Kaori-san and Akane-san were clearly paralyzed with nerves, but there was no real reason to worry when it came to Megiddo-san. While it was true that he could be ruthless toward anyone he disliked and his usual manner of speaking was aggressive, his personality was so straightforward that he was actually quite easy to read.
At the very least, as long as he was speaking to them as cordially as he was now, it meant he didn't count them among those he found unpleasant. He had taken a moment to recall their names, so they probably weren't his absolute favorites, but he certainly viewed them in a positive light.
Unlike Alice, who might act bright and friendly on the surface while thinking something entirely different inside, Megiddo-san had no hidden side. In a way, his lack of duplicity made him easier to handle.
Still, to those two, he was a member of the Six Kings they had suddenly stumbled upon. I needed to step in and bridge the gap.
"...What brings you two to this city, anyway?"
"Hm? Oh, well... I reckon we're here to buy some clothes for Kaori," Akane-san replied. "She mentioned she hadn't really done much shopping outside the Friendly Cities, so I figured I’d take her somewhere famous for its apparel."
"That's right," Kaori-san added. "I did get those teleportation magic tools at your shipboard party, Kaito-kun, but the costs to visit places I've never been are pretty steep. I haven't had many chances to see the Hydra Kingdom, so I asked Akane-san to bring me along."
Akane-san was highly skilled in teleportation magic and could apparently travel using world coordinates. When I had asked her before if using coordinates was difficult, she’d told me, "I just think of where I want to go and the coordinates pop into my head, so I only have to do some fine-tuning." That kind of intuition was likely a unique talent granted to her as an otherworlder.
"I see... Akane is a natural at teleportation but useless at everything else. Man, the magic traits of otherworlders really are a trip," Megiddo-san remarked. "Being a genius at high-level teleportation while sucking at every other spell is a hell of a lopsided way to be. And as for Kaori, you're pretty damn strong for a human. You've got enough power that your average knight wouldn't stand a chance against you."
"Wait, Kaori-san is that strong?" I asked, surprised.
"I-I wonder?" she said modestly. "I did travel alone for a few years, so I had to fight monsters along the way. I guess I can hold my own... maybe?"
In Megiddo-san's estimation, Kaori-san was exceptionally powerful for a human. It was unexpected news. I’d heard she was good with water magic, but I hadn't imagined she was at a level where she could outclass professional knights.
Akane-san then pointed a finger at Kaori-san.
"You're being too humble. Kaori can trigger a tsunami on flat ground even if there isn't a drop of water nearby."
"A-Ahaha... That’s exhausting, though. Besides, there's no point in making a tsunami on dry land."
"You can use much more impressive water magic than I realized," I noted.
Kaori-san gave a strained laugh, but water magic capable of generating a tsunami on a barren plain was incredible. If her individual combat power was that high, was she perhaps the strongest among the Earthlings, second only to Noin-san?
As the thought crossed my mind, I suddenly snapped to attention and looked at Megiddo-san.
"Megiddo-san, don't you dare try to fight her."
"Hey, even I wouldn't do something like that out of the blue! What's with that look? I only suggest a brawl the moment I meet someone if I really like them, alright?"
When I fixed him with a stare that reminded him he'd done exactly that to me, he scrambled to defend himself. Was he actually trying to frame his bloodlust as a compliment?
Thinking that picking a fight is a sign of high praise... Is he a total savage? Well, I didn't have to think very hard to realize that he basically was one.
Megiddo-san looked wounded by my skepticism.
"Look, Shaltier just makes me out to be a joke. It's not like I’m some battle-maniac who thinks about nothing but fighting, nor am I some guy with no self-control who goes around starting fights for no reason, right?"
"You jumped into a fight between Alice, Isis-san, and Magnawell-san when you had absolutely no connection to the matter, which only made the damage worse," I countered.
"Ugh... Well, that was... it was a rare opportunity, okay?"
"You fought with Alice right in the middle of the Six Kings Festival and got a lecture from Kuro."
"Alright, alright! There's no point standing around on the sidewalk. Let's get moving! Since we've run into each other, Kaori, Akane, you're coming with us. I'll show you the best shops in town!"
When I cut him down with the cold, hard truth to debunk his claim of being a peaceful man, Megiddo-san diverted the conversation with a rare, sheepish expression. Whether he actually intended to restrain himself was another matter, but it seemed he at least had some self-awareness of his past behavior.
"...That guy is seriously something else," Akane-san whispered. "How the heck can he talk to the War King-sama like that?"
"Kaito-kun is the same as ever," Kaori-san sighed. "And I think he just casually made it sound like we're going to be hanging out with the War King-sama now... Ugh, my stomach hurts."
Serious-senpai: "Is Kaori really that strong?"
???: "Excluding Noin-san, she’s the strongest of the otherworlder group by a landslide. Her water magic is incredibly versatile; she can use it like a Water Cutter, and her control is so precise that she can envelop an opponent's face in water to suffocate them. She once managed to wrap water around just the tip of her nose after bumping it, which shows how delicate she can be."
Serious-senpai: "I’ve noticed that most of the Stomach Pain Warriors have high combat power... Ah, wait, Elise is the exception there."