Good Person (3)

The Red Mage who had introduced himself as Jain brazenly requested to join the party. A red handprint still lingered on his face. They were in a situation where manpower was desperately lacking, and having witnessed his skills firsthand, the hero agreed without a second thought. He even took it upon himself to introduce the party members.

"Let me introduce you. These are my lovers!"

"Don't make me laugh. Who the hell is your lover? Not a single one here."

"Haha, we've gone to the beach together and even bathed together. Her name is Karin Rufraint. She's the shy type and says a lot of things she doesn't mean, so keep that in mind."

"It shows. She was clinging to you and jumping for joy earlier."

"That was an accident! I really don't like this bastard!"

"Haha, there she goes again."

"Ugh, you're seriously pissing me off!"

When Jain showed them the corpse of the chimera he had crushed with magic, the rest of the party agreed without objection. Naelle even broke into a huge smile, grabbed Jain's hand, and shouted, 'Now that we're comrades, we're friends!'

The only one opposed was Karin. She crossed her arms, snorted, and declared.

"I'm absolutely against it."

"Why?"

"How can you suddenly add some rootless nobody to the party? We're the hero's party, you know. What if this guy is a spy for the Demon King's army?"

Jain responded as if the idea were pathetic.

"If you were the Demon King, would you plant a spy in a pathetic party like this?"

"Ugh."

It was a valid point. Coming right after her humiliating display in front of the chimera, it stung even worse. Karin whipped her head around, hair flying, and spoke more forcefully.

"Hmph. You should understand when someone puts it nicely. A Red Mage ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠has no place in this party. You know what they are—jack of all trades, master of none. They can learn skills from every class, but everything ends up half-assed. This party already has me as its mage, so we don't need another one."

The reason Karin was coming on so aggressively was simple. Her trademark first-place complex had been triggered. Jain's skills didn't look ordinary at a glance. The terror of being demoted to second place if another mage joined the party was what fueled her defiance.

But Jain didn't get angry. He simply scratched his head and said,

"I'm not after credit or rewards. I just have my reasons for needing to kill the Demon King. If you let me join, I'll handle all the trivial stuff—preparing meals, keeping watch, whatever."

"How am I supposed to believe that?"

"What would it take for you to believe me?"

Karin uncrossed her arms and raised the Staff of the Archsage, pointing it at him.

"A duel. Duel me. If I win, you leave."

She had struggled against the chimera earlier without this staff, but this time she was confident. The Staff of the Archsage greatly amplified the user's magical power.

Plus, Hell Blazer is imprinted in it as a magic seal.

Moreover, it possessed an auto-cast function that could trigger the high-tier fire spell simply by pouring magic into it. Its power was overwhelming—capable of instantly turning a house-sized orc elite into a charred roast.

It's too strong a spell to use on a person, so I won't. What if he gets hit and turns into a lump of charcoal?

Jain, who had been scratching his cheek in thought, eventually nodded. He added his own condition.

"Fine. If that's what you want, I'll do it. But if I win, I get one condition too."

"W-what is it?"

With an utterly serious expression, he stared straight into Karin's golden eyes and said,

"Tell me whether you're a virgin or ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠not."

"You creatively insane pervert bastard! You're dead today!"

Oh no.

Karin immediately regretted it. She had lost control of her reason for a split second and unconsciously unleashed Hell Blazer.

The ember that erupted from the staff's tip formed the shape of a trident and hurtled toward Jain. But Jain remained utterly calm. He shaped his right hand into a fox and formed a magic seal.

"Dispel."

The Hell Blazer that had been scorching the grass black as it flew simply vanished. With just one seal. He had canceled the incantation of a fairly high-level spell with nothing more than a single gesture.

What the hell is this guy's identity? Even my master probably couldn't pull that off.

Karin's mouth fell open in shock. But Jain was completely unfazed. He walked across the scorched grass, reached out with his right hand, and flicked her on the forehead.

"Ow!"

"How can you throw something like that at a person without warning? It's dangerous."

To Karin, who was rubbing her forehead, Jain said,

"Since I won the match, tell me."

A truly innovatively crazy dog pervert bastard... Karin muttered weakly.

Despite how she looked, Karin was a duke's daughter. Naturally, she had received a strict education on chastity. Just speaking the word was embarrassing. Still, as a member of the Rufraint family, she couldn't break a promise after losing a bet.

