...City of Water...

When they got back to the caravan they helped bury the dead, Aqua giving them their rights and allowing them to pass onto the next world while also healing and resurrecting those that she was still able to. In the end despite everything that had happened that night they managed to sleep well, Aurdel helping put Yunyun and Megumin to sleep like he had done before. The next morning they set out at the break of dawn and left the badlands they'd passed through in the dust. "Look!" Aqua shouted, poking her head out the window. They all looked out, nearly throwing the carriage off balance, to see what she was excited about. When they looked they saw that they were approaching a tunnel built into a mountain, then soon passed through.

Moments later they exited the tunnel and were greeted with a beautiful medieval cityscape, one with a prominent theme of the color blue. "Here we are, Alcanretia! City of water and hot springs!" From here, this city didn't look that bad. Even if it was the home of the Axis Cult, the supposedly crazy followers of Aqua, he could at least give it a chance. After all, you have to believe half the things you see and none of what you here. The carriages all passed under a golden archway sat atop a bridge, it really was a sight to behold. Behind the cityscape, as they came closer, Aurdel could see the mountains of stone with steam rising from them, streams of water visible from some of them. Then they passed into the city itself.

The sides of the streets were crowded with market stalls and people speaking as they went about their business. If Axel was a prime example of a fantasy setting, Alcanretia was the epitome. "I've never seen anything quite like this…" Darkness said with a tone of wonder. Yes, he supposed she hadn't. He didn't know what things she'd seen before she'd joined his party but there was no way that it'd match up to this.

"Thank you for all of the help that you've provided to caravan," the leader of the caravan bowed to them. He wanted to admit that part of the trouble they'd experienced was caused by their presence but he didn't have the guts to say it, so he let it pass. Then he gave them coupons for what was the largest hotel in the one, one that he happened to own.

Ah, no wonder he was passing through then. After that the caravan continued on its way, leaving behind Alcanretia. "Ahhh... Jarippa is leaving."

"Jarippa?"

"Is that the name you gave that baby dragon?" Aqua asked.

"Wait, since when did you take the time to name the thing that was in our carriage?"

"I did it while you're were looking out the window, it's owner asked me to help name it."

"I"ve heard that newborn dragons won't respond to any other name except the first one it's been given," Darkness said. That poor man.

"Well, shamed dragon aside, I suppose we should-"

"Welcome to Alcanretia! Are you tourists? Sightseers? Are you here to join the Axis cult? Find a job? Go on adventures? Be baptised?" They were immediately assaulted by a wave of Axis Cultists, trying to recruit them. He gave up on trying to keep an open mind with these people, they were like more aggressive Jehova's Witnesses but without subtly or humility. "We have many opening rights now to tell you all about how great the Axis Cult is! We also have some great offers for compensation if you decide to join us! If you take this job, you can have the privilege of calling yourself an Axis Cultist!" MUCH more aggressive.

Darkness, Megumin and Yunyun were all timid in the face of such behavior, but Aqua actively interacted with them. "You have such beautiful blue hair! Your eyes are absolutely brilliant too! Were you really born this way? And that hagoromo of yours is just like the one that Aqua-sama wears!"

"Okay, I'm making the executive decision to leave Aqua behind and mingle with these crazies while we go check in at the hotel."

"...I agree, I'd rather not stay around these people. They give me the creeps," Megumin said. And so, the four of them, left Aqua behind because frankly it was too much trouble to deal with, especially since it was her cult.

"Ah, welcome! We were notified of your arrival beforehand, your room is already prepared for you." At the hotel owned by the caravan leader they were greeted with a warm welcome, they carried all their things up to their room.

Aurdel set his things down, "You know, I only just realized something. I've never really been on a vacation before."

"You've never been on a vacation?" Yunyun questioned.

"No, not really. The only times I really ever went out to some place like this with Aric and Clementine were rare, I didn't get a lot of shore leave. Even then we usually only had a day or two like this."

"Shore leave…? What's that? And who are Aric and Clementine?"

"I'd like answers to those questions too, though I'm more interested in the latter one," Darkness input.

