Epilogue
TL: Cannongerbil
Editor: Striker, Ulti, Xenthur
In the same old, unchanging room.
In this boring and unchanging workplace of mine, a regular customer appeared.
“Yo.”
He raised his hand and gave me a friendly greeting.
Though now is not the kind of situation to be saying ‘yo’…
“Kazuma-san… Good grief, why are you…”
Why does this person die so easily?
He even defeated the Demon King, so I really wish he’d stop popping up in here so often.
More importantly, I really wish he’d stop making himself at home here.
He had both hands behind his head and crossed his legs, completely at ease…
──This is the place where the souls of the deceased end up.
It’s not supposed to be a place where you can make yourself at home, but…
“Phew, this place really is the best place to relax. How do I put it, I feel like I’m being rejuvenated just by meeting Eris-sama.”
Saying that, he laid down, using his hands as a pillow.
“…Good grief. I had a really hard time after that, you know? Do you know how much work it took me to return here?”
“Well, I mean, you were gone by the time I got back to town. I was planning on giving you a lift.”
…Give me a lift?
No, more importantly,
“Um, could you please stop calling me Eris-sama? You are the hero who defeated the Demon King, and you know my true identity as well, so you can drop the honorifics. And you should also use your usual casual tone…”
“Well, if you speak to me like you usually do, I’ll do the same.”
“…That’s how I naturally talk when I’m a goddess… Still, you look really worn out. What happened this time? After peace was restored to the world below, I haven’t had the chance to observe it too much…”
Just what kind of monster killed him this time?
With the Demon King defeated, the monsters of that world should’ve grown weaker.
As he is right now, there wouldn’t be very many creatures capable of killing him.
“…Well, a lot of things happened. Actually, I was kicked out of the mansion for getting a little carried away. I’m the Hero who defeated the Demon King, you know? It shouldn’t be too much just to ask for a few rewards more.”
That’s terrible.
I don’t know exactly what happened, but I agree that this man deserves to be rewarded just a little more.
“Sounds like everyone is as lively as ever… Did you run into any major trouble so far?”
“Yeah, they really are lively. Nothing really troublesome has happened so far, but… Well, I have a really bad feeling. For instance, recently, Megumin has been disappearing off somewhere with Yunyun quite often and coming back with a refreshed look on her face. She must be letting off her Explosion somewhere, but who knows what she’s using as her target this time…”
…I think I’ll keep the fact that the two of them have been heading to the Demon King’s castle every day to blast it with Explosion to myself.
“As the great noble who helped defeat the Demon King, Darkness was granted new land to govern. Speaking of which, she has been complaining about receiving countless marriage proposals from not just nobles of Belzerg, but from all over the world too. Recently she has holed herself up inside the mansion to avoid meeting the messengers from the country.”
…He’s the reason why she’s rejecting all those proposals. Seriously, acting like it doesn’t concern him at all…
She faces strong rivals in the form of Megumin and his “adopted” sister, and on top of that he’s such a free-spirited person. Darkness sure has it tough.
“And Aqua, who kicked me out from the mansion, refuses to let me back in. She keeps telling me to ‘Stop saying stupid things’ or the like, but even if she says ‘stupid things’…”
“Just what did you say to get her to kick you out?”
I believe this is the second time he was kicked out of the mansion.
He has accomplished many great things to save the world, so just saying a few things shouldn’t…
“I was being showered with praises and attention after defeating the Demon King, so I let it get to my head a little and made just a little joke. It went, ‘Alright, daddy’s making a harem’.”
“……………”
“…Eris-sama, I do feel bad over that, so please don’t stay silent. It’s going to make me depressed.”
I take back what I’ve said.
This guy should definitely go through a little more hardship.
“Well, anyway, you can feel free to relax here until Senpai calls you back.”
…But I guess it’d be fine to let him relax when he’s over here.
“…Call me back? …Ah, I’m not dead, you know?”
He raised his head from the floor and said that.
“…You’re not dead? But aren’t you right here?”
“Well, yes. I came here by my own power.”
……..?
“I teleported here. Teleport. You know, I was here before the duel with the Demon King, right? I still had a spot open for my teleport destinations, so I thought…”
“!?”
