Finally, Shiho, the team's brains, took several deep breaths, barely suppressing her anger, got up, and walked to the quest board. Her gaze swept over the parchment quest sheets one by one.
Although she had received the main quest of 'unify the world' from the Reincarnation System, Shiho didn't plan to do it.
She just wanted to live well in this world with her sister.
In reality, she had nothing to miss anyway.
She reached out, peeled a parchment from the quest board, turned back, and spread it on the table in front of the group.
"Subjugating giant toads again—"
Hana read the quest details, then slumped onto the table, her voice muffled, "I'm already sick of it."
Giant toads were the most common monsters around Axel.
They didn't have any powerful special abilities. They were about the size of elephants.
Their meat was firm and had culinary value, making them one of the main meat sources for Axel's residents.
Every day, the Adventurer's Guild would issue quests to subjugate giant toads.
All year round, without interruption.
Since this player team had formed, every quest they had taken was for subjugating giant toads.
Hana, who had a playful personality, had long been unable to stand it.
When she lay on the table, those two huge soft mounds were pressed into two half-flattened balls on the wooden tabletop.
The Miyano sisters, Mrs. Shizuka, and Kazuha across from her simultaneously caught their breath.
Shiho stared at those two flat balls for a while, then silently looked away.
'As expected of a reserve Mrs. Nishikawa, her combat power was too terrifying.'
From the corner of her eye, she also glanced at Tsuki and Yanagi next to her.
Tsuki was even more exaggerated, almost jumping out of her collar.
Although Yanagi was young, her size still crushed Mrs. Shizuka, who was already a mother.
Shiho tried hard to pull her gaze away from Hana's chest and explained crossly, "No choice. We're only Copper-rank adventurers."
The quests an adventurer could take were tied to their rank.
Copper rank could only fight the lowest-level monsters like giant toads and goblins.
Akemi clapped her hands, showing her signature gentle smile.
"Everyone, do your best. After the quest is over, I'll cook for you."
Under the rotating encouragement of Akemi, Mrs. Shizuka, and Tsuki, the girls barely mustered their spirits, packed their bags, and prepared to leave the city.
Just as they were about to push open the door of the Adventurer's Guild, a small figure darted out from the side, blocking their path.
Red magic robe, black cape, an eye patch covering her left eye.
She looked about junior high school age, with some baby fat still on her face.
Her chest was flat. If you didn't look closely, you couldn't even tell front from back.
"Hey—"
The girl's voice carried a deliberately lowered Chuunibyo tone, "Are you an adventurer team? Would you be interested in hiring me, a top-class mage?"
Shiho raised an eyebrow, her gaze sweeping from the girl's eye patch to the staff almost as tall as she was. "You are?"
The girl seemed to have been waiting for this question.
She suddenly flicked her cape back with one hand, and with the other hand, she made an exaggerated gesture in front of her eye patch, her middle and index fingers together, sweeping across the eye patch.
"I am Megumin! My profession is Arch Wizard, and I use the strongest attack magic... Explosion Magic!"
It was clearly something she had rehearsed many times.
The scene was completely silent.
"Is this small kid suffering from Chuunibyo?" Yanagi tilted her head, her tone carrying a hint of confusion.
Megumin's face flushed red.
She hated it most when people called her small.
Gritting her teeth, Megumin suddenly spun around and shouted at Yanagi, "Who are you calling small—"
The last word got stuck in her throat.
Her gaze fell on Yanagi's chest.
It looked at least an E cup, possibly even larger.
Megumin's breathing visibly quickened.
Unconsciously, memories from her time at the Crimson Demon Village school surfaced in her mind—
Those damn classmates, those who were the same age as her yet, one by one like balloons, got bigger and bigger every day.
'Damn it—! Everyone with bigger boobs than me should go to hell!'
Megumin inwardly screamed, her voice full of grief and indignation.
Mrs. Shizuka walked over from behind and gently patted Megumin on the top of the head twice.
"Little girl, if you want to play, go play with someone else. We still need to earn money to support our family."
Megumin slapped Mrs. Shizuka's hand away. Her face flushed even redder.
She had developed later than her classmates, was small and flat-chested, and was treated like a little kid everywhere she went.
For that very reason, she hated it most when people brought up topics about her figure.
Just as she was about to lose it, Shiho suddenly spoke up:
"Explosion Magic... I recall that even among attack magic, that is considered high-tier."
Having just been transported here a few days ago, although her own power was still very limited, Shiho had spent a lot of time in the library reading up on materials.
The magic system, monster encyclopedia, national geography, historical annals... she had read a lot.
It was no problem for her to be a military theorist in another world.
Hearing this, Megumin's eyes lit up.
"I didn't expect there was someone here who recognizes it!"
She straightened up a bit. "That's right, I am the strongest Explosion Magic user of the Crimson Demon Clan. Leave it to me, and there's no enemy I can't handle!"
Shiho stared at Megumin for a few seconds.
Although she felt this girl did seem quite abnormal, Shiho had also heard of the Crimson Demon Clan's reputation.