"Shore leave is essentially just time off from the Navy. And if you don't know what the Navy is, then just imagine organized warfare on the water. And as for the other question, that's something for another time."

"But why? The last time Luna asked you a question like that you got cut off and we never got an answer."

"Because the only way you're getting an answer from me on the subject is if I'm horribly drunk or drugged. So until that day comes you'll have to wait. But enough of that, we're on vacation here so why don't we at least go sightseeing?" And he walked out of the room.

"He seems to be oddly defensive when those two names are mentioned…"
"Yes… I noticed that too…"

"Would it really be okay for us to keep pushing him on it, even when he says he doesn't want to give us an answer?"

"It wouldn't feel right to keep doing so, but my interest is definitely piqued. And I don't think I'll be able to get rid of that feeling until I get an answer from him about it."

"I'm the same way, but it feels wrong considering he's a member of our party."

"Maybe we should just give him time, he'll open up when he feels ready to."

"I suppose you're right Yunyun…"

"Are you girls coming or what?!" Aurdel shouted from afar.

"We're coming!"

"I don't exactly know where to start exploring this city," Aurdel stroked his chin with his helmet off at his side.

"We could start by looking at some of the market stalls," Darkness suggested, "Look! There's an Elf and a Dwarf!" She pointed to a pair of stalls located next to each other. The three ran over, he followed them.

"Good Morning customers! Could I interest you in some high-class Arcane buns? They're a speciality here, and these are all made with all-natural ingredients by Elves! Surely you wouldn't want to be poorly judged for making purchases at a cheap, low quality shop like that Dwarf's over there."

"Hey, watch what you say you right pointy eared twat! Your goods migh' be expensive but that means a whole lot of nothin! Look here customer, you should try me Dwarven meat buns. It's full 'a meat and tastes great, surely better than that 'ere Elf's buns."

"Are you trying to fight you short, nasty bearded, fat dwarf?"
"I ain' tryin to be your friend if that's what you think you pretty boy elf!" They got right up in each others faces, shouting at each other and looked as if they were ready to brawl.

"What do you say customer?" Both of them looked to him, "Who are you going to buy from?"

He sighed, "I'm just going to buy from both of you so I don't have to get involved." And so he did. The others walked off eating their food, but he decided to hang around a little more. "By the way, do you two know any sights around town to see?"

"Sights? No, not really. There was the one hot spring though…"

"This is a city full of hot springs, what is better about that one hot spring? And why are you talking in the past tense?"

"He's referring to the mixed gender hot springs, the ones frequented by the young ladies," the Dwarf answered.

"Did you just completely lose your accent…?"

"Ah damnit, slipped up." The Dwarf his hands up, "We'll just tell you since you can probably already figure it out. I am a real dwarf, but the beard is fake." He pulled the beard off his chin to show him, then reapplied it. "And he is a real Elf, but his ears are fake." The Elf confirmed it, pulling off the pair of fake long ears to reveal a pair of human looking ears.

"Would disappoint people if they didn't see what they thought the real thing looked like, so we play it up for them." The Elf put the ears back on, "But eh, it's the past tense because the water isn't too good anymore. None of the water around the city is, really. Quality is dropping for some reason."

"Dropping?"

"Yep, some people even got sick with rashes after bathing. The city already hired experts to investigate but they haven't been able to find anything." Aurdel wasn't so sure about staying at this city to use the hot springs anymore…

"Hey Aurdel, are you coming?" His party members called out to him from afar, they were waiting for him to move on.

He shook his head, "I'm coming!" And he power walked over to where they were. The fact that something was wrong with this city and that there was something causing it was stuck in his mind now. Damnit, he really didn't want to have to worry about fighting some enemy especially if this was supposed to be a vacation now.

"What took you so long?" Megumin asked as he came over.

"I was just asking them if there were any good spots to visit, afraid I got nothing out of them."

"Ah, that's unfortunate. But that shouldn't matter too much, we can just keep wandering around. I'm sure we'll find a lot more places to visit if we do!"

