Useful Class Change (Konosuba TF/TG) (Patreon)

The Adventurer’s Guild was a simultaneously happy and dreary place for Kazuma Satou. It was a place of booze and roughhousing and life, the small things that kept a man going one day to the next, filling their hearts and bellies with song and beer. It was also the face of his abject worthlessness and poverty, since he’d become an adventurer only to learn that he had not actually gained anything since his last life that might actually let him take a class more advanced than the pathetic placeholder Adventurer class, leaving him working manual labor to keep a roof over his head and food in his stomach.

He had once been a young Japanese man wasting away his prime on video games, anime, and hentai, shutting himself from the outside world. And then he’d managed to get himself killed the first time in an age he’d gone outside, thus proving the validity of his hermetic, even monastic, lifestyle up to that point - going outside just got you killed with no upsides. Afterwards, he’d been stopped halfway through a turn of the heavenly wheel, and encountered a blue-haired Goddess who claimed to come to offer him a decision. He could reincarnate in his own world as normal; no memories, no trace of his former self, a bouncing baby boy (or girl) in some new family in some random place in the world. Or, he could take an offer to be remade as-is and implanted into a new world of sword and sorcery.

Being an anime-loving NEET, he naturally took the latter. He was offered a gift - one cheat skill or item that he could bring with him to the new world to aid him in his quest to defeat the Demon King. The Goddess, Aqua, had made herself a nuisance - insulted him, called his death pathetic and senseless and even hilarious. Talked about how he’d made a mess of himself in fear as he died of a heart attack rather than a selfless act of self sacrifice. He wasn’t sure he trusted a dang word she’d said (and the events that followed this only reinforced this suspicion), but it had annoyed him enough that he wanted to crack back at her. So he’d chosen his “cheat” carefully.

She had told Kazuma that anything in that room could be his. She’d obviously meant the treasure trove’s worth of weapons, armor, skills, spells, and other acquisitions depicted on scrolls. He had decided to take something else in that room - the Goddess herself. After all, what could be a more potent weapon than a physical goddess?

Such had been the logic before he knew Aqua was a woman who knew exactly nothing about how to function in the world of mortals. She’d been practically clinging to him since they had arrived in this new world, and frankly, the only reason he hadn’t dropped her was because it would be akin to leaving a newborn puppy to fend for itself.

When they’d gone to the Adventurer Guild, Kazuma’s stats had earned him no higher class. He’d ended up as the baseline that even this world’s children could match, Adventurer. Meanwhile, Aqua, being that she was a Goddess, had qualified for a high tier Priestess class. And then… they’d become day laborers. Hired help building things and carrying heavy objects. Thus far Kazuma had barely seen beyond the walls of this starting village of a town, and every day was the same. Wake up, work, go out drinking, go to sleep. This wasn’t living!

Alas, he had yet to see an opportunity to rise beyond this station. In a melancholy mood despite the ale sloshing in his gut, he stumbled himself over to the Adventurer’s Guild counter and requested to check his status, placing his hand on the glowing blue orb that would update his adventurer card.

A drunken Aqua stumbled over as well, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and giggling. “Kazumaaa, wheresh you goin? The boys were just gonna buyz another round to celebrate, uuuuuh… somethin.” She laughed at her own forgetfulness. For a Goddess of Water, she sure couldn’t hold her drink. “Oh, zat? You’re just gonna cry again, aren’t cha, hehehe…”

“Screw off… I’ve… probably leveled up or somethin. This is all side quests, right?” Kazuma slurred back. He wasn’t as drunk as she was, yet. But the night was young and he probably would be drowning his sorrows soon.

“Ah, here’s your card, sir. You’ll be pleased to know, there’s something quite intriguing!” The attendant said, keeping a carefully professional demeanor despite the two drunks in her face.

Kazuma squinted at the card. Sure enough, something was different. His stats were mostly the same - oh, wait, was his Strength a couple points higher? Maybe lifting heavy stuff all day every day was building some muscle!

He thought that was all, but then the woman offered him another card. “The device also showed that you had met the requirements for a new class. Please, look at this.”

Paladin - A Holy Warrior devoted to their chosen deity, channeling their faith to defend the weak with sword and spell.

Requirements: A strong connection to a Divine Being. Luck, Strength, Endurance.

Kazuma blinked, the sight sobering him right up in an instant. “Paladin? Not an Adventurer?” he asked. He investigated the card and compared it to his own. It seemed that the class was one that primarily relied on Luck as a stat - representing the favor of their deity. When he’d first registered, he’d been told his luck was through the roof, so that checked out. All the laboring had apparently counted as special training for his strength and endurance stats, and it had just ticked over to the bare minimums for the class.

Connection to a Goddess, though…? He side-eyed Aqua, who was barely concealing an evil grin.

“Yes. This is quite a rare class, actually. Few young people these days care for the Gods, so we haven’t seen anyone unlock this in quite some time! It’s honestly pretty exciting!” The attendant cheerfully said. “Would you like to switch classes?”

“Ohohoho~ A ‘strong connection’ to a ‘chosen deity’, hmmmm, Kazuma~?” Aqua chimed in, giggling with a menacing tone.

“Stuff it. The card didn’t say positive connection.” Kazuma scoffed, but then he turned to the question seriously.

As far as party composition went, there were worse matches than a Paladin and a Priestess. By all measures, it was a dang good match up when there was only two members of the party - a tanky type, and someone to heal them. Depending on what sort of Paladin this world had, they might even have some decent magical attack capability based on the relevant Goddess. Sure, there was a bit of healing overlap, but when it was just two and not four, and only one capable of taking a hit, that sort of backup was good.

But on the other hand, it would mean that at least on paper people would think he was a devout worshipper of… Aqua. Of the buffoonish leech presently teasing him, who thought that wearing no panties was the only way to prevent creeps from catching a panty shot.

She would never allow him to forget it. This would hang over him for so long as they knew each other. But unfortunately, that was ultimately a secondary concern - his other options at the moment seemed to be continuing to be some day laborer who lived paycheck to paycheck and slept in a stable on the least-stinky hay he could find (not the softest; he’d made that mistake the first night). To continue to hear Aqua cry about their poor living conditions and puke rainbows when she drank too much.

