Prologue
"Satou Kazuma-san, welcome to the after-life. Unfortunately, Unfortunately, you have died. It might be short, but bu t your life is over." Someone suddenly spoe to me in a pure white room. !he sudden turn of events confused me.
In the room was a small set of office des and chair, and the one who announced that my life was over sat in that chair. If there was a goddess, she must be it. er beauty was beyond the idols shown on television, she had glamour that surpassed humans. er long blue hair looed sily smooth. She seemed to be about my age. She wasn#t too busty or too lacing. She had a light purple hagoromo draped over her clothes. $!%& http&''en.wiipedia.org'wii'agoromo( !he beauty blined her eyes which were the same a)ua blue color of her hair, staring at me who didn#t now what was going on. ... I thought about what happened moments ago. * ... It was rare for me who ept staying at home to go outside. In order to purchase a limited first release version of a popular online game, I got up early to )ueue up.
Society addressed people lie me as iiomori. +fter buying the game, it was time to return home to play my heart out. I was in a great mood when I thought of that and prepared to return home, but at this moment... + girl was looing down on her cell phone and waling before me. rom her uniform, she should be studying in the same school as me. +fter seeing the lights turn green, the girl didn#t chec the traffic traffic and crossed the road directly. + large shadow loomed towards her. !hat must be a large truc heading towards her at high speed. hen I came to my senses, I had noced that girl away a way.. +fter that... ... I ased the beauty before me with a mysteriously calm emotion& "... an I as one thing/" !he beauty nodded in response to my )uestion. "0lease go ahead." "... !hat girl... that was noced away by me, is she still alive/" !hat was the most important thing. !hat was the first and last time I did something worthy. worthy. If I didn#t managed to save her in time despite betting my life, that would be so frustrating. "She lives1 2ut her in3ury was bad, she fractured her leg."
!han goodness...
I didn#t die in vain. I did something good at the very end... Seeing me acting relieved, the beauty tilted her head and said& "2ut, she would not had h ad been hurt if you didn#t noced her away." away." "... uh/" hat did she say/ "!hat tractor would had stopped before hitting that girl. !hat was e4pected, it was 3ust a slow tractor after all. !hat means your unnecessary meddling by acting lie a hero made things worse... 0u he he1" hat is this, this was the first time I met this girl. It might be rude, but I felt lie beating her up. ... rong, hold it. I thin I heard something that was more important than that. "... hat did you say/ !ractor/ 5ot a truc/" "!hat#s right, a tractor. If a truc was speeding towards that girl, she would had noticed and got away." away." ... uh/ "6h/ 2ut what about me/ 7id I die after getting hit by the tractor/" "5o, you died from shoc. 8ou 8ou thought you were ran over by a truc and went into shoc. I had been doing this for a long time, but you are the first to die so unnaturally1" ... "2ecause of your close call with the tractor, you lost conscious and control of your bowels and were sent to a nearby hospital. +s the doctors and nurses were saying #hat#s with this guy, how useless-- 9lol:# amidst laughter, you did not
regain conscious and your heart failed..." "Shut up--1 I don#t want to hear it1 I don#t want to hear something so cringy1" !he girl waled to my side as I cupped my ears and smiled deviously, leaning close to my ears& "8our "8our family had reached the hospital, but b ut before they felt the sadness from their loss, they couldn#t help bursting into laughter after hearing your cause of death..." "Shut up shut up1 !his can#t be real1 ow could there be such a useless way to die, this is unbelievable1" %ooing down at me s)uatting with my head in my arms, the girl covered her mouth and laughed. "... ell, that ends my de-stressing session. irst time we met, Satou Kazumasan. ;y name is +)ua. I am a goddess that guides young people who died in
5o computer games and no entertainment. Instead of heaven it was closer to hell. 2ut to become a baby and restart my life... 5o, that was the only option. %ooing at my disappointed face, the goddess smiled and said& "ey, you don#t want to go to a boring place lie heaven right/ 2ut asing you to let go of all your memories and start again as a baby is the same as erasing your e4istence since your memories will be gone. +nd so1 I have great news for you." or some reason, I was absolutely septical. +)ua said to the wary me with a smile& "7o you... lie games/" +)ua confidently e4plained her so called good news.
!his was the gist of it= In a world different from where I was, there was another world with a demon ing. +nd with the attac of the demon ing army, army, that world fell into crisis. !here were magic and monsters in that world. !o put it simply, it was a fantasy world similar to the famous games 7ragon 7rago n >uest and inal antasy. antasy. "!he people who died in that world were illed by the demon ing army, and were very afraid, saying they don#t want to die lie that again. +nd so almost all the people who died re3ected reincarnating in that world again. ;ore specifically, the world would end if this goes on, since there won#t be any more babies born in that world. ence, it could be solved by sending the dead from other worlds over right/ !hat#s how it is." hat a sloppy immigration policy p olicy..
"+nd since we are sending people over, we should find people who died young and still yearn to live, sending them over with their original body and memories. It would be meaningless if they died immediately after going over, so we will grant a privilege to all those who are going to that world, allowing them to tae one thing they lie to that world. It could be a powerful ability, an e4ceptional talent or god level weapons... hat do you thin/ It might be another world, but you can live once more. or the people of that world, they have someone who could fight immediately. ow about it/ Isn#t this great ne ws/" I see, it does sound great. !o be honest, this made me e4cited. I new I lied games, but I never imagined I could enter a world that was 3ust lie my favorite computer games. 2ut before that.
"6rm, I have a )uestion, what about the language of that world/ an I spea the language of the other world/" "!his isn#t a problem. ith the gentle aid of the gods, you will instantly learn the language directly in your brain the moment you head over to the other world. 8ou will even be able to read1 2ut there is a side effect, your brain might be wiped blan if you are unlucy... unlucy... +nd so, all you need to do is to choose a powerful ability or weapon." "old on, I heard something important 3ust now. 7id you say my brain would be wiped blan if I am unlucy/" "I didn#t say that." "8ou did." !he tension from earlier was gone. I am speaing to a goddess, but my attitude was ain to speaing to an e)ual. ... 2ut, that was an attractive proposition. It was scary that there was a chance to wipe my brain blan. 2ut I am not bragging when I say I am confident in my luc since I was young.
+t this moment, +)ua showed me something lie a catalogue. "0lease choose. I can grant you one and only one power that would match any person. It could be a powerful uni)ue ability. or e4ample, a legendary weapon. ome, it can be anything. 8ou have the privilege to bring this one thing to the other world." +fter hearing +)ua#s +)ua#s e4planation, I too the catalogue and started browsing it. ... ?n it were #unnatural strength#, #super magic#, #holy sword +rondight#, #demon sword ;urasame#... +nd all sorts of names. I got it, choosing an ability or weapon to be brought along. ow troubling, having too many choices made me indecisive. ?r rather, my gamer instincts told me these were cheat-lie abilities and e)uipment. ow troubling how troubling... Since I would be going to a world with magic, I really want to try using magic. ence, I should choose an ability based on magic... "5ah@ hurry up@ it doesn#t matter which one you choose. I have no e4pectations of a hiiomori gaming nerd, can you 3ust pic one and be on your way/ +nything will do, hurry up@ urry up@ ”
"I, I am not a nerd...1 +nd I died outside, so I am not a hiiomori...1" I answered in a trembling voice, but +)ua simply toyed with the ends of her hair and told me disinterestedly& "It doesn#t matter, 3ust hurry up and choose@ there are still many dead souls waiting in line1" +)ua sat in her chair as she#s spoe, munching her snacs without without even looing at me... ... !his fellow, fellow, mocing my causes of death even though thoug h it was the first time we met, acting so stuc up because she was pretty.
+)ua#s can#t be bothered attitude made me mad. 8ou wanted me to choose )uicly right/ righ t/ !hen I will do 3ust that. #Something# I can bring to that world/ "... ?ay, I choose you." I pointed at +)ua and said. +)ua looed at me surprised for a moment and continued munching on her snacs. "8eah. "8eah. 0lease don#t move away from the center of the magic circle..." +)ua suddenly stopped taling. "... hat did you 3ust say/" +nd in the ne4t moment. "I understand. ell then, I will tae over +)ua sama#s 3ob from now on." ith a flash of white light, a winged woman appeared out of nowhere. ... simply put, it was a woman that looed lie an angel.
"... 6h/" Under the feet of +)ua who s)uealed in surprise, as well as under my feet, a blue magic circle appeared. ?h, what is this/ +m I really going to another world/ "ait, huh, what is happening/ 6h, you can#t be serious/ 5o no, hold on, this is too weird1 It is cheating to bring a goddess along1 5o count/ !his shouldn#t count1 ait1 ait oay/"
+)ua paniced with tears in her eyes, she was a mess. !he angel spoe while facing +)ua& "2on voyage, +)ua sama. 0leases leave the rest to me. e will send envoys to welcome you bac right after the demon ing is defeated. 2efore you return, I will handle all your tass." "ait1 ait1 ait1 +s a goddess, I possess healing powers, p owers, not combat abilities1 It is impossible for me to defeat the demon ing1" !he angel who appeared suddenly ignored +)ua who collapsed on the floor crying and smiled gently at me. "Satou Kazuma san. 8ou will be heading to another world now and become one of the candidate heroes to defeat the demon ing. 8ou will receive a gift from the gods the moment you defeat the demon ing." "... Aift/" I ased by repeating what she said. !he angel smiled warmly at me. "!hat#s right, a gift be befitting fitting a world savior... 8ou 8ou will be granted a wish, it can be anything you want."
"?h1" !hat means I could wish to return to
"ait1 Aiving that cool speech is my m y 3ob1" +)ua wailed on the floor after the angel too her 3ob. I was satisfied after seeing +)ua act this way. way. +nd so, I pointed at +)ua and said&
"ow does it feel to be companions with a man you loo down on/ ey, you are the #thing# chosen by me to be brought along. Since you are a goddess, use your godly powers to mae my adventure a breeze1" "5o@1 Aoing to another world with a man lie this, no way@1" "ero1 ;ay you be victorious among the many hero candidates, and become the one to defeat the demon ing... ell then, I bid you farewell1" "ahhh@1 !hat#s my line@1" +nd with the announcement from the angel. + bright light surrounds the wailing +)ua and me...1
Chapter 2 Arriving In This Alternate World With Someone Claiming To Be A Goddess!
Part 1
!he carriage drove over the pavement and made loud creaing sound. "... +nother +nother world... ey, it really is another world. 6h, it#s for real/ I am a m going to used magic and adventure in this world/" I was trembling with e4citement because of the scene before me and started taling to myself. 2efore my eyes were houses built from red brics, the streets right out of 6urope in the ;iddle +ges. !here were no cars, bies, power lines or telecommunication cables.
"+h... +h... +hh..." I looed around the street, watching the people pe ople passing by. "+nimal ears1 !here is someone with animal ears1 +nd elf ears1 Is that an elf/ ith such striing facial features, she definitely is one1 Aood bye hiiomori life1 ello different world1 If it was this world, I am willing to go out and wor obediently1" "+hh... +hhh.... +hhhh1" I turned around and looed at +)ua who was hugging her head screaming. "ey, "ey, you are noisy. noisy. hat if they thin I am related r elated to a crazy cra zy woman lie you/ Stop screaming, you should be giving something to me at a time lie this right/ %oo at what I am wearing. Aym clothes/ I finally arrived in a fantasy world but I
am wearing a full set of gym clothes. +ccording to the norm in games, you should be giving me the minimum e)uipment..." "+hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh--1" !he goddess screamed as she pounced over to grab me. "oah1 hat, what are you doing, don#t act this way1 I get it, I will do something about the basic e)uipment. I should say that I was wrong1 If you are unwilling, please go bac . I will thin about what to do in the future." +)ua tried to strangle me with teary eyes, so I shoo off off her hand and tried to shoo her away with an annoyed e4pression. In the end, +)ua said with trembling hands& "hat are you taling about/ I am troubled because I can#t go bac1 hat now/ 5ah, what should I do1 hat am I going to do in the future/" +)ua fell into a panic in tears, pacing about while hugging her head. er waist length hair was a mess, she looed crazy right now, although she#s was a beauty when she ept )uiet. "ey, "ey, calm down goddess. g oddess. !he first place to visit should sho uld be the bar. 6verything 6verything starts from collecting information at a bar. !his is the standard in role playing games." "uh...1 8ou 8ou are 3ust a hiiomori gaming 566!, 566!, why are you so reliable/ r eliable/ +h, Kazuma, my name is +)ua. I don#t mind you addressing me as goddess, but do call me by my name whenever possible. ?r else we would be surrounded by citizens and couldn#t go on adventures and tae down the demon ing. !his might be a different world, but I am still one of the revered gods of this world." +)ua said as she followed behind me confidently. confidently. +lright, there should a group formed to tae on the demon ing or an adventurer guild made to defeat monsters.
Speaing of which, +)ua is a goddess, he can as her if he had any )uestions. "+)ua, please tell me where is the position of the adventurers guild. hich way should we go/" I ased +)ua, but she 3ust looed at me blanly. blanly. ".../ I won#t now even if you as me. I now the common nowledge of this world, but not the situation in town. !his is 3ust one of the many e4isting planets, and 3ust a small town at that1 ow would I now/" !his fellow is useless. !here#s no other way, way, so I ased a sed a middle aged lady passing by. by. I didn#t ased guys for fear of meeting delin)uents, while the difficulty of taling to young girls were too high for me. "64cuse me-- may I as something/ I am looing for a place similar to an adventurers guild..." "Auild1 +ra, to not now where the guild is, could you be from out of town/" rom what the madam was saying, there really was a guild here, which made me relieved. "!hat#s right, I am a traveler who came from a far away land, I 3ust reached this town." "+ra ara... Since you came to this town, you must be aiming to become an adventurer. elcome to the town of novice adventurer adventur er,, +4el. ollow the main road and turn right, you will see the signboard for the guild." "!ae "!ae a right down the road, got g ot it, than you very much1 ... ey, ey, let#s go." + town for novice adventurers I see. !his was a good starting point for the dead who gets transported here.
+fter thaning the lady, lady, I followed her directions while +)ua followed me with respect in her eyes and sighed& "5ah, you came up with an e4cuse right on the spot, why are you able to handle this so perfectly/ 8ou 8ou seemed to be a capable capab le guy, guy, why were you a hii566! without any girls or friends/ hy did you want to stay at home all day and be a hii566!/" "5ot having a girl or friends isn#t a bad thing. !he value of a person cannot be measured by the number of friends or having a significant other. +nd don#t call me a hii566!. hii566!. 7amn bitch. 7on#t combine hiiomori and 566! together, and I am 3ust BC, too young to be a 566! by society#s standard... !here it is." +)ua pounced over to strangle me for calling her a bitch, but I ignored her and entered the adventurers guild. -- +dventurers guild- + place for adventurers to tae up 3obs, which was a staple in games, an organization that supported the adventurers. !he 3ob agency of this world. !here was a rather large establishment before them and the fragrance of food drifted from within. Some rough characters would definitely be inside. !hey might find trouble with me if they saw unfamiliar faces. +fter preparing myself mentally and entering... "+h, welcome@ 0lease approach the counter if you looing for 3obs. If you are here to dine, please tae any empty seat@1" + waitress with short red hair received us warmly. warmly. !he slightly dim interior seemed to double as a bar.
Aroups of men in armor could be seen congregating inside, but they didn#t seem to bear ill will. 2ut unfamiliar faces seemed to be rare, everyone was focusing on us. ... I realized why the y were looing this way. "5ah nah, they are looing this way too blatantly. It must be the holy aura coming from me, they must have discovered that I am a goddess." !he reason was the appearance of the goddess speaing dumb words. She looed lie a beauty if she stayed )uiet, and was attracting everyone#s eyes. or now, I ignored their gaze and went about my original ob3ective. "... %isten carefully +)ua, they will gave us a tutorial if we register, enabling us to earn a living. !hat#s the ind of place adventurers guilds are. e should be able to tae a loan to prepare ourselves, complete simple 3obs to get by and introduce us to a good tavern. ;ost games g ames start out this way. 5ormally, 5ormally, preparing the bare essentials to live in this world should be your 3ob... 2ut never mind. or today, let#s register with the guild, get some e)uipment and money, money, and find a place to sleep." "I don#t care about that. ;y 3ob was sending the dead to this world. 2ut I get it. I am not familiar with games, but what you said was common sense for this world. So I 3ust need to register to be an adventurer too, right/" "!hat#s right. +lright then, let#s go." !aing +)ua with me, I made a beeline for the counter. !here are D counter staff. E of them were female. I )ueue up at the counter with the prettier lady.
"... 5ah, the other F counters are empty, why are you )ueuing here/ e won#t have to wait if we go to another counter... +h, because this counter staff is the prettiest/ Geally, Geally, I was 3ust a bit impressed and thought that you were reliable, but you are doing this/" +)ua who was following me didn#t now anything, so I whispered whispered to her )uietly& "2uilding a good rapport with the guild#s counter staff is the basics. +nd the pretty counter lady definitely had plenty of flags to raise. !his means there will be more shocing hidden side )uest waiting for us. or e4ample, the counter lady might be a powerful adventurer or something." "... 5ow that you mentioned it, I saw something similar in a manga. Sorry Sorr y, I will wait in line obediently." 2ecause we did not approach the other empty counter and intentionally )ueue here, the other staff was looing at us curiously. 2ut I decided to pretend not to notice. It was finally our turn. "Aood morning, how may I help you/" !he counter staff was a gentle beauty. beauty. er wavy hair and large breast made her loo matured. "6h, I want to be an adventurer. I came from the countryside and didn#t now anything..." If I tell the counter staff I came from the countryside or a far away nation, they will give a more thorough e4planation. "I see. !here will be a registration fee, will that be oay/" !hat#s right, this is the basic tutorial. I will 3ust need to follow the instruction of the counter staff...
... Gegistration fee/ "... ey +)ua, you have any cash on you/" "I was transported here all of a sudden, how is it possible for me to have money/" ... ow could this be, shouldn#t they loan some money to us or put it on the tab for now/ I moved away from the counter and discuss the strategy with +)ua. "... ey, what now/ e are in a pinch right from the beginning. In games, you would normally get the minimal e)uipment and some money for living e4penses too." "+ll of a sudden, you became unreliable. 2ut it can#t be help, you are a hiiomori after all. +lright, it#s time for me to shine.
"+h... ;adam, you must be a follower of +4is. !here were stories about Aoddess +)ua and Aoddess 6ris being close, so this might be fate. I had been observing you, you have trouble paying the registration fee correct/ It#s 3ust a small fee, so please tae it as a blessing from Aoddess 6ris. 2ut no matter how devout you are, you shouldn#t use the title of the Aoddess in vain." "+h... ?ay, sorry... !han you very much..." !he eyes of +)ua looed dead as she returned with the money. money. "ahaha... e didn#t believed that I am a goddess... 2y the way, goddess 6ris is my 3unior... I was pitied by the believer of my 3unior goddess, and received his money..." "hat matters is that you completed the tas. !hin about it, if he really believed that you are a goddess, there would be a different ind of trouble1" +)ua had an e4pression that seemed to say she lost something important, so I encouraged her half heartedly. heartedly. "6h... e are bac with the registration fees." "I... I see... !he registration fees are BHHH 6ris..." +)ua received FHHH 6ris from the priest. +ccording to +)ua, B 6ris is about B yen, so she received about FHHH yen. !he counter lady didn#t interfere the commotion we stirred up, and was unwilling to loo at me and +)ua in the eye. It seems I had broen the flag between this lady and me. "+lright. Since you said you want to be an adventurer, you should have some level of understanding, but I will e4plain it from the start... irst, adventurers are responsible for the e4termination of the monsters wandering outside the town... 0eople who get rid of dangerous creatures that might harm the citizens. !hey are also 3ac of all trades, taing on odd 3obs that re)uires their talents... 0eople
who earn a living this way are nown collectively as adventurers. +nd among adventurers, there are different 3obs." inally, its coming. !his is a norm for adventurers. 2e it 3obs, class or whatever they are called, you have to choose the way you fight in this world. ompared to the blunt warrior profession, flashy 3obs lie mage would be better. !he counter lady handed me and +)ua one card each. It was about the size of a driving license, and seemed to be a ind of identification card. "0lease loo over here, her e, do you see the word level/ +s both of you now, now, all things in the world have souls. 5o matter what form it taes, if you eat or ill a being, you can absorb a part of the memory of the soul. !his is nown as #64perience 0oints#. #64perience 0oints# are normally intangible things, but..." !he counter lady pointed to one part of the card and continued& "ith this card, the #64perience 0oints# the adventurer had absorbed would be shown here. +t the same time, the level corresponding to your #64perience 0oints# would also be displayed. !his show how strong an adventurer is, and how many enemy you defeat would be recorded here. ith the accumulation of #64perience 0oints#, all creatures would grow stronger rapidly at some point. !his is nown as leveling up... Simply put, leveling up will grant you all sorts of pers, such as sill points to learn new sills. So please wor hard to increase your level." +fter listening to the e4planation, I recalled something +)ua said. She ased me #7o you... lie games/# I got it. +fter listening to all that, this world was 3ust lie a game.
"irst of all, please fill in your height, weight, age and other details in the blans." I filled in my particulars in the form given to me by the counter lady. eight is BCcm, weight g. BC years old, brown hair and eyes... "!hat will be fine. 0lease touch this card. !his will display the strength of each of your abilities as reference to chooses your 3ob. +fter accumulating sill points, you can learn sills that are available to your 3obs. !his is one of the ey points in choosing 3obs." ?h, it was time for this. !he time to show my amazing potential and create a big commotion in the guild. ith tense emotion and a heart of e4pectation, I touched the card. "... +lright, than you. Satou Kazuma san right. %et#s %e t#s see... Strength, vitality, vitality, magic, agility and speed... +ll of them are average, intelligence is a slightly better than average... uh/ %uc is very high. 2ut it is not very relevant for adventurers... !his is troubling, from the numbers, you can only choose the most basic #adventurer# 3ob1 Since your luc is so high, I suggest you give up being an adventurer and be a merchant... hat would you lie to do/" ey, my life of adventuring was being denied right from the very start, what is this. !he corners of +)ua#s lips were high in a smile, tempting me to punch her. ;e being wea doesn#t help your cause. "6rm, I would lie to be an adventurer. adven turer..." .." !he counter lady said with a face of worry& "It, it#s fine, after leveling up and your stats improve, you can change your 3ob1 +nd the adventurer 3ob is similar to its definition, it is a combination combination of all 3obs... !hat#s right, it might be a basic level 3ob, but it doesn#t mean it is worse than others1 +dventurers could learn and use the sills of all 3obs after all1"
"?n the other hand, you need more sill points to learn sills. ithout the bonus attribute of the actual 3ob, your sills would be weaer when compared to them. It#s a 3ac of all trade, master of none." +fter the counter lady point out the good points, +)ua immediately shot me down. I should find a place to throw her away. away. It seems that I would be taing a basic 3ob, or a beginner 3ob. +nyway, +nyway, it was the weaest 3ob. 2ut I am still an adventurer that appeared in this world. +s I received my card with my name and the 3ob #adventurer# written written on it with a heavy heart... "6h/ uh@1 hat is with these numbers/ 2esides the lower than average intelligence, and luc which is pit bottom, the rest of your stats drastically e4ceeds the average1 6specially your magic, it is abnormally high, who in the world are you.../" !he counter lady screamed after looing at the card +)ua touched. !he place was in an uproar. ... eird, shouldn#t that be happening to me instead/ "+h, is that right/ So it means I am amazing/ +ra@ it is normal by my standard." 5o matter how useless, she was still a goddess. 2ut +)ua being so happy that she#s became embarrassed pissed me off. "!his, this was way past amazing1 ;age type 3obs which re)uires high intelligence is not available... 2ut you can choose any other 3obs1 !he holy night with its strongest defense #rusader#, the swordsman with the strongest attac #Swordmaster#, the top tier cleric #+rchpriest#... 8ou 8ou can chooses most of
the top tier 3obs right now...1" +)ua was slightly troubled by the counter lady#s )uestion and said& "ell, it#s a pity that #goddess# isn#t available as a 3ob... It should be grand cleric for me." "+rchpriest1 +rchpriest can use all inds of recovery and support spells, they could even tae the role of vanguards, a strong all rounder 3ob1 I will register you now... now... It#s done. elcome to the adventurers guild, +)ua sama, all our staff loo forward to your grand e4ploits1" !he counter lady said with a pleasant smile. ... Strange, what is this. %ie I said, this should be happening to me... orget it, anyway- +nd so, my life as an adventurer began in this world.