"That, or more place to spend our money at."

"There's nothing wrong with spending a little money on pleasure sometimes, is there?"

"No but I'd rather not waste them all on tourist traps."

"Actually, I"d like it if I could bring back some souvenirs to send to my family. They've never been to Alcanretia before so I want them to see what it's like."

"Judging by the Axis Cultists nudging their way over towards us, I think it's better not to know what this place is like. I say we keep moving and stay away from these nutjobs."

"Y-yeah, the way that one is looking at me is especially discomforting." Yunyun was referring to an older man, one with a long gray beard and mustache. Megumin was averting her eyes from the figure.

"I actually don't mind being looked at like-"

"You're the last person I want to take advice from on something like that Darkness, we're moving on." And so they did, making sure to stay out of sight and reach of that group and that man in specific. That lead them to the center of the town where there stood a large fountain, a statue standing in the middle of it. Was that supposed to be… Aqua? No, whoever sculpted this had obviously gotten it wrong. The figure they made looked elegant and noble, like a Goddess one could actually pray to and depend on. The Goddess he knew was none of that and more. Just staring at it made him a little irritated for some reason.

He looked down. It looked like somebody was about to bump into him, so he moved out of the way. Somehow, they still managed to do so. He turned to his party, as if to confirm that his has just happened. Darkness and Yunyun looked just as confused as he felt, Megumin looked like she was embarrassed and had something she didn't want to admit. "Ah, my apples!" The person that bumped into them fell to the ground in what felt like him to be pathetic acting. But he might as well help them since he was there. He reached down and helped the girl pick up the apples she'd dropped. "Ah, thank you so much. How could I ever repay you?"

"Don't worry about it, it was an accident. These things-"

"I know, there's a cafe run by the Axis cult down the road! We can go there and-"

"No, you don't need to do anything. It's like I was saying, these things happen-"

"If not that, then maybe I could interest you in… Me~? I'd be willing to do that, though there are some things I'd like to-"

"Hold on, what in Gods name did you just say? Are you implying what I think you implied?" He wasn't sure how to react at all now.

"Of course I meant what I said, I would do anything for the great Goddess Aqua! The Axis Cult discriminates naught by gender, age nor species!" She grabbed his hand and tried to drag him away.
"Get your hand off of me you creep," he tore his hand away from her.

"Please leave my friend here alone," Darkness said while pulling out an amulet, "I'm a member of the Eris Cult, and I would-" The Axis cultist turned her head and spit on the ground. Then after she took another few steps she spit again, then moved out of sight.

Okay, that's it. Just from this encounter alone he had enough resolve to burn down this city. He was just going to have to find out what was messing it up first so he could have the honor of doing it himself. "Darkness, you should put that thing away. I don't think this cult likes Eris very much so you should-" He looked at her, "Wait a second… You enjoyed that, didn't you?"

"O-of course not," she turned her bright red face away from him.

"Okay, one pervert is usually enough for me. But one pervert and another city full of them? That's too much. I'm locking you back in the hotel room."

...A Cult of Crazies...

After forcefully locking Darkness in their hotel room, something she probably ended up enjoying anyways given who she was, they went back to roaming the streets of Axel. They were assaulted relentlessly with numerous attempts at proselytization. "If you just sign these blank Axis Cult forums, you'll be granted with an immense amount of power!" "Hey, don't you remember me? We went to school together! You probably don't recognize me because I'm in the Axis cult!" "If you join the Axis Cult, you'll be able to tell your own future!" "Are you looking for immense riches? If you join the Axis Cult, you'll find just that!" Spartans were patient, but this one was being tested severely.

"I swear that if I hear one more person try to recruit me, I'm going to-"

"Hello there sir, could I interest you in some flowers? They're the pride of the Axis-" He dealt the man a hard right hook and sent him flying down the sidewalk, the basket crashed to the ground and flower bouquets filled with Axis Cult registration forms flew and fell apart. Stares came at him from all around after seeing what he'd done.

"Right, we're going to probably the one place with sane people around here. The guild," and he stormed off in search of it. And find it he did, pushing the doors open.