What did this man just say?
“Wait, hold on a minute. You placed a Teleport destination here?”
“Yeah… I mean, come on, not even I would leave Aqua hanging here without a plan to get her back. By the way, do you think I can come here to hang out every so often? You know, when I get dragged into troublesome things…”
“No, no, no, you can’t! What are you saying!? And, you managed to register a Teleport point here? How could you do that? Actually, how do you keep doing things that no one else can even consider!?”
“W-Well, I just tried it as a test and it worked, so…”
If he could just pop in here anytime he wanted, this place would be stripped of its dignity entirely.
“Come to think of it, Darkness has been looking for Chris a lot nowadays, you know? Actually, if she could just meet you normally, there’d be no need for this charade.”
“Ugh… If I meet her now, she will chase me to the bottom of it… I’ll find time to meet with her later.”
Then, he languidly sat up.
“Seriously, how could they treat the hero who saved the world this poorly? Right, I think it’s about time I go teach them a lesson!”
He cracked his neck as he was saying that and stretched.
──The Hero who saved the world.
He says it so flippantly, but does he really understand what he has achieved?
A single powerless man with unreliable companions managed to defeat the Demon King’s generals and other strong enemies one by one, eventually managing to take out even the Demon King himself.
Even the great heroes featured in the extremely distorted fairy tales could only achieve such a feat with the help of legendary equipment and powerful companions.
“First is the idiot who kicked me out. I was just a little soft on her, and it immediately got to her head.”
He started chanting teleportation magic while doing some light calisthenics.
Just imagining the scenes that would take place after this brought a smile to my face.
Even though chaos and trouble followed him everywhere, he always seemed to be in good cheer.
“Right, Eris-sama, I’m off to make them cry a little.”
“Have a safe trip. Don’t do anything too horrible to them, okay?”
Hearing my words, the great hero who saved the world turned around with a wry smile on his face.
──I hope that this person gets rewarded just a little more.
──I hope that he will never come to regret staying in this world instead of going back to Japan.
“Kazuma-san, please hold on for a moment. You don’t come here very often, so let me give you a little present.”
He gave me a puzzled look. In response, I extended my hand and gave him a smile.
“I wish good fortune upon you who have worked so hard for the sake of this world.”
──I hope that you’ll come to enjoy this wonderful world that you’ve worked so hard to protect.
I extended my hand towards him and offered a prayer from the bottom of my heart──!
“Blessing!”
Fin
Afterword
Thank you for purchasing “Gifting this Wonderful World with Blessings” Volume 17. I’m the author, Akatsuki Natsume.
This series grew to have seventeen entries before I knew it.
I would really like to express my gratitude to everyone who has followed me up to this point.
Now then, I’ll be explaining some events that take place in this volume. Those of you who like to read the afterword first will be spoiled, so it’s best if you leave reading this to after you’ve finished the volume.
──While Kazuma and his party were wandering around the Demon King’s castle trying to bring back the runaway goddess, the small division of the Demon King’s army sent to attack the town and the adventurers who, despite having high levels, refuse to leave the town where they started out are probably clashing fiercely in the town of Axel.
The delinquent adventurer with an evil-looking face, the former noble residing inside a stuffed mascot who only occasionally brings out his true power, the owner of the magic item shop, and a certain masked part-timer who received a large sum of money from a large-chested receptionist might be going wild.
A casual look through the inhabitants of the town with appraisal magic would also reveal oddities like a chicken with an absurdly high level, and a cat with “evil god” listed under her class column.
A soldier of the Demon King’s army who entered a certain house might even get attacked by various vegetables planted in the garden and mysterious poltergeist-like activity.
──And in the capital, the elite troops of the Demon King’s army led by the Demon King’s daughter would be clashing head on with the royal army, the cheat-wielding adventurers and the veterans of the Crimson Demons.
A certain strange suit of armour who tagged along with the Crimson Demons because of the high number of beautiful women present, would see a picture of the mother of a certain girl, whose name is only just slightly different from his, and judge that she has great future potential…
And the strongest girl equipped with the strongest sword and the strongest armour would fight alongside Megumin’s classmates, Axis Cultists, and various other adventurers, who might not be as tough to deal with as Kazuma’s companions but are still a handful, in order to eventually challenge the Demon King’s daughter to a duel.
