Illustrations have all been updated for Continued Explosions as of now.

This should also be a collection of every single short associated with Cont. Explosions, from the Digital, Gamers, and Toranoana editions.

For those wondering how these short stories look, here’s a picture of the short story booklets from Gamers and Toranoana.

Finally, this has been a long time coming, so please enjoy!

P.S. Akashic will return to Thursday releases with catch-up releases in-between if progress allow it.

Digital Short Story Credits:

Intermediate TLs (JP->CN): lolihunter2 yukira 叶子 サダメ

TL: Uranophane

Editors: Deus-ex-machina, Keel the Swift

Gamers & Toranoana Short Story Credits:

Translator: yuNS

Editors: Deus-ex-machina, Keel the Swift

Thanks again to the raw buyer for helping me buy these!

<yuNS: Just a note, this is part of a series starting from volume 10, with ‘The Goddess, Working Hard’ Short Story, I will keep Urano’s translation of it though.>

From the Digital Edition:

Side Story: The Hardworking Thief Girl!

While on a stroll around the streets, I ran into an unlikely combo.

“Come to the Axis church! Join the Axis cult!”

Cecily, the Axis priest, preached loudly.

In addition…

“Axis cult… Please join the axis cult…”

As if kidnapped by Cecily, Chris carried a massive amount of Axis invitation letters. She handed out the letters with a soulless expression.

“What are you two even doing?”

I struck up a conversation with the duo. Chris suddenly became lively, as if she had uncovered a national secret.

“Ah, Megumin-san! Distributing invitations [check], of course! We’re currently hiring, would you lend us a hand please? As for the reward, the lunch is on me!”

“Sure I can. Except I was wondering how come even Eris cultists are doing this kind of thing…”

Chris turned awkward. Still, she continued to obediently hand out invitations to passersby…

“I was super bored, so I headed to the base for fun. I ended up hearing Cecily complaining about ‘goddess Eris coming to the mortal world for no reason and disrupting the faith for Axis believers’; and that ‘this goddess is way too inconsiderate and reckless’. After thinking about it, I felt that Axis cultists are indeed in pitiful, so I decided to help them for just today…”

How could she be so gullible.

“Axis cultists’ claims have no credibility to speak of, so take them with many grains of salt. Besides, goddess Eris merely spontaneously visited the mortal plane and caused some unrest, it’s nothing worth worrying over for an Eris cultist like you.”

“I……I think I’d rather work on helping the Axis cult for now…”

Not sure why; but oh well, as long as she’s OK with it.

“Then, how should I help? Something like stuffing invitations into every household’s mailbox?”

“No; since Megumin is rarely with us, let’s make use of *that* strategy right here and now!”

Cecily smiled maliciously.

—On the streets of Axel…

I cried for help to the pedestrians.

“Help! Someone, please! My pet kitty got assaulted by evil Eris cultists and is barely conscious!”

I forcefully constrained the frantic Chomusuke to stop her from dashing madly around my legs.

Then, with her eyes drained of life due to sheer hopelessness, Chris said,

“M-my Eris cult instincts told me that this black cat is in fact the embodiment of a demon. So, in Lady Eris’ name, I had to execute it. I’m not sorry. If you need help, the Eris Church can provide it…”

After Chris mechanically read out her script, Cecily jumped out from the onlooking crowd.

“Stop right there, Eris cult scum! Bullying such a weak and helpless girl’s pet cat, then forcing her to take it to doctors at the Eris Church, where you milk her for money! While the police allow such hideous strategies; Aqua-sama, however, will never tolerate it!”

Gossip broke out among the crowd.

“Isn’t that Kazuma-san’s girlfriend Megumin? What kind of new trick is this?”

“Even Chris-san participated in this… And here I thought she was normal…”

“Hey, don’t make eye-contact, you’ll be dragged into some shady business…”

They seem to have had enough.

“What a troublesome situation. Megumin-san and Chris-san are both too famous, this strategy couldn’t work! This way, my perfect plan—consisting of me, the beautiful Axis cultist, magically reviving the kitty and causing Megumin to cry out of thankfulness before joining the cult, ultimately bringing everyone to join along with her—has been foil—”

“I only said that I would help; I never agreed to join your cult! Besides, my limited acting skills simply won’t suffice for the effect that you want!”

