Hopeless person, angel incarnate, and learning

"How many years it has been! You have finally come to Axel to become an adventurer?"

Wiz asked with a huge smile on her face. Meanwhile, Megumin moved her head slightly so her mouth was directly in front of my ear and whispered: "Don't buy anything here." and afterward she quickly answered to Wiz:

"Ahaha, it must be at least five since the last time I saw you, Wiz-san. Father had always mentioned when you came by but I was in school learning most of the time. And I've come to Axel not too long ago to become an adventurer indeed."

I was dumbfounded upon hearing the difference between what Megumin whispered and what she answered.

"Oh! So the Explosions happening around the city lately are your doing! You have finally managed to learn the spell you wanted so much! Congratulations!"

Megumin hearing Wiz's words straightened her back a little bit and proudly answered:

"Yes! I have learned it and now I am on the path to master the art of Explosion! I shall become the best like no one ever was!"

"I will be rooting for you!"

Wiz answered without even a slight change in her tone. She seemed to really mean it.

"You are Megumin's teammate, Kazuki?"

This time Wiz asked a question directed at me.

"Yes-"

Before I could say the whole sentence Megumin interjected with great favor:

"He's also my student! I am teaching him the greatness of the Explosion."

"Oh my, how wonderful."

Wiz quickly invited us to sit at the table she had near one of the windows while she searched something from behind the counter. She took out three cups and put the remainders of some white powder from another jar into them. She then filled the cups with water and brought them to us.

"I am very sorry, but this is all I have to treat visitors."

Wiz said with an embarrassed voice.

The liquid was completely transparent but before I could ask anything about it Megumin chimed in curiously:

"Was that powder some kind of magic substance?"

"Umm… It is just sugar."

"..." x2

"My shop hasn't been doing too good lately, so I have to make do. When I get hungry I fill myself up with sugary water... but at least it is tasty!"

Was this some kind of business trap? Was Wiz trying to deceive us to make us buy stuff at her store? Those were my thoughts for a fraction of a second but somehow my gut was telling me she wasn't lying.

And I also saw her put 2 spoonfuls of sugar into the cups we were given and only 1 spoon for herself.

I saw Wiz take one sip from the mug and smile.

...

Why Lich, an undead, could pull off 1000 times more innocent and selfless smile than anything a certain blue goddess could produce, was beyond me.

A few seconds of awkward silence ensued so I asked:

"Adventurers aren't interested in magic items?"

That sounded weird. Weren't the magic items always the most sought things in the world?

"Unfortunately it seems so…" Wiz released a tired sigh and started drinking her 'meal' after coming back to the table.

"Can I have a look around?"

Wiz looked at me blankly for a few seconds and just realized that I might have been a potential customer as well. Megumin, on the other hand, looked worriedly in my direction.

"Sure! Go ahead, ask me anything you want to know about my wares."

I scanned the shelves around but my eyes were inevitably drawn to the dagger Megumin was looking at earlier. The note said 'Reflective Dagger' so in my mind it had to have some enchantment to reflected blows parried with it or maybe it gave some aura that reflected arrows that have been shot at the wielder.

"How about this one?"

"Ah, it's one of Hyoizaburo-san's works."

"..." I saw Megumin stiffen a little bit when Wiz mentioned Megumin's dad.

"It has an extremely advanced enchantment on it! When the tip of that dagger touches any kind of liquid, be it water or blood, for example, it immediately creates a small Teleport Portal in front of it to let the blade pass through it and an End Portal appears in front of the wielder's eye."

"Doesn't that mean…"

"You can give it to an enemy that is about to kill you and when he stabs you he will stab himself! Brilliant, isn't it?"

I looked at Megumin in confusion but she only used the strength she had to pull her witch hat lower to hide her face. I mean… it could be useful if you wanted to kill yourself, that is. Which enemy would just take the weapon you offered and then stab you with it if you asked?

I acted as if I were thinking intensely about it to try to not sadden Wiz and after a few seconds I stated:

"I don't think it would suit my style. What about this one?"

