First, after arriving in Konosuba, I thought a bit about what I needed to do. Time hadn't passed here, but I had been away in other worlds for almost twenty years, so the time difference was enormous.
I haven't received the armor I ordered yet. I need to pick up the croquettes that Aqua ended up buying this evening. And there was a Demon King General ? Oh right, I also promised to give them breast enlargement pills...
Since there was still some time until evening, I decided to go to Wiz's shop first. Wiz was a powerful mage, the Undead King 'Lich', and also a Demon King General.
But she wasn't entirely on the Demon King's side; she was more like a mercenary, and she had simply been asked by the Demon King to maintain the barrier around the Demon King's Castle, which she did.
Moreover, she had a kind heart. Rather than fighting, she just ran a shop in Axel village and wanted to live an ordinary life. However, she had a lot of problems. She only bought strange items or items with severe side effects to sell, so almost no customers used her shop.
The funny thing was that even so, whenever she got money, she would continue to procure strange items and sell them in her shop. Wiz, without any sense of problem, genuinely thought those items would sell well and kept selling them. As a merchant, she was a complete failure.
'But I am different!'
I had [(EX) Status Ailment Immunity], so I didn't have to worry about side effects. It was a honey pot of a shop where I could buy failed potions or items with side effects in bulk and cheaply.
I arrived at Wiz's shop and went inside. I saw Wiz collapsed on the floor. So I hurriedly picked her up and checked her condition. Fortunately, seeing her move a little, she was still alive.
"Are you alright?"
Gurgle~
"I'm… I'm so hungry."
Despite her stomach making a tremendous noise, Wiz didn't mind and grabbed me, saying she was hungry. I had no choice but to take out a Random Lunchbox from my inventory and hand it to Wiz. She started devouring it ravenously.
Munch, munch~!
"Please eat slowly. Here's a drink."
Gulp, gulp~
"Haah~ I ate it so deliciously. Thank you."
Wiz finished her meal and smiled, looking satisfied.
"By the way, who are you?"
Geez, she asked quickly.
"I came to buy something, but you were collapsed, so…"
"Ah~ you were a customer. I've only been drinking sugar water for a while, so I was so hungry, haha… I'm sorry…"
Wiz, now embarrassed by her own behavior, laughed awkwardly and apologized.
"I-I see. Anyway, could I see items that increase Experience Points or Skill Points?"
"Yes, please wait a moment."
Wiz went to the back of the shop and brought out several bottles containing various potions, explaining each one.
"This is a potion that increases Skill Points. If you take it, you'll develop severe hemorrhoids. But the price is low. It's only 2 million eris!"
It was indeed cheap. A potion that increases Skill Points normally cost at least 50 million eris—over 500 million won in Korean currency.
"As expected… is it too much?"
Wiz, watching my reaction, cautiously brought up the side effect. But without hesitation, I said I would buy it.
"I'll buy it."
"Huh? You really mean to buy it?"
"Yes. And please explain the others as well."
"Um… you're not planning to use them for some other purpose, are you…"
Since I was the first person to readily agree to buy potions with such side effects, Wiz worried that the potions she sold might be misused elsewhere and looked at me suspiciously. I wanted to question her about why she procured and sold such items if she was so worried, but I let it go.
"It's for research purposes, so you don't have to worry."
"Ah~ for that kind of purpose. I understand."
My words seemed to reassure her; her expression brightened, and she continued explaining.
"This one increases Experience Points, but it also causes loss of libido and erectile dysfunction…"
"I'll buy it."
"This one increases Skill Points, but there's a 40% chance of instant death…"
"Excellent."
"This one causes hair loss…"
"I'll buy it."
I purchased all the potions related to Experience Points and Skill Points for a total of 37 million eris.
"Wow~ This is the first time I've sold so much since I opened this shop. I think I can eat something other than sugar water for a while! Thank you."
Wiz was extremely happy. I wondered how she ran a business to end up in such a state, but for me, it was a great shop, and this was also part of Wiz's charm.
"If there are potions that increase Experience Points and Skill Points, no matter what the side effects, I'll keep buying them as long as you procure them."
"Really? I understand."
"And if it's not too much trouble, do you have any items with side effects that attract large numbers of monsters?"
I felt bad asking Wiz this, but in this shop, it seemed beneficial to choose products based on their side effects, so I asked anyway. Wiz thought for a moment, then showed me a bottle of sunscreen from the display case.
