The girls brought back from the Konosuba world were divided into three small groups.
Led by Iris, the ordinary adventurers were temporarily settled in the capital under the guidance of the Angeloids.
Grey even gave them a codename — the Konosuba Squad.
The Konosuba Squad consisted of adventurers and ordinary people from various professions, as well as auxiliary members such as Luna and Wiz.
They lived and trained together with other teams like the Demon Slayer Corps, the Night Raid Squad, and the Goblin Slayer Team.
Their power levels were similar, so getting along was easy.
"Come, come, I'll teach you something new."
"This is a spaceship, this is a shuttle, and this is an Angeloid..."
Kanae and Shinobu, who had an unusual passion for teaching natives, took the Konosuba Squad out every day to tour the capital.
They enjoyed using the advanced technology of the interstellar era to shock the locals speechless—it gave them a strange sense of superiority.
Those with magical talent, like the Crimson Demons, were all admitted into the Imperial Magic Academy.
"Here, this is the Imperial Department of Magic."
"From now on, you'll study basic theory and otherworldly magic here. Outstanding graduates can even join the Mage Corps~"
Outside the capital, Mio led a group of little Crimson Demon girls toward a vast complex of magnificent buildings.
The Imperial Department of Magic.
It looked less like a department and more like an entire city.
Towering, castle-like structures filled the skyline, and little girls responsible for research on the magic side bustled back and forth among them.
Some rode in shuttles, while others creatively flew on brooms.
Standing on tiptoe, Megumin looked around and vaguely saw a group of little girls playing ball on flying brooms in a nearby field.
"So big!!"
Upon entering the main building, they were greeted by an enormous domed hall.
The academy's interior had a classical style, complete with lecture halls, libraries, laboratories, and all sorts of functional divisions.
Back in the Crimson Demon Village, their school wasn't even as big as one floor of this academy.
"Later, I'll take you all to register as students and assign classes and dormitories," Mio said with a gentle smile.
"The main categories of magic here are Destruction, Transmutation, Illusion, Restoration, and Summoning."
"There are also elective branches like Type-Moon Magecraft, Dragon Magic, and Spirit Magic. You can freely choose your specialization."
"The Commander said the Crimson Demons have an extremely high affinity for magic. Mastering three or more schools of magic shouldn't be too difficult for you, right?"
Judging by how Crimson Demon girls could defeat monsters even at five or six years old, their talent was indeed exceptional—just their mana capacity was lacking.
Megumin, for example, would pass out after casting a single Explosion spell. She definitely needed more training.
"What about my teacher?" Megumin asked, crossing her arms.
"The elders said only Crimson Demons can teach their kind magic. Anyone with weak mana isn't qualified to be our teacher..."
Before she could finish speaking—
"I and Elma will personally teach you. Any objections?"
The Spirit of Origin extended her hand, smiling gently.
Shua—
The world turned black and white before everyone's eyes; time itself froze in an instant.
"Hiss—"
The Crimson Demon girls gulped nervously.
In the face of an existence so overwhelmingly powerful, their urge to act chuunibyou was instantly suppressed.
"Um..."
"What about me?"
Trailing behind the Crimson Demon girls was a beautiful black-haired, red-eyed girl who raised her hand hesitantly.
"I'd like to study here too?"
"You are... oh, the fortune-teller?"
Mio noticed that among the group of little girls, Soketto stood out rather conspicuously.
Perhaps because she was also a Crimson Demon, she had been sent along with them.
"What's your specialty?" the Spirit of Origin asked.
"Uh..." Soketto thought for a moment.
"I'm the best fortune-teller in the Crimson Demon Village. I can predict the future to some extent, but... my divination doesn't work on myself..."
"Precognition skills, hmm? If you wish to join the Battle Mage Corps, you may continue your studies here."
Mio opened a holographic interface and contacted an Angeloid.
"If you'd rather not, the Commander can help you open a fortune-telling shop here in the capital. You brought your tools, right?"
"What about the setup cost...?"
Soketto felt that opening a divination shop in such a massive interstellar city might actually be quite profitable.
"Of course, it's free. Bulin and the Angeloids will cover all operational costs," Mio said with a smile.
"However, please don't demand strange payments from your clients as the price for your readings."
Knowing the Crimson Demons' eccentric personalities all too well, Mio decided to take precautions in advance.
"And one more thing—sometimes shipgirls may come to ask questions like, 'Where will the Commander spend the night, and with whom?' When that happens, do not attempt any divination."
"Why?" Soketto asked curiously, feeling like she was listening to some kind of urban legend.
"Experience," Mio said flatly. "You'll understand soon enough."
"???"
...
Meanwhile—
Aside from the Konosuba Squad and the Crimson Demons, there was another group of newcomers brought by Setsuna: the goddesses from Heaven.
At first, everyone treated these so-called "goddess companions" with reverence.
After all, beings like Quetzalcoatl, Tohru, and Elma—half-divine entities of immense power—left a lasting impression.
