Of course, Kazuma did have to reconsider that position as he stood in front of an utterly fuming Akarui the next morning, looking like she was about ready to lop his head off then and there as she paced in front of him.

"Let me get this straight," she all but growled with enough force to make any monster quake before her. "Not only did you sneak out after curfew and thought you could get away with it, but you also thought it was a good idea to go up against a horde of enemies without any prior knowledge of what they were capable of? I believed you to be smarter than that, Satou Kazuma…"

"Y-yeah...I guess I didn't really think that whole plan through, huh?" Kazuma replied with an anxious chuckle, one that died relatively fast as another angry glare was sent his way. "I'm, uh...I'm sorry for going out under your nose. I know that doesn't justify it, but if you could just hear me out-"

"HEAR YOU OUT!?" Akarui nearly screamed, causing Kazuma to instinctively flinch back from the intensity of her commanding voice. "Kazuma, I shouldn't even have to explain why you are in no position to argue, but here we are apparently! We've consistently supplied you with fair reasons as to why you should hold off on grinding monsters XP – hell, we told you why for the fifth time this month on the way here! You need to hone in your natural strength and abilities first before you are ready to learn magic and battle actual opponents! Do you have even the slightest inkling of the ramifications that could've occurred had I inadvertently let you get eaten by a Rookie Killer whilst under my care?"

Kazuma shrank back further, both terrified over the intensity of his fellow general's words as well with the slightest spike of shame. He didn't mean to go against her word, he just wanted to prove that he could do stuff! Everyone kept telling him that if he didn't earn his place in their ranks he was toast, and yet it seemed like no one wanted to help him out either!

"I'm just trying to do my best, okay!?" Kazuma half-yelled in spite of himself. "But my best isn't good enough for you people! You're all crazy powerful demons or demi-humans while I'm literally just some NEET off the street! I'm sorry for doing something reckless and stupid, but I only did it because I felt I was out of options. I don't want to be killed off because I'm too weak to be useful!"

For the briefest moment, Akarui's anger disappeared, and surprise filtered across her face before the scowl returned and she shook her head, frustrated beyond belief. "We were never going to kill you, Kazuma. You were never at risk of that, and you won't be anytime soon...but there are consequences to your actions."

Feeling his face heat up from embarrassment over his accidental outburst (and from the realization they never had intentions to kill him off for poor progress), Kazuma went back to bowing his head in shame. "Yes, Akarui-sama…I will take my punishment with no further objections…"

"For now, return to your quarters. I will summon you again when it is time for the ceremony in the town square." She stated plainly, holding her angry scowl and firm tone as she addressed the young man under her command. "Once we return home, you will be administered a proper punishment. Until then, you're dismissed, Satou."

Nodding cooperatively, Kazuma turned away and made the slog back upstairs to his room, never daring to look back at the disappointed scowl of his mentor, followed shortly after by a lightly concerned frown. Before the defeated young man could return to his peaceful sanctuary, however, he just had to run into an all-too smug Serena, who seemed to be loitering in the halls overhearing the ass-chewing that took place down below.

"Well, well, well. Look who it is. Mr. 'I'm-gonna-sneak-out-on-my-own!' himself! That really worked out for you, didn't it?" She snarked with barely a moment of pause, moving alongside Kazuma as he attempted to retreat, unaware of his growing irritation. "Man, if only someone could have warned you how absolutely stupid that was to try and do! Naturally, you couldn't have figured it out yourself, huh?"

The last thing Serena could've expected from her personal favorite punching bag was for him to suddenly spin around, roughly push her away from him, and snarl, "Bitch! What is your problem, huh!? Why are you always like this with me; what did I ever do to you!?"

Honestly, she was stunned for a moment, unsure of what to say. She'd never really gotten Kazuma to the point where he was actually upset with her, not to mention angry enough to physically lash out! Worse yet, she struggled to formulate a proper answer to his question. Instead, she stumbled and stuttered for a moment, lost under his withering glare before managing words.

