Staring at the massive pile of Eris stacked in front of her, Wiz could barely contain her excitement.She had been running a magic item shop for so long, yet this was the very first time she had ever seen money flow back in such quantities.
As she gazed at the mountain of Eris, Wiz had already begun quietly calculating in her head whether she should finally purchase some of the new products she had had her eye on for a while—expand her inventory, grow the business, and reclaim her former glory.
At the same time, a certain utterly self-unaware lich became even more convinced that her judgment had been flawless all along.The reason those magic items hadn't sold before clearly wasn't because there was anything wrong with them—it was simply her management style that had been the problem.
Now that Ren Kuroda was helping her, Wiz felt absolutely certain that even her new stock would sell like crazy.If things continued at this pace, she might even be able to fulfill her promise to that person much sooner than expected.
What Wiz didn't know, however, was that Ren had practically wracked his brain dry just to come up with ways to get rid of those long-unsold items.
Some products—like that infamous "Simple Toilet" that caused massive flooding—were still completely unsellable, even now.
Still, as long as most of the stagnant inventory could be cleared out and the recovered funds used to purchase more normal magic items, Wiz's little shop could slowly return to a healthy track.
Unfortunately, Ren had severely underestimated just how confident this lich was in her own taste—and just how obsessed she was with bizarre magic items.
After working nonstop all day, Ren was finally about to check the day's revenue when he saw that the cash register contained only a handful of loose coins.
A deeply ominous feeling immediately rose in his chest.
Moments later, he spotted Wiz standing nearby, grinning foolishly at a shopping list in her hands.When she noticed Ren looking her way, she froze—then hurriedly hid the list behind her back like a child caught doing something wrong.
"Wiz," Ren said slowly,"if I remember correctly, we made an agreement. While I'm managing the shop, all operational authority belongs to me."
"And I definitely don't remember giving you permission to order new magic items, do I?"
Even though Wiz hadn't said a word yet, the empty Eris pile and her overly cheerful expression told Ren everything he needed to know.
To be honest, Ren had already suspected that something like this might happen if Wiz handled the money herself.But there were only two people in the shop, and he simply couldn't manage everything at once—which was how she had found her opening.
"Ren, you have to trust my eye!" Wiz insisted earnestly."The magic items I ordered this time are absolutely fine! They'll definitely sell well!"
Ren had just finished clearing out a huge batch of problematic merchandise and finally recovered some capital—and before he could even catch his breath, this walking disaster had brought in an entirely new batch of problem items.
Looking at the purchase list—showing that only the down payment had been made—Ren felt his eye twitch violently as his head began to buzz.
That two-billion-Eris magic crystal reward…Getting his hands on it was clearly not going to be as simple as he had hoped.
He had originally planned to use the recovered funds to buy a batch of proper magic items and slowly steer Wiz's shop back toward profitability.
But what he hadn't anticipated was that the moment the books finally showed a bit of cash flow, an even bigger loss would immediately appear.
They had taken in an enormous amount of Eris today—yet it was only enough to cover the initial payment for Wiz's new shipment.
Which meant they still owed a massive remaining balance.
At long last, Ren finally understood why Wiz always said that the harder she worked, the deeper the deficit became.
Because every time she had money in hand, she would immediately spend it on all kinds of weird magic items—which then became unsellable stock all over again.
If that cycle continued, it would actually be stranger if the deficit didn't keep growing.
"Wiz," Ren said darkly,"I'm starting to suspect you never planned on giving me those magic crystals in the first place—and that you're deliberately making my mission harder."
"Th-that's not true…!"
Wiz's fairly delicate face was already being stretched sideways as Ren grabbed her cheeks, yet she still desperately tried to defend herself, insisting that she was only ordering stock to improve the shop's business.
"BOOOOOOM———!"
Just as Ren was clutching his head in frustration and preparing to renegotiate their rules from scratch, a tremendous explosion suddenly echoed from outside.
Throughout Axel, adventurers immediately began flooding toward the city gates.
"So… after all this time, they're finally here?" Ren muttered."That strongest magic presence in the center—that must be one of the Demon King's generals."
