First, after arriving in KonoSuba, I thought a bit about what to do. Time doesn't flow here, but since I've been elsewhere for almost over 20 years, the time difference was immense.
'I haven't received the armor I ordered yet, I need to pick up the croquettes I bought because of Aqua in the evening, and the Demon King's general? Oh right! I promised to give the Wind Chime as well...'
Since there was still some time before evening, I decided to go to Wiz's shop first. Wiz was a powerful mage, the undead king 'Lich', and a Demon King general. However, she wasn't fully on the Demon King's side; she was more like a mercenary, just maintaining the barrier of the Demon King's castle as requested.
Moreover, she was kind-hearted and lived normally, running a shop in Axel Town rather than fighting. But there were many problems; she only brought in 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 had money, she kept acquiring strange items and selling them in the shop. Wiz genuinely believed those items would sell well without any sense of the issue. As a merchant, she was a complete failure.
'But I'm different!'
Since I have [(EX) Status Ailment Immunity], I didn't need to worry about side effects. It was a honey-like shop where I could buy potions or items that failed during production and had side effects cheaply in bulk.
I arrived at Wiz's shop and went inside, where I saw Wiz collapsed on the floor. So, I quickly picked her up and checked her condition; fortunately, seeing her move slightly, she was still alive.
"Are you okay?"
Grumble~
"I'm... I'm so hungry."
Wiz made a tremendous sound from her stomach but ignored it, holding onto me and saying she was hungry. I had no choice but to take out a random lunchbox from my inventory and hand it to Wiz, who started eating it hastily.
Chomp chomp~!
"Eat slowly. Here's a drink."
Gulp gulp~
"Haa~ I ate so well, thank you."
After finishing the meal, Wiz smiled with satisfaction.
"But who are you?"
Wow, she asks quickly.
"I came to buy things and found you collapsed..."
"Ah~ So you're a customer. I've been drinking only sugar water for a while, so I was so hungry, haha... Sorry..."
Wiz seemed embarrassed by her actions now, apologizing with an awkward laugh.
"Oh, I see. Anyway, can I see products that increase experience or skill points?"
"Yes, please wait a moment."
Wiz went inside the shop and brought out several bottles of potions, explaining them one by one.
"This is a potion that increases skill points, but if you drink it, you get severe hemorrhoids. However, it's cheap. It's only 2 million eris!"
It was certainly cheap. Potions that increase skill points cost at least 50 million eris, equivalent to over 5 billion in Korean money.
"As expected... is it too much?"
With such severe side effects, Wiz cautiously spoke while gauging my reaction, but I said without hesitation that I would buy it.
"I'll buy it."
"Huh? You're really going to buy it?"
"Yes, and please explain the others as well."
"Um... you're not planning to use it for other purposes, are you..."
Since I was the only one who readily said I'd buy such a potion with side effects, Wiz suspected that the potion she sold might be misused elsewhere. I wanted to ask why she kept acquiring and selling such items even while worrying, but I let it go.
"It's for research purposes, so you don't need to worry."
"Ah~ so that's the purpose. Understood."
At my words, Wiz's expression brightened, as if relieved, and she continued explaining.
"This one increases experience but causes decreased libido and erectile dysfunction..."
"I'll buy it."
"This one increases skill points but has a 40% chance of instant death..."
"Nice."
"This one causes hair loss..."
"I'm buying it."
I bought all the potions related to experience and skill points for a total of 37 million eris.
"Wow~ This is the first time I've sold this much since opening this shop. I think I can eat something other than sugar water for a while! Thank you."
Wiz was overjoyed. I wondered how her business had come to this state, but for me, it was a good shop, and that was part of Wiz's charm.
"If there are potions that increase experience or skill points, I don't mind any side effects; if you acquire them, I'll keep buying them in the future."
"Really? Understood."
"And if it's not too rude, are there any products with side effects that can gather monsters in large numbers?"
It was an apologetic thing to say to Wiz, but in this shop, it seemed beneficial to choose products based on side effects, so I asked. Then, Wiz thought for a moment and showed a sunscreen from the display case.