"W-well, I…it's just how it is, alright?" She stated almost matter-of-factly, glaring down at the impudent boy before her ever so slightly as she attempted to regain her authority. "There's a pretty damn good reason the Demon Generals are referred to as such. Having any other lifeform, let alone a human, prove themselves strong enough to take on such a title only happens once in a millennium. Even so, our kind is often looked down upon by demons and devils alike. Power is a highly revered symbol of status in their world, and humans simply can't compare most of the time. If I was to be treated like shit amongst my cohorts when I first joined, then…then why should you be any different!?"

Kazuma stared at her long and hard following her declaration, his fury slowly giving way to resentment, and then apparent apathy as he sighed heavily, shaking his head in disappointment and turning away, sending one last scathing retort over his shoulder as he left.

"Maybe because it'd be decent of you, yeah? Or are we humans above decency?"

Kazuma didn't care enough to study the reaction of his fellow human as he roughly slammed the door to his room shut and flopped onto his bed, doing his damnedest to not let the tempting negativity of it all overwhelm him. Once again, the troubled teen found himself internally debating on whether he preferred his old shitty life back home or his new shitty life here. And, as per usual, he came to the same conclusion: he just didn't know.

An hour or two later, Wolbach was sent to fetch him for the ceremony. He followed her without a word, pointedly ignoring the passive glances of concern she sent his way. After joining up with Akarui and Serena at the front door, they departed with haste to the town square, where a large stage and slowly building crowd awaited them.

"I apologize for speaking out of line, Ma'am, but has there been any word from Beldia's team in regards to suspicious trespassers on the border?" Wolbach asked her commanding officer with all the professionalism and respect that could only be gained from years of experience working under the Devil King's fabled offspring. "If there's a chance that an assassin managed to sneak in…"

"I received word this morning, actually. The rebels were quelled with extreme prejudice. According to Beldia, none escaped the city alive." Akuria replied, eyes scanning the crowd for a moment before she turned to the goddess and nodded. "For once, I think it is best to take him at his word. With any luck, we shall be finished here and on our way back home before noon."

On that note, Kazuma, Wolbach, and Serena wordlessly assumed their positions on the stage, acting as both bodyguards for their leader and intimidation for the masses. As soon as Akarui walked up on stage beside the tense governor of the town, the crowd steadily became silent upon her arrival. The Daughter cleared her throat and began to speak, her hardened voice booming loud and clear for even the furthest people in the back.

"Citizens of Tanzinear, I thank you for assembling on this day to hear my words, and hopefully heed them. As you are likely aware, a number of incidents have been reported in your city, incidents that seem to correlate with negative sentiments regarding my father." She stated, not missing the brief ripple of discomfort through the crowd. "However, my fellow generals and I have been dispatched on this day not as an act of aggression, but rather reassurance. He has faith in you, his loyal subjects, and cares little for the naysayers that dare try to corrupt the values of his people."

While Akarui held the audience's attention, Kazuma glanced around him and noticed how his fellow generals looked almost bored. Apparently, this was not their first speech rally they've had to attend, and were most likely tuning out The Daughter's words as they waited patiently for the speech to wrap up. Though Kazuma didn't physically express it, he took amusement out of seeing Serena and Wolbach give off the body language of uninterested students at a school assembly.

Still, as his fellow generals checked out and Akuria droned on, Kazuma found himself scanning the crowd slowly, looking for anything out of the ordinary...and after a minute or so, he noticed something. Slow, short bursts of movement in the crowd, shrouded in the masses. Nothing particularly suspicious followed them, but they prompted the general-in-training to scan the area even more thoroughly.

His eyes drifted upwards slightly for a moment, following a bird that had flown up from a nearby puddle, and as he did so he spotted the last thing he expected on one of the adjoining rooftops...more movement. Definitely more definitive this time as people, armed people at that.

"SNIPERS!"

Much like with the girl and the speeding truck, Kazuma barely had any time to think as he acted, pushing Serena away as the cloaked archer up on the roof took their shot. What followed was an agonized, aching pain, accompanied by lots of people screaming and the sounds of magical attacks going off. Kazuma really couldn't get much in the way of specifics, however, as he was too busy blankly staring up at the sky while unconsciously fiddling with the wooden arrow lodged in his chest.

