Surprise! I've Transmigrated Again

Despite it being her own fault, Megumin pushed the blame onto Yunyun and even pretended not to know her to avoid confrontation. If it weren't for Adam's piercing gaze, she would have simply slipped away.

Bullying her childhood friend like this — Megumin was truly despicable.

"Hello, I'm Adam Carter, leader of the Hero Party. Nice to meet you, Yunyun." Adam extended his hand in greeting, welcoming rather than dismissing her.

His manner was kind and natural.

"Yes! Nice to meet you!" Yunyun, typically shy around strangers, timidly extended her right hand to meet his friendly gesture.

She appeared so harmless one might think she suffered from social anxiety.

But suddenly, Yunyun's expression turned to confusion.

"That's strange... Mr. Adam — is it okay to call you that? Um... why didn't you laugh when you heard my name?"

"Ah, about that..." Already familiar with the unusual nature of Crimson Demon names, Adam hadn't found it particularly amusing.

Besides, mocking someone's name would be rude — he wasn't the type to ridicule others like that.

Put simply: His professional training meant he wouldn't laugh at such things — unless he absolutely couldn't help it!

"Yunyun, your name isn't as strange as you think, so hold your head high. Besides, what does a name have to do with personality? After all, some people with beautiful names turn out to be hopeless perverts who leave quite an impression on new acquaintances."

Adam glanced at Darkness, who stood in just her underwear, seemingly enjoying the biting cold wind in her peculiar way.

"Isn't that right, Lady Lalatina?"

"Don't call me by that name!" Though she didn't deny his description of her shameful behavior, the young lady bristled at the use of her real name.

This girl… he wanted to teach her a proper lesson about shame right then and there.

Adam's words made Yunyun breathe a deep sigh of relief — for the first time, someone hadn't laughed at her name.

"...I see, as expected of Megumin, you've found yourself a good companion." Yunyun pointed at Megumin and declared loudly, "This is truly worthy of being my rival!"

No, this had nothing to do with Megumin. Adam had been the one accepting of her name, so why was Megumin getting all the praise?

But Yunyun's blushing cheeks told the real story — she was simply too shy to praise Adam directly, so she redirected her compliments to Megumin instead.

One thing was clear: her opinion of Adam had greatly improved!

"By the way, shall we continue this conversation somewhere else? Standing here isn't very convenient." While speaking, Adam gently scolded Darkness, "Hey, Darkness, shouldn't you put your clothes back on? Don't make me do something strange to you!"

"Mmm-!" Upon hearing this scolding, Darkness immediately blushed and drifted into her fantasies.

Well, might as well let her indulge herself.

Yunyun suddenly snapped back to reality, "Oh right! I almost forgot! Everything got so confusing because Megumin pretended not to know me!"

...Wasn't it because you hadn't gotten to the point from the start?

Without warning, Yunyun thrust her right hand skyward, then brought it down dramatically, pointing her index finger at Megumin.

"Megumin, I've come to settle things with you! I am destined to become the leader of the Crimson Demons — if I can't defeat you, what right do I have to claim that position!" She challenged Megumin.

She looked exactly like an anime protagonist who had finally tracked down their rival after completing their training arc.

"According to our agreement, I've mastered Advanced Magic! Now it's time to defeat you, claim the title of the Crimson Demons' strongest, and rightfully become the Crimson Demon Chief!"

"No."

"Gah-?!!" This blunt refusal left Yunyun dumbfounded.

She had finally tracked down Megumin, only to have her challenge immediately rejected — anyone would find that hard to accept!

"I don't want to duel, it's too cold outside, and my body temperature is already dropping." Megumin said matter-of-factly.

The warmth from the Giant Toad's slime was quickly being stolen by the cold wind.

Unlike Darkness, who was jumping around in her underwear without discomfort, Megumin — being an Arch-Wizard — couldn't endure the cold much longer.

"You're right, let's head back." Adam said with concern, "I'll heat up some water when we get back, and you can take a nice hot bath."

"Mm, I need a good soak." Megumin nodded and turned to leave.

"W-wait... wait a minute!" Yunyun called out desperately as her opponent turned away, "Why? We haven't seen each other for so long — why are you being so cold to me!"

The young girl protested her childhood friend's dismissive attitude.

But then she revealed her true purpose.

"So please, Megumin, have a duel with me!"

This duel clearly meant everything to Yunyun.

Perhaps she needed to defeat Megumin — "number one among their Crimson Demon peers" — to gain recognition from the other Crimson Demons?

"What should we do, Megumin?" Adam asked.

"Sigh~" Megumin turned to the expectant Yunyun, "You know I only know Explosion Magic, right?"

"...Yes, that's right."

"But as you can see, I've used up all my mana today. Do you still want to have a Magic duel with me?"

"How could..." Yunyun glanced at the huge crater Megumin was pointing to, knowing she spoke the truth.

But Megumin wasn't one to back down from a challenge. She had to counter.

"...Heheheh, thou underestimateth my power!" She suddenly shifted into chuunibyou mode.

With a dramatic flourish of her cape and an overwhelming aura, she began boasting of her achievements to Yunyun.

"You might not know since you weren't in this town before, but have you heard the rumors? Through my continuous bombardment, I forced the Devil King's General out of his castle and lured him to this town, where we defeated him!