Part 2
"+lright-- good wor everyone--1 !hat#s it for today1 ere, this is the salary for today." "!han you. Aood 3ob today boss-1" "Aood 3ob-1" +fter the boss announce the end of the wor day, day, +)ua and I received our salary, salary, bowed and greeted him. "6veryone, we will mae a move first-1" "Aood bye-1" "?h- thans for your hard wor1 I#m counting on you tomorrow too." I bid farewell to my seniors while +)ua followed my lead. +fter hearing the reply from the seniors, +)ua and I left the worplace. +h, I wored the whole of today too. 6ven I am beginning to doubt that I was a hiiomori. +)ua and I too our salary for the day and head for the public bath. !he public bath was no different from the ones in
!his place seemed to be from the middle ages, so I thought it would be lu4urious to tae a bath here, but that was 3ust me. I am grateful, so grateful...1 +fter leaving the bath, I saw +)ua waiting at the entrance for me. 2athing longer than a girl was a bit off, but that was the nature of
manual laborer so far." !hat#s right. or the past E wees, +)ua and I had been woring on the walls outside the city. city. e were construction worers. !hat was too far off from the life of an adventurer I was aspiring to live in this world. ?r rather, why did +)ua got used to this lifestyle without an y complains. eren#t you a goddess/ "8ou don#t wor, you don#t eat, isn#t that obvious/ ii566!s are really picy. If you prefer to, you can wor as a store cler too1" "5o1 It#s not that. ow should I put this. hat I am after is an e4citing battle against monsters1 + life lie that1 +nd isn#t this world in a crisis with the invasion of the demon ing/ Isn#t it amazingly peaceful here, there are no signs of demons at all, hey1" I got e4cited as I spoe and my voice got louder, and was lectured by our neighbors. "ey, "ey, can it1 2e )uiet1" "+h, sorry1" +dventurers who were 3ust starting out were poor. poor. It was normally impossible for us to rent a room in the tavern every night. 5ormally, they will share the rent with other adventurers and sleep in the communal room. ?r they could do what we were doing and sleep on the hay in the stables.
8es, this was different from the adventurer lifestyle in the alternate way I was looing forward to. Staying in the tavern daily was the same as sleeping in a hotel every day in
;inimum wage/ %abor laws/ hat are those, can we eat it/ !hat#s the world this was. "It#s useless even if you tell me these. !his is the town furthest away from the demon ing#s castle after all1 ho would come all the way to attac a novice town at the borders... bord ers... +nyway, +nyway, Kazuma wants to live more lie an adventurer right/ 8ou 8ou don#t even have the proper prope r e)uipment1" +)ua went straight to the point, and I couldn#t protest. !hat#s right, +)ua and I don#t even have the minimum e)uipment. e were hoping to buy them, that#s why we were woring so hard at the construction site. "I#m getting bored of construction too... I didn#t come to this world to be a laborer. I came to this world with no computers and games in order to adventure. +nd didn#t you send me here to challenge the demon ing/" +fter hearing what I said, +)ua made a #what are you taling about face#, pondered for a moment and responded& "?h1 !here was such a thing1 I was so immersed in the happiness of labor that I forgot. I couldn#t go bac if Kazuma don#t defeat the demon ing." %istening to her dumb reply, I recalled the counter lady#s words. Seems that this fellow#s intelligence was really below average. "+lright, let#s go challenge the demon ing1 7on#t worry, worry, it will be a breeze with me here1 %oo forward to my performance1" "!hat made me uneasy... 2ut you are a goddess after all. I#m counting on you1 ?ay, we will buy some basic weapons and armor with the money we saved and go grinding tomorrow1" "%eave it to me1" "7idn#t I told you to can it1 8ou 8ou want me to beat you up/1" up/ 1" "I am very sorry1" 4E
+s I apologized to the other adventurers, I got ready to sleep with an e4cited heart.
Part 3
Under the clear blue sy. sy. "+hhhhh1 elp1 +)ua, save me@@1" "0uhehe1 !his is so funny1 Kazuma your face is all red, you are tearing up and woring really hard1" ?ay, ?ay, I will bury this fellow before going bac. +s I mae up my mind, I continue to run and scream for help as a giant toad toad lie monster chased me. !his was the open plain outside of town. e too a mission from the guild in the morning and headed here... +s for the bare minimum weapon needed, I chose a short sword. +)ua was acting dumb, saying a goddess wielding weapons were unglamorous and wasn#t e)uipped with anything. She was watching the toads chasing me leisurely. 7on#t loo down on them 3ust because they were toads. !hey were bigger than bulls. It was their mating season, so they were accumulating nutrition in order to lay eggs. !hey roam around the human settlement where food were more plentiful, swallowing goats raised by farmers in a single gulp. If they could swallow a goat whole, swallowing me and +)ua would be easy too. In fact, children and farmers often went missing during the mating season of these toads. 6ven though their appearance were 3ust that of a giant toad.
2ut they were still dangerous monsters, stronger than the small monsters near town that were e4terminated. 2y the way, their meat was a bit tough, but it was pleasant and refreshing, a rather popular ingredient. It#s thic fat was effective against blunt attac. !hey hate metals, so you won#t be hunted if your e)uipment were full. It was an easy foe for normal adventurers. !hat#s why sillful adventurers lie to hunt them. 2ut... "+)ua-1 +)ua-1 Stop laughing and save me--1" "or a start, add a #san# when you address me." "+)ua sama--1" I will bury this fellow all the way, only leaving her head above ground. I will let her now the horror of being targeted by toads. I was on the verge of tears, looing bac at the toad hopping behind me. +t this moment, I realized that the toad were heading in a different different direction from me. 2efore the toad was... "an#t be helped-1 +lright, I will save you, hii566!1 2ut you will need to worship this goddess from tomorrow tomorro w onwards1 8ou 8ou have to 3oin the +)ua sect in town, and pray to me F times a day1 8ou 8ou can#t ob3ect if I tae any side dishes from you during meals1 +nd also, ugh/" +)ua who was puffing her chest out and rumbling on about something disappeared. I turned my head and saw the toad had stopped moving.
Something white were dangling from the corner of the toad#s mouth. !hat white thing was... "+)ua-1 8ou, 8ou, how could you get eaten-1"
+)ua who was eaten by the toad had one leg dangling out of its mouth which was spasming. +nd so I drew my short sword and charged the toad1 "Sob... Ugh, ugh-- ah...1" 2efore me, +)ua was covered in sticy toad fluid hugging her nees while sitting on the ground sobbing. 2esides her was the toad with its head smashed. "Ugh... Sob... !han, than you... Kazuma, than you...1 ahhhhhhhhh....1" +)ua had been crying non stop since I dragged her out of the toad#s mouth. 6ven a goddess couldn#t stand the horror of being preyed on. "+re, are you oay o ay +)ua, +)ua, be strong... %et#s go bac for today. today. !he mission we too on was e4terminating toads in F days, but they are not opponents we could handle. %et#s try again when we have better e)uipment. %oo, I only have a short sword and no armor, I#m still wearing my gym clothes. %et#s come bac when we are dressed more lie adventurers." !o be honest, a novice lie me only o nly defeated the toad toa d because it stopped moving as it tried to swallow +)ua. If the toad attaced me without hesitation, I don#t have the courage to face it. +)ua stood up with the glossy fluid all over her body. body. "Ugh... or a goddess lie me to be humiliated by a toad, how could we retreat1 I am already defiled. If a believer saw how dirty I am, their faith would definitely plummet1 If people new I ran from toads, it would be a disgrace to the name of the beautiful goddess +)ua1" 7on#t worry about that. 8ou 8ou carried several times more construction materials than the men at the wor site, and looed so happy happ y while woring. 8our 8our greatest 3oy was eating dinner after taing a bath, you were sleeping so soundly that you you
even drooled while sleeping in the stables beside me. +fter seeing the way you acted, being covered in goo wasn#t much. 2ut before I could stopped her, +)ua charged towards another toad in the distance. "+h1 ey, hold up, +)ua1" +)ua ignored my restraint, drawing closer to the toad using her moment to throw a punch at the belly of the toad. "eel the wrath of a goddess1 8ou dare to oppose a goddess/ Gepent in hell1 Aod 2low1" I remembered the staff in the guild telling me that physical attacs weren#t effective against giant toads. er fist sun into the soft abdomen, while the toad seemed unaffected... +)ua looed at the toad meely in the eye and said softly& "... %oo, looing closely, toads are actually )uite cute right/" ... +nd so, I defeated a End giant toad that stopped moving as it attempted to swallow its prey. prey. !he adventure for today ended with me bringing a wailing goddess covered in slime bac to town.
Part 4
"I get it.
"Swallow. "Swallow. Swallow before you spea." +fter +)ua swallowed, she said& "ith me here, I 3ust need to holler and people will line up to 3oin us. I am a high cleric after all, the top tier 3ob1 I can use all sorts of healing spells, support magic, relieve poison and paralysis status. I can even perform resurrection, definitely a talent any team would want. I might had fallen into the mortal world and my power were far from my pea, but I am still a goddess... +hem1 I am +)ua sama after all1 I 3ust need to put up a notice and a bunch of people begging me to #bring me along to missions# will show up1 If you understand, then give me another piece of fried toad meat1" +fter finishing, the self proclaimed goddess grabbed a piece of fried toad meat from my plate as I watched her with worried eyes.
Part
!he ne4t time, at the adventurers guild. "... 5o one is coming..." +)ua mumbled to herself de3ectedly. de3ectedly. +fter displaying a recruitment notice, we sat at a table inside the adventurers guild and wait for companions of the hero to show up. It had been half a day. !he other adventurers definitely saw our notice. 2esides us, a number of adventurers were recruiting members. !hey had conducted interviews, taled with them and went off. I new very well why no one was coming. "... 5ah, let#s lower the standard. ?ur goal is to defeat the demon ing, so such conditions were necessary... but #only recruiting top tier 3obs# is a bit too grueling." "Ugh... 2ut..." In this world, the adventurers 3obs were divided into tiers, with some being top tier. +)ua#s high cleric was one of the top tier 3obs. It was difficult for normal people to pic this 3ob, she could very well be a hero candidate. +nd it was normal for such hero candidates to en3oy a privileged life in other teams... +)ua probably wanted to recruit powerful companions in order to tae down the demon ing.
2ut... "If this goes on, no one would apply1 8ou might have a top tier 3ob, but mine is the weaest. I will lose my place if I am suddenly surrounded by elites. ow about lowering the entry re)uirements..." +s I was preparing to stand up, "I saw the notice to recruit adventurers with top tier, tier, is that you guys/" er eyes with red pupils looed sleepy. er smooth blac hair reached her shoulders. or us, she was a girl in a classical witch attire, with blac cloa, dar boots, pointy hat and a staff. er features were delicate lie a porcelain doll - it#s a loli. It wasn#t surprising for children to wor in this world... !he small frail girl who looed about BE-BF had an eye patch covering one eye. She flung her cloa hard and said& "I am ;egumin1 +n arch wizard with the strongest attac spell, e4plosion...1" "... +re you here to tease us/"
"I, I#m not1" I couldn#t help retorting the self introduction of this girl, and she denied in a panic. +nd what was with the name ;egumin. "!hat red eye... +re you rimson 7emon race/" r ace/" !he girl nodded in response to +)ua#s )uery and presented her adventurer card to +)ua. "!hat#s correct1 I am an elite mage from the rimson 7emon race, ;egumin1 ;y magic is powerful enough to split the mountains...1 ... !hat#s how it is, do you need an e4cellent mage/ ... 2y the way, I have a favor to as. I haven#t ate in F days, could you give me something to eat before the interview..." ;egumin looed at us with sorrowful eyes. !he heartbreaing #Ugu# sound came from ;egumin#s stomach region. "... I#m fine with treating you to a meal, but why are you wearing an eye patch/ If you are in3ured, do you need this fellow to heal you/" "mmp... this is a tool to restrain r estrain my overwhelming over whelming power... If you pull it off... + gigantic disaster will befall the world... "?h... So it is something lie a seal." "I made that up. !his is 3ust a normal eye patch, it 3ust loo nice... +h, +h, sorry, sorry, please don#t pull on that, stop1" "6h... listen Kazuma, the rimson 7emon race are born with high intellect and strong magic affinity, affinity, most of them have the potential to become a professional pro fessional mage. !he rimson 7emon race are nown for their red eyes... and their strange names." +)ua e4plained as I pulled on ;egumin#s eye patch.
... I understand.
Part
"64plosion is the strongest spell. ?n the other hand, it re)uires a long casting time. 2efore I am ready, ready, please eep that tha t toad at bay." e brought ;egumin who had eaten her full along to see revenge against those giant toads. I could see a toad in the distance on the plain. !hat toad had already noticed us and was charging our way. +nd I could see another toad heading towards us from the opposite direction. "0lease target the toad further away. away. +s for the one nearer... ey, ey, let#s go +)ua. e will avenge ourselves this time. 8ou 8ou are a former goddess godde ss right/ ow about showing what you are made of sometimes/" "hat do you mean by former/ I am a current goddess1 ;y position of a high cleric is 3ust a disguise1" ;egumin looed at the self proclaimed goddess choing me and said& "...Aoddess/" "...
+)ua who laced the capacity to learn shouted and succeeded in infiltrating into the body of the toad, stopping the movement of one toad. +s e4pected of a goddess, sacrificing herself to buy time for for us. ... +t this point, the air around ;egumin started to tremble. 6ven a novice to magic lie me could tell ;egumin was preparing to use amazing magic. ;egumin#s chanting got louder as sweat falls from her temples. "atch closely. closely. !his is the strongest possible attac of humans... !he ultimate attac magic." !he tip of ;egumin#s ;eg umin#s staff started to glow. !he scale might be small, but it seemed to accumulate vast amount of light as it shone brightly. ;egumin#s red eye was wide open with a brilliant light. "#64plosion#1" + light flashed through the plains. !he light emitted from the tip of ;egumin#s staff pointed towards the distance, hitting the toad approaching us dead on...1 !he violent effect of the spell could be seen immediately. immediately. !hat dazzling light and the loud bang reverberating in the air made the toad e4plode into pieces. I was almost blown away by that strong wind as I covered my face and braced myself. +fter the dust settled, a crater EH meter in diameter could be seen where the toad was, showing how powerful that e4plosion was.
"... +mazing-+mazing-- so this is magic..." !he power of ;egumin#s spell moved me, and at this moment, + toad climbed out slowly from underground, probably woen up by the shocwave and sound of the e4plosion. I was thining that without rain and water source in the plains, the toads dry up under the hot sun. It turned out they burrow underground to avoid being baed alive. !he toad that was climbing out was near ;egumin, but it#s movement were very slow. If we use this chance to move away from the toad, and let ;egumin use her #e4plosion# spell again, we could blow the toad into cinders. ";egumin1 %et#s retreat for now, now, and attac from a distance..." I looed over at ;egumin at this point. +nd my body turned stiff. 2ecause ;egumin was lying face down on the ground. "mmp... 64plosion is my ultimate spell, it is powerful and used a lot of mana... Simply put, the mana I used e4ceeded my limit, so I couldn#t move. +h, to thin a toad would appear out of nowhere... 5o good, I will get eaten. Sorry, please save me... ya...1" +nd so, I finished off the the two toads whose movement were sealed by the body of +)ua and ;egumin. e completed the mission to defeat giant toads in F days.
Part "
"Ugh... Ugug... sniff... it smells... it smells lie fish..." +)ua who was covered in slime sniveled as she followed behind me. "It is smelly inside the toad, but the warm feeling isn#t too bad... I gained some nowledge that I would rather not now no w..." ;egumin who I was carrying on my bac was covered in goo lie +)ua, and she told me something I don#t want to now no w. If someone uses magic that e4ceeded their mana capacity, it would drain their life force to mae up the difference. Using powerful spells when your mana is depleted might even lead to death. "rom now on, e4plosion magic is banned unless there is an emergency. 0lease wor hard by using other spells, ;egumin." ;egumin who heard what I said grabbed my shoulders harder. "... I can#t." "... uh/ 8ou can#t what/" I parroted ;egumin#s words. ;egumin grabbed even harder and pressed her lacing chest onto my bac. "... I can only use e4plosion spell. I don#t now any other magic." "... +re you serious/" "... 8es." +s ;egumin and I turned silent, +)ua who was sniveling 3oined in our
discussion. "hat do you mean by nowing only e4plosion magic/ If you had enough sill points to learn e4plosion, you must had learned other spells right/" ... Sill points/ Speaing of which, the counter lady at the guild did mention something about sill points. Seeing that I am confused, +)ua e4plained to me& "Sill points are something you earn when you tae choose a 3ob, it is used to learn sills. !he better a person is, the more sill points they start out with. 8ou 8ou can learn all sorts of sills by investing your sill points in it. or e4ample, the e4cellent me had learned all the ban)uet party trics as well as all the spells of a high cleric." "... here are you going to use the ban)uet party trics/" +)ua pretended not to hear my )uestion and continued& "7epending on the person and the 3ob, there are restrictions to the sills they may learn. or e4ample, someone with a fear of water would need more points to learn water or ice elemental spells... 2ut detonation series magic are composite spells, you would need deep nowledge of fire and wind magic to master it. !his means that people who can learn detonation magic should be able to easily learn other spells." "!his means that it doesn#t mae sense to be unable to learn low grade spells when you now high tier magic from the detonation series... +nyway, +nyway, where can you mae use of ban)uet party trics/" ;egumin mumbled when I finished my sentence& "... I am an arch wizard that loves e4plosion spell. hat I lie is not detonation series magic, but e4plosion spell."
Geally, Geally, what#s the difference between detonation spell and e4plosion magic/ I don#t understand things on this level as +)ua listened to ;egumin#s monologue with a series face. 5o, compared to that, I am totally distracted by the ban)uet party trics. "+dventures would definitely be easier if I learn other spells. ire, water, earth, wind and light, learning spells related to this should be good enough... 2ut I couldn#t do it. ;y only love is e4plosion magic. 6ven though I could only cast it once per day, even if I will collapse after using the spell, my one true love is still e4plosion magic1 !he only reason I chose the path of the arch mage was to cast e4plosion spells" "Incredible1 Areat1 8our 8our resolve to follow your romantic dreams despite nowing it is efficient is deeply moving1" ... ?h no, seemed lie this mage was going to be useless. !he best evidence was her hitting it off with +)ua. +fter two battles with the toads, I highly suspect the usefulness of this goddess. onestly, onestly, 3ust +)ua alone was troublesome enough, if another one 3oined in... +lright, I made up my mind. "I see. I thin this would definitely be a difficult path, so do wor hard. +h, I can see the town. %et#s divide the rewards e)ually e)ua lly at the guild. 8es, 8es, let#s meet again aga in if our path crossed again." ;egumin grabbed me harder after I finished. "mmp... ;y only wish is to use e4plosion magic. !he bounty is 3ust a complementary bonus. ow about this, I don#t need to split the rewards re wards evenly, evenly, if you are willing to foot the bill for food, bath and miscellaneous items, I can consider not taing any rewards. !hat#s right, my power as an arch wizard is available at the price of meals and other miscellaneous fees1 ow could you
miss this opportunity to form a long term contract1" "5o no no, our wea team is not worthy of such amazing power. !hat#s right, it#s too much to as ;egumin to stay in our team with your amazing powers. + team 3ust starting out should mae do with a normal mage. %oo at me, my 3ob is the weaest adventurer too." In order to chase away ;egumin who was grabbing on to me tightly when we reach the guild, I attempted to loosen her grip. 2ut ;egumin refused to let go. "5o no no no, it doesn#t matter if you are novices or wea. I might have a top tier 3ob, but I am still a beginner too. ;y level is 3ust C. hen my level grows, I wouldn#t collapse after using my spells. So let#s tal this over, then pull my hand away oay/" "5o no no no no, it#s too hard to utilize a mage that can only cast one spell a day. Ugh, she is a mage, but her grip is strong...1 %et go, the other teams probably don#t want you too. ?r rather, e4plosion spell couldn#t be used in dungeons or in doors, which would render you useless. ey, release your grip. I will split the rewards e)ually with you1 0lease let go1" "0lease don#t ditch me1 5o team is willing to tae me in1 I am willing to carry the luggage or anything when e4ploring dungeons1 0lease, don#t throw me away1" It#s probably because ;egumin on my bac was yelling #don#t throw me away#, the passer bys started whispering while looing at us. 2ecause we are in town and +)ua#s appearance drew in a lot of attention, it made us the center of focus. "-- 5o way... way... !hat man wants to abandon that child..." "-- e has a girl covered in slime with him." "-- !o !o toy with such a small child, and to abandon her after that, what a trash. %oo1 hy are the girls covered in goo/ hat weird se4ual games did that
pervert made them do/" ... I was definitely being maligned. +)ua smiled deviously upon hearing them, how hateful. ;egumin seemed to have heard their whispers too. I looed at ;egumin who was peeing over my shoulder, a malicious smile on her face... "I am fine with any sort of play1 6ven using the toad#s slime lie 3ust now is oay..." "+lright-- I get1 ;egumin, I will be in your care1"
Part #
"+lright, everything is in order. I have confirmed that your team had finished the mission to defeat giant toads in F days. Aood wor." +fter reporting in at the guild#s counter, counter, I received the promised reward. +s for +)ua and ;egumin who were covered in slime, they will be too smelly if they don#t wash up. It might cause misunderstanding for me, so I shooed them off to the bath house. ?ne of the toad we defeated disintegrated because of the e4plosion magic, so I was afraid it might affect the completion of the mission. 2ut the type and number of monsters defeated were recorded on the adventurer card, so there was no problems. I handed in me and ;egumin#s card to the counter lady, which she put in a strange bo4 lie machine. !he confirmation was done 3ust lie that. !he things that were developed were magic instead of science, so the technology level of this world was )uite advance. I looed at my card again and saw that I am at level D. I heard that those toads were great for novice adventurers to grind levels. I defeated D toads by myself, enough to raised my level to D. It was easier to low level people to level up. +ll the stats on the card increased slightly, slightly, but I don#t feel myself turning any stronger. "... 2ut, I can really get stronger 3ust by illing monsters..." I mumbled to myself.
!he counter lady did mentioned that when she e4plained in the beginning. +ll things in the world have souls. 5o matter what what form it taes, if you eat or ill a being, you can absorb a part of the memory of the soul. !hat#s what she said. !his part felt lie a computer game. %ooing closely, closely, there is something called Sill 0oints on it, which showed the number F.
