Kazuma's POV:
The day after Beldia was defeated.
A strong smell welcomed me as I opened the doors.
"Ah! You're too slow, Kazuma! Everyone's already starting to get smashed!" Aqua exclaimed happily as she noticed me entering.
Duke followed behind me.
"Hey, hurry and collect the bounty, Kazuma! Almost all the adventurers have claimed their rewards for defeating the Demon King's boss! I did too! But as you can see, I drank a lot of it away!" Aqua added, clearly drunk.
This... This girl was completely drunk.
"I waited really long for you, Kazuma. Listen to me, Darkness is really petty, saying it was too early for me to drink..."
"Wait, it has nothing to do with being petty. That's not what I meant...!" Darkness protested, and the two of them started bickering.
Duke ignored them and approached the counter lady.
I did the same, moving towards the counter as well.
For some reason, the familiar counter lady had an awkward expression on her face.
"Eh, well... Satou Kazuma-san and Ishamon-san, correct? We have been expecting you."
'...San?'
"Well... First, we'll start with the rewards for you two."
"Actually... It's like this. The guild has decided to present a special reward for you both."
"Huh, why us?" I asked, confused.
"Hey, MVP! If not for you guys, there's no way we could have beaten that Dullahan!"
"Ahem—To honor Satou Kazuma and Ishamon Erisia's victory over the Demon King's General, Beldia... The guild awards them 300 million eris."
Duke's eyes widened in shock.
"Three..."
"Hey, 300 million! It's your treat, Kazuma!"
"Woah—! Kazuma-sama, treat us! Treat us—!" the adventurers around us cheered.
"Hey, Darkness, Megumin! I have something to tell both of you! I plan to cut down on adventuring in the future! With such a large amount of money, we could live a peaceful life of luxury!" I declared.
"Hey, wait a minute! It's troubling if I can't fight strong enemies! And what about defeating the Demon King?" Darkness protested.
"This is a problem for me too! I want to defeat the Demon King with Kazuma and gain the title of the strongest mage!" Megumin added.
Under these circumstances, the counter lady showed an apologetic face and handed me a paper.
It was full of zeros.
"Eh, things are like this. Because of Kazuma's party... Which is to say, Aqua-san's flood, the buildings around the town were washed away and damaged like a catastrophic disaster... But taking into consideration the merit of defeating a boss of the Demon King, the town won't ask for full compensation, just a part of it... That's how it is..."
"The reward is 300 million... The compensation is 340 million... Kazuma, let's take on quests with strong enemies to earn lots of money starting tomorrow," Darkness said with a bright smile.
I turned to Duke. "...Hey, can you—"
But Duke was already gone. The only sound left was the creaking of the doors as they swung shut.
"....GOD...DAMN IT ALL!!!"
