Power Corrupts: Blessed Fortune (ch. 74) (Patreon)

"State your business for coming to Axel!" Demanded a stern woman with dark hair and a medium build, wearing a business skirt and dark blue blazer. She adjusted her glasses, pinning me with a look, her dark blue eyes trying their best to stare right through me.

I sat in front of her, my hands in my lap with half of my ass hanging free because the chair wasn't anywhere big enough to accommodate me. I ended up breaking off one of the arms when I sat down -- something the guy behind me scribbled down. I couldn't see what he wrote -- his body was angled in a way that I couldn't see even with my expanded vision. Almost like he was intentionally hiding it, which made sense because this was an interrogation.

"I was pulled here from a different universe, because I died killing a dragon made of crystalized time," I answered bluntly, trying to lean back in my chair, but the thing groaned painfully like it was about to crumble under my weight.

The woman's eyes darted to the bell that sat between us. A magical lie detector. It didn't ring.

"One moment," the woman said, grabbing the bell before standing. She dropped it into the trash can next to the guy furiously scribbling something down. She opened up a door, revealing a solid hundred of the magical bells available, each hanging up on a rack. She slid one-off and closed the door, turned sharply on her heel, and walked back to the table. The cold, damp, dungeon room we were in was filled with the sharp clacks of her high heels hitting the stone floor. "My apologies," she said, placing the bell down on the table.

So, she wasn't even going to entertain the thought, huh?

"Please tell me two truths and one lie, in that order," she said, clasping her hands in front of her -- she was the picture of professionally.

"I'm the High King of a nation called Skyrim. I've killed two gods. I like your hat," I spoke, and the bell only dinged for the last one. The woman's eyes narrowed into slits, her hands going up to the blue beret with gold trimming that she wore protectively. I didn't like it. It was too small. What's the point of a hat if it didn't cover your head? It looked like a stupid hair ornament.

The guy behind me continued to furiously scribble, while the woman tried to disguise her attempt to protect her dumb head ornament by fixing her glasses. "Ahem," she coughed lightly into her hand, "My name is Sena. I am eighteen years old. I am in a relationship," she said, and it only dinged for the last one. That guy behind me was still going at it -- it sounded like he was writing an entire novel behind my back rather than recording a transcript.

"I see you've managed to find a way to subvert the bell," Sena said, sounding nonplussed. "Very well then, I shall utilize my significant experience as an interrogator-"

Ding.

Even the guy behind me stopped writing.

Sena fixed her glasses with a finger, looking as cool as a cucumber as she was caught in a lie. "I shall use my moderate-"

Ding.

"I shall use my experience as an interrogator to determine if you are telling the truth or not," Sena said, and I had to give her credit, she had one hell of a poker face.

"Sure," I agreed, faintly amused.

Sena looked up at me, her hands once again clasped before her as they rested on the table. "You were observed to be wearing armor that made you appear as a demon. Can you explain why this is?"

"It was a gift from my patron deity -- Hestia. The armor itself is made of manifested chaos, so I really didn't get a say in the aesthetics," I answered honestly. Sena glanced at the bell for a long moment, clearly baffled at why it wasn't ringing like a church bell, no matter how well she hid it. The guy once again began intensely recording everything that was said.

"I see. And the sword that was noted to have an eyeball in it, that was stated, and I quote: to have a gaze of burning malice that seared through my very soul, that stripped me bare of all of my secrets, making my blood sing as… I…" Sena trailed off as she read from a transcript. Then, without a word, she picked the slip of paper up, crumbled it in her fists, before dropping it on the ground. "How do you respond to these claims?"

"It's just a really old broad sword that got soaked in so much malice and hatred, that it ended up developing a soul that desires the death and destruction of all things living," I answered. The bell did not ding. "It's safe for me to use, but if anyone else tries to wield it, you'll end up being driven insane and will try to kill everyone around you."

"I see… I see… Do you work for the Demon King?" Sena questioned, nodding to herself.

"No. I'm his enemy. My goal is to help Kazuma defeat the Demon King," I stated. Again, the bell didn't ring.

Sena tilted her head, pausing for a moment as if to let the guy catch up with his recording. "Satou Kazuma, correct? What is your relation to him?"

"I met him about five minutes before you arrested me," I answered.

