— — — — — —
"So many people... are we really gonna be able to grab any at this rate?"
Kazuma glanced around nervously at the huge crowd and muttered, "What if they're all gone before we even start?! That'd suck so bad…"
"Hey, kid!"
Just then, a bald uncle-looking adventurer walked up and gave Kazuma a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry too much. These cabbages aren't as easy to catch as they look. They're a real handful! You should be more worried about getting run over!"
He gave Renzo a respectful nod, then wandered off toward an open field on the left.
Kazuma looked a little spooked now and turned to Renzo. "Uh… Boss, what's the deal with these cabbages? Don't tell me they're some terrifying monster in disguise?"
"Relax."
Renzo waved his hand casually. "They're not dangerous or anything. They just hit really hard. You're strong enough now—you'll be fine. Just think about the money you're about to rake in!"
"Oh, and listen up, all of you!" Renzo added. "Don't mess this up, alright? There are two types of migrating flying vegetables today."
"The ones we want, the Cabbages are worth 10,000 Eris each—but there's also these look-alike 'Lettuces' that aren't worth junk. Huge price difference. Don't say I didn't warn you."
"Wait, what?!"
Aqua and Kazuma both looked stunned. "There's a fake version?! Man, good thing you told us in time!"
They only waited about ten minutes at the gate before the sky suddenly darkened.
"They're here! The cabbage swarm is coming—stay alert!!"
The moment someone shouted, a wave of adventurers rushed out through the gates—and Renzo's party followed right after.
In the distance, a huge green mass filled the sky like an endless cloud.
Looking closely… they were all cabbages.
"Wind Blade!!"
"Watch this—Slash Attack!!"
"WATERBALL!!!"
Spells and sword strikes flew into the air as everyone started unloading their best attacks on the airborne cabbage swarm.
Naturally, the cabbages got pissed and dove straight down at the attackers in retaliation.
BANG BANG BANG!!
"ARGH!!"
"Ow—dammit!"
All at once, adventurers were getting flattened left and right.
Kazuma barely dodged a couple cabbage headbutts using his decent agility and even managed to slice down two of them with his sword, but he still couldn't help yelling, "Jeez! What the hell?! These are seriously just cabbages?!"
"Wind Style: Tornado!"
Renzo finally stepped in from a distance.
He waved his hand casually and summoned a small, swirling breeze.
Kazuma opened his mouth to mock it—but before he could say anything, the breeze exploded into a towering tornado, dozens of meters tall and several meters wide.
Under Renzo's precise control, the tornado swept through the field like a vacuum, sucking in a ton of cabbages in one pass.
The ones that got caught were instantly spun senseless and shot out the tornado's center, dropping neatly into a massive iron cage that Renzo had just conjured using his creation ability.
In less than fifteen minutes, the first 5-meter-wide cage was full.
Renzo waved his hand and created two more.
Within the next thirty minutes, he filled those too.
Once they were packed to the brim, he stopped hunting and sat down with one of the cabbages in his hand, calmly analyzing its structure and composition—like some kind of mad vegetarian scientist—while watching the chaos unfold around him.
"Ahh! YES! Come at me, you glorious green beasts! Hit me harder!!"
"HARDER!!"
Suddenly, a rather… unhinged voice cut through the air.
Renzo looked up with a frown—and sure enough, there was Darkness, who had stripped off her armor and was standing arms wide open in the middle of the battlefield, moaning happily as cabbages slammed into her.
Her face was bright red.
Renzo's expression darkened.
He immediately flew over, grabbed her by the back of her collar like a misbehaving puppy, and gave the surrounding adventurers a slightly apologetic smile before hauling her back into the air.
"Was that Renzo?!"
"Yep! Damn, I'm jealous he can fly."
"I think Wind Magic can give flight too, right? Just learn it!"
"Yeah, right! You need to be level 50-plus for that spell. Who knows how long that'll take!"
The adventurers chatted as they watched the commotion.
