God's Blessing on This Wonderful World! ~Aqua Suggested a Hot Spring Trip, But It Went Wrong Again~ - The Useless Goddess's Hot Spring Trip Plan ~A Sudden Proposal in a Debt-Ridden Daily Life~

" Forty percent in fees? That's not a cut, that's highway robbery!" My voice echoed across the Adventurer's Guild reception counter in Axel. The silver-rank plate clenched in my right hand caught the afternoon light streaming through the window and glinted. " Kazuma, I understand how you feel, but... those are the rules." Behind the counter, Luna furrowed her brow in a troubled expression. She was the acting branch manager of this guild, her glossy black hair tied back in a single ponytail. The kind of capable adult who always met adventurers' unreasonable demands with a wry smile. " Five Giant Toads for twenty-five hundred Eris. Minus forty percent, that leaves me with fifteen hundred... Not even enough for one night at an inn." I stared down at the pile of silver coins on the counter and heaved a deep sigh. I ran a hand through my messy black hair. A green scarf hung loosely from the collar of my blue-and-white adventurer's jacket. The town of Axel. A mid-sized city of about thirty thousand people, decently prosperous from agriculture and trade — just an ordinary town, really. Beginner-friendly dungeons dotted the surrounding area, and it was known as a training ground for rookie adventurers. I was one of those rookies myself. " But Kazuma, you took down five of them. You're earning more than the bronze-rank average." " That's not comforting at all..." The currency in this world was called Eris. One Eris was roughly a hundred yen. A loaf of bread cost fifty Eris, a night at a cheap inn ran three thousand, and a beginner's chicken sword went for five thousand. The bounty for a single Giant Toad was five hundred Eris, so killing five of them barely covered half a night's lodging. Just thinking about my debt made my stomach clench. " Oh, that's right. Kazuma, here — if you'd like." What Luna pulled out from under the counter was a single piece of aged parchment. "What's that?" " A discount voucher for the Wolteria Hot Springs. Tourism's been down lately, so the guild has a few lying around." Hot springs, huh. A hundred and eighty kilometers northeast of Axel. An old mountain resort town, supposedly with sodium chloride springs good for neuralgia and muscle pain. I'd never been, but it struck me as a rich person's luxury. " No, that's not for me. I don't have that kind of money to spare." Even as I said it, I was already stuffing the voucher into my pocket. Luna let out a small laugh. " I hope you get to go." ―――――――――――――――――――― The Blessed Wheat Ear. A cheap inn on the outskirts of Axel — our home base. Three thousand Eris a night, with warm soup and hard bread included. " Kazumaaa! Welcome back!" The moment I opened the door, aqua-blue hair filled my entire field of vision. "Whoa, too close, too close!" I instinctively pulled back. Aqua. An Arch Priest affiliated with the Axel Temple, and a member of my party. Her long blue hair, reaching down to her waist, was tied with a blue ribbon, and her clear light-blue eyes were absurdly large. She stood only about five foot two, but her presence alone was enormous. She was also the biggest troublemaker I'd ever had the misfortune of dealing with in this world. " Hey, hey, look at this! I found something amazing!" What Aqua shoved right under my nose was an old piece of parchment stuck to the inn wall. Its corners were torn and the color had faded. "What is that?" " Hot springs! Wolteria Hot Springs! Let's go here!" For a moment, I felt the discount voucher in my pocket grow strangely heavy. " No money. Denied." I answered immediately while taking off my shoes. " Hey! You won't even hear me out? That's so mean!" " Hearing you out won't make money appear. You know our finances better than anyone." Then a voice came from the corner of the room. " Kazuma, I want you to hear my opinion too." I turned to see a girl sitting cross-legged on the bed. Her long crimson hair flowed down her back, and a black eyepatch covered her right eye. She was about four foot ten. Fourteen years old. Megumin, the Crimson Demon explosion mage. " It has always been my dream to cast Explosion at Wolteria Hot Springs. To tear through that quiet mountain air with a single instant of blazing fire... Just imagining it makes my chest burn." " Don't cast Explosion at a hot spring resort! You'll blow the springs sky-high!" " It's fine. The springs well up from underground. Even if the surface changes somewhat, the water quality won't be affected." " 'Somewhat' doesn't cover it! Your Explosion completely destroys everything in a hundred-meter radius!" Megumin tilted her head with a perfectly serious expression. " That is precisely why it's worth casting at a hot spring resort. The roar echoing through the mountains, the giant pillar of fire rising into the sky... Just imagining it, I'm too excited to sleep." " Can't you channel that passion into something else...?" Just as I let out a sigh, a strangely heated voice came from the other corner of the room. " The journey itself is the true trial of a knight... Attacked by bandits, lost on the road, running out of food, pelted by rain, covered in mud... Ahh, how wonderful!" I looked over to see Darkness gazing up at the ceiling with a rapt expression, her blonde drill curls swaying. She stood about five foot seven. Her proud blue eyes were now shamefully moist. A Crusader from a distinguished knightly lineage — Darkness. " What you're calling trials is just getting lost." " Getting lost...! Just that word sends shivers down my spine...!" Darkness wrapped her arms around her own shoulders. Her face was flushed. Oh no. It was that thing again. I clutched my head. Aqua, the arrogant, clumsy useless goddess. Megumin, the chuunibyou who acknowledged nothing but Explosion. Darkness, the do-M knight who took pleasure in pain and humiliation. And I was in a party with all three of them. " Why am I the leader..." It was a murmur from the bottom of my heart. But still. Aqua's purification and healing