"We've told you already, the Adventurers Guild of Alcanretia does not need a sponsorship from the Axis Cult. So you can get out and-" the voice stopped, "Wait, no. Those are just some new faces. Welcome. I apologize for my words, but the cultists here are quite aggressive in their campaigning."

"I know, I saw it first hand." He took in a deep breath, then exhaled. "Alright. Megumin, Yunyun, go look at their quest board while we're here. We might as well do something."

"Why do we have to do quests? This is supposed to be a vacation."

"It's doing a quest or spending all day in this city with them constantly asking us to join their cult." With that reasoning they willingly walked over to the quest board

He on the other hand was going to do something to take his mind off of all of this. He walked over to the guild bar, "Wine, give me the full bottle. I'll pour it out for myself." The bartender pulled a bottle off the shelf, then put it on the counter alongside two glasses. Aurdel popped the cork off the bottle and poured out a glass. He took a sip, then he winged at the bitter taste. Well it wasn't the worst thing he'd tasted. He finished the glass and poured out another, he was going to have to drink the full bottle anyways since it's what he was paying for.

"A little bit early for drinking, don't you think?" A woman's voice said next to him. He turned, the woman was one with white hair, a tail and fox ears. He'd seen people similar to that before, though the only one that came to mind was the sole woman in Dust's party that he'd seen occasionally.

"After seeing what the people are like here? It's probably never too early."

"I suppose you're right," she sat down on the stool next to where he stood, "But I wanted to ask you something. You're not like other adventurers, are you?"

"I don't know how you figured that out. Was it the big sword, the armor or my insane height compared to every other person here?"

"A combination of things, but those certainly did help." Aurdel drank his glass, then he poured out another for himself and one for the woman. "The name is Anatalia, and I was hoping that you might take a chance on me."

"I'm not looking for a woman in my life."

"I didn't mean it like that," she took a sip of the wine and had a similar reaction to what he'd experienced, but she kept drinking. "God knows I've had enough of men hitting on me while I'm here. I meant that if you're actively looking for other adventurers I would like to join your party."

"I would've assumed someone like you would be in a party already." The woman was young, beautiful and probably considered exotic for her additional features, so it's hard to imagine that no one would try snatching her up as a member yet.

"You might say that I'm in a little spot of trouble, and because of that no one is willing to take me on."

"What kind of trouble?" He took a sip from his glass and raised an eyebrow

"The kind that has you run out of your home country, where the government has placed a multi million bounty on my head for trying to rob a noble's treasury."

"So you're a thief."

"That's the part you got all hung up on?"

"Not so much hung up on, but I'm not exactly shocked with the rest either. After all, I'm in a party with a walking bomb, an over-enthusiastic S&M fetishist and a wet carpet. You can try and shock me."

"Hmph, with descriptions like those I suppose you wouldn't. But you can imagine why I'm avoided, aside from the occasional man hitting on me." She pulled out a dagger and turned around, pointing it at the throat of a man who'd been creeping up on her. He raised his hands and slowly backed away, "Case and point."

"Avoided for good reason, though."

"Listen," she put away the dagger, then rested her arm and head on counter and looked up at him. "I don't have a lot of options and I'd rather not be stuck in this town full of cultists for the rest of my life, I'm a believer in Jadwiga myself and the way these people act are sickening. Look, right there their head Archpriest in this city is peeking in to try and get a glance at some people." She pointed idly towards one of the windows against a far wall, he saw the face of the bearded man from earlier in fact looking in. Somewhere else in the guild an Archer notched an arrow and fired it in his direction, the man disappeared after that. "So what do you say? Even if I have to be the party maid it'd be much better than staying here."

He pondered the thought. If this woman was even the least bit competent it'd bring up the capabilities of his party substantially. If she wasn't, he'd just be left with another mouth to feed.

He'd take the risk this time, "Alright, You're in." They shook hands, "I'm Aurdel, those two are Yunyun and Megumin." He pointed towards the two who were still looking at the quest board, "There are two others besides them but we can get to them later."

