As Kazuma awoke, the first thing that he registered was the dull pain that crept up his entire body. The second thing was the fact that he clearly wasn't in his room, or the mansion. The stark white ceiling above him made his eyes sting, forcing him to close them and wait a few seconds before trying again, looking around the room more carefully this time.
It seemed like he was in a hospital room, though one obviously of the same era of Axel and without any modern technology he would have expected back home. The room wasn't particularly big either, with his bed tucked right in the center against the back wall.
"My body feels like I've been hit by a sledgehammer for hours on end. What the hell happened?" He asked himself, trying desperately to recall what had led him to this moment. "Last thing I remember, I was with Chris and Yunyun by the pass, then…"
A wave of emotions flowed through Kazuma's mind, piecing together a cloudy picture of whatever happened. Panic, shock, a sharp spike of desperation...and then intense and overwhelming agony. The young man shuddered as phantom pains of claws and teeth tearing into him wracked his body, as well as a bizarre, deeper pain as his chest tightened briefly, before releasing just as fast.
"The Black Fang...there was something wrong with it." Kazuma realized, slowly rising in an attempt to sit up, before quickly regretting the movement and returning to his previous position. "Well, it certainly bites the same way. This fucking sucks."
Suddenly, a sharp gasp from the doorway caught Kazuma's attention. Yunyun stood in the threshold, gawking at him with a shocked expression. Before he even had a chance to get a word out, the girl darted out of sight, letting the door swing close behind her.
"Oh, come on. I know Yunyun is shy, but this is ridiculous." The young man remarked, huffing in annoyance as his head dropped back onto his pillow. "I was hoping for some answers, too. Oh well, The doctor will show up eventually, I should probably just try to sleep till the…"
Kazuma's train of thought trailed off as he registered a distant rumble of what sounded like footsteps. More troublingly, the footsteps were definitely heading his direction.
Sure enough, the door slammed open seconds later, and three distinct blurs of color shot into the room, followed by a shrill sound that filled the young man with intense fear.
"KAZUMAAAAA!"
Suddenly, Kazuma was surrounded by women, which on just about any other day would have been one hell of an achievement. Aqua clung onto his left arm like a barnacle, sobbing her eyes and blubbering senselessly. Darkness, likewise, held onto his right arm, spewing her own brand of nonsense while Megumin simply hugged Kazuma desperately, clinging to him with unexpected strength.
"Um...hey guys." Kazuma groaned, now distinctly aware of a new wave of dull pain from the girl that was now attached to his chest. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were worried about me."
Just like that, a switch was flipped, and all three girls simultaneously went quiet and glared at him with ever-so-clear annoyance.
"Of course we were worried, idiot!" Megumin hissed, thumping his chest and promptly receiving a pained wheeze in response. "You've been unconscious for two days after getting mauled by a demon bear thing! You have no idea how worried we've been, you jerk!"
"Honestly! How inconsiderate can you be?!" Aqua steamrolled, silencing whatever retort Kazuma was already forming as she leered at him with puffed up cheeks. "Scaring us by disappearing, ending up in the hospital! I knew you were a shut-in NEET, but I didn't think you were this stupid!"
"Well, at least they're acting like themselves again." Kazuma grumbled to himself, before interrupting and fixing the three women with his own glare. "Are you seriously lecturing me on being inconsiderate when you three are latched onto my broken body like a bunch of leeches?"
Surprisingly, his words seemed to have an effect on the three, who reluctantly released him and gave him a bit more space, still visibly irritated. However, the atmosphere was lessened with the appearance of Chris, Yunyun, and Wiz, who were just as pleased to see him awake as the rest of his team.
"How are you feeling, Kazuma?" Wiz asked, the smallest edge of concern in her tone. "If you're in any pain, I can grab the doctor and tell him."
"No, I'm fine for now. Thanks, Wiz." Kazuma responded, flashing the lich a grateful smile before his gaze to the thief and Crimson Demon. "Are you two ok? I didn't really get a chance to ask while I was bleeding out."
"Oh yeah, just a few scrapes. Nothing serious, right Yunyun?" Chris asked, before noticing the bowed head of her fellow adventurer, her own smile faltering. "Yunyun?"
Yunyun didn't acknowledge Chris's concern, stepping forward silently until she was at the foot of Kazuma's bed, a heavy silence hanging in the air as she bowed to the wounded boy.
