— — — — — —
"Hey, hey!"
Aqua leaned in curiously, eyes wide as she asked Renzo, "So, how much did you make this time? Even Luna looked super excited! It must've been a ton, right?"
Megumin and Darkness also turned to look at him with interest.
"Heh."
Renzo chuckled lightly. "Eh, not that much. Around... 90 million or so. Nothing crazy. Just enough for a decent mid-tier piece of gear."
To him, that kind of cash was basically pocket change.
He was just in it for the fun!
And today? He had a blast.
Also, he'd already finished analyzing those cabbage-like monsters.
"Wait—90 million!?"
Aqua and the others all froze, mouths dropping open in total shock.
That's freaking rich!
Kazuma, who just moments ago was still feeling proud of how much he earned, suddenly went stiff.
"N-ninety million...?"
He stared at Renzo like he was seeing a god. "Boss, seriously?! I busted my ass and only made a bit over 10 million! That's not even enough to cover your bill!"
Yep, the boss was still on another level.
Kazuma even remembered Renzo just chatting for like half an hour, barely lifting a finger. The rest of the time he was just watching the show.
And even that somehow earned him over 90 million...
You just can't compete.
Still, Kazuma decided he wasn't paying back his debts just yet. Tonight, he had a special visit planned—to that one succubus café.
He and the bald uncle had already made reservations.
He wasn't even planning on going back to Renzo's villa tonight. Instead, he was gonna treat himself to a luxury suite in a nice hotel.
Staying at Renzo's place? Too much hassle.
Especially with that weird barrier Renzo set up over there.
"What?! Kazuma, you made over 10 million too!? No way!!"
Aqua nearly flipped out. "Why do you guys have so much?! I only got like... 500k?! I need to go have a talk with Luna right now!!"
She was already storming off, fuming.
There was no way she didn't get scammed. She definitely caught a ton of cabbages!
Renzo quickly grabbed her by the collar. "Whoa whoa—hold up! She didn't cheat you!"
"Huh?! You're defending her now? I knew it! You two have been getting all cozy lately! But that doesn't mean you can just ditch your old love like this!"
Aqua glared at him accusingly.
Renzo's face went deadpan. "Okay, what the hell are you even talking about? First off, we're not even a thing! And second, Luna didn't scam you. Most of what you caught were Lettuces!"
"I even warned you ahead of time! How did you still mess it up?"
This girl was hopeless.
Blaming others for her own brain malfunctions? Seriously?
"Eh?"
Aqua tilted her head, looking totally lost. "N-no way… I thought I was being careful though? How did that happen?"
"And that's why you're a total idiot."
Kazuma chimed in mercilessly from the side.
The boss literally warned her, and she still blew it. Classic Aqua.
No way he was counting on her to ever help with getting rich.
Best bet? Stick with the boss and copy everything he does.
"Honestly, even 500k isn't bad! I made even less! I was planning to buy a new magic staff too..." Megumin pouted.
"I didn't make much either." Darkness shrugged, laughing to herself.
Not like she cared much.
"But hey," Darkness turned to Megumin, "Don't you already have that super high-tier staff Renzo gave you? Why're you looking to buy another one? Are you saying his gift isn't good enough?"
"Eh?"
Renzo's eyes narrowed as he turned toward Megumin, expression blank.
Megumin panicked immediately. "N-no, it's not that! I just saw one that looked really cool! And it boosts Explosion Magic too! I just got a tiny bit tempted, that's all, hehe..."
"The Staff I made for you literally has the same effects. You just like hoarding magic staves, don't you?"
Renzo rolled his eyes.
"So what if I do?! If you've got the skills, then copy that staff for me! That way I won't have to buy it!"
"But can you even do it?"
Megumin looked at him expectantly, stars in her eyes.
But Renzo just shook his head. "Nice try. That reverse psychology won't work on me."
"A newbie's bonus is a newbie's bonus. If I start handing out freebies to everyone, where does it end?"
"You guys already get lazy when you've got money. A bunch of you don't even want to go on quests anymore! So nope, I'm not spoiling you brats!"
