Her skin was reddened and sore from spell-fire and her legs wobbled with exhaustion. Aqua stumbled down the path using her staff to steady herself on one side and Kazuma's shoulder on the other. Their feet bumped and tangled as they tried to keep to a straight path on the dirt road; this was made that much harder by the sun sinking lower behind the horizon.
Darkness's hands clutched ropes at her shoulders that connected to a large basket that rested on her back with Megumin passed out inside. The blonde crusader's boots scraped at the dirt and rocks as they trudged along, the battle even wearing on her.
"Megumin's drooling down the back of my armor," Darkness said. "This is so humiliating." She added in a heady tone.
Kazuma let out a labored sigh. "Down girl. We should have bought torches," he said, his voice muffled by Aqua's hair.
"I was going to make a light when it got dark," Aqua said.
Kazuma moaned. "It already is dark. Not all of us have god-sight."
"That's not a thing," Aqua said. Something dull orange flickered at the edge of the tree line off to the side of the road. "The camp is right there." She pointed. "And we can finally get some rest."
Darkness glanced over at her. "I could keep going," she said.
"You're glutton for punishment," said Kazuma.
"There's no where else to go," Aqua said. "And Some of us like our flawless legs not falling off…" she added.
They shuffled into camp together, making their way around the trees and over the underbrush to find the slanted fissure that lead down into the perfect place to build an encampment. The hole was deep enough that a far could be hidden, but not so deep that one couldn't see out over the top. The ground rising up around them provided natural cover from slings and arrows—from what Kazuma had always said about these kinds of things Aqua would have guessed at least a seventy-five percent chance at being missed, she didn't get it.
Tending to the fire while wearing significantly less of her normal garments than when they had left was Wiz. She glanced up, her face framed in her mousey brown hair and shot bashful smile at the group as they trotted around the fire to take their places. "Happy hunting?" She asked.
Darkness dropped the basket from her back, letting it fall so that Megumin was sitting up in it on the ground. She carefully moved the younger girl onto a bedroll as she spoke. "Vile creatures assaulted us from every angle. I thought they would strip me bare of armor and flesh on the spot, but we prevailed," she said with a far off look in her eyes as if she were remembering some fond childhood memory.
"Sounds like you had a good time," Wiz said warmly.
Darkness's face went pink. "I didn't—say anything that would have insinuated that…"
"No, but I know you," Wiz said. The stick she held was a glowing ember at the end; a thin line of smoke rose up from it turning to thin gray wisps in the air. It wasn't like Wiz to accompany them beyond the civilization, but they also wanted to eat something that wasn't rodents on a stick or half cooked fish which made her their best option.
If someone had told Aqua four years ago that she would not only allowed an undead creature into her immediate area, but would have welcomed the thing as a person, she would have never believed them. And she was still no friend to the undead, she became the target of any mindless undead they encountered. The undead hate life and what has more life within them than a literal goddess?
Megumin stirred on her bedroll, moving her boots against the ground. "Oh we're back at camp? Good," she said in an airy tone.
Aqua eyed Kazuma, who had been pretty silent most of this time. He was digging into the pot of whatever goulash that Wiz had whipped up. His face had become angular with a wispy goatee covering his chin. There were perpetually large bags under his eyes as this lifestyle didn't allow for good sleep, especially when they had been outside of town so long. He looked wilder now, with stubble and long unkempt hair.
For all intents and purposes Kazuma was a man. Even though she still preferred to call him a pathetic hikiNEET, he wasn't without his flashes of bravery and he had somehow become their default leader. Aqua couldn't remember her old life; she knew it lingered there in the background. Despite being in the world of mortals she wasn't going to age. Which meant the longer they took getting her home this the more likely she'd look out of place.
Darkness polished her sword, oiling the blade down and rubbing it in with a cloth. She worked from hilt to tip, carefully working the blade in her hands.
Kazuma sighed. "Not sure why you're polishing it; it's not like you've hit anything," he said plainly.
Darkness's face reddened, her eyes watering over as she tried to hold back her obvious excitement. Aqua stirred uncomfortably. "Rude. How dare you speak down to a lady like that! Weapon maintenance is paramount to a knight's honor!" Darkness said covering for herself.
Megumin was still face down on her bedroll, her voice muffled in the fabric. "But you've spent all your time trying to get people to speak down and defile you…"
Darkness stared daggers into her, pausing her sword polishing for just long enough to let the sentiment marinate.
Wiz's chuckling broke the tension. "I love being out with you all."
"Huh?" Aqua asked.
"It's just that—it's like being around a real family," Wiz said.
Aqua straightened her back, holding her head higher now. "You think we're a family?" She asked. "Me and these losers?" Tears welled up in her eyes as she fought to hold it in, but Aqua burst into laughter clutching her stomach. Her legs kicking wildly like a child's and causing her to fall uselessly onto her back in the dirt.
Kazuma turned to stare blankly at Aqua, his arms limply hanging at his sides. "Do—people like you have family?"
Aqua blinked at him, the question rolling around inside of her head before it became clear. "I suppose that the other gods and goddesses would be my brothers and sisters." She paused. "We don't really have parents as much as…"
"Someone's there?" Kazuma jerked his head to the right and popped up onto his knees to peek over the ridge. His eyes scanned the darkness of the woods, though he wasn't a thief and still hadn't classed into anything specific he had the most many skills from the thief set.
Megumin was out cold; she and Kazuma weren't ready for another fight. Darkness was probably the only one of them that could have been of any use and that was only up until the that something needed to be accurately attacked. Aqua moved next to Kazuma, grabbing onto the lip of the ridge.
