God's Blessing on this Wonderful Dungeon

By Icura and Special FX

~o~

Chapter 2: Orario

~o~

Under the glare of the afternoon's sun, Kazuma hopped out of the wagon's back and landed onto the dirt path with a soft 'thud'.

He stretched out his arms and let out a small yawn, working out the kinks in his body from the journey. As a former NEET, sitting down for long periods of time wasn't the problem. No, it was more from feeling every rock and bump they encountered on the way here. Wooden wagons made for transporting goods weren't exactly the most comfortable thing to sit in, but then again, nothing in a fantasy world could compare to a car or bus ride.

Not without magic, at least.

It had taken them a few weeks of travel–by foot and by caravan–to arrive. Because of all the convoluted routes from town to town, they pretty much had to zigzag their way toward their destination, which was the Dungeon City of Orario. Of course, with these kinds of party members, it was probably only due to Eris being the Goddess of Luck that there were only a few troubles along the way rather than every step of the way.

"Kazuma!" Megumin called out as she hopped out of the wagon behind him. "I want to cast an explosion on that tower!" She excitedly pointed at the large white tower spiraling far into the sky.

"Can't you see it's in the middle of the city? Are you trying to be a nuisance to everyone? Do you know how much money I had to spend after you blew up that emerald mine!?"

"Tch…" Megumin crossed her arms and looked away. "Wasn't serious anyways."

This girl…

Kazuma stared at her suspiciously. During their trip here, he had made a good–no, a great deal of money by bartering with the various traders that they had come across. It was honestly enough to probably buy another mansion. Unfortunately, after Megumin decided to blow up an emerald mine, all of that hard work evaporated.

Sure, it had become the den of some kind of land dragon and they were in a bit of a dire strait, but the explosion spell had been too excessive. While it did get rid of the land dragon, it caused the collapse of the entire mine, burying everything including the monster corpses. Not only did they not get paid, but he had to use up most of the valis he earned to pay for the damages, bringing them right back to being flat broke.

"Sir Kazuma!" The voice that shouted out to him belonged to the caravan leader who looked the very image of an old and overweight merchant. The chubby man walked up to them. "It looks like we've arrived. I'm not much for parting, but I wish you luck on your future adventures."

"At least someone appreciates me."

"I'll do more than just that," the old man said cheerfully before taking a coin pouch off his belt and tossing it over to Kazuma who caught it. "If things don't work out, come find me. You have a knack for merchant work, and I'm always looking for talent."

"A-ah, thank you." Kazuma bowed his head.

"Don't mention it." The caravan leader waved off. "You helped us make a great deal of money and saved us from those orcs. The valis is the least I can do for you, though share it with your friends. Especially that blonde knight. There are few so selfless as to bring attention to themselves in a troll raid. If it weren't for her, my lot might not be here today."

Kazuma nodded his head, wisely not speaking on the real reason why Darkness ran into that clump of trolls. The worst part of it was that, afterward, she couldn't stop comparing him to them. What part of him looked like a troll?

"Kazuma, Kazuma!" Aqua jumped onto his back, wrapping her arms around his shoulder. "Buy me some booze when we get inside!"

"Buy it yourself!" Kazuma shook her off. "What happened to all the money I gave you earlier?"

"Uwaaaaa! I lost it all to Niles in a card game! Kazuuuuuumaaaaa!"

"That's not my prob—hey, stop that! We still need to get in line!"

~o~

The Dungeon City of Orario was so famous throughout the world that even in the isolated island nation of the Far East, it was a common enough topic spoken even in the most rural of villages.

The sight of its massive walls that surrounded the city loomed ominously, higher than even the defensive walls that had protected the capital of Belzerg. However, what was even taller than that was the tower in the center of the city, the same one that Megumin had pointed out earlier. Even though the walls were tall, that tower's height stretched far beyond, almost as if it were trying to reach the very clouds in the sky.

Quite frankly, it was the only sight that they could actually see as they waited in line at the gate. There were plenty of people going in and out of Orario, making the line rather extensive despite the number of staff workers they had processing the people coming in. It took around an hour and a half before their turn finally came up.

"Next!" the staffing officer at the gate yelled out, catching his attention. "Come on, hurry it up!"

With his party members following closely behind him, Kazuma walked over to the elven worker who called out to him.

"Hello."

"Do all of you have your traveler's permit?"

"Err… No. Is that going to be a problem?"

