ca-book #185 - Go to hot springs
#185 - Go to hot springs
It's often said that people change when they get rich, for better or worse, and it's beyond anyone's control.
Everyone is like that.
But what about these two…
“The finest black tea is ready, Kazuma-sensei, please enjoy.”
The idiot goddess Aqua gracefully presented a teacup to Satou Kazuma, who took a sip and said softly:
“This is hot water, you know.”
“Oh dear, oh dear, I was so careless, I'm so sorry, Kazuma-sensei.”
“It's alright, just brew another cup. Thank you, Aqua.”
“Ho ho ho ~ ~ ~”
“He he he ~ ~ ~”
The two laughed like idiots.
Yunyun twitched her lips and asked Darkness beside her, “How long have they been like this?”
“It's been two days…”
She covered her face in anguish.
It started when Vanir took a liking to the products developed by Satou Kazuma and wanted to distribute them as an agent, promising him a high return.
After learning that 300 million Eris would be coming in, they became like this.
Darkness asked with a pleading tone, “Please, Yunyun, do you have any way to save them?”
“No saving them, just wait for death, goodbye.”
Yunyun denied three times in a row.
She wanted to leave, but her right hand was grabbed with great force, and she couldn't move.
“If this continues, Kazuma will be unwilling to go out to work, squatting at home all day eating and waiting for death, maybe even becoming an alcoholic good-for-nothing, and in the end, he might say to me, 'Hey, Darkness, go do some shady work to earn money for me.' Then, believing that Kazuma will one day turn over a new leaf, I'll start selling myself… If that happens… If that happens… Wouldn't that be wonderful!”
“…Has your brain gone bad too?”
Yunyun rolled her eyes at her.
Megumin and Yunyun were also helpless about the laziness of the two.
“Kazuma, Aqua, isn't your goal to defeat the Demon King? How can you do it if you continue like this!? Are you just going to keep squatting in the starting village, waiting for the Demon King to come knocking?”
“That wouldn't be bad either. I might as well earn more money and hire a bunch of strong adventurers, and then ask them to help me level up, or directly ask them to defeat the Demon King. Right, right, I'll slap the adventurers' faces with banknotes, desperately boss them around, and after they weaken the Demon King, I'll give the Demon King the final blow myself… That's great, that's it!”
“…What did you say!?”
Obviously, Megumin didn't expect him to say that.
To think of defeating the Demon King with the power of money is completely incompatible with Megumin's aesthetics of 'leveling up with companions, constantly getting stronger, and finally awakening hidden powers, and then defeating the Demon King in the final battle.' Hiring high-level adventurers to defeat the Demon King is not a royal road of passionate adventure at all.
However, she overlooked one point, that is, Satou Kazuma is a complete and utter heretical hero!
“Yunyun, say something!”
“…What's there to say? To each their own. And I don't think Kazuma's method is unfeasible, after all, money can make a goddess pour tea and serve water, and money can also make a Duke of Hell a subordinate.”
He really thought so.
And there was a living example in front of him, so others had to believe it.
“Hey…!”
“But Kazuma, you don't seem to have thought about a question.”
Yunyun signaled Megumin to be calm and said to the lazy Satou Kazuma, “The method you can think of, others can also think of, but why hasn't it succeeded? Is it simply not enough money? No, it's that the Demon King is not afraid of multiple battles, or rather, he hopes it can evolve into multiple battles. Otherwise, why would the kingdom be deadlocked with the Demon King's army, instead of finding someone to carry out a decapitation operation?”
“…You say that as if you know the Demon King's information?”
“Who do you think I am?”
Satou Kazuma then remembered that Yunyun has very powerful divination abilities.
She definitely knows the Demon King's information.
“As a companion, I'll give you a piece of information as a bonus. Kazuma, how many Demon King Army executives do you think there are?”
“8… Although I really want to say that without thinking, but since you asked that, there must be another reason. And you specifically referred to the Demon King Army executives, doesn't that mean…!”
Satou Kazuma widened his eyes.
Yunyun couldn't help but take a higher look at him.
Although this guy is a devilish scumbag, his brain is really bright.
