Last night's events wouldn't leave his head. Kazuma bit into his breakfast bread while glancing at the plate sitting on the kitchen table. When he'd woken this morning, nothing was glowing. Just a plain white turnip fragment, rolling around normally. Maybe it had been his imagination. But—that purple light, he'd definitely seen it. When the three of them gathered in the living room, Kazuma opened his mouth. "[serious]Last night, the turnip in the kitchen was glowing. Purple" Silence stretched out for a moment. Aqua swayed her light-blue twin tails and turned her sleepy eyes toward Kazuma. "[sarcastic]A turnip glowing. Sure, sure" "[angry]Not 'sure, sure.' It really was glowing" "[sarcastic]You had seconds of stew yesterday, didn't you? Maybe you were just delirious from overeating? The goddess understands these things quite well" "[angry]Why are you bringing up the goddess thing?" Beside him, Megumin's red eyes snapped open. The red ribbon around her neck pulled taut. "[excited]Purple light…! That's unmistakable. Residue from sealed ancient magic!" "[sarcastic]Here we go with the chuunibyou again" "[excited]It's not chuunibyou! Ancient magic is real! And my explosion magic is the only power worthy of breaking those seals—" "[angry]Don't use explosion magic on the farmland or the mansion" Megumin pouted slightly. "…The conditions are harsh." Then Darkness slowly turned from the window. Her blonde waves swayed in the morning light. Her pale blue eyes fixed on Kazuma with a serious expression. "[serious]If it's dangerous, I'll take the front. I'll shield you with my whole body, so please stay behind, Kazuma" "[sarcastic]Don't say that like you're happy about it" "[serious]I'm not happy. It's simply my duty as a shield—" "Your face is turning red" Darkness looked away. "T-That's not… " Her cheeks were definitely flushed. Kazuma looked at each of their faces in turn. Aqua, dismissing it as delirium. Megumin, trying to solve it with explosion magic. Darkness, finding joy in throwing herself into danger. …None of them were actually listening. "[sarcastic]Fine. I'm going alone" "[surprised]Where?" "[serious]The guild. It's faster to ask the experts about this kind of thing" Aqua started to stand up. "Oh, then I'll—" But Kazuma was already putting on his jacket. "[sarcastic]No. I'm going alone" He closed the front door. Outside, the town of Axel was already stirring. Market stalls lined the shopping street, the smell of baking bread drifting through the air. Carts rattled across the cobblestones, and housewives out for morning shopping called to each other. A provincial city of twenty-five thousand people, turning peacefully as always. This town was known as "the town of fledgling adventurers." It lay five days' journey southwest of the royal capital, Granbelk—a peaceful frontier settlement. Monsters here were low-level, quests were mostly E-rank, and it was perfect for young adventurers just starting out. For people like Kazuma's party, it was almost absurdly peaceful—and yet, somehow, they always ended up in trouble. The Adventurer's Guild, Axel Branch, was a two-story stone building facing the central plaza. Pushing open the thick wooden door, the noise hit him immediately. The first floor was a quest board, reception counter, and tavern all in one. Even at this hour, adventurers were drinking ale, and several people were shouting over request tickets at the board. The smell of roasted meat mixed with the oil from leather armor. The Adventurer's Guild had been established about four hundred years ago and had branches across the continent. Anyone could register by getting an adventurer card—an ID and status display card issued by the guild. Registration was free. Quests ranged from E-rank to S-rank; E-rank was chores and gathering with rewards around five thousand eris, while S-rank involved matters of national importance. The guild took a ten percent commission from all rewards. Luna, standing at the reception counter, bowed slightly when she saw Kazuma. She was the receptionist for the Axel branch and had long since memorized his face. "[gentle]Good morning, Kazuma. Are you alone today?" "[serious]I had something to ask about. Last night, our turnip was glowing. Purple. Any idea what that could be?" Luna's expression shifted slightly. "[serious]…A turnip, you say?" "[serious]Actually, this might be good timing. A concerning request ticket arrived this morning" Luna pointed to a corner of the board. In the section where E-rank and D-rank requests usually hung, a single ticket stood out. The wax seal was red. Not the blue or black used on other requests—a vivid deep crimson. Kazuma approached and read it. —Investigate abnormal gigantification of crops in farmland near Axel. Reward: 3,000,000 eris. "…" He read it again. Three million eris. Something pounded violently in Kazuma's chest. Their current living expenses ran about fifteen thousand eris a month. They managed with quest earnings, but they still carried debt from past incidents—collateral damage from defeating demon king generals, like repairs for houses caught in explosion magic, or bridge repairs from Darkness throwing herself around. Three million eris was, by simple math, twenty months of living expenses. "[serious]Has anyone taken this?" "[serious]Not yet. The thing is—" Luna lowered her voice. "[serious]The requester's name and affiliation aren't listed. The guild hasn't officially approved it yet" "[serious]So it's suspicious" "[serious]Very. But…I actually looked into something about yesterday's shipment from the capital" Kazuma looked up. "[serious]The turnip the princess gave you, remember? I checked the source out of caution—it came from the same place where the gigantification has been reported" Kazuma went silent. The purple light from last night bloomed vividly in his mind. A turnip from the farmland. A glowing turnip. An investigation request for abnormal