Ethox's Journal, Entry #8
Things've been pretty chill going forward after we defeated Verdia. Well, as chill as it gets in an RPG town. The season changed to Winter in Belzerg, and with cold days came new challenges.
To pay off his debts, Kazuma had to reluctantly take a quest to kill Snow Sprites. However, while we were hunting, we came across this powerful monster called the Winter Shogun. He killed Kazuma, and I thought we were next, but luckily we were able to pay respects to him and he left us alone. After which, Aqua resurrected Kazuma… right after he was gonna be reincarnated again by someone, according to Aqua.
To be fair, it seemed like it would've been better to let Kazuma pass on. He hated living in Axel, and all he wanted out of the life he had was an adventure. Instead he was put through hell. But was it really all that bad to him? He made lots of friends, and plenty of his experiences were great. Plus, if he's one of the ten, it wouldn't make sense for him to die then.
So, Kazuma's back in Axel, still living his blessed life. Unfortunately, he and Aqua are still living in a stable, and we can't keep living in an Inn while we're here, or our expenses will pile up too…
Yeah, I think it's time.
"We need an actual place to live." Ethox declared, closing his journal.
"You're only bringing this up now?" Ultra asked. "I was wondering when we were going to start house hunting."
"I am in agreement." Mirror Match said. "That said, it won't be easy for us to locate proper quarters."
"Yeah, with our numbers, we need someplace big." Ethox said. "We'd need a mansion or something."
It was at that moment that Kazuma showed up, looking excited.
"Hey guys, guess who just got a mansion to live in!" Kazuma said.
"No way, you got a mansion?!" Ethox asked. "How'd you pull that off?"
"Well, we were paying a visit to this shop, and we met Wiz. Remember her? She's that Lich we met in the graveyard." Kazuma said.
"Oh yeah, we bumped into her during an exorcism she performed." Ristarte remembered. "For an undead general in the Devil King's army, she was pretty sweet."
"I aso recall Aqua and Seiya tried to kill her even though she meant no harm." Mirror Match said.
"She was an undead, unibro." Seiya stated. "For all we know, she was lying and she's really a spy."
"You think everyone's a spy, Seiya." Ethox said. "So, Wiz opened up a magic shop in town?"
"Yeah, she even taught me the Drain Touch skill and everything." Kazuma explained. "Get this, while me and Aqua were there, a guy happened to come in with a problem he needed to tell Wiz about. He's the landlord of a mansion, and some ghosts are haunting it. We agreed to take the job, and in return, we get to live there. Sweet, huh?"
"Definitely. Can it accommodate more than just you and Aqua?" Ethox asked.
"Well, sure. If you guys help out, I'm sure you'll get to live there too, why?" Kazuma asked.
"Were looking for a place too. Inns can only get us so far, and we don't want expenses to pile up. If we have a place of our own, we'll have our own base of operations for our team." Ethox said.
"Well, as long as you guys pitch in, you can stay in the mansion." Kazuma agreed. "But I get my own room. Trust me, after sleeping in the stables next to Aqua, I need it."
"If you say so." Ultra said. "Where is this mansion, by the way?"
"Not too far from here, actually. C'mon, I'll show ya." Kazuma said as he left the guild, the group following him.
Joined by Megumin and Darkness, the group came across the mansion in question as the gates opened to them.
"Well, this is it." Kazuma motioned.
"This'll do nicely. A perfect home for a goddess of my calibur." Aqua boasted.
"It's big. I heard it belonged to some aristocrat before." megumin mentioned.
"The landlord was certainly generous to allow us to live here after we exercised all the ghosts." Darkness added.
"So all we have to do to live in this house is exorcise a few ghosts." Ethox said. "No problem for you, right Aqua?"
"Of course!" Aqua said. "As both a goddess and an Arch Priest, I'm an expert in all things anti-undead!"
"Your Turn Undead spells didn't work on the dullahan." Seiya said. "Why do you think it'll work on some ghosts?"
"Ghosts will be easier to deal with since they aren't as high level as big bads like Verdia." Ethox said. "So while we're here, we can't do anything drastic. No physical spells or anything that involves burning or wrecking stuff."
"Yep! You just leave everything to me!" Aqua declared.
"I'm not convinced." Seiya said. "If this doesn't go well, I'll just do some deep cleaning."
The group then moved into the mansion and unpacked their things, moving into their separate rooms and cleaning until sundown.
"Ah…" Ethox sighed as he laid on one of two beds in his room, the other being taken by Mirror Match. "These beds are loads more comfortable than the ones in the inn."
"Well, this used to be a noble's home," Mirror pointed out, "it makes sense it would be softer."
"It feels nice to actually have someplace to live. I get why Kazuma didn't like living in a stable so much." Ethox said. "So Match, I have to ask… what do you think the deal with Kazuma is?"
"What do you mean?" Mirror asked.
"Well, remember what he said after Verdia's defeat? About not giving people another body to mourn? Why say another? It makes me think that he's lost someone back home."
"That is a good point." Match agreed. "Also, when we were at the graveyard, I noticed that he seemed to be… uncomfortable. Not enough to be easily noticed, but it was definitely there."
"Yeah…" Ethox said. "I wonder… who was Kazuma before he came to Belzerg?"
