The commotion the group was making alarmed Megumin, who came running out of the bedroom. Seeing Jhin being forcibly fused with by others, a sense of justice instantly filled her chest.
"Stop it! What are you doing to my precious comrade!"
"Megumin!" Seeing that the comrade he had abandoned would actually let bygones be bygones and come to rescue him, Jhin shed tears of emotion. "I knew it — you really are the good comrade worthy of my trust after all!"
Megumin, her expression grave, charged in front of Pecorine and Kyaru to block their path, and the two of them likewise wore solemn looks in the face of her menacing advance.
"With just you alone, there's no way you can snatch Jhin out of our hands. You'd best resign yourself to fate, Megumin!"
She revealed a resolute glint in her eyes, tore off her cloak, and squeezed in between the two under their wary gazes. "Kyaru, cast a Levitation spell on me too."
"What!?" Jhin never could have anticipated that Megumin would defect on the spot, and let out a despairing cry. "I've treated you well — why would you join them!"
"Why? Heh heh heh... Earlier, when my whole body was sore and aching, you gave me a 'massage,' you'd take any chance to make snide remarks about my chest, and you even put on the [Elemental Armament] to tempt me — you treated me SO! WELL!!!"
New grudges and old scores all came surging up at once. In her Levitation state, Megumin raised her hand and clamped down on the inner side of his thigh, the exhilaration of vengeance fulfilled spreading through her whole body as she grinned wide. "Savor this humiliation well, hahahaha!!!"
"Nooooo!!!!!"
Jhin, his heart turned to ash, was hauled all around the house like a criminal paraded through the streets. Only Kokkoro's jade-like feet in his palm could bring him the slightest comfort.
After circling around inside the house a few more times, the three of them grew bored, so they set him down and left, thoroughly satisfied.
Kokkoro comforted Jhin, who lay collapsed on the sofa, pale all over. At this moment his clothes were in disarray and his eyes were vacant, as though he had just had something unspeakable yet very intense done to him.
"Kokkoro..."
"Master, I'm here."
"Did they... did they all leave?"
"Yes. Megumin went back to the bedroom, and Pecorine kept pestering Kyaru to let her squeeze her ears — the two of them seem to have run off outside."
"I see..." Jhin looked half-dead. "Go bring Pecorine and the others back. I'll rest here for a bit."
"Alright."
Kokkoro's footsteps gradually faded into the distance, followed immediately by the front door opening and closing. Jhin sprang up from the sofa with a carp's leap and, facing the direction of Megumin's second-floor bedroom, wore an expression straight out of Jonouchi. "Now it's just the two of us left in the house. Let's see how you run — the Empire will never tolerate a traitor!"
Inside the house it was so quiet you could clearly hear a pin drop. So as not to tip off his prey, Jhin wrapped wind element around his soles to soften his footsteps as he reached the bedroom door. When he had been lying on the sofa, he hadn't heard any sound of the door being locked, so he could be certain the bedroom door would open directly.
"Don't move! Inquisition!"
"Waaah!!!"
Megumin was startled, the quill pen in her hand flying right out of her grip. She whipped her head around and roared toward the doorway, "Are you out of your mind!"
Jhin kept a straight face. "I just received a tip-off. Someone said a traitor is being harbored here. You'd best cooperate obediently with my investigation."
"Traitor? What traitor? You couldn't have gotten some false intel, could you?"
"What were you just writing? Is it classified intelligence of the Empire?"
"It-it's not anything like that!" Seeing Jhin approach, Megumin flopped down onto the desk to cover up what was written on the paper.
"Then why are you covering it up? Guilty conscience?"
"This is a maiden's diary — how could I just casually let anyone see it!"
Jhin let out a scoff and pressed down on her shoulder. "What decent person writes a diary? You'd best confess honestly — it's better that way for both of us."
"Fine... I'll show you, okay..." Megumin reluctantly shifted her body aside, and the instant he bent down she unleashed the Twin Dragons Playing with a Pearl. "Government lackey, take this!"
Jhin held his right hand straight as a blade and jammed it in between the two jabbing fingers, blocking the sneak attack. "I knew you were up to no good — that notebook was probably just a prop to lure me closer!"
Her sneak attack having failed, Megumin meant to flee, but she'd forgotten that the hand pressing on her shoulder had never let go. The moment she tried to get up, she was firmly pushed back down into the chair.
"Attempting to assault a member of the Inquisition — now, even if you're not a traitor, you won't escape death."
Jhin's smug voice filled her with deep regret. She really shouldn't have so hastily exposed her true inner thoughts. If only she had rescued him from Pecorine and Kyaru's hands back then, and then used his trust to deliver a massive backstab — now that would have been perfect.
A pity there's no medicine for regret in this world. No matter how much Megumin lamented switching sides too soon, it couldn't solve the trouble of the reckoning she now faced. Thinking that even if she were to die, she'd die with a bit of backbone, her back — hunched somewhat from being pressed down — suddenly straightened ramrod straight. "Kill me or flay me, do as you please. Either way, your disgraceful appearance is already seared into my memory!"
"Quite the spirit... But then... this matter isn't entirely beyond negotiation." Under her puzzled gaze, Jhin released his left hand and stepped back a few paces, raising an eyebrow and rubbing his index finger against his thumb. "If you want to smooth this over, you've got to show a little sincerity, don't you?"
"No money to give, but I've got one life." Megumin sprawled out flat on the bed in a spread-eagle 'X' shape, with the attitude of a dead pig that doesn't fear boiling water. "I don't have anything valuable. The reward I got from splitting the commission's already all spent."
"Are you sure you want to hand your little life over to me? Won't you consider something else as a substitute?"
"Hmph, don't tell me you've got your eye on some other worthless little thing?"
The bed sank as Jhin sat down on its edge, his gaze locking onto those slender, straight legs that felt so wonderful to the touch. His words carried deep meaning. "Didn't you say before that I'm not allowed to touch you while we're outside?"
The [True Crimson Flame Staff] and the magic hat, which had been keeping silent in the bedroom, now spoke up as well. "Master did indeed say that."
"Yeah, we all heard it."
"You... you two traitors!" Megumin pointed at the two pieces of equipment that were betraying their own side, trembling all over with rage. She shot a glance at Jhin and steeled her heart. "Fine, touch away! I'll just treat it as getting a massage!"
"Really!? Then I won't hold back!"
"Go right ahead!"
"Bonk!" After a muffled thud, Jhin collapsed unconscious onto Megumin's legs.
Kokkoro stood by the bed with a smile on her face, holding a big wooden club in her hand. "I'd just called Pecorine and the others back when I found Master was missing. So you were in your room after all."
"Master, let's go back to sleep."
After saying this with a tender expression, she casually tossed the 'murder weapon' to the floor, hoisted Jhin up, and left.
Megumin gazed at the now-empty doorway, counting herself lucky to have escaped a calamity.
Kokkoro changed Master into his pajamas, tucked him in under the covers, then slipped into the bedding herself, pressing against his chest and falling asleep to the sound of his steady heartbeat.
____
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