Rejection

Kazuma lay on a comfortable couch, wearing only a loose robe. He held a teacup in his hand, sipping it with great enjoyment.

"Worthy of the most expensive tea in Axel," he muttered, glad he did not let Aqua make the tea. Otherwise, she would have purified it into clear water.

"Kazuma, I've been thinking. Since we are now rich, why don't we build another town?" said Aqua, who was also drinking tea next to Kazuma.

"Why build a town when we can buy one."

"You're such a genius. The Axel Church can be spread in our new territory."

While these two enjoyed their luxury, Megumin and Darkness walked into the room.

"Kazuma, when are we taking a quest?" asked Megumin.

"Yes, I would like to know this as well," added Darkness.

"Quest? What quest? Now that we are filthy rich, what's the point of doing all the hard work? Plus, there is no quest in the Adventure Guild."

"What about our adventure? I have to use my Explosion Magic."

"I agree with Megumi. We can't waste our life indulging in luxury," said Darkness.

"Yes, said the rich young lady who never had to worry about food and shelter in her life.

"Kazuma, you!"

"Kazuma, although we are rich, I still want to defeat the Demon King and return home," said Aqua.

"Don't worry. With our money, we can hire all the adventurers of Axel. I don't believe we can't invade the Demon King's castle with so many people."

Bam! Bam!

Kazuma frowned before waving for Darkness to get the door.

"How dare he treat me as a servant?" said Darkness, walking to the door with a transparent blush.

"Luna?"

"Kazuma, Kazuma, we need your help," Luna yelled as she rushed inside.

"What's going on?" Kazuma asked calmly while still lying on his couch.

"We just received news that the Destroyer is headed toward our town."

"The Destroyer!" yelled Megumin and Darkness simultaneously.

"What's the Destroyer?" asked Kazuma.

"It's a moving fortress that has been roaming the world for hundreds of years. With its power, it will eradicate Axel with ease."

Kazuma suddenly got up from his sofa, "Why are you asking us for help with such a dangerous thing?"

"Well, your party defeated Beldia, one of the Demon King General. So, the guild figured you were the perfect team to deal with the situation."

"Are you insane? We were lucky to defeat Beldia by finding his weakness. So, how could we defeat such a powerful monster as the Destroyer? Wait a minute. I remember the last time when Beldia showed up, there was a public announcement to gather all the adventures of the team. Why was there none this time around?"

"Well," said Luna, looking at the ground. "Because the Arcane Party finished most of the quests, the adventures have not been working for a while now, and the guild master fears they would run away after hearing news of the Destroyer."

"So, you want us to secretly deal with the Destroyer before dealing with the Quest Issue?"

"Basically."

"Impossible. This is a mission beyond our means," said Kazuma resolutely.

"Wait a minute; it's not impossible to deal with the situation."

"Kazuma, did you think of a plan so quickly?" said Darkness. "I cannot wait to stop the Destroyer with all my body and soul."

Kazuma decided to ignore the masochist. "The plan is simple: ask the Arcane Party."

"Them?"

"Yes. They are one, if not the most powerful party currently in Axel. With them, there should be no problems dealing with the Destroyer.

Arcane Castle:

"Luna?"

"Miss Fleur, I'm sorry to bother you."

"Is there something you need?"

"It's like this: the guild would like to give you guys a special quest."

"Special Quest? Is it about the Destroyer?"

"How did you know?"

Fleur smiled but did not explain. Then, she said: "We are currently busy–except for Filius."

She then took a magic device that looked like a cell phone and contacted someone.

"Fillius, we need you to come back to deal with the Destroyer."

"What? I'm in the middle of an epic adventure of trial and tribulation, of the bond of friendship and overcoming adversity."

"You can return to your quest after you stop the Destroyer. And don't forget to bring it intact; it might be worth studying."

"Fine. Give me the coordinate."

Fleur then looked at Luna, who quickly told her the last spot where the Destroyer was spotted.

"Excuse me, is he going to be alright?"

"Don't worry; he is more than enough."

About 2 kilometers from Axel, a white light appeared a few meters from this rampaging beast which looked like an enormous robotic spider: it was the Destroyer.

"Why are they interrupting my fun time," muttered Filius. "Back home, I either take care of the Bones Advanced School of Magic or do research; where do I have time to enjoy such a grand adventure."

He took out his bow and arrow.

"Flame Arrow."

The arrow rushed toward the Destroyer with great speed, and on its way, it turned into flame, even leaving a trail in the sky. Unfortunately, a barrier appeared around the Destroyer, blocking the attack.