gigantification. Unknown requester. It all connected. At least, it didn't feel like separate coincidences. "…I understand" On the way back, walking through the shopping street, he felt a presence beside him. Megumin was walking next to Kazuma. Her deep crimson short hair and red eyes looked oddly vivid in the morning sunlight. She was more than twenty centimeters shorter than him, but her posture was perfectly straight. "[sarcastic]…Why are you here?" "[serious]No reason. I was just taking a walk because I was bored, and happened to be going the same direction" "A walk toward the guild?" "[serious]It happens" She said it while looking away. Kazuma didn't respond, just glanced at her sideways. It happens, huh. When they returned to the mansion, Aqua and Darkness were drinking tea in the living room. Kazuma gave them a brief account of what he'd learned at the guild, then headed to the kitchen. The same plate from last night was there, on the edge of the shelf. Three pieces of turnip. Kazuma gently tapped the cut surface with the flat of a knife and examined the cross-section. There. In the center of the cut, a tiny marking. The lines were so fine they were barely visible to the naked eye, but it was definitely there—the pattern of a magic circle. "[serious]Hey, all three of you come look at this" The three gathered in the kitchen. All four leaned in to examine the turnip. "[surprised]It's real…this is" "[serious]It's an amplification-type pattern. I've seen this shape before" "[serious]Either way, we need to confirm whether it's evil or not. Luna mentioned it too" Aqua rolled up her sleeves. "[excited]This is my specialty! I'll purify it!" "[angry]Wait. Let's investigate first—" Too late. Aqua's palm glowed white. Aqua's purification magic, from her Arch Priest—high-level cleric—class, was potent against evil magic. Normal zombies would vanish in an instant. It was that powerful. The purification hit the turnip. Dooom. The entire house shook for a moment. The turnip began swelling rapidly. Two times its size, three times—in seconds it was double the original size and hit the kitchen ceiling with a thud. Everyone froze. For a while, no one said anything. The swollen turnip pressed against the ceiling, sitting there quietly. Aqua said softly, "…Oh." Then silence again. Aqua planted her feet firmly. "[serious]But! The fact that my purification reacted means—this is evil magic! I did the right thing!" "[angry]Right or wrong, the ceiling's dented!" "[serious]I purified evil magic, so there's no problem!" "[angry]There's nothing but problems! Why do you attack before checking!?" "[serious]When the goddess reacts to magic and purifies it, it's like an instinct! I can't stop it!" Megumin began analyzing quietly. "[serious]This is clearly curse magic of the amplification type. The purification spell triggered it—the purification tried to attack the evil magic, but instead activated the marking's effect" "[serious]Solution?" "[serious]Explosion magic to destroy it all at once—" "[angry]Don't use explosion magic in the kitchen" Megumin murmured, "…Difficult conditions." Darkness looked up at the turnip on the ceiling, her expression serious. "[serious]If this turnip falls and hits me directly, as a shield I would be—" "[cold]Ignoring that" Kazuma pulled out a chair and sat in the kitchen. He organized his thoughts. Back when he was in Japan, he didn't have any special power. He was just a normal middle schooler who liked games. Then he died, dragged the goddess along with him, and somehow ended up reincarnated on this Belzarant continent. His class was among the weakest adventurers. Combat power was nearly nonexistent. His starting skill was Steal—randomly taking items from a target—and maybe Drain Touch, a shady skill. His only advantage was abnormally high luck, which made Steal's success rate inexplicably high. A skill that was unclear whether it helped or not. And somehow, he was still leading this incompetent party. How did it come to this? He looked at the turnip. Still pressing against the ceiling. Three million eris. "…We're going to the farmland" All three turned to look at him. "[excited]You're taking it!?" "[serious]You're really going!?" "[serious]The reward's three million eris. The turnip definitely came from that farmland, and if we don't investigate the cause, this'll happen again. We have to go" "[excited]Everyone's coming—but Megumin, no explosion magic on the farmland" Megumin's brows furrowed. "[serious]But explosion magic is the fastest solution—" "[angry]If you blow up the whole field, we won't understand anything" "[serious]…True. Then perhaps a precise explosion spell—" "[angry]What's a precise explosion spell? How can explosion magic be precise?" "[serious]It means I need more practice. I require further training" Aqua puffed out her chest. "My purification will be key!" Darkness struck a pose. "As a shield, I'll take the front—" Kazuma sighed. A complete party of incompetents. All of them had top-tier specs, but each carried a fatal flaw. Aqua was self-centered with catastrophic judgment. Megumin could only use explosion magic and became incapacitated after one shot a day. Darkness couldn't land attacks and had a weird obsession with throwing herself into danger. He was going to the farmland with these people. …But, well. It wasn't bad. Looking up at the turnip still pressing against the ceiling, Kazuma stood. Time to prepare. The farmland in question lay five kilometers south of Axel, beyond the Toris Hills. The unknown requester, three million eris, the mystery of the marking, the glowing turnip—whatever the cause, the answer had to be there. "[serious]We leave at dawn tomorrow. Everyone prepare" The three responded in unison. "Roger!" "Understood!" "As a shield, I'll be ready—" Kazuma left the kitchen, muttering quietly to himself. Keeping watch so Megumin didn't use explosion magic was going to be th