"Holy shit...Satou!" Serena called out, her voice bizarrely muffled as he felt hands grab him by the shoulders, roughly dragging him across the stage and off to the side, his eyes blinking just a little too quick to really catch anything. "Damn it, just...just hold on! SOMEBODY GET ME A DAMN HEALER!"

If the dark priestess said anything else, Kazuma failed to catch it as the ringing in his ears got louder and the flaring pain in his chest drowned out the rest of his senses. He could taste iron in his mouth, and though he was incredibly confused and afraid at that moment, his vision darkened…and a peaceful void finally overtook him.

When Kazuma's eyes slowly fluttered open, he was initially surprised with what he saw. He sat in a chair, in what appeared to be a dark void, save for the unexplained light that seemed to shine from above. Across from him was a far more elaborate chair, and sitting upon it was a young woman with silver hair.

"Is this heaven?" he immediately asked out loud. Between the ethereal lights above him and the angelic (in every sense of the word) beauty in front of him, it was only reasonable to assume.

"Not exactly. I believe you'd equate it more to what you'd call 'limbo', actually." The girl replied with a small, almost amused smile. She nodded to the young man across from her with silent respect. "It's nice to meet you, Satou Kazuma. I wish it were under better circumstances."

"You know my name?" Kazuma asked stupidly, wincing ever so slightly to himself once he realized. "How? And who are you, anyway?"

"I am Eris, the goddess of luck. Unfortunately, fate has brought you and I together today for one sad reason: not a minute ago, you passed away." The girl, or Eris rather, explained with a sad smile, before continuing. "I'm terribly sorry that you died so young, with so much of your life still ahead of you. You truly deserved better."

"Oh…" he uttered in moderate surprise, an astounding feat given that a cute goddess just informed him of his second passing ever. "Well…that sure sucks, doesn't it?"

"That's...a way to phrase it, yes. I suppose it does 'suck'." Eris agreed, her eyebrows furrowing in momentary confusion. "I'm...terribly sorry if I'm being presumptuous, but you don't seem particularly upset by this news. Are you alright, Mr. Satou?"

"Honestly…I'm not so sure myself," Kazuma admitted glumly while rubbing the back of his neck. "First I died in Japan, now I died in a parallel world. Aside from how ridiculously pathetic that is, I can't tell which life I lived was worse: my old life where I was a total recluse or the other one where I was forced to be a general in a demonic army. I know the former sounds a lot better in comparison, but…let's just say I have my reasons for not looking back on it so fondly."

"W-wait, what? You died on Earth first? And you didn't...and did you say a demonic army?!" Eris asked, now obviously bewildered beyond belief as she shook her head. "I-I'm sorry, could you give me a moment, I think my superior needs to know about this. Just a moment, please."

Suddenly, on the little nightstand beside Eris' seat, a vintage rotary dial phone materialized into existence. While Kazuma was still processing the fact, the goddess of luck picked up the phone and began dialing up her superior's number presumably. As Eris bounced her leg impatiently for the recipient to pick up, she flashed the confused young man a forced smile before she started to speak on the phone.

"Ah, Aqua-sama? Y-yes, I know you're very busy, but I have a bit of a...situation, down here." She stated, pausing as whoever she was speaking to replied and frowning slightly. "Yes, I know that I should be able to handle my own duties at this point, but this matter includes your duties as well. There's...there's a human here that claims to have lived on both Earth and here, and he's not recorded in your docket."

There was a beat of silence…before a loud and grating "WHAAAAT!?" was heard over the phone, enough to make both parties in the void-room plug their ears temporarily. Whoever was on the other line, Kazuma was not particularly looking forward to meeting them in person.

"ERIS, keep whatever schmuck you're talking to on lockdown until I get down there!" The voice practically snarled, before the phone was abruptly hung up, and shortly after disappeared. That left Eris and Kazuma to look at each other in silent but unified confusion, with a smidge of terror in the mix.

"So, uh…I assume that was your superior?" the Japanese teen asked as innocently as he could.

"Ah, yes. Yes, that was." Eris confirmed with a short nod, lacing her hands together and tapping her foot nervously. "I apologize that you've gotten roped up in this, I'm sure you haven't got the slightest idea of what's happening right now. It's just that normally, Heaven has an efficient bureaucratic system, and well...things don't slip through the cracks that often."

