New chapter, unfortunately for Ajay, more combat capable protagonist does not mean more capable teammates.

Ajay was in the guild building, a bit annoyed. Since the fight with Verdia they have gone on few quests, seemingly easy, low level quests. But thanks to his teammates they were messed up.

For instance, they had to transport a piece of art from Axel to the next down over that wasn't connected to the teleportation array larger towns had. However, there was an apparent shortcut.

It wasn't through a well-travelled road, Ajay distinctly remembers there being a warning sign and his instincts said do not go down this road. However, he was over ruled by his teammates.

There was a bonus to the quest if they get the cart there fast enough, So Aqua voted to go down it.

Darkness having not been beaten around for a while thought there must be something dangerous in there voted to go down it. Though she didn't say this out loud Ajay knew that's what she was thinking.

Megumin wanted to go down it because she wanted to see if there was anything to blow up.

Despite his protests, they took that road.

They didn't find monsters on the road though. They found large rocks.

Now these weren't ordinary rocks.

These rocks had faces. Really funny looking faces that even caused Ajay to chuckle silently a bit. Before he found out what they could do.

They exploded when something touched struck them. And it wasn't even their fault.

An abnormally large acorn, fell from the tree and hit a rock they were passing by.

Then everything EXPLODED!

Not like Megumins spell more like the cluster mortars from Kyrat. Those things were a pain, especially when his favorite tactic was sniping from outside the outposts. While the Royal Army may not be much better than moderately trained police force they were uncanny with their mortar strikes.

When Ajay finally came to. He saw that the cart and the art piece was destroyed. And his teammates sprawled out around him.

Darkness had the look of absolute bliss on her face despite the fact her armor was damaged to beyond usable. But that was repaired quickly enough.

Having to pay the failure fee, and for the destroyed cart took a big hit out of his saving's left over from the gold bar he came here with.

Then a few more failed quests left him with barely anything (through no fault of his own).

Since then, Ajay has mainly kept his head above water by hunting and trading skins. You may wonder why aren't there quests if he's able to go out hunting all the time? Well what he hunts isn't monsters and therefore aren't dangerous enough for a quest. So, he doesn't get paid as much if there was quest and he has to take care of the skinning himself as opposed to the guild staff taking care of it for him.

It was only good for being able to eat daily. The moment he needs to get new equipment he will be in trouble.

So, here was at a table in the Guild hall racking his brain over what to do. It was full blown winter now. It was there was snow on the ground and it was cold outside. He sleeps in the stable.

You see his problem?

While he has never been particularly bothered by the cold, he does not want to get caught in a blizzard. Like his escape from Durgesh. He was only saved because Pagan liked him too much to let him die. Part of the so called 'Tough love' Pagan had for him.

That being said he did a few favors for him afterward.

Anyways back to his broke bank issue. He had to take a quest, but the only problem is that in winter only the really difficult quests are left. Such as monsters with the name one hit bear, and then there was that one quest such as the mobile fortress named the Destroyer!

He sincerely wishes he was rhino hunting when he died. He would have had much bigger guns on him if that were the case.

Despite that he found a quest. A seemingly easy one with a big pay-off. He just hopes that his teammates wouldn't raise to much of fuss. Weak and easy does not align with their interests.

Darkness and Megumin came over to where they were sitting.

"Morning, Ajay." Greeted Megumin when she noticed the quest "You already have job picked out?"

"Yeah it's a snow sprite kill quest." Said Ajay, as aqua perked up at this. "What I don't get is why the pay-off is so big, at 100,000 Eris a kill."

To reference they were paid 300,000 to take out five giant (emphasis on giant) toads in their first quest.

"Snow Sprites are spirits, they are pretty weak, but it's said for each one you kill brings summer half a day closer." She explained.

"Someone must really hate winter." Commented Ajay choosing to go with it. Maybe it's just a superstition, but he was also in a world with flying cabbages! Time has come where he needs to stop asking why and ask why not?

That and he thinks he might go insane if he questions every little thing about this world.

"If we're going to hunt snow sprites then I'll need to get some gear to catch them!" said Aqua excitedly, she ran off prepare.

"Snow…Sprite hunting…" said Darkness face flushed and panting.

This put Ajay on guard, she only gets like this with the prospect of meeting a strong monster that will beat her senseless. That coupled with the high money to kill ratio was also suspicious.

Somebody wasn't telling him something. Something very important.

