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A carriage made a loud creaking sound as it drove over the pavement.

“…Another world… Hey, it really is another world. Eh, it’s for real. Am I going to use magic and go on adventures in this world?”

Trembling with excitement because of the scene before me, I started talking to myself.

Before my eyes were houses built from red bricks, the streets right out of Europe from the middle ages.

There were no cars, bikes, power lines, or telecommunication cables.

“AHHH! …AHHH…!”

I looked around the street, watching people pass by.

“Animal ears! There’s someone with animal ears! Elf ears! Is that an elf? With such striking facial features, she definitely has to be one! Goodbye hikikomori life! Hello different world! If it’s this world, then I’m willing to go out and work obediently!”

“AHHH! …AHHH! …AHHH…!”

I turned around and looked at Aqua, who was hugging her head and screaming.

“Hey, you’re noisy. What would you do if people think I’m friends with a crazy woman like you? Stop screaming. You should be giving something to me at a time like this. Look at what I’m wearing. A tracksuit? I’ve finally arrived in a fantasy world and I’m wearing a tracksuit. According to the norm in games, you should be giving me the minimum equipment…”

“AHHH–!”

The goddess screamed as she pounced over to grab me.

“Whoa! What…? What are you doing, don’t act this way! I get it! I’ll do something about the basic equipment. I should say that I was wrong. If you hate it that much, you can go back. I’ll work out the rest on my own.”

Aqua tried to strangle me with teary eyes, so I shook off her hands and tried to shoo her away with an annoyed expression.

In the end, Aqua said with trembling hands:

“What are you saying? I’m troubled because I can’t go back! What now? Hey, what should I do? What am I going to do from now on?”

Aqua fell into a panic in tears, pacing about while hugging her head.

Her waist-length hair was a mess. She looked crazy right now, although she was a beauty if she didn’t speak.

“Hey, calm down, goddess, the first place to visit should be the tavern. Everything starts from collecting information at a tavern, that’s the standard in RPGs.”

“Huh…? You’re supposed to be just a hikikomori-gaming NEET, so why are you so reliable? Ah, Kazuma, my name’s Aqua. I don’t mind you addressing me as goddess, but do call me by my name whenever possible or else citizens will surround us and we won’t be able to go on adventures and take down the Demon King. This might be a different world, but I’m still one of the revered gods in it.”

<TL note: NEET, A young person who’s ‘Not in Education, Employment or Training’. The acronym NEET was first used in the United Kingdom but its use has spread to other countries and regions including Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States.>

Aqua confidently said as she followed behind me.

All right, there should be a group formed to take on the Demon King or an adventurer’s guild made to defeat monsters.

Speaking of which, Aqua was a goddess. Therefore, I could ask her if I had any questions.

“Aqua, please tell me where the adventurer’s guild is. Which way should we go?”

I asked Aqua, but she just looked at me blankly.

“…? I wouldn’t know even if you ask me. I know the common knowledge of this world, but not the specifics of this town. This is just one of the many existing planets, and just a small town at that! How should I know?”

This girl’s useless.

There was no other way, so I asked a middle-aged lady passing by.

I didn’t ask any guys for fear of meeting delinquents, and the difficulty of talking to young girls is too high for me.

“Excuse me–may I ask you something? I’m looking for a place like an adventurer’s guild…”

“Guild? Oh my, to not know where the guild is, might you be from out of town?”

“That’s right; I’m a traveller who came from a faraway land. I just reached this town.”

“Oh my… Since you came to this town, you must be aiming to become an adventurer. Welcome to the town of novice adventurers, Axel. Follow the main road and turn right, you’ll then see the signboard for the guild.”

“Take a right down the road. Got it, thank you very much! … Hey, let’s go.”

A town for novice adventurers.

I see. This was a good starting point for the dead transported here.

After thanking the lady, I followed her directions while Aqua followed me with respect in her eyes and sighed.

“Hey, you came up with an excuse right on the spot. Why are you able to handle this so perfectly? You seem to be a capable guy, so why were you a hikiNEET without any friends or a girlfriend? Why would you want to stay at home all day and be a hikiNEET?”

“Not having friends or a girlfriend isn’t a bad thing. One can’t measure the value of a person by the number of friends or by having a significant other. Moreover, don’t call me a hikiNEET you damn bitch! Don’t combine hikikomori and NEET together…! I’m just sixteen; I’m too young to be a NEET by society’s standards…! There it is.”

Aqua pounced over to strangle me for calling her a bitch, but I ignored her and entered the adventurer’s guild.

– Adventurer’s Guild –

A place for adventurers to take up quests which was a staple in games; an organization that supports the adventurers.

The job agency of this world.

There was a rather large establishment before us, and the fragrance of food drifted from within.

Some rough characters would certainly be inside.

They might find trouble with me if they see unfamiliar faces.

After preparing myself mentally and entering…

“Ah, welcome. Please approach the counter if you’re looking for quests. If you’re here to dine, then please take any empty seat…!”