"No, it's fine," the blonde elf waved off. "Let me guess, adventurers?"

"Yeah. I'm in Eris Familia." He pointed his thumb at the goddess standing behind him.

"Eris…?" The elf repeated with a raised eyebrow. "Hey, Joanna! Do we have a goddess named Eris registered with us?"

After a brief moment, a cat-eared woman wearing the same uniform as the elf walked over and shook her head.

"Nope. She must be a new goddess."

"I see. Welcome to Orario then, Goddess Eris." The elf bowed respectfully. "Are these adventurers all part of your Familia?"

"Thank you, and yes, they are my important children," Eris replied with a heavenly smile, purposely ignoring how Aqua bristled at the statement. "May we please pass through?"

"Of course!" The elf nodded eagerly. Kazuma narrowed his eyes in response, he didn't like how friendly the guy was getting with Eris. "We will just have to verify the Falna of your Familia members first. It's a part of our vetting process, you see, but please come inside and sit down for refreshments in the meantime. We will have your Familia join you as soon as they are finished."

"I understand. I'll take you up on your offer then," Eris answered before glancing back at them. "I'll see all of you inside soon."

~o~

In a dark interrogation room with a single lamp illuminating a small table, Kazuma sat on one end while an annoyed guard sat on the other end, glaring at him all the while. Standing at the side of the table was a god in white robes, plain even in its glamor, who had just entered the room and assumed his position as if this was an everyday thing.

"Now, in the presence of a god, I will repeat the questions once again, and you will answer truthfully. Is that understood?"

"Like I was saying," Kazuma replied with an aggravated expression. "That's what I've been doing the whole time!"

"Truth!" The presiding god's booming voice echoed in the small room.

"We'll see about that," the guard answered with an expression full of suspicion. "Is your name Satou Kazuma?"

"Yes."

"Truth!"

"Are you part of the Eris Familia?"

"Yes."

"Truth!"

"Why do you have two Falnas?"

"Because Aqua wanted to draw one."

"Truth…? Truth!"

"So the second Falna is fake?"

"Yes."

"Truth!"

"Why didn't it come off with water?"

"Aqua drew it on with permanent ink."

"Truth!"

"Why did she draw a fake Falna?"

"For fun."

"Lie."

"Because she was jealous," Kazuma amended.

"Truth!"

"Jealous of what?"

"Eris."

"Truth!"

"...I'm not going to question why she's jealous of a goddess so let's move on," the guard said with a strange expression. "Are you a spy?"

"Nope."

"Truth!"

"Are any of your Familia members spies?"

"Nada."

"Truth!"

"Are you or any of your Familia members part of Evilus?"

"I don't even know what that is."

"Truth!"

"What is your purpose in coming to Orario?"

"To go dungeon diving."

"Truth!"

"Are you planning to murder or kidnap anyone?"

"No!"

"Truth!"

"Okay, I've heard enough," the guard said with a disgruntled look, as if scarcely believing him despite the verification from the god. "It seems you were telling the truth. You're free to go."

"Finally!" Kazuma threw his hands up into the air as he stood up. "Now do you see that I'm innocent?"

"Lie."

"…"

The guard stared hard at the sweating adventurer for a few moments.

"Sit back down."

~o~

The sun had already started to set by the time they released him.

How many hours had those damn guards been questioning him? What should have been a quick ten or twenty minutes had turned into far longer because of that useless goddess doing something so unnecessary. He and the others had simply let it go to appease her, but that had come back to bite them in the butt, especially since her drawing looked absolutely authentic.

Just thinking about it was aggravating him.

That useless goddess was always getting him into some kind of trouble or another. Then again, the most intensive part of the interrogation only came after he made a mistake with his parting words. For that, he only had himself to blame. He really needed to watch his big mouth sometimes.

Letting out a tired sigh, Kazuma set foot outside of the guard tower.

However, there was no one waiting for him outside. For a moment, he wondered if the others were still in interrogation, but no, the rooms that he looked into on the way out were empty. Unless they moved them to different rooms–which was unlikely–then it meant that they had been released before him, especially since his own interrogation took far longer. The only ones who didn't get taken in were Eris and Aqua since they wouldn't examine a goddess for that–even though there was one drawn on her–and Aqua didn't put it on herself.

Knowing all of them, they probably just got hungry and went out to eat instead of doing something sensible like getting takeout and waiting for him. Eris would only be able to put up a token resistance in the face of the others after all. It was going to be a hassle to find them, especially since Eris had his money pouch because he didn't trust the guards with it. He didn't expect the goddess to be able to withhold it from Aqua for long, but his imprisonment had taken far longer than expected.

