*

After I heard Megumin say that she is a crimson demon, I became agitated again.

Is this some other kind of supernatural monster?

Besides my sheath, handcuffs were connected to my belt and I was ready for the capture.

As I planned my moves, my stare moved towards the ground and Megumin saw that.

"What happened?" she asked me

"I want you to put your hands behind your back." I told her. "I'm not going to do anything bad to you."

As I said that I sheathed my machete and wielded the handcuffs.

"What !? Why do you want that? What have I done? Get away from me!" Megumin protested

"Don't make this harder than it should. Comply!"

I started trying to wrestle Megumin's arms behind her back, but she hit me in the head with her staff. The military helmet that I wore protected me.

"Stop it, right now!" Megumin shouted

"No way!"

I managed to rip Megumin's staff away from her and put her hands behind her back. She started moving her legs and we both fell on the ground. She continued protesting.

"What are you? Some kind of creep!?"

I managed to move her hands behind her back as she was laying on her belly and I was laying on my knees. Her comments made me blush.

"Hey! It doesn't have to mean that!" I protested, handcuffing her hands and helping her stand up.

"Why else would you do that?" Megumin asked.

"Because I don't know if you are human. Earlier you said you were a demon."

"A crimson demon! That's how my people are called." 

"There is no nation with that name that I've heard of." I said, moving her forward.

I took her staff off the ground and held it in one hand while holding Megumin's arm with my other hand.

Megumin went silent for a few seconds. She looked at the ground and seemed to be thinking.

What's wrong with this girl? Why am I taking her? What's wrong with me?

~Megumin's POV~

When Y/n said there were no such people called crimson demons, when I saw his clothing, when I saw the weird buildings I realized I was transferred to another world.

How could this be? Oh, I am so hungry...

Right now, I was walking with Y/n among the weird, large buildings. When I looked at Y/n he seemed to be very uncomfortable, as if he was forcing himself to capture me.

How could I have possibly known that, just as I was about to enter the Adventurer's Guild to join a party, I would be transported to another world?

I feel so dizzy. I haven't eaten in three days. Maybe I can get some food from him.

~Back to Y/n's POV~

And just as we left that place for good, Megumin tripped and almost fell on the ground but I caught her.

"Are you alright?" I asked her

"I haven't eaten in three days. Do you have a bite to spare?"

Oh no, have I just dragged a starving girl around?

I helped her stand up, used my key to get her handcuffs off and got the salt pork out of my backpack.

I gave her the salt pork and a knife to cut some pieces and eat. She kept cutting and eating aggressively and was about to eat more than half of it until I put my hand on her knife hand to stop her.

"Stop it or you are going to get sick from eating all of that salt pork. I have more food back in the shed."

When she saw that I put my hand on hers, she blushed.

"O-ok" Megumin whispered

I blushed and took the salt pork back in the backpack.

The atmosphere became awkward.

"I-I think I am not going to handcuff you again." I told her

Megumin looked me in the eyes for a second.

"Why did you handcuff me in the first place?" she asked me

"Precautions." I answered. "As I said before, I think you might be a demon. But you are harmless."

"Harmless!? I'll give you harmless!" Megumin extended her hands in anger. Her eyes started glowing. "I am going to prove to you that I am not harmless!"

Her glowing, red eyes caught me off-guard and gave me second thoughts. Is it really a good idea to not restrain her? Ah, screw it! I am not doing that to her either.

"By the way..." Megumin's tone softened. "Will you give me back my staff please?"

Megumin extended her opened hand. I handed her staff back.

"Let's go feed you and satiate your hunger." I urged her on. "See that shed in the distance? That is my temporary place."

When we reached the shed, I opened the door and let her in.

"As you can see, this is my bed" I said pointing to the pile of clothes. "And this table and chair are the only pieces of furniture I have in this humble home of mine. I have left some food on that table. Feel comfortable and eat, as I will ask you some questions."

Megumin sat at the table and started eating away at my food. Then she stopped for a second to point out in the direction of my icon of Lord Jesus Christ.

"What about this? Isn't that furniture?" Megumin asked.

"No. It is a sacred image painted by the faithful in order to depict the Son of God, Jesus Christ."

She isn't familiar with Him, is she? Something is very out of the ordinary with this girl.

"Do you know what is this?" I asked her as I showed my AK-47 to her.

"Some sort of pipe? I do not know. Is it used in construction?" 

"No, that is a gun. So you do not know what is that too."

Megumin just nodded as she chewed.

"How come you know so few things?" I asked.

Megumin swallowed and seemed to be thoughtful.

"You have nothing to fear, so you don't need to lie to me. I've seen a lot of strange things during my life." I reassured her

"I am not from this world." Megumin answered

No way! Is she my companion, the one I prayed for?

I immediately got excited a little. Maybe this is a person sent by God to keep me company!

But I took control of my emotions soon enough. I must keep my distance from people. One second they might approach me in friendly manner, the very next second, they might point a gun at my head and rob me.