"That's 'Desire Compass'. It was also created by Hyoizaburo-san. It points you literally in the direction of something that you desire."

This time it sounded like a really useful tool so I asked:

"Can I try it? Are there any side effects?"

"No, it's absolutely safe to use so you can see it for yourself."

I picked up the oval device from the shelf and looked at the pointer without thinking about anything specifically. It wiggled for a few seconds and then it turned towards the back of the shop. Before I could look in that direction, the indicator spun furiously a few times and it ended up at a completely different angle. I noticed it repeating this over and over again.

"It doesn't seem to be working properly…"

I showed the madly rotating needle to Wiz-san but she only smiled and answered:

"That just means you have multiple desires. This compass shows them all in random order. If the only thing you desired would be a free meal, it would point you to somewhere you would get it. I know it works because the last time I was starving I used that compass and it led me to the city's river where I found a very nice duck that threw some breadcrumbs at me."

…

I seriously started straining my eyes to find something to buy but everything Wiz had in her shop was pricey while also being 'not really useful'... to say the least. And indeed… most of those items seemed to come from none other than Megumin's dad.

I didn't know what worried me more… Wiz's purchases or Megumin's family situation. Was everyone in Megumin's family so quirky?

After I asked about it, Wiz described the effect of a necklace I had my eyes on. It created an impenetrable barrier for 20 minutes around the wielder but it also meant that air wouldn't go through it either. The ring next to the necklace gave the 'Ice Immunity' effect but it gave the wearer a feeling of being fried alive in magma.

There were earrings that allowed two people to communicate over large distances but the volume of sound transmitted was so loud that it took only a few minutes of using it for the person to go half-deaf AND they had to be attached to the person's body so the enchantment would work.

Even something sounding as simple as a whetstone that made your blade sharper made the blade you were sharpening glow with a bright pink aura and added a horrid stench to it.

I even asked about a pair of glasses and supposedly they allowed its user to read a lot faster but they didn't help at all with understanding or remembering what you read so you basically wouldn't get anything out of reading the book.

Not once Wiz has tried to deceive me or omit the truth. She happily listed out the pros and the massive cons about every item I asked about.

Throughout my arduous search, I observed Megumin sliding down her chair each time Wiz mentioned that it was Megumin's dad that created the item. I had to stop asking before Megumin ended up completely under the table.

"So, would you be interested in any of those items?"

Wiz asked me after I sat at the table to fix Megumin's position and I regretfully answered:

"No… these items aren't really for me."

"Oh…" Wiz answered dejectedly with a sad sigh and drank the last drop of her sugar water still remaining in the cup.

I felt that my consciousness would eat me alive if I left it like that. Was this what people called "being stuck between the rock and a hard place"? Deciding I had to do it one way or another I said:

"But I wanted to buy your… Ummm… services."

Both Megumin and Wiz jerked their heads up instantly and I immediately realized how weird that sounded so I quickly corrected myself. Megumin thought some indecent things because there was a shock plastered on her face and Wiz probably thought it was about her cemetery job so she released a smile.

"I mean… Would you be willing to teach me about Advanced Magic if I paid you?"

"WHAT?! Why would you need-?!"

Megumin stood up instantly and slammed her hands on the table but before she could end her sentence Wiz's initial confusion cleared and she answered me.

"Of course!"

"Wiz-san!"

Megumin looked at Wiz as if she committed the highest treason at that moment.

"Calm down Megumin. Sit down or you are going to lose all your strength once again. Besides, you promised me that you would stay calm no matter what."

"But-"

"I will learn an Explosion Magic skill first and THEN other Advanced Magic. But I can learn things about them simultaneously, right?"

I just had to find another form that would be able to take up an Archwizard job to easily take more types of Advanced Magic. I was earning separate skill points in each of my forms that could use Adventurer's Card anyways so it was possible for me. And lowering the number of skill points needed for the skill by acquiring knowledge was just a no brainer.

