Chapter 9 : Going To Dungeon

A new day had begun. The sun started to reveal itself to the world, announcing the arrival of a brand new day.

Sunlight streamed into an inn room through the gaps in the window. Inside the room were two bunk beds, enough to accommodate four people.

The Aqua Familia had decided to use this inn as their temporary base until they could find a more suitable place to live.

As a noble, Darkness was the most diligent member of the Familia. She woke up early and woke everyone else up to get ready to head to the guild.

"Oii, Kazuma! Hurry up and wake up! Aren't we going to the dungeon with Bell-kun today?"

"No, I don't want to. I'm still tired from last night's party," Kazuma mumbled, half-asleep, rejecting Darkness.

"Stop talking nonsense! Get up already and help me wake Aqua and Megumin!"

Darkness let out a long sigh, trying to control her emotions while clenching her fist.

"Nope, nope. I just want to laze around all day and do nothing."

"You...! You...! Don't mess with me!"

SMACK!

Darkness lightly punched Kazuma's head, finally waking him up completely.

"OWWW, Darkness, what's with you lately? Why does it feel like your sadistic side is more dominant than your masochistic side?"

Kazuma was puzzled by Darkness's behavior. Ever since she confessed her feelings to him, she had been showing her sadistic side more often. It's not that he disliked it, but he was more used to her masochistic side.

"Do-don't joke around! Hurry up and help me wake Aqua and Megumin. Don't we have plans with Bell-kun?"

...

...

...

In the end, Kazuma woke up and helped Darkness wake Aqua and Megumin so they could get ready to head to the guild.

Before going to the guild, they made sure to fill their stomachs. Before heading into battle, The most important thing was ensuring they weren't hungry. An empty stomach would only be a burden in a fight.

After breakfast, they went to the guild to meet Eina and Bell. On their way there, the Aqua Familia ran into Bell and Hestia, who also went to the guild.

"Hestia-sama! Bell!!"

Kazuma decided to shout and greet them.

Bell and Hestia stopped and turned around to see who was calling them. Upon realizing it was someone they knew, they returned the greeting.

"Ah, Kazuma-san! Good morning!"

"Hello, everyone. Are you all ready to head to the dungeon with Bell today?"

"Of course, Hestia-sama! We're all ready to explore the dungeon today with Bell. You don't need to worry; just leave Bell to us—we'll help him with all our strength!"

Kazuma clenched his fist, flexing his arm muscles to reassure Hestia that there was nothing to worry about.

"Huh? The four of you?"

Hestia raised an eyebrow and asked Kazuma to make sure she hadn't misheard.

"Yeah, that's right. The four of us—what's wrong with that?"

"Of course there's something wrong! Don't tell me you plan to take Aqua into the dungeon? It's forbidden for gods and goddesses to enter dungeons!"

Hestia sighed while holding her forehead, starting to lecture the Aqua Familia. However, Aqua's eyes immediately lit up upon hearing Hestia's words.

"Eeeh, what's that? Hestia, do you mean I don't have to go to the dungeon, and I can just wait for Kazuma to work hard inside the dungeon and bring back the money to me? That sounds great!"

"No way! Don't tell me that from now on, we have to go to the dungeon without Aqua?"

Kazuma was very surprised to hear that Aqua couldn't enter the dungeon. He held his head as he imagined all the bad things that could happen if he went adventuring without her. After thinking for a moment, he realized that he had never had a bad experience while adventuring without Aqua.

"He-Hestia-sama, why are gods and goddesses forbidden from entering dungeons? If Aqua doesn't come with us, who will be the healer in our party??"

Megumin asked Hestia. Even Megumin, who usually acted on impulse without considering the consequences, felt worried.

"Listen closely: gods and goddesses are forbidden from entering dungeons for a reason. Dungeons absolutely despise gods and goddesses. If the dungeon senses the presence of a god or goddess, it will go berserk and release monsters that are more dangerous than usual, putting all the adventurers inside at great risk."

"Ah, I see. In that case, it seems Aqua really shouldn't come with us."

Megumin nodded, expressing her understanding of why gods and goddesses were forbidden from entering dungeons. Ultimately, she accepted that Aqua wouldn't be coming with them.

However, Darkness, who had been listening from the side, displayed a completely different reaction. Her eyes sparkled as if she wanted to forcibly drag Aqua into the dungeon so she could fight even stronger monsters.

"Hahahaha, this place is really great! I don't have to work; I just need to wait for my Familia to fight monsters and bring their spoils to me!"

Aqua was thrilled at the thought of just lazing around and drinking alcohol every day.

"Wait, Aqua! Don't tell me you actually plan to just laze around? Don't you have any pride as a goddess? Your Familia is risking their lives going into the dungeon, and you want to sit back and do nothing?"

Hestia suddenly scolded Aqua upon hearing her plans.

"Aqua , What Hestia-sama said is true. Don't tell me you're planning to become a hiki-neet like Kazuma?"

Darkness joined in on lecturing Aqua.

"That's right! Aqua, you must not turn into Trashzuma!"

Megumin followed Darkness's lead, landing her final attack on Aqua, though in the end, it was Kazuma who took the damage.

"Ughh, I definitely don't want that! I don't want to be a hiki-neet like Kazuma."

Aqua made a disgusted expression upon hearing Darkness's words. Just imagining herself becoming like Kazuma reminded her that she needed to maintain her pride as a goddess.

Hestia sensed this was her opportunity to have a fellow goddess as a friend in the same situation—both poor and broke. Without hesitation, Hestia took Aqua's hand and invited her to join her.

