"In a brief moment, I experienced the ups and downs of life, from a billionaire to being heavily in debt... and it wasn't even three seconds!"
The ups and downs came too quickly; who could stand it! It would have been better not to tell Kazuma about the reward and just say it was compensation for the gate's damage, which would have made him feel much better.
Now with such a, everyone did not doubt Kazuma's moral standing... Although he said he was determined to defeat the Demon King, it was highly likely he would go back, pick up his things, and prepare to run away. After all, suddenly being burdened with over 40 million in debt, who wouldn't run!
.....
[ Having just earned 300 million, he then lost 340 million, and the huge debt forced Kazuma to continue living in a dilapidated stable.
But as winter approached, the clothes hanging out to dry had already frozen solid, and Kazuma's eyebrows were also frozen. If this continued, he might become the first hero to freeze to death due to poverty!
At this moment, Kazuma was in an adventurer's guild, his hands clasped over his head, on the table, emitting a painful groan: "I want money...!"
Aqua looked at him strangely: "Who doesn't want money? You're too useless! How can you make me, a goddess, live in a stable every day? Don't you feel ashamed!"
"If you understand, then let me live a more luxurious life, spoil me a little more!"
Kazuma looked at Aqua, gritting his teeth: "Don't you know why I want money?! Debt...!"
"It's all because of the debt you incurred. A large part of the reward for every quest is taken to repay the debt. I'll definitely freeze to death if I continue to sleep in the stable!"
Aqua quickly averted her gaze, guilt flashing across her face, before regaining her composure and declaring with renewed confidence, "Back then, if it weren't for my exceptional efforts, this town would have been destroyed!"
Kazuma wasn't going to indulge her little temper: "Then I'll give you both the credit and the debt, you go repay it alone!"
Upon hearing this, Aqua immediately knelt, hugging Kazuma's leg and crying apologies: "Wait... wait! I'm sorry, I got carried away. I apologize!" ]
[ .....]
〜Projection of All Worlds〜
"What a tragic hero—before transmigrating, he was financially free, but after transmigrating, he's buried in debt. Isn't that such a wasted transmigration?"
"Speaking of which, how cold is winter in the other world! His eyebrows are frozen. I'm really worried Kazuma will freeze to death if he continues to live in the stable."
Everyone's faces were filled with black lines. Aqua's kneeling apology was too practiced; didn't she forget she was a goddess again!
And outstanding... Clearly, the matter between Kazuma and Megumin was already over, yet you still took Megumin to blow up other people's castles every day.
That alone would be fine, but when they came knocking, you still mocked Beldia; otherwise, this fight wouldn't have even started!
.....
〜Gabriel DropOut World〜
Gabriel looked at the scene before her with a despondent expression, rolling her eyes in exasperation:
"What is this... the hero is going to freeze to death before saving the world?"
It's truly baffling to have to pay for the damage to the city walls after defeating a Demon King's Army General. If that's truly the case... who would dare to step in and protect if something really happened in the future?
Moreover, how would a hero with over 40 million in debt have time to fight the Demon King? He'd be thinking about working to repay his debts all day; even RPGs wouldn't be this absurd.
Satania tilted her head, a little confused:
"As for that Headless Knight, does he go to heaven or hell..."
At these words, the entire room suddenly fell silent, everyone looked conflicted, this question was no less profound than which came first, the chicken or the egg?
Whether it's heaven or hell, both seem plausible. How do you choose? Even Raphael couldn't believe that such a profound question could be asked by Satania.
.....
[ Seeing other adventurers enjoying the winter comfortably, Kazuma, in order not to freeze to death in winter, prepared to take everyone on a quest to improve their lives.
Kazuma scanned the quests on the bulletin board: "Although the rewards are good, there aren't any normal requests."
Darkness eagerly selected a quest to subdue a pack of wolves, her excitement evident as she imagined being overwhelmed by the feral beasts, but Kazuma firmly turned it down.
Megumin chose a quest to subjugate a One-Hit Bear, wanting to compare whose one-hit was stronger! Kazuma knew from the name that it was extremely ferocious and decisively refused.
Finally, Kazuma found a quest that seemed less ferocious: "How about this Snow Sprite subjugation? It doesn't sound very strong! A single one gives a reward of 100,000 Eris!"
Megumin explained, "Snow Sprites mostly live in snowfields with deep snow. It is said that for every one defeated, spring will arrive half a day earlier."
"They are weak monsters, easily defeated! But..."
Darkness also showed an excited smile: "Snow Sprites, huh...!"
