All seemed to be a normal morning for our favorite adventurers…least…it was supposed to be normal. A number of them couldn't help but stare at the sight before them.
"Where's the tea, Aqua?" Kazuma asked politely.
"Here you are…" Aqua said pouring for him.
"You made it into plain hot water. Oh well, I'll drink it anyway." Kazuma said happily.
"Okay…did we end up in an alternate universe or something?" Luz asked.
"Yeah. I've never seen the dude so…chill." Subaru said.
"What could have brought on such a change?" Kasumi asked.
"Money…that's what changed those two." Limestone said. "Remember when Kazuma got that kotatsu from Vanir?"
"How could we forget? It was literally 2 days ago." Ethox said.
"Well, Vanir made a deal with Kazuma and us. He wants to sell products from Japan in the Adventure Universe as well as having him and Wiz set up a shop in our guild. In exchange…Kazuma would be entitled to a portion of the overall profits." Theo said.
"And that turned him into a stereotypical rich boy." Amity guessed.
"It's freaking me out!" Megumin shrieked. "We have to fix this right now!"
"Yeah…" Ethox agreed. "But how?"
It was then that Lily joined the rest of the group. "Excuse me? There are visitors at the door."
"Oh damn. It's not more debtors after us, is it?" Limestone said.
"No, I don't think so. They said they're looking for Ethox." Lily clarified.
"Me? Well, I guess I'll go talk to them." Ethox said as he walked to the front door and opened it. "Hi, how can I…wait a minute!" he realized, seeing who it was.
Standing in front of him were none other than Princess Rosalie, Mash, and Elulu!
"Rosalie? Mash, Elulu?" Ethox asked in surprise.
"Ethox!" Mash and Elulu said in delight.
"It's good to see you again, Ethox." Rosalie said.
"Hey, great to see you guys too! What're you guys doing here?" the Nobody asked.
"We need to talk. Is the hero and Ristarte here?" Rosalie asked.
"Hero, huh? Well, I'm pretty heroic, if I…" Kazuma said.
"She means Seiya." Mirror Match said.
"Oh, right." Kazuma said.
"Yeah, they're here, plus a few more." Ethox confirmed. "Come on in, and we can catch up."
"So, I must say we're surprised you decided to come to Belzerg." Mirror Match said as the group were gathered around a table. "I would have thought you would stay on Gaeabrande."
"Well, normally I would, but something's happened that's reduced the Demon Lord's overall power." Rosalie explained. "Our army's even managed to take back some of the land that the demons ruled over."
"Yeah, that would have something to do with us. Zenos has recently been actively trying to cause mayhem in other worlds, which I guess means that he's lost focus on Gaeabrande. But we've been stopping his plans, whatever they are." Rista said.
"Ever since he got beheaded by Ehto, he's been trying to get his body and power back." Ethox explained. "He's managed to get new Heavenly Kings, but as far as we know, he's still just a head."
"Wait, the Demon Lord got beheaded and he survived?" Elulu asked.
"Ah, that's why Master always goes crazy with burning corpses." Mash realized.
"I see. But back to what I was saying: since the demon threat's gone down, the barrier around our world was taken down, meaning people can go there without having to go through the Unified Divine Realm first." Rosalie said. "But since it'll never be safe until Zenos is dead, my father's called people from other worlds to form an alliance to hunt the demon lord down."
"Well, we've got connections to very powerful nations too. Like Tempest and the Sorcerer Kingdom." Theo said. "We even met more when we fought on Onigashima."
"Yes, my father and our kingdom's diplomats have already talked to some of them." Rosalie said. "They've decided that this world will serve as the common ground to negotiate on, which is why we're here."
"We were going to head straight to the meeting place, but then we heard that you guys were here, after you dealt with that army of flies." Elulu said. "So Mash and I convinced Rosalie to invite you guys to the negotiations!"
"That would be a good idea." Mirror Match said. "We've had little luck in tracking down Zenos. Perhaps joining this alliance would allow us to find him."