'These people weren't quite right in the head, but most could become top-class mages. Perhaps this one-eyed girl really did have the skills.'
She glanced at Aqua, who was practicing her attraction routine with a fan, and the corner of her mouth twitched slightly.
She no longer cared that her teammates weren't smart.
They already had a stupid goddess lowering the average IQ. Adding one more wouldn't make a difference.
"Alright." Shiho looked away. "You'll come with us to find giant toads. After we confirm your strength—"
"No."
Megumin interrupted her, her tone resolute. "You have to promise to let me join the team first."
Shiho instinctively sensed something was off, 'Who demands to be hired before even passing the interview?'
But she looked at the staff in Megumin's hand, then at the seven hungry mouths behind her. After a moment's hesitation, she finally nodded. "Fine."
The group went outside the city.
The grasslands around Axel stretched as far as the eye could see.
After only a few steps, they encountered three giant toads.
They were lying on the grass ahead. Each was as big as an elephant. Their gray-green skin was covered in bumps. Their eyes bulged on top of their heads, making 'ribbit ribbit' sounds.
Shiho glanced at Aqua. "Go, draw their attention."
Aqua's eyes widened. She pointed at her own nose. "Why me?!"
Shiho didn't answer. She just stared coldly at her.
Aqua felt guilty under the stare. After dodging her gaze a few times, she finally remembered that she had gambled away the team's savings.
She pursed her lips, shrank her neck, and reluctantly walked out of the group toward the giant toads.
Shiho did this not only to punish the stupid goddess but for an even more important reason—
She knew Aqua was a goddess. The attacks of ordinary monsters were completely ineffective against her.
Every monster she had encountered so far, even if they could beat Aqua, would at most knock her out, unable to inflict any lasting damage on her body.
Probably only high-level vampires, dragons, and Adamantite-rank adventurers could possibly hurt her. Adamantite-rank might not even be enough.
Aqua walked up to the giant toad, took a deep breath, and raised her fist.
"God Blow!"
Aqua shouted and punched the giant toad's belly.
The toad didn't budge, looking at Aqua like she was an idiot.
Suddenly, the giant toad extended its tongue, like a thick python instantly coiling around Aqua's waist.
"Ah—!" Aqua's scream echoed across the grassland.
She was swallowed.
The giant toad's mouth opened and closed. Aqua completely disappeared into that enormous mouth, leaving only two feet kicking outside for a few moments.
A large bulge formed in the toad's throat and slowly moved downward.
The women looked on speechlessly.
During the time they had been teamed up, Aqua had healed all of them.
Her healing ability was absolutely top-class, possibly even surpassing Moeha, who had the Heal-Heal Fruit.
But when it came to attack, she was truly useless.
Shiho, already used to this, didn't even furrow her brow. She turned to Megumin and said, "Alright, we've already drawn the target's attention for you. You can show us your abilities now."
Megumin didn't say a word. She raised her staff and ran out.
Soon, Megumin stopped about twenty meters in front of the giant toad, held her staff with both hands, and raised it high above her head.
The red magic crystal at the staff's head began to glow, changing from dark red to a blinding white.
"Explosion—!!"
Magic power poured from the magic crystal, condensing into a huge, high-density energy ball in the air.
The energy ball fell. The moment it touched the ground, it exploded.
A mushroom cloud rose from the ground. The shock wave spread in all directions, pressing the surrounding grass flat, blowing away the distant clouds.
In the area where the three giant toads had been, along with the toads and Aqua, everything was blasted away.
A huge crater was left in the ground, black smoke still rising from the bottom.
Everyone was dumbfounded.
The Miyano sisters, Mrs. Shizuka, and Kazuha had their mouths open.
The Uzaki Family also stared in stunned disbelief.
To put it in perspective, excluding Makoto, the most powerful attack they had ever seen was the Amaterasu Arrow that Kaguya had used in Hawaii.
And purely in terms of destructive power, this technique was probably as strong as, if not stronger than, Kaguya's.
The mushroom cloud was still slowly rising. The echoes of the explosion were still reverberating at the edge of the sky.
They had probably really hit the jackpot this time.
Megumin's staff slipped from her hand. She collapsed forward like she had been emptied out, landing face-down on the ground like soft mud.
The three Uzaki women quickly ran to the huge crater and carried the completely disfigured Aqua back from the bottom.
Aqua's clothes were in tatters. Her face was black in some places, white in others. Her hair was a tangled mess. But she was still alive.
She really is a goddess. Any ordinary person would have been blown to ashes.
Shiho walked over to Megumin, crouched down, and gave her a friendly smile, nodding.
"I agree to let you join the team."
Shiho paused. "But next time, don't use such powerful attack magic. The quest targets were blown away. We can't turn them in for credit."
Megumin lay on the ground, weakly rolling her eyes, and said seriously, "I can't do that..."
"What?"
"I only know Explosion Magic. I don't know any others..."
Megumin's lips moved, "And I can only use it once a day. It consumes too much magic power. I end up like this after using it."
Shiho crouched in front of Megumin, her expression solidifying bit by bit.
'What the hell kind of teammates were these?'