Fantastic Dream Upon This Wonderful Existence

"Aqua, this is going to raise some questions, like seriously, I look like a slave trader," I said as we walked through the streets of Axel.

"Just a little more, at least until we get to the guild," she replied while kicking her feet back and lazily leans herself on the bars. "It's nice, cold, and shady here."

I rolled my eyes and just let the horse drawn carriage lead the way back to the guild. I don't really care about our reputation and the townsfolk's just shrugged it off as Fantastic Dreamer's party antics. Really, we're already known to do weird stuff around town, if anyone were to come after us…

"God, goddess-sama! Isn't this goddess-sama? What are you doing in such a place!"

We can quickly tell they're not from here. I turned back and saw a guy decked out in some good armor, running after our carriage. He quickly went after the bars and literally bent the damn thing with minimal effort.

"Goddess sama!!" he was about to lean into the cage when Darkness stopped him.

"Aqua, do you know this guy?"

Aqua turned towards the guy. She tilted her head a little. "Who are you?"

"It's me! Kyoya! Mitsurugi Kyoya!" he brandished his gigantic greatsword and showed it to her. "I received the Cursed Sword Gram from you!" he exclaimed.

The girl jumped off the cage and took a closer look at him. "Oh, Mitsurugi Kyoya," she gave her a sheepish smile. "Sorry, sorry, I've sent lots of people down here you know? And a lot happens since then…" she looked down a little.

So this is one of those lucky people who were send to his world as a reward rather than punishment huh? Though, the fact that Aqua's the one in charge of sending them here is news to me.

"Ano, Goddess sama, what are you doing in such place?"

"It's nice cold and shady in there,"

"and you're too lazy too walk," I piped in.

"Shut up Kazuma!"

Mitsurugi turned towards me. "Kazuma… You're from japan aren't you?"

"Satou Kazuma, Adventurer, at your service," I pointed at Aqua. "This here is Aqua, you know her," then I pointed at Megumin. "This here is Megumin, Arch Wizard and a living, walking, nuke," finally I pointed at Darkness. "This feisty Crusader lady over here is Darkness, she doesn't take too kindly to strangers being too familiar with her friends."

The warrior blinked a little before stepping back. "Ah, sorry, my name is Mitsurugi Kyoya, a warrior from the capital who was sent here to deal with the Demon King General," he explained.

"That's pretty cool, we'd love a backup."

Mitsurugi nodded slightly. "So, what kind of cheat did you bring down here with you Kazuma?"

"Aqua, I guess," I replied, but then I realized it was a mistake. "I mean, I didn't know if it's her. I didn't even know if it's going to be a person!"

"Wh-what?" Mitsurugi looked at Aqua in surprise. "S-so you're stuck here until the demon king is defeated?"

"Yes, why?"

"And then, why are you in this cage? Did something happen?"

"Aqua," I put an emphasis on her name. "Wanted to do a water purification mission. So I put her in this cage, dump her into the lake, and protect her from outside," I explained. "If you have a better idea, then please enlighten me."

Kyoya sighed a little. "Goddess, you shouldn't be doing quests like this, it's too dangerous," he tilted his head. "Then again, where are you staying?"

I cringed a little at that question, but Aqua answered before I could say anything. "In the stables," she replied.

So much for diffusing the situation.

"IN THE STABLES!?!?" Mitsurugi exclaimed in shock. He then glared at me and grabbed me by the collar. "How dare you let goddess sama live in the stables!"

Thankfully, Aqua quickly came to my rescue. "H-hold on, Mitsurugi, I don't mind sleeping in the stables. And the matter is a little bit more complicated than you think," Mitsurugi let go of me. "And the mission today was scary, yes, but this cage is more than enough to protect me! The reward is three hundred thousand Eris not to mention the bounty for killing those brutalgators. That's great, right?"

"Only three hundred thousand? Goddess sama, for coming down and purifying the lake yourself, you deserve at least three million!"

Mitsurugi was about to grab Aqua's hand when Darkness pushed him away with a dangerous look on her face. Seriously, it's the rare moment like this when I get to see Darkness as an all powerful Crusader. She's so cool!

"Hey, watch yourself and remove your hand. You had been unreasonable all this while. This must be the first time you met Kazuma, there should be a limit to how rude you can be."

"Darkness, Blacker than Night…"

I quickly rushed towards Megumin and covered her mouth. "Let's not blow up the town… Okay?" I whispered to her.

"Seems that you had great luck in finding companions, but that doesn't make sense. Don't you feel ashamed in letting Aqua and these two excellent members sleep in the stables? You mentioned your job is the weakest adventurer right?"

I clicked my tongue. He's obviously had it extremely easy with that cheat weapon of his. He probably never had to sleep in the stables. He probably never had to grind his ass off trying to level up. He probably never had to think up a strategy to win and just hack away with his magic blade.

