Blessing this Wonderful World with more Competent Teammates!

by Gatemion

What if Kazuma's team was not composed of women with crazy personalities? Want to see that? Well then sadly, this is not your story! We all love our chaotic characters after all! So instead we'll see how Kazuma fares with his teammates slightly better at being useful. I know. Sounds crazy, But let's just see if this more 'Competent' heroes can manage to save this Wonderful World!

7. Dungeons and Dreams

Dungeons and Dreams (Naughty Edition)

Part 1

"Let's go to a dungeon tomorrow."

"Don't wanna."

"You have to."

Because Megumin tried to run, Kazuma grabbed her as he assertively dismissed her protest.

"No, no! And why are you pushing for us to go into a dungeon? Knowing you I expected to have to tear you apart from you bed to do quests, but suddenly you want to go yourself? And to a dungeon? Did someone hurt you fragile ego again or are you specifically trying to mess with me?!"

"Hey hey don't go around insulting my pride like it's nothing! And you don't have a choice in this matter!"

It had been a week since Kazuma died. His body had recovered to combat condition, so he raised that suggestion to his companions who were gathered in the mansion.

Unfortunately, Megumin hated dungeons.

"Don't wanna don't wanna, I'll lose my reason for existence if I go to a dungeon! If using magic that might cause the dungeon to collapse can't be used, I'll become a normal person!"

"You haven't forgotten what you said when you joined the party, have you?! Wasn't it something like, 'I'm willing to carry the luggage or anything when exploring dungeons! Please, don't throw me away!' Besides, you can still use the blast spells somewhat right?"

Kazuma didn't really consider using any Blast spell indoors or in dungeons but he didn't think Megumin would be so affronted to simply go into a dungeon. She finally gave in when she heard Kazuma. Megumin whose sleeve he was grabbing lowered her head in resignation.

"Sigh… That's what I also tried… Do you know why I had such a harsh time finding an adventuring party Kazuma?"

Kazuma didn't expect to have such heavy mood befall them so quickly. He turned to see Darkness who also had a troubled expression on her face, and the blue girl who couldn't read the mood and was drinking by the fire place. She didn't even seem to have heard about Megumin's rant.

Taking their silence as the clue to move forward, Megumin started her story.

"I was actually quite famous in Axel for a while. Many parties accepted me, but … it didn't really work out. Despite many times having lower level than them, I was praised a lot by my power with the Detonation series, and usually helped them level up or was kept as a trump card with Detonate and I myself didn't finish many monsters, as surprising as it sounds. Looking back at it, that probably wasn't the smartest thing to do…"

Megumin had an uneasy expression on her, as if fearing what they would think of her by the time she'd finish. Kazuma and Darkness had both been silent while sucking in all of the new information.

"… Well, I also didn't see eye to eye with most of the parties. They didn't let me use Explosion, and some didn't like the Detonation series at all… Which is why I was surprised with you guys… You criticized Explosion drawbacks but still let me use it daily… Which is probably also why I also fell behind when we hunted…"

Kazuma remembered the times before the flying cabbage and Dullahan Beldia assault on the town. They got together and took on easy quests, did part-time jobs and hunted giant frogs on the daily. He had been focused on money by that time so that they wouldn't be forced out of their comfort, but he still recalled what Megumin said.

She had done exceptionally bad for her abilities when hunting giant frogs. Part was due to the fear she developed after being swallowed by one (though she has gone over that by now), and by the fact she sometimes used Explosion very quick, knocking her out the rest of the day.

"Of course many parties accepted me. And it all went relatively fine… until… the dungeons…"

She was shaking now. Kazuma felt very sad for her. He could understand now why she was so averted.

Megumin probably has a very deep fear of dungeons just like she had with frogs. She just was scared–

"–I tried to hold back, I swear I did! But I couldn't hold out for that long!"

Huh?

"What did you do?"

Kazuma gave a hard scrutinizing gaze, and Darkness also had an uneasy expression.

"D-don't look at me like that! I- I was only drawn in once because the dungeon lord had such a cool attire! And another one had an attitude that my Crimson Demon blood couldn't help but react! A-and that other time what happened was–"

"Stop."

Megumin yelped at Kazuma sudden interruption.

"How many times did this happen?"

"F-four… T-technically five…"

Kazuma kept looking at her with dead ayes.

"And about in how much time did all this happen?"

"A-about a month or so…"

"I get it. You don't need to explain more."

In his old world, if someone lost their wallet more than three times in one month, that guy will forever be known as the guy who losses his wallet, no matter how good they take care of it afterwards.

Kazuma remembered hearing some weird nicknames and rumors about her and dungeons, and now it all made sense.

He looked at her again, she looked nervous about what they were going to say about her. She had her head down and was looking to make herself smaller. Kazuma let out a sigh and patted her head.

"Don't worry about anything Megumin. We're not going to abandon you because of some mistakes you do in dungeons." Kazuma reassured her and Darkness nodded. "Unless… Wait, did you use Explosion in a dungeon?!"

"Of course not! The max I did was a Detonate… B-but… do you mean it? You won't leave me because of a dungeon?"

Kazuma put on his deep voice and assured her. "Of course not. You're my dear friend after all."

"Ew! The loliNEET is showing his true colors!"

"Shut up! And I'm not a lolicon!"

Aqua choose that precise moment to reveal she had been hearing closely to their conversation.

"You don't have to be dreadful about dungeons! Even if you commit mistakes we still will support you. And if that pedoNEET is threatening you to change just tell us and well put him in place!"

Kazuma once again retorted to Aqua, which caused Megumin to let out a laugh. The other three were happy to see her out of her sad mood and also laughed with her.

"By the way, when you came to us you were practically starving? Was it that bad?"

"After no one would pick me I tried to solo-quest. It worked for a little while but ultimately… it didn't go very well."

They laughed again, but this time Megumin pick up his sleeve.

"I just want to thank you again. While I thought you would also force me to abandon Explosion, Kazuma and everyone accepted me easily. So I'm very grateful for that!"

Darkness gave Megumin more reassuring words while Aqua cheered her on. Kazuma thought about how he had already forced them of from selfishness before, so he was happy Megumin thought that about him. It reminded him that his friends cared about him just as he cared for them.

Yep. I don't need to change anything...

He was shaken from his happy place when he heard the new 'pedoNEET' nickname come again.

No matter how tempting it sounds...

Part 2

"By the way, why did you suddenly want to go to a dungeon? If you want to explore dungeons, the party needs a thief, all right? How about Chris? I haven't seen her around the guild lately."

Aqua, who was resting on the couch, lazily said.

In the week before Kazuma recovered to combat readiness, this girl had been hogging the warmest spot in front of the fireplace in the mansion every day. She was either drinking or lazing around.

After she revived him, he decided to raise her allowance. A decision he regretted. Sure they had a lot of money, but it still hurt to see basically all her money being used for alcohol.

When he'd asked her 'Are you of legal age to drink', she replied 'Don't use Japanese laws in this fantasy world.' Because in this world, you could drink no matter what your age was. You were responsible for any consequences that occurred when you drank.

"Chris said she was really busy. She said the senpai who took care of her in the past was pushing all sorts of troublesome matters to her. Seems like it'll be some time before she comes back. But she taught me Detect Traps and Disarm Traps which are necessary for dungeon exploration. Chris said the type of monsters in dungeons won't change because of the seasons. That's why I thought of going into one and giving it a try."

He had shied away from going to the guild for almost the whole week of his recovery. Part of it came from him using the chance to indulge in his laziness, and the other because he didn't want to show his face there.

The girls had all went there instead to look for quest that might catch their eye. And they had filled him in about what happened after their escapades.

Them clearing three high-level quests; Winter Quests, which basically no one was willing to pick and completing them all have given their group a bit of prestige. While many parties took some of those quests like the lizard egg collecting and driving away the One-hit Bear, few accomplished what they did.

They vanquished a One-hit bear, defeated a Three-headed Lizard nest and stolen all of the eggs and wiped out an entire horde of Frozen Warriors.

They had been cheered on when they returned to the guild, although many looked troubled that he was not among them. Aqua had told them about their little adventure in between a round of drinks. She had thankfully (and miraculously) left out the part about him dying, so in the end his initial objective had been cleared, and he and his party gained a reputation as a high level party.

He returned to the guild about four days later and was meet with a lot of cheer from them. He spent three more days recovering and he met with Chris.

Hunting the Three-headed Lizard had given him two levels. Aside from Detect Traps and Disarm Traps, he also learned another skills with the points he saved.

Trap detection and disarmament seemed to be dependent on agility and luck. Kazuma's agility might've been just above average, but he has incredible luck, so it balanced out out.

That with Drain Touch meant he had a varied skill-set, specially for dungeons, but no more skill points left. And speaking of Drain Touch he also went to Wiz ad bought a lot of her magic items as thanks. He had really used that skill, and it was probably the best one he had.

Darkness suddenly looked his way.

"Um, please wait a while more. My great sword broke during the fight with the One-hit Bear. I have ordered a new sword, but it'll take some time to finish. I can't be considered a combatant right now."

