The frog (or toad, whatever) let out an agonized croak as I drove the blade of my sword all the way to the hilt into the center of its massive belly and twisted it viciously.
I leaped backward to avoid being crushed as the creature finally collapsed beside its five companions, all of them now lying motionless on the green grass.
The quest consisted on eliminate a group of six Giant Toads that had wandered too close to the outskirts of the city for reasons that still weren't entirely clear. Not that I cared much. If I'm being completely honest, the idea of taking such a low-level quest didn't appeal to me at all.
However, after the recent… ahem, "addition" to my party (which, so far, consisted only in two people), I decided it would be best to complete an easy mission first. That way we could see how well we worked together as a team before tackling any of the harder quests.
"Wow! For a perverted hikikomori, I have to admit you swing that sword pretty well!"
Those words—which I wasn't sure whether to take as a compliment or an insult—came from none other than my new companion. Who, conveniently, was standing at a very safe distance from where the fierce battle had taken place.
Well, it hadn't really been that fierce. As I said, this was one of the most common quests you could find at the Adventurer Guild. Perfect for beginner adventurers.
"While I appreciate your warm and generous words of support, I'd be even more grateful if you had actually helped me with these toads," I said dryly.
"What!? Did I hear that right?" Aqua shrieked. "Are you doubting the generosity of this goddess who boosted your stats so you could fight those toads without getting eaten!? I can't believe it! Besides, we agreed that I would only provide support! So right now you should be on your knees showering me with praise and telling me how grateful you are, instead of criticizing me!"
Why do I have the feeling I already know where this is going?
"As an apology, I want you to buy me some booze when we get back to the guild."
Of course. I wonder if this self-proclaimed goddess has ever stopped to think that her love for alcohol might be one of the main reasons she ended up in debt.
"Fine, fine, I'll buy you a beer," I said, nodding in defeat. After all, I couldn't deny that Aqua's support skills had actually been helpful.
"Hmph!" The goddess crossed her arms and huffed in disapproval.
"By the way, can I ask why you're still over there? I already killed all the toads, so you can come out of hiding now," I told Aqua, who was still standing behind the tree.
"Hiding? Who's hiding?"
"You, obviously."
"Me? Do you really think a goddess like me needs to hide from mere toads? Fufufu!" After hearing me, Aqua began laughing exaggeratedly, holding her stomach with both hands. "You hikikomoris really do say the funniest things, huh, Kaizuro?"
"For the millionth time, my name is Kaizer."
"Whatever. The important thing is that we completed the quest. We should head back to the guild and claim the reward."
It didn't sit well with me at all that Aqua still couldn't remember my damn name, but she was right. The sooner we returned, the better. Especially since it would start getting dark soon, and wandering around the outskirts of the city at night seemed like a terrible idea. Even though Axel was known as the city for beginner adventurers, who knew what kind of creatures might come out after sunset?
"In that case, I guess you're right. We should head back. Though I wouldn't get too excited about the reward if I were you."
"What do you mean?" the goddess asked, finally walking toward me after making sure all the toads were dead. Was she really that scared of them?
"What I mean is that all we did was defeat some toads. Six, to be precise. The guild pays exactly five thousand eris per toad. That gives us a total of thirty thousand eris. But since we have to split it in two, we'll each get fifteen thousand."
"Wow! I didn't know you were so good at math, Kaizer!" Aqua exclaimed with genuine amazement. Oh, and she even remembered my name this time.
"Hm? What do you mean? It's a pretty simple calculation," I said.
She tilted her head and stared at me with those dazzling blue eyes.
"Do you really think so? Because I couldn't do a sum like that."
"Like what?"
"With such big numbers."
"…"
I simply stared at her, trying to figure out if she was being serious.
"Oh, now I get it!" Aqua said, smacking her fist into her palm as if she had made the discovery of the century. "It must be the special skill I gave you when you reincarnated here, right? Yeah, now that I think about it, I believe there was a skill like that. What was it called? Math Magician? No, no… Mathematical Mage? Well, something like that."