Just now.

I felt a presence behind me, and turned around—

“What are you all doing?”

Behind me were Kazuma and Darkness who had gone to buy dinner.

They both shared complicated expressions while looking at Chris pitifully.

“N-n-n-n-n-no, Darkness! It’s not what it looks like! Let me explain, Assistant-kun! This was to make up to the Axis cult for the damage in faith caused by goddess Eris visiting our world!”

Darkness gently placed her hand on Chris’ shoulder. Kazuma smiled bitterly beside her.

“Chris… You can pour out your heart to us. So please don’t do stupid things like this and instead rely on me a little more…”

“That, I can also help you with. So please stop undermining your role as the only ‘normal person’, which you barely qualify for to begin with.

“It isn’t like that! Let me explain, you two! Please don’t look at me that way!”

From the Gamers First-print Limited Edition:

Side Story: The Militant Princess’ Peacekeeping Activities

On a certain afternoon.

“I want to go on an adventure!”

Iris said as soon as she arrived to the hideout. Yunyun had lead her here after Iris had snuck out of the castle as if it was the natural thing to do.

“…What’s this all about? To be honest, sneaking out of the castle to such a faraway town is an adventure in itself isn’t it?”

Only Yunyun, Iris, and I had come to the hideout today.

That said, I feel that three people were a bit too few for an adventure.

“Let’s go let’s go! Hey Megumin, It’s an adventure!”

“An annoying reaction from an annoying brat, as usual.”

As the girl weak to the words ‘companions’ and ‘adventures’ began to make a fuss, Iris clenched her fists and appealed to me.

“Boss! The townspeople live their lives under the constant threat of monsters! How is it acceptable for us to be playing around every day when we have the power to make a difference!?”

“That’s right! The power of Crimson Magic Clansmen should be used to serve a greater purpose!”

The two were uncannily in-sync today.

“But weren’t you totally addicted to playing ‘kick the can’ yesterday? Even though you had guests to meet in the evening, you kept saying ‘I don’t want to go home’ and other selfish things with Yunyun.”

Iris’ face immediately flushed red, while Yunyun turned to look the other way.

However, Iris, undeterred, took something out of her bag.

“I’m done with ‘kick the can’. After returning home, Claire played with me all the way until midnight. More importantly, please look at this!”

Saying that, Iris gestured to the bulky stack of paper that she had retrieved.

Unsure what to do, I took the sheet on top and skimmed through it.

“‘At around noon each day, the noise of ‘that’ can be heard coming from the direction of the forest, but it’s stopped recently. I’m bothered by this, so I’d like someone to investigate.’…So, what about this?” I inquired.

Iris leaned forward with an earnest expression.

“I don’t know what ‘that’ is, but doesn’t this seem strange to you? Whatever it is, this feels like a harbinger of bad things to come… There’s also the possibility that something scary is living in the forest…! Let’s go and uncover the culprit behind all this!”

Hearing what Iris said, Yunyun spoke up in a muttering manner.

“…Hey, isn’t ‘that’ coming from the direction of the forest just Megumin’s daily explosion? Isn’t it also the reason I’m able to go meet up with Alice-chan?”

“Seems like it. To call you out, Alice, I’ve been using my explosion magic near the capital every day, so it’s been a while since I’ve used it near Axel. So all said and done, the culprit behind all this is actually you.”

As Yunyun and I conversed, Iris lowered her head as if to hide her expression.

I won’t pry into what expression she had on her face at the moment, but judging from the redness of her ears, I’d say that she was embarrassed after having so confidently called this a ‘harbinger of bad things’.

However, Iris recovered quickly.

“N-, Next up is this! ‘Something has settled down in the reservoir sometime during the summer. On nights where I have trouble sleeping, I like to go to the reservoir for a swim, but this time around, I spotted some blue thing going up and down in the water. It might be a monster, so please eliminate it.’ …There might be a monster living in the middle of town, and more importantly, in the reservoir used for the town’s freshwater supply. We should hurry and…!”

“Ah, that’s probably Aqua. She always goes out when she has trouble sleeping due to the heat.”

