CHAPTER 2 - PART 3 & 4

Part 3

After learning the skills, I returned to the bar and found it to be lively.

"Aqua-sama, one more time! I am willing to pay for it, could you perform 'Beauties of Nature' once more?"

"Fool, Aqua-san prefers food instead of money! Right, Aqua san! I will treat you to a meal, so please do 'Beauties of Nature' again!"

For some reason, there was a crowd around Aqua who looked troubled.

"Talent shows are not things that could be performed several times on request! A great man once said a funny joke could only be told once. Doing the same tricks several times because it is popular means you are a 3rd rate performer! I am not a performer, so I won't accept money for my performance! This should be the basic attitude of talent show artisan. And I didn't perform 'Beauties of Nature' for you to see– ah! Kazuma you are finally back, it turn out like this because of you… By the way, who is this person?"

Aqua pushed through the crowd with an annoyed face and was curious about the sulky Chris standing beside me.

Before I could explain, Darkness said:

"Chris panties was removed by Kazuma and lost all her money to him. That's why she is feeling down."

"Hey, what is this nonsense! Hold up. What you said was true, but hold on a minute."

Because Chris was willing to pay any amount of money as she begged me to return her panties, I told her to decide how much her panties was worth.

I added that if Chris didn't offer an amount that would satisfy me, her panties would become my family heirloom.

In the end, she offered both her wallet and my wallet, so I agreed to the trade, that's all. But Darkness' way of phrasing it sounded a bit wrong.

Aqua and Megumin was a bit surprised after hearing what Darkness said. Their gaze made me feel uncomfortable, and Chris shook off her sulky expression at this moment and said:

"Even if I was stripped of my panties in public, I couldn't keep on crying! Alright, Darkness. I'm sorry, but I have decided to join a profitable dungeon exploration party! I am penniless after my panties was taken hostage."

"Hey, wait a second. The female adventurers aside from Aqua and Megumin are starting to turn cold, please don't speak anymore."

The female adventurers nearby seemed to have heard the conversation.

Seeing how awkward I looked in their cold gaze, Chris laughed happily.

"This level of counter attack isn't too overboard right? Well then, I will be back after earning some cash, so have fun in the mean time, Darkness! I will find what quests are available!"

Chris ran to the bulletin board recruiting for members after saying that.

"Erm, aren't you going with her, Darkness?"

Darkness sat down at my table so naturally that I had to ask.

"… Yeah. People with the same vanguard class as me could be found anywhere. Although thieves are essential for dungeon exploration, it wasn't too popular with others. There are many teams that want to recruit Chris."

I see, Aqua said that Arch Priests were rare and wanted by every party, so the treatment each job received are different.

A short while later, Chris probably found a pick up group and left the guild with a few adventurers.

Chris waved at us before heading off.

"It's already evening, Chris and her party are going to explore the dungeons now?"

"The best time to go dungeon diving is early in the morning. So most people would set off one day earlier like them, and make camp before the dungeon until morning. There are even merchants operating with these adventurers as their target market. How was it? Did you learn any skills?"

Hearing Megumin said that, I smiled confidently.

"Hmmp, why not take a look? Take this, 'Steal'!"

I shouted and reached towards Megumin with my right hand, grabbing a black cloth tightly.

That's right, it was panties.

"… What happened? After your level and stats increased, you had changed jobs from an adventurer to a pervert? Erm… It feels cold below, please return my panties to me…"

"Str, strange? Why is this, it shouldn't be like this… It should be a skill that steals something at random!"

I hurriedly returned the panties to Megumin under the glare of the females around me that was getting colder. Someone suddenly slam the table.

That was Darkness who suddenly knocked the chair away and stood up.

Her eyes were sparkling for some reason…

"I was right! To stripped the panties of a young girl with so many people watching, you really are the worst…! Please…! Please let me join this party!"

"Don't wanna."

"Hmm…? Eh…!"

Darkness' face turned red and her body trembled when she heard my unhesitatant reply.

What should I do. I wasn't very sure, but this female knight is definitely a bad type.