Despite her valiant efforts, she would eventually be on the verge of being overwhelmed by sheer numbers when the monsters suddenly grew a lot weaker, giving her the chance to escape. She would then be the first to realize that a certain someone defeated the Demon King, and her brother complex would only intensify…
Well, I don’t think I’ll be able to write about these events in the main series proper, so I’ll just have to briefly summarize them here.
If I ever get the chance I might end up including these events in a spinoff or something, but this is a story about a protagonist with NEET tendencies along with defective companions performing really well in spite of everything, and eventually even taking out the Demon King, so this will be the conclusion of the main story.
However, there are still plenty of foreshadowing, plot hooks and mysteries that have yet to be resolved.
For example, the origin of the names of the Demon Kings, and why the Demon King’s army is so hell-bent on the destruction of humanity. Such questions that the top minds of this world have been agonizing over for such a long time are now forever doomed to remain a mystery thanks to the actions of a certain someone.
And there’s also the daughter of the Demon King, who was beaten up by a certain combative princess and returned to her castle only to see her armies scattered by Explosion magic. I wonder what kind of hardships she would experience after that.
As for our protagonist who defeated the Demon King, he’s eagerly looking forward to attending the awards ceremony the country would hold.
However, he has no way of knowing that his “adopted” sister has done something that far overshadows his own achievements.
And there’s the promise that Megumin made to do some amazing things after they get back, and the traditional right granted to anyone who defeats the Demon King to marry into royalty──
There are still many stories left to tell in this world, so I hope I will be able to write a sequel to this series in the future.
However, for now, let’s allow Kazuma who has worked so hard to enjoy a little break and a peaceful life for a while.
──Now then, to all the people who’ve worked to get the series out in the world, including this volume.
To the four generations of editors in charge of this project, to everyone in Sneaker Bunko’s editorial department, the designers, the proofreaders, the marketers and the people who work in the bookstores all over the world.
To the people who worked on the comic versions, the anime, the games, the movie and countless other works.
And to the one who brought such quirky characters to life, who has drawn wonderful illustrations for us each time despite harsh deadlines, Mishima Kurone-sensei.
It’s only thanks to everyone that so many volumes were able to be delivered to readers all over the world, so you have my greatest thanks──
And of course, to everyone who has read this series, I thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Akatsuki Natsume
And that’s Volume 17. I’ll be honest, when I started working on this series three years ago, I never expected it to become such a large part of my life, and I certainly never expected to be working on it all the way until the series ended. It was originally an impulse decision that drove me to work on this series, and I fully intended for it to be little more than a stopgap until the active translator of the time got back into the game, but, well, here we are.
I hope you enjoyed the conclusion of Konosuba. I certainly liked Volume 17, even if the ending isn’t quite as definitive as I would’ve liked. Still, there are plenty of awesome moments to make up for it, and there’s always the possibility of a sequel that Natsume himself teased in his own afterword.
Speaking of which, there have been rumours floating around about Natsume having confirmed one, but all those rumours come from this one tweet, where Akatsuki Natsume mentioned a potential title for a sequel spinoff, which he hopes to eventually work on. I don’t want to be too much of a wet blanket, but it’s not an official announcement, and that’s the only thing we’ve heard about it, so it’s best for everyone to temper your expectations accordingly.
Now, while the main series might have ended, that doesn’t mean I’m retiring just yet. As everyone knows, there’s still the last Dust spinoff volume I’ve yet to get to, and there are still plenty of short stories I’ve yet to get to, including two more from this volume. There’s also the matter of the short story booklets that were released alongside the movie, which I’ve been sitting on for quite some time now, but I just could never find the time to properly work on them. With things winding down, those booklets should be making their way to the site sometime very soon.