The first thing that he noticed about the city proper was that it was almost a ghost town. There were candles and lamps lighting up the windows of the nearby houses, but there were barely any people outside. He knew that it was dusk, but shouldn't a big city like this have a bustling nightlife?

Well, whatever. He could worry about that later.

Kazuma shook his head.

He needed to focus. Right now, finding his gang of idiots before they did something stupid took priority. Hopefully, Eris would keep them in check until then, but considering how often she folds under Aqua's pressuring, he wouldn't hold his breath.

Kazuma began to make his way down the street, taking in the sights all the while.

The city itself had a western fantasy aesthetic, similar to the cities in Belzerg, though the buildings were more packed together than Axel. In fact, it actually resembled the capital city of Belzerg, especially with all its grime and darker spots. The buildings themselves were in the style that he expected, similar to the western fantasy houses of Belzerg. It was almost to the point that it could be considered a standard template, with wooden houses and glass windows.

Still, for the so-called capital of the world, Orario wasn't what he had expected.

It wasn't glamorous like the capital city of Belzerg despite their apparent wealth. Then again, this wasn't a city of aristocrats; it was a city for adventurers. The rough and tumble type who would drink merrily and get into brawls on the streets.

However, even then…

There were some buildings that looked like they were damaged far beyond what time and wear should have done. It was almost as if the city had been attacked by another nation, but considering that this was a city of dungeon divers, that was almost too ridiculous to consider. It would be like attacking a hive of bees. Maybe there had been a riot or something, though he couldn't imagine something like that in a city with so many gods and goddesses.

Just what was going on here?

"Hey there, stranger!" A voice called out to him, grabbing his attention. It belonged to a youthful blue-haired girl who was currently waving at him. "What are you doing out so late?"

"Ah, I just got here today." Kazuma's hand instinctively reached down to secure his money pouch before he remembered that he gave that to Eris for safekeeping. "There's a curfew or something?"

"There isn't, but it's not really safe to be out at night these days."

"Eh? What do you mean by that?"

"Since you're new here, you probably don't know about it, but things have gotten hectic recently. There's this group of criminals led by a few evil gods," she explained. "They've gotten rather brazen lately and have been causing lots of trouble for everyone. That's why almost no one besides adventurers go outside once the sun sets, and most people who do stick to the main roads."

"Thanks for the warning, but I think I'll be fine." He gave her a slight bow of his head as thanks. With his skillset, detecting people who got close to him was simple enough as long as he was paying attention. "But why are you outside at night around these parts if it's so dangerous?"

"Just doing my rounds for the night," she replied with a cheeky grin. "The Ganesha Familia is kind of like the local peacekeeping force in the city. It's our job to stop Evilus before they can harm more people."

Ah, so she was like a cop. Compared to those hopeless knights back in Axel, she seemed more competent, though he couldn't say for sure. Even though she gave off the aura of a competent individual, he had only known her for the small amount of time that they had been talking.

…wait, did she say Evilus?

Was that name a joke? What kind of organization would take a lame name like that? However, the fact that they could be so bold meant that they were likely dangerous in their own right. All of those crazy guys over at the crimson demon village were a testament to that.

"Actually, do you think you could help me with something? I'm trying to find the rest of my Familia. I got separated from them earlier," he explained. "By the way, I'm Satou Kazuma."

"Ardee Varma of the Ganesha Familia, and of course I'll help you. Leave it to me," she answered with a cheery smile while holding up a peace sign. "It's practically my job to help lost children!"

"I'm not a child."

"Sure, if you say so," Ardee said unconvincingly, not noticing Kazuma's eye twitching in response. "Ah, I'm just teasing you! Don't worry, we'll find them in no time at all. I know this city like the back of my hand. Where did you last see them?"

"At the eastern gates of the city…"

~o~

"Kazuma, Kazuma!" Aqua waved at him with a chicken thigh in her hand. "Over here!"

Kazuma frowned. Ardee had shown him around the city until they eventually found his party enjoying dinner at a local inn. This damn useless goddess had the audacity to enjoy a nice hot meal while he was stuck in an interrogation room because of her!?

With his money too!?

Well, if it was just a plate, then he wouldn't have much to complain about, but across the entire table that his party was seated at, there was practically a feast. Not only that, but there were already several empty wine bottles by the former goddess, and she even just took a swig just now in front of him!

