Hi again.
Welcome back to my heroic isekai story.
You know the kind.
The protagonist arrives in another world, gains powerful abilities, becomes rich, and lives comfortably.
Meanwhile.
I have debt.
Not normal debt.
Legendary debt.
The kind of debt that, if stacked into coins, would probably collapse under its own weight and the guild would immediately charge me a collapse investigation fee.
And before anyone says anything—
none of this was my fault.
Mostly.
Right now my party and I are sitting inside the Breth Adventurers Guild in what the guild politely calls a Debt Review Meeting.
Which is a professional way of saying:
"Let's gather together and examine how financially doomed Kael is."
Last night I tried converting the debt into yen.
The total came out to roughly:
¥44,057,596.
Do not ask how I calculated that.
I did not.
Someone clearly did the math for me.
Probably the author.
He's not even Japanese.
Anyway.
If you've made it this far—
Congratulations.
You're about to witness financial tragedy.
Polla placed the document on the table.
I looked at the document.
Then I looked at her.
"This number," I said slowly, "is larger than last time."
"Yes," Polla replied calmly.
"How much larger?"
"Eleven silver and forty copper."
I stared at the paper for a moment.
Then lowered my forehead onto the table.
Thonk.
"The bridge," Rael said.
Not a question.
Just a statement from the person who set the bridge on fire.
"The bridge," Polla confirmed.
I turned my head slightly.
"I thought we already paid for the bridge."
"You paid the initial structural assessment."
"There was another one?"
"Yes."
"For what?"
"Confirming the first assessment."
I slowly lifted my head.
"You charged us money to confirm the bridge was broken?"
"Yes."
I blinked at her.
"The bridge was already broken."
"The confirmation carries a processing fee."
I leaned back and stared at the ceiling.
"THIS WORLD IS RUN BY DEMONS."
Rael shrugged.
"You burned the bridge."
"I DID NOT BURN THE BRIDGE."
"You absolutely burned the bridge."
"It was a controlled fire."
"It was not controlled," Senna said calmly, closing her notebook.
"It also violated several city safety regulations."
I pointed at her.
"WHY ARE YOU DEFENDING THE ARSONIST?"
"I am defending physics."
Mira raised a hand slightly.
"The bridge did collapse faster after the fire," she added gently.
I stared at her.
"YOU TOO?"
Rael crossed her arms proudly.
"You're welcome."
Polla slid three quest sheets across the table.
"If you would like to reduce the debt."
I glanced down.
Creature extermination.
Cargo escort.
Guard duty.
If everything went perfectly, the pay would reduce roughly forty percent of the debt.
Things never go perfectly.
I grabbed all three sheets.
"We'll take them."
"Oh good," Rael said with a grin.
Senna wrote something in her notebook.
I looked at her.
"What are you writing?"
"Projected survival outcomes."
I sighed.
"Please stop doing that."
That night I lay on my bed staring at the ceiling.
Thinking about debt.
Thinking about bridges.
Thinking about how the guild accounting department was clearly run by demons.
Then—
A shimmer.
Soft.
Warm.
Like candlelight passing through the air.
Then words appeared inside my mind.
The middle one holds the answer you haven't asked yet.
I stared at the ceiling.
"The middle one."
Silence.
"The middle quest."
Silence.
"The cargo escort."
Nothing.
"Is the cargo cursed?"
Still nothing.
"Is it alive?"
Nothing.
I sat up.
"IS IT GOING TO EXPLODE?"
Silence.
I dropped back onto the bed.
Here is what I have learned about Veyra's messages.
They are always technically correct.
They are also completely useless.
The next morning I explained everything over breakfast.
Rael swallowed a mouthful of food.
"The sealed container."
"That's what I thought."
"What's inside it?"
"I don't know."
"So ask."
I blinked.
"...Ask who?"
"The merchant."
I opened my mouth.
Closed it.
"...That is painfully logical."
Mira nodded.
"Yes."
Senna tapped the quest sheet.
"Prophetic statements are usually literal."
I rubbed my face.
"What does that mean?"
"It means the obvious question is probably correct."
"What obvious question?"
She pointed at the paper.
"What is inside the container."
Rael stood up immediately.
"Good."
She cracked her knuckles.
"Let's go."
The merchant waited in the south warehouse.
He looked like someone had taken a large man and compressed him slightly.
Very round.
Very dense.
Very nervous.
When I asked what was inside the crate, he glanced around before leaning closer.
"Eggs," he whispered.
I waited.
"Dragon eggs."
The warehouse went silent.
I looked at the crate.
Rael looked at the crate.
Mira leaned forward.
Senna slowly lowered her notebook.
"You said dragon egg," she said.
"Yes."
She reopened the notebook.
"I will document this."
The crate made a faint sound.
tap…
tap…
I pointed at it.
"What was that?"
The merchant smiled nervously.
"Probably the egg shifting."
"The egg is moving?"
Rael's grin widened.
"Oh this is amazing."
"This is not amazing."
"This is extremely amazing."
"That is a dragon," I said.
"Eventually."
Senna wrote something quickly.
"What did you write?" I asked.
She turned the notebook toward me.
Estimated survival probability: low
I stared at her.
"Low?"
"Statistically speaking."
Mira raised her hand politely.
"If the dragon hatches during the trip…" she began.
She paused.
"...are we supposed to fight it?"
Rael slammed her fist into her palm.
"YES."
"WHY ARE YOU EXCITED ABOUT THIS?"
"Because it's a dragon."
The crate suddenly shook.
THUMP
Everyone froze.
Slowly, I looked up at the warehouse ceiling.
The ceiling did not shimmer.
The ceiling offered no advice.
The ceiling betrayed me.
"She knew," I muttered.
"Who knew?" the merchant asked.
"The goddess."
"What goddess?"
"The one ruining my life."
Rael cracked her knuckles.
"Oh this is going to be fun."
I pointed at the crate.
"This is a ticking dragon bomb."
"Technically," Senna said calmly, "it is not ticking."
I stared at her.
"That is not helping."
Somewhere far away—
I swear I heard someone laughing.