Over the course of the week following the 'revolution,' Kazuma had largely stepped into Luna's shoes, helping run the day-to-day operations of the guild's front end, while she was now forced to focus on the more 'big picture' issues of the guild and bringing it up to the standards the union had been promised. That meant dealing with things like buying resources for the hall, securing contracts from the clients the strike had alienated and altogether too much to leave her free to do the job she had once enjoyed. For Kazuma, settling into his new duties had been largely quite routine, with just one small hiccup, or rather 'croak' - the giant toad infestation outside of Axel had finally reached a critical mass.

It wasn't terribly surprising, considering it had been over a month since they'd been properly culled and the things bred at a pace that would make rabbits start suggesting family planning. With the sheer numbers the monsters had bred to, he needed a better plan than just sending teams to perform some ultra-late-term abortions. The best strategy he'd come up with so far is to have them work together in their normal parties, following the new guild doctrine of at least four of them, finishing off whatever was left after he sent that explosion-happy loli in with a small vanguard to just delete entire grid squares of suspected spawning grounds. It wasn't a terrible plan, per say, he just felt like he could do better if he had more experience. As it was, he felt like he was using a sledgehammer to smash situation had to be dealt with immediately however, so he didn't really have the luxury of waiting on a better idea to come along.

Now he just had the issue with getting a hold of all of the people he wanted for this particular job. They really needed a way to message people or something. With Luna busy, he didn't have anyone else to watch the counter, so he was stuck on his butt, waving down Dust. Dust was a… unique adventurer, to say the least. He was perpetually broke, plain as could be, and completely shameless in his perversion. He was a nice guy and all, but Kazuma couldn't help but think that, but for the grace of one of the gods (probably not Aqua), he might have ended up much the same way… There were probably worse fates, but he was honestly fairly happy he hadn't..

"Oi, Dust, I got a small job for you." He pulled out a list, handing it over to Dust. "I'd get it done myself, but then there'd be no-one to hold down the fort. Can you find these parties, that Crimson Demon girl, and Darkness? I have a mission for all of them to go on."

Dust gave Kazuma a mocking salute, a grin on his dopey face. "Sure bossman, same pay as usual?"

"You should be so lucky. I'll knock it off the tab you racked up last night instead and buy you a drink tonight. Get it done before one and I'll make it two." Kazuma offered, the lush having built up a quite sizable tab since the party. He'd learnt that sometimes, you just have to drive a hard bargain to get anywhere with some people.

"Ehn, good enough I guess. Be back soon then!" Dust shrugged, stretching his hamstrings and jogging off, hoping to earn his bonus drink.

Kazuma took his temporary reprieve to look out over the guild and indulge in a proud moment, observing the renewed atmosphere of the room. Without the threat of going hungry hanging over their heads because they took a week off or had a bad job, Axel's adventurers were all able to better enjoy their downtime and plan for their futures with some assurance they'd actually reach them, rather than just focusing on surviving the next job. The sense of hope and promise now present in the air made his jaded little NEET heart grow three sizes just watching it. Honestly though, seeing them with a future to look forward to, reminded him of another issue. As it was, most adventurers still didn't have permanent lodgings, instead renting rooms at various inns and the like. While it wasn't the worst set up, it did make it a bit rough on career adventurers because it left them without a real 'home' to go to. It was part of why the guild was always so full. Maybe he could try introducing the idea of apartments and see if it took off? It honestly might be quite a lucrative business to centralize their lives under the guild's roof, so to speak, so it wasn't like he didn't have a reason to try.

He was brought out of his musings by an annoyed groan from Luna joining him, the manager slumping in defeat over the counter. "That bad, eh?" Kazuma asked, knowing she had been trying to balance the books with all of the changes.

"If he wasn't a cast-iron bastard, I think I might be starting to grow some sympathy for Gerald. This month especially is going to be tight. A bit too tight, if I'm honest with you. We usually make a decent chunk of our monthly income with routine extermination missions, but we aren't getting paid for them this month since we kind of made that mess in the first place. Combine that with our low stock of trade goods from monsters and we are likely going to be in the red this month." She lamented, unable to keep her frustration to herself.

