"Mm."
Damien didn't deny it, nodding. "I was brought here by Aqua too."
"Oooh!"
Seeing another reincarnator, and noting that Damien wasn't as arrogant as Mitsurugi, Kazuma's attitude was naturally very humble.
Not to mention, this guy was a super-rich person who could host a banquet for the entire Adventurer's Guild!
For such a wealthy figure, not only would Kazuma avoid offending him, but he'd also try his best to gain his favor.
"By the way."
Damien shook hands with Kazuma and introduced, "This is my teammate, Darkness. She's an exceptionally talented Crusader."
"Hello."
"I'm Darkness."
Darkness politely greeted the two.
Though she didn't know why Damien wanted to interact with them, it was his decision, and Darkness would never let him lose face.
'This... this level of beauty...'
'And a female knight at that!'
Seeing Darkness standing obediently by Damien's side like a loyal guardian knight, Kazuma felt a surge of envy!
Now that's what a real reincarnator looks like!
Unlike him, who crossed over with a goddess but ended up hauling bricks at a construction site.
Yesterday, he finally mustered the courage to go out and hunt monsters, only to nearly get eaten by a frog.
Thinking about it, Kazuma felt a wave of bitterness, almost breaking into tears on the spot.
"You..."
Damien patted his shoulder. "You seem to be having a tough time, huh?"
"Damien-senpai, you can tell?" Kazuma started to say, wanting to continue the small talk.
"Ugh!"
But before he could, Aqua shoved him aside with a shoulder charge. "Damien, Damien, you seem to be doing pretty well for yourself, huh?"
"Uh..."
"I've been a bit short on cash lately. I was wondering if you could..."
Aqua made a money gesture with her hands, causing Kazuma to want to turn away and pretend he didn't know her.
"..."
Even Darkness, who was usually mild-tempered, was shocked by Aqua's shamelessness.
Seriously?
Asking for money right off the bat? Isn't that a bit too much?
"Sure."
Damien, however, didn't mind Aqua's request.
He pulled out a pouch of gold coins from his pocket and weighed it in his hand. "There's about 500,000 Eris here. Consider it my sponsorship for your adventuring."
"Go eat something good and buy some equipment at the item shop."
"Aniki!!!"
At this, Kazuma immediately hugged Damien's leg. "No words needed! From now on, Damien, you're my aniki!!"
Originally, Kazuma thought Damien might be one of those bastard reincarnators.
But who could've guessed Damien was this generous!
What more was there to say?
A thigh this thick had to be clung to tightly.
"Hey, let go of my Damien, you useless Kazuma!"
"Calling me useless when you're the useless goddess? You've got some nerve!"
"Hmph!"
Grabbing the pouch of gold coins, Aqua was about to rush off to buy high-grade sparkling wine when Kazuma snatched the coins away.
"Waaah!!"
"What are you doing, useless Kazuma!"
Aqua cried, "Give me back my gold coins!"
"No way!"
Kazuma retorted, "This is the money aniki gave us for equipment. I absolutely won't let you waste it on fancy sparkling wine!"
"What?!"
Aqua threw a tantrum. "This is clearly my tribute from Damien! What does it have to do with you?!"
Watching the two fight over the money pouch, Damien suddenly thought of a possibility and casually said, "If you're finding it tough, Kazuma, how about letting me take care of Lady Aqua?"
Originally, Damien hadn't planned to get too involved with Aqua.
The Goddess of Water Aqua was quite a handful.
Damien was worried her presence might disrupt the harmonious atmosphere of the Monster Kingdom.
But, well...
Men, you know!
When they see a pretty girl, certain thoughts arise.
Aqua, putting aside everything else, had an appearance and aura that, as long as she kept her mouth shut, were quite impressive.
"..."
Seeing Kazuma suddenly fall silent, Damien realized he might have been too hasty.
They were adventuring partners, after all.
Asking so bluntly, with Kazuma's sharp personality, he'd likely see through Damien's true intentions.
Slap!
But before Damien could say more, Kazuma pushed Aqua into his arms.
"Aniki!"
Kazuma said with utmost seriousness, "You said it, no take-backs!!"
In the past half-month, Kazuma had been dragged into countless messes by Aqua.
He was dying to ditch this useless goddess.
Not only was she completely useless, but she also spent all his hard-earned money on booze.
He couldn't afford to keep her!
Kazuma was certain he couldn't afford this useless goddess!
And most importantly!
Kazuma remembered that when he registered as an adventurer, his card clearly showed his Luck stat was far above average.
Yet, during this time, he hadn't encountered a single stroke of good fortune.
Putting it all together, Kazuma realized one thing: Aqua isn't the Goddess of Water... she's the Goddess of Bad Luck!
Look at her abysmally low Luck stat.
Kazuma had every reason to suspect her bad luck was dragging him down.
"You..."
Damien asked, "Are you serious? No regrets?"
"Absolutely no regrets!"
Kazuma just wanted to be rid of this troublesome Aqua.
One thing to note, though.
As a goddess, Aqua came with a special aura.
This aura ensured she always maintained her divine purity and nobility.
The rainbow-vomiting scene from the anime wasn't just artistic flair... it was an effect of her goddess aura.
Beyond that, there was Aqua's beauty.
Humans couldn't harbor impure thoughts about Aqua.
Even Kazuma, her companion, found her beautiful but never felt those kinds of desires.
That was the sacred aura of the goddesses in this world!
Of course!
This restriction didn't apply to Damien.
In his eyes, Aqua was just Aqua, unaffected by her goddess aura.
"What about you, Aqua?"
Having agreed to Kazuma's request, Damien turned to Aqua for her opinion. "What's your plan?"
Though Damien wanted to take Aqua in, treating her like an object to be tossed around was a bit much.
***
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