The Heist Proposal and the Worst Timing
Two days after Yunyun's dramatic non-duel, Axel returned to its usual rhythm of low-paying quests and high-volume nonsense. Ruko and Kazuma walked side by side through the market, both technically on a job but realistically just avoiding Aqua's latest attempt to "invest" their money into a drinking booze feist. Ruko was explaining why most cursed artifacts were overpriced due to emotional inflation while Kazuma complained about party expenses when a familiar figure dropped down in front of them like a badly timed random encounter. A girl in a thief's outfit struck a confident pose. "Greetings, Kazuma. It has been a while." Kazuma blinked. "Chris?" Ruko looked her up and down. "New NPC?" Chris ignored the comment and leaned closer, lowering her voice. "I have a job. A heist." Kazuma's posture changed instantly. "I'm listening." Ruko didn't slow his walking. "We're leaving." Chris stepped in front of them again. "It's in Arcanretia." Ruko stopped.
Arcanretia meant Axis cult territory. Which meant Aqua. Which meant chaos, lawsuits, accidental worship, and possibly being declared a prophet against his will. "No," Ruko said flatly. "We're not going." Kazuma scratched his chin. "But a heist…" Chris smiled. "Im on a heist for a rare divine relic. High value." Kazuma turned to Ruko a grin. "High value." Ruko shook his head. "High risk. Cult city. Probability of death: which is also annoying." Chris crossed her arms. "I'll reward you." Kazuma nodded immediately. Ruko grabbed his shoulder. "You sure? Last time we followed someone into a religious city we almost got baptized into debt and I'm also considered a threat." Kazuma hesitated. Chris leaned closer. "I can give you something valuable."Kazuma's resolve collapsed. "I'm in." Ruko sighed, already calculating future problems. "Be careful," he said quietly. "If you die, Aqua's gonna cry and blame me for it." Kazuma waved him off. "I'll be fine." Then, as if possessed by muscle memory and poor judgment, Kazuma activated Steal. A second later he was holding Chris's underwear.
Time froze. Chris turned red. "GIVE THAT BACK!" Kazuma panicked and started swinging it defensively like a weapon. "IT WAS INSTINCT!" Ruko stared. He had seen demon generals, cursed souls, and existential system errors. This was somehow was a worse. Kazuma ran in circles while Chris chased him, shouting threats. Ruko stepped forward, snatched the underwear mid-swing, and—out of sheer confusion and curiosity—briefly examined it and give a sniff before handing it back to Chris without a word. Kazuma gasped. "Why did you take it?!" Ruko shrugged. "Forensic verification." Chris clutched it protectively and backed away. "You are both terrible." "Correct on me as well," Ruko said. The deal was made. Kazuma would go to Arcanretia. Ruko would not. That should have been the end of it. It wasn't. Because Ruko knew exactly what would happen when the girls found out. He reached the mansion first. Aqua was already suspicious.
"Where's Kazuma?" "Gone," Ruko replied. "Where?" "Religious tourism." Megumin narrowed her eyes. "That sounds like a lie." Darkness looked concerned. "Did he go somewhere alone?" Ruko calculated quickly. If they chased Kazuma, they would cause maximum disruption, attract cult attention, and possibly trigger a city-scale incident. The probability charts were not favorable. So he did something he rarely did outside combat. He used alchemy. Hours earlier he had prepared a low-grade sleep compound—harmless, temporary, and designed specifically for overreacting party members. He activated it subtly through the mansion's tea supply. One by one, the girls slowed. Aqua yawned mid-accusation. "Why am I… sleepy…" Megumin tried to stand dramatically and failed. "This… is… suspicious…" Darkness smiled faintly. "If this is a trap… I accept…" They collapsed onto the furniture in a pile of confused exhaustion.
Silence filled the room. Ruko stood there, watching them breathe evenly, feeling a strange mix of relief and guilt. He hadn't done it to control them. He had done it to prevent a disaster. But the result looked the same. Yew's system flickered.
[Action Logged: Party Manipulation – Non-lethal]
[Emotional State: Conflict Detected]
Ruko turned away. By the time it reach evening. The girls eventually woke and realized what happened. They didn't yell. They didn't argue. They just stopped talking to him. That was worse. Eight days passed with Kazuma gone. Meals were quiet. Quests were silent. Aqua refused to look at him. Megumin responded with one-word answers. Darkness remained polite but distant. Ruko told himself it didn't matter. Emotional distance was efficient. Predictable. It still felt heavy. One evening, as the sun disappeared behind the hills, he stood alone in the mansion hallway, listening to the faint sound of the others talking in another room—without him. Yew's window appeared again.
[Loneliness Index: Rising]
Ruko dismissed it immediately.
He stepped outside into the cool night air, the town quieter than usual, and looked up at the moon. The world was peaceful, almost unreal, nothing like the constant noise in his head. He exhaled slowly. "Shouldn't have done that," he muttered. But he also knew that if the same situation happened again—if the probability of disaster remained high—he would make the same choice. That was the problem. He leaned against the railing, hands in his pockets, caught between logic and the quiet weight of being the one who always calculated outcomes while everyone else just lived. Somewhere far away, Kazuma was probably causing a religious incident. Here, the mansion felt colder than usual. And for the first time since arriving in this world, Ruko realized that being right didn't feel like winning at all.