—My name is Megumin.
I was the top wizard of Crimson Magic Clan, a wizard that used Explosion magic.
I had driven off the evil god’s minions and defeated two greater demons.
“Recruiting frontline jobs~ There are three open spots!”
“Any priest? This is a profitable job involving driving off goblins! One open spot!”
Someone like me was—
“Hungry. I’m starving…”
I was suffering from starvation.
Today, I was also in the corner of the Adventurer’s Guild, waiting for someone to post a notice to recruit party members.
How did it become like this?
Even though I gave the reward from the Adventurer’s Guild to Rex, the story of Hoost being defeated by me should be well-known to other adventurers.
Then why wasn’t there an adventuring party that would recruit me?
Before Yunyun left, she gave me all the remaining expedition fund borrowed from Cecily. She forcefully pretended to be generous and called it a farewell gift.
No. Wrong.
At that time, I was overly optimistic, believing that as the person who defeated Hoost, every party would invite me and that I would make a lot of money.
In the end, it was like this.
“Hey. What are you doing here? Still haven’t found anyone to party with you?”
There was a voice above my head as I sprawled on the table.
I knew who it was without looking.
It was Rex.
“What? Your wounds are healed? And are you here to mock me? Are you picking a fight? I’m very hungry now, so I’m in a bad mood. If you are picking a fight, I will take you on. After all, it is in our nature as Crimson Magic Clansmen.”
“No, no, wrong! I won’t dare to pick a fight with you! Spare me. I didn’t mean it that way.”
Hearing my words as I sprawled on the table, Rex was scared out of his wits.
“… Hey, if no party wants you, why not join my party?”
He said in a tone as if he was inviting me for lunch…
I quickly raised my head and grabbed Rex’s belt.
“What did you just say!?”
“Uh! No. I’m just asking if you want to join my party. After all, my party is quite famous. I think someone like you, who could use that powerful magic, would be useful.”
An elite team was inviting me to join!
“Elaborate! Tell me all about it!”
“Ah. Okay. Uh, how should I say this? For us, the monsters in this region are no longer worth the effort, so, uh…”
Rex pointed to the guild door with his thumb.
Sophie and Terry were there outside with their luggage.
……
“We intend to move our base of operation to the war zone— that is, at the imperial capital. We think we could earn more there.”
This suggestion itself was very attractive.
“There are a lot of enemies there, and powerful ones at that. If you join, you would surely accomplish a lot, even if it was your one-use magic.”
When I thought about my own future, going with them to the imperial capital might be the correct choice.
“Imperial capital huh… Would I become a liability since my level is still low?”
I said as I let go of Rex’s belt.
“Ah? What are you saying? If you are considered a liability, then we are practically…!”
“And—”
I interrupted Rex’s sentence.
“Can’t you stay here for a while more? I’m starting to like this city.”
I said and smiled.
“… What a strange fellow. But this city is full of weirdos, so I guess it suits you.”
Rex said in amusement and smiled.
“Well, then we are leaving. I heard the demon king’s army is becoming more active. We need to hurry to the imperial capital and make a name for ourselves.”
He turned and left as he waved at me.
In a moment of mixed emotions, I watched him leave without knowing what to say— and suddenly came back to my senses.
Oh no. I shouldn’t be stubborn at this time!
At least, I should have let him treat me to a meal…!
It was too late to regret.
I could only walk towards to the notice board.
The recruitment notices were probably still the same ones as before.
—Sigh. I was starving.
Now was not the time to be proud.
Should I pester a party that was currently recruiting until they treat me to a meal— even if they reject me in the end.
—At this time, I discovered a notice that I had never seen before.
A recruitment notice that was limited to advanced jobs.
That was so demanding to make such a request in the city full of rookies. But luckily, I met this requirement.
I was very concerned about the notice saying, “The current party consists of a rude person with the weakest job and a super-beautiful and excellent arch priest.”
My bad premonitions were quite accurate.
The self-proclaimed beautiful and excellent arch priest reminded me of that person who left a few days ago.
But I was so hungry that I was almost reduced to a skeleton.
What kind of party was this…
—When I saw the duo that made up the recruiting party, I was stunned.
It was the strange duo that I frequently encountered.
Because the recruitment notice was too specific, nobody approached them until now.
“… Hey, there’s no need to be so demanding, right? Although recruiting high level members is necessary to defeat the demon king… but is it even possible to find such people in this place?”
The young man was right.
The watery blue-haired girl lazily sprawled on the table.
“Ugh… But, but…”
She seemed unwilling to compromise.
They should be the ones who posted that notice.
And this was the self-proclaimed beautiful and excellent arch priest.
… Arch priest?
Beautiful arch priest with watery blue hair?
I smiled deviously.
No wonder nobody in the city could find her, no matter how hard they tried.
Looking at the girl who sprawled lazily on the table, it was difficult for anyone to think of her as a beautiful arch priest.
However, I felt that if I joined them, it would be very difficult for me.
I didn’t really have the right to say that, though.
“Nobody would come at this rate. Besides, you may have an advanced job, but I have the weakest one. If we recruit a bunch of elites, I won’t even have the right to speak anymore… Let’s lower the requirements a bit…”
Despite my bad premonitions, I continued to approach their table.
I had to pretend to be a cool wizard and greet them despite my weariness.
“About the recruitment for adventurers with advanced jobs, are you the ones who are recruiting?”
But I felt these two people…
When I saw them elsewhere, they seemed very playful.
I was probably a weirdo myself, so maybe it wasn’t bad to be with them.
—This was Axel, the City of Rookies.
This city was the starting point for me. I was merely passing by.
Yet I decided to stay on in this city.
The duo raised their heads to look at me dumbly. I valiantly flicked my cloak——!!
“——My name is Megumin! I’m an arch wizard who controls the strongest magic, Explosion magic…!”