-- ut down the 6gil trees corrupting the forest, bounty are dependent on the amount turned in -- elp me loo for my pet white wolf -- ;y son#s swordsmanship lesson JGe)uirement& Gune Knight or Sword master. -- Gecruiting sub3ect for magic practice J Ge)uirement& igh 0 or strong magic resistance... 8eah. It#s not easy to survive in this world. I felt lie returning to
+ bit taller than me should be about BH cm. She was wearing solid metal armor all over her body, a beauty with blonde hair and blue eyes. 0robably a year or two older than me. I can#t tell her body shape from her armor, but I felt that she was very feminine. er face seemed rather cold... ow should I put this, it piced on your masochistic side... ... +h, +h, that#s not good, good , I was entranced. "+h, eh-- hat is the matter/" acing +)ua who was about my age and ;egumin who was younger than me was fine. 2ut this beauty slightly older than me made me stutter. !hat was the bad point about living the life of a hiiomori for e4tended period of time. "6rm... !he team that put up this recruitment notice was you right/ +re you still looing for people/" !hat female night showed me a piece of paper. !hat#s right, we didn#t tear away that notice after ;egumin 3oined our party. "?h-- e are still hiring. +lthough I wouldn#t recommend you to 3oin..." "0lease pic me1 0lease let me 3oin your party1" hen I was about to re3ect her tactfully, the female night suddenly grabbed my hand. ... 6h/ "5o, no no, hold up, our party have plenty of problems. !he other two members
are burdens and my 3ob is the weaest. 2ecause of that, my two companions were covered in slime hurts hurts hurts1" hen I mentioned the slime, the female night increased her grip on my hand. "I was right, those two covered in goo were your comrades1 hat happened, how did they end up lie that...1 I, I also...1 ant to e4perience that...1" "uh/" hat did this 2ig sister said/ "5o, I phrased it wrongly. or the two young girls to e4perience that at such a tender age, I can#t watch idly as a night. ;y 3ob is the top tier cross night. It should fit your recruitment criteria." hat was with this female night, her eyes looed dangerous. I thought she was a calm and collected big sister1 2ut my danger sense was tingling. She seemed to have something similar with +)ua and ;egumin. ... She might be a beauty, beauty, but it couldn#t be helped. "+ra-- I didn#t finish. I really don#t recommend you to 3oin. ?ne of the party mates is useless, the other could only cast one spell a day and I have the weaest 3ob. !hat#s the lame party par ty this is, so I suggest you find another.../" !he female night strengthened her grip further. "!hat is perfect1 !o !o be honest, hone st, I am confident in my strength and durability durab ility,, I am not too agile with my hands... So... I can#t hit h it the enemy..." enemy..." ;y spider sense was right. "So you don#t need to mind me having a top tier 3ob. I will 3ust charge ahead without a care, so 3ust abuse me lie a shield."
!he female night shoved her pretty face in front of me who was seated on a chair. er face was too close1 2ecause I was sitting, she was looing at me from up high. !he female night#s golden locs brushed against my face, maing my heart race. ;y time as a hiiomori was affecting me again...1 5o, this was simply too stimulating for an adolescence virgin boy, boy, maing me uneasy. alm down, don#t get seduced by her charm1 "5o, how could I let a girl act lie a shield. ;y party is super wea, so the attac will really hit you. !he monsters might gang up on you in every fight1" "!hat#s the way I lie it." "5o, how should I put this, my E companions were eaten by toads and covered in slime1 !his might happen every day1" "!hat#s e4actly what I want1"
... ai,I get it. !hat blushing female night who was holding my hand. %ooing at her, I understood something. ... !his fellow wasn#t 3ust useless, even her character was rotten.
Chapter 2 Stealing Treasures $Panties% With &' (ight )and! Part 1
"5ah, I have something to as the both of you. ow do you learn sills/" !he day after fighting the toads. e were having a late lunch at the guild#s bar. 2efore me was the penniless ;egumin who didn#t have any proper meal before meeting us and was focusing on eating her set meal. +nd +)ua calling for the waitress to order more food. !heir appetites were too good for ladies of this tender age.
... E woman and B man is still a harem party, party, but it was totally not feminine... ;egumin lift her head while holding her for and said& "%earning sills/ !hat#s easy, easy, loo at your card and choose from the #sills that could be learned# column... ?h right, Kazuma#s 3ob is adventurer. or basic tier 3obs, you need someone to teach you the sills. 8ou need to see the sill in action and as the user to teach you how to use it. #Sills that could be learned# will show up, and you could learn the sills by putting in the re)uired sill points." I see. I remember the counter lady saying that the basic tier 3ob adventurer could learn any sills. If that was the case...
"... !hat means if ;egumin teaches me, I could use e4plosion magic/" "!hat#s how it is1" "oah1" ;egumin reacted strongly to my casual words. "!hat#s how it is, Kazuma1 !he sill points needed would be absurdly high, but adventurer is the only 3ob other than arch wizard that could use e4plosion. I can teach you if you want to learn. ?r rather, there are no other sills that are worth learning e4cept e4plosion right/ ?f course not1 ome, let#s tae the path of e4plosion together1" 8our face was too close1 "ait, calm down loli1 I only have F sill points, there#s no way I could learn it right/" "%o, loli.../" ;egumin was too e4cited to hold a proper conversation, so I ased +)ua instead. "If an adventurer wants to learn e4plosion spell, EH or so sill points won#t be enough. 8ou will probably need to train for a decade or two and invest all your points to learn it." "ho has that ind of patience/" "u... !o call me a loli..." ;egumin seemed stunned by me addressing her as a loli, eating her set meal in small bites de3ectedly. 2ut the only good point about my 3ob-- adventurer was the ability to learn all sills. ? curse I want to learn more sills. "5ah, +)ua, you should have many convenient sills right/ 7o you have any easy to learn sills to teach me/ I prefer those that don#t need a lot of points and are very useful."
+)ua thought for a moment while holding her cupful of water. water. "... It couldn#t be helped-- but I have to warn you, my sills are amazing1 It#s not meant to be passed on lightly1" I wasn#t happy about +)ua mouthing off lie that, but I had to bear with it since I am re)uesting her to teach me. I obediently nodded my head and watched +)ua#s every movement. "ell, loo at this cup. 0ut this cupful of water on top of your head, and don#t let the cup fall off. ere, try tr y it." It#s a bit embarrassing to do that in public, but I mimic +)ua#s action and put the cup on top of my head. +)ua then too out an unnown seed from somewhere and place it on the table. "+lright, now use your finger to flic the seed into the cup, you must do it in one try. Something amazing is happening1 !he seed is absorbing the water and sprouting..." "ho ased you to teach me party trics you worthless goddess1" "6h--/" +)ua became as de3ected as ;egumin for some reason and rolled the seed around the table with her finger. I don#t now why you got so down, but could you remove the cup on your head, it#s drawing a lot of attention. "ahaha1 !hat#s so funny1 ey, you are the party 7arness wanted to 3oin right/ 8ou want to learn something useful/ ow about thieving sills/" Someone inter3ected suddenly. suddenly. I turned my head and saw two women occupying the neighboring table.
!he one taling to me was a woman wearing light leather armor. She had a small scar on her face and seemed to be street smart. She was a pretty girl with silver locs and a bright personality. personality. 2eside her was a blond beauty in full plate mail. !hat unapproachable cool beauty... beauty... !hat#s right, it was the female night that wanted to 3oin our party yesterday. yesterday. !he thief girl should be a year or two younger than me. "6rm, what do you mean by thieving sills/ ow are they lie/" !he girl that looed lie a thief responded cheerfully& "Aood )uestion. !hieving sills are very practical-- such as #disarm traps#, #sense enemy#, #hide#, #steal#, they are all sills that are worth learning. 8our 8our 3ob is the basic tier adventurers right/ thieving sills don#t re)uire much points, so it#s a great deal1 ow about it/ I can teach them to you if you treat me to a glass of crimson beer1" So cheap1 !hat#s how I felt, but when I thought about it, she had nothing to lose from teaching me the sills. +nd I could 3ust as any other thief if I really want to learn thieving sills. "?ay, I leave it in your hands1 64cuse me-- 0lease get a glass of ice cold crimson beer for this lady1"
Part 2
"I will do a short sho rt introduction. I am hris. +s you you can see, I am a thief. +nd this person with a moody face is 7arness. 8ou 8ou met yesterday right/ She is a crusader and shouldn#t have any sills that are useful to you." "ello1 I am Kazuma, nice to meet you, hris1" !he open plaza behind the adventurers guild. hris, 7arness and I stood at this desolate open space. 2y the way, those E companions of mine were suling at the table all this while, so I left them there. "ell then, we will start from #sense enemy# and hide. e will wor on #disarm trap# ne4t time, traps are rare in such a crowded place. ey... ey... 7arness, could you turn and face that side/" "...mmm/ .... ?ay." 7arness turned and face away as instructed. +nd so, hris got into a wooden barrel some distance away and showed only the top half of her body. I don#t now what she was playing at, but she then threw a roc at 7arness#s head and hid into the barrel. "..." ould this be the hide sill/ 7arness who was hit by the roc moved silently towards the only barrel in the area. "Sensing enemy... enemy... sensing enemy en emy... ... I can strongly feel that 7arness is angry1 angr y1 5ah, 7arness/ 8ou 8ou should now no w I only did that to teach him the sills, I couldn#t help it1 0lease have mercy ahhhhhh, stop ahhhhhhhh1"
!he barrel she was hidden in was toppled over and hris screamed as it rolled on the ground. ... ould I really learn sill this way... way... "+lright, let#s try the sill I recommend the most, #steal#. !his was a sill that can snatch away one item possessed by the target, it could be anything. 2e it the weapon gripped tightly in their hands, or the wallet secured deep in their pocets, it can steal one item possessed by the target. !he probability of success is dependent on the luc stat. 8ou 8ou could rob ro b the weapon or treasure of a strong enemy and run, a great sill to have under any circumstances." +fter hris recovered from the dizziness of being rolled around in a barrel, she e4plained #steal# to me. Stealing sounded very useful indeed. +nd it was dependent on the luc stat, so my only stat stat that is high would be of use. "I will demonstrate with you as the target1 Geady Gead y, #steal#1" hris shouted as she reached her hand forward, and a small item appeared in her hand. !hat is... "+h1 !hat#s my wallet1" It contained all of my cash, a thin and pitiful wallet. "?h1
ant to try/" !his person suddenly said something amazing. I thought about it. ;y luc seemed ridiculously high... I could steal one item from the opponent... So I would get something even if the sill failed. ... %et#s give it a go. Such gambles seemed lie the way rash adventurers would interact, 3ust what I was looing forward to1 !hat#s right, I am finally e4periencing something adventurer lie after coming to this world1 I looed at my adventurer card and saw a new bo4 that displayed sills that could be learned. I touch it with my finger and D sills were displayed. #Sense enemy# B point, #hide# B point, #steal# B point#, #beauties of nature# points. ... #2eauties of nature#/ !he sill used by +)ua, the party tric of flicing a seed into a cup/ !he party tric had such a flashy name1 6h/ +nd it too a lot of points1 0arty trics were cool in some way, way, but I decided de cided to learn #steal#, #sense enemy# and #hide#. I used up all my sill points and it turned to H. I see, so that#s how you learn sills.
"I have learned the sill. +nd I accept your challenge1 7on#t come crying to me no matter what I steal1" I stuc out my right hand as I spoe, but hris 3ust smiled fearlessly fearle ssly.. "!hat#s great1 I lie people who aren#t spoilsport1 +lright then, what could you steal/ !he special prize would be my wallet. !he grand prize would be this magically enchanted dagger1 !his is a great item worth DHH,HHH 6ris1 !he consolation prize would be this piece of roc I threw at 7arness1" "+hhh1 !hat#s cheating1 Using such a method1" I protest loudly when I saw the roc hris too out. I was wondering why she was so confident, so that#s the reason1 If she had more trash items, the probability of important items getting stolen would be lower, a sort of safeguard against thieves. "!his is my teaching fee. +s you can see, see , no sills are all powerful. 8ou 8ou learned something great right/ +lright, give it a go1" 7amn, I was really schooled1 %ooing at hris laughing out loud, I felt I was foolish to fall for this tric. !his is not
I opened my hand and looed at what I stole... "... hat is this/" It was a piece of white cloth. I too the cloth with both hands and raised to the sun for a better loo... "8ahoo--1 It#s the grand prize, and it#s a big one---1" "5o--1 Geturn my panties to me--1" hris pulled down her sirt as she screamed with tears in her eyes.
Part 3
+fter learning the sills, I returned to the bar and found it to be lively. lively. "+)ua sama, one more time1 I am willing to pay for it, could you perform #beauties of nature# once more/" "ool, +)ua san prefers food instead of money1 Gight, +)ua san1 I will treat you to a meal, so please do #beauties of nature# again1" or some reason, there was a crowd around +)ua who looed troubled. "!alent "!alent shows are not n ot things that could be performed several times on re)uest1 + great man once said a funny 3oe could only be told once. 7oing the same trics several times because it is popular means you are a Frd rate performer1 I am not a performer, so I won#t accept money for my performance1 !his should be the basic attitude of talent show artisan. +nd I didn#t perform #beauties of nature# for you to see-- ah1 Kazuma you are finally bac, it turn out lie this because of you... 2y the way, way, who is this person/" +)ua pushed through the crowd with an annoyed face and was curious about the suly hris standing beside me. 2efore I could e4plain, 7arness said& "hris panties was removed by Kazuma and lost all her money to him. !hat#s why she is feeling down." "ey, what is this nonsense1 old up. hat you said was true, but hold on a minute." 2ecause hris was willing to pay any amount of money as she begged me to return her panties, I told her to decide how much her panties was worth. I added that if hris don#t offer an amount that would satisfy me, her panties would become my family heirloom.
In the end, she offered both her wallet and my wallet, so I agreed to the trade, that#s all. 2ut 7arness# way of phrasing it sounded a bit wrong. +)ua and ;egumin was a bit surprised after hearing what 7arness said. !heir gaze made me feel uncomfortable, and hris shoo off her suly e4pression at this moment and said& "6ven if I was stripped of my panties in public, I couldn#t eep on crying1 +lright, 7arness. I#m sorry, but I have decided to 3oin a profitable dungeon e4ploration party1 I am penniless after my panties was taen hostage." "ey, "ey, wait a second. !he female adventurers aside from +)ua and ;egumin is starting to turn cold, please don#t say anymore." !he female adventurers nearby seemed to have heard the conversation. Seeing how awward I looed in their cold gaze, hris laughed happily. "!his level of counter attac isn#t too overboard right/ ell then, I will be bac after earning some cash, so have fun in the mean time, 7arness1 I will find what )uests are available1" hris ran to the bulletin board recruiting for members after saying that. "6rm, aren#t you going with her, 7arness/" 7arness sat down at my table so naturally that I had to as. "... 8eah. 8eah. 0eople with the same vanguard class as me could be found anywhere. an ywhere. +lthough thieves are essential for dungeon e4ploration, it wasn#t too popular with others. !here are many teams that wants to recruit hris." I see, +)ua said that +rch 0riests were rare and wanted by every party, so the treatment each 3ob received are different.
+ short while later, later, hris probably found a pic up group and left the guild with a few adventurers.
hris waved at us before heading off. "It#s already evening, hris and her party are going to e4plore the dungeons now/" "!he best time to go dungeon diving is early in the morning. So most people would set off one day earlier lie them, and mae camp before the dungeon until morning. !here are even merchants operating with these adventurers as their target maret. ow was it/ 7id you learn any sills/" earing ;egumin said that, I smiled confidently. confidently. "mmp, why not tae a loo/ !ae this, #steal#1" I shouted and reached towards ;egumin with my right hand, grabbing a blac cloth tightly. !hat#s right, it was panties. "... hat happened/ +fter your level and stats increased, you had changed 3obs from an adventurer to a pervert/ 6rm... It feels cold below, please return my panties to me..."
"Str, "Str, strange/ hy is this, it shouldn#t be lie this... It should be a sill that steals something at random1"
I hurriedly returned the panties to ;egumin under the glare of the females around me that was getting colder. Someone suddenly slam the table. !hat was 7arness who suddenly noced the chair away and stood up. er eyes were sparling for some reason... "I was right1 !o !o stripped the panties of a young girl with so many people watching, you really are the worst...1 0lease...1 0lease let me 3oin this party1" "7on#t wanna." "mm.../ 6h...1" 7arness# face turned red and her body trembled when she heard my unhesitant reply. hat should I do. I wasn#t very sure, but this female night is definitely a bad type. +)ua and ;egumin seemed curious about 7arness... "5ah, who is this person Kazuma/ as she the one who came for the interview while ;egumin and I went to shower/" "old on, this lady is a crusader. !here is no reason to re3ect her right/" !he two of them started taling nonsense as they stare at 7arness. !his is bad... +nd I remember re3ecting her yesterday too. I didn#t want these two to meet 7arness... ... +lright, +lright, I have to use this method.
"7arness, we might loo this way now, but we are serious about taing down the demon ing." +)ua who wanted to return to heaven aside, I had already given that up after finding out how harsh this world was, even illing a toad was a chore. ;egumin who never heard of this before looed surprised, but I ignored her. 5o, wait. !his might be a good opportunity. opportunity. "!hat#s right, listen to me too, ;egumin. +)ua and I wants to tae down the demon ing no matter what. !hat#s our goal as adventurers. +nd so, our adventures will become more dangerous. 6specially 7arness, as a female night, you would e4perience #that# if you get captured by the demon ing." "!hat#s right1 Since ancient times, getting se4ually harassed by the demon ing was the 3ob of the female nights1 !hat alone would be worth the trip1" "6h/... hat/" "uh/... hat is it/ 7id I say anything weird/" 7arness who e4pressed her strong agreement made me shout in surprise. ... +n, anyway, I will settle that later. "%isten carefully too, ;egumin. !he opponent is the demon ing. +)ua and I are planning to fight the strongest being in this world, so don#t force yourself by staying in this party..." party..." I didn#t even finish. ;egumin noced her chair away and stood up. She fliced her cloa hard and said& "I am ;egumin1 !he top wizard in the red magic race, the master of e4plosion magic1 or the demon ing to call himself the strongest and ignore me1 I will decimate him with my strongest spell1"
ith the entire guild#s eyes on her, ;egumin made a chunni declaration. !his fellow was hopeless too. 7on#t mae such an arrogant face so confidently1 ?h no, these two hopeless girls raised the tension even higher... "... 5ah, Kazuma, Kazuma..." +s I droop my head de3ectedly, de3ectedly, +)ua +)ua pulled at my sleeve. "I was a bit scared when Kazuma put it that way. way. Is there a simpler way to tae on the demon ing/" ... 8ou 8ou should be b e the one most mo st fired up, since this is actually your )uest... ... +t this point. "6mergency )uest1 6mergency )uest1 +ll adventurers in town, please gather at the adventurers guild1 I repeat, emergency )uest1 6mergency )uest1 +ll adventurers in town, please gather at the adventurers guild1" !he loud broadcast could be heard in the entire town. It was probably amplified through magic. "ey, "ey, what are emergency )uests/ +re monsters raiding the town/" to wn/" I felt a bit uneasy, uneasy, but 7arness and ;egumin seemed elated. 7arness said 3oyfully& "... 6rm, it#s probably harvesting cabbages. It#s the season for them." ... "uh/ abbage/ Is that the name of some monster/" +fter e4pressing my thoughts, ;egumin and 7arness looed at me pitifully for for unnown reasons.
"abbage is something round, green and edible." "It is crunchy and refreshing, a delicious vegetable." "I now that1 !hen what is happening/ !he guild said there is an emergency )uest, so the farmers need help from the adventurers/" It seemed weird for me who was woring as a construction worer recently to say this, but I didn#t come here to farm. "+hh... Kazuma probably doesn#t now/ %et me tell you, the cabbages of this world..." +)ua adopted an apologetic pose and was about to tell me something when the guild staff interrupted her and e4plained to all the adventurers in the building. "I apologize for gathering everyone on such short notice1 I thin everyone should now the emergency is because of the cabbages1 It is time to harvest cabbages this year1 !he )uality of the cabbages are great this year, each one is worth BH,HHH 6ric1 e have already evacuated the residents. So please harvest more cabbages and turn them in here1 0lease tae care of your own safety and don#t get hurt from the cabbages counter attac1 +lso, because of the large amount of people and bounty, the reward would be given out at a later date1" ... hat did this staff said/ !he sound of cheers erupted outside the adventurers guild. I didn#t new what happened, so I s)ueezed into the crowd outside to tae a loo. Areen ob3ects were flying all over town. +s I stood on the spot, amazed by this ridiculous sight, sight, +)ua came over to my side and continued her e4planation& "!he cabbages of this world can fly. hen their taste ripens during harvest time, they flies through cities, plains, the continent and to the ocean, unwilling to be eaten. If that is the case, we should get more cabbages and eat them while they are still delicious."
"an I go bac to the stables and sleep/" +s I mumbled softly, softly, the brave adventurers charges out in high spirits. !hey must be hot blooded guys who were inspired by the cabbages who did their best to live for the moment. +s I watch the adventurers chased after the cabbages whole heartedly, heartedly, I prayed. ... hat grave sin did I commit that I have to fight to the death with cabbages here. ... I want to go bac to
Part 4
I too a bite of the fried cabbages sold here. "hy does a mere cabbage taste so good. I don#t get it, I don#t get it." !he cabbage hunt )uest ended and the entire town started serving dishes made from cabbages. It was great profit, so I 3oined the cabbage hunt )uest in the end, but I still regretted it a little. I didn#t come to this different world to battle cabbages. "8ou "8ou are silled, 7arness1 +s e4pected of a crusader1 !he cabbages couldn#t brea through your iron wall defense no matter what they did." "5o, I didn#t do much, I am 3ust really tough. I am clumsy and slow, so I can#t really hit my target, my only strong point was shielding others... ;egumin has impressive offense. 8ou 8ou too out the horde of monsters that was chasing the cabbages right into town with 3ust one e4plosion attac. +ll the other adventurers were shoced." "Kuu, no one could stand up to the power of my e4plosive magic... 2ut Kazuma was the most active one. e piced me up after I e4hausted my mana and carried me bac." "... 8eah, 8eah, when I was surrounded by cabbages and monsters, Kazuma showed up and captured all the cabbages attacing me, than you for rescuing me." "Indeed, erasing your presence with #hide#, grasping the movement of the cabbage with #sense enemy# and surprising them with #steal# from behind. !hat was 3ust lie an outstanding assassin." +)ua finally finished her cabbages and casually placed her plate on the table. !he useless goddess who chased the cabbages without a plan and didn#t
perform too well wiped her mouth gracefully and said& "Kazuma... ith my authority, I grant you the title #elegant cabbage thief#." "Shut up1 I will slap you if you call me that1 +h... enough, why did things turn out this way1" I hugged my head and rest it on the table. !his is bad. "ell then... I am 7arness, a crusader. !heoretically, !heoretically, my weapon is a E-handed sword, but don#t count on it too much. I am clumsy with my hands and tend to miss. 2ut I am good at being a tan, so please tae care of me." !hat#s right, we got another a nother companion officially o fficially.. +)ua smiled leisurely, leisurely, she looed pleased. "... mmp, our party is becoming great. I am an arch priest, ;egumin is a arch wizard. +nd we have the defensive specialist vanguard, crusader 7arness. F out of D members having top tier 3obs are rare, Kazuma1 7o you now how lucy you are/ 8ou 8ou have to be grateful oay/" + wizard that could only use one spell a day, day, a vanguard that couldn#t hit anyone and a priest that was dumb, had bad luc and was totally useless1 7uring the cabbage hunt )uest, 7arness, +)ua and ;egumin hit it off, so they wanted 7arness to 3oin the team too. If she was normal, I would have no reason to re3ect. +nd she was also a beauty. beauty. 2ut 7arness couldn#t hit her target at all. +lthough she was a looer. looer. She put all her sill points into defensive sills, so normal sills learned by
vanguards such as #E-hand sword# or sills that raised her proficiency with weapons were ignored. She had an appearance of a cool beauty, beauty, so it was a pity. pity. +nd this crusader loved to charge into the midst of a group of monsters for some reasons. +s a crusader who defends the wea, having a stronger calling than others to protect others was a good thing... "Ugh... +h, the feeling of being ravaged by cabbage and monsters is unbearable... I am the only orthodo4 vanguard in this party, so don#t hold bac, use me as a bait or shield. If it is necessary, you can even cut me off as a sacrifice... mmm1
Part
;y level is now C. !his meant I rose two level during the cabbage hunt. I only captured them and didn#t defeat them, so why did my level rose/ +nd why do the cabbage yield so much e4perience points/ !here are too many things to retort, so I sipped it since it would be a pain. 8ou lose if you too issue with too many things with this world. ?ne head of cabbage was worth BH,HHH 6ris. !he bounty was so high because eating fresh cabbage grants you e4perience points. !his meant the rich adventurers could get stronger 3ust by eating vegetables. ith the raise in level, my sill points also increased. +s for why such a G0A lie phenomenon happened with the increase in level, I would probably lose sleep if I am too concerned with it, so I decided to ignore it. I had to say it again, you lose if you too issue with such things. ;y sill points were E. I looed for the wizard and swordsman from another party I met during the cabbage hunt, and ased them to teach me #?ne-handed sword# and #basic spells# sill. 6ach sill cost a point. ?ne handed sill raised proficiency with one handed sword. ;y swordsmanship is now on par with normal people.