Damn it, he came to this world to be a JRPG hero, not to build a house for somebody else!

“Fine. Sure, I’ll take the class change. Does it come with any starting gear?”

“No, of course not. But you’ll learn some basic skills of the class, as well as some mild stat boosts to bring you on par with the class.”

Aqua laughed even harder. “Kazuma~! Kazuma~! I’m officially your Goddess now, so you’ve got to start treating me right, okaaaay, hehehehe~!”

This was a mistake.

—————

The next day, after getting his class officially changed and unlocking the basic Paladin skills of “Smite” and “Healing Prayer”, Kazuma went out into the wilderness around the town to find something easy to beat up in order to test the class. The improved strength was noticeable, as he went and beat several low level rodents of surprising size to death with a rusty, chipped shortsword that he’d taken the plunge to spend a week’s wages on.

He was breathing hard and taking a break. It wasn’t easy, as low level as he was, but it was probably easier than if he’d done it before spending goodness knows how long doing hard labor daily - it had actually put him into pretty decent shape. And the difference in stats was certainly telling, as he was actually pretty confident in his ability to take one down! It might seem pathetic but when you’re level one, the only option you’ve got is level one enemies.

“Why bother smacking them around like this?” Aqua asked, “You’re a Paladin of Aqua now~ Can’t you Smite them with holiness or something.”

Kazuma grimaced. “T-That wouldn’t be very good practice…” he muttered.

“Hmmm~?” Aqua stroked her chin thoughtfully, getting a bit too close for comfort. “I wonder if that’s it~? Or are you embarassed about something? Go on, confess your sin to your Goddess, I’ll forgive you, hehehe~”

Aqua had been utterly insufferable ever since Kazuma took the plunge to change classes. Frankly, it made him reconsider his options. Maybe being a blank slate adventurer wasn’t so bad. He was smart, he could abuse it’s options…

“Are you afraid you won’t be able to do it, hmm? Afraid that you’ll whiff and make an ass of yourself~?” Aqua pressed further.

This was bait. This was absolutely bait and Kazuma could see it coming from a mile away.

There was a reason Kazuma had not been trying out any of the spells, just the sword skills and similar physical enhancements. That was because his magic as a Paladin was divine magic - specifically, magic that worked by praying to ‘his deity’ for aid. And the spell chant was to be said aloud. And Aqua was right goddamn here and would hear him praying to her.

Naturally this would never be something he could live down. It would haunt him the rest of his days. But she had baited him and goddamnit, he wasn’t going to let a waste of air like that smugly act as if he were even more useless than she! She was a useless Goddess, but damn if he was going to be a useless Paladin!

“Fine.” He muttered, and when they next encountered a mob, he let himself activate a skill. The motions magically instilled, he planted his sword in the ground, hilt-up so it looked almost like a cross. What was with fantasy worlds and their Western aesthetics, anyway? The thought fled his mind as the spell began - it needed a prayer, and when he wasn’t giving it one it forced him to say it.

“Great Goddess Aqua, hear this servant’s humble prayer, as they beg your aid and ask that you smite your foes from this world…” Kazuma’s lips moved without any conscious effort on his part. It was short and to the point, as one might expect of such a low level ability. Surely it wouldn’t result in that strong of a strike.

Aqua blinked in surprise - she could feel that prayer. It was a genuine one. She was being prayed to for help. And it felt kind of nice. “…Well, if you ask so nicely, then I suppose I can be a generous patron~!” she laughed. She didn’t have to do anything herself - a consequence of her currently being in the physical world rather than the heavens. But she ‘accepted’ the prayer, and the spell resolved itself.

The low level enemy didn’t know what hit it. One moment there was nothing. Then a huge spike of ice impaled itself through the poor thing’s head and pinned it’s now-corpse to the ground.

Kazuma stared for several seconds. Then a few more. “…Okay. That was… impressive.” He said after a bit. He looked over at Aqua, who shrugged. Maybe it was because she was so physically close, his prayers had more impact than they normally would? Or maybe she just was willing to help when it meant he would continue to be in between her and the foe. If that would let them punch above their weight class, it would be worth the embarrassment of praying to Aqua for magical aid.

“Ohohoho~ See what rewards thy faith has brought you, mortal~!?” Aqua put on her best ojou-laugh. “A true prayer could not go unanswered, you know!”

“Shut up or I won’t share the reward with you and you can keep being a day laborer.”

Even as he talked, he felt a weird, tingly warmth in his chest. It felt good to actually be capable of doing something for the first time since he’d arrived in this weird world. …But he wasn’t sure that would be worth listening to Aqua further…

—————

It had been a few days now since Kazuma’s class change, and things had been going well. Or at least, not as badly as they had been before the change. He had slowly been working on his stats by taking weak quests and practicing with the weapon - thankfully, it seemed actually having a relevant class was doing a lot for his progress as far as physical combat skills were concerned; he hadn’t exactly been head of the medieval LARP committee back in Japan.

Harder to practice was the traditional Paladin skill, holy magic. Not only because of a lack of suitable targets to smack with the impressive water-smiting he’d seen before, or people to try and heal, but because they would mean praying to Aqua for help and he wasn’t going to give her more than the barest lip service he had to in order to maintain his class. Honestly, it made him feel more like a Warrior than a Paladin!

He’d barely been making enough to keep himself and Aqua in a cheap inn instead of a barn, only scraping together enough for a proper sword after several quests being finished in one day and still using a… borrowed, pot lid as a shield. Real gear wasn’t cheap. But despite his status as the cheapest-looking Paladin in town, he was improving in skill, and being a Paladin at all was considered at least a bit impressive.

And that, in the end, is why he was now facing down the worst foe yet. Or rather the worst several foes. There was a job on the market board that he had judged himself just strong enough to take on so long as he had Aqua’s help - she was the healer in the tank and healer duo after all. It had started out easy enough that he’d wondered if it had been mislabeled. These were just big frogs, after all! Sure, the first time they’d encountered them they’d kinda swallowed Aqua a little bit but they were still weak monsters.

