Time rewound to a few minutes earlier.
At that moment, the Self-Destructing Dolls Vanir had created were still wreaking havoc around Crimson Demon Village, drawing all the Crimson Demon Clan's attention to the outskirts.
Meanwhile, in a corner of the village, Kazuma was slowly waking up inside an underground entrance that looked like an air-raid shelter.
"Eh...?"
Staring at the unfamiliar ceiling before him, Kazuma froze.
"W-What's going on? Why am I here?"
If Kazuma remembered correctly, he should have been asleep in his room.
Aqua had said something idiotic like, "I heard there's a really cool monster around the village! You perverted peeping man, do you want to copy its look?" But Kazuma remembered flatly refusing her, pulling the blanket back over himself, and going right back to sleep.
Could it be...
"Had I suddenly awakened some mysterious power, grown stronger in my sleep, gone out and defeated the attacking monster by accident, then suddenly returned to normal and lost my memories of showing off my incredible power?"
A voice answered Kazuma's idiotic remark.
"Unfortunately, you're already strong enough. I'd be quite troubled if you awakened some new power, so perhaps you should take a good look at your current situation instead."
The instant that voice reached Kazuma's ears, his expression stiffened. He mechanically turned his head to look beside him.
"Finally awake, Holy Sword Wielder?"
There, Sylvia stood before a heavy door, giving Kazuma a seductive smile.
"Uwaaaaaaah!"
"Waaaaaah!"
Two screams rang out one after the other within the hollow.
Kazuma screamed first.
Seeing Sylvia suddenly appear there, Kazuma couldn't help but cry out.
Then Sylvia, who had never expected Kazuma to suddenly scream, was startled into screaming as well before finally recovering a moment later.
"W-Why did you suddenly scream!?" Sylvia rushed over in a panic, covered