+lthough I used up my points, I had always wanted wanted to learn sword and of course magic. +nyone would had wanted to learn magic in after coming to this magical world. ith basic spells, I could use elemental magic lie fire, water, earth and wind, although they were simple spells. 2y the way, way, basic spells don#t have offensive magic, so most wizards will sip basic spells and conserve their sill points for intermediate spells. 2ut it would tae BH points to learn intermediate spells. Since it would tae that much points, I should give up learning offensive spells since my magic stat was low anyway. anyway. !here were people who were born with sill points, which were totally dependent on talent. or great talents that could choose top tier 3obs right from the beginning, it wasn#t strange for them to start out with dozens of sill points. +)ua aside, ;egumin and 7arness was probably privileged from the very beginning. 2ut in contrast, I had H sill points at level B. ... I will get more depressed if I thought about it too much, so I should probably stop. +fter learning sills, I looed more lie an adventurer. adventurer. hat was left is getting some proper gears. I would wear clothes purchased in this world some times, but my current e)uipment was 3ust the gym clothes I started out with and a short sword. I want some armor, even if it was 3ust 3u st leather.
+nd so, "... hy do I have to tag along and shop with you/" I brought the complaining +)ua along to the armor shop. "5o, you should prepare some e)uipment too. I might only have my gym clothes, but you are about the same right/ 8our 8our only e)uipment e)u ipment is that flimsy hagoromo right/" +)ua was dressed the same way as she did when she first came came to this world with me. !he light purple translucent hagoromo complements +)ua#s blue hair and eyes. !hat was the only e)uipment she wore over her clothes. +fter changing into her pa3amas, she would use a bucet of water to wash her hagoromo, I had seen her sunning the hagoromo along with the hay that was drying in the sun. +)ua said in surprise& "7on#t be stupid-- I thin you had forgotten that I am a goddess1 !his hagoromo is a holy relic. It could defend against abnormal status and had great durability. It is enchanted with all sorts of magic, a precious artifact1 !here are no other e)uipment better than this1" I felt lie telling her he r not to dry dr y this along with the hay h ay.. "!hat#s great news. If we really couldn#t mae ends meet, we could pawn off your holy relic... ?h, this chest armor loos neat, although it is made of leather." "... Ka, Kazuma, you are 3oing right/ !his hagoromo is proof of my divinity1 8ou, 8ou, you won#t really sell it right/ 5ah/ I, I won#t allow it1"
Part
"... ?oo, I almost couldn#t recognize you." "oah-- Kazuma finally loo the part of an adventurer." oming to our meeting point which is the adventurers guild, 7arness and ;egumin commented on my attire. If I didn#t loo lie an adventurer before, did I loo lie a suspicious character... I felt lie finding out. Gight now, I am wearing the costume of this world, with leather chest armor and metallic gauntlets and shin guard. +)ua complained that my gym clothes clashes with the fantasy setting of this world, so I brought some new clothes a couple of days ago. I was told that it was more convenient to leave one hand free to use magic sills. 6ven though it was 3ust basic spells, I still learnt magic, so I decided to forgo the shield and use a single edge sword in the style of a magic swordsman. I used half of the money I won in the bet against hris, but the other half was enough for me to get by for another wee or two. Since I prepared the e)uipment and learnt sills, I felt lie taing on a )uest. I told everyone my thoughts, and 7arness nodded in agreement. "5ow is the mating season of the giant toad and they have been showing up near town, how about..." "5o toads1" 4E 7arness was re3ected by +)ua and ;egumin.
"...hy not/ !oads !oads fear blades and are easy e asy to tae down, their sole mode of attac is grabbing prey with its tongue. !he defeated toad meat could be sold for easy money. I heard that you might get eaten if your e)uipment is too wea, but since toad hates metal, Kazuma should be safe with his current e)uipment. I will protect +)ua and ;egumin." "6h... !he two of them were eaten by toads before, so they have some psychological barrier. !hey were eaten head first in one gulp, covering them with slime, so it couldn#t be helped. %et#s find another )uest." 7arness# face turned slightly red after hearing my e4planation for some reason. "... 6aten head first in one gulp... covered in slime..." "... 7id that mae you e4cited/" "5o way." way." 7arness averted her eyes and answered with a red face, maing me uneasy. ould she hunt toads alone if I too my eyes off her/ "!he emergency cabbage hunt aside, this is our party#s first )uest. %et#s pic something easy to complete." ;egumin and 7arness went to the bulletin board after hearing my suggestion. +)ua seemed to be looing down on me after hearing what I said& "hat an introverted hiineet... ?nly Kazuma has the weaest 3ob, so I understand why you are being cautious. 2ut including me, the other members have top tier 3obs1 e should tae on a bunch of high difficulty 3obs and mae lots of money, money, level up lie crazy and tae down the demon ing easily1 !hat#s why, why, we should shou ld tae on difficult )uests1" ... "... I really don#t want to say this... 2ut you had not been of use so far."
"1" +)ua was stunned by what I said. I ignored her and carried on& "5ormally, you should be giving me powerful abilities or e)uipment, allowing me to live here without worries. I now that this is a free service provided by the gods, so I didn#t want to complain. I was blinded by rage bac then, but choosing you instead of an ability was my fault1 2ut you are here in place of those abilities or e)uipment, but are you performing on par with these special abilities or e)uipment/ ave you/ 8ou were acting so great and confident in the beginning, but have totally not been of use, a former something." "Ugh... 5o, not former, erm... in principle, I am still a goddess..." +)ua looed down but she still argued with me, and my voice turned louder. louder. "Aoddess1 hat should a goddess be doing/ Auide the hero to fight the demon ing, and seal the demon ing before the hero is strong enough to tae the demon ing on1 +nd what did you do during the cabbage hunt/ 8ou did grab a lot towards the end, but you were spinning around because of the cabbages and threw a tantrum on the floor right/ 6ven vegetables vegetables could mae you cry, cry, are you really a goddess/ +re you really )ualified to call yourself a goddess/ 8our 8our only contribution is getting eaten by a toad and party trics1" "ah, wahhhhh--1" Seeing +)ua hide her face on the table crying out loud made me feel satisfied over the fact that she was looing down on me. 2ut +)ua didn#t want to give up. She raised her head and retorted with pride. "I, I am useful alright, lie healing spells and healing spells or healing spells1 hat, you are 3ust a hii566!1 If you continue to play around, how long do you thin it would tae to defeat the demon ing/ If you have something to say spill it
out1" +)ua raised her head and glared at me with tearing eyes. I sneered at +)ua. "I am a professional gamer who didn#t go to high school at all, you thin I have nothing to say about this situation/" "8ou "8ou are a pro gamer/" "... It sounds better this way. way. %isten up +)ua. I don#t have the special power of the protagonist in stories. 2ut I have the nowledge of
cash easily1 +nd teach me your only good point which is healing magic1 I want to learn healing spells after getting more sill points1" "5o--1 I won#t teach you healing magic1 5o way--1 7on#t snatch away the reason for my e4istence1 8ou 8ou will be fine without learning it with me around1 5o, I don#t want to--1" +fter this, +)ua put her face down onto the table, crying that I shouldn#t tae away the only reason for her e4istence. +t this moment, ;egumin and 7arness returned to us. "... hat are you you two doing/ ... !he attac power of Kazuma#s words are strong, strong, if you don#t hold bac and say everything out, most girls will cry oay1" "8es. "8es. If you accumulate too much stress... I could tae +)ua#s place and endure en dure your scolding, so lecture me all you want, don#t d on#t hold bac... +s a crusader, suffering for others is a merit." !he two of them looed at +)ua who was crying on the table. She probably new she was the center of attention. +)ua would pee at me through her fingers from time to time, which ired me. "Ignore this fellow for now n ow.. 2ut..." I too a glance at 7arness. "... 7arness san, you loo thinner when you wear your armor..." 7arness wore a blac tight sirt and tan top with leather boots. ith a giant sword on her bac, she looed more lie a swordswoman than a night. She was surrounded by monsters during the cabbage hunt which damaged her armor, so it was sent in for repair. re pair. I became polite towards 7arness who was wearing so little.
7arness had a great figure and wasn#t too sinny. sinny. Simply said, she was rather se4y. se4y. +nd with ;egumin besides her, her, it accentuates her body type and size. I couldn#t help but thin that with such a pretty face and great figure, maybe I could close one eye on her fetish... "... mmm/ 7id you mean to say #+re you trying to tempt men with your body you sow1# right/"
"5o." I glance at +)ua and ;egumin... ... I confirmed once again that no matter how pretty the face was, it was the personality that was the most important. ;egumin said& "ey, "ey, what do you mean with that glance, I want to hear it." "It doesn#t mean anything. I am 3ust glad I am not a lolicon." "rimson magic race would gladly tae on anyone wanting a fight . Aood, let#s tae this outside." ;egumin tugged hard at the sleeves of my gym clothes, attempting to pull me outside. "2ac on topic, how about choosing a )uest that could help +)ua level/" 7arness ased& "hat do you mean/ Is there such a )uest/"
or +)ua, the sills she needed had been learned from the very beginning, so there wasn#t any need to grind her level. "It is normally hard for priest to level up. !hey lac offensive spell after all. !hey won#t fight on the front lines lie warriors or defeat enemies with powerful magic. So the best monsters for priest to grind are the undead. Undead are a race that goes against the nature of god. !he power of god will cause opposite reaction on them. Using healing magic will mae their body brea." +h, I did hear something lie that before. !his is common nowledge in many games. ealing magic has the same effect as offensive magic against the undead. 2ut this useless goddess won#t amount to anything even if we train her levels... ... I had a stroe of inspiration. hen I level up, all my stats got higher. hat about +)ua/ !he idiot pretending to cry and sneaing glances at me from time to time might get smarter after leveling up, which was the best way to improve our combat potential. "8es, "8es, that seemed great. !he problem pro blem is that 7arness# armor isn#t ready..." ready..." 7arness crossed her arms and announced franly& "I am fine with it. ;y full set of defensive de fensive sills are not 3ust for show. show. 6ven without armor, I dare say that I am harder than an +damantoise. +nd it feels better without armor when I get hit." "... 8ou 8ou 3ust said it feels great to get hit." "... 5o I didn#t."
"8es you did." "I didn#t... !he only )uestion is whether +)ua is willing..." 7arness looed at +)ua who was lying face down on the table. "ey, "ey, how long are you going to cry, cry, participate in the conversation, we are taling about your level...& I reached out and pat +)ua#s shoulders... ... 2ut I realized before patting her. "... Snore..." +)ua got tired of crying and was sleeping. Is this goddess a F year old id/
Part "
?n a hill far away from town. !here was a public cemetery for poor and homeless people. !he dead are buried in this world. + hole would be dug and they would be covered with earth. ?ur )uest this time was defeating the undead monsters that were emerging from the cemetery. It was almost evening. e set up a tent near the cemetery and wait for night to fall. "Slow down Kazuma, I saw that meat first1 ere, the vegetable on this side is done, so eat this instead1" "+fter the cabbage hunt, I don#t lie eating vegetables anymore. I am afraid of the vegetable flying off somewhere if I grill it." e set up a hot plate some distance away from the cemetery cemeter y, barbecuing as we wait for dus. e spent the time leisurely even though it was a hunting )uest because the target was a small fry nown as a zombie maer. !hat was an evil spirit that controls zombies, possessing high )uality corpse while manipulating several zombies as minions. !his monster could be defeated by a novice party, so we too on this )uest. So even though 7arness did not have her armor, it wasn#t too dangerous for her.
+fter finishing their meal, I poured coffee powder into a mug, adding water with with my #create water#, and use #tinder# spell to heat the mug. !hese were basic magic thought to me by a wizard I met during the cabbage hunt. +s its name suggest, #tinder# is a spell to to light a fire and posed no offensive threat. 2ut it was an important spell that could replace a lighter to me. ;egumin looed at me with a complicated e4pression and held out her cup. "... 64cuse me, please give me some water. I feel that Kazuma is more proficient than me in using magic. 2asically no one uses basic spells, but you mae it looed convenient." I cast #create water# into ;egumin#s cup. "Is that so, isn#t this the way to use basic spells/ ?h right, #create earth#1 ea rth#1 ... ey, ey, what is this spell used for/" I showed ;egumin the dusty earth on my palm. !here are all sorts of elemental basic spells, but I wasn#t sure how to utilize this earth elemental magic. "ell... !he crops grown from magically created crea ted earth are high in )uality... !hat#s it." +fter listening to ;egumin#s e4planation, +)ua besides me burst into laughter. laughter. "hat, Kazuma wants to plow p low the lands/ +re you changing 3obs to farmer/ 8ou 8ou could use #create water# for the plants too1 !his 3ob is a great fit for you, puhehe1" I faced +)ua with my right palm and raised my left hand. "ind breath1"
"0u he ahh1 +h--1 ;y eyes1" + gust of wind blew the dust onto +)ua#s face, the goddess rolled on the ground after the sand got into her eyes. "... I got it, so that#s how you use this spell." "rong1 5ormal people won#t use it that way1 +nd why are you using basic spells better than a wizard1"
Part #
"... It#s getting cold. 5ah, Kazuma, our )uest is to tae down the zombie maer right/ I have a feeling it won#t be a small fry lie that, but a big shot undead." It was late at night and the moon had risen. +)ua commented suddenly. suddenly. "... ey, ey, don#t say such ominous things, what if you really 3in4 the )uest. ?ur )uest for the day is to defeat one zombie maer and return the zombies to dust too. e can then go bac to the stables and sleep. e will also go bac immediately if anything out of the ordinary happens. Understand/" 6veryone nodded and agreed with me. It was about time. e waled towards the cemetery with me in the lead as I have learned detect enemy from hris. +)ua words made me worry, worry, but this goddess always say unpleasant things, so it shouldn#t be a big deal. ... 0robably. ... mmm/ "hat is this, I felt something strong. It should be the effect of detect enemy en emy.. 6nemies ahead, B, E... F, D.../" ... Strange, there is too many/ I heard there was 3ust E or F zombies minions around a zombie maer. 2ut this was still within the margin of error...
+s I was thining that, blue and white lights suddenly shone from the middle of the cemetery. ... hat is happening/ !hat blue light seemed evil and fantasy lie. !he blue light that was visible from afar was a giant magic circle. +t the edge of the magic circle was a figure in blac robes. "... mmm/ I thin... that isn#t... a zombie maer..." maer..." ;egumin said unconfidently. unconfidently. 2esides the blac robed figure were several fluttering shadows. "+re we going in/ 6ven if that isn#t a zombie maer, anyone staying in the cemetery at this hour is probably an undead. If that is the case, it wouldn#t be a problem with +rch priest +)ua around." +)ua too out her sword and appeared an4ious to move on. alm down, you. +)ua made an e4aggerated action at this time. "+h---1" I don#t now what the suddenly shouting +)ua was thining as she charged at the robed figure. "ait1 ey, wait up1" !he charging +)ua ignored me and rushed to the figure, pointing at it with her finger. "ow dare of you to show up here, %ich1 I will tae care of you1"
%ich. ?n par with vampires, they are the top tiers of the undead. igh level wizards could desert their mortal bodies through magical arts and become the immortal nown as the overlord of death. Unlie the undead monster that rose because of strong grudges, they twisted the order of nature and were e4istence which defied god. + powerful monster ain to a final boss... "Stop, stop--1 ho are you/ here did you come from and why are you destroying my magic circle/ Stop1 ould you please stop/" "8ou "8ou are noisy, noisy, shut up undead1 8ou 8ou must be thining of using this suspicious magic circle for devious means, I will stomp it1 Stomp1" !he powerful monster grab on to +)ua#s waist in tears, attempting to stop her from stepping on the magic circle.
!he minions besides the lich9/: did not move in to stop the two of them wrestling with each other, and 3ust stood there watching them blanly. blanly. ... 6h-- hat should I do. +nyway, +nyway, she doesn#t seemed to be a zombie maer. maer. +)ua claimed the person she was entangled with was a lich. 2ut the the way I see it, she was 3ust a pitiful passerby that was being piced on by a hooligan. "Stop--1 0lease stop--1 !his magic circle is used to sent the wandering spirits to heaven1 %oo, the spirits are floating from the magic circle towards the sy right/"
"yaaa--1 ;y, ;y, my body is fading/ Stop, my body bod y is disappearing1 I will be purified1" "ahahaha, foolish %ich1 8our 8our e4istence goes against the law of nature, n ature, an undead which defies the will of the gods1 7isappear, be van)uished by my power1"
"ey, stop it." I stood behind +)ua and noced the bac of her head with the hilt of my sword. "...1 !hat hurts1 hy did you hit me1" er focus was probably broen when the bac of her head was hit and she stopped emitting light. She held her head and scolded me with tearing eyes. 7arness and ;egumin reached here at this time too. I ignored +)ua and spoe to the %ich that was trembling while curled in a ball& "ey, "ey, are you fine/ 6rm... an I address addr ess you as %ich/" %ooing closely, the feet of the %ich had turned translucent and was on the verge of disappearing. !he feet slowly became opa)ue again, and the %ich stood up unsteadily with teary eyes. "I, I, I#m fine... !han, than you for saving me from that crisis...1 6rm, you are right, I am a %ich, my name is iz." +fter that, she too off the the hood she was wearing closely. closely. hat appeared under the moonlight was a beautiful woman with brown hair about EH years old. I thought a %ich would have a sull lie face. iz wore a blac robe in the style of an evil witch.
5o, since she is a %ich, she was an evil witch right/ "6h... iz/ hat are you doing in this cemetery/ 8ou 8ou said you wanted to send the spirits to heaven, I don#t want to agree with +)ua, but that shouldn#t be what a %ich lie you should be doing right/" "hat are you doing Kazuma1 2e careful you get contaminated and become an undead if you tal to this bad apple1 %et me cast #turn undead# on her1" +)ua became agitated after hearing what I said, and wanted to cast a spell on iz. iz hid behind me with a troubled and terrified e4pression& "2e, because... +s you can see, I am a %ich, the overlord of the undying. +s the overlord, I could hear the voice of the spirits wandering in the world. ;ost of the spirits in this public cemetery don#t have money and didn#t have a proper burial, so they couldn#t move on to the afterlife and loiter the cemetery every night. Since I am an overlord, I will visit periodically and send the children on their way." ... ;y eyes were tearing up. hat a good person. +part from the counter lady, lady, she was probably the first normal person I met since coming to this world. +h, although she was technically not a human. "I thin that is a wonderful thing, but... +lthough I am not +)ua, wouldn#t it be better to leave this to the priest in this town/" In response to my )uery, iz was hesitant to spea as she peeed at the unhappy +)ua, and finally said& "2e, because... the priest in this town are materialistic... 6h, no, I mean... the rites for those without money would be pushed down their waiting list...
something lie that..." It was probably hard har d to say it in the presence of the +rch priest +)ua. "8ou "8ou mean the priests in this town are people who worship money m oney.. !he public cemetery which is full of poor people are basically ignored by them right/"
"e... ell, that#s how it is..." 6veryone gazed at +)ua silently, silently, while she averted her eyes from everyone. ever yone. "Since that is the case, it couldn#t be helped. 2ut could you stop animating the zombies/ e are here because of a )uest to defeat the zombie maer." iz was troubled by what I said. "+h... I see... 2ut I didn#t animate them, the corpse that are intact would rise automatically due to my magic every time I come... 6rm, I won#t have any reason to visit if the spirits in the cemetery won#t wander anymore and return to heaven... So... ow should we resolve this/"
Part *
e left the cemetery and was 3ourneying bac to town. "I can#t accept this1" +)ua was still fuming. 7awn was 3ust about to brea. "It couldn#t be helped. She was such a nice person, you couldn#t bear illing her right/" e decided to let that %ich off. +t the same time, we came to a consensus for for the idle +)ua +)ua to purify the cemetery periodically. periodically. ortunately, ortunately, no matter how bad +)ua was, she still was a goddess. g oddess. She new that purifying the undead and wandering spirits was her 3ob. 2ut she threw a tantrum because her sleeping time would be reduced. or ;egumin and 7arness who were hesitant about letting a monster off agreed after learning iz had never attaced a human before. I looed at the paper iz gave me and said& "2ut for a %ich to live normally in town, the security is really lacing." !he piece of paper had iz#s address on it. !hat %ich seemed to be living life as a normal human in our town. She even said she was running a small magic item shop. I told her my impression of %iches dwelling in dungeons, she replied that it
wasn#t convenient and there was no reason to live there. 5o, %iches were once humans too, so I new what she meant. I do understand, but since coming to this world, my fantasy about alternate worlds were shattered. !his was not the alternate world I was hoping for. "e were lucy things turned out well in the end. 6ven with +)ua here, the opponent was still a %ich. If we really fought, Kazuma and I would definitely be dead." ;egumin said nonchalantly which made me stunned. "6h, are %ich such dangerous monsters/ ould it had been a tough fight/" "It#s much worse than that1 %ich have high magic defense, nothing could harm her e4cept enchanted weapons. She could trigger all sorts of abnormal status 3ust by touching her enemies and drain their life and mana, a legendary immortal monster. hat surprised me was why +)ua#s #turn undead# had such great effect on such a powerful being." I almost lost control of my bowels. !hat#s right, she was the boss of the undead after all. hen I heard she was willing to teach me sills of a %ich, I too her name card gleefully... gleefully... hen I visit v isit her to learn sills, I must remember to bring +)ua along. "Kazuma, give me the name card. I want to set up a holy barrier around the home of that woman and mae her cry." cry." "0lease let her go..." It would be better to not tae +)ua along... +s we were thining about that, 7arness said )uietly& )uietly&
"2y the way, way, what about the )uest to defeat defea t the zombie maer/" "+h." 4F
>uest failed.
Chapter 3 Adding +resh Goddess ,ui-e Into The .a/e! Part 1
"ave you heard/ Gumor says that a boss of the demon ing army had taen over an old castle which is situated in the hills a short wal from town." In the corner of the bar operated by the guild. I was listening to a man sitting at my table and drining during the day. I am not drining beer though, but 5eroid swish.
hat is 5eroid. hat is swish. I only tried it out of curiosity since the people told me this was the non alcoholic beverage of choice among patrons... If you as me if it was good, I could only answer it this way& ... 6rm, I don#t now. 2ut I now what swish meant. It#s the te4ture you feel when you drin it. !his wasn#t a carbonated drin. I don#t really get what the swish te4ture was, but this feeling could only be described as swish. I finished the 5eroid and place the cup on the table...
