〜Dungeon Meshi World〜
Chilchuck's eyebrow twitched, his face full of black lines:
"You call this luck...?"
In all his years, he'd never seen a party with such bizarre stat allocation—a Knight who dumped all points into defense, and a Mage who only allocated points to Explosion magic!
Marcille looked on with envy:
"As expected of a mage specializing in a single spell, the destructive power is astonishing!"
One went all-in on attack, the other all-in on defense! In a sense, this party actually seems... not bad.
Laios, whose focus was completely different, watched the flying cabbages, practically drooling:
"They look so tasty...!"
.....
[ During the cabbage harvesting event, everyone earned a good amount of money and upgraded their equipment.
Kazuma, whose luck stat was incredibly high, earned a direct 1 million, while in contrast, all Aqua managed to capture were worthless lettuce...
Upon hearing this news, Aqua flashed a bright smile and ran up to Kazuma, flattering him: "Ka... Kazuma-sama! You are truly... well... good, for some reason I can't quite pinpoint!"
Kazuma didn't even lift his head: "If you can't think of anything to compliment me on, don't force it!"
Aqua immediately slumped onto the table, eyes watering, grabbing Kazuma's shoulders and shaking him, pleading tearfully: "Actually, I thought I was going to strike it rich, and I ended up owing nearly 100,000 Eris in this bar! Please, lend me the money!"
Saying this, Aqua pointed to a burly man with a fierce expression in the corner of the bar, who looked ready to sell Aqua off in minutes if she didn't pay the debt!
Kazuma irritably slapped Aqua's hand away. She was the one who insisted their rewards be calculated separately: "Shut up, useless goddess! It's about time we used this money to move out of the stables, isn't it?"
Aqua suddenly turned her head, hinting suggestively: "Well, Kazuma is a man after all. I know you occasionally do things quietly next to me at night...."
"Until you want to find some private space quickly..."
Before she could finish, a thoroughly flushed Kazuma clapped a hand over her mouth, stammering incoherently: "I get it... Fine, fine! I'll lend you the money, alright? Now, can you just shut up!" ]
[ .....]
〜Projection of All Worlds〜
"The gap in luck is really showing now. One netting over 1 million, the other having negative assets—only Aqua could manage that. She really is dead weight."
"Hahaha, typical Aqua. This is the most miserable goddess I've ever seen. She's almost getting sold off because she took out a loan shark debt..."
"Tsk tsk, what made her think she could strike it rich with her abysmal luck... With that IQ, it wouldn't be surprising if she got sold off one day."
Afterward, everyone was stunned by the massive revelation Aqua dropped... As for what he was doing secretly? Anyone who wasn't an idiot understood, which is why they admired Kazuma.
This was the most down-to-earth Isekai hero they had ever seen. A typical hero, following the usual tropes, should have already established a massive harem by now.
But Kazuma's style was completely different; he could only secretly "do manual labor" next to Aqua at night, and the key thing was that the subject of his activity actually knew about it.
But what everyone wanted to know more about was why Aqua reacted so calmly to this?! Forget shyness, she could even use it to blackmail Kazuma...
.....
〜Sword Art Online World〜
Asuna, who hadn't understood the underlying meaning, looked at Kirito confusedly:
"What does Kazuma secretly do at night? Is he perhaps stealing the blanket?"
But can small things like fighting over a blanket really be used for blackmail?
Kirito looked around awkwardly, secretly cursing in his heart:
Did this goddess have no integrity at all? Could she really use something she was directly involved in to blackmail someone else?!
Unable to resist Asuna's persistence in seeking the answer, Kirito leaned secretly toward her ear:
"Well..."
Asuna's eyes widened instantly, and her face flushed red. She slapped Kirito:
"Pervert!!"
Kirito touched the slap mark on his face, looking bewildered. Wait... I'm not the pervert. Why did you hit me? You were the one who asked.
.....
[ Kazuma, having bought new equipment with his money, looked at the quest board, confused: "Hey... what's going on? Only high-difficulty quests are left!"
