Chapter 187: The Best Sixth Man, The Exclusive Blacksmith
"By the way, Kobayashi! Why are you slacking off!"
The peaceful afternoon was shattered once again. This was already the third time, and even he was getting a little angry.
He opened his eyes, and a water-blue figure came into view. The most troublesome problem child in the party, number three, the idiot goddess, had appeared.
Aqua, seeing his expression, immediately got angry. "Wait, what's with that 'this woman is so annoying' look in your eyes? I'm a goddess! A goddess!"
"Yes, yes. So, what does the goddess who only causes trouble want?"
"On the contrary, I should be asking you! Don't you have anything to do? Just lazing around here every day, not doing anything but eating, drinking, and sleeping! It's too much!"
"And whose fault do you think that is!"
Hearing her complain, he couldn't help but shoot back. Being forced to see Eris every night meant he had no choice but to make up for lost sleep during the day. It was all this goddess's fault.
"Ngh..." Aqua puffed out her cheeks, her eyes welling up with tears.
He scratched his head and said helplessly, "Alright, what happened?"
Although she was an idiot, it was impossible for her to come and condemn him for no reason. After all, this useless goddess was even lazier than he was.
But—
"Let's go do a quest."
"What did you say?"
"Let's go do a quest!"
She leaned in close to his face, her eager and active appearance completely different from her usual self. So much so that he couldn't help but reach out his hands and continuously knead her tender, elastic cheeks, wanting to see if she was a fake goddess.
"What in the world is wrong with you?"
"Wuuuuu~~~~"
The speechless goddess let him play with her until, after repeated confirmations, he finally let her go.
She's the real deal! Oh no, Aqua's brain has gone haywire.
If you think about it carefully, that lazy, money-loving, absolutely-not-working useless goddess, one day telling you she wants to go do a quest... no matter how you think about it, that's not right.
"Why do you want to do a quest?"
"Because we need Snow Sprites."
"Snow Sprites?"
A familiar name.
Snow Sprites generally wander in plains with deep snow. They are a very weak monster. Even a weak-chicken adventurer like Kazuma could easily cut them down. But their master is an S-class, powerful monster.
—The Winter Shogun.
"By the way, why do we need Snow Sprites?"
"Because the Magic Circuit you brought back, and that giant mecha, both need cooling treatment. And Snow Sprites are the best cooling medium."
"I see."
"And these are your things, right? Hurry up and contribute a little!"
"...Don't tell me you just saw me looking too comfortable and insisted on me going with you? Otherwise, for a low-level monster like a Snow Sprite, it couldn't possibly harm you."
"What are you talking about? I don't know what you mean."
She was startled, her gaze immediately drifting away. As expected, this idiot felt it was unfair and was resentful, which was why she was dragging him along to do a quest.
But she was right. He should indeed put in some effort for his own things.
"Let's go. A long-overdue quest."
"Yeah!" she cheered.
In the plains far from the town.
On the snow-covered plains, round, white, fluffy objects, about the size of a palm, were floating everywhere. They were not very dangerous but were exceptionally aggressive and would actively attack passing pedestrians. These were the Snow Sprites.
And then...
He looked at the party's problem children with a headache. "Why did you all follow me here!"
"Don't say that. We're here to help."
"That's right! With my Explosion magic, no matter how many Snow Sprites there are, I can take them out!"
"If we're a party, we have to be neat and tidy. After all, there's strength in numbers!"
"That's right!" x3
The group's words were impassioned, but he couldn't help but pout secretly.
The "strength in numbers" characteristic was completely absent in this party. On the contrary, it was precisely because there were too many idiots that they often caused unnecessary trouble.
It was understandable that they had come along, but he was more concerned about something else.
"Do you really have to dress like that?"
Aqua was holding a bug net and a few small bottles, looking just like a silly kid who wanted to go and catch dragonflies in the winter.
He looked at her as if she were an idiot.
However, what was infuriating was that she, in turn, looked at him with an even more dumbfounded expression, as if he were the idiot.
"If we don't bring it back, how are we going to cool things down?"
"...I mean, is it necessary to dress like that?"
"You don't get it, Kobayashi. This is the essential winter set! In other words, it's about the sense of ritual!"
"Hehe, whatever makes you happy."
With her like this, what else could he say?
And besides her, even the party's main tank, Darkness, was not wearing armor. She only had on a black, narrow skirt and a black shirt, and was carrying a greatsword. She looked very cold, but she was exhaling heavily.
"Where's your armor?"
"It's being repaired."
"Don't tell me you're deliberately not wearing armor just to experience this biting cold?"
"..."
"It's not on purpose, is it!"
"...Rest assured, there's no problem. Although it's a little cold, this feeling of an endurance contest is also a kind of fun."
As expected, she was enjoying it.
This perverted knight wasn't here to help catch Snow Sprites, but to experience the feeling of being frozen.
Oh well. In any case, Darkness couldn't hit her targets anyway. To catch a Snow Sprite would be even more difficult. He'd just let her be a soy sauce bottle on the side.
He turned his head to look at the other problem child.
"Megumin, you stay out of it this time."
"Eh? Why? My Explosion is the strongest magic! I can definitely help!"
"It's precisely because it's Explosion magic. This area has Dire Wolves and One-Strike Bears. It would be troublesome if your spell attracted them. Of course, if they do come, I'll also have to ask you to use your Explosion to take them out. Megumin, the safety of everyone is in your hands."
"Okay, I understand! If the Dire Wolves or a One-Strike Bear attacks, I'll use my Explosion to blow them to smithereens!"
She puffed out her flat chest, as if she had been entrusted with an important mission.
Actually, they just didn't need Explosion magic. After all, the goal this time was to capture Snow Sprites. Naturally, it was impossible to use a super-powerful magic. But if he didn't fool her, she would surely throw a tantrum.
After their respective tasks were assigned, he called out, "Let's begin, everyone."
"Yeah! Let's catch some Snow Sprites!"
After the tasks were assigned, he and Aqua ran back and forth on the plain, catching the elusive Snow Sprites.
Actually, if he had just asked RyuZU, she could have easily caught a hundred or even a thousand. But the number they needed was small and not worth her using her ability, so they chose to rely on their own strength to catch them.
Half an hour passed.
The bag on his back was filled with fifteen, and each of her five bottles held one. In total, they had caught twenty.
Mmm, this should be enough. And this number wouldn't anger the Winter Shogun. It was the same as the number he had in mind.
"Alright, that's enough—"
Before he could finish, an unnatural cold wind suddenly blew, and a tall, majestic being radiating a terrifying aura appeared in their vision.
It had just popped up. Because it had appeared so suddenly, his [Probe] skill hadn't reacted at all.
Why did it appear?
At this moment, someone gave him the answer.
The still-unaware idiot stabbed a Snow Sprite with a dagger and at the same time said happily and loudly, "Kobayashi-senpai! Subjugating one Snow Sprite is worth a whole 100,000 Eris! Why doesn't anyone come to subjugate such a weak monster?"
So it was you, Kazuma-kun!
(End of Chapter)