*

"Do you know how this is going to work?" I asked Megumin as we walked along the empty road in the field.

The city and shed were already several kilometers behind us. 

"No." Megumin answered

"When we see a car, we will open it and take whatever useful thing is inside."

"A car?"

Oh. I almost forgot her world doesn't have these.

"You'll see what that is soon enough."

And it was like that indeed. Soon we found an abandoned car in the middle of the road. It's tires seemed to have deflated and it was dirty.

"See? This is a car." I explained to Megumin. "Now you will see how we go about things."

I opened my backpack and took a hammer out of it. Then I smashed the car door's window and opened the door. I searched inside the car and found two useful things: a blanket and an extended black umbrella.

"You see, this one right here is-"

"An umbrella." Megumin said.

"I see you know what an umbrella is."

"Hey, I'm not dumb!" she said passionately.

I smiled at her, retracted the umbrella and gave it to her. Then I continued looking inside the car. As I was busy finding nothing, I heard the sound of an umbrella being extended.

"Woah!" I heard Megumin exclaim

I turned towards her. She had extended the umbrella and her hat seemed to have been knocked off her head.

"You pushed the button out of curiosity, did you?" I asked

Megumin blushed and looked away.

"I didn't expect it to extended like that so fast." she explained

I approached Megumin and gave her a headpat. Megumin nervously closed her eyes as if she just did something wrong and was about to be punished.

I was a little shy doing physical contact like that, but my father used to do that to calm me down when I was little.

"You don't need to be embarrassed for that." I reassured her

Megumin opened her red eyes.

"Huh?" 

This is getting awkward. My heart started to beat increasingly fast. Did I screw it all up?

I took her hat off the ground and put it back on her head.

"Whatever, I'll take the blanket as well." I changed the subject

Megumin retracted the umbrella. It would all be so much easier if she didn't dress in a way that tempts me like that.

"We are going to trade that umbrella." I declared. "These umbrellas can really be useful in trade, especially if we find a survivor without it. It sucks to be caught in the rain without it."

"But you don't have an umbrella of your own, do you?" Megumin asked

"I don't need one, I am wearing a raincoat." I said. "I will not get wet."

But then I looked at her.

"Ah, you don't have anything to protect you from the rain." I realized. "Fine, I'll give this umbrella to you then if rain catches us on the road."

"Thank you!" Megumin smiled

In spite of the adorable smile, the butterflies in my stomach got more agitated. Her smile, the sunset behind her... This atmosphere is making me uneasy.

We went on our way on the road and Megumin asked me something.

"You said you are going to take me to a safe place, do you know where is that?"

"Not yet." I answered. "But I know someone who does. My father and I bought this AK from a dude called Jack that sells weapons that he stockpiled before the apocalypse. He also took resources from a friendly settlement. If I ask him, I think he can point me to that settlement."

God, I haven't seen the guy in years! Should I really put so much trust in him?

We continued our journey on the road until we reached a truck. The truck was at the edge of a forest and night was getting closer and closer. I pointed my finger at the truck.

"See that, Megumin? This is where we are going to sleep for the night."

She didn't say anything. I turned towards her.

"What's wrong?" I asked

She looked really agitated.

"The day is almost done and I haven't used my lethal Explosion magic yet!"

Does she crave using Explosion magic? I feel like I am in danger...

"Fine." I said. "What do you want to use it on?"

"I want to cast Explosion on the fields. That's all."

Megumin flipped her cloak and planted her feet on the ground in a firm position, holding the staff in front of her. As she started chanting, her eyes glowed redder and redder.

"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! 

EKSUPLOOOSION!"

A large explosion appeared in the distance and punched a crater into the green fields, brightening them for a few moments. Megumin fell on her back.

Even though it was the second time I saw Explosion, I was left looking in awe at it's power.

"Great, isn't it? This is the most powerful spell, the power that made me ostracized by the world..." Megumin boasted

I lifted her and made her sit on the truck's rear. It was dark at this point. Since she was temporarily paralyzed, we couldn't climb to the truck's door right away so I got the glass bottles of water and the meat out of the backpack.

