Chapter 874 Let's Go to the Hot Springs
"No! I'd rather die than go!"
Eiji sat on the sofa, watching the entertaining scene unfold before him.
Megumin was pulling Kazuma's hand, desperately trying to drag him out the door, but Kazuma clung to the sofa armrest, refusing to take even one step beyond the villa entrance.
"Please have some black tea."
Aqua respectfully presented a white porcelain cup to Eiji.
A large bump swelled on her forehead - a result of being beaten by Eiji earlier when she tried to extort money from him.
"Slurp~"
Eiji lowered his head to take a sip of tea, but noticed something was off.
"Isn't this black tea too watery?"
Despite his usual demeanor, he actually had some standards when it came to black tea. After all, Kanata the rich lady and Natsume-chan were both devoted black tea enthusiasts, and he'd picked up quite a bit through constant exposure.
Not only was this tea watery, but its color was also unusually pale.
No.
Eiji focused and looked down - within just a few seconds, the black tea had turned into a cup of plain water.
What happened?
"It seems I was too careless! Let me brew another cup!"
Aqua let out an affected "Ohohoho" laugh, took the teacup, and rushed toward the kitchen.
"Kazuma! We already drove away the running lizards yesterday! They won't appear today, so let's go level up!"
"No! I'd rather die than go! Megumin, I thought you were the most normal one in our party, but now you're persecuting me too! I just died yesterday! And you still want me to go out on missions!"
"So you're just going to become a shut-in?"
Megumin glared at Kazuma with frustration at his lack of improvement.
"I know you're afraid of death right now, but the best way to overcome fear is to face it directly! As long as you rebuild your confidence, you'll recover quickly!"
"I don't need to! Let me be a shut-in! I don't want to face my fears - I want to lick my wounds alone!"
Kazuma flatly refused, leaving no opening for Megumin to exploit.
He curled up on the sofa like an ostrich, holding Eiji's student handbook in his hands, his eyes glowing as he played games.
"Darkness."
Eiji extended his hand.
A plate immediately appeared beside him. Darkness, her cheeks flushed, tremblingly fed a pastry into Eiji's mouth.
With an "Oops," Darkness accidentally twisted her hand, and the plate fell onto Eiji's leg.
"How can you be so clumsy!"
Eiji roared in anger and punched Darkness.
Darkness screamed and fell to the ground, like a maid who had angered the master in a noble mansion, trembling with fear and panic.
"Haah~ Haah~!"
Upon closer look, Darkness was breathing heavily, her face showing no trace of fear but instead full of excitement.
Megumin couldn't help but shudder.
So weird!
These two are really too weird!
"Kazuma, are you really becoming a shut-in not because you want to play games?"
Eiji brushed the pastry crumbs off his leg and looked meaningfully at Kazuma.
"How could that be? That's not it at all!"
Kazuma replied absentmindedly while fiercely battling a game boss with bloodshot eyes.
"You're completely addicted!"
Megumin finally realized the truth and began shaking his arm wildly.
And here I thought Kazuma had become a shut-in due to adventuring PTSD, but this bastard was just slacking off!
Truth be told, Kazuma had already died once during the griffon mission before Eiji, and it took him a long time to recover from the fear. Now, he seemed somewhat accustomed to it.
But useless teammates were absolutely unforgivable no matter what!
"Here's your black tea."
Aqua respectfully placed a fresh cup of black tea in front of Eiji.
"...Isn't this just plain water?"
Eiji paused for a moment before asking with a smile.
"Oops, how careless of me! I must have brought the wrong one by mistake!"
Aqua chuckled lightly and turned to leave.
"Aqua has the ability to purify water. Any water she touches gets purified instantly, turning black tea into plain water."
Kazuma glanced over and explained to Eiji as if trying to be helpful.
"I see. But when brewing tea, you don't actually need to touch the tea itself, right? In other words, Aqua, you're messing with me on purpose?"
Eiji laughed softly.
Seeing the situation turning sour, Aqua made a move to run.
"Thud!"
Aqua lay on the ground, motionless.
"So ruthless!"
Darkness watched the unconscious Aqua with a look of envy.
She felt Eiji had gone easy on her when he hit her. How she wished he'd punch her as mercilessly as he did Aqua!
Alright, I need to step up my game too!
Darkness picked up a new plate, let out an exaggerated "Aiya!", and swiftly aimed it at the back of Eiji's head.
Sensing the malicious wind behind him, Eiji tilted his head to dodge Darkness's attack and then pointed a finger at her.
Darkness felt a strange vibrating force travel from her arm into her body. Soon, her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed, stacking on top of Aqua.
"Ahhh—! Damn it! Why did the screen go black! Why now, right when I just figured out how to beat the boss! I was about to win, I was about to win! Boss, come quick, something's wrong with this thing!"
"Calm down, it's just out of power."
"What? Such an advanced device, and it's not solar-powered?!"
"It runs on electricity, and you can't recharge it."
Kazuma slumped in defeat.
In this backward other world, he had finally gotten his hands on the gaming console every deadbeat otaku dreamed of, only to be told it couldn't be charged and would be useless forever?
Life really is meaningless.
"Alright, Kazuma, let's go take on a quest!"
"No."
"Then let's do our daily explosion!"
"Not interested."
Kazuma lay on the sofa, occasionally rolling over.
Just like a salted fish.
"Have you no motivation at all?!"
Megumin was furious but soon let out a helpless sigh.
"No, I get it. This is just Kazuma's true nature. Even though he's the lowest level among us, he has no ambition whatsoever. Unless it's critical, Kazuma rarely takes things seriously... Fine, then I have a proposal that might get you motivated!"
"Let's go to the hot springs!"
Megumin suggested with full confidence.
"Hot springs?"
Kazuma immediately sat up from the sofa, his eyes sparkling as he looked at Megumin.
"Are there mixed baths?"
"Yes."
Megumin glared at him disdainfully, then nodded emphatically.
"Awesome! Let's go to the hot springs!"
Kazuma laughed heartily, his face plastered with a lecherous grin.
"Calm down, Kazuma. You haven't asked the important questions yet."
Eiji chuckled lightly, appearing completely unfazed.
"How's the customer traffic? Are there many female customers? Is mixed bathing popular? How willing are female customers to participate in mixed bathing?"
"As expected of the boss, you always think things through!"
Kazuma immediately showed a look of profound admiration.
That's right—if there's no one in the mixed bathing area, then going to the hot springs would be completely pointless!
Megumin watched the two of them silently, her gaze icy cold.