"A high-level barrier?"

Filius took out more arrows and continued to attack without stopping. Upon closer look, it seemed that he was doing nothing but repeating the same attack. However, the truth is that he was testing the weak point of the barrier.

And after finding it, he changed tactics.

"Lightning Arrow."

His arrow turned into lighting, targeting a specific spot of the barrier. And as expected, the arrow only stopped for a few seconds before going through it like a knife cutting butter.

As he walked inside the Destroyer, he heard the artificial system of the fortress saying that the self-destruction sequence had been activated. However, Filius ignored the voice before heading straight for the control system.

"Perfect, it's in Japanese."

He typed a bunch of things to quickly access the control of the artificial system and deactivate the self-destruction protocol. Then, Filius went for the energy core of the fortress.

"Is this what they called Coronatite?" Filius said as he held a red sphere in his hand. He sensed the mana inside and tried controlling it.

"Amazing. The energy inside is on par with a Lesser Aether Core, and it does not seem to need emotions to create. It seems to be made of some kind of unique magical ore."

Filius's eyes lit up.

"If this thing is cheaper to make than the Lesser Core, it could save the Empire trillions of arcane coins."

Filius then used his magic artifact to teleport the entire Destroyer to the storage room back in the base. He did not want to learn the Teleport Skill since it was not part of his job class, so he had to rely on magic items.

Filius prepared to leave but suddenly received a message from the group, which had two crucial parts. First, he was in charge of defeating the Demon King.

Filius was alright with this since he imagined the grand finale of his adventure was to defeat the final villain: the Demon King.

What bothered him was the second part. He needed to quickly finish his adventure and get back to work. The group believed it was possible to create a Tier 8 Weapons based on the Explosion Spell. According to them, Edward might even be able to raise it to Tier 9 or higher.

However, he needed to do the basic research and development on the project before Edward arrived. So, after sighing to himself, he left.

…

Fleur walked to a shop.

"Wiz, how are you doing?"

"Miss Fleur, you're here."

After sitting down and drinking the tea she served, Fleur asked: "So, have you thought about our proposal?"

"I have, and I don't want to."

"Oh, why?"

"Although this Arcane Empire sounds wonderful, I-I don't want to be any Empress to someone I don't know or love."

"A woman not tempted by power and wealth: I like you even more," said Fleur. "How about this: when Edward arrives, you get to know him first before you make a decision."

Wiz pondered for a while, "I guess I can try. But how do you know he will like me?"

"As his wife of over six decades, I know him quite well–especially his taste in woman."

"I-I see. Can I ask you something?"

"Do you want to know why I'm searching for a wife for my husband?"

"Yes. I know amongst the nobility, men are allowed to have many mistresses as long they don't give them the proper status. But you seem to want to treat me equally."

"Well, the Empire's Laws are different as there are no such divisions between the main wife and mistresses."

"Then, how do you feel emotionally having to share your husband?"

Fleur paused for a moment before saying with a smile: "At first, I was resistant to the idea. But over time, I found nothing wrong with it. As long as he has me in his heart, I'm satisfied."

"Don't you get jealous?"

"Sometimes. But I have to admit that Edward does a great job at not showing favorites–even though we know for sure he has one. It's a shame he refused to say."

Fleur smiled, thinking about when they tried to get him to reveal his favorite. However, Edward refused to say anything; he even admitted to them he placed a spell on his soul that would erase the information from his mind if he ever tried to disclose it to them.

"It seems you guys have a great but complicated relationship."

"Not really. Our relationship is simpler than you think. We spent the majority of our time doing research, so it is normal not to see each other for a few months. And in the future, the time might be longer."

"How does that work?"

"We are slowly transitioning into long-lived species. So, the way we experience time is different from ordinary people. Currently, a few dozen years is nothing to us–especially when we focus on our research.

"However, Edward did say we would start working on projects together to not completely be alienated from each other because of our long lifespan."

"I see." Then, the two chatted for a few hours before Fleur left the shop.

'Where should I go first? Capture the ancient dragon, or find a way to Hell.'

So far, the group has found a way to infiltrate Heaven, but they still need a way to access Hell. Vanir, one of the Demon King General, is a Duke of Hell. He used a mask to interact with the mortal realm.

Through it, Fleur could get the coordinate. She could not help to get there and get all kinds of bloodline samples from Hell species. With a smile, she decided to capture the ancient dragon first before defeating Vanir and taking the mask.

----

Next Chapter, we change back to Edward's POV. And the Black Clover Arc will end in 10 or more chapters.