Her sword, which had resisted the attacks from the Dullahan Beldia, was snapped in half at the claws of the One-hit Bear, proving again how strong it was. The fact that Darkness had blocked two strikes from it and managed to kill it also proved how durable she was.

Kazuma did considered that a big problem. While certainly all of the members of the team were important, Darkness was possibly the one who had the most relevance and carried the team the most. That was probably due to the fact she was the highest level and strongest defense and attack simultaneously, and their party almost always put themselves into danger.

Though most of the times she herself launches into the fray and spills disaster...

"Well that's a big issue… But considering what will happen I don't think it's necessary. I'll just have to alter my plan a little bit."

The girls looked at each other in confusion.

Part 3

After half a day's preparation, the team set out from town to the hills and into the wilderness.

After a while a dark cave that seemed to go on forever was right on the wall, it's tall entrance imposing itself on the path, and further in were lay a tidy set of stairs that descended all the way to the depths.

The dungeon was named 'Keele's Dungeon'.

"All right, I'll go alone from here on. The three of you just wait at here for me. If I'm not back within a day, then you can come in and try to search for me… That said, you're not really the best equipped to do so and I'm just scouting the place out, so there should be no need for that."

Darkness crossed her arms and said: "Are you really going solo? It's preposterous to challenge a dungeon by yourself. I heard what you said Kazuma, that you would see the place out for us so that we may come later… but are you truly sure you'll be safe?"

"You shouldn't worry about it, I checked with the receptionist and not only did she tell me this place had been cleared of basically all treasure, but the monsters that spawn are low level and few in numbers now. It's perfect to test out my skills."

Kazuma had explained to them his plan while the traveled. He really wanted to go out in a dungeon exploration to fight monsters and find treasure, but as many things in this world, that also had end up an early disappointment.

Our party dungeon crawling skills are already in the negative thanks to Megumin and her aversion to them, and I can't test how Darkness does as she lost her sword…

With two pillars of the team gone Kazuma had no choice but to wait to test his new thief skills. But thankfully the guild lady gave him information on this quite particular dungeon.

"I can test my skills in this basically barren dungeon even if I don't get anything, so that when we do go to one I can test our skills well."

Well, this is the first time I truly go solo. So naturally I'm nervous.

"B-but I think with my armor clanking loudly just by walking, it would be useless for me to follow anyway…"

"Me too, even if I only use Blast I would just be a burden if I follow into dungeons… Think it over, Kazuma… Or are you acting recklessly again? Did the other adventurers bully you again?"

Megumin teased him, but he could tell she did so out of worry. Both for him and the concept of dungeons.

"And in the end you both already have experience, so you shouldn't worry about things like those."

Megumin and Darkness had both explored dungeons before, but of course the first was a total failure at it, and it wasn't as if the later was an expert on dungeons, quite the contrary. Being the clumsy girl with weird morals and sense of danger, her comp ability with them was also bad.

Besides what was the worth of all the skills he acquired if he want going to be able to use them well in a real scenario?

I died because I overestimated the power of Drain Touch, or rather I didn't know it's values and limits…

"Oh and speaking of… I forgot to tell you; those guys came to say sorry to me before. You had something to do with that didn't you?"

---

"I'm very sorry about insulting you!"

"It's fine really!"

Kazuma frantically attempted to attenuate the situation in which he found himself in. The Delinquent named Dust, who had been the one that insulted him while drunk, was apologizing with his forehead on the ground.

Kazuma, being a shut-in teenager, had never really received an apology of this level even in his old world, so he was at a loss of what to do.

"Well, um… This much is normal for adventurers right? Besides it's winter and you were just making harmless fun after all. Nothing bad happened."

"You really have some guts, saying that you dirty NEET."

Kazuma turned around to see the one behind this whole scene. No, the 'ones' behind it. His party members.

"You made us spend time outside in the freezing cold and go trough grueling ordeals just because! I had to run from a bunch of icy undead when I could have been resting peacefully at my new mansion! And what do you mean nothing happened! You d–"

Kazuma and the other two shot her a look, and she managed to shut up with a 'humph'.

Dust raised his head but was received with cold threatening eyes from his team. He turned around to ask for support from his own party, but they all shifted their eyes.

Apparently during his absence his team had decided to let their frustration upon the one who had started the whole thing: Dust.

They had also roped his entire party into it too, and Kazuma couldn't imagine what they did to make the man look so scared while he kept giving apology after apology. Specially since the man was regarded as a troublemaker that didn't fear the law.

I suppose my party are even more of a delinquent than him...

A lean man with a bow on his back that Kazuma was introduced to as Keith approached with a nervous smile. It seemed that Dust was not the only one intimidated to go along.

"Hey I feel like I should also apologize. I was at the table and went along with the mood. Sorry."

Kazuma noted that the girl that was part of Dust's party, Lynn, crossed over to his team and talked to them. She was probably the closest link, as Taylor, the party leader was just watching from the sidelines.

"Don't worry about it. Hey, why don't you just pay some rounds at the bar and we forget about it-" Kazuma stopped and examined closely the weapon on Keith's back, his bow.

"-Actually… you're an archer right? Then how about this…"

---

"With the archer skill Farsight that Keith taught to me, I can see things in the dark. I've already tried this before. Even if there's no light source and total darkness, I can still gauge the distance, where items are placed and their shapes. So, if I go alone, I don't even need any light. The monsters that target adventurers with a light source won't be able to find me."

But if one could enter a dungeon solo just with these skills, all the archers in the entire world would've done that by now.

"By the way, I also have the thieving skills Enemy Detection and Lurk. So, I can walk in the darkness, confirm the layout, detect enemies and avoid them. Lurk allows me to tide over danger when I can't avoid them just by sticking close to the wall… Probably."

Kazuma had been hoping adding the skills of an archer under him so that they could have more flexibility in battle. He had already used most of his points in the Thief skills from Chris so he decided to take only Farsight to fit into his build for the time being. He was planning to test them in a real dungeon, but he wasn't going to complain on testing the waters first.

"No problem, I'll go with you!"

And Aqua suddenly came forward with her proposition.

"… Are you sure you want to follow me? I said I'll be moving alone, so I won't be bringing any lights and you won't have a vanguard to protect the rear you know?"

"Were just going in and out right? If I stay close to you it should be fine."

This girl sure is enthusiastic...

Kazuma had planned at first to test the compatibility of his team with dungeons, but when he had noticed that it was very bad he changed to just his.

It wasn't their sneak capability as a party was bad (although many times it was disastrous), bit just their dungeon infiltration skill was terrible.

Megumin and her almost-phobia of them was the biggest negative and it didn't help her spells were very loud and destructive. Factorizing the loud Darkness into the equation, it was clear that in principle, the most effective way of clearing dungeons for their party would be brute forcing their way in.

But Kazuma liked to have multiple options, so a sneak infiltration of dungeons, at least as a second plan, was definitely worth time looking out for.

Kazuma wasn't planning to gain exp for the moment, he was just testing his thieving skills for the moment, so avoiding battles would be the best option.

Avoiding the monsters, mapping the dungeon and leaving.

Since there wasn't any treasure inside they he would just investigate the dungeon as well as map it, as even thought there already was a map done, he needed to know if he was cut for doing it.

After all adventurers who could cross the barrier of jobs and learn all sort of skills, could divide the jobs and become very good at dungeon exploring as a while.

"And Kazuma need someone to watch his back or else he might end up and dying again on us!"

In turn Arch-priests like Aqua weren't the most suited for sneak infiltration, but it's not like they were unsuited to it. Besides, Kazuma didn't know how Aqua would handle herself in dungeons.

A hunch told him that she would scream and be terrified of it, but her earnest attitude made his question it. Still, he would probably wont have another choice to see her prowess until they are in a real scenario. And having a healer would be helpful.

"Alright. But if you're going to come we should take this."

Kazuma took out various more items designated to scout dungeons. Some people would turn white at the amount of money he spent on items, but he was the richest adventurer in all of Axel, so it was basically pocket change.

He passed her many items to carry on her way down, even a scent-removing spray he had bought at the guild which was effective against monsters who are sensitive to smell and sprayed it against her. He half expected complaints and was grateful when she voiced none.

The monsters in the dungeon were probably used to the darkness. Which meant that apart from vision, the other senses of the enemies should be superb, such as their sense of smell or hearing.

For this part, I can only pray that I'd be able to detect the enemies before they noticed the sounds I made.

If he encountered monsters which could detect heat or use echolocation for example, he wouldn't be able to do anything about it. But he had heard from the people at the guild that there were no such monsters in this dungeon.

Kazuma had been busy doing his homework and obtained intelligence of the monsters inhabiting the dungeon from the guys at the guild.

I just died last week after all.

Even though Kazuma wished to meet the true heroine Eris again, dying so many times would be unacceptable.

So he took no expenses on precautions, especially after learning that both Megumin and Darkness would most likely not take part in the mission.

And while just the idea of going into a dungeon solo was dangerous by itself, Kazuma was not acting recklessly this time, but instead was threading the path carefully.

He didn't know how effective any of what he had would be when he had to use them, but it was better than nothing.

He remembered both the Three-headed Lizard and One-hit Bear used scent to locate things before, so it would hopefully would.

