When Ash pushed open the doors of the Adventurers Guild, the scene inside was even more disastrous than he had anticipated.
Three tables were overturned on the floor, two chairs were smashed, and shards of plates and cups covered the ground.
The waiter was huddled in a corner, broom in hand, with an expression like they had just survived a natural disaster.
And the culprits…
Aqua sat on the floor, clutching a crumpled coin pouch tightly in her arms.
Her blue hair was stained with soup, and her face wore a dazed expression of someone who had won, yet somehow hadn’t.
Megumin was sprawled beside her, her red eyes filled with indignation.
Darkness stood between the two, her clothes disheveled and pulled askew.
Instead of tidying herself, she was panting slightly, her cheeks flushed.
“So…
what’s the result?” Ash stood at the entrance and asked expressionlessly.
The waiter looked up, staring at him with an accusatory gaze.
“Sir, your companions got into a fight in the guild.
They damaged three tables, two chairs, seven plates, nine cups, and…” The waiter looked down at the ledger in their hand.
“How much?” “A total of twelve thousand eris.” The waiter stated the figure, then tapped the ledger with a pen.
“That blue-haired lady took out the ten thousand eris you left behind, scrounged up another two thousand, and has already paid for the damages.” Ash turned his gaze toward Aqua.
Aqua shrank back, hiding the coin pouch behind her back, but the pouch was so deflated it didn’t matter whether she hid it or not.
“I won…” She whispered.
“The money is mine.
I just…
temporarily used it for a greater cause.” “A greater cause?” “Maintaining guild order!
It’s every adventurer’s duty!” Aqua puffed out her chest and spoke with righteous conviction, but her lack of confidence betrayed her.
“Was that two thousand your own money?” Hearing Ash’s question, Aqua’s expression froze.
She lowered her head and started drawing circles on the ground with her finger.
“It…
Megumin and Darkness pooled it together.” “I didn’t contribute!” Megumin immediately jumped up from the floor.
“Aqua stole my money!
She swiped it from my pocket when I wasn’t looking!
That was my secret stash I’d been saving for a month!” “I also…” Darkness started to speak, but was interrupted by Aqua before she could finish.
“Shut up!
That look of pleasure you get from being robbed already gave you away!
You don’t care about money at all!” “I do care!” Darkness retorted with rare earnestness.
“I just…
during the process of being robbed, I felt a kind of…
pleasure from being forcibly deprived…” “I’m starting to regret my decision…” “I feel like I’m being influenced just by being around you all.
Is this the erosion of providence?” Ash raised his hand.
Three golden ripples expanded simultaneously beside him.
Silver chains shot out from the ripples, moving so fast they left only three afterimages.
“Enkidu!” Before Aqua could react, the chains had already bound her wrists and ankles, tying her up in a rather ungraceful posture.
Megumin’s treatment was slightly better…
the chains only bound her hands, preventing her from picking anyone else’s pockets.
Darkness received the best treatment.
The chains wound around her waist, bound her arms, and wrapped twice around her calves, fixing her in a kneeling position.
“Ah…” Darkness let out a sigh of satisfaction.
Her strength seemed to drain away as she leaned limply against a nearby pillar.
“Aaaaah!
Ash!” Aqua struggled a few times, but finding the chains wouldn’t budge, she immediately put on a pitiful expression.
“Why are you binding me too!
I’m your wife!” “Because I want to!” Ash walked over to a table that hadn’t been overturned, pulled out a chair, and sat down, looking down at his three immobilized teammates.
“If you don’t want me to pay even more money, then calm down.
Now, I’ll ask, and you’ll answer.” “First question: Who started it?” Silence.
Aqua looked at Megumin, Megumin looked at Darkness, and Darkness looked at the ceiling.
“Fine, not talking, then.” Ash raised his hand, and the chains tightened slightly.
“I’ll talk!
I’ll talk!” Aqua immediately surrendered.
“She started it by poking me with her staff!” “That’s because you were trying to steal my coin pouch!” Megumin shouted while struggling.
“That was mine to begin with!