But at the moment he needed the quest so he couldn't be picky.

The snow plains

The party found out where the sprites were and quickly went to work. They were also in winter clothing.

Ajay himself just added a fur cloak to his clothes, he made it himself from the skins he hunted. Once again, the cold never really bothered him, he chalked it up due to being Kyrati. But he figures he might as well get one, it will also help if it rains

Darkness was in something that resembled office lady clothes instead of her usual armor, being a black suit with a business skirt. She also had a fury coat covering her torso.

Megumin had a poncho and funny looking hat.

Aqua had a white coat, hat and leg warmers. She also had a net and jar. She obviously had her own ideas.

The sprites went down easy just like Megumin said. One strike and they were gone. Though they were small and difficult to hit with a sword. As expected Darkness has yet to get even one.

It was so one sided and that these things were harmless, it made Ajay feel slightly bad about killing them.

"Ajay look, I'm doing pretty good I already caught three!" said Aqua holding up her jar which had three snow sprites in them.

"You're supposed to kill them not capture them!" shouted Ajay as he cut another one down.

"I'm saving it for summer, when it's all hot out it will cool me down, and will keep my refreshing drinks cold."

While he wouldn't say it out loud especially considering who it came from, he had to admit that was a pretty good idea.

"Ajay I'm going to cast explosion and finish them off!" called Megumin getting his attention. Ajay looked at the overall field a lot of the snow sprites were bunched up together.

"Go ahead!" he yelled back, though he was sure she would have done it anyways.

"[EXPLOSION!]" shouted Megumin. And as always, a large fiery explosion happened. On the upside he was warmer for brief second.

"I got them." Said Megumin who was now buried under a bit of snow. "Also, I leveled up."

"Nice." Commented Ajay.

'Why doesn't everyone do this?' he thought. That's when he got a bad feeling.

He noticed something in the distance. An ominous flurry of snow heading in their direction at high speed.

Something told him it wasn't just a weird weather phenomenon.

"I see so he really did appear." Said Darkness with anticipation in her voice.

"Yes." Said Aqua in a serious tone.

Ajay also noted that Megumin was playing dead all of a sudden.

"What is that?" he asked readying his kukri.

"Back from where you came in the country of Japan." Said Aqua "There is myth related to the weather known as the winter shogun."

The flurry dissipated revealing a menacing looking spectral samurai styled warrior that was ten feet in height.

"I'm sure he'll use his title ass shogun to enforce his will on me…" said Darkness having one of her moments. "I will try to resist but I'm sure he will be beyond my capabilities, and then he will shame me..."

'This explains so much…' thought Ajay sourly. "Why is it here?"

"Sprites take on the form of mental images when they get old enough." Explained Aqua. "He only arrives if too many sprites are killed."

'So that means some jackass that got reincarnated here before me thought this thing up!' he thought, getting a strong urge to track down that guy and beat the crap out of him. 'God damn it!'

"However, it is a forgiving monster." Explained Aqua further "If we lay down our arms and apologize it will let us leave."

After saying that Aqua immediately released her captured sprites and prostrated herself in front of the ghostly samurai.

"Why don't you people ever tell me these things before it's a problem?!" asked Ajay. This was a recurring reason why they failed quests. Ajay was about to do the same as Aqua, when he saw Darkness standing there resolutely with her sword drawn. "Darkness what are you doing?! Get down!"

"I cannot, my pride as crusader… to bow my head to monster such as this…" she said, acting oddly professional now.

"Why do you pick the worse times to act like a crusader?!" shouted Ajay. He would think she'd jump at the chance to submit to a monster. But he then realized she probably wanted it done by force.

The winter shogun swung its katana easily cutting through Darkness's sword. Despite this she stood there, stunned yet defiant against the monster… When she really didn't need to…

Ajay sheathed his own blade figuring it wouldn't do much anyways.

The winter Shogun was about to go for a sword thrust on Darkness who had no way to defend herself.

Without a second thought Ajay charged and knocked her out of the way. However, he took the attack instead.

The ghostly sword was currently stabbed through his heart.

"AJAY!" screamed Darkness alarmed that her comrade instead of her was now fatally wounded

"…Shit…." Was the only word he said before everything faded to black.

(-)

Next thing he knew he was in a familiar chamber, in a familiar chair. And again, he was dead.

"Ajay Ghale." Came a soft voice when he looked up he saw a girl with silver hair and purple eyes wearing a purple and white dress. She looked oddly familiar. "Welcome to the after-life."