"Kazuma-san. My foolishness while fighting the Black Fang resulted in you being gravely injured. I am sorry for my failure." She murmured, her voice thick with shame as she raised her gaze to his. "Please forgive me, my friend."
Kazuma, for his part, was actually at a loss for words. He'd never seen Yunyun so...vulnerable. She was shy, yes, but never quite this cowed. It was uncomfortable, and worse yet, unnecessary.
"Yunyun, it's-it's ok, really." He assured her, meeting her gaze and attempting to sound as genuine as possible. "You couldn't have known that your magic wouldn't work on the Fang, and I pushed you out of the way because I didn't want you getting hurt! You don't need to apologize, I've already "forgiven" you."
Yunyun looked intensely relieved with Kazuma's response, her eyes glowing a bright red in excitement as she tried to put to words just how happy she was to hear that. However, before she could even get the words out, a pointed "ahem" sounded from the doorway, prompting everyone to turn in the direction of the noise and notice a thoroughly unamused Sena standing in the doorway.
"I thought we agreed that I was to be alerted the moment Mr. Satou awoke."
"Actually, he just did. Apologies for not contacting you sooner, prosecutor." Darkness apologized hastily, forcing a respectful smile as she tilted her head quizzically. "I assume you'd like us to step out for this interview?"
"That would be best, yes." Sena confirmed, eyeing the various adventurers, several of whom were aiming glare her direction, and sighed heavily. "As soon as I finish my inquiry, you are more than free to return and continue...well, whatever it is you were doing before."
While still generally miffed, the girls seemed to accept this answer as they filled out of the room silently, excusing a few grumbles of course. As soon as they were all outside, two knights and a transcriber entered in their stead, followed by Sena offering the group a curt nod and closing the door before turning to Kazuma.
"Well then, I suppose we should get started."
After taking a moment to unpack his equipment, the transcriber nodded to Sena, who nodded in turn before turning to Kazuma, fixing him with her trademark impassive stare.
"Let the record show that I am beginning my interview with Kazuma Satou of Axel, who was the 9th victim associated with the recent string of monster attacks in the area." She intoned professionally. "Now, Mr. Satou-"
"Um, actually? I have a few questions." Kazuma interrupted, earning him an exasperated look from the prosecutor standing next to him. "Don't look at me like that, I'm the one who's been unconscious for two days!"
"...very well, I suppose filling you in on the situation would assist in painting a clearer testimony." Sena agreed reluctantly, before taking a small stack of papers offered to her by one of the knights and placing them by Kazuma's bedside.
"Two days ago, an intense burst of dark magic was detected by one of the Empire's mages. This burst caused a wide variety of lower level monsters to become enhanced with a higher rate of strength, dexterity...and ferocity." She explained, pausing slightly as her eyes lingered on Kazuma's injured form, some of his wounds still visible despite his treatment. "As you've likely gathered, the Black Fang you encountered was one of many affected monsters that attacked any adventurers in the area."
"So other parties were attacked too?" Kazuma asked, receiving a solemn nod of confirmation from the prosecutor as she continued to explain.
"Indeed. Four other parties encountered creatures affected by the dark magic. Yours happened to be the first, due to the close proximity to the blast." She stated, as if it were the simplest thing in the world. "Luckily, a reaction force of adventurers and Belzerg guards were more than enough to beat back most of the remaining creatures before they could get closer to civilization. However, there are still quite a few unknowns in the fallout of this event, which is why I was assigned to this case, and why I am here to interview you."
Kazuma didn't really know how to respond, so he did all he could really think to do in that moment; he nodded idly and waited for the questioning to begin, which it promptly did. For the next half hour, Sena quizzed him on the events of the day in question; who was he with, what did he see, were there any indication that something might be wrong before the attack.
"I can't really think of anything in particular that stood out." Kazuma admitted on the last line of questioning, recalling the previous day's details to the best of his ability. "The forest seemed quiet, I guess. Otherwise, the entire area seemed absolutely normal."
"I see." Sena mused respectfully, before turning to her transcriber and motioned for him to stop writing. "Well, I feel that we've conducted a successful interview. If there is anything else you wish to comment on or make known, now would be the time."
Kazuma shrugged his shoulders weakly, sufficiently worn out from the interview, which wasn't helped by the dull aching that was starting to spread throughout his body. Sena nodded, and motioned for her men to exit the room. The knights and transcriber did as instructed, packing up and exiting with little hesitance. Sena, however, paused before she exited, addressing the transcriber in a hushed tone.
