Saturday noon sunlight streamed through the mansion's huge stained-glass windows, falling over the people sprawled all over the leather sofas.
"Ahh. So this is how rich people live? Kōichi, pour me another glass of that grape juice from Arcanletia. I feel like my soul is being purified by the scent of luxury."
Aqua lay on her back in a silk nightgown, with absolutely none of the dignity of a Goddess, while clutching a piece of high-grade ham left over from last night.
"Do your hands not work? Besides, I paid Wiz a lot for that special stuff because it supposedly raises your luck. I'm ninety-nine percent sure I got scammed, but since it was Wiz, I'm fine with it."
Kōichi sat with his legs crossed, looking every bit like a useless bum who had already won at life and wanted everyone to leave him alone.
Kazuma Satou, meanwhile, was skillfully counting their remaining Eris off to the side, muttering under his breath. "Dinner for Yunyun last night cost thirty-five thousand. The wine cost... Tch, Kōichi, we need to start being careful. I'm seriously worried Aqua is going to drop something huge on us."
Amid this harmonious air of decadence, someone knocked on the mansion's heavy doors, politely but firmly.
Then the Royal Prosecutor, Sena, who always wore a sharp uniform and kept her expression as stern as stone, strode inside.
Seeing the scene of indulgence in the living room, the corner of Sena's eye twitched slightly, but she quickly regained her composure.
After observing them for some time, she had come to understand one thing very deeply. While this group was essentially a blight on Axel, they did possess talents far beyond ordinary people when it mattered.
"Everyone, it seems you enjoyed yourselves quite a bit last night." Sena cleared her throat, her voice echoing through the spacious living room. "Kōichi-san, Satou-san, I apologize for interrupting your rest. However, an urgent situation has come up, and the Guild believes that only a Party like yours, one that... takes an unconventional approach, is suited to handle it."
"Huh? A quest?" Aqua let out a whine of annoyance. "Sena-san, we're supposed to be on paid leave right now. Unless the reward is enough for me to buy that solid-gold statue of the Water God..."
"The reward is very generous, and this is a direct request from the lord's mansion." Sena paused, then spread out a map and pointed to a hilly area outside the city. "Recently, a group of monsters known as Lizard Runners have entered their breeding season. Normally, they're only a little fast, but during this period, the males become extremely violent as they compete for mating rights. They gather in packs and charge through anything that stands in their way."
"Lizard Runners?" Kōichi set down his book, his brow furrowing slightly. "I remember those things have pretty tough shells, and their speed is ridiculous."
"Correct." Sena nodded, her expression grave. "Even worse, their route happens to pass directly through Axel's main farming district. If they are left unchecked, this year's harvest will be completely ruined. The objective of the mission is to intercept and eliminate this herd of rutting lizards. It sounds simple, but with their sheer numbers and extreme speed, an ordinary Adventurer Party would have great difficulty stopping them without taking injuries."
"R-rutting... rampaging lizards?"
Darkness, who had been sitting silently off to the side, suddenly raised her head. Her breathing quickened, and a suspicious blush spread across her cheeks.
"Are you saying there will be hundreds, even thousands, of immensely powerful beasts that have completely lost all reason, knowing only how to charge madly, rushing straight toward us? And they're monsters excited for that particular purpose?"
"...Biologically speaking, yes."
Sena looked at Darkness in confusion as she suddenly switched on.
"Oooh...! Being trampled and rammed by countless rutting beasts, maybe even wrapped up by their strong tails and flung into the air...!" Darkness shot to her feet and grabbed Kōichi's arm with astonishing strength. "Kōichi! You absolutely must accept this mission! As a Crusader, I cannot allow those poor crops to be harmed! Please let me stand on the front line and use my body... no, my shield, to endure all their fury!"
Kōichi looked at Darkness, who was practically drooling, then at the expectant Sena, and finally exchanged a glance with Kazuma, whose eyes were shining just as brightly.
In the luxurious living room of the Dustiness mansion, the atmosphere suddenly felt like a secret division of spoils among an international criminal syndicate.
"I'm just saying, Sena-san, that doesn't sound very sincere." Kōichi leaned back against the leather sofa, casually swirling a glass of expensive red wine in his right hand, though it was actually grape juice Aqua had secretly watered down. "Those are Lizard Runners we're talking about! Hundreds, maybe thousands of them! And they're in heat! Do you know what that means? It means we won't just be facing physical impact, but mental... uh, visual pollution too! For a high-risk, high-mental-damage job like this, that reward is all we get?"
"Exactly, Sena-san." Kazuma Satou joined in from the side, wearing an expression that said he was deeply hurt. "Just look at our Party. A loli who only knows how to set off fireworks, a masochist who only knows how to get hit, and a useless Goddess who can't do anything except purify water. Kōichi and I are risking our lives leading this team! Can't you squeeze even a tiny bit more out of that fat office budget of yours? Even a late-night diner coupon would do."
Sena expressionlessly pushed up her glasses, gripping her briefcase so tightly that the leather let out a faint creak.
"Kōichi-san, Satou-san, please stop wearing those faces like laborers whose wages have been withheld." Sena's voice was cold enough to shed ice. "Three hundred thousand Eris is already the highest amount the Guild can offer. If you continue haggling, I will have no choice but to treat this as contempt for royal authority and consider placing you on the first page of Axel's list of unwelcome Adventurers."
Kōichi and Kazuma exchanged a look, both seeing the same thought in each other's eyes. Tch, this woman is tough.
"Fine. Since the monetary reward has hit its limit..."
Kōichi's eyes shifted, and the image of a blond troublemaker suddenly appeared in his mind. A guy who always wore a nasty grin while scamming and tricking people. Dust.
That bastard had screwed him and Kazuma over at the execution grounds last time.
An extremely wicked curve formed at the corner of Kōichi's mouth. He lowered his voice and leaned mysteriously toward Sena.
"Then how about this, Sena-san? We'll take the original reward, but... as an extra benefit for this mission, could you use your authority to help us mess with that bastard Dust?"
"Dust?" Sena raised an eyebrow.
"That's right! That blond punk who calls himself Axel's strongest warrior, but actually spends all day mooching off others and screwing over newbies!" Kazuma got excited too, gritting his teeth as he spoke. "He's definitely a bigger threat to Axel than Kōichi and I are!"
They had expected to waste a lot of breath persuading her, but the moment Sena heard the words mess with Dust, her eyes lit up at once. There was even a hint of... relief in them.
"Deal." Sena answered almost instantly, her tone even growing slightly lighter. "In fact, the complaint letters caused by Dust have already piled up on my desk. That man is simply not human."
"Oho!"
Kōichi and Kazuma could not help high-fiving in midair, letting out a villainous laugh as if their scheme had succeeded.
"Excellent! In that case, we'll take this quest!" Kōichi stood up in high spirits and waved his hand. "Aqua, stop drinking! Megumin, go polish your staff! Darkness... wipe that expectant look off your face!"