"I am the goddess Eris, who will guide you on your new path in life." She said, this line was well rehearsed. "You have come all the way from your home which you fought so hard for its peace only to have this happen to you."

She clasped her hands together and bowed her head. Ajay noted that despite the lines being rehearsed she didn't seem to earnestly regret his death. A sharp contrast to his meeting with Aqua.

"Wait before that what happened to the others." Asked Ajay, he doesn't like leaving people he considers comrades facing danger alone, no matter how annoying they can be. Main reason why he stuck his neck out for Hurk so many times.

"They are fine, the winter shogun vanished after you were killed." She said with a reassuring smile.

"Well aren't I special." Said Ajay dryly with a sigh "So…what happens now."

"Unfortunately, the rules of heaven dictate that you can't be reincarnated into this world again, but you will start a new life in your old one." She said. "I'll make sure you have wealthy parents and live a good and easy life."

Something about a 'easy life'. Put him off, it wasn't because he thought she was lying. It probably had something to do that he and his mother weren't well off when he was growing up after she fled to America with him. One of the things he regrets most is the fact he didn't really help her and instead caused problems.

"Can I just have a normal one?" asked Ajay.

Eris seemed to be taken by surprise at that.

"Yes…but most people usually go for the best possible conditions." She explained. "I don't think anyone has asked to not be with a wealthy family."

"I'm not most people." Said Ajay, then he thought about his situation, he found he didn't really want a peaceful life. Despite how his current life had a trio of idiots he had to look after, he enjoyed the day to day exploring and being with them.

While not particularly reliable they are dependable. It made sense to him in weird sort of way.

"So, there is no way for me to go back?" Ajay asked.

"I am sorry but our laws are very strict." She replied with a hint of regret, "If there is nothing else I will reincarnate you now."

She held up her hand while it began to glow a bit.

"Now, return to us, Ajay!" said a familiar disembodied voice. "How could you get killed off to easily, it is too soon for you to die!"

"Aqua?!" asked Ajay surprised.

"That's really Aqua-senpai?!" asked Eris surprised "There was an archpriest that looked similar to her but..."

"Hey you're the ones who dumped her on me." Said Ajay, Eris head shot up in surprise but Aqua spoke again before she could say anything.

"Ajay, can you hear me?" asked Aqua "I can cast [Resurrection] on your body and bring you back to this side."

"Oh yeah… I forgot you could do that." Said Ajay recounting how she did something similar to the adventurers that were killed by Verdia. "You usually aren't that useful to have around."

"How rude!" she replied indignantly "Maybe I should just let you pass on-AAAHHH! Megumin, Darkness stop shaking me! I was only joking!"

Apparently his other two companions also wanted him to comeback and were giving Aqua a hard time about it.

"Wait." Said Eris a bit panicked "You have already been reborn once, so according to the rules of heaven you can't be revived again."

"Oh right…" he forgot about that, but here's one of the very few perks about having Aqua as party member…at least in this instance. She really does not care about rules. "Hey Aqua the goddess here says I can't go back."

"What goddess is spouting that nonsense?!" Replied Aqua "Hey you identify yourself, where does a goddess in charge of backwater like this get off talking back to me who was in charge of Earth!"

Eris seemed to take offense to that and began to shake a bit, either she was about to get angry or she was going to cry.

Ajay did not want to see either of those things. So he decided to answer for her.

"She said her name is Eris." Replied Ajay.

"Eris?!" shouted Aqua apparently recognizing the name. "That cocky goddess who named the worlds currency after herself just because she's worshipped a little in this worlds religion."

'A state religion doesn't sound little though.' thought Ajay 'She must be jealous.'

"Huh…?!" shouted Eris, clearly not use to people badmouthing her.

"Ajay if she gives you anymore trouble, just say I'll confiscate her breast pads!"

"What?!" shouted Ajay surprised, he didn't even think a deity would even need pads. He turned to look at her expecting some denial.

"F-f-f-fine I'll let this go through!" she shouted panicking a bit, there was no denial "An exception, I'll deem this an exception! I'll open the gates right now."

She then sighed.

"Geez…Aqua senpai is as unreasonable as ever." She said

"I know what you mean…" said Ajay with a sour look. He has to deal with her on daily basis

"Very well then." Said Eris as a magic circle opened up under his feet similar to his first reincarnation. "Just so you know, this is against the rules, so let's keep it our little secret."

