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Inside the Adventurers Guild, tucked away in one corner, three people sat across from each other at a wooden table.
Fang Li leaned lazily on one hand, an indifferent look on his face. Opposite him, Satou Kazuma and Aqua sat side by side, subtly exchanging glances as they tried to size him up.
To be precise, Fang Li could tell Kazuma was seriously trying to gauge his strength. As for the girl called Aqua, after briefly mimicking Fang Li's posture, she seemed to lose interest and simply flopped forward onto the table, toying idly with the water in her cup.
Watching her behavior, Fang Li couldn't help but murmur to himself,
"…Is this girl really a Goddess?"
Even though Fang Li wasn't intimately familiar with the original work, he knew the true identity of the blue-haired girl in front of him. As her name implied, she was none other than the Axis Church's Goddess of Water, Aqua.
Her divine role was to guide the souls of young people from Earth who had died unexpectedly, giving them a second chance in a fantasy world. She was responsible for offering them divine relics or supernatural abilities, tools that allowed them to reincarnate as Heroes to battle the Demon King's army.
So yes, to make it clear, the boy sitting beside her, Satou Kazuma, was one of those chosen for reincarnation.
Originally, Kazuma should have received a powerful divine item or ability, like the many other transmigrated Heroes before him. But when given the chance to choose anything to bring with him…
He didn't choose a weapon.
He didn't choose an ability.
He chose her.
The literal Goddess herself, Aqua.
That was how Aqua ended up descending to this world.
Fang Li was well aware of this. Which meant that no matter how bored or clueless this girl might seem, or how many times she called herself a "super beautiful and excellent Arch Priest," her divinity wasn't in question.
Still, watching her now and recalling her earlier antics, Fang Li couldn't help but start having doubts. And as if he noticed Fang Li's attention lingering on Aqua, Satou Kazuma suddenly spoke up.
"Hey, you're not thinking of joining our team just because this girl's cute, right?" Kazuma leaned in, placing a hand on Fang Li's shoulder with surprising seriousness. "Listen, man, don't be fooled by appearances. If you fall for that face, you will regret it."
Fang Li blinked, momentarily speechless.
"Excuse me?! What do you mean by that, you shut-in NEET!?" Aqua sprang up in protest, her twin tails bouncing as she jabbed a finger at Kazuma.
But then, as if struck by inspiration, she covered her mouth and giggled. "Oh, I see now. Could it be Kazuma-san is jealous? Because this beautiful, elegant companion of yours is getting attention from another man? Is that it?"
"…I'm livid." Kazuma's smile turned ice-cold. His eye twitched as he shot Fang Li a pointed look.
"You see what I deal with? I'm saying this for your sake, give up on any fantasies about beautiful girls. Trust me, looks fade. Substance matters. That's the wisdom of a man who's been there."
As he spoke, Kazuma's expression took on the air of a weathered monk passing on sage advice. Meanwhile, Fang Li's face shifted to a blank, deadpan stare.
Sure, the so-called Goddess over there deserved plenty of tsukkomi. But even this supposed Hero from another world, Satou Kazuma, didn't give off the vibe of someone chosen by divine fate. If someone told Fang Li this guy was a Hero handpicked by the gods, he'd flat-out call it a scam.
Honestly, if he had the choice, Fang Li would've preferred not to team up with this bizarre duo.
With a quiet sigh, he finally decided to get straight to the point.
"Like I said earlier, I'm a no-class member. You two okay teaming up with someone like that?"
His words caused Kazuma and Aqua to exchange confused looks.
"Uh…" Kazuma scratched his cheek awkwardly. "You seriously can't change classes? Not even a little?"
"Yeah." Fang Li shrugged, palms up. "So believe me when I say, I'm not here chasing after some pretty face. It's just… I've got no class. Literally. Most teams won't take someone like me, so I figured I'd try my luck with you two."
"Huh… I get it now," Kazuma muttered, nodding as he started to piece things together.
"But a no-class member…?" Aqua spoke with a face full of disdain. "We already have one rude, weakest-class member on this team. If we add another no-class guy, wouldn't that just make me, the super beautiful and supremely talented Arch Priest, the most pitiful one here?"
Fang Li's eye twitched in response.
This Goddess was seriously grating.
"Shut up already."
Without hesitation, Satou Kazuma grabbed a chunk of bread and stuffed it into Aqua's mouth.
"Wū Wū Wū?!"
Aqua flailed in protest, clutching her throat like she was choking, legs kicking in dramatic fashion.
"Don't mind her," Kazuma said calmly, ignoring the over-the-top reaction as he turned back to Fang Li. "Let's get back to the point."
He paused for a moment before continuing with a rare hint of sincerity.
"Look, I'm the weakest class too, so I don't have much room to judge. But the reason we take on teammates is to complete quests. If you're not going to help us reach that goal… well, honestly, we'd just be dragging each other down."
According to Kazuma, he and Aqua had only recently registered as Adventurers.
Due to being completely broke, they hadn't taken on any jobs until just yesterday.
They hadn't aimed for anything big, just picked a beginner-level quest that even first-time Adventurers should be able to handle: defeat five Giant Frogs.
But,
"…Did you guys get wiped out?"
"…Yeah..."
Fang Li and Kazuma exchanged a long, silent look.
Giant Frogs were technically entry-level monsters, sure. But they weren't exactly pushovers.
Despite being frogs, these creatures were massive, easily large enough to swallow a person whole. They had highly elastic skin that reduced the impact of physical blows, which meant they couldn't be taken down by just anyone wielding a wooden sword.
That said, they had one very notable weakness: they didn't eat metal.
So with proper weapons and armor, even a modestly equipped Adventurer could deal with them.
Unfortunately for Kazuma and Aqua, their funds hadn't allowed for any proper equipment.
"Alright then…" Fang Li let out a long sigh and finally spoke. "Let's start by getting you two some gear."
The moment those words left his mouth, the eyes of Kazuma and Aqua lit up instantly, like hungry wolves spotting meat for the first time in days.
(End of This Chapter)