Chapter 186: Several Days of Hard Work, Back to Square One in a Single Morning
With two consecutive major expenses, the party's wallet was completely empty. The entire bounty from the Dullahan was spent.
At this moment, Kobayashi finally understood what the frustrating feeling of "back to square one in a single morning" was.
"In summary, our party has to end its winter hibernation early and go to work. Otherwise, we might even have a problem paying for next week's meals," he said with a heavy heart.
Kazuma quickly said, "This isn't your fault, Kobayashi-senpai."
Seeing his expression, he probably thought he was taking the blame on himself. But in reality, he just didn't want to do quests so soon.
Come to think of it.
Since returning from the world of Unbreakable Machine-Doll, he had been running around non-stop, without any rest at all.
Just as he thought things were coming to an end, and that he could take a large, fat bounty and go and have fun, this kind of thing had to happen.
He couldn't help but feel even more hostile towards that greedy lord.
"Can the few of us really do it?" Megumin asked with some worry. "Darkness isn't here. Can we really complete a quest successfully with just us?"
That's right, Darkness wasn't here.
When he had asked her to report the matter of the lord to the head of the Dustiness family, she had immediately returned home.
And as her best partner, this delicate little loli without her protection was understandably afraid.
But had she forgotten something?
"There's me! There's still me!" Kazuma pointed to himself with his thumb and said confidently, "Although I'm the lowest-class adventurer, it's no problem at all to be your guard. As for the main attacker... Kobayashi-senpai, I'll be counting on you."
"Ah, no problem," he readily agreed.
It might be hard for one god to carry four noobs, but it was no problem for two gods to carry three useless bums.
With him and RyuZU, the two of them could carry the remaining three to victory. In fact, they didn't even need the three of them to make a move. Letting them come along was just to give them a sense of participation. After all, they were a party, a single unit.
Next was to choose what quest to do.
At this time, Aqua raised her hand and yelled, "I suggest we do an exorcism-type quest! With me, the Goddess of Water, making a move, no matter what lich it is, I can easily purify it! That's right, that lich who's selling things and deceiving others in town! She's part of the Demon King's army, so we'll definitely get a high bounty after purifying her! Hehehehe..."
Her sinister laugh had no trace of a goddess's dignity. Just now, she had grandly said that as long as Wiz paid her tribute on time, she wouldn't make a move, but now that she had no money, she was thinking of purifying her for a bounty.
This was just too scummy!
As expected of the Scum Goddess. When it comes to not being a decent person, I'd call you the strongest!
Kazuma shot her an exasperated look and spat with disgust, "You idiot, have you forgotten all the benefits you took from her? Besides, have you forgotten that there's no bounty on Wiz in the kingdom?"
"...Tsk."
Aqua clicked her tongue, unconvinced.
This woman...!
Kazuma clenched his fists, really wanting to hit her.
Then, he turned to look at the party's leader and asked, "What do you think, senpai? Although this idiot goddess has the characteristic of attracting zombies, she is, at the very least, a goddess, and her purification ability is quite strong. Doing this type of quest isn't a bad choice."
"Indeed..."
He nodded in agreement.
Kazuma's suggestion was very pertinent and coincided with his own original idea.
There were two reasons for doing this type of quest.
First, although these quests were few, the rewards were very high, and they were basically all posted by nobles or merchants.
It's unknown if it was because they were scared, or if they had done something to feel guilty about, but as long as something like an evil spirit appeared, they would panic, cry their eyes out, and post a super-high bounty, begging adventurers to exorcise the spirits.
Second, basically no one did these quests.
Because the prerequisite for doing an exorcism quest was to have an adventurer of a high-level class like [Archpriest] in the party, or an even higher-level undead monster of the same attribute, like Wiz.
And in the beginner town of Axel, [Archpriest] class-holders were very rare. It just so happened that the main class of Aqua, who was also a part-time Goddess of Water, was [Archpriest].
"Wait, isn't it the other way around!"
Aqua shouted loudly.
After deciding on the quest, the group energetically accepted it and then left the guild.
Just as he had thought.
For others, the quests might be difficult, but for Aqua, they were just right. On top of that, the quest rewards were exceptionally generous. In just a few days, the party had accumulated a large sum of money.
Although it couldn't be compared to the hundreds of millions they had gotten from their one big job before, at the very least, they had found another path to wealth, and it was much easier than before.