She leaned towards him and winked, giving a mischievous feel from her.

"Before I go, are you walking around down there?" asked Ajay, it was more of an uncanny feeling he had than solid evidence. She seemed taken aback in surprise. Before smiling mischievously again.

"I'll tell you if you find me~." she said in a sing song voice.

That confirmed that she was down there. Before anything else could be said a bright light blinded him.

(-)

Ajay awoke to the sight of both Megumin and Darkness with tears in their eyes looking down at him. when they saw that he was awake, they both embraced him in relief that he was back.

"Annnd I'm being hugged..." he noted absently while wincing a bit as they landed on the spot he got stabbed. "Looks like somebody missed me."

They were both probably worried for him since he was the only one that has kept them in a party for as long as he did. Though if he did try to get rid of them they probably wouldn't leave so easily.

"This not time for joking, you jerk!" said Megumin "We thought you were gone for good!"

"So Ajay, do you have anything to say to me." Said Aqua with a haughty expression. "After all, bringing you back from the other side is no small feat."

"Yes, thank you for bringing back the person who is the only one that has chance to send you home." Said Ajay dryly.

Aqua recoiled at that, Heavens terms were that 'he' as in Ajay had to defeat the demon lord. If someone else did it, she might argue but considering how easily Heaven sent her here she might be SOL.

Ajay got up, and sighed.

"Let's go home."

No one argued at that.

(-)

Ajay was walking down the street of Axel. Yesterday he died for a second time. He's worried he isn't as shaken as he should be. Maybe he's just use to death after Kyrat, or maybe it never really bugged him in the first place.

Either way, even if Aqua can bring him back when he dies, he doesn't want to make habit out of it.

Then there was Eris, a goddess who acted like a goddess without the narcissism of Aqua. But like Aqua she was wandering around somewhere down here. Most likely she was disguised as someone else. But he couldn't help but think she seemed familiar.

"Hey, Ajay!" a voice called out bringing him out of his musings, he looked up to see Chris, Darkness's friend who was thief. She had silver hair and purple…eyes….

Wait a moment.

"I heard you took a killing blow for Darkness yesterday." She said "Though she is crusader and is proud of her endurance she gets in over her head sometimes. So thanks for watching out for her."

"How did you find out?" asked Ajay, him dying wasn't exactly common knowledge.

"Oh, she told me last night after we went drinking, she felt really bad that she got you killed." Replied Chris. "So, thanks for that."

"I try to take care of people who fight with me." Said Ajay neutrally, that being said the current bunch don't make it easy.

"It was actually kind of cute, I rarely ever see her act like that, you're probably the only guy aside from her family members and servants to stick with her for so long, so she's kind of attached to you" she said laughing a bit "But don't tell her I said that, it will be our little secret."

She leaned forward and gave a wink with mischievous smile. He's seen that pose before, so he's going to see if his suspicions are right.

"So, Eris, how did Heaven handle letting me go back?" asked Ajay knowingly.

"Oh! They were angry at first, but we're pretty use to Aqua-senpai's antics by now…eh?" she replied casually before realizing her mistake. "How did you find out?"

Here's why Ajay was able figure this out. In Kyrat he went all sorts of assassination missions with little to go on other than a vague description and maybe a grainy picture. He had to be very good at piecing things together. But he always found his target.

Here he probably wouldn't have figured it out if he didn't die.

"That was easier than I thought." Said Ajay, he thought he would need to goad a confession out of her. "Aside from the scar your face looks exactly the same."

"Wow... you are the first person to have found me out since I've been down here." Said Eris/Chris "Not even the other goddesses know I'm doing this."

"So much for omniscience." Said Ajay not sure how to explain assassination nicely.

Eris just laughed a little uneasily.

"Well I'd appreciate it if you would keep this a secret too." Said Eris

"They wouldn't believe me if I did." Said Ajay, considering how Aqua isn't really trying to keep her goddess status secret. Then again, she might be a bad example.

"True…" she said knowing what he was thinking about.

With that Ajay and Chris/Eris split up. Both going to live out there days.

And done this chapter went through a couple changes I was about to include the part where Kazuma and Dust switch parties for the day, and Kazuma ends up having one of the most successful quests with the new party.

But if I did that then this chapter would get long.

Also I wanted to include Bhadra in here as an Eris priestess but she wouldn't be involved in the story for a while if I did include her.