God's Blessing on this Wonderful Dungeon

By Icura and Special FX

~o~

Chapter 17: Meeting

~o~

"I'm home!"

Aqua smashed open the dining room's door, walking in on Kazuma, Megumin, Darkness, and Eris in the middle of eating breakfast. If it had been a normal morning, the four wouldn't have paid her that much mind, but even they had to pause when they saw the sight that greeted them.

The former goddess was wearing a heavy fur coat, made from an exotic monster that was almost blindingly white in its coloration. Not only that, but the sky blue skirt that ended above her knees was composed of the highest quality fabric, and it was embedded with diamonds that sparkled in the light. Even while wearing an alluring set of sapphire earrings and a blue diamond necklace, she had multiple rings on each finger, numbering so many on some digits that it was wonder if she could even bend her fingers at all.

Each piece of jewelry and clothing on her was so glamorous that there was almost no doubt that even a single one of them would be worth enough to pay for a small family's living expenses for years.

"So…" Kazuma slowly began. "Did a scammer sell you all of that out of some back alley?"

"I didn't get scammed!" Aqua held out her hand so they could examine the rings even closer. "I got them from Freida."

"Alright, start taking them off. I'm going to go teach this 'Freida' person a lesson."

"They aren't fakes," Darkness said as she leaned in. Examining them with a critical eye, she soon nodded her head in confirmation. "These are real."

"Are you sure?" Kazuma asked skeptically, painfully aware of the fact that Aqua couldn't actually tell the difference. After all, this was the same person who got suckered into buying a chicken egg under the impression that it was a dragon egg.

"Unless the standards here are different from Belzerg, I have worn enough to tell," she replied confidently. "I'm sure."

"Aqua…" Kazuma turned to the smug former goddess. "You didn't sell off your organs, did you? I know you can make more with your healing spells, but you shouldn't do that."

"What? No! These were gifts!" Aqua spun around twice to show off her new clothing. "My new best friend Froyo gave them to me when I went to her house to drink wine."

"Froyo? I thought you said her name was Freida!" Kazuma narrowed his eyes. "And how did you meet her anyway?"

"Oh, we first met when I was out trying to buy some wine yesterday!"

"Great. Another drunkard." Kazuma took another look at Aqua's high fashion wear. "...a rich drunkard."

"Not really?" Aqua tapped her bottom lip as she remembered last night. "She didn't really drink all that much. From each bottle, she only took a glass while she let me have the rest of the bottle."

"She didn't throw you out after you drank like a maniac in front of her?" Kazuma skeptically asked.

"Nope! She just kept smiling and patting my hand," Aqua replied, though she tilted her head in thought. "She was nice, but everyone in her household didn't want to have a drink with me and kept giving these weird stares."

"What kind of stares?"

"The kind that people give me when I tell them that I'm a high priestess of the Axis Church."

"Those aren't weird stares! They're looking at you in disgust!"

"Really? But they didn't say anything."

"Well… As long as they don't do anything, it's fine," Kazuma replied. "I had to deal with the same thing when I visited Iris. Oh, that reminds me. I probably should go visit Ais later today."

Megumin stared at him with a blatantly disgusted look.

Purposefully looking away from Megumin, Kazuma asked, "By the way, you didn't get too drunk and forget anything back there, did you?"

"Don't worry." Aqua waved off. "I didn't leave anything important behind at her mansion—oh wait," Aqua blinked. "I forgot about Lili."

"Lili?"

"Just a pallum child."

"A what now?"

"She needed help," Aqua simply replied, as if that explained everything. "Well, it should be fine. Frilla said she'd take care of it."

Kazuma just stared at her for a moment before he shook his head in disbelief.

"...you know what, forget I asked. Anyway, I made some breakfast for you too." Kazuma pointed with his chopsticks at Aqua's usual seat at the table. There was a small bowl of rice next to a plate of fish and sliced cucumbers.

"Oh, vegetables!"