"Couldn't find a buyer for the wino's mansion?" He asked. The guild had received a decent portion of Geralt's possessions when he was arrested, given it had been embezzled from their coffers anyway. Given the sum, that included his relatively small manor (by the nobility's standards anyway).

"No reasonable offers. A few that asked about it were trying to lowball us by a disgusting amount, probably figuring that we're in trouble, but mostly it's just lack of interest. Anyone with the funds for something like that wants an estate to go with it, not a townhouse. Axel's not exactly the capital, you know. Still, I might have to take one of those offers, if we don't find a solution soon." She really didn't want to let the local oligarchs rip them off, or think the guild was a soft touch now with a woman in charge, but she might not have a choice at this point. With her head down on the counter, she couldn't see the frankly disturbing impression of a shark right beside her however..

Kazuma couldn't have asked for a better setup than that. Thanking Eris (he'd thank Aqua over his dead body) for his luck and his eyes gleaming with the scent of profit, he asked Luna, "Have you ever heard of a boarding house?"

-Ko-No-Su-Ba!-

It took him a bit longer than he'd have liked to to fully explain the idea to Luna, not having much experience with them himself. But at the end of the day, the premise was relatively simple and she was delighted at the idea. It would give the adventurers that wanted it a more permanent home, while offering them a stable income during rough times all minimal investment, given they already had the rooms and furniture could just be moved from the now-vacant servants quarters. Excluding the master suite, there were another six suites available that they could easily rent out. They even had indoor plumbing and everything! After a bit of math, they figured that renting each room at 80,000 Eris a month would be more than appealing to most of the adventurers, while still making enough to cover their shortfall. To be fair, Kazuma suggested they offer the rooms up in a lottery, with Luna receiving the master suite to act as the "house mother" and keep them all in line. They also settled on making an announcement about it every night until the end of the week so everyone could enter and be present for the drawing. After doing a small bit of mental math, Luna even started laughing triumphantly, realizing that this income would offset over half the losses from the month. Or was it maniacally? Kazuma wasn't sure he wanted to know which.

It was almost an hour later, well before one, that Dust returned, most of the listed adventurers all in tow. "Alright, I got nearly everyone you asked for. Havoc's lot are out of town looking for some precious something-or-other and aren't due back for a week. All good?"

"No, I need your party too. The lot of you will be going on a joint extermination mission. Well, all of you, assuming that a certain mage learned new magic." Kazuma finished, hoping to play a bit of a give and take with Megumin since he hadn't heard from her since the day he'd shut her down.

"I'll have you know I don't need other magic to do anything. I am an Archmage regardless of what you say!" She paused for dramatic effect, only picking back up as he was about to tell her she wasn't going. "That said, I took your advice to heart and I learned a few more skills. I picked up the ability to set proximity alarms, make barriers, and minor telekinesis." She boasted, obviously proud of her fast improvement. In reality, she had just, begrudgingly, taken a few points from Explosion and bought the cheapest useful abilities she could.

Kazuma took her card, looking it over before scowling. "So, you're still tapped out after one explosion? So much for deleting them one by one, but it's better than nothing. If you are going, I need you to buy at least some more mana reserves and teleport with your next few levels. After that feel free to level up Explosion all you want. Deal?"

Megumin happily nodded, excited to finally be able to show off the destructive might of her magic, only for it to be quickly replaced with a touch of embarrassment. "Um, you seemed so knowledgeable about our ways… If I do all that, might you be willing to take me to shoot off explosions on my days off?" She asks, rubbing her staff nervously, knowing she wouldn't be able to go and do it as freely if he didn't agree.

"Hmm, I am pretty busy here usually, but if I can't do it, I can likely find somebody willing to help. But you must continue to improve all facets of your skills then!" He demanded, leveling a finger at her and hoping it would keep her from just pouring all her points into Explosion.

"Tch, fine. You had best make sure to appreciate the sublime destruction I wreak!" It seemed she had nothing more to add, but felt the need to get the final word in nonetheless.