Now, I’d like to thank my artists, Kasen, who provided all those lovely colourized insert images in all the chapters, Magzh and Fructose for cleaning the insert images, and Ulti and Fructose for doing the typesetting. In particular, Ulti has been doing the banner images that are gracing each chapter, so great thanks for that. Additionally, I’d like to thank my editors, Striker, Ulti, and Xenthur, for making sure my works aren’t complete drivel by the time they make it to your screen, and Shaoqi for supporting me all this time. And of course, all of my Patreons, for your support
Tentatively, Dust 7 will be going up some time in September, so look forward to it. I’ll also keep everyone apprised of any additional details as I come across them.
Now, till we meet again.
CGTranslations 
And once again, I just want to say thank you for your hardwork.
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Aiyoo, so much isn’t explained yet. Just a bit disappointed. Haihh
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Thanks alot, its been one hell of a journey
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Thank you for your efforts!
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Your work is very much appreciated. All thats left is Dust’s finale
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Sequels are needed.
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I really can’t believe that Konosuba is over, I may have joined the Konosuba bandwagon pretty late but man… I’m really happy to have been part of this journey. Thank you for translating the final chapter of Konosuba (excluding the spin-offs and the last 2 side stories obviously)
Happy to wait for September when the Dust V7 finally gets translated since Dust is definitely my favorite character in this series (tied with Kazuma).
Also “and her brother complex would only intensify…” the actual older brother of Iris is gonna be pissed when he learns that his little sister has fallen inl ove with one of the biggest perverts in Belzerg (prob).
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Pretty sure kazuma can’t be considered one of the biggest perverts while the axis cult exists
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It’s surely an enjoyable journey. Thanks for everything
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thank you for everything
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Thank you for the translation
So it’s finally ended, part of me happy that the ending is so good but part of me sad now that it ended
Let’s hope that the sequel is real
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Your a trap.
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Underated comment of the century
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Thank you! Thank you very much! What an incredible work and what work you have done translating, I have been here with you for a long time. thank you with all my heart. Sorry for my english from google translator because i’m from brazil and i’m not so fluent in english but, it didn’t hinder the determination to read. Thank you!
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Thanks for everything. Man this was one hell of a journey. I still remember the time when the title was still translated as Gifting the World with Wonderful Blessings. I can’t believe its actually over now.
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Thank you very much for all your effort, Cg we appreciate you
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Thanks for all the hardwork, Canon. To think there is still a possibility of more spin-off… I couldn’t help but excited. Once again, thanks for everyone who made it possible for us to read this masterpiece here.
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Also, this might have been mentioned but did Iris meet Megumin’s classmate somewhere before this? And who is this classmate anyway since Yunyun is going to Demon King’s Castle?
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Her other classmates from the Crimson Demon Village. And no, I don’t believe Iris has met them before.
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Thank you. For all of your hard work.
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Thank you for your hard work over the years, but am I the only one who thinks this ending is just to end to part 1 and part 2 will come later? Hopefully if i’m right the sequel won’t take too long to be announce
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お疲れ様でした、大変ありがとうございます!
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Finally, i can see the end of the series… Now, i can relax…
*bow*
Thank you for your hardwork, cgtranslation team…
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Y’all guys let’s use a #ThankYouAkatsukiNatsume
#ThankYouCGTranslations
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Hua nooo MOoooOMm i don’t want this to be ended!
anyway thank you for translating this LN to the end CG
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Finally main story end. From the begin to the end, it is a great adventure for me, for Kazuma and for everyone who read it. Thank you very much translators.
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Thanks for chapter nano desu
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Thanks for your hard work all these years~
I cried a bit when reading this lol
Try listening to the ED “Chiisana Bokuensha” when reading this, it’ll hit your feeling more…
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Thank you and love your hard work
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thanks for all your hard work towards translating!
also knowing that there’s a possible sequel coming just makes me excited. specifically i want to see what happened to these ‘and her brother complex would only intensify…’ and this ‘the traditional right granted to anyone who defeats the Demon King to marry into royalty──’
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Thanks for translating konosuba! Man, this was a hell of a journey. It’s finally the end. I’m happy and sad at the same time and maybe a little disappointed. A sequel would be nice, but I won’t expect too much. Thanks again for the translation. Really thank you.
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what’s “would see a picture of the mother of a certain girl, whose name is only just slightly different from his, and judge that she has great future potential… ” referring to?