"This is sunscreen. If you apply it, it will work as sunscreen, but for one hour, you will be chased by monsters. It seems the scent has an effect that attracts monsters."
"I see. I'll buy one and try it out; later, I may buy more."
"I'll give you this one for free as a service. Since you bought so much and I also received a meal from you."
"Thank you."
"Not at all. Rather, I should thank you for purchasing."
Wiz was so grateful that she even saw me off. I also waved back to her.
"I still have time, so maybe I'll go look at houses…"
I had plenty of money, and I couldn't keep staying at an inn forever. So I decided to go look for a house this time. I stopped by the Guild and asked Luna.
"The party members and everyone—it's hard to keep staying at an inn. I'm thinking of looking for a nice house."
"That's good news. Then I'll call a staff member who specializes in real estate. Please wait a moment."
I sat down and waited. Luna came back with a male Guild staff member.
"This staff member will guide you."
"Thanks, Luna."
Following the staff member's guidance, I looked at several houses. Among them, though a bit smaller than Kazuma's mansion in the original story, I saw a two-story stone-built mansion.
I liked it immediately and bought it. It wasn't far from the commercial district, so the price was a bit high, but the neighborhood was relatively quiet, the yard was spacious, and there were eight rooms, so it seemed fine for many people to live in. And what I liked most was that it had a large bath.
"So you've decided on this one?"
"Yes, it looks good."
"Understood. The Guild will handle the payment, and I'll give you the house documents then."
"Alright."
I moved to the Guild with the staff member, paid for the mansion, signed the papers, and received the ownership documents. Luna, who had been watching from the side, was surprised and asked,
"Huh? You purchased a mansion worth 500 million eris? That's incredibly expensive."
In Konosuba, housing prices were much cheaper than in reality; there was almost a threefold difference. To buy such a house in the real world, I would have to pay 15 billion won. Spending that much money at once, it was natural for Luna to be surprised.
"Yeah. Since it's the house I'll be living in for a long time, I thought I'd buy a good one."
"I see. Then you'll have a housewarming party, right?"
"Of course. Speaking of which, how about tomorrow?"
"Sure. Everyone's not too busy these days, so it should be fine. But are you not going to stay at our house anymore?"
Luna was asking if I would no longer be staying at her house. But the house I just bought was for me to live in permanently, but also to lend rooms to Kazuma and the others temporarily, so doing anything with Luna there would be awkward.
"No, the house I bought this time is where I'll continue to live, but I'll also be lending rooms to my party members for the time being."
"Ah, I see."
As expected, Luna was smart and understood immediately. I chatted with Luna for a while. Then, in the evening, I received the croquettes that Aqua had ended up buying, stopped by the inn, picked up Kazuma and Aqua, and went to look for Megumin and Yunyun.
Megumin and Yunyun were living together at an inn not far from where we were staying. From what I heard, Yunyun paid almost all of the rent, and Megumin was just crashing with her.
Seeing that, for a moment I wanted to say something, but remembering that Yunyun had earned a lot of money with me while Megumin had almost no income, I didn't say anything.
I brought everyone to the mansion I had bought. Unfortunately, Darkness hadn't returned from her family home yet.
"Wow~! This looks amazing! How did you afford such a mansion?"
Everyone was amazed by the mansion I had purchased.
"I used almost all the money I've earned so far to buy it. But since I came to another world, I thought I should have a house. We can't stay at the inn forever."
"Tae-jin really has earned a lot of money…"
"So, here's the thing: you all can stay here for the time being. If you save on inn fees, you'll be able to buy good equipment and find a place to live soon."
Hearing that, Kazuma and Yunyun were extremely happy.
"Really??? Is that okay???"
"Yeah, but only for the time being."
Hearing that, Aqua, understanding, spoke up. As expected, Aqua was quick-witted when it came to this kind of thing.
"Ah~ it's because of Luna, right? Got it. If you have a girlfriend, we should understand."
"I'm glad you understand. But since Luna also has her own house, I don't think there will be a problem using it for a while."
Truthfully, there would be no problem even if they stayed forever, but if I gave them too much slack, they'd just become complacent and try not to do anything. So I said this in advance.
Hearing that, Yunyun's expression became very dark.
Come to think of it, Yunyun's Bond Level was 8… How do I solve this problem…
My girlfriend, Luna, was Bond Level 7, but Yunyun alone was level 8. I didn't know if it was because Yunyun truly had feelings of love for me or if she was just relying on me that much, but it was clear there was a problem.