magic were the real deal. For all her uselessness, her ability as an Arch Priest was among the best on the continent. Megumin's Explosion could blow away even a castle wall. She could only cast it once a day, but that one shot could change the tide of any battle. Darkness's defense was literally an iron wall. She took every attack and protected her allies. Her spirit — however perverted — was that of a true knight. In other words, I couldn't let go of any of them. And because I couldn't let go of them, I got dragged around by them. " ...Fine. Let's go. To the hot springs." " Really?! Yay!" Aqua jumped up. Her blue hair fluttered upward. " I'll purify all the water along the way with my magic! Wells, rivers, everything — I'll make it all sparkly clean!" " I'll begin preparing my Explosion incantation for the hot springs starting now." " Just thinking of the hardships that await us on the road makes my heart race..." The three of them started saying whatever they pleased. I heaved another deep sigh. But for some reason. The corner of my mouth had softened, just a little. ―――――――――――――――――――― As I made preparations for the trip, I sorted through what I knew about this world in my head. The continent of Axelria. There had once been a large-scale war with the Demon Lord's army, which ended about twenty years ago. The Demon Lord was apparently slain by a hero's party. Scars from the war remained across the land, and lately there were rumors that remnants of the Demon Lord's army had begun to stir. Magic existed as a normal part of life here. About fifteen percent of the continent's population could use some form of magic. Magical technology was woven into everyday life — lighting came from magic tools, and medicine relied on healing magic and herbs. I had come to this world from Japan. The whole otherworld reincarnation thing. " Haa... Why did this happen to me?" It slipped out before I could stop it. " Kazuma, what are you muttering about? Are your preparations complete?" Megumin stared up at me with her crimson eye — the left one, the visible one. " Done. Clothes, money, and stomach medicine." " Stomach medicine? Why would you need that?" " Because traveling with you three always gives me a stomachache." Megumin thought for a moment, then gave a small laugh. " It's fine. I'm with you." Being told "it's fine" by a fourteen-year-old girl was humbling in more ways than one. But I didn't dislike that straightforwardness of hers. " Having you with me is exactly what makes it more dangerous." " How rude. I am this party's main cannon." " A main cannon that can only fire once a day." " Do you not understand how much power that one shot holds?! I can blow away a castle wall!" " Don't blow away castle walls at a hot spring resort." " Hot spring resorts don't have castle walls, so it's fine." " That's not the point!" Haa. My stomach hurt. ―――――――――――――――――――― The night before departure. As I walked down the inn's hallway, light leaked from Aqua's room. " ...Hmm, so if I do this here, and then..." What was she doing? I quietly peeked through the gap in the door. Aqua had a map spread out on the desk, frowning at it in deep concentration. And the map was. Upside down. " You know that's upside down, right?" I said, opening the door. Aqua's shoulders jolted, and she spun around. " W-what?! Don't just barge in! At least knock!" " I could see the map was upside down before I even knocked." " How rude! I can read it perfectly! This way is north, and this way is south, and—" Aqua pointed at the map. Her finger was clearly indicating south while claiming it was north. " It's reversed. Both vertically and horizontally." " N-no it's not! My reading is correct! The map is the one that's wrong!" " The map is wrong, huh..." I heaved a deep sigh. Nothing but bad premonitions. But, well. Business as usual, I guess. " ...Whatever. I'm going to bed. We have an early start tomorrow." " Leave it to me! Tomorrow I'll guide us there!" " No. Absolutely not. I'm holding the map." " Why?! I said I'd guide us!" " Because if you guide us, we'll definitely get lost." " How insulting! Who do you think I am?!" " A useless goddess." " That's so mean! Kazuma, you idiot!" Aqua threw a pillow at me. I caught it one-handed and headed back to my own room. Still holding the pillow, I collapsed onto the bed. Starting tomorrow, a four-person hot spring trip. Something was definitely going to happen. But, well. Once in a while, this kind of thing wasn't so bad. I closed my eyes. ―――――――――――――――――――― The next morning. The four of us showed our faces at the Axel Adventurer's Guild. " Oh my, Kazuma. All four of you today — what's the occasion?" Luna leaned over the counter to look at us. " We're heading to Wolteria, so I was hoping there might be an escort job on the way." " Well, there's a perfect one right here. An escort to Nord Village. It's on the road to Wolteria, so it's a perfect fit, isn't it?" Nord Village. A small village halfway between Axel and Wolteria. Population around three hundred, with agriculture and forestry as its main industries. The well was their only water source, and apparently they'd been struggling with aging water infrastructure. " Oh, that's not bad. It'll help cover travel expenses." The moment I said that, a voice burst out from beside me. " An escort is unnecessary! With my Explosion magic, any enemy can be obliterated in an instant! One big boom, and I'll blow away the entire mountain!" The guild went dead silent. A middle-aged man who appeared to be the client turned pale and backed away. " O-on second thought, I'll cancel this request! Sorry!" The man shouted that and fled from the guild as if running for his life. " Hey, Megumin! Do you realize what you just did?!" " What's the problem? I merely conveyed my abilities honestly." " That wasn't honesty, that was a threat! What kind of escort blows away

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Episode 1

Name: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World! ~Aqua Suggested a Hot Spring Trip, But It Went Wrong Again~
Author: Novelia

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