"Hmm ~ okay."
Aqua explained the course of their quest to me, despite Kazuma's pleading eyes.
Quite a funny sight to see.
"I was about to purify her once and for all, but Scumzuma stopped me."
Finally, she finished her story.
"I understand the situation better, but I find Axel's security really concerning."
The encounter between Kazuma and Wiz went similarly to the original story.
The only small difference is Aqua's dissatisfaction, which seems higher than it should have been.
This situation seems caused by my actions, since Aqua is clearly more shameless and assertive than in the light novel.
Maybe I should have avoided explaining Kazuma's value in front of her.
"I completely agree, which is why this magnificent goddess put a barrier on this house," she said, puffing out her decently-sized chest with pride.
"Well done, Aqua."
One of my objectives in inviting Kazuma and Aqua to my dwelling for the coming winter has now been achieved.
All that's left is to focus on my rest and completing unfinished quests.
I have a wyvern and a wolf to find.
"Hehe, it was child's play," she replied, scratching her head in a falsely embarrassed tone.
She really likes being stroked the right way.
Throughout the entire interaction, Kazuma kept glancing back and forth between Aqua and me.
He seemed suspicious at first, but eventually adopted an expression too familiar to any Konosuba fan.
Kazuma Satō has an idea.
Should I be worried?
No.
Kazuma isn't a murderer and I haven't done anything clearly against him yet.
Anyway, I'm 100% sure he's thinking about pawning Aqua off on me somehow.
If it's not the first option I mentioned, then it's highly likely that Kazuma is just planning to use me in some way.
For example: like leveling up with my help.
"Uh... Renji-san, have you ever thought about merging our parties? I've noticed that you clearly have an urgent need for a priestess, and by chance, Aqua is an archpriestess."
As expected from Kazuma, he moved exactly according to my prediction.
Merging our parties into one.
Honestly, the idea isn't bad.
I'd have a front-line fighter with me and an exceptional archpriestess.
The only problem is the weakening of my authority.
Unlike Megumin, who trusts me completely to the point of risking a high-rank quest delegated within the guild.
Kazuma is different.
He's excessively cautious normally, but sometimes he's ready to risk his life for trivial things.
An example is accepting a team exchange with another adventurer named Dust.
Why?
Because the latter called Kazuma a parasite in his party, and the idiot added that he's lucky to have a harem.
Actually, Dust was both right and wrong.
Kazuma is indeed the weakest in his party in direct combat without preparation, but he's the essential element for its proper functioning.
If Kazuma were to disappear from the Konosuba story, then his party would perish on its own.
Unfortunately, Dust lacked too much information.
He lost the bet miserably and ended up returning to Rin's party with shame as his reward.
This part in the light novel could have ended badly for Kazuma if the adventurers in Dust's party were bad people.
After all, a group of ill-intentioned veterans against a novice adventurer has a clear outcome.
Besides the incident with Dust, there was also Luna.
Kazuma was able to spend a relatively prosperous and calm period at one point in the light novel, but he delivered himself to dangerous adventures.
The reason was stupid and sad, because Kazuma was manipulated by a charming woman paid by the guild through Luna as an intermediary.
Her purpose?
To make the Japanese guy take on dangerous quests that were abandoned by Axel's adventurers because of their high risk.
Even if he's looked down upon by tons of people in Axel, Kazuma remains an efficient adventurer at that point.
That's also why I hesitate to refuse his offer now, even though I know it's part of his plan to slack off.
While I was still in reflection mode, Kazuma pulled me a bit further from Aqua.
"If you accept, then I'll arrange things between you and Aqua so you can have solo quests."
After making this declaration, he sketched a confident smile and gave me a thumbs up.
Honestly, I didn't know how to react for a few seconds to Kazuma's second betrayal of the night.
"No, I refuse."
"Great... wait, what?!"
Kazuma was disconcerted by my refusal, but I wasn't finished with my words.
I sketched a friendly smile and wrapped my arm around Kazuma's shoulders.
"I have a better idea, how about working completely under me? I guarantee a monthly salary of one million Eris."
Yes, it's a pure and simple scam for an individual of the young Japanese guy's caliber.
Why?
An Axel adventurer has a salary around 50,000 Eris per quest, which is a low amount because of daily needs like food and equipment.
So any sensible adventurer would be seduced by the proposition, right?
Yet, the money proposed here is nothing compared to the peak Kazuma will reach in the future.
One million Eris is barely a sum earned by veteran-level adventurers, but not high-level and legendary ones like Kazuma's future party.
For example: a demon king general is worth 300 million.
A quest against a high-rank monster always revolves around millions, so the peak of one million per month is low for a high-level adventurer.
That's why I proposed a percentage-based deal to Megumin.
I wanted to keep her with me after reaching the top of the hierarchy in this world.
The offer made to Kazuma is clearly a scam, but he'll see it as a sort of investment or fundraising for his future life of laziness.
As for me, I have under my command an extremely resourceful individual and a goddess possessing all the spells and powers of a high-level class like archpriestess.
"Wait, are you serious... *cough* the money's a bit low, isn't it? Can you pay 5 million?"
After recovering from the initial shock of my proposition, Kazuma tried to earn more.
"Don't push your luck, it's an exclusive offer to you because you're like... a brother in this place far from our country."
I need to brush my teeth after this conversation. Since when do I have homesickness? Damn, never.
And we don't have that kind of relationship with Kazuma, at most, I see him as a friend.
"R-Renji-kun *sniff*, you're really a good man."
He started using a more familiar honorific when addressing me.
A sign that I succeeded in my move.
After wiping away his fake tears, Kazuma glanced toward Aqua behind us before lowering his voice again.
"Of course, Aqua doesn't need to know about our agreement."
There was no need for an exchange of words, we just smiled at each other.
Our agreement will only be known by Kazuma and me.
"But, it's a shame..."
"How so?"
"Sorry, I let my thoughts slip out."
Actually, it's a shame to use this ruse.
Kazuma isn't stupid and using Wiz's magic contract will be useless against him, unless Aqua is definitively on my side.
If I leave things as they are now, then... Kazuma will leave my party.
So, I need to get Aqua on my side or pay Kazuma more.
Of course, there's a third option using my dimensional travel skill.
I just have to recruit another version of Kazuma for my party, but I'm not really comfortable with that path.
Well, I'll leave the future greedy Kazuma to my future self.
Tomorrow looks like it'll be a busy day.