Retribution on This Handsome Thief! (1) (このイケメン義賊に天誅を！①, Kono Ikemen Gizoku ni Tenchū wo! 1) is the fifty-seventh chapter of the KonoSuba manga series, and covers Chapters 2 to 3 in Volume 6 of the light novels.
Cover[]
Kazuma when Claire had fallen asleep during his storytelling to Iris, tried goading the princess into spraying her with a water gun.
Summary[]
Excitedly rushing back into the ballroom, Kazuma loudly tells Darkness and Claire about his idea of catching the good thief who had been targeting evil nobles in the Royal Capital. Attracting the less-than-approving comments from the nobles around him which he ignores, he claims to be doing this because a thief targeting nobles may someday target the Dustinesses. As Darkness denies her family doing any dark business that deserves being targeted, Kazuma proclaims his aim to stop the thief, though he discretely confesses to the skeptical Darkness about his plans to continue freeloading from the Royal Castle through capturing the thief, much to Claire's disgust. The nearby nobles then applaud Kazuma's conviction while making obviously false assertions of themselves being clean, yet contrary to Kazuma's hopes of lounging around the castle in the meantime, Claire instead charges him with staking out the residence of the noble who is most likely to be targeted next.
The noble chosen by Kazuma turns out to be Alderp, who is very much displeased because it paints him as a wretched noble, but he gives permission for Kazuma's party to stay at his home in the capital anyways, before pitying the Darkness embarrassed by her party members racing to grab the best rooms. Telling a disgruntled Darkness how Alderp had been leering at her during the subsequent party meeting, Kazama then expresses his exasperation at Aqua and Megumin, who claim to be coming to help despite only concerned with stuffing themselves the previous night. Determined to capture the thief even when Darkness voices her reluctance since it's his only way back to the castle, in addition to the thief witnessed to be the kind of handsome guy whom he hates, Kazuma instead attracts pity from his party members for his self-loathing.
Walking around the property the following day as he puts himself in the shoes of the thief who reportedly strikes in the middle of the night, Kazuma finds a ground level kitchen window that Alderp had allowed to fall into disrepair being the best entry point. Next enacting how the thief will advance while feeling along the walls once inside, Kazuma chances upon a small room, which is empty except for the large mirror on the wall a startled Alderp had just finished cleaning. When wondering why the nobleman didn't order his servants to do the cleaning instead, Kazuma notices displayed in the mirror is the bathroom where a maid is mopping without any idea she is being watched. Revealed to have polished that magic mirror for peeking at Darkness, Alderp upon Kazuma demanding to move into the room while keeping the mirror a secret realises him to be of the same kind, and offers to have both of them share the mirror. But just as they are about to shake hands in alliance, Darkness suddenly intrudes into their conversation, at which the two of a kind accuse the other of peeking, before Darkness smashes the mirror.
On the third day at Alderp's residence, Kazuma who wakes in the afternoon finds only Megumin around eating lunch, and brings up the subject of her so worried about his absence that she couldn't sleep. Megumin thus bashfully admits being worried over the weak Kazuma who is prone to attracting trouble and frequently dies, then chuckles when he becomes awkward while reminding him of what he did to her in the Crimson Magic Village. As Kazuma contemplates on the nature of his relationship with Megumin, she invites him to a date after lunch, which unsurprisingly involves taking her to cast Explosion outside the city.
A week into their stay, Kazuma when patrolling the corridors at night recalls how Megumin had without restraint cast Explosions in the past few days and caused Alderp to receive many complaints. Just as he regrets not making Megumin learn Advanced Magic in addition to wondering about the thief who still hasn't appeared, he detects the presence of somebody in the kitchen, and after creeping closer discovers that it is the thief who had previously been avoiding Alderp's home. Activating his Ambush to counter the thief's Sense Foe, Kazuma then jumps out to grab around the cloaked thief's chest which turns out to be feminine. The thief however recognises his voice, and reveals herself to be Chris.
Characters[]
Differences to other versions[]
- Iris also follows Kazuma back to the ballroom when he volunteers to catch the thief in the light novel.
- Alderp in the light novel greets Kazuma's party alongside his guards, then lewdly looks at Aqua and Megumin as they chide Kazuma over him looking for trouble, before the horrifying reputation of the pair puts off the lord's enthusiasm.
- There is a mention in the light novel about Aqua and Darkness respectively going outside at daytime during the stake out period for preaching the Axis Church and attending noble events.
- Aqua's preaching activities are adapted into the covers of some later chapters in the manga.
- Kazuma regrets not making Megumin learn Advanced Magic during one of her Explosion sessions in the light novel.
- The manga skips the part where Aqua's bottomless appetite for wine, Megumin's repeated boasting of her exploits, and Kazuma's shameless requests of pampering from the maids finally snap Alderp's patience after a week, prompting the apologetic Darkness to promise leaving on the following day.
- Chris in the manga wears a hooded cloak instead of simply covering her mouth with a scarf.
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