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Iris and Aegis sound sort of similar, I guess. And its referring to the fact he thinks Iris will be stacked one day, like her mother is in tue picture, I assume
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Which volume/chapter did they mention that?
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Aigis probably saw a picture of Iris’s mom and is hoping she’ll grow up to look like her
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Thank you akatsuki natsume sensei for this wonderful and funny journey full of loopholes that fill our head with fantasies And puzzles for our brain to solve
Thank you mishima kurone sensei for the wonderful art from start to finnish
Thank you CG translations the translator and editors that use their precious time for translating this masterpiece
So does konosuba will get a sequel for how and who kazuma will end up with ?
How long we have to wait ?
Because i am kinda crying and punching my pillow here because
( this is how it ends!!) i just hope for a conclusion i know they are just fantasy characters but i kinda want them to get some kinda official happiness
Please akatsuki natsume sensei give them happiness this is your work this is a wonderful world you created make all of them happy and not hanging ( please apply this to all of us readers too 😊 )
The harem end is kinda hard to see but please nevertheless give it to them i love iris the best and l like megumin to bits but please don’t forget about darkness make them all happy please ( i mean kazuma said that he’s not a lolicon he looks forward to iris in 10 years and everyone will age together with them as well as megumin so it is legal ) so timeskip arc please
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Well, I must say that I am pretty disappointed. Volumes used to come every 3-5 months, but these last few have taken 9 months. With such a large wait between this volume and the last, only to get 4 chapters and hardly any closure, I was expecting much more. I even feel like there was more that Natsume was going to do in this volume, but then pulled it out like he’s saving it for later or something. Hopefully, now that the original series is done with, Natsume can now take the series where he wants without confining himself to what he wrote in the WN nearly a decade ago. I don’t believe for an instant that this is where it will end.
(Not really sure how the announcement on Natsume’s twitter page titled【Official News】is unofficial…)
All the same, thank you very much for all your hard work CG and everyone else who helped translate this wonderful series!
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Well, he did start a lot of spinoffs, thats probably the reason for the decrease in release speed
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Thanks for the chapter. Happy to see a series finally reaching its end which most novels dont get to these days.
Hope the author makes the spinoff explaining the vague parts of some things real soon and also his next work to also be as great if not greater than konosuba. Also thanks to the translation team for the timely schedule releases. ^-^
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Thanks
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Basically this ending is kind of a transition for the series. Like how DragonBall moved on to the DragonBall Z era, I feel Konosuba doing a similar thing. The basic growth period has completed and a more in depth sequel to come later. I can see much more Konosuba (whatever subtitle) being even better than the journey we experienced…but for now I’m content. Let’s hope the mangaka stays healthy.
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Well i know I started reading like 2 months ago so my words might not have as much as an effect but still, I’m gonna miss this, i know it might get a sequel but it’s a might and not a will. I’m sitting in my bed wondering what I’d be doing if this didn’t exist, I’d probably be sitting wondering what to do for the 1000th time this quarantine. Thank you to Natsume who wrote it, thank you to everybody who helped get it released, and thank you CG and the team for translating it and making sure it’s translated perfectly.
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I’m dumb, i got the name wrong and just realized it now. Sorry
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This has been one of the best LN I’ve read in a while. Thank you everybody. You did an amazing job at translating, coloring, etc. Truly wonderful.
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Thank you so much for all your tremendous work over the years. You have given me so much joy with your translations of this wonderful, wonderful series. Contrary to I’m sure many others, I’m perfectly fine with the ending of Konosuba Volume 17 and the mainline series. Having Eris have the last word is a super nice touch, and having supreme rascal Kazuma setting up a teleport point in heaven – so he can visit the “main heroine” anytime he wants – is an even nicer touch.
For me Konosuba has always been at its best when it’s just a “hang-out” comedy (my favorite moments from this series, despite it being generally excellently plotted, have always been the group just lounging about in their mansion), so for that reason I always wanted an open-ended “non-ending” – the promise that they were gonna go on just like they did before, just with a little less stress hanging over them. (Closure is overrated in narratives, in my opinion. I always prefer the notion that the characters we’ve come to love will still be going about their business pretty much as usual; that the story we’ve been shown is just a particular moment in their lives.) Just the thought of Kazuma becoming even more of a Scumzuma and Kazutrash now that his main mission has been completed and he can finally completely give in to his indolent side fills me with so much joy; you just know he’s gonna burn through all of the goodwill he earned by defeating the Demon King so damn quick…so I really hope the author is serious about a sequel series in the (not-too-distant future).