And even if it didn't, this was just an experiment. It would be great to obtain results, but it was fine even if it failed. The dungeon he was challenging this time was considered low tier for their level.

If he really wanted to he could just throw safety out the window and bring Megumin and Darkness despite their current states. Most threats would probably come form themselves, but the dungeon was basically empty. So there was no need for that if he was just testing his and Aqua's abilities.

After confirming the best ways of exploring dungeons, they could challenge more difficult dungeons to earn treasure and items.

"Let's be going then. It's cold here and you might encounter monsters, so set up camp and wait."

Kazuma waved goodbye to everyone and headed toward the entrance of the dungeon with Aqua following him right behind.

"… Are you sure you're fine? It's dark in there, so you can't do anything if you don't follow my instructions. You talk big game but knowing you things down here would really scare you."

After hearing his words, Aqua leisurely laughed.

"Hey, Kazuma, have you forgotten who I am? Arch-priest is just my mortal disguise. Come on, say it~ although Megumin and Darkness still don't believe me… Come, tell me what my job is!"

Kazuma sighed. "… Yes yes, you're Goddess… Goddess of annoyance! Or maybe Goddess of Drunkards?"

"I'm the goddess of water! And I'll only tolerate something at the level of the Goddess of banquets or Wine!"

"I'm sure there already a guy occupying that position, but it really doesn't matter what goddess you are. What was are you trying to say? What has it to do with dungeons?"

"I'm a goddess after all. My eyes have the power to see through everything. Before Kazuma was reincarnated, I accurately told you the cause of your death, right? My powers have weakened after coming to the mortal world, but I still have a couple of godly powers, you know? I can't see through everything right now, but there's no problem in seeing through the dark!"

Seeing Aqua puffing her chest out arrogantly, Kazuma felt a little bit safer, but he fell into uneasiness just as quick.

"The monsters in dungeons are usually undead. Those fellows would be attracted to the life force of the living. This means the Lurk skill is useless against undead monsters. This problem can only be solved if I come along, right?"

Her words only increased his uneasiness.

Part 4

"Hay Kazuma, Kazuma."

"Yes I'm Kazuma."

"Was something like this mentioned when you asked about this dungeon?"

"I explicitly didn't ask for a map… but I'm sure they would have told me about something like this…"

"Then do you know what this means Kazuma? We found a secret passage!"

Kazuma and Aqua were staring into the ominous looking set of stairs with skulls on the walls, on what previously had been a normal wall.

They had foraged the dungeon rather quickly. It was completely striped of any valuables allowing them to advance at a fast pace.

Kazuma was practicing his mapping while putting his Farsight and Enemy Detection skills to the test, they found a most quiet walk through it.

Despite Aqua raising flags earlier they barely ran into enemies, and some few undead and small monsters that came were defeated by them.

They had been moving close to the walls as to gt a good feeling of the dungeon when, and b complete accident, Kazuma put his arm on one spot of the wall and pushed his body around it.

He didn't expect it to forego the classic 'secret wall' change, but change it did. And now it's open mouth was greeting him to come in.

"I feel like we should come back and alert the others… they might get worried you know?"

"I feel so too… But of course, they got nothing to worry about if I'm with you. And I can walk around and see perfectly fine, so only Kazuma has a problem here really…"

"Really now? Well then. I feel like going up would be a waste of an opportunity, so we should investigate now that we have the chance-"

The smart thing would be to return and report the findings to the guild, but at the same time finding a secret passage and clearing together is an unusual occurrence. And having the apparently 'all-seeing' Aqua with him wold make whatever it is easier.

"-Of course Aqua would break down in tears at every corner, so I'll have to babysit her through the dungeon…"

Not that she needed to know.

They continued to launch insults at each other as usual, continuously trying to one-up the other one. In the end they both pushed themselves into investigating the new zone. Kazuma leading the way with Aqua following behind him.

Kazuma had lost the grasp on the passage of time while he walked on the stairs that extended from the passage entrance. Even after walking in the dark for what he surmised was a considerable amount of time, there was still no passageway in sight.

It was a dungeon for novices, so just a passage should be small. But the area seemed to completely deviate from the original one, both in design and in feeling. This would probably take longer than he expected to explore.

Still, the purpose of the dungeon run was to test if the thief skills would be useful, so using them in an actual serious scenario wouldn't hurt.

Kazuma had been bluffing when he insulted Aqua, and in fact was extremely nervous if not outright scarred of going down.

He felt the aura of ease from Aqua following behind him, so he continued descending the stairs knowing that someone was covering his back.

"Hey, Kazuma, is your night vision fine? Before some sunlight and torches lighted the previous parts of the dungeon, but it's pitch black here. I know that a NEET like you enjoy staying away from the sunlight, but maybe it just doesn't work now. My divine eyes can see the ugly posture of Kazuma walking timidly down the stairs. Tell me if your night vision isn't working well, okay?"

Was she covering his back? It was hard to tell if Aqua was really worried or just picking on him. But that was her most of the time anyways.

"I can see clearly: Your useless posture that hesitates every time you take a step down is shown plainly before me. Treat this as my request, please don't fall down."

Kazuma turned back and saw Aqua smiling without a care in the world. He didn't need the use of the skill farsight to know she had a shit-eating grin plastered on her face.

She's way too relaxed in this situation! Did she notice that I was bluffing?

Kazuma turned to see Aqua whistling innocently around, a far call from the wailing and desperate attitude she had normally on quests.

Why is she only intuitive when it come down to messing with me?!

He replied with threats of abandoning her in the dungeon and she also launched more insults his way.

As they chatted, they finally reached the end of the stairs.

Thanks to the skill Farsight he could navigate himself in the dungeon as the walls and layout of the dungeon were clearly visible despite being pitch black. The objects in the darkness had a green and white outline, like seeing a thermography.

After the stairs, there was a left and right route, and something made itself noticeable immediately after getting off the stairs.

"… What is this?"

Although he had night vision, Kazuma could only see a green silhouette, and couldn't tell the original color of the object.

Right, the outline looks like a decomposing human body…

"Wahhh!"

It was the decomposing corpse of an adventurer.

Was it someone who attempted to challenge the dungeon alone, or a person who had been abandoned by his companions after dying?

Kazuma didn't know what happened to it, but it was certainly the remains of a person. And it really wasn't a good omen for their exploration.

Aqua came to the side of the corpse ignoring his distress.

"… This corpse is about to become an undead monster. Kazuma, wait for a moment."

After saying that, Aqua started mumbling something like a prayer, and the corpse emitted a faint light. She was guiding the lost spirit to the afterlife, preventing it from turning into an undead.

If she acted like this more often, she would probably have more believers.

But to think we would encounter a corpse right after the stairs. My heart wouldn't be able to take it if this keeps on.

Kazuma admitted to himself that if Aqua wasn't there with him, he probably would've turned back.

"But, puhehe! This is too stupid, pushing himself to challenge a dungeon alone–Puhah! Hahaha!"

Or he wouldn't have entered in the first place and saved himself the hassle of having to deal with the antics of an idiot.

I swear, why does every good thing she does have to be count–

–Something is coming this way.

With his Enemy Detection skill, Kazuma sensed hostiles approaching him and stopped.

The sound of them talking or Aqua purifying the corpse was probably that attracted them.

Kazuma looked at Aqua and pointed in the direction where the enemy was coming from, then pointed his thumb in the other way, gesturing her to escape.

"What, what? Why are you making weird gestures suddenly? Want me to perform hand shadows? Then give me a light. Foxes and bunnies are out of fashion, let me show you the shadow of the Mobile Fortress Destroyer."

"No! And what's this Destroyer I hear about?! I'm just signaling to you that the enemy is coming, so we should run this way! Damn it, they spotted us! Hey, help me fight them!"

Kazuma felt awkward for screaming at her so loudly when they were exploring dungeons.

This also ends up like this when we do stealth missions too...

As Kazuma contemplated how maybe they just weren't made for this kind of deal, he drew his sword in the darkness and slashed at the small humanoid monster that came at them.

"… Hmm, I don't know what this is. I can see the shape, but not the color, so I can't tell. Hey, do you know what this is?"

The corpse of a small humanoid monster was on the ground.

Aqua looked at it and said:

"That's just another Gremlin Kazuma."

I see. I did slash another one of these critters in the upper layers where light still...

…Wait a minute.

"Hey, let me ask you, can you really see clearly in the dark?"

Hearing his question, Aqua said with an 'obviously' expression: "I told you. My vision now is no different than in broad daylight. What is it?"

… This is bad…

"Erm. So, when we were sleeping in the inn together, you saw everything?"

"I didn't see anything. Because when I heard those… strange noises, your back was always facing me."

"… Thank you for your mercy Aqua-sama."

Aqua seemed satisfied that he addressed her with honorifics, so Kazuma hoped she would let the topic go.

He was naive.

Part 5

Kazuma had been with Aqua the longest, so he could tell her patterns as easy as he could use Steal on a girl, and in his expert opinion, the Aqua today was different from her usual self.

Yes, totally unlike the Arch-priest she usually was.

She wasn't the goddess of banquets or drunkards, either.

"Lost souls wandering the cold dungeons, rest in peace. Turn Undead!"