"Uwaaaaa! K-Kazuma, stop pulling my hair!"

"Kazuma! I need to fulfill my daily explosion quota!"

"Kazuma, tell me how it was being interrogated for so long!? Oh, how I wish they had kept me there longer too!"

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! This group of idiots!

"Hahaha!" Ardee laughed from nearby. "You have a great Familia there, Kazuma! I can tell that you all must be very close."

What part of this group of idiots looked great!?

At the very least, they were sensible enough to not go to some high-end establishment. This inn looked like the middle of the road kind of place with decorations on the wooden walls. There were tables and chairs that had old alcohol stains on them, but they seemed relatively clean for what they were. That meant that they were at least wiped down.

"Thank you for bringing Kazuma back to us." Eris dipped her head in thanks. "I'm Eris, and the rest of my Familia here are Aqua, Megumin, and Darkness."

"Ah, it's no trouble at all, Lady Eris! Please raise your head!" Ardee replied as she held up her hands. "It's all part of my job. That reminds me; I need to get back to my patrol. See you around, Kazuma!"

Ardee waved one last time before she stepped out of the inn.

"Uwaaaaaa! K-Kazuma, Kazuma, I'm sorry!" Aqua cried out as he pulled her cheeks.

He finally let her go after she apologized. Aqua glared at him in response as she ate her chicken wings. The speck of sauce resting on the top of her lip did not do her glare any favors.

"So, what did I miss?" Kazuma asked as he took a seat at the table next to Aqua. "You guys didn't cause any trouble did you?"

"A-ahhhh!" Darkness squirmed in her seat. "Your complete lack of faith in us…! You know exactly how I like it, Kazuma!"

This hopeless woman…

Kazuma scooted his chair further away and closer to Aqua who pulled her plate of chicken wings closer to herself in response.

"A-ah, well…" Eris scratched her cheek with a hesitant smile. "Senpai might have used a little too much to pay for her drinks earlier."

"..."

Kazuma started pulling Aqua's hair again.

"Uwaaaaaaa! Kazuuuuumaaaaaa!"

~o~

After getting his money pouch back, Kazuma found out that the money he had received from the caravan traders was nearly gone. There was just enough money for one more meal. It also meant that none of them could afford to stay at an inn unless they wanted to pawn off some of their equipment, something that none of them wanted to do.

That was how they all found themselves slumming it in an old abandoned church for the night.

When they spotted it, they weren't sure if the building or land belonged to anyone, but the outside looked abandoned enough with the overgrown yard, the abundant plant life on the building, and the shattered windows. The insides were no better with all the cobwebs and dust that made it seem like an infestation. That confirmed his thoughts that nobody had been here for a long time.

Seeing that, he made the decision for the party to basically become squatters for the night.

Kazuma let out a sigh from where he was lying on the pew on his side. He rolled onto his back and stared up at the run-down ceiling. The rest of his party had already picked out their beds for the night—any of the still usable church pews—and while it wasn't exactly comfortable, it still beat sleeping on the floor.

With Aqua's domain over water, it wasn't too hard to clean the pews up. Still, wood benches didn't exactly make good beds. Well, Darkness was enthusiastic enough about it at the very least.

The problem with sleeping in a dilapidated church was that it wasn't really the most ideal place to sleep. It wasn't as bad as sleeping outdoors, but with the windows shattered, the wind kept blowing in all night and the temperature had fallen quite significantly. Worse still, they didn't even have blankets since, by the time the interrogations were finally over, most of those kinds of shops had already closed up for the night. It made sense since there would be fewer customers at night, and the shops that weren't on the main roads would not be able to call for help that fast.

Once again, this was not how he had expected his isekai adventure to start off.

He supposed that it was an upgrade compared to sleeping on hay at the horse stables or on the stone floor. Camping in the wild had its issues as well, particularly with safety, though it still had its own set of positives. Still, at times like these, he missed the ultimate bastion of comfort: his comfy king-sized bed in his mansion.

"Kazuma." He felt someone sit down next to him on the pew. "I need to let off an explosion."

It just never ends…

"...hold it in."

"I can't," Megumin intoned gravely. "I'll die."

"You were able to hold it in before."

"That was a one time thing due to very strenuous circumstances," Megumin solemnly explained. "It can't happen again."

"...it's going to be too much of a pain to leave town and carry you back in right now."

