God's Blessing on this Wonderful World! — When I Destroyed the Axis Cult, the Goddess Wouldn't Stop Crying - The Goddess's Wallet Was Empty — A Debt of 20 Million Gold, Guaranteed by a Demon King Army Executive

Kazuma~! I'm hungry~! First thing in the morning, that idiotic voice echoed through the Belzerg mansion. I, Kazuma, was sprawled out on the sofa and let out a heavy sigh. "Shut up... Don't tell me you already blew through the money we got yesterday." When I opened the door to the living room, a woman with flowing aqua-blue hair that shimmered like crystal was lying spread-eagle on the floor. She looked up at me with tears welling in her deep blue eyes. Her age: self-proclaimed two thousand years old. She looked like she was in her late teens at most, but mentally she was even more of a child. "But, but... the believers were in trouble, and I just couldn't help wanting to save them!" This is Aqua. A self-proclaimed goddess who tagged along when I came to this world, and now she's the Arch Priest of the Axis Cult. We live together in a mansion in Aquarios, the capital of the Kingdom of Belzerg, along with two other companions. I pulled a calculator from the pocket of my green cloth jacket and opened the ledger on the desk. The dark circles under my eyes felt like they'd been getting darker lately. "So, how much do you need?" "Um, well! Five silver coins would do it!" "You said the same thing yesterday. Come on, show me what's in your wallet." Aqua froze for a moment and averted her gaze off into the distance. That reaction alone told me everything I needed to know. "...No." "Don't 'no' me. Come on, hand it over." When I held out my hand, Aqua reluctantly stood up and picked up a small drawstring pouch from the corner of the room. Then she timidly held it out to me. It was light. I opened it up. One copper coin. That was it. "...Hey." "I-I-It's not what you think! Holy water sales have been slow! That's not my fault, really!" Holy water. The Axis Cult's main product, one gold coin per five-hundred-milliliter bottle. Water made through miracle magic that heals minor wounds when you drink it. Normally, it was a product that should have earned absolute trust from the believers. But not anymore. "The reason holy water sales are slow is because you bought wine yourself and sold it as fake holy water." "That was—at the time, I believed it! That wine could become holy water! I mean, grapes are fruit, and fruit comes from water, so wine should be able to become holy water too!" "That logic makes absolutely no sense. And anyway, I saw you coming out of a gambling den a few days ago. With my own two eyes." Aqua's face went pale. "W-Why do you know about that...! Th-That was—a believer was in trouble, so I thought I'd flip it all in one go and multiply the money for them...!" "And you lost." "I believed! At that moment, I truly believed I would definitely win! I'm a goddess whose luck is her one redeeming quality!" "Your luck is your one redeeming quality, huh. Your one redeeming quality." I pressed a hand to my forehead and stared up at the ceiling. This is the Arch Priest of the Axis Cult. One of only three upper-tier clergy positions in the entire organization. A rank achievable only by those who can handle miracle magic at an advanced level—held by just 0.1 percent of the entire cult. And this one gambled it all away, gave believers diarrhea with fake holy water, and kept piling up debt. "...I'm going to see the cult's ledgers." I said that and threw on my jacket. The streets of Aquarios were bustling from the morning. Shops lined both sides of the cobblestone roads, and the calls of merchants echoed through the air. This city was the capital of the Kingdom of Belzerg, with a population of about a hundred and twenty thousand. A religious city located in the heart of the kingdom, along the Miracle River. The Axis Cult headquarters faced Holy Water Plaza. A fine stone building—three floors above ground, one below. Apparently it used to be packed with believers, but now the plaza was nearly empty. The statue of Aqua in the center of the square was covered in graffiti. "...Your statue's in quite a state." "That's so mean... I don't make a face like that..." "You do. It looks exactly like your face right now." When I opened the heavy wooden door of the headquarters, cool air drifted out. The first floor was the chapel and reception area. Light streaming through the stained glass painted blue and green patterns on the stone floor. Behind the reception desk stood a girl. She looked about fifteen or sixteen. Silver hair that reached her waist was tied back in a single bundle, and she wore white priestess robes. The emblem of the Axis Cult was on her chest. Her eyes were narrow and sharp, and her calm purple gaze looked straight at me. "Welcome, Kazuma-sama. Aqua-sama, good morning to you as well." Her name is Cecily Etherheart. The High Archbishop of the Axis Cult. A High Archbishop is the highest leader position, appointed to cults with over ten thousand believers. It requires over twenty years of experience as a priestess and having received a divine oracle directly from a god. "What brings you here today?" "I want to see the ledgers. All of them." Cecily lowered her eyes for just a moment, then gave a small nod. "...Understood. This way, please." I was led to a conference room on the second floor. Several thick ledgers were stacked on a long wooden table. Cecily opened one of them and placed it in front of me. "This is the current list of the cult's debts." I flipped through the pages. "...What is this entry?" At the very top was written: "Two thousand years ago · Luxury down comforter expense (interest included)" "Huh?" Next. "Axis Founder Commemorative Coin Minting Cost" "Hey." And then. "Holy Water Plaza · Goddess Statue Construction Cost (interest tripled)" "What do you mean interest tripled?! What has to happen for it to triple?!" "When the goddess statue was erected, the contract the High Archbishop of the time signed with the contractor contained a clause stating 'if the statue falls, interest