CHAPTER 2 - PART 5 & 6

Part 5

My level is now 6.

This meant I rose two levels during the cabbage hunt.

I only captured them and didn't defeat them, so why did my level rise?

And why do the cabbages yield so much experience points?

There are too many things to retort, so I skipped it since it would be a pain.

You lose if you took issue with too many things with this world.

One head of cabbage was worth 10,000 Eris. The bounty was so high because eating fresh cabbage grants you experience points.

This meant the rich adventurers could get stronger just by eating vegetables.

With the raise in level, my skill points also increased.

As for why such a RPG like phenomenon happened with the increase in level, I would probably lose sleep if I am too concerned with it, so I decided to ignore it.

I had to say it again, you lose if you took issue with such things.

My skill points were 2.

I looked for the wizard and swordsman from another party I met during the cabbage hunt, and asked them to teach me 'One-handed sword' and 'Basic Spells' skill.

Each skill cost a point.

One handed skill raised proficiency with one handed sword.

My swordsmanship is now on par with normal people.

Although I used up my points, I had always wanted to learn sword and of course magic.

Anyone would have wanted to learn magic in after coming to this magical world.

With basic spells, I could use elemental magic like fire, water, earth and wind, although they were simple spells.

By the way, basic spells don't have offensive magic, so most wizards will skip basic spells and conserve their skill points for intermediate spells.

But it would take 10 points to learn intermediate spells.

Since it would take that much points, I should give up learning offensive spells since my magic stat was low anyway.

There were people who were born with skill points, which were totally dependent on talent.

For great talents that could choose top tier jobs right from the beginning, it wasn't strange for them to start out with dozens of skill points.

Aqua aside, Megumin and Darkness was probably privileged from the very beginning.

But in contrast, I had 0 skill points at level 1.

… I will get more depressed if I thought about it too much, so I should probably stop.

After learning skills, I looked more like an adventurer.

What was left is getting some proper gears.

I would wear clothes purchased in this world some times, but my current equipment was just the gym clothes I started out with and a short sword.

I want some armor, even if it was just leather.

And so,

"… Why do I have to tag along and shop with you?"

I brought the complaining Aqua along to the armor shop.

"No, you should prepare some equipment too. I might only have my gym clothes, but you are about the same right? Your only equipment is that flimsy hagoromo right?"

Aqua was dressed the same way as she did when she first came to this world with me.

The light purple translucent hagoromo complements Aqua's blue hair and eyes. That was the only equipment she wore over her clothes.

After changing into her pajamas, she would use a bucket of water to wash her hagoromo, I had seen her sunning the hagoromo along with the hay that was drying in the sun.

Aqua said in surprise:

"Don't be stupid– I think you had forgotten that I am a goddess! This hagoromo is a holy relic. It could defend against abnormal status and had great durability. It is enchanted with all sorts of magic, a precious artifact! There is no other equipment better than this!"

I felt like telling her not to dry this along with the hay.

"That's great news. If we really couldn't make ends meet, we could pawn off your holy relic… Oh, this chest armor looks neat, although it is made of leather."

"… Ka, Kazuma, you are joking right? This hagoromo is proof of my divinity! You, you won't really sell it right? Nah? I, I won't allow it!"

Part 6

"… Ooo, I almost couldn't recognize you."

"Woah– Kazuma finally look the part of an adventurer."

Coming to our meeting point which is the Adventurers guild, Darkness and Megumin commented on my attire.

If I didn't look like an adventurer before, did I look like a suspicious character… I felt like finding out.

Right now, I am wearing the costume of this world, with leather chest armor and metallic gauntlets and shin guard.

Aqua complained that my gym clothes clashes with the fantasy setting of this world, so I brought some new clothes a couple of days ago.

I was told that it was more convenient to leave one hand free to use magic skills.

Even though it was just basic spells, I still learnt magic, so I decided to forgo the shield and use a single edge sword in the style of a magic swordsman.

I used half of the money I won in the bet against Chris, but the other half was enough for me to get by for another week or two.