"This is sunscreen, but if you apply it, it serves as sunscreen and also makes you chased by monsters for an hour. It seems to have an effect that attracts monsters with its scent."
"I see. I'll buy one to try and buy more later."
"I'll give this to you as a service. You bought a lot of items and I got to eat the lunchbox."
"Thank you."
"No, thank you for purchasing."
Wiz was so grateful that she even saw me off. I also waved and greeted her.
"There's still time, so should I go look for a house..."
With money overflowing, I couldn't keep staying at the inn. So, I decided to go look for a house this time. I stopped by the guild and asked Luna.
"With party members and all, it'll be hard to keep staying at the inn. I'm looking for a good house."
"That's good news. Then I'll call a staff member who specializes in real estate. Please wait a moment."
I sat and waited for a while, and Luna came with a male guild staff member.
"This staff member will guide you."
"Thanks, Luna."
Guided by the guild staff, I looked around several houses, and among them, I liked a two-story stone mansion that was a bit smaller than Kazuma's mansion in the original but decided to buy it immediately. It wasn't far from the commercial district, so it was a bit expensive, but the surroundings were quiet, the yard was wide, and with eight rooms, it seemed fine for many people to live in. And I liked the large bathroom the most.
"So, you've decided on this one?"
"Yes, it looks good."
"Understood. You can pay at the guild, and we'll give you the mansion documents then."
"Alright."
I moved to the guild with the guild staff, paid for the mansion, signed, and received the ownership documents. But Luna, watching from the side, was surprised and asked.
"Huh? 500 million eris? You bought a very expensive mansion."
In KonoSuba, house prices are much cheaper than in reality, with about a threefold difference. In reality, you'd need 15 billion to buy such a house. Spending such a large amount at once, it was natural for Luna to be surprised.
"Yeah, since it's a house I'll live in continuously, I might as well buy a good one while I'm at it."
"I see. Then you'll have a housewarming party, right?"
"Of course I should. Since you mentioned it, how about tomorrow?"
"Good. I'm not busy lately, so it should be fine. But won't you come to my house anymore?"
Luna asked if I wouldn't come to her house now. However, the house I bought now was to lend rooms to Kazuma and others and Yunyun temporarily, so it wasn't suitable for having good times with Luna.
"No, the house I bought this time is where I'll live continuously, but I'm also planning to lend rooms to the party members I'm living with for a while."
"Ah, I see."
As expected, Luna was smart and understood immediately. I talked with Luna for a bit, and when evening came, I picked up the croquettes I bought because of Aqua, stopped by the inn to pick up Kazuma and Aqua, and found Megumin and Yunyun.
Megumin and Yunyun lived together in an inn not far from where we were staying. Hearing the story, Yunyun paid almost all the money, and Megumin was mooching off her. Seeing that, I wanted to say something for a moment, but remembering that Yunyun had good earnings from going with me and Megumin had almost no income, I didn't say anything.
First, I took them all to the house I bought. Darkness, unfortunately, hadn't returned from her home yet.
"Wow~! It looks really good! How did you buy such a mansion??"
Everyone was amazed at the mansion I bought.
"I paid almost all the money I earned so far. But since I came to this world, I thought I should have a house. I can't keep staying at the inn."
"Cassian really earned a lot of money..."
"So, the thing is, you guys can stay here for a while too. If you save on inn fees, you'll be able to buy good equipment and a place to live soon."
At that, Kazuma and Yunyun were overjoyed.
"Really??? Is that okay???"
"Yeah, but only for a while."
Then Aqua, as if understanding, spoke up. In such matters, Aqua's head worked well.
"Ah~ it's because of Luna. I get it. If you have a girlfriend, I should understand."
"I'm glad you understand. But Luna also has a house, so it should be fine to use it for a while."
Actually, there was no problem just living there, but if I spoiled them too much, they might just settle in and do nothing, so I made such a story in advance.
At that time, Yunyun's expression listening to the story was very dark.
'Come to think of it, Yunyun's bond level was 8, right... How do I solve this problem...'
Luna, who I'm dating, had a bond level of 7, but Yunyun alone was 8. I couldn't tell if Yunyun had real feelings of love for me or was just that dependent, but it certainly seemed problematic. But since there's no way to think about it now, I told them to go inside the mansion and choose their rooms. Of course, the largest room is mine.
