Chapter 2: Decisions
Kazuma slowly blinked as the setting sun sets from the horizon. It had been 5 hours after he had died. When he fully opened his eyes, he was met with 2 crying Darkness and Megumin and 1 tearful, but mad Aqua.
"Kazumaaa-saaaan! What took you so long?! I thought you left me stranded on this forsaken planet all alone!" Aqua screamed at him, demanding to know why he took so long to come back to life.
"Kazuma-san *sob* I-I'm so- so sorry... I promise I'll listen to you again. *sob*" Megumin said between her sobs as she tries to gain forgiveness for her earlier mistake.
"Kazuma, I have failed as *sob* not only a knight, but a friend as well. *sob* Please... forgive me." Darkness formally apologized for her 'failure' in knighthood and friendship.
Kazuma, hearing all the sobs and cries and hiccups, plus with the apologies all at once, became noise to him. He got annoyed at this and shouted at them to get their attention and hopefully stop their useless apologies.
"ALL RIGHT I GET IT!!!" That definitely silenced them and got their full attention.
"Listen, I get it. You're all sorry, I forgive you all. So can we just move on already."
"What?! After what happened?!" The three all shouted at once.
"Kazuma are you insane?! You took five hours to come back and your just forgiving us?!" Aqua shouted, confused at his antic's. "What took you so long anyway?! I was sitting here panicking in my head that your actually gone!"
"Listen alright, me and Eris had a bit of a talk, that's all." Kazuma raised both of his hands up and explained what happened, obviously leaving out the part where he confessed and cried to himself.
"A talk huh? You two better not plan anything where you leave me in the dust while frolic back one earth or anything..." Aqua glared at him.
"Don't worry, that one is for another time. Right now, I just want to go to the guild and eat." Kazuma slumped and Aqua went wide eyed with her mouth agape at Kazuma's mention on how he plans on leaving her for 'another time'.
"Kazuma-san, please don't do that ever again. I was worried that you won't come back and I won't be able to say my sorry's..." Darkness said to him and looked down at the ground in guilt.
"Yeah, Darkness is right y'know!" Megumin added on. "Don't you dare do that again or I'll do something terrible to your body alright." Megumin threaten him as well.
"Alright alright, jeez Megumin calm down. I get it." Kazuma put his hand in a pushing motion at Megumin, trying to convey that he got the idea and wanted her to calm down.
"And for you Darkness, You don't have to worry. It's never to late to say it now and I'll be happy to forgive you, if you have any debts that is." Kazuma smiled at her, trying to ease her worries. She blushed at that and nodded shyly.
"Anyways, why don't we head back and cash in. I'm starving..." Kazuma saw how there was nothing left to say other than to head back. They all agreed with a very happy Aqua, a shy and timid Darkness, and a very jealous Megumin. The whole party went back to Axel with no interruptions or delays.
As always, the guild was loud as ever. Especially now since it was nighttime, all the party's are cashing in and buying dinner. Every party of Axel was in and it was not stopping. The party of Kazuma entered the establishment with Kazuma being the first to speak.
"Alright girls, you all go ahead and pick a table. Order some food and drinks while you're at it. I'll go to Luna and cash in our quest alright?" Kazuma explained the plan to his party.
"Got it Kazuma!" Aqua understood and gave a thumbs up with a wink, Kazuma seeing this recoiled in disgust but brushed it off. They all went away to find a table while Kazuma goes to the reception desk.
He arrived shortly and greeted the woman that was manning the desk and in charge, the Lovely Luna.
"Hey Luna. Just got back from a quest and wanted to cash in."
"My goodness Kazuma, what took you guys so long? It's sun down by now..." Luna asked, shocked at how long it took them to finish the quest.
"Oh! uh, well, things just got out of hand back there, y'know." Kazuma let out a lone sweat as he tried to cover up that he died in the quest.
"Really? Well, I hope nothing bad had happened." Luna accepted the answer but was still worried for their safety.
"Don't worry, everything went smoothly and we're all in tip top shape!" Kazuma waved his hand dismissively and laughed it off.