Before Kazuma could continue to feed his intrigue, a heavenly ray of light beamed down from off in the pitch black void on his right. What descended was yet another supernatural beauty like Eris, except with a more moderate bust and wearing a blue vest, matching miniskirt, boots, and hair (tied into a little knot at the top by a water molecule shaped hair clip). Despite the serene grace and divine aura she exuded, the blue girl looked positively livid as she power-walked over to the duo.

"Alright then. This is the putz that thinks he can pull a fast one over on us, huh?" She practically growled, stalking over to Kazuma and extending her hand to his forehead, a light blue glow emitting from it. "Just wait till I sort this out. You're gonna be begging for my mercy, you absolute...wait...what?"

Kazuma blinked, both from the blue goddess' unbecoming attitude and from general confusion. "What?" he asked hesitantly. "Is there something wrong?"

"You...you actually...how in the world..?" The blue haired goddess trailed off, her magic holding as her anger melted away completely, leaving her baffled. "You're...actually from Earth. You had a life there...but I've never met you before. How did you die twice, hell, how in the heck are you even here?!"

"You think I know!?" Kazuma retorted, just as baffled as her about the whole thing. "All I know is I saw a girl about to get run over, I pushed her out of the way, I died, and then I was randomly in another world. I just chalked it up as the universe having a hiccup or something!"

"Unbelievable. This shouldn't even be possible...but here you are." The water goddess mused, finally drawing back her hand and shooting the young man a look of utter confusion. "I really hate to admit it, but...I don't know what to do here. This has literally never happened before, not once in several thousand years!"

"Is this something the Council should be notified of, Aqua-sama?" Eris timidly asked from her seat. "What are we going to do with him?"

"Under normal circumstances, probably. However, given this specific opportunity, I think another choice will work out better." The blue haired woman started, an almost unsettlingly smug smirk rising on her face as she turned to address Kazuma. "Ahem, by the power vested in me, Aqua, goddess of water, I shall send you back down into the world below as a token of apology given our clerical fuck-up."

"Oh, uh…t-thank you?" Kazuma responded hesitantly, still totally lost.

"Eris, you have my permission to send him back down to wherever he died." Aqua replied as she turned to her fellow goddess, offering her a small smile and nod. "If anyone upstairs asks what happened here, just tell them that I handled it easy-peasy, ok?"

"Um, but Aqua-sama?" Eris started. "I really think there's something you should know about who he was with- -"

"Ah, ah! What I say goes, junior. You know that." Aqua replied pointedly, the arrogance in her tone palpable as she walked back over to where she entered, with the beam returning as she drifted upward. "I'm sure you have the rest of this under control, Eris! Farewell for now, talk to you later! Bye~!"

A moment of silence followed once Aqua disappeared along with the ray of light taking her away. After a good, long, five seconds of nobody saying anything, Kazuma addressed Eris.

"Your boss is a piece of work."

"...she's...not always so bad." Eris attempted to defend, though her tone was less than convincing. She sighed, shaking her head as she turned back to Kazuma. "I'll be sure to report her to the high council once this is all over, but for now...what do you want to do?"

Now THAT was a question that caught Kazuma somewhat off guard. "I, uh…well, that depends. What are my options here exactly?"

"Technically speaking, you can either go to the eternal afterlife and live in peace, or I can reincarnate you. You could live out a new life, a better one. Free of suffering." Eris replied, a sad smile crossing her face for a moment before young continued. "However, in this specific case, I could also do as Lady Aqua ordered and send you back to Belzerg. That is a one and done deal, however. No resurrections ever again."

Kazuma…didn't know what to say, surprisingly. Logically, he knew the first two choices were objectively better; either getting to have a cushy afterlife or getting to have a cushy life-life. No more disappointing his parents, no more feeling inadequate amongst his peers, and no more feeling strangely hollow on the inside all the time. So, really, he should know which option to take, yes?

…so how come he was stalling?

"I...I honestly didn't expect this to be as hard as it feels." He admitted quietly, raising his gaze to Eris, who looked surprised with his uncertainty. "The generals I served with...they weren't the warmest people to ever exist, and I know that. I do! But it doesn't feel right to leave them behind...and I have no idea why."