"Why is he so shocked that Aqua sleep in the stables? Isn't it a norm for beginner adventurer?" Megumin asked.

"That sword lets him skip the beginner part all the way to the expert ranks. He never had to face the hardships of a beginner adventurer,"

Megumin's gaze turned dark and I swear I could hear her chanting underneath her breath.

"It must have been hard on you all so far. Please join me from now on. Of course, I won't let you all sleep in the stables, and will buy the full set of premium equipment for you. The balance of the team is great. I am a sword master, my warrior comrade and you as a crusader: along with my thief comrade, this arch wizard and Aqua-sama. What a perfect combination, it's a match made in heaven."

"It feels wrong. He is so bad that it made me cringe. And he was the one doing all the talking with his narcissistic tendencies which frighten me," Aqua whispered to me.

"What should we do, for some reason I am unable to physically accept this man. I prefer active people over passive ones, but somehow that guy makes me want to beat him up," Darkness said.

"Kazuma, requesting permission to blow him up,"

"Permission denied," I took a deep breath and looked at Kyoya. "As you can see, my party members doesn't want to join your party. Forcing them otherwise is simply abduction with extra steps," I explained before continuing our way.

…

Obviously, he's not going to let us go like that…

"Excuse me, but Aqua-sama is the one who bestowed this sword to me, and seeing my benefactor who granted me power fall to such a state, I couldn't simply ignore it. You couldn't save the world, the one to defeat the demon king would be me. It would be better for Aqua-sama to follow me… You said you chose Aqua as the item to be brought along to this world with you right?"

"That's not what I meant! Don't call Aqua a thing she's…" okay, deep breath, calm, he's not actually a bad person. "Fine, she is a 'thing' since you put it that way."

Behind me, Darkness already stood in front of Aqua protectively, shielding her from the weirdo.

"If that is the case, how about making a bet? You chose Aqua-sama as the 'thing' to be brought along with you right? If I win, you have to give Aqua-sama to me; If you win, I can promise you one thing, anything."

"Anything?"

"Anything."

I sighed a little and looked at Darkness standing behind me. "Darkness, if anything happens to me, I will give my hypothetical ownership of Aqua to you," I told her.

Mitsurugi heard it, but he stood his grounds. "Alright, Satou Kazuma, arm yourself."

Okay, if I can't beat this guy, I can't beat Verdia. I have to beat this guy.

"Okay," I took out my sword and it lit up on fire. "Megumin, stop chanting and be the referee!"

Megumin stepped between us. She gave Mitsurugi one long glare before raising her staff. "One,"

Okay, he's sword master, so I need to get him away from that damn sword of his.

"Two"

A simple steal should suffice. The most precious thing for him must be his cheat item right?

"Three!"

I dashed towards him with my flaming sword. He tried to block it only to have the sword disappear from his grip. I can feel his visible panic and confusion when he saw his sword just suddenly appear on my grip.

I quickly drop the sword since it was too heavy and sneaked up behind him before knocking him out with the butt end of my sword.

"A bit of a waste to use explosion on this guy, don't you think Megumin?"

The girl nodded a little. "So, what will you do? Take his sword? He certainly does not deserve it."

"No wait!"

It seems Mitsurugi's female companion has something to say about this battle. The two of them walked up towards us, glaring at me. "You can't take his sword, only Kyoya may wield the Cursed Sword Gram," the thief girl said.

"This guy's definitely not ready to part with his sword," I told them. "Tell him to go to the guild for his sword."

With that, Fantastic Dreamer continued their track to the adventurer's guild.

---

"Darkness, I need charcoal, or pencil, or ink or whatever!"

"Megumin, paper, fabric, anything to write on!"

My eyes closed in concentration, Cursed Sword Gram in one hand, and charcoal in the other.

I can feel a paper sliding underneath my hand and I started drawing. Dots and points all over the piece of paper, trusting magic more than all five of my senses. I kept at it until I'm sure that it's everything before looking at what I just draw.

It is a drawing of the Cursed Sword Gram. But made out of numerous dots and circles. The dots and circles forms a magic pattern that programs the Cursed Sword Gram. The handle itself has some sort of combination lock that only responds to a unique magical signature.

"Whoa, you can draw that fast?" Darkness said in amazement.

"A-Amazing…" Megumin whispered. "You mapped out the entire enchantment of this weapon on a piece of paper?" she took a closer look at the paper. "And what's with this enchantment?!"

"You can read it Megumin?" I asked.

"Yes, I learned it at the Crimson Demon School," she replied.

"There's a school?"

"Education is mandatory where I come from,"

Huh, seems like Crimson Demons are much more advanced than I expected. I should totally visit that place someday. Maybe get to know Megumin's relatives.

"So, what do you think I should use for my sword?" I asked her.