"Wiz, we'll settle accounts after I deal with the Demon King's army."
With his senses fully extended, Ren quickly detected a massive gathering of presences near Axel's gates.
None of them were weak.While they weren't as terrifying as the undead dragon he'd faced before, they were far stronger than most monsters in the surrounding region.
And among them—
One presence stood out, overwhelmingly powerful.Aside from Wiz herself, it was the strongest being Ren had encountered since arriving in this world.
At the city gates, a huge number of adventurers had already assembled, all standing on high alert as they faced the approaching horde.
What stood before them was a legion of undead knights, led by one of the Demon King's commanders—
The Dullahan, Beldia.
Although his race was that of a headless knight, Beldia did in fact possess a head—he simply carried it in his hand.
Under normal circumstances, he used that head to speak and to cast curses.
The creation of a Dullahan was extremely rare and cruel:once a noble, righteous knight, unjustly executed by beheading, reborn through resentment.
In a medieval European-style world, such a being was considered undead—but in Ren's original world, it would undoubtedly be classified as a vengeful spirit-type yokai.
"My name is Beldia!" the knight roared."Race: Dullahan! One of the Demon King's commanders!"
"Someone in this town killed the undead dragon under my command, didn't they?!"
"And also—EVERY SINGLE DAY!DAY AFTER DAY AFTER DAY—WHO IS THE INSANE IDIOT WHO KEEPS RUNNING TO MY CASTLE AND BLASTING IT WITH EXPLOSION MAGIC—?!!"
Beldia had always prided himself on his former life as a noble knight, maintaining elegant conduct and refusing to attack those he considered weak.
He had only retreated to this remote area to recover from injuries sustained on the front lines.
Axel—a beginner town—had never interested him.As a Demon King commander, bullying novice adventurers would have been beneath him.
Yet what he never expected was that while he had left Axel alone, Axel refused to leave him alone.
Every single day, without fail, someone would bombard his castle with Explosion Magic.
At first, Beldia tried to ignore it.
After several days, he snapped.
He was supposed to be resting—instead, he was living in constant tension, never knowing when another explosion would hit.
Worse still, the culprit never showed themselves.
They would fire off Explosion Magic and immediately flee, always at unpredictable times.
By the time Beldia arrived, they were long gone.
In order to track down the bastard responsible, he even dispatched a powerful undead dragon to conduct aerial surveillance.
And yet—
The dragon vanished without a single report.
Through that incident, Beldia finally realized that the beginner town he had dismissed might not be so weak after all.
Explosion Magic powerful enough to shake a castle.Strength sufficient to kill an undead dragon.
That was no ordinary adventurer.
And if Axel possessed adventurers like that, then attacking the town could hardly be called bullying the weak.
"…The one who killed the undead dragon should be Ren Kuroda, right?" someone muttered among the adventurers."But does that guy even use Explosion Magic?"
"From the way that commander's talking, the reason he's attacking Axel is because someone kept blasting his castle with Explosion Magic."
"Who the hell has that much free time?!""And Explosion Magic is high-tier stuff—there can't be many people in Axel who can use it!"
After some thought, the adventurers all came to the same conclusion.
There was exactly one person in Axel who could use Explosion Magic…and who also had far too much time on her hands.
As everyone's gaze slowly turned toward a staff-wielding girl in the crowd, Satō Kazuma felt a powerful sense of dread.
He had a bad feeling—
A very bad feeling—
—that he was about to be dragged into something again.
"What was I supposed to do?!" the chuuni girl protested."Crimson Demons have to cast Explosion Magic once a day, or we'll die!"
"My reason for living is firing it off daily!If you tell me to hold it in, I might as well be dead!"
She tried desperately to defend herself, but no one believed her nonsense—
Because everyone knew the Crimson Demons really were that ridiculous.
"…I'd love to ask what kind of grudge you have against me," Beldia said coldly,"but since the culprit is clearly an idiot, there's no point."
"With that level of Explosion Magic, and the power to kill an undead dragon—if adventurers like you are allowed to keep growing, you'll eventually become a serious threat to the Demon King's army."
"So prepare yourselves."
"Today, every last one of you will die here."