Sena blinked slowly, "And you trust him to defeat the Demon King… why, exactly?"

"Because I don't want to do it myself. I'm pretty sure that I could, but… saving the world is a huge pain in the ass. Honestly, I'm not sure people are worth the effort. All they do is drag their feet, bitch, and moan while you're trying to save them. They have all these stupid reasons about why they can't help -- it's like they don't get that the destruction of the world means the destruction of them too. And their stupid problems." I was rambling. And the bell wasn't ringing. "So… I'm passing the duty to Kazuma. He can deal with it."

Sena seemed at a loss for words, so she responded with action. She stood up, grabbed the bell, tossed it in the trash, then grabbed new three bells from the supply closet.

"Satou Kazuma stands accused of kidnapping," Sena pointed out.

"Aqua had it coming," I responded bluntly. None of the bells rang. "She kidnapped me."

"... I find that difficult to believe," Sena remarked, her gaze roaming me.

Mine narrowed in suspicion, "Are you checking me out?" I questioned, and that got a reaction out of her. I suppose I should be flattered, but I just watched a lot of my friends die, and I died myself. Time and place.

Sena sputtered, "N-No!" She denied-

Ding! Ding! Ding!

The bells jostled when Sena slammed her fists on the table. Her face flushed, but that was just as likely to be murderous rage as it was embarrassment. "Do you have any ill intentions towards the city of Axel and its inhabitants?" She pressed on, and I would give her credit for that.

"I don't. I'm just going to kick my feet up and work on some crafting skills for however long it takes Kazuma to kill the Demon King," I reassured her. "And you are cute -- I've just watched a whole lot of my friends die. I died too. Time and place, you know?" I wasn't going to try to seduce my way out of here. And if I wanted to leave, then I would just leave.

Sena took in a deep breath, her cheeks a rosy red, "I'm satisfied-"

Ding.

"... You are free to go," Sena said, and I nodded before I stood up. I'm glad I didn't need to fight my way out of here -- the only other two cities I knew of were the one that worshiped Aqua, which was filled with crazies, and the other was Megumin's, filled with insane OP mages.

Heading to the door, I tried to catch a glimpse at the transcript to see what in the hell that guy was writing, only to find that his arms were at the sides of the paper while his body was hunched over it, blocking any view. Whatever it was, he was trying to hide it… I wanted to know. I just couldn't learn right now without tipping my hand.

After leaving the Dungeon, I headed up to a guard lobby of some kind -- sitting on a bench was Kazuma, rocking back and forth, his head clutched in his hands as he made the kind of sounds that belonged to a dying animal. Aqua stared blankly ahead, looking like she had come back from the front lines of a hellish war. There wasn't anything else that could justify that thousand yard stare. I'd know.

"Goddess? Who's a goddess? Me? Am I a goddess?" Aqua muttered to herself, seemingly stripped of her will to live.

"I wanna die. I wanna die. I wanna die and reroll!" Kazuma shouted, throwing his head back, completely ignoring the looks that he got from me and the other guards.

I sighed. What in the hell happened to them?

"Let's go to the guild."

…

The guild was a large building that was half tavern. On the left was the registration booth -- which only seemed to house one employee. On the right was a meal area marked with long tables and benches, and a bar. Upstairs was private seating, I'm guessing.

The moment we stepped inside, all eyes were on us. It was a bit too early to tell, but I still seemed to tower over most people. Just… I wish that was the reason that everyone stopped and stared was because I was taller than them.

"I'm a goddess, you know? I really am! The bell's not broken…! I'm a goddess…"

"I should have just gone to heaven…"

I dragged the two into the guildhall by the back of their collars -- apparently, a brief stint in the dungeon was enough to break their will to live.

So, I needed to motivate them. Otherwise, how in the hell were they going to take out the Demon King for me? With well-practiced ease, I ignored the looks and whispers and headed to the Guild registration. A blonde haired woman straightened as I approached, her breasts…

What the fuck were the titty physics in this world? Her breasts were obscenely huge, a solid H cup if there ever was one. You'd think that mass would give them some heft, but they jiggled around like they were made of jello. A lack of a bra could only explain so much. Honestly, with that deep neckline, it was like she was trying to have get her titties to pop out of her shirt.

"We'd like to register," I said, tossing the two forward.