I won it through my own strength!” “Strength?” Aqua’s eyes widened.
“You relied on a sneak attack!
I clearly had it in my hand, and you lunged at me from behind!” “Behind?
I snatched it right from in front of you, fair and square!” “Fair and square?
Your hat flew right into my face!” “That was a tactic!” “Tactic my foot!” “Enough!” Ash’s voice wasn’t loud, but they all shut up at once.
He turned to Darkness.
“And you?
What were you doing?” “I…” Darkness hesitated.
“I was trying to separate them.
But they were fighting too intensely, and I accidentally got caught up in it.
Then the table collapsed.” Hearing her words, Aqua immediately responded indignantly.
“Caught up in it?
You clearly charged in on purpose!
You were even shouting about how great this intense physical contact felt!” “I did not!” Darkness’s face turned so red it looked like it might bleed.
“I was just…
just using my body to block your attacks.” “Blocking with your face?” Megumin added a cold jab.
“I saw you take a punch to the face with my own eyes, and then you smiled.” “That was a tactical smile…” “Tch—” Aqua curled her lip.
Her eyes darted around, and then…
she turned her spear toward Ash.
“It’s all your fault anyway!” “Because of me?” “Yes!
Exactly because of you!” Aqua spoke with righteous indignation, her blue eyes filled with the confidence of someone who was absolutely certain they were right.
“If you had split those two hundred thousand eris equally among us—fifty thousand each—we wouldn’t have had to fight over that ten thousand!
If we hadn’t fought over it, we wouldn’t have gotten into a brawl!
If we hadn’t brawled, we wouldn’t have to pay for damages!
So in the end, it’s all your fault!” “I think so too!” Megumin nodded, a glint of wisdom flashing in her red eyes.
“Ash is too overbearing!
You keep all the money, and we don’t even have the freedom to buy snacks.
My dignity as a member of the Crimson Demon Clan has been severely damaged.” “I…” Darkness spoke, her voice sounding a bit airy.
“I feel like discussing the distribution of property while being bound…
this sense of being dominated…” “I didn’t ask you!” Ash interrupted her expressionlessly.
He looked at Aqua and Megumin, remained silent for a moment, and then spoke.
“What you’re saying is actually right, however…” Aqua’s eyes lit up, and Megumin’s ears perked up.
“I am the team’s…” Ash paused for a moment and chose a different word.
“Core figure.
I’m the one who takes the quests, I’m the main combatant, so naturally, I should be the one managing all the money.” He leaned back in his chair, his tone perfectly natural.
“Therefore, what’s yours is mine.
And what’s mine…” “…is still yours!” Aqua finished his sentence lightning-fast, her expression shifting from anticipation to rage.
“You were about to say ‘what’s mine is still mine,’ weren’t you!
You were definitely going to say that!” “I was not.” “You were!
It’s written all over your face!” Aqua struggled to stand up, but was yanked back by the chains and sat back down on the floor with a thud.
“What happened to your promises!
Back in the Divine Realm!
You said you’d let me wear the most magnificent gowns every day and sit on a throne to be admired by ten thousand people!
You said you were just the husband who would take care of everything for me!” Her eyes began to redden.
“And look what happened!
Once we got to the lower world, you made me fight frogs!
You used me to lure their attention!
You won’t even give me wine to drink or sweets to eat!
And at night, you even bind me with chains while I sleep!” Aqua grew more aggrieved as she spoke, tears beginning to well up in her eyes.
“You liar!
You big liar!” Megumin nodded silently beside her in agreement, while Darkness closed her eyes, seemingly savoring the atmosphere of the dispute.
Ash listened to Aqua’s accusations expressionlessly, then said: “I reserve the right of final interpretation.” “What?!” “Besides, the main reason you agreed to come with me was because I promised an infinite supply of famous wines and sweets.
But think back carefully…” “What I said at the time was that there are infinite top-tier wines in my treasury.
I used the word ‘are,’ not ‘will give.’ I do indeed have them; I just can’t take them out for the time being.
This does not constitute fraud.”