"I don't know what hiki-neet is, but Aqua, do you want to come work with me? Right now, I'm selling Jagamaru-kun, If you want I'll introduce you to the shop owner."

"Oh, That's sounds like a great way to spend time without having to turn into someone like Kazuma."

"Oiii! Hiki-neet, hiki-neet—what's with that? Why are you all talking about me as if I'm some kind of virus? I can get hurt too, you know!"

Kazuma finally complained, unable to stand being mocked by everyone.

In the end, Aqua and Hestia sold Jagamaru-kun near Twilight Manor, which was the base of Loki Familia.

Meanwhile, Kazuma, Megumin, Darkness, and Bell headed to the guild to meet Eina. Shortly after, they arrived at the guild.

"Hello, Eina-san!"

Everyone greeted Eina in unison.

"Oh, hello, Bell-kun, and also the members of Aqua Familia. Are you planning to go to the dungeon today?"

"Yes, we plan to go to the dungeon today with Bell," Kazuma replied on behalf of Aqua Familia.

"Then before you head to the dungeon, let me remind you: since you're all new adventurers, and Bell-kun has only been an adventurer for half a month, you should only explore floors 1 and 2. Do you understand that?"

"Don't worry too much, Eina-san; we're not stupid. We won't push ourselves."

"Good to hear that you understand. Kazuma-san, please make sure Bell-kun doesn't overdo it. He always makes me worry."

"Don't worry, Eina-san; you can leave him to us."

After that, Bell and Aqua Familia headed to the dungeon after receiving various pieces of advice from Eina.

.....

On the first floor of the dungeon, Aqua Familia and Hestia Familia's combined party was met by their first monsters.

A group of goblins emerged from the dungeon walls, blocking their path. Kazuma, acting as the group's temporary leader, quickly gave orders.

"Darkness, move to the front and protect Bell. Megumin, don't you dare use your explosion magic here; just use your staff to hit the goblins. I'll attack them from the back."

"That's what I was hoping for! I would charge at the enemy without you even telling me!"

Darkness, in her black armor, quickly charged at the group of goblins and attacked with her sword. Of course, none of her strikes hit the goblins.

Kazuma and Megumin were no longer surprised by this, but Bell could only gape when he saw Darkness's attacks miss every goblin.

However, because of her actions, Darkness managed to draw the goblins' attention, keeping their party safe.

"Hey, Bell, don't daydream! Quickly attack them while Darkness is holding them off!"

"Aaah, okay, Kazuma-san!"

Bell charged forward, attacking the goblins with the cheap dagger he had. Kazuma also began to take action stealthily.

"Lurk!"

By activating the Lurk skill, Kazuma's body gradually became invisible to anyone watching. Those without skills or magic to detect enemies wouldn't be able to find Kazuma in this state.

"Deadly Backstab!"

Kazuma quietly approached the goblins from behind while using the Deadly Backstab skill. With this skill, Kazuma could take down his target in one hit as long as he could attack the enemy from behind without being detected.

"EAAAACCKKK!!"

Kazuma scored his first kill in this world. The goblin he killed vanished in a puff of black smoke, leaving behind a magic stones and a dropped item: Goblin Fang.

On the other side, Bell also managed to kill a goblin, but the goblin he defeated only left behind magic stones.

Megumin also joined in from the back, striking a goblin on the head with her magic staff.

"AAAAH! This is why I hate dungeons! I can't use my explosion magic here!"

"Hey, Megumin, stop complaining! If you don't want to use your staff to hit these goblins, then don't forget to make some explosion potions after this!"

Kazuma scolded Megumin, urging her to take their dungeon adventure seriously.

This continued for over an hour. They remained on the first floor, killing numerous goblins. Every goblin Kazuma killed always dropped an item due to his high luck.

Meanwhile, Bell could only cry inside, watching Kazuma continuously spam his skills, with every monster he killed always leaving a dropped item, while the monsters he defeated never dropped anything at all.

.....

"Aaaaaah, I'm so tired. Let's take a break for a bit."

Kazuma suggested they all rest and tally their loot.

"Kazuma, look at this! Look at this! We got so many magic stones and goblin fangs!"

Since Megumin was too tired to hit the goblins with her staff, she ended up just watching her party members fight from behind while collecting their loot.

"That's right, just 30 goblin fangs are enough to last us for a month. But Kazuma-san, your luck is really high; items like these are usually very rare to get. Yet every time you kill a monster, you always get a dropped item."

"Hahaha, of course! After all, I do have very high luck."

Once they had rested enough and were ready to head to the second floor, a small bird that looked like a chicken with yellow and green feathers appeared.

"AAAAAAH!"

Bell pointed at the bird, startled and trembling.

"Oii, Bell, what's wrong with you? Is that a strong monster??"

Kazuma asked Bell, he was astonished to see Bell's reaction just from seeing a small bird.

"Ka-Kazuma-san, that's a Jack Bird! It's a very rare bird. Although it's not a strong monster, anyone who kills a Jack Bird is guaranteed to get a dropped item. And the drop item is worth 1 million Valis!"

"WHAAT?????!!!!" (x3)

Kazuma, Megumin, and Darkness were all shocked when they heard about the 1 million Valis. Their facial expressions clearly showed that they were planning to kill the monster.

"Darkness, Megumin, take down that bird!"

"OOOOOHH!!!!!!"

Kazuma quickly commanded them to hunt the Jack Bird. Darkness and Megumin immediately sprang into action to chase the Jack Bird, while Kazuma supported them using his skills to catch the bird, and Bell ran after them from behind.

(To Be Continued)