The blonde woman looked at them for a moment before she nodded slowly. "O-Okay," she agreed. "Do you have the registration fee…?" She trailed off, and I answered her by reaching into my pocket and pulling out a handful of coins.

"Keep the change," I said, stepping over the two to pay the fee. Money… kinda hard to care about money. I had plenty of it, after all. The deals I made with Azura fell through -- especially considering how the Neveraine never bothered to show up. Some ally she turned out to be.

"Bu-" she started, her eyes widening as I deposited the money on the desk, next to some doohickey that I recognized from the series was used to create the Adventurer cards.

"Keep the change," I insisted, my tone blunt. I looked over at Kazuma, who was lying underneath Aqua, both of them still out of it. "If you don't get up, then you're going to have to pay the registration fee yourself," I warned him. And, just like that, life returned to the teenager.

He shoved Aqua off of him, who landed in a heap with a pained "Ow!" He leaped to his feet and snapped off a crisp salute as he stood at attention, "Of course, Senpai!"

"That hurt! Kazuma! I hit my head!" Aqua shouted in his ear, and it seemed she had replaced her lack of godly pride with indignation.

The receptionist looked between them, her gaze drifting up to me before quickly looking away. She grabbed three blank cards of what seemed to be made of cardboard, "I need a piece of hair, please," she requested. Kazuma took an enthusiastic step forward, invading her personal space while he plucked out a hair.

I didn't miss how he peeked down her shirt. The receptionist didn't either. "For you," he said, throwing on a deeper voice than normal, presenting her the strand of hair. The receptionist took it and gave a practiced retail smile, before she hastily stepped back.

"Thank you…" she said, turning her back to us. Kazuma's gaze drifted down, and mine… yeah. Foul mood or not, I could at least recognize that she wasn't just packing heat upfront. She had legs for days, a bubble butt, and those light blue short shorts did wonderful things for it. I almost failed to notice when she put the hair in the thingamajig, along with the card, before a soft pale blue laser went through a few magnifying glasses that the thing was sporting and began to write on the card. The entire process only took a moment.

Kazuma visibly shone with excitement as the receptionist presented him his card, "Your stats…" she began, a kind smile on her face, "Are exceedingly average, except for your Luck and Intelligence! The latter is fairly high, but your Luck stat is exceptionally high! I'd make a recommendation to become a merchant…" She trailed off when she saw that Kazuma wasn't anywhere near as impressed with his stats.

"A merchant… huh? Where are my latent abilities…?" He trailed off, coming dangerously close to that lifeless state he just exited. "I… no! I will… I will become an adventurer…, please." He trailed off, having a flash of resolve that lasted all of a second. The receptionist offered an incredibly hesitant smile before doing exactly that.

Aqua, however, was pretty much the exact opposite. Exceptionally high stats in every category, except for an Intelligence that was well below average and a Luck stat that couldn't go any lower. The receptionist blurted the information out, catching the attention of those adventures up top. Within a handful of seconds, a small crowd had formed to gawk at Aqua, who preened under their praise.

"I shall become… an Arch Priest!" Aqua decided, her decision being met with uproarious cheering. It would seem all that damage done to her godly pride was undone just as quickly as it happened. A great big smile was on her face as she turned slowly, letting everyone get a good look at her. Then she looked at me and Kazuma.

She smirked.

"You little...!" Kazuma hissed out, glaring at her while he clenched a fist. He looked to me, "Senpai!" He said, a pleading note in his voice. I wasn't sure what he wanted me to do about it. We already got arrested once today, I had no intention of being arrested a second time. So, all I could do was turn to the receptionist -- Luna, based on the information on Aqua's card that she displayed openly.

Reaching up, I plucked a hair and handed it to her. She seemed caught a bit off guard, but she took it all the same, "Sorry… if I had known, I would have taken yours next…" Luna offered. I guess that Aqua would be a tough and disappointing act to follow. She fed the hair into the doohickey and a second later, my card took shape.

Luna recoiled, "W-WHAT ARE THESE STATS?!" She shouted, stumbling back as if the card had struck her. Instantly, the cheering for Aqua paused as all eyes went to the source of the commotion. Luna looked at me, her face bloodless and her eyes wide. "Y-your stats! They… your Endurance is in the thousands! Almost all of them are in the high hundreds! You're level fifty-five?!"

