"H… How much did you say?"

Luna smiled at him and repeated the figure. "One million, two hundred thousand eris."

Kazuma pumped a fist into the air and shouted. "Oh yeah! I'm not poor anymore!"

His fellow adventurers laughed and cheered.

Following the cabbage harvesting the guild had been busy transporting and evaluating the collections. The guild members who hadn't been hurt and who had caught some celebrated. Stir fried cabbage had been served free of charge to them! (The cost being deducted from the upcoming reward.) It wasn't until the next day that everyone had received their payment and found out how much it would be. Kazuma had expected it to be about half what he got, but apparently the cabbage he'd brought in had been of exceptional quality.

Luck was a beautiful thing!

XXX

This was the very first time Kazuma ever got to touch gold coins. He also discovered that this world used paper money too. Though it seemed the money was issued by individual banks and merchant houses rather than by the country. Each banknote had a magical mark on it, Kazuma assumed it was to make counterfeiting impossible, or at least very difficult. The paper money also had a portrait of Eris giving a wink. Looking close Kazuma thought the goddess quite pretty. She reminded him a little bit of Chris.

Kazuma had figured out early on that an eris had roughly the same value as a yen. That was a shame, if they'd been worth as much as say a dollar or a euro he could have retired and been set for life. The sum he'd just received wasn't close to being enough for him to retire on. But he was most definitely no longer struggling to survive. He didn't have to worry about money for food and perhaps best of all he could now afford to live somewhere without horse and cow dung under foot.

And if the cash weren't good enough he'd jumped up to level eight and acquired four new skill points. It turned out cabbages were considered monsters and killing them earned xp. He was already looking forward to next year's cabbage harvest.

He hadn't spotted Chris since they'd worked together. Fortunately, acquiring new skills wasn't particularly difficult. Well, it seemed some of the really advanced ones were hard to find, but that wasn't his worry. Basic spells and skills were common and all it required to learn was a simple demonstration. It wasn't as if you needed hours of training or to pass an exam. Most of the people in the guild were happy to demonstrate a skill in exchange for a meal or a round of drinks. Kazuma acquired the skills Detect Traps and Snipe as well as the spells Create Element and Heal. Detect Traps was another thieving skill that went hand in hand with Detect Enemy and Vanish. Snipe would grant him accuracy with any ranged weapon and it was luck based, which meant he became an instant marksman. And it didn't only work with a bow either, the skill could be used on any ranged weapon so it would include crossbows, slingshots, darts, throwing knives, and even rocks or pebbles. Create Element allowed him to create a limited amount of any of the four elements; water, earth, fire, and air. It was basic, but knowing he would always have water or be able to start a campfire was good. From his long experience playing RPGs he knew how important healing was to any party. Asking around he'd found out it was just as true in this world. Priests were in short supply and most preferred working in a church or temple than as a member of an adventuring party. Even if he could only use basic healing that would make him even more valuable to potential teammates.

The very first thing he did after celebrating his good fortune was look for a new place to live. He found a slightly run down cottage with a small garden about a mile and a half from the guild hall. It wasn't much and only had four rooms, but the roof didn't leak, it was in a quiet neighborhood, and it had an actual bed rather than a pile of straw. It cost 80,000 eris a month. Kazuma paid the first three months up front and slept that night in a warm bed in his own place.

Next was getting real equipment. Up until now he'd been going on adventures, and everywhere else, in the same green track suit he'd had when he died. Since Axel was a city with adventurer's guild it also had a couple weapon shops. Luna and the staff were happy to give him directions. He bought himself some white tunics, breeches, and a green cape he thought made him look more adventurey. He also got some brown leather boots. Now he blended in and didn't draw stares wherever he went. He also got a thin leather jerkin that fit comfortably beneath his shirt.

He upgraded his sword. He wanted a really bad ass katana, but it seemed those were rare and super expensive. So instead he got another short sword, just in better condition and with a sharper edge. He also got some knives. He'd found that using Backstab with a sword felt clumsy, especially on something as small as a cabbage. He got a dagger with a ten inch serrated blade, perfect for jamming into someone's back! He also got a set of six throwing knives that he could keep tucked away in his belt and in easy reach. He bought a medium sized bow along with a quiver of arrows. When he looked at himself in a mirror he could only smile. He looked like a character straight out of an RPG.

After getting clothes, equipment, and a decent place to live he still had more than 400,000 eris left over. Along with its other functions the guild could also act like a bank and safely store money in its vault in exchange for a small fee. As he was thinking of himself more and more as a thief, he didn't want to leave his cash anywhere it could be easily stolen. When he was getting meals or drinks at the guild he wouldn't even need to withdraw it, they would just deduct everything from his account.