"+ boss from the demon ing army arm y. !hat sounds bad, but b ut it had nothing noth ing to do with us." "!hat#s right." !he man before me agreed with my negative and irresponsible words. !he number of people chatting in the adventurers guild were une4pectedly large and I could hear many interesting topics. or e4ample spotting dangerous monsters at some place so not to tae )uests from that area. ?r news of certain monster hating the smell of tangerine 3uice, so smearing it on you will eep them away. I had a hard time 3ust surviving since coming to this world, and had never gathered intelligence in this way before. ollecting information was the most important stage in collecting the flags you had raised. Aathering and taling about such things in a bar had a feelings of an adventurer, which made me happy. happy. !he man sitting opposite me said& "+nyway, it#s better not to approach the abandoned castle to the north of town. !his is not the capital of the ingdom, so who nows what the a boss of the demon army is doing here. 2ut since it is a boss, it is probably a %ord ?gre, vampire, arch demon or dragon. 5o matter which one it is , it must be a monster that could ill us instantly. instantly. !he best way is to not tae any an y )uest near that abandoned castle." +fter thaning that man, I left my seat and returned to the table my party was was at... "...hat/ hy are you all looing at me lie that/"
+)ua, 7arness and ;egumin too small mouthfuls of the vegetable stics in the cup in the center of the table as they stared at me. "5othing--/ I wasn#t worried about Kazuma 3oining another party or anything." +)ua said as she looed at me with uneasy eyes. ".../ 6h, I was only gathering information, that is the basics of adventurers." I too a seat at their table and reached for a vegetable stic. 7odge. !he vegetable stic dodged my out reached hand. ... ey. "hat are you doing Kazuma." +)ua slammed the table, maing the vegetable stic 3ump in surprise. hen the vegetable stics were in the air momentarily, momentarily, +)ua grabbed one and stuffed it in her mouth. "... mm. 8ou 8ou looed so happy. happy. 8ou 8ou seemed to be having h aving fun chatting, Kazuma. 8ou seemed close to the members of the other parties huh/" ;egumin slammed the table with her fist, and piced up the vegetable stic that was too scared to move and shoved it in her mouth. "... hat is this refreshing feeling/ Seeing Kazuma being on good terms with the other parties, the melancholic feeling is mi4ed with something good... ould this be the legendary 5!G.../" !hat crazy pervert who was spilling nonsense fliced the edge of the cup with her finger and too a vegetable stic nimbly n imbly.. "hat is this, what is with you all. Isn#t collecting intelligence in such a place the basics.../"
I hit the table as I spoe and reached for the vegetable stics... 7odge. "............ hat is with this dodging----1" "St, stop--1 hat are you doing to my vegetable stics1 5o, don#t destroy the food1" ;y hand that failed to grab the vegetable stic too the cup containing the stics instead, holding it high as I prepare to throw it against the wall. 2ut +)ua who was on the verge of tears restrained my hand. "ow dare a mere vegetable loo down on me1 It#s a bit wrong to retort so late, but why could the vegetable run. ould you please serve food that is already dead1/" "hat are you taling about. 2e it fish or vegetable, it taste better if it is fresher right/ aven#t you heard of illing it fresh and serving it on the spot/" !hen ill it before serving it. I gave up on eating the vegetable stics and said& "ai... forget it, let#s ignore the vegetable for now, I have something important to as you. I was thining about what sills to learn after leveling up. !o !o be honest, hone st, the composition of this party is too unbalanced. So I#m thining of maing up for our weaness since I have the most fle4ible 3ob... 2y the way, way, what sills have you all learned/" !hat#s right, to improve the efficiency of taing harder )uests, it was important to consider the teamwor of the party before learning sills. !hat#s what I thought when I came to discuss things with them, but... ";y sills are centered around #physical defense#, #magical resistance# and #abnormal status resistance#. I have a sill called #bait#, used to taunt the enemy." enemy." "... 7on#t you plan to learn something lie #E-handed sword# to increase your
attac accuracy/" "I don#t plan to. It might sound lie I am boasting, but my stamina and strength are great. If my m y attacs land easily, easily, I could easily ea sily defeat monsters without taing damage. +nd it#s not good to hold ho ld bac intentionally. intentionally. It should be lie this... +ttacing with all my might but couldn#t hit the enemy, enemy, and being captured as my strength wanes, that is the best." "6nough, you shut up." "... mmmhmm...1 8ou 8ou are the one who ased, but to treat me lie this..." I decided to ignore 7arness who was panting with a red face. I looed at ;egumin who tilted her head and said& "?f course I learned e4plosion related sills. #64plosion#, #e4plosion damage increase# and #fast chanting# et cetera. +ll the sills to cast the perfect e4plosion spell. It was the same before, and will of course be so in the future." "... 5o matter what, you have no intention of learning something lie mid tier magic/" "I don#t plan to." !his fellow won#t do either... "+s for me..." "!here is no need." "6heh/" +)ua was planning to e4plain her sills, but I shut her up immediately. immediately. It#s 3ust party trics, party trics and party trics anyway. anyway. +nd so...
"hy can#t this party get g et its act together... ;aybe I should thin about abo ut switching parties..." "1" 4 F ;y soft mumbling made the F of them surprised.
Part 2
+ few days after the emergency cabbage hunt )uest. +ll the cabbage captured bac then had been sold. +nd the adventurers got their bounties. "Kazuma, loo. I earned a lot, so I tried enhancing the armor I sent in for repair... ow is it/" Inside the incredibly crowded adventurers guild filled with people collecting their bounties, 7arness showed me the armor she got bac from the repair shop happily. If I want to put it simply... simply... "!his armor loo lie something an upstart son of nobility would wear." "... Kazuma is merciless no matter the time and place. 6ven I would want to hear an honest compliment some time." 7arness said with a de3ected e4pression. ow would I now. +nyway... +nyway... "!here is someone even more problematic than you, so I don#t have the time. ould you please tae care of that pervert who is becoming worse than you/" "uff... huff... I can#t, can#t tae it1 !he magic powers from this staff made from manatite, the color and glister... huff... huff..." ;egumin was hugging her pimped up staff and grinding her face against it. ;anatite is a rare metal said to have special properties. +dding it in when
maing a staff would increase the power of spells. +fter strengthening her staff with her earnings, ;egumin had been acting this way. I heard the power of the e4plosion spell would increase by dozen or so percent. hy are you increasing the power of the e4plosion magic that was already over powered/ Instead of doing that, shouldn#t you learn magic that would be more convenient/ I had plenty things lie that which I wanted to say, but I don#t really want to care about the current ;egumin, so I decided to ignore her. I am already satisfied after collecting my rewards. 7arness who attracted the monsters who came because of the cabbage. ;egumin who destroyed those monsters with a single spell. +nd +)ua +)ua who chased the cabbage on her own without caring about these two. e decided not to split the earnings from the cabbage hunt and collect our own bounties. !he one who suggested that was +)ua whose harvest was only second to mine. +nd that person was waiting for her turn to collect the money, money, but... "hat did you say--/ ait, what is this/" +)ua#s voice reverberated through the guild. ai... I hate this... +s e4pected, +)ua was arguing with the person manning the counter. counter. She grabbed the collar of the counter lady and was protesting something. "hy is there only onl y H,HHH 6ris1 8ou 8ou now how ho w many cabbage I caught/ Its more than EH1"
"6rm, this is hard to say..." say..." "hat1" "... hat +)ua-san turned in was mostly lettuce..." "... hy was lettuce mi4ed in there1" "6ven if you as me that, I won#t now1" rom their conversation, there seemed to be a problem with the bounty. +)ua probably realized there was no use in arguing with the counter lady, lady, +)ua put her hands behind her and approached me with a smile. "Ka@zuma-san1 ow much did you get from this )uest/" "+ bit more than a million." ";illion1" 4F +)ua, 7arness and ;egumin was stunned beyond words. !hat#s right, I earned my first bucet of gold from the sudden )uest. !he cabbages I caught were mostly high grade cabbage that yield plenty of e4perience points. !his is the difference in the luc stat. "Kazuma-sama--1 ow should I put this, I always thought you are a great person1" "7on#t push yourself if you can#t thin about how to compliment me. %et me say this first, I already decided de cided how to utilize the money, money, so I won#t give g ive you any." any." +fter hearing me interrupt her, +)ua#s smile stiffened. stiffened. "Kazuma-san--1 I thought I would earn a lot from the )uest, so I spent all the
money on me in the past few days1 I estimated I would mae a illing, so I owed nearly a hundred thousand 6ris in this bar1 I can#t pay it off with the bounty1" I pulled +)ua who was crying as she clinged on me off. I wondered why can#t this girl thin things through carefully as I pressed on my temples. "I don#t care, you are the one who wanted #everyone to eep their own earnings#. +nyway, +nyway, I should find a base for myself. It#s uncomfortable uncomfortable to eep staying in the stables right/" 5ormally, 5ormally, adventurers won#t buy a house. 2ecause adventurers do not see stability and traveled a lot. !here were few successful adventurers, most of them mae only enough to get by, by, which was one of the reason. !o be honest, it is impossible to tae down the demon ing with these members, so I am on the verge of giving up. !he 3ob of fighting the demon ing army should be left to the people sent here before me who had gotten powerful abilities and e)uipment. +fter all, I had the basic 3ob anyone could tae, the weaest 3ob, 3ob, an adventurer. +nd unlie those who had trained to be adventurers from the beginning, all my stats are low, I am really a commoner you could find anywhere. +fter adventuring in a safe place to satisfy my curiosity curiosity,, I would be satisfied spending my m y days leisurely leisure ly.. ence, I am planning to find a small house to rent, and buy if it was cheap enough. +)ua looed lie she was going to cry as she grabbed on to me tightly. tightly. "hy did it turn out lie this ahhhh1 0lease Kazuma, lend me money1
H,HHH1
Part 3
"Kazuma, let#s hurry and find a )uest1 ?ne with lots of wea monsters1 I want to test the power of my new staff1" ;egumin said suddenly. suddenly. 8eah. "8ou "8ou are right, righ t, when we were hunting hun ting the zombie maer, I didn#t have time to test out my new sills. %et#s find a safe and simple )uest." "5o, let#s find a )uest that can earn lots of money1 I cleared my tabs, so I don#t even have money for food today1" "5o, let#s find one with strong enemies1 ?ne with monsters that have strong attacs and are tough as nails...1" ey, there should be a limit on how disunited a party could be. "+nyway, "+nyway, let#s decide after looing at the bulletin board." 6veryone followed my suggestion and moved to the bulletin board. +nd... "... eird/ hy are there so few re)uests/" !hat#s right, the board was usually full of re)uest. 2ut there were only a few today. +lso... "Kazuma1 0ic this one, this one1 on e1 + giant bear showed sho wed up in the mountains, its name is blac fang..."
"Ge3ected1 ey, ey, what is this/ hy h y are there only high difficulty )uests left1/" !hat#s right, all the )uests left on the board were beyond our capabilities. +s we were filled with doubt, a staff staff member came to us. "I am sorry... sorry... + boss of the demon army seemed to have moved into a small castle near town... It might had been the influence of the demon army, but the wea monsters in the region had all laid low, resulting in a drastic drop in )uests. + band of nights dispatched from the capital would be here ne4t month to tae out the boss. 2ut before that, there are only high difficulty )uests left..." hen she heard the staff member say that, the penniless +)ua screamed. "hy---/" ...6ven I was feeling sympathetic s ympathetic towards +)ua. "Geally... "Geally... hy did he piced this moment to move here1 I don#t now what this boss is, but it better watch out if it is an undead1" +)ua complained in tears as she browsed through the employment magazine. !he other adventurers were feeling the same and seemed really down. !here were more people getting drun in broad daylight. I don#t now why the boss chose to move here. ranly speaing, the adventurers in this town were about our level. !here were many parties stronger than us, but their powers were still limited. !his is the first town novice adventurers visits, a place for the beginners to learn the basics. In game terms, a demon ing boss should be characters that appears towards the end. e had a hard time fighting toads, there was no way we could tae on the boss
no matter how many of us there were.
Part 4
"!hat means before the powerful adventurers and nights from the capital come here ne4t month, we can#t wor as usual." "!hat#s how it is... 7uring this period of time when we can#t do )uests, I would need you to accompany me lie this..." I came with ;egumin to the outsirt of town. !here are no dangerous monsters around town right now. +fter the demon army boss came, the wea monsters hid themselves in fear. fear. I came along with ;egumin who couldn#t use e4plosion spell because we couldn#t tae on )uests for a wal. !his girl had something she needed to do every day, which was casting her e4plosion magic. ould I need to accompany this fellow out here every day for the whole month/ I thought about ignoring ;egumin and ased her to go alone, but she countered that no one would be carrying her on the way bac. "ere should be far enough right, hurry up, cast your spell and let#s go bac." + short distance from town, I rushed ;egumin to cast her spell. 2ut ;egumin shoo her head and said& "5o, the guards will lecture me again if we do this too close to town." "8ou "8ou said #too# 3ust now right/ 2ecause it was too loud/" ;egumin nodded to acnowledge me.
an#t be helped, I felt a bit uneasy without my weapon, but there#s no monsters around anyway. +nd so I decided to hie a bit further. further. 5ow that I thought about it, I didn#t have much chances to wal around outside leisurely lie this. ;y trips outside were usually because of hunting monsters or )uests. 5ot a casual stroll lie this... ".../ hat is that, an abandoned castle/" ?n the hills in a distance ahead. + deserted ancient castle was erected there. It looed 3ust lie a haunted house... "It feels creepy... creepy... +s if there are ghost residing in there..." I mumbled to myself... "%et#s pic that place1 5o one would complain even if I destroy a ruins lie that." ;egumin prepared the spell happily after she finished. + breeze blew through the hills that made me felt refreshed. !he chanting of the e4plosion spell that didn#t fit in with this comfortable atmosphere was carried off by the wind...1 ... +nd so, ;egumin and I started our new daily routine. !he penniless +)ua was woring hard every day. day. 7arness said she would return home to train.
!he idle ;egumin went to the abandoned castle to cast her e4plosion spell daily without fail. It might be a cold evening with icy rain. ?r a lazy afternoon after lunch. ?r a refreshing morning when she went for a stroll. 5o matter the time, ;egumin would cast her spell at that castle every single day... +nd I watched ;egumin#s spell every day, day, and was even able to 3udge whether the condition of the e4plosion spell was good or bad. "#64plosion#--1" "?h, that seemed pretty good. !he impact of the e4plosion could be felt through my bones, followed by the air tremor that followed immediately after. It is strange that the abandoned city remained intact but... hat an e4plosion1" "Areat e4plosion1 Kuu, Kazuma understands the way of the e4plosion more now. now. 8our 8our comment today toda y hit the mar and was poetry lie... how about it/ I am not taling about this casually, casually, Kazuma do you want to seriously consider con sider learning e4plosion magic/" "8eah-"8eah-- the way wa y of the e4plosion is interesting... 2ut from the composition compo sition of our current party, there is no need for E wizards. 2ut when I retire from adventuring and have left over sill points, it would be interesting to use them to learn e4plosion magic." ;egumin discussed such things with a smile.
Part
+fter we continued our e4plosive stroll for a wee, in the morning.
"6mergency broadcast1 6mergency broadcast1 broa dcast1 +ttention +ttention all adventurers, please p lease prepare your combat e)uipment and report to the main gate of the city ready for combat1" !he familiar emergency broadcast could be heard through the entire town. +fter hearing the broadcast, we put on our gears and rushed on scene. + lot of adventurers were gathered at the main gate. hen we reached the scene, we saw an intimidating monster standing before us, and we could only stare at it blanly. 7ullahan. + monster that brought despair and premonition of death to men. +fter turning into an undead, it#s physical strength was stronger than it was was in life, and possessed uni)ue powers. !he night in blac armor standing at the front gate held its head on the left side of its body. 2efore the eyes of the gathered adventurers, it presented its head that was covered fully in its helmet before everyone. !he head said in a distorted voice. "... I am a boss of the demon ing army, and had moved into a castle nearby recently..." +s it spoe, the head started trembling...1 "6very day every day every day1 !he crazy idiot who comes to my castle to cast
e4plosion magic, where are you---1" !his boss of the demon ing army arm y was seriously angry. angry. !he yell of the 7ullahan seemed to be suppressing its anger until it couldn#t hold bac anymore, maing the adventurers around me chatter. ?r rather, everyone present doesn#t seem to get what was happening. +nyway, +nyway, the reason for the emergency summon was probably the dullahan before us who was going mad from fury. fury. "... 64plosion spell/" "!he one who nows e4plosion magic is..." "If you tal about e4plosion spell, it would be..." !he gaze of the people around us naturally fell on ;egumin besides me. ... ;egumin who was the center of attention turned her head sharply at a girl wizard standing beside her. her. +ffected by her action, I looed at that girl. 6veryone else was also influenced and stared at that girl... "uh/ ;, me/ hy are you all looing at me/ I couldn#t use e4plosion magic1" !he girl wizard who was being framed denied in a hurry. ... ait, could it be... the abandoned castle where we cast e4plosion magic every day1 ould it be... I peeed at ;egumin besides me who was sweating. !his fellow noticed too.
inally, inally, ;egumin sighed and waled forward with an annoyed face. !he adventurers reacted to her movement and opened a path to the 7ullahan. !he 7ullahan standing at the main gate of town. ;egumin stood about BH meters from the 7ullahan and faced him. ith me in the lead, 7arness and +)ua also followed behind ;egumin. +)ua who would attac aggressively whenever she saw an undead probably thought the sight of an angry 7ullahan to be mad and was watching what would happen e4pectantly. e4pectantly. "So it#s you...1 8ou 8ou are the moron who cast e4plosion on my castle every day/ da y/ If you new I was the boss of the demon army and want to challenge me to a fight, then enter the castle1 If not, then 3ust hide in town and tremble1 hy are you bothering me with such evil means/ I new there were only low level adventurers in town1 I wanted to leave such minor characters alone, but you can#t catch a clue and come boom boom boom with your spells every day...1 Is there something wrong with your head/" e was probably ired by the daily e4plosion magic, the helmet of the 7ullahan trembled with rage. ;egumin was intimidated and was a bit scared, but she still fliced the cape she wore... "I am ;egumin. +s an arch wizard, I have mastered e4plosion spells...1" "... hat ind of name is ;egumin, are you mocing me/" "5o, that#s not it1" 6ven though she was retorted by the 7ullahan when she introduced herself, ;egumin composed herself and continued& "I hail from the crimson magic clan, the elite wizard of this town. I cast e4plosion magic continuously in order to lure you, the boss of the demon army out...1 +s I
planned, you came to town alone after being triced, your end is near1" Seeing ;egumin pointing her staff at the 7ullahan e4citedly, e4citedly, I was standing behind her and whispered to 7arness and +)ua. "... ey, ey, this girl actually said that. She was playing pla ying around, saying she will die if she doesn#t cast e4plosion magic every day, so I brought her to the area around that castle. hen did it turn into her plan/" "...8eah, "...8eah, and she used the chaos to declare herself as an a n elite wizard of this town." "Shhh--1 7on#t say that out loud1 She haven#t used her e4plosion spell yet and a bunch of adventurers are bacing her from behind, so she is adopting a strong position. She is still taling, so let#s see how it goes1" ;egumin probably heard what we said as she maintained her posture of pointing her staff at her opponent as her face turned red. or some reason, the 7ullahan accepted what she said. "... ?h, a member of rimson magic. I see. So that weird name wasn#t a lie." "ey, if you have any comments about the name my parents gave me, spit it out1" ;egumin became angry after hearing what the 7ullahan said, but he paid her no heed. ?r rather, he wasn#t bothered after seeing the adventurers of the entire town gathered here. +s e4pected of a boss of the demon ing army, army, he probably didn#t thin anything about us rooies. "...mmp, forget it. I didn#t come here to mess with peasants lie you all. I am here to investigate something. I will be staying in that castle for the time being, so don#t cast e4plosion spell anymore. Understand/"
"!hat is lie asing me to die. !hose of the rimson magic clan need to cast e4plosion spell once every day, day, or we would die." "ey hey, hey, I never heard of this before1 b efore1 Stop bullshitting me1" hat should I do, I want to see ;egumin and that monster chat some more. I looed at +)ua, she was happily watching ;egumin messing around with the 7ullahan. !he 7ullahan placed his head on his right hand and shrugged. "8ou don#t plan to give up e4plosion magic no matter what/ 6ven though I had taen the side of darness, I was a night before and have no interest in slaughtering the wea. 2ut if you continue to bother me with such things around the castle, I have my way of handling things too." !he 7ullahan emitted a dangerous aura, maing ;egumin too a few steps bac. 2ut ;egumin had a cocy smile...1 "e are the ones being bothered alright1/ 2ecause of you staying in that castle, we couldn#t even do our wor properly1 properl y1 mmp... 8ou 8ou can only o nly act high and mighty now. e have an e4pert that deals with the undead here1 her e1 ;aster, I leave it to you1" +fter throwing out big words, ;egumin left everything in +)ua#s hands. ... ey. "I guess it couldn#t be helped--1 I don#t now if you are a demon army#s boss or what, but you are unlucy to come here when I am around. 8ou are an undead, but you chose to come out in broad day light when your power are weaen, you are 3ust asing to be purified1 It#s all you fault that I couldn#t tae on )uests as usual1 ?ay, ?ay, are you ready to face the music/" +fter ;egumin addressed her as master, +)ua cheerfully stood before the
7ullahan. !he adventurers gulped nervously as they wonder how things would develop. Under the eyes of the masses, +)ua e4tended her hand out at the 7ullahan. Seeing that, the 7ullahan offered its head to +)ua e4citedly. e4citedly. !his is probably the way for the 7ullahan to e4pressed that it was #watching seriously#. "?h, impressive, you are not a normal priest, but an arch priest right/ 2ut no matter what, I am still a boss of the demon ing army. I have not fallen so low that I would be purified by a low level arch priest in a place lie this. I have my ways of dealing with arch priests too... 2ut I will start by torturing this girl of the crimson magic clan1" +s +)ua was preparing to chant her spells, the 7ullahan moved and pointed its inde4 finger at ;egumin. !he 7ullahan then shouted1 "I shall predict your death1 8ou 8ou will die one wee from now1" n ow1" +s the 7ullahan cast its spell, 7arness grabbed ;egumin#s collar and hid ;egumin behind her h er.. "uh/ 7a, 7arness1" +s ;egumin screamed, 7arness#s body glowed with a faint dar light. light. 7amn, she was hit, was that a proclamation of death/ "7arness are you alright/ 7oes it hurt anywhere/" I ased in a hurry, but 7arness stretched her hands a few times to confirm it. "... 8eah, 8eah, I didn#t feel anything." an ything." She said casually.
2ut the 7ullahan did shouted. She will die one wee from now. +s +)ua was touching the cursed 7arness everywhere, the 7ullahan announced delightedly. delightedly. "!hat curse won#t harm you now. ;y plans were a bit foiled, but since the camaraderie among adventurers is so deep that it must hurt more... %isten carefully, girl of the rimson magic. If this goes on, that crusader would die in a wee. mmp, your important companion would be tortured by the horror of heath in the mean time... !hat#s right, this is all your fault1 In the following wee, you will see the pain of your companion and regret your actions1 mm hahaha, you should have listened to me obediently1" +s ;egumin#s face was turning pale because of the 7ullahan#s words, 7arness 7arness shouted as she trembled& "!here, there is such a thing1 !hat means you had cast a death curse on me, and I have to do as you say in order for you to release the curse1 !hat#s what you meant right1" "uh/" !he 7ullahan didn#t get what 7arness was saying and reacted plainly. I didn#t understand what she was saying too... +nd I don#t want to understand. "Ugh...1
ow pitiful.
"6ven if you can do what you want with my body, you would never have my heart1 I am going to become a female night imprisoned in a castle and let the henchman of the demon ing do unreasonable things with me1 +h, what should I do, what should I do Kazuma1 !his situation is more thrilling than I e4pected1 I don#t want to go, but I have no choice1 I will resist to the very last moment, so don#t stop me1 ell then, I will be bac in a 3iffy1" "uh huh/" "Stop right there, you can#t go1 %oo how troubled the 7ullahan is1" 7arness was in a hurry to leave with the enemy. hen I grabbed her collar from behind, I could see the 7ullahan breathe in relief. "+n, anyway1 If you have learnt your lesson, stop casting e4plosion on my castle1 +nd the crimson magic girl1 If you want me to release the curse on that crusader, then come to my castle1 If you can mae it to my room at the top of the castle, I will release her curse1 2ut... my minions are everywhere in the castles and its full of undead nights. an you rooie adventurers mae your way to me/ mm hmm hmm, hahaha1" +fter saying his piece, the 7ullahan laughed loudly as he rode the headless horse pared outside the gate and went in the direction of the castle...
Part
!his development was too cruel and made the gathered adventurers stand stiff with a blan face. I was the same. 2esides me, ;egumin#s face was green and she was trembling while gripping her staff hard.