"Hmm, well alright then." Luna, affirmed of her doubts, brushed it off for now. "Anyways, about that pay. As per usual, we'll cut of 30% off to pay off your debts." Luna explained, Kazuma got reminded of the harsh reality that he was in.
"So looking at your kill count, we should have..." Luna looked at his adventurer card to count up the kills. "1,400,000 eris." Luna finished her sentence.
"With the 30% cut, we have a final total of 980,000 eris." Luna said the final amount of their pay.
"Well, that's good enough for me." Kazuma let out a tired sigh as he was given the money that they earned.
"Don't worry Kazuma, that amount of money is already high. I'm sure that once you get out off debt, you'll earn much more!" Luna tried to motivate him.
"Get out off debt? Thanks Luna, but I don't think that's happening anytime soon." Kazuma let out a half hearted chuckle.
"Well Luna, I think that's all that I need. Thanks and I'll see you again alright." Kazuma saw as he had no other business now and said goodbye to the lovely receptionist. With her giving a smile and waved him goodbye.
Kazuma returned the wave and went on to find his party. He walked a bit and saw where they were, and headed there. Not until he saw in the corner of his eye, a familiar head of silver hair had just walked in the guild.
He saw it and was reminded of what Eris had said hours ago.
"Hey Kazuma-san, when you get back in the world, go to the guild hall and find Chris."
"Oh right, got to meet chris first." He was already dead set on meeting her first, then his teammates. He saw where she was going and went to approach her.
"Hey Chris." He said to her with a deadpan voice which startled her.
"Oh my go-! Ouh, it's just you Kazuma... You really started me there." Chris jumped in fear as she heard his voice out of nowhere. She immediately calm down to see that it was just Kazuma.
"Why'd you scared me like that!" Chris then immediately switched her mood from calm, to scared, to anger.
"Hey hey now, you don't have to be so mad now. I was just playing around y'know." Kazuma nonchalantly said while waving his hands around in a dismissive manner.
"Tch, alright then..." Chris obviously did not accept that answer but decided to let it go. For now.
"Anyways, Chris. I need to ask you something-" Kazuma was about to finish his sentence before he was cut off.
"I already know Kazuma. Come with me, we'll find somewhere where no one can hear us." Chris smirked at him and grabbed his hand to drag him to a corner where barely anyone sits at.
They sat down on the empty chairs, with other tables having no customers, they were truly alone. Chris then began to speak up to Kazuma.
"So Kazuma, I heard that you wanted to be stronger." Chris said to him with an intriguing voice, already catching Kazuma's attention. He then realized that she had basically known why he wanted to see her and knew exactly the reason why, so he was immediately suspicious.
"Wait hold on, how did you know that I wanted to talk to you about that?" Kazuma asked her suspiciously but Chris wasn't fazed one bit.
"Well you see, while I am a thief, I actually worship the goddess Eris." She then showed a pendant that was the symbol of the Eris Church, indicating that she was indeed a follower of hers.
"And because of that, I was told while I was praying that you needed help in getting stronger. So I immediately prioritized that." Chris finished her fool proof explanation, which convinced Kazuma of any suspicion.
"woah really? I didn't know you had a connection to Eris. And it kinda makes me happy that you immediately prioritize to helping me." Kazuma was surprised that Chris was a follower of Eris, and the fact that she's so devoted that she was contacted by Eris herself.
"Um, yeah... It's no big deal really. Haha..." Chris blushed at Kazuma's mention of her prioritizing on helping him and sheepishly replied while scratching the back of her head.
"Well, a-anyways, back to the topic." Chris coughs and change back to the original topic at hand.
"I heard you wanted to be strong." Chris repeated the same line to him.
"Um, yeah. So... How do I do that?" Kazuma didn't really know what to say other than to just ask 'How?'
"Well, it's actually quite simple." Chris began to say and closed her eyes while smiling. "But, there is one hurdle you have to face." Her face then went serious, catching Kazuma off guard.
"Well, what is it then?" Kazuma asked curiously.
"You have to leave your party."
"Ugh, What is taking him so looong?" Aqua asked annoyingly, tired of waiting for their leader.
"Give him some time Aqua. I'm sure he has some businesses he has to do." Darkness came up with an excuse to justify why he was late.