"Why are you so excited? They taste good, but they don't give experience points anymore," Megumin complained as she speared a piece of cucumber and popped it into her mouth.

"That's how they're supposed to be!" Kazuma retorted.

"In what world would that be?!"

"Ah, let's all calm down before we spoil our breakfast," Eris spoke placatingly, though she gave a meaningful glance to both of them. When both of them backed down, she then turned to Aqua who was already sitting down at the table and getting ready to eat. "Senpai, there's some sauce on your lips."

"Oh, there is?" Aqua raised her arm and carelessly wiped her mouth on the sleeve of her extremely expensive coat. "Did I get it?"

"Yes, senpai…"

"Must have been when I was eating breakfast at Frodo's house," Aqua pondered while she reached her hand over to pick up the fork. "I wonder why nobody there told me."

Of course, that was when she realized the problem at hand.

"...I can't pick it up!" Aqua was trying desperately to bend the fingers of her right hand, but there were too many rings in the way, leaving her in the beginnings of a half-formed claw grip. "Junior goddess, I need help!"

"Okay, senpai." Eris scooted her chair closer to Aqua before picking up the other girl's fork. Spearing a piece of fish onto it, she brought it up to the former goddess' mouth. "Say 'Ah'."

Aqua leaned her head forward and chomped down on the forked morsel. Pulling back with her catch, she happily chewed it, uncaring of the flat stares from the other three occupants of the room.

"Take those rings off," Kazuma said bluntly. "Take them off right now."

"Or what?" Aqua challenged smugly, even while chewing on her prize.

"Or I'll use Steal on you. Don't make me use it."

"And steal what? My underwear? How low can you go, Kazuma?"

"Your underwear isn't the most valuable thing on you."

"Stupid Kazuma. It's the most valuable item to me." She looked smugly at him. "I read the skill description. Did you?"

"That's not what it says!" Looking pissed off, Kazuma put down his chopstick and raised his hand threateningly. "Want to find out?"

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Steal!"

After a flash of light, Kazuma opened his hand to reveal…a pair of powdered blue lace panties.

"...huh. I guess they were the most valuable," he murmured, rubbing the panties in his hand. "Wait. Why are these so wet?"

Instead of being embarrassed, Aqua calmly answered, "It's because I haven't had a chance to go to an idol meeting. I did drink a lot of wine last night."

"An idol meeting? Isn't that—" Kazuma's face paled before he tossed the panties onto the ground. "Ugh!"

~o~

It took all morning, but Darkness finally found the person she had been looking for drinking in the back of some shady pub. Since it wasn't even noon, the place was practically empty. The lone bartender manning the bar simply gave her a nod of acknowledgment when she stepped inside.

Darkness simply walked past all of the other empty tables and sat down next to the werewolf at the bar counter who was eyeing her warily with a mug of alcohol in his hands.

"Bete," she greeted with a slight nod of her head.

It had been quite the hassle to track down Bete Loga. Fortunately, he was notorious enough for his attitude that a few adventurers knew of him. With those leads, she had been able to track him down at a pub after he returned from the Dungeon.

"…what are you doing here?" He eventually asked.

"I've been looking for you."

"…Selenia send you?"

"Well…yes," Darkness truthfully admitted. "But I have my own reasons for being here as well."

"Che." Bete scoffed in response. "What'dya want with me then?"

"I wanted to ask you to be my sparring partner."

"Huh?" Bete furrowed his brow. "Why me? Just ask someone from your little group." He paused and glanced around for a brief moment. "Where's the rest of them anyway? Figured I would've heard that midget yapping by now."

"I came here by myself," Darkness replied. "This is a personal matter so I did not see a reason to involve them."

"You still didn't answer my question."

"You asked me three questions," Darkness refuted with a raised eyebrow. "Before I answer the final one, don't you think it's fair you answer one of mine first?"

"Tch." Bete looked annoyed. "Fine, whatever."

"Why haven't you returned to Vidar Familia, Bete?" Darkness asked. "Selenia has been worried."