And then there were more. And they got bigger. And bigger. And now Kazuma was facing a quartet of giant frogs each the size of a decently large house and looking like they were contemplating if their tongues could take him into their mouths as they hopped towards him from across the lake.

It might have been a cooler scene if he wasn’t being violently shaken from his combat stance by a certain bluenette. “Kazumaaaa! Kazumaaaaaaaa! Protect your Goddess! Protect me! Kazumaaaa!” Aqua sobbed, “I won’t go back in there, I-I can’t, so protect me, I’ll give you all the power you need, just saveeee meeeee!”

“Let go of me you useless Goddess! I’m trying to focus!” Kazuma snapped, shoving her off. Maybe not the best idea to mess with the source of his Paladin abilities but she was too goddamned annoying. “I’m gonna smite them, with that big ice-smite thing like I practiced, alright? I learned a new buffing skill that I’ll use first, and that should make them big enough to do more than poke these frogs. And I need you to make sure my ‘prayers’ are answered as intensely as you can make them.”

Aqua nodded rather too fast, desperate for any harbor in the storm. At least she wouldn’t tease him too much about the prayers this time. He rolled his eyes - but he’d liked how he’d sounded then. Confident, almost dashing. He had noticed a Charisma passive skill on the Paladin list, maybe he was learning that? But he had to focus on the problem at hand - he might not be crying about it but he wasn’t all that much less grossed out by the damned things than Aqua was.

Kazuma cleared his throat. “Goddess of water, Aqua, I beg that you give me strength and stamina, that I might smite your enemies into the dust.” Keep it simple and keep it as non-shameful as possible. “Or, at least these damned frogs.” He added on his own. Blue light flared around him, settling into a soft glow around his body. He stood straight, feeling taller, stronger. It was surely just the magic giving him that impression - it wouldn’t do something like giving him a few extra centimeters, or swelling the muscles under his shirt, right? Right.

Buffing prayer done. The frogs were hopping closer now, giant waves splashing around them as they landed. Kazuma stepped back a bit - he didn’t have too much time before they reached the pair. “Kazumaaaaa, smite them! Smite them smite them! I’ll help, I’ll do anythiiiing!”

Kazuma took a moment to focus gain, and then the words of the prayers came out again. Asking for ‘the great goddess’ help to smite their foes with ‘divine water’ and all. It was the sort of thing that would make Kazuma gag to say it normally, but the results were enough that he could bury his pride. Between the buffing spell he had cast and Aqua’s own fervent appeals to have him take are of the problem for her, the smite came out surprisingly large. With a force of will, he sent each ice spike hurtling towards a massive frog, one apiece.

Divine spells were powerful and didn’t take much mana for their weight class, Kazuma had learned. Their ‘balancing’ factor was supposed to be that a God might not care enough to answer a prayer, or might miss it. Between his anomalously high luck stat and Aqua’s direct involvement, though, Kazuma could not only cast these prayers consistently, but with greater power than your average Paladin at his level. The divine smite lanced into each frog, freezing them in place as the ice spread through their being only for them to shatter when Kazuma stopped channeling the spell.

In a blink, the quest had been completed. It had taken some effort to keep their heads from being frozen, so that he could collect evidence of the takedown, but his high luck had come in handy there too.

He was honestly a bit stunned. Was this power really just something he could have now? It had seemed so out there, so impossible, but he’d just done a very adventurer-y thing right? Even Aqua couldn’t pretend that hadn’t been heroic - or at least she wouldn’t be able to once she was done sobbing and crying about how she was so happy she wasn’t getting slobbered on by frogs again.

Then again, it was Aqua. She’d take credit.

Of course, Kazuma being a Paladin of Aqua, it wasn’t as if she wouldn’t actually have some grounds, for once. He shook his head at the thought - she’d do it whether she had a reason or not, she was just like that.

Even as the buff spell faded, he was feeling good. Powerful. If he didn’t know any better he’d say he actually had gained several centimeters and a few pounds of muscle. And hey, maybe he had? In a world with magic nothing was really impossible, right? If this was what he could expect from the path of a Paladin, the sort of power he could have while pretending to worship Aqua a bit, then maybe it would be worth it?

— — — — —

There had been an impressive bounty for the quest, and for once, the pair of Paladin and Goddess ate well and slept in nice beds. People began to talk - that was a quest that should have taken a party, not a pair! But they’d done it all the same, so people were talking about them, talking about how skilled they must be to be able to pull off such a quest - or lucky. Kazuma basked in praise, even if most people who had seen him before the class change still didn’t think he could possibly be the “real” Paladin that was supporting her. After all, his stats had been middling to below average besides his intelligence and luck when he was originally evaluated, while Aqua had had stupendous stats in everything but intelligence.

The rumors of the pair spread enough that one day they got approached by the guild itself for a request. Unusual but not unheard of in the adventurer’s guild - they were asked to assist in the healing of a large number of adventurers that had recently been wounded in skirmishes with the Demon King’s army and brought to the city in order to recuperate away from the front lines. Kazuma had, reluctantly, accepted after seeing how big of a reward was offered - they were scrambling to get enough healers, so they were desperate.

“Oh, thank goodness you’re here…” A sleep-deprived cleric groaned as the young man, along with a few other adventurers with healing skills arrived, “Come, come, I’ll take you to the ward…”

Aqua had elected to remain behind - being drunk off her ass and not feeling like putting in the effort. It was just as well, in any case; Kazuma needed some time away from her with how her requests had felt oddly heavier since becoming a Paladin - more weight to them that he felt he needed to put up with.

The cleric led them to a room laden with tens of wounded adventurers - a dining hall, Kazuma was pretty sure, that had had the long tables shoved to the sides or repurposed as beds if needed. And it was only one of several such locations requisitioned for use handling wounded. He wondered what the heck had really gone on out there - but the cleric was already leaving. “Ah- hey, wait, you can’t just leave us here without instruction-“

“Help those you can. We’re too swamped for anything else.” The cleric said, before exiting.

