"What business do you have with Kazuma?" Asked a brown haired tall man.

The way the two looked the girls, it intimidated them slightly. They seemed angry.

"Why should that be any of your concern? Whatever kind of business we have with him doesn't involve you!" Aqua exclaimed.

"As a matter of fact, it kinda does concern us, especially when people are after him." Said the black haired one, stepping forward a bit.

"We aren't "after" Kazuma, but we'd like to know what kind of relationship you have with him." Darkness asked as she held a defensive stance.

"Why should we tell you? You could be dangerous people after all." The brown haired one said.

The two guys and the two girls stared at each other closely, seeing who would make a move.

However.

The tension was broken as Megumin tugged on the tunic of the brown haired male.

"Please, if you know anything about Kazuma, can you tell us? We're just worried about him..." Megumin said with a sad look, which threw him off guard.

The two men looked at each other before they sighed.

"Alright, come with us."

They girls were led by the two through the village to a nearby park where they sat down around a table.

"So, first let us introduce ourselves. My name is Ralph, that there is my brother John." The man, now revealed to them as Ralph, said.

"I'm Megumin."

"Darkness."

"And I'm Aqua! Goddess of water and deity of the Axis- mmph!" Aqua was cut off by Darkness covering her mouth with her hand.

"So, once again, how do you three know Kazuma?" Ralph asked.

"We're friends with Kazuma. We were in a party together with him until..." Megumin started explaining.

"Kazuma was arrested by the imperial knights, but he fled. We don't know where he is or where he went. The only thing we know is that he's safe." Darkness finished explaining.

"Wait, how do you know he's safe?" John asked.

"His adventurer's card was recently wiped of it's information, meaning he must have made a new one. If he was able to make one then perhaps he's in a place where he could safely make one. The only issue is we don't know where that is."

"I see..."

"Do you happen to know where he went?"

"We do, but before that, let us ask you a question. You guys were in a party with him, right?" Ralph asked.

"That is correct."

"So you're the ones who left him hanging then?"

That got all of the girls to tense up.

"So he's told you then?" Darkness asked.

"He has. He told us about you guys. What an amazing party you guys were. Taking down one of the Demon Lord's General, and the Destroyer. And how you left him on his own."

"We didn't just leave him! Please, just tell us where-"

Ralph slammed his fist on the table.

"And why should I help you lot?! Traitors like you should never find him."

"Excuse me?!" Aqua cried out.

"What do you expect us to do? He was going to be convicted as a terrorist and if we opposed that at all, we would've been right alongside him to be potentially executed! What else could we have done?!"

"Anything other than just leaving him alone! I don't know what you intend to do when you find him again, I bet it's nothing good. You should just staw away from-" Ralph was cut off by Megumin slamming her hands on the table and standing up.

Tears were rolling down her face. Seeing her like this shocked both the other girls and the brothers.

"Enough... We just want to find Kazuma. He's a very important friend of ours and we don't know where he is... He may be somewhere safe but we're worried about him. Yes we may have left him hanging, he has every right to hate us and call us traitors. But we still need to find him... We miss him, we care about him, we just want him back, even if he doesn't want us back..." She ran off from the table.

They watched as Megumin ran away, tears trailing her path. Ralph sighed while John gave him a concerned look.

"Brother..."

"Now look at what I've done, made a little girl cry..."

There was a moment of silence. The two girls didn't know what else to do now.

"You guys..." Ralph spoke up, which got their attention.

"You really don't intend to harm Kazuma?" They nodded in response.

"Sigh... Alright fine, let's find you friend and I'll tell you about him." They all got up and went to look for Megumin.

They found her in the carriage they arrived in, curled up and crying.

"Hey." Ralph greeted, which got her to flinch before she looked up at him.

"Come on out, I'll tell ya what you want to know."

She looked to Darkness and Aqua for confirmation, to which they gave her thumbs up.

She slowly got up and went over to them.

"Now then, what do you know about Kazuma?" Darkness asked.

"He came here a while ago, dressed in a black cloak that made him look shady. He took a request off the board to collect some cherries down in the forest."

"That's right, the guy there said that a stranger got them. He wouldn't tell us it was Kazuma because he's wanted." Aqua said.

"Right. I guess he used his money to buy a weapon, which he used when he helped us by killing some wild boars. He told us about you guys, though he never mentioned anything about this." Ralph said as he looked over at the wanted poster.

"So where did he go?" Megumin asked.

"He stayed around for a few days before leaving with William to the capital. It was an escort request so I bet he must have split at some point before the capital, otherwise he would have been caught. William's still at the capital, but he should be back by next week. Maybe then you can ask him about where Kazuma went." Ralph finished explaining.

The girls looked at each other. They finally found a lead, but they would have to wait longer until this William returned.

They looked back at Ralph.

"Thank you very much for this information. It means a lot to us." Darkness said.

"No problem, I hope you find him." Ralph said.

The brothers bid their farewells before the left.

"So what do we do now?" Aqua asked.

"We come back another time to inquire this William about Kazuma. In the mean time, we have to get stronger if we want to look for him." Darkness said.

"Then let's hurry back to Axel!" Megumin said.

Megumin and Aqua sat in the carriage again while darkness took the reins.

As they made their way back to Axel, a single thought passed through their heads.

'Hold on Kazuma, we'll find you.'