"Those names, they must be Crimson Demons. But which one is Yunyun and which one is Megumin? Is Megumin the one with a chest as flat as a cutting board?"

Aurdel saw Megumin twitch and look over, "Darkness blacker than black, darker than-"

"Sleep!" Yunyun cast a spell on Megumin and she collapsed to the floor, unable to finish her chant.

"You know, I feel like that spell would be really useful to have."

After formally introducing them, Yunyun took Anatalia and Megumin back to the hotel they were staying staying. He, meanwhile, was going out to look for Aqua. He wandered out in the streets and pondered. If he was a stuck up blue haired Goddess who was currently in the main city of her religion, where would he be…? The largest and most expensive looking church in town of course. He looked around and he found it eventually, a cathedral-esque structure. He pushed the door open, "Ah, welcome," a blonde woman in priestly clothing greeted him by the entrance. "Are you here as a pilgrim seeking salvation? Or are you a possible convert? Or maybe you are here for… me?" Legitimately, he was going to burn this city down.

"I'm looking for a blue haired Archpriest, have you seen her around here?"

"If you're looking for her you'll find her in there," she pointed towards a small wooden booth off to the side. It looked like a type of confession box. ...Seriously? He walked over towards it and heard quiet and gentle breathing from inside, she was definitely there. He pulled the door open and stepped inside the box.

"Welcome, child. This place is a sacred one, one without judgement and without punishment. Here you may confess your sins freely and have them wiped away by the Goddess Aqua."

"Aqua, it's me. Get out of this thing so we can go back to the hotel."

"If you are here not to confess your sins then it is best you leave now, lest you receive divine punishment." He wasn't going to get her out of here like this, he thought for a moment.

"Actually there are a few things I'd like to get off my chest."

"Oh? Does it perhaps involve a beautiful blue haired Archpriest in your party? One that suffers abuse despite her great contributions?"

"Beautiful and great contribution? Not so much, but she is the one this is about."

He could tell she was already ticked off by that, but she was trying to hide it. "Then child, please state your sins so that they might be wiped away."

"Well, this is the first thing. I took all of her wine without her knowing, then had it given as an offering to the Goddess Eris. But I felt bad so I had it all replaced with cheap booze and she didn't know the difference." He heard a grip on a wood tighten from behind the screen Aqua was hiding behind. "I was also considering allowing an undead to stay in my house permanently if they needed it, since their home was destroyed. I would've give them the Archpriest's room," a tighter grip. "I also put up a posting for an Eris sect Priest-" Wood shattered.

"Suffer holy retribution you apostate!" Aqua flung open the screen and tried to hit Aurdel, but he was quicker on the draw and hit her square in the face. She was sent spiraling back and out of the confession box.

"Ah?! Are you alright Archpriest-sama?!" He heard the blonde Priest run over to the now unconscious Aqua, "What happened?"

"She said she was having a vision of the Goddess Aqua, then she was sent flying backwards."

The was a massive welt on Aqua's face and her nose was bleeding. "I see, our Goddess works in mysterious but beautiful ways. Please take care of her."

"Don't worry, I couldn't not do that even if I wanted to." He picked Aqua up and lifted her up over his shoulder and carried her out of the church. By the time he had dusk was starting to break, most of the day had gone by already. When he got back the others were already having dinner.

"Oh you're back, we were just acquainting ourselves."

Yunyun looked at him, "What happened to Aqua?"

"The correct thing," he set her down on the couch. He looked at the meal on the table, "Is this really all covered by the coupons…?"

"No, we just ordered extra," Megumin said with a drumstick in hand. She and Anatalia had shoveled a mountain of food onto their plates.

Hmph, "I suppose it's a good thing credit cards haven't been invented yet here, or else we'd be dead broke."

"What's a credit card?"

"I'd rather you not know so nobody ever hears it from you and makes one." He picked up a plate and began to eat, "Anyways I would've suggested going to one of the springs after all the sightseeing today but I'm not so sure."

"Why's that?"