Kazuma rubbed the back of his head. “Ah… maybe we got in a bit over our heads…” he groaned. “Well, nothing for it then. I’ll take these ones over here…”

The young man looked over the first wounded person - a woman with a giant gash in her gut, straight across. It was a miracle already that she remained alive, but that state of affairs wasn’t going to last long at the rate her blood was soaking through the bandages. She was pale and breathing shallowly, and visibly in great pain. Kazuma felt a pain in his own heart just looking at her… god, nobody deserved that…

Maybe it was a little bit extra compassion due to his new Class, but he wanted to help at least a bit. “Uh, hey, I’m, uh, here to help…” he said awkwardly. The woman didn’t seem in any state to hear him, but he hoped it helped a little.

Aqua might be drunk off her ass right now but he still felt like his prayers would work. He wasn’t sure of the mechanics of being a Paladin to a goddess not presently hanging around heaven, but they seemed to have adequate leeway to let him do his thing. The prayers came up to his lips easily. “Oh great goddess Aqua, goddess of water, the giver of life, please take pity on this poor child and offer her a second chance…” he said. It wasn’t a mutter at this point. Aqua wasn’t here to tease him about it, and maybe hearing it would comfort the wounded woman.

Blue light surrounded the adventurer, and the bleeding seemed to slow, and the woman sighed in relief. Cautiously, Kazuma peeked under the bandages - and saw that whatever ghastly wound had been there had sewn itself shut. Kazuma wiped some sweat from his brow, not realizing he’d been nervous. “Well… that was easy. Let’s go to the next one then.”

The next one was easy too. Then the next, and the next. All it took was a prayer for healing and they were cured. And… oddly, it felt good to help. He’d come here for the money, and some part of him started to feel genuinely guilty about that. But motivation aside, the fact was that he was making it so some people who wouldn’t have lasted the night might yet survive long into the future, and something about that gave him warm, fuzzy feelings across his body.

If he’d been paying more attention, he might have noticed the soft shift. Each prayer, each call to his Goddess for aid, caused subtle differences in his appearance. His hair growing longer, his features beginning to smooth. His shoulders seemed a touch less broad than when he’d entered and his hips just a hair wider - his body was still that of a man who was commonly engaged in physical labor (as the improvements in his strength stat since taking the class had attested) but there was a softer cast to it.

One wounded man with glassy eyes held his hand as he healed them. “Ah… a goddess…?” he groaned, not seeing.

Kazuma normally might have freaked out, gotten angry. But he didn’t mind it, and in fact knew what to say. The Paladin’s Charisma boost at work, maybe? “No, not quite… but one’s helping, I guess…” he said. It still sounded awkward to him, but the man seemed comforted, able to sleep.

Another was a young woman - this one, he noticed had a religious symbol around her neck. Specifically that of the Axis cult, dedicated to Aqua. Oh, that was awkward. She looked at him with wide eyes as he healed her. “Pretty… Oh, Aqua, even your Paladins are a sight to behold…” she said softly. Kazuma blushed - surely she meant the magic and not him. Even if he hadn’t noticed the softening of his facial features, or how he no longer had any of that stubble that dotted the face of a young man with until-recently poor hygiene.

Kazuma kept going, person to person, prayer to prayer. The words of thanks made him feel genuinely good about himself for the first time in… quite a while, really, so he pushed himself a bit. By the time he was out of people to heal, he was feeling drained, exhausted. He hadn’t known he’d had that much mana in him!

The cleric from earlier approached as he sat down on a bench, taking a short break before leaving to head back to the inn. “You… really helped them? I’m sorry, I must confess, I had thought you might not be quite as competent in the craft as a dedicated healer. I’m sorry, good lad…”

“It’s fine.” Kazuma interrupted. The man coughed - was he going to continue from there? Oops. “Anyway, not like I can claim all the credit. There were other adventurers here.” He said. Then he sighed. “And… well, Paladin of Aqua, so I guess some of the healing probably came from her. I don’t have that much mana on my own anyway.”

“I see.” The cleric nodded. “I will have to be sure to give her temple a donation as thanks.”

Part of Kazuma wanted to suggest he give it over to him to ‘take it for him’, but before he opened his mouth a bit of guilt at the thought ran through him. The man was genuinely thankful. No reason to spit on that, was there?

“I’m sure her priests will appreciate it.” He said instead. Man, was he going soft or what?

— — — — —

Kazuma had been given a bonus for that quest, and between that and some other smaller ones (and a bit of Aqua doing party tricks with her water-creation for tips), Kazuma had managed to actually equip himself properly. He had a real sword, a shield, and even some armor! The young apprentice fitting him in the armorer’s shop had been acting a bit weird, blushing and all, but Kazuma chose to believe the boy was awed by a real adventurer coming to the shop rather than focus on the slightly less masculine curves of his body.

The next quest was the big one - a noble had asked for their help! Asking specifically for the pair of “Noble Paladin and Honorable Archpriest”, which had taken the whole guild a while to figure out who they meant, only concluding it meant Aqua and Kazuma when they realized there were no other Paladins in the city.

Kazuma wasn’t given to helping out nobles. But the reward was ridiculous and the guild representative had implied they didn’t actually have a choice in the matter since it came from a noble.

It was a bit of a trip, but the noble had sent a nice carriage and food so it wasn’t that bad - at least until they got to the place and realized that they were meant to purge a crypt that had been tainted by a recently-deceased relative bringing a demonic artifact with them to the grave, causing the dead within the tomb to rise up again as zombies and skeletons.

Before Kazuma could turn around and run for the hills, Aqua had confidently declared they would take care of it. Kazuma had whirled on her to complain, but his voice died in his throat. Oh, fine, they were already in the crap, then they may as well get something out of it rather than piss off a noble.

And that was why they were now creeping through a dark and decrepit tomb lit only by a torch Kazuma was carrying. This was a place only meant to be opened to inter the dead, so light wasn’t needed normally - though there were sconces to light on the way just in case. Aqua was keeping close - too close! Clinging to Kazuma’s back like a small child to her mother. “W-What was that noise, what was that one-“ she babbled as every creak of old stone and even their own steps at times freaked her out.

