Rising of the Isekai Mess

by KillianAstar

Killua gets transported into the world of Shield Hero and proceeds to ruin its entire plot with the help of Hajime (Arifureta), Kazuma (Kono Suba) and Goblin Slayer.

18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

The makeshift hot-springs pool was composed of module stone segments that plugged into each other. Metal poles, acting as heating rods, were drilled through certain blocks to evenly heat the pool. Their bases, beneath the tub lifted by six axles with wheels, was molded into a small hearth that held chunks of Flamrock, an ore from the Orcus Dungeon. Hajime gathered water from a nearby lake and drove it back with Brise, his hummer.

While doing so, he picked up Beloukas and pinned Kazuma's letter above the unconscious disciples. They interrogated the pope as it warmed, and after a terribly one-sided game of rock-paper-scissors, it was ready to be broken into. Kazuma marched with a smug gait toward the hot-spring pool. Two distinct glares of disbelief and defeat empowered him like he'd never felt before.

"Welp, idunno about you guys, but I'm feelin' great!" Overwhelmed by pride, he disrobed, startling Hajime and Killua with the unforgiving sight of his naked ass. "The best way to celebrate my victory over you two!"

He sprinted to the fresh hot-springs pool, leaping over its sides, landing in an ungraceful splash. Hajime used Supersonic Step and Air Dance to jump to a mid-air foothold above it. He cannonballed inside. Killua back-flipped right out of his clothes and twirled into the water.

They each claimed a respective corner to sit against, relaxing with outspread arms, closed eyes and heads tilted back. Water sloshed with soft, tranquil splashes against the pool wall. The soothing water, warmed until the last inch of chill had been snuffed, was complimented with a creamy sunlight painting their surroundings like a luscious coating of honey. Fresh leaves and ripe stems, seeping vibrant oils into the water, produced smells as invigorating as morning in a rain forest. The gentle streaks of wispy steam carried with it their pleasant scents, cleansing the lungs.

"You guys were right." Killua said. "I needed this."

Incoherent moans of agreement sounded out. Then the tranquil sloshing continued, the three relaxing silently. Until Kazuma sat up.

"Hey…I just thought of something."

"What's up?" Hajime didn't bother moving.

"You and I…we're Isekai Veterans. But this is Killua's first time being transported to another world."

"It sucks." Killua said. 'So that's what that word means…must be some nerd lingo.'

"That means you should be calling us Senpai." They could hear the smile in his voice. "We'll teach you how to avoid becoming a cliché Isekai Protagonist!"

Killua lifted his head. "I am not calling either of you Senpai."

"Oi Killua!" Hajime lifted his head finally. "That's no way to speak to your Senpai!"

Kazuma started laughing. Killua sparked a gentle buzz of Lightning Palm underwater.

"OUCH!" Kazuma jumped from the sudden zap. The other two laughed. He sunk back down, letting his body float comfortably, head propped against the corner. He felt as if his burdens were sliding gently off of him.

"Hey Kazuma, Hajime and I were talking earlier about our worlds and comparing them. What's yours like?"

"Did you finally remember the name of your town?" Hajime asked, reminding Kazuma that when they first met, he forgot it.

"YES! I DID!" Kazuma glared defensively. "It's Axel! And…" His face stiffened, eyes widened, nostrils flared. "And…" A flood of frustrating memories assaulted his mind without mercy. Something inside of him snapped. He stood straight and stiff, his body cutting through the water, and ripped his wet hands out to grab his head.

"HOLY SHIT, YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'VE BEEN THROUGH!" A bold statement to make to two victims of physical and mental trauma. "WHERE DO I START? Ah, let's see, I'll start off with the God of that world…"

Hajime's face became stern. He knew how troublesome a god of a world could be. 'This…might actually be pretty serious…' He prepared himself to see Kazuma in a whole new light.

"She's a useless idiot! A lazy drunk who has the magical ability to incur debt without trying, and manages to find a way to whine and blame everyone else for it!"

Hajime blinked in surprise.

"Let's see, who's next…AH! Then there's this mage capable of explosion magic that rivals a nuclear bomb!"

"Oh?" Killua's eyes grew cold, resting his chin in meshed fingers. 'I heard Netero was forced to use a nuke to beat the Chimera Ant King. If Kazuma knows someone liberally capable of that power…they might actually hold some decent military influence in his world. So is this mage superior of his? They must be unbearably arrogant...' He prepared to reevaluate his opinion of Kazuma.

