"Are we still far, sir?"
"Just a few more minutes, my boy, I can already see the wall of Axel town."
I just nodded to the old farmer before lying down again on the straw in his cart.
Yeah, that's me, Renji Takamura, or Carl.
It seems my instinct was right before reincarnation... I'm in Konosuba.
To be precise, my past life in this alternate version of Earth wasn't ordinary Japan.
I unknowingly lived in the Japan that had seen the birth of Kazuma Satō.
Now, because of my carelessness... or luck? I ended up in the world managed by Eris thanks to Aqua's website.
Honestly, it's not really my former self's fault... I never would've thought Aqua would think to automate her work.
In the end, I woke up in the woods of a random forest, close to the beginner adventurers' town called Axel.
Why did I quickly conclude it was Aqua and not a hallucination or other mental disorder?
The answer is simple.
I was able to read the window displayed on my computer before the crazy stuff happened to me.
There's also my new body... damn shota, I hope I grow up fast.
Yet I have little hope, since I set the age to 21.
I let out another sigh of fatigue mixed with frustration, looking at the blue sky above me.
...
I finally reached Axel about ten minutes later. Maybe out of sympathy or pity, the old farmer gave me a small sum of money.
"Don't forget, my boy, don't take things from strange women and don't follow suspicious men," he said, taking me by the shoulders like a child.
I just nodded and avoided prolonging this suffering, because it's ultimately my fault.
I created my character by replicating Killua Zoldyck with Crimson Demon genetic traits, but I set the age to my original one.
... This gave birth to a shota.
And since Killua is handsome, the old man in front of me is a bit worried.
Yeah, it annoys me that he treats me like a kid, but he's a good guy who cares about a stranger on the roadside.
Especially since I pretended to have lost part of my memory and belongings after a violent shock.
"Excuse me... would you know where the adventurers' guild is?"
I asked a random person for directions to the adventurers' guild, but the woman's eyes made me hesitate for a brief moment.
No, I wasn't hypnotized by some cheesy novel thing about a jade-skinned beauty.
She just had a surprisingly piercing gaze that would naturally make anyone hesitate.
(Image)
"If it's asked so politely, you must..."
She gave me the "safest" route, according to her. I admit, it's a bit strange as a description of a path leading just a few streets away.
I thanked her politely to show my understanding, but I froze slightly.
My curiosity about her was stronger than my priority of going to the adventurers' guild.
You should know that I asked for directions from the first person within reach.
However, there were others besides this woman.
I was attracted not only because of her appearance, which is incredible from an earthly point of view,
But also because of her... character design or unusual clothing compared to her surroundings.
Personally, I'm in a similar situation with my clothes.
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Thanks Aqua... stupid useless goddess.
"Do you have another problem?" She raised an eyebrow while looking me straight in the eyes, which is an intimidating action with her reading glasses.
Especially since she's surprisingly tall... or did I shrink?
"Excuse me, if I'm being a bit presumptuous... but could I have your name?"
No, I'm not a shy guy.
I literally have experience from two combined lives that together reach about thirty years.
It's just that this woman naturally emanates something distant.
After my words, she had a funny reaction.
Her eyes were hidden by her bangs and her skin had a slightly... red tint? And she mumbled a name too familiar to my ears because of her actions in the Konosuba anime at a low voice.
"S... Sena"
Yes, this woman is the individual who almost ended Kazuma Satō's adventure in the original story.
She's a royal prosecutor who is stationed in Axel town.
"Sena? That's a pretty name, my name is Renji Takamura, but if that sounds weird you can just call me Ren."
"N... no, the name Renji isn't strange."
She stops me awkwardly.
I would have thought she wasn't comfortable with me without my knowledge of the anime.
This woman is literally in a similar situation to the adventurers' guild receptionist.
In short, a businesswoman who succeeded but passed the "normal" marriage age of her world.
Thus, Sena in the Konosuba universe is a woman confident about her work and she's also efficient.
However, she struggles with her personal life and any subject related closely or remotely to men except BL novels.
"I'm relieved to hear that, I hope to benefit from your kindness again."
I left the awkward woman with these words before walking through Axel's streets toward the adventurers' guild.
I was walking at a somewhat hurried pace, as it would be getting dark soon.
I could see some shops or entertainment venues starting to show signs of imminent closure.
Thanks to my quick steps, I quickly reached the adventurers' guild.
"You encountered a huge golem on your quest!?"
"This new waitress isn't bad."
"We'd need one more member in our party."
Despite the hour, the guild was still very active and lively.
The adventurers were talking about various subjects, and I even caught sight of an elf dressed in guild uniform.
"Should I have chosen that race?"
It's too late to cry over spilled milk, and I doubt she would have provided me with as many bonus points as a crimson demon.
On the other hand, the dragon option would have been a better choice.
"Hello sir, what can I do for you?"
I waited for some time for a receptionist to become available.
It seems there are many adventurers returning from their quests at this hour.
"I want to become an adventurer, but please... be thorough in the explanations, as I come from far away."
"Ah... okay, then I'll take a lot of your time..."
The blonde receptionist with surprisingly sinful curves began explaining the details related to my future job after receiving my Eris (currency).
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In this universe, there's no official adventurer rank.
So, no F or S rank adventurers here.
However, it's possible to have "re-education" if you fail several quests in a row.
What's re-education?
It's when the Guild decides to "ask" an adventurer to take refresher courses.
This adventurer will be re-evaluated on several aspects, and could potentially lose their license if they fail.
Thus, it's not recommended to suffer too many failures in a short time.
The Guild values its reliability.
Luna also told me about something called the beginner adventurer manual, which gathers many small tips and advice from former adventurers.
Unfortunately, it wasn't free.
The only real advantage is that it guarantees getting advice from an experienced retired adventurer.
This pushed me to pay not only the 1000 Eris registration fee, but also another 1000 Eris for the manual.
I really don't want to face creatures from a fantasy world when I don't know their characteristics.
"Now that you know the details related to your job as an adventurer, it's time to talk about classes and other details related to the guild card..."
Luna began explaining the details related to the guild card and experience points.
Experience points are a piece of a creature's soul defeated by the guild card holder.
The card has the particularity of absorbing soul fragments and transforming them into experience points, which, once sufficiently accumulated, cause a phenomenon called "level up."
Thanks to the "level up" phenomenon, adventurers gain skill points.
These are used to obtain skills through the guild card, but limited to the class chosen by the adventurer themselves.
"I hope you understood, Mr. Renji."
I nodded, but I carefully asked a question that's been bugging me since the beginning of the explanations.
"How are stat points obtained?"
"Stat points?"
Luna looked at me without hiding her confusion, before letting out a "haa" of realization.
"Sorry, but stat increases are done through training or consuming rare elixirs, otherwise everyone would already be super strong haha~"
She's not wrong, as I've always observed in the original story the absence of clear data on the subject at the beginning of the story.
It's the same throughout, as we learn almost nothing about statistics.
Except maybe that Aqua is maxed out in everything.
That's cool, right?
Yes, but it's also her curse.
She can never gain intelligence, but she remains a powerful and beautiful goddess... nature just balanced things out.
"Now that everything is settled, please place your hand here."
Luna began observing the situation while nodding from time to time and sketching an enthusiastic smile.
After a few more seconds, she finally began expressing herself again.
"You have enormous strength in your body, but your magic and intelligence-related stats are much higher..."
Indeed, I was right to pay particular attention to intelligence and magical power.
I unconsciously puffed out my chest with pride at Luna's evaluation.