-The Next Day-
How long was I asleep? Last thing I remembered was drinking my expensive wine before passing out... The castle is quiet as usual, I should pay a visit to the kitchen, come to think of it, I have yet to eat the castle's breakfast or lunch. A busy Goddess like myself is always heading out before even eating, I wish Kazuma would notice the sacrifices I make for the people of this world.
It took a lot of effort and a lot of time, but I finally found the kitchen. Man... This place is huge, I wonder how does Kazuma navigate the castle so well, I need to get him to bring me for a tour. I moved into the dining area and saw 2 ladies sitting facing each other seemingly arguing. I felt one of them giving off the faint aura being a follower of the Axis Order, I should eavesdrop and step in when the time is right, that will help build her faith in me!
I took a seat close by and listened in to their conversation. Hmm? Are those crimson demons?
"You saw the letter too! She is back! She is back!" The first crimson demon panickly said.
Where have I heard this kind of panic before? I thought to myself.
"And that is why the royal castle requested for us! We are the most powerful group of adventurers to have ever existed before that man decided to retire from adventuring. Now that we have been reunited, there is no stopping us! Not even our children and grandchildren could handle such raw power and that is why they have called for us veterans." The crimson demon with the faint aura of being an Axis Order follower said confidently
"But... Megumin, not everyone is back you know? Lalatina still making her way over" The panicky crimson demon said.
Megumin? I should have known that was Megumin, she was the only flat chested crimson demon to have existed apart from her mother. And maybe Komekko? So the other crimson demon must be-
"Well, at least we have Aqua somewhere in the castle. Also where is your good-for-nothing husband? Shouldnt he come as well?" Megumin asked
"You see... Errm... He is in Elrond with Lolisa managing their cafe, you know how he is" The other crimson demon said.
"*sigh* Yunyun... I told you before didnt I? Marrying him would have been a bad idea, you cant even keep him under your thumb, look at Kazuma, regardless of where he is, He is always loyal to his one and only wife. You had so many suitors and yet you chose-."
Before Megumin could finish I jumped in.
"MEGUMIN! YUNYUN!"
"Aqua, you... Look not a day older than the day you left" Megumin said.
"Yeah, your skin still looks so smooth and soft!" Yunyun said.
"Both of you are looking great as well, I am guessing my holy water has been good for your skins... Although it didnt seem to work everywhere Megumin is still-"
Before I could finish, Megumin jumped on me and started strangling me.
"Ack... ACCK... Meg... ACCCK"
"Megumin! You are killing her!" Yunyun was attempting to pry Megumin off me.
"Let me go!" shouted Megumin.
"Stop! She is turning blue!" Yunyun panickedly shouted.
"She is always blue! What the heck are you talking about?" Megumin irritatedly said.
"AAACCCCKKK! C-cant... Breathe..."
Yunyun released her grip on Megumin and went on to put Megumin in a full nelson hold. After Megumin released her death strangle hold on me, I panted and caught my breath.
"W-why... Is everyone attacking me? WAAAAAH"
"You started it by talking about my chest" Megumin said while pouting angrily.
"*sniffle* I am sorry... But... More importantly... Why are you emitting the aura of an Axis Order follower?"
"W-wha- ? You can tell?" Megumin replied.
"Of course! There is no way I cant tell my children apart from the rest!"
"A few weeks after you left... Maybe it was because of your status as a Goddess, but you were always very easy to talk to and... I sort of missed you, so Kazuma and Cecily suggested praying to you in your church. But I never got a reply from you." Megumin replied while blushed.
"EH? I get lots of prayers everyday and thanks from my loyal Axis followers. I miiiight have missed yours since I usually focus on the gratitude of my children. Speaking of which, is Emperor Zell with you? I bet my pet dragon missed me after all this years!"
"A-about Emperor Zell-" Yunyun said softly
"Where is Kazuma?" Megumin interrupted.
"I bet that hikiNEET is still sleeping, unlike a Goddess like me, he probably spends his time sleeping till noon."
"That sounds about right, he has been extremely lazy ever since he gave up adventuring, he should be waking up soon, it has been noon for a while now" Megumin said.
"Aqua-san , did you also just wake up? Your hair seemed to be a mess and you are in your pyjamas." Yunyun said.
"That... That... That's just me waking up in the morning but getting lost in the castle!"
"Oh Yunyun, you never interacted with Aqua-san much, but in the past despite living in Axel for so long, she still gets lost in the city." Megumin casually said.
"That is understandable that Aqua-san would lose her way in the castle then, sorry for doubting you Aqua-san!" Yunyun smile and said.
"W-well then, shall we look for Kazuma's room together?"
"Let's go wake that lazy bum up and go for an adventure!" Megumin said while flaring her cape.
She really doesnt change. We made our way around the castle looking for a certain hikiNEET's room. It didnt take too long to find his room though, it was 4 doors down from the kitchen. I should ask for a room near the kitchen too... Megumin opened the door and we saw Kazuma sleeping.
Megumin whispered into Kazuma's ear, "Wake up darling."
Kazuma opened his eyes, turned to Megumin and buried himself inside his blanket.
"WHY YOU! WAKE UP YOU LAZY BUM" Megumin started pounding on the blanket.
"Megumin, perhaps we should let him sleep a while longer" Yunyun said.
"I wont pamper him, I dont want him to end up like your husband!" Megumin said.
"Ne... Yunyun, who did you marry anyway?"
"Well... I... Erm... Married-"
"ALRIGHT ALRIGHT! I AM AWAKE! Will you stop hitting me?" Kazuma shouted and interrupted Yunyun.
"Finally! Now will you go get changed so we can head to the guild and find out more on the person who froze the adventurers to death?" Megumin said.
"What's the hurry though?" Kazuma asked.
"Well... When you said you wanted to gather information, I thought... You wanted to go on adventures again. I wanted to go on an adventure with you!" Megumin said.
"Let me get changed and we will have our breakfast at guild while finding out information." Kazuma replied.
We left the room so Kazuma can get changed.
"Ne.. You sound like you havent been adventuring with Kazuma in a long time"
"Well.. About that, our last adventure did not go very well. Kazuma almost died despite having his stats boosted from potions and level-resetting." Yunyun said
"He also managed to narrowly avoid death every time we go on adventures. When we had our first kid, he gave up on adventuring, Kazuma also said he wanted to be there for him throughout his youth." Megumin smiled as she said that.
"He was also ambushed by a bunch of female orcs a few times..." Yunyun said while averting her eyes.
"Stop talking bad about me, I am here now arent I?" Kazuma popped out of nowhere and said.
"Is that a new magical ring? CAN I HAVE IT? CAN I HAVE IT?" Megumin said while staring at Kazuma's magic ring that enhanced his spells.
"I already gave you a bunch of my rings, please just let me keep this one!" Kazuma said while hiding his ring.
"Fine..." Megumin puffed her cheeks and said.
"My wife is still as cute as ever!" Kazuma said.
"W-well, let's head out shall we?" Megumin blushed and said.
With that, we made our way to the guild.