"It'd be amazing, that's for sure…if it wasn't the ONE FUCKING THING SHE CAN DO!" He flexed his fingers with frustration. "No other form of magic, no combat abilities, no NOTHING! She obsessively has to set off A SINGLE EXPLOSION EVERYDAY! And only one because that's all she can do..." Something in his eyes died, taking with it the strength in his voice. "And then she's out of commission. Plop, she goes. Limp as a newborn baby. After that, she's nothing but dead weight to drag around…"

Killua blinked in surprise.

Then he and Hajime threw their heads back, crying with laughter. Hajime's robotic arm pounded into the edge of the pool, smashing deeper and deeper, helpless to stop. Killua sank into the water, holding his gut tightly, his muffled laughter still sounding through the torrent of bubbles. Kazuma wasn't done.

"You think that's bad? There's more!"

Killua emerged, only to laugh harder.

"Wait...Kazuma…Stop!" He huffed between each word. "I'M GONNA DIE!"

Hajime was heaving unintelligibly, too breathless to reply.

"I'm telling you guys…It. Gets. Worse." Shadows cast over his eyes. "This one's a real fucking keeper. She's a crusader, okay? So…you'd assume that'd mean I finally have someone useful in my party…" Kazuma looked up at the stained-glass window, a tear sparkling in the corner of his eye. "But she can't hit a thing. You put a wet, immobile target in front of her, and she'd make a good blow-dryer with her sword. Unintentionally. But you can't tell her she sucks! You can't berate her for anything she does! She couldn't even accept my REJECTION when she first tried to join my party!"

"Why?" Killua asked, cheeks wet from more than just pool water. "Is she too arrogant to accept how useless she is?"

"No…that's not it…" Kazuma looked at Killua with genuine hopelessness. He sounded as if he was about to cry. "She enjoys it."

"What?" Killua shook his head, not quite understanding.

"She enjoys it. No… enjoy isn't a strong enough word…" His eyes grew wide and glimmered with tears. "She's turned on by it."

Killua was at a loss for words. He tilted his head and blinked a few times, wrapping his mind around Kazuma's statement. 'So she's…sexually excited…when he…' Slowly, ever so. 'When he…' A big grin dug back into his cheeks… 'When he…!' And an uncontrollable cackle flew out with every volume of breath his lungs could expend. "NO FUCKING WAY! SHE'S ACTUALLY TURNED ON BY YOUR ABUSE?!"

"SHE'S A MASOCHIST! 100% CERTIFIED!" Kazuma grabbed Killua by his shoulders, holding him up from keeling over in laughter, trying to pour his heart out. "You don't understand! When she first came up to me, I flat out told her no. No hesitation. By this point, I had the Goddess of Debt and One Boom Girl stuck to me…so her very presence set off an alarm in my head. Like, a blaring horn riling my every instinct to scream NO. But the more I rejected her, the more I told her to get lost…SHE WOULD JUST-"

"Pant excitedly?" Hajime's soft voice, weak with defeat, interrupted Kazuma, just barely audible. Killua and Kazuma turned to him, seeing a shadow cast over his eye too. He looked up at Kazuma. A soft expression released all tension from his face. "Leaving you at a loss for how to handle her? Cuz if you try to give a compliment, she'll take it to heart…but if you try to drive her away…she'll beg you to do it harder." His eye had a particular look to it, the look one has like when a long-lost soul mate is finally found.

Kazuma felt a weight lift off his shoulders. A warmth, reminiscent of a hearths fire during a winter storm, or the embrace of a loving mother in a world gone cold, shone in his eyes. "You…you understand?" The air around him glowed. "You know?"

"Oh, I do." Hajime reached out, putting his hand on Kazuma's shoulder. "No matter how much you insult her…"

Kazuma put a hand on Hajime's shoulder. "No matter how much you push her away…"

Hajime reciprocated a smile as warm as his. "No matter how much you punish her…"

They both grit their teeth. The warmth in their eyes flared up to a burning rage with flashes of insanity.

"SHE JUST WRITHES IN PLEASURE!"

"SHE JUST WRITHES IN PLEASURE!"

They then gripped their hair in tight fists, yanking on it, violently whipping their heads in pent up frustration.

"It's so FUCKING ANNOYING!" Kazuma's scream rippled into the hot spring water.

"YOU'RE TELLING ME!" Hajime smashed his fist into it. "I just…don't know how to stop it!" His eye went wide, a hopeless confusion prying his lids back into its socket.