Eris paused for a beat, face contorted into visible concern until she spoke up. "Kazuma-san? Please don't take this the wrong way but…are you sure that's not just Stockholm syndrome talking?"

"Honestly, I considered it myself. It only makes sense, really." Kazuma replied with a short, sardonic chuckle. "But I don't think that's it. Call me crazy if you need to, but I think that deep down, below all that hardened war general grit, those guys really weren't so bad. Assholes through and through, yeah, without a doubt...but maybe we could have been friends with a little more time."

"…You are aware they've all committed war crimes to varying degrees, yes?" Eris asked skeptically, the layers of concern oozing out of her words.

"Yes, Eris. I'm well aware, thank you." Kazuma deadpanned in response, crossing his arms and leaning back in his seat, definitely not enjoying the clapback the goddess was giving him. "Look, I don't expect you to get it, alright? Maybe you're right, and it's just Stockholm syndrome taking effect. I just...I dunno, there were moments down there where I actually felt like I belonged. I didn't exactly have many of those back on Earth, you know."

Eris couldn't help but frown at that last part. "Oh, Kazuma-san…was your previous life truly that miserable to where you'd feel more comfortable returning the Devil King and his generals…?"

"Like I said, for all of their bullshit, they were a better family to me than my real one ever was." Kazuma replied, averting his gaze from Eris' as the slightest beginning of tears started to form. "My home life on Earth wasn't great. I know that the generals and Kage would never kick me out, never really hurt me. My parents back home? I'm not so sure..."

Kazuma was temporarily pulled out of his rut when he found himself suddenly ensnared by a soft, warm hug from the goddess, who was doing her best to hold in her own tears. Eris had to deal with many clients with less-than-stellar home lives, but it was never an easy subject for her to get used to. And given the odd set of circumstances before her, she just couldn't help herself and broke her professionalism momentarily to level with the poor boy.

"I'm so very sorry, Kazuma. I wish you hadn't suffered as you did." She practically whispered while holding the young man, overcome with sadness she hadn't felt in years. "You well and truly deserve better, and I hope that you receive it in the future."

Kazuma didn't know what to say at first. He sputtered for a bit, trying to reassure the girl that everything was fine with him…but, of course, that'd be an obvious white lie. In fact, the young man was momentarily overcome with grief and sadness himself, something he had practiced long ago to keep under lock and key. But here, with Eris hugging him? He actually felt safe enough to be a little vulnerable. There was just something about the goddess that made him feel as though he could trust in her. He soon returned the hug.

For about half a minute, they just sat there like that, allowing their emotions to flow freely. Eventually, Eris pulled back and dried her eyes to the best of her ability, offering Kazuma another sad smile as she took his hands and looked him dead in the eyes.

"Forgive me for the sudden physical contact, Kazuma-san," she murmured with an embarrassed blush. "I've done this job for so long but it never seems to get any easier for me. I think you and I both needed a good hug today."

"Don't sweat it. I don't think I've been hugged in…" Kazuma trailed off for a moment, another flash of pain passing his eyes before he shook his head. "Sorry. Thank you anyways. It's nice to know that someone out there cares, y'know?"

"I'll care about you, Kazuma-san, even if you aren't one of my followers," Eris reassured strongly before a new worried expression overtook her beautiful features. "Are you absolutely sure you wish to go back to the Devil King's army? I'm sorry I continue to pester you about that, and I promise to stop if you truly mean it, but I have the authority to guarantee you a better life back home. Is this what you really want?"

"I think it's worth a shot, yeah. I'm willing to take the chance on these guys." Kazuma replied, feeling oddly certain about his decision compared to most of the ones he made before. "Besides, you said it yourself. It's one and done. If I die again, well...guess it was never meant to be, right?"

"True I suppose," Eris sighed in resignation. The goddess stood up from her kneeling position and snapped her fingers, a swirl of lights slowly dragging Kazuma up above. "All I request is that you don't lose sight of your morals, young one. It'd break my heart if those…demons forced you to do something heinous in the name of war. Please be careful!"

"Don't you worry, Eris. I'll keep them in line, pinky promise!" Kazuma replied with a bright smile, a bit disappointed to be leaving her behind so soon but excited nonetheless. "Until I see you next, I guess! It was nice meeting you!"