The information stunned the room, and everyone forgot all about Aqua, all of them talking about how great I was, and so on and so on. The devastated look I got from Aqua was totally worth the attention I received. Her dark blue eyes met mine.

I smirked.

Critical damage! Aqua's face dropped while Kazuma started cheering. I took my card.

Jericho

Level: 53

Job: --

Magical Power: 10,000

Strength: 751

Endurance: 1,100

Dexterity: 641

Intelligence: 452

Sense: 840

Luck: --

Skill points: 159

Huh. It was basically a slimmed-down Status. I guess without Hestia, this was how I was stuck upgrading my falna. It seemed that the level boosts were incorporated into the stats… I also had some skill points to spend -- I guess I got something like three per level. That was… actually pretty good, wasn't it? With how the cards worked, in theory, I could learn any skill after a brief explanation and witnessing it.

Konosuba had been on my world list, hadn't it? I probably would have come here for the card alone. I just wish I hadn't come here alone.

"With these stats, you could… you could become anything!" Luna said, and the crowd started roaring in approval.

"Craftsman," I decided. Luna blinked, that expression of shock and awe freezing on her face. The crowd continued to chant, high fiving each other… some guy jumped off the second story and started crowd surfing in the background.

"... I… I'm sorry?" Luna said, her surprised face slowly shifting into one of pure, unadulterated, panic.

"Craftsman," I repeated. "Or something like it. I'm really not sure how these job things work." Did I get bonus exp for a related job? Could I gain skills specific to that job? I didn't know, but I had time to learn. Because that's what I was going to be -- some kind of craftsman.

Luna stared at me, "I… Craftsman…? You… you want to be a Craftsman…? With these stats and this level…?" I nodded. The crowd seemed to sense something was wrong because the fervor began to die down. Which sucked for the second guy that tried to crowd surface after seeing the first guy do it. No one caught him, and he landed hard. "Are… you… sure…?"

For a second time, I nodded, "Yeah. Make my job a craftsman." This time, the crowd had died down enough that they could actually hear my request. I heard sputtering, and their cheering quickly turned into outrage.

“A Crafstman?! You can’t become a Crafstman! Become a warrior! Or a Barbarian! You could defeat the Demon King with stats like that! Just pick a class and-” The well-built and well-armored adventure who was speaking cut himself off when I looked at him. He flinched a step back, letting out an "Eep!" I guess my bad mood must have shown on my face.

“I don’t want to,” I spoke to the crowd, daring them to contradict me. “You want the Demon King dead? Go kill him yourself. I’m here to become a craftsman. If you have a problem with that? Then please, step forward and complain.” I told the crowd, flipping them the bird for good measure. A room filled with a few dozen men and women, and every single one of them started sweating bullets. Actually…

I reached out and pushed Kazuma forward, “Better yet, help this one out where you can. He’s the one that’s going to kill the Demon King.” I told them, stunning the crowd for a second time in about as many minutes. Kazuma glanced back at me uncertainly, then at the crowd.

"He's going to defeat the Demon King!" The crowd roared, throwing their hands up and cheering. The hesitation melted away from Kazuma as the crowd washed over him, picking him up before they tossed him into the air and caught him. All the while they chanted 'Kazuma will kill the Demon King' over and over and over. Kazuma laughed, throwing his hands up as he basked in the attention and adoration.

All the while, Aqua stood next to me, a low whine escaping her. She stamped her foot once, "I'm going to kill the Demon King too!"

"She's going to kill the Demon King too!" The crowd agreed, mobbing Aqua, before they started tossing her up alongside Kazuma. I watched for a moment, and a few adventures eyed me, clearly expecting this to be a three for three scenario. Instead, I turned to Luna, who watched with some exasperation. I more or less had these people pegged -- they were drunk and looking for a reason to party. Any reason would do.

"Is there a quest board here?" I asked her, snapping her out of her thoughts. She nodded, sparing a lingering glance on the two new adventurers that cheered each time they were tossed up, before she led me to the quest board. It was covered in slips of paper, each detailing a quest request. Most of them had a couple dozen red skulls and crossbones on them, marking them as extremely dangerous.