Normally Kazuma would have yelled at her to shut up by now. To stop being distracting or stop being a wimp. She was a Goddess, this was her wheelhouse! But instead, he found himself trying to comfort her. “Come on. I’m right here, you know. They have to get through my armor to get to you, so stop crying about it.” He said.

Aqua blinked in surprise - not that he could see, since she was burying her face into the back plate - and wondered when Kazuma had started sounding… like that. Not cool, because Kazuma and cool were two concepts that could not coexist in any rational mind and even most irrational ones. But, kinda Paladin-y? Like he actually was some protector type. “I-I, uh, ok…?” she muttered, though she didn’t stop pressing close.

They’d seen fairly few undead, surprisingly - but the crypt was huge, as one might suspect of one of the kingdom’s oldest noble houses, and there were indeed plenty of places to hide. The map was leading them to where the cursed artifact was, however, so they wouldn’t get lost…  but that did mean they weren’t clearing that much out behind them. That might be an issue.

With the map in hand they found the coffin of the noble’s late uncle easy enough. And… Kazuma wasn’t sure what he’d expected. They hadn’t actually seen undead so far, so he’d wondered if this was some scam, but seeing the coffin made it abundantly clear that this was, in fact, the real deal. Part of it was the feeling of pure malevolence coming off of the coffin. The other part was there was purple smoke swirling around it, which was never a good sign.

“Alright, Aqua, you should get to work on purifying that,” Kazuma said confidently. He lit a few torches around the room so he’d have light and then dropped his own torch so he could draw his sword. “The longer it’s around the worse it gets right?”

Aqua swallowed hard, but nodded and knelt down before the coffin, preparing her magic. She started to glow, and a harsh groan sounded throughout the tomb. She froze up. “K-K-Kazuma! P-Protect me! Save meeee!”

Kazuma didn’t feel annoyed this time, for some reason. He just wanted to help her. …To make her shut up, that was it, right? “I’ll keep you safe. None of them will get past me.” He said, raising his shield as the first of the undead shambled around the corner.

The Goddess didn’t know why. But… she felt genuinely safer when Kazuma said that. He cut a dashing figure in the dimness, torchlight glinting off his armor, long hair waving behind him… when had his hair gotten so long, and why was it half blue? Ah, who cared, she wanted to finish and get out of here! Aqua refocused on the task at hand - the purification ritual that would make the animating force of these monsters vanish.

The first few undead were the fresher ones - zombies and skeletons clad in tattered fineries and stumbling at him, their only advantage over a paladin being their superior numbers. They fell easily, as even if they’d reached him they’d have had a hard time chewing their way through his armor.

The problem, surprisingly, was the older corpses. Noble families didn’t start as fancy fops who’d never known a day of hardship; often they began as heroes in war or against monsters given a title for acts of valor, and this one had earned it’s title on the field of battle. And risen from the grave in ancient armor and wielding their old weapons, reinforced by the magic raising them, the skeleton knights could put up a fight. Kazuma yelped as one managed to get an axe under his guard, barely moving such that it skittered over his armor rather than crushing through it.

“K-Kazuma!?” Aqua called out, not looking away from the ritual.

“I’m fine!” Kazuma reassured her. “When I give a prayer just make sure to give it a big answer, okay?”

Kazuma shoved the skeleton knight away and took the moment to cast. “Oh Goddess Aqua, your humble servant has need of you; give unto me the strength of a raging river, that I might wash your foes from this earth in a holy flood…” he said. He was going a bit extra on this one intentionally, adding words of his own to the automatic prayer. He had a feeling that would make it stronger, like casting a second tier spell instead of first.

Whether it improved the impact or not, there was certainly a strong one - Kazuma once again started to glow blue as the blessing took hold, strength filling his limbs. He breathed deeply in, then out, and then got to work again. The first knight fell, then a second. He bashed aside one that was charging down Aqua with his shield. “You won’t get through me! I’m a Paladin, and it’s my job to protect!” he declared, muttering another reinforcing prayer.

The ritual was taking time, and more armed and armored skeletons were arriving. Kazuma had to recite prayer after prayer for both keeping himself intact with healing, strengthening his blows so his sword could pierce the skeleton knights’ armor, and in a few cases smiting. It helped that his holy abilities were of significantly greater effect against undead, but the main factor was how each prayer grew more intense than the last.

Kazuma and Aqua were both too busy to pay much attention to such things, but even as Kazuma slashed another skeletal knight down to size, his transformation was continuing. His hair - already long enough to reach his shoulders - continued to lengthen, falling to the small of his back as it continued to dye blue. His face started to restructure itself, fewer hard lines and more soft curves, and even his voice grew softer and airier as he prayed. Just to look at them, most people would assume female.

The more dramatic changes were underneath the armor. His chest swelled. His hips flared out, waist pinching. Feminine curves replacing the masculine flatness Kazuma’s body changed more and more with each prayer. The armor concealed most of it, not being a form-fitting piece to begin with, and most of what Kazuma noticed was it getting less comfortable as armor tends to in the heat and sweat and grime of combat.

“Kazuma! I got it!” Aqua cried out triumphantly, as light filled the room. The purification ritual was completed, and suddenly, any remaining foes crumpled.

“Good… whew, good…” Kazuma said between deep breaths - it had been getting hectic towards the end. “Let’s head out to the noble and tell him job’s done, then.”

Kazuma didn’t notice his voice had changed - and Aqua was still too victory-drunk to notice anything strange had happened. Or perhaps simply unobservant. Intelligence was, after all, her weakest attribute.

There was a party waiting for them at the entrance - the noble along with some servants. “And here come the conquering heroes!” the noble said grandiosely. “I take it my family crypt has been purified? Good, good. I’ll see to your reward right here.” The man said, overeager. He sent some servants in to properly take care of the remains of assorted raised family members, while refocusing.

“I’ve sent the monetary compensation on forward to the Adventurer’s Guild. When you return home you simply must show your card and ask for it.” The nobleman said. “I imagine the struggle was grand?”

