Chapter 528: Such a Considerate Leader
Airi collapsed on the spot, leaving Luna with no choice but to drop the matter. She distributed the rewards to the adventurers and watched as Eiji carried Airi away.
His light footsteps didn't resemble those of a frail Level 1 mage at all.
"What should I do?"
Luna was troubled.
As long as the Demon King Army's executive remained unresolved, Axel would never know peace.
But she had no idea how to convince Eiji to join the mission to defeat the Headless Knight, Beldia.
"Such a considerate leader!"
A red-haired waitress nearby gazed dreamily in the direction Eiji had left, murmuring to herself.
"He must be refusing the mission because he doesn't want to raise his sword against his former subordinate!"
"And remember how furious he got when someone mentioned the priestess rebelling against Beldia?"
"Even in death, he won't tolerate anyone insulting his loyalty!"
"So devoted! So touching!"
"This master-subordinate pair—I ship it!"
Luna let out a long sigh.
These girls were completely useless. If she wanted to deal with the Demon King Army's executive, she'd have to rely on herself!
"By the way, who do you think is the top?"
She leaned in sneakily, her face full of excitement as she asked.
...
"Eeeek—!"
In his half-asleep state, Kazuma Satou heard screams.
However, having just died a few days ago, his body was still exhausted. Though he wanted to get up, it felt like sleep paralysis had taken hold, so he simply drifted back to sleep.
By the time he woke again, dawn had already broken.
"Sorry, did I wake you?"
Sitting up in bed, Kazuma immediately noticed Megumin, who had just entered the room and was now sitting at the table.
"You're up this early?"
Kazuma yawned and stretched as he got out of bed.
"There's a girl here, you know! Have some decency!"
Though she scolded him, Kazuma paid no mind and casually pulled on his tracksuit.
"Where's Aqua?"
"Aqua got called by the innkeeper. Apparently, she pretended to be a ghost last night and scared off a bunch of guests. The owner's demanding compensation."
"Pretending to be a ghost? What was she thinking in the middle of the night?"
Kazuma rolled his eyes.
Now he understood—the screams he'd heard while half-asleep must have been from the guests Aqua frightened.
"What are you looking at, Megumin?"
"Aqua's treasure."
Without any hesitation, Megumin handed over what she was holding.
Kazuma looked down.
Rip!
Before he could stop himself, he tore the paper in half.
"Where did she even get this portrait?"
Kazuma's face darkened.
"It's been really popular lately. Sells like crazy in Axel's black market. Not just portraits—there's even BL doujinshi of him and the Headless Knight that's super popular among women…"
Megumin sighed. "I don't get why it's such a hit, though."
"No way… Axel sells doujinshi now?"
"Some people with artistic skills make a living off it. Seriously, why can't they just draw normal stuff?"
"What does a brat know? Making money fast and easy with adult content—only a fool wouldn't want that!"
"Don't call me a brat! I'll be thirteen in a few months!"
Ignoring Megumin's protest, Satou Kazuma rolled off the bed.
"Decision made—I'm hitting the black market today!"
"Huh? Weren't we supposed to look for a place to stay for winter?"
"We can find shelter anytime, but limited-edition doujinshi must be bought ASAP! Don't underestimate the otaku soul of a man who'd die just to get his hands on new releases!"
"You say things I don't understand sometimes."
Adventurers, by nature, were jacks-of-all-trades.
Whether it was slaying monsters, tutoring kids, or working in the fields—any job was fair game.
But assuming adventurers were all big spenders would be a huge mistake.
On the contrary, rookie adventurers barely had spare change. Without easy gigs, they resorted to manual labor. Without a proper place to sleep, they bunked in stables.
The early days of adventuring were the toughest.
And right now, Kazuma, Aqua, and Megumin were stuck in that phase—sleeping in stables every night. For them, an inn was a luxury. Fortunately, thanks to their recent windfall of cabbages, defeating the griffin and a Demon King Army officer, plus the guild's generous rewards—and the increasingly cold weather—they'd splurged on an inn stay.
Darkness didn't room with them; she seemed to have her own place.
"Waaah! Kazuma, Kazuma! I got chewed out so badly!"
Just as they were about to leave, Aqua burst in, wailing.
"Please lend me some money! The shop owner's making me work a week for free as compensation… Wait, you scumbag! What did you do to my treasure?!"
"That switch-up was way too fast."
Kazuma tossed the portrait onto the table, raising his hands innocently.
"Oops, my hand slipped—it got torn!"
It looked nothing like an accident.
Megumin could confirm that, but she decided not to call him out.
"What?! Do you have any idea how much this cost?! Two million for a first-edition limited portrait! Pay up, now!"
Aqua shrieked, leaping at Kazuma and throttling him.
"Quit lying. This thing isn't even worth 10,000!"
"But I really paid two million!"
"You got scammed, dummy… Wait, where'd you even get two million?"
"Uh…"
Aqua suddenly averted her gaze guiltily.
"Last I checked, your cut from those two easy jobs was barely 40,000 or 50,000. Most of the cabbage mission money went to debts, so your savings couldn't be more than 500,000… Don't tell me—?!"
Kazuma's face paled as he frantically checked his wallet.
"Empty."
Not a single coin remained.
In that instant, a Siberian chill seemed to engulf him, leaving him trembling as the world turned bleak.
His hard-earned savings of 1.5 million—gone in an instant, thanks to Aqua.
"Fixed it!"
Aqua cheerfully held up the portrait, using grains of rice to meticulously glue the tears back together.
"I must recruit him into my Axis Cult! Then he can support me, buy me alcohol and grilled meat every day, praise me constantly, never scold me like Kazuma does, and pamper me all the time!"
The ultimate declaration of a useless parasite.
"Rip!"
Kazuma jumped off the bed, snatched the portrait and tore it to shreds with a loud rip.
"I hate handsome guys the most!"
"Eeeeeeeek!!"
Aqua let out a mournful shriek like a crying cuckoo.