It took Kazuma twelve days to make it back to Axel. That was plenty of time to grieve and blame himself. While he'd only known Roland, Katrina, and Timothy for a couple weeks that had still been long enough to see them as his party. They'd traveled and fought together and he'd hoped that the arrangement would be permanent. Roland had been a genuinely nice guy who had gone out of his way to make him feel welcome. While Katrina and Timothy hadn't exactly been friendly they had gotten along. They had deserved better than to be killed inside a dark damp dungeon and then eaten.

He was also deeply ashamed to have just stood there silently and done nothing. Rationally Kazuma knew there was nothing more he could have done. If he'd tried to attack that beast he would have just died too. And then… what? Before coming to this world he'd always assumed death was the final end. Now he knew better. If he were killed here what would happen? Would he wake up in another room in front or a different spoiled goddess? Would he get the same choices again? What if his choices were worse? What if he was told he didn't get a say in what happened next. Aqua had told him what would happen if he succeeded and killed the Devil King. But being the idiot he was he'd never thought to ask what would happen to him if he failed.

Immediately after what happened he'd thought about giving up being an adventurer. He still had his bag of silver, that would be plenty to let him set up a new life as a merchant. After a couple days though he'd reconsidered. The fact was he'd enjoyed life as an adventurer and being a member of a party. It was his literal dream come true. He was in a genuine fantasy world, he could do magic, he could be the hero he'd always pretended to be on line. How could he give that up? Yes, there was one hell of a downside. He was never going to forget what happened, but he wasn't ready to walk away from his dream.

There was something else he had to consider too. Even if he did manage to live a long peaceful life in this world selling cabbages, he would eventually die without killing the Devil King. What would happen then? Would he be punished for just giving up on the quest he'd been given? In the guild doing that got you a two week suspension. What would it get you in the afterlife? No. Even though he understood how real the dangers were now, he was an adventurer and this was the path he would continue on.

What had changed was his understanding that this was world was not a game. There were no extra lives and no save points. And adventurers could die just as easily as the monsters. Given the hardships he'd already endured he'd understood that to a point. But he'd sort of assumed that once he was on a genuine adventure things would just sort of work out. That had been unbelievably stupid! He understood that now though. He would take things more seriously from now on and not assume things always had to turn out how he wanted.

On the way back to Axel he discovered that Vanish and Detect Enemy were both passive skills that he could leave active even while he was asleep. At night he would climb up invisible onto a tree branch and sleep. During the day, he kept Detect Enemy active at all times, it drained a little of his MP but not that much. Only a couple times had he sensed enemies approaching. When that happened he disappeared and quietly headed in the opposite direction. He successfully avoided any encounters and eventually made it back home a more serious and somber person than he'd left.

XXX

Almost as soon as he entered the guild hall one of the staff hurried up to him. "Welcome to the adventurers guild! Can I get you a meal or a drink?"

"No, thanks. I just need -" Kazuma did a sudden double take. "Huh? Explosion loli, what are you doing in that outfit?"

The little girl frowned and crossed her arms. "Hmmph! I have a name you know, it's Megumin! Please remember it! I am afterall the greatest wizard in all the Crimson Demon Clan!"

Kazuma paused and looked down at her. "Oh? They can't be very good if their best has to work busting tables."

Megumin's face went red. "Th… This is just temporary! The city guard said I was bothering people by begging them for coin and that if I didn't stop they would lock me up. The guild was also threatening to revoke my adventurer's card. So, I had to find a way to make a living and feed myself. And even a stall in the stables costs something."

"Wait, wait, wait, you were begging people for money?" As hard as things had started out for him he'd never had to do that. There were plenty of low paying construction jobs that were at least enough to cover food and basic necessities.

Her face got even redder and she began rubbing her fingers together. "It's not like I wanted to, but none of the parties here will have me. And I can't really do solo quests since I need someone to carry me back after I use my magic. So what choice did I have?"

"To learn spells that don't turn everything to cinder and leave you a rag doll?" Kazuma had absolutely no sympathy for this girl. When he'd been with a party he'd done everything he could to help them succeed. This girl seemed to expect any party she joined to just cater to her. "If you would just learn a few different spells I bet every single party here would want you as a member. Are you seriously telling me you'd rather beg in the streets than learn more spells?"

"That's right!" She declared proudly. "I walk the path of explosion! No other lesser magic interests me! Explosion is the one and only spell that matters, all others are worthless and beneath contempt! I'd rather beg in the streets, no, I'd rather starve and die in the streets then ever lower myself to learn any other magic besides explosion!"

Megumin stood there head held high, eyes shining, and fist clenched.

"Wow, I'm honestly amazed."

