"Yunyun, this is Kazuma, a friend from my homeland, and the self-proclaimed goddess Aqua. They're the friends I mentioned who share lodging and take quests with me."
"Don't call me a self-proclaimed goddess!"
Yunyun and Megumin kept looking alternately at Kazuma and me and Kazuma.
"Huh? You're from the same homeland as Kazuma??"
"You don't look like the same race or tribe at all?"
"Ah~ We are from the same homeland, but our races are a bit different. So, that's why."
Megumin spoke with a doubtful expression.
"Even so, the difference is severe. Cassian is tall, has golden eyes, an incredibly handsome face, and good proportions, while Kazuma is, well..."
Kazuma, hearing this, made a face as if he had bitten something unpleasant.
"Right! I'm not as handsome as Cassian! But that's because Cassian is abnormally handsome! I'm average in our homeland!!"
"Heh~"
"Heh~"
"Heh~"
Megumin, Yunyun, and even Aqua looked at Kazuma with expressions of disbelief.
"Don't doubt me!!!"
"Hahaha, okay, okay~ you're losing even in this. We'll be late for the guild at this rate. Let's bathe quickly, go to the guild, and continue talking there."
We bathed and gathered at the guild. And we settled at a slightly larger table.
"Then, Aqua and Megumin, order some food. We'll go report the completed quests and come back."
"Take care, we'll order delicious dishes for you."
I, Kazuma, and Yunyun went to the guild receptionist Luna to report the quest completion.
"Wow! That's amazing. To subjugate the One-Punch Bear and the Kobold Nest all by yourselves in just one day without a single scratch!"
At Luna's surprised voice, all the adventurers and staff eating inside the guild looked at us and whispered.
"Is that the handsome samurai guy they talk about?"
"He hunted a One-Punch Bear?"
"Ah~ He's so handsome! I want to marry him."
"Are people like that the ones who become heroes?"
"I wonder if he has a girlfriend?"
I'm not an attention seeker, but this wasn't bad. I guess some people misunderstand me as a samurai because I carry Enma around. Yunyun also blushed and became shy from suddenly receiving so much attention.
"Then, the One-Punch Bear subjugation is 2 million Eris, the Kobold Nest subjugation is 1.2 million Eris, and the ore you brought is 1.6 million Eris, for a total of 4.8 million Eris. Good work. Please check."
"Confirmed. Thank you."
4.8 million Eris is about 48 million won in Korean money. I earned more than the average Korean annual salary in just one day. When I turned around, Kazuma was staring with his mouth agape, perhaps because the amount of Eris I received was enormous. I deliberately ignored Kazuma's gaze and handed Yunyun half of the received money, 2.4 million Eris.
"I don't know if I should receive this much money. Today, Cassian worked harder than me."
"No, without Yunyun, I would have struggled a lot too and wouldn't have completed all the quests in one day. And now we're comrades. We should split the profits accurately."
"Heheh~ Comrades."
Yunyun seems happier about the word 'comrades' than the money. Poor Yunyun.
Now Kazuma reported his quest completion.
"Mr. Kazuma, you completed the Giant Toad quest and hunted one more, so that's 115,000 Eris. Good work. Please check."
"Ahem... Cassian got 4.8 million, I got 115,000..."
"Ahaha, you're leveling up now, so you'll be able to earn more and more money."
"Come to think of it, my level jumped to 4 at once. You really do get stronger just by defeating monsters."
"The more novice the adventurer, the faster the growth, they say."
That's not always the case. Thanks to Gamer's Life, I'm still level 3. I only found out about that today when reporting the quests. The reason Kazuma's level rises faster than mine is that his potential is low. The lower the potential, the less experience needed to level up, allowing faster leveling, but stats also increase less. For reference, normally it takes about 5 years to go from level 1 to 20. If I told Kazuma this, he'd be discouraged, so I couldn't bring myself to say it.
We returned to the table where Aqua was. Aqua was eating the food that had arrived and spoke.
"Cassian! Amazing! Everyone around here is only talking about Cassian."
"Hahaha, suddenly getting all this attention is a bit embarrassing, isn't it?"
"No, it's been like that. They say an incredibly handsome person who works diligently and is also strong, everyone sees a future hero in him?"
Then Kazuma spoke with a serious expression.