Aqua and Megumin seemed curious about Darkness…

"Nah, who is this person Kazuma? Was she the one who came for the interview while Megumin and I went to shower?"

"Hold on, this lady is a crusader. There is no reason to reject her right?"

The two of them started talking nonsense as they stare at Darkness.

This is bad… And I remember rejecting her yesterday too.

I didn't want these two to meet Darkness…

… Alright, I have to use this method.

"Darkness, we might look this way now, but we are serious about taking down the demon king."

Aqua who wanted to return to heaven aside, I had already given that up after finding out how harsh this world was, even killing a toad was a chore.

Megumin who never heard of this before looked surprised, but I ignored her.

No, wait. This might be a good opportunity.

"That's right, listen to me too, Megumin. Aqua and I wants to take down the demon king no matter what. That's our goal as adventurers. And so, our adventures will become more dangerous. Especially Darkness, as a female knight, you would experience 'that' if you get captured by the demon king."

"That's right! Since ancient times, getting sexually harassed by the demon king was the job of the female knights! That alone would be worth the trip!"

"Eh?… What?"

"Huh?… What is it? Did I say anything weird?"

Darkness who expressed her strong agreement made me shout in surprise.

… An, anyway, I will settle that later.

"Listen carefully too, Megumin. The opponent is the demon king. Aqua and I are planning to fight the strongest being in this world, so don't force yourself by staying in this party…"

I didn't even finish.

Megumin knocked her chair away and stood up.

She flicked her cloak hard and said:

"I am Megumin! The top wizard in the red magic race, the master of explosion magic! For the demon king to call himself the strongest and ignore me! I will decimate him with my strongest spell!"

With the entire guild's eyes on her, Megumin made a chunni declaration.

This fellow was hopeless too. Don't make such an arrogant face so confidently!

Oh no, these two hopeless girls raised the tension even higher…

"… Nah, Kazuma, Kazuma…"

As I droop my head dejectedly, Aqua pulled at my sleeve.

"I was a bit scared when Kazuma put it that way. Is there a simpler way to take on the demon king?"

… You should be the one most fired up, since this is actually your quest…

… At this point.

"Emergency quest! Emergency quest! All adventurers in town, please gather at the adventurers guild! I repeat, emergency quest! Emergency quest! All adventurers in town, please gather at the adventurers guild!"

The loud broadcast could be heard in the entire town.

It was probably amplified through magic.

"Hey, what are emergency quests? Are monsters raiding the town?"

I felt a bit uneasy, but Darkness and Megumin seemed elated. Darkness said joyfully:

"… Erm, it's probably harvesting cabbages. It's the season for them."

…

"Huh? Cabbage? Is that the name of some monster?"

After expressing my thoughts, Megumin and Darkness looked at me pitifully for unknown reasons.

"Cabbage is something round, green and edible."

"It is crunchy and refreshing, a delicious vegetable."

"I know that! Then what is happening? The guild said there is an emergency quest, so the farmers need help from the adventurers?"

It seemed weird for me who was working as a construction worker recently to say this, but I didn't come here to farm.

"Ahh… Kazuma probably doesn't know? Let me tell you, the cabbages of this world…"

Aqua adopted an apologetic pose and was about to tell me something when the guild staff interrupted her and explained to all the adventurers in the building.

"I apologize for gathering everyone on such short notice! I think everyone should know the emergency is because of the cabbages! It is time to harvest cabbages this year! The quality of the cabbages are great this year, each one is worth 10,000 Eric! We have already evacuated the residents. So please harvest more cabbages and turn them in here! Please take care of your own safety and don't get hurt from the cabbages counter attack! Also, because of the large amount of people and bounty, the reward would be given out at a later date!"

… What did this staff said?

The sound of cheers erupted outside the Adventurers guild.

I didn't know what happened, so I squeezed into the crowd outside to take a look. Green objects were flying all over town.

As I stood on the spot, amazed by this ridiculous sight, Aqua came over to my side and continued her explanation:

"The cabbages of this world can fly. When their taste ripens during harvest time, they fly through cities, plains, the continent and to the ocean, unwilling to be eaten. If that is the case, we should get more cabbages and eat them while they are still delicious."