She planned to head out of town alone. "ey, where are you going. hat do you plan to do/" I tugged on ;egumin#s cape and ;egumin struggled to go as she replied without turning her head& "I am responsible for this incident. I will head to the castle and cast e4plosion on that 7ullahan directly to dispel 7arness# curse." !here was no way ;egumin could do it alone. ... !hat#s why. "I will go with you. If you met some minions and use your spell, it would be the end. I accompanied you all this while and didn#t realize that was the castle of the boss too." ;egumin made a heavy e4pression when she heard me. In the end she drooped her shoulders and gave up her original plan. "... ell, let#s go together. 2ut he said there will be a bunch of undead nights. If that is the case, weapons would be useless. ;y magic would be more practical... So you have to rely on me when the time comes."
;egumin said with a smile. rom the name undead night, it should be an enemy wearing full armor. In the face of such foes, my cheap weapon would be useless. 2ut I still had other ideas. "I can use my #detect enemy# sill to search the monster in the castle and conceal myself with #hide# and snea in. ?r we can visit the castle everyday and defeat the enemy on each level one day at a time before coming bac. e will reduce the enemies# enemie s# numbers slowly... slowly... Since the time limit is one wee, this plan should wor." ;egumin probably felt there was hope after listening to my suggestion and cheered up. ;egumin and I turned and looed at 7arness. "ey 7arness1 e will definitely brea your curse1 So don#t worry..." worry..." "Sacred 2rea Spell1"
Part "
+ wee after the demon ing army attac incident was resolved peacefully. peacefully. "I want to tae a )uest1 It#s fine even if it is a bit hard, let#s tae a )uest1" "uh..." 4E ;egumin and I e4pressed our displeasure when we heard +)ua say that. 64cept for +)ua, our wallets were very full. +nd there were only high difficulty )uests left, I don#t want to go out of my way way to tae these 3obs. "I am fine with it... but it#s not enough with the firepower of me and ;egumin..." 7arness glanced at ;egumin and me while saying this. 6ven if you loo at us, ;egumin and I had no reason to force ourselves to tae a dangerous )uest. %ooing at how disinterested we were, +)ua cried out loud. "0lease I beg you--1 I don#t want to wor anymore1 !he store owner gets mad if I don#t sell all the cro)uette1 I will wor hard1 I will do my best this time--1" ;egumin and I looed at each other. "+lright then... then tae a loo and see if there is any )uest that loos fine. e will go with you if the )uest isn#t too bad." +)ua rushed to the bulletin board after hearing us say that. "... Kazuma, shouldn#t you tae a loo too/ If you leave it to +)ua, she will probably pic an incredible )uest..."
"... 8ou 8ou are correct. corre ct. 2ut I won#t complain even e ven if the )uest is a bit hard..." +fter listening to ;egumin and 7arness# comment, I had an ominous feeling. I came to the bulletin board, and stood behind +)ua who was thining about which )uest to pic. +)ua didn#t realize I was behind her and browsed the )uest seriously. seriously. inally, she tore a paper from the board. "... Aood." "Aood your head1 hat )uest are you taing1" I snatched the client re)uest from +)ua#s hand. #-- unting manticore and Ariffon-- manticore are fighting for territory. It is dangerous to leave them alone, please hunt both of them. 2ounty is HH,HHH 6ris.# "8ou idiot1" I shouted as I returned it to the bulletin board. It was right to follow her. I was almost dragged down by her to tae on an incredibly dangerous )uest. "hat, we 3ust need to let ;egumin give them an e4plosion while they are together to settle it in one shot. hy are you so timid..." !his fellow was planning to let me tae on the tas of getting these two dangerous monster to gather at the same spot. ow about taing this )uest and letting her do it alone. +s I was thining it over, +)ua tugged my sleeve e4citedly. e4citedly. "!his one1 %oo at this one1"
%istening to what +)ua said, I too a loo at the re)uest form she was pointing at. #-- %ae purification--!he lae which was one of the water sources for the town had been polluted. 2rutal alligators had moved into the lae. Ge)uest for someone to purify the lae. !he monsters in the lae will leave after purifying the lae, there is no need to fight the monsters JGe)uirement& 0riest with purification magic. Geward is FHH,HHH 6ris.# "... 8ou 8ou can purify the lae/" +)ua snorted and said. "Idiot, who do you thin I am/ rom my name and appearance, you should be able to tell what portfolio I had as a goddess right/" "+ren#t you the goddess of ban)uets/" "+s if you ii566!1 I am the goddess of water alright1 7idn#t you see my beautiful blue eyes and hair/" I see. 6arning FHH,HHH by 3ust purifying the water, it#s a great deal. 5ot needing to fight meant it was worth it. "%et#s tae this one. ?r rather, wouldn#t you alone suffice if it is 3ust purifying pur ifying the water/ 8ou 8ou can hog all the rewards this way right/" 2ut +)ua didn#t agree with me. "ell... I thin the monsters will harass me while I am purifying the water right/ 2efore I finish the purification, I hope you all can protect me from the monsters." So that#s the plan. 2ut from the name brutal alligator, isn#t it an alligator type monster/
!hat sounds dangerous... "2y the way, way, how long would the purification tae/ minutes or so/" If it was 3ust a short while, we could wing it with ;egumin#s e4plosion magic. +)ua tilted her head and said& "... +bout +bout half a day/" "!hat#s too long1" ending off monsters with such a dangerous name, who would want to do that. +s I was planning to put the bulletin bac... "+hh1 0lease, I beg of you--1 !here are no other )uest that is as good1 0lease help me Kazuma-san--1" I was planning to stic the paper bac on the bulletin board, but +)ua entangled my right hand and begged me for help. %ooing at her, I thought of an idea. "... 5ah, how does the purification process wor/" "... mm/ !o !o purify the water, water, I 3ust need to touch the water with my hand and continuously cast purification magic..." I see, she need to touch the water. I had an idea, but that way... ... 5o, wait. "ey +)ua. +)ua. I thin there is a way to purify the water safely, you want to give it a try/"
Part #
!here was a large lae some distance from town. !his lae was one of the water source of the town, there was a stream flowing out of it straight into town. !he lae was besides a mountain, and water flowed endlessly down from it into the lae. I got it now. +s stated in the re)uest, the lae waters appeared a bit mury and showed signs of stagnation. I thought monsters prefer pr efer clean water, so that wasn#t true. +s I looed over the lae, I heard a timid voice behind me. "... 5ah... +re +re we really reall y going to do it this way/" +)ua sounded really uneasy. uneasy. ;y plan was flawless, what is there to worry about/ +)ua spoe& "... I felt lie a captured rare monster that is going to be sold..." ... !he rare monster was loced in a steel cage, hugging her nees in the center as she spoe. I plan to throw +)ua along with the cage into the lae. In the beginning, I was planning to let her stay inside the cage some distance away from the cage. 2ut since purification re)uired contact with the waters, the plan had evolved into this.
+s the goddess of water, water, +)ua could stay in the bottom of the lae for an entire day without breathing and won#t be uncomfortable. rom what she claimed, even without purification magic, there would be purification effects 3ust by immersing +)ua into the lae. !hat was her godly nature. 5o matter how lousy of a goddess she was, it was still impressive. 7arness and I had already moved +)ua#s cage to the side of the lae. It was a steel cage, an e)uipment we loaned from the guild. +s some of the re)uest include capturing monsters, these items were meant for such )uests. e didn#t come here to throw the useless goddess into the lae, so we don#t need to carry carr y it too far. e 3ust need to put it by the lae so +)ua could come into contact with the water. !his way, she would be fine even if the brutal alligators attaced her while she was purifying the waters. It was a cage meant to transport captured monsters anyway, it should be able to eep +)ua who was inside safe. I heard from the guild staff that the monsters would leave the lae after purification was completed. 2ut 3ust in case they refuse to leave +)ua after that, we attached a strong chain to the cage. 2ecause the cage was heavy, we dragged it here using the horse we borrowed from town. In the event of an emergency, I intend to use the horse to drag the cage to escape. !he cage had been lowered into the edge of the lae, soaing +)ua#s feet and
buttocs in water. 5e4t would be maintaining the current situation as the F of us wait in the distance. +)ua hugged her nees and said softly& "... I feel lie a tea bag being drained of its favor..."
Part *
!he purification device... orrection, +)ua had been placed in the lae for E hours. !here was no sign of any monsters attacing her. 7arness, ;egumin and I stayed on land about EH meters from +)ua to watch over her. I yelled at +)ua who was soaed in the lae. "ey-- +)ua1 ow is the purification going/ Is it cold staying in the lae/ Aive a holler if you want to go to the rest room1 I will let you out of the cage--1" I yelled from afar, and +)ua yelled bac. "0urification is proceeding smoothly1 +nd I don#t need to go to the rest room1 +rch priest doesn#t go to the rest room1" +)ua said something idols in the old days would say. say. I was worried about her since she had been in the water for )uite a while, but she seemed to be doing fine. "!here seems to be no problems. 2y the way, way, rimson magic clansmen don#t need to use the washroom either." ;egumin said without me asing. You and Aqua were always a lways eating so much, where did all that stuff go ... I felt lie retorting." "+s a crusader, I also don#t... need to go... Ugh..." "7arness, don#t compete with these two. or ;egumin and +)ua who insist in sist they don#t need to use the restroom, I will accept a )uest that can#t be completed
in a day to confirm if they really don#t need to use the washroom. "7on#t, don#t do that oay/ !he crimson magic clan really don#t use the washroom1 2ut I apologize, apolog ize, so don#t do that... th at... 2y the way, way, the brutal alligators are not coming, it would be great if things ends peacefully lie this." ;egumin said something that definitely raised a flag. +nd as if on cue, ripples appeared somewhere on the lae. In term of size, it was about the same as alligators on earth. 2ut it was a monster after all, so there was some difference with earth#s alligators. "Ka, Kazuma--1 Something is coming over1 5ah, lots of things are coming here1" Seemed lie the alligator of this world moved in a group. -- D hours since purification began- +)ua simply soaed herself in the water in the beginning and use the passive sill of the goddess to purify the lae. 2ut she probably wanted to finish the purification sooner and head bac, so she had been chanting purification magic nonstop. "#0urification#1 #0urification#, #0urification#--1 + large group of alligators was surrounding +)ua#s cage cage and gnawing at it. "#0urification#1 #0urification#--1 !he cage is creaing1 It#s crea ing1 !he cage, cage is maing weird sounds1" +)ua screamed in the cage, but we couldn#t blow them away with e4plosion e4plosion magic either, so we couldn#t do anything about it. "+)ua--1 !ell !ell us if you want to give up--1 If you want to give up, we will drag you along with the cage with the chain--1"
I had been shouting that towards the cage for some time now, but +)ua refused to abort the )uest despite being terrified. "I, I don#t wanna1 Aiving up now means wasting the time I spent so far, and not being able to collect the bounty1 #0urification#1 #0urification#--1 ... aahhahhh--1 !here was a cracing sound1 !he cage made a sound it shouldn#t be maing1" +)ua screamed in tears while the brutal alligator that surrounded her didn#t even loo at us. 7arness mumbled to herself as she looed at the situation over there. "... Staying in that cage seemed rather good...& "... 8ou 8ou better not go there1" -- hours after purification began-!he battered cage was alone in the lae. !here were bite mars all over the cage after the brutal alligators attaced it. !he purification was probably done, so the brutal alligator left the cage and moved upstream. !he sound of +)ua chanting purification spell couldn#t be heard anymore. ?r rather, about an hour ago, we did not hear +)ua who was surrounded by the brutal alligators mae any sound. "... ey +)ua, are you alright/ !he brutal alligators had left for some other place." e approached the cage to chec on how +)ua was doing. "... Sniff... Ugh... ic..." If you were so terrified and cried while hugging your nees, you should have given up the )uest earlier...
2ut it was hard to blame her under the circumstances. "Aood girl, the purification is done, let#s go bac. I had discussed with 7arness and ;egumin, we won#t tae the reward this time. !he FHH,HHH is all yours." !he shoulders of +)ua who buried her face between her nees trembled. 2ut she didn#t want to come out from the cage. "... ey, ey, it#s time to come out of the cage, all the brutal alligators are gone." hen she heard me, +)ua said something softly. softly. "... 7irectly lie this..." .../ "hat did she say/" "... She said, the world outside the cage is scary, so bring her bac to town directly lie this." ... Seemed that after hunting toads, this )uest had left deep psychological trauma in +)ua#s heart too.
"7o 5a 7o 5a 7o-- 5a-- 7o-- 5a--..." "6h... ey +)ua, we are already bac in town, can you stop singing that song/ e are gathering a lot of attention 3ust by dragging a battered cage with a woman hugging her nees inside. +nd it#s safe bac in town, it#s about time you come out." "7on#t wanna. !his is my holy realm. !he world outside is scary, scary, I don#t want to come out for now." !he horse dragged the cage with +)ua who refused to come out inside. e completed the )uest safety and returned to town. Under the gaze of the townsfol, we head for the guild. 2ecause +)ua who don#t want to come out and wal, our speed was slow despite the horse helping to drag the cage. 2ut aside from the psychological trauma, there was no damage worth mentioning. +lthough I wanted to try out my e)uipment and spells, it was was still great to finish the )uest leisurely. ompleting the )uest without any issues was great... ;aybe it was because I raised a flag with my thoughts. "Aod, goddess-sama1 Isn#t this goddess-sama/ hat are you doing in such a place1" + man suddenly shouted and rushed to +)ua who shut herself inside the cage and grab the bars. +nd amazingly, amazingly, the bars that held up to the bites of the brutal alligator was bent easily by this guy and he offered a hand to +)ua. Ignoring ;egumin and me who were dumbstruc, the unnown man reached for the speechless +)ua...
"... ey, ey, don#t act familiar with my companion and touch her. ho are you/ If she new you, why would +)ua not have any reaction/" +s the man was about to tae +)ua#s hand, 7arness stopped him. Unlie her envious eyes when she saw +)ua surrounded by b y brutal alligator, 7arness was now a shield protecting her comrades, a proud crusader. ... It would be great gr eat if she always act this way... way... !he man glanced at 7arness, sighed and shoo his head. is demeanor seemed to be saying he didn#t want to create trouble but he had no choice. !he man#s attitude clearly pissed off 7arness who doesn#t normally show her emotion openly.
+s the tension rose, I went to +)ua who continued to hug her nees and refused to leave the cage despite the situation and whispered& "... ey, ey, it#s someone you now right/ e called you goddess-sama 3ust now no w. Ao and handle that man." +fter hearing what I said, +)ua made a #what are you taling about/# face and... "... +h1 +h1 Aoddess1 !hat#s right, I am a m a goddess. +nd/ hat problems do you want this goddess to settle/ 8ou 8ou guys are really helpless1" +)ua finally came out of the cage. 7id this girl really forgot about being a goddess/ +fter e4iting the cage, +)ua tilted her head at that man. "... ho are you/"
She didn#t now him. ... 5o, she probably did. 2ecause the man opened his eyes wide in surprise. +)ua probably 3ust forgot about him. "hy are you saying this goddess-sama1 It#s me ;itsurugi Kyouya1 I received the sword Aram from you1" ".../" +)ua still tilted her head, but I finally got it. is name might sound lie the protagonist of an anime or manga, but since it was a
is face was a bit awward, but ;itsurugi still smiled at a t +)ua and said& "6h, it#s been a while, +)ua-sama. +s your chosen hero, I had been woring hard every day da y. ;y 3ob is Sword master. I am already level F... ?h right, why is +)ua-sama doing here/ ?r rather, why were were you loced in the cage/" ;itsurugi said as he stole glances at me. hen +)ua sent him to this world, she made up something about him being chosen by the gods and is a hero, those irresponsible words. She didn#t remember this person e4isted, which showed how irresponsible her words to ;itsurugi was. So in ;itsurugi#s eyes, I was the one locing +)ua in the cage/ ... ell, normal people would thin so. 6ven if I told him she was the one who didn#t want to come out, this guy wouldn#t believe me. 6ven me who saw it with my own eyes won#t believe there was such a weird goddess. I told ;itsurugi what happened to +)ua and me after transporting to this world... "... 0reposterous, this is too illogical1 hat are you thining, bring goddess-sama to this world/ +nd you loced her in a cage and threw her in the lae for this )uest/" ;itsurugi grabbed my m y collar in righteous fury. fury.
+)ua restrained him in a hurry. hurry. "8ou, "8ou, what are you doing/ !his is nothing, I am living every ever y day happily, happily, and am not angry about being brought to this world1 +nd I can go bac after defeating the demon ing1 !oday#s )uest was a bit scary, but it was resolved smoothly. 5o one was hurt and the rewards is FHH,HHH. FHH,HHH1 +nd everyone said they will let me tae all of it1" ;itsurugi looed at +)ua with pitiful eyes after hearing what she said. "... +)ua-sama, I don#t how how this man taled you into this, but you are being treated too illogically. illogically. +fter such a sacrifice, you only earned FHH,HHH.../ 8ou 8ou are a goddess1 or a goddess to be b e treated this way... 2y the way, way, where do you stay at night/" I felt lie telling ;itsurugi not to eep saying goddess by the side of the road, but he seemed to be on the verge of losing it, so I decided to shut up. or a first meeting, this guy is really rude. e doesn#t understand +)ua at all. earing ;itsurugi say that, +)ua was a bit frightened and answered timidly& "ith everybody, everybody, in the stables..." "uh/" ;itsurugi grabbed my collar with more force. ey, that hurts1 7arness grabbed ;itsurugi#s hand at this moment. "ey, "ey, watch yourself and remove your hand. 8ou 8ou had been b een unreasonable all this while. !his must be the first time you met Kazuma, there should be a limit to how rude you can be." 7arness who was usually )uiet when she wasn#t spouting nonsense had gotten
angry. ?n a closer loo, ;egumin had piced up her upgraded staff and seemed to be chanting e4plosion magic... ait, stop it you1 ;itsurugi let go of his hand and observed 7arness and ;egumin e4citedly. "... rusader and +rch wizard/ +nd... !hey loo rather good too. Seems that you had great luc in finding companions, but that doesn#t mae sense. 7on#t you feel ashamed in letting +)ua and these two e4cellent members sleep in the stables/ 8ou 8ou mentioned your 3ob is the weaest adventurer right/" rom the way this guy described it, my situation seemed great. rom the people who didn#t now us, I seemed so lucy. I whispered to +)ua& "5ah, nah, isn#t staying in the stables the norm for adventurers in this world/ hy is this guy so mad/" "ell, I thin he was granted a powerful sword when he was transported to this world, and completed a bunch of high difficulty )uest from the beginning. e probably had no worries about money... 2ut that is the usual case for people with special abilities or e)uipment." + flame of anger burned in my heart after I listened to +)ua#s answer. answer. !he guy who didn#t undergo any hardship because of a powerful sword gifted to him, why is he acting so high and mighty to me who had to wor hard from the very start/ e didn#t realize my seething anger and said to +)ua, 7arness and ;egumin with a sympathetic smile&
"It must have been hard on you all so far. 0lease 3oin me from now on. ?f course, I won#t let you all sleep in the stables, and will buy the full set of
premium e)uipment for you. !he balance of the team is great. I am a sword master, my warrior comrade and you as a crusader& along with my thief comrade, this arch wizard and +)ua-sama. hat a perfect combination, it#s a match made in heaven." +ra, it didn#t include me. ell, I don#t want to 3oin this guy#s party anyway an yway.. +fter hearing ;itsurugi#s proposal, my F companions started taling among themselves.
;itsurugi might be a self centered hero, but the terms he offered wasn#t bad. +nd compared to acting alongside me, going with ;itsurugi offered an easier route for +)ua to tae down the demon ing. !he demon ing needed to be defeated before +)ua could return to heaven. +lthough I only thought of her as a complementary gift for moving to this world, world, but heavens would probably allow her to return if she finished the 3ob of defeating the demon ing with another hero. I thought +)ua and the others would be moved with such e4cellent terms, so I strained my ears behind them to listen. In the end... "It feels wrong. e is so bad that it made me cringe. +nd he was the one doing all the taling and have narcissism tendencies which frightens me." "hat should we do, for some reasons I am unable to physically accept this man. I prefer active people over passive ones, but somehow that guy maes me want to beat him up." "an I cast my magic/ an I throw an e4plosion spell into the face of that elite putting up a front who had never went through any hardship before/" +ra, their perception of you were rather negative, ;itsurugi-san.
+fter that, +)ua tugged my sleeve and said& "5ah Kazuma, let#s hurry to the guild oay/ I might be the one who gave him the powerful sword, but I thin it would be better not to get too close with such people." !o be honest his action was infuriating, but it would be best to leave as +)ua suggested. "ell-- ;y companions don#t seem een to 3oin your party and the opinion is unanimous. e still need to report the completion of the )uest, so we will tae our leave..." +fter finishing, I lead the horse dragging the cage and prepared to go. ... "... ould you please move out of the way/" I said in an annoyed tone to ;itsurugi who was blocing my way. way. hat should I do, he is the type who doesn#t listen to others. "64cuse me, but +)ua-sama is the one who bestowed this sword to me, and seeing my benefactor who granted me power fall to such a state, I couldn#t simply ignore it. 8ou 8ou couldn#t save the world, the one to defeat the demon dem on ing would be me. It would be better for +)ua-sama to follow me... 8ou 8ou said you chose +)ua as the item to be brought along to this world with you right/" "... 8es." Aoing by the clichL developments of manga, I could predict what would happen ne4t. !his guy would definitely...1 definitely...1 "If that is the case, how about maing a bet/ 8ou 8ou chose +)ua-sama as the #thing# to be brought along with you right/ If I win, you have to give +)ua-sama to me= If you win, I can promise you one thing, anything."
"?ay, I accept1 !ae this1"
"#Steal#--1" !he moment I yelled, I felt the weight of a sword in my left hand. ?h, I hit the 3acpot. !he sword ;itsurugi was planning to bloc my blow with disappeared from his hands. "uh/" 4F I wonder who uttered such foolish sounds.
0robably everyone present e4cept for me. ith my stealing sill woring together with my attac, ;itsurugi who couldn#t do anything was hit hard on the hard by me. "Scumbag1 Scumbag scumbag scumbag--1" "ow dirty1 8ou 8ou are the th e worst, scumbag1 an#t you fight honorably/" ;itsurugi#s two female companions lectured me. It was music to my ears. +lthough it was with the scabbard, ;itsurugi was still still hit by a rather heavy sword on the head and laid on the ground with the white of his eyes showing, it was pretty comical. I announced to the two followers who were protesting. "5o matter what, I won. !his guy said he will promise me anything if he lost right/ !hen I would be taing this sword." +fter hearing what I said, one of the follower became agitated. "hat/ hat absurd thing are you saying/ +nd only Kyouya could use that magic sword, the magic sword s word will choose its owner. It had chosen Kyouya K youya as its master1 !he blessing of the sword won#t wor on you1" +fter listening to the girl#s confident words, I turned turned towards +)ua. "... Is that true/ I can#t use this spoils of war/ I was thining that I had finally gotten a strong piece of e)uipment." "It#s true. Gegrettably, Gegrettably, the sword Aram is the e4clusive weapon of that unpleasant guy. guy. It bestows one with arm strength beyond be yond the human limits when e)uipped, and the sword is a sharp weapon that can cut through steel lie a vegetable. 2ut in Kazuma#s hands, this would 3ust be a normal sword." So there was such a thing...
2ut since I got something great, I should tae it with me. "I would be on my way then. !ell !ell that guy gu y when he waes up that he was the one who wanted the duel, so no complaints... +lright, let#s go to the guild for the bounty, +)ua." +fter finishing, I turned to leave. ;itsurugi#s female companion raised their weapon against me. "8ou "8ou you you, hold it right there1" there 1" "Aive Kyouya#s sword bac. e won#t acnowledge your win1"
+nd so, I lift my hands and wriggled my fingers before the E ladies.
