A typical party consists of four to six people: a warrior, a rogue, a priest, a mage, an archer, and a knight.
Although the current party has too many mages and lacks warriors, archers, and rogues, Zunzun's swordsmanship and decent physical stats allow him to barely fill the role of a warrior. Satou Kazuma, being an adventurer capable of learning any skill, can also substitute as a rogue or archer.
Kazuma had been threatening to quit the party, but after Zunzun bought him new equipment, his attitude changed. He looked at Zunzun with new eyes—and even bent down, becoming oddly servile.
After the shopping spree, Satou Kazuma finally looked the part of an adventurer.
No longer dressed in plain clothes and trousers, he now wore a leather chest guard, metal wrist guards, and leggings. A one-handed sword hung at his waist, and a wooden bow was slung across his back.
They say clothes make the man—and Satou Kazuma now looked rather respectable.
It's just—
"Mr. Kazuma, I still liked your rebellious look earlier. Please recover for a while."
"Yes, Master Zunzun."
His ingratiating smile faded, replaced by the façade of a competent adventurer.
Granted, he'd earned a decent bounty from cabbages, but spending one's own money was a far cry from spending someone else's. At least Satou Kazuma felt pampered.
And being pampered felt good—for a while.
Actually, it felt good all the time.
"...Wait a minute, Master Zunzun. You're not talking about lending this to me or putting it on credit, are you? I definitely won't pay you back."
"You jerk. But no, it's not a loan or credit—it's compensation. Didn't I ruin that tracksuit of yours?"
"Ah, that…"
Satou Kazuma suddenly remembered.
During their duel in the Adventurer's Guild, Zunzun's lightning magic had scorched the green tracksuit. So, this counted as compensation.
"That outfit's already been repaired by Aqua."
"Yes, I did."
"...Huh?"
Zunzun stared at them in disbelief.
The tracksuit had been burnt to a crisp, yet she repaired it. Maybe she really was worthy of being called a goddess. Aqua had some incredible talents—besides resurrection.
Next, they went to find Rin—or more accurately, her squadmates Keith and Taylor—to teach Kazuma sword and sniping skills.
The sniping skill, which increased accuracy based on luck, and the one-handed sword skill, which required only one point to master, were practically made for him.
After buying armor in the East Market, a longbow in the West Market, a short sword in the South Market, and learning skills in the North Market, Satou Kazuma was finally ready to join the army in his father's place.
...No, wait—he was heading out to fight the Demon King.
"No, no, no, that's ridiculous! Heading out to fight the Demon King with just beginner gear? This isn't a Souls game!"
Kazuma couldn't help grumbling.
To him, it probably felt like one of those games: 'Here are your controls: up, down, left, right—now go defeat the Demon King!'
"But Kazuma, this world is just as brutal. Some games throw tree guards at you right out of the gate." Zunzun patted his shoulder.
If you looked at it that way, encountering a Demon King general in the Novice Village made sense. Hmm? Didn't a certain overly cautious hero have a similar experience?
"What are you talking about?"
"Nothing."
The release timeline of Kazuma's previous-life games was clearly out of sync with Zunzun's references. That was fine—he didn't need to be cursed by crappy game memories.
"But Kazuma, have you ever heard this saying?"
"What? Spit it out."
"Even a pig can save the world with the five elements."
"Are you trying to pick a fight?!"
Kazuma finally snapped.
Yes, he had learned five-element magic—but only the elementary stuff like ignition, water creation, and sand-raising. To most people, those were barely useful, and to Kazuma, they were nothing more than life skills.
Aqua shook her head and sighed.
"There's really no helping you. Let's go to the guild and look for a suitable quest."
"We should've done that ages ago! ...And don't act like you're humoring me."
Kazuma rolled his eyes.
The Adventurer's Guild was as bustling as ever.
With several Demon King army leaders recently defeated in the region, more and more people were trying their luck as adventurers.
Not that it had anything to do with them.
At the commission board, Zunzun and the rest searched for a quest.
"Here! How about this one?" Megumin pointed to a notice covered in warning symbols—ten skulls in all.
"Let's see... The Manticore and the Griffin are fighting over territory. Please defeat them both. Reward: 500,000 Eris."
"500,000 Eris? That's a nice bounty."
"The Manticore and the Griffin sound pretty tough."
"No problem. My explosion magic will blow them all away!"
Everyone seemed pleased with the mission.
While it would be difficult for most parties, it was perfectly suited to their team. After a brief discussion, they decided to take it.
"—Wait a minute!"
Kazuma grabbed the request form, stopping Zunzun.
"What's wrong, Kazuma?"
"You guys are all smiles making this decision, but what about me?! Think this through—I'm a novice adventurer! There's no way I can keep up with you all!"
"...You're such a pain, Kazuma."
Zunzun sighed, glanced at the form again, and offered,
"Then how about we fight the Bloodthirsty White Wolves and the One-Strike Bear instead?"