"Those shopkeepers I spoke with told me something was going on with them, quality was decreasing and people were getting sick from going into them."

"Maybe Aqua could-" Darkness looked to our still unconscious Goddess, "Ah, right."

"We can still go to them, the bath here specifically, I'd just be a little cautious about it." He put down his plate, having finished, "I'm going down now, but make sure that when you do you'll tell me if you hear or see anything weird."

...Raising Suspicion...

Aurdel walked down to where the baths were, there were three doors. From left to right it was the men's bath, mixed bath and then the women's bath. He decided to go with the men's bath since that just made sense. He walked up to the door, put his hand on the doorknob and twisted it. It popped off. "Wha-" He did a double take on what just happened. Had he been too forceful and just pulled it off? No, he hadn't. Taking a closer look he could tell that the doorknob had barely been attached to the door at all, as if they expected no one to use it. Okay then, if he couldn't open it the normal way he'd just have to force it open. He wedged his fingers into the edge of the door, then tried to prop it open. The door popped off its hinges.

With the door off of the wall he could now see that there was no men's bath at all, it was quite literally just a fake door. He… he didn't know how to take that. Befuddled he propped the door back up on the wall and forced the doorknob back on. If he couldn't go to the men's bath he'd just go into the mixed section. He opened the other door and stepped through, this time the bath was real. The bath gave off an immense amount of steam and covered the area with an almost light mist but he could still tell there were two other people in here anyways. Enemy Detection told him that, but there was something odd about it. For some reason the two people here seemed to be extremely strong. He was on his guard now.

"You look relaxed," the man said.

"And you look tense," the woman said back. There was another odd thing, specifically about the woman. The way she looked was reminiscent of that of the Succubi from the shop in Axel, this only made him more suspicious of who they were and what they were up to.

"It's just that this damn town… It's getting to me," the man clenched his fist, "It's always conversion this and proselytize that, I can't take. This place might as well be filled with Demons."

"And so…?" Aurdel made sure to make it look like he wasn't listening in on them, picking up some things off to the side as if he was only getting ready to get into the bath.

"And so I'll do something about it, I have to make a move!" His fist clenched even tighter.

"You should be more quiet, be too loud and you'll get caught. When that happens, everything will have been for nothing." She sighed, "Look, there's even a person over there. Do you think he heard you?" He felt both their eyes move to him.

"I'm not sure."

"Hey," the woman called out to him, but he ignored it at first. He wanted to make sure they assumed he hadn't heard them talking. "Hey!" She said it louder this time, "You're supposed to take off any clothes or armor before you get into the bath."

He turned his head, his helmet still on, "I can't take off this armor."

"Oh… Then I suppose that's different," they turned away. "I don't think he heard us, but you have to be more careful."

She stood up, "But if you're going to do something I'll make sure to get out before then, you don't exactly leave a lot standing in your way." Covering herself up with a towel she began to walk away, "Besides, I need to tell them how you're doing." She left, leaving only him and the other man. Aurdel then walked over towards the bath and stepped in, sitting down low in the water so it at least made it to his shoulders. It was an awkward position given his height but it's not something he wasn't used to. The suit stopped him from feeling the water anyways so he wasn't exactly desperate to enjoy the bath. But it was at least a little calming to listen to the running of the water and sit in the steam.

Voices were heard from the bath over, "Megumin! You're not supposed to swim in the baths!" It was Darkness lecturing Megumin who'd jumped in and made a splash in the bath.

"Lighten up, with what we do we're free to enjoy things as we please." He heard her swim around for a little bit, "...But seeing you all like this does make me a little angry."

"You're young, you have room to grow," that was Anatalia.

"Darkness blacker than black-"

"Silence!" As before, Yunyun had to stop Megumin from doing something stupid. There was an awkward silence after that. Aurdel took off his helmet and laid his head back.

"Do you think he's in the mixed baths?" Darkness asked.

"Why, do you plan to make a passionate love confession or something of the like?" Anatalia teased.

"O-of course not! It was just that thinking about it made me wonder what he looks like without his armor."

