"What's going on? Is she looking for ?"
Damien didn't recall any prior interaction with Darkness.
"Hello, are you Mr. Damien?"
Darkness stood by the table, keeping a polite distance. "I'm Darkness, a Crusader."
"Oh, hello."
Damien pretended not to know her. "Is there sothing you need?"
"W-Well, p-please, please allow to join your party!"
"Sorry, I'll have to decline!"
"Huh?!"
Darkness hadn't expected such an abrupt rejection, leaving her montarily stunned.
"Why?!"
"I-I'm an advanced class. I saw you all bloody and sticky before…"
"Ugh! What happened to end up like that?"
"Just thinking I could end up the sa way, I-I…"
"Guu~~"
"…"
The once cool and haughty Crusader now had watery eyes and flushed cheeks, fidgeting excitedly. Ogerpon's chopsticks dropped her beef onto the table with a plop.
'This woman is scary!!'
Ogerpon's danger radar was flashing wildly.
She glanced at Damien, who seed to have anticipated this.
'As expected of Damien!'
Her Damien stayed calm no matter what!
'Mhm.'
Ogerpon decided to empty her mind, leaving all thinking to Damien.
"Alright, calm down first."
Damien gestured for Darkness to sit and ordered her an iced juice.
"Thank you."
The juice arrived quickly, and after a polite thank you, Darkness looked at Damien expectantly. "I'm confident in my strength and endurance, though my movents aren't very agile."
"My attacks never hit enemies, but as a shield, you can use however you want, no need to care about my feelings!"
"Even if you break , it's fine!"
In fact, the thought of being broken made Darkness's breathing quicken, her every cell trembling with excitent.
"Okay, calm down."
Damien pointed to the drink, urging her to cool off.
"My situation is unique. My party doesn't lack a frontline."
"Aw…"
Rejected again, Darkness wasn't discouraged but rather delighted.
"However…"
Damien paused to think.
He had to admit, Darkness was stunning.
Golden hair, erald eyes, a curvaceous figure, and noble aura.
As long as she kept quiet and didn't show her perverse tendencies, she perfectly matched Damien's tastes.
Unlike Aqua and gumin, Darkness was manageable.
Aqua was too chaotic, likely to cause trouble.
gumin's daily Explosion Magic urges were a hassle Damien didn't want to deal with.
He knew Darkness well enough.
Her full na was Dustiness Ford Lalatina, the daughter of the noble Dustiness family in the Belzerg Kingdom.
Losing her mother young, she barely rembered her face.
As an only child without a mother's love, her father Ignis spoiled her and rarely disciplined her, leading to her craving strict guidance and becoming an irredeemable masochist.
In other words, what Darkness wanted was firm discipline.
For Damien, that was easy.
"Alright, I'll let you join."
Damien had his reasons for allowing Darkness into the party.
First, he wasn't planning to use a subordinate slot to make her one.
Second, he wanted to explore ways to bring soone to the Cardinal World without a subordinate contract.
Darkness was a good candidate.
As for forming a party in Konosuba?
Damien had decided to play the role of a level 100 Martial Artist here.
As long as he didn't reveal secrets beyond this scope, he could share them with Darkness without worrying about leaking other worlds' information.
"Really?!"
Darkness hadn't expected Damien to accept her.
She knew he could see her quirks.
"S-So, so, are you willing to discipline ?"
"It's fine!"
"No matter how perverse the demands, I-I'll endure them for you!!"
"…"
Damien was starting to regret agreeing.
Her voice was too loud.
Didn't she see the adventurers glancing over?
Hey, what's with those looks?
He wasn't so creep who enjoyed tornting Crusader girls, okay?
But this made one thing clear.
Hardly anyone in the guild knew about Darkness's tendencies.
This was likely her first ti exposing her quirks to others.
Normally, though a clumsy fighter who couldn't hit monsters, Darkness maintained a positive image.
"Ahem, we're just friends."
Damien nudged Darkness, signaling her to explain.
Thankfully, she didn't make it awkward, announcing she'd joined Damien's party and apologizing for speaking too loudly.
"What, just a couple's ga?"
"As expected of Damien, snagging the aloof Crusader so fast."
"Darkness, huh… Hope Damien can handle her."
"What? Is there gossip?"
"Nah, I partied with Darkness before. She's so clumsy, she can't hit a thing."
"…"
Learning it was just Damien and Darkness's business, not a dispute, everyone turned back to their own matters.
"Looks like we need so ground rules."
Damien said, "Unless you agree, I won't accept you."
"It's starting already?"
"Doing this and that, and that and this to ."
Darkness grew more excited, but Damien raised a hand to stop her. "Wait, wait, calm down."
"I agree!"
Darkness declared, "As long as I can be your teammate, I'll do anything!"
***
Bonus Chapter:
100 Power Stones = 1 BC
300 Power Stones = 2 BC
500 Power Stones = 3 BC
700 Power Stones = 4 BC
1000 Power Stones = 5 BC
***
If you want to read up to 50 chapters ahead, don't hesitate to visit our patron: pat reon . com / XElenea (remove space)
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