For now, I’m just gonna bask in a tale told very well and generously, and probably read the whole dam thing from the start very soon.
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“Darkness sure has it tough.” She does indeed. However…
Now that we’ve reached this point, it’s time for me to say it. I’ve been thinking this over ever since volume 13. I really am not convinced that Kazuma loves Megumin more than Darkness. Please hear me out, and if you still think I’m overlooking something, then feel free to point it out.
If Kazuma really loves Megumin the way so many people seem to think he does, then why has he never sincerely and honestly told her that he loves her? When volume 14 came, I read it carefully, waiting for him to tell Megumin that he loves her, but instead we got “-Yahoo! It’s a fourteen year old girl’s bed!” and Kazuma thinking he’s cursed because he gets interrupted whenever he’s about to get his dick wet. (More on that “curse” later) The closest thing to him actually saying he loves her was [Megumin: “… Sorry, can I ask what are you doing?” Kazuma: “I was watching the sleeping face of the person I love.” Megumin: “What do you mean person you love!? Why are you naked from the waist up!?”] Not very sincere. Even while they were running around at night trying to find the Moguninnin and Megumin said she loved him repeatedly, a scene that I honestly enjoyed, he still didn’t say he loved her back. It felt more like friendship than romance to me from Kazuma’s side. Even in that short story that had everyone saying “Kazumin confirmed!” he didn’t say he loved her. All he wanted was to get back home so he could make out with her. (If he ever did tell Megumin he loves her with sincerity and certainty, and I overlooked it, then by all means, quote it and say where he did, but I’m pretty certain he hasn’t)
Obviously, Kazuma sees Megumin as his precious friend, and obviously he’s sexually attracted to her, but I don’t think he truly loves her.
Now here’s what has me most convinced that Kazuma actually loves Darkness more. Consider Darkness’s confession and Megumin’s confession, and look closely at the way Kazuma responds to each of them. When Darkness confesses, Kazuma’s reaction is “Ah, this is bad. I’m overjoyed. I couldn’t believe that Darkness actually confessed to me. That makes me really happy. … But while I’m overjoyed.
My heart still hurts like hell.” (https://cgtranslations.me/2017/12/08/konosuba-v12-chapter-3/) At this point, Kazuma doesn’t expect to have sex with Darkness, but he’s still overjoyed. Just hearing that Darkness loves him was enough to make him happy. But what about when Megumin’s confessed to him? When megumin told him she loved him at the end of volume 9, his reaction was “How did it turn out like this? What’s with this sudden development? No, calm down Kazuma! This is the usual Megumin. She’s just a bit strange right now, that’s all… —But I couldn’t control my urge to continue.” and “…As a virgin, I have tried hard. So what should I do next? Please, someone teach me what to do. Am I supposed to go for a kiss?” (https://cgtranslations.me/2018/01/25/konosuba-volume-9-chapter-5/). Megumin just told him that she loves him, and the only thing he can think about what he’s supposed to do next in order to cross the line with her. At no point does he express joy or happiness from just knowing that Megumin loves him. Instead, it’s the possibility of losing his virginity that dominates his thoughts.
Worse than that, while Kazuma reacted sincerely to Darkness’s confession, he responded to Megumin’s confession with insincerity. “Megumin already said that she likes me, then I should say something back to her. “M-Megumin. Uhm, you said you love me right? Well…Uhm…I think I also love you too!” And done! Now I can just go ahead and do what I want!” He said he “thinks” he loves her just so he could hurry up and get it on with her.