And there's more — the Mobile Fortress Destroyer, known as the 'Moving Disaster,' was also destroyed in this town by my Explosion Magic!

What do you think of that? Still want to duel me? If you really insist... bring it on!"

"Eeh-?!!!"

Megumin's words were indeed intimidating.

Yunyun gulped and looked at Adam, seeking confirmation of these claims.

Unfortunately for her, she saw him nodding slightly — proving these things were true!

Instantly, Yunyun's face turned pale with fear.

But she still wouldn't give up!

"E-even so, I... I... I still want to duel with you!" Yunyun struggled to issue her challenge, like a warrior with no path of retreat.

If you ignored the tears of panic and fear in her eyes, that is.

"Hmm~, then there's no helping it..." Megumin's lips curled into a mischievous smile, "Since you insist, I'll play with you properly!"

"Great! What shall we compete in?"

"Let's compete in physical combat... that's your specialty, isn't it?"

Megumin glanced at the silver short sword at Yunyun's waist, knowing that despite focusing on Magic, her friend hadn't abandoned her physical skills.

However, she added a crafty condition — no weapons allowed, only hand-to-hand combat.

"Is... is that okay...? Megumin, you never even attended physical education classes during our academy days... Aren't you the same person who used to swagger around at lunchtime, making up excuses to trick me out of my lunch?"

Hey, that's too despicable!

However, considering this girl's family circumstances, Adam could understand why she would do such a thing.

But Megumin, worried he might misunderstand, explained, "That lunch... was a matter of life and death for me! Due to family circumstances, her lunch was my lifeline... and if I had directly challenged her, wouldn't that have been intimidation and extortion?"

So you deliberately acted suspicious to make her challenge you instead?!

"I know, I still clearly remember how small and pitiful you looked when we first met."

"Mm, that's good... Now then, let's have our decisive battle!" Saying this, Megumin strode toward Yunyun, who had taken a horse stance.

She stood with her arms spread wide, completely unguarded.

Megumin's thin, malnourished frame gave the impression of a frail magician. Looking at her, one couldn't help but doubt her fighting ability.

In contrast, her opponent Yunyun was quite different.

With a well-proportioned figure that suggested good nutrition, she was tall with long limbs. Combined with the silver short sword at her waist, everything about her indicated expertise in physical combat.

In height and build alone, Yunyun completely outclassed Megumin.

However...

The slime on Megumin's body glistened in the sunlight, making her opponent recoil.

"W-wait... could it be... those things on you, Megumin..."

"That's right! All of this on my body is toad slime... heheheheh, thanks to you saving me earlier, this sticky, wet stuff covering me is straight from inside the toad's stomach!"

Yunyun's face twisted in disgust.

But the devious girl pressed on, ignoring her opponent's reaction.

"Come on! Never mind that — attack me!"

"Eek-!"

"The moment you get close, I'll mercilessly hug you and use wrestling techniques to subdue you!"

"Eek-!!!" Yunyun stumbled backward, desperate to maintain distance.

Megumin raised her arms above her head, wiggling her fingers menacingly.

"What's wrong... didn't you want to duel? You're so far away — this is supposed to be physical combat... come on, get over here!"

"M-Megumin...?! You're joking, right?" Yunyun continued backing away while trying to sound brave, "This isn't funny! I-I get it! You're trying to deceive me, to weaken my fighting spirit, right?! Just like back at the academy, you always pulled this trick... I-I won't fall for it anymore!"

Though she tried to sound brave, one look at Megumin's gleaming red eyes stripped away Yunyun's fighting spirit — she knew her friend would actually do it!

Megumin, wearing a deceptively friendly smile, tried to "reassure" the retreating Yunyun. Her words, however, carried quite the opposite intention.

"Yunyun, we're good friends... right? True friends should share both hardships and life-and-death situations, shouldn't they?"

"Eek!" Hearing this, alarm bells rang in Yunyun's heart, and she turned tail and ran without looking back.

Megumin immediately gave chase.

"So... don't run!"

"I surrender! I give up! Don't come any closer... stay away—!"

The girls frolicked across the endless snowy plains.

Adam couldn't help but sigh — it was another peaceful day.

However...

"Hey, why are you looking at me like that?"

Darkness, who had been watching Megumin and Yunyun's chase, was now staring at Adam with a flushed face. Her heavy breathing and intense expression made her look rather intimidating.

He felt a chill down his spine, sensing danger.

"Ha... ha... ha... slime... slime..." Darkness, also covered in toad slime, fixed her predatory gaze on the clean Adam.

"What are you planning to do?!"

"Being looked down upon by you feels humiliating, but seeing you completely clean just feels wrong."

"Ah...?!"

"So... I'm going to hug you!"

"Hey, wait! Don't hug me!"

Darkness frowned at Adam's pristine state, displeased to see him standing apart from their messy predicament.

Emboldened by her first encounter with the slime, she lunged at him without hesitation.

The gap between them vanished in an instant. Before Adam could dodge, the scantily-clad knight wrapped him in a tight embrace, pressing the cold, slimy residue against his skin.

"W-wait a minute! Don't hug me!"

"Hehehe, come join the fun! It's not fair for you to stay clean — I won't allow it!"

"Let go! Let go right now!"

"Never! I'm not letting you escape!"

"Let go of me, Darkness, you big idiot—!"

Adam's frustrated cry rang out across the snowy plain.

✧✧✧

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