"I can blow up the tower—"

"Don't even think about it." Kazuma didn't want to even think of the problems that would cause.

Or the bill for that matter.

"I need to blow something up, Kazuma," she replied with a pout.

"Tomorrow. We'll go to the dungeon tomorrow," he offered. "I'll even let you do a couple so just hold it in for now, alright?"

"Just a couple?" Megumin frowned. "After all the pain I had to go through? Make it six."

"Two."

"Six."

"One."

"Hey! You're not supposed to go down when negotiating," Megumin grumbled. "Otherwise, I'm going up to seven."

"Zero," Kazuma said in a deadpan voice. "Good night."

"Wait, wait, wait." She looked dissatisfied. "Fine, five."

"If you want to get rid of excess energy, I could just drain you," he replied with a flat look.

"Four."

Kazuma raised his hand threateningly.

"Three. Just three, you Kazu-bastard. It's a bargain."

"Two."

"Can we make it three?" Megumin leaned forward and stared at him with watery eyes, making sure the collar of her shirt dipped. "...please?"

"Alright, alright, enough of that." Kazuma leaned back and glanced away. "Three then."

"Pleasure doing business with you," Megumin replied smugly before she hopped up off her seat. "Night, Kazuma."

Kazuma watched her walk back to her pew and lie down on it.

Well, at least the damage wasn't too bad. He had already been planning on checking out the dungeon tomorrow so her letting loose some explosions wasn't going to impede things. From all the information that he gathered, the dungeon was practically a living organism that spawned monsters and repaired itself regularly. Even if they blow up a room or two, it would probably be back to normal after some time. Though, he would have to make sure that any connected rooms were cleared so no one would get caught up as collateral damage.

After all, Kazuma had some experience with being collateral damage. He shuddered at the memory. That was not an experience that he wanted to relive. This was going to be a test run. If the Dungeon collapsed after those explosions, he would just have to have Megumin do her daily chore outside the city instead.

Well, that was a problem for tomorrow's Kazuma to worry about.

He put his hands behind his head and tried to shift around to get into a comfortable position before closing his eyes.

~o~

Waking up to sunlight filtering through broken windows and a butterfly landing on his nose wasn't the type of wake-up that Kazuma liked. If anything, a little sister coming around and shaking him gently awake while calling him big brother was the best type of wake-up possible.

Unfortunately, with a lack of little sisters in the vicinity–or Iris for that matter–that just wasn't possible anymore.

So, Kazama settled for moaning and groaning as he sat up on the pew instead. He rolled his shoulders, loosening the kinks in them. His eyes were still blurry, and he would have liked to splash his face with water, but there was none to be had since Aqua was still asleep. In fact, everyone was still asleep at this time.

He had made his internal clock wake himself early to take care of business.

Sure, he would have liked to sleep in some more, especially since the morning sun was warming up the church just enough to call it comfortable, but there were things that he needed to do before everyone woke up. However, seeing how soundly they were all sleeping while he was miserably awake, he was tempted to just put things off until later.

Maybe he would have done exactly that if he didn't think they would make a mess at the adventurer's guild. Seeing as they were currently flat broke, he didn't want them getting tricked into any schemes that the guild had for making money. As much as he had gotten support from the adventurer's guild in Axel, they had still done their fair share to siphon from his bank account.

That didn't mean that his party wouldn't eventually head to the guild.

No, this was more like doing the framework for registering the Familia. Sure, it would be more efficient to just go with them to register everyone all together, but it would also be far more troublesome if Aqua or Megumin snuck something into the paperwork that he would have to waste time fixing later. Worse would be if they actually got away with whatever they snuck in.

It was just altogether a lot easier to get the main things done with now so he would be able to pay attention to what the rest of his party was doing later on.

His stomach rumbled loudly.

Thankfully, nobody woke up, but seeing as he didn't know when another roaring iteration of that was coming, he quickly made his way out of the church. Pushing open the creaking doors, he slid outside through the narrow opening and quietly shut them. In the heated morning sun, stepping onto the cracked stone path, he turned around and saw the state of the church under the illuminating sunlight.

The grounds were overgrown with plants, but the building itself was even worse. Last night, he had only really seen the shattered windows. However, the daytime's light showed that the church was similarly overrun by vines and plants, some of which had even grown large enough to break through the stone construction. If this had been the modern world, this building would have already been condemned and torn down by bulldozers.