"And?" I asked her

"And? Doesn't it sound ridiculous to you?" she asked me

"Not at all. There is a lot of crazy stuff going on around the world. Where were you before coming here?"

"It is hard to describe."

"Try it."

"Well" Megumin continued, between bits of chewing and swallowing. "The cities in my world didn't have so many towers, the way your cities have. The cities in my world also had walls and there were no such pipes the likes you've shown me."

"You mean guns?"

"Yes, there were no guns."

So, she comes out of an ancient or medieval world. Her mage outfit makes sense then. And these people of hers, the crimson demons... It all makes sense now!

"Do you have an adventurer's card?" she suddenly asked me

"What is an adventurer's card?" I asked

"This."

She showed me her adventurer's card. It was written in an alphabet I have not seen before.

"There is no such thing in this world. What does this card do?"

"It shows you how powerful someone is."

All I could distinguish on her card were the numbers. They were a little similar to those in our world. If a number has more digits, it must be bigger, isn't it?  Megumin put her card back in her pocket.

"There is this number which is bigger, what is that?" I asked Megumin

"That is my magic power. Since I am a crimson demon, it is naturally bigger for me. This really helped me learn and cast Explosion very early."

It makes sense since she said she was an arch-mage. That light she emerged from back in the parking lot makes all of this credible. But should I really trust that she came from another world?

Then a noise interrupted my questioning. It was similar to the sound of something gigantic walking.

"Let's go outside!"

Megumin took her staff and I took my Kalash and we left the shed. Outside was an iron horse with bright green eyes. It was a giant war machine, doomed to be piloted by a schizophrenic in the post-apocalyptic world. This robotic horse of destruction was renowned and feared among the survivors. It was the last of what remained of the high-tech war machines of the past. It's pilot maniacally played a certain weird song on a loop on the horse's speakers loudly.

The song could be heard from a distance.

"...OH MY, OH MY I HAVE FOUND YOU NIGGA! DON'T YOU RUN FROM ME LIL' NIGGA! YOU ARE NOT FAST ENOUGH. YOU ARE NOT BRAVE ENOUGH. YOU ARE OUUUT OF LUCK..."

The massive beast was a large distance away, but it was heading our way. And it was going to make us it's prey.

My heart skipped a beat. Is this how I am going to die, killed by a schizo piloting a giant robotic horse, playing some weird song on a loop?

Death seemed to be imminent. In an instant, my hopes for survival were reduced to zero, my expectations for the future reduced to nothing.

"We might stand no chance against this one." I told Megumin

"Ha! You might not have a chance, but I do! Now it is time to show you my power and demonstrate to you that I am not harmless."

Megumin said that in a cheerful tone, she looked at me and smiled confidently while pushing back her cape. I could see her eyes glowing red with excitement underneath her large hat.

After making a victory sign with her fingers, she started chanting while making a pose with her staff.

As she chanted, clouds gathered up and darkened the sky, fiery circles showed up underneath her and bright lights of different colors showed up all around her. Threads of energy went into the orb of her staff in a sight worthy of the apocalypse.

"Oh, blackness shrouded in light,

Frenzied blaze clad in night,

In the name of the crimson demons,

let the collapse of thine origin manifest.

Summon before me the root of thy power hidden within the lands

of the kingdom of demise!

EKSUPLOOSION!"

As she shouted the final word of the chant, an explosion engulfed the massive war machine and the shockwave almost pushed me off my feet. When the explosion cloud disappeared, a large smoking crater replaced the giant iron horse which was previously galloping in our direction.

And just like that, the accursed colossus which had plagued the post-apocalyptic world met it's end. I was in shock.

Wow! That almost looked like the explosion of a nuke.

"That was very impressive, Megumin! Congratulations!" I praised her

But when I turned to look at her, she was laying on the ground face-down.

"Every time I cast Explosion, I use all of my mana for the day and I get exhausted beyond limit. This means I can't move for some time after casting Explosion. Could you please carry me back inside?"

Ooh, how could I refuse an offer like that?

"So, by the end of the day, you are still harmless" I teased her

"You are so lucky I can't move a muscle right now" she responded 

I put the AK on my back and took Megumin in my arms. As I did that, I looked at her, but when she met my eyes with hers, I averted my gaze.

I entered back in the shed with her, and put her on the pile of clothes that served as a bed.

But then I looked at the table. It was empty. While I questioned her previously, Megumin had eaten all of my food.

"Megumin, you have just eaten all of my food! You left nothing for me!"

"I know. You didn't seem to care."

She ate all of my food right under my nose! At least she isn't starving anymore. But what about me!?

"Then that leaves me no choice but to go scavenging in the city again tomorrow." I said

Megumin only nodded.

"But you will have to come with me!" I said pointing my finger at her

"Does that mean we will form a party?" she asked me

"Yes, you could say so. But only until I find a place for you to be safe, I don't want you on my conscience."