"Umm…" Luna began as I searched the board for a quest. There were a bunch with a wide variety -- fetch quests, escort missions, target elimination, and then general tasks. However, the vast majority of the quests were very high level -- fifties and up. A One-Hit Bear, an ancient Elder Dragon, a giant hamster/scorpion… creatures that the average person couldn't deal with. Then, on the other end of the spectrum, you had a few token quests like the giant frog elimination quests. "About your job…"

"I'm not changing my mind," I told her bluntly, picking out the frog quest. Then a few others like the One-Hit Bear or the giant gerbil. I could use their souls for enchanting gear -- I needed to up my weakening gear twice over, and Kazuma needed an OP item. Maybe I could power level him a bit by letting him get the final hit in, while I just yoinked the soul?

Luna shook her head, "Not that. I… I really can't say I understand, but… Axel might be a town for beginners, but there are quite a few seasoned adventures here. Fighting the Demon King is no easy task, no matter what they say." She thought I came to Axel because I was burnt out on fighting?

She missed the mark, but it struck a little too close for comfort.

"The Craftsman job is a generalist job, much like the Adventure job -- in theory, there are no restrictions on the skills that you can learn, but in practice, gaining Exp to properly invest in skills is the limiting factor. A generalist simply gains less than a specialist." Luna began. So, it sounded like jobs gave Exp boosts to their relevant skillset. A Blacksmith gained more exp for blacksmithing than a Craftsman would performing the same action. "But a generalist job is a good starting point to find what you truly enjoy doing, and from there you can change your job when you find what you excell at. If you would like, I can arrange meetings with some craftsman of various fields so you can learn their skills."

I blinked at the offer, a bit caught off guard by it. "I would appreciate it," I agreed. The plan was to work on my enchanting the most. That, and creating magical items. Most of which I would hand over to Kazuma, before sending him on his way with teammates that weren't dead weight. From there, I just had to sit tight for a couple of months, practice my skills, send him better gear when he needed it. If everything went to plan, with the power of dumb luck Kazuma would kill the Demon King.

I would go back to Skyrim, kill Alduin the proper way this time, and then everything would be as it should be. Hell, I might come back to this world so everyone can get adventure cards before moving on to a new world.

Luna offered a genuine smile, "Is there any other way I can help you?" She asked, and I thought about it. So far, I was streamlining canon. Kazuma wouldn't be working as a laborer for like a week, the toad quest was already picked… what else was there…?

"I'm looking to buy a house. A big one. Do you know someone that might be willing to sell?"

…

The manor the guild receptionist directed me to was absolutely huge, I thought as I pulled my wagon. The peanut gallery seemed to agree.

"Is this where we're staying?!" Kazuma shouted, peeking through the wagon.

"Does it have a pool?! It should have a pool!" Aqua announced, leaning against me as she poked her upper body out of the wagon to get a better view. They hadn't stopped gushing since the manor came into view. I sorta got why. The place reminded me of the Twilight Manor in Danmachi -- absolutely huge and so richly decorated it was almost hard to look at. The building was about a block long, about six stories tall, and complete with a tall black iron gate to keep the peasantry out.

"He has to agree to sell before we can do anything," I pointed out, pushing the wagon through the open gate. A message had been sent ahead of us and the man who owned the manor had agreed to meet. That being said, I liked our chances. The guy gave away the house after dealing with some ghosts in the series, so he didn't seem awfully attached to it. Right now, I was swimming in cash -- those months of dungeon diving in Skyrim had proved lucrative to say the least.

"Dibs on the master bedroom!" Aqua shouted, much to the irritation of Kazuma.

"You can't call dibs on a bedroom! Plus, the master bedroom should clearly go to Senpai!" Kazuma argued, causing Aqua to retreat back into the wagon so they could argue. And don't think I didn't notice you sucking up, Kazuma.

Aqua shoved Kazuma, "Yes, I can! Dibs applies to everything and I'm a goddess, you know?! I should get the master bedroom!" Her point was undercut when Kazuma shoved her back. "Ow!" she cried.

Kazuma grinned malevolently, "Don't try getting physical with me, you useless goddess! I yearn for a world of true gender equality -- so I'll drop-kick the hell out of you if you get handsy with me!" Then he gestured to me, "The master bedroom belongs to Senpai."

Huh. Kazuma learned quickly, didn't he? It had taken me a full jump to realize that the gods were useless.