"A NEET. He's said as much." Mirror said.
"Yeah, but why is he a NEET?" Ethox asked. "Is it because… he lost someone?"
"Perhaps, perhaps not." Mirror said. "In either case, it isn't our business. I'm sure if he desires to tell us, he will."
"Yeah…" Ethox said, turning his head to look around the room, only to stop when he noticed something. "Hey… was that doll there before?"
"This is strange… it could be the work of ghosts." Mirror Match inquired.
"You think so? Aqua was using Turn Undead like crazy earlier, I doubt any ghost would wanna come back here." Ethox said.
"AAAAHHHH!"
Their conversation was cut off by a shrill scream, one that the two former cultists recognized instantly.
"That sounded like Kazuma!" Ethox said as he jumped off the bed and flung the door open, just in time to witness Kazuma run down the hall, pursued by a horde of ghostly dolls.
"Ethox, Match, help! They're gonna kill me!" Kazuma yelled.
"Holy crap, that's a lotta dolls!" Ethox realized. "Quick! Aqua's room!"
The two joined Kazuma in running down the hall towards Aqua's room, Mirror forgoing opening the door to simply kick it open… only to find not Aqua, but Megumin on the other side.
"Wait, Megumin?!" Ethox asked. "What're you doing in Aqua's room?"
"U-Um…" Megumin said. "A bunch of dolls started moving around in my room, so I came to see if Aqua would walk me down the hall. Y'know… to stand guard… outside the bathroom."
"Oh, I see." Ethox said. "If she's not here, then she must be exorcising ghosts."
"Darkness should likely be with her too, for obvious reasons…" Mirror Match added. "I swear, that woman is thinking of all sorts of tormented thoughts."
"Plus, she's a crusader, so-" Kazuma started before he yelped. "Uh… hey, I'm gonna head onto the balcony for a second."
"I'm not sure that's a good idea." Ethox said. "What if the ghosts get you?"
"And that is incredibly indecent, especially in the presence of a lady." Mirror Match said.
"Yeah, well I'm about 2 minutes away from hosing the floor!" Kazuma said.
"Look, why don't we all just head to the bathroom together?" Ethox asked. "Besides, Megumins on my team, I hate to leave her hanging."
"Wow, thanks Ethox." Megumin smiled. Her smile quickly fell however as she started behind the three, her expression becoming one of dread.
"...The dolls are outside the window, aren't they?" Kazuma asked as the three guys turned around, seeing a massive group of dolls that blocked out the outside view.
The four quickly fled the room soon after, as the dolls got inside the room.
It was a long night, but after a harrowing trip to the restroom for Megumin and being chased by ghosts, the group finally ran into Aqua and Darkness… Quiet literally in the former's case, the door to the restroom knocking her out. However, after that, the ghosts were put to rest. The following morning, the group went to the guild to claim the reward.
"As thanks for ridding the mansion of those ghosts, we have a special reward for you." Luna said, presenting an Eris reward. "You've done the town a great service. The guild was at their wits end because every time someone tried to exorcise the mansion, more ghosts appeared."
"Yeah, we heard about that… is there something special about the house that makes all the ghosts go there?" Ethox asked.
"Well, it's not the house. Actually, the issue has something to do with the graveyard." Luna corrected.
"The graveyard? Well it is nearby, but what's the issue there?" Ethox asked.
"It seems someone surrounded it with a magical barrier as a prank." Luna explained. "With nowhere else to go, the ghosts moved into the mansion."
"A magical barrier?" Kazuma said, realization sinking in as he pushed Aqua away. "'Scuse us for a sec." he said.
"Okay, we know this has something to do with you." Ethox said. "Didn't you promise Wiz that you'll exorcise the graveyard? Why did you put a barrier over the damn place?"
"Uh… well…" Aqua stammered, embarrassed. "I realized that meant going back there every night… so I thought if I blocked them from going there in the first place, they'd get bored and leave. So… I… did."
"...Honestly Aqua, you're hopeless." Ethox said.
"I don't have to explain why we're not taking the reward for this job, right?" Kazuma asked.
"No." Aqua replied.
"Well, at least it wasn't a total washout. We now have a base to live in." Ethox turned to the bright side. "Finally, we have our own place to sleep."
A little while later, Ethox found Kazuma cleaning a gravestone with a doll next to it.
"Hey Kazuma." Ethox said. "Is that…?"
"Yup. Anna's grave stone. I thought Aqua was pullin' our legs about her, but she turned out to be real." Kazuma siad.
"Now she won't be lonely anymore. And things with everyone all turned out for the better." Ethox said.
"Yeah… all for the better." Kazuma said as he washed the grave.
"Kazuma, Ethox! Lunch is ready, so go wash up! Don't blame me if it gets cold!" Aqua called from inside.
"Kay, we'll be right in!" Ethox said.
"Aqua! We need more wood for the fireplace!" Darkness spoke up.
"Oh, you can just burn Kazuma's old tracksuit." Aqua replied.
"NO!" Kazuma yelled as he ran towards the house. "Stop trying to burn my tracksuit! What did it ever do to you?!"
Ethox chuckled as he walked to the mansion. "That's life for ya."