“Your forefathers knew how to use a weapon.” Kazuma said. It was more complimentary than he’d normally have offered, but then, he’d been nicer lately. That Charisma skill came in handy keeping him from making enemies.

“Good, good. And yet, you’ve prevailed.” The man stepped forward and shook Aqua’s hand briefly. Then he went to shake Kazuma’s, and this one lingered. Kazuma had the strangest feeling that the nobleman was considering what he’d look like outside of the armor, but that would be ridiculous wouldn’t it? “Hmm. A Paladin such as yourself deserves a title, to be known across the land. Adventurers tend to have grand ones, do they not? You’re a Paladin of Aqua, yes?”

“I… yes…?” Kazuma asked. Not sure where he was going with this.

“Then something to honor her…” The nobleman said, stroking his chin. “Hmm… perhaps you shall be called ‘Nymphaea’.”

Kazuma blinked. Aqua tried to stifle a laugh. “Pardon?”

“Ah, perhaps you’re not as versed in flowers as I am - the Nymphaea is a kind of flower that grows in water. The more common name by which it is called is the water lily. I imagine it is fitting for one such as you - a beautiful lily of the water goddess, protecting the purity of this world.”

Kazuma could practically feel his brain shorting out. There should have been smoke pouring out of his ears as his mind encountered a fatal error in comprehension. Was this ponce flirting? That didn’t work in his brain.

“Pfft… s-sure, I think that sounds great… Nymphaea it is!” Aqua stifled a laugh, trying to sound like she wasn’t just enjoying her paladin being slapped with such a girly name.

Something clicked in the adventurer’s head as Aqua said that. She approved the name. Maybe it wasn’t so bad then. After all, it would be bad to anger a noble when they were for all the world cared mere commoners. And all heroes had titles, didn’t they? So it would be fine to be Nymphaea.

“I… I thank you for the title, sir.” Nymphaea said as formally as they could manage. “I’ll try to bring honor to it.”

Aqua stared at Nymphaea as she said this. She couldn’t help herself now, busting out laughing.

“Is your friend alright? That’s quite a wheeze.”

“I’m sure she’s fine. Though we should really get going.”

— — — — —

Request after request came flooding in - big adventures, assisting other parties, even more personal requests. The pair of Nymphaea and their Archpriestess companion was spreading well beyond the city as a result of the nobleman’s influence, leading to a massive increase in the demand for the two adventurers.

At first, Nymphaea had been understandably concerned about being dragged onto more dangerous adventures and more numerous foes. This world as dangerous and adventure was not for the faint hearted; death was a real possibility at just about any time. But between their improved gear from each mission, the training regimen they’d begun to set for themselves, and the simple fact that their Goddess being physically present and helping them dramatically boosted their abilities as a Paladin, they had found that they were ready for any challenge; who knew, Aqua turned out to be a proper “cheat item” after all once paired with a class that could use her divine status.

Frankly, Nymphaea was happier now than they had ever been since arriving in this world - or longer, even, if you counted their past life in Japan. They had good gear. They could eat and drink whatever they liked and stayed in a fancy inn while they were saving up for a nice house. And for once, people liked them! They had people who would willingly engage them in conversation and not be jerks about it! Sure, Nymphaea didn’t often have much to say to them - especially the pretty girls who were enamored with their heroics, which felt frankly embarrassing, nevermind when it was a guy who was into it - but they were trying to talk with Nymphaea, and that was a bizarre feeling.

As they had adventured, the word of the “beautiful water lily and their divine companion” had spread far; and when Nymphaea arrived, they weren’t often disappointed. It would be… difficult, for most to mistake them for a man at this point, even covered in armor. No man could have  such a pretty face, nor such a notable figure that even something as simple as fitting the armor well meant it was on display. Even their hair was different, long and silky and blue as the clear sky.

Such changes would be difficult to miss for most people. But whenever Nymphaea came close to considering them, their thoughts seemed to almost skip off the surface - something else took their attention or they just zoned out for a bit. Or, in another indication of their shift in personality, they started thinking about Aqua and blushing as they contemplated how closely they lived with a Goddess. In earlier days it had been a matter of desperation and lack of funds; one room was cheaper than two. These days they could easily afford several rooms - and yet, they remained in the same one.

The pair had returned to the city after a long time away adventuring, bringing with them more money than they’d ever dreamed of before the class-change. Aqua was downstairs, boozing it up hard, but Nymphaea had decided to take a bath instead. They felt a bit odd that they were choosing that rather than going drinking, but it was another small shift in personality; they’d been nicer and more respectful, less likely to debauch and rough-house. Wanting to live up to their own mental image of a pure Paladin, in part - or maybe just the continuing transformation.

Nymphaea settled themselves into the bath, sighing in relief. It had been far too long. Not many towns were developed enough for the running water one needed for a private bath in an inn room, and Nymphaea would feel awkward about going to the public baths, so they’d been cleansing themselves with one of Aqua’s blessings rather than bathing. That was convenient, but there was something fundamentally relaxing about a real bath.

They didn’t quite fit into the steamy tub - too tall and muscular for it these days. But that was fine, as long as most of their body was inside, Nymphaea was content. Their mind began to drift and, as it so often did these days, landed on Aqua.

The Paladin had for quite some time seen her as… well, it was hard to say now, but a bit of a burden. She still didn’t know how the world worked in any meaningful sense, relying on Nymphaea to handle payment negotiations and getting housing (and keeping Aqua from agreeing to sell herself for booze money by accident); she had very, very few practical skills for anything besides unskilled labor. Which in all fairness, she had up to this point lived the plush life in heaven and not needed such skills, so maybe it was a bit much to begrudge her such. But still, it had meant that when they first arrived in this land, she had been a waste of space and air.

