It didn't take long for Subaru and Aqua to draw attention. Mostly because they wouldn't stop arguing in the middle of the street.
Subaru: "You dragged me into this world!"
Aqua: "You dragged me, you door-dying idiot!"
Their bickering was only interrupted when a tall woman in armor approached them.
"Excuse me," she said with noble grace. "Are you perhaps new adventurers in need of guidance?"
Subaru looked up. Her golden eyes sparkled. Her plate armor gleamed. Her smile was... unsettling.
"I am Darkness, a crusader. It would be my honor to protect you... and suffer the blows meant for your fragile bodies."
Subaru leaned in to Aqua. "Why is she blushing while saying that?"
Aqua whispered back. "Don't ask. Just... don't."
Then came the explosion.
A plume of smoke burst into the sky from the nearby plains. A girl in a black robe came running, her staff bouncing against her back.
"Explosion magic complete! Hahaha! I am Megumin, the Crimson Demon!"
She tripped, landing face-first into Subaru. And the others
Subaru, somehow now part of this bizarre party, found himself assigned to a cabbage-hunting quest.
The target: magical cabbages that fled at high speeds.
"They're vegetables. How hard can it be?" Subaru asked.
One cabbage promptly headbutted him at 30 km/h.
He woke up with a sprained arm, a bruised ego, and a cabbage stuck in his belt. At least it counted as a kill.
Aqua sobbed over losing three more. Darkness praised Subaru's bravery. Megumin demanded to explode the entire cabbage field next time.
"We need money, not scorched earth!" Subaru cried.
Back at the guild, Luna barely hid her smirk. "Not bad for your first quest."
Subaru narrowed his eyes. "Define 'not bad.'"
Aqua held up their reward: a cabbage. Just one.
----
Meanwhile, in Lugunica...
Kazuma sat at a table in the capital's tavern, sipping tea, a smug grin on his face.
He'd sold off stolen noble family secrets to fund a comfortable stay. He had no party, no responsibilities, and no cabbages.
"This world is a paradise."