Letting it go, Kazuma turned to address the assembled adventurers. "Alright, as for the target, I'm sure you've all guessed already, but I need the lot of you to go wipe out at least 80 giant toads. I know this is a lot more than a normal mission, even for this many people. So, Darkness over here will be protecting your ace in the hole, Megumin. She knows Explosion and a will to use it, so what you all are going to do is lure as many Toads as you can into her range and then get the hell out of the blast radius so she can turn them into a smoking crater. The first 80 is the primary goal, but given how out of control the slimeballs have got, there'll be a bonus for any extras you kill. Since this is a joint mission, I will be linking your cards together for shared experience, but if I hear about any of you slacking, it's coming out of your pay cut." Megumin looked like she was about to complain, fully intending to hoard experience from her Explosion, only to be stopped by a light glare from Kazuma. "It's still early enough that I expect this done before nightfall. Good luck, happy hunting and for Eris's sake, don't get yourselves eaten by giant toads of all things, that'd just be embarrassing."

The parties dismissed, Kazuma slumped back into his seat behind the counter. As a (former) hikiNEET, he had dealt with more people in these past few weeks than he had in a year of his last life and it had only gotten worse with Luna leaving him as the guild's main face. He enjoyed his first few days of working on inventory and the like, but all this socializing was exhausting. Most weren't so bad, but then there were problem cases like Megumin… Or worse..

His thoughts are abruptly stopped though as a pair of hands drop over his face, covering his eyes. "Hey, hey, Kazuma, guess who?" came the playful voice of Aqua, bringing a smile to his face. He hated to admit it, but her childlike energy did tend to cheer up his day and break the monotony of it all. He might have been angry beyond all belief at her over their initial interaction, but she had truly grown on him over the last two months. Sure, she could drive him insane when she felt like being lazy, so maybe she was growing on him like a fungus on a dead tree, but apparently his work ethic had started to rub off on her. Honestly, it only highlighted the fact that her shitty attitude had been the only thing holding her back from being way out of his league.

"Yes, this is Kazuma. Luna? I thought you were supposed to be buying ale for the hall?" He deadpanned, playing stupid for a bit to tease her.

Aqua puffed her cheeks out, pinching his cheeks lightly at his teasing. "Meanie. You knew it was me, right?" She asked, removing her hands before hopping up to sit on the counter in front of him. He had to quickly avert his eyes to make sure he didn't get a free show, his face heating up from the near flashing.

"Yeah, yeah, I knew it was you. Everything looks good in the infirmary, I take it?" he asked, curious as to why she wasn't taking care of patients.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, she nods as she throws her hand back. "Yeah! It was so boring today! The worst I had to deal with was a concussion that was caused in a training accident. With the precautions you and Luna put into place, there have been no serious wounds. If it wasn't such a good thing I'd probably complain about it."

"Mhm. Well, if you're so full of free time, did you think about what I suggest with your followers?" he asked, wanting to see if she even remembered him mentioning trying to have them 'be better.'

"Uh, well… A little? But I mean it's not like I could even do anything while I am stuck down here!" she protested, a trace of a whine entering her voice. "I can't even give out miracles while I'm stuck with you, now that I think about it! My poor followers must be panicking by now!" Her eyes were wide with worry now, as she sat upright and bit her thumb, staring into the middle-distance and starting to shake poor Kazuma, as she realized the potential chaos his pettiness might have unleashed.

"Aqua- Aqua. AQUA! Relax. Breathe. If we haven't heard anything about it yet, it has to be taken care of. Look, you're an Archpriestess and a Goddess, right? Try talking to Eris or someone, get a feeling for what's going on. She sure seemed to respect you enough to help you out. Heck, you can even ask her for tips… And while you're at it, you can apologize for telling your followers she's an evil goddess! Seriously, I don't get what your problem with her is, but that is not okay! Even I can tell from here you're jealous that she has more followers than you and is the official religion."