Renzo had gotten pretty famous around Axel lately, thanks to completing a string of ridiculously hard quests.
Back in the air, Renzo set Darkness down on top of one of the iron cages.
She was still squirming and breathless. "Renzo! Let me go! Please! Let me get hit again! PLEASE~"
"Ahh… but being dragged around like this is kind of… shameful, too…"
"Hehe~" Darkness's face flushed red again.
Yep! This woman was hopeless.
"What the hell are you blushing for?!" Renzo was speechless.
Honestly, Darkness had top-tier looks and a figure to match. And when she wasn't being a masochistic weirdo, she actually had a really noble, refined vibe.
Sigh.
Renzo shook his head helplessly, then pushed her down to sit on the cage and scolded her, "Sit your ass down and behave! Stay right here! Or I swear I'll spank you!"
"H-Huh?!"
Darkness gasped, immediately covering her butt with both hands, blushing harder than ever. "Sp-Spanking?! T-that's a little too intense, don't you think?! Even if it's you, Renzo, y-you can't just do something that bold!"
Renzo just stood there like: …Seriously?
He genuinely considered just grabbing her and hauling her back home on the spot. But then he remembered what a walking headache she was, and that killed the motivation instantly.
Another long, deep sigh.
— — —
"CHEERS!!!"
"To another successful Cabbage Catching Festival!"
"WOOOO!!!"
A few hours later, the operation was over. Adventurers had gathered at the guild to celebrate.
Naturally, Renzo's group was there too.
"Ahahaha! I caught so many this time! I'm rich! I've decided—I'm gonna treat myself to the finest sparkling wine in the shop!"
"Hmph! That'll show Renzo, the stingy bastard who wouldn't share his last stash with me!"
Aqua bragged proudly, not forgetting to throw shade at Renzo while she was at it.
Renzo waved her off, deadpan. "Yeah, yeah. Knock yourself out."
This woman… She really knew how to push her luck.
Back on their very first mission, after she got swallowed by that giant frog, Renzo had tried to comfort her by gifting her a whole crate of top-shelf Bubbly wine.
Big mistake.
After that, she practically glued herself to him, begging for more every chance she got.
Renzo learned his lesson real quick. No more spoiling Aqua—ever again. Otherwise, she'd turn the whole world upside down.
And she still hadn't let it go.
"Everyone! Here are your final payout slips. Take these to the back to redeem your rewards in cash! Don't lose them!"
Luna, the receptionist, showed up holding a stack of slips and handed them out—one each to Renzo, Kazuma, Aqua, and the rest of the group.
Then she flashed a wink at Renzo and teased, "You made a ton this time, huh? Got any plans for how you're gonna spend it?"
Renzo shot her a playful wink right back. "How about I take you out for dinner and shopping tomorrow?"
Luna's cheeks instantly turned pink. "I-I guess that sounds… okay!"
She hurried off, pretending to focus on handing out the rest of the slips.
"Hey! Miss Luna! Don't waste your time on Renzo—how about giving us a chance?"
"Hah! Come talk to me after you can actually beat Renzo!"
"Ugh—are you kidding?! That guy's the strongest adventurer in all of Axel now! He's probably even in the top ranks back in the royal capital!"
"Exactly! So it's not our fault, alright?"
After Renzo and Luna had openly started showing interest in each other, things had been heating up pretty quickly between them.
In the beginning, there were a few dense adventurers who thought they could compete with Renzo for her affection.
They don't exist anymore.
After one incident where Renzo soloed over a hundred guys in a full-blown brawl… everyone wised up real fast.
It wasn't even close. It was a beatdown.
That one-sided stomp made it painfully clear to the entire guild: Axel now had a terrifying new top dog, and there was no stopping Luna from chasing her "happiness."
Not that any of those adventurers would ever admit they were trying to get in the way of Luna's happiness, of course.
They all wanted to be her happiness.
Too bad for them—Renzo won that jackpot.
.
.
.