"Where are we meeting the others you called to this?" Mirror Match asked.
"A town a bit of a ways away from here. Alancretia, I think it's called." Elulu said.
"Alancretia? Yes. It's a town of hot springs and it also happens to be the main base of my church." Aqua said.
"You mean the Axis Cult?" Ethox said.
"It's no cult, it's a church. Just cause we don't have as many followers as Eris doesn't make us a cult." Aqua said.
"It is when they worship someone like you." Cobalt said.
"What's wrong with that lady?" Elulu asked.
"Sorry. She's under the delusion that she's a goddess." Kazuma said.
"I AM one! Why do you always say I'm not?!" Aqua said.
"Maybe cause it almost always gets us into trouble. Honestly, doing that crap is gonna get you killed one day." Kazuma said.
"While those two are arguing…" Mirror Match said as everyone left Kazuma and Aqua to bicker. "When do we depart to Alancretia?"
"I'd like to go now…but the hero probably has to prepare for the trip." Rosalie scoffed. "So I guess I'll just have to wait until you're ready."
"Bad blood between you two?" Legolia asked Seiya.
"She's a violent dog princess." Seiya said.
"Why you-!" Rosalie started.
"Easy, easy!" Rista said. "Look, we'll take some time to pack. That won't take too long, right?"
"...Right." Seiya agreed. "We may have to stop by Wiz's shop to pick up some supplies. Give us an hour."
"Wow, just an hour, Master?" Mash said. "I'd have thought you'd take a whole week to pack."
"Yeah, well…things change." Seiya replied. "Come on, let's go to the store."
"Right. Kazuma, go with him." Tanya said, interrupting Kazuma and Aqua's argument.
"Ugh…fine. Guess our vacation is going on the road then." Kazuma muttered as he headed out with Seiya.
"Yeah…when do we tell him when negotiations are involved, it's no longer a vacation?" Naofumi asked.
"Let's let him have his denial for now." Subaru said.
"Well, it was fun while it lasted, I suppose." Beatrice stated.
"He did his best to try and give us what he wanted us to have at least." Rem assured.
"No sense in delaying it." Tanya said. "Pack your gear, everyone. We leave in an hour."
An hour later, the group were standing around at the wagon station.
"Luckily, not many people are traveling today, so we got plenty of carriages." Nemo said, passing out tickets to the group members.
"Oh! I call the seat with the best scenery!" Aqua said, waltzing up towards the carriage.
"Hey, where are Seiya and Kazuma?" Ultra asked, looking at his watch. "We're leaving in five minutes."
"Hey…" Kazuma called out as he approached while carrying Wiz.
"Hey Kazuma." Ethox waved. "Oh, is Wiz joining us?"
"Geeze, she looks like she got run over by a truck. What happened?" Nemo asked.
"Vanir happened." Kazuma said. "Wiz bought these faulty portable toilets, which Vanir didn't care much for, so…" he trailed off.
"We got a plus one on our trip." Theo said. "That's fine. More the merrier."
"I hope I won't be too much of a bother. It's very nice to meet all of you in person." Wiz said.
"Is this really okay? Isn't she one of the generals of this world's demon lord?" Mash pointed out.
"Former general. To be perfectly honest, she's a sweetheart. Wouldn't hurt a human at all." DJ clarified.
"Hey, Kazuma?" Ethox asked. "Sorry we had to cut the vacation short. I know you wanted us to have a good time, but with this meeting and all…"
"Hahahaha….oh silly Ethox. We're still on vacation." Kazuma laughed deliriously.
"Yeah, I wouldn't push this. He's in complete denial." Subaru whispered.
"That bad, huh?" Ethox whispered back.
"Yeah, soon as I told him, he completely broke." Subaru said. "Hopefully it all blows over. Although, we do kinda need to do this. We can't waste our time, after all. So just leave the matter alone."
"Okay, okay." Ethox said.
"Hey, sorry to cut in, but uh…one of the carriages already has an occupant." Nemo said. "Unfortunately, some poor soul has to sit with the luggage."