At this moment, she looked just like a holy goddess as she purified the undead with wide-area spells.

At the same time, Kazuma had been forming a good idea about actual dungeon exploration. And he could tell he had underestimated the dungeon.

The combination of night vision and Lurk was useful during dangerous times. And they were effective in ambushing most monsters.

But, as Aqua said, for the undead that had been wandering the cold dungeon for a long time, living beings shone very brightly.

So while the top floor had been a piece of cake, an actual dungeon would of course not be so easy for him, specially if they went as a party.

In the short time since they encountered the hidden passage, she had purified a lot of undead.

If Kazuma was alone, he'd undoubtedly would've been surrounded and beaten to death by the mobs of undead.

I really didn't know we would encounter so many undead type monsters in dungeons…

… Although of course…

Aqua, who finished her purification, breathed out in relief.

"Thanks, Aqua, you've been a great help. It would've been dangerous if I had come alone. Wouldn't it?"

Aqua who heard his honest praise wasn't humble at all.

"Hmm? You're finally seeing me in a new light…? I just confirmed you're some pervert scum but the Axis cult is welcoming to all. So you can begin by converting and honoring my name every day–"

… I'm just softening the blow…

"But-then again, isn't the reason we encountered so many undead because you attracted them here?"

Aqua jumped as Kazuma told her the harsh truth.

"I-I-I think… It shouldn't be… Probably not?"

Kazuma sighed and kept on walking besides her.

"You're doing a good job so I'll let it pass." She breathed an air of relief. "I just want to know why you're so relaxed here, when you'll usually break down crying and run away?"

"You got it all wrong! Those Undead Knight had that weird armor on them and the Frozen Warriors have a large magic defense. Those were special cases! And you left me all on my own both of those times!"

Can't argue against that.

Anyway while Aqua dealt with all the undead, Kazuma focused itself on mapping the place and alerting her of enemies. And while they came in waves, it did not prevent them from reaching a rather deep part of the dungeon.

Normal adventurers making a dungeon run would be tensely watching for traps, lighting torches and marking the way as they proceeded cautiously.

But for them who could see in the dark, they could reach deeper with Kazuma at the front scouting for enemies and traps while also mapping their exit.

They already could've retreated after confirming that this 'new' exploration method was feasible, but they kept going to see if they could get some treasure or something valuable before leaving.

I'm not going to get pushed down here with the 'Blue Menace' and leave empty handed!

"… Tch, there's nothing good here."

After ensuring the room ahead didn't have traps or the presence of an enemy, Kazuma entered cautiously as if walking on thin ice.

"Hey, Kazuma, the way you were exploring and that line you said made me feel like we are tomb robbers."

Don't say it, I have that feeling too.

"…? Hey, Kazuma, there seems to be something there."

Aqua found something in the corner of the room.

"Hey, that's a treasure chest! That's great Kazuma, we were right to explore deeper!"

I hastily restrained Aqua who was happily charging towards the treasure chest.

"Hey, wait, wait. Don't you have any sense of danger or are you just that ignorant…? Hmm, as I suspected, Enemy Detection is responding." And of course, the response was coming from the treasure chest Aqua had found.

I see, so this is the legendary fake treasure chest.

Aqua picked up a rock. "Ah… So it's a Dungeon Mimic. It's unfortunate, but it can't be helped…" And launched it at the chest.

The moment the rock hit the ground, the walls and floor around started shaking, and the treasure chest opened a gigantic mouth to swallow the bottle whole.

The walls and floor that appeared to be part of the dungeon were squirming. It seemed to be chewing the bottle it just swallowed.

"H-How disgusting! What is that!?"

I thought she said, 'Dungeon Mimic'.

"As the name of the monster implies, it cannot move, but part of its body can mimic the form of a treasure chest or money, luring the prey to take the bait. It'll sometimes take the form of a human, and hunt the monsters that prey on men."

It even eats monsters, how terrible!

…

Still… Seems like the rules of nature applied to the creatures in dungeons too.

For people who weren't lucky like him, it wasn't easy to live in this world.

---

"Turn Undead!"

Under the magic of Aqua, the body of the zombies disappeared.

It hadn't been that long, but Kazuma had lost count many times of how many monsters were defeated.

Despite casting magic non stop, Aqua didn't seem tired at all. She was a goddess after all.

But even Aqua couldn't keep it up forever, so Kazuma suggested that maybe it was time to retreat.

"You're right. We didn't find any treasure, but I'm satisfied after purifying so many undead… Hold on a minute, the scent of the undead is still lingering here."

Kazuma had mapped all the second floor and he pieced that they had reached the end of the dungeon. Yet Aqua was still sniffing the air like an excited cat.

Detect Trap and Enemy Detection still didn't have any reaction.

But since Aqua who was in excellent condition said so, Kazuma trusted that there was probably something behind the wall they faced.

Him and Aqua split up to investigate the wall, scrutinizing it for ten minutes or so.

And just as they thought about giving up, in a complete instant, a part of the wall suddenly turned sideways, opening a gap.

Unlike when they discovered the secret passage to the second floor by complete accident, this time they didn't do anything. It appeared to have been opened from the inside.

A low and vague sound came from the other side.

"Is there a priest amongst you?"

Part 6

There was a simple bed, a cabinet, a table and a chair in the room. An oil lamp was placed on the table.

The person was sitting on the chair beside the bed.

"Good morning, this is the first time we met. Though, I don't know what time it is, so should I say 'Good evening' instead?"

Kazuma could only see the silhouette with his skill, so he only see the person properly after that person lit the oil lamp with magic.

He was a skeleton covered in dried skin, with a long robe draped around him.

"I'm Keele, creator of this dungeon. I kidnapped the daughter of a noble. That's right, I'm an evil mage."

– A long time ago, there was an Arch-wizard named Keele who fell in love with a daughter of a noble clan during a stroll through the streets.

Keele, who knew this love wouldn't bear fruit, devoted himself in his magic training and research.

As the years went by, he eventually became the strongest Arch-wizard in the nation.

He didn't hold back in bringing happiness to the country through his use of spells, and was praised by all.

And so, the mage was invited into the castle, to a banquet that was held in his honor.

The king said to the mage that he wanted to reward him, and was willing to fulfill one wish of the mage, with no restrictions.

The mage said he had a wish that would never be fulfilled.

And that was the happiness of the one he loved, who had suffered so much.

"After making this wish, I kidnapped that lady," Keele proudly admitted his crime.

"…Which means you're not an evil mage, but a good one? To get on the good side of the king, the daughter was offered to the king as a concubine. But she wasn't loved, and didn't have a good relationship with the queen and the other concubine. And you said something like, 'Since you don't want her, give her to me', right?"

After hearing this, the bones in Keele's throat area rattled, as if he was laughing.

"That's the gist of it. Afterwards, I proposed to the lady I kidnapped, she accepted me. Then I eloped with her while fending off the army of the kingdom… Ahh, that was fun. Oh, by the way, the one on the bed is her. How does she look? Isn't the curve of her collar bone is beautiful?"

I looked in the direction Keele pointed at and found a skeleton placed on the small bed.

… I guess I'm not in any place to judge that…?

Aqua who was beside Kazuma looked at Keele with exited shining eyes. She couldn't wait to purify him.

"And so, I have a request for that lady over there," Keele suddenly said.

"Request?"

Keele nodded with a content smile on his 'face'.

"Could you send me to the other world? This lady should have the power to do so."

---

Aqua chanted every line of her spell clearly.

The former arch-mage placed his 'hand' on the 'hand' of the lady lying on the bed.

Aqua said that the lady had moved on with no regrets.

Although the magic circle just needed to fit Keele alone, Aqua was really into it, and so the circle not only encompassed the bones of the lady, but the entire room as well.

Keele was heavily injured in a fight to protect the lady. To guard her till the very end, he abandoned his humanity and became a lich.

It really is not proper of him to think the way he does when a literal goddess is in his party, but Kazuma thought that turning into a lich that way is really cool.

His opinion on Liches had done nothing but increase ever since coming to the other world.

"Did I make her happy?"– Keele asked himself in what he knew were his last moments.

"Ah, that's a big help. A lich can't do something as ridiculous as committing suicide after all. I was quietly waiting for myself to decay when I felt a powerful holy aura, so I woke from my long slumber."

In the gentle magic circle that covered the entire room, Keele said a midst laughter.

She finally finished her chanting. And using a gentle expression (which Kazuma had never seen before) she smiled at Keele.

… Wait, who is this girl?

As Kazuma was contemplating if he was seeing an illusion, Aqua said gently to Keele:

"Arch-wizard Keele, you have forsaken the laws of the gods and became a lich by your own conviction. In the name of the goddess of water Aqua, I absolve you of your sin… When you wake up, you will find yourself before a goddess with unnaturally large breasts named Eris. If you don't mind the age difference between you and the one you love, or if your relations aren't between a man and a woman, and if you wish to meet her no matter what form it may be in… You can try asking Eris. She will make your wish come true."

Seriously, who the hell is this girl?! The Aqua I know is never calm, specially when purifying undead!

Keele bowed his head deeply his room and closed his eyes one last time.