For the first time since coming to this screwed up world Kazuma felt a little security. He was no longer a few steps from starving or being homeless. But now it was time for him to decide what to do next.

XXX

Five days after the cabbage harvest a now properly outfitted Kazuma was sitting at the exact same table near the board. He'd only been sitting there for about half an hour when a tall guy in well polished plate armor came over to it. Kazuma watched him snatch his notice off the board and then walk up to him. Unlike with the explosion maniac, Kazuma didn't look around or wonder who he wanted to talk to you.

"Excuse me, are you Satou Kazuma?" He held the notice out.

Level eight adventurer seeking party to work with.

My skills include Detect Enemy, Vanish, Steal, Backstab, Detect Traps, Snipe, and Healing.

Am interested in either joining a party full time or working on commission.

If interested please seek out Satou Kazuma.

NO GODDESSES NEED APPLY!

"Yes, I'm Kazuma. How can I help you?"

"I am Sir Roland Griffinheart. My party and I have been looking for a man with your set of skills. There's a newly discovered dungeon about ten days from here. Absolutely filled to the brim with monsters, undead, and treasure. If you'll join us you can have a full share of whatever we find."

Kazuma couldn't keep from smiling. This was exactly what he wanted. No stupid cabbages or giant frogs! This was a real adventure, a dungeon crawl with a knight and his party. Oh yeah, things were looking up!

"Just to be clear, are you asking me to join your party or to work freelance with you?"

Roland gave a slight shake of his head. "We've only just met. How about I just hire you and we decide later if we want to make it permanent?"

"Sounds good to me." He stood and they shook hands.

"Well then, let me introduce you to the team."

XXX

"Could you please stop staring? You're starting to creep me out!"

"What?" Kazuma said startled. "Oh sorry, I didn't mean to, it's just. Could I touch your ears?"

"Ewww! No!" Katrina got up from the table to get further away from him. She was dressed in chainmail armor with a pair of curved blades at her hip. Her hair was stark white and on top of her head were a pair of bunny ears. Katrina was an honest to goodness bunny girl! She was also pretty busty and he could tell she had thick thighs despite her wearing leather breeches. Kazuma couldn't keep from fantasizing about her in a classic bunny girl outfit with black stockings and high heels.

"Hey! I said to stop staring and now you're drooling too!"

"What? Oh, sorry," Kazuma wiped his chin and forced himself to look away.

Also seated at the table were Roland and a guy in green wizard robes who he'd been introduced to as Timothy. Kazuma had asked and no, he didn't know Explosion, and yes, he did use more than one spell. The wizard didn't look very pleased and turned to the knight.

"Do we really need this guy?" This was not the first time he'd asked.

Roland sighed. "We've been over this, Kasmir's Sorrow is too dangerous to explore without someone with thief skills acting as scout."

"But he's not even a real thief! He's just a level eight adventurer!"

"He's got Detect Enemy, Vanish, Steal, and Detect Traps. That's good enough."

"Can't we get Chris instead?"

"She's not available. It's him or nothing."

"But he's a perv who keeps staring at Katrina! I bet he ends up being worthless!"

"Guys, I'm right here. You know I can hear you right?"

Timothy glared at him while Roland sighed again. Katrina finally sat back down and crossed her arms.

"So we're clear, Kazuma. We don't allow sexual harassment in this party," Roland said sounding very grim.

"I understand totally! I believe in gender equality and promise to treat everyone equally!"

"Oh?" Katrina said. "Does that mean you want to touch everyone else's ears too?"

"If I say yes can I touch yours? Just for a second?"

She let out a low growl and one of her hands dropped to a sword hilt.

Roland coughed and drew everyone's attention. "New rule; no ear touching, that goes for everyone." Before anyone could say anything else he pulled out a map and spread it on the table. "Kasmir's Sorrow is ten days walk from here and its located close to goblin territory. We can't be arguing among ourselves. We need to work together, or we'll be in trouble."

"You don't need to worry about ambushes," Kazuma said. "With Detect Enemy I'll be able to tell you where any goblins or other monsters are no matter how well hidden."

"Good! That's an incredibly valuable skill in or out of a dungeon. Don't you agree?" He turned to the other two.

"I guess," Timothy admitted.

"I suppose," Katrina grunted. She did at least let go of her sword hilt.

Kazuma got the feeling he hadn't made a good first impression. Well, he was kind of socially awkward so there was probably no avoiding it.

"So, the place we're going to is a dungeon called Kasmir's Sorrow?" Kazuma asked.

"That's right," Roland said.

"So, who's Kasmir?"

"The guy who discovered it."

On that cheery note they all agreed to meet at the main gate at dawn tomorrow to set off on their adventure. Kazuma had no doubts it would be amazing.