"You can't!" Kazuma's eyes shook as if a chasm of all things horrifying opened before him. "It's like…it's not even counter-intuitive. You're just stuck! Hell, I've tied her to the back of a moving carriage and she loved it!"

"Hey, you're preaching to the choir here! I shoved a pile bunker up her ass!"

Killua watched the two of them with disgust. "What the fuck is wrong with people in your worlds?"

"I DON'T KNOW." Kazuma shouted. "You don't know this pain, so consider yourself lucky!"

"I do." He glared at him, then focused on Hajime. "Don't tell me the rest of your party is as nuts as his…"

"Nah, nah!" Hajime waved the thought away. "Everyone else is…" He paused to think. "…Relatively normal." 'I don't even know what normal is anymore.' "Besides the pervert dragon, I have a rabbit with super strength, a human healer, a dagon child and a vampire with overpowered magic."

"Lucky…" Kazuma sighed.

"Eh? Sounds like you got a pretty decent group with you." Killua said. "Y'know…besides that pervert dragon."

Hajime chuckled. "Well…it's not like she's entirely useless. Just annoying, really. Though so is the rabbit…but she's getting better too."

"Yeah, my party has their moments too. None of them are bad people at least, so I can count on them when the chips are down." Kazuma sat back in his corner with a splash. 'They're a hell of a lot better than people in this world, that's for sure!'

"But enough about us, how about you? You got a group? You mentioned something about a friend of yours…" Hajime was quick to bring focus to the friend he mentioned…and away from his sister.

"Hmm, well, not a party, but I got a decent trio of friends. One of them is aiming to be a doctor. He's kind of a perv, though. Once, he intentionally lost a bet on whether an obvious girl was actually a guy or not because it meant he could feel her up."

Kazuma narrowed his eyes. 'Oi…he sounds like my kinda guy.'

"The other guys pretty cool. Hell, he might be even smarter than me." Killua put his hands behind his head, feeling a touch of his pride drift away at his admission. "Poor guy got his clan slaughtered, and now he's out to kill the gang of criminals that did it."

Hajime raised an eyebrow. "Well damn, he must be something if you're saying he's that smart. But, soo..." He tapped his finger. "…between him and Dr. Kazuma…I'm gonna assume it's the third one that made you hold back from killing the king yourself?"

Killua laughed. "Yeah!" His eyes gleamed with pride. "His name was Gon. Dude was something else, lemme tell ya! Head strong but impulsive. Kind and passionate, but not the dude you'd want angry at you. He's clever at times, but my god is he fucking stubborn!"

Killua leaned forward, smiling, creating waves throughout the pool as he reminisced about Gon. "We met while I ran away from home. When I was tricked to come back by my brother, the three of them all came so Gon could demand to see me once more. Now, on my family's property, we have a butler that acts as a guard, beating the living shit outta anyone that tries to cross her. But he didn't want to fight her cuz I was his friend, and he believed he shouldn't have to fight to see me. So to make a point, he never fought back! He walked right up to her, got thrown back with a bash to the face, and limped back to her repeatedly like he was one of those masochists in your party, until he was finally able to pass!"

"I would've shot her." Hajime said.

"I would've drop kicked her while she was distracted." Kazuma said.

"Of course you guys would have!" Killua laughed, having fun thinking back. "It's a running theme with him. I've lost track of the amount of stronger opponents he's picked fights with. From a professional ninja, a combat-addict, a serial killer…hell, for that last one, our Nen-mentor and I concocted a plan for each of us to follow through, and all he had to do was let the dude get overconfident and lead him into a trap. So what does he do?"

Killua shook his head, smiling all the while. "He gets pissed cuz he's not strong enough to make him use his infamous killer ability…so he fights a losing battle until he finally gets him to use it. He got his fucking hand blown off of him in the process, but he landed a damned good hit on him too! And for him…it was worth it."

If it was anyone else besides Killua explaining these feats, Hajime and Kazuma would have brushed it off. But they knew who Killua was. They knew what he was. Hajime, personally, had seen the full extent of his capabilities, and they were nothing to scoff at. So if Killua was speaking highly of someone, then neither of them could deny a second-hand astonishment at the sound of this kid.

"But…He was the first person I met who could see past so many layers I've put over myself. No one could tell if I was serious or not. No one knew how dangerous I actually was. No one…was brave enough to remain with me when they did find out what I was. But he was different. He saw through all of that. He saw something…better in me." Killua smiled, softening his face. "And since then, I've always wanted to be better. So I could take pride in being his best friend! So when I saw that killing people wasn't something he agreed with…yeah. It changed me forever. The first light to my world of darkness, you could say."