"I know! Why don't we make things fair by playing rock paper scissors?" Aqua suggested.
"Uh…" the Fatebreakers looked towards Kazuma.
"How about this? You and I will play three rounds. If I lose even once, you'll have to sit in the back." Kazuma said.
"Um, I don't mind sitting-" Wiz started, Kazuma shushing her with a finger to her lips.
"Uh, Aqua? You sure this is a good idea?" Ethox asked. "Kasuma NEVER loses at Rock paper scissors."
"Plus the odds of winning are one outta 3 chances." Theo said.
"Haha! That may be true, but I am a goddess! Blessing!" Aqua said, buffing her luck.
"Hey, you can't buff your luck with magic!" Kazuma protested.
"Well against you, it's more than fair!" Aqua countered. "Come on, rock paper scissors!"
"Alright, fine." Kazuma said.
"Ha! Prepare to taste defeat, Kazuma!" Aqua laughed.
One game later…
"HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!" Aqua cried as she clung to Kazuma.
"Aqua buffed up her luck stat and she still lost, how good is he?" Mash asked.
"Scary good. Luck is his speciality stat." DJ said.
"Plus, Aqua's luck stats sucked to begin with." Seiya noted.
"You and your stupid Special Ability!" Aqua said. "You're using it to cheat! It doesn't count, since you used your special ability! I'm not going to accept it, you hear me?! In fact, you can forget about me offering you any of my help! You'll do just fine with your stupid special ability!"
"...What?" Kazuma said calmly, his left eye twitching.
"Uh oh." Ethox stated. "Everyone, step back."
"You heard me! You send me back to the Divine Realm right now! You're-!"
"...Do you even hear yourself?!" Kazuma yelled, leaning over Aqua in a rage. "How is always winning at rock paper scissors a special ability?! What, am I supposed to challenge the Devil King to a game, is that it?!"
"Now look here you-!" Aqua began to protest.
"But what really pisses me off is you thinking that withholding your so-called help is some sort of threat!" Kazuma yelled. "Other people on the team can do what you do! Better even! Help my ass, you caused way more problems than you solve! If I could send you back to the Divine Realm in exchange for a Cheat Skill or item or whatever, I'd have done it a long ass time ago, you idiotic, stuck up, stubborn bitch!"
Kazuma pulled on Aqua's cheeks as he said that, Aqua in pain.
"Wow. Kazuma shifted from Denial to Anger faster than I thought." Legolia said.
"So hes going through the 5 Stages of Grief?" Emilia asked.
"More like 5 Stages of Mourning the Vacation." Grantz said.
"The course will run itself, but we should probably step in before he rips Aqua's cheeks off." Ristarte said.
"Alright, cool it Kazuma." Ethox said, pulling him away from Aqua. "Let's just take a few deep breaths."
Kazuma did so, calming down, though he was still angry. "...She sits in the back." Kazuma said.
"I sit in the back…" Aqua said morose, rubbing her cheeks.
With that, the caravan carrying the group set out, the guild members taking in the sights as they traveled.
"You know, with how we were hanging around the mansion most of the time, I almost forgot we were in another world, but looking around now…" Otto said as he stared out across the desert the caravan was traveling in. "It's pretty amazing, isn't it?"
"Yeah, we've never gone beyond Axel. We're underselling Belzerg, it's beautiful." Ethox said. "So, Mash. Whos coming to this meeting in Alancretia?"
"Oh, you wanna know who we got ahold of, huh? Well fasten your seatbelts." mash smirked. "Thanks to Rosalie, we scored an audience with some of the highest caliber country leaders around! They come from some weird continent…uh…Food Land? Fodder lan…"
"Fodlan…" Theo realized as did the others.
"Wait, then that means…!" Megumin realized.
"Yeah…" Theo said.
In a distant path, three figures rode down on carriages. Edelgard in one, Dimitri in another and Claude in the last as they simply just sat there and waited to meet with their allies.
"We'll be seeing them. The three leaders of the three territories will definitely appear." Theo said.