Since I prepared the equipment and learnt skills, I felt like taking on a quest.

I told everyone my thoughts, and Darkness nodded in agreement.

"Now is the mating season of the giant toad and they have been showing up near town, how about…"

"No toads!" x2

Darkness was rejected by Aqua and Megumin.

"…Why not? Toads fear blades and are easy to take down, their sole mode of attack is grabbing prey with its tongue. The defeated toad meat could be sold for easy money. I heard that you might get eaten if your equipment is too weak, but since toad hates metal, Kazuma should be safe with his current equipment. I will protect Aqua and Megumin."

"Eh… The two of them were eaten by toads before, so they have some psychological barrier. They were eaten head first in one gulp, covering them with slime, so it couldn't be helped. Let's find another quest."

Darkness' face turned slightly red after hearing my explanation for some reason.

"… Eaten head first in one gulp… covered in slime…"

"… Did that make you excited?"

"No way."

Darkness averted her eyes and answered with a red face, making me uneasy.

Would she hunt toads alone if I took my eyes off her?

"The emergency cabbage hunt aside, this is our party's first quest. Let's pick something easy to complete."

Megumin and Darkness went to the bulletin board after hearing my suggestion.

Aqua seemed to be looking down on me after hearing what I said:

"What an introverted hikineet… Only Kazuma has the weakest job, so I understand why you are being cautious. But including me, the other members have top tier jobs! We should take on a bunch of high difficulty jobs and make lots of money, level up like crazy and take down the demon king easily! That's why, we should take on difficult quests!"

…

"… I really don't want to say this… But you had not been of use so far."

"!"

Aqua was stunned by what I said.

I ignored her and carried on:

"Normally, you should be giving me powerful abilities or equipment, allowing me to live here without worries. I know that this is a free service provided by the gods, so I didn't want to complain. I was blinded by rage back then, but choosing you instead of an ability was my fault! But you are here in place of those abilities or equipment, but are you performing on par with these special abilities or equipment? Have you? You were acting so great and confident in the beginning, but have totally not been of use, a former something."

"Ugh… No, not former, erm… in principle, I am still a goddess…"

Aqua looked down but she still argued with me, and my voice turned louder.

"Goddess! What should a goddess be doing? Guide the hero to fight the demon king, and seal the demon king before the hero is strong enough to take the demon king on! And what did you do during the cabbage hunt? You did grab a lot towards the end, but you were spinning around because of the cabbages and threw a tantrum on the floor right? Even vegetables could make you cry, are you really a goddess? Are you really qualified to call yourself a goddess? Your only contribution is getting eaten by a toad and party tricks!"

"Wah, wahhhhh–!"

Seeing Aqua hide her face on the table crying out loud made me feel satisfied over the fact that she was looking down on me.

But Aqua didn't want to give up.

She raised her head and retorted with pride.

"I, I am useful alright, like healing spells and healing spells or healing spells! What, you are just a hikkiNEET! If you continue to play around, how long do you think it would take to defeat the demon king? If you have something to say spill it out!"

Aqua raised her head and glared at me with tearing eyes.

I sneered at Aqua.

"I am a professional gamer who didn't go to high school at all, you think I have nothing to say about this situation?"

"You are a pro gamer?"

"… It sounds better this way. Listen up Aqua. I don't have the special power of the protagonist in stories. But I have the knowledge of Japan. So I want to sell Japanese product that could be created easily and is not available in this world. Think about it, my luck stat is so high even the counter lady suggested for me to become a merchant right? So I think I shouldn't force myself to take on the work of adventurers, but find another way. It would be easier to gain experience points if I have more money right? There are ingredients that made you stronger just by eating like those cabbages."

The other Japanese have the same knowledge as me, but unlike me, they have the special powers granted by the gods.

Those people won't need to do something so bothersome like starting a business, they would stick the basics and earn a living through quests.

What I want to say is that it was hard for me to earn money as an adventurer.

