Asks them about their time with Kyouya... And ends up impressing them.

"So what kind of quests did you do with Kyouya?" Kazuma asked.

"Many of the big ones. We slew all kinds of monsters together!" Fio replied. "Dragons, Chimera, a Cerberus once..."

"And they tended to be pretty easy," Cremea added.

'That sword probably did a lot of the work,' Kazuma mentally noted.

"Really, he's the reason a lot of the big quests even got done after that Devil King General moved in," Cremea continued. "Taking him down was the only quest we actually failed. We almost died even..." For some reason, she was glaring daggers at Megumin as she said this.

"Really? What happened?" Kazuma asked.

"Well, you see, we initially thought it was a good thing the General was around. It brought less trouble to Axel Town with most of the monsters going into hiding... But Kyouya wasn't going to let it slide. Not only was it a chance to take down one of the Devil King's strongest underlings, but he also said that we couldn't guarantee that he'd never attack Axel Town, plus, the presence of the General was keeping many rookie adventurers from getting a chance to start, and put food on their tables. Some died due to desperation driving them to take a harder quest. Plus, many of the monsters that went elsewhere would be causing trouble in those other areas, and most experienced fighters wouldn't bother with them because defeating them doesn't pay as well..."

'...huh, that's pretty well reasoned... so he's not a total idiot... Just a naive simp,' Kazuma thought.

"So we stormed his castle, and at first, things were going smoothly, we took out his underlings easily enough, but when Kyouya reached the Dullahan himself, his initial attack was simply dodged, and the Dullahan knocked him out. He did however acknowledge our courage, and that Gram could have damaged him had Kyouya struck him, so invited us to return once we were strong enough to give him a proper challenge, and let us leave..."

"Wait, if all he did was knock Kyouya out and let you leave in peace, what was with the almost dying comment?" Kazuma blinked, before noticing the two glaring at Megumin, and it clicked. "Wait, don't tell me..." he deadpanned. "You were exiting the castle just as Megumin hit it with one of her explosions, and you guys got caught up in it?"

"Got it in one..." Fio grumbled, and Megumin had the good grace to at least look embarrassed.

"After we somehow managed to drag our mangled asses back to Axel Town and healed up, Kyouya decided to resume doing the dangerous quests, since he was the only one who could do them, and he wanted to get stronger for a rematch with that Dullahan..." Cremea continued.

"Well, we thought only he could do them. To our surprise, someone took and successfully did a job we were planning on doing yesterday."

"Wait... Was it the griffin and manticore one?" Kazuma blinked.

"That was you guys?" Cremea asked, surprised. "How did you pull it off?"

"Isn't it obvious? The bait and Explosion tactic they mentioned," Fio grumbled. "Obviously, Aqua and Kazuma didn't even need to be there..."

"Hey!" Aqua protested. "I DID help, I'll have you know!"

"Yeah she did. And you're half right," Kazuma confirmed.

"...half right? The heck does that mean?" Cremea blinked.

"First, we had Aqua max out Darkness's defense with her Protect spell, ensuring she would survive the Explosion," Kazuma said. "Then the plan from there half worked. We successfully killed the manticore that way, but the griffin saw the blast coming and legged... Er, winged it, and avoided being hit directly. It still took a lot of damage, but then came straight for me and Megumin, pissed as hell."

"I can imagine. So what happened next?" Fio asked.

"Well, I tossed Megumin away to ensure she didn't get slashed up, and drew my sword to defend myself from the thing. Unfortunately, it broke my blade and cut me up pretty badly at the same time, and while it was on top of me, I used Create Earth and Wind Breath to blow dirt in its eyes, and while it was recoiling, drove what was left of my sword into its throat, finishing the job."

Silence. "You're... Level 13... And you killed a griffin?" Cremea asked.

"Actually, I was level 9 at the time," Kazuma replied, adding to their awe. "I gained four levels from the act."

"And you threw a comrade out of the way and moved to fight it yourself?" Fio continued, some awe in her face.

"...I guess? I was acting on instinct at the time, I wasn't really thinking," Kazuma answered.

"...it seems we misjudged you," Fio stated. "Even though you act and fight like a lowlife, it seems there is some decency in you."

"And despite the methods you use, I have to confess that they are effective," Cremea said begrudgingly. "Perhaps this won't be as much of a nightmare as we thought..."

Kazuma's eye twitched. "You don't gotta judge me so harshly before you spend some time getting to know me."