That wasn’t the case anymore. She… still had no practical skills at all, outside of the adventuring field. But she was essential to the pair’s success with her healing and by supporting Nymphaea’s prayers for divine aid. It made the Paladin think that maybe they’d been too hard on her at the start; she was as frightened as anyone suddenly ejected from their home might be. It was a wonder she’d adapted as well as she had, frankly. Maybe Nymphaea had been overlooking her good qualities. And she was so pretty…

Nymphaea blinked, then bolted upright in the bath. What the hell? Had they just been having that sort of thought about Aqua of all people? What was wrong with them? Aqua was a useless goddess through and through, and Nymphaea had no idea why their mind had put such a rosy tint over her and their time together. They huffed, and sunk back into the bath, distracted by a heavy feeling on their chest now-

Oh. Those were… breasts. Really large breasts. Badonkers, melons, massive hecking tits. And they were… Nymphaea’s. And they could only think of themselves as Nymphaea.

Nymphaea stumbled out of the bath and searched for something reflective - and saw a very pretty naked woman when they did. Emphasis on woman. If there was anything masculine left below the belt it was so well hidden that they couldn’t find it. The Paladin flushed fiercely. “AQUAAAAA!”

By the time they came downstairs, with some hastily thrown on clothes that maybe showed a bit much of their figure (to be fair, with their body shape, there was no such thing as masculine-looking clothes), they had managed to calm down a little. They were changing - and probably had been ever since they became a Paladin. Kazuma didn’t know why, or if Aqua had anything to do with it intentionally, but given the blue hair and all it was clear to see she was influencing it. Maybe being a higher level Paladin meant being more like your patron? Or maybe just fitting more their idea of an ideal follower? Aqua was narcissistic enough that she’d probably love having followers that looked like herself.

They found Aqua where they pretty much always could find her - drinking herself into a stupor at the bar. Nymphaea stormed up to her, and put a hand on her shoulder. “Aqua. Up to the room. Now.” They said, trying to put some force in their voice - though they found that they couldn’t actually willingly move Aqua, unable to put any effort into their hands.

Aqua looked over at Nymphaea, but if she had understood the words she wasn’t going to say anything. She gave the recently-made woman a wide smile. “Heeey, Kazu… Ka… Nympho- Nym? Nym, heyas!” she slurred, “How’s my favorite pally doin, huh?”

Favorite Paladin? Nymphaea felt themself blushing- wait, no, she was drunk! Ignore it. “I’m fine thank you. Now, why don’t we go up.” Nymphaea repeated.

“Mnn? No no no, I should thank yous,” the drunken goddess insisted. “You’re the bestest now… you can beat up all the scary monsters, hehehe…”

“T-Thank you, Aqua, but that’s really not so relevant…”

Aqua was not an individual who had many good points. But one of the few she did have was her care for her worshippers and subordinates, so even in her drunken stupor she felt she had to give Nymphaea all the credit they were due, and compliment them as much as she can. “Why dun you siddown for a drink or three? C’mon, I’ll… I’ll treat ya…”

Nymphaea winced - but found themselves sitting already before they could consider refusing. The idea of denying Aqua was not one that fit in their brain anymore. “Uh… water, please?” They asked, trying to avoid getting themselves (or Aqua) any drunker.

“More booze! More booze!”

“…And some ale.” Nymphaea reluctantly added.

“Mmhm! That’s the spirit.” Aqua said. She leaned over against Nymphaea’s shoulder, giggling madly. “Hehehe… good pally… I thinks… I thinks you’re my favorite follower, ya know… you made so much money… and pray so hard… hic makes me feels important…”

Nymphaea felt warm inside at the praise. “It’s… very nice of you to say that, but there is a bit of a problem…”

“What’s problem? You’re way too nice, Nym… it’s really good though, you should keep getting nicer.”

One of the remaining parts of Kazuma was locked away - the rudeness and snark so central to him. Nymphaea was a kind person, as their Goddess liked. “T-Thank you, Goddess…” It was so nice to listen to her… even in that drunken, babbling state, it just made her praise seem more genuine and important to the Paladin.

“I’s… I thoughts you would switch back, ya know? Who’d wanna be a Paladin of some crummy goddess who can’t even do water rights…” Aqua mumbled, “Buts… I’m happy you stayed. Thanks for being my pally… I didn’t expect you to enjoy it so muchs, buts… is good you did…”

Nymphaea swallowed hard, but nodded. They were glad that they’d become a Paladin, for many reasons - it let them protect Aqua better, and it seemed to give her so much esteem… even if they had to address this one problem, they’d see if they’d have a way to do it without giving up the class. “Well… I’m glad you’re happy. I’d never give up the class now.” Nymphaea assured her. “But, there’s a bit of a problem… it’s, uh, to do with my appearance…”

Aqua looked over at her - then promptly toppled over, landing face-first into her bust. “Mmph…” she grunted, and then stumbled back to her seat with a smile and took another swig of the newly arrived booze. “What’s problem? You look great.”

“I-I suppose I do, but…” Nymphaea started. Well, if Aqua said they looked great they obviously did, but…

“You’re so pretty and have such a nice figure… hehehe, I bet the guys give you too much attentions, is that it, ehehe~?”

“N-No, that’s not it, but I s-suppose they do…”

“Then there’s no problem with you~” Aqua sing-songed. “You’re perfect, kay~? I don’t want my favorite pally feeling bad about their look~” she said - and sealed the fate of what was left of Kazuma’s masculinity.

If Aqua, the Goddess, said that there was no problem, then that was simply the case. There wasn’t a problem after all - Nymphaea was a very pretty woman, and while that might have it’s own array of issues, obviously that wasn’t a problem with her specifically. She relaxed a bit as the tension building towards bursting in her mind was eased. She was glad she’d come to talk to Aqua - she always felt better after speaking with her Goddess.

“Ah. If you say so, Goddess, then I guess there’s really no problem.” Nymphaea said - and then took a swig of her own booze, eager to take part in her Goddess’ generous gift.

– – – – –

After that night, Aqua found herself complimenting Nymphaea more and more. Too distracted by wealth and power to consider if anything had changed, they went on for weeks as adventurers, gaining more fame and fortune as Nymphaea became an ever more perfect paladin with every passing day.