Meeting his flustered gaze, the corners of Yunyun's mouth raised into a wicked smile, and she slowly said, “That's right, the Demon King can mass-produce Demon King Army executives, his ability is to amplify any soldier of the Demon King Army to have the ability of an executive level, that is—”
“The quality of companions is far more important than quantity.”
Satou Kazuma, a modern person who has played MMORPG games, knows very well what is needed when fighting strong enemies.
Although in the game, due to system limitations, you can only team up with the specified characters, and in order to successfully pass the level, you can only increase the levels of those few people;
But the reality is different, they can team up at will and add companions at will, it doesn't matter how many people go to crusade against the Demon King together, this is the difference between the game and reality.
…That's what Satou Kazuma thought.
However, if the opponent is not afraid of human wave tactics, or even hopes for human wave tactics, then that's another matter.
He is like that.
Facing so many adventurers in Kiel's dungeon, Satou Kazuma relied on his own strength to fight against the entire team, but in the end, he was crushed by the stronger Yunyun.
So he understands this situation best.
It would be fine if he didn't know that the Demon King was so strong, but knowing that the Demon King is so strong, he must change his strategy, and having more people is just giving others blood packs, without causing any harm.
Speaking of—
“Aqua, why are you shaking so badly?”
“Ka-Ka-Kazuma-sensei! I didn't even know the Demon King was so powerful, I'm already trembling with fear.”
“Aren't you a goddess, give me an example of a goddess.”
Satou Kazuma rolled his eyes unhappily.
If he continues to be so decadent, then Yunyun and the others will definitely abandon him without hesitation, already knowing how to defeat the Demon King and losing valuable companions.
That's not useless, that's stupid.
Megumin and Darkness aside, Yunyun and Yunyun are companions he is very optimistic about.
“I know, I know, I will work hard! But I just died once recently, after a deadly battle with the Running Lizard, I unfortunately twisted my neck, at least let me rest until this old injury heals, okay?”
“It was obviously an injury from falling from a tree, you do need to rest, but I have completely healed your injury, it shouldn't hurt anymore.”
Satou Kazuma glared at the talkative Aqua, and then touched his neck with a very exaggerated movement.
During Yunyun's potion making, he and Aqua were asked by Sena to do a quest, and during this time, he accidentally died again, so he resisted going out to do quests.
“… … I understand.”
Megumin nodded and said to him, “Then, let’s go heal Kazuma’s injuries.”
“Go heal? No need…”
“Let’s go for some hot spring therapy. To Alcanretia, the city of water and hot springs.”
“My injuries are nothing to worry about… Wait, what did you just say?”
Kazuma Sato seemed excited at the mention of hot springs.
Yunyun was also very excited.
“Wa-wait, Megumin! You’re going there? You’re really going there? Have you forgotten what happened there before? And that big sister is there too, you know!”
“Don’t worry, she’s currently in another place.”
Megumin seemed to have already inquired about it.
Aqua also shouted excitedly, “Hot springs? Hey, Megumin, did you just mention Alcanretia? You said we’re going to Alcanretia, the city of water and hot springs, right!”
You should know that’s the headquarters of the Axis Church. As the goddess they worship, how could she not be excited?
“Ho-hot springs… Now that you mention it, we’ve been dealing with so many powerful enemies lately, and we’re quite mentally exhausted. Now that the debts are paid off, it wouldn’t hurt to splurge a little and go for a hot spring, would it…”
“Kazuma-san, what’s wrong? You’re talking like you’re chanting a sutra.”
“No-nonsense! None of your business!”
Stared at by the idiot goddess’s straightforward gaze, Kazuma Sato, with his lewd thoughts, quickly pushed her away.
“So, Kazuma and Aqua both agree to go to the hot springs, right? As for Darkness…”
“—In the end, I, who have fallen to the very bottom, would say this: Please don’t abandon me! I, I am willing to do anything for you, Master——!”
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Darkness was immersed in her own world, squirming and blushing.
Megumin froze on the spot.
“…Let’s leave this one to guard the house.”
“D-don’t be like that. It would be inconvenient on the road without Darkness.”
Although Megumin was a little put off by Darkness’s actions, she still spoke up for her.
On the road?
Kazuma Sato felt a vague sense of unease.
At this moment, he suddenly saw Yunyun, who had already walked to the mansion door, quietly opening it and about to step out.