"What kind of line of thought is that?" Megumin asked, "And besides, he can't take it off. Or… at least he says he can't take it off, I don't know if that's true." It was true, if it wasn't he wouldn't be sitting in the water with it on.

"I don't know, maybe he's just putting on this heroic and stoic facade. Then once he removes the fierce and strong exterior he'll be nothing more than a fat, abusive old man, one who'd put me in my place and force me to do crazy things. Just the thought of the possibility excites me~." He looked at the fence with disbelief, there was another awkward silence on the other side.

"That's… that's really rude, you know.." Yunyun said relatively quietly, "And I'm sure he's nothing like that."

"How would you know? You haven't been with us very long," Megumin pointed out.

"Maybe not, not-"

"Wait a minute… You're blushing! Yunyun, why are you blushing?!"

"I-I'm not!"

"Yes you are! Don't you dare hide your face!" He heard them struggle in the water, "You barely know him so don't tell me that you love him!"

"H-he's the only one that's nice to me!"

"That doesn't mean you have to love him!"

Aurdel shook his head, he didn't know what to make of this. "You two should stop fighting, Aqua isn't awake to heal you if you injure each other." But he heard them continue to grapple with each other." He watched as the other man finally left the baths, taking his clothes as he left and avoiding all of the 'holy' items being presented by Axis cultists. From what he'd heard and what he'd assumed, that man had to be followed.

He stood up from the bath and walked over towards the fence, "D-don't get Kuro involved in this!"

"Her name is Chomusuke and she'll help me win any battle!"

"Nyow!" He heard the cat as it sounded like it was placed in the middle of their fight, unfortunately for it.

The fence separating the two sections wasn't too tall, so he should be able to stand up tall and look over, "Stop pulling, or else-!"

He stood up and looked over, "Guys, I-"

"NYOW!" The cat somehow ended up in the air and flying in his general direction, going over the fence and straight into his face. It's claws just barely missed his eyes as it grappled to try and get a steady hold on his head.

All of the others looked over towards him, "A-Aurdel?! What are you doing?!" They covered up their bodies with towels.

"I could care less about how you look, especially given I almost just had my vision taken away from me." He pried Chomusuke off of his face, "Look, the guy that was here before that just left is up to something. It's something against the town and he was working with a woman that looked like a Devil to me."

"But we just got in!"

"Then just get out," he walked away from the fence and heard them grumbling, "And be quick about it! We don't want to lose track of him!"

Taking his helmet he walked over and grabbed a towel, stuffing it inside. Then, after attaching the helmet to his hip with the open side up, he put Chomusuke inside the helmet. The cat curled up to try and take a nap. After that he left the bath, going back to their room to grab all their gear as he waited for them. He used Enemy Detection from time to time to make sure that he could keep track of the man. Eventually they came out, still wet but dressed with Aqua on Darkness' back. He handed out their gear. They came in all close together, "Alright, Lurk!" He used his skill to mask their sounds and scents, "Yunyun?"
"Light of Reflection!" Her spell made them completely invisible.

They left the hotel and wandered the streets of Alcanretia, tailing the man as he made several stops across the town. They made sure to keep a distance so that if he had a way of picking up their presence even with their countermeasures that they'd be able to get away safely. But they didn't stay in town for the whole time, they were eventually led to its outer limits and towards a mountain. Atop the mountain was a large cathedral like building, and along the path towards the top was a gate and a wall prohibiting entry with two guards standing by it. Somehow the man had passed through, they had to do the same. They uncloaked around the corner, then rounded it and stepped forward to meet with the guards.

"Halt! State your business here."

"We're investigating a possible threat to the town, we must pass through."

"I'm afraid we can't allow that, the overseer of the source told us not to let anyone else through." The source…? Of course, the source of the hot springs! It'd be a lot easier to poison the source than to poison each one individually. If the guards wouldn't let them in then they have to-

Darkness stepped forward, "As a member of house Dustiness, I require you to allow us passage to the source," she pulled out a pendant with one hand and held it out.