As the goddess of fortune waved goodbye and expressed her delight in seeing him as well, Kazuma, for a very brief period, felt content with himself as a bright light soon overtook his vision.

When Kazuma's eyes opened again, he was greeted with a painfully familiar stone ceiling. He sat up slowly and looked around, slowly processing that he was in the medical bay, likely the one on the far side of the Devil King's fortress. He really was back...now the question was what came next?

"Mhm? My word – you're awake!"

Well, Kazuma was about to find out soon enough as he faced the direction of the voice. The creature before him appeared to be some kind of bipedal goat-like demon in a black cloak holding a medical board. Other doctors and nurses of varying species of demons seemed to be stunned at the human's sudden recovery, and there were some rushing back out into the halls as Kazuma regained his bearings.

"What…happened?" the rookie general asked hazily. "Where am I?"

"You're within our dark lord's fortress, young sir. We weren't expecting you to make such a quick recovery, if you were to recover at all!" The goat monster answered earnestly, turning to one of the nearby nurses and waving towards the door. "Alert the lord immediately! This is a marvelous turn of events!"

As Kazuma's memories of both the rally and Eris came flooding back to him, he was monitored by the doctor as he performed brief, minor tests on him to formally assess his patient's condition. By the time the goat-man had finished his last test, the door to the medical room burst open, revealing none other than King Kage, his daughter, and surprisingly Sylvia. All three visitors immediately strode over to Kazuma's bed.

"Thank the false gods! I was afraid we'd lost you, Kazuma!" Kage admitted with a relieved laugh, offering the young man a wide smile. He looked like he'd been given a gracious gift, and Kazuma couldn't quite understand why. "When my daughter returned with you and the others, I was so terribly worried that you wouldn't recover. You remained on death's door for so long, I started to lose hope…"

"Don't you ever scare me like that again, young man!" Sylvia nearly shouted, swiftly kneeling down beside Kazuma's bed and holding his hand tightly. "You made me worried sick! Oh, if only I were on your team instead of that idiot Beldia's, I would've prevented this from happening…"

"While I'd prefer to not have our fellow general bad-mouthed like that, I can concur with the first part of your sentiment." Akarui chimed in, kneeling on the other side of Kazuma and offering him a composed but real smile, her eyes betraying just as much gratitude as her father. "We were very worried about you, Satou. I'm glad to see that you're already on the road to recovery."

"I-I, uh…t-thanks, I guess," Kazuma stuttered, avoiding any and all eye contact by staring down at his comforter. "Sorry I couldn't do much more after getting…shot…"

"...please tell me you didn't just apologize for taking an arrow to save your fellow general." Akarui replied, that relief giving way to concern as her expression fell. "Kazuma, you saved Serena's life, not to mention you gave Wolbach and I enough time to protect ourselves and those in the crowd from the attackers. You have absolutely nothing to apologize for, am I understood?"

Feeling somewhat ashamed for saying what he said just now, Kazuma slowly nodded in compliance. "Yes ma'am, sorry – shit, no, WAIT!"

Akarui sighed at the attempt, face palming while her father and Syliva both allowed quiet chuckles to escape them. Admittedly, despite the embarrassment that radiated off of him, Kazuma was feeling a bit more reassured already. He hadn't expected such a warm welcome back, really.

"Say…" Kazuma began to ask. "Where is Serena and Wolbach anyway?"

And just like that, the warmth that had been there dissipated slightly, as both the generals and the king suddenly looked starkly less comfortable. Eventually, Kage was the first to speak up, his tone even as he crossed his arms and looked away from Kazuma.

"Last I checked, they were sparring with one another in the training hall. I believe they've been at it all night since my daughter dropped you off here."

Kazuma's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and he spared Akarui a questioning look. When she met his gaze, that same worry from before shined through while she answered.

"They both seem to have taken your injury personally. I've never seen either of them fight so hard as when we realized you likely weren't going to make it." She murmured, her expression stoic despite the concern in her voice. "They haven't stopped training since their return, either."

A contemplative look spread across the boy's face before he eventually worked up the courage to ask, "May I go see them?"