Aqua pouted, "Jericho! Kazuma is disrespecting dibs!" She shouted, immediately tattling on him, making him sputter.

"You're telling on me?! Senpai! Aqua is trying to steal your room!" Kazuma shot back, earning a glare from Aqua.

"It's not stealing if you called dibs! That's how dibs works! It's been a thing for a bazillion years!" Aqua argued back ,and from there it just became a petty argument. They didn't even notice that I had stopped listening entirely, or when I brought the wagon to a stop in front of the main doorway. Just outside of it stood an elderly man.

He kinda reminded me of Alfred Pennyworth in appearance. Sharply dressed in a white and black suit, a cane clutched in his hands, with a neatly cut hairstyle of pure white hair. The coloring matched his thin mustache, which clung to his upper lip. He smiled lightly upon seeing me, though I couldn't tell why. Probably because of the payday he was about to get.

"You must be Jericho… I see miss Luna didn't exaggerate your stature," the guy said, his gaze roaming up my body. For some reason his gaze left me feeling unclean.

"You must be the owner," I returned with a nod. "Luna didn't give me a price to prepare, but she said that you were interested in selling?"

The man nodded, turning to look at the door of the manor as if he could see through it. "Yes… I bought it in my early years when I was a young man not much older than you… I got married, and had a couple dozen kids, but they've all gone off to live their own lives. Now, it's just me in the house. So I intend to downsize." He explained, and I heard the fighting stop in the wagon.

"A couple dozen kids?" I heard Kazuma question. "Like… with one wife…?" The old guy seemed to hear him. Though, his slight smile became a little more brittle.

"Yes, only with one wife… she was pregnant about five times, but we managed to have quintuplets… every… every time…" he explained, his gaze adopting a faraway look. That sounded like hell. However, he snapped out of it a second later, "But the point is… with the Demon King's army approaching, property values outside of a walled city are going down. So, I'm looking to sell to powerful adventures, like yourself, who can withstand the Demon King's might."

That… sounded fishy as all hell -- because why would he tell us that when we're buying the place? But whatever. We could buy the manor. That's all I really cared about.

"Sounds fine to me," I said, walking back to the wagon, gesturing to the old man to follow. Reaching in, I flipped up the top of a chest in the back to reveal that it was filled to bursting with gold bars, coins, and precious jewels. Kazuma and Aqua both gasped at the sight, their jaws hitting the ground. Funnily enough, it was Aqua that realized that there were two other chests in the back of the wagon.

The old guy reached in and picked up a coin. He bit it, to test if it was real or something, before he nodded. "Perfect. The house is all yours. Here's the deed. Sign here," he said, handing over a slip of paper and a quill that appeared from nowhere. I did so and handed back the deed-

Property acquired!

Sunpoint Manor!

Land value: 1,000,000 Eris

Land purchased for: 5,000,000 Eris.

So, I overpaid about five times over?

Whatever. I had the manor. Stations of canon have been reached about three months ahead of canon schedule since Kazuma and the group only got the manor during the winter, and it was currently fall. There were options for the development of the land -- stuff like ground fertility, or mineral deposits and the like. I think it was a carry-over from my King days. I guess I was still considered King of Skyrim, even if I had died.

I ignored it. It didn't really do me any good. I was just going to spend some time here, polish off my skills, then go back to Skyrim. There was no point in putting down roots.

"Pleasure doing business with you!" The guy said, giving me a key, before quickly beating feet with my wagon full of gold in tow. He moved with the spryness of a man that had just ripped someone off to hell and back and wanted to get out of dodge before he realized. Whatever. The manor was mine. He moved with the spryness of a young man. A young man who had just ripped me off to hell and back, and wanted to get the hell out of dodge before I realized it.

Walking to the front door, I slid the key in and opened it. I half expected it to be trashed or something, but the doors revealed a wide-open room with a two staircases that wrapped around a pillar that jutted out to serve as a stage for the second floor. I’m guessing self-important people stood there to look down at everyone else. The wood was dark oak, the floors were white marble, the tapestry was red velvet… the place was a mansion, through and through.

"Dibs! Dibs!" Aqua shouted, running through the house with a pissed-off Kazuma right behind her, the two of them shouting over each other calling dibs for one thing or another.

I sighed.

"Day one complete."