"Sacred Turn Undead!"

– The light dissipated, and the room was enveloped by darkness once again.

The lich and the remains of that lady had disappeared without a trace.

Both of them were silent in the heavy atmosphere.

"… Let's go back."

---

The light from the outside evening sun blinded Kazuma's eyes as he came out. Once he adjusted to the sunlight once more, he saw the rest of his team as he'd left them.

By the sight of the scorched and destroyed scenery it was obvious they had passed the time training.

"… I was getting worried about you taking longer than expected so I'm glad you're both alright… Still, allow me to ask, what happened?"

That was the first thing Megumin said to them at the top.

"Megumin! Darkness! Take a look at this!"

"Man, that lich was a nice guy. He said money is useless to him and gave us all of his fortune. I don't know how much it's worth, let's split it equally when we get back to town."

Kazuma dropped the sack bearing the treasure that he brought back from the dungeon. Both Darkness and Megumin were stunned that they had found treasure, more so at the quantity of it.

"That's right Kazuma! Even though I did all of the job down there I'll allow the rewards to get to everyone hands, but you all better give me the praise I deserve!"

"I'll give you praise for purifying that lich and the lady, but you since you attracted most of the undead down there you don't get any praise for it. Dungeon exploring is going to be complex with your natural traits along…"

"But but–that's just the way I am, I can't help it! What do you expect!? Drop my holy aura to the same level as a shut-in NEET like Kazuma!? If that really happens, all Axis devotees over the world would cry…!"

Kazuma kept Aqua who was once again complaining at bay. At the same time, Darkness and Megumin who had shaken off the shock asked:

"… The lich and the lady?"

Aqua was very delighted in being able to explained the gist of their trip, self-aggrandizing herself whenever she could.

"From what Aqua said, that lady had no regrets and properly passed on. What was the hard life on the run to her? That lich was still wondering if he blessed the lady with happiness. But from the way I see it, she was undoubtedly blessed."

"… Of course she was happy, it's obvious that she was blessed. I dare say her life on the run was one of the happiest times of her life."

Hearing his casual comment Darkness said something to lighten the mood, but Kazuma didn't miss she did so with a somewhat lonely smile.

Part 7

A huge party was held on the adventurers guild.

Kazuma's team had headed into a what should have been a dungeon which got scrapped for it's last coin, and returned with findings about a secret passageway, and a bag full of treasure to boot.

Aqua also registered all of the undead she purified plus Keele the Lich, so even more money was handed to them. And since Aqua had done all of the heavy lifting, even if it was her fault, they celebrated with some drinks.

And all of the guild joined soon after.

Aqua, the star of the show, stood up on the tables relating about her 'valiant crusade' and using Nature's Beauty whenever she could.

Aqua returned to the table were their team were feasting on a bountiful meal, and she took out her own adventurer's card and shoving it Kazuma's face.

"Kazuma, I didn't notice before but look carefully at the level column! Right now, I have the highest level among the four of us. I managed to pass Darkness! I could be considered a veteran now! If you understand, then offer the special plate to the great me!"

While Aqua hogged the dish of what Kazuma saw were high quality meats, he looked at the card she showed him, and her level had indeed received another increase.

Right now, it was 26, indeed one higher that Darkness.

I guess I'm the only one left behind level 20.

Thinking back, she did take out the demon army's boss Beldia, and she purified a lot of undead monsters in the dungeon and Frozen Warriors in the snowy fields. She even purified a lich in the end.

While Kazuma was happy over Aqua's growth, he still felt frustrated that all of his parties level overtook him…

That's just a little bit… Wait...

"… Hey, Aqua. Your level did increase, but your stats are the same as the first time I saw them. Why is that?"

"How ignorant, Kazuma. Who do you think I am? Things like stats were already at the maximum from the very start. My skill points were bountiful at the beginning, enough to learn all the banquet party tricks and all the skills of an Arch-priest. If I remember correctly you shamed me about learning those right? Well the joke's on you. You should have learned already that comparing me to a normal adventurer is a big mistake."

Doesn't this meant that no matter how much this girl levels up, her intelligence or luck will not increase?

"Alright Aqua-sama, I'll go fetch you the most exquisite plate" Kazuma picked up the card and returned it to her as he stood up.

"Oh? I like how you are working so obediently… Kazuma, why are you crying? Did my level exceeding yours give you such a big shock? Why… Why are you patting my shoulders and treating me so gently? A-are you that grateful that I'm your team r-right? Then why are you looking at me with eyes of sympathy?!"

Kazuma ushered Aqua to sit while he moved over to a table filled with drinks and dishes constantly being replenished by the guild for the adventurers to pick.

As he had his eyes on some tasty looking frog steak, he felt someone touch his shoulder.

"Hey you. Listen here..."

---

It was a brand new day.

Aqua had passed away drunk in the couch near the fireplace after drinking and eating for the entire night. And both Megumin and Darkness had also gone to sleep peacefully after all the celebration.

But not Kazuma. He had trouble catching eye after what he had been told at the guild last night.

So Kazuma had done the most natural thing he could think of.

Stay in his room sleeping until midday.

And while most of times he would have one of his teammates busting down his door urging him to at least get out of bed, the fact they been to a party made everyone lazy.

Or passed out drunk.

Kazuma saw the pitiful state Aqua was after waking up and reading himself. He was going to town to settle something, and that's what he told Darkness who was the first up.

It had already started snowing in town, and because the weather was cold, few people were walking on the road. The common sense of this world was to hide at home during winter after all.

And so those wandering around town when it was so cold could easily be seen as suspiciously in front of others.

Ironic, as what he was about to do with his two 'acquaintances' was indeed very suspicious.

"So… Keith, Dust, what are waiting for?"

"Woah Kazuma! Yea-Yeah..."

Keith and Dust had been waiting for him, but that didn't mean that they weren't nervous. Dust specially, the poor man was basically trembling.

"H-Hi! S-so did you follow our instructions? You- you're not with those three today right?"

Dust looked to all the surrounding with fear. Kazuma was told that Dust had suffered greatly during his time with them, so it was normal for him to be on guard.

"Nope, it's just me today as we accorded, don't worry. That being said… Why were you so exited to show me whatever this is? And are you so scared of them to ask me explicitly to come alone?"

Dust breathed in relief after confirming his well being. "No, it's… Because we… Anyway, it's true that I'm scared of them, but for this, it's great that there are no ladies around."

"You did express that this was something special you wanted to show me at the party… Now you got my hype up! But again, why are you doing this?"

They had already settled their dispute in favorable terms in Kazuma's mind, but it was obvious that after all they were put through that they would be averse to get in contact with him or his party again.

His face was reflecting his doubt so Keith followed to explain.

"Well, we both felt bad about just giving you a sorry and helping get some skills after you invited all of us to drinks and food, so we decided to show you something special as a sign of good faith."

They pointed over at a show in front of the alley.

"Kazuma who's usually surrounded by beauties doesn't need such things, but for lonely men like Dust and me this place is a national treasure we depend our daily lives on."

Once again they go with the misconception… Do I really look like a Harem protag in their eyes? Wait… could I… do I… do I come out to them the same as Mitsurugi?!

Kazuma quickly chased the ugly thought off his head and got back on track.

When they had both approached him in the party and talked about the mystical and great shop they usually frequented to it naturally made him curious about what that shop was, and so here he was.

Keith and Dust looked at each other while making serious expressions and said:

"Kazuma, you're a cool guy, and despite living the dream of most of us adventurers would sacrifice everything to obtain, I think you can be trusted. What I'm about to say is a secret among the male adventurers in this town. Kazuma, can you promise to never reveal this secret to your female party members? No matter how much you have gone trough with them?"

Kazuma remarked annoyingly in his head about what they meant with 'gone though', but he was taken aback by the heavy atmosphere. Still, he nodded his head.

Seeing his reaction, Keith nodded as well.

Next, Dust lowered his volume to not let anyone who came around them hear.

"Kazuma, there are succubi operating a shop in this town. You know that they specialize in gifting wonderful dreams to others, right?"

"Please tell me more."

He immediately replied to Dust.

"There's a group of succubi living in this town. This type of devil specializes in absorbing the irrepressible lust of humans, which is the energy men use to sustain themselves. Hence, male humans are an absolutely necessary existence for them."

Yes, you are right.

Kazuma listened to every word of Dust with the utmost care to listen to even the last syllable and letter.

"That's why they'll absorb our energy, but… The male adventurers in this town have a relationship of mutual assistance. Think about it… We're basically packed together, and the less fortunate of us are staying in stables. Hence… There are many things that are hard to vent, right? With so many other adventurers sleeping around us, even if you're in the mood, you can't do 'anything' about it, right?"

"Yes, you're right."

Kazuma nodded his head furiously. He had experienced such desperation before hand.

Now they probably looked very, very suspicious.

A bead of sweat still fell down Kazuma's cheek as he kept listening.

"But we can't lay a hand on the female adventurers sleeping near us, and we must endure any and all temptation or face consequences. I'm sure a player like Kazuma gets the beauties of his team to assist him, but if we normal men did so, you would be discovered by the other female adventurers who would gang up on you. Or your target might be hiding a dagger and you would risk getting castrated. Things like that do happen. This is a real day to day struggle."

