The contact was immediate and electrifying. The kiss took Darkness totally off guard, cutting off any attempt at protest or coherent thought. At first, her hands rested weakly against Theo's chest, with the uncertain intention of pushing him away, but the strength simply did not answer her call. Theo, for his part, did not take a step back; he slid one of his hands toward the crusader's waist, pulling her closer to him and deepening the contact with a determination that left no room for doubt.
Little by little, Darkness's resistance crumbled. Her fingers, which before were pushing without conviction, ended up clinging to Theo's shirt as she closed her eyes, letting herself be swept away by the sensation. The silence of the apartment was only interrupted by the sound of their heavy breathing.
Seconds later, Theo slowly pulled away. Darkness remained leaning against the wall, panting slightly, her eyes unfocused and an intense blush covering not only her cheeks but reaching all the way to her ears. She looked completely disarmed, an image very different from the unbreakable warrior she usually projected on the battlefield.
Theo caught his breath and stepped back a few paces, giving her space to breathe. He looked at her for a moment, analyzing her state before speaking.
"Be grateful that I don't plan on doing anything else today" - Theo said in a calm but firm voice.
Darkness let out a small sound of confusion, a sort of "Ah...!", while she tried to process what had just happened. Theo crossed his arms, watching as she leaned against the wall to keep from staggering.
"Despite how you act sometimes, it's clear you aren't ready to go further" - Theo continued, with a sincerity that bordered on protective coldness. - "I know that if I pushed more, you would probably give in, but I don't want you to regret it tomorrow. So, for now, this stays here. I'm not going to continue until you are in complete agreement with what is happening, without it being just an impulse or one of your fantasies."
He paused, letting his words sink into the crusader's clouded mind.
"But keep this clear: expect a similar reaction every time you overstep with your masochistic attitude. You will get a reaction" - he added, giving her a look that made Darkness shiver, though this time it wasn't just because of her fetish.
Finally, seeing that she still hadn't quite recovered her speech, Theo decided to end the meeting. He walked to the door and opened it, subtly inviting her to leave.
"Tomorrow we will continue with the missions" - he said in a tone of farewell. - "I expect to see you early at the guild. Don't be late."
Darkness left the apartment almost mechanically, nodding slightly while trying to regain her dignity. Theo closed the door behind her and let out a long sigh, dropping heavily onto the bed. He stared at the ceiling for a long time, processing the situation.
'It wasn't bad' - Theo thought, running a hand over his face. - 'I would have liked to continue, but that would ruin the relationship I have with her.' - He didn't mind waiting. After all, he had now marked a clear line and he knew that Darkness, in her own way, would respect it.
Or so he hoped...
With the matter of Darkness resolved for the moment, Theo felt that he could finally relax. The weight of having completed the mission in the other world still felt in his bones. Now he had a free month before the system forced him to jump to another universe, and he planned to make the most of every second.
"I think it's time to get some real equipment" - he reflected. Until now he had made do with basic adventurer gear and whatever luck granted him, but with his increase in stats, it no longer made sense to use low-level weapons and armor. He wanted something made to measure, something that truly complemented his current strength.
"But for that, I need money. A lot of money" - he thought out loud with a sigh.
He mentally calculated the costs of high-quality plate armor and a sword forged with magical materials. It wouldn't be cheap. With a resigned sigh at the prospect of hard work, he closed his eyes. The exhaustion accumulated from the night before in the world of Hansel and Gretel, added to the mana expenditure from testing the spells and the emotional tension with Darkness, finally took its toll. He fell asleep almost instantly, falling into a deep and uninterrupted dream.
When Theo woke up, the light coming through the window was no longer the brightness of midday, but the soft, orange tone of sunset. He stretched, feeling that his body had finally rested enough. Hunger began to pinch, so he put on his footwear and decided to go to the adventurer's guild, which at that hour was usually at its liveliest.
Upon arriving, the usual bustle of Axel greeted him. The smell of beer, roasted meat, and the sound of adventurers' laughter filled the air. Before entering the dining area, he spotted Luna near the counter.
"Hey, Luna" - Theo greeted with a wave of his hand.
The receptionist smiled back, though she looked somewhat busy organizing some papers. Theo, before sitting down to eat, detoured toward the notice board. His eyes scanned the sheets of paper, looking for missions that were lucrative enough for his new goal.
He ignored the simple gathering tasks and short-distance escort missions. He focused on monster elimination missions in the outskirts. After a few minutes, he selected several that, together, added up to the not-inconsiderable amount of 290,000 Eris.
'It's a good start' - he thought, pulling the papers off decisively. He approached the counter where Luna had already freed herself up a bit.
"I want to register these missions to my group" - Theo said, placing the papers on the wood.
Luna began to review the notices, and her eyes gradually widened as she saw the amount and the accumulated difficulty of the tasks.
"Theo? Are you sure you want to take all these missions?" - she asked, looking at him with genuine concern. - "It's a lot of work even for a large group, and you usually move alone or with Darkness. Are you really thinking of taking so many at once?"
Theo knotted with a calm expression, with no trace of doubt.
"Yes. It's just that I plan on getting better equipment, so I need a lot of money for that" - he told her.
Luna sighed, but began to record the missions under his group's name. She knew Theo well enough to know that he is very cautious, so if he said he could do it, it was because he was sure he could complete the missions.
"Alright, but you know the rules" - Luna reminded him while stamping the documents. - "If you don't complete them within seven days, they will go back to the board for others to take. Don't overexert yourself too much, please."
"Of course. And thank you, Luna" - he responded in a kinder tone than usual.
After saying goodbye, Theo finally went to the seating area to order a hearty dinner. While waiting for his food, he observed the map of the outskirts of Axel, mentally tracing the most efficient route to complete the missions. Tomorrow his "mission marathon" would begin, and he didn't plan on wasting a single minute.
After dinner, even though he wasn't sleepy, he decided it wasn't a good idea to stay sitting around. He left the guild and headed to a night training area near the walls. He didn't do anything too demanding; mostly he focused on training the activation of his new spells, especially those of the astrologer class, and meditated while using his Inner Beast skill; this is a slow but sure way to level up his ability.
Tomorrow the real work would begin.
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I really would have liked to give Luna more prominence and not leave her so far away, but I'm focusing more on fast-forwarding as much as I can to get to the beginning of the Konosuba canon, so I can start to reduce the frequency of time jumps... although Konosuba has quite a few jumps between chapters.
but hey, I hope you liked the chapter.