It seems she really was serious.
Now that I thought about it, she had mentioned something about my stats. Apparently, intelligence and luck weren't exactly her strong points. Even so…
"No, Aqua, look…" I began to explain, but the goddess was already too deep into her own theory.
"Though if I'm being honest, that definitely wouldn't be the kind of skill I would choose if I had to come to a world like this."
"I'm not a fucking Math Magician!"
"Oh! So you were born with a special talent for math then? Hmm… that makes it even more impressive, I suppose. I might even feel a little jealous."
"It's not a special talent. My parents sent me to grade school when I was a kid."
"Really?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. "I thought hikikomoris didn't go to class and just stayed home playing video games all day."
By this point I had lost count of how many times I had explained to Aqua that I wasn't a hikikomori. So, having given up, I simply let it go.
However, now that she was closer, my attention began to focus on her elegant and refined features.
Yes, Aqua might not be the smartest person in this world (and that's being generous), and her personality left a lot to be desired. But her beauty was simply out of this world. Literally. Something unattainable even for the most beautiful woman with the most perfect body one could imagine.
Even now, after getting to know her a bit more—and especially after the night we had spent together—I couldn't help feeling a little nervous every time she was this close. Like right now, for example, when I found myself flexing my sweaty fingers while my eyes lingered on her delicate lips, remembering how I had covered them with kisses just two nights ago.
Actually, if I'm being honest, my intention had been to bring it up as soon as we started this quest. To ask her how she was doing, how she had felt afterward. But her reaction when we met at the guild before setting out on the Giant Toad quest had been so confusing that I simply couldn't.
"So, are we doing this quest or not?"
Those were the first words a smiling and enthusiastic Aqua had directed at me when we met at the guild.
As for me, I had to admit I was more than worried. Because the morning after that night, the first thing I noticed when I woke up was that Aqua had already left.
Maybe she had really been drunk and that's why she ended up sleeping with me. I don't know. There was also the possibility that she felt too embarrassed to even bring it up.
The thing is, that morning when I went downstairs, the guild employee greeted me with her usual smile and told me Aqua had left a message for me:
"See you at the guild tomorrow at XX o'clock."
Despite arriving almost two hours later than agreed, I didn't notice anything strange in Aqua's behavior. No discomfort, no anger, no resentment. Nothing.
Still, despite the seemingly normal atmosphere, I couldn't shake off a certain tension during the entire trip to the quest location.
I would want to know what she's thinking right now.
Those words kept echoing in my head every time our eyes met.
"Hey, is something wrong with you?"
"Huh?" Aqua's words suddenly pulled me out of my thoughts. "What do you mean?"
"Nothing in particular. It's just that lately I've noticed you've been staring at me a lot," the arch priestess pointed out. "I know I'm beautiful and my beauty is incomparable to anyone you've seen before. But try not to get too distracted falling in love with this amazing and wonderful goddess, okay? Remember we're on a quest. No matter how attracted you feel to me, there are priorities."
I denied everything, of course.
"What!? But I wasn't staring at you. I was just stunned because I can't understand how such an amazing and wonderful goddess can't even do a simple calculation. You dimwit goddess!"
At those last words, Aqua lunged at me, grabbing my armor tightly and shaking it with a metallic clatter.
"AAAAAAAH! I can't believe you'd say that after I complimented your special ability, you stupid NEET!"
"And I'm telling you it's not a special talent nor ability!" I shouted while trying to push her away by squishing her cheeks. "No matter how many zeros a number has, the calculation is exactly the same!"
"Ungrateful hikikomori!"
"Go finish elementary school!"
"Goddesses don't need to go to school or use the bathroom!"
"Well, you really should!"
What did the bathroom have to do with this anyway?
Just then, while Aqua and I were still shouting things that had absolutely nothing to do with the quest we had just completed, a tremendous crash shook the entire plain.
THUUUD!