As the angel finished speaking, two teleportation circles lit up under Hayashi Maki and Goddess Aqua's feet, rising into a column of light.
Aqua's body trembled; her whole expression collapsed.
"This can't be happening! Bringing a goddess with you is against the rules, right?! I protest, let me out! Uuuu, I don't wanna go down there, I don't wanna gooooo!"
On the verge of breaking down, the great Goddess Aqua had snot and tears streaming down her face, looking nothing like the dignified figure from moments ago.
"Protests are invalid, Aqua-sama," the angel said mildly. "Taking a goddess down with the reincarnated hero is also within the rules. After all, Hayashi Maki-san chose you as the item he'll bring along."
"Hayashi Maki-san, once you and Aqua-sama defeat the Demon King, you'll earn a wish. At that time, Aqua-sama may choose to return to the divine realm. Until then, I wish you both a pleasant journey!"
With that, the angel activated the teleportation.
Aqua's wailing cut off abruptly as the two of them vanished from the soul-processing office of the heavens.
"Whew, finally got Aqua-sama out of my hair," the angel sighed in relief. "If she'd kept randomly handing out overpowered artifacts and skills to reincarnators, the Demon King's army would never be wiped out."
"Well then, time for me to get back to work."
She pulled out the bag of chips Aqua had hidden and started munching happily.
…
Back to Hayashi Maki.
As the light pulsed around him, he felt the teleportation circles twist.
His vision blurred, and when it cleared, he was standing in front of a run-down shack.
Next to him stood a blue-haired goddess with a high ponytail—Aqua—her expression completely blank.
Right now, however, the goddess looked pretty pitiful, her face streaked with tears and snot. Not exactly divine.
"Uuugh… you bastard, what did you do?!"
Snapping back to herself, Aqua grabbed Hayashi Maki by the collar and shook him wildly.
"Uuuu, there's no going back now! I'm a goddess! Why do I have to come suffer down here with you!?"
"Alright, alright, enough shouting. What's done is done. Just accept it. Staying in the heavens all the time is boring, isn't it? Coming down to play once in a while isn't so bad."
Hayashi Maki pried her hands off and patted her head.
Aqua looked up at him, eyes wet, sniffling.
"Easy for you to say. I'm a goddess! How can you be so broken as to pick a goddess as your 'item'?!"
"What am I supposed to do now? If we don't beat the Demon King's army, I'll never be able to go back!"
Hayashi Maki rolled his eyes.
"If you remember you're a goddess, then dealing with the Demon King's army should be a piece of cake, right?"
"I—I'm not a combat goddess! I'm the water goddess, okay? Fighting the Demon King's army is totally impossible!"
Aqua muttered, fidgeting with her fingers.
Up in the divine realm she'd only learned party tricks, plus water authority, purification, healing, and resurrection. Useful, sure—but aside from being effective against demons and the undead, she could barely handle a goblin.
"You won't know until you try. And you've got me, don't you? Come on, stop crying. You'll ruin your looks."
Hayashi Maki chuckled, ruffling her hair again.
Aqua finally wiped away her tears. "Hmph. Fine. I'll trust you—for now!"
"So, what do we do first?"
"Obviously we find the Adventurers' Guild and register as adventurers…" Hayashi Maki started, then paused. "Uh, wait. Something's off."
He suddenly heard a familiar chime from his Demon Raising System.
[Detected anchor point of another world; recorded.]
[Current world: The cursed world covered by the Witch's love. Also known as Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World.]
"What's wrong?" Aqua asked, tilting her head and looking at him with those blue eyes.
Hayashi Maki sighed.
"It looks like we didn't arrive in the intended world. We ended up somewhere… special."
"Aqua-sama, try using your water authority, resurrection, purification—see if your powers still work."
"Hmm? I'll give it a shot."
Aqua closed her eyes and stretched out both hands.
Boom!
A column of light shot up from the ground, followed by a great jet of water bursting into the sky.
"Hmm… feels a little strange, but I can still use them," Aqua said seriously.
Hayashi Maki exhaled in relief.
"Good. In that case, let's head to the nearest town and exchange some currency."
With a goddess at his side, there was really nothing to panic about.
Besides, even if he died here, he could revive back in his original world. As long as he had contracted subordinates, he could resurrect indefinitely.
Aqua naturally had no objections. She was support, not DPS. Goddess or not, she didn't want to feel pain, so she'd prefer to stay behind him.
Leading Aqua, Hayashi Maki walked toward a more crowded area while quietly observing.
According to the panel, this was the world of Re:Zero.
A world where half the land had been swallowed by the Witch of Envy.
Here, power manifested as the world's "blessings"—essentially fragments of the world's authority. Those who bore blessings had literally been given a slice of the world's power.
There was even that red-haired Sword Saint with countless blessings: whatever blessing he wanted, he got. The author's golden child.
Hayashi Maki walked along, taking in his surroundings with a casual air.
To him, danger here was relative. He could always go back if he needed to—and maybe bring a few contracted girls along. That would make life even nicer.
"Fruit for sale! Hey, kid, want to try one?" a green-haired, mean-looking apple vendor called out to him enthusiastically.
Hayashi Maki shook his head. "I'll look around first."
He didn't have any local currency yet.
Aqua, on the other hand, was eyeing everything around them with desperate longing.
Seeing the green-haired apple seller, Hayashi Maki knew he was in the capital or at least near it.
"Let's go, Aqua."
He took Aqua's hand and led her toward a nearby merchant company.
The biggest merchant group in this world was Hoshin Company, run by Anastasia, one of the royal selection candidates. If anywhere could exchange his goods for money, it was there.
The currency here was gold, silver, and the highest denomination, holy gold coins.
Hayashi Maki wasn't worried about not reading the language.
The instant he was "reincarnated as a hero," he'd gotten the ability to understand all written text.
Soon, he and Aqua stepped into a tavern run by Hoshin Co.
Hayashi Maki pulled some gold and silver jewelry out of his inventory and exchanged them for a hundred holy gold coins. Then he sat down and ordered food.
Aqua happily joined in, even ordering alcohol; her face turned red in no time.
After he'd eaten and drunk his fill, Hayashi Maki picked up the tipsy goddess and booked a room, grinning as he stepped inside.
Looking down at the groggy, flushed goddess, Hayashi Maki leaned in with mischievous intent.
He'd never had the chance to "get this close" to a goddess before, after all.