"Your just making up excuses. I'm getting worried..." Megumin saw and heard the slight desperation in Darkness's face and voice.
"*Sigh* Yeah, I'm getting worried too..." Darkness admitted Megumin's accusation and rubbed her arm in worry.
"You're all getting worried for nothing. Let's just order already and forget about that neet." Aqua hid her true emotions by downplaying her teammates worries and tried to get Kazuma off of their minds for now.
"I guess you're right... Let's just start ordering." Megumin didn't know what to do and agreed with Aqua. She then called in a waitress to take their orders.
"That's more like it! The neet can just order for himself. Anyways, I would like the usual Fried toad legs please." Aqua energetically said and came up with another excuse to justify her doings.
"*Sigh* You never change do you, Aqua. I would like Bacon and eggs please." Darkness sighed in slight frustration at Aqua's antic's but dismissed it to try and get her mind at ease. So she ordered as well.
"I would like the special kids meal deluxe please." Megumin ordered as well, though her sounded a bit jaded.
"And what would the drinks be?" The waitress asked.
"Beer!" Aqua said excitedly.
"A glass of water." Darkness said calmy.
"Beer as we-" Megumin wanted Beer as well but was immediately cut off by Darkness stating. "She'll have water as well."
"Alrighty then, I will be back with your orders in just ten minutes." The waitress said, leaving their table with a very noisy Megumin.
The three then waited for their food, thinking that maybe, Kazuma might appear once more.
"I don't know why, but I feel like something bad is gonna happen." Megumin said in worry.
"And why would you think that?" Darkness asked curiously, not really having the same feeling as her.
"I don't know, maybe because Kazuma's been gone for like 30 minutes." Megumin gave her reasoning.
"Well, I'm sure that neet is gonna be here anytime soon. He always has been." Aqua tries to reassures her, Megumin doesn't feel reassured at all.
"She's right you know. While he can go off at times without telling us, he always comes back. So you don't have to worry Megumin." Darkness expanded on Aqua's reason and somewhat reassures her.
"Well, I guess you're right." Megumin sighs and goes back to waiting in silence.
Darkness was right, Kazuma will come back. But, he will come back with a reason that none of them were expecting.
"What?!" Kazuma shouted in shock as he didn't expect to hear that from her.
"Shh, shh, calm down for a sec." Chris tries to quiet him down to not make a scene, even if they were alone.
"Calm down?! you're telling me I have to leave my party behind?" Kazuma was shocked about Chris's answer.
"Now, I know it sounds extreme, but hear me out." Chris explained calmly to try and ease him out.
"The reason why is because that..." She paused for a moment. "The things that I will teach you is very confidential. And should be met to the public. Only you can know about it." Chris sounded very serious about this, so much so it calmed down Kazuma and made him rethink about why he had to leave.
"Are you sure I have to leave them behind? Even if your teachings are 'confidential'?"
Kazuma asked. She nodded her head.
"I don't know Chris. I've been friends with them for like, a year. It feels wrong to leave them for my pretty selfish reason." Kazuma began having doubts about what he had to do to become stronger.
"Listen Kazuma, I'm not forcing you to leave them. That never was my intention. But you have to if you want to become stronger." Chris began explaining. "And it's your choice if you're willing to do that."
Kazuma was now dumbfounded on what to do. He could stay, be with his party and do quests with them. But at the cost of his own desires and staying the same as he was back then.
Or, he could change. Leave his party and go on to new heights. Becoming stronger and Becoming a new man. Finally doing his own thing for the first time.
He didn't know what to choose. Either one, he feels like he'll regret it. But he has to choose, now.
"Alright, I'll join you." After what felt like years of waiting and choosing, he finally gave his answer.
"You know the repercussions of it right?" Chris was giving him one last chance to back out if he wanted to, but he had already made the decision.
"I do."
"Then it's decided. Welcome to the party Kazuma." Chris offered him a hand. A hand for him to shake, signifying their formation of a new party. Kazuma gladly shaking it.
"So, now what?" After everything that has happened, they didn't know what to do now since they had done every they wanted to. But one thing did come to mind.