Just as they were full of confusion, a guild employee approached them: "I apologize, but someone suspected to be a Demon King's Army General has recently taken up residence near the town! As a result, the number of available jobs has drastically decreased!"
Helpless, they had to give up on taking quests. Kazuma spent every day accompanying Megumin, who was severely depressed because she couldn't use her Explosion magic without a quest, out for a walk.
Because Megumin had one essential daily task: she absolutely had to cast Explosion magic once per day!
After walking a certain distance away from the town, they stopped, looking at a ruined castle atop a distant hill: "Let's choose that place. Even if we massively destroy that kind of abandoned castle, no one should complain!"
"Crimson flame, when the fires of heaven and earth roar... EXPLOSION—!"
After Megumin blasted the abandoned castle on the hill with her familiar Explosion magic, she fell to the ground, completely satisfied: "Be consumed in the crimson lotus... That was awesome!"
And thus, Kazuma and Megumin's new daily routine began!
The penniless Aqua worked hard at a daily job, while Kazuma and the idle Megumin constantly cast Explosion magic near that ruined castle!
"EXPLOSION—!"
Whether it was a cold, rainy evening, after a peaceful lunch, or during a refreshing morning stroll, they always made a trip to the castle to fire off an Explosion!
Kazuma folded his arms, giving a highly experienced critique of the Explosion magic: " 60 points, I guess! The sound pressure wasn't enough."
Just like that, day after day, they released magic onto that abandoned castle, and Kazuma gradually came to understand... the quality of that day's Explosion magic!
"EXPLOSION—!"
After an unknown number of days, Kazuma gave this particular Explosion a very high rating: "Today's was good!
"The impact of the blast heavily permeates the melody of the heart, coupled with that delayed air tremor, almost like touching the skin!"
Kazuma gave a thumbs-up to the collapsed Megumin: "Good Explosion!"
Megumin returned the thumbs-up: "Kazuma understands the path of Explosion now, too!" ]
[ .....]
〜Projection of All Worlds〜
"...This is insane! Who the hell bombs a castle every day? And seriously, how durable is this castle?! It's been over a month, and it still hasn't collapsed...."
"He can even critique it now! It's like the saying goes, 'A long illness makes a good doctor.' He's watched it so much he's practically mastered it!"
People from other worlds watched these two bored idiots, dumbfounded! Kazuma's critique of the Explosion magic was so professional that even Megumin couldn't help but praise it.
But... if you have that much free time, go save the world, you bastards! What are you doing all day?
Can you believe the goddess is working a part-time job to pay off debt?! Kazuma does nothing every day but take the mage to bomb a castle, and they do it without fail... They're not even that diligent about clocking in for work.
.....
〜Frieren: Beyond Journey's End World〜
Fern stared blankly at the repeated explosions:
"Didn't they say a Demon King's Army General appeared near the town?! But what are they doing...?"
Kazuma's party, whose goal is to defeat the Demon King, isn't even gathering intelligence... Just sitting around doing nothing, or working part-time. Aren't they underestimating the enemy a bit too much?
Even Frieren was puzzled:
"Megumin... does she have a disease where she'll die if she doesn't cast Explosion magic once a day?"
In all her years, she had never seen a mage so bored, nor had she ever seen a castle so incredibly sturdy.
The power of Explosion magic goes without saying, but for it to withstand an explosion once a day is simply absurd...
〜Cautious Hero: The Hero Is Overpowered but Overly Cautious World〜
Ristarte reached out and covered her face:
"Before, I just thought they were eccentric... but I didn't realize they were this eccentric!"
What are you doing every day? Hero Kazuma, go save the world already! Knowing that a Demon King's General might be nearby, how can you still live so leisurely every day?
And that useless Goddess Aqua, working part-time at a time like this?! Have some sense of crisis, you bastards.
As the saying goes, "the tallest among the short," the weary Ristarte suddenly felt that while her own Hero Seiya was a bit cautious, at least he was honestly and diligently saving the world.
"Compared to them, I feel much better mentally!"
Exactly, being just a little cautious isn't a huge problem, is it? At least he's much better than that empty-headed party.
.....