Bete took a long drink from his mug before he slammed it onto the table. "...I'm done with those weaklings."

Darkness blinked. It was as if she couldn't understand what she had just heard from the werewolf's mouth.

"What…?"

"It'd be a waste of time to keep working with trash like them," Bete venomously spat out. "They should just go and hide away in some hole like the fist bait they are."

"You…!" Darkness suddenly stood up from her seat and clenched her fists. "How can you say that about your friends?!"

"Am I wrong?" Bete sneered. "You saw what happened to weaklings like Jiruna and Vani."

"That…that had been a surprise attack by a level three adventurer…" Darkness frowned. "You can't blame them for what happened."

"Can't I?" Bete scoffed. "Would you have died there then?"

"...no, but—"

"Exactly. You would have survived," Bete interrupted. "Because you're strong, and in this world, strength is everything. Nothing else matters."

Darkness shook her head. "That's not true."

"Isn't it?" Bete took another long drink from his mug. "The strong survive and the weak perish. That's how it's always been and how it always will be."

"...then isn't it the duty of the strong to protect the weak?"

"Yeah? And how'd that work out?" Bete muttered as he stared down at his now empty mug. "...no matter how hard I try, they just keep slipping through my fingers."

"..."

Darkness couldn't say that she understood how he felt. Not completely, at least.

She had never had to deal with the pain of losing her comrades. Whenever Kazuma or someone else died, Aqua was always there to bring them back. Whatever guilt or pain she might have felt for failing to protect them never lasted very long. After all, Kazuma always came back in the end, and everything would return back to normal. In Belzerg, there had never been any lasting consequences for not being able to protect her friends.

It was different here.

There were no more resurrections. No more second chances, yet she couldn't bear the thought of not being able to see them again. She didn't know how she would have been able to handle it if Kazuma perished during their last expedition. Perhaps that was why she couldn't find it in her heart to blame Bete for not wanting to be involved with Vidar Familia anymore.

It was all just rather…sad.

"Tch, spare me your pity," Bete scoffed. "Why're you getting so upset anyway? S'not like this is any of your business. Last time I checked, you were a member of Eris Familia, not Vidar Familia."

"...that's not true," Darkness softly replied. "You and Selenia… Jiruna and Vani as well. You're all my friends."

Bete waved the bartender over and got his mug refilled. However, he only took a sip this time. Instead, he just nursed the drink in his hand for a while, gazing at the crimson liquid resting inside of the mug.

"...look, Darkness. I'll be your sparring partner or whatever so just drop it already," Bete eventually said. "I still owe you guys for the Goliath and helping kill that bastard Olivias anyway."

"I told Selenia that I'd bring you back," Darkness said. "A crusader doesn't go back on her word."

"You deaf or something?" Bete growled threateningly. "I already told you I'm done with 'em."

"Then at least tell her that to her face instead of just running away!" Darkness countered aggressively. However, just as quickly, she backed down. "...in the end, it's your decision to make, but I think she deserves to know."

Bete glared at her in response. She only met his piercing gaze with one of her own, refusing to waver under his scrutiny.

"Tch…now I know why you two get along so well," Bete eventually mumbled to himself as he broke the staring contest.

"Hmm?" Darkness raised an eyebrow. "What was that?"

"I said fine! Let's get outta here then." Bete finished his mug before he slammed it onto the counter and stood up. "The drinks here taste like piss anyway."

~o~

Kazuma drained a magic stone in his pouch as he made his way toward Loki Familia's home—the Twilight Manor. Since he had burned through most of his mana during a spar with Alise in the morning, he felt the need to replenish his mana a little bit just in case. His maximum mana reserves were still far too low—compared to someone like Aqua or Megumin—but it had been slowly increasing over time through the continuous use of his spells. Combined with using magic stones to refuel himself, he was able to create an efficient training cycle.

Sure, it was a grind, but it wasn't like he hadn't done it before.