But Kazuma rejected Darkness, right? Well here’s what he said: “I never came close to anything like romance in the country I’m from. Back then, I’ve always felt that I’d probably end up being single forever… that I’d probably never get the chance to chat properly with a girl… And here you are telling me that you like me for who I am. How could I not be happy? … But… I’m sorry. I already have someone in my heart. I’m not thick-skinned enough that I can go ‘I love you too’ under this circumstance, and I’m not experienced enough to be able to go out with two girls simultaneously. I’m not that trashy of a person. I can’t be with you.” Even while “rejecting” Darkness, he expresses joy and sincerity to her that he never expressed to Megumin. He didn’t tell Darkness he doesn’t love her. He didn’t tell Darkness he loves Megumin more than her. He simply said “I already have someone in my heart. I can’t be with you.”
However, I’m not convinced that Megumin is already in his heart. Again, if she is, then why can’t he honestly tell her so? In the first chapter of volume 12, Kazuma admits that he isn’t really sure what love is. He says “Never mind dating, I don’t even have much contact with the opposite sex before this. What is love? What does it mean to pine for someone? Those kind of things are all…” I think Kazuma rejected Darkness, not because he loves Megumin, but because he tricked himself into believing he loves Megumin after leading her on for so long. Meanwhile, Darkness is the one he truly loves, but he doesn’t realize it yet, and that’s why it was so painful for him to reject her.
Now, there’s one last thing I’d like to say. In volume 9, Kazuma said something very interesting regarding crossing the line with Megumin. He said “If I’ve already gone this far, then I should see this mistake through to the end.” Mistake. He really called it a mistake. Remember the “curse” that Kazuma was so worried about in volume 14? The one that kept stopping him from crossing the line with Megumin? At first, it’s presented as a joke, but then, at the end of volume 14, Vanir says he can “help” Kazuma with his “curse,” which reveals that there really was something keeping him from crossing the line with her. I think I know what it is. The fact that Vanir can “help” him with it is what gives it away. It’s his luck. That’s why Aqua couldn’t remove it and only Vanir could see it. His own luck was what kept preventing him from crossing the line with Megumin, because to do so would be a mistake.
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This whole post sounds like peak cope.
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Thanks for bringing this up, and going into so much detail about it; it’s something I’ve been wondering about for some time myself. For some reason there always seems to be a bit more tension in the scenes between Kazuma and Lalatina than between Kaz and Megumin, and I don’t just mean sexual tension.
Let’s handle the sexual tension part first: I think it might have something to do with the fact that Kaz and Darkness are about the same age, so there really isn’t anything “morally” holding them back from acting on their obvious attraction to each other, but that’s too straightforward a scenario for Light Novel pulp, so there’s the complicating factor of Kaz’s complex feelings for Megumin to throw a spanner in the works and prolong this sexual tension for the sake of the reader’s continued investment.
On top of that though, Darkness shares something fundamental with Kazuma: like Kaz in Japan, she does not fit in in her world. She’s painfully shy, socially awkward and of course just plain “weird”, she believes, because of her sexuality, so she’s constantly in a state of undervaluing herself. She recognizes a similar disharmony in Kazuma, and the moment where she tells Kazuma that only “off” girls like herself and Megumin would ever be into him, is probably my favorite moment in the series. Darkness actually understands Kazuma very well – even better than Megumin – because she too struggles with self-acceptance and valuing herself, whereas Megumin in her typical chunibyo-ness is overflowing with (deluded) self-confidence. I think that psychological similarity actually makes Kaz and Darkness more compatible, but the thing that complicates their relationship above all is of course the elephant in the room – Darkness’ kink: I think it serves as a barrier, because I think Kazuma thinks that that’s the reason Darkness is attracted to him; not necessarily because she truly likes him, but because of her desire to be mistreated. I think Kazuma longs to be excepted above all else, but the thing he seems to be (intentionally?) blind to is that Darkness has already accepted him as he is. Also, I think he intentionally mistakes his obvious lust for her as nothing more than that (“She’s got the kind of body I prefer”), whereas
Kaz’s relationship with Megumin seems a lot more surface level in comparison. The fact that it has (seemingly) become the cannon relationship I think has a lot to do with the fandom; Megumin’s popularity and resultant pecking order in the “shipping wars”. Their relationship certainly comes across to me as that first love that’s sweet and “innocent”, but that you eventually move on from as you mature in favor of someone who you have more in common with. The fact that Megumin is so young and sincerely into him, and was also the first person who seriously (sort of) confessed to him has kind of forced Kazuma in that direction. The not inconsequential matter of his virginity – his lack of experience – of course is the overriding factor here: of course he’d “fall” for the first female who approached him, and now he’s (sort of) stuck in that mould. Not that he dislikes Megumin by any stretch; I think he admires her for her intelligence, ingenuity and single-mindedness (also the things incidentally that grate on him when she’s in max chunibyo mode). The thing is Megumin’s overflowing (bordering on obnoxious) self-confidence is just something he cannot relate to on a fundamental level (although he of course has his own moments of smugness, especially after a significant triumph; it’s just not hardwired in him to the extent it is in Megumin).
