Axel was as peaceful and quiet as ever. After all, it was winter now, and preparing for the cold season took priority over adventuring.
Since the 『 Hero 』 Party had stopped adventuring two months ago, Adam's return barely caused a stir. Kazuma and the others remained content as lazy shut-ins.
But Adam's return finally gave the perpetually idle Aqua something worthwhile to do.
Falna!
It was Adam's greatest acquisition from Danmachi, and now was the perfect time to put Aqua, the Goddess of Water, to good use.
"Aqua, this is for you."
"What's this?"
Adam presented her with a thick book.
It contained all his compiled knowledge about Falna, written simply enough that even a Goddess with zero intelligence like her could grasp it.
"'Knowledge of Falnas' — even dumb Goddesses can understand it...? Why do I feel like that small text at the bottom is taking a shot at me?"
Aqua quietly read the large words on the book's cover before spotting the small text in the bottom right corner. Her face scrunched up in annoyance.
Trust this simpleton to fixate on the most trivial details.
"Never mind that — just look through the knowledge I've compiled." Adam said, trying to redirect her focus, "Aqua, this is wisdom from another world. You need to study it carefully and improve upon it."
"I don't want to." Aqua pushed the book back with a flat refusal, "You're being unreasonable, Adam. How am I supposed to get through such a massive book?"
Just like the lazy Goddess she was — one look at the thick book from him, and she dismissed it without a second thought.
As expected of you, Aqua!
But Adam knew how to handle her. A little hint about potential benefits would surely make this foolish goddess take the bait.
"Oh—is that so? Well, never mind then." Instead of forcing her, Adam put on a regretful expression. He said softly, "That's really too bad… I was thinking of helping you, the Goddess of Water, gather more followers, but I guess since Aqua isn't willing... what a shame!"
Those words struck Aqua's weak spot perfectly.
She was a Goddess of the heavenly realm, ranked even higher than Eris. Yet her name wasn't nearly as well-known as Eris, who was famous as currency. Her followers were limited to just the Axis Cult members confined to Arcanletia.
Pitifully few!
If it weren't for her followers being such fanatics, her divine power might not even match that of a high-ranking Goddess.
When she heard about the possibility of increasing her followers, her eyes lit up brilliantly.
She immediately hugged Adam, frantically shaking his head.
"A-Adam... are you telling the truth? You're not lying to me?!"
"Y...es... of... course..." Though dizzy from the shaking, Adam managed a squinted smile.
Success!
The prospect of gaining more followers had irresistible appeal. By revealing just this much, the water Goddess — desperate for more followers — couldn't possibly refuse.
He explained the details about Falna, and Aqua grew more excited with each word. She could already envision countless adventurers accepting her Falna once this method spread!
The Water Goddess would gain followers while the adventurers would become stronger — a mutually beneficial arrangement that no one could refuse.
The crucial point was that she was the only Goddess in the mortal realm!
Which meant only she could grant Falnas to others!
By now, Aqua was fantasizing about all the people of "Konosuba" joining her faction.
However, such fantasies were unrealistic. The Axis Cult's infamous reputation would keep others away, and Aqua couldn't possibly update everyone's proficiency in the Parallel World.
After all, there were far too many people to handle, and she remained — as always — a lazy, good-for-nothing Goddess.
Expecting her to update Falnas for adventurers day and night? Absolutely impossible!
But to maintain her enthusiasm, now wasn't the time to rain on her parade. Better to wait until after she had researched Falna.
As for whether she could improve upon knowledge from another world — Adam wasn't worried. Though Aqua was rather unqualified as a Goddess, she excelled in certain areas.
When it came to being unproductive, she was absolutely reliable!
"Then I'll go research it now!"
Aqua snatched the book from his hands and hurriedly ran back to her room, nearly crashing into Darkness.
"What's up with Aqua?" Darkness asked, watching the Goddess's retreating figure curiously, "Did something happen? Why is she so happy?"
"Just a small matter." Adam replied casually.
He wanted to keep this as a surprise until after Aqua found a way to improve it.
"By the way, Darkness."
"Hmm?"
"About asking your father to look for rare ingredients..."
"Ah, about that — father has already collected quite a few."
Through Darkness, he learned that Lord Dustiness had indeed purchased many rare ingredients during this time.
Though such ingredients were hard to find, especially in winter, "money talks" wasn't just a saying. With connections and wealth, many nobles and adventurers were eager to trade with Lord Dustiness.
However, the ingredients weren't at the mansion yet. The building had only recently been completed, and Kazuma worried that Megumin and Aqua might mishandle the materials.
At his insistence, the ingredients would remain at the Dustiness estate until Adam could return to make proper arrangements.
Kazuma's judgment proved wise — those two would have certainly devoured everything had it been stored at the mansion.
"Well, in that case, let's go in a few days."
"T-together... to my home?!" Darkness exclaimed, startled by his words.
"What's wrong? You don't seem willing?"
"No, that's not it! Just going home together... hehe, hehehe..." Darkness blushed deeply and fell into her delusions, muttering nonsense.
"It's just to get ingredients..." Seeing her like this, Adam couldn't say anything more, "Well, let's just consider it a family visit then."
And Darkness just kept giggling.
✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧
The next few days passed leisurely.
Adam split his time between explaining complex aspects of Falna to Aqua and staying at the mansion, where he developed his relationships with Beatrice and Darkness.
Then, three days later, Aqua came running excitedly from her room, shouting to everyone:
"I did it! I succeeded!"
✧✧✧
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