Even before Belzerg, as a veteran MMO player, he had gone through his fair share of ridiculously long grinds. Sure, this was real life rather than a game, but the concept was still the same. Since he didn't need to worry about his body breaking down due to healing magic and potions, he just needed the right motivation to keep going. Of course, it just so happened that motivation was something that he had in excess right now.

Some would call him petty, maybe even spiteful, and they were damn right.

Kazuma wasn't the type of person to let a grudge go. He was going to make those Evilus bastards pay for what they had done. He just needed some time to let Eris work on information gathering while he focused on leveraging all of his resources to fulfill his goals. One of those resources being the Loki Familia. He was already sharing information with Alise and the Astraea Familia, so having Loki Familia involved as well would just be another bullet in his chamber.

"Kazuma, Kazuma," Megumin said as she walked alongside him. "When are we doing my daily Explosion?"

He glanced down at his shorter companion with an annoyed look on his face.

"Why do you even need me to go with you anymore? You don't even faint now that you have that new developmental ability."

"I still need someone to go with me just in case," Megumin refuted, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.

"Then just get somebody."

"Who?"

"I don't know. Maybe someone from your new legion of fans?" Kazuma dryly replied.

After that showing she had during the magic contest with Riveria, Megumin became quite popular with the denizens of the city—especially the kids. The fact that she loved to flaunt her new title around so much only added more fuel to the fire. It was all in stark contrast to her reputation as the 'crazy Explosion girl' back in Belzerg.

She was more similar to an idol now if anything.

"Who else but you can objectively judge the quality of my Explosion? Besides, you're my partner, not them."

Kazuma had to admit, she made a fair point.

He had seen so many of her Explosions that he was pretty much an Explosion connoisseur at this point, as much as he didn't want to admit it. Of all the things in life he could have been an expert in, this was probably the most useless thing he could have picked. Behold, Satou Kazuma, PhD in Explosions.

Yeah, that was definitely something his parents would have approved of.

"...I'll go with you after I'm done talking with Finn."

"Okay." Megumin gave him a side glance. "You better."

It didn't take very long for them to arrive at the gates to the Twilight Manor. As they walked inside the open gates, they ran into a familiar mother and daughter pair on the way out. Even though she kept denying it, Riveria definitely fit the role of a 'mama bear'.

"Well, this is certainly a surprise," Riveria said as she approached them with Ais trailing slightly behind. "What brings you two to our humble abode?"

Kazuma wanted to say that there wasn't anything 'humble' about living in a massive medieval castle, but he didn't want to get beaten up by an angry elf either. Not after having already gotten beaten up by a happy-go-lucky redhead this morning. He wasn't a masochist like Darkness after all.

"I'm just here to meet with Finn," Kazuma explained before he waved at the small little girl behind Riveria. "Morning, lil sis."

"…good morning, big bro," Ais softly greeted.

C-cute! There was no way his little sister was this cute! Sorry, Iris! He might have to redo the hierarchy of his cute little sister ranking after all.

Megumin looked at him with narrowed eyes. "...Scumzuma."

"Meet with Finn…?" Riveria repeated before her eyes lit up in realization. "Ah, I see. Have you decided to join us on our upcoming expedition then?"

"Eh, it depends," Kazuma nonchalantly replied with a shrug. "I'm just here to negotiate first."

"I see. Well, I wish you the best of luck on your endeavor then," Riveria said before she began to walk away. "Come along, Ais. Let's get going."

Ais, however, didn't follow after her caretaker and instead walked over to him instead.

"Hmm…?" Kazuma tilted his head at the little girl standing in front of him. "What's up, lil sis?"

"...are you really a hero, big bro?"

Kazuma blinked in response to the sudden question. What had brought that on?

"...Loki said the gods called you a hero. Is it true?"

"Of course he is!" Megumin announced with a flap of her cape. "Did you think that the chosen Explosion partner of the 'Witch of Blazing Annihilation' could be anything less!?"

Kazuma gave Megumin a pointed look.