Akarui looked hesitant at the prospect, but after a moment she nodded, and with some assistance Kazuma stood up and was escorted towards the training room by the king and his generals. It took a few minutes to arrive since Kazuma felt so sluggish at first, but once they did, he realized that it was a trip well worth it.

The young man arrived in the training room just in time to witness an immense, magical blast push both combatants to the far edges of the space, both panting heavily. Once Serena and Wolbach noticed Kazuma and the others' presence, however, they froze. Surprisingly enough, Serena was the first to break as she rushed over to him and cupped his face into her hands, seemingly inspecting him for something or other while babbling frantically.

"Regina above, you're alive! I didn't expect that you'd survive! I mean, I'm glad, surprised but glad! I just...I thought you were gone!" She sputtered desperately, while Kazuma wisely kept his mouth shut as he considered just what the hell was going on. "Satou, I can't believe I'm going to say this, but...I'm glad you're alright. I was worried quite a bit that there was going to be left unsaid between us."

"Wow, okay then," Kazuma started cautiously, gently removing the priestess' hands off his cheeks. "Uh, no real offense intended, Serena, but you worrying about my well being is suspiciously out-of-character for you. Aren't you supposed to hate my existence or something?"

Serena blinked a few times, before huffing in obvious irritation and withdrawing her hands, crossing her arms and even looking the slightest bit embarrassed. "I don't hate you, you dolt. You saved my life! And...even before that, I wasn't treating you fairly. I was being petty for pettiness sake, and I'm sorry."

"I'll be damned," a cool voice breathed, alerting Kazuma and Serena to Wolbach's presence. "The 'great and powerful Serena' admitting to a wrong? Kazuma, I believe you just did the impossible. Drinks are on me tonight."

"Oh, piss off, you." Serena shot back easily, only sparking a chuckle in response from the dark goddess, who instead fixed her attention upon Kazuma and patted his shoulder with a small smile.

"I'm glad to see you're still with us, my friend."

Kazuma did his best to make the blush on his face from being acknowledged as a friend not so obvious. He rubbed his arm over his mouth, sniffed, and commented, "Yeah, I'm glad I'm still among the living too, Wol."

The dark goddess quirked an eyebrow over the nickname, but her smile didn't falter. Instead, she invited him to join her and Serena for a proper lunch, considering neither of them had eaten a proper meal in the last few hours. As they hammered out a plan, Akarui and her father stood nearby, watching the group with keen interest.

"It's nice to see the lad start to open up to his comrades, wouldn't you agree, pumpkin?" Kage whispered discreetly to his daughter. "I would've preferred it to happen without the near death experience, but I suppose beggars can't be choosers, eh?"

"Indeed. For a while there, I was actually worried about if we'd ever manage to get along. If I knew an arrow to the chest is all it would take, well…" Akarui trailed off as her father sent her a mortified look. "Oh, I'm joking! I would never do that to Kazuma...probably...maybe Serena…"

"Why oh why could you not have inherited my sense of dad humor instead?" Kage mock groaned, succeeding in making his baby girl smirk ever so slightly. She attempted to play it off as though it didn't happen, but her father knew better. "Got you~"

"Yes, yes you certainly did." Akarui huffed, allowing her smile to remain. For just a moment, things actually felt peaceful for a change around the fortress. She wasn't sure how long it'd last, but...it was a nice sentiment anyhow. "Well, I believe the others are quite right about lunch. Shall I gather the rest of the generals?"

"But of course," Kage agreed with a nod. "I believe the others would like to catch up with Kazuma as well. Plus…I'm quite famished myself actually."

"Well then, we should get to it." Akarui replied, before turning back towards the rest of the generals, with Sylvia now having joined the fray, and calling out to them. "All of you, to the lunch hall, on the double!"

"AH, music to my ears~!" The Growth Chimera sang dramatically, prompting a snort from Kazuma and the others as the group started down the halls to gather up the other generals for lunch.

I think I'm starting to see now what Kage was talking about before, Kazuma thought to himself as his fellow generals chatted amongst themselves. These people really are a family. A weird, crazy, slightly psychotic family, but a family all the same…and I think I'm okay with being a part of it.