"Hey wait a minute, how the hell am I going to tell them?!" Kazuma had this line of thought forgotten out of his brain.
He could just go up and leave, but he had to tell them first. And that, was by far the hardest thing he had to do.
"Oh yeah, forgot about that." Chris too, didn't know how to go about it.
"So what the hell do I do? I can't just come up to them and say 'Oh, I just want to tell you guys that I'm leaving. Goodbye.'" Kazuma was now trying to come up with a million excuses as to why he's leaving.
"You know what, that sounds pretty good. You should use that." Chris leaned back on her chair, clearly being more calm and chill than the former.
"Absolutely not!" Kazuma obviously did not agree with the idea. "But, Ugh. I hate this world." Kazuma slumped down on his chair, putting his head on the table, tired.
"Listen Kazuma, just go up to them and say like 'Hey guys, I'm turning over a new leaf, I'm leaving." Chris tried to give him ideas.
"That's no good." Kazuma mumbled but was loud enough where Chris could hear it.
"Kazuma, if you say that everything is 'no good' then we're just gonna be stuck here." Chris was almost getting tired of Kazuma's excuses, but the Eris inside her was still inside her so she remained calm.
"Easy for you to say." Kazuma mumbled once more before getting up and facing her. "Listen, could give me ideas to try and make me sound a bit reasonable?"
"Hmm, I could do that." Chris then put her hand on her chin, thinking to herself about what to give.
"How bout' just you just give em' ideas about why you're leaving." She gave him an answer.
"Uh, yeah. I was about to do that, but what type of ideas do I give?" Kazuma sarcastically said to her.
"I don't know! Maybe about things like why you don't like them or something." Chris was annoyed by his sarcasm and decided to just spout out her remaining answer.
"Wait really?" Kazuma was strucked. He could do just that.
"But wouldn't that be a bit mean?" Kazuma looked down at the table he was sitting in front and contemplated weather or not on doing it.
"Kazuma, it's the only way you'll actually have an excuse." Chris saw his dilemma and tried to help him. "I know deep inside you, you've always wanted to say it right to there face. So, why don't you just say it."
Chris knew the truth. If Kazuma were to say it, it would break their hearts, but it has to be done in order for him to move on. And hopefully, it could do the same to the other three as well. She just hopes that it would happen.
"I can't. It just feels wrong." Kazuma was still contemplating on deciding to do it or not.
"Kazuma, you're a nice guy." Chris looked at him with ease. "But you're too nice." Chris then walked away from him and began marching towards his previous party.
"Wait Chris, where the hell are you going?" Kazuma heard the retreating footsteps and knew who it belonged too.
"Where else, your party." Chris looked back at him and answered. Then looked forward once more and began walking again.
"Wa-wait Chris!" Kazuma shouted at her. "I still haven't decided yet!" Kazuma then ran up to her.
"Then let me help you with that." Chris looked at him with determination in her eyes.
She marched into the lighted part of the guild where everyone can now see them. She looked left and right and spotted what she was looking for.
She tried to march forward but was held back by Kazuma grabbing her hand.
"Chris please, let's just leave in secret. Leave them a note or something." Kazuma tried again to stop her.
"No. We have to do this." Chris knew this was the only way for Kazuma and his party to finally change. One more drastic than the other.
She got Kazuma to let go and marched right towards the awaiting party. They all heard footsteps approaching them and turned to see who it was.
"Oh, Hi there Chris! I haven't seen you in a while. How's it been?" Darkness saw that it was just her childhood friend and greeted her.
"I'm doing good Darkness. Listen, I have something to tell to all of you." Chris returned the gesture and greeted her back. She then turned serious, all of them tuning in to listen to what she has to say.
"Your leader is leaving. He'll be joining my party from now on." Chris didn't beat around the bush and said it without any attempts at sugarcoating it.
They all sat in silence. Not knowing what to do. They were all to shocked to do anything, not even say a single word. That is until Aqua began to speak.
"WHAT?!" Well, more of screaming than speaking.
"What do you mean he's leaving?! We still haven't defeated the demon king yet!" Aqua was full on shouting as to why her long time teammate is finally leaving.
