Chapter Text
In a damp and dark dungeon, I was facing the infamous demon lord alone. The only source of light was a mana stone flickering in my right hand.
“Just give up, Demon Lord. You can’t run away from the deepest floor of this dungeon.”
I slowly cornered him and started activating explosion magic, using the mana stone as fuel.
My right hand grew brighter and lit up the entire floor.
“Wait, Adventurer! Are you crazy? What are you planning with that magic?”
He kept taking steps back until his back was pressed against the wall.
“We can talk about this peacefully.”
“There is nothing to talk about. Just prepare to die.”
I raised my right hand and aimed it at the Demon Lord’s face.
“If I die, you won’t get the secret of this world.”
He raised both of his hands, gesturing for me to stop. But of course I wasn’t going to stop. I had already done a lot of work to trap him in this dungeon. There was no way I would let him go.
“I don’t care about the secret of this world. I just want to go back home.”
“If you release that magic, you’ll die too.”
“Thanks for stating the obvious.”
With my right hand still aimed at his face, I loudly chanted the spell name.
“Explosion!!”
A magic circle instantly covered the entire floor. A blinding white light filled the whole room, consuming everything without mercy.
“Ah, shit. I died again.”
I opened my eyes and saw a familiar room. A room with a checkered floor pattern like a chessboard, strangely without any walls, just an open night sky filled with stars.
In front of me were a white chair and a small table. A beautiful woman was sitting on the chair, with long silver hair, purple eyes, and let’s not forget the breast pad. She was Goddess Eris.
I see. So I was dead. The last thing I remembered was teleporting the Demon Lord into the deepest dungeon and blowing him up with Explosion Magic.
I mean, I had already expected to die. But still, even though I’d come here many times, I still wasn’t used to facing Eris-sama.
“Welcome to the afterlife, Kazuma-san. You just died after defeating the Demon Lord. Even though you ended up dead, you are clearly a real hero.”
She pressed her palms together in a prayer-like gesture, her smile calm and graceful.
I took a step forward and sat down in the chair that was always reserved for people who visited this place.
“Ehhm, I was just forced into this. If Aqua hadn’t run away from home and recklessly tried to kill the Demon Lord, I’d probably still be sleeping on the sofa right now.”
“But you still did it, Kazuma-san. A hero is not always someone who acts from pure motives, Kazuma-san. Sometimes, it is someone who complains the entire way and still chooses to protect others in the end.”
Hearing Eris-sama keep praising me made me feel embarrassed. I’m not exactly the hero type. I’ve already said it, if it weren’t for Aqua blindly challenging the Demon Lord, I never would have killed him.
“Aaah, ummm. By the way, Eris-sama, what happened to Aqua?”
I asked briefly. I remembered her always saying she’d go back home once the Demon Lord was defeated, but I had no idea what her situation was now.
“She was just here a few moments ago and immediately headed back to Japan.”
“I see, so she’s gone back. That’s good for her then.”
I unknowingly clenched my fists.
I should’ve been relieved. Aqua finally got what she wanted, and more importantly, she was no longer my problem. That alone deserved a national holiday. So why did my chest feel annoyingly heavy
Before all this, Aqua had always complained and begged to go home. At least now that she finally had, I wouldn’t need to worry about her anymore.
Still… a part of me felt strangely unsatisfied.
But before I could think any deeper about it, I suddenly remembered the important part.
“By the way, what happens to me?”
I asked Eris-sama directly, she was the only one who could answer that. There was no Aqua here to revive me this time.
“Well, in a normal case there are only two options: first, go to heaven, or second, be reborn as a baby. But…”
She stopped mid-sentence, hesitating to continue.
“But???”
I tilted my head to the left and waited for her to go on.
“But you’re a special case, so there’s a third option for you. Remember that we promised to fulfill any wish of yours if you killed the Demon Lord? You can ask for anything.”
“Really?”
I shot up from my chair instantly. I had completely forgotten about that. Now that I thought about it, I did remember being promised that any wish of mine would be fulfilled if I killed the Demon Lord.
“But you can’t ask to be revived in that world again. The higher-ups can’t tolerate that anymore, and I’ll get scolded again.”
She said that while hunching her shoulders, her face turning red.
Wait, what did she mean by “the higher-ups”? Is there a higher entity above the goddesses??
But of course, I couldn’t bring myself to ask that.
“Eeeeh, so I can ask for anything except being revived in that world??”
“Yes, we already promised it. We won’t take our words back.”
She nodded and said it in a confident tone.
“So I can’t see Megumin and Darkness again?”
I looked down and sighed at that realization. Of course. I never even got to say goodbye. Knowing Megumin she’d probably cry dramatically for a week, and Darkness would pretend not to cry while obviously crying. Typical.
“Unfortunately, yes.”
She simply nodded again.
“Then I want to go back to Japan, I want to keep my powers, and lastly I want to be rich.”
“Ummm…”
She scratched her hair and looked hesitant to say whatever it was she wanted to say.
“Is that too much to ask??”
“No, no, no!” She hurriedly raised both of her hands and waved them. “We can definitely make it happen.”
“Then please do it. I have nothing more to ask.”
“Aaah, yes…”
A magic circle appeared below me on the floor, and not long after, my body slowly began to float.
“But Kazuma-san, there’s something I haven’t told you yet.”
She tilted her head and said it with a bitter smile.
“What?”
“The thing is, you won’t be going back to the Japan you know.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“You’ll be going to Japan two hundred years after your death.”
“Huuuuh?? Why didn’t you tell me that sooner? Cancel it, let me change my wish!!”
I punched the magic circle, but it was clearly a futile gesture.
“It’s impossible, Kazuma-san. A granted wish can’t be taken back, so please calm down.”
She raised both of her hands, trying to soothe me.
“Just remember this, the Japan you’re going to isn’t the Japan you know. Aqua-senpai has already prepared everything. If you have questions, please ask Aqua-senpai.”
“Noooo~!! Eris-sama, why didn’t you tell me this sooner?! What am I supposed to do in future Japan???”
“Good luck, Kazuma-san.”
She closed her eyes, clasped both of her hands together, and gave me a gentle blessing.
“THAT DIDN’T ANSWER MY QUESTION!!!”