"Erm… forget this guy pale face, he still has a trauma that has not yet recovered."

"Sh-shut up Keith! Like I said… At times like this, the succubus comes to mind."

Dust hyped himself up so Keith turned to Kazuma.

"Actually, we only heard about this shop from others recently. We were planning to visit that shop for the first time today, and since you acted kind and all at the party, we decided to invite you."

"And that's the story… So how about it Kazuma? We know you're pretty set in the girl department, but want to go togeth-"

"Please bring me with you."

Part 8

All humans, man or woman, from any echelon of society, were faced with different kinds of struggles and challenges.

But of course, the task of finding love or a suitable partner was almost always present on every human being.

Be it the weight or necessity of needing to carry a bloodline, the endless pursuit of 'true love' or a 'destined one', or just the call of nature and the instincts all people came trough, it was something that would eventually find itself in the minds of most folks.

Adventurers in general, who were already fighting the struggle of balancing a daily life and close encounters with death, were no exception to the monster that is lust.

And in those dreadful cases, if the wrong step was taken when dealing with such threat, the adventurer might find itself at the last moments of their career.

But what if there were some alternatives?

In Kazuma's old world, adventurers were depicted as hot blooded, rough, liked to drink, and they would pick a fight over anything.

And while that could certainly still be true, in Axel at least, there were few violent incidents, and crimes were seldom heard of.

After all, the people of the new world had managed to discover something that the people of his old world could only have dreamed of.

In what could be categorized as symbiosis, the male adventurers and local succubi came to an agreement. Dust explanation again showed in his head:

"When we're sleeping, they'll use the chance to show us a wonderful and exciting dream. We'll be refreshed and they can sustain themselves. And they know how to hold back and won't absorb so much that we become unable to continue adventuring. I've never heard of any adventurers falling into danger because too much of their energy was taken… How about it? Everybody wins, right?"

Kazuma couldn't believe that such easy method existed in this world. While Kazuma had came in contact with magic and many 'fantastical' aspects in this world, he had been sorely disappointed in most of them.

But this not only looked promising, this looked like a (quite literally) dream.

"Well then, please follow me this way dear customer!"

Currently Kazuma was being led inside by one of the beautiful ladies with tenting bodies of the shop, as he got to directed to his seat, alongside another man, since all of the patrons were men.

All the customers were staring at a survey form intensely at their table, concentrating hard while writing something down.

The nice lady had introduced them to what they did and how it worked. Kazuma had his survey form already and was thinking of what to put on it.

He could choose to be anything, or anyone, and be with anything or anyone. Like trying to be a little kind forced upon by older ladies… And some other things… he found weird, but many of the adventurers were quite into weird stuff and he wasn't one to judge if the adventurers in the town were alright.

After all it was a dream, and any settings could be adjusted. Being as detailed as you could want, and with anything, fictional or not.

There were no problems with just dreaming, and there were no problems with dreaming big or small.

The wet dream service of the succubus was perfect.

Kazuma and his two companions wrote on their survey forms in silence, just like the other patrons in the shop.

"Well then, all three honored customers chose the three-hour session. The fee is 5,000 Eris each."

That's cheap!

Kazuma took out his quite impressive wallet, surprised by the even more impressive prize. The succubi practically read his thoughts from his expression and explained.

"…To us, we just need enough money to live on in this town as humans. Apart from this, we just need to absorb a little energy from our customers."

Really, is there any other businesses that could bring happiness to everyone?

Kazuma had submitted wholeheartedly to their policy which gifted love and care to all. Although he supposed that women weren't included, since that was in incubus jurisdiction.

Still, most of the females in town were prudes sooo… But that's probably because all the perversion points were used in Darkness…!

But that doesn't matter, what matter is that I have to become a regular and aid them as much as I can from now on!

They were only a hairs length from starting to worship the succubus, something they looked quite distressed over. Ironic, since controlling men is kind of like their purpose.

"Well then, please leave the address you'll be spending tonight at, and what time you plan to sleep. Around that time, the succubus from our shop will go to the side of the sleeping customers and let them see their desired dreams. Please don't drink alcohol if possible. If you get dead drunk or sleep too deeply, even we won't be able to let the customer dream."

Kazuma left the shop almost dancing. If the service worked as it was advertised, then he would have a brand new world of opportunities open to him.

Of course once outside, embarrassment and nervousness started to kick in, so he decided to head straight back home. There was still time before it's was time to sleep, but he wanted to return early to prepare for the amazing night.

---

"Kazuma, you're back! Here's something you should be happy about! Tonight's dinner is going to be splendid! It's crab! Darkness's folks sent someone over, saying that if Darkness was going to stay here from now on, they should send a gift, and that's the super extravagant Snow Crimson Crab! And a magnificent top-class wine too! They wanted to thank us for taking care of their daughter!"

"Wahhh… In an impoverished career as adventurers, I never thought there would be a day I would see a Snow Crimson Crab…! I'm glad I joined this party…"

"Is the crab that great in quality?"

Kazuma had never eaten crab before, even in his old world, so he naturally felt exited. But he didn't know if that excitement would reach the extent of praying to it, like Megumin was doing.

"It's a quite delectable dish Kazuma. Just take a bite of it and see for yourself."

Darkness placed the cooked crabs onto the dining table while Aqua cheerfully brought four wine glasses over.

After everyone was seated, they all took the Snow Crimson Crab while Aqua opened the wine.

"Woah! You're right! This is really good!" Kazuma was surprised by that unusually wonderful taste.

The others, didn't even have time to show their delight, instead they were entirely focused on eating the crab without making a sound.

No way, I can stop eating this!

"Kazuma Kazuma, use Tinder here. I'll show you the most delicious way of drinking this top-class wine."

Aqua, who had eaten the crab paste clean, put charcoal in a small pot, and placed wire mesh on top of it.

She had prepared beforehand all of the things to make a roasting pot.

Kazuma followed her instructions and lit the charcoal on fire. Aqua placed the shell that still had a bit of paste onto the wire mesh.

She then poured the clear wine into the shell. Aqua happily roasted the shell, picking it up when it was slightly charred and sipped the warm wine.

She sniffed her share and sighed as though it was delicious.

She also proceeded to fill a glass of wine, and passed it over to Kazuma.

He wasn't that big on beer yet, but wine was another subject, so Kazuma took it and considered taking a sip before he remembered something.

I can't drink this…!

The crab was so good that I almost forgot the succubus would be coming tonight.

And she said that I couldn't dream if I got dead drunk!

So I'll have to turn it down...

"This is great, splendid!" Darkness voiced her satisfaction over the drink Aqua handed to her.

Don't be tempted!

Kazuma knew that if he took even one sip of that wine, then he probably wouldn't be able to stop drinking it.

H e reasoned that with how delicious the crab was, the wine had to be the same.

Hopefully I can just focus on the crab‒

"Darkness, I want some too! It's fine, just for today! I want to drink some wine!"

Urg! That pleading voice also wont waver my resolve!

"No, they say those who start to drink when young will grow up and become useless adults."

When Darkness said that, Megumin looked at Aqua who was drinking happily. Darkness also looked silently at Aqua.

"Why are you looking at me?"

Kazuma ignored all outside interaction and endured silently. Darkness didn't miss this and reached out.

"… Are you okay, Kazuma? You've never drank wine before? Or… Does my crab not suit your taste?"

Her expression became uneasy as she spoke.

No, that wasn't it, the crab is great.

"No, the crab was delicious, there's no problem there. It's just that I had a round with… Keith and the guys during the day! Yes! And I can't tell the deliciousness of the wine yet, so I'll pass today… Tomorrow then! I'll drink tomorrow!"

"Okay, if you say so. I'm glad you're getting along with those guys again Kazuma."

Hearing him push the issue aside, Darkness sighed in relief with a brilliant smile.

Don't do that, don't smile at me so innocently. You are always saying useless things that turn me off, why did you pick today to be so…!

Kazuma buried deep the fact that Darkness was acting motherly and cute towards him and instead decided to focus on enjoying the crab today and the wine tomo‒

"Oh–? You think there will still be wine left tomorrow? I'll drink it all! How could I leave any behind! That's great, I will drink Kazuma's share too!"

Damn it, this idiot who refused to change is so infuriating!

Even worse for him, Darkness smiled sweetly at him again.

"… Hmm, all right. Have more crab then; thank you for taking care of me all this while."

Hearing her say that, Kazuma chest stung as though he had done something terrible to her.

Kazuma looked over at the table. That alcoholic idiot who came up with ways of adding more flavor with wine, that loli who was entirely silent as she kept devouring serving after serving of crab, and Darkness who was still smiling at him.

"All right, bring it on then! I wasn't in the mood for any alcohol today anyways, so I'll just fill myself with the crab!"

I can eat here and still have my dream delivered without them interfering. No problem!

Part 9

Kazuma groggily woke up by some sounds coming from his open window.

He had eaten a ton and, despite being very nervous, he had no trouble falling asleep.

Kazuma stood up and made his way towards the bathroom in the mansion subconsciously.

He still was aware that the Succubus was supposed to have come that night, witch meant that he had woken up before she arrived or…

… He was already in the dream.

