In the mansion on the outskirts of Axel, the morning sun streamed through the bright floor-to-ceiling windows, spilling across the velvet-carpeted corridor.
The lingering smell of hay and horse manure from the stable was gone. In its place was a fragrance called decadence.
And the heart of that decadent life was neither the massive sum of five hundred thousand Eris nor the spacious rooms, but the soul-hooking aroma drifting out of the kitchen.
"Hey, Aqua. If I remember right, someone snuck into my pantry last night and drank up that premium bottle I was saving for beef stewed in red wine, didn't they?"
Dressed in comfortable home clothes, Kōichi stood at the huge cutting board with a gleaming kitchen knife in hand, elegantly slicing up a fresh cabbage.
He did not even turn his head as he asked the question in a flat tone.
Aqua, who had just been about to sneak a freshly made fried shrimp rice ball off the dining table, instantly froze in place like she had been hit with a paralysis spell.
Her crystal-blue hair trembled slightly, and by the time she turned around, her face was already plastered with the most sycophantic smile imaginable.
"Hehe! K-Kōichi-sama! Whatever could you mean? How could a noble Goddess like me possibly do something like that? It must have been... it must have been those ghosts that still haven't completely moved on! Right! The ghosts drank it! As compensation, I can scrub all the floors in the house until they shine like mirrors today! So... about that fried shrimp rice ball..."
"Go scrub the floors. If you don't finish, lunch will be plain boiled cabbage in water. No meat."
Kōichi delivered the sentence mercilessly.
"Waaahhh! I'm going right now! Kōichi-sama, please don't dock my meat!! I'll literally die without Kōichi-sama's cooking!!"
With a mournful wail, Aqua grabbed a bucket and ran for the hallway in a scrambling panic.
Beside her, Kazuma leaned back in his chair with a copy of the Axel Daily in hand and laughed in delight.
"Nicely done, Kōichi. That's exactly how you deal with a useless Goddess who does nothing but drive up food costs. Though... since Aqua's portion is being saved, how about adding an egg to mine? I've been burning a lot of brainpower lately figuring out how to install anti-theft traps around the mansion."
Kōichi shot him a sidelong glance. "Kazuma, if you can tear your eyes away from Megumin's room for once and pull the weeds in the yard while you're at it, I might consider giving you a double-yolk egg."
"Understood! I'm on it!"
Kazuma sprang to his feet instantly, moving with the crisp precision of an elite soldier.
That had become the normal state of things over the past few days.
In this mansion, Kōichi stood firmly at the absolute top of the food chain.
Every day after Megumin came back from casting Explosion Magic, the first thing she did was not rest. Instead, she sat obediently at the dining table like a well-behaved little kitten, those red eyes wide with anticipation as she waited for Kōichi's newest explosive-flavored creation.
At just one word from him, she would probably even change her signature line from "I am the number one Wizard of the Crimson Demon Clan" to "I am Chef Kōichi's number one assistant."
And Darkness... she was currently the most dangerous case of all.
When she had accidentally smashed an expensive piece of porcelain and Kōichi, with a cold expression, ordered her to "go stand in the yard as punishment until I'm satisfied," the noble lady had actually flushed so intensely that any passerby would have reported it to the guards. Gasping for breath, she cried out, "This feeling of having my very lifeline, my stomach, seized and being humiliated at will... ah! Please, by all means, don't feed me! Let me watch all of you eat while you mock my weak will to your hearts' content!"
Kōichi did not even need force. With nothing more than a spatula and some seasonings, he had completely subdued this group of hopelessly warped problem children.
That afternoon, Kōichi lounged in a rocking chair on the balcony, watching Aqua cry while scrubbing the yard, Kazuma sweat buckets as he pulled weeds, Megumin study recipes off to the side, and Darkness bask in the sunlight while serving her punishment in self-intoxicated bliss.
Taking a sip of freshly brewed black tea and feeling the untouched fortune still sitting in his account, Kōichi sighed from the bottom of his heart.
"This is what life in another world is supposed to be like."
And yet, peaceful days like this always seemed to come with unexpected trouble.
In the distance, near the gates of Axel, a group of fully armed Knights appeared to be racing toward the estate, kicking up clouds of dust as they came.
Watching the silver armor and fluttering griffin banner gradually come into view through the rolling dust, Kōichi gracefully set down his gold-rimmed bone china teacup and lightly tapped the rosewood tabletop twice with his fingertips.
"Everyone, assemble! Stop embarrassing yourselves over there!"
Kōichi's voice was not loud, but it carried an authority that could not be ignored.
Aqua, who had been wriggling across the floor like a caterpillar, instantly sprang to her feet and wiped her face with a rag.
Kazuma, who had been locked in battle with a stubborn weed, hurriedly brushed the dirt off his hands and straightened his slightly shabby green cloak.
Megumin, meanwhile, smoothly struck a grand Wizard pose, though the ruby at the tip of her staff looked a little ridiculous sparkling in the sunlight.