I truly believe Darkness’ struggle for self-acceptance hits far closer to home for Kazuma. It’s actually funny how expressive, almost forcefully so, Darkness becomes when she’s with Kazuma – as if she’s truly unburdened when she’s with him. All of that posturing on his part about how defective she is because of her “kink” is also just that, I believe: posturing. I don’t think he minds her kink all that much; in fact it sits far closer to him than Megumin’s ambivalent sexuality (bordering on asexuality). It just serves as convenient cover so that he doesn’t have to seriously grapple with his feelings toward her (that’s just my very personal theory, though).
Kazuma of course has gone above and beyond for all his comrades (even that useless goddess for whom he cares more than he’ll ever probably admit), but when it comes to Darkness, he has been especially reckless, so I think there’s definitely something significant there. It probably is that Kazuma is just not grown-up enough for a relationship with Darkness at the present time.
[Apologies for this embarrassingly long ramble. I’m just someone who believes that Lalatina does not get her due respect.]
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Iris motherfucking proposed to Kazuma in front of the whole squad no scratch that the whole NATION. I’m dead.
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It’s the end of Konosuba, Thank for all the translation !
It’s been… 4 years then I discovered this series with the anime ? Now, i want te reread all the volumes… It’s really is a good work.
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It was fun, in fact it was a blast. Thank you for all your hard work translating the novels. Konosuba is special and is going to stick with me.
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Eris and Kazuma will forever be the greatest of friends.
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I was sad when I had heard this series was ending but I know I going to be even sadder when the dust spinoff end because Dust’s character evolved a lot from let, do a quest and we get in jail to something to something way better. When reading I like his character but the last to volume made him my favorite character from any media.
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Thank you for all your work on this project. I pray for the day that we will be able to see Kozuma vs Demon King in animated form. Season 3 will come one of these days!
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Thank you for the translation, you did an amazing job!
I’ll be honest, I’ a bit disappointed, this volume was really short and the ending was rather inconclusive… we don’t even see Kazuma interact with the princess, even though in the previous volumes they made a big about the stolen royal ring and the fact that she would have to marry whoever defeated the Demon Lord… There are plenty of threads that are left open, this would be good if a sequel was planned this is the END and so I expected to see all character arcs completed 😦
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Is anyone here crying because it is the end ? Also the moment Kazuma said he used “Teleport” got me burst out laughing !
I loved that LN and hope Akatsuki-Sama will actually write a sequel.
And overall,
Thank you for your hard work CG Translations !
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Thanks for your work all of you.
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So, first of all, Thank you for you Work. Second, WAAAAAAAAAAAH, Stupid epilog. None information on Kazuma and Megumin
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Thank you so much for translating this amazing series!
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Thank you for your hard work! Really enjoyed this series.
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[However, he has no way of knowing that his “adopted” sister has done something that far overshadows his own achievements.]
Not sure how this is possible. He is a super weak adventurer who only has his luck going for him and has the single most dysfunctional party of all time and yet he managed to conquer the demon kings castle and beat the demon king.
She is a princess who was blessed with overwhelming talent a legendary sword and legendary armor. Unless she single handedly mowed down the entire demon king army by herself she isn’t beating his achievements.
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Thanks for finishing this TLs and EDs. Thanks to Akatsuki Natsume too, if only they could read this…
That feeling of emptiness when you finish a well translated and edited series you’ve been following for years. Ahgeds, stahp.
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