"House Dustiness-?!" The two guards looked and sounded extremely apologetic. They opened the gate and let them through.

"I'm sorry I'm didn't let you all know sooner, but I didn't want you to treat me differently just because I'm a noble."

"We wouldn't have treated you differently Darkness, though I do feel like it would've been better to know sooner. But now we have to sneak again, Lurk!"

"Light of Reflection!" They shrouded themselves and proceeded up the path. When they came about to the top they saw the source of the water, with the man they'd been following crouched over next to it. Using his helmet he got a better look and saw that he was sticking his arm in and that the water he touched was turning black. He was right, the main source of the springs was being poisoned.

"Yunyun," he whispered, "Once we get him away from the water you'll freeze him, then open Bottomless Swamp and we'll push him in,"

"Okay, got it."

"We just need to distract him somehow…" He thought, how could he do that? Then he had an idea. He pulled out one of the magazines he used for his hand cannon and took out two of the steel balls. He took the first one and threw it into the grass near the man, it landed quietly and without noise. Then he took the second ball and arc'd it, making sure that it struck the first and made a loud clang. When it did the man turned around.

"Who's there?" He looked around wildly, standing up and turning away from the lake. He took a few steps away searching for the noise's origin. Aurdel nodded, Yunyun sprang forward.

"Crystal Prison!" The man was caught with an expression of shock when he was frozen completely solid by her.

"Good work, now we get rid of him."

"Okay! Bottomless Swamp!" The purple hole in the ground opened up. Aurdel broke the parts of the ice and pushed the block with the man inside towards it. He didn't know who this guy was, but he knew for sure that getting rid of him would be for the best.

He kicked the block and it popped off the edge and into the hole. It bobbed for a moment, then sunk completely out of sight. The hole then suddenly disappeared and Yunyun collapsed. "Yunyun, are you alright?"

"I-I'm fine, but I'm out of magic." So he walked over and picked her up, placing her in his back. Doing so got a grumble from Megumin but she had no right to complain given how much of a help she'd been.

"Don't worry, you did a good job. But now we need to figure out what to do about the water, Darkness?"

She looked over her shoulder, "Aqua is still out."

"Still?" Maybe he'd hit her too hard… still, what could they do now? Then he remembered something, "Hey, Aqua just being in liquids can purify them right?"

"Yes, that is the case. But why-?" Megumin asked before watching as he took Aqua off Darkness' back with one hand and tossed her into the source. "Oh…"

"We can check on her in the morning, it should be done by then."

"So… what now?" Anatalia asked.

"You guys can finish your bath when you get back, I'm going to take a nap."

Aqua burst in through the hotel room door soaking wet, "What the hell happened to me?!" They all looked up from their breakfast.

"Oh, you're back."

"Don't 'you're back' me! What happened?!" They looked at each other, it was probably easier for them to lie to her than telling the truth. "Well?!"

"You got drunk and said you wanted to swim in the source of the hot spring, you said that it'd be 'Good for your followers to have water truly blessed by Aqua-sama.'"

"There is no way I said that!" She pouted. "I never said that, right guys?!" She looked to the others, they offered her no comfort and were fine with not telling her the truth. She threw a tantrum on the floor.

After that they didn't stay for very long. As it turns out, Aqua being in the water didn't only purify it. It had also turned it all into regular hot water. So the whole point of coming to the hot springs was ruined, they'd effectively ruined the economy of this city. As a result Aqua had accumulated an angry mob chasing after her once people had found out that she was the one responsible for doing so. Because of that they didn't take the carriage back, instead Yunyun teleported them back to Axel though only with the help of the mana battery he'd made.

When they got home they all went to do different things. Aqua cried in the corner, Megumin groomed Chomusuke, Yunyun went over some mail, Anatalia got adjusted to the mansion, Darkness… he really didn't know what Darkness was doing... and Aurdel just decided to sleep in. Maybe he would've enjoyed the trip a little more if it hadn't been for that dungeon, or if he'd actually been able to use the hot springs and take off his armor. That didn't matter now though, it was just a thought for the future.