"That's even worse! Don't just casually throw out monsters with terrifying names!"
He was furious.
Aqua looked at the tantrum-throwing Kazuma and said,
"This and that won't do, huh? You're really hard to please. In that case, why don't you just—"
"—Just quit the team." ×4
"...I-I thought so too."
All five of them—including Yunyun—looked at him as they said it.
"Ugh~~~"
The blow hit Kazuma hard.
If someone had said that to him before the party formed, he would've stormed off in a rage. But now... it felt different.
"I don't care! Anyway, as a party member, I request a change of mission!"
"Fine, fine. Kazuma, you choose the quest."
Kazuma, living up to his scumbag reputation, selected a mission to subdue a plant-type monster called Mangan Stew.
"Let me see… Mangan Stew, previously found only deep in the forest, has recently appeared near the outskirts and has been attacking adventurers. Subjugation requested. Reward: 300,000 Eris."
"How about this one?"
"Kazuma, are you serious?"
"What? Is it a problem?"
"No... I guess not."
Zunzun's knowing smile filled Kazuma with unease—and that unease soon proved justified.
They reached the forest outskirts and spotted their target almost immediately.
Or rather, it was impossible to miss.
A massive queen flower, nearly five meters tall, with long rhizomes and several slimy, clawed vine tentacles. Its center was a gaping maw, spewing foul-smelling slime under the blazing sun.
"T-That thing..."
The moment Darkness saw it, her face flushed.
"Alright, leave this to me! Don't worry—I'll be right back!"
"Don't be stupid, Darkness! Are you really going to charge in like that?!"
"Of course! I'll slice through its roots and sever its tentacles! Never underestimate a Crusader! I won't hold back—Heyaa!"
"Hey—!"
Ignoring everyone's protests, she charged in, sword drawn.
She wanted to look reliable, admirable—even heroic.
"Darkness looks so cool!"
"No, Megumin, look carefully... none of her attacks are landing!"
She swung with all her might, but hit nothing. Darkness's accuracy had always been bad, and this monster was fast.
But more than that... she wasn't trying to win.
"Since I missed, I'll just tank! Come on, I won't dodge. Bind me up!"
The tentacles wrapped her up tightly.
"Darkness, are you okay? I'll—"
"Don't worry about me."
"...Huh?"
The tentacles tightened. Darkness screamed—in pleasure.
"Wow! Look! These bindings are so tight my bones are cracking... It feels amazing!"
She was clearly enjoying herself.
Aqua raised her staff.
"I'll heal you!"
"Don't worry about me!"
"Oh, is that so?"
"She seems... oddly comfortable," Megumin muttered.
Yunyun shyly covered her face, but peeked through her fingers anyway.
Darkness laughed ecstatically.
"Hehehe... stop it, you'll kill me! Is this all you've got? Come on—show me your true, inhuman nature!"
She was completely into it.
"Gah... gah...?"
Even the plant monster looked confused.
"Hmm... you just want to slowly tighten around me, make me scream, tear my armor, expose me in front of my friends—right? That's your goal?! Well... great! Tighter! Make these curves pop!"
"Hey, hey, hey!"
Kazuma stared, speechless.
Zunzun patted him on the shoulder.
"Isn't this what you wanted? As expected of the infamous scumbag of Axel. This degenerate world is just what you wished for."
"Not at all!!"
He'd had thoughts, sure—but this wasn't his doing!
"—Sniper!"
Kazuma drew his bow and let loose. His lucky shot hit the monster's core. The tentacles collapsed, and Darkness was freed.
"What are you doing, Kazuma?! I wanted another ten minutes of this! No, I could've lasted longer! And wasn't this what you wanted?! I was cooperating!"
"Don't project onto me! You're the one enjoying this!"
"Hmmm—"
The perverted knight trembled in frustration.
Kazuma turned to the Queen Flower.
"Sorry, I'm not into your kink. Let's end this. Zunzun, Yunyun!"
"Leave it to me!"
"Got it!"
"Wait, wait, let me keep it as a pet—!"
"Light of Saber!"
The two unleashed synchronized advanced magic and obliterated the plant monster.
"Vine Steeeew—!"
Darkness's cry was drowned in the explosion.
"Phew…"
Kazuma wiped sweat from his brow.
"That's that. Good thing I acted when I did, or this could've gotten... weird."
"Woooooo…"
Elsewhere, Darkness wept while Aqua patted her back.
"There, there. It's okay, Darkness."
"A rare bondage scene, and it ended just like that… I did it all for Kazuma…"
"No, no, that's not the point at all!"
Kazuma shouted.
A crusader who only charges forward, a useless priestess except for healing and resurrection, an explosion-obsessed mage, and him—the weakest adventurer.
At best, this party had two functional members.
And way too much magic.
...Is this team even okay?
-End Chapter-
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