"Well the sharpness ench…"

"Satou, Satou Kazuma!" a familiar voice called out to me. I turned towards Mitsurugi who seems to be out of breath. "I asked a female thief about you and she told me everything immediately. She said you like to strip woman of their panties. Other than that, your interest is to cover girls in slime. Lots of people are talking about you, devilish Kazuma."

Goddammit Chris! It was an accident!

"That, that's Chris, she's an acquaintance of mine, she probably told you that as a joke or something," I told him. "Look, listen, I'll return you this sword but let's t…"

"GOD BLOW!!!"

Ouch… Was that really necessary Aqua?

"Compensate me for the cage you destroyed! It's all your fault that I had to compensate for that cage! Because that cage was made through a special process and material, it cost 300,000 okay, 300,000! You hear me, pay up!"

I rushed towards her and pulled her back. "That's enough Aqua, you're scaring him," I sighed a little and offered my hand to him. "Come on, we went off to a really, really bad start," I told him.

Now is probably the moment of truth. If Kyoya is a good person he'll take my hand. If he's just an arrogant piece of shit, he'll slap my hand and leave.

Kyoya took my hand and I helped him up. "I'm sorry myself, I should've listened to you before making my accusations," he said.

With that, we picked a nice table on the guild and sat down on it. I sat down between Aqua and Megumin facing Mitsurugi who sat between his two female companion.

Darkness just leaned on a nearby pillar, watching us all cool like.

"Listen, Kyoya, how long have you known Aqua?"

The guy looked down guiltily. "A little under an hour…"

Megumin face palmed beside me, but I didn't comment on that.

"Aqua, how long have you been living together with me?"

"A month,"

I smiled at him. "There you go, I know her situation better than anyone else, so please don't comment about her current life," I then grabbed the cursed sword gram and put it on the table in front of us. "Now, let's talk about this bad boy, your cheat item."

"Y-yes… My cheat item, what about it?"

"Ever wonder why it's called the Cursed Sword Gram?"

He was about to answer but clamped his mouth shut. After a moment, he shook his head. "I'm afraid not, would you care to tell us, Kazuma san?"

"It is because this sword cursed its wielder into becoming too dependent on it," I traced my hand along the sword. "Seriously, your life has been so easy Mitsurugi… You never have to sleep in the stables, you never have to prepare for battles, you never have to worry about managing your money, you never have to worry about your own teammates…"

"All of your problems, you strike it down with the magic sword!"

Kyoya looked down and nodded in shame. "Sorry, Kazuma… I understand what you're trying to say…"

"Glad to hear that, now…" I grinned a little. "You did lose the duel right? Since you're not giving me this sword, you will give me something else."

"Yes…"

"I want one of your female companion,"

Mitsurugi froze, speechless at what I just said.

"..Is what I would say if I am some sort of a douche who'd think that a friend is something you can trade around with,"

"Please forgive me!" Kyoya stood up and pressed his head low on the table. "I realized my mistake and arrogance, I was rude and foolish, I promise I will make up for this," he said in genuine regret.

I guess he is a good person, a bit narcissistic, but that shouldn't pose too much threat.

I nodded a little in satisfaction before looking at the rest of his female companion. "Oi, you two, what level are you?"

"fifteen"

"seventeen"

I turned to Kyoya.

"Thirty…"

I nodded a little. "A bit unbalanced now, don't you think? How are you guys doing any team work with a line up like that?"

Kyoya raised his head and sit back down. "I'm sorry… You're right, I've been neglecting my own party's growth. I promise, I will work on it," he said.

"Good, good, now, one last thing…"

"What is it, Kazuma san?"

"Pay back the damage you did on the cage, poor Aqua here spent all day purifying the lake and she has to compensate for that cage for like, two hundred thousand Eris."

Mitsurugi chuckled a little. "Sorry, Aqua sama," he took out a sack of money. "Here you go, with interest," he said.

Aqua took the sack, opened the content, weighed down a little, before nodding in satisfaction. "Thank you Kyoya… Darkness!" she tossed the pouch to Darkness who caught it in one hand before pocketing it.

Kyoya looked at Darkness in confusion.

"We're also a corporate group. All money from the missions went straight to the party's treasury," I gestured at Darkness. "And we all get paid daily, ten thousand Eris a day, not counting equipment upgrades and maintenance," I paused for a bit. "Oi, Darkness, how much do we have?"

"Around 800.000 plus 500.000 from Mitsurugi dono plus 1.150.000 from the brutal gators, that leaves us with a total of… 2.450.000 Eris," Darkness explained.

I smirked a little. "We'll bump our numbers up after we kicked Verdia's ass!"

As if responding to my words, an emergency broadcast rang across the guild.

"Emergency broadcast! Emergency broadcast! Attention all adventurers, please prepare all your equipment and gather at the town's main gate ready for battle–! Especially the strongest party, Fantastic Dreamer, please head to the scene as soon as possible!"

Mitsurugi raised an eyebrow in interest. "Fantastic Dreamer?"

I just grinned in response. "You're looking at them,"