However, it didn't take long for the shipgirls and lolis to realize that the heavenly goddesses from the Konosuba world were not quite what they expected.
"Lady Aqua, could you please demonstrate your divine power, meow?"
Outside the capital, Akashi and a group of shipgirls and Siren units eagerly watched Aqua.
"If you can fully control water-related divinity, it would be a huge help for planetary terraforming! We could save so many resources..."
"Heh-heh-heh—"
Hearing the shipgirls use honorifics, Aqua's pride soared.
These shipgirls respected her far more than Setsuna ever did.
Standing on the sea's surface, she spread her arms wide and invoked her divine authority.
"Behold! I am Aqua, Goddess of Water! All the waters of the world are my servants!"
Boom—
The ocean roared and churned.
Shua—
A torrent of water descended from the sky, crashing into the sea below and creating enormous waves.
The flood merged with the ocean, even causing a small-scale tsunami in the surrounding area.
"Whoaaa—!"
Akashi and Observer peered through monitoring equipment as another Siren girl deployed her rigging, hovering cautiously above the waves—worried Aqua might accidentally flood the entire coast.
Aqua herself stood steady upon the surface, protected by her divine blessing.
The flood wasn't nearly as catastrophic as it had looked at first—once it blended into the ocean, only a small disturbance remained.
After ten minutes or so, the sea gradually calmed.
Arms crossed proudly, Aqua turned to the nearby shipgirls with a smug smile.
"Well? Impressive, right?"
"..."
Observer blinked. "That's it?"
Akashi scratched her feline ears. "That's it, meow?"
Observer twitched one of the mechanical tendrils on her rigging and said concisely, "Weak."
The surrounding shipgirls, who had gathered to watch, were thoroughly disappointed.
"Eh... alright, show's over. Everyone back to work."
"Next time, we'll just have Engineering build a weather control colossus and add a 'Dragon King's Water Jet' module—it'd be more practical."
A certain Royal Maid muttered under her breath, "A goddess of Heaven, huh... Taihou could spray more than you. The deck leaked last night—we and the Angeloids spent half the night washing the sheets..."
"???"
Aqua felt an indescribable sense of humiliation.
"Wait!!! That was water descending from the heavens out of nowhere! It could've flooded a whole city!!!" she protested indignantly.
"Ah, right, but I thought a goddess's divine power could turn an entire barren planet into an ocean world in one go, meow?" Akashi replied casually.
"At that scale, plenty of our mages could handle it. We even have scrolls that can do that."
Akashi's ears twitched as she spoke.
"My divine power isn't at full strength right now! There's no Axis Order here providing faith for me!" Aqua argued stubbornly.
In the Starsea Empire, she felt her divine strength had been noticeably diminished.
"If that doesn't impress you, I still have other skills!"
"Oh?"
The shipgirls gathered around again.
"Heh-heh—"
"I can also do party tricks! I'm great at all kinds of banquet skills!"
Aqua proudly began showing off her completely useless abilities.
"For example, I can make things in my hand disappear! Or make all sorts of items appear out of a box!"
"Meow?"
That piqued everyone's curiosity just a bit.
Akashi pulled a golden box from her rigging and handed it to Aqua.
"Try it—let's see what you can make appear, meow."
"Oh, there's a magical item inside? Let me give it a try."
Aqua could sense that something powerful was sealed inside the box, but she didn't recognize Azur Lane-style equipment.
Holding the box in one hand, she pulled out a cloth and draped it over the top.
Then she began chanting some strange incantation under her breath.
The shipgirls could faintly see divine power radiating from her body.
"Open!!!"
Shua—
A flash of golden light burst before their eyes.
When the light faded, the golden box had turned completely white.
"Impressive, right?" Aqua said proudly.
"Ohhhhhh—"
The shipgirls leaned in to touch it—it really was a genuine white supply box, containing a low-tier Azur Lane equipment piece.
Thanks to the mysterious divine power of the heavenly goddess, the transformation from gold to white was miraculously complete.
"It feels... kind of useful? But also... not?" Observer scratched her head with a mechanical tendril.
"Maybe it's only good for entertaining lolis and shipgirls at parties..."
"Hold on a moment."
Akashi stepped forward and examined the white box carefully.
"Where's the golden box I just gave you, meow?"
"?"
"I transformed it," Aqua replied matter-of-factly.
"Can you change it back, meow? That was a real gold box."
"Of course not. The transformation process and result are completely random. I have no idea where it went." Aqua spread her hands, looking utterly clueless.
"!"
An exclamation mark popped up above Akashi's head.
She was used to selling painted boxes to others—but this was the first time anyone had actually made her box disappear.
"Are you looking for trouble, meow???"
"..."
Half an hour later—
The shipgirls watched as Akashi, wielding a giant wrench, chased Aqua across the sea—from the Golden Horn all the way to the Mediterranean.
Apparently, when the repair cat got mad, she did know how to fight.
—
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