Konosuba - Megumin x Reader

Chapter 43: The Proper Way to Celebrate this Festive Time!

"Ah. Kazuma, Y/N, why are you so late? Look. Look at how happy people are with the stalls of my precious followers!"

A cheerful Aqua ran over to us just as we arrived at our culinary stall. She pointed at the abundance of people gathered all over the place. In her hands she carried ice containers.

Just like yesterday, there was a large crowd gathered in the area managed by the Axis Cult. The reason for such a flood of people was different for today, though.

"Welcome! This way for a certain country's festive food, yakisoba!"

"Have some shaved ice! Tasty shaved ice! There are strawberry, lemon, pineapple, red bean, and tokoroten slime flavors!"

"Fresh boorgers! Coming from a far away country, this delicious appetizer comes with two sauces to choose from!"

The district was filled with fresh and savory smells amid the choir of shouts advertising various food stalls. People must've realized the reason behind the popularity of our yesterday's stall, and tried to recreate our success... Wait, shaved ice?

"Kazuma, the shaved ice you made in the afternoon ran out! I'll create water, so hurry and turn them to ice!" Aqua presented the ice containers she carried with her, to Kazuma.

"You made shaved ice for them in the afternoon? When I asked you to go to the festival with me, you didn't bother to move a muscle. What made you suddenly decide to stop being a waste of air and go outside? Not that I didn't have tons of fun by myself, or anything... Actually, I probably had more fun than I'd have with you and your constant grumbling, anyway...!"

"It's clear that you're the bottom in your relationship with Megumin, so stop making it even more apparent. Aqua dumped water on me to get me to come out when you were having your fun alone. Anyway, even though the stalls are somewhat different from those in a Japanese festival, it's still pretty similar to the original."

Kazuma rubbed his chin. Looking around the district, he began appraising the Axis food stalls, like he didn't just violate me with words.

With a frozen expression on my face, and crossed arms, I decided to stay quiet. I would've dug an even deeper grave for myself otherwise.

"The condition's not bad today. Yes. If you work hard honestly like this, your worshippers will definitely increase. Isn't it nice that everyone can be happy?"

Using his Freeze spell, Kazuma made ice cubes and filled Aqua's containers with them, smiling.

Aqua returned Kazuma's smile with a genuine one of her own.

"Yes. This is all thanks to you and Y/N. Look. The children of the Axis Cult are smiling so happily... I'm really glad we were able to host this festival. Thank you for helping the Axis Cult, you two." She smiled innocently at us.

In that moment she looked like a fully fledged goddess.

What happened to her? Did the festive mood fry her brain?

Kazuma and I looked at each other in total bewilderment. Were we still talking to the same person?

"By the way, since these stalls are popular, you must've earned a lot, right? It's a rare opportunity. Use the earnings to rebuild that dilapidated Axis Cult Church." Kazuma decided to change the topic.

"Will it all go to the Axis Cult Church? I don't work for free, you know... Ow! What was that for?!"

"We didn't earn much. Yesterday Kazuma said, 'If you're serious about doing business, you can make a profit'. I obeyed and implemented a low profit, high sales approach. This festival is co-hosted, so the festival committee is making the Axis Cult pay for the cost of operation. If you include this cost, we're still losing money."