Nymphaea was in a feedback loop now. She did well, which caused Aqua to praise her, which caused her devotion to her to increase, which caused her to do better due to strong prayers, and that caused even more praise; every passing day, Kazuma was being buried deeper underneath the kind and generous Water Lily Paladin, Nymphaea.

Things were frankly too easy. Every challenge was overcome with stronger prayers and stronger gear as they scaled faster than their adventurer ranks did, working in better synch with each adventure. Aqua was even getting more praise! Not for her directly since people still didn’t believe she was actually the Goddess Aqua despite all evidence to that effect, but because Nymphaea was making sure to dedicate every victory to her.

It was the good life. They even had their own, very nice, house on the edge of the city now! Those cold nights huddling up under hay for warmth seemed so far away. With a life like this maybe it wasn’t so bad that Kazuma had decided to take her into this world as their cheat item…

Aqua bolted upright in bed as the extremely obvious changes in her Paladin suddenly slapped her in the face. She hadn’t really thought of them in that way for ages (and to be blunt, Aqua’s intelligence stat had not improved a single point no matter how many levels she acquired) - and she only just realized that Kazuma… wasn’t, anymore. She hadn’t heard them or anyone else refer to her as anything but Nymphaea in forever, and in fact, Nymphaea had been acting ever more womanly - even going into the female side of baths, without anyone batting an eye, and without perving on the ladies! It was like she was an entirely different person!

She wasn’t sure what had done it - she’d never had a Paladin before! If she’d had a bit more intellect she might have surmised that Kazuma’s being in close proximity to their patron deity had had a stronger effect on them than most Paladins had, changing them to better fit their image of an ideal worshipper. But as it was, she was clueless.

It was at this time that Nymphaea made her entrance to their shared room. Even in this big house they shared a bedroom, though Nymphaea both went to sleep and woke up much earlier than Aqua for health and training purposes. She was always on hand to wake Aqua though, and that was what she’d been coming to do now. “Oh, Goddess, you’re awake already? Good, I’ve made breakfast…”

Gosh, she really was too perfect… “Say, uh, Nymphaea?” she said, slowly. “Has there been any… change, in you recently?”

Nymphaea tilted her head. “Like what? I did level up from that Demon General we defeated the other day, I suppose. I think I unlocked a new prayer to practice later, if you’d give your blessing for it.”

“Of course I will,” Aqua said, “But that’s not what I mean. I mean, like, appearance-wise…?” Aqua prompted.

“I’ve been considering changing up my hairstyle so it gets in the way less in a fight, but hadn’t done it yet.” Nymphaea shrugged.

Aqua blinked. Oh. This was… concerning. “…Do you know anyone named ‘Kazuma’, Nymphaea?”

The Paladin froze for a few moments, thinking over their answer.

Of course they knew Kazuma. That was them. Or rather, it had been, once. Nymphaea considered that useless Japanese teenager about as much a part of herself as, say, the night soil she’d left in the bathroom that morning. Once part of her, now nothing but an unpleasant memory to be left in the past.

Kazuma had been so awful to Aqua, the generous and kind and amazing Goddess, that Nymphaea generally tried not to remember the days before she’d taken the Paladin class. It was deeply unpleasant to think she’d ever been such an awful man.

This was a test, clearly. Nymphaea nodded to herself, realizing her Goddess’ subtle plan. She was trying to see if Nymphaea was truly devoting herself to the life of a Paladin of Aqua, to leaving behind all she had been before in favor of her dedication to the divine. Nymphaea would pass that test.

“…No, I don’t think I do. They sound like a member of that strange Crimson Demon tribe, with that weird name. Should I know them, Goddess?” Nymphaea said, convincingly confused.

Oops. Aqua was… pretty sure she’d ended Kazuma’s existence as Kazuma by accident. Nymphaea really didn’t remember being him, huh? Maybe she should tell them, see if she can jog the memory and fix it…

Wait, why would she do that? Kazuma was an asshole who’d brought her here in the first place! Every single part of Nymphaea was superior to that Kazu-trash, from her name to her looks to her skills to everything else! Really, it was best to think as if Kazuma had simply decided for the normal route of rebirth.

“Oh, no, there’s no need for you to know that name. Not sure why I even brought it up - you can go ahead and forget all about it, okay?”Aqua said with a smile.

Nymphaea smiled right back - she passed! And she’d been given an order by her Goddess. Forget all about Kazumy- Kazu- Whatever that name was. She was an obedient servant of the great goddess - she would do as she asked, and work hard to forget all about that worthless name and anything associated with it.

As they chattered over breakfast - a Paladin and her beloved goddess, in a nice, peaceful moment - Nymphaea was busily working to forget the name. By the end of breakfast, she could genuinely no longer remember the name she’d had when she came to this world.

Over the rest of the day, she’d work at it, forgetting bit by bit and replacing it with her new self - a noble Paladin. By dinner time, she’d spent quite a bit of time in the private shrine she’d built. She prayed for ‘healing’, of a sort. And it was granted.

The magic washed over her, cleansing her of anything she saw as unwelcome or tainted. And all memories of that young Japanese man qualified. One by one, she purged them from her soul.

Nymphaea had never been from another world. She had never been reincarnated or transposed. She was a woman, through and through, and the very idea of once being a man was so insulting it looped around to hilarious. She was a kind hearted, just woman, and had always been fervently devoted to Aqua. It was only natural that once she became an Adventurer she’d swiftly unlock the Paladin class.

There was a bit of awkwardness in the memory around where Aqua’s arrival was concerned - but she squared that away as Aqua descending from Heaven to smite the Demon Lord, and she needed a mortal envoy to assist her in her time here; that was Nymphaea, and that was her purpose in life.

When Nymphaea left the small shrine, there wasn’t so much as a trace left of the Japanese boy who’d chosen a Goddess as his ‘cheat item’. All that was remaining was the noble, devoted Paladin Nymphaea, who eagerly got to work on dinner. While she was working, a messenger came to the door, with another request for Nymphaea and her “Archpriest”. Nymphaea eagerly accepted - some quest to destroy something called the ‘Destroyer’ or something on those lines. She couldn’t wait to spread the glory of Aqua further with such a deed!