It wasn't unlikely. He felt himself with a lot of energy despite just 'waking up', and he had asked for something 'very interactive' so it could be that.

Or he could still be awake.

But if that was the case, he had something to help him.

He was heading for the bathroom, and since it had been the villa of nobles, the baths were equipped with special magic items.

In simple terms, it was a water heater powered by mana. The magic item didn't require a lot of mana, so normal people could use it too.

That meant that he would be tired upon using it, add that the fact that it's a hot bath and he will probably fall asleep with no problems.

He didn't carry any lamps, as his skill Farsight was enough for him to move around the mansion.

He didn't want to wake up any of the girls that were all probably in a deep sleep.

Since they were living under one roof, Kazuma wanted to avoid his relationship with anyone turning awkward.

On that note he arrived on the bathroom. He could make some faint sounds, but he assumed it was nothing. Farsight did not provide the level of detail Aqua had, mostly providing the layout, but he still saw that the 'In Use' sight was not hanged, so it was all fine.

And so with towel in place, he entered the bath. The moon was very light, and so he could see details on his own without the need of any skill. And inside he saw…

"So I am already in a dream after all…"

… A beet red Darkness with only a wet towel and the water from the bath covering her voluptuous body inside the bath from Kazuma's eyes.

"…"

Under the faint light of the moon and the clear reflection of the hot water, Darkness's skin looked exceptionally white.

I had always thought her body was alluring, but looking at it right now, her figure is better than expected.

Because she trains her body, I thought she would be stouter, but her shape is great… And she does have that athletic vibe to it, she really perfectly fits my type… No, maybe this is the service of the succubus, adjusting her figure to my taste…

"…"

For a few seconds, Darkness gazed at Kazuma as to reassure if he was not a product of her imagination. Ironic, since she was a product of his imagination. This was a setting designed by someone. And that someone was the succubus that had created this illusion as it otherwise there was no way that sort of thing would happen, reasoned Kazuma.

That's right, the timing is too good for me, no matter how great my luck is.

"K- K- Ka- Kazuma what are you-!"

Kazuma decided that he had gasped on the glory of the succubus handy-work enough, and moved in to continue the scene.

"Ara, I wouldn't have guessed you to be the one they would give me. I suppose I should be more detailed or it'll result in things like this… Not that I'm complaining or anything~"

Kazuma remembered what he had written: He asked for a very interactive dream. He was feeling interested on how much he could push the dream, and so he asked for a bit of a buildup to the scene.

That 'buildup' was me coming to the bathroom, and if such…

Next came his own status and one of his partner. He had asked for himself to be more assertive, seductive and cool; something he could never phantom being in real life.

And as for his partner…

I didn't write any details about appearance other than just 'a beautiful onee-san with a great figure'. I suppose my brain choose Darkness because she fits the bill better on the people I'm close on… And I was thinking she was acting rather cute this night…

Darkness was murmuring to herself, but Kazuma could hear her clearly.

"My clothes were thrown into the laundry basket and the lantern was lit right? Then why did the wind just blew out the lantern…? Why did it happen just before Kazuma arrived…? Why?"

She turned her eyes to Kazuma, so he lifted a hand and said 'Hi' while approaching her without nay care.

Seeing his reaction, Darkness opened her mouth, sank herself even more in an attempt to cover her chest and squatted down onto the floor.

"… Why…? Why, why…? Why, why, why…!?"

"…? What's the matter, Darkness? You look stressed… I know! I'll help wash your back so you can relax."

"Wha-?!"

Kazuma closed the distance and took a wooden stool, and he patted the seat so that Darkness would make her way to him. Because his actions were too unexpected, Darkness just sat there covering her chest with her wet towel, her mouth silently opening and closing.

This 'Darkness' felt refreshing, but it was to be expected of the 'Darkness' created by the succubus. She adhered to the settings he described on the form while also still being Darkness.

"You, you, you, what are you saying!? No, that, why, why are you so calm, and what do you mean by washing my back!? Too many things are happening, it's overloading my brain…!"

Impressive, it entirely realistic. And it adds up to the personality I set up of beingnaive, a little shy and unworldly.

"No, now's not the time to get even more worked up, so hurry and choose: The stool or the bath…?"

Darkness had a panicky expression as she listed to him. She failed to voice an answer, or even understand what was coming out of Kazuma's mouth.

Kazuma felt that taking the initiative was a great experience, so he continued to make things progress.

"Can't be helped. I know your settings are to be shy, but since you didn't choose quickly I'll chose for you."

Kazuma walked over to Darkness and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Since you're being so willful I'll go ahead and wash your back while you just stay in and relax. So turn around."

"Could, could it be… Under such circumstances, you helping me wash my back is common sense?"

Despite falling into a panic, Darkness was still turning around hesitantly. But since her chest was previously on his vision, turning around did give her sense of relief, if only a little bit.

Still, that didn't stop Kazuma to gaze toward Darkness backside without reservation, and while a good part of it lay submerged, he still had a beautiful view.

"Don't worry, it will be refreshing and nice. And you should be more thankful you know, after all it's hard to restrain myself, in more than one way."

"What's with you!? What's wrong with you today!?"

Kazuma really liked how the dream 'Darkness' in the scene acted so realistically. It made him feel very immersed although…

Isn't this too real…?

Just as his thoughts were heading on that direction, his hands with the towel they were holding came in contact with Darkness white skin, and she let the most adorable shriek he'd ever heard from her.

Ah that's right, this is such a wonderful dream! I better play along!

And just like that all of his doubts disappeared.

He started washing her the few of her skin that was exposed to him, making slow movements so that he could enjoy 'Darkness' body. From her uncovered nape to the outline of her breasts that he could see despite them being submerged.

"Uuhn‒ No! This isn't normal! You're not acting normal!"

"Whatever could you mean by that Dark~ ness~ Your parent gave us that wonderful crab to dine, so it's only natural that I would repay the favor now...I know! I'll also give you a massage. That should be fair right?"

Kazuma didn't wait for any kind of reaction from her to put his towel away and place his hands on her shoulders, and started to massage them.

"A-a massage?! Wha- what are you planning to do Kazum‒ Aaaahn!"

Darkness couldn't help but shriek again when Kazuma began his massaging routine on her. Despite how tense she was, she found herself half-enjoying the way he was treating her her.

"Ugh… Why, why did it become like this… But, handling me this assertively, I can't resist. I really hate my fetish right now…"

Kazuma kept on massaging just her shoulders, as she was too submerged in the water to let him reach the 'good parts'. This went for a few minutes, but it felt like forever for both of them. Kazuma was enjoying every second of it, as Darkness played just as he would have wished her too.

"Hnnnn‒! How… how are you this- this good?"

She couldn't believe it. She was melting away under Kazuma's hands and she couldn't do a damn thing about it. She just found herself enjoying the massage she was being given. For one second, she contemplated how maybe this massage was a common occurrence between adventurers or friends.

I guess you could say I'm an expert at this… I did gain a lot of experience on this on my previous world…

Kazuma remembered how he used to massage his parents shoulders to either ask them for things or get them in a good mood so that they wouldn't beat him up.

And it was showing. Kazuma didn't knew if the dream was subconsciously placing the fact that he knew how to massage just like everything else, or if he just was successful because it was a lewd dream, but he didn't care. Darkness uneven breath and her obvious attempts at holding moans were just painting the most lewd scene.

After he told himself he had got his fun with Darkness milky and soft skin, he abruptly stopped, leaving her confused and annoyed that he had removed his hands.

Darkness shyly turned her head and placed her eyes on his, desperately trying to not set them on his bare body and timidly asked, "U-um Kazuma… I know it's just a favor but… why did you stop?"

"What are you saying. Even with the settings adjusted, you still lack common sense. Don't you see? I can't give you a proper massage without you cooperating with me."

"Cooperating? This is still kind of weird for me Kazuma so could you please tell me what to do?"

"It's simple Darkness, just get out of the water so I can give you a full body massage."

Darkness already blushing face got even hotter, and she was close to shedding tears form the embarrassment. "What?! That's too weird, too weird! No matter how ignorant I am, I know I now a full body massage is definitely not something normal!"

Kazuma frowned. It really was a dream. The real Darkness would just submit to his order as the masochist pervert she was. Although maybe he just needed to grease the wheel a little more.

"Come on Darkness, we both know you want this so work with me alright?" Kazuma put on his 'deep' voice and leaned to whisper into her ear. He recognized this was supposed to be like him selecting a dialogue option to advance the scene.

"You, you little…! That kind of thing is not true! What do you mean I secretly want you to‒ want you to… force yourself on me after I give up my body to you on a silver platter so you can mark me all as yours…! hah… hah…!"

Since 'dream Darkness' resembled her real life counterpart so much Kazuma had her figured out easily. She might just as well gone and spoiled what the succubus had planned for him, still he pushed forward.

"Right, I'm supposed to believe the cliche moment of the helpless girl in the bath? That simply can coexist with the nature of a pervert like you Darkness. All the lights turned off… you not noticing me outside the room… you were hoping for this kind of development, weren't you~?"

