In Another World With a Bunch of Idiots (Konosuba + OC)

Chapter 9 - Kazuma, the Mage, and the Dullahan

"Hey, if you're doing magical training, can't you do it on your own?"

Megumin took me to the outskirts of town so she could cast her Explosion spell.

"If I went on my own, who would carry me back? After one shot, I can't move anymore."

Is she going to make me tag along every day?

One of the Demon King's generals moved in nearby our town. Because of them, all the low level monsters were scared away and less quests were coming in.

"This should be far enough, right? Just cast your spell on whatever and let's go back."

"I can't do that! If I don't do it far from the town, I'll be scolded by the guardsmen again."

"You just said 'again,' didn't you? Did they get mad and call you a nuisance because of the noise?"

Megumin shook her head 'yes.'

"Sigh. Guess we have no choice, then"

I felt a little uneasy without my weapon, but there were no monsters around anyway. And so, I decided to hike a bit further.

Now that I think about it, I rarely have any chances to walk around leisurely like this. My trips outside are usually for hunting monsters or quests. Not a casual stroll like this.

Then I spotted something.
"Is that an abandoned castle?" Atop the cliffs ahead of us, there stood an ancient, dilapidated castle. "It's so eerie, as if there were ghosts in there."

"I'll use it! Surely, no one will complain if I obliterate that!"

"Uh, yeah..."

Megumin happily prepared her spell.

"Crimson-black blaze, king of myriad worlds, though I promulgate the laws of nature, I am the alias of destruction incarnate in accordance with the principles of all creation. Let the hammer of eternity descend unto me! Explosion!"

A large blast ruptured the castle. Megumin, having exhausted her mana, collapsed on the ground.

"Burn to ashes within the crimson..." Megumin said with her buried in the ground. "This is fantastic..."

As that's how my new daily routine with Megumin began.

Left dead broke, Aqua worked hard at her part-time job everyday. Darkness said she was going to do weight training back at her family home for a while. Kaito slept at the inn until noon, and told stories of our quest, though, most of what he told were lies.

Megumin, who had nothing in particular to do, commuted to that abandoned castle every day and kept unleashing explosion magic on it.

On cold, rainy evenings...

"-plosion!"

On calm, early afternoons, right after lunch...

"-sion!"

On invigorating, early morning walks...

"-on!"

"I'd give that one 60 points, I think. It was lacking in volume."

No matter the occasion...

"Explosion!"

Megumin unleashed magic upon that abandoned castle every day.

"Explosion!"

I kept close, observing her magic, and eventually came to understand the quality of each day's explosion.

"Explosion!"

"It feels pretty good today. The explosion's shock waves practically reverberate through my flesh and bones, and yet, the delayed vibrations of the air seem to stroke my skin. Nice explosion!"