Hajime smiled, letting it linger as he closed his eyes and turned his face up. "Ah, man." He drew in a deep breath, cleansing his lungs, and hummed happily as he exhaled it. "It's interesting to see how similar we are, yet so different. Out of all the people in my party, the most important one to me is named Yue."

"Is that the pervert dragon?" Kazuma asked, ruining the moment.

"NO!" He whipped his head back down, face rigid. "She's the vampire!" He shook his head, relaxing himself. "Anyway, I met her in the lower levels of the Orcus Dungeon. She was the light to my darkness, as you put it. She's right by side when it comes to how I handle enemies. She suffered a betrayal similar to mine, after all. So in that regard, she has no qualms about me killing…But…"

Hajime looked down, his eye darkening, as if frightened by something within himself. "If I hadn't met her down there…honestly…I'd be nothing but a remorseless mass murderer by now." His voice carried with it a gratitude emphasizing how close he remembered he felt to losing himself. "She helped retain at least a tiny part of my old self, kept me from becoming an irreparable, irreversible evil."

"Hey, well I'm glad to hear that man! For the both of you!" Kazuma said, a big cheesy grin across his face. "Got yourself some good friends to keep you psycho's in check!"

"Best friend, to be exact." Killua corrected with a smile.

Hajime did the same. "Wife for me, to be exact."

Kazuma's body froze, eyes bulging, stuck on Hajime. He forgot the entire conversation up to that sentence. "Um…I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that. Did you say…wife?" His voice cracked.

"Yea." Hajime didn't understand what was hard to believe.

"Wife…as in…" Kazuma's eyes were still wide. "You're married?"

Hajime looked up. "Well, not officially yet, but in essence we are. I love her, and she loves me."

"Ah, ok. I see, I see." Kazuma's eyes flitted side to side. "And…that's it?"

Hajime tilted his head. "We fuck every night too, if that's what you're trying to ask?"

"WHAT?!" Kazuma hacked the air out from his lungs in a loud, violent cough. His eyes shook with despair. An overwhelming jealousy corroded all positive feelings built up prior to this moment.

Hajime smirked. "Hehhh? Kazuma, Kazuma…" He shook his head with a shrug. "Don't tell me that someone like you has yet to get laid in a new fantasy world? I can tell based on your clothes, you live in a medieval society…don't they have brothels?"

Kazuma thought back to the night he tried hiring a succubus. He shut out how badly his attempt failed. "It…uh…hasn't been easy."

"What? You can't move past panties or something?" Hajime trolled with a smug grin.

"NO!" Kazuma slammed his fist into the water, not reacting to the splash against his face.

"Oi, Oi, Kazuma...you got three girls surrounding you, and you're still a virgin? You know what that makes you, right?" Hajime got close and leaned into his face. "A cliché isekai protagonist."

"HEY!" He pushed Hajime's face back with a finger to his forehead. "I am NOT cliché! I'll have you know that the moment the opportunity ever presents itself, I won't be some dense idiot who has to confirm every obvious hint being thrown at him!"

"So the opportunity has never presented itself, then?" Hajime was leaning back, Kazuma's finger still pressing into his forehead, yet grinning ear to ear.

"IT GETS RUINED EVERY TIME!" He yelled out, head turned up at the ceiling, unleashing his despair unto the heavens.

"I don't see what the big deal is, honestly." Killua was sat in his corner, soaking up the warm water with closed eyes. "There are plenty of things in life to enjoy. Personally, I'd rather be with people whom I enjoy the company of, rather than indulging mindlessly in physical pleasure, void of emotional connections. So friendships, to me, are more important. If I happen to fall in love someday, it'll be with someone whom I was probably friends with first. Plus, there are still tons of things I still want to experience. Sex isn't very high on my list because of that."

"Killua…" Kazuma looked at him, not knowing how to react. He then smiled, even chuckling to himself. "I'm proud of you, man!" He gave a thumbs up. "Glad you could be the mature voice here, I needed that!"

"Oi, Kazuma!" Hajime pulled him out from the lie he was trying to convince himself. He pointed at Killua. "He doesn't count! He had a fucked up childhood. Anything that doesn't have to do with being poisoned, tortured or killing people is an upgrade for him! But you and I? We were just normal people growing up…" He shook his head. "NO…We were worse than normal people…" He spoke with unflinching seriousness. "We were otaku losers."