Biting her lip with her head bowed, she fidgeted with the hem of her skirt for a long time before finally speaking in a tiny, crawling voice.

"I... am a virgin."

"I see. That's a relief. Good."

What the hell was good about it? Karin looked up, dumbfounded. Jain wore a genuinely relieved expression as he stroked his chest. For some reason, it seemed like this was truly important to him.

Unable to curse at that face any longer, Karin pointed at him like a third-rate villain.

"I'll definitely repay today's humiliation! Let's duel again tomorrow!"

*

And she lost again. The next day she lost again. The day after that, and the day after that, she kept losing.

Every evening after the day's adventure ended and they set up camp, she would charge at Jain and challenge him with every spell she knew. Each time she suffered a crushing defeat and was forced to confront the massive gap between them. She never won even once.

"Are you addicted to losing or something? You know you're going to get your ass kicked, so why do you keep coming at me? It's annoying."

One evening, while wearing a headband and trimming onions for the next morning's meal, Jain spoke in a fed-up tone. It was aimed at Karin, who had come to challenge him yet again without any sign of fatigue.

"Heh, today will be different! Today we'll settle it with this!"

"What is that?"

"Cards! The kobold merchant we caught yesterday had two decks of this card game! Let's duel with these today!"

"This isn't even in the realm of magic anymore. Hey, weren't you picking fights with me because of your pride as the daughter of a prestigious magic family or whatever?"

"C-card magic exists too, so cards technically fall under magic..."

"The daughter of a magic family is insulting the very concept of magic in real time."

"Shut up! No matter the field or the content, I have to beat you! What, are you scared? You must be. This card game was popular among nobles, so you probably don't even know the rules!"

"Good grief."

Jain tossed aside his headband as if it were ridiculous and sat down in front of Karin. Karin skillfully performed a riffle shuffle and thought to herself,

I don't know about anything else, but I'll win this one. I'll give him the deck with even worse compatibility against him!

Watching Karin expertly follow up with a faro shuffle and even an eight-cut shuffle, Jain said bluntly,

"You mix cards really well. Why are you so skilled?"

"W-what? Are you seriously suspecting that I have no friends so my hobby is playing solitaire alone in my room?"

"No, who would make such a specific accusation..."

Humming a tune, Karin finished shuffling the deck. The moment she saw her opening hand, a confident smile spread across her face.

"I won't mulligan! What about you?"

"I'll need to once."

Seeing Jain clumsily shuffle his cards, Karin excitedly played her first card and shouted,

"Ha, sorry for saying this after the game started, but I was the regional grand prix champion! You're dead today!"

And she lost.

She kept challenging him. Seven attempts, seven complete losses.

"Why... why do I lose at this too..."

Karin said with a tearful face, head hanging low. Jain simply shuffled ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the cards indifferently and said one thing.

"You're lucky."

"Statistically that doesn't make sense... You cheated, didn't you? It's invalid, invalid!"

"Your expressions are so fucking easy to read. You pathetic-faced idiot."

"P-pathetic? You're really impossible. Let's go again!"

The tearful Karin, now seething with rage, gathered the cards once more. Jain set down the neatly arranged deck and said,

"Before that, forehead out."

They had agreed that every loss meant one forehead flick as penalty. Karin sighed, brushed her bangs aside to expose her forehead, and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Hurry up."

She had already been struck on the same spot seven times, so her forehead was red and swollen. Jain quietly looked down at it and said bluntly,

"But now that I think about it, you..."

"Are you going to say I'm pretty? Have you finally started feeling guilty about hitting such a pitiful beautiful girl?"

"You have a huge forehead."

With ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠those words, he delivered the eighth flick.

Thwack! The impact rang loudly through the forest clearing.

Karin, who had fallen backward from the shock, sprang back to her feet. Her face burned bright red as if it might explode. The only two things she was truly self-conscious about were her "efficient" chest and her slightly protruding forehead.

"You—you bad bastard! How could you say something like that? Today I'm definitely going to win and kill you!"

"Sure. Please do try to kill me."

"Hurry up and shuffle the cards!"

And she lost again. That day's duels only ended after Karin had taken five more flicks to the forehead.