"Where the hell is that damn neet? I'm gonna have a little talk to him about this. I know he's behind all of it." Aqua began cracking her knuckles, thinking about ways to end Kazuma's life.
"What...?" Darkness was the next to speak out. "You mean, he's leaving?"
"That- that can't be. Why? Why would he!?" Darkness was calm before but now she was shaking in confusion.
"I thought I had a chance! I thought that it was too early! But now, now I know the truth." Darkness shouted once more before slumping down and looked at the the table in despair.
Megumin was the most troubling of all. She stayed quiet, too quiet. She looked in shocked at first, but then put her head down on the table. Her head bobbing up and down a bit, with faint sniffles coming from her.
They were all heartbroken to say the least.
"Listen, he moved on. it's as simple as that." Chris answered Aqua's question.
"Moved on huh? There's no way that NEET would move on!" Aqua shouted in fury. "I've known him for a year now and I know for damn sure that neet doesn't have the guts to leave!"
"Well, you're right about that one. So I did the favor for him." Chris crossed her arms. Waiting for what Aqua has to say next.
"Who do you think you are? Having to decide for him like he's a baby!" Aqua was not having any of it.
"Guys, could you please stop." Aqua was about to throw hands before stopping. She heard a familiar annoying voice telling her to stop.
"Kazuma? There you are you damn neet! I'm gonna kill you!" Aqua was happy at first, but then changed into anger as she jumped on him.
"Alright, that's enough." Chris stepped in by tripping Aqua over, easily neutralizing her.
"Thank you for that." Kazuma thanked her for her assistance. "Now then, I guess I have a bit of explaining to do."
"you guess?!" Darkness shouted.
"Alright alright, I get it." Kazuma pushed his arms at Darkness. "Look, I just want to, move on, Frome here and travel somewhere else." Kazuma came out with a half-excuse.
"Then why can't we follow?" Darkness asked as she saw the flaw in his reasoning.
"Well, it's because it's, dangerous, and confidential." Chris slapped her forehead at the sad performance she was seeing.
"Kazuma, we've faced 2 Demon king generals and we've defeated the Destroyer. We both know we all can handle it." Darkness once again saw the flaw in his reasoning.
"Tell me, what's the real reason you're leaving?"
Kazuma was now quiet. Should he tell them the truth? Should he make another lie? He didn't know what to do. He had to come up with something, fast.
"*sigh* It's because... I... don't like this party." He bit his lip, he really didn't want to say it, but he had to.
"Wha-What do you mean by that?" Darkness for the second time ever, was scared. Scared at what he was about to say.
"I... Just feel like this party doesn't listen to me." He bit his lips once more. "Now, I know you guys listen to my plans but hear me out. I feel like like you guys just don't respect my opinion. Or more like, you don't take into account about what I say."
"Especially Aqua, with everything that has happened to us. It all happened because she doesn't listen to me." Kazuma didn't hesitate one bit to take a stab at her. Aqua's face turn from shock to anger and crying at the same time
"But there's more than that. Megumin, I don't know how long it has been, but no matter how many times I say for her to use advanced spells. She. Never. Listens." Kazuma didn't bite his lip in hesitation like last time, he was about to go all out now.
"But there's more. You think, I forgot what just happened today. You think, that I forgot that I died today. Why? It's, because, of, you." Kazuma pointed his finger at her, her look turned to shame and sadness.
"And you Darkness. You're a nice friend, you should know. But man can you be frustrating at times." He took a deep breath. Darkness was shaking in fear.
"Like, how you always, and I mean always, run straight to the enemy. You know, how many times, you foiled our plans? It's just making me more frustrated the more I think about it." Kazuma took another deep breath before continuing.
"Oh, and how much you miss your targets. First you run straight to the monster. Then, you don't even hit them! What's the use of a crusader if they don't even HIT?!" Kazuma shouted that last one. Darkness looked like she could break at any second.
He heard his voice getting loud, so he took some deep breaths to calm himself down.
"Ugh geez, it's no use getting mad at this hour..." He then sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, before opening them up again and looked at his now distraught party.
"Guys, I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings, but you have to know the truth. Alright?" Kazuma spoke in monotone towards them.