"Oi." Kazuma's eyes went wide, pupils narrowed.

"To us, the flesh of a three-dimensional girl was an unobtainable treasure. An alien feeling, eternally out of reach from our finger tips. Not even the deepest of dreams could recreate the hypothetical experience of laying but a mere fraction of our hand upon their supple bodies." Hajime clenched his fist, tucking his arm in at his side. "BUT I HAD TRANSCENDED THOSE CHAINS OF WOMANLESSNESS!"

He embellished his voice and exaggerated his movements, all the while straining his cheeks to keep from smiling. "Fitting of the weapon I don't use, I spearheaded the threshold that remained untouched by our kind! Ascending to the dimension of sexual experience, I reached the long-held dream that most otaku fail to ever realize! I. HAD. SEX! And there is no force, no fact, no GOD in any world, in any universe, in any dimension that will ever deter my success!" Hajime put his hands on his hips and held his chin up proudly, looking Kazuma in the eyes. "That includes beating me at rock-paper-scissors!"

"HEY!" Kazuma jabbed his finger toward him. "IS THAT WHAT THIS IS ABOUT? YOU'RE JUST SALTY I BEAT YOU ALL THOSE TIMES?!" He cut his hand through the water, sending it flying behind him. "WELL TAKE IT! TAKE ALL MY VICTORIES! I DON'T WANT THEM ANYMORE!"

"Hmm..." Hajiime fit his chin between his fingers in thought. He held out his human hand, weighing an invisible weight. "Win at every game of rock-paper-scissors…" He held out his robot hand, doing the same. "Bang my loli vampire waifu on a nightly basis…" He looked at Kazuma with a cheeky smile. "One seems to weigh more than the other."

"Oi." Kazuma gave a deathly glare. "I just started to like you. You want me to hate you?" He smashed his fist into his palm. "Cuz I'll hate you with everything that I have!"

"Ohhh?" Hajime smirked, tilting his head down to give a half-menacing look. "Does that mean you'll be my enemy?"

Kazuma's face paled. "Urk!"

Killua started laughing. "KAZUMA!" He wiped tears off his cheeks. "THE LOOK ON YOUR FACE!"

His shock lasted for only another moment, before he relaxed his shoulders and blushed with an embarrassed smile. "I…I walked right into that one…" He laughed too.

Hajime was snickering as well, and for a minute, the vast, empty halls of the once Three Heroes Church flooded with hearty chuckles.

[Hours Later]

Sunlight only shined through church windows at its high noon peak. At any other position in the sky, the giant wall would block it. Even then, faint traces of daylight would still find their way to the inner parts of the wall, reflecting it. However, once nighttime hit, the wall was barely visible outside the windows. As if the whole world had been drowned in ink.

The night was especially dark. Clouds cut the moon off from the earth, sealing it blind in darkness. Hajime and Killua made effortless use of this never-ending blackness, soaring upon rooftops in absolute silence. They coordinated their positions merely through the awareness of each other's presence. They arrived at the remains of the castle, like two specters manifesting out of its ruins. Hajime used his Ore Perception to locate any precious metals they could scour from the dusty debris. Even if their fight had shredded them unrecognizable.

Tidbits were scattered throughout the remains, residing at various layers from the surface and below. No more than half an hour was necessary. Leather bags sagged over their shoulders with priceless loot once they had collected all things worthwhile. They snuck back without a trace. When they returned, they added their findings to similar valuables they gathered from around the church. They left the piles next to the hot-spring pool and cleaned themselves off. Killua yawned after drying himself.

"Ah man, I'm gonna knock out nice tonight!" He stretched his arm over his head.

"Yeah, same. Though I wish Yue was here. I've missed her when sleeping." A faint blush warmed his cheeks.

"I don't. Sounds like you two would keep us up." Killua grinned.

"Ohhh, that'd piss Kazuma off for sure!" Hajime chuckled. "Speaking of which, I hope he found us some good rooms."

Kazuma had been scouting out the living quarters of the disciples while they looted the ruins. He passed through several rooms, all which were more than acceptable to sleep in, but he had hopeful standards. He approached yet another set of oaken doors, but paused just before touching these. A faint scent, perfume-like in its pleasantness, froze him still, demanding his unhindered focus. The smell was feminine.

"And bingo was her fucking name-O!" He shoved the doors open, grandeur exploding in his face.

