Kazuma dies in a ridiculous traffic accident and is offered reincarnation by the goddess Aqua. But today, Aqua is glowing with a real goddess aura, not her usual useless self. Before Kazuma can retort, he is thrown into the fantasy world of Axel with no cheat weapon or skill.
A mysterious saintly goddess who looks exactly like Aqua appears, claiming to watch over him as a 'savior candidate'. Meanwhile, the usual Aqua is causing chaos in town—debts at the bar, trouble at the guild, and being mis
KonoSuba: If Aqua Was Actually a Goddess - To Another World with That Useless Goddess!
"…What?"
Kazuma couldn't help blurting it out. The scene spread out before them felt utterly unreal.
No, wait. Let me go back through this in order. I'd gone out to the convenience store in the middle of the night, yeah. Something about new snacks, some reason like that. I'd paid at the register, was carrying the bag, and should have been on my way home.
Up to that point, it had been perfectly ordinary daily life.
So why am I standing in some unfamiliar white space right now?
Everything around me, pure white. Floor, walls, ceiling—no telling how far any of it went. The ground under my feet felt soft and buoyant, like I'd been tossed onto the top of a cloud. And yet, I didn't feel like I was about to fall. I was standing surprisingly steady.
"…A dream?"
No, it felt too vivid for a dream. I pinched my cheek. It hurt. Damn it, so this is real.
And then, that's when it happened.
"Congratulations!"
A voice suddenly flew at me from behind. Startled, I spun around, and there stood a girl.
Light blue hair, long enough to nearly reach her waist. It gleamed with a glossy sheen, sparkling like fragments of stars with every movement. Her large blue eyes were as clear as jewels, fixed directly on me. She was about 158 centimeters tall, maybe. Small and slender.
Her outfit was, well, how do I put this… conspicuously lacking in fabric. A light blue miniskirt, with a matching crop top that exposed her midriff. Some kind of mysterious ornament at her chest. Was this the formal wear of this world? Or just her personal taste?
The girl smiled brightly.
"Welcome to the afterlife. I am the goddess Aqua. You died just moments ago, in a traffic accident."
"…What?"
Died? Me? In a traffic accident?
I traced back through my memories. The convenience store bag. The night road. The traffic light. It turned green, I stepped onto the crosswalk—
And everything after that was completely gone.
"No way."
I accepted it with a calm that surprised even myself. Well, yeah, if I got hit by a truck in that situation, of course I'd die.
But wait. If I'm dead, that means—
"Ahaha, what a shame. Seventeen-something years of life, over just like that."
Aqua laughed with obvious enjoyment. Cackling away, infuriatingly cheerful.
"But fear not. For you, I shall personally bestow a very special opportunity. It is—"
"Hey, hold on."
I cut her off.
"Why have you been talking down to me this whole time?"
"Huh? Because I'm a goddess. It's only natural that I'm above humans, isn't it?"
Aqua tilted her head with a blank look. That reaction only pissed me off more.
"Look… normally, when someone's just died, you show a little more consideration. Start with something like 'my condolences,' at least."
"Oh my, how fortunate that your lonely, unpopular life in the mortal world ended with a precious conversation with a goddess. You have nothing at all to regret, do you?"
"What did you just say?!"
This girl, mocking me like that. I'd just been scared out of my mind, you know. My heart—well, it's already stopped, but still. I felt like I could've died all over again.
Aqua, paying no mind to my anger, puffed out her chest.
"Anyway! You have two options. One: spend a boring eternity in heaven. Two: live a second life in a newly beginning isekai."
"…Isekai?"
"Yes, isekai. The world of Belgana, a land of swords and sorcery. It's a wonderful place where even a hopeless human like you can start over from scratch."
"You've been running your mouth this whole time—hopeless human, unpopular, whatever you please."
Irritated by her words, I nevertheless urged her to continue. Reincarnation, huh. I'd always thought that was just something from stories. Never imagined I'd end up experiencing it myself.
"So, what's in this Belgana place?"
"To put it simply, it's a world where you build up power to fight the Demon Lord's army. As a reincarnation bonus, I'll grant you one thing of your choosing. A cheat weapon, a special ability, or even divine protection. You may pick anything you like."
"Anything?"
"Yes! Please choose one item from this catalog I've prepared."
With that, Aqua held out a thick book. Opening it, I saw it was indeed packed with all sorts of cheat items and skills. Legendary swords, ultimate magic. Immortality, infinite treasure. Every single one of them the kind of thing that could turn you into the protagonist of an isekai story.
But my mind was moving in a different direction.
This girl. She'd been laughing her head off at the way I died this whole time. Goddess or whatever she was, there's a limit to how much you can look down on humans.
If I'm going to pick something, I'll pick the option that pisses her off the most.
"Alright, I've decided."
I closed the catalog and pointed straight at Aqua.
"I'm taking you with me."
"…Huh? What do you mean by that?"
"I choose you as my bonus. You're coming to the isekai with me."
Aqua's eyes went wide. I stared at her face with a triumphant feeling. How's that? I just treated a goddess like a pet. Zamaa.
But Aqua's reaction was different from what I expected.
"…Are you serious?"
"Yeah. Dead serious."
"Wait just a moment! Why would I—going to some isekai with a hopeless human like you—wait, huh, hold on?! My body is glowing—!"
The next instant, Aqua's body was enveloped in dazzling light.
"Don't screw with me! This is so unreasonable—I mean, I've never even heard of an option that isn't in the terms and conditions—kyaaaaaa!"
Aqua's scream grew more and more distant. The white space lost all sound.
My consciousness, along with it, fell into deep darkness.
…
When I opened my eyes, the first thing that met them was a timber-framed roof. Then, a cobblestone street.