It was just that Aqua had become a little more hardworking.
And under the slogan of "I have contributed to the party! I have earned money for the party!" from the idiot goddess, to appease her unhappy mood, he and Kazuma decided to hold a small banquet as a reward, in the name of balancing work and leisure.
The banquet was quite pleasant, except for a certain loli who had been sitting in her chair without saying a word.
"What's wrong, Megumin?"
"Is the food not to your liking?"
He and Kazuma noticed her abnormality.
Megumin rubbed the staff in her hands and said dejectedly, "I... I wasn't of any help again."
"What did you say?"
"Whether it was the Destroyer battle before, or the quests these past few days, I haven't helped at all."
"Er..."
He blinked.
It seemed that the explosion loli, not having been able to show her stuff, was feeling left out.
"No, no, you were useful," Kazuma comforted her kindly, but his tone changed as he continued to mock her. "You were useful for cheering for Aqua from the sidelines. Oh, and also for carrying a tiny bit of luggage?"
"What did you say?! Weren't you just watching from the sidelines too, Kazuma?"
"Don't compare me to you. Every time, senpai picks the quest, and I'm the one who scouts it out first. Otherwise, why do you think every quest has been completed so smoothly?"
Kazuma stated his own use.
Aqua was very strong in exorcising evil spirits, but she was also full of uncertainty. Therefore, to reduce the occurrence of accidents as much as possible, he and Kazuma would carefully screen the quests before each one.
Hearing him say this, Megumin became even more dejected.
She really was useless.
He patted the loli's shoulder and said softly, "Don't mind it, Megumin. Everyone has their own role. It's just that now is not your chance to shine. Rest assured, in a little while, it will be your time to show off your great power."
"Kobayashi..." Megumin was quite moved.
But she was not satisfied with the current situation and took the initiative to propose, "Why don't we go and subjugate a powerful monster! Like a One-Strike Bear, a Manticore, or a Hydra! Their bounties are over a hundred million Eris! As long as we take them out, we won't have to work so hard!"
She wanted to do a big job and get it over with.
Although in his opinion, she just wanted to blast a powerful monster with her Explosion magic.
Kazuma sighed and lectured, "Hey, loli! I admit your Explosion is strong, but do you think you can defeat that kind of powerful monster? Not to mention, the party's tank isn't even here?"
"...I forgot. I'm sorry."
Megumin lowered her head in disappointment.
Without Darkness in the front to act as a decoy, even he couldn't withstand a One-Strike Bear's attack.
When is Darkness coming back?
It's the fifth day she's been gone. I miss her.
He shook his head. "Since that's the case, then let's have Megumin do something too."
"Kobayashi-senpai?"
"Don't get excited, Kazuma-kun. She can't help with the exorcism quests, but there should be no problem with other quests, right? How about it, great Archwizard of Explosions?" he said, looking at the eager loli.
"No problem!"
She puffed out her airstrip.
Since she was asking to help, he naturally wouldn't dampen her enthusiasm.
The solution was simple.
Besides the exorcism quests, they would just do some easy subjugation quests. Although the bounty for low-level subjugation quests wasn't much, even a mosquito's leg is still meat. It was enough to cover their dinner expenses. This way, she could also have a sense of participation. Two birds with one stone.
"This will just make us more tired."
"Stop complaining. Let's just work a little harder."
He had his own considerations.
Don't be fooled by the fact that they had earned a lot of money and accumulated a large amount of funds. In reality, exorcism quests were rare. On top of that, Aqua was clean and efficient in her work. They would soon run out of this type of quest.
Therefore, they had to plan ahead.
Most importantly, she had to have her shot every day. Since she was going to have a shot anyway, wouldn't it be better to earn some money in the process?
The party became busy for the first time in a long time.
In the morning, they would go to the guild to accept quests, not just exorcism quests, but also quests suitable for her.
Then, in the morning, they would let her have her shot, and have RyuZU take her back to the mansion to rest. After that, he, Aqua, and Kazuma would go to the next quest location. After RyuZU arrived, the group would finish their work and then return to the mansion.
This was their daily flow.
It was much more tiring than before, but the harvest was also equally rich.
Just like that, they spent a long time, tired but happy. The exorcism-type quests were finally all completed.