“…Yunyun, where are you going?”
“I, I still have some business dealings with Vanir. As for the hot springs, you guys go ahead, don’t worry about me… Th-that’s right! Doesn’t the house need someone to stay behind? Then I’ll stay behind and guard the house! Hehe, hehehe…”
“Wait.”
Kazuma Sato had somehow snuck up behind Yunyun and placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Yunyun, you’re not usually like this. What are you hiding?”
“Oh, come on, Kazuma-san, I’m not hiding anything. Aren’t we comrades? The most important thing when dealing with comrades is to be open and honest.”
“Hey, your personality has changed.”
Yunyun was only making things worse.
Seeing Kazuma Sato’s suspicious gaze, Yunyun quickly said, “Th-that’s right! Kazuma, why don’t we go to the Temple of Eternal Summer? It’s also a very good resort for healing!”
“Temple of Eternal Summer? What’s that?”
“Ah, that place.”
Darkness, who had somehow returned to normal, explained, “It’s normal that you don’t know, Kazuma. It’s also a very famous place.”
A very standard sentence structure.
Kazuma Sato was almost immune to it.
“So, what kind of place is it?”
“The Temple of Eternal Summer is an underground city that is summer all year round, and the weather there is very hot. Many people have died there.”
“Isn’t that quite dangerous? Hey, Yunyun, what are you thinking!”
He yelled at Yunyun.
Yunyun shook her head and said, “No, I think Yunyun means to go to the oasis near the temple. Although the Temple of Eternal Summer is very hot and dangerous, and the surrounding area is even covered in yellow sand, that oasis is a very famous place. Many adventurers and nobles go there for tourism. In fact, many people move there in the winter.”
“Oh…”
Kazuma Sato nodded in understanding.
It’s similar to Hawaii in his previous life. It’s usually a popular off-season tourist destination. Since it’s called the Temple of Eternal Summer, the temperature must be very high.
“How about it, Kazuma? If we go there, you can see swimsuits! Swimsuits!”
Yunyun leaned closer to him, constantly tempting him, her red eyes filled with a mysterious color.
“Sw-swimsuits…”
Kazuma Sato swallowed.
Although the people in the party have big problems in their heads, their looks and figures are unquestionable. If he could see swimsuits… it seems pretty good?
“Okay, then let’s go—”
“I refuse! I want to go to Alcanretia!”
“Aqua, why are you suddenly so energetic at this time? Why do you have to go there?”
Kazuma Sato felt helpless at the idiot goddess’s stubbornness.
Although going to a hot spring is also great.
It would be even better if there was a mixed bath.
But going to the oasis would allow him to see swimsuits, and even see them openly without being criticized.
He was a little torn for a moment.
Yunyun continued to tempt him, “Kazuma, listen to my advice, that place is a devil’s den, you can’t handle it. It’s better to go to the oasis, you can see swimsuits, that’s a sure thing.”
“Th-this…”
Kazuma Sato’s eyes darted around.
This guy, usually a fiendish scumbag, becomes hesitant at times like this.
Since that’s the case, then let’s add more fuel to the fire.
“Kazuma, you…”
“Yunyun, you’re acting very strange.”
Just as she was about to apply a stronger temptation, Kazuma Sato suddenly said this.
“Wh-what’s wrong?”
“Why are you so resistant to us going to Alcanretia? Yunyun, did you foresee something? Wait, could there be a Demon King Army executive there!?”
“A Demon King Army executive is nothing, the Axis Church… Wait, Demon King Army executive?”
Yunyun suddenly fell silent.
Demon King Army executive = 400 million Eris = Vanir takes action = Maxwell, who distorts reality, returns to hell = the evil lord dies.
Clap—
Yunyun clapped her hands.
“Okay! We’ll go to Alcanretia, the city of hot springs and water!”
“…Eh?”
“No need to say anything, Kazuma, let’s go soak in the hot springs and heal! Sorry, as a party member, I always neglect your feelings. Let’s just relax and enjoy the hot springs!”
“Wait, now I don’t want to go anymore.”
Seeing Yunyun so excited, Kazuma Sato panicked.
He had a very bad feeling that they might encounter some big trouble this time!