"It#s fine if you want to bring it on, but I believe in gender e)uality, a man who dares to use drop ics against girls. 7on#t thin I will hold bac against you two1 I should say that since you are girls, I might humiliate you in public using my #steal# sill." !he two girls looed at my hand and was worried about their safety in some ways and baced off with an uneasy face. "Ugwahhh..." 4F ;y companions looed at me with scornful eyes which prics me. 7ragging the borrowed cage with us, we finally made it bac to the guild. Since we decided all the rewards would go to +)ua, I left the tas of reporting the completion of the )uest to +)ua and the others while I returned the borrowed horse. I too my spoils-- that magic sword to a certain place and reached the adventurers guild a bit later than the others. ...... 2ut... "h, hy--1" +)ua#s loud voice could be heard from inside the guild. 7oes this girl want to create commotions everywhere she went/ I entered the guild and saw +)ua grabbing a staff of the guild with tearing eyes. "7idn#t I tell you, the cage I borrowed from you wasn#t damaged by me1 It was that ;itsurugi guy who bent the bars1 hy do I have to pay for it1" I see, that guy did bent the bars in an attempt to save +)ua without getting the full story. +nd +)ua +)ua had to compensate for that broen cage. +)ua insisted for a moment, but she probably gave up, taing the reward and came to our tables with heavy footsteps.
"... !he bounty this time, after deducting the compensation for the broen cage, there is only BHH,HHH 6ris left... !hey said the cage was made from a special process and material, so it cost EHH,HHH..." Seeing how de3ected +)ua was, even I felt a little sorry sorr y for her. ;eeting ;itsurugi was an une4pected disaster for +)ua. "5e4t time I meet that man, I will definitely give him a god blow1 +nd get him to cough up the compensation for the cage1" +)ua sat on her chair and pinched the menu hard and said through her grit teeth. +s for me, I don#t want to ever see him again. ... +s +)ua was grumbling gr umbling grudgingly gru dgingly.. "So that#s where you are1 I had a hard time finding you, Kazuma Satou1" e were 3ust taling about ;itsurugi when he showed up with his two female underlings at the entrance of the guild.
Shouting my full name which I never told him, ;itsurugi rushed to our table and slammed both hands down. "Kazuma Satou1 I ased a female thief about you and she told me everything immediately. immediately. She said you lie to strip woman of their panties. ?ther than that, your interest is to cover girls in slime. %ots of people are taling about you, devilish Kazuma." "old on, who is the one spreading this, tell me properly properl y." I now who the thief was, but the problem was the other parts. Spreading such rumors from somewhere and adding the title devilish before my name...1
+s ;itsurugi closed in on me with a serious face, +)ua stepped before him. "... +)ua-sama. +)ua-sama. I swear to you, after getting my sword bac from that man, I will definitely defeat the demon ing. So please 3oin me and form a party pu ah...1" "+h1 Kyouya1" 4E +fter being punched by the silent +)ua, ;itsurugi flew out. ;itsurugi#s two female companions rushed to the fallen ;itsurugi. ;itsurugi showed a baffled face, not understanding why he was hit. +)ua too large steps towards him, grab his collar and said& "ompensate me for the cage you destroyed1 It#s all your fault that I had to compensate for that cage1 2ecause that cage was made through a special process and material, it cost FHH,HHH oay, oay, FHH,HHH1 8ou 8ou hear me, pay up1" 7idn#t you say the cage cost EHH,HHH 3ust now/ ;itsurugi who haven#t even stood up after being sent flying by +)ua#s punch remained seated as he fored out the cash. +fter getting the money from ;itsurugi, the satisfied +)ua piced up the menu once again. ;itsurugi composed himself, watching +)ua who was calling fo r the waitress happily with a menu in hand as he said to me begrudgingly& "... 6ven though I was defeated in that way, way, it was still my loss. +lthough it is shameless and selfish of me to say this after promising to do anything you wish... 2ut I beg of you1 could you return the sword to me/ !hat sword wouldn#t be of much use to you, it is 3ust sharper than normal swords if you wield it. !hat#s the most you could get out of the sword... ow about this/ If you want a sword, I can buy the best sword in any shop and give it to you... ould you please return it to me/" e said himself that it was a selfish re)uest.
5o matter how useless, +)ua was still the gift I was bestowed with when I came to this world, something I should get when I mae up my mind to come to this world. In other words, the thing I gambled was of e)ual worth with ;itsurugi#s sword. 2ut if you as me whether +)ua#s worth was e)uivalent to the magic sword, I could only refuse to answer. answer. "Using me as a prize without my permission, and asing for your sword bac by offering to buy a good sword in e4change, there#s no way this deal would wor1 ?r do you thin my worth is e)ual to the most e4pensive sword in a shop/ Insolent fool, insolent1 I am a goddess after all, to use me as a betting chip, what the hell were you thining/ I don#t to ever see your face again, shoo. urry up, scram1" +)ua held the menu in one hand while waving the other, gesturing for ;itsurugi to leave as she said it out loud, which made ;itsurugi turn pale. It couldn#t be helped, who ased him to create trouble and then do this, no wonder +)ua got go t angry angr y. "0lease, please wait +)ua-sama1 I am not looing down on your value..." +s ;itsurugi was e4plaining, ;egumin tugged ;itsurugi#s sleeve. ".../ hat is it little girl... mm/" +fter getting ;itsurugi#s attention, ;egumin pointed at me. !o be precise, she was pointing at my waist. "...
sword to/" e was breaing out in cold sweat as he pressed me for an answer. I replied in F words. "I sold it." "7amn you--1" ;itsurugi rushed out of the guild in tears. "... hat is with that guy... guy... Speaing of which, he had been addressing add ressing +)ua as a goddess all this while, what is up with that/" +fter ;itsurugi left the guild. !hat commotion drew the curious eyes of many adventurers. Under these circumstances, 7arness ased. ... Gight, the word goddess was mentioned so many times, it was normal for her to as. 5o, should I use this chance to tell both ;egumin and 7arness/ I looed at +)ua who had a face saying that she new what I wanted to say as she nodded. +)ua then showed her rare serious e4pression to face 7arness and ;egumin. 7arness and ;egumin also noticed that +)ua felt different, and was listening carefully to her... her... "I had never told you this before, but I decided to say it... I am +)ua. ?ne of the patron goddess of the +4is cult, goddess of water... !hat#s right, I am that goddess +)ua...1" "... So you had that dream/" 4E
"!hat#s wrong1 +nd why did both of you say the same thing together1" ... So it turned out this way... way... +t this moment. "6mergency broadcast1 6mergency broadcast1 broa dcast1 +ttention +ttention all adventurers, please p lease prepare all your e)uipment and gather at the town#s main gate ready for battle--1" !he familiar emergency public announcement sounded out loudly. "+gain.../ !here are so many ma ny of these emergency emergen cy summons recently recently." ." an I don#t go/ I new I probably probabl y can#t, but after that incident with ;itsurugi, I felt so lazy... +s I rest my face lazily on the the table. "6mergency broadcast1 6mergency broadcast1 broa dcast1 +ttention +ttention all adventurers, please p lease prepare all your e)uipment and gather at the town#s main gate ready for battle--1 6specially Satou Kazuma-san and his companions, please head to the scene as soon as possible1" "... uh/" hat did the broadcast 3ust say/
Chapter 4 0nding This Poor 0-use o A Battle! Battle! Part 1
I rushed to the main gate. !he lightly armored me led the way, way, +)ua and ;egumin reached shortly after. ?nly the heavily armored armo red 7arness was still on the way. way. "?h, 3ust as I suspected. !his guy is here again." hen we reached the main gate, there were many adventurers gathered there already. +nd that guy was at the main gate which all the novice adventurers ept a distance away from.
!hat#s right, it was that demon army boss, 7ullahan. I was a bit curious when I saw the troubled faces of the adventurers preceding me. 2ut I understood why when I looed at what was behind the 7ullahan. Unlie the last time, he brought a whole gang of monsters with it. It was a group of night wearing tattered armor. !he cracs in the armor and helmet he lmet was semi-visible. If you looed closely, closely, they probably didn#t have a proper meal for )uite a while. 8ou might even catch a glimpse of their rotten body which would leave psychological trauma. ith 3ust a glance, it was clear the armored nights were undead. +fter it saw ;egumin and me, it roared.
"hy didn#t you come to the castle, you are inhuman--1" I waled in front of ;egumin to protect her and ased the 7ullahan. "ell... 8ou 8ou ased why we didn#t go to the castle, but why must we go/ +nd what do you mean by #inhuman#/ e had stopped casting e4plosion magic, so why are you mad/" !he 7ullahan was furious when he heard me and was on the verge of throwing the thing in its left hand onto the ground... 2ut it remembered that was its head and moved it to its abdomen& ""Stopped casting e4plosion/ 8ou 8ou say it stopped/ stoppe d/ Stop lying to me1 !hat crimson magic clan girl with a screw loose had never stopped coming1" "uh/" +fter hearing him, I looed at ;egumin besides me. ;egumin averted her eyes immediately. immediately. "... 8ou 8ou did go right. I told you not to, but you still went all this while." "urts hurts hurts, it#s painful alright1 5o, listen to me Kazuma1 I was satisfied with casting e4plosion on an empty plain not so long ago... 2ut after I new the charm of attacing a castle with magic, my body changed and I could only accept big and hard things...1" "7on#t fidget around and say those ind of things1 +nd you couldn#t move after casting your spell1 !hat means you have an accomplice1 ho in the world..." I pinched ;egumin chees and said, and it was +)ua#s turn to avert her gaze this time. ...
"It#s you right---1" "ahahah--1 2ecause because, that 7ullahan caused me to be unable to wor normally, normally, I want to vent my frustration1 I was lectured lectur ed by the store owner every day because of him1" 8ou were lectured because you didn#t tae your wor seriously seriou sly.. +s I grabbed the collar of +)ua who attempted to escape, the 7ullahan continued& "I am not so furious because of the e4plosion magic1 7on#t you all have the will to save your comrade/ I might be this way now, but before I was e4ecuted because of un3ust reasons and morphed into a monster, I was a honourable night. In my eyes, that crusader who was cursed while protecting her companions was the classic model of a night, but you abandoned her...1" hen the 7ullahan reached this part. 7arness who arrived in her claning armor late )uietly made her way to my side. !he 7ullahan loced eyes with 7arness who was blushing because of the compliments. "... e, hello..." 7arness looed a bit guilty, guilty, timidly lifting a hand han d to the 7ullahan in greeting... "...... hat, what is up with this----/" Seeing her action, the 7ullahan yelled in surprise. It#s e4pression was bloced by its helmet, but he probably had a #!/# face. "hy/ It had been a wee since 7arness was cursed but she is still alive, that shoced it right/ !hat 7ullahan definitely thought we would head to the castle to
brea the curse and was waiting for us in vain huh/ It didn#t even now I broe the curse in no time after it left right/ 0u he he1 !his is too funny1 Super@ funny1" +)ua pointed her finger at the 7ullahan and laughed nonstop. !he 7ullahan#s e4pression still can#t be seen, but from the way it#s shoulder was trembling, it was definitely very furious. 2ut since +)ua broe the curse and we new it was definitely a trap, we had no reason to visit the dangerous castle. "... ey, ey, you there. If I get serious, I could ill all the adventurers in town and massacre the townsfol. 7on#t thin I will eep letting you off1 I am of the undead and will never now fatigue. 8ou 8ou bunch of rooies won#t be able to hurt me1" +)ua#s taunt pushed the 7ullahan#s patience to its limit and it had a dangerous air about it. 2ut before the 7ullahan could do anything else, +)ua e4tended her right hand and shout& "I am the one who has no reason to let you off1 I won#t let you escape this time. !o act so flashy for a mere undead, undead , how arrogant1 7isappear, #turn undead#1" + bright white light illuminated from +)ua#s outstretched hand. 6ven though it saw +)ua casting a spell, the 7ullahan wasn#t scared and didn#t plan to dodge. +s e4pected of a boss of the demon army, army, seemed lie he was really confident. !he gentle light which came out of +)ua closed in on the 7ullahan...1 "8ou thin the boss of the demon ing army wouldn#t be prepared to fight priests/ !oo !oo bad. Including me, all the undead und ead nights in this band b and had received re ceived the protection of the demon ing. e have very high resistance against holy spell ahhhhhhhh--1"
+fter getting blasted by the magic, the parts that was hit emitted blac smoe. !he 7ullahan that was so confident was smoing all over. e was shaing all over and couldn#t even stand properly, but he still put on a strong facade. +)ua shouted when she saw this& "5ah, nah, Kazuma1 !his is strange, it#s not woring on him1" 5o, it looed plenty plent y useful to me, he was screaming #ahh--# so loudly... loudly... !he 7ullahan too unsteady steps and said& "mmp, hmmhmm... ait for me to finish. I am 2eldia, one of the boss of the demon ing army, 7ullahan 2eldia1 ith this armor that was enchanted by the demon ing and my own powers, #turn undead# from a normal priest won#t wor on me1... It shouldn#t wor at all... +s it spoe, the 7ullahan shifted the head in its hand so it was slanting to one side. It was probably trying to tilt its head. "... 5ever mind. 2ecause our diviner was raging on about a strong light descending near this town, so I came here to investigate... In the beginning, I thought it was too much of a hassle and considered destroying the entire town..." 2eldia who was starting to get as unreasonable as AoJa held its head with its left hand and lifted his empty right hand up here. $!%& the bully from 7oraemonM.( "mmp, you are not worthy enough for me to do it personally... Ao, my brothers1 %et them now what hell taste lie1" +h1 !hat guy was definitely scared scared because +)ua#s spell spell was une4pectedly
effective1 e is planning to use his minions to attac us while he escapes by himself to somewhere safe1" "!hat that that#s not it1 !his was my plan from the very beginning1 !he boss of the demon ing army are not wealings who escape on their own1 8ou 8ou wouldn#t fight the boss at the very start, of course you would need to defeat the underlings first, that#s the tradition since ancient time..." "Sacred turn undead--1" "8aaahhhh--1" 2eldia only spoe halfway when it screamed due to +)ua#s spell. + white magic circle appeared at 2eldia#s feet and a light that led straight into the sy was there. 2eldia#s armor was fuming blac smog, and it rolled on the ground as if it was attempting to put out the fire on it. +)ua said in a panic& "hat, what should we do Kazuma1 !his is strange1 ;y spell is not effective on it1" %ooing at the way it was screaming its head off, I thought it was pretty effective. 5o, #turn undead# should be able to destroy the undead in one shot. 2ut... "7amn, damn you...1 %et someone someon e who is taling finish1 6nough1 ey, ey, my brethens...1" 6ven though smog was coming from all over its body, body, 2eldia stood up u p slowly and lift its right hand...
"+ll the people in this town... Kill them all1" e cut his right hand down as the cue1
Part 2 Undead nights. + monster one tier higher than zombies. +lthough their armor were tattered, but with their defensive gear, gear, it was a threat to novice adventurers. "ahhh--1 0riests1 Aet the priests here--1" "Someone go to 6ris church for holy water, get all that you can--1" +s the adventurers shouted tensely, tensely, the undead night invaded the town. !he adventurers tried to intercept them. 2ut as if to moc their effort, 2eldia laughed loudly...1 loudly...1 "mmp hahaha, come, let me hear your screams... of... despair.../" despair.../" ... +s it was laughing, "ah, wahhh--1 hy 3ust me/ I, I am a goddess1 god dess1 + goddess so I always al ways do good deeds1" "+hh1 ow, how scheming1 I am the one who always does good deeds, why are all the undead nights running over to +)ua...1" +)ua said something ungoddess-lie, while 7arness said something that was hard to comment on with an envious face. or some reasons, the undead nights didn#t lay their hands on the townsfol and were chasing after +)ua enthusiastically. enthusiastically. "8ou, "8ou, what are you all doing1 7on#t 3ust chase that priest, cover this town with the blood the residents and adventurers...1"
2eldia shouted in panic when it saw the situation. I wondered if these mindless low tier undead were seeing salvation, and gathered at the side of the +)ua goddess because of their instincts. +lthough I didn#t now why the undead were chasing after +)ua, but this is a great chance1 "ey ;egumin, could you cast an e4plosion spell on that bunch of undead nights/" "6h1 !his is inside the town and they are too dispersed, I might miss some of them...1" +t this moment, "ahhh, Kazuma-san--1 Kazuma-san--1" +)ua brought a large crowd of undead nights with her and came in my direction. ey...1 "8ou "8ou fool1 ey, ey, don#t come this way1 %ure them somewhere else and I will treat you to dinner tonight1" "I will pay for dinner, 3ust help me get rid of these undeads1 !hey are weird1 I couldn#t purify them with #turn undead#1" 7amn it, is this the protection of the demon ing 2eldia mentioned...1 5o, wait, wait a minute.../ ";egumin, wait outside the town and standby your spell--1" "uh/ Aot... Aot it1"
+fter shouting to ;egumin, I brought +)ua who rushed to me and charged out of town. I intentionally pass by the adventurers that were battling the undead nights, getting as many undead un dead nights to follow +)ua as possible... +fter that...1 "Kazuma-san1 ow does it loo behind me1 I thin we got all the undead night in town to follow us--1" I turned bac and the undead night chasing +)ua had turned into a large crowd. +)ua and I left the town and the undead nights followed. +t this moment, ";egumin, do it now--1" Under my command, ;egumin too off her eye patch, raised her staff and her eyes were shining. "hat a wonderful situation1 I am grateful, than you Kazuma1... I am ;egumin1 !he elite wizard of the rimson ;agic clan, user of e4plosion magic1 7emon ing boss 2eldia1 atch my power closely1 #64plosion#--1" ;egumin cast the e4plosion spell she was great in and ignited it in the center of the undead army1
Part 3
!he e4plosion spell created a crater right before the main gate, blowing all the undead nights nigh ts away. away. +s everyone was in silence because of the power of the spell. "mm hmm hmm... 6veryone is lost for words after witnessing the power of my e4plosion... u ahh... including narrating this speech, all this... feels so good..." ;egumin could be heard saying proudly proudl y. "... ant me to piggy bac you/" "+h, than you. +nd I couldn#t move because I was too pleased with the spell, could you help me put my eye patch bac/" + short distance away from me. ;egumin who e4hausted her mana was lying face down there. I lifted ;egumin up, put on her eye patch and carried her on my bac. ";y mouth... is full of sand..." +)ua who was closest to the undead night spat the sand out of her mouth as she waled towards me. It seemed that the e4plosion spell made her trip and fall. !he dust from the e4plosion had not yet settle when all the adventurers in town cheered. "oahhh1 !hat#s awesome, girl with a screw loose1" "!he rimson magic girl with a screw loose too all of them out1"
"So aside from your weird name and loose screw, you are great when it is time to perform, I am impressed1" ;egumin wriggled on my bac when she heard the cheers coming from town. "Sorry, I want to cast an e4plosion on those people, please bring me over there." "8ou "8ou have used all your mana. 8ou 8ou did great today, be confident and have a good rest... !han you for your hard wor." earing me say that, ;egumin hugged on to me with her heart at ease. +nd of course, I felt something soft on my bac... bac... Something... soft.../ ... She was pressing her chest onto my bac, but I didn#t feel sensation lie that... ... ell, it#s e4pected of a loli. "rimson magic clan have high intelligence." ;egumin suddenly said. "... ant me to guess what Kazuma is thining about/" "... I am thining that ;egumin#s breast was bigger than it loos." It was obvious I didn#t mean it, which caused ;egumin to attempt to strangle me. +t the town entrance, 2eldia stared at us. ;ore accurately, accurately, it was staring at a t ;egumin who was on my bac.
inally, inally, 2eldia#s shoulders started to tremble. as it angry that all it#s undead minions were wiped out/ ... 5o. "u hahaha1 Interesting1 !hat#s interesting1 !o !o thin my minions would be wiped out in a novice n ovice town lie this1 +lright, I will eep my promise1" ... ey, hold up. ey, wait1 "I will tae care of you all personally1" 2eldia who was standing at the town entrance lifted its great sword and charged at us1
Part 4 %ong before 2eldia reached us. %ots of armed adventurers surrounded 2eldia at a distance in order to protect us, and approached him slowly. slowly. hen 2eldia saw this situation, it held its head in one hand and a sword in the other, and shrugged happily... happily... "... ?h--/ !he target I prioritized should be those two over there... 2ut... mmp, if you all could defeat me through a stroe of luc, you would get a hefty sum of bounty... bounty... come, novice adventurers dreaming of getting rich instantly. instantly. +ll of you come at me at together1" hen they heard it taling about getting rich instantly, the adventurers who were closing in started discussing among themselves. +nd then a man who looed lie a warrior... warrior... "ey, no matter how strong it is, it don#t have eyes on its bac1 Surround it and attac1" +n adventurer on the flan of 2eldia shouted. e had raised an obvious death flag. "ey, "ey, the opponent oppon ent is a boss of the demon ing army, army, how could such a simple tactic tae him down1" I warned the male warrior who said the script of victim. +nd to support them, I drew my sword... ... 5o, thin about it carefully. carefully. 6ven if a super low level lie me slash at him, the results would be clear.
;ore importantly, I had to bring ;egumin on my bac to a safe place... ... 2ring her to a safe place and then what/ ;egumin was out of mana. +)ua#s spell couldn#t deal a fatal blow. blow. ... ow about telling everyone to run away/ +s I was thining about these, the male warrior who had 2eldia surrounded prepared to attac...1 "
adventurers. "uh/" !hat was the sound the adventurers slashing at him uttered. I wasn#t sure which adventurer it was. 2eldia dodged all the attac easily, it gripped its great sword in both hands... In a blin of an eye, 2eldia slashed at all the adventurers who attaced it. !he people who were alive moments ago were now dead. Such illogical things made me realized the realities of this world. It was the sound of the men falling limply onto the ground. 2eldia listened to these sound with satisfaction and raised a hand into the air. is head landed safely into his palm. 2eldia didn#t thin much about this series of actions and said leisurely& "ho#s ne4t/" +ll the adventurers on scene were intimidated by these words. ?ne girl said in a high pitch& "!rash, trash lie you...1 !rash lie you will be done in with 3ust a slash from ;itsurugi1" ... uh/ ;y mind ept woring.
!he ;itsurugi she mentioned was the one whose sword was taen by me and sold... "!hat#s right, 3ust hold on a bit longer1 hen that magic sword guy comes, he could definitely tae on the boss of the demon ing army..." "8ou are 2eldia right/ %et me tell you, there is a powerful and high level guy in this town1" ... Shit, oh shit. I looed at +)ua with a pale face, but +)ua was already gone from fr om that spot. ?ther than ;itsurugi, +)ua was the only one with the ability to be an ace. She didn#t even looed at the 2eldia, running to the side of the illed adventurers, doing something as she stayed close to their corpse. ;aybe it was her obligation as a goddess to send the dead on their way. +fter seeing the adventurers in solid armor dying in one blow, blow, nobody wanted to stand before 2eldia and oppose him... "... ?h/ So you are my ne4t opponent/" 2eldia held its head with its left hand and a sword in its right. It looed at 7arness who was standing before it, protecting ;egumin and me. It thought it was interesting and moved the head in its hand closer to 7arness. 7arness too a stance holding a sword with both hands, shielding the two of us behind her. She doesn#t looed lie a pervert anymore, but a dependable crusader. +fter witnessing +)ua and ;egumin#s strength, 2eldia probably thought 7arness was powerful in her own way too. 2eldia maintained its posture against 7arness, eeping on guard without
moving. 7arness#s tough and white armor glittered under the sun in contrast to 2eldia#s blac armor. !he adventurers who attaced 2eldia were all wearing armor too. 2ut this boss of the demon ing army still slaughtered them despite their armor. 7arness was always boasting confidently that she was harder than anyone. I don#t now if she could withstand 2eldia#s attacs. +s I was wondering if I should stop darness, she probably noticed my worry and announced confidently& "7on#t worry Kazuma. In terms of toughness in taing hits, I won#t lose to anyone. +nd I can use my sills on my weapon and armor too. 2eldia#s sword might be powerful, but you do really thin it could cut through steel armor lie paper/ rom how the adventurers were illed, 2eldia probably possess powerful attac sills. I want to find out how my defence does against it1" 7arness was aggressive today. 2ut even if you defended successfully, successfully, your attac still won#t hit right/ "7on#t do it. 2eldia not only hits hard, it is great at dodging too right/ +ll the adventurers attacing at the same time couldn#t hit him, there#s no way you could with how clumsy you are." 6ven after hearing what I said, 7arness remained in place to oppose 2eldia. "... +s +s a crusader... +s someone with the 3ob of a guardian, there is something that I will not bac off from. %et me protect you two." +lthough I don#t now why, why, but 7arness seemed to have a reason why she doesn#t want to retreat.
