> "Great heroes carry blades. Greater heroes carry luck.
But the greatest heroes carry absolutely no expectations."
— Kazuma, proudly failing upward
---
[Location: Axel Town – Mid-Konosuba Timeline]
It was a quiet morning in Axel. Birds chirped. Bells rang.
And Kazuma Satou was wrestling a frog.
Not a metaphorical frog.
An actual, slimy, half-mana-mutated giant frog, whose tongue had just stolen his breakfast roll.
Kazuma (screaming):
> "THIS IS WHY I HAVE TRUST ISSUES!"
---
[30 Minutes Later – After Cleaning Up]
Covered in frog spit and pride damage, Kazuma dragged himself back to the mansion.
Megumin:
> "You look heroic today."
Kazuma:
> "I'm ninety percent humiliation, ten percent secondhand slime."
Darkness:
> "It suits you."
Aqua:
> "You smell like defeat and Tuesday."
He sighed. Deeply.
---
[Midday – The Kazuma Plan]
Kazuma entered his room and mentally pinged the Chat Group.
> "Hey, just checking in. I've got a week of downtime, and I plan to do what I do best:
absolutely nothing productive."
System Notification:
> "Would you like to activate the 'Work-Life Frog Dating Sim' you bought?"
> "...You know what? Let's go."
The screen flickered.
He loaded up a visual novel featuring a beautiful frog princess and...
Oh god, there were multiple routes.
---
[Afternoon – Axel Bar, Post-Game Reflection]
Kazuma nursed a drink and quietly reflected.
Sure, he wasn't the most powerful. Or the smartest. Or the bravest.
But when he thought back on the missions—real ones, with gods and monsters and twisted champions—he realized something strange.
They all trusted him. Or at least, tolerated him.
And that mattered.
> "Guess being underestimated really is a superpower."
---
[System Lounge – Midnight Drift]
Kazuma dozed off and briefly drifted into the chat's dream-sync feature.
There, he heard voices from distant worlds.
He smiled.
Then rolled over and whispered:
> "If I die, make sure it's during something stupid but memorable."
---
End of Chapter 15: Kazuma Satou