But thinking about it now, there was no solution, so I just told everyone to enter the mansion and each pick a room. Naturally, the biggest room was mine.
After arranging the rooms, when we came out, Kazuma and Aqua were arguing over one room.
"I'm going to use this room! It's the perfect room for me, the great Aqua-sama!"
"What are you talking about? I called dibs on this room too!"
"Then let's decide with rock-paper-scissors."
"Fine! One shot."
Aqua just made a mistake.
As expected, Kazuma won. Aqua, the epitome of bad luck, couldn't beat Kazuma, the incarnation of good luck.
"Boo hoo~! Best two out of three!"
Aqua cried pathetically and clung to Kazuma's leg, begging, but Kazuma was firm.
"I said no! Let go of me!"
Anyway, after deciding on rooms, everyone gathered in the dining room and had a simple meal.
"We'll just rest today. Tomorrow, we'll go buy the necessary furniture. So think about what you need. And in the evening, there's the housewarming party, so come straight home after work. I'll cook something delicious."
"Got it."
The next day, only Aqua went to her part-time job. The rest of us followed me to a furniture store and bought what we needed. Everyone was somewhat conscientious and only bought what they needed.
But Aqua had left a list of what she needed, and it was full of selfish and useless items. So I judged and bought only the truly necessary ones. I told them to only pay as much as they could afford. Since I knew their financial situations well, I couldn't ask for large amounts.
"Alright, I'm going to buy groceries for the housewarming party. Please receive the ordered furniture when it arrives."
"Got it. Leave it to me."
I asked Kazuma, and since the furniture store also handled delivery and placement, it seemed like there wouldn't be a major problem.
With Kazuma and the others sent off, I went to the market with Yunyun and bought groceries. We bought a considerable amount of ingredients and stored them in my inventory.
When we returned home after grocery shopping, the furniture had already arrived and been placed. As expected, Kazuma had arranged everything without issue.
"How is it?"
"Oh~ Not bad. I'm glad I left it to Kazuma."
"Haha, it was nothing~"
"Then, I'll start cooking. Please ask the others to prepare to receive the guests."
"Alright."
The housewarming menu was pizza, hamburgers, French fries, and salad. As I was cooking for a while, I heard people arriving one by one as it got dark.
So I took the prepared dishes and went to the living room. There were Luna, a few Guild staff members, the blacksmiths from the smithy I used to work at, and finally, Taylor's party. Kazuma and Dust seemed to have become friends already.
Taylor's party was notable because of Dust. Dust was a famously troublesome person in Axel Village. In the original story, he and Kazuma got along quite well, often drinking together and introducing each other to strange shops. It was somewhat ironic that Kazuma, a hikikomori and NEET, got along well with a troublemaker like Dust.
"Wow! That's pizza! And even hamburgers!"
Kazuma was so moved by the dishes I brought that he even teared up. Probably because it had been a long time since he'd seen the food of the modern world he used to live in.
Megumin, seeing Kazuma crying, seemed curious and asked me,
"Huh? Why is Kazuma crying?"
"That's because these are the foods of Kazuma's and my homeland."
"I see."
Everyone started eating the food I had prepared. Exclamations of admiration came from all around.
"Wow~ This is incredibly delicious."
"Indeed, you could even run a business with this."
"Right? This is my homeland's cuisine, hahaha~"
Kazuma proudly boasted about his homeland's cuisine as everyone ate deliciously. Seeing him so happy, I thought I should make him Japanese-style ramen sometime.
"Ah, right! Your armor is almost finished."
"Oh~ Is that so."
"You can come by in about two or three days."
"Understood."
Everyone laughed, chatted, enjoyed themselves, and then went home. But I was distracted by something else and couldn't fully enjoy it. There was a girl mage named Rin in Taylor's party. She wasn't a beastfolk, but she had a raccoon tail on her butt. It was so fluffy and cute that it was hard to resist the urge to touch it. I'll have to ask her next time.
After the housewarming party, as I was cleaning up and about to rest, Aqua suddenly saw her room and protested to me.
"Tae-jin! Why didn't you buy me a candlestick holder!"
"Buy that yourself. The furniture was all bought with everyone chipping in."
Kazuma agreed with me.
"That's right! Everyone contributed a little bit to buy these. If you really need one, save up and buy it separately!"
"Boo hoo… Since you were buying anyway, you could have bought it for me… You're so mean!"
Aqua truly seemed to have no conscience.