A majestic chandelier hung up and center, raining down dazzling sprays of light, split apart by dozens of decorative crystals. He ran to the wardrobe, uncaring of its intricate artistry. Nun habits were inside. He took one out and examined it as thoroughly as a forensic crime unit. After carefully inspecting the waist and bust of numerous habits, he determined the room's owner to be a fit woman of near-athletic build.

'If I had to guess her age, I'd say she's between "Young, I've-never-done-this-before, Innocent" to "Ara Ara, come to Onee-san". Either of which I'm PERFECTLY fine with!'

Naturally, this was the room he claimed for himself. Killua walked in shortly after, his assassin training easily pinpointing the sounds of perverted breathing.

"Of course you'd choose a room that belonged to some girl." The faint perfume and nun habits gave it away instantly.

"Yeah. I did." Kazuma admitted without shame, sitting cross-legged on her bed, burying his face into her pillow he hugged, looking Killua in the eyes as he sniffed it.

Killua didn't know how to react, stuck staring wide-eyed. He settled on chuckling awkwardly and ignoring it. He pulled out a chair, swung it around to sit backwards in it, resting his arms and chin along its backrest. His eyelids felt heavier as he relaxed. Hajime walked in, immediately shook his head with a smirk, and walked between them to the window sill. It creaked when he leaned against it.

"So, I've been wondering…" Kazuma made use of the attention on him. "What do you guys think Goblin Slayer is up to?"

"Is it really that hard to guess?" Killua asked back.

"OK, ok, good point…" He waved his hand to admonish the question. "But eventually he's gotta realize that there aren't any here. What do you think he'll do when that happens?"

"He'll probably do the same thing we're doing." Hajime looked out the window, into the dark. "Figure out the quickest way to get back home."

"You think he'll be okay on his own by then?" Kazuma's brow furrowed in concern. "He…doesn't seem to be all there, y'know?"

"Perhaps, but he honestly doesn't strike me as stupid. You remember the weapons and tools he laid out on that blanket the night Hajime fired a rifle out the window?" Killua felt like raising a finger, to emphasize his point, but his arms were too comfortable of a headrest to move. "The stuff he had was indicative of exceptionally thorough preparation. I doubt someone with that kind of caution and foresight is going to be strung out helplessly in this world."

"Hmm, didn't think about that." Kazuma stretched his arm up while yawning.

"He strikes me as the no-bullshit, straight-to-the-point type. He knows what his enemy is and prioritizes the shit outta them." Hajime said, covering his mouth to stifle his own yawn. "I'm actually curious to see him in action, though. It's easy to underestimate someone like him, but I know a dangerous man when I see one."

"Guess that does make sense." Kazuma blinked a few times rapidly. "Uh…wait…" Talking about their last night with Goblin Slayer reminded him of something important. The memory of the last time they saw him. He walked out in the middle of the adventurer assigning. Then so did Hajime and Killua. And immediately after that…Kazuma was given financial aid from the king. Which he no longer had.

It was with his party, being used to compensate the functions of a broken government. And neither of the other two accepted theirs. He turned with a wry smile. "Sooo, Hajime…when do you plan on delivering the news to everyone? Particularly about being open for trade or something? Cuz as of now…we're broke as shit!"

"I'll do it tomorrow." Hajime shrugged, turning back to them.

"OK, ok…" Kazuma nodded to himself. "But, um… then what?"

Hajime shrugged again. "I'll figure it out tomorrow."

"Oi…" Kazuma squinted at him. "…do you plan on scaring them into some sort of deal?"

Hajime eyed him, frankly surprised. "No…? We're at a point where that sort of thing would backfire more than help."

"Huh?" Kazuma tilted his head. "Backfire?"

"Think about it like this, Kazuma." Killua spoke. "If all we do is bully and terrorize our way through this world…we'd have to live every moment here watching our backs. We could constantly fight off everyone, but it simply isn't a smart idea to give the whole world a reason to collectively hate, come together and destroy us. We've definitely made enemies already, so let's not give neutral people a reason to join them. Plus, our ultimate goal is to stop the Waves so we can leave. The most effective approach would require the willful cooperation from as many people as we can get, not bullied victims of a terrified population."

"He's exactly right." Hajime nodded. "And for those reasons, we should strive for a positive give-and-take relationship. And the stronger the sense of trust, the better."

"…And that's why you looted the remains of the castle? Because it's something that trustworthy people do?" Kazuma smirked.