Aqua looks like she'd been physically struck by those last remarks, stunned into silence for a moment, before almost physically swelling with outrage. "I-! You-! You..! YOU HIKINEET! What do you know about being a god?! Our divinity is directly tied to the zeal and number of our followers! So what if I am slightly resentful of my junior having more followers?! Isn't it only fair that I have more, when I have existed for centuries longer?! So what if the only reason I can cling onto what's left of my divine power is because my followers are damn fanatics?! WHAT COULD YOU POSSIBLY KNOW ABOUT BEING A USELESS, FAILING GODDESS?!" Her rage and frustration built to a crescendo, culminating in her more or less screaming her frustrations at him, turning heads and silencing the room. As she yelled, her voice cracked and tears began to escape her eyes, until she choked and began to bawl - not the childish tears of a brat denied her favorite vice, but something wrenched from deep inside her heart, a wellspring of grief that the onlookers suddenly felt guilty to be party to. As a goddess of water, such an emotional display was not limited to herself. Once-emptied mugs started to fill, salt water welling up from within. Pipes and gutters began to burst and leak, their contents dripping down, as low, heavy gray clouds gathered overhead with alarming speed. Around the guild hall, roof tiles and wooden wall-panels warped and creaked, water dripping from them in thin rivulets, while paintings, posters, carvings and depictions of all kinds seemed to weep in sympathy. None of the effects were so dramatic as to attract immediate notice, but many of the staff would later find themselves cursing, wondering where so much water damage suddenly appeared from, for them to clean up.

Kazuma was on his feet in an instant, wrapping his arms around the distraught girl and rubbing small circles on her back as she let it all out. He wasn't sure how long he held her, glaring at anyone stupid enough to try and disturb them while she cried. Eventually though, Luna showed up, in all her affectionate and familial glory, assessing the situation in an instant and motioning for him to take her away for now. The Kazuma of old might have struggled, but the Kazuma who had spent weeks having his indolence beaten out of him by Feldart had no such problems, scooping up her curled and vulnerable form in bridal carry. Takinging her to their shared room, Aqua was mostly spent by the time they got there, just errant tears and an occasional sniffle escaping her as she clung to his drenched shirt, seeking comfort from the very man who'd destroyed her ego so blithely.

Opening their door with his foot (a necessity with a weeping goddess in hand), he brought her inside, laying her down on the bed and sitting beside her, holding her hand. They sat in silence for what felt like hours, until Kazuma finally broke the silence. "I had no idea this was such a big deal for you. I honestly thought it was just… Pride, or something."

Aqua sniffed again, shaking her head. "No. When a goddess stops… having followers, one of two things happen. Either, we become mortal and die just like you… Or we just cease existing. It's happened to a lot of my own seniors over the years. Eris… She knows, but she hasn't had to see it happen yet. It's part of why I've been keeping her at arm's length despite us being the closest in age and even where we're worshipped . I… I keep worrying that someday, she'll be the only goddess left here and I'll be… Gone." She just let the silence retake the room, resting her head on Kazuma's chest. The slow, rhythmic beat of his heart quickly sends her off to sleep though, her eyes drooping even as he holds her.

Setting her down on the bed, once she's started lightly snoring, Kazuma scooted off the bed and knelt beside it, clasping his hands. He'd never been a religious man, but with having actually met physical deities, agnosticism suddenly seemed really stupid. Besides, who else did you turn to when you needed help for a literally god-sized problem? Keeping his voice low, so as to not wake Aqua, he whispered his prayer, his hands clasped so tight his nails bit into the backs of his hands, begging to be heard. "Eris, please be listening. I know I've never so much as set foot in your temple, but I…Aqua, needs your help. I don't know what you heard, but she is terrified right now and I don't know how to help her. Please, she needs you. Please, help our loud, exuberant, obnoxious, but adorable goddess."

He sighed, not quite knowing how to end his plea to the heavens. Before he could even get back up off of his knees however, there was a soft knock at the door. "...No fucking way."

He pushed himself up, tiptoeing quickly to the door and hesitating for a moment before opening it, only to be greeted by the exact goddess he'd been praying to, covered as well as she could be in a deeply hooded cloak. "Let me in before somebody sees me!" she hissed, slipping past him to get inside, casting a nervous look into the empty corridor. Closing and locking the door behind them, Kazuma followed her as she took off the cloak, the fabric fading into non-existence as it hit the floor. She dragged a chair from the desk over to the bed, sitting down and fixing herself lightly before motioning to Kazuma.

"Is this a… Regular thing for you?" he hissed in a shocked whisper.

"Senpai's a special case. Would you kindly wake her back up?" She responded, wanting it to be a more familiar hand to do the job.

Kazuma nodded, gulping and sitting next to Aqua's head before shaking her shoulder lightly. "Aqua, wake up, you have a visitor."

