabbed one of the sticks.

“What’s with you guys? | thought every adventurer tried to catch the latest gossip.” As | spoke, | struck the table, then reached out for...

Sproing! “ ,.Gaaaaaaahhhhhhh!”

“Stop! Stop it! What are you doing to my vegetable sticks? Don’t waste food like that!”

Having failed to catch the vegetable stick, I’d instead grabbed the whole glass and was about to fling it against the wall, but a panicked Aqua grabbed my hand.

“You think I’m gonna let a vegetable stick beat me?! And why do the vegetables always run away, huh? Can’t they bring us something that’s already dead?”

“What are you talking about? Vegetables are just like fish—the fresher, th better. You know how in Japan they sometimes serve fish still alive? It’s the same thing.”

No, it’s not. These are vegetables. | gave up the idea of eating these.

“Huh... Fine. Forget vegetables for now. There’s something | want to ask you guys. I’ve been thinking about what skill to learn when my level goes up next time. Frankly, this party is totally unbalanced, and since | can learn anything, I’d like to try to fill some of the holes in our makeup.” | paused. “So, what kinds of skills do you guys have?”

If you wanted to complete quests efficiently, it was important to make sure your party members’ abilities complemented one another. That was why l|’d brought this up.

“| have Physical Resistance and Magic Resistance, as well as Resistance skills for every status condition. Oh, and Decoy, too.”

“..You don’t want to take something like Two-Handed Sword and up your Accuracy a bit?”

“Nope. Not to brag, but | have high HP and Strength. If | were able to actually hit monsters most of the time, | might defeat them before they ever got a chance to hit me in return. | could hold back and let them attack me on purpose, but...it’s not the same. It’s like...to go in there swinging my sword as hard as | can, but it’s just not enough, and they overpower me...that feels so good, you know?”

“No, | don’t. That’s enough out of you.”

|”

“Mim...! He asks me for my opinion, and then he shoots me down...!” Darkness

was blushing, and she’d started to breathe heavily. | ignored her. When | turned to Megumin, she cocked her head quizzically.

“| have explosion-related skills, obviously. The spell Explosion, plus skills that boost the power of explosive magics, along with high-speed incantation and so forth. Everything | need to release the most powerful magical blasts. That is all that has ever guided my choice of skills, and all that ever will.”

“And | don’t suppose you have any intention of learning Intermediate Magic.” “No.”

So she wasn’t going to be any help, either.

“Let’s see, | have...”

“Don’t care.”

“Whaaat?!”

| shut down Aqua before she could begin listing her skills. | was sure it was just party trick, party trick, party trick.

Sheesh...

“This party is completely uncoordinated. Maybe | really should look for a new group...”

All three of them recoiled at my muttered suggestion.