“If I remember correctly, wasn’t she floating in the pond taking a nap recently?”

Despite the enthusiasm with which Iris had moved onto the next page, we shut her down with the truth almost immediately. She lowered her head once again.

Finally, in a manner lacking in even the slightest pit of confidence, Iris timidly moved on to the next page.

“Then what about this… ‘A ghost of a lonely crimson-eyed girl peeks into Axel’s tavern through the window each night’.”

Hearing that, Yunyun immediately began to wail, covering her face in her hands.

“I’m so sorry! I just feel especially lonely at night, okay!!? The tavern is always bustling with people, so I always wander around there aimlessly hoping to draw someone’s attention…!

“I understand that your situation is much like an insect drawn to a light-trap, but as someone from the same clan, please stop! It’s embarrassing! More importantly, this is the town of beginners, there aren’t many cases of people being threatened by monsters. The dangerous monsters around this town are always systematically eliminated.”

“Then let’s do something that only we can do. If we can’t subjugate monsters, then let’s purge evil instead! This is a complaint from a merchant about a despotic noble causing him hardship… ‘A certain noble has forcefully purchased my stock of medical slimes. The medical slimes were paid for, and the sick who were waiting for it and the Eris church was also given a grant in exchange, but it’s annoying so please do something about it”

“Oh, that must be about a subordinate of yours named Lalatina.”

Iris crushed the paper in her hands into a ball and threw it across the room.

“Ah come on already! Are the only people causing problems the ones I know!? I feel like I’ve really come to understand Onii-sama’s hardships, to the point where I wonder if I should go and give him some much-needed encouragement, really!”

As Iris pressed her hands against her head in frustration, a sheet of paper lightly fell to the floor next to her feet.

“You’re making a mess so please stop, okay? …This is the last one, right?”

I picked the sheet off the ground and Yunyun began to recite its contents from the side.

“‘At around noon, there was a suspicious person, who, instead of working, brought toys to the kids at the park in an attempt to win them over.’“

“…Targeting children is a crime, right? Until now all the crimes we’ve looked at are ones that people I know might do, but amongst the people I know, I don’t think there are any shameless enough to do this. This time for sure we’ll bring down judgement…!”

“‘The suspicious person was an adventurer with black hair and black eyes…’”

“That must be Kazuma. He told me that the female adventurers are all fawning over him in a calculated manner, so he was going to show his homemade toys to some pure kids so that they would praise him.”

–Iris didn’t leave the castle for a while after that.

Notes:

– ‘Medicinal Slime’ is a reference to an event in ‘Consulting with this Masked Devil!’ Chapter 3, Part 4’

– Aqua swimming in the reservoir may be a reference to an event in ‘Consulting with this Masked Devil! Chapter 2, Part 1’

From the Toranoana First-print Limited Edition

Short Story: The Value of a Young Girl is…

This was something that happened back when I was eating lunch at the tavern of the adventurer’s guild.

“Megumin-san, may I have a moment?”

The adventurer’s guild big-chested receptionist – one of the things the guild is known for – suddenly called out of me.

“What is it? I haven’t done anything to deserve a lecture from you have I?”

Hearing my response, the onee-san shook her head.

“I haven’t come here today to lecture you, rather, I have a job I want you to take.”

For them to tell me in person… the matter must be something that is worthy of my time.

“If it’s about monster subjugation shouldn’t you go talk to Kazuma instead? I’m not the type to hesitate when asked to do these sorts of things, but he’ll undoubtedly get angry at me if I accept some sort of grand monster subjugation request out of the blue.”

“I did not come to you for a subjugation-request either. Megumin-san, I want you to assist with a certain magic experiment.”

–This nation has facilities known as ‘Magic Research Institutes’.

As the name would suggest the institute works day and night to develop new magic, increase magic potency, shorten the chants required, investigate the ties between monsters and magic, as well as a large variety of other research.

And there was one institute in the outskirts of Axel, but…

“I see. Basically, my awe-inspiring abilities and nigh-endless pool of magic power left a deep impression on you, and you would like to know the secret behind my might? I suppose that must be what you meant.”