And yes, he was definitely talking about Kazuma the perv and Aqua the airhead.
Honestly, people like them should be the most motivated to take down the Demon King…And yet, somehow, they're the first ones to go full couch potato mode.
Seriously, where do you even begin roasting that?
— — —
Inside the Consciousness Space
"…Huh? Where am I?"
A new Renzo had joined.
One second, the newbie clearly remembered he was mid-battle with his master, fighting the demon Deliora…
Now suddenly, he found himself here?
Noticing a faint light coming from the end of a corridor, he immediately—and a little anxiously—started walking toward it.
Soon, he found himself standing in a large hall.
"Huh?"
At the same moment, Eevee casually strolled out from the other side and caught sight of the "newbie" Renzo.
Its eyes lit up, and with a graceful leap, it landed smack on the center table and greeted him:
"A newbie, huh? So, are you a powerhouse or just a comic relief?"
"What world did you transmigrate into?"
From the magic vibes radiating off Renzo, especially the icy mana signature, Eevee could tell he'd been sent to a pretty legit world.
"…Huh?"
Newbie Renzo blinked, confused. "What do you mean by 'powerhouse or comic relief'? And 'transmigrate'?"
"Wait a second—aren't you… Eevee?! Why the hell can you talk?!"
At this point, newbie Renzo's head was filled with nothing but question marks.
And even though he was trying to stay calm, his guard was definitely up.
"Ah, don't worry about all that!" Eevee waved a paw dismissively. "Just give me a high-five and everything'll make sense!"
Before newbie Renzo could dodge, Eevee lunged and bam—latched right onto his head.
Too fast. Newbie Renzo couldn't avoid it.
Before he could get mad and swat Eevee off, he suddenly felt a huge rush of memories and power flood into his mind.
He froze on the spot, stunned.
At that moment, Uchiha Renzo arrived in the hall.
Seeing Eevee sitting on the new guy's head, and noticing newbie Renzo's outfit and aura, he raised an eyebrow.
"Whoa, another newbie already?"
He stepped forward, placing a hand on the new Renzo's shoulder. "Eevee, what world's this guy from?"
As soon as he made contact, the memories and powers transferred over.
"Hmm… so he's from the Fairy Tail world, huh? Ice Make Magic? Disciple of Ur? Fellow students: Lyon and Gray? That's actually a pretty decent start!"
Uchiha Renzo grinned. "This is perfect. My Ice talent is about to get a major upgrade."
"Your Ice talent, huh?" Eevee scoffed, hopping back to the table. "You mean my Ice talent? Quit acting like you invented it!"
"Unless you actually go dig up the Yuki Clan's Kekkei Genkai and turn it into a bloodline serum, you can forget mastering that properly!"
"Still," Eevee added with a smirk, "this newbie's Ice Make Magic has given me a solid boost. Looks like my Ice Pokemon Form, Glaceon, is officially back to being my second strongest!"
Glaceon had previously been bumped to third, thanks to all the fire-type upgrades they got—like Hermione's Fiendfyre spell and Renzo's barrage of Fire Release jutsu.
The number one spot? That still belonged to Psychic Form, Espeon, no contest.
"We'll get there," Uchiha Renzo shrugged. "Let's at least finish analyzing Sage Mode Chakra before we get sidetracked again."
Man, there were so many bloodlines he still wanted to study!
That recently-finished Uzumaki Sage Body bloodline alone gave him a massive boost—he even awakened Yang Release!
His chakra control had been skyrocketing lately.
Still, what he really wanted now was to finish cracking the code on the Senju Sage Body bloodline.
Once that was done?
His Wood Release would be at Hashirama-tier.
Maybe even stronger.
Especially since he could merge it with Eevee's Leafeon powers.
"Whatever, do what you want," Eevee grumbled, kicking his tiny legs while lying on the table. "I've still got tons of stuff I need to learn and research too… It's just that my other evolution forms haven't made much progress yet."
He sounded a bit bummed.
He was stuck again—close to the next level, but missing just a few key elements.
.
.
.