The hardest case was Darkness. Her face was flushed red from standing there so long, her eyes unfocused, and she was muttering under her breath, "Ah... is Master finally going to have me publicly executed...?"
Kōichi walked over and gave her thick shoulder armor a sharp smack, producing a crisp metallic clang.
"Get a hold of yourself, Darkness! The Royal Knights are here. Show them the dignity expected of a lady of the Dustiness family. If you embarrass me by acting like some hopeless pervert, dinner tonight will be nothing but plain boiled grass roots with no salt."
"Eh?! U-unsalted boiled grass roots?! ...Ugh, such a punishment... No, I'll do my best! For Kōichi-sama's dinner, I shall display a dignity so majestic even the gods would shrink back!"
Darkness instantly straightened up, her gaze turning sharp and solemn, as if the hopeless masochist from a moment ago had just been an illusion.
In less than two minutes, a remarkably intimidating formation had taken shape in front of the mansion's broad front gate.
Kōichi stood in the center with both hands in his pockets, every bit the unfathomable master of the house. Darkness stood on his right like an immovable steel war goddess. Megumin stood on his left, holding her staff across herself, her hood covering half her face and giving her an air of mystery. Kazuma stood half a step behind Kōichi with his arms folded, like a shrewd right-hand man.
As for Aqua... Kōichi had her stand in the back holding a basin of Holy Water as part of the backdrop. As long as she kept her mouth shut, she really did look like a noble Goddess.
The Knights reined in their horses in perfect unison ten meters from the gate.
The lead knight swung down from his horse. He was a stern middle-aged man with a face as hard as granite.
He swept his gaze across the party, then let it settle on Kōichi's face. Removing his helmet, he offered a proper knightly salute.
"I am Senn, captain of the Third Unit of the Royal Capital's Guard Knights. I take it you are Kōichi, the one who has recently made quite a name for himself in Axel by defeating a Demon King's General?"
Captain Senn's tone was polite, but his eyes were full of scrutiny.
He glanced at Darkness standing nearby, a flicker of surprise passing through his eyes before he quickly hid it.
"Captain Senn, you've come a long way." Kōichi gave a slight nod, sounding as calm as if he were greeting a neighbor. "What sort of major incident could bring the Royal Capital's finest all the way to my newly cleaned mansion? If you're here to collect a debt, I can hand over the blue-haired one right now."
"Hey! What the hell are you saying, Kōichi?! I'm your companion!!"
Aqua, who had been serving as the background prop, instantly broke character and shrieked.
Captain Senn's mouth twitched. He cleared his throat and regained his stern expression.
"This is not about debt. Kōichi Hayashi, due to the extraordinary combat ability your group has displayed recently, as well as certain royal secrets originally tied to this mansion, the Royal Capital has decided to conduct a formal identity verification. In addition... we have received reports that Demon King's Generals have been unusually active around Axel of late, and we require your assistance in the investigation."
He paused, then lowered his voice.
"And most importantly. Lady Lalatina of the Dustiness family... appears to be among your party? Certain important figures in the Royal Capital are very concerned about her safety and education."
The moment Darkness heard the words "Lalatina" and "education," her body shook violently, and cracks began to show in her solemn façade.
Under Senn's severe gaze, like he was examining criminals, Kōichi proved unusually cooperative and even insisted that Aqua behave herself.
After a whole round of trouble, including checking Adventurer Cards, verifying city entry records, and Senn repeatedly double-checking Aqua's card five separate times because it listed her as an Arch Priest despite her absurdly low Intelligence stat, the stern inspector finally pushed up his glasses and let out a long sigh of relief.
"Very well, Kōichi-san, and the rest of you. Although your behavior is... extremely difficult to evaluate by normal standards, based on the results of this investigation, you are indeed not spies for the Demon King's Army. After all, no matter how desperate they are for manpower, the Demon King's Army probably would not send people like... like..." Senn glanced at Aqua, who was trying to sneak the free snacks off the Guild table into her pockets, and swallowed the word idiot before finishing, "people with such... distinctive personalities on an infiltration mission. Therefore, the misunderstanding regarding interference with public officials in the performance of their duties, as well as the suspected illegal gathering mentioned earlier, is hereby resolved."
"Phew! You scared me to death! I thought I was going to get thrown back into that creepy prison again and be stuck eating cold rice balls every day!" Aqua clutched her chest, looking like someone who had narrowly escaped disaster. Then she immediately changed expressions and made a face at Senn. "You hear that, you stuffy prosecutor?! We're legitimate Adventurers! Hurry up and apologize, then get on your knees and beg this Goddess for forgiveness. If I'm feeling generous, I might even bless you with an application form for the Axis Order!"
"Aqua, shut up."
Expressionless, Kōichi planted a hand on Aqua's head to stop her from actually getting arrested on the spot by Senn for insulting a public official.