“It’s not to the extent you speak of. What we would like to know is the matters regarding the Crimson Magic Clan.”

The institute’s onee-san replied to me in an emotionless and plain manner.

Crimson Magic Clansmen were originally modified humans belonging to a technologically advanced nation.

The nation has long since perished, so regrettably, the techniques and technologies used to perform this modification have all been lost.

If they could replicate even a percent of this super-technology, then they would have a new means of fighting against the demon king army. That’s why they began to research the Crimson Magic Clan.

So as requested, I changed into a simple white dress and stepped into the middle of a wide room.

I don’t know what kind of research this was, but I can’t help but be bothered by the fact that all the researchers were female.

“Now then, Megumin-san, could you divulge the matters regarding the Crimson Magic Clan from the top?”

A researcher with a notebook in hand asked me whilst pushing her glasses up.

“We Crimson Magic Clansmen are all born with high reserves of magic power. As you know already, we are given cool names unlike those of the masses as well as a code number.”

The researcher who had been taking notes in a loud manner abruptly came to a halt.

“…Ignoring the part about the cool names, this is the first time I’ve heard of these code numbers. What sort of thing are these code numbers? Are each and every clansmen given their own unique number?”

“No, you’re mistaken. As you can see here, it’s something that we’re all born with…”

Saying that, I rolled up my dress so that they would be able to get a fleeting glance at the number.

Generally speaking, this is something I don’t want anyone else to see.

Because I feel that something like this, that reminds everyone that we are in fact modified humans, should be kept a secret…

“The thing on your butt is what the hero with a peculiar name called a ‘barcode’ yes?”

“I see I see, who would’ve thought that Crimson Magic Clansmen would have barcodes on their butts.”

“Are the position of the barcodes fixed? Or are you the only person with a barcode on their butt, Megumin-san?”

“Excuse me, could we please leave the matter of my butt aside? If not then I’ll be going.”

The researchers quickly fell silent.

“…I’ll continue then. As suggested by our clan’s name, every Crimson Magic Clansman are born with a pair of crimson eyes. Furthermore, we strongly prefer the colors black and red, and our personalities are more on the belligerent side. Since we were created for battle, you could say that we’re instinctively primed to get into fights.”

The researchers loudly scribbled on their notepads. One of them raised her hand to speak.

“Is the fact that Megumin-san’s panties are black also a result of this instinctual priming? Also, since your body is of the loli-type, that can’t be the only thing you’re ‘overreaching’ for, is it?”

<TL Note: 背伸び (Overreaching) can also stand for ‘tip-toeing (to appear taller)’>

“We’re talking about instincts here, so could we please not talk about the color of my underwear? I suppose it’s really about time for me to go home, isn’t it?”

Just what kind of research were they doing here?

That aside, questioning phase soon ended, and we moved onto the measurement of my magic power and physical abilities.

“—As expected of a Crimson Magic Clansman, I’ve never seen such abnormal values for magic power…”

“While those super powerful adventurers with peculiar names are certainly exceptions, these numbers are around their level aren’t they?”

After measuring my magic power, the researchers began to make a fuss.

Despite having such a high reserve of magic power, people were usually unimpressed, so this was a bit of a pleasant change.

“Are there any more experiments or questions? If the reward is good, I won’t mind cooperating.” I called out in a good mood.

One of the researcher murmured ‘if that’s the case…’ and raised their hand.

“I believe there’s a ‘certain magic tool’ at the capital, would you be fine with testing it? The peculiar-named people brought it in, but we haven’t had a chance to test it until now, so I completely forgot about it.”

“It’s a bit unsettling to be a test subject for an unused magic tool, but as long as it doesn’t cause any damage I don’t really mind…”

“No, the tool does not damage to the body in the slightest. Remember how we were talking about this thing called a ‘barcode’ earlier? From what I know, that magic tool is able to read the contents of a barcode.”

I stopped moving to process the information.

“Would you be fine with us ‘beep’-ing the barcode on your butt, Megumin-san?”

–Of course, I didn’t go the next day.

Notes:

– Crimson Magic Clansmen are born with the barcode on their bodies, in case there was a misinterpretation

– The ‘beep’ at the end is a literally beep, imitating the sound of a barcode reader.