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 - The Saint's Descent and the Goddess's Jealousy
Morning light streamed through the small window of the Moonreading Inn.
Kazuma woke on the hard bed, staring blankly at the grain of the ceiling. Yesterday's memories slowly returned. Dying. Meeting the goddess Aqua. And then, as his bonus, dragging Aqua herself along to reincarnate in this other world of Belgana.
"…So it really is real."
In the next bed, Aqua slept with a blissful expression. Her waist-length, light-blue hair spread across the sheets. Just by appearance, she truly was a goddess. If you only looked at her sleeping face, the word "saint" would suit her better.
But Kazuma knew. He knew what this woman really was.
"Hey, Aqua. Wake up."
"Mmm… five more minutes…"
Aqua rolled over and pulled the sheets over her head.
"You haven't forgotten about yesterday's debt of four hundred thousand eris, have you?"
"Huh!?"
She shot upright. Her large blue eyes were wide open.
"Th-that's not my money! The guild just went and—"
"It's the result of you drinking the place dry at the tavern, destroying property, and even graffitiing the church wall."
"That's… um… they just didn't appreciate my artistry…"
"Graffiti doesn't have artistry, you idiot!"
He'd thrown out a full-force tsukkomi first thing in the morning. But this was just daily life for Kazuma and Aqua. This mismatched duo had been like this ever since they met.
Ever since registering with the Nornvice Adventurers' Guild—the organization managing adventurers who take on monster-hunting and other requests in this world—their debt had only grown. Actually, they'd had debt before even registering. It was the debt Aqua had racked up in one week after arriving in this world first. Four hundred thousand eris. In Japanese yen, that was four hundred thousand yen. Considering that a rookie adventurer's monthly income was, at best, around fifty thousand eris, it was a crushing amount.
"Anyway, starting today, we work seriously. We're going to the guild and taking a quest."
"Leave it to me! I'm in amazing shape today! I'll definitely be useful!"
"That confidence of yours is always top-tier."
Kazuma let out a deep sigh.
The two got ready and left the inn. The town of Axel was full of life from the morning. Stalls selling fruits and vegetables lined the cobblestone streets, and merchants' energetic voices flew back and forth. The smell of baking bread drifted from somewhere.
"That smells so good… Kazuma, that bakery looks amazing."
"No. We have no money."
"Stingy…"
"It's not stingy. A person with four hundred thousand in debt can't buy bread first thing in the morning."
Even so, Kazuma's stomach was growling too. Last night, he'd ended up bowing to the innkeeper Galda to get a room with meals included, but breakfast wasn't part of it. Their next meal would come after quest rewards.
(…This is rough.)
Cursing inwardly, Kazuma headed toward the three-story stone building facing the central plaza—the Axel branch of the Nornvice Adventurers' Guild.
The guild was already bustling with adventurers. At the reception counter sat Luna, the receptionist they'd met yesterday. A capable twenty-four-year-old with silver hair tied back in a single tail.
"Good morning, Kazuma, Aqua."
Luna's voice was calm, but her eyes said, "Please don't cause any more trouble." Kazuma could tell. No—he couldn't help but tell. After all, it was this Luna who had handled the aftermath of the commotion Aqua caused at the guild yesterday.
"Good morning. We'll work seriously today, so…"
Kazuma greeted her, making himself small.
"Me too! I'll work seriously starting today!"
Aqua puffed out her chest. Luna's eyebrows twitched slightly, but she said nothing and pointed to the quest board.
"If you're looking for beginner quests, they're posted over there. There's a potato harvesting request that just came in this morning. The reward is five thousand eris. It's a job helping with the harvest at a farmer's field."
"Potato harvesting… sounds good. Let's go with that."
"Ehh, farm work is so plain. How about something more like dragon slaying, or fighting a Demon King's army officer…"
"Like we could do that! E-rankers like us going dragon slaying would just be feeding ourselves to it!"
"But potatoes… they look heavy, and you get all muddy…"
"Don't complain about repaying debt! Because of you, digging potatoes is all we can do right now!"
Luna quietly raised her hand.
"Kazuma, you're disturbing the other adventurers. Please lower your voice."
"…Sorry."
Kazuma's shoulders slumped. The stares of the surrounding adventurers stung.
"Then I'll register you for this request. The location is Tomio's field, just outside the north gate."
Tomio's field was about a ten-minute walk from Axel's north gate. Potato leaves grew thick across the wide field. The sky was clear and blue, and the wind blowing through from the Kamui Forest carried the scent of earth.
"Ohh, you came. You two are the adventurers this time?"
Tomio the farmer was a man in his mid-fifties with deep wrinkles carved into his sun-darkened face. A hemp sack hung at his waist, and he held an old hoe in his hand.
"Thank you for having us."
"Yeah, likewise. From here to over there is today's harvest area. The method's simple—just pull the stems and dig up the potatoes."
"Understood. Then, right away."
Kazuma stepped into the field with enthusiasm.
"Aqua, you work too."
"Me, with this kind of dirt work… ah, look, I'll draw water from the well and bring it to you! That'll be my job!"
"Don't need it! You get your hands moving too!"
"Honestly! I'm a goddess! A goddess digging potatoes is a humiliation that will go down in the history of heaven!"
"Shut up and work! Come on, dig the potatoes already!"
Kazuma crouched down, grabbed a potato stem, and pulled. Plump potatoes tumbled out of the soil. Not bad at all.
Aqua reluctantly entered the field, and while hating the idea of getting muddy, timidly touched a stem.
"Hup…"
She pulled the stem. But she was too weak. The potatoes clung to the soil.
