Actually, Adam had his own ulterior motives — or rather, that was his true purpose for coming to the item shop.
The traffic generated after defeating Beldia, the Mobile Disaster, and Vanir in succession was undoubtedly enormous. Defeating such powerful enemies one after another had drawn significant attention.
This was evident from the many people from other towns who had recently gathered in Axel.
As the lord of Axel, Adam naturally wanted to develop the village vigorously. Since people were the most important aspect of village development, he wanted to use this opportunity to create a tourism industry that would attract more adventurers.
If he could take advantage of the situation to lure a few more Devil King’s Army Generals, that would be even better!
"What do you think, Vanir, how does that sound?"
Adam’s plan was perfect. Even though he hid his true intentions, Vanir wouldn’t mind.
Having long wanted to leave the Devil King’s Army and fulfill its long-cherished wish, Vanir would be delighted if this Hero defeated more Generals.
"This one thinks the lord is right! Let’s discuss this in more detail... about how much money the lord is prepared to invest."
"Hey! This is your business, why should I pay for it?"
Despite saying this, Adam eventually took out ξ100,000,000, but he also demanded a 30% stake — after all, he had invested so much money.
Vanir thought about it and agreed.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
"Hey, stupid Lich, the tea is too hot!"
"Yes! I’m sorry, I’ll blow on it for you, Lady Aqua!"
"Hey, damn Lich, the tea is cold!"
"Yes! I’m sorry, I’ll make you a fresh cup, Lady Aqua!"
Aqua was one-sidedly bullying Wiz.
As for the reason... Aqua had discovered this morning that Wiz hadn’t properly warmed the bed last night, and immediately flew into a rage, bullying the Lich even more intensely.
Even her reason for complaining was quite unreasonable:
Why wasn’t the bed warm? ...By the way, Liches don’t have body temperature, right?!
There’s no way Aqua wouldn’t know this. Adam even suspected she might have deliberately asked Wiz to warm the bed just so she could bully her... Of course, it’s also possible that this Goddess, being an idiot, simply forgot, and to cover up her own mistake, pushed all the blame onto Wiz.
He actually believed the latter was more likely.
"My stupid shop owner has really been taken care of by your Goddess."
"Not at all, my stupid Goddess has also been taken care of by Wiz."
Vanir and Adam quietly watched the two of them "getting along friendly"... though it was just Aqua bullying Wiz one-sidedly.
"Aqua, that’s enough, aren’t you two friends?" Adam couldn’t bear to watch anymore.
Aqua had no limits when bullying others, and she had absolutely no psychological burden when it came to bullying a Lich. If he didn’t stop her, who knows how harsh she would become.
"We are not friends!" Aqua slammed the table, startling Wiz who jumped slightly, causing her massive peaks to bounce up and down, "Tsk, I’ll let you off this time, but if you mess up again next time, I will definitely purify you, Lich!"
"Y-Yes! I understand!" The humble Lich quickly begged for mercy.
Although in the eyes of ordinary people, she was a Lich standing at the pinnacle, in front of the Goddess Aqua, she had not a shred of dignity left.
Adam was wrong. He had thought that after knowing Wiz’s true nature, Aqua would get along with her well, but unexpectedly, she became even more excessive in bullying Wiz.
Although she didn’t make her disappear, treating her like a servant was troubling.
"Sorry, Aqua is too much."
"No, this is also proof of their loving relationship."
Vanir was supposed to be at odds with Aqua, mutually disliking each other, but surprisingly, it was now speaking in her favor.
This won’t do, he needed to think of a solution.
"How about we go to the hot springs... what do you think?" Adam thought of an excellent method to bring everyone closer together.
"...Hot springs?!" x6
His words immediately caught everyone’s attention.
"If we want to improve relationships, it has to be hot springs, right? Whether it’s Aqua, Wiz, or other team members, this is the best way! So, let’s go on a hot springs trip!"
"Hmm... hot springs..."
When the word ’hot springs’ was mentioned, it didn’t generate much enthusiasm from the others.
Since the bath in the lord’s mansion was already quite large, and they had specifically drawn in hot spring water — making it practically another hot spring pool — the idea didn’t spark much interest.
Adam continued: "We’ll go to Arcanletia!"
"...Wait, Arcanletia... Adam, did you just say Arcanletia, that city of water and hot springs? That Arcanletia?!" Aqua became very excited when she heard the place he mentioned.
This was understandable. In this city of water, Arcanletia, there was a religious order that worshipped the Goddess of Water — the notorious Axis Cult that the entire Parallel World avoided.
"If we’re talking about winter, we should definitely go to hot springs! Moreover, the hot springs in the city of water have significant healing effects, and even Wiz, as a Lich, can be healed." Adam asked everyone, "Well, do you want to go?"
His proposal was unanimously approved, which saved him a lot of persuasion.
He had originally planned to trick the female team members by claiming the hot spring water could moisturize their skin and make it glow. Turns out that wasn’t necessary.
"Then it’s decided, we’ll set off tomorrow!"
Adam’s words got everyone excited.
Going to hot springs — isn’t it just like team building?
Whether it’s a company organizing team building or a school’s forest activities, these things happen every year, regardless of which world you’re in!
Afterward, the others eagerly ran back to the lord’s mansion to prepare.
"Ah, Wiz too, don’t be shy, just come along."
Adam knew Wiz was afraid of disturbing them, thinking it might be better not to participate. But his plan included her — he wanted her to build good relationships with the other team members.
As a Lich, Wiz’s true nature wasn’t bad, which would become evident if they spent more time together.
This was the strategy Adam had been implementing from the beginning... although it centered on her easily bullied personality.
"It’s alright, let’s all go together."
"...Y-Yes, yes!" It was clear that Wiz also wanted to join the hot springs trip.
"Vanir, what about you, are you coming along?"
"Thank you for the lord’s invitation, but this one will pass."
Adam asked the Archdemon wearing an apron beside him, but received this reply.
"After chatting with you, my lord, I have more ideas about dungeon construction in my mind. Besides, both the magic item shop and Axel need someone to watch over them, don’t they?"
"...I see, then I’ll leave the house-sitting to you."
"Leave it to this one!" Vanir gladly accepted the command.
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