That was just how dangerous of a place that this church that they were squatting in was.

If anything, the repair costs would be high enough that replacing the whole building would probably be cheaper altogether. Though, it wasn't like they owned the land. However, this was at the western end of the city, and nobody really seemed to care about it. They would probably be able to use it for a while before the real owners catch wind of it, and by then, they should have enough money of their own to get their own place.

The good thing about this location was that it was not far from the main road. However, by that same virtue, that probably meant that the property price would be relatively high, even though it was closer to the western gate rather than the tower in the center of the city. Despite that, why was it allowed to languish? That just didn't make much sense.

Maybe he could even buy it from its current owners. Even if they didn't live on the land, he could probably resell it for a far higher price and make a profit.

It didn't take him long to reach the main road. Despite being relatively far from the center of the city, the main road was bustling with people and activity which was the opposite of last night. There were merchants hawking their wares or food from street stalls as well as people walking around or engaged in conversations. However, more notably, there were adventurers in varying levels of equipment and gear walking down the main road toward the tower.

He decided to flag down a random passerby.

"Excuse me, do you know where the adventurer's guild is?"

"You mean the Guild? Their headquarters, the Pantheon, is a few blocks down that way, to the north."

After that, it was only a short walk before Kazuma found himself in front of a building that looked just like any other adventurer's guild except maybe a bit more glamorous. However, for a building that was named the Pantheon, he had been expecting something out of ancient Greece with stone pillars and marble flooring. Instead, it was a large stone building that was about three stories high.

It looked good, but it certainly wasn't what he imagined.

What it did have going for it was the amount of people coming in and out of the building. It was a constant stream of individuals and parties, dressed in varying styles of armor and clothing. There was no one meta set or such; everyone had their own style that didn't just conform to the western fantasy genre.

Standing at the entrance was a dwarf carrying around a shield that was the same size as his own body and an elf with a wizard's hat who was holding an expensive looking orbed staff. Leaning on the balcony on the second floor was a cat-eared boy, staring down with a bored expression. A black-haired woman in a kimono left through the entrance, passing by tanned women with only armored bikinis walking into the building.

His eyes could help but gravitate to that last group. Was this the isekai fantasy adventure that he always wanted? If this was a sample, then this was even better than Belzerg!

Though, after beating the Demon King, he had technically entered his retirement period, living off both his riches and his fame. One year of working hard had equaled a lifetime of retirement. Truly, it was the prime period of his life before this second isekai. However, he couldn't help but feel that he would finally experience the type of fantasy adventure that he had always wanted but never got back in Belzerg.

With a renewed sense of excitement, Kazuma confidently walked into the building.

The first thing that he noticed was that, like a bank, there were multiple lines that went to different counters that had tellers or clerks behind them. After reading the signs, he went to stand in one of them. That was when he noticed that the person he was standing behind was a boy with a pair of fuzzy ears and a rather bushy tail.

Dog? Or perhaps a wolf?

It was kind of hard to tell, but looking at it closer, the guy seemed more like a wolf person. A werewolf then? It wasn't the first time he had seen a werewolf; he had seen a few of those back in Belzerg, but they had mostly been trying to kill him. Not to mention, this one looked younger than him.

Perhaps noticing Kazuma's gaze, the werewolf suddenly glanced back with a glare.

"Oi, what the hell are you staring at?"

The tattoo running along the side of the werewolf's face gave off the impression of a delinquent, kind of like how Dust did with his blonde hair.

"Just haven't seen a werewolf before."

At least, one that wasn't actively trying to kill him on sight, though this one seemed pretty hostile as well, in a different way.

"Che. What are you, some kind of country bumpkin?"

"Something like that," Kazuma replied with a noncommittal shrug. "Just arrived in the city yesterday."

"You here to register as an adventurer?"

"Yeah," Kazuma answered with a nod. "I'm Satou Kazuma."

The werewolf's eyes looked him up and down for a brief moment, as if appraising his worth as an adventurer or something along that realm of thought.

"...Bete Loga," the werewolf eventually replied.

"Next!" One of the guild staff called out from an open counter.

The line finally began to move, but there were still a good five people in front of him, including Bete. At times like these, he missed having a cell phone so he could have something to do to occupy his time. He never did like having to wait in line, despite the fact that it happened all the time back in Japan.

"So, what Familia are you with?" Kazuma asked, more out of boredom than anything else.

"Vidar," Bete simply answered as he stepped forward in line.