"Ah, that's right. Congratulations on your level ups," Riveria—having turned around to face them—said with a smile. "The gods have given you two some impressive titles to live up to. As a fellow mage, I look forward to seeing what your future holds, 'Witch of Blazing Annihilation'."

To see a serious class-rep type of character say a title like 'Witch of Blazing Annihilation" without a flinch was impressive, but saying it with a completely straight face… Everyone here really was delusional, weren't they?

"O-oh?" Megumin seemed surprised for a brief moment before she quickly recovered. "Of course, my eternal rival, the mighty 'Nine Hell' would understand!"

"I'm your rival now, am I?" Riveria asked with an amused look on her face. "I wonder…how many years has it been since someone has spoken so brazenly to me?" She chuckled to herself. "Nonetheless, do not let the hubris from your recent victory cloud your judgment. While your firepower is indeed impressive, there is more to being a great mage than merely offensive firepower."

"Nonsense! There's nothing in this world that Explosion can't defeat!"

"It's not always as simple as firing off your strongest spell at an enemy," Riveria lectured. "As I've said before, versatility is just as important."

"Who needs versatility when you can—"

Kazuma tuned out the rest of that pointless conversation and glanced back down at the little girl standing next to him instead. She had a troubled look on her face as she watched the ongoing argument between the two mages.

"Something wrong, lil sis?"

"...are you really a hero?" She asked again as she looked back up at him with eyes filled with something akin to desperation.

"They wouldn't call me the 'Hero of Justice' if I wasn't."

Kazuma had to actively stop himself from cringing, but he couldn't say otherwise when his little sister was looking at him like that.

Seeing a little girl with eyes like those didn't sit right with him. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Ais Wallenstein probably had a screwed-up childhood, especially since she was already an adventurer at her age. He had leveled up recently so he knew the amount of effort it took to reach level two and yet, here was a little girl probably less than half his age who had achieved that very same thing.

And she didn't seem to be benefiting from a royal bloodline or riches like Iris was.

"...papa said I would find my hero one day." Ais gripped his cloak with her trembling hands. "...will you save me too…?"

Kazuma didn't like his title.

It was cringey and something that a middle schooler would come up with. In fact, from what he had heard from Eris, the title had probably been brought up as a joke by Hermes to screw with him. But more than anything, he hated the expectations and responsibilities that came with it. He wasn't some stereotypical isekai hero who had a cheat item or skill like Mitsurugi did. He was just an adventurer—the weakest class—and all he had going for him was his wit and his luck stat.

Situations like this one where people had these expectations for him were the worst.

"Ais…" Riveria trailed off with a troubled look on her face. It looked like she wanted to say more, but didn't know what.

Kazuma didn't like his title, but for the sake of his newly appointed little sister, he would step into the role whether he liked it or not. He didn't know what he needed to save her from, but whether it was another demon king, an evil dragon, or something else utterly ridiculous, it didn't matter to him.

After all, what kind of big brother didn't look after his cute little sister?

"Yeah." Kazuma just smiled as he ruffled her hair. "Just leave everything to your big bro."

The look in her eyes made all the future troubles worth it.

A hand suddenly clamped down onto his shoulder. Attached to the hand was an ominously smiling elven woman who was using her full height to stare him down.

"Weren't you going to your meeting with Finn?" Pressing down harder, Riveria gestured with her other hand to the mansion's door. "Just knock on the door and someone will be there to help you. You shouldn't let us waste too much of your time."

As if to emphasize her point, she dug her fingers in.

"Yeah, meeting, right," Kazuma quickly said while wincing. "I'll—agh—get right on it!"

"I'm glad we aren't going to take any more of your time," Riveria said pleasantly as she released her grip, leaving fingernail imprints in the shoulder part of his clothing. "It would be prudent not to say any more reckless words, don't you agree?"

"Yeah…"

"Then we'll be off." Riveria turned around and took her charge by the hand. "Come along, Ais."

"Wait!" Megumin interrupted. "I have something to talk to you about!"

Both Riveria and Ais stopped in place and turned to the mage. However, when Kazuma looked questioningly at her, she made a just shoo-ing motion at him.