"Ah! N-no, the lights went out abruptly shortly before you arrived! And even then, don't you have a skill that lets you see in the dark?"

Kazuma was getting irritated at how she was ruining his mood and not just moving forward the scene, specially since she brought those logical arguments into his wet dream. Those had no place there!

"Come on you pervert, no matter how hard you try you can't hide the fact you want it. So don't drag this longer than in need to and just come out of the water."

Kazuma finally contemplated as 'Darkness' finally accepted and began pulling herself out of the water. He hear a 'so forceful' from her but it didn't register as his mind made space for her voluptuous figure baring itself to him at last.

And just as he was about to take a hold of it…

"Intruder! Everyone come quick! There's an intruder in the mansion!"

… Aqua's voice sounded out from within the mansion.

Hey, I was just getting to the good part! I didn't ask for this to happen!

Kazuma growled a million curses at the girl that invaded his dreams. He wanted to carry on but he also felt like giving her a piece of his mind.

He stole one last glance at Darkness. She had summered herself again in the bath with a red face while looking up at him with teary eyes. He gave a quick and firm order to Darkness to stay were she was and dashed out.

He stormed the living room with a towel firmly around him in search for Aqua, and she found her as expected, with someone pinned down under her. Megumin was right besides her holding her staff in a defensive manner.

He inspected her closely and realized she was a succubus girl, seemingly a lot younger than the succubus that had attended him.

"Kazuma, look! A villain was stopped by my barrier and couldn't move‒ Wait, there's another villain!"

"Who are you calling a villain…! Wait, what's this? What's a succubus doing there?"

Aqua averted the eyes from him as he was wearing a towel and Kazuma had a chance to think.

Kazuma noted how the situation was off. Way off.

First there were too many characters in the scene. Both Megumin and the loli succubi didn't fit the role of 'an onee-san with a great figure'. Oh and that she was a succubus too.

"I've set a powerful barrier in this mansion. I rushed over because there was a reaction in the barrier, and found this succubus that was trying to sneak into the place! Succubi will attack men, so she must be here for Kazuma! But don't worry, I'll perform an exorcism and dispose of her!"

Hearing Aqua say that, the succubus gasped. And started to tremble.

What was this, it was too weird, too strange for a lewd dream.

But that would mean…!

That would mean that the 'Darkness' I saw in the bathing room was…!

Aqua moved some distance away from the succubus and thrust her index finger at her. "All right then, accept your fate! I'll use my super skill for killing devils… Kazuma, you're a guy, so don't come too close! The succubus might control you…"

She turned to warn him, but she was surprised at what she saw. He silently moved past her ignoring her warnings, stood before the succubus, took her hand and ran toward the main door.

"Wait, wait! Kazuma, what are you doing? She's a devil, she's here to suck Kazuma's energy!"

Setting up a barrier without telling me, Aqua really likes to do unnecessary things.

Kazuma ignored Aqua and turned as the succubus reached for his shirt and called to him in a soft volume so only he could hear:

"So-Sorry esteemed customer! Please leave me alone, I'm just a monster! I didn't expect a barrier to be here, but getting to the side of the customers is what we are good at. Things turned out this way because I was too immature and failed to infiltrate. I can't let the customer embarrass themselves, so let them dispose of me as a random wandering succubus. Customer, you just need to pretend you know nothing at all!"

He returned his gaze at Aqua's face, shielding the succubus behind him as he pushed her toward the door.

Kazuma lifted his fist a fighting stance against Aqua. He was good at punching Aqua, but he didn't know if that would translate well into an actual fistfight.

"Customer?"

The succubi seemed to understand as she whimpered away.

"Aqua look at his nose! He has a nosebleed! The succubus must already began to suck his life force!

As they reached up to them Megumin raised her weapon and looked at the succubus with sharp eyes, she pointed Aqua at the blood flowing from his nose. It wasn't a lot of it, but Aqua assumed that what she said was correct.

"Aqua, Kazuma is totally bewitched and completely under the succubi control! Kazuma's has been acting weirdly and forceful for awhile! And he was saying something about dreams and settings, so that's probably it! Damn, that succubus, letting me taste such… Humiliation…! I'll kill her!"

Without drying her hair, Darkness rushed out with only a simple shirt and a tight skirt and shouted at the succubus.

Hearing her shout something so dangerous with teary and bloodshot eyes, Kazuma almost took a few steps backward. Aqua just nodded as Darkness words confirmed her about him being controlled.

"… Heh, so this is how it's going to be huh? You're out of luck vile demon! I'm a goddess, after all. I can't let you enter my house and snatch Ka‒ My servant! You won't get away so easily. I'll just destroy your control of him using my charm! Kazuma please listen to me! I know 'you' are still there, so get out of my way if you don't want to get trashed!"

You delinquent! I'll have to remember to beat her for this later...

"Kazuma, are you there? No matter how cute she is, she's still a devil. She's a monster. Get a hold of yourself, that's an enemy we need to defeat!"

Megumin looked like she had enough, and said that with a cold but pleading gaze and a strong attitude, as if hoping her words would bring him back to his senses. Still, despite it hurting, it wasn't enough to make him back down.

Kazuma extended his hand and waved at the succubus, gesturing for her to leave quickly.

When she saw him do that, Aqua took a step forward, lowered her body and took a stance. Her fist let out a release of magical energy, but Kazuma was already to far in to back down now.

"Looks like I have to fight seriously! All right, bring it on! I'll give beat some good sense into Kazuma and send that succubus back home to hell!"

She then yelled and charged at them.

When the succubus saw this, she screamed softly and began to scurry away.

"Cu-Customer please take care!"

Those final words steeled Kazuma's resolve.

He remembered what things he needed to protect, what things he couldn't betray,,,

He clenched his fist. The fist that had delivered punches into Aqua's forehead countless times before, it could do it one more time. Even if it were to be his last.

He swore for all that he stood for...

"Bring it on!"

Part 9

"Is this really necessary you guys?"

"…"

"Fine. Keep it your way."

Kazuma was laying down on his bed. Megumin and Darkness were looking for him while the local Arch-priest went out shopping while he was recovering from the succubus control. Or more accurately…

"You do know she is just duping you guys right? I'm already fine. I was the first time I woke up."

It was true, Aqua had left them at home looking after him while she bought wine and dinner, not that they cared. Aqua had explained to him what had happened and he had filled in on what he 'remembered' of the night. Since Darkness thought he really was under the succubus control he was able to get out of that situation relatively easy.

But the fallout wasn't as easy.

"Hey, say something. Or rather, you were also at fault for going along in the heat of the moment."

"…!"

Darkness seemed to have something to say, but swallowed her words. Megumin looked at her and just let out a sigh.

She turned to look at him and gave a shrug. She was hoping that Darkness open first about the whole ordeal to him, but was unsuccessful.

He was thankful and a little surprised at how she handled herself. She didn't lash out and launch any kind of magic at him.

Getting hit by her staff multiple times still hurt, specially since she had the strength of an actual demon, but it was better than getting scotched along with the hall.

Despite her claiming that she would kill the succubus, Darkness failed to do so as thanks to Kazuma she was allowed to escape, and instead ha taken her anger on him. At least her fist punch knocked him out, avoiding any more punishment from Aqua.

And despite clearing his name, she had been silently standing with her arms crossed all day.

"… You really don't remember what happened last night? You were under the control of the succubus, so you forgot everything, right?"

Darkness finally spoke. Seems like she wanted to confirm it.

"Yes. Regrettably, I can't remember anything. I only remember having a nice dream."

Since she gave him a way out, he naturally took it. So acting as it never happened was the best for the both of them.

"I-I see. That's great… Um, it can't be helped. It was just an accident, so I should forget about it too… But, your attitude was so firm back then… it was a bit scary, but not bad either. But saying strange things to the naive me is wrong."

"Well, Darkness is back to being her weird self again, so I'll say that all is back to normal." Megumin said pleased.

"Yeah, let's go out to meet with Aqua. Knowing her she probably lost track and is at the guild drinking."

Darkness grabbed Kazuma and pulled him out of the bed. He could see that she was still blushing considerably, something that made him blush a little bit too.

But he needed to suppress the blush or they might catch him.

He got beat up, but since Aqua healed him completely, he hadn't lost anything in the whole exchange. He gained a lot in fact, something he didn't see himself seeing less doing in his old world.

And so the three made their way to the guild. It had been a very livid winter. Kazuma died and came back, found a secret dungeon by accident, got introduced to the Succubus cafe, and crossed some thresholds with a hot girl…

And since it was still winter, he didn't feel like he was going to go out on adventure so frequently.

And that means that nothing would top that any time soon.

---

Heeeey! I'm back, just in time to wish you a happy new year! I hope that the next one treats us better than 2020. Well, here's to hoping that we all fare well in 2021.

Anyway the Destroyer chapter is next to come. I definitely hasn't been sucking away my life force already… hahaha….

I wanted to talk about how Kazuma has changed now that he's the only one not OP and how he'll grow more stronger later, but that's better saved for next time.

Finally, please leave a review! If you have any idea, suggestion or just want to say something do so! Reviews are writer fuel and honestly, I've been running low on the stuff lately.

Well then, I'll see you next time!