"What is it?" Asked Aqua.
"I heard something out there," said Kazuma.
"I-If it's one of those toads or alligators t-then I've got somewhere else to be, like now," said Aqua.
Wiz stood up. "I think it was humans," she moved to join the Aqua and Kazuma, but caught her foot on a rock and stumbled, falling forward just as Aqua turned. There was only one thing there for Wiz to grab for: her. Her arms grabbed Aqua around the waist, pulling her at her skirt roughly.
"Wa-AHHHHHH, get off of me, dead thing!" Aqua yelled.
Aqua landed face down with Wiz laying on top of her, as if on instinct she let some of her power. The kind of positive-god-energy that burned its way through Wiz and in turn Wiz squealed, squirming from the pain.
"Ow, please don't!" Wiz cried.
"Shut up, you two. Someone is out there!"
Aqua pounded on the top of Kazuma's foot with her fist. "I can't breath! She's crushing me under her massive tits. Help me, you virgin hermit!"
"I am not a virgin and you don't fucking breath!" Kazuma yelled.
"Um, everyone," Darkness said.
"Jacking off into the hay between us while I pretend to be asleep does NOT count!" Aqua said as she managed to push off of the ground and knock Wiz away.
"That happened one time and I apologized. You should have said something," said Kazuma.
"Guys," Darkness said.
"Who just lays there and watches that?" Kazuma said accusingly.
Aqua sat up and shrugged. "We don't exactly get PornHub over here and it's not like I could sleep with slapping sounds and you talking to yourself in that fake girl voice!"
"Aqua!" Darkness shouted.
"Oh dear," Wiz said before lifting her hands up above her head.
She saw Kazuma turn to look and Aqua followed his gaze to the ramp that led out of their camping area. Several men were gathered there, the man in the lead held a crossbow aimed at them. His red orange hair was spiked back, being held up by a headband.
"Damn, I thought you guys would never shut the Hell up," said the crossbowman. "Drop all your shit. Wake that wizard girl up," he said moving his head to indicate Megumin.
Megumin shifted her weight, but didn't sit up. "I'm awake," she said weakly.
"Everyone on their feet," the leader of the pack said. "And swords down!"
"Wait just a goddamn minute," Kazuma said. Without drawing his arms back to telegraph his attack, Aqua saw him go to lunge forward. Time seemed to slow down as the enemy squeezed his crossbow trigger.
In a flash of purple and a flutter of cloaks something pushed past her. The crossbow bolt was in the air the last thing she knew and then someone was standing between Kazuma and his attacker. It took a moment for it to register, along with the fact that someone had yelled in a shrill voice.
"No!" It was Wiz, with a swiftness Aqua had never seen she pushed to the front and blocked Kazuma's body. She turned to the side, the metal shaft of the bolt jutting out of her upper chest near the collar bone.
Kazuma acted fast, pushing off of the ground to hop to Wiz's side and ready his counter. "Steal!" His hand glowed a blinding blue as he aimed it at the first of the men. And in an instant he was holding…a belt?
A confused shudder shook Kazuma's body, but he managed to swing the belt haphazard and hit the man in the face. The huge buckle connected with his chin sending him careening to the side. Another of the men moved to fire at her, but Aqua dashed for him. "Oh no you don't…God BLOW!"
Her fist burned with holy light and she leapt through hitting the second man in line in the chest. The force of the hit sent out a small shockwave of warm air and he spiraled into his companions knocking them all off of their feet.
"He shot me…." Wiz said, her voice trembling. "It doesn't hurt so bad. It just…I think the bolt might be silver tipped, heh," she said before she sunk to her knees, grasping for the part sticking out of her chest.
Darkness rushed to catch her before she fell full onto the ground. "Help me hold it still. We have to get it out of her!" She held the other woman over her lip, examining the wound. "It's in there good—oh, this should have been me."
"Tend to Wiz." Kazuma was already using the opportunity to disarm the men and search them for coin.
Aqua stood by as Darkness pulled the bolt free, there was no blood as was expected from a lich. The magic that reanimated didn't do much to keep them looking 'alive', Wiz must take special precautions to keep her body fresh.
"Is there some way you can heal her?" Asked Kazuma.
"No," Aqua shook her head. "If anything the magic from my healing will just make the wound worse. If someone had necromancy spells or any other spells at all this might be easier," Aqua said.
"Bite me," Megumin said.
"Hgnh," Wiz sighed. "Sit me up, I can cast…"
Darkness moved to hold her upright and Wiz muttered something under her breath. Aqua recognized it as an Inflict wounds spell. She had never thought about it before, but that would do the trick.
The skin around the opening in her chest kneaded itself back together like dough and she immediately started to look more alert. Wiz's eyes sprung open and she pushed off of Darkness to stand. "I've got it now."
"Shit," Kazuma said from a little ways away. "You killed two of these guys, Aqua."
"Serves them right for aiming a bow at her excellency, me!"
Sniffing the air, Kazuma crouched next to one of the corpses. "I'm pretty sure this one shit himself…yeah, that's shit alright," Kazuma said as he used his sword to lift the hem of the man's trousers.
"Casual murder, business as usual," Darkness chimed in.
Wiz glanced back at the fire. "That smell will be unappetizing. We could move camp, just to avoid the trouble, but what about the rest of them."
Crusaders had some level of legal authority when the laws of a city or town weren't in play. "The penalty for this kind of thing is typically death, but I doubt I'd be able to strike the blow," said Darkness blushing.
Kazuma grabbed his sword. "I'll do it while you guys break camp…"