"…So this is the isekai?"
I sat up. The ground was hard. The sky was blue, the breeze cool. Nearby, I could hear people's voices and the neighing of horses.
"Terrible… this is just too terrible… my life in heaven…"
Beside me, Aqua lay collapsed face-down, limp. Apparently the shock of reincarnation had left her a bit exhausted. Zamaa.
"Hey, get up. Where are we?"
"I don't know… and anyway, this is your fault! Why did you have to bring me along?!"
"Huh? You're the one who said I could choose anything."
"That doesn't mean any normal person would choose the goddess herself! Ugh, I can't believe this, you piece of trash!"
"Don't call me trash!"
As we bickered, the sound of a bell echoed from the distance. It came from a grand stone building in the center of town. The building bore a crest I'd never seen before. Two crossed swords and a protective hand. The mark of some kind of guild, maybe.
Aqua finally got up and followed my gaze.
"Ah, this is Axel. A town for novice adventurers in the southwestern part of the Fernoa continent. It's nicknamed the 'Town of Beginnings.'"
"…You can actually give a decent explanation, huh."
"Of course. What do you take me for? I'm a goddess."
"Yeah, yeah."
I gave a half-hearted response while taking in the town again.
So this was Axel. Population: twelve thousand. Located in the southwestern part of this world, the farthest from the Demon Lord's army's sphere of influence—a relatively safe town. I see. The architecture was medieval European in style, but here and there, what looked like magical lights were glowing. Lighting, heating, water purification—such things were apparently already commonplace in this world.
The currency was the Eris silver coin. The basic unit was one Eris. There were also copper and gold coins, and prices weren't that different from Japan. A loaf of bread: two hundred Eris. An inn: from five hundred Eris a night. Aqua explained all of this from beside me.
"So, what do we do from here?"
"Isn't it obvious? First, we find a suitable inn and rest up."
"Hold on, your whole premise is wrong. First we register as adventurers. Then we figure out how to make money."
"Ehhh… we just got reincarnated and we already have to work? Couldn't we live elegantly on an allowance provided by heaven, or something?"
"There's no such thing."
Exchanging words like that, we made our way through the town's central plaza.
After walking for a while, a particularly conspicuous three-story stone building came into view. The first-floor door was wide open, with crowds of people coming and going. A man with a sword on his back, a girl carrying a staff, a young person clad in leather armor. And in front of the building, a signboard.
『Nornvice Adventurers' Guild — Axel Branch』
"This is the place."
"Ah, wait a moment! Please be considerate of my feet!"
I turned around to find Aqua walking in a strange way. On tiptoe, flinching with every step, as if trying to avoid the ground, she crept toward me.
"What are you doing?"
"This ground is dirty, isn't it? For a goddess like me to walk on it, there's a certain amount of resistance…"
"Huh? Then how have you been walking this whole time?"
"Naturally, I've only been walking on the path of purification I lay down myself. See? Can't you see this faintly glowing path at my feet?"
Now that she mentioned it, there was a faintly glowing path beneath Aqua's feet. With each step she took, the light stretched forward smoothly. No, that's not the issue here.
"…So that's why your walking speed is so slow?"
"Yes. It's to preserve my dignity as a goddess. Ah, but I suppose that's a feeling someone like you will never understand."
"You've got a mouth on you, you damn goddess."
"Don't call me a damn goddess! Do you have any idea how sacred an existence I—"
"Yeah, yeah, very sacred. Just get inside."
Half-ignoring Aqua's protests, I stepped through the adventurers' guild door.
The interior was spacious and crowded with people. The walls were plastered with request notices. Behind the counter, several receptionists were working busily.
"Excuse me, I'd like to register as an adventurer."
When I called out, one of the receptionists looked up.
"Welcome to the Nornvice Adventurers' Guild, Axel Branch. I'm Luna, the receptionist. A new registration, is it?"
The receptionist named Luna was a composed woman. Mid-twenties, perhaps. Her brown hair was neatly tied up, and she wore the guild uniform impeccably.
"Yes, please."
The process went smoothly. The registration fee was one thousand Eris. Fortunately, the pockets of the clothes I'd been wearing at the time of reincarnation somehow contained a bit of money. Apparently it was a starting stipend. Grateful for that.
"Here is your provisional registration card. Your rank starts at E, the lowest. As you build up achievements and complete quests, you'll gradually be able to rise to higher ranks."
"Thank you."
"And… is this person with you?"
Luna's gaze shifted to Aqua, who was standing beside me looking bored.
"Yeah, well, something like an unavoidable connection."
"I see. Um, just to let you know, Aqua-san is already quite well-known here at the guild."
"What?"
Luna lowered her eyes awkwardly.
"Between the time of her reincarnation and today, she has incurred a debt of one hundred sixty thousand Eris at the tavern 'Vittel's Barrel,' eighty thousand Eris at the magic item shop 'Mistil,' plus fines for property damage and nuisance behavior, totaling approximately four hundred thousand Eris. Accordingly, we have a bill here…"
"When did this happen?!"
"Ahaha, the alcohol in this world is all so delicious, I couldn't help myself. Also, I thought I'd show off a divine miracle, so I turned the shopping district's fountain into holy water, and people got quite angry."
"What the hell were you doing?!"
The adventurers around us were glancing our way. I could hear voices like "Ah, that light blue one." No doubt about it—this girl was already a full-blown problem child.
"So you'd already arrived in town before me? Then why, if we were supposed to have reincarnated together, are you the only one who's racked up debt?"
"It seems
Novelia is an AI-powered platform to read original light novels and fan fiction, create your own in just a few taps, and chat with the characters. New, illustrated episodes arrive daily — free to start.