A waitress with short red hair received us warmly.

The slightly dim interior seemed to double as a bar.

Seen congregating inside were groups of men in armor, but they didn’t seem to bear ill will.

However, unfamiliar faces seems to be rare, as everyone was focusing on us.

… I realized why they were looking this way.

“Hey, they’re looking this way too blatantly. It must be the holy aura coming from me; they must’ve discovered that I’m a goddess.”

The reason was the appearance of the goddess speaking dumb words.

She was a beauty as long as she didn’t speak, after all, so everyone’s eyes were attracted to her.

For now, I ignored their gazes and went about my original objective.

“… Listen carefully, Aqua… They’ll give us a tutorial if we register, enabling us to earn a living; that’s the kind of place adventurer guilds are. We should be able to take out a loan to prepare ourselves, complete simple jobs to get by and introduce ourselves to a good tavern. Most games start out this way. Normally, preparing the minimum essentials to live in this world should be your job, but never mind that. For today, let’s register with the guild, get some equipment and money, and find a place to sleep.”

“I don’t care about that. My job’s sending the dead to this world, but I get it. I’m not familiar with games, but what you said seems to be common sense for this world. So I just need to register to be an adventurer too, right?”

“That’s right. All right then, let’s go.”

Taking Aqua with me, I made a beeline for the counter.

There were four counter staff members.

Two of them were female.

I queued up at the counter with the prettier lady.

“… Hey, the other three counters are empty. Why are you queuing here? We won’t have to wait if we go to another counter… Ah, because this counter worker’s the prettiest, huh? Really, I was a bit impressed and thought that you were reliable just now, but you’re really doing this?”

“Building a good rapport with the guild’s counter staff are the basics, and the pretty counter lady definitely has plenty of flags to raise. This means that there’ll be more shocking hidden side quests waiting for us. For example, the counter lady might be a powerful adventurer or something.”

“… Now that you mention it, I saw something similar in a manga. Sorry, I’ll wait in line obediently.”

Because we didn’t approach the other empty counters and intentionally queued here, the other staff people were looking at us curiously. Nevertheless, I decided to pretend not to notice.

It was finally our turn.

“Good morning, how may I help you?”

The counter worker was a gentle beauty.

Her wavy hair and large breasts made her look mature.

“Eh, I want to become an adventurer. I come from the countryside and don’t know anything…”

If I tell the counter worker that I come from the countryside or a faraway nation, they’ll give a more thorough explanation.

“I see. There’ll be a registration fee, will that be okay?”

That’s right this was the basic tutorial.

I would just need to follow the instructions of the counter worker…

… Registration fee?

“… Hey Aqua, got any cash on you?”

“I was transported here suddenly, so how would it be possible for me to have any money?”

… How can this be, shouldn’t they loan some money to us or put it on a tab for now?

I moved away from the counter and discussed strategy with Aqua.

“… Hey, what now? We’re in a pinch right from the beginning. In games, you’ll normally get starting equipment, as well as some money for living expenses.”

“You suddenly become unreliable. However, there’s no helping it, since you’re a hikikomori after all. All right, it’s time for me to shine. Just watch, I’ll show you the capability of a goddess.”

Seated at a table wearing the loose and cumbersome clothing of a priest was a man.

Aqua approached the man confidently…

“Man of the cloth, please state thy religion! I’m Aqua. That’s right, the goddess Aqua worshipped by the religious order of Axis! If thou art a believer…! … May you give me some aid by lending me some money?”

With an attitude that seemed lofty yet humble, she asked him for money.

“… I’m from the Eris Sect.”

“Ah… I see, sorry…”

I didn’t get it, but they seem to be from different religious orders.

As the dejected Aqua was preparing to come back, the priest stopped her.

“Ah… Madam, you must be a follower of Axis. There were stories about Goddess Aqua and Goddess Eris being close, so this must be fate. I’ve been observing you. Might you be having trouble paying the registration fee? It’s just a small fee, so please take it as a blessing from Goddess Eris. But no matter how devout you are, you shouldn’t use the title of goddess in vain.”

“Ah… Okay, sorry… Thank you very much…”

The eyes of Aqua looked dead as she returned with the money.

“Ha, he didn’t believe that I’m a goddess… By the way, Goddess Eris’s my junior. I was pitied by the believer of my junior goddess and received his money…”

“What matters is that you completed the task. Think about it. If he really believed that you were a goddess, there’d be a different kind of trouble!”

Aqua had an expression that seemed to say she lost something important, so I half-heartedly encouraged her.

“Eh, we’re back with the registration fees.”

“I… I see… The registration fee is 1,000 eris…”

Aqua received 3,000 eris from the priest.

According to Aqua, one eris was about one yen. Therefore, she received about 3,000 yen.

The counter lady didn’t interfere with the commotion we stirred up, but was unwilling to look both of us in the eye.

It seemed that I’d broken the flag between this lady and me.