"Ah," Kazuma replied with a nod, even though he had no clue who that was. "I'm with Eris."

"Never heard of her."

"She's new."

"Next!" Another guild staff member called out.

The line had mostly cleared up by this point, and Bete was the next person up.

"Oi, rookie," the werewolf boy gruffly stated before he began to make his way toward an open counter. "Don't get yourself killed."

"I won't."

At least, not for long since Aqua would always resurrect him anyways.

~o~

"...name and Familia?"

"Satou Kazuma," he replied. "Eris Familia."

"Eris…?" The red-haired staff worker repeated the name back to him. The funny thing was that she was also a werewolf, though obviously older than the one who he talked to just minutes before. "Is she a new goddess?"

"Yeah."

"I can hand you the paperwork to get started, but to officially register the Familia, I'm going to need her to come in," she explained. "Until then, guild services will be restricted. You can still register yourself as an adventurer though."

"That's fine."

The staff worker popped open a drawer and pulled out a sheet of paper along with an ink quill.

Luckily, there wasn't too much to fill out, just some basic information such as his name, Familia, and level. Oh, and where he was from, though what should he put for that? It would be weird to put Japan or even Belzerg since those places didn't exist in this world. In the end, after a brief moment of thought, he simply scribbled down 'Far East' as his place of origin since that was technically true in a sense.

After all, that was the first place they appeared in, and the Far East was pretty much a fantasy version of feudal Japan anyways.

Of course, that was only the paper for himself. For the Familia, there were more sheets required, but he filled them out easily enough. Even though he technically only had a middle school education since he had become a shut-in during high school, it wasn't like this was an exam. Honestly, he probably had a higher education level than most in an ancient fantasy world like this one, and that wasn't even counting the home education that he had gotten through gaming.

"Alright, I'm done." He slid the sheets of paper back over the counter. "Let me know if there's anything I need to fix."

The red-haired guild lady took the forms and gave it a quick glance over.

"Everything looks to be in order," she simply stated in a dull tone of voice. "I'll store the Famila registration form for now until your goddess comes in. The only thing left for you to do is to pick a guild advisor."

"Advisor?" Kazuma repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"It's exactly what it means," the werewolf woman replied. "Your advisor will be one of our staff who you will reach out to whenever you need advice or have questions about adventuring. Just tell me your preference, and we'll find you someone who can help you. Do you want a female elf? A pallum?"

So basically like what Luna was back in Axel in the adventurer's guild, but just a bit more personalized.

"Ah, is it fine if I choose you then?"

She was the only guild staff worker he had spoken to so far—aside from those bastards at the front gate—but she seemed as good as any. The fact that she was easy on the eyes was a bonus, even if she seemed disinterested and jaded. Actually, maybe he should have chosen someone else. However, asking to change it now would probably be perceived as an insult so it was too late.

The red-haired lady stared at him with her piercing golden eyes for a few brief moments before she let out a soft sigh.

"Very well. I suppose proper introductions are in order then. I'm Rose Fannett."

"Satou Kazuma," he replied before giving a short bow of his head. "I'll be in your care."

"Congratulations on officially becoming an adventurer, Kazuma. As your newly appointed guild advisor, I have to make sure you are aware that us advisors can provide an introductory lesson on what beginners such as yourself can expect in the dungeon," Rose dully stated, as if she had recited the lines hundreds of times already. "...I'd suggest you choose to partake in the lesson."

"Ah, yeah. Sure, why not?" Kazuma nodded. "Oh, but before that, can I get three more copies of that adventurer registration form? I've got three other people in my Familia who need to get registered."

"...we might as well do the introductory course all at once then," she continued before deftly pulling out three more copies of the adventurer registration form. "Just stop by and drop these off with your Familia once everything is filled out."

"Alright. Thanks, Rose."

"Just doing my job."

~o~

Authors' Notes:

Icura: Adree is actually from the prequel story, Astraea Record, that takes place seven years before Bell. If you actually want to watch that (not required, more just to show we didn't pull these characters out of our asses), you can search youtube for Astrea Record The Rise of Evil (part 1), Astrea Record Lost Justice (part 2), and Astrea Record Ultimate Clash (part 3). It's visual novel style, and they are all fully voiced. And yes, it is Astraea on the wiki and Astrea on youtube.

Special FX: She was also one of my best characters in DanMemo! But yeah, since this story starts off eight years before Bell, we still have about a year until the events of Astrea Record.