shall be tripled.'" "It fell?!" "Three hundred years after its erection, it was toppled by a storm." "So the current statue is the second one?!" I clutched my head. Every page I turned revealed more incomprehensible debt. "Drinking expenses for all believers (new member welcome party)" "Payment to Aqua-sama for singing and dancing (she billed us herself)" "Bulk purchase of wine for holy water (non-refundable)" "...That last one." I pointed at the "Bulk purchase of wine for holy water" entry with a trembling finger. "But to make holy water, you need water first, and I thought if I used wine instead of water, I could make even better holy water..." "Don't 'I thought' me! What are you even saying?!" "But grapes are fruit, and fruit comes from water, so wine should be able to become holy water too!" "I heard this already! That theory makes no sense even the second time!" Cecily quietly opened the last page of the ledger. "...And this is the current total debt." When I saw the number written there, I stopped breathing. Twenty million gold. In this world's currency, one gold coin is equivalent to about a hundred thousand yen. Which means twenty million gold is, in real-world terms, two trillion yen. "...We're disbanding." I said quietly. "This cult is disbanding." "Kazuma~! Wait! I'm sorry! I'm reflecting on it!" "Would someone who's reflecting get spotted coming out of a gambling den?" "That was—at that moment, I truly believed! That with my luck, I would definitely win!" "That 'believed' is exactly the problem! You're not allowed to believe in things without thinking!" I closed the ledger and stood up. "I'm done. I'm going home." With that, I left the conference room. That night, back at the mansion, I sat at the desk in my room. Outside the window, lights were beginning to come on across the city of Aquarios. From far away, the calls of the market and the clamor of taverns drifted in on the wind. On the desk was a copy of the debt list I'd swiped. (Why am I bringing this thing home?) Even I didn't understand why. I'd said "disband the cult," and yet here I was, unable to let go of the debt list. (I really am too soft-hearted.) Before I died, I'd shut myself in my room for three years. Never went to school, barely spoke to my family, spent all day gaming and surfing the net. Back then, I was running from everything. And then, one day, I died. Pathetic as it is, even the way I died was ridiculous. But since coming to this world, I chose to live without running away. Meeting Aqua and my companions, living the life of an adventurer—through all of that, I finally learned to stand on my own two feet. (So that's why, huh.) That's why I can't just leave it alone. Not Aqua, not the cult. "...Haah." I sighed and stared at the list. That's when it happened. Knock, knock—a sound came at the front door. Who the hell would come at this hour? I pocketed the calculator on my desk and went downstairs. When I opened the door, there she was. "I apologize for the late hour, Kazuma-sama." High Archbishop Cecily stood there, her silver hair shining in the moonlight. "Cecily... What's wrong, at this hour?" "There is something I absolutely must tell you. Do you have a moment?" Those purple eyes were far more serious than they had been during the day. I led her to the living room, and Cecily perched on the edge of the sofa. I sat in the chair across from her. On the table lay the debt list I'd brought home. "Kazuma-sama. The cult's debts have a guarantor." "A guarantor?" "By the laws of the Kingdom of Belzerg, when a church organization takes on debt, it is required to have a guarantor. This is called the 'Debt Guarantee System'—a mechanism for the kingdom to monitor the finances of churches." "I see. So what about this guarantor?" Cecily paused for a moment. Then she opened the last page of the debt list and pointed to a certain field with a trembling finger. "...It's this person." Written there was: "Guarantor: Baphomet" "Baphomet...?" It was a name I'd heard before. No—it was more than just a name I'd heard before. "A demon of the Demon King's army's executive class." I could feel the blood draining from my face. The Demon King's army. A force that had been invading from the miasma lands in the west of the continent, with twelve confirmed executive-class members. Each one a monster with enough power to bring down an entire castle single-handedly. One of them was the guarantor of the Axis Cult's debt. "...Why would the Demon King's army..." My voice trembled. "Most likely, they became the guarantor intentionally. By inflating the cult's debt, they intend to destroy the faith economy itself." "Faith economy...?" "In this country, donations from believers fund the churches, and the stability of the churches is directly tied to the stability of the kingdom. Citizens are obligated to donate one percent of their income as a faith tax to the religious organization they believe in. The Axis Cult should have an annual income of about twelve million gold, but almost all of it is being consumed by debt repayment." Cecily continued calmly. "If the cult collapses, the believers will be left with nothing. People who relied on holy water and miracle magic will lose their means of medical care and daily life. And the kingdom's tax revenue will drop, throwing the economy into chaos. Destroying the cult is the same as destroying the Kingdom of Belzerg." "...So that's the Demon King's army's aim." "Yes. Not attacking with military force, but collapsing the nation through its economy. A truly cunning method—exactly what you'd expect from the Demon King's army." I looked at the debt list on the table. Twenty million gold. And its guarantor was an executive of the Demon King's army. (What the hell is this situation?) My head was spinning. "Kazuma-sama... Please. Don't abandon the cult." Cecily bowed

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Name: God's Blessing on this Wonderful World! — When I Destroyed the Axis Cult, the Goddess Wouldn't Stop Crying
Author: Novelia

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