I gave her half the meat and a bottle to drink.

"Here, take this. To regain your energy."

Megumin nodded.

In the pitch black darkness, the red of her eyes was more visible than ever. Although I was still not used to them, I was sure that she wasn't my enemy this time.

"I think there is no use to ask you about how you got transported into this world." I spoke. "But do you know anything of people being transported to other worlds?"

Megumin eagerly swallowed a bite she took off the meat and drank a mouthful of water.

"I have read some stuff about hero candidates when I was in school." Megumin answered

Hero candidates? That sounds interesting.

"Please continue..." I urged her on

"These hero candidates are people with powerful equipment and strange names. Rumor has it that they come from another world. They are inventors sometimes and the mobile fortress Destroyer is rumored to have been built by a hero candidate."

"Have you ever seen one of these people?" I asked her another question

Megumin finished her meat and water.

"Yes. There was a guy who took a wing off a greater demon and had an extremely powerful sword, but he was ultimately knocked out by the demon..."

"Huh?"

"But it was I who had ultimately taken the demon down with my mighty explosion magic!" Megumin continued, standing up.

She raised her hand in the air and looked at her palm, and her eyes were glowing harder at the memory of her victory.

The way her eyes glow really unsettle me. The way she acts is so alien to me. But then again, I would be excited too if I were to ever defeat a demon.

I hadn't noticed, but I finished eating my food.

"I see you've regained your energy and you can move freely." I noticed. "Let's get inside that truck cabin then!"

I took the hammer out of my backpack, climbed the steps to the truck's cabin and broke the door's window and opened the truck's door. Since the glass broke inside of the truck, I brushed it off the driver's seat (where it had landed) so I won't get my ass cut by shards.

I opened the other door of the cabin so Megumin could get inside too.

"So what now?" Megumin asked

"We'll sleep. I'll use the blanket I took out of that car to cover myself. You can use your cape. I hope you are used to sleeping on car seats." I joked

That made her smile.

I took off my backpack and laid it on the truck's dashboard. I put my gun by the side of my seat, between me and Megumin.

"You told me that is a gun. But what is it used for?" Megumin asked me

"It is a weapon. A ranged weapon. It is like a crossbow, but extremely different. It is hard for me to explain it to you. God forbid, you might get to see it in action someday."

Megumin took off her cape and covered herself with it. When she took off her cape, I could see her red robe did not cover her shoulders.

This is too lewd for me. I am getting way too distracted by this. My cheeks are warm. Good thing it is dark and she can't see me blush.

I looked the other way until Megumin asked for my help.

"Hey, Y/n, are you sure I can sleep on this seat? It's backrest is not in a good position."

I turned my face back at her.

"Look, this seat can be laid back. All I need is to rotate this circle and then..."

I laid back her seat and I did the same for mine.

"Aren't you worried about the stuff we left outside?" Megumin asked me

"No. I left it close to the truck and in this darkness the chances someone might see and take it are slim."

At this point, a large number of stars decorated the sky. Me and Megumin looked at them through the cabin's windshield. As we looked at the night's sky, I joked with Megumin and taught her some more stuff about the world she was living in right now.

At some point she fell asleep. There was not a hint of agitation or precaution on her sleeping innocent face.

She sleeps like she owns the place yet again!

I kept looking at her and thinking about the situation.

So, I will bring her to that safe place. She might not like it that she will have to search for a party again. 

Me and father never visited any settlement, even though we knew there were settlements somewhere around.

But I don't feel comfortable leaving her in such an unfamiliar place. Who knows, maybe it might not be safe at all!

The thought of leaving Megumin behind as soon as I get her somewhere safe became harder and harder to bear. Sleepiness was taking control over me and the more I thought and looked at Megumin, the heavier my eyelids became with each second.

Stop being a fool! You got attached too quickly! 

I thought, right before falling asleep.

(Author's note: Yeah, Megumin really did defeat a greater demon in the Explosion spin-offs. The greater demon's name is Hoost, you can search that up. That guy was hilarious. Although I don't know if there is much info about him on the English web)