Megumin seemed still unsatisfied but before she could answer her body finally gave out and she plummeted to her seat and I had to catch her before she fell on the floor. Looks like someone just extended their time off of moving like a normal person.

"First Explosion Magic and then some other Advanced…?" Megumin asked in a surprisingly meek demeanor.

I nodded affirmatively to her question and that seemed to relieve her somewhat but Wiz suddenly interjected:

"I would advise against learning Explosion Magic first because of-!"

"Wiz-san, please do not teach my student any weird things!"

Megumin's eyes suddenly lit up as she said this sentence in a serious tone. Although Wiz didn't seem intimidated she didn't say anything after seeing me nod at her. Wiz didn't know about my special 'circumstances' so of course, she was right about what she just tried to say.

"So, how much money would you want for one lesson, Wiz-sensei?"

"Ummmm… enough for me to buy some food?"

…

If all undead were that kind and selfless they would be better to be around than humans…

"Kazuki, where are you going? Hey, take me with you!"

Megumin suddenly exclaimed when she heard me suddenly excusing myself and saw me walking out without her. I then told her that I will be back in a few minutes and left the shop. As promised, I have arrived 10 minutes later with some food for all three of us. I didn't know why Liches had to eat but Wiz seemed really happy about the dinner I brought.

Seeing that the Wiz didn't look too occupied after scarfing down her portion I asked if the first lesson in Advanced Magic could be on that very day. Wiz didn't voice any objections and neither did Megumin so very soon my first lecture by Wiz-sensei started.

Surprisingly, many of the things that Wiz had said that day was what I have already heard from Megumin. There were a lot of parallels when talking about the basics in Explosion Magic and other types of Advanced Magic.

Even though I boosted my intelligence by transforming into my Crimson Demon form my brain was on the verge of bursting with new knowledge by a 2-hour mark and I asked Wiz if she could continue some other time.

She herself didn't seem tired at all after continuously talking and happily agreed for another session at my own convenience since she was pretty much always free besides nights when she had to do her other part-time job.

Wiz was genuinely surprised when I took out my money bag and took out 40,000 Eris to pay for her lesson. She really thought she was teaching me for that measly dinner I brought when she could probably earn 1000 times more if she decided to teach some noble kid. I honestly thought about paying her more but I wasn't sure if I could keep it up in the future.

Afterward, we said our goodbyes and I took Megumin back to her house.

On the way there, Megumin asked me how did I know Wiz. I couldn't tell her I met Wiz on the cemetery where a Demon King's scout met with her and we became some sort of friends afterward so I just mumbled something about meeting her in the city the other day.

Before Megumin could spot any holes in my story I quickly changed the topic to Megumin's own connection to Wiz. Supposedly Wiz has been a long-time customer of Megumin's dad and Megumin described in embarrassing voice how her father's devices are always faulty in some way or another.

At that point, we were already in Megumin's house. When I put Megumin on the couch she changed the topic entirely and I learned that every time I would take a lesson with Wiz-sensei I had to come and have Megumin-sensei there teach me as well or I will be 'in serious trouble'.

And just like that, I had to strain my brain for another two hours until I was magnanimously let go by the little Explosion Tyrant.

The Sun was already getting low and I had two forms on the verge of collapsing so I opted to go home instead of doing anything else.

(A/N: Hello, it's me, Kabu. Time for a weekly Author's Note! I hope you enjoy my novel so far. As always I want to ask you for your input in the comments. What did you like, what did you dislike?

This time I also have a massive request. Please waste a few minutes on me and write a review for my novel. Put what you think in the window and press the OK button!

But remember to not SPAM duplicates. 1 Review per person is my policy. I got two readers who posted 2 reviews each and I will ask them to remove one as in the future if someone will be so appalled with my novel that he will spam me with negative reviews I won't feel like a hypocrite for deleting negative spam and not touching positive one.

Ah, amazing work by the way! We managed to get this novel into top40! Please keep up smashing my head with power stones :D

See you next chapter.

PS: If anyone would be interested in contacting me in another way than the comments section, then you can join my discord server: https://discord.gg/3Uyp8G )