Hajime returned it. "You know, if we melt the precious metals into their raw forms and re-mold them into coins and bars, we'll basically have our own currency. And gold is gold, no matter what form you trade it in."

"But won't they know we stole it from the king and the church?" Killua said, exhaustion intermittently slurring his words. "We didn't get paid for any adventures, we rejected the king's financial aid, and now we suddenly come out with new money they've never seen before? Someone smart will piece it together, and that'll give our enemies a fact to embellish a damaging narrative out of. We'll be perceived by the general public as murderous thieves at that rate."

Hajime thought to himself. After a few seconds, he found himself unable to effectively refute Killua's point. The townsfolk would most likely interpret the action as being bribed with desecrated goods and blood money.

"Well then, what if we traded these new coins for goods and stuff under the table with people who won't care?" Kazuma asked, nestling his head into the pillow he hugged, yawning longer this time. "If we sell them in this worlds equivalents of pawnshops, or hell, even to the nobles...basically, people who are too greedy and underhanded to give a crap what the sources were… we can get legal money to use while wiping our hands clean of this stuff."

"That's actually not a bad idea!" Hajime rested his head against the wall, resting his back against the glass. "I especially like the idea of appealing to nobles, though. It'd be easier to work out favorable deals with individuals and keep a low profile."

"AH!" The mention of nobles sparked a brilliant idea in Killua's head. His exhaustion momentarily vanished and his body jolted upright. A thought had been streaming through his mind like a current, but a flash as dazzling as a slot-machine's jackpot painted a vivid picture. "A FUCKING CASINO!" He yelled suddenly, confusing the other two in the room.

Kazuma raised an uneasy brow. "Dude, what are you talking abou-"

"HAJIME!" He interrupted. "Do you think you could transmute a slot machine?!"

He cocked his head back. "…Probably? I'd have to run a ton of trial and errors to get a working randomizing motor…though I can't say it's impossible. But why the hell would we build a casino? If were gonna bring things from our worlds into here, it'd be easier to re-create something simple to build and sell en masse."

"Like a kotatsu!" Kazuma said, reminiscing of Vanir's kotatsu prototype that he got to enjoy for a brief while. His eyelids felt heavier at the memory.

"He he he!" Killua waved his finger at them. "I don't think you guys see the bigger picture here. No matter what gambling systems they may have in this world already, people back in ours had paid stupid money to continuously pull a stick out of hope. So, we melt the precious metals into coins, toss in a few rubies and crystals to boot, and make those the slot-machine prizes. We market the casino to the nobles and let the first few who come in win easily a few times. Like an investment in the potential profit. Let the word spread, and before you know it, we'll be clean of the loot-made currency as it'll be replaced by legal tender in both in our hands as well as the slot machines. At that point, we'll make the winning chances rarer as nobles from across the country, hell, maybe even abroad, come to pay money for a chance to win tons of gold, silver and jewels at the pull of a lever!

"We'll charge an entrance fee to keep the general public out, which should also flatter the sense of elitism for the nobles. Add that to all the money they'll spend on slot machines and we'll keep it as the house cut. Then we'll give a percentage to Ritsuka to keep the government going, letting the townsfolk know that we're keeping their wellbeing in mind…and everyone will be happy while we get richer than the king could have ever made us!"

"Hey…actually…" Kazuma perked up, feeling less tired and more excited. "If we do that…we won't have to break our backs to constantly make products, or force Hajime into one-man slave labor. We won't have to outsource production for anything either, so other people can't copy us and make the product we've invented worthless, which means we'd hold an absolute monopoly on the casino experience. We also won't have to travel far and wide to sell stuff. They'd be coming right here, and all we'd have to do is sit back and literally watch the money roll in!"

Hajime stepped forward. "And as the money rolls in, we could recycle the excess of coins we'd eventually have and put it right back into the slot machines. Keep the prizes abundant for those nobles! Shit, not only that, but once we have the money for it, we can add some entertaining luxuries like you'd see in Las Vegas in America! That'd definitely pull noble customers from out the country as well!"

"I don't know what Las Vegas or America are, but you're right! And there's one more immense benefit that comes with this!" Killua raised a finger with a proud smile. "Our continued presence here will act as an authority to curb uprisings against Kazuma's party, and quell civil unrest. That'll be our first step to establishing trust, showing we won't abandon them for social instability. So what that means for you…" He looked at Kazuma. "Is you can keep tabs with your party and level up with them. And as for you…" He looked at Hajime. "You won't have to leave behind your giant wall, hot spring and pope prison!"