The only quest I took on was hunting toads and cabbages, but judging from the contents of other quest, the rewards were too cheap and not worth the effort.

I felt the value of life was too low in this world.

I did mention the demon king before Aqua, but to be honest, I had given up on that. That's why I have been wondering what is the easiest way to earn money easily.

"That's how it is, so you think about it too! Think of a business that can earn cash easily! And teach me your only good point which is healing magic! I want to learn healing spells after getting more skill points!"

"No–! I won't teach you healing magic! No way–! Don't snatch away the reason for my existence! You will be fine without learning it with me around! No, I don't want to–!"

After this, Aqua put her face down onto the table, crying that I shouldn't take away the only reason for her existence.

At this moment, Megumin and Darkness returned to us.

"… What are you two doing? … The attack power of Kazuma's words are strong, if you don't hold back and say everything out, most girls will cry okay!"

"Yes. If you accumulate too much stress… I could take Aqua's place and endure your scolding, so lecture me all you want, don't hold back… As a crusader, suffering for others is a merit."

The two of them looked at Aqua who was crying on the table.

She probably knew she was the center of attention. Aqua would peek at me through her fingers from time to time, which irked me.

"Ignore this fellow for now. But…"

I took a glance at Darkness.

"… Darkness san, you look thinner when you wear your armor…"

Darkness wore a black tight skirt and tank top with leather boots.

With a giant sword on her back, she looked more like a swordswoman than a knight.

She was surrounded by monsters during the cabbage hunt which damaged her armor, so it was sent in for repair.

I became polite towards Darkness who was wearing so little.

Darkness had a great figure and wasn't too skinny.

Simply said, she was rather sexy.

And with Megumin besides her, it accentuates her body type and size.

I couldn't help but think that with such a pretty face and great figure, maybe I could close one eye on her fetish…

"… Hmmm? Did you mean to say 'Are you trying to tempt men with your body you sow!' right?"

"No."

I glance at Aqua and Megumin…

… I confirmed once again that no matter how pretty the face was, it was the personality that was the most important.

Megumin said:

"Hey, what do you mean with that glance, I want to hear it."

"It doesn't mean anything. I am just glad I am not a lolicon."

"Crimson magic race would gladly take on anyone wanting a fight. Good, let's take this outside."

Megumin tugged hard at the sleeves of my gym clothes, attempting to pull me outside.

"Back on topic, how about choosing a quest that could help Aqua level?"

Darkness asked:

"What do you mean? Is there such a quest?"

For Aqua, the skills she needed had been learned from the very beginning, so there wasn't any need to grind her level.

"It is normally hard for priest to level up. They lack offensive spell after all. They won't fight on the front lines like warriors or defeat enemies with powerful magic. So the best monsters for priest to grind are the undead. Undead are a race that goes against the nature of god. The power of god will cause opposite reaction on them. Using healing magic will make their body break."

Ah, I did hear something like that before.

This is common knowledge in many games.

Healing magic has the same effect as offensive magic against the undead.

But this useless goddess won't amount to anything even if we train her levels…

… I had a stroke of inspiration.

When I level up, all my stats got higher.

What about Aqua?

The idiot pretending to cry and sneaking glances at me from time to time might get smarter after leveling up, which was the best way to improve our combat potential.

"Yes, that seemed great. The problem is that Darkness' armor isn't ready…"

Darkness crossed her arms and announced frankly:

"I am fine with it. My full set of defensive skills are not just for show. Even without armor, I dare say that I am harder than an Adamantoise. And it feels better without armor when I get hit."

"… You just said it feels great to get hit."

"… No I didn't."

"Yes you did."

"I didn't… The only question is whether Aqua is willing…"

Darkness looked at Aqua who was lying face down on the table.

"Hey, how long are you going to cry, participate in the conversation, we are talking about your level…:

I reached out and pat Aqua's shoulders…

… But I realized before patting her.

"… Snore…"

Aqua got tired of crying and was sleeping.

Is this goddess a 3 year old kid?