"Nnngh…!"
Aqua's face turned bright red as she kept pulling the stem. Still, the potatoes didn't budge.
"Hey, at that rate you'll never finish. Dig the soil around the sides first, then pull it out slowly."
"I know that! My hand just slipped a little!"
Saying that, Aqua yanked the stem violently. Snap. The stem broke. Aqua tumbled backward from the momentum and landed on her rear.
"Ow!"
"…Seriously, you."
Kazuma sighed and reached out a hand to the fallen Aqua.
"You okay?"
In that instant, Aqua's expression softened for just a moment.
"…Yeah. Thanks, Kazuma."
Kazuma felt a slight itch deep in his chest at that smile. But he wouldn't say it out loud.
"Come on, get up. We're digging potatoes."
"Okaaay…"
For a while after that, the two worked in silence. Kazuma efficiently dug up potatoes and tossed them into hemp sacks one after another. His speed was incomparable to before. His natural dexterity and his laziness-driven focus on efficiency were paying off.
Meanwhile, Aqua was busy letting out little "Eek!" shrieks and jumping away from earthworms in fright.
As the sun began to tilt, the incident happened.
"Ah… I'll go draw some water from the well."
As if she'd found her role, Aqua trotted toward the well at the edge of the field. Kazuma called out "Hurry back," and returned to focusing on potato digging.
The sound of digging earth. The sound of wind. And then, suddenly, Aqua's voice mixed in.
"I'll purify this water for you! Let me show you the true power of my purification magic!"
(…Purification magic?)
A chill ran down Kazuma's spine. No, wait. Calm down. Purification magic—she'd shown it at the church yesterday too… no, to be precise, she'd made it go berserk. She'd blasted water all over the church wall. Right, this wasn't something to stay calm about. This was dangerous.
"Hey, Aqua, stop! That's—"
The moment Kazuma shouted—
KABOOOOM!!!
A tremendous sound echoed from the edge of the field.
For a second, he couldn't tell what had happened. When Kazuma turned around, a pillar of water was rising high into the sky. No, not a pillar. A massive mass of water, swirling like a tornado, stretched upward into the sky.
"GYAAAH!?"
Tomio the farmer screamed and collapsed to the ground.
The water tornado spun round and round, mercilessly swallowing the field. Soil was churned up, potato leaves were torn apart, and the harvested hemp sacks flew into the air.
"Wh-what is this!? Why!? I just wanted to make the water clean!?"
Aqua stood frozen in front of the well, both hands thrust forward. Pale blue light overflowed from her palms. Out of control. Her magic was rampaging.
"What the hell are you doinggggggg!!"
Kazuma ran at full speed. But it was already too late.
The water tornado ravaged the field in every direction, then dissipated in about ten seconds.
What remained was a field turned to mud. Potato leaves torn to shreds. And Aqua standing there covered in mud, with Tomio pale-faced beside her.
"…M-my field…"
Tomio collapsed to his knees and pressed his hands into the mud.
"I-I'm sorry… I didn't mean any harm… I just tried to purify the water, but my holy power was too strong…"
"Aqua, do you understand what you just did?"
Kazuma's voice was low and trembling.
"But, but, I just wanted to make the water cleaner… That's right, my magic is so wonderful that there was just too much water! The water didn't obey me properly!"
She'd doubled down. At this point, she'd actually doubled down.
"Don't screw with meeeeeee!!!"
Kazuma's roar echoed across the twilight field.
In the end, Kazuma prostrated himself before Tomio.
"I am truly, truly sorry! I will definitely compensate you for the field! So please, just don't report this to the guild…"
Kazuma's forehead sank into the mud. He bowed his head again and again.
The cold of the mud seeped through his skin to the marrow of his bones. Humiliating. Pathetic. But this was all he could do right now. This was all he had.
Behind him, Aqua was still muttering discontentedly, "But it's not my magic's fault…" No, it's your fault. One hundred percent your fault.
After a long silence, Tomio opened his mouth heavily.
"…Hah. Fine. You've got yourself a real handful of a companion there."
"Eh?"
"As for the guild, the field damage… well, I'll have to report it honestly. But if you're bowing that hard, I'll wait a bit on the compensation. Pay me someday, for sure. Understood?"
"Thank you! Thank you so much!"
Kazuma bowed even deeper. Mud got in his eyes and stung.
"Kazuma… I'm sorry…"
She finally apologized. Far too late. But for now, he'd accept it.
What awaited the two when they returned to the guild was another blow.
"Kazuma, Aqua. I need to have a word with you."
Just inside the entrance, a tall man called out to them. He held a brown envelope. He wore a guild staff uniform. Kazuma didn't know his name, but he understood. This man was different from Luna—he was what you'd call the "debt collection officer."
"…What is it?"
He had nothing but bad feelings.
"Due to today's field incident, additional compensation has been incurred. Your current total debt is four hundred fifty thousand eris. Accordingly, please resubmit your repayment plan. The deadline is the day after tomorrow."
"The day after tomorrow!? It was supposed to be a week!"
"When repayment falls behind and new damages are caused, plan resubmission and deadline shortening are imposed. It's clearly stated in the Adventurer Debt System regulations."
The guild staff member said it flatly, without expression.
"Th-then I'll just earn it, right! Don't worry, if I get serious, earning four hundred fifty thousand eris will be nothing!"
Aqua puffed out her chest. The guild staff member's gaze slowly turned to Aqua. His eyes were completely cold, as if saying, "What is this woman talking about?"
"…Your current work record is zero. There is not a single element of credibility. Today's field incident was entirely your responsibility. Are yo
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