"Rin, Rin, isn't she the one from before…"

"It should be her, yes."

Although Rin often joked in private about Aqua being a useless goddess, he didn't actually dislike her.

In fact, when he first arrived in the Konosuba World, he had even obtained the Duplicator ability, an overpowered skill, from her.

"Is Rin going to make her our companion too?"

Seeing Rin staring at Aqua, Ogerpon seemed to get an idea.

"Huh?"

Rin was first stunned, then looked at Ogerpon with a horrified expression. "No, Ogerpon, how could you have such a terrifying thought?"

"Po?"

Ogerpon tilted her head, her eyes filled with vacant innocence.

She didn't quite understand what was so terrifying about her suggestion.

"Ogerpon, you must never get too close to Aqua!"

Gratitude was one thing, and in the Konosuba World, Rin would naturally look after Aqua.

But turning Aqua into a familiar…

Leaving aside whether he could even capture her as a goddess, just imagining the consequences of Aqua joining his group made Rin's scalp tingle.

One had to understand, this girl wasn't just a simple troublemaker.

If Aqua joined the team, Rin truly feared his budding enterprise would be thrown into complete chaos.

Therefore,

Rin: Stupidity stops here. Idiots disperse. Morons get out.

"So scary!!"

Ogerpon didn't understand, but since Rin said so, it had to be true.

Thus, the already not-so-bright Ogerpon began trembling in fear upon hearing that Aqua could lower people's intelligence.

"Ahem."

Rin took Ogerpon's hand and said, "Let's avoid her for now."

"She's still a goddess from the heavens. If her acquaintances saw her like this, she'd be socially dead."

Rin wasn't planning to interact with the two of them, so he could only pretend not to see them and head straight to the guild.

"Huh?"

"Is that Rin-san and Ogerpon?"

As soon as Rin stepped inside, Luna noticed him.

The golden-haired beauty with an impressive figure walked over and asked with concern, "It's been a while since we last met. Did you leave Axel?"

"Yes, I accepted a private commission and went to a rather distant place."

When Rin traveled between worlds, the flow of time in each remained synchronized.

This time, after leaving the Konosuba World, Rin had stayed in the Cardinal World for about a week.

Naturally, seven days had also passed in the Konosuba World.

"Yo! Rin!"

"Long time no see!"

"Haha, it's good to see you still so energetic!"

After the last banquet, most of the adventurers in the guild were familiar with Rin.

For men, drinking together once meant you were friends.

Not to mention Rin had single-handedly out-drunk the entire group.

Just based on his drinking ability, Rin was already recognized as a powerhouse.

"I'm a bit low on cash right now, so if you're trying to trick me into treating you, forget it."

"How could we make you pay every time?"

"Yeah, yeah, we're not that shameless!"

They were telling the truth. Everyone was already more than happy that Rin had treated them once and could feel his friendliness.

You shouldn't be too greedy. Contentment was enough.

"Two sets of the guild's signature meal."

"Three puddings and three creamy ice creams."

"And sparkling wine."

"Alright, please wait a moment."

After ordering from the waitress, Rin led Ogerpon to a window seat in the corner.

He scanned the guild hall, looking for professions and skills he hadn't seen last time.

Not long after they sat down, a figure in armor caught Rin's eye.

Her dazzling golden hair was pinned with a hairpin. She was tall and curvaceous, with emerald green eyes as calm as water, yet carrying a trace of coldness, perfectly fitting the image of a cold and proud Knight Princess.

'This girl, could she be…?'

Rin didn't even need to guess. Her attire was exactly like in the anime. 'Darkness?'

Darkness, one of the Konosuba heroines, was the MT in Kazuma's party. Her attacks never landed, but her defense and HP were absurdly high.

On top of that, she was a massive masochist.

"First it was Kazuma and Aqua, now it's Darkness."

"Just missing Megumin, and the original four will be complete."

Even though he had spotted another character from the original series, Rin had no intention of striking up a conversation.

Not because he disliked Darkness.

In fact, compared to the brainless Aqua and the chuunibyou Megumin, Darkness's problem was only her perversion.

A Knight with a bit of "perverted" tendencies was still relatively normal, right?

At least in the anime, Rin had never seen Darkness throw herself at anyone other than Kazuma.

All in all, if he could train Darkness to be a masochist who only responded to him, Rin thought it could be quite entertaining.

"What a pity."

"Po?"

Ogerpon tilted her head in confusion, not understanding what Rin was lamenting.

"What I mean is, there are only so many Familia slots, and I can't just waste them."

Rin explained, "Even if I meet a character I like, I have to first determine if they have real value."

Compared to protagonists who could casually bring girls across worlds, Rin's Traveler ability was honestly a bit underwhelming.

Even if he wanted to take Darkness along, he would first have to turn her into a Familia.

But here was the problem.

Familia slots were limited, and using one on Darkness was clearly not cost-effective.

'So, I'm sorry, my XP.'

Without any spare slots, Rin could only silently apologize to his desires.

However, Rin not planning to provoke Darkness didn't mean she would ignore his presence.

The girl who had just been talking to Luna suddenly shifted her gaze toward Rin and Ogerpon.

"!!!"

In the next moment, Rin and Darkness's eyes met.

"Uh…"

Caught in the act of looking, Rin felt a little embarrassed.

But before he could look away, he saw a look of surprise flash across Darkness's eyes.

(To be continued.)