Kazuma sensed something was wrong, but for the sake of money, he couldn't care less and decisively accepted the quest. ]
[ .....]
〜Projection of All Worlds〜
"I feel like this team would fall apart without Kazuma... Don't Megumin and the others look at how dense the skulls are on the quests?! They pick all the dangerous ones."
"Yare yare, a One-Hit Bear! Any creature called that has earned its name with adventurers' blood, it's a party wipeout in minutes!"
Everyone's expressions were a little speechless. Just from the way they picked quests, it was clear that, apart from Kazuma being somewhat normal, no one else in their party was.
Quests were picked purely based on preference; whether they could win or not was within their consideration!
.....
〜Re: Zero - Starting Life in Another World〜
Natsuki Subaru sighed slightly, looking at this fellow countryman who was just like him.
"Kazuma is also being driven to desperation by debt; this quest probably isn't as simple as they say."
If Snow Sprites were really that weak, would it make Darkness, that perverted masochist knight, show an excited expression? It's impossible to imagine.
And not to mention the setting that defeating one makes spring arrive half a day earlier, just the price of 100,000 Eris for one far exceeds the price of an average monster.
Otherwise, there wouldn't be such a big bargain to pick up so easily; it would probably have been snatched up on the first day it was posted on the quest board.
My fellow countryman, Kazuma, those Snow Sprites probably aren't that easy to defeat!
.....
[ And so, the few who accepted the quest changed into winter clothes and came to the snow-covered mountains far from town to find the so-called Snow Sprites!
They were white, light, spherical objects, about the size of a palm! They looked harmless.
Kazuma looked at Aqua, dumbfounded: "By the way, can't you change that outfit!"
Because at this moment, Aqua was holding a bug net and several small bottles, not at all like she was there for a quest, but more like a child running out to catch cicadas in winter.
Aqua, however, proudly showed off the net in her hand: "Catch the Snow Sprites with this, then put them in small bottles! Then you can drink cold sparkling wine anytime, how about it? I'm smart, right!?"
Then the few began the quest to subjugate the Snow Sprites. Kazuma swung his sword wildly, but after a long time, he only managed to kill three.
Aqua easily caught four with her bug net, not forgetting to show off to Kazuma.
Kazuma looked at Aqua, who wasn't doing her job properly, and secretly thought that if he didn't subjugate enough, he would subjugate the ones she caught, too!
Seeing that the efficiency was still too low, Megumin decided to go big and immediately began chanting explosion magic.
"By the flow of the five crimson children... "
"Explosion—!"
Then a pillar of fire shot up into the sky, knocking her flying. Lying on the snow, Megumin gave a thumbs up: "I took down eight of them! A total of nine were defeated, and I leveled up once."
Just as Kazuma was marveling at how easy the quest was, there was a sudden movement from the mountain.
Darkness, seeing this, drew her longsword, her face filled with excitement. Megumin, who had just been triumphant, immediately began to play dead.
Aqua explained the reason: adventurers were unwilling to accept Snow Sprite quests because their master was the embodiment of winter charm—the Winter Shogun!
It was then that Kazuma clearly saw the so-called Winter Shogun, wearing heavy white armor, with a similarly snow-white, holding a Japanese sword emitting white cold air!
Aqua said seriously, "That's right, the Winter Shogun has arrived!" ]
[ .....]
〜Projection of All Worlds〜
"Everyone else is here for a quest, Aqua is more like she's here for tourism, the style is completely different!"
"Snow Sprites say: What virtue and ability do I possess, did I break a heavenly rule, to be treated like this! Classic cannon fodder."
And it feels like they're becoming more and more like villains, using explosion magic in the snowy mountains, not afraid of causing an avalanche and harming innocent people.
Did Megumin's brain go into thinking up spells? Why are her chants different every time? Just cast it instantly, don't add so much drama!
And a full eight... everyone's mouths twitched slightly, with such a huge commotion and power from explosion magic, only taking out eight is really too much of a loss.
.....
〜Cautious Hero: The Hero Is Overpowered but Overly Cautious World〜
Ristarte's eyes were a little dazed:
"What exactly is Aqua here for..."
She had never seen such an irresponsible goddess. Kazuma was fighting Snow Sprites to repay debt, but Aqua was doing it to drink cold sparkling wine?!
"And... for a long time, I've felt that Aqua has an old man's vibe."
Working hard, earning money, but the first thing she does with money isn't to buy equipment, but to buy alcohol... and she gets along extremely well with a bunch of old man adventurers.
Wake up! You're the Goddess of Water, not some middle-aged old man. Hurry up and go defeat the Demon King and save the world!
.....