Hajime laughed. "C'mon! All three of those things are disposable! But what I would like to do is make use of all that space in the dome. I have a lot of inventions I need to try transmuting, and a personal workspace I can keep prying eyes and sticky hands out of would be great."

The more they discussed, the more concrete the idea had solidified, and neither of these three were the type to sit back and just dream about it. They gathered in a circle on the floor, under the chandeliers light. Hajime started transmuting intermeshing gears based on technology they each could recall the designs for. By channeling Mana into it, they would move. But the objective was to get it to spin three separate sections and stop them at random. Together, they experimented, tweaked and trialed various combinations. The end goal was to build a mini-slot machine as a prototype.

Killua was the first to start nodding off. With the idea out his mind, the exhaustion from his fight settled back into his muscles. The last thing he saw was Hajime and Kazuma pointing at impromptu blue prints, while a supple chunk of stone fluctuated between shapes. 'That looks…' He blinked slowly. '…so…cool.' His eyes closed once more, refusing to open again, and not even the fall backwards could do it.

The other two noticed he fell asleep but were too absorbed to acknowledge it. It wasn't until they managed to get a functioning series of connected gears that Kazuma's fatigue set in. A day spent stopping a giant fight, taking part in a nation-changing trial and proceeding to fear deeply for his life had done a number on his energy reserves. He wasn't sure when, but at some point, Hajime was no longer talking with him, but rather, to himself. 'Maybe…he's always talking to himself…and just responds when we pitch in…' He blinked slowly. 'Wait, that's dumb.' The last thing Kazuma saw was Hajime's unflinching fixation on his project. He plopped against the bed, the sultry comforter rubbing his cheek, soothing him into a deep sleep.

Hajime began reaching into his Treasure Trove for different ores to make various parts with. He tried and failed and tried again, to the point it breached an obsession. Yet, every successive change, no matter how small, inched him closer and closer to success. He wasn't even thinking of the money this machine would bring in, let alone the casino itself. His mind, body and soul united as a single force to accomplish this one goal, and his heart would fail to ever come to rest until it was done.

The inner sides of the wall came faintly into view. The sun had risen. Kazuma and Killua had moved unconsciously in their spots to assume more comfortable positions. They were startled out of their slumber when a baggy-eyed Hajime shouted.

"WOOO! JACKPOT!"

They responded with sluggish movements, looking on with hazy visions. The sight stunned them out from their sleepy fogs like iced water to the face. It was no taller than a foot and it lacked any flashy lights that screamed ostentatious. Yet, the way Hajime pulled down a lever, eliciting three different combinations of shapes every time, was worth more than the audacious visuals. The world's first slot-machine had just been invented.

This was just one of many events set into motion. At this moment, a messenger was being escorted to the Queen of Melromarc to inform her of the situation in her own country. In the opposite direction, Goblin Slayer was bringing three liberated demi-human child slaves back to a country where their own kind reigns supreme. This world has been rife with internal struggles, and a series of catastrophic events were beginning to ripple outward into it, surely to mess with its predetermined events more. None of the four heroes could see what was to come, nor could the world foresee the consequences of forcibly summoning these mismatched protagonists.

Author's Note: Hello again, meant to release this before the holidays but caught a cold, then traveled to a place with poor wifi for a week (of course), and now we're here. Anyway, sparing you all my life story, I'm basically gonna go on hiatus until February, so don't freak out if I don't post at all (ok, I might post a chapter…it'd be fitting cuz there's a few-weeks timeskip, so I'll probably drop like a montage chapter or something).

But I do want to make something absolutely clear, and you can quote me verbatim on this: I will finish this story. I will never abandon it. Its great practice, its fun to write, I know how I want to end it and I have a pretty good yet loose idea how I want to get there. I have started a dozen stories through my life that I've never finished. I refuse to let this one fall into that trap. So it's as much a promise to myself as it is to you all, that I will finish this story and that any break or hiatus I take is just that. A short break. I won't go Togashi on you guys lmao.

So look forward to more bro moments, more plot derailment (as if there hasn't been enough lol), more of a mess, as well as some more intense moments (love those), some more dark moments (love those too), and eventually, some more fights. In fact, in the next few chapters when I come back, you'll get some of those ;) You think the isekai mess has risen? Nah… I got some ridiculous stuff planned lol. Hope you guys enjoy the ride!