ALL NOVEL Chapter 4: Enter: Megumin
In the end, we managed to kill three frogs. That leaves two more and a two days deadline. Aqua went straight to the public bath while I went and turn in our bounty. We got ourselves five thousand Eris for each frog.
Was risking our lives for fifteen thousand Eris worth it?
Considering we're living in a world where minimum wage and labor laws doesn't exist, and I am literally cursed to be poor to the bone.
Yes it was bloody worth it. Then again, I have the luck of Eris on my side so I wasn't risking my life or anything…
So here we are, having dinner with the toads we killed. Their meat was a bit tough, but it was pleasant and refreshing. It's not that bad, reminds me of an overcooked squid or something.
"Have you finished it Aqua?" I asked the goddess doodling on a large piece of paper in front of me.
Aqua nodded a little before showing an equivalent of a kindergarten drawing. It is supposed to be our recruitment poster but…
"I'm sorry, but no." I told her flatly.
The goddess pouted a little and looked at it some more. "But why? I think this is great," she said.
"I look at that poster and thought 'no, I don't want to be in this party', which is impressive considering I'm in it," I told her. "At least make it a little more credible than that, you'll only suck in idiots if you hang that."
"But…" she pouted a little before looking away. "Well, you were a strategist, so I'm guessing you have experience in drafting people… You make it then…" she handed me an empty piece of paper and charcoal.
I looked at the paper in deep thought. I've never actually drafted anyone, but I did make some advertisement for guild recruitment. Now the question is, what kind of people do I want to be in my party?
Pretty girls, obviously, since they're gonna be useless anyway. Wait, they'll hate me so…
Aah, what are you thinking Kazuma? Think logically, the odds are always in your favor right? Just write in 'High Ranking Jobs Only' and you might get yourself some pretty powerful teammates. I don't know how useless they'll be, but they can't be that bad, right?
And since they will almost certainly be useless, I shouldn't degrade myself. Since, well, I'm pretty sure they won't be more useless than me. Right?
With that, I started making the Party Recruitment Poster. Hmm… I should think about a name? Is it a norm to have a party name around here?
"Hey, Aqua, what do you think we should name our Party?"
The girl tilted her head in confusion. "Name our party?"
"I dunno, makes our party more memorable that way, don't you think? I don't want people calling us 'Aqua's Team' or 'Kazuma's Team' a bit degrading to other teammates,"
"Whoa, you think that far ahead huh?" Aqua said in amazement. "Well, how about the… Divine Messenger,"
"I think that's a title not a name…"
"hmm… Demon's Bane?"
"That's a weapon's name,"
Aqua clicked her tongue a little. "This is tough," she muttered.
"How about, the Debauchery Tea Party?"
Aqua tilted her head in confusion. "The what?"
"Nevermind… How about 'The Rookie Legends'?
"I don't want to be called Rookie forever!"
"Yeah that's a good point, how about… 'Fantastic Dreamer'?"
Aqua grinned a little at that. "I like that one, yeah, any reason you picked that?"
"Well, we are aiming for a fantastic goal aren't we?" I smirked a little. "Well, for now, it's still a dream, but I'm sure that one day, we'll be the one to destroy the demon king!"
"Of course we will! See? You're not bad at being optimistic yourself Kazuma!"
I looked down at the piece of paper and started writing.
We are the Fantastic Dreamer or FD for short. We are a couple of aspiring people from far away lands, carrying with us knowledge and wisdom beyond worlds. Our mission is simple, to Defeat the Demon King and reach our Fantastic Dream.
Our current line up is an Archpriest who has also mastered the resurrection spell, so you don't have to worry about a feeble thing such as death. Although not that powerful, we also have an Adventure who is very experienced in strategy and battle tactics.
Of course, we only take high-level jobs only due to the hardships ahead. It will be hard, and don't expect any monetary value out of this. However, there's only one thing we can assure you.
We promise that by joining us,
YOU will be part of something greater!
YOU will be part of a glorious and exciting life!
YOU will become one of the Fantastic Dreamer!
And with that, the Fantastic Dreamer is born.
---
It's been a night and half a day since I put that poster. I'm starting to think that I'm betting too much on my luck.
"… No one is coming…" Aqua mumbled to herself dejectedly.
I pat her shoulder encouragingly. "It's only been half a day Aqua, cheer up."
After displaying a recruitment notice, we sat at a table inside the Adventurers guild and wait for companions of the hero to show up.
The other adventurers definitely saw our notice.
Besides us, a number of adventurers were recruiting members. They had conducted interviews, talked with them and went off.
So there is such thing as 0% chance huh? As I was preparing to stand up and try another approach, a girl approached us.
"Are you guys the one claiming to be 'Fantastic Dreamer'?"
Her eyes with red pupils looked sleepy. Her smooth black hair reached her shoulders. For us, she was a girl in a classical witch attire, with black cloak, dark boots, pointy hat and a staff. Her features were delicate like a porcelain doll – it's a loli.
It wasn't surprising for children to work in this world…
And I guess little girl like her doesn't fall into the 'Beautiful Girls' category, so she probably won't hate me.
The small frail girl who looked about 12-13 had an eye patch covering one eye. She flung her cloak hard and made a pose. "I am Megumin! An arch wizard with the strongest attack spell, explosion…!"
"Are you here for real?" I asked her, a little bit skeptic.
"Of course! I am an Archwizard who are looking to be your teammate," she said before taking out her adventurer card. "Here you go, thank you," she said, a bit more softly this time.
I looked at her adventurer card. True to her words, she's a powerful mage. Her magic stat is off the charts, almost rivaling Aqua here.
"That red eye… Are you Crimson Demon race?"
The girl nodded in response. "That's correct! I am an elite mage from the Crimson Demon race, Megumin! My magic is powerful enough to split the mountains…!" her form started toppling. "… That's how it is, do you need… an… excellent…"
'Thump'
"Oi, oi, are you okay?" I rushed in towards her and helped her up. She looked at me with pained and sorrowful look. "Seriously, are you okay? Aqua, healing spell!"
"S-sorry… I just haven't eaten in three days… could you give me something to eat before the interview…"
Well, I still have some money, so…
"Yeah, come on, sit down Megumin, what would you like?" then I looked at her eyepatch. "And what's with the eyepatch? If you're hurt, Aqua here can heal you, she's an Archpriest."
The girl slowly stood up and smirked a little. "Hmmp… this is a tool to restrain my overwhelming power… If you pull it off… A gigantic disaster will befall the world…
Whoa, this girl sure is something. "Oh… So it is something like a seal."
"I made that up. This is just a normal eye patch, it just look nice…"
Never mind, she's a Chuuni. Great.
"Ah, sorry, please don't pull on that, stop!" she exclaimed after I failed to restrain myself. "Release me at once!… but please do it slowly because if you just release it… Ouch My EYES!!"
I turned to Aqua. "What do you think?"
"The Crimson Demon race are born with high intellect and strong magic affinity, most of them have the potential to become a professional mage. The Crimson Demon race are known for their red eyes… and their strange names."
Ah, I see, so she's a natural born prodigy huh? I understand…
"It should be fine right? The adventurer's card is real, her job is really top tier with the ability to use powerful spells– Arch wizard. The magic stat on the card is very high, so she has a lot of potential. If she really can use explosion magic, that would be amazing! Explosion spell is the top grade spell in the detonation series magic and is hard to learn."
"Hey, stop addressing me as she, use my name!"
As Megumin protest, I handed the food menu to her.
"Don't mind the details, order something to eat. I am Kazuma. This is Aqua. Please to meet you, Archwizard."