"I still have some business to attend to. Please wait for me at the entrance before departing."
The transcriber quirked an eyebrow in confusion, but nodded all the same and left the prosecutor to her business. Kazuma, likewise, found himself confused as Sena shut the door and turned to him with a thoughtful expression, one he'd never seen aimed at him before.
"Uh...is something wrong, prosecutor?" He asked with a nervous chuckle, earning him a thoughtful hum from Sena as she grabbed a chair, taking a seat next to him. "S-sena?"
"You are a curious conundrum. You know that, don't you, Kazuma?" Sena mused, seemingly ignoring his concern as she continued to stare at him with thoughtful eyes. "Somehow, you've managed to play a fairly crucial role in just about every major conflict with the Devil King's forces for the last year or so. That cannot be a coincidence."
Immediately, Kazuma frowned angrily at the statement. She couldn't possibly be accusing him of being in league with the Demon King again, not after defeating Hans and Sylvia as well as Vanir. There was no way she could possibly be that fucking-
"And before you say it, no, I'm not accusing you of having ties to the Devil King." Sena assured him, derailing that train of thought instantly. "You've proven to me previously that you are no terrorist, nor a villain, and yet somehow you've consistently been in the center of the action, despite vehemently wishing to be anywhere else. It's truly remarkable, in a twisted way."
"Tell me about it." Kazuma interjected, his previous annoyance giving way to amusement as realized that the prosecutor was just as confused as him. "I mean, I don't seek out those Demon General assholes, but I always seem to run into them! I mean, seriously! I'm not a hero, not a shining pillar of decency or righteousness! I'm just a guy thrown head first into a world that seems hellbent on putting me through as much pain as possible before finally letting me kick the bucket."
Sena held his gaze as he ranted, nodding empathetically with a shockingly genuine smile. It was...a bit off putting, seeing the usually stoic and calm woman lower her walls ever so slightly was kinda surreal.
"Well, despite your perspective on the matter, I'd like to think that there's a reason that you have such...luck, I suppose. Twisted as it may be." Sena stated, before reaching into her breast pocket and retrieving a small card. "Do you know anything about seals, Kazuma? Magic seals, I mean."
"Um...not really, honestly." Kazuma admitted, scratching his neck awkwardly. "I don't really get a lot about magic, excusing a few spells."
"Seals are magic symbols used in various ways, usually to create or influence others towards a specific desire, request, or perspective. However, they can also be used to prevent magical interference, acting as a sort of shield." Sena explained, before offering the card to Kazuma. "Do you recognize this symbol at all?"
Kazuma took the card and gave it a once over, frowning at the symbol as he grunted thoughtfully. It was...kinda familiar, and yet he couldn't quite place where he'd seen it before. He stewed a few more moments, sifting through his thoughts best he could before shaking his head and handing the slip back.
"I'm sorry, I'm not sure." He replied, offering the prosecutor an uncertain look. "I've seen it somewhere before, but I just can't place it. Sorry I couldn't be of more help."
"It's quite alright, Kazuma. Given your current condition, I'm thankful you entertained my inquisition this long." Sena replied, offering her own smile in return, before standing and smoothing out her skirt. "Speaking of which, I'm sure you're quite tired. I'll leave you to your rest, and if you think of anything else important, I'll be in Axel for the rest of the week, so don't be afraid to reach out."
"I'll keep that in mind." Kazuma assured her, leaning back in his bed before speaking again just as she reached the door. "And Sena? It was nice seeing you again, even given the circumstances."
The royal prosecutor smiled slightly, and nodded in acknowledgement before exiting the room and shutting the door, after which Kazuma slumped in his bed and sighed heavily. He'd only been awake for a little under an hour, and he was already exhausted and ready to go back into a coma. Then again, a nice long nap sounded pretty great right about then.
Kazuma smiled slightly with that thought in mind, closing his eyes and letting himself relax, content with the thought that he'd finally get some proper rest for a few hours…
"Kazuma!"
And that illusion was promptly shattered as Kazuma groaned, sitting up with the realization that he wasn't gonna get the rest he was craving for a while still as long as his party members were nearby, which was quite certain as he listened to the babbling of his useless goddess through the door, mixing with the voices of his weirdo wizard and perverted crusader.
"Yeah, I'm Kazuma." He groaned in exhaustion, turning a withering gaze towards the door and scowling. "And this is gonna be a long week, isn't it?"
