It was just another usual day in the town of Axel, with the streets busy as usual, and the different classes of people taking on quests and doing their jobs. Even with how active it was, the town actually looked quite peaceful.

"Wiz, don't you have anything that could help?" Though for Kazuma's situation, it wasn't. He was currently in a certain store that sells magic items.

"I-I'm sorry Kazuma, I don't think there's anything here that can help with your situation," the local lich known as Wiz said.

Kazuma sighed in defeat. "I give up…" Turning his back on Wiz, he noticed a porcelain cup on the wooden table near the door of the shop. "Hey is it okay if I drink this?" If he could think of one good thing about visiting Wiz's shop today, it was the delicious tea she had in store.

Wiz nodded with a smile. Until she realized, that wasn't tea in the cup. She looked in horror.

"W-wait that's not-!" But it was too late.

He drank it and felt a wave of warmth entering his body. It was enough to boost his mood and energy a little for today. "Thanks anyway Wiz." He went out of the store.

As Kazuma walked around the streets, he was thinking of what store to visit next, to at least find something that could help him sleep easily. He has been so exhausted lately because of his recent adventures with his so-called party. Man, it's not the quests that are killing me, it's those three idiots.

He gasped in horror as he realized something. Wait a minute, did I even ask Wiz to serve tea when I went there? Did I just drink something that could create embarrassing events for me?! No, I'm just overthinking things for sure. That definitely looked like tea in that cup. It was brown, right?

There was nothing he felt that changed anyway even after some time, so he guessed it was nothing.

It wasn't that much later that the street was blocked by many people. There was a commotion going on. Apparently, it was Aqua, the useless goddess, performing her useless party tricks that took a lot of skill points. They've gone through a lot together, but Kazuma still couldn't help but get irritated thinking how in the first few days they arrived that she used those first few skill points for a mere party trick for showing off. It may be used as a form of distraction, but that was rarely successful. She could've learned 'Immunity' or 'Energy Buff' earlier, but no.

He saw Aqua jump in the air as she created water out of her hands, leaving the audience in awe. Seriously, weren't they supposed to be used to this by now? How come they were still amazed by this? But the more he watched, the more he thought it wasn't that bad at all. In fact, it was actually pretty cool. Wait, what? Certainly, this girl was using some sort of spell on everyone to be amazed, including him.

Water from Aqua's performance spilled all over the street. A local townsfolk was pushing a wooden cart full of rocks for some reason, but when he passed by, he lost control and the cart slid along the street. The fragile looking cart broke, leaving the rocks rolling all over the street. But what caught Kazuma's eyes was one of the pieces of wood from the cart itself, those looked deadly with how it looked like after the damage. They were like the front half of a spear, or probably a stake. And it was standing upright of all the possibilities! Why did the wind not blow today?! Kazuma took action, and headed for Aqua.

As Aqua was about to return to the ground after that unusually high jump, she didn't notice one of the rocks below, and tripped backward. She looked back and saw that stake-like piece of wood, and it was pointing at her head. She gasped in horror as she tried to "swim" for her to fall in a different direction. She closed her eyes, only to open them later and realize, nothing happened.

Kazuma saved her. He pushed her to the side and was able to prevent that fatal incident to even happen. Aqua cried like always, and held his shoulders. "Kazuma! Thank you so much!"

They were back at the mansion.

"You alright Aqua?" Kazuma was kneeling on one knee in front of her.

"Of course I am! I am a goddess after all!" She crossed her arms. "I wasn't even hurt!"

Kazuma sighed in relief and stood up. "That's good to know."

This confused Aqua. W-what kind of reaction was that?! This hikiNEET would usually say something mean and fight back or even look annoyed, but this time… She stood up from the couch in annoyance. "As if a plain old piece of sharp wood can kill me, if I did, no one would resurrect you again after your millionth death." Aqua said arrogantly. This would definitely tick Kazuma off.

But, Aqua didn't quite get the result she was expecting. "Yeah, I guess you're too strong. You are a goddess after all." Kazuma showed her a genuine smile.

Just who was this person?! This act wasn't impressing her. It was scaring her. Aqua smiled deviously, as if she finally saw through his plans. "Alright Kazuma, give it up. I know you're just acting this up. You can stop now."

"Act? What are you talking about?" Kazuma asked with a raised brow.

"Ahh, the usual thing one says when they pretend they don't know what they're doing," Aqua said. "I thought you hated it when someone does something so cliché, and now you're doing it?" She frowned at how this hikiNEET was doing his performance so poorly. It was so obvious.

She didn't expect the adventurer to hug her, and worst of all… he was crying! "I-I'm sorry Aqua! For all those things I did to you, for calling you a useless goddess, in fact, you've been really helpful! If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have gotten so far in this world! Thank you for using always resurrecting me!"

So he admitted it, she really was useful. An arrogant smirk formed on her face. "Ha! But of course I already know that Kazuma. You didn't have to tell me."

"Yes, but I've noticed that the first time we went here and got into this town. I saw just how reliable and capable you are."

That confidence from Aqua was radiating. Finally, instead of bashing, he finally- "Hey are you saying that I'm only capable of being a laborer?!" That was the only thing they did on the first few days here. "Oh you are really getting divine retribution you shut-in NEET!"

Kazuma raised his hands up to his face for defense. "That's not what I meant!" His panic mode was short-lived however, when he noticed something. "Hey, what's that on your face? It's ruining your naturally beautiful image. Here…" He got a handkerchief from his pocket and removed the stain off Aqua's face.

Aqua was really surprised at this twist. Whenever Kazuma had physical contact with her, it was usually because he strangled her because he gets so angry at her for doing something so idiotic during a quest or whenever, but here he was, doing exactly not that. By the way, has he always had that piece of cloth with him?! She was getting frustrated, but at the same time, she couldn't help but feel… "You really should stop acting like this. It's not funny at all."

"But what's wrong with the way I am? Haven't I always been like this? How come you're complaining about it only now?"

Aqua gasped. So there it was. Something strange was definitely going on. "I knew it! Kazuma, who did this to you? What kind of spell did it cast on you?"

"What?"

Aqua wanted to investigate about it, but something about the way Kazuma was now piqued her interest. The way he treated her awhile ago, the way he took that stain off her face, that he called her a useful goddess, and to top all that, he actually called her beautiful without any sign of hesitation or deceit. It was a much needed break after all the terrible insults, words, and names he called her with. It was kind of ironic.

But it actually felt nice.

A tinge of light red formed on her cheeks as a faint smile appeared on her face.

Hmm, maybe we could delay this investigation for later…

Hello! So yeah, this is my first story about KonoSuba, and I have to say, this series is great! In fact, I got so interested in it that I just had to search up the light novel. Luckily, I was able to find it. I'm not that far though, as I just started reading it.

School just started though, so I'm not sure when I can update this, or if I can even think of what to write for the next chapter that would be satisfactory in my eyes, and yours as well (I hope), with how busy things will be. But I'll try to update as soon as possible!