In the corner of the guild.
The Party Goddess was shouting, "A banquet! We must have a banquet! We must have a banquet to celebrate!"
"We really should celebrate."
Kazuma chimed in.
Aqua was surprised. She asked, "You're being strange, Kazuma. In the past, when I said I wanted to have a banquet, didn't you always oppose me?"
"Don't treat me like a primary school student! Isn't it just because you're always messing around in the past!"
"Oh? So you're saying... you're agreeing to my proposal for a banquet this time?"
"Ah, yeah. So what about it?!"
Kazuma admitted it irritably.
In fact, most of the time, he was just opposing her because this idiot always had a smug look on her face. And a person like her would always drag them down and cause trouble at critical moments, which was why he would subconsciously oppose her.
But this time, they had completed all their quests. It was a milestone achievement, and he also had the thought of holding a banquet.
However, he had overestimated her.
The idiot goddess proudly raised her head and pushed her luck. "Since you agree with my idea, then you must worship me properly! Besides, I'm the one and only Goddess of Water! You've always been very rude to me, Kazuma! Be careful I don't set a divine punishment on you! Do you understand? If you understand, then you'd better serve me well at the banquet tonight!"
She put on a real show of being a "bitch."
Kazuma pursed his lips, speechless. In his heart, he was probably slandering her: this idiot, who's getting full of herself... what right does she have to be called a goddess?
He sighed.
He turned his head and proposed to him, "Kobayashi-senpai, let's cancel tonight's banquet."
"Mmm, no problem. I was thinking the same thing," he readily agreed.
"...Eh? Wh-why?!"
Aqua was dumbfounded.
That smug expression instantly froze on her pretty face. Seeing that he wasn't joking, she quickly rushed over and pounced into his arms, her eyes watery and pitiful.
"Because every time you get drunk, I have to go and see Eris. Even if that broad-minded... ahem, generous goddess isn't angry, I still feel bad. So I thought about it, and it's better not to hold a banquet."
"But even if I don't get drunk, you'll still go and see Eris!"
"Is that the main point?!"
What does that sentence mean? Is she treating me as a scumbag who's going to see his mistress at night? Or is she threatening me? Besides, who is the one who makes me go and see Eris every night, you idiot goddess!
He flicked her on the forehead, annoyed.
The idiot goddess clutched her head in pain, her watery eyes making her look like she was about to cry.
This is bad. My heart is beating so fast!
Other people didn't have this effect, but as long as this idiot pounced on him and looked at him with an innocent and pitiful expression, he would subconsciously soften.
"Kobayashi..."
"I know, I know! We'll have a banquet!"
"Yay!" she cheered.
Although the goddess's broad-mindedness was slightly inferior to the Lich Wiz's, it was still very outstanding. His eyes were attracted by the pure water-blue as she jumped.
"But!" he warned her again. "You have to promise that you won't drink too much at the banquet tonight. Got it?"
"Got it!"
She agreed very readily.
But he knew that she definitely wouldn't listen to his advice. She would get dead drunk every time.
Maybe I just shouldn't go back to the mansion tonight.
He thought to himself.
And she, seeing that her goal had been achieved, no longer pestered him and got off his lap.
Suddenly, a small piece of paper fell from her body. It fluttered in the air, attracting everyone's attention, and then slowly fell to the ground.
A very familiar small piece of paper.
For some reason, he had a bad feeling.
Kazuma squatted down and picked it up.
"Ah! That! Don't look!" she said, her emotions a little agitated. She wanted to reach out and snatch the paper back.
But he had already turned it over a step ahead of her, and had subconsciously said, "Debt... 5,000,000 Eris—?!!!"
"Hey, Aqua! What's with this number?!"
"Th-that is..."
Her eyes darted back and forth, not daring to look him in the eye. And he, grabbing the goddess who was trying to escape, gently caressed her smooth cheeks, as if he were caressing his lover.
If you didn't see the anger in his eyes, and his furious tone.
"A-QU-A—!"
"W-wait! Please let me explain!"
"It's useless to talk! Accept your punishment!"
"Aaaah—!"
Her cheeks were mercilessly kneaded. An astonishing, miserable cry erupted from the corner of the guild. The adventurers who didn't know what was going on thought that someone had brought a pig into the guild and was slaughtering it.
(End of Chapter)