I was speechless for a moment. 7arness maintained her postures and charged at 2eldia1 "?h1 8ou 8ou are taing the initiative1 +s a 7ullahan, going head to head with a crusader is unavoidable. +lright, come at me1" 2eldia prepared to face the attac. Seeing 7arness holding her sword with both hands, 2eldia didn#t want to bloc it and lowered its stance, preparing to dodge. ith 2eldia in front of her, 7arness used all her might and swung her sword...1 ... +nd because she mis3udged the distance, the attac landed a few centimeters before 2eldia#s feet. "... uh/" 2eldia lamented lie a deflated balloon. It stared at 7arness blanly, blanly, and all the other adventurers followed suit. ... 6nough. !o !o miss an opponent that wasn#t even moving, how embarrassing1 +nd this is my companion1 I heard that a novice swinging a sword reclessly could cut their own feet. 2ut no matter what, this is too... 7arness seemed to thin missing her attac was normal and too a step forward and used a horizontal cut. She was probably embarrassed to have missed that badly after putting on such a cool front, so her face was a bit red. Seemed lie this attac would definitely be on target, but 2eldia lowered its stance and dodged nimbly.
"Seemed lie I e4pected too much. 6nough... ell then..." 2eldia seemed to thin its opponent was too boring and raised its sword and casually slashed diagonally down at 7arness. "+lright, ne4t... is...... uh/" 2eldia had the confident to ill with one strie. 2ut its sword only left a large scratch on the surface of darness# armor, maing a screeching sound. 7arness pulled away from 2eldia temporary. "+hhh1 I 3ust got my armor from the shop1" 7arness looed at the scratch on her armor sadly and glared at 2eldia. +lthough her foe left a deep scratch on 7arness# armor, armor, her body wasn#t hurt. hich means... "8ou, "8ou, what is with you.../ hy aren#t you hurt hu rt after being hit h it by me.../ Is that an an armor made by a famous artisan/ 5o... it#s not possible even with that... !hat arch priest and that arch wizard that loves e4plosions too, who the hell are you people..." Using the chance when 2eldia was mumbling about something, I 3oined the other adventurers. +fter entrusting ;egumin to another adventurer, I said& "7arness1 8ou 8ou can withstand that guy#s attac1 %eave the attac to me, I will support you1" earing what I said, 7arness focused her eyes on 2eldia and nodded.
"I leave it to you1 2ut please create a chance for me to hit him once, alright/1" I answered "Aot it1" loudly in reply, and shouted to the other adventurers& "izards--1" +fter hearing my yell, the wizards remembered their 3obs and started chanting spells. !he other adventurers also too action, looing for things they could do. !his is our fight against the demon ing boss. !he enemy dared waled into our town so openly, we had no reason to let it return safely. 2eldia stuc its sword into the ground to free up its right hand, pointing at the wizards who were chanting. "+ll of you will in one wees time--1 ill die in the streets--1" 2eldia cursed all the wizards chanting spells with premonition of death. !he wizards who were cursed lost their nerves and stopped chanting. !he other wizards who were planning to 3oin in stiffened their faces after seeing their compatriots get hit with a premonition of death, not daring to cast their spells. 7amn 7ullahan, using such detestable methods1 "+lright, I will attac seriously this time1" +s it shouted, 2eldia threw its head high up into the sy. sy. ... an we get an archer to shoot that head down/ +s I was thining about that, 2eldia held its great sword sword in both hands and
attaced 7arness1 !he head in the sy was facing the ground lie before. e was probably overlooing the entire battlefield with that head in the air. If beldia used this, it would have no blind spot and could easily see where its opponent wanted to dodge. "Ka, Kazuma1 7arness she is...1" I heard ;egumin screaming behind me. +lmost all the adventurers in town were gathered here. !he people I saw a few times, that guy who told me the wea point of a monster. !he girl who pulled her bow fully but was afraid of hitting 7arness who was facing 2eldia, told me about the beverage called 5eroid. !he old man holding a long spear who was attempting to flan behind 2eldia once chastised me for not drining beer. If 7arness fell and 2eldia wills it, everyone present would be illed. 7arness probably understood this, and switched the hold on her sword with the broad side facing forward, using it as a shield without taing a single step bac. She seemed to be saying #e4cept for the head without the helmet, you are free to attac anyway you lie#. "?h, how straightforward1 ?ay, how about this/" 2eldia raised its great sword steadily with both hands. !he demon ing army boss then went beyond the human limits and slashed multiple times at 7arness.
?ne, two, three, four hits...1 !he slashes hitting 7arness e4ceed double digits in no time, every blowmaing the armor screeched and scarring the armor. In the face of such attacs, it won#t be a surprise for normal adventurers to be cut into pieces. 2ut 7arness 7ar ness remained unmoved, blocing blo cing every blow. + few strands of 7arness# long blond hair were cut after coming into contact with the blade and flew in the air. 2eldia stopped its fierce consecutive attac for a moment and caught its falling head with one hand. It switched bac to holding the sword with one hand and was impressed with 7arness# tenacity tena city.. Seeing how 7arness endured all these hits, those wizards... !he people whose face turned pale and couldn#t move... Steeled their resolved and started chanting. ... +t +t this moment, something warm sprayed onto my m y face. I wiped with the bac of my hand and found out it was... "ey, "ey, 7arness you are hurt1 6nough, come bac1 +ll the adventurers will scatter and come up with a new plan1" %ooing closely, 7arness# was bleeding from her face and the cracs in her armor. I shouted at the in3ured 7arness, but she refused to bac down. "rusaders will never retreat when protecting someone behind them1 I won#t ever compromise on that1 +lso1" +lso1" Speaing such cool lines, 7arness# face blushed as she defended with all her
might...1 "+lso1 !his 7ullahan is very silled1 It had been chipping my armor off slowly bit by bit...1 It didn#t stripped me naed directly, but left pieces of armor behind, be hind, maing it more se4ual than being naed. It wants to humiliate me in public...1" "uh/" 2eldia stopped momentarily when it heard what 7arness said and baced off a little& I concentrated the mana in my hand as I scolded the true pervert who was showing her true nature at such a critical 3uncture. "%oo at the time and place you unrepentant pervert1" 7arness trembled for a moment when she heard me lecturing her& "Ugh...1 Ka, Kazuma you should be the one watching the time and place1 I am my limits as I am being ravaged by the 7ullahan in public, and Kazuma is humiliating me too...1 hat are you trying to do to me, ganging up on me with the 7ullahan1" "uh huh/" "5o want wants to do anything to you pervert1 #reate water#1" I cast water magic that had the effect of being a retort at 7arness. +s I shouted, water appeared on top of 7arness and 2eldia. + large amount of water poured down on them lie an overturned bucet. 7arness was soaed entirely while 2eldia leaped bacwards in a panic, avoiding the downpour do wnpour of water. .../ hy was 2eldia so panicy.../ panicy.../
... !he soaed 7arness# face turned red and spoe softly& "... !o !o use this sill so suddenly... suddenly... 8ou, 8ou, you are good, Kazuma. I don#t really dislie this. +lthough I#m fine with it, you should watch the time and place..." "rong, this is not some weird se4ual play1 !his is what I wanted to do1 #reeze#1" I followed up by chanting basic magic that freezes water. !his was a spell that didn#t have any effect if used alone, but... "1/ ?h, freezing the ground around my feet to stop me from moving...1 I see, you thought my strength lies in dodging/ 2ut...1" 2eldia seemed to had something to say as it looed at the frozen ground, but I used the sill I really wanted to use before he finished. ... !hat#s right, it was the sill used against ;itsurugi, my strongest weapon right now1 "Stopping you from dodging would be enough1 I will tae the weapon from you, tae this, #steal#--1" !he sill that gave you a chance to tae an item from your opponent, #steal# was activated. Sills and magic e4isted in this world. Using them won#t use your stamina, but a power everyone possess nown as mana. !hat#s what +)ua said. In the past, many people could use magic, they had 3ust forgotten how to use it.
!he more mana you concentrate, the stronger the power of the sill or magic would be, and it would increase the chance of success. reating 2eldia#s wea point and preventing him from evading, I used this at the best possible moment, my m y ultimate sill #steal#...1 "... !his sill is a good idea. 8ou 8ou might be confident, but I am a boss of the demon ing army after all, so this is the difference in levels. If our power are a bit closer, it might get dangerous for me." ... It was ineffective against a boss of the demon ing#s army. army. 2eldia reached out its hand and pointed at me. ... I could only surrender, as e4pected of a high level boss of the demon ing army. army. I couldn#t couldn #t beat him with #steal#... ... +s +s 2eldia was about abo ut to curse me. "7on#t harm my comrade1" 7arness who was normally cool and collected displayed her emotions at this rare moment. She shouted as she dropped the heavy sword that couldn#t hit the enemy, enemy, charging at 2eldia with her shoulder. 2ut even with the ground frozen, 2eldia evaded easily and gripped its sword calmly. In order to charged at 2eldia, 7arness abandoned her heavy sword. !hat means she didn#t have anything to defend against 2eldia#s sword. 2efore I realized it, I was shouting at the people around me. "!hieves, hear me out--1 ou t--1 !he chances are low lo w, but we will win if we snatch its sword1 6veryone who can use #steal# come and help1"
!here might be someone who had higher level and luc than me. Stealthily, Stealthily, the thieves came near with their hide sills showed themselves when they heard my call. "Steal--1" 4 F 2ut the consecutive use of #steal# didn#t had any effect. 2eldia didn#t thought of us as a threat, pointing its sword at the defenceless 7arness... +nd threw its head high into the sy. sy. "+hhh1" !he adventurers screamed in terror when they saw this movement. 2ecause 2eldia will use his E-handed sword swing after throwing its head up. "... Ugh...1" 7arness moaned when she saw this action. ?h no oh no oh no1 hat should I do/ I don#t have any special power or hidden talent. I have nothing to be proud of, or any sills that is useful in this situation. I only possess great luc which I was borned with. ?ther than that, I have nowledge of games accumulated since childhood. I neglected all other things and immersed myself in games, and now I have to pay the price.
oming to this alternate world happily and dying without accomplishing anything/ "7arness1 Kazuma, 7arness is in danger1" ;egumin shouted in despair. !hin1 !he foe is a 7ullahan, what is its weaness in role playing games/ If I have a strong point, that would be finding the attac style my opponent despised the most when fighting 0K with other players in online games. ?bserve that guy in detail. hy did it dodged the water I created with such e4aggerated movement/ ...... ... lowing water/ 6ven the ma3or undead series monster, vampires were afraid of o f flowing water. So, what about that 7ullahan/ "I had fun, crusader1 or me who was originally a night to cross swords with you, I am grateful to the demon ing and god of evil1 +lright, watch this...1" "#reate water#--1" "1" 2eldia who was slashing at 7arness... 7idn#t move forward, but stayed where it was. In the end, it didn#t press the attac and caught its head that dropped down.
"... Kazuma, erm... I am fighting seriously here..." 7arness who was even more soaed looed at me with grudging eyes. 5ormally I should apologize, but I didn#t have the time right now. I shouted loudly. loudly. "It#s water--1"
Part
"#reate ater#1 #reate ater#1 #reate ater#1--1" "mmp1 oah/ !hat was close1" ith me in the lead, the wizards all over the place started chanting spells. acing the water splashing down from the top, 2eldia managed to dodge all of it. 7amn, I new this might be its weaness, but the problem is the attac couldn#t hit1 !he other wizards were getting frustrated. If this goes on, before we could tae revenge on 2eldia, everyone#s mana would be e4hausted. +t this time. "5ah, why are you guys messing around/ hy are you playing with water with the demon ing boss/ I was woring seriously, seriously, so how could you start having fun, Kazuma/ +re you an idiot/" hat is with this girl, I wanted to give her a slap. +s I was chanting water spell with all my might, +)ua who went somewhere all this while was waling over slowly while sprouting idiotic words. "It#s water, water, water1 !his fellow#s weaness is water1 +nd you are a goddess of water right1 ?r are 3ust a phony goddess/ an#t you even summon water/" "1/7on#t be rude, careful of my divine retribution1 hat is this phony matter, I am a true goddess1 ater, ater, you want to tal about water with me/ 8our wea stream is nothing, I can even summon a flood1 +pologize1 or accusing me of being a phony goddess, apologize1"
+s if you could1 rong, if you could then do it now1 "I#m fine with apologizing how much you want, summon it if you can you useless goddess1" "ah ahhh--1 8ou 8ou dare say I#m a useless goddess1 godde ss1 atch this, I will show you how great I am if I am serious1" +fter bicering for a moment. +)ua too a step forward because of what I said. + mist emitted from her side... ... uh/ "8ou "8ou small fries, your water is ineffective against.../" 2eldia caught the sight of +)ua and stopped moving. Should I say as e4pected of a boss of the demon ing/ +)ua#s imminent action made him sense danger. danger. ?r rather, even the people around who could use magic was looing at +)ua with uneasy eyes. +)ua wasn#t bothered about the situation around her and mumbled& ";y familiar of this world..." !he mist around +)ua turned into droplets of water, floating around her. I could feel powerful magic in each droplet.
"!he goddess of water-- +)ua commands you..."
... I had a bad feeling about this. !he air around her trembled. !his tense feeling was similar to ;egumin when she was chanting e4plosion magic. !his meant the spell she was about to cast had the same level of danger...1 2eldia who was fighting against us probably felt this intense air too. It turned its bac to +)ua unhesitantly and prepared to run... ... 2ut 7arness appeared before it1 +)ua opened her arms. "Sacred create water1" She chanted the magic to create water.
Part
I remembered this was how +)ua put it. She could summon a flood if she wanted to. "ey...1 ait...1" "ya--1 ater, ater, wa tahhh--1" Including the target 2eldia, 7arness and the adventurers near 2eldia, ;egumin and me in a distance, even +)ua who chanted the spell were hit... "0u ah...1 ait, I#m choing on water...1" ";egumin, ;egumin--1 old on tight, don#t get swept away1" !he sudden flood washes over everyone on scene. !he water volume was enormous, splashing waves at the main gate of town and flow into town. +fter the water subsided, the ground was full of e4hausted adventurers and... "ey... "ey... ey...1 ey...1 hat were you thining... +re you an idiot/ 8ou 8ou must a moron...1" moron ...1" 2eldia who was also e4hausted stood up unsteadily. unsteadily. I wanted to agree strongly with 2eldia, but now was not the time to say that. 5ow, 5ow, use this great chance... "7o it now, my stellar performance had weaened weaen ed that guy, use this chance to defeat him, Kazuma1 urry urr y up. ey, ey, urry up you1" !his bitch--1
I made up my mind to steal everything from this girl in public until she cried. +fter deciding that, I reached my hand out to 2eldia...1 "I will definitely snatch sna tch your weapon this time1 !ae !ae this--1" "
.../ 5obody new what happened and it became )uiet. +t this moment, I heard a voice that sounded a bit troubled and paniced. "64, e4cuse me..." It was 2eldia. 2eldia said in a whimsical voice& "64, e4cuse me... an you... return my head bac to me.../" 2eldia#s head said as it lies on my hands. ...... "ey everyone, let#s play soccer1 Soccer is--1 + game that forbids the use of hand and using only your feet to control the ball--1" I iced 2eldia#s head to the adventurers1 "uh ahhahhh--1 ait, hey, hey, don#t do that1" !he head rolled on the ground after I iced it over, and became the best toy for the adventurers who were waiting frantically. frantically. "8ahahaha1 "8ahahaha1 !his game ga me is fun1" "ey here1 pass it to me too--1" "Stop1 0lease, it hurts, stop1" 2eldia#s head was iced around, but its body that was holding the sword was at a loss since it couldn#t see ahead. "ey 7arness, want to hit him with your sword/"
I piced up the sword on the ground and handed it to the soaed 7arness who was waling towards me. 7arness who was breathing heavily and dripping blood and water everywhere lifted her sword, heading unsteadily towards 2eldia and stopped in front of it. I used this chance to wave at +)ua. +)ua who was s)ueezing her agoromo dry noticed my gesture and 3ogged to us. 7arness raised her sword up high...1 "!his blow1 Is for the people who too care of me but were illed by you1 I don#t want to hit too many times, so tae all of their share with this one hit1" +nd she swung down mightily. mightily. "ahhh1" !he muffled scream of 2eldia came from the head that was iced around in the distance. 7arness might be clumsy, but she was very strong, shattering 2eldia#s dar armor in one blow, opening an obvious gap on the chest area. I remembered this was what 2eldia said. !his was an armor enchanted by the demon ing. "Areat. +)ua, the rest is in your hands." "%eave it to me1" +)ua lifted one hand, aiming at the crac in the armor of 2eldia who had been weaened by water. water.
"Sacred !urn Undead--1"
"ait, hold on...1 yaaaa--1" +fter getting hit by +)ua#s spell, 2eldia#s scream could be heard near the legs of the adventurers. Seemed lie the #turn undead# this time was effective. 2eldia#s body was covered in a white light, turned translucent and gradually disappeared. !he adventurers who were playing soccer was in an uproar, 2eldia#s head probably disappeared. ... +nd so, without even nowing what it was doing in this place, the demon ing#s boss was purified here.
Part "
hen she heard the cheers of victory from the adventurers, 7arness who was wounded all over nelt on one nee, praying with her eyes closed at the spot the 7ullahan disappeared. Seeing 7arness act this way, way, ;egumin ased her hesitantly& "... 7arness, what are you doing/" "7arness closed her eyes, replying as if she was reciting a monologue in her heart& "... I am praying. !he 7ullahan 7ullaha n was a night who was e4ecuted un3ustly, un3ustly, and turned into a monster because of its grudge. It might be weird to say this after smashing it with my sword, but no harm praying for it..." "I see..." ;egumin said softly and 7arness continued& "... edre#s arm strength was weaer than me, so he spread an idiotic rumour that my body was full of muscles... einz said this to me that time #ey, #ey, its hot today, fan me with that large sword of yours alright/ It#s fine if you hit me, that is if you can1# as he laugh lie a moron while teasing me... +nd Aarilhe, I 3oined his party once, and made him yell, asing why I ept charging into the middle of the monster pile... !hey were all illed by that 7ullahan. !hining bac, they might not be great guys, but I don#t really dislie them..." +fter 7arness said that... "6rm... I see. I will listen to the rest later, let#s go bac to the guild for now." now." ;egumin said in an attempt to end the topic. I don#t now if she heard what ;egumin said, but 7arness closed her eyes and
said gently& "... If I could meet them again...
was on the verge of tears and sat on the ground in a heap. "Isn#t this great, meeting everyone once again. %et#s go and drin with everyone." I said to 7arness heartily, heartily, but she continued to cover her face and said softly& "... I want to die..." I said to 7arness who was lie this& "7on#t you prefer others to humiliate you with words/ 7on#t hold bac, I will eep bringing this up for the ne4t F days." "!his, this humiliation is different from the one I want...1" 7arness said with her shoulders trembling.
0pilogue
!he day after 2eldia was defeated. I was thining about what to do in the future as I waled to the guild alone. It was my obligation to tae down the demon ing. 2ut that meant I had to tae on strong enemies lie 2eldia when the time comes. Should I finish the )uest of defeating the demon ing so the heavens will grant me one wish/ ?r to give up the challenge and find a place to live peacefully in this world. ... ?f course, I had decided on the answer. answer. I had the weaest 3ob class, so I won#t be so lucy and win all my battles in the future. I planned to live my life leisurely and avoid dangerous matters. I would use my nowledge of
"+h1 8ou 8ou are too slow Kazuma1 6veryone is starting to get smashed1" +)ua who was in a great mood told me as I entered the guild& "5ah, hurry and collect the bounty Kazuma1 +lmost all the adventurers had claimed their rewards for defeating the demon ing boss1 I did too1 2ut as you can see, I dran a lot of it away1" +)ua was really happy, happy, opening her money pouch for me to see. She then scratched her head and laughed cheerfully. cheerfully. !his, this girl is drun. I don#t now how the drining age of this world was set. ?n a closer loo, many of the adventurers inside the guild were so drun they couldn#t even wal steadily. steadily. Ignoring those drunards, I headed for the counter. 7arness and ;egumi were already there. "8ou "8ou are here, Kazuma. >uic, collect your reward." re ward." "I waited really long for you Kazuma. %isten to me, 7arness is really reall y petty, petty, saying it was too early for me to drin..." "ait, it has nothing to do with being petty, that#s not what I meant...1" !he two of them started bicering, so I approached the counter lady. ... or the reason, the familiar counter lady had an awward e4pression. "6h, well... Satou Kazuma-san correct/ e had been e4pecting you." .../ !he attitude of the counter lady made me feel something was up.
"ell... first would be the rewards for these two ladies." !he counter lady then gave two small bags to 7arness and ;egumin. Strange, what about me/ +s I was getting suspicious, the counter counter lady spoe& "... +ctually +ctually... ... Its lie this. +ctually +ctually,, the guild had decided to present a special reward for Kazuma#s party." party." .../ "uh, why 3ust us/" hen I ased, someone answered me. "hey, "hey, ;N01 If not for you guys, there#s no way we could had beaten that 7ullahan1" In response to that, tha t, the drunards agreed agre ed rowdily. rowdily. 6veryone... I had been e4periencing hardship since coming to this world, so I was a bit touched by everyone#s indness. So I represented all D people on my team to receive the special reward. !he counter lady cleared her throat and... "+hem-- !o !o honor Satou Kazuma and his party#s part y#s victory over the demon ing#s army boss 2eldia... !he guild awards them FHH million 6ris." "!hree..." 4D e were speechless. !he adventurers turned silent when they heard the amount.
+fter that... "ey, "ey, FHH million, it#s your treat Kazuma--1" "oah--1 Kazuma-sama, treat us treat us--1" +dventurers started asing me to buy the bill. +h right1 "ey 7arness, ;egumin1 I have something to tell both of you1 I plan to cut down on adventuring in the future1 ith such a large amount of money, we could live a peaceful life of lu4ury1" "ey, "ey, wait a minute1 It#s troubling if I can#t fight figh t strong enemies1 +nd what about defeating the demon ing/" "!his is troubling to me too, I want to defeat the demon ing with Kazuma and gain the title of the strongest wizard1" !heir protests were drowned out by the noise that was getting rowdier. Under these circumstances, the counter lady showed an apologetic face and handed me a paper. It was full of zeros. Is this the che)ue of this world/ +)ua who was drun came over to me and peeed at the paper in my hand. "6h, things are lie this. 2ecause of Kazuma#s party part y... which is +)ua-san#s flood, the buildings around the town were washed away and damaged lie a catastrophic disaster... 2ut taing into consideration the merit of defeating a boss of the demon ing, the town won#t as for full compensation, 3ust a part of it... !hat#s how it is..."
+fter maing this announcement, the counter lady slowly averted her gaze and left the counter in a hurry. hurry. +fter seeing the paper in my hand, ;egumin fled. I immediately grabbed the collar of +)ua who was about to follow. +fter seeing our reaction, the adventurers realized the compensation wasn#t a small amount and looed the other way. way. 7arness looed at the compensation bill and put her hand on my shoulder... "Geward is FHH million... the compensation is FDH million... Kazuma, let#s tae on )uests with strong enemies to earn lots of money starting from tomorrow." 7arness said that with a bright smile that stemmed from the bottom of her heart. ... I have to spend my life with these incompetent comrades in this ridiculous world/ ... I slowly closed my eyes and steeled my resolve to defeat the demon ing. In order to escape from this imposturous world1