"Thank you," she said with a wide smile.

"You are definitely the biggest idiot I've ever met, and I knew someone who was stupid enough to get swallowed by giant toads twice within five minutes."

Her jaw dropped and she stared at him.

He stared back. "Hey, did you get your eye healed? Didn't you used to wear an eyepatch?"

"My eyes are fine. I just thought it looked cool."

"Of course you did," Kazuma sighed and headed to the desk.

Luna happened to be working today and she greeted him. "Welcome back, Kazuma! How did things in the dungeon go?" She shifted her eyes to the entrance. "Are Roland and the others coming too?"

Kazuma flinched, and the instant he did Luna's smile vanished. "No, they're not. They're gone, we ran into a minotaur and…" He didn't say anything more.

"Oh, Kazuma I'm so sorry." She reached out and placed a hand on top of his.

He nodded.

"Kazuma, I know this isn't any sort of comfort, but what happened is part of being an adventurer. It's a risk all adventurers have to accept. They all knew and accepted that, believe me. If you're feeling guilty then you shouldn't. Everyone here has made their choice."

A few other adventurers who were close enough to overhear nodded. A big muscular guy with a mohawk whose name he didn't know came over and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Remember them, keep them alive in your heart and your memories and a little bit of them will live on. This is what it means to be an adventurer."

"Thanks," he said.

XXX

Kazuma took out the bag of silver and removed a handful of coins before handing it to Luna. In the entire time getting back he'd never bothered to count out what he had. He asked her to do the count and deposit it in the vault. She did so and informed him it came to a little over thirty-five million eris. So long as he didn't go crazy money was no longer a problem for him.

The word about what happened to Roland, Katrina, and Timothy spread and everyone there came up to give their condolences. No one mentioned he was only a contractor with their party and no one blamed him for surviving. They all told him that this was part of what it was to be an adventurer.

Kazuma then went ahead and got drunk.

He didn't even need to spend his own money as the others insisted on covering for him. He drank until he puked. (And no his vomit was not rainbow colored and minty fresh.) Then he somehow stumbled home and passed out. He kept to himself a couple of days before deciding to go back to the guild hall. A few people gave him their condolences, but for the most part, the place was as loud and rowdy as always.

Everything is back to normal, he realized. People died and were mourned. Then life continued. The world was not going to come to a grinding halt because three people were no longer in it. It was another lesson for him.

He had decided to remain an adventurer, but with all the money he had now there was no need to rush things. He went to the guild to have lunch, had a few beers, listened to what people were talking about, had dinner, had some more beers and then headed home. He wasn't sure what exactly he was looking for, but he figured he could relax until whatever it was came along.

Kazuma didn't put any new notices on the board. A couple parties had inquired about his services and he had very politely turned them down. He looked over the listed notices and saw they were all very dangerous jobs. The word was that one of the Devil Kings general had moved into the area and sent all the weak monsters into hiding. The capital was sending a force of high level knights to deal with the problem. But no one knew when they would arrive. Since Kazuma wasn't worried about money this wasn't any kind of problem and he continued with his routine.

He noticed the explosion loli was there working most days for about twelve hours. (Forty hour work week? Overtime pay? Minimum wage? Child labor laws? What are those? Are they tasty?) He overheard her complaining about not being allowed to drink beer even though she worked there, about how little she earned and how the waitresses with the big tits got all the attention and tips. She complained about having to live in a two room apartment with three roommates that was downwind of a cow pasture. What she complained the most about was that she hadn't been able to use Explosion even once since the cabbage harvest. Apparently the city guard wouldn't allow her to use that spell within five miles of the city wall and she couldn't convince anyone to go with her and carry her all the way back. That she genuinely just expected people to do this for her out of the kindness of their hearts spoke about how delusional she was.

When the loli was the one serving him he would occasionally mention her learning more spells and how if she did not only would she earn more but she might even have to occasion to use Explosion. She adamantly refused. No matter the circumstance she was a one spell kind of girl. He thought she was a stubborn idiot, which was the worst kind. Maybe it's just as well, he thought. It's at least safer for her.

Before he knew it about a month had passed since he'd come back from the dungeon. More parties had asked him about working with them and he'd turned them all down. He was a fixture at the guild hall though people were starting to wonder if he was done with adventuring. Since he had more than thirty-five million eris in his account though no one made an issue of it. It was the middle of winter, there was snow on the ground, and the knights from the capital had yet to arrive so there were still no low level quests available. Kazuma was sitting at the bar relaxing when he spotted a familiar face.

Chris walked up to him. Trailing a couple steps behind her was a gorgeous big breasted blonde in armor. Chris had a serious expression on her face and did not waste time.

"Kazuma, I need a favor."