"Alright? Alright?! You think I'm alright Kazuma? Your literally ABANDONING your friends! Do you not care about the goddess that you dragged here?" Aqua exploded with anger, her tears coming out for real.
"No. I'm not abandoning you. I'm leaving. There's a difference." Kazuma said no hint of remorse towards her.
"Oh, and I don't care that I'm leaving you Aqua. Your the cause of our problems from the very beginning. You think I care about you? Let me tell you Aqua, I don't. I just don't." Kazuma spoke with controlled anger as he didn't want to go all out on her, nor does he not want to make a scene.
"Let's go Chris, I'm done here." Kazuma turned to his new party mate and. signaled her that he wants to go. The latter agreeing to the request.
"Hey! Where do you think you're going? You can't just leave already! Hey, are you listening?" Aqua shouted at them as she saw the two walking towards the exit. The two of them not even glancing at the screaming goddess.
"Aqua, please, just let it go. He's leaving. There's nothing we can do..." Darkness walked up to her and nudged her to stop.
"What?! But, He can't just, leave?! He dragged me here and HE has to fix it by killing the Demon king!" Aqua tried to reason to her. Her tone going fast as she saw the two at the door, about to leave.
"Aqua, there's no other way. It's his choice, just accept it. Just... accept it..." Darkness was having a hard time saying it as he herself can't simply accept that her friend and potential partner, was leaving her.
"But!... But..." Aqua was trying to come up with another excuse, but it was no use. Kazuma had already left the guild just a moment ago.
"Let's go Aqua. Megumin's at the table." Darkness nudged her to go back to their table where their friend is crying at. Aqua hesitantly accepted.
"I... Guess you're right. Let's go." Aqua marched forward to see her friend crying on the table. She sat down with Darkness, her head planting on the table and sobs started to form.
"Umm, here's your food..." The waitress came back with the food but saw how distraught the customers looked.
"I'll just place it here, okay?" She then placed the orders on the table. Going as fast as possible as she could feel the awkwardness in the air sinking into her skin.
She placed all the food down and walked away, leaving the party with their food and their sadness.
"Well, that was certainly something." Chris smirked at him as they just left the guild and headed towards the mansion.
"Indeed it was. God damn it, I'm so tired now." Kazuma rubbed his eyes and looked back at the direction he was going.
"So, what's the plan now?" Chris asked him.
"*Sigh* Let's just go back to my place and pack. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can leave." Kazuma sighed and said to her about what to do next.
"You do seem tired, why is that?" Chris saw could feel the tiredness that he was emitting, and decided to ask about it.
"Look, do you think I did good back there?" Kazuma asked in worry. "I just feel like I went too far, like I'm the asshole."
"Listen, you are an asshole Kazuma." Kazuma looked at her with deadpan. "But not because of that. You did what you have to do, tell the truth. They took it and that's how they reacted. You did nothing wrong Kazuma. Plus, it was your choice to leave. They have no say in that."
"Are you sure?" Kazuma was hesitating whether or not to accept what she said.
"Yes, I'm sure. Just let it go already." Chris assured him of her stance.
"Well, I guess you're right. Let's just go." Kazuma was hesitant but agreed with her nonetheless.
"Yup, let's go!" Chris excitedly said to try and lift up his spirits.
"Hehe yeah, let's go." Kazuma chuckled a bit at Chris's enthusiasm, already changing his mood a bit.
The two now ran towards the mansion. They ran and ran, already forgetting the party they left behind. They would soon arrive, and they would leave, maybe forever.
Author's note:
Hey guys, I know that it's been like, 1 or 2 months of no update. Maybe even more. I had no choice since I'm dealing with school, and how my hostel would take away our phones on the weekdays. So writing became rare and hard. Now that exam's are approaching, it may take another 2 months to upload another chapter.
I hope that you all understand why it took so long to write this, and I hope you all accept it. Don't worry, I'm not leaving this book to rot. It will finish. It's just gonna take a long, and I mean long, time.
That is all from me. Thank you if you waited this long to see another chapter. If you have any comments to say about this chapter or book, please leave a comment, it means a lot. Thank you once again.