"Can I go back to the stables and sleep?"

As I mumbled softly, the brave adventurers charges out in high spirits.

They must be hot blooded guys who were inspired by the cabbages who did their best to live for the moment.

As I watch the adventurers chased after the cabbages whole heartedly, I prayed.

… What grave sin did I commit that I have to fight to the death with cabbages here.

… I want to go back to Japan.

Part 4

I took a bite of the fried cabbages sold here.

"Why does a mere cabbage taste so good. I don't get it, I don't get it."

The cabbage hunt quest ended and the entire town started serving dishes made from cabbages.

It was great profit, so I joined the cabbage hunt quest in the end, but I still regretted it a little.

I didn't come to this different world to battle cabbages.

"You are skilled, Darkness! As expected of a crusader! The cabbages couldn't break through your iron wall defense no matter what they did."

"No, I didn't do much, I am just really tough. I am clumsy and slow, so I can't really hit my target, my only strong point was shielding others… Megumin has impressive offense. You took out the horde of monsters that was chasing the cabbages right into town with just one explosion attack. All the other adventurers were shocked."

"Kuku, no one could stand up to the power of my explosive magic… But Kazuma was the most active one. He picked me up after I exhausted my mana and carried me back."

"… Yeah, when I was surrounded by cabbages and monsters, Kazuma showed up and captured all the cabbages attacking me, thank you for rescuing me."

"Indeed, erasing your presence with 'Hide', grasping the movement of the cabbage with 'Sense Enemy' and surprising them with 'Steal' from behind. That was just like an outstanding assassin."

Aqua finally finished her cabbages and casually placed her plate on the table.

The useless goddess who chased the cabbages without a plan and didn't perform too well wiped her mouth gracefully and said:

"Kazuma… With my authority, I grant you the title 'Elegant Cabbage Thief'."

"Shut up! I will slap you if you call me that! Ah… enough, why did things turn out this way!"

I hugged my head and rest it on the table.

This is bad.

"Well then… I am Darkness, a crusader. Theoretically, my weapon is a 2-handed sword, but don't count on it too much. I am clumsy with my hands and tend to miss. But I am good at being a tank, so please take care of me."

That's right, we got another companion officially.

Aqua smiled leisurely, she looked pleased.

"… Hmmp, our party is becoming great. I am an arch priest, Megumin is a arch wizard. And we have the defensive specialist vanguard, crusader Darkness. 3 out of 4 members having top tier jobs are rare, Kazuma! Do you know how lucky you are? You have to be grateful okay?"

A wizard that could only use one spell a day, a vanguard that couldn't hit anyone and a priest that was dumb, had bad luck and was totally useless!

During the cabbage hunt quest, Darkness, Aqua and Megumin hit it off, so they wanted Darkness to join the team too.

If she was normal, I would have no reason to reject.

And she was also a beauty.

But Darkness couldn't hit her target at all.

Although she was a looker.

She put all her skill points into defensive skills, so normal skills learned by vanguards such as '2-hand sword' or skills that raised her proficiency with weapons were ignored.

She had an appearance of a cool beauty, so it was a pity.

And this crusader loved to charge into the midst of a group of monsters for some reasons.

As a crusader who defends the weak, having a stronger calling than others to protect others was a good thing…

"Ugh… Ah, the feeling of being ravaged by cabbage and monsters is unbearable… I am the only orthodox vanguard in this party, so don't hold back, use me as a bait or shield. If it is necessary, you can even cut me off as a sacrifice… Hmmm! Just, just imagining that made me tremble in excitement…!"

Darkness' face was blushing as she shivered slightly.

… That's how this fellow was.

A super masochist.

She looked like a cool beauty, but she was just a pervert in my eyes.

"Well then, Kazuma. I will probably… No, I will definitely be a bother to you, so don't hold back and lecture me viciously. Please take care of me from now on."

A arch priest that could use all sorts of healing spells, and a arch wizard that could use the strongest spell.

And a crusader with iron wall like defense.

It seemed to be a perfect formation, but I feel things would be tough on me in the future.