"Go to your meeting. This is private between me and her."

Rolling his eyes, Kazuma simply turned and walked toward the front doors. As much as he wanted to know what she was going to talk to them about, he still had his own worries to take care of.

Negotiation wouldn't be easy. He needed Loki Familia's help to deal with Evilus, and the only thing he had to offer was their participation in their upcoming expedition. However, quite frankly, Loki Familia could still probably make do without them. They were the premier exploration Familia in the city after all.

Worse, Kazuma was in a position of need so it would be more correct to say that this negotiation was more a matter of losing the least amount in concessions. Any good negotiator would recognize the opportunity and milk him for all that he was worth, and if what he heard about Finn was right, the leader of Loki Familia was more than just good.

Indeed, the fight ahead of him wasn't going to be easy at all.

~o~

"Deal!"

In a sparsely decorated office within the Twilight Manor, Finn reached his hand across his desk and firmly shook the hand of a dazed Kazuma. Looking at the rapidly blinking adventurer, one would think that he had been through a whirlwind of discussion, bargaining, and hardballing with hits coming back and forth across that desk as if spitting fireballs at each other.

Except that wasn't what happened at all.

In fact, it took less than five minutes for the negotiations to conclude. The reason for that was simple.

Finn didn't even bother to negotiate. Loki Familia would help hunt down Evilus while Eris Familia would participate in expeditions for however long this contract held with both sides being able to break it at any time. It was a deal that was mutually beneficial for both of them. In fact, Finn could have gotten a lot more from him if he had even tried a little.

So why did Kazuma feel like he was on the losing side…?

Breaking the handshake, both of them sat back down.

"Is that all the business that you're here for?" Finn politely asked.

"Uh…that's all I got for now."

"I see," Finn replied with a smile. "I'm glad that we were able to come to an accord."

Kazuma couldn't help but narrow his eyes in response. It really did feel like he was getting scammed here, but for the life of him, he couldn't figure out how.

"Since you're here, would you like to stay for lunch?"

"I can't," Kazuma replied reluctantly. "I left Megumin outside."

"She can come in too."

"Maybe next time. We have things to do after."

"A pity," Finn commented, actually looking a little disappointed. However, his expression soon became more somber. "There is something I need to talk to you about before you leave though."

"Okay…?"

Finn folded his hands together over his desk. "What is your relationship with Riveria?"

Kazuma just blinked in response.

"Uh…she's Megumin's rival, and we talk on occasion when she visits with Ais. Why?"

"Is that really all?"

"Well, yeah." Kazuma stared at him in confusion. "What's this all about?"

"Recently, Riveria has gathered a rather significant collection of locally-made artwork. This isn't too unusual for her and normally, I wouldn't say anything about it—being an art admirer myself—except that it has gotten a little out of hand," Finn explained. "Her collection has grown so large that she has recently taken to hanging them around the mansion."

"Okaaaaay…? What does this have to do with me again?"

Finn let out a small sigh. "Please direct your eyes to your left."

Kazuma turned his head and froze.

Hanging on the wall, somehow unnoticed when he had first stepped into the room, was a painting of him—wearing only a loincloth for that matter—while wrestling with a lion. Despite being accurate enough to show him not having much in the way of muscle definition, he was apparently winning the fight almost single-handedly.

He also distinctly remembered that he had tossed that painting into the trash as well…

"It's titled, 'Fighting the Nemean Lion'." Finn's calm words were barely heard by Kazuma. "This is just one of the many that is now hanging around the mansion, all painted in your image."

Kazuma turned his horrified gaze back to the pallum captain.

"Kazuma, this may just be speculation on my part, but…"

Finn paused as if unsure of how to continue. Despite that, he still did a moment later.

"I have reason to believe that Riveria is in love with you."

~o~

Authors' Note:

Icura: The statement of a century.

Special FX: 'Art' collector Riveria, heh. Also, we took a break during the holiday so that's why this chapter was a bit delayed.