After arranging the rooms and going out, Kazuma and Aqua were arguing over a room, each saying they would use it.
"This room is mine! It's perfect for this Aqua-sama!"
"What are you talking about? I also claimed this room!"
"Then, let's do rock-paper-scissors."
"Fine! One round."
'Aqua's making a mistake.'
As expected, Kazuma won. Aqua, the epitome of misfortune, couldn't win against Kazuma, the embodiment of luck.
"Waaah~! One more round!"
Aqua cried ugly, clinging to Kazuma's leg and begging, but Kazuma was firm.
"No, let go!"
Anyway, after deciding the rooms, everyone gathered in the dining room and had a simple meal.
"Today, we'll just stay like this, and tomorrow we'll go buy necessary furniture, so think about what you need. In the evening, there's a housewarming party, so finish your work and come home quickly. I'll make something delicious."
"Got it."
The next day, only Aqua went to work part-time, and the rest followed me to the furniture store to buy what we needed. Everyone was conscientious and only bought what they needed. But Aqua had written down what she needed and requested it; without any conscience, there were many unnecessary things written, so I judged and bought only what was really necessary. I told them to bear only as much money as they could afford. Since I knew their situations well, I couldn't charge large amounts.
"Then, I'll go look at ingredients for the housewarming party, so when the ordered furniture arrives, please receive them."
"Got it. Just leave it to me."
I entrusted it to Kazuma, and since the furniture store offered delivery and arrangement, there shouldn't be any big problems. After sending off Kazuma and the others, I went to the market with Yunyun and bought ingredients. I bought quite a lot of cooking ingredients and stored them in my inventory.
After shopping and coming home, the furniture had already arrived and was all arranged. As expected, Kazuma seemed to have arranged it well without any issues.
"How is it?"
"Oh~ not bad. I made the right choice entrusting it to Kazuma."
"Haha, it's nothing~"
"Then, I'll cook, so please prepare to welcome the other guests."
"Got it."
The housewarming menu was pizza, hamburgers, french fries, and salad. I was cooking for a while when it got dark, and I heard people coming in one by one. So, I brought the prepared food to the living room. There, I saw Luna, some guild staff, blacksmiths from the forge I worked at before, and finally the Taylor Party. Kazuma and Dust must have already become friends.
The Taylor Party was special because of Dust; Dust was a famous troublemaker in Axel Town. In the original, he surprisingly got along well with Kazuma, often drinking together and introducing strange shops, so they were somewhat close. It's ironic that Kazuma, a hikikomori and NEET, got along well with a troublemaker like Dust.
"Wow~ this is pizza! And hamburgers too!"
Kazuma was so moved seeing the food I made that he even cried. Probably because he was seeing food from his modern home after a long time.
Megumin, seeing Kazuma cry, was curious and asked me.
"Huh? Why is Kazuma crying?"
"That's because this food is from Kazuma and my hometown."
"I see."
Everyone started eating the food I made. Then, exclamations came from here and there.
"Wow~ it's really delicious."
"Yeah, you could even sell this."
"Right? This is my hometown food, hahaha~"
Kazuma boasted about his hometown food as everyone ate deliciously. Since he liked it so much, I should make Japanese ramen for him later.
"Oh right! Your armor is almost ready."
"Oh~ I see."
"You can come pick it up in about two or three days."
"Understood."
Everyone laughed, chatted, and had fun talking, then all went home. But I couldn't really enjoy it because I was preoccupied elsewhere. There was a girl mage named Rin in the Taylor Party; she wasn't a beastman, 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 should ask for a chance next time.
After the housewarming party ended, as I was cleaning up and about to rest, Aqua suddenly saw her room and confronted me.
"Cassian! Why didn't you buy a candlestick!"
"Buy that yourself. Everyone chipped in to buy the furniture."
At my words, Kazuma agreed and said.
"Right! Everyone contributed a bit of money to get it. If you really need it, save up and buy it separately!"
"Haa... you could have bought it while you were at it... so mean!"
As expected, Aqua seems to have feathers on her conscience.