It took a few moments, but soon enough, the emotionally exhausted goddess came to, rubbing the tiredness from her eyes. Yawning hugely, she sat up, taking a moment or two before she realized just who it was that had come to visit. Her eyes welled up, her breath catching before she could even say anything. She then threw herself at her fellow goddess, bawling her eyes out, again.

-Ko-No-Su-Ba!-

The two goddesses had cried, apologized, and talked well into the night, the two needing the time to catch up and apologize. Eris flatly refused to accept Aqua's sobbing apology for her actions toward her, understanding her position perfectly and judging it as bone-headed as it was well-intentioned, instead asking that her senpai stop under-estimating her. She may be younger, but it wasn't by more than a few centuries. "You don't need to protect me from reality," she insisted. "I'm not some mortal child you need to keep safe from the world and I'm kind of insulted you thought I was. Don't tell me you thought I'd be okay with you vanishing or dying, just because you gave me the cold shoulder? Or that I'd just accept that?"I don't want you going anywhere either, senpai."

Aqua's apology for that, the younger goddess was happy to accept, along with her offer (although she phrased it an awful lot more like something she was going to do, with or without Aqua's approval) of helping keep her senior very much in the land of the living. Eris assured her that she was in no immediate danger - after all, with how fervent, even borderline fanatical, her followers were, there was no danger of them suddenly abandoning her.

"I suppose you're right, but… I mean, I'm stuck here, unable to answer prayers or the like. If your god suddenly goes silent, that'd try the faith of even the strongest mortal, right?"

"Uhm, actually, you don't need to worry too much about that. See, I kinda… Stepped in for you while you were away. I'm sorry if I was over-stepping things, b-but I figured you'd be worried about something like that, so I-"

"Wait, you have?!" Aqua gaped. "But they think- Eris- Good grief you are far too nice for your own good, you know that?" She sighed and hugged her junior again, feeling a weight lift from her shoulders. "I owe you bigtime. You're a lifesaver, literally! They've not figured out it's you yet?"

Eris shook her head, looking slightly apologetic still. "No, I've kept most things light. A blessing here and there, that sort of thing. It's actually kind of creep- Amazing how easy it is to convince them that any divine intervention is you…"

"I… Might have to get them out of that bad habit once I'm back in Heaven," Aqua sighed. "Actually, I'm gonna have to change quite a bit… This'll take at least one divine revelation."

On that, Kazuma and Eris agreed, with greater and lesser enthusiasm respectively. Besides, it would help the Axis Cult's image immensely if they weren't openly feuding with the dominant religion in the kingdom. Their aggressive evangelism and contempt of all other faiths didn't help much either.

Convinced that she wasn't going anywhere for at least a few mortal lifetimes, Aqua seemed to breathe a little easier, convinced now that she had time to change her approach and a friend to back her up. Eris had even been so kind as to offer to have weekly chats for her and Aqua to catch up and to make sure things were moving smoothly. It wouldn't be quite the same as Aqua being in heaven, but it would be enough that her followers wouldn't miss her terribly… And that she wouldn't miss someone who should have been her dearest friend this whole time.

-Ko-No-Su-Ba!-

In the primary church of Arcanletia, home and seat of the Axis Cult, the head priest awoke from his fitful sleep with a start. The visions he had seen were already fading, but he was sure that the great goddess had sent him a dire omen. Scrambling for a candle in the darkness, he hastily found paper and a pen to write what scraps of the prophetic dream he could recall. It had involved the hated and evil goddess of capricious fortune, of that he was sure. He wrote feverishly, scrawling across page after page, revising the record over and over as he tried to make sense of it all. The dawn's light found him sprawled across his writing-desk, surrounded by the detritus of a night of madness, collapsed from sheer exhaustion, amid ravings of winged nightmares; tumbling coins with innumerable, ever-changing sides; a dark maelstrom that pulled souls to their doom; and other, stranger things and faces.

When he awoke in the infirmary, surrounded by the nervous figures of his highest priests and disciples, he could remember little of what had happened, as though it were the work of another person, which he had learned of only after the fact. None could make sense of any of his writing and by his own order, it was quickly sealed away, to be examined by only the most steadfast souls of the faith, lest it lead to corruption and damnation. He was certain only that it had been the will of the goddess and that dark times lay ahead for the true faithful.