"Aqua, that's not the important thing. Cassian will leave for the Royal Capital soon. The money we earned today is only 115,000. Divided among three people, that's only about 38,000 Eris per person. We can't hunt frogs every day, and if Cassian goes to the Royal Capital like this, even if we drink moderately, the inn fees will be tight, and if we're not careful, we might end up living in a stable!"
"..."
I thought Kazuma was finally seeing reality. Suddenly, Aqua looked at me, stood up as if she had decided something.
"Alright! I've decided! I want to go to the Royal Capital with Cassian too!"
"You! Traitor!!"
"But what can I do! Kazuma has no ability!"
Looking at Aqua like that, I sighed and spoke.
"Sorry, but Aqua, you're Kazuma's special perk. You can't come with me. And Kazuma, now that you've leveled up, you can also get skills..."
"Waaaah~~~ I want to go to the Royal Capital with Cassian too, I want to, I want to!"
Aqua interrupted me, crying, grabbing and shaking me, throwing a tantrum. Actually, I could ignore the original story and take her with me, but I also didn't want to carry a misfortune bomb.
Then a beautiful female knight with blonde hair and blue eyes spoke to Kazuma.
"I saw the recruitment poster. Are you still recruiting party members?"
Aqua also stopped crying, and everyone looked at the female knight. Kazuma, whether he was intimidated or smitten by the knight's beautiful appearance and dignified voice, answered in a trembling voice.
"Y, yes, we are!"
"Good, I'm glad. I've been waiting for someone like you."
Something about her words was strange.
"My name is Darkness. I make my living as a Crusader. Please, won't you, won't you let me, let me join your p, p, party?"
If you didn't know, you might think, 'Is Darkness just nervous?' but having seen the original, I knew it wasn't 'nervousness' but 'excitement.'
"Well, you see..."
Kazuma, with good intuition, began to feel something was off.
"Those two people here who were covered in slime, are they your comrades? What on earth happened for them to end up like that...!"
Megumin, eating Toad Tofu, said.
"They got eaten by a Giant Toad and were covered in slime..."
"Wha!? Beyond imagination... As a knight, I cannot stand by and watch two young girls suffer such a fate."
Darkness seemed to get more and more excited, her face gradually reddening, her breathing becoming rough, going 'huff huff'.
Then Megumin and Aqua spoke.
"If she's a Crusader, there's no reason to refuse, right?"
"Yeah, Kazuma isn't in a position to be picky right now."
"Be quiet! Traitor!"
Kazuma grabbed both of Aqua's cheeks and stretched them. It seemed the grudge from earlier would last quite a while.
"Uheheng~~~! That hurts~~~"
Darkness, in a highly excited state, leaned her face in towards Kazuma, who was doing that.
"Huff huff~ Is your party always like that? *Gulp*... C, could I also do that?"
"Eek!"
Kazuma was surprised and backed away. Then Darkness, realizing her mistake unconsciously, apologized.
"Ahem... My apologies. I was rude to someone I just met."
Kazuma seemed to get a sense of what kind of person Darkness was and began to hastily say rude things to avoid accepting her into the party.
"W, we don't recommend our party. One person, I'm not sure what she's good for, another can only cast magic once a day, and I have the weakest job. We're a messed-up party, so I recommend you look elsewhere."
"Huh? You're not sure what I'm good for?"
"It's true I can only use it once a day, but that's kind of hurtful!"
Kazuma's image within the party began to deteriorate terribly.
"Then that's even better! Actually, it's a bit hard to say, but I'm confident in strength and endurance, but I'm clumsy... That is, I can't land my attacks. So just use me as a shield substitute, letting me charge forward recklessly!"
"Please give me time to think."
"Understood. I hope we can work together."
Darkness left like that. Kazuma seemed to have given up on persuading her today.
"Kazuma, what was that earlier about not being sure what I'm good for???"
"I must correct you! That one shot is the most powerful magic!"
Aqua and Megumin grabbed Kazuma from both sides and shook him while verbally ganging up on him. Kazuma sent me a "Help me!" look, but I pretended not to know anything and turned my head away.
After finishing the meal at the guild dining hall and coming out to return to the inn, Yunyun suddenly called me.
"Um, thank you for today. Being able to eat a fun meal with so many people, finding a party, and taking quests together, it's all thanks to you, Cassian. This is small, but it's a friendship fee."
Yunyun handed me a thick pouch, and opening it, I saw it was full of Eris.
"I don't need it!"